Following his sudden appearance and detail-lacking announcement to the gathered Court of the Chrysanthemum Freehold, Barnabas' swift retreat back out through the Haunted House towards the Park grounds proper did not go unchallenged. With a quick word, Rook gathered several ready-seeming Lost to accompany him and give chase, bursting through the doors into the Banquet Hall with an obsidian-scraping grunt as he turns his gaze this way and that to try and quickly locate the direction taken by their enigmatic kindred.
"Which way did he go?" he snarls, a general question to the others as well as an oath of annoyance at Barnabas' absent back. They're no so far behind Barnabas that he could have escaped yet, but time -- as it is in any foot chase -- is of the essence when pursuing one as slippery as their current quarry.
Solomon is not really dressed for a chase, so he shucks off the suit jacket to fall carelessly on the ground, and is already pulling off his tie as they burst out of the room. As he tosses that to the side as well, he starts looking for signs of Barnabas' passage. "This fellow was once a Monarch? Was he fine until the attack? As fine as any of us are?"
Elias accompanies the group out of the haunted house as he finished tying the white scrap of cloth about his wrist, murmuring softly as his form just seems to blur slightly, making it hard to keep attention on him unless staring directly at him. He sets his guitar aside next to the door, hoping no one will take it then hurries to catch up. He's straining his senses, especially his ears trying to pick up on any sounds that might indicate the fleeing elemental. "I can scout from the air." He says with a sideways look to Rook.
Solomon's little feelers twitch and stretch from either side of his lips, flexing downward like little fleshy fangs as he swings his head this way and that. There's a low hiss from him as a flash of movement draws his attention. "This way," he calls out, and leaps forward, long legs moving unnaturally fast.
Elias may be a bit distracted at first, pondering Solomon's question, but as the professor calls out he turns and takes off as well, following after the professor as he heads towards that back alley. "Right behind you." He calls, looking back over his shoulder periodically to make sure the others are still along with them, but also hoping Solomon doesn't get to far ahead.
Rook grunts and pivots on the spot as Solomon begins rushing after Barnabas' retreating form when it's finally spotted disappearing deeper into the Haunted House. A faint laugh from up ahead can be heard as the oddly-dressed minstrel apparently hears his pursuers following behind, and he picks up the pace. He can't quite match Solomon's speed, but the various spooks and scares in the attraction provide ample obstacles to weave around and hopefully slow down pursuit.
"A long time ago," Rook answers as he tries to keep up despite finding himself falling further behind the insectoid Professor, "He was always eccentric, but he seems to have completely gone off the deep end." After a moment of consideration, he calls out to the pair: "He's heading for a back exit. When we get outside, you keep an eye on him from the air. Me and Solomon will run him to ground."
"If you can!" is called back distantly, from ahead, followed by a crash and a curse as Barnabas slams his shoulder into an old witch before he carries on, leaving it strewn at an angle across the hall.
"C'mon, Barnabas! Don't be like that! Explain what you meant!" Solomon says that, but his teeth are bared in a fierce grin and it's clear that he's enjoying the chase. When the witch crashes over, he laughs a wild, hunter's laugh and runs up the side of the wall and over the obstacle, landing back on the floor with a satisfied huff of air.
Elias snorts as he sees Solomon make like Spiderman on the ceiling. "That's a party trick." He mutters but his feet stay on the groud. Sometimes there's a benefit to not being the biggest guy around, and Elias just sort of slips to the side of the witch, the decoration brushing him as he rushes past. "Deep end might be an understatement." Though he seems to be enjoying the chase as well, readying a little of his glamour for when the burst free into the outside.
Barnabas cackles and continues his headlong flight, hopping and dodging around various forgotten bits of scenery that would probably give any twelve year old a decent fright. "You'll have to catch me first!" he shouts back to Solomon, rushing forward at a full sprint even as the Professor continues to close the distance between them. But then he's reached his destination and with a triumphant and literal, "Aha!" he slams his shoulder into the emergency exit door and spills out into the brighter, moon-lit night as the door closes behind him.
Rook meanwhile, curses as he simply smashes his way through the helter-skelter witch in a shower of wooden splinters and black cloth. "Keep on him!"
Solomon says, “I have to have _some_ way to be fun at parties," Solomon calls back. "It's certainly not my scintillating personality." His eyes remain fixed on every glimpse of the prey...er, Barnabas, that he can get, though, dodging and weaving through the crowded hallway. To Barnabas, he growls, "_Challenge accepted_." And when the door closes, Solomon hits it with his shoulder as well, full-tilt and heedless of how that's gonna feel when the adrenaline wears off.”
"Don't sell yourself short, doc." Where Elias is getting the extra oxygen for banter during the chase in anyone's guess. Though he's running through the door after Solomon, spreading his arms out to the side once he's in the clear, even the feathers on his arms being stratched out as far as they can go. He gives a flap of his arms, and in a swirl of white feathers a large, mostly white snowy owl takes off into the sky to keep an eye on their quarry from above.
In the intermittent time between Barnabas' exit and Solomon's arrival at the door, the 'prey' had apparently managed to find a metal-encased trash can to wedge against the door in an effort to slow down pursuit. However, Solomon's shoulder check turns out to be enough to knock the can aside and send it rolling off without any noticeable inconvenience to the Professor. "Seriously?" Barnabas' exasperated voice can be heard from above -- or below, from Elias' heightened vantage point -- as he suddenly turns on his heel and starts running across the haunted house roof where he'd been crouched down, hoping the three pursuers would run off into the park.
Solomon grunts with pain as he slams into the door, but his inertia is enough to burst through the makeshift barricade, and he staggers for a moment after reaching the street. He pauses to collect his bearings, losing track of Barnabas as Elias soars over his head. He cranes his head upwards to follow the voice and the trajectory of the owl. "That's OUR line," he snaps back, and then leaps forward again, swarming up the side of the wall to gain the roof and continue the chase.
Yellow eyes scan the area quickly then lock onto the roof of the haunted house. A few flaps of his wings and he's banking in that direction. Elias can't speak like this, but an owl's screeching cry is a pretty obvious sign for anyone who cares to pay attention, as is his sudden change in direction. He ges ready to tuck his wings to dive bomb Barnabas if he has, too. Owl takes mouse.
Barnabas sprints across the rooftop, jumping and sliding pretty nimbly to avoid piping, air units, and various other bits and pieces of industrial equipment that peppers the roof of the Haunted House. Of course, he has limited space before he'll ultimately hit the end of his chosen pathway, and with Solomon and Elias the Owl rapidly closing in on him, he utters an oath and skids to a halt right at the far edge of the building.
His glass body flexes and heaves as he takes a few panting breaths, turning slowly on the spot with both hands raised in surrender as he flashes them a brilliant smile. "Hello friends," he greets them casually through the huffing and puffing, "Fancy meeting you all up here. Come for the view?"
It's a good thing Rook requested the assistance of the other Lost. Though he's a fair hand in a fight, the other three had left him far behind. There's a maintenance ladder built into the side of the haunted house which he is rapidly climbing, but it'll be a minute or two before he manages to catch up with the others.
Solomon leaps and scrabbles behind him, bouncing off fake industrial equipment and other things with the kind of sure footing that only magic can give. When Barnabas skids to a halt, Solomon does likewise, although his body is crouched and tense, ready to pounce. He doesn't seem winded at all. "Hello, friend," he responds, with a toothy smile. "I think the company's the bigger draw for me. Can't speak for the others. Care to settle down and have a chat?" He glances up at the owl, checking its position, then back to Barnabas.
The owl that is Elias lands on one of the pipes to Barnabas' side, talons scraping noisily against the metal as those luminous yellow eyes fixate on Elemental. He doesn't change back quite yet, wings spread a little to the side and ready to take off again in a moment notice should the chase need to resume. There's a chirp of agreement from the avian after Solomon's words, but the bird is showing no signs of relaxing.
Barnabas cants his head to the side as the owl lands, offering a quick bow to the shifted Lost in recognition of his participation even if he's limited in his ability to speak. "I'd recommend we speak quickly, then," Barnabas offers to Solomon as he straightens, an amused glint in his eye as he glances back over the Professor's shoulder. "This is your chance to ask those niggling questions, the ones you want answered but you don't want Rook to know you asked. I'm sure you have at least one or two, yes? Like... is it true he still sleeps in a racecar bed? Which one is his favorite spice girl? I know the answers to all your questions, and you *have* caught me, so... A deal's a deal."
Solomon snorts. "Obviously, it's Scary Spice. We're _Autumn_," he deadpans. But there's a glance over his shoulder and then towards Elias. He _does_ have questions and he suspects the other Lost does, too, even if he can't speak. "What do you think they're lying about, and what do you know about this traitor?"
Owl eyes meet compound eyes for a moment as Elias looks over to Solomon, then bobs his head. He trusts the man to know the right questions to ask, and even does another small chirp of confirmation once the question is asked, it's the only one that matters, even if the race car bed is tempting.
"Are you *sure* that's what you want to ask about?" Barnabas questions, looking like he's rather disappointed they didn't ask about the racecar bed for a moment before he breathes out a sigh and shakes his head. "Fine, fine..." he mutters as he wanders over to the lip of the rooftop and settles onto it with a ungraceful huff despite the quick flourish to flick his multi-colored tuxedo tails out from beneath him. "In order to answer your question, allow me to ask one of my own: What use is a Queen who can't rule? Marybelle is a lovely individual with astonishingly good taste in music, but for three seasons out of four, she's... well... Let's just say she's not exactly Churchill, wouldn't you agree?" He pauses to let that settle for a moment before he continues: "So who benefits the most from a Queen who can't Queen? Aside from Led Zeppelin of course."
Then he shifts, holding empty palms up and to the side in an almost cartoonish example of a shrug, "As for the traitor... All I know is that they exist. I have it from a source that is at least as reliable as they are cruel, unusual, and a massive liar."
"The Queen's advisors," Solomon says, and in a tone that suggests that he's already had that thought more than once. "We can all tell she's not _all there_, and that Real, Thomas, and the others mostly call the shots. That's not so much a lie as it is a polite fiction. There must be something else that's prompted a former Monarch and the others to depart. I work in academia; I'm pretty accustomed to leadership being insane." It's very bland.
The second bit gets a narrowing of his eyes. "A reliable liar, hm? Who's this source, then?" He glances back at Elias.
If an owl could look unimpressed, there's one right there. Eyes half-lidded, Elias rocks his head back and forth. He had figured that much out on his own, and as Solomon gives it voice theres that soft whistle of agreement again. Finally he decides Barnabas isn't going to make a break for it, and in another swirl of feathers he takes his normal form, sitting on the piping with his legs dangling. "I don't think we'd take the word of someone even the messenger calls a massive liar." He's careful not to frame his words as a question, less he waste their chances, curious as to the answer of the sources identity himself.
"Excellent!" Barnabas claps his hands and points to Solomon and Elias with excitement as the latter returns to his normal form, "You're already on the right track then, you just need to dig a little deeper." His eyes once more flick over Solomon's shoulder and he sighs, "However we are out of time. Ask our feathered friend here about the full details when you're away from prying ears. He knows." Then suddenly he starts to speak much louder and with a very obviously put-on aloofness, "Since you *must* know, he *does* in fact sleep in a racecar bed. It's red with yellow stripes, and he loves it very much."
Just then, Rook comes jogging up along the roof looking very confused, mildly annoyed, but mostly somewhat grimly pleased. "Good work," he growls to Solomon and Elias as he steps forward and grabs hold of Barnabas' shoulder in an unyielding grip. "Did he say anything interesting?"
Solomon casts a look at the feathered friend, and gives a little nod. Then there's an unhidden snicker as Barnabas decides to spill the racecar tea. He steps back as Rook arrives and grabs the other man. "Yeah," he says, with a little twist of amusement. "He says you sleep in a racecar bed. Personally, I think a man ought not to be ashamed of that, but I guess he feels differently." A wide shrug, then.
"Actually, it sounds kind of fun." Elias says on the topic of the race car bed. "I always wanted one when I was a kid." Talon tipped fingers tap on the pipe beneath him for a moment as his expression turns a bit more serious. "You're right about him being off the deep end. At least he didn't go jumping off the roof."
Rook glances between Solomon and Elias with a narrowed brow, then over to Barnabas in mild disbelief. "You've fallen far, Barnabas," he growls to the man as he drags him away from the roof and starts leading him back towards a door that provides access to the Haunted House's interior. "Let's get him inside and see what Marybelle and Real want to do with him," he grunts, while Barnabas loudly complains about the obsidian man ruining his harlequin tuxedo with his aggressive grip.
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