chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

closed ♔ failboat's return

[dragonsclaw]

[ the japanese alphabet road with chinese bellflower's sweet smell - yasushi ishii

at the airfield, des and elena take their leave, and the rest of the Knights head back to the castle, a captured Draken Crombe, who is still babbling incoherently, a comatose Myri, and Felicity's body in tow. as they pull up to the outside gate of the Knighthood, it is impossible to not notice that symbol hanging huge and blood-red in the sky over their home. jack, who is driving, stops the car for a moment to lean forward and stare up at it, his lips pressed into a grim line of recognition. ]

Hellsing.

[littledhampir]

[Lost in a sea of her own thoughts, it's only the stopping of the car that jars Rose back into the present, her gaze immediately drawn to the symbol with an audible intake of breath. Confusion and worry go to war on her features as she scrutinizes the scene before them, and much like Jack she appears to have some idea of what she's looking at.

A hand reaches out, Rose forcing herself to look away from the symbol and to the man at her side. Her Nat 20 Sense Motive on Dean (bc ofc she did) sees a question shine in her eyes, her mouth opening as if she might give it voice before she appears to decide better of it. There's a newfound tension that radiates through her body - as if this day could get any worse - and she gives Dean's leg a gentle squeeze, in a weak attempt of reassurance.]

This should be interesting...

[bigbad]

[Spike looks up and sighs.] They have a bloody bat signal? Brilliant. Of course they do.

[rationalizes]

[ gar watches out the window, equally stone-faced, glancing nervously in buffy's direction ] Someone must have invited them. It never would have been Wynn.

[slay]

Jack?

[ Buffy looks over at him, puzzled. he's honestly the only other person she could imagine calling them. But then again, she ... wouldn't be entirely surprised if no one had done it.

Regardless, she steels herself. ] I'll handle this.

[chessing]

It certainly wasn't I. [ as they pull in and drive past the pond, he frowns more deeply ] I suggest we find out exactly what the situation is before we 'handle it'. [ annnd they park right out front. who's carrying myri & felicity yo. jack will take crombe by the elbow and drag him up the steps with him ]

[slay]

You always assume I'm going to start with punching.

[nepotism]

[ probably b/c she always starts with the punching, is what fred's face says. he looks up at the castle and the ominous symbol floating over it, as if it sends a chill down his spine. he's gonna go gather up felicity with a manly strength check and start up the steps, kat beside him, as jack and gar go to open the doors. ]

[bigbad]

Why could that possibly be?

[Definitely cause she always starts with the punching. Spike lifts up Myri with his own manly strength check of 23 and follows the NPC pack.]

[likedillinger]

[ dean is gonna pull up the rear of this train with rose, keeping a close eye on the surroundings like he doesn't know whether this is even safe territory or not anymore. they head inside, bodies and bad guy in tow. the lobby is empty except for one lone squire at the desk. ]

[realists]

[ what up sluts.

the lone squire at the desk is ignoring the phone ringing (she'd managed to turn the volume down, heyo), but she looks up when the doors open, noting jack and the bodies and not seeming to flinch even a little at the death and the state of them all.

she addresses jack bc who the fuck are the rest of you people? ]

They're waiting for you at the round table. With-- [ she looks down at her note. ] --Hellsink.

[layonhands]

[ jack nods to her, just as risa rounds the corner, a large tree-person behind her. she stops short, mouth falling open a bit, but then meets jack's eyes and it's clear he sent word ahead to her. she directs groot forward towards fred and spike. ] We'll take them upstairs and see what we can do right away.

[ a beat ] Is Wynn really...

[slay]

We don't know for sure.

[ Buffy's holding onto that, for now. ]

He stayed.

[layonhands]

Stayed... [ she repeats, looking to jack as if for confirmation, but jack is just not even rn. risa nods and says: ] I'm sure they're waiting for you. We'll... take good care of them. [ and gestures to groot to take them away ]

[littledhampir]

[Rose's gaze is noticeably anywhere but on Risa as she echoes Buffy's words, chancing a glance in Dean's direction as if he's the safest place for her to look right now.]

Should we get this over with, then?

[realists]

[ instead of saying "i'll let them know you're coming", jyn picks up the phone, hangs up the phone, and jabs speakerphone to call idk solace probably because hasmed is a weirdo. ]

Chessing and the crew you mentioned are heading in.

MABEL PINES ✿ OTA

[mabeljuice]

✿ (one)

[Not long after the initial broadcast of the great melting on live TV, you can find someone in the girl's bathroom violently throwing up.

It's as disgusting and sad as it sounds.]


✿ (two)

[Following her horrible bathroom excursion, Mabel can be found in the kitchen with several ingredients laid out on the counter, ranging from fruits to a couple energy drinks, to coffee grounds, and.. is that a bag of plastic dinosaurs?

The girl, in question, has bloodshot eyes and dark circles that looks like she's been crying, but for now, she's stoic and engaging in her own personal "will it blend" hell as she makes some sort of drink concoction.]

TOPHER BRINK ✴ OTA

[andblockbuster]

✴ (ONE)

[Before coming to stay with the Knights, Topher lived in LA, which, granted is huge, but somehow it feels unbearably small right now. The place Blade's concert was held was a concert hall he'd been in once. He's walked that street before. With cameras down, it's no telling how much of it is being demolished. When the smoke clears, there might not be much left.

Most of the people he knew before the Knights were either dead or deserved to be, courtesy of the collapse of Pegasus, and it's not like he got out much, but it still isn't easy to deal with. People were killed- innocent people and innocent knights. And a whole frakking city with them.

He stays in the computer lab for way longer than necessary. The night's dragged on, and he's still here, downing energy drinks and trying to find anything- any scrap he can use to collect and show the Knights at some point, so they know what they're dealing with.

Of course, energy drinks can't combat stress and exhaustion, and he does... Eventually, faceplant onto the keyboard at some point.]

✴ (TWO)

[After falling asleep at the keyboard until woken up at some odd hour of the next morning, Topher paces the halls with his phone, trying to dial a number and then wussing out at the last minute.

Man he really needs a task to do or anything to keep from thinking about his decision paralysis.]

Thoster | ota

[bluffcheck]

[It doesn't feel real. Hearing Felicity's name listed among the dead still seemed like something from a fever dream- a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. For a long time, he didn't leave his room. Their room. But eventually, he emerges and moves through the castle like a ghost. One hand is gripped tightly into a fist as he moves through the halls. Instinct guides him to the bar, but he doesn't want a drink. He just needs a change of scenary while still keeping to himself.

He sits at the first empty table he sees, placing his fist against the wood and slowly uncurling his fingers to get a look at what he's been carrying. It's a ring. Diamonds and sapphires catch the light as he tilts his palm to let it clatter to the table's surface. He wasted too much time, second guessed himself. And now she's gone.]

two }

[likeababyduck]

[While Sweets still isn't "okay" yet, in any sense of the word, he knows that Alice had a squire and someone should be checking on her. He has a feeling that things like that are likely to get lost in the shuffle, and it's part of his job to stay on top of it.

He's not sure he'd be great at his job at the moment, but he can at least see how she's dealing. Alice would do the same for Lorne if the situation were reversed. So he makes his way into the kitchen and eyes the ingredients for the blender for a moment, before turning to the girl to address her.]

Hi. It's Mabel, right? I'm Lance Sweets.

[slay]

[ march march march. she doesn't let risa's confusion slow her down, just slips right past to beeline for the round table room. ]

[eldritchweaver]

[ the group marches along in grim silence towards the secret hallway, gar opening the portrait to allow jack to lead them in.

there's an extra layer of ominous tidings overlaying the walk down this hall, decorated as it is with images that have now taken on some very literal realities: the silver dragon depicted over and over again in art styles that stretch from medieval to renaissance and beyond, facing off with dark elves, or in some cases a singular dark elf. gar can't help but find her eyes draw up towards them a few times, and kat follows her gaze, shifting uncomfortably and looking uncertainly at fred jr. like jack, however, he keeps his eyes forward as they move towards the round table room. mark reaches out to squeeze alainn's hand and dumage glances at spike when she sees that, before pointedly glancing away.

isabella walks in front of rose and dean, glancing around at their surroundings with muted curiosity, although none of it dissolves the discontent and anger clouding her expression. dean's jaw is set, and he looks as if his fingers are twitching for a fight.

they pour into the round table room, where the great crystal dragon twines upwards towards the ceiling. hasmed and solace sit on the side where wynn customarily positions himself, in front of his doors, lis'sa and koraith beside hasmed, dovan, lan, and christos extending out from solace.

another figure sits at the very first seat directly in front of the entrance, a blond head visible with its back to them, above which curls a plume of spoke. she lifts a gloved hand to remove her cigar from her lips, and exhales another stream of it, which curls up in front of the figure who stands at her side - impossibly tall, wearing a floor-length blood-red trenchcoat. as his strange reptilian red eyes follow the entering stream of people, he lets out a sound of quiet amusement, lips curving into a grin.

it is hasmed who speaks up first. ]

Sir Chessing. We are glad you have returned to explain this situation to us personally. There are many standing questions that we would see answered.

one }

[supertardiness]

[Barry is feeling a bit useless at the moment so he's trying to find ways to get information about the people he can't get a hold of. But in order to do that he needs to find out what exactly is going on.

He makes his way up to the Hoard labs, and he's about to ask, but when he sees Topher passed out on the keyboard, he pushes that to the side for now, and reaches over to place his hand on his shoulder gently.]

Hey. Topher.

[They haven't really seen each other since Gar was taken, but Barry's good with names.]

[chessing]

[ well, that was not a warm greeting at all. jack steels himself to keep that british politeness intact before replying. ] Naturally. Although, I imagine you won't begrudge me addressing a standing question of my own first. To be precise, regarding Hellsing's presence in this debriefing.

[shootfirst]

[ under her breath, kat murmurs: ] Good fucking question.