Freeing the Bird

[piwakawaka]

The shortcut through the Dreaming leaves them close to many warehouses and the water in Kaiwharawhara but only one has a palpable feel of magic and about ten young men simply hanging about.

As everyone starts to appear, a few of the men pull out various objects to focus as the magic grows in the air as the others who are a bit too pale just grin.

Teams: 1-Alex, Aiden, the Baron, Hamlet
2-Carl, Ben, James, Peron

Starting things off again and I'm just going to do the James' thread later and make it work.

Comments

Re: Second Team

[one_man_army]

"Not very tasty."

He pulls in what air he can and shrugs his shoulders.

"You want to fight, let's fight, but make it fair. You hardly seem the type of man to cheat."

Re: Second Team

[piwakawaka]

The Mage turns as the front of the building starts to fill up and pushes the air surrounding Carl so he is sent against the wall as he turns to deal with who has entered.

Re: Second Team

[one_man_army]

He's not protected - getting thrown back into the wall hurts - but he ignores the pain as best he can, shoving himself up off the floor.

First instinct is to draw his gun and shoot him - but that didn't work last time.

So instead he grabs his knife from his boot and moves to stalk after the Mage, using the commotion and distraction as his chance to strike.

Re: Second Team

[almosthonorable]

Stupidest thing you could ever do, walkin' in like this --

Ben had been silent at first, listening to the exchange, but now he's making more noise than two men; he's banking Benton's still got some fight in him (and Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, please God let him be able) he wants to give the man every opportunity to hurt the Mage.

"Hey, Mr. Magic! We need to have a talk 'bout a friend of mine."

Re: Second Team

[piwakawaka]

The Mage's gaze snaps to Ben and he says something in an ancient language,

"Another mortal come to save her, how charming. What did she bribe you with? A bird like her couldn't have promised much, spells to charm women perhaps?"

Re: Second Team

[almosthonorable]

"Don't need a spell for that," Ben says lightly, his fingers tightening on his Colt. "But I reckon if I had your particular brand'a charm, I'd need to keep girls in a cage."

Re: Second Team

[piwakawaka]

In a corner of the warehouse there's a strange sort of boom and the Mage rocks on his feet as he turns to look,

"How!? How could you foolish mortals have broken my creation?"

In the dim light, Tiwa can just be seen with James.

Re: Second Team

[almosthonorable]

Ben can barely see James and Tiwa in the murky half-light, but the glimpse is enough to give him hope and renew his resolve.

"Watch who you're callin' foolish, old man."

He raises his arm to pistol-whip the Mage.

Re: Second Team

[piwakawaka]

The Mage was not expecting that and Ben is lucky that his shield wasn't up since his hit actually rocks the Mage before he turns and uses a ball of air to throw Ben against the wall.

Re: Second Team

[almosthonorable]

Air rushes from his lungs when his back hits the wall; his hat falls to the floor and he joins it a half-second later.

His eyes are watering and he can't pull in a breath, but he's still got his gun, and he's hoping like hell he's buying Benton some time.

Re: Second Team

[one_man_army]

He's bought plenty of time, since Carl had originally stalked off out of sight and the next time he's seen is when he's practically on the Mage, coming out of nowhere and coming in swinging.

(And really hoping the bastard will at least fight like a man instead of playing his stupid magic tricks.)

Re: Second Team

[piwakawaka]

Fighting hand to hand is always a good idea since the Mage is rather out of practice and flails as he tries to push Carl off of him.

Re: Second Team

[one_man_army]

Carl excels at hand to hand combat - being trained to disable a man in as few steps as possible helps. He gets an elbow to the temple in an effort to disorient him further, then a shot to the knees to try and knock him down.

He figures that pinning his hands will help cut down the magic, but if he can't do that, he'll settle for screwing them up.

Re: Second Team

[almosthonorable]

Ben blinks hard, trying to spot Tiwa and James across the darkened expanse, and then he's up.

(Wheezing, but he's up.)

Gripping his Colt, he stalks toward the scuffle and, trying to keep out of Benton's way, aims a knee to the Mage's stomach.

Re: Second Team

[piwakawaka]

The Mage is down and trying desperately to fight off these two men and not doing terribly well. In the distance, Tiwa and James start to move towards the light, they're moving slow but moving.

Re: Second Team

[one_man_army]

They need to buy enough time for James and Tiwa to get out of the building, and when Carl gets the chance he wraps an arm tight around the Mage's neck, holding him 'still' as he can with the struggle.

He's just inches from the line of 'fire', but he can just tell that Ben's a hell of a shot.

There's a bit of a grating pain in his elbow, some half-assed spell or attempt at freedom by the magic user hitting him in the already injured joint. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees two shadows slip out the door to freedom.

Carl locks eyes with Ben and nods.

It's all the signal the other man should need.

Re: Second Team

[almosthonorable]

His knee connects with the Mage's belly, and there's a thickness in the air that has nothing to do with smoke or debris -- it's magic, and Ben can feel it; he knows Benton probably can, too.

They need more time. James and Tiwa need more time.

He draws back to strike the Mage, and his eyes meet Carl's.

Returning the nod, he takes a swift step back.

Another.

bang

bang

bang

He's a hell of a shot, all right.