Exodus: Guns & Gore

********* Authors Note****

Going to recommend you revisit chapter 61 in TAP [A Death Deserved]. While it hasn't been completely altered, Leah, Remmy, Lara, and Mojo actually take part in the final confrontation. In the original, they sat it out in Ravenwood.

**********

QJ walked forward, one hand held out. "Sorry Mom, I can't allow this."

Leah Fintree looked up in surprise, QJ was frowning at her. "QJ, I need you to head back to Ravenwood and then log-off."

QJ shook his head, "No, I will stay here. Please take Dagger and Silverleaf and return to HQ."

Quinn bent down and placed restraints on Dean Tomas. "QJ, this person was complacent in this entire fiasco. He knowingly placed you in danger for his own gain."

"I understand. He has been corrupted, however, this Academy isn't part of that corruption." QJ glanced at the woman on the hud, "I'm assuming his debt was incurred at Bizarro?"

Quinn nodded at his son, "his four hundred million credit debt was paid off by Ron Dishney Associates."

QJ scratched his chin and pulled his dad to one side, "Isn't that the place you should burn to the ground?"

Quinn lowered his voice, "it's a ghost company. There's no record of a Ron Dishney anywhere."

"There was a person who disappeared a few months before I was born, Sidney Horn. Did you know him?" QJ had been an Exodus geek for years before his parents even let him enter. He knew the history of every game and the major players that influenced development.

Quinn stared at his son for a moment. "I knew him, of course. We faced his team in the Arena championship. Why bring up that old name?"

Leah, Mojo, and Ella closed in, quickly surrounding the father and son.

"I won't say." QJ crossed his arms, frowning at his family.

"...." Quinn.

Ella stared at her grandson, a slight smile on her face. When pressed, he was just like his father. "If we leave peacefully, will you say then?" Ella had been told years ago how her son and daughters had dealt with Cyrus Blood, the avatar of Sidney Horn.

"Why hasn't he just logged off?" QJ snuck a glance at the Dean, he hadn't said a word since he'd been tossed through the window.

Quinn shrugged. "Gotta be able to speak if you want to log off."

Simple Restraint

Rare Item

Description: Handcuffs designed to completely nullify

all abilities of the wearer for 30 minutes.

Additional effect: Wearer is mute for 30 minutes

Quinn watched his son for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Sweet Mother..."

QJ nodded, "took you long enough. Going to leave now?"

Quinn reached down and hauled the Dean to his feet. "Until the Academy board meets with me and explains their negligence, I'm leaving you in charge QJ."

"Er... what?" QJ watched his dad drag Tomas away. "Hey! What's that even mean?"


He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his Aunt Em, aka Crow. "Left a bit of a mess in your office I'm afraid, Dean QJ." She patted her nephew on the back and then followed her brother.

Mojo, Ella, and Leah all turned toward the exit. The redhead glanced back and smiled. "Dagger Company fall back to Ravenwood. Silverleaf company assume security patrols on campus."

Dagger Company followed the TAP heroes out of the Academy while Captain Yaya started assigning patrols. QJ joined Dessi and Ringo who were talking.

"Sorry, my family can be a bit much at times." QJ smiled at the two teachers. "Now what?"

"QJ... I didn't know about their plan to bring you into GnG early!" Ringo's face was pale, "I would never have allowed this."

"I know that, so does my family." QJ didn't add the obvious, had she been involved they definitely wouldn't have let her off.

"You should set up in the Dean's office temporarily, you can make most of the decisions from there." Dessi hadn't liked Dean Tomas, after seeing the recording, she loathed the man.

"Come on... Don't take what my dad said seriously."

"QJ, go set-up in the Dean's Office." Ringo kept her face expressionless.

"For Pete's sake, I'm just a freshman!" QJ threw his hands up in disgust.

Exodus Academy System Message: Quinn James Riley has been assigned the duties of Temporary Dean.

An NPC assistant appeared next to him a moment later. She had short dark hair and wore a blue business suit. "Good day to you sir, I'm Veronica. How may I be of service."

"My dad doesn't have the authority to make me Dean, who approved this appointment?"

"The appointment was approved by an emergency session of the Academy Board members, three minutes ago." Veronica carried an e-pad in one hand, "orders sir?"

QJ sighed and looked at his teachers. "Don't one of you want to step in?"

"No way," Dessi replied.

Ringo shook her head. "Sorry QJ."

"Fine... have someone repair that window and fix whatever was broken in the Dean's office. Resume normal classroom activities." QJ walked towards the entrance, the two teachers following along.

**********

"An Anagram?" Em stared at her brother. "Ron Dishney is Sidney Horn?"

"Impossible, but it could be someone from his past." Quinn leaned against the bar of the Songbird. His son had only needed a moment before he figured it out. "Damn those genius genes," he muttered under his breath.

The tables had been cleared so that Jezi could set up properly. Mojo had both daggers out and was ready to go. The dark elf glanced at her husband, "let's get Lark back, then worry about that."

Jezi looked up from the glyph she was tracing on the floor. "I can only send one through, her ink signal is too weak."

Mojo nodded, "That's more than enough I'll be going through."

Ren and the rest of the Songbirds were watching from the stairs. Ren wanted desperately to be included on this mission, however, given the nature of the deployment, it was impossible.

Jezi stepped away from the glyph that was glowing on the floor. "It will fade in a few minutes."

"Best not dally then." Mojo stepped onto the glyph and immediately disappeared.

The dark elf stealthed immediately after her arrival, she was in a hallway. Her lavender eyes glowed in the darkness, she sensed that she was underground. "Time for back-up."

Nightcaller Ringlet

Desorai Artifact: Primal

Description: Call your chosen

allies to your side in time of peril.

Uses: 2/2

Allies: Sinful Jinn, Tormented Rhapsody, Q

*Mora Jol has cast Summons* [Q, Sinful Jinn, Tormented Rhapsody]

A moment later Jinn, Ro-Ro, and Q appeared next to her. They spread out while Quinn used his hud and attempted to bring up a map.

System Message: Map function is unavailable.

Quinn shrugged and headed down the hallway, light from an open door was barely visible. He held up a hand and stopped.

Nexus Ring

Unique: Bonded Hearts

Description: Summons

a spirit companion

to your side.

Bond: Lara Sy

Bond: Silver Princess

Bond: Leah Fintree

Bond: Mora Jol

Bond: Rembrandt

*Q has cast Summons* [Lara Sy, Silver Princess, Leah Fintree, Rembrandt]

Quinn waited until the rest of the team arrived. Then he moved toward the open door.

*Ba'Avriel*

*Hunt*

*Stealth*

************

QJ sat in the spacious office looking at the hud he had pulled up. Ringo and Dessi had gone back to their classrooms. Veronica's desk was just outside of his door, the only other person in the office was a violet-haired High Elf.

"I haven't seen you in a long time QJ." Ru casually walked toward him, "have you been avoiding me?"

QJ scowled at the girl. "Yes of course. How else could you have gone so long without seeing me?"

Ru laughed at the look on his face. "I did apologize, you really shouldn't hold grudges." She shrugged out of her Black Silverleaf armor and sat on one of the chairs next to his desk. Ru was in her mid-30s, barely out of adolescence by High Elf standards.

QJ ignored her presence and started going through the Good Will Games Roster. "This is very inefficient, if our goal is to win then we should double up on our strong points."

He spent several minutes making changes, he then sent all the teachers a copy of the changes and the finalized roster. "Dean Tomas liked to do things the hard way I guess." His personal hud buzzed at him, he opened it to see Anna's pretty face.

"How's the new Dean?" Anna's face told him she was teasing.

"Very funny Nan, any word on my replacement?"

Anna shook her head, "I do have an update though. The crystal imprisoning Lark has been recovered."

"What?" QJ smiled in relief, "did they catch the white-haired woman?"

"No, the entire place was deserted. It was an instance set up off of Civil Unrest."

"Civil Unrest? That was Cyrus Blood's stomping ground." QJ leaned back in his chair for a moment... "Dad home yet?"

Anna nodded, "he's in the shower. Are you coming home?"

"In a bit. Where's the Lark crystal at?"

"Your mom and Naomi have it at TAP Academy. Don't worry, they'll get her out." Anna leaned forward to get a better view. "Dang, that's a nice desk. Can you move it to HQ for me before you leave?"

QJ laughed, "you've been spending too much time with dad."

"Maybe so... cya later Dean." Anna waved at him and then cut comm.

A knock at the door caught his attention, Veronica peeked inside the room. "Sir, Miss Freya is here to see you."

"Please show her in." QJ glanced at Ru, she had her headphones on and was listening to music, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

The blond-haired teacher was carrying a few things, it was obvious that she was done for the day. "You changed the Good Will roster to include two Captured Teams?" She had been surprised to see her class listed as the second entry.

QJ nodded, "Nina is capable of getting into the finals, it only makes sense."

Dessi smiled pleasantly, "could I ask you a question Dean QJ?"

QJ sighed, "so many comedians... What's the question?"

"Would you attend the Star Crossed Ball with me?" Dessi smiled at the look on the freshman's face. She patted his head in sympathy and pinned her Star Crossed emblem on his lapel. The mandolin he had so carefully kept with him all day, was clearly visible leaning against the slightly damaged bookcase on the far side of the office.

"Sweet Mother..." He hung his head in disgust, "very underhanded."

Dessi nodded her head in agreement. "It was Ringo's idea, she couldn't stand the idea of you going as a server."

QJ scowled at her and stood up. "Well.. you both are fired." He made his way towards the door, Ru finally noticed him and quickly equipped her armor before following.

"Leaving for the day sir?" Veronica looked up from her desk when the door opened.

"Yes, see you tomorrow." QJ walked into the hallway, nearly colliding with Ringo who had been waiting. Without a word, he stomped past her.

She spotted the Star Crossed emblem and gave Dessi the thumbs up. "He looks pissed."

Dessi covered a laugh, "well... he fired the both of us."

QJ ignored the laughing teachers and exited the academy, from the front gate he logged out.

A few minutes later he walked out of his room, stretching in his doorway. Anna, Em and his dad were sitting at the kitchen island. Em got up when he approached and hugged him tightly.

"Looking good QJ!." She pulled him over to the chair next to hers. "Time for the talk."

QJ took the offered seat. "The talk? Too late, the Silverleaf girls took care of that about five years ago."

Quinn laughed aloud, "well... I'm sure they covered everything." He would know since he had secretly set it up.

Em tried to keep a straight face, but Nana didn't even bother. She was smiling ear-to-ear.

"This has to do with Sidney Horn?" QJ sat back in his chair. The smile on his dad's face faded quickly.

Quinn nodded and explained his history with Sidney Horn in detail, starting at the sudden change in Ella Riley's behavior when he was nine. It took nearly half an hour to explain everything, he stopped the story at the point where Ella had been revived.

QJ felt numb by the time it was over. His detail-oriented brain processed everything immediately. Twenty-year-old Quinn Riley had taken on the rich and powerful Sidney Horn. He glanced up at his dad...he had always wondered why all of his dad's friends seemed to have settled down right next to him. They had all been to war together, those kinds of bonds were permanent.

Em studied her nephew, according to Ren and Tal, QJ was by far the smartest of them all. "What do you make of this QJ?"

"Well... it's not him of course. I'm guessing a close colleague or an unknown family member."

Anna opened up her hud and started taking notes. "I'll work on gathering more data on his family members and known associates. Can we rule out Eraphia?"

"Yes, it's definitely not Eraphia," Quinn spoke with her a few times a year when they would run into each other. She wouldn't want to dredge up any of the old Cyrus memories. "Anna you do some digging, but enlist some help. We don't need you to take up your time with this."

"Can you get someone else to be Dean?" QJ frowned at his dad, he was sure the older Quinn did it as a joke.

"I'm meeting with the Academy Board tomorrow afternoon, we should be able to figure something suitable out." Quinn grinned at his son, "but don't hold your breath."

*********

Since Tal wasn't going to be home for dinner, Em ordered pizza and the group sat around the island discussing possibilities. A few hours later, a freshly showered QJ sat at his desk talking on his hud to Lotte.

"Where are you grinding tonight?" QJ was thinking they might group up and get some xp.

"I'm on a class quest, sorry QJ, it's a solo only deal."

"No worries, I might head into Laredo and see if I can get a quest. We are doing the King/Empress raid in the morning."

"Oh? Does the Academy Dean have time for that?" Lotte gave him a crooked smile, normally she would cover it up.

"Very amusing... cya in the morning then." QJ closed comm and grabbed the discs from his bedside table.

**********

Welcome to Guns and Gore the Phoenix Server.

Laredo 8 PM, Player population 10,235. Your current level is 16.

*Guild Speak QJ* Hey guys.

*Guild Speak Lotte* Greetings Dean.

*Guild Speak Ringo* Hey Boss.

*Guild Speak Breeze* Let's talk about my grades Dean QJ!

*Guild Speak Leeta* Hi QJ.

*Guild Speak QJ* Amusing... who wants to find a quest with me?"

*Whisper Ringo: QJ* I'm up for a bit of Questing.

*Whisper QJ: Ringo* Great, meet at the Laredo Saloon and Casino.

*Whisper Ringo: QJ* Give me a few minutes.

*Whisper QJ: Ringo* I'll find a suitable Quest.

QJ entered the Laredo casino, the smell of cheap cigars and brandy made him wrinkle his nose. Dixie was dealing cards at a nearby blackjack table. She noticed him immediately and motioned for one of the girls to replace her. QJ followed her toward the door leading to the backroom.

She hugged him quickly and stepped back. "Nice to see you QJ!"

QJ bowed slightly, "it's my pleasure Miss Annabelle."

She grabbed him by the hand and quickly dragged him to her room. She locked the door and then leaned back against it. "I really need your help QJ."