"Stop what, you silly dance-obsessed cocktease? We both do what we love despite the consequences. I expected you to understand that. It's too bad you're not actually any good at the things you love," Wowbagger smiled, the pristine white of his teeth flecked with a little red from the dead actor's spray of blood.
"Or else why did he die?" Wowbagger's eyes seem to light up with glee as they bored into Cassie across the expanse of the auditorium.
The assassin's gaze flicked whip-like pinning Vorian as if to a wall.
"Ah, yes! Our Gentleman Adventurer! Don't think I have forgotten you and your pitiful and wasted attempts at intrigue." Wowbagger waggled one gore-crusted clawed finger at Vorian. "But at least you proved to be a decent red herring. I almost broke the cabal and had them convinced to kill you rather than me."
The smile slipped a tad at this, and the white eyes took on an angry slant.
"If the outcast Jin hadn't betrayed his task, you would have all died that night." Then he chuckled. "But that reckoning will come soon. He and his pet Mason will soon find themselves neck deep in retribution."
Wowbagger wiped the blood on the brief shorts he wore.
"Now, shall we make your deaths pleasant and painful?" His eyes twinkled. "Pleasant for me. Painful for you."
As Ralph makes his challenge, Wowbagger laughs.
"And the mute speaks! And oh so eloquently!"
Wowbagger flexes and his toned physique ripples in a fluid almost animal-like display of musculature.
"Come you sniveling might-have been. Allow me to show my friends Cassie and Vorian what happy death awaits them as I crush your bones to make my bread."
Once again Wowbagger smiles cheerfully.
All sense and semblance of sanity leaves her eyes, the cruel barbs stab into her flesh. The self-pity, recrimination and restraint starts to leave her - scoured by the words, only anger remains.
Straightening up and abandoning the search for her bag she vaults the balcony rail.
Alexia glowers miserably at Alice, a frown now resting on her features.
"Come now, child," she says in an admonishing tone, stroking the terrified girl's face with a finger, "Is this not what you wanted? I saw the way you look at her. Your excitement from just being in her presence. Look at her go! Your precious idol is now in her element. Surely you have at least half of Cassandra's mettle."
"Kit you don't know what you are asking." Drake says to the girl not knowing about the fact that it had been Ysillith who had attacked her earlier. He stands with his hand still out for hers, "Please. I will get you out of this."
Alice would be able to see that he is concerned for her, his eyes directed at her even though she could see him tense hearing Wowbanger irritate the others. The man is unsettled as Darkov comes into view and he hopes the big guard does not grab onto this chance.
Then Princess Alexia speaks and he takes Alice's hand, pulling her back from the woman, "Please Alice." Drake had enough time to find out the girl's name and now he whispers in her ear, putting a note of care and fear for her in it.
Ralph looks over towards Drake "Ya keep her safe Chuck, she gits hurt yer da one i'mma blame." He also vaults the railing towards the stage and looks towards Cassie apparently keeping the creature away from her would be quite the challenge considering she was heading straight towards it.
Eyeing the strange muscled blue man as he approaches, Ralph can't say he relishes the idea of a fight with him, or having his bones ground for bread for that matter. Either way he couldn't let Cassie do this alone, maybe together they stood some chance. Knowing that in a direct confrontation he would most certainly lose Ralph isn't willing to charge right in he carefully watches Wowbagger looking for any sign of weakness, and ready to act should the man make a move.
The metallic groaning of the Clockwork Theater resounds through the auditorium and down the hallways. The venting of colored steam makes the already fearful crowd panic many people begin to start jostling one another as they begin to get the notion fleeing is a good idea.
Cassie and Ralph land amidst this turmoil, and they must try and weave their way to the stage through a press of people.
Suddenly, there are several pops in the auditorium and across the mezzanine. Clockwork figures begin to detach from the walls. Crude mobile spirit constructs with malevolently glowing eyes begin to assemble as the vented colorsteam begins to coalesce inside of what had previously been assumed to be curious architecture or artistic pieces.
Off to the side of the stage keeping a relative distance, from Wowbagger, the master of ceremonies clockwork appeared. His voice needle dial began to escalate as it began to speak.
"Please everyone! For your safety, I must ask you to all take your seats. The performance is going to recommence momentarily. We are offering a special treat tonight as we improvise a little audience participation into the opera this evening." A cold light seems to glow in the machine man's ocular cavities. "For your own health and safety I must insist you become seated."
The clockwork figures began to un-gently prevent anyone from leaving the auditorium and begin to escort people fro leaving. The panicked nobility and rich gentry become even more fearful.
"Please," comes the metallic timbers again resonating throughout the space. "Please be seated. This is not a request." The last sounds much more inhuman than ever.
Fear has come to Thornburghaufen's Clockwork Theater.
Alyce desperately tears her hand from Drake's and throws herself on General Darkov, pleading, "Don't leave me here! Make her take me with you!"
The tall man easily peels Alyce off and shoves her roughly away, sending her staggering into Drake, then takes a step towards the girl with hands outstretched for violence. Long, well-manicured fingertips touch the back of one hand as the Princess restorts to physical contact to re-establish her control. She skewers Alyce with a dark look before taking her escort's arm, the man subsiding into rigid obedience once again as Alyce fearfully clings to Drake.
Drake backs up with Alyce keeping her away from Darkov but glowering eyes are on the man as he puts one hand in his coat, a slight snarl escaping his lips, "Get away from my charge, Darkov." He sneers as the princess takes her man away.
He holds the young woman against him waiting for the torrents to begin and doing his best to keep her between himself and the leaving dignitary, "Goodbye Princess." He says darkly as if he expects to somehow meet again.
"I do swear, Rabek. Why must you be so difficult?" Alexia says to the pacified mercenary as they depart from the League box. In spite of the staff's warning to remain seated, the duo make their way down the corridor. "If you only knew how to behave, I would never have had to resort to such crude measures."
The plush carpet barely breaks her fall as her legs crumple into a roll, there's a slight tearing sound of her dress. Rising from the landing, Cassie spins and swirls through the torrent of people avoiding hitting anyone; by mere inches in some cases.
The outstretched hand of a Clockwork man catches the edge of Cassies hair, it's reactions and movements having an irregular fluidity. Not the jerking motion that one might expect, but extra articulation. However it's too late and it's fingers hold an auburn tress as she slips past.
Lithe unrestrained motion she dashes onto the stage, diving over the spirit lamps and onto the boards. Unarmed, enraged she stands before her foe. 'Why? Why?' She barely notices Ralph nearby, as she charges forward.
All her training is lost from her thoughts, rather than sizing up her opposition she goes for a rapid chop to the throat. Barely visible the strike is so quick....
However Wowbagger grasps the fingers on the leading edge, the dancers eyes bulge as he twists viciously bringing her to her knees. In the line of her vision is the Massri box and clarity comes back to Cassie.
'Rashida, she's not there! Someone's taken her, this was a distraction just to grab her. I fell for it, my stupid pride!' the tears that fill her eyes are not of pain....
There's a SNAP.
"Sh, shhh, it's ok, Alice. It's ok. What did I ever do to scare you so that you'd want to go off with them?" Drake says quietly while holding the girl, afraid that he'd made her feel bad somehow when he'd dealt with her boss, "I said I'll get you another job but this time with my family businesses. I didn't mean to lose you this one."
Alyce looks past Drake to where the French dancer weaves through the crowds and vaults onstage. Despite her confusion and fear, she can't help but admire the woman's fluid grace and courage. But the blue assassin quickly brings her to her knees and Alyce gasps in horror. "Job? Drake, who cares? Cassie's in danger!" She pushes away from Ralph and pulls the little clutch purse from under her arm, digging through it frantically.
A silver pistol gleams inside. Swiftly retrieving it, Alyce grasps the gun in both hands and lines up a shot at the struggling duo on the stage. There's a sharp concussion and a cloud of acrid smoke as the weapon discharges, bucking in the girl's hands.
Cassie on her knees in front of Wowbagger as she grasps her broken hand; the outsider still holding her fingers throws a kick at her.
Drake had noticed the sound of a snap but it wasn't until Alice got upset that he realized what was going on. He'd been so intent on keeping the young girl safe that he had hoped that the others would do the same for Cassie.
He swirls seeing the girl take out a gun and snorts in surprise then takes out a gun as well, points and tries to hit Wowbanger. His gun is not as noisy but it has a silencer on it.
Ralph quickly makes his way through the crowd, Cassie beats him to Wowbagger as she charged right in, and he groans inwardly as the creature quickly takes her to her knees 'So much for working together or avoiding direct confrontation'
Since Wowbagger seems to have his attention on Cassie, Ralph moves very quickly using his momentum to try to barrel into the blue beast, and hopefully knock him over, if not at least cause him to let Cassie go. He moves to time his tackle with the man's kick so he'll catch him with only one leg on the ground.
Just as he connects he feels a sharp pain blast through his shoulder, and is sure he's caught.
When Ralph's lunge is abruptly interrupted by a winging shot from the balcony levels, the young man still manages to catch enough of Wowbagger's waist that he spins the kick aimed at Cassie.
Wowbagger spins the missed kick into a drop roll and comes up battle ready now facing both Ralph and Cassie who had released from his grasp. A hole dripping dark emerald green blood has appeared on Wowbagger's chest. It appears someone has shot him. Yet the alien creature pays the wound no mind and doesn't even seem to be aware that he has been hit.
Standing upright, Wowbagger places his hands on his hips. Addressing Ralph, he says, "You have made the wrong move joining her, little man. All the men she loves, take more than just wounds of the heart."
Laughing at his own joke, Wowbagger digs his claws into the elaborate flooring of the stage and tears a chunk up with little apparent effort. He heaves the piece at Ralph even as he lunges at Cassie with claws outstretched.
The Duchess, from the behind the stage, peers out at the alien who had tried (and, if Mittens were to be believed, succeeded) to have her executed. Here eyes are fixed on the blue alien, and there is only one thing that she can think to do.
Her little claws extend so that she can climb up the curtain, hissing at the opera's direction, Jansen, "Run. Run away, now." And when she is atop the beam, she projects her voice so that it echoes as strong as any operatic singer across the whole of the auditorium.
"Well, well. If it is not Wowbagger, the infinitely windbagged. Or wait, was it some other adjective? It doesn't matter, I had always thought that the 'prolonged' was just a description of your ongoing and uninteresting insults. Issued to everyone alive, I suppose, that's right? Well. It's a good thing that my death precludes me from listening!"
And now, she must play her part as a phantom of this opera, distracting the assassin for now. "How does it feel to be the amazing assassin who only managed to kill one little cat? You must make your mother rather proud. You certainly wouldn't make my mother proud." She continues running along the beams, but throwing her voice so that it is not entirely clear where she is... if she is physically there at all.
"Isn't that right, you said that she infected your brain with the impulse to kill? You certainly did not receive her cleverness, or her raw power. She had her hand in killing ten people before they even noticed. You?" She uses her helmet to interact with the electronic systems of the opera, making the lights flicker lightly. "Only one. Little. Cat. And that, apparently not well enough. I don't understand why anyone should fear you..."
Drake grabs Alice's gun hand and looks at her speaking lowly, "Do you know how to use that thing?"
"Of course, you point the open end at the other person and pull this trigger thing," she says, waving the pistol around to demonstrate.
"Ok let's not have you shoot any more 'cause you can accidentally hit people you don't want to hit if you have not trained at a shooting range." He says calmly, "Here, watch how I do it but don't shoot, ok? You have to get a good stance and aim ..." He shoots at the blue man on stage again watching for if it hits.
Stuck in the inner works of the Clockwork Theater, Rashida hears much more than she sees: the booming voice of the alien, the announcement to remain calm and seated, the grinding as the clockwork ushers appear from their niches and herd the frightened crowd, gunshots, and the voice of the Duchess echoing through the theater. But most frightening is the name "Cassandra DuSollier" pronounced with such hostility and judgement. Cassie the Protector. Cassie the Dancer. She needs Cassie.
She grabs Richard's elbow and hisses fiercely in his ear. "I don't know what's going on, but I am going to find out. You keep trying to follow the Inspector's trail, but don't get lost. I'm going to try to get backstage. If he's in trouble when you find him, come get me."
She parts from Richard at the next intersection, where he heads right and down, while she proceeds straight ahead. Winding through the dusty corridors, she steers towards the noise, now one of battle and struggle. At last she finds a ladder and decides to ascend to try to get clear and get a better look.
Ysillith sighs as the...people all begin to act chaotically. Those bellow beginning to do the usual running, crying and (She's both pleased and disappointed to note) only a little screaming. At Ralph's admonition her eyes flash with warning anger, but she says nothing as the young man vaults out of the booth, blinking in realizing that Cassie has gone out before him and she's missed the action in all the other commotion.
She steps fully to the side of the booth, using the railings and balustrade as partial cover,
"Drake! protect that young snipe! Reign her in!" She calls over the growing noise... Even as her body responds to the growing chaos the smell of fear, the cries of pain reaching her ears. Her eyes lock onto the kneeling figue of Cassie even as her mind registers the sound which her ears have just heard, her mind has sorted.
CRACK!
Ysillith flicks her arm out and the brass staff extends with a telescoping 'shnick'. She lifts the device to her shoulder, even as the far bulb's petals slide open.
"Oooo...now ye've gone an' hurt me shiny..." She purrs, sighting on the blue creature, her finger caressing the activation stud.
*There is a flash of scintillating green*
From the regal booths a scintillating green beam flickers forth for but a moment. It's flash of colour almost indistinguishable from some of the venting clouds of colour-steam around it.
For but a brief instant there is an eldritch green line of pencil thin energy connecting the tall figure in the booth and that of the equipment over the stage. Then...gravity is allowed to exert is influence over one of the larger spot-light fixtures. The fall, silent. The effect...
** dramatic as the great metal device slams down on Wowbagger.
Ysillith grins then, with a chuckle, lowers her aiming point....
>:)
Ralph is surprised to find that he wasn't caught by the blue monster and tumbles to the ground. His eyes widen as he sees Wowbagger tear a chunk out of the stage and throw it at him. He rolls out of the way intending to come up on his feet, but finds his arm won't work for him causing him to again fall to the floor as the projectile crashes past him. At least he managed to get out of the way.
Ralph hears the helmet cat's voice coming from some ambiguous location, and pushes himself back to his feet despite his rather useless left arm. He grabs a jagged piece of the flooring that was thrown at him, and uses it as a sort of make shift epee. He moves in to jab it at Wowbagger's back hoping the disembodied voice will distract him enough that he can stab, and jump back before that blue thing can react. The light fixture crashing down on Wowbagger causes him to jump back to avoid being hit.
Rolling into a crawl she sees Ralph join her on the stage followed by a crack. 'He's shot. Snipers!' The pain has brought a clarity and simplicity of thought, so used to it is the French-woman. 'Rashida kidnapped, snipers in the auditorium, clock-work soldiers, Tesla-fields, General Darkov and Him' she thinks quickly.
Meowselsworth voice rolls through the auditorium, through the haze of pain Cassie is pleased that the Duchess is still alive. 'Even if the outsiders words are correct...' she thinks melancholically.
Rising into a fighting stance, her broken hand cradled against her side, just in time to feel Wowbaggers bloody claw grasp for her. Preternatural senses make her jump back but a thin line of blood reveals where the strike connected. She tries for an axe kick but it's blocked, the stalker knows his prey and where best to strike.
Demoralised, Cassie knows she cannot win, but maybe she can make a good showing. Just enough for Ralph to survive, maybe find Rashida...
Then Ralph strikes with his make-shift epee, but from the rafters someone tries to drop a light upon his lunging form. With a bit of luck it strikes Wowbagger, the creature crumpling under the assault.
The hard-wood stage built to take a pounding holds up under this impact; although the French-woman does feel it shake. "He's immortal, you cannot kill him. He always returns." she says distraught, knowing he will fill her nightmares.
She advances slowly towards an exposed area of dark flesh, seeing it twitch. "We must save Rashida." she states in a thick accent, with overtones of hopelessness in her voice.
Alyce apes Drake's stance and spits another shot at the stage, this one sparking *ping* off the huge light atop the prone alien.
"Captain?" Drake smiles at the attack and the weapon then sees Alyce's shot, "Much better but we best stop now. We don't want to hit the others. You're a natural."
Once she's taken a quick look around to ensure nobody is following and able to look up her dress, Rashida grabs the hem in one hand and scales the tall ladder rising into the darkness. She hears the Duchess moving about, taunting the assassin, her voice sometimes originating very close, other times far away.
At last she emerges onto a catwalk, light from the stage shining up from below. A burst of light and sparks from just below makes her teeter in surprise, but the back safety rail catches the small of her back securely. The proscenium curtains block her view of the seating area, but she can see Cassie staggering to her feet below as shots clink off the huge spot that has pinned Wowbagger to the stage.
Ralph carefully moves over to Cassie and jumps back when Alyce's shot rings off the light. "Geez sumbuddy's shootin at us Minx! an' we're wide open out here, I ain't sure dat light wuzn't meant fer me neider. I ain't know dis Rashida but I gots enough trubble savin ya." He puts his hand on her shoulder to get her to come along "C'mon we gots ta get offa da stage, we ain't gonna save noone if we gits shot. Let's git sum cover an' make a plan."
From under the wreckage of the lighting fixture, Wowbagger moved somewhat weakly. A twisted smile was on his lips and his eyes were open. He whispered into the air around him. "Is that you little helmet cat, Cat Who Cried Devil? Clever Cat in Devil's Clothing? Ha ha, I had heard of the strange spirits inhabiting this place."
"Fortunately, this is the stage upon which your foolish notions of victory will be dashed," Wowbagger says loudly with an arrogant chuckle to the pair of nobles facing him. A thin trickle of greenish blood came from the corner of his mouth. He reached out an arm from where he was pinned by the stage lighting which was still venting some kind of spirit gas. The clawed hand tapped on the floor of the stage, and a panel suddenly dropped away plunging the alien into the darkness below.
Ysillith pouts and puts up her staff.
"Awe...that were goin' t'be my next shot..." She shrugs, "Ah well...who wants t' live forever?" She asks no one in particular and slips her belt free. the length elongating into a corded whip of metal links which she flexes.
Vorian's search for the assassin's androgynous apprentice is interrupted when the sound of gunfire suddenly fills the air. Instinct kicking in, the noble immediately drops to the ground for cover, his back against the low balcony wall. Having only grown more terrified of the situation, Eleanor lets out a shrill, high-pitched scream. The cacophony stops immediately when a loud crash pierces the air, bringing with it an eerie silence.
What in blazes was that? Moving cautiously, Vorian peeks over the balcony rail, attempting to discern Wowbagger's current position. All he sees on the stage however, is the ruined light apparatus, as well as Cassie and Squirrel. Where did he go?
Crawling on her hands and knees, the Dowager Duchess approaches Vorian, tears running down her cheeks. "Oh, Vorian! What should we do? What should we do!? I don't want to die!"
"...stay here," Vorian says without looking at her, his attention on the subtle opening on the stage floor, "He is not after you." Tightly gripping his cane, he then moves quickly, making his way towards the box's exit. As he passes her, the Duchess grabs at one of his pant legs, looking up at him desperately.
"No, please don't leave me here alone! I don't want to die!"
Ignoring her pleas, Vorian pulls away from the sobbing noble and rushes through the curtain. I need to get to the others... he decides as he runs down the corridor, trying to get to the stage as quickly as he could.
Rashida watches from above as Wowbagger drops through the stage trap. That was rigged beforehand, or he has an accomplice, she thinks, He's heading down. Richard was heading down. Down seems to be the direction of the evening. She sees the automata clank up the aisle to the stage, forcibly seating people and closing in on the group around the gaping hole in the stage floor. I need to get there quickly.
She unwraps a lighting rope, tying it off with a loop or two around the cleat and tossing the excess over the rail. Removing her gold scarf, she catches her excess skirt between her legs, then wraps the scarf around the thick rope and her hands. With a nod to the Duchess on her beam, she rolls over the catwalk rail.
There's a streak of falling gold above the stage as Rashida slides down the rope. The fragile fabric of her scarf is slipperier than she expects, her acceleration more rapid than planned. Smoking from the friction, the fabric of her scarf gives in the midst of the slide and she silently plummets past Cassie and Ralph, straight into the hole, down into the darkness after Wowbagger.
Clockwork and spiritek powered automatons seem to have most of the people back in their seats. One older man wrestles free and runs down the aisle. As he reaches the doors, one of the spiritek bots raises a hand and a purple black spray of energy rushes towards the man in an untidy beam. It seems to tear the man literally, somehow treating the center of his back like paper. A generous hole appears and the man collapses dead on the floor.
Tendrils of the colorsteam seem to leak out of a nearby vent and absorb the hot red blood that the now corpse is releasing from the wound. Frau Stuptsmann opens the door to the chamber as this is happening.
"Viktor, no!" she cries. "The emotions will be enough, I promise!"
Stepping over the body she rushes past the body and frantically gestures at Master of Ceremonies. "MoC! Get the opera finished!"
There is a large sound of metal grating and air passing through the vents like a loud foghorn. The entire theater seems to shift.
The clockwork announcer nods once and gestures to the orchestra's conductor down in the pit. Music begins to play. MoC then points a finger at the performers still on the stage, and well everyone else there as well. A simple command is spoken at a very oppressing volume.
"SING."
Rashida hits the light obliquely, sliding and rolling sideways as her fall is broken. The luminous wisps of leaking spirit gas twist through the darkness, ruining her night vision. She comes to a crouch, unable to see but unharmed beyond a dull ache.
"Assassin! What is your price? Whatever the bounty is on these people, I will double it!" Her shout is barely audible over the sounds of grating metal and hissing steam.
The wisps of blue mist lick at her feet, a vision in her dark dress & auburn hair.
Half crouched mouth agape Cassie listens nods to Ralphs words, keeping still in case the blue outsider acted. Yet when he did, the trapdoor opening up beneath it's trapped form Cassie still jumped back shocked.
Just as she turns to look at Ralph, Rashida's golden form slips past resplendent. "Rashida!" she calls watching the Goddess fly through the air and down into the darkness. A shining comet streaking across the stage.
The dancer turns to Ralph, a serious look in her tear-lined face; "I promised I would protect her. I will." There is a hint of despair underneath the resolve.
With a pirouette she moves to the edge of the hole and drops from sight. Finger-tips on her unbroken hand grasping the trap-door, her fall arresyed she hangs in the darkness - then drops after Rashida.
Drake watches as anathema reigns within the theatre and he shakes his head, "It doesn't look like it will be easy to keep you safe but I'm going to make sure you are. Here. Sit for a moment."
As he hauls Alyce to sit beside him a Clockwork automaton comes in, looks about then leaves. He sighs in relief then peers over the railing, "How good are you at climbing trestles? You look like a gal who could do that sneaking out of your room at night." He winks as he teases the young lady.
"I can hold my own," Alyce says modestly, "But those clockwork things are in the aisles down there. How do we get to the stage, if that's where we are going?"
As Vorian bounds around the next corner, he suddenly freezes on the spot, a look of horror passing over his face. The screams of nobles and otherwise fill the corridor as clockwork automatons chase after them, attempting to corral them back to their seats. Their efforts initially prove fruitless, but in just seconds the violence escalates. A woman screeches as she is dragged along, her nails scraping against the floor. A nearby man has his head slammed against the wall, before being slung over his attacker's shoulder and carried away.
"PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND RETURN TO YOUR SEAT," one of the automatons says loudly to another hapless noble, its cold metallic fingers wrapped around his neck. The man flails at it helplessly as he chokes for air. Tightening its grip, the machine bears down and pushes the man to the floor. "I WILL ESCORT YOU BACK TO YOUR SEAT..."
Grimacing at the sight before him, Vorian reaches for his cane with his other hand and gives it a sudden pull. With one fluid motion, the entirety of the concealed blade is slid out of its sheath. Irreverently tossing the sheath aside, he quickly steps toward the clockwork man and thrusts the cane-sword at it. With but a jolt of resistance, the tip of the blade tears straight through the side of the automaton's head. The machine's grip on the man loosens immediately, but just for good measure Vorian gives the blade a twist. Raising his foot, he then kicks the motionless machine, knocking it aside.
"Are you alright, sir?" Vorian asks the noble without looking, his eyes still glued on the felled automaton. When he does not receive an answer however, he turns, only to find that the man was no longer moving either. Stooping down to his side, he moves to check his pulse, but finds it unnecessary. His head lolls to the side with but a touch, his neck clearly broken. Vorian recoils from the realization, before standing again.
"PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEAT!" The musings of the clockwork staff members grow louder as they approach Vorian, four more of them moving to surround him. Looking past them, he sees that a number of other guests are similarly incapacitated, perhaps dead.
What is going on here?!
She drops through the darkness, tucking into a roll and back upon her feet. The fall didn't seem that far compared to some, she looks around extending her senses in the dark. However her other-world senses are not quite focussed and she cannot tell anything.
"SQUIRREL! If you fly, I'll catch you." she calls up to him. Whirling in murk she looks for Rashida's golden form.
Ralph watches Cassie jump into the hole in the stage after the immortal assassin and God... or whatever the Massri were. "I guess dat leaves me ta try ta protec' you den." He mutters to himself.
He peers into the hole as Cassie calls up to him "ahh... yeah I'm coming jus' hang on..." He grumbles more quietly looking at the hole in his left arm "Dis is gonna hurt..." Then he hops down into the dark under the stage.
Turning in the dark she feels exactly where the youth is, the tingling connection between the pair still active and that worries her slightly. She had worried when she saw that he was shot, but the emotions of the evening had run away with her.
Thoughts tumble through her mind just like Ralph form through the darkness. Bracing her legs she opens her arms to receive the man. Despite his slight size and youth he collides with her; knocking her to the floor. Even with him in her arms she manages to break the fall and land safely upon her back.
Flat on the floor with him in her arms, she smiles genuinely at him. "Whoops." Then the reality dawns on her, all the words and actions of the past - her face grows guarded.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow..." Ralph grimaces at the pain in his shoulder and offers Cassie somewhat of a smile as he lays over her "Nice catch sweethart, an umm yer a real special dame, but I ain't usually do dis onna furst date." He struggles slightly to get to his feet "Oooh... course if we ackchally git outta dis I might make a 'ception for ya." He offers his good hand to Cassie to help her up "C'mon we gots a golden dame ta save an' a blue 'mmor'al ta git rid of."
"Did I say we were going down?" Drake chuckles as he gets on the trestle and pats it beside himself, "These are strong which is good because we can't go too fast or they'll notice. Once we get to the top we will get on a thick beam and see if we can find where the others went. The duchess is up there somewhere. I'm sure she'll be able to help."
As soon as she's on the trestle he will start moving making sure that she's doing ok.
Ysillith sighs, even as she adjusts the grip upon her whip. She is already using the solid balustaude to make her staff collapse again.
"Here, give me a moment an' I'll have all three of us down there." She grins, "Don't want t' miss out on all the fun now, do we?" She winks. it is obvious the tall Amazon is suddenly very much enjoying things.
Alyce looks between Drake and Ysillith in confusion. "Up, down... I don't know what you two are planning, but I'm not going out there with those horrible things. I'm no hero!" She places the silver revolver back into the clutch and hands the bag to Drake. "Here, this belongs to Lady DuSollier, I think. I'm sure she'll want it."
With that, she resumes her seat on the fainting couch.
Drake looks at the two women and shrugs, "Well." He stops for a moment and looks down then back to the women, "I was actually thinking that the duchess could find us a good spot to hide in the rafters. Those clockwork pieces are getting more destructive with every moment so figured that would be safest but if you wish to wait here then I'll wait with you. I have promised to keep you safe with my life. Oh here, Ysillith. If you'd be so kind as to give this back to Cassie."
He hands the bag to Ysillith then sits beside Alyce.