Oh hello there

Another entirely human trait was the tendency to poke at the wasp nest, or in this case the extremely loyal found family that had formed around Russell. Ratchet had really hit the spot. He had yet to say anything nasty to her and Fae already wanted him to go play in traffic. The only reason he might make it out of this alive was that they had to help Russell too.

They also had to figure out what was there in this for Five. He was too happy about how things were going. But it had to be said, he still had enough in himself to hold his ground while outnumbered. Ground that just so happened to be perilously close to the edge of the roof at the moment.

"Yes, we already established your loyalty to the freak show during our last encounter. You don’t have to remind me." Five replied.

"Establish this!" Rook hurled her sword at Five, knocking him back further. He missed his chance to respond as his foot found nothing but air to lean on. That was most unfortunate. But it played perfectly into his plan.

Indeed, this had all been an excuse to send Ratchet to his doom and this time Five planned to leave him behind. Human or not, he had to learn the consequences of going through his supplies. So that was it for him. He grasped his cane and simply let himself fall backwards.

"You won't be so lucky next time." A few vials of green liquid were tossed to create a cloud of green fog to ensure he wouldn't be followed as he jumped off. Five was long gone by the time Ratchet started screaming for help.

"Get off me, you creepy bastard!" It was safe to say Ratchet wasn't having a good time. The feeling of pins and needles feeling about inside his ears was sickening and made him want to peel his skin off just to get those wretched tentacles away from him.

It wasn't the best sight, but it was something Lucien, Fae and Erica could apparently endure well enough.

"Your mother was very wise." Lucien said, tugging at the rope again, "Now, let's have some fun. Tell me, Christopher, which hand would you like me to remove?"

"Neither!" The answer was of course sincere. Ratchet wasn't ready to face the consequences of his own actions while Lucien certainly looked relieved to see he had taken ahold over his mind once again.

"Yeah. We don't want him to lash out while we steal his pants." Erica agreed, approaching Ratchet to start disarming him and the trap.

"That would be great. Although I would appreciate it if you didn't define this dreadful mechanism in such terms until I'm free from it." Willow asked.

"Yeah, let's not make it weirder." Fae said, before turning to Leofric, "Are you guys okay?"

"I'm...alright." Rook replied, shielding her face from the toxic fumes, "He simply couldn't keep himself from farting on the way out."

It was usually good to try and see a silver lining even in the crappiest of situations.

"I figured seeing as you haven't appeared to have learned a lesson from our previous encounters, you needed a reminder," Leofric replied. He didn't seem even a little bit insulted over the jab, "And you don't need to remind me of your feelings about us."

It was plain to see that they hadn't changed even a little bit. Leofric felt a brief chill in the back of his neck, and so he made sure to give Rook some room to retaliate. He did have the smallest of smiles on his lips as the sword met its mark and knocked Five back. However, he held his own sword and shield with a firm grip, not wanting to let his guard down too soon.

It appeared that Five really was planning to retreat and leave Ratchet behind. It seemed that despite being a human, Five really didn't want to be dealing with his own henchman anymore. Seeing that he wasn't going to fight anymore, Leofric replaced his sword back into his coat and chanted again, in order to make sure their protective spell was still going strong. The rain would also help to keep the poison from being at full potency.

"You're one to talk!" Bill snapped back, "And if you kept still, it would be a lot easier for you."

Once the tentacles had emerged and thrown the earplugs, they shook, like they were trying to get dirt or some other horrible substance off of themselves.

"Let that be a lesson for you," Bill said, "Although it probably won't be to be honest, let's face it."

But then there was a hint of fondness in those grey eyes.

"One of the wisest people I ever knew," Bill agreed then, before a grin crept across his face when he saw that Ratchet was once again stuck Lucien's influence, "Well too bad, buddy. One of them has got go. Might as well choose one."

Even if they weren't going to go for anything like that right now for real, it didn't mean they couldn't scare the ever living shit out of Ratchet for fun.

"That mechanism there, Travis," Simon instructed, just in case Travis wasn't really sure where to start.

"Heh, thanks bro," Travis said, as he then approached so he could join Erica in getting Ratchet disarmed at least, "And sorry, Willow, I'll refrain. At least until we got you out of that too."

"Yes, I'm all right as well, Fae, thank you," Leofric said, as he used his shield as a makeshift fan to help wave away the noxious gas. Given that he was a ghost, he didn't have to worry about it affecting him as much, but he still wanted to assist, "I believe that was to try and slow us down, prevent us from following or tracking him, or all of those. But the spell I had set up before we got here helped give us some protection against it."

It didn't help that it masked Five's scent.

"I believe we should let him go for now," Leofric then concluded, "He is one less immediate threat while we help Russell and work out what we're doing with Ratchet."

Fae wasn't too keen on mutilation or shedding blood at all if she could help it. But it was up to Ratchet and his ability to tick them off how many bones he wanted to keep intact. There were a lot of things the lot of them combined could do to him. Hopefully he had accounted for that before he had decided to kidnap Russell again.

For instance, his decision to make a whole trap for the sole purpose of gnawing at their ankles was bound to get even on Erica's nerves. Huldras were very particular about their own tails. Despite disregarding most rules and uses of her people, she couldn't bear to see Antonio and Travis get hurt. Her bat was sure to gain another dent before the end of the night.

Five was just as content with the arrangement. Ratchet was standing around like an idiot far out of his reach. He really couldn't wait for the moment Ratchet was going to realize the trap was just as effective against him as the freaks.

"Why, thank you. I take great pride in my fencing skills." Five replied, hinting a courteous bow between swings, "And I did. I'll have you know I won a few competitions back in school. Those opportunities you speak of are quite rare."

"One blood draw and he'd be disqualified from any serious tournament. So now he can only compete in the Asshole Olympics."

That remark won Rook another swipe of the cane, thankfully avoided with the help of the flames form. The first blow had still been harsh though. Rook was forced to shift her weight on her other leg, making it more difficult to keep attacking. Five would consider that another small victory of the evening.

He would latch on that, knowing things were about to take a hasty turn against him and his wretched grunt. Five caught a glimpse of the moment Willow decided to brute force her way out of the web. That fool had really thought someone whose body was at least partially mechanical would have hesitated before pulling something like that. The gaping hole in his trap would be a testament to his stupidity.

As if he had nothing to regret when it came to half baked plans. In any case, Five simply had too much on his plate at the moment to help. Leofric's fearsome attacks were forcing him to retreat.

"Oh my, oh dear, you really took that one personally, didn't you?"

It was truly unfortunate, especially considering how Ratchet had essentially tied himself to his own trap. The gizmo man began panicking when he realized that had been Willow's plan all along and he wouldn't even be allowed to capitalize on it because there was a pile of muscles running at him with a bat.

"Shit! Get away from me–" The frantic fumbling with the straps holding the harnesses extended to the wires, forcing Willow to be very careful and measure every breath while the wires threatened to cut through her clothes. Her efforts however ensured Lucien's safety while Fae burned through the wire.

"I don't wish to be addressed that way by either of you." Lucien snapped.

"Right. We don't have boyfriend privilege." the fairy joked, "There. Now you can go play with the others."

Lucien was ready to run ahead, but stopped when it became clear that Bill was going to go through with his threat.

"I was hoping he would do it." Some things had to be witnessed. "I shall help."

He was sure they could make use of Antonio's chains in a moment, but they wanted Ratchet to be awake for this. Lucien went through a few motions with his hands to summon an arcane whip to tie Ratchet's hands together.

"Let's see if he likes it." Lucien tugged at the rope, forcing Ratchet's hands away from his face while Bill's tentacles caught up to him.

"No! Get away from me!" Ratchet's screaming would do nothing against the inevitable. Those earbuds were going to go. "Boss, help me!"

Especially given that despite all his gadgets and his nasty demeanour, Ratchet was still just a human, and he could bend and break and bleed like any other human.

And as a human, there was a lot of punishment the man could take before the permanent damage was done.

Antonio calmly took the ribbon that he had been wearing on his tail and tucked it into his pocket. He didn't plan to get any of his blood onto it, and neither did he want it getting stained with Ratchet's either. The tail would have to be looked at once this was over. There wasn't time to worry over it now.

Leofric had started to wonder though. Five was enjoying this, and despite the brief assistance he had offered Ratchet earlier, it appeared that he didn't really care that Ratchet was about to get swarmed by a multitude of different opponents. Was this meant to be a trap for them, or for Ratchet? Perhaps it was a mix of both.

Leofric decided he would have to ponder on that later.

"I don't believe that's an official type of competition yet," Leofric said to Rook, "But maybe it could become one."

He then looked back at Five on hearing the comment.

"Whether you find this fun or not, and regardless of your skill in this endeavour, you are still a threat," Leofric commented, "And I am here to protect those I care about, and if I must use more force, so be it. My feelings are irrelevant."

"Oh so now you're begging," Bill said. He was smiling, but there was a blazing fury in those grey eyes.

"I can respect that," Antonio said, "I'll still be keeping it in my memory though."

No one could stop him from doing that.

"My thought exactly," Bill said, "Hey, now you'll know how some of your victims feel, Ratchet. Be thankful they're not going in your ass."

With that, Bill let the two tentacles he had prepared linger around Ratchet's head first, just to make them harder to predict, to make the anticipation that much worse. Without any warning, they were shoved right into Ratchet's ears as deep as they could go, the wetness combined with the slight pins and needles they emitted on contact most likely felt terrible. But then the ear plugs were found and wrapped around. Bill wriggled the tentacles like that of an octopus or a horribly large bug, before he then pulled them out, bringing them with him.

Antonio had found himself wincing with disgust and not looking directly at the display. He was relieved when Bill seemed to be done with that torture.

"Ah, that's better," Bill said, tossing the earplugs, "My mum always said it's good to practice your listening skills."

Travis then nodded at Erica.

"Exactly!" He agreed with Russell's commentary on the nature of gaming. "Where else can I fill an entire church with an infinite amount of Amazin' Grannies? And then make them all sing Amazin' Grace?" He asked this while doing that very thing, and the church in question lit up like Sunday worship.

"My dad didn't allow gaming systems in th' house, so I had to go over my best friend's to play shit. But he was always grounded every other week for gettin' into fights--mostly with me--so I didn't really get a lot of practice." It wasn't like he couldn't just buy one now that he was an adult but he'd grown pretty accustomed to entertaining himself without one.

He was thinking about reconsidering that though.

He eventually found the pawn shop and Tim. The name popped up as his cursor hovered over what looked like a round metal balloon standing ominously in the corner, maybe about two or three feet in height and width if it were plopped into the real world. It looked a lot like a hot air balloon with its basket missing from the bottom.

Tim

"Found it!" He called out to get Russell's attention again, and would wait till his host was able to catch a minute between work duties to come over and see.

"You know what this gas station needs? MORE GAS!"

Russell would be able to see Tim set up in the back of a pickup truck in the parking lot, underneath the awning that covered the gas pumps, and Worth snickered under his breath as he lit the fuse.

The truck was pushed off to the side with the explosion, flipping over a few times like it had been thrown by a toddler having a tantrum, its tires still spinning as it came to rest halfway across the street. The convenience store itself just blew apart, roof and doors and windows toppling over like lincoln logs in a beautiful firestorm of yellow stars and streaks.

Russell did secretly feel a bit flattered that Worth was also allowing him to watch the bits he could between the busier parts of his work. It was just as well that it seemed to be a slow day today.

"I'm, I'm sorry to, to hear that," Russell said, sympathy in those blue eyes, "I, I think my, my mom only allowed them be-because they, they helped, heh, they helped to keep us out, out of her hair."

Come to think of it, that probably really was the reason Cassandra had allowed them to play games. He and his older brothers no doubt would have been ipad babies if they had been a thing when they were kids.

Russell got back to work to allow Worth to search around for Tim, but then he smiled and made his way over once he was called to see for himself. He watched the entire process of Worth setting up what would no doubt be absolute carnage.

Russell then smiled once more when it all fell place and set off an entire chain reaction of chaos.

"That, that was amazing, man," Russell said, chuckling again, "You, you know how, how to, to really make some-something a, a blast."

Hopefully the pun would be appreciated. But then he decided that it could be a good idea to bring up one possible bombshell that Worth would most likely find a lot of delight in.

It was only a glance. He could not blame the mortal for simply looking. They were unsightly. But he had not mentioned them at least. He could avoid the typical, prying gasp of horror, followed by an immediate - "What happened to you?"

He forced his attention to Russell's gift instead, straightening himself slightly as he sniffed. There was no scent to be found. Whatever the mortal had brought was stored entirely within the cooler. The lack of scent intrigued him further, bringing him to open it delicately.

A fruity and tangy cake of sorts awaited him, as well as a thick, equally fruity drink. Leondas took out both, setting the drink to his side for easy access. Regardless of if a fork was provided or not, it seemed was content eating the cheesecake with his hands.

❝ Thank you, Russell. ❞

He ate quietly. The flavors of the cheesecake were foreign to him, but welcome. The smoothie equally intrigued him, with how laborious it was to get out of the straw. But both were enjoyed.

At least it seemed that the small accidentally glance hadn't made Leondas too angry at him. Russell just had to make a point of not looking again.

At least it seemed that Leondas was enjoying the food at least. Russell took a small can from his own messenger bag. It was of one of those chilled ready to drink caramel lattes. He didn't open it yet though.

Right, okay... here it goes...

At the permission to take his shirt off and sit, Russell carefully unbuttoned his shirt and then shrugged it off of his shoulders. It was then taken into his hands so he could fold it. That was what made the scars on his own body visible for Leondas to see.

There was old scar tissue on his right arm, shoulder and part of his chest, along with a faded white line on his neck. While they were partially covered by his nebula sleeve tattoo, there were old scratch marks on his left shoulder, left by nails digging in too deeply. The shirt was folded and placed aside. Russell then sat.

It's only fair he sees some of mine after I saw those... hopefully he'll understand...

Willow eyed her double. That was certainly a time to lean into fairy humor. Nevertheless, the best bet at the moment was to make a mess of that trap so that no amount of tripwire could give them trouble anymore. They could always throw themselves off the edge back to where they came from but that wouldn't stop Five from trying to push Rook in it once he got tired of fooling around and they still had to get to Russell.

If anything, they could trust Ratchet to not be bright enough to stop them in time. The trap itself remained quite clever, though. A thick web of sharp tripwires covered a good portion of the roof, going back and forth and above them just enough to make jumping over difficult. Thanks to the rain, they could now tell that everything was controlled through the harnesses strapped to Ratchet's arms. Each section could be adjusted with extreme precision or yanked aggressively depending on their next move.

That arrangement was making Lucien regret wearing shorts to that fight. He didn't dare move his leg at all as he hoped Ratchet hit himself hard enough to briefly forget about him. It was at times like these that he regretted losing his dagger.

"It's a shame it didn't knock him out." He wasn't enjoying feeling like a fly trapped in a spider's web. The hit seemed to have stunned him for a minute though.

"That's just fine– I don't need to look at you anyway." Ratchet carefully wiped his face, glad to see he wasn't bleeding yet. That really hurt. "Why would I like that– Oh, fuck off!"

Ratchet's meltdown brought the wires in contact with Erica's shadowy tails, causing them to flicker. She was thankful that didn't hurt, but she still found it incredibly rude. Lucien was unfortunately less lucky there as the wires dug further in his leg.

"Ah! Good one." Five said, before the parry forced him to jump back, "And your technique is excellent! You almost got me there."

The compliments somehow annoyed Rook more than the usual monologuing. "What the hell are you on about? Did you get a stick out of your ass all of a sudden or what?"

"Well, I'm having my way for once. Why shouldn't I celebrate?"

It was only a shame this was only a way to punish Ratchet for stepping out of line. But it also provided everyone with a good guess of Five's real physical condition, in case they were planning something else. He was still surprisingly light on his feet and fast enough to switch his attention back and forth between his opponents. When Rook managed to find an opening, he used the cane to bash her knee and that unfortunately hurt even without any toxins involved.

Willow knew they had to regain the momentum before someone got seriously injured.

"Fae, block the wire holding Lucien."

"On it!" Fae lowered herself back to the ground and pinned the wire to the ground. Ratchet could pull all he wanted, but it would not bulge, "Don't worry, Lu. I got you."

"Don't call me that." Lucien grumbled.

With everyone else ready, Willow finally made her move. She reached into her coat for a throwing knife and hurled it at Ratchet. The blade missed his ear by an inch, deviated at the last moment by one of the still partially concealed wires. That knife would have looked great stuck in his face, but Willow was content with simply getting his attention.

"My, you really have a fixation for ropes, don’t you?" Willow said, hiding her hand behind her back, "You must feel like a spider in its web right now. Safely tucked away, in control, waiting to descend upon your prey."

"Shut up. I don't wanna hear your mind crap." Ratchet glared as Willow mockingly plucked at one of the wires, "I thought about you too, you know, you stupid robot! You can't cut these wires."

Willow didn't seem bothered as she raised her hand to throw another knife. "That's quite alright. I only need to hit you once."

Ratchet seemed to disagree as he once again maneuvered the wires to latch onto Willow's hand. He forced her to drop the knife, only to watch her...smile.

"It should be clear to you at this point that I wasn't planning to slice my way through."

The realization hit Ratchet the moment Willow charged ahead, arms raised to grab onto as many wires as she could. More wrapped around her body and her legs slowing down her advance, but to no avail. For even with Willow forced on her knees, Ratchet would now have to deal with the gaping hole she had dug in his trap.

"It's our turn. Let's go, Travis!" Erica dashed forward then, bat at the ready to take a swing.

"Get him, boys!" Fae cheered.

Maybe he could take a leaf out of Antonio's book and take off one of his hands, or perhaps a finger would suffice if he couldn't get an entire hand. He also took a brief moment to admire Fae's lovely display. That was a small shining lining to all of this.

Simon was eyeing the weak spots of the trap, searching for any exploits or gaps the combatants could use to their advantage. He had no idea what Willow was planning just yet. While he did wonder why she had put the katana away, he decided he wasn't going to question it. But there was the thought of finding a way to tamper with or break the harness, rendering it useless. That would help even out this playing field.

"It is a shame," Antonio said, especially now that Ratchet wasn't going to be looking at him, "But that doesn't matter."

He let out a sharp gasp as one of the wires managed to snag the tip of his tail. Some fur was cut away, and a few drops of blood followed, staining the stone. Unlike Russell's blood, it didn't fade.

"We'll get through it, Lucien," Antonio said, "I'm sure Leofric will have something for that if we need to use it."

"Of course," Leofric said. He made sure to keep his eyes on Five while offering that reassurance. There was a high chance the hunter would try something underhanded if he dared look away for even a moment.

"I thought that was up your alley," Travis said with a smirk, before he got himself ready to move again. This was an opportune moment, and while the back of his thigh caught the wire, he only grinned at the pain a little, "Not as bad as my Gramps' belt, but nice try, you skid."

"I must say yours is impressive as well," Leofric only said. His tone was earnest as he kept matching Five's blow. Thousands of years of swordsmanship kept him from losing that skill, "If only you would put this love for battling into a healthier outlet."

Leofric did find himself concerned about how Five seemed a lot more nimble than he had anticipated, and was able to keep up with both himself and Rook.

However, on seeing Rook get hurt with that whack of that new walking cane, Leofric knew he had to fight harder. This wasn't a time to keep parrying and wait. He thrust the sword forward in a set of rapid strikes. His main plan was to keep Five busy, but he didn't mind if he did manage to hurt the man.

"It's a cute name," Antonio said to Lucien then, as he straightened himself up again fully. He didn't look so intimidating as he stood soaking wet and with a bleeding tail, but it was plain to see that he wasn't going to back down.

"Who said she even needed to," Simon only said, making sure to keep his voice quieter, so only his allies would hear. Travis did smirk at that thought, as it dawned on him what Simon seemed to be getting at.

"Holy shit!" Travis could only yell in impressed alarm, his eyes wide in delight when he saw Willow grab and hold onto the wires without them seeming to hurt her at all, and at the massive space she had created for them to walk through, "That is amazing!"

He was also glad that he could actually move again, even if his leg was going to be hurting in the morning. Antonio waved his tail, just to make sure that it was fully free, then he smirked again. It was time to continue their advance.

Travis picked up his pace when Erica spoke out, the words fuel to the fire burning within his spirit. The bat was gripped tightly, and when Travis felt that he was close enough, he swung it towards Ratchet's face as hard as he could.

"Oh we sure will, Willow," Bill said, smirking. With that, he brought a couple of the shadowy tentacles to his mouth and licked the very ends, leaving them wet with saliva, "Now then, about that wet willy..."

With that, he shot the tentacles through the air and towards Ratchet's ears, intending to get those earplugs out and subject him to what would possibly be one of the worst wet willies someone had possibly ever experienced.

The problem was getting over there. Ratchet definitely knew how to work his own trap and not even Bill could seemingly get through. It wouldn't have surprised her if he planned to shuffle them around before going for the kill. Flies likely felt this way when they got stuck in a spider's web and she was getting too old for this nonsense.

"Oh, that's just disgraceful. Erica, you got a band aid?"

"I do!" Erica replied promptly, "But we're going to need more than that if we touch this stuff."

Not even she wanted to have to deal with that. Erica looked over to Russell again. One way or another, they had to get to him. But for the time being, she would watch Travis' back and summoned her shadow tails.

"Don't let him get to you. We have to focus on helping Russell." The tails stretched to wrap around them then. "Let's figure out where it's safe to step and flank him."

Her instinct told her Lucien's spell was bound to bounce back at him before he could physically recoil from it. The half fae hissed when Ratchet pulled his strings again and caught his leg.

"You little prick." Lucien's cuffs glowed along with his growing frustration.

"Oh, poor baby! Is my little trap forcing you to fight fair for once in your life?" The light bounced off the shades as Ratchet leaned forward. "I'm getting to you too, big guy. Don't think I've forgotten about your little present."

Those dirty socks had left as deep of a mark as the rest. Ratchet however had to endure another humiliation, as he ended up backhanding himself with his own brass knuckles. The surprise hurt more than the blow itself and he stumbled back.

"Bitch!" He really thought he would be safe. But that meant he just had to avoid looking at Antonio again.

There were other variables he had to account for. In an unexpected turn of events, though, Five was actually going to come to his rescue this time. The hunter spun his whip around and struck the ground before him to slow down Rook and Leofric's charge.

"Ah yes, I will be right with you in a moment. My assistant needs, well, my assistance."

Five struck again, then raised his free hand and snapped his fingers. Thunder echoed all around, before the clouds dumped water on Antonio. Rain broke out right after as Five launched himself at Leofric.

"This is for forcing me to hurt myself!" Five yelled, as he swung his sword, "You're looking much better than our last encounter. Bring it on!"

It almost looked like he was having fun with this. Five made sure to swing behind his back as well to keep Rook at a distance. He would deal with her in just a moment.

"See if you can wipe that stupid smile off his face, Leofric." Rook said, swinging back, "I'll go for the knees."

"Ah! Good idea." Ratchet once again tugged with all his strength. The rain was falling on the tripwires, making them more visible. He had to act quickly if he hoped to catch anyone.

That unfortunately left very little space of maneuver. Fae took off, choosing to turn her spear into an umbrella while she stood around on top of a small platform made of light. Erica retrieved her own bat from the shadows to fight back while Willow tried to no avail to slice her way through.

"You got our best shot, Bill. Get him!" Erica yelled.

"I'll give you twenty bucks if you manage that!" Fae added.

"I think I understand how this works." The camera adjusted once again as Willow used its elevated position to get a comprehensive view of Ratchet's web. "Ah, of course."

Willow exhaled softly as she moved to sheathe her katana. It would only be in the way of her plan.

"I'll create a safe path out of this infernal device. Get ready, Bill." Willow paused to crack her neck,"I hope you're still recording, Simon. This action will be one of a kind."

Whether this worked out or not, she would have to rewatch and ponder how could she ever come up with such a dumb idea.

"Everyone else, get ready to move as well."

"I guess I'll just have to burn my gloves if I have to use them directly on his skin," Bill added with a shrug. The shadow had seemed to quickly recover from the harsh tripwire, and it seemed ready to go again after Bill had shaken it a little bit, "If we can get him to let go of the mechanism, that would help as well."

"Simon, help us keep an eye out for any openings," Travis said, "You've got eyes in more places than we have right now, just like Willow."

"Gladly," Simon agreed, as some furious typing followed. It appeared that he was keeping an eye on the cameras he had available, including what Willow had provided.

"That sounds like the best plan, Erica," Bill said. His own tentacles were ready to feel around for any cracks in the trap that Ratchet had waiting for them.

Travis didn't seem at all perturbed by the idea that Ratchet wanted some revenge on him as well.

"Huh, and I thought you weirdos loved the taste of the defeat," Travis said, shrugging, "But I'd certainly like to see you try. I'm the freaking Pervert Mangler and I also have more of groiss socks where those came from."

He had been working out just before this all had cropped up after all, so he could use the ones he had at that moment if he got the chance. Antonio did smirk as Ratchet indeed hit himself in the face with those brass knuckles. It was satisfying to see that stupid smirk get wiped away for a moment. It also meant that Ratchet would be keeping less of an eye on him and what he was up to, which could be helpful for implementing his own plans.

In reflex, Leofric swung his sword, intending to stop the whip in its tracks before it could Rook, but it seemed to be only aiming at the ground. It was a feint to make them stop for a moment. He was going to have to be careful.

Antonio spluttered as the water washed over him, and he shook his head and tail once the barrage was done. The water was cold and it had forced him to pause for a moment as he wiped at his face and eyes, but it wasn't enough to knock him unconscious.

"Shame it didn't last," Antonio only said, before he turned his attention back to Ratchet. Rook and Leofric were handling Five. He didn't need to have a sass battle alongside their physical one.

"Sounds like a fair plan to me," Leofric said. When Five swung the sword again, Leofric held up his shield and swung it in a fast parry in an attempt to bash Five back and interrupt his momentum.

It was almost odd how Five actually seemed to be having fun. Was that another reason why he had set all this up? Leofric decided that it was most likely better not to think about it.

Travis took a moment to look at the wires as they became visible in the rain. They wouldn't be of much use for long. But he could also see some gaps. Those would need to be put to use.

"You got it!" Bill called out. He lifted himself up with four of the tentacles. The rest would be used as extra limbs to attack. He did wince as a couple of them were caught on the wire again, but he ignored the pain. Bill couldn't let Ratchet have any room to breathe.

"Oh I'm recording," Simon reassured Willow, "None of this is getting missed."

"Ready when you are," Bill said, with a quick nod. The tentacles seemed to gesture as well, as though agreeing as well.

"I am as well," Antonio replied. His ear twitched with some thought, and his tail shifted so he could better balance while he followed, not wanting to slow anyone down.

"And me," Travis said, tapping the bat against his palm a couple of times again before straightening himself and preparing to move.

He had a fun time setting off minor fireworks, first out in the street and panning the camera up to watch them fizzle and soar through the air, then on someone's lawn, and then in someone's house. The escalation was extremely fast here. And then he DID find the gas station, and decided that was a perfect place to try out the propane tank. He stuck it inside the place next to the register, light it on fire, and then run the hell away as if he might actually feel the blast.

"Can you die in this game?"

Almost as soon as he asked that the tank erupted with a huge BOOM, setting the store attached to the gas station ablaze and making the sign atop it tumble down into the parking lot.

"Nice... nice."

But it wasn't done! There was a bit of a delayed reaction as the fire took a few seconds to spread to the gas pumps and--

"Hell yeah!! Fuck-- lookit! WOO!"

THE WHOLE FUCKING PLACE WAS UP IN FLAMES!

Also, tell Worth about the nuclear bombs... now! Immediately! This was something he needed to know about. He wasn't exactly a pyromaniac or whatever, but being handed the almost god like power of blowing up a gas station (and people's houses, and people's cars) without any repercussions could awake the serial arsonist in any mere mortal.

However, he was able to catch a glance of Worth loading the gas station with the propane he had found listed. Russell had just been about to answer the question, but it appeared that Worth had already gotten it.

"Heh, I uh, I think, I think the, the game, the game wanted to, to tell, tell you before I, I could," Russell said, "This, this, this is why games are, are a, a lot of, a lot of fun. People, people get to, to do shit like this with-without any, any of the, the danger of, of doing it in, in real life."

He chuckled again, and it was a little more genuine; less like the awkward fake giggle he would do. Worth's enthusiasm for all of this was oddly contagious.

@pushspacetocontinue | plotted starter

When Russell would return to the wood, the faerie could be found sitting by a stream - a song on his lips as he combed his hair and admired his reflection in the waters below. Though there was something off about the serene scene. His movements were slow and somewhat stiff. An engraved walking stick lay at his side. His old injuries were agitated again.

Leondas was not expecting company, so his back lay bare. The woodland creatures did not judge his scarring, nor did the moon casting her light upon him. He wore a simple pair of pants and nothing more. Comfort was very important to the creature on days such as this.

When he sensed a presence, the fae's humming and brushing came to a stop. Head turned to face the mortal, his eyes reflecting light - giving him a more animal look than anything. Instinctively, he thought to cover himself. But there was nothing nearby to hide his lack of wings, He'd left his shirt on a nearby branch to dry.

So he simply sighed and welcomed his guest. There was little else he could do.

Today's offerings consisted of a chilled mango cheesecake and the drink was a thick pineapple smoothie. It seemed that 'refreshing and tropical' seemed to be the theme, given the season and the current weather. Even in the evening, it was still rather hot out. He could only hope that Leondas liked them.

It had taken a little while to find Leondas where he sat, but he felt sympathy push through him at the sight of those scars. Who had done that? Was that why Leondas had seemed to be in so much pain before?

Shit... what do I do? He doesn't like to talk about them. Maybe I can just pretend I didn't notice them... Or... crap! Say something!

"H-hey, Leondas. I uh, I hope you've, you've been, been keep-keeping well. I uh, I brought cold, cold sweets to-today."

With that, Russell stepped over and stopped just far enough to not make Leondas feel crowded, before placing the chiller box down. But as he looked over at the drying shirt on the tree branch, an idea crept into his mind.

Hmmm.... maybe... or would he just think I'm just making his pain about me? Fuck, I hope not...

Perhaps it was worth a try. When Russell had stepped back from the food, he then walked a little closer to the stream, and his finger played with the hem of his shirt sleeve.

It was for the best. They had yet to actually see how that weirdo fought and there was quite the range between a couple of traps sprinkled around Five's old hideout and the device currently digging in Russell's arm. Ratchet still had a chance to surprise them even without their help.

Still, Rook didn't hesitate to take the lead. One funny movement and her hands would find their way around Five's neck. She wasn't going to allow whatever little show he had prepared for the occasion.

Taking advantage of that, Fae moved as well, positioning herself as far away from Bill as possible. His umbrella wouldn't do much against her weapon if they bumped into each other.

"Looks like we're going to have to split." Fae mused, eyeing the two bickering idiots. Ratchet looked too confident for someone who had been beaten a bunch. She didn't feel confident taking a single step forward at the moment.

But Travis did, so Erica joined him and stopped in her tracks when Russell was threatened.

"Whatever it is, it smells really bad. This time we should leave him hanging over a ravine. See if he likes it." Erica growled softly at Ratchet, a simple yet very effective threat that got him to back off a little, "Yeah. That's more like it. You're in for a mean lesson."

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop him. The argument provided a convenient, but too brief distraction. The devious shadowy tentacles were eventually noticed, causing Ratchet to harshly yank his arm back. A thick web of tripwires became visible for a moment, prompting Erica to actually pull Travis back a little.

"That's right! You're free to take Russell, if you can get him!" Ratchet said, before he put on the loudest reflective sunglasses ever, "And the best part? You all walked into my trap like idiots!"

Ratchet's gloating caused more of his intricate trap to flicker into view. Willow pulled her katana closer to herself as she eyed the ground. It was an unfortunate day to not be wearing her usual coat. That wire certainly looked sharp.

"And this brings me to the second part of our arrangement." Five said then, reaching for his sword, "I couldn't possibly lure you all in the same place and just let you go like that. I have a reputation to maintain, you know."

"No, you absolutely can just do that and piss off." Rook snapped back.

"Well, anyway, I crave a fight and Ratchet wants to play extreme hopscotch with the ones who used him for target practice." Five replied, "You may fight your way out of this or give up now and spare me the trouble of chasing you. You still owe me a refill, you know. And after everything we've been through, Rook, you could at least share your stash."

Being a man who loved pouring gasoline over fire, Five topped his disgusting provocation with an unapologetic smirk. If Rook didn't care about being called a traitor to everything they represented, then that would get through to her. She actually believed a bunch of monsters could be her family, implying an ulterior motive was bound to set her off.

"You fucking asshole..." Rook raised her sword and summoned her armor, "Leofric, let's kick his ass."

Ratchet once again yanked at the wires, only for them to cut right through Rook's body. His trap was entirely ineffective on her, but he could however rejoice in the fact she wasn't interested in him at the moment as she continued charging at Five. His attitude was back in a blink.

Lucien raised his stance then. "Leave him to me. His arms won't be attached to the rest of him for long if I can have a say in this."

He had great projects for Ratchet. He would start from the left arm, then work his way up the right one. Ratchet would have to beg for his life after everything he had done to Russell. But first, he had to take a breath.

"...It's about time we have another talk, Christopher."

Power traveled through Lucien's words. His influence would wash over Ratchet like water flooding from a river. But instead of dragging his mind down into the abyss, it all came bouncing back. Ratchet looked like a man who had just outsmarted the devil with a pair of earplugs.

"Sorry, I can't hear you!" Ratchet tapped at his ear, before yanking both arms back, "Now let's see you all bleed!"

Even with being what he was, something about Ratchet made him want to keep the man as far away as he could. But right now, he was going to resist that. Russell needed to be rescued.

"It seems that way," Bill agreed with Fae.

Leofric nodded. It would certainly be more practical to split teams between those who were more protected against Five's toxins, and those who would be better to handle Ratchet.

Travis smirked at the idea of leaving Ratchet hanging over a ravine. Of course, they would need to add a little extra spice to that sort of punishment, but it was a good idea.

"You're going to regret ever existing, let alone coming back here," Travis said. His tone suggested that he intended to make that a promise. But he also quickly realised that Erica had been right not to move yet.

The threat to Russell aside, it seemed that Ratchet had been busy while waiting, and Travis could only be glad he hadn't stepped forward. Bill did wince. While the pain was fainter than it would be for a flesh limb, he still certainly felt it. And the tentacle twitched like one's hand might when going too close to a lit flame or brushing against stinging nettles.

"Bastard," Bill said, as he shook the tentacle briefly. At least it saved anyone else from being seriously injured.

"I guess we're going to be a hybrid of dangerous jump rope, the floor is lava, and hopscotch," Travis said, before he turned that hateful glare back to Ratchet, "You sick son of a bitch."

"We may have walked into this trap, but we did so willingly," Leofric said, as his grip on his sword shifted slightly, "We knew the risks and came here of our own volition anyway."

Antonio raised an eyebrow in disdain at the sight of those sunglasses. He would need to be careful if he was going to be trying one of his mental tricks with his gaze. There was no saying if he would get hit with the urge to smack one of his teammates if he caught his own stare. Another idea was pinning Ratchet's shadow down if he got the opportunity, but he didn't know if he would be able to implement that until he saw the chance.

"You piece of shit," Bill spoke at the same time as Rook then, "Go for it. Kick his ass, you two, because we're not backing down! Shame, I would have been happy to go along with my initial offer if you had agreed to it."

"Sometimes it's okay to say 'no' a craving," Antonio said, rolling his eyes. But it appeared that Leofric and Rook were indeed on the case, and he trusted them to handle this efficiently, "That's what I like to hear, Lucien."

The wires also went through Leofric's body as he became intangible enough for them to not have any effect. It was like they weren't there at all to him. There was a red glint in his gaze when his eyes briefly moved to Ratchet, a warning, before he looked back at Five again, intending to give this battle his all. If Five wanted a fight, then he would definitely get one.

"Oh of course..." Antonio said, on realising that Ratchet had seemed to find a way to block his hearing, "Yes, we all take a path and try to go in from each side, but first..."

He stared right at Ratchet, and his eyes flashed in green, which commanded Ratchet to hit himself in the face with whatever he had on hand. Antonio also felt that need in his hand and his nerves, but he forced himself to take a breath, and to let it pass. He knew his own tricks. He could resist them.

"Bird names for th' password? Heh, yanno I got a boyfriend who's uber obsessed with birds. Calls me pigeon every now an' again."

Just a neat coincidence. He wondered if Lewis had loved birds too.

It took him a few minutes to get used to the controls, hunched over the laptop much like a bird, plunking away at the keys. But it was all pretty intuitive and soon he was in the inventory looking over the selection of fireworks you could set off. They all had very interesting names.

"Amazin' Granny... Male Toes... Thick Billy? Oh, I like a thick billy."

Cackling at a few of those, but finally got down to the offering of...

Propane tanks.

And his blue eyes just lit up.

But he smiled in turn on hearing that.

"Heh, that's, that's real, that's real nice," Russell said, "Yeah, Lewis, Lewis has, has always loved, loved birds. He, he wanted to, to make an, an aviary and, and keep, keep pigeons. We, we also jokingly call, call one of, one of our friends a, a pigeon as, as well."

And said friend's mother was sometimes called a duck. Russell served a few customers while Worth got to work on the game. Judging by the way he went through the list, Worth had been intrigued by what was on offer.

"Heh, I, I know someone who, who, who would love to, to hear that," Russell said. He could practically picture the bartender Bill merrily laughing at that kind of comment, "I'm, I'm glad, glad it's, it's got, got your interest."

Russell nodded.

"Y-yep," Russell said, "You, you can blow up the, the pro-propane tanks, and, and you can, you can set, set them off any-anywhere. Just, just wait until you, you find Tim, and, and the, the gas station."