The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Story

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avwolf
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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#526 Post by avwolf »

It is time. Sorry for the long wait, as always.

I decided to use "Tac Gnol" for the name of this newbie character a long time ago. It's taken from what I like to think is an old, famous image meme, though that origin is currently eluding avwolf of the story. Those of you who've been around a while probably suspect that Tac is loosely based on some former forumites, a conclusion I will neither confirm nor deny. ;) After this chapter, we'll have a bit more time in Drawing Board before moving on to the next step in the investigation.


-----

I pause in the gallery to collect my thoughts before I head back out to the electromechanical maelstrom of noise and light. I find myself standing in front of a portrait of an old friend long past, the cyan eyes of Kinuki staring out from the image into an optimistic future, one that he'd never see. With the forum threatening to come down around me, I'm not sure I can see that optimistic future either.

“Hmph. What a mess, eh, Kins?” I murmur at the portrait. Unexpectedly, a voice answers.

“Oh, I sorry, din't mean ta innerupt.” Whoever it is, it's not Kinuki. I turn to find the speaker. He's a tall, lanky tiger, in a suit just as thin as he. He's got bright eyes, marked with a little bewilderment, and a chintzy pendant around his neck: a cheap knock-off replica of the one Flora wears. He offers a hand and a wide grin. “I'm Tac Gnol. Big fan of the Twokinds.” Tac Gnol...What is it about that name that seems familiar?

“Avwolf. Sorry, Tac Gnol, I was lost in thought. Anything I can do for you?”

“No no. Just meeting and exploring.” He's definitely a newbie. The city leaves its mark on you, and the mark on him is faint enough to know he's only been around for a couple months. Considering how long it can take to explore Art Board, especially if you've been through some other parts of the forums first, there's nothing unusual about that. As he looks to take in one of Sapph's portraits of Flora with clear appreciation, I turn back to Kinuki and start to lose myself in reflection again. I usually try to keep myself from wallowing in nostalgia like a pig in a tiger trap just because of how deep that pit goes, but every once in a while I can't help myself. Usually happens when I'm looking at pictures and words left behind by friends long gone.

“Avwolf?” The newbie's voice doesn't really shake me from my reverie, but I'm polite enough to give him some attention, if not my actual eyesight.

“Hm? Yeah?”

“Is it true what they say? That the tide's rising? That you float with the new tide, or stay chained to how things were and drown?” Now that grabs my full focus.

“What?” I whirl around, and the newbie is no longer in the gallery.


I sprint down hallway after hallway following Tac Gnol. Youth and strength might not win a fight against old age and treachery, but it sure has a leg up during a race: I'm lagging further and further behind. At least I'm slow enough that I don't run straight into the Laughing Cat thugs that pop out into my path from shadowed galleries.

The one on the left swings a fire extinguisher at my head, and were I running any quicker, probably would have connected. Instead, I manage to throw myself into a slide, the metal cylinder passing harmlessly over the tip of my nose. I scramble to my feet heartbeats before the fire extinguisher slams into the floor and find myself staring directly into the barrel of a gun Dirty Harry would be proud of. I pause. They're probably here to kill me no matter what, but having a gun pointed right at your face tends to make you sit and think for a tick. The cat with the fire extinguisher heaves it directly into my midsection. I double-over around the makeshift weapon, sliding backwards to take away some of the force of the blow. It still knocks the wind out of me, but I've got enough gumption left in me, despite the coughing and choking, to twist my body. I point the hose of the extinguisher, still mounted on the canister and now trapped against my body, toward the Laughing Cat soldier with the gun, a female hyena who looks just worried enough about shooting her partner to keep from giving me the hot lead lights out right now. I snake my hand up to the fire extinguisher's handle, covering the palm of the guy with the extinguisher, a calico cat with an ugly scar and a missing ear, and squeeze the extinguisher to life. It's only an instant before the force of the carbon-dioxide foam wrenches the fire extinguisher from my grip, but that instant is enough to blind the hyena. Her gun wavers. I straighten and put my fist in the cat's jawbone. He's struggling to draw his own heater, but I'm not about to let him get that far. Still wheezing, I hold his arm to his holster and clock him in the temple. He doesn't go down, but he does lurch to one side. I roll to the other as his partner mostly clears her eyes and pulls the trigger.

The bullet zips through the space I'd previously occupied and starts the calico on a life-long lesson of bleeding out. I somersault backwards and end up inside the hyena's guard, just facing the wrong way. I'm able to grab her gun hand before she can back away, and throw an elbow into her floating ribs. She returns the favor by biting me; sinking her teeth painfully into my shoulder. I guess I'll be adding "rabies shot" my list of medical needs; at this rate, I ought to try for a bulk discount from the sawbones. I blink back tears as I twist the revolver out of her grasp, letting another bullet explode from the chamber, far too close to my face for comfort. The barrel is hot; painful to wrap my fingers around, like pouring coffee in my palm, but I've got a firm hold and I don't let go, even when I slam the grip between her eyes like a tomahawk. She lets go of my shoulder and I clock her again across the temple. She staggers backward, giving me enough room to properly turn the gun on her and end the fight.

After I get done shaking the pain out of my hand and letting my lungs finally refill properly, I'm not too proud to roll the bodies. I'm awfully short on cash, and taking it off the Laughing Cats beats begging on the street. Unfortunately, being in the age of plastic means that even the thugs don't carry much cash any more. Their contributions pad my wallet out to near a hundred bucks, though, which will keep me operating in the black for at least another day or so. Can't complain. Unfortunately, they don't have much else of use on them, and Tac Gnol is long gone. That question he'd asked was loaded like a high powered rifle, and I can't believe that it was coincidence that I met these two goons when I was chasing after him. He is a "person of interest" in this case, to put it lightly. I need to sit and think, see if I can connect these dots. And moreover: I need a drink.
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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#527 Post by DariusL »

Action! :D

I have absolutely no idea who is this character, at all. :P

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#528 Post by Him »

Heh, well, my estimate was incredibly wrong. I'm glad though. This is the first update I've seen while actively reading this. Oh, and of course it was good. Can't forget at least a little bit of encouragement.

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#529 Post by TinyVoices »

ticoun wrote:I have absolutely no idea who is this character, at all. :P
I kinda want to know why he was speaking in cutesy during that first sentence...

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#530 Post by Schrodinger »

ticoun wrote:Action! :D

I have absolutely no idea who is this character, at all. :P
Tac Gnol. Long cat backwards. To counter a meme with more memes, obvious trap is obvious.

I'm interested to know the technology level in this narrative actually.
What was it the spider said to the fly...

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#531 Post by Him »

Schrodinger wrote:Tac Gnol. Long cat backwards. To counter a meme with more memes, obvious trap is obvious.

I'm interested to know the technology level in this narrative actually.
Drat... you beat me to it.

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#532 Post by avwolf »

Schrodinger wrote:Tac Gnol. Long cat backwards. To counter a meme with more memes, obvious trap is obvious.
Yes indeed. Tac Gnol is the evil Long Cat, the black mirror.
Schrodinger wrote:I'm interested to know the technology level in this narrative actually.
Eh...Complicated. I'm mostly playing fairly old fashioned, but we'll probably have cell phones, for instance. It's the weird mixture of time and technology that we see in a lot of modern pulp adaptations, like The Spirit or Sin City. A lot of modern conveniences mixed with old clichés.
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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#533 Post by Him »

avwolf wrote:Eh...Complicated. I'm mostly playing fairly old fashioned, but we'll probably have cell phones, for instance... A lot of modern conveniences mixed with old clichés.
So basically the best of all worlds? It reads and feels like an old timey detective movie, has the action of gun fights, and technology that seems to be almost rare.

Really, what's the deal with that? There have been only a few cars. I assume since there haven't been many mentioned, there are only a few vehicles. I imagine walking is the main form of transportation. I see empty streets and random clumps of people on the sidewalks. Or am I completely wrong about this?

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#534 Post by Schrodinger »

avwolf wrote:
Schrodinger wrote:I'm interested to know the technology level in this narrative actually.
Eh...Complicated. I'm mostly playing fairly old fashioned, but we'll probably have cell phones, for instance. It's the weird mixture of time and technology that we see in a lot of modern pulp adaptations, like The Spirit or Sin City. A lot of modern conveniences mixed with old clichés.
That's perfect.
What was it the spider said to the fly...

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#535 Post by MUDPUNISHER »

Yay! This is starting to pick up again
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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#536 Post by avwolf »

Him wrote:Really, what's the deal with that? There have been only a few cars. I assume since there haven't been many mentioned, there are only a few vehicles. I imagine walking is the main form of transportation. I see empty streets and random clumps of people on the sidewalks. Or am I completely wrong about this?
No, that's about right. I like the "feel" of having characters (particularly the main character) need to walk most places. I think "walking in the rain wearing a trenchcoat" is more thematically appropriate and interesting for the reader than watching me ride my motorcycle around would be. The forum in Bleak Streets is an underbelly; people are getting by, but they're just getting by. There are taxis, if you can afford it, and a few people with cars, a few more with bicycles, but most people just walk where they need to go. And when you're all on the streets together, it's pretty common to clump up and chatter about the things you care about. These might be friendly catching up, like we see in Coming and Going, or in some of the Gaming or Media threads; or it might be a full-on near brawl, like in the "What do you call Natani thread." Some of these conversations just happen, others are actually real locations. Which is which is kind of a matter of what's going to look and feel right for the moment.
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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#537 Post by foxlord »

Av, this chapter was amazing, like the rest. Action, mystery and a new character as well! I did not have the luck to know, or more likely remember, Long Cat, but his memory lives on, eh?
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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#538 Post by TinyVoices »

foxlord wrote:I did not have the luck to know, or more likely remember, Long Cat, but his memory lives on, eh?
You can more than likely find him in the frozen food isle. :roll:

Unless that is one of the unmentionables. But I don't think he was a very tall tiger.
avwolf wrote:“Is it true what they say? That the tide's rising? That you float with the new tide, or stay chained to how things were and drown?”
I feel like I know what this is referencing, but with the vast number of different things you reference in this story I could be excruciatingly wrong. It could be some old poem, some song from the 50s, the 70s, or even sooner, or it could be some tv show, or some movie, or some comic book, or some promo they put on the side of a building for something. You make references at the speed of light, AV. I can never hope to guess what you're going after. Even waiting for the next three installments never seem to answer my questions. It works, though, when you think about it. The point is to make obscure references that only a handful of people will catch and understand.

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#539 Post by Twippit »

Ah! New post! Sweet! This one was just awesome, I love it!
Hey. Been a while. I'm on discord at Twippit#9645. See ya around sometime, maybe.

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Re: The Bleak Streets of Twokinds: A Twokinds Forum Noir Sto

#540 Post by Him »

avwolf wrote:And when you're all on the streets together, it's pretty common to clump up and chatter about the things you care about. These might be friendly catching up, like we see in Coming and Going, or in some of the Gaming or Media threads; or it might be a full-on near brawl, like in the "What do you call Natani thread."
Hah, brilliant. I love how you use that specific thread.
TinyVoices wrote:You can more than likely find him in the frozen food isle.
Really, there was a long Cat? Hmm... I guess my search just didn't bring him up. I got curious after he was mentioned and tried to find him on the site. It did not work, obviously.

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