Back in the Game (Private, Shizu and I)

Gruffly yelled in pain and dropped the weapon, leaving him to scramble across the floor, gasping for breath. But he didn't stay down for long. Jeremy took advantage of the situation and while gruffly was distracted he performed his double blade flip. He flipped his hand for a blade, automatically detached it, then spun the arm around again and grabbed the blade mid-air. Practice makes perfect. Gruffly turned to face the weapon, but it was too late. The blade was already making it's way towards Gruffly's neck. And he literally stabbed the man in the throat. He gurgled blood and it spilled from his mouth and neck wound. He fell to the floor, dead.

As soon as Gruffly released Jeremy, Shizu knew it was over. The preciseness of the weapon catching the blade was enough reassurance for her. His accuracy was almost frightening as he cleanly slit the man's throat. Before the meister even noticed, there was the familiar light of a corrupt soul. It was disturbing to her that blood no longer grossed her out or even frightened her for that matter. "Woah..." she whispered, throat dry and heart pounding.

The soul beamed into Jeremy's clockwork. It's almost as if he didn't even comprehend what he had just accomplished. The blade was once again covered in corrupted blood. Despite nearly throwing up at what he had just done, he couldn't really respond to it correctly. "I just killed a man." Jeremy began, turning to his meister in the process. "And I am okay with that." He turned back to the body, not quite sure of what to do next. The weapon slowly pulled his own weapon out of the mans throat and attached it to his arm once again. "I should really clean this thing, shouldn't I? Ech, I'll do it later." His waist coat and top hat already had blood on them, and the Kishin hunt had barely begun. "Come to think of it, I should just wash everything. Suhas was right about making my clothes un-stainable, but I didn't listen." Jeremy said, unknowingly revealing his new friendship with the sorcerer. Frontal lobe damage = Poor decision making.

Shizu kneeled next to her weapon and put a hand on his shoulder in a sort of comforting way. She spoke softly to him, until he mentioned Suhas. "...Did you just?" The meister was utterly dumbfounded. "You were with... Suhas?... You idiot!" She shoved the weapon and shot up. "You know how dangerous he is?! Did you forget? What, are you feeding Kishin eggs now, too?" Her foot stomped on the ground and she bit her teeth together.

Jeremy collapsed onto his back due to the girls shove, but he did not quite see the consequences of this decision. "Well, not really. I was trying to keep this whole thing a secret from you, but I don't see why I shouldn't tell you now." The slightly brain-scrambled weapon crawled onto all-fours and spun to meet his Meisters eyes, then proceeding to collapse on his rear again. "Shizu, I'm sorry about keeping these secrets from you. But the guy's actually pretty helpful on most occasions! So I'll make it up to you now." He scrambled to his feet finally and took a deep breath, preparing from the onslaught that was about to occur. "I will answer literally any question you ask me 100% truthfully from now on. So please, ask away."

Shizu had a hand ready to slap the crap out of her weapon, but restrained herself and took a deep breath. "Why and when did you ever even socialize with that guy anyway? Do you know about that kishin egg he was with or no?" the meister asked, slowly crossing her arms and leaning on one leg. She probably should've been concerned about the body on the ground, but their partnership was in jeopardy.

Oh crap. One thing's for sure, the heist was inevitably going to get out. "It was actually a complete coincidence we encountered them that day. We were just chilling in a bar not far from Death City , and then suddenly... Bam. There he was." Jeremy looked his meister in the eye as long as he talked for. The weapon was not afraid of the consequences if his actions. "And it just so happened that Attor was with him. I didn't know he was a kishin egg yet, but when I pulled out my first Kishin detector, it pointed directly at him. Suhas looked surprised, but it was obvious he already knew. Next question?" Jeremy stated fearlessly, knowing several parts of what he just said could possibly enrage his meister.

Shizu's jaw dropped. Legit dropped. Hell, she was almost crying. "You... you were at a bar? With a sorcerer and kishin egg...?" The meister shuddered and clenched her fists. Something was telling her that Jeremy didn't care. Though he probably didn't even know what was going on, quite honestly. "But... why?"

"I know, it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke. But trust me, I was there for business reasons. You see..." Jeremy took a deep breath, knowing what would come next would probably make his meister explode. "Dex and I... Were going to rob a bank. So we went to a dodgy looking bar to see if we could recruit someone to our cause, but all we bloody got was a sorcerer and his pet. He proved quite useful. And we needed the money, Shizu! Your entire apartment burned down with everything inside it!" Jeremy couldn't tell if he was trying to persuade Shizu he had to do it, or persuade himself that it was right.

Shizu was practically screaming at him now. "What the hell!? You robbed a bank? What in the hell were you thinking?! You... you freaking idiot! What's your problem? Going to a bar and working with the scum of the earth to steal? What kind of messed up drugs are you even on?!" The meister stormed downstairs and grabbed one of the bottles, hurling it at him. "Is that any better, Cogs?!"

The bottle narrowly missed his head, making him flinch. "I'm bloody sorry, Shizu! How else were we supposed to get the money back?! But we robbed it anyway, and now we're technically rich!" Jeremy was on the brink of tears. He collapsed to his knees in submission to the girl. "I was just trying to do what's best for you, Shizu..." He said, in a near whisper. "I did it for you! All of it! I heard your story, and I didn't want you to suffer anymore! I... I just wanted you to be happy..." He hung his head low, staring at the ground and unable to look his meister in the eyes anymore.

"Can you stop making me feel bad, I'm trying to be mad at you..." she murmured and looked at the bottle remnants that laid scattered on the ground. "I'm perfectly happy so long as we stay a team, got it? So please, next time lets figure out our problems together... right?" She asked and xrossed her arms. They'd gotten way too far for her to walk out on their partnership and she wouldn't know what to do even if she did. "No ands, buts, or ors. Just say, 'Okay my wonderful meister' andII'll consider us even."

Jeremy looked up again, a weak smile on his face. "Of course, my wonderful meister." Surprisingly, the weapon chuckled. Slowly, he lifted himself to his feet and brushed himself off. "I'm sorry you have to see me like that. I know it's very unattractive, so I'll try not to do it again. I don't want to ruin my reputation, do I?" He wiped the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. He didn't even notice the large shards of glass sticking out if his left arm and hand. "Now, I need to make a call. It'll take about twenty seconds." Jeremy pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled up 'Vee'. "Hey, Vee. Eat a dick you deceptive bastard. Love: Cogs." And just like that, he hung up. "Ready to go, my wonderful meister?"

"Very? More like extremely unattractive." Shizu laughed and was going to nudge his arm, but saw the glass sticking out of it. "Holy ricecakes, Jeremy! Your arm!" The meister fawned over her weapon's wound and instantly began to think that it needed to be removed. "Doesn't that hurt? Maybe we should take a break, perhaps we need a few more days before we're ready to collect more souls?" She asked question after question, giving Jeremy little time to speak.

"Hurt? I didn't even know they were there! But now that you mention it I am actually in alot of pain. Ouch." He looked down at his only real arm that now resembled an Echidna. Jeremy slowly began to remove said glass, but the new found pain was too much and couldn't complete the task. "Okay, maybe we should just get another apartment and chill for a day. Two souls in one day isn't that bad. Do you still have that money? We can use that for a new place." Jeremy was actually in a surprising amount of pain now, and needed to stop himself from wincing.

"I think a hotel is our best bet. Nothing too expensive, I don't want to draw too much attention from the public." Shizu replied and started herding him towards the door, "I have the miney in my pocket, no worries. Wait... do you want to get that, uh... out first?" The meister asked and pointed at the glass shards that were sticking out if his skin.

"Oh, that." Jeremy looked at the shards. "Nah, it'll be fine for a while. I'll take them out later." The weapon strutted through the door, refusing to acknowledge the slowly increasing pain in his arm. "I know a hotel near here. Should we check it out, or head into a different part of town? And it's like, three and a half stars, by the way." His formal shoes made contact with the pavement once again, and there was already a policeman there to investigate the situation. Jeremy flashed his DWMA student card, and the policeman nodded, awaiting an explanation from the meister. Everyone knows weapons don't really have much authority.

Shizu opened her mouth to protest, but she eventually deemed trying to convince the weapon useless. "Three and a half...? Okay, that's good." When they walked outside, and saw the police, the girl was convinced they came to arrest them. "Oh, um. We were reported that there had been a disturbance, so we checked it out and found that this man had been grotesquely butchering humans in his basement..." the meister nearly vomited at remembering the smell. "I'm sorry..." she apologized and shook it off. "He's been taken care of, though."

The policeman held out a clipboard he wanted them to sign, saying that there was a confirmed Kishin egg in the area, which Jeremy did immediately. Without another word, the policeman left. "Well that's settled. Now if I remember correctly, the hotel is..." Jeremy spun around, pointing with his artificial arm. He landed pointing left of the direction he was before. "This way! Come on, follow me!" The weapon grabbed his meister's hand and began walking in the general direction of where he was pointing. They might get lost, but Jeremy somehow didn't mind.

The meister had just finished signing the paper when Jeremy started to lead them away, ending up in Shizu dropping the pen in the process. "Wow! I didn't know you knew the city so well, Jeremy! " the meister was quite impressed with her weapon knowing where to go instead of them having to ask for directions. "How handy." She skipped next to him and smiled a little as they went along.

"I got bored and decided to memorise the maps of Death City. It should be right around here!" The duo turned a corner and saw what looked like a medieval tavern-style building wedged between two others.. There was a neon sign that blinked: "The Rusted Scythe. Don't let it's outsides fool you, my wonderful meister. The insides are actually quite high quality! There's a flat-screen in every room and high quality food in the lower level!" Jeremy tugged on Shizu's sleeve and continued to pull her inside. It wasn't very impressive at first glance, with old wooden tables and an old counter. "Don't worry. They keep up this facade for this area, but the rooms are flawless."

Shizu worked her legs as best as she could to keep up with her weapon, her armor clinking with a satisfying sound as she rushed along. "That sounds almost too good to be true!" She smiled andlooked at the building with a loads worth of skepticism. "...You sure we took a correct turn?" The meister inspected the building and saw bars on the windows, not a good sign unkess you were trying to look for a place that's been robbed multiple times.

"Shizu? I'm positive." Jeremy said with a cocky smirk and walked up to the front desk, leaning on it with his elbow. "Hi there. Could we have a double bed room? You know, two beds. We're trying to save money." He asked the cheerful woman in an outfit similar to that of the theme of the hotel. She smiled politely. "Sure, sweetie. What name should I put the booking under and how many nights are ya stayin'?" Jeremy though for a few moments, but couldn't think if how long they'd be staying. "Put the booking under 'Rukin'. As of the nights, I don't know. Shizu, how long do you think we'll be staying?" The weapon asked, turning back around to his meister in the process.

Shizu pondered for a moment and thought three at best. "I think four is good." She smiled and looked to Jeremy while folding her hands begind her back. This scene could look a bit strange. A small girl and samurai armor next to a tall boy with a prothstetic arm and glass sticking oit of his shoulder... please don't let the lady ask. The meister took the card that was used with the fancy locks that hotels used and it had 'The Rusted Scythe' printed on it along with a collection of numbers and letters.

"Enjoy your stay!" The woman at the counter said as he walked away. Jeremiah directed the girl toward the elevator and pressed 'up'. "Looks like we're on the third floor. And it has an elevator! Isn't this a good sign, Shizu?" He asked the girl rhetorically as he waited for the elevator to arrive. There was a light 'ding' and the elevator doors slid open. Inside, a mirror was facing towards them and it had a fancy bronze coloured railing across the left, right and the wall with the mirror. "Come along, Shizu. I can't leave you behind now, can I?" The weapon stepped into the elevator and awaited his meister to join him. "After all, you do have the key."