Scene #5059: Foodbringer

Owner	Pose
Gawain	THE CITY OF EVERRIA, LATE AT NIGHT AN ASSORTMENT OF BACK ALLEYS In Everria, a masked man known only as the Foodbringer has been giving ridiculous amounts of free food to the populace. The local government hates this, because that's damaging to the economy, and therefore they've requested the help of the Paladins. But another faction has decided that this is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially since this Foodbringer appears to be supernatural in some way. The Concord has decided to recover the Foodbringer for themselves and obtain his ability of infinite food. In their investigation, which mostly was messing with the police and stealing their intel, they have found two potential witnesses. One of them is Hank Fischer, a deadbeat street musician who doesn't know why hygiene is. A small group of Concord members investigated Hank Fischer, but he was uncooperative, and clearly hiding something. Stealing his stuff (assorted bags of broken valuables and a shotgun), they have decided to stop putting up a legal pretense and force him to talk, one way or another, via blackmail. And so, they've set up a place and time for him to meet in order to get his stuff back. This section of the city is full of mainly abandoned and/or condemned buildings. Alleyways allow one to quickly get around, and if you know the layout of your surroundings, are easily controllable. The Concord has had the time to map out the surrounding area and set up any chokepoints they'd like, but the principal meeting point is a rather wide alley, dimly illuminated by a building lamp that still flickers on occasionally, for god knows why. Hank Fischer should be arriving any minute. How are you preparing, Concord?
Priscilla	Sabotaging a police investigation? Breaking and entering a citizen's home? Stealing their property and delivering blackmail? What kind of dastardly fiend could be- Oh it was Priscilla. Because she really doesn't give a single solitary fuck about this city and it's laws if their idea of law and order is shooting at magical foodbringing men, and the fact that the Paladins are so blindly on the case has her pressed a little for time. Admittedly, her grasp of written English is a little basic for a hand-written note that she couldn't make look sloppy if she tried, but hopefully the choice of area is enough to make dear Hank figure this is a setup from some other criminals in the area, and come accordingly instead of leaving town. Sadly (thankfully) she is not the boss of a criminal empire, and so the roadblocks she has set up are mostly in advance and to the side of the route Hank has to travel, sometimes as simple as stacking multiple dumpsters with I Am Huge strength, but in some other cases, Concord soldiers have been hired on to 'Guard the VIP'. This is /technically/ factually correct. Using cursed crystal would be a bit too much of a habit to passers-bye, and someone finding a glassy statue of a citizen would make her involvement stupid obvious.
The Kid	"Kid, get up. We got Concord work." This is how the Kid was roused from his troubled sleeps today, Rucks standing over him. The nature of 'Concord work' kind of escaped him at first, even after washing the sleep from his face and mind. Even now, he's still not 100% clear on what's going on. In all liklihood, he's been regulated to carry the bags of stuff they're blackmailing Fischer with. However, it's fine if he doesn't understand. Because Rucks is here, and he's the one who does the thinking. The pair of them are waiting in the designated meeting place, Rucks leaning on his walking stick a bit as he waits under the flickering light. "Reckon he'll show?" the elderly gent asks over the radio as Kid takes a swing from a flask hanging from his belt. The big hammer strapped to his back and the six-shooters also dangling from his belt promise quick violence if it comes to that.
Seifer Almasy	Seifer Almasy is here. He has a big grin on his face, and seems to be in an unshakeably good mood despite the literally hellish events of last night. For Seifer it is an almost obnoxiously good mood; a man who is normally the picture of mild annoyance has not a trace of irritation on his face, and has, in fact, been whistling a jaunty tune for the parts of the mission that don't call for sneaking around in shitty back alleys, which is probably just travel time. (It is a song from The Sorceress's Knight.) "This place, also," Seifer observes with that same blunt detachment as Lumiere, though in a substantially more cheerful tone, "is a shithole. Is this, like, a theme with us? Do we just keep taking all the jobs that lead us right into the shitholes on purpose, or is it just coincidence?" "Don't get me wrong," Seifer notes, tapping his gunblade against that shoulder in the way he usually does as he looks around the alley, "I ain't exactly a stranger to places like this, I'm just /concerned/ by how often we seem t'wind up on the exact opposite side of our incredibly ritzy city, slummin' it in some shitty alleyway. It ain't, y'know..." Seifer struggles for the word. "Dignified, I guess?"
Metal Man	So the Food Bringer? That was oddity but the Concord could have use for the guy and honestly this place was insane in his view. If the man could solve hunger issues? That would be amazing right? Yet they seem more conerned about thier wallet. Feh, typical, much like how even Mega Man didn't have legal rights even with everything he did. Humans could be major assholes sometimes and he knew this well. Metal Man was alone today as he joined up and he was out of his combat gear looking like a human or at least an non combat android of some sort. He looked pretty generic though he could be german from how he looked, he also wore a shirt which had the lable the Rude Noise on the front of it in red letters.
Gawain	Due to Priscilla's roadblocks, Hank Fischer's potential path is limited to one, which means that if he does show up, the Concord has full control over his movements. Meanwhile, the bags that The Kid are holding are full of stuff like scratched up or stopped watches, dented tablets, and other damaged valuables. The bags are clear, so you can see inside them without opening them up. Seifer, meanwhile, can see a really big rat nest behind one of the dumpsters as he looks around the alley. Nobody's bothered cleaning them out, and this likely means this alley doesn't get much traffic. He keeps them waiting for five minutes, but eventually, he shows up. A middle-aged man, wearing a thick, grimy brown coat, his short brown hair balding as he keeps his hands tightly in his jacket pockets. This is Hank Fischer, who pretty much just oozes the feeling of 'scum'. Sweat beads down his forehead as he approaches, stopping a distance away from the group out in the open. "I'm here, I'm here. Is...is that my stuff?" He points to the clear bag full of junk, taking one step backwards out of fear. One hand is pulled out of a pocket. When it's removed, he's carrying a brown paper bag. "I have money, I got as much as I could. Five hundred dollars, right here. W-will this be enough?"
Seifer Almasy	Seifer whistles. It is here that it is an excellent time to remind that Seifer Almasy is, despite his chivalry, despite his honor, despite being a wannabe knight, despite being a pretty OK guy, kind of a bully. He has a lot of experience being the crackdown guy; he did it in the orphanage, he did it in SeeD as the Disciplinary Committee head, and he did it in his spare time. Granted, at those times, he was bullying for a different reason, but the skillset still overlaps. Seifer snatches the money out of Hank's hands and flips through it in an exaggerated manner. "Money?" He demands, waving it in Hank's face, "You think this is about /money/? It's a start, you moron, but all the money in the world ain't gonna pay for what we got on you!" Seifer leans forward. He's a big guy - he's grown an inch in the last year or so, so now he's standing at a tall, blonde 6'3", armed with a dangerous-looking weapon, a scar on his face, and his best banchou tough guy routine, which, as mentioned, is well-honed from years of bullying. He slaps the bills on the side of Hank's face. "Ain't even /close/. No, you listen close to the lady, you hear? And you do exactly what she says. And /maybe/ we'll give you your crap back." "If," Seifer warns, "You play real nice." "Otherwise maybe I'll just keep this, /and/ the money.../and/ the reward from turning your dumb ass in."
The Kid	He's here. The Bastion can get a little rank at times. Three guys, one of whom is always active with some kind of labour, and only one shower. But this one man outstinks the place on its worse days. Both Kid and Rucks wrinkle their noses at the smell of him, the latter's moustache bristling at the action. When money is produced, the Kid looks appalled, disdain that is only enhanced by Seifer's attitude. Kid knows bullies, Kid has experienced bullies and he doesn't like them one bit. His fists tighten, but Rucks places a hand on his shoulder to rein him in. The elderly man steps in, playing off of Seifer's bad cop. "Things'll be fine, long as you answer straight son," he says kindly, in that 'friendly grandfather' tone that all old men have. "All this stuff can be yours again. We swear we haven't messed with any of it. Just be a straight-shooter with us, okay?" Kid nods, and playing along, dangles the clear bag alluringly, just out of reach. He's a grunt, but a grunt who picks up on stuff fast.
Priscilla	"Thou hast been unfortunate, Sir Almasy." Priscilla says, partly to pass the time. "Last we were in Lumiere, we had stepped through time to attendeth a grand ball beyond thine scope of imagining. Our goal aside hast long to be rid of the filth of Lostrata, and ascend to a more viable plate." She then looks directly at him. "If it pleases thee, thou art welcome to Anor Londo, to wash thine palette of our streak of undesirable work. I guarantee thee, it shalt disappoint not." Hey man, you've got a queen/goddess/superboss standing in the same grimy alley. Then Hank finally shows his damn face. Not that Priscilla can fault him for being nervous, in all honesty. She had deliberately set this up to make him approach as an inferior. As warm as she has been with her Concord companions for the past while, Hank had spurned her open hand by proxy, and thus she is disposed towards reminding him of his place. She can't help but crack a smile at Seifer owning the role though. The guy is kind of charming in his own way. She nods towards the Kid, and then to Metal Man. She has some pretty good bruisers here today. Not that Priscilla isn't dangerous, in her own way. 'The skillful hawk hides its talons' or however it goes. When Hank produces the money, the Arch Lord steps into the faltering light, standing out sharply in the dim squalor with the white and gold she wears, even as the black 'gem' set onto the minimalist crown on her brow seems to suck in the failing illumination. The temperature drops for effect, as she looks down on Hank with those slitted eyes. "Hank Fischer." she begins. "Dost thou hath any idea who I am?" This would have been a question a few months ago. By now, it is practically rhetorical. It has become the formerly (still kind of) reclusive crossbreed's /job/ to be an icon. "If thou hath any idea, then thou art well aware I hath no need for thine money, thou perhaps I shalt entertain the idea of allowing mine subordinates to keep it, regardless, shouldst thou continue to be uncooperative. I am here, because thou hast spited mine open hand, and mistreated those I hath sent for thee. I offer it once more, before mine closed fist." At this point, she tosses his shotgun onto the floor between them. To prove Rucks no liar, it's actually still loaded as she found it in his house; something no sane gangsters would do. That intentionally says something about how much she thinks he can pull, like this. "Knowing who thou stand before'st, I ask thee: shalt thou answer our questions in faith?"
Metal Man	Metal Man isn't quie sure here he'll follow his allies lead are they really after 500 dollars? Not really and he will shoot an unhappy look at Seifer for a moment, this will well be up to Pricilla and the rest on it. He's here as support and she gets he's trying to pay off right? He makes no hostile movies there's Deity level people here, super soldiers, death boths, A kid who tanked the end of the world. Ya there's no need to press on Hank Harder than anyone else it. "The Name's Metal Man, and take it easy. If we wanted to hurt you? We'd not be talking." Okay so he's not the best at people skills but he is trying.
Gawain	Hank flinches noticeably when Seifer snatches out the money. The count is about right, five hundred dollars take a few. The man is shorter than Seifer, and also nowhere near as tough-looking as him, so he ends up stepping back as Seifer menaces him. The money slapping into him wipes some of the pouring sweat off his face. "I-I'll play nice, I swear!" His free hand, the one out of the jacket, moves to clutch his chest. He's scared. Ruck is only slightly reassuring. Hank nods. "I-I'll tell the truth. I promi-" And then a regal, imposing dragon-woman steps forward. To a measly mortal man like this, everything about her screams 'I am in charge'. When Priscilla speaks to Hank, he pauses, answering slowly. "Y-yes. You're that w-woman on the news, r-right? From the...Conclave? Y-yeah, the Conclave." He is basically frozen in his tracks, because these people are scary: scary guy with sword, guy with hammer, scary dragon queen, nice normal looking dude but it's hard to pay attention to him because of all the scary people. "Y-yeah, sure. I don't remember meeting you guys before, but I'll answer all your questions. I d-don't know anything, though!"
Seifer Almasy	Seifer leans back as Priscilla steps forward, tapping the money on his shoulder. He is counting it in the most menacing way it is possible to count money - tapping the gunblade on his shoulder in rhythmic time to each motion of his thumb, slowly spreading and pushing bills from one side to the other and counting with his mouth. He is also, quite marvelously, maintaining eye contact with Hank the whole time. "Any funny business," Seifer warns, swinging the gunblade up so that Hank is essentially staring down the barrel/blade of a very dangerous-looking weapon, "An'...bang." He mimes firing a gun, shouldering the weapon again and falling back into the tap. He probably wouldn't actually shoot an unarmed man - Seifer hasn't seemed the type before - but he's certainly trained in infiltration and he's certainly good at looking like he would. Carefully, as he finishes counting the money, he tucks it slowly and meaningfully into his breast pocket. Then he walks slooowly around the man, eyes still on him the whole time, like a shark. He is both standing lookout, and cutting off escapes, and making it damn clear that he's doing both of these things.
Metal Man	Metal Man gets they are scary there's a reason he came with his combat armour /off/ seriously he looks like something out of a slasher movie and he knows it. Still he hangs back now as the poor guy is seeming to break down from fear. It seems to be very much legit at the moment and Metal Man keeps back from the poro guy and looks at Seifer for a momenr he wants to facepalm he does take a step or two back th0ough hopeinfg to ease up on the fear factor.
The Kid	Well, he's clearly willing to talk. A giant woman emerging from the shadows will do that to a man's nerve. Rucks nods, and pats Hank's shoulder soothingly. "That's the idea. Now don't you worry, we're not expectin' ya to spill his exact location or anythin'. Just tell us exactly what happened when ya saw him and we'll be happy with that." Kid meanwhile gives Seifer a side-on glare while sipping from a flask on his belt. He's pretty much here for decoration at this point, but he gives the bag a bit of a shake to remind Hank of what's at sake here.
Priscilla	Oh, excellent. This is pretty much exactly the reaction Priscilla hoped for. She didn't even have to get the scythe out. She could definitely get used to this. "Concord." she quietly, but firmly, corrects. "And indeed I am. So thou understandeth the position thou art in. This does thee well. All willing, thou shalt leave unharmed, and upon mine word, no further troubled by the men of the law." If she cared about turning over petty crooks right in front of her, Priscilla would be a Paladin. "So, let us be direct. I am fully aware thou were there, within a few arm's lengths, of the much storied Foodbringer whence he appeared and made his exist. I know thou art telling less than thou knoweth. This is all well and acceptable whence it cometh to the authorities, in league with the Paladins; in fact, such is preferable. This is not acceptable to us." Inwardly, she is pretty surprised and impressed at how menacing Seifer is managing to be, after she'd just seen him do a dramatic dipsmooch yesterday. She still puzzles a little at what his weapon is supposed to be though. Priscilla then defers to Rucks for a bit. She projects authority and commands deference, Seifer projects menace and commands compliance, Rucks projects friendliness and commands cooperation. The Kid and Metal Man fill out the mid and latter respectively. The basic principles of 'good cop bad cop' aren't lost on even her. The kindly old man is more likely to have a positive results. "Thus it is as Sir Rucks says. Thou hast one more chance to divulge /everything/ thou knowest. I wouldst not maketh him a liar." Priscilla appreciates him coming out after she'd nearly killed Zulf as a reaction to him striking the old gentleman.
Gawain	From just the reaction on his face, Hank is very close to wetting himself, as that gun is being pointed straight in his face. Seifer's message gets across directly to Hank. So, Hank tries to pay attention to Ruck, who is actually attempting to be kind. He nods slowly towards Priscilla and Ruck as they ask the question: what did he see? "Alright, alright. I, uh, haven't told anyone this, but I-I gotta just tell you the truth, right?" "So, I was in that alley, right. I was taking out- I was stealing trash. That's what I do for a living, I-I steal people's trash and resell it. Sometimes I break into their backyards and grab their trashcans, but I also go through dumpsters. And then the Foodbringer ran by, and..." So far, Hank seems pretty honest. With the grime and stuff on the objects in the bag, it's pretty easy to assume they were in dumpsters one. But then, he starts getting nervous again, his eyes shifting. "He pointed his finger at me, and it was like a flashlight, y-yeah. And it b-blinded me. And then he...he f-flew off, that was it! He f-flew away!" Hank pauses as he speaks, nodding to himself. "Th-that's all I saw, though. I s-swear."
Priscilla	Priscilla is pleased to receive Hank's immediate cooperation. When his eyes start shifting, however, the woman only sighs in deep, almost sympathetic vexation. Sympathetic for the fact that she then tilts her head towards Seifer, gesturing towards the man with a little shift of her silver hair. "Thou insult me by taking me for such a fool, Hank Fischer. Thou art a terrible liar, and a poor judge of whence to tell them. Whatever it is thou fear for speaking the truth, it is worth fearing less than what will befall thee shouldst thou continue to waste mine time." She then glances very subtly to Rucks and Metal Man.
Seifer Almasy	Seifer is a knight. This means he doesn't attack people, duel people, kill people, or shoot people who don't A) deserve it or B) face him directly. He has never, in his life, shot a man in the back or attacked him without warning with intent to kill. But you better damn well believe that Seifer has grabbed a man from behind and smashed him into a wall to make a /real clear point/. Now, Seifer is not an expert all-around meleeist, or an expert all-around martial artist, or any kind of particularly good brawler. There's no artistry to what Seifer does here, as he hooks one arm around the poor fool's neck and brings him smashing down into the ground - not hard enough to kill, or even seriously injure, but hard enough to make a goddamned point. Then he shifts, planting his foot firmly on Hank's windpipe as he stands up. Seifer is a tall guy. He leaves his foot there long enough to make a real clear point, then slowly, shifts it down onto Hank's chest. Meanwhile, he pops open the Gunblade's revolver chamber and spins it, letting Hank see the bullets inside the strange sword before clicking it closed and swinging the blade down on him. "I don't like," Seifer says, "When people lie to my honorable lady's face." "You do it again," he hisses, "And you're gonna need these five stacks for the /hospital bills/. You get me?" "You better say /yes, sir/, an' then you better start /talkin' some truth/, an' if you say anything else I'm probably gonna snap your arm."
The Kid	Rucks has been around the block, and he knows when someone is fibbing. With a reluctant sigh, his hand drops from Hank's shoulders as he nods along with Priscilla and watches impassively as Seifer slams the guy against a wall and pins him. With a slight groan, he bends his old knees to kneel next to the thief. "Come now Mister Fischer," he says, dropping the first name familiarity. "You think us fools? I've never heard such a barefaced lie. I am afraid that, if you are not completely upfront with us, we will have to leave you to the mercy of Mister Almasy. As you can see, it is not his best quality." Finally, the Kid speaks up. Rucks, Priscilla and Seifer had a lot of bases covered, but he has one more. "Listen," he says softly, walking up to Hank. "Ya probably got your reasons, maybe ya think somethin' will happen if ya talk. But there's a difference between somethin' /maybe/ happenin' and somethin' happenin' /for sure./ An' I can tell ya for sure that this fella," he too, gestures at Seifer. "Is gonna do what he can to make ya talk. Just... tell us, okay? Then ya can walk away and stay safe, rather than crawl out." Genuinely wanting the guy to come out of this okay does a lot, even when your words aren't the best.
Metal Man	Metal Man can just sstand around a look large right? The more well versed in the art of word craft allies he has is doing a good job. Man if they had a telepath along? This would be over it might just try to get him to /not/ think about what they know but hey he's not one so the have to do it this way. He's not happy with seifer sure, but Seifer isn't peeling back the guy's mind, cutting limbs off, injecting magical or tech horrors into the guy to get him to talk. Honestly his life's a hell of a lot better under Priscilla these days.
Gawain	Hank flinches as Priscilla calls him a liar. He knows what's going to happen next, and he has zero way of preventing it - he and Seifer are entirely different classes of people, because Seifer is Exceptional. Hank is slammed straight into the ground, a hard thud, as the air in his lungs is briefly taken out of him when Seifer steps on his throat. Hank Fischer coughs for air, staring up at Seifer. He listens to the others talk, and then nods. "Y-yes, s-sir." His left hand is still in his jacket, as he begins to talk. "Alright, the t-truth is..." And then Hank rapidly pulls his hand out of the jacket, drawing a revolver. But he doesn't point it at the Concord. He points it at his own head, jaw quivering. "I-I can't tell you, h-he'll..." Hank puts his finger near the trigger. He's terrified, of many things. Of the Concord, of dying right now, but most of all: of whatever he saw. It's pretty clear he doesn't actually want to kill himself, but that whatever he saw was horrifying enough that he decided this was better than just telling the truth. "I-if you're going to kill me either way, I-I'll just do it m-myself." Though, while he says that... Hank Fischer doesn't actually want to die. And the reason he won't talk is pure fear. There's probably two opposite ways the Concord can convince him to talk. Which will they take?
Priscilla	Well, that's unusual, or so thinks Priscilla, at least. She had expected for most of this time that Hank was afraid of his world's lowly flatfoots. The idea of the friendly, food chucking man of the people absolutely terrifying this random alley plunderer is an odd one, to say the least, and explains some degree of his cowardice. Of course, she's not having him splatter his brains all over the walls. Disarming a man unwilling to fire is simple enough, at least. Priscilla doesn't move from her spot, lest she give him an opportunity, and more importantly, relinquish her air of being absolutely above him. Her left eye, the one that burns that subtly molten orange, at odds with her natural one, flashes briefly with a sharp, jarring, mental static-screech, and a cross-shaped sparkle of light, ripping the gun from the man's hand with invisible claws, and crushing it into a useless cube, before it drops back to the ground. A little excessive, but it should be surprising, and lend credence to what she has to say next. "Dost thou believeth us incapable of slaying thee were that what we wished for?" she asks, quite honestly. "As I hath said, thou shouldst best fear 'him' second, at most." Though, finally, her tone relents, becoming softer, if not actually warmer, as she lets the terrified man have a little bit of her sympathy. "If it is a matter of endangering thine life, then it is the Concord's way that those aiding in our work shalt be protected as ours. Whatever thou see'st in this strange man, it is no equal to our Concord. If thou sharest what thou knoweth, thou art an aide and ally, temporarily, and we hath no intention of leaving the one known as Foodbringer prancing about these streets for much longer."
The Kid	Well, this took a turn. The moment the gun comes out, Kid is dipping to grab at his own, expecting shots to be fired. But no, Hank is pointing it at himself, and the Kid is even more at a loss for words. As bad as things are, he can't envision them being /this/ bad. His own determined nature is working against him here. But Rucks has seen things, and is in a better position to emphasize. "Reckon it must be someone mighty dangerous. If that's the case, their little food project might not be for the common good. Maybe they're more dastardly than they seem. An' if that's the case, you could be doin' a great service by bein' brave and tellin' us. C'mon son. You're a thief and a scavenger. But right now, you got a chance to be a hero. Don't blow it."
Metal Man	Metal Man is an robot and he's fast but well he's been hanging back and too an coos ruin a meal but he can say something. "You got balls, but you don't want to do this. It's as the boss lady's said if we wanted to hurt you we would have already. He doesn'tmove in as Pris goes for it this should hopefully solve this. "If your needing protection don't you thnk we can ... do that?"
Seifer Almasy	Seifer... ...presses his foot down on the man harder. He leans in, bending over as far as he's capable, his arm draped over his knee, his gunblade swinging like a pendulum. "I fuckin' hate chicken-wusses like you," Seifer growls, "For a minute, I actually kinda liked you. I thought you were pretty ballsy, t'be faced with alla us an' still try t'take the hard way out. But they're right. You're a goddamn coward. You're more willing to run from your problems than fight, even though you could make a goddamn difference an' avoid all this shit you went through RIGHT HERE just by tellin' us what we wanna know. But even /that'd/ be fuckin' respectable if you'd just pulled the trigger." "/That'd/ be decisive. /You're/ just guttertrash." Seifer pulls the trigger. The gunblade goes BANG, ringing and vibrating loudly in Seifer's hand. With the vibrating blade, he smashes the flat end of it into the side of Hank's head - not hard enough to seriously injure him but hard enough to ring his bell a little and get the point across. "You wishy-washy piece of crap!" Seifer actually sounds genuinely angry now, "You wanna kill yourself? Then do it! You wanna run away? Then do it! Don't fuckin' linger like some washed-out old memory, tryin' t' make sure nobody notices you exist till you fade away for good! You afraid of this guy? You scared of this jackass? Then make a decision! Either kill yourself, run like hell, or tell us what we wanna know and make a fucking change! But decide like a man, step up, and /own/ that shit!" "Only really worthless people can't even be assed to make a decision in their lives, ya hear me?!" Seifer straightens, though his foot is still on the man's chest. He slings the blade back over his shoulder. "God damn! I'm keepin' this cash as a stupid tax. You wasted my fuckin' time, an' my honorable lady's time, an' the time of these gentlemen an' this robot right here. Five hundred bucks is /chump change/ compared to what our time is worth. Shit."
Gawain	The noise of Priscilla's attack causes noticeable twitching in Hank's face, as the gun is torn straight out of his hand and turned into scrap. He's shaking, shuddering. Seifer slams his foot down harder, and fires that gun, the noise of it causing Hank to shut his eyes tight. He moves to open them back up, when the metal is smashed straight against the side of his head. There's a loud grunt. But Hank doesn't move, even though he's noticeably alive and not unconscious. For a long moment, he doesn't say anything, but he listens to the words of Ruck, Seifer, and Metal Man. And after that long moment, he speaks. Hank's voice is scared, but he's more terrified of the group here now. And also, in a way, he's resolved. "The Foodbringer...is a monster. A d-demon! I saw him. He ran to the end of the alleyway, and...he was bleeding from a wound in his arm. But the blood wasn't running, it was just there, stopped. A-and then, he pulled out this s-smartphone thing. But that wasn't why he was a monster, it was..." "The tendrils. M-made of blood. T-they ripped out of his arm, writhing and /alive/. They w-wrapped around him, and then slithered over the phone. A-after a few seconds, the phone beeped, and there was a bright flash, and he disappeared." Hank takes a breath, still shaking. "B-but, before he did, I s-saw it! One of the tendrils was pointing straight at me, moving. H-he saw me. He k-knew that I saw him, and I t-thought if I told anyone, he'd do something like e-eat me. P-please, don't kill me!" Despite his fear, and his shaking, and the oddity of his story, Hank Fischer isn't lying - or atleast, believes he isn't. This is truly what he believes he saw. That the Foodbringer is a monster in human skin.
Seifer Almasy	Seifer takes his foot off the man's chest. He crouches down and hoists him to his feet. He shoulders the gunblade. Then he walks over to Priscilla. "So that's /two/ blood tentacle monsters in /two/ shitholes in /two/ days," Seifer says, staring at her face. "/I'm jus' sayin'/." He notably does not give Hank his money back. He was not joking.
Metal Man	Metal Man looks at the man he doesn't move he watches Hang for a moment he will watch and listen well as he sees Hank's alive nad telling them what they need. He stares for a momewnt even with his time in the multiverse which was large even by elite standard he stared this ws a new one. "No wonder you were spooked. Look you need a place to go? I can provide you a spot to chill out away from this shit till it's settled one way or another."
The Kid	Rucks dusts Hank off once he's on his feet and offers a genteel smile. "Good man. We'll be sure to catch the fiend." He starts to stride off as Kid gives him a long look. Eventually, he takes a bottle of strong liquor from his belt and presses it into Hank's hands. After all that, who couldn't use a stiff drink?
Priscilla	If anything, that, at least, explains Hank's absolute terror of the subject. Even the mental image is kind of creepy to Priscilla. It also sure as hell explains the weird bloodstain at the scene, that the Paladins were so fixated on. Now, the weird arcane sign Priscilla had left as a red herring doesn't seem so improbable. It may even be a good thing she got the police hostile towards him. Does that mean she's going to turn around and try and cooperate in taking out the Foodbringer? Hell no. If he turns out to be pure evil incarnate or something, the Concord can at least grill his secrets out of him. "I assure thee, Sir Fischer, that such is nothing we art unequipped to deal with." The less authoritatively demeaning use of his name slips in almost by accident. "Aside, I am meaning to meet with this man, or this creature, perhaps, in the very near future." Priscilla nods towards Metal Man. "If it is a concern of thine, it may be arranged to taketh thee into protective custody, as a valuable witness, for the length of this investigation." There isn't much to say to Seifer. He is factually correct. Her shoulders shift in a faint approximation of a shrug. "Consider, then, how unlikely it is to face three in three." The jests.
Gawain	Hank just nods towards Metal Man and Priscilla. He doesn't say anything else, and at the least, now the Concord can say 'hey we're nice guys, we protected this man'. Now they just have one more witness to talk to. While they know what it seems the Foodbringer can do, and his method of transportation, there's a new question: who or what is he, and where is he? Hopefully, they can find out.