07 - Fight Fire With Fire
| << When Angels Cry | Series - The Unbelievable Mr Brownstone |
TUMB 07/1 Brownstone gets a call from Trey, that his grandmother, Nana, needs to talk to him ASAP. If Trey called, it meant he couldn’t handle it, and that James was needed. He left after he and Shay had showered together.
Queen Laena was on Earth again, again questing for Princess of the Shadow Forged, Alison. Her three cohorts( Zavan, Kaella and Reyal) told her that the Princess was protected by spells, cast by someone stronger that they. Laena was impatient to have the Princess on Oriceran, as there were duties that needed to be performed. She commanded them, “Locate the princess. Don’t cause too much trouble until then, but once you find her, I don’t care what you have to do as long as you return her to Oriceran. Once I have her there, I’ll have fewer restrictions on what I can do to ensure the power of our people.” As they were a focused group (unlike Widow Maker), he knew they would succeed. “James Brownstone,” Kaella announced. “He’s still our best lead. He will take us to her.”
Maria Hall again visits Dannec, the elf. She thanked him for his help in obtaining the magic-deflectors that were used in killing the Widow Maker He was glad that they had killed her, as she appeared to just enjoy killing. “Even Rhazdon rarely killed without a purpose.” Maria brought out some magic deflectors. “Can you recharge the ones we used?” Of course, for a price. Money, not favors. And Maria wondered if the Devil offered lower prices.
TUMB 07/2 Brownstone went to Nan’s house, Charlyce opening the door when he knocked. Nana was screaming at one of Trey’s bounty hunters, Lachlan, who had not made it as a bounty hunter, and had given up the gang when he disapproved of the direction in which Trey was leading. That had left Lachlan with nowhere to go, since no other gangs had dared try to move into the neighborhood. Lachlan tells her why he’s here, that he’s taking over the gang, and that anyone who stands in his way would be beaten down. And he didn’t care about respect. Lachlan snarled. “I want people to be afraid of me.” Nana tells him that the neighborhood already has a gang, and that as long as the gang works for Brownstone, Brownstone is the leader. Want to take him on? Lachlan needed to be put in his place before he went and spread this bullshit attitude to the other former gang members, so Brownstone knocks him around, and takes him to Royce, who “can turn you into something other than a piece of shit who yells at old ladies.”
Shay looks over some of the potential jobs Peyton has listed. Brownstone called and as he couldn’t make it back right away, he got her to agree to date that night. Nothing fancy.
WOTD 07/3 A Training session with Royce. The group addressed Royce as Staff Sergeant, because they respected the military—and the Marine Corps in particular, so the title still carried weight with them. “Part of not being a puppy pretending to be a man is commanding respect in difficult environments. At the end of the week, we’re going to find out who is the King of the Pit. Everyone’s going to get involved on two teams.” At this point Brownstone brought in Lachlan, and told Trey he had been disrespecting Nana, so he’d brought him to the group. As Trey was the Gang leader, he waved Royce down. “I got this,” he told him, meeting Lachlan’s eyes as he marched toward him. Trey and Lachlan trade insults. Trey know Lachlan needs to be taught a lesson, so he calls out Shorty, and A broad-shouldered man a good head shorter than Lachlan stepped out of the crowd, cracking his knuckles. James continued to watch impassively, understanding the importance of Trey working through the dynamics of his gang. Trey admonished Shorty. “Don’t beat him too bad, Shorty. I want him to be able to train without having to go the hospital first.” Shorty takes him out in two punches, so as long as Lachlan lost, he has to join the agency.
West and Lafayette were talking about takin down Red eyes, that if Brownstone hadn’t of been there, they woud have had a terrible time. They needed more resources. Manpower. People who can go places us cops can’t, but without a clear high-end threat, it’s not like we can request someone like Brownstone to show up. No, we can’t, but maybe we don’t have to. Brownstone’s not just Brownstone anymore. His agency. We don’t have a bunch of level fours, fives, or sixes running around, but we do have lower-level bounties. We should look into getting his agency to help us. It’ll also help get us in tighter with Brownstone should we need him.” They decided to check with the captain.
TUMB 07/4 Zavan, Kaella and Reyal were on Earth, in a rental, for three months, including Internet. Kaella worked will with that. Reyal had been tasked with finding a vehicle for them. Kaella had found you Tube, and she and Zavan watched many Brownstone videos, to try to ascertain what and who they would be encountering. they would be encountering. Enhanced human strength. Resistance to flames. Knife work. Defeated non-dead. The next few hours passed with them watching James Brownstone deliver beatdown after beatdown to a variety of enemies both magical and not, including him marching straight into the local Harriken headquarters after a rather explosive initial attack. Zavan feels he has let his victories go to his head, that his spirit has become weak.”
Trey and Brownstone talk about developing group teamwork – the BBQ teams. Split by sauces? By meats? Improve their skills by practice. Grilling area, at least once a week training AND a fringe benefit! Brownstone? Be his own team, and give bonuses to anyone who beats me at competitions!
Dannec thinks about his dealings with Hall, and his place on Earth. His people wouldn’t tolerate his return to Oriceran, but it didn’t matter. He had a place on Earth now, and respect of sorts. Some might call it exile, but he preferred to think of it as a new opportunity, the businesses he ran. As he is thinking, a chime sounds, and he finds that he is being alerted to the presence of Drow in Los Angeles. He can’t pinpoint their location yet, covered by spells. . Even if his own people had exiled him and he felt little loyalty to them, it didn’t change the fact that he despised Drow. He called Tyler and told him about the Drow. There are Drow in Los Angeles. From what I can tell, several of them. Dark Elves. The average Dark Elf is more powerful than the average Light Elf or Wood Elf. They’re not only powerful, but they are incredibly selfish and care only about their own people. If they are here, it doesn’t mean anything good for anyone else. Even if they are here for something very specific, it’s likely someone is going to be hurt or killed in the process. I’d heard rumors of them being in the area before, but I was out of town for some time on a business matter before my most recent encounter with the excitable Lieutenant Hall. They also might have been purposefully hiding their magical signatures.”“Huh. Okay. So these Drow are going to stir shit up and they are powerful, is what you’re saying.” Yes. Feel free to pass that along to whoever might find it useful.”
TUMB 07/5 Royce and Brownstone think up a competition the gang can join in – beating the King of the Pit. “Kicking their ass is exactly the point. It’s a pride thing with them. The winning team will get a twenty-minute rest and then take you on in the pit. When you win, they won’t feel bad because of your reputation and abilities, but they’ll feel good that they even got a shot at the true king.”
Maria Hall and Tyler talk about being a cop – what it really means if a cop is “dedicated”. Tyler thinks being a cop is just being in a bigger more badass gang. AET doesn’t arrest people for using magic. Doesn’t fuck with someone just for being from Oriceran. You stop assholes who have gone too far. It’s like being a firefighter, you know? All you do is save people’s lives.” .”Maybe, but any decent gang makes sure that other assholes don’t fuck with people on their turf. So it doesn’t change shit whether this is about protecting or serving or if this is just about me being mad there are assholes in my territory who aren’t wearing my gang colors.”
