Akriel says "And the Captain was a Balseraph of Kronos."
Jewel looks at Akriel. "How did you learn *that*?"
Akriel closes his little notepad with a thump.
Cassia blinks in astonishment.
Akriel says "I observed him attempt to influence us with his Resonance."
Cassia says "He was giving orders and everything..."
Jewel says "That's a good trick."
Cassia looks a bit shaken.
Akriel says "He was reasonably persuasive."
Jewel says "That's the problem with Bals. They always are."
Cassia says "He really was."
Cassia sighs. "So you probably aren't the bad guys..."
Cassia says "... and I probably shouldn't tell him where you are all the time and stuff."
Akriel gives Cassia a look.
Jewel says "No you shouldn't!"
Cassia says "Okay."
Jewel says "How long have you been in the world?"
Cassia says "Uhm... me?"
Jewel says "Both of you."
Cassia says "About two years, part of growing the warrior women in sports project, helping get the soccer program kicked off in the U.S."
Jewel says "But not fighting directly?"
Akriel pats his pockets and comes up with a pocket watch with several too many knobs.
Cassia says "Some discrete fights, but nothing all out."
Akriel says "Two hours, forty three minutes as of ... now."
Cassia says "Wow."
Akriel closes up the pocket watch and puts it away.
Jewel says "Wonderful."
Akriel says "It is quite interesting."
Cassia says "Boss didn't want me to be too obvious. More errand running than fighting, but..."
Cassia says "... things happen."
Jewel says "It's interesting, yah. It's also damned dangerous."
Jewel says "Although if you can see through a Bal on the first try, maybe you won't have much trouble."
Akriel says "Some things are by the grace of God."
Jewel nods. "But a lot of things aren't."
Jewel says "Anyway. You two are here to investigate the murder?"
Cassia says "Not really, I was supposed to find some things she wrote before she died, but to watch out for murderers."
Jewel looks at Akriel.
Akriel says "Yes, just so."
Akriel says "There is suspicion of Vapulan involvement."
Jewel says "I didn't see any cops when we got back, so maybe we should go check that room again."
Cassia says "Sure!"
Akriel says "Sure."
Cassia says "Though I didn't really didn't find anything there when I was looking."
Cassia says "But I might not have looked in the right places."
Jewel says "Right. You got interrupted."
Akriel says "I would also like to find out where I am staying."
Jewel looks out into the hall ot make sure there are no lurking cops or hyenas or anything.
No obvious cops or hyenas, or, in fact, anything.
Jewel looks back over her shoulder at Akriel. "I'm sure we can find someplace for you to bed down." *wink*
Akriel gives Jewel a blank look.
Jewel says "Okay, let's go."
Jewel leads the way to the room of many corpses.
Akriel follows.
Cassia follows Jewel, this time, remembering that body makes it easier.
The room is barren and lifeless, for all that the lighting is somewhat intimate and the drapes are rose; the bookshelves are a little out of order, there's a chalk body outline on the floor, and there is no body in the kitchen. Not even any dust.
Jewel says "Something she was writing, you said?"
Cassia nods.
Jewel looks around for a computer.
Cassia looks along the bookshelves for notebooks and the like...
Akriel looks around for things that seem out of place.
There is no computer. Following this thought to its logical conclusion, Jewel *does* note that there are *many* pens and such hereabouts, including an antique fountain pen on the desk. No obvious paper, although Cassia riffled through some blank pages in a desk drawer on her last search, and some empty hanging files in another drawer.
Cassia nods.
Akriel notices that the couch is at sort of an odd angle, like one side is *very* slightly raised. It's on a carpet. Jewel notes this, too, if she looks that way. Cassia finds no notebooks on the shelves.
Akriel finishes studying the room, and then goes over to the couch to study it.
It occurs to Cassia that one can write in almost *any* book, though, even if it's not a notebook. Mostly because she's done so, when a book has wandered into her hands.
Jewel, finding no computer, looks for places to hide things, like under the couch cushions.
Cassia opens the book in her hands to look at what's in it...
Jewel has been making sure to give Akriel the best view when bending over toward or away from him to check under and behind things.
Cassia discovers ... why, it's a biography of famous film great Robert Redford!
There's a rap at the door. Jewel and Akriel think -- it's hard to tell -- that the edge of the couch is resting on a very thin lump beneath the carpet.
Cassia kewls and reads a bit...
Akriel says "Hmm."
Cassia whispers, "Should I get that?"
Jewel whispers, "No! Stay quiet!"
Jewel remains very quiet herself.
The door, very stealthily, begins to creep open.
Jewel ducks behind the couch!
Akriel quiets. He kneels down to see if he can see what's under the couch, or perhaps to be less obvious.
Cassia ducks behind the desk!
Akriel will join Jewel in hiding.
Jewel hides *and* gets crowded up with Akriel. :)
Cassia makes it under the desk with a handful of the most interesting books, including pictographies of the various Hollywood personalities, scripts of long-ago made movies, and great American literature. Akriel and Jewel hide successfully!
The door finishes opening and a tall, craggy-featured man steps into the room, hawk-like eyes darting this way and that. He is dressed in a conservative black suit with a gray shirt underneath. There are several other shapes behind him.
Jewel senses ...
The craggy man proceeds into the room, a handful of miscellaneously-shaped and clothed (but normal) men and women following him. When four -- all four -- of his followers are inside the room, he says, calmly, "You might as well come out. I can smell you."
Akriel spends most of his attention eyeing the interesting corner of the couch and contemplating the engineering problem of extracting the thing from underneath.
Cassia peeks up over the desk, "I *showered*... hrm. What do you smell?"
Jewel stands up, then, still behind the couch. "Do you often go around sniffing people out?"
He says, smiling faintly at Cassia, "Eyes."
One of the women behind him says, stridently, "You can't have it!"
The craggy man holds up a hand and she falls reluctantly silent.
Cassia says "Eyes? How do you smell eyes?"
Jewel senses ...
The man shrugs. "It's a talent. Explain yourselves."
Then he raises his hand again. "No, don't bother. I can tell you."
Cassia peers at him, interestedly.
Jewel listens Expectantly.
Akriel works his hand in under the carpet and touches whatever is there. Then he invokes his resonance.
The man says, "You're here for the file. You want to cut us out of the biz, same as everyone else." There are angry mutters from the other four. "We aren't going to stand for it." Then, with stunning stage emotion, he grinds out, "Do you hear me?"
Akriel says "Huh?" in a tone of complete incomprehension.
Cassia says "Biz?"
Jewel applauds. "Who writes your dialog?"
Glaring at Jewel, the craggy man answers, "Who does your makeup?"
He continues, "There's only one biz in this town." He makes a small hand gesture, and the other four spread out a bit.
Softly, he continues, "The movies. Nybbas has kept us out of them long enough, and he's not going to *do* it any more."
Akriel murmurs to Jewel, hopefully too quiet to carry, "What should we do?"
Akriel rests on his haunches, behind the couch; an unseen frown flits over his face at that.
Jewel speaks to her lapel, one hand going behind her waist. "Okay, they're in the bag. Move in."
Oddly, for an Elohite, Jewel suddenly finds herself full of supernatural fear.
For just a moment, the craggy man's face lights with malevolent glee. Our heroes can see it, but the others can't.
Cassia peers at Jewel in some confusion.
Jewel produces a gun and shoots the leader!
<
Jewel's hands are obviously shaking!
He says, "Enough with the --"
Akriel looks surprised. Then he looks deafened, seeing as a gun just went off pretty close to his ear.
The craggy dives out of the way! (Towards Cassia, alas.) We'll see if he manages to move fast enough ...
Cassia kicks the leader.
<
<
The craggy man is winged by the bullet!
... and crashes, bleeding, into Cassia. Both go down in a tangle of limbs.
Jewel vaults the couch and bolts for the door! If anyone gets in her way, they get shot!
Akriel works the item free.
The craggy man would probably yell, "Stop them!" except that he's been shot and is in a tangle of limbs with an Ofanite and is a bit out of his depth -- apparently. Only one of the people behind him, a young rail-thin man, doesn't scatter at Jewel's charge. Nor is he directly in the way.
Akriel keeps down. Very down.
Someone just attempted (and failed) a Song. The guy who got shot didn't cause any Disturbance by being hurt, though.
Cassia then pummels the guy, as she's *used* to being tackled to the ground...
Jewel keeps going, bowling aside the skinny guy if necessary!
Jewel reaches the door! And is gone! There's a very grumpy-looking old woman peering out a doorway down the hall.
Akriel stuffs the item -- it seems to be a daily planner for 1997 -- into the depths of his vest.
The craggy man looks to be fairly well-battered. He's screaming something about "Mummies Forever!" The others are standing around fluttering their hands, although one now has a gun out and there's the sound of another attempted and failed Song.
Akriel pops his head up, gets wide-eyed at the gun (and white), and pops down again.
Cassia has the guy immobilized.
The one with the gun is suddenly inspired. He points the gun above Cassia and the craggy man and fires. "Everyone *freeze!*" he barks.
Cassia freezes.
The old woman watches Jewel run down the hall, looking suspicious. Then there's a *bang* and she ducks back into her apartment.
Akriel uses a Song to jam all the guns in the room.
Cassia then unfreezes to get her legs under her, moving kinda slowly.
The one with the gun says, fiercely, "I warn you, I know how to use this thing." Rolling his 'r's dramatically, he says, "Now put our leader *down* and back away from him."
Akriel pops up from around the sofa, looking pretty freaked and mumbling, and does a head-down linebacker's sprint towards the door.
Cassia considers. She looks at the man with the gun and then, with her legs under her, she tackles him at the knees.
Another attempted Song from somewhere. As with all Songs this group attempts, it is an abject failure.
Akriel will just barrel through anyone in the way. At least this is the theory.
Cassia bowls the gunman over!
Akriel escapes the room!
Cassia yells, "Hoorah!"
Cassia tries to get the gun.
Akriel turns um um he can't remember which way is Jewel's room! He turns right, because we all know what left is.
The craggy man crawls up to lean against the wall, hand dripping with about five drops of blood from what amounts to a serious scrape on his side where the bullet skimmed by him.
Jewel is probably visible going around a corner at the end of the hall.
Cassia barely wrestles the gun away from the gunman!
A successful Song is sung, somewhere!
Cassia takes the gun and runs after Akriel
One of the men spits out a long spiky tongue that lashes after Cassia and misses utterly.
Akriel, having turned right, will keep on going in more or less a straight line.
Akriel is (fortunately?) heading in the same direction as Jewel.
Cassia puts herself a bit between Akriel and possible pursuit from behind them.
Akriel comes to a sort of huge janitor's closet, about garage-sized, with a door showing a crack of outside light coming through as it shuts behind Jewel. Cassia can see Akriel heading into that room. No pursuit.
Cassia follows after... looking behind her occassionally to see.
Akriel, well, there are technical terms for what Akriel is doing, but most people just call it 'fleeing'. He will flee right on out that outside door.
Jewel hides behind a dumpster!
Jewel sees an *angel* -- full of divine wrath? -- rush out into the alley after her!
Akriel blows a Cool roll, and cannot recover his Cool.
Akriel makes it outside, turns, and slams the door. He leaves his hand against the door's lockplate, and murmurs something.
Akriel's Song invocation: 'oh worthy stout door, please bar the way behind me so that none may pass you.'
Cassia hears what sounds like a classic maniacal laugh drifting out the hallway behind you as she passes into a large janitorial garage. There's a door more or less straight in front of her.
Jewel just cowers behind a dumpster.
Akriel seems to be alone in an alley.
Cassia hrms and then whirls at the sound of laughter and walks back towards it.
Akriel then steps away from the door and hurriedly looks around. Grunge. You know, they don't have grunge back home.
Akriel heads down the alleyway to get to something proper. Something green and growing. Perhaps this place has a garden in the back.
(Why, this is Hell, nor is he out of it?)
There's a faint sound behind the dumpster, as of someone trying to catch their breath. Akriel decides it's an ambush and flees further.
Cassia discovers -- it's not just *one* someone, but about four, all maniacally laughing in cadence. Perhaps it's some sort of Rite.
Cassia says "uht oh..."
Cassia sprints back... gun ready.
The laughers seem to be in the room our heroes left.
Akriel flees the alleyway with speed and dispatch! Perhaps he heard something unsettling.
Cassia dashes up and -- sees a closed door with lots of laughter behind it. It is slowly dying down, though. It's the room they left, verified.
Cassia drats softly and opens that closed door.
Jewel . o O ( Wait. The angel is running *away*! )
Jewel runs for the other end of the alley!
Two of the strange people are searching the room methodically, and a couple are still laughing maniacally. The craggy man is encouraging them. Like a conductor.
Akriel is looking for a garden. Ideally with a nice secluded bushy place that he can just sit in the sun in. (Regrettably, he is in L.A.)
Cassia tries to shoot the craggy man!
The craggy man yelps, "Eyes!" and hits the floor.
The gun clicks. It's jammed.
Cassia throws it at the nearest laughing person, never was good with the things anyway...
Eventually, Akriel finds a small hanging garden outside someone's window, containing a few wintersbreaths and forget-me-nots. They're not that healthy.
Akriel comes to rest there, probably panting.
Jewel is starting to calm now. Nothing has come after her.
Jewel stops before she runs out into the street waving a gun.
The guy yelps and dives out of the way, and all laughter ceases. The gun furrows a track in the floor before crashing into the bookshelf. Two books fall to the floor, sprawling open.
Akriel did not stop before running out into the street, and may by now be long gone in some random direction.
Akriel cogitates. The human taking care of them is probably doing as best they can, so he will not knock on their door to give a lecture about the care and feeding of plants.
Jewel watches the door for a bit to see if any more angels are coming out.
The spiky tongue lashes out at Cassia again and wraps around the doorknob. Where it gets stuck, being spiky.
Cassia grins and tackles the guy with the spiky tongue.
<
The GM covers her face.
Cassia tries to use him and swing him around to spike the others -- but --
The impact has ripped out the man's tongue. Oddly enough, it's not bleeding.
The craggy man yells, "Can *no one* stop these bloody Medians?"
Another failed Song.
Cassia tackles the one trying to sing!
That would be the craggy man. This tackling thing is working out pretty well.
Jewel, having calmed down and realized what a moron she is, is going to go back inside (presuming they haven't locked the door since last time).
Cassia is *used* to tackling people, not the stupid gun things...
The door through which you left is completely locked, Jewel. Or stuck. Or something.
The craggy man plows backwards into the wall.
Cassia says "Keen. You guys stop it and get out, why don't you? You're interrupting my *job*!"
Jewel says "Haagenti give him a blow-job!"
"It's just one of them!" a woman who still has her tongue shouts. "We can take her!" There are exactly two people who can act on this, and they look very undecided.
Jewel goes around front, adjusting her jacket back to decency.
Cassia tackles the woman that's shouting, this time.
Jewel *runs* around front, that is!
The last standing man mutters, "Nobody likes mummies." Then he begins to snivel or cry, you're not sure.
Cassia tackles successfully! Ofanim.
Cassia pummels her some to help convince the other two...
(Song of Harmony.)
Suddenly, Cassia, violence just doesn't seem to be the answer.
Of course, the woman is unconscious by then.
The front entrance opens to a key that Jewel was given when she moved in.
Cassia blinks a bit and sits on the unconscious woman and then says to the last two standing. "I think you should just stop and go away... any more violence isn't necessary, I think."
Jewel runs for the room of corpses, possibly attracting attention as she bouncees through the lobby and hallways!
Akriel, taking a series of right turns -- approximately four -- spots Jewel entering a building that looks a lot like the one he just left.
Akriel blinks thoughtfully. He walks over to it.
The remaining woman (the one who has a tongue, is not sniveling, and is not unconscious) says, "Maybe we should flip for it?"
Akriel contemplates the door when he gets there. Locks. Keys. Now if he was to put a key into a pocket, which pocket would he put it in? This one. Does it have a key?
It does, in fact, not have a key.
Cassia says "No. Flipping people is violent."
"Er, a coin."
Cassia says "But if you really want... oh..."
"You know. Heads or tails, you leave, edge I do?"
Cassia says "That doesn't seem right, either."
She frowns. "Okay. Tails, you leave, heads, I do."
Cassia shakes her head. "Uh uh. You all are supposed to leave, I think. Period."
Akriel says "How annoying."
Akriel puts his hand on the door handle, thoughtfully. "Just this once," he mutters.
<
The lock springs open with a *snick*. Then the door falls inwards.
Akriel catches the door! Oops!
Cassia says "Boss doesn't like it when I walk away from a fight, but doesn't mind when other people do."
The woman points out, "We are here for a cause. You are here because you have orders. Which is the higher duty?" Around now, Jewel catches up to the room, and begins to feel oddly rational. Well, not *that* oddly; she vaguely remembers feeling like this a long while ago ..
Cassia says "Uhm... what makes which higher?"
Akriel says, somewhat upset, "Doors aren't *supposed* to do this."
The woman considers that.
The woman says, "When you serve a cause, you are being directly ethical; when you follow orders, you are following someone else's ethics. Yet shouldn't all moral judgments come from the self?"
Cassia says "No."
Jewel peeks around the doorframe, low to the ground.
Cassia looks really puzzled, "They all come from God. Don't they?"
The woman frowns severely. "God speaks to us from within, not from without."
Cassia says "But wheither or not he's an innie or an outie, they come from Him."
"Believing that someone else can give you God's orders is what causes all atrocities -- all wars -- it causes one to worship a *false* God."
Cassia says "But that's if you don't listen to the innie God, no? There's both."
"I am listening to my innie God. You are listening to Nybbas."
Jewel steps in, rather flushed and heaving entrancingly, but with gun pointed at the speaker. "We never listen to Nybbas. Now stop talking."
Jewel's hold on the gun is more uncertain than menacing.
From the direction of the front door is a thump!, as the door proves too heavy for Akriel. And another thump! as Akriel demonstrates a certain lack of dexterity or quickness of thought and joins it on the floor.
Akriel picks himself up and looks at the door. "Oh dear." Then he attempts to lever it up to put it back into place.
Cassia gratefully lets the much more clever Jewel do the talking.
Sirens approaching. Looks like your good friends the L.A.P.D. are coming back.
Jewel says "How about you pick up your friends and we go someplace else, with not so many cops, and talk about this?"
The woman points out, "You started the violence. Why should we trust *you?*" She looks at the sniveling man and the others and adds, "Er, why should *I* trust *you?*"
Jewel says "We can distrust each other later. I'd rather not do it in a cell, though."
Jewel moves out of the doorway. "Move! Cassia, you take that one."
Jewel indicates Craggy with her gun.
Akriel notes a squad car pulling up on the street behind him. He is not sure whether he looks suspicious or downright virtuous.
Cassia slings the craggy guy over her shoulder in a fireman's carry and follows Jewel.
The woman makes a snap decision. "All right. But your word of honor, you won't betray us?"
Jewel says with perfect honesty, "I won't betray you."
Jewel . o O ( You can't betray an enemy. )
Akriel attempts to repair the door. This requires yet another Song.
The woman, with unholy, or possibly holy, or maybe just inhuman strength, hauls the sniveling and the tongueless men to their feet.
Then she grabs the other woman and follows out into the hall.
Jewel leads the way back out into the alley and down a side alley almost to the street. Lugging unconscious people around the streets attracts attention even in LA.
Jewel says "Cassia, do you have a car?"
The police car parks in front, but no one gets out, for all that the lights are flashing.
Cassia says "Uhm... yeah."
Akriel busies himself with more or less ordinary tools.
Jewel says "Can you bring it around? And pick up the cutie if you see him."
Cassia says "Sure!"
Jewel stands against the other wall from the bad guys, so she can shoot them if necessary, but isn't actually pointing the gun at them or anything.
The door is reattaching to the frame, still unlocked.
Cassia dumps Craggy in the alley, against the wall the others are against...
Cassia starts to run for the car, then remembers... hrm... police, don't attract attention...
Cassia walks to her car and brings it around without going over speed limits...
A policecar pulls up gently to the mouth of the alley, riding silent.
Akriel closes and reopens the door a few times, to make sure it works.
Akriel does this from inside, since this is the side one puts exterior doors back into their frames on.
Cassia discovers a policecar parked there. The two men inside it look fairly tense, but aren't getting out.
Jewel remains behind a dumpster, cursing under her breath.
Cassia parks at the curb and gets out, friendly like and walks over the the policemen.
Akriel may or may not be visible to Cassia as she fetches her car.
Jewel observes: a Shedite just boiled out of the craggy man, who goes even limper. Cassia sees: one just rolled upwards from behind a dumpster, in celestial form. For the record, this is the same Shedite, from two perspectives.
Cassia frowns, looking up and walks into the alley, away from the policemen at a moderate pace.
Akriel, satisfied with the state of the front door, closes it a final time, gives it a pat, makes sure it's locked, and looks around for the rental office. He goes there.
Akriel cogitates on the best approach on the way there.
Jewel attempts a Song. Jewel and Cassia see celestial chains whip up from behind the dumpster like Spawn's tentacles, wrapping around the creature, but the Shedite shakes them off as if they were water.
It rolls viciously towards the policecar!
Cassia goes Celestial.
Jewel dissolves into Celestial form!
The woman in the rental office is tidying things up; apparently, she is about to close up for the day. She looks up at Akriel, expression polite. "You are not the man with the gun, I hope?"
Akriel, derailed (by disturbance), says "Um, no." A pause. "Um. Akriel Jones."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Jones. Can I help you?"
Akriel looks more lost and distracted. "I think I am supposed to have an apartment here."
The undamaged woman gulps, suddenly, and bolts.
The woman in the rental office smiles at Akriel. "I see." She thinks. "Graduate student?" She sits down and rolls her chair over towards a file drawer, which she opens and begins flipping through.
Cassia's spinning wheel of fire intercepts that boiling cloud and tries to slice into it before it gets to the police car... and the humans...
Jewel tries to dismantle the Shedite!
Akriel evidently decides that discretion is the better part of valour, and says nothing. Or perhaps he is just very distracted.
The Shedite attempts to skid out of the way and let the two of you collide. One of you being an Ofanite, this is unlikely, but not impossible ...
The wheel of fire cuts deep into the Shedite! The pale Elohite figure, eyes glowing red, strikes out as well. Cassia can just barely note a faint floral tracery along the Elohite's body, much like -- tattoos.
The Shedite squeals in unholy agony. Or it imitates a pig. Hard to tell.
Jewel starts grabbing eyes and trying to rip them loose! Just because they have a lot doesn't mean they aren't sensitive.
(Cassia thinks, suddenly: what if the police captain was right? What if this is a Habbalite of the Prince of Shrubbery?)
Cassia pushes, straightforwardly, to slice out the nasty thing's heart...
The Shedite, desperately, pokes an eye towards a cop.
Jewel rips the eye off!
The cop, remarkably, seems to have evaded the Shedite's control! The Shedite, now missing several eyes and with huge rakes in its sides, huddles into a very tiny ball and squimpers.
Jewel hesitates...
The woman in the office finds a file and pulls it out. "Ah. Room 215; you're on the second floor." She presents Akriel with two keys. "Room key, outside key. Watch out; Leonardo diCaprio is running around with a gun."
Cassia hrms and thinks, "No honor in squishing a squimpering enemy..." so stops when it stops trying to get to the policemen...
The Shedite mricks. "I can make you stars," it cries.
Akriel opens his mouth, thinks better of it, and just says "Thank you." He doesn't quite bolt out the front door, but it's not too far off. And then he's going around to that huge noise in the Symphony.
Cassia says "I don't want to be a star, they do their jobs just fine."
Jewel says "I already *have* talent, you festering pile of slime."
"Do you have opportunities?" it replies.
Jewel says "Now start talking. What are you up to?"
Jewel reaches for an eye.
It huddles slyly, all the eyes on the inside. And mouths, too. Muffled by Shedite "flesh," it says, "I need that file. Nybbas wants it *burned*."
Jewel says "Why? What does Nybbas think is in it?"
The Shedite says, "Like I would know."
"It's supposed to be about 'The Hollow Earth,'" it volunteers.
Jewel grabs something that looks like it might be erectile tissue with lots of nerve endings and squeezes.
Akriel turns the corner; pauses, blinks, stares, and walks carefully up.
Jewel lets go. "Is it a script or what?"
Jewel says "Who do *you* work for?"
"There's no script yet. Not finished. It's just -- data. Stolen from Leo-" It blanches.
Cassia whirls slowly, listening.
Jewel says "From who?"
<
Jewel prepares to squeeze again.
Akriel goes Celestial.
Pale white, the Shedite fades away into Hell.
Jewel says "Belial use him for an ashtray!"
Akriel, on the other hand, doesn't notice the tattoos. But Jewel sees Akriel.
The craggy man's eyes open. He looks around him.
Cassia's wheel of fire licks a single flame out to the pale Elohite... "Are those... tatoos?"
Jewel winces. "Scars."
The craggy man pulls himself to his feet, touching his wounded side. "I protest!" he cries to the sky. "The National Enquirer will hear of *this!*"
Akriel tilts its head to consider the wheel of fire and then the Elohite.
Cassia says "Ah."
Akriel says "The Symphony is roiling."
The craggy man yells, "We're not just dead! We're *unionized!* You can't just drug us and dump us in a back alley somewhere!"
Cassia coalesces into her Vessel again...
Jewel returns to Corporeal form.
Akriel, too, returns to Corporeal form. He pats himself down to make sure everything worked.
Akriel ... and is still working and there.
Jewel returns behind the dumpster, hopefully out of line of sight of the cops.
The craggy man is stomping towards the police car from behind said dumpster. However, Jewel can do this thing.
Jewel rolls her eyes.
Akriel watches all this.
Cassia reaches out to gently touch the craggy man on the jaw, when he goes by, and sings a cheerful melody, that is as rapid fire as it is melodious... (Song of Corp Healing)
Cassia's hand brushes him as he goes by. He peers at this athletic woman who is touching him for no clear reason in a back alley in which he has arrived unexpectedly, and his eyes grow very paranoid. Then he jerks away and heads to the police.
Cassia joins the other two behind the dumpster, "Uhm... should we be leaving?"
Akriel isn't behind the dumpster, to be clear; he's out on the street.
The craggy man starts to say, to the policemen, "I would like to file --" Then his eyes catch sight of something on the police car's side. He crosses himself and begins backing away.
Akriel looks over to what the craggy man seems to have spotted.
Cassia says "I wish we could get one more --"
Jewel also looks over there.
Cassia stops to look where Jewel is looking as the attention shift is obvious enough.
The craggy man seems to have spotted -- well, nothing. Just a set of numbers along the car's side, painted.
He reaches a modest distance, turns, and --
<
Vanishes, softly and silently away.
Akriel stares.
Jewel listens to the Symphony!
No disturbance.
Jewel senses ...
A policeman gets out of the car, banging the door shut behind him.
Akriel studies the numbers on the car, as if trying to figure out why they make a difference.
Jewel breaks off down the street, walking (or perhaps running; her choice.) In the general direction the man vanished in.
Jewel moves as fast as necessary. Oh, the gun is under her jacket again.
Cassia moves after Jewel.
Akriel shrugs, and follows.
The policeman peers after you, then goes to look behind the dumpster.
Jewel should *hope* the cop looks at her going away. :)
Jewel hears a creaking sound, as of metal moving in a way it hasn't moved in a while. Jewel comes out into the street to see a fire escape ladder slowly rising up to the platform it's attached to. Someone could have jumped up and caught it, in theory ... (Jewel, incidentally, is tracking by resonance, which is a very poor tool for this purpose. :)
Jewel ducks into the alley with the fire escape and changes Vessels.
Akriel follows, watching all of this.
Akriel & Cassia hear a modest disturbance as Jewel turns into a falcon.
Jewel flies up toward the fire escape!
He's continuing to get further away from Jewel, even faster than before!
Akriel eyes this. He tells Cassia "I do not think I can follow that."
Cassia says "I think I can..."
Cassia says "Would you rather I stayed with you?"
Jewel zips away over the rooftops!
Akriel shakes his head.
Cassia nods.
Cassia sings...
Akriel says "I will be at the Linden House. I have an apartment there, 215."
Jewel thinks about Akriel as she flies!
Akriel watches Cassia herself depart, with interest.
He's out on the street -- out on the street! That rat fink must not have gone *up* the fire escape. There are a bunch of people there, but Jewel now has a pretty strong fix at which one is *him* ...
Enough to vaguely track his direction, anyway.
Cassia manifests wings of fire!
Cassia's song ends in a *foom* of flame and the Ofanite streams up into the sky on ribbons of flame...
Jewel and Cassia zip away across the sky. Fortunately, (chorus:) No one looks up!
Akriel says to himself "Hmm, I wonder if I can build something to do that," and wanders back to the House.
About 10 minutes later, zigzagging above the streets, the keen peregrine eyes spot someone rematerializing out of nowhere on a barely-occupied street.
Akriel has disconnected.
He's rushing along at top speed, craggy clothes flapping in the wind.
Jewel stays high to follow him! He probably can't go too fast now that he's visible.
In fact, he speeds up a little bit, what with people getting out of his way instead of not, but he's not faster than a falcon or an Ofanite. He doubles back at one point, and then suddenly brakes outside a coffee shop.
Jewel sweeps in a circle overhead.
He dashes inside. (And his speed is merely high-end angelic, not much more than an Olympian.)
Jewel sings to Cassia, "You watch the front, I'll take the back!"
Cassia says "Yes!"
Jewel swoops down to the alley behind the coffee shop.
Cassia whirls down to the front door...
Jewel has left the Ofanite to wait. Oops.
Jewel lands in the alley and resumes human form.
Cassia doesn't land until she actually sees him enter...
People do not look up, but for some reason they do notice someone swooping down to land outside their coffee shop on flaming wings.
A few people are eyeing Cassia through the big glass windows with stark disbelief.
Cassia smiles brightly when she does land and bows to all that are staring at her.
Jewel waits a moment to see if he's trying to get out the back, and if he doesn't she goes in after him, *carefully*.
A few others crawl under their tables and await the Apocalypse.
Jewel is hoping he didn't notice the pursuit, since they were, well, up.
The craggy man is not trying to get out the back.
In fact, he does not seem to be in the coffeeshop. At least, from Cassia's POV. Jewel's keen senses track him to ...
The Men's Room.
Jewel loiters near the men's room, then. This almost certainly next to the lady's room, so it's not too suspicious.
Cassia stalks into the front of the coffeeshop and does look around for him... and on not finding him, hrms and then haunts the entrance area as, uhm... quietly as she is able to.
Time passes.
Cassia paces.
Jewel latches onto a passing male by smiling and breathing at him. "Excuse me, could you go check on my friend? He said he wasn't feeling well, and then he went into the men's room, but that was a long time ago..."
The man is happy to oblige. He vanishes into the Men's Room.
Jewel waits for excitement...
A long silence. Then a muffled yelp. Then more silence.
Jewel senses ...
Jewel says "Shit!"
Jewel bursts into the men's room, gun drawn!
Jewel sees nothing!
Cassia paces in front... having probably heard nothing?
<
Cassia hears a door bang open in the back.
Cassia rushes to the back...
The Men's Room door is swinging closed.
Cassia tries to slide in?
Cassia slips in quickly.
Cassia peers about...
There's Jewel. And an empty room, except for the trace of blood on the floor in the mirror.
Cassia walks up to the mirror and touches the mirror...
Jewel is looking around completely bemused!
Cassia's hand passes easily through the mirror, as if it were nothing but fog.
Cassia says "Woah."
Cassia says "Hey, Jewel, should we go in there?"
Cassia hrms... blood.
Jewel looks startledly at Cassia's hand vanishing into the mirror. "Yes! He's got the guy I scammed into coming in here!"
Cassia hops into the mirror, then.
Jewel jumps after, gun ready!
One at a time, they slip through the mirror, squirming over the sink (or diving, perhaps.) Another Men's Room, subtly different -- mostly in places the above-sink mirror can't see. The spot of blood Cassia noted is here, and another few spots, leading into a stall.
Oddly, it looks as if the door to the stall opens outwards, not inwards. All the stalls.
Cassia opens the stall and ducks to the side as the door swings out...
There's a glimmery mirrored surface just behind the door.
Our heroes are not in the reflection.
The man is full of glee. The shapes behind him are vaguer, but they seem to be angry.
The followers are upset about something specific. Something highly unfair. And they've got a rabble-roused mood, although they're also a bit frightened.'.
He's afraid because he knows the police in this precinct, as identified by the number on the car, belong to Kronos. He desperately longs to be in the movies. And he'll do *anything* to preserve his life.
Surprise, fear, astonishment, a sort of fritz, as if your lock on the second guy has broken.