[IC] 🦄 Darker Than Black - Merged With T.S.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3D - Basement Level (Lawson's Apartment)

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Riley wasn't paying any attention as she was about to leave the room when her hand knocked down the glass, she jumped slightly when she heard it shatter. "God damn it." Riley said to herself as she looked around before finding a dry cloth, she wrapped it around her hand so that she wouldn't get herself cut by the shards of glass. Then there was something in the corner of her eye a yellow envelope taped to the bottom of the white sink. "Well hello there." She dumped what glass she could from her cloth covered hand and dumped it into the trash, Riley knelt back down and tore the envelope off from the bottom of the sink. Riley opened it to see a small SD card land into her hand she held it in her hand and moved out of the room and back into the bedroom.

"Found you a little birthday present Marc." Riley said as she handed him what she had just found, she knew that it could hold a lot of information. It would be better in Marc's hands she would probably end up losing something that small, it would certainly help him find out what Lawson was looking into here. "I'm going to check the other bedroom."

She turned and headed into the secondary bedroom Riley opened the door and started opening every drawer, moving what clothes were inside around and started searching the tops and bottoms of the drawers for any false bottoms or anything taped to the top even has going far as removing the drawers for anything that she could find. It wasn't like the room was going to be used for anything else no one was living in the apartment now. "I think there is a shed outside by the way Marc, maybe theres something in there?" Riley called out to him.

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Queensguard Private Airfield, Hangar

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Bullets pelting the outside wall did little to make the situation better. They should have known that their ammunition wouldn't have penetrated the barrier, yet continued to rain lead upon it. This was a scare tactic or these people were new. Or both. Well, it worked enough that Caesar wasn't particularly keen on sticking his head out of the door. Expert or inexpert shots, a bullet would still kill you whether it was stray or precise.

But to hell with these people. Caesar pointed his firearm out of the door and fired a single round the instant that the fusillade outside began to let up. The first bullet should let them know that it was an excellent time to halt and cover. The subsequent four were fired with slightly more purpose. Not necessarily to injure anyone specifically; merely suppression fire to prevent a direct, run-up takeover of their position. If someone happened to be standing in an inopportune spot, that was just too bad for them.

Caesar barely caught that his name was being spoken by Cecily. He looked back briefly to assess the status of his ward - she was stained heavily with her own blood and needed medical attention that he could not provide with any proficiency. But she was still in the game. There were some of the pictures missing; he assumed that the young lady had picked them up. Also of note, there appeared to be a frigging trapdoor installed in the office. Caesar nodded to Cecily vigorously, and breathed the words "Gracias, M'hija." upward. A couple more rounds of suppression fire down, and he hastily snatched remaining pictures and anything of interest (practically speaking) from the office.

He couldn't avenge anyone if he was dead, but this running shit grated him the wrong way. Hopefully, they at least got a new lead. First, Cecily needed a doc. Maybe they could get into the morgue unnoticed...

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Club AfterDark

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"Do you not have any other way to get into contact with her? Maybe one where we don't sit around a bar sticking out like sore thumb?" Really, it was kind of weird that somebody as tech savvy as Relic was relying on just going to a place where she usually hung out and hoping that she was there or would come by. She figured it had to do with not getting traced (or being less likely to be tracked), but even then, couldn't he leave a message for her to meet up somewhere at a specific point in time or something? Mali finished her glass of water and set it down on the bar counter.

"Could I get a refill, please?" she asked, calling the bartender over again when he wasn't busy with other customers, whatever few there were at this point in time. When Eddie came in, she absently waved in response to his smile: an acknowledgement of his existence, but nothing more. Mali sighed; hanging out in bars during the off-hours quickly lost its luster unless you were already halfway to piss drunk. She missed being able to get drunk.

[Scallop]

Felix Hausten

Location: Classic Building

He looked over to Riley to see her extract the envelope. With a smirk he nodded in approval of her findings. He was glad he was with this group of the agent and the rockstar. It was a good combination for him. he appreciated the mix that was for sure but he could tell a rogue writer wouldn't be needed for long. Not if he didn't show what he was good with. Find a clue. Gain their trust. That's what he had to do. And with a grin he walked out the bathroom.

"I'll give the kitchen a look over! See if he has any food that i can salvage. Ahaha no I'm joking, I'm actually looking for clues" He did a mock wave and wandered into the kitchen, casually opening cupboards and drawers. scanning them with his eyes as he searched desperately for a clue.

He even opened up the microwave and the oven, whatever the man had he would open it up and search. If he couldn't find a clue was he any better than the rockstar?

[Pundii]

Lucas Walsh

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Location: Safe House

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Lucas sighed as he moved to sit down, keeping his hands down so he could take hold of his gun if he needed it. As Roy began to speak again, he wasn't remotely surprised, Lucas had held the suspicion, more-so over the past few minutes, but it had been in his mind for the past week, that Roy might've had some association with the group. The fact that he admitted it made Lucas trust him at least a little bit more, but at the same time, it just meant he could trust him even less, at the same time. Taking his hand away from his hip, he clasped them together and leaned forward as he sat at the table.

"So now we're just in to help you with all of this crap? Bringin' Juno down from the inside or whatever?" Lucas had taken interesting jobs, and he'd helped damage organizations like Juno and Argus before, but this one felt on a much different level to the others, and while he didn't really have much choice, he couldn't help but hold on to the desire to just find a nice place somewhere to settle down and forget about everything, at least until an assassin came looking. He simply sighed, turning his gaze to Risa, waiting for her input on this.

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Scott Fairburne

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Location:AfterDark

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As he'd made the orders, Scott took a step back and let his gaze drift over to Eddie as he came in, giving him a nod. "Nothin' spectacular goin' on just yet, is there?" He asked the man with a soft chuckle, grabbing a bottle of water himself as he took a drink from it, glancing around to those he'd been speaking to before. He had the mild curiosity about him of what they were doing there, why one pair had been speaking to Trisha, and why the others were so intent on waiting for Zoie, but he knew better than to get involved, that was the kind of stuff he was deliberately keeping his neck out of, and he planned to keep it that way as long as he could.

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Sunday May 21th, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @Pundii @Scallop @Nallore

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Club AfterDark: Ronnie looks over towards Chloe and has a rather surprised expression on his face. "Back to med school? Wow, are you being serious? Or is this a passing thing?" he asked. "I mean, don't get me wrong, if you are serious, I'd support you with it and all," he adds giving her a cheeky grin. "I do have this horrible pulled muscle in my back, check me out doc!" - Over at the other booth, Relic shakes his head a bit. "No, I wish I did, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here like a duck..." he grumbled under his breath. The last thing he wanted to do was to be out like this. Not with everything that had gone down. It was all too much for him and he was never one to enjoy being out of the shadows. Good for them though, Zoie wanders in to the club about this time. Granted, she doesn't look as much like she did when she left and it is something that Scott will be able to take notice of. She isn't dressed in her usual high end clothing, jeans and a t-shirt with a dark pair of shades on and boots that look like they have been through way too much red clay. Wait, where the hell is there red clay in California? Freddie looks up from his seat and shakes his head before glancing over at Zoie. "Not till just now, damn woman, what happened to you?" he asked before a call comes out from the kitchen - ORDER UP!

Justice Asylum: Cynthia sticks her tongue out at the orderly's before following the doctor to her office. Stepping through and twirling around a bit before flopping down in a seat and letting her head fall back looking at the ceiling. When Iris finally takes a look at Cynthia's file is might make her a bit slack jawed. (Everything about Grimm is in that file - the charge of murder, the false lock up, the former treatment of the place including a lot of old school shock therapy and lithium. The fact the woman can tie her own shoe is going to be a miracle.) - Also in the file will be that she transferred from Grimm to Seattle since her release (this occurred days after the end of Murder High Reunion) - and that she personally put in the request for the transfer to Justice. Looking over at the doctor Cynthia grins a bit too broadly. "Just call me Valentine," she giggles nearly demonically. This woman is supposed to be a half way patient?

The Safe House: Risa obviously doesn't like this but she hasn't drawn yet. Seems she wants more answers before she puts a bullet into Roy's skull. "No, not asking you to help just letting you know why I am mixed up with them while still being a recruit for Argus. Argus wanted me to check out a new comer to town to bring into the fold but thing was, the same name popped on Juno's Radar. It was Alicia Gonzalez but she was found dead before Argus could talk to her, seems she fell in with Juno. At least I think that is what happened. I am not sure right now. Juno had their eyes on Risa as well, they knew she was coming. How I knew to get you two out of there. What you two do from here is up to you but seriously, going this alone isn't wise. Argus and Juno are after the both of you now. Lucas, there is a bounty on your head by Juno. They put Persephone on it. No one survives her...." Risa's brows furrow as she sits there and then looks over towards Lucas. "Give us a minute Roy," she says and waits for Roy to step outside and close the door. "I don't like this anymore than you do but we can either get his help and loose whatever inside information he can get us or we go this alone. I don't trust him but he's our only connection right now."

Classic Building 3D: Marc takes the sim drive and nods to Riley. After she leaves the room he sits down on the edge of the bed and flips it over in his hands a few times before pulling out his phone. Connecting it via an individual port he accesses what is on the drive. There isn't much there, just a simple txt file. Opening it he looks at his phone and his brows furrow a bit. "Vacation Planner" - and a long line of various numbers. "What in the hell is this Lawson?" he mutters under his breath as he stares at it. "Fucking hell, it's a cypher." But to what he had to wonder. What good was a cypher key if he didn't have the paper that was needed to crack the code. Lawson was trying to tell him or someone something but what? Pulling the card from his phone he slipped both back into his pockets and got to work on searching the place once again. Leaving the main bedroom and heading over to the spare one. Opening the door he peeked inside, it was mostly work out equipment and boxes. Rolling up his sleeves he got to work going through everything.

Queensguard R&D: At the gate a large motorcade pulls up and the gates open after a quick check of identification. The gate radios in that their guest has arrived - Admiral Leann McCormick, the Secretary Of Defense. The motorcade pulls up to the front of the building and the door is opened for her. Stepping out she glances around before she is flanked on either side by your typical men in black before she starts making her way up the front steps of the building towards the front door. The door to her vehicle closes and the Motorcade sits there as more "MIB" get out and take positions around the line of vehicles. Inside the research facility Elizabeth Queensguard's office doors open and she steps out with her lacky following two steps behind her and one step to the right. Her lacky is holding a briefcase that is handcuffed to his wrist as he walks. Elizabeth glances around as she makes her way to the lobby and stands there awaiting Leann to come through the doors it seems.

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Behind The Veil

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Coughing heavily Natasha groaned. She had nearly finished up the autopsy's of the women but she needed a break. Sitting down at the computer she placed her purse beside her and pulled out a bottle of prescription meds and popped one of the pills, washing it down with some of the bottled water she always carried with her these days. Seeing her reflection in the dark screen of the monitor she sighed as her fingers came up and ran through her short hair. It was looking better but it was still so brittle, the chemo treatments and surgery had obviously take their toll on the woman but she just hoped that was all behind her now. She didn't want to go through that again and she most definitely didn't want to put Lincoln through having to watch her go through it again.

"You look tired," a voice said from behind her. Turning around Natasha looked startled at first and then smiled slightly as she spotted who was actually speaking to her.

"Dr. Chang, nice to see you. What brings you here?" she asked as she started to stand up.

"No, don't get up. Looks like you could use a break." Natasha nodded and rested back in her seat. "I just came by to see how you were settling in and how things were going. It's been pretty hectic lately and I normally don't have anything to do with the morgue for the city but favor for an old friend."

"Oh, well settled in alright. Thank you for helping me find a place to stay while I am in town. Made it a lot easier. Things here are going alright. These are some very interesting cases."

"How so?" Amy asked as she walked over to the bodies of Alicia and Lorna and started to take a look at them closely.

"Where do I start? The aviation fuel mixed with purified water in their lungs instead of salt water? Or the branding on the back of this woman's leg?"

"Branding?" Amy's face looked intrigued. "How could you pull anything off these bodies like that?"

"It wasn't easy but between myself and the forensic tech we managed to get this," Natasha said as she turned on the monitor and pulled up the images she had uploaded of the branding. Amy stepped over and took a closer look. "Why would someone get branded like that? It had to be painful."

"Extremely," Amy stated flatly as her hand rested on her hip and rubbed slightly, a flinch of pain coming over her features for a brief moment.

"Are you okay Dr. Chang?"

"Oh yes, perfectly fine." Righting herself she smiled over to Natasha. "Seems you are finding yourself useful here. I'll stop back by later tonight. Dinner?"

"I would love to, been a while since I got to dine in the city."

"Good, will be back later, keep up the good work," Amy said before excusing herself and heading out of the morgue. Natasha bid her goodbye and got back to work.

[Morose]

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Alicia's Secret Hideout; Queensguard Private Airfield

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Before all of this happened, Cecily Ashworth, the oldest child of lawyers Wendy and Frank Ashworth, spent a fair deal of her time on tumblr. She followed the tags of her favorite fandoms, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to BBC Sherlock. And as she peered down at the ladder, the heavenly and glorious ladder of her escape, she recalled one post that she had reblogged in particular.

The post felt especially fitting, as she climbed her way down the ladder with some difficulty, as she attempted to keep herself from bleeding out. She had been dumped into something stranger than real life, into something akin to--and perhaps even more dangerous than--her favorite shows and comics. All of this chaos had been going on for about a week--and here she was, near to death.

She went to mention it to Caesar, before deciding to hold the comment altogether. She didn't need to lose whatever credibility she had with him by revealing herself as a tumblr nerd. That, and she was fucking bleeding. And damn it, it hurt. Cecily was amazed that she didn't fall off the ladder, with her hands shaking as she reached the landing. Adjusting her grip, she hoped Caesar knew how to get bloodstains out of clothing, as otherwise, the bandana definitely was going to need to be thrown out.

"Fucking hell," Cecily muttered, as the lights turned on, dazzling her with the intensity. She shifted her free hand to cover her eyes, squinting through the gaps in her fingers until she adjusted to it. For a few moments, it was like staring at the sun. But as her vision adjusted, she spotted a staircase, heading down. Who the bloody hell built this place?

Glancing behind her, Cecily did smile slightly. "You...You do know how to deal with bullet wounds, right? I mean...You look like you've been shot before...or at...Sorry if that's rude," Cecily asked, increasing the pressure on the wound once more, as she descended the flight of stairs. Half of her expected it to lead them to a trap, that there'd only be more gunmen down there, but for now, she was alive and breathing. That was fortune enough.

And why the hell did Alicia have Iris' card? The thought flickered through her mind, but the pain in her shoulder quickly chased it away. Biting down on her lip, Cecily made it to the bottom of the stairs, and she glanced around, her eyes widening. It looked like it was the set of a spy movie, or perhaps a still from a comic book. The room reminded her of a drainage system of sorts, containing weapons and...a medical kit.

She stood there in shock for a moment, before hurrying over to the medical kits as best as she could. Her hands were shaking as she undid them, and she knew that the bullet in her shoulder was stemming blood flow--but it was also giving her lead poisoning. Cecily unpacked the materials, a bit skeptical at her being able to do anything effective with it. "Erm...Should I pull it out or--?"

But she was cut off, as a beep echoed throughout the air, and a computer generated voice began to speak. She glanced over at Caesar, listening to it identify him, and then her eyes spotted a monitor, with the video image of the deceased Alicia Gonzalez displayed on it. She shook her head slightly, looking back down at the kit. Caesar needed a private moment--she'd figure this out. Somehow.

Taking out some of the gauze, she did her best to put pressure on the wound, and thankfully, Lady Luck allowed the blood flow to be stopped. If only Natasha was here...I mean, lead poisoning can't set in that quickly...can it?

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Iris Kingston

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Location: Arkham Asylum Justice Asylum For The Criminally Insane: the Ludwig Building

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Potentially identity disorder. Patient--Cynthia--associates with name Valentine, Iris thought to herself. She had been blessed with a photographic memory, and Cynthia's seemingly drug induced spins and twirls were a sight Iris figured she would never quite forget. As Cynthia threw her head back, she pondered more and more what information the file would divulge. This wasn't the typical patient they encountered at the Ludwig Building--but then again, no one ever really was the typical patient.

"And what a lovely name that is, Valentine," Iris complimented, hardly skipping a beat. "Is it your birthday then? I know you mentioned it was your day in the common area." She smiled softly at her patient, debating whether or not the woman could be trusted with a spoon to eat the sorbet with. Instead, Iris opened up the small tin of cookies she kept at her desk, and offered one to Valentine.

"Well, I'd love to get to know you better, Valentine," Iris continued. "But I find it's a bit awkward sometimes if I know all about you, and you know nothing about me, yes? So. Here's my proposal: You can ask me any question you like, I'll answer truthfully, and then I can ask you a question. You can pass if you're uncomfortable answering, but I do ask you tell the truth."

Iris folded her hands neatly at the desk, allowing Cynthia to ask questions first if she agreed. Mentally, she was keeping track of her patient's movements and responses, attempting to identify what demons tortured the poor woman. As soon as she concluded this initial session with Valentine, she would write up her unbiased comments, and then peruse the file. However, Iris already had a premonition that Valentine was no ordinary patient.

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Chloe "Tuesday" Ridgeway

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Location: Club AfterDark

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Tuesday sighed a bit, her lips comically being puffed out as she did so. Truthfully, Tuesday couldn't quite tell whether it was whimsy or fancy. She was getting sick of the same old routine--everyone acting like they were hot shit, when they weren't. Having to work out new ways to smuggle goods in for her clients down in lockup. It had become monotonous, repetitive, like a police procedural drama. The wheel turned, but nothing ever changed.

"Everyone just takes themselves so fucking seriously," Tuesday admitted, holding her head in her hand. "We're druggies. Own that shit, right? But everyone acts like they're some badass gangsta or the fucking Queen of Sheba. And then, all these runs, all these marks, all these drops? They're all the same." She paused for a moment, laughing a bit. "The kids we deal to will be us one day, and they'll deal to someone, and then they'll deal to someone...I'm getting bored."

It wasn't really medical school that Tuesday wanted--it was more a change. As exciting as the lifestyle had been in her early 20's, she would be thirty in just two years. And to be honest, she didn't want to do this for the rest of her life. Her lifestyle was just another drug for her--one that she had now abused enough to no longer bring its highs. With her head in her hands, she probably looked just like she did whenever she was in need of a fix.

"I dunno. Maybe I am serious. Maybe I'm not," Tuesday shrugged. However, her mouth then curled into a snarky grin. "But I can help you with that back, asshole. A good punch or two should do the trick. Maybe a kick, too."

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3D - Basement Level (Lawson's Apartment)

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"I think digging through a dead man's fridge would bring you bad luck Felix." Riley said with a laugh and then headed out of the apartment through the back patio door she made her way towards the shed and tried to open it. But the door didn't budge, she looked at the lock, which looked to be a simple padlock that needed a key. It was pretty common to keep a shed locked up in case anyone did actually try and steal anything that was valuable inside. As she made her way back into the room Riley started searching around the room for any sort of keys until she found a key ring with a bunch of keys on it, she also grabbed a black marker she found nearby. Riley quickly went over and grabbed it and headed back outside she approached the shed.

"Lets see if any of you work." Riley said to herself as she tried the first key into the padlock which didn't work, she used the black marker and ran it over the one she just used. Since there were so many it would be easier to mark which one she had used, Riley started it to try another Riley continued the process for about five minutes. When Riley finally got to the last one Riley used the final key and the padlock was released, Riley quickly went and removed the lock and opened it to her shock and surprise.

There were several large duffle bags inside it, Riley knelt down and opened one of them her eyes went wide with shock as she saw several guns inside of them. "What the hell were you getting yourself into Lawson?" Riley asked she absolutely hated guns, ever since the final showdown with Chris in the Haunted House back at the reunion. Her killing Chris always still haunted her even though the guy deserved to die Riley didn't want to kill anyone, but she truly had no choice. As Riley inspected the bags she looked at one of them she saw the same symbol again that Ronnie had shown her when they first met that was on the Juno Roller Derby poster. Riley quickly took out her phone and took a picture of the symbol and sent it to Ronnie, it was something that linked to Danica's search. Riley then grabbed that bag and headed back inside Lawson's apartment.

"Marc and Felix come here!" Riley called out to them setting the duffle bag onto the bar top that was linked between the kitchen and living room. Riley then gestured towards the same symbol that she spotted earlier, she looked at Marc and Felix. "Theres several more out in that shed Marc, that symbol is what I saw last week from my friend Ronnie. Now I dunno if Lawson was becoming a prepper for the fucking zombie apocalypse or these were getting sold out to someone."

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Club AfterDark

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Mali took stock of the situation. A strange woman walks in with boots caked in suspicious substrate. Mali might have been living on the West Coast (more like Pest Coast, am I right? Mali on managed to pass her songwriting course with a C)) for less than a month, but even she knew that clay of that sort didn't show up in the SoCal area, let alone enough to cake footwear as thoroughly as that. (speaking of footwear, they reminded her of Hannah. Sigh) It was late summer, but it wasn't that bright out. Hangover maybe? The staff member that just came in seemed to know who she was.

"Is she that friend you were waiting for?" Mali asked Relic, glancing over at the bartender who hadn't noticed her request. He was carrying a separate conversation with that other guy. Maybe she'd need to be more aggressive. "Look at you getting acquainted with so many older women. Maybe I should ask for some pointers." She ribbed, bumping him lightly with her elbow. She was mostly joking; Relic was being a sour lime, and being stuck in a bar during off hours was downer enough. But there was a kernel of sincerity behind it, because if she actually was his contact: damn. Even in this unflattering outfit/environment she was smoking hot.

[Scallop]

Felix Hausten

Location: Classic Building

Felix went through the kitchen, his first point of investigation was the stove. Eventually he made his way around the room, eventually opening up the cabinets. A first few tries and he found nothing. He let out a sigh as he kneeled down and opened up another cabinet. He sung it open and grinned, a bit of nostalgia waving over him.

He picked up the Nintendo branded cereal box to observe the mario and Link designs on the box. He grinned as he opened it up, feeling that it was a bit too heavy to just have cereal in it. But he wouldn't be angry if it was just ridiculously heavy cereal. With a soft chuckle as he registered what Riley had said to him he opened up the box and extracted the contents. Lots of folders, papers about the victims and files on Gretchen and Clemins with something about Cameron White. He took a peek at the files before turning to the vacation letter.

A letter about a vacation? And then, he was dead. An eternal vacation that was for sure. He walked back in and looked to Marc and Riley with a grin. "bad luck you said? hehe look what i found" He out the files and the box on the desk and showed marc the vacation letter. "For you apparently"

[Sigil]

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Caesar Gonzalez

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Location: Queensguard Private Airfield, Alicia's Secret Hideout

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Awe took Caesar for about a second, maybe less. He had definitely not expected this. Hell, he had expected to die in a hail of gunfire, he and Cecily both just then. This was a significantly more welcome outcome. But now that he was surrounded by a cache of goodies set aside by his girls and in what he hoped was a secure location, the more practical and somewhat angry side of him bubbled back up to the fore. Cecily was still injured. The standard medical packs down here would be of great assistance, but if that bullet was still in there it would have to be removed before more restorative action could take place.

"Yeah. I have been shot before. I can take it out, but it will get real messy and real painful. It's better to wait for a doctor. We should have a premeasured local in our standard packs. Just press down and hit the plunger."

Caesar took a long look around him, at the underground bunker that Alicia and Lorna set up. The weapons stashes, electronics, the secret frigging entrance... This was a little too "Secret Agent" for his tastes, but today it saved his ass. Not going to complain. He re-upped his ammunition with standby ACP rounds and another magazine, grabbed a spare switchblade (it was M'hija's favorite) as well as a couple more sharp things. He stopped briefly, looking at one of a few long blades on a rack. Not his favorite chopping implement, but the machetes to which he was most accustomed were absent from this cache of ouch-making devices. A katana was a bold fashion statement for him. He selected one with a sling he could carry on his back.

"Niña, if you need a weapon or something, just grab it. We're not here long. Just getting answers and finding a way back to my trike."

The monitor in the wall flared to life, with the image of Alicia speaking directly to him, as if she knew that eventually he would find this place. It was a tender moment for Caesar, as if his daughter were speaking to him one final time. But he could not allow himself to get lost in her face and her voice just then. He needed answers. Caesar permitted himself one indulgence, however. "M'hija, I don't remember approving funding for this." He then pressed Play.

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J. Keystone

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Location: Queensguard R&D Industrial Complex: Lobby

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The doors to the lobby parted, opened by two security personnel waiting with Acting Director Keystone. As they closed behind their distinguished visitors, the large security director motioned for both of them to take positions at the rear flank of their guests. Another series of gestures had the guards further in maintaining eyes on the group gathering in the lobby. "Make certain we got cameras on everyone, right?" he spoke into his comm, addressing the personnel back at the Hub.

Keystone himself took up a position to the side of the gathering, near to Elisabeth Queensguard - not quite mirroring the lackey carrying the briefcase. He wanted to make sure that there was a bit of professional separation between them. He didnt want to insinuate himself into her professional dealings, yet needed to be nearby if called upon for protection or violence. Plus, it allowed for a more objective view of the scene.

There was some concern that Caesar handn't gotten in touch with him for a while. He had accurately predicted the identity of their mystery guest, then was strangely silent. Nothing that could be worried about then, anyway. Not until their guest and client both were secure and satisfied, with emphasis on client. Then maybe he could chance a text message in a little bit, but right now, two very powerful women and two security teams with differing priorities were meeting in the lobby of an R&D complex lobby.

After taking position he nodded respectfully over to Ms. Queensguard, politely offering the intonation of "Ma'am."

[Lady Absinthia]

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Date: Sunday May 21th, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @Pundii @Scallop @Nallore

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Club AfterDark: "Don't ask," Zoie growls somewhat as Freddie hands her a bottle of water and she downs it. "Tell Trisha the order was filled," she says before looking around the room. Relic looks over at Mali and chuckles nervously. "Yeah, pointers. Looking weak seems to get women's attention," he says trying to make a joke before Zoie spots him. Sliding off her stool she slips over to him and plops herself down in a seat across from them. "What da hell you be doin' here Daniel?" she asked. Relic gulps and looks down pulling at his hoodie. "Sorry... I needed help," he says before looking up and seeing Zoie looking Mali up and down. "Don't worry about her, she's a friend," he tells Zoie. Zoie's eyes widen a bit. "You done made a friend? Well I'll be damned, fine, what's be goin' on?" she asks. "We can't talk here..." Relic says and Zoie nods. Pulling put a pen she takes his hand and scribbles something down before standing up. "Two hours," she says before walking off and heading straight back out the door. Relic lets out a breath he had been holding before looking at Mali. "Sisters...."

Ronnie chuckles. "Hey don't blame you girl, I wouldn't want to do this my whole life if I had half your brains," he says elbowing her slightly. Turning his head he watches as Zoie goes over to Relic and Mali, only to get up and leave nearly as quickly as she came there. Rising a brow he looked at Chloe. "Well that was fast, okay, food and then we head out," he says before looking over at the kitchen and hearing the yelling. "What the fuck? Someone not like our order?" he asks out loud before looking back over at Chloe. "Maybe we should go ahead and get the fuck out of here. I don't like the sound of that shit."

Classic Building 3D: Marc keeps going through the secondary bedroom but can't seem to find anything else. Hearing Riley he rushes out of the room, his hand on his side arm until he sees that she is okay. Stepping over to her slowly he eyes the guns and picks one of them up, flipping them over in his hand. "I knew Clemins was a gun runner but this is higher end than we had known about," he said before looking over at Felix as he showed what he had found. Taking the letter from him he perked a brow as he read over it. It didn't sound like Lawson but it was in his hand writing. What in the world? Why was the man going on about a vacation they had never spoken about as if they had talked about it a thousand times. Stopping he pulled out the SD card and put it back in his phone. After a minute of looking at the information on the SD card and the letter he took a deep breath. "Well shit, Lawson stumbled onto something. An arms delivery is coming up, well was before Clemins was killed. Wonder if it is still on."

Queensguard R&D: Elizabeth nodded towards Keystone as he stepped over to her. "I trust that you and Mr. Gonzales are settling into the position well enough. Now, best behavior young man, I am about to introduce you to a close friend," she said as Admiral McCormick stepped through the glass doors and into the building with her entourage behind her. Moving over with a walk of a seasons veteran Leann held her hand out to Elizabeth and shook it in greeting. "Elizabeth."

"Leann, good to see you. Thank you for coming. Before we go to speak privately, please let me introduce you to Mr. Keystone, he is a former coworker of Miss Gonzalez and is helping Caesar Gonzales continue her work for me," the owner of Queensguard explained. Leann looked Keystone over like any high ranking military officer might. "Mr. Keystone, this is Admiral Leann McCormick Secretary of Defense, ad one of my oldest friends."

"Keystone... A pleasure," she said but not extending her hand to the man.

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Club AfterDark

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"I wouldn't know. Only child." Mali replied after she turned around to watch Zoie leave. She reached over to pick up the note that Zoie scribbled. Hopefully she'd be able to decipher it without too much effort, but if she couldn't then she'd just hand it off over to Relic, or should she say Daniel. She knew that wasn't actually his name, silly git. Even if she could read the handwriting, she would remember that she had no idea where most places were in Justice and hand it over to Relic anyways.

"Your order's up, isn't it? Eat up so we can both get out of here." The whole situation had only become more awkward with the obviously strained relationship the two siblings had. Although she had no siblings, she had gathered some of the ins and outs of siblinghood from friends during public school. If there was any communication she saw between family members on opposite sides of the law then, it was the bare essentials at best, and more likely involved yelling, violence and/or worse. Then again, high school experience probably wasn't a very good indicator of how most siblings interacted. Might be sufficient for this pair.

[Morose]

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Cecily Ashworth

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Location: Alicia's Secret Hideout; Queensguard Private Airfield

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Cecily followed Caesar's instructions, grimacing slightly at the thought of Caesar pulling a bullet out of her. She knew it'd have to be done essentially, but she slowly became more and more convinced that he'd try to use a machete or something to do it. Best bet was to wait for Natasha--assuming the doctor was still alive. Cecily had been acting coroner for all of a minute, she felt, and attempts on her life had already begun. How long would they wait for Natasha?

"Unless these come with an operation manual, I think I'm good..." Cecily explained, looking at the various weapons in the room. She hadn't fired a single bullet from her gun. And with her minimal training in shooting, she doubted she'd manage to hit anyone. As Alicia's video began to play, Cecily kept a respectful distance, but she listened carefully.

We're so fucked, Cecily thought to herself, before correcting her thoughts. Caesar was trained for this type of thing--for a cult of powerful women, hellbent on murder and destruction. I'm so fucked. She bit her lip, ready to leave Alicia's hideout whenever Caesar was, when a thought occurred to her. Proserpine had murdered this woman. Proserpine was a deadly assassin, Cecily figured, and she had killed Alicia Gonzalez.

How the hell had she survived, instead of Alicia? Her mind flickered back to the traumatic day in the coroner's office, where the bullet whizzed by and hit the doorframe. If Juno only recruited the best, then there was no reason for Proserpine to miss. Cecily couldn't help but be perplexed by the fact she was still breathing. There was no reason for her to be alive--unless perhaps they wanted her to be? Biting down on her lip even harder, she couldn't help but feel dirty and used. That was one explanation for why she had been named coroner--and why Proserpine hadn't killed her.

Somehow, perhaps they were using her? It didn't make any sense. Alicia, even in death, would probably last longer than she ever could hope for in a fight. And Iris' card? Were they trying to recruit her third cousin? She could understand why they'd want Iris, perhaps.

"I'm ready when you are," Cecily said quietly, but her thoughts continued to trouble her.

Why am I still alive?

---

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Iris Kingston

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Location: Arkham Asylum Justice Asylum For The Criminally Insane: the Ludwig Building

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The more Iris interacted with Cynthia, the more she appeared to be a hard case. It was perhaps a first in her (admittedly) short psychological career: she wished she had read the file beforehand. Reconsidering briefly having agreed to see Cynthia straight away, Iris smiled as the girl recounted an old rhyme. It was morbid, but it wasn't entirely new for childhood rhymes. One about plague, and then this one about burial of the living.

Valentine appeared to have plenty of questions, but Iris wasn't sure whether discussing death was the correct approach with this patient. There was some sort of underlying trauma, now associated with the holiday. Iris had seen women scarred for life before--Cynthia resonated with them in her mind. "Yes, I quite enjoy the holiday," Iris replied. "I've always spent it with some mates."

However, Valentine's description of the holiday didn't quite match up with the traditional symbols. Love, sweethearts, roses, chocolate, swans--but red pictures? Combined with the girl's talk of death, Iris couldn't help but guess towards the worst. Someone had made a distinct impression on the girl, Iris suspected. The identity disorder was likely pre-existing...but why the fixation of Valentine's day?

"Could you tell me about your friends, Cynthia?" Iris asked.

---

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Chloe "Tuesday" Ridgeway

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Location: Club AfterDark

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Tuesday rolled her eyes. She figured that most of her brain cells had been killed by one drug or another at this point. Medical school wasn't going to be easy at all. She'd be lucky to make it through it, assuming she could even manage to complete rehab. "We've got the same amount of brain, you dork. Just depends how much we've smoked away at this point in our lives," she joked.

Frowning a bit, Tuesday did feel slightly nervous with all the yelling in the kitchen. Yelling in Justice tended to lead to fights. And fights, about half of the time, led to the cops. Cops? Not her cup of tea. Avoiding them like hell tended to be her usual rules of operation, with the exception of Marc. She'd need to contact him later that evening. "Yeah, let's bounce. We good to go take care of business?" Tuesday asked. Maybe a run would get her head out of this funk. At any rate, the club wasn't helping. And Ronnie would be hungry even if he did manage to get his food.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3D - Basement Level (Lawson's Apartment)

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Riley leaned over the table somewhat as she eyed that symbol again as she looked towards Marc as he took out one of the guns and inspected it, she shuddered slightly at the sight of it. She really hated the sight of guns ever since what happened back in her hometown Riley watched Marc put the gun back into the bag. "Theres at least a couple more in that shed." Riley mentioned as she saw Marc taking out the SD card she had found in the bathroom earlier. "So this Clemins dude was running guns, and Lawson was your informant who was Clemins selling the guns to and where is this meeting at and what time?" Riley asked.

She then turned the bag over so that the symbol that was on the bag was facing Felix and Marc. "That's also the same symbol I saw on the Juno Roller Derby poster last week when I first met Ronnie before we headed for the Roller Derby last week." Riley said as she looked at the guns once more. "Should we like report the guns to the cops or something?"

[Scallop]

Felix Hausten

Location: Classic Building

Watched Marc admire the gun for a bit, mesmerised by the idea of gun runners. There were so many ideas in this room alone for chapters in his novel. Maybe he'd have to extend his novel into a whole series with all the little snippets of information all pointing to one plot. A new trilogy for him to base his fame off of! Perfect! He smirked and took a look at the guns, his mind racing with possibilities.

"This symbol is a common occurence hm? I did go to the derby but I never saw such a symbol, if you wouldn't mind Marc." He took out his notebook and sketched the symbol before pocketting the book and grinning.

"I'm not a mind reader but I can tell...we're not calling the police are we Marc? We're attending this little throw down aren't we?"

[Lady Luck]

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Date: Sunday May 21th, 2017

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@Sigil @Morose @Dragoknighte @Pundii @Scallop @Nallore

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Now now, don't get mad at me. It as bound to happen sometime. It had been far too long since one of you had to weep for your fallen here. The dice are tossed, the numbers fall where they may, and today they fell on Snake Eyes. Bow your heads.... More than one of you have just entered the life beyond.

Club AfterDark: "Yeah, probably a good idea," Relic said towards Mali as he waited for their food. He wanted to get out of there as soon as he could. The yelling was growing more intense. Ronnie looked towards Chloe and nodded, standing up. "Yeah, we're good. We can grab food later, or on the way," he said as he started to head out of the club. Freddie watching as they exited before standing up and looking at the Kitchen door. The yelling stopped and the woman came out, following the steps Ronnie had taken to leave out the front door. Freddie shook his head, at least that was over. Or so he thought.

As Ronnie made it outside and turned to speak to Chloe about where they were headed his brow perked up when he saw the woman exit not long behind them. Then everything slowly went into slow motion as the sound of tires squealing could be heard cutting around the corner down the street and an engine barreling towards them. Ronnie moved quickly, drawing his pistol and pulling Chloe close to him as he tried to dive down, the area getting bombarded with gun fire as the 73 Black Mustang sped past them. Bullets cut into Ronnie, into the woman who had just stepped out, into Chloe. There was nothing anyone could do. The area was so covered with gunfire, it was taking out the three standing there trying to move out of the way as well as many others waiting to get into the club. Screams were breaking out and before anyone knew it, it was over. A total of 17 were dead on the side walk.... Including Chloe and Ronnie...

Relic stood up quickly as he heard the screams and the gun fire, going white as a sheet. "Let's get the fuck out of here, back door," he said before grabbing his bag. He wasn't waiting for a last meal.

Justice Asylum: Cynthia chuckles as she sits back in a chair and spins around and around as her head flops back and she looks at the ceiling. "Well there is Ada, she is always there for me. Oh, then Riley and Chloe. They feed me and hang with me, or at least they used to. There is Roxanne, she likes to keep me from painting on the walls but she's okay. There was David but he died..." she said before closing her eyes. "It's happening again, death death, toil and trouble. Would you cut it out, let's not start this again. I didn't start it. I know we didn't. So why are you telling me to stop? Because you sound like a crazy person. Well we are a crazy person. Damn it..."

Classic Building 3D: "More?" Marc more of stated than questioned, more of disbelief than actually asking if he had perhaps misheard Riley. What was Lawson doing with all of these? One bag would have been enough to report in, enough evidence to go after the man legally. With what he could see in this bag and the fact there were more still in the closet, Marc could only wonder if Lawson had actually been preparing for war at this point. Looking over towards Felix as he sketched down the object he nodded a bit. "No, no cops. We don't know who is on the take and who isn't. The last thing any of us needs is to let whoever is behind this know what is going on or that we found it. We don't need a neon target on our backs," Marc said as he started shoving the weapons back into the duffle bag. "Alright, grab what you can, let's get these up to your place Riley, then I need to see those bodies," Marc said as he slung the bag over his shoulder. He didn't want them lingering in the place any longer than they had to.

[Dragoknighte]

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Location: Club AfterDark

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The event of the drive-by shooting was something almost everyone who lived in an industrialized country knew about. From the young hoodrat to the jaded hick who lives 20 miles away from the nearest gas station. The degree to which information spread and the mass production and distribution of entertainment made it nearly impossible to somehow get by ignorant of the event. And even if someone somehow managed to avoid learning through news or movies, it didn't take a rocket scientist to put together combining firearms and vehicles for mobility and area of effect at the expense of accuracy.

Even so, knowing about drive-bys, being aware of why and how they happen and then actually sitting at a location where one was occurring were entirely different experiences. Mali's entirely body tensed and she felt her duck instinctively. Wordlessly she thanked any higher powers that the building was made of sturdy materials. Almost against her will, she found herself turning around to find the inside of the bar, same as it was.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Mali replied, releasing a breath she did not realized she'd been holding in. She got up to follow him out the back. Yeah, that was enough time in the Red Light District for one lifetime.

[Pundii]

Lucas Walsh

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Location: Safe House

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Listening to Roy as he continued to speak, Lucas sighed as he stood there and scratched at his chin. All of this was absurd by general standards, if he hadn't been involved in this business as long as he had, he'd have been convinced that Roy was making everything up, all this stuff about Juno, there was too much insider information for there to not have been at least a shred of truth to it. A big part of him wanted for Lucas not to believe a word Roy was saying, to shrug it all off, but the insider info was useful, it could have given them a leg up, if he actually did know as much as he seemed to let on.

He scoffed at Roy's mention of a bounty, it wasn't his first, Lucas had been hunted by a group of gangsters in one of his and Risa's previous assignments, he'd been told then no one got out of it, and so perhaps he underestimated this 'Persephone' individual somewhat. As Risa asked for a moment, Lucas watched Roy as he moved outside, turning over to her and sighing as he listened to her, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't like anything about him or what he's saying, but the inside information is useful, we can't deny that... Better we keep him around rather than turn around the only 'ally' we have at the moment."

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Scott Fairburne

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Location:AfterDark

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Hearing the call for the order, Scott tossed the towel he had been using to clean glasses over his shoulder, setting the glasses down as he went off to get the orders. Usually the waitress would do that part, but she hadn't shown up for work just yet. Heading back into the kitchen he glanced over the staff, the usual bunch of workers, mostly immigrants, focused on their work and not on him. He never really spoke to any of them, and they never really spoke to him, but there was someone out there which wasn't one of the cooks this time.

His gaze settled on the woman with one of the chefs, they were speaking, well, arguing pretty furiously before she spotted him. He watched her as she just stared in his direction for a moment or two before he watched the woman turn and deck the cook across the face before she sprinted out the door. "Hey!" He called out, going to follow after her but stopping at the door, looking down to the cook to help him up. As he did so, he noticed the piece of paper which had dropped from his pocket. Reaching down, he picked it up, glancing over it, he couldn't read any of the writing, it was all Chinese, but there seemed to be a time and date. He took a note of it for now, tucking the note into his pocket before he sighed and went to get back to work.

Moving to get the plates, he made sure the cook was okay before he went to head back out, it was about then everything went nuts. The gunfire started to erupt outside, a few stray bullets flying through the windows and slamming into the bar and the room behind. Scott just dropped the plates, ducking behind the counter as he heard the vehicle speed off and the shots die down, standing up to look around and make sure people were okay. It wasn't the first time he'd been shot at, but he had hoped it wouldn't be happening again. Though, for the time being he quelled his frustration, focusing on those in the bar to make sure they were okay before he went outside, looking over the dead with a solemn frown.

[Nallore]

Riley Ridgeway

Location: Classic Building 3D - Basement Level (Lawson's Apartment) -> Classic Building 3C (Riley & Cecily's Apartment)

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Riley watched as Marc started putting the guns back into the duffle bag, she looked over towards Felix. "It was something my friend Ronnie found, his friend who we know Danica found it originally but shes dead now." She said towards Felix as she started to head back outside and towards the shed and opened the door to the large stash of weapons were in. Riley knelt down and made sure that they were zipped up tight and started to make her way back towards Lawson's. "Well I know for one thing the whole Expendables cast could be jizzing their pants with all of these guns." Riley said jokingly. When Marc said they were going to be putting them into her apartment she wasn't sure if that would be a good idea or not.

"You know I have a roommate right? I sort of don't want her to get involved in all of this, I can keep them locked in my bedroom but we either have to move them eventually again or we have to get a shit ton of locks on my closet for all of these guns." Riley said she had a feeling that they weren't getting the police involved in this yet, she didn't even trust that detective Roy who was in her apartment earlier, she didn't want to get her roommate involved into all of this she knew that Cecily had a lot of stuff on her mind as it was and she didn't need anymore problems. "Anyway are we going to this gun trade thing then or just hiding them?" Riley asked as she set down on of the bags and pulled out her apartment keys to open her apartment.

Riley started making her way back up the steps she looked around trying to make sure that no one would see the duffle bags that she was carrying. Once she was in her room Riley started making her way towards her bedroom and went towards the walk in closet and started moving some of her things around finding a hiding spot enough for all of the duffle bags and set the two she had down.