Participants:
| Scene Title | Meeting Mary |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Leonard leads a group of Scions into the Dark Hour. |
// The Terra Incognita in the middle of Times Square is no longer dark and gloomy as it was in the past. With the resurrection of the Atlantean gods, the dark spires of the realm are no more. Instead, a several story ziggurat stands on tall, higher than the buildings in the area as it stands at approximately fifteen stories.
The immediate area around the once great temple dedicated to the Atlantean gods is surrounded by lush greenery. There's life growing here even though the realm is still covered in eternal darkness, a full moon shines down upon the realm, lighting the way for any Scions who would come inside.
On the top of the ziggurat is a parthenon-esque building. It's made of pure marble and stands tall. There are sounds of various creatures, the moans and groans of Titanspawn wait inside. Still, there are statues of the seven Atlantean gods and goddesses and their chosen seven. What's an interesting addition is the various busts of others who have passed it's trials. Also the archway has interesting sigils on it as well.//
So much for making an early night of it. Then again, Nike really should know better by now. Leaving her playing until the evening almost always means late nights, and late nights - especially when it's this cold - are best concluded by a cup of hot tea and a tart down at this corner diner off of Times Square. Jogging up from the tube station, Nike pulls her collar up higher around her neck and shifts the obnoxiously large bag further up her shoulder. So far, she hasn't really taken notice of much, but she hasn't rounded the corner to the Square proper.
Yet.
Leonard has decided to play leader for the day. He's approaching the building, giving it examination, glancing behind to ensure the rest of his band is following along. He's come with his weapon already out today, curved blade wagging back and forth in hand, passed between fingers occasionally. He seems engaged with the changes the tower has taken since he last saw, making short gesture up at the building and its decoration. "That," He points out, "Is the enemy."
"Well shit." Roxie notes, before blowing a cloud of acrid smoke from her cigarette - held at the corner of her lips. "That place looks like quite the party." The girl notes. One hand, is kept shielded from the cold within her pocket, while the other holds a hand cannon, something akin to a desert eagle, if one is familiar with the firearm. And, with the muzzle of the weapon, Roxie pushes her hood back. "So what, we just gonna burst in?"
Jacob met up with the others at the agreed-upon time, wearing his characteristic sour expression and bringing up the rear of the procession. "I don't know about bursting. Maybe we should casually wander in. Mosey, perhaps. Of course, the last time I did something like that I got mind-screwed, so even I'm taking myself with a grain of salt here. I don't see any other way to learn what's up with this place though."
Cedric had wandered out of the Atlantean's care again. Well, not quite. Still, he'd heard of some of what had happened at Times Square. And had only recently stumbled upon where to go. And… really, he needed answers. Too many questions, too much hub bub, and too much blasted Atlantean stuff going on. Not to mention he needed a break from being zapped, doused, set of fire, and otherwise molested by a bunch of super kids. So here he was in front of the weird tower thing, and then he hears something and turns to quirk an eyebrow at the man waving a blade around. "'Cuse me… you aware it's illegal to be carrying around weapons so openly?"
Cedric's obviously unconcerned with the sword, but he is addressing Leonard at the moment. And the only addition to his usual wardrobe is a black trenchcoat. "… I mean, you could poke an eye out with that thing. I am a bit curious if you know what this is and what's going on with it, out of curiousity?"
Drew was mixed into the crowd at Times Square. He'd sorta almost met Roxie but not really. He was here on his own mission, recon of the enemy. So he stands no more than 20 feet from the band. He looks up at the Dark tower and gives it a determine smile. Like the band he doesn't know he wears a trench coat that hides anything he carries. He looks up at the tower and reaches up to a wolf fang on the end of his necklace and he squeeze's it. "There's the enemy." He thinks.
[Public] Maui blinks. "The sheets now figure in Untouchable Opponent? Didn't notice that before… either that, or I been working too much again."
Rounding the corner and - like many in the city - going to her destination more by rote than anything, Nike nearly gives herself a heart attack when she almost runs into a woman with a - a hand cannon?? "Good sweet Cerberus, what in the hell are you do…ing…" It's at that point she notices The Tower. "Oh gods…" Her hand flies to her mouth and the young woman takes a step back. "I haven't come up this way since the…" It may take a minute, but Nike's already processing the new information. Looking between the assembled, she nods towards the tower, swallowing thicky. "You're going in there?"
"I think we should waltz in," Leonard contests, just an absent mention before he turns his eyes back toward the people at hand. There's an addition there, the man's eyebrows arching up at Cedric's question. "Oh this? Probably kill someone with it." A brief flash of a smile, the man adding, "Being a terrorist, and all." A somber nod, and then back toward the tower. "Let's take a look. I want to see if this is causing our problem." He moves, smooth and quick steps, eyes focusing again. "Yes," Just an absent trill of assent at Nike's question.
"So c'mon if you're comin'. Else, throw down, we'll get it over with - and then we'll continue with what we where up too." Roxie adds, as she takes a few steps backwards, following Leonard. "We're gonna mess things up, a little. Stir crap up, you know? This place has been too dormant, for too long."
"It's not, but you're welcome to go look. Might find a clue to fixing things if nothing else." Cedric notes in Leonard's direction. "Mind if I join you?" His hand reaches to his trenchcoat pocket, idly pulling a switch blade, spinning the weapon open before the item suddenly shifts in shape, extending out to a celtic style sword. The weapon is pointed downwards as a show of non-hostility just in case. "'Sides, from the look… seems like you might have issues with a few things as well."
Jacob looks away with a slight rolling of his eyes. "Looks like happenstance is working for us again. Anyway, I don't dance. I'm going to mosey. The rest of you can waltz." With that, Jacob starts to make good on that promise, presuming to walk ahead of the others and approach the tower, heedless of any manmade boundaries that might seek to detain him; ignoring police tape and the like. "It's not like we're not all clearly armed, dangerous, and unhinged in all the best ways." Evidently he's not interested in the meet'n'greet so much.
The others had probably been at the Scion game longer than him but Drew gets the feeling that he might be older than the other heroes. He was in his late 20's after all. He lets the trench coat drops and reveals a battle axe as he hear words. But more importantly he's got a hooded sweatshirt in there. He pulls up the hood. "Didn't you guys ever hear honey catches more flies than vingar. But if your going in to break things. Better to have an escape plan."
Considering the vast number of scions she's run into in the past week and also considering the myriad of questions that could use some answering, Nike doesn't see a whole lot of option. Turning to a nearby dumpster, she sets her bag on the ground to let a little black shape hop out and shake itself before sliding the mostly empty canvas underneath. That done, she and that shape start following Jacob, though both are sporting a remarkable lack of weapons. She catches up to him fairly quickly and adjusts her stride to match his. "How many can see in the dark?"
"If you'd like." Leonard offers that to Cedric, head dipping once in the man's direction before he proceeds to the doors, through them soon enough. "I've never been in here," He offers, "I'd suggest you be careful." Leonard's brows wrinkle, slender fingers reaching to massage under his glasses before focus is put ahead again. "Can't see in the dark. Note the statues though," He chimes on the way, "keep that in mind."
"See in the dark? Not really, no." Roxie adds, following behind Leonard once more. Obviously, he's the one with the most direct route to digging up trouble, at the moment. "Of course, with this many of us in one place - this place? We're probably gonna be struck by lightning as well. Got a plan for that, too?" The girl questions, in Drew's direction. "You got a trick that might help us out with that?" These words, for Nike it seems, at her question.
Leonard has partially disconnected.
Jacob looks over as Nike catches up to him, his brows elevating slightly above the rims of his glasses. He looks down to try and make out the black shape beside her before seeming to lose interest and nodding his chin toward the structure atop the ziggurat. "I've got no nightvision," he admits. "I'm kind of hoping once we get up there it won't be an issue. One way to find out, huh?" He pauses at the foot of the steps, looking back toward the others, and then turns to start climbing the steps.
"Might, or might not. That's the risk, isn't it?" Cedric chuckles a bit, "Look at it this way, you could do a lot worse inside than out here. So what are you kind folks called, or should I go first on that note?" He follows after, leaning the sword on his shoulder as he walks, smiling a bit cheerily perhaps.
Drew winks at Roxie, "Lighting, yea? Make sure I make a good looking corpse. Though the art of talking our way in and out does have it's merits and keep smashing as a back up plan? But what the hell, I'll play along." He gives the other's a look and hates revealing things, "As long as there's some light, I can see. That and if we're going to be reckless lets do it before they notice and they surprise us."
"The lightning bit, no." Nike grins at that, adrenaline already boosting her energy. Beside her, the dark shape makes clip-clopping sounds as it trots and canters alongside. "No tricks for the group, I'm afraid." As Jacob starts ascending the steps, she follows. Drew's revelation brings a broader grin. "Guess that means you and I got volunteered to go first, sunshine." She looks over to Leonard. "Unless we're not worried about stealth?" Again, she notes the quantity of weapons.
"Leonard." The man taps his hat once, making short gesture of greeting. "Stealth wouldn't work well, I don't think. It's hard not to notice when there's only one entrance." A short smile, then he slips inside.
"Roxie." The girl offers, before flicking the butt of her cigarette off into the distance. And, once Leonard is followed inside? She finally lifts her 'cannon' to ready. "Eh. I ain't so good at the talking. Now, making noise? I can do plenty." She winks to.. no one in particular. "It's party time, ladies and gentlemen!" Roxie sing-songs, before fishing into her jacket pocket, for a half crinkled pack of smokes.
Drew grins at Nike, he has no idea what her name is so he says, "Looks like the guy had the idea of just do it." With that he reaches down to unsheath his battle axe and he begins to follow Leonard into the breach… well the front door of the tower. He doesn't know any of these people. It looks like he's getting good at leaping before looking.
Watching Leonard slip inside, Nike shrugs. "Guess we're going in guns blazing, then." Which… could be a problem, considering her lack of weaponry. "Follow the fearless leader! It's like primary school, only creepier." Oh, well. Can't be helped. "Nike," she throws out there. Names will make it easier to communicate, anyway. 'Roxie, duck!' is much easier in a crisis than 'Hey, chick with the cannon, get down!' … Yeah, much more efficient. Leonard in, Roxie in, Drew in and now it's her turn. This oughta be good.
The front door of the actual parthenon-esque structure on top of the Ziggurat is closed. The groans, roars and moans of various titanspawn can be heard inside before there's a little girl that suddenly appears. She can't be older than eight or nine years old. Her skin is pale, porcelain like as she's dressed in a black pseudo-goth outfit. She's a little lolita in the black frilly dress as the accoutrements are a red bow with a skull around her waist.
"Hello." she chirps merrily as the group approaches. She just kind of appeared from nowhere.
Children in his path force Leonard to slow, several short shuffling steps before the man ceases. His weapon doesn't rise, just his other hand, making short gesture for those nearby to slow. "Who are you?" It's a short question, pale eyes peeking up from over the rounded frames that cover them. "Have I seen you before?"
It seems to be a different reaction - between Leonard, and Roxie. As he starts with questions? Roxie's weapon is leveled towards the child. Hey, you can't be too careful, right? "Yeah, and you might want to move." The girl adds with a slightly muffled sound, as she draws a cigarette out by it's filter with her teeth - before settling with her lips. Talented, this one. ".. And which team you playin' for?" Obviously, it's a matter of importance to Roxie.
Andrew quickly supplies, "Drew." Short name works as full names had powers in this business or so he heard. He says as he eyes the girl that just appeared out of no where. He doesn't dare looking the little girl in the eyes. His hand reaches up to the fang necklace. He whispers, "Babs, you got any idea what she is? and don't say a little girl."
In her experience, little girls don't just appear out of nowhere. That's completely outside Nike's Realm of Normal. Going with what she knows, the young woman concentrates, letting her eyes go out of focus as she tries to get a sense of whether or not this girl is really a girl. Ghosts are the only thing she knows to just pop into sight, after all. Mavros, however, takes a few steps closer, lifting his nose to try and sift out scents beyond the background must of this place.
Over whatever device he hears his Valkyrie guide, there's a hearty laugh. "I'll respond later. Some Greek skank just challenged Mistr to a fight for some jerkwad son of Tyr. He insulted Odin! Can you believe that? He INSULTED Odin! and his own father. I'll answer and look things up after I watch Msitr beat this girl up."
That wasn't very helpful. Still, the girl is really a girl. Well, not in the traditional sense, but she certainly isn't a ghost. She smiles cheerily towards the gathered group before her and raises her brows as she looks towards the pointy weapon. "You know, you should hold that differently. You might pokesomeone's eye out." she says matter of factly.
"That was the plan in general." Leonard makes that affirmation, blade spinning once in his grasp, set to his side afterward. "Do you have anything to say? I believe you're one of the residents here, are you not?" While he speaks he examines, fingertips tilting up to push his glasses up, taking a longer glance over the girl in front of him.
Now, while Roxie might be the sort to jump the gun into recless combat? It seems opposition being packaged as a small girl? Hinders that head first attitude. At least, just a little. "Which side you on, girlie? Don't jerk us around."
Drew lets out a sigh, "Thanks for all the help. Make 'em hurt?" He sighs and looks at the girl. This wasn't his rodeo. So he looks at the situation. This was cleaver send something that would keep these scions from attacking while others moved in for an attack.
Walking towards the front of the group, Nike holds both her hands out to the sides to show that they're empty. "Look, nothing to poke eyes out here. Children and sharp objects don't mix." Mavros, at this point, has decided his best bet is to stick very close to his human. Something's just a little weird about that girl. "What did you come to tell us?"
"I might be one of the residents of this place. I don't go to your house bringing weapons and be rude. Did your parents not teach you manners?" She asks curiously, her brows furrowed as she rocks back and forth on her cute little black shoes as she looks towards the gathered group of Scions.
"It's not a child." Leonard decides on that eventually, finger ticking glasses back into place. "It's a god." Leonard doesn't do much with his weapon, merely leaves it to hand limply at his side. "Are you one of the old gods, or something else? Are you an Atlantean, do you know what this tower is here for?"
"Yeah? Roxie questions, at Leonards words - as the tell tale 'click' of the hammer is heard from her 'hand cannon'. "Manners? No. No they didn't. And if you don't start answering Cloak and Dagger's questions, I'm about to show you just how 'rude', I can be." The girl continues, as she moves to stand next to Leonard now, perhaps so that Nike isn't within her line of fire. "Give the word, Cloak."
Drew's axe dropped to his side. He was making sure that he didn't look aggressive where he stood. He gives a cheerful smile and he listens. If the girl was a god they were in trouble as he hadn't met one but he figured they were well beyond his power. His eyes scan the area looking into the shadows to see if they're being set up or not.
Amused by the idea of being Dagger despite her obvious lack of weapons, Nike arches one brow and glances sidelong at Leonard and Roxie to her right. "Hey, at least we didn't shoot on sight." There's a small snort from the region of her knee. Apparently Mavros is amused as well. Or allergic to something. "That really would have been rude."
"You speak to me as if you could hurt me, child." Oh dear, Maryjust called Roxie child. She chuckles once more and purses her lips as she looks back towards Leonard, her eyes going all squinty for a few moments. "I am not an Atlantean. I was one of those who created the zigurrat and this realm, so of course I know what it is for. It is for testing. The statues, the names here, they are the ones who have passed the trials my siblings and I put forth."
"And what's the point of the trials?" Leonard continues on that point of questioning, the man taking absent step backward. "You seem to have a giant tower that's managed to revive one of the oldest pantheons. I'm also willing to guess it's part of what turned New York City into New Atlantis, and made our lives somewhat miserable. Would you care to comment?" Fingers rise, gesturing back toward the others. "No shooting yet, please."
"Who you callin' child?!" Roxie notes, her brows furrowing. As Leonard takes a step back? She takes a step forward. "Look. I'm guessing you and your creepy ass place here.." Roxie notes, with a wave of her gun towards the tower in general. "Let me tell /you/ something.. If you think I'm gonna let your creepy ass look, save your creepy.. " And then Leonard speeks, who's merited at frown. "What are we so aprehensive about? We're here to stop all this, remember? To free the people. If she's responsible for all of this crap? /Why/ are we negotiating?!" There's ahem.. Obvious fustration in the girls voice.
Andrew was looking between the spooky wannabe mini Abby and to Roxie. He flares his nose and a bit of steam rises from his nostrils. He gives Roxie a smile and shakes his head, "We're here to learn information. There's more than one way to learn information." He looks at the little girl, "What are you the referee for this contest of whose the best Hero?"
Nike seems to have picked up Andrew's idea of scouting the place out, using her unique vision to glance into dark corners; just in case. At least, she was. But something Roxie said makes her turn her attention back to the little girl and take a good hard look at her. A good, long look. Why are they negotiating? "Because we don't know for sure she did anything." She nods slowly, glancing at Leonard to put her two cents in. "Be a shame to kill a kid we didn't have to - god or not."
"You're assuming you can kill me. I've been around since the Dawn of Time." she tells the group as she shakes her head and muses something under her breath. "I have noticed the children of the gods in this age have a lot of hubris. Must be that music television." she says with a wry grin curling onto her lips as she looks towards Leonard. "The trials are todetermine whether they are worthy of receiving power above and beyond that which their parents can give. These now fifteen statues are those who have passed the trials." Some are probably recognizable, considering all six Atlantean royals have a statue.
"And what are you supposed to be, then? An an anthropomorphic promordial soup? A concept in the flesh? You don't look like any god that's supposedly come from before the Atlanteans." His fingers drum to the weapon at his side, questioning, "Where's that power supposed to come from? The Titans? What exactly is your relation to the older gods?"
And finally, Roxie's weapon lowers to her side - to tap against her leg instead. She can be told not to shoot, but no one can take the look of firey determination from her eyes, it seems. That is, if a so-called God could be killed by mental.. eye lasers, that is. But, as Leonard continues to question? Something clicks. He's doing his job. Right. For the moment, Roxie takes a spot next to Leonard, to stare at the creepy child. "Shows what your trials are good for. The city's still enslaved."
Drew's eyes are still watching for any information that he can detect and mostly for moment of others moving to surprise the group. "Hey leave MTV alone, they don't even show music vid… Actually pick on them all you want." He says with an easy going smile, "I think the question my friend here is trying to ask. Is what's in the fine print? Whose giving the power and what's the price? Because there is always a price."
Dawning realization lights up Nike's face, though it's hard to tell if she's horrified by the conclusion or thrilled to have solved a puzzle. Such is the mind of a Scion of Death. "It doesn't have to come from the Titans," she begins. Looking from Leonard back to the little girl, she nods. "Because you are a Titan, am I right?"
There's a laugh. A really big laugh. She's chuckling the entire time as she stretches her arms out and shakes her head. "Oh goodness. If that is what you want to think. There are more things than any of you can possiblyimagine." she says with a soft chuckle under her breath as she scrunches up her nose. "And my relation to the older gods, they're /younger/ than me!" she chirps merrily before giving a little twirl. Yes, she's trying to test their patience.
Leonard spends a moment more to examine, tilting down to regard the girl with blank gaze. Then, that seems to be enough. Fingers flicker behind, making a short wave toward the rest of the Scions gathered around. "Waste your time if you prefer." Himself, he moves. Just makes to step around the small girl, returning to the path, toward the door and in.
"Wait up, yo." Roxie smirks, offering a glance at the little Goth, before she follows Leonard. He seems to be the man with the plan, after all. "We don't got time for demented children." The girl continues, before offering the 'rest of the party' a salute with her 'hand cannon'. "Lates."
Jacob's been uncharacteristically silent through all of this, lingering at the back of the pack. If the troubled look on his face as he seemingly becomes lost in contemplation of his toes is any indication he may well have missed much of what's going on, shuffling along as the shadows around him moved, so as to remain relatively close to the group. He produces a gem from his pocket, the gem he was given when he first met the magic munchkins. He's feeling just persnickety enough to let the others sort out their take on the kids for themselves, but once people start moseying inside he holds up the trinket and asks, "Are you ever going to tell me what this is for? Some kind of glorified suicide pill? Or a super-steroid? Since you're giving out more or less straight answers, I thought I'd throw that in."
Nike has more patience than one would think. Comes from working with animals all her life. Nodding to Roxie and Leonard, she hangs back a step. Almost ready to follow them, she stops and turns to watch Jacob. This just got a bit more interesting.
The door is closed. It still remains closed even as Leonard and Roxie approach it. A wry grin curls onto the little girl'slips as she nods as she peers back towards Jacob as she smiles. "Ahhh, yes. My brother gave that to you. I won't take yours away though." she says with a sage nod. "And I will not tell you what it does, for that, you will find out when or if you decide to heed his advice and swallow the gem in your time of need. But I will tell you that it will not kill you." she chirps before running in front of Leonard and Roxie.
"You two are silly. You think you can get inside without me letting you in. I am one of the caretakers of this realm." she explains.
"You don't have anything that can blow down a door, do you? Grenades? We could get some." Leonard offers that toward Roxie, as easy as asking her the time of day or what the weather might be like. His head only cranes briefly back, then down, taking another short glimpse of the little girl. Nothing more is said to her, though. He just tilts again, streatching out an arm above her in attempt to lay a palm over the door.
"Grenades?" Roxie peers at Leonard a moment, perhaps waiting for a smile to crack - or some other sign of joking. Though, when it doesn't come? Her brow knits a little, before her eyebrows raise and she.. slowly shakes her head. "Sorry Briefcase, I'm fresh out of explosives." The girl shrugs. Though, as the creepy kid moves in front of them? She looks down slowly, head tilting. "Then open it kid. We don't got all night." She offers, before looking back to the others. "What if I promise not to break anything? Look.. Here.." Roxie digs into her pocket, to pull out a crumpled pack of gum. "I'll trade. How's about some.. ahh.." She sniffs. "Cinnamon."
"Okay, okay," Jacob mutters, holding up his hands in frustration, "Before we go wasting perfectly good bombs-" he pauses, looking over at Roxie "-or gum-" which he will then meander over with the intent of presumably stealing a piece "-why don't we apply some of the logic inherent in our situation. Specifically, we, all of us," he points to each member of the impromptu expedition in turn " are the offspring of some god or other. Accepting that, without accepting certain other things as being sensible and logical, is being a bit short-sighted.
"Like, okay, if the little magic munchkins are impervious to threats, cajoling, or the fact that it's a school night, doesn't it stand to reason that the door isn't going to open until the appropriate hoops are jumped through? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for fucking the system, but sometimes you've just got to play by the rules. For one thing, you wind up looking a lot less stupid that way. There's thinking outside the box, and then there's nuking the box from orbit. It's not quite the virtue it's cracked up to be." He reaches out to ruffle Mary's hair, just…well, just because.
Since the kid doesn't seem inclined to answer the questions she's put forth, Nike just lets it go. She and children never mixed well, anyway. Huh, Jacob's question wasn't really answered either. Go figure. When he moves, Nike does as well, falling towards the back of the group as Jacob makes his point. "I'm fine with hoops, so long as I know which direction to run." And in the end, it's that simple. "What do we need to do to get in?" This she addresses to Mary; serious but calm.
"Bombs? I can do that!" Mary lets out an impish giggle as she looks towards the twoother scions while she fixes her mussed up hair. She scrunches her nose and sticks her tongue out towards Jacob. "I finished school a LONG time ago." she says with a sage nod asshe snaps her fingers and suddenly, there's at least fifty pounds of C4 in front of the door with a detonator. It's already set up. She smiles cheerily at the gathered group. See! She's helpful. Kind of.
"And I don't like gum. I'm not supposed to have it." she tells Roxie. She flashes a toothy smile towards the Scion. Look, she has braces! With that, she just sort of watches, waiting to see what they'll do. Of course, she's going to be taking steps back cause if they do decide to blow up the door, she doesn't want to be caught in the blast. She then looks towards Nike with a look like this: o_O "You think I'm going to tell you that? Silly girl is silly."
Leonard's eyes flicker downward when a large ammount of explosives appear out of the air, making a lazy edge backwards from things that could kill him. He takes a glance toward Roxie, raising a brow. "I don't think it'll work, but would you like to?" Back to the others after, one palm rising toward Jacob. "I try to avoid things that waste my time. That scope encompases nearly anything and everything that exists within this general area."
As the C4 comes into existance? Roxie looks, disturbed a moment, before taking a step back. "How about a pack of smokes? If you're offering to make shit out of thin air, that is." She smirks. "But really. Either you're gonna help us get rid of the Atlantians, or your gonna let us in, so we can investigate ourselves. Like Briefcase said, we don't have the patience for wasting time. Or dumb questions, or.." Roxie eyes Jacob, as a piece of gum is taken. "People who take a girl's gum, without askin'." She notes, before stuffing the last few pieces into her pocket, and pulling out a half crunched pack of cigarettes, and tapping it on her gun wielding palm, to expose a filter. "So. Here's what's gonna happen. Either let us in, or we'll shake you down, THEN go in. Either way, I ain't standing here to play your little game anymore."
In response to Roxie's glare, Jacob just unwraps the piece of gum and folds it into his mouth.
"Don't get me wrong," he says to Leonard, "I tend to agree with you. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure this is one of those times when we're pretty much stuck playing by their rules. Not that we have a clue what those rules are." He points to the thoughtfully supplied explosives on the door. "That just proves it. Our chains are being yanked. But hey, I'm nosy. If someone wants to set that off, I'll stick around to see what happens. Chalk it up to morbid curiosity."
Andrew grins, "So if they're making up the rules as they go? Play by your own rules, It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission." He says scratching his chin, "Besides we don't know what the rules are anyway."
"I'm all for big explosions, but in case no one noticed, there's a remarkable lack of cover in this room." Nike looks around her thoughtfully, brow furrowed. Suddenly, an idea clicks and she snaps her fingers in private triumph. "Nevermind. I'm covered." Glancing over her shoulder, she looks to Andrew. "You got a means of not being blow to bits there, sunshine?" While waiting for an answer, she scans the room for a comfortably large shadow.
And with that Mary disappears. Now there's a big ass RED button for the detonator. What will they do?
Leonard nudges at the explosides with a foot, inching them toward the door before he steps backward. "At the very least it'll be interesting to see." A few moments of examination and the problem comes to light. "Oh. Not difficult. Would anyone else like to press it, or should I? In theory this should work."
Click. What was that? Leonard asking if anyone wants to push the button? Perhaps it was the addition of the bright RED button, that Roxie finds so irresistible? Either way, it's pressed before the second half of his proposal, if the girl can manage it. Damn her impulsive personality! "Done. So we run now, right?"
KaBOOOOM! Everyone is blinded by the explosion. They can feel their soul slipping away. Death's grips at their fingertips as everyone WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ROXIE suddenly finds themselves in complete darkness. Are they dead? They can see each other in the void. That's pretty much allthey can see. The darkness.
Now, for what Roxie sees is a flag coming out of the C4 that says BOOM!. She wasn't caught in the resulting illusion as she finds her companions knocked out and on the ground. Oh dear.
At least the door is open!
Leonard does toss a hand up in effort to stop Roxie, though it's a bit too late. He explodes, and then he floats. The man elects for a sitting float, legs tossed, awkward expression settled on his face. "Dead." He decides on that, more than anything else.
Jacob takes stock of everything around him. A quick inventory. Nothing. He pats himself down, or at least thinks he does, checking to make sure all his bits are where he left them. Then he settles in to chew his gum and hate everything.
Except the gum. Mmmm. Cinnamon.
Blink. Blink. "Well shit." Roxie frowns, before picking up her dropped, crooked cigarette up from the floor - to place it between her lips. And, with a sigh? She begins to try and drag everyone, one by one, in the doors. "I hate kids." The girl grumbles, as she grabs Leonard's legs, to begin to pull. Boy, epic strength would be USEFUL right now. "Gonna find that twerp, and make'er fix this.."
She'd just sighted the perfect shadow, too. Curse that impulsive Roxie! The first thought Nike processes coherently is that if they're not dead, she's gonna kick that girl square in the shin. If they are dead… Oh well. Sitting up, she notices that they are…apparently in empty space. Well, everyone but Roxie. Figures. Standing up, she brushes imaginary dust off of her jeans and looks around for any sign of Mavros. He was right behind her just a second ago… "No, not dead. Dad would be here by now and I'm fairly sure he wouldn't be nice and quiet about it." This of course, raises the question of just exactly where they are.
Well Somewhere along the way Drew figured he'd sleep when he died. So died, might as well catch up on the sleep. Besides Hel wasn't being creepy yet. So Drew lays there for a second and n dice. He finally says, "Ow.. You think this would be more comfortable."
Now this is when things get truly wierd. Mary once more appears before the group. She's talking to all of them at the sametime even though the majority of the group is well 'dead'. There's an impish chuckle as she just stares at each one of them and smiles brightly.
"Great. You were killed by your companion. Good job." and she claps.
"No, she's dead." Leonard's fingers rise, making a short swat through the emptiness surrounding him. "I'm fairly sure I'm not dead. I would expect more." His arms wag, making swimming motions, testing against the empty space. When the little girl appears again he makes a short gesture toward her, adding, "See? Not dead." A pause. "Let me think about it for a bit."
Jacob's keeping his own counsel for right now, refusing to either address the others as he sees them or to acknowledge that he can. He raises a hand to give a sarcastic thumbs-up to Mary and then rolls onto his side, continuing to chew his gum.
"Damn it!" Roxie grunts, as she drops Leonard just inside the threshold of said door. "You weight a freakin' TON!" She notes, before nudging the unconscious man's side with her foot - and leaning against the door frame. She's gonna need a breather, after that one. Especially since a FEW members of the party, look like they might weight a bit more. "Hey!" The girl calls out, after a moment. "You could at LEAST make me a wheelbarrow.."
Now she's really starting to panic. Since she was thirteen years old, Nike has never been anywhere without that little furball. His total absence is more worrying than she'd expected. Fear turns to anger the second she sees Mary appear and dark eyes lock on their target. With large, easy strides, she advances on the little girl, looking more the predator with each step. "What did you do with my colt?" she demands, her voice very low, very slow and very tight.
Leonard is content to float a little bit more, eyes closing, the man's lips pressing into a small line. "Well." Eventually he peeks out again, checks to see if surroundings have changed. "I have ideas. It depends, really, on how dead we are. Who wants to let me play with their brain?" A bright smile is offered after. "It'll be fun."
Mary in the dreamworld deadpans to Nike. "I ate him. Kinda stringy and gamey, but oh well." she says with a shrug of her shoulders.
Mary in the 'real world' looks towards Roxie. "You know, if you hurt them, they might wake up. I suggest shooting them in the head." she opines.
Nike is next, because she's hopefully lighter. Roxie's dragging the woman by her feet, when she pauses mid stride, to look at Mary. "Oh, you'd love that.. wouldn't you." Her lips purse - and she talks around that unlit cigarette. But still.. "How would /shooting/ them help? Wouldn't they just be unconscious AND bleeding?"
"I hardly know you," Jacob chimes in, as Leonard talks about messing with their brains. "That makes it kinky. Will it tickle? I'm all out of damn at the moment. Either this will wear off, or it's yet another dollop of brain damage I get to soldier through. Hmm. That reminds me…" He pulls out his cell phone-or at least, that's his intention, provided he has one in this particular iteration of subjective reality.
Nike may be small, but she's got layers of lean muscle that might add on to the discomfort of being dragged. Trapped in the world of empty black, however, Nike doesn't know her weight is being considered. She knows only that her best friend has just been killed - eaten - by this monster in child's clothing. Click. Nike's opinion of Mary has just been set, and it isn't a happy one. There's no roar, no scream, no sound at all. There's no warning to be had as Nike leaps at the young girl, going for the full out 'tackle and snap the neck' maneuver. Child's skin or not, there is no mercy left in Nike. Nor is there thought for her own life. At least, not at this point.
And tackle Mary, Nike does! Though it turns out to be alittle chibi doll version as mary in dreamworld is suddenly somewhere else. "Wow. You guys are bloodthirsty." she says softly.
Meanwhile, backin the 'real world'. "Well, you don't have to shoot them in the head. The arm will do. I didn't think any of you would actually press the button. Silly gooses." she says with an impish giggle. "And you want to know a secret? We have /nothing/ to do with the creation of New Atlantis."
"Probably not. At worst I'll end up looking stupid." Leonard offers that toward Jacob, questioning, "So? How about a bit of hypnotism?" He pauses when he spots Nike go flying, head craning as he observes, lips pressing into a small frown. "Yes, that looks problematic." No more on that from him.
Rather than have the pounce wasted, Nike tenses her lower back and rips the doll's head clean from her body. Standing up, she tosses the head from hand to hand with absolutely no regard to the small detail that it is, in fact, a head. Leonard gets the briefest glance and the smallest nod, but then her attention is back on Mary. "Bloodthirsty, are we?" she calls out. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you ate Mavros, you little bitch!" And with that - and the memory of high school sports - she tosses the head up into the air and leaps after it, using her fist to slam it in the direction of its living counterpart.
"He told me to!" Roxie grunts, as she cranes her neck towards Leonard's unconscious body. WIth that? She begins to drag Nike across the floor some - before pausing again, at Mary's words. "But can you /help/ us? We want to make things right again. We want to make New York /free/ again. But we need help." Roxie notes, before dropping Nike's legs, when she's beyond the door. A deep breath, and she looks at Jacob next. "I should shoot'em for stealing my gum, yeah?" Finally Roxie lights the cigarette she's been rolling around.
"Girls and their ponies," Jacob quips, tucking his phone away and rolling over to watch the hilarity with far more detachment than is really fair to Nike. It's likely he'd be more sympathetic if he was less convinced this is all a mind-screw. "She's yanking your chain," he says to the distraught Scion. "I believe I mentioned this earlier, before we got bombed into the Twilight Zone." He looks over at Leonard and shrugs. "I'd say we all like pretty stupid right now. This far into the lose column, we can't fail any worse."
"It's not my place. Humanity longs for a story. I can't just deus ex machina the story. Humanity won't be satisfied with that." Mary replies as she lets out a soft chuckle escape from her lips as she looks towards Roxie. "You and your friends were very rude. I was taking a nap and you charged in all gungho." she says with a soft pout. "And now she.." she says looking atthe fallen Nike. "Is trying to beat me up in the world of my creation. So violent. So so violent."
"Well then! You should just listen to me for awhile. Like this." Leonard's fingers points toward his eyes, toward Jacob's after. "Then, when I tell you to wake up and get out of here, you should do that." It's not much of an effort he makes, though there's probably something he does so. Just a quick flicker of fingers, before hands clap once. "Okay. Go do that. Hopefully."
"We barged in, because we're frustrated. Actually, it was Leonard's idea to barge in. I just figured it'd be great fun." She shrugs, craning her head towards Briefcase once more. "You said something about.. the statues, or Leonard did. Someone did. If we where more powerful, we'd be able to fight the Atlanteans, right? Because they did it as well?" Finally, Roxie pulls her gun, and cocks the hammer - pointing it at Leonard. He's the brains of the operation, right? She'll aim for his thigh - something meaty, before she pulls the trigger. Of course, it /is/ a hand cannon.
Leonard does an unexpected magic trick when he makes Jacob -disappear-!
He opens his eyes and sits up, nearly gagging on the chewing gum that's been resting on his tongue while he dozed insensate. How very karmic. If it helps (it probably doesn't) he's also got a numb spot on his tongue from an overload of cinnamony goodness concentrated into one place. He doesn't let that deter him though. "Fuck me," he grumbles, levering upright in time to watch Roxie aim at Leonard's leg.
"You are made of pure, undiluted hate, aren't you?" he queries, curious in a blandly academic sort of way.
The magician seems fairly pleased with himself when Jacob blinks out of existance, hands lowering to his side and a bright smile arcing across his lips. He even does a floating wiggle of celebration, hands wagging back and forth to an invisible audience. "Not dead," He affirms, "Or more dead now. One of the two." Not much thought is given to the latter, Leonard instead arcing toward his remaining companion. "Time for you. How about it?" Then ow, pain, and awake. With a howl, hands moving to clutch at where the bullet went, a sharp hiss escaping his throat. "Owowow." That, when he can manage.
"Hey! It worked!" Roxie beams, her voice going high pitched, and school girl excited. She did something good! Next, She aims her hand cannon at Jacob, when he shoots up, gagging on gum. Something about that, makes her smirk. "How did you wake up? She said I had to shoot ya, to wake you up." The girl notes, pointing her weapon at Mary, for a moment. "Leonard! The door's open!" Roxie continues, still excited. Next, she aims her weapon at Nike, closing an eye to aim low. Though, she's apprehensive now. Somehow, she didn't expect Leonard to wake up like /that/.
"Blood must be spilled afterall. It is part of the Dark Hour." Mary says rather cryptically as she beams brightly the entire time, her eyes flashing a bright crimson for a few moments.
<OOC> Nike wonders what happened to the Mary in the dream world. Did she disappear, too?
Jacob climbs to his feet, smirking at Roxie. He can't really be mad at her, despite having the gun pointed at him. For one thing, she didn't pull the trigger and for another she took the theft of her gum very seriously.
"Leonard hypnotized me. Or, uh…reverse hypnotized me. Looks like we left whatsername in delusional Disneyworld though. Dark there. She's kind of having a bad night. Shooting her won't help, I guarantee you that. Anyway, the door's open?" He starts to meander toward it, craning his neck to peer inside from where he's standing.
"Don't do that." Leonard doesn't really snap, he's a bit too chocked up to do that. It's more of a rasp, his fingers seeking out the wound in his leg, closing over it quickly. He doesn't take long to set to healing it, patching flesh and bone, growing new layers. It doesn't look like a happy process, the man's teeth grinding together, a few strangled noises escaping from his throat before he tips back onto the ground again. "Just poke her with something."
"Poke her with something, like what?" Roxie's head tilts, as she watches Leonard start the process of healing. But, at Jacob's words? The girl's brow wrinkles. "Disneyland? What the hell happened to you guys? I pushed the button, light flashed, and you fell down." Finally, Roxie turns to Mary once more - after fielding questions too, and from the other conscious Scions. "The Dark hour. You mean this place? Or.. becoming powerful enough to beat the Atlanteans?"
"This place is the Dark Hour. Now, whether you are powerful enough to defeat the atlanteans, that I do not know. They have centuries of experience even though they have been reawakened to their power, they still remember all. It was them who first took the trials of the Dark Hour and passed." Mary says matter of factly.
"Here." Leonard fetches his fallen weapon, lofting toward sword toward Roxie. Maybe harder than necessary, but he does provide the equipment. "Not hard. How about you just let me handle things from now on and we can avoid things like this." A short glance is made back toward the tower. "I should tell you: The Atlanteans used this to get their hooks into the first people who went in here." The words are slow, a few breaths inbetween. "In theory, we should avoid that."
Great. First Jacob, then Leonard and now Mary… Alone in the darkness, Nike just drops to sit down. The head bounces a few times and eventually rolls to a stop, it's intended victim no longer there. Figuring she'll be out of here in a moment as well, Nike closes her eyes and spends what time she has left in quiet, meditative contemplation. Calm, peace, focus.
"Silly boy, those who went in here initially were already tied by fate to the Atlanteans." Mary says rather cryptically as she snickers softly under her breath. "You're talking about those whom the Atlantean gods initially stole their forms from, right? Yes, that fate binding occured a long time ago."
"Yeah, but if we do it, then we'll have the powerbase to take them down, too. We just have to be better then temptation. We've gotta be fuckin'.. Patriots, man." Roxie notes, before catching the lobbed weapon. "If they where the first, then /we/ have to be next, right? We've gotta fight them on /their/ terms." The girl continues, as she approaches the unconscious Nike, stabbing her (carefully) with the blade. Hard enough to draw blood - near, or on the bicep. "How do I start?" That last question, for Mary.
"Oh good." Leonard has that to offer when Mary clarifies, examining Roxie as the woman works. He moves to fetch the weapon when she's finished, cleaning it before he gestures toward the door. "That way, then." He'll wait for the others to get ready before he moves, shuffling toward the entrance to wait and watch.
Any additional notes fall to the bottom.
