Roleplaying
2004 Archive
2005 Archive
Seminars
| When: | 23 October 2004 ("Paradigm Shift: Peace to War" Plot Event) |
| Who: | Alexander, Baal (NPCed), Christina, Elizabeth, Genevieve, Megumi, Michael (NPCed), Remy, Sarah, Semaiah (NPC), Tyrr |
| What: | Semaiah, proprietor of Tombstone Arms calls down his lord, Baal... only to have the world fall apart around him. The plot that kicks off IN:S&S officially! |
Fado Irish Pub and Restaurant
Fado's has become a hotspot for many of the locals. The place is split between three different sections, the bar and tavern in one room, another room for the restaurant, and an outside patio area as an extension of the restaurant; all of which are no smoking. The owner, Tyrr Ceallaghan, opened Fado's two years ago and has advertised and made enough deals to watch it grow.
The bar and tavern room has a counter top bar where any of the patrons can sit and talk with the bartenders or their fellow patrons. Near the bar there are a few tables where anyone can sit with friends, share a drink, and just have a good time.
The restaurant and patio area is your classic walk in dine-in restaurant, with different celtic elements on the walls and in the way the rooms are built. The waitresses and waiters are dressed in all black, and always very courteous, as the owners insist on top quality customer service.
The clink of silverware upon a plate can be heard. Genevieve hmms to herself pleasantly as she slowly half-twists back and forth in the barstool, chewing thoughtfully on the salmon. She shakes her head sharply at Kurgan's inquiry. "You know, I don't think so. I still think the bus'd win. Inertia versus acceleration. I mean yeah, I'm all for speed, but it's unfair to ignore the past accomplishments of a dozen tons of metal going at highway speeds."
Behind the bar near the door to the back room sits a man with a lot on his mind tonight. Sure, things have been going great in Austin the last few years, neutrality between all sides of the war is all well and good when it's needed. But this man, and the guy he answers to, have decided against it. And today, Tyrr is making no attempt to hide it as he sits there with a six inch by three inch, three inch thick, sharpening stone... sharpening his battle axe.
The door to Fado's swings open, allowing the entrance of a relative newcomer to the Austin scene - and one mostly oblivious to the status of the War in this area, at that. Sarah, her big teachers' satchel over one shoulder, walks in, apparently intent on using some spare time between classes to look over some materials. That is, of course, until she sees Tyrr and his battle axe, which makes her stop and peer. That's a bit unusual, right there.
Genevieve isn't that much of a sight when compared to Tyrr. She finishes up her plate, and perks up slightly at the waitstaff, before she stands as well. A rather chipper wave is sent towards Sarah, before she herself skips towards the glowering sandy-haired man. "Lionel Playworld turns frowns upside down!" she chirps out before collapsing into a chair directly opposite of him, eyes wide on the axe. "I could help you sharpen it and oil, faster, so you can do other things," she offers helpfully.
The look on Tyrr's face answers Genevieve's question, but he forces a slight smile and shakes his head, "No. No one sharpens the blade but me." He then completely ignores the fact that not just Sarah, but others in the bar, are peering at him.
Sarah blinks a few times, then shrugs helplessly before the utter apathy of the Man with the Giant Axe. She apparently quickly decides that paying much more attention to him will be bad for her health, as she moves toward a table, shaking her head and muttering something about 'even more oddballs'. She does, however, offer Genevieve a wave in return, apparently recalling her from previous meetings.
Genevieve puts on her best puppy dog face, and then whines out, "Pleeeeeease? No, really, I promise I'll be good. I won't put any etchings on it this time!" She then meeps, and claps her hands over her mouth, before scampering back a few paces, and then collapses in one of the booths, expression a little pouty.
Sarah arches an eyebrow at the odd display from Genevieve, but beyond that, settles for grabbing a menu and pulling a bunch of supplies out of her bag. It's teach stuff, all: books and notes and similar things. She seems to be carefully paying Tyrr no mind at all, though her eyes occasionally do drag themselves over to the fact that he is /sharpening a giant axe in plain sight/, as that is something of a distracting activity.
Alexander wanders in from outside, slowly making his way into the main bar. Once he's past the non-smoking section, he tugs his lighter out of his pocket and one of his rolled cigarettes. Flame is applied to the end of the cigarette as he inhales deeply, snapping the lighter shut with a sharp snap. He half-grins at the sight of the axe, grabbing a stool at the bar.
Elizabeth walks in, glancing first at the bar area. She stares at the man with the axe, vaguely recognizing him as the proprietor - then forces her gaze away, scanning the rest of the room. Spotting Sarah, she walks carefully over to the other woman's table and says quietly, "Hey there, Sarah. Mind if I join you?"
Sarah blinks, looking up as she recognizes the voice petitioning her for a seat. Well...oh, what the hell. "Sure," Sarah says, smiling a little. "Be nice to have some company I don't have to worry about." Too much. She hopes. "Buncha nuts in here today, huh?"
Alexander leans his forearms on the bar, resting his chin on his hands for a moment before sitting up a bit at the sound of familiar voices. He spots Elizabeth first, being much more familiar with her voice. He waves briefly, staying where he is to puff on his cigarette.
Elizabeth sits down, shooting a worried glance across the room at the man with the axe. "It's, ah ... disconcerting, to say the least," she allows diplomatically. "Do you have any idea why on earth a pub would need a sharpened axe?" She returns Alex's wave with a curt nod, then starts scanning a menu.
"Expecting to be attacked by killer tomatoes?" Sarah asks, faking seriousness and shrugging vaguely. "But you're right..it is a little eerie. It's like there's a weirdo convention in town and I missed the flyers."
Genevieve continues to sulk in the corner, before she is taken by another idea. The expression on her face is priceless, as if she had been touched by the hand of god itself. She snatches up a few napkins, and pulls out a pin, beginning to scribble out designs on the flimsy paper. "Oh, ho, this'd be awesome if it happened! Too bad I'm not a REAL engineer, muaha."
Alexander regards Genevieve with an arched eyebrow as he stubs out his cigarette and climbs to his feet and strolls over to where Elizabeth and Sarah are stitting. "Evening, ladies. I couldn't help but overhear you wonderin'." He grins a bit. "And worryin' a bit ye're probably including me in that sweepin' generality."
Remy arrives in the pub himself. He's been coming here a lot lately, it seems. Still, he won't complain. The good is good and the people are (generally) friendly. He is, however, here for a reason, as he glances through the people present, and focuses upon Sarah. He begins making his way over towards his colleague, wondering idly if this scraggly man is the one she had told him about earlier.
Elizabeth leans forward and say quietly to Sarah, "So, ah, what brings you here tonight? From your comments, it sounds like-- Oh, hello, Alex." She gestures Alex towards a chair next to Sarah - largely in an attempt to forestall him sitting next to her. "Even if I were referring to you in such unflattering terms, Alex, it would be rude of me to admit it at this point." She smiles brightly.
Sarah shrugs, apparently not particularly minding one way or another if the homeless dude sits next to her. "I believe I must echo Elizabeth's sentiments, Alex." Then she glances at Remy, waving him over. "Hey! Remy! C'mon!" Join the freakshow! she carefully does not add. A glance at Elizabeth, and she makes a gesture to their surrounding party, attempting to indicate that the answer will have to come when they are less popular.
Elizabeth inclines her head slightly, a faint nod of acknowledgment to Sarah. With a quick change of subject, she says, "Hey, is your head feeling better now, Sarah? I probably should have checked in with you sometime yesterday, but you know how things can get." She folds the menu and sets it back down.
Alexander flops down in the chair with a sigh. He glances over at his shoulder and frowns slightly before shaking his head again. "Yeah, yeah, I s'pose that's true." He folds his arms behind his back and stares up at the ceiling.
Suddenly, the man with the axe behind the bar stands. His coat not on, he reachs around with the axe in hand and slides it's handle down a harness strapped over his shoulder. Effectively, the axe is strapped against his back quite nicely as he puts on his sports jacket and heads for the door. As he heads toward it, Tyrr turns and gives Kurgan a short three finger salute, as if conveying a message; along with this message is a sound that comes from Tyrr's mouth. For any Angel in the room, it's the Host Language; for any human, it just sounds like a martial whistle song, and Demons can recognize it, but not understand what is said. What was said? "And the War begins here now." While this may get a few odd looks from those Celestials in the room, Tyrr's already near the door and heading out of it.
Roll by Elizabeth: (4) (1) (4)
Remy steps over to Sarah, smiling. "Hello, Sarah, I was wondering if I would find you-" He stops, looking back as he hears a familiar sound... And frowns slightly as he looks back to Sarah. "Here. So, you appear to be the popular one today. Tell me, what's your secret?" His mood certainly appears a bit subdued. Whatever that was, it's dampened his spirits slightly.
The abrupt motion from the man behind the bar catches Elizabeth's eye, and she stares as Tyrr heads out the door with an axe strapped under his coat, whistling. "What the fuck?" she says, startled into crudeness. Lowering her voice, she turns to Sarah - probably the sanest person present - and whispers worriedly, "Um... do you think we should call the cops and warn them that there's some guy with a concealed axe walking the Austin streets?"
Roll by Elizabeth: (5) (5) (6)
Elizabeth flinches visibly, for no visible reason.
Alexander sits forwards rather sharply, his face twisting up into a nice, wide grin. He climbs to his feet, even as the disturbance rings out with startling clarity. The expression on his face is almost childlike in it's glee - until you look at his eyes. "Finally," he whispers, shoving away from the table and starting towards the door.
Genevieve HEYS to herself as she watches Tyrr rise. "RIGHT now, like now now? Are you serious?" She drops her drawing, then stands up, muttering, "I'm not ready!" Apparently, she had some vague snippet of inside information. Such as it is, she scrambles roughly past Alexander, before raspberrying the still unknown Elizabeth on her way out for the cop comment.
Sarah's about to open her mouth to respond to Elizabeth, when Tyrr makes his Proclamation, prompting her to stare at him googly-eyed for a moment. "Uh." She's about to pick up the pieces of her surprise and try to answer, when the /DISTURBANCE/ hits, and she flinches at the force of it. That's...a lot of boom, right there. Not a whole lot could do that...
And then Alex leaves. Okay, now it's getting /really/ weird. What the HECK is going on? She looks at Remy, looks at Elizabeth, and just generally looks confused. "It looks like something weird's going on," she says, shrugging helplessly. "I don't know..."
"Dammit, Sarah!" Elizabeth curses, hastening to follow. "Don't you have any sense of self-preservation? If you're going to insist on being so bloody-minded, I'm going with you."
Remy looks back and smiles to Elizabeth. "Sometimes, Elizabeth, the safer path isn't the right one. Come as you will or stay, the choice is up to you." He then looks back, and heads out, headed straight for the disturbence. whether they follow or not.
Sarah sighs, shaking her head. "I'm an archaeologist, it's my job to run headlong into boulder traps, remember?" This is apparently her grand justification, as it's all she says before following Remy out the door.
Elizabeth shoots a glare at Remy and snaps, her phrasing an obvious parody of Remy's, "Sometimes, Remy, mouthing platitudes isn't welcome!" She grabs her purse and races to catch up with that fool Sarah.
Meanwhile, in another part of Austin...
Tombstone Arms
In one of the worst areas of the city there is a derelict warehouse building that has resisted all attempts to refurbish it thus far by the local residents. In the cellar/upper level of the building there are crates upon crates of different weapons.
Called Tombstone Arms by the many underworld influences that come here to get weaponary; the place is run by Semaiah, a Habbalite of the War. He sells to everyone (thanks to a few incidents with several people who thought he should be selling only to them and some C4 he had on hand), and loves to sell malfunctioning weapons to everyone to keep people on their toes.
Tyrr's the first one to make it to the old warehouse. Strangely enough, the door is open and there are a few lights on already on the second 'floor' of the building. So he doesn't even waste anytime and heads right in.
Alexander doesn't waste much time following along behind Tyrr. It doesn't take any effort at all to follow the source of the noise, and given Tyrr's comment, the homeless man is hoping that the chance to actually do what he was made to do comes about. Funtime...
Semaiah's just had one of those days that he's utterly pissed off with the stupidity of some of the Gang members in the area. They're complaining to him, with pistols drawn, that he's got an /obligation/ to replace their faulty goods. Of course, he's hearing nothing of it, especially with the Uzi in his hand pointed right back at them. "You morons have no idea who the hell you're f***ing with. Let me show you." And with that, Semaiah makes an invocation to his Superior, Baal. And boy, does the Habbalite have bad luck tonight, as he instead gets a divine intervention. Baal shows up, in a human vessel... and so does Michael. Both dressed as if they were at a bar or restaurant, and both looking just a bit perturbed.
Baal frowns slightly, taking a moment to glance over at Michael before glaring at Semaiah. "Well, Semaiah. You have my attention, it seems. Just what was it you wanted?" The Prince frowns slightly at the echoing roar of disturbance, and then regards Michael for a moment thoughtfully. "And it seems you attracted someone else's attention as well. I'd suggest making it very very quick."
Semaiah narrows his eyes at the second human who arrived with the boss with a horrible blast of disturbance. That's not how it's normally supposed to go. "Who the Fuck is this?" he mutters, before glaring at the Gang members behind him. "Fuck it." He squeezes down on the trigger of the Uzi, spraying the angry gang members in a lethal hail of lead. The gang members go down like rag dolls, twisting and spinning, the distrubance drowned out by the bigger roar of the arrival. "Had a bit of a mess, Lord. Was hoping to make a fucking point, but since you're here... I'm stuck dealing with morons like that every day. Surely you've observed my hard work - perahps you, in your Might and Glory, could see fit to reward me, Oh Lord. Perhaps with a fucking Word, like I've been hinting about?"
There's a long pause as Baal stands there watching the gang members get gunned down. He crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head side to side. Upon noticing he was followed by Michael, Baal smiles perversely, hit by an appropriate punishment for Semaiah stepping out of line. "No." And with that, Baal just disappears. Leaving Semaiah to deal with Michael... a Michael who has his axe in hand.
Tyrr steps into the warehouse just as the gunfire goes off. The Warehouse has an open middle to it's second floor, allowing Tyrr to see just who is here as he enters; as they're standing near the railing of the far side of the second floor. There's a glint of happieness in Tyrr's eyes that is not often seen, as he knows that the 'kick off event' he was told about, is finally here.
Semaiah scowls as he gets turned down by Baal, his attention suddenly flicking over to the man who arrived with Baal. The man with... the axe. And then the reason for the disturbance, and this man's appearance alongside Baal, all become horrifyingly, perfectly clear. "Oh, shit." He glances to the side as more bust in from down below, backing up slowly, bringing up the Uzi in a futile gesture.
Alexander is a little ways behind Tyrr - not bursting into the warehouse yet, but certainly within view and hearing distance of it. The grin on his face is wide, wide. Finally the stupid little restraints will be lifted, and he'll be able to do his job properly again. The thought gives him a warm feeling inside...
"An Uzi? Now, come on." Michael rests the axe blade down on the ground as he leans against the handle just a tad. He's standing there for a moment because he sees that Semaiah has reached down to his pants with his free hand and tapped something inside the pocket from outside of it. He smiles wide and lifts the axe, "Austin's neutrality is broken." Just as he gets ready to toss the axe at Semaiah, one of Semaiah's flunky demons shows up and tries to blindside Michael. A rather foolish mistake as Michael's axe is already swinging around to meet the demon.
"You'll just have to live with it sometimes, I'm afraid." Remy's eyes glitter with curiosity and anticipation... Odd, for such a seemingly conservative man. As he leads the group to Tombstone Arms, the librarian looks up at the second floor, squinting at the noise andracket coming from above. "You don't hear that kind of noise every day..."
Alexander is contested by one of the seedy types. Ah, one of those moments when looking like some regular homeless dude doesn't help. Rather than waste his time on the small fry, Alexander backs away, moving partly around the block to try and sneak into the back of the warehouse.
Gunfire? Okay, now that's torn it. Elizabeth pulls out her cellphone again, and this time calls 911 directly, instead of the normal police number. She grabs Sarah's elbow and tries very hard to look like the two of them are innocent passersby, not watching the goings-on.
Sarah frowns, shaking her head. "No. No, you don't," she murmurs to Remy. "And it's not the kind of noise I think we need to be hearing /now/." She throws a hard look at Remy, trying to remind him that neither of them are really meant for engaging in the fine art of making things bleed. Elizabeth's grip on her elbow only serves to further remind her of that. "We're not cut out for anything like this, Remy. You know that."
"About fucking time!" screams Semaiah - whether he's agreeing with Michael about the breaking of that idiotic truce, or at his flunkies for showing up - it doesn't matter. Backing up, he opens fire, clearly not caring if he hits the demon keeping Michael busy. "Get the f***ing explosives up here - drive him off! Drive him off!" In addition to the low level demons serving Semaiah, a few humans toting various weapons respond to the general alert, rushing into the warehouse from the break room in the office section, scanning about for the threat.
Remy comments absently. "Yes, yes, we're not cut out for anything like this, I know. But we still need to know what's going on." He glances around, peering at the seedy types entering, some with Big Weaponry. "That's not going to work." He looks around. "Sarah, have any ideas on how we can get a look in on the commotion? I'm not familiar with this area." Elizabeth's phoning is noted, but he doesn't respond to it for the moment.
Michael's out of the way relatively quickly, his blade only slicing the demon who jumped at him; sadly the bullets meant for him cut into the demon like butter. Michael catches a glimpse of two of the local Host, and points to the opposite side of the warehouse, where the flunkies are coming in from. Michael himself decides to leave this in the hands of those Host members here. But not before taking a heavy blow to one of the crates marked explosive on the second floor. This of course causes the grenades inside to explode quite nicely and cause the west side of the second floor to collapse partly -- the windows exploding outward.
Genevieve manages to use the aftershocks from the dual appearances of the superiors to mask her use of the Symphony, tugging and pulling here and there to bring herself to the scene. Skittering in, she just in time hears just about all of the ugly scene pan out. She clutches the doorway, peering in for a moment. Doe-eyed, she looks on, before the words from Semaiah, particularly those about explosives, fall upon her ears. A faint smirk crosses her features as she comes across an idea, and then with a lunge, she leaps forward to cut them off at the pass. However, the explosion rocks the building, and with a shriek, she she dives for one of the other stores located on the first floor. She peeks at the mess, and the fire, before frowning some and looking towards the untouched crates. "They've gotta be in here somewhere," she utters, scrunching her nose up as she begins working on yanking a few lids off the boxes.
Alexander raises his gaze to the blast of flame into the sky from the back of Tombstone arms - and the accompanying disturbance - with a grin on his lips. Moving through the shadows, he moves up behind one of the stragglers of Semaiah's alert. At the very last instant as he reaches out, his hands burst into flame - a bright greeninsh flame. "This is going to hurt, scum..." Alexander is contested by one of the seedy types. Ah, one of those moments when looking like some regular homeless dude doesn't help. Rather than waste his time on the small fry, Alexander backs away, moving partly around the block to try and sneak into the back of the warehouse.
Elizabeth shoots Remy a funny look, snapping her cell phone closed and putting it back in her purse. "Why on earth do you need to know what's going on, Remy?" she asks. "There's a gunfight and an explosion, and we'd all be safer further away from here. Isn't that enough to satisfy your morbid curiosity, and can we all go someplace else now?"
Semaiah gets picked up by the shockwave of the blast and is hurled from easy vieing by those below. His Uzi clatters across the floor and rather than waste his time going after the mostly useless weapon, he scrambles into the maze of containers on the top floor, searching for something with a little more power. The only GOOD thing is that the smeggin' Archangel is gone. "Fuck. Fuck."
So you think.
Sarah shakes her head, frowning. "No!" she replies. "It's not like I carry around spy cameras, Remy." She squints upward, then grumbles, shaking her head. "You may think we need to know what's going on, but right /now/ I think it's better if we leave /this/ to people better suited to busting heads. C'mon, Remy, lets /go/. Please! If we need to find out, we know who to ask later." She looks back at Elizabeth, and nods, but leaves it at that for now.
Alexander raises his gaze to the blast of flame into the sky from the back of Tombstone arms - and the accompanying disturbance - with a grin on his lips. Moving through the shadows, he moves up behind one of the stragglers of Semaiah's alert. At the very last instant as he reaches out, his hands burst into flame - a bright greeninsh flame. "This is going to hurt, scum..."
Just as the group of flunkies enters, Tyrr looks over to Alexander, "Keep them busy. I'm going to see if our reinforcement is here yet." Stepping back outside the door he came in, he comes near face to face with three people who he had seen just ten minutes ago at Fado's. "Okay people, you may want to clear out of here. There's a minor gang war going on inside." At the same time, he focusses his attention on Elizabeth and attempts to resonate.
Roll by Tyrr: (3) (4) (6)
Genevieve is, well, still inside the warehouse, even as some of it comes down in a fiery blaze. A string of "Oh crap!"s emanates from her like a mantra, even as she begins to toss in a few items into a cardboard box. From the point of view of most people who are looking on, Genevieve is... looting. "Oooh, PINEAPPLES!" she squeals out happily and tosses in the twelve ounce grenades into the box, before she zips to the main exit, eyes wide and scanning for friendlies. "Tyrr! Crazy Homeless Guy! I have presents!!" She squeezes the box to her chest, scrambling out of the building and waving exaggeratedly to the two males.
Remy's nostrils flare as he listens to the pair of (probably more sane) females tell him he's being dangerously silly. "Yes, you're right." As Tyrr addresses them, he nods to the man with the Axe, smiling slightly. "Of course." He looks to the ladies with him, and nods. "Very well, it seems that our safety is more important than knowledge for the moment. Shall we go?"
Sarah heaves a sigh of relief. She's painfully, painfully curious, but she's not cut out for things like this. And besides, /now/ she has an idea of who to talk to later so she can wring information out of them. And apparently there's a lot of information she's going to be trying to wring. She nods at Rem, then turns to Elizabeth, relief in her eyes. "Yeah. Come on, Rem, Elizabeth, let's get /out/ of here."
Elizabeth turns her eyes from Tyrr to Remy and Sarah and says, "Definitely," while guiding Sarah away. Not that she agrees with Remy about safety over knowledge, but it's a good excuse to avoid doing anything that might betray awareness of The War - or betray her allegiances. There are calculated risks, and then there are foolish risks.
Semaiah has fallen back to his own personal stash, while screaming at his flunkies to put the fire out, or rescue merchandise. While they scramble about, weapons over shoudlers, Semaiah picks up one of his own 'toys'. The simple tube shaped device is green in color - a LAW rocket launcher. Grabbing a pair, he shoves his way past yelling gang members - the catwalk up above is useless, so he strides out onto the main floor, levelling the business end of one of the launchers towards the main door, kneeling to improve his aim at the vague outlines of those outside.
Tyrr's eyes narrow considerably as his resonance returns something worthy of note, but it doesn't show really. Afterall his face and body language is already strained from the happenings inside. And just then, Genevieve walks up with an open box of grenades. Not responding to her just yet, he turns his attention back to the group. "You three can head back to Fado's. I'd really suggest hanging out there till this blows over. I can get you a ride back to your homes with the police when this is all over. These gangs, afterall, are rather bloodthirsty." This time, Tyrr's attention focuses on Remy.
Roll by Tyrr: (4) (6) (2)
Alexander moves out of the shadows near the door, noting the presence of the others. Most of his attention is towards the warhouse, where threats are likely to approach from. He spots the shape of Semaiah moving across the floor and narrows his eyes. "Oh, hell. Everybody MOVE!" He waves his hands urgently at the people standing around chatting.
Sarah's already moving, debating whether to actually go back to Fado's - where perhaps she can get some questions answered - or not, and be /smart/ about this, at least for a while. But those debates are put on hold at Alexander's shout, which prompts her to whip her eyes around. "Ack!" she squeeks, and starts dashing down the street, hoping to get out of the way out of whatever ridiculous danger might be coming this way!
Elizabeth races along after Sarah.
Genevieve weaves and bobs, before jabbing the corner of the box against Tyrr's hands. "HERE, they're starting to get heavy, take some and use them already. And where is that demon, anyway? Did you already kick his ass? I didn't even get a good look at..." She huhs to herself at Alexander's shout, and then drops her jaw in disbelief at the emerging rocket launcher. "HE'S REALLY GOING TO USE IT?!?!" At that point, she raises the box over her head, screams like a ninny, and dashes clear of the warehouse, easily within sight of the withdrawing Remy, Elizabeth, and Sarah.
Remy then notices the guy with the LAW. "Uh oh!" He starts running. A lot faster.
Alexander is already running for it. There's fire, and then there's lunatics with rocket launchers.
Tyrr's head turns again just as Alexander comes running screaming. Almost immediately, Tyrr turns and grabs Genevieve under his arm, since while she's running, she's still paying too much attention to the warehouse itself, and runs like hell. "Crazy g'damn demons!" can be heard from coming from Tyrr's mouth just as the Semaiah inside pulls the trigger. The explosion is enough to rock the entire street and the front of the building begins to crumble from the fireball within. If that didn't kill some of the flunkies and potentially Semaiah himself, then the Malakim now in the city will later.
Ring ring! Oh, it's not enough that she got a nice new bike, with lots of gears and reflectors for night riding, and a clip for a sports bottle (which is filled with jolt cola), noooo... Christina had to put a bell and little ribbons on the handlebars, ribbons which seriously do not help the drag coefficient as she speeds into the parking lot and has a quick look around. Oh look! There's Tyrr, and Alexander, and Sarah, and *twitch* Yep, that's a rocket launcher. The bike skids as she turns, and starts heading back away again. And then the explosion, and the disturbance. THIS IS NOT A HAPPY PLACE!
Alexander winces as the disturbance washes over him, and then grins like a lunatic. "Boom! Heh heh heh..." He keeps running though, heading towards Fados. Preferrably before the cops arrive. And the med teams. And the fire engines - busy night tonight. "Back to the bar?" he inquires to Tyrr, trying to keep up with the encumbered angel.
It certainly was quite the sight, and Genevieve's eyes go wide in wonderment at the eruption. However, a sharp impact causes her breath to oof out of her body, and a faint 'heeeeeey' comes from her as she drops the box. "Aurgh, get a shower, will ya?" However, she's not in much of a position to argue the matter as she gets squeezed to Tyrr's chest. "Here ya go," she chitters out to Alexander as he rejoins them, shoving the one last spare grenade into his hand. "Souvenir!"
The subsequent explosion and cacaphonic ring of Disturbence throughout the fabric of the Symphony causes Remy to stumble a moment, even as chunks of hot, sharp steel and rubble rain down around the librarian, one of the pieces cutting open a gash in the man's hat, by Providence or mere chance missing the man's skull below. "Well..." He gasps as he builds up speed again, "I suppose we made the correct choice."
At the sound of the explosion, Elizabeth dives for cover behind one of the cars parked along the sides of the street. Thus sheltered, she sustains no wounds beyond a skinned knee from landing heavily on the pavement.
Alexander now has a grenade. There's a moment of feral glee in his eyes before his disappears it somewhere inside his coat. He laughs gleefully as fire and hot metal rain down around him. A few slice up his outfit, and one even manges to singe him a bit, but he still grins and keeps jogging, slowing as the burning warehouse becomes a mere glow in the city skyline. "Aaaah. That was fun."
Sarah squeeks, covering her head with her hands to try and prevent any of the rain of shrapnel from doing anything untoward, such as killing her. That would not be a nice way to end the evening, nosirree. Her outfit gets a little charred from close calls, but somehow, no matter what you choose to blame it on, she doesn't get harmed beyond a few nicks.
Christina brakes to a halt for a moment to peek back and survey the damage... Hoo boy, this is gonna be fun to report. Dear Laurence, in regards to the large disturbance in Austin earlier tonight, a freaking crazy demon with a rocket launcher decided to blow himself back to Hell and take his gang with him. Yeah, that's fun. With a heavy sigh she jerks into motion again, pulling up beside Alexander. "You uh... wanna explain what just happened back there? Besides the explosion I mean. I missed the beginning action."
Alexander glances at Christina. "What're you asking me for? I just live 'round here. Some lunatic gang fight - yeah. And now I'm gettin' a beer. Ta!" He waves to the girl on the bike, and heads to Fados.
Back at Fadó's...
Fado Irish Pub and Restaurant
Fado's has become a hotspot for many of the locals. The place is split between three different sections, the bar and tavern in one room, another room for the restaurant, and an outside patio area as an extension of the restaurant; all of which are no smoking. The owner, Tyrr Ceallaghan, opened Fado's two years ago and has advertised and made enough deals to watch it grow.
The bar and tavern room has a counter top bar where any of the patrons can sit and talk with the bartenders or their fellow patrons. Near the bar there are a few tables where anyone can sit with friends, share a drink, and just have a good time.
The restaurant and patio area is your classic walk in dine-in restaurant, with different celtic elements on the walls and in the way the rooms are built. The waitresses and waiters are dressed in all black, and always very courteous, as the owners insist on top quality customer service.
Megumi, who is most certainly underage, or at least underage looking because she's short and all, walks into the Pub! She looks a little bored. With her, three other students, one male, two female, who look a little more 'at age' come in with her.
'Yeeahh, the movie was pretty horrid, even if it was the best'
'Hey! I liked the whole lobby thing!'
'Dodge this? I mean, -really-, that's not even funny.'
"I don't know," Megumi says, "There are a lot worse lines out there. This does serve food that won't make me pass out, right?"
General laughter, 'Course not!'
Seeing no grave injuries, Elizabeth heads over to the table Alex has commandeered. She takes the seat across from him without so much as the courtesy of asking, and hisses in a voice intended to not carry past the table, "What the hell was that about, Alex? You just took off out of here after that guy with the axe, and then a building exploded!"
Alexander smiles faintly, brushing a few final flakes of soot off his fingers. He leans forward, and locks gazes with Elizabeth for a moment, trying one more time to actually hear something, anything about her from the Symphony. "Well...."
Roll by Alexander: (4) (6) (1)
"..the explosion at the very end was probably the LAW rocket the lunatic in the warehouse was holding. The first one... Not sure." He shakes his head slightly as the Symphony remains silent once again. "As for me taking off with the bartender... I know that particular tune and what it means."
Remy simply relaxes as much as he can, making a note to procure a replacement hat or have it repaired. As he drinks the ice water, he watches Alex and Elizabeth talk... And sighs inwardly. This is only the beginning of a lot of mess.
Elizabeth raises her eyebrows at Alex and says archly, "Oh? Please, do tell me what the secret meaning of the tune is." Her eyes narrow as she watches Alex's response intently.
Megumi, talking about 4-5 year old action movies, doesn't see Alexander immediately, but when she does, she stops, not following her friends to a table -immediately-, but instead glancing at the 'bum'. Guess he's being treated! Probably by Elizabeth. She says, to Alexander, "Thanks again for the light," briefly before following after her friends to a-...Is that Remy too? Feeling briefly rather uncomfortable, she sits down last of her 'friends'.
Alexander leans forward, dropping his voice to barely audible levels as well. "It means 'And the War begins here, now'." Megumi gets a cheerful wave from the bum, but no spoken greeting. "Sounds a bit crazy, doesn't it?"
The door to Fado's swings open allowing Tyrr in. As he walks in, he snaps the lock mechanism on the door so that no one else can come in, but those here can leave as they choose. As he turns to face those in the restaurant, his eyes narrow as he looks toward Alexander. The two have a lot to chat about now that things have started.
"It sound dangerous, is what it sounds," Elizabeth whispers back to Alex. "What the hell are you and that bartender all tangled up in?" The corners of her mouth twitch, a little.
Alexander leans back from Elizabeth and gives her one of his wide, manic grins. "Dangerous? I live on the streets, Elizabeth. Okay, normally there aren't LAW rockets involved, but it's probably just as dangerous out there, I promise you." He does not, however, address her second question, glancing over his shoulder as Tyrr starts locking up.
Megumi listens to her friends quietly chatter about Matrix, the subsequent movies, and shows linked to the Matrix, and movies completely unrelated to the Matrix that somehow can be related to the Matrix by being completely unrelated, in the same way as opposites are 'related'. "It's better to get drunk on the weekends so you don't miss classes." She says lazily, "But if you throw up, I'm going home alone."
Elizabeth eyes that grin of Alex's and meets it with a slow smile of her own. "And you like it that way, don't you?" she asks, her voice still lowered. "I disbelieve that everyday life on the street is nearly as dangerous as firefights and explosions, but you sound - and look - like you wish it could be like for you that more often."
Remy watches Tyrr as he enters as well, nodding in greeting to the axe-bearing man as those gray eyes of his flick back and forth between Alexander and Tyrr himself. He simply waits for the opportunity, so he begin getting to the Truth of the matter... One that isn't for general discussion.
Alexander reaches into the pocket of his jacket and fishes around for a moment before hauling out his lighter. He grins at Elizabeth. "Not normally, no. Unless you live in one of the more... interesting neighborhoods. And even then it's not usually explosions." Flicking the lighter open, he ignites it, pulling out one of his foul cigarettes with a free hand. "And no - I don't believe in chaos for it's own sake. That'd make me...someone else."
Tyrr moves past the group and to the back room. He disappears back there for about a minute before coming back out without his axe or sports jacket, which was torn and covered in soot. His pants and hands also appear to be covered as well, though he moves over to the sink behind the bar and washes his hands off. "Kurgan, anyone from the Tombstone incident gets a drink on the house," he tells the bartender as he dries off his hands.
Elizabeth pounces on the opening. "If not for it's own sake, then for whose?" she asks Alex in a hiss. "Don't try to tell me that you idn't enjoy it somehow - not with that grin on your face!" She wrinkles her nose in distaste at Alex's cigarettes, waving at the air in front of her face and leaning back a bit from the smoke.
Alexander exhales the smoke away from Elizabeth and then leans forwards, his voice dropping into a low rumble as the grin fades. "Do you have any FUCKING clue what kind of place that was? It supplied guns, Elizabeth, to gangbangers who go and turn them on innocents. I don't enjoy the chaos - I enjoy seeing the f***ing bastards what deserve it get some of their OWN back, neh?" He draws back and takes another pull off his cigarette. "You can talk a good line, woman, but sometime you might try actually livin' down in the trenches a bit sometime, where the allmighty dollar does a little soul crushing."
Megumi's 'friends' (the ' signs are important) continue to talk amongst themselves. Megumi, however, looks on over to Remy and stands up. "I'll be back."
And with that she walks on over to Remy and asks him, "Your sexy hat broke, what happened?"
Remy nods to Megumi. "I wouldn't necessarily call it 'sexy'. The hat, however, was damaged by shrapnel from an explosion that occurred a short time ago... You appear uninjured... I'd hope you weren't near the scene. It wasn't pleasant."
Elizabeth's lip curls at the obscenities, but she presses on regardless. "Is that what comes down to for you, then?" she asks bitterly, her voice ternding up into the audible range. "I believe the quotation goes, 'The love of money is the root of all evil.' But just because someone made up a pithy--" Her voice cuts off abruptly. A brief silence. When she resumes speaking, her voice is once again a whisper, now low and smooth - almost a purr. "Oh, /very/ nicely played," she admires. "I'll have to watch myself against such gambits in the future."
Megumi says, "Fedoras are very sexy," Megumi insists, "That's why they have them in Noir all the time.", her eyes widen a bit, "An explosion? Where was it? This is the first I've heard of it.", she frowns a bit, "Wait a minute...What were -you- doing by exploding things anyway? Well, I guess that explains why you're in a Pub now. Understandable."
Alexander recieves his free drink on the house with a grin and a wink. He smiles a bit at Elizabeth, and shakes his head slightly before taking a sip, dropping his own voice back down to less than audible levels. "Can't blame a guy for trying. Almost worked, too." The smile widens into that trademark grin. "I'm not as dumb, or as crazy as I act, I assure you."
Tyrr moves toward the back room again. But before he disappears behind the locked door, he turns to face the table Alexander is at, looking directly at Alex, "Stop by sometime tomorrow morning, we've got to chat." he says across the room before disappearing behind the door.
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