The City (IC) [M]

[Boog]

The Waterfront-- Be Vewwy Vewwy Quiet...

"Yeah, most things probably wanna kill us," Marya shook her head. "New, alright. I'll bottom-line it then. Most of the buildings in this part of town are alive, and they get hungry. We gotta disconnect the brain if we wanna have a place to sleep tonight. I need it alive for... Personal reasons. Should look kinda like a big, black tomato with purple veins hanging off a wall somewhere. It wont be TOO well hidden, they made these things so they could be shut down, but it'll probably defend itse-"
A hook on a chain swung down from the ceiling, where Marya's head had been just a moment before. "FUCK! Alright, listen, only the brain or its little extensions in the walls will feel pain. Just watch my back and let me know if ya see- aw hell, MOVE!" A rumbling had started behind them, the source revealing itself to be a one man forklift rumbling out of the mess behind Giles. Black veins hung from the ceiling into its cockpit...

--

Here in my car, I can do what I want, na na na na na na....

"My pleasure darlin'." Moze grinned. A little feminine attention can make an old man feel young. "Fountain, a fountain... May mean the one in tourist square. They say everyone ends up there eventually, either there or the Pillar. Pillar's this big 'ol skyscraper, can't see the top from here." He added, as an explaination. "Tourist square ain't so bad though, last I was there. One of the safest parts. Just follow the aboveground subway tracks uptown."

--

Coffee Shop

Bas neither heard nor saw anything out of the ordinary. There was the usual minor amount of magical radiation, and a few small minds, but nothing brighter than your common drake, if that. Household pets, maybe a raccoon in the attic.
The hissing sound got further again, stopping and starting with a soft 'click'.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Moze's Car (part 2)

Ephrael nodded along with Moze's answer, patting herself down making sure her pistols knives and bow were all snug but ready for use. "Knowing how much energy my 'clients' want in this thing I'd say I'm going to have to head to the skyscraper...I wish I could go the safe route, but I got paid in advance to take risks."

She grinned "And to be honest 'Safe' isn't as much fun."

[techmaster-glitch]

Roaches check in, but they don't check out.

  Traxen weighed his options as, before he could jab at the roach with his electric prod, it scurried under a cluster of chips. Now, the van had been Traxen's home for the past couple of years now. What with all the modifications he'd done, there almost wasn't a single original pieces of the van left. Traxen had a strange rapport with his technology. While any ordinary engineers would spend years scratching their heads over the seemingly chaotic and messy layout--not entirely off the mark considering how all of it was added one piece at a time out of whatever was salvaged--every time he added something new, it all fit together in Traxen's mind perfectly, like clockwork. He knew his own van inside and out, he knew every solder, every wire, everything he'd ever plugged in. It also helped that he had to do replacemenents and tune-ups on some random component that had worn out every couple of days, but still.
  In this case, he knew that the roach was hiding under what in PAMCAWV's schematics as the D-5 data junction bus. It handled the data flow for most of the sensors on the van's read-right corner. Blowing the chips on that junction would cause a bit of a blind spot on that corner of the van, and have to rely on visual cameras only. However, Traxen hadn't built a van almost from scratch and scrap that occasionally went into dangeous situations without being prepared for--or at least getting used to--the eventuality that something important breaks. He still had -some- spare silicon in the van's autofabrication unit, which which he could make some exact replacement chips for the junction in only a few hours, or futher cannibalize some of the spare salvaged electronics on the shelves for the closest chips he could find and rewire the junction to accept them, which would take a bit longer, but still doable. Bottom line, Traxen knew exactly what problem would arise if that junction died, and he knew exactly how to fix it. On the other hand, there was roach that could be a roach, or it could be some hidden horror.
  Well, Traxen wasn't a gambler. Always go with the known inconvenience instead of the credible unknown threat. "Pamcawv..." He said slowly and quietly, as if not to disturb the standoff. "Take juntion bus D-5 offline. Prepare for powersurge from junction bus D-5. Shunt power through the secondary array to ground."
  PAMCAWV's electronic voice beeped an "A-fir-ma-tive."
  And so, to the roach's "impasse", Traxen was as if to reply, You have miscalculated, my arthropod adversary. I shoot the hostage.
  The electric prod shot straight for the roach.
  BZZZRP!

[Myr]

Outside the Coffee shop


Raek frowned slightly-between the conversation, the fog, and his bid at being more alert this was getting to be a bit hectic. And now I'm reminded of why I normally refrain from joining groups, aside from the occasional attempt on my life, he thought as an ear-the hairless one-twitched absently towards the odd hissing sound.

At the moment however, he was more interested in keeping an eye on the surroundings-if his employer wandered out of the range of his nearly recovered senses, he'd be ready to follow. Those seemingly thoughtless eyes touched briefly on the thrift store, before flicking to eye the surrounding buildings critically and resting finally on the coffee-shop itself. The area with the lighting only caught cursory attention-it suggested inhabitants to be wary of, and they weren't close enough to warrant immediate concern.

Besides, Raek was more concerned with a building falling on them, so poor in condition they were!

"Best to be prepared for one of these to fall on us," He muttered in what to most would simply seem to be a throaty, unintelligible rumble...even as he watched the 'cubi go first. Heh, and if his reasoning was sound, it as all too likely that the shop itself-given it looked to be reasonably intact and even defensible-could be host to mimics. So, best not to touch anything right away.

But the main question was to if they turned back or not-Edaric seemed just as willing to stay as retreat, given he was probing the shop for dangers by the looks of it, and others were discussing it's condition....

"And what is that noise?" He huffed irritably as he became aware that the hiss hadn't even slackened until just then. A broken steam pipe, perhaps? The wolven troll had never heard a spray can in use, and he was familiar with piping and the like. Perhaps he would investigate, if it wasn't too far....

The lupine Mythos grunted softly, thinking it over for a moment. Better safe than sorry,, he decided as he glanced at the feline 'cubi once more, before walking over to Andrace. "If it's not too far, I think I'll see what that racket is-if we do stay here, I at least want to be sure there's nothing dangerous immediately nearby," He said gruffly. "What say you to that?" The monstrous lupine's head tilted slightly as he wanted for her answer.

[Cogidubnus]

 What Marya was asking was, honestly, entirely out of Giles's expertise. He very seldom left much of his opponents to identify, let alone let them live. Take it alive, unharmed?
And now it seemed that whatever it was, was no longer content to continue to listen to them talk. His eyes spotted the dangling tendrils from the ceiling rather quickly, and the blackguard took a quick breath.

The spear in his hands spun, Giles whirling the blade around his body once and leaving a trail of fire in the air as he leveled the thing at the approaching forklift. He exhaled, a belch of ash and smoke instead of air, and firelight flickered between his teeth. Fire gathered around his feet, covering the iron boots before traveling up further, tracing the grooves in his armor like incandescent spiderwebs. The spearhead glowed brighter, from a dark red, to an angry ruby, and then white, white hot.
He set the spear and lunged, intending to pierce the damn forklift right through the center. Fire covered him in intricate patterns, a shifting web of flames. The concrete beneath his feet slurried from the heat.

The damn thing might be an eldritch horror, but it could hear them. Maybe it could be intimidated.
"I AM GILES MONTERREY!" he yelled. "THE GOD OF FIRE! LORD OF ASHES!" His voice crackled with flames, and his eyes took on a berserker light. "Give me a goddamn reason, you son of a bitch! I'll burn the goddamn sun to ashes before I'm through with you!"

[Aisha deCabre]

It was hard for the two warriors to know what to do then...once they had the information, they had a difficult choice.  Neither of them were the type to kill their prisoners in cold blood, but they also knew that they couldn't leave this rather sad--yet still demented--rodent to be running about, knowing what he was capable of.

Unfortunately, the pause went on for far too long and came with a sudden price.  In an instant, the world around them exploded right from under their feet, and became a swirling mess of debris and smoke.  They had naught but each other to hold on to as they plummeted two floors.  Her vision obscured, Aisha still managed to take a hold of her feline reflexes and flip herself and the wolf so that both of them were ready to land on all four of their limbs if they had to.

Thankfully, they didn't have to meet solid ground...water was slightly less of a worry, a slap in the face though it was thanks to surface tension.

Once the atmosphere around them settled down, both Gareeku and Aisha shot from the water, coughing and spitting as they searched for the weapons they'd dropped upon their arrival.

"Well," Gareeku growled as he shook the water from his already-disheveled black hair.  "I guess it goes without saying that we should've killed him."

Aisha snorted as she wrung the water from her braid and cloak, sniffing the air and finding it actually mildly pleasant.  "Don't grouse, amigo...at least we know a bit of the story we're dealing with here.  And also, be glad that people don't really inhabit the city any more.  Otherwise, this sewer would be a lot less livable."

"You and your silver linings," the wolf rolled his eyes, but allowed himself a smirk before taking a look around with a long sigh.  "Well...I'd just like to get out of here and back to the inn before dark, now."

"Agreed..." Aisha hummed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness around them, her hand glued to the hilt of her blade.  Her companion had dried his hand in order to cup a small conjured flame in it for light.  Both pairs of ears swiveled like antennae to catch even the slightest hint of noise.  "...And who knows what might be lurking in the underground."

Gareeku nodded, keeping his free hand on the hilt of his katana as the two of them started navigating the tunnels in the direction that they'd hoped would lead to a pothole and ladder to climb...or a convenient map of the subterranean labyrinth, at the very least.

[Yugo]

Kaela stomped down on the starter pedal, her bike tearing into life with a throaty roar. A small cloud of blue smoke wafted outside of the bar before being blown away in a gust of wind, carrying the report of the motorcycle like a shot. She reached under her flak coat to check the security of her automatic. While the threat of the city seemed quite real, it hardly felt necessary to lug around the kind of firepower she had initially come with. Secure that nothing was amiss, she pulled back on the throttle and took off in a screeching of tires.

The engine rumbled beneath her seat as Kaela quickly shifted up through the gears until she was ripping across the bridge and through the streets at a breakneck pace. She frowned as the wind whipped at her coat and fur. While she had been profusely apologetic for inadverdantly injuring Ephrael with a grenade, it seemed she had missed the girl's departure. A few questions around had yielded some useful information. Evidently she had headed out with an older man, and it was Kaela's every intention to find her. What little history she had been able to dig up pointed to her as her prime suspect, and nothing else had incriminated any others she had encountered.

The engine note echoed off of the buildings as Kaela pulled hard around a corner, spotting her target. Not that she wouldn't be seen of course; nothing quite said "look at me" like a loud Harley.

[Angel]

Mykst and Black Magic remained silent after the latter's talk with the dead. Although she was used to using the rotting skeletons of the dead, she had never seen real spirits before and it was clear she was jarred by the experience. Mykst just kept his hand on her back and Kali kept listening to the others.

At last, they reached the edge of the city. Skyscrapers loomed overhead, taller even than Castle Transphermi back home. The very goal of the place seemed to be to have several hiding places for creatures to come out of and attack, and the two young felines sensed it. Mykst slid his hand down and got a firm grip on Black Magic's hand and his staff, nodding to her. She didn't notice actively, being engrossed in the city. A quiet growl rumbled in her throat as she tensed her powerful, if undersized muscles and darted her gray eyes back and forth.

When the first out-of-lace sound hit them – a spray can spraying – Mykst twisted an ear around and cast his eyes at everyone around him as Kali clenched his hand even tighter. At least three of the others had heard it. Now, if only they could see what was coming...the hair on the back of his neck bristled, and his tail began to whip back and forth. "You have the better eyes, Kali," he murmured to his love. "Turn slowly and see if you can tell if anything's there."

Kali nodded her assent and twisted her auburn head slowly around to examine the area behind them.

[Boog]

OOC: WELP, school year's over, I live again.

Coffeeshop

Kali, unfortunately, couldn't tell if anything was there. The fog was thick, the city was growing dark, and- wait. There. The occassional splash of color, a mist of red coinciding with the click and hiss. Otherwise all was still.

Moze's Car

"Well darlin', I can't take ya that far, but I can give ya directions." Moze replied, pulling to a stop at the all too familiar wrecked toll both. "Cross the bridge, take a right until you hit main street and follow that uptown. It's a hell of a hike, but taking the subway means taking your life inter' ya hands." He gave her a worried smile. "Now you be careful out there, y'hear? No place for a young lady your age."
It was about at this point that Kaela caught up, just as her target was getting out of the vehicle.

Outside city hall, minor pest problem

There was a grossly organic "pop", like a shrimp in a fryer, and the cockroach was a greasy smear near the electronics. A few screens went blank, damaged gizmos, but otherwise the matter seemed settled.
Well, save for being parked on the lawn of a fortress for a good ten minutes. Traxen's radio crackled.
"Is something wrong?"

The Sewers

There is no such thing as a nice sewer. It is vitally important to your narrator to make that exquisitely clear.
True, while it wasn't being used as a SEWER as much anymore the pipelines beneath the city streets were probably the worst germ-farm Aisha and Gareeku had ever witnessed. Green slime not unlike pond scum had built up on some sections, even overflowing onto the walkway, and here and there things could be seen swimming in the obviously polluted water. Eventually, thank goodness, they found a broken section of wall leading into a basement. There even seemed to be light coming from upstairs, and noise...

The Waterfront Warehouse

There have many great battles of man vs machine through the ages, and this was one of the few instances where the machine had very poor odds. Giles spear pierced and melted through the forklift as though it were made of foil.
The shouting may not have intimidated the creature, but that sure as hell did. The various tendrils retracted upward, but not before Marya could grab hold of one of the chains.
"C'mon!" She yelped before being yanked up after the veiny pseudopods. "It's gotta be this way!"

[Lisky]

Ed's eyes darted around as he felt the minds in close proximity.  He was on edge and looking for something as the noise grew more distant, then halted.  "We're not all alone here.  There's thoughts... something small, or at the very least, simple minded in the attic... and a few flares around us.  I'm of the opinion, given that we're falling into late afternoon, of venturing a little forward, securing this location, and use it for our point of continuation tomorrow.  Anyone else have thoughts, or should i summon the glow rat now?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

The Diminutive Devil leaned over the center console and gave Moze a peck on the cheek. "Thank you sooo much for the lift! I'll be careful, well as much as I can be!" She said with another of her impish smiles.

Swinging her legs out of the car Ephrael took a look around, noting the hog coming up the street. Standing up and closing the door she blew a kiss to Moze, then headed towards the bridge.

As she reached the end she lifted the flaps on the thigh holsters and flipped the safeties off the M1911's, reading them for a quickdraw, then pulled her bow off her shoulder and notched an arrow.

Blowing a small breath out she headed back into the City...

[techmaster-glitch]

   Easier than I thought...
   Aftermaking a mess of bug-guts, Traxen got a spare oil rag and wiped it all off the components, then tossed the rag out the back door for good measure. A few of the screens on the wall of monitors went dark, but the majority were still functional, and that was enough.
   Still, Traxen couldn't shake a strange feeling. Was it really just an ordinary roach? Ordinary things are what Moze warned about the most...
   He flipped on his radio. "Sorry, was just taking care of something. I'm headed out now." He then switched it back off, and noted that the sun was getting dangerously low in the sky. "Pamcawv, begin egress. Follow path used to get in. Maximum possible speed."
   "A-fir-ma-tive."
   The van began moving on it's own, backing out of the parking spcae, and beginning to head out. Traxen scraped a little stuff off the components and closed the panel, real repairs would have to wait until later. Pamcawv might be able to drive itself, but not as fast and as skillfully as Traxen could on his own, and he might meet another invisible monster on the way back.
   Though I'm definitely not coming back if I do. Traxen thought grimly. Still with a feeling that something wasn't right, he moved up to the driver's seat and took over driving, and put the pedal to the metal on the van. His eyes were scanning every which way, even glancing back though the very think passageway to the back of the van, afraid that -something- bad was about to happen...

[Angel]

Kali's tail twitched as she listened to the tagger. When she was sure that that was the only danger in the city, her muscles relaxed, and Mykst relaxed his grip on her hand.

"Should we go after the tagger?" Kali whispered.

"What's the chance he's a mutant zombie ghost versus a stupid kid who should know the risks of this city?" Mykst whispered back, his tone serious as the grave. The fact that they were in the latter situation didn't escape either student, but they left that aside for now.

"...So that's a no." Mykst nodded in response, then turned to Edaric.

"I think we're both in favor of making this our return point," the housecat said, just loudly enough for the incubus to hear him. "But if that kid is still there when we come back, I think we should talk to him." He looked over at Payden just quickly enough for only the cop to notice.

[Yugo]

Kaela rolled out her neck as she rode up on the van, eyes tracking the young girl as she headed into the City. The steady growl of her engine died to a dull cough as she pulled up alongside, kicking down the stand and killing the engine. Freshly garbed in lighter fabric and leather and armed with a rifle after her harsh lesson in how woefully underequipped she was, she looked more like a professional fighter as she stepped off of her bike. "Hey there, kid. Thought I'd come by lend a hand after that little accident before." The older warrior rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Maybe you can help me find what I'm looking for, too."

[Cogidubnus]

Giles smiled gleefully as he pulled his spear from the wreckage of the forklift, sucking in air as he spun the metal staff in one hand and the iron haft slapped into his palm. Superheated air poured from his nostrils when he breathed out, distorting the golden salamander on his breast, making it writhe and dance.

There was more than one reason he'd run away from the militant order of the golden salamander. He liked the fighting. He liked it way too much. Sometimes he felt like it was the only reason he had to live.

The black berserker fury was coming upon him with a dark vengeance now, and he really didn't feel like fighting it. His gleeful grin turned savage, as much snarl as smile. Fire poured from his skin, and with alacrity born of blood fever he charged for one of the free hanging chains, and in the same manner as Marya he felt himself pulled towards the damn abomination. He flipped his spear so it rested underhanded, and prepared to throw. Fiery tendrils of his own stretched towards the darkness, ribbons of blue and white that burned and illuminated as they went.

"AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAhahahaaaa-"

[Paladin Sheppard]

Ephrael stopped as the motorbike and its rider pulled up beside her, noting it was Kaela.  "Heya again Kaela!" The redhead said with a trademark toothy grin. "It's ok you weren't to know what would happen, and in a brawl like that not much you can do about it. Feel free to tag along though, I'm heading in to the core, gotta get to some skyscraper called 'The Pillar'."

Ephrael opened her pack with one hand and showed the diamond to Kaela. "My clients needed this juiced up by some fountain there, seems it's a magic trap of some kind."

[Yugo]

Kaela's amber eyes gazed at the perfectly cut gem, their surroundings reflected clearly in its many facets. "That's quite a rock," she commented softly. So here was the client's target all along, right under her nose. She considered her options: she could wound the girl, snatch the diamond, and run, or she could forget her previous client and help Ephrael with her own goals. It seemed rather ruthless to so quickly betray the young girl, and Kaela didn't feel any particular loyalty to her employer. No advance payment and no real binding contract left her open to leave the job offer as it was. At worst she might get a minor hit to her reputation for unreliability, but Kaela preferred to sacrifice that rather than step on her morals.

The old feline adjusted the telescopic sight on her new rifle, made sure everything was in order, and took a step forward. "Sounds like fun. Let's do it." Her knuckles cracked rather loudly beneath her gloves as she flexed her hands. "I hope you're getting paid top dollar for this."

[Paladin Sheppard]

"It is indeed, I could of pawned off for a decent amount but I don't renege contracts if i can help it." The Devil shrugged "Sides this job is almost a family business. See my Dad was the last one to juice it up."

Ephrael resumed her march into the City, talking to Kaela as she went but her eyes scanned the drains windows and rooftops of the nearby buildings. "It's the Daranhold Town's power gem, every twenty years or so we have to get it powered up again. I'm just getting free electricity for life, well the next twenty years at least."

She put the arrow from before back in its quiver, confident Kaela's rifle could handle the long range work in time for her to ready the bow again. "The Town's council collared me when I came back from another job, seems I was the 'most' qualified to do it, but I think they just wanted it done fast."

"Seems one of the new members wants to sell the gem and move to a more 'modern' power source, one he controls the fuel source of. The Mayor said he was the type to hire Mercenaries of 'Questionable Morals' if he didn't get his way, and when he could get away with it."

"I offered to 'deal' with the 'Councilor' but Mayor Bewlowe is a bit of a tightwad when he wants to be.." Ephy grinned at Kaela with those oh so sharp and impossibly white teeth.     

[Aisha deCabre]

While Aisha wasn't often the type to muse about otherworldly forces, such as the ridiculous notion that she and her companion's actions were merely narrated for some other universe's entertainment--and not that said narrator ever said that the sewers were nice--she had to admit that the place would have made a nice little cosmic joke.

Gareeku seemed to be in the same frame of mind.  When he snorted, presumably to be rid of the smell permeating the undercroft made by long-forgotten pollutants and moisture-loving fungi and algae, there was an air of derisiveness, dismissal, in him to the whole thing that they had to endure.  Whether or not he and the ebon jaguaress were a pair fated to make a difference in some way, the memories of that were being filed away to make room for the more pleasing notion of leaving the City before nightfall for some warm blankets and a few pints of ale, and saving the conjecture for the next day.

Provided they could leave.

Aisha was the first to spot the broken section of wall...her sensitive ears quirking to the sounds of muffled noise within.  She reached and tugged on Gareeku's cape as he passed to direct his attention.  "Look."

The wolf hummed as he assessed the hole and peered on inside.  "The bottom of someone's house."  His ears too weren't immune to the noise as they pricked up.  "Sounds occupied."

"But in this place?" Aisha argued in a hushed tone.  "I thought the City was abandoned."

"Maybe we're outside the City."

"I doubt it."

He huffed and turned back to the entrance again, hand ready on his sword handle.  "All the more reason to not be sneaking around, then."

Aisha paused in thought, half-agreeing with narrowed crimson eyes.  "It'd probably be miles before we find another opportunity to find out of here though," she pointed out, making sure all of her own weapons were at the ready.  "We're well within our powers.  If they're innocents, we'll calmly leave--and they'd let us, we have the weapons.  If they're hostile, we attack."

The wolf quirked an eyebrow at his old adventuring partner.  He'd have looked disappointed in her direct approach to the notion, but his smirk betrayed the amusement.  "Why in the world haven't any monsters thrown you in jail for causing trouble?"

"They have," she off-handedly remarked back, her grin toothy, "But I never stayed long.  Now let's get out of here."

So, none too quietly, they stepped into the basement and only lingered long enough to try to hear what the noises were all about upstairs.

[Boog]

Home Again Home Again

There was still a slight stain left on some of the components, something burned in, but it wasn't likely to harm any functionality. A green motherboard now more of a green-orange, a smudge on a panel, but nothing that could catch fire. The van's engine thrummed reassuringly as he drove back from city hall, the machine moving deftly along the streets as if it were any other sleepy late night in an industrial city. A discarded glass bottle popped under a tire, and if he cracked the window Traxen would smell wet stone and old smog.
All was quiet.
Eventually he reached a part of town where the signs were obviously in a different language. Some neighborhood colonized by immegrants, before the city's eventual shutdown, with streets that wound and twisted like a cub scout's least competent knots. He'd turned to avoid the route he'd been attacked through last time, and ended up here, but judging by the map it should get him back faster.
Zooming past what appeared to be a foreign version of a local fast food chain, Traxen noticed a T-Bird in a nearby alley, bugs still splatted on its windshield and grass in its hubcaps...


Jiggity Jig

Finally, the group had filed into the cafe and hunkered down in the back room. The mysterious hissing ignored for now, Ed's warp-aci gathered the group to send them back to the inn. There was a clatter of displaced coffeemaking equipment, a swirl of blue light...
And the group came to rest at the Last Chance, just as Moze was driving back.
"Huh, wouldn'a worried so much if I knew you had onna them glowing chipmunks." He muttered, ignoring the creaking in his knees as he got out of the truck. "I just dropped off that giggly girl in the city, she'll be back back in the morning. Probably. C'mon in, your rooms should be ready."


Meanwhile, warehouses. Also fire.

On the plus side, Giles had found the thing they were after. It looked like a veiny, melon-sized black grape and it was set in a small hole in the ceiling.
Tendrils extended from it across the ceiling and down the walls of the warehouse, and he could now see that these tendrils eventually branched into capillaries that ran throughout the chains he was climbing. Some sort of nervous system, applied to an entire structure.
By the light of the flames he was conjuring he could see Marya, fighting her way toward the thing. It was wrapping her in further and further chains, and the was grabbing and clawing hand over hand to reach the thing before being crushed. Finally she grabbed it, held on tight as the chains tried to wrench her away. As it came out of its socket with a sucking noise Giles could see a thicker rope of twisted tendrils holding it to the wall.
"NOW!"


Beer Run, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Recharge Magical Crystals

About five blocks from the bridge the suburbs started looking... Strange. Ephrael could see things moving through the windows of the houses. Not animalistic, loping things like what they'd encountered here before. They seemed to be going about... Normal suburban home things. The curtains were drawn, no details could be noticed, but that was DEFINITELY the paws of some canine housewife setting a pie on a windowsill. She'd seen inside the houses earlier today, they were abandoned. Their contents in disarray, long since converted to housing for drakes rather than dwellings fit for furrae habitation. But there were sounds of normal life. The giggling of children in backyards. Just nobody out in the open.
Strike that. There was one person in the open. Another five blocks behind Kaela and Eph a short but thin individual seemed to be approaching...
The sun slowly set on the horizon, the sky turning slowly turning from orange, to purple, to the deep blue of night...


They're Climbin' from your Sewers...

The basement was a drunk's worst nightmare. Great casks, expensive looking bottles and great old barrels left in the mildew for age to crack and damage. However, someone had obviously recently cleaned away the worst of it. Bottles had been moved, opened, rearranged and a few apparantly discarded. The noises from upstairs were definitely revelry. Course voices speaking of course appitites, with the occasional glug of bottles emptying.
"Hell of a find 'ere, 'ey Cheese!"
"Mm."
"We's movin' up we are."
"FOOLS! Can't you see we've only been granted this to soften us for some more horrible blow later? We must flee this place, return to the sewers, abase ourselves and beg for-"
"Greyfella, stop yer yammerin', have s'more." Further glugs. "I, for one, wecome the chance to forget our troubles awhile. Even if only briefly."
There was a brief silence. Then further clinks of glasses. Soon revelry seemed to resume, whatever grim subject had troubled their minds forgotten.
From the sounds of it, there were at least seven of them.

[Paladin Sheppard]

'Oh, awesome' Ephrael though as she watched the ghostly signs of life around her. "This is just like this ghost town near home!"  She said "At sunset they came out and did their normal night stuff, and were gone in the morning. Didn't bother anyone but it was sad and cool at the same time."

As the Rogue spotted the figure up ahead she touched Kaela's arm and pointed. "Company...."

[Yugo]

"There's not a single thing I like about this," Kaela remarked quietly, checking her handgun before stepping over to her bike. "Let's get this over with as quickly as we can." There were a couple of chugs as Kaela stomped down on the starter pedal before the motorcycle roared into life. "This place gives me the willies." She took another moment to look around before motioning Ephrael onto the back of the bike.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Ephrael grinned in a lighthearted way. "Aww they don't mean any harm unless you disturb em... Well at least the ones in the ghost town didn't" She pointed over her shoulder at the figure as she walked back to Kaela's bike "Not so sure about him though."

"Nice bike, sorta like my friend Paladin's Combat Hog." The Redhead said as she settled in the seat behind the older merc.

[techmaster-glitch]

(OOC: Boog, considering the hints, I'm -assuming- the T-bird is one and the same as the one from before, rather than waiting for another post. If this is incorrect, notify me in the OOC thread and I'll fix it here.)

  Traxen drove his way through the city, heading for the exit at as fast a pace as he dared, as he looked over at the sinking sun every other minute. Gotta get outta here. Can't be in here past sundown. Moze's warning.
  As he neared the palce where he was attacked, he turned and took a different road, his maps and scans showing this alternate path should still get him to the gates. This area was in a different language, marking that some diferent demographic lived here. He kept up his speed as he drove by, passing by various cars, including some T-bird mode that had been sitting long enough for the grass to grow in its hubcaps--
  Wait.
  Traxen furrowed his brow as he thought back. One did not gain mastery of technology without exceptional memory and attention to detail.
  "Pamcawv, autopilot, maintain current course and speed."
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  Traxen unbuckled from the driver's seat, shut off the 360-degree displays and opened the thin door behind him, moved through it, and settled into the chair in front of the wall of monitors and keyboards, all showing different displays and readouts.
  He tapped out on one of the keyboards, and two side-by-side monitors went blank. More rapid-fire tapping, and a still-frame of the T-bird he just passed appeared on the right monitor. More tapping, and the left monitor was fast-forwarding through some footage from one of the external cameras on his way in...there!
  He froze the footage, which showed another T-bird. Looked to have been sitting there a long time, grass growing on the hubcaps...Traxen read the plates off both.
  Match.
  He narrowed his eyes. "So, what are you, huh?" He tapped the screen. "Can't say I'm surprised to see something like you, but what are you? Just an anomaly? A sign? Something good? Something bad?"
  He sat back and sighed, runing a hand through his hair. "Guess I'll find out." he returned to the front driver's seat. "Pamcawv, pop out the turrent. Yellow alert. Mark potential targets. Fire only on command."
  Another "A-fir-ma-tive" as the van complied, the ball turret on top unfolding and starting to swivel around, as digital hitboxes were drawn on anything particularly large or especially anything that moved, like the occasional dog-thing running through the alleys, and colored according to estimated threat rating. However, though the gun swivled and locked onto whatever was the highest-rated target until the van sped out of range, it remained silent.

[Cogidubnus]

With a surprising deal of dexterity and nimbleness, the armored figured twisted the chain around his arm, and wish his leg twisted yet more, making a makeshift stirrup to stand on while his right hand drew back the spear. Breathy, crackling laughter filled his lungs, washing the dirt and grime away from both his face and armor, and from the chain he was attached to - where his body touched the links, they glowed red-hot.

He threw the spear with all his strength, the lance arcing through the air like a sapphire-colored firework, dripping sparks and smelling of burning blood. It hurtled for the creature, aiming to sever that thick rope of tendril that was anchoring it to the warehouse wall.

[Lisky]

Waving on his companions, Ed simply nodded and followed.  "Could i get pint of mead before we get too comfy in the rooms, good sir?  It's been a long day of being alert and on my toes... actually, get some drinks for anyone here looking for them..."

turning towards the party, Ed added, "Anyone else want to do a little less formal meet and greet in the bar... get to know the party a little better before some serious danger gets closer?"

[Angel]

The feeling of the Warp-Aci transporting them left the two youngest members of the group with slightly bristled fur and dizzy expressions, which they quickly tried to hide. At the mention of rooms, Mykst and Black Magic both blushed, though Mykst's blush was deeper. Then Edaric brought up the idea of a meet-and-greet so they could all get to know each other without having to kill things.

"Sounds like a good idea," Black Magic quickly said, stealing a glance at Mykst. See? I CAN be level-headed.

Mykst glanced at her, then back at the group with a nod before resuming combing his fur down with a small sigh. Yes, and thank the Gods for that. I wasn't sure -I- could be level-headed for a moment there.

[Yugo]

The bike growled throatily as they took off a steady pace down the abandoned city streets. The wind blew roughly against Kaela's face as she considered what she was doing. "Heh, thanks. You could say it's a hobby of mine," she replied absently, scanning the road ahead. "So does your whole family do this kind of thing, or is it just your and father?" Kaela quietly smirked to herself at the thought of doing mercenary work with one of her parents. Constant scrutiny from her own family would be unbearably stressful. She certainly wouldn't wish it on her new companion.

[Paladin Sheppard]

"Nah Dad was a Mage like my sister, he liked to stay at home and study his books. It was pretty much a one off thing for him, that and Mom was the Daughter of the  Town Council's Chairman."

"Take a left up here, its the main road into the center of the City...Leads right to the building I need to get to."

[Boog]

Look at your motorcycle

The motorcycle rapidly left the oncoming stranger in the dust, and soon it was rumbling along the city streets. It overall seemed fairly quiet, but now that the sun was down there was the impression of unseen activity. Manhole covers that slammed shut at their approach, and the occasional light in the windows of buildings they passed.
Eventually they found themselves at the edge of some culturally different neighborhood, the signs in some obvious other language than the rest of the city. Off to the left, briefly, Kaela thought she saw some other vehicle rumbling along the opposite direction about a block away before she'd passed by it. Some sort of armored truck.
Soon after, to her right, she saw another passing vehicle. Probably two blocks away. Just a flash of yellow.
As a matter of fact, she was pretty certain that she could hear a lot of engines rumbling around her. And up ahead, in the distance, what could be a LOT of headlights...

Now look at a truck

The t-bird drove out of the alley, bold as brass, apparently no longer concerned with keeping itself concealed. It didn't seem to be following too rapidly, keeping itself a good two blocks behind Traxen's truck. The inside of it was dark, it was impossible to tell if there was a driver or not.
However, given events thus far, one could guess.
This continued awhile, the t-bird keeping pace with the truck. It was only after Traxen turned onto a main street, six lanes wide, that it split the air with a blast from its horn.
AAAAAAAAAAAHNKH!

Now back to the motorcycle

The horn of some vintage car ripped through the air EXACTLY like the curled horn of some hunting-based deity. The roar of engines got distinctly LOUDER, and the various headlights ahead began approaching at an ALARMING rate...

Now back to the truck

The van's radar was now detecting movement all around, other car-sized things approaching via sidestreets and alleyways. Two yellow cabs rolled in alongside the t-bird, and he could see another group of them rounding the corner ahead of him. And the van was detecting more coming up from behind him...

Look up. There's a mongoose on the ceiling.

Giles spear flew straight and true, severing the object from the ceiling, as spears are good at doing. The effect was immediate, the black veins running from it throughout the building drying up and flaking away over the course of a few minutes.
Meanwhile, a few feet from the ceiling, Marya grabbed hold of aforementioned object.
It was a few seconds later that she realized that, without it controlling the chains or tethered to the wall, and if there was no longer anything keeping it affixed to the ceiling, then there was no longer anything keeping HER from falling.
What followed was a yelp and an embarassing thud, followed by a squish.
"RRRRGHDAMMIT!" The mongoose sat up, the remains of the object they'd worked so hard to retrieve without damaging smeared across her shirt. "DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!" She sighed, "There was a guy who was gonna give me a whole pack a' cigs if I could get this thing to him intact." She stood up, wiping the remains of the thing off her shirt.
"Anyway, so long as nothing else wanders in this building should be safe for the night. Lets see what we've run, ah?"
A quick explore of the building would reveal that most of the crates contained theater props, costumes, and lengths of cloth. Upstairs there was a couple offices and a rec room. The rec room had a couple decent couches, but the coffee machine was unfortunately broken.

Look down. You're now in a bar being presented with mead. Anything is possible when your adventurers have been fighting monsters all day.

Moze clomped his way upstairs, made a gesture over his shoulder to Jezebel. "You heard 'em, girl?"
"On it, Pa." The orangutan girl sighed, getting three mugs and starting to fill them with mead, "So, the triumphant heroes return eh?" She grinned at Ed, "How'd it go? Slay any monsters, rescue any princesses?"