The first place you could think of? (open)

[ahriman]

On the outskirts of New Jersey there was a soft whistling of the wind followed by a small explosion of air as a pale blur streaked across the road and stopped suddenly. As the blur stopped a human form appeared (with a noticable lack of a pale color scheme) and stopped to catch his breath briefly. Messy brown hair threatened to fall in his eyes as he swept it back, making a mental note to get it cut in the city while he was here. He adjusted the heavy brown jacket on his shoulders and took a deep breath in.

He then paused and scrunched his nose up, confused as to what exactly he was smelling. Was that... he glanced at the sign and confirmed, this was New Jersey and it seemed that a Junk Yard was now where his grandpas old house had been. He'd never been particularly fond of his grandfather but he hoped there was at least a Steven Claymore Sr in this universe too. If there was, he clearly wasn't here.

He started walking towards the city centre while he tried to get his head around anything, what could he possibly do? He had no identification, he knew no-one and while he had it under control, he could transform into a genetic monstrosity that was descended from a creature with the sole purpose of destroying universes. An ideal guest he was not.

But even as he entered New Jersey he felt comforted that it was still somewhat like the Jersey he remembered. Maybe for that strange orange skinned, swept up hair kindof style. On second thoughts, maybe the haircut could wait. Finding a small diner, he pushed open the door and glanced around the interior seeing if there was anyone out of the ordinary here.

[Anya]

"And then he was like 'I WOULD go to prom with you...but Claire already asked me' and I was like 'But I thought you liked me!' and he...he s-said...'I DON'T'!"

Blah, blah, blah. Was this girl ever going to stop crying? Anya struggled to stay awake as she sat at the diner table, her elbow resting on its shining surface as she rested her chin in her hand. Her brown eyes wandered aimlessly around the place, occasionally roaming out the window or following the odd fly that seemed to have found its way into the diner...anything, really, to keep from focusing on the bawling girl that sat across from her. With the zombie hordes all but extinct, the vengeance demon had recently turned to a new method of pursuing redemption: actively working against the work her kind was actually supposed to do. Instead of seeking out wounded hearts and provoking their vindictive rage, Anya decided to see if she couldn't do a bit of therapeutic healing.

It was all very fun and rewarding in theory. Except that she hadn't taken into account just how much whining she'd be required to listen to. And, given that she had an attention span of a cat with ADD...well, this wasn't working out so well. She suppressed a sigh, absent-mindedly winding a lock of blonde hair around her finger as she tried in vain to drown out the incessant raving.

"And it's all Claire's fault! Th-that...that bitch stole him from me! God, sometimes I just wish..."

"Don't finish that sentence." Anya cut in abruptly, her eyes wide. The last thing she needed right now was the temptation to grant another wish...unless, of course, said wish somehow involved the removal of this girl's vocal chords. Then she might actually consider it. The girl (whose name Anya had never bothered to learn) sniffled a bit, glaring in confusion at the woman who'd just interrupted her. But Anya merely stared back unapologetically, her shoulders slumping in relief at the fact that she seemed to have finally gotten this chick to shut up. Yeah. She really wasn't cut out for this 'soul-healing' stuff. But at least now there was quiet...blissful quiet...

Until the girl opened her mouth again. And Anya practically leaped right out of her seat. Her eyes darted around the diner in search of anyone who looked potentially capable of rescuing her, finally settling on the man who'd just walked into the diner alone. "Oh hey, look! It's...that guy! I think he's calling me, gotta go!" the vengeance demon blurted out suddenly, and, with a cheerful wave at her former companion, clumsily sped over to the stranger. Well, that had been a successful escape...only thing was, how was she supposed to explain herself to this guy now? Anya looked him over once; he didn't seem to be more than an ordinary human: slightly disheveled hair, a distinctive brown jacket,...and yet, there was something...different about him. Something that the demon couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Hi!" Anya greeted him abruptly, forcing a cheerful smile. "Do you want some coffee, or something? It's on me...just...please pretend like you know me, 'cause I'm trying to hide from that psycho-girl over there." This last confession was muttered in a hurried jumble of words, as if blurting it out all at once would somehow keep the girl from overhearing. It wasn't really something you'd typically just...walk up and say to someone. But Anya wasn't going to win any awards for her social graces any time soon.

[ahriman]

Jimmy wasn't exactly bad with girls but it had taken about a week for him and Emily to ever start talking properly. So having a good looking girl come up to him and start talking immediately made him recoil a little bit out of confusion. After a brief blinking at the offer of coffee he noticed the twitch in her eyes and started unconsciously sizing her up.

Blonde hair, cut nicely, brown eyes, nice looking face she was pretty and he made a concentrated effort to not immediately shout yes to the coffee. He should still be in mourning, he told himself, since his girlfriend got shot by his biological source... wow, that was a complicated history. He made a concentrated, almost Super Human effort to keep his eyes looking at hers and not drifting down, good first impression that would not be.

Which made the confession all that much more of a relief, so he was being a decoy. Well, he may not be the stud muffin he thought he was but at least he knew where he stood now, which was always good. Last thing he needed was to find out he didn't understand how this world worked

"Yeah, sure, I'm all for hiding from crazy people." He said and reached for his wallet fishing it out and checked the notes inside briefly. He pulled it out but realised upon glancing at the tip jar that Andrew Jackson was meant to be on the 20, not Grover Cleveland. It looked like there were more than a few minor differences between his world and this

"I... think I might need to take you up on that offer" Jimmy sighed screwing the note up into a ball and slipping it into his back pocket. He wasn't about to admit that he was carrying fake currency around. Well, not fake but... yeah, let's not start that out as the first introduction. He moved up to the counter and leant against it as casually as possible, keeping his back to the crazy woman so he could block the girl's view of her.

"So yeah, nice to meet you, I'm Jimmy." He extended a hand to shake and smiled as best he could, he wasn't really sure how much of this world was different from his own but hand-shakes were universal right? He did notice one guy looking at him oddly from one of the booths, looks like he may have some kind of ESP if he could sense his Ahri stuff.

[Anya]

Pausing a moment, she watched what seemed to be some brief sort of trouble the man was was having with the money he'd just pulled out of his wallet. That was odd...Anya hadn't gotten a good look, but she couldn't imagine what could be so off-putting about a wonderful thing such as currency...strangely enough, however, something about the money seemed to have rendered the man a bit abashed. Anya bit back her curiosity, deciding that she was lucky he'd even agreed to such a spontaneous request to help her hide from the girl who still seemed to be glaring over at the two of them. She brightened considerably at his agreement, cheerfully following him over to the counter with only a furtive glance back at the basket case she'd just left.

"Hello, Jimmy!" Anya greeted him as he introduced himself, reaching forward and energetically shaking his extended hand. "My name's Anya. Thanks for the help, by the way. That girl's very prone to emotional mood swings and aggressive outbursts. I think she may be rabid." The statement was made in all earnestness, although there was a possibility that Jimmy would take it as a joke simply because of its sheer ridiculousness. The demon shook her head, sighed, and then returned her attention to her new companion. He appeared to be in his early twenties with bright, friendly eyes, and a sort of disheveled charm about him . She did note, however, that his all-too-telling lack of a typical Jersey tan, in addition to the fact that he'd just evidently strolled into the diner without any usable money both set him apart from most of the other people she'd met in this city. Perhaps he, like her, wasn't from around here...

And then there was that...that whatever it was. There was definitely a distinctly human quality about him, but..deeper than that, there was something else. Anya couldn't place exactly what it was, but she was getting the vague feeling that something here wasn't what it appeared to be. It was strange, and unlike any vibes she'd picked up from anyone before. Idly, Anya wondered what kind of character she'd acquainted herself with now. At least she knew he wasn't a vampire, or an...evil, green-haired psychopath; if she could rule those two things out she was pretty sure they'd get along. After all, it wasn't like she was in any position to criticize someone for not being 'normal'. She couldn't deny that she was curious, though...

"Do you live here, in New Jersey?" the vengeance demon asked suddenly, unable to go without voicing at least one of the questions running through her mind. "You don't seem as jaded or spray-tanned as most of the locals." Anya told him earnestly, her statement earning her a quick scowl from a passing waitress.

[ahriman]

Anya, that was a nice name. Not one he'd ever heard before but there we go. Maybe she'd said Anna and he'd misheard it... but what if he hadn't? Assume Anya, be corrected if neccessary. "Was I always this nervous? I swear I used to be able to talk to people", Jimmy managed to keep these thoughts to himself the entire time she introduced herself and mentioned the girl being rabid.

It was paranoid, but his first thought was Deva. If she was on the drug it might make her a bit crazy and act like she wanted to bite people. Of course, it could be a joke but damnit all she sounded just so earnest. He glanced over to the girl slightly nervously, a Deva would definitely be able to sense the Ahri in his cells and that could end badly in a public restaurant. Managing to supress his paranoia, Anya had thankfully been focused on how out of place he looked it seemed.

He wanted to laugh at the comment about spray-tan, when it came to skin pigment she didn't know the half of it. He grinned slightly stupidly and rubbed the back of his head
"I'm not from around here, no. I'm from a town called Ashford but I'm... sort of relocating... kind of" He didn't add "To a different universe after failing to avoid the annihilation of my own" but he thought it plenty hard. "I guess it's obvious since my hairs also free of mucus and I'm not wearing girl's jewelry" this casual jibe at Jersey seemed to have ruffled a few feathers from the frosty stare of the waitress behind the counter.

"Oh, uhh, two coffees please..." Jimmy asked the waitress, as politely as he could, while noticing her own orange skin-tone. After an uncomfortably long pause while she shot daggers at him, she stalked off to brew the coffee. Awkwardly, he turned back to Anya and idly scratched his chin
"We, uhhh, we may want to watch out for an extra mucus ingredient in our coffee... so where are you from?" the sooner they got off his lack of a history the better. He did momentarily hope that Ashford existed in this world and that he wouldn't be called on it but maybe he'd be fine. She seemed nice, and honest.
Especially honest.

[Anya]

Ashford...

Anya narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, trying to recall whether she'd heard of the town before. She wasn't brilliant with political geography, seeing as it seemed to change so frequently over the centuries, and perhaps this Ashford was just another one of those small towns that weren't even marked on most maps...like Sunnydale. Deciding that this was likely, she shrugged it off and nodded in response to his explanation. Relocating. She could certainly understand that, even if New Jersey wouldn't exactly be her first choice of place to relocate to...but then again, New York hadn't been either. She'd just kind of...ended up there, stuck in the middle of a zombie pandemic.

She was briefly distracted before answering the returning question, her gaze shifting to the waitress as Jimmy mentioned the possibility of her 'contaminating' their coffee. Anya considered this for a moment; the strangely literal blonde had a tendency to take these kinds of jokes a bit too seriously. "Yes, we should probably watch out for that." she agreed at last, her eyes widening slightly as she turned back to Jimmy. "She looks a little upset, and minimum wage workers tend to be particularly vindictive...anyway," Veering away from any vengeance-related thoughts, Anya focused on answering Jimmy's last question.

'Where are you from?' wasn't normally what one would consider a complex question...unless, of course, you were a thousand year-old demon whose definition of 'home' had been anything but constant over the years. She supposed that for now, it'd be easiest just to stick with the place she'd settled into over the past few months. "Oh, I live in New York. I'm just here on...business." she spoke the last word a bit hesitantly; it wasn't a lie, but she wasn't sure whether it was the best way to describe what had brought her here, either. Not that it really mattered, since her intention of helping anyone had pretty much failed mostly due to her own impatience. The demon was fairly certain that she'd never been meant to co-exist in a place with residents quite as touchy as these, anyway.

Jimmy, at least, seemed refreshingly laid back in comparison to most of the people she'd met around here so far. Perhaps it was because he hadn't been here long either, or perhaps she'd just been lucky enough to run into one of the few half-decent people scattered throughout the human world. After a moment, she allowed herself to relax - Anya was hardly a very guarded individual anyway, and allowing what few reservations she might've had to slip away pretty much promised to result in the vengeance demon becoming a regular chatter-box. "New York City's a lot different from here, though. Bigger, louder, busier...but everyone there pretty much just minds their own business. They're all very private." She was still referring to the citizens of New York as "they" rather than "we"...calling the Big Apple her home was still something she was getting used to. With another glance around the diner, Anya tipped her head slightly.

"I haven't been here long, but it doesn't look like this crowd's having too much trouble getting back into the swing of things. It's like that horrible zombie bloodbath never even happened!" she noted, her tone nonsensically cheerful for someone who was referring to a near-apocalyptic event.

[haggar]

Hmm, Jersey. Good friend of ol' Mike's came from here. Cody Travers, the guy was a little rough around the edges but a good kid. He helped save Jessica Haggar after all, shame he ended up in jail a few years back. Still, this is one of the few places the Mayor of New York could come and not be treated differently. Here he's just the same as everyone else. Mike had an agenda though, he needed to talk to the same duo he teamed with all those years ago. Cody and Guy have been slightly distant since then. Cody's almost always in or out of jail and Guy's become the watchful protector of New Jersey. Guy occasionally dropped in to the Mayor's office to see how Haggar was but Cody was all but a memory.

Mike strolled into a nearby diner, getting a few glares from some kids seated near to the door, one of them swigging on a brown bagged bottle of liquor. It's obvious they recognized him. Everyone seemed to, yet he had no real power here aside from the ass kicking he dealt out to Damn'd all those years ago in the slums. Mike's huge frame was clad in a olive green suit with a red tie and white shirt. He often liked to wear green, even during his pro wrestling days it was a mainstay of his wardrobe. The looming 6'6" Mike walked towards a table and took a seat on his own, surveying the surroundings. Soon a waitress walked to his table with a notebook to take down his order. "Black coffee, please. Also, there's a $80 tip in it for you if you can tell me the whereabouts of a Cody Travers." Mike said with a smile, he always did pay for information very heavily. As the woman returned she brought his coffee and left a note reading 'Newark Government Housing apt no 45b' Mike smirked as he looked at it, sure was pretty detailed description. Looks like this lady knew Mr Travers all too well.

[ahriman]

Jimmy wasn't particularly observant, but he still noticed when Anya hesitated slightly over the last word. He had no idea what business she could be talking about but it seemed like a euphemism, it would probably be better if he didn't ask for any more details. They seemed to be in a mutual position of having details they don't want to discuss and if it meant he didn't need to tell her he turned into a terrifying monster man then that would probably help him and his social life.

He paid attention as Anya told him about New York but his eyes kept drifting slowly towards the waitress who was making their coffee. He'd been joking about her spitting in the coffee but Anya's direct reaction kind of convinced him that it could well happen. It was a little weird hearing her talk about the people of New York as 'they' not 'we'. He had noticed she didn't have a particular strong New York accent but this felt like confirmation on some level that she wasn't a local.

As the coffee came, Jimmy very carefully sifted it to make sure there was no mucus when his ears suddenly picked up something he was surprised to hear
"Uhh, wait, what was that about a zombie massacre?" He picked up Anya's cup at the same time as his own and passed it to her as he tried to work out what she'd just said. There had been a zombie outbreak in this world? That sounded worryingly like Ashford. At least the outbreak part, zombies and demonic creatures were pretty distinct in his mind.

But that was probably something he should investigate and... he probably should've HEARD of it. Looking for a quick way to change the topic he glanced around the diner and spotted what looked like...

"Is that a shaved bear in a green curtain?" He asked, his eyes widening and an eyebrow raising. He didn't think he'd ever seen a more muscled person, let alone one with such a glorious moustache and wearing a suit. He was looking to Anya for some kind of help, as the sole point of sanity left in this situation
"Wow, New Jersey sure is different from Ashford" he said, sipping at the coffee and hoping he'd not done too much wrong.

[Anya]

Practically beaming when Jimmy handed her her coffee, the cheery demon refrained from immediately drinking it only to allow it to cool for a moment. Burning your mouth on scalding hot liquid was not fun...as she'd already learned several times. "We'll be able to tell if you spit in it!" Anya called to the retreating waitress, earning herself quite a few strange looks from the various customers around the diner. Ignoring these, she turned a rather suspicious gaze on her cup, as if attempting to analyze how safe the coffee was just by staring it down. It didn't look contaminated, at least, and she'd nearly convinced herself to take a drink when Jimmy voiced his confusion at the mention of the zombie invasion.

What? Anya immediately returned her gaze to the man beside her, a bit taken aback. He didn't know about the zombies? But...but hadn't the invasion been worldwide? She looked at him a bit more closely now, quite confused by this sudden development. This just didn't make sense. Exactly where was Ashford, and why hadn't the zombies invaded there as well? These questions, along with her increasing suspicion that Jimmy wasn't as normal as he appeared to be, had her curiosity skyrocketing. She took a breath, set her coffee down on the counter, and opened her mouth with the intention of actually confronting Jimmy with some of these inquiries.

But before she could do so, Jimmy suddenly made her aware of the presence of...well, what he described as some kind of curtain-wearing bear. Anya's eyes widened instantly; she'd seen some pretty crazy things in this world, but this was a new one. "What? Where?!" she asked excitedly, turning to follow her companion's gaze. The 'bear' in question wasn't at all hard to miss at the table he was currently seated at, although the vengeance demon was a bit disappointed to realize that it wasn't a bear at all...just a large, well-muscled man. And a strangely familiar one at that...

The anti-climactic nature of the moment was short-lived as Anya realized why he seemed so familiar. Here was a face almost universally known in New York, even to someone as blissfully oblivious as Anya tended to be. She brightened suddenly. "That's Mike Haggar! He's the mayor of New York City! But...what's he doing here?" she wondered, quite unprepared for the sight of the mayor relaxing at a diner hours away from his own city. Glancing back at Jimmy, she added, "Come on, let's go say hello! And then you can tell me a little more about Ashford." This last comment was edged with just a hint of mischievousness, but she innocently grinned as if unaware that her words might carry any weight.

Motioning to encourage Jimmy to follow, the vengeance demon practically bounced over to the mayor's table. Her chipper smile still in place, Anya addressed Haggar without any of the shyness (or at the very least, reservations) that one might normally have while speaking with an important political figure. "Hello, Mr. Haggar," Anya greeted pleasantly. "What brings you to New Jersey?" It was only her natural curiosity that made her ask, though of course it very well could've given the impression of nosiness to one who didn't know her well. Anya was hardly one to talk, being from New York as well...but then again, she was a teleporting demon, and not one of the city's most well-known public figures.

[haggar]

Haggar sipped on his coffee, giving $80 in 20 notes to the waitress as she walked over once again. During this he was catching a few glares from some thugs across the diner room, those punk kids were drunk and judging by those red bandanas, members of Mad Gear. Still, he was here to find someone not get in a fight. However, it seemed fate intervened. A blonde woman walked over to his table and tried to strike up a conversation. Haggar, always the man of the people saw it fit to respond in a nice manner.

"Hey Miss. I'm just taking in the sights and sounds. Also looking for my old friends. Haggar wasn't going to insult this place, he knew how rough it could be. After all, it's where most of Mad Gear reside. However, this place was the only way he could likely find his old friend Cody. Yeah, this wasn't going to be easy. Haggar once again smiled. "So, what's your name? It's obvious you know mine already. Haggar said, still feeling the glare of the kids opposite him. It's crazy how much hatred you can get from others just for defeating someone who had it coming. The red bandanas and camoflage pants signifies they're part of Rolento's gang. Hmm, these kids must think they're real life mercenaries.

Quick to get these kids off his mind he took a few more sips of his coffee, removing his jacket and hanging it on the side of the chair. In turn, this exposed even more of his huge muscles through the white dress shirt. It really was a sight to behold, Haggar back in Jersey. Sure, it wasn't the slums like he fought in about 10 years ago, but it was definitely a similar feeling.

[ahriman]

It took a collossal effort to not look shifty as Anya examined him, as if she was searching for some sign of his being quite obviously alien (in this case, both versions of his body were foreign to this reality). She put down the cup, was about to ask a question he couldn't answer when he managed to sneak in his point about the grizzly in drapes. Thankfully, a good distraction, Anya seemed quite interested in this man and she loudly announced who he was and his job which only confused Jimmy.

"Wait, he's the mayor of New York? What were his policies, bench-pressing the opposition?" Jimmy was a bit of a hayseed, but even he was used to the idea of Mayors being skinny guys with ties who you had to go and talk to because... well, in his case the residents of the town had all turned into monsters and he had to tell him to try and organise evacuation. And then the mayor had been one of the monsters and his brother had had to kill him but... that was probably not the standard protocol when meeting authourity figures.

Anya seemed to have rushed over so he awkwardly dragged himself over and stood at her side to meet Mike Haggar. Up close he could see he was quite obviously a nice guy, he was being polite enough to them which surprised him (it shouldn't've, but it did) when he asked for Anya's name. Jimmy scratched his cheek and looked over his shoulder, not wanting to interfere in her meeting a celebrity. The guys behind them were all wearing red hats and... drinking booze?

So a crazy woman, the Mayor of New York and some drunk guys with red hats walk into a bar and... Oh crap, Gangs. That was the first source for drugs like Deva, if they had some on them this could get very ugly, very fast and they were not giving a nice look to Mr Haggar, not at all. The Mayor was built like a small car but he might have a harder time against monsters, he'd have to hope these guys weren't packing. He stared for a few moments before turning his head back
"It's nice to meet you, Mr Haggar." he added uncertainly, looking at Anya and trying to indicate with his eyes that they should probably leave him be for a bit.

It took him a few seconds to remember what Anya had said before they came over her. His mind suddenly froze in terror. He'd have to talk about Ashford... he needed to start thinking of some story now, preferably one that Mr Haggar wouldn't be able to contradict. Damn! He'd been distracted by her smile, and now he was totally flat-footed.

[Anya]

Well, Haggar was pleasant enough, contrary to the stories she'd heard about him cracking down on the thugs of New York. Apparently he was visiting New Jersey in search of a couple of old pals, and upon hearing this the demon glanced around almost as if she expected said friends to come in and pull up a chair at any moment. All she found, however, were a couple of surly-looking guys in matching red hats...well, they certainly didn't look friendly. Anya raised an eyebrow at the group, a bit thrown at the dark glares they were pinning on the mayor. What was with the hostility? They're probably just upset at having their macho-ness upstaged. Typical Jersey boys. she thought dismissively, shrugging and turning away from the group.

"Of course!" Anya chirped in response to Haggar's observation that she seemed quite familiar with him, her smile widening slightly. "You're a very important political figure in my city. Well, your city. I've always thought politics were very interesting, especially given how much the concept of government has changed over the y--well, I'm Anya." Deciding it would be better to introduce herself before she gave herself a chance to ramble too much, the blonde did exactly that.

Meanwhile Jimmy, at least, seemed to have at least remembered some manners. Just as Anya began to realize that she'd already forgotten one of those tiresome human formalities, the man beside her saved her from having to awkwardly backtrack by issuing a genuine 'nice to meet you'. Nodding eagerly, the vengeance demon threw another smile Jimmy's way. "This is Jimmy." she told Haggar, not wanting her new-found companion to go without an introduction of his own. "We've only just met, but don't worry. He's not one of these uppity locals either. And this diner's been a whole lot of fun... we pissed off one of the waitresses a second ago." Anya motioned briefly in the general direction of the counter, a hint of amusement edging her tone. However, it did occur to her that she should probably take a moment to breathe and allow Haggar an opening to reply, or perhaps for Jimmy to add something to her little recap.

And so for the next couple moments, Anya struggled to resist the urge to prattle on a little more. It was just...this was the mayor of New York! He was nothing like the mayor of Sunnydale, who'd turned out to be an immortal evil being plotting to ascend to pure demonic form and take over the world. There was just...so much to say! So many questions to ask! Feeling a bit light-headed, she glanced at Jimmy again, and was only then that she realized he seemed to be trying to get her attention. He looked a bit anxious, as if he were trying to communicate something to her...but his actual intentions of trying to get her to stop pestering Haggar went right over Anya's head.

"What's wrong?" the demon asked, slightly concerned. Her light brown gaze flickered across the diner and back, her brow furrowed slightly. "Is it that bunch of inebriated men with coordinating outfits over there? They look sort of grouchy..."

[haggar]

Haggar was still sat at that very table and listening to this lady that just happened to want to come up and talk to him. It was pleasant that someone so nice wanted to say a thing or two, usually if someone came straight up to him it was to challenge his tough reputation as an ass kicker. He noticed Anya had someone behind her but he seemed a little reluctant to introduce himself. It was no matter, often people were scared of Haggar due to his tough looks. Either that, or the fact he killed Belger by his bare hands, dropkicking him from his high rise penthouse into the ground below. Many people had protest with making Mike the mayor due to his past wrestling career, making him appear like a boorish unintelligent oaf when it couldn't be further from the truth.

"You know the thing about politics, it's a lot like a bar brawl. Y'know you go against one guy but there's always five more ready to stab you in the back. Nobody is ever alone, and most a' these folks are slimy and can't be trusted not to use underhanded means." Haggar said with his usual gruff Brooklyn accent in one of his countless analogies. Granted, bar brawls and politics themselves are nothing new to Mike Haggar. Anya had now seen to want to introduce her friend, Jimmy. "Hey, Jimmy. I'm Mike Haggar. Nice to meet you. Mike said with a glance towards the kid. Still though, the gangsters across were glaring at the group now.

"Yeah, those folks. They were part of Mad Gear, not sure if you remember. Might be a little too early, but around '92 those guys owned New York. It was mostly a coalition between all the gangs. Those folks over there are run by some bastard named Rolento. However, these ones are fresh faces so he must've started recruiting again. Anyways, I beat Rolento to a pulp back in '92 and he must still hold a grudge." He said to them both, not knowing how Anya's age far outnumbers his own. He then shot a glare back to one of the thugs, a little of the rage burning from remembering his daughter's kidnapping all those years ago. Seeing this, they looked away with almost a bit of fear seen in their facial expression.

[ahriman]

While it was always nice to have someone surpass your expectations, Jimmy was a little alarmed at how Haggar had simultaneously proved he was an apt political figure and equally seemed to be exactly what he'd imagined he would be. He understood the gravity and difficulties of his office, and compared them to a street fight, was that for Jimmy's benefit? He... kind of doubted it. But at least this had derailed the topic of Ashford somewhat, maybe it'd slip Anya's mind so he wouldn't have to reveal he was from another dang dimension.

His attempts to stop them bothering the nice mayor had managed to fall flat on their face however as Anya managed to deduce he was concerned with the gang members glaring at them. It took him an extra 4 seconds to work out what she'd said after she inquired about them, which didn't say a lot about his failing vocabulary.
"Sorry, yeah, they just looked a little... mean? I guess" Not the best time to mention you've killed a lot of people, Jimmy. Maybe drop that bombshell at a later date.

Thankfully, Mike seemed interested in talking about these gang members and recounted the story of Mad Gear. Jimmy listened fairly attentively, his arms folded as Mr Haggar, the mayor of New York city, described how back in 92 (Jimmy had been 3, he remembered), he'd beaten up a gang leader who'd run New York. And where as in most cases when he heard stuff like that, Jimmy assumed the person was exagerating or making it up. Somehow, he believed this. If anything it was the mayor thing that didn't add up, beating up gang members made SENSE.

Jimmy tried to look at Anya to see if she could confirm or deny any of that story but got distracted when he noticed someone. The guy from before, the one who'd looked twitchy when he came in, he was talking on a cellphone to someone in hushed voices and kept looking up in a slightly panicked way. That was... odd. The Mad Gear guys seemed to have quieted down but he was still doing the terrified whisper? That didn't make any sense. And he hadn't seen that crazy woman for a while either. He should probably tell Anya, the crazy girl could be waiting opposite with lipstick, a dead fish and some kind of terrifying plan. But as Jimmy kept glancing at the guy on the cell-phone, his paranoia got the best of him so he asked

"So, Mr Haggar, have there been any... brutal gang-land slayings lately, as if done by some horrific demon? I can't think of a neater way to ask that and I think subterfuge isn't my strong point. Please say no, because if you don't I may be in trouble." He was being remarkably earnest because he was quite sure he'd seen a syringe in the hand of the man on his cell-phone. This would mark one of the first times someone has been praying the weirdo watching them was ONLY on drugs.

[Anya]

1992...hmm. Admittedly, associating years with specific events in time wasn't exactly Anya's strong point. After the first couple centuries, they'd all kinda started to run together. 1992, however, happened to be six years before what she still regarded as one of the most important events of her life: in 1998, she became human again. ...For awhile, at least. Taking a moment to attempt to recall the happenings of the years several years before this, she found she could indeed remember rumblings of some sort of trouble coming from New York around that time. The rate of vengeance wishes around the Big Apple had certainly skyrocketed around then, if she was remembering correctly.

It seemed the gang members sitting a little ways away from them hadn't forgotten it, either. Nervously glancing from Haggar to them and back again, this time Anya was able to distinctly note the not-so-subtle pulses of vindictiveness radiating from both sides. "Yes. I don't think they've gotten over it yet." she observed lightly, though a flash of worry passed through her wide brown eyes. If the Mad Gear crowd decided to act on this tension, things could get ugly. She'd heard of bar fights, sure, but a diner fight? Only in New Jersey...

Oh, whatever, they could simmer all they wanted. She'd had enough vengeance-dealings for the day. Pointedly turning her back on the gang, she turned back to Haggar and opened her mouth to say something else. Suddenly, however, she became very aware that Jimmy had gone oddly quiet. Turning a curious gaze on him, Anya was a bit taken aback by the sudden tension that seemed to have seized him as well. It wasn't violent, though, more like...worried? Frowning slightly, Anya followed his gaze in an attempt to discover what had gotten him so worked up. Nothing seemed to be particularly out of the normal, however, apart the hostility the Mad Gear boys were still seething with. A few families eating, a man who seemed to be having a rather confidential conversation on his cell phone, and...hey, where had that crazy chick gone?!

The sudden realization didn't stick with her long, for the moment Jimmy finally spoke again Anya quickly lost all interest in the people around them. Snapping her gaze back to him upon hearing the word 'demon', the blonde froze. The rather horrified expression she wore would probably suggest some sort of fear at the idea of some loose demon going around slaughtering people, though in reality it was because she had suddenly been put in a very awkward position in this conversation. Why would Jimmy bring up demons?! He...he couldn't be on to her, could he? The last thing she needed was for her human cover to be blown in front of one of the few people who didn't seem to mind her oddness, and the extremely formidable mayor of New York.

"D-demons?!" Anya stammered nervously. "I don't see any demons! Why would you think that...?" Her gaze flickered to Haggar as she gave a nervous little laugh, waiting for the mayor to answer the question. Really, though, she was a bit more concerned with why Jimmy had asked in the first place..