Jim picked up his dropped guns and tried to cover the flanks this time so they didn't get any more surprises.
The shortgunman dodged Nurai's tackle attempt and grabbed the door, opening the door to find Cerise. "Did...you jump out a window?" He attempted to dodge past.
Sensible Nurai would want to grab of his phone or wallet or take photos or something to help identify him later with how jumpy the little guy was, but in her rage she continued her pursuit to tackle him and glad to see Cerise down here to help with dealing with vile-springy-man.
Aurora followed after Cerise in leaping from the window, with a landing that was the opposite of graceful but produced a powerful metal clang.
"You are annoying and I hunger for a kill, so either you cease resisting or I'll stop going easy on you."
Cerise's response was to punch the fleeing would-be murderer in the face as hard as she could. Effective? Yes. Elegant or subtle? ...Not so much. Delicacy was, quite frankly, wasted on people like this. She put that kind of charm into her dancing - when it came to taking down villains, she preferred the direct approach.
for
for
"...Totally worth it." she said as her fist sunk in, fueled by all the sparkly energy she could shove into it.
Seeing that the dwarfshort gunman is now surrounded, Remington does not fire the man's own gun at him. He darts in to skewer him, instead.
Cerise's assault swept the gunman to the ground with a thud!, and Remington nailed him to the ground. Nurai slamed a foot down on his chest, pinning him.
Wiggling for a moment, the wounded gunman looked around. "Well, that seems to be that. So...ransom, hostage or murder?" He doesn't seem especially phased by the situation.
Nurai growled at the man beneath her boots as she pressed down harder.
The shadow dug their claws into the man beneath their summoner's boots with a dark chuckle.
Nurai's voice, still full of rage, stated, "As I already said, we're here for information and evidence on the current issues within Fever, including the suspicious death of Chief Waymore, brother of Elza Pine. Of course, now I also want information on you, who was on the phone, who this Crim is, and why in the universe you thought it was a great idea to attack us? Beyond that I haven't decided..." as her glowing eyes glared down at him, looking like one wrong move would bring her rage more physically to bear on him...
Remington unceremoniously turns out the man's pockets, removing anything that looks dangerous or unidentifiable. No, scratch that: he'll remove everything.
Cerise let Remington search the attacker - he seemed better at that. Instead, she simply clenched a fist, ready to interrupt him if he tried anything. He was down, and if he did anything funny, Cerise had no problem at all with also putting him out.
She did, however, take a moment to activate her Sleeves of Many Garments and refresh her clothing so she didn't look quite so... exploded.
Remington takes the man's headset and hands it to someone who knows how to turn it off with the request to do so.
Jim put away his pistols and pulled out the rifle, watching the action from the window as he kept an eye out inside.
"Well...hey, that's very impolite you know. Look, if anything bites you when you're in there I'm not taking responsibility." As an assortment of large shells, knives and thieves' tools, and a smartphone were produced from various pockets, along with an unusual looking belt.
"Look, I'm not gonna tell you anything. And you're not going to torture me in a garden where my finest shriek will bring the fuzz. So how about you use that phone and talk to someone who will speak to you, rather than me. Who'll just point out you're all too tall and sweaty and full of bulletholes." He paused. "Heh, holes."
"Who do you think the police, any police, will sympathise more with, you - or the teenage girls..." Nurai said with a gesture towards Aurora and Cerise and a sharp smile still full of rage and contempt and little if any attempt to keep her voice down......and the men that you hurt, that you shot, that you bragged you would kill and destroy their bodies, for...for what? Kicks? Money? What?!? What is it that made you smile and wink as you shot them?" she held her position over him, her shadow continued to dig their claws into the man.
"Also, I feel like the police will have a lot of questions about the exploded grenades." Cerise observed. "That's, uh, pretty serious use of weapons, and they care about things like that."
"Oh yes. I'm sure they'll have lots of questions." He pointed at the phone. "Tell you what, let's give them a ring and all go to police custody. Happy to confess to them if you like. 'Yes officer, it was I who detonated the magical grenades and teleported away!'" The gunman smirked.
"Crazy man who attacks teenage girls isn't a better look even if they are strong enough to drag you back into the house..." she said through gritted teeth followed by a frustrated sigh that the man wouldn't even tell her why he had shot at the others.
She leaned into him as she continued, her voice low as she continued "I'm happy to make the call, though I don't know why you'd assume I wouldn't call specialists. I'm sure there are some locally...or I could call farther afield. Confessions over the fires are a Synod favourite though Avatars of Truth can be annoying, Umbral military police might be quicker though extracting information from your shadow has nasty potential side effects, I'm sure a dryad would love to hear that bad tree joke you made earlier and they always sentence based on their lifespan, Orcs would have a lot of fun though werewolves might be better for dealing with those claw marks and have spent a lot longer integrating into human forces if you really want them involved..." her tone mixed anger with vengeful glee with each group she listed.
Nurai typically wasn't fond of calling any of these in, each had their pros and cons and having them for an emergency in her back pocket had been useful at times, this scum certainly didn't deserve the issues any of them would cause before the disagreements over jurisdiction were even considered. She wasn't thinking of that yet though, more on which group would cause him the most pain to make up for what he had done...
Remington tries to think of any facilities in town that he knows of that are capable of detaining non-mortals and their specialized abilities. Maybe some of them are still active.
"My ideas for him are less merciful than yours. He won't talk, he's no use to us, and leaving him alive only gives us a liability. Oh, by the way."
She summoned Geidihr, moving the deadly sharp tip close to the dwarf's eyes. "I don't know if you are a svartalf or what, but you may notice this as a Valkyrie spear. And in case you are so flippant about your own death because you have safeguards, know that these can trap souls. There shall be no resurrection for you."
Which was not the whole truth: Geidihr could only hold one soul at a time, and a willing one, but still hopefully enough for the arrogant little man.
"You people deal in some loco stuff." Jim thought as he kept the rifle sighted. He furrowed his brow as he idly hoped someone would gag the guy and drag him back inside.
"Clock is ticking, amigos..." he mumbled to himself.
"I'd prefer to avoid killing anyone... buuuuut I get the feeling anyone who cheerfully uses grenades as traps has taken out more than one or two innocents." Cerise observed thoughtfully. She stared down at the man they'd beaten up for a few minutes... and sparkles began to gleam around her body.
"What is this...innocence?" the short gunman asked with an exaggerated look of confusion. His eyes slowly moved towards Aroura's spear, however. Her words seemed to have concerned him more than being threatened with pain, death or the police. "Look, you want to do the Nordic thing? Then try Geas. You know that one, right? So, use the shiny phone and talk to someone who can have a chat. Or hand me in to the cops, or one of the magical versions. Or stab me, if you like." He seemed less happy with the last one now.
The rage began to leave Nurai, replaced with tiredness, though the contempt did not leave her face, "That is also an options though..." Nurai commented to Aurora, "...at another time I'd debate death can be more merciful. For now, getting him inside seems best, I'm tired of him and being out here - we have better things to do. If you want to use that though, I won't argue." she said with a shrug as she leaned back and reached into her pockets. In one hand she pulled out her phone. The other, her dryadic healing wand. She texted, not intending to fully move off of the guy until the others grabbed him or stabbed him. The shadow continued as they were, glaring and digging a clawed foot into the vile man.
For her part, Cerise was mainly waiting for a decision to be made. She wasn't here to tell others what to do - she was a bodyguard, first and foremost, and she was content to let her injuries continue healing as the principals - those she was guarding - made a choice.
Remington tries to think of any facilities in town that he knows of that are capable of detaining non-mortals and their specialized abilities. Maybe some of them are still active.
[dice=Know. (Local) or Lore (Fever)]1d20+7
"I'm okay with stabbing him," Remington says with regret in his voice. "I don't see any other choice. Aside from coming back to try to kill us again, he's also a danger to Fever's failing Wards."
"No one paid me to break any wards," the gunman said with a small shrug followed by a wince. "Totally would if I was paid to, though."
"Yes, let's continue inside." Aurora said, lifting the short fellow up. "Does anyone here know any geas?"
"...I can provide physical violence on-demand." Cerise said in the tone of someone who knew that wasn't really fulfilling the goal, but who wanted to be noticed and provide what help they could. She was looking much better by now, and would be completely recovered from her injuries in short order.
"Oh, a woman after my own heart." The gunman looked at the others. "You see? She knows what it's all about. You take the job. Violence happens. Then you get paid. I really don't understand why you're all so bitter. It's just a job. Am I complaining that you exploded my left kidney? No! I mean, it hurts a bit, but it's just a kidney."
"Ah, I understand," Remington says once they've pulled him inside.
"In that case, I have a job for you: You tell us who sent you and any other relevant information that you have regarding the dying Wards of Fever. Your payment will be your other kidney and other vital organs in no worse shape than they are right now by the time this conversation is over.
"If you're concerned about your reputation for not finishing a job, don't be. The Wards that protect Fever are falling, so it won't be much longer before the mundane police arrive due to your various explosions, so you're reputation will be in even greater danger once they arrive.
"Tick tock..." Remington finishes, looking at the man expectantly.
The gunman sighed. "Hey, Valkyrie. Explain the idea behind 'geas' will you?" He shrugged his unwounded shoulder. "No one ever believes me when I tell them stuff anyway."
"V has a guy who can deal with him for a bit." Nurai called out as they went inside. The summoner and her shadow leaned against a wall and looked over at the man with a frustrated sigh. "Can you tell us if you shot at us because we disturbed whatever your job is here or if we are the job? I'd guess the former since you didn't ask who we are but we're a bit distinctive...just want to know now if one or more of us has a bounty on us or something if that doesn't break your oath-thing."
"Didn't you watch the anime? Geases are magical compulsions- wait a second."
Rather than appealing to her own recollection, Aurora hit Wikipedia on her smartphone. "Ah, it's not a nordic term, it's gaelic. It's a taboo that brings ruin, possibly even death, if violated. Uhm, from what it says about Macbeth, it can overlap with a prophecy, and in common use they are quests bestowed as punishment. I guess that's what it means as for "taboo of obligation". Ok, but now I'm getting confused. Do you want us to place you under a geas, or do you have one compelling you to silence, thus making our interrogation useless?"
Cerise waited patiently - she hadn't heard "slam him" or "let him go" yet, so she wasn't doing either... though she did physically drag him to get him inside with the others when they went to someplace a bit more private.
"Speaking hypothetically, how much more would you pay for the services of someone who was, say, bound to speak nothing about your goals? How much more could you explain to avoid misunderstandings without worrying your contract worker would reveal things you don't want let out." He grinned. "Hypothetically, it's quite a lot. But ah, such loyalty comes with a price...one without dollar signs. Loyalty for loyalty." He nodded to the phone again.
When the others came back inside, Jim nodded to them and put away the rifle. His pistols came back out and disappeared at his sides.
"Did anyone pick up the guy's phone? See who he's talking to?" He asked through furrowed brow.
"I think we need to finish sweeping this place and get to our own safehouse to patch up. I have a first aid kit, but I'm hoping you people have something more impressive."
Her shadow stretched out behind Nurai as the two moved slightly apart from where the pair leaned against the wall.
Nurai held up her dark wood wand slightly towards Jim with a tired smile and her eyes still on her phone, "Good ideas. Not sure if this is more impressive, but I'll get to patching you & the others up once I've finished talking to V...and then I'll help check the house, I'll try to do a full check for magic and then yeah..." Nurai said sigh as she texted the address to Valda to pick up the guy. She foggily recalled Remington having looted the headset but wasn't sure where it went after that...
"Bullet wounds and grenades do that," the gunman nodded sagely.
"Bullet wounds only do so much." Cerise said, visibly healed of all wounds after the amount of time that had passed. She wasn't as full of sparkles as she had been earlier, but she looked ready to brawl all over again if need be.
"I noticed," the figure said, obviously intruiged as to how that worked.
"Cerise and I will watch our guest until Valda's solution arrives. The rest of you finish searching the house. Somebody hostile knows we're here, so we need to move quickly."
The house was clearly unoccupied, from the asutere kitchen to the minimialmist living room with only a pair of couches and a TV set. Apart from the medical room and bathroom upstairs, the final room was a home office. It had clearly been ransacked, a bag sitting next to the door. The computer was an older model, its screen saver the 3-d pipe one. Several filing cabinets back one wall.
~~~~
A small red van pulls up at the front of the house and a tall, plain man with dark skin and a shaven head walked into the Garden, knocking at the front door. "Valda sent me?" he explained with the trace of an accent.
At the man's curiosity, Cerise just smiled. She had no particular desire to explain her brand of... resilience. When people had more information, they might be able to find a way around it. She looked up as the new person arrived, but kept most of her focus on the assassin she was keeping in place.
"This man." Remington never takes his eyes off their ambusher until he is in the back of the newcomer's van. "He knows guns and explosives. He teleports. He's under compulsion, but I think he's a mercenary."
"It's true," the gunman replied, nodding. "Also I have a really big..." He glanced at Cerise. "Gun. A big gun. Yes. Oh, and a really big di-"
"That is enough of that," the man replied, slapping a pair of metal cuffs on the man. Runes flared into light briefly as he did. "Mage cuffs," he explained. "Should stop him disapearing until we can put him somewhere safe."
Hauling the gunman up one handed, he added, "Valda asks if you have any other needs?"
"Also I have a really big..." He glanced at Cerise. "Gun. A big gun."
"Not anymore, you don't," Remington shows that he now has the mercenary's gun before stowing it in his coat.
Hauling the gunman up one handed, he added, "Valda asks if you have any other needs?"
Remington shakes his head no, but he looks at the others to confirm.
Jim shrugged. "I wouldn't mind taking a look at that gun..." He said, eyeing Remington for signs of cooperation.
"He may be under weird magical compulsion, but any information you can get would be nice. Oh, and check the phone." Cerise suggested. "It probably has access to plenty of useful data."