The WF Halloween Shindig [IC; Closed]

[Broader Confederate States]

The vibe around that lady was just too... weird. Enough that she decided to grab her illegally smuggled in revolver strapped in its holster and buckle the belt that whole assembly was on to her waist, even though it was just resting on her scales and not in any belt loops. Plus, that guy seemed a little shifty top, but she didn't get nearly as skeeved as that lady...
Hopefully there wouldn't be any patdowns. It was a self defense weapon plain and simple, but that's not the kind of thing one can easily explain when you don't speak the same language as the pigs cops holding you hostage. Satisfied, she pulled out her laptop and, since a photo of Sam was on top of it, she set that on the TV stand. Time to look up tabs, and check in on her daughter and grandson.
Gradually, she had doubts about needing the protection... but you never know. At the very least, it'll be fairly hard to pull out under the Elizabeth Eckford costume. Though even that she was having second guesses about. She picked it out because she liked the style and respects her immensely, but was certain someone would misconstrue it as racist... then again, when doesn't someone misconstrue her South as racist, just because those dudes 20 years ago had to ruin it for everyone else by digging up a sealed grave?

---

Sounds of screaming elsewhere in the building. Who? She preemptively ran her finger down the grip of the definitely not supposed to be here front stuffer and put it at half ready, in case it needed to come out in a hurry.

[Socialist Macronesia]

Everything was going good at the breakfast until the lights went off.

The windows barely let in any light. The place was entirely dim.

One of the Delamorte sisters conjured a light.

ZAP.

Sylvia had not been hit, but the light had, and the room went dark once more.

"What was that?"

ZAP.

A cry of pain.

Then Nate: "I've been hit!"

"Is someone shooting?"

"I don't know who anyone is!"

ZAP.

Then Patyu: "I-- WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NATE?!"

Marie's voice: "I have arrived-- wait, what's going on?"

---

A slightly more feminine voice.

"Nate, it's the weeb laser! It got you!"

"Well, it got you too."

Patyu saw him take something from his belt.

"Do--"

"EVERYBODY HIT THE DECK!"

BANG BANG BANG.

Drywall fell from the ceiling.

---

Everyone dove to the ground.

"THEY'RE SHOOTIN' AT US!"

"GET ON THE FLOOR BEFORE YOU GET SHOT!"

The lights came back on.

"HEAD COUNT!"

Everyone but Nate, Patyu, and Bailey were present.

Three gunshots. Three missing.

But none of the three had died; and in Nate and Patyu's case, that might have been the more unfortunate thing to occur.

[Azur Deutschland]

Sylvia and Julienne were happily conversing about magic with Charlie, Jessica, and Keller. They were giving more explanation on their past and how magic worked in their world. They talked about how they used their immense magical power to save their homeland from destruction. Of course, they were also showing off some more of their spells, conjuring up little sweets and treats.

Suddenly, someone else walked up to them and asked for a rose. A bit bewildered by the newcomer's... costume, the twins were about to oblige her request. Right before they could summon another rose though, something whizzed by the face.

""What the hell was that?"" Both of them exclaimed, looking around. They immediately surmised that it was probably Ross...

[Tranzoria]

In the lobby, Jaye and Jackson waited for their Lino to show up impatiently. Very impatiently.

"Jackson, you sure you ordered the right Limousine?"

"Yes, it shou-"

The quick answer was interrupted by a break of the lights and some yelling about a Weeb Tazer. Jaye stood up and grabbed onto the shoulder of Jackson. They had to be very quiet. They walked slowly to the source of the Noise, the Cafe. They heard even closer shots and walked far enough to see...the fainted body of one of the staff, but with no bullet holes and was drooling with a smile.


"Oh my God.", Jaye muttered as Jackson took a pen as a weapon for-defense?

As they got closer, they hold the source of the Voice: The Macronesians, including the leader, John Ross. The lights turned on, and they saw that three were there instead of six, with a Hole in the Ceiling and two tazed bodies of staff.

"Ross, what the hell happened?" Jaye yelled as he took a look at the Tazes bodies. Only then did he realize Ross wasn't there. Jackson decided to search the perimeter for Clues, but here were none, only another a staff member watching Cat Videos.

That escalated quickly.

[Kiu Ghesik]

Everything was going good at the breakfast until the lights went off.

The windows barely let in any light. The place was entirely dim.

One of the Delamorte sisters conjured a light.

ZAP.

Sylvia had not been hit, but the light had, and the room went dark once more.

"What was that?"

ZAP.

A cry of pain.

Then Nate: "I've been hit!"

"Is someone shooting?"

"I don't know who anyone is!"

ZAP.

Then Patyu: "I-- WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NATE?!"

Marie's voice: "I have arrived-- wait, what's going on?"

---

A slightly more feminine voice.

"Nate, it's the weeb laser! It got you!"

"Well, it got you too."

Patyu saw him take something from his belt.

"Do--"

"EVERYBODY HIT THE DECK!"

BANG BANG BANG.

Drywall fell from the ceiling.

---

Everyone dove to the ground.

"THEY'RE SHOOTIN' AT US!"

"GET ON THE FLOOR BEFORE YOU GET SHOT!"

The lights came back on.

"HEAD COUNT!"

Everyone but Nate, Patyu, and Bailey were present.

Three gunshots. Three missing.

But none of the three had died; and in Nate and Patyu's case, that might have been the more unfortunate thing to occur.

When the lights cut out, Ari sighed. It wasn't a significant thing; lights went out all the time. Right? Of course they did. When a rather suspicious-looking laser cut through the sudden darkness, she started to worry. It... wasn't a rave sort of party, was it? Well, worry wasn't the right word- perhaps "excited" would be better. After all, the notion of another "Royal Wedding"-type scenario was rather an amusing one, and, well, John Ross was undeniably responsible for whatever this was as well.

When someone screamed out that it was a "weeb laser", she started to laugh. And when the lights came back on and Patyu was nowhere to be seen she started laughing even harder. Oh, God, Ross had the best sense of humor. She'd have to find him soon, or perhaps find Ross first and congratulate him on his genius. Yeah, that was the better idea. He deserved at least a single round of drinks for that one. Maybe two.

Slowly, the guests started to regain their senses. No one seemed to be able to determine if what had just happened was real or a dream- well, the bullet-holes clustered around a spot by the bar seemed to suggest that something had happened, but on the whole it seemed that whatever Ross had did, it hadn't had any real consequences.

Well, besides whatever had happened to poor Patyu. Better him than me, though, Ari thought. If I hadn't left I'd probably have been on his... hit list... as well.

On second thought, maybe this wasn't that funny, after all. But it didn't look like anyone had gotten hurt, and that was what mattered.

Either way, it was time to find Ross. If memory served, he was one of the first set to meet with Alastair, and that was an occasion she wouldn't miss for the world.

---

Patyughin was of a far less sound state of mind than Ari was.

He wasn't really sure what had happened, really; there'd been a blackout, and screaming, and then Nate had been screaming, and he'd saw something furry sitting on Nate's head, and then he'd felt something prick his arm, but he'd been too panicked to look at it, and then Nate had shot out some lights, and then they'd been running down a side hall, and then he'd been hiding in a bathroom and thinking that Nate's hand was really soft, and then he'd realized that he wasn't holding Nate's hand.

Instead, a rather gruff-looking woman with... cat ears, what the fuck?... and... Nate's exact attire... was standing next to him with an extremely angry look on her face. She was incredibly intimidating, if Patyu was being honest with himself, and he wanted very little in this immediate moment but to figure out what was happening and to get to Ari, and this woman was in the way of that. The gun in her hands at least was an indicator of the danger he was in.

And there was that nagging little itch in the back of his mind, that loose string he didn't want to tug on, that looked so enticing to pull.

He coughed and timidly tapped the woman on the shoulder, doing his best not to look her in the eye, lest he provoke her anger.

She growled an acknowledgement and turned away. Ha. Growled. Cat joke.

"Um... ma'am? Who... who are you? Can you... can you let me go?" Huh. That was odd. His voice was higher than usual. Well, that was probably the stress, right?

She shook her head. The little ears atop it flopped about as she did. It was rather funny to watch, actually. "It's Nate, you idiot. I can't believe he tested it on us. Fucking hell."

Patyu, in turn, shook his head. This woman coincidentally named Nate- odd name- was obviously misinformed. "What do you... what do you mean 'us'?"

That little string pulled a little looser with every word.

"You'd best be believing in gimmicky comedies, Patyu, 'cause you're in one." The woman grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around to face the mirror.

The person he saw there was very short, very timid-looking, very obviously female, very obviously sported a pair of cat ears, and very obviously bore more than a passing resemblance to himself.

The string finally fell out, and Patyu screamed.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Things were starting to get for the three of them, as both Sylvia and Julienne were talking about and demostrating magic. "I think I take a little candy, thank you very much!" Jessica took herself some candy to share with Keller and Charlie. Another person, who was dressed in a creepy rabbit costume asked for a rose, which the girls allowed. However...

The lights went out!

"Eeek!!" Jessica nearly screamed, as her glow-in-the-dark costume was now showing. Something shot past the girls, but neither could see what it was. "Jessica, you ok?!" Keller called out for her, as it was pitch black, except for Madden. "I'm fine! Lights caught me off-guard!"

There was a loud sound that rung out from the ceiling, where neither could tell what it was. The lights went on, where Keller immediately saw that Madden was way too close to Huxley. However, she could excuse it, since both of them were lovers, even as Madden was hugging Charlie out of fear.

"Guys? Do we need to call the Leader to have him send over some security?" Keller asked, as she nearly had to spring into action. "What even happened?"

[Free Indian States]

While the commotion was happening in the hall, Adarsh was returning from his room, now sporting a pickelhaube, completely oblivious to whatever had just happened. He didn't even hear the gunshots.

On the way back, his self consciousness caught up with him, and he went to a nearby bathroom to check whether his moustache and medals were looking proper. He had allowed his moustache to grow longer than he usually kept them for a few weeks, and hoped to imitate the Wilhelm look. He opened the door and walked into a bathroom, and noticed two female looking figures in there who happened to have prominent cat ears.

"Happy Halloween!", he wished the two of them, "I must say, of all the costumes, yours are by far the most convincing ones. What have you dressed as, by the way, any fictional character in particular?" Seeing their blank looks and somewhat stunned looks, he remembered he didn't give an introduction. "Oh, I'm Adarsh Sawant, the President of Free Indian States, and you?", he continued politely, holding out his hand.

[Broader Confederate States]

Okay, that was definitely screaming she heard. Grabbing her bomber jacket and setting the copy of Slaughterhouse-Five back in the bag it came from, she threw it over her shoulders and nearly went out before wondering if it'd be the wisest move to run out into danger. Deciding it wouldn't, she got back out of the jacket and laid it on her bed, but not grabbing the book back. Needed to be aware of the surroundings.
You know, maybe she should have gone in the Marines instead. Her cushy Navy job didn't prepare her for this situation. She thought she heard footsteps outside her door too, which didn't help the tension and alert coursing through her. After a minute of silence, she was contemplating going to look. Maybe she should, maybe not? Might still be out there...
...aw, to hell with it. She threw the jacket on once more, did what she could to hide the gun (which amounted to switching to a shoulder holster,) and went to check on the situation in the mess hall as quickly as possible.

[Voxija]

President Etor Gurraniz shrugged. "I'm dressed as a zombie ghost vampire Edrigu V. Edrigu V was the worst leader ever to rule Voxija, the country I'm the president of." This man seemed to be the leader of his own country to, but Etor still felt weird mentioning he was the president so casually.

"King Edrigu banned beards, instituted—" Etor Gurraniz shuddered; he wasn't going to talk about that in mixed company, "—tortured people until they confessed, and put a tax on marriages. I guess I am dressed up as everything scary at once. You're right." Etor Gurraniz wondered why Edrigu the Fifth was considered appropriate for costumes in Voxija, while people like Ekaitz Larregi or Adolf Hitler weren't. Maybe it was the passage of time.

Etor saw fit to introduce himself. "My name is Etor Gurraniz. I already mentioned that I was the president of Voxija. Who are you?"

"Paris Cärrino, Prince Regent(ish) of Brettenwald. No need to use the fancy title, I've always found it intimidates people," he said, shaking Gurraniz' hand. "My country doesn't really celebrate Halloween as such, but hey, it's diplomacy . . . actually, this is half diplomacy and half my control freak of a brother getting me off his back. Are you just here for the party, or are you letting your hair down during a state visit? . . . And am I seeing things, or did the creepy twins over there just conjure roses from thin air?"

"Heh," said Etor Gurraniz. "I am here for the party, but I'm also here to so Voxija can have better relations with Western Fardelshufflestein."

Before Etor could comment on the existence of magic, he heard shooting. "Hit the dirt, Prince Cärrino!" Etor ducked under the table. That was a wise decision, because he heard the words "weeb laser" and he didn't want to get shot by that. And then the lights went out.

Etor heard more shooting and screaming, but to his credit, he didn't scream. The lights went back on again, and Etor Gurraniz got back into his chair. His meticulously created costume was ruined, but that was better than being shot.

"So, Paris Cärrino," continued Etor Gurraniz. "Shall we continue our conversation?"

[Kiu Ghesik]

While the commotion was happening in the hall, Adarsh was returning from his room, now sporting a pickelhaube, completely oblivious to whatever had just happened. He didn't even hear the gunshots.

On the way back, his self consciousness caught up with him, and he went to a nearby bathroom to check whether his moustache and medals were looking proper. He had allowed his moustache to grow longer than he usually kept them for a few weeks, and hoped to imitate the Wilhelm look. He opened the door and walked into a bathroom, and noticed two female looking figures in there who happened to have prominent cat ears.

"Happy Halloween!", he wished the two of them, "I must say, of all the costumes, yours are by far the most convincing ones. What have you dressed as, by the way, any fictional character in particular?" Seeing their blank looks and somewhat stunned looks, he remembered he didn't give an introduction. "Oh, I'm Adarsh Sawant, the President of Free Indian States, and you?", he continued politely, holding out his hand.

Patyu was terrified. This wasn't right. This wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to happen! Whatever it was! He had cat ears on his head! And they worked! How was that even possible!? And... and... why was he so short? And then there was the obvious fact that he did not appear to be a he any more. Which was... incredibly unsettling, really, but somehow the least concerning of all the things going on right now. It was actually rather normal in comparison to the... cat. The cat bit.

That was a sentence he never thought he'd think. The fact that he was presently female was less worrying than the fact that he was presently bearing a pair of functional cat ears on his head.

He fell to the floor with a thud, curled into a ball, and started to laugh, an insane, cackling, broken laugh. He was vaguely aware of Nate watching him impassively out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't care. This was insane. This was nonsensical. This was ridiculous. This was-

And then he felt something fuzzy rub against his back.

Oh, God, there was a tail, too.

The laughter gave way to a terrified scream.

That, it seemed, was enough to push Nate into action. He grabbed Patyu by the shoulders and lifted him up- a much easier task than it would have been a few minutes ago, given his much-reduced size- and put one hand over his mouth, pulling him into one of the stalls. He pushed Patyu against one of the cheap plastic walls and put a finger to his lips.

"Shut. Up. You're fine. You're not dying. It's not permanent," Nate hissed. "Well, probably. Just... shut up."

"Bu-" Patyu had enough time to think that his voice was at least two octaves higher than it was before whatever had happened had... happened... before Nate put a hand over his mouth again.

"If you don't want people to see you like this, shut up. Stop screaming like a demented child and listen to me." Nate sighed and leaned back against the wall closest to him, slid the gun into its holster, and smiled. "You know, we might be able to get out of this easily enough. It is a costume party, after all."

Patyu's eyes widened. "Oh no. No-no-no-no-no. You are not making me go back out there like this."

"Ah, come on. You're a cute wittwe catgiwl. Half the people here are probably into that in a big way. And besides, you can't hide in the bathroom forever."

"Watch me." Patyu crossed his arms and huffed. He felt... angry, obviously, and confused, and terrified, but somehow it seemed less... intense. Like it was normal, in an incredibly and obviously abnormal way.

Nate shrugged. "Have it your way, then. I'm going to go find Ross. If anyone sees you, just... hide, or something."

"But what if Ari sees me?"

"Oh, she's going to." Nate shook his head and laughed. "She's definitely going to find out about this." He leaned over, reached behind Patyu's back, and pushed him out the stall. "Now get. This is the men's bathroom, and I don't see you using the urinal any time soon."

Patyu couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. He was feeling far calmer, he thought. He didn't know if it was the sweater, or Nate, or just the adrenaline wearing off, but somehow his situation didn't seem as bleak.

And then an Indian man in a pickelhaube with a fat lip-caterpillar of a moustache walked into the restroom.

For a moment, he seemed surprised, and then a jovial grin grew on his face. "Happy Halloween!" he said, and then continued. "I must say, of all the costumes, yours are by far the most convincing ones. What have you dressed as, by the way, any fictional character in particular?"

Oh, there was the panic. Patyu's old friend, back again. Good to see you.

"Oh, I'm Adarsh Sawant, the President of Free Indian States, and you?" The man, Adarsh, stuck out a hand and smiled. Nate put a hand on Patyu's shoulder- oh, God, he was about a foot taller, even in his... diminished state, wasn't he?- and returned the grin as best he could.

"Oh, thank you," he said, an obviously saccharine smile fixed to his face. "You can call me Nate, everyone does. Odd name, I know, but it's a lot shorter than what my parents gave me." That was a bold choice, all things considered. But, Patyu supposed, it wasn't like anyone knew who they were here, anyways, overshadowed by their respective leaders as they were.

Still grinning, he turned to look down at Patyu, waiting for him to finish the introduction. Patyu gulped. He had to say something, but what? He couldn't call himself by his own name, that was too obvious. But... names were hard. Names were very hard. He went through and discarded eight possible options in half a second, then settled on one he thought might work.

He stuck out a tiny hand and took Adarsh's. "Um... I'm Vashadri." He managed a weak smile at that. It was a good name. He'd met a Vashadri before, at the Council's meeting-place. And the name reminded him of Aphadri.

Quickly, Nate pulled him away from Adarsh and continued. "We're not really sure what characters these are, really; a friend made us wear these." True, from a certain perspective. It wasn't like Ross had given them a choice. "But we've got to go now, thank you, can't be late to the... the party!"

Brushing Adarsh aside, Nate pulled Patyu out the door and around the corner. The second the Wilhelm of the East was out of sight, the smile fell from Nate's face. He stopped, grabbed Patyu, and knelt to his eye-level.

"Alright. I don't care what you do now. Go hide in the basement if you want, or just sit in your hotel room. Or go to the party, 'Vashadri.'" He rolled his eyes. "I've got something I've got to do."

"Is it beat the shit out of John Ross?"

"Maybe."

And with that Nate was gone. Patyu was alone in the hotel, with only his panic, a pair of cat ears, and a humming Indian man shaving in a bathroom to keep him company. And there was something coming down the hall from the direction opposite the banquet room, something that sounded very large, possibly quite angry, and very Southern.

Oh, no.

[Azur Deutschland]

Sylvia and Julienne had braced themselves with magical defense barriers the moment before the lights went out. When they came back on, the twins were calming examining what had happened. Something flew past them, there had been gunshots, and the lights were messing up.

Going back to their previous thoughts they both nodded to each other. Yes, it was definitely Ross, the two of them thought. Just what in the hell did he do this time? They had heard about some of that man's escapades, so they weren't entirely surprised. They were a little bit annoyed though. One, their conversation was interrupted. Two, this was supposed to be a fun party. There weren't entirely sure if it was gunshots or something else, but being on the receiving end of anything relating to Ross wouldn't make a fun time...

They looked around the room, examining the guests. Turning back over, they looked at Jessica, Charlie, and Keller. The twins were silently happy to note that no one in the immediate surroundings seemed injured.

Though, now that they registered that everyone was fine, they didn't know what to do. Should we just carry on with the conversation? Should we find out what exactly happened? They didn't just want to leave the conversation they had, but what if that madman does something even more drastic... So, they just stood there, with a slightly perplexed look, mostly waiting on either someone to say something to them or for them to finally make up their minds.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Sylvia and Julienne had braced themselves with magical defense barriers the moment before the lights went out. When they came back on, the twins were calming examining what had happened. Something flew past them, there had been gunshots, and the lights were messing up.

Going back to their previous thoughts they both nodded to each other. Yes, it was definitely Ross, the two of them thought. Just what in the hell did he do this time? They had heard about some of that man's escapades, so they weren't entirely surprised. They were a little bit annoyed though. One, their conversation was interrupted. Two, this was supposed to be a fun party. There weren't entirely sure if it was gunshots or something else, but being on the receiving end of anything relating to Ross wouldn't make a fun time...

They looked around the room, examining the guests. Turning back over, they looked at Jessica, Charlie, and Keller. The twins were silently happy to note that no one in the immediate surroundings seemed injured.

Though, now that they registered that everyone was fine, they didn't know what to do. Should we just carry on with the conversation? Should we find out what exactly happened? They didn't just want to leave the conversation they had, but what if that madman does something even more drastic... So, they just stood there, with a slightly perplexed look, mostly waiting on either someone to say something to them or for them to finally make up their minds.

"Should we try to get to a safer place, where no one could get hurt? I think there is a bit of a disagreement happening somewhere in the hotel." Princess Harrington asked the sisters, as all five of them did hear gunshots. "We can try to see what's outside the hotel. Might be somewhere...not having some possible dictators or anything." Jessica said, wanting to enjoy the rest of the morning, without the fear of anyone dying in front of them.

[Brettenwald]

"Paris Cärrino, Prince Regent(ish) of Brettenwald. No need to use the fancy title, I've always found it intimidates people," he said, shaking Gurraniz' hand. "My country doesn't really celebrate Halloween as such, but hey, it's diplomacy . . . actually, this is half diplomacy and half my control freak of a brother getting me off his back. Are you just here for the party, or are you letting your hair down during a state visit? . . . And am I seeing things, or did the creepy twins over there just conjure roses from thin air?"

"Heh," said Etor Gurraniz. "I am here for the party, but I'm also here to so Voxija can have better relations with Western Fardelshufflestein."

Before Etor could comment on the existence of magic, he heard shooting. "Hit the dirt, Prince Cärrino!" Etor ducked under the table. That was a wise decision, because he heard the words "weeb laser" and he didn't want to get shot by that. And then the lights went out.

Etor heard more shooting and screaming, but to his credit, he didn't scream. The lights went back on again, and Etor Gurraniz got back into his chair. His meticulously created costume was ruined, but that was better than being shot.

"So, Paris Cärrino," continued Etor Gurraniz. "Shall we continue our conversation?"

"Shit!" Paris dived under the table. "You shouldn't need security, he said. It's just an informal party and nobody else knows you're going, he said. I am going to kill my brother when I get back." The lights went back on in short order, and he waited for a few seconds before resuming his place in the chair and smoothing his suit back out. "Where were we, diplomacy?" He looked around furtively before taking a small flask out of an inner pocket in his suit jacket and taking a quick belt from it. "I am not drunk enough to adequately deal with the existence of anything called a 'weeb laser'. Care for something stronger than a mimosa? Gotta warn you, it's neat gin."

[Broader Confederate States]

Not missing a beat, she rushed down the hallway, in the direction of someone else who seemingly had the same idea. Having seen someone very much like them before drunk off his ass, she was pretty sure she could put the pieces together and surmise that something happened here.
Following behind, she found herself in the middle of mess again, finding the closest person and asking for what happened in a... let's just say somewhat concerned tone, looking behind herself every couple of seconds.
The holes didn't inspire any confidence but there didn't seem to be any blood around, so it didn't seem like anyone got hurt physically, even if it must have been terrifying.

[Azur Deutschland]

"Should we try to get to a safer place, where no one could get hurt? I think there is a bit of a disagreement happening somewhere in the hotel." Princess Harrington asked the sisters, as all five of them did hear gunshots. "We can try to see what's outside the hotel. Might be somewhere...not having some possible dictators or anything." Jessica said, wanting to enjoy the rest of the morning, without the fear of anyone dying in front of them.

Pulling themselves out of their thoughts, Sylvia and Julienne recognized that they were being asked a question and both of them nodded to Keller.

"Yes, I think we probably should. I don't know what type of weaponry was used, but certainly nothing good will come if more shots get fired off. Safety should be a first priority." Sylvia said after her nod.

"It was definitely one of the other guests, John Ross. He might do something even more catastrophic, so..." Julienne gave another nod, agreeing with her older sister's statement. That man... He is way too crazy to attend events such as these. I remember hearing he did something even worse at the wedding that occurred at New Carthagea... How does even pass through security?

[Socialist Macronesia]

Nate half grimaced. The place was filled with people, and worse yet, camera coverage. He wouldn't be able to take two steps outside before getting spotted by someone.

So he did the best thing he could think of. He opened the container on the wall with the closest fire extinguisher, and took it out.

He spotted the metallic box on the wall about five meters away. They had even had the foresight to lock it up.

Nate swung his fire extinguisher at the lock. The shackle shattered.

"Goddamn MasterLock. Deserved it."

He flipped several of the switches off. The lights in the hallway cut off. Ross then found a room with one of the Do Not Disturb signs on the door. He used it to slip the deadbolt with ease.

He rushed to the now darkened room, and threw open the window. First floor; jumped to the ground. He threw open the electric line maintenance manhole, in he went.

Nate had disappeared without a trace.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Pulling themselves out of their thoughts, Sylvia and Julienne recognized that they were being asked a question and both of them nodded to Keller.

"Yes, I think we probably should. I don't know what type of weaponry was used, but certainly nothing good will come if more shots get fired off. Safety should be a first priority." Sylvia said after her nod.

"It was definitely one of the other guests, John Ross. He might do something even more catastrophic, so..." Julienne gave another nod, agreeing with her older sister's statement. That man... He is way too crazy to attend events such as these. I remember hearing he did something even worse at the wedding that occurred at New Carthagea... How does even pass through security?

"John Ross?" Keller said, as she was getting up from her chair. "Hang on, someone got to take this flowers." Charlie carried the makeshift vase of blue roses, as the five of them were planning on slipping away. "Who's this John Ross guy?" Jessica asked the sisters, since she knew he would probably be another random crazed ruler like the Leader. "Our Leader nearly would have shown up, but we got lucky it's just me, Charlie, and Harrington."

[Azur Deutschland]

"John Ross?" Keller said, as she was getting up from her chair. "Hang on, someone got to take this flowers." Charlie carried the makeshift vase of blue roses, as the five of them were planning on slipping away. "Who's this John Ross guy?" Jessica asked the sisters, since she knew he would probably be another random crazed ruler like the Leader. "Our Leader nearly would have shown up, but we got lucky it's just me, Charlie, and Harrington."

The girls' lips curled slightly that Charlie grabbed the makeshift home for the magical roses they made. Though, the smile didn't last for that long once their thoughts shifted back again to Ross.

"Well, we don't know much about him, but John Ross, to put it in really simple terms, is a chaotic man." Julienne stated in a matter of fact tone.

Sylvia then gave her rather short explanation of what the twins knew about John Ross. "That man is definitely strange, enigmatic, and just crazy. One of the other guests that was to attend this party, King Christophe of New Carthagea, had a royal wedding back in their own country. Ross attended that and... Well, let's just say that the wedding didn't stay on topic. We heard that there was something akin to a warzone going on... I'm quite glad my sister and I were too timid to attend, though I feel sympathy and sorry for Christophe..." She then shook her head.

[Broader Confederate States]

Washington took stock of the room, eavesdropping into the twins' conversation once more. Hands in her jacket pockets, she inched closer to them, head turned to the side both to hear them better and to keep an eye behind her.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said in a slight mumble realizing she was much closer than she thought she would be and backing away slightly, "but, uh, would you happen to know which one 'a the guests this morning that John Ross fella would've happened ta be? Just t' keep my eyes out fer 'im, 'n all. Again, I apologize fer butting into th' conversation, it just seems that you two have a... hist'ry t'gether, so you appear to be my best source."
Feeling somewhat wakward, she leaned on the closest tall thing she could.

[Western Fardelshufflestein]

The Grand Jacobean Hotel

All in all, four individuals were shot: two guests and two staff members, who were temporarily stunned and thus perceived by Noah Jaye as being dead. They were one male and one female (now one catgirl and one catboy) who, upon regaining their senses, went into such a great shock that their coworkers very nearly had to call an ambulance. Being civilian cannon fodder, their names here are not of much importance.

While some leaders, such as Kaiser Adarsh and Gator Washington, were not present when the "gunshots" (in reality, no guns were fired) went off, others were caught in the thick of it. Luckily, only the lights in the immediate vicinity had gone off and could be repaired within a day or two, but the entire hotel had to be put on lockdown at present. Naturally, the authorities were called in, SWAT teams prowled the halls, frantic guests were given free massage passes, and, at long last (maybe only 15 minutes), the perpetrator was found about two blocks away with the mysterious device called a "weeb laser."

This was going on while the other guests were attempting some form of diplomacy, gaping at magic tricks in the dark, and having an emotional breakdown somewhere. None of them even knew Ross had been apprehended and was being temporarily (because this is a ROLEPLAY) detained at the police station and his weeb laser impounded. Thus, they could not vote him out as the Impostor for firing the laser, sabotaging the lights, and venting into the New Hamletberg sewer system, and continued for the most part doing whatever they were doing.

Then, the auxiliary power turned on, and the patrons and staff alike were temporarily blinded by the deluge of brightness. Once their eyes adjusted, they resumed doing whatever they were doing, albeit with more visibility--save for Ross, who was being led out of a police cruiser to get his mug shot taken.

[Tranzoria]

Jaye was still being calmed by Jackson telling him no one died when Ross was being taken away. Jackson thought Ross would do something crazy, but this? Man, he underestimated the guy. Jaye looked at Ross and shouted Murdered, which prompted Jackson to cover his mouth, all while realizing they were still in their Costumes. Ross was being taken away and the Banquet didn't even start yet.

[Kiu Ghesik]

Sheepishly, Patyu slumped against the wall and hid his face behind one hand as some rather green-looking woman in what looked like quite the convincing alligator costume with a blouse on over it rushed past him, a very poorly concealed handgun in one hand. Thankfully, she paid him no heed, and only gave a passing glance at Nate, who was attempting to do... something... on her way to the banquet room. He let out a sigh of relief.

On the floor, he curled up into a little ball, pulling his knees close to his chest. It was cold here, he thought. Colder than it should have been. An air conditioner kicked on next to him, sending a draft of icy air blowing across his face. He shivered and curled up tighter.

The sweater really was a godsend after all. It was incredibly warm. Like a nice, soft blanket. Like the blanket Ari stole. He grabbed one of the sleeves, hanging loose from his arm, and rubbed it between his fingers. He could feel the threads sliding over each other, the weave click-click-clicking in and out of place. Vhiari would have appreciated the craftsmanship at work here. Maybe Nate wouldn't mind if he took it back with him? Surely he wouldn't.

Now his mind was far away, far from here, thinking about home. What would they think of him now? They'd laugh at him, in all likelihood. They'd think he was a freak. And it was Ross' fault. None of this would've happened if that insane bastard hadn't decided to make him test number two of his... weeb laser. It was a stupid name. It did far too little to convey the seriousness of it's... effects. Patyu had a feeling that Ross was laughing his ass off, somewhere, at the thought of the nomad being forcibly put through the mental blender. He felt tiny, insignificant, weak. And physically, he was. A cute little curiosity for the people at this fucking party to smile at.

He didn't want to be that. He wanted to be himself. But at least for now that was beyond his reach.

His head fell into his tiny hands, and he felt a spot of hot, stinging wetness fall from one eye. He rubbed at it, sniffling, and looked down the hall. Nate was fiddling with something, a box on the wall. As Patyu watched, he got it to open, pulled out a red canister, and smashed it into another box. The lid on that one swung open and he reached inside. A moment later the hallway fell into darkness.

Patyu couldn't find the energy to do any more than sigh and slump further over onto one side.

Surprisingly, he found that he could see through the darkness easily enough. Well, not so surprisingly- Ross had turned him into a cat... girl. Cats could see in the dark, after all. Absentmindedly, he watched as Nate opened a door and slipped into a hotel room, closing it shut gently behind him. He was gone, then. Patyu was alone.

Alone in the darkness with nothing but his thoughts for company. That was familiar.

He lay on his side, breathing slowly, deeply, doing his best to stay calm. The ears on his head would twitch, he would inhale, he would exhale, he would blink, breathing in that odd sweet scent that had seemed to follow him around ever since he'd been hit by the thing, and he would all start again. He felt his hands shake. Unsteadily, he reached out and felt at the ears on his head.

They were soft. Very soft.

For the first time in hours, he felt calm. He took a deep, long breath. And then another. And another.

And he realized what he wanted to do.

If Ross insisted on making his life a living hell, he'd have to show Ross that he wasn't so easily cowed. The bastard wanted to have his fun with him? Well, he'd had it. But this was a costume party, after all. No one knew who he was. No one would know the difference between Patyughin and Vashadri. No one knew who either of them was, anyways. Ross wanted him to be miserable. So he'd be the opposite.

Steeling himself, he got to his feet and looked towards the banquet room. In the dark, he could see the lights within at the end of the hall, and hear the sound of murmuring and laughter. The party was carrying on without him. They'd already gotten over John Adam Ross.

It was about time Patyu did too.

[Socialist Macronesia]

One of the cops at the station was on his lunch break.

"...break free of your chains!"

That got his attention.

Entering a room, the officer saw several things.

1. John Ross was giving a speech.
2. Someone had overturned a box of paper to use as a platform.
3. Ross was gesticulating wildly.

"My comrades, far too long hath you been burdened by regulations, laws, and distrusted by those you set out to protect! Far too long have you been forced to abide by rules set aside by those who have never been in the line of duty! Those never in danger! Those who sit behind a desk their whole lives! Well, I say ENOUGH!"

Cheers. Somebody had printed out copies of Ross's mugshot and were passing them out to be held in the air and waved, like some sort of Big Brother and Daniel Ocean conglomerate.

"Therefore, we must set aside our responsibility, and focus on our rights!"

That statement meant absolutely nothing.

And they loved it.

"WE SHALL UNITE!"

Tables were pounded upon. Chairs were lifted up. The crowd of rabid, and slightly confused police officers began to chant.

Ross slipped from the room. They'd let him out, but he felt the need to make a statement before he left.

"Wait, where'd the laser go?" One of the officers patted down Ross to no avail.

Unfortunately, Ross had not taken it this time.

[Western Fardelshufflestein]

The chief of the police station, Ludwig McCallister, was very perturbed at having to detain a foreign war criminal. What made it worse was that the criminal was allegedly a leader of some foreign nation called Socialist Macronesia, and he was...well...pulling a Vladimir Lenin at present.

Ludwig felt a twinge of satisfaction when he gave the order to put Ross in Solitary.

There were no vents for the Impostor to use, no on his person, just a bed, desk and chair, and private bathroom for him to use. Since he had not so much as a bar of soap, there was not much for him to do--this included trying to sabotage the security cameras pointed at him.

Oh, he would be released shortly enough. But not yet. He had to be processed and receive a set trial date, which would almost certainly involve the Supreme Court and possibly the UN. No, not the UN--they all came from countries that had the virus. WF was rona-free and planned to stay that way.

On the bright side, the police officers who were now being interrogated had pictures of his mug shot, so there was that.

[Azur Deutschland]

Washington took stock of the room, eavesdropping into the twins' conversation once more. Hands in her jacket pockets, she inched closer to them, head turned to the side both to hear them better and to keep an eye behind her.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said in a slight mumble realizing she was much closer than she thought she would be and backing away slightly, "but, uh, would you happen to know which one 'a the guests this morning that John Ross fella would've happened ta be? Just t' keep my eyes out fer 'im, 'n all. Again, I apologize fer butting into th' conversation, it just seems that you two have a... hist'ry t'gether, so you appear to be my best source."
Feeling somewhat wakward, she leaned on the closest tall thing she could.

Upon hearing a new voice, Sylvia and Julienne both looked over to the source. It was a rather interesting person, an extremely realistic alligator costume. Not something that you'd see at your average Halloween costume party. Though, they looked closer and thought to themselves. Wait... That seems a little too realistic... Shaking their heads slightly, they shrugged off the strange feeling and quickly answered the person's question.

"It's quite alright. Your question is actually quite relevant to the conversation, hehe. Um, I believe Ross was dressed as one of the leaders of the... Soviet Union..." Julienne said.

"Yes, Mikhail Gorbachev, to be precise." Sylvia added on.