[indent][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6Yi4gad.png[/img] [hider][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iamEJE1cC14[/youtube][/hider][/center][right][h1][color=f49ac2]Edict[/color][/h1][/right][right][sub][hr][color=f49ac2]Mentions:[/color] The Whole Damn Lot. [color=f49ac2]Direct Dialogue: [/color][color=CD5C5C]Linqian Han[/color][@FernStone], [color=DE198A]Tayla Choi[/color][@silvermist1116] [color=f49ac2]Location:[/color] His Inferno, His Happy Place (The Burning Church) [/sub][/right][hr] [/indent]Edict kept his mouth shut like he was taught to. Even if they caught him, even if they brought him back in cuffs and threw him into some wagon, they'd never break him. Prison was [i]nothing[/i] to Edict. Who could hurt him? Who could expect that all he needed was one courtesy call, or at worst a bit of extra time spent redirecting to a new Channeler, before he was master of his own domain? [i][color=f49ac2]Fuck them. They'll have my cock in their mouths before they break me.[/color][/i] He kept his eyes closed as they dragged him, taking deep breaths as he took a small rest before starting to channel again. The frame of his sunglasses was still warm against the side of his head despite the missing lens, and as they dumped him into the pile of other Coven members, he let himself begin to channel inward. As he'd previously demonstrated, cutting access to his senses in order to benefit himself ended up being something well within the purview of his abilities. Resetting the Power Words that were blasted off him by the taser, he implemented weaker versions to maintain cognizance while dulling the pain in his eyes, ass and hands to a dull ache. From there, it was a matter of maintaining a level head. Listening, not speaking. Hearing what the Agents were saying and what his contemporaries were barking back. But he had to be ready for what was coming; or what he thought was coming. The worst pinch imaginable, and with Father Wolf no closer to being found. Obligations left unfulfilled. Edict breathed deeply, in and out on manual piloting, and a smile cracked across his face as he looked through bleary eyes at those agents around them. He wanted to memorize faces, remember who to have killed in a "fucking car accident". [i][color=f49ac2]Yes, with the Fucking.[/color][/i] He wanted to brain lance one of them out of sheer principle. How were they going to prove which animal among the gaggle was the one who pulled the trigger that melted their buddy's brain into neuron soup? And who was the rat? Linqian? [i][color=f49ac2]Nah, come on. That personality is not pro-snitch. Think harder. Kali wasn't here, capiche? It's raw as is, no need for complication.[/color][/i] But he had been driven to anger toward them. He said he'd try to leave the logging for the Loggers, but his mind constantly crossed back to how he wanted to feel the axe in his own two hands. The sensation of the chopping, the feeling of the wood shearing and flying back up to hit you in the face. [i][color=f49ac2]The blood...[/color][/i] There was a familiar voice among the agents. He was trying to put some kind of a name to it. Something with a B that reminded him of banana... Syllables? His half stoned mind drifted for a moment as names with a B became a fond image of Britney in a silver dress in the middle of a fancy Portland restaurant. Her smile, her hair. But, it was two syllables, and he pulled himself back to the number three, which only further muddled the mind as he regressed back to the pressing matter. He'd probably have to release himself and live in the pain if he wanted to get any clear thinking done. It was a choice now; release it all and do his job? Or sit in silence and bliss until it was all over? [i]"Which one of you killed Agent Mahendra..."[/i] [i][color=f49ac2]Son of a bitch!? Alright, alright.[/color][/i] Edict braced up hard, taking a last few manual breaths before he clipped the ends of his Power Words and stamped a big fat [color=f49ac2]CANCEL[/color] across his mind. All at once, the new Command Line was cleared. All at once the sensation of having so much of the residue still in and around his eyes caused his teeth and bloody, glass filled hands to clench shut. The digging glass only made things worse, and he wriggled his legs in great discomfort for a moment as he tried to adjust to the pain. [i]"He was found stabbed to death in a Dairy Queen parking lot within two hours of the chaos you all wrought on the city!"[/i] [i][color=f49ac2]Those fucking geeks seriously went to Dairy Queen? Christ on a bike...[/color][/i] It was something of a boon that he was so wrapped up in his pain; denying him the chance to make foolish comments to the federal agents who were trying to put them away... But he knew this wasn't his wrap now at least. Besides the minor intrusion the night before, they'd had no physical contact or any real reason to suspect Edict would have him killed. Things left off fine enough between the two of them, despite Edict's complicated feelings toward the guy. It was a relief that he was gone, in a sense. That miserable kind of void staring back at him feeling was gone, and he imagined smoother sailing from here on. [i][color=f49ac2]If they don't try to pin it on me anyway, at least.[/color][/i] Linqian was working for her money at least. [i][color=CD5C5C]"If anyone did it, it was Everleigh. She was pretty close to shooting him yesterday!"[/color][/i] Edict smiled through the pain. His prints were on the gun too... [i][color=f49ac2]Fuck it. Let'em try.[/color][/i] Frankly if they weren't dogpiling him into a wagon already, they already knew who did it, and they're just looking for rat witnesses. [i][color=DA70D6]“I mean just look who we have within our midst,”[/color][/i] Edict happened to look in her general direction, realizing that of all people, prissy Evelynn Serenelight was throwing shade his way. He kept his mouth shut, mostly because he knew if he said anything, people would know he was in pain. And he was starting to figure out that it was more than what he thought: A hot, shooting pain climbed from his left wrist to his elbow in a fracture that he probably got from either going through the window or hitting the ground below. The numb limp limbs still reacted in some fashion, tossing themselves out in front of him as he made impact, and from there he probably just fucked it up. Tayla Choi was here too... He wondered if she got a full blast from his abilities earlier, as it would've resulted in a far more vivid and real-time experience without taking up any extra time. Simply more potent visual perception, but he knew what it was like from watching movies inside his own head on plane flights. The previous day, he'd considered trying to flip her by using his abilities, but he decided against it ultimately, and didn't think she was a source he wanted to pull from. The cursory onceover he pulled from his stunt yesterday told him a story he didn't want to participate in. It was a twisted empathy that he passed off as the better option, patting himself on the back for not playing into an Addict's nature. Not like he wouldn't do the exact same thing back home to some other unfortunate individual. Void-Hoppin' Jack interrupted the pow-wow in typical style; out of nowhere and abruptly, and holding another body that Edict couldn't recognize through his hazy vision. [i]"... A strange Wolf Idol was found by his body."[/i] [i][color=f49ac2]Alright cutie, keep talking. Keep making bad decisions...[/color][/i] Then the interruption. Before she could give up much more, Auri Auclair's name got brought up. [i][color=f49ac2]That's the figure![/color][/i] Auri, limp in Jack's arms. What the fuck happened? Was she dead too? There was a long exchange that kind of got covered up in the chaos, a few of the agents talked back and forth before Edict heard the magic words. [i]"... Uncuff them, we're letting them go. Except for her, she is coming with us."[/i] Edict had just about regained his sight by the time they got around to uncuffing him, and having the pressure release on his wrist felt fantastic. He almost thought he could skip seeing some kind of healer, but it was a reason to visit Elodie uptown and healing a hair fracture could still cause complications later on. Better to get it touched up by a friendly face than stick around. Standing, he dignified himself by wiping the dust off himself as best he could before looking back at the fire he started. Leon mentioned that Auri had recently come into the ownership of the building... [i][color=f49ac2]Go fuck yourself.[/color][/i] It was a schmooze fest after that, but he wasn't content with sticking around with how many Feds there actually were lingering around. He looked around for Leon, and realized the Big Guy was still sleeping. Even after one of the Agents uncuffed him, Leon was still a near seven foot long lump of shit on the ground. He was unmoving, unflinching, and Edict couldn't help but think about how he could sleep so fucking soundly... Here of all places. Looking around a bit more, he saw Sloane cozying up to the leader of this ragtag group of magical Feds, which made him sick with hate again. He hated to see any sort of cooperation, and made a mental note of her liability as he tried to step closer to Linqian. Finally, the man guilty for burning the entire church down opened his mouth to speak directly to her. By happenstance, Tayla Choi was also there. [i][color=DE198A]"And maybe a drink? There's a place down by the docks if you want to get outta here."[/color][/i] [color=f49ac2]"Someone mention a drink I could use?"-[/color] he asked, popping up almost between them. [color=f49ac2]"-Tayla, nice to see you. Linqian, listen, Leon brought you a car. His goons are still over there waiting to hand you the keys. I can take you over there, and this is obviously code for please can we fucking leave the place with all the Pinkertons? I mean, the car [i]is[/i] waiting that parts real but like, fuck. No bueno."[/color] He noticed the cigarette she was trying to smoke, and that it was a shit one again. He pulled his hard case out and popped it open to offer up a couple decent ones, and to Tayla as well. [i][color=f49ac2]So much for keeping away from the poor woman.[/color][/i]