A handsome stranger appears

[erstwhilevillain]

[Suddenly, every apprentice's mirror springs to life with a blinding white light and ear-piercing metallic screech. The sound and light fades to reveal a suave, well-dressed gentleman casually sitting in a chair, smiling. He speaks with a rather posh sounding English accent.]

Now that I've got your attention. Good day, so-called adventurers. I'm pleased to see my bait worked. Though given how little it seems to take to throw all of you into disorder, I'm not surprised. I'll make this very simple for you. The three apprentices who were lured into the woods are now my prisoners. If you'd ever like to see them again you need only do one thing: Bring me 10,000 munny.

[His smile widens and he spreads his hands.]

See? Simple. Accomplish that and I'll let your little friends go. [Pausing, he rolls his eyes slightly.] And before you ask: Yes, I'm serious. No, I will not negotiate. And they all still have their own mirrors, so you can confirm what I've said for yourself. Now, shoo.

Comments

[trashylittlesecret]

Ten thousand munny? Jesus Christ, just hold your pinky finger up to your mouth already, Dr. Evil.

Anyone know who the fuck this assclown is?

[creepyoldguy]

[Oh, look. It was someone that BJ was going to disembowel. The demon’s hair was turning red, as he snarled at the mirror.]

Excuse me?

[erstwhilevillain]

[Eyebrow]

Are you certain you want to be asking about clowns, Richie?

[erstwhilevillain]

[Oooo it seems he touched a nerve. He waves a dismissive hand.]

You're excused.

[creepyoldguy]

[With effort he bit back descriptions of violence he was going to inflict that would have made the Red Wedding seem like a Paw Patrol episode.]

You want shitty munny?

[Hell, he’d go on a murder spree to get Lydia back.]

[erstwhilevillain]

I'm not going to repeat myself. Perhaps you need to get a mirror with subtitles. Of course, that's assuming you can read.

[creepyoldguy]

Fine. Cash is shit anyway.

[erstwhilevillain]

Perhaps, but it does make life abundantly better.

Jury's out on the 'handsome', buddy...

[beancounter]

[....How cliched super-villain can you get?! Fenton frowns at this stranger.]

Okay, now who are you? Who do you have? [Fenton had missed the whole gathering earlier.] Why are you doing this?! Is munny the only reason? [This made him no more than a Beagle Boy, in his eyes. He was just missing the mask. His frown deepened, and his eyes narrowed.]

How do we know you'll keep your word? Why should we trust it?

[im_a_hugger]

[Sir, maybe it wasn't wise to tick off the giant scorpion lady.]

I wouldn't negotiate with you anyway. And munny won't help you much if you so much as harm a hair on our friends' heads.

[She knows that Lydia is one of those who went, and though she's not as close to the others as some, she's not about to let harm come to them either.]

Rude

[erstwhilevillain]

Lydia, Crowley, and the younger of the Doctors. They were astonishingly easy to capture, actually.

[Cliche can be so much fun sometimes, though. He seems unimpressed by the ranting duck.]

Who I am is of no consequence. As far as my keeping my word? If I was going to kill them I'd have done it already. They're of no use to me dead, nor do I have any interest in killing them if I don't have to.

[erstwhilevillain]

[Psh. Does he look like he cares?]

I've no intention of harming anyone assuming my demands are met.

[creepyoldguy]

Whatever, breather. Cash it is.

[He’d go off to shake people down...]

[trashylittlesecret]

[his heart stops for a second. no. no way. no fucking way can it be. why would it? HOW could it? right. time to do what he always does when something scares him]

Only when the clown in question is you, jerkwad. What BBC rejected extras barrel did you crawl out the bottom of?

[im_a_hugger]

[No, but given that Scorpia is capable of throwing tanks, he probably should.]

What do you even plan to do with the munny if you get it? The only place to really spend it is here on Main Street, and the moment you tried, you'd be caught.

[erstwhilevillain]

Why don't you let me worry about that. You just worry about where you're going to get such a sum.

[erstwhilevillain]

Where I'm from is immaterial. And I'm most decidedly not your clown. But make no mistake, I am still quite dangerous.

[v_valentine]

[That light and screeching sound was aggrivating, causing Vincent to glare at his mirror in annoyance. Then came the demand, which just caused him to sigh inwardly.]

Could you be any more clichéd?

[He didn't care who was kidnapped. He wasn't about to get himself involved. He was sure the others here would handle this guy suitably enough, whoever this guy was. It was just how stereotypical this guy was acting, kidnapping and demaning money like he was out of a plot of a 10-gil pulp novel, that had Vincent mentally rolling his eyes. No finesse at all.]

[erstwhilevillain]

[He smirks.]

Well I could find a small animal to pet and laugh menacingly if that helps.

Re: Rude

[beancounter]

[Fenton felt a small jolt of fear run through him at the fact that Lydia was one of the ones captured... then held his breath, telling himself to calm down. Lydia was a very smart, very resourceful lady. She'd be okay. She most probably needed help, but she'd be okay. He had to believe that.]

Well that's a relief... [He muttered under his breath. But it WAS good that this guy wasn't interested in killing anyone. Hopefully he hadn't hurt them, either.] Who is are is of all the consequence! [Okay, that didn't make much sense, but you know what he meant. This guy certainly was of 'consequence' to him, now. To everyone that had been affected by this little 'stunt' of his.]

So munny is all you want, huh? And you'll release them? Simple as that? [He had a fair amount of munny saved up, thanks to his job. Nowhere near what this guy was asking for, but certainly enough to help add to this ransom. The hero in him HATED the idea of giving in to this guy's demands, but... ...maybe they could lay a trap for him, with this ransom munny.] Where do you want the drop to be. It'll take a while for all of us to gather all the munny you're asking for.

[v_valentine]

It would complete your image... [said dryly]

[trashylittlesecret]

Your lips keep moving, but all I hear is "look at my enormous ego". Sorry about your dick, bro.

[erstwhilevillain]

[That gets a smirk] Believe what you want. You'll never know. Such a pity.

[With a wink, he ends the feed. Stew on that, trashmouth.]

[erstwhilevillain]

I did give thought to a goatee, but it seemed a bit much.

[erstwhilevillain]

Simple as that. There really is no need to get all worked up about it.

[Really, this was all so tiresome.]

You have 24 hours. I'll let you know where the drop is to be.

[v_valentine]

[Vincent made an overt show of looking the man's face over. (It also helped to cement this guy's face in his memory, in case he ever ran across him later)] I don't know if that would have worked with your jawline...

[beancounter]

[Fenton just huffed, feathers fluffing up a bit. There definitely WAS reason to get 'all worked up', in his mind. But whatever. He let out a snort.]

A day, huh? And just how will you let us know? Another announcement?

[woo_oo]

... Y'know, what I don't get with your types is, what do you even do with all that money? Like once you start spending it, wouldn't people around you be immediately suspicious?

[erstwhilevillain]

No, I thought I'd send a carrier pigeon.

[eyeroll. Really. These apprentices are supposed to be smart.]

[erstwhilevillain]

In another lifetime, perhaps.

[Look all you like. He rubs a hand over his chin. ]

[erstwhilevillain]

A curious question from a curious child. Interesting you ask about the money and not your wayward compatriots.

[woo_oo]

As someone who's been a hostage, I can already tell they're okay. You've got as much to lose on this whole deal, if not more. You need them alive and relatively unharmed in order for this whole deal to work.

Plus, I know them, so I know they're already working on a way to get out, if our kick-butt side doesn't get to them first.

[erstwhilevillain]

[He chuckles.]

You're clever. And correct. They are more valuable to me alive. I wish you good luck on any "kick-butt" plan you've got. You'll certainly need it.

[v_valentine]

[And as soon as he starts doing that, Vincent looks away - expression still indifferent and unchanging - and closes the mirror, ending communication.]

[He's curious as to how things will turn out, but only mildly so. He's sure he'll hear about it from others, on the network, later.]

[woo_oo]

You still didn't answer my first question!

[erstwhilevillain]

What am I going to do with the money? That's simple. Nunya.

[woo_oo]

Nunya?

[beancounter]

Well, I don't know... You could have left a ransom note on the job board, using cut-out newspaper clippings, for all I know. It's suit your MO. But fine. We'll wait to hear from you.

[erstwhilevillain]

[He'll just get a laugh as the feed is closed.]

[erstwhilevillain]

Nunya business.

[With a wink and a laugh, he ends the feed.]

[im_a_hugger]

How do we know you'll let our friends go if we do give you the munny?

[erstwhilevillain]

Do you want me to pinky swear?

[im_a_hugger]

Yeah, I've never heard that one before...

[Either way, she's dropping the call there. She needs to go talk to Fenton and the others anyway.]