May 27, 2015:
Some interesting individuals are at a cafe grabbing food and beverages!
Metropolis
A cafe
Characters
NPCs: None.
Mentions:
Plot:
A Dark Hold
Apocalypse: Only the Strong
Blood versus Family
Bones Of The City
Breaking the Universe
Cyberdata War: First Strike
Dangerous Esterikos Wonderous Mystikos
Dark Gods & Times
De Oppresso Liber
Demon Lord of New York
Diaz de Muertos
Don't Tell Thanos The Babysitter's Dead
Empire of Tears
Escape from Sakaar
From the Ashes
Gateway to the Stars
Genosha: Rebirth
God Of The Dead
Hacker, Sass-Mastah, Engineer, Spy
Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung Setzen
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
It was an ordinary evening in Metropolis, the work day had ended and traffic could be heard out in the streets as automobiles honked at each other.
The evening specials for beverages had ended and Linda Kent was currently cleaning a set of tables in the cafe while her supervisor took a break.
Aside from a rich businessman in the corner of the cafe on a laptop there didn't seem to be anyone else around.
On the TV a news story was playing about the disappearance of Supergirl from the skies of Metropolis.
An older man in a dashing slate suit had been casually meandering down the block, his eyes accented by a pair of old glasses. He walks slowly, assisted by a fine mahogany cane crested with a small emblem that resembled horse-shoe. It was all part of his finely assembled guise. He really didn't need any of it, but time on Earth had keyed the Kryptonian warrior in on some social etiquette, and Zod was more or less.. a new man.
Stepping into the cafe, the General slowly makes his way to a table, seating himself. Before his etiquette days, the only entrance he would've been able to make would've leveled a city block.. so consider this a miracle.
John wanders in not far behind Zod, his stained, old trenchcoat flapping around his knees, belt undone and hanging loosely. He extinguishes his cigarette several paces inside the open door, the waft of hand-rolled smoke rolling in with him, and rambles with a loose gait towards the bar, to find a stool on which to perch. His elbows rest on the formica countertop, fingers interlacing loosely in front of him, and he peers round with a casual sort of suspicion for everyone.
Linda smoothed out her blouse and tucked the rag she was cleaning the tables with into her pocket, the black rimmed glasses worn over her eyes serving as an apparent better disguise than any other clothing or accessories would have.
Zod of course, looks familiar to her but she would have expected someone like him to come in and rob the place or kill people; so the similarities to 'Johnny Cash' only unnerved her a little bit.
Seeing Constantine though, she now knew how her cousin must feel with his secret identity. Seeing people you knew, but not letting them know who you were.
Of course, she may have seemed vaguely familiar but she was just another blonde white girl in a country full of them.
Smiling in Constantine's direction she says, "Just a moment." Zod had been here first after-all. Stepping up to the table, she asks the dark-suited man, "Can I get you anything Sir?"
On the television, a news report began to play showing highlights of the events one month ago including the assassination of the president of the united states and the destruction of the Hydra Carrier over France.
The reporter continues to speak of the possibility of Captain America's resignation and also begins to comment on how the disappearance of Supergirl may in fact be her deportation from the country.
Zod slowly turns to meet Linda's gaze. There is a light nod, but no smile. He seems like an old war-vet or something. Though he's not particularly threatening, he just seems like an older, stern man. "I'll have a…" His attention is dragged away by the television, as he seems to be finding all this news, 'new'. He looks over the edge of his glasses to get a good look, before remembering why he was wearing the glasses. Clearing his throat, "I'll have.. an ice water, with some food… any food.. doesn't really matter."
Zod appears a bit odd, and he hasn't fully integrated into this 'etiquette' thing either.
Victor Von Doom heads out to Park Ridge.
Victor Von Doom comes into New Troy from Park Ridge.
"No rush, love. Cuppa coffee when you get a tic," John requests, holding his hands up and smiling at Kara/Linda in a genial fashion. He looks sidelong at Zod as the old man schleps in, giving him a quick head-to-toe as he fumbles around his apparently fake glasses with no idea of what to order. Stands out a bit, he does.
Linda raises her eyebrows a little at Zod's strange manner but tries not to judge him for it, likely he was a foreigner; just like she was. Still smiling she nods and replies, "I'll be right back with your order then!"
Moving back around the counter, she does her best to ignore the news reports and starts making a cup of coffee for John before setting it down in front of him, "On the house, that pot was pretty close to having to be tossed anyways."
Pouring a glass of water with ice cubes for Zod she found a sandwich in the glass case by the deli and brought it over to him, "Will that be all Sir?"
The news reports had ended and they were now talking about the weather, sports and Hollywood entertainment.
John pulls a battered old silver flask from his coat pocket and unscrews it with a flick of his thumb. He upends it into the coffeecup and pours in a couple ounces of strong-smelling bourbon.
He looks up at the television until it cuts away from the news report, shaking his head at the ongoing situation, and looks back at the diner. When Linda's over taking care of Zod, he gives her a surreptitious head-to-toe glance, before taking a long sip of his coffee, waiting for her to come over and take his order.
Zod shakes his head, "No, that'll be all…. …. thank you." Whew! He almost forgot that part! Zod's gaze stays affixed on the TV until it broke away from the news coverage. He shakes his head, muttering something under his breath.. to the tune of 'crazy' for those with amazing hearing.
Zod sips his water while slowly biting into his sandwich. It's hard to tell wether not the man appreciate the food though, as his old man expression never quite changed. Silently he chews his food, glancing around the cafe occasionally.
Linda shrugged a little at Zod as she waked away, setting down the cream, sugar and other amenities beside John for his coffee before asking, "Is there anything else I can get you?" She would have loved to tell the old bugger, but she couldn't bring herself to give up her own secret identity to anyone.
Constantine nods at 'Linda', reaching for the sugar and sprinkling it across his coffee. "Some of that cherry pie a la mode would be nice, luv. And a philly cheesesteak, with the au jus sauce," he adds, before she can turn away. He flashes a friendly, almost flirtatious grin at the woman before she saunters off.
Zod had no notorious plans. It was by all chance coincedence that he was here in the first place! The only thing he manages to kill today is his sandwich, which he does very very slowly. Not ever seeming to thirsty, Zod just continues to stare at the TV in silence.
Linda leaves for the kitchen to put the order in for Constantine and returns sometime later with it, setting it down in front of him.
While Linda was in the kitchen, a rather sketchy looking man in a trenchcoat had wandered into the bathroom with a noticeable bulge under his coat. Zod may have noticed with his enhanced vision, it was a shotgun.
Constantine smiles his thanks and reaches for the sandwhich, cut neatly in half, diner-style. "You not hungry, old-timer?" he asks Zod, dipping the meal in the watery sauce and taking a large bite of it. There's really no graceful way to eat a philly cheesteak, but it looks as delicious as it smells, made true diner style.
He doesn't spot the trenchcoated fellow entering, though he does glance slightly over his shoulder at the sound of the door chiming and swinging open and shut. He smiles again when his pie arrives. "Thanks, luv," he tells Kara's alter-ego, pulling the plate closer.
Zod glances over his shoulder when Constantine directs a comment towards him. It's when he notices the shady fellow with the shotgun bulge enter the bathrom. It didn't take much to put two and two together, "I suggest we all get out of here." The General didn't look like he was very worried, but his eyes flicker over to the bathroom, and he clears his throat while making a rifle motion with his cane.
"Why should we all get out of here?" Linda looks at Zod utterly confused by the man's actions and words, especially the rifle thing with the cane, "Is something the matter?" Unfortunately, she hadn't noticed the man enter either.
"Blimey, why?" John frowns at Zod, then turns and looks over his shoulder at the newcomer. From his angle he can't make out the profile of the gun, but there's something in the man's demeanour that has John frowning slightly, as if unsure of what he's recognizing. Slowly his hand drifts to his belt behind his jacket, where Kara can see the butt of a holstered pistol.
General Zod frowns, because he realizes the moment he finishes his sentence, the man will burst through the door. With a sigh, he continues, "Because everyone failed to notice the dodgy fellow with the shotgun that just entered the bathroom?" Zod is actively moving towards the door now. He had no intention of saving humans, but he figured he might as well give them a heads up! However, in explaining what he saw, he probably had little time to make it to the exit.
Without breaking his cover..
When Zod began to flee, Linda reached into her pocket to get her cell phone, "I'll call the police and tell the staff in the back." She would have loved to ask Constantine to just deal with the man, but then she would reveal she knew who he was, "You should probably get to safety to." In reality, she knew that the only people in danger were the actual cafe workers in the kitchen right now.
"Bloody hell," John snarls. He snatches his gun from the holster and clicks the safety off, holding it in a tight grip. His left hand snakes out and little tendrils of white energy coruscate around his outstretched fingers into a semi-visible spray of force.
"Everyone clear out, quick as y'like," he orders sternly. "Quiet and quick-time, luvs," he urges two female patrons. "Call the cops and tell them some wanker with a shotgun is sneaking around the cafe. And make sure they don't shoot the handsome bloke in the trenchcoat!"
Zod continues to make his way out the door. He is moving alot faster then he pretended too earlier, but not enough to give away his identity. There was nothing Zod really felt he could do in this situation. Or wanted to do, really.. the fact he even said anything was out of character for him.
Once Zod is outside, he shifts over to the shadows, watching everything from afar.
Heading into the back, Linda wanted nothing more than to stop the man but she knew Constantine had it well in hand.
The man removed the sawed off shotgun from his coat and pointed it at Constantine menacingly, his eyes bloodshot from drug use, "Don't be a hero man, just walk on out. I only want the money in the register."
John grimaces. Shotgun beats pistol. He dumps the magazine and pops the round in the chamber, then chucks the pistol away so it skitters under a heavy display unit. "All right, mate, all right," he says, keeping his hands at shoulder level. "You win. Just don't shoot anyone. No point in a murder charge if all you want is some cash, right?" he suggests. "I won't get in your way."
Constantine waits for the fellow to turn his eyes away, then murmurs something and blows a gentle breeze towards the man. Common thug though he is, he has little resistance to the powerful compulsion to sleep that Constantine offers. "Pixie dust, worth every penny," he mutters. He kicks the shotgun from the thug's grasp, then stands there waiting for the cops to show up- Linda's identity and Zod's presence both lost on the magus.