apocalypsehowcomm | Settle The Score | The Assassination of Fenix Down (Player Plot Open-Log)

Entry tags:

Settle The Score | The Assassination of Fenix Down (Player Plot Open-Log)

Who: Aelwyn + Anyone Who Wants To Be Involved In This Assassination
When: April
Where: Around Gloucester, Springfield, the Circus, assorted other locations.
Summary: A murder is planned, executed, and staged. The details are yet to come.
Warnings: Discussions of murder, actual murder, blackmail, espionage, gaslighting, TBA.

[Several months ago, following the Circus' initial visit, Aelwyn was given permission to take down Fenix Down and his circus. Now, after more recent revelations about their unseen enemy, the plan has become a higher priority.

The plan is as follows. To ensure that this doesn't implicate ADI, a false cult will be created for this specific purpose. They'll keep the entity behind it vague, but one must be selected to ensure anyone paying enough attention would be able to identify it. They'll create conspiracy theories, fabricate old reports from decades ago to make it seem like this group is only recently being resurrected.

And then, with that done, they'll execute the plan itself. Staging the kidnapping and murder as if it was the act of that cult, and an extensive interrogation.

OOC Post here!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

People scatter like pigeons at the first gunshot, and that's good but Jaeger can do better. There's a line in his mind, the space they'll need to keep the crowd away from the conflict, and he follows that with his power, stirring the force inside him that lets him do such amazing things.

Amazing, and terrifying. It shouldn't come so easily, it's been a bare trickle for months now, but at the presence of fear, it sparks to life. A curtain of ink-black shadow drops along the midway, cutting the milling people off from the scene and, oops, plunging a few of them at the edge into utter darkness. Cell phone lights vanish, illuminating nothing in the well of darkness, and in that black is the certainty that more is coming. That something has spotted them, targeted them, and is coming to deliver pain-and-blood-and-claws-and-steel.

Jaeger's breath catches at the sensation of power flooding his body again after so long, but somehow, somewhere, he finds that thread of control. He hadn't meant to catch anyone in the dark, but if they're running away, it means they aren't casualties waiting to happen. That's good. That's important, he can manage that.

Combat casting is fast casting, and Jaeger has experience in the fastest, dirtiest magic there is. It flits through his mind that he has options, so many options, for dealing with Penny, but he settles on something old, reliable, and terrible.

Penny isn't concerned with guns, and probably not knives, either. But steel blades, when there are a thousand of them, launched at extreme velocity? That's a different story. The whirling cloud is tight, compact, and aimed with terrible precision as it flashes into existence with hundreds of tiny glints of metal, tears through the space she occupies, and then vanishes into mist.

Not fatal, not yet. But it gets her attention, and draws a pained, panicked sound from her at the sudden and extensive damage. It might be healing already, but it's enough for her to notice.

It's a distraction. Winter takes advantage of it by diving in with his left arm swinging for her face. She manages to flip herself back out of the way before he can connect solidly with her face, but he manages to clip her ankle, so she lands badly.

He presses, and she lashes out with her whip, but that's what metal arms are for. The flaming leather wraps around his forearm, burns through the sleeve there, and gives him a chance to wrap metal fingers around the whip itself and hold fast. She can't use it if she can't pull it back, and he has the weight advantage. She'll have to either waste time yanking on it, or let it go and lose that weapon, giving Jaeger a chance to start setting up the protective dome they need behind her so she can't leap further away from him.

The fact that his arm is going to pay for this in fried circuits and melted connectors is something he's prepared to deal with. Later.

The talk before the fight had been quiet but important, the two men detailing their strengths in combat and making a plan for their target. Winter knows most of the spells that Jaeger can cast, now, and the fact that they take a fair amount of energy. It will take him a minute to deal out his next bit of magic, all with the unhappy awareness of Nia's snitch around here somewhere.

He's also a respectable shot with the heavy pistol he carries, but he knows better to shoot into a melee. Especially when Penny is so fucking nimble and bouncing all over the place with her little hell-toy.

Jaeger circles the scene at a prowl, angling for the best spot to throw the barrier. Walls are good, domes are better, but he needs a second to catch his breath because that spray of metal hit him a little harder than he expected. Still, he's alert, watching the back and forth with a mix of anticipation and apprehension. He'll need to choose his actions carefully, react quickly, and that's foremost on his mind. He's promised Winter that he's a reliable partner, and he will live up to that.

And the Hunt is still there in the back of his mind, the rush of a fight, a chase, a kill, and he doesn't want to miss a moment of it.

She tugs fruitlessly on her whip, flaring the fire along it, scorching the metal of Winter's left arm, but otherwise not doing any damage. And he tugs on it, back, yanking his arm up and trying to throw her off balance.

Wisely, she lets go and flips back out of the way when he tries to lash the whip handle back at her. The fire goes out now that she isn't touching it, and he lashes with the heavier handle again, trying to drive her back towards a better spot for containment. The smaller the space, the more likely Jaeger can keep it closed.

She springs back again, and in between two booths, giving herself cover and possibly something to leap up onto if she's given enough time to do so. Good time for that barrier, Jaeger. Winter takes that opportunity to throw the whip behind him, out of reach of either of them, and advance to try and block her in on his side. The metal arm is badly overheated, some of the internal components twitching awkwardly, but it's still usable-- for now.

Jaeger has no choice but to close a bit of the distance, to get a better viewpoint for the barrier. Penny's moving fast, unpredictably, but she's also boxing herself in while trying to get cover from his attacks, and...

A dazzling burst of flame lights up the night, followed by a wave of searing heat and Jaeger is so very, very glad that for his size, he's fairly light on his feet because otherwise, she would have broiled him where he stood. He dives out of the way, and the pain is both sudden and shocking as his coat and shirt sear away in the sudden, violent spray of flames.

Oh. That bitch. The impact steals his breath, reduces his sight to blackness and starbursts from the intensity of the light, but she's got two enemies to worry about, coming at her from two different directions, and she's going to have to turn her attention back to Winter to keep him off her, too. Acrobatic as she might be, she's not in the best position and Jaeger fully intends to press the advantage and keep her off-guard until they can land a definitive fight-ending blow.

And he'll be okay in a second. He swears. From the ground, he angles up another spray of metal shards, and while only the very edge of it catches her, it's enough to draw more blood, ramp up her panic just a little more and send that frission of fear back to her Hunter as the tiniest extra spark of energy. There's a quick, sharp twinge in his chest, but the pain is everywhere and nowhere at the moment, and he's long since accustomed himself to fighting through pain. He notes it, measures it, discards it in the greater frenzy of battle.

The barrier will follow in a minute. But right now, he wants blood to soothe the insult of being burned.

Winter reacts to Penny's panic at the flying blades by lunging, grabbing her arm, and yanking. That will be the only gout of flame at Jaeger, because she's going to focus on trying to claw at Winter's face with her free hand. Lucky for him, he's got a face mask, so she just breaks her fingernails-- and drags soot as she tries to call up a spark and is distracted by having her arm twisted cruelly-- along said mask.

"Get back!" Winter snaps, for Jaeger's benefit, not Penny's, hauling Penny right up against his chest and smashing her there with his super-heated metal arm after the knives fly. "Back, Jaeger!" He doesn't want the man anywhere near her when he engages his grenades. Winter trusts that he can leap free in time, but he doesn't want to risk Jaeger.

And he also doesn't want Jaeger wasting power on offense when they have perfectly good grenades, dammit, and the barrier is much, much more important.

"I need line of sight," he returns, just a little bit breathless and voice scorched even more raw than usual.

The snapped words through his headset are enough to shake him out of his moment of bloodlust, though. A little bit lost in it, but not totally gone, and Jaeger scrambles back to regain some distance. Both mentally, and physically. The ecstasy of adrenaline is still there, damping the pain of what might be some serious wounds, and he still has the plan in mind. Still can focus his power, even through the twinge in his chest that hints at more damage than he expects.

Well, they knew this would be messy going in, didn't they? Jaeger finds his feet, ignoring the scorched-raw skin across his chest and arm, and raises a hand again. This time, there's intent, conscious effort there, and the first glittering flashes of arcane light sketch out the borders of the dome that's about to appear. It's not as quick as it normally would be, but he's putting everything he's got into it, and as soon as Winter gets some distance from the forming barrier, Jaeger will solidify it.

Penny has one more trick up her sleeve, and when she can't wriggle free from Winter's implacable metal grip or get a hand to his face because said metal arm is now pinning both of hers to her sides, she sends fire coursing down his leg.

He's had worse-- but he's had worse when he had a serum to heal it. It hurts, and that leg isn't going to hold him for long. Thankfully, he has his grenade in his flesh hand, already primed and counting down, and he shoves it into her pants pocket before pushing her directly into the budding barrier.

He falls back, rolls, hisses as he comes to his feet in a crouch on top of blistered and bloody skin. It doesn't stop him from throwing the second grenade at Penny's feet as she tries to catch herself from his shove, just in case one isn't enough. Time to bring that down, Jaeger.

Jaeger's judgment may have lapsed for a minute and probably cost him quite a bit in damage (if not trust from Winter), but when it comes down to the exact, necessary moment of action, he's there with fucking bells on.

The barrier solidifies around Penny, just a few scant feet from Winter, with expert precision and a semi-translucent glow that shimmers blue in the night air. It can be seen through vaguely, shadows and shapes, but it will prove to be as tough as concrete for as long as Jaeger can hold it. And he doesn't have to hold it long. Just a few seconds, ticking by like the roaring of his pulse in his ears as blood starts to drip from his nose.

It gives Penny those few seconds to realize exactly what's coming, and her scream of rage does carry through the barrier, that intense, horrible, perfect moment when she fully grasps her situation.

That's all she has time for, before the first grenade goes off, right in her pocket. The barrier is full of fire and dust, shards of the edge of the booth caught inside the barrier. There isn't even time for the first to die down before the second grenade explodes.

Winter scoots back, then lands on his ass in the dust, breathing raggedly. They have to go, someone would surely have heard that, even muffled by the magical barrier. But they can't go until they confirm she's dead.

"Jaeger. Jaeger, drop it."

Jaeger doesn't need more than the briefest prompting to drop the barrier. His ears are ringing and his head spinning from the noise of the explosion, as contained as it is, a perfect dome of carnage that he allows to drop with all its horrifying contents.

Which are...not quite what he expected. He expected horror, a gruesome show of what's inside a body when it explodes in a confined space, but this is...not quite that? Not entirely that.

There's still little flashes in front of his vision from the fire, only slowly and reluctantly fading back into something like night sight, and he pulls his flashlight off his belt to get a better look at what's left behind.

"That's not a body." It's pieces of something, but not a body. Not with melted, scorched, broken bits of what look like plastic or wax scattered among even less identifiable pieces. They need to move fast, whatever they decide to do next, but leaving on a mysterious note is never a good sign. Jaeger would rather be good and damn sure, if he can help it.

Winter cranes his neck to see, and... actually groans. "Why can't these people just. Fucking die," he grumbles, and forces himself back onto his feet. He gives the nearest shred of wax-person a vicious kick with his burned leg, well away from the other bits.

Because a couple of those pieces are already inching back towards each other, and that seems like a bad thing.

"We need to. Separate it all," he guesses, eying them, giving another piece a kick further away-- closer to Jaeger. This kicks some dust and debris over some of the bits still between the tents, which helps them to stop wiggling.

Jaeger feels that sentiment completely. They'd known that the fight would be intense, but he tastes blood in his mouth, the skin of his chest and arm are fire, and he is just so incredibly done with this shit.

But the job's not finished yet, and they have to be thorough. Jaeger sucks in a breath full of smoke and dust, and then starts to cough, a rough and pained sound that brings up crimson into his hand. Something in his chest feels like broken glass, and he doesn't have to be a genius to guess that he's pushed too hard, damaged something inside.

Not good, but it passes after a minute. He wipes the blood off on his slacks, and narrows his eyes at the remains.

"There were sandbags at one of the booths further down. Sand or sawdust. That might work? We may not have much time."

And yet, amid all the pain and fatigue and what might be the first faint chiming of shock through his bones, there's elation, too- the satisfaction of dispatching their prey, of a Hunt completed. All that's left now is the bones.

"Otherwise, we might have to get creative with the burial."

That's one of the many joys of wearing a face mask: no dust inhalation problems. Winter looks up and over, taking in Jaeger's condition, though his expression is impossible to see behind said mask and goggles. "What if all someone had to do was brush the dust off. Some of it needs to be separated. Buried."

He looks Jaeger over one more time. They don't have a lot of time, but they don't have a lot of resources left, either, he thinks. Jaeger needs to sit down. Hell, Winter needs to sit down. But the mission isn't over yet. "Get a sandbag," he decides. "I'll bury some pieces over here. Take some with us. Bury them somewhere else. You douse in sand the rest."

There's an ashen sort of look to Jaeger's already-fair skin, the peek of a crust of blood under one nostril, but he gives a short nod at Winter's direction, steadies himself for another second and then moves to retrieve one of the bags of sand.

He's used to operating while compromised. His scars alone are a testament to that, and so is his stoic stance as he moves to heft the bag over one shoulder. Breathe, and keep moving. The pain is a steady burn, that becomes simple background noise as he pushes himself to make the short trip from the booth to Winter's side again.

The waxy, gory pieces have started to make a bit of progress toward reforming, and burial? Yeah. That seems like the best idea, even with time ticking down.

"There's enough here to mix with everything," he advises solemnly, letting the bag drop to the ground with a dull thump. "Both buried and not. Better not to take any chances."

Winter's used to it, too, though normally he'd be starting to knit together by now. Ugh. Sometimes he hates having to be a person now.

By the time Jaeger gets back, Winter has already dug a few shallow holes for some of the bigger pieces with the heel of his boots, and is scraping dirt over one of them. There is another piece, most of one hand, in his metal one, though the metal fingers keep twitching around it, something inside malfunctioning.

He kicks over the bag of sand, too, letting it start to spill over the wreckage, spreading it around with his boot. Kicking at things hurts, but bending over or crouching hurts, too, and he'd rather stay on his feet. "Pick a foot or and ear or something," he instructs. "Carry it with us. We need to go."

With some of the sand spilled out, there's more than enough room in the burlap sandbag to fit in some pieces of the mess. Packed in sand, they should keep from reforming, Jaeger thinks, and well, he'll have to just go with that because that's what they have.

Bending over hurts, and nearly starts him coughing again, but he wipes his mouth on his already-bloodied sleeve and sets to gathering a couple of choice pieces of the...remains. It's easier to distance himself from that when he realizes that they are wax, not anything like flesh and blood at all. It's grotesque, but not quite as awful as actual meat would be.

Meat. Probably better he not think like that. He packs the parts into the sand carefully, then straightens and gives Winter a short, sharp nod.

"When you're ready, then."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Settle The Score | The Assassination of Fenix Down (Player Plot Open-Log)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: gore, body horror

no subject

cw: Various injuries

Re: cw: Various injuries

cw: Various injuries

no subject

cw: Body parts