Strange Place Noir - RPLOG

Participants

• Bleu
• Fenris
• Junes
• Umeko
• Willy

Date

12/2/2023

Log

(Fenris) A young human woman waits to greet arriving operatives at the front desk of the Interplanar studies building. Her nametag reads "Cassandra." She seems in better spirits than other tomes operatives may have met her.

(Willy) Willy As the receptionist sits at the front desk, a burly looking Bear with a big know and stark white fur comes sliding through the door with a smile. Checking his gear for a moment he looks to her. "Hey agian. More trouble with the adventure in a pocket?" he asks.

(Bleu) Bleu pads in with tail awag, and he nods to Willy and the receptionist. "Yeah, hey, I'm here. What's happening *this* time?" The wolf boy bounces on his feet.

(Umeko) Umeko The tall and muscular blue oni stepped inside the building curiously, before giving a wave to Cassandra and the others. "Hey there, I heard there was something strange going on?" She then looked at the other two curiously, tilting her head, "You two have already done stuff with it? Curious what we're in for with this I have to say..."

(Junes) Junes heard about the job and coming into view the chimeric hissah headed towards the group and soon the flurry of nine tails, sizeable backpack and hoodie popped into view before they wave a greeting to everybody "wow didnt expect to see so many familiar people here!" and glancing to the humans name tag said "nice to meet you cass, im junes"

(Fenris) "Hard as it is to believe, there is no trouble at all this time," Cassandra says, "Welcome. Today we are actually performing some observations and tests on a particular artifact that some of you may be familiar with." She turns and leads the way down a few hallways to a long hall of storage lockers and one particular open garage door leading to a storage unit containing only a folding table with a cardboard board game box on it.

Usually, anyway. Today it has all sorts of gizmos and doodads on the walls. some people might recognize them as recording equipment.

(Willy) Willy Chuckles a bit. "Ah, so no accidental activation this time" he says "Good for Fenris then. He's gotten trapped so many times" the Polar Bear says with a low chuckle, before looking to the others. "It's good to see you all by the way." he says "Always good to work with familiar faces, though I think for you Junes this will be a new thing."

(Bleu) Bleu's tail wags a little. "Hey, this is good. I'm glad that we're not facing anything dangerous." He looks over at the others.

(Umeko) Umeko bowed her head slightly to the people that she hadn't met yet, "I'm Umeko, pleasure to meet you all!" She nodded to Junes as well, "Good to see you here as well!" As they made their way over to the table and board game, she looked it over curiously. "So, uh, is Jumanji real now or something? I haven't really been filled in on the details of last time yet..."

(Junes) Junes smiled a bit "new huh? sounds exciting and yeah im glad to see you two, its been so long!" they pat you both on the back and a tail waved to the oni "yeah ive had some jobs with these two but im thinking this is going to be some weird as hell magic or something"

(Fenris) "It is not unlike the old Jumanji idea," Cassandra says, "Only there does not seem to be any real danger with this game, and it effects only those people playing it without spilling out into the rest of the world around it."

She indicates the table and its board, along with all the observation equipment. "Today we are simply asking you to take part in the game while we record and make observations." She steps outside the room and nods at the game. "Good luck," She says.

The game, for its part, seems unassuming. It is a simple cardboard box, slightly worn, painted with swirls of colorful smoke and the title "A Strange Place" emblazoned on the cover.

(Willy) Willy nods a bit "I see. I do wonder how the game looks from the outside, since it is really a world in a box" he says, before he trundles into the game room and finds himself a seat with a slight grunt, picking the third

(Bleu) Bleu wells. "I'm not making the same mistake this time. No abandoned starship full of undead THIS TIME." He still remembers that. "So, shall I touch it first again?" he asks, as he reaches out toward the box.

(Umeko) Umeko nodded at Cassandra while rubbing her chin, "Hmmm, I see... Well, if you say there's no danger and other people have played it just fine, I guess that's pretty reassuring... I'm up for giving it a shot, sounds like it could absolutely be interesting, and there's always been a part of me that almost wanted to try something like that..." She stretched for a moment, before going to join them and took a seat in the 2nd spot. "Eh? A starship full of undead?!" she asked incredulously as she sat down.

(Junes) Junes looked at the box and back to the group "i dont know whether the being that made this thing just likes simple designs or wants to troll us but hey looks interesting enough, oh and no idea what that's about but just supernatural craziness as usual" they took a seat nearby and were about to use a tail to poke at the box before withdrawing "wait how do we play?"

(Fenris) The moment the box is touched, swirling blue smoke erupts from it, quickly filling the room as Cassandra scurries out ahead of it.

Soon everything is obscured by the smoke aside from the four players. Four new little red balls streak into the air, leaving trails of pink smoke, spelling out words before the players' eyes.

Bleu reads "Choose a GENRE."

The smoke in front of Umeko reads, "Choose a SETTING."

Willy sees, "Name an ADJECTIVE."

Junes sees her little smoke writer hesitate just a moment, then write, "Choose a COMPANION."

(Willy) Willy smiles a bit and thinks. "Hmm...that is an interesting one...hmmm" he goes, putting a clawed finger to his chin. "Blissful" he says with a minor grin.

(Bleu) Bleu takes a look at his prompt. "Shoot me later, y'all, but I'm thinkin' of Phillip Marlowe, Sam Spade, and Dixon Hill... Genre? Yes, Mr. Smoke Monster, I'm goin' with hard-boiled detective fiction, Film Noir." Visions of Sunset Boulevard and Double Indemnity flash through his mind's eye.

(Umeko) Umeko sat back and pondered on an idea, curious as to what might be interesting. "Hmmm, perhaps a city full of strange mythical things, paranormal and out of the ordinary."

(Junes) Junes watched the smoke and heard the others speak before taking a moment to think before the choice is made "how about a prideful, but friendly pterodactyl?" watching the mysterious smoke

(Fenris) The smoke swirls about wildly, forming new words in the air. "BLISSFUL FILM NOIR IN PARANORMAL CITY," read the pink letters.

New writing appears in front of each player. "Who is your CHARACTER?" the smoke asks, "What are the GOOD AT? What are they BAD AT?"

There is an unexpected POOF of smoke, and suddenly a burly tanuki wearing nothing but a bath towel appears. "Huh?" the big guy looks around in surprise.

(Willy) Willy starts to say something when he suddenly hears the poof and chuckles "I guess something has you linked to the game" he says "bout to get as big beak...anycase" he then looks back at the smoke. "Since Junes put that as a companion...lets go...hmmm....Raptor detective, good at spotting, but with a minor wild fault for taking eating fresh meat if available.

(Bleu) "The names Spade... Bleu Spade," the wolf boy says, "And I'm a hard-boiled detective. I'm good at catchin' the perp an' chasin' dames. I'm bad at smokin', 'cause of asthma. No cigars here, folks. Also, I can't NOT talk like a cheesy detective in a Film Noir."

(Bleu) Bleu wuffs "The days was lazy, like a dog on a porch in the summer, and I'm gonna talk like this the whole time."

(Umeko) Umeko pondered for a moment again, before grinning a bit, "I'll go with... A big muscular lizardman henchman type who's good at fighting and intimidating people, but is easily distracted and forgetful. Maybe speaks like a mobster too.", she said with a laugh.

(Junes) Junes saw the familiar tanuki and just looked a tad worried "i hope hes alright" before looking to the smoke and responding "my name is...over there and im good at surviving but bad with hmm..." they thought before saying "im bad at hiding, oh and i have an ugly as hell tie that i like" they shrugged

(Fenris) Fenris looks like he is about to say something, then he vanishes in a puff of smoke with an indignant and slightly saurian squawk.

The blue smoke swirls about, filling everyone's vision.

The moment it clears, it becomes apparent that everything is very different. First of all, everything is in black and white. Not a swatch of color to be seen. Like a black tie affair at a skunk convention.

Bleu Spade and his apprentices/Assistants are all standing around a crime scene. A chalk outline on the floor is all that remains of Edmund Widestripe, infamous vampire of the mephit court, here in the elaborite hotel suite where he met his untimely end.

Aside from the detectives, only one nervouse looking hotel concierge is in the room, ready to answer questions.

(Willy) Willy eeps slightly as the scene rapidly shifts, but regathers himself before looking down with a sniff as he tries to gather surrounding smells and scents. "Mmm...looks like a ghastly death..." he says quietly, as he awaits to see what Bleu Spade wants to do in this situation.

(Bleu) Immediately, a voice-over starts. It's Bleu Spade's voice, despite him NOT talking right now. "They say life is too short. But for a vampire, life is too long, by far. The sky hangs thick with fog, like a big gray blanket coverin' the city. There's 8 million stories in the Naked City. This... Is one of them." The voice-over transitions to Bleu speaking, "He was skewered and incinerated like a Christmas Flambe, then decapitated. When you gotta go, go out in a blaze of glory." The wolf boy wearing a trench coat and fedora looks down at the chalk outline. "Take notes," he says around the unlit cigarette clenched in his teeth. The concierge looks nervous. "No, for the last time, I don't need a light. It's *for show.*"

(Umeko) Viktor Moore, sometimes known as "The Viper" much to his chagrin due to not actually being a snake but a lizard, walked up to examine the crime scene as well. He started to pull out a cigar out of habit and almost went to light it before remembering that his boss probably wouldn't appreciate it much, so he ended up doing the same for now. "Yeah you said it boss, got any ideas on who mighta done this? I mean you gots vampire hunters, but then the vampires themselves, never really trusted them much if you asks me, drinking blood and all..."

(Junes) when the smoke was cleared the nine tailed mutant looked down to see a classic open suit to reveal the monochrome tie featuring, a plaid background, fish decals all around and a splatter of some dark liquid that left the tie permanently stained but otherwise they looked fairly clean before looking up and seeing the body and listening as they try to at the scenery around to get an idea for the murderers motive and so like their namesake went...over there, as in backwards, to walk towards the door and spotted a large portrait of the vampire "say, did this guy own the place?" pointing up to the large ornate painting

(Willy) Willy grimaces a little at the strong smell of burning dust and cinders in the air. "Blaze of Glory alright..." he says before taking a jot book out of his pocket and starts jotting down observations. He then works twoards the edges of the room and sees if he can spot things unusual, or scents that don't make sense, making sure his tail didn't make his own messes.

(Fenris) The concierge, nods along as Bleu makes his deductions. "Yes sir," he agrees with the wolf, then looks to Junes, "Mister Widestripe actually kept his residence here most weekends and was responsible for his own decorating. He did not own the hotel, though. That would be his cousin, Ernesto Widestripe."

"All of that happened, just like you said, Sir," he turns his attention back to Bleu, "All very distressing, but all performed under mephit court law. What the family has requested you for is the recovery of a bit of an heirloom that Edmund here absconded with. Perhaps you are ready to meet with Ernesto?"

(Willy) Willy looks up as the conversation goes on, before he returns to the group and awaits to be guided ahead, curious to the Heirloom.

(Bleu) Bleu nods, chewing that cigarette in his mouth. "I was hopin' we'd be interrogatin' a dame with gams," he admits, "Send the grieving relative in here." He looks at Vik. "If 'e pulls any tricks, you know what t' do." Break his knees, obviously. He looks at the concierge. "Send 'im in. Willy, take notes. Junes, ransack the room for clues." He snaps his fingers.

(Umeko) Umeko nodded over to Bleu, "You got it boss." He patted his jacket to make sure he had his weapons in place, including a revolver with silver bullets and a stake, 'just in case'. He started to look around as he spaced out a bit, but Junes smashing a vase quickly made him turn in surprise, "What the hell is going on over there?"

(Junes) Over there listened to the concierge as they spoke but hearing the request got a bit worried but said "oh were you talking to me? cause remember thats not my name its" with a roll of the hands and pointing to the cabinets said "over there!" and it turned out behind them was a winged goblet that crashed to the ground, shattering completely "...whoops. Everything is good but ill take a quick look around" and then went to the pillow to take a pillowcase to hold some loot before searching around, and unsure of the thing decided to plop it inside the case and said "not much besides this!" as they went to the concierge and said "lead the way my good sir!"

(Fenris) The concierge is gone for only a moment or two before the suite door opens dramatically and a very well dressed skunk arrives, looking similar to the one in the portrait.

He looks down his nose and sneers at the group. "I was told they had hired a DETECTIVE not a circus," he says smoothly, raising a cigarette to his lips and taking a long drag. "You can't tell me you expect this... mutt and his entourage of misfits will find my diamond any faster than I can."

(Willy) Willy hears the comments and mutters something under his teethy breath, but nods as he steps up and scraws out something gently upon his paper with an inked soaked claw as he made observations and notes.

(Bleu) Bleu starts hacking and wheezing from the smoke, and he grabs the unattended champagne bucket to toss water onto Ernesto. "Listen...hack-coff...I need you to extinguish...coff-coff-hack-wheeze...That cigarette." He looks at Vik. "Sic 'im." Looking back at their client. "Tell us about the diamond, and make it quick, ya filthy animal."

(Umeko) The lizardman was getting a little fired up from the words but kept quiet until Blue gave the word. "You got it boss," he said before quickly stepping forward, grabbing the skunk by the shirt and slamming him back into the nearest wall with a fairly significant amount of force. "We ain't no circus either, best show some respect if you want that diamond back."

(Junes) Over There was surprised at the act of aggression and in a hushed tone said "calm down!" to the lizard before saying to the skunk "we are doing what we can and will have that precious diamond of yours soon" the pillowcase still in hand "we just need more time to investigate and of course ask around" before showing a hand to spade as if presenting him

(Fenris) The skunk seems almost to teleport, moving across the room in a blur to avoid the thrown water, only to suddenly find himself in the grip of Victor, the lizard man. His eyes widen a bit and his eyes flash uneasily between the menacing lizard man, the wolfy detective and the distant balcony door and the mid-day sunlight filtering through the heavy curtains.

"I may have judged too hastily," the vampire says, carefully extinguishing his cigarette, "I would recommend talking to Hannibal Bannerman. He was an... intimate of Edmund's. He spent nearly as much time with Hannibal as he did here." The skunk produces a slip of paper and writes down an addresson it, still heldby Victor. "The diamond is unmistakable," he says, "The Bliss Diamond has been in my family for nearly a thousand years. We know that Edmund stole it, we just cannot yet find what he did with it."

(Willy) Willy looks to the paper and writes down the description, writing down the various notes on it as he is keeping the other notes. You say he stole it, would mean it would have notes of it original owner...did Hannibal have a favortie perfume or something they used." he saysa nd continues to jot down various notes, including present events and comments on.

(Bleu) The voice-over starts again. "Another name, and yet still not a dame... Unless the dame was named after a Carthaginian general with a kink for elephants. Still, the Naked City was slowly giving up its secrets." The action moves back to Bleu. "Hannibal, huh? Is he a pterodactyl, by any chance? With good gams?" It's a long shot, but hey. He looks at the address on the slip of paper. "The Good Night Moon Club. Huh. Yeah, I've heard of the joint. My gal Sassy Galore sings there on Friday nights... Hey, wait, tonight's Friday." He turns to his other two associates, letting Vik keep manhandling their client. "Hey, did you find anything, Over There?"

(Umeko) The lizardman was still a bit surprised by the speed of the vampire, aware of their abilities though expected a bit less out of a seemingly spoiled rich skunk. Now that they were cooperative he decided to let them down once Bleu finished talking to them. "Much better, no reason we can't get along," he said, giving the vampire a bit of a pat on the chest to brush the dust off and fix their clothes. "For what it's worth, your speed is pretty impressive too, even if it is from vampirism."

(Junes) Over There raised the pillowcase and answered "yep i got something, but wanted to settle things down first" before asking "besides we could use some directions to hannibals place"

(Fenris) "He is a Ganeshian," Ernesto says, finally slapping Victor's hands away from the lapels of his suit, smoothing the wrinkles on his own, "And I am sure I could not comment on the state of his... Gams." He seems to have recovered his haughty cool and strides away, back into the hallway.

Now it is up to the party, stay here and look for clues? Or head to the Good Night Moon Club and try to find answers there?

(Willy) Willy scrawls out the notes on the character and the Good Moon Club, before looking to Bleu "I say we check the club first for info and then return if need be." he says, tucking his pad away for the time being.

(Bleu) "I need to see Sassy Galore," Blue replies tersely. Hard-boiled music plays over, as the scene starts to shift to the club. The voice-over returns. "Sassy Galore is my kinda dame. Smart, beautiful. Sings like a canary. Got good gams, too. And if anyone knows about the regulars of the Good Night Moon Club, it'll be her..."

(Umeko) Umeko chuckled a bit as he watched the vampire leave, "He's almost kind of cute after being taken down a peg..." He stretched a bit and walked back to the others, "I'm down to check out wherever you want to, boss. Think she might be there, or an extra stop along the way?" He gave the place one last glance over, just to see if anything peculiar stood out.

(Junes) Over There continues to hold the weighed down pillowcase as they look to the people speaking and agreed "to the club!" raising the makeshift bag then realizing to ask the concierge "say thanks for letting us come in...did i ever get your name? not sure but everybody calls me over there"

(Fenris) The concierge does not give his name, but leads the group down to the hotel entrance while Bleu indulges in his flashback.

Outside, the streets of the city are flooded with people of many descriptions, some obvious supernaturals, though most of those prefer the night time. Most notably, however, is an enormous pteradactyl taking up several parking spaces.

"Sheesh," it growls, "Bout time you all got out of there! Where to next, Boss?" It's Fenny, the loveable pteracabby!

It is not long before the crew is winging it across town to the Good Night Moon night club!

(Willy) Willy looks up and chuckles "Fenny! Here there, I hope we haven't been too long" he says, as he climbs up to find himself a seat for the trip.

(Bleu) Bleu doesn't bat an eye at their ride. "It was a mess. Skewered like a flambe. Say, Vik, I knows ya was tellin' me that Sassy was bad news, right? Think we can trust her? I know she left me hangin' from the side of bridge last time she was involved in one o' my cases..."

(Bleu) Bleu wuffs "Oh, take us to the Good Night Moon Club, Fenny. We're goin' t' see Sassy Galore an' stiff named Hannibal."

(Umeko) As Fenny showed up, Vik gave a big toothy grin, "Ayy, Fenny! My man!" He got in the ride, though as Bleu asked him the question he sighed and rubbed his chin a bit, "If ya ask me, I don't trust her one bit, but... She might be useful if you take everything she says with one o'them big grains of salt. Also, uh, stay away from any cliffs, bridges, dangerous spots she recommends... Ya know, just be real careful."

(Junes) seeing the familiar pterodactyl they put up those classic fingerguns while holding the sack and decided to try and hop to the other side of the ride but forgot to account for the bag and only sort of put an arm on the hood and jumped while moving forward as the bag had them too low to slide across and so Over There gave a sly smile thinking he was still impressed before stepping inside and making sure the tie was still on and asking nearby "think we can find something to get this stain outta my tie?"

(Fenris) "Sassy Galore?" Fenny asks, "That dame is bad news, Spade." The pteracabby soars across the city, landing in front of a glitzy, swinging night spot.

It is not especially glitzy right now in the middle of the day, but it is full of the memory of glitz. "You be careful in there, boys and girls," Fenny says, "Wish I could give you backup, but this city just isn't made for folks like me."

Inside the nightclub, things are dim and a pair of janitors are at work, scrubbing and shuffling about. They don't really appear to be human. Maybe house gonlins of some kind.

(Willy) Willy Getting off and and giving Fenny a soft pet in thanks before heading in. Headiong to the bartender, he says with a toothy smile. "Hey there, is the Kitchen open?" he says with a grin.

(Bleu) Bleu grimaces when he sees the club is mostly deserted. "Well, the stiff we're lookin' for isn't gonna be here," he grouses. "Miss Galore should be in the back, in her dressin' room, c'mon." He knows that the dame is bad news, but she's also sexy as hell.

(Willy) Willy hisses slightly. "

(Umeko) Umeko saw the bar and instantly got really curious how the alcohol tasted in this place, eager to try something 'real' compared to the imitation nanite-formed stuff back home. Duty called though... "Hey, get me a Manhattan and bring it back when you're done, will ya? I haven't had a drink since yesterday." he said to Willy while putting some money on the bar. He then gave him a pat and went to follow Bleu.

(Junes) Over There raised the bag to fenny "thanks for the ride" as they follow the team inside, looked around at the janitors and an idea formed but decided questions come first "think she'll be in a talkative mood? they asked on the way to the rooms

(Fenris) The dwarf woman cleaning up behind the bar looks up from her work and smiles at Willy, stroking her beard. "Hey, Willy," says Bootnail Sally, the club's semi-famous bartender, "I can probably get them to heat something up for you. Thought you fellas were on a case today."

Bleu has no trouble finding his way through the backstage corridors to the dressing room of the Good Night Moon's star attraction. The door has a gold star on it with Sassy Galore written on it.

(Fenris) A murmur of low voices can be just heard within....

(Willy) Willy hisses slightly "will join you all in a bit..." he says, the others seeing his bloodlust may be acting up at this point. He then looks to the Bartender, a bit nervous "I umm...sorry just wanted to get a burger, rare if possible" he says with a smile "and a manhattan for my friend" he says, muttering something more to himself as he tries to calmly waits.

(Bleu) "My associates are right," the voice-over continues, "Miss Galore is Poison, with a capital P. She told me once that she loved me... But there's only one thing this dame loves... Cold hard cash." As they reach the door, Bleu pauses for a moment, hearing muffled voices within. "She's got a visitor. Let's show them the Shanghai Hello, Vik."

(Umeko) The lizardman wasn't 100% certain as to what that manuever would entail, but decided to improvise a bit. He'd open the door just a little if it was unlocked so as not to totally destroy it before giving it a firm and sudden kick open. "Miss Galore, Bleu Spade is here to see ya, hope you don't mind us dropping in!"

(Junes) seeing the tense raptor, over there decided to stop following the other two and went back to ask "hey are you not feeling so hot?" as they had a classic idea before telling the raptor "oh yeah! bartenders know alot right? we could ask her stuff" waiting for her to come back they wave over "thanks for that but mind if i ask you've seen any skunks that may or may not be vampires, somebody named hannibal or generally anything weird around?" they ask seated with the pillowcase on their lap

(Fenris) While Sassy Galore may be poison, she is a tall, cool glass of poison. The glamourous woman is wearing a long, flowing dressing gown and has dark, bobbed hair framing fine, classical features.

She looks up at Victor in surprise from where she is seated across from an immense elephant man with four arms who appears to have been crying into a handkerchief. A tea setting is on the table between them.

"Well, well, well," she says, slowly standing and swaying toward the door, "Look what the dinosaurs dragged in. You're still working for this bum, Vicky?" She raises an immaculate eyebrow and beckons Bleu into the room. "I wasn't expecting you until the show tonight, Hot Stuff," she purrs, her eyes flashing golden for an instant, suggesting her shifter heritage.

"Hannibal?" Sally asks from behind the bar, passing over a nearly bleeding burger and starts mixing up drinks, "You mean the boss? Yeah, he's here." She rolls her eyes as she sets down a mixed drink, ostensibly a Manhattan. "And don't get me started on that weird boyfriend of his. I heard he was gone. Good riddance, I say."

(Willy) Willy takes the Bun with a grin and just does "OMPH" and claps his jaws a bit of chew it down, taking a napkin to clean up his face with a smile "Thank you" he says, before picking up the Manhattan carefully and heading over to the others.

(Bleu) Bleu flicks his cigarette into a nearby ashtray as he saunters into the room, taking stock of the scene. "Oh, you know me, Hot Lips. Can't keep my paws offa ya." He reaches into the inner pocket of his trench coat, fishing out a gold cigarette case engraved with BS on the lid. Flicking it open, he pulls out a new cigarette, which he clamps in his teeth. "Got a few questions, Doll. About a certain Hannibal. He's an associate of a fella that got flambeed this afternoon..."

(Fenris) At the mention of someone getting flambeed, the elephant at the table howls in grief and starts to sob into all four of his hands.

Sassy gives Bleu a dark look and hurries over to console him. "There, there, Hannibal, honey," she says, "Detective Spade is just a brute. Don't you pay him any mind at all."

(Umeko) Umeko chuckled a bit at the comment while looking over to her, "Well I've had quite the interesting day so far dealing with somebody, so I'm not complaining." He wondered who the crying elephant was, but soon had it answered, "You're the guy? Sorry about what happened, was quite a shame, terrible loss."

(Junes) Over there was glad to find somebody who knew hannibal and decided to press further "still if he was dating im sure they loved each other, mind if i ask how he looks so i can look for him somewhere or maybe if you know anything about where the two went days ago or anybody that doesn't like your boss or his boyfriend?" leaning over the pillowcase to have their hands on the counter "or anything else thats been happening around, im all ears"

(Fenris) "It wasn't Eddie's fault," Hannibal sobs, blowing his trunk into a handkerchief held in one hand, while two others wipe tears from his eyes, "It was all that terrible family of his! If you can even call those horrible cabals family!"

Bleu, despite having spent a rather sizeable chunk of his time and his company profits here at this club has never met the owner before, and this is probably not what he expected.

The bartender watches Willy leave and raises a bushy brow at Junes, stroking her beard. "Hanni's a sweetheart," she grunts, "But I didn't trust that skunk he was dating. Still, he never did anything in public to make me question their relationship." She shakes her head, setting her beard wagging, "Just gave me a squicky feeling, y'know? Like something wasn't right. I heard the news on the paranet like everyone else. Poor Hanni was heartbroken. Took it hard. Fella was in here yesterday right before the cabal swooped in and took him away."

(Willy) Willy does his best to use his Raptor like abilities to enter the room quietly, as he tries to pass the Manhattan to who had requested and listed in to whats going on.

(Bleu) Bleu chews his cigarette as he listens to Hannibal bawling his eyes out. He glances over at Vik, an unspoken question about whether the lizardman this the portly pachyderm is putting on an act. The voice over states, "Ernesto was holdin' out on us, the two-bit, back-stabbin' bastard." The wolf approaches Hannibal. "Look, my condolences f'r yer loss, but we've got questions... About a diamond. Did your lover steal it after all?" The voice-over continues, "But could the theft plot have been hatched in the icy heart of a dame named Sassy Galore?" There's a dramatic music sting as that doubt is sufficiently planted for imaginary viewers.

(Umeko) Umeko nodded at the comment, "Yeah, Ernesto definitely had an attitude problem when we talked to him... I knew vampires were fast too, but wow, surprised I managed to keep up..." As soon as he saw Willy delivering that lovely drink he turned around and focused his attention on it and took it with thanks. "You are an absolutely life saver, I've been wanting one of these so bad..." he said quietly, before admiring the lovely drink. He took in every detail from the fine presentation, the scent of real high quality whiskey and vermouth, the little cherry garnish... It was like the holy grail as he slowly sipped it and savored every moment, letting Bleu handle the questions.

(Junes) Over there listened and nodded before seeing the raptor walk off but before following suit decided to ask "was the skunk nervous around that time, oh and that cabal whats that about?" taking time to listen before they nodded "thank you, i wish you and hannibal the best but i should see what my team is up to" they got up and kept the pillowcase in front before making their way to the back and seeing the raptor decided go to the other side to hide and listen as well but sort of crawled on the ground before popping a head out and those eyes, tails and even a significant portion of the pillowcase was plainly visible at the bottom of the doorframe

(Fenris) Firstly, and most importantly, the Manhattan is perfect.

Second, the question seems to take the elephant by surprise. "Eddie didn't have anything like that," Hannibal snuffles, "He was pretty low in the cabal. That's why we spent most of our time together here. It is pretty much a night time spot anyway. Good for clubs and for... well, for people like Eddie."

Even as he says it, he seems to remember something, but he snaps his mouth shut, keeping it to himself.

The dwarf scratches her chin, tugging at her beard. "He seemed real worried when he came in," she says, "But when the cabal came for him, he went quiet as a lamb. Like he was... I don't know, like he wasn't really there any more. Probably some of that Vamp magic."

(Willy) Willy notices it from Hannibal and looks suspiciously. Taking his tail he taps Bleu on the shoulder and tries to signal he noticed the motions.

(Bleu) Bleu feels the tap from Willy's tail, and he nods. Looking back up at the distraught pachyderm, he says, "Listen, Mate, you'ee holdin' out. If y' tell us what you're hidin', we can protect you from Ernesto and the Cabal. They know you have the Bliss Diamond. They sent us to get it the nice way, without breaking knees. If we go back empty-pawed, they'll come with spears and flames." It's a bald-faced lie, but as the voice-over notes, "Sometimes you gotta lie to get the truth." Bleu looks at Miss Galore. "Do you know anythin' about it?"

(Umeko) The lizardman was lost in an absolutely transcendental experience for a moment while drinking the Manhattan, savoring it to the last drop before eating the cherry garnish and setting the glass down somewhere discrete. It was leagues better than the moonshine from the night before, and they would certainly need to remember the experience to try and recreate it with nanomagic later, even if it was an imitation... Shedding a few tears for the drink, the lizard turned around to rejoin the conversation, "Sorry, I needed a minute... But yes, if you could help us out and share what you know, hopefully everything can be resolved quickly and peacefully..."

(Junes) Over there watched with interest, wondering why the raptor hid and assumed this woman was sassy but wasn't sure who this elephant was, only hearing that he knew eddie and saw his mouth close quickly after saying this was a good club for him, Over There was still thinking over the information and wondering how or when to share this info as they watched and listened, wondering why its called a bliss diamond and wondering if they forgot about the clients exact request when hearing spade talk about spears and flames

(Fenris) Hannibal looks at Sassy, who just shrugs. "Eddie did give me something last night," he admits, "But it wasn't a diamond. It was.. well...." The four armed elephant reaches into a coat pocket and produces a large, black stone.

"That is a blackstone," Sassy says, "An anti-magic box."

Hannibal nods. "Eddie came in all scared last night and told me I had to take care of it, shoved it into my hands, then went all, kind of empty, like he had given up on everything, then those other vamps cane in and carter him away. I don't know what to do with it."

(Willy) Seeing it, Willy walks up and give it a sniff. Picking it up from Hannibal with a bit of curiosity, he lets out a minor squaw, and sees a line roll over the stone. "Hmm...It seems to be sound reactive...though I think whatever the passkey is is of magical in structure..."

(Willy) he says as he passes it back.

(Bleu) Bleu stares at the object, completely nonplussed. "I'm afraid, Doll Face, that all this magical mumbo-jumbo is completely beyond me. But I have a hunch the item we seek is inside this. Mr. Hannibal, are you absolutely sure Eddie didn't say anythin' else?"

(Umeko) Umeko raised an eyebrow at the box, "Sound reactive? So like a password? Or perhaps some sort of more complicated magic? I don't suppose it's going to be something as easy as 'open sesame'..." He sighed and looked over to Hannibal, "Guessing he didn't tell you anything about it? No special phrases or anything that come to mind?"

(Junes) Over there was still on the ground as they spoke but had no idea about the box seeing it, hearing that eddie gave the box to the elephant the hissah understood how much trust the vampire put into this guy and got worried hearing more about the magical potential of the vampires however hearing willy mention sound reactions they finally piped up loud enough for everybody to hear "he really must have trusted you huh, I did find something in the apartment inside the mattress so i knew it was important for something" reaching into the pillowcase and pulling out a black bell before standing up and handing it to the elephant "hopefully we can help eddie's boyfriend because that vampire cabal may have some scary magic because it seemed like eddie knew something was happening and his boyfriend might be at risk"

(Fenris) Hannibal takes the bell and rings it incredulously. With the sound of the bell, the black stone in Hannibal's hand cracks and shatters! The elephant man gasps in shock and pain, clenching his hand reflexively as blood drips from his hand and something in his palm starts to glow brightly!

The Ganeshian opens his hand and a beautiful diamond shines there, and it seems to be absorbing the blood flowing from the elephant's hand.

(Bleu) Bleu grimaces. "I fail to see how a diamond that absorbs blood can be remotely 'blissful.'" He shakes his head. "Vik, take it, but be careful." He points at Sassy. "Hannibal clearly had no idea about this, but you... You're too blase. Who are you working with?" It's a wild mass guess, but he may as well pull the trigger on it.

(Willy) Willy sees the blood drain and grimaces a little before removing it form Hannibal's hand. He then looks over it more before handing it to Bleu. "Want to be careful with that. Makes the send the fanged ones would want it"

(Umeko) Umeko looked at the diamond with concern and pulled out a handkerchief, very careful taking it and holding it with that while up against his jacket, trying to avoid direct skin contact just in case. "We should probably wrap this up in something better, or maybe a box... I don't really trust it if you ask me... Still, the sooner we get this job done the better."

(Fenris) The diamond jerks away from Willy, though Hannibal did not resist him taking it. The gem zips to a halt at eye level with the elephant man and begins to glow brightly. After a moment, a hazy form develops around the gem and suddenly, another Ganeshian is standing there, this one a bit different from Hannibal, with stark black hair and dark eyes. He blinks and the gem floats gently back to Willy.

"I can't believe it! It worked!" he says.

(Willy) Willy looks at the new figure a bit awestruck as he materialized and sets looks at the gem.

(Bleu) The voice-over states, "I was gob-smacked. If what I thought happened, happened... Then this case was officially stranger than that time my postman rang twice." Bleu blinks. "Wait... Are you... Eddie? Did you just fake yer death, cash in the insurance policy, and utilize ancient necromancy te reconstitute yourself in a new body?" Fast thinker, this one.

(Umeko) The lizardman just kind of stares at the strange hazy form that appeared, "Huh? What worked? Is this like... one of those things that contains a spirit? A phylactery or something?" He wasn't sure if maybe somehow if it was Eddie, or somebody entirely different.

(Umeko) Umeko nodded to Bleu, "Yeah, I'm wondering exactly the same thing..."

(Junes) Over there was thankful that the blood wasn't a serious injury but hearing spade call him hannibal said "wait this was hannibal?" before they nearly put a hand out but as quick as it was halfway up put it back down and then looked for something to stop the blood before pulling up the pillowcase to offer hannibal "im sorry for your loss" until the gem floated up and was amazed when another much different elephant appeared and remembering the portrait saw a resemblance and hearing the explanations simply nodded with a shrug and said "nice to meet you, eddie i think?"

(Bleu) Bleu wuffs "1zazw"

(Fenris) The new elephant, who is somehow Eddie, grins and wraps up his counterpart, Hannibal. "I can't belive it worked!" he crows, then looks at the others in the room. "Oh, uh, I don't suppose you lot can keep a secret..."

There is a convoluted tale of love and intrigue that is skipped ober for brevity, but the Bliss Diamond is a magical talisman that can capture a dead soul and with a bit of blood from someone that truly loves them, romantically, of course, create a new body to house the soul.

"Of course, most of the vampires don't know this," the newly elephantine Eddie explains, "Now you can just return it with no one the wiser!"

(Bleu) As the Noir music swells, and the scene fades to black, Bleu's voice comes over. "There's 8 million stories in the Naked City. Stories of murder, malice, and intrigue. Stories of double indemnity clauses and illicit affairs. But, every once in a wahile, there's a story of love. This is one of those stories. And maybe, just maybe, the sun'll come up tomorrow, after all." [THE END] flashes in the blackness.