The Pub of Nine Swords
Earlier...
After a few moments of taking in the interior of the pub, Tenkai sat himself down at one of the tables. It was easier to keep watch at a table than it was at the bar counter. Bar counters gave your back to the majority of the room, meaning you'd need to be on full alert in order to not be caught off guard. Of course, counters are as useful as improvised defense as they are a detriment to your safety. Keep your senses peeled enough, and bar counters can be your best friends.
But the monk took the easy route this time. He could have used a drink, but he didn't need to sit at the counter in order to get one. For now he'd just bide his time, looking around the room and watching--
The Egotist
"Bingo." He looked away, to not raise suspicion, but subconsciously licked his lips, flashing fanged canines. He took a seat at the bar, and ordered a glass of rum. When it arrived, he quietly took a sip, his back to his foe. His eyes began to glow faintly with blue-green fire, and when he stood up, drink left on the corner, he turned in a smooth movement and fired his gun straight at his target's head.
It was strange. Tenkai could feel a sudden, sharp rise in killing intent from the man sitting at the bar, drinking his rum. This was made even more clear by the energies that began emanating from him as well. Before Tenkai could even fully process the thought, the man pulled out a gun and fired for the person behind him.
Damn it!
Tenkai instinctively dove out of the way, hearing the bullet penetrate the wall of the pub a few feed away from him as he knocked over a table for cover. Was this an assassination? No...that didn't make any sense. Pulling out a gun in a public place with bouncers watching your every move? That was a bit too sloppy for assassination. Maybe it was just a simple bar shootout? No...couldn't be that either. Those usually started with fighting words. Perhaps he was a patsy trying to get the jump on someone in a safe haven regardless of whether or not he got away?
It could have been those, but one look at the gunman's face told Tenkai all he needed to know. He wasn't being sloppy, and he wasn't a patsy. Perhaps he simply didn't care what innocents got in the way between him and his mark.
Speaking of his mark, Tenkai had heard the bullet hit the wall. Had he avoided the bullet? From his cover, Tenkai could make out a familiar face. A one James Eredas, whom the monk remembered to be one of the previous competitors in the Heaven or Hell tournament. He only knew so much about him, which wasn't to say a lot aside from the fact that he was a slayer. What was he doing here? Why was this man trying to kill him?
Nevertheless, things were going to get a lot worse around here with people firing guns at each other. Tenkai wasn't a big fan of guns. He couldn't say that he hated them, and would probably use them if the given situation called for it. He even respected them to an extent, but they simply weren't his cup of tea. Of course, he was much less a fan of staring down the barrel of one as he was having to use them.
With the bouncers and the more hostile bar-goers getting involved in the fight, Tenkai had to correct himself.
Now things were going to get a lot worse. He had to think of a way of getting people out of harms way before everything got torn up.
Damn...he thought,
This is going to be difficult with everyone piling in the corners.
Tenkai quickly made his way along the wall, crouched down and knocking over tables with his shakujo staff to provide a wall of cover as he went around the perimeter of the room. He kept his voice down as he spoke to some of the more frightened bar-goers. He had entirely forgot about how alien he was in comparison to them.
"Keep your heads low and follow me. I'll try to get you all out of here safely."
Boy, did Tenkai wish he had known more about this place before stepping into here. Back doors and secret entrances were usually abundant in old bars and taverns, and knowing about them was very useful when you had to escape. Tenkai knew very little about the Nine Swords Pub, so he was at a stark disadvantage. He'd have to somehow get the people out of the front door without them being torn up in the crossfire.
That's when Tenkai took a glance at the entrance.
Ebag The II
A small smirk formed upon his pierced lips as he'd let the crowd swallow him before he activated the chainaxe. The screech of metal revving up and the roar of an engine/daemon would alert everyone around him that slith was about to go down.
Things had gone from worse to worst.
Tenkai had remembered Dzan Streea not only from his investigation into HoH, but also from meeting him in person. Tenkai shouldn't have been surprised to find him here, considering how chaotic the city's architecture was. He didn't know why he was here, but he knew enough about him that sudden fight outbreaks spurred him on into bouts of carnage. With Eredas and his assailant heading upstairs, Tenkai had thought the people in the bar would be safe. Unless Dzan chased after Eredas, this was going to be tricky.
Some people had followed Tenkai as he made his way across the tables, but that wasn't true for everyone. Apparently the bodyguards of the bar were organizing some sort of contingency plan. He was relieved...or at least hoped to be relieved. Odds were likely this sort of thing happened more often than Tenkai realized, so the security was probably prepared for it. Tenkai's best bet was to work together with them.
Of course...that would require talking to a minotaur. An unusual position, indeed.
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