Noir: The Ace of Spades (IC)

[Ari]

Roi had already started heading for the door when he heard the faint sounds outside. Heart quickening with fear he struggled to walk calmly across the bar floor, though his pace quickened almost imperceptibly until he darted out of the Wild Joker at top speed!

 

Lunging into the rainsoaked streets of Freedom, the young Frenchman took in at a glance the situation: Agnes diving for cover, two thugs emerging from an alleyway with murder in their eyes and Hatchet with a..hatchet slashing wildly at the air. "What is this madness? Get away from her!" Assuming that she'd thrown something into his eyes, Roi groped for the Deck and pulled it free, whipping a card at random from it and holding it aloft so it caught the light! It was a Knave of Hearts, standing desolate in a ruined field, his eyes gleaming with a sorrow that drove right into the heart and turned limbs to lead.

 

Averting his own eyes Roi cried "There's no point fighting! Leave us alone!"

[Supercape]

GM

 

Brains looked away. 

 

"It's the cards, Hatchet! the ones the Boss has been looking for!" he shouted, as Trigger looked at the card and slumped his shoulders. 

 

"Yep..." he said, morosely, full of defeat, as the fight evaporated from him. 

 

"The cards? The cards???" yelled back Hatchet, waving his machete around to fend of unseen and non-existent attackers. 

 

He screwed his eyes open with a force of will and looked at Roi. 

 

"Honey, you will have to wait. Don't be too heart broken, missy. I'll get back to you after I have sliced a few parts of this Frenchie open. See, the Boss wants to the complete set!"

[Tiffany Korta]

At this chance to finally finish thing’s Agnes felt flush with confidence. Her one trick already played out she had to rely on more traditional means. Crouching down behind the only available cover she fished in her purse and pulled out the large revolver she bought month’s ago for ust this occasion.

 

There were no witty resort’s or snappy one liners for Agnes, not at such an important moment, instead she just lined up Hatchet in her sight’s and pulled the trigger.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Ya shot me!" screamed Hatchet, his hand snapping over his belly as he took a few steps back. 

 

There was no stopping the red that poured from him, seeping between his fingers and into his immaculate shirt. 

 

"Ya god damn broad, ya shot me!!!!" he said, still brandishing his hatchet and covering his eyes. 

 

He took a few steps back and sank to his knees. 

 

"I'll kill you so much, you will beg for death...." he mumbled. 

 

"We have the posterior aspect of your spine, boss. Towit, namely, the temporary deficit in your ability to engage in physical conflict will be compensated by imminent proactive action by myself and my companion, by means of removing the offending ballistic device!" said Brains. 

 

"Yep!" agreed Ticker, as the two of them leapt at Agnes, got in the way of each other, and spun like a ballet couple right up to her in a most ungainly fashion. 

[Ari]

The explosion of Agnes' handgun sent a jolt of horror through Roi's gut, and he stared at the singer for a few seconds, struggling to reconcile the fact that she had made absolutely clear she wanted revenge with the smoking gun and spreading blood on Hatchet's shirt. 'That man was going to kill her!' the young tailor told himself desperately, scrabbling for a new card in the terrible deck until his fingers closed on one that chilled them 'No matter what they are besides, they are in the Mob!' he thought with a furious glint in his eyes.

 

Whipping the Queen of Diamonds from the deck, he twirled it between his fingers almost automatically as he drew his arm back. A circle of sparkling, discordant color flaring to life around the hand that gripped it lashed out at Brains, the magic of the card trying to turn the thug's mind into a kaleidoscope, but Roi's inexperience at at controlling the dark power meant it hissed right past his ear with a wail of anguish!

 

Wincing at his failure, the young man dashed between Hatchet's minions and Agnes "You'll have to go through me to get to her!" he shouted as he dropped into a loose boxing stance, visibly trembling with fear.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

With Joi providing Agnes with some degree of protection she could focus all her attention on killing the man that help destroy her life. Setting her mouth in a grim visage she spoke for the first time since the fight began.

“I only need a few more second’s if you can try and keep them away from me.â€

 

She held the revolver steady in both hand’s and drew a bead on the killer’s head, taking the time to get her aim absolutely perfect. When she thought she had everything perfect she let off the shot towards Hatchet.

Edited June 10, 2013 by TiffanyKorta

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Bullet hit Hatchet neatly in the neck. 

 

It was clear it was a fatal shot. But there was no pyrotechnic explosion of blood and gore. It was silent, slow, and chilling. A hoarse bubbling of his voice as he sank to his knees and blood soaked down his shirt. The clang of his notched machete hitting the wet street. 

 

Like death, the dying was punctuated by silence and absence. By withering rather than presence. 

 

"You...you...got me...you little rat...just like I...got ya...man..."

 

*gurgle*

 

He fell to the floor, hands to his throat in a vain attempt to keep blood and lungs working. 

 

"...But...you...never knew...why...did...ya?..." he struggled to spit out the words in one last act of defiance. 

 

"...Never knew...what card...he carried....and why...the jokes...on you...." he whimpered, as his eyes rolled back and he exhaled his last tombstone sigh. 

[Tiffany Korta]

There was only a moment’s triumph before the realization of Agnes had truly done struck her. The pent up grief of the lost of her love finally had a vent over the drive of revenge. Her face looked as stunned as she felt and no longer needed the gun slipped from her hand as she slid down the wall onto the sidewalk.

Then she began to sob a loud wail of pain and grief that she had built up over the last few month’s, a sound that didn’t seem to end for quite some time. Her tear’s, as copious as they were, were lost in the rain the city grieving for it’s many dead.

[Ari]

"Oh, God have mercy..."

Roi froze as the shot crashed through the air like a pale imitation of thunder, out of the corner of his eye he could see the gun smoking in Agnes' hand. And the horrible, sticky noises coming from the Hatchet told him what had happened long before his eyes registered the red seeping between the doomed man's fingers, and the look in his eyes.

 

The young Frenchman had seen more than one fellow countryman with a wound in his throat. The Great War had left its mark on many in his hometown. But this showed him just how such holes were made, and seeing it he was violently sick on the ground. Coughing and shaking on the rain-slick street, the Deck still gripped tight enough to dig into his palm. 'However bad he was, he didn't deserve that!'

 

It took a moment to tear his mind and horrified eyes from the grisly sight, and focus on the sobbing woman behind him. He stared at her for a moment, torn between revulsion and pity. Only a moment however; pity had a far stronger hold on his soft heart. Getting to his feet he quietly tucked the gun into his coat pocket, put an arm under her arms and lifted her up, setting off with shaky steps down the street. As he went, he turned sharply to the two henchmen, his eyes teary and his voice ragged "Don't follow me. Take his b-his body and go." As he spoke another card, the edges gleaming evilly in the electric lights, slid from the pack and the tight-lipped king on it seemed to wink at the pair.

 

Hurrying them into the dark of Freedom City, he whispered as the sped down a streaming alleyway "Agnes? I'll get you home, where do you live?"

Edited June 15, 2013 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes looked up at Roi, her mascara streaked down her face.

“Not so much your Angel now am I? You should leave me here to face justice, it’s what I deserved I... I killed that man.â€

She picked up her now dirty purse and fished out a set of key’s.

“That Roadster over there is mine, take it and go to my apartment.†she gave him the apartment’s address

“I have a few jewel’s and a little cash take them and go make a better life for yourself, I shouldn’t have dragged you into all this.â€

 

She stayed slumped in her place on the sidewalk all the fight having now fled from her.

[Supercape]

GM

 

A few moments later

 

At this time of night, and with this type of weather, the streets were pretty empty. A few street hustlers, and a few streetwalkers clung to the night refusing to seek any solace, 

 

Agnes Roadster' glided through the night well enough, the rain fighting a battle with the wipers that looked pretty much a draw. One couldn't see far, even with headlights glaring. 

 

But even in the rain, a glare in the rear view mirror caught Roi's eyes. One time. Two times. 

 

And then, too many times. 

 

They were being followed. 

[Ari]

"You...I won't take what's yours Angel..."

Rain beating down made freezing rivulets in the streets, soaking slowly but surely through their clothes and causing lesser torrents to cascade off roofs. Staring in disbelief at the young woman slumped in his arms, Roi looked from her to the keys, from them to the classy car parked nearby that likely cost more than he was worth, back to Agnes and made his decision. "Come on, we must be off, get you into something warm and dry!" Helping her firmly back to her feet he all but carried her over to the auto, unlocking the passenger door and gently sitting her down on the cold chair before hurriedly dashing around to the other side, fumbling with the slick metal to get inside himself, tumbling into the driver's seat.

 

Starting a car wasn't beyond him, but the finer details took a moment to figure out. A few minutes of silent work managed to get him through the worst of it without incident though, and with a rumble the two were rushing through the dark streets. Still breathing quickly the tailor said, low and earnestly "Agnes, you must get a hold of yourself. Hatchet was trying to kill you! Would he have stopped if you did much less? It...it was horrible, but-" he gulped back tears that sprung up as the image of the man's body crawled through his mind like a huge spider over a pane of glass "but I don't think we had much choice then. And we can make this right! He said...he said we didn't know why, didn't he? That means your lover was killed for something more than we know. If we can find out, maybe we can make all this right! But first we need to get clean, then we can figure out what to do..."

 

He kept his eyes fixed on the street ahead, his face lit starkly by the electric lights flashing by. As they reached a stoplight, he chanced a look over at the miserable and teary-eyed woman sitting beside him and took her hand in his. Smiling a little, he added with the surety of the drowned "We can see this through."

 

Then his eyes were stabbed by a fierce light in the window, that as they started again he realized was getting closer. The turns he made did nothing to stop it, and with a chill he realized what was happening "Agnes...I think some of Hatchet's pals are after us. Can you aim steadily? We may need to shoot their tires...I hope just their tires."

Edited June 19, 2013 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

The car ride had allowed Agnes a little more time to think and she was feeling a little more like herself, maybe more like herself than she had for a very long time. For now she had a handle of things, as long as she had something to keep her mind busy. Freedom City being the Dame that she was, was happy to oblige.

“When this is over we’ll decide what punishment I’ll face for that crime, but for now let’s get to the bottom of all this.â€

 

For now she was a little reluctant to use the revolver again luckily she had another option to try and stop the automobile. She rummaged through her purse and came up with her compact, leaning it out of the window to get a better look at the chasing car’s driver. That done she concentrated on drawing up a portion of  her power using the compacts mirror to try and blind the driver with the light.

[Supercape]

GM

 

With a pulse of light the car behind them was briefly illuminated in the dark city rain. 

 

A police car. 

 

"What the hell!" came the scream for the cops, as the driver caught the beam of light directly in his face. The Sirens wailed, and the car screeched to halt - by puling to one side and hitting a building with an alarming crunch. 

 

Steam poured out of the crumpled bonnet and into the wet night, illuminated by neon. 

 

As Agnes and Rio pulled away, they could dimly see two cops clambering out of their car and pulling their guns, but by then it was too late. They had slid away into the night, into blackness and out of view. 

[Ari]

Roi nearly swerved off the road in shock as the flash of Agnes' light revealed the police car, and for a panic-stricken second he found himself steering the car only in name. Regaining control by the skin of his teeth, the young Frenchman now kept both hands firmly on the wheel as he drove to the singer's apartment, eyes fixed on the road as ice dripped down his spine and the lights of the busy streets took on a fearsome gleam. He watched out far more carefully after that, for anything at all that could mean a sudden change of the weather from cats and dogs to bullets.

 

Rolling up to the parking lot, he all but dragged Agnes indoors after a last hasty once-over of the streets, ignoring the question glances flung their way as the duo jogged upstairs, the inevitable struggle with a slippery key happened, and they burst into the glowing gal's rooms. Quickly flicking on the lights, Roi pulled up a chair, sat down and said "What do we do?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes’s apartment was a rather stark affair it was place that someone stayed in rather than lived in. With a total lack of modesty Agnes began to strip off her wet clothes as she made her way toward the bathroom.

“I’m afraid I’ve not got much but feel free to help yourself. Could you make me a coffee, cream and two sugar? I just need a quick shower.â€

With that there was the sounds of the shower starting up. Agnes cupboards contained just those basic’s she described as if for some time she had been surviving on just coffee and cigarettes. It was only a few second before Agnes returned dressed in only a big fluffy bathrobe.

 

“So what do we do now?â€

[Ari]

Still shaken, Roi had no time for ogling, though he did catch a glimpse of her out the corner of one eye as she went to the showers and he busied himself in the kitchenette.

 

"Well Roi," the tailor muttered as he got the water going "you're meeting lovely ladies are you not? What more could you want, besides peace and a sunny sky?"

 

When Agnes got back he had two steaming mugs ready for her, silently handing the singer one as he settled into a chair opposite her, crossing one long leg over the other as he listlessly drank.

 

After taking a few deep sips he looked up at her, eyes wracked with pain "I...do not know. Ask policemen who Hatchet met with? Perhaps discover who told them to look out for the car of Agnes the Blues singer?"

 

He shook his head and looked down into the swirling coffee, the liquid mirroring his heart "Whatever we do must be done soon. I do not think they will wait for us to catch our breath."

 

Glancing up, he surveyed her glumly "Dieu, you are very beautiful."

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes gave a sad smile and gave Roi a little pat on the knee.

“You’re very sweet but I’ve not only recently lost my Fiance but I’ve also just killed a man. Maybe in the future but I’ve still got a lot of grieving to do.â€

She took a sip of her coffee and manage a rather weak smile

“If you always make such a decent cup of coffee then you’ll be a real catch for someone.â€

She drained her cup before going behind a screen and beginning to change into dry clothes.

“I don’t know how it is in France but the police don’t turn up so fast in this part of the city. And who gave hatchet his orders? And what does those playing cards have to do with all this?â€

She stepped from behind the screen now dressed in a more formal suit. She then sat at her vanity table and began to fix her hair into a more manageable, and fashionable form.

 

“I need answers and I need help are you still willing to help me, even if it’s just as friends?â€

[Ari]

"'Just' friends, mon ange?" Roi smiled sadly at Agnes "That is far more than I could have hoped just three hours ago."

 

Taking a long, deep sip of his coffee he nodded "I'll help. I am a little curious about how that card from the Deck of Fools got into Hatchet's hands as well. And Handsome Jack" he scowled "I want to know what stake he has in this too."

 

Feeling his wet coat with a sigh of irritation he got up, stretching his lean, lightly soaked legs a little. "Do you think that...dead man will be at the morgue?" he asked Agnes suddenly "We might get a few clues, more than we ever would while he lived."

Edited June 30, 2013 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnes looked torn for a few second’s then opened a small waredrobe packed full of men’s clothes.

“You can’t go around in those wet clothes, I’m think you’re about his size. It would be a shame to waste all these clothes.â€

She picked out a suitable array of clothes for Roi to try on and handed them to him a little gingerly.

“You can change behind the screen or the bathroom if you wish.â€

As she spoke she was pulling on her own coat.

 

“You called the cards the Deck of Fools, that suggests you know more about them than you're letting on. You know all my secret’s care to share your secret with me?â€

[Ari]

Thanking her warmly Roi ducked behind the screen, tossing his wet clothes overtop of it as he pulled on the fresh ones. They were a good cut, good material too. Whoever had bought these hadn't wanted something cheap, they'd intended to have these for a while. The young tailor felt the threads on the shirt before he put it on, whistling quietly at how strong each line was.

 

Agnes didn't have to wait long for her answer, as his accented voice rolled from the privacy shield "It is an old artifact, you see. I found it concealed within the wall of..a shop when I was very young, put there and forgotten." Fiddling with the collar he frowned deeply "None in the town knew where it had come from, but they knew its name and soon I heard stories that the old owner of the shop had been cursed by it, that he had played the Devil for his soul, and lost. Some of the olders even claimed it was from the time of La Pucelle Jeanne d'Arc. I think you call her 'Joan' here?" he asked, his face appearing over the screen looking a little sheepish before he ducked back down to continue dressing.

 

"They told me it was rumored to have great power, but that using that power would always lead to the owner's ruin. I discovered how to use the deck a little while ago, one day while examining the King of Hearts I just understood him somehow, and all the sorrow and misery seemed like a river or great ocean that I could draw forth. It's quite dangerous though, to other people I mean, I I have had little desire to learn more."

 

With a final adjustment of the collars, he stepped out from behind the screen, taking a moment to do a quick twirl. Smiling in satisfaction he nodded gratefully "These clothes are wonderful Agnes! I shall cherish them. Now," he took another sip of coffee and smiled with something like happiness at her "Shall we depart for the morgue?"

[Tiffany Korta]

“A year ago I wouldn’t have belived you if you told me about a cursed deck of cards, funny how these thing change.â€

When Roi can into view it looked like for a moment that Agnes was about to cry again but she closed her eye’s and somehow managed to hold her composure.

“They look good on you, I insist you keep them. Consider them a welcome gift to this country.â€

She paused at the door and thought for a few seconds and grabbed an umbrella from the stand.

 

“It might not be a good idea to take the car, especially if we’re going to the Morgue. We might have to walk some of the way.â€

[Ari]

'They must have belonged to her fiance' Roi thought dismally, though he smiled openly and offered Agnes Alla his arm. 'Poor woman, to lose so much so quickly...' "It is indeed a strange thing, going from ordinary young woman with the power to create light from nothing to meeting a stranger with a cursed deck of magic cards"

 

"Lead on, my lady!" He said briskly, praying with all his heart that soon they would have some clue about what all of this meant. So many questions stirred their minds, and only the light of truth could save them from the darkness of doubt and fear that surrounded them.

[Supercape]

The Morgue...

 

It was dark, darker than starlight, and still into the night when Agnes and Roi arrived at the morgue. At this time of the morning - or night - the streets were all but empty, bar a few straggling drunks and other denizens of the night, 

 

Despite the rain that poured down without passion or relent, and seemed to stick to the clothes like napalm, the air was not cool, or hot, just a tepid tension. 

 

The Morgue itself was an old building, concrete and imposing, but with grandeur and architecture - a sight that had been used for countless movies, normally horror ones. There may not have been thunder or lightning, but one could imagine a flash overhead with ease. 

 

The front door was padlocked, and there was a light on inside, a bored security guard trying to stay awake with limited success, watching some late night horror movie on a beat up black and white TV he had brought along. 

[Ari]

The walk had been brisk and nerve-wracking for the first few blocks. Every moment the tailor expected someone to recognize them, to shout and call the police, for a wail of sirens and a hail of bullets. Gradually his fears receded as nothing happened and reality reasserted itself. He relaxed, even managed to make a few jokes with Agnes as they strolled along, enjoying just a little being somewhere strange and new. Even if that was ruined by the memory of where they were going.

 

Marceau shrugged deeper into his coat as the duo came within sight of the imposing Freedom City Morgue. Just looking at the place told him that death waited there, and cold fingers traced down his spine as he thought of all those bodies liberated from life kept inside. At the least the earlier winter chill had vanished, one benefit of living near the ocean he supposed.

 

Such things weren't enough to discourage him yet, however, and he steeled himself to the job he and Agnes had to do, observing the guard at the front door great care and even greater unease. Fiddling with the Deck in his pocket the young man offered softly "Shall I? I could get his attention, convince him to let us through, perhaps."