Winterbloom's

It took Hazel about an hour to put together everything she needed.

She put a circular golden amulet on a chain around Simon's neck.

"This should allow you to activate and focus your portals. I assume you can get back to Faeland after last time?"

She didn't let him answer before handing him a small compact mirror, the kind used to apply makeup.

"This will let you contact me, in case you need to. And you have enough adaptation pellets?"

Hazel almost reached out to squeeze Simon's free hand reassuringly. She decided against it at the last second and ended up patting him awkwardly on the chest.

Simon responded affirmatively to both of the witch's questions. And he did notice the almost-gesture -and its meaning. She was worried, but she did not want to admit it.

He smiled, on the inside. If there was one good thing to come out of this mess, it was that Hazel, who liked to hide behind a cold front -and lots of alcohol- was being forced to face her more humane side again.

The Traveler took a deep breath, said, "take care of them" (meaning Fyodor and his father) and then began concentrating.

He could feel reality slip by him, like a stream of water. Except this time, it was more focused, unlike the usual chaos he navigated. He concentrated on the image of Mab's dungeon, and suddenly-

-he was there.

But the cell was empty. The chains and the door were still broken, but Misty and Topaz were not here. Not that he expected them to be. They are probably elsewhere in the castle being tortured, he feared.

Still, he had the advantage of not being expected. Unfortunately he still had the brutish form he wore the last time he was here. Not exactly built for stealth.

But then he had an idea. He reached for the dirty floor, and began applying dust to his body. Soon he looked like a reasonable facsimile of an ogre.

With a silent prayer, and trying to look and act as ogrish as possible, he exited the room.

Downtown - Rebecca's Apartment

Rebecca was in the middle of a nice, relaxing bath. The fact that the bathwater had turned to putrid sludge at her touch was irrelevant. It wasn't like the point was to get clean. As she relaxed, she contemplated the events of the previous day. It might have been a bit rude of her to leave while Hazel was talking like that. She had been a bit overwhelmed by the influx of people, but that was no excuse. Rebecca silently decided to go back down to Hazel's shop and apologize.

Getting out of the tub, Rebecca used her powers to strip all of the sludge from her body and the bathtub, and throw it out the window of her spotless apartment onto the not-so-spotless alley below. Throwing on her magical transforming outfit, she made her way out of her apartment and down to Hazel's place.

And that's how Rebecca ended up walking into Winterbloom's just as Simon was leaving.

edited 9th Aug '17 1:22:13 PM by PossiblyQuiteInsane

Easton City, Winterbloom's

Fyodor and his Father were both up again by now, watching all this. After Simon disappeared Fyodor went over to Hazel, lightly tugging on of her sleeves "What can I do now?" If she were to look she'd notice that his father looked worried but also lightly confident, believing in his son.

edited 9th Aug '17 1:57:32 PM by Sergey_Smirnov

Winterbloom's

"For starters," Hazel said. "You can stop pulling on my sleeves. I can see and hear you perfectly well."

The door opened and the bells above it jangled, and in came Rebecca.

Hazel inhaled sharply, not even bothering to hide her annoyed expression.

"Fyodor, Aleksey, this is Rebecca. She..."

Works for me? Worked for me? Is an uppity bitch? Is only an uppity bitch to me because I withheld information from her?

"...comes and goes. She's possessed by some sort of pollution entity. Rebecca, this is Fyodor. He talks to birds. And his father."

"Misty is...elsewhere. Simon is going to bring her back. Now you're up to speed." Hazel crossed her arms. "What do you want? The exorcism?"

Winterbloom's

Even before Hazel said anything, her annoyed expression spoke volumes. She was upset. Rebecca inwardly cringed. But at least she remained civil, which was a small comfort. She even introduced her to the kid, Fyodor, and his dad.

And then Hazel asked if she was here for the exorcism.

"What? No! From how you described it, that's way too dangerous, and I personally quite like having a soul. No, I came to apologize. I shouldn't have just left like that yesterday. It's just... I was a shut-in for so many years, and being in a smallish space with that many people... I had a bit of an anxiety attack. I wasn't mad at you or anything."

Rebecca paused for a second here, as if mulling over something.

"And I wouldn't say that I'm possessed. I'm in full control of my body; she's more of a freeloader."

Easton City, Winterbloom's

Fyodor quickly backed off "S-Sorry Miss Hazel." Seeing Rebecca came in the boy looked over to her, smiling and waving "Hello Miss Rebecca." Aleksej all the while gave a nod, holding out his hand "I'm Aleksej." As he said that he eyes Rebecca, watching what she would do.

Winterbloom's

Rebecca was honestly somewhat startled when the boy's father, Aleksej, approached her and offered his hand. People who didn't know her tended to give her a wide berth because of her odor. Even people she knew were often reluctant to touch her, because of the whole "Avatar of Pollution" thing, even when she was squeaky clean, like now.

This internal monologue resulted in Rebecca staring into space for a full minute before coming to her senses and shaking Aleksej's outstreched hand.

"Rebecca. Pleasure to meet you."

Eastin City, Winterbloom's

Aleksej wait... and waited... and waited, he did feel kinda weird right now but then Rebecca actually shook it, Aleksej decided to not mention it to the woman. He also by now did have the urge to hold his nose but managed to fight against it. Fyodor all the while walked around in the store restlessly, not really knowing what to do now - also be out of Rebecca's sight so he could hold his nose.

Easton City Streets — Vigour

The owner of the jewellery store was surprisingly understanding with the whole situation.

Then again, this city had seen angels, dimensional conquerors, sorcerers and Neo-Nazis. So honestly, the whole "I got the necklace back from an inept bike-riding pervert" wasn't that strange in comparison.

He was currently laying flat on his back on the roof of Corundum, mourning the loss of his cape.

   —aRe you noT goNna go bAcK and chEck oN oUr faVouriTe stRipPer?—   

...Er-

   —...y'kNow whAt i mEan.—   

Til, I just fought a lava monster with a bat, got myself in a car crash, lost my cape for the sake of someone else's dignity, and nearly lost the rest of my outfit from a card wielding stripp— DAMMIT!

For the next five minutes, his head was filled with the reverberating laugh of a certain immature entity.

edited 10th Aug '17 5:22:44 AM by Enirboreh

Winterbloom's

Hazel shrugged casually.

"Yes, well. You had your reasons to be angry, and they weren't bad reasons, all things considered."

After the not-quite-apology, Hazel crossed her arms.

"So why are you here? I'm not under any illusions that you missed my company, and if you're here for Simon or Misty you're already disappointed."

Hazel's nose wrinkled. Ah. So that was why.

"Are you out of perfume already? I can whip up another batch now, if necessary."

Winterbloom's

Rebecca was honestly sort of stunned. That was the closest thing to an apology she had ever gotten from Hazel. And she hadn't even been that upset. Best not to mention that though, wouldn't want to ruin the moment.

And then Hazel asked why she was here. Huh. Why did she come here? She hadn't really thought it through beyond apologizing, but it was too long a walk to just come here and immediately go home.

Wait, perfume?

"I mean, I am down to my last bottle... is it wearing off already?"

Rebecca tried to discreetly sniff herself. Emphasis on tried. She could smell herself. That was a bad sign.

"Yup, it's wearing off... lovely... good thing I'm already here. I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Easton City, Winterbloom's

Fyodor continued pacing arounf the store while Aleksej merely stayed silent for now.

Fairy Land

Topaz ripped at the willows grasping branches, lashing with blade of telekinetic force before a clawed force hand scooped Misty up and pulled towards her.

Topaz flew back with her prize in tow, holding her up above her. She retreated away, jealously keeping her prize.

Easton Streets

Amethyst grunted and rerouted energy through his body. After a few cards flying past him, an energy bubble popped up around them. Amethyst's hands blurred as he grabbed fluttering, falling cards. He tossed them back at Strips, his face blank of emotion.

Easton Streets

Strip Poker's curses were cut short as his own cards came flying back at him. And he had just replaced the leather jacket too. Strip Poker did (poorly) attempt several acrobatic maneuvers to dodge the cards, which had overall effect of throwing himself in front of several cards that would have otherwise missed him.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. When all was said and done, about a dozen decks of cards were laying on the ground around SP, having fallen from several pockets and cavities in his clothing when they suddenly ceased to exist. Strip Poker himself was reduced to just his boxers and domino mask, and was much less keen on continuing to fight than before. More out of a lack of ammunition than shame.

Strip Poker bent down and started frantically gathering his decks from the street.

Valter was grinning as the crew began sorting through their latest hit. Some bills, a few watches and bits of jewelry. The phones and laptops would be sold to a fellow he knew who could find useful information in anything and recycle the electronics with no questions. Business cards and car keys were stored for later perusal.

Walking past the cheerful group, Bearskin moved to the front of the boat where a strong chain hung over the urban abyss. He leaned over the side and shouted down at a cage suspended over the urban abyss. "Well, Mr Takagi, will you give us those passcodes? Or shall I have the ship bump you into more buildings? Or perhaps some birdseed to bring in the pigeons? I'm sure if we dropped in some blood or guts we could attract a few crows."

A terrified voice floated back up. "You're just going to kill me anyway! Go to hell!"

"Not at all. We didn't kill any of your friends, did we? Murder without profit is not my way. I give you my word we'll drop you off on the first roof we find after the transfer goes through."

Jack Daniels awoke in an alley. This is new, he thought. Normally, the worlds tend to be less...

He tasted the air. 21st century, or 20th. Eh, he'd find out soon. Cars were driving, so he'd place a bet on the 21st century. It was night, and cold, so apartment might be hard to come by. Regardless, Jack figured, he had to find rent money, so it was his best bet to head to a nearby bar. Hopefully, they had his namesake.

He walked down a few blocks, wind blowing around him. Eventually, he found a tavern- bar, most likely in this world. The sign above the door read "The Black Flamingo." He'd heard worse names. The mouthful that was Cthulhu, for example.

Making his way past the bouncer, Jack gazed around the bar. It was alright, for the most part. Counter, bar stools, tables, and, oddly, an out-of-place moose head hanging precariously above the beer. Its eyes followed Jack, but the counter was where he was comfortable, so he took a seat, checked to make sure he had his gun, and ordered a Jack Daniels.

Jack Daniels would look back at this moment and realize this is where things went downhill.

edited 28th Aug '17 3:28:11 PM by Spider_Jaws

The bartender of the Black Flamingo looked up -quietly- as the Asian man entered.

Not a regular customer he thought. That could be good, or it could be bad.

It might be a newcomer looking for mercenary work in town. He could always use some of those.

It could be a spy or even a hero doing undercover work. In that case, he would either play the "I dunno what yer talking" game, or give them a false lead.

Or it might even be a drunken idiot spoiling for a fight. Those were bad on the furniture, but good for releasing the clients' stress.

In any case, he gave the man his best smile, and started chatting by saying, "Hello. One Jack Daniels, coming up."

edited 29th Aug '17 7:03:14 PM by Sijo

Easton Streets

Amethyst popped up into the air, and looked around for a building without roof access or somewhere else high up. Not too far, he spotted the park and one of its larger trees.

Zipping back down, he grabbed Strip Power and blurred over in two jumps. He dumped the man in the crook of two branches and the trunk, high up in the air.

"There ya go, I'll tell someone to get you down." Amethyst blurred away once again.

Jack sat and drank. A pastime he'd grown accustomed to- at least until a giant monster attack within a mile radius. Well, a monster attacked, alright- however, it was not the giant ones Jack was used to handling.

Sitting next to Jack was a lonely man, tired and not wanting to talk to anyone. A woman approached and began flirting with him. The man refused, politely, and the woman walked away. That should have been the end of that.

But it wasn’t. Jack watched as the woman went back to her table, loudly complained to her friends, and all five of them marched over to the man and began shouting at him. You could tell that the man was not what you’d call “assertive.” He simply sat there silently as they all yelled at him.

After a few minutes of this, Jack finally got tired and turned to them. “Hey, maybe you can leave him alone?”

The woman who started this got into Jack’s face. “Maybe you should stay out of things that don’t concern you!”

“Lady, I was here this whole time- I saw everything. I think you should leave him alone.”

She grabbed his coat with one arm. “And what are you going to do about it?”

“I’ve been told I’m a decent fighter.”

She grabbed both sides of his coat. “You wouldn’t dare hit a-”

Jack had enough. He knocked her hands off him, grabbed the side of her face, and landed it down onto the bar. She slumped over and fell to the ground.

“You’re right,” he said, “I wouldn’t dare hit you.” He then turned to the others. “Will you leave the man alone now?”

No, they wouldn’t. A woman went to punch Jack. He caught her first, then kicked her into another woman, sending both to the ground. Jack moved away from the bar, as the patrons began cheering. “Fight, fight, fight!”

Another woman attacked. Jack kneed her stomach, punched, then flung her into a recently-back-up woman, knocking both out. A third woman approached, and at this point Jack pulled out his gun. The woman stopped cold, and so did the bar.

“Wait, sorry. Murder isn’t legal here, is it?” No one said anything. “Sorry, I’m just used to this.” He flipped his gun, and swung, the woman crumpling to the ground. Fourth woman jumped on top of him, causing him to drop his gun. She proceeded to slam her fists against his head, while he stumbled around like a blind mouse. The cheering had restarted.

“Ah! Get off me!” He stumbled around and towards a wall, where he slammed her against it repeatedly until she collapsed into a table.

Jack took a deep breath, and leaned against the counter. “Hey, where’s my gun?”

click

Jack turned to see the barrel of his own gun, the first woman holding it against him. By this point, the patrons had stopped cheering, and other man and bartender were cowering behind the counter.

“Uh… can we start over?” She didn’t seem to agree. Jack swung his elbow, knocking the gun towards an angle as it fired. He jumped behind the counter with the other two as she continued firing.

Jack looked to the other two cowering next to him. “Hi,” he said, “please don’t call the police.” Jack looked for a weapon. Any second now the woman would take the gun and shoot them, and he didn’t want that freaky moose head to be the last thing he-

Jack shot up and grabbed the head. The woman didn’t register at first, but once she did, she fired. Jack dodged, and grabbed the moose head, using it as a shield as she continued firing until the bullets ran out.

“You used up all the bullets?!” Jack shouted from behind the creepy moose. He refocused and tossed it at her, causing it to crack over her head and knock her out cold.

Jack hopped over the counter as the patrons applauded the brawl. Jack took a quick bow and headed towards the door.

Standing in the doorway was the unhappy bouncer, Xy.

“Uh-oh.”

Faeland

Unlike Misty and Topaz, Simon was lucky enough to land in a city. Like them, this was still probably going to hurt for him, because he landed on an ogre's head.

The ogre had been sitting outside a tavern, enjoying fried cherub and flagons of mead with a nixie. Simon's impromptu appearance pushed him face-first into his meal, and made his nixie date shriek in surprise.

Various species of fae were walking, flying, and crawling through the streets. None of them were surprised by what they saw, though a few of them stopped to point and laugh.

edited 31st Aug '17 4:11:41 PM by emilyorthoclase

Jack's head still hurt when he woke up the next morning in a jail cell. Even in a coat, Jack was cold, and the environment of four or five men wasn't easing his mind.

When he thought the bouncer was a normal woman, he figured he could fight her. When he found himself tossed through a wall and realized the bouncer "Xyberpunk" was a cyborg, he was a little less sure of his capabilities. Eventually, he found his last memory being a fist flying towards his face.

When Jack lifted himself off the bed, one of the officers noticed. "Hey, the stranger's up. Someone get Bern!"

Within a few minutes, Jack was talking to the proclaimed Officer Bernard Higgins of the EPD. "You've given us quite the hassle," he said, "we've had trouble finding your identity. Mind telling me your name?"

Several thoughts began cycling through Jack's head. Sure, he could say his name, that wasn't the problem. The problem was what kind of world this was. Cyborg would imply a futuristic society, yet the city of- Easton? That was what Jack heard- was so far totally average in 21st century terms. Average world with futuristic tech usually meant so-called "superheroes", so there was that to look forward to.

Jack then realized about three seconds had passed, so he should probably answer by this point.

"Jack Daniels."

"Like the beer?"

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard that." He probably should change it, but seeing as how more times than not "beer" wasn't a thing on other words...

"Well, Mr. Daniels, the bartender and a man sitting next to you both say they you were defending the latter from harassment by five women. Security footage backs this up, and seeing as how those women haven't come forward and most likely won't be pressing charges, you're free to go within the hour."

"Thanks." Jack returned to the bed, which thankfully hadn't been taken. Jack had done worse. All he had to do was wait.

Or, he would have, if it hadn't been for the guy in a trench coat starting to talk.

"How long do you guys think you'll be in here for, huh?" The man spoke. A couple of "I dunno"s were thrown around before he continued. "Well, if you're willing, I have a man who'd be interested in recruiting you. Good pay, get to explore and train. It'd be fun."

Jack could see where this was going. He got up and joined in. "So, what, you're offering the job of being a henchman to a super villain? Don't those jobs have high turnover rates?"

"Not at all. My employer has spent a long time acquiring funds to make sure his employees are well-cared for."

"Oh, yeah. And why should any of us believe you?"

"Because," the man said, standing and smiling, "I've been freezing the walls and bars of this cell for the past hour. Join me and I don't freeze you in about..." the man looked at a nearby clock.

"3... 2... 1."

The wall and bars exploded, sending everyone in the station flying except for the employer. He pulled off a trench coat, revealing a full super villain get-up. Through the spreading ice, Jack Daniels could hear officers in the station shouting.

“Oh, good, I was right- it is a superhero world.”

Faeland

"WACCHU DOIN!'' the Ogre roared when Simon landed on his head.

With agility that belied his current enormous bulk, the Traveler somersaulted off his unexpected landing area. Not that it did much to assuage the ogre, who huffed like a mad bull and lunged at him.

The brawl caught the attention of the other fairy folk at the marketplace, but not too much- as far as they could tell it was just a couple of ogres fighting, hardly a rare sight in these parts.

Until Simon knocked the ogre right off his feet, and flat on his back. With one punch.

Whoops, I guess I'm currently stronger than the average ogre he silently realized. That was good on one hand, but he'd better keep it quiet- he was in Dark Fey territory, and the last thing he wanted was to be caught by Queen Mab *again*.

He then proceeded to walk away from the scene of the fight as unassumingly as possible, while trying to think of a way to find Misty and Topaz.

The man was shooting ice all around the station, freezing officers right where they stood. The man was taking action, fighting his enemies.

Jack Daniels, meanwhile, pretended to be asleep on the floor.

He needed to think. The guy was likely a “super villain”, his long speech and offering criminals to work for him made that obvious. Jack needed a way to stop him without making himself look like he was working for him. Where were those superheroes when you needed them?

It didn’t matter. Jack had to handle this himself, he supposed.

The doors to the front of the station opened up, and two armed men barged through, shooting at any remaining officers. At this moment, Jack began to crawl to the nearest officer. The ice man began to speak again. He was short, little over five and half feet, balding, but masked and in an ice-colored suit. Something about him was off, though- his eyes were a dark black, giving him a cold feeling.

“Well, gentlemen,” he began, “it seems you owe me now. Come with me right through these doors, and you’ll work for my employer. Refuse, and you can sit in that jail cell and wait for TALOS to show up. What’ll it be?”

Jack sprang up with a gun in hand. He tossed it across the room, knocking out the ice man and catching the attention of the other goons. Machine guns turned on him, they fired.

Jack dodged, hiding behind a cubicle and taking another gun. He sprang up again and ran towards the two armed men, shooting both in the legs and making them drop their guns in agony.

“Sorry about that,” Jack said, “but you were shooting at me and all, so…” He kicked one in the jaw, knocking him through the doors, then using the momentum to jump and sucker punch the other one in the face. Jack felt pretty good, now all he had to do was wait for backup and-

The other four guys had guns.

“Hey, why are you pointing those at me?” Jack raised his hands while the other prisoners were ready to shoot him. “I just saved your lives.” Their guns didn’t lower.

“Right?”

Bang, bang, bang.

edited 11th Sep '17 5:07:02 PM by Spider_Jaws

Shit, shit, shit!

These words echoed through Jack’s mind as he ducked behind another cubicle. He needed a strategy, a plan. Lucky for Jack, there was an officer with a gun next to him, so he was armed. He poked his head up and saw two of the four guys help the leader off the floor, while the other two split off.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said, standing up himself. “Forget about the other guy, let’s just get out of here.”

Jack watched from a secluded corner, gun in hand, as they picked up the two men on the ground and walked out of the station. On the way, one of them asked:

“So, who the hell are you anyway?”

The mystery man turned towards the asker and answered in what seemed to be the most dramatic way possible, “who am I? WHO AM I?!” He put his arm around the man in a sort of casual way and continued, “I AM- the Iceman.”

Jack couldn’t help himself. “Did you just come up with that?”

Two bullets and a stream of ice shot towards the origin of the sound. Jack, though, was prepared and bolted from the location.

“Go to the black van, go!” the Iceman shouted, and the four men, carrying the two on the ground, fled the station.

“I suggest you don’t follow, whoever you are,” the Iceman yelled to Jack, though he could not see where he was, “in fact, I suggest you get out of the city, before the event happens.”

Jack shot up and began shooting. “Stop giving away your plans, you idiot! Now I know you have a larger scheme in mind!”

The Iceman created a thick wall of ice, blocking the bullets before shooting the thick wall at Jack, who backed away and into an office. “My employer’s the one with the plan, I just do what he asks me to,” the Iceman retorted. At this, he left Jack trapped behind an ice wall in the office.

A half-hour later, Jack managed to free himself from the office via a handy combination of a stapler and two desk legs. Out of the prison, Jack moved to the front desk, and got the officer’s attention from under the desk.

“Hey, here’s my pink slip. What do I have?” Jack explained. The officer slowly stumbled to the back, returning with an opened, small box.

“No gun, my wallet, some gold coins which can be legal tender,” Jack listed off the items. Despite the lack of gun, he at least still had a police issue in his pocket. “Badge, laser sword hilt, bat boomerang, broken phone… yeah, all here.”

He packed his things in his pocket and looked up at the terrified and bewildered officer. “Large pockets. Bye.”

Jack exited the station and was about a block away when several vans approached it. He watched from a distance as several armed men emerged and entered the station, their trucks labeled “TALOS.”

Whoever they were, they might detain him, and seeing as how Jack didn’t want to get ensnared in bureaucracy just yet, he continued to leave, albeit at a faster pace.