nyc ♔ everybody knows the rock leans over the town

[behindcloseddoors]

The Rock - Harry Chapin

WHO ||Deryn, Alice, Sara, Frankie [closed]
WHAT ||The Knights investigate a mysterious transmission...
WHERE || New York
WHEN || Late March 2016
HOW || Actionspam

[A garbled, static-filled transmission, encoded in a Shadow language, has made its way to the Knights attention, seemingly linked to a series of similar transmissions last year.  Equipped with a decoding program by the Dragon's Hoard, the Knights head to a set of railroad tracks that were mentioned, to try to see what this is all about... ]

Comments

[lowvi]

[Dipper keeps his eyes open, but he's clearly distracted (spot 13), stealing curious glances as the rest of the group as they move. Frankie has been the most responsive, so he sidles over to her as they look around.]

Sooo... you're definitely the front for a secret organization, right? I've been tracking you guys all over the world and whenever you show up, bad stuff happens. And you're very good at covering your tracks. Suspiciously good.

[He's not totally sure if they're the cause of the bad things or trying to stop them. The fact that they're here working with Dipper and Mabel now is either a good sign, because it means the Karthur Institute is indeed good guys, or a bad sign and they shouldn't have interfered with this message to begin with.]

[mabeljuice]

[Mabel meanwhile walks up to Alice and leans closer with her arms folded behind her back.]

Okay, we can't let the Hummer guys get killed, but can we at least handcuff 'em to the steering wheel until they agree Hummers are awful. And you have handcuffs anyway! Might as well use 'em... Wait why do you have handcuffs if you're not actually cops? No judging, promise.

[icouldbe_bess]

We should probably handcuff them outside of the car, so they don't just drive away with it, but yeah, that was the bare bones of the plan. [ she keeps looking around a moment before finally glancing over at the girl. young woman, more like, she can't be that much younger than alice and sara and frankie. she's not even trying to lie, however, when she continues. ] Kinky sex life. Always ask to see a badge.

[thetokenaussie]

[Frankie tries to keep an eye out for what they're looking for (Spot 18), shooting Dipper a sideways glance as the questions start coming and a wry, half grin pulls at the corner of her mouth. A hint of amusement, even approval shining in her eyes.]

Maybe bad stuff happens and then we show up. Or maybe there's a lot of bad stuff that doesn't happen because we do. [Nat 20ing her sense motive to pick up on his uncertainty.]

Suspiciously good... [Bobbing her head.] But you made connections? [There might be some inadvertent ego stroking there but really. It's hard not to be impressed, okay.]

I can disable the car when we find it at least. [Piping up from her conversation with Dipper.]

[lowvi]

Maybe. And maybe you cause the bad things. [It's good to know they at least think of themselves as the good guys, but Dipper is still paranoid enough that he's staying wary. He never was one to trust easily, and it's just gotten worse since crossing through the veil. Still, he'll reserve judgment.

It doesn't hurt that his ego is extremely susceptible to stroking. He straightens and smirks a little.]

Eh, you're not the first secret society I've dug up. Just takes patience and digging. [He raises his voice slightly to weigh in.] And we're not disabling or handcuffing anything before we figure out what's going on no matter what they drive, Mabel. The people who sent out the code wanted the car stopped, remember? For all we know it's transporting a heart for transplant or something.

[icouldbe_bess]

And last time it was a stuffed bunny with a camera in it's eye to spy on people that we just had to get. The only way we figured anything else out was by stopping the guy who was also tasked to get it so the only way we'll find more information on the source of these transmissions is by following this transmission.

[thetokenaussie]

Guess you'll find out for yourself. [Still with the wry grin. She's not about to take offense or try and convince Dipper otherwise.]

You think the person behind the transmissions might be trying to help? [Head cocked to one side, Frankie clearly not considering that possibility until now.]

[icouldbe_bess]

I think that when it comes to anything near train tracks, I'm not going to take chances.

[lowvi]

Which is why I'm waiting til we know more before I agree to doing anything.

[Like Dipper said, he hasn't decided if he thinks they're good guys or not. The only reason he's pretty sure they're not the ones the message is for is that if they were, they probably would gotten the whole message without Dipper's help. But even if they're working against the same people, they may not be on the same side.

But for now, at least, they seem to have the same goals.]

[mabeljuice]

[Mabel looks between her brother and these people and digs in her bag. time to diffuse the tension!!] So while we've got, like, four minutes now or something, does anyone want any gum?

[theshadowspeaks]

[ Deryn raised his hand.] I'd like some gum.

[behindcloseddoors]

[ /EXISTS

ok so at kitty corner angles of the crossing warning lights, bells, and signs are mounted on poles that carry the bars that are meant to drop when a train is coming. at the end of the sidewalks, 8 foot tall chain link fences are topped with a few strands of barbed wire meant to keep pedestrians from walking onto the tracks.

the tracks themselves sit on a gravel bed raised about a foot above the street. the local buildings are made of brick, and each of them stands two to three stories tall. their doors and display windows are protected by iron grilles. the sides nearest the tracks have no windows and are blackened by soot and grime. the brick on that side is scarred by debris from the passage of trains.

it's at that moment that a black AM General Hummer begins approaching rapidly from up the street. ]

[lowvi]

[Dipper takes a few steps to get next to Mabel when he sees the hummer, putting a hand on her arm.]

Maybe later. We've got our hummer. Now we've gotta find our hummer stopping friends.

[He squints into the darkness, hoping to find just that (spot 17).]

[icouldbe_bess]

[ well, that would be alice. the second she sees the car, she rushes forward, arms waving like she's trying to flag the car down, voice rising as she calls out to them. ]

Hey! Yo! Can you pull over a second?! We need help!

[ look, running directly into danger is her thing. she's not a smart hero for a reason. ]

[mabeljuice]

[Mabel just tosses an entire pack of gum Deryn's way as she digs into her bag and produces a set of brass knuckles that look like they've been spraypainted pink and coated with glitter that seems to be coming off in patches, and sighs deeply.]

This is gonna get sooooo ugly. [mostly said to Dipper.]

[thetokenaussie]

[Yeah even, Frankie is brushing the gun at her side just in case this turns south.]

[lowvi]

[Dipper stares after Alice in disbelief, then pulls his stungun from his jacket pocket.]

Do you people know how to do the secret part of secret organization? How am I the only person who's caught on?

[But if she's going to make a spectacle of herself, Dipper can at least take advantage to try and get closer without being seen (move silently 18, hide 15).]

[theshadowspeaks]

Catching the gum he fishes out a peice and slipping the pack into his jacket pocket so he could slip on his own brass knuckles and quietly move to stand next to Frankie. He looked around to see if he could see anything else around besides the car. (Dark Vision 17, spot 19) Like the rest he was expecting shit to hit the fan.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ none of them see any sign of anything coming to stop the hummer, but it does reluctantly slow when alice threatens to get in its way. the windows are tinted, but the passenger window is rolled down just slightly to reveal... a familiar fucking face for her. specifically the face of this man, who looks just as surprised to see her. ]

... The hell are you doing here?

[icouldbe_bess]

Hi! [ out of sheer surprise, her expression brightens like "i know you!!!!" but then she remembers that day in vivid technicolor and immediately looks horrified because she tased this man. ] Oh god, I am so sorry about before. But this is... do you think I could explain?

[thetokenaussie]

[Realizing there's recognition between Alice and the stranger, Frankie tenses, hand hovering over her hip, readying an action to pull her weapon and aim it at the man should he make any threatening moves towards Alice, but otherwise remaining silent until she can see where this is going.]

[lowvi]

[....huh. She knows the person in the hummer. That's unexpected, and Dipper isn't quite sure what to make of it. At least it seems like it's unexpected to her too, which means this probably isn't all a trick to get him and Mabel to help out the bad guys. Probably.]

[mabeljuice]

[Mabel saunters up behind her brother with her hands conveniently behind her back to conceal her sparkly brass knuckles. nothing to see here, mr. hummer. as an aside to her brother, she says:] Friends should really keep friends from buying eyesores for vehicles.

[since they seem to know each other. or something. this is getting extra dramatic.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ well he doesn't look fucking happy to see you alice.

he turns away from her to say to the guy in the other seat. ] Keep fucking going. [ NO TIME FOR YOU AND YOUR TASER NONSENSE. ]

[icouldbe_bess]

No, wait, you have to stop! [ her voice pitches up with urgency, curling her fingers around the edge of the window. ] Remember that BunBun, did you ever figure out why you really needed it? Because unless you wanted a spy cam in your boss's nephew's bedroom, we did you a favor... probably more violent than it could have been. Which I am sorry for!