08 - Hail to the King

<< Fight Fire With Fire

The Unbelievable Mr Brownstone

Men Will Be Men. Unfortunately, the women are in no position to stop nature's course. AMAZON Top 100 Best Selling Author ** Tyler has figured out an additional way to make money off Brownstone. But Brownstone has to agree, first. Brownstone gets a request from his hacker support after doing a job for the Professor. It seems she might have upset someone close to home. Will Tyler piss off Brownstone and end the bar’s neutrality, or has the Professor found someone with enough magic to take Brownstone out and asked for a favor? Either way, James is walking into the job with his eyes open. In the end, bounty hunting is a job, and Brownstone was working it before he met Shay or Alison. Sometimes you can't change who a man is supposed to be.

08/1 THE WARNING Maria Hall, at the Black Sun Bar, talking with Tyler, admits she’s been wrong about Brownstone. Maria invites Tyler to dinner at the Seven Hills, an exclusive Italian restaurant. Tyler as accepts, wondering what this is all about. Maria also wants to be on a first-name basis with him. Was this going to be a date? Tyler confused.

The Precinct staff are puzzled by Hall’s attitude around the station. She’s setting somebody up and they wonder who. Chalice while volunteering at the Orphanage, donates $100 to Father McCartney, and she thanks the Lord for having given her a second chance.

King of Oriceran agrees with his Earth Consul that Laena has gone too far this time, yet the Oricerans cannot risk starting a war with the Drow. And yet something must be done. Laena should be made aware that we’re watching her. That might constrain the Drow’s future actions.” He looked back up. “Since she’s no longer here, perhaps someone on the Oriceran side could leave an official strongly-worded message kindly suggesting that it’d be best if the queen does not show up on Earth again anytime soon. ”The king nodded. “I’ll see that it’s taken care of. If the Drow return to Earth, inform me immediately.”

TUMB 08/2 ‘’’PLANNING THE TESTS’’’ James talking to Shay, telling her that he can now almost talk to the amulet, because he understands more of what it is feeling. Shay wants to unlock all of its powers. Already provides armor for body in fighting, and it adapts after attacks. Does not differentiate between magic and non-magic, but between types of energies. Shay thinks they should ask the amulet what it does. And train it. She wants to shoot Brownstone with all kinds of bullets, different metal, Different guns. Will have to stock up on healing potions. “Think of it as an investment in the future!” “Beat you with different weapons. Stab you.” Shay whipped out her knife and sliced the air a few times. “Try and fry you different ways. Sonic attacks. There’s a lot of shit we could do.” She grinned. Maybe a harpoon? We need to be systematic about this, including testing shit we think you might already be immune to, like most rifles, pistols, and shotguns.” Her smile widened. “Might want to work on small-dose toxins and shit, too.” James put his foot down on that one.

‘’’LAENA'S PLANS’’’ Laene receives report of death of the Three. Magical signatures in area are strange, indicating that Brownstone has a special trinket to help him. For them to be defeated proves that Brownstone and his allies are worthy of respect. Continuing to throw more Drow at him on Earth will result in unnecessary sacrifices.” Will be quiet for a while. Will allow things to calm down, upsets to diminish. Will think in longer terms. Will not track the Princess any longer (until she shows up normally, then take her), will allow the Light elves to settle down again, will not cause attention of the Fixer to be directed their way. Believes that Humans do not know about the wish, so don’t have to worry about it being used.

‘’’THE BBQ TEAM’’’ Sergeant Mack has stopped by, to talk to Brownstone about Shay. Someone looking like her has been bouncing through a lot of private property and restricted areas. It’s the trespassing, not the parkour, that’s gonna get her in trouble.” But Mack really wants to talk about the BBQ team for the Brownstone Agency. We need to start talking about equipment, specifically our main pit. What size? Something big enough for a Kenwood to pull? No, truck size only. Place to store wood. A place where we can keep it seasoned right and maintain good humidity. Have to think about the crew, also.

08/3 Shay calls Brownstone, want him at Warehouse Three, for some tests to establish limitations. Knowing the exact limits of your defenses means you can kick ass in a more tactically-sound way.” Brownstone, on his way to Shay’s had picked up the amulet. Finding out that the amulet was of alien origin rather than magical had done a lot to soothe his concerns. But he needed to protect his women any way he could, so he called Heather, the hacker.

“I’m concerned about video of her. Most of it is security-cam shit, but there’s some other video that seems a little more directed. I want you to find out who is filming it, and then we can talk about if I need it taken down.” Is disconnecting the phone number he is using. She will call him. 

Alison calls Brownstone, want to keep him out of trouble. Wants him to wear the amulet all of the time, from now on. She wears the Aegis Pendant, so he can wear the amulet. The adoption will be finalized in July. Alison Brownstone.

‘’’THE ACTUAL TESTS’’’ Brownstone got to Shay’s warehouse, to find guns arranged roughly by caliber and type lined several tables stretching across the interior of the main room of Warehouse Three. Shay stood behind the first table with a satisfied look on her face. The amulet continued its happy murmuring. . The more we know, the longer you live.,” Shay said, picking up a .22 pistol. And the tests began. Shot one, examining the bullet It didn’t pierce the skin. “It’s crushed like it hit a wall.” . “Alien or magical stuff might work in ways we can’t even begin to understand, but this shows that the actual force of the bullet isn’t shunted off to some weird other place. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be messed up.” Burst of 9mm sub-machine gun. A slight scrape. Masamune sword. Shay brought the sword down, but it bounced off. It left a slight scratch with a thin trail of blood, and the amulet did its best mental imitation of something James thought was supposed to be laughter. Stun gun. It tickled. Sonic Grenade. The skin of the grenade slid back and a high-pitched whine filled the air. The grenade clattered against the floor, leaving his ears ringing but nothing more. The skin of the grenade slid back and a high-pitched whine filled the air. The grenade clattered against the floor, leaving his ears ringing but nothing more.

08/4 ‘’’THE FIRST ‘Vegas Team’’’ Royce, in training session with the Group. Their tough gang lifestyles might have instilled bravery in them, but it hadn’t given them shit in terms of discipline or endurance. Trey was one of the few who hadn’t needed to be completely remade. First Vegas team picked (Manuel, Travis, Deshawn, Carl, and Shorty), will head out with Trey and Charlyce. Trey talks to Trey, warns him, “One thing you learn in the Corps early on is that training can help, but some men can’t handle it when push comes to shove.”

In Vegas, team settles into loft, Charlyce begins cooking, and the team begins hunting for bounties. Finds one they can pick up in less than an hour (will get tip on internet as to where he is.). Trey takes Shorty and Manuel with him. Manuel to cover the back, shorty to knock on the door. Take two, in cuffs to the Police station. Was late getting back for dinner, and Charlyce angry.

Tyler and Hall meet for diner, Hall turned into a woman, not a cop. Tyler glad he came.

08/5 Tyler reflects on the fact that retribution is owed to him for the prank he had pulled on Brownstone, with the women’s group in the bar. He has no idea of what Brownstone might think up to do, but You won’t win this time, Brownstone. Not against me. Brownstone would come for him. That much was certain, but there had to be some way to make money off it. Tyler reviews the Drow/Brownstone fight. (See Groups, Drow, for estimations of their abilities as fighters. Wants all of the information he can get about the Drow.

08/6 ‘’’THE NEXT RETRIEVAL’’’ Brownstone meets the Professor at his bar, and the Professor asks Brownstone to be available for several days, as he might be asked to retrieve a golden plaque which the Professor was having brought to him by another hunter.(Was the navigation program when combined with a vimana, a flying machine) Problem was, it wasn’t being delivered, and the other person wasn’t responding to the Professor’s calls. The Professor might need James to track down Warren Sanderson, and get the plaque. Would know for certain in a few days. Brownstone thought to himself, This is the first major mistake the Professor’s made in a long time, which means this Sanderson asshole isn’t some lucky small-timer. This shit might be tough.

Tyler is thinking up a way to make money from Brownstone and the AET, now that Maria and Brownstone are working together. Record the event, edit it, sell it for big money. Tip off Brownstone to Level Five Bounty, to be taken out of town (finder’s fee?), let AET in on it, to help make (finder’s fee?) money off recordings. Will have to talk to Brownstone about it.

08/7 Kathy, at the Bar, suggests to Tyler that he needs to start thinking of Brownstone more as an investment opportunity, than as a nemesis to take him down. This is a terrible idea. This is the worst fucking idea I’ve ever had. But then again, it could make a ton of money, and I need Brownstone to make that money. If I get lucky, maybe I lose a little bit of money, but he goes away. Shit. If he goes away, I lose any chance to make more money off him. The information broker groaned and slumped back in his chair. Every time he’d bet on Brownstone he’d made money. It was like the universe was mocking him by forcing him to believe in a man he hated. So he called Brownstone, wanting to talk about a business opportunity. Brownstone agreed to listen.

Heather calls about Parkour Penny. Not an only source of recording. Multiple People. Different cameras, different encodings, different background voices. I’m thinking people might be looking for her to record things. It doesn’t smell like a conspiracy or some organization if that’s what you’re worried about.” “Is there any way you can set it up so I know when a new video comes out?” Sure. Easy. “I’ll transfer the money right away. “Then I’ll get to setting up your Parkour Penny alerts.”

The Professor calls Brownstone, telling him that he needs him for the retrieval. The Professor hadn’t checked the courier he’d had pick up the plaque from Sanderson, and that courier was a thief, who had stolen artifacts from others before. The Professor had neglected to use protocols, and had hired his own con man. Now Brownstone would clean up the mess. Gregory Schwartz has it for sale, still in LA, with illusion magic, or an artifact to help him.

08/8 In Las Vegas, Trey, Travis, Shorty, Deshawn and Manuel go after a bounty, a Mafia person. This Bruno fucker is twisted as shit. We need to get him off the streets. Fucking beating women so severely they end up in the hospital. Fucking messing their faces up on purpose.” “If we find the bounty we’re looking for, it’s gonna piss off the Mafia. Brownstone okay with that?” Y’all forget at times who the big man is. Motherfucker laid out the entire Harriken, all the way to Japan. We work for Brownstone now, so we don’t back up from no organized crime shit. Besides, who gives a shit if they are organized crime? We’re fucking organizing bounty hunting.” They are looking for Captain Happy, a drug dealer who can give them information on Bruno Thomas, the bounty they are looking for. Cpt.Happy tells them where he had seen Bruno (house in his neighborhood), they pay him, as an informant, and take off to find Bruno. Find the house, alert the cops, and go in with stun guns, sonic grenades, bulletproof vests with Brownstone agency lettered on them, and go to the gate, pushing the button, announcing their presence. Talk to Bruno. Refuses to come out. he’s tough, but he ain’t too bright. Fight their way in, guns, sonic grenade, stun guns. Take him in.

James meets with Tyler, at the Bar, in Tyler’s office. Sounds like his normal bounty hunting, with Tyler in on the videos. What could go wrong?

08/9 On another bounty run, Trey decides they need better communication devices. Are looking for Jacob Johns, lanky, bald. Is with a female named Victoria, his security. Hired to protect Johns. Victoria deals in magic, and deflects or absorbs all of their efforts. Johns keeps yelling at her to kill them, disrespects her, and she quits, on the spot. Trey and shorty take Johns down, Victoria walks away, warning them, “It’s a dangerous world we live in, especially with all this magic floating around.” Trey is attracted to her, and wishes he had asked her for her digits.

Brownstone going after Gregory Schwartz. Thinks he’ll use a new technique. Calls Heather, who hooks him up, via internet, to every gadget in his house, so Brownstone can see and talk to him, without being inside. Heather listened, decided the guy was a nut, and gave Brownstone a discount for taking him down, as well as backing him up when he was inside. Wouldn’t hurt to try anything, once-

08/10 Just before going after Schwartz, Brownstone receives alerts about viral videos on Parkour Penny, so looks at them Yes, it’s Shay, and the men are talking about wanting to bed her. Brownstone slightly upset, but not wholly. They didn’t know who they were talking about! Goes to Zoe’s for more healing potion, then to Schwartz’ house. The amulet whispering to him, wants to test itself. Heather reports to him that electricity killed in house, so won’t be able to help him much. If Brownstone thinks he’ll need help, will kill secondary jammers in house, so she can get in electronically better. James loaded up. With plenty of spare mags, multiple throwing knives, and a few more grenades than usual, James was ready to kick some ass. He was still wearing one of his now-standard-issue Shay-disapproved shabby gray coats. It was nice to have a few extra pockets filled with gear when you were about to blow something up or kill a man or twenty. James approached the gate, a simple latch, threw it, and was blown up. James stood and dusted himself off. The pants, coat, and shirt were a loss, but he didn’t even need a healing potion; not so bad for getting blown up. Then going up the path, the ground gave way and James fell into sharpened metal spikes. He grunted at the sting. The trap produced a few new minor scrapes, but no severe injury unless he counted the new hole in his left boot. He was almost to the house when he heard the click. A moment later, he spotted the dark spheres hurling through the air over him. James leapt to the side as the spheres exploded with a hiss, releasing a cloud of greenish liquid. Acid. He ached and bled, and his clothes were shredded, and he wasn’t even at the house yet.

08/11 The fun had continued with a burning arrow shower and a bouncing incendiary mine. The pit filled with what he assumed were poisoned spikes had been a nice touch. James didn’t want to be slowed own, so he took a healing potion, and was again up to par. Brownstone kicks in the door, sees a cleared front room (all furnishings against the wall), and a backpack, with the plaque. Schwartz starts talking to him, threats, promises, death. All he has to do is kill him, and he can take the pack and walk away. Many magic battles later, Brownstone has almost been defeated, as the amulet had not met most of the energy/magic used, and could not protect him until it was used a second or third time. James swallowed his last healing potion, and went unconscious.

08/12 In Las Vegas, the Team goes after the last bounty of this shift. A Level two con artist. They had done well. Upping their game to multiple twos and threes in rapid succession had helped the money flow in, and the fact the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was shoving bounties at them only helped. Even with splitting the bounty, giving James his cut, and paying for expenses, the Las Vegas trip had been damned profitable. Way more profitable than their best days on the street as gang members. Trey though that maybe he’d get lucky and run into Victoria again, before he left.

Maria Hall stood over Brownstone, telling him to wake up. “You’re breathing and you don’t seem to be hurt, even if your clothes are torn up. Magical shit, I’m assuming.” AET and regular officers covered the area, most surrounding the charred crater where Schwartz’s house had been. Men in radiation suits stood in the crater, waving Geiger counters and other instruments around. “That’s new. Start talking. The only reason I’m not completely pissed off is that you didn’t do this shit anywhere near town.” Hall wants to take Brownstone in for questioning ( his clothes, no body), but the videos Heather had taken proved he was telling the truth, so all he had to do was paperwork. There was a Level Four bounty, from Paris, dead or alive , on Schwartz, so brownstone made even more money on it. Sgt. Mack wants a better BBQ pit!

08/13 Las Vegas, Group Bounty, Jenna Holmes conned Shorty and Manuel into letting her go, but Trey was inside, and caught her going out the back door. Brought her out to the car in cuffs. Had tried to con Trey, also. Didn’t work.

Tyler tried to call Level Four and higher bounties, offer them a one-on-one with Brownstone, walk away free if they win. No takers after the seventh call. Eighth on, Lars Hansen, said yes, would take him on. Tyler congratulates himself on his brilliance. 

08/14 Brownstone agrees to the take-down, and even goes to Black Sun to bet on himself. Gets a call from Shay on his way to BBQ dinner, knows he can’t tell her about the Bounty Hunter Beat-Down Challenge. 08/15 Zoe calls Brownstone, tells him she’s been tweeking his formula, so he orders a six-pack, will pick it up in the morning. Heather calls, is in trouble that needs Brownstone’s kind of activity. Hackers after her, wants to protect her son. Will meet him in San Francisco, dinner, get it all worked out.

08/16 Lars Hansen to come down to Black Sun, place a bet on his own success. Tyler decided to go out to set up his own cameras. Didn’t trust Brownstone to remember.

Brownstone goes to San Fran to have dinner with Heather at the Secret Sauce, an OK BBQ, which he enjoyed. Will take down her Level Three intruder. Heather rolls in (wheel chair), with a five-year-old in tow. Not what he’d expected. She had an appointment with Eddie in a bar, a few miles away, so Brownstone could go there to meet him. She shows them to him, and he goes out to do it. She and her son will sit at BBQ place and watch it all, on her phone.

08/17 Brownstone pulls into bar, finds Eddie and his henchmen, goes over to them. Eddie knows of him, recognizes him. No way he’ll surrender to Brownstone. They go out into the parking area, to minimize damage, and Eddie brags on how he’ll take James down. Lots of bragging. Eddie and his men go after Brownstone, throwing a rock at his truck and cracking his windshield, and brownstone went harder and faster, knocking all of them out and down, before the police came, with the comment, “ a tip, Eddie. Never, ever fuck with a man’s truck.”

08/18 Brownstone goes back to Secret Sauce, gets another tray of BBQ. On the House. Suggests Heather move to LA, as his personal computer Assistant. Live ibn Sgt. Mack’s apartment, in Brownstone’s neighborhood. She’ll think about it. Trey talks to Sgt. Chou about Gangdom, and how the Brownstone Agency is really just another gang, stronger, which can give better protection. They’ve just switched gangs. The Sgt. Listened, and hoped there would eventually be a permanent Brownstone Office in ‘Vegas. Who knows?

08/19 James gets a call from Tyler, just as he’s pulling from San Francisco. Be at Salton Sea in four hours, for the showdown. OK. Tyler thinking about his bets on Brownstone. If Tyler ever got upset later that he was working with Brownstone, he figured he’d just go to the bank, withdraw a pile of hundred-dollar bills, and roll around in it. Lars walks into the Bar, with two men with him, Patrick Cavanaugh, a Level four wizard, and Victor, another level Five Bounty. They’re going to help Lars. Tyler hadn’t said anything about bringing friends to help, so they were there. Tyler upset at how Lars was telling him how things would be. Should Tyler tell Brownstone? A man just couldn’t tolerate disrespect in his own place.

08/20 Brownstone hungry, so stops by IN-n-Out burger for a Quad of Quads . should be enough fuel for him to tale Lars.

Tyler still taking bets in his bar, but now skewed to Lars winning, as he has Cavanaugh and Victor fighting for him, too. No one thinks Brownstone can win against all three. Tyler needs to think of some way to warn Brownstone. Maria Hall just walked in, noticed the crowd, and felt that something was very, very wrong. Found Lar’s two henchmen beating up Tyler. As Maria Hall was there, they had just lost their neutrality. Tyler smiled.

08/21When Maria attempted to stop the fighting with Tyler, they attacked her. She took down one, then went after the other. Tyler tells her what’s going on, and she is determined to bring the AET to help him. Maria calls Shay, who goes into a rant, and calls Alison, who talks sense to her. Also is having someone call Brownstone to warn him. And Alison made Shay promise not to kill Dad when she sees him next.

08/22 KILLING THE SNIPER Calls, warns him. Tyler has lost his drones, so is upset that he won’t have the video he wants. Alison calls, gives him emotional support. Brownstone wonders how he’ll make it up o Shay, not telling her on purpose. Loads up his weapons, goes off to the fight area. The fight: James’ first notice of battle was being hit by high-powered sniper fire. Ran for cover, but couldn’t tell where it was from. Drank one healing potion, was healed in fifteen seconds. Guess Zoe’s work WAS an improvement! The amulet ran green lines toward the dune, and directed the command, kill, to James’ brain. James ran, used frag grenades to throw behind the dune. The sniper staggered out, James finished him off. One down. 08/23 James yells at Lars to come out and fight, taunting him. Lars and Patrick come out from behind a dune, Lars skin was already gray and hard, like he’d been covered with a thin layer of rock. The wizard’s bone wand dangled from his fingers, the feathers at the end blowing lightly in the warm summer breeze. “Did you honestly think that would work? You think no one’s ever tried to shoot me before?” “I think that Victor’s killed a lot of fuckers before you.” Lars smirked. “But you got me all wrong, Brownstone. Some of this is about seeing if this shit is a waste of my time. Some of this is just whittling you down, just to be sure.” What are you playing at, Lars?” “More fun. This shit is entertaining.” The gray-skinned man glanced toward another dune. Two more large men stepped out, identical twins who dwarfed James. Two Level four Bounties. “The Winter brothers? I thought they were still hiding out in Mexico.” “How could we pass up the chance to help beat down the famous James Brownstone?” “Yeah. You see, when your boy Tyler called me and started asking about fighting, it got me to thinking. I was thinking that I should kick your ass, but then I thought that what I really wanted was for you to be fucking humiliated before I took you down.” He shook his head and shrugged. “So I reached out to a bunch of people, and we all agreed we’d take shots at you.” He held up a finger. “But, you know, honor among thieves and fucking shit like that. So Victor wanted to do his thing, and the Winter brothers wanted to do their thing, too. I don’t give a fuck as long as I get my money and time’s worth.” James grunted. “What, so this is some sort of multi-stage shit?” “Yeah, something like that, fucker.” Lars pointed to Victor’s body. “Victor was Round One. The Winters are Round Two. Me and my boy Patrick are Round Three.” James whipped out his .45 and fired a single round into each brother. They stumbled, but the wounds sealed a second later. The bounty hunter grunted. From what he’d read, the twins’ mother had been a witch who’d used some sort of protection spell on them in the womb, even before the truth of magic became known. Regeneration and enhanced strength made for a hell of a combination. James hurled two sonic grenades. The whine filled the air and both men collapsed, clutching their ears. Apparently, unlike with his amulet, their sturdiness didn’t protect them from that kind of attack. The wizard burned the twins, so they could not regenerate. Lars and Patrick are both in position to go after brownstone, Patrick with his wand up. Tyler shouts out the odds. Team Brownstone. I’m not on fucking Team Brownstone. I’m on Team Greenback.

08/24 Patrick, with his wand, sends fireballs at Brownstone, one taking him in the leg. The amulet was excited about this new kind of attack. Patrick attacked him again, directly to the chest. It didn’t even slow him down. Patrick blasted Brownstone a few more times in his arms and legs. The wizard was doing a good job of destroying the bounty hunter’s clothes, but his attacks were now only leaving red spots with some minor surface burns rather than the deep tissue burn in Brownstone’s leg from the first attack. Brownstone went after the wizard with a knife. Not a knife to his body, but to his wand., slicing it in half. Lars laughed and killed the wizard, knocking him to the ground, snapping his neck. Brownstone needed to find Lars’ weakness, his defensive hole, so that he could finish him off. Brownstone noticed some blood on Lars’ teeth, and knew what to do. A shot to the head, through his mouth, to the back, finished him off.

08/25 Brownstone has learned to respect the amulet’s abilities. Couldn’t communicate with it yet, but had ideas of what it could do. He still wasn’t sure how much to trust the thing or what motivated it, but for now he’d keep it near him as he continued to delve into its secrets. Wonder what else the bad boy can do? Relying on a self-aware alien amulet wasn’t exactly high on the list of simple ways to live and work, but at the same time, he couldn’t ignore such a useful tool. The amulet wasn’t just an artifact. He’d been found with it, as if it were meant for him. A legacy of his parents perhaps, and his world.

At the agency, watching the Teams. Will get wood tomorrow, so will be able to focus on things besides bounties and killing.

Sgt. Mack came by, to warn brownstone to not get Maria Hall pissed off again, or she might come gunning for him. Just a word to the wise.

Brownstone has to go to Black sun to discuss winnings with Tyler. Made too much money this time. Too many people lost- won’t be able to do it again.

Brownstone home, about to encounter Shay. Remembered Mack’s advice – Tell them you’re sorry. All they want is an apology. But that wasn’t enough for Shay. She had to try to kick him where it hurts, but it didn’t work, because someone had told him to wear a cup.