The Broken Bottle Pub

[Carla Glenn]

Unluckily for Azrael, Carla wasn't a complete idiot. She'd been edging towards the door, but carefully, and watching Azrael's gun hand for the slightest twitch. Her reactions were like lightning still, and more importantly, so were her powers. The instant she saw the smallest muscle in his finger move, she unleashed a blast of elecricity directly at the gun.

This wasn't like before when she'd been trying to blast a super fast insulated ninja. This was a massive discharge of elecriticity at point blank range directly in to a metal anchor. The gun was hit the instant it discharged, and the bullet flew wide. Carla didn't stop, unleashing all of her power directly at the gun.

Truth be told, she had no choice. Although it may have looked like she'd chosen to just disarm Azrael, there was no way she could blast the man himself while metal was nearby. It attracted her powers like a magnet. Of course, if Azrael was stupid enough to hold on to the gun, his hand would be quite badly burnt, but that was the extent of the damage. Furthermore, Carla knew the worse thing possible she could do was disarm Azrael fully. While fighting an opponent with metal weapons, she was relatively safe, because her powers would be attracted to the weapons and melt or destroy them easily. But once an opponent lost them, they could survive her blasts and engage her hand to hand. And Carla was a terrible martial artist. Her reliance on her powers meant that she couldn't fight for toffee.

"God DAMMIT!" She yelled, finishing the attack once she was convinced she wasn't dead. "Are all you Night Watch meatheads this thick, or did Austin Darkora make exception for his favourite puppy!?" She held out her hand, pointing her fingers like a gun, creating a sort of Mexican stand off between Azrael's remaining weapon and her own hand. That is, provided Azrael didn't realise she could only fire at his weapon, and not himself.

"I'm asking you to step outside. To protect innocent civilians! Me! Carla! The god damn demon of the god damn evil organisation is trying to protect civilians and YOU, the damn hero, is stopping me from doing it! Good GOD!" She yelled, her temper finally snapping, from the combined adrenaline rush of nearly dying and attacking somebody finally.

"What's the matter!? Do you really think Austin Darkora, legendary tracker, won't find us if we're in the pub car park instead of the damn pub!? Yes, I know he's coming. It's obvious." She rolled her eyes. In truth, she hadn't, but she had over head the conversation at the bar and only now realised that they must be right. Azrael must have sent a signal somehow. That's why he was stalling.

"Step outside. I still don't want to fight you." She sighed, the adrenaline wearing off. "And I especially don't want to fight Darkora. Not here and now. When I fight him, I want to win. So, let's go outside, you stop trying to kill me, and I'll answer your damn questions. Got it?"

Carla wasn't sure if she'd said 'damn' enough, but it was worth a shot.

[Azrael Jiraco]

((Just to clarify, Azrael has also brought his Katana.))

Azrael tried to hold onto his gun, but as the metal slowly turned to liquid, he could feel his arm and face burning. Her powers were even more potent than he had suspected. He threw the gun down, his hand badly burned. He didn't shake the pain off or wince, but hide the fact as if he hadn't suffered any damage.

Azrael didn't waste time talking. He was trained to kill his target and not discuss with it. Neither was he bothered about the location that he did his 'duty'. This was clearly shown in his previous actions. Sure, he would avoid civilian casualties that aren't necessary, but he knew that going outside was a bad idea. Carla had a plan, that was obvious, and Azrael would bet his right arm on the fact that the plan wasn't just to keep others out of danger.

With his burned hand, he ignored the pain, wrapping his cloak around his second gun. The few seconds it took would allow Carla to make the next move, but Azrael was determined to not have his weapons destroyed... They were priceless.

[Felix Dolohov]

Felix pulled a face and jerked a thumb back at the bar as he heard the ruckus, "If he can sleep through that then I'm getting him a hearing aid and a Zimmer Frame because old age must be catching up with him," the blond told his human friend scathingly before he withdrew the bottle of red that Moe treated like a holy object.

He didn't dare take it into the main bar and in fact, he would rather Kana not be in there when Austin arrived either - he did not need any MORE property damage and considering the relationship between Lemartes and the Watch, Fe wouldn't put it past the Watch to try and kill Zack's boss just to make sure that whatever reminants of Lemartes wouldn't rise up and cause trouble.

No wonder the EHPD hated them. They were quite literally breaking and raping the Law in the name of protecting the balance, Azrael was currently in the process of attempting to murder an unarmed, non-aggressive woman in cold blood for no damn reason other than the fact that she worked for a man who tried to open the gates of hell. Sure, pretty serious but for god's sake, arrest the woman, lock her in the deepest concrete rubber lined pit you can find and pipe her food in and her shit out. It was like they were living under a dictatorship at times.

Felix set the bottle carefully on the kitchen table and looked at Madoc, "If you want to make yourself scarse I don't mind. There's a back door that leads into the loading bay, all you have to do is shove the door hard, it has a habit of getting jammed. I'm bringing Kana back here, I do not want to see what will happen if Darkora sees him in here."

If they kicked off, Felix would have to find a new place to live - Zack could find his own place (though inevitably he would follow and then hog the damn bed, bastard) and Dillon.... Dillon would just have to.... have to.... damnit. Come with Felix. There was no way the blond was leaving him to the streets, he did not want to see what damage that man would wreck upon society.

[Carla Glenn]

Carla gave another massive eye roll and practically found herself pleading with Azrael for some logic.
"For god's sake! You just took your coat off! Do you have any idea how many times I could have shocked you in that time!?" This time, she wasn't bluffing. With his coat insulating the gun, her attacks would blast him directly (or be attracted to the katana on his back). She wouldn't be able to stop his bullets anymore, but her attacks were now massively more potent in that they'd actually hit her target.

"I'm. Not. Trying. To. Hurt. You." She made sure each word was loud, clear and easily understood. "But fine! Whatever! Let's do whatever you want to do here! Go on! Execute me in front of the civvies! Or wait for your boss to do it for you, if you're too much of a pussy! Show them Watch justice! No trial! No explanation! You haven't even listed my crimes! Just shoot me down, here and now!" She yelled, waving her arms around and gesturing to the others.

"Or at least start asking those damn questions you've been banging on about, would you, or I'll shoot myself!"

[Azrael Jiraco]

Carla's ranting was beginning to annoy Azrael.
"Will you be quiet?" He barked.
"The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because Austin ordered me to keep you here until he gets here. If I can't keep you here, I kill you. Simple enough for your incompetent mind?"
Azrael didn't allow his irritation to flurry. and managed to get control again.
He noticed her temporary glance at his katana in its metal scabbard. There was no way she was more afraid of that than his gun. It was easy to figure out that Carla didn't have an infinite control over her powers. He would use this to his advantage; his ace in the hole. His katana was strapped to a belt that he could easily whip over his shoulders in an instant. The katana itself wasn't touching him. He made no move to get rid of it yet, however. As soon as she went for it, he would then remove it whilst firing back. To make things better, he could even throw the impossibly hot remains of his weapon towards her.

"You really think that you would be the first person I killed in cold blood?" He asked, smiling sickly.
"And you don't get trials with the Watch. You just get killed. That simple. Be reassured, however, if Austin wanted you dead, he would have ordered me to kill you on the spot. If you make a wrong move, it is up to me to decide whether or not to put you down."

[Felix Dolohov]

Felix paused in the doorway, having come back out to take Kana into the back of the house, and heard what Azrael had to say.

"Well, that explains a lot," he muttered, "No wonder every law abider hates the Watch. Kana, the wine's in the back, didn't want to risk it with trigger happy and sparky there," he told the Vampyre, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. He was half tempted to call the EHPD and get Azrael arrested, but he actually liked them so he wasn't interested in seeing them get killed by what he was beginning to think of as an organisation of sociopaths judging by Azrael's behaviour.

If this was the second, just how bad was the first?

[Carla Glenn]

Carla's eyes locked with Azrael. He was talking now, and really not helping himself anymore. A plan was already falling into place. A plan formulating from all of her other plans. Azrael had just admitted the Watch were practically dictators, handing out whatever justice they wanted whenever they wanted. If she survived this, she could take them down without ever starting a fight. Could the Watch really stand public criticism? Especially now the police were active again.

"You'd have been my first." Carla shot back, not missing a beat as Azrael commented on his killings in cold blood. "Sure, I've comitted some crimes. Breaking and entering. Theft. Bit of hacking, although I think technically if you use demonic powers to do it, it doesn't count as hacking. Assault. Two counts of your own members, but to be fair, one was a spy working for Rino anyway, and one was Kunochi, who's a) a bitch and b) was trying to kill me back." Carla had to admit, that attitude probably didn't help her whole 'the Watch are evil' thing, but god, she hated that little ninja.

"Never killed anybody though. Can't say I see how my crimes deserve a trialess execution. I'm not the self-confessed murderer here." She pointed out, knowing that on terms of moral high grounds, she could take it. Okay, so she only hadn't killed people for Rino because her powers were more suited to shocks and burns, and she was a better thief, but the point remained.

"So, do I get to apply to get tried by somebody else, huh? Who decides who answers to the Watch? Who keeps an eye on you? Not to be lame, but who watches the watchmen, huh?" She asked, eyes never wavering from Azrael's.

[Madoc Wythers]

Madoc nodded and grinned. "Well, that's Zack's Christmas present sorted then." he laughed. He watched as Felix removed the hallowed bottle and placed it on the table and then nodded again.

"That might be a wise plan," he said, glancing into the bar. "I really don't think I want to stick around out here with just Kana for company, and I really don't want to be out there when Darkora turns up." He turned back to Felix. "I think I'll do just that." He felt guilty about leaving Felix to cope with the tension and the mess at the bar, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it and frankly, he got the feeling that Felix would rather he left anyway.

He waited until the blonde had re-entered the bar, and then scarpered. The door, as expected, stuck somewhat, resulting in Madoc almost throwing himself at it. After a couple of attempts, he got the door open, closed it behind him and slunk off towards the centre of Edgehaven.

[Kana Lémartes]

Kana stood almost stock still, quietly observing the growing fight. He shook his head slightly - he couldn't decide whether Azrael was making the Night Watch out to be the cold-blooded murderers that they sounded like right now on purpose or not. He glanced towards the door behind the bar, wondering impatiently how long it took to get a bottle of wine, and then fixed his eyes on the scene before him again.

At the mention of Rino's name, it clicked into place. The girl was Carla Glenn, Rino's second in command. Odd that somebody who had been involved in the almost-destruction of the world should seem so innocent in comparison to the Night Watch, who were supposed to be the maintainer's of the balance, the saviours of the world. He smirked. If Austin had told his Second what to say, he was stupider than Kana had thought. If not, he rather hoped somebody was going to be in trouble when Austin showed up.

He raised his eyebrow and nodded once in recognition of Felix's words, before making his way around the side of the bar that wasn't currently a battlefield, past Felix and into the kitchen. He was irked somewhat by Felix's overly-familiar manner, but he didn't press the matter. What was happening in the bar was far too interesting to risk annoying the management, and besides, he didn't like the way the blonde had been holding the vomit-covered mop.

He picked up the bottle, inspected the label and then poured himself a glass, sniffing it carefully. Deciding it was passable, he filled the glass and then, cat-like, crossed the room to stand behind Felix, watching the fray over his shoulder.

"I'm surprised you allow this sort of nonsense in here." He remarked, sipping.

[Azrael Jiraco]

Well, at least she wasn't trying to wander off now. This did, however, mean that Azrael was forbidden to kill her, which he wasn't sure how much that ate at him.

Carla was acting wierd. What was with this act of innocence? It was as if she was hoping to get some kind of moral support from the others. It hadn't entered Azrael's wildest dreams that she was planning to get the entire population of the town against them. To be honest, that didn't bother him in the slightest. He wasn't here to be liked, just do his duty. The police couldn't stand in there way because they were above the law, and they knew that.
At least she could entertain Azrael a little before the arrival of Austin. He would play her little game.

"So, one time trying to plot the world's destruction, you think you are innocent because Rino is no more? Against our current laws, that claim would stand; you would be free to use your proclaimed control over demons to extract your vengeance. That's why we exist. We are not law keepers; that's the police. We exist to remove those who wish to create armaggedon; the annihilation of entire races; and the likes. Without us, Rino would have destroyed the world and the police had nothing on him to take action against him; let alone defeat him. Do you deny it?"

[Felix Dolohov]

Felix sighed, "While I dislike killing, at this point in time, they've both pissed me off enough that if I thought I could get away with it I would have shot them both in the head and ditched their corpses in the gutter outside. As it is, I'm not stupid enough to attempt it, for one the Police frequent the place and two I dislike being electrocuted or shot," he admitted under his breath as he watched the unfolding drama. "Plus, Darkora's on his way, Sparky's plotting City wide manipulation and Trigger-Finger is torn between shooting her anyway or playing verbal games." He huffed and rubbed his forehead, "I'm getting a headache."

[Carla Glenn]

Carla, for about the fiftieth time today, rolled her eyes and shot Azrael a sceptical, angry, glare.

"Deny what? That Rino was trying to destroy the world? Well, technically, he was trying to take over the world, but sure, I see your point. And yes, I worked for him. But he was a charismatic leader with the ability to get inside your head." She paused for a moment. "And I....had personal reasons, okay?" Her facade dropped a way for a little at that, but she wasn't about to explain the full extent of he relationship with Rino to the bar. He hadn't felt anything back for her anyway, but he had let her touch him, and that had been a nice sensation for the girl who shocked anything she came into contact with.

"You think I'm the only sucker who's ever fallen for working for a bad guy?" She asked, eyebrows raised in irritation. "I never did anything off my own back. Even when I wanted revenge, it's not like I could do it. If your job is to stop people who want to end the world, that's not me. I got no interest in world as a whole." This was true even when she served Rino. It was Rino's dream. Carla supported it because it was what Rino wanted. She'd have followed Rino into Hell itself if she'd been given the oppurtunity. Luckily, she never was.

"Okay, okay, so I want to hurt you lot. I admit it. But you did kill the only guy I've ever-" She paused, not wanting to admit it. "....liked." She finished instead. "That's only natural, right? And it's not like I've actually done it."

[Azrael Jiraco]

Azrael had put all the pieces together. The were no gaps in his logic.

Carla wanted revenge on the Watch but couldn't achieve this with brute strength. She was planning to start a citywide revolution that would ultimately lead to the Watch being forced to disband. He had come to this conclusion using the following points:

- Carla was playing the innocent one. Seemingly out of character, but could be due to Rino not being around any more.
- She wanted to take this outside. The only reason Azrael could think for this was to gain more attention. He strongly believed that Carla did not care about property damage in the slightest.
- She didn't want to kill Azrael. She could've when she first recognised him, but didn't. If she killed Azrael, this would damage her plan as it would give a perfectly valid reason for the Watch to fall on her like a tonne of bricks.

Azrael believed her claim about not being able to control the demons. If she could, she could easily beat the watch with stength of numbers. He also believed that she did not care whether or not he shot her right now. He could see it in her eyes: determination. She was prepared to martyr herself for this cause. Foolish, in Azrael's opinion. Had she achieved the best outcome for this plan; i.e. many people saw the incident and videos were taken and shown on the news, it wouldn't be enough. Revolutions were very slow to start up. They required mutual dislike (something that already existed against the Watch), a chain of events that caused disgust and outrage (one would simply not be enough) and, finally, someone to embolden the people into action.

If Carla was to die for her own cause, she wouldn't be able to push her plan further. The population would be left in the first stage on the way to outright revolt: fear. The people would fear the Watch even more, keeping their voices and thoughts between themselves and small groups.

The fact of the matter is that a cold blooded shooting in a street was simply not enough. More fuel was needed, and someone to keep the fire going.

It was time to drop the act. Azrael had gotten all the information he sought from Carla. He stood up, dropping his fighting stance. He even put his remaining pistol away. Carla could escape if she wanted to. This didn't bother Azrael; Austin was a hunter second to none. She would be caught well within 24 hours.

Azrael knew that this action would confuse the onlookers; he may even appear insane to them. This was not his concern. He cared not about what others thought of him; he considered that a weakness. His dealings were with Carla alone. He spoke again, in a tone that was normally used towards a work colleague or receptionist that you barely knew. It lacked energy and emotion, as did his body movements.

"I'll admit, your plan has merit. You certainly surpassed all of my expectations. However, it lacks execution." Azrael smiled weakly throughout this analysis and then turned away. He realised that his comment was not very elaborative. It would probably baffle most people. However, he wasn't about to share his thoughts with her. He picked up his empty tankard and went back to the bar. Chucking Felix a fiver, he offered the glass to him.

"It would appear that I am in need of another drink," he stated. He wondered whether this would baffle Felix or infuriate him further. It didn't matter; it was notoriously difficult to intimidate Azrael.

[Carla Glenn]

Carla gave Azrael a grin. He was letting her lose. There was one factor Carla figured he'd forgotten. She had worked for a major law company. They had more than enough contacts in the media to make an interesting broadcast. Tomorrow's news reports would be very interesting.

"See ya around, chief." She gave him a two fingered salute, and dashed out the back way. "Sorry about the whole nearly-wrecking-your-bar-in-an-epic-showdown-thing!" She called to Felix as she ran past and out into the street.

First port of call was evading Austin Darkora, but that wouldn't be as difficult as people expected. The demons may not have obeyed her, at least not properly, but they'd help her out if she ordered them too. She knew demons that could turn invisible, or create illusions, or just fly her away somewhere safe. She'd stayed hidden for this long in the city, and finding her wasn't as easy as just tracking a scent. Especially not when she was capable of sizzling the air.

She had a plan now, and purpose. And the Watch were on to it, but the beautiful part was there was no way they could stop it. Shoot her down and they were dictators enforcing an iron will. Stop, and play nice, and they'd leave themselves vulnerable. For once, Carla actually felt like she had the upper hand.

[Felix Dolohov]

The blond Vampire arched an eyebrow at the events as they unfolded, so Azrael had made his mind up. Put the gun away and planned on informing Darkora so he could go hunt the woman down and do... whatever Darkora was going to do. As for her... Well, smart money was on using old contacts from the Devil's Advocate Days to shit stir, great, if he had to talk to a reporter he was smacking someone with the vomit mop - he decided on Zack for not waking up when he fucking should have. (Who sleeps through gun fire? Honestly.)

The blond sighed and made his way to the bar, accepting the cash without comment before scowling after Carla's departing back, "If you're really sorry send the cheque in the mail! You didn't pay up for last night!" he barked after her not really expecting her to do so but feeling like he had to make a point of how much he really didn't appreciate having such fucking drama getting paraded through his bar.

"What'll it be? Coke again?" he asked the human coolly as he fetched a clean glass and set the dirty one in the washer.



((FYI. In Fe's profile it was mentioned that he has a possible Vampiric ability, after a fair bit of consideration and amusing ideas last night, we decided to give him a rather mild foresight/mindreading/precognation. He can see people's decisions once they've made their minds up. Like before he couldn't see whether or not Az was going to shoot Carla because he hadn't decided on it yet but he could see that Austin was on his way because Azrael knew he was coming. Felix doesn't know he has the ability so mostly its just manafesting in sarcastic mental bitching. People like Dillon, who never make up their minds or constantly change them or are just mentally damaged give him headaches along with situations where possibilities are constantly changing or when there are too many people in an enclosed space - like fights or night clubs.

This is why he can tell what everyone's plans are. If you think its a bit too much or whatever, I'll ditch it but it makes life interesting. And telepaths can pick up on what he can see though it may not make any sense to them.))