Dangerous Ride Home

JP with mdman, Lorem and Cindy

Elizabeth led Lorem and Cronk back to the main building and around to the front, she assumed going through that building with what Lorem had with her, wasn't a good idea.

Fortunately, it took no time to get a cab, of sorts. What it really was was a vehicle closer to a large van sized. It had enough room for all three of them plus Lorem’s equipment.

Upon the doors opening, they were greeted by the friendly smile of Marcil. "Lady Elizabeth, I hear you need a ride. "

"Yes, thank you." Elizabeth responded.

Marcil saw what Lorem had, he got up, bowed at Lady Elizabeth and then went towards the engineer. "Miss Ipsum, do you need help getting your items on to the bus?"

Lorem nodded, “Yes sir, thank you. Please handle with care and store away from heat.” She added the stipulations just in case. The last thing she wanted was a report in the paper of them getting blown up.

After Marcil took the wagon, Lorem proceeded to enter the bus. She kept her hand cannon and satchel with her. It was apparent that she was not willing to part with them just yet.

Marcil got some assistance, from a few workers, with Lorem's instructions. The van actually had a metal container in the back, that almost seemed like it was made for carrying such items. The workers obviously knew what they were doing.

The items were put into the metal container. Elizabeth took her own seat, actually where she could see out of the back. The Eldren knew she had to keep an eye out for possible dangers, just in case, but was really hoping the ride home would be uneventful.

Cronk crawled into the back of the van. It was a good day. He got to spend it with two women whom he admired. He got to fire a weapon. He also had whiskey. Life was good. Sitting back,

Cronk placed his hands behind his head and stretched his muscles to begin to relax on the ride home. It was quickly becoming home to Cronk, a feeling with which he was secure.

The first ten minutes of the ride, were without incident. Then they turned a corner, a cab that Elizabeth hadn't thought much about, also turned the corner. Another corner and the cab continued to follow them.

Elizabeth spoke up. "Mr. Marcil, the cab behind us, seems to be following us. Could you find out?"

"Certainly, Lady Elizabeth." Marcil replied.

Elizabeth turned to Lorem and Cronk. "You might want to hold on."

Cronk turned and glared out the back of the van. If someone were following them, Cronk may need to take action. He would protect the ladies with his life.

“Say word,” the orc insisted, “Cronk act!”

Lorem, upon hearing the others talking, sunk down in her seat. It was unnecessary. A gnome in a seat was already low enough, but the gesture felt natural. If there was a threat in pursuit, her instinct was to make herself smaller.

She noticed her heart was beating faster just thinking that they may actually, no theoretically, be in danger. Her job, by its nature, could be dangerous, but this was something different.

Lorem very much hoped that the car “following” them was just a coincidence and nothing more.

Marcil suddenly speed up, he quickly turned a corner, the another right after it. A lesser driver might have flipped the van but Marcil was exceptionally good at what he did.

Another corner, then a suddenly turn around, in the middle of the street.

"They are definitely pursuing us." Elizabeth stated.

Just them something hit the bus causing it to shake. Elizabeth looked out the window again, seeing a tree lift from the ground and head straight for the van.

"TREE!!!" Elizabeth yelled out. Marcil swerved, the tree barely missed them.

"They have mages." Elizabeth said, her mind filled with highly improper language for a lady.

"Miss Ipsum. I'll need you to load the launcer with whatever grenade would be best. Cronk I will need you in a moment." Elizabeth was trying to remain as calm as she could.

Lorem gasped out loud as the bus went to and fro. One hand was still on her hand cannon while the rest of her, arm and legs, were working together to keep from getting shifted out of her seat. Her hope that this wasn’t going to end in a car chase was shattered.

She found herself hesitating. Fear had welled up inside her as her imagination projected what could possibly happen next. When the bus got hit, something she didn’t foresee coming, she yelped and nearly curled into a fetal position in her seat. It took a more stern repeat from Lady Elizabeth to snap her out of it.

Lorem managed a nod. Then she opened her satchel and was trying to figure out what grenade she should use. It was a good thing they were still relatively safe inside the bus, because she was taking much longer than someone with good responsive time to combat would take.

Elizabeth knew Lorem was not skilled at combat, and if she had known what every grenade did, she might have picked one out herself. "Miss Ipsum, when you're done, hand the launcher to me. And please try to be... " Elizabeth noticed an arm peek out the window of the cab pursuing them, with a weapon of some sort. "They have a weapon!" Using her magic she tried to increase her eyesight enough to see what it was, but before she could they shot at the bus. "ARROWS." Marcil sped the van up more, the arrows barely missed the tires of the van. "Lorem, please try to be quick about it."

The use of the first name, indicated how serious this was, even if Elizabeth’s voice still remained calm.

Lorem’s hand jumped back and forth unsure of which grenade to choose. She hadn’t designed them to tackle vehicles, but as crowd control and individual levels. At the sound of her first name she made a decision and pulled out a Nimble Fox.

She turned it three quarter turns to activate the smoke screen feature. Once launched it would release a forceful gust of wind. Then it would skitter about pouring out visual cover hopefully making it difficult for the pursuing car to see them.

“Launch it just behind our bus and it will send out a large trail of smoke.” She advised and handed Lady Elizabeth her personal hand cannon as well.

Lorem then handed another grenade to Elizabeth. The Buzzing Bumblebee would explode into tons of tiny rubber pellets, perhaps strong enough to shatter their windshields? “This one sends out rubber shrapnel.”

It was obvious Lorem was afraid and was trying her best to keep from trembling as the situation escalated.

"Good Choices," Elizabeth stated, to the Engineer.

"Now, Cronk. I need you to move the metal locker away from the backdoor, but be careful with it." The van had a back door, that made it easier to load and unload things.

Elizabeth kept an eye on the cab in pursuit of the van, as Marcil kept doing feats of remarkable driving. He avoided another tree, before anything else could happen.

Once Cronk had moved the metal locker, Elizabeth said. "Marcil, I will need you to keep the van steady." Then she spoke to the Orc. "Cronk, I am going to open the back door, and shoot the first grenade. I need you to hold on to me and keep me from falling out."

Cronk was even effected by the centrifugal force from the quick turns Marcil made, once hitting his head against the side of the van. It took Cronk a lot of muscles to attempt to stay in place.

Cronk hesitated slightly at Lady Elizabeth’s request. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time he had held the Lady. He remembered putting her upon his shoulders to see inside the warehouse. However, the latest incident where he tossed Lorem into the air didn’t seem to be appreciated. At least the request wasn’t to toss Lady Elizabeth in the air. And, it was requested.

Cronk stood, one foot bracing against the wall of the van on his right, the other braced against the wall on the left. He gently, for Cronk didn’t wish to hurt her, but snuggly, he didn’t want her to fall out the back of the van, grasped the Lady Elizabeth about the waist. Cronk wasn’t used to hold ladies on this way, except of course, when he and Quinn had celebrated on the town in Dublin.

Elizabeth made sure the Nimble Fox was loaded and ready to go. She didn't use her magic, not wanting to lose her concentration considering the danger level.

With Cronk holding her, Elizabeth said,"On the count of three. One, two, three." She did use a quick magic touch to get the back door open. Lifted up the launcer and fired the first grenade, right behind the bus as Lorem had said. It worked perfectly, leaving a trail of smoke behind them. Which gave Elizabeth the chance to load the second grenade, was not an easy task but the Eldren manged, and fairly quickly.

This time however, Elizabeth opted to use her magic, despite the danger. The launcer began to glow, the grenade was shot. It was difficult to see the cab, though the smoke behind them, but the sound of SCREEECH could be heard, then nothing.

Elizabeth waited a few moments, then in voice that could be heard over the wind blowing in the back. "We lost them. Marcil, stop the van."

Marcil pulled down a side street, then parked on the side of the street. An out of breath Elizabeth asked, "Cronk will you please close the back door." As she proceeded to sit down and catch her breath.

Cronk looked at Lady Elizabeth and nodded. He crawled down from inside the van, closing the door behind them. Cronk was angry, these people targeting good ladies.

Cronk began walking, his fists clenched, back the way they had come. Each step was quicker than the first until he came to a jog. Eventually, he would be sprinting. It took Cronk some time and effort to build up speed.

He had a score to settle and hopped to find the car that was following them, placing the two ladies in danger. Marcil and himself could have been in danger too, but Cronk was more concerned about the ladies. Cronk had some bashing to do.

Lorem was nowhere to be seen when Lady Elizabeth turned around. She had made herself as small as possible and braced herself between a seat and the side of the bus. She was hugging her satchel of grenades like a comforting pillow and her eyes were shut.

Her lips were mouthing something. It was hard to make out because it was less than a whisper, but it sounded like she was reciting the periodic table to help calm herself.

Lorem realized they had stopped and it sounded like the danger had passed; however, she wasn’t willing to budge from her spot yet.

At first it seemed like Cronk might have gotten out of the van to get some air, so Elizabeth focused on Lorem. "Lorem, take some deep breaths. We are alright now." Elizabeth’s voice was calming but she didn't have the ability to calm minds, as that was part of the mind realm.

By the time the Eldren looked up, to check on Cronk he was a good ways down the street. She shook her her head, realizing what the Orc was likely doing. "Miss Ipsum, please stay here." Then she went to the front of the van. "Mr. Marcil stay with Miss Ipsum. "

"Of couse, Lady Elizabeth." Marcil responded.

If there hadn't been mages involved, Elizabeth would have just left Cronk to do his thing but she knew it's difficult to fight a mage with no magical abilities, even if one was the size of an Orc. The Eldren ran after Cronk, but knew she likely couldn't catch him before he reached the cab.

Not wanting to take the time to decide on a grenade, so she could catch up with Cronk, Elizabeth gave Lorem back the hand cannon and exited the van.

This was the first time Lorem had ever been tested in harms way. Not that she hadn’t done things which could be harmful, but this type of harm was different because it was predatory. She felt scared during the danger and embarrassed now that they were out of danger. She noted that the fear wasn’t leaving just because it had ended, it felt like a slower process than she would have expected.

She nodded to Lady Elizabeth, as she continued to mutter the Periodic Table while simultaneously trying to minimize her lips moving so it seemed she wasn’t. She continued to stay where she was for the time being.

She was glad she wasn’t left alone, but she was likewise concerned for the well-being of Cronk and Lady Elizabeth vacating their transportation.