Going back for the car (Attn: Vegas)

Apotheosis didn't like American driving culture. Not so much because it was bad, (though there were very aggressive drivers out there). It was because he didn't always know what to expect. Sure he knew of certain expectations and responses that were different than driving in Germany. But knowing and reacting were to seperate things. Driving was, in a way, an instinctual social interaction, and Theo didn't always do as well with those as with mental tasks. Speeds, yellow light durations, distance between vehicles, the large width of streets and other things were all small things that made riding in traffic a nerve wracking experince for Theo. Being on a motorcycle didn't help either, as he hadn't ever been on one before.
So he was glad when they finally arrived. He hoped that within the about hour and a half he had left the rental there it hadn't been highjacked.

Vegas pulls up to the curb behind the rental car and kills the engine.
"All right. Here we are. That wasn't too bad was it?"

~~Narration~~

The rental car is on concrete blocks, missing all four wheels and tires. It doesn't respond to the remote, either, and further investigation reveals why -- the battery is dead.

"Yeah." Theo had to mentally comand his body to relax as he stepped down off the seat. He cast a couple basic spells and approached the car with caution, examining the prime material under its course matter. He was a little worried about trap spells.
Once he's satisfied in that regard, he checks the inside of the car to see if it's intact.

Spoiler:

~~Narration~~

Theo's investigation only reveals the faint residue of a Forces spell. Opening the car, he finds a cheap supermarket bouquet of flowers.

Theo examined the flowers, checking again for residual spells. If they had been conjured, it would reveal more about Wallflower's talents and abilities. If they hadn't, at least it would be a slightly funny gesture. You'll have to write a thank you note, said a voice in his head that sound like his mother's.

Spoiler:

He went to the trunk, hoping against hope that the same treament hadn't been given to his bike as the car.

Vegas dismounts from the bike.
"Holy shit dude! This sucks. Way to state the obvious there Turbo. Vegas silently chides himself.
Vegas then throws up his own mage sight to see if he sees anything that Theo might miss.

Spoiler:

~~Narration~~

Nothing else seems to be amiss, or missing.

Theo's sigh contains more relief than anything else.
"It not as bad I expected actually. The missing wheels is most problematic. Unless you can conjure up some," Theo's tone is slightly joking but the look he gives Vegas shows it is actually a question "we need three more spares. Only one if we can get a tow truck. I don't know any local bussinesses though. Do tow companies provide replacements?"
Theo got out his phone, he wondered if Joshua would be done with his work yet.

"Sorry. I am no matter mage." He sounds sincerely apologetic about this. "I am pretty sure that if you tell the tow truck people the situation they will bring an extra tire."

Vegas the leaned against the car thinking. "You're not missing anything that held a lot of sympathy are you?"

"No, thank heaven." He was very thankful for that. It had more to do with the fact that high quality bikes were hard to find in the States than anything else, though.
With some awkwardness because of the bulk, he removed the bike from the trunk. And started to look for how to get at the spare. In his experince they were normally under the carpet of the trunk.
"So I guess I'll call Joshua and see if he can't find a phone book and give us a number. In the mean time we can start putting on the spare we have."

Finding the spare and jack equiment, Theo left it for the time being. He dialed his handy.
"Hello, Joshua? It's Theo again."

"That would be great." He gave the street and intersection he was near.
"Listen, this may sound strange but the rental I had has lost all its wheels. I'll explain once you get here but are you able to get a number for a tow company somehow?"

"Ok. Till later." He hung up and and said to Vegas. "He's on his way. He says he is going to get some tires."

Vegas' mind had been let to wonder while Theo had been on the phone which meant that his internal monologue was now an external one.
"Are the glyphs there because thats where the laylines are or are the laylines there cuz that's where the glyphs moved them to?"
He gave a half startled jump as Theo switched from talking on the phone to talking to him. "Good to hear. Did he say how long he would be."

"He didn't give an estimate. If I had to guess, I'd say no less than fifteen minutes to get through traffic. Can't be sure though.
So what were you saying? I wasn't listening when you were talking."
Theo started unloading the spare and jack. Might as well start changing tires while they waited. Of course, his skills at auto repair were sadly lacking. He'd probably best ask Vegas how he was at changing tires before they got too far along.

Vegas starts looking around for the lug nuts. Hoping that they had not taken those to or else the spare wouldn't do them any good.
"I was just thinking out loud about the whole layline business. But we can talk about that later. For now lets focus on getting this car on wheels again.... By the way do you see the lug nuts?

~~Narration~~

Careful examination turns up no lug nuts.

Before Joshua arrives, Theo manages to show just how ignorant he is of automotive repair. "What's a lug nut?"

Theo would have liked to simply reiterate what he'd said before, but Vegas would be bound to notice the word for word repeat. That would undoubtedly arouse suspicion. Plus he didn't want to go into high detail just now. It was late and Theo was starting to just want to go to bed and start a new day.
“I was mapping the ley lines of the city. I noticed some strange graffiti and got out here to take a closer look. Before I had noticed a red bike that might have been following me so I was on edge.
While scrutinizing I noticed an invisibility spell. The mage maintiaing it dropped it then. He was Asian, average build and looks, wore casual jeans and a red leather jacket. He claimed his name was Wallflower.
We had a tense conversation. He said he was trying to discover if the sray painted runes held some harmful curse, since he didn’t want to go through the trouble of driving out the Pentacle for a cursed city. He also wanted to know about the Awakened community and specifically Calligan Wellmer.
I ran around that point, called you, and reported to Starling. Vegas got drafted into helping, so we came back here and found the car like this with some flowers in the front seat and the battery dead."

"I am afraid I don't have the understanding for Weaving or Making. Anthing I could do would probably be better done by jumper cables."
Theo found the latch for the trunk, opened it and lugged out two tires and started rolling them over to the disabled vehicle.
"Any idea why he would be so intersted in Wellmer?"
Theo kneeled down onto the concrete, leaving one tire off to one side. He twisted his body to get a better view at the underside of the car. The dim light made it difficult to see clearly. He'd read through the owner's manual on the subject of changing flat tires (and dead batteries) and it said there were jack points on the frame. He checked for the points and positioned the jack. He raised the jack almost to the car, and checked again to see if it was in the right place before lifting the left rear side. He really hoped that was right.
He went back to the trunk of Joshua's car and checked around the bottom. He couldn't find any lugnuts. A tiny bit of him hoped it was just the dim light but he could already feel his heart sinking. It was already a long day and it just kept getting longer.
He looked around the car at Joshua. "Please tell me you have lugnuts hidden somewhere in here and I'm just not looking hard enough."

Vegas shakes Joshua's hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Vegas. Just recently rolled into town."

He switches his attention back to Theo. He didn't know how he had gotten so much done in the little time that he had focused on Joshua. Or he would have tried to save him from his act of futility. "That's what I was trying to say earlier. The lug nuts are gone."

~~Narration~~

The battery is completely drained. The barest residue of a Forces spell lingers.

(( Sorry I was AWOL last night. Need you to re-roll with a -3 penalty ))

~~Narration~~

Joshua is barely able to discern that is this a Forces spell, and the signature seems familiar to the Resonance he encountered with the Asian man at Hostel HI.

"Oh, before I forget," Theo lied "I left the map in the glove box."
He jogged around to the passenger side and got the folded piece of paper and the pencil he had been using for marking.
"Here."he handed it to Vegas. "It has where I've been so far.
"I can make a copy for and get it too you later." He said to Joshua.

As Joshua and the tow truck pull away Vegas continues to walk on the curb with his arms stretched out like he was balancing on a tightrope, and as shown by Vegas' foot repeatedly missing its mark and landing on the street he is not the most graceful of creatures.

He cocks an eyebrow at Theo in a way that plainly says yes I was being silly and I dare you to call me out on it. "Soooo. Are you going to need a ride home?"

"No, I'll be fine." He pats the steat of his bike.
"Thanks for your help. I'll probably call you around tommorrow." He starts getting ready to leave, putting on his helmet, rolling up the right leg of his pants, clicking something against the side of the wheel and checking again to make sure the tires were fine.

"Cool. I'll see you then." He mounts his bike and forces the engine to roar to life. Then speeds off towards home.

Theo made a show of getting ready with his bike until Vegas was out of sight. He looked around for distortions but didn't see any. Even so, he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that the Asian man had been hanging around. He was probably just being paranoid.
"Mysterium didn't give further information on the markings, the Calligan guy is dead and I still don't know who you work for or why your after the Consilium. Flow of information seems rather one way don't you think? If we meet again it would be nice to get some answers.
Thanks for the flowers." The sarcasm could be heard distinctly in his voice.
Theo put up the kick stand and started off. He still felt like he was being watched as he rode away. He wondered if he really was.