Play@YSDC

Your eyes close and you flinch instinctively as the wave of heat washes over you. Immediately, you feel a change in the atmosphere and a sudden lurching sense of vertigo. You open your eyes, and see you are now standing in the aisle of a supermarket, with pet food on one side, and cleaning supplies on the other.



As you struggle to get your bearings, you realize it is unearthly quiet in the supermarket, though you can hear the sounds of multiple people whimpering, somewhere to the front of the store. Suddenly, a voice cries out, "Heads up! PIG!" following by a brief exchange of gunfire. A cacophony of terrified screams erupts, and then another voice, sounding slightly muffled, shouts "Shut the fuck up and get down, you cunts!"

You are standing roughly in the middle of the aisle, and are facing the end with the checkout area, though you can't see anyone from where you're currently standing.

Bewildered at how she got here, Christine nonetheless allows her instincts to take over. She drops to the floor, gritting her teeth in rage at the scuzballs who are apparently engaged in a shootout with the police. Automatically, her mace finds its way into her hand, where she conceals it in her palm. Determined to be a good witness rather than a victim, and if possible to help the police, she crawls towards the front of the store to try to get a look at what's going on.

By crawling down to the end of the aisle towards the registers, Christine can see a man standing in front of the exit behind the the cash registers, holding a handgun. His face is obscured by a plastic Obama mask, but he is Caucasian judging from his hands. His head moves from side to side quickly and jerkily, and the gun is shaking slightly in his hand. He is standing next to what appears to be a floral section.



The man turns and looks down the line of registers. "What the hell, man? You said we weren't going to kill anyone, Skeet."

The voice from earlier replies harshly, "No first fucking names, Bi...bitch! Just keep an eye out down your end." From the ground, you can't make out the second man, but you can tell he is holding a shotgun in gloved hands. You can also see shoppers and cashiers cowered in between the checkouts. The smell of gunpowder is in the air.

Christine gets an extremely good look at her surroundings.

Mathew is totaly confused, 'How the hell did we get here?' Luckily he has the presence of mind to hit the ground when the lady did.
Mathew concluded that she seemed to know what she was doing, and she was armed, even if it was just a can of Mace, so he just slowly crawled after her...

Christine can tell that the man with the Obama mask is wearing the same clothes as the first man you removed from the car wreck. However, he is also wearing some kind of medallion around his neck, His body movements appear nervous.

Christine makes no move yet, but continues to watch carefully, keeping the mace in her hand hidden beneath her body.

The sounds of a scuffle erupt from the other end of store, followed by a gunshot and screams. The man in the Obama mask runs in the direction, until a voice rings out, "Hold your fucking position, asshole." He's stopped in front of your aisle, but hasn't noticed you, as far as you can tell.

"Somehow, that's the guy from the first car," Christine whispers to Mathew when he arrives. "Bill Toge, the sheriff called him. The second robber, Skeet, almost called him that too. He's got some kind of medallion around his neck."

Shit!! Thinks Mathew and freezes as still as possible, Just keep looking the other way man, he feverishly scans the nearby shelves for anything he can use as a weapon.

The aisle around you contains pet food and cleaning supplies, including some heavy looking cans of 'CHUM' dog food and various industrial cleaning sprays. The sounds of sirens converging on the building come into earshot, as Obama mask guy dashes back to the exit and holds his gun in front of him, pointing out the door.

"I don't think Bill wants to hurt anyone," Christine continues. "It's Skeet who's shooting people. He probably roped Bill into this robbery. If I could get a chance to speak to Bill without Skeet around, I think I could talk him down, convince him to testify against Skeet in return for reduced charges with a lighter sentence."

"The cops, man, the cops!", Bill yells. He fires twice out of the exit. More shots are coming from the other end of the store.

A man in a Reagan mask runs down past the registers, holding a shotgun in his hand. As he passes your aisle, he turns and sees you, flashes his gun briefly in your direction with a snarl, then runs onwards towards Bill. "Stay the fuck here, Manning has almost got the money. When I give the signal, run through the produce area and loop around the back of the store, we meet at the fire exit, the car is there. Just keep the cops trapped outside, and don't let anyone get out." He then dashes back past your aisle away from Bill.

"First I'd better pass on what I know to the police outside," whispers Christine as she takes out her cell phone with her free hand. She makes sure the sound is turned down and calls 911.

Mathew staying as close to the floor as possible looks along the shelf for some oven cleaner spray (caustic soda)and possibly some liquid polish.

When Christine brings her phone to her ear after dialing 911, she hears a odd series of beeps on the other end of the line. Instead of connecting to emergency services, she hears a sudden click followed by the ghostly echoes of a conversation, a conversation between herself and a legal client that she remembers having the day before.

Mathew gets a hold of some Mr Muscle oven cleaner and Turtle Wax spray.

There is the sound of running at the other end of the store. Bill swings back and forth between the exit and towards the other end of the store, and then takes a few hesitant steps into the floral section.

"I can't get through," whispers Christine to Mathew as she puts the phone away. "I'm going to see if I can talk Bill down while he's by himself. Can you watch my back in case this doesn't go well?"

Mathew glances down at the oven cleaner in his hand, "Yeah, okay."

Working up her courage, Christine addresses Bill. "Excuse me," she says in a soft tone of voice, trying to keep the volume low so that Skeet doesn't overhear. "You're in quite a pickle here, but I know how you can get out of it, if you'll listen to me."

Bill starts, stops moving towards the floral section and swings his gun in Christine's direction. "What? Who are you? Stay where you are." He looks nervously over to where Skeet is, but doesn't raise an alarm.

Notice roll for Mathew.

Bill's clothes are non-descript (though obviously recognizable), and the only distinguishing feature other than the Obama mask is some kind of medallion hanging around his neck.

"My name is Christine," she says quietly, not wanting to reveal just yet that she works for the District Attorney's office. She uses every ounce of reason and charisma she can muster. "I know this isn't going like you thought it would. Nobody was supposed to get hurt, right? Or at least that's what Skeet assurred you. Things have really gotten out of hand. But you haven't hurt anyone yet, only Skeet has. He's fired at the police, which means they'll be out for blood - and they don't know the difference between the two of you. If you start shooting too, you'll either end up arrested or in a body bag. But you don't have to hurt anyone, and as long as you don't, there's still a real way out for you. Skeet's escape plan will never work. The cops will hunt you down. He didn't tell you things would turn out this way. What else didn't he tell you? Why did he slip out the back and leave you here to keep the police busy? If things get too hairy, he's not going to stick around waiting for you. He'll try to save his own skin and leave you holding the bag. There's only one way you can get out of this in one piece."

OOC,Since Persuasion is my obsessed skill, I'm flipping my roll from a 73 to a 37.

"Oh God, Oh God..." Bill is starting to shake, "I shot at the cops coming through the exit, I'm going to be fucked for this, I..." He trails off, letting his gun fall to his side.

Suddenly, almost imperceptibly, the air around Bill warps and fluctuates like a heat shimmer. Something fast and dark whips around his head and shatters a flower pot in the floral section, accompanied by the sound of a gunshot from outside. Bill ducks into the aisle with you hurriedly and crouches in a defensive position.

"Look! They're going to kill me, man..."

"But you didn't hit them," Christine says quickly. Now that she's got him hooked, it's time to throw him a lifeline and reel him in. "I said there's one way out for you, and I meant it. If you drop your gun and surrender to the police, you can get out of this alive. I'll make sure they don't hurt you. I'm an Assistant District Attorney. Your life won't be completely ruined, either. If you'll plead guilty to armed robbery and aggravated assault - which is actually a lesser offense than armed robbery - we can work out a plea deal that means you won't spend too long in prison, especially if you agree to testify against Skeet. He ran out on you, so you don't owe him any loyalty."

Now that Bill is close to you, you can see that the medallion around his neck is some kind of coin.

"Can...can you do that? But...Skeet's got friends on the inside..."

A loud voice suddenly sounds from a few aisles away, getting closer. "Yo, Bill, man, what the fuck? Skeet said you'd be guarding this side. We gotta bounce!"

"Yes, we can do it," Christine assures Bill, keeping her voice low. "We can put you in witness protection. You'll be able to serve your time in a different prison, under a new identity. You can start over."

A man comes around into the aisle with a shotgun. He is wearing a Bill Clinton mask and seems to start as he sees you talking with Bill.

"What the fuck, man? We got the cash, aren't we going? And who the fuck..."

Bill simpers, "This is all fucked up, Manning. The cops are all over us! We can't get out of this! Why the fuck was there a cop in the store?"

Clinton snarls, "Stick the the fucking plan, you shit, we need to..." Suddenly he stops talking, and aims his shotgun at Christine. "Wait a minute. I know you."

Christine holds absolutely still, trying to keep her fears in check. "I bet you say that to all the girls, President Clinton," she says, trying to lighten the mood.

Manning gives a muffled snarl, then points a finger at Christine. "You're that district attorney! You put my brother away for 20 years!"

"THIS IS THE POLICE. COME OUT OF THE BUILDING WITH YOUR HANDS UP" bellows from outside. Through the front windows, you can see a good half-dozen police cars and several black vans are parked just outside. Manning swears and brandishes his gun towards the front window, while Bill looks at you helplessly.

Christine had had a feeling Manning had recognized her in her capacity as an ADA. Now that he knows who she is, she realizes that there's a good chance he'll kill her unless he's stopped, and there's also a good chance he'll shoot at the police. Determined not to let either of those things happen, she takes out her mace while Manning is distracted and reaches up, spraying upwards at his face. Unfortunately, she reacts too quickly and her aim is a little off.

OOC,My Rage stimulus applies, so it's a 48. That's a weak success, as it's less than or equal to my Speed of 50.

The spray of mace ends up mostly on the outside of Manning's mask, but what does get in through the eyeholes makes him bellow in shocked rage. He reels and twists, reaching up one hand to get the mask off his face when the shotgun in his other hand goes off, pointed directly at Bill's face.

The shotgun's roar dissolves into a loud pop, and you all feel yourself hit by seemingly harmless pellets. Bill drops his gun with a horrified look on his face, and begins to flee down the aisle. You can smell smoke and caramel, and the floor is littered with burnt popcorn. Manning is pulling the mask off his face.

Christine is shocked by the bizarre events, but more relieved than anything.

OOC,Can I act again now?

Christine runs in the same direction Bill went as fast as she can. Manning's gun may not be effective, but he's still a threat without weapons, so she wants to get clear of him too. She also can't risk anything happening to her star witness.

OOC: Is Priest still around? What happens next somewhat depends on his actions.

OOC: As the shower of burned popcorn explodes from the shotgun and Bill followed by Christine run off. Mathew attempts to spray the oven cleaner into Mannings face as he pulls his mask off.

OOC: what do I need to roll?

Mathew Scade

Results,1d100 → [29] = (29) http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4196436/ Speed Stat: 50%, Squirrely Reflexes: 25%

Manning has pulled the mask halfway off when Mathew sprays the oven cleaner directly in the exposed part of his face. The spray goes into his mouth and nose, the corrosive alkalis immediately burning his throat and nostrils. He lets out a choked scream, stumbles a few steps backwards and falls backwards into the checkout aisle, knocking over a display case of chewing gum and candy bars as he hits the ground. He coughs and splutters, writhing, but holds the shotgun in his hand.

Outside, two cops are running towards the entrance.

Christine follows Bill to the end of the aisle, where he stops and looks confused for a moment. He turns and sees her coming, runs forwards, darting around a display case of meat to hide in the butcher's area. A movement to the left catches Christine's attention. Two men in masks, Skeet in the Reagan mask and an unknown man in a George W. Bush mask with over-sized ears, are at the other end of the supermarket, dashing towards a set of double doors leading to the storage room.

Christine joins Bill in his hiding place, making a mental note of where the other robbers fled so she can inform the police later. Even if Skeet and the other guy can somehow slip past the cops, Bill will be able to identify them. Once it's known who they are, they won't be able to hide for long.

As Christine comes behind the display case, she sees Bill sitting in the corner, wild-eyed and holding a knife. He doesn't even seem to see her come in.

Another man stands in the corner, wearing a janitors outfit. He stares at Bill, and then Christine, and then back at Bill.

Watching the gunman fall backwards, the oven spray having had some result, Mathew feels elation drain as he notices that the writhing crook still holds the shotgun. He has no idea what happened last time he pulled the trigger but can't count on it happening a second time. He quickly casts about for something heavy to use as a weapon, knowing that the cops are too far off too help.

OOC,Is there anything handy?

Christine is extremely alert to her surroundings.

The heaviest object that Mathew can see close to hand is the cash register.

Meanwhile, Christine realizes after a moment that the janitor staring blankly at them is the spitting image of the Sheriff.

"Haven't we met before?" Christine quietly asks the janitor.

Reacting as quickly as he can Mathew grabs the cash register and launches it at the shotgun wielding robber.