9251/HO HO HORROR

HO HO HORROR
Date of Scene:	22 December 2021
Location:	Lost Pond Mall
Synopsis:	Twas The Fright before Christmas...
Cast of Characters:	Michael Hannigan, Tyler Locke, Roland Livingston

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Michael Hannigan has posed:
With only two panic filled shopping days left until one of the larger gift giving holidays hit, the Lost Pond Mall is slammed. But if there's anything nice about the large crowds filling the mall it's that the light bouncing off the glaring white marble of the floor has little chance of blinding anyone. Instead, that job will be left to the ugly Christmas Sweater display that's being shown in the windows of an Ole' Timey store.

The stores have gone out of their way this year as everything on sale seems to scream Christmas.

Ornaments are hung up in the windows with care,
with dramatically huge price tags to look at if you dare.
In the center court perched on a thematic chair,
Well- a rather human sized Santa is sitting there.
And oft to the Starbucks, for a hot drink to pick,
Is a man wearking a knitcap, called Mike, not Nick.

Tyler Locke has posed:
Tyler is one who is utterly absorbed in his work, sometimes putting in 12 or 16 hour days. Isn't there a holiday or something come up? Oh shit, Christmas is in a few days! So down into the pits he goes to try to find some presents to buy. He attempted a couple of stores, but the sheer number of shoppers turned him off so how about some coffee? Maybe a stimulant is just what he needs to make the day more relaxing.

The man departs the Starbucks with a salted caramel latte. He peers around to see if there is a store that has fewer than 350 percent occupancy. Maybe this way. He starts shuffling down the crowded hall doing his best not to ram into anyone or let anyone ram into him.

Roland Livingston has posed:
What is Roland doing in a mall this close to Christmas? Something that involves him wearing his expensive Ducati motorcycle leathers. Yep, he's just out for a ride in the country when he needed to get off the bike and stretch his legs for a while. What better place to do that then a crowded mall during the holidays? Anyway, it's warm in here and there's a Starbucks so that's a win.

Striding purposefully through the indoor shopping center, Livingston quickly makes it to the coffee line, wincing a little bit when he sees how long it is. Still, he wants that cup of Joe so he resigns himself to waiting. In an effort to keep himself from growing bored he tries to start a conversation with someone else in line, speaking in his upper class English accent, "This place is certainly very crowded. Still, I haven't seen anyone get trampled yet. Is that a thing that usually happens during shopping season or is it sensationalized by the news?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The musician has forgone the caffiene today,
Instead in his cup, hot chocolate stays.
As he pauses to take a sip,
he hears the inquiry from the English lip-

Ok this is getting ridiculous.

Mike lowers his coffee, looking over to the Roland in line. "Small world." Mike declares, "How're you doing today?"

And Roland stands in line and Mike holds his cup,
And through the crowds there is a wandering Locke,
When out in the parking lot there arose such a clatter,
The mall security guard sprang from his position to see what was the matter.
Away to the window lined entrance way he flew like a flash.
Glanced out the doors, noped and turned away so rash.

Mike turns his head, watching the security guard running away from the entrance. "...That can't be good."

Tyler Locke has posed:
Why does this keep happening to Tyler? He goes out to a crowded, public place and something goes down. When the security guard starts to run, Tyler checks his watch. He's not really sure why, but it seems to be something to do for a moment while he collects his thoughts. Then for a beat or two he contemplates a course of action. Nothing /overt/ has happened yet. No need to get nuts just yet.

From a pocket inside his winter vest, Tyler pulls out an antique locket hanging from an equally old, heavy chain. Affixed to the locket is a key. He puts the Hercules Key around his neck and zip his vest up to conceal it. If something really bad happens, it could be handy to be as strong as an ancient demigod hero.

Lastly, he takes a good, long pull from his latte. You know, just in case.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I'm quite well, and yourself?" Roland replies to Mike with a grin, looking quite pleased to see his acquaintance again. "Just out for a ride in the country today and needed something to warm me up and get me properly caffeinated."

When the security guard hops up and goes to see what's wrong, then comes heading back this way Roland seems to perk up, "I wonder what's going on. A trampling, perhaps?" What the hell does he think happens at a mall? He steps out of line and starts heading in the direction the guard fled from.

He raises his voice to make sure that he can be heard, "What seems to be the matter, folks? Can anyone see anything?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"I don't know!" Another person in line responds to Roland's question as people start running past, "And I don't want to know!" Leaving their spot to join with the fleeing mob, Roland's one step closer to getting his desired coffee.

To what the security guard saw they soon shall know.
Through the glass a giant fist would soon throw.
And what to terrified eyes should appear,
But a mechanized monstousity- Oh dear.
With a little old driver, in a globe so thick-
Dear Lord, Is he driving a Mecha St. Nick?

Mike's brows rise at the terrifying sight. "What is it with malls in this state and evil Santas?" He mutters, stepping back to take a few gulps of his hot cocoa. MMM-Ow-MMM-Ow-

Yes that's not going to work. He moves over to a table to set it down. Knowing full well the cup won't be there when he gets back. But at least there's hope.

Tyler Locke has posed:
Tyler stands like an island amid the fleeing mob. Sure, many people hit him and the general flow attempts to sweep him along, but with the Hercules Key in place he stands his ground. Santa incoming. "Oh fuckin' great," he murmurs to himself. "ONE normal day, I just want one normal day."

The Locke turns his back to the flow of the crowd so he can get out another key without getting the precious devices knocked from his hands. He tugs a keyring out of his pocket and flips through the old-timey keys thereon until he finds one with a stylized flame symbol. He removes that. The Matchstick Key. Hopefully he won't need it, but he also had hoped he wouldn't encounter a rampaging robotic Santa. So much for hoping.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Damn. Evil Santa robot," Roland comments quietly before gritting his teeth and sighing. "Time to figure out how to kill this thing. And me without my usual arsenal, I feel almost naked." He is not naked. Or unarmed. It's just that his stuff is hard to access under his riding leathers. Unzipping the front of his leathers he sticks his hands inside, coming out with a pistol in one and a long dagger with silver inscriptions on it in the other. Slowly, he walks towards the mechanical threat, calling out, "Surrender now and I won't have to break your toys. And your limbs."

A glance is given to Tyler, then Mike, the Englishman wondering what the hell they're still doing here. He shrugs, the more the merrier.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The Santa he saunters with no hint of shame,
And he whirred, and popped, and fizzled the same;
He steps! He crashes! He turns his head down!
To Roland's threat the driver gives a frown!
"Your empty threats do not scare me at all!"
"Now step back before I kick you into that near wall!"

Mike looks over towards Roland but his features, while the same seem a bit different. In the heat of the moment it may be hard to tell that during all the chaos, he's mirrored himself. "I don't think he's going to surrender." The musician looks across the chaos strewn food court... Chairs and tables are toppled over and the main court is now devoid of people. The service workers behind the various counters nearest to the mecha have wisely moved to their back rooms. As for the ones to the far end of the food court...

There's always stragglers. Mike sighs and makes use of his pipes. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE! FOOD COURT IS CLOSED! GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Tyler Locke has posed:
Tyler doesn't listen to Michael's instructions to clear the food court. Maybe talk to Tyler's mom. Growing up, he was never an obedient child and now he's not an obedient adult. He actually does the opposite and runs deeper into the food court, easily pushing through the opposite-fleeing crowd with his enhanced strength.

"Kick this," he says as he plunges the Matchstick Key into the knee joint of the mechanized Santa. The key lets off extremely intense heat, which has the effect of fusing that knee joint solid. The angry operator pulls a lever and the Santa robot pivot at the waist and one of the arms hits Tyler solidly, sending him flying back into some tables. That hit should have sent him WAY farther than that. Something is enhancing his strength for sure. Unfortunately for the Locke, he was taken by surprise by the hit and his Matchstick Key goes flying.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Won't be kicking much now, shall we?" Roland asks the guy in the mechanical monstrosity as it's leg is melted solid, a smirk appearing on his face. The adventurer dashes towards Mecha Santa and lines up his pistol with the vehicle's pilot. While he's relatively certain the glass is bullet resistant, there's little harm in trying to stop this quickly. A single round is fired as soon as the red dot sight on the handgun crosses the evildoer's torso.

Then Roland is leaping into the air, clearing enough height and distance to make an Olympian envious. He'll aim to land on the robot itself, looking for any sort of weak spot on it so he can put a few rounds through it or jam his blade somewhere it'll do some damage.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Having given warning to those still present in the food court, Mike leaves those who remain alone. They have been advised. What they do now is on them.

As the key burns from the knee high,
The operator has the Santa's arm swing by
And while the swipe on Lock did connect
The driver was surprised that it had little effect!
There is a click as the intercom comes on;
"What the hell are you?" becomes the man's new song.

The gun is raisted true, and Roland's aim is sound
But into bullet proof glass went the directed round.
The driver grumbles as he hits pedals with his foot.
The exhaust from the machine comes out like soot;

Mike looks over towards Roland after the failed attempt to shoot the driver.

"I got an idea. But I need you to trust me,
I need to grab you and close your eyes so you can't see."

What on earth is going on here?

Tyler Locke has posed:
The hit definitely knocked the wind out of Tyler. Sure, he has enhanced strength while wearing the Hercules key, but he's no Superman. And to be fair, he was just punched with a, you know, giant metal fist. He disentangles himself from the chairs and tables he was thrown into, coughing a bit. He starts looking around a bit frantically for the Matchstick Key but doesn't see it. It's going to have to wait.

Since the table has thrown into is destroyed now anyway, Tyler grabs the metal post that anchored into the food court floor and starts to pull. His face and neck redden from the strain and his expression becomes a strained grimace. At first it looks like he isn't going to manage it...but then a crunching sound can be heard and the metal pole comes up out of the ground with a bit of concrete still around the end. Oh look! Tyler's got a metal and concrete mace. He starts to advance on the monstrosity.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Roland does a backflip off of the robot after not spotting any vulnerable bits, landing partway back to Mike. Then he hauls ass the rest of the way over, "I welcome any suggestions at this point, Mike."

His eyes, since they're not being covered yet, are on the robot so that he can react accordingly. "Hmm. That chap is quite strong, isn't he?" He calls out to Tyler, "Do you lift, bro?" Then he turns his head slightly to say to Mike, "Is that the correct meme thing?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
To Roland's question, Mike laughs, "I honestly have no idea." But hey he agreed. "Okay, close your eyes, don't freak out. When your senses come back, that's when you can look again."

The eyes how they anger! The driver such fury!
So distracted by Tyler, he misses Mike's carry!
Roland's senses fade with Mike's haste,
But who needs silly things like touch, smell, and taste?
Tyler's brandished mace gets all the attention,
Which gives Mike time to get Roland in position.
The pair vanish making it easy to phase through that belly,
The one Roland's bullet proved was not made of jelly.
Up close the driver was not so old, or jolly,
But at least he got the suit right, red like holly;
As Roland is let go, senses returned behind the man of red,
Mike's sight of the driver, has a memory come across his head;

"You again?"

Alerted by the noise, Red Santa turns his head,
"How'd the h- It's you!" His voice spoke with dread.

Tyler Locke has posed:
As he approaches the robot Tyler responds to Roland's question with, "Somethin' like that." When the two vanish and phase into the robot, Tyler doesn't appear to be at all freaked out by it. Clearly, the young man has been exposed to supernatural stuff before. "Well that's handy," he murmurs to himself.

Since he drew the role of decoy in this play, Tyler leans into it. In order to give the other two time to do...whatever it is they're doing, the impromptu mace wielder moves around to the side of the robot with the good knee, and smashes the weapon right into the good knee. Apparently Tyler likes taking out knees. Everybody's got a hobby.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Once his senses return Roland inhales sharply and opens his eyes to find himself staring at the evil Santa. There's no hesitation as he lifts his dagger in the air and goes to try to bring the pommel down on the villain's head. Not hard enough to dash his brains out, but serious enough that there's likely to be unconsciousness and concussion, "How dare you attack a mall at Christmas?! Someone could have been seriously injured." There's a pause, "Someone other than you could have been seriously injured."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The mecha, it staggers and turns with a jerk.
The kneecapping what a move, How well it works!
The amount of distractions have certainly rose,
From Tyler's smashing and Red Santa seeing someone he knows;
Concerned with those changes, Roland's hit meets the mark,
The driver falls forward as his conciousness goes dark.
The mecha pitches forward and kneels to the floor,
While the heroes inside search for the off button and shows Red Santa the door.