Scene #2497: An Evening at the Museum

Owner	Pose
Taro	The American Ancient and Modern Applied Arts Museum (the AAMAAM for short, as the full title is quite the mouthful) was built on one of those strips of greenspace hedged between the steel and concrete city and the river's edge. The rounded corners and smooth lines of four story building gives it an Art Moderne feel that hearkens back to what was popular in the 1930s, surrounded by landscaping that favors small trees and lots of grass. While it's not as popular as some of the other museums in town, attendance and its endowment are large enough to keep its curators active and the exhibits rotating. Unfortunately, its curators made the terrible mistake of refusing to lend or sell a certain minor item in its collection to one Taro Daisho. For this reason, the museum is about to have a very bad day. It's an hour after closing, the all-but-summer sun casting long shadows across the street and ground as it slips behind the taller skyscrapers to the west. A van marked with the logo of the local telecom pulls to the side of the road opposite the museum and turns on its blinkers. Nothing too unusual about that, perhaps there's some trouble with one of the lines in the neighborhood. The dark-haired driver does not yet get out, instead seemingly looking at a clipboard or notepad. Taro sits patiently in the driver's seat. He should not have to wait for long. He promised an impressively large ally treasure and spoils, and he doesn't expect him to take long to arrive. Any...moment...now...
Smaug	It's a strange sight soaring through the sky. It's big enough to be a plane, but there's no engine noise of the 'craft' soaring along the cityscape. Most people don't seem to bother to pay the shadow in the sky any mind. A city, with so little importance in the Multiverse at large, had managed to remain rather 'normal' since unification. Full of men in suits with breifcases going about their daily lives while spouses tend to homes, children, or have jobs of their own! Surely nothing bad could ever happen here right? Right? Wrong. The roar that echoes across the cityscape is all the warning any kind of authority will have before something comes crashing down through the atrium of the museum. Alarms go off, the ground shakes outside, maybe even a car alarm or two react in panic to the 'earthquake'. A car that was passing outside with a mother and her child come to a sudden stop. The mom, gawking at what she saw, though the child's reaction likely is what the entire city was asking... "Mommy, was that a real dragon?!"
Rebound	This seems to be a pretty quiet night in New York thus far. Rebound is actually sitting on a rooftop near the museum, chowing down on a hot dog she bought from a streetside vendor. She had to pretend she was in a costume, which isn't too hard to do in Times Square. Now that she has her hot dog with relish, spicy mustard and ketchup, she's looking at the setting sun, watching the lights start to turn on through the city. She does love this time of night. Of course the strange shadow that swoops low over the city. As soon as she hears the roaring sound, she shoves the rest of the hot dog into her muzzle and then jumps up, but gets knocked down by the force of the dragon impacting the building. Inside of the building, there's only about three security guards. One bright eyed rookie, one old guy who's two weeks from retirement, and one female guard.
Faruja	With a full blown Crusade on the horizon, and him to act as a Field Inquisitor against his worst enemies, Faruja Senra is taking a pre-emptive vacation! Whistling as he stumbles out of a bar near the museum, his cane taps along as he upends a half-drained beer. He really has no interest in the museum, per se! No, it's mere curiousity as he notes the van, pausing, and lazily upending more booze. A shake of his head. "Bloody abyss, always relying on technology, these humans! I swear..." Just before he can really get on a rant, a Faram-blasted dragon goes right through a building. Faruja teleports out of the debris radius on instinct, floating in the air and gawking a little. "Oh by Ajora's knickers! Art ye alright!? Learn to bloody fly ye fool of a wyrm!" Then he's up in the air, staring /down/ at the dragon. Seems he's assumed it was a crash landing!
Taro	Taro leaves the door unlocked keys in the ignition as he exits the van. Chances as to whether it will still be here once they've finished is questionable, but this does not bother him. The van was stolen anyway. The mother and child in the car get their second surprise of the night as unfolds his armor's wings and alights, following Smaug's much more dramatic entrance via the atrium.
Smaug	Crash? CRASH? The mere thought of someone thinking the dragon, now inside the museum, crashed into it on accident causes enough anger to boil up that Faruja would find that the dragon's reply is a pillar of flame racing up, and out of, the roof of the Atrium. However, despite the slight, the one inside is starting to rummage about looking for ANYTHING that even REMOTELY looks valuable. If it's not valuable looking it's left behind. . . Mind the tail. Whatever the dragon DOES find? IT gets swallowed. What? Dragon's don't have pockets. How do you think they get all that treasure back to their hoards anyway? Didn't think about it did you?!
Rebound	With one mighty leap, the kangaroo finds herself on the edge of the crashed in atrium. Just in time to avoid getting cooked, though, "HEY!" She yells out at Smaug down inside of the museum, "Put that...Whatever the hell it is back!" She jumps off of the ledge and down towards Smaug. She's just going to try to bounce off of his head. It's not even really an attack, just trying to get his attention, "I saw you on Reptilon. You're a Confederate, aren't you? What the hell are you doing?!"
Faruja	Oh, hey, look. Fire! Clearly that was an intentional crash. But still a bloody crash! Faruja lets out a squeak of alarm, cancelling his spell fast enough that he only has one sleeve and a lot of fur singed by the attack! "Bad idea heathen! Attacking an Inquisitor is an act of HERESY!!!" Drinking does nothing for his temper. A glance to Rebound, and then he's concentrating. Haste! The woman would be able to move faster with time sped up around her! A glance to Taro, but with all that armor, he doesn't recognize the man. Instead, he works on the obvious threat! Another spell, and gravity starts to gather around the big dragon's right wing as it tries to compress and break the bones there!
Smaug	While what appears to be a small, strange looking human, bounces off the dragon's head and starts to yell at him, it would seem that he doesn't really care. A rather flippant swat is sent Rebound's way. While it was a 'subtle' gesture for Smaug, the dragon is large enough that being caught by the action would still hurt. A lot. Even Faruja's calls of heresy and heathen and yadda yadda it all the sound of buzzing insects to him. There are -treasures- here and he -will- have them, regardless of what those here want to think! His focus changes when the compression of his wing is felt. Welp. If the Inquisitor wanted to become the target of Smaug's 'aggro', he has succeeded. The dragon's head swings around toward the Burmecian before his tail follows suit, though at a much more dangerous velocity.
Taro	Taro's hair and wingtips are singed as he narrowly avoids the 'friendly fire' on his descent, and his first act upon landing on the third floor balcony is to fingercomb his hair back into place. "Do try to not set the place on fire just yet," he chides. Rebound's entrance does not go unnoticed, of course, though he's inclined to think Smaug capable to dealing with her. But then another joins them inside, changing the odds somewhat. His eyes narrow as a certain Inquisitor literally drops in, and his eyes narrow. Faruja. Fancy that. Thus, his second action is to use his perch above to his advantage, balling his left hand into a fist as the top plate of his gauntlet retracts to reveal the barrel of a bolter. A quick shot is snapped off at Faruja before stepping back.
Rebound	Well the dragon doesn't want to talk to her, and instead is going to swat at her. She jumps up and grabs at the hand that swats at her. It hits her and knocks her back, but she shifts around in midair and plants her feet on the wall. She pushes back off of the wall and launches herself back at Smaug, using the Haste buff given to her by Faruja to try to smash into Smaug with her big paws, trying to kick him in the head with the flying dropkick.
Faruja	Faruja Senra is used to being shot at, but not by massive bullets that explode. At the mere sound of the shot, he puts up a gravity spell behind him, causing the bullet to slow and then stop. Unluckily for him, it's a bolt shell, and when it explodes he takes a back full of explosion and shrapnel. Thank /God/ for Tomoyo's armored robes she made for him. That are now messed up. "Dear Lady, kindly take care of the dragon. I hath a /uncouth honorless curr/ to deal with!" Teleporting above the rooftop, he does a quick incantation. "Comet." A space-rock the size of a small car fades into existance a few feet above Taro, still traveling at the speed it got plucked from out space from. This doesn't bode well for the museum. Hopefully it has a good insurance policy.
Smaug	With the sharp pain removed from his wing, and Taro clearly placing his attention on Faruja, Smaug's attention returns, not to Rebound, but to his treasure seeking. That only lasts until her spell-enhanced dropkick finds the dragon's jaw, causing his head to snap around to one side rather violently. It caught him off guard. Surprised him even. In fact, he actually spits a tooth out as a result of the kick. Without a word, his amber eyes turn toward Rebound, squint, then there's a roar. It is Very Loud, and it's only a herald of what is to come. He charges her, looking to just trample over her, trying to put every claw he has into her along the way.
Taro	He's also an infidel! Don't forget that. Taro is already on the move, heading in the direction of the staircase. That he is moving is likely the only reason that he is not dead center in the path of the meteor suddenly appearing above his head as it comes crashing down upon him. As it is, the several ton rock smashes into the balcony with all the noise one would expect, an echo to Smaug's roar. Which is then repeated as said balcony, never intended to take such abuse, gives way in a screech of structural steel and marble facing. Dust chokes the atrium (if the smoke hadn't already) as rock, stone, steel, and floor tiles settle on the lower balcony and floor, with one now very annoyed Bishop Engineer caught somewhere in that rubble.
Rebound	"Oh crap." As soon as he roars at her, she realizes she done messed up and quickly turns and runs as he begins to charge after her. She ducks around several displays which Smaug will undoubtedly smash through. Rebound bursts through a glass wall into one if the display areas, and quickly searches around for something to use as a weapon. She finds what appears to be a spear of some sort, she's not even sure what it is, but she turns around and throws it at Smaug as he approaches behind her, "Damnit, I wish I'd kept one of Corona's launchers!" She yells out to nobody in particular, taking advantage of the Haste spell to try to stay one step ahead of the dragon.
Faruja	Looking rather pleased with the results, even /if/ his opponent is still alive, Faruja shows about as much mercy as his calling tends to breed. Taking out his Blaze Gun, now perched on the remains of the roof, he points it at the hallway. Pulling the trigger, the downed man now has a column of fire to deal with! "Begone with ye, sinner! This place is not thine to plunder like a common bandit!"
Smaug	Thankfully for Rebound, the haste spell keeps her ahead of Smaug as he chases her through the museum. Unfortunately, a lot of the museum pieces are ancient, so when the spear is thrown, it glances of his scales, causing him to just roar again as he chases after her. A particular guard watches the roo rush by, "S'wrong?!" then the dragon surges by. "... I gotta quit drinkin'.."
Taro	Taro has of course heard of the fire and brimstone sort of theology. However, this is the first time that he's witnessed a near-literal version of this. His wings took much of the punishment as the meteor and parts of the balcony buried him. They were meant to soar, not to bear so much weight, and the repulsorlift slats crack under the strain as they provide just enough of a gap beneath for him to have uncomfortably survived. With an irritated grunt, we writes them off completely and disengages them from his back with a quiet snap. That gives him just enough room to... There's a small flump and poof of dust as an android-sized gap in the rubble suddenly collapses after his teleport. It was badly plotted, landing him a foot or so above the ground and several yards inside one of the exhibit areas, but his only complain is another soft grunt as he hits the floor. Hopefully Faruja will believe he's still trapped, at least long enough for him to complete his objective. With that thought in mind, he creeps further back from the hallway, towards the Glassworks exhibit hall.
Rebound	She's still doing her best to run around the dragon, when suddenly Rebound seems to get an idea. She stops, and hops back, leaping right towards Smaug. She's really hoping he doesn't just breathe fire at her and cook her before she hits the ground, trying to slide underneith him and get behind him. Trying to keep an eye on his tail, she make a break for the cafe back near the atrium. She seems to have some kind of plan, though how good of a plan it is remains to be seen, as she has to not get clobbered by his tail first.
Faruja	With the dust kicked up and rubble collapsed, Faruja gives a small little nod. "One Heretic dealt with. Now for some fried dragon steaks..." It seems, for now, Taro has outwitted the Inquisitor, content to use a haste spell, and then chase after the dragon! It'll take him a few to catch up, even with haste! He's a lot shorter than Rebound /or/ Smaug. "REPENT YE SCALEY HEATHEN!" Yells Faruja loudly.
Smaug	When Rebound suddenly changes direction, it actually surprises Smaug. It's fast enough that there's no time for a flame blast or anything else. Instead the Roo, and even Faruja, would be witness to a dragon trying to suddenly change direction on a tile floor. It involves a lot of clawing and slipping and frustration at the scientific idea of momentum. While he may hear Faruja, he doesn't seem to pay the burmecian any mind. Not yet. Seems Smaug is more interested in kangaroo steaks at this moment..
Taro	Taro did not escape unscathed, he finds after creeping far enough away from the fire and rubble to not be seen as he pushes himself to his feet. It is not a graceful motion, with notable jerks, and there's a notable wobble in his steps as he continues toward his goal. The shakey beam of a flashlight catches his attention, and though he does not turn toward it, he does pause for a moment. "There is an emergency exit fifteen meters to your left," he says quietly but distinctly. "Go. Collect your pension." Then he continues on, passing by both the guard and the cases of antique glass vases.
Rebound	The kangaroo scrambles into the cafe, and then re-emerges a few moments later, holding something in her hands, "Hey big guy, why don't you get a taste of this!" She calls out to Smaug, before she throws the cylinder she has in her hands at him. She hopes he'll literally take a taste of it, maybe clamp down on the propane take, or breathe fire on it to intercept it. Either way, she bails for cover back in the cafe after she throws it at him. She's seen those things go up before and doesn't want to be anywhere near it.
Faruja	Faruja openly winces at all the destruction. And then there's a propane tank being thrown by his ally. Oh crap. The Inquisitor thinks fast, and summons the first thing he can think of, as he too dashes away towards cover behind an ancient suit of armor. Chocobos. Red Chocobos. A good dozen of them, just outside of the blast radius. With a multitude of warks, Chocometeors begin raining down upon the offending dragon. And much of the room. And roof.
Smaug	So, what is a natural reaction for a dragon to do when something is thrown at it? Well, it's not a spear, or a @)(#&$)(@#&$ ARROW, or anything else sharp looking, so of course, he just chomps down on it. Horrible idea. It's not the sudden explosion of gas and FIRE that does the real harm, instead it's the shrapnel from the tank that does anything noteworthy. Sure, the force of the blast sends the dragon up, over, and down onto his back in both shock and surprise, but considering his pallet (sp?) is bleeding too probably isn't going to help anything. For NOW, he's writhing. The additional choco-meteors raining down cause a roar of rage and irritation, however, when he gains his senses and manages to rise? Well... You should start running very far away.
Taro	The case Taro is looking for is not one of the more prominent or striking ones. The glass paperweights are works of art in their own right, and tastefully arranged in their display, but they lack the gravitas of the larger artworks surrounding them. Considering the condition of the rest of the museum at this point, he feels little regret in simply smashing the top of the case with his gloved fist to retrieve what he's come for. A paperweight of milky-amethyst colored glass, decorative starburst pattern cut into it, a comfortable weight in one's hand. This he tucks into a catchpocket in his armor...once he's able to pry said pocket open, that is. At least it latches closed mostly properly.
Rebound	Bailing out might be a good idea after the explosion and then rain of choco-meteors. Rebound opts to excercise the fact that discression is the better part of valor and bail out of this one, "Hey dragon, you've lost this fight! Get out of here before you get really hurt!" She yells, not knowing that he's really there just for a distraction and that they're getting away with the real objective while Smaug rains fire and death down on the museum, "You picked the wrong town to mess with, big guy!" She is yelling these things at hime while also working her way towards the exit.
Faruja	Unfortunately, these /aren't/ war chocobos, and thus, down a hallway the offending meteor-throws go! It's a stampede! And unfortunately for Taro, is coming right towards the part of the museum he's currently working on. The sounds of a dozen scared, stampeding chocobos herald their arrival, knocking over displays and stands without care! Faruja, meanwhile, peeks around the armor stand. Rather than fight fire with fire, he casts another spell! No, instead, he is going to fight fire with living explosives, as a dozen Bombs appear around the dragon and go off all at once. This room and its valuables are not doubt utterly toast by now. "Calm the bloody abyss down, knave! And do as the Lady says!" All salt and vinegar, this Inquisitor. Then, the rodent's better sense hits him. Best not to stick around in close quarters with a very, very angry dragon. Haste, and then he's off towards the exit himself!
Taro	The sounds of explosions, spreading fire, and overturning dragon have been reverberating through the museum, and between that and the radio Taro has a general idea of what's been going on elsewhere. The sound of angry birds adds a new dimension to the echoes of war, however, and that makes him quickly turn around. An act he almost regrets, as the act almost makes him lose his balance. An act not entirely regretted, as he has a moment to see and then raise his eyebrows at the flock of chocobos stampeding towards him. The android more wobbles out of the way than actually intentionally dodges the first of the lot, but the second bowls him over, and one or two stamp him as they rush over and past him to wherever they're going. Less painful than having a meteor fall on him, but unpleasant nonetheless. With a snarl and muttered curses about magic and magekind and magic-loving deities, he grabs the side of a knocked over display case to help leverage himself to his feet, and begins a wobbling jog back toward the atrium to find his ally.
Smaug	A propane tank, a flurry of choco-meteors, and then a dozen or so bombs going off all around him? While his roar clearly has some pain laced in it, his rage is reaching a boiling point. Despite the request to not burn down the entire place, the dragon is starting to spout fire -everywhere- in sheer frustration from everything that has happened. Scales are shattered, he's bleeding, his entire maw is in pain, he has a good reason to be furious! Faruja and Rebound are totally on The List..
Rebound	No way can she get near him while he's flailing around shooting fire everywhere. Boy she wishes..Wait a minute. She moves up to the wall and slams her fist into the fire alarm box, pulling it down and opening the sprinkler system. She has no idea if it'll work against dragon fire, but at the very least it might help reduce some of the damage. Or at least replace fire damage with water damage. "Hey magic rat guy, I don't know your name, but we need to get this dragon out of here before he tears the whole building down!" She yells out at Faruja, not sure how they're going to move Smaug without a lot of tranquilizers and a flatbed.
Faruja	Faruja, for his part, is running like a Lucavi is on his heels. But Rebound has one heck of a point. Just as his robes are being burnt by Smaug's fire, the rat ducks behind a convenient corner. "Good point mine dear! Introductions later! No matter what, just /KEEP RUNNING/! It's about then that Faruja incants, and behind the massive dragon, an equally if not more massive form of Leviathan the Water Esper fades into existance, snaking its way through the rest of the museum. On the one hand, it's not fire that Smaug gets. On the other? He's probably eternally off of Smaug's christmas card list, as a cascade of magical water floods through the room and museum alike. Oddly, it won't drown Faruja or Rebound. Espers, as it turns out, cheat. But the dragon /is/ about to have a ton of magic-water trying to literally flush him out of the room and past the ruined atrium. Faruja then teleports out of the building for his own sake, reaching out to take Rebound with him if he can.
Taro	To be fair, Taro did include a 'yet' in his request. He has what he wants for his own hoard, and so in theory the time for restraint has passed. He's met with dragon flames as he rounds the corner into the now open air atrium, and well-written reaction code brings his arm up to shield his face. The fire alarm adds to the cacophany, and droplets splatter from the sprinkler heads that are still working. Which has nothing on the Esper that Faruja has summoned. The water swell knocks him off his feet, washing him away and through what's left of the cafe's dining room. His lack of buoyancy made the ride a rough one, but thankfully he has no need to breathe until he's washed out onto the rear lawn. Outside, the sound of sirens echo as the FDNY's fire trucks rumbles up the street, followed by police cruisers and a news van from Channel 6...
Smaug	Water. More water. TSUNAMI?! WHAT THE BLOODY FFFFFFFFFF Seriously, the wave caused by Leviathan crashes into the dragon setting him on his way, stopping back in the Atrium! Disoriented, irritated, but at least with some treasure to take home, the dragon doesn't bother to say anything and just flies out of the museum the same way he came in. Now.... time to find out just who those two were..