Chapter 3: A Fathers Vengeance

[Eanwulf]

Wednesday, April 7th, 2021, Roughly 1:00 p.m
The Excelsior Arms Apartment
Gathered Around Outside Crystal's Apartment

It's been a rough night's sleep since our heroes rid Kongo and Ghede of their powers; each one of them experiencing an unusual dream of some sort or another. Perhaps it was merely the subconscious playing tricks on our heroes' minds, manifesting their own personal fears and concerns into something visual as they slept. After all, the group DID spend the night in a cemetery at midnight, surrounded by the dead, their gravestones, three sorcerers, and a couple of actual monsters! Then again, perhaps it was something else entirely. Who knows for sure? What the group does know however, is that the next morning is a hard one to meet without a foggy head. Still however, the group somehow manages to do so and in time, finds themselves grouping together once more outside Crystal's ruined apartment.

It would appear that the construction workers, electricians, lawn maintenance personnel, and Mr. Han have been working on the Excelsior's needed repairs for most of the morning. Mr. Han looks tired and weary; though he continues to work as best he can despite the fatigue. Old Man Fowler puffs away at his stogie, shouting and cursing at one of the repairmen about the cost of an apparently 'misquoted' estimate. In time, an attractive Asian woman approaches the grumpy man and asks him a question about locating something. The towering landlord momentarily ceases his argument to bark something in reply and the woman thanks him politely then turns to walk away; waving briefly and smiling at the group as she does so. No sooner than the woman has left, Fowler continues to gripe and complain about the price of his bill.

OOC

Brief cameo by Hayabusa

Ookami has an illusion cast on him to look like a black man BTW. Raging Tiger? Well THC is MIA so the Tiger is probably somewhere else just now.

As the workers toil away, Crystals boys run about the courtyard and play, pretending to be superheroes. Young Warren pounds his chest then growls and yells. "RRAAAAARRRRGHHHH!!! I'M COBALT! I'M GONNA SQUISH YOU LIKE A BUG! HRRRRNNNGGG!!!!" Young Pearce smiles widely and responds with a cry of his own. "OH YEAH!!!" the boy replies, now howling at the top of his lungs. "WELL ARRROOOOOOO!!! I'M OOKAMI!!! AND I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!!!" This is probably the most animated any of you have seen young Pearce since you've met him and the two children are both seeming to be enjoying themselves tremendously, at least for now that is.

The two boys' mother, Crystal, smiles at her children and then gazes on as the repairmen continue to work on her apartment with a nervous look upon her face. Concerned the strangers might suddenly inquiry as to 'whom' the children might be referring to, the nervous Crystal prepares herself mentally for some kind of a response. The woman eventually breathes a little bit easier for it would appear that none of the crewmen show any interest in the children's activity whatsoever, other than that the two kids stay out of their way.

Time passes and our heroes regather. Crystal waves to the others as they approach and bids everyone a hearty hello and good afternoon. Mr. Han and Fowler acknowledge the groups presence as well, though quickly continue dealing with their issues at hand.

OOC

Consider this a generalization of when you all 'meet back up' some of you have lives, jobs, families, etc. that consume some of your time. Post as desired, just know that in the end, THIS is when and where you all meet up.

Pilgrim? Yeah I know you have Visions, just nothing triggered yet is all

[Muskrat]

Despite his fatigue from a late night and little sleep, Pilgrim forces himself to get up early as he always does. As he does every morning, he goes out to a street corner and speaks to the people passing by on their way to work, calling out to them to remember their greater purpose here on Earth. "Your jobs are important. But our greater purpose here on the Earth is to carry out the commands of the Lord, our God. And that greater purpose is to love God and our neighbors as if they were ourselves. Remember that when you do your jobs! Do them with love! Never forget the importance of helping your fellow men and women! God has a plan, but He needs us to help him carry out that plan by doing good deeds. Many of you feel as if there is no hope! Well, we can make new hope, by taking care of each other! It is only through loving our neighbors and acting on that love that we can build a better world! The long road will be hard, but the first step is easy--treating each other with love, treating people as you would like to be treated!" He goes on like this for a while. As always, few people seem to stop and listen, but occasionally he sees someone whose heart he thinks he has touched and that is enough for him--to give hope to others, even one person.

When most of the commuters have passed, Pilgrim goes on to his own job, as a janitor in one of the local churches. He does his job, trying to keep the Lord in mind and make every act a prayer. The events of last night distract him though and he is unfocused. Eventually, he finishes his work and walks eagerly back to the Excelsior Arms. He realizes that all day he has felt an urgent need to see how the others are doing--he is relieved that they seem to be doing well.

[Trogdor]

Nikolai spends a good several hours upon rising in magical research regarding his nightmares. But after a while, he reaches a point of diminishing returns. By late morning he's ready for an hour or so of meditation. Some days he'd take this meditation sitting quietly in one of the smaller chambers of his apartment. But ever since his first visit to this dimension, he'd taken to getting some of his meditation by running. He found that the act of running kept his body occupied, which left his mind free to reach a higher level. But unlike solitary meditation, running also required him to keep enough of his focus on the outside world to run safely. It was excellent practice in achieving a higher level of focus during ordinary activity.

And so at about eleven, he starts off down 5th Street, heading up toward Church Square Park. Cutting across the park, he hits the corner of 4th and Garden, where he turns down Garden Street for a few blocks until a left on 1st Street takes him to Pier A Park, where he runs all the way out to the water. From there he runs along the Hudson River, taking the scenic route through Pier C Park, cutting past the little league filed, past Sinatra Park and toward Stevens Institute of Technology. He runs down Frank Sinatra Drive past the technical college until he reaches Hudson Street on the far side of Elysian Park. From there, he turns back and runs past the fraternity row and the football field on Hudson, all the way to 6th Street where he turns right. Then it's down 6th past All Saints Episcopal Day School, through Jefferson Street, where he loops around back to the Excelsior Arms. All in all, it's about five miles, and in addition to providing him an opportunity to meditate, the run helps him feel connected to the people in Hoboken.

Once home, Nikoali cleans up, changes, and has some lunch. By an hour past noon he's feeling more centered and ready to face the world. Wearing slacks, a button-down shirt, and a sweater, he steps out into the Spring air to see who else is up and around from the regular group. Spying the boys playing in the courtyard, it doesn't take a moment before he sees the others. He moves forward and bids them all good afternoon.

[ardh05]

Ookami wanders about somewhat aimlessly, stopping at a butcher shop before returning to the apartments. He laughs at Pearce's portrayal of him, shaking his head. Seeing Nick, he walks over to him and whispers, "Am I really like that?"

[Chanur]

Luke wanders home blue jeans dirty and his t shirt filthy. There is a smudge of dust on his cheek as he enters the Excelsior Arms courtyard. He see's all the work going on and is glad to see the place being repaired some. Instantly his eyes are drawn to Crystal and the boys. He moves over and sits down watching them. "Hi Crystal, how was your day?" He then watches Warren pound his chest pretending to be Cobalt and Luke starts cracking up. He finds their play hilarious and grins from ear to ear.

Looking at Pearce playing Ookami Luke looks around and spots him and the Count. Waving at his friends Luke shouts up "Not a bad portrayal eh?" Laughing heartily.

[veritas]

Jack is up early, as much is on his mind and he knows that Malphas is less active during the day. He does his morning exercises and heads to work, neglecting breakfast. His coworkers are all gathered around the office tv, watching a newscast about 'gang violence' in a certain recently visited neighborhood, and conversing about how much the world has gone to hell since the arrival of the alien overlords. Jack ignores them and heads to his cubicle to get things started.

The morning goes by quickly, with Jack taking care of all of his cases for the day relatively quickly. This is a good thing considering the furloughs that seem to get tougher every year, cutting back hours and making every bit of efficiency worthwhile.

After all is said and done, Jack finds himself arriving home at the early hour of 1:00 pm, to see that reconstruction is well underway on the Excelsior Arms.

[Eanwulf]

Though each of our heroes seems to have experienced much upon their proverbial 'plates' already, they do not allow the dismalness of the previous night's dreams to affect them. Instead, they simply go about their mornings and afternoons, and then gather back together as friends. Now having done so, the group makes polite conversation with one another and watch on as the repairmen continue to work on Crystal's apartment.

In time, Old Man Fowler finishes arguing with some of the contractors and then proceeds to crack open a cooler full of Pabst at his feet. "Help yourselvez!" the normally grumpy old man offers to the others; his attempt at kindness most likely the ploy to make his contractors jealous and/or possibly motivate their men to work harder in the assumption that 'they too' would get to partake of such libations. "I got Agnes over in 310 making us some sammiches, she should be along shortly."

"Pastrami and swiss on rye!" adds Fowler, patting his belly and nearly smacking his lips in anticipation.

Sure enough, a woman in her late seventies eventually makes her way across the courtyard and over towards the group with a plateful of sandwiches in her hands about a half-hour later. The elderly woman smiles warmly to everyone gathered and then pinches Fowler on one of his cheeks. "Just like I promised," the old woman beams pridefully, "Some lunch for you and your friends!" Old Man Fowler blushes then quickly chugs from his beer. "Dank'z Agnes," replies the embarrassed landlord softly, "You're da best as alway'z!" Agnes merely smiles then pats Fowler on his arm. Warren and Pearce rush towards the old woman screaming "AGNES!"; hugging their occasional babysitter with loving arms.

Over time, another of the reasons for Fowler's sudden act of generosity becomes apparent. He informs the group that Kongo and Ghede, better known as two of the three "Gaudeaux Brothers", have been successfully processed in Hudson County and that thanks to pulling a couple of strings, they are scheduled to head out to Northern State Prison within the hour.

"Good riddance!" Fowler proclaims earnestly. "You'ze guyz really did help make the streets here a lot more safer!"

As if getting teary-eyed, or simply perhaps because of the beer, Old Man Fowler succumbs to a moment of emotional weakness and utters yet another praise.

"Thank you..."

The bitter hero then snaps back to his normal ways, spotting a worker that's doing something wrong. He quickly lumbers off to chastise the poor soul about his error. In turn, Mr. Han steps in to continue.

"Hai, Fowler correct in saying you did great deed. I too wanted to say thank you." He then adds. "As token of appreciation, we both wanted to invite you all to cookout at Mr. Han's apartment this evening. Please say you accept."

[Muskrat]

"Well, I'm glad to hear those two will be out of the way for now," says Pilgrim. "Even if they somehow manage to not get a long sentence, they're just common thugs now anyway. A cook-out sounds grand. I look forward to it."

[veritas]

Jack smiles in earnest at the landlord's praise, pleased to see that the world is a little brighter than it was a short time ago.

"Mr. Han, I'd love to come. It sounds like fun."

[ardh05]

Ookami smiles at Fowler's words, sensing that they were praise. When he hears Mr. Han's invitation, he almost starts salivating at the thought of the tasty meats there, but manages to control himself enough to nod, "Sounds good, thanks."