[Nexus] The Black Dragon's Den X

[Lady Serpentine]

"I am as well," the armored figure replies, which reveals her to be female, with a rather pretty voice, though her tone is cold, with a hint of cruelty in it. "He has offended me on a previous occasion, even before the current idiocy on the Wall. Here in this room, in fact...", she goes on, kneeling next to the dying man as she does, though apparently not with any intention of helping him, judging by the wire-thin tendril of shadow trying to slip around his neck.

[The Alexandrian]

Veraciously I quoth that this mob is officially welcome to beat Marciano to a bloody pulp, reconstitute that bloody pulp, and then stir in some chopped onions, bring it to a low simmer, and cook a dandy soup out of him! Here Clarissa would correct me with a line like "He's too thick for soup! He'd be stew!" or something nutty like that, but she can't read the OoC text! Ha ha!

Clarissa blithely saunters and sways over to the bar herself, hands slipping into her pockets and returning with oodles of platinum coinage!

"This should cover everything and then some, barkeep. Credit anything leftover to my friends' accounts."

Clarissa knocks on the bar before slamming down a half dozen shot glasses full of straight alcohol! Woo! That's fun!

Clarissa turns to glance over Cassidy with an appraising eye.

"Hel yeah! That's the spirit! Count yourself as one of us for the night! You can even use me as a reference for any job that you'd like to apply for in the future! Probably won't get you far in anything without a criminal element, but I'll pester my goodie-two-shoes hubby about it if you're going for something on the level, m'kay?"

"And Magtok! I'm honored to have you joining us today. You want anything from Marciano's place once we kick him to the curb? Take it! Treat that viking in you to all the pillaging and burning you want! Marciano and his mates won't need any of his stuff after we're through with him!"

"On a glummer note, I saw what happened to ya on the tube. I have to say, I'm sorry about that, buddy. I still owe you one from the beach bash for flinging you like that, so if there's anything that I can do, anything at all..."

"I'm here for you!"

Clarissa! Loyal to her friends! Deadly to her enemies!

Godmod the man to your heart's content! He's not going anywhere, and he's in no condition to fight back or be of service to anybody ever again. Clarissa saw to that.

Clarissa spares the mysterious stranger but a cursory inspection.

"Sorry to hear that. He's got a way of running at the mouth like a yapping...what are those rat-dogs named again? Oh yeah, a Chihuahua. They're loud beasties if ever I've heard one. All bark and no bite. All annoying and no usefulness. Some people in this world should just keel over and die and leave the rest of us well enough alone."

[Devixer]

Cassidy lets out a laugh. "Go for a clean job? Become a wageslave? That's pretty rich, chummer." She downs her shot and takes a glance at each of her temporary compatriots. She does't seem to react to anyone, except maybe the chromed baldie. "Anyway, you need guns or a bit of magic, I'm your valerie."

[ThirdEmperor]

Marciano has indeed made enemies of all the wrong folks. And who less inclined to skip out on a bout of good old fashioned murder and technology theft than Excelsior, when they've been given an express invite?

Once more the battered door is set swinging on tired hinges, but this time no sudden rush of sunlight threatens to disturb the den's cultivated dingy gloom. Indeed, the outside's horrid fresh hair and pretty colors are entirely blocked out by the sheer bulk of the creature trying to fit inside, a hulking reptilian creature dressed all in dull green and with the stature of a man, albeit a giant one, sloping cro-magnon brow jutting out in ugly contrast to a flat face, the nose no more than two slits in the skull, tusks sprouting from either side of it's too-wide jaw.

Finally this hideous paragon of function over aesthetics in genetic engineering manages to squeeze it's surplus of muscle and fat through the doorway, the floorboards bending slightly with each mammoth footsteps as Markus the hydratroll makes his it's way over to the table at which Clarissa and her fellow schemer's scheme, it's head bent at an awkward angle to keep from bumping the ceiling.

And from it's looming shadow pops Daedalus, decked out in the smallest suit of body armor he could find and wearing too an energetic smile of razor teeth, giving Clarissa a wave as he clamber into one of the chairs. "Heya! Got the boss's permission to join this party and help crash a party, long as I get something cool outta all this violence and fun stuff."

[McBish]

Calvin glances down at his watch and leans over to his uncle whispering something in his ear before he gets up and goes. Seems he has some place to be.

John sits back to continue to watch the Marciano Hate Club.

[Lord Magtok]

Marciano Hate Club

Our favorite cyborg goes out of his way to avoid acknowledging what Clarissa said. Not to be rude or anything, it's just that the harpooned clone and being thrown across Beachside and all that other miserable stuff isn't the sort of thing he wants to dwell on right now.

"So hey, anyone having something resembling a plan? Because I have, at the very least, a few ideas about how we should start this."

Magtok reaches into his robes, and tosses a few pictures onto the counter. It's mostly low-res, fuzzy images taken with his left eye. The inside of an elevator, some security personnel, his assorted minions, and more. Nothing particularly useful, but at least it's something, right?

"He has everything at the top of the tower, all the valuables and soul engines and junk, whilst the guards and security and junk is on the lower floors. Sorta expects everyone to start from the bottom, and work their way up. Our best bet would be smashing through the roof, and doing the opposite. We might even find something he hasn't blabbed about all over Wall that way."

[Devixer]

[Marciano Hate Club]

"You got a carrier or something so we can actually do that?" Cassidy asks while pouring herself another shot of Scotch. "And maybe a couple of us should head in the way we're expected to. Keep some of the corpses of the roof team's back." Normally, Cass would be for trying to go in there stealthily, but they weren't planning a B@E today.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Again the door is set on its hinges!

This time a drow, no more than seven or eight, walks in sitting at a random table, ears pricked!

[Slii Arhem]

And before it can even swing shut, a mechanical monstrosity, spray-painted purple, walks in after the youth, and rather than taking a seat (and no doubt crushing it beneath its bulk) of its own, the Killa Kan follows the drow youngling to their table, standing behind the chair and doing its absolute best not to be seen.

Which, considering it's an orky mech painted purple, works surprisingly well. That is to say it's a hilarious failure.

And now that it's in position, it can start phase two of its most orky of plans! The grot inside manipulates the kontrols and, after a minute or two of flailing about, pries a large sheet-metal-and-spray-paint sign that it positions at an angle above the drow kid's head.

OY, EE'Z A SPY!
l
v

[Dark Elf Bard]

The little drow looks up at the sign and blushes, hiding under the table.

[The Bandicoot]

A small halfling child, about twelve years old, fades in under the table. He's dressed plainly in a tan t-shirt and pants with a sheathed dagger on his belt. He seems scared and asks meekly What are we hiding from?

[Dark Elf Bard]

C'mon! The little drow seems to have no qualms about traveling with someone he .just met. Kids gotta stick together!

He climbs under a row of tables, ending around forty feet away from the group.

[The Bandicoot]

Flarg scratches his head and quickly follows the drow. He's about to ask another question but he stops, remembering what his friends told him "When sneaking, pull out the dagger and shush. If someone tries to attack you stab them, twist the blade, and run like mad." So pulls out his dagger and holds it shakily, trying to get a look at whatever the drow is looking at.

[The Alexandrian]

Marciano Hate Club

"Ah! Day! Impeccable timing, as always, I see!"

Clarissa delightedly trills as she grins warmly and waves at Day in greeting, passing two root beer floats and two Shirley Temples to Day and Markus that Day and his brother can split. She expects Day and Markus to join in refreshing themselves before crushing Marcy's ego underfoot! The drinks coast along effortlessly, as though air resistance and friction were as tractable to them as iron, losing momentum only when they are in close proximity to their intended recipients.

"Welcome to the before-party! Ah, there's someone here I'd like you to meet!"

Clarissa gestures to Magtok! She then gestures back to Day!

"Magtok, this is Daedalus. Daedalus, this is Magtok. I think you two will get along swimmingly as you two have very much in common, being scientific virtuosi as both of you are."

Clarissa speculates! Magtok is a genius and Daedalus is a genius. Geniuses have a proclivity to discuss their breakthroughs with other academics with the end goal of furthering science and their own private knowledge! Hence, Magtok and Daedalus should have much to discuss later on, Q.E.D!

And on to the next order of business! Formulation of a tenable and viable plan of attack!

Clarissa examines Magtok's blurry photos with the vim of a child skipping into the present room on her birthday! The ebullient demon-angel couldn't have asked for more from Magtok!

"I'm impressed! And pleasantly surprised! This is good info, Magtok! Insider information! That said..."

"If we need a diversion, I'm up for it! I used to distract all the guys in the office I worked at once! I'm good at stirring up a hornet's nest! I'll keep the soldiers on the lower floors hands full!"

Clarissa laughs! Oh! This was going to be fun! More fun than a barrel of undead monkeys!

But then, out of the corner of her eye, Clarissa espies the Killer Kan.

She smells a rat!

Alternatively, if you're a fan of TF2...

"There's a spah creeping around here!"

Clarissa stands up, and struts up to the Killa Kan, attempting to consign to him a purse containing 30 pieces of silver. She hasn't lost her cool.

But she knows that the darned spah has!

"C'mere pint-sized eight year old kid! Come out, come out wherever you are! I promise I won't kill you if you surrender now! You're more useful to us alive than you are dead! But you can't delay! Day's brother looks like he's getting hungry, and I don't know how patient he is today!"

Clarissa sings to the tavern at large! She'll then inhale deeply, sampling the taste of fear in the air. She could track down the child, but she'll let her companions give it a go first. Considerate Clarissa doesn't want to hog all the fun, after all!

As for Mayhala's previously blood-coughing victim.

He dies with nothing more than a sudden "Hurk!" as he is almost decapitated. Garrotes are nasty weapons all on their lonesome. Bladed garrotes even more so. Fine pressure points do nothing for one's health and welfare!

Dedz!

[Ashen Lilies]

And then a purple portal appeared directly under the little Drow child's feet. It's highly likely he'll get sucked into it too. If he does, another portal will open at the floor nearby, depositing the child at the feet of the gentleman who has just stepped out of yet another purple portal in the wall. The fellow is a devil of course, a rather dashing looking fellow wearing a red coat and red mask, and holding a gold topped black wood cane.
"You know," says the devil. "Spying is a rather dangerous business. Why don't you run along before you get hurt?"

[Dark Elf Bard]

Wah! The kid is sucked in and out of a portal!

Hey, quit it! The drow brushes himself off and stares up at the devil.

No, what? M'not spying. What are you talking about?

The kid is in plain sight now.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Marciano Hate Club]

"You got a carrier or something so we can actually do that?" Cassidy asks while pouring herself another shot of Scotch. "And maybe a couple of us should head in the way we're expected to. Keep some of the corpses of the roof team's back." Normally, Cass would be for trying to go in there stealthily, but they weren't planning a B@E today.

"I could likely get us in through Shadowside. He scorns magic used for thievery, and had no resistances to mine when last we met," Mayhala offers, inhaling deeply when the man dies, shivering in ecstasy as she inhales the life he would have had had she not killed him; judging by her reaction, she'll probably be out of it for a bit.

[ThirdEmperor]

Marciano Hate Club

Unless one genius happens to have killed the other's brother in recent memory. In which case it appears that the latter glares coldly at the former over his root beer float. "We've met." Why, that's not the tone of someone in the least interested in scientific cooperation! More the tone of someone contemplating first-degree murder.

But only once this party's over. Till then, Magtok is a guest of Clarissa's. "So. Does this dumb butt even have tele-locks?" Day asks, not bothering to keep his voice down despite the obvious spy in the room. Markus's got that problem under wraps.

And indeed, things are looking pretty dark for poor Akoraun. Largely because the colossal shadow of Markus has just fallen over him and his interrogator, the hydratroll craning it's neck to stare down at the drow kid. Heh. This is what passes for a spy in Marciano's employ?

Ak might wanna start running now, unless the devil in red cares to step in on his behalf.

[Ashen Lilies]

"A small child listening in on a conversation about Marciano in the Black Dragon's Den immediately after a small child announced his intention to spy for Marciano in the Black Dragon's Den on a public Wall-chan? Of course you're not a spy." Says Sel, all deadpan like.
"I suggest you remove yourself, or else I think this fine gentlemen here will remove yourself for you, in far more painful a manner." Says Sel, gesturing with his stick towards Markus. If Markus does indeed do as suggested, Sel will not intervene. He has absolutely no problems with a child being beaten and murdered in front of him.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Huh? Akoraun looks confused. What do you mean? How can some besides me remove myself?

[The Bandicoot]

Flare scampers out from underneath the table, one hand shakily brandishing his dagger and the other one tugs at the drow. C'mon! Let's go! I don't wanna die!

[Dark Elf Bard]

Me... me neither... Akoraun shakily steps back and pulls a small dagger.

[Lady Serpentine]

"In pieces, I suspect," Mayhala says dryly, shadowjumping over to them. "Or possibly knots; I'm not entirely familiar with his preferred methods. But I suspect that it will bear a strong resemblance to one or both of those.

And considering what he may already have heard, would it not be wise to split his tongue before sending him off?"

And then Flarg runs up! The half-shadow looks down at him coldly, or at least that's the expression her helmet takes on.

"Perhaps, then, you should have considered that before trying to become a spy? Though I see no-one who has actually threatened you with death, yet."

[The Bandicoot]

Flag yanks on th drow's arm hardRun! he starts frantically pulling, trying to get the drow out of the bar.

[ThirdEmperor]

How does one remove a bratty pest against their will?


Markus shrugs his heavy shoulders at Mayhala's suggestion of torture, seemingly satisfied by the kid's decision to leave now, while they still have the legs to run on. He turns to leave, tail trailing across the floor in a circle around him....

And then without warning the hydratroll strikes, sending tables and chairs flying in all directions as his tail whips around to lash at Akoraun and try to wrap the spy in it's crushing, vice-like coils.

[Dark Elf Bard]

Spoiler

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[QUOTE=C'nor;13793071]

Flarg yanks on th drow's arm hardRun! he starts frantically pulling, trying to get the drow out of the bar.

How does one remove a bratty pest against their will?


Markus shrugs his heavy shoulders at Mayhala's suggestion of torture, seemingly satisfied by the kid's decision to leave now, while they still have the legs to run on. He turns to leave, tail trailing across the floor in a circle around him....

And then without warning the hydratroll strikes, sending tables and chairs flying in all directions as his tail whips around to lash at Akoraun and try to wrap the spy in it's crushing, vice-like coils.

Glah! Akoraun is grabbed!

Urgghh... Lemme go! Akoraun is squeezed like an anaconda. He tries to work out his little knife, dropping it in the process. His ebony face starts to redden and looks terrified.

[Devixer]

Cassidy quickly moves from the bar and puts a hand on her SMG's grip. "Hey, let him scamper, he's just a kid!" Spy or not, she's very opposed to attacking a child.

[Lord Magtok]

Marciano Hate Club

Magtok sighs in exasperation, and gulps some of his drink, but doesn't do much else.

"Is our first act as a group seriously going to be infanticide? Really, guys?"

Magtok shakes his head in disappointment. He doesn't do a thing to help the kid either, though. Just can't be bothered to do any more than complain about it, the lazy ass.

[Lady Serpentine]

Mayhala sighs as well, shaking her head.

"You do realize I was just trying to scare him, right? I wasn't actually advocating permanently mutilating someone that young just to ensure he wouldn't tell Marciano about us. If we really need to do anything else, considering that as it is they'll probably be running for the next week, we can just dump them off somewhere too far for them to reach him in time."

[Artemis97]

There's the rough sound of wooden chair legs scraping against the stone floor of the Den. There's the rasp of steel being drawn. A creak of leather and wood under stressed as a crossbow is cocked. All of these sounds originate from a trio of drow dressed in leather, chainmail, and the blue and gold livery of House Xar'Cha. All three were women. There was a good chance all three were mothers, too. It looked like they weren't happy about someone grabbing a young drow.

"Drop the child!" One shouts, her hand crossbow leveled at the creature holding on to Akoraun.