Soul gear main

Titus winces as they shout at each other, and gulps as Dax says kill....He breathes. Naomi won't let him get hurt, she wouldn't...The big man humours the girl, asking Titus what a playground was.The Geared tilts his head, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion." Playground?"

Dax's eyebrows raised. Naomi snorted at his reaction. She had told him so.

Dax tried again. "What are your friends names?"

Titus blinks." I....I don't have friends...." Then he realizes what the big guy means." But there's Master and the Handler!...." He frowns, tapping the gear." I hope they're not too mad...."

Dax processed the answers. No friends. Lie detectors in the room still hadn't gone off, which meant the kid hadn't lied. Besides...

"What true Ripper calls anybody a Handler? Much less a Master? Hopes they're not mad. Titus isn't a psycho." Naomi finished his thoughts.

"Doesn't mean we can keep the kid." Dax countered. Strays were just...too much work

Naomi narrowed her eyes at Dax. Of all people, she knew he would be the most and least supportive. For the guy that had taken in her as a stray he was really the pot calling a kettle black.

"How about this Dax, we fight. You me, mano e mano. If I win, he stays. If you win, he goes."

Dax thought over it. Naomi was strong. She could beat him. Dax may be powerful but he was slow. And if she brought that damn rabbit...

"You can't bring Leela."

"You can't bring your armour."

"I can use my cyborg parts?"

"Sure."

"Done."

Naomi smiled and dropped her bag in the corner of the room. Dax detached his armour plates and rolled his head a few times to crack his neck. It was about time for a sparring, for both of them. Evenly matched, this would be fun. Naomi left the room first giving Titus a supportive smile. Dax followed.

When the two of them finally settled on opposite sides of the mat, the entire compound had gotten word and had rushed down to view the fight. Bets were place, money was taken, and a thick ring of people cheering their vote on surrounded the two fighters.

Titus blinks, glancing between them as they hash out a agreement, pingponging.Finally, they both drop their gear, Naomi dropping her bag as Dax reattaches his armor plates. Then, the combatants walk out, the boy following them with a worried look on his face. He flinches as people start filing in, getting loud, but smiles back at Naomi, sitting down on the floor and watching.

Dax starts to hop back and forth on his feet, bringing his hands up in front of his face, starting to develop a rhythm. Naomi relaxed each of her muscles, once again retreating to that white blank place in her mind. Both of their expressions goes still and dangerous.

Dax moved first, rushing forward in a charge and taking a right hook at Naomi. Naomi rolled forward between Dax's legs and popped up behind him, dodging the blow. But before she had a chance to attack Dax saw it coming and jabbed and elbow back into her face. The blow sent Naomi flying into the wall. She hit it solidly with a thunderous thud, denting the metal. Dax advanced forward, and Naomi touched a spot on her head where her hand came back bloody. As Dax threw forth a front kick while she was on the ground, Naomi rolled out of the way and made a quick jab to the groin. It hit squarely and Dax went red in the face, faltering for a moment. Naomi rolled onto her back and jumped back up using neither hands or legs. Dax swung, Naomi dodged. The battle waged on, both exchanging blows and ending at a stalemate.

Then Dax used his cannons. The knockback pulse from them threw Naomi across the room again. She twisted mid air and the moment her feet hit the wall she kicked backwards, executing a flip. Dax rushed her, wrapping both arms around her chest and slamming her into the floor. Naomi grunted, feeling a rib crack. She brought up a leg and kicked Dax right under the jaw. His head flew back and he stumbled a couple steps away. Still on the ground, Naomi swept a leg, knocking Dax's out from under him. He hit the floor and Naomi descended. Dax clicked out a knife and slashed it at Naomi. She blocked, taking a few nicks from the blade before smacking it out of his hand and bringing her other hand back to punch Dax square in the windpipe.

Her breath started to rattle and she knew that blood had gotten its way into her lungs. Probably from the broken rib. Dax didn't fare much better, the windpipe shot had all but ceased his breathing. He grabbed a handful of her hair while she was raining down shots to his face. Dax threw her to the side and climbed overtop, raining down blows just as she had done. Naomi used her flexibility and brought both legs up, locking them around Dax's next and throwing him by the head back to the ground and off of her. Dax hit the floor and Naomi rolled over. She grabbed his head and bashed it forhead to forehead. His eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. Naomi's skin broke open on her forehead and blood started to pour down her face.

The crowd who had been cheering the whole time suddenly went still and quiet. Naomi heaved breaths that still rattled. Suddenly they burst out into massive cheers.

It may have looked impressive, but Dax was tough. It was the lack of air from the windpipe that made him pass out she knew. Not the blow to the forehead. Still, she had won. Even if it had taken forever.

Titus watches anxiously as the two battle. Seeing Tax pull a knife, he starts to get off the floor, but relaxes as Naomi handles it, striking her oppenant in the throat.Soon after that, the fight ends, and Titus is off the floor and by the girl, looking over her anxiously, ignoring the cheering,"Are you okay? Are you going to be alright? Is he going to be alright?"

Naomi tried wiping some of the blood that was running off her forehead and only succeeded in smearing it. She gave Titus a smile that said, 'oh well what can you do?'.

"I need a little bit of mending. Punctured a lung somewhere along the way. Dax isn't much better, but we'll both live. The good news is that you're in!"

The betting rink disbanded, a couple slapping Naomi on the shoulder in congrats and making her cough a little. She held Titus's hand gently, aware that he would have to wash the blood off but reluctant to let him get lost, the other drug Dax behind her, and led him to the medical bay. Once inside she started tending to her wounds.

Titus blinks, then nods." O-okay..." With her holding his hand, he follows, still somewhat concerned.While she tends her wounds, he wanders around, looking at the instruments and devices. Somewhat ineventibly, the boy presses a button, and jumps back in surprise as it begins beeping, his metal hand beginning to morph in surprise, before Titus presses the button again and sheepishly goes sits by Naomi, his hand back into its regular shape.

Naomi eyed the boy with interest, noting his transforming hand. Dax would know what to make of it. When he woke up that was. Naomi looked down at Dax with amusement and began tending his wounds.

"Tell me about yourself Titus. Healing gets boring without something to talk about."

Titus blinks as his new watcher asks him to tell her about himself." O-okay...there's not a whole lot.I don't remember anything before Master and the Handler...They tell me that I had a accident, and it was due to them I lived... So, they sent me on missions...I've done it for five years....That's all..really.."He didn't seem to realize exactly it was like to be able to sum all your remembered life in only a few sentences. He looks at her." Do I have to call you Handler now?"

Naomi narrowed her eyes hatefully when she heard Titus sum up his history. Da(nn) Rippers. This was despicable. How could anyone do that to a child? Then she remembered her time in the Rippers, what she had seen and what she had tried to prevent. It was textbook.

"No." Naomi declared. "You will never call me Naomi. You and me Titus, we're adoptive siblings by now. I fought my other older adopted brother to keep you. As far as anything but on the job positions go, we're equals. You call me by name and I call you by name. I'm Naomi, you're new older sister. And you're Titus, my new younger brother."

Titus blinks. She seemed upset. Did he do something wrong?But, she didn't seem angry at him...He tilts his head as she says no, he won't call her handler, and that instead she was his new older sister.The geared blinks, fiddling with the string on his shorts." Sister?....OK, Naomi." He reaches out, instinct fully hugging her, then blinks. Sitting back." He's your :brother:.you're my :sister:....does that mean he counts as my :brother:?...He's a little scary."

Naomi blinked when Titus hugged her, seeing a flash of her younger sister Mia. A hallucination that made her clench her teeth. Some ghosts never left a person. She swallowed a lump in her throat and held back the mist gathering at the edge of her eyes. It hurt every time. The Titus said Dax was scary and Naomi snickered. Dax was like...a pitbull. He looked scary, but was all mushy on the inside.

"He can be your brother if you want him to be. But Dax is...he looks big and mean and tough with his red graffiti black armour, but on the inside he's better. You caught his mean side because Dax is currently in charge of this compound. It's not our main place see, just some of us station here because this is a hotspot area for trouble. It was very unsafe of me to bring you here so he got angry and defensive."

Titus blinks as she gulps, clenching her jaw. Looking closer, it looked her eyes were beginning to get wet. He blinks." Did I squeeze too tight?" He looks worried a bit, but she snickers, explaining why he had acted that way.Titus looks down at the slumbering giant." I'm sorry...." He thinks a bit, then nods." Sometimes scary is good." He reaches out,grabbing Dad's hand.