White Wedding [IC]

[Ecalsneerg]

(before the bouquet toss)

"John, Samael, good to see you both," Archeville greeted Arrowhawk and Atlas. "Both doing vell, I trust?"

"Been worse," said John, managing a smile and raising his glass. "Enjoying the wedding?"

(during the bouquet toss)

The Doktor leaned in between the two men, "I do hope for equal representation, und ve get a garter toss. It vould only be fair, ja?"

"Well, with the big man here," grinned the Scotsman, pointing at Atlas, "Catching the garter's going to be pretty unfair."

[Electra]

Stesha took a couple of quick steps back and got her hands up just in time to keep the bouquet from hitting her in the face. She laughed and wrapped her fingers around the tied stems, raising it triumphantly and shooting Derrick a quick grin. That had been a very good throw. She wondered how Taylor had managed that one without anyone noticing. Nudging her way through the crowd, she gave Taylor a hug. "Thanks," she whispered with a conspiratorial grin.

[Geez3r]

"Doing quite vell for myself Doctor. And I trust your own endevours are going vell." Atlas made a bit of small talk with the Doctor. Atlas was interest to know how the Doc was faring, even if he didn't understand every third word the good Doctor said.

The Doktor leaned in between the two men, "I do hope for equal representation, und ve get a garter toss. It vould only be fair, ja?"

Atlas had to snicker at that. "I doubt it. Jack seems to be quite territorial. I could feel his eyes on ze back of my head ze entire time I vas dancing vith her. But here's hoping." finished Atlas as he raised his glass. He chuckled at John's comment "Yeah, vat vith my cat-like reflexes, and my natural grace, it vill be quite easy." Atlas made a gesture as if he were trying to swat an imaginary fly out of the air, and failing many times.

[quotemyname]

The smacking sounds in the seemingly-empty coat room pause for a second.

"Oh darn it, we missed the bouquet toss."

There is a soft sigh of resignation as the coats rustle by themselves.

"Oh well! Wait, where'd your lips go?"

"Aww, darn!" Colt feigned being upset at the prospect of missing the event that was dooming to any man currently involved in a relationship. But then realized he actually wouldn't have minded seeing Lynn catch it, even if it meant he had to be next.

"I'm right here." Colt kissed her, but managed to get her nose instead of her lips. "Woops! Reckon I outta try that one again..."

[Cyroa]

Derrick smiled at Taylor and Jack as they got closer. "Congratulation to both of you! And of course I made it. I wouldn't miss this happy day if there was any way around it. I wasn't that far out." A couple thousand lightyears was nothing really. Their conversation was quickly cut short as Jack got the proceedings moving.

Stesha was pulled away/left to get with the other single woman for this tradition while the men waited and watched on the sidelines. While he didn't necessarily believe in the tradition/belief, he wasn't particularly worried about it either. After all, he had been thinking about Stesha quite a lot lately. And about spending their lives together and everything... He hadn't quite figured out exactly hwo that was going to work out yet, but it was certainly something he had been contemplating a lot recently.

If Derrick was a more suspicious person, he might have thought something was fishy when the bouquet flew unerringly into Stesha's hands. He might have thought someone was trying to force something to happen. But as it was, he completely missed that undercurrent and it looked quite natural to him. He smiled at Stesha happy expression and watched from the sidelines.

[alderwitch]

Taylor returned Stesha's hug and pulled back with a wink, "Just lucky, right? Now, you should go show off your boquet to that boyfriend of yours."

Taylor gave her a little nudge in Derrick's direction before turning back to Jack. She dropped her voice to a husky murmur meant for his ears and pressed her palm agaisnt his still chest, "Have I mentioned that you look so handsome today? The black tie look suits you."

She stepped in closer and lowered her tone conspirtorily, her palm warm through the fabric and a flirty smile on her lips, "You know, its not too late to change your mind on the garter toss. Or, I suppose, you could spend the rest of the night wondering what color I picked. What do you think? Is it bridal white or black lace?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack hmmed at that, leaning down to whisper warmly in Taylor's ear. "You always make it hard to choose," he said with a predatory smile on his face. His mouth right next to her ear, so that the vibrations of his voice fell on her teasingly-covered neck. What the hell; he was in a good mood. "I think I'd rather know that there's nothing down there but qi-pao and your lovely legs, and that soon it'll be even less." As it was Taylor's idea, he let her make the announcement while he moved over to gather up a nearby chair for the ritual of the moment.

[alderwitch]

Just above the stiff gold-edged collar, Taylor's pulse leapt wildly. The answering slow smile she gave him was full of promise before she headed over steal the mike from the DJ.

Accepting his hand up onto the platform, she grinned at the cheers and whistles before she had even had the chance to open her mouth. With a laugh, she announced, "I think you all know what I'm about to say, so lets get the bachelors out on the floor."

She handed the mike back to the dj and slipped back onto the dancefloor.

[angrydurf]

Ace glanced up and gently guided Harry along as they talked so as to be well clear of the crush of bachelors, and any chance of ending up with the garter, but still maintained a good view of the proceedings. "What say we leave these antics to the young bucks who don't know any better eh?" he quietly joked with his old friend.

[Heritage]

Lynn suddenly broke contact, whch allowed Colt to reappear; seconds later, the shapeshifter herself made an appearance, crouched like a cat with head cocked to one side.

"Hey, they're doing the garter now." She smiles and pokes him in the belly. "Up to you, dude, though it does make me think maybe we should head back out, just for a little bit. Y'know, for Taylor's sake."

She hops up to her feet, and reaches down to give her lover a hand. "Shall we? I'll fade us out right before I open the door." Thankfully her morphing abilites meant no telltale lipstick on Colt's face or collar, though she assumed someone would probably figure out what they'd been up to. :roll:

[quotemyname]

"Yea, reckon that sounds good." Colt took her hand, "I sure could use me another drink anyhow..."

When they reached the door to the hall, Colt stopped for a moment as they were about to phase out. "Wait, Reckon there ain't no point in bein' invisible if'n they c'n all see the door open anyhow. Oh well!" Colt shrugged. "Ya ready?" he leaned in and planted another kiss on Lynn's lips.

[Heritage]

"Wait, Reckon there ain't no point in bein' invisible if'n they c'n all see the door open anyhow. Oh well!"

"Ya ready?".

Lynn happily accepts the kiss, and returns it warmly, but Colt's statement does make her rub her chin.

"Yeah, you're right; heck, I mostly did it in the first place for fun." Then she shrugs and reaches for the door. "Y'know what, screw it. We made out at a wedding; happens all the time." She opens the door, has a little peek around, and then leads Colt out, fully visible to any who might see, which includes an amused member of the waitstaff.

Soon the pair are back mingling with the rest of the crowd; Lynn indicates the other bachelors with a nod of her head, then winks and smiles as she mouths 'Up to you, cowboy'.

[quotemyname]

"Well," Colt had a smug look on his face when Lynn led him to the section where the rest of the gentlemen were gathered. "Reckon I've got a job ta do. 'An I'm gonna see it through."

Colt gave Lynn a wink and sauntered up to the crowd of men. He positioned himself away from Atlas, thus maximizing his chances of catching the garter. All the while he was fiddling with something underneath his jacket. He wanted to make sure his pistol hadn't come loose during their make-out session.

[Dr Archeville]

Doktor Archeville

Yeah! Show those legs!

I am so relieved I was able to stop you from doing the bachelor party for Jack.

I'm still quite upset at you for that.

He does not need such temptations.

That's exactly why it would've been so fun to watch!

Archeville downed a shot from the bar before sauntering over to the center of the dance floor; while walking over he motioned for Derrick to come over and stand beside him.

"I believe," he said in a slightly low and conspiratorial tone, "dat de tradition in dis situation is for de man who catches de garter to place it upon de leg of de voman who caught de bouquet...."

[Geez3r]

Atlas joined the other bachelors on the dance floor, taking his spot near the back, because seriously; why would he have to stand anywhere near the front? He noticed Doctor Archeville talking to one of the other bachelors. He looked familiar, but he couldn't place the face. He was probably some mutual acquaintance. Their comments did however make him scan the crowd for the woman who caught the boquet. Not really hard to spot someone with green hair at a Chinese wedding. Yeah, this one's going to messy. mused Atlas.

[angrydurf]

"If you'll pardon me for a moment Harry," Ace said quickly, "I have some meddling to do."

Ace sauntered over to Derrick and spoke quietly, "The good doctor speaks the truth young man, but I'm sure you're equal the task, love is a powerful motivator after all." He smiled and gently patted Derricks shoulder in support. "I'll make sure you got a clear path anyway." He added in a whispered conspiratorial tone.

[Cyroa]

It was only a moment before Derrick found himself bracketed with Doctor Archeville on one side and Ace on the other. He was quite red within a few words from either of the two heroes. This was definitely not a situation he really wanted to be in nor did he expect the newly married couple to have indulged in this particular tradition. But he gave a curt nod and swallowed. He'd certainly do his best. He steeled himself, moving over with the others that were gathered there, wondering how in the world he had gotten into this situation.

[Avenger Assembled]

Now that they'd overcome Jack's objections to revealing Taylor, Jack and Taylor made a cheerful production of drawing out the garter-toss, Jack grinning wolfishly as he sat down by Taylor's bare leg, Taylor stretching out to give a family-friendly show as Jack reached up underneath her dress and pulled down what proved to be a scarlet-red, lacy-looking garter. Grinning cheerfully, not a care in the world, he made a great production of turning his back to the men and taking negligent aim behind him. He was no marksman, but he certainly hoped one of his friends back there would catch the thing.

With a flick of elastic, the garter flew, whipping through the air, just brushing against Derrick's outstretched hand-when the air exploded. An eruption of terrible black light above the ballroom transformed itself into a sphere of glowing, mystical bats that suddenly exploded to fill the air in the room with shrieking wings and terrible claws, revealing three terrifying figures within that settled to Earth between bride and groom and the rest of the party. The leader was a man, or rather, the semblance of a man in black robes engraved with blasphemous silver sigils, his red eyes and glaring fangs speaking to his vampiric heritage.

The other two were not human at all, though both bore the shape of a man. The figure on the left was a gigantic figure cast in rusting iron, the shape of a man covered in iron spikes that dripped with a foul, black mystic fluid that swirled and boiled over its cold iron flesh, the great helm placed over the hole where its head should have been glowing with a mystic white power of its own. On the right was a patchwork woman of stitched-together skin, a face that might have been beautiful if not for the cold malice behind the eyes, the scars all around the edge where it had been sewn to her body, and the mouth sealed shut by thick black cord. Behind her was a sword, huge and green, that shone with no natural radiance.

The leader pointed directly at Jack. "Jack Faretti, childe of Claudia! You stand accused of crimes before the Dragon's Law! What is your plea?"

[alderwitch]

Taylor was intangible the moment the lights exploded, whipping around through the chair. Of course. Of course, something big and bad was going to show up to the party. Her fingers curled into fists and she sent one desperate look to her family's white and frightened faces. This was why she'd never told them, she'd never wanted to drag them into this aspect of her life. For one moment, she was terribly tempted to let Jack do the talking and try one more time to keep the wool over her parents eyes. With an expression of disgust for herself as much as the party-crashers, Taylor let the eldritch power fill her hands as she summoned the Eye of Heshem from the void. It had been one piece of jewelry that she hadn't planned on wearing.

She slipped the heavy chain on over her head, settling it where it belonged in the hollow of her throat.

"I think," Taylor said, her eyes gone white with rage and power, "That you are most definately not on our guest list."

[Electra]

Stesha's heart leapt into her throat as the explosion of strange light bathed the celebration. Her first thought was for Derrick, though he could almost always be counted on to take care of himself, then for Taylor and her other friends. Taylor seemed to be doing all right for herself as well, for the moment. But there were a lot of other people in the hall as well, people who couldn't protect themselves and needed to be gotten to safety. Luckily, the entire room was bursting at the seams with flowers she'd placed herself, only hours before. Closing her eyes and trying to ignore the fear that wanted to cloud her mind, Stesha reached out to all those plants, every centerpiece, every hanging basket, even the corsages and boutonnières began to grow, extending leaves and tendrils until the whole area beyond the dance floor was covered by a thin web of green.

It took only moments, and then the entire audience disappeared, chairs, tables, and all. The nearby park would be cold this time of year and night, but it was a lot safer than staying here, and it was the first open space she could think of. Of the civilians, only the bachelors who'd been in on the garter scrum and a couple of waiters remained behind. It was something, anyway.

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack was on his feet, facing the Dragon's death squad with all the courage he could muster. Not here, he prayed. God, not like this! He tossed aside the chair, which was meager shield anyway, and faced the inquisitors with nothing but courage and his friends at his side to back him up. "The Dragon's Law has no power here, Arcanix. It's a New World, with new laws. And new dangers," he added with a nod to the growing superhuman army around them. "Take your golem and your assassin now, and tell the Dragon you were overmatched. This is Freedom City. No longer will we bow our heads to foreign despots. Even if their blood flows in our veins," he added.

[Moira Morley]

Moira was actually not as active as she'd like to be. She chit-chatted small talk with the guests, getting to know more about everyone there. She watched the events unfold silently, but the last event was a doozie! Super vampire named Arcanix? Who was this guy? Jack was facing down the beast like like David facing down Goliath! And Taylor was Phantom! Moira held her position, ready to pounce if Jack and Taylor needed.

[quotemyname]

"Why can't it never go smooth?!" Colt exclaimed. He had just finished re-strapping his gun to himself. He reached right up into his jacket and pulled out his trusty firearm (Now with new, white trim!) and made a move towards Lynn.

"I knew we should'a stayed in'a coat room!"

Colt stood in front of Lynn protectively, ready to fire at any threats that presented themselves.

[angrydurf]

Ace smiled wide as the Vampire enforcers arrived. "Man I love this town." he muttered under his breath as he casually walked toward the intruders and patted at his pockets as if looking for something.

Smirking at the bloodsucker in charge he spoke, "Alright then I'm fairly certain this can wait for another time, we're trying to have a party here." his speech slightly slurred as if he was drunk, "Why don't you go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under." He finished his eyes locking arrogantly with the vampire in charge.

[Dr Archeville]

Run away!

No! We are Men of Science!

This isn't Science!

... bah! Surely we can find some logical way out of this! Or are you... afraid?

What?!

Afraid of facing something you do not and possibly cannot understand? Afraid that we will die, again, just like the last time we faced off against 'supernatural'-

Enough! Fear is for lesser men, never for Viktor Archeville! We will need a plan...

I doubt activating the overhead sprinklers would do anything to the already-rusted armor, but doing so could serve as a conductor for an electrical attack.

And some 'surgical strikes' on the flesh-doll should take her out. A shame; I would love to get a good-

Stop it.

Anyway... how flammable do you think those dark robes are? Easy enough to make a Molotov Cocktail with what's behind the bar.

"Eep!," Archeville squeaked as he made a mad dash for and leaped behind the bar.