[Date: 3 pm. October 23, 2020. The day after the big tourney ending. Peter was released from observation in the hospital this morning. Ren successfully made an appointment.] [The location is a Thai Buddhist Temple in London http://amyrtw.com/photos/england-2004/960772361205_0_ALB.jpg_resize_600.jpg ] * Ren has a fruit basket that has a 'get well' card in it in tow. He's also got some big, clunky looking orange sunglasses on that somehow look -right- on him. [He's apparently having meetings all day, but is available during an afternoon break. A secluded garden is available. Ren gets there first.] [There's a bench by a small pond that Ren's guide indicates.] [ http://www.asiagrace.com/photos/h/soji.jpg ] [ Ren's guide (the guy in the picture) then leaves. If you don't see the bench, look up above the pink bush.] [A few minutes pass.] * Ren takes a seat, and waits. * Peter shows up after a few more minutes. He's walking briskly. Give me a sight awareness check.] [From the way he's walking, you think his energy level is still recovering and so he's probably pushing himself a bit. Whoah, whoah. * Ren stands up, and walks over. "Relax, buddy. Ain't the end of the world yet." * Peter gives a quick dismissive wave. "Don't worry about me." He does slow though. "Sorry to be late. These meetings have their own rhythm and I'm not yet atunned to it." Heh. If this is a bad time, it can wait. This ain't necessarily gonna be a pleasant thing. * Peter shakes his head. "Unpleasantness feeds on procrastination." * Ren holds out the basket o' stuff. "Get well gifts ain't usually my thing, but I figured you'd appreciate it." * Peter smiles and takes both. He quickly opens and reads over the card. "Well, thank you. You didn't have to." * Ren grins, fangily. "Sit down and I'll get to buz'ness." * Grysar nods and heads up to the bench. He lays the basket next to him on the ground. "So, what's the matter?" Mak. * Grysar looks more serious. "Go on." Ya rememeber why ah came in the first place, right? That song? I appreciate all the help you've given me, but he's turned up in a lot in relation to it. * Peter thinks for a moment. "Yes, I remember." * Ren pauses. "Well, the song? It's for vengeance." The one to take vengeance upon? It's your guy, Mak. * Peter thinks for a moment. "I can't say I've heard of such a thing before. But, I can believe it. Mak is a hunter, and he isn't particularly polite about his work." Now, ah'm hopin' it can be settled with less than that, but that song ain't gonna go away till it's score is settled. The thing is, he's your guy. And I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did wit'out yah, so I wanna get your view on this. There are probably other ways. But ghosts and their like are notoriously difficult to dismiss." * Peter then thinks about the question. "Well, what are your inclinations?" * Ren shrugs. "Chesire's confused. He doesn't know what to do. Me, I just wanna have a heart to heart with him and see what happens from there." * Peter nods. "Not a bad start. But you may wish to plan a few moves ahead. I don't know how far you are willing to take this, but despite my best efforts, Mak's is not good at containing conflicts." * Ren nods. "So you're okay with this?" Well, I trust you have some reasons beside getting the song out of your head. The fact that you came here shows that you're handling it with some delicacy. Just remember that for all his ability Mak is still human and quite mortal, and should be treated as such." * Ren closes his eyes, and nods to himself. "Thanks, Peter. Don't wear yourself out." * Peter stands. "I won't. May God guide your path and Jesus's command to forgiveness guide your... companions." * Ren stands. "Seeya." * Ren waves, and heads out. (On to call Mak?) ( Call? Was thinking in person if it's possible to find him. ) ( It's more dramatic that way. =p ) (Well, mm.. sure. We'll say you talk to Peter's people and find he's off on a country estate with a shooting range set up on its property. He's planning to be there until he goes for dinner.] (Right, I was thinking setup call, but you're right, easiest to skip that.) [The estate has a long drive up. The directions take you past the house and back to the range. As you approach, you can hear the gun shots at regular intervals.] [The range itself is a fairly primitive one, but British Gun control laws greatly limit one's options.] [ http://www.campcherithwny.org/images/Riflerange50.jpg ] [The road takes you to within a tenth of a mile. You have to walk through the woods for about two minutes to get there. * Ren casually walks back there, staying sure to stay out of his aiming arc unlike some less intelligent deer hunters. [The path approaches from behind and clear warnings are posted. Mak's wearing a set of noise supressant headphones, so he doesn't seem to hear you approach. Right now he's using a pistol, but not his normal fancy one, which is holstered.] [There's a row of five targets on the hill.] * Ren walks up, and stops about 10 feet to Mak's left- he doesn't announce himself, he just draws a pistol, and picks a clean target and takes a crack at that - timing it so each shot falls about halfway between Mak's shots. * Ren also spares an eye for how good a shot Mak is. [As Ren is approaching Mak gets four solid bullseyes, one on the border of the middle circle, and one fingerslip that missed the target entirely. His wrist seems to have smarted after that one because he paused to gingerly check over the gun before resuming. * Ren chimes in after every shot, the first two shots that -just- miss, and he peppers the target pretty solidly after that, with one giant hole right in the center. Didja catch her? * Mak glances over and switches the safety on his pistol and sets it down. He glances over. "'ey Ren. Not bad after you warmed up. What was your question?" Didja catch the girl? And you're not bad yourself. * Mak scowls. "Naw. I could match her speed, but that little bitch ran places I couldn't drive." * Ren grins. "Didn't anticipate that." * Mak nods. "Someone else got her though. Apparently she showed up at the final fight in the form of a frog. If I'd been there, I might just have had French cuisine for the first time in my life." He grins. So, Mak, I got some business with you. It ain't gonna be pleasant, either. * Mak puts the headphones down and looks over. He seems more amused than he had been a minute ago. "Yeah?" Emma's crew. They're pissed off at you, what's left, and I guess I'm the messenger. Cheshire's here, too. I ain't sure if it's more a bounty or a death threat, but the tune's lead me to you. You're the one who killed em, and they want vengeance. Now personally, if there's a way that this can be figgered without blood spilt, so much the better. But this needs to be settled somehow. * Mak snorts. "Well, I did put a few years work into takin' them down. So, figures that they have a greivence." * Ren spins the pistol on a finger, and looks impassively at Mak. "Toldja it wouldn't be pleasant conversation." * Ren spins the pistol on a finger, not making to move to use it - more his hand bored - and looks impassively at Mak. "Toldja it wouldn't be pleasent conversation." * Mak shrugs. "I'm in an unpleasant business. Thing is, I don't see how it could be resolved peaceably." All for beating the crap out of each other, then? * Mak chuckles. "Unless they want to throw me a God damned tea party." * Ren twins the pistol in the other hand. "I hope now isn't a bad time." Good as any. So, guns or fists? Guns. Tricks or no tricks? (Is Ren wearing body armor? ( Nah. It's a 'casual' visit. ) * Mak shrugs. "No tricks is faster." His tone doesn't clarify if that's a good or a bad thing. He reloads the gun he had been using. * Ren once-overs his own pistols, and then brings them up. * Mak seems satisfied with the pistol in his hand for now. He awaits Ren's decision on tricks. ( He was leaving that to Mak. ) * Mak notes that Ren isn't making a decision. "No tricks. Been a while." [For the record, Mak's pistol is an 18 shot semi-automatic.] [Ren has the skills to know that.] * Ren backs off a few steps, to the classic dueling distance. * Mak steps back about ten paces. He takes out a motorcycle glove. "When it hits the ground." He tosses it into the air. [Init.] [Ren reacts faster when the glove hits the ground.] * Ren aims and fires, just a hair faster on the trigger than Mak. [Mak's a little slow to react. He takes the hit with a grunt and returns fire with a spray of bullets. He takes a guess as to Ren's reaction and leads a bit (+4 trick shot).] [He leads the wrong way though. Bad luck for Mak. Ren!] * Ren rolls the right way, turning on his feet and quickly stands and presents one outstretched arm, firing, then spinning and firing the other outstretched arm. * Ren 's aim is just a bit off on the second shot. * Mak keeps moving. He dives under the railing and out into the rifle range. This causes Ren's shot to hit the wood just in front of the grey fighter. He fires as he agilely springs to his feet. [+4 trick shot.] [Two potential hits. +5 penalty to dodge.] [28 damage. Oh and this machine pistol has neither inaccurate nor spreading. For the record.] * Ren grunts a bit, and gives chase, pulling the triggers to return fire just as he breaks into a preemptive defensive roll. [Mak's not quite fast enough and is hit a second time. He runs down the field and fires right after emerging passing by one of the wooden beams that hold up the roof of the range. [Trick shot, +2] [His aim is on. +4 penalty, three potential hits.] [38 damage, right back at you.] * Ren grunts again. He stands straight up, staying still just long enough to get off one uninterrupted shot from each gun, and breaks into a run, head low, over to the opposite side of the range of Mak. * Mak goes the opposite way and leaps for the protective cover of a tree. He's doesn't quite get there in time and takes a shot in the check. "Fucking Emma." He groans before he makes a bad landing and collapses, passed out. * Ren pauses, and watches him for a moment, then allows a small amount of otherwordly fur to materialize, and stands there, listening. [Give me a hearing awareness roll.] [From all directions, but especially Mak's you can hear the song. The melody line is the same, but it's now up-tempo and rising to a crescendo. Give me a soul roll. You can apply the +7 hearing margin as a bonus.] [You feel pretty motivated to deliver a finishing shot. However, by listening closely, you're better able to identify and resist the song's subliminal influences.] [You're still welcome to finish him, but you don't feel forced.] * Ren listens, humming with it, then says softly, shaking his head, "Blood ain't the only answer, is it?" [The song doesn't seem to have another idea. Ren can feel a wave of energy passing through him as his powers seem heightened. Reroll.] [+2 penalty, but keep the bonus from before.] [He also now understands, with instant clarity, how to summon C4 with his powers in addition to guns. It's like an old memory finally coming back.] [He continues to get to choose freely.] * Ren tests that out, raising his eyebrows while holding a hefty pack of explosives. "Fuck." * Ren then kneels down, tucking that away and drawing (another) pistol. [And the crescendo reaches its height. However, Ren's alternate plan helps him block out the compulsion. So reroll, no penalty this time.] * Ren 's hand rattles a little. It's hard to keep from pulling the trigger. [And another memory comes to the surface, but not quite enough to grasp as a power. Namely the ability to fade in (be invisible for a round) after a teleport. You can try to grasp it if you like, but there will be a +6 penalty to your next soul check. (You still keep the bonus from hearing.) [After consulting your knowledge of the occult, the best idea you can come up with is to work in the power's medium. In layman's terms "what the hell, try singing the plan."] * Ren heeds it not. It's not temptation enough to go for, if he's planning on freeing Cheshire. [Soul check, -2 bonus as the music begins to fade.] [The song loses its up-tempo quality and begins to return to a mournful, but quiet, dirge.] * Ren stands, and starts humming a few notes, going by ear, trying to ask the music to seal his threat to supernatural entities, and be sated. * Ren continues humming, slowly shifting into full supernatural cat appearance. "Vengeful ways and broken hearts, human weakness, human slaught. Revenge be sated, power be gone, lives left to live, the final song." Let this end! [I'll give you a -4 bonus for that.] [The melody line slowly transitions to pick up Ren's song. It doesn't have the happy upbeat fervor of before, but it sounds contented as the song fades. One last soul check. Don't critfail.] * Ren fires once, off to the side, to get the barrel hot - then rests the barrel against Mak's right wrist, charring the mark in. "May you learn forgiveness, Mak, for it is the reason you are still here." [And the song fades away as Ren says his speech it silences completely. The tune similarly recedes from Ren's memory. In it's stead, he does remember how to be invisible after a teleport, but not for a full round, only until his first action after arriving.] [And the marking does work, for the record.] * Ren looks him over, checking his breathing, seeing how he fares. Then he pulls out his phone, and calls 911 on Mak's behalf. [End!]