Once Upon a Time

She had been running for nearly twenty minutes, which for someone who could fly was a lot, making her way through tunnels and side passages. She was tired of the pursuit and each step she took felt all the heavier, each breath was a painful intake of air. She was nearly at the end of this tunnel though, she could see the platform, but just head she saw lights, side by side, growing closer, that loud rumbling whistle screeching through the air as the tracks below her started to shake.

She risked a chance look behind her to try and spot her pursuers. They were still there, only a few dozen feet behind her, but gaining all the same. Normally, she would’ve been able to outfly them, but in the dark and with signs and other bits of metal and concrete that hung discreetly above, she couldn’t risk it. The chance of knocking herself out was too great. The same applied to flying low, too many random bits here and there that she could tumble herself on.

But as she reached the edge of the platform she dived upward, her wings propelling her forward in a sudden burst of speed and she landed with a hard thud on the ground. At the same moment she landed the train whizzed by, coming to a speeding halt. For a few moments she breathed, looking at the door that opened and the seemingly empty compartment and considered her options. She could jump on the train and hope the others don’t join her for a ride, or she could try and make a break for the stairs and keep on running and hope they didn’t shoot her down.

Her mind was racing as fast as her heartbeat, yet her body still felt slow and sluggish. She got to her feet with a slight tumble and without even meaning to, stumbled towards the open door. She was about to turn and try and make it for the stairs, but she heard the men shout something again and out of fear she dove towards the door, only for it to close and begin its slow lurch forward.

It didn’t feel safe to, but she took a moment for herself. She breathed and panted, eyes closed as she hunched over on her knees, letting her head rest against an empty chair. Gross was a word that came to mind, but exhaustion won out that battle. As she tried to compose herself her eyes drifted upward only to find the face of a rather large man looking down at her from his seat.

She spat out the breath she had just selfishly taken in and jumped back, wings unfurling to carry her back a bit further, only to find herself landing in the chair across from the man. He only blinked at her, grinning with some amusement. He wasn’t one of her pursuers, she knew that now. They weren’t wearing the same gear or held the same weapons, he seemed all flesh and blood, albeit, he was a beast of a man. She didn’t speak though, she just stared wide eyed at him, heart still racing from the surprise which didn’t meld well with the exhaustion that still beat at her neck.

She didn’t have to speak though, the man began for her. “What are you?” He said with a hearty and deep laugh, “Some kind of Harpy? Maybe one of them angels I’ve heard so much about?”

She laughed out of surprise, more than anything, but she did laugh and that felt relatively good. She gave him a humoring nod, “Yeah, I’m a harpy.” She joked, though said with what little breath she had left.

“You heading to the bar then?” He asked, seeming to segue the conversation in a new direction.

Honestly, a drink sounded pretty damn good. She nodded, giving him an appreciative smile. “Yeah, no, I could go for a drink after the night I had. You wouldn’t-”

Before the words could leave her mouth, she heard it again. The shouting and her head darted to the side, looking through the windows on the doors of the train. Several cars down she saw them, the armored men shouting something as they proceeded forward. She looked to the man, almost giving him those big help-me eyes.

The man was also looking down the train carts with her, more out of curiosity of what she was staring at. He looked back to her and saw the eyes, only smiling. “A drink does sound good, shall we then?”

She blinked, confused by what she meant. They were still a minute or so from the next stop and that was a minute she certainly didn’t have. She was ready to take off running again, but his hand raised and in a sudden lurch she felt the world around her come to halting stop. Except, the world didn’t stop, it was the train that had come to a sudden stop. The man was standing up now and started for the door, despite them not actually being at a stop.

Before following her eyes once more turned to look at the train car several segments down, only to see the men had suddenly fallen over at the lurching stop. She looked back to the large man who was working to pry the door open, and when it did, instead of seeing a dark concrete wall there was another door. A large red metal door with an eye-slit that opened, revealing a single eye that stared at them. Above the door was a neon red sign that glowed with letters that spelled out the word “Upon a Time”.

A bar? A club?

The door opened regardless and the man started in, only to turn and motion for her to follow. She stared back to the distant car once more, seeing the men slowly get to their feet, only to lock eyes with one of them. She looked back to the large man, smiled, and dashed into the bar.

As the door closed behind them she heard the train take off once more and at last she could breath again.

God she was so tired. Running around a city does that for someone. The sword was getting angsty, not enough blood it would cry, not enough slaying of the vicious monsters of the abyss. And she would say that of the millions of people that live in this dumb city, maybe only a couple thousand of them would be that one monster they sought. Didn't help that the stupid 'evil creature of the abyss' sense only told her a god damn direction.

"That is because you are too weak to hone it, sow." The voice in her head growled, offended by her words on its gift to her. She merely waved a hand and laid back down on her seat. This train was practically empty and quiet beside the rumble but everything combined together created this atmosphere that slowly drove the young woman to fall asleep. The sword could complain later, all it needed to do was wake her up when they reached their stop.

So she had a complaint when after a stop that wasn't hers came and went, the entire bloody train stopped suddenly and the young woman was thrown off her seat, landing poorly on her back. "The hell was that!" She breathed in, trying to catch her own breath. She crawled over and peered out the open door that led to the cart behind her and she saw perhaps a strange sight. A purple haired bird lady. Harpy! The voice in her head cried, but Penny hadn't made a step to know if the unnatural was around. So she stood and made that step.

Something was not human and it was certainly coming from the Harpies direction, but not entirely, maybe a little to the left? "Okay fine I will- Where is she going?" Penny watched as the Harpy woman ran what should have been into a door, or a wall. Like if she was leaving a still train, it'd make sense to 'walk' not just run into it. Following, Penny saw for a brief second a metal door, closed. A neon sign. "Upon a-" She didn't finish. The train started to move once more and it and quickly picking up speed. "Damn! The heck was that?"

"We must follow. A strange magic that was." The sword whispered, but Penny rolled her eyes. Maybe it was just a couple metas... A powerful one that could make a train stop instantly and open a door into... Okay maybe magic was at play. "Woman. To the right." The voice continued and Penny turned to see two heavily armored figures coming her way. Ah, that wasn't good. "Jump."

"Excuse me!" Penny yelled, surprised by the sudden and very horrifying words coming from the sword in her head. "Are you stupid?" She didn't have to ask. The sword was a god damn idiot, but this was taking the cake.

"Prey will not escape me. You are capable of surviving this, despite your weak form, the power you discovered from our bond will protect you. NOW GO." The voice argued, pain fluttering in her head. He wouldn't leave this alone, and even if those two armored guys left her alone, she was certain the sword would force her to walk back here from the next stop. The longer she thought about this the more she was going to have to walk.

So she jumped through the still forced open door. And right into a wall. But that wasn't the worst of it. The sudden powerful gust from the racing train pushed her further into the wall and she hit the ground hard, the gust still blowing hard against her, she hadn't even realized she'd summoned the sword, stabbing it into the ground to help keep her grounded.

But very quickly the train left, and then Penny was alone, breathing hard into the wall but with no injuries to speak of. Having negated the harm of her stupid action just then, reality bending around her that being slammed into the wall as she had, even if the train had clipped her, she had remained untouched and unharmed. "I'm never, ever, ever doing that again you fucking dick of a sword. What if that hadn't worked!" She slapped the handle of the sword, turning around to lean back against the wall and just... Catch her breath.

"Infuriatingly you still live do you not?" The sword grumbled, but its words only served to annoy her further. "If I had died you'd have been stuck here and some other homeless ass would have picked you up in another dozen years or so. Have fun with the train whistling by." Standing up, Penny stomped off in the direction of the red door, leaving the sword to rot in the ground. But she could feel the pull of magic and knew that the sword had vanished back into wherever it resided. Ass.

But she was the idiot for still doing the bidding of the sword and still walking to this magical red door she saw for like a second. "I'm getting tomorrow off after this. You hear me? I'm getting tomorrow off." Penny declared as she kept walking, but the sword was silent this time. It often was when it didn't want to answer something. "I'll take that as a yes." She grumbled, still walking for several minutes before finally she arrived back where she saw it. 'Once upon a time' was the normal saying. This door changed it up by removing the once and adding an extremely creepy eye that seemed as if it was actually staring at her. Fairy tale motif? Yea, no. This was almost definitively magic.

Now did she just knock? Knocking felt right.

It had to be some hideaway...

Or maybe a secret convention for cosplayers...it couldn't be...

While at first she had felt a great relief upon entering the bar, having escaped from her pursuers, she now felt a new, more intense anxiety. The bar had been filled with a cast of strange and wild characters, things from old stories and myths, things she never knew were real. There creatures that were part man, part beast, spectral entities that had floated through the wall and made their way to the counter, and then...was that just an actual skeleton walking around? How did that work...how did the bones...stick...to...together? What?! What was this place...?

She had to be dead or that this was a dream or...a secret haven for...cosplayers...yeah, no it couldn't be...it couldn't be real. Sure, there was a variety of strange metas out there, but this? This was fantasy, this couldn't be real...and as she looked helplessly up at the giant of a man who had lead her here, only now did she realize how big he really was. The large giant of a man, smiled back down at her and nodded.

"First time here?" He asked, his voice trailed with that hearty laugh. "Pretty astounding, no? A place where all us impossibles can come and enjoy a drink without having to hide, pretty great, yeah? Was surprised to see a harpy out on the streets with her wings out, but..." He smiled with that same cheerfulness, and then in a quick puff of smoke, his entire form changed. His skin was now a sickly green color, his face covered with warts, his eyes a dark yellow color, and his nose incredibly long. It looked almost like a goblin...no, too big, a troll...

Maggie just stared up, mouth open, still surprised. When her voice did come, it came with exasperation. "I really need that drink..."

She had started to move towards the bar, but felt a large and strong hand clap down on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. She turned and found that the troll was holding out a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. She couldn't read what it said, it being in some strange language she didn't recognize. "Gotta sign in." He said, though now his tone slightly different. His voice and expression almost seemed a bit sinister and for a moment, just a moment, Maggie thought about just leaving.

But, with some hesitation, she signed. What was she gonna do? Go back onto the tracks, risk getting hit, wander through the darkness, maybe run into her pursuers again? Or just stay here for a bit, have a drink, and deal with the fact that monsters existed? The latter was the least exhausting of the two options, so she resigned herself.

After signing, she did make her way over to the bar and plopped herself down with a heavy huff. She just waved her hand towards the barkeep, who happened to be another skeleton, though this one was dressed in a nice suit at least, and hoped that he or she understood that she just wanted something strong. Thankfully, the barkeep did, and she was brought out a glass of...something, which she just slammed back, not worrying about what it was. It felt strong and that was all that mattered. She was ready to just sit in some silence and enjoy a strong, quiet drink, but before she could really relax she shook by a sudden cheer that echoed from behind.

There had been a crowd forming behind her, but with their backs to her. They were all looking down at something, and only now did Maggie realize that there had been some sort of railing and descent on the other side of the bar. Being the curious bird she was, she took her drink and moved over to join the crowd, slipping through to the front and trying to see what it wa-

Two blood covered beasts snarled and roared at each other. At first, she thought it might be animal fighting, but as she adjusted to the sight, they were more of the bestial people, fighting each other in a small arena. Both carried weapons and were clashing against each other with such force that the glass top above of them separating the arena from the patrons who stared from above shook and vibrating with each clang of their weapons. She had seen arenas like this in the past, but...to see creatures like this fight, it was downright terrifying.

And that was when she felt a familiar strong hand on her shoulder. "Excited, no? Well, don't worry, your fight is coming up soon."

"Well that didn't work." She'd knocked, but the door remained silent if still ever creepy as all hell. If a door could blink, it'd be this one. "Come on! I don't wanna be here if another train decides to come by!" She yelled now, banging on the door. Maybe that'd attract some attention. She hadn't be wrong. With a breif shimmer, the door creaked open, a curious soul peering out, looking down at the young woman who stood out in the tunnel.

"Bugger off little lady." He snarled the words, sharpened teeth bare. He had thought maybe the young woman some vagrant that had grown curious, but Penny knew what was in front of her. There wasn't fear, but a brief look of surprise. Followed by annoyance as she stepped back defensively.

"God damn vampire." She hissed, demanding the sword return to her hand.

He was silent. The asshole. But now the vampire was more then curious, for she knew what it was. And she smelled human. "Hunter then?" He questioned, before, unknown to the rest of the patrons, engrossed in the fight between beasts down below, lunged down and tackled Penny to the ground, her back hitting the rails painfully. "This is a safe place for us. You will not ruin it! But you will be quite the tasty treat, little lady." The vampire growled, hands on her hair and shoulder, prying open her neck for a easy bite.

But his overconfidence is what brought him down, thinking her an easy prey. Her golden eyes glowed briefly, the light taking his attention for a moment as she grabbed a hold of his head, her sword now pressed against his neck. "Don't call me little."

The door remained open, flashing lights of a friendly bar filling the emptiness of the dark hall of stone and gravel. A young woman, blood streaking her face and red braided hair suddenly stood up and with some difficulty climbed up into the bar, a vampire's head in hand. "Alright you nest of... Of... Vampires?" Penny glanced about. This wasn't a nest of vampires. Undead. Fey. Troll? Was that a centaur? How the hell did it even get in here? Ghosts?

She was in a bar for the supernatural. Oh. Oh no. Her faltered cry for battle had still drawn attention back to her, with some surprised gasps at the head in her hand. "She decapitated Solomon!" Someone yelled, another called for security, but Penny was shocked still, surprised by the overload of unnatural presence before her.

Kill them all. The sword returned now, stronger then ever, the presence of so many things it desired dead on it's blade too strong.  "Okay hang on." Penny raised her hands, but to many it'd appear she'd raised her blade ready to strike.

She didn't stand a chance. A swarm of bodies cascaded down upon her. She might have stabbed someone by accident in the sprawl until something forcibly ripped the sword from her hands, until finally she was pinned down to the ground. "Look just put his head back on his body. Vampires can regenerate it... Well the ones I know can." She called, failing to struggle out of the powerful grips on her.

"Hey, Troll. Why don't we sign the hunter up too." Someone called. Penny thought it sounded like the one that named the vampire.

"Wait, hold on. Sign me up for what? Hey! What?"

Maggie blinked at the monster's statement. She was coming up? What? What? Huh? How? Why? What?

She gave another sort of helpless, confused grin, looking up at the large fellow, slightly canting her head as she did. "Uh...what? I uh...ha, no? Yeah, no. I'm not doing that, I am not a fighter, I mean...I can fight, but not in an arena like this." She shook her head, trying to exaggerate this point. "I'm not fighting, no. I didn't even sign...up?" Her heart sank a bit, slowly realizing why the troll's expression before had shifted to that...okay, that wasn't good. But alright, this wasn't the worst situation she had been thrown into, but boy she really needed that drink again.

Just as she came to this realization, there was a sudden clamoring from the crowd of people behind her. She stared back down into the pit, but the fight was over. No, this was for something happening at the bar? A bar fight? No, potential cover for her to escape. She turned her attention that way, only to see a woman holding the head of the bouncer who she had past before. Gross. But at least it was a good enough distraction for her to try and sneak out. She seemed have the attention of the entire bar on her...not the good kind of attention either. While she did feel bad for the woman, at the very least she appeared to be well equipped to deal with monsters.

A monster hunter? That seemed like a fantastical term for it, but fitting nonetheless.

And also another reason she probably shouldn't stick around.

She certainly looked like a monster, despite just being a normal meta. At least she thought she was a normal meta. Her parents were both normal...she was pretty sure, and according to the blood test she took all those years ago she was still a human, just...a meta human. But still, she doubt she could sell that truth here, not with every other monster that inhabited this place.

While the crowd jeered and shouted at the woman, Maggie began to make her way to the door. She moved quietly, yet quickly, her subtle movements carrying her across the bar without so much as brushing up against another member. With all the eyes on the woman at the bar, it was easy enough to glide through and make her way to the door where there was now no longer anyone to stop her from leaving. While she didn't like the idea of just heading back out in the railway, she certainly didn't like the prospects of being forced into a fight either.

However, just a few paces before reaching the door she heard it, a phrase that made her wince and freeze in place.

"Hey Troll, why don't we sign the hunter up too?"

When the fight had been brought up, the troll had been ready to agree to signing the hunter up, but had also realized that the other constant he had brought in had vanished and so his eyes quickly darted, around, easily finding her in that most obvious spot that anyone trying to escape would go. Quinn had frozen for a moment, but after that moment quickened her pace for the door, but stopped by the strong grasping hand of the troll who suddenly yanked her back, causing the woman to yelp out. The troll lifted up Maggie, holding her sides with fingers that bored into her.

He laughed loudly, triumphantly, as he made his way towards a hatch on the other side of the arena. "Yeah! I think that'll make a pretty good fight for this dirty, little rat! Grab her and throw her in!" He barked, ordering the crowd at the bar to make a move on the hunter.

Before Maggie could react, she was thrown down the tight hatch, landing with a thud on the cold floor below.

"Throw? I don't really think-" Penny tried to argue, right up until someone stuffed something in her mouth that had a foul taste too it, her knees dragging across the floor as a multitude of bodies and hands grabbed and pulled  on her. She tried to struggle, but it was too no avail, too many hands, too much power, until suddenly she could feel a cool air below her, her knees no longer on solid ground.

And then they hit the cold hard ground of the pit, she fell aside in pain, clutching her knees and groaning through her muffle, she pulled at it, realizing someone had stuffed a cleaning rag, the foul smell and taste of several spilled drinks finally registering in her head as she threw the rag away with a disgusted cry. "Oh that's horrible." Gagging, she got on her knees and looked up, to make some attempt at negotiating. The trapdoor closed before she got a chance. "Oh come on!" She yelled, looking to ground defeated. "I freaking told you I'd walk into something I couldn't-" No. She had company. Don't go and start yelling at the inside your head presence that curated itself as a sword.

Looking around, Penny saw they were in some sort of... Freezer? A heavy looking barricaded door and heavy metal insulated walls. Would explain the cool air. Then there was the harpy. "Uhh... Hi." Penny was unsure how to act here, so she instead focused on the woman... And got a headache for it. "Sorry! Sorry. I'm Penny. I saw you on the train earlier... Followed you from the train. Seeing as they threw you in here I'm starting to think maybe I did right by doing that." She was going to try the friendly approach here because she didn't have any other approach to go with. Just two gals trapped in a underground freezer of a supernatural bar that also operated as... Something she got signed up for.

To Maggie, the red headed woman called a hunter might have on first glance with the massive sword and the blood streaked across her tan skinned face have appeared as such, but it was clear to see that for a 'hunter,' she had nothing on her. A worn singlet and jeans with heavy boots, no belts holding supplies, no hidden pockets or weapons. Just a young girl, barely a woman, looking way out of her league.

Falling had never been a feeling Maggie had gotten used to.

Her wings had developed at a young age and ever since then she had been taking to the air. Falling, for one who could fly, was no longer an issue. Occasionally, sure, but never a hard or painful fall. Even tripping was no longer a factory has her wings would just catch her and place her upright. But falling through that narrow chamber and crashing against the ground hurt. It probably hurt more than it should have compared to the normal person and for the first few moments she just laid there, trying to process the pain of it.

When the pain did register she let out a loud groan into the stone her face was planted into. She could feel blood trickle from her nose which made her let out another lower groan before propping herself up. Thankfully, by some miracle, it wasn't broken and there didn't seem to be any other serious damage, but still the pain lingered. She wiped her nose clean, looking around to find another down here as well. The beheader from before.

Maggie was sure she had just said something, but her head was still in a fog from that fall and she winced a bit, bringing a hand up to grab at the side of her head. "Eh? What did you say?" Slowly, the harpy-looking girl staggered to her feet, before stretching her back and felt something pop, which was painful at first, but soon relief washed over her. She could now properly look at the young woman, still frowning slightly from the aches through her body, but she didn't seem displeased by other's presence. What had she said? An introduction, by the sounds of it. With a slow and lazy raise of her hand Maggie waved, "Hey...? Uh...okay, sure, yeah. Whatever you say..." She wasn't sure what the girl had said but she figured playing nice and agreeable was the way to go.

She began to try and steadily walk around, taking in the surroundings. It felt like a freezer down here, but it was wide and open and above them a glass top where faces looked down at them expectantly. They wanted them to fight...but why would they? They didn't have any obligation to...unless they were gonna be forced to stay until one killed the other, which...

As Maggie looked back to the Hunter, appraising her for a moment, she felt sure she would win. Not that she would, she wasn't a killer, but...she felt like she could take on the fresh face hero.

"So..." Maggie started, clapping her hands together, giving the room one more once over before looking back to Penny, smiling now with some effort. "What's the plan? Any ideas on what we should do...Miss uh...Monster Hunter? Or am I next on the list?" She asked the last part in a joking tone, giving the woman a pleasant smile.

Another look over gave the woman a view she had missed, too focused on the entry the two had come from. This was another pit. A window of glass that allowed the patrons of the bar to view a fight from below. The ground itself had frosted bits of fur, what looked like reddened flooring must have been blood that was never cleaned, the cold room eventually making it part of the scenery. This wasn't just some holding pit. No Penny realized this was meant to be a room for a fight, and considering that she could hear the slightest muffle through the walls of vicious growls and tearing of flesh, this wasn't the only fight happening.

There went her first thought that maybe they could escape... Somehow. Doubt they'd just sit there and let them try and kick the door down. "Huh?" The bird woman finally spoke back about the situation. Maybe they had finally gotten over the shock of what was happening. Cool. Cool... But why did they have to assume that Penny had an idea?

"Uh... Penny is fine. Thank you. And you don't have to worry. I don't actually think you're a harpy. I have a sense for it, and all you're doing is giving me a headache. No offense." Penny apologetically spoke as she stood. Walking in with a vampire head was perhaps not the best way to introduce herself, but she'd decapitated a vampire and didn't need help to do it! The excitement kinda just took over.

"As to what we should do... I... I don't know." Finally upright, Penny could see the faces of dozens of different creatures, most still human looking, but focusing on them, she could sense the power they all had. No human was up there. That made her a rarity. One they didn't like anyway. "I doubt they'd let us stand around and talk... Those wings for show or can you actually do something?"

First step was figuring out what her fellow cellmate could do. Penny could summon her sword whenever she desired, but that'd ruin the element of surprise she had. Not that her sword would do much here. Doubt the glass would be easy to smash, and even if it were, they'd then be trapped with creatures fully capable of ripping heads off. Theirs to be exact.

Quinn slowly moved around the room, a hand idly rubbing against the wall as her fellow captive went on. She hadn’t been looking for anything specific as her hand trailed the wall, instead she was just trying to measure the dimensions of the cell. It wouldn’t really do them any good, but it had been more of a nervous habit. It was a way to trick herself into thinking she was productive or working towards something, it was more information that she could potentially (probably not) use.

She gave Penny a nod as she introduced herself, “You got it, Monster Hunter.” She stated again, smirking a bit at the gentle tease. It was now that her eyes trailed up and looked up into the faces of their captors. She didn’t really show them any form of emotion. No anger or confusion, not even a hint of annoyance. Just an idle, lazed sort of look…almost seeming disinterested in the entire situation. Whether she believed it or not, this was happening and the only logical thing to do next was to plan an escape.

Which probably involved…

Her gaze turned back to Penny, giving her a firm and confident smile, before shaking her head once. “I could fly, but we don’t really got anywhere to fly too.” She stated, pointing up. Overhead, the top of the arena would have some kind of glass (or what Quinn assumed was glass) so any stray shots wouldn’t strike any clients. They had been trapped down here, and it was her assumption the only way up was through the pits they had been tossed down. “My wings are pretty durable, like metal! They can pack a punch, but other than that I don’t have any powers to bring to the table.” She then stuck out her tongue at Penny, “I’m a pretty damn good thief, but not with a crowd watching me.”

Still wearing that smile, she looked up at the onlookers. “We could give ‘em a show and see where that takes us?” She had said this all very casually, though there was emphasis on the word “show” hoping the mean would take. She wasn’t sure if the crowd ahead could hear them, but as Quinn looked back into Penny’s eyes there was something more there, a slyness to her gaze which had not been there previously. She was hoping the Monster Hunter could take a clear enough sign, and if not that’d be one peck to the neck.

Penny had to hold in her grimace at the monster hunter name. Okay. That's how they were gonna play it. Rubbing her eyes, she let the harpy looking woman talk, still no name, so harpy, bird, purple... Like, so much purple... She'd think of a name to retaliate with eventually.

Those fancy wings could actually allow her to fly. That was cool, and certainly meant she wasn't a normal person, but that was not what she needed to think about right now. The ceiling made it so she'd only be able to fly to avoid a fist, not that it was a high ceiling that it'd allow for such anyway. Meanwhile thief was a diverse range for a skill. There was a heavy looking metal door one could probably pick, but with so many watching, she was right. Not so handy.

Resting her hands on her knees, Penny looked to the ground, eyes tightly closed. "Okay... Let's give them a show Birdy." Nodding, Penny suddenly dashed forwards and tackled the other woman to the ground, one hand on her wing. Initially, she didn't get the feeling they were metal, but pressing hard against the soft feathers, she could feel a... Weight, a solid feeling to them. Could they be used to stab with? Her other arm pressed against the woman's neck, but not in any way that'd actually be painful. Leaning close, Penny gave it another quick thought, okay. That could... That could work.

"I need you to push me off... And stab me with your wings. Hard as you can. Don't hold back. I need you to try and kill me so that someone will open the door to let you out... Now push me towards that door." Leaning away, Penny looked to lean back further to try and punch the woman, leaving herself open for Maggie to easily get the red head off her. Then, Penny would roll away into a stand, backing towards the door, the side of it, motioning for Maggie to come at her, mentally preparing herself for this.

It wouldn't hurt... But it'd still feel bad.

There was a tinge of surprise that danced at the corner of Quinn’s smile when Penny decided to just charge her with only a slight warning. Sure, she wasn’t sure if the monster hunter would’ve picked up on what she was insinuating, but she had which was impressive to say the least. The speed in which she had decided to go along with the plan had surprised her, surprised her and…slightly insulted her.

She wasn’t that insufferable, or so she thought.

Before the strike from her wing would come, Penny had addressed her. She let the girl whisper out a plan, which admittedly wasn’t a bad one. She had been put into a situation like this a few times before and this was a solution she had used once or twice before. There had been a brief moment of relative silence as Penny then threw a punch at Quinn, one that she barely tried to dodge. The punch certainly connected and it certainly hurt, but Quinn had to at least pretend like she had tried to dodge it. This plan would only work if the crowd above thought they were actually fighting after all.

After the moment of silence, Maggie decided to throw her attack. The wings themselves didn’t move, but rather several feathers had slipped from the wings and floated behind the duo and then went soaring towards Penny, seemed to be aimed for the girl’s stomach. The fact was, however, only half would be aimed for the girl’s stomach and of those half, only one would actually strike and lightly at that. At worst, that one that actually struck would at most leave a bruise. The rest of that half would only gently press against her stomach, making the appearance of hitting her. The other half that had broken away from the rest went to the girl’s shoulder and under the girl’s armpit. These would attempt to lift the girl and send her literally flying back and against the wall, making it appear as though the feathers that had struck the girl’s stomach were the reason Penny had been sent flying back.

From above, the crowd made sounds that were a mix of cheers and jeers!

These sounds made Quinn grin, and while it wasn’t a real fight, it still was invigorating.

Penny hadn't meant for her fist to connect, a look of surprise on her face as she pulled her fist back, almost begging for the bird lady to throw her off. But then she saw them. Loose feathers, floating, quills all aimed for her. "What the fu-" Then they hit. She hadn't been prepared for it, but it wasn't the fact that the tug on her shoulder from just two of those feathers was the main driving force slamming her into a wall, but that the one aimed for her stomach didn't actually hurt that much.

Not to get it wrong, they sure did bloody hurt, her shoulder have several of the bloody things jabbing her, but that wasn't what she was expecting... It also wasn't what Penny had hoped for.

Did she play dead now? Did she get up? No, if she got up and the quill fell out with no blood, then anyone perceptive would see something was up. She had to do something... Right? "Calm your lust." What the fuck did that mean? "The shouts. The cheers. I can feel the excitement. Deep inside you wish to fight. But the thing in front of you is lucky. It is not what I desire. Play the fool." The sword, silent since her 'containment' was now the calm and calculated one. The one telling her not to fight. Somehow, she hated that.

Grabbing a hold of the quill at her stomach, Penny made a play of trying to stand, before collapsing back against the wall, sliding close to the door, slowly going limp. The shouts and cheers slowed. Was it over so quick? Perhaps they were reminded the frailty of a human, not a beast nor monster, that made the two prisoner's plan work.

It was silent, but her heart thumped loudly. Work. Work. Work. Please work. The prayer silent, her mind fighting the urge for her body to move, to let the plan go. Had it already failed? Heavy steps were finally felt, and the door croaked open, a different, but far larger or more appropriately rounder green troll stepping past, pocketing the keys as he closed the door behind him. He looked Penny over with a light frown, before stepping past the woman and towards Maggie. "Shouldn't have expected much from a disgusting hu-" He could not finish. Penny's eyes, unnaturally golden, shined bright as the sword materialize in her hand. Pushing off the wall, the girl jumped and stabbed the sword into the high back of the disgusting creature, the blade appearing from the other side, easily cutting through the thick green skin.

There were shouts above them. Jeers and swears. Some laughter and cheers from those who weren't sure if this was part of the show or not. Kicking the troll down, Penny watched them fall, before eyeing the other woman. "Uhh, shit... Keys. Umm. Grab the keys. I don't know if Trolls heal quickly or not... Fuck." Stepping atop the large troll, Penny found her height increased quite rapidly. Enough she could reach for the trap door as long as she reached while tiptoeing to hold it closed. It wouldn't take long for everyone upstairs to figure this wasn't part of the show. They needed to get out. Quickly.

Quinn, from her spot, was smiling. Not just at the ruckus of the crowd above, but she was impressed, honestly so, by the act that the woman had put on. Anyone can take a punch and lay down, that’s easy, but that’s not very convincing. There was internal struggles or the pained clutching of one’s wounds or…in the case of Penny, the struggle to stand and keep fighting. Either you stayed up and kept fighting, or your body gave in. Of course, to go with the plan, Penny went with the latter. Each call she had made had been a good one, not perfect, but good and that in itself was impressive to Quinn. She would earn herself a better nickname at this.

Quinn hadn’t done much to relish in her celebration, her demeanor returning to a firm defiance of the situation she had been thrown into. She was, admittedly, not feeling as defiant or angry about the situation, but this was the face to be expected by someone who was captured. She couldn’t let Penny be the only one putting on an act to carry out their plan. Although, she had to be careful not to oversell it and as the beast came through the door, she took a few steps back, appearing as if she was still scared of the ‘monsters’.

And then the act took a turn to the climax, which didn’t get much of a reaction from Maggie at all. Surprisingly enough, she just yawned lazily and stretched up an arm, turning her back to Penny as they got to their feet and barked out an order. As she relaxed, Maggie waved a dismissive hand towards Penny and then in a flick of the wrist, she revealed that she had already had the keys. To some, it may have looked as though the key had just…appeared there, but to the perceptive viewer, they would’ve seen a feather break away from her wings when the man had first gotten stabbed and hooked around the key, bringing it back to the purpled winged harpy.

She looked over her shoulder at Penny, giving her a smug, coy grin and followed it with a wink. She then turned on her heels and with a casual stride, she moved over to Penny and looked to the door, sliding the key into the slot with a pleasant sounding whistle. She broke the whistle for a moment, letting her glance slip from the trapdoor and to Penny, “You gotta take it easy, girl.” She offered, “Act natural for a moment.”

It was her plan, her hope really, that the crowd would be stunned by three sets of surprise. First was the quick knockout, the second being the surprise killing of the guard, and then the third, the casual stride of herself. She was hoping that this would throw the crowd off, make them question what was going on and that in turn it would give them a chance to use that to escape. If they were both running and panicked then there would be a quicker reaction from the crowd. Acting like it was fine often made people think it was fine, then again…these weren’t people and she wasn’t sure if such a plan would have an effect.

Penny could only... Only stare at the gall, the power. The absolute beast that was this woman. How was she so calm? Looking to the many faces of those trying to solve a puzzle that didn't exist, Penny stopped what she was doing, jumped from the troll, and somehow, causally followed the birdy out of the cold room and into a long and neon lit hallway, with a lot more doors then she could have thought would exist in this place. This underground was starting to look a lot bigger then what was above.

But then she had to remember that this was a magic bar inside a train station... No. Most likely it could open up near anywhere, or at least in a set number of locations. It made her think of Lily's home, a small little shop on the outside, when in reality it was a home on the inside with rooms galore. It wasn't hard to imagine someone could replicate that, certainly for such a large gathering of the supernatural.

"I gotta ask. How are you so calm about this? I'm like... Not freaking out but at the same time I'm freaking out but I'm thinking that's only because you're not right now." Penny pulled at her braids as she looked around. The peace wasn't going to last. At some point more security would arrive. She started looking through doors, but the ones close to their prior cell was just storage. A slam from a nearby wall made her jump back however, faint growls and roars could be heard and she followed the noise to another door down the hall. That must have been another fight that was still ongoing. How were they still fighting?

"Okay... Magic inn. Generally there's a backdoor in places like this. What are the chances they have a magical backdoor down here somewhere?" Penny asked the bird, almost forgetting that this person wasn't actually supernatural, but the mere fact she was taking this so much better then Penny made the girl want to look to her for answers. Penny didn't have any that was for certain, and the sword was at the best of times, useless when it came to knowledge about these things. For something that proclaimed itself the destruction of monsters, it didn't really know a lot about them.

Now through the door, seemingly having indeed duped the monsters above...at least for moment, Maggie let out a relieved sigh. That had been the only real sign that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't as calm and collected as she acted. As she looked around the room, she only held a cocky confidence in her gaze, as if nothing in the world could go wrong. She had to keep herself in that mindset, imagine things going well and then they would, don't stress out, and just think. She had learned those lessons ages ago and was going to keep to them as long as she could.

Before she could fully appraise the room and judge what to do next, she turned her gaze to Penny, giving her a coy smile and a smug shrug of the shoulders. "I'm not that calm, honestly. Just thinking things through is all. What could I solve if I panicked?" She shook her head, letting her shoulders fall from the shrug, "Not much, honestly." She tapped the side of her head, "Just breath and keep moving, and if anything goes wrong, you roll with it until you're out." She spoke as if these were all the simple truths of the world, repeating lessons that had been hard pressed into her.

The sudden bang and growl uttered a similar reaction from Quinn, although with her several feathers rose up around her and were poised to strike. As soon as she settled, though, the feathers returned to the wings at her back. Now, her eyes more deftly inspected the room, trying to find any sign of any further exit. She didn't like the idea of spending more time than she had to in the room where they kept all of their beasts...monsters too feral to enjoy drinks up above. In the same beat, she also didn't like the idea of keeping these guys caged up.

It was then, an idea sprang into mind, but she'd save that for later.

Her gaze was back on Penny, to which she gave another shrug. "No clue, I don't know anything about magic really. I know it exists, more or less, some of the things I have stolen before have been at least. I just steal 'em though, don't really study or do anything with them." She spoke, still seeming all very casual in that. As she spoke, a feather from her wing broke off and moved to the door they entered from, moving to the lock and beginning to fiddle around in it. After a few moments there would a SNAPing sound as something inside broke. "And they won't be able to get through that door easily now."

She patted Penny on the back and then started down the row of cages, keeping in the middle and making sure there was a distance between her and the beasts. "That said, I don't think we should shoot for the backdoor. I think we, if anything, should just stroll through the front door. At least, with a little help." She offered, now turning and walking backward so she could meet Penny's gaze.