[WoD] Heart of the Mountain

[NovaPheonix]

Before the mysterious man spoke, Terrance was about to say "Drinks-" and then when she said 'magic' he backed up.


"There's no such thing as magic..." His hands shook a bit on the bar, but he simply moved them and poured the man who was using a fake name a glass.


"They all only do one thing, like the man said. You just get drunk, no dreams or anything like that..." He tilted his obscuring glasses slightly and placed the fruity drink next to the man carefully, trying not to spill it with his shaky hands. He looked towards the girl carefully, trying to discern her features.


"Um, excuse me for askin' this, but who are ya'?" He now seemed oddly curious, leaning forward over the bar. His face seemed calm, but it was hard to tell because he hid his eyes.

 

[Xistund]

Johnny would have said something on the lines of 'no you can't come it's far too dangerous, you'd get hurt' to Caeda or would have said something about her just being poisoned and it's not a good idea. He would have said those things... if he was a idiot.


Instead he said. "Fuck yeah you're coming with, If shit goes down I'd rather have someone with a gun and police training on my side." He said and added. "Also, you can be my get out of jail free card if shit goes south."

 

[ValkyrieRose]

"Well i will as long as you don't shoot the man before we ask questions." Caeda says with a laugh."But don't worry, if there's something up you'll get the full exclusive to it, I promise. That should be enough to get the boss off your back." She teased, . "We can eat later... thanks for coming with us, Harry." She says, nodding to the man with a smile. "It's good to know there are decent people out there."

 

[Karalexia]

The girl muttered something under her breath and ran her hand along the bar. It was hard to tell what her mood was under her hood but she was starting to twitch again, looking from the bar over towards James to make sure he was staying put. She then looked back towards the bartender and muttered some more before replying to one of his previous statements.


"No such thing as magic?" She scoffed, "Perhaps in this place! Everything here seems to be phoney!" She spoke, almost as though she were pouting, "Stupid boxes with powerless glyphs! Fake potion that does nothing but make stupid people stupider! And the only magical thing in this place all day is fondling around with scraps of paper with more powerless symbols scrawled all over them!" She then turned her attention towards the man that sat at the bar that had spoke to her before, "And you say that people come here to have fun? What a joke!"


The girl now seemed to be irritable and began tapping her figures upon the bar as if trying to think of something... It was then that she realised that the bartender was asking her something. "What? Who am I? I am someone that's stuck in a place praised for good times and I'm not having one! Now who are you?" She asked bitterly.

 

[NovaPheonix]

• Wonderland Bar
• Wonderland Entrance

• 
  
  
  "M-my name is Terrance, now...um, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make a call." His voice cracked a bit, and in fact he didn't even ask the mysterious man to pay for his drink. He tried his best to leave as quickly as possible. He skirted around the bar and skittered out the swinging door to escape. He pulled out a cell phone out of his pocket as he walked and moved into a corner of the room, hiding from the red lights that lit most of the bar.
  
  
  He returned to the bar after about ten minutes of standing in the dark corner and speaking silently with his hand cupped over his face, the clock now reading five o clock above his head. It was hard to see him, but it was clear that he was very flustered from his shaken demeanor. He slipped back into his comfortable position behind the bar and took a brown glass bottle into his hand as well as his drink shaker, glancing a look at meila. "The management has informed me that I should treat you to a drink on the house, in response to your complaints. That is to say, a free drink...of your choice." He held his head low, awaiting the girl's answer as he pointed out a menu and passed it down the bar to her. "I'd like to apologize on behalf of the Wonderland, miss...we're very sorry to disappoint you. Did someone send you for a review? I figure you're one of those newspaper editors, those people are always very strange." He chuckled a bit under his breath. He averted his eyes completely from the man with no name, attempting to focus completely on the displeased customer. The red-haired man tried to give her a smile, and then moved over to grab a handkerchief and wipe his face, turning away from her for a moment in shame.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  "It's not a problem. I'm just glad I could help. Let's get to the bottom of this." Harry clenched his fist, a bit mad at the bartender himself because the man drugged his friends.
  
  
  Once they were in agreement, the newly formed group set off with conviction to find the truth. Led by Harry, the trio returned to the Wonderland rather quickly. Harry moved confidently through the door and denied any offers to gamble. He wasn't playing games right now. He looked directly over to the bar and encouraged the others to cover him. At the bar he saw the bartender holding a bottle up to a hooded girl, and a man wearing a suit with purple colored hair sitting next to her with a fruity drink. "Play it cool guys, we don't need to start a fire, but we do need to smoke this guy out."
  
  
  

Scene 3 End
​

Session 1, Scene 4: Smoke

Burns left the meeting room, noting that the negotiator was sitting at the bar. He watched him for a moment and then turned around, lighting a new cigarette in his hand. "God, what a day." He grumbled and decided to scope out the poker tables next. He passed by James and Kriegar and then headed towards the slot machines, smoking the whole way.


A few of the other people at the bar were gawking at the hooded girl now, she was quite the magnet for attention. Most of the civilians decided it was best to simply leave the bar, and after things emptied out there were only maybe two people sitting near her besides the negotiator.

 

[Xistund]

Johnny could not help but roll his eyes at the words he chose. He would not really call them a pun since nothing really was on fire maybe it was a Chinese word play that he was unfamiliar with. But on the pun-o-meter it rated a 3. He had on his grandfather's as well as an old duster he found in his closet, god he hoped his sister Noel did not see him like this. That's all he needed his pyro loving sister to see him in this getup. That reminds him he should give her a call when there not jumping head long into danger. He somehow managed to keep his gun hidden as he walked into the casino. "Alright, so how are we going to do this?"

 

[ValkyrieRose]

Caeda flashed her badge... she was on business now, no longer here for a party. "Normally we'd cover the exits, but there are only three of us." She said, looking around. "When we get to the bartender, one of you position near the Bartender's easiest way out, Our medical expert should examine stuff the bartender is using... I think it was a blue liquid of some sort." She orders, her police training kicking in. "From there, we try to get to the bottom of this. Stay within reaching distance of each other in case something happens."

 

[Karalexia]

Meila cocked her head to the side in surprise, looking the bartender in the eye. A free drink? She looked away from Terrance and looked over the menu he had gestured to and begin reading it aloud. "Beer... Gin... Gin and Tonic... Scotch on rocks... How do you drink the rocks?" Meila asked looking back up from the menu and at Terrance once again, "So many weird things here at this so-called Wonderland!" She drawled as she turned her attention back to the menu. "Whiskey... Single shot... Double shot... Vodka... Wine... Red... white..."


The girl muttered in annoyance and cast the menu aside, "These are words that have no meaning to me! Just give me something good, okay, Terrance?" Meila demanded in a passive-agressive tone. She glanced back across at James for a moment and then around the bar, noticing that other patrons had cleared off, "Where have all the idiots gone?" She asked Terrance as she started to drum against the bar with her hands. "Don't answer! It doesn't matter! Just get me this drink!"

 

[NovaPheonix]

"Ah, sure sure..." Terrance went to prepare a drink, flipping bottles with his hands and pouring in a thick silvery liquid from a metallic flask into the bottle and shaking it in a see-through brown bottle. He poured another drink into it and swirled it with his back turned to her. He looked a bit like a alchemist, probably. That or a mad scientist, but he did not look like he had one bit of sanity as he mixed vigorously and quickly and then handed the girl the bottle.


Upon doing this, he looked around the casino one more time. It was then that he saw the trio in the middle of the casino. "The fuck..."


he mouthed a bit too loud. He took off his glasses for a second and blinked "They should be...damn it, who's that?!" he peered over at the asian in the delivery uniform. Harry was wearing a buttoned black shirt in the chinese style and looked quite professional. Terrance tried to settle himself again, placing his glasses back on and breathing deeply. The look on his face was impossible to hide. He was panicked.

 

[Karalexia]

Meila looked down at her drink and leaned in to give it a sniff. She then glanced up at Terrance. "The fuck? Is that what this drink called?" She asked glaring back down at her bottle. Meila was about to have a taste of her drink when Terrance started speaking again. "Who's who?" She grumbled.


Meila eyed the bartender and then glanced around at where his gaze had been drawn. She noted the approach of the three individuals and looked back at Terrance again. "More of your Wonderland friends?" She asked turning back to her drink, "They must really like 'the fuck', huh?"


Meila raised the bottle to her lips and took in a generous mouthful of her drink and allowed it to wash over her tongue. Seconds later Meila spat it all out across the bar in a silver mist. "The fuck? It tastes like shit! What the hell is in this?" Meila screamed, looking at the now panicked Terrance.

 

[ExtraWhiteRice]

Ah, something fruity! Perfect. He drank slowly, watching the hooded girl next to him carefully. He stared at the peripherals of her form, only to see something like a warped mirror. She couldn't be human, and he wasn't entirely sure what she was. She had obviously scared the hell out of their barkeeper, and she hated the taste of alcohol--so she was secluded?


He shook his head, catching a glimpse of Johnny, Caeda and someone else in the mirror behind the bar. They seemed to be looking for the barkeeper--they seemed to mean business. Instead, he decided to ignore the people behind them--especially if he was at their destination anyway.


"Seems like you might need a drink yourself" He said aloud to the barkeep, a smile creeping to his face. The woman yelling at him seemed to not understand the simple aspects of life in this generation, and that, to him, was hilarious--he had to keep his cool though. Especially now that Johnny was back at the bar.


The bartender had forgotten to charge him for the drink due to the ruckus--after nearly being attacked in the negotiation, he figured Burns owed him the drink, so he said nothing. Not that this deceitful man would have mentioned if he didn't feel that way--free stuff, all the way! He decided he'd remain silent from there on, at least, until Johnny got back to the bar and stated his intent. He would still have a bit of drink in his system from his earlier conversation, hopefully that wouldn't affect whatever he was here for. Perhaps 'Michael' would need to de-escalate the situation?

 

[NovaPheonix]

Terrance stood there as silver liquid splattered against his glasses. He wiped it away with his handkerchief and apologized once again. "I'm sorry..." he shifted his eyes between her and the trio cautiously as he mixed her a cocktail. He has a very tense tone to his voice.


As he placed the fruity red drink near the girl, Harry took a seat at the bar, but didn't order anything just yet.


"Would you like anything, sir?" He, for once, moved away from the hooded one and greeted Harry.


"Water, please." Harry smiled a bit and watched as he poured him a glass of water and place it down.


Terrance checked his phone at this time, looking underneath the bar at a glowing screen for a second as he clearly started to text a message in response before turning back to the girl.


Harry signaled to the others with his hand that they should come over quickly while he was distracted.

 

[ValkyrieRose]

Caeda slips to the side, and the closet exit the man could take to the bar. "And i'll have another Jack Rose." She says with the slightest of smiles... she could lay on the charm when she needed but she doubted her was all that reassured... she was back after all, and that meant she might be onto her. Still, in chess you don't wait to see a reaction... you force one. "I got quite the euphoric feeling from the last one, after all. do me a favor and make it EXACTLY like you did las time, alright?!" She says, watching him closely. She was ready for anything now, bracing herself for the worst of situations.

 

[NovaPheonix]

@ValkyrieRose


The man, as you watch him carefully, prepared the drink the same exact way that you saw him do it before. Terrance didn't have time to even speak back to her, he was dealing with too much, and the pressure made him almost want to explode. He even started to reach underneath the bar to grab the translucent container in his haste. That's when Johnny made his move.

 

[Xistund]

Johnny saw the bar keeper, shocked at the way they came back. So since he'd expect her to be drugged up, he smiled a bit and moved up to the bar sitting on the table. "Oi I'll be haaaaving what dhe litle lassh is hving." He smile and said "Ach-tually, I know how to make it. Why don't you take five." He tried to moved over the bar, but the barkeeper stood in his way, shoving his hands toward Johnny to keep him back. He wanted to slide over the bar, but it was much harder than he thought it was, with the duster, it was not as slippery as his normal clothes. 'Fuck why can't I look cool when I do shit like this' "Dis went sooo much better in my head." He grumbled as he stood up on top of the bar.

 

[ValkyrieRose]

Caeda watched Johnny, sighing that he was making a bit of scene. "Better yet... how about you give that bottle to ME?!" She says, popping out her badge and showing it to him. "Caeda Smith, LPD. You have a looooot of explaining to do."

 

[Karalexia]

Meila sat and gazed at the new drink Terrance had made for her and hesitantly took a sip of the red fruity mixture. It wasn't exactly what she was expecting, but it was more than passable. "Ah! Now this is yummy! Better than 'The Fuck' I was drinking before!" She stated in a rather pleasant and excited voice that seemed rather giddy compared to earlier. "This is much better! Much, much, much better! ...Get rid of that other drink... It tastes like you're licking a cats arse!" She commented as she greedily gulped down the rest of her drink in two sips.


It was then that the three individuals showed up and pretty soon, Meila was watching some moron attempt to slide across the bar. Meila looked on, her mood shifting yet again as the man in the duster then stood atop the bar. Meila was about to yell at him when the lady at the bar that accompanied the two new men, flashed her badge and demanded the bottle.


At this point, Meila groaned in annoyance and barked loudly, "Even that's a fake! That piece of crap has no real power!" She claimed, gesturing toward the badge. "I've had about all I can take of this place! How about you give ME the bottle instead?" She yelled, pulling something from beneath her cloak and holding it aloft; a small dragon necklace, a little dirty and caked with bits of rust.


Meila glanced from Caeda to Terrance and then back to Caeda. "I have no idea what this idiot is doing, but it seems you've been holding out on me Terrance!" Meila grumbled bitterly while eyeing the police lady, "If that's the real deal, I want it!"

 

[ValkyrieRose]

She blinked, flinching a little bit at the woman as she started shouted, almost right in her ear... it was a'ways 'fake this' and 'fake that' to civilans "Oh yeah, that's defiantly a toy" She says, moving her coat back to reveal her service issue weapon. "And I got this at Toys R'us." She says, holding the badge to the woman for a closer inspection. "Go ahead and call 311- that's the non emergancy police line." She says. "Ask to confirm this badge is real, as well as my name and rank." She says with a sigh, always making sure to keep an eye on the bartender.


"While you're at it, since you seem to know what that bottle contains, do you mind sharing, or at least stop making a fuss. I CAN arrest you for interfering with a police investigation."

 

[Karalexia]

Meila cocked her head sharply to the left and glared at Caeda, her mouth forming a sneer that was quite visible from beneath her hood. "Three, one, one!" She called out, wanting to see what would happen. "THREE, ONE, ONE!!!" Meila yelled again before cocking her head sharply to the right and trying one more time, really fast, "THREE ONE ONE!!!" She sighed and muttered something under her breath as she straightened her posture. "Those words are as powerless as that focus you hold!"


Meila lowered her necklace and withdraw it back beneath her cloak. "I don't know what's in that stupid bottle!" Meila admitted angrily, "I figured that since you wanted it that it must be something good... But now that I think about it, you're all stupid people and no doubt that's another fake potion and I don't want the stupid thing!"

 

[NovaPheonix]

"Yeah, this is nothing." Terrance was about to place the bottle back underneath the bar when Harry made a grab for it rather suddenly.


He vaulted over the bar like Johnny had wanted, placing his hands on the bar and pulling himself over swiftly, giving him added momentum for his next move. The delivery boy kicked upward towards the bartender's hand while his hands propelled him over the bar. It was a fairly simple ground high kick, but performed with a certain flow, style, and grace that could only be honed through training and dedication. He clearly knew what he was doing.


"Like hell it is!" His shoe impacted into the man's raised wrist, not doing very much damage, but it forced him to let go of the small bottle and launching it into the air. It flips in the air, twirling, the blue liquid inside sloshing about. For a few seconds it had some air-time and Harry hoped someone would catch it. Meanwhile, Harry finished his landing. He ended up behind the bar where the angry bartender now shot him a frustrated look. Harry wondered if he had jumped into action too quickly, but things were happening too fast for him to regret it now.


Burns noticed Terrance after he heard him grunt out in pain, and quickly rounded up some security men to go check it out using his radio.

 

[ExtraWhiteRice]

A lot happened all at once.


Terrance backed away, tried to swipe a bottle with blue liquid under the bar, Johnny ended up on top of the bar, Caeda blocked and exit and a random man slid over the bar, kicked the bartender's wrist, sent the bottle flying over to Caeda who was able to catch it--just as well, he probably would have handed the bottle over to her anyway, being a cop. Luckily, he hadn't had more than a couple of sips of his drink--his mind was still fresh. He counted himself lucky for being in the right spot at the right time.


'Michael' stood up vigorously and immediately, making sure his composure was able to get the attention of the people involved. If that didn't work, his statement surely would. "Everyone calm the FUCK down and stop where you are!" He did his best to make his voice carry such certain authority that it demands to be listened do; as if he were born and raised to be a leader.


Once he had everyone's attention, he would let the silence hanging in the air for just a moment. It was processing time. "Johnny. Tell me what's going on." His voice carried as a demand, not as a question--the air around the statement seemed as if it was expected to be followed. "And don't you dare try to lie to me."

 

[ValkyrieRose]

Caeda, in true professional fashion (or, more likely, pure luck), reaches and catches the bottle. She stashes it on her person, where it would be hard for others to get to "good work, Harry." She says. "Though you didn't need to kick the man." She says, a slight smile showing on her face. She turns to the man who also started shouting. "There is a high chance you may have been drugged. I recommend getting to a hospital as quick as you can."


She turns to the bartender. "YOU, on the other-hand, are in a looot of trouble. You wanna do this the way that involves you quietly getting in the back of my car, or the way that involves you running me chasing you, me and or a guard tackling you and thus making a massive scene and possibly a broken bone or three?"

 

[Xistund]

Johnny tried to reach for it but it was clear that there was no way in hell he was going to get it. There was a reason he was picked last for baseball as his lack for any skills would show. Thankfully, Caeda caught it.


He could also claim he was interested in the woman who pulled out the amulet and started to say some trigger words, like 'potion', and the fact she was wearing a fucking cloak. Like, who wears cloaks nowadays? The woman was either coocoo for coco puffs, or she was legit.


Before he could ask her anything Michael came. Of fucking course Michael would be there and what's worse he wanted Johnny to start explaining what was going on. Why did he have to explain everything himself? There was a cop, the delivery boy would not have been his first choice to ask, or the woman who looked like she still used leeches to cure her colds...Yeah he was at least the second best person there.


"Ok short version, bartender tried to drug for who knows what. Harry hear managed to cure the drug," He looked at Harry, "remind me to ask for an interview later about that." He turned back to Michael, "So, we came back to get the drug and catch the bad guy and find out why he wanted two strangers fucked up on whatever he put in our drinks." He looked to the woman in the cloak. "And you creepy lady, are you legit? Please tell me you're not just some crazy hag who has a authentic looking focus. Where did you get it, does it have a name? would you mind if I trace over it?"

 

[Karalexia]

As the bottle went sailing through the air, Meila couldn't care less about it and instead turned to glance back at James. He still hadn't moved for where he had sat since she arrived at Wonderland, still playing around with those strange cards and interacting with that other man still. What was the deal here? How could James sit around here for so long, clearly entertained? The casino was beyond her grasp of comprehension and she was about to head back towards James when someone started speaking to her. She spun on her heels and glared at the man in the duster as he took a keen interest in her, or rather her focus. The guy used a variety of words both understood by Meila and lost on her... She did however know what he was talking about when he spoke about her focus and began asking questions about it.


"So one of the idiots knows a real focus when he sees one?" Meila asked in a giddy reply, "I call it 'Little Yaravok'..." Meila explained, holding her necklace back out for Johnny and the others to observe, dangling it by its chain. "No one touches my little precious except me! It's mine! All mine and nobody else's!" She then glared towards Caeda, "Now that she has her precious bottle, maybe she'll let you trace the piece of crap focus that she's carrying around!"


Meila twirled gleefully on the spot and grinned, studying Caeda from head to toe. "Maybe you might get smart and listen to this guy!" She spoke to the policewoman whilst gesturing towards Johnny. "He seems to know a thing or two. I'm sure he'll agree that you shouldn't mess with me!" She warned in a sing-song voice, performing another twirl, spinning on her right foot and coming to a stop with a childish giggle..

 

[NovaPheonix]

Breathing in, Harry stepped forward with his right foot and unleashed a solid punch towards Terrance as he exhaled. The bartender was too slow to react, and Harry's fist impacted into him quite forcefully. "Oof!" Terrance stumbled backward and looked over his shoulder. The policewoman was blocking his way out of the bar!


"Shit!" Terrance cursed to himself, realizing he was boxed in. He looked around for any sort of option. His head tilted between the mirror, the bottles along the shelf, and the compartment under the bar where his glimmering phone was still visible. His hand grabbed the side of the bar as he tried to stabilize himself.


"Don't just stand there, get them!" Burns screamed and started moving over to the bar. It took him the longest to get there because he had to put out his cigarette. The guards made their way to the bar, having to shove past civilians and the other people in the bar.


It was turning into a tumult at the Casino. The remaining people at the bar screamed and ran. They saw the security forces, but a few people were calling the police anyway. Screaming people scrambled around, moving towards the center of the floor and out the exit. It took longer for the guards to respond because they had to move through the crowd, but they could be seen from a distance due to the uniforms.


Selene (@Umbrie) made her way out the back entrance in order to avoid trouble.