CHAPTER FINALE ♔ cause it's always raining in my head

[narcosynthesis]

♬ oceano - josh groban

WHO || Keijen Blade, Nadia Reichenov, Rafael Giovanni, Buffy Summers, Alainn O'Rourke, Myrilandel Odair, Finnick Odair, Desmond Descant, Elena Gilbert, Rose Hathaway, Fredrick Jr., Jack Chessing, Kat Samcelot, Jeanne Gar, Spike, Sterling Archer, Violet Reedhym, Burt Becksworth, Isabella Alessandro
WHAT || Failboat does the Grammy's, tries to stop Keijen Blade's performance from reaching the masses, and aspires to save Nadia
WHERE || Staples Center, Los Angeles
WHEN || Feb 8th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

The day has finally arrived: the 2015 Grammy's gather together musical talent at the top of the food chain, which means that NOVA Records will be well represented at this year's ceremony. Unfortunately, this includes performances from Keijen Blade's band, Heatless Passion, and Nadia Reichenov's, Derere, both of whom are working for "Chad Becksworth", aka Draken Crombe, head of the Shadowkind-hating cult, the Church of the Lord's Humanity.  Equipped with some sort of ability to hypnotize large crowds with subliminal messages, Wynn fears what lies beneath Keijen's intended performance, and is sending his Knights to shut down the broadcast, to prevent that message from being spread to millions of viewers worldwide.

Meanwhile, the gang finally has a chance to see Rafael Giovanni again - but what he's been up to in the months since they last saw him, and how his reunion with Buffy will go, remains to be seen.

Several of the Knights have decided that this is their last chance as well to try and break Nadia free from Keijen's influence, now that they've learned the truth about him - that Keijen is in fact Kel'in'hrae, sadistic son of the Nightmare God Malaak'a, likely working to free his father from the prison Sehanine had created for him.  The prison sealed by the relic that the team has been chasing for years, believing it to be an immortality-granting talisman of great power.

The truth, it seems, was worse than they could have imagined.  

One step at a time, however, and stopping the signal is first priority on Failboat's to do list for now.  With an actual plan under their belts this time, maybe this is the turning point they've been waiting for...    

Comments

arrival ♛ grammy's red carpet

[romanticidal]

[ ♬ the answer to our life - backstreet boys

the knights touch down and are taken to a hotel where they can get glammed up for the show. after which, a stretch limo pulls up out front, ready to take them to the staples center.

gar (disguise 20) looks positively stunning, especially next to jack (disguise 21) - who keeps staring at her when she's not looking. even kat takes it to the max, sucking it up and putting on a dress (disguise 17) that she's totally working. maybe she just wanted to keep up with fred, who looks bangin' himself. (disguise 18)

the limo ride is largely quiet, most people feeling the weight of the impending evening, given all of their past experiences, and all their new understanding of exactly what scale of threat they face. while jack goes over a couple of things - checking to make sure everyone has their subtle earplugs installed, which can be activated by a button on a bracelet they each receive, going over the performance line-up and when they need to make their way backstage, and offering a few stirring words of encouragement (diplomacy 33), there's not much more business discussed.

when they finally pull up, even through the tinted windows, they'd clearly see a mob of people outside, flashes popping as celebrities parade down the red carpet. as a valet steps forward to open the door for what's ostensibly going to be finnick odair and entourage, they'd be able to see a line of star stretching all the way to the doors, some being stopped for brief interviews here and there.

spot checks of 20+ are enough to notice at the front of the pack, burt becksworth is ushering a smiling rafael (disguise 27) and isabella (disguise 25) through the doors, as both wave to fans on either side. neither bother to look backwards, and they vanish inside amid the sea of heads.

about halfway up, an incredibly gorgeous nadia (disguise 34) is leading her band, although her smile looks painfully forced when she even bothers to adopt one.

there's no chance of catching her attention, as they are drawn out and onto the carpet... time to make with the smiles (and charisma checks, for those who want to bother), and dex checks ]

[65]

[well here's finnick looking fabulous with a disguise 25. and also legit causing panties to drop with a cha nat 20 can't make that shit up. his dex check was like 7 tho so maybe he trips on the carpet but it's like an adorable jennifer lawrence stumble that makes him more goofy and relatable or something. bc nat 20 cha tho.]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des looks pretty impressive with his 21 disguise (except he looks much younger and hotter there). Some of the gloom and weird moodiness he was experiencing on the plane seems to have subsided as he puts on his game face and begins wowing crowd with his 37 charisma check with charm, included, so... I guess the ladies are all swooning rn. Maybe some of the men. idk how charm works when you're bi, okay.

Anyway. He didn't pass the spot check, so he's just focused on the red carpet... which is harder to navigate than you would think (dex 7...) At least he's fucking charming at being a klutz...]

[slay]

[ For all these reasons and more, Buffy is reserved as she exits the limo (disguise 15). Stepping out onto the carpet, she offers small, passable smiles (cha 12) to those who do take notice of their entourage's arrival. Those who do seem interested are obviously clamoring to get close to Finnick, not any of the others, which allows her to mostly get by in their shadows.

A good thing, too, because her smile fades entirely into a wistful, longing look that just edges on loss as she spots Rafael ahead. It trips her up, and she goes tumbling across the red carpet, tearing the edge of her feathery black dress as she spills to the floor (dex crit fail). ]

[doubletake]

[Poor Buffy gets followed immediately by Elena and her 36 disguise check. At least she offers a distraction. /wins all the best dressed awards isn't even famous

Her dex check, however, is a whopping 6, so clearly Buffy makes her stumble when she falls, though she recovers flawlessly with her charisma check (17 for the ladies, charm 40 for the boys), flashing a brilliant smile as she graciously helps her friend up.]

You're alright, I've got you.

[attollores]

[Alainn is having a string of good rolls for dressing up lately with a Nat 20 disguise check (22 total, no charm or anything fancy like that.)

With a 17 Dex she doesn't get caught in the domino effect, but does reach out a hand to help Elena and Buffy.] Need a hand, love?

[bigbad]

[Spike despite his snark about men not needing to look good on the red carpet really has cleaned up well (disguise 25). But he's refusing to do anything but scowl and flip off the cameras but I got a nat 20 charisma check so apparently the bad boy thing is really working for him tonight.

Unsurprisingly, his vampire eyeballs catch all their favorite celebrity friends (spot 31) and I guess Nadia up there catches his attention enough to take his non-existent breath away... or at least to make him trip over the failboat pile up (dex 7).]

Bloody hell, how much did you lot drink on the plane?

[There are enough people in front of him he can pretend it's not his fault.... right??]

[witchwoman]

[Myri is still looking pretty stylish with an 18 disguise. It's been awhile since she pretended to be arm candy, so this whole red carpet business throws off her balance... but not literally. A 14 dex will keep her upright. She hangs back, not 100% certain if she's meant to be open about being with Finnick at this event. The last thing she wants is to incite a riot.

...Right now anyway.

She pauses at the little pile up of her friends and offers a hand alongside Alainn to anyone who might need one.]

[rationalizes]

[ having jack on her arm seems to do wonders for gar's confidence, because with a 16 dex, she's a graceful swan in her gorgeous dress, smiling happily at the crowds (cha 17) as they step lightly around the traffic jam. ]

[chessing]

[ and with an 18 dex and a 20 charisma, jack's just as poised, waving simply at the crowds to try and distract from all this hot mess over here everything's fine it's all fine ]

[shootfirst]

[ with a 9 dex, kat is basically wobbly as fuck on these heels, so she'll just lean on fred with a vise grip on his arm. but she's got her sassy smile on and she's bringing it anyway (cha 18), sup world ]

[nepotism]

[ fred is so busy floating on cloud 9 over here that in the midst of staring down at kat with a grin on his face he runs right into kim kardashian and earns a venomous look for it (dex... crit fail). ] Oh, uh-- hey, sorry ... bout that.. [ while his apology falls flat, kat meets the glare with a nat 20 intimidate check of her own, and it's enough to make the star turn and keep walking. :') ]

[isisagent]

[Archer is looking modestly good with a Disguise of 17, wearing his signature slightly darker black turtleneck. His Dex of 15 is impressive, considering the amount he's drank up to this point and when compared to the shaky sea-legs ha;f the team is sporting. He must have his graceful tipsy sway going for him. But with Cha of just 10, and a spot of just 12, he doesn't have much else going for him. He'll probably get mistaken as security. :'( ]

[graveflowers]

[ vi looks great (disguise 19) and despite being eight months pregnant is a graceful fucking swan (dex 22) and twists around the dominoes like bye felicia. she doesn't care about smiling or whatever because she's on a mission to find beyoncé and jay-z. (spot 30) ]

[littledhampir]

[With that slamming disguise check of 28, we all can assume that Rose was dressed by Alainn (except for the jacket but it's Rose and it's the Grammys so dwi), exiting the limo without tripping over her ridic heels (Dex 15) and smiling for the media who probably get excited for 2 seconds when they mistake her for Megan Fox. (Cha 21/22). Even that fail spot check means she's aware of Raf and Co. at the head of the pack (Spot 21) but she's more concerned with getting inside and away from all the flashing lights of the red carpet tbh.]

[slay]

[ Wow. Embarrassing.

She lets the ladies help her to her feet, offering them all a smile and sheepish mumbled gratitude. Then she continues the rest of the way down the red carpet gracefully (dex 19). ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Way to basically make an entrance gang. Once Des has disentangled himself from Finnick and made sure everyone else isn't eating red carpet, he hurries inside at a brisk pace. (dex 23) Once safely inside with the rest of their group, he heaves a sigh.]

You'd think we could save the world without five hundred people in designer gowns flanking us and flashes going off in our faces every two seconds.

[shootfirst]

[ kat pats his cheek as she shoves past him to take her seat. ] It's a hard life for the unphotogenic.

[graveflowers]

Um, what world are you living in that we can't save the world looking glam as fuck? Seriously. Look at Buffy's manicure. Those are the nails of a woman who can crush her enemies with her bare hands and still look fly. Elena and I could straight up murder someone with our heels. Don't harsh our flow, Desmond.

[ she may have been listening to run the world while she was getting dressed, we don't know, but she isn't being unkind. she's just still running on her ego boost from elena and also: ]

I'm breathing the same air as Beyoncé.

[witchwoman]

[Myri just works to catch up to the others now that half the team isn't tangled in a red carpet pile up.]

[attollores]

[After she helps Buffy stand again with a little squeeze of her hand she waits for Rose, walking alongside her friend the rest of the way into the Stadium.]

I think I'm half blind because of all these damnable cameras. [Said as an aside with a smile still on her lips (Cha 20 as she actually tries to be charming??)

[littledhampir]

[All said while smiling sweetly;]

I think if one more flash goes off in my face I'm going to shove one of those cameras right up their... [As another camera goes off and Rose's smile takes on a Riddick-worthy grimace.] ... people get paid to do this for a living?!

[attollores]

[LMAO he would so kill a bitch. fucking cameras.]

Aye, apparently they do. Lets just get inside, shall we? [She relaxes as they enter the building, spots still dancing in her vision as they find their seats next to their teammates.

[rationalizes]

This is all rather exciting, isn't it? [ gar glances down the row of them as they settle in, the show winding up with AC/DC's opening performance, making dean winchester cry somewhere on the other side of the ocean ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des is watching AC/DC with rapt attention. Not because he's Dean Winchester, but because he ACTUALLY KNOWS THIS BAND. #oldperson]