5500/Dismounting a Rider

Dismounting a Rider
Date of Scene:	08 March 2021
Location:	The Sing Sing Karaoke Bar
Synopsis:	Abcde finds a corrupted spirit riding a bartender. With the aid of Koga Miura and Harley Quinn, they save the bartender, but not the bar.
Cast of Characters:	Abcde Prescelta, Koga Miura, Harley Quinn

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Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    There's a sad guy up on the stage singing American Pie badly. He's obviously had a bad day and too much to drink. The place is full enough that Abcde can sit and watch carefully out of the corner of her eye at the problem. The problem is one of the bartenders. She's seated herself in the corner, though she hasn't exactly gone to the trouble of concealing the wand at her hip. She figures there's not many people who would know what it's for - or just assume it's a bit of cosplay.

    Now legal enough to drink, she is trying out wine. Wine is common everywhere.. it sure has a sting to it though. Her wine of choice? a red wine of some description. She wasn't paying attention - not after she saw what was going on with that bartender.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga had decided to try to get out. And well, he was out and about. The fact that he could take care of himself was just one of the perks. That it was a karaoke bar was just one of the fun parts. He knew enough English to join in the ribbing of the American Pie singer, but otherwise was mostly keeping to himself. Strangely, wine was his drink of choice and he was otherwise just mostly... well, being a simple guy.

    Of course, that he's also really a racer is probably up there somewhere. Especially as he came on his own bike. The good news is that he's moderating himself severely from the looks. Only one glass of wine, and a few sodas.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Sitting by the bar is one Harley Quinn, mismatched hair, dressed in yellow overalls over a white top. Drink in hand she is turning to the song. "Man, I think I'd prefer ta be seein' that otha guy in that otha movie stickin' it in the pie than hearin' ya!" clearly she isn't a fan of the guy's singing...

And then she downs another cosmopolitan in a gulp, "This one is for ya, Spiral.." she letting out a brief hiccup, hazy eyed. She does appear to have been at it for a while now. The clownette takes a look at her phone with a small frown, a disappointed 'hmph' and then tapping on the counter.

"Anotha one, barkeep. Also, what's the rules on shootin' singers heah? Askin' for a friend..."

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    The bartender, for his part, is a victim in all this too. He moves from person to person, but the supernatural creature riding him is drawing a little bit of energy from each person he comes near to. Like a spirit looming tall over him with long spectral arms, a real nightmare, is reaching out and touching people as it passes, and turns the bartenders head this way and that to guide him around.

    For Abcde, it's a 10 foot tall monstrosity and a finger moves to her wand holster, popping the cap open and slowly drawing the wand out when she's sure the bartender isn't looking her way. She grips it in her hand and her hand against her thigh even as her other leg jiggles nervously. The wine will have to wait... how does she go about dismounting a rider in a bar full of people without the cops being called on her?

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga had turned at the sound of shooting someone, raising an eyebrow a bit as he looked at Harley. Then something catches his eye. He gets up from the bar and moves away, shaking his head as if the clown lady's jokes are just as bad as the American Pie singer.

    Then he heads for Abcde's table. A bit of a round about way as he seems to be looking around before he gets closer. And making sure she can see him, too.

    "Mind if I join you? Not a lot of empty seats, and I noticed you have an interesting piece of costume on your leg."

Harley Quinn has posed:
Harley is a regular here. She does love to sing. So when the barkeep just doesn't answer her at her question. "Hey, I made ya a question heah, Ron! Geeez, what's with people tonight?" she then pointing at her empty glass, "Cosmo-poli-tan." obnoxious roll of her eyes given, because drunkenness, or close to it. "It's not like I am gonna shoot anyone, didn't even bring a gun!" which does make her proud! She has been gun-free for a few months now! Of course that baseball bats and mallets are a completely different thing. But she seems free of those tonight too.

"I am next on the list ta sing right?" She rubs her hands together, "I have just the perfect song.." wicked little smile on her lips.

Other than the strangeness about Ron being more antisocial than normal she doesn't seem to have noticed anything supernatural.

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    Great, just what she needs.. some guy who wants to chat to her. She looks up to tell Koga to buzz off but pauses as he looks positively weird. She glances past his shoulder at the rider for a moment and then back to him. "Let me guess, you two are working together. I can take a hint.. I'll leave."

    Her eyes spy Harley Quinn. Everyone knows Harley Quinn. It's hard not to know about some of the biggest criminal names from Gotham. Apparently, according to tabloids and gossip columns, she's turned over a new leaf. But may be she's the best chance she has to isolate the bartender.

    "But hey, if I'm reading this wrong.. I could use some help. I need to clear out this bar without ending up in jail," she says and the nudges her head in Harley's direction, "Go bump in to her and cause a scene."

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga hums, looking at Abcde, then at Harley. He looks back at her. The wand is eyed before he shakes his head. "That's simple enough." He sighs, then rubs his eyes. "I seriously want an explanation after this is over, miko."

    Then he moves back around, making sure something attracts his attention so he will hopefully bump into Harley before she gets even close to the stage. That his drink might end up spilled over someone nearby, not Harley for that matter, is probably just a coincidence. Really. Maybe.

    Of course, what it might start after that is probably not!

Harley Quinn has posed:
With her cosmo *finally* being served Harley grins widely at Ron. "Theah ya go. And now ..." she hopping out of her bench and stretching up. "Time ta be a boss bitch!" which might hint at the song she was intending to sing.

If only there weren't Interceptors in the way!

Cosmo in hand, swag to her hips and big smile she starts on her way to the stage. Right where she belongs! At least until the bump comes. Drinks are spilled, both Koga's and her precious cosmo. She can almost see it flying off her hand in slow motion, letting out a "Nooooooo.." and it splashing all over one of the patrons. Big burly guy. "What the fuck...." Harley quickly points behind her at Koga, "He did it!" tattle-teller!

But then the guy goes and says, "Fucking drunk bitch.." It makes Harley first lift a brow and then deliver a punch that sends the man flying to crash on another table.

"That's boss bitch ta ya, babe." And then it's on. Just like she was back in Gotham!

The guy near Koga, who he splashed, is getting up and looking none too friendly at him.

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    The crowd starts to move, chaos starting to erupt. This is what she had hoped for. Her eyes search around for the bartender... but he's missing. She turns this way and that.. and then, he's -right- there. A hand goes around her throat and she is pushed up against the wall.

    It is the monster that talks, its face and mouth well above Ron's.. but so does Ron's mouth speak too. "We know you saw us," it says in dark tones that reverberate down her spine, "And you will be our dinner tonight."

    Abcde kicks him in the nuts, which doesn't disturb the rider at all, but forces Ron to let go as he doubles over.. "Shit," she says and clears her throat. Well, it's chaos in here now and the element of surprise is gone.

    Abcde lifts her hands, one holding a magical wand, and begins to speak, "hoc humanum descendere." A blue glow spreads from her palms over her fingertips like an aura glow and then in to the wand.

    What seemed like a simple karaoke bar with a sudden kerfuffle pauses as a 10 foot tall demonic looking creature with arms almost as long as its body. It's partly see-through, made of shadows and wreaking of terror stumbles back from Ron the bartender. The people, who were at once interested in the infamous Harley Quinn, are now running in terror from the beast. Ron collapses to the floor.

    The rider, dismounted points a finger at Abcde, "For that, you will be my new mount."

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga just has enough time to apologize with a, "Sorry about that--" Before he has to turn and bring an arm up to block a punch. Then he proceeds to give a punch back. At least until the demonic creature appears.

    That has Koga looking up at it, then at Harley. He points at Abcde. "She did it."

    He calls to Abcde, "Hey! That thing solid now!?" Oddly, Koga's not running, but rather cracking his knuckles as he seems to be considering what to do. He's moving carefully around as well, just in case it tries to run. Not that he has anything that can effect it if it's incorporeal, as far as he knows. Once the bar's cleared at least, there's only Abcde and Harley to worry about far as his cover.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Talk about cliches. Turns out the group that Koga and Harley splashed are most likely mafia guys. Why do they all love Karaoke? Mysteries! Harley is facing them, back to Abcde, cracking her knuckles. "Yea, come ta Harley..." the guys do seem intent on indeed giving her a beating but then ...

10-foot monster?! It sends the mafiosos scrambling and running away, leaving Harley cackling. Clearly it was all her doing! "HAhaahah, I still got it and-" she pauses when Koga calls her attention to the real reason of why they ran off...

"Ron!" She doesn't seem to care whether the creature is incorporeal, or even what it may be! She fearlessly runs forward and over a table, gaining impulse and tossing herself with both feet towards the creature!

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    Abcde gulps a touch at how BIG and imposing that thing looks. The threat is concerning. Concerning enough she has to think for a moment as she sidles along the wall trying to back away from the thing. How can a rider get so big? it must have been feeding here for a long time.

    Her eyes shoot over to Koga as he dobbs her in. Her glowing blue hands lift up and she says, "sedere nequeo," and a glow spreads over her.

    The creature laughs, "You think your magic will stop me little witch?" One of hits dark hands reaches out, fingers like knives, stroke over Abcde and spark against blue magic like a blade tip touching a shield. Abcde shudders and calls back to Koge, "Please find out!"

    The supernatural monster scowls and turns to look at Koga and Harley, "One of you will be my new mount instead." It turns slowly, clearly in no rush as Harley is coming to it. Its dark smokey hand wraps about the violent Gothamite and lifts her up in to the air. "You will do," it says selectingly, lifting its other arm up and pointing its fingers as if it were about to stab at her.

    Abcde fumbles in to her jacket pocket and pulls out her phone, wildly stabbing at the display to call one of her aunts. "Come on, pick up... pick up..."

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga frowns, "Yeah... not happening."

    His eyes seem to glow as something appears around his waist. Charging forward, he brings back a fist in what looks like a punch at the smokey looking monster.

    Something that gives off a bright, blue glow before his entire body seems to shift in some sort of black scales, followed by green and gold in a flurry of activity that takes less than a second.

    And the racer is replaced by what looks like some sort of monster of his own. Tall, broad shouldered, and vaguely looking like a samurai as he continues the punching motion. And a roar that sounds borderline inhuman comes from the helmet-like head as well.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Ack! Harley's double-footed kick goes astray and the creature picks her up by a leg. Damnable! But then she shouts back at Koga. "Hey, he seems plentiful corporeal ta me!" she now upside down, pigtails waving wildly as she struggles against the creature. "Man, if ya wanted ta feel my leg at least ya could had bought me a drink first!" this to the creature..

The monster does seem quite strong, but this is Harley Quinn afterall and with a little help from her friend Ivy she *has* developped quite a bit more strength than what her body would suggest. So she starts to swing, all bendy. "Hey Hermione! Stop lookin' at Instagram and help!"

Hermione always knows how to defeat the monsters right?!

But then there is an incoming charge from a samurai-like being. She brings her body up, arms wrapping around the creature's arm and then she aiming a mighty kick at the creature's face, hopefully to send it off balance to receive the samurai's charge in full!

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    The creature shakes Harley up and down a bit and its big mouth spreads in to a wide grin, "You will be a fun mount." Koga's sudden transformation seems to take the creature by surprise. The fist of a human not concerning it too greatly - but then suddenly it is not just a human.. and Harley kicks it forward toward it.

    The room darkens as the creature disappears in a shroud of darkness. Ominous deep laughter fills the air. "Meat puppets are such fun to play with."

    The phone answers and Abcde is creeping along the edge of the wall, "My name's not Hermoine! Oh no, sorry auntie.. not you, just.. listen there's this huge rider...." she pauses, her eyes widening, "Really? ...thanks."

    She nods to Harley and then Koga as they both drop to the ground through where the monster used to be. "On it!" She rushes over to the stage, grabs a mic and tosses it through the air toward Harley, then over to the sound board and pushes all the dials up to 11. "Okay Samurai man, when it gets fully corporal, I sure hope you have a sword or something to behead it." She then points to Harley, "Sing your lungs out..."

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga's charging fist surprisingly ends up going into the floor, and probably leaving one hell of a mark on it. And he goes through a table from momentum. Standing up afterwards, he looks around. He pauses as he hears the name calling and then he looks at Abcde, "Just for that, I'm calling you Hermione as well if that name sticks." He says back.

    There's a small glow from the side near his belt on the right side before he reaches for it as a sword handle appears, followed by the sword itself. At least it matches the odd armored look he has. And he settles himself into a stance, looking for the monster. His enhanced vision might help him in this aspect, but he doesn't have perfect night vision. And he's looking for shapes more than anything. He wants to be ready to behead this thing like Hermione said, after all.

    Shifting his stance, he sets the flat side of his sword against the back of one of his hands as he looks around, head twisting side to side as he tries to find it.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Being let go and dropping to the ground has Harley rolling over and using her legs to nimbly push herself up to her feet, "Woah, just like my ex. Disappearin' when it's startin' ta get fun." which ex though?! Hopefully not Joker..

If only Harley was normal she would had questioned on what is this creature is doing here, why she has to sing, or even why there's a samurai fighting alongside a wand-wielding girl and a clown. But considering who Harley is she just takes the mic, along with a leftover beer and jumps up to the stage. "Time ta rock this joint.." gleefully wide smile coming to her expression. The first part of the song she was going to sing starts blasting through the karaoke room.

Boss Bitch.

She strikes a pose, "I ain't tryin' ta be cool like yoooou..." she sings. And yes, she even shakes her booty.

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    The darkeness intensifies and the creature says in a mocking tone, "You think a little music can harm me? Think again little witch." It's voice seems to becoming from everywhere. So much so Abcde is turning this way and that wondering if it's about to reappear behind her suddenly.

    Harley is ready, Koga is ready. Harley is singing, Koga has a sword. Time for some magic.

    "Not.. a little music. More like.. a LOT of music." Her hands begin to glow blue again and it charges through the wand as she says, "Vir sapit qui tonitrua." The blue magic leaps from speaker to speaker and what was '11' is now more like 44...

    As Harley reaches ~~ I'm clumsy, made friends with the floor ~~ and the beat drops, suddenly the darkness is sucked in to the middle of the room where the giant creature reappears, its skin sparkling in beautiful rainbow colours, swirling over its exterior like strobe lights.

    Abcde motions to Koga.. since trying to talk at this point would be pointless given how loud the music is.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Koga winces a bit at the volume. He looks over at Hermione as if saying silently 'You had to ask her to sing?' before he looks for the creature.

    Seeing it materialize in the middle of the room and not far from him has him moving quickly. A push of his legs to get him to the appropriate head height, and then he brings the sword around to behead the monster in one quick, hard slash of that blade even as he pushes off the creature to jump backwards and make sure the body falls rather than stays standing.

    Landing afterwards, he holds the sword ready as he waits to make sure it is dead. Very, very dead. The thing's a supernatural creature after all, and they rarely just stay fully dead from beheading where he's from.

    He doesn't relax until he has actually gone up and poked the creature with his sword. Either inexperienced or cautious, but he's being safe! Yep! Totally safe!

Harley Quinn has posed:
Oooooh, yeeaaaa. Harley is delighted as the music blasts through the room, singing with the kind of heart and commitment that shows she is fully into the song. 10-foot monster?! Pffff, what matters is siiiinging.

"Shake it, Hermie!" she calls out to Abcde, even extending the mic for her to join in the 'I'm a bitch, I'm a boss' parts, hip bumping the young sorceress. "Oh yea, look at those lights!" when the creature is made corporeal.

And then she continues to rip, singing out, "~You ain't even heah ta party, Ken in the club tryin' ta pipe a Barbie~" loud and clear, like THUNDER!

The walls shake with the intensity of it as really, she isn't really holding herself back.

As the head gets chopped off she sings out to Koga, "~Yea, you a boss bitch too!~"

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    Abcde stumbles as Harley hip bumps her. Dang that Quinn woman is stronger than she looks!

    The surreal moment seems to snap back to reality in an instant, the moment the creatures body hits the floor. It sizzles and breaks apart, becoming wispy embers that float in to the air and disappear. The darkness is gone, the lights are back. And the speakers? well, they can't normally take that level of amplitude, so they won't anymore. All of them go 'pop' at once and smoke pours out of the bigger ones.

    Abcde's ears are ringing as the sound is suddenly cut off. It really was stupidly loud, like standing next to a thunder strike. She rubs at her ears and says, "WHAT?!" expecting she thinks she hear someone trying to speak. The windows to the joint suddenly crack from the intense sound pressure they just experienced. Blue and red flashing lights outside indicate the police have arrived even though their sirens were too quiet to be heard over that racket.

    With a very smooth motion, like a magician making a coin dance over their fingers, she twirls her wand and slides it back in to her hip holster, closing the clip as a final part of the motion. She hops off the stage away from the smoking speakers and approaches where the creature was, "IT COMPLETELY DISAPPEARED!" she yells to both Harley and Koga.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Seeing the police lights outside, Koga's sword disappears as he replaces it at his side and he moves over to the two. Instead of trying to say something, he points at the windows where the police lights can be seen, then the back door. If there is one.

    And he heads that way, too.

    Time to exit, stage left.

    Meanwhile the samurai-like armor reaches up to rub the eye area as if to make it known that this is probably going to be a pain for him. A lot of it.

Harley Quinn has posed:
"IT DID!" Harley says with an enthusiastic nod of her head, doing a mic drop when the song is finally over. Because mic drops are cool. She hops down from the stage, approaching the other two and giving them a thumbs up. "BEST TEAMUP EVAH!" she exclaims, still very loudly.

The cops arriving doesn't go unnoticed by Harley, she speaking up. "NOW WE NEED TO SNEAK AWAY SO THE COPS DONT FIND US! SO LETS BE EXTRA SILENT!" still screaming out loudly.

She points to a particular door when Koga motions for them to escape, "THEAH'S AN EXIT OVAH THEAH!" She is a regular! She knows all the nooks and crannies in this place!

And no way she is going back to jail.

Besides, Hermione did it.

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    Abcde is keenly aware that she cannot hear what they're saying. She shouts back to the other two, "HUH!? WE SHOULD GO. THE POLICE ARE HERE. MAY BE OUT A BACK DOOR?" And Koga is already walking. She shrugs and then hot foots it out in to the cool night air too.

    Slowly the ringing in her ears starts to go away, the punishment for distorting the amplification of the speakers briefly enough to disrupt the supernatural beast. Not the worst she's suffered, not the most pleasant though. She rubs at her ears, a small bit of blood has dribbled out of them.

    "HEY.. Hey... hey.. you two were amazing. I've never seen a rider that big before. It was huge. HUGE," she says as she keeps walking down the alley way away from the flashing red and blue lights. The police have entered the karaoke bar finding it empty except for an unconscious Ron and a bunch of broken expensive speakers.

Koga Miura has posed:
    Shifting back to his more human appearance, Koga looks at the two, not shouting as of yet. Because seriously, he can't hear a thing, and the blood from his ears is just kinda there for a moment before he pulls out a spare handkerchief to wipe it off. "What the hell is a rider? And just who the hell are you? At least I have heard of her." He motions at Harley. Then he seems to realize something and sighs, mumbling something in Japanese for a moment or two.

    "Um... I'm going to need a legimitate excuse for letting her go, too." He motions at Harley again, then looks to Abcde. "But I still want to know what that was about and why we that thing was even there."

    Rubbing his ears again, he looks between the two. "I so need some sake or a good hot soak after this."

Harley Quinn has posed:
"What ya mean a reason ta let me go. You a cop or somethin? Well, let me tell ya that I am a legitimate bounty huntah." And yes, Harley brings out her license, showing it to Koga. "Multipass." she then adds, "Besides, Wondah Woman vouched foh me, I am no criminal!" she tells the samurai-now-human-again man.

"Anyway, would love ta stay and chat but gotta people ta see." a beat, "Toodles." she fingerwiggles and then is all ready ta get the hell outta dodge!

Abcde Prescelta has posed:
    She peers at Harley, "Yeah but aren't you a supervillain though?" She then looks back to Koga as he becomes human again and she says, "Huh, you're asking questions? what the heck are you... but, if you must know. A rider is a corrupted spirit that 'rides' humans to hide itself and consume life force from those near it. Kind of like a partial possession. Turns out, when they're dismounted they can't handle singing. They're meant to be tiny little things - that one was huge, it must have been feeding from people in that karaoke bar for years."

    She frowns a touch as he mentions 'letting her go' - "First of all Yojimbo, it's International Woman's Day. And second, she just helped do a really good thing in there. So.."

    Her hands glow blue just for the briefest of moments as she says, "nunc ad me pertinet."

    Time jumps forward just a touch for Koga... and neither Abcde nor Harley are still there. Abcde went her own way. She doesn't need the kind of reputation that comes with hanging out near a supervillain. Also, she feels like she's coming down from that wine, time to go home and sleep this one off.