[ismilealot]

Jail had the damn same posing and posturing it had had back when she'd been a bit more frequent visitor. But, this wasn't the tank with the more hard-core criminal element, so a bit of posturing and a few scrapped knuckles and black eye later Arc had established that she wasn't one to back down, but wasn't threatening Belladonna's status as the leader either and they left her alone and she was able to get some sleep.

[Shaman_Yuri]

"I..." I hesitate as Yelena offers.  "If you'd rather spend time with Marco-san, I understand.  But if you wouldn't mind coming back, I do have a lot I'd like to talk about.  I...it's up to you."

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena squeezes Firefly's hand and turns walk to where Marco is standing.  "Marco, dear,  Decker mage much trauma tonight.  Yelena need go with.  Need sleep anyway.  Marco shopping.  Yelena at spa.  Talk Marco after wake up.  Make plan.  Can take cab?"  She walks back over to her Scorpion and climbs on, motioning for Firefly to join her.  "Can hold on?"  Yelena go slow."

[Shaman_Yuri]

Firefly nods and mounts the bike behind Yelena like someone who has plenty of experience in such a position. It's clear she's been a bike passenger if perhaps not a driver before.

[ismilealot]

During the night Arc is awakened suddenly and very roughly by having her hair grabbed and yanked hard. When she screams out of pure shock and pain a gag is forced into her mouth. A blind punch at her a assailant gets her arm grabbed and handcuffed to the bed.

[Mercy Merchant]

After saying farewell to Marco and getting Firefly sorted, Yelena fires up the bike and drives off for home.  On the way, she sends a note to Marco.  >>Marco.  Is Yelena.  Marco call Blake and tell change plans?  And Marco not think Yelena forget.  Much time between us yet to come.  Yelena love Marco.<<  Once the message is off, Yelena pushes the Scorpion to the speed limit and asks Firefly, "Decker mage live at garage yet.  Or elsewhere?"

[SgtBoomCloud]

The car ride....dark, modern tech removing even the crackling of a police radio in the KE patrol car.  Cuffed and stuck in the back, the firm plastic seat made the mechanic sore from the bumpy ride.  Ten minutes...no, fifteen passed before the car pulled in to a stop.  "Hoi, get out slow.  No funny business, missy"  Rolling her eyes, Arc had calmed herself down in the trip...even managed a few last sobs.  Adopting a wide-eyed look, she stepped out, ribs hurting a bit as she was pulled up roughly by the arm.  "Tch, easy omae.  We cool, i'm comin'"  Pulled along, she looked up to see the local patrol building, the golden shield of the Knight's Errant emblazoned boldly over the front door.

Once inside, Arc was pulled past the front, the entry desk occupied by a dark-haired ork lady in full uniform, scribbling on a report.  She barely looked up to give a nod of recognition to the two cops as she was led down a side hall.  "Lucky day for you...we don't book until tomorrow.   You get the communal cell tonight...doubt it, but you may be lucky if your friends change their weird-hoop minds.."  Sharing a guffaw between them, the short human was uncuffed and then immediately shoved through a cage door into the cell, occupied by about a half dozen other women.  Now these...these were of the cut of cloth that Arc was familiar with, from the streets like her.

Rubbing her wrist, she flexed her shoulders as she looked around, all eyes on her as she found an unoccupied cot to claim for her hoop.  As she approached, she was cut off by a rather lanky looking ork woman, her hair in long dreads as her mismatched tusks jutted from her lower lip.  "Well, lookit what finna move in likea she belong inna heah.  You lost, little 'ken?  Yo sugahdaddy leave y'all behind or summat?"  Arc's eyebrow twitched as she kept her gaze averted, her arms coming to her sides as she kept her eyes straight forward, jaw set.

This seemed to rile up the ork a bit as she put her arms akimbo, leaning to one side with an exaggerated swagger.  "Oh, she think she too good for talkin', huh?  Or are you deaf?  All that metal in ya, couldn't afford no ears?  Hell-ooo, this is ~Belladonna~ speakin' to you, and all these slitches here answer to me, your sweet little slot included, you got that 'ken? So why don't you scoot that fat little hoop of yours over in the corner, be with the trash that you worth in heah."

Arc froze, legs standing at shoulder width as she relaxed her stance, her singed hair draped to one side of her head as she slowly looked up, her green cybereyes glinting as she met hers, face to face, letting out a spit at the ork's heel as she pulled her shoulders back to push her chest forward, spitting out her best Or'Zet back at her.  "Para'kar E'thu, 'Ken', Eh tra'a curah Fi~rakara t'o Lun, a'eh na viro'ten li "slitches" a tiro'ken Drek.  Eh yorie hurl'gast, Ek'ko no buunda sehrik, na?"   Belladonna's eyes grew wide as this retort, straightening up as her face twisted into a hideous spat of malice.   "Ohhh, you think you all that then?  Well you finna want, you better finna take it...one shot, I bet you ain't got the HEZ for it.  Come on, slitch, wuzzit gon' be?"

The sound of metal colliding with flesh was the only, quick, answer to the challenge, the short human swinging out her right cyberarm in a heavy hook right into the ork's cheek.  The other women in the cell drew in a sharp breath as Belladonna recoiled, holding her jaw as she gave a toothy grin, returning the salvo with a punch of her own.  Arc stood up to it without flinching, taking the blow to her eye with little shift as she lifted her arms up, blocking the second incoming swing as she stared back up at her, her face not having enough time to bruise as she locked eyes, the look of the hunter she was raised to be in her expression as she held the other's fist.

"...Tch...dayum girl, aight you get it.  Take the cot, you earned it.  You finna stay here though, we see whatchu about...tch"  Nursing her jaw, the ork backed away to her own cot, licking her wounds in both a literal and figurative sense, the others leaving her alone as she hopped on, lying down with a groan as she lay on her back, arms held gently over her front, ready to respond to a threat...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arc slept uncomfortably, but at least for a while she was able to close her eyes, letting her body sort through the abuse it has received that evening.  The throbbing in her hear began to dissipate, and her ribs felt less like they were being stabbed.  For once this night, she seemed to be allowed to heal..


And then the feel of her scalp getting pulled tore her into reality.

"GAH!  MOTHER FU-MMPH!!!"  Twisting under the gag forced into her mouth, her green cyber eyes darted to look at her assailant, her cyber arm launching out at the figure.  But it was easily deflected, and before she knew it, the familiar click o cuffs held her to the bed.

Squirming, she pulled at the links as she turned, body tensed as she ascertained who was doing this to her.  What do you want, she wanted to ask, but all that came out was "MmMmMmph!  MMMPH MMMPH!"

Confusion and fear was all over her face as her survival instinct kicked...she was going to die without a fight.

[gilga]

Marco texts Blake >> We are not going to party tonight, too tired - sorry for the last minute change of plan and catch you up soon. and then bids Tuska and Merlin farewell saying "That was an interesting night... but this is where I go home before it becomes even stranger." Then he returned home, it was a nice jogging and Marco felt the desire to improve his physical state "I need this run" he thought. There was nothing, just him the road and thoughts it was difficult to process it all.

The shape-change spell have proved very robust and shadowy... from kidnapping people to gaining tactical advantage underwater or even flying across the border. It had limitations but the possibilities - they were endless.  Surprisingly these utilities were never the reason to learn it, Marco recently learned it and was still fascinated by the options. The initial motivation was to expand his ability to care also about the animal kingdom... and to entertain clients. Pleasing people was also a strong motivation. “They seem so happy when they finally climax after experiencing some mind blowing experiences”  He thought to himself.

Strangely enough the skills required to be a magical escort and these required to be a professional assassin or shadowrunner seemed to overlap and it was scary to think how dark these capabilities can become.

“... and then I Daemon raped Firefly... Thanks Asmodeus that was a really dick way to behave. Made the scenario where I actually make her scream extremely unlikely... Tough it is not that bad as I seem to take people to bed even if I don’t intend to. I seduce myself with my own capabilities. Still you should not have done so, it is no way to behave - people have to willingly kiss you. ”

But there was more to that than a friend stepping out of line. Marco defined the service, he was in control he could have stopped at any time but was afraid to stop prematurely in case Firefly is attacked again that night - and she was - there is no saying what that fireball would have done to her had Marco stopped his Daemon prematurely. 
That behavior was odd - and Marco was sure that something was wrong with him.
“Perhaps this is why the church have never given up on me, perhaps they can see this darkness underneath and are waiting for it to get strong enough. They know me my entire life and understand me better than anyone. I was running away from negative feelings, terrified with their effect on people around me, but my fear makes them stronger than they really are.

Still - emotions for me actually manipulate the real world - there is no saying how terrible negative emotions can be, but ignoring them makes them louder and I am ignoring my emotions for 15 years. 

I... I... I am angry about my parents. They should have loved me and did not. “

The realization that it is anger that Marco feels was terrifying the only time he managed to be angry about something was when Agrat pushed all his buttons, but to be judgmental about his parents? He could not - until now.

Then came the thought about Ginny as he could turn her angry like he never thought possible, anger flowed so freely in her. She was comfortable with it, she did not fear it she felt it and then could be released with it - he showed her Passion.

Marco thinks "Darn... now I think about her like THAT... but she genuinely seemed to care for me. How wonderful is the world when I can just fall in love and drop everything and follow my heart. Without powerful masters and without commitments."

“My life are terrible, I am not free I am waiting in dread for the time I am activated... a time that is getting closer as my magical potential matures and tonight my mojo is all over the news if the church is paying attention they must know how powerful I became.


They had me almost my entire life, they know so much about me, perhaps they understand that this darkness in me is going to take over. Perhaps this is what they are waiting for, when I am consumed by anger and am willing to do anything to allow my anger of my parents to manifest. 

I must never go there, I need help but who can possibly help me? DB? The Lord? Agrat? Yelena? I feel so alone, struggling with emotions that can literally hurt people around me. “ 


Once home, Marco went directly to the shower.
He prayed for Arc’s safety and then to Lady’s safety, and then for Ginny’s success - that was what she wanted. Then he texted Lady Then came sleep filled with passionate dreams about the wonderful people he slept with this last week.

[ismilealot]

@ Arc  Arc feels the pain as an electrical shock jolts the inside of her right thigh. And then, in her ear she hears, "Aight slitch. You finna tell us everything that went down tonight. An I mean everything." Pain courses thjrough you again as the shock is applied closer to your groin.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Any attempts to cry out in alarm were cut off as the stunning discharge of the tazer to her leg shocked through her body.  Still gagged, she convulsed as she bit down on the vile tasting cloth, eyes shut as she tensed her musckes, trying to work through the pain .  She could not identify or see who her assailant was, but in the brief moments that followed the shock, as the words rang into her skull, she had an opportunity to think as her eyes widened.

Dirty cops.  Or club thugs.  Maybe both.  Frag all  breathing hard through the gag, she glanced towards the source of the voice as if to say that she would have a hwe'd tie to answer, but before she could try to communicate the second shock hit her, her body writhing.

"MMMMRRGGH.  MM-MMPH MM-MRR!"  she protested out before slumping back on the bed with labored breath, sweat on her brow as she lay, giving the impression that she ran out of energy. come on, girly, you got beat worse than this...think about what you fighting for.  All those peeps missing, for your team, your vruk, your srui...you can do this...

When the gag came off, Arc spat out the taste as she drew in air, trying to regain her breath as she looked up at the figure.  "who'a askin?  If you here, then u all got the statements.  Had an accident, got a little mad, end of story.  What, you want me to admit about my date with yo mamma?"

[ismilealot]

The taser gets closer to Arc's groin the bite taking her breath away with the pain. "Dayum my momma got bad taste." Then her hair is grabbed, her head jerked back hard, the taser now at her throat. She feel the body of one of her assailants up against hers. His head leans down close and he says softly into her ear. "You were hired to escort a VIP to a party. And now no VIP and you're sayin' 'Sorry no can do.' So, now I want all the facts, and how you intend to fix this."

[Duck N. Cover]

     As promised, the crew at Carroll & Sons let her back in and put Tuskaloosa to work.  Other than Hatter's capering, all conversation to her was kept strictly directional; whether because of her own somber mood or because of the orchestrated frenzy that was the chopper's rapid evacuation, she couldn't say.
     As she finished delivering her latest load, she heard Chesh call her name: “Tusk.”  The gnome jerked a thumb at a nearby empty section of garage.  “Take five.”
     The troll would have liked to argue against it.  She stepped over to the wall and slid down.
   

[ismilealot]

The reprieve isn't long. Once they'd sent the next load out, the big garage door no sooner closed than Alyce yells over, "Oye! Tusks! We need you ta move yer bike. It's blocking some equipment." The five minute reprieve had given her just enough time to be grateful for sitting. And let her know just how much objection she had to standing. It had been awhile since she'd been this busy and the roller-coaster ride of events had her exhausted both mentally and physically. But, move her bike she had. Even if she wasn't actually blocking anything. She'd grown up in a garage. She knew where to park her fraggin' bike! Except, she'd grown up in the garage of an honest man. Something these choppers were definitely not. Once she'd moved it, Alyce had activated a hidden switch and what had been smooth concrete one moment was a large opening with stairs going down the next. And even before it was fully open the gnome brigade got to work on the contents.

[SgtBoomCloud]

As the pain jolts through her, muscles clenching as the electricity coursed through her, Arc's mind was racing as she was forced up, head pulled back hard, her throat raggedly shouting through the agony.  Okay, so two drekheads on my hoop...is that Ninelives?  Naw, he'd likely not mess with this drek when he a part owner...frag it, this hurts.  H'okay.  Ain't no way KE knows this drek without club info, so I'm screwed either way.  Okay..

"nnhh...hold up hold up, frag!  Gahh..."  She drew in a labored breath as she held herself tight, feeling the cold kiss of the taser's leads over her throat.  "Y'all don't need that. I-I'll spill, null sheen"  She gulped down a bit, trembling in a mix of fear and the aftereffects of the shocks in her upper legs as she took in a breath.  Here goes..

"T-the job went as planned.  Got the VIP, made 'er comfy, and stuck her boot-style in my ride to take her to the party.  Only I got a few miles down the road before all drek broke loose and my ride went up in flames and blew all to drek.  Slitch was a mojo slinger, aye?  Figured it was some fireball drek."  She squirmed a bit as the taser was pressed harder.  "Hoi hoi, we cool!  I know I know, I fragged up.  Shoulda made sure she stayed down.  Anyhow, I was barely outta the ride before I blacked out.  When I came to, my car was slag and she was gone.  No body, so ran off or som-somethin'."  She closed her eyes, an expression of pain on her face.

"That's why I commed in about the frag up.  To tell y'all I didn't kip out with the VIP.  But I got a way I can try to fix it.  I planted a tag on 'er clothes.  If my people don't hear from me, then they'll go huntin' for her.    So I's just need some time, omaes.  Let me work through this drek I'm in now, and I'll get to gettin' yo VIP.  Tell Nines he don't even need to pay.  Pride's at stake, and I'll see the job done"  She drew in her breath, keeping as still as possible as she tried to get a look at her attackers again..subtley..  Hope this works...

[ismilealot]

@ Arc  Arc hears, "Planted a tag huh." and her head is jerked back again and the voice hisses in her ear. "Comm-code now. An we'd better be able ta verify or yo dumb-ass breeder life ain't worth yo parts."