Arek raised an eyebrow at this, the obligatory 'does not compute' running through the denim-hued draconian's head. If she remembered him, why didn't she remember Vharsuun?
"A chaos demon." he answered objectively, "But I think we may be getting ahead of ourselves. Take a step back - where do you know me from...?"
--------------------
"What sort of something crazy in particular?" Drago wanted to know, his tone targeted but at the same time distant, not coming across with any undue force, "Do you remember?"
"Oh..." he tapped a finger on the bar, "Which reminds me: do your cameras cover that particular booth...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Do not worry doctor. I merely aimed for his spinal column. He should survive. Though, I am worried about these runes." The german stalker said, calmly. "Is it a spell?"
The sword vanished into the machine's wrist as he bent to observe the strange figure. "What are you, geschopf?" The red stalker waited for a reply before moving.
Self-Proclaimed Number one Fanboi of the RP Forums and it's writers.
Me: How about "Zeus, The Pimp God"?
A friend: It'd be too hard to dress him up like a bull
--St. Martial: J.W.'s Lounge--
Chaos Red pounded his laptop. He was playing Italy for the first time in A&A and having a hard time of it. It didn't help matters that the idiot playing Germany wasn't supporting southern Europe and England had just secured Egypt.
"Time to hack the site again," he muttered and he used a simple SQL injection technique to buff up his defenses.
The bar was settling down, shifting from shotguns to sandwiches within the span of a few minutes.
He gazed at the oddball sights around the bar.
He hated this place, but he never seemed to get kicked out. He thought it was because the bartender knew Red was useful in a fight if things got rough. Well that, and he had shown the bartender how to hack iTunes.
The bartender was quite the L.A. Guns fan apparently.
So awaiting his next turn on A&A, Red kicked out his steel toe Doc Marten boots and watched what would happen next...
Jack didn't know whether to cheer or swear. He finally got to attack someone, although from the other's attacks, he couldn't tell if it had any effect or not. He finally gave in and cursed loudly, then stretched out his right arm and muttered a word under his breath. The air before his arm shimmered slightly, then got more intense until finally a Bane Mace commonly found among Arachnos was gripped in his hand.
"Ever since these stupid Rikti came along, this stupid planet's been training to their death's in psychic defenses" he muttered to himself angrily, spouting out curse words like it was his job. He heard the Stalker say something about the runes, and Jack could've read them if he wanted to, but his temper was extremely short, and reading wasn't the first thing to do on his list of priorities.
The mace began to glow as it built up kinetic charge. "I'd step back if I were you, these things usually got a blast radius to 'em" Jack said to no one in particular, and despite common sense dictating that he would wait for anyone to get clear of the figure, he fired off a very large blast from the mace towards the paralyzed person.
--St. Martial: Four Suits Casino: Room 1209--
The mysterious figure didn't reply to their queries. He merely sat there, laughing harder as the electricity arced about him and the runes turned a violent shade of red.
The lightning arced off the nearby furniture and crackled at the contractors. A fiery glow erupted from the man's eyes and his laugh started to get more haggard.
((It would probably be a good idea to vacate... I'm sure you all know about the destructive end of the Cyborg Pack...))
----------
--J.W.'s Lounge--
The bartender looked to the punk with the laptop and shouted.
"Hey! Quiet down over there, or I'll throw ya out!"
He then calmed and turned to Drago.
"Well we don't have security cameras on the tables for... um... general reasons... The boss is really more concerned about the cash register. But Harbinger was saying something about 'killing the Frog Prince before he could eat the princess' and was out the door."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
--J.W.'s Lounge--
Red snickered at the bartender, leaned his boots on the table (which he knew the staff hated) and reached for a Marlboro.
Then he remembered he was out, and had nothing but lint and pennies in his pocket.
"Wait. You say he was fine until he came back out from the bathroom?" Millions asked the bartender.
And as the boy did thus, Drago closely scrutinized the bartender, though of course the armored helm prevented much more than the unblinking glare of its eight crimson lenses from coming across there.
No cameras at the tables? As in no potential blackmail of unsavory customers? There weren't many establishments here that passed up such chances...and this didn't really look like one of them. Needless to say, Drago was quite skeptical of the bartender's candor. Luckily, he was a rather good judge of character.
Was the man really telling the truth? Or had he lied...?
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
--J.W.'s Lounge--
Red thought the question of cameras was interesting as well, but kept such thoughts to himself. The scene playing out in front of him was way out of his league and he knew it.
Still, with nowhere else to go, (and the possibility he could squat here after hours) it meant he would stick around for as long as the others would let him...
((Figured two things: 1) Someone far more attached to the story arc can make the decision on the security cameras. 2) The way the bartender answered the question, meant even Red realized there was a chance of a lie in there, and he became curious to the answer. I'm just providing sidebar here with my posts, and bumping the thread. I feel I am not engrained enough in protocol/tradition/characters here to twist the story in any strong direction))
Before Dr. Lore could swing her foot at the stranger's body, the electricity began to intensify. She recognized it: several cyborgs in her hospitals would spark with red lighting bolts before...
"RUN!" she yelled, charging back for the door. Her hands instinctively grabbed the person closest to the door to pull them with her to safety.
The Freedom Server Wallflower (shhh, sleepy)
Angelfish on DrunkDuck.com
Dr. Lore at HeroCon 2008
Arc 67690: Out For Blood
[ QUOTE ]
"A chaos demon." he answered objectively, "But I think we may be getting ahead of ourselves. Take a step back - where do you know me from...?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"Probably", Pax answered simply. "Keeping track of what happened when is hard, it's the price of time travel. But anyway do you remember in Spain after we killed that werewolf, when Tempus got all angry and started eating time and I disappeared? Or one of me disappeared anyway. That was the last time I saw you, that I can remember anyway. So either something's messing with my memory or our apparent second meeting hasn't happened for me yet even though it has for you."
She fell silent, thinking. Chaos demons weren't something she knew much about, but she knew any number of mages and sorcerors in any number of different places and times that would probably be willing to help. She made a note to go talk to some of them after they were finished with whatever this business here was, maybe she could figure a way to avert her presumed demise at the hands of this Vharsuun.
-------------
[ QUOTE ]
The lightning arced off the nearby furniture and crackled at the contractors. A fiery glow erupted from the man's eyes and his laugh started to get more haggard.
[/ QUOTE ]
True, Cassie could have just left the room. But Cassie was rather too stubborn for that. Instead, she flicked a hand at the man and a bolt of concussive force erupted from her fingers to blast him through the window he was in front of and thus cause whatever he was doing to hit only the empty air outside.
And if that didn't work, her next trick would be to cast an impenetrable detention field around him to stop whatever he was doing from affecting her or any of the others. Only if both those failed, would she consider vacating the premises. Though she'd probably consider activating her own nearly impenetrable personal forcefield and laughing as it deflected his attack before she'd consider leaving.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Rose watched Cassie hurl the body out of the window with a force bolt, saving her the trouble of having to pick it up. Still, she had hoped there would have been enough time to remove its head, you could learn all sorts of things about a person from their head.
The corpse explosion rattled the foundation of the building, and shattered most of the windows on both sides of the street. Brushing shattered glass from her waist length hair, Rose looked out the window.
"I really think we should collect whatever pieces of him we can find, but I really don't want to be the one to do it."
So she turned her attention to the room, looking for paperwork or a personal computer.
Infinity
Sam Varden 50 MA/Reg Scrap
Doomtastic 50 SS/Inv Brute
Ceus 50 Eng/Kin Corr
Cinderstorm 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
--St. Martial: Four Suits Casino: Room 1209--
((Didn't mean it was exactly the cyborg explosion, but you got the idea...))
The body of their assailant hurtled through the window and smashed through. Still-laughing, the body detonated mid-flight, shattering windows in a diameter of five floors. There was some light conflagration in the room with the mercenaries, but they were left relatively unharmed.
((Glass from the window had already been smashed out.))
The benefit of Cassie's action, other than saving the mercenaries from grievous damage, was that the room was left relatively undamaged.
Dynamo Rose was able to locate a laptop in the apartment's bedroom. It was still on and logged in.
----------
--St. Martial: J.W.'s Lounge--
((There's a faint explosion in the background... But that could be anything.))
The bartender got shifty eyed as the senior operative pressed him. He had half a mind to grab the shotgun and try to execute the meta humans right then and there, but then he'd be dead and J.W. would find a way to bribe the Circle of Thorns to torture his soul for eternity. Sweating a little, he decided to let them know.
"Well... Uh... Okay... Okay... There's a master camera behind the mirror behind me... I guess I forgot about it, heh..."
He reached under the counter. Seeing one of Drago's combat arms following him, he did it with gradual slowness. When he brought his hands back up, there was a small computer.
"This is keyed to the mirror cam... We hardly check it because it's mostly just videos of people checking their mouths and teeth, their nostrils, acne, or just making funny faces if they're not flipping somebody off behind them..."
He looked to the kid. Feeling absurd, he turned back to Harbinger.
"And yeah... You were fine until you went into the bathroom. No clue what happened to ya in there. Everything seems fine except the destroyed air freshener... But then... That thing never worked right. I figured you cut one before you flared up and booked out of here."
Harbinger looked at him oddly for a second. Then he turned to Millions and said "I was takin' a leak... Then there was a flash... And I was in Brickstown..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
--St. Martial: J.W.'s Lounge--
Chaos Red stood up after hearing an explosion not far off from his comfy booth.
He stood 6 foot 3, with an impressive frame. He had a crimson Mohawk haircut that was so stiff, one wondered if he used glue to hold it straight. He wore black Doc Marten boots, laced tightly with an almost fascist precision. Draped over his shoulders, was a long, black leather coat, well-worn and smooth with age. The sleeves of the coat were crudely cut off, exposing arms that were probably his most unique feature. Dancing and twisting from his shoulders to his wrists, were tattoos that seemed to flow and pulse with each beat of his heart. This was an old trick of the Tsoo tattoo artists, creating tattoo ink that seemed to ebb and flow (some called them living tattoos). A closer inspection however, would reveal that Reds tattoos moved in a much more mechanical rhythm than anything the Tsoo would craft.
Red bristled as a second explosion could be heard. Every hair on his body stood on end, and his eyes narrowed; he was clearly both nervous and eager to see what caused the sound. Like a young solider in a fox hole, he wanted to be brave, but didnt want to die.
Did anyone else hear that? he asked, snatching his laptop and stuffing it inside his long leather coat.
She peeked her head in the door to see the room undisturbed, save for the window, after the explosion. The stray thought of "now why the hell didn't I think of that" left her face beet red and resting in the palm of her hand as she sighed shakily.
Genuine embarassment.
She turned and helped the person she pulled with her back up to his feet. "Sorry, Jack." she muttered. "Real lady like of me."
As the shock of the earlier terror began to wear off, she stepped back into the room to help with the investigation. There was one potential lead in the paperwork Manning gave earlier: the "interesting case" in the Port Oakes hopsital, but first thing was first: see if there were anymore suprises in the appartment to be safe.
She wasn't sneaky about it (why bother now), but she checked the other rooms to see if anyone or anything else was going to jump on them as well.
The Freedom Server Wallflower (shhh, sleepy)
Angelfish on DrunkDuck.com
Dr. Lore at HeroCon 2008
Arc 67690: Out For Blood
((Dr. Lore has found a safe with a digital input lock under the counter in the kitchen.))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Jack saw his energy bolt fly everywhere after hitting the man. As he started to raise his arm to send the figure flying out the window, Dr. Lore came dashing at him, grabbing his shoulder and flinging him outside the room, Jack getting thrown into a wall, causing a considerable dent. His eyes flashed red, literally, behind his sunglasses as he got to his feet just in time to see the Mastermind do the same thing he would've done, with somewhat different powers, but the end result was the same. He watched the figure fly out the window and explode in mid-air, smashing glass and making the lights flicker.
Jack ignored the Dr.'s apology as he entered the room, sticking his head out of the blown window and trying to see if the man's head had survived. Seeing as though he could not do much from the floor he was on, he jumped out of the window, descending slowly until he touched the ground. People were looking around confused and scared from the explosion, and as they saw a man survive a jump like that, most started to run.
If any body parts had survived the blast, Jack would find them, and if not, he would fly back up the room and assist the others in their search.
"Hmh." Arek gave an understanding nod at this, leaving it at that. He simply didn't have enough information to render anything useful from it, "In that case, let me merely say it is pleasant to see you again, regardless of current state."
He listened half-eared while Wong finished giving the list of villains the PPD had been able to identify to Cher'tak, then stepped closer to the Rikti to get his attention, "We already have someone working from that end, Warmaster. I suspect we are best served by taking up the trail with Bronze shield. I would be grateful if you joined us..."
--------------------
"Seems a likely suspect." Drago returned in reference to the destroyed air freshener, "Could've held any umber of chemical agents. We'll need to check it. But first..."
A few quick keystrokes called up the footage of the mirror camera from the mentioned week ago, Drago zipping through what didn't interest them until he found the spot that did: when Harbinger Daemon had been visited by the man in the suit the bartender had mentioned.
Drago turned to the red-skinned demon, "Any chance you recognize him...?"
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
--St. Martial: J.W.'s Lounge--
Red had enough. Demons arguing about bathroom freshners, shotguns, sandwiches and distant explosions which everyone seemed to ignore as everyday occurence.
He may be a homeless scoundrel, but even Red had limits to his discomfort.
He made his way to the exit, walking right past a creature that would give most teenagers his age hellish nightmares.
"God damn Hallow'een here every night. What happened to all the normal people?"
He stopped briefly, preened in front of the mirror behind the bar, waved at it, and then began a heavy walk to the door.
So far, so good. No one else in the appartment as far as the good doctor could tell. Her search took her to the kitchen where she started with the lower cabnets. The third to the left yielded a safe.
"Hullo." she instinctively greeted it with a smile. Anything could be in it, but with the owner gone it looked mostly up for grabs. Her hand dipped into a pants pocket for her make-up case, which she squeezed open for the powder blush. Using the tiny brush available to her, she twirled the tip with the naked color and blew in front of the keys.
Fifty-fifty, there'd be fingerprints.
The Freedom Server Wallflower (shhh, sleepy)
Angelfish on DrunkDuck.com
Dr. Lore at HeroCon 2008
Arc 67690: Out For Blood
Sitting down on the chair, Rose propped her feet up on an ottoman as she set the laptop on her lap, digging through the files.
Why, it would sure be swell if this guy kept a blog or diary filled with detailed descriptions of the suspicious characters he'd been noticing.
Failing that, recent contracts, notes about who he talked too, his bank account numbers (for entirely different reasons,) any kind of clues as to who wanted him missing.
"So...why kidnap Regens? Some elaborate brainwashing scheme? Some brand of mad science?" She asked the question aloud, looking up at the others.
Infinity
Sam Varden 50 MA/Reg Scrap
Doomtastic 50 SS/Inv Brute
Ceus 50 Eng/Kin Corr
Cinderstorm 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
--St. Martial: Four Suits Casino--
Outside the blasted windows, aside from a mix of curious and ticked-off onlookers (some of whom must have been utilizing the rooms the windows had just been blasted out of), there was nothing remaining of the body. There was a fine black powder clinging to the walls. It was possibly all that remained of the mysterious assailant.
In room 1209, however, Rose found the laptop's files to be truly engrossing. Aside from the usual stash of explicit videos and photographs, she found some dirt dug up on various players throughout the Isles. It was mostly stuff she already knew, though, and what she didn't was just irritating hearsay ("Mako wears ladies underwear? Right...")
However, she found one folder marked "WTH" and popped it open. Inside were video files of surveillance footage and image files of photographs of the surrounding area at various times of the day. She sped through the videos as quickly as she could, but didn't see much out of the ordinary, just people going about their business.
The photos weren't much better. Still people going about their business. Always different people except for one thing: they were always in the same crisp black business suit. They weren't like the Marcones, who were often wearing bulky suits to conceal their weapons. These suits were much like the business attire of Crey, only these people lacked the usual "Redfang" accessories their agents usually sported. They also didn't have the bodyguard entourages they were known for.
At the end of the folder was a text document. Dynamo opened it up and started looking at what seemed to be a haphazard journal log.
--Blight Carver's Journal--
-Day 1- I never kept one of these before, but I need to do something or I'll think I'm going crazy. I got done with a job for Stella the Mouth, and as I was getting home, I could sense them. I normally don't travel with my mote camouflage running, it feels like the air's going through me, but I knew I had to get away from them. I ducked into an alley and tried to get a good look, there was this guy in a suit, just smoking a cigarette under the lamplight.
-Day 2- Nothing new. Tried calling Terrence, but the doc still isn't answering my calls. I swear to God, if he's sold me out...
-Day 3- They were out there again. They look like everyone else just... Odd. I don't know how to describe it. It's something in the way they move, the way they all have their faces in the same blank expression. It reminds me of that freaky time I ran into those Nemesis Automatons, only less like dolls and more like... Alive. I took some pictures with my cellphone after I activated my mote field and made sure they couldn't see me. I also put up some video cameras to keep an eye on the neighborhood. I added a mote field around each one, but those only last a day or so, and who knows what those spiderling bots will do if they find them?
-Day 4- No word from Stella. She said she's got nothing for me. No word from Terrence. It's starting to look like he wants his research back... Problem is, I'm his research. I started considering buying some guns, in case my own fighting skills don't suffice. Of course, if they don't, I can't see what a gun can do. Spiderlings got camera five. They even cleaned the epoxy off the concrete that moored it in place.
-Day 5- I got it! These guys are way too high class for Terry. They MUST be working for Crey. My videos show them calling somewhere regularly, except camera five, it just shows me videos of some girl taking a shower. Something's wrong with those robots, but I'm not about to start complaining.
I just need to find the number of that guy who contacted me after I freaked out about Uqua.
-Day 6- Something's up. They're all looking at my window now. I never go anywhere without my mote field running, but I think they can somehow see through it. It's looking like Crey's after me for some dumb reason, and Terrence might have told them about my mote field stealth system and a possible way to see through it... I knew that [censored] would sell me out.
Maybe one way to get through this. I found the guy's name and number, Manning. I'm gonna call him and give him a piece of my mind.
--End of Journal--
Fingerprints did indeed show up on the keypad of the safe. They were horribly mangled, but Dr. Lore didn't need to know exactly whose they were.
However, there were five spaces for the code, but only four numbers had been marked, one, two, three and four.
----------
--St. Martial: J.W.'s Lounge--
"Sorry, sir," the brute grumbled, "I mean... I'm starting to remember the conversation, but I never knew the guy. He just showed up one day, started telling me he had a lucrative job offer, and I had a hangover and had just got done getting a refresher course in how hard the Brawler can hit someone... A lot of freaks in these Isles think he's a pushover, but you catch him in the wrong mood, he can turn you into his own personal litter box. The guy owns a chihuahua... You're not even used by a cat..."
((EDITED: to add which numbers were marked on the safe.))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
[ QUOTE ]
"In that case, let me merely say it is pleasant to see you again, regardless of current state."
[/ QUOTE ]
"'Current' is relative", Pax replied. "Though it's good to see you again too. Anyway, where do we find this Bronze Shield guy?"
--------------
[ QUOTE ]
"So...why kidnap Regens? Some elaborate brainwashing scheme? Some brand of mad science?" She asked the question aloud, looking up at the others.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Taking a completely random guess, I'd say there's more than a little mad science involved", Cassie replied with what was almost a laugh before turning to her bots. "Go take a look around, guys. We need information." Immediately the six robots did exactly that, spreading out to search the whole apartment. Stealthy they were most definitely not, especially Mac who roughly tore a chunk out of the wall in trying to go through a door far too small for him, but if there was anything of use that hadn't already been found they would most probably find it.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
Stahlhund decloaked as he nodded in agreement to Cassie. "I agree. This is quite interesting and part of the reason I decided to join. Now, I will begin my search as well, if you ladies will excuse me.." The machine said, his thick german accent hinted with a metallic twang.
(Bah! I hate work..........)
Self-Proclaimed Number one Fanboi of the RP Forums and it's writers.
Me: How about "Zeus, The Pimp God"?
A friend: It'd be too hard to dress him up like a bull
Being tied down from the dark tendrills had frozen Dr. Lore in place as she tried to fight them off. But when he fell, she stood up and managed to shout "Don't kill him" when the runes formed.
She already had a bad day at work, and one guy they can press for information on what the hell was going on was being difficult. With a frustrated growl, she started to march toward the slumped body, runes or no runes.
Permitting, she was going to give this son of a [witch] a swift kick in the gut to at least aleve the frustration.
The Freedom Server Wallflower (shhh, sleepy)
Angelfish on DrunkDuck.com
Dr. Lore at HeroCon 2008
Arc 67690: Out For Blood