Points North

Log Info

Title: Points North
Emitter: Liv
Characters: American Girl Scout, Nicholas, The Rumor
NPCs: Onyx, Rhodonite
Place: Northside Mall — Cove City, MD
Time: April 18, 2010
Summary: A pair of villains - one stone-based, one sonic - attempt a jewelry store robbery.


Northside Mall is perhaps a long trek from the Steranko Institute, but it has features that make it worthwhile, including one of the largest theatre complexes in town. The mall thoroughfare is peppered with spring shoppers and spring roses - the latter coming from florists' carts placed at regular intervals. It's early evening, a little before 7pm with golden light streaming down from the skylights. In a word - idyllic. In three words - what, me worry?

It's a mall. Amber's a 14 year old girl. She has nothing to worry about, and plenty of time to get back to school before curfew. She was hoping some friends would make it with her shopping, but today, it looks like she was flying solo. Literally. But in any case the girl has been raiding H&M, Forever 21, and Joyce Leslie for anything and everything.

Miles is here at the mall for a…okay, a frankly kind of weird reason. See, he has his driver's license. But it's kind of hard to go anywhere since there's -nobody behind the wheel- and the police kind of look askance at that. So what' he here for? He's here because a friend on the loading docks supplies him with leftover mannequins he can prop up in the seat in front of him and still see over their shoulder to drive. His most recent one got broken by an enthusiastic transfer student who came to bust the Baldwin ghost, so the drive -here- was somewhat exciting as he had to use one hand to hold the mannequinn's head on while steering with the other. His friend not being at the docks, Miles is thus inside the mall, checking for him at the food court. His expression is probably irritated, but who can tell, really?

He isn't really sure WHY he came — Nicholas was horribly indecisive about leaving his parents after the very nice 'We want to take you out and see how you're doing' early dinner. But they're a persuasive pair, and so he's been on a bit of a mall prowl before closing to look at … stuff while his parents moon about elsewhere. "We'll meet you later and take you back to school — Have fun!"

Of course, currently Nick's feeling a bit overwhelmed and has parked himself on a bench which is one bag from Lucky and a soda so that he can be 'alone' with his 'I'm surrounded by people and they won't stop -thinking- headache.'

A cluster of tiles on the mall floor begin to jostle and shudder, buckling and cracking. They break suddenly, sliding aside under a torrent of dirt as two costumed figures rise into view. The first is lean and wiry, dressed in marble black - a full body suit with nothing of the skin beneath showing. The other, stouter, steady, wears plain grey - and without mask or gloves, it is obvious that he's not human, or at least not mundane human: his skin is the mottled, rippled brown of parched stone.
People backpedal and stare. Some are too deeply engrossed in bargain-hunting to be disrupted by anything short of an actual earthquake.
The black-garbed figure twists his head. "Oh, look," he says. "Peasants."
"Focus, Onyx," the other rumbles in a rocky baritone.
"Do I look unfocused to you?"
"Perpetually."
The slighter figure growls something under his breath that sounds like an insult, but it's definitely not in English. "When this is over, Rhodonite …" He doesn't finish the sentence, striding towards Millicent and Lauer Jewelers. He places his hand on the glass-front window …
A high-pitched siren shriek of sound emanates from that touch. The storefront window shatters, as do all the display cases. As do the windows of the businesses on either side and the skylight above. Clerk and patrons dive for the floor.
Onyx waves his hand nonchalantly. "Shall we?"

Amber hears the sound and covers her ears almost automatically. She's glad for the first time she hasn't got her dad's special senses, as she turns and watches the glass blow out down the hallway. She dashes down the hallway to go peek and see what the heck is going on, and what needs to be done to stop it.

Sensing the initial disturbance before he hears the noise, Nick opens his squeezed-shut eyes and cranes his neck to look down the corridor in that direction. Leaping to his feet, he keeps hold of the bench and gives his shoulder a right good pull before he remembers - oh year, that's not going to come with him. Wincing briefly, he shakes it off and then jogs down the way to… do what? He stops as he nears to see what can be seen with his own eyes — on the opposite side of the hall from Amber.

Miles sighs as the glass shatters and people panic and run or throw themselves to the ground; since they don't see him, naturally, he has to fight gainst the flow of traffic to try to get where the disturbance is centered. Once there however, he frowns (to himself, since it's not like anyone else can see it) "He eyes the hole in the ground where they entered, eyes the rocky one's skin, and starts to walk towards them, muttering, "I -knew- I shouldn't have slept through the hollow earth studies course. Who the hell are these guys?"

Rhodonite steps into the jewelry store, picking up a handful - two necklaces, rings, a brooch - with rubies. He frowns. "There's a flaw in this stone."
"You and Neph can analyze them later," Onyx says impatiently, vaulting over one of the jewelry cases. "Just grab and let's get out of here."
And apparently, they're planning a large haul, for each has a bag of significant size. Rhodonite sighs faintly and lets his handful drop inside. "Of course."

As the criminals are busy arguing over the quality of stones, and Rhodonite drops the stone in the bag, a blonde blur comes flying in through the front door two hands to the front like the classic battering ram pose. The rock goes flying into the bricks, and makes a hole, as Amber hovers in the middle of the room. "Oooh, so pretty. Too bad none of these belong to you!"

Onyx is suddenly reacting as if struck rapidly in succession, body jerking, bag falling from a nerveless grip, head snapping back…but there's no one there. Or is there? Well, obviously there is, but it's hard to tell. On top of it all, he's cringing even more than such a beating would normally call for, as though it's sapping his will to fight back. A disembodied voice, presumably belonging to the one punching the man, kvetches, "A jewelry store heist? Seriously? You tunnel up from moleman-ville or wherever the hell, break every window in the place, and rob a jeweler? Have you never heard of subtlety? God." A pause. "_And_ you make me talk like my grandma, so that's even worse!"

Onyx stumbles forward, hands braced on the framework of the shattered jewelry case. His first response is … that's definitely not English. Or French, or German - or any language readily identifiable. He clutches the iron, fingers bending around it in convulsive motions.
Several silent breaths, and the next thing that emits from him is a faint, high-pitched whistle, setting teeth on edge and making the denizens of the petshop across the way howl and shriek even more than they already were. It seems as if the sound continues even when he stops consciously vocalizing it. His head turns, scanning the jewelry store - sweeping back in Miles' direction suddenly with a hoarse chuckle.
"Heard of it, have no interest in it," he finally responds. "I like to look the opposition in the eye." He lashes out, a swift punch aimed straight at the invisible figure - but oriented or not, he misses.

Nicholas fights back a sudden surge of jealousy as Amber just dives into a badguy pell-mell. It makes him lash out a little mentally, eyeballing the guy she's NOT just pounded just as he's getting… smacked around? THe hell! And the alien's got a stronger mind than he expected, even distracted by whoever else is fighting. Sparing another glance at Amber, Nick's mind races through alternative strategies.

Rhodonite pushes away from the wall with a faint groan, not bothering to try and dislodge the detritus. He makes a quiet comment to Onyx in whatever language they speak, then faces Amber. No posturing, no response, just a palms-up gesture that summons a diaphanous, granite-hued light. He thrusts it forward. It strikes her, weighing her thoughts down with a stone's heaviness - but she shakes off the effect.

Amber covers her eyes from the light and says, "Eaugh, what the heck is that? Sinus control powers?" She brushes it off and says, "Why don't we just go back into our hidey hole before I do worse?" With that she stretches her arms wide and claps her hands. The pulsing wave rolls right at Rhodonite and he takes all of the shot alone and is reeling from it.

Onyx reels backwards as though, say, the invisible taunter had just -kicked him in the face-. "Yeah, pity for you I'm wearing sunglasses, I guess." Beat. "Or am I, hell, I forgot to look in a mirror before I left, who knows."

"Sunglasses," Onyx echoes blankly. "Why would you make glasses out of -" He stops, evidently aware that there is a severe logic gap in his assumption. He shrugs, obviously rattled and off his game, but still tracking his opponent around the jewelry store. "Will you hold still!" A low blow, this time, connecting with Miles' ribcage. The impact is slight; what is more noticeable is the sudden vibratory snarl of sound ripping through his body, though the invisible figure ignores it. "Rhodonite! Can we get the -" not-English word "- out of here?"

Nicholas decides that since, well, obviously someone else is HANDILY kicking the snot out of Onyx (whoever he is), and Amber is handling Rhodonite just fine on her own, to see if he can get any information out of the big lug before he's rendered completely unconscious. At first 'strike', he's as strong willed as his accomplice - which REALLY ticks Nick off. Gritting his teeth and crunching up his face in concentration, he grumbles "Oh no you DON'T!" and hammers his way through the guy's mental defenses. It's a struggle, but he's getting something — onlookers will most likely assume painful constipation.

"Excellent idea," Rhodonite says, inclining his head to Amber in a motion almost like a bow. He freezes at the mental contact, one stony hand vising at his side. A soft curse under his breath, and he crosses the jewelry store in a few strides, grabbing the battered Onyx by one arm. "Try to hold on," he advises, and then the tiles beneath them shatter, the earth opening up. "Nicely defended," he says to the heroes. "I hope we won't meet again." The pair plunge downwards, the ground instantly closing up above them.

The disembodied voice shouts down at where the hole was, "Don't pull Jewel heists in the middle of the goddamned mall and maybe we won't have to!" Beat. "Idiots."

"Talk about going back to whatever hole you crawled out of." Amber just shakes her head and looks around, and says, "And they were having a sale too." She looks around again, once Miles speaks and says, "Who is talking around here?" She catches a look at Nicholas and says, "Was that you?"

Nicholas sags visibly when the pair make their escape, leaning up against the wall and taking a few deep breaths. "Hard-headed… ugh." Then he shakes his head, "Nope. Not me. I can't sense anyone, but I -heard- someone smack-talking."

The voice speaks again, with a sigh. "Me? I'm just the Baldwin ghost. An ugly rumor. Don't worry about it."

Amber claps her hands when she hears, "Cool! The Baldwin ghost, that's awesome, hi!" She looks around and says, "Thanks for the help!" She smiles and says to Nicholas, who looks very drained. "You ok? You look like you need a nap."
Police sirens converge on the mall. People have ceased their strategic hiding and begin to peer over towards the jewelry store. The denizens of the pet shop are still barking up a storm, though a few of the older dogs have given up and watch the others with big, baleful eyes.

Nicholas suddenly looks cranky, too. Pushing himself away from the wall, he forces himself to stand up straight and needlessly straighten out his t-shirt. "I'm fine, thanks," though it's not all that gracious a 'thanks.' He adds, "I thought the Baldwin Ghost was just a story they told the new kids to try and freak us out. Well done."

"Sometimes if enough people spread a rumor, it becomes true, let's say. Anyway. Look! As far as anyone knows, you two are the only ones here. So, uh, congratulations on your bust and all. See ya! I gotta go talk to a man about a Mannequin." Huh? It's hard to say if he's left or not, but there's a sudden hush as all the barking dogs cringe and whimper at once, as if something horrible just passed by them. Or maybe the ghost's aura is just slipping. Awkward.

Amber notes the growing quiet and says to Nicholas, "He's really a ghost! It's just like in that movie, where only the animals could tell there was some ghost there?" She looks around, "Wait, don't go, there so much to do….hello? HeloooOOOOoo?"

Nicholas shakes his head, "If he's actually attending our school, then he's probably not actually a ghost. Also, I -think- I'd sense a ghost." As things start to head towards 'give a statement-ville', Nick clears his throat a little and says quietly to Amber - "That was a nice tackle, by the way. Good opening."

NEWS REPORT:

(Cove City Chronicle)

Neohumanity's next generation thwarted a splashy attempted robbery of Millicent and Lauer Jewelers in the Northside Mall yesterday. The attackers, two previously unknown neohumans addressing each other as Onyx and Rhodonite, surged up through the earth into the mall thoroughfare with the apparent intention of a quick smash-and-grab.

On the scene was the young heroine, American Girl Scout, and she claims the assistance of a friendly ghost - though the presence of another individual remains nothing more than a rumor. Bystander Nicholas Nelson confirmed the details of the encounter for authorities.

Onyx and Rhodonite - the former heavily battered - disappeared the way they had come. At present, authorities have no leads on the pair or their identities.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License