Heating things up (Gabriella, Pieter, Angel, Jesse

[Lovely]

May 21, 2008
4:45pm
The Diner

Gabriella sat in the little cafe, she'd been there awhile in a little booth, all by herself sipping coffee and picking at a sandwich and fries though she didn't have much appetite. Her eyes which seemed to be the color of storms rolling in, stared distantly at nothing as her thoughts wandered and she tried to decide if she was going on or turning back. The waitress filled her coffee again and gave her a smile, before heading off to tend to another table which was leaving. Gabriella watched them go out the door and sighed, pulling her cup up to take another sip.

It was hard to tell whether the man fell through the door or it was shattered by something else as glass rained down suddenly and he tumbled down to the floor just inside. The scramble of man moved fluidly away from the newly formed hole and huddled down by the case full of pies, watching with wide eyes for something to come in behind him. The eyes closed sideways then again downward in a flash and the looping length behind him made it perfectly clear as it rose and fell, twisting protectively around him, that this was no ordinary man. A quick flitting glance around the room provided him the information that this was a poorly executed decision. There were too many innocent people who might get hurt in here and he sighed, the eyes closing as his head fell forward with a hiss. "Ssshit".

She'd just set her cup down when the door shattered and the steaming hot liquid sloshed on her hand, though she didn't seem to notice as she watched the man tumble, roll, and duck. "Huh.." She commented quietly, looking around at the mostly empty diner, the other party had left and that left herself, the staff and one or two others. Not the best situation but at least there were less witnesses than if the place had been packed, she got an odd feeling that this place was never packed. Gabriella slipped out of the booth and slowly walked toward the man who'd come crashing in. "Hey.. are you alright? That was some entrance.." She started, not appearing to be bothered by his obvious differences, in fact other than a glance over them she didn't seem to notice that he was anything other than 'just a guy'.

He lifted his head, jolting away in a protective sheath of fear as she approached. It was only a flash, startled, but aware that she wasn't the one after him. He looked at the door and back at her. "Fine. Great." He was on his feet just as fast and jumping over the counter behind the case, glancing back at the girl... was she crazy? "Get out of the way."

The warning was just on the edge of the sound of two shots ringing through the shattered door, one blasting through the plexiglass over the pies and burning out the light within in a flickering sputter. It was close, but not enough to hit him or the girl. The wall behind him held the remnant of the bullet and he stayed below that level, crawling down low behind the case to find a way back out.

She ducked in a reflexive movement of surprise as the shots rang out, no one was hit and she straightened up. "Now that's just uncalled for.. " She shook her head turning to face the door and hopefully whoever was stupid enough to fire a gun in her general direction.

The man on the floor stopped at the end of the counter where he'd be visible again. Sitting still for a moment, he seemed to draw inward, focusing on something in his mind. After a moment a glow came over his tanned skin, then both the glow and the tan seemed to mesh and blend into a color similar to the wall behind him. Another moment later, the faded color seemed to bleed over his clothes as well and the whole of the man and tail was obscured in camoflauge against the backdrop of poorly illuminated and sponged-down coffee house decor in back of the darkened coffin of pastries and berries with cream. A faint shimmer was all that was visible as the man shaped "wall" leaned up a little to look out again and duck back.

Two figures stepped in carefully around the pile of glass, one with a hand gun raised, the other with a menacing combination of rope and chain he was twisting and untwisting like a dish rag. Both men stopped to look around, focusing on corners and possible exits. The one with the raised gun nodded to his friend, gesturing to the kitchen while he stayed here. He glanced at the redhead and gave her a sharp coyote-like smile, slipping a toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other. "Where is he?"

The 'redhead' sort of grinned and wiggled her eyebrow, cocking her head to the side as if making a come on and inviting them into the bathroom behind where she stood. "He? Hmm please tell me you're looking for my ex.. I have his last known address in my purse and I'd be ever so happy to give it to you. Other than that.. I don't have any 'he' in my life.. I'm kind of going through a dry spell." She sniffed the air, her nose crinkling up a little. "Do you smell smoke?" All the while causing the smoke by starting a little fire in his pants.

"What?" She'd confused him her little story but the gun wasn't lowered. He sniffed the air at her suggestion and he looked around for the source that was very close by. A split second afterward, the heat told him enough and he started patting madly at the melting fabric. "Jeeeeezus... Tony, c'mon. I'm on fire here!"

The shimmering figure behind the counter moved again, this time to a booth while both men were distracted. He'd inch his way back table by table until he could get to a door that wasn't being guarded.

[Lovely]

"Oh my gawd!" The girl exclaimed, her hand going to her mouth as if in a shocked panic. "Oh, Oh.. Oh!" She played it up and jumped up on the counter far enough to grab a fresh hot pot of coffee, rushing over to pour it all over the guy with the gun's crotch, scalding him in her attempt to put out the fire.

The man screamed as the fire then liquid burned him severely and he stumbled backward and fell the floor, clutching himself with one hand and aiming at the woman. "You stupid b*tch! You trying to kill me? Hah?!"

His friend came running back at the sound of the scream, looking around for someone to pull out of a fight, finding only the man on the floor with soaked and melted pants underneath a frantically clutched grip. "What the f*ck did you do that for? If you wanted a cup of coffee, you shoulda just let the waitress here get it for you."

"Did you just call me a stupid b*tch? I.. you did just call me a stupid b*tch!.. Well next time, I'll let you burn.. If I was trying to kill you, I wouldn't have put it out.. oh.. and I'm not stupid.. b*tch.. hmm I'll let you decide.." With a smile and an arch of her brow the hand that held his gun was engulfed in flames as well as his pants(again).

"She's one of 'em Lar. She's f*ckin' one of 'em!" The man he'd called Tony leapt at the woman with the rope/chain, trying to take her to the ground.

Lar... didn't hear a word his friend was saying. The gun dropped from his hand as it flared up and caught his jacket on fire. He 'd looked up long enough to see the glinting pleasure in the woman's expression a moment before his crotch was smoking and blazing again, making him roll in agony and fear, trying to put the mystical flames out any way possible. "Oh god, somebody help meeee!!!"

One didn't get to be her age in one piece without learning a thing or two about how to fight and defend themself. He leapt at her and she took a step back, driving one booted foot up toward his middle and swinging a solid punch at his jaw.

The boot folded him in half, flipping him forward with his arms and the rope in front of him, off balance. The punch on the way over sent him sideways and he stumbled to get his grip on the back of a booth bench. Not as far out of the fight as his friend, he launched again, swinging the end of the metal-and-fiber length like it had a grappling hook on it. Only a heavy weight was hooked onto it, though, and he sent it sailing at her like a whip.

The one on the floor had rolled out of his flames, but writhed in pain from the burns left behind, swearing and spitting as he blistered and reaching feebly for the gun with a shaking hand. "f*cking mutants, y'can all rot in hell!"

From the booth where he observed, the glimmering form solidified back into a manly shape with substance, tan and tail, and a bewildered look in his reptilian expression. Mutant? He seemed to ask himself, watching her and their reaction to what was happened so quickly in front of him. She was one too? He looked down and brushed his hand over his stomach and it came back wet... and red. He lifted his shirt to look at where he'd been grazed by the first shot, then dappled with glass on the way down. He was bleeding bad enough to worry and it had hurt enough to wreck his concentration already. He wasn't going to let them hurt her, too. He was on his feet though not quite as steady as he'd planned, going first after the man on the floor. He wasn't shooting anyone else. Ever.

Her gaze narrowed on 'Tony' and she cocked her head to the side a bit. "Really.. well in that case.." She jumped back to avoid getting the brunt of the slap of the chain and rope combo though it did graze her leg. As she moved cried out with the sharp pain her hands gestured at Tony as if flicking her fingers at him only a ball of fire flew at his middle instead.

[Lovely]

A flickering grin, rather a grin that hid behind the flip of a tongue that lashed out in a laugh as the fire spun off her fingers in front of him, curled across the first stranger's face as he dove to help Lar get his flame-on under control and off, permanently. She was handling herself fine against Tony. He tumbled Lar over, bowling him and his flaming carcass across the lobby, followed by an ugly cracking sound. Lar stopped fighting and the tailed, tanned man pulled the weapon up into his own steady, bloody hand, aiming now at Tony and waiting for a clear shot.

Not quite as dumb as a post and thankfully not as wooden, Tony's own outfit wasn't as flamable as Larry's. The rope, however, caught and ran like a fuse as he dodged the sparks that ignited along the full length like a dragon's tongue. At first, Tony smiled in its sudden glow, whipping the cord again in her direction, weight, heat, flame and all. "So you're not afraid of fire, huh? C'mon, let's see what you really got, hotlips." He failed to notice the cool metal starring him down a few feet away, or the reddening core of chain heating its way into his hand.

"What can I say baby.. I like it when things get hot.." Her voice wasn't a light flitty one, it was more low, a little deeper, sultry but not manly. She winked at him as she dodged the weight but didn't seem to care about the flames which flicked out at her, they seemed to almost reach for her. She leapt to the side and up onto a nearby table trying not to allow herself to get cornered.

"How about we heat thingsssss up," the stranger said as he clicked the round into position. There was a deep gravel to his voice and a resounding eerie hiss with his chuckle. He wasn't afraid of the whip, having his own wriggling and snapping out for purchase on the man's arm while he spun between him and the girl. He preferred to stay closer to the warmer female anyway, lured not just by the heat of her looks and attitude. His quick movements lashed out and brought the gun closer to Tony's face.

Tony wasn't smiling any more as the woman leapt out of reach and was replaced by this creature. He held his wrist like he'd been struck, but the gloved hand held tight to the sputteringly blazing chain. The palm of the glove was beginning to warp, but he didn't let go. "What the f*ck are you supposed to be... a goddamn garden lizard? S'your tail come off and grow back like one? Hah?"

"Does yours?" The redhead asked with a bite in her tone as if warning him she'd take his off if he tried anything with the stranger they had come in after. Her eyes flicked with an amber fire as if a blaze burned within them, blocking out most of their natural light color. She stepped over the back of a bench and crouched down on the next table forward, looking like she might lunge at Tony though she stayed where she was now, for the moment. "Why don't you get the hell out of here while you still can.."

The tailed stranger flicked the gun toward the door, giving him the opportunity to walk. "Ssssshe's making ssssensssse," he ground out and slowly the smile curled back in place. In his vision, the heat strobbed and frayed in layers of colors intermixed with the vision of flames and hot metal. "Ssssome like it hot," he shrugged. His tail shot out at the whip itself, pulling it up to loop back and ripple back toward the man's face and front, hissing and searing through air.

He wasn't moving for love nor money, standing up straighter to dare the man to go ahead and shoot him. "What, you don't read headlines? Innocent customer murdered in cold blood by mutants, story at eleven, kids. You kill me, you get life." The whirl of tail and whip spun in front of him faster than he could see and suddenly he had the smoking hot metal tangling back on him. His open hand grappled at it and he screamed, his uncovered palm blistering and tearing as he grabbed the metal.

[Lovely]

"I didn't see a thing.." The redhead shrugged,stood up from where she'd been crouching, and took a step across the table toward him. As he heated her temper the fire she'd started with the ball she'd tossed at him, became more angry and flickered, licking and crawling over him. Her head turned as the sound of tinkling glass was heard by the door, she looked to see the shattered glass rising up and setting itself back into place, sealing into a solid pane again as if never broken. The voice from behind the counter had her looking over at the dark haired girl with ... wings?

"I don't think anyone saw anything... I don't think you were ever here.." The winged girl spoke, pointing toward the man on the floor as if signalling to someone.

Tony seethed and clawed the metal away, clasping his gloved hand over the ripped blisters of the other, the chain falling to the floor. His attention turned to the sound of the glass... unshattering? "You f*ckin' whackjobs, you're gonna pay," he sobbed, trying to sound threatening despite the shock and tears in his eyes from the intense pain. The glass flying like that scared the bejeezums out of him and he started to back away, darting a glance at the man with the gun. "No way in hell I'm touching that door now," his head shook slowly. The guy was really gonna shoot him, wasn't he? He saw Larry on the floor now, motionless and in a darkening smear that was spreading around him. "Lar? Larry, get up man, help me!"

"Sssseconds... tick... tick... tick," the stranger threatened, following Tony with the gun. His own wound was making him nauseous and he almost stumbled but kept after the goon. "Then.... ssssilence."

From the darkened pool on the floor that now covered more than a few squares of patchwork utility carpet around Larry, something else moved. Rising out of the space between him and the side of the booth that sat in shadow from a poorly turned spotlight that should have shone on the sandwich board and not the table, a tall figure hovered a moment and solidified as it came into the arc of sharper light, growing to a height slightly more than the reptile with the gun. He had dark everything except eyes that sparked and shone briefly behind their shaded cover of aviator glasses. He'd heard the winged girl's comments and many of the others already. "Tch... time to go, Tony. Tick... tick... tock... the mouse ran down the clock. Time to go now." He stood there, folding his glasses away into his chest pocket and folding his hands casually in front of him.

The girl behind the counter watched with a touch of a smile as her guy appeared from the shadows, damn he was so hott.. all dark and bad ass.. she wondered if he'd be able to get back quickly for a little time out back with her. "Time's up.. guess you're not leaving at all." She regarded Tony coldly, folded her arms, and turned her gaze to Jesse with a smile. "You can have them both.."

From where she stood on the table Gabriella was witness to the man melting out of the shadows and the rest of the scene as it unfolded. Her smile curved up one side of her face as she tried not to grin at Tony's fate. But to be honest she was pretty amused by the twist and she had little use for mutant haters.

"Have? What" Tony was sweating and his gaze was darting between the gun toting snake thing and the goth reaper guy that appeared out of f*cking nowhere. His hand was throbbing and bleeding heavily despite clasping it tightly as he backed off, running into a table and tripping himself up. "Y.. y.. you all just stay the f*ck away from me. I mean it!... Get awaaay!"

The reptile stranger gave it the briefest consideration and then shrugged. "I don't think sssso." The shot clattered against the table Tony bumped sending a chip of it near his arm into the air. "I didn't ssssee that, either... but I'll be watching thissss one," he hissed, clicking the next round into place and aiming directly as his smile turned colder.

"Awww don't shoot the poor bastard. That's letting him off so damned easy," the new dark stranger said with a slight lift of a smile. He nodded at Tony, making the briefest of eye contact before he melted into the seams of the floor, ripping the squares of carpet from their glue as he surged forward, past the reptile and up beside Tony and his tipped furniture. He laid a hand on the man's shoulder, cupping it tight enough to break bone. "Someone wants to see him reaaaal bad. Something about a little debt he owes, huh Ton? You remember that bet, don't you?" He was enjoying playing up the Devil's henchman at the moment, but Tony wasn't even getting off that easily.

Gabriella hopped off the table and landed neatly on her feet on the floor, she glanced at the guy who was no longer moving and the pool of red that spread around him. Well that was messy.. At this point there wasn't anything for her to do but watch, which as spectating went, this was a good show. She folded her arms, leaning slightly against the counter to see around the reptile man, wondering what exactly the shadow dude was going to do. The winged girl didn't seem bothered and appeared to know him.. Gabriella didn't exactly outright trust them but under the circumstances they all seemed to be on the same side of this conflict and in agreement about Tony's fate.

[Lovely]

Tony shrieked as the carpet seemed to rip up in front of him and suddenly the big dark guy was trying to rip his arm off. He buckled under the grip and felt himself moving to the floor though he tried not to move at all. "You're a bunch of f*cking freaks! You're all gonna die, you know that? Hah? The News will be all over it.. the DA... You want the DA on your ass? Do ya? It's murder. I seen him kill Lar. I seen him do it! You can't hide it or what stinking demonspawn you are!"

"Demonspawn?" The dark stranger seemed shocked but laughed, looking at the others in the room. "Not so much. See, my mom's a school teacher. Sweet lady. My dad... WAS a cop. Oh... but you knew that, didn't you Tony? What was it you said it was? Murder? Oh yeeeeaaah, that's right... nobody saw you do it... so it never happened. Right guys?" He looked around to the others to see if they agreed where this was headed. Angel had started it and he was going to finish it. Jesse had been watching for the perfect moment and this was definitely it.

He couldn't hold up much longer. The room and its multi-heated layers were beginning to turn into a jumble. He pulled the gun down and cleared the chamber, setting it down in reach of the red head if she wanted it. He was done here. They had scores of their own to settle and he had to take care of himself. The reptile turned and started off toward the 'new' door, but was obviously worse for wear.

Angel looked at Jesse, curious but only nodding to him to go ahead with what he intended to do. She wasn't going to stop him, she'd offered him the guy in the first place and even played along in shaking Tony up a little more. "Oh he's not evil..." She started, smiling a little and leaving the rest of the quote unsaid but understood all too well between herself and Jesse.

Gabriella caught the movement of the reptile man and also that he didn't seem to being doing so well. She didn't want the gun and left it where he'd set it down, moving after him. "Hey.. not to be rude but.. you kind of look like shit.. how about you let me.. help you out a little before you literally spill yourself out in the street?"

Jesse pushed harder on Tony's shoulder and appeared to be shrinking, himself. His feet were actually slipping back into the shadowy cracks in the carpeting and he was starting to take the injured and tearful man with him. "... I just work for evil, Tony. Just like you. Hey, we could be friends, you and I, whaddya say? Why don't I just take you to my boss and you two can have a little chat, hah?"

The reptile man staggered to a stop and turned to the woman who'd offered to help him. "Why? He... sssshot me ... becausssse of what I am. Wantsss me dead. They all... do," he stopped short of conviction in his comment, his knees giving out on him finally. The blood had soaked through the shirt in abundance now and the small cuts from the glass no longer looked so small. His eyes cast up to the woman asking her help though his words had tried to decline. "Poissssson..," he warned her, fumbling for something at his neck.

Tony was beginning to panic more, seeing the guy dissolving into the floor beside him. He tried to wrestle his way free, but the table kept him off balance with no leverage to kick his way out and one hand was useless. He'd tried to use the other, but the soft, melted leathery palm had fused to the blisters. He wailed in agony as more of his hand dissintegrated as he tore away, trying to punch the man and get away. He folded over the hand he held to stomach. A cop... the guy's dad was -that- cop? "Sweet mary mother of... god, somebody!!! Help meeee!!!!"

Angel watched, offering no help to the man nor a compassionate face for his pleas. "God's not here right now.. I'll be sure to let him know you called." Her wings spread out behind her, she let them stretch for a moment and let Tony get a good look before folding them back down. Giving him more fuel for his heaven and hell scenerio and terror of being pulled below by Jesse. "Hmm I think I'll go make a pie.. hmm cherry seems right.." She glanced back at the body of the friend Tony had come in with, the diner had a way of taking care of things, though she hoped he wouldn't be stuck here with her.

Gabriella was in the middle of her answer "For the same reason I got out of the booth in the first place to help you.." when the man crumpled down to the floor. "Oh shit.. okay.. let's try to get you out of the doorway at least." She glanced to his abdomen and bit her lip, this did not look so good.. why couldn't she be a healer or something? "Can you put your arm around me a little?" She was trying to shift him back over toward her booth so she could take a good look at his injuries and maybe patch him up before he bled to death right there on the floor.