Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy, Trevor / Meifeng @Punished GN The Bar that Ruins Hopes and Dreams, The Halloween Festival
”Two nights ago-” Anya started under the gaze of her captivated audience, ready to jump into the interesting details of a dream she’d wandered into, when she was rudely interrupted by the last person she wanted to hear from again.
Like a mechanical doll, her head jerked around in three sharp motions, creaking practically audible. For a moment she wondered if it was possible to drown in a cup of alcohol. Or perhaps if she fell the right way, she would break her spine. No. Her will to survive was strong enough to withstand this. She could survive his awful flirting, horrible voice and strange hair playing. She had already been through it all while alone on a supposed 'date.' Of course, she'd hoped that would be the end of it. She would meet him again if her hand was forced, to protect her own life... but she was beginning to think that perhaps dealing with him was a fate worse than death. He was certainly making her lose the will to live, which was something of a miracle.
”How could I forget you?” Anya intoned, flashing a very forced smile towards Trevor. Not only had he suggested that it was fate that they’d ran into each other once but he also threw out what Anya supposed was meant to be a pickup line but felt more like a threat. She’d rather he wasn’t her anything. How he'd gotten it into his head that he could be anything like that, she didn't know. ”Oh, I feel so much safer already with you here to protect me. Why don't you go find some armour that can do the job?”
There was a subtle sarcasm to her words that would likely bounce right off Trevor's thick skin and be easily picked up by anyone with half a braincell. However, she was quite hopeful about him going to find a knight costume and giving them an opportunity to leave before they returned.
"Oh man, this is brilliant," Bianca snorted as she watched the whole thing, covering her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing.
Anya ignored the rest of the PRA, Bianca included, and focused on Meifeng. What she said was incredibly irritating. Unprofessional. Their lives were at risk and she’d decided at face value that Sloane was going to be annoying by asking for help? Knowing these people were the ones ‘protecting the city’ in an official capacity had her feeling less safe than if they hadn’t been around at all.
”Don't worry, Meifeng, I'll forget all about how you push us onto a junior- no, trainee, is it not?- agent when we were merely looking for help with a very murderous problem,” Anya smiled pleasantly, eyes creasing slightly - the picture of genuine joy even as her words were as sharp as a knife. ”At least Bianca seems to have the necessary protection. I wouldn't want us all wiped out. Truly, Bea, it's lovely to see you again. Properly. How was meeting Linqian again last week? I hope you had a pleasant catch up. She certainly seemed to enjoy it.”
”Oh, it was good,” Bianca smiled back. ”It was nice to catch up with an old friend who had no interest in my work. I'm glad you cared enough to ask.”
Anya’s lips curved into something closer to a sneer, head snapping back round as Sloane’s hands slammed down on the table in a delayed reaction (ah, she was so drunk). It was easy to read what was such an openly expressive look from Sloane (to Anya, likely not to others). What was she sorry about? Why did she… no, she wouldn’t think about that bit. But Sloane even moved around to block the free seat next to Anya, preventing Trevor from taking it. Was she not-
Oh. Sloane invited Trevor to join, and then proceeded to give one of the worst shows Anya had seen in her life, ending in her own drink being stolen. Generally she enjoyed finishing her own drink before the end of a performance, quite quickly during the starting act if the quality was like this. But she understood what Sloane was doing. She was trying to give Anya a way out, with an incredibly clumsy execution. She didn’t want to abandon Sloane, of course, but she couldn’t turn down her so awkwardly set up plan.
A small amount of warmth unexpectedly sparked in Anya’s chest, and her smile softly lit up her eyes.
”Alright, I won’t be long-” As she went to stand, a tanned hand landed on her shoulder and pressed her back down.
”I'll get you both a drink,” Bianca interrupted cheerfully after stopping Anya from standing up, hand still on her shoulder. What Sloane was doing was painfully obvious, and she wasn't going to let her see Anya (with bonus Sloane) suffer plan fail. Not when Trevor was coming out with such insanely cringey lines. ”On me, since we're old friends. I wouldn’t want you to be dragged away from poor Trevor so quickly! What do you want?”
”... Old Fashioned for us both,” Anya gritted out, unable to push up past Bianca’s grip. She was surprisingly strong. Or perhaps Anya herself was weak. Her smile wavered for a moment. Not only were Sloane’s efforts going to waste, but she was going to be forced to stay in Trevor’s company. For a moment, she considered throwing away everything she’d been working for, the carefully built up image she’d made for herself, and stabbing Bianca with a hairpin for stopping her.
No, jail would be much too uncomfortable. She would just ruin her dreams later.
”Got it,” Bianca grinned, finally letting go of Anya’s shoulder and making her way over to the bar with a slight skip in her step.
After following Bianca's back with a narrowed eyed look, Anya leaned in towards Sloane, voice dropping to a whisper. ”Thank you for trying.”
”Well,” Anya straightened back up and turned around to look at Meifeng, gesturing to the seats in front of her and Sloane. There were two, after all. ”Why don’t you join us too, and prove that you weren’t just trying to play the matchmaker? I’m not looking to discuss much business, but it’s only fair you get to know us after your immediate judgement of Sloane.”
And perhaps Trevor would be a tad more restrained around his both. At least, he would stick to horrible pickup lines over all the weirdly sexual things he discussed on their ‘date’.
A Place Better Forgotten -> Sabrina's House -> Outside Mentions: Mr. Devola @AtomicEmperorDirect Dialogue: None.
(TW: Cutting)
She could see it.
Everything in perfect detail.
A grande ensemble.
Herself, asleep on the chair. Above, as if on a throne.
Void, being hacked away at by a meaty knife. The sacrifice.
Screams. Stabs. More screams.
Again and again.
His cries and curses.
His shrieking plea for help, to be saved.
His eyes, turning to her as he suffered and bled under the blade. Not her in the chair. No, the ghost who watched. Who detailed and recorded everything with perfect perfection.
She reached out a hand, but felt a paralysis in her bones. She tried to step forward,but felt sluggish and slow.
As Void’s bloodcurdling screams of agony reached their peak, begging for her to save him, for her to not to let him die.
And then, a final stab. The sound of slicing through flesh as Void’s eyes glazed over.
And the Butcher, a dark, monstrous silhouette, turning its eyes towards her.
”AAHHHH!”
Layla shot up straight from where she had slumped on the couch, haggard breaths stealing air. Quickly, a hand pressed over her mouth. Everyone was fast asleep in Sabrina's house. If they saw her like this-
Throb.
Near instantly, the panic and despair Layla felt doubled in size, crushing down on her like a cement block. It was the end of the world. Her insides trembled against the all-encompassing depression shs felt, the pain of loneliness, of loss. She wanted to throw up. It took her a second to realize she was feeling the rebound of Mr. Devola's medicine.
She had never felt worse in her life.
Immediately, every sense clamored to go wake Mr. Devola up, and beg him for more medicine. Instead, she trembled on the couch, holding a hand over muffled whimpers. She missed Void. Void had been sealed in such a painful way, and it was her fault.
Unable to breathe, to think, Layla stumbled to her feet, and scrambled in the darkness for the front door. She dragged herself out of Sabrina's house, leaving her shoes, and leaving the front door wide open.
She ran in her socks. She ran until she didn't recognize the streets. Until her breath came in shallow, frantic gasps. Until her legs begged for relief, but even then, the bleakness and despair welling within her still threatened to burst.
It was too much.
Layla collapsed on a sidewalk, tears streaming down her haggard face. She wept loudly, openly. Beside her was a shattered bottle, and she took one of the shards. Placed it on her wrist. Screwed her eyes shut.
Anything to release the pain.
And she pressed, drawing blood.
Before a gloved hand grabbed her roughly.
“What do you think you're doing to my body? My blood?”
Layla's eyes flickered open, seeing Mr. Riil kneeling over her, disapproval emanating from behind his mask. She shivered in his grasp, dropping the bloodied glass. Mr. Riil raked his black gaze over her, before tutting.
“That asshole. I should have never let him get close to you. Now look at you, a sniveling, weeping mess. And it's not even my fault!” He said with a bite in his tone.
Layla watched as Mr. Riil began lapping a long, black tongue over her wound from the side of his mask, and tears welled up further in her eyes.
“I'm alone… I have no one…”
“Yes, you're alone. That's how I've designed you, dearie.” Mr. Riil spoke matter-of-factly.
“If they're my friends, why do I feel l-like this…?”
Mr Riil set his mask back on straight, and stared her dead in the eyes. “They're not your friends. No one is your friend.”
He huffed, clearly irritated. His gloved hand extended forward. “Give me your hand, girl.”
“M-my.. hand?”
“Yes. I'm never letting that sicko get close to you again. I have no idea what he did to you, but your mind has been messed with. It's wrong. So.” His head tilted forward, daring her to refuse. “Give. Me. Your. Hand.”
She whimpered, and weakly held his hand in her own. He kept hold of her while his other hand suddenly plunged into her chest, pulling out a silver chain. From his own chest, a similar black chain appeared, and the two encircled each other in flashes of light. Slowly, links disintegrated and blended, until they were a single, unified gradient of white to black, tying them together in a unifying adjoinment. Immediately, thoughts flooded Layla's mind. Thoughts that weren't her own. She felt Mr. Riil's presence combing through her memories, and felt entirely exposed in a way that was similar to how she had been bound to Void.
Mr. Riil growled under his breath, clearly disgusted with the memories he'd seen of her and Mr. Devola. He cupped a hand around Layla’s cheek, forcing her look up at him.
“You are mine to control, and no one else’s. Got that?”
Layla nodded weakly.
“Good. Now hail a taxi. I’m taking you home.”
Layla trembled a bit as Mr. Riil lifted her to her feet, unable to think or disagree as she called the taxi line, mumbled out her location, and waited. Not long after, a yellow cab rolled up. Layla dragged herself inside, and headed home.
Uncertain, despaired, yet armed with a new adjoinment. One that would empower her as it weakened her. As was the fate of the cursed.
As always was the fate of the cursed.
The House of Cards Mafia
Phantasia Vorpal
Isabella Blackthorn
Hearts Club Casino Warehouse, Industrial District Mentions: Britney (@Punished GN), Edict (@AtomicEmperor), the 317 (@NoriWasHere) Direct Dialogue: None.
It was deep in the night of Halloween, with festivities starting to wind down. However, across the industrial planes of St. Portwell, a lone warehouse stood against the dark backdrop. Its front was clean enough, with signage indicating it was the property of the Hearts Club Casino. However, the black SUVs parked in the back gave an entirely different, more ominous picture.
A new car rolled up. Isabella Blackthorn, dark tresses curling in the wind, stepped out of the back, and headed past the men stationed out the front, and inside. It was dimly lit, with dusty floors, crates of goods, and tarps covering spare slot machines.
Isabella dragged her sharp eyes over the scene, her sight drawn to the soft groaning coming from one of the dark corners. Bruno Arno was slumped against the wall, hands zip-tied behind his back. There were men standing around on guard, giving the kidnapped man the occasional slug across the face. Isabella walked past them with unfeeling eyes as she strode to the warehouse’s internal office. There were two burly men stationed outside, looking crisp in their suits. They barely gave Isabella a glance as she walked into the office. A grimace crossed her face nearly instantly as she saw what was inside.
Flickering lights overhead illuminated the cushioned operating table that had been placed in the center of the small room. Monitoring equipment beeped softly from beside the table, green screens pulsing with heart rate readings. One man in a lab coat was watching the readings carefully, before he pressed a button on a machine.
A muffled shriek emanated from the table as none other than Phantasia Vorpal lay trembling upon the cushion, a bit of leather in her mouth. Her body shook as the electrodes within the headset around her forehead shocked her with increasingly higher doses of electricity. Another shock, before the doctor in the lab coat pressed another button, and turned off the machine. Phantasia half sat up, spitting out the leather bit with a huff.
“How is Mother, doc?” Isabella asked.
“I wish I could say ‘better’, but progress is incredibly slow.” the neurologist said, going over his notes and sprawling out some new ones.
“I can't promise a full recovery at this point, but I was able to stimulate the corresponding locations in her brain where changes took place. She says ‘I just need a chat with her,’ instead of ‘Britney isn't an option.’ So we've gone from outright refusal to harm to possible harm.” The doctor said.
Isabella allowed herself a small sigh of relief. Her gaze turned to Phantasia as the doctor began removing the headset. “Mother Cards? The men are worried for you. What happened at the Elder Lamb?”
Phantasia's normally placid face turned into a dark expression with bared teeth. She knew what happened. But for whatever reason, everything she tried to talk about it, her words jumbled. More mind trickery.
Annoying. But still fascinating.
She wanted to say she let Edict into her head to see what would happen. Wanted to see what type of threat he was. What he would do when his beloved was threatened. She wanted to say how she felt the desire to see him again, against every logic in her mind.
But instead, what came out was, “We were talking before I was overcome with visions of paradise, and had to excuse myself.”
Isabella only looked at her boss with a sympathetic stare, before she turned to the doctor. “We're counting on you, doc.”
The doctor nodded, watching as Phantasia grabbed her hat and the two of them exited the office. Phantasia and Isabella took the metal grated staircase to the second floor, where her private office was. Phantasia opened the door, sat down in the leather seat behind the mahogany desk, lit a cigarette and placed it in her holder. Smoke curled around her hat as she puffed away.
“How's progress with the 317?” Phantasia asked after a few minutes.
“We're really not gonna talk about how badly your plan went? What about Britney?”
Phantasia took another long drag of her cigarette before speaking. “The plan went perfectly. I’ll arrange a meeting with Britney. You don't worry about that.”
She blew out another puff of smoke. “Now. The 317?”
Isabella stared grimly before she relented, sitting in the seat across from her boss. “We got the sacrifice in the warehouse ready for transport. I'll arrange another meeting with my contact, and get this wrapped up.”
“Good. We need as many advantages as possible if we’re gonna pull this off.”
“Yes ma'am.”
Isabella stared for a moment. “If there's nothing else, Mother…”
Phantasia gave Isabella a dismissive wave. But as Isabella made to leave, Phantasia’s head tilted up, pink eyes suffusing the dim lights.
“Don't worry so much, my dear Thorn. I didn't become the head of this family because I withered at the slightest resistance.”
Isabella swallowed, nodded, and excused herself, softly shutting the door behind her. The butterflies in her stomach from Phantasia’s gaze caught her like a ghost, sitting with her for the rest of the night.
Mentions: In Collaboration with @Estylwen | Direct Dialogue: Elise Richoux, Andrade Salamente, Bahlaas Rill | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District
Mia had been allowed to wander off with Elise staying behind to wrap things up and get everything cleaned and prepped for transportation the next morning. Lynette had returned at one point to collect the proceeds for the day, and to be her usual love-bombing self whenever wads of cash were involved.
Furio too had absconded, probably to go and help with the merch booth that was most likely in need of his strength. Andrade was toiling away, washing dishes and packaging pans up to be brought back to the Temple’s kitchen. The pair weren’t often in the same place at the same time, but didn’t lack for things to talk about.
The topic was sustainable farming. Not in the traditional sense, but farming of Apparitions. The discussion of enhancing the Cult’s intake of Andrade’s unique productions was always one of Lynette’s big talking points in any meeting, and so efforts were always being made to expand things. So when they were rudely interrupted by the snarling beast that leapt upon Andrade, panic was the first thing that went through Elise’s head.
Andrade, however, wasn’t worried. He came from the old days; the times when a Hellhound or two could be found roaming the Temple’s property. You may have to deal with a bite or two now and again. He didn’t panic. He didn’t scream. He clenched his jaw and grunted in pain as the teeth sunk into his arm, but he knew that laying into it was a useless waste of energy. He had to wait for Elise to manage it herself.
Elise backpedaled slightly, but finding herself unassailed shifted her focus. She had to help, and it had to be done now. She channeled every bit of Orange Lux she had to activate her Channeler’s enchantment. One sister’s gift to another was a best friend: One who would comfort and listen to her wherever she was. Mia had enchanted all their childhood toys and animals; but this one became her Channeler. An artifact all its own.
"Enchanted Forest Friends: Mondo!"
The bear came alive face first, its magically enchanted form lurching forward and grabbing ahold of the hellhound by the neck. The bite was loud, crunching bone popping as Mondo came to full size; a typical female blackbear, assembled of patchwork fur that came from multiple repairs over the years. It growled out at the death of the Hound, stomping its paw and roaring. Andrade forced himself up, quickly going for a cloth to wrap the wound. "Alright, what the fuck is up? Did I give someone a bad kebab?”
Elise held her ground, deep breathing having cleared her mind and steadied her hand. "I… I don’t know. All I know is that I must’ve missed something… Get behind us, Andrade." He was holding pressure on the wound in his arm and didn’t have many other options. He found himself grateful to his young defender. "Just keep breathing, ‘Lise. Get us to the Merch booth… ”
As the hellhound fell limp, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. There was a distant howl, a roar of indignity, of rage as the bear claimed its first strike.
The shadows shifted around the Temple's booth as something made its way for the next strike. The wind stirred, tension hot.
Then, a flash of red eyes as three hellhounds leapt through the darkness and over the table. One sank its teeth into the neck of the bear, ripping wildly. One aimed its barred maw at Elise, attacking her leg. The last again aimed its attack towards Mr. Salamente, teeth primed to sink into his other arm.
A three-pronged attack. Yet something felt as though the hellhounds were holding back.
Waiting.
Mondo roared despite having no pain receptors to feel the bite with. It wasn’t pain: It was panic. The false musculature of the enchanted beast reeled back with utter disregard for its own safety, sending the one latched onto it flying away in a puff of torn cloth and bloody cotton that jettisoned from the open wound. Its massive paw, crystalline claws fully extended, drove into the side of the dog attacking Elise. The thing disappeared in an instant huff of smoke, the claws having ripped its caved in chest apart.
Elise was bleeding now. It wasn’t a light bleed either. She wasn’t sure if the thing hit an artery, but she could feel globs of the warm red lifeblood surge out from the bite wound with every rapid heartbeat. Mondo felt the weakness of its Mistress, sluggishly batting the dog on Andrade with a similar result. The third was still alive, and rather than go in for another attack, it began to circle the ruined tent in anticipation.
Neither Temple Members hesitated. Mondo lurched forward, shoving a table out of the way as Andrade used its sturdy but fluffy body to stand back up. Without both of his arms, it was all he could do to run for safety. He did, and didn’t think about Elise Richoux or what sort of trouble she was going to get into. He knew he didn’t need to. Elise Richoux was, after all, right behind him as Mondo slowly began to pass him up. She was clinging to the bear’s back, moaning in pain with each lurch as the wound in her leg ripped little by little. She knew it’d be too much weight for Mondo if they both got on, so as they came side by side, Elise reached her hand out and grabbed Andrade’s jacket.
In one smooth motion, she slipped off the bear, the momentum flipping Andrade onto the things back. "Go! Go get help!” Elise shouted, hitting the ground and failing to stand again because of her leg.
“Not so fast!”
From the shadows emerged what appeared to be a woman in a flowing brown trench coat, barbed wire circling her hat. A menacing, glowing red smile stretched from ear to ear as the thing appeared to stare hard at Mr. Salamente. Growling from the shadows emerged five more hellhounds, surrounding the bear, its charge, and the girl from all sides.
By now the crowd had noticed what all the ruckus was. Some were watching with mouths hanging open. Others were screaming. Some turned tail and ran. The woman paid them no mind, instead focusing its attention solely on Mr. Salamente and the girl. She stood confidently behind her hellhounds, drinking up the suffering she could see painted in their faces.
“You're not going anywhere until you give me what I want!”
With a whistle, the hellhounds lurched forward, ignoring the girl and focusing their attack wholly on Mr. Salamente and the bear. Two snapped at Mr. Salamente's ankles, trying to pull him off. The three others, plus the one from the previous attack, snapped at the soft fluff of the bear's neck, shoulders and arms, shaking with their teeth vigorously to let loose some chunks.
Mondo wasn’t a match for all of them. However, it had been taught well. Its master understood priority action, and the beast followed suit. As the dogs snapped and ripped at Andrade, who simply grunted and did his best to punch and kick the dogs away, Mondo dipped to the side and forced its legs upward, tossing Andrade a few feet into the air. The bear rolled, crushing one of the dogs under force and mass, and caught Andrade in the crook of its belly. A second roll pinned Andrade underneath it, the girth now blocking most of his vital organs and the head. Feet and hands were still exposed, and of course the assailing dogs tried ripping him out from under the guardian by those exposed limbs.
Andrade could feel his fingers being torn away at the bone… But he wouldn’t yield anything. He’d die in the light of Paradise. Elise, however, was not so content to let this happen. With Mondo active, there was a short distance where she could continue to cast her spells through it: The acrylic nails hanging from the tips of her fingers… They weren’t organic, they were objects, she knew she could affect them, it just meant… It meant getting into harm’s way herself. Her neck for Andrades. She tried to wonder what her Mother would say; if that would be a worthy sacrifice for the light of Paradise.
"Begone! Begone and die!” A classic combat enchantment rocked across Elise’s nails, hardening them into sharp steel claws that gripped tight to her fingers. The magical aura cascaded from them in ribbons of orange while white fog began to coalesce around the woman. She was attempting to gauge the entity’s strength through aura reading White magic, but wasted no time surging forward to catch one of the dogs off guard.
What Elise would have picked up was a huge source of power in the bulge of the smiling woman's shoulder, threatening to burst. She would have also picked up eyes. Eyes everywhere that could see.
The blade-like nails pushed through the dog's ethereal body easily, causing it to go up in a cloud of smoke. Mondo took the opportunity to spin, catching another dog off guard with its battering ram paws that crushed it into banishment.
The remaining dogs simply stared for a long moment, along with the woman. Staring in disbelief.
Disbelief that quickly turned to palatable intel. The woman snapped her fingers, and the remaining dogs slunk back, never breaking eye contact with the bear.
She eyed Mr. Salamente under the bear, and her wicked smile widened. “You don't have it. Shame…”
She took a step back, waving with smug satisfaction. “Be seeing you.”
And, one by one, the dogs vanished into smoke, followed closely by the woman. Elise, Mondo, and Mr. Salamente were left alone in a half-torn up Temple Booth, at the shock of onlookers.
Not a single blind attempted to help: The two looked like they were playing make-believe or taking drugs or… Whatever it was, to a Blind it was pure crazy. Like nothing had happened despite the destruction of the tent. Elise was embarrassed, but even worse she was in fear. Andrade was bleeding profusely. She had to make sure he was safe, but she had to get him help.
The Halloween Festival. The Beach Bar. Cracker Island.
“Hey!”
Meifeng raised an eyebrow as this girl tried her damnest to get her attention. She said nothing, but Meifeng stared at her as if she was just waiting for her to share what she had in mind. However, her face scrunched up, and she very wisely talked to someone on her level: Trevor.
“Please, join us. Oh. No. Anya. Our drinks. They’re empty. Oooh, yep, they’re both…they’re both empty. Anya, could you grab anot…another? Trevor will keep me company. W-won’t you?”
"I would... but didn't you all say that someone is murdering ya'll!?" Trevor spoke in a thick southern accent with a shocked expression. "What if she walks off, and that psycho-stabbin' killer is there waiting for her?!"
He raised his hand as if he was holding an invisible knife. "He'll be like bow-bow! Then she'll be like, 'Aaaaaaah! I'm getting stabbed! If only I had a hunky and handsome hero to stop me from getting stabbed to dea-'" To accentuate his point, he made some thrusting motions with the "invisible knife"; however, he was interrupted.
"... Trevor," Cindy softly and sternly said. "She wants you to stay with her... So, stay with her."
"Aw..." Trevor hunched over. "Well, I guess I'll stick with you, even though my heart, soul -and other parts- belong to your friend! I'm a superhero, y'know, and I could not live with myself if something happened to her."
Cindy's jaw dropped.
"I almost projectile vomited..." Samson shook his head.
”Oh, I feel so much safer already with you here to protect me. Why don't you go find some armour that can do the job?”
"I'm bulletproof," Trevor said as he jammed a thumb in his chest. "I don't need any armor!"
Leon laughed his ass off... for probably not the reason Anya and Sloane thought.
”Don't worry, Meifeng, I'll forget all about how you push us onto a junior- no, trainee, is it not?- agent when we were merely looking for help with a very murderous problem,”
"Trainee Agent... for the third time," Meifeng answered with a shrug. "And don't mention it."
”Well. Why don’t you join us too, and prove that you weren’t just trying to play the matchmaker? I’m not looking to discuss much business, but it’s only fair you get to know us after your immediate judgement of Sloane.”
"Can't you see that I'm an old lady?" Meifeng laughed, "When I sit down, I'm not getting back up! I have a bad back after all."
"... Oh, you know nothing about having a bad bac-" Cindy seethed.
"Ssh!" Meifeng put a finger to Cindy's lips. "I'm comfortable right here. Why don't you three come over here? It's more comfortable, and I get a seat by my best friend."
Rain began to hit the bar in torrential collums... soaking Meifeng and her costume. She shivered as she raised her hand into the air.
"... Good grief," She shook her head. "This is the second time the damn weather..."
"This sounds familiar, don't it?" Cindy raised an eyebrow.
"Yes... yes, it does..." Meifeng trailed off.
"Emily G. Reed was here," Cindy began. "Which means her girlfriend Vashti Nour isn't that far behind."
"Good grief, I'm trying to enjoy my time off here," Meifeng rolled her eyes. "Can't those two assholes just calm their tits for just one night...?"
"Guess not," Cindy said. "Let's take care of that real quick."
"Need a hand?" Maximilian said as he stood up.
"Yes, yes we do," Meifeng said before she looked at Sloane, Anya, and Trevor. "We have to step out for a moment... Play nice. Or don't. I'll look the other way if you decide to murder Trevor."
"Hey!" Trevor protested.
"... Pineapple margarita?" The bartender said, sliding the drink across the bar top. The two women looked at each other, then the drink. Before, Cindy smiled as she grabbed the drink with both hands and presented it to Anya.
Cracker Island. Halloween Festival. Right outside the fight.
".... Well, well, well!"
A big and boisterous voice spoke as his heavy footsteps announced his arrival. The big and hulking George Nelson walked over to Ayrin with a wide grin and crossed his arms. "Look what we got here! A nosy-bitch!"
"... Yeah, motherfucker! Mind your business!" Carol Doyle slid from behind George, holding his red cape as she said. "You know what happens to motherfuckers that use phones around here?!"
George laughed as he stuck his hand out and said.
"This is what happens," He began, "Give me your phone."
"Also, you stay out of this, you tall bitch!" Carol shouted at Jordan. "You will be three feet shorter when I break your motherfucking knees, bitch!"
Shayton.
Interactions: .
Cracker Island. Halloween Festival.
"Hmph... annoying..."
Shayton rolled his eyes as he examined the damage on the sleeve of his suit jacket. Despite his best attempts, he ruined one of his favorite suits... and lost his cane. That "kid" would pay for this. He calmly walked through the Historic District streets before pulling out his cell phone and dialing someone.
LUIS.
It rang briefly as he placed it up against his ear.
"... Mr. Jakane!" Luis said.
"Shayton," He corrected.
"Potato-Patato," Luis laughed.
"Who says Patato...?" Shayton rolled his eyes.
"There has to be a reason why you're calling me, yes?" Luis said.
"It was that "kid" again," Shayton began. "He approached me at the Halloween Festival."
"Ah, the one that made Judas squeal?"
"Yes."
"... I'm going to send Natalie, Vulpes, and The High Priestess to the island," Luis said. "We're going to have some men on the other side of the ferry keeping an eye out for him."
He laughed.
"We're going to make sure we get to the bottom of this," Luis began. "Right, Shayton?"
"Right," Shayton said... before a sudden rainstorm overcame him and the island. In the distance, he saw raging storms, firey blasts, and other magic tricks. "... There's a fight going on here. I see fireblasts, and a storm came out of nowhere."
"Well, who's fighting?" Luis asked.
"It's in the distance," Shayton shook his head. "It has to be Vashti Nour... and if Vashti Nour is here, Emily G. Reed is likely here as well."
"Keep an eye on them," Luis said. "I know it's your day off..."
"Alright," Shayton shook his head as he walked into the eye of the storm, destroyed suit and all... Eventually, he came to the fight once he stepped through an alleyway. According to his suspicions, Vashti Nour and Emily G. Reed fought with three other combatants he had not seen before.
So, he sat on a bench some distance away with serene tranquility as rain drenched him from head to toe. He watched.
Her ploy failed as Anya was forced to sit with Trevor, yet Sloane never imagined that the feeling of failure would come with such sweet relief. The realization that she couldn't possibly deal with Trevor alone had hit her only after the invitation had come out of her mouth, reinforced by his disgusting and crass vaudeville performance of Father Wolf. She lightly bumped her shoulder against Anya’s as her friend thanked her, sheepishly muttering under her breath a nearly inaudible apology. She lowered her eyes as her nail picked at the table. One of the agents had the nerve to laugh at Trevor's antics.
The thought that their safety was in the hands of a pack of professional baboons was absolutely terrifying.
She began to shake. Blame the rain. She scooted closer to Anya. Together they could get through this. Together they were—Sloane flinched as Anya invited Meifeng along, her nail scratching so deeply against the wood that it lodged a splinter underneath it. In quiet panic Sloane began to suck on her finger, trying to pick the splinter with her teeth in a desperate effort to keep her mouth preoccupied. Her finger was soon joined by the rest of her fist as Meifeng denied Anya’s request and tried to get them to sit at her table. A classic power play.
She noted how only Anya got offered a drink as her teeth sunk into her knuckles. Soon Meifeng and her cronies were gone, heading off to deal with Emily. Wait, Emily? Was Emily here? And was she somehow considered less annoying than Sloane? And did Emily even know what was happening? She could be in danger. Vashti could be in danger. Regardless of what they were like, they were as much a part of Sycamore as everyone else.
Sloane blinked. Bow-bow! A flash of lightning sparked a phantom image of Trevor stabbing at the air, the air filling out into the shape of Emily as a knife was plugged into her chest. Maybe the PRA were going to protect her. ‘Aaaaaaah! I'm getting stabbed!’ screamed an imaginary Vashti, blood gushing from her mouth. Maybe the PRA were going to protect her? They couldn't even protect one of their own.
Plus, they were drunk. They were all clearly and obviously drunk. Like that woman with Meifeng had just given away a perfectly wonderful tropical drink that went down easy and soothed the pain in Sloane's finger and—huh, when had she started drinking Anya's margarita? Sloane rapidly blinked again, taking another sip of the marg to clear her head. The rain didn't show any signs of slowing.
Sloane, who had sunken into a state of drunken silence like a monk who had the keys to the Communion cabinet, gasped loudly and suddenly. Jasper's painting! The weather would ruin it! She jumped to her feet, torn between two equally important priorities: saving 8th Street from a psycho killer and a group of inept bureaucrats or saving a blank canvas that served as the ultimate proof to confirm the suspicions she had held onto for years.
“Anya! We need to…urk…” Sloane was hit by a wave of vertigo induced solely by jumping up to her feet too fast and absolutely nothing else. Definitely not due to any of the drinks sloshing around in her otherwise empty stomach. She turned her head and held her hand up to show that she was okay. One, two, three, okay, breath and now one, two, three, okay, release.
She bet nobody even noticed. She'd just sit down, close her eyes, wait for the world to stop spinning, and give it another go in a second. Sloane sat with a heavy thump and slouched forward, folding her arms on the table and resting her head up on them. She closed her eyes as the comforting sounds of the storm wrapped around her like a warm blanket.
“Anya…where's Jack?” asked Sloane, her mind doing a one-eighty. She reached out blindly with her hand to grab for the margarita, threatening to wipe out everybody's drink. Suddenly, she stopped reaching and started pointing with her finger, violently stabbing it in the air with the finesse of a musketeer. ”Shouldn't be alone. So stupid…”
“Trevooooor, save Jack,” said Sloane, continually prodding him under the table with her foot. ”He's our ride home.” She kept sliding lower in her seat so she could continue to kick at Trevor's shin. ”Bianca’s got us. Prove yourself and go saaaaaave him…”
Cracker Island - Cracker Town - Cracker Town Vendor Stalls - Cracking Skullz
Aryin felt the giant’s arrival well before he stood in front of her, the shake of the ground did nothing but bring a smile to her face. George Nelson, the brute of the 8th Street coven, and one of Emily fucking Reed's favorite pets. Aryin remembered he liked to fight, and he was freakishly strong, but he was not strong enough to truly hurt her. At least, he was not strong enough to kill her with a single punch. And this made her smile grow in size. She glanced over to Jordan who had his eyes fixated on the coming giant already, and a wave of anger was carried with his gaze. There was bad blood between 8th Street and anyone who wasn’t 8th Street, and Jordan was no stranger to their ire.
".... Well, well, well!"
Aryin slowly turned their gaze to size up the massive man. He was much bigger than she remembered. Taller, and stronger, but he was still the same old George.
"Look what we got here! A nosy-bitch!"
Still, the bully, the overconfident asshole, the person who needs his ass kicked. ”Impressive vocabulary as always,” Aryin sneered. She turned the camera away from the fight and started recording George directly.
"... Yeah, motherfucker! Mind your business! You know what happens to motherfuckers that use phones around here?!"
"This is what happens, give me your phone."
Aryin turned the phone to Carol and then to George as she started to chuckle. The nerve of these two. They were walking up to her like they had any power. She would not be giving them her phone. She would not humor them by playing this nice. If anything the only question that dared cross her mind was how petty did she want to be? Aryin wanted to fight, Emily was getting her ass kicked and she was not allowed to join and this made Aryin upset. She could probably goad the big man into a fight pretty easy but she did not like her chances alone with Carol here. George could hurt her with his punches but she only needed one shot to end him, Carol could turn her into a literal fetus and that was not something she wanted to risk. She would need to somehow draw Jordan into the fight.
” You’re as dumb as I remember, George. Fuck off,” Aryin clicked on the flash button on the screen and turned it on, blasting George and Carol with the bright light. ” Just as ugly as I remember, Jesus. Did you look in the mirror before you left today? ”. Aryin stopped recording and rested a free hand on their hip as they shifted their gaze between the two. Still, the video was too good to simply leave it as is. She pulled up a message and sent the video to Linqian and texted her Bro, gonna fuck up this idiot.
"Also, you stay out of this, you tall bitch! You will be three feet shorter when I break your motherfucking knees, bitch!"
Jordan exhaled as he reached up and pulled his glasses from his face. He placed them down behind him on the ledge of a vendor's stall. He did not want to fight, but he knew that George would either push for the phone, and Aryin would not give it up, or walk away like the coward he was. Jordan knew that he needed to be ready just in case and he did not have his spare glasses with him at the festival. His eye shifted over to Aryin and saw the grin that was spreading, and he shifted his eyes back to George. Aryin was itching for a fight, and he would be ready to back her up if needed as long as she did not start the fight herself. Jordan was not a fan of some of the rules, namely the one about not getting involved in the business of other covens. Especially when groups like the 8th Street and the Nazi’s called this town their home. Jordan felt like they owed it to those who could not fight to fight for them, and he felt like the leadership were cowards for not using their position to help force out those who would threaten their members. Still, he did not want to be the reason the 317 was dragged into some petty gang war, and he did not want Aryin to be a scapegoat for defending herself.
” If you want my phone you’ll have to take it from me,” Aryin said as she winked at George, adjusting her footing into one more suitable for a fight, and smiled wide from ear to ear. "We both know you're too big of a pussy to fight someone who can beat you.”
Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy, Trevor @Punished GN, Jack (Text) @Blizz The Bar that Ruins Hopes and Dreams, The Halloween Festival
Well, I guess I'll stick with you, even though my heart, soul -and other parts- belong to your friend! I'm a superhero, y'know, and I could not live with myself if something happened to her.
Anya felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't want any of that. She'd rather Trevor took it all and kept it far, far away from her… when she'd agreed to one date to get information she hadn't expected this. He was talking as if they were anything, which they certainly were not and never would be. The suggestion that she needed him specifically to survive was laughable.
Also, did he really think Sloane was interested in him? That that was why she asked him to stay? That anyone would be actually interested? His ability to see things that weren't there was so strong that perhaps it was an abstraction itself.
Maybe she should finally do what her parents suggested, and find a rich husband (preferably one happy to have a loveless marriage) to scare Trevor away.
Anya shuddered, torrential downpour soaking her through in moments. The insects she’d so painstakingly painted on her face were nothing more than black lines down her cheeks. She was thankfully she’d braided her hair - it looked slightly less bedraggled after being soaked through. It was cold, and she automatically moved a bit closer to Sloane too… While looking at Trevor with the polite smile that had never quite left her lips.
”While there may be a killer on the loose, I'm not so helpless that I wouldn't be able to walk over to there,” Anya pointed to the visible bar, where Bianca seemed to be chatting up the lady serving her rather than getting drinks, ”without getting stabbed. Thank you for your concern, Mr ‘Superhero’, but if anything I'm more at risk every night when I'm at home alone than I would be walking out of your sight.”
Something she very much wished to do. And maybe if Father Wolf appeared and stabbed her, it wouldn't be so bad. At least she wouldn't have to suffer through more Trevor reenactments of what he did to people, or what was maybe a joke or maybe serious about being bulletproof. She couldn’t tell. It certainly didn’t make her laugh. It did make her consider murdering him, but she pushed that thought aside. Too risky.
Anya gratefully took the drink from Cindy, and took a sip. It was pleasant. She put it down on the table in front of her and considered how to proceed. They could leave, but she had a feeling Trevor would follow them. She could make awkward small talk until there was a reason to leave… Perhaps the rain was enough. But what was to stop him following them to ‘protect her’. Anya reached for the pineapple margarita, something she desperately needed, only to find it wasn’t there.
Sloane had stolen her drink again.
For the first time in a while, Anya got genuinely annoyed with her friend. Sloane was so drunk that she could stop drinking now and would barely register what was happening, but Anya was about as sober as can be. If anyone needed that drink to survive this situation, it was her. So much for friendship. Of course, this seething didn’t reach the surface, Anya’s expression was still perfectly amicable.
“Anya! We need to…urk…”
”We need to what?” Anya asked patiently, watching as Sloane jumped up and almost fell without commenting on it. The slight entertainment she got from that was enough to wash away the annoyance at Sloane drinking nearly half of her drink.
Though what followed was a near tragedy of Sloane seeming to come to the point while almost knocking everything off the table. With a speed Anya didn't know she had, she moved all of the glasses out of Sloane's reach.
”Jack can teleport, he's safer than most of us,” Anya said evenly, lightly patting Sloane's shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. She suddenly felt like she had a child, a fully grown drunken one, and found herself hoping Bianca would be back with their drinks soon. She was perhaps the lesser of these three evils. At least, she was the one Anya could handle easiest.
Sloane wasn't letting up about Jack, to the point that she was kicking Trevor under the table like a petulant child annoyed at their sibling. Not that he didn't deserve it. But how would Trevor know who Jack was? If there was someone he wasn't able to trace it was Jack, with his ancient iPhone that had been to the void and back.
”I'll message him,” Anya said placatingly, pulling out her phone. She considered apologising to Trevor, but decided against it. What Sloane while drunk was doing was around the same level as everything that ever came out of his mouth.
With great difficulty thanks to the rain, Anya sent Jack a text. To Jack: Where are you? Sloane's worried Father Wolf got you. She's very drunk. To Jack: We’ve been ambushed by Trevor. Help would be appreciated.
”There, done,” Anya said to Sloane, hoping she’d put her head back down on the table and maybe take a nap. Though there was the question of getting her home if she didn’t sober up… that could be tackled later. ”I’m sure he’s fine. I'll let you know as soon as he replies, alright, Sloane?”
While waiting for Jack’s response, she might as well attempt some further information gathering. She turned back to Trevor with a diplomatic smile. ”Your boss and her… friend talked like they were close with Emily G. Reed and Vashti Nour. I know they helped with your… previous leader. Have you been working together since then?”
”Welcome to a casa de Luca,” Luca grinned, as he opened the door to his apartment. Of course, the trio had already been there - but he might as well make it a dramatic entrance! Carrying one bag of snacks, he ushered them in through the small hallway to the main living area.
It was looking a bit worse for wear than when the girls were last there - a pile of broken chairs shoved into the back corner, the couch filled with more holes. But there was a new armchair beside the threadbare couch (which Luca had ordered for Jasper, ignoring his protests) and the place had a bit more life to it with little decorations here and there, along with Jasper’s setup for painting.
”You can put your stuff in there, Lynn, Lila,” he gestured to the first door on their right. ”Make yourselves at home! Jasper’s been using the room, but I’m sure it’s pretty tidy.”
He grinned at Jasper, moving towards the back of the living room. With great delight he got right up to his desktop computer and turned it on with his finger on the power button - he didn’t need to use a stick to do it! ”All of you, make yourself comfortable! There’s a few more nice seats in Olivia’s room- well, I guess it’s more Jasper’s now. We’re still storing ‘em in there. I’ll get this set up for some movies!”
Jasper moved to the kitchen, he carried bags filled with ice cream, popcorn, alcohol, soft drinks, and various other cheap snacks. The bag of high quality snacks stolen from Lila were included in this mess. He quickly moved to put the frozen snacks away before he got everything else onto the counter top. ”Anyone want anything to start?” Jasper grabbed a ginger ale and opened it, he grabbed a bag of sour gummy worms and made his way to the living space.
“I’m still mad,” Lila said as she crossed her arms looking at Jasper, “tomorrow we’re going to the market so you can buy me more.”
“Be more chill, Lila,” Lynn said as she draped her arms over Lila’s shoulders, “the boys knew you would want your snacks tonight, that’s why they brought them.”
“What about the wrappers in the bag,” Lila asked as she grabbed Lynn’s hands with her own.
“I don’t have a good answer for that,” Lynn said as she stared at Jasper, “but let’s get a drink! And some ice cream!”
Lila grinned at the thought. After everything she had been through today she wanted to be the drunkest form of herself, and she turned her attention to Jasper with a wicked smile. “Beer me beer maiden.”
Jasper raised an eyebrow at the name. He grabbed two bottles of beer and two bottles of water and passed them to the girls. “You must drink the water before I grab you another beer, now excuse me as I start making us some food.”. Jasper pulled out various vegetables, rice, a slice of beef, and various cooking pots, pans, and utensils.
”Yeah, I don’t want anyone throwing up on my furniture!” Luca said, pointing to the girls with a mock stern expression. He then laughed and went back into the kitchen area, started putting the remaining beer and soft drinks into the fridge. Normally he avoided going in there when he could, so the fresh food in there would stay fresh. But he didn’t have to worry about that right now.
Stormy walked in at last, carrying bags of food and drink inside and setting them on a counter. ”I brought the rest.”
He pulled out one of the tubs of icecream and placed it on the breakfast bar, sliding it towards Lynn, along with a couple of bowls and spoons. He then grabbed himself a soda and turned to Stormy. ”What do you want? We got the beers we brought from Lila’s, the wine we bought… there’s a bunch of soda too if you don’t want to drink!”
”Grab me a soda, I’ve had enough to drink already.”
”Alright, one soda coming right up!” Luca grinned, grabbing another soda and handing it to Stormy. He then gestured to the living room, looking at the girls and Stormy. ”Make yourself at home while Jasper cooks, guys!”
He walked back over to the couch, perching on the arm of it. ”So Stormy, how you been? We hardly saw you the last two coven meetings! Well, they were pretty chaotic… but it's nice to properly see you again. The four of us have been spending a lotta time together since the first meeting, so it's nice to get some fresh company.” He raised his can, grinning jokingly at everyone. ”To all being together again.”
”To friends!”
“Hell yeah, I missed you all!”
”I’ve been alright,” he said, raising his can up with a grin. ”I just get busy, occasionally. I have to work through a computer a lot, since I had to make time to come back for… Everything. But I’m glad to be back, even if it’s for worrying reasons.”
”Yeah, it's nice everyone's back!” Luca grinned. ”I didn't have to make much adjustments but… it's nice to get out again.”
“Let’s make sure this go around is better than the last because I love you all,” Lila said as she downed her drink, “beer maiden, another beer!”
”Water first,” Jasper responded without even looking.
“Awww,” Lila pouted as she opened the water, “thank you for bringing us back together Luca!”
”Of course!” Luca smiled brightly.
”I missed all of you, I never imagined we’d all be back here together.”
”Me neither,” Luca sighed, feeling a bit emotional over it. Of course, he'd spent the last week with Jasper staying over and seeing Lynn and Lila but… this really made it feel real. Everyone was back, and they could spend time together again. ”Y'know when the coven ended, it was like there was this void… I was like what do I do with my life? I can't exactly be around normal people. Me and Olivia joined 8th Street, Emily's coven, for a while till she started getting…”
He trailed off, shrugging. ”Well, you saw how she was. But the other guys were pretty nice! Just after I left I thought that was it, just me and Olivia, then me and phone calls with Olivia. Everyone being back is a dream… even if we got tear gassed by day two. Oh man, that makes it sound like my life's been shit, it really hasn't! But Sycamore was always like… filled with all the people I loved.”
” It’s what drew me to the 317, I missed that family I built with you all back then and my sister saw that, and saw that I could truly blossom there,” Jasper said in response, ” there was a lot of bullshit that was hard to deal with back then with the old coven, but it still felt like we were all in it together, you know? I hope we all can find that sense of family again, especially now.”
“Tear gassed on our first day,” Lynn said as she pointed to Lila, Lynn, and Jasper, “what a fucking welcome back that was,” Lynn sighed, “I nearly didn’t even come back, but once Kari died I felt like I had to, and now that I’m back I don’t know what I’d do if I ever left again!”
“Emily,” Lila groaned as she took another drink from her water, “I don’t blame you for joining them, Luca, and I’m thankful you’re here with us in the good coven once more!”
”Hey, they're not all bad,” Luca half protested, though he smiled to make it clear he wasn't upset about it. ”People like Carol are just there cause their life got fucked over by Britney and they're looking for a cure. I can get why she didn't want to come back and sticks with them… some of the others are in similar situations! Emily's sisters too, they're just trying their best. But, yeah. I'm glad I'm with you guys.”
He grinned brightly, taking another sip of his soda. While he actually did miss 8th sometimes, especially people like Carol, it wasn't so bad now that he had these guys around.
”Oh! I should text Ken to let him know we're here, and send my address just in case.”
From Luca: Hey Kennn! Jsyk we r back at mine! Here’s my address in case you forgot, come whenever ur free!
While Luca texted Ken, Lila sat with his words for a minute. The sisters of Emily seemed nice, Carol was Carol, but how could any of them stick around a transphobic cunt like that? It was bad enough that Emily forced Lila to get physical, but she had also turned her power into something much more scary. She knew she was adjoined before, but what was she now? And why did the maiden seem to know the rot? These questions demanded answers, and the more Lila tried to fight that urge the more she felt her anxiety take hold. “Hey Luca?” Lila paused as she leaned forward, “Can we have that talk now, in private?”
”Sure! Let's go into my room, I gotta get some bandages anyway,” Luca smiled, standing up. He gestured to the other three. ”You guys use whatever you want, Jasper knows my desktop password if you wanna put something on… we'll be back soon.”
Then he led Lila to his room.
Jasper put the washed vegetables onto the cutting board and took a drink from his ginger ale. He washed his hands and then walked over and logged into the laptop and pulled up the movie catalogue. ” Stormy, what’s the vibe for the first movie?”
”Hmm…” He thought about it for a brief moment. ”Something terrible? Comically bad?”
”Camp, we need something campy,” Jasper said as he tilted his head upward.
“What about that Evil Dead movie from like a long time ago? I heard it was silly, scary, but terrible by our standards,” Lynn said in response.
” You’re thinking of The Evil Dead and we do have that,” Jasper said as he pulled up to, ” Is that bad enough Stormy, or do we want to go more ‘so bad it’s good’?”
”So bad that it’s good, or great,” he answered. ”How does that sound?”
“I got it.” Lynn said as she downed her full beer as quickly as her body allowed. “Rubber!”
Stormy chuckled. ”I’m not familiar with that one. Let’s watch it.”
“Let’s see… oh we have that one,” Jasper said as he clicked on the movie and hit play. It soon started playing on the TV and the opening crawl of the movie began. “Hopefully it’s good.” Jasper got up from the computer and walked back to the kitchen. He wouldn’t have food ready by the time Luca and Lila came back but he could get a good start on it. He was going to make rice bowls for the group.
Luca's bedroom was unsurprisingly bare. In one corner was a single mattress, not even a bed, with a hole filled blanket over the top. The mattress itself was incredibly worn. The only other furniture was a rotting wooden wardrobe and cupboard on the opposite wall, along with a small plastic storage unit beside the bed. Luca went into that and pulled out a large plastic box, filled with all sorts of first aid supplies. He sat on the mattress and started cleaning the wounds on his arms first, looking at Lila with an apologetic smile.
”Sorry there aren't many places to sit,” Luca said, patting the mattress beside him. ”What did you want to talk about?”
“I wanted to talk about…. what happened earlier,” Lila paused as she rubbed her arms, despite the healing she could still feel the after effect of the feathers that pushed through her skin.
”Ah, when we…” Luca trailed over, wincing as he pressed an alcohol wipe too hard into one of the wounds. ”Lost control a bit. Yeah, we should definitely talk about it. But first, are you okay?”
“It hurts like a bitch,” Lila said as she looked down at her arm, “like it felt like my bones were pushed out of the way and shit, and the feathers…” Lila paused as she shook her head, “but I’m okay. You?”
”It looked awful,” Luca grimaced, over her pain rather than his own. He was used to his own, the slow burning of his organs being eaten from the inside out, but Lila's was new to her. It was all new. ”Oh yeah, I'm fine! It looks a lot worse than it is!”
He laughed lightly, holding up his arms. He then pulled out some cloth bandages and wrapped them around his arms to cover up the rotting flesh. ”Is the Maiden talking to you more now? Since the… sealing.”
“It felt terrible,” Lila laughed as she shook head. “I’m glad, we should try and take it easy the next couple days so we can heal”
Luca nodded at that… though he wouldn't have much choice. He knew that he would be sick tomorrow, and weak.
“Not until tonight though,” Lila tilted her head, “i think she was just waiting for a moment like that? I’ve seen her in mirrors, and windows, since then so I don’t think she was ever gone,” Lila’s eyes narrowed, “because of Emily she finally had a way back in.”. Lila’s eyes widened and she took a deep breath. “Did…. Did you get the feeling that The Maiden and The Rot knew each other?”
”It's often like that with them… They wait until you're weak to talk and try to take over. I have a lot of experience with the Rot, trying to get in. It rarely gets so bad, though,” Luca sighed, tapping his fingers on his legs. It wasn't the same for him, he'd never seen the rot like that. It just talked in his head. ”I did. I wasn't entirely in control, but the Rot definitely… talked to the Maiden like it knew her. If it was still here, I'd ask. It's strange, there was a sense of familiarity shared with me. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.”
“I would ask as well but she’s very particular,” Lila groaned, “they for sure knew each other, like knew, knew each other,” Lila paused as she grabbed her head, “since when do these fuckers have friends? They better not be in love or anything like that. You don’t think they’re in love do you?”
”I hope not,” Luca grimaced. ”Imagine! Our apparitions get romance before us! That wouldn't be fair at all!”
After he said that he couldn't help but burst out in laughter at the ridiculousness of it. There was no way that could be the case. ”That's probably not the case, I bet they just met while destroying things together. It's strange that they seemed to know each other well. I think… we might have to talk about it when the rots back. Maybe. I'm not letting it out again, but I guess like. Through us.”
He sighed, before offering Lila a smile. ”At least it's both of us, right? I guess I'm your apparition senior, huh?”
“Yes you are, you’re an apparition elder! I’m glad that I have someone so cool to share this with,”. Lila joked. “I’ll try and ask The Maiden when she’s back as well, maybe they can talk through us. Though I’d say we have Stormy right there to stop them just in case,” Lila said as she rubbed her arm, “and copious amounts if alcohol and painkillers.”
Lila paused as a devious grin fell across her face. “Oh for sure, what a shame it would be if the apparitions got action before one of us, although,” Lila paused as she raised an eyebrow, “you and Jasper are getting close. How has staying with him been? A good roommate, I hope?”. Lila wanted to pry just enough to see if there was something happening between her two friends. She could simply ask Lynn but that wouldn’t be fun, nor fair to her friends as that felt like an invasion of their privacy.
”Well, I have plenty of painkillers at least,” Luca laughed, quickly checking the time on his brick phone when he said that. He still had a few hours until he had to take his evening dose of the sustained ones, so that was good. He’d need to get a refill soon too which was a pain… Ah, getting off topic.
”Me and Jasper?” Luca froze, cheeks heating up. Was it that obvious that he liked him? Did that mean Jasper knew?! No he would have rejected him if he did… ”It’s been really nice. He cooks and cleans, I couldn’t ask for a better roommate and friend. Yeah. Friend… haha.”
“Oh,” Luca revealed much with his words, and Lila knew to press the advantage, color=DA70D6]“friends? You view Jasper as.. just a friend? You don’t think he’s.. cute?”[/color]
”I think handsome is more right-” Luca blurted out, blushing. ”Well he’s sometimes cute too. But like! It’s just a little crush. Just a little one.”
Luca held his head in his hands, hiding his embarrassment. He hadn’t even drank anything and here he was telling someone the feelings that had just started developing and probably wouldn’t go anywhere. But it was so easy to tell Lila… And it wasn’t like he was talking about anything bad! ”I’m not completely sure. I’ve never really liked anyone before, haven’t had the chance. It might be because he’s the first guy I’ve been around for longer periods of time! Circumstances wise… well, I couldn’t.” Of course, Luca meant so much with that - Jasper being straight, him hosting the rot and… his inevitable death. Lila wouldn’t know about the last bit, thankfully.
Lila wanted to scream however she did not want to alert the rest of the group. “I thought that’s what I was seeing earlier,” Lila said as she clapped her hands, “You two would be so cute,” Lila said as she raised an eyebrow. She thought Jasper was straight but the way he was looking at Luca made Lila think there was more to the story. She would need to look into how Jasper was feeling when the moment would allow. “Well I’ve liked a lot of people before, what does it feel like to you?”
”Jasper’s straight, so,” Luca waved a hand, looking back up at Lila with an awkward laugh. How did he describe it? It was difficult when so many sensations could be mistaken for his physical symptoms. ”Well… I just feel really happy around him. I’m always happy, y’know, but it’s a different kind. My breathing kinda gets faster, and I blush a lot- I normally don’t! Also whenever he hugs me I feel like I’m going to combust. Like my heart is going to leap out of my chest! I want to hold his hand and hug him more, even though I can’t- maybe I’m just touch starved!”
“I thought he was straight as well,” Lila said with a frown, “I know he’s experimented, but beyond that,” she shrugged, “so who knows, he might surprise you!”. Lila smiled harder as she listened to Luca describe what he was feeling, and walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder, “feel the same? Or do you think his touch feels better?”
”Oh.” Luca paused, glancing at Lila’s hand then up at her. ”His feels better- uh, not that yours feels bad. It just doesn’t make me feel all that other stuff. My heart is quite happy inside my body right now!”
So he guessed he really did like Jasper. It didn’t surprise him all that much, but it was something to think about. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, though. It was easy to accept something that wasn’t meant to be and enjoy the light feelings he had. He shook his head. ”Please don’t tell anyone! Especially not Jasper… or even Lynn!”
“That’s not a worry with me,” Lila said as she released her grip with a smile. “I’ll tell no one,” Lila looked back to the door and back to Luca, “tomorrow let’s talk again about our parasites, tonight let’s go enjoy our company yeah? It was nice talking about earlier though, I need more drink to get drunk but taking helped.”
”Thank you,” Luca smiled brightly, standing up. ”Yeah, let's enjoy ourselves tonight, serious stuff can come tomorrow! Since you're staying here for now we'll have plenty of time to chat… but I'm not sure you should drink too much more. I only have one bathroom if you and Lynn start throwing up!”
”Whoa, what movie’s this?” Luca asked as he and Lila walked back into the main living room after their talk. He’d managed to get his blushing under control, thankfully, subtly glancing at Jasper’s back where he was cooking as he made his way over to the kitchen to grab a bag of crisps. He then went and plopped down on the couch, beginning to munch. ”Wait a minute, did that tire just make something explode?! Shitttt- do you think that’d be possible with magic here?”
”Anything is possible where magic is concerned, Luca.”
”What the fuck?!” Luca properly fell off the couch, more on edge thanks to constantly dealing with a skeleton during movies with Jasper. He landed with a thud, groaning quietly and twisting around to spot Jack. He let out a soft sigh of relief. Of course, he recognised Jack’s voice, but it was difficult to register that after dealing with constant home invasions. But he quickly recovered, grinning at him. ”When did you get here, Jack? Wait, if it’s possible with magic, could we make a sentient tire?”
Jasper heard a voice that should not be there, in the middle of a movie, with Luca nearby. He was in the kitchen which meant he would not be able to get inbetween the threat, and Luca, and instead he knew he had to get something and throw it to ensure that he bought the two some time before the skeleton monstrosity laid a single hand on his cute friend. He grabbed the meat tenderizer, cocked an arm back turned and went to throw it, but thankfully caught sight of a familiar face instead of a hated one. Jasper lowered his guard and looked to the ceiling and mouthed a ‘fuck’. ”Jack,” Jasper chuckled, ”you almost got tenderized. Want a drink?” Jasper lowered his gaze to rest on Jack’s face.
JACK!, the two girls said in unison and with a joyful tone. It was high pitched, and carried with it a hint towards the drunken nature of the two. “Come, come sit down!”
”What the hell is going on in-“ Stormy appeared from around the corner of the kitchen, where he was helping Jasper with something. He saw Jack and immediately knew what had just happened. ”Oh. You.”
”Me. Apologies for the surprise,” He said. ”I’ve been teleporting directly here regularly lately, so I assumed Luca would not mind if I did so again. I heard about a party from Kenshiro.”
”Oh yeah, I don’t mind you coming in,” Luca laughed, waving a hand and looking over at Jasper. He’d understand why Luca had been so freaked out, just like Luca understood why Jasper had immediately picked up a meat tenderizer. ”Just maybe announce yourself next time… But you’re welcome! Sit down, have a drink if you want! The more the merrier… Ah, this is the biggest party I’ve been to since the old coven days. And the biggest I’ve hosted! I’m glad Ken let you know about it.”
”So am I. In fact, I brought a gift,” Jack said, holding one empty hand out in front of him. He cast his Blackout Shift spell, and a container of chocolates from his stash in thr Shadowzone appeared out of thin air. He sat it down on a table in front of the couch.
”Fresh from the Void.”
"Whoa, thanks Jack!" Luca reached out and took a random chocolate, popping it into his mouth.
“You spoil us,” Lynn said as she leaned over and grabbed the one that looked most enticing to her eyes, “How did Ken do after we left? Last we heard he was going to give Emily a piece of his mind.”
“Let’s not talk about that cunt,” Lila said as she sank further into the cushion. She did want to know how Ken did, she wanted to know a lot about Ken, but she did not want to talk about that whore any more tonight lest the group risk The Maiden and her corruptive wrath.
”He should be here, shortly.” Jack took a seat on the couch beside Lila. ”How much have I missed?”
“A lot,” Lila said as she looked away from Jack as she grabbed her drink. Where to start with that question? The feathered hand that felt like a hundred blades that forced their way through her skin? Or the talons that felt like her bones were pushed apart and to the side? Or to the fact that Emily outed her in front of the whole town, in the middle of what should have been a joyous night? “but not too much. It’s good to have you back, by the way.,” She finished as she looked back towards Jack and offered a quick smile.
"Yeah, we've just been chilling here, started a bad movie- Jasper's making proper food! We didn't get a chance to eat it at the festival." Luca grinned, assuming Jack meant what had he missed at the party rather than at the festival… though it could be that too. He turned his head towards Jasper. "Will there be enough for Jack and Ken?"
”Oh of course,” Jasper said with a chuckle, ”I always make enough for seconds,” he paused as he looked over the group, ”and thirds.”
”It won’t be long now,” Stormy said, as he walked over to the couch to take a piece of chocolate before ducking back into the kitchen behind Jasper.
”Rice bowls are thankfully easy to make and make a lot of,” Jasper said as he smiled towards Stormy, ”thank you for your help,” Jasper spoke quietly and directly towards Stormy.
”Not a problem, I like being helpful,” he said. ”And it’s been too long since I’ve had the chance to do something nice with all of you.”
”I can’t wait,” Luca grinned, rubbing his hands together gleefully. ”Jasper’s cooking’s amazing- I’ve been eating sooo much better since he moved in! Honestly, whoever gets to marry him will be blessed- cough.”
Stormy heard that, and grinned from the kitchen.
He cut himself off with a forced cough. Why was he talking about Jasper getting married! He turned back to the movie awkwardly. ”Ohhhh after a movie or two we should play some party games! Maybe when Ken gets here!”
”I don’t know about amazing,” Jasper joked as he turned to Luca, ”but it is my life goal to achieve the way of the house husband.”
”You’ll be amazing,” Luca said softly, quiet enough that Jasper wouldn’t hear.
“Beer maiden,” Lila said as she shook her empty water bottle, “one beer please.”
Lynn was intrigued by the smell of the food and slipped into the possible future to see if it would be any good. Her eyes glazed over for a brief moment before she smirked. “I can’t wait, it tastes good surprisingly. And beer maiden, one for me as well!”
Jasper obeyed his friends' commands, reached into the fridge, grabbed two beers and two bottled waters, and walked them over to the girls. ”Last one for a while girls so enjoy, you are being slowed down!,”
While everyone was occupied, Jack reached a hand out and drew a black circle in the air, about the size of a dinner plate. It began to fill itself in towards the center.
”I don’t need magic to know it’s going to taste good,” Luca looked over at Lynn with a laugh. ”I’ve been eating Jasper’s dinner for the past week, I know it’ll be good!”
His eyes darted over to the movie, then back to Lynn and Lila, speaking on a mock stern tone. ”Jasper’s right, you gotta slow down or you’ll be on cleanup duty.”
“Don’t worry Luca,” Lila paused as she leaned back into her seat, accidentally spitting out Luca’s name, “Lynn will take care of me, Lynn is great and a good friend,” Lila looked over and smiled at Lynn. This alcohol was doing wonders for her pain management.
“Oh don’t worry about me,” Lynn waved off the concern, “I will be fine! This is a normal Saturday for me. Don’t worry Lila, I got you”
”Still…” Luca trailed off, expression slightly more concerned as he looked at Lila for just a moment… before appearing cheerful again. If they both wanted to drink, here was the best place! And if Lila went all bird on them again it would be fine. ”Alright! Just don’t blame me when you’re both hungover tomorrow- though I hope we don’t have anything on tomorrow. There probably won’t be a meeting, right? It has been a whole week but… everyone will need to recover after the festival.”
”Probably, but there might be,” Stormy answered from the kitchen. ”If there is, she’ll understand if someone sits it out. I hope.”
”At the end of the disaster that was last week’s meeting, Auri considered speaking to Ashley’s ghost for a lead. She may have found answers by now.” Jack stuck his hand through a fully formed void portal, reaching through the universe for something.
With his other hand, Jack fished his phone out from a pocket and checked his messages from Anya.
Where are you? Sloane's worried Father Wolf got you. She's very drunk.
We’ve been ambushed by Trevor. Help would be appreciated.
”Well, that is simply tragic,” He said aloud, drily, as Jack withdrew a box of To’ak chocolate. It was some of the most expensive delicious chocolate on the planet. And also the most expensive, going for several hundred dollars per ounce. And Jack just pulled out enough bars of the stuff for everyone present, with more to spare.
He closed the portal and sat the comically lavish snacks down on the table. ”A few years ago, I came back to Shimmer and found myself in Romania. There was an Adept woman with an obsession for magical power that found me, and chased me across the country, demanding to learn how I could open portals to places outside the All-Verse,” he said as he stood up.
”I teleported into her home one night, after she set me on fire to get what she wanted out of me. I stole that-” He pointed to the chocolate. ”And everything else in her kitchen to spite her. She was quite wealthy, and I am sure she was exceptionally angry with me after that… I haven’t returned to Romania ever since.”
Luca’s mouth fell open, and he just stared at Jack for a moment. His confusion about what was tragic was very quickly ignored in favour of shock over the story behind a lot of expensive snacks. ”She set you on fire?! Just to learn how to make a portal… maybe cause I’m not an Adept, I get it’s impressive, but it wouldn’t push me to human arson-”
”I lived,” he admitted. ”But I certainly did not feel like I would at the time. She had the incredibly wise idea to drown me in kerosene beside a river. All I had to do was jump. Though, I never wore that shirt again. I should’ve robbed her for more than just her kitchen, in hindsight.”
”At least another shirt,” Luca half laughed, still in shock. ”And maybe all her money- then you would’ve been rich! Though I bet money’s nothing to you if you can just teleport wherever you want- Not that it’s much to me. Not much point in material goods when you can’t keep them.”
Luca grinned, seemingly unbothered by it as he reached for one of the boxes. He opened it, saw that there were instructions and weird implements, and completely ignored it in favour of just eating a piece. ”Mmm- it is good. Worth the burning, I think.”
“I second that, wow,” Lynn said as she put her box down. The flavour profile was exquisite, and Lynn was at a loss for words to describe the flavour. “Thank you, Jack.”
“No way,” Lila said as she grabbed her box, “I’ve always wanted to try, try, to try these,” Lila said as she pulled it closer and hugged the box, “I’ll have to give youuuu, give you some of my good snacks sometime to thank you!”
”I’ve had these before, they’re very good! I will save these for later,” Jasper said as he walked over and grabbed a box. ” You’re doing something right if Lila is offering up her good snacks for free.”
”I come across many things, which I store in the Void. Enjoy those, I need to save Sloane and Anya from an irritating PRA agent who is more obnoxious than dangerous.” He typed up a quick message to Anya.
Sloane has approximately 30 seconds to brace herself for transport. Alcohol and my magic do not mix well.
”Should I extend an invitation for them to join us?”
Luca glanced at Lynn and Lila, then at Jasper. He knew that Jasper really disliked Sloane, but… maybe it would be a good opportunity to bury the hatchet? And then, he could just politely ask her to leave if it didn't work out. He didn't particularly like Anya but… in the spirit of togetherness. ”Why not! There's enough food, and it'll be good to talk when things are more relaxed. Maybe we can get over some issues.”
“Tell them, tell them that we’re doing coven bonding stuff,” Lila said with a hiccough, “tell them it’s mandatory!”
“I suppose,” Lynn said with a dry tone, “what’s the worst that can happen?”
What’s the worst that can happen? What’s the worst that can happen??? Jasper fumed in the kitchen silently as he cut up some more vegetables. Each slice, each cut came with a audible ferocity that signaled his displeasure at the idea. There was no chance that he would go along with this insane idea, there was no way he’d let Sloane crash this party, nothing would silence him. And then Luca said why not and the audible sounds of Jasper slaughtering the poor defenceless food fell from the air. His shoulders grew less tense, his breathing more normal, and his thoughts fell firmly to those about Luca and his happiness. ''Tell them we’re all busy practising our abstractions and are prepared to take our coven to the next level,” Jasper joked, ”toss them an invite. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Jack nodded, and typed out another message.
After you found us, I ran into the Greenwood Coven, who intercepted Emily Reed after she stole Sully’s Chalice. They explained to me that they were returning it to him, so I let them be.
I am currently away from the festival, at Luca’s home with Jasper, Lynn, Lila and Story. Luca arranged a party, and the two of you are welcome to join us. According to Lila, the party is, and I quote, “mandatory coven bonding stuff.”
A text came back from Anya not long after.
Okay, glad you got that sorted. We'll come along to the party. Just don't teleport us as soon as you arrive… Sloane will probably throw up over Luca's floor. Might be unavoidable, but best to take precautions. Maybe bring a plastic bag.
I am on my way.
Jack put his phone away, and looked at the others one last time. ”I’ll return shortly.”
Interactions: Anya, Trevor (Unfortunately) and Sloane
Cracker Barrel
Once again, Jack stepped through the shadows and made his way across the city to the island. It was starting to rain now, and the festival would surely come to a close before long. Between here and Luca’s place, he ditched the reaper costume in favor of his usual choice of fashion. It was more suited to the weather than walking around in a cheap costume. He appeared on one of the rooftops, looking out over the island for Sloane and Anya. It was getting late, so there shouldn’t be that many people to begin with.
As he teleported from one roof to the next, Jack eventually stumbled upon them, being harassed by none of them the Terrible Twink himself, Trevor fucking Obott. Jack observed the conversation from a distance, noting that Sloane was still a drunken mess. Maybe that made Trevor more tolerable, or maybe she was just that damn depressed, he didn’t know. He briefly considered casting his Night Terror spell to scare the little shit off. And then he considered it more, and more… Looking around, there didn’t seem to be any people aside from those three in the area. And it was dark enough that he could easily slip away if someone did notice them.
He teleported around again, down to the ground between two buildings. When he walked out, he was not simply Jack Hawthorne, but a shadowy figure of humanoid shape that seemed to glide across the ground. He silently walked up behind Trevor as he was speaking to Anya and Sloane, keeping no less than 5 feet of space between them. He was silent like the grave, until the moment he wanted to be noticed and scare the shit out of Trevor.
”Shouldn’t you be harassing your coworkers right now, Obott?”
Interactions: Greenwood@Punished GN The Halloween Festival.
“Ah, shit!” cried out Sully.
He propped himself against a lamp post as he got a stitch in his side, panting heavily. Sweat would've been pouring from him if he wasn't already drenched by the rain as he doubled over, his fist pounding the pole in a volatile mix of frustration and pain transference. He looked over his shoulder, surprised to see that there wasn't an axe wielding maniac already making sashimi out of him. More surprising, still, was the stampede of terrified ghouls and goblins that were running foolishly in the direction of the phantasmal killer. Sully turned to lean against the pole, watching the retreating crowd with a look of perplexion.
As the fleeing festival goers cleared the grounds Sully's eyes focused on the horizon, scanning for the nonexistent threat that was after him. His breathing slowed and steadied, the sharp pain in his side diminishing into a steady throb. He slung his soiled jacket up over his head as a makeshift umbrella, pulling out his phone to check for a response from Auri. Nothing yet. A rush of anxiety gripped him. Every second he couldn't get in touch with Tayla was another second of being an abject failure.
A fast moving object appeared suddenly in his field of view, something quick and silver like a bullet meant for a werewolf. By the time Sully could tell that the trajectory of the projectile was coming right for him it had already cracked against his forehead, rocking his head back so sharply that it bounced off the lamp post. He started seeing stars as he felt the cold metal object fall down into his hands, looking down to find that not only was he reunited with his Chalice but that he'd been granted another. Further proof that he was, ill-advisedly, the chosen one.Sully looked up to see whatever god was smiling down upon him.
Instead of god he caught sight of Greenwood, Naomi's arm still slung forward from the pitch, the others looking on either in horror or horrible attempts to hold back laughter after the Chalice had beaned him. Sully twisted the Chalice in his hand, raised it in a toast, and drank deeply. Immediately the pain from being hit by the goblet and the bruising from Dean’s beating disappeared, accompanied with a sharpening of vision and a clearing up of mental fog due to the elixir also purging the alcohol from his system. Sobriety was an unintentional side effect, but as Sully went to take another drink and begin resetting himself to his previous state of inebriation he paused. Being clear headed was the best way to find himself out of this pickle he had been caught in between Tayla and Dean.
He promised himself he would only have a handful of drinks then.
Sully took a sip from the Chalice and rejoined with Greenwood, the trading stories about their night as the storm raged on. Lightning cracked over the Halloween Festival, the entire fairgrounds white with blinding light, and then the Greenwood Coven was gone. They had teleported away from the storm and back to their own stomping grounds. It was only as Sully passed a joint that had tasted rather suspicious that he realized something. His large hand clapped loudly against his forehead.
Drake! He had forgotten about Drake!
He reached from his phone but then stopped himself, remembering how that one girl had been all over Drake. Yeah, on second thought, better not interrupt his boy. Sully thought it was pretty soon for Drake to begin moving on, but hell he had no skin in that game and a distraction would be good for Drake. Sully leaned back, took a sip from his Chalice, and nodded his head along to the beats of Starry Eyed Surprise playing over a blown-out bluetooth speaker. Tomorrow, he told himself. Tomorrow he’d reconvene with Auri and the others. Right now he was going to enjoy finding himself with all of his friends, dancing the night away like the party never ends.
Mentions: In Collaboration with @Punished GN & @Atrophy | Direct Dialogue: Leon Richoux, Kenshiro Murakin, Drake Blackmore, Vashti Nour, Emily G. Reed, and Guest Starring: The PRA | Location: Festival Grounds, Cracker Island Historic District
"You know what? Fuck the Chalice. Fuck those sluts, and fuck you! I've had it to here with you motherfuckers!" Emily hissed, slamming a foot on the ground. "You won't be lonely in hell..."
Typical Emily G. Reed. Won't back down. The effect of Enlighten was still applied, and as Babylon's flames hurtled toward Ken, his hands rose and folded themselves into a casting position. The flames licked the cape of his costume, but before he could flinch, he saw a target and took it.
The spell was instantaneous, and quiet as a gust of air. In the blink of an eye, the place where Ken had been standing was empty. In his place, a jack-o-lantern from the nearby pumpkin carving stall fell from chest height. It was consumed by the flames before it even hit the ground.
Now Ken was standing on top of a plastic table, his near weightless body having adjusted to meet the pumpkin's hollow heft. In that moment, he saw a shadowy figure bolt through the conflict to snatch the chalice away. He had to trust that they were friends of his, and not friends of hers…
But of course, the Murasaki Gang never ceased to disappoint. Jack Hawthorne was on the case, giving Ken the confidence to stay in the fight while he knew that good, responsible hands were taking care of the business… His only concern was for what was on the other side of the conflict: If Jack would be able to handle whatever was on the other end of this.
No time, she's coming again…
Emily teleported behind Kenshiro in a burst of fire, and she had a smile on her face. Both of Emily’s hands went up towards Kenshiro, as two spiraling infernos of screaming faces came out of both of her hands as he would likely only have moments to react. The environment was lit up with hellfire and the faces and screams of the condemned.
Ken took the last deep breath he was going to have time to, he assumed, for at least a few seconds. His hands swept toward his chest, and in an instant he was engulfed in the Hellfire before a vibration noise echoed from inside the inferno. All at once, the fire and Emily were pushed away from Ken, revealing a rapidly expanding bubble of Purple-Lux filled air. Telekinetics were only complicated if you didn’t know what you were manipulating, but the simple practice of creating solid surfaces from thin air meant you learned how to focus on the molecules. It was, after a point, like scooping water from a river with your arm.
The bubble of force dissipated into a fine mist, wind pulling itself back toward him as it rushed to fill the void. He’d learned to form such a thin layer of air against himself that it was like being trapped in a latex suit, even woven beneath his clothing. As the air hit the frozen cloth again after being trapped in such a void, it instantly condensed into icy moisture that made him and the area around him shimmer like a rainbow. His fists were drawn outward, back hunched as if he were ready to charge whatever was ahead of him: The Ten Ton Endless Defense
His leg pivoted, spinning him around like a top to face Emily again without his posture changing even slightly. He said no words; only screamed the Gama battlecry as his hands formed somatic runes in perfect unison. Tucked tightly in his hand was the bark that he’d gotten from Auri’s store. Gold Lux arched through the air: War drums resounded in a chaotic breakdown as holes opened in reality. Ten brightly colored tree frogs acrobatically lept from their holes, robed in clan garb with the Tenno clan’s symbol emblazoned on their headbands. ”Tenno Scout Assassins, get her ass!”
“This is the best you got…?” Emily tilted her head. She simply snapped her finger, before a wall of burning hellfire appeared in front of her. Incinerating the frogs like they were nothing, she put a hand on her hip as she said, “You were talking sooooooo big just a minu-”
However, she missed one of the frogs, and they leaped at her… hopping directly at her stomach as she attempted to create fire. It exploded directly into her torso, and she let out a wretched heave of air as she was launched backward. She went directly into a stall and gritted her teeth as she slammed her fist onto the ground.
”Friends who are willing to give themselves for a greater cause!” Kenshiro’s fingers were a constant flicker of movement, and he swapped places with a piece of the stall that she’d been knocked into. His hand lashed out, grabbing her by her shirt and hoisting her up so he could get a good angle to drive his fist into her gut. At the same time, his forehead was rapidly approaching her face to smash against it.
Leon had to take a moment to remember who was talking to him. The makeup and the hair threw him off the otherwise waifish figure of Aislin Rose. She looked fantastic in the goth aesthetic costume she’d decided upon, and if he wasn’t so fixated on what had just happened, he probably would’ve stuck around to chat her up. But there was something screaming in his head. He gave her a brief wave, a cursory We’ll catch up soon. and flitted off.
As the Conga-Toga began to dissipate with the absence of the Chalice, Leon Richoux had something altogether different on his mind. He knew getting into it with one of Emily Reed's main squeezes was the last thing they needed as a Coven. They needed to be united in solidarity: a group like they had been before.
But his mind was not the same as it once was. Leon had become a far less measured and repressed individual when Lelou had come into his life. In a perfect example, as he stumbled away with his toga still clinging to his naked body, he was in pursuit of a fruit so forbidden that God would probably cause another great flood if Leon found himself successful.
Lelou obviously knew from the second Vashti Nour's pheromones entered her host's nasal passage that The Leviathan was lurking. It put every single sense in Leon's body on a razor's edge. She was screaming at him to follow Vashti, to take what he deserved and feast upon the remains. She was, if anything, a simple spirit. Lady Lelou didn't want for much in her fleshy prison, and so long as Leon was fucking, fighting or feasting, she was generally amicable.
But moments like this, where he was fighting her desires and losing, were like watching his parents fight as a child all over again. Leon wanted to hide, to run, to not do what was about to happen next. He didn't want to fight for what he wanted if it was stupid like this…
And just where the fuck is she even going!?
“Vashti! Vashti, c'mon girl wait! Why rain check it, we can go back to my place right now! Emily doesn't have to know!” He called to her, desperation in his voice as he felt the seals to Lelou's magic vibrate with ominous sensation.
Vashti had taken after Emily like a heat-seeking missile. She swung her arms with so much gusto as she marched forward it was as if she was in a fist fight with the rain, which nimbly and uncannily dodged and ducked round each blow, not a droplet getting on her skin or her toga as the drizzle amplified itself into a proper shower. Her mind was a bloody blender of the things she dreamed of doing to her so-called bestie that once again had jumped up and spiked the basketball away from the net when Vashti was about to score. Her blitz forward came to a sudden screeching stop as Leon called out to her, her head snapping back to look at him with so much speed it was a wonder she didn’t break her own neck from whiplash.
“E-E-Emily doesn’t have to know!” said Vashti. Her voice was sniveling and frantic, mocking Leon as she squeezed herself together and posed like the centerfold model in a cheap, dirty magazine. She began drawing the toga up her thigh as she breathed heavily and gyrated, her other hand toying at the cloth over her chest. “Wow. I didn’t even consider that, bro. What a big, strong point from such a big, strong man. Well, if Emily doesn’t know then…”
Of course he begged her for it. It was only natural. Everywhere she went everyone was always begging to her. Please please, don’t stop, you’re wonderful. Please please, stop it, you’re hurting me. Please please, I’ll give you what you want. Please please, just take what you want, oh god, please. Please please, my life is nothing without you. Please please, I just want to live, oh no, please, jesus, fuck, oh no, please, please, pleeee— Frankly it was all so fucking annoying. She did what she wanted. Emily didn’t control her. It was just by happenstance that what she wanted aligned with what Emily thought she was allowing Vashti to do. It was a good relationship. It worked for the past ten years for a reason.
Vashti continued the champagne room theatrics as she approached, staring Leon down through hooded eyes, her tongue tracing the sharp edges of her teeth. There was still something about his pathetic desperation that she found enticing. Part of her wanted to just take him up on his offer. Another part of her wanted to toy with him like the stupid mutt he was and pretend to throw a tennis ball just to watch him chase after nothing. But ultimately, as a flash of distant hellfire sparked up in her peripheries, she decided to for once adhere to the rules and follow the law of chicks before dicks. Emily was in trouble and if something bad happened to her then Vashti wouldn’t be able to fucking murder her later.
“Tell me, Leon,” said Vashti with a practiced moan as she got up next to him. Her right fist tightened as she moved to place her left hand on his chest to misdirect. Thunder rumbled above them. He could probably take one punch, right? And if it killed him, well, there was always that loser with a dead wife. She looked up at Leon and batted her wide, dark eyes where something sinister lurked just beneath the surface, her hand readied to strike. “How bad do you want it?”
It’s going to hurt us. And we both want to feel the claws gripping and ripping… No, I mean pursuing this will really get us hurt. Your arguments are not persuasive. I wish to feel the pleasure of your flesh: Do not defy my desire!
Lelou couldn’t help but be aware of Leon’s own desires. The impacts. Crater-making love taps. But the ancient spirit of power and domination didn’t much care about origin… She only thought about the violence. Extreme violence.
Leon’s body reactively unsealed Lelou just a bit more, edging closer and closer toward something bad happening. He couldn’t tell if it was his own reaction, or if it was instinct. Things slowed down. He could hear Vashti’s muscles tensing, smell the anger mixing with the ozone as the storm began to pump thunder from its clouds. She didn’t want him around. He got that. But, now he almost felt like…
The fist hurtled toward his gut with almost no lag time or startup. He’d never fought a boxer with that kind of speed and power, but if he had he’d have assumed they were magic. Mankind could not produce that strength with anything short of machine enhancement, and he knew that didn’t exist yet. But Leon Richoux was still a champion boxer. Despite what others said, the Richoux were not cheaters: Skill came naturally, and they simply augmented such when the times were necessary. The natural inclination to be able to feel the violent urge in a particular area and remove one’s vitals from it… It was a warrior’s instinct.
Leon’s torso, and the thin cloth he wore, narrowly avoided a near fatal blow at clench range. He did the only thing he knew he could do as a student of Soviet Boxing: He clenched her. His massive arms wrapped around her frame and clung for dear life. ”No the fuck you don’t!” he yelled. In the split second after, Leon accepted what was happening. They were in a fight now, and Lelou would have what she wanted no matter what it seemed.
Still in the clench, Vashti met his strength with a surprising move: He was holding her so tightly, he almost didn’t have the time to let go as she bridged her back and tried to drive his head into the ground like a tent peg. By the grace of God, he did let go. And rather than be turned into a new ceremonial light post on Cracker Island, he was flung like a man-sized rocket through several stalls. He almost certainly hit people, but he couldn’t help being surprised about how little they were doing to break his momentum.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky as the storm expanded, the smile on Vashti’s face stretching wide as shouts of panic or pain erupted like a heavenly chorus from the unfortunate bystanders that Leon had been sent through. Crouched low, she bounced excitedly on her haunches at the bodies of unfortunate festival goers struggling to stand. Her eyes shined as she hungrily looked upon the hapless victims. They didn’t look like people. Rather they were simply appetizers in a buffet line of carnage she could sample on her way to the main course that was crumpled beneath a mess of canopy and broken wood. The urge was overwhelming. Go on. Give the revelers of the Halloween Festival the scare they had all mistakenly thought they wanted. Everybody loved a little massacre.
Unfortunately, she would have to disappoint.
Vashti spun on her heels, chunking little splinters of asphalt and gravel as she pulverized the ground with a punch. It would have to do as a makeshift surrogate for her want of destruction and the things she envisioned doing to Leon’s body. He had pleasantly surprised her in the way he had evaded her, and in how for the slightest of seconds she felt a sensation of delightful lightheadedness as he squeezed the air out of her chest. She imagined he could even pop her head off if he hadn’t been holding back. The idea sent shivers down her spine as her fist hit the ground three more times in rapid succession before she sprung forward and darted towards where she had last seen Emily.
”Friends who are willing to give themselves for a greater cause!” yelled Batman as he hoisted Emily up by her dragon onesie that was scorched and steaming with hellfire..
Ken was about to be reunited with a friend of Emily’s who always did just that.
”You stupid fucking cunt!” shrieked Vashti, thunder clapping with her outburst, as she grabbed Emily. The next time Emily told Vashti that she couldn’t steal something she was going to tear Emily’s voice box out of her throat. She violently yanked Emily free of Ken’s grasp, tearing some of the fabric on Emily’s stupid costume as she roughly shoved her to the ground. She paid Ken no mind, her wild eyes glaring at Emily with a murderous intent that her friend had become quite familiar with throughout the years. Vashti was a rabid dog when it came to anyone else, but with Emily she was never anything more than the occasional nasty bark. Even in her anger, she was protecting her bestie—if anyone was ever going to harm a single hair on Emily’s head, cut off her nose, pluck out her eyes, crush her stupid fucking skull into powder and pulp then it was going to be Vashti. Nobody else.
What else were best friends for?
The blows meant for Emily landed on Vashti instead. It was like striking iron. Due to her not being hoisted, Ken’s gut punch hit a little higher and harmlessly hit Vashti right in her chest. His forehead cracked hard against her own. It made her blink, nothing more. Her eyes finally focused on Ken as he stumbled back from the recoil of the strike, her rage blinding her and preventing immediate recognition. Seething with anger, she looked down at where Ken had struck her and then slowly looked back up at Ken, her pupils becoming narrow slits.
“You punched my boob?” said Vashti, almost as if she was unsure it had actually happened. Her breathing leveled out, the swelling storm calming and becoming an almost pleasant ambience. She shook her head, blinking rapidly. For a moment her eyes returned to normal. “Ken, you punched my boob!” She turned to Emily, throwing her hands out to the side. She began to giggle immaturely. “Did you see that, bro? Dude’s a fucking pervert!”
Emily had teleported right next to Vashti with her hands on her hips. She grinned like the devious monster she was as she glanced at Vashti - keeping one eye on Ken. “... I think his journey through the All-Verse made him just a little desperate.” She chuckled before she stuck her hands out and flipped her palms upwards, creating a flaming torch in each hand “Don’t worry, I’ll burn his hands off so he’ll never touch another woman again! And then everything else afterward, so now that you’re here, Ken...”
“...a bit drastic, Em…”
Emily glanced at Ken and asked “... How many ways do you want to die?”
Ken gave the two women a wide mouthed grin, his body twisting into full defense in a gentle and purposeful stance. His hands swept in front of him in a slow arch, air circulating through the thin walls of Purple Lux as he breathed in and out with great purpose and intention. His mouth moved behind the barrier, but the noise was halted in the tremendous pressure until it burst from behind the veil.
”A billion, and a billion more! Break beneath a Ten Ton Hand!”
His hands were underneath so much weight and pressure that they began to blur light around them, the magic channeling through his taijutsu gathering in strength as they caused more and more of a rattling racket. They drew up, trying to keep Vashti’s focus. Emily very quickly became a secondary problem: Emily would kill him, but Vashti Nour would probably play with his body, and Ken wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Avoid, if possible.
A foot and a half in the ground, forty or so yards away from the current conflict, a body was stirring. He was covered in blood, people were screaming: Nothing he could do now. He had to stop whatever the fuck was happening. He could hear someone. He knew he could hear it. It was Kenny… Kenshiro, the Vengeful Toad. And… Emily? Vashti… Leon could hear every bit of it as the seals in his body loosened. The toga was gone, just like his dignity as he rose up to see the chaotic scene in front of him. His hair had already grown pale white, ghastly in its silhouette, and his muscles bulged from his frame with unnatural size and thick black veins.
His eyes were stark black. He could feel the transformation coming. Just don’t hurt him. The Toadman!? Disgusting magic resides! I will taste Babylon! No, no! Leviathan! It’s old news! Please… Please, my Love…
Leon’s bones began to grow, splitting and reforming and splitting and reforming until it halted partway through… Leon’s mutated form had grown another foot, and he was a solid juggernaut of muscle now balanced on the tip of full transformation. His body was under great strain, but Lelou was cooperative for the moment. He’d be able to hold it…
Leon’s half-conscious body turned its head to the broken Blinds in its wake, licking its cracked and bursted lips with great hunger, a carnal moan escaping its throat with a guttural growl.
”Lucky morsels…” He’d landed in a food stall, and the body dipped its hand into a hot fryer to shovel the basket of steaming french fries into its gullet. It didn’t even chew; the fries didn’t last more than a moment in the stomach. It was still holding the fryer basket, its head cocking and turning to where the fight was. It threw the fryer basket faster than something like that was ever meant to be thrown, dipping into a sprint to chase just behind it.
“Ken, the hand thing isn’t helping, bro. Ken. Ken!” Vashti blew a swathe of curly hair out of her face. She didn’t want to have to kill Ken, but the performance piece was starting to get on her nerves. Could he not hear her? Sighing deeply, she pointed at Ken with one finger, then her eyes with two, before (with a look of uncertainty and a cock of her head) holding her fist up towards Ken with her palm facing him, then finally taking her fist and jerking it back and forth through the air. She began to mouth something, the words cut off as her head turned to the side and her eyes widened.
The basket crashed through another tent, caving itself into a pancake against Vashti’s face as her head snapped back, the momentum of the hit flipping her off of her feet and knocking her to the ground. The Beast was right behind it, mid-air and feet first like a spear thrown by God toward Emily’s chest. However, Emily raised a hand in the air and created a searing wall of fire that was imbued with the burning, wailing, faces of Babylon’s victims, with Vashti’s screams from the fry oil that had splashed in her eyes providing the overdub. She quickly teleported some distance away, hoping that the bastard takes the hint.
Vashti was quickly back on her feet, her screaming muffled by hands that so aggressively tried to rub the oil out of her eyes it looked as if she were gouging them out, her body jerking back and forth. The screaming morphed into guttural snarls as she raked her claws across her upper arm, four thin lines of blood appearing as she focused on the newer, lesser sensation of pain. She opened her eyes, the whites now red and bloodied, the pupils once again razor thin slits, a strange kind of viscous black liquid dripping from her tear ducts. She wasn’t quite blind, but she had been robbed of the pleasure of viewing Leon in all of his glory. The world was a blur of rain, smoke, swirling reds, and shimmering silhouettes.
She raged. It didn’t matter who against—Leon, Ken, Emily, a nearby asshole stupid enough to pull out a phone, anyone. She would make spooky, scary, skeleton sashimi out of the entire Halloween festival if she could. She just wanted to rip and tear. Vashti turned to the nearest shadow in the rain and began a relentless onslaught. Her claws flashed through the air as she swung in a wild frenzy with one hand, the other hand returning to her eyes to continue to vigorously rub them in a desperate attempt to regain all of her vision. The inky sludge smeared across her face like warpaint, her teeth gritted tight like a vise, a call from the depths to kill-kill-kill overriding any other instincts. She swung, and swung, and swung, and swung.
Someone, or something, dove in the way… piercing through the thick fog was some blue-white light as Vashti’s strikes began hitting against something solid enough to tank the hits. However, out came an explosive force that would have knocked Vashti off her feet… and stepping through the fog, holding his Thunderguard Shield in one hand and a beer in the other, was none other than Drake Blackmore, reeking of alcohol. He downed that bottle of beer, threw it on the floor, and then raised his hand in the air, and a bolt of lightning fell from the sky and hit him in the hand—taking the shape of a javelin as Drake shouted.
”... NONE OTHER THAN ZOOS HAS ARRIVED! ALL YA’LLGO HOME!”
Then he turned to Kenshiro, giving him a shit-eating grin.
”... I GOT THIS!”
The Beast’s entrance had been dodged by Emily, touching off flames that sputtered against Leon’s body and caused an automatic fear response that saw the brutal thing dive in frantic panic. A freakish scream of panic and pain echoed across Cracker Island with fierce abandon, heralding the arrival of Drake Blackmore. Kenshiro watched it all take place: Leon’s fear response, Vashti’s pain response. The two were on a collision course that he frankly wanted to happen: It was the only way he was going to be able to focus on Emily without Vashti being an ever-present wall. He knew in his heart that he couldn’t fault her; that he’d do the exact same thing for someone like Auri.
Except Auri Auclair wasn’t a raving cunt.
But as the two blind monstrosities were poised to begin flailing at one another with rage and malice, the heraldry crashed from the sky to reveal the Lord of Lightning himself. Both beasts were flung hard from the impact, with Leon tumbling back into the dark of the very quickly clearing festival grounds. Ken couldn’t drop his guard with Emily still around, but he sure was thankful that the Murasaki Gang was in full force tonight… Even if he could smell the booze on Drake’s breath from here. It explained Leon getting involved too; the group of them were always close: Drake, Leon, Sully and Stormy… Stormy hadn’t been there? He wasn’t here now to help with these Abberants that were running amok?
He tried to remember where he saw him… With Luca! Fuck! ”Blackmore! Behind you!”
“Seriously, look out!” screamed Vashti, holding her right shoulder that had become dislocated from how hard she’d striked at the Thunderguard Shield. She jerked back on her shoulder with a sudden twist as itsnapped it back into place with a loud pop, her bloodied eyes rolling into the back of her head in ecstasy as she let out a satisfied groan. Her eyes leveled back on Drake, focused like a predator ready to pounce. She smiled, “It’s your fucking bitch wife! She’s getting railed by Father Wolf again!”
”... I’m going to make you regret being born,” Drake hissed, as he prepped to toss the Lightning Javelin at Vashti…
There were no words from the mouth of the Beast wearing the remnants of Leon’s skin. Only howling. Only snarling. It kicked its massive distended foot through the ground in a single minded attempt to clash with its primary target again. No, no! It’s Drake! Don’t! No? Don’t? You saidLeviathan! Too late now!
The two minds were not united: The original input fell through. I miss my collar…
… Before Drake had a chance to smite Vashti like the Thunder God he was, Leon came charging and knocked him over. Slamming him to the ground as he got the wind knocked out of him. The lightning javelin disappeared….
“... Don’t think I forgot about you, Kenshiro,” Emily said, as her body ignited like a torch through the raging storm… She could be seen from every direction, as she approached him, before she stuck her hand out, “And I’m going to make sure there’s nothing left for them to remember about you!”
Out of her hand came a massive explosion of hellfire in which the goal was to throw Kenshiro off his game. Make him teleport to dodge… then she would be right on top of him.
Ken didn’t hear Emily anymore. He watched Beast Leo-Lu drop Drake to the side. He needed help, and Ken had to think fast. There was no way he’d be able to do it and get out of the way: Feet planted, he released the force in his arms as a powerful telekinetic burst that whipped up a small whirlwind around him. The flames began to fill it, setting the tents and other loose bits of rubble caught within ablaze. No pots, no scrolls, no hourglasses, no-
It was too late. The flames were on top of him, and he had no other choice. The gesture for Send and Receive, and the sensation of feeling behind it, were burned so deeply in the fabric of his mind that he sometimes found himself waking up with his fingers entwined in it.
Enlighten was in its last few moments. He was the weight of a pumpkin. There was nothing around. There was nothing around. Kenshiro tried to imagine what ten pounds of air looked like… And just like that, he vanished from the center of the flame. He was now falling from midair at a height of just over fifty feet. At least nothing was attacking him anymore…
The same could not be said for Drake. After he was bowled over by Leon, Vashti slid by the charging Wolfman and pinned Drake to the ground by sitting on his chest. The flickering flames of burning tents cast shadows across her face as her grin widened to the point where it was threatening to tear. She placed her hands over Drake's nose and mouth, slowly applying pressure as she rocked his head back and forth.
“What was that bitch’s name, bro?” hissed Vashti as she began grinding Drake's skull against the concrete. “Come on, speak up. Or am I already making you forget her?”
Drake let out a few very angry muffled words. Then electricity surged through Drake’s body as he activated the electric-aura. He managed to throw Vashti off of him as he laughed.
”... You forgot I could do that dumbass!” He laughed. He stuck his hand out as he attempted to create an electric-blade, only for the attempt to shake rapidly as it eventually fell apart.
”I forgot about-”
Emily G. Reed came from behind, firing a blast of fire that hit Drake in the back. Sending him back to the ground. She grinned as she walked over to Vashti, offering a hand.
“I’m still mad. You suck as a wingwoman, Em,” said Vashti with an exaggerated pout as she pulled herself up with Emily’s help.
The storm surged and the wind began to howl, whipping up the flames that surrounded the scene of destruction. Vashti’s eyes narrowed as she turned her attention back to Drake. The night hadn’t gone the way she had wanted—she couldn’t have imagined how wonderful the evening would truly turn out to be. Vashti cracked her knuckles over her head while stretching out her back as if she was just warming up for a gym session as she readied herself up for round two. Blackmore was about to find out that she could go all night.
“Come on, bro,” said Vashti to Emily, giving her a wink. “Let’s fuck him.”
Emily immediately projectile-vomited.
Please… Please, My Darkness… We don't have a lot of time…
Lelou didn't argue. As much as she enjoyed the senseless back and forth that the group was participating in, she knew desperation. She loved desperation; hearing the strong man beg for control… She would let him have it, knowing that she could send them back into chaotic non-focus at any time.
Beast Leo-Lu was mid trot on all fours like a half mutated wolfman when the body locked up. Leon came into consciousness over the scent of fire and flames, and his heart began to race as he hunted for them. He couldn't deal with Emily. Not the fire. He released a great beastial howl that echoed across the island, seals in his body adjusting and focusing power, concentrating him as his body shrunk and grew into a more comfortable, less freakishly proportioned form.
Ken knew that howl. He'd heard it a dozen times participating in the Blood Nights, helping the Temple wrangle Leon during his full moon tirades. He'd assumed control, and was functioning on his own willpower for now. That was big for them.
Still tumbling from the sky, Ken's fingers came together for another spell. Gold Lux shimmered across his body. ”Hazy Doppelganger!” Instantly there were half a dozen Kens, the result of the spell shunting him to the right as the doppelgangers formed on his left.
They were entirely optical illusions meant to throw Emily off the trail of which was real. They all rotated their hands slightly. ”Enlighten!” It was only to bleed momentum. They caught wind like a bunch of airborne papers fluttering in the breeze, their falling momentum stopped instantly. Emily stuck her hands out, sending out a wave of fire at the illusions… and once the fire faded, it turned out that she was attacking nothing but an illusion. She hissed out of anger.
The distraction was enough to give Leon time to adjust himself and make a motion. His body moved so quickly it formed some kind of afterimage as Leon wrenched a piece of concrete from the ground when he stepped off. He knew Vashti would react and respond… He just needed to fight her. They needed to exhaust one another. He needed to release himself.
Seven foot tall boxers didn't make it long. They were always too slow, too weak. Gigantism wasn't a good trait for a combat athlete, it left your heart overstressed and hypertrophic, your bones desperate for nutrients and weaker than the norm. Leon didn't have those problems. He'd learned the importance of deadly accuracy, and of shutting things down with overwhelming force. As his form skipped across the ground, it left little holes where his feet had impacted to press off again. In an incredibly erratic pattern, Leon found an angle.
He grabbed Vashti's hair, yarding her up and off of Drake to hang in mid-air for a moment before trying to juggle her with his fists like it was a video game. Vashti twisted like an aerialist performing in a big top as she was tossed into the air, swinging her claws down to catch Leon with a diving slash. Her blurred vision had begun to clear and her eyes widened with a mix of surprise and intrigue as she finally witnessed Leon in his full glory. Her mouth, formed in an “o”, began moving to yet again curse Emily’s name, the slurs cut short as she was fed Leon’s fist by his outstanding reach. Her head cracked back with a horrifying snap as another fist caught her in the gut and propelled her back up. Shouts from Vashti for Leon to stop became sharp, sudden, and staccato cries of pain that sounded like a sledgehammer playing an out of tune piano.
The combo was only broken when Vashti was caught off-center by one of Leon’s ferocious lefts and by happenstance, as she was corkscrewed through the air to the sound of the wind howling “KO!”, avoided one of his hammering rights. She landed at his feet on her side and rolled onto her back, her finger dragging across her forehead as her arms splayed out, the slow rise and fall of her chest the only sign of life. Suddenly, her breathing stilled as a stream of dark blood began to drip from her head and pool on the ground. The storm rumbled as the rain continued to pour down its eulogy, the runoff of the rain parting its way around Vashti’s body as a sign of respect, keeping her blood unsullied by the rainwater. She looked dead.
She was merely playing the part. Her eyes, still and lifeless, watched and waited for Leon to move closer. The pain that coursed through her body was pure heroin, elevating her into a state of nirvana. Maybe Leon could actually kill her. The thought was so exciting. Shit like this was what she lived for; nothing else compared. Was Leon a kindred spirit? There was only one way to find out.
She saw movement and striked with sudden swiftness as she returned from the dead with a jerky, convulsing motion as if she had just been smacked with a pair of defibrillators. She scrambled quickly on all fours, her black hair hanging over her face, the blood still dripping from where she had sliced her own forehead to look like she was more injured than she actually was, and lunged at Leon.
Her claws looked to snake behind, slash through his Achilles tendon, and bring Leon down to the ground. Only then could she find out if he could handle being on her level. However, Emily was aiming another hand at Kenshiro to unleash a blast of hellfire, she grinned… But, she was hit in the back with an arrow made out of lightning. She violently convulsed as she fell to the ground, then turned around and faced Drake Blackmore standing on top of a stand, holding a bow made of lightning. He grinned.
Ken matched Drake’s smirk, all five copies of himself hitting the ground. ”No chance you have those things up that naked ass? No matter: We need to do something to bring them all down! Come on, let’s put our heads together, Brother!” There had been infrequent moments where Ken was successful in compiling some semblance of a spell outside of his studies. Typically, they were collaborative efforts that attempted to bind together the skill and power of two Adepts at the same time.
He’d played around with a lot of titles: Combo, Fusion, Finisher… Nothing ever stuck, so he was left simply to name the combinations one by one. Drake was just as flashy as he was about these things, so the name for their particular ability didn’t disappoint.
”Lux Union: Doomsday!”
Before the two, Emily G. Reed seemed to be moving back in for them. However, Leon and Vashti were on the ground. Ken didn’t like that. He knew how Leon fought these days, and he knew how Lelou the Apparition fought. Whenever he ended up at some kind of great disadvantage or in a situation he felt he wasn’t suited for, Leon almost always resorted to letting himself go. Zero self control? Or zero sense of self preservation? Ken never quite knew, but he did know what was going to happen regardless. He knew that Leon wasn’t an ally for much longer.
The Wolfman’s back hit the ground as Vashti hooked into his Achilles tendon. All at once he felt the burst of ligaments tear from the flesh of his bare naked leg and rip up the back of his thigh like the worst hangnail he’d ever had. No matter how quickly Lelou’s energy replaced the cells, no matter how dull and numb his nerves were, one didn’t get out of feeling something like that. Vashti didn’t relent as she locked up with the future corpse, her claws poised to pick his flesh clean from the bone.
In the short time that the body took to collapse the wound and regrow the components, it experienced its own full collapse. Close to eight feet of wolf and man came crashing to the ground with a yelp, and its eyes rolled back into its head so hard that the retinas tore and began to bleed from the sockets. Sweet Pup… You’ve gone and done it again, and now we’re almost out of time. Only one way to fix it… Hand it over.
The body’s flesh boiled and burbled until it split and ruptured in a mass of mutating muscle and fur. The arms and the head first, lashing out and grabbing at Vashti with quickly growing claws of its own before the woman could even finish uttering an, “Oh, f—”. It was animalistic, dragging her and snapping with its wolf-like maw. Twin tongues curled upward as it snarled and the lower body carried on with the rapid endgame transformation.
The seals were quaking. Leon couldn’t mentally sustain his control through the immense pain. Only she was used to it; only Lelou Faim. Only the Ravenous Queen. Even Vashti had begun to test her line. Her vision fizzled and popped like old film coming off the reel, shots of visceral red carnage spliced with blank screens of white hot pain. The only thing holding the scream in her throat was the blood running down it as her teeth sliced open the inside of her mouth as they pinned down her tongue.
Vashti’s vicious strikes became a series of mistimed parries and counters as Lelou savaged her. Even without the rain touching her, what remained of Vashti’s toga was absolutely soaked, the thin white linen hanging heavy with a mix of Leon’s and her own blood. The only thing stopping Lelou’s hungry jaws from tearing out her throat was Vashti using her own left arm as a chew toy, her skin flayed raw. She wasn’t going to survive going blow-for-blow fighting one handed. She gritted her teeth as Vashti delivered a series of hard, seemingly ineffective knees to the Wolfman that would’ve caved in the chest of anyone else.
In an act of desperation, she stopped defending herself from the slashes, eyes rolling as she felt his claws slice across her stomach. She jammed her right hand underneath her left arm that was trapped in the jaw of Lelou, breathing in sharply as her palm sliced its fangs. Her muscles bulged, crimson rapidly cascaded out of her forearm like a creaking dam moments away from wiping out a quaint, riverside town. Vashti managed to roll herself and Lelou in a way to find some leverage with her feet. A low, guttural sound was dampened by explosions in the thundering sky overhead before becoming a scream that drowned out the storm.
“Bad boy, Leon! Bad boy!” Vashti began to push her forearm up into Lelou’s jaw, sinking the teeth in further as she grunted. There was no fear in Vashti’s eyes as they widened and bulged—only the thrill. She latched the fingers of her right hand behind the bottom row of Lelou’s teeth. Vashti gave the creature that was once Leon a ruby red smile as she leaned in and whispered in its ear, her voice warm and inviting.
“Howl for me.”
Lightning flashed as Vashti twisted her right arm and jerked down with all of her might, looking to completely tear Lelou’s lower jaw clean off.
Meanwhile, Emily flicked her hand, and it ignited like a torch as she stared at the two… she could only grin. “Doomsday? How fucking corny could you two get?!” She seethed as the fire grew brighter and brighter. “Hit me with the best you fucking got! It still will be nothing-”
A massive figure falling from the sky and crashing in the distance between Emily, Kenshiro, and Drake interrupted Emily. The ground shook, creating a massive splash of water and disturbing dust and dirt. A silhouette could be seen through the chaos, a tall, broad-shouldered figure that turned towards Emily… When the smoke cleared, it was none other than Maximilian Cornell. Except dressed as the Blue Ranger.
“A-mazing!” Meifeng Liao walked up, holding her PRA badge in the air with Cindy Keagan at her side…. She probably looked ridiculous wearing a Maid’s outfit. “I turn my head for two minutes, and you get into another fight Ms. Reed.”
The fire faded out of Emily’s hand as she pointed an accusatory finger at Kenshiro and Drake, shouting, “They attacked me!”
“Sure they did...” Meifeng rolled her eyes, before turning to Vashti duking it out with Leon. “... Is Ms. Nour fighting a goddamn werewolf?” She tilted her head.
“Maximilian,” Cindy said.
“On it,” Maximilian flew between the two and effortlessly pushed them apart by sticking both of his palms out. Pushed away from its prey so easily, The Beast had managed a total physical reformation. It came to a skidding halt, falling backward into a still burning tent set ablaze by Emily. There was a moment of panic as fur caught alight: Still covered in fryer grease mixed with rainwater, the slick undercoating went up in a blaze of glory.
It began to howl, jump around, flail and panic and scream. Ken watched it all happen as he stood with mouth agape, but he couldn’t stop. He’d promised Lady Lynette that whenever he was around, he’d be there to help them with Leon’s condition. He’d come to learn and appreciate the Beast’s quirks, and knew of particular techniques to put it down.
But he didn’t waste the opportunity to point an accusatory finger at Emily G. Reed. [color=7B81B3]”I don’t know you! If you’re not here to put that thieving cock-goblin to justice, then butt out of Coven business!”[/color
With lightning speed, his fingers flicked together, and he was replaced in his spot by a puff of flames and burning fur as he replaced a section of air with himself. He hung in the air above Leon, and all at once a massive static bubble formed around its flailing mass.
This technique only worked if it was distracted like this. Usually bullets, or magical fires similar to this, were used. And then, it was a matter of following the Beast. Ken could tell it was already tired, so when the last bit of oxygen left the bubble and the flames snuffed out, it only struggled for a moment.
In its typical grotesque nature, the body melted away to reveal the host beneath a mound of oily flesh. Face down, ass up in the dirt with perfectly unblemished skin, Leon struggled for oxygen as he woke up once again in the middle of a vacuous bubble devoid of air and pressure. With his last bit of consciousness, he spun and looked up to see Ken, the source, and threw up the double peace sign.
He was in control, and Ken couldn’t help staring down at the dong. He looked back at Drake; also in a toga. The bubble disappeared, and Ken smiled, turning his head again to look at Leon as he panted and regained his breath. Ken ripped his cape off his back and threw it down to his fellow Coven Member, covering him up. ”Now, maybe I’ve been gone too long, but you’re cops? Another group of pretend heroes come to St. Portwell to ’Liberate us from danger’? If you’re not here to arrest a thief, just pack up now.” he called out to Meifeng and her badge.
“I’m so happy to see you, bros! Those men were assaulting us! I'm terrified to think of what they would’ve done to us if you hadn't intervened,” said Vashti to Meifeng through crocodile tears. She put a still bleeding hand to her forehead and stumbled closer to the bulky blue ranger that had absolutely manhandled her and Leon. “Oh! I feel faint! Somebody help…”
She closed her eyes, twisted, and fell backwards against Maximilian in a trust fall, essentially forcing him to catch her. She cracked one eye open, mouthed a ‘sup’ at special agent hunk, and went limp. Obviously, protocol would call for immediate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
”Oh, I would not be getting either of your heads near that mouth my friend! As the Frog learned the Scorpion’s nature, so too will you recognize the nature of a Crocodile.” Ken scoffed as he saw his rival’s blatant display of manipulative behavior. He simply didn’t approve.
“I can handle her!” Maximilian said as he caught Vashti and gently placed her on the ground.
“Thieving!?” Emily put both of her hands on her chest as she loudly gasped. “What the fuck did I[ steal?! You two assholes came and jumped me.” Then pointed at Kenshiro and Drake.
Drake put his fists on his hips in a heroic pose as he said, ”... I honestly have no clue what’s going on.” He shrugged, ”I just saw my bro getting jumped and couldn’t sit by while that happened. Bro-code. You wouldn’t understand.”
“‘Pretend cops’?” Meifeng scoffed as she cracked a grin. “Unfortunately, ‘Coven business’ is superseded by ‘PRA business’, so I don’t know what’s going on here, nor do I know why it’s going on. And I don’t care.”
She crossed her arms as she put the badge away, “The fact is, you five are causing a huge scene with magic. And it’s my business to keep magic a secret. I don’t care what Emily G. Reed did. I don’t care what you did. The Sycamore Tree and 8th Street Covens have consistently been a pain in my ass since I was stationed here - but let me stop here.”
She cracked a wry grin as she said, “So, in the interest of my day off remaining just that, I’m asking you all to cut it out.”
An exasperated sigh came from the ground where Vashti laid, waving her hand dismissively. “Yessssss, mooooom. We promise to never defend ourselves ever again, mooooom…”
”Typical law and order types, wouldn't bust a ball to actually enforce a thing besides the status quo. You're no better than the Clan authorities who aba-”
Kenshiro was interrupted. Leon's voice simply cut louder. ”Save it for people who care, Kenny. They're federal agents.” Ken furrowed his brow. ”Boogeymen? While our people die by the half dozen and nothing’s been done about it!? Well, thanks to Emily G. Reed, our friend's magic c-” ”Kenshiro, please stop talking to them!” ”Emily G. Reed deserves to be trapped in the core of our planet, but the authorities here just consider all of our problems pesky? Then they're choosing laws to enforce, and they're no better than spineless roadmen.”
”No, Leon!” Drake raised a hand, as he softly said, ”Let him cook…”
“And no one has made any attempt to explain to me what in the world was going on here…” Meifeng pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head… before she raised her head and faced Kenshiro, narrowing her eyes, “If you want to talk about ‘choosing laws to enforce’-” She finger quoted. “-then I should be hauling all of you to jail for causing such a destructive fight.”
She let her words hang in the air, “But, I’m not, but booooy are you making it tempting…”
Emily took a step forward, pointing at Kenshiro, but facing Meifeng,
“What happened was… I was in that stupid toga line, they handed me that stupid trophy cup, and I decided to go to the bathroom; then this asshole pops out of nowhere and demands I give up the cup as if I stole it! So I did since it was an honest mistake! But then he started getting aggressive, and I had no choice but to defend myself! His friends hopped in, but then my friend Vashti…”
She glanced at Vashti on the ground, before facing Meifeng again… then tears started running down her eyes.
“... Came to my defense! You see, Agent Liao! You saw how that psychotic-bitch Lila attacked me! These bastards have always harassed me! Ever since I was a little girl, they have shown me no peace! All because I had a problem with how they operated back in the day!” She wiped the tears off her face… however, she was still soaked from the rainwater.
”I refuse to sit here and be lectured by some Slag with a badge. If you won’t arrest a criminal, I won't recognize your supposed position of authority. Fuck off and have a terrible night, I hope Father Wolf shits on your lawn.” Ken looked at Leon, then over at Drake. ”I'll see both of you Brothers soon.”
Ken had places to be, and at this point finding the Chalice was a job for Jack. He was on the case, and Ken trusted him to get it done. He bent at the knees, and in a surge of energy, he launched himself once more into the air like a mortar out of the tube, headed for what he knew to be Luca's last known residence.
“Hmph,” Meifeng shrugged. “Well, have a nice night, you.”
“I’m leaving! I can’t take this anymore!” Emily bawled… before she turned towards Drake and Leon and wiped the tears from her face as she grinned ear-to-ear. “See you and your little Coven soon. Real soon. Tell Lila to have her affairs in order because who knows what’ll happen.”
That was when she walked over to Vashti, knelt, and grabbed her by the arm, trying to pull her up, “Enough with the theatrics; let’s go! I’ve had enough of these retards.” She spoke to Vashti in a hushed tone.
Vashti jumped to her feet, trying not to giggle, “Bro, don't say that!”
It left Leon and Drake to deal with the aftermath. Leon's equal skepticism in the federal authorities was only bolstered after they managed to shoot him in the head with a teargas grenade. He gave a look at Drake. ”We'll leave. I'm fairly certain all we really care about is The Chalice's recovery, and if Emily doesn't have it, then Emily doesn't have it. Can't arrest her with no real evidence…”
Meifeng stared at Leon for a few moments before she said,
“... Thank you.”
“Yeeeeah, thank you Leon!” shouted Vashti, suddenly ambushing him from the side. She striked suddenly, booping him playfully on the nose and retreating back to Emily's side. She wiggled her fingers at him as they departed. “We’ve got some unfinished business. I'll see you soon.”
The Halloween Festival. The Beach Bar. Cracker Island.
“Trevooooor, save Jack. He's our ride home. Bianca’s got us. Prove yourself and go saaaaaave him…”
Trevor scrunched his face up as he tilted his head.
"... Who is Jack? Your imaginary friend?" Trevor scratched his head and laughed. Probably imaginary question marks could be seen floating around his head. Also, stop kicking me! You're damaging federal property!" He rotated so that he was facing a completely different direction. If Sloane kept kicking, she'd probably be kicking more stool than anything.
"Maybe your friend has had enough to drink!" Trevor laughed as he pointed at the drink Agent Liao and Keagan left for the two. "Next up, she'll be asking me to save Jill!"
”Your boss and her… friend talked like they were close with Emily G. Reed and Vashti Nour. I know they helped with your… previous leader. Have you been working together since then?”
Trevor laughed.
"I wouldn't say they're close to the two... well, funny story," He chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. "After the whole thing with, uh, you-know-who blew over, Agent Liao took over as regional commander. We tried to contact the two Covens—we couldn't find Greenwood, but we found 8th St... and found out all the fucked up shit they were doing. So we tried to get them to stop and when that didn't work, we raided 'em!"
He laughed again, as he continued, "I remember we hit 'em with the teargas, the flashbangs, the taser darts - they had this big motherfucker nothing worked on until I hit 'im with the Secret Weapon! But, yeah, they all managed to get away through a portal except for the leaders and this one guy... Agent Sawyer. Agent Sawyer. Ooooh, maaaan, he got dealt a bad hand in the... Lighthouse Incident."
The remaining four agents glared at him when he mentioned the Lighthouse Incident. He was quiet until they went back to chatting. Then he continued,
"Well, I guess since he left the PRA he's just Sawyer - forgot his first name - oh yeah, Aaron! But, he was a real stand up Agent, never did anything bad - unlike a majority of the Agents you run into - but his sister was an Agent too. And after the Lighthouse Incident she went MIA and it hit him real hard so he left. Not surprised about that. But also surprised he's rolling with Emily's crew - because have you spent more than five minutes with her?! What sort of fucked up, spoiled childhood when she have?!"
Then he laughed. "Oh yeah, I got off track, I didn't see how it ended, because the one with the book kicked me in the balls. But apparently Aaron bartered some type of deal between 8th Street and the PRA. They give us info on what's going on out there in the street and we turn a blind eye to their antics. A reeeeeeeeal popular choice if you ask me, but I'm just a three time Trainee Ag-"
”... Shouldn’t you be harassing your coworkers right now, Obott?”
Trevor screamed like a little girl, as he fell out of his chair. He stared dead on with this evil looking spooky motherfucker! He looked to the left, and then to the right, as he had no other options. He stuck his hand out towards the shadow demon ghost thing guy.
It was time for the Secret Weapon.
"... TESTICULAR TORSION!"
A glowing green orb came out of Trevor's hand at lightning speeds towards Jack/The Shadow Motherfucker. If it hit, it would bypass all defenses and... torsion his testicles.
"Oh shit!" At the same time Samson almost fell out of his chair... his firearm wasn't on him, but he definitely had a fire arm. He let loose a blast of fire that came out like a flamethrower towards Jack.
Cracker Island. Halloween Festival. Right outside the fight.
” If you want my phone you’ll have to take it from me. We both know you're too big of a pussy to fight someone who can beat you.”
"Ooooooooooooh!" George threw his hands up into the air as he pointed at her, turning towards Carol. "Do you see this motherfucker?!"
"Yeah I see this motherfucker!" Carol answered.
"Do you really see this motherfucker?!" George said again.
"Yeah I really see this motherfucker!"
"... Well not for long!" George shouted as he cocked back a fist, and came in with a wide-arced, full-force, haymaker. All of George's brutal strength focused into one punch towards Ayrin's chest.
Cracker Island. The Halloween Festival. The Toga Cult.
“... Well, well. If it isn't the star of the Sycamore. How ya doing?”
For a hot second, Adora couldn’t recognize the stranger… Aislin didn’t look that remarkable, and she had spent the last ten years suppressing the thought of the Old Coven. However, when Aislin hugged Adora, that was enough to break her out of this toga-induced reverie. She tensed up at the contact, briefly confused as she tensed up with her arms in the air.
“Hey, were you headed back to the drink line? It's ridiculously long, buuuut-” her eyes shimmered, “-I just so happen to have two bottle of wine unopened at my booth. Ya'll can pop ‘em with me and we can catch up!”
The stranger grabbed Adora’s hand, trying to pull her away, but Adora briefly resisted.
”Wait, hold up!” Adora began. ”It’s… been awhile. My memory’s a bit foggy. Well, I hate to be rude, but could you help me jog my memory a little bit. It’s been… ages since I rolled with Sycamore.”
Aislin shared for a moment before her hands went to her face. “Oh, where are my manners, it really has been ages, hasn't it?”
She steeped her toe in the worn grass, momentarily self-conscious. “I've just, ya know, been thinking about the old days, and I saw you, and I just- I knew I had to say something.”
She smiled wide, offering her hand. “Let me jog your memory a bit! Aislin Rose, we used to hang out quite a bit, back when…” her voice tapered off, quiet somberness in her cast away eyes, ”Lisa was with us, God rest her soul.”
”Aislin?!” Adora shouted out of surprise. Before she awkwardly ran a hand through her hair, and shook Aislin’s hand. ”Shit… sorry I didn’t recognize you at first but..”
She trailed off before she said, ”... Let’s not mention Lisa right now, okay?”
Aislin's eyes tightened, and she nodded. “Yeah… you got it.”
She threw a thumb back to her booth. “Wanna see what I've been working on?”
A pause, before Aislin let out a short chuckle. “It's a gong-show, but you'll like it, I'm sure. Plus that's where my wine is stored.”
”I mean,” Adora shrugged. ”Sure.”
She quickly took the toga she had on top of her now blood-stained outfit and threw it back into the Toga party. It was probably not usable anyway, but if they wanted it, that was theirs.
”Lead the way, sis!”
Aislin smiled, eyes drifting over the drying blood on Adora's clothes, but only slipped a sympathetic expression as she beckoned with a wave, “This way, right over here.”
She led them back through the crowd to her booth, everything untouched from her two minutes of lacking supervision. Adora would see a modest booth draped in hanging paintings, all with moody, rainy themes. On the table were business cards and a binder filled with henna designs, each costing $5 a piece.
“Please, have a seat!” Aislin said, gesturing to the second chair behind the table, and Adora sat down at the destinated spot. She moved to some containers lining the back of the booth, and pulled out a book. It was embossed in gold, with a soft texture to the cover. Aislin grinned, popping it into Adora's hands.
“My most recent release, took a lot of sweat and tears, but people seem to enjoy it.” She gave the cover a tap, ‘The Darkness Before the Dawn: A Poetry Collection by Aislin Rose’ written across the front.
She then gestured to the paintings around her, her wings mimicking her movement. “Took me years, but I've got my own office up in the 317, finally kinda made it.”
”... The what?” Adora rubbed the back of her neck.
“Oh, they're like an artist association.” Aislin smiled.
Ailsin moved to another container, pulling out two plastic cups and a bottle of wine, setting them on the table. With gentle fingers, she uncorked the bottle and poured Adora a generous amount. She poured a little less for herself, and held her glass up.
“To fate, and having the opportunity to kill it with an old friend.” She said with a wink.
After a sip, Aislin sat in the seat across from Adora. “So, uh, Jasper dropped by my office, mentioned the most craziest thing… Cops came and raided a meeting?”
She leaned forward, curiosity in her eyes. “So I gotta ask, what the hell have I missed, sis?”
”Well… you’re asking the wrong person, first and foremost, since I missed the first meeting and I’ve been keeping the Coven at arm’s length,” Adora rubbed the back of her head. ”But, we did get raided… I didn’t catch who they were, but they weren’t regular cops. They had magic… I don’t know what happened in St. Portwell since I went ghost, but the SPPD didn’t have abstractions last time I checked.”
Aislin mused, running fingers over her chin. “Interesting. Cops with magic.”
She sighed and shrugged. “Well, I'd have to say it's highly overdue. Having magical criminals run rampant is a no-go, the law would have to do something to keep up.”
Adora shrugged as she sat in the chair. ”Apparently it was spurred by shit Alizee and that airhead Everleigh did, and Kali’s death… Three things I ain’t had shit to do with.” She rolled her eyes.
“Wait, those two?” Aislin's brows furrowed. “I always took them for loose cannons, but…”
She sighed again, sipping her wine. “The attention of the law, even with Kali’s premature passing… it just doesn't make sense. What on earth did those two do?”
Adora shrugged.
”This is from Lila, but apparently Alizee picked a fight with some gang, and Eve beat up a cop. This happened within like two hours of the first meeting, which I also heard was a shitshow.”
Aislin gave a low whistle, “Wow, Sycamore is as busy as ever.”
She shrugged with her wine. “You'd think people would be more excited to see each other after so long, but… maybe not.”
A sip of her wine, before a passerby stopped in front of the booth to inquire about the paintings. Aislin smiled, answered, and sent them off with a business card, before turning her attention back to Adora.
“Well… enough about the Sycamore. What about you? What have you been up to?” She cracked a smirk. “Staying out of trouble, riiight?”
Adora laughed.
”You know it sis… I’m doing good, well, good as I will be. I’m focusing on me and keeping my head low. What have you been up to?”
She sighed,
”Sorry for ghosting.”
Aislin reached over and clapped a hand on Adora's shoulder. “You're here now, that's what matters. And hey, focus on you all you want.”
She leaned back on her seat, eyes glancing to the passing crowd. “Me? I've uh, been ignoring the Coven. Since it's reform, I mean. I just-” She grimaced.[b] “I just didn't want to believe that a serial killer is really after us. But after hearing the news about Kali… I dunno, it just kinda clicked for me.”[b]
She paused, eyes glancing to the ground before looking at Adora. “Be real with me, sis. What do you really make of this killer? Are we really gonna…” She trailed off, eyes tight.
”I don’t know much about him…” Adora closed her eyes, and sighed. ”... But, he’s good. Whoever the fuck he is, he’s fucking good. Or he has some specific ass magic. I never was an expert in that, but fuck… I don’t know, to be real with ya’.”
She shook her head. ”But… there has to be a way to beat him, her, or whoever the fuck. Despite the odds, I’m going to try. I will try my best to make sure that nobody else dies.”
Aislin nodded. “You and me both, sis.”
She shifted in her chair, setting her wine glass on the table before clasping her hands in front of her.
“What I don't get, though… Is why. We were disbanded for ten years. We would have been adrift longer if the boss lady hadn't called us back together.”
A palm ran across her mouth. “Just… why wait? Why now? And why us?”
”Beats me,” Adora shrugged. ”I think someone did something dumb and attracted the wrong person's attention.”
Aislin gave a grim nod in understanding. ”Seems reasonable enough of a guess.”
She leaned forward in her seat, patting Adora’s knee. “So I'm gonna stop being a lazy lay-about, should probably join the next meeting. When is everyone getting together again?”
”No clue, but hopefully soon.” Adora shrugged. ”Auri and I found a lead. But, she wants us to lay low because of everything that happened… but, we can’t sit on it forever.”
Aislin's mouth hung open a bit. “A lead? What did you find?”
”Well…” Adora shrugged. ”... You remember Lyss? And will you keep your mouth shut?”
“I won't say a word.” Aislin nodded.
”When the Feds did a sweep, Lyss was there, and we used her fancy-dancy magic to summon the spirits of Ashley, Lionel Hunter, and Kari Wilson, to talk to ‘em,” Adora began. ”Ashley didn’t want to talk, Lionel did but didn’t have anything useful, but Kari… Kari…”
She trailed off before she said, ”Kari didn’t know us… which was weird. Lyss deduced that it was a different universe’s Kari, but I just think all that tear gas made her summon the wrong Kari.”
Aislin's face screwed up, trying to comprehend the possibilities. “A different universe? That's not possible, is it?”
Adora shook her head, then laughed, ”I don’t know how magic works, you know! My pop-pop gives me some rings that turned me and my two friends into Wonder Woman… but I’m getting off track here. Right now, Kari is our only lead. Or at least Auri thinks she is. I can’t blame her for jumping at every lead when she has to justify her leadership position.”
Aislin grimaced a bit, before slurping noisily on her wine, eyes cast to the side. “Auri… there's a reason I didn't come back right away. It should be Ashley leading us. Auri's a good person, don't get me wrong-” she held her hands up, “But… ah, call me a dreamer, but I wish Ashely were here. I miss how Ashley used to bark out her orders.”
”I don’t,” Adora was quick to answer. ”She was an asshole that tried to make everything a popularity contest every chance she got.” She rolled her eyes.
”Which is how Auri got her position in the first place. But, I ain’t like any of them.”
“Ashley wasn't perfect, sure. But Ashley would have known what to do…”
A short silence, before Aislin took another sip of her wine, switching which leg she had crossed. “So… are we summoning Kari again, or…?”
”We’d need Lyss for that,” Adora began, then rolled her eyes. ”And she wants to play dark and mysterious now of all time. But Auri wants to check out Kari’s house and see if we can find a lead on her or our killer. I understand, but this could all end up being a wild goose chase, given that Alyssa could have just summoned the wrong Kari… but….”
She stared at Aislin.
”... Kari was my friend, too. I will see this through regardless of if it ends up being a dead end.”
Aislin paused before she gave a serious nod. “I'm with you. We gotta make it so no one else gets hurt….”
She gave a smiling shrug. “Not sure how I feel about trespassing Kari's house, but for the greater good… Yeah, there's no other option at this point.”
She stared up at the roof of her booth, lips slightly puckered in thought. “We're really in the dark here. I mean, really. By now some detective would have had more of a lead, and be saving the day!”
”I wish,” Adora laughed.
Aislin eyes rolled over to Adora, and she sighed. “Guess no one is saving us but ourselves… You have my old number, right? It hasn't changed. We should keep in touch. Like actually keep in touch this time. I wanna be there when we go check the house out.”
”I probably don’t. Sorry I was trying my best not to think about the Coven until last week,” Adora shrugged before she reached into her costume and pulled out her phone and gave it to her. ”Don’t mean you can get it now.”
Aislin smiled and nodded, taking the phone. She popped in her contacts quick, made sure it was saved, and passed the phone back to Adora. “There we go.”
”It was great talking with you…” Adora glanced over her shoulder, noticing the sudden thunderstorm that felt eerily familiar. ”... but I feel like shit’s about to go down, and I really don’t want any part of it. I also would like to uh…”
She laughed, looking down at this bloody cyan dress. ”Get out of this. So I’ll catch you later, alright?”
She stuck her fist out for… a fist bump.
Aislin grimaced at the sky, but her face quickly returned to its jovial self when she saw Adora's fist out. She curled her own fingers and gently bumped it.
“Wise move, I'd probably follow suit if I wasn't trying to make a living here. You take it easy though, alright?” She winked. “And don't be a stranger.”
”Heh, you too…” Adora smiled. ”... And I’m done being a stranger.”
With a nod of her head, Adora disappeared into the night… heading towards the ferry. Aislin remained behind, watching the tumultuous sky.
After Adora left, Aislin tried to focus on selling her goods for the rest of the night. She really tried to focus, but the storm in the sky just grew darker.
She knew that storm.
And as much as she wanted to ignore it, Aislin knew that if the Sycamore was coming back, and if she wanted to be a part of it, it meant checking out the possibility of an ‘old friend’ showing their face.
So, she did what any reasonable Business lady would do. She peeled off her wine glass, and Adora's wine glass, and took her paintings down. Resting them at the back of her booth, she pulled a red ‘closed’ sign over the table and ran out towards the storm.
It was the screams that alerted Aislin first. The cracking of wood and ripping of cloth. The scent of smoke mixing with rain. She knew she was close. Aidlin glanced at the tent in front of her, withdrawing her attention from her wings to focus wholly on one object. The tent obediently bent, tent pole pooling at her feet. She stepped on, and it hoisted her above the tent line, where she could clearly see the fight happening in the next section over.
Ken versus Emily. Ken was here?! Leon versus Vashti. Things weren't looking good until the sky rumbled, announcing Drake's presence with a lightning bolt.
Aislin's eyes glowed. Now everything would be okay.
Before more action could really take place, though, cops interfered, breaking up the fight and chasing 8th Street off. Aislin watched the escalation with a grim face. The cops had magic. Were they the same Adora talked about?
That was when some bad-mouthing caught Aislin's attention, and she turned her head. Within eye-shot of the fight, but a little distance off, was none other than Aryin, Jordan, George and Carol. Aislin immediately wrinkled her nose. George.
However, as the badmouthing grew more intense, Aislin felt unease settle within her. It wasn't until Gearge pulled his arm back that she knew things were about to get real dangerous.
She acted on impulse. In the near cleared out Festival area, tent rope unfastened from the ground and sprung forth from both sides, wrapping tightly around George's wrist and arm. Anything to slow the movement down. She knew he was a behemoth muscle man, so extra ropes attached themselves until his arm was tied up like a ribboned maypole.
Many tents collapsed. Or, well, the better wording was ‘spring up as if snapping to on a tight rope before fluttering to the ground, lifeless’.
But Aislin wasn't focused on that right now. Right now, the tent pole she stood upon tilted and recoiled, shooting her head first towards George. Her arms were out and her head tucked, aiming to make contact on her shoulder. She wanted to tackle him. Hard.
At best, knock him over. At worst, change his trajectory.
Cracker Island - Cracker Town - Cracker Town Vendor Stalls - Cracking Skullz
**BOOM**
Despite Aislin’s efforts George’s punch still connected. The ground under Aryin instantly shattered and splintered as the force of George’s punch pushed through their body into the ground below. Dust and loose debris were blown away in an instant as a powerful shockwave erupted outward from her body. The shockwave itself rattled the stalls and blew trinkets, items, and paintings along with it. People caught in the blast would catch a face full of dust, sand, and other fine particles. Spiderweb-like cracks sprung out in all directions and soon the entire area under Aryin, Jordan, George, and Carol fractured under the force of the punch. The air was filled with the loud, reverberating sound of an explosion that quickly enveloped the whole island with noise. The ground itself shook for what felt like minutes, but in truth, it would only be for a few seconds or more. For everyone on the island, it would feel like an earthquake was happening at that very moment. Despite the powerful blast, despite the shockwave that covered the island, and despite the broken ground beneath them Aryin was not moved a single inch from where they were before the punch. Their face remained unimpressed, with a slight smile crossing their face as George’s hand rested against their chest.
Internally, however, Aryin was barely keeping their composure. That hit hurt and she could feel that it did some damage. Nothing felt broken, nothing felt pulverized, but she knew if she took another hit from Geroge she would not be in a good spot. Under her cosplay, she felt a small, warm trickle of blood going down her chest. He drew blood with his punch, the first to do so since she caught a hit from the Stygian Snake a decade prior. Aryin smile grew wider at the sensation and the realization. This was not something she got to feel a lot, and the pain was welcome. Her eyes shifted to Jordan and saw that he was even more angry than before. He seemed a little bit larger as well. Aryin shifted her eyes and caught Aislin as she slammed into the back of George. She did not see what happened next, but she did not see George move and that made the situation more dire than before.
”Jordan,” Aryin shouted with a confident tone, masking the pain that was radiating outward from her chest.
Jordan did not need any further direction as he took a swing towards the lower jaw of George, channeling all of his magic into his durability and raw power as he did.
Aryin simply took the distraction that was forming shifted down to Aaron and began to channel the stored power of the hit into the palm of their hands. Aaron made sure to take two steps back to give distance to George. He felt fully charged from that one singular hit, and he knew if this escalated he would need to spend some of it. With Aislin on the ground they could not risk using their spirit bomb, nor could they risk an Evil Spirits attack, instead Aaron knew that he would need to use his Ki Blast and aim them well. And he knew Jordan would not be able to provide a distraction for long. He was only able to charge three blasts before he knew he needed to go on the offensive
“That tickled,” Aaron joked as he adjusted his stance into his boxing one, his hands glowing a vibrant white color as he did, “but this won’t. KI BLAST ” Aaron threw three strikes in rapid succession, a jab with his left hand, then right, both aimed at George’s chest, and then followed that up with a quick cross with his left hand. Each strike released a Ki Blast, the first two exploding on impact with George’s chest and the final one exploding directly in between his eyes. Aaron then swapped back, taking a step back again before she smirked.
Interactions: Ayrin (Then Aaron, then back to Ayrin) Thorne (@NoriWasHere), & Aislin @Estylwen.
Cracker Island. Halloween Festival. Right outside the fight.
Unfortunately for Aislin, her plan hit a wall. A big beefy wall.
Aislin's collision with George didn't have the desired effect. Sure, she hit him, but unfortunately, given his size and strength, she didn't do so much as to cause him to flinch. Instead, she harmlessly bounced off his back mid-swing; indeed, crashing into him was unpleasant. It was comparable to launching oneself into a wall of steel. After the punch connected, George raised an eyebrow.
"... Did somebody try to tackle me?" He looked over his shoulder. "Or was it the wind?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, WHAT THE FUCK?!" Carol laughed like a goblin as she stared at Aislin. She pointed at her and shouted, "This bitch launched herself at you like she was a fuckin' human cannonball!"
George broke out laughing.
"What the fu—" Unfortunately, he was distracted by Aislin and Carol. That left him wide open for Aaron's attack. The two anime blasts hit him in the chest, and he stumbled back. Then, the last one almost made him fall over. He caught his balance at the last second as he faced Aaron... now, Ayrin. He growled, quickly closing the distance between them with his arms out. He promptly grabbed Ayrin with both hands by the legs and prepared...
"This summer..." He grinned. Before he yeeted Ayrin into the distance, throwing her over buildings like it was nothing. "... You won't believe a bitch can fly!"
While this was going on, Carol was swinging on Aislin. Barraging her with as many punches as her little hands could dish out. "Yeah! Take that, you tiny motherfucker!"
Cracker Island - Cracker Town -> Open Water -> St. Portwell -> Downtown St. Portwell INTERACTIONS Auri @Punished GN Linqian @FernStone
”Oh shit,” Aryin muttered as George grabbed them by their leg. A second later they were in the air and flying fast. The only problem with this situation was Aryin, nor Aaron, had any flying ability which meant that instead of flying they were hurtling through the sky like a rouge missile that was going to land uncontrollably wherever the fates took them. ”FUUUUUUUCK,” Aryin tried to scream but the rush of the air stole the words from their mouth. Their body tumbled through the air uncontrollably as they did, making determining where they were going to fall all the more uncertain. As they spun, Aryin could tell that they were over water with the fleeting glances they could decipher. Over water. ”FUCK HE THREW ME INTO THE OCEAN OH FUCK,” Aryin tried to shout again but, once more, the words found it hard to come out of her mouth. A few more seconds in the air led to a more disturbing realization. As they flew, their rotation slowed and they were able to take a longer look at their eventual destination. They saw lights in the distance approaching fast, and around the lights were big, tall, and sturdy buildings. Some of the lights were moving, independently of the surroundings. George did not throw them out into the middle of the ocean to drown a cold death, he threw them towards St. Portwell and he had the arm strength to get her there. A new thought entered her head, was she durable enough to survive a collision with a building at this speed?
**BOOM**
A few moments later the town of St. Portwell was rocked by a massive explosive sound as Aryin collided with the ground. Like before, a massive shockwave erupted from the crater that would become her new home for a minute. This shockwave blew out windows, shook the town like an earthquake, and shattered the street, kicking up loose bits of asphalt into the air. Several cars had their windows shattered, and their alarms began to scream out into the cold night in concert. To the town of St. Portwell this would have felt like a small earthquake once more, shaking the area for a brief second before everything returned to calm once more. The car alarms blared still, and soon the groan of a hurt Aryin joined them as their hand raised to the heavens and grabbed hold to the edge of their crater home and gripped it tight as they pulled themselves back onto the street. Once again, they survived the best that George could deliver yet this one hurt much, much more than the punch. They had landed back first into the ground, curled into a ball to protect their head and neck as much as possible, and this meant that her back was already in a lot of pain. Nothing important felt broken, her spine felt the same, yet she knew that the simple act of walking would be a miracle when she woke up tomorrow. ”Oh fuck that is going to leave a mark,” Aryin said as they stood up straight next to the crater. In their hand was their phone, they had somehow grabbed a hold of it as they flew through the air and when they tucked they held it close to their chest. The screen appeared to be cracked completely but the phone itself was still operational as was the touchscreen. She pulled up the camera app and angled the camera in her hand to ensure the crater was in the background. She took a few selfies before she opened up her message app and sent the best photo to Linqian followed by a quick text.
George threw me from Cracker Isalnd to St. Portwell. Fucker has an arm.
After the message was sent they put down their phone and looked at their costume. It was completely destroyed. While it still covered their body the fabric itself had half disintegrated, and this meant that her breasts were on full display to the world. At the sight, they swapped back to Aaron. They then shifted their gaze to the street. The cracks ran far in the road, and it appeared that the impact had fractured a water line as a small geyser of water was starting to sprout down the road. That looked expensive, and they knew they did not have the money to pay for the repairs of this magnitude. They began to move somewhere between a walk and a limp as they began to make their way away from the crime scene, and any eventual curious eyes that came to see what caused all that noise and commotion. Luckily tonight was the night of the festival, if it were any other night a hundred people may have seen a woman fall from the heavens above and emerge from the ground a man.
After a few minutes of walking the pain began to command more, and more of their attention. They found a bench, opened the ride-share app, and ordered a ride home. After this, they put their phone down and leaned onto the back of the bench. They spotted a flower shop across the street, one that belonged to none other than Auri. The current leader of the Sycamore Tree Coven. Aaron simply stared at the shop. If tonight was a sign of their need to return to the coven, this was the cherry on top of it. Out of every place in the city that they could have stopped to order a ride home they had to stop right in front of the flower shop of the leader of his former Coven They pulled out their phone again and sent two messages. The first, to Jordan, letting him know that he survived the throw and had landed in St. Portwell. That they were hurt, but alive and would need a few days to recover before they would return to the 317. The second is to Auri.
Hey. I am finally ready to come back. When is our next meeting?
He put the phone down as a car pulled up matching the description of his ride home. He got in, and glared at the driver who had a ‘what the fuck are you supposed to be’ look to his face. Before long they were away, and Aaron was heading home.
Halloween Festival, Outside the Fight Mentions: Aaron Aryin (@NoriWasHere). Direct Dialogue: George & Carol (@Punished GN)
She heard a crack.
Yep, she definitely heard a crack.
The ropes lost their life, and Aislin bounced off George, collapsing to the ground as she moaned, clutching her shoulder.
She wouldn't be surprised if she fractured her collar bone.
"... Did somebody try to tackle me? Or was it the wind?”
Aislin growled, trying to think past the pain. “Not. Funny.”
The ground shook, and Aislin looked up in time to see Aryin get yeeted into the sky.
“No!”
Aislin cursed a string of curses under her breath, chin perking up as she saw Carol approach. Aislin covered herself with her hands as best as possible, weakly warding off the pummels. The pain in her shoulder area was making it hard to think. Hard to move. The extra punches to her gut weren't helping, and Aislin, out of desperation, turned her attention downward.
The fractured ground became animated, turning quickly into quicksand. Aislin rolled back as the dirt and soil quickly gave way under Carol, sucking her into the earth. Aislin's eyes glanced to the ground under George, and the same thing happened. There was one key difference, though. While Carol's absorption into the ground would stop at her neck, George would continue to fall deeper and deeper into the soil, passed head level, at least six feet deep. Aislin wasn't intentionally trying to choke him out, but she was at a severe disadvantage. If she had to suffocate him unconscious first, so be it.
As the earth continued to pull in its victims, Aislin struggled to her feet, hand clutching her bad arm close to her body. Aryin wasn't here now, there was no reason to continue, except to ensure her own safety.
Aislin pursed her lips, taking a few hesitant steps back. She couldn't very well leave George to die underground either, though.
But she also had to consider their own abstractions. It was dangerous to linger any longer than she already had. She had suffered an injury already. Anymore and...
So she turned, cut off her connection with the earth, and ran through the tents, hopefully to get away.
Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy, Trevor @Punished GN, Jack @Blizz The Bar that Ruins Hopes and Dreams, The Halloween Festival
"Maybe your friend has had enough to drink!"
”I agree. That’s enough for you, Sloane,” Anya smiled, taking the pineapple margarita and finishing it so Sloane couldn’t drink anymore.
Thankfully, being stuck in Trevor’s awful company had its benefits. Namely his loose lips. Anya nodded along as he talked, taking it all in and easily remembering the important information shared. Sadly, she had spent more than five minutes with Emily. She’d also sadly spent more than five minutes with Trevor… Ah, she would probably pick him over her. Just about.
Before she had a chance to press for more, Jack appeared in exactly the way he shouldn’t have. She’d asked him to come and get them, yes, but not to appear like some kind of creature from the shadows. Inane as he was, Trevor was still a federal agent.
A hand flew up to Anya’s lips to stifle laughter at Trevor’s scream and fall, which quickly turned into slack jawed horror. What. The. Fuck.
Anya nearly swore out loud for the first time in near ten years. Trevor had just cast a spell so horrendous that she wanted to wipe her memories of the last ten minutes. Perhaps the whole day. She thought that she’d already witnessed the worse of him. How sorry she was to be proven wrong on that count. She hoped that Father Wolf would appear right then to end her misery.
She had no words. Only her clearly horrified expression - lips pursed and twisted downwards, and eyes closed for a moment as if to will away the people around her.
Bianca was on her way back with three drinks and a card with the bartender’s number between her fingers when Jack appeared out of nowhere, and was promptly testicular torsioned and fireblasted at the same time. She nearly dropped the drinks, narrowly saving them by leaning forward and putting them down on the PRA table.
”What the fuck, hahaha, you fucking idiot- Why would you teleport in on a bunch of agents?!” Bianca laughed uncontrollably, bending over and supporting herself with a hand on the table. Fuck, this was too good. Far too fucking good.
Anya had finally managed to school her expression, neutral smile reforming on her lips. Internally, her mind was barely working. She had made it completely blank to save herself. She stood up, reaching out to try gently pull up Sloane with her and support her before she fell.
”That’s Jack, our ride home. It was a… pleasure seeing you again,” Anya lied, smiling at Trevor. Unfortunately, he was still a useful connection to have, as disturbing as he was. She then look at Jack, who… hopefully could teleport them away. ”Let’s go.”
Jack hadn’t had a chance, for quite some time, to catch up with Kenshiro. He used to pay the ninja visits on a regular basis between his trips to the Void, but the time got away from him in more ways than one. And after the disaster of last night, along with the admittedly quite pleasant house party that Luca had arranged, there was no time like the present to reminisce with the one person in the coven who understood the allure of inter-dimensional travel.
He set up a time to meet Kenshiro in the same park where the coven’s last meeting was held. Today, it was rather cold, so Jack threw on his usual long coat and waited for his old friend by a tree. There weren’t many people here, thanks to the cloudy weather, so they’d have some relative privacy.
For Ken, having seen Jack only briefly before he made it to the after-festival hangout. Even then, he was pretty beat and exhausted from expending all the energy and having been awake for so long. He wasn’t his best, and had simply taken to reveling in the comfort of his fellow Adepts and the alcohol they kept. Now his eyes hurt as he turned up in the chilly early morning.
They were meeting in public, so Ken did his best to not dress like a freak from a different world. He had his usual trousers tucked into a pair of those fancy rubber hiking shoes with the toes in them. Victoria Blackmore had bought them for him, and they were sleek black with purple accents. He had a short coat covering both his gi and a fully loaded utility vest, and a toque hat pulled tight over the bun of hair underneath.
The tree in question had been a common meeting spot back in the day, so it wasn’t hard to find Jack posted up there. Nor was it hard to know when Ken had arrived, as the loud popping noises sounded like a harrier jet was landing in the park. But he landed in a spot where people weren’t going to be looking, leaving the long-standing myth of St. Portwell’s Sky Ghosts alive for another day.
”There he is! Well met my brother…” Ken approached Jack, arms wrapping around him as if there wasn’t a long gap of time creating a gap that yawned open and separated them. To him, it didn’t. It was yesterday again. He was working in the Village. Jack came from around a corner and scared the shit out of him, totally surprising him with a visit. He was excited, and he did what he always did. He hugged.
The embrace was returned without a second thought. ”It is wonderful to see you alive and well again, my friend,” he said with a smile on his face. ”Everything comes back to home, does it not? I should’ve visited you again sooner, but it is easy to lose track of the days in the Void.”
”We wander for a reason, don’t we? Nobody’ll get it like I do, Brother, so spare yourself the guilt.” Ken patted Jack’s shoulder warmly, waving his hand toward the empty pine barren ahead, which tapered off into more buildings on the other end. ”And let’s wander. We’ll pay our Fallen the respect they deserve with our lip service.”
”That we shall,” Jack nodded, and started off in that direction. St. Portwell was always beautiful around this time of year, between the weather and the turning of the season.
”Granted, I do wish the circumstances weren’t so grim… My heart is bleeding, Jack. It has been since my people were taken from me. Now more go, and I imagine before things are done more still will.” He walked slowly, keeping Jack from wandering too far. It was pacing, Ken was conscious of the amount of steps he was taking and every bird noise around them. He wasn’t interested in being jumped, but he didn’t want to rush.
”Yes…We have lost too many of our brothers and sisters once before, and we’ve begun to lose them again.” Jack walked slowly, but not too slow that they would be near their meeting point any time soon. ”I mourn for them as well, and yet there is only one solution. To move forward. I have resigned to accepting the loss, and to see that it is answered for, so as to not let it consume me.”
”We’re so easily consumed, Jack… Ninpo is reliant on our emotions. How can we not wear it so openly that it becomes what we are? Of course, you’re not so attached to these things. I do… Envy that.” Ken’s right hand flicked, and a rock scooped up off the ground for him to carry and slowly jostle in his hand.
”I have always been attached, Kenshiro,” he said, watching the trees absentmindedly. ”Though, I have always found it easier to carry the weight than others, I suppose. I am every decision that I have made in life, every friendship founded by countless reasons. That is what everyone of us is, and yet it is within our capability as human beings to be more than that.”
”And so, I choose to be more than one who simply grieves. That is your decision to make, as well.”
If Ken didn’t know Jack better, the comment would’ve felt condescending. Frankly, it was just how Jack was. Vaguely aloof. Even as he said what he said, Ken didn’t buy it completely. ”You’re an Escape Artist. A Royal Trickster. Too slippery for me, always!” Ken replied joyfully with a wide smile creeping across his face. ”Sometimes I wonder about why things all fell apart, but I have found, ultimately, that the house was built on shitty legs! Teenagers! American Teenagers! Imagine the fate of the world in the hands of those menaces?”
”We were not meant to last, and we were only children.” Jack had spent far too much time thinking about this very thing. ”We were at an age where one must consider the direction in which their life should go, and naturally, most of our friends and found family chose to explore life outside of saving the world.”
Understanding as he was, Jack always felt a pang of guilt when he thought about it. ”And there is no shame in that decision. Everything has its season, that is simply the way of things.”
Ken frowned. ”I went back home… To a life. I had become a man when I first met you all. Sixteen, they said we were allowed to begin our personal journey at Sixteen! Start taking on missions, duties, tasks, planning for a family… I think people have taken such things for granted. We waste a lot of time.”
As the two of them walked along, he began to orbit the little stone around them for something to focus on. Using Purple Lux meant anticipation; and he wasn’t ever out of that feeling. It was always anticipation of something, whether it was revenge or combat or… Anything. He was in perpetual anticipation of what was to come next, and had few reservations about what he was willing to do to make it beautiful. ”Speaking of wasting time, that fight last night… Leon’s grown terribly sloppy; Vashti had him on the ropes. And Drake showed up intoxicated. Drunk as a skunk! I’m not even sure we’d have been able to pull off Doomsday! And the earrings, he didn’t have them! There’s a difference between choosing a life outside saving the world and choosing a life where you leave yourself open as a target. Who trains harder than people like us?”
”I wouldn’t worry over those two. That was… A disaster of a night. No one would have enjoyed the outcome of the things that occurred. The only positive I can recall would be establishing some semblance of a relationship with the Greenwood Coven, after a misunderstanding.”
”I’ll be worried, Jack. They took Her. Kari. There were people in this city who could’ve protected her, and protected Jade, and Jinhai, and a lot of others, and people like you and I get to have some kind of free pass because we were in a place that people couldn’t contact us?” The rock flew off with a kinetic pop, knocking hard off the side of a dead tree and blowing a side of it off. ”At least tell me the fucking cup is okay, Sully would be devistated… Or, maybe he’d be sober? God, should we have got the cup back?” he grimaced.
”The Chalice is safe. It was returned to him last night,” He assured, watching Kenshiro deface a tree. ”I saw to it myself, but you must understand something, my friend.”
Jack continued down their path, measuring his words carefully for a moment. ”…It is cruel to hold onto guilt for that which is unavoidable. Father Wolf has taken too many of us, this is true.” He stopped, turned and locked eyes with his friend. ”But every hour that we spend throwing stones at glass houses is another hour that we waste. Perhaps there was a reality in which Jade, Kari, or Jinhai could have been saved. But this is not such a reality, and so all that we can change is our response. What we do now, with the time we still have, is more important than guilt.”
Ken’s bottom lip curled up and his brow furrowed as Jack went on with his strength of disconnection. Or, what he felt was disconnection. He wondered if his infrequent returns to St. Portwell had really made him so cold, or if he was just able to cope incredibly. ”Then we’re done here, Jack? You just wanted to tell me not to worry? And then we just walk away?” he asked with a dejected tone in his voice.
”Or are we here to talk about hunting instead of hiding?” his expression became grim. He wanted and needed blood. An eye for an eye.
”That is, among other reasons, precisely why we are here. You are a dear friend to me, Kenshiro, and I have missed our conversations. But you and I have an affinity for something uncommon in the Sycamore: Interplanar travel.”
It didn’t take a genius to know that Kenshiro needed to see justice enacted, in the same way that someone freezing to death needed to build a fire. In the same way Jack felt he needed it. ”You said that we wander for a reason. Let us wander for another this time, to turn this hunt inside out, and take power from places beyond the reach of others.”
He turned and continued walking, motioning for Kenshiro to follow. ”The All-Verse is vast, to put it lightly, and there are an infinite number of powerful artifacts out there, waiting to be found. I have been thinking about this for some time now… Suppose we found them, and brought them to our coven for an advantage? We are scattered, disorganized. I think we need to get creative with our approach to Father Wolf.”
Ken nodded his head. He was familiar with the old game of Artifact Gathering. It was partly the same job he had in the old Coven, and a point where he and Jack had managed to make a connection initially. Who else would’ve broken into the Clan House to try and steal their things but Jack Hawthorne and his ragtag band of Jumpers? He didn’t want to play into it, frankly. ”God damn it all… More running, more avoiding under a pretense! I can’t stand it, Jack…” He also didn’t want to take Jack too far out. He didn’t want people from the Well Traveled to associate such a noble soul as Jack’s with a vagabond like himself. He wasn’t well liked among those foreign guardians of the Well Traveled Paths.
He was a Ronin and a thief. It’s all he had left, and he knew if he wanted his own revenge, he’d need to take it from somewhere. ”We need a solid plan. We need to know what we’re looking for, and we need hard proof that it’s where we think it’s supposed to be before we move. These aren’t six-month trips: We may only have hours to execute something that should take weeks. We’ll need some fucking help.”
Jack turned and fixed a telltale grin on Kenshiro. ”That is just the thing I was about to say. I have a head start for us. In the Void, I keep plenty of information about other worlds. I’ve yet to explore any of them, but it would be a step in the right direction. I have no intention of spending weeks searching blindly- No, my hope is that we can find specific targets, track them down, travel in and travel back out with ease.”
”And,” he continued. ”I’m certain some of our friends would love to join us. Sloane always had an appreciation for artifacts, for example. This is for the coven, so I want us to undertake this with the coven.”
Ken nodded sincerely, a smile forming across his face. Damn him, he’s too slick for me. Too damn slick. ”We should deeply consider the choice of participants. We don’t want our actions causing friction; we know what that does. Have you consulted Auri about this plan? I won’t go without her blessing, it wouldn’t be right.”
”I’ve yet to consult anyone other than you,” he admitted. ”Between our would-be lair going up in flames, Auri’s alleged lead regarding Kari, and… the festival, it has been nothing short of chaos. But, I do want to communicate this with the rest of the coven. It would be unwise to form a splinter-group behind their backs.”
Kenshiro’s eyes closed and his face became quickly frustrated. ”We can’t send out fucking fliers, Jack. Auri, and whoever needs to know. It gets approval from the top, and we move as quickly as we can until we’re in a position where we’re gathered…”
Hearing about the Kari lead reminded him that Auri had mentioned it, and that he definitely needed to be there. He’d given her something, and he wanted to make sure she was buried with it. ”Once we’re at that point, then we can show everyone some solid, tangible results that they can get behind. Not like Britney and her work; we do it quietly, but above the board.”
He nodded. ”You describe it as if we’re stealing from the government. But, I think that is wise. We must be organized in this, lest we repeat decade-old mistakes. Perhaps Auri can provide some wisdom on this matter that we haven’t considered. She has been finding leads for us, it is the least we could do in return.”
”As long as we do this right, Jack… I feel good about it. It’s gonna be worth it. For now, I say we target something that can link us together. Something like a Piece-of-Eight, where we can split the object and have some people running control to monitor vital signs across the holders.”
Jack stopped walking, and thought about that for a moment.
”...The Piece-of-Eight. I remember reading about it during the old coven days.”
Ken shrugged. ”An, the, big whoop. Important part is finding it: So let’s make it happen. When I go to Kari’s, I will be there with Auri. We’ll discuss it then, when I can bend her ear. Is this acceptable?”
”By all means. I will likely be there as well. If not I’ll be doing my regular teleportation check-ins with the others who won’t join. I’ve started doing those since we noticed the pattern that Father Wolf exhibits. He only strikes when someone is alone.”
”Well, we’re here now. If you’d like, I can join you for the day… We should visit Drake’s home and ask him for the Earrings.” Ken took a serious glance at Jack.
Jack grinned again. ”I thought they were lost… Perfect. I haven’t had a chance to pay his family a visit yet, now that you mention it.”
”You are more than welcome to join me, if you can stomach that much teleporting,” he said, half-jokingly, as he held a hand out for Kenshiro. ”Shall we?”
Ken grinned, gripping up on Jack’s forearm in the full warrior’s shake. ”After you, Mister Noma-”
Poof.
After that disaster, the Halloween Festival, Drake reunited with the other Blackmores. After seeing the magical fuckery that was going on, Victoria decided to return to the mainland. Lest her children get caught in it. So, they returned to the Blackmore Manor; Drake took off that stupid costume, showered, and went to bed crying over a figure of him and Jade. It was a picture of Drake giving her a piggyback ride; he remembers it like it was yesterday… he remembered his lil’ bro Charles taking the photo. However, he had so much stamina and time for crying, and eventually ultimately passed out. Loudly snoring as he held the picture against his chest.
The house may have been peaceful before, but it damn sure wasn’t now. In the living room of the Blackmore house, right in front of the TV, Jack teleported himself and Ken in. When they were all kids, Jack had been at Drake’s place a few times, so this was nothing new to him. Though, his spontaneous teleportation wasn’t particularly common these days, so who could have predicted their arrival?
“... AW WHAT THE FUCK?!” Amanda shouted… as what was on the opposite side of the TV was Amanda and Nikki sitting on the sofa, trying to enjoy a nice game of Nomadic Odyssey. Amanda, out of surprise, flipped backwards over the back of the sofa before ungracefully hitting the ground. However, when she hopped up, she had a fully loaded Mossberg 500, and she aimed it at the two.
Jack, being used to this type of reaction following his jumps, simply smiled as he let go of Ken. ”I see you’re still as vicious as ever, Amanda.”
“Wait…” Amanda lowered the shotgun. “I recognize you, you’re that too-much-black-wearing sonnuvabitch from the Old Coven!”
Ken pulled his scarf down off his face, holding a hand up and smiling. “Hello ladies… Where is Drake?”
“... What is going on in here?!” Victoria shouted as she walked over, holding a knife in one hand, and Juniper in the other. Her jaw dropped when she saw Jack and Ken, “.... Jack? Ken? What are you two doing here?”
Then her eyes drifted towards Amanda, “... And where did you get that shotgun from?!”
Amanda shrugged, “It ain’t a party until you add a shotgun to the equation!” She laughed.
“Um, hey,” Victoria ignored Amanda and turned towards the two, “Would you like some food? Maybe some tea? Also maybe knock on the door next time because we’re all a little bit on edge.”
“You know he doesn’t work that way, Sis. I half expected to be in Drake’s bedroom, in the closet or something… This is nice.” Ken wandered away from jack, moving toward Victoria and Juniper. “Ohhhhh hellooooooo! It has been too long, little one!” he began making funny faces, as was traditional. The Toad Man loved to entertain, and did so while speaking the most gothic kind of Japanese dialect one would be able to trace back. Like listening to Shakespear for the English speaking ear.
”The last time I teleported into his room, he launched me out of a window with his lightning aura spell,” Jack said, noticing the tiny child in Victoria’s arms. ”Tea sounds good, thank you. I didn’t intend to startle anyone, but Ken needed to speak with Drake about something.”
Ken was reciting a nursery rhyme he used to sing to his own younger siblings when Jack brought up the something. “Oh, yes! Amanda? Do you know where Drake is keeping the special earrings? Jack and I are… Embarking. We may need all the help we can get, and we were wondering if he’d lend them to us.”
”Not before Auri approves of it, we aren’t. Remember?”
Victoria stuck her hand out and the knife floated back to the kniferack. She smiled as she raised a finger in the air, “One, I have the earrings, but if you want to ask Drake so we’re on the same page that’d be great. Two, Auri has zero say in what me, my brother, my sister, and my cousin, do with artifacts that belong to us.”
“... Also, Drake is hungover as fuuuuuuuuuucked, right now!” Amanda laughed. “You can knock on his door at your own peril!”
Ken looked incredibly embarrassed. “Ah, I should’ve known… I’m sorry, Victoria.” he shook his head, straightening his back under her motherly gaze. “Now, I will say that Auri Auclair has nothing to do with our current mission. Though, we are… Well, we’re attempting to do good for the Coven. As I said, we need all the help we can get. Jack and I plan on… Doing some heisting. So, if you’re the guardian, then you’re the one who matters most.”
“Ooooh! Can I come!?” Amanda asked.
“No,” Victoria facepalmed, “You have to stay here in case Father Wolf comes around.”
“Oh, right,” Amanda shrugged, slumping back into her seat.
“But, could you get Drake for me?” Victoria asked. “Sure thing!” Amanda hopped out of her seat, ran up the stairs, and began loudly banging on Drake’s door. “Draaaaaaake! We got guests! They wanna see you!” she said in a singsong.
”... God damn, I’m coming!” Drake slurred… climbing out of the bed, opening the door, and groggily walking down the stairs. Amanda led him to the living room, and he had a hand to his face, wiping it off, before he saw Ken and Jack. His eyes shot open, ”Oh shit!”
“... Drake!” Victoria hissed, pointing at Juniper in her other arm.
”Oh, my bad,” Drake laughed. ”Didn’t expect to see ya’ll here…”
Then his eyes landed on Jack, before he crossed his arms. He sighed,
”Lemme guess, the Coven’s come for my head for what I did last week…” He closed his eyes.
”...No. Ken wanted to pay you a visit about a set of magic earrings.”
“Yes, Brother! It was… It was good to be fighting with you again last night. I… Truly, truly missed it. But, it made me remember the earrings. And, well, Jack and I want to go hunting for artifacts. Things were misplaced, or lost to us. We should replenish in times like this. So, I wanted to see if we could borrow them. And, maybe invite you along as a fellow Murasaki.”
Drake sighed.
”... I gave those up to Victoria,” He shrugged.
“I told them that, but I wanted to make sure that you didn’t have any problems with me giving them away,” Victoria said, before glancing at Amanda and Nikki. “And that goes for you two, too. Charles is unfortunately out of town and hard to get in touch with, so we’re going to count his vote out for the moment.”
”I mean…” Drake trailed off, ”Long as they’re not getting used against us.” He shrugged.
“I have no objections,” Nikki spoke up.
“Make sure to clean them when you’re done!” Amanda laughed.
“And, I only ask that you return them when you’re done,” She began, “They… don’t belong to us.” “Yeah, they belonged to our dad,” Amanda said. “They’re very special to us.”
“I speak for the both of us, I believe, when we say that the Blackmores are just as special to us. Thank you for the vote of confidence, my dear friends… I understand the rules; and that we’re not meant to use them unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Ken intoned with a great deal of sincerity in his voice.
”Exactly. Hopefully, we won’t have to use them at all. But we are all in a desperate position right now. And personally, I don’t think we can stand up to Father Wolf in our current state as a coven or not as one. So, as Ken mentioned, I’ve been planning to look for other sources of power that we can all theoretically use.”
Jack knew that Drake probably wasn’t in the mood to even think about Father Wolf, but he also knew they couldn’t avoid him further. Whoever he was. ”Depending on Auri’s opinion, that is.”
“Hold on…” Victoria said as she walked by the sofa, passing Juniper to Amanda before she disappeared upstairs. After a few moments, she returned with two earrings hanging off her index and middle fingers. She presented them to the two, “I know you two are going to take care of them, so I’ll say….”
She smiled.
“... Use them well.”
Ken felt the warm metal in his hand, the little jewel dangling at the end of it. His face turned between the siblings, and he beamed from ear to ear. “Arigato, dearest Blackmore Siblings. Your precious artifact is in good hands.”
“Stay safe!” Victoria said as she grabbed her child from Amanda.
”Yeah, keep Jack away from any extra-dimensional Hot-Topics…” Drake laughed.
”That one was almost clever,” Jack said, smiling back at him. ”We aren’t leaving for very long, and not any time soon. Once we find something, we shouldn’t be gone for more than a day at best.”
Before they left, Jack looked over to Amanda, Nikki and Victoria. ”I know you three chose not to rejoin us all, but you can always ask if you need anything. If you think you aren’t safe, find me or Ken, we want to help everyone as much as we can.”
The Void, Shallows Mentions:@Punished GNDirect Dialogue: None.
“What a mess.”
Bahlok stared over the hellhounds brought back to the Void, along with the rest of the pack. The ones previously injured, well, she was just lucky that bear used physical attacks. If the dogs had been hit by magic, they would take years to pull themselves back together, instead of a few days.
She looked over the worst of the bunch, namely the one hobbling around with its neck snapped and bent at an awkward angle. Immediately, black sludge oozed out of the slit in the back of her coat, and her Eldritch Appendange snapped up the hellhound, to which it whimpered. She forced it to lie down.
“Stop moving, idiot.”
She surveyed the pack once more before she glanced to the side, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
She needed to rendezvous with Kipnu. Apparently, he'd gone and done something while she had been busy carrying out his order.
Layla sat hunched over on the edge of her bed in her apartment, trembling, her breath coming in weak, hyperventilating gasps. Kipnu sat beside her, staring with an unreadable expression. His face shifted as Bahlok teleported into the room, her smile immediately stiffening before flattening out.
“You did what?”
“I don't want to hear it right now, Bahlok.”
Balok immediately got up in his face, shoving Layla to the side. “You really are an idiot. You adjoined with it? You realize how fragile the Hyacinthus bloodline is? This is the last one! You mess up and hurt it, or worse, kill it, and there's no second chances. The precious ambrosia will be gone.”
Kipnu stared at Bahlok unmoving, not giving any indication of his reaction, before he leaned over and gently lifted the trembling Layla back up to a sitting position on her bed.
Bahlok watched his movements closely, before a wicked laugh escaped her. “Wait, don't tell me-”
“Her mind's been poisoned. I had no other choice.” Kipnu spoke abruptly, staring hard at his sister.
“I miss Void… Take me to where Void is…” Layla's voice was weak, barely a whisper as she stared unseeingly at the floor, the darkest expression on her face.
“She's too poisoned to sleep. I have a plan, but I need you to do something for me.” Kipnu said, not looking up as he spoke to Bahlok.
Baklok gave him a skeptical smile. “You're not gonna ask how your last order went?”
“I was watching the whole time. So was the mafia's puppet. She left shortly after you finished, same with me.”
Bahlok paused. “...Oh.”
“Go out and find us an easy target, easily palatable. I need to get her on my wavelength, weaken the hold of poison over her mind…”
Bahlok tilted her head, then slowly shook it as she turned away. “Whatever.” And she disappeared in smoke.
Kipnu gently pulled Layla to her feet. “I'm gonna make you feel better, dearie. Come with me, hold your breath.”
And they both disappeared from Layla's room, a trail of smoke the only evidence they were ever there.
St. Portwell, Dark Alleyway
The scrawny man dropped his knife as Bahlok's appendage smothered him against the brick, squeezing the air from his lungs. There was screaming behind her, but she paid no mind to the woman making her escape with her purse in one piece.
“A thug. You'll do fine.” Bahlok said ominously, giving him a tighter squeeze.
Kipnu and Layla teleported in a few moments after, with Layla panting heavily. Smoke's Crossing took some getting used to. Kipnu appraised Layla carefully, before he guided her to the wall to rest.
“Layla, I need you to watch this carefully. Just like before. Can you do that?”
A numb, tear-streaked face stared back, and Layla quietly nodded.
Kipnu nodded, before turning to their prey. In the darkness of the alley, it was near impossible to tell as Kipnu slipped a needle into the thugs arm, making the man go limp. Bahlok released him, and he fell to the ground.
That's when the feasting started. The gut-wrenching sounds of crunching bones, chewing of muscle, and devouring of a body whole as Bahlok and Kipnu made the man disappear, piece by piece.
As Layla watched, her dull, lifeless eyes slowly, slowly widened. Some color returned to her cheeks. Kipnu looked up, and came back to her side.
“Better?”
“I feel… electrified. Like I've tasted a new color. It’s filled me up. I feel like I'm floating…”
“That's a fraction of how I feel everytime I feast. Now that we are connected, you will feel more of it, as this poison loosens its hold on you.”
Layla stared for a long moment, before she blinked sleepily, her head nodding. Kipnu sighed, before draping his arms around his ambrosia, and looked up into the night sky.
“Perhaps now you'll finally be able to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, after all.”
And the three disappeared into smoke, ready to put Layla down for some proper rest before the new day began.
Cracker Island > Away From a Bitchass Coven (AKA. their Mansion).
After that shitstorm, Emily managed to put out a call for 8th St to assemble. They met in a clearing in the woods outside of the Historic District, somewhere they could open a portal without an annoying cunt seeing them and going, 'Oh my God, it's magic' (Emily was so angry that she forgot normies couldn't see magic). She crossed her arms, with Vashti at her side, as they trickled in. Jacqueline and Miranda walked up, holding hands and eating cotton candy. Aaron had a giant teddy bear. Then Carol, Greta, George, Malik, Lee, Nadine, and Flora approached without looting.
The last to walk up was Brianna, and Emily immediately dived her, jamming a finger into her chest, "... Where the fuck were you?! I tried to reach you, but you didn't respond!"
Brianna gently pushed Emily's finger away, "Where was I? I was out enjoying myself with the others. My phone died while you were texting me."
"I had the Chalice! The fucking Chalice!" Emily said. "We could have made off with it, and those sluts would have been up shit's creek without a paddle!"
Then she paused as she realized something.
"... And how the fuck are we going to get back?!"
"... My abstraction still works fine even if my phone is dead," Brianna rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. "Even if I don't have it, I can open portals."
Emily wiped both hands down her face.
"Fine, just open a..."
And she was interrupted.
"... Guys, wassuuuuuuuuuuup!"
Phoebe tried roller skating into the scene... but was caught by a tree root and fell on her face. She tried to get up, before she just raised a finger and said, "I - *hiccup* - tolds that bitch Maya - *hiccup* - I could outdrink her! Now look at her! She's probably lost in da' woods somewhere! She was holding my hand a second - *hiccup* - ago!"
"Oh. My. God!" Emily facepalmed before it turned to joy. "Wait, we lost Maya! I can't believe it! We lost Maya! Open a portal before she finds us!" She hopped up and down.
"Phooooeeebbbeeeeee…" Came a chilling wail from the trees. A white sheet covered head popped up from behind a tree root… well, the sheet was now absolutely covered in mud. As sheet-Maya pulled stood up, all that was visible were her ankles and bare feet (and squinting eyes behind badly cut holes). She'd somehow returned more clothed. Carol's rollerblades dangled from one hand, and a stick was in the other. "Youuuuu left me behinnddd… even though… I askkkked you… to slow…. Downnnnnn."
Her words were incredibly drawn out, accent much thicker than normal, and she stumbled over. Seeming to aim for Phoebe but her terrible vision resulted in her flopping against Vashti. "You- hoe-"
Emily facepalmed.
“My bitch!” Phoebe smiled as she tried to hug Maya but got caught on a tree root again and landed on her face.
“Your bitch got radicalized, bro,” said Vashti, dumping Maya on top of Phoebe. She still looked like a nightmarish mess, covered in little more than bloody rags and viscera that was mostly bits of regenerating wolfman. Her eyes drew thin as she stared down Brianna. She approached Brianna, pushing past Miranda who had started to treat her wounds, and held her hand out.
“Your phone,” demanded Vashti, her voice dropping into a serious and alarmingly quiet tone for the normally boisterous woman. The leaves of the nearby trees began to rustle in the breeze. “Give me your phone.”
Brianna looked at her hand as she said, “… You goin’ full gestapo now?” She shook her head, “Take my phone: I’m out 8th Street.”
“... Look, Vash,” Emily shrugged, crossing her arms. “I just want to get off Retard-Island before another one of those sluts pops out of the woodworks.”
She facepalmed, before she turned towards Brianna.
“... Just open a portal so we can get out of here. I want to burn this stupid thing and go take a nice long bath,” Emilly tugged on both sides of the Dragon Onesie before Brianna nodded.
“We’re clear, right Aaron?” Brianna asked before she turned to the empty expanse of Cracker Island's woods.
“Yeah,” Aaron nodded his head.
Brianna put her hands together, and went she parted them, she created a massive glowing yellow portal. 8th St stepped through the portal, fleeing Cracker Island because the vibes were off. They stepped through the portal, which closed behind them.
“... Well, I call first shower!” Jacqueline laughed as she walked down the hall.
“Jacqueline, there’s like twenty in here,” Miranda rolled her eyes.
However, they heard growling and pained breathing down the hall… heavy footsteps, and a dragging sound. Emily raised her hand down the hall, which ignited like a torch. The footsteps revealed themselves as none other than Cynthia, in her Abyssal Hunter form…
… And had a small child in her jaws, dragging him by his shoulder.
“... PLEASE HELP ME!”
The kid pleaded, tears in his eyes, sticking his hand out.
“... Oh my fucking God!” A vein almost burst in Emily’s head as she facepalmed.
“Not again,” groaned Vashti. She squatted down in front of Cynthia, jabbing her in the head to get her to let the kid go. “This is the last fucking time, bro. I told you already we don’t need anymore stupid kids around here; we already stuck with Carol.”
“Hey, fuck you!” Carol shouted, “You know I’m not a fucking kid! Fuckin’... too many scales motherfucker! Lizard-y motherfucker!”
Cynthia growled, before letting the child go, “Cynthia never gets a chance to eat live again human young. Cynthia is very frustrated.”
“Awww, c’mon!” Maya slurred, leaning heavily against Phoebe. “Let ‘er eat a kid! It’s not like- hic- he’ll last long.”
Emily sighed.
“... This is going to be a long fucking night.”
The "Rich Kids."
(With no punk-ass Vanburens to ruin their great time) Plus a bonus ninja.
Interactions: Not an annoying-ass Coven.
The Valos Manor.
It seemed the Valos Manor was celebrating its own, independent of the Halloween Festival.
A location that had Cracker Island in view... especially the random ass storms that took place there. Music blasting could be heard from blocks. It was a party... featuring the members of the Old Coven who were too good for the Halloween Festival. Not just any members, but the members of the Old Coven that comprised the "rich kid" clique as they were called (Except Trisha; all the homies hated Trisha). It was Sage Pimm, Sylvia Cruz, Jake, Gabe, and Jaska Valos, and Linda ("Lin") Liu - soon to be Linda Valos. The Valos figured that they used their fancy mansions to have their party while Daddy Valos was out, probably fucking his whores or something. Everyone has gathered in the fancy hall that the Valos used for parties. They were drinking, dancing, talking shit, and otherwise having the night of their lives...
... Until the music cut off.
"The fuck?!" Gabe said as her head darted towards the powerful speakers blasting music... she saw that Linda - or Lin, as she was colloquially known - had unplugged the speaker. The wire was in her hand as she was still bent over. "... You know you could have just turned that off?" She blew some air out as she rolled her eyes.
Lin stood straight up and put her hands together, saying, "I am sorry for interrupting your good time, but there is something we need to discuss before you all get too intoxicated."
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck! Can't it fucking wait until tomorrow?!" Sylvia laughed, still holding that bottle of Don Julio as she thrust it into the air. "Or next fucking week? Whatever it is, it must not have been important enough to dedicate a get-together just for that! Ha!"
"No, it can not," Lin began, "It is urgent."
"Yeah, let's hold off on things for a second, okay?" Jake raised his hands and gestured for everyone to relax.
"Fiiiiiiiiiine, mami," Sylvia rolled her eyes.
"Okay, let's get it over with," Gabe shrugged as she crossed her arms.
"Everyone comes here," Lin softly said as she gestured for everyone to come to the sizeable circle-shaped sofa. Before she walked over to it and sat down, placing her hands on her lap and keeping her legs together, Jake sat right next to her with one leg over the other. He wrapped his arm over Lin's shoulder while Sylvia flopped on the sofa, lounging with the bottle of Don Julio. Sage sat down at the end, placing their hands on their lap, much like Lin. Gabe just sat down and crossed her arms as she looked at Lin, and Jaska also sat down not too far away from Gabe.
"So... What's the opposite of meeting adjourned?" Gabe asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Meeting rallied?" Jake shrugged.
"Yes, meeting rallied," Gabe began, "Let's get on with this so we can keep it moving."
"Yeah, you can't fuckin' edge us like this, mami," Sylvia laughed. "I'm about to ask what's the equivalent of being party blue-balled!"
"Now, we all know about the murders that have been happening..." Lin began.
"Please, tell me that's not the point of this..." Gabe leaned back, rolling her eyes.
"No, but please let me continue," Lin answered Gabe before continuing, "We may have another issue... to get to the point, Jake has had word that Blake Schmidt is after the Stygian Snake."
".... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT?!" Sylvia laughed, "What the fuck does that teeny-peenied bitch want with the Snake!? Does he think it'll give him more than two inches?! Last more than five seconds?! What?!"
"Do tell," Gabe said, "I'm dying to know."
"I don't know," Jake shrugged. "I just know that the Stygian Snake is something he wants... for some reason."
"So... you have a plan, right Jake?" Jaska asked.
"Not at the moment, but that's why we're here," Jake answered.
"Wait..." Sylvia mused. "Did you throw this fucking party just to get us to talk about the fucking Stygian Snake?!"
"Yes," Jake said.
"I mean," Sage pipped up, "I understand, but just be upfront next time."
"I'm sorry you got tricked, Sage," Jake shrugged. "Booze and partying are the only things we can get everyone to agree on."
"To get to the point, we need to stop Blake Schmidt before he gets the Snake," Lin said.
"Well," Gabe shrugged. "Let's just find him and burn his urethra shut."
"Problem solved!" Sylvia shouted as she got up, high-fived Gabe, and then slumped back down.
"It's not that simple..." Jake said. "Do any of you know about the Elite?"
"Nope," Sylvia said.
"The what?" Gabe asked.
"I heard some things from Mika," Lin said.
"Huh?" Jaska furrowed his brows.
"... I know," Sage said, and all eyes fell on them. "My parents were in the Elite before they died... My siblings took their place."
"What the fuck are they?!" Gabe said. "You know I hate talkin' in circles!"
"Well... We know the city became a clusterfuck after the Stygian Snake," Jake began, "One of the factions to survive it was the Elite... a collective of rich assholes with magic that Blake Schmidt assembled. They're supposed to be heavy hitters in the city, but they can hardly get their act right."
"Technically," Lin said, "We all are a part of the Elite by name."
"Our parents are..." Jake awkwardly laughed as he ran a hand through his afro-textured hair. "... Apart of it."
"Well, that's bullshit..." Gabe rolled her eyes.
"Do you think Blakey is killing Sycamore?" Sylvia asked.
"Don't know," Jake said. "It's a possibility."
"If Blake Schmidt gets to the Stygian Snake, well..." Lin awkwardly laughed. "You don't need to tell me how badly it will end."
"So," Gabe narrowed her eyes at Lin and Jake, "You want us to do something about it?"
"I mean," Lin awkwardly shuffled in her seat. "Who else is going to do something about it?" She then laughed.
"Auri," Gabe said, laughing.
"Now you know you full'a shit, Gabe!" Sylvia laughed like a goblin.
Jaska awkwardly pulled at his collar as Lin said, "I'd rather leave them out of this, thank you very much," Lin began.
"I mean..." Sage began, looking to the left and the right before they sighed. "I feel like, despite them not particularly liking us, they should at least know about this."
"So what?" Gabe raised an eyebrow. "They can come fuck shit up? One of those assholes is probably the one going around tryna' kill us!"
"We don't know that," Sage answered.
"Then who the fuck else would?" Gabe began, "If the killer ain't an ex-Sycamore member, then it's someone those dumbasses blabbed off to! You know half of them couldn't control their mouths if you put a whole-ass gun to they head!"
"Well," Jake shrugged. "While I understand both of your concerns, let's see if we can handle this on our own discreetly."
"I mean," Sylvia laughed. "If we do bring it up to them later, then they gonna bitch, papi."
"Like they won't bitch about everything they possibly can..." Gabe laughed.
"Hey now," Jake said, "It's been ten years. We aren't teenagers anymore. They aren't teenagers anymore. We should stop holding shit that happened ten years ago against them. We wouldn't want them to do that to us."
"People don't change, Jake," Gabe shrugged. "Especially when you're an asshole that's full of yourself... but go off."
"And you're the biggest example of that!" Sage laughed.
Gabe flipped Sage off.
"Look," Lin said, "Let's keep Auri and the 'reformed' Coven out of this." She finger-quoted reformed.
"I mean," Sylvia shrugged. "Do we even got to work with them? Just tell Auri or whoever the fuck, phrase it like Blake Schmidt is the killer, and boom, mami! Problem solved."
She laughed like a goblin before she added, "... And even if they fuck up, we at least it's no skin off our backs!"
"One..." Lin trailed off, "My father may be involved in it-"
"... And our father," Jake gestured towards Gabe and Jaska.
"Yes, my father and your father are involved... and I would like it if my father didn't get killed by some psychopath with magic, thank you very much," Lin added.
"Hey, guys..." Jaska waved his hand, getting everyone's attention. "I know I've been quiet the whole time, and I know I'm not a leader like the rest of ya'll, but we're talking in circles here."
He paused, "What do we know?"
"Well, that's a broad question," Lin laughed. "Maybe you can narrow it down for me?"
Jaska shrugged, throwing a hand into the air, "Anything. What does Blake know? Why is he after the Stygian Snake? How is he looking for it? What can we do about it?"
"Well, that's reassuring..." Gabe rolled her eyes.
"Come ooooooooooooon, mami!" Sylvia laughed.
"I mean," Sage shrugged. "I can tell you two want to take things slow, not rush into anything. That's why you don't want the Old Coven involved, which I can understand. So, maybe that's the first order of business: finding answers to those questions."
"Well, I know somebody that can help..." Lin softly added.
"Please, God," Jake facepalmed... wiping his hand across his face. "Do not get her involved."
"... Who?" Jaska asked.
"Nobody, just nobody," Jake shook his head, "Just drop it, Jaska. Nothing good is going to come from that."
"Alright then," Gabe shrugged.
"How about we get Triiiiiiiisha to handle all of this, mami!?" Sylvia grinned ear-to-ear.
"Oh God!" Jake facepalmed.
"Heavens, no," Sage replied.
"I'd rather shoot myself than have a conversation with her lastin' more than two seconds..." Gabe rolled her eyes.
"There's a reason why we didn't invite her," Lin answered. "She would only make things harder. I'm not sure if she's not in on it either way."
"Fair," Sage shrugged.
Gabe also shrugged before she added, "How about we do some reconnaissance?"
"Ooooh," Sylvia laughed. "Like some Call of Duty shit, mami!"
"Yeah," Gabe began, "Let's see what we can find out from our respective families, which are apparently in the Elite just by birth or whatever dumbass shit... then meet again in a week, and see what we find out."
"I can see what Cassandra or Daniel know," Lin said. "Maybe we can get them in...?"
He trailed off as a poker card mysteriously fell from the ceiling. His jaw dropped as he watched it fall, and soon, everyone else nearby saw it fall and looked in wonder.
"... Is that what I think it is?" Gabe asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh dear," Lin put a hand on her mouth.
"Wait, is it him?!" Sylvia said with excitement in her eyes.
"Aw, damn it!" Jake shouted, "Why now!?"
The card disappeared as someone swapped places with it. A familiar face to everyone in attendance, a very tall, African-American and Hispanic man. He wore a brown pin-striped suit, a wide-brimmed hat with a feather, and some fancy dress shoes. He had a wide grin as he fell from the sky towards the table... and broke it when he landed. He hopped to his feet as he shouted,
"... It's Johnny Valos, bitches!"
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck my life, bro..." Gabe put a hand over her eyes as she leaned back. "... Yes, we know who you are, asshole."
"... Shit," Lin said under her breath.
"Johnny!" Sylvia laughed as she ran over to Johnny and wrapped her arms around him, hopping up and down. "Why didn't you tell me you were in town?!"
"... Yeah," Jake raised an eyebrow, then sighed with a roll of his eyes. "Why didn't you?"
"Oh, come on!" Johnny laughed as he looked at Jake, "This how you treat your big brother?!"
"Yes, when said big brother causes problems," Gabe rolled her eyes.
"Woooow, I see how it is," Johnny laughed.
"It's great to see you again, Mr. Valos," Sage said.
"Great to see you too, homie," Johnny answered, and Sylvia released him. He grinned as he put his hands together. "... I overheard your entire conversation!"
"Awwww damn it!" Jake facepalmed.
"Fuck!" Gabe shouted.
"Oh my," Lin said.
"... Yay!" Sylvia hopped, putting her hands together.
"And I'm here to offer my hand!" Johnny laughed.
"No, no, thank you," Lin answered. "I think we are more than up to the task, Mr. Valos."
"Why are you calling me 'Mr. Valos'?" Johnny tilted his head, jamming two thumbs into his chest. "It's Johnny. Call Daddy Valos... Mr. Valos."
"Fine, Johnny," Lin rolled her eyes, "My point doesn't change. We are up to the task."
"Hold on," Jaska began, "I know Johnny is, well... Johnny... but why are you acting like he isn't useful? He won't help us?"
"Yeah, listen to Jask," Johnny said, "You all want information? Well, I know all of you, and I wonder how the fuck you five are going to get that information?"
He put his hands together and grinned at everyone present, "All of ya'll are cushy... I know because you beat the Stygian Snake, ya'll think you something, but you gotta' remember the kinda lives ya'll lived. It wasn't one where you hustled or did anything. It was one where ya' parents handed you everything on a silver platter! Me? I know a thing or two. Especially about Paranormal organizations."
"... Please tell me-" Lin turned to Jake.
"Yes, we told him," Jake sighed.
"Aaaaaand I'm Daddy Valos' first born son! I'm closer to him than any of ya'll!" Johnny shouted. "If he has something to do with it... well, I'll know all about it by Wednesday!"
Everyone looked in between each other.
"... I know what you're going to say," Gabe turned to Lin.
"Let me guess," Lin said, rolling her eyes. "You want to accept his help. I know he's your brother, but have you forgotten what kind of person he is?"
"Trust me, sis," Gabe answered. "I grew up with that giant pain in the ass: I know all about him."
"... I'm riiiight here," Johnny added.
"And I also know I'd rather have him helping us than the 'reformed' Coven," Gabe answered.
"I mean, you're worried they'll hurt your father," Jake added. "We both know Johnny has enough sense not to do that."
Lin sighed, "... I guess."
"So..." Gabe said. "Are we in agreement of our next course of action?"
"Yes," Everyone said simultaneously.
"... Then let's party!"
"Gimme dat!" Johnny snatched the bottle of Don Julio from Sylvia and began downing it.
"Hey!" Sylvia shouted as she chased after him, running around, still downing the bottle as Sylvia chased after him.
While this was going on, Gabe ran over to the speaker and plugged it back in, and then they partied all night long...
"There's more to it."
"Raven Jones found something in that temple."
"Something that'd change everything."
"Something influential."
"Something powerful."
"Something that was never supposed to have been found."
The door burst open; Raven covered her face as the old wooden doors fell, exploding in dust and smoke. She raised her head, seeing a silhouette in the dust cloud. She could hear its loud and strangely human breathing, and as the dust settled, it became more accessible and easier to see the damned thing in all its inhuman glory. Its paper-white skin helped with that; she saw its smile. Almost as disturbing as The Mother Will's, this creature only vaguely appeared human. Or a beast trying to mock a human. It walked on all fours, approaching Raven; as it kept breathing, every step burst its white skin open, and a black ooze dripped from its body.
... There was something alive in the black liquid.
It formed tiny snake-like creatures as it approached; they hissed and wailed as Raven took steps back up until her back was up against the stone pedestal. Raven attempted to run to the left, but the creature hopped to its left. She then tried to run to the right, but it also hopped to her right. Raven grits her teeth as she has no choice but to fake it; she turns to the right and tries to appear as if she is about to haul ass in that direction, only to charge to the left. She was almost home free as she beat feet...
... She felt its hand yank at her ankle, and she fell face-first into the stone slab of this temple - well, at least the bone mask broke most of the impact. She dropped the chalice and torch, which still burned. Out of reflex, Raven flipped over and prepared to defend herself from it - however, it moved with inhuman speed as its hands and feet pattered against the ground. In the blink of an eye, it was on top of Raven, staring at her face-to-face.
Doing nothing.
A bead of sweat went down Raven's face, obscured by the mask.
To attack first, bone spikes came out of Raven's chest and pierced through the monster's midsection, spraying the black ooze high into the sky. However, the creature didn't so much as flinch as it opened its maw... and sprayed a flood of the black liquid directly into Raven's face. The bone mask did. She thrashed as she could, but the creature was too heavy for her to move. The spray came to a close, and the creature closed its mouth and got off her. Raven flipped over to her hands and knees as she coughed up the ooze, desperately gasping for air. After a moment, she could finally breathe and looked up and saw that the creature was gone.
... What was that about?
Raven quickly climbed to her feet, grabbing the torch and the Chalice. She needed to get the hell out of this place. She returned to the hall and turned right, opposite where she came from. She abandoned this strange room with the Chalice in hand, kept on her toes, and kept moving - the last thing she wanted to do was run into an Abyssal Hunter that thing was, so she didn't barrel through the halls at top speeds. Eventually, she came to another door and stopped as she gently pushed the doors open.
She saw another large and ominous room—thankfully (and somehow) less spooky than the other one she was in. She didn't see any more monsters, so she pushed the door open and carefully stepped inside—hoping to find a map or some way out of there. However, as she approached the shrine, there was a book on a podium. Naturally, Raven snatched it, holding it underneath her arm, as Sunshine told her that the Pit was home to priceless artifacts... some of which might be the key to getting out of there.
Though, she wouldn't be able to carry anymore.
She turned around, walked out the door, and kept walking—she wouldn't stop again unless she found the exit. However, it wasn't long before she heard the eerie white noise that the Pit always had, the screeching of beasts and that walking turned into sprinting. She laughed in relief as she finally escaped this hellish place, as she stepped out into the Pit. She saw the eerie red skies as a red orb shined brightly...
"... Halt!"
Raven fell on her behind as she sat up using her arms. Everything she held was dropped yet again. That voice was familiar—that metallic, screeching voice, coupled with the heavy footsteps. Three massive figures stepped out from the bushes to her right, and Raven immediately recognized them.
Iron golems are powered and created by magic, and Raven (and, to that extent, Sunshine) is unsure whether or not they're being made in the Pit. That was not important; what was important was that the Autoknights served an enigmatic figure who called himself the "king" of The Pit. Only a madman would declare himself the king of this hellscape, but the issue was that he had an organized army at his beck and call... and despite it all, they were wholly ineffective at maintaining control of the Pit. The point was that they were dangerous, and Raven had nothing in her arsenal that could defeat, or even stagger, an Autoknight. She climbed to her feet, holding the Chalice in her hand, and dusted herself off with her other hand.
The "leader" of the trio (Raven could only assume) stepped forward, pointing an oversized blade at her as he spoke.
"By decree of The King, this location is off-limits," The Autoknight leader spoke. "The punishment for trespassing is death."
The other two Autoknights aimed their massive rifles at Raven as she screamed, desperately running for the tree line.
"Blood Art Technique..." Raven's head darted across, seeing Sunshine standing atop a hill. Her right hand was coated in blood; she drew a symbol in the air that floated. "... The Goliath's Fist!"
Two massive (strangely human) arms burst from the ground, grabbed the two Autoknights aiming their weapons at Raven, and quickly crushed them. The metal that comprised their iron bodies screeched as the Autoknight Leader turned his attention to Sunshine. It held its blade with both hands as it faced her.
"I'll kill you, Wr-" The Autoknight tried to say...
... Before the hands came for it, they flattened it with its palms. The hands fell apart, and Sunshine shook her head as she muttered,
"Annoying bastard." Then walked over to Raven and hugged her. "Baaaaaaby..."
"Mama!" Raven shouted, hugging her back. "I was worried about you... where did you go?!"
"I just woke up somewhere in the woods," Sunshine shouted. "I went back to the house, and it was crawling with Abyssal Hunters, so I assumed the worst."
"Huh?" Raven furrowed her brows before she said, "The Mother Will told me you were in there..."
However, an excruciating headache came out of the blue, and Raven screamed as she grabbed both sides of her head. She fell to her knees, crying.
"Baby!?" Sunshine shouted, putting her hands on Raven's shoulders. "What's wrong?!"
"I-I-I..." Raven stammered out as it seemed like serpents were slithering underneath her skin. There was a distinct squishing sound as Raven winched in pain. Falling over as more of the snakes began crawling underneath Raven's skin.
"Son of a bitch!" Sunshine shouted as she knelt over Raven, then pulled her knife out. She saw the snakes crawling underneath Raven's skin, raised her knife high, and brought it down on the snake. It let out one final hiss as it expired, and Sunshine spotted another and stabbed that one. Then another, and another... and Raven was oozing blood as she was crying on the ground. Sunshine covered her free hand in the blood... and drew a symbol out of the blood on Raven's forehead. The wounds began closing... and Raven kept crying as the Snakes underneath her skin faded. Sunshine gently stroked her daughter's face until she heard laughter.
On top of the hill stood The Mother Will.
"What have you done, you bastard?!" Sunshine shouted at the Mother Will.
The Mother Will looked down on her with that smile.
"I gave her what she wanted," The Mother Will said, "An out."
"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Sunshine shouted. "I don't know how! But, there's a way! Just like there's a way out of here!"
The Mother Will was silent.
"... How can you kill what doesn't live?" She began, "Or what doesn't abide by your definitions of life?"
Sunshine narrowed her eyes as she knelt forward to pick Raven up...
"Don't forget what your Daughter plundered," The Mother Will said, pointing at the Book and the Chalice.
Sunshine shook her head as she picked up the Book and the Chalice and stuck it in her backpack before she scooped up Raven. Then she walked away...
... And the Recollection ended.
"That book is known as Walter's Book."
"That book has instructions to end the All-Verse."
"Disguised as instructions to become a God."
"That book is in St. Portwell."
"For the good of the All-Verse, you have to destroy it."
"... Please."
Victoria Blackmore
Interactions: None of note.
The Blackmore Manor. This morning.
Drake was violently awoken.
In a cold sweat - but that was just typical.
He sat up, took deep breaths, and looked around his room again. God damn it, another weird ass dream. He thought to himself. If it wasn't of Jade, it was of that Raven girl... is she still in The Pit? He wondered to himself. However, he also had to wonder what book that weird voice wanted him to destroy. That temple had something to do with the Stygian Snake, but Drake didn't know anything about the Pit, and he knew either Britney or Jack would know.
Jack seemed like the better option. If he wasn't pissed at him for clocking... Sloane.
Sighing, Drake pulled his legs closer to himself as he looked out the window.
"... DRAAAAAAAAAKE!" Victoria shouted from the kitchen (... presumably). "ARE YOU EATING BREAKFAST!?"
Drake sighed.
”... Yeah, give me a minute!” Drake shouted back.
He hopped out of bed. Got some food. Then, prepared for the day.
Later on....
It was time to go to the next meeting... as hesitant as Drake was, he was willing to give Auri one last chance before he struck out on his own. It seemed like he would do better that way, anyway. He was fully dressed, wearing black jeans, a white shirt, a black leather jacket, combat boots, sunglasses... and no keys. He dug into his pocket, only to see that he was minus the keys to his Dodge Charger. He looked around his room and didn't find the keys - No matter, it was probably in the dining room. He climbed the stairs and walked into the dining room, where he saw Victoria mopping the floor. He stood in the doorway as he asked,
”Vic,” He began. ”See my keys?”
"I haven't seen them," Victoria answered as she continued mopping. "But, I'll give 'im to you if I find them."
”Damn it, I need to get to Auri's meeting...” Drake shook his head as he turned to leave... then he heard the jingle of keys in Victoria's pocket. He looked over his shoulder, then heard it again. ”Vic...” He trailed off.
"Let me put this up, and then I'll talk to you..." Victoria quickly grabbed the bucket and scurried off. Drake trailed into the other room out of curiosity until something fell out of her pocket.
His keys.
”HEY-” Drake tried to reach for them, but Victoria used her telekinesis to launch the keys into her hand. He looked up at her, as he said, ”Give them to me! Those are mine!”
"No!" Victoria shouted, telekinetically putting the broom and bucket on the floor gently. She pointed at Drake and said, "I know you're trying to attend that meeting! Stay away from them!"
”Look!” Drake said, ”I know how you feel; let me make my own choice.”
"Your 'own choice'-" Victoria finger quoted. "-involves battery!"
”You know I'm not proud of that, now give me the-” Drake shouted, approaching Victoria with each step. A swirling white portal opened behind her, and she stepped into it. The portal closed, and Drake hissed, ”... DAMN IT!”
"... OOOOOOOOOH!" Victoria shouted from the dining room. "... DID YOU FORGET I COULD DO THAT?!"
”No I didn't!” Drake shouted back as he power-walked to the dining room.
"Maybe if you paid more attention when Dad taught us how to do this, you could do it too!" Victoria shouted as Drake got closer and closer.
When he arrived, Victoria already had another swirling white portal ready - one that led outside. She raised his keys into the air as she flatly said. "But look at that, you can't!"
”Vic! Gimme my keys!” Drake lunged forward, reaching for it. ”I'm not playing these games!”
Victoria was through the portal with a simple step backward, which closed before Drake could do anything about it. ”Son of a...” He hissed as he looked out the window and saw her in the yard. He quickly ran over to the window and easily opened it before he stepped through... however, he forgot it was far smaller than he remembered (or he was way smaller when he used to crawl through these windows) and had to squeeze through a bit. He fell ungracefully but quickly climbed to his feet and stomped over to his elder sister.
”... GIMME MY KEYS!” Drake shouted, sticking his hand out as he got closer.
"Drake! This is for your own good!" Victoria began, "Stay away from the Coven! Please stay away from them and get some therapy! That will help you; being around some toxic assholes won't! Auri doesn't have a goddamn clue what she's doing! She NEVER did, and probably never will!"
She narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at Drake, "You'll be safer here if you stay with us! We'll all be! And I'm saying that because we need you here! Especially your nieces! Please! Listen."
Drake came to a stop, sighing, as he looked at his feet. ”Look...” Drake trailed off, ”I know, you're right. On all accounts.”
He raised his head, staring at Victoria head-on, ”Auri is a dumbass - I'm a dumbass, probably the biggest you know...” He put a hand on his chest, as he tried to fight back tears. ”... But, Auri said that she made a breakthrough; she finally found something useful...”
He sighed as he finished, ”... I know it'll just be bullshit, but I'm going to give Auri one last chance. Just one. I have to... for Jade.”
Victoria sighed, shaking her head as she stuck her hand out. Using her telekinesis, the keys floated from hers to Drake's—who caught them. "Look, I thought I could talk you out of going there because Dad trusted me to protect you, Charles, and Manda from yourselves if something happened to him..."
She paused before sighing again, "... But I know I can't talk you out of this. Look, if you're deadset on this, you have to apologize to Sloane and act like you're sorry. I don't know how you're going to do it, but you have to."
Drake stared at the keys as he said, ”... I don't think I can.”
"Apologize?!" Victoria scoffed, "It doesn't matter if she rejects your apology, the point is that you realize you fucked up."
”Heh,” Drake laughed as he put his hands on his sides, ”You cursed.”
"Fuckin' sue me," Victoria rolled her eyes. "I just don't want you two getting in the habit of swearing around the triplets."
”How do I apologize to her?” Drake shrugged.
"I don't know!" Victoria shrugged. "Get her a gif, flowers - something that shows that you give a shit."
”I'll figure something out on the way there,” Drake shrugged.
"Where are you going?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.
”Kari's house,”
"... That's the big lead Auri came up with?" Victoria raised an eyebrow. "Don't get arrested. Don't beat anyone up."
”Now you sound like dad,” Drake laughed.
"Again, he asked me to, in his own words, 'protect you three from yourselves,'" Victoria laughed. "Look, you're a grown man, but turn your location on if something happens."
”... Now you really sound like Dad,” Drake rolled his eyes.
She walked over to Drake, put a hand on his shoulder, and looked him in the eye, "I love you, Drake. I know you're going through a lot and making lots of boneheaded decisions lately, but I care about you. And I don't want you to die a senseless death."
He grabbed his sister's hand and said, ”I know, and trust me, no one is dying on my watch.” He walked over to the car and got in. Victoria stared at him as he drove off towards the meeting.
"... Avenge Jade," Victoria said, "I know you have it in you."
Auri Auclair.
Interactions:
Kari Wilson's House.
It was a beautiful day to trespass on private property!
Britney walked alongside a road, holding the Noble Vow in hand, wearing blue jeans, a white sweater, and some pink New Balance running shoes. It provided ample cover for the early November weather, which was beautiful as the winds barraged her and the leaves fell. Adora was right by her side, walking with her hands in her pockets. She wore grey Nike sweatpants and a hoodie with white Air Force 1s. She calmly walked through the woods without a fear in the world. It's been a good week since the Coven reconvened... and Auri asked that everyone meet at Kari Wilson's house; no meeting is excellent... straight to the point because if they sit around each other, they will devolve into bickering.
And Britney wasn't here for all this drama.
She sighed as they finally approached Kari's House. A picturesque two-story cabin with a fancy pathway straight to it... and to Britney's knowledge, Kari inherited the place from her grandparents. Lucky her. Auri was sitting at the first stair with the Butterfly staff in hand. Britney and Adora walked over - and the latter crossed her arms,
”... You know you shouldn't be by yourself,” Adora said.
"I know," Auri began. "I just wanted to be the first person here."
”I'm just saying... I don't want anything to happen to you, Auri...” Adora shrugged.
”So, why are we here?” Britney asked. ”We really shouldn't be here...”
"I'd like to share that with the group when more get here," Auri answered.
”Sure, but they should hurry up,” Britney sat down on a rock nearby and placed the Noble Vow across her lap, ”I know we're trying to catch a killer, but I really don't want to get arrested.”
She awkwardly laughed, ”So, let's hope they hurry up!”
However, someone walked up—a surprise: Drake Blackmore. Britney didn't think too highly of him, but maybe this could be an excellent night if he kept a lid on it. Interestingly, he had a bouquet in hand—red roses. That made Britney raise an eyebrow. She was going to bring it up, but Adora beat her to it.
”Oooooh, Blackmore,” Adora grinned, putting a hand on her hip. ”You tryna' get booed up?”
”... I have an apology to make,” Drake sighed.
”Fair, fair,” Adora grinned. ”Well, I hope your apology goes well for ya'.”
”... I hope so, too,” Drake shook his head, staring at the floor.
After this, more people gathered, and Auri stood up and announced, "Welcome... it's great to see you all; you all look lovely." She tried to sound chipper, but Britney saw through it; she was forcing herself.
”So, are you finally going to tell us why we're hanging out at some dead chick's house?” Drake raised an eyebrow at Auri as he crossed his arms, still holding his flowers.
"Well, to get to the point, the other day Adora and I our met with our resident necromancer Lyss to get some possible leads from Father Wolf's victims..."
”... Hmph,” Adora scowled.
"... We summoned the spirits of Ashley and Lionel, and everything seemed normal until we summoned the spirit of Kari Wilson. She didn't seem to know who we were, like it was a completely different person. Lyss said it wasn't our Kari, which is very strange. So... I figured that we'd look into Kari."
”Yeah, I was right there,” Adora confirmed. ”I'm wondering how the hell we got a different Kari...”
Britney held her tongue as it was explained. It was a simple but genius idea to summon Father Wolf's victims... yet they only summoned three? And Kari was the only one that didn't line up. Though, she couldn't hold her tongue any longer as she stood up to her feet and asked,
”How did Lyss know it was a different Kari?” Britney asked. ”It's also possible that Kari could have had her memories erased or stolen before she died - or that she was simply lying to you three.”
”Beats me,” Adora shrugged. ”I'm not the supernatural expert”
"If she was lying to us or had her memories tampered with," Auri began, "... Wouldn't that warrant suspicion?"
Good point, but... Britney thought to herself.
”Well, in that case,” Britney began. ”Have you thought to summon the Spirits of everyone else, then? What about, you know, her best friend, Elsa?” She raised an eyebrow.
"I have not..." Auri said.
Adora shrugged. ”... In my defense, I completely forgot about Elsa.”
Could Kari be the killer?
She didn't seem the type, yet Kari had all the tools to be Father Wolf: information. She could know all the perfect opportunities to strike and vanish without a trace. This could be why Father World never left a trace — Kari knew how to cover her tracks. Yet, Britney found it hard to believe a chubby four-eleven girl could be going around stabbing people to death without someone putting up a fight. She also knew that jumping to conclusions this early on was a dumb idea, but she also knew that someone was going to jump to that conclusion regardless of what logic Britney could present to them.
”Well, where is Lyss, then?” Britney asked, ”We can just... summon Kari again, and everyone else, and see if we can figure this out. I know where this is going, and lemme say that I do not want to break into somebody's house if I can help it.”
Auri awkwardly shuffled her feet.
"... Lyss was murdered by Father Wolf during the Halloween Festival."
VS 
VS 
