tampered | Log; Ongoing

When; May 22, 5 pm
Rating; PG13 (probably drug-abuse, possibly adult topics being adressed, likely some language)
Characters; William Walter Wordsworth

prof_wordsworth, Radu Barvon

flammenschwert
Summary; A talk between former enemy parties, about quite some unpleasant topics. Mutual manipulation galore.
Log;

Radu was rarely late to appointments; it was one of the things one had to learn quickly as an Imperial Boier, even more so as one of low rank. Even if the business was not important, a Duke or Countess or Marquess weren't likely to wait happily for a Baron's late arrival. Punctuality had become more a character trait than a habit, and maybe when dealing with an impatient Terran superior or administering terrorist attacks, that was a really good thing.

It seemed almost too much of a coincidence to be one that the AX agent had chosen this building; under one roof with his old university rival and sworn enemy, Panzermagier. Whether or not it had been a concious decision on the Professor's side, for a moment Radu hesitated to enter. It was not the meeting was anything but an extremely stupid idea anyway. It was likely that his superiors would not exactly welcome the idea of him secretly meeting the enemy. Maybe he should have told Dietrich after all, though Dietrich would likely not have agreed; if he had reported to Panzermagier directly, his leaving his own directly appointed superior out would have been noted, and neither Panzermagier not Contra Mundi were persons he was looking forward to dealing with. And one of them was living in the very building his meeting was supposed to be.

Five minutes and a couple of stairs later, the decision didn't seem a bit wiser than before, but he had decided to stop bothering. There was not really anything that spoke against gaining information from the enemy, and if there was, then that meant Dietrich was aiming at punishing him for something or the other anyway, since Dietrich made the rules. Radu reached in his pocket and then knocked on the Professor's door, freshly lit cigarette - was he so nervous? - clamped between his teeth.

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They stared at each other for a moment and then William's eyes widened as Radu charged. Oh dear, that's going to hurt. Radu made impact with the still active shield and a second later screamed as his body become engulfed by a powerful charge of electricity.

In the first instant, the electrical shock knocked Radu breathless. With a strangled gasp, he pulled away from the shield and - visibly shaken - tried to regain his composure. What on earth was this thing!? Teeth gritted, both in anger and in pain as his muscles still ached terribly from the shock, Radu took a few steps back to get out of the counter-attack's range. Then, his eyes narrowed slightly. Whatever it was, it probably needed energy. And thus, couldn't possibly stay active forever.

Once again, Radu let flames emerge from his hands. He threw William a hateful glance, and then he attacked. To hell with his orders. This man was going to die now.

Seeing that the electrical shock hadn't stopped Radu, William knew that he had to go to plan B. Wincing at the pain in his chest and back, William got up. The wonderful thing about the shield was that William could move around. Without bothering to look and see if Radu had stopped throwing fireballs at him, William slowly made his way towards the pool table. Everything he needed was there.

In fact, Radu had not stopped. The thought that he was exhausting the nanomachines crossed his mind for a moment, but it was impossible that this man could oppose him for much longer. And if he could, maybe it was time to try something else. But for the moment, Radu was perfectly content throwing fire at the fleeing - as he thought - man. He stopped only for a moment.

"You are not getting away."

William reached the pool table and picked up a small book he had left there, a book that the Baron had not taken notice of. He opened it, a small compartment inside held a simple gun. Hearing Radu's words, William took the gun and held it in his right hand. He turned around, with the pool table supporting him, William leaned against it. He raised the gun and pointed it at Radu.

The fire stopped immediately. He would have to be stupid to continue with a gun pointed at him. As long as he could not reach his opponent, he was at disadvantage, superior reflexes or not. But so long, he still had a chance; the shield had to run out of energy eventually, and then it was just a matter of the right timing to decide the fight for him. The professor was a Terran and visibly still burdened with the aftermath of Radu's earlier attacks.

Maybe he should have taken his earlier chance to just leave, ignoring the man, but it was too late now. Having started the fight, there was no way he could turn around and leave before his work was done here.

William brought up his left hand, not to steady the gun, but to be close to the ring. He watched as Radu stopped and stared at him, clearly planning another line of attack, William wasn't going to give him the chance. He moved his left hand and turned the ring clockwise, the instant he felt the click of the ring, William fired the gun.

Radu realised too late what was happening. He barely had time to flinch, wide-eyed in surprise and shock, before the projectile hit him. He was caught so blatantly off-guard that he all but stumbled backwards a step, close to falling to the ground. He should have been falling, it dawned him, if he had been hit by a silver-bullet - from this distance even by a normal bullet. Confused, he looked down on himself, but he found no wound; only a small dart deeply buried into his skin. An anaesthetic injection? For a moment he almost wanted to laugh. The dose in such a small projectile could hardly have any effect on a Methuselah. However, his amusement soon ceased. He was starting to feel unfamiliarly sick and dizzy, and for an instant, his vision threatened to black out. He struggled to remain standing on his feet, but the burning sickness in his stomach increased, and he felt cold and hot shivers running down his spine, and a dry pressure tightening in his throat. His eyes shot up, meeting William's, and with an efford to breathe calmly, he hissed, "What-"

He was cut off by another wave of nausea, shorter this time, but no less intense. He steadied himself with a hand against the wall. No matter what it was, it probably couldn't kill him anyway. And either way, he could not let the Terran get away. With a sudden, violent motion, he raised his arm and thrust his hand forward, throwing another ball of blue fire at William - or trying to. It took him a second or two to understand that nothing was happening. His eyes widened in disbelief, and he made another attempt. Nothing. Through the nausea, he felt his heart pounding fast and hard. And slowly, it began to dawn him what the Professor had injected him.

William pushed himself away from the pool table and slowly made his away towards Radu.

"I do apologize Baron. The silvernitrate will last for the next 12 hours, I suggest you walk away from the fight now."

He looked down at Radu, seeing the affects of the silvernitrate. He was now as weak as the humans he professed to hate. William bent down and looked Radu in the eye,"I hope the lesson has been well learned Baron."

William walked past him and made his way to the bathroom. "You may see yourself out." He said over his shoulder. A moment later the bathroom door shut behind him.

Radu threw a hateful glare after the man and shaking by now, not only from the sickness, but from the cold feeling of being defeated - and spared. The humiliation stung uncomfortably. He wanted a quick revenge, another attack against this Vatican agent or at least a hateful remark to counter this shame, but he was too drained of energy to even stand up without problems or think deeply enough to start another argument. William had long since disappeared behind the door when Radu finally found the resolve to pull himself on his feet again - when had it last been so hard to just stand up? - and walk unsteadily towards the door.

Log; Ongoing

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