2008-07-13: Locked In

Starring:

Arthur_icon.gif Quinn_icon.gif Gene_icon.gif Jamie_icon.gif Jane_icon.gif Merrick_icon.gif

Special Guest Stars: Evie_icon.gif Lukas_icon.gif Paula and Thom

Summary: Those from Pinehearst watch over those at the Deveaux Building and move in to lock it down.

Date It Happened: July 13th, 2008

Locked In


Upper West Side

New York City

Morning has arrived bright and sunny over the city of New York. As always, it's bustling and loud with its familiar chaos.

Does anyone expect revenge to happen on a morning filled with sunshine in the Upper West Side? The logical answer is no, these things happen in the dead of night. But Pinehearst… Pinehearst, after all, is about change.

Arthur Petrelli, CEO in a slate grey suit — impeccable and handsome, unmarred by the night he he had — stands on a rooftop of a skyscraper. It's much taller than the Deveaux Building across the street. He watches it; he's been watching it. At his side, kneeling at the edge, someone looks through a pair of binoculars that obscure their face. "It figures, so many of them would flock to the spot of their Founders," he reflects out loud. "Almost time now."

It is such a pretty morning, bright, sunny and early. Just the sort of time of day when Quinn is.. fast asleep. But she was off last night, so she's off her usual schedule, and she had some business that had to be done out and about, while the sun is up. So, black takeout coffee, a large (whatever they want to call that), firmly in hand, she walks along the sidewalk, right outside the apparently infamous Deveaux building, her steps turning as she passes toward the entrance.

Currently, Gene is NOT at the Deveaux Building. While he's talked to Hiro and has been informed that he's part of the List by Niki, the young genius has not in fact decided to live in. Why? The same reason why most paranoid people seek to live in the shadows… To avoid unnecessary attention. Of course, there are some that possess his number and if there is a security system in place or a message on the police band, who knows, perhaps Geeky Brother is Watching.

So where is the Geek Goy currently? In traffic on the Upper West Side in his legendary (and still doorless on the passenger side) Camero. "I am never driving through New York ever again. This time I really really super dog dare mean it." Gene pauses as he shakes his head. "Okay, not really, but this traffic is MAKING ME MAD." Gene promptly gets into the lane he is supposed to, cutting off someone and almost getting the side of his car hit. Gene and the guy he cuts off give one another the standard New Yorker greeting: a prompt raising of the middle finger.
Jamie arrived a short time ago, having made the run from where she's been staying with Ali and Erin probably just after waking up. Even dressed in her white tank top and pink shorts, the run over was hot enough that she went right for the cafe. She comes wandering out now, sipping at what's probably a milkshake, now taking her time before she goes to see whoever it is she came to visit.

The morning may have started out beautiful for some people, yet Merrick Jones is running out of his apartment building yelling to his neighbor, "Your the best Murray. I will fill her up on my way back." Merrick straddles the motorcycle as he swings his backpack over his shoulders. "I'm late. I'm late. I'm late for a very important date." As he speeds off through the city, a bit on the careless level Merrick does not seem notice there is NO gas in the bike. As he speeds around the corner from the Deveaux building, the bike sputters and rolls to a stop just in front of the building. Merrick yells, "NO! This can not be happening." He tries to start it a number of times. It does not work as he kicks the stand down and gets off the bike. He growls and begins to look for his cell phone.

In front of the Deveaux building a warm weather clad brunette, her hair in a ponytail and Yankees cap partly obscuring her face, is seated in a folding chair. Her fingers work the strings and frets of a guitar, the case for that instrument open near her left foot. There's a small portable amp she's plugged in to. Jane doesn't need to do this; she has a studio session musician contract and a law degree used for advising young artists in contract matters pro bono as well as family money she avoids touching. It's simple enough: she enjoys playing direct to the audience, who pay if they like her sounds or not if they don't. No one in the middle.

Across the street and up, up, up towards the sky, those who spy down upon the Deveaux Building start to watch even more closely. "Just who do we have in there," Arthur contemplates in his gruff voice. "I dreamed this, you know. That there would be so many, all stacked up like fish in a barrel. Such a family gift, those dreams."

The man beside him rises and adjusts his binoculars. A wind swirls about the pair on the roof, viciously stirring up gravel.

Arthur presses a finger to his ear. "Advance."

Meanwhile, in … Gene's Camaro? "I'm sorry, Gene…" A sullen little girl's voice. In the back seat. She doesn't show up in the rear view mirror, but there she is: Evie, a red hat with a floppy fabric flower on her head, her childlike face downcast. "I thought they were the future… for everyone else. I thought we could make it better even though we don't have one. I think maybe I was wrong. You can say toldja' so."

Quinn looks like herself, for the moment. Well, at least her usual stage appearance. She switches off regularly, just to keep in practice. She glances at her cup, as she opens the door to the lobby. Looks like it is time for a refill. She moves toward the cafe, with no idea at the moment what danger is brewing, and just about to boil over.

Jamie is just making her way over towards the doorman, probably to try to chat with him while she finishes her milkshake, when she spots Quinn coming in. She gives a bright smile and waves to her quickly, "Hi!"
You paged Gene with 'Across the street and up, up, up towards the sky, those who spy down upon the Deveaux Building start to watch even more closely. "Just who do we have in there," Arthur contemplates in his gruff voice. "I dreamed this, you know. That there would be so many, all stacked up like fish in a barrel. Such a family gift, those dreams."

As he swears softly, Merrick looks up in a snap and says, "Aw bullocks. I left the bloody thing on my desk." He looks around and sees the cafe sign in the lobby. Merrick swings his backpack over his shoulder and begins to walk towards the lobby door.

She doesn't have any idea something wicked this way comes. Jane just plays, sings, and collects whatever money is put in the case.

"I was wondering when you going to come. I thought you were when I found out what Pinehearst was really about. You didn't. I figured you would when I broke into their labs. You weren't there." As he speaks, Gene's eyes are to the traffic at first until he finally turns toward the little girl, more tired than scared, perhaps having a 'bad day' for his unique illness. "I guess this is the part where you try and kill me… Or you tell me what is going on with you. I think we both know vague riddles and pleas for help won't be enough for me." His eyes turn toward the road, hugging the bumper as he finds himself trapped in traffic. His voice lowers to a whisper as his gaze flickers to his pale hands for a moment. "Not anymore."

Paula failed to catch those two intruders at Pinehearst, and tricked her into shooting one of her allies. She is not a happy camper, and finding out that the base for the intruders is apparently located here was enough to make sure she was present at the Deveaux Building for this operation. When she receives the signal in her ear-piece, she crosses the street from where she was standing and reading the newspaper, in a black suit, and black trenchcoat, heedless of any traffic — because it will take more than a car hitting her to stop this woman — and approaches the front doors of the building.

She walks quickly, cutting off Quinn, Jamie, and Merrick, shoving them aside if she has to (though she does say 'Excuse me' briefly). Once she has pushed the doors open, she stands in the doorway, blocking it, and turns to the doorman. She pulls out her FBI badge, and holds it up, identifying herself. "Special Agent Paula Star, Federal Bureau of Investigation. We need to have all entrances secured." She flips her ID closed and puts it back in her trenchcoat. "No one goes in or out. There are some dangerous people in this building, and we need to keep them contained here until the local authorities arrive." Barely does the doorman have time to take all this in, when the serious-faced red-head placidly continues, with a barrage of questions. "How many other exits are there on the ground floor? Can you lock them? Are there any security guards that can be assigned to guard the other entrances?"

Evie is unnaturally quiet. "I wanted to see if you were right," she says after a while. "Now Pinehearst's burned and they're not happy." She points past Gene in the direction of the Deveaux Building's block. "They're there. They want revenge." She looks down. "There's no one left to believe. I never lied! Not to you, not on purpose. But I— I'm sorry if you believed me, Gene." Pause. "And don't be a silly-billy! I'm not gonna kill you… like I could anyway. I'm an astral projection."

High above…

Advance, he said. The powerful Petrelli patriarch perched (say that ten times fast, why don't you) on the overlooking rooftop, however, does not move. He does not budge. He could be a statue, a gargoyle guarding over the Upper West Side.

The young man beside him doesn't move, either, although the breeze tears his black-and-grey tie from its clip and it whips about wildly as he obediently remains at Arthur's side … following directions ears can't pick up.

It's someone else who follows Arthur's directions on behalf of Pinehearst. It's Paula, and she's not alone. A tall, lanky man dressed in shabby grey clothes and leather arm cuffs interrupts traffic, eliciting a few honks and swears. His head is covered in nothing but a rough scruff, like his jaw and chin. This is a man who has seen and done a lot in a very rough life. The circles under his eyes are so dark, they look like slick bruises. He lopes at an uneven pace to where Paula blocks Deveaux doors, swinging his arms without rhythm. eyes look straight at Jane, cold and hungry. Something out of a nightmare… literally.

The elderly doorman is at a loss for words. "Security guards…? N-no, there's just me. Of course, miss, do what you have to, miss."

Quinn gets shoved, and lets herself be shoved.. for the moment. She's nobody, after all. Just an ordinary citizen who automatically obeys the orders of law enforcement. She keeps herself against that wall, glancing over to Jamie to make sure the child is alright.

As the building is pointed to, Gene tries to see what is going on, seeing some people advance toward the building. Are they the ones or just people part of the crowd? Either way, "They are here, revenge, astro projection? I need answers now… What is going on?" the young man asks. Before he gets a response he states, "Car Voice Command: Thundercats are on the move…"

"THE THUNDERCATS ARE LOOSE!" comes the audio reply before a box unlocks and pops out from underneth the passenger side. Gene reaches past and perhaps through Evie to get the needed item. A .22 pistol. It's meant for target practice not killing people, but buying hand guns legally in New York has been harder for Gene to get than getting Niki's number (which he has!).

Tucking the weapon under his business dress shirt, Gene tries to get to a place to park the car, but he still has a bit to go. Hopefully, the valet will let the car be in standing in the fire lane if it's to SAVE THE WORLD.

Jamie is already on the inside of the door, so there's no need to shove her. She blinks as the fed storms in, making her way around quickly to Quinn's side. She looks around a moment, and then spotting a cellphone on Quinn's belt, she glances up to the fed a moment. As subtly as she can manage, she reaches to pick the phone from Quinn's belt, opening it and attempting to text a quick message to the number Kory gave her, doing her best to keep the phone out of view of Paula. The text message? 'FEDS DNSTRS'

Just as he walks into the building…damn it. Merrick runs a hand through his floppy hair to get it out of his face as he looks for another exit. F.B.I is not something the young man needs to be around as he slides to the wall making an attempt to becoming unnoticed. He remains still however for now…

This can't be good, the way that man is looking at her. Jane remains unaware what's going on inside the building, it's just him and her outside along with whatever people are passing by in the course of their daily business. Some dropping money into the case, some not. The gaze on her causes a brief faltering in her play, eyes lower to the instrument as she recovers her bearings and continues. But she's aware of his presence now and will seek to keep a fix on where he is without letting on.

Paula nods to the doorman, and turns to the man with her. "Agent Wolfenden here will stay with you to help you keep this entrance secure." She then turns to the other three standing around in the hall inside, and starts to say, "Sorry, people, but we have a situation here. Just stay calm, and don't try to leave the building." Then she notices Jamie with the phone.

She quickly steps forward, bending down and saying, "Mind if I see who you're messaging there?" and attempts to snatch it from the little girl's grasp (though not violently). If successful, and she sees the message on it, she sighs a bit and says, "I wish you hadn't done that." Then she closes up the phone and hands it back to Quinn, with the advice not to use it at this point in time. And from there, she proceeds under the assumption that people have been warned, and may be ready to fight.

Of course, if Jamie somehow avoids or resists the phone grabbing, this may take a bit longer, as she asks Quinn to help with the explanation, "It's procedure to isolate a building from communications when attempting to apprehend fugitives. It would be best if messages weren't sent right now." All while trying to snag the possibly nimble Jamie. Tricksy hobbitses.

Evie shrieks as the car starts to zoom — even though she is an astral projection, as she said. "Sheesh!" she exclaims. "I dont know everything! I just know there was a fire and the big boss man had people follow someone back to this Deveaux Building. A lot of special people live there— people like us. They're in troooubleeee…."

The lanky man with the unnerving eyes curls a long hand around the doorframe at Deveaux, complete with yellowing fingernails. Unike his associate, he's unconcerned with things like phones and doormen. That's because Agent Wolfenden isn't a real agent. "Hmmmmmmm…" his throat rattles as he lopes awkwardly inside behind Paula. Dark eyes land on the doorman.

… who suddenly grabs his head looks awfully, awfully upset. In fact, the poor man's eyes squeeze shut and he falls to his knees.

That's when Wolfenden starts to stare down Quinn, dry lips spreading to reveal a mess of crooked teeth.

Outside, the watchful Arthur and his apparent lackey look down on the Deveaux Building from this angle for the last time. The older man clamps a hand on the Pinehearst employee and they suddenly vanish.

Quinn is all about focus, and attention. When this strange man comes close, Quinn starts panting, grabbing her eyes and shouts, "Stop it!!" dropping to her knees.

Finally able to break out of the street a few minutes prematurely, the Camero smashes up and over the curb, the two tires on the right side on the sidewalk as he gets around a car waiting for a light to change. "You know, with all you know and don't know, I should just come out and ask who the heck you are…" Pause. "Who the heck are you? Really now, I don't have time for mystery and if I might die here since it's CLEAR that there is a good chance people didn't come up with a plan for all this heroics or they would have told ME," he states as he pops the trunk of his car moving towards it.

Egocentric? A little, but when you are a true genius, it comes with the territory. Opening the trunk, he looks toward his prized creation, R2-D2. "You just might get a fiel-" Gene's words are cut off as he looks toward the sound of the shout. "Come on, you could at least let me boot up my dang warbot," he mutters to himself. Unable to go with Plan A, Gene goes swiftly to Plan B, pulling out something seemingly mundane… A radio controlled car. Taking the remote with one hand and the car with the other, he prepares to do something?

Jamie squirms and twists to try to keep Paula from getting the cellphone, only ending up managing to click send before the agent (who has much better reach) grabs it from her. The message would still be displayed, just as sent. "Sorry," she says to Paula after the explanation, but obviously not sincere. At Quinn's and the doorman's reaction to the man, though, she frowns, looking to the weird man, "Hey, leave them alone!"

As Merrick looks at the creepy dude, he looks at the agent and says, "Lass. I am bloody sorry yet…F.B.I don't go harming people." As Merrick raises his hand, the air shimmers like heat from the concrete. Merrick aims for the creepy man's head as the negative ions collect and explode from his hand in a force beam.

Holy crap! There's a Camaro jumping the curb right in front of her and stopping there! It's a close call, the woman with the guitar jumps out of her chair and moves to the side, to make sure she doesn't get hit. This, of course, causes Jane to lose any chance of keeping track on Mr. Staring inside the building. Instead she stares at Gene and his remote control car. "Are you frickin' drunk?" she demands. "And who the hell are you talking to?" Great. A drunk driver, or someone on hallucinogens… But, wait. "I've seen you before. With my ex."

Paula sighs and starts to venture a bit further into the main hallway of the building, to make sure no one else is leaving via some other exit. Then the doorman falls down. And then Quinn falls down. Man! Is she going to need to start tying people to the ceiling so they don't fall down? She turns to see that Lukas Wolfenden is presently being a creepy ass. She narrows her eyes and says, ">Wolfenden<. >Stop it<. We're just supposed to secure the door, not—" then Merrick fires off a force blast, and it's too late. She draws her automatic pistol from a chest holster, and aims at Merrick from behind.

She doesn't want to shoot a civilian, especially one who is defending people who are being… Psychically attacked or something. But she has to keep up appearances for now. Besides, Merrick has an ability. A dangerous one. She should take him down now, and tell people later that it was self-defense. She really should.
She fires her gun.

The shot goes into the floor. The gun is very loud though, and should get everyone's attention, whether they are being psi-zapped or blasted or not. When her gun comes back up, it is pointed at Merrick, but she just says calmly, "That's enough, sir." She'll react to Lucius Malfoy I mean Lukas Wolfenden in a sec, depending on if he's still alive and casting Crucius on people, or knocked out, or what.

Evie disappears and reappears, blurry then crisp, outside of Gene's car on the sidewalk. The young girl watches with wide-eyed alarm as the genius pulls out a remote controlled car. "…Eve," she blurts out. "Eve Georgeson! Be careful, Gene! I don't want you to die before you come find me…!" The girl's shape shimmers and she's gone.

Focused on Quinn and starting to grin a sickly grin, Wolfenden doesn't notice there's someone coming after him — in an unexpected way, no less. Merrick's ability hits his slightly misshapen head hard; the evil-eyed man is sent to the floor of the lobby on his side, holding his own head. In pain? Unconscious? Dead? Who can say?

Quinn's hands come down, as the man falls down. Amazing coincidence, that. She is pale, and a little unsteady as she shakes the last of the effect from her. She rises to her feet, "What.. I don't understand?" Woo, get to play the clueless normal person. Good thing she has some acting skills.

The Geek God finds himself dealing with three fronts at once, but thankfully, being on the computer so much and being a GENIUS enables him to keep up for the most part on all fronts. First there is young Eve. "Hey, don't disappear, I need you tell me everything else that you… Snapple McCrapple," Gene exclaims as his spiritual guide(?) disappears, causing him to narrow his eyes. Kensington is NOT in his happy place.

Sighing, Gene closes the trunk, just settling the car on the ground after flicking a switch on underneath. Checking to make sure it goes forwards and backwards, he replies briskly to Jane. "That's right. Saving the world, pardon me, I'm just coocoo for Cocoa Puffs."

With that, Gene takes cover behind his car, peering around it as he realizes something, speaking more to himself than Jane. He's being rude too, but if asked, he would have an excuse. He usually does. "I have no frickin' idea who I'm supposed to be taking out here. Why couldn't I have something nifty and easy like telepathy? No, God has to make the genius WORK. And sonofagun, they moved into the building." He picks up the remote control car against and just makes his way toward the building, though he pushes against the wall as he closes in toward the doors, clearly trying to be sneaky.

Jamie's eyes widen as the man is taking down by the force beam, "Wow!" Then, though, comes the gunshot. The one sound that pierces through any conscious control Jamie has over her powers. In the split second of hearing the gunshot, everything that was her body is suddenly water, splashing down to the ground. And without a body in them to hold them up, her clothes fall to the ground too, landing in the new puddle.

As Merrick sighs, he is in for it now as he jumps at the gun fire. His hair flying into his face he turns around slowly his eyes locking on the gun. He looks at the Agent and says, "Listen I don't want any trouble. Your friend was hurting her…that is bullocks. She did not do anything…I could not stand by and allow him to harm an unarmed woman." His silver bracer glittering on the edge of his cuff line. The air shimmering in front of him in the shape of a full length mirror and then disappearing as a wall of magnetism turns into a solid mass in front of the young man. However, when the splash turns his focus his eyes turn to where Jamie was and he swears, "Blimey…what the fu…ummm." The shielding shimmering as Merrick turns his eyes back on it to focus.

Her eyes are harsh on the younger genius as he speaks. "Saving the world," she repeats in a mutter. But Gene does still have her attention as he moves and she follows, leaving the guitar case next to chair unattended for the moment. "Telepathy? What, you've got an ability? Taking someone out?" Suddenly Jane's hostility is gone, replaced by concern and curiosity.

Her head whips toward the building with the sound of a shot fired inside, heightening her alertness. Before looking back to Gene she's taking a quick scan of the exterior in search of glass or other brittle features. Then comes a question of the Geek God.

"Do you need a diversion?"

Paula nods to Merrick and says, "I understand that. I do not know why he was doing what he was doing, but if he had not stopped, I would have stopped him myself. Now, however, he is not hurting anyone else, and it is time for us all to relax. Can you do tha—" she starts to ask, but then the air distorts into a mirrory-thingy. She doesn't know what that is, but it is probably the same thing that took down 'Agent' Wolfenden. She prepares to fire, just as Jamie turns into water. Her eyes flick towards the sudden motion, but fails to take in the information fully, because she looks back to Merrick as he loses concentration for a moment. A moment is all she needs to rush forward, and try to punch Merrick in the stomach underhand. Her fist is very, very hard. And her knuckles seem to have sharp studs of some sort protruding from them. She would then explains to Quinn, "Wolfenden was trained by the Soviets during the Cold War. Psychic warfare and all that. I'll make sure you get medical attention." Nice. She could be a Woman In Black with explanations like that.

If she hits Merrick, it will likely hurt. But it's a better alternative to killing him. She has avoided killing anyone while on Pinehearst's payroll so far. She'd prefer to keep it that way. Even if she has to punch people sometimes. Of course, if Merrick is some kind of ultra-ninja and evades the sudden punch, things may get a bit dicier. Perhaps literally!

Quinn looks terrified, and disoriented. She seems to be nodding at the explanation until, well, her eyes widen at the fist changing. There's a shriek of terror, and she points at the hand, saying, "She's a monster!" and her eyes roll up on her head, and she swoons, coincidentally, away from the puddle that is Jamie. THUNK! Peering through her eyelashes to see how her performance went.

Lukas Wolfenden starts to stir. Rather, he starts to twitch, sinewy muscle shifting rapidly underneath dark and shoddy clothes. He starts to push himself up — slowly, ungainly. There's literally a dent in the side of his head, reddened and bruising. Crawling up to his knees, hunched over, he starts to yell — gutteral, primal and garbled. His eyes are bloodshot now, filled with hate — for everyone. He's hurt. He's pissed. He wants everyone to shut up.

"No personal questions to the resident genius while he is busy with his genius-ing," Gene states as he places the car on the ground, using the handicap button to open the sliding doors if they side. If it's one of those evil revolving doors, Gene will sneak to the door, and roll the door until the remote control car gets to the proper side. His answer to Jane is simple as he looks toward Jane. "Distraction? Sure, go for it," he states as he presses a button on the car. Two inch long metal spikes tear through the plastic hood, aimed forward like mini-lances. "That was supposed to ready the charges. Ah well, explosives were likely a bad call anyway." He sneaks away to peer around the wall corner, ready for the distraction so he can move in the wondercar toward the fray.

The young man is not a ninja, he is not even that graceful…expect maybe in water. Merrick falls down to his knees from Paula's punch and getting "commanded" by Lukas the poor guy is unable to scream in pain. He holds one hand to his stomach and another to his forehead.

The puddle that is Jamie stays still for just a moment. Recovering from the fear the gunshot inspired. She feels safe as water, so she quickly recovers even in the chaos around her. When she sees Lukas getting onto his knees, she flows over close enough and then a squirt of water shoots up from her like a squirtgun, aimed right into Lukas' roaring mouth.

The young man is not a ninja, he is not even that graceful…expect maybe in water. Merrick falls down to his knees from Paula's punch and getting "commanded" by Lukas the poor guy is unable to scream in pain. He holds one hand to his stomach and another to his forehead.

She had a plan, facing away from Gene after she spoke and moving to close the distance between herself and the entrance, to get in range. But the Geek God is also on the move and at the doors ahead of her. Closing her eyes and shaking her head, she stops and hangs back, moving instead to secure her gear while watching him. As far as an offensive move, she's got nothing. Breaking the doors isn't needed, and would only give Gene a most unwelcome glass shower.

As Lukas freaks out and starts attacking everyone (except Jamie), Paula also freaks out a bit, as she feels like all her senses are running together in her head. She feels hot and cold and rough and smooth and pained and pleasured and soft and sharp all at once. She would clutch at her head, but it's not just in her head that she's feeling all this. She doesn't know how to react, and can't even think straight. Ugh! Is this Friendly Fire? You can't do Friendly Fire, Lukas! THERE IS NO FRIENDLY FIRE IN THE FBI!

Gene waits for a second for the distraction, but sees that it is not coming. "If you want something done right…" he states before he presses the 'Turbo' button. With the sound that comes from grinding gears (like those of hand-powered flashlights, not high-powered cars), the little toy car goes right for the creepy guy as navigated by Gene's remote. Gene figures he seems to be the guy that is making everyone fall over. While the woman has a gun, she doesn't seem to have a power, which clearly puts her on a lower tier. After all, Gene knows what most normal people are capable of… Other Evolved is another matter entirely.

Should the car hit the ankle area of Lukas' ankle, there will be a crackle sound as the homemade tazer goes off. The rest of the car will then smoke as something goes wrong on the inside of the car and shorts the whole thing out. GO GO GENE CAR OF DAY SAVING! Hopefully no one will kick his car or well, he might have to depend on the gun. And it is likely no one wants to have Gene use the gun.

Lukas chokes, mouth full of water. He gasps for air wetly, falling ahead to prop himself up with a hand as water spills out of his mouth. Rarely does his glower falter. Though his control fades for a moment, he holds it again— until a little toy hits his ankle and an electric shock courses through his body. Excuse him a second while he spasms.

Thankfully, Jamie's pulling away from Lukas when the shock hits him. She's close enough to just get a spark, not much more than licking a nine-volt battery, but even that much causes a reaction as the puddle suddenly launches away from Lukas like it was thrown from a bucket. Not quite feeling so safe anymore.

As he final lets out a scream, "You bloody wench. You hit me…when I am not the one taking down the whole room." Merrick lifts up his shirt to see a bruise in the shape of Paula's hand taking shape on his flat stomach. He begins to stand up and says, "Why don't you punch him or better yet…shoot that wanker!"

It doesn't take her long to dump whatever money was in the case into her pack and put the instrument where it goes along with the portable amp. With that done, Jane abandons the folding chair. Easy enough to buy another. Gene is approached partway, she asks him "What's the situation inside?" He's already at a decent vantage point and capable of asking for backup, no need to rush forward uninformed. "I thought you might wait and let me make my move before you did."

Paula's senses come back to her just in time to have Merrick yelling at her. She ignores him for now, and growing more steady, she walks towards Lukas. Whoever this guy is, he's no friend of hers. Her right sleeve suddenly shreds as something protrudes through it. Something long and white and sharp. She could kill him. Stab this asshole and be done with it. But he's incapacitated… Or is he? He doesn't need his hands to hurt people. Isn't he considered armed and dangerous at all times? She has to make a snap judgement.

She hardens her foot bones, and then KICKS him in the solar plexus. Then the ribs. Then she stomps on his face a couple times. Hard. Hopefully he'll be too hurt to concentrate any further, once he gets over the tazer. She then looks towards Gene. "If you have a phone, call 9-1-1."

Quinn slowly, seemingly, returns to consciousness. There's moaning, "I had a nightmare.." then as she opens her eyes, she 'scrambles' back, away from the monsters.

"One down, one to go… Then we can worry about trying to secure this place floor by floor. There are other people in trouble and it's clear that there needs to be some organization if we want to have a chance at this." Gene pulls his tie from his dress shirt and uses it to try and tie around his face like a mask. After a couple of failed attempts, he just casts the thing down in frustration and just levels the gun toward the woman that shot the floor previously. "Employee of Pinehearst, put down your weapon now-"

Gene stops, his eyes bulging for a second as he struggles to hold his gun straight. Something isn't right. He tries to force the nausea away, but unlike times in the past, it refuses to yield and grows with an intensity he's never been accustomed too. Of course, he doesn't need to keep the gun up for long as Paula seemingly changes sides. "That's good, keep it up. Work with us and I won't have to press charges." That said, Gene falls face first as he passes out. Since his vitals are likely to be checked, his pulse will be through the roof, but it will be strong… It seems like the spirit of this 'hero' is willing, but the flesh is weak.

"Nnngh." Lukas, kicked, is propelled over onto his back. Onto Gene's remote controlled car, as luck (or lack thereof) would have it.

Jamie flows forward again, a little more careful now as she moves closer to the action, but it seems the tazers have stopped flying at least. The puddle starts to flow to where her clothes fell, but she stays water still for the moment.

Merrick continues to stand up straighter, as he holds his stomach. He looks over in Gene, and Jane as he cocks an eyebrow and blinks, seeing them for the first time since this whole mess unfolded "What is Pinehurst?" asks the British man. He blinks as the Gene passes out and looks over at Paula. "You have a strange affect on the public Agent Whatever." Merrick begins to slowly walk towards Gene in an attempt to help him.

"Pinehearst," the woman with Gene echoes, her features hardening. The bastards Peter told her about. The ones who outed her to Danny Ferrara and nearly got her killed. Now visible to the people inside, she's five feet eight inches and determined. As Gene goes down and Merrick approaches to assist him, Jane is moving forward. She scoops up the Geek God's weapon and moves through the doors, getting a view for the first time of who's present. Quinn's familiar, there's water and a pile of empty girl clothing. That's nothing new either. Man on top of Gene's remote car, and Paula. This must be the one he accused of Pinehearstness. But she doesn't know. The result is a direct question being asked, with weapon in hand and ready to use.

"Do you work for Pinehearst, Miss?"

Paula looks at Gene as he collapses. She sighs. "Is anyone able to call an ambulance?" When Jane asks her question, the red-head is distracted from the moving puddle of water, and answers truthfully, "No. He was." She gestures at Lukas with the blade of bone still protruding from her forearm. As an afterthought, the blade retracts back into her skin. "I'm with the FBI. I was working undercover in Pinehearst. We should have help here soon to cart this goomba off, and any others in the building."

MEANWHILE...

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