Oct 07 13:38:35 108 PA - Solomon Would Have Been Confused
From Chronicles
Oct 07 13:38:35 108 PA.
MAIN STREET
Fizzlesnoot is strolling down the walk humming a little tune. Large Carpetbag over one shoulder. The evening's fair but cold, the wind able to cut through most light clothing. The strange little guy is bundled up from the weather's bite, not seeming to mind the whipping winds.
Least it ain't rainin. Then people'd be cold 'n wet both. Bella comes walkin down from th'other way. Not walkin fast. Or anywhere special. Just walkin.
Old Gabriel doesn't seem to much mind the weather either. Didn't much even seem to mind the biting winter, save for the worst days. He's coming in from the north, lightly armed today, at least relatively speaking. He has a bounce in his step, and a song on his lips, likely just having entered the city from his forest home.
Fizzlesnoot is actually not too far ahead of Gabe, coming from the same direction. The light traffic of people coming and going to places unknown still garner some unique looks and avoidance from some as he passes them by. He doesn't seem to mind the looks, they always get a tip of his hat and a friendly, yet creepy, toothy grin.
Bella's lookin round. It's that kinda walkin. Lookin' fer somethin. Somebody. 'R maybe trouble. She spots the little funny-faced thing. Quirks a brow. Ain't somethin ya see ev'ryday.
"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored, He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword... hmm hmmm hmm hmmm hmm HMMMMM..." Gabriel's little tune is sung fairly poorly, but at least he seems to be enjoying it, walking in from outside the city, heading south to points unknown. Ahead of him is a short and possibly very ugly D-Bee with a carpetbag, and Bella coming up from the south. No one seems to have yet met. Which is reasonable, considering that it's early and people have things to do. The older man does seem to be asking a few random people along the way, "Hey, sorry, you seen a guy named 'Galvin' around anywhere?" The biting chill wind whipping through the streets may not help anyone's mood enough to allow them to more than glower.
Eventually the young woman and the weird little creature's paths cross. Fizz, of course, tips his hat and offers up that same friendly, yet definitely creepy, toothy grin in answer to her raised brow. "Good evening miss." he says simply as he goes to walk by, continuing his idly paced stroll and his own little hummed tune.
"Heya." Bella's nice 'nuff. Stares a li'l though. Then she hears Gabe. Looks his way. "Hiya good guy. Whatcha doin? Lookin' fer somebody?" Must be psychic.
Sebastien wanders from the North, clad in riding leathers and black Stetson with a brown cardboard box in his hands. It's large enough to fit a head in. The would-be knight blinks and jogs three steps, closing the gap towards Bella with eyes on that d-bee. He says nothing, but his mouth is pressed into a hard line and his eyes are a touch wary.
Gabriel seems to be getting sandwiched. But someone did speak, and he pleasantly raises a hand, calling out to Bella with his accent in full swing. "Hey! Lookin' good today. Seeing the sights of the city? Again..." He seems unfortunately bored with the concept. "When you've been here so long, I guess it gets a little boring. But yeah, I'm still looking for Galvin, he owes me about six... I mean, a rifle and some optics."
Fizzlesnoot can't help but look back over his shoulder when Bella calls to Gabe, giving him a good look at his creepy facial features for a moment. He is definitely ugly to human standards. He hefts the bag on his shoulder around to the other as he turns back to his stroll and the sights. Noticing the park across the way, he looks to cross the street, stopping to wait for traffic to pass.
Bella grins at Gabe. "Gotta keep on people't owe ya stuff. Make sure they pay ya back." Her head tips. Then she turns to look at Sebastien. She's already gotta bigger grin ready by the time she's lookin at 'im. "Heya. Miss me?"
"Not at all!" Sebastien replies with a responding smile. His eyes only flicker to Bella though, as they seem stuck to Fizzlesnoot. "I feel as though you have been attached to my hip, so much have I had to be talking about, and for you. But I think perhaps things are settled with Monique, for now."
When the short D-Bee turns his head, Gabriel allows for a raised eyebrow and an, "Euh. It's like a cross between a lamprey and a hag fish." He waves to Bella as if to clarify. "You know, a snot eel?" Then another raised hand. "What's up, Sebastien? Seems like I haven't seen you in forever. Ran into Monique a few nights ago - at the Not 'n Bolt of all places." He glances back at the D-Bee. Euh.
A heavy bit of vehicular traffic keeps the creepy little guy patiently waiting looking both ways down the street. Fizz pays no mind to the trio that has just gathered, even Sebastien's stares don't seem to bother him. By some of the other stares by other passing pedestrians, he apparently is used to it.
"Huh?" Bella quirks a brow at Gabriel. Smirks. "Sebastien ain' that bad. Monique neither. Oh. Ya mean that." She nods at the short D-bee. He's even shorter 'n her. 'N his teeth're bigger too. Wow. Almost as crazy as what Sebastien said. "Huh?" Now she's eyin him. Serious like. "Ya mean she ain't gonna be tryin'a stick me with nothin? 'R feed me ta Tornaq?"
Also garnering more than a few passing glances, though for very different reasons, Jax enters the scene at a rather speedy clip. He's riding his skateboard in the street, hanging onto the back of a hovercar (and probably annoying the driver, if he even noticed). He sees a familiar figure and crouches down, letting go of the hovercar and aiming his board towards the little monster. "Hey Fizz!" He calls out in greeting, "How's it hangin?" He stomps on the back of the board, sending it up into his waiting hand, and gives a typical Jax smile.
"Non," Sebastien replies. He raises his eyebrows and shrugs, adding, "Or if she is, she is resigned to lying to me. We may discuss the terms of your pardon when there is less," he waves a hand, and smirks at Gabriel. Less people around. Gabriel gets a playful glance, and Sebastien muses, "I have been busy. Something to do with keeping one woman from killing another. And!" He flips open the lid to that box, lowering it so people can see inside. In rests his helmet, a heavy-duty exoskeleton piece with neck reinforcement and a multioptics insert. And now, a cross-shaped array of LED lights that travels from the tip of his nose to the middle of his forehead, branching over his eyebrows. "They cast a good amount of light, but are arranged so that there is a cross-shaped shadow tossed in my vision."
Gabriel peeks in, nods approvingly, but asks, "Where's Jesus? A blank cross?" He looks to the knight with a single raised eyebrow. Then a chuckle at Sebastien's words. "Yes, yes. Women can be the most violent of us all. Advice - never get in between them. It's better to just let them fight it out and see who wins. Put your money on the smart one." A brief wink, then a look at Jaxain as he flies in as if he was quoting the visuals from a 1985 Hollywood blockbuster. Despite his newly found acquaintance, as Jaxain seems to already have a conversational topic, he only waves, and looks as if he's considering setting his case down, or just tossing it over his shoulder for more comfort.
It's a cold evening, a chill wind whipping through the streets, the sky relatively clear. A trio of people consisting of Bella, Sebastien, and Gabriel have gathered chatting. They seem to have taken notice of the strange little D-Bee looking to cross the street for Plaza Park, just waiting for traffic to pass.
Fizz easily spots the crazy guy, Jax, comin at him. Even though the skater stops short of him, he does look to get out of his way not too sure if he was going to be able to stop, throwing his arms up over his face bracing for the crash. Once he realizes he did stop short he gives the man a friendly smile and tip of his hat, "Hey there friend. That's a crazy bit of stunt riding. Why didn't ya tell me you were a showman?"
Bella peeks inna box too. Sorta smirks. "Fun. Gettin ready fer huntin huh?" Gabe getsa smirk too. "Comes ta that I figger his creds're onna girl with the giant bear with big teeth." There's maybe some smirkin left over for Jax 'n the funky finger face one too.
It's about that time that a four-armed, blue-skinned D-Bee woman comes running through the area at a shockingly fast speed. She is carrying D-Bee baby that could well be hers, shouting, "Keep her away from me, she want's my baby!" Soon after, a second woman who is visually identical to the first runs in yelling, "No, she stole my baby, I'm the real mother!" They break into the Plaza Park, one running, one chasing, both yelling.
Jax, at this point, notices the group across the street, and waves a hand at them in greeting. He sticks his board out into traffic, waving it up and down and walking forward (though taking some care, in case any of the drivers are homicidal...) and waves for Fizz to join him as he starts moving across the street in this manner. Perhaps it's his Chinese ancestry showing itself, who knows. He shrugs at Fizz, his expression hard to read, "I dunno, I doubt any of my movies made it this far south. Not really something I like to talk about, you know?" He half grimaces. "Anyway, I wanted to talk ta you about a few outfits I had in mind...." And his voice stops there, as he looks stunned at the woman running across the street. "What the F***" He says.
Sebastien points out, "I never bet against Monique. I would caution you against it as well. She has God on her side." He dips his chin and grins, apparently pleased by that. Uncharacteristically, he claps Gabriel on the shoulder and nods up at the commotion. "Well, King Solomon, you know what to do!" He glances aside at Bella, and says, "All she needs is a sword." And then he turns to head south, away from babynappers.
Gabriel watches the total of eight arms - twelve if you count the child - rush toward the Park. He shakes his head. "Suppose that's probably something for me to stick my nose into. Don't have anything else to do right now. Well... I do, but this is more interesting." He looks over at Jaxain, "Hey, what you never seen a kid-split before?" Looks amused. Then moves toward the Park, following the women, though at a leisurely pace. They probably won't kill each other too quickly. Well, maybe they will, 108 PA is a weird place. He picks up his step.
Fizzlesnoot happily follows the movie star over to the others, fixing his coat and bag from his flinching. Looking up from this is when he catches the two blue women running down the street into the park. He can't even respond to Jax not wanting to talk about it, he just looks dumbfounded, looking to Jax to see what he's planning to do about it.
"Sword?" Bella just saw the big baby debate thing. Added four 'n four ta get six. "Why ya needa-Hey great idea!" She calls out for the greedy moms. "Jus' cut it in half! Can both have some!" Even she knows about sharin. Just don't mean she does it so much. She goes after Gabe 'n them ta see what they're gonna do.
Jaxain didn't even make it all the way across the street, and is a bit less calm than Gabe when it comes to catching the women as well. "Stop!" He calls to the women, sprinting towards them at an angle, planning to cut them off before they can get too far. This is a bit too weird to not look into, or to not take seriously.
The women are quite speedy, perhaps due to some kind of D-Bee heritage. They're quite gone, and Gabriel continues to move, looking behind him only to look to see if anyone else is coming along. A couple of distant police sirens can be heard coming from the direction that the women streaked out of.
Fizzlesnoot follows Jax as fast as his little legs can carry him, not to mention the apparently heavy bag he's carrying. "Hey! Wait up!" he calls as he narrowly misses getting hit by a motorcycle going down the far lane.
Bella thinks so too. But knows they ain't waitin. So she goes faster. "Hey!" She ain' worried too much bout gettin run over. People don't stop they gotta clean up their cars 'n stuff. Most people'll stop cause they're lazy.
PLAZA PARK
The two women have staged themselves toward the back of the park, where it begins to fade out into the upscale residential area of Kingsdale. They're still yelling at each other, one woman gesticulating wildly with four arms, the other doing it with three - the baby being tucked under her other arm like a poor football carry. One KDPD squad car has arrived on scene, lights flashing. They appear to be your common street officers, whose first instincts have been to draw their weapons, hide behind their car, and aim. "Drop your weapons! Drop it! Hands up!" One of them even has the presence of mind to shout in the loudest voice, "Drop the baby!" Hmm, perhaps not the best way to word things.
Fizzlesnoot can't believe what he just heard. Drop the baby? He has to do it, he runs to get in between the women and the officers, dropping his bag in the process to get there even a fraction of a second faster, shouting, arms waving up in the air as he runs to get the attention of anyone, "Hey! Hey! Let's not be hasty!"
"Yeah. Le's go 'n shoot the girls with the baby. That'll make things better." No wonder the cops're scareda the Dregs. They're stupid. Too bad they ain't scareda everywhere else. Or like. Maybe smarter? She keeps walkin fer the ladies. Mostly ignores the pigs now. "Why ya all fightin over a baby anyways? Can'tcha just make more?"
Jaxain is busy approaching from the other side, counting on Fizz and Bella to distract the police officers and keep the women from fleeing in the other direction. "Hey! Ladies, what the heck is going on? You guys sisters?" He asks them, eyebrows raised. "Why the fighting over the baby?"
Gabriel chooses to go a safer route, approaching the cops with a soft voice. "So what's up with the chicks, huh? They just appear out of nowhere with the kid?" Of course, anyone who knows him might guess that he feels much more toward the child than he's letting on. He makes a show of looking at the women. "You see a weapon or something that I don't see?"
The cops don't seem to be amused. The city's finest apparently haven't changed much over the forgotten centuries. "Step back please, sir, we have this under control. Drop the kid! A negotiator will be here in a few minutes. Please stay calm!" The last is shouted by a uniformed rookie officer using a bullhorn.
Fizzlesnoot runs towards the women when the cops don't seem to change their posture, "Please ma’am, listen to them! For the child's sake! Set the baby down!" he calls to them pleading, his little legs struggling to cover ground.
Bella keeps walkin for the ladies. Steady but kinda quick. Puts the cops to her back. "Ya wanna beat each other up ta see who gets it? Ok. Can least hold the baby fer ya. So it don' get hurt. 'R inna way 'r nothin." She's bein helpful. Maybe her mommy 'r nanny gene stuff's kickin in.
Jaxain focuses his mind for a moment, clearing it and opening his 'other' senses.... and finding nothing helpful. Well, that calms him down a bit... but still, the baby seems to be in danger. "Yeah, look, at least let us protect the baby while this gets resolved." He looks at the cops, "Guys, put away your guns, they aren't hurting anyone! Cumon!"
The woman with the baby turns her head and glares at the oncoming Bella. "I don't need your help! I can handle myself!" Indeed, her three free hands are continually intertwined with the classic bitch-slapping and fussing style of fighting that many women are capable of. But her glare may have purpose, as Bella is suddenly and neatly picked up by unseen forces and delivered back to the cop car, where she will impact it enough that a normal person would be sore for a week. As they continue to fight, the other woman says, 'No, he's mine! Give 'em back, I want him!"
The cops are still being cops, following a rule book that some idiot undoubtedly wrote without ever having been in the field. This is obvious when the man with the bullhorn calls, "Send out one hostage as a show of good-will, and we will listen to your demands." Not much in the way of hostages, and no demands having been even suggested. An odd choice of words.
Gabriel is bright enough to say, "Guys, let them fight it out for a while. The baby seems safe enough; neither one of 'em seems to want him hurt. No reason to get close and make them mad at us, too." He turns to the rookie cope with an amused look. "So where's that negotiator of yours? He have a lot of time on the job?" Then there's a little cringe as his short female friend hits the car.
Fizzlesnoot continues all the way up to the fighting women. His yelling stopped, seeing he is not being noticed anyways. It's when he gets there that he just stares at them both, looking up to them, as if sizing up momma with the baby maybe. He's small, and so far unnoticed. He keeps just outta their way for now.
Bella weren' figgerin on weird stuff. Like flyin back. Into a car. To maybe make dents. "What the fack?!" She gets back up. Glares. "Why the fack ya do that?!" Now she starts stompin back for where she was.
Jaxain just stands back, watching for now. There doesn't seem to be much he can do, and he certainly doesn't want to make the situation worse. "You realize you are BOTH going to loose the baby to social services, don't you? The way you are acting... neither of you is fit to be a mother." He says calmly, shaking his head.
"Put your hands behind your head! Everything will be okay. We are willing to listen to your demands." The rookie cop looks at his checklist. "Please turn off the ignition and open your coat with your left hand!" The other officers are still aiming at the women and the baby, and calling out their own orders. It's very chaotic, all told.
The women both occasionally glance back at the cops with quite a bit of scorn. Neither mother is seemingly impressed by Kingsdale's finest.
As for Gabriel, he stands near the rookie with the bullhorn, saying quietly - when he can get in words - "Hey, maybe let up on the threats, kid. No one's making any demands, no one's actually hurting anyone yet. They haven't even made it to the women-pulling-hair level yet." Then to Bella, another cringe. "Maybe they want their space?"
Fizzlesnoot looks to the momma without child, trying to get a judge of her character perhaps, maybe just trying to make sense of all their rantings and slappings. Still just trying to keep outta their way and not get hit by em.
"Can end this all nice like..." Bella ain' smirkin when she's stompin back up there. 'R grinnin. "How's bout I jus' take the li'l one. 'R one'a ya 'way. Ain' nothin ta fight bout then." Make her less ticked off too. Maybe.
Jaxain focuses his mind again, then just shakes his head. He could be wrong (heck, he usually is), but it seems to him the biggest danger here is the foolish police. He makes his way over to the police car, raising up his hands to show he isn't a threat (he also has no weapons or armor). "Listen guys, why are you so freaked out? It's just a couple women, probably sisters, fighting over a baby, nothing to point guns over."
The rookie with the bullhorn turns and says to Jaxain - unfortunately being dumb enough to say it through the bullhorn at the other man - "THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE SIR THIS IS A POLICE MATTER." The decibel level drops when he turns back to the women. "Drop your weapons!" Either he sees something that no one else does, or he's still reading off of a playbook. The other cops continue to shout. The women who is not currently holding the baby responds to the interlopers this time. She turns her head and glowers in the general direction of the cops and local folk. The bullhorn is dropped, and the rookie's eyes go wide and pleasant. He looks at Gabriel, then Jax... then Jax and starts to move to him. "Hey, man. I just want to... c'mon, let's sit down, you and I can just talk things out, solve the problem... maybe go get a few martinis?" Gabriel for his part, is just surprised as the man walks away looking longingly at his friend. But, he shrugs and takes it upon himself to grab the bullhorn that had fallen to the ground. He addresses the police. "SHUT THE FUCK UP. Thank you." Then he just sets the speech machine on the top of the car. Meanwhile, the woman with the baby turns and glowers back again. "Stop bothering us!" Bella is then once more lifted, and moved, and deposited back with the cops. It's fun to fly when someone else is doing all the work.
Fizzlesnoot starts lookin back and forth between the women and the cops and back, there is just too much chaos. Looking back to the women he says in his most friendly and charming of salesman tones, "Excuse me ladies. As you can see things are not going to go away so simply. If you would please, and allow me to discuss this with you both calmly, I assure you things can be worked out favorable for all." and this is where he takes his first breath and goes to continue.
Bella ain't tossed this time. Exactly. But it still ticks 'er off. "Fine. Wanna beat on yerselfs with the baby go on 'n do it. Won't stop ya. Lemme know when yer done." She just leans up against the car. Schooches over some til she finds the spot that seems to fit her butt just perfect. Guess dents ain't all bad alla time.
Jaxain is way out of his depth, as this appears to be more of a domestic dispute than anything else. He's not really a talker, but Fizz seems pretty good with the words, so he moves to back the other man's play. "Hey Bella, can you do me a favor and distract these fakin' cops?" He says, tossing her a small smile. The woman haven't responded to anything he has said so far, but then again Fizz is a bit harder to ignore.
It may well have been good words, in fact, they were quite reasonable words. But the two women don't seem to want to listen to Fizzlesnoot's reasonableness. In fact, they both kind of glower at each other for a bit, and slowly stop fighting - not totally, but much less. The childless continues to try to grab the baby. Then the one without the baby shouts, "Okay! Okay. We want.. um..."
The other woman adds, "A hovercar."
"Oh yeah. A hovercar! And, ah... twenty-five thousand credits! Yeah! Everyone step back, or the kid gets it!" shouts the one who does have a grip on the baby. A very tiny little Derringer is pulled out and pressed to the child's head - a loudly crying child. "Don't do it! Don't push me, I'm crazy! Those are my demands, get me the car. And the money! We'll, umm..." She looks at the other woman.
The other woman thinks for a moment and shouts, "We'll leave the kid at the gate! Yeah, the city gate. Car, money, kid. Make it happen!"
The police, for now, seem less inclined to believe them. Or anyone present. Indeed, they all look quite confused.
The elder Gabriel doesn't seem too bothered, however. "Just get 'em a damn car. I don't think they're gonna hurt the kid. If they were, they would have said it a long time ago." He glances around, then shrugs, perhaps considering how right or wrong that statement may be.
Fizzlesnoot keeps rambling his spiel, "Besides, you're not hurting each other, what's the real issue here? I know if that were my baby I'd be tossin the other blue." his speech cut dead in its tracks when the woman with the baby pulls a gun on the baby making threats, he's even more dumbfounded when the other woman agrees. His worried attention turned on the crying child.
"They wanna car." Bella's good at obvious stuff. "Somebody better get 'em one." She looks round. Don' really see nobody grabbin one. "Guess I can." Bella stand up from the cop car. Then walks 'round it to the other side. Wonders if they wanna get a normal car or one with flashy lights 'n stuff.
It's about that time, while the cops are certainly dumbfounded, that *another* female, four-armed, blue-skinned D-Bee comes into the scene. This one is only a teenager, however (at least, guessing by visual age of a D-Bee) and riding a ten-speed bike that she manages to neatly crash into a bunch of officers who complain greatly. One of them, a more violent type, even pistol whips her - his fellow officers quickly cover him up so that no one knows who did it. The girl gets to her feet and starts to say something, but her foot slips, and she ends up on her back this time. But she soldiers on. Muddy and battered, she leans on the car and cries to the officers, "It's *my* baby! Don't let them hurt Gargamel!" Anyone familiar with the city may recognize this young woman as Tiffany, the slightly dimwitted Tradewinds barista.
Gabriel puts an arm around the girl, and speaks to both her and the cops. "They're not going to hurt him. They're obviously not stupid. If they killed him, you'd kill them, right?" There's a chorus of mumbled acknowledgment from the police. He simply watches as Bella goes about her business, knowing better than to get in her way. However, he does offer a soft, "Be polite, they'll react better." To the other man, the rather ugly hagfish with feet, he almost shouts out... but apparently decides to remain silent, just waiting and comforting Tiffany.
Fizzlesnoot tilts his head looking up to the woman with the weapon, extending his three fingered hands outward, cautiously pleading, "Please, you don't want to hurt the baby. You might be scared, but no reason to take it out on the innocent." slowly inching forward, trying to be cautious and non-threatening. "Just give me the baby and run. Please. My friends will hold off the police. They are in position now. Cause ya know they aren't gonna get you that car. They are gonna keep ya here long enough to shoot ya in the head. Take the chance now, give me the baby and run. Run like the wind. That’s all they want. Before its too late."
Bella's tryin ta be helpful. So she goes to find a car. Ain't gonna be too hard she's thinkin. She just walks out past the stopped car and into the street. Lotsa cars there. They're just movin. Course that ain't hard neither. Just gotta stop in the middle of the road 'n wait fer one ta come ta her.
The weapon is pressed harder against the baby's skull. Not enough to make it cry out in pain, but to make a point. "Stop right there, man! You're wasting your time, I can pick you up and put you down wherever I want. Maybe I can fly, ever think about that? HUH?? I'm just waiting for the cash. Gimme the money!" The other woman chimes in with supporting words. She makes a funny face toward the ugly short guy.
Some of the cops watch Bella march into the street, a young woman who has apparently no regard for traffic and staying out of its way. Somewhere in the scuffle of confusion of covering the cop, watching Bella, and possibly listening to Gabriel's advice, a safety has been inadvertently switched off. A bolt of energy flies from a sidearm and sears right past the two women, its heavy bolt blowing apart one of the Park's older and more beautiful trees. Gabriel, for his part, manages to beat the weapon out of the hand of the man who did that. Yet he's surprisingly calm. "Just wait, get them their car, give them their money. No one gets hurt, you know you can get it back later."
Fizzlesnoot ducks a bit as the bolt flies over his head past the women, "See dammit! Told ya! Just gimme the kid and bolt you're dead otherwise, you ain't gonna get whatcha came for. Just get outta dodge! Come on!" pleading through gesture of his open arms to please hand over the baby.
Hey. Bella's just gettin 'em their fackin car. Since the cops just wanna beat people up. 'R shoot 'em fulla holes. She waves her arms around. Maybe somebody'll stop. 'Fore they hit her. 'R maybe won't til after.
There had been a moment of hesitation, not being accustomed to laser fire, but Tiffany - whether she's the real mother or not - jumps up and goes tearing toward the women, "Don't hurt Gargamel! We'll pay you whatever you want!" She doesn't stop running. And despite the looks coming from the two women, she isn't lifted up and thrown, either. "We'll pay you whatever you want, just give me Gargamel!" Of course, Tiffany's run involves a lot of tripping and slipping, but she makes it to Fizzlesnoot's distance in not too much time.
Indeed, a car screeches to a halt, its front bumper ending up perhaps only no more than six inches from Bella's low knees. The driver looks relived and pissed. Then more pissed as a car slams into him. And then another. And another. Pretty soon there are seven cars and trucks of all types piled up in a smoking heap. Bella of course does not get off Scot free. The slamming ended up slamming into her, and likely tossing and crushing her all over the place. This is why your parents tell you to look both ways before crossing the street, and don't enter if cars are still moving.
The police are split between a little amusement as their rookie leader continues to make passes at Jaxain, a third blue-skinned, four-armed D-Bee female runs toward a baby, and then a huge pile up that has completely stopped all traffic on the most important street in the city. What to do, what to do?
Gabriel hangs his head, shaking it. "Fucking idiots. The whole lotta ya." That may not only be directed toward the officers.
The woman who has now become the spokeswoman calls, "No! C'mon, man. I can blink out of here any time I want! Gimme the cash - " she is interrupted as the other woman says something " - I mean, give *us* the cash, and you get the kid. We'll drop him at.. uh.. Ren's Revelry, outside the city, you can get him!" They continue to shoot dirty looks all around, though Tiffany's run has taken their attention more than the previously offending Fizzlesnoot.
Fizzlesnoot grins, his little finger appendage picking between his teeth, "Looks like someone's planning to cut another someone out of the picture. They took one shot, it won't be long before little red dots appear on your foreheads. Just gimme the kid, come on. We wouldn't be at this stalemate if you won. Now ya just gotta think, do ya wanna live, or do ya wanna die here? Well," he looks to the one who hasn't said she can blink out, grinning, "does one of you wanna die here?"
Bella knows what to do. Just what people're sayin they oughtta do. Ok. First she gets back up. Now she can go bout gettin that car. Alla she gotta do is open the door on the one that hit her. Yank out the person. But she's nice about it. "Gotta borrow this. Somebody else needs't more."
As Tiffany passes Fizzlesnoot, she'll slow just enough to attempt to slap him, yelling desperately, "No! Not to you, to me, I love Gargamel!" She keeps run-slip-falling toward the women. "Please! We'll pay you whatever you want! Anything, we can pay it!" Hmm, anything?
At this point, the woman with the gun pushes it even further at the baby - but only menacingly if one were to look closely, not actually causing the child any further discomfort. The other woman pulls out a silver dagger and waves it - menacingly - in the child's direction. "Okay, okay! We want, uh... gimme a helicopter! Yeah, I want a helicopter. And, um.. yeah I want a hundred thousand credits! And, and... a... um..." she falls silent, apparently trying to determine exactly what else it is that she wants, having upped the ante.
After a few swats, the cops have finally started to talk to their headquarters about actually getting what the women are demanding. For his part, the hostage negotiator has finally arrived. Another man as well, apparently a second negotiator. He introduces himself formally. "I'm Lieutenant Johnson. This is Lieutenant Johnson. No relation. What's the situation?" Gabriel raises his head, laughing and bemoaning the absurdity of the situation at the same time. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he offers up some positive feedback, yelling at Fizzlesnoot - or at least, in his direction - "Keep 'em talking, you're doing well!"
Out on the street, where the city will be loosing hundreds of thousands of credits today due to the stopped commercial traffic, a man has been thrown out of his four-wheeled internal combustion engined sedan. Nice car, too. Fancy. Pre-Cataclysm Plymouth hood ornament and everything.
Fizzlesnoot instinctively flinches from the slap, but shrugs and follows forward cautiously as the other woman, Tiffany, seems to have them distracted slightly. He brings his attention to the child in the arms of the woman with gun, worried of the child's welfare through all of this hostility.
Bella knows how to pick 'em. Or she's just really lucky. Or some rich guy really ain't lucky. "Yeah!" She hops in and stomps her foot down on the pedal. This'll be fun too! She even remembers how to drive. She thinks.
Tiffany continues to plead with the other two as she gets much closer. However, as they say, 'things are starting to get real.' The tinny Derringer is removed from the child's head and pointed at the oncoming Tiffany. "Stop there! Stop! I'll kill you!" The other woman pesters the potential shooter with, "No, she's the one with the money!" Tiffany the barista? Money? Must make good tips through all the screw-ups. That Derringer looks dangerous, and the other woman has pointed her silver blade at the child, though she must be nervous, because it wavers.
The cops are now doing just about nothing, filling in the hostage negotiators on what all has happened so far, and trying to explain why their rookie leader is making passes at a half-Chinese guy with a skateboard. Meanwhile, Gabriel was just beginning to shout something further toward Fizzlesnoot, when out of nowhere - or at least, seemingly nowhere - comes Bella. In a car? In a nice car! A nice car that was already in a wreck, though. Now a nice car that was already in a wreck, that now blows into the police car's front end, just barely missing crushing two officers like toothpaste tubes. The armored police car does, however, do a nice job pivoting, knocking everyone over, including Gabriel. A few of the officers get caught between car and Earth. Bella's car has come to a halt, its front-wheel drive having busted an axle on impact. Not a good time to be a driver, ramming a cop car. There might be time to wonder what the legal blood alcohol limit is in Kingsdale.
Fizzlesnoot steps up from behind Tiffany, looking to the shooter, "Please, ladies, you're only going to escalate things to a level you're not really prepared for. Look, I'm just a schmo, an even I can see this is impromptu, not how it was supposed to go. You kill that child, or the mother, you know you not gonna get nothing but gunned down. Give back the child and walk away. She'll give you some cash at the same place. I'll deliver it personally. We'll call it a reward for finding this lost child. But ya have to give us the child and walk away. That's a fair deal and you know it. Still get something, and this all goes away. You'll agree with that, won't ya blue momma three?" looking to Tiffany.
"Yeah! Oops." Bella weren' really tryin ta hit nothin. Not the cop car anyway. She climbs out. After grinding broken stuff s'more. Maybe it's close 'nuff. "Gotch'r car! Can trade the kid now!"
The weapons trade places and move around once more as Tiffany continues to call for 'her' baby. This time, it's the Derringer pointing at the ugly four-foot tall apparently male D-Bee. The appointed talker says hesitantly - though trying obviously to sound tough - "Okay.. okay! You!" - waving at Fizzlesnoot - "You get the money. I wanna see it happen. Then we'll talk. It's five-hundred thousand credits now!" The other woman chimes in with, "Make it a million!" Nod back. "Okay, yeah, a million!" Hmm, inflation has really gone up since the twenty-grand request earlier. The crashing car distracts them, and the joke, if it was one, falls on deaf ears.
The police, though, as police often do, suddenly take their own interests to heart much more than the plight of the baby, training their anger on Bella, and demanding that she drop to her knees and put her hands behind her head, or they'll open fire. Knowing how police usually are, it may be a good bet that they'd do it, too. Even chase her, if she didn't go to the station with them.
Gabriel is visibly angry with Bella, but says nothing to her, instead calling to Tiffany, a person in the city whom he actually does know fairly well, due to his frequenting the coffee shop. Of course, she's rather busy at the moment, approaching the other two women.
Fizzlesnoot smiles to the woman talking tough, raising his hand to cover his face slightly to shield it from the threatened shot, "Listen, your counter offer, though tempting, is going to have to be passed on. The original 20 thousand for you to hand over the baby and walk away is the only fair offer that allows you to walk away unharmed with a little change in your pocket. Payment will be delivered at Ren's Revelry. Think about it. New babies can be made, happens all the time, every day I heard once. Can't get a new you with 20 thousand credits."
Bella looks the cops' way least. "Hey. Jus tryin'a help ya out. They asked fer a car 'member?" Then she's walkin inta the park. Fer the fightin ladies. Again. "There. Ya can go now. 'N don't try none'a yer weird shit no more. 'S gettin old." Let the cops shoot. Maybe they'll hit the blue people makin alla fuss. That'd shut things up.
Tiffany stops short enough not to get stabbed, and oddly shoots Fizzlesnoot a dirty look. "I *said* we'll pay them what they want." She nods at the women. "Okay, one million." She's quickly on the phone. "Done, okay? Please, give me my baby." Indeed, she truly does at least sound like someone who might be the real mother of such a child.
The two women aren't entirely mollified, though, continuing to point the Derringer at the short D-Bee. "You! Get back. Way back, go back to the cops. The wreck, whatever. You never saw my face, *right*?"
"Take her down!" Yeah, that's often how it goes. Half a dozen laser and particle beams lance out from the officers' weapons. Over and over, probably not doing good things to clothing. Gabriel does his best to make them stop shooting, cursing Bella's name the whole time. The loudest thing perhaps heard? "Just keep them talking!"
Fizzlesnoot shakes his head, "See, I can't do that. I hate to see this young mother get ripped off. She's entitled to a fair deal for her child and so do you. You can't just keep changing the price every five minutes either. It's not proper business etiquette. And what do ya mean I never saw your face, of course I've seen your face, how can I not, I'm like 10 feet away from you. Her too. And shootin me ain't gonna change things, then you'll still have the murder wrap that you have been trying to avoid all up till now. All cause you wanna pass off this bogus deal for the kid. Come on now, at least come halfway on it."
"Knock't off!" That's for the cops. Who're shootin at her. And blowin the shit outta her clothes. Don't stop her from walkin to the blue girls. "Got the cops shootin now. Ya happy?! Now ev'rybody gets big fackin holes shot in their shit!"
The tougher woman's trigger finger is getting tighter as her eyes narrow, looking at Fizzlesnoot. "Oh.. oh yeah?? Well.. well she already made the call! What's halfway anyway? Huh? It's done. You! You go back and get the cash. I wanna see it in your hands. You!" - at Tiffany - " You stay back!" The woman with the silver blade adds belatedly, "Uh.. or the kid gets it! You! You... you made them start shooting!" For a third time, Bella is neatly lifted up, carried through the air, and set down - no, slammed this time - against the remains of the cop car. Tiffany is caught between begging with the women not to hurt 'her' child, and with Fizzlesnoot to, "do something, please!" The projectile weapon quivers angrily.
The cops are definitely not amused by their quarry up and running, and then even more so by not dying after injuring one of their own. They start to clamor over the wreckage, going to tackle Bella and bring her to justice after she'd just been delivered back to them. Or so goes the cliché phrase. Of course, they're yelling, "Down, down! Take her down!" That's what happens when you don't follow orders to the letter. Indeed, the plight of the baby is essentially forgotten at this point.
Gabriel is still shaking his head a bit, having been whacked well by the car's impact. He calls out to Fizzlesnoot, "What do they want, now? They getting anything?"
Fizzlesnoot gives a calm shrug, "You know, if you shoot me with that, you only have one more bullet. What are ya going to do then, when the cops finally give up on that crazy girl back there. Now she's crazy. So hand over the baby and I'll go get your money and deliver it to the specified drop off. That's all ya gotta do. One of us has to show some trust. I have, I'm unarmed, you're the one still pointing a gun at a harmless little salesman."
Bella's grabbed. Knocked down. Slammed. Whatever. For a couple seconds. Then she's gone. Steamed. Misted. Faded away. Ain't nothin she can do so ain't no reason ta stick 'round.
The Park is boring during the day, with bland weather. Completely uneventful, unless you count the two armed and angry blue-skinned, four-armed D-Bee women who have ceased to argue over the baby that one of them holds, and are now bartering it for a million dollars and a helicopter to take them to parts unknown. Tiffany, the equally blue-skinned, four-armed D-Bee, teenage barista at Tradewinds is near them, crying softly and begging them to give them 'Gargamel,' who is 'her' daughter, if she is to be believed. After all, this all started with the other two women claiming that the baby, whatever its name is, belonged to one of them. There's a huge pile-up of seven cars on Main Street outside the park's entrance. Traffic has come to a complete halt, costing the city hundreds of thousands in credits lost due to the slowing of commerce. In the direct entry to the park is a KDPD police car that has been smashed into by someone apparently attempting to drive a large luxury car into the Park at high speed. A number of officers are trapped beneath it, though none of them were crushed or have sustained life-threatening injuries. They have just been surprised by a small woman who didn't die under a hail of energy fire that she brought upon herself, then vanished into mist beneath a group tackle. But that's the dangerous thing about tipping your hand - they may have gotten her face, and might make a connection, if they aren't too busy with other things. Jaxain is somewhere around in spirit, with a rookie cop chasing tail, as it were. Fizzlesnoot is about three-hundred feet away, standing near the two women and the teenager, doing a decent job of talking to them. Gabriel has remained back with the police, and was doing his best to assist the rather ugly D-Bee man until Bella rammed the car. He's only just now recovering enough to do something useful. "Hey, ah... ah..." he suddenly realizes that he never got Fizzlesnoot's name, "you, short guy! How about if you let them take you as a bartering chip, and they give the kid to the girl?!" He yells, but only due to the distance that his voice must carry.
Fizzlesnoot, hearing the old man's shouted suggestion, gives a nod in the voice's direction, meant for the tough one with the Derringer. "How's that sound? Keep the harmless little bug with ya instead. Mom here needs to be the one gettin the gold. I'm not the banker. That shows trust from all of us. Ya gotta admit, that is a good deal, and the longer you wait, the less likely the cops are gonna let you take advantage of it. They're pissed now. I'm sure they wanna shoot someone in the head at this point. And prolly not even care who. Waddya say? give momma the baby and I'll go with ya to Ren's Revelry to pick up the cash."
Valeriya is walking into the park for a casual stroll. She hasn’t been seen around here for awhile, not since she moved up in the world. So it's nice to take a walk and see more familiar sights. Makes one feel at home. She notes the commotion further in and approaches warily. The last park commotion she chose to take part in is well known in that it didn’t go well for her.
The woman with the Derringer is waving it around, apparently wanting to use it as an intimidation device, but not entirely certain who it would best be used on at this point. But as she is also the self-appointed speaker she nods. "Okay, okay. You, you stand by DeeDee." Hand motions indicate Fizzlesnoot and the other D-bee woman. "DeeDee, you keep him with the knife. You -" at Tiffany "- you come here. As soon as he's here, I'll trade off the kid. C'mon, move!" If things go well, the two kidnappers will be true to their word, no tricks. A one-for-one swap. Tiffany at this point is starting to tear up enough that she isn't speaking right now, simply holding out her arms for 'her' baby. Of course, 'her' baby has still yet to be confirmed, save for the fact that she hasn't threatened it, just asked for it.
The cops are now picking themselves up after having apparently tackled nothing. What? Cops aren't that bright.
Gabriel is nodding affirmatively as the swap - hopefully - goes down. "Good job, man. It's gonna work out, keep it cool like you've been doing." In the distance can be heard the screaming of an engine with too many pistons for its own good.
Fizzlesnoot steps forward, cautiously doing as the tough one says. Don't wanna freak either of em out at this point. Once there with the woman carrying the knife he calmly says, "Ok, your turn."
Valeriya would like to continue to go unnoticed if possible, but last time that didn’t go well. So instead of being fancy she plays oblivious, walking towards the scene and looking as if she's deep in thought, in her own little world.
The swap goes off without a hitch, criminals being true to their word, though the silver blade is held up reasonably close to Fizzlesnoot. Not immediately threatening, but certainly a demonstration - attempted at least - of their resolve. The Derringer is now pointed back toward the park's entrance, and whomever may be there. Even if they aren't involved, the woman who just gave up the child is jumpy enough to consider anyone a threat. "Just gimme the money, and the helicopter, and we'll all be out! I'll drop him off and Ren's, like I promised. C'mon, ya got the little bastard, gimme the ransom money!"
Tiffany, upon receiving the child, hugs him - apparently a him - close to her teenage bosom and hurries away, kissing and cooing to baby Gargamel. There will obviously be some DNA testing in the near future, but in the immediate time, the apparent mother has her apparent child, and is safe.
The police are gathering themselves again, as are lieutenants Johnson and Johnson - no relation - the hostage negotiators sent from headquarters, who have yet to do any kind of hostage negotiating whatsoever. The cops are lining their weapons down on the kidnappers again, and Gabriel is making a nuisance of himself as a citizen by ensuring that their safeties are actually on, after the last incident with a flinch that blew up one of the Park's most famous trees. He calls out to the short D-Bee, "Keep it up, man, you're doin' great! Just relax." Then his voice changes tone significantly, into a very fatherly tone. "Tiffany! C'mon, sweetheart, lets see the little guy. I've got something we can wrap him up in, make him warm for you. C'mon, don't be afraid, you've got Gargamel."
Then, outside the park, an extremely fancy vehicle, an internal combustion type with about twenty-four pistons of eight-inch diameter, hemispherical chambers screams to a halt. A tall man... blue-skinned and four-armed gets out, carrying a briefcase.
Fizzlesnoot stays quiet till Tiffany gets back to the cops with her baby. He then turns to the couple of kidnappers with a grin. "Now what? Ya got me. Just a schmo. You really shoulda kept the kid, better leverage." reaching out to both the knife and the gun, but allowing them to hand it to him rather than taking them, "Now if you'd kindly hand over the weapons, we can conclude this transaction."
Valeriya pretends not to see the gun pointing at her as she mutters a simple phrase. She's still trying to look oblivious to it all and that’s not difficult when it's so far away still. Too far away for them to see her lips move in time with a discrete gesture for sure.
The woman looks surprised. "What?" The Derringer is leveled at Fizzlesnoot's ugly mug. "No. You sit down, right here. We keep you, we get the money, we all leave, you stay at Ren's Revelry and get picked up by the cops to tell 'em all about us. That was the deal. Little bitch got the kid, just like we promised." She looks at Fizzlesnoot with an odd gaze for a while. The other woman just generally bitches and moans about their plight - quietly suggesting that if they ran west, they could get into the upscale residential area, and maybe get away.
The police continue to be violent and dangerous, but quite useless. Now even the hostage negotiators are reading from a playbook. "Take your hands off the car one more time and I'll make your birth certificate an obsolete document!" Quickly followed by, "What are your demands?" Then, "As a show of goodwill, give us one hostage, then we can trust each other." All of this shouted through a bullhorn, none of it making any sense to the situation at hand.
By now, Gabriel has noted Valeriya, and though he doesn't address her directly, he calls out as a broad generality, "Hey, everyone in the Park just relax, don't get in the way of what's already goin' down."
The man who had stepped out of the fancy car with the briefcase hurries up to the cops - only to find them continuing to spout inane things. Instead, he turns to Gabriel. "I'm Tiffany's father. One million credits, right here. Please, don't let them hurt my daughter, or grandson." Well, likely to be more DNA testing, but he does seem as if he might actually be related. "Ah, short guy, out there! We have the cash!" Gabriel yells. Silly old man, still calls it cash, not credits.
Fizzlesnoot shouts back to the cops and grandpa, "KEEP IT!, Save me three percent for making these guys look stupid!" then turns back to the armed women with a creepy toothy grin. "It's about my dinner time, an all I've had is rabbit the last few weeks, could go for some fresh meat." licking his lips and finger-like appendages.
Valeriya isn't in the way yet. But she’d like to try and get close enough for that to be an option. Within 60 feet of everything would be comfy if possible. And until someone addresses her directly she seems perfectly ok with looking incredibly dense.
Back at the entry, Gabriel is speaking with the man who is apparently Tiffany's father. Indeed, Tiffany herself arrives with 'Gargamel' in hand, then grasps the man, crying about how she almost lost 'her' baby. After looking at the car... the man... the briefcase.. he leans in toward the taller guy, asking with a bit of a knowing voice - and very quietly - "There's no money in there, is there?" He's seen this type before.
The women are not stupid. They may not have completely thought out this heist, but threats are quite obvious. Somehow, a bunch of rocks, sticks and whatever debris is laying around shoots toward Fizzlesnoot, though narrowly missing him. The other women glares at Fizzlesnoot, and apparently nothing happens, but she seems quite happy with her own achievements. Just that an imperceptible dome of blue light appears over top of him, encased like a camping tent. As for the women, their bodies shimmer briefly on their own. "There's no reason for violence!" Strange words coming for a women holding a weapon on a man. Valeriya has indeed been noted, and yelled at significantly to stay away, stay back, this is all playing out just fine, no one has to get hurt. "Just gimme the money, bring the car and we'll be gone. Ya got the kid. Just let us go!" The weapon continues to be waved around - at just about everyone present, including local birds in the pond and squirrels up in the trees.
Fizzlesnoot shouts back to the cops dancing about in his little blue bubble, "SHOOT EM! PUT BILLIONS OF HOLES IN THEIR BIG BLUE BODIES! THEY'RE FULL OF SHIT. THEY GOT NOTHING! SHOOT EM, SHOOT EM, SHOOT EM!"then turns with a grin to the dumb kidnappers.
Valeriya is over double the range she'd like but cant convincingly continue to play dumb as people yell at her to stay back. So she takes pause, looking surprised by all the commotion and riff raff. "What's the big deal? This is a public park should be able to wander where I please." She shouts back at no one in particular before looking around to consider everything. Of course with a call to shoot them she does reach to pull her pistol.
The two kidnappers are surprised at Fizzlesnoot's outburst, but don't seem frightened. "Hey, DeeDee. Let's just go. We can find something to split later." The one who had been carrying the child, who has been doing the talking, calls out, "Okay. Leave the money at Ren's. We'll get it there. Anyone follows us, there'll be trouble!" With that, they take off at shockingly fast speeds west, to be in amongst the residential area in only a moment. Getting away from a foiled kidnapping is better than having to fight your way out of it.
The cops, though? As much as they may have itchy trigger fingers, they don't take orders from short ugly people. Bella, that short girl, she was the one who pissed them off, by plowing into their car and injuring their comrades. But otherwise, they're just doing their job, pathetic attempt though it may be. The bullhorn rings out, "Sir, please remain silent, the Kingsdale Police Department is in complete control of the situation."
As for himself, Gabriel only says a few things. First, "Val, don't be an ass. Get out of the way, this is coming to a close, no one's hurt, no harm, no foul." To the man - softly - "So, what is it then, a bomb, or a tracking bug?" The man looks around and whispers something into Gabriel's ear, at which point the old soldier simply nods.
Fizzlesnoot kicks at the dirt in his bubble frustrated that no one took the shot and let em get away. Until the bubble vanishes, he grumbles and paces around where he's stuck.
Valeriya would have shot, if they hadn’t run off so fast. Oh well. She aborts her move to draw her pistol before she makes the KDPD jumpy. Keeping up her act she gives Gabriel a miffed expression and turns to take her walk through the park elsewhere.
The kidnappers are gone, that's not great. Fizzlesnoot is going to be stuck in his shimmery cage for about an hour, to contemplate how things might have gone differently. Still, Gabriel shrugs. All in all, a win. The kid is safe, doesn't even matter who he actually belongs to. The amusing part is that the police are now standing, hooting and hollering and slapping each other on the back - congratulating themselves for a job well done. Also trying to pass the buck on who's in charge of reporting the busted squad car, and who's going to be responsible for clearing the sedan that ran into it. They're all completely avoiding mention of the pileup a few hundred feet behind them, probably praying to whatever higher power they believe in that someone else will take care of it. The man who had come with the briefcase, though, is a point of negativity for the older Gabriel. He just nods at the sobbing teenage mother - apparently - gets into his over-pistoned vehicle and departs at breakneck speed. "What an asshole," Gabriel mutters. He takes it upon himself to try to console the girl. Testing can wait. The child is safe, a friend needs help. For now, the excitement in this area of Kingsdale is over.
