CLOSED ♔ fuel burning fast on an empty tank

[nepotism]

WHO || Fred Jr., Charming, Hasmed [Closed]
WHAT || Charming has an interesting day...
WHERE || St. Louis, MO, Americuh
WHEN || Mon, Jan 28th, 2013
HOW || Actionspam

[Ahh the daily commute. Same thing, every day, aside, of course, from getting a chance to glimpse some of the stranger faces walking in the city: half-dragons, gnomes and gnolls, elves and halflings... Some of which would be strange even to denizens of fairy tale land.

But today's commute is about to get a little bit more interesting. There's the sound of a great deal of angry honking several blocks away, which grows and swells, apparently coming from a multitude of sources. As it gets closer, other instruments join the symphony: squealing tires, shouting, screaming, and the definite sound of collisions - multiple collisions.

The driver in the lane in front of him is so busy looking in his rear view mirror that he doesn't even notice the light turn green. ]

Comments

[uncease]

[He doesn't hear the honking at first. The stop and go traffic isn't terribly uncommon, so he just keeps the radio going and tries not to think about the chewing out he's likely to get at work for clocking in late. But in between songs, he hears the sirens.]

What the hell? [Glancing around, he tries to pin point where it's coming from, but the thing is... it sounds like it's all around. When he looks forward again, the light changes green, but the car in front of him doesn't move. He waits a few seconds, giving the guy the benefit of the doubt, but when there's still no movement, he honks to get things moving again.]

[nepotism]

[ the guy starts, and slowly starts to move forward, but abruptly a vehicle goes careening through the intersection and he slams on his brakes again.

it's at that moment that the driver's side door of david's vehicle is yanked open, and there stands fred - wearing a broadsword on his hip, and with a gun in his hand, though he's got it lowered. ] So I'm gonna go ahead and guess this is your first time with this and be as straightforward as possible: I need to commandeer your vehicle, sir, so you might wanna scoot over.

[uncease]

Wha- [Suddenly the door is open? And there's a guy with a gun and a sword??? He just stares, jaw slack. Another chorus of honking and sirens snaps him out of it. He realizes quickly that he's not exactly in a position to argue with the man with all the weapons so he just unbuckles his seat belt and awkwardly shifts himself over to the passenger seat.]

Who are you? [He finally thinks to ask. Whoops.]

[nepotism]

Fred Jr. Your cooperation's appreciated, buddy. Hopefully this won't take-- [ he backs the vehicle up a bit to try and pull out of traffic and... slams it into a car behind them. oops crit fail D: ]

[uncease]

[David reaches up and grabs the 'oh shit' handle, wincing at the thought of the damage to the car.]

You sure you don't want me to drive?

[nepotism]

[ he looks over, as if sizing him up, and then back behind them, giving the angry driver back there an apologetic wave ] Maybe. Do the words 'car chase' put you off?

[uncease]

Depends. [He says, realizing quickly that this is probably his only chance to keep his life in his hands. The only other option is giving up his car to a stranger and uh, not happening.]

Are we chasing or being chased?

[nepotism]

Might be a little bit of both. But I've gotta get close enough to land on the thing. Think you can do that? [ the honking grows louder and nearer, and the sound increases. it's right around the corner now ]

[uncease]

[He thinks it over for about a split second.]

Guess we'll find out. [He gestures for the man to get out and come around so he can shift back to the driver's seat.]

[nepotism]

Actually, if you don't mind... I'll take the seat with a view. [ and he hops out and climbs onto the roof of the car. yep.

it's at that moment that something tears around the corner a block away... at first it looks like it's just a car driving wildly, but on second glance it doesn't look like a normal car. the spikes sticking out of it on all sides probably don't help with that either. nor does the fact that it's driving straight towards pedestrians, and ramming other cars along the way.

fred shouts from on top of the car: ] GO! [ DRIVE CHECK ]

[uncease]

[Perhaps it's the sight of the not-so-normal car that makes him lack confidence in his start up... or perhaps it's just the sheer fact that he's been asked to help with a car chase... or maybe it's the unfamiliar feeling of weight on top of the car..., but as David maneuvers them out of the traffic jam, it is not with smoothest ease (Drive 8). His jerky movements cause him to glance up at the ceiling, as if he can see through to his unfortunate passenger.]

Sorry!

[nepotism]

[ the devilish looking vehicle slams into the side of a buick, and the thing flips, and rolls across an empty lane of traffic, slamming into a fire hydrant. it sprays water everywhere and shrieking pedestrians run screaming. ]

Are you sure you wanna do this?!

[uncease]

[He hits the brakes hard and just stares at the collision (Drive 6). With his hear pumping a mile a minute, Fred's words are sluggish as they try to break through the fear induced fog. He's a half second delayed to respond.]

...Not really. But I don't think I have much of a choice right now.

[Because that thing is fucking right there. He cuts the wheel hard to the left and hits the gas (not flooring it immediately because the last thing he needs is to send Fred sprawling). Apparently the rush of the situation finally let his instincts take over because he easily guides him around the stopped cars and heads towards the demon car (Drive nat 20 THANK GOD).]

[nepotism]

[ The Distance - Cake

As David expertly steers through oncoming, swerving traffic, Fred holds onto the luggage rack bar up top with a 20 strength check, crouched on the roof. People point and stare, even as they continue to try to get away. As they get closer, the vehicle slows, having cornered a woman and a young boy against a pair of parked and abandoned cars. She shields her son, crying in terror as it rolls to a menacing stop in front of them and revs its engines.

Fred levels his Excalibur with one hand, takes cautious aim, and then fires. His shot strikes the cable suspending the traffic signal above, and it snaps, dropping the light rapidly onto the hood of the car where it slams and sends up sparks. As they get nearer, he fires another shot directly into the chassis of the vehicle (6 dmg), and then another at the windshield (5), which shatters, revealing no driver behind the wheel.

The car's hood pops up abruptly, mangled as it is, and the traffic light half buried in it goes flying through the air, and lands on the street a little ways down.

Fred shouts down: ] We've got to get in between them!

[uncease]

[The space between the enemy car and the mother/child combo was not as wide as he would have liked. In fact, it seemed like an impossible task from him perspective. But they'd come this far and he wasn't about to just watch these innocent people die.

He pressed his foot to the gas pedal and let out a long breath, picking up speed as he silently prayed that his aim would be true. The last thing he needed today was blood on his hands (and bumper). Thankfully, he was destined to get charged with vehicular homicide today! He skillfully kept on course to put his vehicle between the car and the pedestrians (drive 18). He had... no clue what the plan was after that. Unfortunately, he had to defer completely to the stranger riding his car like Teen Wolf.]

I sure hope you have a plan, buddy...

[nepotism]

Get them somewhere safe! [ the mother clutches the child to her breast, wide eyed and staring at them, clearly grateful for interference but still scared out of her mind. abruptly fred launches himself off from the roof of david's car ... slamming down on top of the other car (jump 20) and bringing his sword down to plunge straight through the metal top and into the cab. (15 dmg). in a terrifying turn of events, however, it seems harder than he realized, and the sword doesn't pierce all the way through. ] Oh shi--

[ it abruptly throws itself into reverse, and he goes skidding off, tumbling onto the concrete, luckily pulling his sword out with him and not letting go as they slam to the ground. it revs its engine again, however, clearly intending to run over fred now, where he lies ]

[uncease]

[Okay. Here's the dilemma. He has to get make sure that the woman and child are safe, but now he knows that this strange guy is about to get plowed by this demon car and that is so not okay.

Time to make a decision, Charming.

He throws the driver's side door open and jumps out of the car.]

Get in! [He ushers the mother and child in, closing the door behind them.] Drive. Go! Get out of here!

[As soon as the car starts moving, he runs around, keeping a good distance between himself and the menacing vehicle. He starts to jump around, waving his arms wildly above his head.]

Hey! Over here! You're uh... mother was a pickup!

[nepotism]

[ he doesn't have to tell her twice, and even though she looks at him with gratitude and fear for what will become of him, she bundles her child in the car and takes off, peeling out of there.

fred's head snaps to look at charming, and he looks completely shocked that this guy's pulling a clearly suicidal move to save his ass. still, he's not going to waste any time, and as the car's headlights swivel onto the other man, he gets to his feet as rapidly as he can. ]

Break left! [ the car starts to head towards Charming, but as Fred runs to the right, leaping over some debris in the road, it looks torn between which way to head for the moment ]

[uncease]

[Yeah this was his... whole plan. Start to finish. Good thing Fred is there to tell him what to do next, because this will obviously be a well thought out pl-

Wait. He just wants him to run? These two are doomed.

David takes off to the left, glancing over his shoulder every now and then to make certain that he's not just leaving Fred high and dry. Unfortunately, he's not really sure how they're going to meet back up or what the plan is beyond running. Oh well. Running, he can do.]

[nepotism]

[ it's alright, charming, fred's got this shit on lock.

maybe.

people are abandoning vehicles left and right to try to get inside buildings, so there's scattered traffic and an obstacle course of damaged property the way david's running. and the demon car apparently decides he's the juicier target and vrooooooms after him. there's a narrow alley to his left, a small clothing shop on his right, and the intersection behind him, where fred vanishes around a corner. tires screech as the thing plows into a fire hydrant, which sends a torrent of water exploding into the air. ]

[uncease]

[He manages to navigate the debris fairly well (dex 13), but the sound of the fire hydrant exploding causes him to pause and turns to try to make sure that Fred wasn't hit.

Unfortunately, all he can see is water.

And that whole hero instinct kicks in, so he doubles back, running TOWARDS the evil demon car because what is self preservation.]

[nepotism]

[ somewhere beyond the torrent of water, there's the sound of metal hitting metal, hard, and the creaking sound of something metallic falling and crashing into the ground. as david runs back that way, the vehicle suddenly bursts through the spray, careening wildly towards him, veering this way and that. and runs... right into him, trying to trample him below its wheels. (luckily he can try to avoid, but it'll take a helluva reflex save - dc 23, to half the damage; otherwise he takes 14 damage) ]

[uncease]

[His reflex save of... five sure didn't help him at all. In fact, he might have actually jumped INTO the car for all I know. Sigh.

His body rolls up the hood of the car, onto the windshield before flying off to one side and landing hard on the pavement.]

[nepotism]

[ the car keeps driving, screeching to a skidding halt way up ahead and then doing a U-turn to face him again. it's at that moment that fred jr. comes back around the corner... bearing in his hands a gigantic metal light pole that looks like it's been hacked off with one clean sweep somehow. he notices charming on the ground, and his eyes widen, as he lets the pole clatter to the ground and runs towards him to give him a hand and yank him up ] You okay?!

[uncease]

Been better. [David grabs Fred's hand as soon as it's offered, pulling himself up to his feet and trying to shake off the blow.]

So how the hell do we stop this thing?