Something Wicked - Another Brick in the Wall

[Dawn OOC]

The movie had been fine; Quinn wasn't a comic nerd or anything like that so she'd had no expectation about the movie. She hadn't seen the first movie -- not that she'd admit that after how long it'd taken to settle on the movie in the first place -- but she'd figured out enough to follow the story. The romance had been fine though it was totally creepy that they were basically stealing this guy's body. It made Quinn more than a little uncomfortable. As for the plot, she found the wish storyline a little silly. The villian had seemed to be after power for power's sake. And the movie was so old. Some of the clothing and hairstyles had been popular when her parents were kids. 

 

Holding hands and getting a few secret kisses from Keith had been fun, though.

 

Quinn narrowed her eyes at the raised hood of the truck, her mind racing. Was this an evil spell? A hex or something? It could be bad luck... but...

 

Since learning of magic and learning to do the same, Quinn had an unfortuate tendancy to see all bad luck as magic. She sat in silence for a long moment until a horrible suspicion came over her. Her gaze slowly turned to rest on Roach, and she hissed, "Is this you?!"

[SalmonMax]

Roach rolled her eyes. "No, I just soured the milk on his porch and cursed his 'manflower' so it wouldn't bloom," she intoned. Then she waved a hand at the windshield, now obscured by the hood. "This is all him, and his rampant inability to keep a motor vehicle in good repair. It speaks to a larger, pervasive irresponsibility, I think."

 

She leaned back in her seat and remarked, "Movie was pretty shit. Now I have a billion incels holding it up as a 'why woke movies suck' example to look forward to, when really it's just an example of 'why movie studios should hire people who know how to write their way out of a paper bag.'"

 

After a second Roach added, "If he can't figure it out in another couple minutes I'll go bail him out."

[Malachite]

Silas had intended to watch very little of the movie, but Dylan was so enthralled by the entire theatre experience that it ended up being a rather tame actual movie watching experience. He did get to snuggle up to Dylan's side and the taller boy put an arm around him for most of the movie, so it wasn't a total loss. When Steve Trevor is resurrected, Silas lost the thread of the plot for a while as his mind whirled around the entire situation with Dylan and what it might mean with the rules he knew of magic. How was Dylan alive now? What was the cost to that going to be? Like the Dreamstone, every spell came with a cost and Silas couldn't see any way that Dylan's resurrection wasn't magic. Unless it was a bonafide miracle. . .did miracles actually happen? To him?

He was still half-lost in contemplation when they all piled back into the truck. And then sat there as nothing happened. 

"Sounds like the alternator, maybe? It's just clicking," Silas said, showing nearly the entirety of his knowledge of cars. "Maybe we just need a jump?" he asked, gesturing over to the Camero left in the parking lot. "Or we could try something ourselves. . ." He made a little gesture to mean 'with magic', glancing over at Roach and Evelyn, but looking unsure. A dead car battery or whatever seemed a little. . . little to apply magic to to him, but by the same token they should be practicing, too. 

[Asarasa]

Sitting in the bed of the family's big old Ford, Jo's green, spaghetti-strap dress hiked up some as she straddled her boyfriend, powerful thighs on either side of his waist, strong arms looped about his shoulders, making out with some nuzzling and kissing and wondering hands. The heat of the sun-warmed bed of the pick-up seeped through the thick blanket covering it. The cab might have been more comfortable, but Jo was big enough to take up the space for at least two, and in the bed she and Darryl had more room to fool around.

 

Like they had done off and on throughout the movie, with poor circumspection. Jo hadn't paid that much attention to the movie, just enough to think the first one was better and that the Amazons had looked more impressive in it. Jo had learned at least some of the background Amazons in the first movie were CrossFitters and other athletes. The Amazon Olympics part in the second movie was neat to see in a movie, but Jo couldn't help but be critical after winning the teen CrossFit games and being a  dedicated Heptathlete.

 

And she was sorely disappointed in kid Wonder Woman. Well, she'd been kinda disappointed by Wonder Woman too. She'd heart the actress put on 15 or 20 pounds of muscle for the role, but Jo could hardly tell. Gadot was sure pretty, but Jo though most of the amazons would have looked like better Wonder Women. And little girl Wonder Woman looked just like a little girl. They could have at least gotten a gymnast or something. 

 

Before Jo had gone through her first massive growth spurt, she'd done gymnastics. True, she was lucky and put on muscle really easily, and even at ten, she'd had abs. But there'd been other girls her age who had visible muscle. It seemed like they never really liked showing girls with muscle - real muscle -  in movies or on TV, except as a joke or for minor characters.

 

For Darryl, it was hard to focus on the movie when he had real teen Amazon sitting right next to him in theatre, blonde and tanned and a head taller than any on screen. Who was more than fine with putting an arm around his shoulders, a hand on his legs, or her lips on his.

 

"Yah know, Ah dressed up as Wonder Woman for Halloween last year," Jo admitted, with a twinkle in her blue eyes and a teasing little wriggle. "Ah still have the outfit, if yah like tah see me in it?"

 

She still had the costume, it was a great one, real leather and her father and eldest brother Aidan had helped with the metal bits on the chest, bracers, and greaves. But she wasn't sure she'd be able to squeeze into it anymore. She'd been starting her second super-sized growth spurt then and had been six inches short than she was now. Her lips curved wicked. But she was willing to try, for Darryl's eyes anyway.

 

Jo;s grin faded into a frown, cocking her head when the pick-up failed to start, Keith climbing out with grumbling mumbles as he went to raise the hold. Picturing his imposing and impressively built girlfriend dressed up as Wonder Woman, Darryl was regretting taking a ride in the Ford 250 instead of taking Jo with him on his bike.

 

Jordan's hands went from Darryl to the side of the truck as she heaved herself up and leaned over, inadvertently giving Darryl a face full of firm flesh. "Stop pretendin' yah know what yer doin', Keith!" she called out to her brother, a bit mocking, a bit teasing. "Yer only a boy. Let Roach take care of it, so we can get outta here and get some food."

[Shameless]

Hank sat with Evelyn.   While he was a scout, he wasn't a mechanic, there wasn't alot he could do to help fix the truck besides maybe hold a flashlight.  "How did you enjoy your first movie, Evelyn?"    When he asked she just smiled at him.  "That was alot of fun. I'd never been to a show before."   Unlike the others, Hank hadn't tried to sneak a kiss or anything, though he did put his arm around her.   She'd looked up at him, and smiled, then leaned against him.  Sure it was a slow pace, but they were both new to this, he didn't feel the need to rush.  

He heard Jo telling Keith to let Roach handle it.    "Might be for the best, Roach can fix nearly anything."   He said.  The window was down, and he chuckled.   He didn't think that it was anything aside a mechanical fault.   "Anyone have a preference for where we go eat?"

[Nina]

Roach climbed out of the truck a disgusted look on her face and went around to the front where Keith was fiddling with wires randomly, “Get out of the way,’ she mumbled as she bumped him away and climbed onto the bumper to lean in as she pulled her hi-power pocket flash out and stuck it between her teeth the wide beam lighting up the engine compartment.

 

Evelyn felt a souring of the mood and stepped out of the truck after Roach she glanced into the back but quickly turned away not wanting to embarrass or be embarrassed by the shenanigans going on back there. She noted the Camaro all the way across the lot and a chill went down her spine.

 

A cursory examination with her eyes and Roach could see nothing obviously out of place, it sounded like an electrical problem, but the truck was in excellent condition, Keith might not be the mechanical type but his dad was.

She checked the battery, it was one of the super heavy-duty types, resistant to hot weather and cold. It was also not that old less than eight months. She pulled out another pocket tool this one used to measure current.

 

Roach shook her head, “Battery is stone dead no charge at all.” she said climbing down. “Even if the lights had been left on the battery wouldn’t be this dead.”

“I did not leave the lights on,’ protested Keith.

[SalmonMax]

"Yeah, well...tell it to the battery," Roach said. She backed up a bit and got down on her hands and knees to shine her light under the car and see if the battery had sprung a leak or something, but there was no puddle of acid under there. No smell of corrosion from it either.

 

The light snapped off and she got back to her feet.

 

"So we'll need a jump is all. You got triple-A? Once it's up and running you might want to get it looked at. It's a good battery, looks like it's in decent condition, so if it's dead there must be something else going on."

[Nina]

Just then as if on cue the parking lot lights turned off! Almost as one the Kids looked back at the theater and saw that it too was now utterly dark, the only light was now the moon shining from behind a cloudy sky.

[Shameless]

"Okay that's not normal. Even without another round of showings after the one we saw, there's  No way would they turn off the power to the lot this early."  Hank said, having gotten out with Evelyn.  He moved to her side.   "Something up?" he whispered quietly. He pulled out his phone, and saw something even worse.  His phone was dead, which should be impossible, since he could normally leave it on for over 24 hours.

"This is bad, this isn't something normal."    He stayed near Evelyn, and looked back to the others.   "Guys, my phone's dead too." Those were words they'd never heard Hank utter, he was prepared for anything at all times, he'd never let his phone die before.   It was, he hoped, a very clear signal that whatever was going on wasn't normal in the slightest and they needed to be on guard.

Edited April 10, 2021 by Shameless

[Nina]

Roach, who still held her flashlight but had turned it off after climbing out of the engine compartment tried it and it didn't come on. The other Kids, all except Evelyn, tried their phones and found the same as Hank had found.

 

They were all dead.

[Asarasa]

As the lights went dark, Jordan grunted in annoyance, rolling off Darryl to sit next to him in the bed of the truck. She pulled her pale braid - more intricately woven than usual for her date - over her shoulder and glanced up at the partially hidden moon with a sigh. The big girl might now know magic existed, and she was only slowly starting to play with it, but that didn't mean it was responsible for everything. Hard work and effort counted most and sometimes stuff just... happened. There was good luck and bad luck, not matter how much or how little you tried.

 

Then Hank mentioned his phone being dead, Roach couldn't turn her flashlight back on, and the rest of her friends started muttering about their phones too. She and Darryl did the same. Nothing. Jo shot Darryl a puzzled glance, his face shadowed by gloom and dark hair. She slipped her phone back into her small purse/backpack, then got up and turned around, planting a hand on the side of the truck.

 

Hard muscle tightened and flex and with smooth and practiced economy of motion, Jo hurdled out of the bed of the Ford 250, sporty sandals landing on warm asphalt. She straightened to her full, statuesque height and peered through the moon touched darkness...

 

Sometimes, maybe, stuff happened because someone was playing with magic...

 

"Um, reckon it could a power outage or the like?" Jo asked, low voice uncertain. "That'll mean no signals for our phones, right..."

 

It might explain the lack of a connection, but Jo didn't think a power outage should have drained the entire charge.

[SalmonMax]

Magic has a cost. It was another way of saying magic needed power.

 

Something was using a lot of power right now.

 

"Evelyn!"

 

Roach ran around to the side of the truck that Evelyn had exited to where she was standing gazing off at the distant Camaro.

 

"We need a circle," she said. "I didn't bring anything like that with me. Do you have anything? I...uh...salt...water...anything we can use to close a boundary."

 

This was more 'traditional' magic, where she wasn't as sure of herself, but she did have a sense that even a weak protection would be better than none at all.

[Malachite]

Yep, mysteriously dead batteries all around. Guess Keith is about to get a crash course in what's been going on with us, Silas though to himself as he piled out of the car with Dylan in tow. He frowned, following Evelyn's gaze back to the Camero. "I've got a knife, Roach, and we've all got blood." Wow, that sounds super creepy and scary when you just say it. 

Never one to ask another to do something he wouldn't, he dug out his Drifter pocket knife and flipped it open. He knicked his finger and dropped his hand, letting the blood drip beside him as he walked a circle around the truck and the kids already outside the truck. He had no idea if he was doing this right, but he wanted to protect everyone and it was more than time now to try something magical himself. So he walked and he dripped and he poured his hope and will into protecting those he cared about. 

Finding the right words to fit his will to the magic ended with a simple little rhyme: 

"With this blood from my hand
For all who within the circle stand
Shield them now with my power
Against those that would harm us this hour." 

As he repeated it over and over the others joined in, adding their will and words to his own efforts. His hand stung as he continued to bleed and drip the blood next to the path his feet were tracing out around the truck. He felt a bit foolish and a chunk scared - what if this didn't work? What if it did? He honestly wasn't sure what intimidated him more and his eyes kept tracking back to Dylan and his own thoughts during the movie. 

[Nina]

Evelyn had a bad feeling about that car all alone over there, even more so than the Circles predicament, then she heard Silas speaking softly, and she turned back. She saw him walking around the truck the other kids watching him, the small drops of blood falling from his lowered hand, his voice repeating a spell…

 

"With this blood from my hand
For all who within the circle stand
Shield them now with my power
Against those that would harm us this hour." 

 

She wasn’t familiar with the wording and assumed it was something of his own devising. Her first inclination was to step in and correct him, but then Jo joined in, then Roach. One by one the other Kids stepped into the circle of Silas’ blood and began repeating the spell. Only Quinn remained where she was by Keith her hand resting on his arm holding him back from interfering. The Kids phrasing was disjointed, off time, but there was something going in and she did not think she should interrupt it, so instead she joined in.

 

"With this blood from my hand

For all who within the circle stand

Shield them now with my power

Against those that would harm us this hour."

 

The Kids voices grew stronger, the only silent ones remaining were Keith, Quinn, and Dylan. Keith had begun to speak earlier but was silenced by a glance and a whisper from Quinn and now stood transfixed, Quinn at his side,  the kids of the Circle chanting.

 

"With this blood from my hand

For all who within the circle stand

Shield them now with my power

Against those that would harm us this hour."

 

The clouds moved across the face of gibbous moon, casting dark shadows across the forested hills of northern Georgia, he had taken prey, and there was more to come. he needed more than these few to fill the ranks…

 

"With this blood from my hand

For all who within the circle stand

Shield them now with my power

Against those that would harm us this hour."

 

Suddenly the Kids fell silent all of them at the same time. They all felt it a silent beat, as of an invisible heart, it resounded through them, each saw the imperfect circle of blood pulse with a purplish glow for a split second. They looked at one another.

 

He paused, looked up and back toward the place where he had taken the youths,  a clarion call had sounded, beckoning…

 

The clouds above grew thicker, shadows grew long and menacing and seemed to move due to the wind among the branches of the trees which surrounded the theater and its parking lot. One shadow darker than the rest more solid, detached from the trees and slid unseen across the ground past the sports car where it had taken the four young people. There at the old truck, it had seen it earlier, now it saw with new eyes, this was where the call came from, and here, there was more prey.

 

Dylan had stood there when Silas had begun the spell, he too had wanted to stop him, but it was not his place and when Evelyn joined in, he was worried, he knew enough about the craft to know you don’t do this sort of thing on a whim. The clouds covered the moon, the darkness grew thicker, a cool breeze, not uncommon in the hills at night, brought a chill. Dylan moved out of the circle careful not to step on the blood, he shook his head, then saw the shadows move.

 

Look at them, the shadow thought as it came up to them, invisible, so full of life, oblivious to death’s breath just an inch away…

[Shameless]

Hank felt something was off, then Dylan moved outside the circle.  "Dylan, something's wrong, isn't it?  What we were trying to do, it didn't work?"  It was half a question, and half statement.   He looked at him, his gaze shifting to follow his, and he still hadn't released Evelyn's hand.  "Stay behind me.  We may have to run."

He had no idea what was coming, he doubted any of them aside from Evelyn or Dylan did, or even if anything was there.   Still, Dylan's reaction troubled him, and he could feel something off.   

[Nina]

Suddenly The shadow rose next to Dylan, at first it was a dark amorphous mass. that grew slimmer as it grew taller. Dylan jerked away but not fast enough and section of the shadow shot out from the main and wrapped itself around Dylan's throat. It looked like an arm and even ended in a five fingered hand. 

 

The rest of the shadow grew to its full height about six foot and then it too became solid, so that all could see.

 

It was a man, effortlessly holding a squirming Dylan a full foot off the ground by his throat.

 

A man dressed in black.

 

 

Spoiler

One botch, delivered.

 

[Dawn OOC]

“Do you trust me?” Quinn asked Keith softly, her eyes afraid.

 

“Yeah?” He made a question, so she wasn’t really reassured, especially since he still had his gaze focused on the dead engine. 

 

“Keith, I’m serious, do you trust me? I need -- Hey!” She grabbed his arm and jerked his eyes up to her. “Do you trust me?”

 

“Sure,” he said slowly, blinking at her. “Can I fix the truck before we have a deep conversation like this, though?”

 

“No, you can’t fix the truck, because the issue isn’t something you can deal with,” Quinn told him firmly. “You have to trust me, and not freak out about what’s going to happen.”

 

“What--? Quinn, what are you talking about?” he asked sharply.

 

"With this blood from my hand,
For all who within the circle stand, 
Shield them now with my power, 
Against those that would harm us this hour."

 

The rising chant caught Keith’s attention finally, and he turned to look at the Kids. Quinn jerked on his shirt and said, “No, don’t interrupt! Just trust me, Keith, please.”

 

He opened his mouth to protest, but didn't say anything. Instead, he and Quinn watched silently. It wasn't until Hank spoke that Keith looked at Quinn and asked, "What the--?"

 

As the Man in Black swept Dylan into the air, Keith froze, even as Quinn jumped forward. "Put him down!" she roared in fury, Mama Bear coming to the forefront in a rush. She dashed toward the Man, hands reaching for the arm holding Dylan, intending to pull him down.

[Asarasa]

As the chanting ended, Jo's large, calloused hands let go of Silas and Hank as she took a step back to regard the circle with a frown. She hadn't done much with magic herself yet and what she'd done was far from flashy, but Silas seemed to know what he was doing. Was a bit of purple light all that was supposed to happen? And did Keith see it?

 

The huge girl looked up, but couldn't see her brother around the bulk of the truck with the hood up. Her deep blue eyes shifted to Darryl, then Silas as her hands knotted into fists.

 

"That it? It wor-" Jo's voice trailed off as the clouds thickened.

 

She felt her skin prickle with gooseflesh and the fine hairs at the back of her neck rose in instinctive warning. Then her mouth dropped open in surprise as a shadow turned into a Man dressed in Black and lifted Dylan off the ground. Jo was strong, stronger than most full grown men, and she knew what she was doing when weightlifting. She couldn't lift someone like that, not someone Dylan's size anyway. But she still had to have half a foot and at least forty pounds on the guy.

 

Quinn roared, and Jo was a step behind, shouting, "Let him go!"

 

She sprinted around her friends to come at the Man in Black and Dylan from the side. Quinn went for his arm, but Jo angled her shoulder to slam into him bodily with sheer mass and brute strength, trying to knock him back and away.
 

Spoiler

Assuming her Athletic and Strapping traits apply, I think the roll is 3d6, hitting on 4-6, barring any other modifiers or traits of the Man in Black.

 

Here's the roll I made, adjust as necessary: Details:[3d6 (6 3 4)]

 

[Nina]

Silas' eyes widened into saucers and he acted on instinct to the danger to Dylan, slamming himself hard into the man along with Jo. There were a lot of nice things about Silas - he was sweet, caring, and generally believed and acted as if the world were a much better place than it was. It turned out that when someone threatened his loved ones, Silas wasn't above punching below the belt to get his way. Literally.

 

Obadiah Swain reeled mentally from the triple impact of the three Kids, humans, who should have been rooted to their spots quivering, shitting, and pissing themselves at the sight of him. That they weren't was more what caused him to leap backwards, spilling the ferocious trio to the ground and dropping the the first boy in the process, than any damage they did or danger they imposed.

 

Then he saw the circle of blood and it all clicked into place. “Oh for fucks sake, Witches! I thought I was getting a tasty snack and it turns out to be a coven of witches!”

 

The three Kids stumbled to their feet ready to lay into the black clad stranger, but Dylan had also risen and grabbed all three and pushed them back within the circle. The monster came forward but stopped as he tried to cross the circle as if a hand held him back, Evelyn stepped forward hand at her throat gripping her odd cross necklace with her left hand, “Not a coven, worse for you, thing from hell, a Circle, sworn to defend, so begone thing!” She shouted the last and raised her right hand in a flinging motion and the man in black was hurled away, but before he hit the ground he turned to shadow and all that was left of him was his voice.

 

“I'll be back...”

 

The shadows lessen, the moon came out from behind the clouds, and the parking lot lights blinked on...

[Shameless]

Hank had remained with the others, ready to serve as a final line of defense to buy the others time if things went further south, then Evelyn straight up banished the "thing" that had attacked them.   "Well that was both terrifying and incredibly awesome."   He said, indicating where the thing had become shadow, and then Evelyn, who was still there between the two groups.   He looked to the attacking group and Dylan. , then Evelyn. "Are you all alright?"  he was close to her, knowing magic had a cost, and assuming that Banishing something, if that was really what she'd done, counted, he was on hand to help however she needed.  

[Nina]

Evelyn slumped, the telekinetic shove had taken everything she had, she gripped Hank's arm and leaned into him, but she looked at Dylan. "Dylan do you have any idea what that was?"

 

"Yeah I do. I don't think he recognized me but I recognized him, that was Obadiah Swain, a vampire."

 

"A vampire?" Keith Johansson's voice sounding meek, came from the front of the truck, where he still stood, momentarily forgotten by everyone else. "Quinn? Witches, vampires? What is going on?"

 

[Dawn OOC]

Quinn winced as she turned back to Keith. "So there's something I've been meaning to tell you." She paused but Keith was so shaken she didn't even get a wry quip from him. "I do magic. With the group." She waved to empass all her friends. "I mean, there's more to it than that, but a detailed conversation should probably take place somewhere else. Like, not in public in a parking lot."

 

He still stared at her, and she sighed. "Can we try the truck now and go home, please? We'll tell you everything, but not here."

[Nina]

Keith still looked like deer in the headlights, "Jo?"

 

"Keith," Quinn began but was interrupted by a gentle hand on her shoulder, "He in shock, nothin was protecting him from the vampire's fear. It'll wear off."

 

"Oh for..." Quinn sighed and went around to the drivers side, reached in and tried the key, which was still in the ignition. The truck turned over with a roar.

 

The Kids piled in and, with Quinn driving, drove up to the only other car in the lot, The Camaro. It was empty. None of them recognized the car but there was a Toans County High School parking pass on the back window.

 

They started to look for the HY kids but Evelyn called to them. "We can't help them right now. We need to get someplace where we can talk we need to explain all this to keith. and Dylan needs to fill us in on this character."

 

"To your house," Hank asked?

 

"No, we cant drag anyone else into this."

 

"But your uncle..."

 

"This isn't his responsibility, it is ours. That push took a lot out of me lets go get some food. Keith will need some too."

 

Twenty minutes later they were at the Wendy's in town sitting alone on the outside patio with a pile of food and some pent up frustrations.

 

Spoiler

Keith's senses have returned by the time y'all get to Wendy's but hi doesn't remember anything after the lights had gone out. But he is really hungry.

 

 

[Nina]

Everyone was silent as they push a couple of tables together out on the Wendy’s patio while Darrel, Hank, and Jo took everyone’s order and went inside to get the food. Quinn sat next to Keith who still seemed dazed, Silas sat close to Dylan who seemed a world away, holding his hand under the table.

 

When the other kids came out with trays of food they past it out and everyone fell to eating kind of lost in their own thoughts.

 

Hank sat two large chocolate Frosties and a large chili fries in front of Evelyn who quietly thanked him and started scarfing it down like she had not eaten in days. There was some quiet small talk mostly among the ‘couples’ but no one said anything about what had happened les than a half hour ago.

 

Evelyn finished the first Frosty and was mostly done with the chili fries when she paused and looked around the patio to make sure they were the only ones outside. They were. She glanced at the rest of the kids, noticed Silas and Dylan holding hands, Jo and Darryl were as well and then she noticed Hanks hand conspicuously placed on the table. She glanced at him but he is eating a French fry and didn’t look at her. She looked at Dylan who was looking at Silas then at Quinn who was talking to Keith, probably explaining things.

 

“Dylan,” when Evelyn spoke everyone looked at her, “you said that guy was a vampire? I did not even know vampires were real. And how do you know who he is?”

 

“Vampires…,” Keith mumbled.

 

“Well, that’s what Mawmaw, my grandmother, called him,” Dylan said leaning forward. “He lived back up in them hills out further east than our cabin. Mawmaw said she knew of him when she was a little girl and that he looked the same then as he did back when I was a kid. Said he only came out of them hills when he was hungry for blood. Young people usually around a dozen would disappear over about a weeks time. She said he weren’t no witch like we was, so he was a vampire. Least that’s what she said.”

 

Spoiler

Dawn you and Asa decide how Keith acts and responds he's y'alls NPC

 

[Shameless]

"And People just accepted this?"  Hank asked?   "They didn't confront him or anything like that, just let him come down, kill a dozen people in a week, and go on about his business?"  There wasn't an angry skeptical tone to his voice, he just wanted to know.   "Did he ever show how powerful he was, or did they try to fight him and fail?   I mean I just can't imagine no one trying to fight back against that.  how often did he come down?"