Scene #7358: Vegan Fear

Owner	Pose
Tohru Adachi	This is it, Tohru Adachi is finally following through with the thing he talked to Samhain about. They're gonna hit up a big famous museum to test the nutritional value of supernatural fear. Unfortunately, if Samhain knows his real world maps, he'd realize rather than Washington DC, they're in Washington State. And the museum they're hitting up definitely isn't the Smithsonian, it's in fact a lot smaller. If pressured into 'why', Adachi assures his slasher friend that it's because he didn't want to cause too big of a scene, but really it's because screw American maps, man. Why isn't Washington DC in Washington State? Getting inside is the usual affair. Paying tickets, showing ids, browsing the gift shop before actually looking at anything because every museum puts the gift shop in the front now. Despite the obviously smaller scale than what Samhain had planned, the place still has plenty of exhibits. A lot more expensive replicas than real deals, admittedly, but there's a few genuine articles from exhumed graves placed in cases. Sadly, they're not here to look at exhibits, and eventually Adachi jumps on top of one of the display cases, security guards immediately swarming him and telling them to get down. The only response they get from them is the word 'persona', followed by a deafening scream from a ghostly red entity that appears behind them. The noise reverberates through the building, causing most of the occupants to lose their minds. Most respond by understandably running out as quickly as possible, but a good amount resort to more destructive means, destroying exhibits and picking fist fights with each other. The few that weren't affected are quick to call for law enforcement, and the museum is quickly closed off to help contain the problem until it can be dealt with in some manner.
Samhain	Samhain did not, actually, walk inside with Adachi. Getting in with the welding mask would be a problem. So, instead, he teleported in using the website floorplans, stepped next to Adachi, and waited for him to cause chaos, as security guards were already probably eying him suspiciously. Once everyone goes completely insane, Samhain strikes. He goes for one of the people running away, darts up to them, grabs them by the throat, and lifts them up. Dark wisps escape from their mouth, going straight for Samhain and under his mask. He spends a long while just holding them there, before tossing the person aside, as he turns towards Adachi. "An interesting, conflicting taste...yet still nutty and rich. There's a solid base here, but I couldn't eat this and only this. There's no anguish. No specification. It's just fear. It needs..." "Supplements." Samhain drops a hammer into his hand from pocket space, a big sledgehammer, and then throws it at the largest display he can see, like a statue, trying to knock it over and almost hit people with it. While the statue is falling over, he looks for those who still have their right mind, and points a blast of fire straight at them. Even if it sets off the sprinklers, it explodes enough to just start throwing exhibits around and cause more panic. "Let's add some spice of life."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bercilak is in Washington State for reasons unrelated to museum heists, despite having felt interest in this 'artificial fear' business. As he exits a very sleazy dive bar in a different part of this very town, known for having the most health code violations for miles around, he pounds a fist against his chest with pride. Of course, it was one of those 'eat this ridiculously huge burger and get your picture on the wall' challenges--and he killed it. Cracking his neck, he straddles the hoverbike parked outside, himself clad in attire that very loudly presents as 'cyberpunk biker'--the Z.Z. Top kind of biker, not the Akira kind. Why not stop at the museum on the way back to the Warpgate? There's supposedly an interesting exhibit there, replica though it might be, themed around artifacts as-yet unattributed to any of humanity's forebears. He more or less behaves on his way there, though he does park the bike on the curb. As he strides towards the entrance, the screech of Adachi's Persona is heard. That sound is unfamiliar. It is unsettling. To Bercilak, that's most of the recipe for a good time. With a wide grin on his face, he shoulder-checks his way through panicked patrons on their way out, picking up those who his bulk has bowled over and setting them aright. His armor forms on his body in a matter of moments, culminating in a cloak of wild grasses and flowers. The doors have already been closed and barred. That's unfortunate, because now there are two things inside he wants to see. The Green Knight simply walks through, his armored foot shattering the glass of the front door as his shoulder rips the rest of it from its frame. "Samhain? Adachi?" His axe is already in his hand, but shouldered, his stance casual as the chaos ensues around him. "Hah! Jobets, unk both, thou art--here-awei ben placen Washington /State./" Someone panicking to get away, witnessing Samhain's feeding, nearly trips over Bercilak. He helpfully lifts them by the scruff of their neck and sets them aright, as outside, this time with a brisk slap on the back, as if to say 'run along now!' "...swich-wise, thou couldst apprisen me thy experiment was todai." Slightly annoyed, with that addition. It's all in good fun, though. They need some despair? He can do despair. "HARK!" He bellows, with literally no pretense--to the point that Adachi and Samhain might think he's talking to them. He isn't, though. He's putting on a show for the purpose of drumming up some despair. Can't say that Samhain should try nonviolent feeding if he isn't willing to help, after all. His axe cleaves a chasm into the floor of the museum, cutting off the exit for anyone who isn't bold enough to make a leap of faith over a dark, intimidatingly wide crevasse. "Thou shalt atscape naught! Make thy pes anau, brethelings!" He gives the axe a few masterful swings, too, making several perilously, calculatedly close calls, whacking the legs of fleeing patrons out from under them, menacing them from above, and even wading in between a couple of those fist fights to throw a few (pulled) punches of his own. They still very much hurt. They have to, otherwise it won't seem real.
Eryl Fairfax	Amidst the burgeoning chaos. The steady clack of well-heeled shoes on the polished museum floor comes around a bend, just as a mad museum visitor lunges, aiming to ambush the approacher. Their frenzied swipe is caught, diverted, and in the blink of an eye, their neck is trapped in their target's armpit, their windpipe being squeezed on by Eryl Fairfax himself. "Really, on my day off?" he complains as the man under his arm thrashes, their struggles reaching a crescendo before they go slack, at which point Eryl carefully lowers them to the floor. "You I remember," he says, pointing to Samhain. "From the power plant. But the other two, I've not yet had the pleasure. Eryl Fairfax, Grandmaster of the Paladins. And in both that capacity, and my capacity as a human being, I'd like you all to stop, right now, and go away. I'll handle the clean-up and look the other way if you do. Limited time offer." His hands aren't up, and his words are sincere, but the look in his eyes say he's expecting a fight.
Samhain	"Grandmaster of the Paladins. I remember you." Samhain looks over to the fear-filled people, to Eryl, and back to the people, and does not stop his fireball at all. "I'm trying to eat, here. We're reducing the cruelty, this time. It's like a farm, except a good one." He's trying to explain Something Basic really poorly. "You understand the idea, yes? Low-cruelty food production. It's a thing. Do they have it where you are from?" A genuine question.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bercilak's helmet conceals his grin as his axe shatters a wall after another one of those calculated near-misses. His foot gently (for him) crashes into the stomach of the person it missed, hard enough not to kill them, but definitely something they'll feel in the morning. There's a Paladin here already, coming to put a stop to this. That's good for two reasons. It presents an opportunity to make this look all the more real, and it presents an opportunity for one of his favorite things: testing the mettle of men. "'Grandmaster?'" He utters the word with equal parts interest and challenge. "I am Bercilak of the High Wasteland," rumbles the imposing figure in the cloak of grass and wildflowers. When he turns, Eryl can see that his bulky armor is far more futuristic than his manner of speaking would seem to imply. "Cleped als, the Green Knight." He shoulders the axe, Eryl's face reflected in an expressionless T-shaped visor set into his horned helmet. Jerking a thumb towards Samhain, he nods in agreement with the terror gourmand, and offers a response. "Bisaien Samhain that he shalt iete in manere frendsom. I shalt yeven unto him the forladge to do so, and deme if he speke soothli." The Green Knight chuckles throatily, lifting the enormous, equally futuristic axe with one hand, choking up on the grip, and swings it around, idly loosening up his muscles. "I am muchly bihowen to deme thee als, thou who art hedes-man of the Paladins. Come!" The Green Knight pounds his chest with a heavy metal clank. "If thy solicitude of yon ifolke be soothli," he challenges, pointing a finger down at the chasm he's hewn into the floor, "THEN ASPRING HITHER AND IBURDGEN THEIM THYSELF!" He then redoubles his efforts, driving his axe into the ground. Roots spring from the museum's floor, growing to the thickness of human torsos in mere moments, winding upwards and twisting with seeming wills of their own, to grab and dangle the crazed patrons perilously high. Interestingly, there are, beneath those roots, placed just right, patches of thick, downy shrubs.
Tohru Adachi	"Yeesh. Everyone's a food critic. You know back in my day, we thanked people for free food." Adachi sounds just about as annoyed with Samhain's ungratefulness as he can be. Which is to say, he's totally faking being annoyed. Eryl walks in, and he is immediately accosted with a swarm of fleeing civilians. Luckily, they don't prove much of a problem to just walk past by, even the ones that attempt to get a running hit in as they sprint by, as they all tend to fall over on their face from being extremely uncoordinated. Or they just have low BAB because they're the peasant class. Who knows. Adachi just sits up from the display case he'd been resting on this entire time, his persona looming behind him. "Limited time offer huh? Sorry, ex-cop, not falling for that trick. Anyway, I'm too lazy to piece together what my knight friend said, so if I'm repeating things, sorry." Adachi sniffles a bit, nearly sneezing, but manages to contain it. Western climates suck. "Anyway, my basic human decency tells me I should feed this poor starving boy. Look at him, he's almost nothing but skin and bones!" Adachi motions to Samhain, who is most definitely not skin and bones. He is big and strong and scary. "So, if you want us to stop, then come and make us. Alternatively, you're free to turn around. No need to play hero, after all."
Eryl Fairfax	"Where I come from, food is grown in vats and wrenched from the ground by force," Eryl explains, a little tersely. Food is a sore subject for him it seems. "And 'less cruel' doesn't mean 'cruelty-free.' You've driven these museum-goers mad, and from the sounds of things, aren't even satisfied with the result. There comes a time to cut your losses." Bercilak is not willing to step down though. He goes on and on in his thick slang and accent, which Eryl actually seems to comprehend giving the absence of confusion on his face. But when the axe starts getting slammed over and over, he rushes forward. "Cut that out!" As it comes down, Eryl jumps and lands on the handle, turning in a sharp pivot before launching a vicious kick right at the knight's helmed face. Looking to Adachi, he says simply, "Play is for children," before pointing a finger at the man's leg and firing a small slug, very fast, at his foot. And from there, he leaps again, wrapping his arm around Samhain's throat and using his considerable, augmented weight to attempt to DDT the massive man to the museum floor.
Samhain	"Nothing in this world is cruelty-free." Is all Samhain says, a 'wise' retort, when suddenly, Eryl rushes forward, and starts fighting. Samhain's explosion has turned on the sprinklers, making it slippery underfoot - combined with Eryl's strength, he slips, moving to the floor. It cracks under his weight, and Samhain makes a grunt, but physically, he's fine, if in a lock. So, he breaks out of it. Suddenly, he disappears out of Eryl's grip, and reappears above him, angled to come down feet first. Samhain's moving to drop both legs very hard, very fast, straight into Eryl's center of mass.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Adachi's crack about feeding a poor starving boy causes a sound to come from Bercilak. It almost sounds like gears grinding together, but it isn't. It's the strain of suppressing a laugh while trying to keep a Bit up. "AH!" That momentary distraction is all it takes to earn him a sound kick in the face. Eryl's strike is strong enough that it cracks the bulletproof visor of the helmet and dents the surface, knocking the Green Knight off balance. "...so ifighte it shall be!" Be it merely the standard-issue radio interface, a smartphone, or an integrated hud, there is an open message broadcast. Bercilak de Hautdesert is listening to Iron Maiden on Discoverize. Listen Along? Y/N https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYKhK1aaVEQ "GLATHE TIDINGS, VERILY!" Bercilak's grip lowers, wielding the weapon now with both hands and charging towards Eryl as his helmet disappears, dented beyond the poiut of usefulness. For a towering, bulky figure, he moves with alarming quickness in that heavy metal armor, heavy boots pounding so hard against the floor that in places his heels drive cracks into its surface. There is a wide, manic grin on his green face, teeth bared between a beard green and thick as a bush, irises a startling, feral red like a charging boar. He stops on a dime despite that immense weight, juking in place like he's a quarterback evading a tackle, anticipating that an opponent as agile as Eryl is never truly caught flat-footed. After a feint with the eye of the axe meant to force him off of Samhain, he pulls it back and pits his mastery of the weapon against the Grandmaster. He isn't some big brute just swinging a huge stick around, Eryl will find--despite his glee Bercilak is a patient opponent, making expert use of the space between Eryl and the edge of the axe, using his feet to step into a swing, and his shoulders to deliver the force. The concave edge of the axe is utilized at the very end of the swing for another feint.
Tohru Adachi	Adachi's leg is shot at. It's not something he wasn't expecting, but he reacts in almost comical fashion, raising his foot away moments before being penetrated, only to completely lose his balance and fall into the display case behind him full force. The sound of glass shattering fills the air, and it'd be safe to assume the ex-detective is now full of glass shards. As Magatsu Izanagi pulls Adachi up though, it doesn't seem to be the case, the extent of his damage being relegated to a few red scratches and his suit. "You say that, but life's pretty boring when you think that way, ya know?" He's brushing off his coat at this point to remove loose shards from his clothing, though his Persona isn't standing idle, shoving their weapon into the tile floor with enough force to cause the ground to shake. There's another deafening roar from it, though rather than another bout of frenzied civilians, both Bercilak and Samhain feel physically invigorated, magically enhanced even. Three is a crowd, so rather than completely dogpile the poor Paladin, Adachi finds it fit to just make the two people they're currently tangoing with harder to deal with. At least for now. God knows even a saint like himself can only take so many bullets shot at him before even he loses his temper, after all.
Eryl Fairfax	From prior experience, Eryl knows that Samhain isn't going to succumb to a chokehold, that wasn't the point of it. By taking him to the ground, Eryl aimed to nullify the massive size and bulk advantage of the terror, but he slips between his hands like mist in the night. That's not good, because it means Bercilak has nothing in the way of his axe. Eryl rises, falls for the feint and takes the shoulder barge full-on, causing him to fall to his back, and under Samhain's descending foot. Both his knees rise to intercept the stomp, leaving the Grandmaster in a curled position, his metal limbs soaking the brunch of the punishment. "PLEASE don't break the displays!" he yells at Adachi as his buffs empower Samhain to step down harder. With his hands free, Eryl points a finger, aims, and fires... At the nearest fire alarm, sending a klaxon resounding through the building. "FIRE! FIRE IN THE MUSEUM! EVERYBODY OUT!" he shouts, his voice full of command and presence, driving and inspiring the frightened masses to evacuate. And with the opening that provides, Eryl drives his armblade into Samhain's standing foot, aiming to put the giant off-blaance so he can shove his foot aside and roll out from under him. "Looks like this meal is to-go."
Tohru Adachi	"Then stop trying to be Dirty Harry and don't shoot me." Adachi rubs the back of his neck in annoyance. This guy is really sending mixed messages. The supernatural terror is already starting to fade, since it hasn't been reapplied in a bit, being usurped by actual real terror, but with actual focus for them to get out rather than simply run away. The fire alarm that Eryl trips however, helps snap more people out of it. Which again, produces more actually frightened people, but at least they're productively fleeing now. Seeing this, Adachi decides that the jig is up. He's not handing himself over to authorities though, rather, he finds a TV monitor that's currently playing a lecture of some kind of one of the exhibits, and starts climbing into it. "Well, fun's over. And while I can stretch it out, not much point between the party crasher and the one-star Yelp reviews I've been getting." If he isn't stopped, he's gone. He just up and leaves the others. The TV still shimmers like it can be gone through, but the fact he didn't tell them to join him really speaks volumes, probably. Maybe he totally just believes they are big strong boys capable of making their own choices.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Samhain has proven that he is, in fact, willing to feed in a less cruel manner. That wasn't strictly the point of staying to help, however--it was to see, more generally, how committed he is to the idea of bettering himself, of learning to live among the sheep. The answer to that has been found: 'enough to give it an honest attempt.' That's enough terror, for now, then. He makes no effort to stop those who would flee, though he doesn't make any to aid them, either. His interest in this moment is Eryl, whose decision to ring the fire alarm over simply slugging it out has earned a measure of respect. His axe is stopped mid-swing the moment he notices where that shot is placed, the weapon's movement completely halting just inches away from Eryl's position. "Soothli is thy solicitude, per happes," he admits. "Per happes." The weapon is lowered, and rests with the haft between his hands, the eye resting upon the ground. Those who pass by him in panic over the alarm are granted passage with no further terrorizing--and those who dangle from his roots, released with methodical chops of his axe, landing safely in those soft shrubs beneath. "Two answeres didst I inseke this dai; two hath I afound. Yet this light fraisting shalt not be the last of my deming--not of Samhain ne the Paladin hedes-man." He'll test the both of them again soon, and they'll be harder. Adversity is where the true character of men shines through. He extends his hand to Eryl, one still gripping the axe firmly, offering to help him up. "No reson hath we to maken a dwel here-awei; Samhain hath his eteth, Adachi and I oure sporte." He chuckles as Adachi just bails through the TV, glancing briefly over. His face is no longer that 'howling forest madman looking for a fight.' It's actually kind of a sedate expression, though the irises of his eyes are still that unnatural red. Whether the Grandmaster accepts his offer or not, his hand remains outstretched, this time offering a bargain. Samhain will no doubt pull a similar trick--but he has no such tricks up his sleeve. He could try to just chad-walk his way out of this place, but Eryl has proven he's strong and fast enough to make that very inconvenient, without bystanders to distract. Besides, he never really wanted to endanger anyone in a lethal sense, and dragging such a fight onto the streets would just mean him and Eryl taking precautions to avoid the same. That kind of thing can be fun, but he's not in the mood presently. So he offers a deal instead. "Yeven unto us repassage in pes. Three ifightes cannst thou make, where no stroke of skirmirie shalt leave hertes perseverable upon thee." Eryl's analysis subroutines will pick that up as 'let us leave in peace, and I'll guarantee your next three such engagements will leave no lasting wounds upon you.' It's generous, but it's meant to be--it's his highly unusual and eccentric way of saying 'no harm, no foul.' He waits for Eryl's response. If he absolutely has to, he will just try and chad-walk his way back to the bike and take off. At the very least, it would impress him, were Eryl to pursue that doggedly.
Samhain	Samhain is knocked off balance, allowing Eryl to roll. He stumbles into an exhibit, only luckily not damaging it, as he growls. He's about to strike again, when two things happen. Adachi flees through a TV, and Bercilak moves to make a deal. Samhain just sighs, but nods. "Fine. We have determined that this is a sustainable food source. I don't seek a one-on-one duel. Another time." A photoframe appears over Samhain, flies down, and sucks him in. And also the exhibit. After a few minutes, the exhibit is dropped out of a different portal, in a different location than where it originally was.
Eryl Fairfax	With the fire alarm blaring, Eryl has secured the most important thing; their food and sport is absent. Ergo, they have no reason to stick around. Adachi bounces, as does Samhain. But Bercilak... "A trade then?" He considers the big knight's hand, his brain scraping his words over and over, looking for alternate meanings to the words he uses just in case there's something else being implied. But no; in exchange for their free passage, a promise that Eryl will not sustain wounds for his next three fights. "A bizarre offer, but I'm glad to meet one who is even willing to negotiate. Makes a refreshing change." Eryl takes the hand and assistance to get back to his feet. "I accept. Now please, make yourself scarce." He's got a lot of people to tend to, and a display case to replace.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Good. After a firm handshake to seal the deal, Bercilak turns and departs. His armor vanishes, rapidly deconstructed by billions of nanites, eaten away in uneven blue waves which seem to disperse its essence into the air itself. The axe vanishes in much the same fashion, leaving a muscled, green-skinned man in a longcoat, fatigues, and a mesh top that does pretty much nothing to conceal his broad barrel of a chest. He does take the effort to use the out door, despite the fact that the 'in' side was caved in by his earlier barging-in. There's shouting outside, but no violence--at least not on his part. Really, it's not even him shouting. It's the traffic cop who witnessed him crinkle up the ticket placed on the dangerously small windscreen of his hoverbike, throwing it over a shoulder. The wash from the vehicle's military grade thrusters nearly bowls his would-be pursuer over as he takes off towards the warpgate.