ME Raw Sesh

The shouts and infighting among the others and Nathan's cries of pain follow the pair of you as Jojo leads Gail from the front end of the shop, into the narrow hallway with the stairwell to upstairs, access to the bathroom, and the ajar door to the back room.  As the door shuts, the space is still illuminated from the back room and the light under the door- it's warm, too, with one of the heating vents pumping air into the relatively
4:49 PM enclosed space.
4:49 PM  //
4:49 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
4:53 PM As the sounds of fighting and pain diminish slowly until they're muted across the backs of Jojo's hearing, all he can think of is how it's still too loud. Gail's wrist is still is in his hand as he leads her away from the bloody scene, towards... Well he has no idea where he's going, or what to do. What did you do with a kid after they were responsible for blowing another kid's arms off? He'd already had his plan to go find his cousins, his call
4:53 PM uncompleted, and they were in college. Older, more experienced. They might have advice for him on this, and well... everything, and he could sure use some.
4:55 PM He's nearly silent as he continues to lead Gail away until the sound is gone completely. With his other hand he absently types his cousin's numbers in again, and hits call. If they don't pick up he won't know what to do with himself and Gail so he silently prays that they'll pick up as the line rings.
4:55 PM ||
4:55 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Camt?  Want to interject, act?))
4:56 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((So...are we outside, or still in the shop? Because I think there's a bit of a disconnect there))
4:56 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((Yeah I was confused on that as well))
4:57 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((I had the impression that Jojo was pulling Gail into the back, rather than outside the store - I figured she'd need to get her coat and things if he was doing the latter))
4:57 PM ((Or boots or supplies, assuming no coat))
4:57 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((I can work with it if there's a way to bring her out without seeing the others again))
4:57 PM ((SInce he was bringing her away to avoid them running into each other until everything was worked out))
4:58 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Residential exit out the back?))
4:58 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((Sure, that work for you Cam?))
4:58 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((essentially down the fire escape?))
4:59 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((Gail is being lead, so it's up to Jojo. I'm fine with that, though I kinda assumed she already had her coat. If she doesn't that's fine, but getting it or having it would be good))
4:59 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((I'm fine with it, there's another exit, it serves the same purpose))
5:00 PM ((And keeps us out of the open while i'm vulnerable on the phone))
5:00 PM ((You posting?))
5:00 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((I'll post, sure.))
5:00 PM ...
5:01 PM Gail feels numb. There's a sickening chill as she's dragged along, a rock in her gut that she's only ever felt when awaiting a punishment.
5:02 PM The scene from just moments ago plays out over and over in her head. She could have done that differently, better, if only she wasn't an amateur. An /idiot/.
5:03 PM In her cold daze, she barely manages to grab her coat as they head out the back door, out into the open freezing air. Her hands, more destructive than she should have realized, shake both from the cold and a newfound dread. ||
5:04 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The phone rings, and Jojo's cousin picks up.
5:04 PM "Justafort residence, Bea speaking."  The television can be heard in the background.
5:04 PM  //
5:05 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold The cold is a bite on Jojo's skin, and he shivers though he can't be quite sure that the cold is entirely responsible for that. Thankfully he finds his distraction as Bea picks up the phone.
5:07 PM "Bea, this is Jojo. I need your help, and no joke it's an emergency..." He glances at Gail, turning to frown at the alleyway instead, at no spot in particular.
5:07 PM "This might mean something to you, it might not, but I'm awake..." He says vaguely, waiting to hear her reaction. If she gets what he means it makes everything a million times easier, if not... It informs how he should try and approach this.
5:07 PM ||
5:08 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
5:08 PM Gail is still in a pale daze, her free hand moving idly, and her gaze very far away at the moment. ||
5:09 PM ((You guys should probably just go back and forth from here. I'm not gonna be doing much else till prompted))
5:09 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((Heard))
5:09 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Kk))
5:11 PM "That doesn't mean anything to me," Bea says, "But it sounds like the kind of thing Raph and I overheard our parents talking about.  Where are you?"
5:11 PM  //
5:11 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
5:11 PM Fuck!
5:14 PM "I'm at an antique shop in town..." Jojo explains, letting her know the specific address and location, and then pauses.
5:14 PM "Bea, listen. You said you've overheard them talking about some weird stuff. I'm sure they never told you much about what they actually do, and I'm sure you and Raph have had your suspicions, but before anything else let me warn you. It was fucked up. Cool as hell, and really impressive, but /fucked up./"
5:15 PM "You're gonna think I'm lying when I explain everything, but I swear this isn't a prank, or a joke. I didn't take any drugs. You gotta listen to me."
5:15 PM ||
5:15 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "The fact you're telling me and not talking to mom and dad about it has me thinking about what Raph and I joked about, where we'd catch them sacrificing a kid in the basement or something."
5:15 PM There's a pause.
5:15 PM "Please tell me they didn't."
5:16 PM  //
5:16 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
5:17 PM Jojo is about to say 'no', but then realizes he can't confirm or deny without knowing for sure he's telling the truth.
5:17 PM "I don't think so? From what I've learned today, it doesn't seem like their style..." He says and then an ugly feeling creeps into his gut. He couldn't talk about it with her parents because they were dead...
5:19 PM "I have one of the Neumann kids with me? You know them? Something's going on with their council they had going on for those parties, and I ended up responsible for her." The understatement of the century.
5:19 PM ||
5:19 PM with me.*
5:21 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "I'm going to grab my car and I'll come to you.  I just got in after my dance practice, just laid down, but I'll come get you.  Five minutes.  Keep an eye out for my car, and, um- need anything?"
5:21 PM  //
5:23 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Everything Jojo could possibly need is where she is. He shakes his head no before realizing she can't see him do it.
5:23 PM "No, just to not be out here anymore. It's been a long night." All of the weight on him hangs off that statement. He turns to Gail.
5:23 PM "Anything you need? My cousin is on her way." He tells her.
5:23 PM ||
5:24 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
5:24 PM Gail barely hears that over the thumping blood in her ears. The girl looks quite nauseous right now.
5:25 PM She leans a shoulder against the alley wall and shakes her head, unable to think of anything that could help right now. ||
5:25 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
5:26 PM "Maybe just a bottle of water for Gail." He says back to Bea, giving Gail a slightly concerned look he doesn't even notice he's giving her.
5:26 PM "Thanks so much Bea, seriously. You don't know how awesome you're being right now."
5:26 PM ||
5:27 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "What kind of water?  Sparkling or- I'll bring both.  Five minutes."
5:27 PM  //
5:27 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
5:30 PM What a Justafort question to ask. Sparkling or flat. He'd been barely aware of the existance of sparkling water before he'd even come to Canada.
5:30 PM "Okay. See you then." He says before waiting for her to hang up. Once she does he turns to Gail. "My cousin isn't awakened, but I'm going to grab essentials so we can show her something she can actually see. She's cool, one of the nicest people in this city to me so far, she'll get us to my house safe. You can relax there, sit down a little. I'll even call to check up on things here if you want."
5:30 PM ||
5:30 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
5:31 PM Gail nods back. She's...
5:32 PM "Is...is Nathan going to die?" she asks Jojo, finally looking him in the eyes.
5:32 PM The girl looks /scared/. ||
5:33 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold 'Of course not' almost jumps to Jojo's lips, so much that his lips even move and he has to catch himself at the very last moment from letting those words exit his mouth.
5:33 PM It hadn't looked good, and... He really can't be sure if Nathan is going to make it.
5:37 PM ⇐ Druza quit (uid209687@stonehaven.irccloud.com) Quit: Connection closed for inactivity
5:37 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "I... Gail, I can't lie to you, I really don't know." He starts frowning. He starts to reach a hand out to her shoulder and stops short. He shakes his head side to side.
5:37 PM "But I do know this, what happened to Nathan /wasn't/ your fault, Gail. It was the thing that was inside of him. Who knows what it would have done to him if you didn't find him out. Even with you finding out the thing was still going to shoot him with his own hands..." Fucking monsters. Except, they were actually monsters. Monsters existed. He shudders again deeply. Jojo sighs.
5:37 PM "Look Gail. We're all new to this. I don't even know what half of my stuff does, I've just been winging it and its been kind of working. I'm lucky enough to have a kind of magic that's abstract as hell and barely makes any sense, but you have something who's beginner's tricks teach you how to replace your eyeballs. Of course you're not going to know exactly what you can do as you begin..."
5:37 PM "What you can do is learn from your mistakes and know better for /next time./"
5:37 PM ||
5:38 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
5:38 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold 'lucky'*
5:38 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Next time. The next time she has to replace a body part, or watch as someone's limbs come /apart/ in her grasp.
5:40 PM Gail looks even more sick at the thought. She'd never done that kind of damage directly. Indirectly, sure, she can hardly even count the number of times she's thrown her younger siblings under the bus to save her hide, but to /will/ it, to /break/ someone with full intent...
5:41 PM She slides down the wall, landing on her seat as she finally starts to consider where this practice she's throwing herself into is truly leading. ||
5:41 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
5:45 PM Jojo watches her collapse under the weight of it all, and his heart breaks just a little. 'Well you sure did a /great/ job making her feel better there, Jojo'
5:45 PM He ends up putting his back to the same wall, taking a seat next to her, partially because he himself really needs a seat.
5:45 PM "You know you don't /have/ to even use the stuff if you don't want to. We'd still help you, keep you safe if you didn't. I wouldn't hold it against you." He says.
5:45 PM ||
5:45 PM this stuff*
5:47 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig In the background, the shouting can be faintly heard.  Mostly Nathan's, it sounds like.
5:47 PM  //
5:47 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "It might already be too late," she replies, barely a whisper.
5:48 PM In more ways than one. Gail's made decisions. Taking on Death, going for the eyes, and now those screams.
5:49 PM "Three choices," she continues, her voice hollow and pained. "Three decisions, and they all point to a monster." ||
5:49 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
5:55 PM Jojo's saddened expression becomes slightly irritated at that. The sound of the boy shouting inside fills him with another ugly feeling.
5:55 PM "No. I've actually seen monsters now, and you're definitely not one Gail." Jojo says narrowing his eyes at her.
5:55 PM "If you were a monster you wouldn't feel the way you do right now, and you have way more than three decisions to make coming up soon Gail." He stands to his feet, looking down at Gail with fight in his expression.
5:55 PM "We can't change the past, that's set in stone, but we can make the future better. We can make better choices, and I'll make a choice right here." Jojo extends his hand to her.
5:55 PM "I have your back if you want it and need it. If you need help figuring all this out, I'll be there for you. Your parents, and the practice they gave you don't define you Gail. Its what you do with the legacy they've left you that really matters. We can start making it count here though, for real." He leaves his hand hanging, and waiting. Hoping she'll take it.
5:55 PM "Let me try and help you, and you can try and help me if you want. We'll get through this."
5:55 PM ||
5:57 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gail hesitates at the offered hand, then looks down at her own.
5:59 PM "'Scourges and Ruin go hand-in-hand'," she quotes from her book. "You've seen what mine can do. You've already been /surrounded/ by death, Jojo."
6:00 PM She looks up at the Raven. And omen of death, more fitting than she knew back at the party.
6:00 PM ((An*))
6:01 PM "Are you sure you want to take on this implication?" she asks him, quiet, waiting for the rejection.
6:02 PM "Knowing that just as you can lift me up, I can drag you down further than you may truly understand?"
6:02 PM  /Save yourself, you fucking dumbass,/ she thinks, glaring, willing him to just let her destroy herself. ||
6:04 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold The comment about death is almost a slap in the face to Jojo, but he knows Gail doesn't mean it. He forces himself to forgive her for her accidental slight, though she knows nothing of what she'd made him feel. Instead he cocks his head at her some, taking in her words, analyzing them, and really thinking about what they mean.
6:04 PM "If you've already convinced yourself you're going to cause ruin, then you'll cause ruin..." He starts, sighing. He almost leaves her be, a lost cause. You can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves.
6:05 PM But then he thinks back over the night, to talking with the wrench. To now.
6:09 PM "And you saw my book. I'm a mage of Sympathy, and I'm going to help anyone I feel needs it from me, and I'm going to do it well, and guess what that's going to be my reality because I /believe/ in it." He gives her a forced smirk that he feels become at least slightly real as he lets it rest on his face. He shakes his head at Gail.
6:09 PM "We're really going to have to do something about that rampant case of pessimism you've got going on there, and if I can say that to you, then you should really take it seriously. I've been surrounded by death after all." He says, gesturing at her to grab his damn hand.
6:09 PM "Come on, I need to grab that book, and we still need to get down there before she gets here." He tells her, still leaving his hand extended, the offer still standing.
6:09 PM ||
6:10 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Well, seems they'll both go down together, then.
6:11 PM Slowly, carefully, as if he'll yank it away at any time, Gail takes Jojo's hand with both of hers.
6:12 PM She uses it to lift herself up off the ground.
6:13 PM Then as soon as she's on her feet, clutches it /very/ tightly.
6:13 PM "...okay," is all she whispers out.
6:13 PM There's more to say, but she stamps it down and saves it for later. ||
6:13 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig There's something of a vibration and a shift in the ambient pressure - it seems the others are doing a practice.  Nathan's screams seem to have subsided, but some voices are still raised.  It would perhaps be weird if they weren't.
6:13 PM ((Last chance to provision before you go out))
6:13 PM  //
6:17 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold The feeling of a ritual being performed, and the sounds of Nathan's screams subsiding are a good sign. He grabs Gail's hand back, squeezing it again before letting it drop and going back to grab what he needs, in his search he grabs Essentials, and leaves his hat behind, an expensive designer knit his aunt and uncle had gotten him, so he can take the coat June had improved. With that he makes sure he has all of his sheets of paper folded up in his
6:17 PM pocket, and the square of the folded hand towel hanging from his coat pocket. With that he has everything he needs and waits for Gail before taking the back ladder down to the street to meet Bea.
6:17 PM ||
6:19 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gail has her coat. The coat has two pockets, one filled with a powdered preparation, the other with her wooden keepsake. She leaves her small pile of bobby pins in exchange for the former.
6:20 PM As Jojo preps the rest, she takes the time to read the notes on the wrench more thoroughly, then leaves them behind in the apartment for anyone else interested.
6:21 PM That's all. Not much else she can get or prepare, or clothes that would fit her beyond her coat and usual formal wear.
6:22 PM With a bit of a shiver and a deep breath, the Scourge follows after Jojo, keeping close like a chick to a mother hen. ||
6:22 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
6:24 PM ((Oops my bad))
6:24 PM ((Did that by reflex))
6:24 PM ((Lol))
6:24 PM ||
6:26 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig You find your way down the stairs of the fire escape and around the building to the street.  Bea's out there, the glow of her phone illuminating her face.  She notices you and puts the phone away.  No need to text you, apparently.
6:27 PM She's attractive, 18 or so, but concern and clothes she pretty clearly threw on make her appear a little less put-together than she ordinarily might.
6:27 PM ⇐ Prim quit (uid261800@charlton.irccloud.com) Quit: Connection closed for inactivity
6:27 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The doors of the car unlock as you draw closer.
6:27 PM  //
6:28 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
6:28 PM Jojo almost walks right over to the passenger side of the car, but then pauses remembering the scene inside of the Sanctuary and instead walks up to Bea's window, knocking on it and opening the driver's door a crack so she can hear him.
6:30 PM "Hey you're here to pick us up and bring us back to our home right?" He asks awkwardly.
6:30 PM ||
6:31 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
6:31 PM Gail might as well be joined to Jojo's hip. She reaches into one pocket as he checks her, glares at the lady from behind him.
6:32 PM ((glaring*))
6:32 PM  /Please don't make me blow you up too,/ is all she can think at the moment. ||
6:32 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "Sure.  Wherever you need to go," she said.  "I'm hoping for and expecting answers, because this has been a weird thing in the background for all my life."
6:33 PM She sees Gail glaring, and frowns.  "She hurt?"
6:33 PM  //
6:34 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo sighs. Would any answer ever be clear enough to /really/ be sure.
6:35 PM "Okay." He says simply closing the door and walking over to the other side. He opens the passenger side of the car, addressing Bea from there.
6:37 PM "Home is fine, just tell us you're not going to hurt us. Like specifically say that, and we'll get in." He say.
6:37 PM "I promise I'm not making you do it for no reason. Please" He adds very quickly to head off her protest he's sure is coming.
6:39 PM He glances at Gail, willing to let her answer for herself partly, but partly because he really needs to make sure Bea isn't trying to kill him /too/.
6:39 PM ||
6:40 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "I'm not going to hurt you.  Merde, Jojo, what happened?"
6:40 PM  //
6:41 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "I don't feel good and I'm cold," Gail murmurs, not even trying to be heard as they talk.
6:41 PM She climbs in as soon as Bea says that promise. ||
6:42 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Too much, Bea." Jojo tells her, his voice /very/ tired. He finally lets himself sit, actually letting the tension and stress drain from himself as he buckles his seat belt.
6:42 PM "I don't even know how to start explaining it all."
6:42 PM ||
6:45 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "We're going home?  Raph's at school, he's sleeping over with his girlfriend, and he always turns off his phone so mom and dad don't interrupt and ask him to run errands.  I haven't heard from mom and dad yet.  I tried calling earlier, when I finished dance, but there wasn't an answer."
6:45 PM  //
6:46 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Home." Jojo confirms. "There's stuff we need there." He adds.
6:47 PM "It's probably better Raph is away from all this right now, anyway."
6:47 PM He looks at Bea for long moments and then turns to look out the window.
6:47 PM "I know why you haven't heard from them, but..." He tries to finish his sentence but actually fails at the task.
6:48 PM He groans. "I really don't now how to tell you this, Bea."
6:48 PM ||
6:48 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "...I can say it if you don't want to," Gail murmurs again, looking towards Jojo.
6:48 PM She leans against him, curling into her jacket a bit.
6:49 PM The girl might feel like shit, but being as blunt and straightforward as ever might be helpful to him. ||
6:51 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo groans again. He's about to explain to Gail that its better she hear this from a family member. But then he realizes he'd be making all this vagueness even more confusing.
6:51 PM He doesn't look at Bea, he just comes out with it. Like ripping a band-aid off.
6:52 PM "I saw someone kill Aunt Justine tonight, I'm pretty sure they got your dad too." He says, straight voiced, his gaze hard as he focuses on the window.
6:52 PM ||
6:52 PM out the window*
6:54 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "Oh," Bea says, her voice small.  "Who?  How?"
6:54 PM  //
6:54 PM → Prim joined (uid261800@charlton.irccloud.com)
6:55 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "That's the harder part to explain, and it's not going to make you feel any better knowing. I'm still going to tell you, don't get me wrong... I'm just..." He trails off again.
6:55 PM "There's a lot to tell you about Bea. I can tell you that it has to do with that weird background you've had a feeling about all your life."
6:55 PM "I'm so sorry..." He adds, and he realizes he's tearing up belatedly after he says it.
6:55 PM ||
6:59 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig She begins driving.  She's tentative on the ice, and it's apparent that it's because she's blinking through tears and she doesn't want to drive fast when she can't see.
7:00 PM "Was it clean?  Quick?" she asks, shaking her head, like she's not sure she wants to know.  "It's not really a feeling Raph and I had.  It was things we saw and heard.  Like when we had the doll that kept moving around when we weren't looking at it.  Any other parent would tell you that it's just a nightmare, it's not real, there's no monster under your bed, right?  Not Mama, not papa."
7:00 PM "Raph's thing with the mayor," she said.  "That one scared him.  We talked about it while walking to the convenience store once.  That maybe what mama and papa were doing wasn't good or safe."
7:00 PM  //
7:03 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
7:03 PM "Monsters under the bed..." Gail echoes, quiet.
7:04 PM Her legs curl up into her jacket as her head dips lower into the collar.
7:04 PM Her gaze grows distant again. ||
7:05 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold As Gail makes her comment Jojo silently thanks the universe that his parents had had the good sense to keep him away from this stuff while they were still around.
7:05 PM "Bea..." He shakes his head, hardening his expression a little and wiping away his tears.
7:05 PM "If you really want to know, you can ask me again. But I'm gonna warn you I /can't/ lie to you about it, I can't sugarcoat it like any person that isn't a terrible asshole would do for you." He says, and he gives Bea a kind of odd look as she mentions the doll, and the mayor.
7:05 PM "I honestly don't know anything about that stuff, though. I don't know much about my family at all it seems." He finishes
7:05 PM ||
7:07 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "Raph was a kid, then.  He was excited about something he made with this do-it-yourself craft kit he got from the store.  Barged in when he wasn't supposed to to find Mama and Papa and Mr. Neumann talking to the guy who was the mayor at the time.  Big man, scary, jowly, on his hands and knees, begging with tears and snot running down his face.  Mr. Neumann got super scary, and dad got angry, and they sent Raph to his room."
7:07 PM  //
7:08 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
7:08 PM ||
7:09 PM ((THat's all you first actually Cam))
7:09 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
7:10 PM Gail snaps back to attention at the mention of her father.
7:10 PM That...honestly sounds about right.
7:10 PM "He's dead too," she adds, her voice more hollow than sad at the fact. ||
7:11 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "The mayor?"
7:11 PM  //
7:11 PM  -//
7:11 PM "The Ex-mayor?"
7:11 PM  //
7:11 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "My dad," she clarifies.
7:11 PM "...maybe the mayor too. Later. If things got that bad." ||
7:11 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Probably the rest of the host club too." Jojo adds.
7:13 PM "I'm not sure about the mayor being in the line of fire too though." Jojo adds with a shrug.
7:13 PM ||
7:14 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "All of them?  Geez.  I had no idea that Mr. Neumann had any kids, but that kid being part of this makes sense.  I guess you didn't come to the parties regularly?  Or you blended in with the younger group.  I'm, um, sorry about your dad.  He seemed... very... confident?  Probably deserved."
7:14 PM  //
7:14 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "My father isn't a fan of those who go against him," Gail replies, her voice growing more hollow and empty with every word.
7:15 PM She grabs her keepsake as she thinks.
7:16 PM "...wasn't," she corrects, half-hearted. ||
7:16 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
7:19 PM "Whatever you're thinking this is. It's probably even crazier than that, Bea. I'm not exaggerating when I say the thing the adults were involved in was legitimately impossible to me yesterday." He says, lifting the Essentials book he's holding up to her.
7:20 PM "They left us this, and other books. It explains a lot. The book they left for me says that they have more stuff hidden at home. When we get back and you read this I can answer any other questions you have while we look. The other kids were attacked when they went to the Adler home." He explains.
7:20 PM ||
7:21 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "Oh," Bea says.  "That.  Seen that book before."
7:21 PM  //
7:22 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "You've read it?" He asks, confused.
7:22 PM ||
7:23 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "No, but it was one of those little things that added up to me thinking what you're saying about this all being hinky is very believable, you know?"
7:23 PM She focuses on the road, jaw set as she drives.
7:25 PM "They said one of us had to be prepared to take over the family business.  There was a whole hubbub about us doing a thing in a year or so, they said it'd have to be Raph or me, and kind of jokingly-but-not-jokingly said our college grades would matter.  They didn't say anything about it to you?"
7:25 PM  //
7:28 PM ⇐ Stevee quit (uid289075@brockwell.irccloud.com) Quit: Connection closed for inactivity
7:29 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "No... How did you guys reply when they told you about it?" He asks, and then and then the gears start turning in his head some.
7:29 PM "Bea, have I ever told you about my parents and what they had to say about you guys? Did your mom and dad ever mention us at all?" He asks, his voice toned with equal measures of curiosity and suspicion.
7:29 PM ||
7:30 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "...I should probably point out, before you get into all of that," Gail starts, remembering something, "there is a non-zero chance we may get attacked before or when we get to your house."
7:30 PM She cranes her neck around, looking out the back window.
7:30 PM "Also, if a cop tries to pull you over, please floor it." ||
7:31 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((I was literally going to ask for a Wits check, but since you're actively looking...))
7:31 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((:D))
7:31 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "A cop was one of them..." Jojo explains, turning to look as well at the mention.
7:31 PM ||
7:31 PM $roll 1d6 Wits because I'm not as paranoid
7:31 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo "Wits because I'm not as paranoid" [1]  = 1
7:31 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((kek))
7:33 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Looking out the windows, Gail and Jojo can see a tall figure, gangly, with a long coat.  In the darkness at the edge of a pool of light from a streetlight, his facial features, such as they are, aren't very easy to make out, but what you see is distinct.  It looks like metal gears and sheets all pushed together into a rough box shape.  Bits of flesh and hair are worked through the gears.
7:33 PM Three smaller figures flank him.
7:33 PM Unaware, Bea's in the midst of talking, "Neither Raph or me were very interested, family business was always kind of sketchy, you know?  You guys were just... distant family we never saw, sometimes we got christmas cards with photos.  You were always the family over in New York."
7:33 PM  //
7:33 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
7:36 PM What had previously been a possibly very interesting conversation topic fails to provoke response in Jojo as he sees the figure and its friends.
7:36 PM "Oh no." His spirits audibly sink.
7:37 PM "Bea, please drive faster. How far are we from home?" He asks, wide eyed only chancing a glance at the road before them, as if taking his eyes off the being would mean it would be on him when he turned back.
7:38 PM He shares a look with Gail to see what she's doing as he racks his mind for possible solutions, finding no easy ones in reach.
7:38 PM ||
7:38 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
7:38 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "Just a couple minutes," Bea says.  "What's going on?"
7:38 PM  //
7:39 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gail sits straight up, getting on her knees in the seat to have more mobility. Her left hand plunges down into a pocket, and takes out a fistful of what Jojo can now see is glass, crushed into a fine powder.
7:39 PM With her right, she takes out her wooden keepsake. A chess piece, the Black King.
7:40 PM "We might be under attack," Gail says immediately. "Man with the Box for a Head. Might have messed with the car, make sure the doors are unlocked."
7:41 PM Without a second to waste and no clear idea of what else to do, she begins to try and Taint the Black King. ||
7:41 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Wood begins to splinter and split.  The exposed, un-stained wood at the core of the piece begins to show.
7:42 PM In the driver's seat, Bea puts her foot to the gas.  At Gail's request, she flicks the locks open, and they click audibly.  "Tampered how?"
7:42 PM  //
7:46 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gails mind whirls as she thinks back to the notes.
7:47 PM "If that thing is Mr. Escape, then we're probably dealing with a living death trap. Plus maybe whatever goblins are. And if I had to guess, it might have been responsible for those glass panes and the chainsaws back at the party."
7:47 PM She looks at her piece and keeps tainting it, hoping to get at least something resembling a shiv from the damned thing.
7:48 PM "But I'm not sure. Could just be chasing and stalking, or could have done or be doing something else entirely." ||
7:48 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Your windows will thank you for taking Gail seriously." Jojo says quickly, turning in his seat to fake backwards also. He turns to look at Bea.
7:48 PM "No time for the crash course from the book anymore, trust me and listen close I can only say this once." He says, giving her the most grave and serious expression he can possibly muster.
7:48 PM "The thing your parents was going to do was a magical ritual that would allow you to see the magical world, and perform magic. Its called Awakening, like how I told you I was awake when I called you. There's a thing behind us like Gail says and its going to try and hurt us." He explains as he whips the cloth square from his pocket, straightening it. As he watches Gail stain the chess piece he has an idea of his own. He doesn't have a lot of options, but
7:48 PM he does have one.
7:48 PM He dangles the tip of the cloth to the tainted point on the chess piece. Then, though he has no idea how, he focuses on the idea of his Abstract Edge, pulling the taint into the clothe to /suffuse it/ and prepare it.
7:48 PM ||
7:48 PM face backwards also*
7:49 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "Um!" Gail says in a bit of a panic as Jojo messes with her stuff.
7:49 PM That's all she gets out. ||
7:50 PM ((She's not pulling away or anything, just wanted to react a bit))
7:50 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Keep doing what you're doing, don't stop. More is probably better, and I need to draw as much as I can I think!" He tells Gail to keep feeding that energy into the piece.
7:50 PM ||
7:51 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The commotion draws Bea's attention.  Caught between keeping an eye on the road and tracking what's going on, she's slower than she might be to react to a dark shape darting in from the left.  She-
7:51 PM $roll 1d6
7:51 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [5]  = 5
7:52 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Manages to steer away, avoiding a collision, but something thuds hard against the door of the car.  A heavy impact for how small the shape had been.
7:52 PM  //
7:52 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((Is the suffusing working Bow?))
7:53 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((I'm not 100% on what you're trying to do - turn the cloth into a blade?))
7:53 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((I'm drawing the taint quality into an abstract edge))
7:53 PM ((We have a surplus of it as long as she's pushing it into the piece I believe))
7:57 PM ⇐ Olivebirdy quit (uid68046@charlton.irccloud.com) Quit: Connection closed for inactivity
7:58 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Taint begins to bleed into the cloth, and from there it begins to congeal into a twist or a shiv of darkness, like solid smoke or a crack in space, but with no edges rounded or soft enough to be called smoke, nor angular enough to be a fissure.
7:58 PM "What just hit the car!?" Bea cries out.
7:59 PM  //
8:00 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "Jojo, be /careful/ with that," Gail warns. "Taint is the aspect of the Abyss. It is /bad stuff/, bleeds into practices, and damages almost everything."
8:00 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "If Gail's right about what that thing is, then it was probably a Gremlin." Jojo says. He'd feel stupid saying that at any other time, but one of them had just rammed the car, and he got the feeling they weren't gonna stop trying there.
8:00 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist She turns and keeps an eye out for any more of the fuckers, waiting for the next one to hit. ||
8:01 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Wits check))
8:01 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist $roll 1d6 Wits
8:01 PM <[ATM]> Camtist|Gail "Wits" [6]  = 6
8:02 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Looking back, Gail sees movement at the side.  A small, child-like form with a gas mask on is clinging to the car door, ragged fingernails of one hand and toenails of both feet biting into the door's material.
8:02 PM His other hand is at the wheel, where sparks and thin strips of rubber are flying away.  He's holding a tool to it.
8:02 PM  //
8:03 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo turns to Gail. "If it's bad stuff, it's my bad stuff now. I'm making it mine." He says, confidently, not because he's actually confident but because it has to fucking work. He lets the cloth finish suffusing and when he's sure its done he turns.
8:03 PM "Spirits!" He calls out in the car, pushing the gash of smoke into his closed palm. "Give me this Abstract Edge so I may drive my enemies /away/" Jojo declares, timing the last word to coincide with the motion of him pulling the energy from his closed fist like a sheathed sword. His eyes are on the little monster as he prepares it.
8:03 PM "Gail!" He calls out, still preoccupied with finishing his ritual.
8:03 PM ||
8:04 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The fissure-smoke congeals into something closer to an icicle as it is drawn out.
8:04 PM  //
8:04 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "Abyss!" Gail calls out immediately, slamming a fist against the window closest to the thing.
8:05 PM "Take it!" she shouts, directing a different kind of Fissure at the thing. ||
8:06 PM ((closest to the creature*))
8:07 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Glass shatters explosively outward and downward, and a part of the door rips away as Gail's power channels into the door.  Without the necessary construction to keep the door latched, it swings open, carrying the goblin away from the tire.
8:07 PM  //
8:07 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
8:08 PM ((The door is open with the goblin still hanging on, yeah?))
8:08 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((The door is open- you don't have the angle to see the goblin))
8:10 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo rolls his own window down, angling himself in a way where he can see anything trying to come. In his hand his weapon is ready, his hand clenched tightly around it, ready to slice through any goblins or comers.
8:10 PM "Bea we either need to stop, or be home like now. They're trying to take the tires out from under the car. Or something worse..." He says, watching and waiting with an anxious bubble in his stomach.
8:10 PM ||
8:10 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
8:11 PM With another shriek, Gail slams her fist once again at the flung open door, this time going for the hinge.
8:11 PM She tries to blow it, and the goblin, off the car entirely. ||
8:11 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "What if we take them hom-" Bea starts.  She flinches at the explosion behind her.
8:12 PM Door breaks free from hinge, and goes flying across the street, doing its cartwheels before coming to a complete stop.  There's no goblin clinging to it.  Not anymore.
8:14 PM Jojo, looking out the side window of the car, can see a fat, three-foot-tall figure making a run for the car.  It's not very fast, no more than a child of similar height and weight would be, but it's on a trajectory to intercept.  A beard of what look especially like pubic hair are frosted with cold breath beneath an old fashioned pilot's cap, and it holds a screwdriver.
8:14 PM  //
8:15 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
8:18 PM This time Jojo is ready, and he leans up in his seat some like a jouster might stand in their stirrups to prepare to meet their enemy. He draws his Abstract Edge back, timing it for the moment the pube faced goblin is about to come in contact with the car, and as its about to he drives the blade forward either aiming to cut the thing as far in half as he can, or run it through on it with the motion.
8:18 PM "Get back!" He calls out as he strikes at the beast angrilly.
8:18 PM ||
8:18 PM angrily*
8:18 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Roll Dex))
8:18 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold $roll 1d6+2 SCWHING!
8:18 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo "SCWHING!" [3] +2 = 5
8:19 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $Roll 1d6
8:19 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [4]  = 4
8:22 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Jojo's aim is on point, but his assumptions are not.  As he sticks the point out, hoping to cut the goblin in half, it goes low instead.  A gouge marks one of its arms and shoulders, but it hurls itself at the wheel, just barely catching on with the one claw.  The car bumps, as it would when going over a speed bump or running over a body, and Bea makes an alarmed noise.  Then the bump happens again, and again- he's hugging the wheel,
8:22 PM rotating with it, going under the tires every second and a half or so.
8:22 PM It impacts Bea's driving.
8:22 PM  //
8:23 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
8:26 PM Gail starts moving her Tainted Black King along the edges of her much larger opening, painting and doing what she can to Cast that part of the car Down.
8:26 PM "Take your foothold and /keep them out/!" she yells, her voice starting to crack from all the yelling lately.
8:27 PM "Jojo, need help!?" ||
8:27 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((any designations as part of the cast out?))
8:29 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((If possible, I'd like for the area to crunch and clamp down on anything that tries to get through. Metal bending and becoming jagged to hinder them))
8:29 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Okay, and which part of the car?))
8:30 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((The massive hole where the door once was, mostly the edges of that))
8:30 PM ((Basically just making that less of a liability, is the goal))
8:32 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Maybe it's literally riding around on the bottom of the tire!" Jojo screams back, bewildered and in partial disbelief at the thing. "I'm going to try and knock it off." Jojo says to the both of them, leaning partially out of the window and drawing the icicle of darkness up so he can drive it downwards at the Goblin, but he aims just behind the tire to catch the Goblin as it's coming up without knicking the tire. The aim is tricky and he knows he can't
8:32 PM mess it up, he closes his eye and forces his hand to cease its trembling completely, just like he would with a paint brush in hand. The only paint here is going to be this goblin's blood though, and the street will be the canvas.
8:32 PM ||
8:34 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Gail's taint races through and into the area around the open door.  Rust and jagged metal peels out and forms spikes that point inward, some swinging in and out as the car jostles.  If the goblin is in that immediate area, then it's either not bothered or it's giving no obvious sign.
8:34 PM ((Brawn roll))
8:34 PM ((@ Jojo))
8:35 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold $roll 1d6 Brawn
8:35 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo "Brawn" [1]  = 1
8:36 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The wheel is too far down, the icicle not quite long enough, and the goblin moves too fast.  The icicle doesn't make contact, even on a second attempt as it comes around again.  On the potential third attempt, the car jerks as the brakes get tapped, and all three of you nearly lose your positions.
8:36 PM Again, the brakes get hit.
8:36 PM "It's not me!" Bea shouts.
8:36 PM  //
8:36 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
8:36 PM Oh /motherfucker/.
8:37 PM Gail grabs the back of Bea's seat, hoists herself up it as high as the roof will allow, and throws her fistful of powder towards the pedals by Bea's feet.
8:38 PM "Cast Down and /get him out/!" she shouts, her voice breaking almost entirely at the end.
8:38 PM ||
8:39 PM ((Designation is to have that part of the car seep through and clamp down on whatever might be fucking with the brakes/break lines))
8:40 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((Gonna wait to see how gail's thing goes for my next action))
8:41 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((kk))
8:42 PM Gail's power flows through between Bea's legs and the wheel, striking the pedals and the flooring beneath.  Material decays, gas pedal snaps beneath Bea's foot, and ragged, jagged metal is twisted and torn, pointing down and into the road, where it strikes sparks and impales the gas-mask goblin that's clinging to the vehicle's undercarriage.
8:42 PM  //
8:47 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
8:50 PM "Let us slow to a stop Bea, don't try to speed up. You were right it would be bad if they trapped up the house too. We'll crash at this rate anyway." He turns to Gail, nervousness clear in his but he crushes that feeling trying to look confident in what feels like a terrible move.
8:52 PM "Gail, I think im gonna have to try and handle this out there. Unless you have any better ideas.
8:52 PM ||
8:52 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gail looks /pissed/.
8:53 PM "/Please/," she says, gathering up more powder from her jacket as she lowers herself back down.
8:55 PM "How far to the house, am I clear to blow up the current goblins and anything with them, and are there any more incoming?" she asks, looking around the windows and openings herself. ||
8:56 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "We could run for it," Bea said.  "And I couldn't do anything but stop the car now.  That shotgun or whatever it is you used left a spike of metal where the gas pedal used to be."
8:56 PM  //
8:58 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
9:00 PM "Its better than this. But they run really fast Bea. We'll need a distraction probably." Jojo says, turning and giving Gail a look.
9:00 PM "An explosion sounds pretty distracting." He admits.
9:00 PM ||
9:00 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((Do I see anything?))
9:01 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Wits))
9:01 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist $roll 1d6 Wits
9:01 PM <[ATM]> Camtist|Gail "Wits" [5]  = 5
9:06 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig As the car pulls to a stop, Gail can see more clearly- the gory remains of the goblin that had been under the car.  The suit and gas mask it wore hadn't been to keep anything out, apparently, but to keep something in.  Even with a hundred feet separating you from it, you can smell it - the rancid odor of a fart distilled ten times over.
9:11 PM Further back, moving from light to dark, the box-headed figure approaches at a steady walk.  Past the cuffs of his long-tailed coat are shackles, and past the shackles are what look like traps meant to be worn over the hands, twisting fingers in awkward ways and directions, such that they almost curl backward.  There are pins worked beneath fingernails, which only add to the leverage of the hand-traps.  He's flanked by two more goblins.
9:11 PM One skinny and female, limp breasts tied in a knot, hammers, screwdrivers and other tools wedged into the folds and spaces between the knotted flesh, a heavy hooded too-heavy coat that trails on the ground behind her as she walks, pockets filled with more things.
9:11 PM The other goblin beside the box-headed figure is potbellied, a face more like a beak, with forehead and nose jutting out, a monocle set in one eye.  He holds a cane in one hand and a gun in the other.
9:11 PM  //
9:12 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...fuck it.
9:12 PM "I can do you one better," Gail replies, shoving her way towards the front of the car.
9:13 PM She scrapes the Tainted Black King in a rough circle around the general front area, encompassing the dashboard and trying to make it as large as she possibly can.
9:14 PM "I can make a passage, but it'll be dark, rough, and dangerous. It's fast, space-warping, but do /not stop moving in it/."
9:14 PM Then she hits the space with the King, hard as she can, trying to form a Dark Passage.
9:15 PM A quick bit of math flies through her head, trying to estimate and will it to go forward just under thirty seconds of travel ahead of them.
9:16 PM "That's the best I got for getting out of here." ||
9:16 PM ((I've*))
9:17 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
9:18 PM ⇐ Ryneron quit (uid277227@ealing.irccloud.com) Quit: Connection closed for inactivity
9:19 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo doesn't wait to see the results of what Gail is trying. She's not like him where all her spells took a huge incantation and a million other preparations. He trusted it would work. He grabs at Bea's hand with one, still wielding the blade of taint in his other.
9:19 PM "Follow me, i dont know if you're going to be able to see what she's making." He says, already getting ready to take off.
9:19 PM ||
9:21 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The rough black line scratched into the dashboard becomes the perimeter of a hole.  It seems at first to lead into the space where the airbag should be, into the engine compartment- and what little you can see of the sides of the tunnel look like a match to that environment - but it extends a little bit too deep, and it looks a little bit too dark.
9:22 PM "Okay," Bea says, to Jojo.  "If you did end up taking the spot meant for Raph or me, and this is what it's about, I'm thankful.  Merci."
9:23 PM It's meant as a joke, but the humor is barely there.
9:23 PM  //
9:23 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
9:23 PM Gail shoves the King back into her jacket, then grabs Jojo's hand with one of hers and Bea's with the other.
9:24 PM Oddly enough, she also starts to hum a tune. It sounds like London Bridge, though slower, each beat lasting as close to a second as she can manage.
9:25 PM With that tracking the time as best she can, the girl takes them and dives into the Passage. ||
9:25 PM -||
9:25 PM She's going to /drag/ these assholes through if she has to. ||
9:28 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The space is narrow, and there's really no room for any of you to crawl shoulder to shoulder, let alone walk.  Your hands find oil stains and sharp edges as you crawl.  Here and there, there are openings, gaps, side paths.  It's really up to you when or where you want to push out, or how long you wish to stay in.
9:28 PM  //
9:29 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold For once Jojo lets Gail drag /him/ for once.
9:29 PM "You're welcome." Jojo says to Bea dryly as they dive into the breach.
9:29 PM "You can find a way to make it up to me if we make it through this." A joke with just as little humor as Bea's.
9:29 PM As they're dropped down into the small space Jojo gasps.
9:29 PM "Gail?! What is this? Where do we go?"
9:29 PM ||
9:29 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gail leads them, humming all the while, heading as straight forwards as she can.
9:30 PM When she thinks she has around three more seconds before that small chance for /very bad things/, the girl pushes upwards, struggling and clawing with her free hand, looking to make a Fissues or doorway to get them back out. ||
9:31 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((How many seconds total - just three?))
9:32 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((27 total. Three till the 30 second mark is hit)
9:34 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Wet cardboard moves under Gail's hand, and a rat that was bedding beneath cardboard scratches at her hand as she pushes, before immediately fleeing.  There's a gap above, but it leads to a space beneath a car, where every few inches of movement is tight.  Gail can bring her head out and breathe again, see again, but because exiting is hard, Jojo and Bea beneath her remain below for several seconds.
9:34 PM ((Ath check))
9:34 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((For Gail?))
9:34 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((For Gail))
9:34 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((My I pop Black Veins?))
9:35 PM ((May*))
9:35 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((You can, but it may make noise))
9:35 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((I'll go without it, then))
9:35 PM $roll 1d6 Ath
9:35 PM <[ATM]> Camtist|Gail "Ath" [1]  = 1
9:36 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Gail's progress moving beneath the car is slow, which keeps Jojo and Bea waiting in the tunnel.
9:36 PM ((1d100, Jojo))
9:36 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((Forgot the -1, so that's a 0 btw))
9:36 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold $roll 1d100 Wtf
9:36 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo "Wtf" [61]  = 61
9:36 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $roll 1d100 Bea
9:36 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow "Bea" [72]  = 72
9:37 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Not all that far behind you, you can hear the car door slam, glass tinkling to the road.
9:39 PM Distant voices can be heard.  "-killed Grundlehuffer."
9:39 PM  //
9:40 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
9:40 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((What are our current positions, in respect to the tunnel and car we're under?))
9:41 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo patiently waits beneath Gail's feet stuck in this strange and frankly scary place, hoping that she'll hurry up just the slightest bit so he and Bea can come up after her.
9:41 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Tunnel opens up to face the dead center of the car's underbelly.  Behind you is Jojo and behind Jojo is Bea.))
9:41 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((kk))
9:42 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold As he hears the voices, he tries to wheel around and fails due to the cramped space.
9:42 PM "Gail! I hear them behind us, I think they're coming. Or we're going back..." He warns her in a hasty hissed whisper.
9:42 PM ||
9:43 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((To clarify- 'behind' in this context is further down the road, at the car you abandoned))
9:43 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "We need to get out," she whispers back, struggling to get out from under the car, preferably away from the voices.
9:43 PM She does /not/ want to risk being in there any more.
9:44 PM Once she does manage to shimmy from underneath, she'll try to reach back and help the others  get through. ||
9:44 PM -||
9:44 PM She especially tries to stay as quiet as possible. ||
9:45 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Ath check))
9:45 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist $roll 1d6-1 Ath
9:45 PM <[ATM]> Camtist|Gail "Ath" [4] -1 = 3
9:46 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The way forward is slow, but Gail makes some progress this time- not quite enough to clear the way for Jojo or Bea to get up and out.
9:47 PM ((Roll 1d100, Jojo))
9:47 PM $roll 1d100 Bea
9:47 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow "Bea" [14]  = 14
9:50 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold $roll 1d100
9:50 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo [2]  = 2
9:51 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $roll 1d6
9:51 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [3]  = 3
9:51 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $roll 1d190
9:51 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [67]  = 67
9:53 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $roll 1d7
9:53 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [6]  = 6
9:54 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig On the sloped floor of the tunnel, Jojo seeks a foothold to avoid sliding back down in case his grip slips.  His foot finds a crevice, and a thin band of what looks like the reel from an old cassette tape.  The more his foot moves, the more the reel digs into his hamstring, like it's going to saw his foot off.
9:54 PM  //
9:55 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo screams in pain, stopping his movement immediately as he feels it. But then he's stuck and Bea is behind him.
9:56 PM The pick is still in his hand, and rather than trying to pull his foot out more and actually get it chopped off, he slashes at the reel with his dark icicle trying to free himself.
9:56 PM |||
9:56 PM ||
9:56 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((How audible is the scream?))
9:57 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $roll 3d6
9:57 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [1] [2] [6]  = 9
9:58 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Gail isn't sure, but the goblin with the monocle seems to have heard the noise, his head turning.  The box-headed figure and the female goblin are talking, getting the fat goblin that rode the wheel to his feet, and the monocle goblin doesn't seem interested in interfering.
9:59 PM Within the tunnel, Jojo uses the icicle, and finds it works much as a fragile makeshift knife would work in the real world.  The reel cuts fairly easily, and it snaps like an elastic...
10:01 PM Except the snap isn't away, freeing his foot.  The reel slips into the cut, and up the femoral artery at his inner thigh with a lancing, razor-edge pain.
10:02 PM It travels its lightning-bolt route, the reel feeding in until exhausted, the start of the reel finding its way up to heart, up neck, and to brain.  Five or six excruciating seconds later, the last of the reel makes its way to brain as well, tangling itself there like the worst headache he's ever had.
10:03 PM He sees flickering images, like feed from a video, and he hears a broken-up, staccato voice that sounds faintly familiar.  Then all seems well again.
10:03 PM  //
10:03 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
10:03 PM That's it. The time for stealth is over.
10:04 PM Gail goes /apeshit/ where she is, painting the area, creating Fissures to blow the car the /fuck up/, causing as much destruction and ruin and /Taint/ as she possibly can to get them out of here.
10:04 PM Damn the consequences. ||
10:04 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
10:05 PM The pain causes Jojo's screams to ratchet to an ear wrenching level as he loses the ability to control his volume. Its the worst thing he's ever felt in his life.
10:06 PM The screaming is interspersed by a sobbing cry, with no care for wiping the tears or snot away as they stream down his face.
10:07 PM She was making him cry like her dad made the mayor cry, he thinks disconnectedly and the cry turns into a nervous laughter that becomes mad as the pain disappears.
10:07 PM "Its inside me, Gail. It went in my leg..." He moans sounding tortured.
10:07 PM ||
10:10 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Gail uses her fissures, and they do more damage to the car than they did to Nathan's hand, doubly so as the taint chases its way into the vehicle and magnifies the damage done.  The car is shifted, and an open path is created- and both the goblins and box-headed man are alerted.
10:10 PM  //
10:10 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "Get out of there!" Gail screams at the two below.
10:11 PM She gathers up more glass powder and throws it between them and the enemies, looking to Cast Down and make a field of pain there.
10:11 PM "Run!" ||
10:13 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo isn't even really thinking much anymore, the ghost of painful still licking at his ankle. Its what pushes him up as he goes to follow Gail upwards, instinct driving him up out of the hole and it closes his grip tightly around the weapon. Ready to lash out at anyone who fucks with him.
10:14 PM ||
10:14 PM of a painful sensation*
10:14 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig $roll 1d100 Bea is the last one out
10:14 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow "Bea is the last one out" [41]  = 41
10:15 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Bea follows Jojo out, and retreats back in the direction of the house- it's in view, only a short jog away.
10:16 PM Gail's power affects the road, turning it from an ordinary street in Montreal, one-way as so many (too many) roads in Montreal are, to something out of an apocalypse film, where every square foot has a crack, divot, or pothole.  Jagged corners lift up here and there, the footing clearly unsteady.
10:17 PM The monocle goblin aims his slapshod gun and fires-
10:17 PM $roll 1d6
10:17 PM <[ATM]> Wildbow [4]  = 4
10:17 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Ath roll, Gail))
10:17 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist $roll 1d6-1 Ath
10:17 PM <[ATM]> Camtist|Gail "Ath" [2] -1 = 1
10:19 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The projectile, fat and ungainly, catches her in the shoulder.  What looks like a gun was modified to fire a crossbow bolt with a half-dead rat impaled arse-to-mouth by it.  The wound looks grisly and the rat struggles and scratches, making initial attempts to pull it free or staunch the wound difficult.
10:19 PM  //
10:19 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((How far are the enemies?))
10:20 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((~100 feet away))
10:21 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Gail grabs the rat and Fissures it with a short, breathy shriek.
10:21 PM "Get to the house!" she yells, her voice now /definitely/ hoarse.
10:22 PM She has Black Veins on the cusp of her mind, ready and waiting for another shot as she follows the others. ||
10:22 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
10:23 PM Jojo curses at the fact that they're so far from him when he wants to tear them to shreds, but a logical part of him that still exists in his mind hears Gail and turns to move in the direction she's indicating, though his weapon is still raised and ready as he runs.
10:23 PM ||
10:26 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Jojo's retreat is limping, but Bea offers him a helping hand, and it's not as though the goblins or the box-headed man are much faster on the broken ground.
10:28 PM You reach the front door, and as you get there, you see a heavy keypad with an icon on it where the lock should be- a stick figure with square for a head, a diagonal slash for the body, and horizontal and vertical slashes for arms and legs.  Three buttons- blue, green, red.
10:28 PM When you look back, you see the box-headed man, arms outstretched.
10:28 PM  //
10:28 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((Am I there?))
10:28 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((All three of you are there - Gail, Jojo, Bea))
10:29 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
10:29 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "Fuck you!" Jojo screams, slashing at the lock on the door and then turning to lash at the outstretched arms as well not caring if they're close enough to hit. Just wanting to do something to the motherfucker.
10:29 PM ||
10:29 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist Oh fuck that.
10:29 PM Gail joins in, throwing glass powder at the door to bend it to her will.
10:30 PM "Open!" she screams, willing it so. ||
10:30 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The spike doesn't scratch the lock, but the power directed at the door does do some damage- not to the lock, but to the surrounding door.
10:30 PM  //
10:31 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Jojo turns away from the door, looking for the first open window, and breaks it open, sweeping the rest of the glass out of the way with his coat.
10:32 PM "Get in!" He screams at the two. If they need to destroy something to get in he'd rather get the window than the door.
10:32 PM He can repair it later if he finds some glass, right now getting /in/ is important
10:32 PM ||
10:35 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Who's going in through the window?))
10:36 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist If the window is open, then Gail will shove Bea through first, then try and drag Jojo in next.
10:36 PM She has other ways to get in, if need be. ||
10:37 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Any objections, Cogo?))
10:38 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((If he does, then Gail will comply. Speed is of the essence))
10:39 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ((Im fine with that order, but he's gonna make sure he tries to pull in gail after if he sees she isn't coming))
10:39 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Wits checks))
10:39 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((She's going to try and follow them in last))
10:39 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold $roll 1d6 Wits
10:39 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo "Wits" [6]  = 6
10:41 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Good enough)) The pair of you help Bea inside, and Jojo is quick to follow.  As Gail gets ready, however, Jojo notes the shift in the window- the slide of something above.  Reflexively, he's quick to push Gail's hands away, before a sheet of what looks to be plexiglass slams down like a guillotine.  The letter 'E' is engraved in it.
10:42 PM For the moment, Gail is outside, the others inside.
10:42 PM  //
10:42 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ...
10:43 PM Gail quickly stomps twice, screaming with whatever is pitifully left of her voice, in order to make two Fissures. She has them loop up the wall, making a rough doorway shape, then punches it again with the Tainted King.
10:43 PM Another Dark Passage. This one just to get inside the house, and away from the enemies. ||
10:44 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
10:44 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Where are the fissures relative to the window?))
10:45 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold As Gail goes about setting up her Dark Passage and disappears Jojo immediately scrambles running for the closest piece of glass he can remember is in the house, preparing it to repair the windows the same way he had Santy's eyes.
10:45 PM ||
10:45 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist ((On the nearest surface that is both away from it and the lock on the door. Probably a wall just a couple feet away))
10:48 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The fissures race up the wall and they form a wide aperture.  Gail slips through, passing through the 'door' with a bit of the Dark Passage practice.  Fissures recede, but not all the way, and the wall remains damaged behind her.
10:48 PM "What did you need from the house?" Bea asks.  "Because I don't think we're in a position to stay."
10:48 PM  //
10:51 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold Not finding anything immediately and hearing Bea's voice he realizes they probably don't even have time for him to fix everything." They're supposed to have a store of books, or secret magic stuff hidden away somewhere. Did they have any rooms are areas they told you and Raph to stay away from, or kept hidden?" He asks her, still looking for glass in the off chance a repair will help hold them off for a few seconds.
10:51 PM It seems like the monster has already compromised his house though...
10:51 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Misread that as you taking glass from the broken window, sorry))
10:52 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold He curses to himself, still on edge, the memory of the reel going into his leg still fresh on his mind.
10:52 PM ||
10:52 PM ((No worries))
10:52 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig "Nothing hidden that I know of," Bea says.  "There's their office, at the back, which we aren't supposed to go in."
10:54 PM The interior of the house, as Gail looks around, is modern art deco, though the bones of the house are old, with paint layered over walls to the point they have their unique texture.  The current coat of paint in the front hall and stairwell going upstairs is a blending of colors like one might be used to seeing in a sunset.  The pieces of decoration are old fashioned but beautiful, with an eye to bright colors to contrast the muted shades
10:54 PM of old, solid furniture.
10:54 PM  //
10:56 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
10:58 PM "If you weren't supposed to go there, then that's the best bet." Jojo says already striking a path for where their office is.
10:58 PM "Bea if you could grab some suitcases or luggage that would be amazing." He says, though he doesn't sound enthusiastic or postitive about it at all.
10:58 PM ||
10:59 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist " A gun would be great," Gail says, watching the walls.
11:01 PM She's tempted to Cast Down the damaged section of wall, but fears that that would just reduce their time, and make for an even worse weak point.
11:01 PM Instead, she follows after Jojo, intent on avoiding being split off and picked apart. ||
11:03 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig The office is at the back of the main floor.  As you start in that direction, you can hear the plexiglass guillotines slamming shut at each of the windows at the front.  A sound like a metal shutter at the door follows, and that in turn is followed by a dull impact.  The heavyset goblin has thrown itself at the plexiglass, presses its pube-beard face against the cloudy surface, extending two tongues to lick at it.
11:05 PM The room is sunny, with multiple windows to shed light during the day, and a view of the backyard - not something all people in this area of Montreal have.  Stout bookshelves no taller than your shoulders line many of the walls, and two desks sit in opposite corners, each with a laptop on them.  The bookshelf by Irene Justafort's desk has dolls sitting at the one side..
11:05 PM "I don't know where the luggage is," Bea says.  "I think Raph took it all with when he moved out to the college last fall, and he hasn't brought it back."
11:05 PM  //
11:06 PM → Druza joined (uid209687@stonehaven.irccloud.com)
11:07 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ...
11:09 PM "Do you have backpacks nearby, anything?" He asks her quickly, going to approach the dolls with haste. Their own traps were keeping them out for the time being but it was only a matter of time before they found a way in, and then things would get crazy again. Jojo grits his teeth as he approaches the desk with the two dolls next to each other and views them and the room with the sight trying his best to see what kind of failsafe they might have put in
11:09 PM place to hide things.
11:09 PM ||
11:10 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig Viewing the dolls with Sight, Jojo can see them looking at him.  Viewed normally, they stare forward, at a wall.
11:10 PM  //
11:10 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "...we might need to use another Dark Passage," Gail says, eyeing the effects that are trapping them in. "Jojo should go first if we do, and /maybe/ we can sneak from there."
11:10 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "/No/." Jojo snaps suddenly.
11:11 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist "It-" she starts, then stops from the interruption.
11:11 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold "I'm not going in one of those again." He says, sounding bitter not at her, but instinctively as he approaches the doll.
11:11 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist The girl just goes quiet from there. ||
11:11 PM -||
11:12 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold He leaves his sight on as he tries to turn to the dolls in the sight to face the wall instead of him, experimenting to see if their gaze follow him again. They were the key, but what were they doing?
11:12 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist She starts looking for more dust or particulate matter to use, in case her glass starts running out. ||
11:12 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold ||
11:12 PM ⇐ Fulvus quit (uid282867@charlton.irccloud.com) Quit: Connection closed for inactivity
11:13 PM <•Wildbow> Wll D. Bowpig ((Wits check, both))
11:13 PM <Camtist|Gail> Camtist $roll 1d6 Wits
11:13 PM <[ATM]> Camtist|Gail "Wits" [5]  = 5
11:13 PM <CG|Jojo> ColdGold $roll 1d6 Wits
11:13 PM <[ATM]> CG|Jojo "Wits" [5]  = 5