Blue considers Karmakaze's proposal.

""" I can only make you invisible once, until I can set up to fabricate more of the one-shot items. No camera appears to be looking this way at the moment, I would be visible anyway, and as long as I am not sustaining that spell, I can fire off other magic with no penalty. So let's just sneak in the window, you first and then me with your help, and then I will use my magic to help locate Jeremy. """

Karma searches the window for any alarms. If the window is clear she slides it open nice and easy, then attempts to make entry.

The window is in fact quite clear of any overt signs of alarms, so Karmakaze can slide it open and slip inside. One long leg can slip over the windowsill and plant a foot on the floor on the other side, then the other join it. The floor inside appears to be an easily cleaned, rubberised tile sort of thing, similar to linoleum but less squeaky to the shoes.
Inside, Karmakaze's ears pick up a rasping sound which, in a moment, she realises is the sound of snoring. Well, that's better than some other options.

Blue reaches an arm up to Karmakaze at the window, waiting for her to help him climb up and in. A number of 'short' jokes come to his mind as he does so.

Karma scans the room for any hostiles and after seeing none too quickly, she grasps Blue's outstretched hand and helps him through the window.

The only response to their entry is a light that blinks on the autocooker, and says, in a quiet but cheery voice: """Work, fun or sleep? Coffee, cocktails or warm milk?"""

Besides that, nothing stirs. The lower part of the house is unexciting; living room, kitchen, half bath, utility room. The snoring comes from upstairs.

Once inside, Blue straightens his clothes and gives a thumb up to Karmakaze. Then, still without speaking, he holds up an index finger in the sign for "1" and points to himself. Then he puts both hands to the sides of his head, fingers to temples, and then does a calling/waving motion to the house, hoping all this suggests to Karmakaze that he is about to summon a spirit.

Hopefully that doesn't get the fire elemental outside excited.



When the spirit arrives, Blue welcomes it mentally, and in similar fashion calls for it to Conceal all three of them.

Having done all that, he holds his hands out for Karmakaze, forwards towards the sound of snoring, as if to say "Lead on, MacDuff". He remarks to himself the location in his clothing of each of the remaining one-shot spells, particularly Detect Individual and Influence.

There is a sort of moment - the span of a long, slow breath - during which Blue requests concealment.

And then, there is an awareness that the spirit which he has just summoned is being torn apart like a young chicken in the maw of a cougar.

Oh, well. Easy come, easy go.

Blue cringes as he feels the destruction of his spirit. Quietly, he whispers, """This guy has major magical protection. My spirit just got shredded. Proceed with caution."""

Blue muses to himself. +++ Maybe I should go astral and deal with this thing now, before we get tied up with the physical world's issues. +++

He fingers the astral armor one-shot he has in his pocket.

+++ Hmm. Maybe the combat with the spirit I summoned damaged the other spirit a bit. Small mercies. +++

Then Blue's pupils open wide as he realizes something that had drifted out of his consciousness over the weeks and months of work at Biozu.

In the Astral, he is a troll.

Whispering again, he says to Karmakaze, """ Wait. I can deal with this thing on the astral. Let me go fully astral and fight it off. You OK with that? I'll have to sit down and be out of body while I do it. """

"""Do what must be done. Do you want me to wait here until you return, or should we make a coordinated attack?"""

""" Yes, please stay and guard my defenseless body. I plan to take out the spirit in astral space so we don't have to split our force later. The spirit may be charged with warning him if we advance towards our target. Once it is neutralized, whoever summoned it will be instantly aware, no matter where they are, so when I return to my flesh, we will have to hurry. """


Blue sits down into a kitchen chair and composes himself, sending a quick thought to Owl. ::: I hunt. The prey is powerful. May I honour your choice of me. :::

He opens himself to the astral and flies from his body. It slumps.

As Blue's form takes shape in the Astral, Karmakaze sees his body not merely slump, but start to slip sideways.

:::In the astral, Blue manifests as a massive shape, a contrast not in robustness so much as in sheer impressive presence. He can see himself marked with the prebuilt spells glittering about himself.:::

:::He can also see the fire elemental, in the same space. Why is it not already attacking? It seems to be observing him. It flickers and roars, but does not approach.:::

---OOC: astral initiative, please---

Karma waits, ready for Blue to awaken and give her the go. She keeps her SMG trained at the top of the stairs, using the handrail as support for her aim.

Poor Blue. He is coming to have a healthy respect, almost a liking for creatures of the spirit worlds. This thing is not attacking, and so he has a niggling desire to talk with the flaming horror.

But ... he invoked his Mentor, a hunter extraordinaire. And he said he was on the hunt. And Owl blessed him with the opportunity to strike first. To hesitate now is to disrespect his Mentor.

Blue says, ::: I respect you, and I'm sorry. ::: and blows the fire elemental's brains out.

:::Blue's spell flickers out like a thought - a thought shaped like a pair of wings that snuffs out a candle, only so much bigger, and so much darker.:::

:::It's just as the flame flickers and dies like a drifting spark that it perhaps occurs to Blue that in this moment - this very instant - the summoner of this elemental must now be aware that the drek is real, and present. Oh, well, that was always the case.:::

Back in the material plane, Karmakaze is not aware of any of this. All she knows is that she's twice had to nudge Blue's form up straighter to prevent him from loudly slumping onto the floor.

Blue returns to his body. Mixed emotions swirl in his head. Satisfaction for a successful hunt. Sadness that yet again what he considers a sentient being was used and destroyed. Worry that the worst is yet to come.

When his senses settle, he whispers to Karmakaze, """ It's done. The mage will know, and reinforcements will come soon. Let's go get Jeremy. If the mage shows up, you're fast, so do like they say in the movies. 'Geek the mage first.' """

"""Nice work. Stay behind me,""" she whispers, as she ascends the stairs, both weapons at the ready.

As the two get ready for an ascent of the stairs, there's a loud voice.

It's from upstairs, and it sings the opening lines of a popular song called "Troll Daddy gonna get me" about a guy whose main squeeze's father is a jealous, angry troll.

"""Gotta get up! Gotta get out! Gotta run run run before I see what it was about!"""

It repeats, and then gets cut off while a voice says: """Whu, what, whaddafraggin' ..."""

Blue follows, happy to let the bounty hunter take charge in a situation right up her alley.

Karmakaze moves quickly and quietly up the stairs, when reaching the top she turns toward the voices and music, firearms ready.

While Karmakaze mounts the stairs, the one-sided conversation continues: """Whaddya wan' me to do aboudit? Dat's your job! Dat's why I gotchu coverin' me! Everyting's quiet up here anyway!"""

That last utterance comes just as Karmakaze's elven feet swiftly shuffle her to what is clearly the master bedroom door. There's a faint scent of nutmeg in the air here, perhaps from the air management system, but perhaps already seeped into the lush carpet.

Blue follows Karmakaze up the stairs, and has the Influence spell-on-a-stick to hand.

Karmakaze enters and immediately unloads on Big Jeremy. If his woman is a threat, that will be Blue to take care of. Her plan is to keep Jeremy between the two women, and allow the wired reflexes to keep her moving faster than unsuspecting brains can register what tired eyes are witnessing.

It's over for Jeremy before Blue even fully enters the bedroom. Karmakaze can spot Jeremy, sitting up in bed, barking sullenly into a 'link while a figure lying next to him has a pillow clutched over head - doubtless against the light and truculence of the late call. Jeremy starts to look up when the door flies open, and Karmakaze's Savalette pours its rounds right into his unprotected, fleshy torso driving the breath out of him. Karmakaze's accelerated senses show her how the last round centre-punches his solar plexus, and the fat ripples outward from there.

The Ingram adds its voice, first just splattering the wall next to his head, but then the next load rocking his head back against the bed's headboard like a gym's speedball smacking against its mount.

Jeremy slumps back, blood trickling from his face, clearly out of the fight. The woman next to him pauses, and starts to lift the pillow away. The 'link drops, and from its throne on rumpled covers squawks: """Fine, fine, if I'm wrong it's your hoop."""

Blue marvels at their luck. Not only does Jeremy's arrogance ally with them, but it seems the person on the other end of the commlink didn't notice the gunshots. Nevertheless, one scream from the woman and the reinforcements could still be summoned.

Before she can assess the situation, Blue puts her to sleep.



Assuming the spell succeeded, Blue calmly shuts off the commlink with no comment, just as a sleepy, arrogant Jeremy might.

Blue manages to knock the woman out, even though Karmakaze might not clearly realise how that happened. In any case, she just slumps into the bedclothes. One quick reach for the commlink, and it blips into silence.

And Karmakaze and Blue are suddenly in a silent, dark room with a naked (of course he sleeps commando), bleeding, unconscious Jeremy Huang in front of them.

Who knew that the shadows might hold such glamour?

""" So, shall we wrap him up in the bedspread and carry him totally inconspicuously out to your car? """ Blue winks in the dark at Karmakaze, but of course both of them are able to see well enough.

""" And, check for his credentials, bring them along with his commlink ... oh .... """ he considers a moment. "" Maybe a credstick? You know, for expenses? """ Hmmm. Theft as well as general mayhem. How far has he sunk?

""" Nah. The lady here probably will need to tide things over till she finds another ... benefactor. Let's leave his money for her. """

"""Definitely take the comlink. We can load him into his own vehicle. It is probably parked closer than mine.

"""Let's find something to tie him up with, just in case. Shoe laces will work fine.

After tying his hands and feet, Karmakaze realizes how heavy he is.

"""Well, unless you can levitate him, we may need to use one of these bed sheets as a sling and sked."""

""" We have all the bedclothes here we need. Wrap him, sling him and let's go. You take the head end, I'll take the feet. """ Blue arranges sheets etc. to wrap their cargo securely. If Jeremy can't be lifted, the stairs might be a bit bumpy, but Blue has little sympathy for one who put a six figure bounty on his head.

Jeremy is definitely over a hundred kilos, and probably nearer 150. He could be lifted, with a block and tackle, material handling robot or even a chain hoist but as a deadweight he'll be rough to handle, regardless of flopping parts and trickling oozes. Bump and thump down the stairs may be the way to go.

Pity his kept woman wasn't on the shopping list; she's surely less than half his weight.

Rolling Jeremy in a blanket and knotting the ends and edge is the work of a mere minute, but the rest may take longer depending on the approach taken.

""" Damn! This guy is massive. I would call up some spiritual support to give us some mundane help, but hearth spirits, the only kind I can call up inside this building, are not strong at all. I would have to summon a really powerful one to provide any meaningful help, and that would likely drain me. It would take me the better part of two hours to clear my head. Let's just drag him down the stairs. A few more bumps won't kill him.

""" As far as vehicles go, I don't want to leave those lizardlings behind. I could drive their car, as long as it doesn't have any kind of special security. Maybe it would be better to bring your car up once we are downstairs. """

"""I don't know about transferring him into my little car. Let's see what he has in the garage or driveway. I will drop you off at my car and you can follow me."""

Karma scans the kitchen and entry way for a key fob. If it isn't readily available, it looks like she will have to grab the car.

There's a key cubby near the entry, which has a set of keys on it - mostly maglock, but one or two old-fashioned ones. One is a Ford key - maybe there's something in the garage. Then again, there's always the car with the two knocked-out goons out front.

Karma swipes them all and leads the way to the garage to see what is inside. If it's an Americar, she is going to be displeased with Jeremy's taste and money management. He has enough to afford a big bounty on Blue, he has enough for a decent sized car or truck.

Bad news. It is an Americar. Not only that, it is a two-door hatchback sort of Americar that they called, in an excess of marketing zeal, the Americar Zzzap. You guessed it; all-electric, with grid power, modest battery size and abundant luxuries around things like commlink integration, odour control and autopilot.

Wait, it's not Jeremy's car. It's his girlfriend's car. Jeremy probably was chauffeured here by his two thugs sleeping outside, and he bought her something cute and practical for her needs. Well, it's here anyway.

Karma leads the way to the hatchback of the car. She pops the hatch, and with Blue's help, she heaves Jeremy's fat ass into the trunk, head toward the driver side, that way his legs can flop over the backseat, if it doesn't fold down, without bothering the driver.

She searches the garage for any cleaners, like bleach or simple orange, or other chemicals if those are not available. In her search she will take any ties, ropes, or garage towels.

"""Blue, you got another sleepy time spell ready if needed?"""

The rear seat of the Zzzap does fold down, which leaves enough room for Jeremy to lie in a sort of modified foetal position in the back. His weight makes the suspension sag visibly, and Blue and Karmakaze can hear the springs creak a little. Oh well, it was designed for groceries and maybe a kid in the back, not a UCAS land walrus.

The garage has a full stock of what you'd expect a kept woman to have, and that definitely includes cleaners, a couple of buckets, a big, half-empty box of rubber gloves, and various ancillary tools such as cleaning bot extensions and spray nozzles. There is also a stack of disposable synthetic cleaning towels that sort of approximate the garage towels that Karmakaze has in mind.

Blue replies, """ Yes, I have a theoretically unlimited supply of those, though eventually the laws of chance catch up and I get shocked by the Drain. I should be able to keep him knocked out, though. Come to think of it, if he starts to rouse, his resistance will still be impaired, so I could use a lower power spell.

""" Long story short, yes. Why are you looking for cleaners and such? Oh. Erase evidence on the woman's car. Got it. That gets him thinking.

""" Sure, drive me to your car, and I'll follow you to your contact. Once we're out of this building for good, I'll summon a spirit to help us on the way. """

While Karmakaze collects ingredients, Blue attempts to erase his astral signature associated with the spell that sent the fire elemental packing.

As soon as everything is packed and all three of them are in the car, Karmakaze rolls the windows down, then opens the garage door and rolls out. Her pistol is in her right hand in case anyone is waiting outside. She takes the long way around if needed to avoid driving past the knocked out guards, driving back to her car.

Blue and Karmakaze make an easy circuit with a snorting walrus in the back of the Americar Zzzap. No problem, the guards aren't conscious yet - or at least not visibly so without any close inspection - so it's a quiet little cruise back to Karmakaze's car.

At her car, a transfer seems unlikely, but at least the Zzzap could, in principle, autopilot its way anywhere on the grid.

Karmakaze drops Blue off at her Elektro.

"""I will drop you the address in case we get separated in traffic."""

She plugs the address into her phone, not the onboard navigation, and then shares it to the Elektro's nav and to Blue's link.

Blue notes the address and makes sure the nav system has it.

He figures out that carrying this cargo may be risky, so he summons a small (don't drain and drive!) city spirit to help them on the way, then gets in Karmakaze's vehicle and follows her.

At this hour of the night, it's not a long drive through Tacoma and to Jaxx's favourite office; a rather low-rent situation from the outside, but inside a veritable hub of technology. This is surveillance, of course, but a lot of comms with a lot of encryption and a lot of recording. True to his style, it looks rather haphazard and nonstandard, but that's because it is. As he has said in the past, nobody could hack into it unless they were on drugs, and drugs that good would inhibit any hackers. Whether he's right or not, he's still alive so that counts for something.

When the cars roll up, a door rolls up as well, and Jaxx himself waves them into his garage space; big enough for a truck, it would easily accommodate these two little rides. Jaxx himself appears to be in a magnificently good mood, with teeth (prosthetic) literally glowing in a sort of oral firework show.

Just before Blue's vehicle enters the garage, he bids the city spirit farewell, """ Thank you for your help. We may meet again some day. """

"""Hey Jaxx,""" Karmakaze says, actually happy to see him for once. """That is my friend, Blue,""" she points back to the man driving her car.

"""I got the package here,""" she gestures to the backseat / trunk. """You want me to help me pull him out, or does the contact want the car as well. It's hot, so I planned on just leaving it in an abandoned lot somewhere... but, it could be for sale."""

Jaxx is clearly in an expansive frame of mind.

"""Karmadaisy! Bluebell! Welcome, welcome and very welcome!"""

The door rolls down while he speaks, hiding internal matters from prying camera eyes outside. """My contact doesn't care about cars, but I know someone who does. What say I sweeten the pot by five kiloyen and you just leave it with me? But first, let's get eyes on the prize.""" He rubs his hands expectantly while he heads to the hatch of the Zzzap, then leans down to pop it open. """You're going for the live price, right?""" While he says that, he deftly whips a set of restraints from his jacket pocket. Evidently he doesn't want an unleashed Jeremy Huang trying to fight his way free.

"""Alive, yes. Definitely...

"""... and is that 500 or 5,000 for the Zap?"""

"""Hai! Just five thousand of Nippon's sweetest export for the ride. It doesn't look shot up, so I'll go that high."""

He lifts the hatch, and finds the package inside. """Don't see any blood yet, so that's a good start.""" He rummages around until he finds out what the package contains, then hastily, and thoroughly, applies the restraints. A groan from the back of the Zzzap shows that Jeremy was evidently coming round. """Aah, mister Huang, good morning! I'm afraid that our hospitality is a little streetwise, but you won't have to bear it for long."""

Karma doesn't want to negotiate. She is ready to be gone. An unplanned five grand is good enough. Plus it makes it look like Jeremy took off with his girl's car and got rolled up. It doesn't explain away the guards, but it does make the crime a little bit more confusing.

Crime. Criminal. Karmakaze.

She usually tried to play it straight, but when someone like Jeremy puts a hit out on you, your best protection is yourself, and sometimes the best defense is a good offense. She doesn't feel bad at all. Not even for his girl. She had to know what kind of life she got into when she started dating Jeremy, and probably enjoyed the rewards that came from his criminal lifestyle.

"""Sounds like a deal, Jaxxy. I am not even going to negotiate. You want us to put him back under before we buzz? He is quite dangerous."""