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Sorry for my absence. Things have been crazy around here. I've moved and gotten a new job that has me with almost no free time during the week. 10 hour days paired with over an hour of commute time each way. Ick. Anyways, as it stands, I'm just not able to keep posting in the forums any more. Really sorry about this. Good luck with the campaign!
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.
"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?"
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..."
"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."
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.
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 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.
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 leaves Hailey to her work, and leaves Hans and Cooper to be bait. She takes the time to look around at each face in the shop, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be paying any extra attention to Hans.
"No time like the present!" With that, Gemma blinks out of sight and sound, then gives Hans and Cooper a shove towards the donut shop.
Was at the top of my last Round Recap-New Round post in a spoiler dubbed "Good News Everyone!". I had just realized my notes about when you level were wrong. I had it set for the end of this fight, but the book was designed for you to be level 2 FOR this fight. So you didn't miss it ;D You'll be level two for your next post.
I think I'd have a hard time not trying to be a Teen Titan in something like that xD
Gemma looked like she was about to protest before she realized how much happier she'd be to have back up beside her. "Hailey, you can be extra sneaky, can't you? Full camo? Then it'd just look like Hans and Coop going in. We'd all be there, nothing would take us by surprise."
Gemma shrinks at the use of her last name and the implications that she isn't people. Rather than respond verbally, she just nods her head vigorously before excusing herself to the ladies room. When she comes back out, everyone is being shuffled out the door by Hans while Hailey follows her piece of string. Gemma would have had some seriously witty remarks had someone not just suggested there were folks out there who'd have liked her head on a platter. ~ ~ ~ When the string makes a hard turn towards donuts, Gemma wasn't going to complain. She could use some coffee and sweet anyways. "So.. in there then?" she asked with a look of curiosity to Hailey. "Maybe I ought to go in first? Scout it out a bit?"
Gemma jumps and shields her eyes when he pulls out the cylinder, then turns bright red when it turns out not to be a memory-wiper thingy from MiB. "Oh uh, I got tied up with STFU and these guys and..." she trails off, looking to Hans. It was more his story to tell and she wasn't sure if she was supposed to keep her mouth shut. "You know, I;m really just trying to get some PUFF exemption and..." At this point, she's just rambling.
Gemma looked rather alarmed at the Men in Black pounding on Hans' front door. She looked about wide eyed, looking very much like a startled deer caught in headlights. "They're real," she whispered to herself. She was even more startled when they approached them. Was that one huge guy trying to break his door down? Rather than introduce herself, Gemma hovered behind Cooper and peeked out from behind him nervously. Maybe they'd arrest her for being fey-sih. Or Lock up Hans for being a giant killer wolfman. Or take Cooper and Hailey away for experimentation or--- Or maybe Hans knew them? Ooh... And one of them was quite handsome. She followed in, keeping close to Cooper but slightly less intimidated than she had been. "So... do you have one of those little memory wiping things like in the movie?" Apparently she thinks these people really are the Men in Black.
"Fair enough. Let's get going."
Gemma seeks out Hailey again and quickly drops her invisibility. "Nothing of interest up there. Not that I could find anyways. Just old books, nothing really related. We should hurry and get somewhere you can do your wizard voodoo," she says in a rush. Before Hailey can answers, she grabs the attention of Hans and Cooper, motioning for them to follow her. She heads back down the block a bit before waiting for the others to group up with her. "Where do we want to do this? Hans' place again? Or can we just do it in some back alley like a seedy gang?"
Seeing nothing out of place or of any real interest, Gemma scuttles back down the stairs to gather up her allies. When she sees people coming with a new window, she darts to make her exit. With luck, she'll get out before they close her in.
"No need to distract much. The guy seems busy with his insurance agent anyways. Not like anyone's gonna hear or see me anyways. Cooper might need an eye on him before the cops get more suspicious about his questions," she adds, pointing over her shoulder at the young wizard. With that, Gemma, once again, slips back into her invisibility (again) and heads back in to the shop (again) to see if she can't find the door up to the floor with the rare books.
Rare books, huh... I wonder what kind of books that means. First editions of some classics? Maybe signed books? I suppose I could snoop a little more. With luck, Hailey will keep the other two out of trouble. Wait, no, she's gotta do something with the blood. I'll get that out first. Gemma makes yet another stealthy trip out the broken window and again pops up beside Hailey, this time giving her a whispered vocal warning first. She hands over the bits of blood she'd been able to flake up off the ground and set into a piece of paper she folded into a pocket. Like I said, no idea whose it actually is, but worth a shot, right? Also, I heard the owner talking about some rare books on the third floor. My instinct is to be curious about their nature. In my experience, which admittedly is limited to fanciful shows on the telly, that could be anything from signed books, first editions of classics, or spooky voodoo books. My interest, of course, would be if they are spooky voodoo books. Maybe with dark magics and what nots. Thoughts?"
On the way out, Gemma catches the sound of voices and makes a quick beeline for their source. Apparent;y the owner and his insurance agent are chatting it up, presumably about the events of the theft. Wouldn't hurt to eavesdrop a bit, Gemma thought, pausing to listen before going back out.
"Well, I mean it's dried, but I can try to scrape up the bits," Gemma said with a shrug, taking the offered materials. She took a glance around before using Hailey as a meat-shield to conceal herself as she once again vanished from sight again. She carefully reentered the building and found her way back to the spot. She sighed, hoped whose ever this was had a clean bill of health, and scrapped up what she could of the drop, if any.
"There's a bit in the carpet. Don't know how I'd get it up. You got a knife, by chance? Or can you just go in and do it yourself without the need to physically take it with us?"
Could be anyone's really, with all this broken glass. The shopkeeper's, insurance guy's, policeman's... But also possibly the culprit. Wonder if Hans can do anything like track scent... Not that she could get him in here to try with the cop out front. Hailey's possibly a wizard thing. I can't tell with that dumb toy gun she uses. Maybe that's the magic thing... Whatever, maybe she can do some magical wizard blood voodoo to track it. Gemma steps back out the way she cam in and seeks out Hailey, only becoming visible when she's right beside her. "Blood on the carpet near where a Sherlock book is missing. Could be any number of people's including our mystery culprit. And chance you got some weirdo wizard juju for tracking?" she asks in a hushed tone.
Gemma carefully steps through the bookshop, ensuring she doesn't step on any broken glass or anything else the police might consider evidence. She quickly does a skim over the books, looking for the Sherlock Holmes novels. She keeps her eyes open for anywhere that looks like a book might have been recently removed, such as a gap or missing volume. While she makes that search, her eyes sweep the rest of the shop for anything else out of place the police might have missed. Maybe a kleenex, or dark magic circle. You know, whatever.
While Cooper takes the social route, Gemma simply fades from existence and waits for a chance to get into the book store to do her own investigating.
"Whatever. If this fails, I'm vanishing and leaving you to the wolves. Er..." she gives a look to Hans. "I mean cops."
"Don't know the area. Hans? Anywhere nearby? But wait--- What are we going to do? Demand to see their sales receipts?"
"To be fair, most people and organizations in our situations care what the Council says. Even the Courts occasionally give them half an ear before we ignore it," she adds, sticking a tongue out at Cooper. "But any way it goes, nothing is ever gained through circumventing the people who might be able to help us. There's no story to get straight. Hans was under the influence of magic, evidenced by the circle I doubt he knows anything of, then some shit happened."
"On it," Gemma says, pocketing her phone and turning her attentions to her little do-hicket that STFU had given her. She tapped at it a few times, shook it a bit, then sighed. "Pretending I wasn't listening when they explain how to use it... How exactly do you use it again?"
Gemma pulls out her phone, shooing Hailey and Cooper out and away before she even tries to take a picture. One wizard was bad enough, two mortal magicians? Ugh, even worse. "Out before you manage to fry the screen," she said as she shuffled them out. Once they were several paces off, preferably in the next room, she takes a quick shot of the circle and the page highlighted in the book. "You tore up more than a couple things," Gemma says to Hans when he comes out. "Including a hospital I think. You got any enemies? Is this your book or did whoever do this bring it with them?" she asks, holding up the copy of Sherlock.
"Ugh, god that's a shitty song," Gemma says with a cringe. "I remember I got linked that song by half the angsty guys on the one forums I used to frequent." She gets up off the couch to check out what Cooper found around the house. She doesn't linger long on the magic circle, that's more for the wizardly folks to worry about, but she does take a look at the passage. "Wonder if this is Hans' book or if the culprit brought it from home."
Gemma stops at the door and inspects it up and down, all around. It's possible they had been waiting for him in his home. Seems like the whole thing was a bit of a blur to Hans.
Okay, she wasn't the greatest investigator. She goes inside and kicks her uggs off at the front before sauntering in and flopping on the most comfortable piece of furniture in the room. "Coop, grab me a drink before you sit down," she requests with a batting of her eyelashes.
Gemma takes Cooper's hand to lead him after Hans, ensuring he keeps up a pace despite being lost in his wizardly thoughts. Stupid wizards, she thinks angrily to herself in her head for no good reason.
"Alright, that's enough, lets go," Gemma said, tugging at Cooper's sleeve. It looked like Hailey had set the cops right, so it was time to bail. She moved to give Hans a hand up in case he was still shaking off any residual paralysis; she had no idea how long it'd last. "C'mon, big guy. I doubt they'll recognize you like this but better safe than sorry." "We should head back to his apartment, see if we can't find what the hell did this."
"Hailey, don't you have some sort of neutralizing paintball going on? Pelt 'em a few times and lets go."
"I dunno, big guy," Gemma says, swinging down from the tree once everything had settled down and the police had been disarmed. "I'm all for bailing now, but what about those two?" she asks, jerking a thumb at the very wrong-in-the-head police officers. "No idea what their deal is."
Gemma curses her lack of success, then again when Hailey confirms her suspicions about the police. With were-Hans (she's still working on how to best combine his name with werewolf) apparently under control for the time being, Gemma turns her attentions to the police. She aims a blast of bright light at the nearest officer with the intent of dazzling him.
Gemma cringes as large things are thrown mindlessly about, especially when a couple come towards her general direction. She clings to the tree branch carefully, ensuring she keeps a good hold and solid balance from her perch. Oh good! Police! Wait... what are they shooting at?! "Coopers! Watch yourselves!" she calls out as the police fire off a couple rounds in their directions. Maybe they were aiming for the werewolf and just had bad aim, but that was hardly proper police behavior to shoot when there were civilians about! Even if those civilians all did look identical. With Hans held still for the moment, she tried to get a good shot from her vantage point, trying to pull the same, disgusting trick of manipulating stomach flora like she had on gorilla-man back at that cabin.
Gemma watches as the old man tosses the car towards what she can only assume was the werewolf, though she herself hadn't quite spotted him yet. With luck, it hadn't spotted her yet, either.
Gemma makes a beeline for the nearest tree and quickly scuttles up into it's branches. The branches would offer some concealment and elevation almost always offered some tactical advantage.
"Dork," she says with an eye roll at Cooper.
"What magic are you trying to nullify? Aren't werewolves more of the supernatural, non-magical, part of their nature shape-changer types?"
Gemma looks over her shoulder, not that anyone can see the gesture, and rolls her eyes. "Coop, did you just say 'good call' to your own selves for disguising themselves? Are you really that desperate for an ego pat?" She shakes her head and makes a sound of disgust.
Gemma raises an eyebrow at the people who seem to be fleeing from the scene. "Hey guys? Think we are going the right direction," she says, jerking a thumb towards the runners. "Might want to start being careful about now." Gemma smoothly fades into a state of invisibility. Sure, werewolves could probably find her on scent alone, but she'd take every advantage she could for now and being invisible to the eyes and ears gave her something.
Gemma shakes her head and snorts. "Great. So we don't know jack shit on how to deal with this. Whatever. Hashtag yolo. Lets go." Gemma's pace picks up as she continues to head towards the hospital. "It's too early for this shit..."
Gemma shrugs. "Maybe he needs a coffee. I'm a bit like that in the morning, too. We ought to try to end it as peacefully as possible. I'd rather not get mauled, but I'd also rather avoid killing things. "Coop, any ideas?"
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