L'Ultimo Giorno

Eleanor Yates
[Not-Nightmares]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 4, 8, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Movie Night
The Mayan Theater is located at 110 Broadway, a bit south of the Downtown area.  While like almost every movie theater that is not struggling to survive these days, it is owned as part of a larger chain under one big, friendly corporate umbrella; Landmark Theaters in this case.  Still, it manages to maintain the feel of an independent theater by its film selection of art house pics, foreign and independent features and (when someone pays the exorbitant rate to rent it out) private screenings.  That is the case this evening, and tonight is a mix of all of the above as ShockDrop Studios sets to present their recent find.

The theater is busy tonight; the unveiling of a three-decades-old horror film with a dubious history is any promoter's dream, and the Gateway Film Festival's co-sponsoring doesn't hurt. There's quite a few people here tonight; there near the entrance is a small pack of obvious gorehounds who are bedecked in in leather jackets and torn jeans, joking around with each other and shoving back and forth while they play with canned soundboard apps on their smartphones or smoke.  A few feet away, looking at the horror fanboys with a bit of disdain, is a smattering of...let's just call them the "more refined individuals."  It's a small group of five in their later thirties, dressed in what we would refer to as "business casual"--a turtleneck here, a dress shirt there, a nice blouse.  No sneakers in that group.

You also have various other types; there's an art film fan, leaning against the side of the building patiently with a book in his hand (the grafitti artist Banksy's Wall and Piece), for those keeping track.  Next to him are a couple of hipsters who want to see the film that no one else (living) ever has.  There are a couple film critics and web writers who will be using this as fodder for their next column.  It's a varied little group of filmgoers here tonight.

And then there are those people across the street.  L'Ultimo Giorno has a reputation, and as such it has attracted some protesters...not a huge surprise, because these days people will protest anything.  These aren't insane religious fundamentalists protesting Hollywood's "gayification of America" or anarchists railing against the corporate chain that backs the theater though; those opportunistic types are too busy at other locations to worry about this.  No, this group is small, no more than five or six people ranging in age from early forties to late sixties.  What's more, they are rather quiet for protesters; there are no slogans chanted, they're not in a shouting match with anyone in the crowd.  In fact, the only thing that really identifies them as protesters is the two signs among them; one reads "Learn From The Last Time" and the other is "Last Day = Lost Lives."  The group is more watching the theater with wary expressions and talking to people who come nearby as they head toward the theater.

The night is rather chilly for the time of year; the weather predicted sixty-four but it's probably at least ten degrees cooler than that.  The box office opens and people start to filter into the building, paying their admission and slipping through the doors.

[[ Pictures for reference here: http://www.ravyns-nest.com/Denver/mayantheater.htm ]]

Sid
[awareness!: crowd of strangers = paranoia]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 7, 7, 7, 9) ( success x 4 )

Grace
[Perception + Awareness for Magedar]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 8, 10) ( success x 2 )

Eleanor Yates
[awareness. euthanatos = justifies a lot.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1

Shoshannah
[Per + Aware for prickly, defensive Dreamspeakers, too.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 5, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 3 )

Mara
[Per+Aware me worried? Nahh.]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )

Mara
Mara's an old fan of horror films, from her early years watching the silly but imaginative gore of the nightmares series to the less interesting but still entertaining plethora of many 'horror' films of recent years. After all who doesn't love a good scare? so when she heard about L'Ultimo Giorno during one of her last performances down in the arts district she had made a point to save enough money to make it to the opening night screening.

She's already in line near the front because when you don't have a real job its easier to waste time on things like this. She's a divider between the gore hounds and the preppy crowd, a thin line in that red leather jacket and shaved hair standing there patiently waiting for her chance to get inside and enjoy the spectacle and to have something to tell her other busker cohorts about the day after.

Despite the fact that shes just standing there seemingly staring off ahead with her hands in those jean pockets of her's she is as always aware. She can feel the others drawing near, some of them more familiar, others less so.

Eleanor Yates
Eleanor is dressed leanly, in very dark jeans that are very nearly leggings, in a pair of dove-colored suede booties, a navy blue v-necked t-shirt, and a slim black blazer with three-quarter sleeves.  One would place her with the more refined individuals, despite her hair, which is almost hippie-length and allowed to be a little wild and tangled near the ends, but Eleanor is standing near the gorehounds, though not with them.  She is here alone, tall and lean as a knife, her bag slung cross-bodied over her shoulder, heavy at her hip.

Occasionally she looks over at the protestors.  She has lived in Colorado all her life; fifty-four is positively balmy to her.  Mostly, she stands waiting for the doors to open, not playing on her phone or tablet or some such.  She is simply existing, listening, watching, until
she looks over and sees a woman in red with a shaved head.  And three others, somewhere out there, who she recognizes by something like scent, something like -- well no.  Something that is a sixth sense, full stop.  A small smile, then.  But she's in line, and though she may try to catch Sid or Grace's eye and give them a nod of hello, she wants to get a good seat.

Which she intends to.  Including at least three other seats beside her.  Just in case.

Sid
It was a classmate who told Sid about the event tonight.  He was trying to be nonchalant as he angled for a date with the quiet, pretty redhead who sits next to him in a freshman literature course, but he's not the one who arrives at the theater with Sid Rhodes.  It is actually a young woman with an angry, defensive air about her that gets out of the passenger side of Sid's old truck and who walks a block over to the theater's entrance.

It's all part of Sid's quiet yet determined efforts to let Shoshannah have a piece of her youth to herself.  They don't go to parties, but sometimes after Shoshannah shows Sid a few chord progressions on one of her guitars they go up and sit on the roof for a while, looking at the stars or whatever.  There have been other things.  This is just another to the list.

There's a crowd because of course there's a crowd, and so as Sid rounds the corner onto Broadway her shoulders are tense and her dark eyes are darting behind the lenses of her glasses.  Her hair is down, curling over her shoulders in thick waves, and she's dressed in snug-fitting jeans and a yellow t-shirt, her torso divided by the line of her messenger bag's strap.

She notices the others, Shoshannah's angry defensiveness battering at her senses because she is so close, but others, too.  Grace and Eleanor and even Mara.  When she sees Eleanor the line of her mouth eases just a little, like maybe she could smile but just isn't quite there yet.  Her nod of greeting is returned.

Grace
Grace isn't a hipster, or a gorehound, nor does she usually wear "business casual" and as such, doesn't seem to have much in common with these people.

But the ones she does have something in common with you'd never be able to tell anyway. So much for judging books by covers. In Grace's case, the cover goes something like this: Jeans, sneakers, tee-shirt (black for the occasion) and a light knit jacket for the chill. She's not dressing to impress, more dressing to be as plain and normal as possible.

Grace isn't normal. She just looks it. Blends in, you might say.

She does not have the time to be here, really. But when there's so much to do, a few hours doing something fun doesn't seem like much. A .01% of fun. It's not going to break the temporal bank. And so, the girl so recently scared by zombies in real life turns to fake horror. She can laugh at this stuff, and forget the real stuff is outside, for a little while.

L'Ultimo Giorno is just the thing, she thought. Old, so probably silly with props, and likely a history lesson on what it was that would possibly freak out a crowd of people so bad that long ago. And so, she's here. Walking up, she tastes the feel of all those people, all of whom she knows, and wonders why they've also decided on this...

Eleanor she sees, notes the nod of hello, and then her own face falls. Oh yeah... something that one wanted. A story. Well, shit. She returns a shaky smile and takes a place in line.

Shoshannah
Shoshannah likes movies in general and while gore isn't really her favorite bit of the horror genre spectrum, she's not particularly against it, either.  And so Lena (and maybe Kalen) were left at the Chantry with Callisto, and the young Dreamspeaker begged Sid to go, too.

"Last time I went to a theater for a movie, my dad rented it for me and I watched a movie by myself.  On my birthday."

Yeah, she's not above playing that sort of card when she really wants something, though she does it only rarely at best - in fact, no one in Denver's seen her do it yet.  (Of course, a desire to get out of the house may have had something to do with the odd hot-and-cold interactions she has with a certain Hermetic, but that's neither here nor there, and she's not in a place to talk about it even if she knew how to articulate what was going on.)  So here she and Sid are, coming down the street to take up their places in the throng gathered - as ever, the reaction to Shoshannah is polarizing.  People are drawn to her and repelled at the same time, and she does her best to ignore it all while still being polite.

She's dressed in nice, dark washed jeans that run skinny until they flare out slightly over her heeled (but not wedged, she's plenty tall without that sort of help) boots and a cream tank top with a matching loosely crocheted sweater-shirt over it and a butter-soft brown leather jacket over the top - she's from Israel and Texas and 54 is not balmy to her.  Her hands are tucked into pockets and shoulders slightly hunched - she's closed off, reserved, and most of her says leave me alone to everyone but Sid.  The dynamic there?  It's different.

Shoshannah isn't normal.

She doesn't look normal, either.

The girl who feels like Death's handmaiden can't blend in to save her life.

Movie Night
Across the street, one of the older people in the group of protestors looks at a couple as they drifts toward the line.  The man is perhaps in his late sixties, but certainly no silver fox; his aged and pocked face almost makes him seem older, his cheeks thinned out by the years.  His right eye is clouded over by a cataract and what little hair he has left is collected at his temples and over his ears, completely lacking in pigmentation.  He has a little shaking in his motions and the checkered flannel shirt and jeans he wears seem a little bit big on him. Clearly, the years are talking their toll, though not on his voice as he can be heard from across the street.
"Hey...you're not going in there, are ya?" He points to the theater.  "Listen...ya wanna see a horror film? Go watch that Buzzsaw or You're Up or whatever it is playin' at the Act III a few blocks over. Sure, it's sick crap, but you'll walk outta it alive. Or better yet, rent Frankenstein or The Shining or somethin'. Ain't ya heard what happened the first time?  Riots broke out in th'theater.  Tramplin' deaths, beatin's...couple folks were set on fire, even."

But that's across the street, and who listens to someone who protests a damned horror movie anyway?  On the Mayan side of the street it's a quick trip through the line and up to the box office, where everyone gets their tickets from a bored girl in her twenties.  She seems especially annoyed to be working tonight; poor Clarice wanted to be home watching her own double feature of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Total Divas.  (Pray for the youth of America, people.)  She also happens to be the ticket-taker of sorts, stamping each ticket with a red-inked rubber stamp in the shape of a skull with the ShockDrop logo at the bottom.  The little studio is going all out for this particular showing; it is by far their highest-profile screening to date.  Clarice waves people through with a dull "Thank you, enjoy the show" and a practiced smile that doesn't reach her eyes in any way.

What's Khloe doing right now?, she wonders idly as she stamps Mara's ticket.

I bet Kanye's on this one.  It would be just my luck to fucking miss it, she ponders with a sigh as she stamps Eleanor's.

I hate my life, she thinks with that false smile as Sid's ticket is passed over.

I hate that I have to serve you, she says with her eyes as Grace walks away.

I hate EVERYTHING.  Shoshanna gets "Thanks, enjoy the movie."

Concessions are available, of course, at typical overinflated prices.  You can get your choice of sodas (guaranteed to make you have to go to the bathroom mid-movie if you drink it all), popcorn (for once, above the quality of microwaved thanks to the Mayan going all-out on this one), candy and such.  Hell, want a hot dog?  You can get that too.  Theaters make all their money on concessions after all, and they're hoping to make a pretty penny on this.

Finally it's into the theater itself, an expansive auditorium draped in red.  There's a majesty to the theater; it has a sense like the old-time theaters of Hollywood's Golden Age amidst the Art Deco Mayan Revival style that is most prominant along the upper walls and the patterning on the carpet down the main aisles.

At the front, near the screen, there's a wheeled podium set up. A few people are standing up there, talking quietly...apparently, some sort of introduction to the film is to be made, perhaps. One of them is in his early 30's, in a nice (if somewhat gaudy) suitcoat and tie. Short blonde hair, sort of a cocky smile on his face as he chats with the other two. Every now and then he looks out to the people filtering in and he gets a sparkle in his eyes, a widening to his smile.  Business is going to be good tonight, you can practically hear him thinking.

People mill about, getting into their seats.  The theater is about half-full; enough that people can select single seats if that's what they prefer, but enough room for large groups as well.  The majority of the seats are in the front and the back; everyone loves sitting in the center of a movie theater.  There's a palpable sense of energy in the air; this is exciting to many of the people here.  The rarest of rare films, and they get to see it.  This isn't the kind of thing that happens often.

Eleanor Yates
It is Eleanor's opinion that the protestors may very well have been hired by the studio.  If they are legitimate, they apparently have no understanding of what people go to horror movies for.  She glances their way, but she does not engage.  She lets the young woman stamp her ticket, slips it into her blazer pocket, and walks past concessions to the screening room, including the bar, though plenty of people are heading that way for themed drinks to go with the film.

When she steps in, she goes for an aisle seat but informs people that she's saving the seats beside her for some friends.  'Friends' is a stretch, but when she sees Sid and the others enter, she nods her head to the side at the seats beside her.  She's on the outside.  She'll move to let them in.

Grace
Of course Eleanor would be saving seats for them. So Grace'd have to sit with the woman who made her feel like holding her breath, for more than one reason. The smile was a little hard to keep going, but hey, good practice, right?

"Oh hi there," she said, when she got up to the woman. "It's ah... nice to see you. I'm sorry about the lack of stuff in your inbox, but I have been so slammed lately."

It's not a lie, not really a whole truth either. Sending an email takes a lot less time than watching a movie, but there you go. Grace slips into one of the saved seats however Eleanor decides to work out the seat-taking, and waits for the others she can feel on the back of her mind.

Sid
If Shoshannah is trying to play cards to get a thing that she wants, she's barking up the wrong tree with Sid.  Sid may be quiet, but she's no pushover.  Her heart is not so easily moved by teenaged manipulation.  Sid invited her along because she wanted to get the girl out of the house, away and out among people for a bit.  She wanted to be out, too, and she didn't want to do it alone.  And they were already at the chantry, so...
Here they are.  With protestors across the street adding an air of tension to a horror movie showing.  Shouting out warnings only makes the other people more excited to get inside.

Sid doesn't meet the eyes of the ticket-taker girl when she hands over her ticket and gets it back.  She keeps her eyes downcast, but don't let that fool anyone into thinking she's not paying attention to what's around her.  Sid uses her peripheral to keep an eye on that group of guys in the business casual and the hipsters and whoever else happens to venture just a bit too close to her.

Inside the theater, she lifts her chin to look around.  When she spots Eleanor she nudges Shoshannah and heads in that direction.

"Hey," she greets, along with, "Mind if I take the aisle?"

Mara
Mara's one of the first in, past the young woman who's soul and exuberance had been stolen by the drudgery of the customer service industry. Mara doesn't give her any hassle, doesn't try to play nice, she just helps the woman in the best way she can...by getting it over quickly. But by the grace of Buddha She thinks as she steps on through and heads to the food bar, shes after nacho's and a pop because she hasn't had either in who knows how long, and movies demand nacho's thats just the way it is.

That done she looks about, taking in the scenic majesty of the old theatre still holding on to its individuality [sort of] harkening back to the days of the true silver screen [Not that theres any silver in these screens]
She moves down along the aisle, watching as various key points fill up, various 'sweet spots' get crowded in quick before people circulate around them trying to find a place close to their preference. Mara isn't so concerned about the where she sits, so she moves down the aisle a smirk and a two finger salute offered to Shoshannah and Sid and the others as she steps on by.

"Sup ladies?" Is all she says as she strides on past, moving for a closer view of the action closer to the front. She does take an aisle seat however, certain practicalities had to be considered after all.

Shoshannah
"I'm by Sid," is all Shoshannah says, though there's a bit of relief to see Grace (and Mara, but what little bits of good will Shoshannah holds hadn't come as easily between her and the Akashic) too - whether or not Eleanor yields the aisle, it's fairly certain Shoshannah will end up by  Sid, or Grace, or both.

And she met the ticket taker's eyes when she received her stamp, and held them, and likely the girl was still trying to get over the feeling of death at her side a few people after.  I hate everything, indeed.  So there's shuffling, or not, and Shoshannah (with her beverage, a medium) sits wherever it is she ends up.  If anyone asks, she's actually kind of excited?  But like with most things, she overshoots 'I don't give a fuck' by a bit.

Eleanor Yates
"Hello again," Eleanor says to Grace, and either she's a far better liar than Grace or she's just genuine in her pleasure at seeing the neonate mage again.  She waves a hand, shaking her head a bit.  "It's perfectly all right.  The quarter is off to a running start, anyway."

In other words: she'd probably be too busy to read it, anyway.

Sid and Shoshannah head their way as well, and Sid asks if she can take the aisle, where Eleanor is already sitting.  Immediately after, Shoshannah declares that she's by Sid, which gets a flick of Eleanor's eyes towards her before they refocus on Sid.  There's enough of a pause on Eleanor's end to indicate something, but at the break in that pause, the woman just smiles, giving a nod.  "Of course," she says, and moves to the third seat in, placing her beside Grace, and then Shoshannah, and then Sid at the end.

Sid
I'm by Sid, says Shoshannah, which earns a slight frown from Sid, who looks at Eleanor.  Thing is, frowns on Sid aren't all that uncommon.  There was a time when it was her default expression.  These days it's not, but it's still more common than a frownless face.

"If that's okay," she supplies after Shoshannah.  They shuffle around and get themselves seated, Sid leaning a little to offer a small wave and a slight almost-but-not-quite smile of greeting for Grace.  Then she sits, setting her bag between her feet and pushing up the sleeves of her hoody, revealing the ink on the inside of her wrist, and the scar on her forearm for those who try to look too closely at her pale skin.

Getting ready to watch the show, and the introduction, too.

Mara
Mara takes her seat and gets comfortable, though she keeps her jacket on. The pop is deposited in the cup holder and her nacho's well her nacho's are kept close. The cheese dip that came with them was popped open and she started in, obviously planning on eating most of it before the show began.

Cause who wants to be chewing and eating through all the gore that would be yet to come?

Shoshannah
"Thank you," she says to Eleanor, and it's as close to apologetic as she gets - for reasons both obvious and not, the Euthanatos sets her on edge - and she's already prone to that anyway.  Grace gets a nod, and slightly waggled fingers (as usual, Shoshannah's wrists and forearms are covered - Sid is okay with her scars, but Shoshannah is not with hers), but no smile.  Sometimes, it seems like maybe she doesn't know how to curve her lips that way, but when she does?

Well.  A smile from Shoshannah could take breath away.

But there's a movie to watch, yay!  And it will be fun.  And exciting.  And scary.  Shoshannah's sure of it.

Movie Night
[[Something something dark side]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) ( success x 3 )

Grace
The quarter always gets off to a running start. It sprints until the break, in Grace's experience. "It always does, doesn't it?" Idle chitchat, social grease. Grace's learned not to just do what she'd rather and stare at the Mayan decorations until showtime..

Sid and Shoshannah then push Eleanor into sitting next to her. Oh yea! Thanks Sid!

The movie cannot start soon enough.

Movie Night
Amidst the seat-shuffling and everybody settling in, all five of our heroines get a tingle up their backs.  It's a feeling like a butterfly racing up their spine, coupled with the sense of a distant storm.  Off in the back a man in his mid-forties takes a seat.  He's attractive in that older, dignified way, like a professor perhaps.  He glances over to where the group of them are briefly, and then looks to the front with a frown, like he's waiting.

The din dies down a little as Mister Blonde steps up to the podium and taps the microphone.  The lights in the theater lower except in the front; the Mayan figures on the upper walls are bathed in shadow, looking disconcertingly like warriors ready to leap off and strike down at the movie-goers if one is imaginative enough.  After a moment, the man begins to speak.

"L'Ultimo Giorno...the Last Day. Umberto Montanari's masterpiece film...easily said, because it was the only film he ever made." He grins, and gets a smattering of unenthusiastic chuckles from the older and likely more film-savvy members of the crowd.

"Nonetheless," he continues, taking a bit of a (excuse the obvious phrase) theatrical tone to his prepared speech, "it's a film that's been recorded in the annals of cinema history as somewhat infamous, if obscure...the tale of a man's acceptance of the end that awaits us all.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen...I'm Joshua Keller, founder and president of ShockDrop Films. It's my sincerest pleasure and honor to present to you tonight one of the most controversial horror films ever made...so much so that violence marred it's only showing. An act which, by the way, reportedly earned a smile on Montanari's face when he learned of it. So, on behalf of myself and the Three Rivers Film Festival...hold onto your seats, and enjoy the ride."

The theater darkens, and he steps down from the podium which is dragged away by the ushers as the screen goes through the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown in black and white, and some applause sounds, scattered through the younger members of the crowd.

The screen starts off dark, and when images finally begin to take shape, the film turns out to be black and white...drawing a sound of disapproval from those who were perhaps hoping to see plenty of good, strong, Technicolor gore. It appears to be a minimalist sort of film, beginning with a single man standing in the middle of the desert at night, staring at the stars with a blank expression on his face.

It is, perhaps surprisingly, in English, and he talks to himself in that more theatrical dramatic manner that older films have, in some rather gaudily cryptic sentences, about having lost everything due to the speed of the world today, and 'the time is coming.' All in all, the feeling is rather...disappointingly dull and existential for some of the audience, and there's some talking starting to poke up from the crowd in the early moments of the film.

The movie meanders along for about 10 minutes, with the same sort of dialogue...he just stares at the sky, talking to himself. Eventually, a new star appears in the middle of the sky, and at that instant, the man is joined by the shadow of another for just an instant on camera...flashing behind him, reaching out for his his neck and twisting, and then the shadow is gone. The man's head is turned halfway around and he falls, in a disturbingly realistic manner and sound.

The reaction from the crowd is remarkably intense, as several screams erupt like it was the most frightening thing ever known. [[Roll me WP, peeps!  Diff 7.]]

Eleanor Yates
[WP]
Dice: 7 d10 TN7 (3, 7, 7, 8, 9, 9, 9) ( success x 6 )

Sid
[WP]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (3, 3, 3, 6, 6, 7) ( success x 1 )

Mara
[WP]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )

Grace
[WP]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (6, 8, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Shoshannah
[wp]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (1, 4, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Movie Night
[[It's not so bad. Just good effects...what's the big deal?  Except...there's something there.  It's slightly off...almost like a tingling at the back of her brain, creeping in insidiously to tickle at her parietal lobe...a subtle magic, certainly.  Coming from far behind and from the screen]]

Grace
In her completely new-to-this way, Grace feels the presence of someone she does not recognize, and turns to eye the man in the back, questions in her eyes. Who are you?

But finding new mages in town isn't exactly a new thing for her. As the movie process continues, she almost forgets about the butterflies and instead watches the proceedings. The man at the podium, the dimmed lights, the experience of 'movie'.

When that scene happens, Grace stifles a giggle for a moment at the special effects and the screams of the audience -- no big deal. But her face then goes slack when the realization that there's something very... not right here. It's not in the decent special effects. It's like feeling someone Work.

Suddenly, sitting next to someone she at least knows in passing isn't nearly so bad. In the darkness of the theater, she turns to look at Eleanor with an expression on her face, reflected in the light from the screen: 'Do you feel that?'

Mara
The movie begins after the blonde says his bit, has his moment to gloat in the light set solely on him. It's during this part that Mara is still eating, still popping those nacho's into her mouth with a greediness that is not normally her forte. But when at last he finishes, Mara finds the majority of her nacho's are finished and she sets the rest down under her seat.

The early parts of the film are slow, but thats only by todays standards, old films had pacing, theatrical pacing, and new how to properly lull you into a sense of security or monotony. When some people begin to chat Mara just smirks ear to ear, knowing that movie was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. Exactly what the creator had intended to do.

But then there is the violence, the sudden and uncanny moment of death which has most recoiling in horror, and give its sudden and intense brutality even has Mara gripping her arm rests in sudden surprise. But then something draws her attention, something has her looking away from the screen, looking upward and back, her eyes scanning the darkness as she tries to find something or someone...while watching the movie as well.

Eleanor Yates
Eleanor makes a small, thoughtful sound as the man's head twists off with a crack.  It's disturbingly realistic, and yes, the effects are good, but not what most movies use.  See: few movie-makers and even fewer movie-goers know what it sounds like when a neck is snapped like that.  It takes quite a bit of upper-body strength to pull off, to begin with, so it's not really a regular occurrence, but the sound, and
the way the body falls
are rather unique.  Every death is unique.  It's hard to mimic, and so movie deaths usually mean little to her; she can always spot the fake ones.  That didn't seem fake, but it could just be very good effects.  Eleanor makes that sound, a small hmm in the midst of a few screams and gasps, and straightens slightly in her seat, but she's still leaning on one armrest, fingers splayed along her chin and cheek.

Grace twists around beside her, looking towards the back, which Eleanor notices but does not decide to imitate until after that scene.  She turns her head, and only her head, looking behind her, up at the back of the theater in the darkness.  She finds the spot where Grace's eyes were, and though she senses the weight of an unspoken question from the other woman, she does not move to nod or shake her head.  She just breathes.
In, for a count of five.  A pause.  Out, for a count of five.  A pause.  In, for a count of five...

Eleanor Yates
[More Awareness]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9) ( success x 3 )

Shoshannah
Effects weren't that good at the time this movie was made - it feels like watching what's-his-name pick the fly out of the video in the American version of The Ring, and it makes her frown.  To be fair, this isn't any less common for her than it is for Sid - but Shoshannah doesn't like being pushed.  In any sense.  She's taken enough of that in her life . . . and so, insta-defense.  In her pocket, she fidgets with a certain very old coin that she's never without.

Angry defensiveness flares - poor Eleanor.  Such timing.

[Mind block, coincidental, appropriate resonance]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 10) ( success x 1 )

Sid
Sid didn't mean to put Grace right next to the woman who feels like drowning in a frozen lake.  She just prefers to be close to exit ways.  It has nothing to do with that protestor outside telling them about riots and such, but more she doesn't want to get stuck.

So, aisle seat.  She doesn't have a drink to sip at or popcorn to munch on to keep her mind from wandering through those first ten minutes of the film.  She's barely paying attention anymore when that new star appears.  Then the shadowy figure appears and she frowns.  Then that twist and suddenly her hands are on the arms of her seat - or on one chair arm and on Shoshannah arm - gripping tightly with a white-knuckled strength.  A logical part of her mind tells her there's no way, this is stupid, that guy on screen doesn't even look like him.  But it's not her logical mind that's behind the wheel at that precise moment.

There's something else, a tingling niggling at the back of her mind, and it suddenly all starts pooling together in her mind.  That first chilly butterfly trace up her spine.  The feeling that that person on screen is someone known.  And that pressure.

Heart beginning to race, nerves becoming gittering, she opens her mind again and seeks out for it, seeks for the cause or the source of those feelings.

[Percept+awareness]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1

Movie Night
[[Something something other dark side]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN4 (1, 1, 2, 2) ( fail )

Movie Night
On the screen, the man's crumpled body on the ground starts to shift and twist, dtisturbingly reconfiguring itself into a round, black hole in the sand. An arm, clawed and dessicated, comes out of the whole, and an impossibly thin, pincer-mouthed creature comes out of it. The crowd starts to scream again, panicking at the whole thing...a few of them, though, seem incited other ways, as the sight of the creature causes them to turn and punch or headbutt the people next to them.

The light shines through the hole in the back wall where the camera is pointed...if there's any reaction inside the projection booth, it can't be seen from here.

The creature leans back it's head and gives a loud, piercing chittering sound, almost like an insectoid scream. The commotion in the theater starts to intensify, as the panic gets worse, as does the violence...which is also starting to spread.

Movie Night
[[Note: At this point, all magic is considered coincidental within the confines of the auditorium because...reasons.]]

Shoshannah
Sid grips Shoshannah's arm and, though she doesn't break contact with her friend - in fact, turns her had so she can hold the Orphan's, the Dreamspeaker stands to look back, her free hand not really so free, but fidgeting with that coin.  Her lips move, though in the chaos it's unlikely anyone hears what she's murmuring in Hebrew, and less likely anyone understands it.

[Invoking the Archangels with a Dreamspeaker Twist - Spirit 2.]
Dice: 2 d10 TN5 (4, 5) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Mara
The creature rises from the black pit that was the man's corpse, and people begin to become violent, increasingly so. It seemed that the movie might be about done, any hope of actually watching this thing ruined by whoever, or whatever was throwing magic around.

Mara rose, stepping out of her seat to avoid a fight that was taking place in her row and quickly spreading along it like wild fire, she started towards the back, moving purposefully but swiftly as she made her way towards where she had thought she'd felt that odd man out, the one magi that she didn't know in the room, or at least the one not vouched for by their presence with Sid and Shoshannah.

[Per+Alert]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 4, 7, 10, 10) ( success x 3 )

Grace
In the seat next to Grace, the man who she'd ignored up to this point screams like he's lost his mind, grabbing the armrest and her hand at the same time in panic. Grace reacts by pulling that hand back like its on fire. The movie is nothing compared to the crowd at this point.

"Guys, guys... We gotta get out of here like now."

Well, it's more like 'I wanna get out of here like now' really. The others are not moving. She starts by getting out of her seat, hunched over like she's trying to avoid being a target.

Eleanor Yates
Eleanor stares, and it is distinctly uncomfortable to be stared at the way she is staring at the man, but after a little while, she turns her head back around and looks at the screen for a moment.  A body turns into a hole.  The clawed arm, the thin creature with the sharp mouth.  People are screaming and her hair stands on end from the sound of it, the terror in the voices,

and then the eruption of violence here and there.  Eleanor remains seated, though it takes effort.  Shoshannah has gotten to her feet, and Mara is heading their way.  For her part, Eleanor keeps her eyes trained on the horror unfolding in front of her, letting it prick at her heart and her own mind, but her hands remain motionless on the armrests as she turns her inward attention to the subtle weight of a stone resting close to her flesh.

"I'm going to break the projector," she murmurs quietly, though perhaps only Grace hears her.

[Entropy 3: Slay Machine > the projector. Coincidental.Unique Focus (-2 diff). Appropriate resonance (-1 diff). Distant/hidden target (+1 diff)Spending WP]
Dice: 3 d10 TN4 (3, 9, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Eleanor Yates
[Extending. +1 diff]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (1, 3, 5) ( success x 1 )

Sid
Sid's eyes widen, lips part, and she gasps, and she is surprised that her breath moves freely into her lungs.  There's nothing blocking her airways, nothing actually trying to smother her, not physically anyway.  Shoshannah moves her arm to take Sid's hand, and Sid gives that hand a quick squeeze.

She's on her feet, twisting to look back behind her, "It's coming from the movie."  And even as she mutters it, she feels a stronger sense of drowning, of being sundered.

Ignores it.  Lets go of Shoshannah's hand as she moves to run to find a Mayan employee, someone who can be told to, uh, stop the movie, duh!

Movie Night
Chaos is erupting inside the theater and things are starting to get seriously out of control.  The auditorium is large, but there are quite a few people in her and as panic, delirium and psychosis seems to set in, the sounds of fighting start to break out in the darkness.  The smell of sweat and soda and liquid butter gets another, coppery aftersmell to it as someone's nose is broken, someone else's face gets smashed into a seat.

Shoshanna thinks of crowd control.  The tingle of her anger can be felt among the other four as she calls out, and then there is a sense that is almost...beatific.  Not warm and comforting, but menacing.  This isn't shepherds that the Archangels send, but servitors of war.  More screams are heard and it gives those who are not already blinded with violence or chaos a direction: they run for the back to escape.

Mara knows what she felt in the moments before the film started...that particular butterfly, tingling up her spine with a tickling shiver.  And she can't imagine that this is coincidence.  She stands up and looks back to see if she can find him, and she does.  Interestingly, he isn't running; he isn't possessed by chaos, nor is he acting like they are to stop it, get people out, do something.  He's sitting in that seat, staring forward with eyes locked on the screen and a blank, horrified expression on his face.

Grace and Sid stand up, for different reasons.  Grace wants to get out; Sid wants to get someone to stop the damned movie.  Unfortunately they find their way blocked for the moment by the crowd of people rushing in panick to get out of this madness.

It's okay though, because Eleanor has a plan.  She can take the machine down from afar, and she starts to work the Arts mastered by her Tradition; chaos, disintegration, fate.  Everything disintegrates to nothingness eventually.  Interestingly, she finds resistance to her efforts, as if something in the room is actively attempting to stop her.  It tries to unweave her work, but she redoubles her efforts and the projector grinds to a stop, plunging the auditorum into near blackness.

The need to extend the roll, however, is a costly one.  On the screen other shadowy forms start to come into view, materialzing next to the insect-man, and start to move forward...the surface of the screen actually starts to bend, as if it's giving way to them.  The screen suddenly gives way with a pop, and the insectoid creature is suddenly IN the auditorium, giving another chittering roar.

Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (5, 6) ( success x 1 )

Sid
[phobia]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 10) ( success x 3 )

Mara
The man is terrified, locked into position as he stares at the screen dumbly. Mara takes a moment to consider and guesses perhaps incorrectly that he might not be the source of the problem. But then the others are doing their work, trying to stop this at the source and they succeed.

But it's to late, the projector might be dead, but the things, the creatures are still materializing, not on the screen..but through it. "Someone pull the alarm! Get these idiots out of here!" She screams as she turns and heads down the aisle at full tilt barrelling through whoever she must. The people might hurt themselves...might even kill one or two of each other...the creature however would kill every single person in the theatre.

The choice was simple, she threw herself at it. Ready to destroy it...or at least delay it.

Shoshannah
[WP for reasons, +1 diff for similar reasons]
Dice: 5 d10 TN7 (7, 9, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 5 )

Grace
[WP to not be freaked out by the first truly weird thing Grace has seen since Awakening]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 5, 7) ( success x 1 )

Shoshannah
For once, Shoshannah is with Mara.  She doesn't delay, but she is more controlled than she has been on other occasions when her temper flared - she doesn't barrel, but does make her way through one way or another, shoving people towards the exit as she goes in the exact opposite direction.  It's moments like this, perhaps, that her uncanniness comes in handy - people who are inclined to get the hell out are made more so by her proximity.  On the way, there's more worrying at the coin in her pocket (and yes, it's not lost on her that Sid's gone in one direction and she's gone in the opposite, but she has faith in the Orphan's ability to come out alright) and possibly more murmuring too.

[Summon Beings of Change - direct at things coming from screen.  Pictured change - bad to good, or at least big to small.  Unique focus, etc.  Extending!]
Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (7, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Sid
[percept+alert]
Dice: 6 d10 TN6 (3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 4 )

Shoshannah
Dice: 2 d10 TN5 (2, 4) ( fail )

Grace
Eleanor says she's going to break the projector, and Grace halts in her attempt at getting the fuck out. Better not get in the way of that. But then the overwhelming feeling of brokenness fills that sixth sense, and she sits back down in her seat next to the screaming man, because that feeling helps her deal with this so very much. Shoshannah's resonance combined with this just seems like it should be making things worse.

And she's stuck here for now, it seems. She leans away from the guy next to her, toward the woman who scares her a little less right now, just trying to keep from bothering Eleanor as the chaos rises.

When the projector breaks and the screen bends, and the insect is born from behind the screen, she just stares, stuck in her seat. The feeling is almost... helplessness. Not exactly fear, just that sense of dread for what's going to happen next. She can't get out. She's unarmed. What happens next will happen.

Mara throws herself at thing, and if Grace were the type to pray for someone, now would be the time. Good thoughts, maybe. Good thoughts. Go Mara. She giggles a little in a very odd fashion -- she's cheerleading. Hah.

Sid
Sid took the aisle seat because it's closest to escape.  Or freedom.  Or something.  But with the combination violence, the coppery tang of blood, the press of the stampeding crowd that blocks her exit, her whole body suddenly goes tense.  Her fists clench at her side and her breathing shallows, but, no, NO!  This isn't then.  This isn't that place.  And more than that, there's Shoshannah just behind her, Grace a few seats down and wanting to get out.

She has to find a way to help, to get people out, or her friends out, or something.  There's no time to be scared.

And then of course the screen bows, it warps, and the creature is in the auditorium with them as the room darkens.  Sid's eyes widen at the horror of it.  She swallows hard.  She watches as up ahead a familiar bald woman in a red coat starts head toward the thing.  She casts about, looking at people, looking for another avenue for escape, looking for...seeing...the man sitting in place with that look of abject horror on his face.  Was that where she'd felt that strange butterfly trace of something magicked?

Pushing down the seat of her chair, Sid starts to climb over it if she can.  It gives her focus, heading for him, though she has absolutely no clue what she'll do if she manages to reach him.  There are fights breaking out, blood being spilled, a huge crazy monster thing coming out of the screen but hey, heading back for that guy gets her away from that direction.  So...bonus.

Eleanor Yates
There is running, and chaos, and screaming, and perhaps her spine is made of iron or maybe the movie just didn't get to her or the magic being worked was not enough to break through the sheet of ice that covers her own magic, her own will.  Eleanor remains still, focused and in control, as she reaches behind her to the unseen projector.  It jams.  The light behind the filmstrip flickers and dies, sparking and going dark.  The wheels grind to a halt, and that projector is not just killed for the moment but will never work again.  It is trash.

In terms of age, she is the oldest mage in the theater.  In terms of skill, she is the highest ranked mage in the theater.  But none of the others she has sensed or met are, as far as she knows, of her Tradition, and they are not her apprentices, and they are not her responsibility or her problem.  She has no genuine authority over them, and does not yell for anyone to stop running or start running or do this or don't do that.  She lets Grace get past her, and Sid, and even Shoshannah if the girl is joining them.

Something escapes the movie into reality just before the screen dies.  Eleanor's eyes go wide for a moment and she gets instantly to her feet.  In the darkness, she feels the weight of the world's resistance to her will lessen, and her lips almost twitch into a smile,

but that smile aches.  No matter; it's dark.

Eleanor reaches into her bag and pulls something out.  She breathes.  In for five.  Out for five.  A pause in between each leg of that cycle.  Deep, controlled, flowing breath.  Grace can see whatever is in Eleanor's hand begin to glow faintly.  Or rather: she can see the light, golden-white, coming from within the chamber of the .45, enriching every single round with the power of the universe itself.

Eleanor raises the firearm and aims it at the monster, glad of the angle of the theater so she's not firing directly through a crowd but able to see somewhat over them.  "GET.  DOWN."

And that's for everyone.

Eleanor Yates
[Prime 2: Enchant Weapon.  Coincidental by scene ruling.
Specialty focus (-1 diff). Quint (-1 diff).
Spending WP]
Dice: 3 d10 TN3 (3, 5, 10) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Movie Night
[[Quick Creature roll]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 1, 2, 7) ( success x 1 )

Movie Night
Everyone springs into action of some kind.  Mara and Shoshanna take off running at the large insectoid biped; two very different individuals moving as one in single-minded purpose.  Sid goes running to try and get to the man who, uniquely in this room, is stuck in his chair, staring ahead at the screen in abject horror. Eleanor's gun comes out and she stands, cutting a stark figure as she levels it at the thing and shouts to clear space.  And Shoshanna calls out to another spirit; while it isn't strong enough to actually physically shrink this monstrosity and its nature can't be changed, the Spirit she summons is able to cede to her whims in another way by dropping it to a knee, as a chunk of the ceiling rips out and slams into it from above.

It roars again, this time in anger and frustration as it looks up to see two brave souls running it down and a barrel of doom levelling at it.

[[Inits!]]

Movie Night
[[Insect Man: Init+6]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (7) ( success x 1 )

Eleanor Yates
+7
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )

Mara
+7
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (7) ( success x 1 )

Sid
+6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )

Shoshannah
+5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (10) ( success x 1 )

Grace
+7
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )

Grace
[AGH no, 6, sorry]

Movie Night
[[Init Order: Declare in reverse:
Mara 17Shoshanna 15Sid 15Eleanor 13Insect Man 13Grace 12]]

Movie Night
[[Try this agai! Init Order CORRECTED: Declare in reverse:
Mara 17
Sid 15
Shoshanna 15
Eleanor 13
Insect Man 13
Grace 12]]

Grace
[[Declaring: Grace will attempt to gtfo]]

Movie Night
[[Insect Man:
a: Pincer Snap Mara
b: Pincer Snap Shoshanna]

Eleanor Yates
[Reflexive: as previously stated, "GET. DOWN."
1: 3RB to the insectoid]

Shoshannah
[Reflexive: What Eleanor said
1: dodge]

Sid
[Slappa da bass!  Slap that scared dude out of scaredness, spending a WP because the dice tonight have been weird]

Mara
[Reflexive get down]
1 Go Do! [Dex+Do]
2 Dodge

Mara
[Dex+Do]
Dice: 3 d10 TN5 (4, 5, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Mara
[Damage]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 3, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )

Mara
[Dodge Acrobatics speciality]
Dice: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 4, 7) ( success x 1 )

Movie Night
[[Creature soak]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 6, 10) ( success x 2 )

Sid
[slap! dex+brawl+WP]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 7, 10) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Sid
[+2]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 5, 9) ( success x 1 )

Shoshannah
[dex + ath = dodge, sorry, lag!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 5, 8) ( success x 1 )

Movie Night
[[Soak]]
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (2, 7) ( success x 1 )

Eleanor Yates
[1. dex (smooth) + firearms (handguns) + 3 (burst) // +1 diff (burst)]
Dice: 8 d10 TN7 (2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) ( success x 3 ) Re-rolls: 1

Eleanor Yates
[Damage: Base 5 for .45 + 2] [Aggravated due to Prime effect]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Movie Night
[[Snap Mara]]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (4, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )

Movie Night
[[Lethal Damage]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )

Movie Night
[{Snap Shoshanna]
Dice: 2 d10 TN6 (8, 10) ( success x 2 )

Movie Night
[[Lethal Damage]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 4, 7, 8) ( success x 2 )

Grace
[Run Away! Run Away!]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 5, 5) ( fail )

Movie Night
[[For interests of speed, I'll save wrap post for the end.  Short of it: Insect Man shot by Eleanor, Shoshanna & Mara Snapped and bleedin' some, Pimp Slap delivered but guy doesn't come out of it and Grace gets blocked up by trying to get over seats and not getting far.  Gonna go new inits!]]

Movie Night
[[Insect Man +3]]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )

Mara
[+7]
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (9) ( success x 1 )

Sid
+6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (6) ( success x 1 )

Grace
+6
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (8) ( success x 1 )

Eleanor Yates
+7
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (5) ( fail )

Shoshannah
+ 5
Dice: 1 d10 TN6 (4) ( fail )

Movie Night
[[Init Order: Declare in reverse:
Mara 16
Grace 14
Sid 12
Eleanor 12
Shoshanna 9
Insect Man 9]]

Movie Night
[[Insect Man:
1: DO A BAD THING that doesn't involve physical attack]]

Shoshannah
[counter bad thing!]

Eleanor Yates
That worked handily.  Eleanor feels an old, familiar surge, but it isn't anything as savage as joy at the kill or getting off on lethal power.  She still has screams in her ears, but here is the thing: no one has died yet that she knows of.  She would sense it.  She would feel the the Wheel turn inside of her and under her, around her, over her, taking her under the water.

The repeat of the firearm rings in her ears, and possibly the ears of most people around her.

"We're going to be okay," she says to Grace, and she sounds so stunningly calm, like her heart isn't beating fast, like people are not bleeding, like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.  It's almost like they just got in a fender bender and she's telling the person beside her: it's all right.  it's not the end of the world.

Eleanor takes aim again.  She knows she loses any element of surprise, but that's long gone by now anyway.  Better this than shooting one of those magi -- or anyone else -- down there.  "DOWN!" she repeats, her voice nearly as loud in that word as the shout of the firearm she holds.

Eleanor Yates
[3RB again!]

Sid
[1: pat down to find small folding knife
2: Stab man in hand, hoping pain will rouse him (+WP) / (reflexive) "Sorry sorry sorry..."]

Grace
["Sid! Sid! Let's get out of here!" Bravely run away, toward Sid]

Mara
[1 Crack its head open like a cookie jar, Targeted strike, head. WP ]

Mara
[Dex+Do]
Dice: 5 d10 TN8 (4, 6, 8, 8, 9) ( success x 4 ) [WP]

Grace
[Dex+Ath, running away! (toward Sid & guy in the back)]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 4, 10) ( success x 1 )

Mara
[Damage]
Dice: 8 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9) ( success x 3 )

Movie Night
[[Soak]]
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 8, 8, 8) ( success x 3 )

Shoshannah
[counter-magic!]
Dice: 2 d10 TN8 (3, 7) ( success x 1 ) [WP]

Sid
[Oh hey you have a stabby thing: immobilized target: dex+melee+str-3(split)-1 +WP]
Dice: 3 d10 TN6 (2, 4, 9) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Movie Night
[[So, to recap mid-turn so we're in the right order:
1: Mara kicks insect, it soaked.
2: Grace Ran
3: Sid stabbed man in hand. It bled!
Eleanor's turn!]]

Eleanor Yates
[1!]
Dice: 10 d10 TN7 (1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9) ( success x 3 ) [WP]

Eleanor Yates
[Damage. NO PWINKING GOD DAMMIT. >:[  ]  [Agg]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10) ( success x 3 )

Movie Night
[{Creature: x_x]]

Movie Night
[[WP for man to wake up]]
Dice: 7 d10 TN8 (3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 4 )

Movie Night
[{Recap post on the way!]]

Movie Night
Violence explodes in a theater, but not for the reasons that you might automatically think.  Chaos is unleashed and people start fighting each other as others flee for the exit, propelled by Soshanna's summoned angelic servitors.

That clearing of the way gives Mara and Shoshanna room to move in on the creature, charging it in an attempt to stop...well, whatever it is from wreaking havoc.  The Akashic is a disciple of Do and she launches kicks at it while Shoshanna moves in to provide backup.  Even the Akashic martial art is something this chittering man-thing is resilient to though, and where a normal man would have been battered like a rag doll it stands firm.

However, it does not stand as firm against Quintessence-powered bullets and like the Saint of Killers the Euthanatos takes aim and fires.  The propelled bit of enchanted metal rips through carapace and meat, drawing a scream as it snaps its pincers down on Mara and Shoshanna both, leaving gashes in their arms.
Meanwhile, Sid and Grace have other ideas.  Grace is new to being Awakened, and she's never seen anything like this.  So she is sensible...she's getting the hell out of Dodge.  Or she tries, but gets tangled up in the seats.  It's deceptively easy to do so.  Meanwhile, Sid goes and smacks the man in the back, the sole person still watching, across the face.  It doesn't seem to do much but leave a red mark, so she decides for something more...marking.

Mara changes her tactic and plants a hand on the back of a seat, using it to propel herself into a Do strike directly to the head.  It hits home but is unable to crack the carapace, and she has to duck down again because she knows what's coming.  Shoshanna gets ready to counter whatever horridness the creature is about to tray as it rears it's shoulders back as it to shriek.  And then the bullets tear through it again and a roar dies in its throat before it can happen, and it falls back still.

And Sid finds a pocketknife on the man, old and a little dull but still useful.  She opens it up, apologizes quietly even as she jabs it down, piercing flesh and striking to the bone.  That snaps him out of it and he shrieks, deeper than just the stab is likely to do.

And Grace, smart, sensible Grace, gets right to the exit door as she hears

BANG!

THUD.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

And then, the spell (pun intended) is broken.  Everyone who was under the sway of the madness loses their senses, and falls unconscious to the ground [[all the Sleepers, no Mages]] in a mass

WHUMP

Eleanor Yates
Six shots.  Eleanor has one left in the chamber.

As the creature crumples, there's a shriek behind her.  A moment later the theater veritably shakes as everyone who was inside of it falls.

Eleanor exhales.  Then she safeties the .45, shoves it back in her bag, and starts running down towards the front where Shoshannah, the woman in red, and the creature's corpse is.  Yes: she steps on a few people.  She hopes they don't wake.  She's not running over to give First Aid or comfort or take charge; she's looking for shells.  And if that means taking out her phone and using the light, well: then she takes out her phone and uses it as a flashlight.

Sid
Sid has no way of knowing for sure if the man sitting immobilized with terror at the sights before him has anything at all to do with this.  Call it a gut instinct, call it an analytical assessment of the situation (weird magical shit + not-moving person = possibly connected?  and then to test the hypothesis...), whatever it was, she felt compelled to get to that man and make him snap out of it.  If nothing else, she could get him to wake and escape the horrors here.

She tried slapping him, but that didn't work.  Immediately she switched gears, patting down his pockets, rifling through them, finding and ignoring a pocket watch, finding and considering a pen when her other hand found the folded knife.  Sid drew it out, looked at it, looked at the still man, and unfolded it quickly.
"Sorrysorrysorrysorry..." she mutters, gun shots going off in quick succession behind her (shots fired in a Colorado theater...again), her friends being nipped and slashed at behind her.  Then she drives the blade down into the man's hand, hope hope hoping the pain will shock him out of his paralysis.

It works.  Oh, oh it works.  The man snaps out of it, alright, mouth opening as his scream pierces the theater.  Immediately, Sid withdraws that knife, still apologizing.  She takes off her hoody at least, her bag left back by her seat where they all started.  She uses the knife, a little too dull to cut through the fabric itself, to break the stitches at the cuff of her sleeve.  "Shhh shhhhhh I'm so so sorry," she says as she wraps - or tries to wrap - the material around his hand.  She's no medical expert by any means, but she knows to apply pressure to attempt to stop the bleeding.

She takes a moment to glance around, checking for the placement of her friends old, new, and not-that-close.  Make sure they're up at least, if not unhurt.

Eleanor Yates
[perception (details) + investigation]
Dice: 6 d10 TN7 (2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 10, 10, 10, 10) ( success x 4 ) Re-rolls: 4

Mara
"Anthropomorphic freudian created cock bag." Mara swears, colourfully at that as she kicks the dead monstrosity one last time, ensuring it was indeed dead before she wrung her hand in the air. "Almost broke my fuckin hand." She grimaces as she looks around at the theatre taking in the sight of all the unconscious individuals before calling out.

"Everyone else intact?" She looks to Shoshannah then and grinned roughly. "You, me, and bullets McGee made this look easy." She said as she crouched down and looked the creature over.

"Guess we better get this thing outta here huh? Anyone have any guesses as to just how heavy this thing is?" She queried as she considered the best way to move it. "I mean...unless someone can break it down? Get rid of it? I mean...my back would appreciate it."

Shoshannah
Shoshannah's hurt but pays it no mind - Mara's hurt to, and the Dreamspeaker pays no more attention to that than she does to her own injury.  "Casings?"  That's shot at Eleanaor, an assumption made, and a girl helping look and gather.  She doesn't know if they were special or not (beyond whatever the Euthanatos did to them before firing), but she figures it's generally better not to leave that sort of thing lying around.  So there are two mobiles lighting up the dark.

[Per + Invest, cos!]
Dice: 3 d10 TN7 (2, 9, 10) ( success x 2 )

Grace
Grace runs past Sid on her way to the exit, who at the time was trying to jab a knife through the old man's hand. Ohhkay. Well, she wished Sid luck on whatever the hell it was she was doing, and headed right on past. Just then, the strangeness... It doesn't stop. It just gets a lot less chaotic with everyone slumped over like they're asleep, and the Thing-That-Should-Not-Exist dead. At least, Grace hopes the people are asleep.
She stops at the door, and looks around the room, like maybe it's over now? Maybe now it's okay to stop trying to get away? There's a man with a knife in his hand that she can see, so apparently Sid succeeded...

"Uh... Sid? Guys? Are we okay?"

She hangs in the doorway, though, just to be sure.

Eleanor Yates
The speed with which Eleanor finds the shells she's looking for is startling and illuminating.  She grabs shells from where they fell until she has six, pocketing the warm bits of metal.  Shoshannah says something to her in the midst of it, and then starts looking, and Eleanor looks over at her.

"Stop," she says.  "I've got it.  You're bleeding."

Which isn't a comforting thing to say.  It's not a suggestion about poor thing, take care of yourself.  It's stop bleeding on things.

"No we don't," she says to Mara, as far as getting the thing out of here goes, straightening up and walking towards the thing.  Not good enough to pick up casings if the bullets themselves are lodged in the body, or the wall.  "You all need to get out of here."  She looks for Sid, finds her, aims the words at her when she sees the man Sid is trying to bandage.  Her brow furrows.  She moves her hand to her bag again.  "Is he dangerous?"

Movie Night
Eleanor calmly walks through, like the cool, collected Euthanatos that she is, and uses her phone as a light to easily locate five of the shells.  The sixth she doesn't locate, but only because Shoshanna beats her to it and rises up, holding the last one.

The man Sid has stabbed has come to his senses somewhat and stopped screaming.  He's lucid, though the haunted look in his eyes can't be avoided and he looks down as Sid apologizes profusely and bandages his hand.

"It's...its quiet alright."  He has a bit of Bostonian in his accent, though it is faint, and the level of diction that one would expect of an academic.  He shivers a little bit (he got STABBED IN THE HAND after all!) as she wraps it up, holding very still.  "Thank you," comes his voice again, a little shaky.  "I feel...quite embarassed, honestly."

Mara is in a quandary, but not for long; the creature, now dead, shrinks down and morphs.  It becomes a more human-sized thing, with clammy blueish skin and clawed hands, fangs.  It's much more easily carried now.

Shoshannah
She hands the sixth shell over with her non-injured hand, careful to keep from bleeding on Eleanor's stuff - that would just be rude.  And then, before following directions (I DO WHAT I WANT), she's scanning.  And scanning.  And scanning.

[scanning ALL THE THINGS (except forces and matter!)]
Dice: 2 d10 TN5 (1, 4) ( fail )

Mara
Mara is told there is no way to destroy the body magically, no one was skilled enough in that particular art. So she had looked down at the body ruefully as she gauged how best to get it out. "Damnit." She says under her breath as the adrenaline starts to fade and her mind loses the focus it held moments ago.

But then the beast recedes, leaving a body that is for the most part, more man then beast. This is easier, this is no trouble really. So she pulls off her jacket [can't get that bloody] and goes to heft the body over one shoulder, knowing they'd have to get it out of here.

"Lets get this thing out the back, anyone got a car nearby?" She asks as she stands there, corpse draped and waiting.

Sid
The man she stabbed does seem terribly dangerous.  He's submitting to her awkward ministrations politely.
She offers him a sort-of smile, a slight upturn at the corners of her mouth that's meant to be sort of comforting but falls somewhat short of the mark.  There's more comfort in her hands, which are warm like fire-heated hearth stones, than in her smile, but she tries.

"I..." she says, as she's looking at him, then she turns her head to look over her shoulder to Eleanor, "I don't think so."  And back to him.  "Hold this here," she says, nodding to his hand.  "We have to get out of here."

[but no seriously are you dangerous? awarepathy!]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10) ( success x 6 ) Re-rolls: 2

Grace
In the darkness, Grace is only really concerned with what's in front of her, the man, Sid, and now Eleanor. She's looking over the stranger as Sid says they should leave, and Grace is in full agreement there, "Yeah, I mean... The police are going to come."

She then turns and tries to walk back down through the random piles of people -- yes, they should go out the back way. With an insect corpse and all.

Sid
"My truck's about a block over," she says to Mara.  "I can bring it around."

She offers another smile for the man, this time a little warmer, a little wider.  Her hand (which has his blood on it, poor guy) moves to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder.  "Come on."

Shoshannah
Shoshannah sees nothing the first try, and so she scowls and tries again.  Never mind that she's bleeding and weakened in the Will department - one imagines she'll be back at the house soon.  She's not particularly strong, though she can help carry an insectoid body out if pressed - and she's bleeding all over one of her favorite cool-weather tops, not to mention the lovely jacket that she hadn't taken off.  But first things first - scans.  Then she can go, once Sid's ready.

Dice: 2 d10 TN4 (3, 10) ( success x 2 ) [WP]

Movie Night
"I promise Miss...Misses, I suppose, I should say."  He looks among all five of them.  "I am not dangerous.  Clearly," he adds dryly, looking around and considering the situation.

"My name is Trent Harrison, bani Fortunae of the Hermetic Order.  And with all due respect and gratitude, your friend is right."  He nods to Grace.  "Leaving would likely be best at the moment."

Eleanor Yates
It's not about skill or possibility.  It's about whether or not it's worth doing.  Eleanor said the latter.  She walks over to the corpse that is no longer a giant insect and steps to Mara.  "Stop a moment," she says, before Mara is grabbing the body to get it over her shoulder.  Looks like she's not going to try and argue again that they don't need to drag the corpse out of here.

What happens next, whether Mara puts the corpse down or has it yanked off of her shoulder, is rather grisly.  It involves a pen taken from Eleanor's blazer pocket digging into the body.  It involves six bullets, flesh clinging to the metal, melted onto it in fact, being dug out and recovered.  Eleanor's hands are bloody and wretched at the end, but her face is impassive.

That done, she stops caring what Mara and the others decide to do with the corpse.  She looks for Grace, wiping her hand with a handkerchief.  It looks like they're going to get Sid's truck and take the thing home.  She looks at the man, balling up the cloth and putting it away.  They're taking the man, too.

Eleanor exhales.  She goes to the opposite exit from the one the women are heading towards, standing in wait, because the door she's at will sound an alarm once she pushes it open onto the alleyway.

Shoshannah
"Some of these bodies won't be getting up," Shoshannah offers, pertinent to nothing.  And then, "Let them come up with some story for it - the body.  We should go patch up.  Sid?"  But Sid's already heading for a door and Shoshannah is uncharacteristically meek - so out she goes, trailing along behind and aiming for the truck.

Mara
"Then lets stop talkin and start truckin." Mara offers with a determined grin, ready to get a move on out of the no longer regal and peaceful theatre. She'd tend to her own wounds later, they stung, for surely that creature had a nasty bite to it, but she knew she'd live and such things were just the way things went when you were awakened.

"Yeah bring it on around." Mara calls to Sid as she prepared to move, but then Eleanor was there, and she asked that the corpse be put down. Mara raises a brow speculatively before doing so, and then watches at the rather grizzly act of bullet removal. When it was done she looked at Eleanor and shook her head with a chuckle. "Gee thanks, now it won't ooze at all with those empty bullet holes."

She bent down then and picked up the body once more, and started for the door.

Eleanor Yates
"You can always leave it," Eleanor says back to Mara with a shrug, before heading to the other door.

Grace
Grace takes out her cell phone, and snaps a picture of the thing's corpse and then the state of the theater, because there's somebody out there that she knows is not going to believe her when she says what happened.

And then, it's time for an exit, scene left. She gets the heck out of dodge at last, going for her own car, a measly Toyota parked a ways off.

Unless, of course, someone stops and asks about the pictures.

Sid
Sid looks from Eleanor to Mara as she herds poor Trent toward one of the exits.  "If we can leave it we should.  I need to get him to a doctor."

She's not as new as Grace to all this, but there are things that one doesn't learn about this kind of life when one spends it all alone and solitary.  Cleaning up after messes like this would be one of those things.

However, in the end, she doesn't care what people do, so long as she can get two people into her truck and then get the hell out of here.

Eleanor Yates
She waits until the others have left.  Pictures snapped, bodies carried, weird Hermetics escorted out.  Eleanor does take note of that gentleman that Sid is taking away, but she waits until she can't even hear the other women down the entry hall before she pushes open the emergency exit, setting off an alarm throughout the entire building and alerting the authorities.

After that, it's not a long walk down the bus stop.  Parking on Broadway is such a pain in the ass, after all.

Mara
Two people say to leave it, and characteristically, Mara does not unlimber her burden, she keeps it on her shoulder heading for the door. "It's called keeping the balance ladies, keeping harmony." She says as she moves through the back door.

"You don't do that by leaving monsters around for sleepers to trip over." And then its to the truck, to dump the monster, and steal it away....one never knows what secrets such things hide.