Fantasy &nbsp; Tools of the Trade | MAIN

lostwanderer

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LadyLuckTakeTheWheel · Feb 22, 2019

||"Some men just want to watch the world burn."||

Chance blew a kiss back to her and waved as she sashayed out the door.
When she was gone, the firestarter's grin fell and he looked up at Rod. He got up and stumbled over to the metalsmith. The redhead sat down on Rod's lap, facing him. Chancellor always seemed like someone who hated physical contact. His best friend was always hugging someone, even if it was a pillow when he slept. Chancellor knew he could rely on Rod for a good hug. Right now, that's all he needed.
The Redhead wrapped his arms around Rod's neck and buried his head in his neck,
"I don't wanna die, Tin can." He murmured. The sinking fear in the bottom of his stomach just made him clutch his friend tighter.
He had been close to death many times before. He had powered through countless life-threatening injuries. But the difference now was that they didn't know what was wrong with him. Tessa couldn't just stitch him up, rub some magic shit on it and tell him to walk it off. It was inside him. He didn't feel nauseous anymore, he just felt utterly drained. It was odd since he had woken up not two hours ago.
Hot tears began to run down his face again. Chancellor's hands slowly started to heat up as Tessa's medicine started to slowly take effect. He was in no way as warm as he usually was, still colder than Rod but it was an improvement and Chance felt the slightest bit better. It still didn't stop his heart pounding in fear.
"I'm scared, Rod."
He had never said that to his best friend before.

Goonfire · Feb 22, 2019

Rod was utterly dumbstruck when his friend sat on his lap—much like a child, but also 6’2 and poisoned. Instinctively, his own strong arms wrapped around Chancellor’s sides to comfort him. “No, shhh... No crying now,” the smith whispered, already doing the exact opposite as his fingers ran through those well-maintained crimson locks. “Hey, you’re getting warmer again. Stronger, too. That’s a great sign.” Anything to instill some courage in the terrified glassblower’s pounding heart...

A moment passed, and the world seemed as though it had melted away. Now was a poor time to forget about the present worries, though. Rod felt the need to administer another sip of Tessa’s concoction, so upon snapping back to reality, he let one arm loose from the hug and grabbed the cup, bringing it up to Chance’s lips. “Just a little more, glass-ass,” he urged, barely tipping the cup when ready.

L LadyLuckTakeTheWheel

lostwanderer

eggsaladsandwitch · Feb 22, 2019

» ELIJAH;
Elijah was just about to ask for clarification when Avery was running out of the kitchen. He stood there for a moment, blinking in the direction their leader had disappeared off to, keys held loosely in one hand. Strongest work...? As he made his way down the hall to his room, he tried to think of what that actually meant. Strong as in force, or strong as in skill? What would Avery consider good enough for this situation? The taxidermist desperately wanted to do right by Avery, for once.
Opening the door to what appeared to be a closet, Elijah flicked on the light to reveal a small room full of well preserved animals. Each of them stared up at him with dead eyes as he considered each of them in turn. Some of them still held battle damage from previous fights--or from having to be stopped by his teammates. He uttered a quick apology to those he hadn't had the chance to mend and pulled out the stuffed form of a wolf. Duke was the most loyal and versatile of his creations, so he figured that bringing him along was the best option, and he hoped Avery would agree.
Choosing to leave the wolf inanimate until they arrived at the baker (something he was sure Avery would appreciate), Elijah placed the animal in what could best be described as a larger version of a cat-carrier, and then scurried down to where Avery's car waited. Wolf safely stowed in the trunk, he got into the driver's seat and turned on the engine, pausing when he saw the controls. "Aw gee," he murmured, cursing the lack of a stick shift anywhere in this fancy, newfangled car. It was supposed to be easier without one, right? How did the car know when to shift gears, though? As he was trying to remember how drive an automatic transmission, Avery entered the car, causing Elijah to straighten up and sit like he actually knew what he was doing.
When the psychic let out a curse and turned away, mumbling to himself, the blonde froze. He knew this reaction well--he had done something wrong again. Typically, his knowledge of social cues was lacking, but his time with his grandfather, along with his new team leader had taught him very well what it looked like to disappoint someone. Elijah wracked his brain, trying to think of what possibly could have been his misstep when Sunny entered the car. He turned to greet her, but was met with her exclamation of "Oh my gosh, we're all going to die," and frowned. While he wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that, he was pretty sure she was pokin' fun at him. His downcast eyes landed on the pedals, and, more specifically, his own bare feet, and he grimaced. Aw, hell... With a mumbled apology, Elijah left the car idling, scrambling back inside and quickly pulling on the sandals he had left there.
He reentered the car, less than a minute after he had left it, trying very hard to hide the embarrassment he fact over the fact that he had been so focused on choosing an animal, he had forgotten to put on his goshdarn shoes. "Where--Uh, Where'sit that we're headin' to?" he asked, adjusting the mirrors in a very concerted effort to meet either of them in the eye--he was sure they would be able to sense his mortification from a mile away.

»location; avery's car
»mentions;

fluticasone · Feb 22, 2019

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[div style="font-size: 4vh; margin-left: 3vh;"]james[/div]
Everything had happened in such a blur. Chance started yelling, then promptly collapsed. Sunny entered, Elijah began disposing of the muffins. A few seconds later Rod carted the unconscious body of the firestarter out, followed by Tessa and Sunny. All that, yet none of it was registering with James until Avery snapped fingers in his face. With a shake of his head and a grunt, he muttered "Yes." Entering the now empty kitchen, he grabbed coffee from a prepared pot, and some leftover salad from the fridge. He went back to the box Avery had studied, memorizing the address stamped onto the box.

Moving as fast as he could, he climbed back up to his room, closing it behind him to prevent any interruptions. One of his computers was still running the compiler; he ignored that, choosing a different device to boot up. He first looked up the address, noting that it was.. a mostly abandoned shopping strip. Backtracking, he looked up the security feed from this morning, watching Chance accept the boxes from a seemingly innocuous man. "Idiot." He took the clearest image of the deliveryman's face, holding it in the corner of his monitor. It was perfectly possible the guy was just doing his job, having no knowledge of the poison, but James had no plans to overlook the possibility that he was in on it. He noted the delivery truck's name, but would look it up after finishing the current route he was taking.

The food he'd grabbed lay forgotten on his counter, and still he made no move to take even a bite. He switched to another avenue; hacking into the city planning database, he grabbed blueprints of the shopping strip. There would be small revisions and changes over the years, but due to safety laws, none of them could be major infrastructure without being sent in for government approval. Then again, if they were willing to poison someone, he wouldn't put it past them to "forget" to submit any big changes. Once you broke one law, it wouldn't be hard to look over the rest. The irony wasn't lost on him, as here he, committing a felony of his own. Working with the police had its advantages, but he was pretty sure unsolicited access to building blueprints wasn't part of it.

He sent a copy of the blueprints to his team's phones, then continued his research.

"Helen's bakery..." He plugged it into the city hall database of registered businesses. Registered only last year, owned by a Jacob Murphy. A simple search revealed that the name matched the face. Alarm bells went off in his head. He delved deeper into the mystery playing out, going through the records containing the surname Murphy. Dread settled in. Multiple names with the surname, spanning over a decade. He began going through each one, researching related parties to make sure none were the type to exact frosting-covered revenge.

Too bad he forgot to tell his teammates about it.[/div]

lostwanderer · Feb 22, 2019

t e s s a

Tessa raised a lazy hand and waved at Sunny's departing figure, not looking up from her book as the door closed behind the singer. She tucked a stray lock of her hair as she continued to glance through the pages when she heard shifting. She paused for a moment, contemplating whether she should take a look or not and figuring that there wouldn't be any harm since this is after all her room so she shrugged and looked anyways. She blinked in confusion as she saw Chance clinging to Rod like he was a koala and he was his favorite tree branch. She has seen kids acted like that before with their mother but now seeing grown adults doing it, she didn't really know what to think. In the years she has seen the two of them, never has she seen this kind of development between the two of them before. She wasn't going to put color on it but the difference of how Chance reacted to Sunny than to his best friend made her think that there must be something else going on with these two.

She closed her book and tucked it under her arm, trying to catch Rod's eye, "Just call me if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." She mouthed before she brought the book with her and went off to the kitchen. She began to take ingredients for a noodle soup, her stomach beginning to protest against her for having not eaten anything since she woke up. She ignored it for the time being as she washed and chopped the carrots, tomatoes and onions. She drizzled in some olive oil into a pot to heat up before she tossed in the sausage and broke it up in the pan, letting it brown before she added the carrots, onions and a pinch of salt. She continued to cook as she whistled a little tune to herself.

code by Ri.a

ebb · Feb 22, 2019

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AVERY
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The car door slammed and Avery was struck by the realization that he’d be crammed in a car with Sunny for however long this drive took. He wondered if it was too late to take separate cars. The awkwardness between them was palpable, and every time she was close by, he was brought back to the fight that ended their relationship. And all the wonderful experiences that led up to it.

Problem was, Avery saw more than just criminals and explosions when using his abilities. He saw Sunny, and her destructive motives behind their relationship. Last year, he’d answered the phone while she was downstairs- and instead of receiving a call, he received a premonition. Touching the handle of the phone, the vision showed him something he’d never want to see: Sunny explaining how she’d manipulated his emotions for a better position at the organization. Laughing like it was all a joke. He still couldn’t believe that she’d been using him like that, as their relationship felt like the only thing that was stable and genuine. Part of him expected it all to be a joke. Like the moment would break and they’d both laugh it off. It never did.

That wasn’t even the breaking point. The breaking point came when he was unexpectedly shown a vision of her with Chance. Caught off guard, he’d snapped and let everything boil over. His frustrations with the fans flocking her, and the reason behind her affections for him. In hindsight, he realized the implications of what he’d seen. Realistically, she might have never been cheating. Instead, he could’ve been seeing today’s reality- caused by the premonition itself. Some evenings, he smoked and tried to figure this out, but it hurt his head to think about. He never asked her about it. His pride kept getting in the way.

"Where--Uh, Where'sit that we're headin' to?"

For once, he was glad to have Elijah close by. “Uh- 1600 Main St., It’s a twenty minute drive, not too far. Looks like it’s north of here, jump on the freeway.” It was easy to push Elijah around, because he never pushed back.

Clearing his throat, he flicked through his phone. “James sent us a blueprint,” he remarked, zooming in on the details. “Looks like a shopping strip, we’ll have more ground to cover.” Thinking, he stared over at Elijah, who looked to be struggling with backing out the car. “Uh, we’re going to have you send in the animals first,” he ordered. “Elijah and I will go in next, if the animals come back in one piece. Sunny, you go in last.” Why was he protecting her?

Responding to James, he punched in a quick message. "Thanks. Keep us updated."

"We might be walking into a trap," he acknowledged. "But we can't just let Chance die without trying to find a solution."

fluticasone

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LadyLuckTakeTheWheel · Feb 23, 2019

||I’ll show you hot and bothered, sweetcheeks||

Chancellor waved as Tessa left, “bye bye breaking bad!”

Chance growled at the metal smith’s nickname for him. He took the tiniest sip from the cup just to spite him. Even when he was dying, Chance would go to great lengths to wind Rod up.

“I’ll have you know, my ass isn’t as delicate and can take quite a beating.”
He gave it a hard smack as exclamation.
The firestarter burst into laughter at his friend’s reaction. Chance always liked to joke that he was sent by the devil and given ungodly powers to wreck havoc on this world.
Obviously, Chancellor had no intent to hurt people with his fire so he resorted to other ways. His favourite pass time was to say spontaneous and inappropriate things to make people uncomfortable. It was a bad habit he was trying to break but sometimes he just couldn’t help
himself.

During his elated giggles, he turned away from Rod and sneezed. His face dropped. The firestarter hated his sneeze. It sounded like a kitten’s sneeze, as everyone liked to joke. It was hilarious to everyone that a grown man could make such a cute sound. Chancellor insantly shut up and his face was dusted red.

||interactions:

lostwanderer ||

Goonfire · Feb 23, 2019

Rodger had expected his friend to take a larger swig. He had tipped the cup too far, and a thin stream of tea coursed down Chancellor’s chin. “I’m sorry,” Rod hurriedly apologized. His thumb sprang into action to cut off the flow of spilled medicine, while three fingers still held the delicate cup by its handle and its base rested on his pinky. In another gentle motion, he wiped away the trail of the fragrant remedy, tracing the path up to Chance’s lower lip.

“Glass can take a beating, too... if it’s thick enough.” Rod had realized what he just said, mere milliseconds too late. “I-I know what you’re gonna say, hardhead. Don’t say it...!” His cheeks flushed brightly with embarrassment and a breathy chuckle escaped him as his tears dried. No matter how dire the situation, he always found it easier to laugh in the presence of Chance. It had been that way for twelve years, and Rod prayed it would be the same way for another twelve and well beyond, until the day they both die.

On cue, Rod replaced the cup with a tissue, offering it to cover up that kitten sneeze. It was such a stark contrast to his own, a polar opposite: loud, powerful, violent... like a shotgun blast that ravaged entire boxes’ worth of tissues on those few occasions he had a cold.

L LadyLuckTakeTheWheel

LadyLuckTakeTheWheel · Feb 23, 2019

||I’ll show you hot and bothered, sweetcheeks.||

Chance stared at Rod whilst he wiped away the medicine, mouth falling open slightly as he did. He stayed there for a beat, just gazing at him.

He snapped out of it when he heard the metalsmith’s comment. The redhead utterly lost it. He was howling and giggling like a banshee and he buried his head in Rod’s chest, “Oh my God.” He wiped a tear from his cheek before noticing Rod’s own.
They weren’t happy, Chance realised.
The firestarter wiped away the remaining droplets that hadn’t dried with a pale thumb. “Don’t cry, Tin can.” He mused, “When you cry, I cry and I hate showing weakness.”
It was then that Chance remembered the ordeal in the hall. He went even redder, “And that whole thing back there in the hall.” He mumbled, putting his head against Rod’s chest again. “I was woozy okay? I didn’t know what I was saying.”
Chancellor found himself extremely comforted by Rod’s warmth and nuzzled deeper into his neck. Was this how Rod felt with him, back last winter? Chance didn’t know. He breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, “You’re warmer than I am, stop it.”

eggsaladsandwitch · Feb 23, 2019

» ELIJAH;
Nodding at Avery's directions, Elijah took the car out of park and began painstakingly backing the car out of its parking spot. He knew the vehicle was more expensive than everything he had ever earned combined, and he feared Avery's wrath if anything should happen to it. Dutifully, he did his best to listen to Avery's breakdown of their plan while also maneuvering the expensive machinery at his fingertips.
The taxidermist finally managed to back the car out, letting out a deep breath as he began to drive in the direction of the freeway. Overly cautious, Elijah probably drove at least five miles under the speed limit the entire way there. choosing to focus on the road, not only because that's what you're supposed to do while driving, but because he was afraid to see what was surely an annoyed expression on the psychic's face. He bit his lip in concentration, going over Avery's plan in his head for the entirety of the drive.

Twenty(-ish) minutes later, the flashy car pulled into the near-deserted parking lot of the shopping center and parked inconspicuously in a space about halfway to the building. Elijah struggled with the controls, finally putting the car into park and turning it off, tossing the keys back in Avery's direction. Before anything could be said, he unbuckled himself and opened the door to the car, murmuring, "I'll go wake up Duke." Walking around to the back of the car and opening the trunk, Elijah opened the over-sized pet carrier and scratched at the fur between the wolf's ears. The animal immediately looked up at him, meeting his eyes and letting out a soft whine, before hopping out of the car and laying down on the asphalt, belly up. As Elijah bent down to give the canine the belly rubs he so desperately craved, he glanced up at the sky, light eyes searching for a dark mass. His avian companion was nowhere to be seen, which caused him a bit of distress as he stood up, motioning for the wolf to do the same. "We ready?" he called back to Avery.

»location; the shopping strip
»mentions;

Goonfire · Feb 23, 2019

Chance didn’t need any sort of keen hearing to hear the hefty thumping of Rod’s heart. “Shut uuup,” the latter cackled, his laughter escalating to match that of the former. Things seemed to be returning to some semblance of normalcy, and Rod took comfort in that.

“Well I’m not crying anymo—I-I mean... uh, how do you know I didn’t have something in my eyes? You know Tessa whips up some strong shit in here.” He tried to laugh off the observation—a pathetic effort, really. Right then, the smith was so open, so vulnerable to those Amber eyes reading him like a book. “Just... don’t worry about the hallway, yeah? Never happened, ya strong bastard,” Rod asserted with a wink from his gentle eyes, just before holding Chance that much tighter.

L LadyLuckTakeTheWheel

LadyLuckTakeTheWheel · Feb 23, 2019

||I’ll show you hot and bothered, sweetcheeks.||
Chance narrowed his amber eyes; which were now bright yellow from the light cast from Tessa's window. He put a pale finger to Rod's lips, "Don't lie to me." He purred, leaning in closer to his face, "You know what happens when you lie to me." His hand ignited close to their faces. Half his face was cast in flickering orange. "There'll be a lot of melted metal pooling on the floor tonight if you lie to me."
The glassblower grinned, mischievously. Usually, chance would go ballistic if anyone lied to him but, when it came to Rod, he just liked to tease him. Any feeble attempt of any sort of lie on Rod's part was instantly shut down by the redhead. He knew too much about him.
Too much about his mannerisms and behaviour that Rod couldn't even hope to sneak past him.
"You aren't lying, are you Rodger?" He mused. Only Chance ever used Rod's full name. He was the one who came up with that nickname all those years ago.
When he promised the scene in the hallway never happened, Chance smiled, "Thanks, Tin Can." He gazed at him for a while before mumbling, "Thanks for not leaving." He whimpered, placing his head back on Rod's chest.

Chance licked the cup, "I want more." He whined.

Goonfire

Goonfire · Feb 23, 2019

Rod leaned in closer, even with the flames threatening to singe the collar of his shirt. “You know I can’t lie, Chancellor,” he jested, clumsily feeling around for the teapot. His glimmering baby-blue eyes had to peel themselves away from the glassblower’s devilish, half-illuminated face, in order to add a slight refresher to the cooling contents of the cup. “How’s it taste?” Rod then inquired, unsure of what the herbalist threw together to make the brownish mixture he was administering to Chance.

L LadyLuckTakeTheWheel

lostwanderer · Feb 23, 2019

t e s s a

A few moments later, Tessa finished cooking her noodle soup and scooped some into a bowl when she heard a loud smack, her eyebrows shooting up as she looked at the door separating the kitchen and her room with narrowed green eyes, 'They better not be doing something kinky in my room. I'm already feeling icky as it is...' She turned off the stove and put a cover on the pot before she took a spoon and tasted her creation. She hummed and popped her lips, sprinkling a bit more chili flakes on her bowl before she continued eating. Not bad for her first attempt making that soup. She buttered up some bread and put it on the toaster, setting it for three minutes as she deliberately chewed on the fusilli while she reopened the book, still trying to match the toxicology but it was to no avail, since some symptoms might not have even manifested on the idiot who ate the pastries. She closed the book once again with a sigh and took out the bread, gingerly biting it and fanning her mouth from the hot bread, her eyes slightly watering.

She polished off her soup in no time and simply munched on her bread, placing the bowl in the sink and running a little bit of water over it, before she returned to the room, seeing that the best of buddies were still a tangle of limbs on her chair. She went out of her room without another word and decided to check on how the programmer was doing, mildly aware that he wouldn't have tagged along with the group who went out. She went downstairs to the third floor, walking towards where his room was, and knocked on the door, "Hey, any updates on the whereabouts of the baker?" She called out from the other side, stepping away from the door. The sooner they find the baker, the sooner the antidote could be synthesized and she could finally curl up in her bed and go back to sleep, after she disinfects her room, of course.

When she got no response, she moved a little closer to the door and just kicked it open, spotting the dark-haired male, hunched over his computer. She walked towards him, placing her hands on the back of his chair, "Hello? Earth to James, I asked if there's any updates about the baker." She repeated.

code by Ri.a

. D O V E · Feb 24, 2019

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Jung Sunny

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If you want to shine like the sun then burn like one.

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It was an awkward car ride. The different expressions painted all over the trio’s faces tell that each of them is uncomfortable about something. Sunny wanted to wrap this whole thing up as soon as possible but Elijah was driving as slow as a fucking turtle. She was almost convinced that her boyfriend would be dead by the time they return.

The phone in her pocket chimed causing her to check it out. She sent the programmer a quick thank-you sticker right before Avery began discussing his plan. It rubbed Sunny the wrong way when he revealed that she’d go in last. She thought that it must be one of his many measures to avoid being with her. “Yes, I don’t want to lose Chance.” she replied, emphasizing the glassblower’s name in mild frustration.

The songstress spent the remaining 20-minute ride in silence saved for the few instances when she nagged the taxidermist to drive faster. The luxury car pulled into a stop at an almost empty parking lot and the female couldn’t help but roll her eyes when Elijah struggled with the controls. He later stepped out of the vehicle leaving the two former lovers behind to suffer.

Sunny busied herself with tying her blue hair up into a ponytail before realizing something. “Shit, I forgot my cap and face mask.” she whispered under her breath. They were important materials to avoid unwanted attention because of her popularity.

She let out a sigh before slipping out of the vehicle and scanning the area. The shopping strip seemed to be mostly abandoned. Usually she’d be jumping for joy whenever she sees one but this one was just spooky. It was becoming more and more clear that it was a trap. She sent James a message indicating that they have arrived at the location.

fluticasone

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ebb · Feb 24, 2019

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AVERY
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Rounding the corner into the shopping center, Avery expected there to be a resolution. A big sign reading “Helen’s Bakery”, or some clear indication it was a trap. Instead, it was overwhelmingly mundane. The strip was a broad “c” shape made up of stand alone buildings. If someone were to make a lot of noise, the neighbors would be oblivious. There was a chiropractor's office, a small restaurant, and a furniture store, but the windows were too dark to see inside. For all he knew, they could be fronts, or entirely deserted. Craning to see inside, he missed Elijah’s cue and his keys jangled dejectedly into his lap. Annoyed, he turned to watch Elijah open the trunk. He wasn’t squeamish, but the reanimated beasts would make anyone shudder.

Unlatching the car door, he wandered next to Sunny where she was texting James. “Maybe this is their corporate office?” He observed, mostly to himself. The front windows of the building were heavily tinted, the glass treatment bubbled under the sun. What remained of a logo hung on for dear life, peeling from the swinging doors. “There’s no way to tell what’s going on in there,” he frowned, skin tingling as he imagined someone watching from inside. Pulling one of the handguns from the side of his waistband, he offered it to Sunny.

“Here, hold on to this.” He demanded, not giving her much of an option. He weighed the other in his hand, looking back on Elijah and debating giving it to the taxidermist. No. He put it back in his pocket. Elijah could defend himself. His weapons were his animals, while Avery and Sunny didn’t have the physical edge.

Approaching slowly, he crouched under the front row of windows, gravel crunching underfoot. Laying his palm flat against the side of the building, he tried to pick up on anything that would clue them into what was happening inside. The visions were too vague and numerous. Trying to pick up on the entire building was too broad, and left him with fractured pieces. It could take an hour to sort through everything, and they didn’t have that kind of time.

Leaning over, he tried to stay out of direct view as he pulled the door open for Duke. The sound of clicking nails and panting faded.

Two minutes passed. Nothing.

“Fuck it, the dog might be sniffing around every corner, let’s just go,” he urged impatiently, gesturing to Elijah to follow him inside.

eggsaladsandwitch

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eggsaladsandwitch · Feb 24, 2019

» ELIJAH;
A bit upset with Avery's dismissal of his animals, Elijah still nodded obediently and followed the psychic inside. As the two of them quietly entered, the taxidermist looked around, noting the empty simplicity of what appeared to be a simple office building. Strange enough, he didn't immediately see Duke, or Briar, for that matter. Choosing to chance it, a low whistle passed his lips, and a few moments later, the sound of canine footfalls approached the two men. Duke appeared in front of them, almost twitching his head as if to beckon them to follow him as he turned from the direction in which he had come from,
Elijah glanced at Avery before following the wolf to a seemingly unassuming door. Had Elijah not been desensitized to the smell of chemicals, he would have noted the pungent smell right away, but Duke's low whining tipped him off that something behind this door was amiss. The wolf lightly pawed at the floor, indicating this was where they were supposed to go There was no glass window on the outside of the door, so there was no way to look inside without being noticed, but there was the sound of light commotion just beyond the barrier.
All of the sudden, there was also the sound of feebly flapping wings and a raven's squawk. Elijah's eyes immediately turned to Avery, his brows furrowed. "They've got my goddamn bird--Wh... Do we go in, or d'ya got any other plan?" he whispered, a hint of desperation in his voice over the worry for his avian friend. His critters were the closest thing he had to family, and even though they were once deceased, the idea of any of them in harm's way was always hard for him to deal with.

»location; the shopping strip
»mentions;

ebb · Feb 24, 2019

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AVERY
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Stepping inside, it took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. Dimly lit, the space smelled stale, like dust and molding paper. The main entry was spacious, with a reception desk and several pale red chairs. Off to either side, hallways spanned into the murky shadows. Holding the gun at his side, he stepped carefully, holding his breath. It had been a few weeks since he’d gone on an assignment, so he felt out of practice, the gun heavy and awkward in his hand.

Nearing the door, he could see the desperation and fear in Elijah’s eyes when he heard his bird through the door. It was no secret that he had trouble making friends, so Avery hypothesized he held them as a replacement. In visions, he’d seen Eli petting and caring for his creations like they were his pets. To Avery, the reanimated beast were nothing more than tools in the form of a moving object, and couldn’t relate to the emotions Elijah had for them. They were crude, and off putting, tracking their stench and filth through the living space.

Reaching gingerly for the door, he replied to Eli quietly. “No- I think it’s best if-” His hand brushed the handle, and he was struck by the image of bullets tearing through the door frame. Tearing into them. Gasping, he threw himself away, the vision was powerful enough that he could practically feel the shrapnel. He shoved Eli roughly in the process, getting them both out of the line of fire.

A moment later, wood splintered deafeningly, tiles chipping as the bullets ate through them. Shocked, he barely had time to recover before five figures ruptured from the door, faces all masked by respirators. Stumbling backwards, he barely had time to fire off a shot, hitting a figure further down the room. It made little effect on the group swelling around them. There were at least ten, and no telling if there were more waiting around the corner.

Determined to not just roll over, Avery focused on mapping out the future and avoiding the oncoming barrage. His fortune was short lived however, as one of the figures dove straight for him, knocking the gun from his hand. Avery had basic combat skills, but nothing that stood against this. Within seconds, he was wrestled to the ground. His ears rang as a sharp strike fell against his temple, and the sounds of footsteps gradually faded into a dark silence.

There was no telling how long had passed. Disoriented, it took Avery a few seconds to absorb his surroundings. His arms ached. Groaning, he tried to stretch, but there was a force holding him back. Angry, he tugged against the ropes strapping his hands together behind him. The room was a long meeting room, with chairs lining an oblong desk. On top, a simple white device whirred on the counter. Squinting, he tried to make out the letters. A humidifier?

Poison slowly moistened the air.

It seemed pointless to hold his breath now, who knows how long he’d been breathing it in. Trying to ignore the envitiable, he pulled himself to his feet. Weirdly enough, he wasn’t tied down to anything. Running to the door, he wasn’t surprised to find it locked. Where were Sunny and Elijah? Were they captured? Dead? Trying not to panic, the paced the room, panting.

eggsaladsandwitch

[/div]

. D O V E · Feb 24, 2019

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Jung Sunny

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If you want to shine like the sun then burn like one.

[/div]

[div class=body]
Sunny watched as both Elijah and Avery went after the reanimated wolf. She kept her eyes on their backs until they disappeared from her vision. The singer let out a long breath as she leaned against a wall, fingers fidgeting with the gun Avery basically shoved into her hands. Truth to be told, she has always been a bad shooter.

Minutes passed and the female’s companions neither returned nor gave her any cue to move. She was getting more and more impatient. What was taking them so long? Don’t they know her paparazzi may spot her standing outside a shop with a gun and assume that she was going to rob the place?

Suddenly, Sunny picked up chains of a distinct sound coming out of the direction the duo went into. They were gunshots. The songstress paled at the realization. If she wasn’t standing by the door then she could have completely missed it because of the broadness of the place. She tried to peek through the glass windows but they were heavily tinted. She pulled out her phone and sent the whole team a message.

Idk, Avery and Country Boy might be dead? Send help! If I die I want you to use our fortune to build a giant statue of me made of pure gold.

One foot in and she already began considering driving out of this damned place along with Avery’s luxurious car. However, she won’t do that because she cares about the two…and she doesn’t have the key.

Sunny examined her surroundings although the dim lighting proved itself to be somewhat of a hindrance. Not to mention that it smelled so fucking bad that Elijah’s room paled in comparison. She couldn’t describe the smell but she could make out the faint smell of chemicals looming. “Damn, Chance better buy me fucking diamond earrings for this.” she whispered to herself while her free palm frantically waved in front of her nose.

The sounds of panting and light footsteps resonated throughout the room and the blue-haired could already tell that it was Elijah’s dog. The black canine revealed itself, almost blending with the dark hallway if not for its glowing eyes, and Sunny approached quietly. She crouched down three feet across from it silently hoping that it won’t jump at her, “Ugh, take me to your master or whatever.” she commanded with a cringe.

The wolf whimpered once before it turned around and went back to the shadowy hallways with Sunny right behind its trail. It led her to door which was half-ruined because of what seemed like bullets along with the surrounding tiles. There were voices on the other side of the door and Sunny peeked through one of the holes with caution. She saw two figures in hazmat-esque suits; one of them was heavily injured while the other was busy nursing him.

She turned to the wolf, brown eyes lighting up with a plan.

A minute later, the door flew open and the canine started barking, earning the attention of the uninjured one who immediately stood up, “Shit, it’s the dog!” he cried before chasing the dog out of the door where Sunny hid at the back. She tackled the man from behind and they toppled on the floor with her firmly on his back. Grabbing the opportunity, Sunny used the gun as a blunt object, repeatedly smashing it on the back of his head successfully knocking him out of conscious. She stood up with heavy breaths, massaging her shoulders before grinning at Duke who was staring at her with its tongue hanging out, “Good boy.” she cooed.

Sunny examined the unconscious man, noting his outfit and the respirator attached to his face. She tried to connect the pieces together and concluded that she must be breathing some shitty air right now. Without further ado, she undressed the man, slid into his suit and took the respirator. The female dragged the unconscious body into an open cage right beside a raven which looked oddly familiar before locking it using a key she found on one of the suit’s pockets.

A trembling voice called out to her, ordering her to stop moving. She turned around to see the injured man, clutching a fatal wound (probably from when they captured Elijah and Avery) and his other hand shakily holding up a gun pointed at her. Sunny took notice of his poor form and her pursed lips transformed into a smirk, he seemed like he was moments away from passing out. This should be easy.

“You don’t really want to shoot me, do you?” the seductress began, venom lingering in her voice, “Yes, I am a very bad girl. Bad girls should be punished, don't you think so? But you, you can punish me in more ways than you can imagine.” she took a step with each word, “All you need to do is to Put. Your. Gun. Down.” the man, hypnotized, slowly obliged as Sunny got close enough to lean down and caress his exposed paling cheek. The man’s pupils dilated as he stared at her in a sudden devotion.

“But first, you’ll have to tell me where they brought my friends.”

fluticasone @EVERYONEBECAUSETHEYNEEDHELPSOS

[/div]

Goonfire · Feb 24, 2019

Rod's impromptu cuddle session was interrupted by a chime on his phone. "That must be the others," he announced, checking to confirm that statement. "Wait... send help? Oh shit." This wouldn't be easy news to break, but he did his best. "Sunny's in danger, too. Dunno about the others, but it's up to me now." He stood and eased Chance back onto the bed. "If I want my friend saved right, I'll have to do it myself."

L LadyLuckTakeTheWheel

And so, Rod tore through the hall as fast as his legs could carry him, over to James' room. He knocked on the door first... then again... and then said "fuck this," and flung the door open. "Hey. Avery, Sunny, and Elijah are in danger," he repeated to the I.T. security specialist. "See if you can back me up... somehow." The metalsmith genuinely had no clue what James could do yet, but this would be one hell of a test. He clipped a wireless POV camera onto his shoulder and turned it on.

Rod's next move was to make a beeline for his own apartment. He needed something devastating if he wanted to get the job done. A few objects had been moved around in the past few weeks, with one particular item resting on the tape border. It appeared to be just a large steel thermos with a handle on the side. Rod fetched that and pulled out a cardboard box with print that would imply it was carrying twelve cans of soda. However, its contents looked nothing like soda cans. They were hefty steel-cased munitions... artillery shells. He scooped up the pack of explosives and took the thermos and a car key with him into the hallway, then down the stairs, out the front door, and finally into his own gray Jeep waiting in the parking garage. "Hang in there," he wished as the car roared to life with the key in the ignition.

Rather than drive like Elijah did, Rodger took on a bit of a lead foot that day. He broke the speed limits on the freeway; luckily he hadn't been spotted by the lax NYPD as he sped through at 85 miles per hour. Now was not the time to go 'slow and steady' as he normally did. If he had volunteered Sunny to stay instead of himself, this might not have been a problem. On the bright side, though he wouldn't have grabbed the 'thermos' and 'drinks' he and Chance had made back when they were 21. Still, he knew he would catch hell from Avery... if that psychic ass was still alive...

fluticasone

fluticasone · Feb 25, 2019

[import]9420182[/import][div class="body"]
[div style="font-size: 4vh; margin-left: 3vh;"]james[/div]
As James went down the list of cases, he had a feeling he was coming close to a breakthrough. At some point he'd picked up his glasses and put them on, losing himself in the task before him. The coffee had gone cold while the salad wilted, but the hunger in his stomach wasn't registering with the programmer. When he was in that space, there was no getting through to him outside of physically pulling him back to the present.

He didn't hear the knock on his door, engrossed as he was. The current record on his screen had him holding his breath. "Food poisoning notable figures, catering business..." Muttering those keywords, he perused the file. The woman said to be responsible was still currently behind bars but her husband had gotten off scot-free.

His name was Jacob Murphy.

Ten years was a long time, but obsession could teach one to be anything. Even patient. He would know; his father had been a prime example of it.

"Hello? Earth to James, I asked if there's any updates about the baker." The presence behind him caused him to swear in surprise. The first expression on his face was irritation, then fluster; he hated people seeing his glasses. He took them off, pretending nothing was the matter, then swiveled his chair to face the herbalist.

"Shit, Tessa. Yeah I did. His wife's been in jail for ten years now thanks to the co-op. " He turned back to the screen, looking up Helen's Bakery. A simple website came up, detailing their offerings and their contact information. The address on the website didn't match the one on the box. It had been a trap. Another round of cursing while he grabbed the blueprints of the right building this time. He didn't notice the message notification at the bottom right of his screen, the one consisting of an SOS from their field team.

When Rod barrelled into his room and started grabbing things, James stood up to argue. He was about to protest, but the metalsmith's words registered. Sinking back into his chair, he finally noticed the notification, reading it aloud for Tessa. She'd have had much more urgency in her voice if she'd read the message too. "Avery and Country Boy might be dead? Send help! If I die I want you to use our fortune to build a giant statue of me made of pure gold." Sunny's vanity, even in this dire situation, brought a grim smile to his face.

He switched gears. He brought up cctv footage of the area surrounding the strip mall. Using that visual and the blueprints he'd retrieved, constructed in his head a model of the building. He brought up a blank terminal screen, ignoring the presence of Tessa as he got to work. First off, Avery and Elijah were missing. That either meant they were dead, or captured. If they were dead, he couldn't reanimate them. But if they were just captured, he could at least unlock any doors in the building for their escape.

if (lock = true)

lock = false;

He didn't know if Sunny was in hiding, so he opted to text the singer rather than start a call, sending it to the group chat of their team, which meant Rod would be able to read it as well once he got there. Alongside that, he opened the camera and mic on her phone, streaming the visual and audio. He did the same with the camera Rod had grabbed.

All the doors listed in the blueprint should be unlocked. Is there anything electronic there? Security camera?

The video feed from Sunny's phone wasn't helpful, as it was probably in her pocket. The mic picked up on the last of her sentence, making James assume she'd probably used her power on someone. He hoped to god the man didn't say something like they already took care of the two. He didn't like either of them, but he wasn't about to wish them dead over it. He hijacked the stereo on Rod's car, filling him in via the mic on his desk as he shared with Tessa what he'd learnt.

He brought back the arrest file to the forefront of his many windows, keeping the two feeds on the right side of his screen. "His wife was charged with homicide, poisoning certain clients with the right incentive via a catering business. Before that, however, they ran a small cafe that boasted its own bread and pastries. The pieces fit."[/div]

lostwanderer

eggsaladsandwitch · Feb 25, 2019

» ELIJAH;
Everything had happened so fast, Elijah was lucky to come away from it without whiplash. Before he knew what was going on, Avery was gasping and shoving him to the floor, only for the space they had previously occupied be showered with bullets a moment later. Eyes widening, Elijah watched as covered figures emerged, outnumbering he and Avery by many. Not wanting to waste any time, the taxidermist let out another, higher-pitched whistle, and Duke jumped into the fray, tearing guns from hands and skin from bones. He was so focused on keeping up with his canine friend that he was quite surprised when his other companion fell to the ground, worry painted on his face as he turned toward Avery's now unconscious form. That was the opening one of the men needed to strike him in the back of the head hard enough that his legs gave out and he lost consciousness.

When he finally awoke, Elijah found himself in a situation very similar to Avery's. Except his room was spinning. Or perhaps that was the result of a head injury? Nevertheless, the country boy looked around the room, noting the device in the center of the table and the ropes binding his hands together. After a couple of minutes of struggling, he managed to maneuver his hands to his front, and worked at the ropes with his teeth until they were loose enough for him to free his scrawny wrist from. His head continued to pound, but at least now he had decent mobility, and as he walked around the room, he found nothing of note, saved for the device and locked door. After charging and kicking the door a few times (it was worth a shot), he turned toward the device, which he, once again, could not smell the effects of, but could feel it emitting... something into the air. Without hesitation (or thinking, for that matter) Elijah picked up the device and through it onto the floor, shattering the mechanics and... well, it wasn't working anymore, so that was a good sign.
Now without anything to occupy his time, he was reminded of the ever-present pain and dizziness echoing around his head. The taxidermist let out a groan, before sliding down a wall, sitting on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest and resting his head on top of his knees. And he was almost content to stay like that until his headache (concussion, really) went away.
That is, until he heard the minute click of a lock being turned.
Glancing up, he waited for someone to enter, but after a full minute of nothing, Elijah decided to investigate. He walked over to the door, grabbing the knob and turning, and was pleasantly surprised when the door opened. No adversaries seemed to be around, and the boy let out a soft whistle, trying to summon Duke. It was probably best to wander around an enemy's base armed with a large predator, anyways. He hoped that the wolf was okay--not stuffed or hacked to pieces in any way. And, of course, he hoped Avery was okay--praying that he also got to keep all his stuffing and remained in once piece.

»location; ???
»mentions;