Nice and peaceful, Nabias offers a great place to start your journey or stock up on supplies before heading out to brave the rest of the wilderness out there. They also have Barakka's largest hospital facility to treat all sorts of injuries you could get out there. (+2 Precision)

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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:32 AM

Morpheus sighed. Well... This was what he had signed up for, wasn't it? He stepped into the car, hunching himself over slightly, and nearly hugging the back of the front seats so he wouldn't have to brush against Stray's legs. Stray didn't make this easier for him, shoving his knees out as he visibly slouched in his seat, all the while glaring daggers at Morpheus. It felt like a miracle when he made it into the back seat, where after exchanging cautious looks with Threnody, he sat awkwardly at the other window. Fade came in last, easily brushing past Stray, to wedge themselves between the two boys in the back.

"Hey Thren. Still haven't beat that level yet, huh?" they said. Threnody made a non-committal noise, absorbed entirely in whatever he was playing on his phone now that the matter of Morpheus's seating had been settled. Morpheus was glad for that; it seemed, for the moment, the less attention Fade's friends paid him, the better.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:35 AM

He couldn't help feeling uneasy though, for a wide variety of reasons. The most obvious of these, he addressed by whispering to Fade. "Are you sure it's alright for Beatz to be driving...?" As he said this, he peered out over Stray's head to the driver's seat, but he couldn't even see Beatz. She wasn't a big kid either, and he was starting to wonder if her feet could even hit the pedals.

"Yeah, its fine," Fade said. "I mean, she doesn't have a license, but she's been driving since she was five. You should see her with a truck." Just as Fade said that, the ignition kicked off, and the engine came to life. Whatever Morpheus's personal feelings on the matter, the decision had been taken out of his hands. Not that it was ever in them to begin with.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:38 AM

"Strap yourselves in," said Beatz, her no-nonsense tone at odds with the high squeaky tone of her child's voice. Morpheus did so immediately, with a small prayer to whoever was listening to help them get out of this alive and in one piece. But contrary to his expectations, they pulled smoothly out of the driveway and onto the road. If he didn't think too hard about it, it was almost as comfortable as riding with his parents.

His incredulity must have showed on his face. Before he knew it, Threnody was shooting him a knowing smile. "She's good, isn't she?" Morpheus didn't have an answer to that. Sure, she was, but that still didn't mean the police weren't going to pull them over if they saw this.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:41 AM

... Speaking of which. "Cops at one o'clock," said Stray, smooth as anything. Everyone began rolling up their windows, but not fast enough. Morpheus noted with a start that the cops were looking at them and muttering amongst themselves. Before he could say anything, however, Fade nudged him.

"Morpheus, you're a telepath. You do that mind trick stuff, right?" He nodded, though he didn't think he liked where this was going. "Can't you make them forget about us?"

"That's Nemo," he said immediately. Well, technically he could do it too, probably, but he'd have to concentrate and it'd take him a while and knowing him, he might make a botch of it. Memories were so tricky, and the consequences---

"Just do something, nerd! If you won't, I will," growled Stray, snapping Morpheus out of his thoughts.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:48 AM

That got his attention. He knew what Stray's powers were, and couldn't imagine a single thing Stray could do that would make this situation better rather than worse. "N-No, wait! I can't mess with their memories, but I can make them---"

"Whatever it is, you'd better hurry," said Beatz. "They're flagging us down."

Morpheus sighed. How had he gotten into this anyway? But she was right, there wasn't any time. He closed his eyes, tried not to think about what his mother would say, and focused on the cop making his way towards them. It was a man in his thirties, and his surface thoughts were mostly incredulity, disgust, and wishing he could go home and have a beer. Lovely.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:51 AM

He brushed that aside, however, and focused on the sensory streams. He could see what the cop saw: a big SUV, the license number already noted down, the after-image of them before they'd rolled up the windows. He couldn't--- or preferred not to--- mess with a memory that was already formed, but memories were funny things. Even real ones were prone to mistakes, and it was surprisingly easy to convince someone not to believe one they had, powers or no powers. And what Morpheus could do was change what he saw now.

"Roll down your window again," he whispered to Beatz. She turned and stared at him, but Fade gave a nod. Slowly, Beatz rolled down her window, though she didn't look pleased in the least. This was the moment of truth. Morpheus concentrated on forming an image--- his mother, as it was easier to use something he knew rather than fabricating something from scratch.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:54 AM

Speak like an adult, he said, speaking directly into Beatz's mind this time. He would have coached her through it, but it was hard enough to get even that message out while simultaneously upholding the illusion, so he'd have to trust that she knew what she was doing.

Beatz, for her part, didn't know what was happening, but there was one good thing about growing up in the extended Alliance family. They were all pretty used to weird things outside the scope of their understanding. Morpheus picked up the words just a moment before she spoke them, and nearly sagged in relief. "What seems to be the problem, officer?" Even her tone was convincing, though he had to modulate her voice. There was no way Beatz's voice would have passed for a grown woman's either.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 9:57 AM

"Oh," said the officer, stunned. Morpheus could feel the confusion rushing through his mind, the doubt rapidly beginning to take root. Good, it was working. Just a little longer. "Just a routine check point, ma'am." He was leaning in to peer into the car, maybe hoping to catch her on some other infringement, and Morpheus scrambled to make them all look like adults, just in case. He opted for their parents, which worked better in some cases than others. Fade looked enough like their mother that it wasn't an entirely bizarre experience, but seeing Threnody's father where he'd been sitting, through the officer's eyes, was more than a little unnerving.

It worked, however. "May I see your license, ma'am?" he said.

Morpheus didn't have to ask to know she didn't have one, but Beatz was quicker on the uptake than Morpheus had dared to hope. Evenly she said, "Sure," and reached into the glove compartment.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 10:02 AM

Morpheus was panicking ever so slightly--- he could do tactile illusions, but he hadn't had much practice, and maintaining it across two people was going to be a pretty big risk--- but he needn't have worried. She pulled out a business card. He scrambled to form the veneer of a license over it when it appeared in the officer's line of sight, though he had to fudge some details. In the end, he settled for that and the gentle suggestion that all was well, the officer had made a mistake, and it was best for everyone if they got this over with as soon as possible so she could be on her way.

"Alright, everything seems to be in order, ma'am. Have a safe drive, and happy Halloween," said the officer. The relief in the car was almost palpable.

"Thank you, officer," said Beatz, easing off the brake as soon as the cop stepped back. The window went up, and now Morpheus really did sag in his seat, glad to have come out of that in one piece.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 10:05 AM

He didn't get to stay that way for long. Echo, who very clearly wasn't wearing her seatbelt, contrived to twist around, leaning precariously out of her seat, to slap him on the arm. Morpheus winced at the force of the blow. "Whoa, nice one, sparkle boy!" she said. He wondered at the nickname for a moment before realizing she'd been at his birthday party when he was five, and had seen the illusory fireworks display he'd put on with his father. He could feel his ears starting to burn. That was one nickname he hoped didn't take off.

"Yeah, I didn't think you had it in you," said Beatz. There was something like admiration in her voice.

Even Threnody shot him a somewhat deadpan thumbs-up, still absorbed in his game. "You da man, bro," he said. Morpheus... chose to take that one as a compliment.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 10:08 AM

He didn't think what he had done was particularly praise-worthy, but it had been either that or get arrested, which definitely didn't bear thinking about. "You guys won't tell anyone, right...?" he said weakly.

"Psh, I told you he was a pansy," said Stray.

To his surprise, Fade came to his rescue. "Give him a break. We would've had a hard time if he didn't do that. Besides... you know." They shot Stray a look, and he subsided, though his expression suggested he didn't do so willingly. "No, none of that is leaving this car. I mean, our parents would skin us too."

"Amen," said Echo, with feeling.

"I dunno," muttered Stray. "I think my mom would be pretty happy, if you ask me."
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 10:17 AM

Blithely, Echo clapped him on the shoulder too. From the way he reeled, Morpheus could guess that it was as painful for Stray as it had been for him, if not moreso. Still smiling, Echo said, "You see your mom twice a year, and she would probably say we should've run over the cops, then trashed the car in a ditch." He shot her a baleful look, but stayed silent after that. The point had been made, and there was no more arguing it.

The rest of the drive passed without much incident, and Morpheus spent it in silence. Echo spoke enough for the two of them, and more besides, filling the car with idle chatter. Sometimes someone, usually Fade or Beatz or Threnody, made a reply. Stray, apparently put out by her earlier rebuttal, stayed quiet too.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 10:20 AM

Eventually, Beatz parked them smoothly in a spot another car had been trying to steal, and announced, "Alright, we're here." Everyone piled out. Morpheus was the last one off the car, and and he looked around himself in slight confusion.

"Where are we?" he said.

Threnody, whose phone was finally put away, grinned big at his question. "Spooky Sam's Halloween Depot!" he announced. He wasn't quite as loud as his sister, but clearly he had quite the voice himself when he wanted to.

"It's a seasonal shop," said Fade. "It only opens in October. Well, and in December, Merry's Christmas Madness sets up here too, but that's a different set of people."
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/29/2016 10:25 AM

"They have eeeeeeeverything," Echo chimed in, stretching her arms out for emphasis. Looking at the size of the warehouse, Morpheus believed her. It was one of those massive nondescript grey buildings, whose contents were indiscernible from the outside. Only the entrance had a big 'Happy Halloween' banner stuck above it. He supposed, being a seasonal shop, the establishment hadn't seen fit to decorate the exterior.

Wordlessly, he followed the others inside. Walking through the door, it was like he'd crossed into a different world, where Halloween was the be all and end all of everything. Not that he'd doubted Echo before, but now more that ever, he really believed that if it had to do with Halloween, they'd find it here.
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Re: A Night on the Town [self]

Postby crow » 10/30/2016 2:11 AM

"I'm going to be a giant pumpkin this year," said Echo. Morpheus thought he heard Stray mutter something that sounded suspiciously like 'you already are', but she didn't seem to hear it, and it didn't seem like the kind of thing that needed passing on. Turning to Morpheus, Echo nudged him. "What about you? I don't think you ever told us what you were going as."

"Going...?" Morpheus had thought this would be a one off trip. Fade hadn't mentioned anything about a follow-up. "Going where?"

"Trick-or-treating! You are going with us, aren't you?" said Echo, eyes widening a little in surprise.

"We're going to hit that new haunted house that just opened," added Threnody. "I heard it's wicked." He was grinning. When he smiled like that, he really did look a lot like his sister.
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