(IT-WotS) Streets Stained With Blood

**Star** · Nov 10th, 2015 06:50 PM

Eyes watched the rearview mirror, until the squad cars faded into distance, then disappeared after turns. Long fingers gripped the steering wheel, hard enough to sink into the rotted and stained vinyl and plastic which had been sun-bleached of their original color a decade ago.

As pavement droned, the thump thump of tires over seams began to match heart beats, slowing from the quickened pace of minutes ago.

"July?"

Blink. See it. That tableau? Two men, on the ground.

"What, uh, what happened. Back there."

Eyes moved back up to the mirror, this time to find the other Guardian. Don't just See it, Hear it.

Because Pop pop, boom, pop pop.

**Avis** · Nov 10th, 2015 08:43 PM

The desire to slump in her seat and let the flowing scenery pass by half-noticed was powerful, but it wasn't time to decompress yet. First, they had to debrief.

Twisting around in her seat, the Warlock set her eyes on the Sentinel.

"Shooting your gun into the air doesn't really sound to me like a thing cops usually do. You trying to sell a cover, or something?"

A brow twitched in question.

Nov 11th, 2015 06:50 AM

July slumped in the back, unable to look at either of them for a moment, the weight of the deaths he caused still on his conscious. why couldn't they have just believed him. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before looking at Star in the mirror.

"Well first I figured I'd get in the house from the one next door and decided to climb the gutter. That just made a lot of noise and the two shotgun guys came out. Now, you probably heard my attempt at a cover. They didn't buy it so I had to shoot, but in self defense. Hold on a second" He groaned as he was reminded of his wounds. The adrenaline was slowly wearing off and he definitely felt them. He unbuttoned his shirt to see what the damage looked like only to find a sea of pellet spots, mangled skin, and plenty of blood. "Ugh, do we have a first aid kit?" This was certainly going to be another scar for the collection.

As he waited for a response regarding the first aid kit he went about taking his unbuttoned shirt and using it to apply pressure to the he wounds. He hoped since they were pellet size wounds they might clot, at least a little. He then looked to Avis. "That wasn't a cover, but more of a bad idea that to me made sense at the time. I had already tried to get the guys attention with words and he was resisting Star so I figured the gunshot would make him realize he had no chance of escape. Totally dumb move in retrospect."

OOC

4 suxx after 3 mins

**Star** · Nov 11th, 2015 05:32 PM

"You... shot those guys... because they came out to see who was climbing up the house and making noise?"

There's more to the story. Because there has to be. They were both Mad, and starting to 'cast. An Oracle told him to. He could see through the window that they'd been watching 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians'.

Something.

Anything.

**Avis** · Nov 12th, 2015 10:08 PM

"Ok, here's the thing," Avis said, shooting a surprisingly blank look at Star before turning back to July.

"We're not asking this to get under your skin and pick you apart. We're asking because we can't support you if we don't understand. And since we're in a cabal, it's our job to support you, ok? So help us understand and give us a bit more of a play by play. They came out to badger you, you yelled, then what?"

Nov 13th, 2015 08:17 AM

July groaned as he re-positioned himself. "No, I understand." He closed his eyes to replay the events in his mind as he told them. "Okay, play by play. I'm hanging from the gutter and I hear someone coming out. Do I try and break into the home next door? Probably not enough time. So it was stay in the open or hide behind something. If they found me behind a box though they'd know I was up to something so I tried to give them a reason for me being there, explain away the noise. I tell them I'm looking for someone unrelated, someone stole my wallet or something, but they don't buy it. Now like I said, they both had shotguns and they were pointing right at me from jump street. I kept my guns hidden, tried to play the unrelated bystander but when they decided to ," he said as he made the sound of someone cocking a shotgun and the motion to go with it, "I knew they were about to commit a murder death kill and I was not going to let that happen. I had absolutely no choice but to shoot them."

He looked down at his quickly bandaged self, gesturing at the wound, and said, "I mean look at me. They both had shotguns. The only reason I'm alive right now is because I was quicker on the draw and even then one still got a shot off. I'd be dead if I had waited for them to shoot first, and before then I had sincerely tried to resolve it without shooting. I'm sorry I fucked up being subtle, but I had to shoot."

July was absolutely convinced he did the right thing, even if he regretted having to do it. Those lives would be on him for life, and he'd never forget that.

**Star** · Nov 14th, 2015 12:11 AM

No Choice.

Everything is a choice, man. That's the real magic. And every choice cuts a facet in the gemstone of the Soul. But it's true. It's complicated. Rules of Engagement are no spells, and the job is being Backup. How can you blame a hammer for hitting a nail?

"Okay."

Greenish eyes studied the other Guardian in the mirror.

"Can I, like, ask you something, though? What would you have done if, say, you didn't have your gun? Errrr, sorry. Guns."

Because Future Reference.

**Avis** · Nov 15th, 2015 10:53 PM

Did July know how many pellets were inside a shotgun shell?

Probably. Avis expected him to quote the number and mention that they ran faster than him.

Of course, they only ran faster in a straight line. Kind of like gators that way. Not that she'd want to try and outrun a shotgun, but still, that was the alternative to pretty much any fight. Well, that or die.

Nov 16th, 2015 09:38 AM

July looked down, thinking through his answer. "Well if I had come without my guns I may have been hesitant to get out of the van. Probably would have been smarter in that case for me to be the getaway driver and have us alter the plan, maybe would have been better to kidnap him somehow.

"But, going through my thought process, let's assume we did all the same stuff, except I didn't have my guns. Well, I could have tried hiding, but then I'd have been even worse off than I'd have been with my guns. I would have just been a sitting duck."

"I could have tried the house, but I don't know if I could have gotten in in time, and if I fucked that up, then they'd know someone was inside and a chase through potentially someone's house would have happened."

"I didn't want to use magic because then they'd know immediately something big was up. They wouldn't just think I was someone on their truf, but they'd know I did magic. That's all if I could even overcome the dead zone the house was in."

"I could have tried to attack one of them with my fists, keep one between me and the second guy, but I don't know how well that'd play out since they both had shotguns. I might have been killed before I even got a hold."

He paused to take in a breath, the pain becoming just a stale reminder of the fight. "The only option, other than my guns, was to run, but I didn't do that for two reasons. I ain't gonna outrun those pellets, just ain't gonna happen. They get those shots off and I'm hit in the back. In theory though, I could have ran the minute I heard them coming outside, but then I'd have one, left you two alone with the dealer and two shotgun welding banishers, and two, potentially alerted them to more suspicion. If I had ran, and with how quick they got out I highly doubt I'd have gotten out of the area without being seen, they'd start wondering what I was doing back there. Then they'd probably put their suspicions on you two and either the door would have been slammed in your face and we'd of had to come up with a new plan or then you two would have had to deal with the shotguns. I mean maybe they would have chased after me, I don't know. With how quick they were to try and shoot me, what would have happened if they caught me runnin'?"

"But the fact remains that I did have my guns, and my job was to protect you two. I'm doorwarden and I have to protect the cabal. When I heard them coming out I tried to think, tried to find some way to stay away from violence. But Ichose to stay because I believed it was the best way to keep you two safe, best to me out of all the shitty options. But once I chose to stay, shooting them was the only choice I had, cause like I said, they were gonna shoot and it was either me or them."

**Star** · Nov 16th, 2015 07:50 PM

"Bro."

All the words.

"You, like, introduced two people with shotguns into the mix. That's not, you know, protecting us."

The best way to be effective is to reduce a problem to the fewest moving parts. Fewer points of failure, fewer complications. True story, yo. Because KISS.

"Look. I get it. Anyone can armchair quarterback, right? But wasn't that... kind of, like, entrapment?" There's a cop word. Cops understand cop words, right? "I mean, yeah, bees are gonna sting you when you kick the nest. Or hive. Honeycomb. Whatever. Whatever bees live in."

Own it. That's the thing. There's a Truth here, that not everyone is Seeing. Knuckles on the steering wheel whitened slightly as the long fingers gripped harder. Cops. Just like cops. Start something, then claim self defense.

"Man, I don't know what happened. I wasn't there. But... but two people just died. Not bears, not sharks. Regular people. You killed them."

There are the Eyes again. In the mirror, under the mop, reflecting street lights.

"That's not cool, man. Let's, uh, let's try not to do that. Anymore."

It's a suggestion. Maybe there are extenuating circumstances. But remember: twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. Always start with suggestions. See what happens later.

Right, Omar?

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2015-11-11 06:48:23	[03] July rolls 3 to Field first aid (Dex+Med) (total was 4 dice) (10 Again)	2, 10, 7, 8	2 successes
2015-11-11 06:48:23	[02] July rolls 3 to Field first aid (Dex+Med) (total was 4 dice) (10 Again)	1, 3, 8	1 success
2015-11-11 06:48:23	[01] July rolls 3 to Field first aid (Dex+Med) (total was 4 dice) (10 Again)	8, 5, 2	1 success

(IT-WotS) Streets Stained With Blood

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