because the lives of the wicked should be made brief

[somanyadjectives]

Comments

[drugdeals]

( Luke and his sister are the same type of bulls-in-a-chinashop, so as much as he'd like to keep it stealthy, he's more about speed than stealth, trying his "best," (9) but, the echo of the stairwell isn't easy to mask. )

[blyth]

[Luke is not much quieter (11) - he has not spent a lot of his life sneaking around places or trying to go unseen, so he is just average at it. Fortunately for them, as they move down past the first few goons, they are able to go unnoticed (5). At least for now.

There's three of them on that first level, sniffing around at the edges of Luke's spell. "He's gotta be here somewhere."

"Maybe we should just let him go. If he's on the run then problem solved right? I don't want to be stuck in a maze all fucking night."

"Do you want to go back to Mr. Harper and tell him we let the Gemini Witch slip through our fucking fingers? Because I sure don't."

Robin doesn't know what any of that means, but he'll just keep following Luke's lead. Stealth round two, go!]

[drugdeals]

( He's not as entrenched in witch politics as his sister and the armory, so that name doesn't trigger any recognition (8), but he remembers it for later.

Outside of the staircase, Luke does even better (18), padding feet on carpet instead of echoing steps. )

[blyth]

[Luke, less so (5), his dress shoes squeaking on the finished wooden stairs as they slip past but these guys are ... really into having the fight they're having because they're ... not paying attention at all (1). They even manage to make it past the group on the second floor because that is what a crit fail gains them.

One more stealth pass please!]

[drugdeals]

( Crit fail meet crit fail (1), from the cockiness of getting past the group and their argument, and caring about getting Robin out unscathed. )

[blyth]

[Robin's is also not good (7), so it doesn't take much for the final group they're sneaking past to catch on (9). It's three of them, and their attention snaps away from the doors to the two on the stairs.

"Hey! There they are!"

Robin glances over to Luke, then towards the front door.]

So, run then?

[drugdeals]

Run.

( He lets Robin take off first, before following. He removes a flask he'd been carrying in his jacket. Unscrewing it, he throws it's contents behind them, making the three witches need dex saves or else they have a slip-sliding good time.

He points to a staircase leading down. )

Here, here!

[blyth]

[Two of them succeed (16, nat 20), but the first one's foot hits the liquid the wrong way and wipes out hard (4).

Robin just books it and wheels around in the direction of the staircase, following Luke lower into the building and hoping that they find an easy way out.

Two flings a stupefy spell over the edge towards Luke (15), hoping to freeze the witch in his tracks.]

[drugdeals]

( Two stupefies a fly, missing Luke altogether (nat 20) )

Is there a doorway down there?

[blyth]

[Robin glances ahead before nodding.]

There's a door, but I'm not sure where it goes.

[He's reaching the doorframe and pulling for the door all the same, while the three witches try to catch up, one of them waving a hand yank the door out of Robin's hand and pull the door closed again.]

[drugdeals]

( Luke tries to grab a hold of the door, too, but his 10 has him fumble and slam into it. His knuckles are hurting, but he won't add insult to injury.

Shaking his hand out, he places a hand on it and grabs Robin. )

Per.

( He and Robin phase through the door and - Luke saves on a dex check so he doesn't roll down the stairs. Does Robin? )

[blyth]

[Shockingly, he manages to stay on his feet, though he's certainly startled (16). His arm wind-mills as he glances back at the door.]

... Did we just ...?

[drugdeals]

I was in a tight spot a few weeks back, and I reverse engineered a spell I saw done.

( He takes the steps down at a quick pace, keeping one hand in Robin's, small lanterns coming to life as they enter one of the tunnels and make there way down the passage.

He neglects to say that Sierra's skillset is more about her natural power, like Robin's, but nothing is impossible with magic. Almost nothing. Most spells or attempts at anything are balanced. )

[blyth]

Ah.

[It's still a lot. So much a lot. It seems to imply that witchcraft is some kind of science and one that Luke is well-versed in. He has so many questions that he can't think about right now, and he tries to shake off the weirdness of it all and continue to follow him down the stairs.]

So you've been doing this ... witch stuff a long time?

[drugdeals]

I was born a witch. I'm from a pretty famous coven, actually, in my world. But, one that's best left in the shadows for a lot of reasons. One of which --

( is this. the stairs level off and break away into a cavern that resembles a catacomb. )

I think we found your sister's secret tunnels, Robin.

[blyth]

Right.

[Escape. They're supposed to be escaping. He can ask questions later. He looks down at the map on his phone, and frowns.

Then he realized that beyond "tunnels" they haven't exactly picked a destination.]

Where do we want to go? My apartment is on the Upper East Side, but ...

[He doesn't want to lead the bad guys right back to Maud.]

[drugdeals]

Mine is Lower East.

( He lets out a breath he'd been holding, evaluating. )

Maybe, instead, we trap them down here. Long enough to get away. Not lead them back to Maud or my cat. Any more visions up there?

[blyth]

I don't know. I've never tried to ... summon them on purpose.

[He doesn't even know if he can. He's still very new to this.]

Though if we keep walking maybe I'll see something I've seen before?

[drugdeals]

( That's okay. He was half kidding. Half flirting. Doing bad at both. Not the time. Check. )

Yes, ( They keep going in that direction. ) come through Deja Vu.

[blyth]

[For a while it doesn't seem like there's much. He keeps his eyes going straight ahead, scanning furtively over the little details, to see if something clicks when something does come into view (12). A sign with strange lettering buried in the wall and he draws Luke to a stop.]

Wait. There's something about ...

[It takes a second for his brain to attach it to the right flash of a vision, and when it does, his eyes widen.]

Duck!

[Dodge checks, please.]

[drugdeals]

( Well, fuck, Luke's never been great with reactions. an (8) has him turning )

Duck?

( like up ahead, or, oh shit, Duck! )

[blyth]

[The latter. Fortunately Robin is fast enough (14), and pushes down on Luke's shoulders enough that they both manage to miss being singed by the fireball that flies over their head.

One witch tries to get ahold of Robin's shoulder (5 vs. 2), and does manage to grab him, but Robin will up the ante by whirling into it and popping him in the face (17 vs. 3) and there's the satisfying crunch of cartilage.]

[drugdeals]

( Luke has never been the fighter of the two siblings. Liv scraps. He mostly relies on magic. So, he tries his old trick, grabbing onto Robin again. He will probably regret this but: )

Per!

( Robin will feel the familiar sensation of elasticity and impermenance as the two of them phase through the wall nearest to them. On the one hand, big strong solid wall, on the other, the tunnels run along the sewage line so they both phase into the parallel tunnel. There are rungs to hold on to but, Luke misses them and goes tumbling into several feet of - well, yeah, sorry, sewage. (another 8, he's not athletic.) But he feels like they're in a different tunnel system - did they escape the witches?

Robin, catch the rung! )

[blyth]

[Aww, they romantically match falling into some sewage (8). Unfortunately for Robin he does not do much better, but he does scramble pretty effectively back out (19), and reaches behind him to pull Luke out as well.]

Well, I suppose I'll have to burn this suit now.

[This grossness is never getting out of it.]

[drugdeals]

I could restore it.

( A (19) and a (7) still work. He just does it clumsily, and definitely ruins the scuff of his shoe. It's fine. )

You know. Later. After. I'm so sorry.