Special Collections, Sunday Afternoon, Somewhere Slightly Different

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Sheriff	The sheriff's office was small, and cozy, and not technically intended to hold over ten people. There were wanted posters on the wall, a shotgun cradled by a display case, a desk, and a clock. And a rug that looked like it'd come straight off the bear.
Belthazor	"What the hell?" Bel muttered, coming around the corner and stumbling into the sheriff's office. "When did they put this in here?" Not that he was terribly familiar with the layout of the library, since he rarely, if ever, was there while he'd been attending school. But still. Sheriff's office in the library. Nice rug, though.
Anakin	"My office is better," Anakin decided helpfully, walking over to examine the wanted posters in case he recognized any of the faces. If Umbridge was on one, he might laugh for the first time in days.
Bo	"My office is better," Bo said from the doorway, pleased to see a familiar face after getting turned around in a row of shelves that had suddenly become a hedge-maze of shelves, complete with spiky brambles growing out of the books. "There'd be video feeds to show us what the hell's going on around here."
Anakin	"Why would we expect anything easy like that right now?" Anakin said with a little scowl. "I, for one, am totally looking forward to living in a creepy library for the rest of my life where I end up in some sheriff's office randomly when I go looking for coffee." That was very productive, Anakin.
Bo	"...Is there coffee?" Who cared about wanted posters and bearskin rugs when the important questions lay unanswered?
Anakin	"I haven't found any yet, but it's a law enforcement office. It has to be somewhere," Anakin replied.
Karla	Karla did not make the most inconspicuous of entrances. After staying up playing Topher's ridiculous game of...whatever...she'd headed back over to the little nest she'd made in one corner of Special Collections. You could perhaps manage her surprise when, on her way, she'd fallen into a well (and what in the name of the Darkness was a well doing in the middle of--oh, never mind). Rather than getting wet, however, she'd found herself in a tiny village, where she'd rescued some bread from burning, shook an apple tree, and then kept house for a rather scary looking female with gigantic teeth. Mother Holle had found Karla to be sharp-tongued and grumpy, but a very hard worker. After much consideration, she'd managed to come up with a compromise: every time Karla spoke something would fall out of her mouth, depending on what exactly she was saying. Karla hadn't exactly been fond of anything falling out of her mouth, but considering her other option had been getting covered with pitch and then a shower of gold, she was counting herself lucky. "This is bloody ridiculous!" she said, upon entering the sheriff's office. Two toads and a baby salamander fell on her shoes. "And had better be temporary or I'll find that crazy old woman again and--" They were joined by seven little lizards who all looked up at her reproachfully.
Jon	Jon just stared at Karla. "Okay, that is the weirdest thing ever."
Karla	"Bullshit," Karla said, only to have several moths fly out of her mouth. "Ew. That's so gross." To be joined by two mottled toads. "Apparently, if I'm nice enough, I'll drop jewelry, too," she added with a sigh. "Speaking of, it's good to see you, Jon." See? Look at that! A lovely bit of polished coral landed on one of the toads.
Jon	Jon reached down to pick up the piece of coral and nodded. "Yep, still the weirdest. And yet, the coolest too." He glanced down at his bare feet and then looked back at Karla and grinned. "I don't suppose you could magic or talk me up a pair of shoes or boots, could you?"
Karla	"Just jewels and frogs I'm afraid," Karla said, looking rather put out. "And nothing I have vanished away will fit you. I could try my shower sandals, if you wanted?" Apparently offering to help was close enough to nice to add a tiger's eye and a cameo brooch in onyx. Yay?
Jon	Yeah, Jon was just going to pick those up too. It was like a really cool toy game, only you got really awesome stuff instead of cheap toys! "Nah. I'll just see if there's some place around here to get something that fits. So... what's your favorite place in the world?"
Karla	Karla's first instinct was to say 'Hawaii,' but even thinking about it caused a welter of pain and confusion in her chest. The world didn't exist anymore. Neither did Warren. "Never mind," she said, irritated. She half-heartedly aimed a swat at his head. "I'm not babbling on just to finance your decadent bachelor lifestyle. Talk to me after we rescue everyone and kick those bastards off our island."
Jon	"Actually, my decadent bachelor lifestyle needs nothing more than beer and a good football game. I was going to use these to go holiday shopping when we got back." Because he was damn optimistic like that.
Surreal	Surreal had been as far to 'outside' as possible, prowling around the edges of Special Collections to look for anything strange (stranger?) when she turned a corner in town and found herself...here. Wherever 'here' was. "Darkness," she swore, pulling the two long, wickedly-curved hunting blades from their sheathes. "What sort of tainted Craft is this?"
Karla	"This isn't a Black Widow's work," Karla replied, for once not annoyed by the fact that it was Surreal she was talking to. "I checked. Not even a hint of Craft or a tangled web." Granted she might not be able to tell if this were the work of a much darker Jeweled Black Widow, like Saetan or Jaenelle. But the odds of that being true were pretty slim. Blue energy crackled around her hands. She didn't like this place, either.
Surreal	"Save your Craft until we need it, Queenling," Surreal muttered, shifting slightly so she could pull yet another knife out of the back of her boot and offer it over to Karla. "No telling what will need healing before the day is done."
Karla	"Don't tell me how to use my Craft!" Karla flared. Someone didn't do well on short sleep. As the full grown newt that had fallen from her mouth could probably attest. Sighing, Karla allowed the energy to fade. "You're right," she said stiffly. "No reason to be bitchy at you." Aww, much better. That resulted in four pearls, a diamond, and a tarantula. Apparently, Mother Holle didn't approve of swearing, even in an apology.
Surreal	That was...Surreal blinked, and it took a great deal of effort not to giggle hysterically. "You spit Jewels, now?" she asked, picking up the diamond and giving it a good shake. "Doesn't feel like there's any spark to it."
Karla	"Well, where did you think the clear Jewels come from?" Karla asked smiling for the first time since she'd fallen down the well. "The ones we use as beacons on the Winds? I'm very special." Two emeralds and a pink sapphire. "And those just haven't bonded with anyone yet," she explained primly.
Surreal	"They can bond to me," Surreal offered, petting one of the emeralds. "Hello, pretties. Would you like to join my uncut Green?" Which was stashed away quite safe, thank you, until Surreal grew into her power a bit more and could afford to get it cut properly. She was still wearing Titian's Green, albeit with the sight-shield wrapped tightly around it.
Karla	"Happy Winsol," Karla said, giving Surreal a wry smile as she cooed at the jewels. "If the bar comes back to the island, though, you're buying me a drink with one of those." Or with the diamond, if Surreal was too fond of the emeralds to part with it. Karla wasn't picky.
Jon	Jon had been holed up in a small alcove of the SC, sleeping, and thought he was damn lucky to have been dressed. As it was, he didn't have shoes on. "Well, this is different," he said, looking around.
Jono	You know, being led on a wild adventure by a chain-smoking six-foot-tall ferret in a leather jacket had never been Jonothon's idea of fun. Especially when it involved being chased around by a tyrannosaurus-like thing with eye-stalks. And leprechauns. And a mixed-up sense of deja-vu. But really, it was probably best not to get into the nitpicky little details of how Jono had come to be in the sheriff's office, wearing a kilt and carrying a sword. This sort of thing was mostly old-hat for former Generation X-ers. "Really? I can't stand Westerns."
Jon	Jon wasn't going to mention the kilt or the sword, because he was Stargate alum over here. Weird shit happened. "I use to like them."
Jono	"Until right this minute?" Jono offered Jon a wry smile. "Too American for me." Said the big blue British man who was inexplicably wearing a kilt. Multiculturalism never hurt anybody, Jonothon. "Or, if being in Special Collections is any indication, too insane for me."
Jon	"Oh, come on. The SC isn't that bad." Really, Jon, it was. Even if you didn't think so.
Jono	"Back when I worked in the library, it tried to kill me on more than one occasion when I went in to re-shelve books," Jono shared idly. "Anemone suggested that I offer it pie, once. That... almost helped." Yes. Yes, Special Collections was that bad.
Jon	"As long as it isn't latching onto my head and shoving the entire library of an alien race into my head, I'm pretty cool with it." Jon, he had priorities.
Jono	"... Does that happen frequently where you're from?" Jono was making the mental note to never visit Jon's home.
Jon	"Once. And it happened to the old man. It ended with him having to be put on ice until the little grey guys could remove it." After he built a gun that could destroy Replicators and a bunch of other things, but it was a long story. "Never eat the food from other planets either. Cake makes you old."
Jono	"Duly noted." No, really. Never going to Jon's reality. It sounded nearly as insane as his own. "No cake."
Surreal	Surreal would take the male she knew over the ones she didn't, and she especially wasn't turning her back on the large, blustery ones. "Why are you wearing a skirt?" she asked, focusing on the easiest thing for her to understand about what was going on. "
Jono	"It's a kilt," Jono stressed, frowning down at himself. "And I suspect it either has something to do with the pooka or the leprechauns." Probably the pooka. Kilts weren't exactly Irish. "... I've worn worse." Thank you for those ridiculous uniforms, Emma.
Surreal	Hey now, his original GenX uniform of all black leather was awesome! Blame Adrienne for those yellow and red monstrosities. "None of those words makes any sense," Surreal pointed out, totally helpfully, as she started poking around. Maybe there was something interesting and/or useful inside the clock? "Then again, nothing makes sense around here."
Jono	"Welcome to Special Collections," Jono intoned, frowning as he started to poke around the office, as well. "Home of books and bogeymen alike." None of which generally made any sense. "I suspect it won't start to make any more sense from here."
Alex	"Huh," Alex said as he stumbled into the office. "Was this always here?" He was...pretty sure it was not. "This place messes with my head," he grumbled. It was a good thing he was short, he guessed, considering the way the place seemed to be filling up.
Kenzi	Kenzi climbed up on the desk and perched there, looking around. Then started reaching for the shotgun. Shiiiny.
Anakin	"Don't even think about it," Anakin said, not bothering to turn around from his study of the wanted posters.
Kenzi	Kenzi stuck her hands under her legs, face going innocent. Then she had to point out, "Wes taught me how to use one!"
Anakin	"Still no," Anakin retorted. "You don't come into someone else's office and steal their weapons. For all you know, it might be booby trapped. Or without ammunition."
Kenzi	That actually meant something to Kenzi, and she sighed in disappointment. Then started looking around for something else that could be a weapon. Not to steal, Mr. Ethics Teacher! She'd give it back!
Goose	Goose was confused when he had wound up at the office, he had gotten lost and had been wandering around in circles before he stumbled into the room. He glanced around, it reminded him of the law enforcement offices on Nebraska and Prairie, with the exception of the rug on the floor.
Kenzi	Kenzi picked up two of the lizards, and grinned. "Awww, so cute. Can you make chipmunk?"
Karla	"I honestly have no idea," Karla admitted. Nothing fell. Apparently, Mother Holle's spell had no idea how to classify neutral phrases. "I think I'm limited to creepy-crawly things. And jewels when I'm nice."
Kenzi	Kenzi stared at her. Eyes huge. "Recite poetry! C'mon! Mama wants money for Atlantic City!" She held the lizards up. "Siegfried and Roy need an aquarium!"
Karla	Karla rolled her eyes. "They don't get to live in mine," she warned. "My frogs need their space." Because they were fat little things. Karla had a tendency to overfeed them. But if Kenzi was going to adopt some of them, Karla could at least help with the upkeep. "Glad to see you're okay," she said, and gold coins started showering from her mouth. "'Dite's would miss its Friday girl if you'd gone and gotten yourself Nothing'd."
Kenzi	"Me? Pfftt. So not happening." Kenzi shuddered, sounding a lot more certain than she looked. Then she squealed and picked up the gold, doing a little sitting desk-dance. "That is so cool. Why can't I get put under a spell like that? How did that happen?"
Karla	Karla filled her in on her trip through the well to Mother Holle's house, jewels and tiny creatures falling from her mouth with merry abandon. Describing Mother Holle's 'gift' ended with a rain of frog eggs (which both looked and felt disgusting) and had Karla shutting her mouth abruptly. Ew.
Kenzi	Ugh! Kenzi made a face and decided, "Yeahno. She sounds like Baba Yaga. I'd probably end up fed to a domovoi or something." She paused, and then looked brighter. "Talk about how we're all going to live happily ever after and have a great Christmas and snuggle with our honeys after this."
Karla	Karla didn't have a honey. Probably wouldn't even if they managed to get everyone back. She was saved from having to respond however by the appearance of a stranger. "Maybe we should go talk to whoever this is," she said, assuming he wasn't an Auditor what with the expression of survive he was was currently wearing and the fact that their surroundings hadn't gone all funky and weird. "Maybe he can help." She did give the nice pair of opal earrings she coughed up to Kenzi though. That made up for it, right?
Sheriff	After a while, the door opened, revealing a man in a dark hat and a thick moustache who looked quite surprised to see his office so full. "Pardon?" he said, staring. "What are you doing in my office? This is not the time!"
Belthazor	"Who the hell are you?" Bel demanded when the sheriff walked in. He was ever the diplomat.
Jon	Jon was just going to stand back and facepalm, because this was going so well.
Jono	This did seem like an excellent time for facepalming, didn't it? Jono joined in to do much the same. While keeping one eye uncovered, in case somebody with a little tact was going to have to step in to make sure nobody got themselves killed, today.
Sheriff	The sheriff stared at Bel, and immediately reached for the gun on his hip. "I am the sheriff of this town," he snapped, "And you are in my office!"
Anakin	"I'm a sheriff too," Anakin said, shooting Bel a "thanks so much for helping" glare. "We didn't mean to be in your office. Where are we, exactly?" He was hoping for an answer a little more helpful than "Special Collections."
Belthazor	"Yeah, well, there's a new sheriff in town," Bel said, ignoring Anakin completely as he conjured a fireball. "And this is our library."
Surreal	"Is the dark-haired one always this stupid?" Surreal asked the room at large, even as she moved to get between the fireball and the poor landen male. "You'll catch more flies with honey than fire, sugar." Her shields could handle it easily if he decided to throw anyway. In theory. This was why they had a Healer.
Belthazor	"If you want to shimmy on over there and sugar some answers out of this guy, feel free, sweetheart," Bel snapped. He wasn't throwing the fireball, but he wasn't extinguishing it either.
Bo	"Serious, could we not antagonize the nice man with the six-shooter?" Bo's side-eyed glance at Bel was half annoyance and half appraisal. What? Succubus. Balls of fire. Just saying. "We're not here to cause trouble," she added, looking back to the guy whose office they'd apparently invaded. "We're just a little lost."
Sheriff	Oh, look. The revolver was... almost out, and only at Bo's words did the sheriff relax. An inch. "You're in Salt Springs," the sheriff said. To Anakin and Bo exclusively. "I don't have time to deal with you. The Loose Jaw Crew rides again, and there ain't no one here to stop 'em." A beat. "You keep that firebug under control."
Alex	"We're really sorry about him," Alex told the sheriff, even though he didn't actually know Bel from Adam's housecat. He was still really sorry about him. "So Salt Springs is...in our school library?"
Karla	"Loose Jaw Crew?" Karla asked at the same time. "Who the Hell are they?" And three long millipedes fell out of her mouth to join the rest of the menagerie. Sigh. "Look, sir, we're lost, we're not sure how we got here, and we're trying to deal with some serious unpleasantness of our own. A little help wouldn't go amiss." And in exchange, he could keep the waterfall of tiny rubies and the string of pearls her politeness had just produced. "This is getting bloody insane," she mumbled. And discretely spat a June bug into her hand.
Belthazor	"Well, we can apparently pay him if he doesn't mind where the jewels come from," Bel had to snicker. Oh, come on. Blonde spitting out bugs and gems. It was funny.
Sheriff	"They are the crew who has been hauntin' this here neighbourhood," the sheriff said. He wondered if he needed to get the town doctor for this girl. "We been putting up some resistance, and they been threatening us. We were hopin' for backup." A beat. "What's wrong with the girl there?"
Jon	Jon fought really hard not to grin at that question, and actually had to turn away and cough discreetly. Because really, there was nothing wrong with Karla.
Surreal	"What isn't wrong with Karla?" Surreal asked cheerfully, totally willing to go there. "But don't worry yourself, boyo, it's nothing she can't deal with."
Karla	"I am going to tie knots in your clothes and then put Sapphire shields over them," Karla hissed, ignoring the snakes that landed on her shoulders. "I'm fine, sir," she insisted turning back to the sheriff and giving him a sunny smile. "Just a temporary, uhh, indisposition. Nothing as pressing as our problems or yours with the...Flapping Jaw Boys or whatever." In fact, Karla would let you keep the Queen's ransom in silver that had just hit your floor if you'd stop worrying about it.
Sheriff	"Right." The sheriff looked... skeptical, to say the least. "Please tell me you ain't our backup."
Jono	"If we were, dare I ask what in the world we'd be pitting ourselves up against with these... jaw... whatevers?" Jono, in the background, with his hands on his hips. "We've got our share of troubles to deal with at the moment ourselves, mate."
Belthazor	"We've got missing people we need to find," Bel said, squashing one of Karla's vomited bugs under his heel. What the hell did they feed the kids here now? "How about we help you out, you help us?" he said. HE COULD BE DIPLOMATIC. SEE?
Anakin	KNOCK ANAKIN OVER WITH A FEATHER FOR IT TOO. "We can start with not crowding your office like this, even," Anakin said, making a mental note to make certain that Kenzi wasn't wandering off with anything important.
Bo	Yeah, Bo didn't need to read his mind to help out with that one. "Kenzi, that doesn't mean make it less crowded with stuff. Whatever's in your pocket, put it back," she called.
Kenzi	Kenzi twirled around and put a couple letter openers back, as well as an inkwell, and called, "Souvenirs! Proof that we were here! What, are you trying to repress my culture?"
Sheriff	Yeah. The sheriff was just... gonna stare at Kenzi for a minute. "Put those back." He looked back towards the others. "The Loose Jaw Crew," he specified. "Never had any trouble here before. Then they started showin' up a couple of months ago, makin' trouble. Monstrous things, not real men, but they move like 'em. The stranger says he's caught them stealin' some ar-tee-facts." He shook his head. "Don't know what service we can be to you," he added. "Haven't heard of any hostages being taken."
Anakin	"These monstrous things: they wouldn't happen to enjoy wearing gray and have absolutely no sense of humor?" Anakin asked. Because if the Auditors had gotten into Special Collections, they were a thousand different kinds of screwed.
Sheriff	The sheriff squinted at him. "No," he said, "About this tall, big open jaw thingies, these long things comin' out of their head... they're some ugly fellas."

[[ again, more in the comments... ]]

Comments

Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It)

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Bandits

It was noon when the bandits rolled into town, decked out in black hats and dark leather clothes, sitting on horseback with their head-tendrils moving subtly in the wind-- And looking absolutely nowhere near human. At all. They growled in a gutteral language amongst themselves. Then they reached back for their weapons, which weren't anything like guns at all.

Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Surreal

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Surreal	It was to be a real fight, then. Surreal shifted her weight and fell easily into a fighting stance, running her fingers along the hilt of her blades and drawing back her lips to snarl back at them in a manner equally guttural. It was warning and challenge, and the look in her eyes left little doubt that she'd follow through if they pushed.
Bandits	One of the bandits had an axe which positively sparked with energy. It drove its horse into a full on gallop as he charged at Surreal, planning to strike her right across the chest.
Surreal	She waited until the last moment to drop down, using her Green shields tight against her body as protection to roll under the horse, between the hooves and out the other side as her blades flashed out. Hamstring the animal, and it might just throw its master. And if she was especially lucky, he/she/it - yes, it - would crack its head open and serve as an abject lesson to the rest of them. ...it was unlikely she'd be that lucky, but it was a plan!
Bandits	The horse stumbled as it hit an unfortunate obstacle, crashing down to its legs. That did not stop the alien overmuch, though, as it simply threw itself off and landed nimbly on its feet.
Surreal	Well, Hell. Surreal was already rolling to her feet, curved blades brought up in front of her to guard herself even as she pivoted and launched herself at the axe-wielder. It might be bigger than her, but pretty much everyone Surreal had ever fought was bigger than her. She was fast and ruthless, and didn't even hesitate as she used her momentum to try and knock it over.
Bandits	The creature was large and sturdy, though that certainly didn't keep it from getting the wind knocked out of it. It doubled over, attempting a clumsy swing with its weapon.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Surreal

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Surreal	Surreal wasn't going to be able to get out of the way in time, and she twisted to take the handle on her ribs. It still hurt like a bitch, even through her Green shield, but it wasn't an axe in her gut. She snarled in response, trying to trap the weapon-wielding arm against her bruised ribs and bring her main-hand blade down to cleave his arm from his shoulder.
Bandits	It howled in pain, strangely colored blood spurting out of its arm. Blind with rage, it hurled itself forward and into Surreal.
Surreal	One - first blood to Surreal! Two - EW. Gross. She gave a yell of pain as she hit the ground and stars bloomed behind her eyes. It was easily big enough to pin her, so she brought her knees up to keep it at bay even as she brought up her knife to try and slit its throat.
Bandits	Its throat was pretty sturdy, and it almost seemed to relish fighting against the blade. Unfortunately, it could no longer use its weapon effectively in this position, and it was left struggling, trying to press an arm to the throat of the girl who had a knife to its throat. That was going to work.
Surreal	Yeah, it was a great plan! Except Surreal had gone into the fight with two hunting knives, and she still had both of them. One was pressed against its throat, true, but Surreal shifted her grip on the second one before smiling up at her attacker savagely. "Surprise," she hissed, and tried to drive it up and in under the ribs, putting a burst of Green behind it to give her thrust more power.

Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jon

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Jon	Yeah, Jon was feeling a little... underarmed. "This is why I need to start carrying the zat even when I'm home," he muttered as he looked around for a weapon.
Bandits	Considering that one of the aliens had turned his horse and was currently riding towards him with something distinctly spear-shaped in one hand, he might want to be quick about it. Lucky thing people were leaving random pickaxes and such around, wasn't it?
Jon	Jon made a grab for the first sharp object he found, a pick axe and a rather large bowie knife jammed into the post of the building. And then he threw the knife at the ugly dude's head.
Bandits	The 'ugly dude' would have been offended to be called that much, sure. It also dodged sideways, but the knife struck one of its dreadlocks and sliced it clean through. Now that was fortuitous.
Jon	Jon caught a glimpse of what Surreal had done, and though it sort of made him twinge a bit, he threw the pick axe, aiming for the horse.
Bandits	Blood spurted out of the poor horse's flank, and it became uncontrollable. The alien couldn't hold on any longer and fell off. Its own impact was... slightly less than graceful.
Jon	Now this, Jon could handle. He grabbed a shovel from the ground as the creature tumbled and raced toward it, swinging and aiming for the back of the ugly thing's head.
Bandits	The clang was probably audible in a five mile radius. Unfortunately, it mostly seemed to serve to make it mad. The creature's head turned and it growled at Jon, one hand lashing out for Jon's knee.
Jon	Jon yelled as he hit the ground, pain spiking up his leg. Screw hitting, now he was just going to try stabbing it in the FACE with the pointy end of the shovel, over and over. "Not. The. Knees."
Bandits	The creature growled again, flailing around and trying to get some grip on Jon as it started to bleed rather profusely from the face. As one does, when hit repeatedly in it with the pointy end of... anything.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jon

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Jon	Jon just kept up with the stabbing, and adding in some kicking (which probably wouldn't do much good since he was still barefoot, and trying to get away at the same time.
Bandits	After a few more stabs, the creature's movements were slowing. (That part was succesful. The kicking... would probably leave more bruises on Jon than the other way around) It made a pathetic gurgling noise in the back of its throat.
Jon	Jon was good at ignoring injuries like broken toes and bruised feet. He could see that this was working, and when he heard that noise, he aimed for what he thought was the throat and put as much force behind the blow as he could.
Bandits	Now Jon, it needed that to breathe! ... or at least, it used to. It fell limp entirely, its eyes going dead.
Jon	It wasn't until after he stabbed it a few more times that Jon realized it was dead, and then he was getting up and running (limping) towards the neared building. Where he was going to hide out until he found a gun.
Karla	"Jon!" Karla called as he limped past. "Get over here!" The idiot might be able to ignore bruises and broken toes, but Karla couldn't. And there was no reason for him to do so with there was a Healer present. "Don't get all stupidly male on me," she said, waving him over. "I can see you're hurt." Avoid the dead...whatever it was and the skittering creatures. Karla got mouthy in a fight.
Jon	Well, he had planned on getting out of sight, and then worrying about things, but that was before. Now he was headed toward Karla, but only after he ducked in this shop and grabbed a pair of boots. What? In trade, he left the cameo he had gotten from Karla earlier. Now he had boots and some really rough feeling socks in hand as he got to the witch. "Yes?"
Karla	"Off your feet," she ordered, pointing to a porch right next to them. "I'm going to Heal that before we go much further." That ended with several flopping eels gasping for air and a peridot ring. Apparently the spell was confused by Karla's grumpy tone and her good intentions. "What did you do?" she demanded. "Go rock-kicking for fun?"

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jon

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Jon	Jon pointed at the one whose face was a shovel chopped mess and grinned. "I was kicking him while stabbing him with a shovel." Shovels were awesome right now.
Karla	"I'm sure the thingy was sufficiently distracted from your face-shoveling maneuver to absolutely notice the kicking," Karla assured him as she gently stroked his broken toes with her finger. Warmth and tingling suffused Jon's foot as her Healing Craft mended his bones and soothed away the bruises. Nothing fell out that time. Mother Holle's spell was sufficiently confused by sarcasm.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Bel

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Belthazor	Bel had found himself a cowboy hat. It just felt appropriate somehow. "Now this," he said with a grin, the first one he'd had since Anders had vanished, "is a little more like it." He summoned up another fireball and bounced it in his hand as he appraised the bandits. "All right, let's go." Nobody could bitch at him for enjoying this. Anakin.
Bandits	One of the bandits had leapt off its horse. Its mandibles extended and it let go of a ghastly growl. Then charged Bel head-on, a warhammer crackling with energy in its hands.
Belthazor	Bel threw the fireball straight at the bandit and braced himself. If it didn't blow him up, it was probably going to hurt a lot when it made impact with him.
Bandits	Yeah, the alien had not exactly expected 'fire to the face'. The force of the fireball slammed it back against the floor, and his front took on a distinctly sooth-y appearance. Ow.
Belthazor	"How's that feel?" Bel taunted, stalking closer, but not too close. The warhammer didn't bother him much, but the energy around it did. "I'd say I've seen uglier demons than you in the Underworld, but I'd probably be lying," he added.
Bandits	The alien still had the hammer clenched between its fingers. It was trying to get up, lifting the hammer as it wrestled against the pain. It wanted to take a swing at Bel very badly.
Belthazor	Bel stopped and held out his arms. "C'mon, ugly, give it your best shot," he said cockily. "Show me what you got." One day he would outgrow this kind of behavior. But it was not this day.
Bandits	Well, at least now it was back at its feet. And it had absolutely no compunction against racing at Bel and trying to slam the hammer into his face as hard as it could.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Bel

[endsthegame]

Belthazor	Bel shimmered out of the way. Well, he tried to, but he'd forgotten how difficult it had been for him lately. Between worlds was impossible. Within the same was like moving through molasses. The hammer missed hitting him directly in the face, but it did smash into the side of his head, sending him flying backwards. He quickly picked himself back up, muttering curses at the bandit and himself, the injuries already vanishing from his face. "Ow," he said. "Care to give that another try?"
Bandits	It was very polite of Bel to ask. The creature roared his agreement. Yes, it would love to give it another try! Which it did, propelling itself forward as it tried to slam its hammer into Bel's gut.
Belthazor	Bel raised his hands over his head, creating another fireball, letting this one grow much, much larger. It wasn't Freudian at all, really. Before the creature could reach him, he flung his arms forward, directing the fireball right into its chest.
Bandits	Owwwww. This time, the creature did explode. Sadly, forward momentum dictated that he exploded all over Bel. Sorry.
Belthazor	And suddenly Bel was covered from head to toe in green goo. "Gross," he muttered, taking off his duster and tossing it to the ground. It was a nice duster, and he mourned its loss. Now he needed something to get all this crap off his face.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Anakin

[endsthegame]

Anakin	"Great," Anakin grunted, igniting his lightsaber with a snap-hiss and looking at the nearest...whatever the hell it was. "Well?" he said. "We're not just going to wait here forever."
Bandits	The alien growled at him. Encouragingly. It had a very big stick that also looked very much electrified, so it thought its chances against Anakin's light-thingy were pretty good. Which they were about to find out, as it charged at Anakin.
Anakin	Anakin swung his lightsaber at the alien's weapon, hoping it would work.
Bandits	That cleaved the stick in two, as a matter of fact. It didn't throw the creature off, though; it simply used both ends by trying to slam them into Anakin, one to his knees, the other at his head.
Anakin	Anakin ducked his head as he rolled out of the way of the blow, catching the one to his knee on his thigh instead. He swiped his lightsaber at the back of the alien's knees in retaliation.
Bandits	The creature hissed, twisting nimbly out of the way and lashing out at Anakin's face anew.
Anakin	Anakin had enough scars on his face, thank you very much. He reached into the Force and shoved as hard as he could, trying to push the alien back.
Bandits	At least with this enemy, that was a technique that worked. The alien skidded over the ground, shouting incomprehensible expletives as it struggled for something to grab until friction finally slowed it down.
Anakin	Anakin memorized the expletives got back on his feet and then charged after the alien. Because Skywalker plans were amazingly complex that way.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Anakin

[endsthegame]

Bandits	The creature struggled through its feet, groping around for at least one half of its weapon. It took a few seconds for it to get up.
Anakin	And by then Anakin was there with a flying kick to the stomach to put it back down on the ground. It felt really good to be able to hit something again.
Bandits	The creature groaned as it hit the floor again and its weapon went skidding out of its hand.
Anakin	Anakin's lightsaber was at its throat. "Are you going to cause any more trouble?" he asked icily. "Because I'll end you right here."
Bandits	The amount of physical struggling the bandit offered up in return said it all, really. It didn't care about the lightsaber at its throat; it just wanted to kill Anakin. A lot.
Anakin	"Fine, be that way," Anakin said, slashing his lightsaber across the thing's throat.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Bo

[endsthegame]

Bo	Bo had a knife in her boot and a gun.... hidden in the cash register drawer of a former hardware store that, thanks Auditors, was now a former building on a former island in a former universe. Of the two, the absent gun would probably be more useful against giant dudes on horseback. She pulled the knife, looked at it, looked at the approaching bandit, looked at the knife, and swore, not quite under her breath.
Bandits	The bandit tilted the black hat that sat upon its living dreadlocks to a jaunty angle, then gripped its axe. The axe crackled with electricity. If it could have grinned, it would. Instead, it just stormed straight at Bo.
Bo	Bo dived out of the way and rolled up already stabbing at whatever she could find to stab. Please let me not hit the axe please let me not hit the axe please let me not hit the axe...
Bandits	She didn't hit the axe. Good work, Bo. And the bandit now had a neat thing stuck in its ankle. It roared, stumbling after her with its axe in hand.
Bo	Oh hey, way to lose your only weapon, Bo! Well, the only weapon that wasn't attached to her. She still had fists and legs. The second were good for scrambling out of range of that axe; the first... weren't much good when you scrambled out of range. Oops. How about a wide-swung kick at its injured leg; would that help? Maybe?
Bandits	It would at least make it very, very angry? And also noisy. And also limping in its quest to put an axe in Bo's... wherever.
Bo	Bo's wherever tried very very hard to be wherever an axe was not, or at least not an axe in the hand of a 'roid-ripped alien thing. If there was one, say, lying around on the ground anywhere... Or, okay, an electrified lance thing that looked like it had been trampled by a horse a few times. That would do too. Bo dived for that where it lay in the dirt, aiming her grip for the part that didn't look metal.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Bo

[endsthegame]

Bandits	It took the creature a second to realise where she was going for. Then it roared with very real anger and attempted to race after her, but its limp got in the way. Sadly, that kind of thing tended to prevent you from villainous snatching-away-weaponry.
Bo	For which Bo was very grateful; almost as grateful as she was for the leather jacket that she yanked off and wrapped around her arm to insulate it from the electricity, just in case. Re-armed, she turned back to her pursuer, jabbing the stick towards its skull-jawed face.
Bandits	Its skull-jawed face was not exactly electrical-weapon-resistant either, so it growled with pain and crashed down to the floor. Ow.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jono

[endsthegame]

Jono	Well, if Jono thought the pooka adventure on his way in hadn't done him any favours, he was standing corrected now, kilt or none, as he raised the sword he'd picked up and braced his feet against the ground. "Right then, mates. Shall we dance?" It was sheer self-control that kept him from simply screaming and charging at the nearest alien. Though it would have been fitting, really, coming from a big blue man in a kilt with a claymore.
Bandits	The thing that came for him didn't speak English...or at all... and didn't know a Charleston from a Highland Fling, but it picked up on the tone all the same. Or so said the muscular swing of a shiny, sparky spear.
Jono	Oh, brilliant. That was just what Jono wanted to go up against, today. Sparky spears. He was not in the market to get skewered through, but he had a bit more experience in this sort of thing now than he did before, and swung his blade up two-handed to clash against the creature's weapon. "Not today, mate," he ground out, his lip curling and his eyes narrowing.
Bandits	It grunted and heaved a massive shoulder to shove the spear against Jono's sword, trying to bash it out of the way. Yes, today. There were plans for tomorrow that didn't include blue creatures in skirts.
Karla	"Jono!" Karla yelled as she was fighting off her own nasty. "If you get speared through the chest again--or any other part of your body!--I am so telling Raven once we get her back! About both times! And the shooting!" There. If that wasn't incentive to keep himself healthy, Karla didn't know what was.
Jono	"Very helpful, Karla, thank you!" While he bent at the knee, trying not to buckle under the homicidal thing's strength. He'd gained a few muscles over the past few months, granted, but this thing had the benefit of... Of being whatever the hell it was, apparently. He pushed up on his blade for a moment, and then, in an instant that he was fairly certain he'd feel bad about later, he ducked and darted off to the side, his sword's tip dragging in the dirt for a moment before he brought it up to swing again, aiming this time for the flank of the creature's horse. The added height of his opponent wasn't going to be doing Jono any favours.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jono

[endsthegame]

Bandits	The horse wheeled, but not fast enough to avoid the blade; the sound it made was nothing like a human scream, but the message of pain got through to its rider, who rocked in the saddle as its mount reared up. Of course, that meant there were now a spear and two flailing hooves aimed at Jono's head.
Jono	... Well. Jono could have planned that better. Jonothon? Making a completely undignified scramble in an attempt to get out of the way? Hell yes. He was suddenly far less worried about the spear and far more worried about the thousand-pound animal that was coming down on top of him. If he got a spear through any part of him in the process, so bloody be it.
Bandits	The bandit aimed for the highest, shouldery parts; he was polite like that. Or possibly he missed Jono's head because the horse was bobbing too much? Only his hairdresser knows for sure. The horse wasn't aiming much at all; if Jono managed to scramble out of the way of those hooves, good for him.
Jono	It was kind of new and novel, being able to yell in pain when stabbed through the back of his shoulder with a sparking spear. Jono would probably reflect more on that later, when he wasn't ripping himself free of the spear, abandoning his sword, and throwing himself out of the range of those flailing hooves. Apparently, his time in Weapon X hadn't prepared him for going up against livestock. Hopefully he'd thrown the horse off enough that it was going to take the hunter a little bit more effort to reign it in. He was going to need a moment, here.
Bandits	Indeed; the horse was dancing away, though that was too elegant a word to describe the panicked movements. The rider growled loudly, cursing its lineage unto the seventeenth generation including the milkman, as he tried to get it under control.
Jono	Going back for his claymore wouldn't do Jono any good. It was a two-handed weapon, he'd need the extra heft that his shoulder wasn't about to give him. Which meant... He ducked behind a woodpile, frowning momentarily. And then he smiled, his hand closing around the axe, right there within reach. If the locals were going to be so kind as to leave these things just sitting around, then Jono was going to be more than happy to make use of it. This time, he didn't bother getting close. He simply stood up, hefted the axe back with his one good arm, aimed for the rider's back, and threw.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jono

[endsthegame]

Bandits	Whirrrrrr....THUNK! It wasn't just the horse who was flailing and screaming, now.
Jono	That... that was a very satisfying sort of sound. Jono allowed himself a momentary smile, strained though it was, and then took it upon himself to pick up a few of the pieces of chopped wood to lob at horse and rider alike. Wouldn't want either of them to get their bearings any time soon, after all. Jonothon was helpful like that.
Bandits	What bearings? The bandit was too busy trying to pick an axe out of its back to duck any pieces of wood that flew at its head. The electrified spear tumbled from its other hand, spooking the horse even more as it danced among the sparks.
Jono	Jono threw one more chunk of wood, mostly for good measure, before closing his eyes and slumping down behind the woodpile, satisfied, at least for the moment, that his opponent was, if not down for the count, at least... occupied. So long as there weren't any spears being aimed at him, that was good enough for Jono. Maybe he'd pick that one up, if the horse and its rider eventually buggered off. It would be easier to carry around than the sword had been, if nothing else.
Karla	Did that feeling hold true if there was suddenly a Karla looming over him? "I thought we'd had a deal," she said, looking down at him with a sigh. "Something about not getting speared again?"
Jono	Jonothon was totally cracking open one eye and wrinkling his nose at you as he sank sideways, intending to rest on his side for a minute or two, Karla. "My options were getting a spear through the shoulder or having a ton of horse come down on my head," he grit out. "I like to think I chose the saner option, personally."
Karla	"Well, if that's your excuse," Karla said, rolling her eyes and kneeling down beside him. "Are you hurt anywhere besides your arm?"

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Jono

[endsthegame]

Jono	"No." Easy answers. Those were awesome. "They put an electrical charge in their weapons," he offered, helpfully. "Bastards."
Karla	"I can handle the burns," Karla assured him, reaching for his arm to examine it. "And any nerve damage that the shock caused." And she'd also take care of any injuries that were caused by falling gemstones and the occasional creepy-crawlie.
Jono	Jono was pretty certain that being clocked by rubies and salamanders was the least of his worries, really. "Brilliant." But he was going to behave, at least, shrugging out of his coat and peeling his bloody shirt up so that she could get a better look at the wound on the back of his shoulder. Least he could do, really, after going and getting speared like that.
Karla	Heh heh. Speared. "Mother Night, Jono," Karla said, wincing at his arm. "That looks awful." The other guy had better look a lot worse, or Karla was going to have to give Jono a stern talking to. "This might hurt a little," she said, rolling up her own sleeves so they wouldn't get bloody. "There's a lot of damage I'll be Healing all at once, okay? But just a bit of stinging, maybe some itching, and then it should feel warm and soothed." Her Sapphire was already glowing as she put her hands over his shoulder and began to hum.
Jono	The other guy had an axe lodged into his back and was stuck on top of a panicked horse. Jono was pretty certain he'd gotten the better end of the deal, in that regard. "Stinging and itching, hm? Nothing I've never felt before, trust me." Stinging and itching had nothing on blowing his face off. ... Four times, to date.
Karla	Jono always was an overachiever. As Karla hummed, Sapphire energy flowed into Jono's body, finding the places of hurt and wrong and slowly making them right. Torn muscles were mended, split skin was sewn, broken blood vessels were repaired. The creature's spear had been none too clean and infection was already threatening; Karla's Craft burned it away with hungry flames. And, just because Karla was thorough and Jono occasionally silly, she did a quick sweep of the rest of him, just to make sure he really was otherwise unharmed. Well, there was his heart, of course. But she couldn't do anything about that. Other than fight until they got Raven back. Minutes passed and the wounds Jono had suffered closed, seemingly of their own volition.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Goose

[endsthegame]

Shane 'Goose' Gooseman	Goose immediately went for the blasters that were attached to his hips and drew them out. His fingers on the trigger, ready for whatever was going to happen.
Bandits	One of the bandits came swooping toward him, teeth bared in what might be rage, might be glee, might be indigestion, who knew. Did it really matter more than the blue arc-lights sparking off his war-axe?
Shane 'Goose' Gooseman	Goose swerved, as the bandit swooped at him and as he did he started firing, hoping that one of the blasts would hit.
Bandits	One of them did -- of course, what it hit was a lashing alien dreadlock, and the ensuing roar could be easily translated into any language: YOU SHOT MY HAIR! This meant war. Or at least a big heavy club being swung at Goose's head.
Shane 'Goose' Gooseman	He did not like the look of that club coming towards him and in a matter of seconds Goose only just managed to avoid being hit. Stumbling slightly, as he dodged the club. He raised his blasters back up, and fired again, there was a chance that he might have been aiming for the hair again.
Bandits	You really didn't need Google or Babelfish to translate RARRRRRRRRR!!!!! The bandit vaulted from his horse, coming for Goose with that club up close and personal this time.
Shane 'Goose' Gooseman	So he had the reaction he wanted, now Goose just had to fire and avoid being hit by that club. That would be Goose, focusing his blaster fire on the bandit as it came closer. Hopefully he'd be able to hit something vital, or else he'd be in trouble.
Bandits	That relied on the creature having something vital. Aside from its ha--- RARRRRRRRRRRRRARARARARARARAARRRRRR!!!! Oh, wait. That shot just singed the dreadlocks; the bandit took most of the blast in the face. Oh, wait. His face actually was kind of vital. Oops. Well, that was embarrassing. Or it would have been if he was conscious, instead of sprawled out in the dust at Goose's feet.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It)

[endsthegame]

Karla	Thank the Darkness for having working Craft again. And people to hurt. Karla was really interested in finding people to hurt. She stood there in the middle of the street, projecting 'I am an innocent bystander' as hard as she could. To the point of sticking her hands in her pockets and whistling. She wasn't a walking trap! Really!
Bandits	No, she was a walking TINY THING THAT HURT THE BANDIT'S EARS. Somewhere under those dreadlocks there were something like ears, anyway, and that sound. That sound. Good thing he had a big, big stick for thwapping tiny, ear-hurty creatures, huh?
Karla	Oh, poor ugly...deadlocked...bandit thing. Bigger and better people than you have been trying to thwap Karla and make her shut up for years. This wasn't amateur hour, sweetheart. Karla watched the creature riding towards her calmly. Still whistling of course, because insult and injury were meant to go together. And when the horse--poor thing--was only a few lengths away, she created an invisible shield about at about knee-height. And waited.
Bandits	Rattle rattle thunder clatter.... BOOM! WHINNY! BOOM! That was an animal scream, and a bandit hurtling forward off his horse. Right at Karla, granted, all several hundred pounds of him.
Karla	"Motherfu--" The trio of toads landing on the ground probably filled in the remaining letters better than anything else. Karla was too busy learning one of the fundamental flaws of her shields--they stopped anything from physically touching her, yes, but they weren't actually anchored to anything, so she was still subject to the laws of physics. And the laws of physics said that when an unstoppable force met a movable object, and said force had both mass and momentum on its side, both things went flying. Owie. But at least the nasty thing couldn't hurt her with the stick while her shields were still up. That was...something.
Bandits	Well, that wasn't going to stop him from trying! As soon as he found his feet. ...And his stick. Where the hell did that thing get to?
Karla	"Get off me, you ugly son of a flea-bitten whore!" Karla shouted, dropping her shield long enough to spit the mouthful of nastiness--oooh, black widows, how appropriate!--into the creature's face. And, you know, since she was already at it, she followed that up with a nice, open-handed slap aimed for the side of its head. Snake-tooth extended, of course. There were just some things that physical violence couldn't accomplish. For everything else, there was virulent poison.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Karla

[endsthegame]

Bandits	The bandit batted at the angry creatures swarming across its OW! OW! face. That didn't leave much peripheral vision for ducking the swing of the tiny squeaky yellow thing's hand, though. The force of the slap didn't do much but make it laugh (it might have sounded like a dying wildebeest, but it was laughter, really, Karla), once the spiders were shaken off. Stick? Where the hell was that.... oh, right there on the ground. The wavery, see-sawig ground. Why wouldn't the ground stay still?
Karla	Karla scrambled up while the creature was still disoriented, and slammed on the heel of her boot. Triela's boots, the special ones with a surprise inside. It would be a surprise if the blade now jutting from the toe of the boot made contact with the back of the creature's knee, right? The one that Karla was aiming for with a particularly nasty kick? ...Knives aside, Karla had a lot of experience with kicking people. A lot.
Bandits	Somewhere, the memory of Turtle Wexler punched the air. A surprise? Yes. But not a NICE surprise, tiny creature! Forget the stick; the bandit would just whirl on her, tendril-locks flying, and try to bash her skull in the old-fashioned way: with its own.
Karla	And that bandit would come face to face with a bolt of Sapphire energy that Karla had flung at it. Awww! It had looked! She'd intended that to be another surprise! It was was like the bandit wasn't even playing along! Well, if that bolt of Sapphire energy didn't take the creature out, maybe the gout of fire that followed it up would? "Come on, get up!" Karla snarled. "I am the gift that keeps on giving, motherfucker!"
Bandits	Karla, could you please stop dropping toads and stinkbugs on the smoldering corpse? You're not making this place smell any better, you know.
Karla	Some corpses were just no fun! Karla was just going to flounce off and look for someone else to harass. Or help. The two were fairly close together in her estimation. Smolder on, ugly bandit. Smolder on.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Kenzi

[endsthegame]

Kenzi	Ahahahah. Great. Kenzi so couldn't take on those guys. Not one on one. On the other hand. They were sitting on top of horses. Horses could be scared. Or startled. Or... She started looking around for something to set on fire with the lighter in her jacket.
Bandits	The bandit nearest her, on the other hand... appendage, whatever, started looking around for something tiny and squeaky to squish with its big, heavy hammer. Oh, look! How convenient! A Kenzi!
Kenzi	Squeak! Kenzi ducked under a cart as fast as her legs could roll, and yelled, "What did I ever do to you?!"
Bandits	If the thing spoke English, it might have made a comparison to people who asked silly questions like Why do you want to climb Mount Everest? Since it didn't, the bandit conveyed its answer by charging for the cart and using the hammer to bash the nearest wheel to smithereens.
Kenzi	Shit! Kenzi rolled out the other side, frantic and trying to figure out what to do next-- then blinked at the cart. What the hell, right? It was all she could think of! "Burn baby burn," she chanted, lighting one of the broken smithereens lying on the ground, and using it to torch the rest of the cart. "C'mon, inferno!" Then she threw one lighted stick at the horse.
Bandits	It whinnied and reared, dancing backwards. The rider kept his seat, though, roaring and waving the hammer at Kenzi's face. Which was, granted, a few feet below it now.
Kenzi	"Ah ah ah aaaahh--" Kenzi wasn't even trying not to screech, but she was running, running around the now-burning cart, wishing she could move it, wishing it had all four wheels. Oh look. A different cart! ... someone was going to be upset about the property damage later. Kenzi set fire to the second cart as fast as she could, then shoved at the parking brake, and aimed it at the horse and rider.
Bandits	What was the Russian word for ARGHITYFREAKINGLITTLECREATUREAAAAARGH, Kenzi? Whatever it was, that wasn't what the bandit was growling at her as his horse literally lost its shit and flung him to the dust before galloping away. Well, not just dust; both the narration and the horse actually knew the meaning of the word literal, you see. And smell.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Kenzi

[endsthegame]

Kenzi	"Ewwwwwwww." Kenzi paused. "BYE!" Then ran like hell. To find someone to hide behind. Still clutching her torch.
Bandits	It was probably better that the tirade of growls that followed as the bandit got to its feet and tried to wipe down its boots was pretty much untranslatable.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Alex

[endsthegame]

Alex	So these were the bandits. Well, okay then. Alex had faced worse. He drew his sword and slid into a ready stance. Now, there was just one question: what were they afraid of?
Bandits	Global warming. Soggy Cheerios. Uwe Boll deciding to make a movie based on artistic merit instead of the potential tax deduction. Or, judging from the speed with which the nearest pile of muscle and fang went after Alex...hmm. Nothing?
Alex	Everything with a brain was afraid of something, but Alex didn't really have time or the inclination to deal with that right now. He felt much more like cutting something, which was why he was bringing his sword up and swinging it at the bandit.
Bandits	That did require a bit of presumption about what was driving this creature besides an autonomic nervous system, but it probably did possess both a brain and fear. It just wasn't feeling much of the latter; instead, when that electrically-charged lump of iron in its hand met the steel of Alex's sword, the battle roar was one of pure joy.
Alex	Thinking Alex's blade was mere steel also required a bit of presumption, but that was neither here nor there, and aliens could probably be excused. Also, even if something wasn't afraid he could >make it, which was really again not the point, as he was still not using his powers when he met the bandit's strike with substantially more strength than one might have expected in so slight a boy. "So, why are you in our library?" he asked casually.
Bandits	If the bandit had more dog and less Ridley Scott in its DNA, the noise he made would have sounded like arOOO? Both at the strength of that parry and the lack of fear in his prey's response. Not so much the specifics of the question, since even if he had recognized the words, he would have assumed it was rhetorical, since the answer was obviously to ravage, pillage, maim, plunder, and put big hickeys on all the fair damsels. It didn't sound like arOOO?, but he still made the noise as he tried to shove that sword out of his way.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Alex

[endsthegame]

Alex	Of course Alex wasn't afraid. When you were fear itself, there was nothing left to fear. Silly. "Oh, really?" he asked as he parried and prepared to strike again. "Maybe you could leave?" And he struck!
Bandits	Leaving was not on today's agenda, no. Then again, neither was getting knocked back by a fighter that much smaller than him. That might</> even have been the first flickering of fear in the bandit's skull-shadowed eyes. Not of the blade or the boy, but of the impossible possibility that he could be beaten by either of them. He raised his club to defend against a blow, and that was so many levels of wrong, all by itself.
Alex	A pity. Leaving would have been easier. Alex pulled his blow at the last second, with a reaction speed that was downright inhuman, to strike from another, less club-defended angle.
Bandits	No fair! Not that the bandit couldn't counter with some of his own downright inhumanness, but he wasn't that fast. A fact that the flesh of his shoulder gave testimony to when the boy's blade bit into it. Less Aroo? and more rage and confusion behind the wild blow he swung back towards Alex this time.
Alex	Alex's dad was Ares. Fair was not always in his lexicon. You wanted his aunt for that. He leapt back, quick and light, to avoid the blow, then slid in from another angle with a graceful slice in return.
Bandits	That previous blow had hurt like a mother-- whatever the bandit's mother did, and it was still smarting from that. It brought up its weapon in a desperate and clumsy attempt to block Alex's blow, which was so resoundingly unsuccesful that it actually had to fall to its knees in pain. Aroo, indeed.
Alex	"You can surrender," Alex offered, on the vague notion the bandit might understand English. Always doing the honorable thing, this kid, even if he did keep his sword ready just in case.

Re: Showdown at Noon (Or A Few Hours Past It) - Alex

[endsthegame]

Bandits	The loud, inhuman growl it released in Alex's general direction was an answer, right? As was the lifting of its weapon?
Alex	It was! Unfortunately for the bandit, it was the kind of answer that would lead to Alex going for the killing blow.
Bandits	Bringing that idea to its logical conclusion, the bandit slumped to the ground, bleeding rather profusely. Aroooooo...
Alex	"Sorry," Alex told it as he cleaned his sword off on his jeans. He sheathed it and added, "It's not personal. This was always going to happen." He sounded pretty sure about that.

And Then... A Stranger Rides Into Town

[endsthegame]

Stranger	Out of nowhere, a bullet clipped the last Predator in the head. The creature made a ghastly noise as it fell from its horse, its head thudding against the ground and bleeding sluggishly from a wound right between the eyes. The stranger stepped out of the shadows. He tipped his head. "Now what do we have here."
Anakin	"Let me guess," Anakin said, shutting his lightsaber down. "You're the stranger interested in the ar-tee-facts."
Jono	"Needs more drawl," Jono intoned, bending over and picking up the sparking spear that his own personal predator had swung at him. Yes, that might come in handy, at some point. Certainly more lightweight than a claymore, at least. "Dare I ask what sort of artefacts we're talking about, here?"
Bo	Bo wiped her knife off on her jeans before re-sheathing it, because laundry (if there were ever washing machines again) before rust, then walked over to join them. "What we have here is a failure to communicate," she added because really somebody had to, with a gesture at the bodies littering the dusty street. "Here's hoping you're better at it than they were."
Stranger	"I been chasing these guys for months," the stranger said. He looked somewhat conflicted about wasting more words than that. Those had been an awful lot of words, after all. "Artefacts that spell trouble." There. Eleven words. He was feeling chatty today.

Re: And Then... A Stranger Rides Into Town

[endsthegame]

Belthazor	"What kind of artifacts?" Bel demanded. "Where are they?" He wasn't going to mince words either. If Special Collections had nudged them all here to find something, he was going to find it.
Surreal	You're all touched in the head," Surreal decided, kneeling down to slit the throat of the stranger's kill, just to be safe. She was utterly unperturbed by the sheer amount of creature blood she was wearing, although she did clean off her weapon fastidiously. "This trouble is dead, should we be smashing artifacts now?" Said like a normal person, thank you very much.
Alex	First that guy with the fireballs, now this girl with the smashing. Why was everyone's first instinct to destroy everything? Weren't they supposed to be trying to prevent that? "How about we don't break things before we know what they are?" Alex suggested. "Just as a thought." His dad would not be proud of him right now.
Stranger	"A mirror," the stranger said. "Said it looks into strange places." He reached into his pocket for a cigarette. "If you're so eager to see it, road's clear to it now."
Karla	"But you're not going to go look at it?" Karla asked, rather suspicious. "You're just going to let a bunch of random strangers go check it out, even though it's probably dangerous?" WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Stranger	"Only thing I care about is keeping those things away, ma'am." He shot Karla a look. "If you want to endanger yourself, it ain't nothing to me." Hell, if they took off with it, it would fix so many of his problems.
Anakin	"It's only a mirror," Anakin said. "How scary can that be?" Unless it showed your deepest fears or greatest weaknesses or how messed up his hair currently was and Anakin had already dealt with that kind of mirror.

OOC

[endsthegame]

And that's two out of three! Stay tuned for the last one later today...

Re: OOC

[sensethevisions]

*snickersnorts* This was awesome.