Round 11 Transcript

Hera takes a deep breath and steps around the corner into full view of the attackers. She staggers deliberately, feigning drunkenness or spell-induced disorientation—but her acting skills aren't great under pressure. "Wh-what's going on?" she slurs, voice high and uncertain.
The two men pause their assault just long enough to look at her—one has his hands around the victim’s throat, while the other holds him down with a knee in his back. Their expressions are calculating rather than shocked or ashamed.

"Beat it," the man choking the victim growls without loosening his grip.* "Unless you want to join us."

He grins nastily at Hera—predatory and unsettling. The victim beneath them makes a choked sound that might be terror or pleading, but it's muffled by the man’s hand still clamped over his mouth.

Hera hesitates for just a second—this is not going according to plan—but then she forces herself to stumble forward another few steps. "No... I'm looking for my f-friends..." Her eyes dart frantically between them and around them, trying to buy time for Abby and Halia to get into position.*

The man straddling the victim shifts his weight slightly, reaching for something at his belt with his free hand. A knife glints in the dim light. "Yeah? Well we found yours first."

His companion chuckles darkly. "You sure you want to mess with us, sweetheart? We don't like interruptions."

Hera feels a chill run down her spine—they're not backing off or running away, and now one of them has a weapon. This is rapidly escalating from 'awkward situation' into something much more dangerous.

Behind the dumpster, Abby and Halia exchange a panicked look.

Silra moves through the crowds like a shadow through sunlight—slipping between bodies, weaving around groups, always staying just outside the immediate radius of the most intense activity. She can feel the magic hanging heavy in the air around them, thick and sweet and dangerously seductive.

This is exactly the kind of chaos she thrives in—opportunity disguised as disaster. The police are already starting to arrive, which means they have maybe fifteen minutes before a coordinated search begins in earnest. That's barely enough time to get clear of the area let alone regroup somewhere safe.

She glances back at Jeane following close behind—her sister looks tense but focused, already using small bursts of magic here and there to redirect particularly aggressive groups or create momentary distractions. It's sloppy work compared to her usual precision, but understandable given the circumstances.

I am beginning to feel my magic slip away from me again, even as I try to maintain control of the spell that’s still clouding everyone's minds.

What an utter disaster this has turned into—two of our members wandering off while the world descends into a fuckfest I can barely comprehend. And now...now Halia and Hera have stumbled upon yet another complication? Two men trying to rape someone in broad daylight? Really?

This whole situation is spiraling out of control faster than a succubus on heat, and I need to make a choice—quickly. Should I leave Silra to handle the police distraction and intervene here myself? Or trust that Hera can improvise something...anything to defuse this situation before it gets even worse?

The very thought makes my wings twitch with irritation—I didn't sign up to babysit incompetent sisters who can't even manage basic surveillance without stumbling into trouble. But then again, I also didn't expect the entire city to turn into a walking orgy that's attracting law enforcement like flies to shit.

Focus, Jeane. Focus on what you CAN control right now. The spell is still active, which means we have maybe thirty minutes before the effects wear off completely and people start remembering this clusterfuck. Including those cops who are going to have a field day trying to explain why they're arresting hundreds of civilians for public indecency.

I need to maintain the illusion that everything's normal—just another crazy night in the city, nothing to see here move along. But maintaining an orgy spell across this many people is taking every ounce of my power and then some...

My wings flex as I consider my options. Silra can handle the police—I've seen her work before, she's a master at misdirection when it suits her. Which means my attention needs to stay here, on managing the fallout from our sisters' latest fuck-up.

Hera looks...uncomfortable trying to play drunk and disoriented. It was a brave attempt, but she's always been terrible at improv. And Halia...well, I can see the conflict written all over her face even from here. She's probably already wrestling with whether to intervene or not—moral qualms getting in the way of practical solutions.

Abby just looks terrified, which honestly might be the most useful emotion right now if she can channel that into actually doing something helpful for once instead of just standing there like a statue.

Gods, this is why I told everyone to stick together in the first place.

Her gaze snaps wide with alarm at the sight of the knife. This situation is spiraling out of control fast. "Hey now," she says sharply, "no one needs to get hurt here. Why don't you just let him go and we can all walk away?"

She takes another step forward, hands raised in a placating gesture even as her mind races for some way to de-escalate this before it turns into an actual murder scene.

"Look," Hera continues, "I'm not interested in your business. I just need to find my friends and then we'll get out of your hair. No reason for anyone else to notice what you're up to back here if we all keep our mouths shut."

It's a long shot, but maybe she can appeal to their self-interest - the attackers seem smart enough not to want police attention. "So how about we call this whole thing off before someone gets seriously injured or worse? I promise no one has to know what happened here."

Halia | Civilian
She grits her teeth at the scene unfolding before them—two men assaulting a third person right out here in the open. It’s disgusting and wrong. "This is unacceptable." Her hand instinctively moves towards the small of her back where she keeps hidden tools, but Hera's voice cuts through the moment.

"Halia!" The other woman hisses sharply without turning away from the attackers. "Stay put! We need to maintain our cover!"

Cover? What kind of cover are we supposed to maintain here? Halia’s jaw tightens with frustration.* "Hera, I can’t just stand by and let this happen right in front of us—"

"Shut up!" Hera snaps under her breath, still facing the men but clearly torn. "You don’t understand! If these assholes decide we’re a threat, they’ll escalate faster than—" She cuts off abruptly as one attacker draws a knife.