london ♔ when the gusts came around to blow me down

[wynn]

  iron sky - paolo nutini

WHO || Everyone and their dog.
WHAT || In the aftermath of the attack, the Knights attempt to recover
WHERE || Knights HQ, etc.
WHEN || Dec. 1st-8th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam

As darkness falls all around the castle, the remaining Knights straggle out of their broken castle to survey the damage and count the dead – of which there are three: Rose Hathaway, Kali, and Killian Jones.

What began like any other day for most quickly descended into a nightmare, after Wynn and most of the Section Heads were lured out to downtown London to face a threat of dual dragons, who turned out to be only clockwork creations of deposed Andres dictator Dimitris Sarandis, robotic menaces that were nothing but a distraction from the real threat. Having rallied support from some of the Knights' other enemies, Dimitris sent an army of chipped creatures, Shadowkind, robots, and a giant tank to destroy the Knighthood's headquarters, dropping part of the roof down onto the training room and med center in the initial explosive blast. Sarandis' alliance with a mysterious hacker named One (who turned out to have been the man who invented technomagic in the first place along with Zero) not only downed the Knights' communications, but also their defensive and surveillance systems (with some help from a mentally dominated Eleven). Whatever preparations Zero had made for an attack by One were undermined by the sudden but inevitable betrayal of the humanized robot GlaDOS, who introduced a learning virus into the system before taking off, likely having made some kind of deal with One to restore her robotic form.

The Knights rallied under the remaining sect leaders – Lis'sa and Koraith – to make a plan to fight back and try to take down Dimitris, who sent a taunting message out across the Drakenet, announcing his intentions to leave the castle as a smoking crater littered with corpses. Fearing that the attack might also be meant to target Myri and Vi's children, a group moved them to the Round Table Room, perhaps the most secure location in the building. The attack was a smokescreen of sorts, something Vi realized, taking Elena, Des, and Faith O'Keefe with her to the library in hopes of saving the elven mage, Lazarus, whose blood the villains required to unleash the nightmare god Malaak'a upon the world. The library, however, was already in shambles, thanks to a fire-slinging red half-dragon who had confronted some Knights there (and led Kate Beckett to discover something strange about herself...). Des remained in the hallway to confront a demon, in the same place where Skye had nearly died to an ifrit pyrokineticist named Serafina, one of Dimitris' chipped experiments. Sawyer Kelly and Alex Karamazov butted heads when it came down to sparing the enslaved ifrit, but in the end, Alex made the decision by putting a bullet in her head when Mars wouldn't act – much to Sawyer's horror. Things went to hell pretty quickly when the villainous Mind Master drove into the library on a motorcycle and proceeded to almost slaughter Vi, Elena, Faith, and Gar, making vicious comments to the former about going to see her deceased husband again. When Elena grabbed the Mind Master, she abruptly vanished, and Elena's whereabouts remain unknown. The Mind Master proceeded to make her way into Lazarus' secret chambers beneath the library, slitting his throat and collecting the magic that coursed through his veins in lieu of blood, the lasting effect of his having survived the ritual that sealed Malaak'a away in the first place.

Meanwhile, downtown, while Carol Danvers and Clark Kent played superhero around the city, Sam and Buffy ran into the archangels Raphael and Zerachiel, who were assisting the wounded of London, and Buffy cut a deal with Raphael after he cautioned her that some sort of big demon was also involved in the attack. In exchange for allowing Hell's forces further freedom of movement (the necessary cost to maintain the balance of the universe), Raphael transported Buffy right into the middle of the fray. The demon already gone, the angel advised her to go and protect the children – which turned out to be necessary indeed, as Sarandis had sent chipped, invisible raptors after the babies. Will Graham nearly died in the attack, but no children – or dogs – fell prey to the beasts.

Outside, a number of Knights armed to the teeth with grenades, rocket launchers, and flame throwers took on a towering seventy-foot tall Colossus that was ripping the castle apart. However, when Steve Rogers cut its head off with an expertly thrown shield toss, the monstrosity fell into the front of the castle with all of its three hundred tons, (and on fire, courtesy of Baal) and many barely escaped with their lives. Wolverine was the only person trapped in the ensuing rubble, but Nathan Young and Amy Pond dug him free as his body healed up the massive wounds suffered.

A strike team was sent out to take on Dimitris in his tank, and Spike and Dean drove Archer's car straight into the oversized military vehicle as a distraction, while Cora Hale, Rose, and Kali disabled the tank and its weapons and broke their way inside. What they found, however, was merely a projection of Dimitris taunting them, as Cora's werewolf senses alerted her immediately to the fact that no one was actually inside but them. Too late, the girls tried to escape – as the tank exploded in a volley of shrapnel and gout of flame, that also caught Christos La Krail and Grant Ward off guard, who had just arrived at the gate so that Ward might meet with Wynn for his official Knighthood interview. As everyone scrabbled to save the injured, a bag of grenades that Kali had dropped caused a secondary explosion, that took Rose and Kali's lives. Dean and Spike proceeded to look insane when the archangel Michael showed up to collect the souls of the dead, and they were the only two who could see him, but Cap stood his ground anyway with them. Dean angrily refused to give up on Rose's life, despite the fact that the death of her bondmate Lissa less than twenty four hours prior had left her connection to life weakened already. Michael cautioned him against doing 'something stupid', as Dean stalked off with her body.

Meanwhile, after realizing Zero's role in all this and helping return him to his senses so that he and Skye could restore communications and defenses, Lila Zacharov-Gray took off with Alex to the upper floor to find Amara. They discovered the homo magi using her powerful magic to keep the ceiling from collapsing into the entire castle, and while she entreated them to evacuate, Lila refused to leave her, prompting Amara to use her most powerful spell to repair the structural damage that was threatening to capsize the castle, at the cost of alerting her father to her exact location.

Just when it seemed like all might be well, Emma Swan, cursed by Poseidon to turn into a flesh-eating kelpie if she wasn't in water by sundown, came across the body of Lazarus and found her monstrous hunger awakened. Dissatisfied with the bloodless corpse, she decided to make a meal of Killian Jones, magically teleporting him into the pond behind the Knighthood, where in spite of Faye and Alex's best efforts, Killian was drowned. Luckily, however, they prevented Emma from eating her true love.

The other Knights fought bravely against basilisks, clockwork mages, and giant scorpions, while trying to assist the wounded, rescue the trapped, and do everything they could to protect the Knights' assets from falling into Dimitris' hands. With the smoke cleared, their home – thanks to Amara – remains standing, but the damage to it is substantial and won't be repaired overnight, even with magic at their disposal. More lasting will be the emotional scars of watching the only home some of them even remember ever having broken around them, their illusion of safety shattered, and their peace violated – not to mention the looming possibility of the Nightmare God being freed.

[ You are now free to make top posts for your characters in the wake of the attack. These top posts may include multiple sections (with different instructions for whether you want them to be open to multiple threads for that scene or closed to a single thread with multiple participants), that deal with anything directly after the events of the event post, and in the week following. I recommend using letters or numbers to indicate each section, so that those responding can put what they are doing in the subject line, to help others quickly know where to go to jump into any single threads.

There will be a thread about Wynn's return and a subsequent Drakenet post addressing IC-ly where people will live. Those with rooms in the Dragon's Tongue, Dragon's Hide, Dragon's Hoard, and Dragon's Fire wing will find their rooms almost entirely undamaged and still livable, but there is a percentage chance that anyone in the Dragon's Light or squire rooms will have their room destroyed. Please ask me for each of your characters this applies to and I will let you know the extent of the damage. Your characters are free to try searching the rubble for their personal effects – just include it in their top post with a search check please, and I'll let you know how much of their stuff is recoverable. Rebuilding efforts will commence within the week, so if your character has any way of contributing to putting the castle back together, that's also top post fodder. There is limited space in the Knights' downtown London office for some Knights to stay, while others may have their own apartments, etc. Other options may open up eventually. If your character is no longer living in the castle, please use your top post to establish this! I will put up top posts for each potential resurrection attempt, as rezzes take multiple days IC-ly to even be attempted.

Destroyed/heavily damaged sections of the castle: front hall/lobby (the Colossus is still there)/stairs, but there are currently ladders to access the second floor; the Dragon's Light wing/office/small library/bathrooms; the chapel; the med center; the training room; the armory; the bowling alley; the piano room; billiards room; parlor; the Dragon's claws bedrooms; parts of the dining hall; the library is intact but heavily damaged, many of the books destroyed by fire. After the first couple days, additional doors have been added to the castle at the far west end of the horizontal squire bedrooms hall, and beside the Dragon's hoard wing to enter the building, and a door has been installed at the southwest corner of the dining hall to allow people to cut through it to circumvent the Colossus still taking up the lobby and blocking access to the main hall. ]

Comments

[recruited]

[ At first Steve doesn't say anything. This place is pretty familiar. The state of it. Buried rooms. It's like Germany during the war all over. He knows the devastation has to be hard on a lot of people.

Finally he moves towards Cordy and slides down the wall and onto the floor with her. He looks at her. ]

It's not you. You need a place to bunk? [ Look at those concerned puppy dog eyes. ]

[allaboutme]

[ she looks over at him, her eyes widening in surprise just the slightest bit, before she studies his expression as if weighing something before she finally says: ] You really mean that, huh? No ulterior motives with you. [ she sounds kind of amazed by that, because lbr, most of the guys in her life haven't been so selfless. ]

We lost our house. [ /segues with no explanation ] My parents got arrested for tax evasion and they took everything. Somehow I thought living in a castle, I wouldn't have to worry about that happening again, you know?

[recruited]

Why wouldn't I mean it? [ He's a little baffled that she hasn't met someone out there who wouldn't care like this. Then again Steve knows that the heart he has is pretty rare. It's what made him a prime candidate for the serum. ] I say what I mean. I mean what I say.

[ He's quiet though as he listens to what Cordelia's saying. He nods slowly. He gets it. They had to move after his father died in the war. Couldn't afford it with just the two of them (whatever I make up headcanon). ]

Sometimes bad things happen, but it's how you keep going after it. You're still going. That's good. [ He holds out his hand for her. ] When my dad died in the war me and my mom had to move. I was so upset because all the memories of him seemed lost. It wasn't true. This place can be rebuilt though. You haven't lost it yet.

[allaboutme]

[ as she slips her hand into his, she gives him a tiny little smile ] You know, when you're this good at just cheering a girl up, it takes all the fun out of a good old fashioned pity party.

[recruited]

[ Steve gives her hand a squeeze and smiles at her. He doesn't know if he's good at cheering up, but it doesn't stop him from trying. ]

I went to school for cheering pretty women up. It was very strict. I learned a lot. Besides pity parties aren't any fun.

[allaboutme]

Speak for yourself. [ the reply is just half-hearted teasing though, and after a beat, she tilts her head against his shoulder. He's got broad shoulders ok, she figures he can spare one. ] I was just kind of hoping that I was never going to have to lose everything I owned again, y'know? People can call it materialistic all they want to, but things? Matter. They change the way people look at you. Do you have any idea how hard I had to work to hide the fact that I'd gone from being the girl who had everything to the girl who had nothing overnight back in school?

Here, I figured I was at least never going to have to worry about it again. [ a tiny frown ] I never wanted to have to worry about it again.

[recruited]

[ His shoulders are indeed broad and he doesn't mind sharing them with her. She can use them as a pillow anytime she'd like.

Steve falls quiet when he listens to her. Not quite knowing that feeling, but still able to understand what she's getting at. He doesn't hold any of that against her. It must have been hard on her. Especially when you're a teenager. He was one once. A very scrawny one, but he gets it. He turns his head to her. ] I bet it was hard. [ Hiding that side of her. He lets out a sigh after a moment. ] I know this doesn't help, but I still see you the same. With or without your stuff. [ He smiles. ] You're still amazing.

[ That old school awkward charm. ]

You want me to help you get some of your stuff out of there?

[allaboutme]

[ lmao w/e she is eating up that awkward charm like it's a box of chocolates ok, actual hearts in eyes. ] ... Does that mean we have to get up?

[recruited]

[ Steve stares at her for a long moment before shaking his head. He leans to the side for a moment, but just enough to free his arm to lift it and properly put it around Cordelia. He draws her into him and smiles. ]

Nope. Not until you want to. We can sit as long as you want.

[allaboutme]

Thanks. All that almost dying can really take it out of a girl. [ yeah, that's it ]

[recruited]

[ Steve's smile turns into a chuckle. ] I completely understand that. You got healed up right? [ He's just checking. ] I don't have to start checking you for injuries right?

[allaboutme]

[ ... considering... ] Yeah, I got healed. Otherwise you'd know, on account of the bleeding all over you.

[recruited]

I appreciate you not bleeding all over me. This is a good shirt. My last one got ruined with all the violence. [ Steve cracks a smile. ] We'll get you some clothes at mine if we can't dig you something outta there.

[allaboutme]

I'm just saying, if Dimitris Sarandis ruined my wardrobe, he's getting a strongly worded kick in the ass from yours truly.

[recruited]

I'll be sure to let him know. [ He grins. ] With my shield. Repeatedly. We can maybe buy you some newer stuff if it comes down to that. I don't mind paying.

[allaboutme]

[ crush (campsite dream remix) - jennifer paige

and then cordelia crit failed a will save in the face of captain america offering to take her shopping and buy her new clothes, after being like no come stay in my bedroom it's cool, i don't know what you expected here. i'm pretty sure she's had this exact dream.

her face turns up towards his like there are magnets in her lips, and she reaches up to pull him down very suddenly into a kiss with no preamble. it's nothing hot and heavy and it probably reads as just being uh, really grateful, because that's a large part of it. the other part being her massive lady boner. either way, girl at least knows what she's doing, which is hard to miss even in those few moments (dex 21) ]

[recruited]

[ He's definitely not expecting that. Steve isn't a hundred percent sure what to do with these situations just because they don't really happen that often. It's not everyday that people grab his face and pull him into kiss him. There's a slight grunt, but ultimately Steve falls into place (dex nat 20 why would i roll this for steve? which makes it 22). It's sort of amazing how he's able to just follow her lead on this. One hand comes to her cheek and he doesn't even wildly fail. Good job, Steven, you didn't embarrass yourself. ]

[allaboutme]

[ steve that is really fucking rude ok, how's a girl supposed to pull away from that???? but she does, if not begrudgingly. just so she can ask breathlessly: ] ... Did everyone in the forties kiss like that?

[recruited]

[ He wasn't even aware that when he kissed it was that good? He's kissed a few times and even Natasha, but it had been pretty normal or for the sake of not being murdered. This was different.

Steve looks a little dazed when she pulls back. His eyes flutter open and he stares at her trying to process the words she just said. ]

I wouldn't know. I didn't have any dates back then.

[allaboutme]

Well, it... definitely doesn't show.

[recruited]

But you uh--[ He looks down at her lips and then up into her eyes. Look at that dreamy little Steve look. ]--you're really good at that. [ Cue the goofy smile. ] Like really, really good at it.

[allaboutme]

[ her grins widens into a dazed expression of her own at the compliment, and she looks pretty pleased with herself. but also has to add: ] ... That was a yes to the shopping, by the way.

[recruited]

[ He takes a moment to swallow hard. A lump has significantly developed. It's not everyday pretty women drag Steve into a kiss. ] Great. [ His lips turn up into a smile. ] Did you wanna go look for your stuff in your room or? [ He isn't sure what he's supposed to be saying. So much awkward. ]

[allaboutme]

What? That old stuff? Ancient history? [ cordy ten seconds ago you were despondent over it, wow ] Let's go get a car.

[recruited]

[ A soft chuckle escapes Steve and he nods. He then untangles himself from Cordelia and pushes himself onto his feet. He reaches down to offer his hand to help her onto her feet. ] Took the words out of my mouth. [ The car bit. Not the her stuff being ancient history. ]