@Doc Doctor
@Bright_Ops
@WiseDragonGirl
@mdk
@Holmishire
@PlatinumSkink
@Cruallassar
Like everything else about New Nemea, the interior of the car featured remarkably anachronistic aesthetics. Anybody who had seen a stretch limousine before would have been able to identify it as one, but the interior décor would have driven even the most unconventional interior designers mad. The seats were all made of carved and treated wood upholstered with canvas, while the window curtains were all made from a fine cream-colored silk. Most of the interior paneling and details were made from molded brass, and most of the controls for the air conditioning, radio, and television were conspicuously large arrangements of pewter buttons and dials. The interior lighting took the form of several luminescent, orchid-shaped arrangements along the walls – in addition to light, they seemed to emit a faint blue gas that rose and pooled against the limousine’s roof, forming gaseous eddies whenever one of the passengers made any abrupt movements. Set against the back wall was a wide-screened television rimmed with what the discerning eye could have distinguished as elaborately shaped and engraved electrum. A combination saloon and stereo system took up most of the space along the left-hand wall, hewn mostly from wood but adorned with handsome brass caps and rails. The selection of drinks was most politely described as eccentric, with some of the bottles either faintly shaking or glowing ominously, if not both.

The view outside the limousine’s windows was somewhat more quaint. Any corner of the ‘city’ of New Nemea could have been readily mistaken for a rural European village street. The ground itself between the rough-worn sidewalks was cobblestone; the residences and buildings passing by all hewn from wood and primitive caulking. Standing in stark contrast were the lights at each intersection – large levitating spherical constructs of yet more engraved pewter and brass, idly listing to-and-fro in the air and secured in placed only by loose tethers between the nearest buildings. Each one emitted a hum that could be heard audibly even from within the limousine, and their lights had a distinctly neon brilliance.

Most of the people outside wore the kind of simple, casual clothing expected of average city-dwellers, but occasionally there would pass amongst them an individual wearing curious adornments – a woman with glowing orange eyes wearing a full ball-gown in open day, rough looking men wearing chainmail over brand hoodies, shadier looking men wearing fluted mail underneath tailored suits, and the occasional, poorly-disguised, seething mass of centipedes contriving to ambulate in a humanoid form hidden from sight by cloaks and brass masks.
The chauffeur for the limousine – clearly visible in the front seat through the glass partition between the front and back – was a generically handsome man with an earnest smile wearing a sharp, pressed uniform. His hands appeared to be painted silver, and he constantly emitted a very faint ticking noise.

The limousine stopped at a particularly empty intersection as the chauffeur patiently waited for the levitating light to change. The interior of the limousine, previously dimly lit, was suddenly flooded with natural light as the rising sun broke through the blockade of buildings to the East – clearly illuminating the occupants to each other.

@Terminal

Ngh. That had gone terribly. Okay. Where was she now? And why was there a damp paper on her face…?

Amelie lifted her hands and took the paper off her face, assuming it wasn’t attached somehow, and then inspected it. Her expression was startled, as the young beige-blonde girl read the words. … She was indeed the one who was lost, now. She crumpled the note with a bit of distaste and threw the remains down on the floor of the vehicle. It was likely a bad idea to keep it around, as it was the product of another magician. … Maybe she’d pick it up and throw it out the window later.

Grabbing the sides of her cloak to pull around her a bit, Amelie looked around. She was in a limo. A strangely extravagant one, with very particular tastes. Now, she could be fine with some eccentric design-decisions, but that gas was REALLY irking her. That really didn’t belong there, which made her believe she might be in some magical trap of Penny’s, or some ally of Penny. The sounds from the buildings she was hearing were also building a very eerie atmosphere. And she was most DEFINITELY not touching any of those drinks…

There were others around her. They weren’t reacting to her as if she had just popped out of nowhere. Questions swirled inside her head, and she turned to look out the window to confirm her location. Outside, she saw a normal rural town with strange neon lights and normal people… and then flinched seeing that wasn’t entirely the case. Something definitely wasn’t right here!

Agitated, as Penny had promised her death yet not how this was going to happen, Amelie asked her first question out loud with distress clear in her face.

‘Where are we going?’ she asked, mainly towards the chauffeur on the other side of the glass partition, looking past the rest. Of course, if any of the other passengers knew and answered, that would be nice as well. There were some oddities among these as well… Amelie simply had to keep calm and identify the nature of the threat and then attempt avoiding it with any means necessary.

@Terminal

Kael looks around the...seriously ornate carriage?...a bit disoriented from his sudden relocation. His first reaction is to look at the other people with him, of course. His eye is first drawn to the knight. Why is he in a carriage with a knight, he wonders? Then, perhaps more interestingly...why is one of the other passengers ticking? No, two of them? And humming? No wait, the humming is coming from outside...barzul, that ranger certainly did pick an interesting place for a magic demonstration, didn't he? The teenager takes a quick break from trying to figure out his surroundings and looks at the charm his mentor had given him for a moment. No sense in trying to use it now, but it felt different from before...he didn't sense the magic ready to be used as he'd been taught. He puts it down again as the younger girl asks where they are going...wait, so she doesn't know either? Some mage must have a lot of time on their hands to create a dimension like this...magic seems to be everywhere! "I'd like to know the answer to that question too, please." He quickly says.
He then takes a second to shield his eyes from the rest of the carriage and looks at the charm again, using his Ethereal Sight enchantment as Cruallassar had taught him. He doubted that would actually tell him anything beyond how much power was still contained within it, since he hadn't learned to read spells or anything yet...but hell, it was practice. As long as he didn't let anyone else see his eyes glowing green for a moment, it couldn't hurt...Kael hadn't the slightest clue how these unknowns might react to that.

After receiving the e-mail, Andy immediately altered his plans. He sent the flight information back in an attachment, called his brother to inform him about the new destination and re-packed his bag. There were a few garments he wouldn't need at his new destination, so there was no need to bring them. The flight itself was tedious, just one of the many flight he had done, but it was one of the best ways to travel the world.

The next part of his travel was much more interesting. The city itself was unlike he had ever seen and the limousine itself was pretty strange too, especially the blue gas pooling against the roof. This wasn't exactly what he had imaged after reading he would be picked up by a carriage/van kind of vehicle. But hey, it was a limo, he wouldn't complain about it. While it was obvious he wasn't alone it was hard to make out any details of the other passengers in the dim light, but when the limousine stopped at the intersection and light flooded in he was able to see everyone. A divers group of people for sure, he noticed how a man pinched the bridges of his nose and smiled a bit. How often had he seen a colleague do the exact same thing, accompanied by a sigh?

He leaned forward to inspect the strange bottles when one of the other passengers asked her question, but he didn't feel curious enough to open one of them, who knew what was in them? As another one of the passengers asked his question he looked up in surprise. Two people here had no idea where they were going?

"Well, I can't speak for everyone here," he said to them, "but I'm on my way to see a patient."

To Luca, the most remarkable part of his surroundings were the several passengers not ticking. Naturals. He ought to have been on his best behavior, but circumstances being what they were, he was grateful simply for consciousness. He sat quietly with his head bowed -- just as he'd found himself upon waking, unable to move. His eyes remained fixed on the small plaque in his palm, until he was able to conjure some small movement in his fingers. With his first movements he turned his hand over, concealing the missive against his lap, and then sat there motionless once again, hoping no one had noticed.

"Where are we going?" asked an unfamiliar voice.

"I'd like to know the answer to that question too, please," asked another.

Then, after a pause, "Well I can't speak for everyone here, but I'm on my way to see a patient."

Luca's eyes flicked up. He chanced only the briefest glance around the cabin, just enough to bewilder himself at the strange decor and the stranger compatriots, then lowered his head again. The red-haired man seemed more glowering than 'dorky,' but could only be the one mentioned in his message. So then. Stay close to that one.

Perhaps it was only his imagination, but Luca thought he felt eyes on him. He raised his head and opened his eyes, or tried to -- only the left responded. He was staring into a mask of metal with darkened slits. I will never understand the wealthy, he thought, assuming this strange disguise to be some sort of Corporate-natural fashion. He turned his attention to the others, avoiding his red-haired assignment, and settled on the one who had spoken of a patient.

"Good...... morning?" he said, feeling foolish. He straightened up, and, still a bit stiff, jostled some of the drinks with an involuntary movement of his arm. No harm done. "Sorry," he said anyway. More than anything he wanted to ask where he was, who they were, what they were doing here -- but his missive seemed to imply some sort of mischief would soon be expected of him. He didn't know whether these naturals were his partners or his targets. For now he would have to settle for trying to follow his instructions to the letter, and keeping his head down.

Slumped in her seat to avoid as best she could breathing in the blues gases flooding to the ceiling, Ariett fiddled with one of the many bottles made available in the limousine. This one in particular was quite round, with a simple cork and adorned with what appeared to be a collection of runic bandages. She glanced over at those who had spoken up, and then turned to look at the apparent knight—where her gaze lingered longer than on the others—before turning back to idly fiddle with bottle.

"You two look awfully young to be driving around without knowing where you're going." Without lifting her gaze, she addressed the knight, her tone low and indicating that she only half expected a response. "They yours?"

The moment that he had stepped inside of the carriage and closed the door, Fortune knew that he had made a mistake trusting the letter that was currently nestled in a shirt pocket under his armor. Just looking around at the state of the 'carriage', the various and vastly different people and the state of the world outside of the windows were more then enough to suggest that he wasn't anywhere that could be located on one of the maps of the world...

According to common knowledge and myth, stepping into the cursed magical forest of Athel Loren was said to have an effect of transporting you into a different world but he hadn't been anywhere near those cursed trees, let along taken the truly brave act of stepping into said forest. So what left at least two things that he knew of; Either he was at the mercy of a dangerously powerful wizard... or worse, a daemon itself.

Despite a small gulp, he did he best to remain calm and keep his emotions under control; Panicking now would only screw him over. The opportunity to break free of... whatever vile sorcery this was would come, but he needed to bide his time. Watching the others in the carriage carefully, his eyebrow raised from under his helm at the woman who came over to ask if some of the other passengers where his.

Taking a moment to clear his throat, his voice sounded like it came from a young man... who had seen a lot and was mature beyond his years. "Ma'am, I have never seen either of them before in my life."

@Holmishire

The spars exchang of word amongst the a passenger wa interrupted by the sound of the a chauffeur rapping on th glass partition with one of he a hand, lowering it a moment later to speak to all of them.
"Be ready for anything people, the fix i in." He said with a backward glanc, flashing a worried smil their way as h gestured with a finger through the front a windshield. Clearly visibl walking down th middl of the a intersection wer four individual - the first two wer worn-looking men wearing rusted and tattered a chainmail over baggy a jogging clothe, both carrying what the discerning ey would hav identified as a Vector submachin gun. They both looked anxiou and held their arms poorly, indicating they wer unfamiliar with th a weapon. The third individual looked to be a knight in a full plat armor carrying a modern compound crossbow, who were currently in th proces of calmly sliding a fat, cylinder-tipped bolt into th a tiller' slid. Finally, the fourth a person wer simply a tall teenager wearing a high-school uniform of some sort, complet with logo - who had run out ahead of the other thre and deployed a tripod-mounted, spiked rod in the middl of the a street. A moment later h ros and ran off, heading away from whatever wa about to happen.
The audible hum from th a levitating spher above the a intersection had notably amplified, and with a dull roar it unleashed a searing, jagged lanc of a electricity at the thre a blackguard advancing toward the a limousin - only to bend and arc directly into the a tripod mounted spik instead.
Looking out from th a limousin in other direction would reveal what th previously bustling a street wer now completely vacant, save for a few harried-looking a pedestrian who looked to be hurrying rapidly in th opposite direction of th a scen.

@Terminal

When Donny was on an assignment, he took care not to make his presence obvious. He hid and stalked, kept a low profile. A situation such as this one, however, prompted him to do everything in his power to overcome it. He processed information quickly and efficiently, siphoned it through the contours of his brain to discern every detail vital to his survival. Were any of the other passengers in on the trap? Not likely. He doubted that any man savvy to the trap would willingly lock himself into a confined space with the world's top killer. Donny knew that contrary to popular belief, motor vehicles were actually quite terrible at stopping even weak bullets. He also noted that what he presumed to be a motherfucking railgun was pointed directly at them and getting ready to pull a Jimmy Neutron. With the catchphrase "Gotta Blaaast!" echoing through Donny's head, he formulated a sequence of actions. He suspected the worst scenario for each possibility of escape. The doors were likely locked by some mechanism that he could not manipulate, and even if he did step out, the gunmen would open fire. Why had they not fired yet though? Perhaps the limo actually was bullet proof, but not railgun proof. The tripod seemed to be a fixed device, but even if it wasn't, Donny doubted that he could guess when it was going to fire. Perhaps by shooting the large sphere charging the weapon, he could impede its progress? At any rate, there was no time for hesitation in the reptilian mind of the hitman. Shoot first, ask questions later.

Donny leaned forwards and his hands rose smoothly, naturally, to such an extend that even if someone had seen the gun in it, a split second might have passed where they didn't realize that it was a tool of murder about to be used. In the confines of the limo, what sounded like the end of the world erupted from the Magnum's barrel, the gun bucking thrice in the killer's grip. The first shot not only obliterated the glass partition and the chauffeur's head, but also shattered a fist-sized hole in the front windshield, cracks spiderwebbing in all directions. The partition and chauffeur had to have been dealt with first so that the other two shots wouldn't be obstructed. The same two shots that jellified the brains of the two men holding the Vectors an instant after the chauffeur bit the dust.

Know knowing he could escape by way of force, Donny was quick to put a bullet through the window he was next to before smashing the rest of the damaged glass out with a lead-lined fist. All the while he was moving after having knocked off a few of the enemies, Donny bellowed out orders that he hoped the others might see as beneficial to not dying horribly.

"Trah to shut up thah vents! Stawp that gas! Try yuh door locks!"

@Terminal

Kael hears the fellow in the front of the carriage warn them about...a fix being in? Not sure about that...but the knight with a crossbow, other two guys with...folded up crossbows?...and the arc of lightning magic in front of the vehicle seemed pretty indicative. He keeps his hand up in front of his still glowing eyes for a moment, before blinking and ending the magic so he could look at them with normal vision and process whatever it was he was seeing. Suddenly, a sound like the end of the world seemed to come from his left, as glass shattered and the driver's head exploded from whatever it was in the hand of the other passenger. Some kind of magically charged dart launcher perhaps? Cruallassar had arrows enchanted to fly at speeds faster than sound, maybe this was something similar on a smaller scale? Either way, whatever it was felt like it was bursting Kael's eardrums as well as the glass of the carriage and the driver's head, and the lad jerked away toward the other side of the carriage in response. The guy was shouting something while he...did whatever it was he did...but with Kael's ears ringing, he only heard a few words of it and those seemed as unintelligible as whatever was going on. Vents? What vents, what about vents? Gas? Whatever was going on, it wasn't for Kael, and he turned towards the door and tried to find something to open it with...pulling a lever that looked like it might do the trick in the process. With his other hand, he reassured himself that his bow was still to hand, if in a tight space. The charm went back into a pocket...useless though it seemed to have become, having it was surely better than not having it.

Andy turned his head when he heard a good morning and noticed how a young man looked at him, after which the young man jostled some bottles. As that was going on he heard a female voice ask one of the other passengers if 'they' were 'theirs'. He was about to return the polite greeting when the chauffeur tactfully got their attention and warned them.

"What fix?" he asked as he looked ahead, noticing the two men with guns, the knight with a compound crossbow and the teen putting up some kind of spiked rod. The worried smile from the driver suddenly made sense. A rebellion? Were they caught in a local conflict? The somewhat ominous hum coming from the sphere didn't make him feel any better about the situation and he watched how a bolt of lightning moved to the three approaching men, only to be attracted to the rod instead. A lightning rod? Was the lightning from the sphere aimed at these people with weapons and had they known that?

Before he could even ask their chauffeur the question a deafening bang sounded through the cabin and killed the man. With his hands pressed against his ears he glared at the madman with his gun. "Are you trying to give us permanent damage to our ears?" he growled. "Why did our driver have to die?"
Whatever the reason, the gingered-hair man seemed to try to escape the limousine through the window, just like the young black-haired man tried the door on the other side. He cursed under his breath as he grabbed his backpack, he wanted to be ready to leave if needed. He looked through the windshield to see what the surviving knight was up to and to get a quick estimate of the situation. He didn't exactly want to find out what the fat, cylinder-tipped bolt was, but he wasn't all that happy with the electrical spheres above the road either. Although with the rod still in place he figured they wouldn't have to worry about being killed by lightning for the moment. And pedestrians had walked around safely before those people had showed up.

Keeping his eyes on the crossbow-wielding knight he moved towards the door the young man was trying. For now the most danger seemed to come from that knight, not taking the gunman into account who had killed their driver and the two gun-wielding men on the junction. The chauffeur had been worried about the people on the junction after all.

Luca covered his ears until the shooting was over, then twisted about until he could see the damage done. This man is insane! he thought. Before he could make sense of all the death, the shooter -- his mark -- was clearing glass and barking orders. Luca couldn't have understood the sound of his own name in that instant, and he certainly couldn't comprehend the shouted accent -- but the gist, he thought, was clear. I have to get out of here. Or maybe that was his instinct speaking?

Luca threw his shoulder into the nearest door, but it didn't budge. He pressed a button which might have been the latch in his mind, but it was in fact a power-window switch. He pressed and pulled everything, and eventually found the proper handle and pulled. Nothing happened -- then again perhaps he had inadvertently locked the door with all his fumbling over the various controls.

"We have to get out of here!" His voice was frantic, and his hands moved over all the same buttons and switches a second time.

Someone else didn’t know where they were going, either. It was possible they were all in this situation for reasons similar to her own. … Which would make them Amelie’s allies. She wasn’t too sure about that one yet, however.

‘I’m not someone’s. I’m on my own,’ she affirmed, frowning at the woman that had implied otherwise. That said, it would be awfully nice to have a pillar of stability right about now.

Then the chauffeur made his little call to their attention, and Amelie blinked in realization to the guns wielded by the people ahead of her and a use of electricity that had to have been magical. Except, it seemed to have been a defensive measure? It was to ensure the attackers weren’t zapped. The fact they were in a car and cars’ supposed immunity to electrical attacks came to her mind.

‘That sphere might zap us if we go out,’ she warned, blinking up at it, then that man she didn’t know was called Donny started shooting and Amelie jumped in personal panic.

Just in case, she lifted her hands to create a orb of power between the car and the weapon-wielders outside, hoping to make any projectiles aimed at them turn about thirty degrees towards the sky rather go directly at them. The orb would take a second to form but was still pretty close to the car, so a diameter of two meters was still possible. It was a shield to protect the car by redirecting enemy fire while still allowing ally fire to pass through. The orb would be visible by somewhat distorted light within the orb, but could still be seen and aimed through.

At the moment, it seemed the people around her were allies. Amelie was just going to assume they were right now. She kept panicked part attention to the people around her and see how they were faring with their varying attempts, but she wasn’t trusting anyone but herself with the group’s protection.

‘I-I’m covering us! They shouldn’t be able to hit us through my Redirection Orbs...’ she said, desperation in her voice, not entirely sure about announcing her existence as a magician, but the situation called for it. She kept her wits about for sudden attacks that she needed to redirect, knowing her own limits.

… But of course, if they left the car and spread out over a larger area, her own ability to defend them would also be spread out. Then, she’d prioritize herself.

Having dropped the bottle at the sound of gunshots, Ariett dropped to the floor and promptly swore. Knowing nothing of the man, she couldn't tell if he was an off-duty governmental officer or just a dangerous criminal. Either way, he appeared to be killing without cause and as far as she was concerned that made him just as dangerous to the surviving passengers of the vehicle as to their supposed aggressors outside.

She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and dialed emergency services, hoping that there would be proper reception in this messed-up town.

@Cruallassar

As Kael pulled on th bras-lever seated to th wall th door popped open - jusd as th car-door lock, a knob of carved pewter, slams down du to Luca' panicked handling of th control at th second door on th right-hand side of th limousin a way down.

@WiseDragonGirl@mdk

Andrea reache Luca' sid immediately saw whad th softly ticking boy wa, to h panicked handling of th control, locked id - apparently every other door to th limousine, sav for th rear righd-hand door which th younger man with th bow had jusd opened. Turning hi attention back to th crossbow wielding knighd, Andrea saw th figure level th compound crossbow fire th bold. To Andrea' peripheral vision, h saw th window for th forward righd-hand car-door sliding down as Luca wildly jostled a bras switch.

@PlatinumSkink

Th fad bolt th armored figure had fired wa on a course whad took id directly through th broken windshield into th limousine' interior had id nod been for Penny' well-placed redirection orb. Th bold sail cleanly into th field jerked upward, sailing oud of th field a good thirty degrees off-targed sailing over th limousin entirely.
Unfortunately, th bold was evidently heavy - less than halfway over th car id losd mosd of id momentum after reaching th apex for id arc, began to descend. As th limousine had no rear-window - with th back wall taken up by th television screen - nobody saw whad happened when th bold hid th trunk. Everyone certainly hears id though - a keening wail began to reverberate through th car, like a melodramatic sigh. Shortly after id was followed by th slow, crunching, grinding, seething sound of metal slowly being ground down or compacted...

@Holmishire

"This is 144, whad is your emergency?" A polit voice came through Ariett' phone after th firsd ring. Sh could distinctly hear a tell-tal ticking nois from th other end of th lin.

@Terminal

Kael...after getting the door open...leaped out of the carriage and nocked an arrow, keeping behind the open door in case someone...like the knight...shot at him. But before he was able to shoot his arrow, he saw the knight topple over as another earsplitting bang rang out. Of course, that bang did nothing to mitigate the sound of something eating the carriage, and Kael slowly backed away from it as he put away his arrow. "People may want to get out of the carriage, I think..." He called, as he started circling behind the vehicle to find out what the noise was.

Andy moved over to the young man frantically trying any switch and lever he could find and he reached out to grab his arm. He noticed how the knight fired his shot, but that it moved over the vehicle instead. "Thanks for the, ehm, redirection orb," he said to the woman who apparently had created them. What it was or how she had done it were questions that didn't matter at the moment.

He turned his attention back to the young, black haired man who... ticked. Whatever, that didn't matter now either. "There's an open window, get to it," he instructed. The door on the other side was open, but crowding the one open door didn't seem necessary with a perfectly good Dukes of Hazzard style exit present. The knight and the girls needed to be able to get out too after all.

That moment he heard the crunching and grinding sound coming from the back. "Get out, now," he urged everyone as he too moved to exit the limousine.

@PlatinumSkink

"A shooting, three dead." As she responded to the woman on the phone, she pushed herself off the floor. With the grinding noise coming from the back of the vehicle, she agreed with the other passengers that it was time to get out. As the doctor was leading one boy out the window, that should leave just her and the teen girl. One hand still holding the phone to her ear, she forcefully grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her towards the open door. She didn't know how much more time they had, but if necessary, she was ready to throw the girl out ahead of her.

She figured she could afford to be a little rude, given the circumstances.