Log:The Geste and the Gentleman

2015/05/07 Grimm The Gentleman 1

It's very early in the morning when your bedroom door flies open and Adam says in a breathless voice, "Wake up, Gabby! There's a crime about to be committed! You gotta stop it!"

Grimm flounders in her bed and gets tangled up on her sheets, dressed in a loose black band t-shirt and matching boy shorts. She rolls on her stomach, grabs her pillow, and flings it at Adam. "I was supposed to sleep IN today!" she grumbles as she blows some of her hair out of her face. Someone woke up grumpy.

Adam oofs as the pillow connects. "Sorry, sorry, but this came up like right now. I promise I'll make it up to you" He pauses for a second as if gathering his thoughts. "I was with this guy from the film club, Mark. And we got talking and went to this club he likes." Adam rolls his eyes. "Turned out its a gay club but no prob. I'm cool with that. Well, it was getting close to closing time so I went to take a le...Went to the bathroom. And I overhead someone saying they found some of Belle Geste's gear and were going to use it tonight." He finally stops to take a breath.

Grimm sits up in bed as Adam makes promises he doesn't intend to keep most likely. She scratches her head as she listens, then blinks and looks down at herself. "Aw...geez..." she mutters, noticing she's got patches of glitter on her. "...this never comes off..." she sighs. And swears that she's listening. Suddenly she stops trying to futily wipe off the glitter that's on her arms and legs...and hair...and lips? That's glitter for you. "Who's Belle Geste?"

Adam goggles as his clueless roomie. "You don't know who Belle Geste is? Wow, I thought everyone in CB knew who he was." The lanky youth leans against the door jamb to Grimm's room as he says, "He was like Pennywise from the classic 'It' but for real. Well, and rather than being a alien spirit of some sort, he was psycho guy with a clown fetish and /way/ too much time on his hands. Made all sorts of 'humorous' toys as he called them and didn't mind who got hurt when he used them. Course, this was back in the '30s and '40s."

Grimm folds her arms around herself in a hug and shudders. "...I hate clowns." The Mistress of Nightmares, afraid of clowns? "What a creep. That's...seriously some sick shick. I can't believe someone would want to touch any of that weirdo's things." She grumbles and rubs her face, and starts trying to detangle herself from the sheets that've wound themselves around her legs and torso. "Okay, okay...I'm on it. Did they say anything about where they'd be using it?"

"I'm not certain. The guy said something about starting where Belle Geste started." He snaps his fingers. "I'll look stuff up on Villain Unlimited and see if I can't find out where that is. You should probably get dressed." And with that Adam darts back out into the living room.

Grimm slinks out of bed and trudges on to the bathroom, where she catches sight of herself and the glitter. "Geez, Mal," she blushes a bit and starts running the shower in the hopes of getting all the glitter off. It's tough when your boyfriend sheds metal.

About fifteen minutes later, Gabrielle comes out of her bedroom, freshly showered and dressed. "Any luck finding anything?" she asks as she stretches sleepily.

Adam nods as he sips a fresh cup of coffee. "Yep, seems Belle Geste's first job was at a jewelry store called Hanson's over in the financial district. He used a a troop of toy soldier's and killed four people during the course of the robbery. Got away with 3 million in gems and jewelry whichh was never recovered." He shakes his head as he points out an untouched cup of joe on the counter. "Guy was a psycho. No reason to kill them."

Grimm covers her mouth as she lets out a huge yawn. She lumbers to the counter. "Thanks." She'll be ready to think once she has some coffee in her. She scoops up the mug and starts drinking. "Mmm. Hug in a cup." Another few sips and she starts to almost seem like Gabrielle at last. "Can't believe he killed people with toy soldiers. Okay, guess I'll check it out." Gabrielle's shadow perks up a bit at the ritual of coffee drinking. He remembers this from his time imitating that human with all the coffee! Her shadow starts to pull itself up off the ground and reach for her mug as she sips. Without looking, Gabrielle swats his hand like a scolded child's. "Mine."

Adam looks at your shadow then up to you. "Should I make it, him one as well? There's more in the pot." He yawns as well. "And I don't think I'll drink it. Seems the beers are winning over the coffee." He looks at you. "If you weren't dating Malcolm, I'd introduce you to Mark. Nice guy, physio major, really built too. Probably gay though since we went to the Grey Cat."

"No, he can't even eat," Gabrielle both answers Adam and eyes her shadow as she reminds him. Looking back to Adam, she sighs. "He just likes to mimic drinking it. I blame Porter." Everyone does. For everything. Gabrielle smirks slightly. "You know I prefer men in uniform. But your friend Mark is probably more into you than he'd be me. Unless I, y'know." Darkness swirls up from around her feet to wash over her, leaving her appearing as a male version of herself. "But I'm pretty sure the illusion wouldn't hold if things got serious. Besides." She illusion drops off of her and she appears normal again. "Malcolm may be older, but he's way hot, and a total sweetheart."

Adam nods and yawns as he punches a few keys on the desktop PDA. "OK. And transferred the addy of Hanson's to your qPid. Turns out they're still there. Closed right now though." He looks up at you. "Be careful. Guy didn't sound psycho but you never know. Could be a real nutjob like my econ prof."

Grimm laughs sleepily into her cup and pulls out her qPid to check the directions. "Closed may still be a good time for some newb to rob the place. Thanks, Adam. Have fun sleeping off the beers. I'll be careful. Besides, my shadow has my back." Sometimes. And sometimes her shadow gets easily distracted. Like a cat by a laser light.

Grimm travels to near the jewelry store by her usual means. As she surveys the surroundings, she can see that no one is presently around. At least, no one she can see. Hanson's is a venerable looking old brownstone on the edge of the financial district. While its front is well lit by the street, an alleyway stretches down one side of it and rather shadowy.

After she arrives, Gabrielle conceals herself by clouding the minds of those around her in case she comes across the would-be thieves. The alleyway is more her thing, so she sneaks there to find a place to get a better sense of things, stretching out her shadow sight to survey the building more closely.

As you sneak into the alleyway, your touch comes across someone standing just to one side of the back door to the jewelry store. It feels like a slightly shorter than average man dressed in almost skin tight costume including jester's cap as well as a heavy cane topped by a jester's head. You can hear him muttering to himself as approach.

Grimm grits her teeth slightly as she feels the gaudy outfit of the psychotic Belle Geste. It causes shivers up her spin. She draws closer to try and make out the muttering. A quick shadow step and the space between her and the man is bridged.

"...No, there's no reason to wait until it's open. Too dangerous," is said in a British accented young man's voice.

"But it's not an Escapade without people!" says a cackling, sepulchral voice. "As I always say, said, whatever: Laugh, and the world laughs with you...unless you're laughing at other's peoples' suffering, in which case the world is /never/ as amused as I am...So, let's wait, huh?"

This close you can sense the presence of a powerful lingering presence. Less than a ghost and more of a possession of a physical object. To be precise, the jester headed cane that the young man holds. And yes, you are in the presence of evil.

Grimm stays a few meters behind the young man foolish enough to listen to the deranged spirit of a clown fetishist. Then, she stops clouding her presences from the youth's mind as she turns into a semi-transparent, dark tinted version of herself. "What's dangerous is listening to the advice of the malevolent dead," she warns, her voice offputting and ghostly sounding while she's a living shadow.

The youth in the black and red jester's motley jumps at the sound of Grimm's voice. "Wha the eff?" he says in a decidedly American accent. He takes a step back holding the jester headed cane between Grimm and himself. "I thought you were keeping an eye out?" This last does not seem addressed to Grimm.

At which point the jester head on the top of the cane swivels about to look at Grimm. It remarks in that cackling, sepulchral voice, "Hello nurse! Wow, didn't know they still built 'em like you." The happy grin on the jester's face tightens into a rictus grin. "I'll tell ya where I hid my treasure if ya include her in an Escapade, Cat..."

Grimm offers a cheshire grin and tries not to act horribly, horribly disgusted by the jester head. She flickers like a jaunty ghost with a chorus of dark whispers, and reappears sitting sideways on the closed lid of a garbage dumpster. "Oh? You wanna take me on an escapade? What sort?"

'Cat' says in that British accent, "Um, no, no escapade. I'm just..."

What ever 'Cat' is 'just' is drowned out by the jester headed cane crowing and cackling in a stronger voice, "OH! A hero, you're ever so much fun on an Escapade. Why if I still had my lips, I'd just kiss ya!" Then he snaps in a commanding tone, "Give her a present, Cat!" At which point 'Cat' reaches into a pouch located at his back and pulls out a small toy train with a sad face on its front.

"Thank heaven for small favors," Gabrielle muses over the lack of lips. She turns on her seated dumpster to face towards Cat and the jester with a stick up his...whatever. If there wasn't already one jammed up in there, Grimm would probably have put one there. "A present? You shouldn't have," her voice drips with false gratitude.

The youth in the black and red jester's motley says in a sing-song voice, one stripped of its British accent, "Choo the Train is sad because he can't make proper train sounds like all the other locomotives." 'Cat' then sighs as Choo makes a strange wavering sound as 'steam' comes out of his whistle.

The sound makes you want to yawn and indeed you do.

Grimm covers her mouth and yawns sleepily. "Wow, that was a really boring story..." she says sleepily. She notes the influence on Cat's mind and frowns slightly. So maybe she can't get too physical with him. Her body begins to become solid again. "You're going to really want to put down your bag of toys and the jester on the stick," she says in a compelling manner.

'Cat' blinks heavily then sets the heavy cane with the jester head down on the ground at your command. A command you realize that has just broken the control someone else had over the youth's mind. He also reaches behind himself to remove a large pouch. "Um, I think I should be going..." he says back in that British accent he apparently fakes so well.

The jester headed cane growls out. "Pick me up, Cat! Now!" This yell is accompanied by a mental compulsion striking out at Cat.

'Cat' stiffens for a moment then with a sigh reaches down for the cane again. But has not yet grabbed it again.

Grimm frowns slightly. "Oh, so it's like that, is it?" A shadowy hand starts to stretch out with clawed fingers towards the staff.

The cane yelps out, "Eeek! Unhand me Brunhilda!" in that cackly sepulchral voice of its. It does try to twist and turn side to side in your shadowy hand. But it has no real strength to resist your shadowy hands grip.

The youth starts to reach for the cane then blinks his eyes. He looks from the cane to Grimm then nods his head. "Um, yeah...See ya guvnor!" Then youth then sprints at a terrific rate of speed out of the alleyway past Grimm in a smooth dodging zig zag.

The cane turns its head until it is looking at you with that rictus grin. "That is not the way to do an Escapade! This is the way to properly start an Escapade!" Its mouth then opens and a white mist sprays out right at you.

But the mist is off by just a bit. "Whoops! Say, can I convince you to come a bit closer, honeybuns?"

"Brunhilde? Honeybuns?" Gabrielle smirks and beckons with a finger. The shadow limb obliges and brings Belle Geste closer to her with a slow drifting motion. "Oh, Belle Geste, I knew you'd still want a kiss," she teases as her face contorts slowly to become something terrible. Her lips draw back into a rictus smile to match his. But then the corners of her mouth keep going until the skin splits. Her teeth grow sharp and crooked and appear in rows upon rows of teeth, narrow and curved. Her eyes turn completely black and sink into her skull as her skin mottles and grays, becoming dried and peeling like aged wallpaper.

The cane's beady black eyes get wider. "Mama?!? No, not the basement!"

"Time to go in the basement," Gabrielle calls through those rows of clattering teeth. Suddenly it gets very dark for Belle Geste, like someone shut off the lights. The cane drops to the ground at the same time. It goes quiet after it clatters on the pavement. After a moment, Gabrielle asks in an eerie cracked voice, "Are you enjoying your last escapade?"

The cane rocks back and forth for a few moments in the darkness. Then it says in tone of bitter laughter, "Ya know? They did it better in Hell, Brunhilde!" Its mouth opens to release another burst of white mist at Grimm.

Which also misses. "Ding dang dong! Don't suppose you' d like to pick me up in your bare hands, honeybuns?" It then giggles. "Boy, I'm giong to be in /soooo/ much trouble! Couldn't even do one Escapade! Daddy'll be ever so angry!"

"Hmph." The darkness dispels and Gabrielle slides off the dumpster. "Then maybe I should just send you back there so they can do it right," she threatens. She splays out the fingers on her right hand as if she had claws. A shadow copy of her hand forms in the air, but shaped like a large, mostrous clawed paw. It moves in time with her own hand. "And you were mistaken when you called me a hero. A hero would probably do something stupid like try to take you in to the police, or lock you up in some vault where you can't hurt anyone. I'm a problem solver, and I prefer permanent solutions to monsters like you. So...who's your daddy?"

The cane laughs manically for a moment then says, "Antonio Maretti. Pops was great! Taught me how to make toys! Then he died..." It sounds sad as it speaks this last but it still breathes out that mist at you again.

Grimm's eyes flutter slightly at the smell of the gas. Her head dips down for a moment, then suddenly jerks up as she manages to stay awake. "Dumb move, puppet..."

Grimm narrows her eyes and swipes with her hand. The shadow claws move in time with her hand and slash at the cane.

The cane grunts as your shadow claws strike at it. They tear and tear at the cane but it is tougher than steel it seems. It is deeply gouged but still intact although the jester head is not missing the top of its hat.

Grimm slashes again with her hand. The claws slash in the other direction. "Tough old thing, aren't you?"

"Forged in the fires of Hell! Well, no, in truth, forged in madness in the darkness of a cellar. Hee!" the cane giggles in a disturbing way as your claws flash down again.

The cane splits into many pieces under the blow of your claws this time. Thick black foul smelling blood oozes out of the shattered pieces. The jester's head spasms for a moment then its rictus grin fades back into a normal grin.

A slow clapping comes from the mouth of the alleyway in the silence that follows. "Bravo, daughter of Old Night. Bravo." The voice is cultured and calm.

Grimm flicks her hand and the shadow hand flicks away the black ooze from its claws before fading from existence. Just as she was feeling relief from destroying the psychopathic jester's tether to the world, the clapping causes her to stiffen and whirl about. She appears almost feral and ready for an attack by her body posture. "I think you have me confused for someone else."

An angelically handsome man impeccably dressed in a bespoke black suit stands at the mouth of the alleyway. A curiously patterned dark red tie and matching pocket square along with large red ruby cufflinks stand out against the brilliant white of his shirt. "Oh, I am certain I do not, miss. I can see it writ upon you clear as, hah, the shadows." He leans slightly to look beyond you. "Pity about Belle Geste. I'm certain next time he'll put up more of a fight."

Your hair raises slightly as you realize you are still in the presence of evil.

Grimm restrains a shiver from the sensation that travels from the raised hairs on the back of her neck and down her spine. "He'll regret coming back if he does." For all her bravado, she still takes a step back from the handsome man. "Then what does that name even mean? 'Daughter of Old Night'?"

The Gentleman shakes his head slightly. "Please Miss Grimm, do not pretend you do not know yourself. Or the true source of your wondrous gifts." He flashes a brilliant smile. "Of course, perhaps Avatar of Old Night would be a better way to phrase it? It is not as if she could actually /be/ your birth mother. But spiritually speaking? Well, you certainly resemble her."

Grimm scowls slightly. "I've heard that word before...'Old Night'. I don't know what it means, though. Who are you? And what do you know about it?"

The gentleman laughs softly, "A gentleman never talks about a lady behind her back, Miss Grimm. It just is not done." Firelight seems to flicker in his eyes which you realize is coming form behind you. It seems Belle Geste's cane and the pouch 'Cat' put down are bursting into intense white hot flames. And you realize the course of those flames is the gentleman in front of you. The power is dark, demonic, and old.

And the power is not so much destroying the cane and pouch as taking them elsewhere.

Grimm looks over her shoulder at the flames as the cane and pouch disappear within them. "For a moment I thought you were the daddy he was talking about," she murmurs, sounding less brave and cocky than before as she senses the type of magic at the Gentleman's command. "Are you just here to collect your lackey's toys?"

"My lackey's toys?" The Gentleman laughs. "He is /my/ toy, Miss Grimm. Rinaldo will be reforged, beaten back into a useful shape. Then put back somewhere for someone else to find." He smiles warmly. "And yes, I am just here for that. I have no designs on you, Miss Grimm. Well, other than those of any man for a beautiful woman."

Grimm's hands ball up into fists. "So you can let him trap some other poor innocent into doing his bidding? I don't think so. And for your information...I'm taken." She emphasizes her rejection as she stretches her hand towards the gentleman. Black energy coalesces around her hand as she prepares to attack him.

The Gentleman holds up a hand. "And Miss Grimm, a word of advice: Do not attack me. I am not a demon or a metavillain. I am as old as Old Night if not so alien." And at that, whatever held you back from sensing him falls away. To your senses he is great darkness, evil beyond anything you have felt. He is not a demon. He is Fallen. How you know this having never met one before is beyond your ken. "And I now you are taken. Your love for him surrounds you like cloud. As for Rinaldo? Why would I set him to trap an innocent. What use is an innocent to me? I cannot hold them." He smiles slightly. "Only those who are already ripe for a fall."

Grimm's stomach feels like it just dropped away, and the power collecting around her hand disperses as she loses focus. "Then...why did he go after that kid?" she refers to Cat, but her voice trembles slightly.

"Cat is hardly an innocent child, Miss Grimm. He is a grown man even by modern standards. His lust, avarice, sloth, and /his/ corruption of the innocent make him my lawful prey." The Gentleman smiles brilliantly. "But, enough of this. Congratulations on your defeat of Belle Geste. And good day." And with that, he is gone. You know he has returned to the Underworld.

Grimm finally allows herself to shiver slightly, now that the Gentleman and his evil is gone. She sinks back against a wall of the alley and sighs, rubbing her face. "Great...that other guy I let go was probably a bad guy too," she mutters to herself. She looks to the spot where she last saw Cat and looks for the trail his shadow left behind.