Night Market Terror

Cast: List of characters by character name
Premise: Small summery here

rating: 0+x

North, West, South, West - the directions to the Night Market in Maracaibo are never quite clear, always too succinct, yet it is always there, and always busy with a frenzy of activity. A large bazaar where all sorts of strange things can be found, everything from smuggled German arms to mystical Chinese trinkets can be bought, with the constant smoke of burning opium and coal steam lingering in the air. Weapons, mundane and supposedly enchanted, bizarre devices, and odd creatures from all four corners of the globe are present in one location.

Colorful tents and signs demarcate the merchant wares of the Night Market, with a handful of vendors also serving exotic foods and drink. At the center is a brass compass encased in a gyroscope casing of sorts, set upon a large stone pedastal as if taken from an ancient Mayan temple. It slowly bobs up and down, left and right - a perpetual machine of sorts that is Korean in design. It is strangely hypnotic and unnerving, timeless and uncaring of the human activity around it.

A full moon casts long shadows as the Night Market roars to life. Out of the woodwork, merchants of all shapes and sizes arrive and open their wares to the public. Technological marvels, books of spells, and other things mingle with the more mundane, such as a new set of pearls or some street food of an undeterminable animal of sorts. Yi Cheong-Gok leans over to casually inspect what looks to be little more than a flat pebble of some sort being peddled. Some words in Chinese are exchanged as he sets the rock down. He fans himself with his large crane-feather fan against the warm night air, as he replies casually in a British-inflected English, "Do not sell me useless trinkets. Colourful, flashy imagination is for peasants, not for a man of the art." A cold smile as he drifts over to another vendor.

At another corner of the market, a bunch of French merchants are selling the latest counterfeit fountain pens, while a few Mormon merchants seem to be peddling their books and snake oil. A Brazilian entertainer is juggling and blowing smoke, intricate tattoos on his face reminiscent of fish scales on one side of his face.

Standing stock still in a crook of an alley connecting to the night market H-9IX waits. The leather covered metallic clockwork thing slips forward into the crowd and drifts to a single stand. The stand is owned by a particularly rough looking man selling odd metal pieces found from the ocean.

Fujiko behind her own fluttering fan, Fujiko walks through the market. She's got on a demure olive drab skirt suit. The jacket strains a bit at holding in Fujiko's assets, but even though she fingers the buttons from time to time, she doesn't loosen them. She steps past the alley with that interesting metal man inside, and she stops to give a peek back. "Hmm." Then she shrugs and looks in the direction of the man with the crane-feather fan, "If you don't want trinkets, then what are you here for?"

The 'compass' at the center of the market continues to quietly weave and bob within the brass frame, its movements random and nonsensical to anyone watching. A vendor of sorts sits behind his counter and sells strange reptiles from the Orient - turtles with soft shells, crabs with misshapen limbs, snakes with two heads… drawing the attention of a few dazzled shoppers. At the vendor where Yi Cheong-Gok is, jars of praying mantises and other insects move about as he examines one through a lamp light.

"Obviously not trinkets. I am here because I want to be privy to a secret," Yi Cheong-Gok replies with a slight rise of his lips, a not-so-convincing smile. Another wave of his fan as he says in Manchurian something to the vendor who roots around and offers a jar with a cricket. Yi Cheong-Gok shakes his head and points his fan to another jar with what looks to be an identical cricket. The vendor hesitantly offers the Korean the jar. Yi Cheong-Gok tilts his head for a moment and then offers the vendor a polished wooden chop, with intricate patterns of dragons and turtles, and consummates the deal.

The rough looking man looks at H-9IX with wariness as he finally asks, "Whatcha lookin' for?"

Shaking his head, thus shaking the sailor rain cap over his metalic head, the disguised metalic thing backs away from the stand, turns, and nearly runs into Fujiko's side. He throws his gloved hands out for balance and smacks the back of one man's head (Who falls flat unconcious) and rips the jacket of another.

Fujiko fans herself and turns to look at Yi more fully, "Privy to a secret?" She looks around then back to him, "Well, I guess this is a great place fo find a secret for sale." Her attention is quickly dragged away when the thing in the sailor cap nearly runs into her. She turns to reaches out to help steady the thing, not noticing the mayhem being sown on all sides, "Whoa!"

"Indeed…" Yi Cheong-Gok mutters as he swiftly shifts his robed form to watch the thing cause all sorts of trouble. He casually fans himself as a sharp, piercing scream can be heard in the night air. Did someone notice what was happening near Fujiko, Yi Cheong-Gok, and H-9IX? Sort of.

A woman nearly has her arm cut off as a large cricket begins to grow near the Chinese pebble peddlers. Growing as large as a Ford Model T, the huge insect almost screeches as it plunges a leg into the heart of one of the vendors and causes widespread panic in the market. Yi Cheong-Gok casually walks over to the spinny compass thingy, which is now spinning as if it is a windmill in a hurricane, as he sets the fan and his ringed hand against a Mayan rune carved on the stone base. The giant cricket slams another arm against the wood of another vendor's tent stakes, smashing apart the rickety vendor's stall.

"Oh no," comes the crackly robotic voice from H-9IX as his big button eyes grow wide with surprise at the large cricket. He takes a slow step back, boots thudding to the ground, "What should we do?"

Fujiko steadies the metal man and is about to register his oddities when a more pressing oddity grabs her attention. She turns to give out a squeak of dismay at the sight of the attacking cricket. "Jeepers!" She snaps open her pocket book and pulls out a tiny pistol, that looks even smaller in her hands. "I dunno! What is it?"

Yi Cheong-Gok seems to not care about the carnage, his interest in the centerpiece of the market. It may just be a play of shadows and light, but it looks as if the Mayan runes seem to be 'absorbed' through the crane fan in inky black splotches directly into his hand that disappears under the layers of silk cloth. "Now which one of my countrymen placed this beautiful artifact out in the open? You belong with me…" he says as the compass thing spins so fast that it starts to produce sparks and seems to glow from the friction.

The reptiles at the other stall burst out of their jars, growing larger and larger before suddenly erupting into flowering plants from their orifices. The giant cricket swings its legs as knocks down the pebble stall, flinging countless polished rocks into the air as it corners a bunch of orphans being led by a mission nun through the crowd and stuck at a tight spot in the market. Maybe it's hungry.

[OOC] Yi says, "Gonna compel Aspect 6, H-9. :) do as you see fit."

The kids are in danger, H-9IX sees this and responds the way he was programmed to respond. His arms burst the trench coat seems and wires, tubes, and gears burst forth from his gear like foreamrs. Each arm re-organizes, almost sickeningly, into a pair of machine guns. The trench coat falls to the ground, along with his sailor cap, and his true form — a robotic humanoid with a clear skull containing liquid and a brain — is reveled. He rushes forward and fires at the cricket thing as he puts himself between the monster and the kids. "Run, please." he spits out clamly.

Fujiko points her derringer at the insect, then her aim is pulled away by the other bizarre happenings in the market. But then there is the shriek of a child to capture her attention and she sees the orphans in danger. As the giant insect looms over the children she starts running towards the cricket, popping off a round with her derringer to attract the beast's attention. Finding her path mirroring that of a…metal man?…Fujiko's pace slows just a bit, not wanting to run in front of machine guns.

Yi Cheong-Gok lets out a long breath as if entranced in a drug-induced high. He swipes his fan against the ground as he stands up, leaving a trail of native grass suddenly springing forth from the well-trodden, packed dirt of the Night Market. He shudders as he faintly smiles and points his fan towards a few jars that begin to rumble and errupt in a fantastic spray of sparks. People in the market are at near stampede as a tree begins to rise through a German arms dealer's booth before the vendor has a good shot at the giant cricket.

The giant cricket moves to swipe at one of the children but finds itself caught by the dead vendor it had previously plunged its leg into. As it shakes and screeches to get itself free, it seems to be partially controlled by a third party, as it tries to compact itself in anticipation of a barrage of bullets about to head its way.

[OOC] Yi says, "Roll Guns if you guys want. Cricket has a base athletics of 3 but reduced to 2 because of its close range and because it's stuck."

Pulp Fiction: Good Guns + (- + + +) [Final: 5]

Fujiko: Fair Guns + (+ 0 0 0) [Final: 3]

Yi: Fair 2 + (+ 0 - +) [Final: 3]

[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Going to define the second part of my Universal Gadget: Jetpack."
[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Or, rather, Futurization: Jetpack."

The back and spinal column of the iron man erupt in plates and small holes. The holes slowly rotate and become red then blue with heat from the engines. A loud whirling sound emits from his body and a loud groan from his speakers, it clearly isn't comfortable. He takes a moment and then blasts the jet engines on high, straffing the huge cricket.

Fujiko is running towards the cricket as quickly as she can in her silly heels. They aren't much of heels, but still, she was regretting them. She pulls the trigger on her derringer twice, one of the bullets a near miss, the other grazing off the beasts exoskeleton. "Over here you stupid roach! Why mess with the finger food when you've got a main course right here!"

The cricket screeches loudly as bullets from both sides puncture his exoskeleton as it finally frees itself from the dead man's body. The children and the nun begin to run as the cricket's attention shifts towards the now flying robot man as it stumbles through towards Fujiko's way.

Yi Cheong-Gok noticeably grimaces as bullets puncture the giant cricket. He waves his fan as vines erupt from near where Fujiko is and tries to reach over to H-9IX and grab at him. The cricket's attention is shifted towards Fujiko as it swings a leg to try and move Fujiko out of the way.

Yi: Superb Occult + (+ + + +) [Final: 10] (Note: +1 bonus)

Pulp Fiction: Superb Might + (- - - 0) [Final: 2]

[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Spending a Fate Point to Invoke an Aspect."
[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Macchi M.C.72 Fast, Union Pacific 3985 Strong."
[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Using it to reroll."

Yi: Great 4 + (- 0 0 0) [Final: 3]
Pulp Fiction: Superb Might + (+ - + -) [Final: 5]

[OOC] Yi says, "Fujiko, give me an athletics roll if you want to dodge (unless she can use fists)"
The cricket screeches loudly as bullets from both sides puncture his exoskeleton as it finally frees itself from the dead man's body. The children and the nun begin to run as the cricket's attention shifts towards the now flying robot man as it stumbles through towards Fujiko's way.

Yi Cheong-Gok noticeably grimaces as bullets puncture the giant cricket. He waves his fan as vines erupt from near where Fujiko is and tries to reach over to H-9IX and grab at him. The cricket's attention is shifted towards Fujiko as it swings a leg to try and move Fujiko out of the way.

Fujiko: Great Fists + (0 + - +) [Final: 5]

[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Ok, so my first action"
[OOC] Pulp Fiction says, "Shit metal bricks."

His clockwork arms reforming into the regular thick three fingered fists H-9IX tears himself from the vines and turns himself to propel towards the crickets face, shoulders first. He's trying to knock the thing over.

Remember to put the character names, using an _ for spaces, in the tags at the bottom. If you created this page WITHOUT the log button then also remember to have the page name in category (log:<logname> in the address bar) and to parent the page (In the options+ menu at the bottom).

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License