ic Interceptors: Handclap

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne fell in line with the music.  The beat.  She was used to dancing to precisely, if unemotively, performed music.  It was not always the case, but it happened.  It happened, a lot.

She also didn't have to do a routine, so she was freer, and unconcerned.  It just so happened that everyone else dancing was so lock step that even with her size she wasn't hitting other people.  She didn't notice that Phae and Cathy were on the dance floor, barring them being right up on her.  She closed her eyes and gave the urge of the dancing.  Following the beat without needing to be able to see the rest of everyone.  She bounced, and was happy with it. After all she loved to dance.  Her arms held up as she moved.

It was enough to more than distract her as this was happening, as she moved energetically, a bit more than some of the others, though it certainly wasn't any ballet on her part.

[alderwitch]

Robin's gaze skipped over the crowd, her dancing half-hearted at best. Stealth, Robin could manage but deceit was less in her wheelhouse. Her hip bumped into Riley's, using his wiry frame as she watched with narrowed grey eyes, in the hope that she would be ignored as half of a couple. Only one hand draped over Riley's shoulders, the other hand down by her side mostly to make sure they weren't too entangled if things went bad quickly. The tension in her coiled muscles broadcast better than words that she expected trouble imminently. 

 

"There's pickpockets in the crowd," she said, the words low and pitched not to carry too far. Her grey-eyed gaze darted, towards the most recent mark, "I think they might be slipping stuff into pockets too." 

[Gizmo]

Hands flat on the table, head on a swivel, Winifred watched as first Raina and then Robin along with Riley slipped out of the booth and made a small distressed sound in spite of herself. If they hadn't been conspicuous before she certainly was sitting all by herself. On the other hand she was neither an actor nor a dancer and while she might have muddled through the latter in normal circumstances pretending to be someone who wanted to dance was a layer of complexity she couldn't help but overthink until she felt paralyzed by indecision. She didn't think an episode was imminent but who knew how the band's bizarre powers of suggestion might effect her after continued exposure?

 

"Hnnnnh..." Swallowing thickly but doing her best to keep her expression impassive she slid awkwardly out of the booth and maneuvered hesitantly out toward the dance floor. Really not feeling competent enough for any hip swinging she settled for shifting her weight from one side to the other, aided at least by a passable grasp of rhythm and tempo. She had no idea what to do with her hands. She was certain there must be something she was supposed to be doing with her hands.

[Electra]

Satisfied that her compatriots were on the field and ready to intervene if anybody started messing with Cathy or Phae, Raina began slipping through the crowd of dancers till she got a look at the banks of speakers. There was magic emanating from them, and though it didn't look like the speakers themselves were producing the magic, they were definitely spreading it, amplifying its reach. The aura looked oddly familiar, almost like Talya when she was using power, but the scent was different, wrong. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but she did have the beginnings of a plan. 

 

She danced her way across the floor, flickering like a flame as she wended her way through the moving bodies. When she reached Riley and Robin she paused, taking a moment to cut in between the pair and loop her arms around Riley's neck, leaning in towards him intimately. "I'm going to try and take out the speakers," she told him, "try and limit the spread of the magic. You guys need to get the band; I think whatever's going on is coming from them. There's not enough of us to stop whatever's gonna happen if we can't wake up the audience." She pulled away, gave Robin a playful pat on the cheek and was gone again, heading for the walkway behind the speakers. She dearly wished she had Merlin with her tonight, but surely destroying a technological project would be easier than putting one together. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Woah! Does she- Riley thought about that for a minute, and shed the grin from his face as best he could. He didn't really like Raina that way, but she was real pretty. Getting his mind on other things was helped by the inescapable fact that Robin was right there and pretty good at telling when he was full of crap. "Yeah." He made a show of 'reconciling' with Robin, slipping his arms around her from behind so he could whisper right in her ear, her thick, dark hair brushing against his face. "You smell good, cutie," he murmured, briefly distracted before whispering, "You go straight up, I'll come 'round the side and cut 'em off. Don't wanna chase 'em into whatever they've got back there..." 

[alderwitch]

Robin blinked once as Raina cut in, too confused to have jealousy flicker in. Hell, Raina still hadn't forgiven Riley for the last round of bear-pee smoke bombs. She gave one short sharp nod to Raina to show she understood. Deception wasn't her strong suit but thankfully they hadn't seemed to garner any attention, yet. When Riley came close, Robin's hands dropped to his slim waist and she cocked her head upwards. 

 

"Let's cut in closer to the front and when we make a move, I can give you a lift up, maybe?" She suggested, not to get Riley out of any main line of fire - well, not entirely, he was without his best weapon, "Then you can keep eyes on in case they try something. Got anything you can use from range?" As she spoke, Robin began to move their way through the crowd, taking the front position. It wasn't as if any normal dancer was going to successfully jostle her if she didn't want to play along.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Just my gloves," admitted Riley, who from his pockets was pulling on black leather fingerless gloves that could almost pass for club gear if you didn't look too closely but on closer inspection were pretty clearly MMA-style fighting gloves. With a few tricks up his sleeves. "Bastards ruined a perfectly good night." At least fighting bare-handed meant both his hands would be free during whatever followed. His arm around Robin's waist, he scanned the room. "Don't got much if I'm up there. Better just let me be your rear support. Always a good view back there, watchin' you kick some ass." He grinned fiercely, reaching up to adjust his fedora to make sure it would stay on in whatever was about to happen. Whatever the hell was going on, he'd come out to have a good time with Robin, and he was going to do that as long as he could. 

[angrydurf]

Robin and Rileys purposeful movements towards the stage Served at least it seemed to draw attention.  While the doors were still barred with security manning them the bulk of hte remaining security and the attention of hte cameras zeroed in on the couple as they broke through to the edge of hte stage.  The tempo of the music jumped as the band launched into a faster more driving beat sending the dancers still under the spells sway into a more frenetic almost primal sort of dance as if the entire crowd was reacting to the coiled violence about to break out.

 

The movement of the bouncers did afford Raina and Fred an opening to access the speakers and perhaps undermine the effect driving the crowd.  On closer inspection it was clear the speakers did not generate the magic but somehow were spreading it as if through some unheard sound, though what effect breaking hte connection would have on the dancers was not at all clear, cutting the power or signal to the speakers should stop them from relaying the effects.

 

The band seemed blissfully unaware of the brewing conflict just in front of them as they played, those musically inclined would note the change in style and tempo was almost seamless despite a lack of communication.  Their eyes distant as they stared out into the space in front of the stage and played on as nearly a dozen uniformed security closed in on robin and Riley with more moving more slowly through the crowd.

[alderwitch]

Robin glanced left and then right, a flick of her grey eyes and the slight tensing of her muscles were the only forewarning. For Riley, they were likely bright telegraphed signs as he'd been behind her shoulders in more than one fight. The security guards, however, had no idea of what they were getting into when one of them got close enough to reach for her wrist. In swift, economical movements, Robin dropped her shoulder and drove the opposite elbow into the nose of the closest guard with an audible pop-crunch. She pivoted, twisting so quickly that her new dress spun out from her legs. A quick right hook and then another elbow on the pull back sent two more men staggering. Out of range from her fists, she continued her pivot, sending one sandal covered foot into the fourth man's throat hard enough to send him and the man behind him into the edge of the stage.  

[Electra]

The moment Raina was in the shadow of the speakers she stopped dancing and pulled out her compact. A quick spell rendered her invisible, though unfortunately not intangible, so she had to work twice as hard to stay out of the way of the crowd. Noises and shouts on the edge of the dance floor drew her attention momentarily; apparently Riley and Robin were hard at work already, but they were on their own with that for awhile. She fully trusted them to manage their own mayhem while she got to work. First things first. It was the work of a moment to unplug the speakers and shut down the projection of the magically tainted music. Another few seconds with her tiny screwdrivers ensured that nobody would be turning them on again without some repair time. Now she just needed to find the source of the magic itself. It probably wouldn't hurt to look at the band for that. Raina headed for the stage. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Riley wasn't one for talking - not when an arrow in the face, or even better an arrow in the back, was a language all its own. But he'd learned from the best. He advanced on the remaining bouncers, fists held high, and hissed like a striking snake, "Okay, you bastards! This place is ours now. Turn and run or we break you!" He was all of five-foot-six and wiry, but in his cold, pitiless eyes and fierce face, there was something hard and ready for battle. "C'mon! I'm standin' here in a city fulla people who shoot lasers out their asses. And look what _she_ did! You think I'd be going for you if I couldn't take every last one of you sonsabitches!?" 

[angrydurf]

At the clear and present danger Riley exudes the Bouncers advance unflinchingly for a long moment before two recoil away from the threat and back through the crowd in confusion as whatever had been compelling them breaks down.  The three advancing on Robin are not so lucky and launch themselves at the young titan with a silent and methodical heedlessness of their own safety.    They are clearly trying to overwhelm her with sheer force of weight but can't manage to land a successful hold as she easily evades their grasps.

 

Around the room the music quiets as the speakers one by one go dead.  Startled the bartender looks around in confusion and stares at Fred, "Hey no stealing drinks!"  she shouts and tries to wave down security that is now fully engaged with the disturbance in the middle of the room.  It seems unlikely she'll impede fred further but so much for hte element of surprise.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Just like that it was gone, from the bliss of the moment to the cold hard reality, shaking her head Cathy was tempted to try and recapture the moment. But a quick look around showed that her friends were in trouble, she would almost think by there own actions if she didn't still feel the faint tug of the music.

 

She'd read somewhere that hot air cooled quicker than cold which was helpful as she concentrated on redirecting the hot sticky air to her will. As she did the moisture in the room began to form around the feet of those that were attacking her friends.

 

She managed a quick peck on the cheek of her still dancing girlfriend before moving to see if she could help more physically.

[angrydurf]

The clinging sheets of ice radiated out from Frostbyte entrapping and binding in place the security making their way through the crowd who seemed completely unphased by the clearly supernatural event continuing to dance as if nothing had changed.  The Security didn't even speak as they lunged forward trying to free themselves some collapsing as their efforts collapsed a trick knee or bad ankle but trying to claw their way toward hte stage despite the unyielding grip of the ice.

 

The whole while hte music grew fainter and fainter as the speakers cut out one by one before finally leaving only the tinny sound of the band playing on unamplified ringing in the air as the played on seemingly unaware.  As the last notes from the speakers faded from the air those still under the enchantments sway broke free the stronger willed Ardent and Zenith first but soon followed by the remains of the dancers who began to stir in panic and flood toward the doors as they woke to the midst of some sort of super battle clearly.

 

From the balcony a slow clap emerged cutting through the growing panic below, "Impressive." rang out a sonorous rumble from the balcony above, "STOP!"  the command lanced through the crowd the concert goers freezing as one, the band falling finally silent and the security team halting all efforts to reach the dangerous duo at the lip of hte stage.  

[alderwitch]

As soon as the man held in Nighthawk's implacable grip went stiff with mind control, her fist froze in mid air as if she, too, was caught in the thrall of the power of that voice. It was clear, however, that whatever power that imbued the Fens native - or perhaps simply her stubborn strength of will - protected her from the weight of those words. She dropped the frozen guard with a noise of disgust and turned cold, grey eyes to the man clapping.

 

"You ain't the first person to underestimate us. Won't probably the last," Nighthawk said flatly as she squared her shoulders and feet in a protective stance, her expression unafraid and edging close to actually angry at the cowardice of using pawns. "Wanna tell us what you want now, or you wanna go a couple of rounds first without putting innocent folk in the way?"

Edited February 23, 2018 by alderwitch

[angrydurf]

"It is quite the assumption I am underestimating you Ms. Chevalier."  the stately gentleman at the balconies edge replied.  Revealed in the still pulsing lights of the club he was well dressed holding himself with a formal rigidity of military service.  He spoke in a clipped english accent though not one who's regional origins was easily placed and his words coiled seamlessly around a parisian pronunciation of Nighthawks last name.

 

"I would argue I am estimating you and your associates quite precisely had I the time."  a vague smile of amusement crossed his features as he explained further, "Lets be clear two thuggish young people from the wrong side of town, a known demonologist, and their motley have disrupted this festive event, assaulted the security and staff, destroyed property."  Stepping back into the shadows he clearly stood still near the edge but his voice seemed to fill the air almost oppressively, "The police will arrive and all of these good people will tell them exactly what you've done."  He laughed a low rolling sound echoing across the now silent dance hall.  "And they won't even remember I was here."  the weight of his words slammed into the crowd visibly though they lacked the strength to assault the minds of the teens being set up by his plan. 

 

"And to think Ms. Sanderson you thought your luck was changing, at least you'll be reunited with dear old mum and dad."  The older mans words cut across the room, "To put it simply I want all of you in chains."  he explained with frank finality, "It's nothing personal, you just need a higher class of adults in your life it seems."  he sunk further into the crowd just on the edge of being out of sight completely, "And don't try to follow or come up here."  he threatened dangerously as in unison the crowded mezzanine stepped to the edge of hte high balcony, "If they follow jump."  the mind controller snapped out the thralls climbing onto the banister to fulfill his demands. Those with more refined hearing could pick out a quieter command across the radios for security to detain the youths for the police as the crowd broke free of it's stupor.

[Avenger Assembled]

Riley would later find out that the Major and his people had trained in a war. That made sense, given their tactical acumen. Riley hadn't been trained in a war, though. He'd been trained in the Forest.

 

Okay. The people aren't going to remember anything they see here. Okay. People are gonna be on Robin. She needs a distraction. Sparkler's invisible - whatever' she's doing, she needs a distraction. Okay. People are gonna jump - Frostbyte and Zenith can catch them. Okay.

 

When he spoke, he growled like a predator. "Wrong. I'm not a delinquent. I'm a goddamned Woodsman!" Having pulled his poncho out from under his shirt and over his head, Woodsman vaulted onto the stage again. He needed a codeword that would tell his friends to look away and cover their eyes without giving away his intentions. Without missing a beat, he yelled "Bear piss!" before he kicked over one of the still-standing spotlights into a nearby wallscreen, the glass immediately exploding in a shower of sparks that briefly blinded anyone looking at it directly. 

By the time the sparks had faded, the scrappy teenager in the poncho had seemed to vanish from sight entirely. 

[TheAbsurdist]

Corinne lurched out of whatever was going on, and everything was different, and nothing made sense.  She dropped down to one knee under the crowd, holding her head.  Wanting to be away from here, and she was about ready to just follow the milling crowd, when she heard what the male British voice was saying, and any recalcitrance she had of reaching down and grabbing her power just evaporated.

 

There was one trait that she and Zenith shared.  They were show women.

 

The explosion of light that heralded her transformation might as well have been a spotlight to show where she was, as scintillating, chaotic and bursting out harmless around her before she rose to her full height.  Her hair erupting out in a violent corona, her clothes ripping apart and being replaced a loose sundress of varying shared of purples, pinks, and reds, surrounded by a shimmering field of light, and visual focal distortion.
 

"HEY! A######!  A star is born, and she tells you NO!"  Her voice inhuman, and expanding, and collapsing in on itself, like a cocaphanous choir that never received direction.  As she dashed up into the air, towards the military fetished jerkface f###head, she threw her hands up,  as that same shimmering white, warping light blasted out from her, joining the fields she threw up around the kids on the balcony, before fuschia glass formed around those kids, blocking them from throwing themselves off the ledge.

[angrydurf]

Rileys improvised flash sans bang lit up the room for an instant casting ominous shadows around the walls.  Blinded patrons cried out and collided with security who themselves were thrown into chaos by the blinding light.  Recoiling from the eruption of the obviously supernatural Zenith in their midst the crowd pressed back towards the walls in a crush of fearful humanity.

 

Above their heads manic thralls hurled themselves against the glassy barrier preventing them from fulfilling the puppet masters commands growing more frantic as they sought some way around or through the barrier in a crush of frenetic suicidal impulse beyond their control.  The instigator of all of this had vanished into the crowd above largely obscured by the crush of those under his sway trying to fulfill his last order.

[Tiffany Korta]

 

Frostbyte

 

Cathy was sure that Zeniths barrier was more than capable of holding those on the balcony back, but she wasn't sure that whoever had set this up couldn't do something to disrupt the barrier. So she gathered together the moisture in the air, luckily there was lots of it about, a formed a long ice slide from the balcony to the dancefloor.

 

"We're good here I suggest we go get whoever was causing all this trouble."

 

She was more than ready to get whoever was causing all this trouble, and more importantly ruining there normally night out.