Put on your pretty lies / You're in the city of wonder [[ Open ]]

[hatsandespresso]

Characters: Neal, anyone who wants to follow him, some unexpected guests
Time: After sunset, Tuesday
Location: Hard Rock Hotel to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and then Undertown
Content: As if disappearing hotels weren't enough to contend with, now the underground is acting up for some mysterious reason...
Format: Prose/action
Warnings: The usual.

Comments

[scarfandknives]

Knives Chau, teenage ninja found the spot without much trouble. She got there at a pretty good speed too, a sign of said ninja skills and being an energetic teenager. She didn't go in just yet, she was checking around in case something was lurking outside.

She felt uneasy... maybe it was that coin she acquired. How much work it took to hide it, protect it from herself. Between the message, the attack the message was about, and her own issues, she was very on edge.

So when she heard something coming down on the Church with the stealth of an elephant and the serenity of a bullfight Knives... well, she did the appropriate thing for the situation. She turned on the incoming... whatever, and drew her blades and pointed them at the incoming form. She shoved her fears away and stood with the defiance any teen can tap into. Given the warning she wasn't in a mood to expect friends (even if it should come to mind).

Next to her a small black box appeared with white lettering. Knives Chau: Seventeen Years Old.

[outtabubblegum]

It was a commonly held bit of wisdom that wizards, by nature, were subtle and quick to anger. Indeed, it was their subtlety that made them such a force to reckon with, as a truly clever and well prepared wizard could overcome almost any threat, crush any foe, and thwart any power. Cunning and subterfuge was not just the virtue of a magician, but of a true spell slinger.

Some days, though, a man just needed to take a stand.

In other words; Fuck subtle. Harry Dresden was going to war.

Marching down the main street toward the church Harry's power crackled about him, making the very air around him twist and distort as it blew away the debris of the city. Staff clutched in one hand, jacket billowing in the wind, he strode with a confidence and purpose he had not felt in months. Months of scouring books, chasing shadows, and fighting his own inner demons, all while nursing his power for a moment just such as this.

This time there was no ambiguity, no mystery, no word games and hidden intent. There were monsters threatening to hurt people he cared about, and Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden was going to teach them why that was the last mistake they were ever going to make, because he had months worth of pent up pain, sorrow, guilt, and the worst kind of agony burning at his heart, and now he was going to let that pain loose on the the stupid sons of bitches who'd attacked Jenn and Vin.

Coming to stand in the front of the church, Harry smashed his grandfather's staff against the ground, making the pavement itself burst into a spider web of deep cracks. "I'd just like to notify all in attendance that God is currently not in session! Therefore, in his absence all Judgment will be handed down by me! So if you value your continued existence and I have reason to end it, then you should take my advice. BE SOMEWHERE ELSE!"

[legallygreen]

Jennifer groaned as she got up slowly, having stripped her jeans off, or what was left of them anyway, and rolled them up into a pillow for Neal's head. Her legs were sore from hours of being bent to her side and her side was killing her still, though it was nowhere near as bad as it had once been.

A quick check on Jamie and Vin, and she limped to the door, opening it just a crack to look and see if the darkness had any holes in it at all. It was then that she caught a glimpse of a teenage girl, and then heard the booming voice of Harry Dresden, feeling a small amount of relief wash over her.

She had to jerk the door shut to avoid the spray of miniscule pavement pieces, but then opened it again, hoping to see whether the fallen angel came forward or not. Turning her head, she nodded at Vin.

"It's going to be okay. Harry's here."

[doomedtheworld]

Vin jumped a little at Harry's voice, the sound snapping her out of her thoughts. She shook her head to clear away some of the bleariness and forced herself to stand and look outside the window. She burned what little tin she had left, wincing as it made her head pound but the rush of senses cleared her head some more and let her see outside clearly. She blinked at the spray of stone that struck that window as Harry let loose some of his rage and stared for a moment at the wizard standing there out in the open, booming a challenge to his enemies.

Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her but for an instant he almost looked like Kelsier.

"Can he beat him?" She wondered quietly, mostly to herself as she narrowed her eyes and scanned the street. The Fallen Angel hadn't reappeared yet but she was sure he wasn't far away.

[secondcity_npc]

"Well, well, Mr. Dresden," a voice called out politely, "You still know how to make an appearance." Nicodemus walked casually from out of apparently nowhere, his wool coat now buttoned up against the chill of the very early morning. He smiled at the wizard as if it had been a long time since he had seen an old friend. "Are you hear to help me collect what is mine?"

At this, his eyes shifted towards Knives, a dark, knowing look in his eyes.

[scarfandknives]

Knives lowered her blades when she heard Mr. Dresden... completely botch any attempt at subtle she might have liked to have on hand. Sure, she was probably going to just bust the heads of anything she thought looked mean, but it would have been nice to at least have a shot at sneaking around.

And now another player steps into view, he was kind of obviously the bad guy here. Noose, not really a heroic fashion statement. She turned and trained her knife on the guy staring at her. Well, Knives called it a knife, and Crocodile Dundee would agree it was a knife. The blade was the length of her forearm, so most would call it overkill as a knife, or a modest sword. "What is yours?" She kept her voice steady, hiding how much that stare was getting to her. What was with him, he was very creepy.

[outtabubblegum]

That was a voice from Harry's nightmares. Of all the myriad enemies Harry had ever met, Nicodemus was quite possibly the single most dangerous, cruel, and terrifying of the lot. He had the raw power of a fallen angel, the experiences of a thousand lifetimes, and the cunning that was all too human. Even a few months ago, given the choice between fighting the leader of the Fallen and running for his life Harry would have gladly taken the running screaming option nine times out of ten.

That was before. Now Harry's nightmares were far darker things, and his own power far beyond what it was. Now he was no mere wizard. He was the barer of Soulfire, and the Knight of Winter, and it was about damn time he started acting the parts. Fixing the smug man with a cold stare, he just made a show of rolling his eyes.

"Hell's bells Nick, doesn't anyone stay dead anymore? Do you really have nothing better to do than piss me off?"

[legallygreen]

"I hope so." Jennifer replied, answering Vin's question with the question in her own mind. But then again, it would not do to have anything but perfect faith in Harry's abilities. He had come to help her, to help them. She was not going to doubt him.

"He'll help us." She said more confidantly this time. She then turned her attention back to the people outside, the cold air making her shiver in the open doorway. So he finally had a name, this fallen angel.

[doomedtheworld]

Vin just nodded, watching the confrontation and listening to it through the cracked door. She felt a small surge of hope, listening to Harry call out the demon. She really didn't know what kind of power the wizard had but if he was bluffing he was definitely better at it than she'd given him credit for. Still another part of her reminded her that she had hit "Nick" with the hardest blow she could muster, three times, and it hadn't even made him uncomfortable.

"I need to see the street." She said, making her way to the door and trying to push past Jenn. "I still have tin, I'll be able to see if any more try to sneak up on him."

[secondcity_npc]

Nicodemus smiled cordially and then nodded in the direction of the church at Knives's question. "Four coins of certain worth, miss. A man in there stole them, and I only aimed to retrieve them."

He walked a bit closer to the two of them, unfazed by the magic sparkling around Harry's staff. "Mr. Dresden, would you have this end in violence? They have put a sizable dent in your powers on purpose, and I must say, it was quite clever of them." His shadow, created by the light of the magic, bubbles and twisted menacingly as he slowed to a halt. "All I ask is that the denarii are returned to me."

[scarfandknives]

The Wizard being on a first name basis with the bad guy was... not encouraging. Knives tried to keep track of her surroundings, and could hear some movement in the church. However, right now it was out here that was a problem. Knives's mind went everywhere at once with the man's comments. The coins, their captors, the situation... but only one really kept her mind on it.

"Four evil little coins, right. The kind that take good people and turn them bad?" She looked up at Harry a moment, trying to get a feel of anything other than the fact he seemed good at banter. "I doubt you'll do something nice like lock them away forever. So you shouldn't get them, it'll just be violence somewhere else." Knives felt something tug at the back of her mind and pushed it aside, whatever it was it was distracting her. Her plate was full with what was ahead of her, she didn't need her mind to start feeling vibes or something.

[outtabubblegum]

Now that was interesting. Apparently either Nicodemus knew who it was who had brought everyone to this false Chicago, or he was trying to make Harry think he did. With Nicodemus either option was a possibility, but no matter which was true it still told him something important. Whoever was behind this, they were strong enough to either abduct Nicodemus, or to convince him to work with them.

"I don't know Nick, I've been trying the whole non violent thing lately, and to tell the truth it's starting to piss me off." Harry tried to fight down the cold sweat in his palms, holding onto his anger as a shield from the terror Nicodemus wore about him like a cloak. Even with his new abilities, he was engaging in some extremely high stakes gambling by staring down the Fallen. While Nicodemus hadn't attacked yet, Harry couldn't just assume that his reasoning was because he'd been weakened like everyone else brought here. Nicodemus usually liked to talk first, it gave him a chance to distract his enemies, play with their heads, and achieve any number of other goals without risking assets.

Yet at the same time, just giving the coins to Nicodemus could lead to nothing good, and there was little reason for him to not just try and kill them all once he had them. "The numbers aren't looking in your favor Nick, and don't forget, I know a few things about you after last time, so maybe you should cut your losses and take a hike. Whatever you're trying to do with those coins, it's not going to mean anything good for anyone, so I've got little reason to give them to you."

Alright, so really the truth was it was probably only two on one here. Harry knew the Knives girl could fight from what he'd heard about their last attempt to figure out what was going on in the city, but he suspected the others inside were exhausted, and no matter how strong she was, Knives had never faced anyone like Nicodemus. That meant the only two cards Harry could play were the Winter magic, which he wasn't sure he could use, and the knowledge of Nicodemus's noose, which he wasn't sure he could reach.

Just perfect.

[legallygreen]

Vin tried to push Jennifer from the door, but she put a gentle but firm hand on the other womaan's arm.

"Vin, we're only going to get into trouble out there. Harry would want us to stay inside the church. Please, just go watch the back door for anything that might want to hurt us. The doctor and Karrin are coming too, they might try to come in the back way."

Of course, she had no idea if the church had a back way in, but it seemed odd that it would not. She sighed softly and squeezed Vin's arm again. "Please Vin?"

Slipping away from the door, letting the younger woman make her choice, Jennifer went back to Neal, where he was still unconscious. She had her own choice to make, and did it in a moment after looking at his tormented face. She kneeled down next to him and began searching his pockets for the denarii.

[doomedtheworld]

Vin hesitated when Jenn pushed her back. She might have been able to fight her way past but then what? With no pewter she'd be a sitting duck outside, unable to react or move fast enough and wouldn't even be able to brace herself for what little Steelpushes she could manage.

Besides, a back way meant a way out. Even if she knew finding it was just an excuse for her to get out of danger. She stood next to the door for a long moment, listening to the exchange from outside.

"I'll be back." She said as she passed Jenn running for the back of the church. It only took seconds of searching to find a back exit and she headed straight for it, daggers in her hands in a flash as she shoved it open with her shoulder preparing for whatever she ran into outside.

Inside St. Peter's Church / Back Entrance

[hatsandespresso]

sure there was something very wrong...didn't belong here...it still wasn't right, it isn't right...there's one of THEM here, so close...just have to...just have to...

Neal reached out and snatched Jennifer's wrist just as she began searching through his pockets for the denarii, firm enough to cause pain. He slowly opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling with something akin to disinterest, eyes not focused on the faraway arches. He didn't relax the hold he had on her though, and after a moment, his gaze focused on Jennifer.

"....damn it, Jenn..."

Fear. Confusion. Sorrow. All of those emotions swept across his handsome features, but where abruptly and suddenly overwritten by two even more powerful ones: pain...and a burning hatred.

[lovewithinhate]

Yawgmoth cared little who's bravado was being matched in the front of the church. It was more important to get inside and handle the injured where he can than to shoo away an avoidable threat.

He wasted no time to make his way to the rear of the church and locating the back door. If there were any enemies in the rear, they certainly wouldn't be too much trouble. Even the blonde woman he had met before seemed capable to defend herself.

So far that didn't need to be explored, until the rear door opened. Almost as quickly as a the sound of sword being drawn, the blade of Yawgmoth's falcata pressed against the unknown person's neck.

"I think it would be best to stay right where you are and quietly" He whispered to Vin, pressing the blade into her skin a little more as if to make his point.