As soon as they're out of earshot of the policemen, Racine starts to whisper to her companions. "Please, someone care for Cassandra and Bethany. I'll try to get hold of those Kings that were involved: Timmy, Kenny and Joey, the three who were at the entrance. Lalavonrei, I could use another good pair of eyes and another rifle."
She gives a look around the place. I knew something was wrong. Hoped it wouldn't be that wrong. And once again, I was sorely mistaken. Oh, whatever they're dealing here will .
"Rendez-vous at her place at dawn?"
"'Care for' would most certainly be my specialty. Go. Be swift and be safe, my friends."
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Frank stands waiting for Beth to gather Cass.
Fools must have gotten into something. Vengeful spirit or did they make a deal with the wrong sort of things?
Frank nods to Racine.
"Watch you back, no telling what they got mixed up with."
Watching Caedus move to help Cass along with Beth he leads the way back to their home.
"Come let's get her home."
"Right behind you, Frank."
Once outside, you meet up with Autumn and Summer, but the Pigtown King's are nowhere to be seen. Frank and Caedus lead the girls back to the buggy, where they enjoy an uncomfortably silent ride back to the girls' place, as Beth, Autumn and Summer seem more in shock, as Cass seems to be spending all her energy on keeping herself together. Once inside, Cass suddenly bursts into tears and shouting, "What did that to Antonio? You’ve got to find whatever did that
and stop it!" Autumn and Summer immediately beeline up the stairs to hide in their bedrooms, while Beth, who looks thoughtful for once, sinks into the sofa and takes on a distant, vacant expression.
Taking in a deep breath of city air, Racine looks around.
"Hey, Doc, you're the most skilled and sociable of us. Mind asking around, perhaps probe a couple minds, try to find out where there guys are hiding? I'll scour the area, look for tracks. Perhaps a beggar saw something. Lalavonrei, any idea? Give me a hand?"
Long nods curtly to Racine and sets about weaving a tale and extracting information from the likeliest source...
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At the house Frank grabs one of the shot glasses from earlier. Fills it with whisky and hands it to Cass.
"Go on drink it. It will help to calm you. I won't say much Cass, but you know there is evil out there. We have not met before but look at me. I know loss. I also know how to kill the evil out there. Best you can do is live for yourself and to honor his memory if you loved him. None of us know how long we got here. So don't waste time on the what ifs and celebrate his life through yours. Time will only lessen the pain, but it will make it easier as well." Assuming she drinks the shot. He pours her another.
"Is there anything Antonio spoke of. A deal or something he had planned. To make things better for the two of you? A name a place anything you can think of could help here. If I were to guess he made a deal with something he should not have and it didn't feel like paying it's part. Think Cass."
He then looks back to Beth.
"Hey beautiful. You think you can make her some tea or something. The whisky was just to take the edge off. Thanks."
Frank continues to kneel there awaiting a response with his hand resting upon hers trying to comfort her.
Racine knows little about the Pigtown Kings, except that they're something of an up-and-coming gang that deals in drugs and horse theft with little in the way of large exploits. Certainly nothing to get them on her radar when she was on the force. Between the amount of traffic in the area and the surface being hard ground, Racine can't find any trace of the Pigtown Kings besides a slight pungent smell that leads nowhere in particular.
Kicking a can, Racine returns to Long.
"Found no trace of them. How about I try to bait some lowlife, walking the streets alone? You can follow at a distance, if I get mugged we can try to squeeze some information out. A small girl, all alone in the streets... I'll be a good target."
She takes her rifle off her shoulders and bundles it in her cloak before untying her hair. In the dim evening light, she could be mistaken for a kid.
"Are we done here? We could torch the place but I don't know how much it'll help."
She looks around again, her eyes opened to magic, trying to pick up any trace of a spell. "Wykrycie magii."
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Frank looks to the glass as it shatters.
"You wasted my booze." Then as she starts to ramble and pull away he gets frustrated.
"Wake up. My father died while sacrificing himself for me. His last words to me was "Run." You know what killed him? A f&##ing demon. You think I care about what you have lost? Grow up, We all have lost people. Now you can go on feeling sorry for yourself or you can use the anger you feel and talk to me. Maybe you know something that could help, maybe you don't. Now you want to keep feeling sorry for yourself or help."
"I don't care one way or another. I swore an oath to protect people regardless of how spoiled or self centered they are. Why don't you do something useful and make some tea then as Beth seems to be zoned out."
He stands and walks over to Beth. He bends placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey you alright? Talk to me."
The bouncer seems wanting to give information, but finds himself lacking, stating, "I'd like to help you, but I don't work for the Pigtown 'Kings' - I'm just paid by the guy who owns the club to guard it. The only one I've much talked to is Antonio - seems like an alright guy, unlike his friends - but I guess he left early because I haven't seen him tonight. Sorry I couldn't be much help."
Doc nods. "The way the 'Kings' were holding court in there... you'd think the club owner must know them well. And he or she might appreciate a heads-up that the cops are looking hard at anyone associated with the club - bad business that. Would you share the owner's name with me? Maybe I could speak with him?"
Kicking a can, Racine returns to Long.
Doc waves her off with a subtle gesture that suggests his conversation with the bouncer may bear fruit.
Racine detects no magic outside of that possessed by the party.
Doc raises his hands in a show of surrender. "Alright. I was just trying to do him a good turn... I don't suppose you'd give him a note from me, outlining my conversation with the police?" He asks hopefully.
Caedus pinches his nose, headache welling suddenly. He takes a deep breath to calm himself, then walks over to Cass.
"Cass. I'm keenly aware that you have been through a lot tonight. I truly, truly empathize. The others, me...we're your friends. We care about you. And I promise you, many of us have lost quite a lot as well. "
Caedus, rather pointedly, knocked on his prosthetic leg.
"It's not a competition. Frank was trying to see if Antonio had shared anything that might help us understand what happened to him, because we're concerned it won't be an isolated incident. Frank can be crass and crude, but he cares about you. He didn't mean to upset you."
Doc takes the rebuff with a polite nod. "As you wish." He walks away, seeks out his allies, and sketches out what was learned. "The bouncer works for the building's owner, not the Pig Kings. Our mysterious owner values his privacy. I couldn't get a name or even get 'Muscles' over there to take a message to him. So, if we follow Muscles, he may not lead us anywhere. Of course, we could question him aggressively, and/or I could attempt to pry the secrets from his mind, but he'd be aware of it."
He hrmphs as he mulls over the options. "It seems to me we're on the horns of a dilemma and have to decide which path to follow. Horn One - who killed Antonio? We'd be better off trying to get access to the corpse or sneaking back into the club to investigate undisturbed. Horn Two - who built this club as a energy siphon? Finding out about the owner would be a good step in that direction... as I doubt the PKs were part of that. And then the follow up question is - are these two horns related at all?"
Long taps his cane in irritation. "Opinions?"
Racine looks up to the man, her large eyes steady, brow furrowed, tugging at a tuft of her hair while concentrating. "I don't think that big guy knows much. Even the King I questioned earlier knew near to nothing, he just said that Timmy, Kenny and Joey were the ones handling the business."
"About the horns of the dilemma, I'd bet my socks that they are related. The new drug being smuggled in this place was somehow connected to the focusing table and the alchemical symbols, but I have no proof except a nagging feeling. So, I'd raise a point about practicality: tracing the owner is something that might be done legally, tomorrow. The police came here without question, so the place should be somehow marked as a legitimate business, which may lead us to someone who know something."
Leaning against a wall, she cradles the bundle containing her rifle. "Then, of course, we may follow a paper trail leading nowhere. We may sneak inside, but I wonder whether we'd find any traces: if it were me, I'd have cleared the place of evidence before getting away."
"All in all, what I believe is that the PKs are our best lead. We've seen them, we know they're involved somehow, and they seem easy enough to handle. But that may be just me wanting to kneecap them."
She then repeats her plan to act as bait.
Long considers for a moment, weighing the elf's hunch and information as equal to the other facts at hand. "Hmm... I think Muscles may be a bit higher up the food chain than you think. Either that or he has an over-inflated opinion of his role. But, if that inclines me toward anything, it is more caution regarding him and his employer. So, yes, let's focus on the PKs. But rather than baiting in a large sea - where we might draw a shark unrelated to our quarry - perhaps we should talk with a fish already on the hook? Beth seems to know one or two of the Kings pretty well. Maybe we should chat with her." He smiles, "Don't worry, this is only deferring the kneecapping a little while."
Racine smirks. "Fine by me. And we can sneak back into the club on a quieter day. I... think that it's better if you or Caedus do the talking, though. Somehow I come out as abrasive, I wonder why."
With a chuckle, she fastens her rifle on her back, and throws the cloak over her shoulders, hiding the weapon. She then motions to leave. "Take a cab?"
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Long responds with a smile of his own, as he takes the gun-woman's arm in his own. "You? Abrasive? You're positively charming, my dear. And you are deadly in a fight, which makes you all the more lovable to my mind." Ever the gentleman - and trying to complete their disguise as party-goers out for the evening - Long waves his cane, hailing down a cab.
Caedus stood patiently, deciding to ignore Cassandra's jibe. She was hurt and lashing out. He wouldn't allow it to get to him.
"I'd like nothing more than to find out what happened. As you might have noticed, though, I'm not the best at clandestine operations that might require quick, stealthy movement. So instead, maybe you can tell me if you noticed anything odd about Antonio or anyone he associates with lately? There might be a lead somewhere."
Long and Racine catch a cab and take it to Cass', arriving to find Frank standing outside and hearing muffled shouting through the walls.
Cass starts to speak, but the thought of actually talking about Antonio makes her start to well up, "There was nothing wrong with Antonio! He wasn't like the other Kings, like Timmy and his stooges. Things were just starting to look good for us. He said that the Kings were moving up and he'd be making more money now. But now he's gone and I don't know what to do!"
Now back to her senses, Beth suddenly stands up and faces Caedus and Cass, "Maybe that was it, Cass. Maybe it had something to do with Timmy and his new operation. We all saw the way they dismissed me, me, outside the club tonight like they had something else in their minds. Not a lot of things can distract guys like them from a girl like me." It's clear that Beth is still upset from being dismissed, but she also seems to really believe they might be involved somehow.
Caedus nods at Beth.
"You'll find no arguments for me that a lady like you would certainly be difficult for a young man to ignore. Tell me, Beth, did you know anything about this moving up in the world? Anyone new that the Kings were associating with?"
A couple of sarcastic remarks about Frank spring to Racine's mind, but she keeps them for herself. Not today. Not here.
She enters just in time to hear Cass' words, and at once, the weight of the last hours crashes on her. How I hate being right. And how I hate not being able to help. Rubbing her hands against her face, she speaks in a weary tone to Cass, leaving Caedus to handle Beth.
"I understand, Cassie. You've seen way more horrible things than most see in a lifetime, surely more than you should have. And it's the second time that you've lost someone you held dear, so now you feel alone and desperate. I really understand, more than you imagine."
A flashback of half a century ago raises to Racine's memory, a picture of a sickly, thin elf woman dead on the streets, a stab wound in her chest.
"It's all right to cry. It's all right to rage and scream. And it's all right to try and hide away. I did. But what is not alright is feeling powerless. You aren't."
Taking her (unloaded) rifle off her back, Racine passes it to Cass. "Feel its weight, feel the power in this tool. This is a machine that was made to kill monsters. To fight back. When the things go bump in the night, hunting for a nice snack of human, or elf, or dwarf, we show them that we are no easy prey. That is what you can do, that is what we all had to learn to do. Even that jack*$£ Frank. So don't go thinking that you're weak, powerless. We all have the strength to fight back. I'm not saying that you should come hunt with us. But you should find strength in yourself."
Long observes silently for a moment, watching the play of emotions crossing more faces than just those of the two young women. "If you want us to get to the bottom of this, Miss Beth, we'll need to speak with the 'Kings'. What can you tell us about their regular haunts or where they may have gone after the club?"
Beth spills her beans, "Up until two weeks ago, Timmy and his boys sold pot and whatever small-time drugs they could steal. But when Ascend opened up, everything changed. Suddenly, they were pushing Ultima at the club. I tried asking where they get it from, but they - Antonio included - acted all skittish about it and refused to speak. They even threatened me never to ask about it again! I do know that after what happened, we won't be able to reach Timmy tonight, but he'll probably head to his mom's house in the afternoon after he awakes wherever he is."
Cass nods, trying to hold back tears, and takes the gun. She holds it, feeling its weight, then swings it back behind her back . Then, with a newfound determination in her eyes, she heads towards the door and opens it, and invites Frank back in.
Looks like it worked, but...
"Uhm, Cassie, sorry" Racine says tentatively, visibly embarrassed "I meant for you to try it, but I, uhm, that's my gun, I need that one, it's magically bonded to me. But we can get you one of your own if you like it, we can go shopping tomorrow!"
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"While guns are nice, they are a machine and a machine that can fail. Why rely on a machine when you can create what you need from sheer will."
With that said a massive blade of crackling energy forms in Franks hand. He manipulates it a tiny bit but not much since he is still seated. It then disappears.
"It doesn't have the range of a long rifle, but it never runs out of ammo or jams up." He smiles as he leans back sipping on a shot of whisky.
Cass nods at Frank, then hurriedly takes the rifle off her back and hands it over to Racine, similarly embarrassed, "I know! I just - I thought it was appropriate to show Frank I was serious. I already have a gun anyway. My...dad gave it to me." At Frank's display, however, Beth is taken aback and shouts, "What the Hell was that?!"
Doc rolls his eyes as if bored. "Just stage magic and parlor tricks, young lady. Most of us know a bit of it. If you like, I could hypnotize and make you drowsy or see strange lights."
"Don't make the situation messier, Frank, vous obstiné cochon sans cervelle." says Racine, taking her rifle back and smiling gently at Cass.
"We'll probably stake out Timmy's mother's tomorrow, but right now, Beth, I'm more interested in this Ultima stuff you mentioned. Is it a new drug? You wouldn't happen to have a sample?"
Beth relaxes when Long tells her it's parlor tricks and answers Racine's question, "Yeah, Ultima is what everyone at the club was on, and why most everyone goes there in the first place. The Kings are the only ones who sell it, and after just a couple of weeks, it seems like it's the only drug anyone wants anymore. I don't have any on me, though."
Racine sits on the floor cross-legged. "Then it looks like we'll sleep and stake the place out tomorrow. We get Timmy, we get some answers. Good night, everyone."
She takes out a book bound in blue fabric and starts reading before taking her bedroll out.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's the draw of Ultima? I'm not judging; I just want to know what makes it so compelling that it has supplanted the regular array of illicit pharmaceuticals."
"It's a high like nothing else. When you take it, it's like you're not even control of yourself - the club is called Ascend because it feels like you've left your body and attained metaphysical enlightenment." Beth clearly enjoys the high of drug, and is probably still wearing off of it after the short-lived party. "Timmy might have some on him tomorrow, in case you want to try it yourself."
"I'd certainly like Doc to analyze it. I think we've got a plan, yes?"
Beth looks around uncomfortably, "About that...yeah, I did. Sorry! I wasn't aware it was going to be needed for a murder investigation, and I needed something to take the edge off after what happened." Cass yawns and then sits down on the couch, "I think I'm going to sleep down here for the night, in case anything else bad happens." she look at Racine resting nearby. Beth starts walking towards the stairs to the basement, "I'll be sleeping in my room, if anyone needs me."
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"No judgment from me. Taking the edge off is the reason I do a lot of things I shouldn't." Frank looks to Cass as she sits.
"You will be safe here. Get some rest."
As Beth speaks Frank approaches and takes her hand. He leans in and whispers.
"I need you."
If she pulls away he brushes it off and finds a nice place to lay out and rest. If she grips his hand in return and leads him he will follow.
Beth grips Frank's hand and leads him downstairs to her room, never to be seen again... until the next morning, that is, when everyone awakens to the sound of Cassandra cooking breakfast for everyone at 10 AM. Beth walks up the stairs, grumbling about the racket, while Summer and Autumn are already sitting at the table awaiting breakfast and quietly chatting each other up. Upon seeing one of you getting up, she says, "Good morning. I thought I'd make everyone some breakfast before we head out. It seemed like a good way to start the day after...after last night." She's sad, but her determination to find whatever killed Antonio is keeping her together - for now, at least.
Racine tries to help Cass with the breakfast, but changes her mind when the pan with the bacon blossoms briefly into a small fireball, sitting instead to clean and oil her musket.
"Good morning to all. Ready to stake out an old lady's house?"
She quickly assembles the weapon back and grabs a slice of toast.
"Cassie, do you want to come with us? You'll be probably safer here, but I understand if you'd like to see this thing through."
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"So whats our play on this? We going in all bad cop demanding he give up the supplier? We want to play it off as trying to do business and expand to another town. We could be looking to buy a substantial amount to distribute elsewhere, but what town? Just think it best if we are all on the same page. Cass has suffered enough. I wish to settle all of this today."