[IC] The Black of Night - Urban Shadows

[Penny]

@POOHEAD189

There is general confusion for a moment as the thugs who were actively beating on you hesitate a moment, glancing back at the man who had looked at you through the strange glass.

"What are you waiting for! Kill hi..." the mans shout cuts off and there is a sound like a melon being dropped onto the concrete as Barley swings the bung starter in a whistling arc that ends at the man's temple. Blood jets from his nose and he flies sideways into one of his companions. The glass clatters to the ground a few inches away from Caber. A shotgun goes of and there is a scream of pain as poor trigger discipline sends fifty slugs of buckshot into the packed crowd. You see one man go down his neck gouting blood and several others scream as they are hit by pellets.

The air is filled with screams, the stink of cordite and the wastes voided by the dead. Amped up by terror and determination the hunters surge forward like wild animals, instinctively they head for you, avoiding the lethal arc of the bung starter that killed their leader.

Synopsis

Confuse - Barley takes advantage of the confusion to brain the leader with his hammer. The survivors are confused (if homicidal).
Opportunity - You might be able to escape if you act quickly, Barley and the woman's chances are slimmer but you never know.
12 - The leader drops his strange lens close enough that you might be able to grab it.

[rush99999]

"Well well, looks like things just got a little more interesting." January said as he continued to drive like nothing was wrong. Identical people driving identical cars in some sort of formation smacked of something a little more than mundane was occurring in his vicinity. January was already tangled up in one such affair. He had no intention of embroiling himself in another before resolving the first. Still driving like he had noticed nothing, January set course for the nearest bridge or tunnel.

[POOHEAD189]

@Penny

Caber never played a trick he didn't see through. He came to get Barley out and that's what he was going to do! The rhyming in his mind was unintended, that happened sometimes with Fae. He began to- aha, he saw a shiny thing. Caber plucked up the lens immediately, realizing it came from these fool's unfortunate leader but that was the extent of his knowledge. He would examine it more later, but as of now he had to make it to Barley and continue to confuse the Order. Briefly he closed his fingers upon his nose to block the airways and blew into it, making a 'pop' that suddenly have Caber vanish!

In reality, the Fae was now a squirrel. One that was ducking and dodging throughout the crowd so he could make it to Barley and the girl. He hoped no one stepped on him.

Hider

He uses one of his three magic powers to shape change into a squirrel so he can sneakily get to Barley

[Penny]

@rush99999

It quickly becomes clear to January that his pursuers are aware of the limitations of their tactics. As his car slides towards the tunnel under the river, the cars, which had been driving fairly sedately suddenly leap forward engines roaring. Perversely they still don't seem to be trying to close the distance, instead they seem to be adjusting their positions relative to January and to each other. Some sort of disturbance in the air seems to ripple between the cars, like heat haze only impossibly localized. The air in January's care begins to get hot with the faint bite of sulphur or brimstone. Around your car the air seems to be beginning to congeal into something elsewhere and other.

Synopsis

The cars chasing January continue to work to position themselves in a pentagram around him. A mystic prison of some kind appears to be manifesting around you. J

[Penny]

@POOHEAD189
Confusion and chaos reign in the bar. Men shout in fear and uncertainty as Caber vanishes, pivoting to follow the flash of movement of the darting squirrel. A steel shod boot smashes down missing you by inches but you are able to scamper up the bar to where Barley stands holding his bloody hammer, and the beautiful woman watches proceedings with what is either shock or the most icy detachment you have ever seen. A shotgun barks blasting a fist sized whole in the roof and showering everyone with pulverized plaster dust. Confused or not the hunters are turning to the bar now. Blood has been spilled and you can tell that 'play time' is over. Its only the press of the crowd that is keeping Barely from being gunned down on the spot.

[rush99999]

"Seriously?" January said as the cars punched it and sped into the tunnel after him to maintain their formation. "They're relentless...! Wait a minute..." Just as January realized that the cars were forming a pentagram around him, January felt the temperature begin to rise and the atmosphere start to become incredibly confining. "Oh shit, I know this spell!" January exclaimed in realization. "Time to abandon ship." With that said, January cracked open his window, turned into a cloud of mist, and floated out of his car and off into the night... Or he would have had the mystic prison spell not been more powerful that January was expecting. Launched back from the borders of the prison, January was forced back into his true form and thrown to the ground as the cars around him came to a stop.

Pulling himself to his feet, January drew his gladius and prepared to face off against those who had trapped him. But before anyone could make a move, a voice called out from further along the tunnel. "Hit the deck!" Knowing all too well that hitting the deck when someone tells you to was generally a good idea, January did so with all the speed he could muster.

Synopsis

January attempts to escape this situation. He rolls an 11 in the attempt and elects to owe someone a debt.

[POOHEAD189]

Caber popped back up to his old self in front of his friend and the unexpectedly beautiful woman. He would have tried to seduce her but first things first. Caber grabbed the closest bottle of jack daniels he could and gripped the bottle's neck like the haft of some strange mace.

"Barley! Make yourself useful! Grab the girl and get ready to run!"

Caber ducked down with the two as another gunshot went off, hitting the picture of Barley and his deceased wife over the bar, sending it tumbling in a shatter of glass. Aha! He grabbed the box of matches he knew was stashed, and then popped up like he was the bartender servicing an unruly crowd, nonchalantly pouring the liquid over the bartop even as the mass of men began to attempt to clamber over it. It was at that moment he lit the match and grinned, and let it drop. Hopefully the sudden flame and the idea the three would remain in behind the bar left a small opening to their left, which led to the door.
@Penny

Hider

Rolled a 10 for Escape a Situation!

[Penny]

@rush99999

The smell of sulphur and brimstone grew thick in the air and there was a strange overlay in Januaries eyes, the roads seemed to become tributary rivers of living flame and the bushes which had been carefully cultivated in the median strip became pallid grasping things which swayed to a breeze which wasn't blowing in the real word.

The five identical figures had stopped their cars and walked towards January in eerie synchrony. Each wore a neatly pressed white polo shirt, kahki chinos and dress shoes. Each had an identical blank eyed stare which reflected the ghostly glow of the lava. As they approached the earth began to shake, reverberating with their foot falls.

They mystic gravitas of the situation was suddenly shattered by the very mortal sound of Japanese pop music. A small figure stepped out of the tunnel. She wore a white shirt accented with a large red bow with a blue skirt and knee high boots of red leather. Long blond hair was gathered up into two long pig tails. She looked for all the world like a cos-player portraying some anime character that was centuries too young for January to recognize. Or she would have done, if she weren't lifting a black HK21 assault rifle with a bulky box magazine to her shoulder. Lubricant oils had already stained the elbow length white gloves she wore. The weapon roared to life on full automatic, jagged star shaped muzzle blasts leaping four feet from the barrel. The nearest polo shirt all but exploded in a spray of greyish goo as bullets ripped into his chest and head. The remaining four continued advancing implacably but the new comer pirouted neatly through a 270 degree arc, mouth hanging open and her finger locked on the trigger. The roar of the heavy caliber weapon was incredible. Car windows and shrubs exploded, and metal street signs dimpled and rang with bullet strikes. For a long second the world was nothing but sound and chaos as the scythe arc dropped each of the advancing drivers where they stood, their bodies collapsing to ooze. As the last one fell there was a sudden click, followed by the tinkling of brass casings hitting the ground and the blare of Japanese pop music through headphones hanging around the girls neck. The barrel of the weapon glowed cherry red from the long burst and oil and powder fouling had turned her pristine gloves to a dirty gray. A heart beat later car alarms and screaming pedestrians joined the beat.

Synopsis

You are saved by a Sailor Moon look-a-like with a 7.62mm machine gun. You owe her a debt. You can put a face to a name if you wish.

[rush99999]

As the gunfire ceased and the alarms and screaming started up, January pulled himself to his feet and turned to face the heavily armed magical girl who had just bailed him out. "Juno inferna." January said as he looked around at the havoc that the magical girl's machine gun had wrought. "You certainly know how to make an entrance. Thanks for saving me the trouble of fighting those plebes." Sheathing his gladius, January made his way over to the magical girl and offered her his hand. "The name's January if you didn't already know." January informed the Sailor Moon look-a-like. "To who do I owe the pleasure of this timely deus ex machina?"

[Penny]

@POOHEAD189

The sheet of flame spattered into the air and the thugs staggered backwards. A shotgun went off and someone screamed and then they were out into the alley behind the bar. The trio turned just in time to see a man in a flannel shirt at the end of the alley. He had been sitting on the hood of a beat up pick up truck but had jumped to his feet when the door flew open. Caber had just enough time to see the yawning black barrel of the man's 306 rifle before it cracked. Caber felt a flash of heat a microsecond before a wave of bone searing cold the bullet hung in the air frozen in place. The gunman stared in shock, his body trembling as the woman stepped past him and screamed. The sound was cold and soul blasting and agonizing. The bullet exploded backwards in a shower of metal shards, dropping the gunman in a spray of arterial blood.

Owe a debt to Mystery Lady

[Penny]

@rush99999

"What?" the girl asked, staring at January in perplexity. After a moment she reached down and turned down the blaring music. It hardly seemed likely that the music was a problem after the crashing gunfire of a moment before or the wail of the car alarms.

"Oh right, sorry, I am Yuki," the girl declared. She withdrew a fresh box magazine from the satchel at her waist and slotted it into the weapon. Striking a pose she wrenched the charging handle back before cocking a hip an punching the air.

"As for why, the boss wants to see you," she explained, gesturing down the tunnel. The wreck of bullet riddled cars had blocked the in, so one lane of the traffic was now completely empty. The other lane was beginning to honk in frustration, although only those at the front of the line could have any clue what was happening. A fact evidenced by the fact that anyone who had seen what happened had bailed from their vehicles and run for it.

Synopsis

Yuki wants you to come meet her boss.

[rush99999]

January regarded Yuki's antics with an arched eyebrow and amused smile. He definitely needed to start watching more anime. Anything this entertaining deserved as much attention as possible. When Yuki then explained that she'd intervened in this encounter to collect him for a meeting with whoever she worked for, January's amusement quickly gave way to a mix of intrigue and inconvenience. "Will this meeting take long?" January asked. "Because I've gotta find my friend Quincy before the mercs on his tail track him down. So as you can imagine, I'm on a bit of a timetable here."

[Penny]

"It wont take very long," she assured him beckoning him on down the tunnel with a gloved hand. One of the cars she had shot up burst into flames behind them with a dull whump of igniting gasoline. Given the amount of gunfire that had been reported in the city tonight it was unlikely that emergency services would be here as quickly as usual, but Yuki was obviously keen to be on her way.

"I promise it wont take as long as the meeting your friends in the cars had planned for you," she assured him batting her eyes theatrically.

[rush99999]

January considered his options for a moment, before finally relenting with a shrug of his shoulders. "Alright. I suppose I can make a little time for your boss after you helped me out." January said. "Lead on." As he followed Yuki along the tunnel, January fired off a quick text to his car valet to have his wheels collected from the scene. It would not do to simply leave it sitting among all those burning cars. "So who were those guys chasing me back there?" January asked. "And who is this mysterious boss of yours you would have me meet with?"

[Penny]

@rush99999

Yuki rolled her eyes.

"Demons, duh!" she commented then paused.

"Damn it, I should have said the meeting might last the rest of your life, that would have been much cooler," the young woman slumped for a moment before springing back to her feet with renewed vigor.

"This way!"

As she lead the way down the underpass the landscape seemed to change imperceptibly, the concrete ceiling grew more rough yewn and then became rock. For a time the cars, complete with staring terrified passengers line the stone cave and then they gave way to boulders. After perhaps five minutes of walking Yuki lead the way into a large cavern. Gold glittered in piles that heaped around the walls. Ingots and bars and coins of every denomination from Carthaginians to modern commemoratives. There were piece of eight, south American medallions and even what looked to be a couple of Olympic medals, marked out by their ribbons. Jewels glittered like stars amongst the trove, ornamenting swords and armor that lay in careless piles. In the center of the room a slender woman in a business suit sat at a board room table in a leather chair. She looked up as Yuki and January entered.

"Ah well done Yuki," she said, continuing to type at the laptop.

"Mr January, please be seated," she made an expansive gesture to one of the open seats lining the table.

[POOHEAD189]

Caber was simply glad Barliman and his lady friend, who he still did not know anything about, had made it out in one piece. Caber had a small bit of a scuffle on him, but it was nothing to fret over. What he did fret over was the fact that this woman suddenly blasted this man's ears and chest cavity out like an explosion, veins flying out with flesh like noodles! Barliman might be horrified, but Caber crossed his arms and tapped his foot, examining her from head to toe.

"Who exactly are you?" He asked her, and he watched how she move, trying to see what exactly her motivations were for helping them, and if she was perhaps a fabled banshee.

Hider

Figure Someone Out. Rolled a 7

[rush99999]

January chuckled at Yuki's words as she led the way deeper into the tunnel. This one was certainly a character. January made a mental note to associate with her more often if he could.

As the tunnel slowly but surely shifted into a cave and then gave way to a cavern, January looked around in wonder at the many treasures on display. In his many centuries of life, he'd only seen this sort of wealth a few times before. And none were owned by mortal men. As he laid eyes upon the woman in the center of the room, January knew he would have to tread with care here. Some vampires believed that dragonfire burned hotter than the sun, and he was in no mood to test that theory.

"Thank you kindly." January said as he took a seat at the table. "Before we begin, could I possibly trouble you for a glass of water? The night has only just begun and already it has been quite eventful for me."

[Penny]

The woman sitting at the table gave him a level inscrutable look. There was an ageless look about her, as though she had been sculpted from marble to look middle aged but the sculptor had forgotten to add the little lines and imperfections which a human accumulated over the years. Her features were strange also, as though races which seldom came into contact, or perhaps no longer existed had been blended.

"Well I suppose you are my guest," she said after a moment, her voice rich and sibilant, putting a strange weight on the word guest. She flicked her eyes sideways to Yuki who had hung her assault rifle over the arms of what looked to be a statue of Venus in gold shot marble, the patrol sling around the statues neck. She had also replaced her soiled gloves with a fresh pair. She hurried across to the table, pausing to scoop up a chalice chased with gemstones before pulling out a hankerchief and wiping the inside clean. She set the cup down before January and then reached into her satchel to retrieve a bottle of Poland Spring water. She twisted off the plastic cap, poured half the volume into the cup and then recapped it and put the bottle back in the satchel.

"I will get to the point," the woman began.

"Something has been stolen, several things actually and I want what is mine returned." It might have been January's imagination, but it seemed that a thin whisp of smoke curled from the woman's nostril when she spoke, dissipating instantly into the still air of the cavern.

[rush99999]

January smiled gratefully as his request for a glass of water was granted. This smile almost immediately vanished as he looked over at Yuki and sar her using a statue of Venus as a weapon rack. When the Roman Empire turned to Christ all those many centuries ago, January chose to remain faithful to the gods that built the empire and kept that faith long into the modern day. Seeing Yuki treating the statue of Venus with such little respect irked the vampire to no end. Even so, January gave no voice to his issue with Yuki's behavior. She had just saved him the trouble of handling some demons after all. "Thank you." January said has he was provided with the requested water.

"I will get to the point," The dragon said as January took a sip of water. "Something has been stolen, several things actually and I want what is mine returned."

"Someone would steal from a dragon?" January asked, an eyebrow arched in curiosity. "I didn't think that such courage still existed nowadays. What did the thief take from you?"

[Penny]

"Mortals are brave in proportion to their foolishness," the woman replied, nostrils flaring slightly to admit two pencil thin lines of smoke.

"Perhaps if they knew they were stealing from me, they might have made more survivable choices," she continued, a slight sibilance creeping into the word 'choices'. She made a few more keystrokes on the laptop and then looked up, giving January her full attention for the first time since he had came in. Her eyes were weighty and ancient and they seemed the black grey of smoke rising from Vesuvius.

"The thieves took what was mine only out of happenstance. What they were truly searching for belonged to another," she explained. Yuki's Japenese pop music made an odd counterpoint to the dragons intense focus, seeming to hover on the edge of perception.

"It was a lock box which contained the last will and testament of one Harold Robinson."