Half an hour early, whoops.

And yet I’m still an hour late rip.

That's OK. XD

I miiiight be slow in replying today, I have quite a few things to do, but we'll see how it goes.

That's fine. I guess we'll just wrap up this small skirmish today.

Alrighty. I'll go ahead and write my reply now.

The survivors exchanged nervous glances with each other before one of them, the older werewolf, spoke up. 'I can't speak for all of them, but I plan on getting far away from this whole mess. I want to find a place to live where nobody knows me, and live out the rest of my life in peace.'

'I-I want to start a family,' said a younger werewolf. 'I've always wanted to have a family.'

Most of the other survivors were saying similar things, while others just nodded and murmured in agreement.

Armin didn't reply. Without warning, he charged at Antonio with a flurry of heavy sword slashes. At the same time, he said telepathically, //You're deluded. There's no way one vampire can take on all of us and win.//

{Dianne looked to each of them as they spoke.}

Dianne: "Running away...Starting families...Tell me, why should I believe any of you? After all of this, how do I know you won't start an insurrection somewhere else?"

'How could we?' the older werewolf grunted. 'We were just lowly soldiers. We've got no leader, and by ourselves, we don't have a chance of starting anything. If you're worried about us causing trouble, then you may as well kill every other non-human in the world. Because anyone could decide to cause trouble - former Sargon follower or not.'

{Dianne just facepalms.}

Dianne: "That's not what I'm saying. I know you're not the leaders. I killed every officer. What I'm asking is if some other jackass comes around with genocidal delusions, will you jump at the opportunity to fight for them?"

The survivors considered this. 'I wouldn't,' said the old werewolf. 'I'm tired of fighting.'

'Yeah,' said someone else. 'Look at how Sargon's plans ended. It was a disaster. Most of us are /dead./ I'm not risking my life serving someone else like him.'

{Antonio just jumps back to avoid Armin, talking back with telepathy.}

//Depends on who the vampire is. In my place, you would be dead by now.//

{Antonio is steadily backing off. It would appear that he's done fighting.}
{}

{Dianne looks them all over.}

Dianne: "Do you all feel the same way? Can you honestly tell me that all of you are done?"

As Antonio started to back away, Armin slowly followed him, keeping about a sword's length of distance between them.

//I've survived a lot over the years. Don't underestimate me.//

The survivors all nodded, most of them looking nervous. 'I'm done,' said the old werewolf. 'I made a terrible mistake in believing the things Sargon said.'

Dianne: "Very well. Go, never show your faces again. If you try to continue what we have stopped here, I will come for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

{Antonio just smirks}

//Sure, you can keep yourself safe, but what about your friends?//

{He turns to fire the rifle at Dianne, one handed.}

A few of the survivors muttered words of gratitude, before quickly scattering in different directions, eager to get out of the area as quickly as possible.

(Just to be sure before I write anything: did Antonio actually fire the rifle, or was he just preparing to fire it?)

(Preparing)

Armin scowled and stepped in between Dianne and Antonio, putting himself in the rifle's line of fire. //I've nearly died before saving people I cared about,// he said nonchalantly. //I'm willing to do it again. Though of course, I'd prefer if you just backed off and left us all alone.//

{Antonio peeks over Armin, seeing the survivors scatter.}

//Hmm. She let them go. Guess I don't need to shoot her after all. But the question is, will you let me go?//

{Dianne begins to walk back, looking intently at Antonio, who was still pointing the rifle at Armin.}

Armin shrugged. //I don't see any reason to keep fighting you,// he responded. //It's over. We let those minions go, just like you wanted. Get out of here and leave us all alone, and I won't need to kill you.//

{Antonio just laughs.}

//Fine, I will go. You couldn't kill me anyway.//

{But before he could lower the rifle, a shot rang out. A bullet ripped through his arm. With a yell, he drops the rifle. The centaurs pounced on him, holding him up. From the distance, a very angry Jerry is approaching, weapon drawn.}

Jerry: "That's /my/ rifle!"

Armin, who had jumped back instinctively when the shot rang out, turned to watch Jerry approaching. //Hmm, looks like you should've run while you had the chance, instead of standing around bragging,// he said to Antonio. //I might not want to kill you personally, but I won't protect you from Jerry or Dianne.//

(I'm gonna head off now, it's getting kinda late where I am. I'll reply when I can.
Bye!)

(Ok, bye!)

{Antonio struggles for a few seconds before sending one more message to Armin.}

Antonio: //You jump to conclusions too fast. I'll be going now.//

{He then shifts in a flash of light. The centaurs all lose their grip on him, as he is now a small capuchin monkey. Deftly clambering over he draugrs, he scurries into a collapsed building, through a space too small to pursue. Jerry shot at him a few times, but missed, cursing in anger when his disappeared. He went to pursue when Dianne put her hand on his shoulder.}

Dianne: "Leave him. He's not worth it.'

Armin watched Antonio disappear without reacting. //I should've expected him to do that. It's weird how I sometimes forget that vampires can shapeshift...//

He turned to the others. 'Hey, is everyone OK?'

{Jerry just stares at where Antonio disappeared, then turns, head down.}

Jerry: "Yeah, I'm fine...Just a little bump on the head..."

Dianne: "Yeah, we're ok."

{Dianne surveys the surrounding area.}

Dianne: "So, now what?"

There was a short silence while Armin tried to remember why they'd come here in the first place. 'OK... well, I guess we're going to your place, Jerry. So you can pick up all your stuff. And then I'll be going out of the city to collect all /my/ stuff from my hideout.'

{Jerry stoops down to pick up his rifle.}

Jerry: "...Yeah, ok. Let's go..."

Dianne: "You go ahead. I'll put Titan's leg back on the best I can and send him over.

Without further ado, Armin took the lead and started to head off in the direction of Jerry's place. Along the way, he remembered the minion named Ben who he'd saved earlier, and glanced around to see if he was still there. //He probably took advantage of us all fighting and ran away. Smart kid.//

{Jerry just follows along with Armin, rubbing his head and checking his weapon. He was silent for the duration of the walk.}

Upon arriving at their destination, Armin stopped and looked around attentively for a moment. The area was silent and still, except for a crow that was scavenging for food in some rubble nearby. 'I don't think we have anything to worry about here,' he said. 'I can't smell or hear anything suspicious. Let's just go in.'

Jerry: “Alright. Let’s go.”

{Jerry walks through the door, looks around and sighs.}
“Well, I won’t be needing most of my files, as most of the people they’re on are dead. I guess we’ll just get the furniture and my nick knacks and things.”

'Alright.' Armin started to explore the building, humming under his breath as he did so. 'Don't forget anything important.'

{Jerry starts to pack his things, starting with the small stuff.}
Jerry: "Hey Armin, you mind taking the desk in the lobby outside for Titan, when he arrives?"

(...So, he's just going to pack up his stuff. Should we just skip that?)

Armin nodded and went to get the desk, dragging it outside to wait for Titan.

(Sure, go ahead and skip.)

(...)

{After a few hours of packing Jerry finally got all his things outside and ready to be moved. When Titan finally showed up, he was accompanied by Dianne and her draugrs. Titan had his leg reattached and he was carrying a sixteen wheeler trailer, containing Dianne’s belongings.}

Dianne: “I’m all packed. Are you all done? We need to get Armin’s stuff next.”

Armin stepped out of the building and glanced up at Titan with a look of mild surprise. 'Huh. You actually got your leg fixed. And yeah, we're done here.' He then started to help move all of the objects into the trailer, as quickly as possible. 'Don't worry, getting my stuff shouldn't take too long - I don't have this much junk.'

{Dianne nods as the draugrs load everything into the trailer.}

Dianne: “Ok. Are you two riding with me or Titan?”