@tex @Patches

Jenso smiled at Mikey. His first response was vague and somewhat suspicious, but it seemed like Mikey was elaborating on what he wanted to build right after, wether he was aware that he was doing it or not. It managed to make Jenso relax somewhat. If Mikey truly had ill intent, he might have been more agressive or secretive and asked Jenso to leave or anything of the sort. He didn't seem too mad at Jenso for asking what he was making. He seemed quite fascinated on the subject. "I wouldn't mind helping you out, if you want. I know it's none of my business, but that machine that you're talking about sounds interesting." He said.

@Patches @Afro Samurai @tex
Lucy laughed as she continued walking, addressing Quinn. "Jeez Q, sounds like ya had a rough day. I'd say ya deserve a bit of R&R after all that. You'll hafta tell me more once we get settled in." She didn't show it outwardly, but there was some part of her that was a bit worried at what Quinn said. She knew the boy could handle himself, but he had always struck her as the kind of guy that could get in over his head without realizing it. She'd have to find out more later, she decided.

Lucy also felt like she had to be careful what she said around Mazone, however. Something about the man told her there was more to him than he was letting on to. Nothing too worrying, just something to keep an eye on. "Well, ya comin' or not?" she shot back to the dark skinned man as she began to head off, not addressing Nino since she knew that the cat would probably want to keep a low profile after his outburst.

@Patches
Kordan rolled his eyes at the mention of a bomb. He'd crunched a door, survived setting himself on fire, and rode on a rocket-ride on the way up. The fact that Yoshimi still thought heat and fire could hurt him was adorable... wait, shit! It could hurt Yoshimi! Using his natural storm powers, he whipped up a whirlwind that blasted the guard into the nearby brick wall.

"Yoshimi, get down, and get behind me!"

He used his gauntlet, summoning forth the liquid waters of yim. Swirling them in front of them, he created a half dome around the guard, magically freezing and hardening it. Hopefully he was strong enough to contain the blast, and not the other way around. You know, the way that caused icy spears to shoot into his flesh.

@Patches
@MercuryNH

Daud's helmet was knocked crooked by the push, making him look rather silly to the rest of the crowd. He didn't flinch, however, instead continuing to stare at the guard. He didn't let out any words or sounds, like he was a statue. However, it was when Mercury spoke and intercepted the two, he finally said something.

"Very well." He said, straightening his helmet, still staring at the guard. "I'll let him go. I wouldn't to ruin our host's carpet with his blood."

Turning around, he began to walk away from the guard, hoping to catch up to Gregor and Gustrag before things got any uglier.

Mazone followed in tow. He was still eerie of their destnation and what he might behold once the group arrived. He kept his guard up, his eyes always on the lookout for any troublemakers of any sort. He found Quinn, the newest arrival, more of an oddity than himself. How did he get those legs? A bad bet? A fight? They looked real, but something about them still spoke 'artificial.' He took a moment to observe the entire group--a mysterious sweetheart, a talking cat, a servant-boy-robot-courier, and himself. Could the universe bring together a more misfit bunch? Probably.

He just hoped he could survive long enough to make a little money and win a few Waltzing contests.

"You know, I am sensitive. My feelings bruise."

@Yomojo @tex @Patches

@Jensoman@Patches

---

Mikey looked over his options and smiled, ignoring Jenso at first as excitement overtook his senses. "I uh, yeah. Planned, sure," He stammered, as tremors coursed through his hands. He steadied himself and nodded. "I'm working on something a little different than a normal extractor," Mikey said briefly, grouping the materials Gossick displayed into one little bundle in the center of the counter. "'Course I may be several years away from a breakthrough," He mumbled, "All of these, how much?" Mikey looked at Jenso briefly and huffed at his offer. "You know anything about Magical theory and the properties of Yim under a vacuum, or excessive pressure?" He asked sarcastically, assuming Jenso was ignorant on the sciences of magic.

@tex@Jensoman
The price seemed to be reasonable for them. For people who had access to it like through an extractor, it wasn't too hard to get; the only trouble was acquiring the rune batteries and the extractor itself. The liquid one seemed to be more expensive than the others, while the bag of sandy material seemed to be the cheapest of the bunch. How different? Gossick asked, looking curious. Barging into his conversation with Jenso, Gossick answered his questions for him It depends on the current property of the Yim in question and what a Caster or Rune Machine does with it. Pure magic though, it can be quite malleable under pressure, while in a vacuum... Gossick paused, biting his lip I haven't tested it...

@Ember Storm

trying to find what to say next. He had a few options here. With a quick burst of magic he could stun everyone in this room and make a run for it, but that'll result in a chase. He could talk his way out of it, but he would likely not be able to convince the guard to the back room that he was a VIP even with the crowd. He needed a distraction.

@MercuryNH@hefewy
"Who the hell do you think you guys are?!" The inebriated guard shouted, getting angrier. Daud ignoring him, Mercury not giving him what he wants despite his flirting. These two didn't know who they were messing with. Gustrag! Permission to ice these two! He shouted to his boss, who was still glaring holes into Gregor's head from behind his mask.

In time. I don't know what you 4 were planning, but it appears you fell short. This is my world. This gala. This manor. As Gustrag continued, his voice got more and more furious, nearly crushing his glass in hand. People watched with anticipation, whispers went through the crowd, a few of them even taking bets on what was going to happen next, If any of you even think about ruining this event further, I'm going to put you through a meat grinder and feed you to the guard dogs, understand! Now come with me!

Gregor paused, thinking of his next move, then quickly, he thought of it. It wasn't much, but there were a whole lot of criminals here and it was worth the gamble. Alright. But they are just bodyguards. I'm different though and it isn't just me. Throughout this room are spies. Spies for the Kokothan Special Forces, and you are all under arrest!

The results of his bluff were unseen at first, people scoffing, shaking their heads. Until one member of the party drew his pistol, pointing it at another party member. I knew it was you! I knew I couldn't trust you!

Cowardly Drekka! Pointing a gun on me when I have none! The "spy" shouted, a ball of fire appearing in his hand.

"The Drekka are cowards!?" came another voice, We'll show you!

Before long, the party slowly descended into more yelling, more people drawing weapons on each other. The guards beginning to take out their weapons only have have weapons pulled on them. No fire fights were happening just yet, but with just one sentence, the room had went from people accusing others of beig spies, to becoming a standoff between numerous criminal factions. The whole time, Gregor had a wide smile on his face. You three! He shouted Close your eyes and look away!

---

@Blizzardofoz123
Yoshimi quickly reacted. She had seen these bombs before, it had been used by the Lucerne guy on the train. It seemed that the Children weren't so keen on giving out information. On it! She said as she dashed for cover, getting behind Kordan.

Putting her hand against the wall of ice to help stablize it. She braced herself, as the blast went off, heavily damaging the wall and causing it to cave in and shatter in several places. But, with the help of Yoshimi and Kordan, they were both safe. Damn Children! This is the second time this has happened! Next time, let's check their chests for explosives!

She said, as she looked to the man Astrid had killed earlier. Let's check him, he might have one we could use.

@Ember Storm@Nashie
With that, the room was coated in a bright burst of flames, incinerating the guards. Due to their magic based nature, their explosives didn't seem to go off; that or they didn't have them.

With the room now cleared, it could be inspected. Looked to be a operation room or some sort of medical study. In the center of the room was a table and on the walls were medical diagrams. Lockers and filing cabinets were in one corner of the room, hopefully not damaged by the fire.

@Patches
Duff spun away from Gregor, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes with his right hand as his left went for his revolver. He was technically still a bodyguard, of course, and in this environment, his charge could very well get injured. Best he be ready to defend himself, Gregor, andthe other two if needed. Sure, they could all handle themselves, but it never hurt to have someone watching out for everyone... and with his lack of magic, that was what Duff would do best: stay back and provide cover.

@Yomojo
Oh I intend to get some. Drink a bit and go right back to my piss poor life. Quinn was always the loudmouthed one. Talking about drinking booze on the streets, within earshot of police. Hasn't caught up to him yet, plus, if he ever got in trouble, he was one of the fastest runners in all of New Wickborough.

@Afro Samurai
"Well no better way to mend those hurt feelings than the Grapevine. he said. Quinn wasn't too phased by how weird everything was in this situation. It came with being a courier for a gang of casters. Talking cats, talking dogs, strange monsters that were once humans. He had too accepted himself as an oddity, with his prosthetic legs.

@Patches @Afro Samurai @tex
"Well, sounds like this merry band is in agreement. Wanna link up arms and skip the rest of the way? No? Aight, then just follow me." She said, smiling at the group that had gathered behind her. She turned around and continued to walk her way to the Grapevine.

She'd learned that "Weird people" in New Wickborough were more of the norm. In fact, she had noticed a strange phenomenon where one or two weirdos would attract attention, but a group of four or more was strangely more conspicuous. And especially in a place like the Grapevine, they'd all fit right in.

They all made their way to the establishment, where Lucy lead the way in. She walks up to the bouncer, motioning for Nino to step up. "Hey there Rocco. Hope ya don't mind, I'm bringin' a couple guests in. Never seen any animals in here before, but he's got a rune like everyone else, so I don't see why not, right?" she said to the man, giving him a wink.

@Patches

Welp, that's it, cover's blown. The goal now is surviving the getaway. Though, with Gregor's quick thinking putting the entire party on edge, that may be a little bit easier. Every muscle in Mercury's body is wound tight like an iron spring, ready to send her bolting towards the nearest exit as quickly as possible, but the drunken guard could prove to be an issue. Nothing a powerful surge of electricity couldn't solve~ Hopefully...

Magic surging through her storm runes, she quickly places her fists to the guard's abdomen, palms facing each other vertically, electricity arcing between her hands. She slams her eyes shut at Gregor's warning, simultaneously discharging enough electricity to paralyze the guard, hopefully for more than long enough to get away. Judging by those arcs between her fists...it may have been a touch too much. Not deadly, but a normal person wouldn't be doing much for a while.

@Jensoman@Patches

---

Mikey's eyes shifted towards Gossick and his lips curled into a sly smile. _"Never?" He mouthed. That was the key to his research! He'd done it before, of course, with a little help, albeit at the loss of several mechanisms, an extractor, and enough Rune batteries to blow up a small building. Oh, and who could forget! A small building. Mikey was lucky to be alive after such a catastrophic failure, but completely grateful for the knowledge it provided him. "It's risky business. Modern vacuum chambers are few and far between, and any substitutes I've made have been... Uh..." Mikey paused and rose his left hand, revealing a rather gnarly scar that ran down the side of his thumb, straight to his wrist. "Explosive! Or implosive, rather. Same thing, essentially."

They weren't the same at all.

"If my theories are correct, or headed in the right direction, manipulating freshly extracted magic in an electromagnetic environment should allow possibilities that would baffle casters across the land!" He exclaimed, waving his scarred hand through the air dramatically. "...Eventually. Truth be told, I'm not a caster. The limits of rune machines makes it a lot harder for me-" Mikey stopped and tugged his blueprints closer to his breast. He'd already said too much.


@Yomojo@Afro Samurai@patches

---

Nino casually rolled on by the group, padding his way past Rocco and Lucille without looking at either of them. That man, Rocco. Nino had seen him before. He didn't like him. He didn't like most humans though. It wasn't exactly saying much.

Without another moment's restraint, he took in the interior of the grapevine with wide eyes. The sounds, the smells, the decor...

'This place is a dump!' Nino thought, rubbing his tongue against the roof of his mouth in distaste. Perhaps his standards were a bit too high? Or maybe, as a cat, he couldn't properly appreciate the allure of your run-of-the-mill speakeasy. Never-the-less, he was here now, and he wasn't about to let his curiosity go to waste.

@tex @Patches @Afro Samurai
Lucille shrugged at the bouncer before walking past him, catching up with Nino. "This place is called a Speakeasy, meanin' you can speak easy here. None of these humans will care too much 'bout a talkin' cat, so no need to worry. Want anythin' to drink or eat by the way? Water? Milk? Fish?"

She strolled in casually ahead of the two men, trusting they would know what to do after being literally lead right to the front door of the place. Or, if nothing else, Quinn would help the foreigner out. ~I wonder how those two will get along?~ Lucy mused to herself as she looked around for a good table to sit at.

@Patches

Kordan was more than a little excited. Cover was blown, a dumb stealth mission had turned into something he could actually work his magic in, and there was an evil organization to take down. She'd never seen him smile wider as he dusted himself off, walking towards the dead man. Standing him up against the wall with a quick blast of wind, he began patting him down and rifling through pockets.

"You guys need to invite me to things like this more often. It's lots of fun, I have to say. Think stealth's been blown to the point I can start using lightning?"

He asked casually, as if he got into this kind of trouble every day. Unflappable, he kept rifling through the dead man's pockets for... whatever it was Yoshimi was looking for. He'd forgotten already.

@tex @Patches

Jenso frowned at Mikey's questions. He didn't respond immediately, overthinking just what he was doing. Mikey had a point; How would he be helpful in advanced scientific matters? He'd never made much of anything before. As Mikey explained that he wasn't a caster, Jenso stepped up to him. "Well...I'm a caster! That means I can help, right?" He asked him. "I don't know much about scientific stuff, but...just tell me what to do!" He added. He revealed the pendant with the mist rune on it around his neck, and the Body brand on his left wrist, calmly waiting for Mikey's reply. He hoped that, by revealing his runes, the man would have a good grasp on how Jenso could be useful to his research.

@tex
Well, I'm no caster either, but I've gotten by this business, haven't I? All you really need is an extractor, rune batteries, and customers to get you off the ground. Magic in a vacuum was tricky. Tapping his chin, he thought about it for a moment, as Michael went off about boasting about electromagnets. If I were to theorize, if you were to put magic in a vacuum chamber it would simply dissipate or fill the entire chamber like a gas. How runes and rune machines would react to it is another question. Likely unstable results?

@Jensoman
A caster? Could you do me a favor, Mr. Caster? Gossick said, reaching below the counter once more, before bringing up three more gas-based rune batteries, these ones lacked the blue aura the other ones had. "Could you fill these? It'll save me a lot of time. I have a bit of a project of my own that requires them.

@Jensoman@Patches

---

Mikey narrowed his eyes. Gossick's hypothesis was a little too accurate for his liking. Perhaps he'd been foolish to reveal even a speck of his research methods? Other magic scientists were never to be trusted! They stole research notes, ruined progress, and above all, usually didn't know how to fish. Mikey sealed his lips and looked to Jenso, but not before throwing Gossick an anxious glare.

"Why are you so eager to help me, buddy?" Mikey asked cautiously. Even if he didn't know anything about Jenso, it was never a bad idea to keep a caster around for a quick solution to problems that would usually require one or two trips across town. Still, perhaps he was feigning ignorance, just to intrude on his research! Or maybe he was just a good guy? Mikey's eyebrow twitched as he thought over the circumstances.


@Yomojo@Afro Samurai@patches

---

Nino was reluctant, but took Lucille's words at face value. She had no reason to lie to him, and her disposition never befitted one of a crook or a troublemaker. He couldn't say as much for Tetu or Quinn. Nino nodded and padded towards Lucille eagerly.

"Milk," he mewled, "Where would I trot? Who would I ask? I've no money, you see," He plead, partially preying on Lucille's kindness for a hint of generosity. She seemed like she'd already offered to pay for whatever he'd wanted, after all. 'I've nowhere to keep it' he pondered, somewhat entertained by the idea of flesh pockets. Nino was particularly against using his brand to morph his shape, however. The risks it posed, paired with the obscene, twisted thought of transformations kept him from delving any deeper into the thought.

@Yomojo@tex@Afro Samurai
Now starting to relax, Quinn leaned back in his chair, fiddling with one of his legs. They did sometimes get uncomfortable at the stump. He'd removed them, but he didn't want to leave his guard down like that; never know when someone might pick a fight. So a cat, huh? I always knew that animals could use brand, but never heard of one using one to talk. Didn't think that I'd be talking to a cat and having em answer back.

Mazone fluttered to a cluster of chairs situated near the group he came with. He didn't bother to socialize with any of the patrons--he would feel them out first. The atmosphere of an institution usually marked similar attitudes from its patrons. Mazone watched as the others conversed with the barperson about various dalliances. Meanwhile, he scoped out anyone who looked like she might be trouble. He did take time from his militaristic observances to note the nice interior of the place and could picture himself a regular once he had been here a month or two. For now, he relaxed as much as possible and stayed in plain sight of his companions in case anything went awry.

A song came into his head, he began to belt:

You're the only thing I see
You're the only thing I need
Darling, you and me will be
For all ETERNITYYYYYYYYYYYY!

He held his high note with conviction--even if it wasn't the most technically apt note.

@Yomojo @tex @Patches