CHAPTER FOUR ♔ does it run in your blood to betray the ones you love

[coldheritage]

♬ The Truth - Nonpoint

WHO || Failboat, Rafael, Isabella, Nadia  [Closed]
WHAT || After an exciting Grammy night, the Knights meet up with Nadia to hear what she has to say
WHERE || Staples Center, LA -->  Warehouse
WHEN || Feb 8th, 2015  [back dated]
HOW || Actionspam

[  The Knights' mission to stop the signal and prevent Draken's cult from spreading whatever subliminal message  was lurking beneath Keijen Blade's performance was a success.  It didn't come without its bumps in the road, however:  Alexander Anderson showed up, and the Knights ran afoul of the Mind Master.    Buffy nearly died fighting Anderson, but in the end, he was defeated, beheaded, and hopefully put to death forever.   Finnick, though, found himself thrust into a mental illusion that convinced him he might still be in the Hunger Games, and left him uncertain about whether any of his life here was real.  

Another surprise came in the form of an announcement by Nadia Reichenov, an artist working with Crombe and company, that she was changing her band name and taking things in a 'new direction'.   This direction was perhaps revealed when after her performance, she approached the Knights in Rafael's dressing room - and handed them the necklace that connects her to the Nightmare God Malaak'a, saying she was willing to tell them everything.  ]

Comments

[chessing]

[ jack, still against the warehouse building, sees the explosion above, and raises his own palm up towards the sky, projecting a beam of blinding sunlight-like light all the way up towards it as well (17 touch attack). this second magical attack is enough to send the helicopter spinning out of control, and it veers wildly away, crashing towards the earth ]

[slay]

[ The bullets are through-and-through at this range, and truthfully, she's grateful for it. Buffy's been pumped full of bullets before and speared with a number of other weapons and it almost universally hurts less when it just gets out. Still, it staggers her, a grunt slipping past her lips.

And then she hauls the guy she's got a hold on out of the car and slams his head against the side of it (attack 34, dmg 18 — attack 28, dmg 17 — attack nat 20, penetration damage 54). WELL, THAT'S PROBABLY OVERKILL. AND TERRIFYING. She probably just cracked his head open and spilled brains on the side of their car, honestly.

It's because she has no way of knowing who is okay up there fireballin' and who isn't and what shape either of them are in. It's been a day. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des doesn't have time to watch as the helicopter crashes to earth, but he can be grateful for it. He's too far away to do much good, so he's gonna run and get closer, and I will use one of Des's heroic surges so he can attack inside the cars at a better distance (atk 34, dmg 42 (he fucking crit THREE TIMES), atk 24, dmg 13) He takes in the shots with almost gleeful relish, calling out:]

C'mon out, you fuckin' cowards.

1/3

[nepotism]

[ yeah buffy has officially killed the shit out of that guy, good job on her. des strikes someone in the second car twice, he fails his massive damage save, and slumps back inside, unconscious.

fred goes at the third car, sword raised in both hands, and charges the occupant with a nat 20 power attack. which is... 62 dmg.

he pretty much... ran his sword straight through that guy's head. THEY MIGHT HAVE JUST EXPLODED HIS GIRLFRIEND OK he totally failed his spot check to notice her fire spell ]

2/3

[shootfirst]

[ kat gives one last look at alainn with a grimace, before running for the edge of the roof, casting feather fall on herself - and jumping off the edge. she floats down in slow mo, landing softly on the ground below. ]

3/3

[chessing]

[ the driver of buffy's car moves to peel away, while the second car turns and starts driving straight at des, who is going to have to make a reflex save or ... shoot the driver and hope for the best idk. the third car has someone else in it, and when fred spears their friend, he slams the front door open trying to hit him but fails miserably.

the fourth sniper shoots out at fred since he's closest annnd hits for 6 dmg

jack, in the meantime, starts running for the cars as well, drawing his own sword, and using heroic surge to charge the fourth car (atk 34; dmg 19). ]

[slay]

[ Buffy jumps back as the car pulls away, crouching to pull the sniper rifle off the guy she dropped. She levels it at the guy currently shooting at Fred. Peering through the scope, she fires off a quick shot at the fourth sniper bc she used her move action to grab the weapon (atk 33, dmg 20). ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Y'know what. He's just gonna go for it. He ain't scared of you.

Using Eagle Eye Shot, Des stands with his gun raised, lining up his shot at the driver with a 19... nat 20 atk. Which is literally the most pointless use of an Eagle Eye Shot ever, BUT FUCK MAN. WE'RE TAKING IT. dmg 36)

He is gonna use another heroic surge to reflex save BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SHOOT A CAR AND THEN STAND THERE. HE IS NOT BRUCE WILLIS. (RS 24)]

[nepotism]

[ AHAHAHA he shot that guy, who then crit failed his massive damage save, so the car veers off to the left, and des barely has to jump aside before it just slows to a stop, the driver out cold. fred turns to the guy who's front door is open at car 3, CRIT FAILS trying to maneuver around the door, and falls prone on his ass.

the first car drives off into the distance, while the guy now standing over fred five foot steps back and points his gun down at him (atk 22), only just hitting him as fred tries to roll out of the way of the shot, which does 20 dmg as it strikes him in the side. a second shot hits him as well (22; 8 dmg) and he groans in pain. the fourth car guns it to get away from jack, and the sniper shoots at him again, hitting him once. (atk 31/17; 7 dmg) ]

[shootfirst]

[ kat sees that shit, booking it across the lot and coming to a halt 160 ft off, she raises a hand and shoots a bolt of lightning out at the guy shooting fred, who has his back turned and hella doesn't make the reflex save, his body convulsing from the shock of electrocution (28 dmg), but he manages to hold onto his gun and stay standing. ]

[chessing]

[ jack bolts after the car as it accelerates, gripping the open edge of the window to stabilize himself as he drops his sword and swings his whole arm up to grip the gunman by the throat (melee touch atk 43). where he touches him, the man's skin goes ashen as white light effuses from jack's palm, dealing 75 dmg and basically making the man melt with holy energy from the inside out. he releases the vehicle and hits the ground as the car keeps picking up speed, the rifle also falling to the concrete there. ]

[slay]

At least some of them have realized their best option's to bail. [ As Jack veritably burns up her target (what a badass), Buffy turns her scope to fix on the guy who's currently whaling on Fred. She fires off a quick burst of bullets, emptying the rifle's magazine (atk 28, 31, 28; dmg 13, 6, 15). ] If only they were all that clever.

[ Buffy's not in the business of shooting someone who's running away, so the two drivers who are leaving definitely avoid her ire. The other two drivers may not be so lucky if they don't rethink their choices. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Feeling pretty satisfied with this, Des approaches the car he just shot up, throwing the unconscious driver out and taking cover behind the door.] How many more? I'm losing count over here.

1/3

[nepotism]

[ the sniper near fred drops with the rain of bullets, shocks of electricity still running across his body. fred gets to his feet and turns to look back in the car he's next to just as the driver raises an uzi and fires it back at him, breaking the window with the first shot and nat 20-ing fred immediately after (14 dmg). which pretty much answers the question since he's the last dude who isn't driving off... ]

[shootfirst]

[ kat draws her excalibur and takes one shot at the driver but a 12 is not... gonna get her anywhere. gurrrl. ]

[dragonsclaw]

[ with heroic surge, jack moves to the driver's side window, smashes it out with a 25 attack, and goes to put his sword to the driver's throat, maybe intending to question him ... but since he crit failed, the driver is gonna put his foot down and jerk the car forward, knocking jack's sword from his hand as he peels off ]

[slay]

[ With the last of them on the retreat, Buffy lowers her shiny new sniper rifle and jogs over to Fred, reaching one hand out to rest on his shoulder, looking him over. ]

You okay? [ Hold pls for Alainn concern. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Des is none too pleased with this asshole's HIT AND RUN attitude, but he resists the urge to jump in the car and floor it out of him, instead choosing to cross to the other side of the car and kick the other guy out of his seat.]

Where's Alainn? [He's got the Alainn concern.]

1/2

[nepotism]

[ fred puts a hand to one of his bloody wounds and grimaces as it comes away sticky but he waves off buffy's concern. ] I'm fine. [ he whips around, and looks visibly relieved to see kat there, but des' question causes him to look worried all over again ]

[shootfirst]

On the roof. It... it didn't look good.

[slay]

[ Buffy's head swivels towards the warehouse roof. ] Wait til we regroup with Myri not good or put her in a car and let's find one who's open at midnight on Grammys night not good? [ Either way, she's walking over so they can start looking at getting her down. ]

[dragonsclaw]

There might be something that I can do. [ jack's expression is grave as he goes towards the warehouse as well, and he got a nat 20 to climb the ladder so i guess he's not wasting any fucking time ]

[nothingsodivine]

[Meanwhile, Des watches them go and examines the car he's been throwing bodies out of.] I think This car's fine to drive, except for the giant hole in the windshield. [He hopes.] We've got that going for us. We need to get out of here sooner, rather than later, before they send the real big guns.

[slay]

Get it running.

[ Buffy says breezily as she heads off after Jack. She rolls ONE SHY OF A NAT 20 for her climb check but that's still a 32 for Buffy so she's monkeying up after him and pretty easily keeping up. She follows him to Alainn's side, crouching. ]

Ah, geez.

[ It's a good thing she's mostly desensitized to body horror and gore at this point, but she's not desensitized to seeing her friends mostly dead. She lowers her head, covering her mouth with one hand, then shoots Jack a look. ] Can you help her?

[dragonsclaw]

[ jack crouches at her other side, examining her with his mouth set in a thin line ] She's still alive. Stable. [ grim relief ] I can at least get her on her feet. [ he places one hand on her forehead and a light burns through his palm, restoring 13 hp ]