Y16/05/06 War Zone

Cast: Ali, Isabel, Apolo, Luna, Luke, Dia
Location: Salon, Expo Park, South Central
Time: Mid-evening on May 6, 2016
Synopsis: Ali loses control of her beast after Luna provokes her.

Salon - Expo Park

This high-ceilinged room is a broad ellipse, about thirty by thirty five feet. There are two large white single doors on the south side of the room. Between the the doors is an information area featuring a pair of bookshelves, a map and a bulletin board. Near the door on the right is a guestbook on a wooden stand.

The curved wall of the room is dominated by a great mural. Its most striking feature is above the information area between the doors; there you see a depiction of a planet, pockmarked with glowing craters and shrouded by dust. Above the mural is gilded scrollwork, and above that, the high ecru ceiling of the room is gently arched. The ceiling seems to glow softly; it is subtly lit by lights hidden in recessed niches; the scattered light is entirely adequate for reading but gentle on even the most sensitive eyes.

The floor is done in green and black marble that counterpoints the dominant colors in the great mural, and the furniture in the room varies according to the occasion, but there are benches built into the walls as a permanent feature, and there is generally a black wooden desk directly opposite the bulletin board.

This room has +views and places.
Obvious exits:
Keeper's Chambers (E) Staff Only Areas (N)

Luna and Apolo arrive from the white double-doors.

Apolo has Luna on one arm as he breezes into the Salon. The two have their heads bent towards each other, quiet words being exchanged in an easy and comfortable tone, like old friends. "… so I sent him to rehab. I thought it was funny, but I don't think he did," the older Malkavian is saying, half laughing at some joke contained in the thought.

Luna giggles girlishly at Apolo's words, her attention rapt on him like a little sister on her idolized elder brother.

Ali arrives from the white double-doors.

Apolo pats Luna once on her hand before disentangling their arms and stepping free of his clanmate, grinning wryly the whole time. He's clearly amused at his own story — haha, clever him. "And then he decided the better part of valor was just never coming back. The end."

"They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no, no, no… Yes I been black, but when I come back… you won't know, know, know…" a young woman sings to herself, the words barely audible to the pair entering the room - their heads bent towards one another. The source of the words sits off to the side of the salon, her small frame seemingly surrounded by a giant leather chair. Her right leg is crossed over her left, her ankle resting on her knee. In her lap, she has a folded up newspaper and a blue ink pen in her right hand. She places the butt of pen in her mouth as she stares blankly at the paper, perhaps working on a crossword or some other puzzle.

The fire doors open with a bang and a crash, each driven by the force of the woman who enters behind them. She, for her part, seems unaware - oblivious of the momentum transferred to the two steel dividers. Ali enters with her chin held up and her expression briefly showing surprise at the company the Elysium boasts tonight.

Apolo and Luna stand in the middle of the Elysium. The older Malkavian, at least, seems comfortable, at ease, as if this were his own living room, shoulders down, hands slid in pockets, weight leaning slightly to one side. His dark eyes skim over Luna's head, towards the singing and might have rested there had not Ali's entrance immediately drawn his attention. There's a mild smile offered to his opposite number and a dip of his dark head.

Luna remains muted as she stands near Apolo, even after the noisy arrival. Ali is given a smile amd a childlike fingerwave.

The dip is met with an incline of Ali's head as her eyes settle on Apolo, then Luna. An exhale joins the greetings as she notices Dia. "Helluva party. Hola, Senor." Her eyes resettle on Apolo. "We've been blessed t'see you in our Elysia more often then not. It's always a pleasure." The fingerwave goes unnoticed.

Dia looks up from her paper as she hears the crash of the doors, but doesn't seem terribly startled. Biting down on the end of the pen, she eyes the Colombian as she enters the room. Shaking her head from side to side ever so slightly, she smiles at the woman and then lowers her eyes back to the paper. She seems rather amused by the Brujah's entrance, but stays out of the pleasantries for now.

Apolo lifts a thin shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "Like I've said before.. I find myself more… restless since I've been back. It seemed a good time to visit, given all the gossip flying about." His smile remains, easy, friendly, but his gaze drops away from Ali, roaming over the empty space at her back, and around the room again to hit all the other faces.

"You do not like me," Luna says to Ali, as if informing her of a fact. "Why?"

As Apolo's gaze leaves her, Ali resumes a long legged pace toward the board. She arches a brow at Luna's question, then stops. "You're a weak willed nothing hanging on the arm of whoever happens to be nearby, who is strongest." she states flatly. "At one point it was South Central. Now it is Downtown. It will be someone else eventually. There's nothing solid to you."

Luna shrugs her thin shoulders. "You are stupid, then, if you think that. I left South Central because it is full of bumbling idiots who do not know if they want to be Camarilla or not. I left for Europe, mind. I think I came back maybe a year later, maybe less, and I chose Downtown because I am Malkavian."

Hearing the volley of insults being exchanged between the two women, Dia raises her eyes up off the paper and settles them on Ali. "Stupid, stupid girl…" Dia mutters softly to herself - probably unheard by the other three occupants of the room. Setting her paper and pen to the side, Dia places both hands firmly down on the arms of the chair and pushes herself up from her seat. She begins to slowly approach the coversationalists, her direction taking her towards Ali - the young girl apparently going to (physically) choose sides.

Apolo was hanging back, absently watching the exchange between the two women with mild confusion, clearly lost in the references. He was quiet, and calm, and perfectly at ease, but all that changes in less than a heartbeat; he's snapped to attention, hands out of his pockets, eyes suddenly sharp and focused down on the other Senschal. "Luna," he warns, sharply, a second too late to be of help.

The tall Brujah stops. Her eyes focus on Luna and remain there, narrowing, yet somehow she seems to look past the Malkavian. Her expression goes slack. At each sides, Ali's hands curl into fists. Her bat starts to scream, its metal twisted as her face contorts into rage and she launches herself, fangs and bat wielded, at Luna.

There is a huge crack as the bat meets Luna's face. Blood goes everywhere, along with what is almost certainly grey matter. Her entire forehead and most of her face caves in under the onslaught. Yeah, she ain't getting up from that one. Not tonight anyway.

Luke appears out of the shadows… The situation becomes that much worse. The antique British submachinegun in the Malkavian's hand springs to life, reporting all throughout the Elysia. "Apolo Creed!! TAKE our idiot sister and get the FUCK OUT OF HERE!" the scraggly looking man doesnt appear to be voicing his concern for his clanmates, no, rather, he sounds quite pissed off. That, and he's shooting at Ali, attempting to put her down. "HEY! SANTIAGO! You want to fuck someone up, you fight LUKE! Stop this shit! Think of South Central!" *BANG BANG BANG BANG* each loud noise makes the Malkavian cringe , a pained look.

Apolo is already moving towards her, though his fast-as-he-can is considerably slower than Ali is, and the hard, tense expression on his face says he's painfully aware of this fact. Skittering across the floor, the older Malkavian slides to a stop next to his clanmate, hardly paying attention to the body as he manhandles it, grabbing an outstretched arm to drag Luna away, while trying to keep an eye on Ali at the same time — well, Ali and her crushing bat.

Dia is about to reach out towards Ali with her right hand as she sees the Brujah tense up - the calm before the storm as it were - but is too late in reaching the woman before she launches an attack on Luna. Dia can only draw back her hand as she sees she's not going to be able to prevent the disaster. But that leaves her ample opportunity to address the sudden outburst of shouting. Almost instinctively, Dia reaches into her right rear pocket and produces a switchblade knife. Pushing her right thumb forward, she extends the three-inch blade and lets it gleem in the available light. She turns her head in the direction of the shouting and focuses her eyes on Luke. She shouts out, "ALI!" - the girl trying to get the Brujah's attention to the change in events and warn her of the impending danger. In the mean time, Dia begins to make her way over to Luke's position.

Dia draws her Switchblade…

There are reasons people step lightly around Brujah. This, undoubtedly, is the largest of the reasons. Rage has twisted Ali's expression into one that is unrecognizable- an animalistic snarl escapes from between her fangs as she carries her momentum around. Apolo, unthreatening, is completely ignored - - there is another that seizes her attention. Her eyes focus like firey pinpoints on Luke. Somehow, the bullets miss her - the spray of lead seems to go around her, allowing her wirey frame to slip between the spaces between. She rages - a literal blur as she crosses the distance between Luna's body and Luke.

Luke gets hit square in the face with the bat. It's not pretty, no, it's not very pretty at all. He's continuing to try to shoot Ali all the way up to the point that the bat squarely connects with him. Then, a sickening crack emits throughout the room and Luke is slammed backwards into an adjacent wall. He slumps to the floor.

Apolo snarls at nothing, using the bullets for what it was intended for, awkwardly scooping up Luna's limp body without preamble and bolting towards the door. He's not the biggest of men, and certainly not the fastest, but he's booking it anyway. His attachment to his pretty face is well documented, and the bat has already done plenty of damage.

Dia comes to a skidding halt as she sees Ali fly across the room and "respond" to her attacker, the young girl almost falling forward as she does so. Waving her arms on either side of her, she tries to regain her balance as quickly as she lost it and succeeds in doing so. "What the fuck is this place coming to?" she asks herself is an exaservated tone.
As Apolo snatches up Luna, he snatches up Ali's attention. Her eyes whip over to the pair of Malkavians and she bares her fangs, lifts her blood soaked bat and starts to charge the two. There can be no mistake- she is utterly focused on Luna, moving so fast toward her goal that she seems to leave pieces of herself behind, but it's just that eyes can't focus fast enough to see her.

Isabel steps out of the shadows.

Isabel draws her Retractable Baton…

Bullet holes riddle the wall. Luke is smashed up, bloody, and not looking well at all - The scraggly Malkavian is slumped against the Great Mural, blood smeared all over it. He's entirely out of commission, his gun still held in his hand with a small trail of smoke rising from the recently heated barrel.

Ali is charging - full out, no more then a blur as she rapidly closes the gap between her and Luna. The bat is a twisted mass of bloody metal at her waist; her fangs extend, wanting, as the Brujah rages as only her blood can.

Luna is a nice bloody heap, with a sizeable bat-shaped indentation smashed into her skull.

Apolo is pell-melling it towards the door, Luna crumped up, decidedly unlady-like, in his arms. See, there's this blur of anger coming his way, and the door doesn't seem to be getting closer fast enough.

Dia turns to look at the bulletin board and flings her knife towards it. Luckily for her, the act is like hitting the broad side of a barn. The blade of the knife sinks into the cork without much effort. The knife itself makes a simple and quick "FWHICK!" sound as it embeds itself into the board. Dia can only place both hands on her hips as she watches the feral Colombian make quick work of the inhabitants of the Elysia. "Fuckin' a…" she says aloud.

Somewhere, at some time, a Nosferatu made it's way through the room undetected. Isabel has taken in the carnage with eyes that narrow in concentration, and at some point took out her weapon of choice. Even with the blurr of motion, the Nosferatu dares to run up behind the Brujah Senechal and thwack the metal across her back with a brutal force.

The baton lays across Ali's spine with a resounding *crack*, the pop of a few ribs and a grunt of surprise that escapes from the Brujah's lips. She is propelled forward, on her feet for a step or two before she tumbles, skids, then rolls to her feet. Isabel, quite clearly, has become her new target of choice.

Somehow, somewhere, that blur does not make contact with the Malkavian. He seems slightly surprised to crash full speed into the door uninjured, but doesn't bother to figure out the exact nature of this miracle, instead tucking his shoulder down and using his moment to get the damn thing open. Escape!

Apolo and Luna leave the Salon by the white double doors; the guard outside of the door makes sure the door is closed afterwards.

Now Dia is regretting throwing that knife away. As soon as she lets go of the knife and turns back to look at Ali, half expecting the Colombian to have coraled Apolo and Luna, she sees Isabel jump out of the shadows and crack Ali over her back with a stick of sort. Throwing her hands up to her face and covering her mouth, the girl lets out a quick "YIP!" and waits patiently for Ali to get back up. When she sees the other woman moving, the girl throws down her hands and shouts towards the two, "KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!"

If Isabel could raise her eyebrow even more at Dia's shouting, it'd be crawlin' up her forehead. She watches Ali turn, like a storm that has sentience …and fangs and death cloaked around her in tatters. Damn Brujah. The Nosferatu draws in a breath as she focuses in the face of such, and starts to sing - the melody is drawn out with it's first grounding note, to be followed by another ethereal sound that caresses the Beast into calm.

There is nothing human left; nothing to respond to Dia's shouting, no matter the volume at which the girl demands. Droplets of everyone else's blood drip from her clenched fists and she pounds her first few steps toward Isabel, bat raising, then lowering as her steps begin to slow - as the Beast is lulled, as her eyes find focus. She snarls at Isabel, then stops, glares. The Beast waits, scrambling to hold on, daring Isabel to falter - it presses, pushes, rages, demands its freedom .. but can find no purchase now.

Dia raises both hands to her forehead and splays her fingers. Running her digits through her scalp, the girl seems to be a great deal more relaxed than when she shouted - as if coming to terms with an impending beating. Blinking her eyes, Dia looks between Isabel and Ali without saying a word.

Luke is still much as he was. Battered and beaten, bloody, and totally incapacitated. He occasionally grunts or shifts his position slightly.

The song that escapes Isabel's throat is beyond the singing of someone with a fine Toreador voice. It moves beyond that, where the timbre moves through a vampire, soothing the Beast into submission. The Latina stands there, back straight and unyielding in her stance. Fear has edged it's way into her arms, as she takes the baton and simply drops it to the ground. Her eyes search Santiago's face, watching her calm down.

With one last push Ali seeks to startle the Nosferatu into falter - she lunges, fangs bared, as the bloodied bat slips from her fingers. It is too little, too late; the stiffness and feral rage slides from Ali's body like an old coat and she licks her lips, touches her fangs, and stares at Isabel as if she'd just been dropped into her body. "..fuck." She lifts both blood covered hands, then turns to survey the carnage.

Dia smiles softly as she watches Ali slip back into her usual self. The girl proceeds to wrap her arms about herself, her hands resting on the opposite-respective hips. "There she is…" she say softly before she proceeds to walk slowly towards the duo.

It wouldn't be the first time Isabel's been on the receiving end of Ali's Beast; whether or not this steadfast standing there is suicidal or sheer gathered willpower and confidence is up to anyone's pondering. Her lids do halve her eyes at the last attempt of the Brujah's fiery Beast. The song is pushed, though it is no louder or stronger and simply /is/ as the rage is washed away for the time being.

The Brujah comes back to look straight at Isabel. Her shoulders sag, pulling her young form further down with the weight of things. "..someone get Luke some food. Fucking Luna. What a stupid bitch." Her hands come up and she rubs at her eyes, then drifts toward Dia.

Luke eventually rises to his feet. "Whoa! Wicked head rush, yeaah!" he shakes his head and staggers, bracing himself against the wall while he regains his composure. He picks up his gun and quickly crams it into his jacket, using his sleeve to wipe the blood off his face. The Malkavian looks about as if he's trying to make some sense of what the current state of affairs is, blinking twice and showing his fangs. "Shit shit shit!"

Dia unwraps her arms from about her body and then holds her hands out towards the Brujah, the little girl offering a cold embrace to the taller Colombian. Her face is a mixture of subsiding fright and elation - Dia seeming to forget about the near-corpse near the mural and the other girl having to be dragged out of the Elysium to live. Not even Luke's second-wind seems to phase her at this point.

"Verdad, Luke." Ali nods at the Malkavian and gladly accepts Dia's embrace, sighing as she drapes her bloody hands over the other woman's shoulders, then leans there. "You aight? Sorry 'bout that, sometimes it just gets away from me. Lemme offer you the chance to even it up outside, that work for you?" she wonders.

The Nosferatu drifts a few steps forward, trying more to be heard, than to be seen. She still hasn't stopped singing, allowing the unnatural rhythm to maintain the peace. Her hands tuck behind her as she takes a few steps behind Ali, keeping her distance and keeping her gaze moving from vampire to vampire.

Luke doesnt really respond to anyone. The Malkavian walks, barely, with a heavy limp, towards the exit of the Elysia, constantly mouthing words to himself even though no words ecape. He's moving fairly slow due to his still severe injuries.

Dia looks around Ali's frame, the girl hearing Isabel's footsteps in the near distance. Her child-like eyes flash at the Nosferatu before blinking once. She's able to poke her nose and mouth around the Colombian to get a better look at Isabel without making the embrace awkward. She mouthes the word, "Thanks" towards Isabel - hoping to catch one of her sporadic glances before pulling back to look up at Ali and saying, "Nuh-uh… No more fitting for you missy… You need to get cleaned up - pronto!"

"Isabel, make sure he's fed." Ali's eyes flit toward Luke; the rest of her remains as is,resting, leaning on Dia. One hand reaches back and she twists, eyes a rib protruding out of her back, and snaps it back into place. She sighs at the younger Brujah and despite the momentary edge of fang present as she's ordered around, Ali's fight is over for the night. She turns to the girl. "C'mon, let's go home. I got like ninety letters to write now, all cause that fucking stupid Malkavian doesn't know when to shut up."

Isabel inclines her head in recognition of Dia's thanks, and then to Ali's words. She starts to lower her voice, the song begins to fade as she trots after Luke to ensure his dinner is full of healthy vitae.

Luke leaves the Salon by the white double doors; the guard outside of the door makes sure the door is closed afterwards.

"You don't have to tell me twice…" the girl says to her amante. "I ain't going to be stuck cleaning up this place after you fuckers absolutely trashed it…" She chuckles softly to herself and then turns her body to face the exit doors while keeping one side of her touching Ali's. She keeps an arm wrapped about the small of the Colombian's back and leans her head into Ali's arm. "You can write your letters in the office /after/ you get those hands washed off and we find a place to bury that bat…"

"Watch your mouth.." Ali offers a weary sigh and presses two fingers to her forehead as she walks alongside Dia. "I'll have the boys come back and clean, but I oughta grab Luna and mop the mess up with her hair. I just fucking got this bat, goddamnit. At least I didn't off Apolo."

The Nosferatu swings open the fire door and takes one look behind her at both Dia, then Santiago. Her lips curl for a moment into some resemblance of a soft grin before she turns and darts up the stairs, disappearing into the last echo of her boot-steps.

Isabel has left.

"Hey… Mind /your/ fuckin' language…" Dia says in jest with a bit of laugh as she guides the Colombian towards the door. "But yeah… I'd leave that chick the wallow a bit in her own misery before I went and did something like that."

"..Dia." The entire tone says it - - /not now/. Ali rakes her fingers back through her hair, then exits through the doors with Dia.

Ali and Dia leave the Salon by the white double doors; the guard outside of the door makes sure the door is closed afterwards.

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Original Work is licensed under a CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 US License.