Have a car thief with no cars

[vengeance_driven]

[Do you know what happens when you put a confused Serb Yugoslavian expatriate in the middle of a strange building in a strange place while he's in the possession of his favorite carbine rifle? He skulks through a hallway quietly, looking for a way out.

Niko nears a window with his back to the wall. And off in the distance? That jungle? That sure wasn't Middle Park. Not long before he heard something that sounded like the most fucked up war-zone he's ever been near. More rushing fire, less bullets. So he's just playing it careful until he finds some sort of damned map.

First he finds a soda machine, though. And that soda machine is not a Sprunk soda machine. He ventures closer, pokes it with the gun as if that's going to help anything, and moves to look behind it as if he's searching for the mechanism for a bomb in an obviously fake piece of inexplicable equipment. Surveillance maybe?

He's pretty sure he's not in Liberty State, anymore.]

Oh, here we go. [Traces of his Balkan accent in those sarcastic sounding words he goes back around to the front of the soda machine, not creeping along for the time being and with his rifle lowered at his side. He's ready to hop behind that thing defensively though.]


((OOC: New person, new character. Niko Bellic from GTA IV. Snarky bastard but pretty friendly and easy to reason down.))

Comments

[vengeance_driven]

I don't recognize the brands. Which is strange, because I have been many places and usually the same things are sold all over.

[moderndaydragon]

That's because this isn't anywhere you've ever been, unless you regularly change dimensions.

[Let's see. How can she summarize this quickly...]

This place is somewhere... kind of in-between worlds, I think. While some of us share a "home", almost everyone you find comes from a different world or universe entirely. You have normal people -- like yourself, I'm guessing from the gun -- you have people who use magic, and you have people who turn into dragons. And that's just scratching the surface of it.

I'd honestly be surprised if you found anything that you recognized here. The only thing that I did was that -- [She points at the card machine.] -- and I heard that wasn't always here. So it might have just appeared in response to so many duelists.

[vengeance_driven]

[He listens to her describe everything. Sadly? Thinking that he's high as a kite. Little Jacob has slipped something into his food because none of this makes sense.]

Magic? Turn into dragons?

[He's one of those people that's going to have to see to believe it, though it's likely he's just going to under-react and snark about it.] Why are cards for duelists?

[moderndaydragon]

[She can tell he's skeptical, and why wouldn't he be?]

Yes. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. I can even prove both of them, if you wanted.

[She pulls out her deck, holding it up so that he can see.]

"Duelists," in my world, are people who play the "Duel Monsters" card game. That's what those cards are for.

[vengeance_driven]

[He starts to lean in, but then holds up his hand. Give him a moment. He slings the rifle over his shoulder, then shows his hands again just to show he's not got any ill intent (it helps that she's being nice to him), before he gets close enough to see the deck.

What the hell is that?

He takes a couple of steps back again.] Those are new, too. But I am not the best to know. I'm not good with cards.

[moderndaydragon]

[The rifle being put away does let her fully relax, and when he leans in to check out the deck, she pulls out a few cards to show him. Once he backs off, it's put away, and she shrugs a little.]

That's proof you aren't from my world. Anyone there has at least heard of it, good with cards or not. [Well, no point being rude.] My name's Karasu Kurokawa. You are?

[vengeance_driven]

Niko Bellic.

[He knits up his brow some, knowing that most of this doesn't make sense. Her name is Japanese, but honestly if there's a place between worlds it might be in Japan.

Japan with jungles.

He doesn't even know.]

I came from Liberty City. Originally I am from the Balkans. [He watches to see if she recognizes anything.]

[moderndaydragon]

Bellic-san... it's nice to meet you.

[There's no sign of recognition on her face, unfortunately, just confusion. "Liberty City" she can just shrug off as a city in a different world, but the "Balkans"?

Maybe it's a language thing? She speaks English pretty fluently too, but he doesn't seem to be completely comfortable with it.]

I'm sorry, I haven't heard of either.

[vengeance_driven]

Ah, you can call me Niko. Or Nicky or NB. People call me a lot of things.

[He feels formal and he doesn't know what to do with that, especially for a guy that carries himself well but tends toward mismatched layers of tracksuit and worn fingerless gloves.]

Liberty City is pretty well known. [That's almost resignation there, because he didn't recognize so much up until now. It's a disappointment but he believes her.]

[moderndaydragon]

Ah... is Niko-san okay? I don't want to be rude.

[She smiles a bit, but it's sad more than anything, especially since she's shaking her head.]

Like I said... people here are from different worlds. And this place is somewhere else completely. I'm sorry.

[vengeance_driven]

I'm sure it will be fine when I wake up.

[He'll keep telling himself that.] You look pretty young. They uh, they take you away from your home or something?

[He's always suspicious of intent, especially after working for men like Bulgarin for so long.]

[moderndaydragon]

It's not a dream.

[But she'll leave it at that. It's not like she's going to shake him and make him accept it.]

I'm just a teenager, and... close enough, yes.

[vengeance_driven]

[He wishes he could comment on that she should stay out of danger but he was using guns like the one he was holding by the time he was fourteen. So he can't really say much.]

You are keeping safe? Nobody that took you is hurting you?

[Heaven knows why a man that rips people out of their cars worries about these things. But he does.]

[moderndaydragon]

[She blinks a little at the question, but just smiles gently and gratefully, shaking her head a little.]

...Thank you for the concern. Really, I appreciate it. [She does. She's still not used to perfect strangers actually giving a damn.] I'm okay, though. The person we guess took us only ever talks over the intercom. Some of the people here aren't... the best, but I haven't been hurt or anything, no.

[She'll neglect to mention that she can take care of herself. It's nice to have someone worried about her.]

[vengeance_driven]

Well, at least the soda machine seems to get on with you.

[He'll never be able to keep from being snarky in any situation.] Me, I do not know it so well yet.

[But he's pretty sure it's not some sort of armed obstacle.]

[moderndaydragon]

Oh, it's nice enough when you get to know it! You just have to talk gently and move slowly and it'll let you get close enough to touch it.

[Yes, she's being a little snarky right back, but it's more playful than anything.]

[vengeance_driven]

[He just grins at that. Sadly, not a friendly grin, but it's not intended to be a mean one. He's just not got a face made to look anything other than a little mad.]

I'll keep it in mind. I will chalk this problem up to cultural differences. [He motions between him and the machine.]

[moderndaydragon]

[The idea seems to get across anyway, if her smile is any indication.]

Well, you have to start somewhere to solve culture problems, don't you? Should I act as a mediator and make sure you get a good soda?

[vengeance_driven]

Uh... Sure. Why not. [He's the sort of guy who doesn't like to impose, the type that gives $500 to strangers in need or goes out of the way to beat up abusive boyfriends.

But he also murders people for five grand a pop so it sort of cancels that out.

Still. He doesn't know where the money comes from and sometimes even change is a worry for people trying to get by.] As long as it's no trouble.

[moderndaydragon]

It's not. There's not a lot that's charged for here, food and room being free, so I've got plenty to spare.

[She'll pick out a Dr. Pepper, then, and offer it to him.]

Try this.

[vengeance_driven]

[The soda that Niko is used to is much like Sprite, so he stares down into the dark caramel liquid. Then with a shrug he takes a swig.

Said prune soda isn't terrible, but it's surprising.]

I definitely don't know this brand.

Randomly, Niko's got a CR entry, if you care. XD

[moderndaydragon]

I'm not surprised. But there's a lot more you can try, if you want.

[She nods at the list on the side.]

Anything specific you'd like to try?

I had responded to this and then rather than hitting send I left the tab open.

[vengeance_driven]

No no. This is okay. [For a fellow kidnapping victim, he doesn't want to be more of an inconvenience than necessary. He'll find out about those odd familiar green ones later. For now he'll drink this.]

How long have they kept you here?

Good job.

[moderndaydragon]

About... five or six months now, I think.

[She swishes around her own soda thoughtfully.]

I'm probably one of the few people who doesn't -- didn't -- actually mind, though.

[vengeance_driven]

[Niko's mother was a wonderful woman, but his father was a terrible person. Even a small statement like that can set off a lot of warning signs for him (even if they're misleading since she comes from such a different place).]

What made this better than where you were before?

[Hey, at least she hasn't yelled at him like some people he's asked what's wrong to.]