Operation: We'll Always Have Paris - Log 9
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xp_logsKevin leads Team Magic into the labyrinth, having Amanda and Topaz harry the first of Fitzroy's guards before escaping.
The mercenaries tossed Rutledge down at Fitzroy's feet in the dank basement room. An ancient looking stone archway led deeper into the bowels of Paris at the end of the room. Fitzroy nudged the old man with his foot, prodding him to his knees.
"Now, with poor Lucian gone, I know that only another Hellfire Club majordomo is capable of conducting the ceremony of transferring the rings. And the rings input the way through the labyrinth. While election at the point of a gun isn't traditional, it isn't entirely unknown in the history of the club. So, Mister Rutledge, will you perform the ceremony or do I need to walk through the labyrinth with you walking in front every step of the way?"
The old man shook his head. He was battered, but there wasn't any fear in his voice or his eyes as he regarded the other man. "You are not wrong. There is precedence for elections at sword point. I doubt it helps you though." His accent was dry and precise, like a member of the House of Lords delivering an edict. He opened the case with a sigh and brought out four rather simple looking gold and silver banded rings. "As the duly authorized deputy of the power of the Hellfire Club, I proclaim Trevor Fitzroy to have acquired the royal offices of the Paris branch." He slipped all four of the rings onto both of Fitzroy's hands. Once done, he stepped back and took a slightly unsteady seat. "It will take several days for the full information encoded in the rings to be absorbed, but they will lead you through the labyrinth now, if that is what you want."
"I was expecting more defiance, if I'm to be honest."
"The Paris branch is not my club, M. Fitzroy. And I think we both know, it's not truly yours either."
Fitzroy was quiet for a long moment. "You and I will have a long talk one day, old man. But for now, I have other priorities. Secure him and then come with me. It's time to crack open this mystery."
Four guards moved out ahead of Fitzroy, spearheading his entry to the labyrinth after zip-tying Rutledge to a chair. The labyrinth awaited.
***
Kevin had moved the team through the stone archway minutes ahead of Fitzroy, quickly making his way through the underground passages, pausing only occasionally to shine his flashlight on a specific wall or stone before turning one way or another. Occasionally, he stopped to run his fingers over a bas-relief or a carving before pointing them the way to go. Finally, he paused and gathered them up.
"We've reached the magical part of the labyrinth. This is the part that changes; re-organizes itself. Sefton, Topaz, I want you to see if you can peel a couple of guards off Fitzroy. Don't get greedy, but once you do, see this symbol?" He tapped the keystone in an archway; two faces facing opposite ways. "Only walk through arches with this overtop. It will lead you out of the labyrinth with routes back to the street. Bleed them a bit and then get the hell out."
"Got it." Amanda glanced over at Topaz; the blonde was still wearing the waitress uniform from the gala and her businesslike expression seemed out of place. "Let's have ourselves a game of hide and seek, shall we?"
"Sounds like fun." Topaz was already casting a mental net out, trying to get an idea of what they were up against. "Five people. Assuming one is Fitzroy, so four guards. Ready when you are."
As the others went further into the maze, Amanda stuck her hand into the wall by her, making a surface connection with Paris. She wouldn't have been able to do this in the magical part of the catacombs, but here she could 'talk' unhindered. There was a shivering of the stone wall and then two recesses opened up, deep in shadows. Perfect hiding places in the otherwise exposed corridor, if combined with some "don't bother looking over here" feelings on Topaz' part.
Topaz watched the wall open, then looked ahead again. "What do you think? Spook them and lead them into a trap?"
"Less 'shock and awe' and more 'surprise and confusion'? Sounds like it could work. Keep a shield ready, tho' - even if Fitzroy is shite at magic, his henchmen won't be." Amanda cocked her head at the sound of voices. "Looks like we're on."
The small group moved quickly through the labyrinth, Fitzory using the newly implanted knowledge of the route to speed them through. He motioned two to take point while he kept the other pair next to him.
The two who moved ahead were ready for a physical attack. Not for the shadows to suddenly look a little longer, for their footsteps to echo a little louder. What was that noise? They were both looking around now, noticeable hesitation in their steps. Did something just turn that corner up ahead? It was just the shadows. The shadows weren't alive. ...Right? That was the wind, not a whisper in their ears. Wind? In the catacombs?
Topaz carefully strung them along, the paranoia building gradually without becoming completely overwhelming all at once. "There's a split up ahead of where they're walking. I can turn them the wrong way if you want to drop a trap?"
"On it." Amanda pressed both hands into the wall on either side of her in her hidey-hole and closed her eyes. There was a rumble and a shower of dust and then a shower of stones from the roof which blocked the archway. Unfortunately Fitzroy and two of his guards made it through first, but the two remaining guards, lagging behind already due to Topaz's manipulations, were left on this side.
With a tired sigh, Amanda withdrew her hands - communicating with the city with this much magical interference wasn't easy.
If the guards had been paranoid before, they were freaked out by the sudden ceiling collapse. Fire coalesced around the fists of one as he leapt back and whipped his head around wildly, looking for an attacker, while the other called up a shielding spell, a shimmer of light appearing around his body. Leaving the shielded one for Topaz since her empathy could influence him even with the shield up, Amanda stepped out of hiding and launched a force beam at the other.
Topaz turned her attention fully to the shielded one. The ceiling collapse had driven them completely into hysterics without her having to do much. The shielded guard looked on in horror as his partner was attacked, presumably out of nowhere, and Topaz pressed a little harder on that fear. All rational went out the window as he broke into a run, dropping his shield... and went headfirst into an invisible wall. He almost certainly had a mild concussion as he dropped to the floor, unconscious.
Amanda's magic skittered off a small shield her opponent conjured at the last minute and then had to do the same as a fireball enveloped her. The smell of burning hair filled the space as the end of her braid was singed and she grimaced. Bad enough the brown dye job but now she was going to have to cut it again. Her return spell picked up her mood and the henchman was blasted down the corridor by a combination of Sienne river water and the electricity powering the City of Lights. With a scream he went down, spasming.
Shadows raised out of the ground, tying down both guards until only their eyes and the tops of their heads were visible. "You okay?" Topaz asked as she stepped out of hiding.
"Je vais bien, juste un peu croustillant sur les bords." Amanda paused and took in Topaz's expression. "Merde. Sorry. Too much Paris. I'm okay." She cocked her head at the arch Kevin had pointed at before. "Allons-y?"
"I got the basics, don't worry." Topaz looked up and down the hall, mentally scanning it. "Seems like that's all we can do... After you."
The mercenaries tossed Rutledge down at Fitzroy's feet in the dank basement room. An ancient looking stone archway led deeper into the bowels of Paris at the end of the room. Fitzroy nudged the old man with his foot, prodding him to his knees.
"Now, with poor Lucian gone, I know that only another Hellfire Club majordomo is capable of conducting the ceremony of transferring the rings. And the rings input the way through the labyrinth. While election at the point of a gun isn't traditional, it isn't entirely unknown in the history of the club. So, Mister Rutledge, will you perform the ceremony or do I need to walk through the labyrinth with you walking in front every step of the way?"
The old man shook his head. He was battered, but there wasn't any fear in his voice or his eyes as he regarded the other man. "You are not wrong. There is precedence for elections at sword point. I doubt it helps you though." His accent was dry and precise, like a member of the House of Lords delivering an edict. He opened the case with a sigh and brought out four rather simple looking gold and silver banded rings. "As the duly authorized deputy of the power of the Hellfire Club, I proclaim Trevor Fitzroy to have acquired the royal offices of the Paris branch." He slipped all four of the rings onto both of Fitzroy's hands. Once done, he stepped back and took a slightly unsteady seat. "It will take several days for the full information encoded in the rings to be absorbed, but they will lead you through the labyrinth now, if that is what you want."
"I was expecting more defiance, if I'm to be honest."
"The Paris branch is not my club, M. Fitzroy. And I think we both know, it's not truly yours either."
Fitzroy was quiet for a long moment. "You and I will have a long talk one day, old man. But for now, I have other priorities. Secure him and then come with me. It's time to crack open this mystery."
Four guards moved out ahead of Fitzroy, spearheading his entry to the labyrinth after zip-tying Rutledge to a chair. The labyrinth awaited.
***
Kevin had moved the team through the stone archway minutes ahead of Fitzroy, quickly making his way through the underground passages, pausing only occasionally to shine his flashlight on a specific wall or stone before turning one way or another. Occasionally, he stopped to run his fingers over a bas-relief or a carving before pointing them the way to go. Finally, he paused and gathered them up.
"We've reached the magical part of the labyrinth. This is the part that changes; re-organizes itself. Sefton, Topaz, I want you to see if you can peel a couple of guards off Fitzroy. Don't get greedy, but once you do, see this symbol?" He tapped the keystone in an archway; two faces facing opposite ways. "Only walk through arches with this overtop. It will lead you out of the labyrinth with routes back to the street. Bleed them a bit and then get the hell out."
"Got it." Amanda glanced over at Topaz; the blonde was still wearing the waitress uniform from the gala and her businesslike expression seemed out of place. "Let's have ourselves a game of hide and seek, shall we?"
"Sounds like fun." Topaz was already casting a mental net out, trying to get an idea of what they were up against. "Five people. Assuming one is Fitzroy, so four guards. Ready when you are."
As the others went further into the maze, Amanda stuck her hand into the wall by her, making a surface connection with Paris. She wouldn't have been able to do this in the magical part of the catacombs, but here she could 'talk' unhindered. There was a shivering of the stone wall and then two recesses opened up, deep in shadows. Perfect hiding places in the otherwise exposed corridor, if combined with some "don't bother looking over here" feelings on Topaz' part.
Topaz watched the wall open, then looked ahead again. "What do you think? Spook them and lead them into a trap?"
"Less 'shock and awe' and more 'surprise and confusion'? Sounds like it could work. Keep a shield ready, tho' - even if Fitzroy is shite at magic, his henchmen won't be." Amanda cocked her head at the sound of voices. "Looks like we're on."
The small group moved quickly through the labyrinth, Fitzory using the newly implanted knowledge of the route to speed them through. He motioned two to take point while he kept the other pair next to him.
The two who moved ahead were ready for a physical attack. Not for the shadows to suddenly look a little longer, for their footsteps to echo a little louder. What was that noise? They were both looking around now, noticeable hesitation in their steps. Did something just turn that corner up ahead? It was just the shadows. The shadows weren't alive. ...Right? That was the wind, not a whisper in their ears. Wind? In the catacombs?
Topaz carefully strung them along, the paranoia building gradually without becoming completely overwhelming all at once. "There's a split up ahead of where they're walking. I can turn them the wrong way if you want to drop a trap?"
"On it." Amanda pressed both hands into the wall on either side of her in her hidey-hole and closed her eyes. There was a rumble and a shower of dust and then a shower of stones from the roof which blocked the archway. Unfortunately Fitzroy and two of his guards made it through first, but the two remaining guards, lagging behind already due to Topaz's manipulations, were left on this side.
With a tired sigh, Amanda withdrew her hands - communicating with the city with this much magical interference wasn't easy.
If the guards had been paranoid before, they were freaked out by the sudden ceiling collapse. Fire coalesced around the fists of one as he leapt back and whipped his head around wildly, looking for an attacker, while the other called up a shielding spell, a shimmer of light appearing around his body. Leaving the shielded one for Topaz since her empathy could influence him even with the shield up, Amanda stepped out of hiding and launched a force beam at the other.
Topaz turned her attention fully to the shielded one. The ceiling collapse had driven them completely into hysterics without her having to do much. The shielded guard looked on in horror as his partner was attacked, presumably out of nowhere, and Topaz pressed a little harder on that fear. All rational went out the window as he broke into a run, dropping his shield... and went headfirst into an invisible wall. He almost certainly had a mild concussion as he dropped to the floor, unconscious.
Amanda's magic skittered off a small shield her opponent conjured at the last minute and then had to do the same as a fireball enveloped her. The smell of burning hair filled the space as the end of her braid was singed and she grimaced. Bad enough the brown dye job but now she was going to have to cut it again. Her return spell picked up her mood and the henchman was blasted down the corridor by a combination of Sienne river water and the electricity powering the City of Lights. With a scream he went down, spasming.
Shadows raised out of the ground, tying down both guards until only their eyes and the tops of their heads were visible. "You okay?" Topaz asked as she stepped out of hiding.
"Je vais bien, juste un peu croustillant sur les bords." Amanda paused and took in Topaz's expression. "Merde. Sorry. Too much Paris. I'm okay." She cocked her head at the arch Kevin had pointed at before. "Allons-y?"
"I got the basics, don't worry." Topaz looked up and down the hall, mentally scanning it. "Seems like that's all we can do... After you."
