Fortune Favours The Fey

Flick grimaced as he kept his balance, literally manhandled.

"I only know so much. His name is Fearghal and he's not a human. He's some ancient spirit. That crown was his once, before some 'usurper' stole it from him," The mercenary explained. "He has weaknesses. He can't enter a building without being invited first. That stuff his sword is made of will fuck him up. That's all I've managed to gleam."

Flick perked up, "Oh, and he can use that crown to control others of his kind. He can get them from the 'hedge-wall', which he can summon in any big green area. All I can think of close by is Central Park."

The mercenary cleared his throat, stepping along Danny's palm and creating a small portion of extra distance away from her face if able. "Just get me to a live wire. This thing charges up on contact with electricity. It's good that way."

"So, you want me to plug you into a wall socket?" The request seemed easy enough. Danny would waste no time looking for the closest place to shove Flick. "Helping me take this guy down is a good way to start getting me to let you off, but it isn't the entire restitution. I got a feeling once we get this crown back, you'll just be out there looking for a new way to get money by helping some scumbag steal. Probably from my family since this seems to happen a lot."

Once she found a wall socket, Danny leaned down, putting her hand in front of the socket so Flick could jump towards the wall. "Are you sure this is safe? I don't fully care about your safety yet, but I still care enough to not want you to completely fry yourself in there."

The thought turned to Central Park. Something inside of there held enough power to call an evil spirit to power. "Do you think this guy is going to try and unleash some kind of spirit army on New York? Or just take complete control over Central Park?" She thought for a minute about his weapon. "And how am I supposed to deal with using his sword against him? All my stuff is made out of, um, well I guess magic?"

Flick leapt from her hand, onto the socket. "He said he was going 'home', but I've learned he's a liar. I'm not up for him harming this city. I live here myself, aye?"

The mercenary removed some metal wires from his suit, reading into the two socket holes to connect them in. "You yanks have really weird plugs," he grumbled.

"As for his sword... eh. How about something less magic? Maybe one of these other weapons lying around here would do a better job, in this case." Flick took a deep breath.

"I'm ready. Flick the switch?"

Danny let Flick hop off her hand and get into the socket. "We like it when it looks like a face. It always looks really surprised about whatever is happening, like a guy jumping in who might become a burnt crisp." Once Flick hopped in, Danny moved over to the switch, took a breath, contemplated what could transpire into murder if Flick did not know what he was doing, and then flipped the switch. "Here we go."

Flick talked about taking up another weapon. It made sense, and Danny could learn how to use them very quickly, but it did feel odd leaving behind her arsenal of make shift constructs out of the equation. "This looks good." Danny picked up a short sword. Light enough to wield properly, but still heavier than her regular assortment of turquoise armaments. "I'll figure out how to use this when we get there. Are you ready?"

Flick wasn't wrong, fortunately. His suit's charge refilled speedily, as electricity surrounded him at a rate that wouldn't be legal. His high tech battlesuit absorbed it all, efficiently. After about a minute, the mercenary re-appeared and unshrank.

"All ready. Do you want back up, or eh?" He offered.

Back up from Flick presented Danny with a question she needed answered. Could she trust him? When she woke up, he helped her out of her handcuffs, so him leading her into a trap would not make much sense. Still, from anything she knew about this man, none of it gave Danny a great opinion of the man. "You busted me out, so I'm not completely enamored with you right now, but I think I might need you to help."

Danny slid the sword inside of her jacket. Walking down the street with a weapon would generally arise suspicions and questions Danny did not really want to answer. "I was doing fine against that guy, until he disappeared and got behind me. I don't know if he wanted to goad me like that, or if I was about to close the deal and that was his last ditch effort."

Walking towards the door, the short sword wielding cheerleader prepared to make her way to Central Park to square off with a Fey lord.

"I think he's a trickster. He fooled me, he fooled you, so let's pretend it's because he's good at it rather than imagine we're easily led," Flick grinned, before putting his helmet on.

"Screw walking, I'm overcharged," announced the mercenary, as his suit's jet packs folded out. "If you trust me, I can get us there sharpish," Flick offered a hand.

_____

It was too far from dawn for Central Park to be full of anything more than ne'er-do-wells and the vulnerable. Whether by air or by walking, Flick and Danny arrived just as things began to get interesting.

In the centre of the park, a dozen shapes danced around an emerald pyre. Chief amongst them was The Fey, wearing his crown and holding his sword like a sceptre. He was joined by all manner of goblins, fiends, imps and dark fairies. They were a mix of bestial, elemental, ogre-ish and even the fair.



They didn't all look particularly dangerous, but they were numerous and creepy, which was almost as important. The pyre burned brightly, potentially attracting others.

The Fey didn't seem to care, as he exalted in the fire light. What was he up to?

"You got a car or a- oh, powersuit. That looks..." Danny moved her eyes across the suit that only moments ago malfunctioned so much it required a jump start from a livewire. "Safe. I think trust is a very good feature to have when working with someone, but competence in your suit is what is really the leap of faith. You sure it's going to stay safe?"

Not quite sure what to do after taking his hand, Danny prepared for what would be the flight of an average person's life, but in this case, it did cause it to be the flight of her night. It cut down on the commotion of the streets beneath her and any kind of distraction coming from weapons and power suits. Instead, she could merely look down and count the confused looks as they jetted by. "Once we get there, I'll start the commotion; you make sure he doesn't end it."

A turquoise block rose from the ground, letting Danny jump down to begin her descent. While it did not hide her coming, it did keep her covered from Fey's watchful eyes. A smaller platform shot out from the side, with another creating the next in a line of spiraling staircase going down. The congregation of grotesques beneath her gave out a very different message than the previous historical venue.

With her blade clutched closely in hand, Danny set her eyes on the prize. But, first she might need to deal with the ugliness of the situation.

They Fey glanced up and over his shoulder as the turquoise blocks appeared. Scowling, the Irish Strangeling barked out an order to his underlings.

"Marqois, Rita, Jack - take her the fuck out!"

With that, a trio broke off from their dance and moved towards Danny. Marqois was a metal skinned man carrying a longsword who was shaped like a suit of plate armour with a face; Rita was an supernaturally tall (10ft) and slender woman with no face, white skin, a business suit and clawed fingers; whilst Jack was a short Goblinoid carrying a thin rapier and wearing medieval garb.

As the remaining nine continued their ritualistic dance, Flick zoomed down and shrank, preparing to ambush The Fey with a surprise appearance from behind.

After the weakness of her constructs became apparent to her new foe, a quicker descent would cut down on the likelihood of Fey cutting her down. But, Fey would not come to fight her off the bat. Instead, one giant suit of armor, a tall woman, and a goblin broke away from the revelry in order to intercept Danny. Danny hopped down to the ground level of Central Park, pulled out the blade she lifted from the museum, and conjured up a turquoise shield. "Aw, that guy's so little. It's cute. Maybe not so much for the rest of you, but what a cute, little guy."

Holding fast to her sword and shield, Danny immediately went for an incapacitating move by summoning turquoise bars around Rita's arms and legs. Her next construct would try to hold the armored man in place, hoping Marqois would over extend and fall, possibly breaking himself up. And finally a cage large enough to keep Jack in would appear around the goblin. "Wasn't so hard."

"Alright Fey. I'm going to need that crown back. We both know I'm not up for compromise and don't quit." Danny would look to Fey in the center of his masquerade, hoping she took his minions out of the fight, but knowing these fey could always mess her plans up one way or another. "So, let's have at it."

The Fey halted his fire weaving as Danny taunted him, post-defeat of his three underlings. He stepped back, cracked his neck and reached for the longsword at his side.

"If you want something done fuckin' right, you do it yourself," he remarked before walking towards Danny. At this point however, Flick appeared in the gap behind the Fey and fired energy blasts into the Irishman's back.

"Or ye cheat. That also works," the Scotsman retorted with a smirk, as The Fey stumbled towards Danny with a snarl.

The rest of the Fey's coterie gasps and charged at Flick, though none of them were combatants. A straw man, a fair maiden, a cat-like aristocrat and a grandfather clock with legs made to assault the mercenary.

The first bout went to Danny pretty soundly, but then again, Danny did well against Fey in the opening rounds, but fell behind when he sneak attacked her. Not this time. This time she came prepared, or at least she brought someone a little more prepared for dealing with this guy. His preparation came from assisting the criminal in question, but those details and questions could come to light later.

The only questions now popped in her head about just how she would deal with Fey- and now with her knowledge of his abilities, how badly would she beat him down? Leave him conscious and apologizing, or just knock him out and ship him off to faerie jail? Both would be fine, but first, she needed a little help. "I've got some help this time." She flipped the blade out, brandishing it as she peered through the bracelet to find any warriors capable of fighting a fey.

A mind popped into her head, resting a vast groundswell of experience onto her. If a warrior of old could defeat a fey, then Danny could. She just needed to listen. Listen and not let him slash through all of her constructs. "Let's go." The flash of the fire caught on the side of the blade for a split second before Danny lunged forward to try and catch Fey's blade on the perfect corner to try and hit him off balance.

The Fey is an excellent swordsman and manages to catch Danny's strike in a perfect parry, despite Flick shooting him from behind. "En garde, then!" He demanded, before grinning wolfishly. The Irish Bladedancer attempts to exchange blows with the sword wielding hero, testing her abilities and showing peak precision with his powerful assault. If Danny is able to keep up, she might very well find a breakthrough.

Flick is leapt at by several of the Fey's mooks, whom he ducks back from and attempts to shoot away with short blasts of energy.

The waves of revelry parted, giving Danny a clear shot at Fey- or at least she thought it would be her shot. Danny only guess what existed beneath the mask Fey kept over his face, but knew none of it would be good for her. He did not kill her last time, but keeping that streak going might not work going forward. So, Danny decided to take drastic measures into her own hands.

Darting past a line of embers sparking from the ground, Danny put herself into position to strike at Fey's sword hand. While his blade outweighed the smaller sword, it gave Danny time to maneuver, throwing the balance towards her back, allowing Danny to get under Fey's shoulder. Once she found her weight in her opponent's armpit, Danny conjured a turquoise bar behind her foe and pushed forward, hoping to send Fey to his back.

Fey responded in kind, locking his arm around Danny's neck. While it limited Danny's overall mobility, it did take away the blunt force of his blade. Throwing her blade arm around her back, Danny sliced right at Fey's hand, severing the blade from his grip. The air flowing through her throat began to constrict, turning Danny's face as red as the flames burning around.

Fey grabbed at Danny's sword arm, pinning it behind her back. Feeling Fey's attempt to try to pull her other arm around, Danny decided to give up her other arm, letting Fey pull it around. Once both of her arms found their way behind Danny's back, she grabbed for her bracelet. It only took a little brushing to get a turquoise choker to wedge itself between Fey's headlock and Danny's throat. The air pushing into her lungs felt more like a third wind.

A turquoise hand grabbed Danny's sword, thrusting it towards Fey's face. Danny fell forward as Fey fell back to avoid the blade to his chin. The grassy surface cushioned Danny's head from any harsh impact as the two of them both fell to the ground. Danny pushed forward, thrusting enough leg strength to propel her head out of Fey's grip.

Free from his grasp and now being the only one with a blade, Danny stood over Fey. In her left hand she held the crown she lifted from Fey's head in the tussle.

That's when Danny felt a dagger from Rita make a very threatening move towards the small of Danny's back.

Flick was kept at bay throughout Danny's duel by the group of strange creatures that had sprung to the Fey's aid. The mercenary flew into the air whilst shooting at most of them with a stream of energy blasts that seemed to have a limited effect on their supernatural bodies. The Scotsman grimaced and set his blasters up a notch, which appeared to do the trick as an overweight creature with a pig like face and wearing a top hat collapsed after two accurate shots.

Flicked grinned at his newfound before looking back to Danny's duel with the Fey. As she stood over her defeated foe, the creepily thin and tall fairy named Rita stalked towards her with a long, bone-handled dagger in hand.

The mercenary pointed both wrist-mounted guns, took a breath, and fired. Powerful bolts of energy struck at the back of the creature, sending her down onto her front. Rita's long, spindly arms landed on either side of Danny, but she was no longer a threat.

"I've got you covered!" Flick shouted down.

The Fey bared his teeth up at the woman. "Go on then. Send me back from whenst I fucking came." He gestured to his dropped, cold iron sword. The kind of weapon that could finish off a creature such as he.