CHAPTER FINALE ♔ darling can't you see it's now or never

[romanticidal]

♬ Astronaut (A Short History of Nearly Nothing) - Amanda Palmer ft. Zoe Keating

WHO || Rafael Giovanni, Eterna Jade, Burt Becksworth, Isabella Alessandro, Finnick Odair, Myrilandel de Tanos, Buffy Summers, Spike, Elena Gilbert, Dawn Summers, Desmond Descant, Jeanne Gar, Kat Samcelot, Mark Sandazhard, Violet Fiore, Sterling Archer
WHAT || CHAPTER ONE FINALE: Rafael Giovanni & Finnick's televised international concert debut
WHERE || A music hall in Chicago, IL
WHEN || July 3rd, 2013 [ forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam

The hour is finally upon our heroes, to learn whether their crazy plan to invest in making Finnick and Rafael international superstars under Burt Becksworth's management will pay off, and keep control of NOVA Records out of the hands of Chad Becksworth and his sinister compatriots. Now, as the Knights finish taking their seats in the balconies directly overlooking the stage, the concert goes live, broadcasting around the world, to where even other members of the Knighthood in London can gather to watch.

The camera pans across the endless sea of gathered, curious fans, who shake their arms wildly for their two seconds of fame, and then zooms in on a blonde figure on one corner of the stage, where she stands ready with a microphone: Buffy Summers.

[ the action of this post will be continually propelled by the interspersed musical numbers performed by finnick and rafael. each musical number will be up for a short amount of ooc time, in which players are free to create mini-thread responses directly to that song comment. these can be for internal reflection, to make commentary to the neighbors seated in their rows, for backstage convos for those involved in the program, or for 'host' commentary between some songs by archer and kat. threads that result from these responses should be kept short and sweet, as each song is only 3 to 5 minutes long, which doesn't leave a lot of time for in depth conversations. ideally, by the time the next 'number' is posted (as a direct response to the last musical number comment), your response threads from the previous number should be considered over and done with, and you can continue anything going on in them as a new mini-thread under the most recently posted song. in order to keep track of when things are rolling on to the next song, I highly encourage everyone to please track this entire post. ]

Comments

[romanticidal]

[ rafael and jade finally seem to recognize that there's an audience and stuff and draw apart a few feet to turn out to the crowd, who cheers and cheers while everything is going down in the above threads...

but it's just as spike lands on the balcony, startling elena, myri, finnick, kat and gar, while buffy makes her way towards the lobby where des and vi drink...

that the entire building goes dark.

the pitch black is broken rather quickly by cheers turning to terrified screams from audience members who don't understand what's going on, along with some nervous continued applause, as if this must be part of the show. ]

[nothingsodivine]

[AND THEN EVERYTHING WENT DARK.

Des doesn't get to react to Violet's story, because he's sliding off his stool and blinking in the darkness.]

Damn, I hate it when I'm right.

[graveflowers]

[You know who can see in the dark? Violets. She sort of stumbles off her own stool and reaches out to take Des's hand before moving back the way they came. She just assumes he is coming with.]

Come on, Descant. Buttercup's got this. I have to go politely tell Mark shit just got real.

[nothingsodivine]

[Des grits his teeth and reaches into his suit jacket to get his revolver, while keeping one hand enclosed around hers as she goes.]

So long as it gets me backstage sooner and not later, you can warn anyone you want. [Because yes. Sure, Des. The girl you developed feelings for has her memories and her man back, but he still promised to look after her.] If you see anything that needs shooting, give a yell.

[graveflowers]

Trained professional at running towards violence. [Don't panic, she is walking pretty damn fast. As fast as she can in these heels. Every so often she veers them slightly off course of the straight line when something materializes out of the glom like they're moving through fog. That's a person. That's a wall. That's another wall, why are there so many walls?]

[nothingsodivine]

What a coincidence. I get paid to do it. [Just casually veers this way and that. Why the fuck are there so many walls.]

[borrowedheaven]

[ and they'll be heading up the hallway where Buffy was when the lights went out... but I'm not sure if she'd still be there yet. If not, finnick will be dragging Myri out that way very shortly... ]

[graveflowers]

Oh, you're a mercenary? [Her hand twitches, but she just keeps moving forward.] I used to get hunted by guys like that. Hopefully you're better. [Because she is still alive, okay, the ones trying to kill her clearly weren't that stellar. She really hopes he is stellar. She shoves the doors open and pushes through them into the back.] When this is over we'll have to finish those drinks and compare battle scars like in Jaws.

[isisagent]

OH for the love of . . .

Please say this is not an encore...

[notaroundme]

[On heart attack quickly follows another, apparently. Elena's grip tightens around the pendant and she's on her feet quickly thereafter despite the darkness, looking around for any source of light at all to orient herself. An exit sign or an emergency light. Anything.

Because she doesn't like that screaming.]

[bigbad]

[Spike can still see pretty decently, being a vampire, but this is still pretty damn suspicious. He frowns, glancing around, and with a nat 20 spot check he may as well have freaking Superman vision goddamn.

Also he's definitely specifically looking over at Orlando Bloom to see what he's up to.]

[notaroundme]

[She knows the general vicinity that Spike was in at least before the lights went out, and though she can hear the others moving, she takes a step or two toward the vampire, reaching out and grabbing a hold of whatever her arms hits first. Hopefully his arms or something.]

Spike, can you see?

[borrowedheaven]

[ oh, spike can see alright. His eyes don't even need to adjust... the dark is a natural setting for any vampire. He would immediately notice that Orlando Bloom over there disappears. In fact, with his spot check, he actually sees him disappear. He looks up, expression still regretful, but almost resigned, and certainly not panicked. He looks as if he expected this to happen- and then he seems to blink out of existence.

The smoke machines on the stage suddenly hiss on, clouding the stage, but spike is able to discern jade and Rafael moving closer to reach other, backwards, as if instinctively preparing for an assault. Rafael's hand slips inside his suit jacket to where spike knows he keeps one of his guns. ]

[bigbad]

Guns, there's a good way to make everything worse. [Seriously Rafael are you going to shoot all the scared people brilliant idea. Elena's grabbed the back of his jacket, but he's okay with that, he wants his hands free in case he needs to fight.] I can see, love, don't worry, I'll keep you safe.

[Which means he probably shouldn't jump down to the stage and join them. Not everyone's as good at stupidly cool looking jumps as he is. He turns and makes his way towards the exit. Find somewhere Elena can be safe, then figure out what he's supposed to be punching and punch it.]

[65]

[the blackout and all the screaming trigger some kind of ptsd in finnick regarding hunger games and having suddenly everything happen. as his adrenaline spikes, his grip on myri suddenly becomes sort of violent. he also joins elena in the effort to look for sources of light and exits signs. mostly exit signs. because if he finds one he is beelining for it and has no problem swimming through a crazy mob to do so.]

[witchwoman]

[myri cries out when finnicks grip tightens, now startled by both the dark and the new pain resonating from her arm. All the love in the room is replaced with a cresting wave if panic. The panic from finnicks hold on her actually keeps her from spiraling into the sensation. She moves with him but continues to try to look for the others instead. Her priorities are a little skewed.]

[borrowedheaven]

[ NO EXIT

Jk there's exits, but no lit up signs indicating where they at. Finnick can still make a navigate check from memory to think back to where they came in, but in the darkness, he'll need a 17 to actually head in the right direction, remembering what obstacles might be in the way. Unless he gets a Nat 20, he can only move at half speed through the darkness. ]

[65]

[well, he got an 18, so good on him. o_o hold on myri gurl you're going on a ride. no really he's seriously just dragging her along and not giving a single flying fuck about any of the others. they'll be fine. ... probably.]

[borrowedheaven]

[ and most everyone converges in the hallway midway between the lobby and the balcony/backstage steps, as the screams increase to a frenzied pitch, thanks to archers gunshots out there. His night goggles are rendered useless pretty readily however, as a whirring noise starts up as a generator kicks in, low lights flickering up in the hallway where the gang can see spike and Elena approaching.

Meanwhile, archer and dawn can see only a stage covered in smoke for now, but it's beginning to disperse slowly... ]

[graveflowers]

[Myri, check. Finnick looking... no, not right now. Finnick, check. Buffy, check. The lights sputter back on, and oh, Spike and Elena. Double check. Okay, that's enough people to be a crowd that Vi thinks she can break off for five seconds and grab Mark (because he is all alone, guys) but she pauses a moment to assuage her worry. GOD Des, be less right next time. Imagine the Thunder from Down Under. Or a petting zoo.]

Are you guys... alright? Anyone hurt, wounded, in need of medical attention or knots?

[slay]

Nothing solid yet. Either Chad taking the loss badly, or ... Rafael's enemies jumping at the chance to get at him while he's making a spectacle of himself.

[ she shakes her head as she answers finnick's question, looking dissatisfied with how little she knows. at vi's question, she begins to assess the others for injury. ]

[nothingsodivine]

Can't rule out that Chad might be here for Jade. Rafael pretty much put up the searchlights. Anyone with clout probably knew what the hell he was doing. And given how badly Chad wants her, he might jump at the chance at seeing if she's more amenable when her boyfriend is threatened.

[bigbad]

[Spike looks over at Buffy, expression somber. At least she seems to be holding together well enough from the emotional pain that he can... skip asking her about that for now.]

I thought I saw a demon on the stage. I mean, it looked like a person, but Isabella couldn't see him at all.

[notaroundme]

[Elena glances around at the small crowd.]

What about the others? Where are Kat and Gar?

[isisagent]

OW! FUCKING HELL!
[Archer claws at the goggles covering his now-burning retinas]

Agh! Who the hell turned those lights on?! GOD DAMN A little warning next time... fuck!
[Archer rubs his eyes and stows the goggles. How is it this always happens with these damn things?!]