Valestars Coffee (Open)

His aura shield weakened, Cheshire's shield of aura managed to absorb some of the explosion, but the blast knocked Cheshire back twenty feet. Cheshire tumbled in a roll and barely managed to stay conscious. The explosion made his ears ring and his sight became blurry. He wobbled as he tried to pick himself up. "Is everybody okay!" he yells ridiculously loud, yet he can't even hear his own voice.

Axel saw the visible manifestation of his aura shield dissipating, and he turned his back to the grenade and jumped flat towards the ground, bracing himself for the blast while trying his best to shield the unconscious Nathan well. The blast was deafening.

Having laid himself as close to prone as possible, Axel was not tossed far. Still, the impact hit him hard. The wind was knocked out of him, and his ears were ringing. He laid on the street for a little to fully come to his senses.

The blast didn't stop for the squad of gentlemen standing in front of her. However, it was slowed down quite a lot, and did only minimal damage to her. Olivia was only knocked a few feet away, the cause of that being the pack of people flying over and past her. She's on her feet rapidly, assuming a combat stance with only two of her swords, the other three knocked out of range. Everything is blurry, and she's struggling to remain standing. She likely hit her head on the ground quite hard.

Nathan's body, being prone, and covered by everyone ever, rolled over once, and is now face down. He didn't appear to be affected any more by the explosion, likely due to so many people saving his life at their own sacrifice. Good job, good guys!... Would be what he would say, were he conscious. Instead, he breathes slowly into the concrete.

The explosion left a sizable blast mark on the ground, similar to the first one. Smoke is rising from the remains of the grenade, but not as much as from the first one. The sound was loud, but only people in the immediate area were deafened, and it shouldn't be permanent.

The crowd has panicked, now. Swarms of people are running in various directions, the only thing they seem to be agreeing on is moving away from the site of the explosion. Sirens can be heard from other directions, now.

The police car that was barely visible just pulled into the area, and the two officers exit the vehicle, their pistols out. The driver shouts, "Is everyone alright?! What's going on!" , as they approach the scene quickly but cautiously. The second officer stops next to David, kneeling down to check if he's alive and signalling for medical teams. The first continues approaching the others, slowing as he approaches Cheshire to help him... before noticing his ears. He then looks at the others grouped up closer to the explosion and heads over toward them, keeping his eye out for whatever the hell is going on around here.

"What's going on!?" Officer One asks to Olivia, who is standing, barely, in front of him. He looks over to Axel and Nathan, unsure if anyone even knows.

"Surprise... atack. Explosives. " She falls to one knee as the Officer catches her from fully collapsing. Uh... ringing in my ears... head pounding... must say conscious... pie... Olivia's eyes close and open slowly, before closing once more as she passes out, dropping her weapons to the ground.

Frag. Kai thought as she made her way through the crowd of now-running people. She pushed out into the empty space near the detonation. She swept her eyes over the scene and saw a number of injured individuals, as well as a pair of police officers. She held her sword at the ready and called to the officers, "You two! Get these injured people out of here...NOW!" Where did these attacks come from? She flipped the switch on her weapon and it folded up into a rifle, attatching itself to her arm. She swept it across the rooftops, scanning for any sign of the attackers, But why would they attack here? Of all places, a coffee shop? Were they aiming to get a specific person?

Cheshire was wobbling clumsily for a good few seconds. His vision was clearing little by little, but his ears were still ringing. He hobbled over to the closest solid thing. It seemed to be a streetlamp. He leaned against it to balance himself, steadying his breathing bit by bit. "What the hell is going on?" He meant to say that quietly to himself, but with his ears still deaf, he ended up shouting that very loudly. "Urg.... I have to..." Cheshire wanted to help, but in his current state the last thing he could do was aid others or even pick up Helsingr.

Rainer arrives at the scene with Silver in his hand. The police have arrived. He heard someone yell nearby him. "Hey are you alright?" He said as he approached Cheshire. Rainer examined Cheshire to see if he was injured. "Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need any help?"

Cheshire could barely manage to make out the shape of a person approaching him. The least he managed to make out was the movement this figure was making, but any features were a blur. By the way the person walked towards him, Cheshire by least could tell it wasn't going to attack. The ringing in his ears kept him from hearing whatever it was saying though. "What? I can't hear you. Forget it, what about everyone else? What happened? Are they okay?" Cheshire ended up yelling the entire line of questioning. Cheshire's knees are shaking as he struggles just to keep himself standing.

Hearing Kai's shout, Officer One looks in her direction, but doesn't recognize her. Her command is a logical course of action, though. He lays Olivia down lightly on the ground, before running over to Nathan and checking on him. He seems a lot more beaten up than the others, he should be first.

An ambulance turns the corner, coming in from a different side of the disastrous event and making its way slowly through the dispersing crowds. A man in the passenger seat jumps out and gets over to Nathan and the officer. A very brief conversation between them ensues, and the medical personnel begins looking over Nathan, deciding how injured he is. Two more members have come out of the ambulance with a stretcher, making their way to Nathan and working to get him on it.

The first officer has since headed toward Kai Brandt. "You see what happened? What caused these explosions?" He was demanding, but his appearance suggested worry over anger. He surveyed the area once again while awaiting Kai's reply.

Olivia's eyes open barely. Only unconscious briefly, but as she held her head as if it would stop the headache, she looked around, trying to discern what was happening. She begins crawling to the edge of the street and onto the sidewalk, but not before grabbing her two weapons she dropped. Upon reaching it, she sits up and looks around with blurred vision. Way to many people for another attack to happen now. Good...

He clearly didn't hear anything that I just said Rainer notices that this man was struggling to stand. Rainer carefully rested him onto his shoulder and slowly walked to the paramedics. "I don't know. I was hoping you would know, but it looks like were both clueless on what just happened." Rainer looks at the crater the explosion caused An explosion of that size could have killed a lot of people. "How many of you were there?"

Kai swept her weapon across the rooftops one last time before deciding that whoever had detonated the bombs was long gone. She switched her weapon back into blade form and placed it onto her back, and it settled in with a click. She turned to face the officer, slitted pupils glancing the man up and down, "No I didn't, and I don't know, in that order. I suggest you tend to the wounded and to the inevitable civilian horde." She said as she saw one of the injured women sit up on the sidewalk. She brushed past the man, the small pendant around her neck flashing in the sunlight.

She walked over and knelt down next to her, concern evident in her eyes, "Hey," She said in a soothing voice, "Are you feeling alright?" She asked. She looks really out of it. Kai thought, I wonder if she knows what happened.

David was starting to come to. He looked up at the officer. He looked around. 'He tried to stand but fell to one knee. 'Shit my side.' Icarus put its wing that was on David's bad side on the ground and helped him up, "Thank you Icarus." He then began to move towards Ryder and the man with a cone who was yelling.

Cheshire didn't have the energy to walk on his own so he allowed the stranger to be his crutch. He could still barely here a thing, but he had a clear enough mind to know that the first thing anybody would be saying right now are questions on the situation. "There was an explosion and an injured man. I ran outside along with three others, a woman and two guys. I tried to give the man medical treatment but then some sort of explosive came out of nowhere. The woman tried to block it. I couldn't let her get injured so I jumped in front and used a barrier to try and protect her. Then some guy with wings jumped in front of me to protect us. I think the other guy tried to protect the injured one. The device.... it somehow weakened aura. My barrier barely managed to hold up..." Cheshire's sight was returning back to focus bit by bit. If it weren't for his sensitive faunas ears his hearing would've return by now too. "Is anybody injured? I'll be fine, just take care of the injured ones."

The police officer looking over David offers to help him up, but didn't appear to need it as his wings assisted. As David walked off, the officer wonders why he completely ignored him, but that could be handled later. He turned around and was heading toward a few bystanders, in an attempt to get some order out of them.

The officer didn't really appreciate the way Kai brushed him off, but there was other things to worry about, like coordinating with the two additional officers who just rounded a corner, to get things under control.

Someone's talking to me. Olivia looks up at Kai, now kneeling next to her. Her swords are in her hands, but she's leaning on them to keep herself up. She doesn't appear injured, staring at Kai's face for a few seconds, nothing happening except three blinking lights on the left side of her headband. Eventually, she speaks quietly. "Some sort... of atack." She looked down at the ground in front of her, closing her eyes for a moment, trying to clear them. Upon reopening them, she tries to stand up, but is struggling. "Vhere... is Nathan..? He.. can not go to the hospital. Not no." She looks around at the ground, trying to find her other weapons now that her vision is cleared somewhat.

Nathan was successfully placed onto the stretcher, and the two men are pushing him over to the ambulance. The third person was now next to Axel, inspecting him. "You alright? Can you hear me?"

Axel looked at the emergency responder. "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks. I just need some time for a breather. Don't worry about me. How's the unconscious guy holding up?" He watched as Nathan was being placed into the ambulance.

Kai's brow furrowed at the statement, "Take it easy, please, sit back down." She said, placing a hand behind the woman's back to assure she didn't fall. Can't go to the hospital? Kai moved in front of the woman, her hand sliding up to the woman's shoulder. She put her head next to the woman's ear and asked, "Why? Give me a good reason and I can go get him. But he's better off going to get professional attention." She kept her voice loud enugh so the woman could, hopefully, hear her, but also low enough so that their conversation remained private.

"The other three you mentioned are being loaded onto the ambulance." He looks at Cheshire's legs. You still don't look like you can walk on your own. I'll carry you over to the ambulance for now." Rainer said with a smile, that quickly turned into a frown. A device that weakens aura. I've experienced those first hand during my years as a mercenary. For someone to get their hands on something like that must mean something big is happening.. Rainer gently puts Cheshire on a stretcher. Rainer left without saying a word. He was going to investigate the explosion, until he overhears Kai and Olivia talking to each other. He got close enough to hear the conversation, but far enough for them not to notice his presence.

Before the paramedics could take him to the ambulance, Cheshire spoke to them, though a little louder then he intended. "Don't bother, I'm fine. I'm not injured, just a little shaken. I just need a little time to gather my senses. Take care of the others first." Cheshire said this as he sat up straight. His ears are twitching constantly trying to rid of the endless ringing. It started to lessen a bit.

David walked past the man with the cone to the women on the ground next to the girl from the coffee shop. "Pardon me madam. Are you a cop?"

Olivia brushes Kai off as she starts walking toward her weapons, stumbling only once, but otherwise doing better at walking. "He can not go to the hospital. He vill be alone. They may attack again..." Closing in on her weapons, they each begin levitating, as the lights on her headband stop flickering and become a solid green light. The blades all slowly fly around Olivia, returning to their sheaths on her back. She takes a deep breath once they return, before turning and heading toward the ambulance. David had just asked her a question of whether or not she is a cop."A cop? Nope." She doesn't stop walking as she answers his question. "Have to stop them from leaving."

The medic smiles, standing up straight. "Alright. Don't take off too far, I'm sure the police will want to speak with you." He nods to Axel, before making his way toward Cheshire and checking on him. Noting that he is okay, he starts making his way to Olivia, Kai, and David. Spotting David struggling with his side, he directs his attention to him. "You shouldn't be moving about! Let me look at your injury." He somewhat gets in David's way, trying to get a good look.

Cheshire begins standing up again. He's shaky at first but he by least manages to keep his balance. His sight returned to him well enough and ringing in his ears lessened a bit more. His hearing is comparable to as if he was wearing earphones listening to music. The ringing still echoed in his ears but he could by least hear other people around him to a certain extent. He walks over to the short boy using mechanical wings for a crutch. "..... If it weren't for you, we'd probably all be dead, or at least worst off then we are now," Cheshire mumbles as he recalled how the device weakened his aura barrier. "You were scouting the area before it happened right? Did you see anything?"

David turned to the man. "No problem just glad to help, and yes I did actually." David was taking pictures in the air when he saw the man. "These pictures are all I have. Some guy on the roof." He showed the man. "He dropped a grenade of some sorts on you. It appears to have a aura dampener on it," David was intrigued. "If I had to guess, that grenade was meant to kill anyone unprotected at any where closer than 25 feet give or take." David thought about it for a while before letting it go. "Anyway, the names David you.?"

"Cheshire. Cheshire Schrodinger." Cheshire replied politely but his eyes remained glued to the picture. His usual analytic habits forced his eyes to focus again out of sheer force as he tried to analyze every small detail on the picture.

"And you're wrong." Cheshire looked around, now analyzing the area. "If that picture is correct, then that man was in a position wear he could have tossed it a lot closer to us then that. If he was aiming to kill, then he would've thrown the grenade right at us instead of letting it drop off the roof. Plus that dampener took some time to lessen aura power for a good few seconds. The explosion isn't an immediate one, and it gave a pretty noticeable warning to run before it exploded.  Apparently we were all too concerned about the person behind us to take that warning. That brings back to the way the bomb was dropped. If the man waited for the dampener to activate, that in itself would act as a signal for him to toss it immediately since from there he would have known that it was going to explode sooner then if he had tossed it before the dampener activated, given everyone a heck of a lot less time to even attempt to raise a defense, insuring a higher raise of probability that the murder attempt would be successful. Instead he went and tossed it far earlier then he could have and let it drop in a way that would give warning to its presence to begin with. Considering the device itself, I doubt this is merely an amateur nor is it an amateur's mistake."

Cheshire's eye sight has completely returned through sheer will and desire to analyse, though his ears still rang.

"His intentions were most likely to either weaken other individuals he found as threats, cause a panic and distraction to divert from something else, or...." Cheshire trailed off as his mind racked to simulate every and all possibilities.

Kai glanced over at the newcomer, "No, I am not." She said curtly, and turned back to the injured woman. She followed her, easily catching her and walking next to her, "Listen, we can hop in the ambulance with the paramedics and catch a ride to the hospital, and we can stay right there next to him as they fix him up." She said, talking about the injured man that was now being carried on a stretcher, This woman definitely knows something. "What do you say?" I need to talk to her.

David was amazed. 'Hard to find people with the ability to deduct something that fast.' David nodded. "Either way it had to do with that man behind you." He slowly slid to the ground, his side was in massive pain. He tried to get up, but couldn't get up again. "Just give that back when your done, I'm goanna take a nap." David was starting to pass out again. 'Stay awake, stay awake.'

After a few seconds, Cheshire was content that he got everything he could possibly get during from that picture. He knelt down and gave the device back to David. He remained crouched for a while, partially to make sure the guy was okay, and partially because he was finding it hard to stand back up.

"You're right on that much," Cheshire mumbles. "The injured man from before probably has something big to do with this.... I'm going to go find him. I think he's in one of those ambulances. If there's any more info you manage to come across, be sure to tell me."

Cheshire forced himself to stand again. He looked around until he spotted Olivia heading towards one of the ambulances. Everything considered, it was safe to assume she was heading towards her companion. Cheshire quickly walked towards her as fast as he could manage in his current state.

The images David took depict a man, tall, wearing a white long coat over a black tunic and pants. A hood covers his head. The images aren't clear enough to discern any specific details, however. It could have been anyone.

Nearing the ambulance, she turns her head toward Kai, squinting her eyes slightly, trying to get rid of the now slight blur.Who is this person, anyway? Why is she following me... "I... a... a hospital is dangerous. Too dangerous. Ve ned to take him somewhere safe. And the--" A wave of nausea overcomes her, and she falls to her knees, using her arms to keep herself off the ground. She doesn't look like she's about to throw up, but she could lose consciousness.

One of the paramedics caught up with David, now resting on the ground and began looking him over. "Hey, stay awake now! You've got a wound here, but its not bad. Can you hear me?" He signals another paramedic and the second starts running over.

Attack? Rainer thought. Is Nathan and the woman in some sort of trouble? He makes his way back to Cheshire to check up on him. David and Cheshire talk about the man that David saw when he was in the sky. Rainer eavesdrops on their conversation about the attack and the hooded man. Chesire leaves to go talk to the Olivia. David's device slipped from his grasp, but just before it hit the ground Rainer picks it out of the air. Rainer takes a look at the photo of the man. Who could this man be? There isn't much information to go on. Without missing a step Rainer extended his arm holding the device. "You dropped this. Looks like you could use some rest cyborg." He says with a smile.