[img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/dHRmLjExNi5hY2FjZWYuUTJ4aGJtTjVJRkJoZEhKcFkycy4x/burn-out-fade-away.regular.webp[/img]
[@Atrophy][@Fernstone][@Punished GN]
[code]Church[/code]
[hr]
Some had ignored him, or at least hadn't noticed his presence. Clancy looked away, and when he turned back - the host-girl and the parasitic [i]monkey[/i] on her back had disappeared, while a few others at the back row were still bickering over something he could only guess was inane high school bullshit that none of them could afford to waste time on.

[color=silver]“... sorry for your loss, as I am sorry for our behavior. This situation has left us at our worst. My name is Sloane..."[/color] 

Then, finally, he realised he'd managed to turn a few heads, but it took the first of them stepping up from the pew to finally acknowledge him, and imply she had some useful information. [color=silver]“...the rest of the congregation would like to offer this young man their condolences?”[/color]

Although he would credit the girl - Sloane - [i]that[/i], the gentleness of her tone betrayed a condescendance that he didn't have time for. [b]"I don't need [i]condolences-[/i]"[/b]

Two others cut in. 

[color=9966CC]”...for your loss, Clancy. My name's Anya Baksh, and I also… worked with Ashley.”[/color]

The first, Anya, followed suit with Sloane, which wasn't much use given they had bigger issues on their plate. Hearing his name spoken aloud by someone else was something he'd almost forgotten, and not a thing he would get used to anytime soon, but that bottle had been uncorked already.

The second speaker, not so much.

[color=CD5C5C]”Oh, so you do know how to offer condolences, Sloane? You didn't even like Ashley. After everything Jinhai did for him, it's the least you could do, bitch.[/color]

[i]This is going in circles.[/i] Exasperation made him question why it took a [i]child[/i] to recognise their bickering was a waste of time, in light of everything. [i]Seriously?![/i] As the asian girl seemed ready to smash Sloane in the face with a [i]book[/i], Clancy stepped down from the lectern towards them, thrusting the axe back inside the bag so he didn't give in to the temptation to brain them with the flat end.

[b]"Was I talking Yid-?!"[/b] he exclaimed, only for the last few syllables to be drowned out by the pitched crackle of broken glass. Clancy pivoted on his heels, fingers tightening around the handle of the axe, watching as a pair of cannisters bounced off the drywall and skidded across the floorboards of the church, a thin white trail of [i]something[/i] noxious released from them, judging by the reaction the others were having.

This wasn't good.

Doors kicked in. People in full SWAT gear, wearing masks and yelling out orders. 

[h2][b]“EVERYONE! GET ON THE GROUND! ON! THE! GROUND!”[/b][/h2]

They [i]cops[/i] or whoever they were had arrived in strength this time, he knew. Clancy recognised a few of the voices, namely the asian girl from last night who'd offered him the business card. She seemed to have history with he girl with the bible, [i]more bad blood.[/i]

For a moment Clancy stood there, lips pursed, apparently unaffected by what he eventually realised was tear gas. It rolled over him and he felt... nothing. He'd never been [i]gassed[/i] before, not like this, but it still came as a surprise, the perplexed expression creased across his face as Bianca copped a bible nearvthe head and responded by tasing Linqian.

It was an expression that turned to momentary rage when a gloved hand clamped around his arm, close to the elbow.

“Hey, little guy-” the voice was cut off as he yanked the arm back hard enough for the masked man to lose his footing, landing on the floor. 

[b]"[i]Don't-[/i]"[/b] he spat, seething at the masked man. Although he stood over him, he felt a semblance of restraint that kept him from taking that building anger any further.

“... What the hell?!” Samson asked.

Clancy stepped back, wordlessly planting a foot on Samson's rifle and kicking it to one side beneath a nearby pew, before anything [i]stupid[/i] happened. His gaze was searching for an exit, fully conscious that all the [i]conventional[/i] means of leaving had been covered by the SWAT team.