Points East

Log Info

Title: Points East
Emitter: Liv
Characters: Current, Valiant
NPCs: Nephrite
Place: Oceanside Gems, Harbor Walk — Cove City, MD
Time: April 28, 2010
Summary: A lone sonic manipulator - and a troop of her guards - attempt a quiet little breaking and entering. That suddenly becomes not so quiet when Sandra and Reg stumble upon it …

Near Cove City's waterfront is the swank Harbor Walk, a touristy three-block street aesthetically laid out with the best in exotic and overpriced merchandise. If you're the average vacationing citizen, it's the place to windowshop, glance at a price-tag, and then have a small coronary … but right now, it's slightly after eleven o'clock at night and the Walk is shut down. Lone street lights flicker over the cool, crisp evening.
All is quiet … but not quite right. If one has been to the Harbor Walk before, there's always at least one private security guard on patrol, even at night. But now the street is empty.

Peeking her head up from the edge of a building, Sandra walks out, dressed in a trench coat, hair wet as if she had recently been swimming or showering, with a large bag on her shoulder. The illusion of aquatics is helped by the edge of a towel dangling from the bag as the young woman turns down the street, walking away from the water in a leisurely pace - her sandals *thwacking* with each step as flip-flops are want to do.

Over there — no, there — is Reg. He's coming out of a rather nice-looking antique store, carrying a small box. He murmurs to himself, "Hopefully, mom'll like this." You try buying gifts for Athena. It's not like it's EASY. Reg chose an antique wooden box allegedly hundreds of years old. He identified it as such, too. Yes, he cheated. Anyway. He looks up and down the street, and turns, heading towards the harbor. He's going to pick up an ice cream at the stand before heading back to the school. He frowns, noticing the quiet, and considers, "Is there some sort of gathering tonight?" He asks himself. "It's quiet. Too quiet." A pause, "Goddess, I sound like a cliche."

*smack* *whack* *smack* *whack* *slosh*
It's not like Sandra is being all that stealthy - but then, neither is she being all that observant. Eyeing over her shoulder, making certain no one is following her, or worse - one of the faculty is following her, Sandra turns around just in time /NOT/ to stumble into Reg.
Blue eyes blinking, Sandra is confused why Reg is out off the school past curfew - after all he seemed like one to obey the rules all the time. Her mouth drops open, about to explain herself, before she simply straightens up and offers a nod, getting ready to move on.

Simple: he made arrangements. The man shields the box he was holding with his arm, and lofts a brow towards the young woman, "What brings you out here this time of night?" He glances at his watch, as if checking the time. "Something strange is going on. It's too quiet here." He cants his head to the side, frowning. "I think so, anyway." Have you noticed anything?" He's direct and to the point.

From within the curtained storefront of Oceanside Gems comes a muted crash and tinkling of glass, a muffled curse, then renewed silence. Sandra may pick up the added small detail that the voice wasn't speaking English - or any language she can identify, for that matter.

An eyebrow arches as lips turn down in a frown and Sandra starts to look around. "Now that you mention it … yes," she states. Then comes the crash, the delightful tinkle of glass, before Sandra's eyes narrow and she frowns more. "That … was not English. That was not any language I am at all familiar with," she states, turning her head to look at Reg. "Is it just me, or is there a large number of jewelry heists lately?"

"Always are. People who want to rob something tend to think 'what is expensive', and jewelry's one of the easiest ones to think of." Reg is prosaic. "Excuse me a moment." He slips a hand into a pocket, and pulls out a fountain pen. It shimmers, and lengthens, and in his hand is a long spear with a silver blade shaped like a leaf. Gold and silver runes cover the shaft. His clothing shimmers, and in its place he's dressed in a typical outfit for a Greek hoplite: breastplate of bronze, a Thracian helmet, and steel leg covering and greaves. The entire outfit is shot with gold and silver runes. He lifts his spear, saying, "Come on." He heads in the direction of the store. He won't bust in, he'll take a look first. And /then/ bust in if it's not some poor owner making a mess by accident.

Inside the jewelry store, all but one of the cases has been shattered, necklaces and rings strewn amongst the wreckage. One figure gathers choice articles in a sack; three others stand guard, while a woman stands braced over … something, gloved hands on her hips.
Closer, then, and dim moonlight - along with a green-tinted nightlight glowing from the backroom beyond - shows the scene to be something a bit more unusual than a group of thugs.
The one stuffing jewelry into the bag and the three guards are all tall, blocky, with skin the same hue and texture as faceted sapphire. The woman, on the other hand, wears a jade-green bodysuit. Along with the gloves and the mask, it obscures her form completely - not so much as an inch of skin is visible. The "something" she is standing over looks to be one of Harbor Walk's security guards.
"Stay down," she says in accented but unlabored English. "I will not tell you twice." The voice gives one hint: she sounds somewhat young, though perhaps older than the heroes themselves. "Now -" She pauses, head swiveling towards the door. She makes a brisk comment in whatever that other tongue is, and the other four snap to attention.

At the sudden shifting of Reg's clothing, Sandra takes a stumbling step backwards, "Graecia," she murmurs with a distinct, but not quite Greek accent. Blue eyes turn light and cold as she frowns at the man in Grecian armor.
But Sandra does manage to resist spitting in the man's face.
Right now.
Looking back to the shop, the woman sniffs faintly. "I'll head them off in the back," she murmurs - not quite a whisper but neither is it a shout. Even as she kicks off her sandles does the young woman start stripping out of her coat, exposing the fact she was wearing nothing but a bikini beneath it before it is stuffed in her bag as she darts around the corner and into an alley.

For now, he ignores Sandra's response. There are other, more important issues. Instead, he heads into the store. Standing in the doorway. "Hello," says Reg, now called Valiant in this get-up. His features are half-shrouded by the Thracian helmet he wears. "I don't know you," he tells the woman. "But you should stop. I don't really want to do anything untoward, and I'm sure we can discuss this peacably. Just put the jewelry down, and I'm sure we can work something out with the police." Yes, he's trying to talk down the villainess. It won't work, but he -has- to try. Just has to.

"With the police?" the woman says with a shake of her head. "Where I come from, I *am* the police. But I was warned your sort might try to interfere …" She sings a single, sustained note; the glass shivers with it. The air warps and shimmers, splitting into an archway, through which six more of those sapphire-skinned guards charge in.
The original guard holding the bag of jewelry glances over and asks her a question in that language. The word 'Nephrite' seems to be a personal address, though it's difficult to tell.
Her reply is brief. Pointed. Diamond hard. "Leave," she says to Valiant. "Now."

It is about this time that Sandra has made her way to the back of the building, and she stands there eyeing the doorway a moment. Reaching out the young woman twists the handle and finds it locked. Sighing, Sandra twists harder, breaking the mechanism in place with a not-so-sublte *snap* before the door swings open and admits her entrance.
And that is how Sandra walks into the scene, door handle in place as she frowns at it, not entirely certain if she should discard it, before she looks at the scene around her. "Soooo … if you are the Law Enforcement of where you come, are you seizing stolen goods," she asks, motioning, with the door handle to the jewelry case. "Now, just for clarification, I happen to know that not all those who reside on the Earth's surface are actually native. So if you are from somewhere else, let's listen to reason for a moment," she says with a nod to R… er… Valiant, before looking back at the woman. "What is your grievence? And what are your demands at reperations? After all, one who is the Law in their land does not usually break the laws of the land they find themselves in unless there is just cause, no?"

"Perhaps there," Valiant says. "But not here, I'm afraid. And even if you were, breaking into a jewelry store and robbing it of its merchandise would not be appropriate." He doesn't flinch as more of the sapphir-skinned creatures arrive. "Now, please stand down. I don't wish to fight you, but I shall if I must…" As he says this, he lifts his polearm, the silver leaf-blade glimmering within the light. A pause, and he adds, "…Nephrite." He caught the name from her followers.

"My grievances are none of your concern," Nephrite says with a haughty tilt of her chin, "and not within your power to repair. I do what I must - and you're in my way." Her voice drops after this, a rumbling, subsonic hum that fills the room and slithers into the ear, threatening to disrupt mental equilibrium. However, both heroes manage to resist, and a muted hiss echoes from behind that expressionless mask.
The guards split, half moving to confront Valiant while the others close in on Sandra. Two of the first group land solid blows, but produce nothing more than a dull thwack of impact. Of the others, three manage to hit Sandra, but two strikes glance off just as harmlessly … even as the third drives hard into her gut, a crashing blow.

Blue eyes are that icy blue, a cold, hard look is given the crystaline form that punched her in the gut. "Diplomacy is not as easy as you made it seem, Father," she drawls dripping with sarcasm and annoyance. "Very well, if you decline Diplomacy, we are forced to be more … martial."
It is with that last word that the walls begin to groan, to strain, pipes can be heard shaking, bending. Suddenly, the spiget of a fire sprinkler clungs to the ground - water oozing and pooling … on the ceiling. Just as the oddity of it starts to sink in, the water 'falls' to the ground, covering one and all, with a vicious heaviness which leaves all but two of the 'help' crumpled on the ground - though 'Nephrite' seems unharmed.
Sandra, aka Current, blinks and swears in some language, as her eyes dart around for the security guard. "Bystanders. REMEMBER to avoid collateral damage," she hisses, as if repeating a lesson taught long ago.

"Careful of the guard." Valiant surges forward and lashes out with the butt of his polearm, rather than the blade. As it nears Nephrite, a field of force surrounds it. Unfortunately, Nephrite avoids the attack entirely, and he mutters, "Damnit." Light glinting off his antique-looking armor, the neohuman pivots, saying to Current, "Get the guard out of here, if you can!" If he's still up, anyway. To Nephrite, he declares, "I gave you a chance. I will stop — if you surrender."

Nephrite takes a step back, the opal shimmer of light centered around her fluctuating slightly as it repels water. "How magnaminous of you," she says, her voice oozing sarcasm. "But all your words are so much poison." Her voice slides up the scale, reaching pitches that make the glass shiver - but when she hits critical pitch, the sound rushes in on Sandra, buffeting and bruising her.
The remaining guards charge Reg as one, laying in with all their might. One swings wide, but the other strikes true, punching into that solid form.
The poor security guard, barely conscious, has been washed out under one of the display cases. But at least he looks more or less unharmed.

"Not Magnanimous, merely practical," notes Sandra, her eyes darting frequently to the security guard. "The surface-dwellers are just as alien to you, as they are many. They have commited crimes against many civilizations - but they also are not likely aware of said civilizations and the harm they are doing. If there is harm being done," stats Sandra, "then announce it, and watch their politicians scramble to appease you."
With that, another glance is given at the guard before Sandra flicks a wrist - the water on the ground rising up, flowing behind her, before a lifting of her chin sends the water firing right past Nephrite.
There is a faint narrowing of Sandra's eyes, before she straightens into a pose that radiates the words: I meant to do that.

"Not poison, miss. Merely polite. I'm sorry that you don't wish to heed them." With this, Valiant takes a blow, and he smiles wryly at the sapphire attacker. He whirls his staff, and strikes in a sweeping arc, tapping at one, two, and three. Only one of the ssapphire guardians are struck, and as the polearm strikes, a crack of kinetic force sends the creature flying through the already-broken window to /slam/ into a telephone pole. He slumps down, unconscious. He glances curiously at Sandra. Surface dwellers? Odd. He stores that away for another time, holding Purity before him.

"I am not interested in the politicians of this world." Nephrite sounds annoyed, as if she feels she has explained herself perfectly well and can everyone stop questioning her? She moves around to one of the fallen guards, making to pick up the fallen sack of jewels. "Give up. You're not accomplishing anything." So the sudden absence of guards around her would be … ? Another sonic scream reverberates around Sandra, leaving her further injured and now, quite deaf.
The remaining guard lunges for Valiant, with less success than last time.

Now Sandra covers her ears with her hands. Not that it does any good. A half-step is taken backwards and Sandra looks back to Nephrite. She opens her mouth to say something, but stops herself. Who knows the volume that would come out, considering the world is utterly silenced.
Sandra lifts her hand, palm downwards and water rises up around Nephrite. Closing her fist, the water starts to move towards Nephrite's head, but something is 'off' and Sandra just cannot hold the cohessiveness together enough to manage to actually hit the woman in green. Still, however, Sandra does not run, or turn away. Her attention is on the woman as she watches, and seems to be waiting for … something.

Once again, Valiant lashes out at the woman. Once again, his blow goes wide. He calls towards Sandra, "I wonder if she cursed the room. This is just way too much bad luck to be normal." Not that Sandra /hears/ him. As he says this, he leaps forward, and lands near Nephrite.

"Is that what you think?" Nephrite sounds amused. "Blaming your poor skills on bad luck?" She draws in a deep breath, straightening, the sonic vibrations this time taking on an aria quality. It would be beautiful in less harrowing situations - but beauty has thorns, and this time the sonic bolt focuses in on Valiant and … does little more than maybe make his ears bleed. Irritated, she intensifies her efforts, a second wall of sound slamming into enough to leave him stunned - just in time for the other guard to drive into him sideways, too.

Shifting her jaw, it is like Sandra is trying to pop her ears - equalizing the pressure now that she can hear again. "I am trying to understand your motivations. You have done nothing but be evassive, condecending, and secretive. That is not always the best way to achieve your goals," notes Sandra, her eyes flicking over to Valiant, then back to Nephrite.
"As such, I am forced to take drastic measures. We will converse. You will find we may have more in common with you than you deny us the benefit of." Again, Sandra lifts her hand, gathering the water in the room together, pulling all of the water together in one ameobous blob of a tendril. With a flick of her wrist in direction, the blob lurches from behind Nephrite - or rather the bag of jewels she holds - and pushes them out of her hand, and towards Sandra.
Water, or possibly sweat, rolling down her forhead, Sandra lifts her chin, straightens her shoulders, and tries to keep her breathing even. "We will converse now, or you will not leave with what you came for. Making your mission a failure. I do not believe your superiors will be pleased with that."

It takes only a moment for Valiant to struggle his way out of the pain of the blow. He lifts his spear, and suddenly lashes out with it. It swirls around him and strikes with the blade this time, lashing out towards each of the people near him: sharp, strong blows! The guardian falls to his onslaught, while Nephrite avoids the blow — barely, this time. "Getting closer," mutters Valiant, his voice droll. He nods at Current's words, "As she says, you'd do better to work with us instad of against us. Your men have fallen. It's your turn," He declares. He's breathing heavily, but he's on his feet! (Not that way, perv!)

Nephrite's eyes narrow in ire as the water sweeps the jewelry bag out of her hand. "My superiors? What makes you think I answer to anyone?" She focuses on Sandra anew, her voice rising … rising … a pitch that hits ear-splitting for a fraction of a second before mercifully lifting above human audible range. But audible or not, it has a very evident effect on Sandra, causing her to pitch forward, rendered insensible by nausea. Nephrite … actually looks surprised, but she darts forward, snatching for the jewels. She grabs the bag, backing off. "Is there *anything* that can shut you up?" she snips at Valiant.

"I'm afraid not," Valiant declares, shaking off the deafness and moving towards the woman. "And you shall not have those!" With this, the young man charges her, whirling the spear's haft to strike her. ANd missing. He turns, lashing out a second time. /This/ time, the spear lands with an audible *crack*! The woman reels from the force of the blow, silvery fire whirling down the spear as it lands. "I /never/ give up," he declares. "It is my one strength."

Nephrite reels backwards, one hand coming up to protect her face. The mask is knocked slightly askew, showing a flash of … opal skin? Or is that just a reflection from the force field, which remains pure and humming as she catches her breath?

The world spins on Sandra, and it is not a comfortable feeling. Falling to the ground, Sandra despeirately tries to keep her dinner of Sushi in her stomach, before managing to shake off the nauseated sensation. Looking back up at the woman, Sandra just smiles from her her hands and knees, "I know because of your reaction," she drawls in her Queen's English.

Reaching out, water flows up and around Sandra's arm before it extends her reach. The bag of jewels are once again Sandra's, and this time, the water pulls the bag back into the woman's palm to wrap her fingers around it in a firm grasp. "I would be worried about that one," she notes with a nod to Valiant. "His spear is as sharp as his wit. And you haven't seen the worst of it yet."
Plan B: Distract the woman with Reg as Sandra takes the security guard and the jewels out of the build! Good plan!

Even as the woman is reeling, Valiant turns. He brings the haft down, and even as she recovers, he brings it down upon her head. The blade, for the record, is oddly blunt at the moment as it strikes, and more force erupts from the polearm, stunning the woman with a loud *crack* again. He calls to Sandra, "Hit her when I have her reeling!"

Nephrite yowls at the second impact, jerking under the mask. She snarls out an incomprehensible curse - probably because, again, it's not in English. "I've seen the worst I'll see, thank you," she snaps. "Keep your prize, then!" Her voice vibrates up several octaves again, coalescing as a solid wave of force. That waves … carries up from the floor until she is hovering. She pivots mid-air and streaks skywards, dignity abandoned for haste … the entire guard and the jewels left behind her.

Sandra is wincing, preparing for the worst as the woman's voice starts to rise. When it doesn't come, and instead she lifts off into the sky, the young woman curses herself, in another unknown language before she glances around. "Where did she go? Where did she go? We have to find out where she went," pants the woman, even as she crawls towards the security guard, bag of jewels in hand. "Ooooo, be all right. Be all right. Mother will be most disappointed with me if you are not going to be all right," she murmurs softly.

"Are you all right?" Asks Valiant. He's breathing heavily. Oddly enough, his spear shimmers and turns into … a fountain pen again. He slips it into a handy pocket in the armor and kneels near the guard, examining him deftly, "He'll be all right. He didn't swallow any of the water, so his breathing his steady…" He glances curiously at Sandra, the man's helmet covering his nose and part of his features. "I swear, something was wrong there. We both were not doing well…"

Sandra first nods, then shakes her head - a relieved smile just curving her lips, which she turns on Valiant.
Then the smile fades as she is staring straight at that Greek armor.
Turning away hastily, Sandra reaches out, putting a hand on the guard's chest - the water soaking him is pulled to Sandra's hand and up her arm, flowing over her back and directed out the front door with her other hand.
"There are times where battle does not go as expected. What is it… Murray's law? What could go wrong will?" asks Sandra before she looks at the bag she set at her side. Opening it, the woman quickly looks over the jewels, trying to take a mental inventory for now. "I need to clean this place up," she notes. "Could you call the authorities?"

"I can do that, yes," Valiant says. He slips a hand underneath the armor, coming out with … a cellphone. Not his usual one, for the record. He says over the phone, "Hello? Police? There was a robbery at…" He lists off the address. "I suspect it is linked to the robbery at the mall. Both jewelry stores, both strange mystics…" He does pay attention sometimes.

A quick mental inventory taken, Sandra reaches up and puts the sack on what is left of one of the displays. That done, the young woman waves her hand, pulling on the water that covers the building - drying it out. Then she shifts in her possision on the floor, sitting and closing her eyes as she takes several deep inhales. "We should go now, I think."

The dispatch officer responds alertly, and soon after, the sound of sirens converges on their location. They still have a few moments if they want to slip out quietly, however … and so far, none of the fallen crystal guard look as if they're twitching.

"I'll wait till the authorities arrive," Valiant declares quietly. "Give them a description of events." As he says this, he adds, "Wait a moment." He pulls his spear out of nowhere, and slices space. It opens, and he says, "That leads back to campus."

Sandra glances around, to the back door. "Grab my bag before you leave?" she asks, before looking at the gateway dubiously, before she nods with an exhausted sigh. She can't stay, she can't walk back to campus - the best course of action is plain to see.
"Good luck getting back on campus, but no doubt come the morning's papers, we'll be pulled into the headmaster's office," notes the young woman with a shake of her head. "Good evening," Sandra states before stepping through the portal.

"I have to pick up the gift I got for my mom, anyway," Valiant says casually. He shrugs, "And I don't know. I asked permission to be out. It's not my fault that I came upon some strange woman robbing a jewelry store," he tells her. A nod, "I'll want to speak to you about this later. I think there's more to this than meets the eye. Just a feeling."

News Report

Oceanside Gems, a high-end jeweler part of Cove City's trendy Harbor Walk, was targeted yesterday in a late-night raid. The group of neohumans quietly subdued the security guard on duty and were rifling through the jewelry when neohumans Valiant and Current interrupted them.

In charge of the theft was a female figure garbed in green, tentatively identified as Nephrite. The others seemed to serve primarily as muscle and guard, and were very effective in this capacity as the criminals took the offensive. When Current snatched back the group's attempted haul and Valiant closed in on the leader, however, the balance tipped. Nephrite fled the scene empty-handed.

The bizarre group of crystal-skinned individuals captured on the scene are clearly not human, but their exact nature remains unknown … complicated by the fact they seem unable to speak or understand any readily identifiable language. Police are actively seeking any leads.

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