Hailey, figuring Hans may have enhanced senses, whispers to the big man, "The kid is who the spell's targetting."
As Hans moves up to the corner to get his coffee, he makes an act of getting a good whiff of it, when he's really just making sure he gets the scent of the kid so he can track him. "Danke"
"Easy there, kid. He's just a big guy, he's not gonna come over the counter at you," Cooper teases idly as he tugs his wallet from his pocket, digging within for some cash. "Besides, his bark is worse than his bite. I'll go with maple frosted, thanks."
Once all of his massive amount of food is paid for, he moves over beside Hans to wait for it, glancing up to the man. "So, when you sleep, do you dream in German or English? I've always wondered how that works."
"German of course. "
Gemma eyes up the kid nervously, then looks around for a spot to hop the counter and check out what's in the back. Maybe the whole shop is just a front for something more sinister.
Gemma slips over the counter and into the kitchen, such as it is. Dunkin doesn't really cook anything in store, so there is a bank of microwaves and a big freezer. The donuts are delivered by truck twice a day, so there aren't even friers.
While the back is disappointing for anyone who likes food or cookery, there isn't anything more sinister than a big tub of tuna salad and an unlabeled employee beverage.
There is another employee in the back, a woman of about 39 heating up an egg for an egg sandwich. She slams her hand down on the microwave and says, "Blake, have you been using the oven again? It's on the fritz."
Hailey waits till Hans and Cooper have their food, and she nudges Cooper towards a booth in the corner, so she can watch the young guy behind the counter, and not worry about being accidentally bumped into. She whispers to them, "I'm going to stay and keep an eye on the mark. Not sure where Gemma is."
Cooper stumbles a step or two before he moves to the booth in question on his own, getting the picture. Sure, it takes him three or four nudges, but eventually he understands. As he settles down across from Hans, he tries to make small-talk in the meantime as the ladies work. "So, what do you do for fun? Aside from sing beautiful solo acts in the shower, of course."
Hans blushes a bit "Didn't know you could hear that..." then louder "Me? I read, keep in shape. Shoot. Hunt."
Blake stares across the dining area at Hans, then turns to his coworker and says, "Hey, cover for me for a minute, I'm going to go grab some more chocolate glazed."
He steps into the back, walking past the woman at the microwave.
"It's not my fault, man. The thing is just crap."
He continues past Gemma and undoes the latch on the back door, pushing it open and taking a deep breath of the cool autumn air. The he straightens up as if to walk out the door into the alley...
"Big ol' drafty house with echoey hallways, man. We heard everything," Cooper replies cheerfully, only teasing the larger man just a bit. "But seriously, though. Hunting's cool; never did a whole lot myself, but when you've got the natural talents that I've got, there's no a lot of fun in it. What sort of books do you read?"
Gemma tails after this Blake kid into the back, careful to keep out of everyone's way so she doesn't get bumped in to. She leans against the wall and watches the kid as he opens the door and stands there to get some air. The air is wonderfully refreshing. She takes a moment to look around for something to put in the door as a door jam should Blake opt to go more fully outside so she can watch where he goes without getting locked out herself or having to hold the door open in the most conspicuous manner.
Blake ducks out the back door and into a driveway leading to a garage under the building to the left and the street on the right.
Gemma blocks open the door, (major health code violation), and slips out after him. He rushes across the street to a gas station and a pay phone. Who knew there where still pay phones?
He picks up the phone, dials a number, waits, and begins talking when the line connects.
"I need to talk to Russell, man. That dude from the apartment last night is here. Yeah, the big one. And he, like, looked right through me, man! You gotta help me out here. ...Yah, I'm at work. Get here man, get here."
Barring intervention, he heads back to the store.
Gemma tails him, nearly on his heels. She keeps pace with him and peeks over his shoulder in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the number dialed up on the ridiculously old fashioned (probably from the 80s or something) payphone.
She listens to the conversation carefully, making a mental note of the name Russell.
Get here? He's calling in back up? Ugh, great...
She follows Blake back to the donut shop, intent upon jumping back over the counter and finding Cooper, Hans, and Hailey to give them the heads up.
Gemma hops the counter and scans the room for Hans and Coop, then skips across to their table in the corner. She slips into a chair beside Cooper and checks for anyone looking her way before popping back into sight.
"That kid, Blake, bolted out the back door to a payphone to call someone. He asked for Russell. Means there's at least three people involved: Blake, the guy who answered the phone, and whoever this Russell character is. He knows Hans knows, and he's asking them to get here. Any plan? Oh, look my favorite!"
Gemma grabbed the sprinkle donut and the medium frappe from Cooper's stash of goodies, clearly claiming them as her own.
"Hey, rude. I was gonna eat that," Cooper admonishes without any real weight put into his words, especially when he moves on to devouring the next doughnut in the long line to the chopping block. If anyone looks at him funny about the sheer volume of junk food he is shoveling into his mouth, he explains around the doughnuts, "Magic'f har' work, don' judsh."
With a quick sip of his coffee, he clears his throat afterward and asks the group, "So, we're staying to see who it is, right? We want to confront them or anything? What's the plan?"
"I can go out and find a place where I won't be seen. I'm pretty sure I've got his scent so I can track him later. "
Gemma, you can get the phone number.
"Probably don't want to split up if they got more people coming. I'd rather have everyone close. Any of you got a pen and paper? I think I caught the number the kid dialed and I want to jot it down before I forget."
Hailey will pull a pen and paper from her pocket, and with a quick look around to make sure nobody's paying close attention, she'll fade into view. If anyone is watching, she'll stay invisible and just put the pen and paper on the table.
"So, we're not splitting up and Hans isn't gonna try to track them on his own. Does that mean we're gonna just try to throw down in a fairly packed Dunkin Donuts?" Cooper asks as he casts a glance around the establishment as if to illustrate his point. "Because I'd really rather not be liable for a ton of property damage, y'know? Not to mention a lot of people could potentially get hurt."
Gemma jumps at the sudden appearance of the paper and pen (and possibly Hailey depending on circumstance) before giving a grumbled thanks before jotting the number down.
"No, we are not going to make a scene here. Not even if they pick a fight. Well, I mean, do what you have to to avoid getting killed or dragged off..."
"Yes, this is not a good place for a fight. Best we go outside and wait for them. Ambush the ambush. " in a low voice.
Cooper nods and pushes himself up from his seat, moving to shove the remainder of his doughnut into his mouth before grabbing the rest of his things. He chews quickly as he pushes his chair in and makes for the door with an emphatic, "Omwar'!" Which will likely draw a bit of scolding from Gemma, considering talking with his mouth full is hardly polite.
Hans follows Cooper to an ambush location.
You slide into the alley beside the building, the ladies slipping back into their magical concealment.
Your wait is only about 10 minutes before a white box van with "Lenn's Plumbing, we do it right!" stenciled on the side pulls up in front of the shop, parking right in front of the door where there is no parking.
In the driver's seat their is a man perhaps in his forties, balding, heavy, mustache like a walrus, thick glasses. From the passenger seat climbs a younger man, skinny, worn face of an addict, he wears a leather jacket and pats the pocket as he gets out, as if making sure something is there.
The side door slides open and two others hop to the curb, a man and woman in their twenties, matching chin length black hair, covering an eye. One of those pairs you aren't sure if they are twins, a skinny lesbian couple, or something else. They both wear tweed vests over black shirts and retro grey slacks. One clutches a Louisville Slugger, the other a length of heavy chain.
whispering to the group
"I think we need to take the driver first so the rest can get away easily. Does anyone have a good quiet way to do that? "
Hailey pipes up in a low, quiet voice, so only her group can hear, "I can try to paralyze them with a splat."
"Nah, hit the meth head first, Hailey. Looks like he's packing. Hans, you take the big guy. Gem and I will get the twins. I'd rather not use the doppelgangers in broad daylight if I can help it, so this'll be interesting. If any of them are wizards, yell at me and I'll swap dance partners with you. Sound good?"
His suggested plan finished, Cooper scarfs down the other two donuts he has yet to finish with competitive eating levels of haste. He washes it down with the last sip of his drink before tossing the lot of his garbage into the nearest bin.
"Wait, so you mean we're just going to fight them?" Gemma asked curiously, eyeing up the group who had unloaded from the van with uncertainty.
"Not just, you know, have a good ol' sit down hear to heart?"
She tried to size up the lesbian twins or whatever they were, gauging her odds against them.
Well, if Coop thinks we can...
"Alright, well I guess it's now or never?"
Round 1 Initiative
Gemma/Hans
Cooper/Hailey
Opponents: Big guy in the van, meth head, and the wonder twins. And Blake in the shop, I suppose.
Hans is a bit dubious on the plan, but there is no time to dawdle.
He moves to neutralize his assigned target. Better see if I can deal with him without getting hairy.
He will move up, reach through the window, and try to quickly get him in a headlock to try for a sleeper hold to put him down.
Hans moves in, but the walrus man in the front seat reacts almost as if he knows Hans is coming. He leans away from Hans reaching in, leaving Hans grabbing at air. He has something tightly clenched in his right hand, the hand away from the window.
Hailey takes a better look at the meth head to see if he has any charms or magic about him, before firing.
The paralyze paintball splats into his jacket, leaving him as unparalyzed as anyone else.
Cooper frowns uncertainly as two of his friends fail their efforts, beginning to have second thoughts as he calls up his will. But not before he tries to get a good look at whatever happens to be in Mr. Mustache's hand.
Tendrils of invisible force slither up around the limbs of their foes to try to haul all four of them straight down to the pavement.
Tendrils of force capture the twins and the man driving the van, pinning them and keeping them from moving.
Somehow the addict breaks free.
Invisible to sight and sound, Gemma moves in to tag one of the two twins with a touch, her energy focused on her trademark ability to give them an upset tummy.
Chain twin is overcome with nausea, burping enormously as his/her cheek is pressed into the sidewalk.
Skinny pulls something from his jacket pocket and lobs it toward Cooper (and Hailey, I think). The sphere bounces across the ground and bursts with a huge flash.
Bat twin twists and wrenches himself off of the ground, barely escaping the grasp of Cooper's magic. Free of the force, he rushes toward Cooper, attempting to take advantage of the noise and confusion to get within bat range. He appears to be unaffected by the grenade.
Walrus man flicks the Zippo that is clenched in his hand, releasing a spark that grows into a fist sized ball of blue flame that launches itself into Hans.
Hans takes a flaming ball to the face, yells in pain, and collapses in a heap next to the van.
Hailey sees the object flying towards them and turns her head from the blast, and covers her head, but not fast enough as the blinding flash puts huge spots in front of her vision. Hoping that none of these guys can see through her invisibility, she backs slowly up till she has a wall at her back and listens for noise from one of the foes and fires the paralysis splat.
At the sight of a grenade of some sort, Cooper pivots and draws an arm up to shield his eyes in the crook of his elbow. The gesture seems enough that he is able to shrug off the worst of the effects of the flashbang.
As he shakes his head to clear it, he turns back to face the twin with the bat and draws a nearly invisible field of force around himself. With luck, he can keep this twin occupied trying to beat on him ineffectually for long enough for the rest of his group to deal with the rest. Not to be deterred, his force tendrils snap back upward again to try to snatch at the addict with the same effect intended.
Hailey fires at Bat twin as he moves toward Cooper and he drops like a bucket of water.