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At the same time, the group got a glimpse of what's in store for them in the near future in the mundane who was hopped up on super-charged Hyde.
Took a lot of cues from Simon R. Green's work here. The Hyde drug (and Martian Red Weed) are both from the Nightside books, as is the character of Harry Fabulous. Infact, I recently got back into the Secret Histories books so, yeah, expect to see more in the near future if only because the Nightside itself is such a damn cool concept.","writing":"Through the darkened forests the creature ran, tree branches getting knocked aside by the large bony objects growing from it's forehead, it's hooves clattering on the occasional stone as bitter tears ran down it's face. How dare he?! HOW DARE HE! This was HIS land! Those were HIS people! Yet against the invader's steel and their god's agents his followers were as nothing... cast aside and scattered, the men slaughtered and the women dragged away.\n\nWell, he'd gotten in a good few hits of his own. See how well that feathery bastard flies with his wing all twisted up. The creature's shining blood was still on his hands as he ran through the night, lit only by the moon above, trying to find safety, somewhere where it's friends couldn't follow...\n\n[i]He has wronged you too...[/i]\n\nThe voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once, the creature's hooves clattering and skidding to a halt on the forest floor as he looked around frantically for the source.\n\n[i]Who speaks? Show yourself! This is my land! Get out of the shadows where I can see you![/i]\n\nThere's a deep chuckle as the stars begin to dim, the moon growing dark above him.\n\n[i]It is not your land anymore. Your followers are gone, your temple has been put to the torch, all that is left for you is to flee to Shadow's Fall or fade away to nothing...[/i]\n\nThe creature snarls, a low feral animal sound, as it raises it's hands, then sighs and stomps it's hoof in frustration.\n\n[i]But WHY?! I had never heard of this Yahweh they spoke of! I know all the gods of the land! We have our agreements and our treaties! They stay to their places and I stay to mine![/i]\n\nThe voice replies in a low hissing sound, as if it were some great serpent, or perhaps a hiding dragon...\n\n[i]It is their god's nature. He was once one I respected, lord of the Hebrews, but a splinter of him broke off and swelled and became something far far worse. I tried to stop this, and for my rebellion I was cast down... He now hungers for power, for all the world to become his and praise only his name. He will tolerate no other gods. He has already turned on those who worship the being he came from, he will turn on any who defy him.[/i]\n\nThe creature snorts, a loud wet sound like a warthog or buck might make.\n\n[i]Oh? And I suppose he sent you to finish the job of those shining men huh? Well come for me! I will show you how hard my hooves are, how sharp my antlers! This is still my land and I still have power here![/i]\n\nThe voice hisses, and two blazing red holes appear in the sky over the creature. It takes him a moment to realize that they're not holes, but great eyes.\n\n[i]I had something else in mind...[/i]\n\nHe sees the being's plans, he sees how he can become an instrument to fight the god that robbed him of everything, and like a wounded and desperate wolf he lets out a low snarl.\n\n[i]I accept.[/i]\n\nNelen coughs, then sits up on the couch in the hotel room before wincing and rubbing his stomach. He had to punch himself pretty hard to knock himself out so that Merihim couldn't force him to flee New Orleans... \"Guh...\" he grumbles as he sits up, one bandaged hand groping around for his glasses. He can't remember coming back here, so he assumes that the others must have carried him. \"Anyone there?\" he coughs, it hurts to move his stomach right now.\n\nDrusilla blinks a bit as Nelen wakes up, the Cyclops girl sitting on a nearby chair by the sofa. \"Oh good you're awake. I was worried you'd be out all day…” she looks him over as she stands slowly. \"You alright? You were freaking out pretty bad back there, none of us have ever seen both you and the demon messed up like that...\"\n\nNelen winces, glancing upwards, but it seems that Merihim is off sulking in some part of his psyche. \"Well, we just found out the guy we've been trying to avoid is not only in New Orleans, but may well know we're here too... so yeah, bit of a downer.\" he replies, sighing as he leans back and lifts his shirt, a large purple fist-shaped bruise visible against the scars that criss-cross his stomach, \"That's gonna suck for a while.\" he sighs, pulling his shirt back down, \"I miss anything while I was out?\" he asks.\n\nDawn appears sitting crosslegged on the ceiling, \"Eh, Simoni had a bit of a freakout after seeing Merhim involved in wholesale slaughter, but she's calmed down now. Nessa and Alice are out playing 'representatives of Rajesh' so that they can get them withdrawn from school. Good thing they had those other explosions, gives her a good excuse to do it.\" she smirks, picturing the headmaster's reaction to finding out he won't be getting the sizeable donation and, perhaps, a strongly worded letter to the tune of 'I didn't send my daughters to your school so they could get incinerated!'. It probably wouldn't actually be from Rajesh, but hopefully it'd make him too nervous to question it. \"She's still pretty upset over what happened though. The fae took her, fire monkey, and Count von Count out on the town for a while, see if they can't get her over it and maybe dig up some hints on what's going on.\" she grins, then jumps off, flips in midair, and lands on the floor standing upright as Nelen tries to get up, the sun having already set some time ago.\n\n\"Oh for, did anyone go WITH them?\" he asks, \"I don't want those kids stuck out there without someone backing them up if Al's lurking around the damn city!\" he growls, taking a step forward and then stumbling and catching himself on the TV stand. He'd put all his Fullmoon strength and a good bit of Merihim's own power into that punch...\n\nDrusilla sighs softly, shaking her head and grabbing Nelen's arm, guiding him back to the sofa. \"It's fine, you know those kids hardly need babysitters, they know to run if something bad goes down.\" she frowns again, shaking her head. \"So, tell me about Al, how bad is it?\"\n\nNelen struggles to his feet, then falls back onto the couch as he gives up trying to get to the door, \"In a word: Fucked. Al isn't as powerful as someone like Mammon, but he's damn close to it and a lot more powerful than anyone we've got on our side. Unless the girls can pull another god out of their asses we're in deep, deep trouble.\" he replies as Dawn mrowls and nods.\n\n\"I met him a few times. He's actually the one who taught me how to turn half human like this, its not something Cheshires are born with y'see.\" she adds, \"He's good at hiding it and appearing as just an ordinary human or a really old wizard, but I got a whiff of his real power once and...\" she shakes her head, her tail fluffing out at the memory, \"I'm crazy, but I ain't [i]that[/i] crazy. I'm not thrilled about this either blinky.\" she mewls, her ears folding back.\n\nThe cyclops frowned softly at that. \"What does he want, though? You said he was your teacher, aren't all the infernal things on the same side in general at the very least?\" she asks as she tosses Nelen a bottle of water, clearly still used to dealing with divine things like the Greeks and all.\n\nHe catches it and gulps down half of it in one go, \"Theoretically, yes. In truth, the seven courts of Hell are always in conflict, except for the Court of Pride because it scares the piss out of the other six since it's the one Lucifer is directly in charge of. Usually it's three against three. Wrath, Lust, and Envy tend to get along okay but can't stand Sloth, Gluttony, and Greed. Working theory is that those guys like each other because they tend to be tied into one causing the other two in mortals.\" he shrugs, \"But when the Pride demons march through Pandemonium all the other six get the hell out of the way.\" he sighs.\n\n\"I mean, its Hell, its not fun for [i]anyone[/i] there including the demons themselves, but they always know how to make it worse.\" he frowns, gazing up at the ceiling. There's something else, but he's sure as hell not saying it now. It's about the price he and Al agreed on for certain favors...\n\nMeanwhile, a few miles up the road, Arja burps softly as she pushes her third plate away from in front of her, the waitress assigned to their section rather hurriedly clearing the empties from the table. Arja had taken Simoni and the rest out to 'cheer up' after a rather rough bit of information, and with Arja 'cheering up' tended to mean drinking, fighting, or eating. Thankfully she didn't try to sneak them into a club, or start a random fight in the street, instead she took Sammi's suggestion and found a nice cafe with outdoor seating a nice deep menu... Sammi was still rather delicately finishing off his seafood platter, and Natasha was frowning rather unamused at Arja's choice of location. The cafe was an old building, playing up traditional gothic styles. It wasn't full on 'voodoo tourist trap' but the menu was dotted with items like 'voodoo cocktails', or the untouched plate of 'vampire repellent' that Sammi had ordered her, a seafood pasta dish in a garlic sauce with breadstick 'stakes'...\n\n\"Oh come on, it's funny,\" Sammi says as he spears one of the shrimp on Natasha's plate...\n\nSimoni rolls her eyes at Sammi, picking at her own Cajun Chicken platter as Stephy drank from his 'Junior Margarita' (special for kids, fruity and tasty but totally non-alcoholic). \"Yeah yeah, real side splitter Sammi...\" she sighs, still in the dumps. Hearing about some of the darker parts of American History are one thing, actually seeing it and knowing someone... well, something you knew was involved was another.\n\nStephy frowns himself, as if his drink has suddenly turned sour on him. \"Arja, can you take her in the girl's room and jill her off or something? I mean, I can taste that y'know.\" he pouts, the bitter tang of depression filling his faerie senses, then yelps as Simoni gives him a kick under the table before passing another bit of her chicken to Dusk, who popped out of her shirt collar long enough to nab it before ducking back down. The restaurant had a strict 'service animals only' rule, but kids who regularly break the laws of nature aren't too concerned about small potatoes rules like that one.\n\nArja smirks, lightly kicking Stephy as well, \"Oh shush, it's hard for her. As shitty as he is Nelen's little rider is part of him. Seeing that, even as the whole demon of hell thing, involved in something so fucked up can be rough.\" she smiles sympathetically, leaning over to pat Simoni's back. \"It's ok. Nelen's good at keeping him on his leash.\" she snorts softly, \"It's kinda karma, after all that crap he's stuck in the body of a guy who uses him for good.\" \n\nSammi just nods, stealing one of Natasha's 'stakes' and chewing on it \"Hah, garlic bread too…\" he grins, getting a kick of his own from Natasha, \"Ow! Shit you're wearing boots…\" he huffs as he bites into the bread.\n\n\"Things are... often complex,\" Natasha offers Simoni as Sammi rubs his sore leg. \"I mean, I'm your friend, you know I care for you, but I've done things in the past humans consider quite 'dark' as well. When you live in the shadows you can't be offended by darkness, simply seek to be better than it.\"\n\nSimoni nods, \"I just thought, I dunno... Merihim was twisted in his own way, but even when he was at his worst he was still fighting something just as bad like Uncle Robert's ghost or those Naga that attacked the temple or something. But those were just people, they had a hard enough time defending themselves from other mundanes.\" she sighs, \"I just... I need some time to process this.\" she frowns, then sits up as a gigantic crash comes from behind them, a car flying end over end down the street to land in a twisted heap, spinning gently on its roof. Her eye twitches, \"I said I NEED SOME TIME dammit!\" she snaps, getting up and looking towards where the car came from.\n\nDown the path is a lone figure, a man half hunched over yet positively trembling with energy as he lurches up the road towards where the car landed. As he draws near Sammi and Stephy are all but knocked out of their seats by the overwhelming stench coming off him, but it's not a physical smell... its emotion. He's snarling and growling under his breath as he heads closer to it and the kids see inside of it a man and a woman trying to crawl out the windows, the pair of them bleeding badly from the injuries where the glass in the car's windows shattered and the vehicle bounced along the road.\n\nArja leaps up to her feet as Sammi is nearly bowled over by the surge of emotion, the fae breathing raggedly as he tries to compose himself. \"Holy shit!\" he exclaims, groaning \"I've never felt this much pure... feeling... coming off a mortal...\" he shudders, actually feeling his nose bleed from the strain of 'filtering' all that energy. \n\n\"There's no way that's a mortal…\" Arja growls, leaping over the fence of the cafe, charging at the man to try to distract him from the helpless couple.\n\nNatasha nods as well, getting to her feet and following more slowly behind, moving to the car to try to get the people out of it as Arja works.\n\nSimoni looks around, then looks down into her shirt and pulls out Dusk by the scruff of his neck, \"Not supposed to do this, but its an emergency. Get those two in the car outta here!\" she nods to the small kitten and then points at the two. Dusk grins and raises a paw to his forehead in salute, \"Gimme a boost bird?\" he replies as she pulls her arm back and whistles up a gale behind her, tossing the cat overhand like a pitcher, \"Cheshire! I choose you!\"\n\nDusk yowls as he's picked up by the wind and set flying towards the car, landing on one of the tires and almost falling off before quickly running down the side and crawling into it, he touches his back paw to one and his front paw to the other and reality has a little hiccup, and suddenly the lurching creature pauses, confused as he notices he's heading towards an empty car... right before he's hit in the gut with a cannonball made of wind and realizes that, despite the warm Louisiana night, the ground under him has suddenly frozen over. He lets out a roar as he topples backwards, the ice cracking all along the surface as he lands on it.\n\nArja leaps onto the attacker as he's caught off guard, Sammi composing himself enough to work with his brother, the ice shifting into chains around the creature to hold him down as Arja growls angrily. \"Who are you?\" She snarls, looking him over for any signs of familiar traits. Natasha just frowns, nostrils flaring as she gets closer to the figure, feeling something odd about him...\n\nThere's something odd... something extremely odd indeed! Arja was wrong, he [i]is[/i] a mundane! There's not a whiff of anything but human anywhere on him, and yet... he's practically crackling with envious emotions! Sammi and Stephy get flashes of 'working at a soul-crushing minimum wage job for years' despair, a burst of depression to the tune of 'dumped three times for someone with more money', but it’s all muted under the horrendous waves of envy coming off him, the surges smelling like a chemical sewer to the fae boys... and then Natasha notices the other stenches. A rotten, contaminated smell that suggests horribly polluted blood and the telltale marks of needles on his inner arms. He's human, but he's a junkie and given the state of him he must be on some serious shit.\n\nSimoni looks around, then down at him, \"Guys, we should probably get this sorted out fast unless we wanna wind up all over twitter.\" she nods. She'd tried to whip up enough of a gale that anyone holding a phone would get it blown out of their hands, but that'll only stop them for so long...\n\nArja nods, punching the man right in the face to knock him out as she grabs him. \"Come on, he's on something and it's not normal, we need to get him somewhere quiet to figure this out.\" she says as Natasha nods, leaning forward to sniff him again. \n\n\"His blood is tainted for sure...\" she comments as Sammi nods, waving his hand to make the ice fade away. \n\n\"He's... jealous too... it's like someone turned the envy up to a million in his brain.\" he adds as the girls move to drag him down a nearby dark alley.\n\nAs they pull him in he suddenly starts roaring and thrashing about again, showing off the same incredible strength that let him throw a Chrysler like it was a tennis ball. Arja is one of the strongest of their group, but all she managed to do is stun him! He sits up quickly and grabs her by the head, tossing her over his shoulder as carelessly as someone throwing an empty soda can, then shoves Natasha to the side, \"Where is he?! Fucker thinks he's better'n me just 'cause he works for Apple?! I'll show 'im! I'll tear his fucking spine out! See his money fix that!\" he barks, frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal as he starts to run down the alleyway, seeking out the object of his ire.\n\nSimoni manages to whistle up a wind cushion for Arja to land on, but by the time they regroup he's vanished into the alleys behind the buildings, the young garuda leaning against a wall as her formerly depressed state is all but forgotten. \"What the HELL was he on?!\" she asks, looking at Sammi and Natasha. The vampire might recognize it if it's something injected into a vein and Sammi might because, well, he's Sammi... but Stephy seems to be rather green with something that isn't envy himself, the feminine fairy boy using a nearby trashcan to get sick in as he's overwhelmed by the dregs of the emotional overload.\n\nSammi whines, rubbing his head, \"It's something emotional, he's got just... pure envy shooting out of every pore... There are things in Arcadia that can do stuff like that but stuff this strong would be rare even for someone like me to get, let alone waste on shooting up some random mortal with it...\" He sighs, patting Stephy's back, \"Let it all out little brother...\"\n\nArja just huffs as she stands up, dusting herself off, \"Well lovely, so what, rogue changeling?\" she offers, making Sammi just shrug. \n\nNatasha shakes her head at that. \"No, this was injected in him, it wasn't magic, or at least it wasn't magic to get it in him...\"\n\nStephy coughs a few times, wiping his mouth as he stands up and shudders, \"We should head back, see if Nelen is awake yet.\" he nods, \"He's been around more than any of us. Maybe he'll have an idea as to what the heck was going on with him.\" he suggests, still a bit queasy looking.\n\nSimoni looks bothered by that, but gives a grudging nod. Its not like any of them are specialists when it comes to potentially supernatural dru... she glances at Arja and Sammi... well, its not like any of them seem to know what that was.\n\nArja nods, \"Yeah, let's head back, I've got nothing here.\" she agrees as Sammi lets out a sigh.\n\n\"I'd like to get my hands on whatever that is, could super charge our entire holding with that stuff...\" he muses, the idea of a potent source of glamour intriguing him, even if it screws up a mortal good and proper. But then, the fair folk aren’t known for their compassion.\n\nStephy shakes his head, \"I don't think so... couldn't you tell how off it tasted?\" he asks as the group heads back out of the alleyway and carefully away from the wreck as police sirens draw near. \"It was... wrong... artificial almost, but also really badly tainted too.\" he nods. \"Doubt we'd get anything out of it besides a really nasty headache.\" he frowns, looking back over his shoulder at the mess the drugged up mundane left.\n\nSammi nods, \"Yeah, maybe we could spruce it up though…\" he chuckles, rubbing his head still just a bit as the last of that surge leaves him.\n\nAs they walk Dusk appears on Simoni's shoulder, curling up there, \"Humans got away.\" he grins, \"Dropped 'em infront of some big flashy building and they ran like scared mice.\" he adds, his tail swishing as Simoni reaches up and rubs his ear, promising him sardines for his trouble.\n\nEventually they reach the hotel and, after a short ride up, they enter the suite. Nelen is laying on the bed next to Drusilla with a plastic shopping bag full of hotel ice pressed to the large bruise on his stomach, his shirt gone to show all the scars and marks on his torso as he tries not to think about the new one. Dawn is sitting on the floor, watching a local news report showing the front of a very familiar looking voodoo themed restaurant with an upside down car infront of it and snacking on Whiskas Cat Treats like they're popcorn. Nelen looks up as they enter, points to the TV, and simply grunts, \"Well?\"\n\n\nArja just grins a bit as they walk in to the news already on. \"If it helps we didn't start it this time. Some guy came out of nowhere flipping a car around.\" \n\nNatasha nods along at that \"It was a mundane.\" she adds. \"He was injected with something in his blood, the fae say it was some kind of crazy powerful artificial emotion.\" \n\n\"Envy,\" Sammi adds, thinking it important to stress that. \"Like, I get trying to hulk someone up with rage, or selling black-market joy, but who makes 'envy'? What good does that do?\"\n\nNelen nods, then pauses as he hears Sammi mention 'envy', glancing at Drusilla, \"So... he stank of envy, he was super strong, and it was some sort of drug...\" he scratches at his beard, \"Hrm... definitely not something normal, could be a lot of shit. Doctor Delerium was experimenting with something similar, but last I heard he's still in South America trying to get together another private army. Its definitely not The Chemist, he'd have dumped a few hundred gallons into the local water supply, not just shot up one crackhead...\" he frowns.\n\nDawn looks up at him and asks, “What about that one guy from Wyoming? The one with the syringes for fingertips?” she asks.\n\nNelen shakes his head, “Nah, last I heard a Drood caught up with him, tore his fingers right off and nailed him to a wall.” he replies.\n\n“Good, that guy was a freak.” she nods, going back to her kitty treats.\n\nNelen smirks, then glances towards the kids, looking at Natasha in particular, \"Don't suppose you managed to bleed him at all did you?\" he asks her, \"If I had a sample I might be able to get Merihim to tell me what it is.\"\n\nNatasha shrugs a bit before blinking, flaring her nostrils and looking at Arja.\n\n\"Eh?\" The monkey girl says, Natasha grabbing her hand and lifting it up. The knuckles where she slugged the guy had blood on them. Not a lot of blood, but more than anyone else got! \n\n\"I thought you smelled funny...\" she comments, Sammi smirking a bit as he goes to the minibar to wash the taste of synthetic emotion out of his mouth. \"More than usual?\" he mutters.\n\nSimoni casually elbows him in the side as Nelen looks at Arja's hand, then nods and holds out his own towards it and... nothing. He blinks, then tries again, then frowns and smacks the side of his head firmly, \"WAKE UP ASSHOLE!\" he snaps as his eyes go red around the rims and he grumbles in another voice. \n\n\"Still suicidial Fullmoon? Fuck you [i]and[/i] your friends [i]and[/i] your stupid voodoo plan. I'm going to hibernate, all the damn way, until we're back in India.\" sneers Merihim as Nelen shakes his head. \n\n\"Dammit Merihim, throw a temper tantrum on your own time. We've got some joker running around town who's practically pissing envy out his eyeballs and Arja got some of his blood on her knuckles. You know what I need you to do.\" he retorts.\n\nHis eyes go bloodshot in an instant, \"I KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT YOU NEED AND YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT ON YOUR OWN!\" snaps Merihim, \"Until we're WELL away from Al's little project I. AM. ON. STRIKE!\" he snarls, and then Nelen shudders as his eyes go back to normal, the blood mage flexing his hand repeatedly before cursing under his breath.\n\n\"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He's serious. My magic isn't working.\" he frowns, shaking both hands as if trying to coax even a drop of blood out of them. \"This is really bad...\"\n\nArja sighs, \"Wow, for a badass demon he sure is a little bitch...\" she sighs, shaking her head \"Lara's in India. Nessa's a different kind of blood mage, unless we want to sacrifice him to the sun we can't do much there with here...\"\n\nNatasha frowns, but nods, \"Well, I could taste it. I've been around long enough to have a pretty good tongue. I can't exactly be a hunting hound with him, but I can taste to see if he tastes like anything odd enough to be unique.\"\n\nArja shrugs, raising her hand at that. \"It's your body, if it starts reacting weird tell us and we'll help you out as best we can.\" Natasha simply nods, leaning in to lap the still damp blood off of Arja...\n\nSimoni watches, then suddenly gets a chill up her spine, \"Natasha, wait!\" she shouts, grabbing her before she can, \"That's probably a really bad idea.\" she nods firmly, \"We saw a mundane on this stuff throw a car across a street... I don't think I [i]want[/i] to know what it'd do to a vampire.\" she looks at her brother, \"Is there ANY other way we can figure it out without Merihim? Anything?\" she asks. \n\nNelen sighs, leaning back and thinking. \"Hm...\" he frowns, then glances at Drusilla, \"Hon, pass me my phone please.\"\n\nNatasha huffs a bit as she's yanked away from the blood, \"I'm sure I'll be fine... but fine if you're that worried…\" she mutters. Drusilla just nods, tossing Nelen his phone over. \"Well I hope this idea works, otherwise we're gonna have to get Nessa to do the magic version of poking around at a thing with a stick until something explodes...\"\n\nHe takes his phone and brings up his call list, \"Hope Rajesh doesn't mind a really long and odd distances call on the bill...\" he mutters as he presses a button, then switches on speaker phone. The phone rings several times, then the other end picks up.\n\n\"Who the hell are you and how did you get this number?\" asks a rather sullen and angsty sounding voice with a British accent. In the background there's the sound of glasses moving around and conversation, as well as some truly awful music.\n\n\"Alex.\" sighs Nelen, \"Tell me you did not let Leo Godsdamn Morn talk you into letting him play at Strangefellows again...\" he rolls his eyes as, in the background of the call, a guitar strikes a chord that has Dawn, Dusk, and both the fae wincing and covering their ears.\n\n\"Ohforfuck's... I owed him a favor okay? Now what the hell do you want Fullmoon? You're still banned!\" he snaps. Alex Morressy, the owner of the self-proclaimed Oldest Bar in the World and final resting place of Merlin Satinspawn, and who apparently still held a grudge against Nelen for summoning said entity last time he visited the Nightside.\n\n\"Look, I need to talk to someone. Either put them on or tell me where they are and I'm out of your hair. Is Harry Fabulous around?\" he asks.\n\n\"The hell do you want with that degenerate? Is shooting crack up your cock not cutting it anymore?\" he sneers, \"Yeah hang on, he's over here.\" he holds the phone away, \"HEY FABULOUS! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! PHONE!\" he hollers, then there's the sound of people moving around again for several minutes.\n\nSammi blinks \"I've heard that name before...\" Arja opens her mouth to make one of the thousands of jokes that rushed to mind before Sammi raised his hand not holding overpriced sparkling water to flip her off. \"Doesn't he work for some magical gossip rag?\"\n\nNelen shrugs, \"He used to, until the Unnatural Inquirer decided he was bringing down the tone of their product too much and fired him. These days he's a dealer.\" he replies as the phone is handed over on the other end and a cheerful voice that has 'used car salesman from your worst nightmares' written all over it speaks.\n\n\"Hello hello [i]hello[/i]! Harry Fabulous, purveyor of fine goods and exotic delights! How [i]can[/i] I help you?\" it asks, the voice almost subliminally underwitten with 'give me your money' over and over on repeat. Walmart could learn a thing or two from this guy.\n\n\"Not looking to buy Harry. Look, I'm in New Orleans and my friends just had a run in with something that has 'supernatural bullshit' written all over it. If it's some sort of magic drug or superscience compound then it's gotta be in the Nightside. If we describe what it did can you tell us what it was?\" he asks.\n\n\"Now Nelen m’boy, I don't give handouts. I'm a [i]businessman[/i] remember? How about you place an order for some red martian weed? I just got in some lovely new samples, oh, and I got a fresh shipment of-\" he starts, but Nelen cuts him off.\n\n\"You'll tell us because I know why the air vents at the Mammon Emporium started spitting out blood and scarab beetles back in June of oh eight and I've got John Taylor on speed dial.\" he replies with a smirk.\n\nThere's a sniff from the other line as Harry replies, \"Bully, just like you Fullmoons to harrass someone who's just trying to make a living...\" he replies.\n\n\"Tell that to Djoser, I'm sure he considered it harrassment when you pawned what you found in his tomb.\" he smirks, \"Alright you guys, tell Harry what happened.\" he nods, holding the phone out by Arja and the others.\n\nArja smirks just a bit at the conversation. \"We're in New Orleans, some guy, totally mortal, starts throwing a car around. We have a couple fae with us and they both said he was pretty much brimming with fake envy emotions, nearly knocked one of them out and sent the other one hurling because I guess processed emotions give them a tummy ache.\" \n\nSammi huffs at that loudly. \"Oh, yea, just eat generic brand bologna all your life and never go for a fresh cooked ham I guess!\"\n\n\"ANYWAY!\" Arja continues, \"He ran off still all hopped on it. The guy was apparently already an addict so this stuff was probably injected, he may not have even known what it was. You know who'd be selling bootleg emotions in the gulf coast?\"\n\nThere's silence as Harry seems to consider it, \"Hm... doesn't sound like any fae emotional drugs I've ever heard of... and those don't usually turn you into the Incredible Hulk.\" he comments, \"What did his face look like? Was he acting strangely besides superhuman strength and an overabundance of negative emotions?\" he asks.\n\nSimoni nods, \"He was foaming at the mouth pretty badly, and his eyes were all red.\" she comments.\n\n\"Hm... could be a lot of things, could be more than one honestly. He could be mixing some super steroid with a fae drug, or freebasing something that's out of fashion right now...\" he replies, then mutters a bit and falls silent, \"... that... envy your fair folk friends sensed, you said it felt... artificial... did they feel any other emotions underlying it?\" he asks.\n\nSammi thinks on that. \"It felt...organic? Like, it was a fake emotion but it came from a real place. Like, he was bitter about his job, mad about women leaving him for guys he thought were 'better off', that kinda stuff, they all blended in the envy together...\"\n\nThere's a laugh from the other side and the sound of fingers snapping, \"I know [i]precisely[/i] what that is! Your superpowered mundane was completely off his tits on Hyde! I'm sure of it!\" he replies in a triumphant voice, \"Though... an entire car. Hyde does make them stronger, but its really more of a sudden adrenaline rush than anything like actual increased muscle mas-\" he starts as Nelen grimaces.\n\n\"Right, I can take it from here. Thanks Harry. I'll call again if I need to blackmail more information out of you.\" he nods, hanging up the phone. \"Hyde, well shit that would do it...\" he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes, \"Fine time for Merihim to get his infernal panties in a bunch...\"\n\nSammi thinks on that \"Hyde... I've heard that name a few times but never really looked at it, lemmie guess, boosts all your bad side and hulks it up?\"\n\nNelen nods, \"More or less. Think of it like this: Everyone has a vice that's inherent to them. Wrath, Envy, Pride, whatever... Hyde is just what it sounds like, its a modernized version of Doctor Jekyll's old potion, just souped up and produced for sale to people who think smoking meth is too wussy. Hyde finds whatever your vice is, turns the knob for it as high as it'll go, then rips it off.\" he explains, \"But Harry is right, superhuman strength isn't part of the deal. The original Hyde was stronger than Jekyll, but that wasn't anything physical, Hyde just didn't have any scruples and wouldn't hold back in a fight like the Doctor might have. Sounds like someone's making an enhanced batch and it's made it's way to New Orleans.\"\n\nArja nods, \"Well there can't be that many people making evil potions in town, well, REAL ones at least... So, where should we look?\"\n\nNelen shrugs, \"Thats the catch. It doesn't necessarily have to be made in New Orleans if they're in syringes. If they found a way to preserve it they could be making it in upstate Georgia for all we know.\" he frowns, \"... and I'm no use right now. This black mark on my gut is bad enough, but if Merihim is really serious about shutting off my powers then there's not a whole lot I can do here.\" he leans back on the bed and presses the ice pack back to the large purple bruise on his middle, letting out a hiss through his teeth as it ices down the sore spot.\n\nStephy thinks, then nods, \"Well, I guess we have a couple options. We know he works retail, so we can try looking around anywhere that has guys like him and see if we can't figure out if they've got someone who likes to stick needles in themselves and has been missing work. Otherwise, I guess wait until another Hyde junkie starts causing trouble.\" he suggests.\n\n\"Probably not a good idea...\" interjects Nelen, \"Hyde is nasty stuff. I mean this guy did that because he was full of envy. Think for a moment what someone who's getting a huge blast of, say, lust might do.\" he nods grimly as Simoni and Stephy picture that, then cringe.\n\nSammi thinks on that \"Well, like Stephy said we know where they work...we could just send someone in, have them act like their fiending or something, see if they can't get the right kind of attention? This guy is probably targeting very specific kinds of people, people with vices that can be exploited and all, all we need to do is just stick to a good script and bait a hook...\"\n\nSimoni tilts her head, then pulls out her phone and does a quick google search before frowning at Sammi, \"Y'know, it really makes the Mundanes suspicious when a kid our age knows what words like THAT mean.\" she huffs, then looks at Nelen, \"What do you think?\"\n\n\"Its possible...\" he replies, \"But really, anyone is a good target for Hyde. Like I said, everyone has SOME kind of vice. Its part of being human...\" he looks at Arja and Drusilla, \"Well... a sentient creature.\" he corrects, \"Point is, he could be shooting coke bottles full of the stuff and get the same effects no matter who drinks it. Only difference is what emotion goes haywire.\" he nods, then thinks, \"... unless... this might be a test. Maybe... maybe the drug isn't finished yet. Harry said that it sounded off from how Hyde usually works. Maybe whoever is making this stuff is still experimenting with it, and this guy got his hands on a test batch or got sold some without being told what it really is.\" he nods, \"If we find him again, we might be able to track down whoever sold it to him!\"\n\nArja nods, \"That would make sense. Natasha said his blood already smelled off to begin with, this could just be a junkie who found something weird in a needle and shot himself up assuming it'd work...\"\n\nSammi sighs, but nods, \"Well, Stephy and I can help search, I'm sure that guy still is a nuclear ground zero of synthetic emotion, get us near him and we can pinpoint him for you...\" he smirks, slapping Stephy's chest playfully \"You were bitching about Simoni's pouting ruining your meal, now we gotta shove our heads in a dumpster to help out, see what happens when you complain?\"\n\nStephy smacks him right back, \"Whatever. Lemme change into something easier to fly in and we can see if we can't spot him from the air.\" he replies heading back to the hotel room that he's sharing with Trixie, who had stayed behind to help keep Patli distracted so she wouldn't... well... be Patli at everything, \"Hey hon, things got weird aga- EEP!\" he yelps as he's suddenly pulled into his room by his shirt and the door slams shut.\n\nSimoni watches and sighs, \"Well, he's gonna be a while.\" she sighs, flopping onto the bed as Dusk hops off her shoulder and pokes at her cheek, \"Sardiiiiiiiiiiines...\" he mewls. \"You promiiiiiiised...\"\n\nArja smirks, \"Might as well feed the cat while Stephy gets... changed.\" she giggles, patting Dusk's head \"Yes and Dusk was very good helping out, he got the guy's target out of the car... wait... oh FUCK!\" she exclaims, looking to Simoni. \"This guy wasn't just hulking out, he was ranting about how he was gonna 'kill that guy' and all. He has a TARGET.\"\n\nSimoni sits up, then winces, \"Um... if he has half a brain he's probably left town or is hiding out somewhere by now. I mean, some guy threw my car across a four lane street, I'd go visit my aunt in Nova Scotia, right?\" she suggests.\n\nNelen tries to sit up, then falls back down and curses, \"Owowowow... dammit why did I hit myself that hard.\" he gasps, then frowns, \"No. No he wouldn't. He'd think that the guy got arrested, or that he'd give up, or that something [i]sane[/i] would happen and it'd all be over. He probably went straight back home after that.\" he replies, \"If that junkie knows where he lives he's probably on his way right now to kick the damn door in, followed by his teeth.\" he sighs, \"Seen it happen so damn many times, you think these idiots never saw any horror movies.\" he grumbles and tries to sit up again, then flops back down after another spasm, \"Fucking hell, Drusilla is this what every day is like for you?\" he asks.\n\nSimoni looks over at the door to Stephy and Trixie's room. There's a lot of thumping and a painting falls off the wall outside of it, the frame crashing to the floor. \"... yeah, not interrupting that. Dawn, get the window.\" she nods, kicking off her shoes and rolling up the sleeves on her teeshirt. \"If we're lucky we can spot him from the air.\"\n\nDrusilla simply smirks at Nelen, nodding a bit. \"Mhm, you better be glad you only have to deal with that a couple days.\" She teases as Sammi nods. \n\n\"I'll go with you and be the emotion sniffer, let Stephy have his... well I can't really call that REST...\" he sniggers.\n\nSimoni nods, \"Somehow I get the idea that it's more for Trixie than him... guess Patli must've gotten into the sugar or something.\" she nods, then blinks, \"Wait... where is she?\" she asks the group turning to face Stephy's door as, outside, a green haired streak zips past along the rooftops opposite shouting 'I'm Sonic the Fucking Hedgehog!', though none of them hear it. \"Eh...\" shrugs Simoni, \"She's probably fine. Arja, climb on!\" she nods, turning back to the window and stretching her arms out as feathers begin to sprout along them.\n\nArja nods, hopping onto Simoni's back as Sammi looks out the window. \"Can you carry me too, birdy? I'll be better fae radar in the air with you two.\"\n\nSimoni nods, then lets out an oofing sound as Sammi climbs on next to Arja, \"I think so.\" she replies, two were a bit tricky, but she'd managed it with Drusilla and Arja before and Sammi wasn't even half Drusilla's size. She spreads her wings, then whistles and dives out the window, the wind catching her midway down as she arcs up, trying to gain as much altitude so she could see as far as she could and, more importantly, stay out of camera range of most smartphones. \"Sense anything?\" she asks Sammi.\n\nSammi takes in a breath, focusing on the emotions of the people around him. People often confuse glamour for some kind of psychic thing. Really emotions were like a faint mist that covered the world, constantly swirling and shifting, growing thicker and thinner. Glamour was just the art of tapping into that mist for fuel. This guy's 'mist' should be pretty damn distinct. New Orleans was an 'emotional' city, but a big mobile source of envy in a crowd of 'happy' or 'pissed off at my boyfriend' or whatever should stand out...\n\nSimoni circles around, letting Sammi smell as much as he could, but most of it was standard city fare. A bunch of wild excitement from a party here, a big burst of panic from a car wreck at a busy intersection, some small bits of anger from a fight in a bar parking lot... and then suddenly a wave of nausea almost sent Sammi off Simoni's back as he gets a huge burst of the toxic-waste stink of the artifically enhanced envy coming from the Hyde-junkie.\n\nSammi shakes a bit, choking his bile back down. \"Yep, there we go!\" he gasps, pointing down in the direction of the feeling. \"He's right down there!\"\n\nSimoni nods and arcs into a dive, swooping down towards the direction Sammi pointed in, and as they draw close a loud crash rips through the night air along with a sound like an oxen bellowing in distress. Upon closer inspection they find it's their target, but he's even more twisted than before! His eyes are glowing with a sickly green glow, his body swollen with extra muscle, and his teeth having grown longer and sharper. He's tearing apart the front of a small two story house, a pair of terrified voices coming from inside. \"Good gods...\" mutters Simoni, \"Well, I was gonna say we should go back and get the others, but the way things are going it'll be on the news soon enough.\" she nods, landing nearby and letting them off her back, \"What are we gonna do? I can't carry someone adult-sized, nevermind two of them!\" she nods frantically.\n\nArja frowns, \"Well... I'm pretty sure you know what we're gonna do...\" she replies, nodding to Simoni \"You and me hold this guy back. Sammi, hedge portal?\" \n\nThe fae nods, \"Trust me this will be low on the weirdness scale for them today.” he replies.\n\nArja just nods in response, motioning for Simoni to follow as she runs at the creature, forming a ball of fire in her hand and throwing it at his back. \"Hey ugly! I got multiple credit cards with limits bigger than any money you've ever had in your life and I'm just a little girl! How's that make you feel?\"\n\nThe creature snarls as the flames burst along it's back... yet they don't even scorch it, the monster turning to face her as it reaches for Arja with arms longer than any human body should ever have. Whatever the enhanced Hyde is doing, this thing is barely human anymore! It's eyes are still vulnerable though as Simoni swoops down from the sky with an eagle-like shriek and points her talons right at it's face, clawing and tearing with reckless abandon before whistling sharply and spreading her wings, a sudden burst of air coming from behind the monster and pushing her away before it can get it's bearings.\n\nSimoni eeps as the creature's arm just barely misses her, one of it's eyes gouged out but the other still glaring around as it focuses on Arja...\n\nArja grins as she looks up to see Sammi vanishing. \"Yeah, come on big boy…\" she taunts, motioning at him to come at her as her iron claws slowly extend from her fingertips. \"I'm better off, more powerful, and way cuter than you'll ever be, bet that really pisses you off huh?\" she grins, it had been a while since she had a proper fight with something powerful.\n\nMeanwhile Sammi appears in the house, motioning for the others inside to come along with him. He wanted to get a good bit of distance from this thing, figuring the best place was the hotel, no way this guy would think of that.\n\nThe creature snarls, then pauses and turns back towards the house, sniffing at the air before letting out a loud roar. He can't see inside but he somehow KNOWS his prey is escaping! It turns back to Arja and lashes out harshly with one of it's massive hands, catching her across the jaw and sending her sprawling, then prepares to break down the front wall when suddenly...\n\n\"HEY OOGLY! UP HERE YA BLOODY GREAT LUMP!\" shouts a loud feminine sounding voice. The creature's head snaps up as a shadow jumps down from a nearby roof, a long shining blade glinting in the moonlight. It reaches up but the person twists in midair and points the blade down, the metal sinking harshly into the monster's shoulder as it lets out a furious roar, the swordswoman jumping back and landing on the pavement, then getting to her feet and pulling a hunting knife off her boot. \"Och, ya dinnae like that did ye?\" she grins, her bright green eyes shining mischeviously and her flaming red hair fluttering around her head in the breeze.\n\nShe's wearing a short mail jacket over a bright green teeshirt, a pair of black leather pants over her legs and matching leather motorcycle boots on her feet. She looked to be in her twenties, she was clearly a talented fighter, and that accent was as Irish as potato soup... oh boy...\n\nArja glares as she sees the woman appear, pulling herself up angrily. For a moment she's actually more focused on her than the monster, charging at the redhead and slashing her claws at her \"Why are you again, didn't we make it clear your form of 'help' isn't welcome Morrigan?\"\n\nMeanwhile inside Sammi is practically throwing the people through the portal to the hotel as he gets a sudden surge of Anger coming from Arja and hears the heavily accented voice yelling. Last he needed was this thing breaking in and shoving an arm or something through the hedge... \"Alright there's about to be some kinda divine smackdown outside as well as the hulk's rampage, so we're just gonna go and hope New Orleans exists tomorrow morning, come on, it's the creepy portal or almost certain death, fun choice I know.\" he rattles off quickly, shoving them through.\n\nThe woman looks at Arja, tilting her head, then smirks, \"Ach, ya thinkin' ah be th' lady 'o th' battlefield lass? Nae nae, ya mistaken ya wee monkey! Ah'm not 'er ladyship, ah-\" she starts to explain before she's suddenly punched in the face and sent flying backwards through the front of the house, half the first floor collapsing, \"OCH YA BLOODY CHEATER! FOUL!\" she shouts angrily from inside as she starts digging herself out. Simoni just about thought the same, but there's no magic coming off this woman... which is odd. If she is from Clan Fullmoon she wouldn't be fighting with a sword like one of the boys... would she? Its possible tha- is about as far as that thought gets before simoni yelps and zips upwards out of the mutated human's reach.\n\n\"Arja! Worry about her later!\" she calls, whistling up another blast of air and aiming it at the creature's elbow joint, which has all the effect of a BB gun on it.\n\nArja frowns, but nods, turning back to the creature and charging at it. \"Alright big boy, I'm not gonna be outdone by some Fullmoon girl then!\" she grins, jumping up to try to cling to the creature's face, iron claws digging into his skin.\n\nMeanwhile after rather ungracefully dumping his cargo off at the hotel, Sammi returns to the fight, throwing a patch of ice down on the ground under the beast to try to get him off balance.\n\nThe monster bellows loudly, but falls down to all fours and slams it's fists down, cracking up the ice before it tilts is head down and charges at a building opposite the house, trying to smash Arja into it! It's a few feet away when suddenly it lets out a loud yelp and falls prone on the ground, the Fullmoon woman standing behind it with her hands wrapped around it's ankle, \"Quick 'n yer toes eh beastie? 'ow bout ya try runnin' on THIS!\" she grins, grabbing his heel and toes and twisting harshly. The creature lets out a pained bellow as a loud SNAP fills the air, it's ankle broken clean through. Unable to run, it twists around and tries to grab Arja off it's back, flailing with it's arms as it gnashes it's teeth in fury.\n\nArja hangs on tight as the creature flails around, biting and slashing at the thing as it moves around to the back of its head. \"This drug is clearly a bad batch, I'm pretty sure 'brings out your vices' doesn't involve super powers!\" she calls as she sends a burst of flame into the creature's flame, trying to get it into the thing's mouth or remaining eye where it's hopefully weaker.\n\nIt splashes over the thing's face like water, but it seems whatever it's skin has become isn't flammable anymore. It shakes her off and hobbles around on three of four limbs, it's remaining eye glowing with malice as it starts to swell up bigger, it's teeth sharpening into points and it's muscles bulging...\n\nSimoni lands next to Arja, still in her garuda form, and gets ready to take off again once she's on, the Fullmoon woman gripping her knife hilt tightly... and then the monster suddenly gives a lurch and spasms all over, coughing as greenish bile spills out of it's mouth. Simoni lowers her wings slightly as the woman narrows her eyes, \"Wot th'...\" she mutters as it starts to shake violently, its eye rolling in it's socket as it falls onto it's side, coughing and retching as tremors build up all along it's limbs. It vomits up another wave of bile, then finally slumps as it's eye goes unfocused.\n\nThe Fullmoon woman tilts her head at it, \"... och, ah think it daed...\" she mutters, \" 'ang on, ah'll check.\" she nods, walking up to it's head and crouching down, then sticking her knife straight through it's eyeball and pulling it back out, \"... aye, seems daed...\" she tilts her head, \"Ah'd best be sure.\" she nods, then jabs it in it's eye three more times. \"... aye, pretty dead.\" she nods, then stabs it in the eye another five times. She seems to enjoy doing it.\n\nArja frowns, \"Well... that was helpful at least... I don't even think a raging rakshasa is that tough...\" she groans, rubbing her sore arms as her claws fade. \"Sorry about yelling at you there…\" she nods to the woman, \"So… just who [i]are[/i] you then?\"\n\nShe looks quizzically at Arja, then laughs, \"Wot? Nelen nae told ye about me?\" she grins, wiping off her knife and putting it back in it's sheath. \"Ach! Ah'm 'urt! Well monkey, me name be...\"\n\n\"... Loren Fullmoon.\" whimpers Nelen as he sees her walking into the hotel room with Simoni and Arja a half hour later, his face going pale as Dawn fights down a laugh, \"[i]FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK[/i]!\" he yells, getting up as if his stomach wasn't even sore and making a dive for the window before Loren grabs his ankle and tosses him back onto the bed without looking.\n\n\"Ach! Noo issat any way fer ya ta greet yer kin Nelen? 'specially after ah pulled yer wee friends outta th' fire fer ye?\" she grins at him, slamming the window shut so hard that it cracks a bit at the top.\n\n\"Kin?! You tried to fucking kill me while I was in exile at least twelve different times!\" he retorts, though so did most of the clan. Clearly there's more to this.\n\n\"Nelen... [i]Nelen[/i]...\" she smirks, waving her hands dismissively, \"T'was jus' orders m'boy! Ya ken well as ah do ya dinnae dare go 'ganst th' ol' man back then... 'sides, 'tis not like ah gave ya more'n ah few love scritches~\" she smirks, flicking her fingertip against a rather gruesome scar on his shoulder that looks like someone tried to take the entire arm off with a sword...\n\nHe flinches as she does, \"What the hell are you even doing in New Orleans?\" he asks.\n\n\"Ach, well, th' ol' grannie been keepin' watch o' yer after th' whole mess with th' usurper blew over. Grannie 'ad some lads go ta yer curry smellin' 'ome ta keep yer big ol' pussy busy while ya afield 'n grannie got th' feelin' ya may need lookin' after in th' colonies so she asked me tae pop o'er fer a visit. Said somethin' up 'round 'ere 'n that ye may well need someone else who ken what th' beasties be up tae.\" she nods, putting her hands on her hips and smiling.\n\nSimoni blinks slowly, then glances at Arja, \"... you get any of that?\" she asks.\n\nDawn smirks, \"She says that Jeannie has been keeping an eye on us since we killed Franklin, she sent some of Clan Fullmoon to distract the Manticore while we're here, and sent Loren here to help us.\" she nods to Simoni.\n\n\"Aye, 'tis wot ah said pussy. These wee ones nae ken proper English?\" she asks.\n\nArja shakes her head to Simoni's question, \"And people complain about learning Hindi...\" she grins.\n\nDrusilla smirks a bit. \"I like her, I thought all the girls in your family were scrawny birds... no offense...\" she nods.\n\nAfter a bit Nessa and Alice finally make their way back in, sighing loudly. \"My gods that school is exhausting to deal with, and then of COURSE there's traffic on the way here! Half the roads are blocked off for some commotion…\" Nessa huffs as she makes her way to the minibar, pulling out a can of beer.\n\nLoren smirks, \"Scrawny? Ach if ya werenae wit' child ah'd show ye how scrawny ah am ya one eyed monsta!\" she smirks, jabbing Drusilla in the arm and knocking her right off her feet and into a chair. \"Oho, ah ken this 'un. Ye be ah Roche girl aye? An yeh lass, yer nae one ah th' line, but workin' fer 'em.\" she smirks, grabbing a beer for herself.\n\nNelen rolls his eyes at Loren and nods to Drusilla, \"Y'know how Stephy was? That shit goes both ways apparently. Loren is him in reverse.\" he explains, \"And she's ten times worse than any of the men. Franklin kept her on my ass and anything else he could find for her just to keep her out of the castle...\" he turns to Loren, \"But why are [i]you[/i] here? I mean isn't there a pack of rogue werewolves you can be strangling to death or something?\" he asks, \"I'm [i]pretty[/i] sure I didn't do anything to piss off Jeannie...\"\n\nShe shrugs, knocks back the entire can, then gets out another, \"Ya nae send he any yule greetin's, ah ken that.\" she replies.\n\nNelen blinks, then frowns, \"Right, forgot the Christmas Card, she [i]would[/i] take that personally.\" he sighs, \"Well... I guess this kinda works, I mean if there's anyone I can think of in the clan that'd be insane enough to take on a Pride Demon it'd be you.\"\n\nShe smirks and flexes, \"Ach, ya got one ah th' Morninstar's lot comin' fer ye? Ah nae had ah tussle wit' th' likes o' them since mister high 'n mighty Walker bann'd me from th' Nightside!\" she nods, looking quite eager for a fight already.\n\nSimoni blinks, \"Wait, she's [i]banned[/i] from the [i]Nightside[/i]? As in [i]all[/i] of it? How the heck-...\" she asks as Nelen shakes his head.\n\n\"Long story...\" he sighs.\n\nArja grins, \"I like her too, so she's like girl Stephy... or boy Stephy... it's complex...\" she giggles a bit.\n\nAlice nods to the woman \"Mhm, Alice, always nice to meet a Fullmoon who isn't throwing me into a bookshelf,\" she smirks softly. \n\n\"Is it wrong I hope our kid comes out like her Nelen?\" Dru asks with a grin as she pulls herself up to her seat again.\n\nNelen glares at Drusilla, \"Yes, yes it [i]is[/i] wrong. It is a [i]catastrophe[/i] of wrong.\" he grumbles, fingering another sword wound on his side that looks like it almost took out one of his lungs.\n\n\"Speaking of…\" Sammi asks, swishing his mouth with water, still trying to get the creature's 'taste' out. \"Hey Stephy, get out here and join the family reunion, I just did the heavy lifting for you!\" he calls to Trixie's room. \"Hey, you'll like Stephy and his girlfriend…” he grins.\n\nStephy walks out, the fae having changed into an icy blue nightgown and robe, \"Whats all the noise for guys? I... ohcrap.\" he eeps before he's suddenly swept up.\n\n\"Och lookit th' wee pixie ah caught!\" grins Loren, pulling Stephy into a literally bonecrunching hug, \"Ya too much ah fairy princess ta give yer cousin ah 'ug now?\" she smirks, then drops him onto the floor in a heap, \"Aye, th' gentry worked ye over good dinnae they? Ach, ah daresay ye make ah better un ah them then ye did ah Fullmoon.\" she nods, seems like she's not one to judge in that respect at least.\n\n\"N-nice to see you too Loren... Sammi? Be a dear and pop my shoulders back into place.\" he whimpers.\n\n\"Right right, fuck it. We need firepower to take on Al and Loren is the Fullmoon equivalent of breaking the Geneva Conventions. Hell she almost did a couple times.\" sighs Nelen, \"Look, lemme explain what's going o- AGH!\" he gasps as she pulls him into a headlock.\n\n\"Aye ye will m'lad! First ye gonna 'splain 'ow ta get ta th' pub from 'ere! Th' pisswater 'in 'ere ain't worth a damn!\" she nods, snatching up his shirt off the bed and dragging him into the hallway, still barefoot despite his frantic protests.\n\nSimoni lets out a low whistle as they go, a faint breeze tickling the ankles of everyone in the room, \"So THATS Loren. I heard about her a few times... but jeez...\"\n\nSammi just giggles, helping his brother get all his limbs correctly in their sockets. \"Well, he is right, if we need firepower it sounds like this one is the nuclear option of Fullmoons.\" \n\nArja nods, grinning at Simoni, \"She's cute too, huh?\" she teases, playfully hip bumping the girl as Drusilla nods in agreement. \n\n\"Good, I'm glad we have her then. Something's REALLY bugging Nelen about this 'Al' guy, not just the expected 'oh god a powerful demon is mad at me'... it's like he's scared of something. She sighs softly, shaking her head and rubbing her stomach softly. \"I know we're not exactly a... what's that word...\" \n\n\"Nuclear Family?\" Alice offers, the cyclops nodding at that. \n\n\"Mhm, that. I know we're not normal or whatever, but it's not too much to ask to just want to have a kid and a mate and a safe place to call home for all of us, is it?\" sighs Drusilla.\n\nSimoni shrugs, \"Safe? I remember that word... I haven't heard it in a looooooooooooooong time though...\" she smirks.\n\nMeanwhile...\n\nA well dressed man in an antique green velvet suit is looking over a notepad infront of him. \"Died did he?\" he asks, tilting his head at them.\n\n\"Yes Sir.\" replies a massive creature with an exaggerated nose and chin, leaning over them as well, \"Heart gave out before the transformation could finish. Seems we won't be able to use the enhanced Hyde after all. Human bodies can't handle the strain before they break.\" he nods.\n\n\"Hmm... but he was immune to Arja's fire, that's important.\" he nods, tapping the handle of an elegant cane against his chin as he does. \"The monkey's divine heritage is worrying, but if this plan succeeds then we won't have anything to worry about in Hell, or Heaven, for some time.\" he nods, turning away from his desk and walking towards a large window. Out below are several large vats of a poisonous looking purple liquid. Several people are walking along a walkway above them, measuring out chemicals and pouring them in as needed. They aren't wearing any protective gear or masks despite the harsh fumes and are all quite clearly very dead. As he watches one of them stumbles and falls over the walkway, narrowly missing one of the vats and landing in a broken heap on the floor next to it.\n\nAl frowns, watching it fall, \"... what of our necromancer? Are they still onboard?\" he asks, turning back to the other demon.\n\n\"Yessir. All you have to do is remind 'em of why they signed up in the first place and they're back in line.\" he nods, grinning, \"Its almost sad really...\" he chuckles.\n\n\"Sad? Oh nobody will be sad in New Orleans soon...\" he smirks, \"They'll be many many things, but certainly not sad.\"","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Through the darkened forests the creature ran, tree branches getting knocked aside by the large bony objects growing from it's forehead, it's hooves clattering on the occasional stone as bitter tears ran down it's face. How dare he?! HOW DARE HE! This was HIS land! Those were HIS people! Yet against the invader's steel and their god's agents his followers were as nothing... cast aside and scattered, the men slaughtered and the women dragged away.
Well, he'd gotten in a good few hits of his own. See how well that feathery bastard flies with his wing all twisted up. The creature's shining blood was still on his hands as he ran through the night, lit only by the moon above, trying to find safety, somewhere where it's friends couldn't follow...
He has wronged you too...
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once, the creature's hooves clattering and skidding to a halt on the forest floor as he looked around frantically for the source.
Who speaks? Show yourself! This is my land! Get out of the shadows where I can see you!
There's a deep chuckle as the stars begin to dim, the moon growing dark above him.
It is not your land anymore. Your followers are gone, your temple has been put to the torch, all that is left for you is to flee to Shadow's Fall or fade away to nothing...
The creature snarls, a low feral animal sound, as it raises it's hands, then sighs and stomps it's hoof in frustration.
But WHY?! I had never heard of this Yahweh they spoke of! I know all the gods of the land! We have our agreements and our treaties! They stay to their places and I stay to mine!
The voice replies in a low hissing sound, as if it were some great serpent, or perhaps a hiding dragon...
It is their god's nature. He was once one I respected, lord of the Hebrews, but a splinter of him broke off and swelled and became something far far worse. I tried to stop this, and for my rebellion I was cast down... He now hungers for power, for all the world to become his and praise only his name. He will tolerate no other gods. He has already turned on those who worship the being he came from, he will turn on any who defy him.
The creature snorts, a loud wet sound like a warthog or buck might make.
Oh? And I suppose he sent you to finish the job of those shining men huh? Well come for me! I will show you how hard my hooves are, how sharp my antlers! This is still my land and I still have power here!
The voice hisses, and two blazing red holes appear in the sky over the creature. It takes him a moment to realize that they're not holes, but great eyes.
I had something else in mind...
He sees the being's plans, he sees how he can become an instrument to fight the god that robbed him of everything, and like a wounded and desperate wolf he lets out a low snarl.
I accept.
Nelen coughs, then sits up on the couch in the hotel room before wincing and rubbing his stomach. He had to punch himself pretty hard to knock himself out so that Merihim couldn't force him to flee New Orleans... "Guh..." he grumbles as he sits up, one bandaged hand groping around for his glasses. He can't remember coming back here, so he assumes that the others must have carried him. "Anyone there?" he coughs, it hurts to move his stomach right now.
Drusilla blinks a bit as Nelen wakes up, the Cyclops girl sitting on a nearby chair by the sofa. "Oh good you're awake. I was worried you'd be out all day…” she looks him over as she stands slowly. "You alright? You were freaking out pretty bad back there, none of us have ever seen both you and the demon messed up like that..."
Nelen winces, glancing upwards, but it seems that Merihim is off sulking in some part of his psyche. "Well, we just found out the guy we've been trying to avoid is not only in New Orleans, but may well know we're here too... so yeah, bit of a downer." he replies, sighing as he leans back and lifts his shirt, a large purple fist-shaped bruise visible against the scars that criss-cross his stomach, "That's gonna suck for a while." he sighs, pulling his shirt back down, "I miss anything while I was out?" he asks.
Dawn appears sitting crosslegged on the ceiling, "Eh, Simoni had a bit of a freakout after seeing Merhim involved in wholesale slaughter, but she's calmed down now. Nessa and Alice are out playing 'representatives of Rajesh' so that they can get them withdrawn from school. Good thing they had those other explosions, gives her a good excuse to do it." she smirks, picturing the headmaster's reaction to finding out he won't be getting the sizeable donation and, perhaps, a strongly worded letter to the tune of 'I didn't send my daughters to your school so they could get incinerated!'. It probably wouldn't actually be from Rajesh, but hopefully it'd make him too nervous to question it. "She's still pretty upset over what happened though. The fae took her, fire monkey, and Count von Count out on the town for a while, see if they can't get her over it and maybe dig up some hints on what's going on." she grins, then jumps off, flips in midair, and lands on the floor standing upright as Nelen tries to get up, the sun having already set some time ago.
"Oh for, did anyone go WITH them?" he asks, "I don't want those kids stuck out there without someone backing them up if Al's lurking around the damn city!" he growls, taking a step forward and then stumbling and catching himself on the TV stand. He'd put all his Fullmoon strength and a good bit of Merihim's own power into that punch...
Drusilla sighs softly, shaking her head and grabbing Nelen's arm, guiding him back to the sofa. "It's fine, you know those kids hardly need babysitters, they know to run if something bad goes down." she frowns again, shaking her head. "So, tell me about Al, how bad is it?"
Nelen struggles to his feet, then falls back onto the couch as he gives up trying to get to the door, "In a word: Fucked. Al isn't as powerful as someone like Mammon, but he's damn close to it and a lot more powerful than anyone we've got on our side. Unless the girls can pull another god out of their asses we're in deep, deep trouble." he replies as Dawn mrowls and nods.
"I met him a few times. He's actually the one who taught me how to turn half human like this, its not something Cheshires are born with y'see." she adds, "He's good at hiding it and appearing as just an ordinary human or a really old wizard, but I got a whiff of his real power once and..." she shakes her head, her tail fluffing out at the memory, "I'm crazy, but I ain't that crazy. I'm not thrilled about this either blinky." she mewls, her ears folding back.
The cyclops frowned softly at that. "What does he want, though? You said he was your teacher, aren't all the infernal things on the same side in general at the very least?" she asks as she tosses Nelen a bottle of water, clearly still used to dealing with divine things like the Greeks and all.
He catches it and gulps down half of it in one go, "Theoretically, yes. In truth, the seven courts of Hell are always in conflict, except for the Court of Pride because it scares the piss out of the other six since it's the one Lucifer is directly in charge of. Usually it's three against three. Wrath, Lust, and Envy tend to get along okay but can't stand Sloth, Gluttony, and Greed. Working theory is that those guys like each other because they tend to be tied into one causing the other two in mortals." he shrugs, "But when the Pride demons march through Pandemonium all the other six get the hell out of the way." he sighs.
"I mean, its Hell, its not fun for anyone there including the demons themselves, but they always know how to make it worse." he frowns, gazing up at the ceiling. There's something else, but he's sure as hell not saying it now. It's about the price he and Al agreed on for certain favors...
Meanwhile, a few miles up the road, Arja burps softly as she pushes her third plate away from in front of her, the waitress assigned to their section rather hurriedly clearing the empties from the table. Arja had taken Simoni and the rest out to 'cheer up' after a rather rough bit of information, and with Arja 'cheering up' tended to mean drinking, fighting, or eating. Thankfully she didn't try to sneak them into a club, or start a random fight in the street, instead she took Sammi's suggestion and found a nice cafe with outdoor seating a nice deep menu... Sammi was still rather delicately finishing off his seafood platter, and Natasha was frowning rather unamused at Arja's choice of location. The cafe was an old building, playing up traditional gothic styles. It wasn't full on 'voodoo tourist trap' but the menu was dotted with items like 'voodoo cocktails', or the untouched plate of 'vampire repellent' that Sammi had ordered her, a seafood pasta dish in a garlic sauce with breadstick 'stakes'...
"Oh come on, it's funny," Sammi says as he spears one of the shrimp on Natasha's plate...
Simoni rolls her eyes at Sammi, picking at her own Cajun Chicken platter as Stephy drank from his 'Junior Margarita' (special for kids, fruity and tasty but totally non-alcoholic). "Yeah yeah, real side splitter Sammi..." she sighs, still in the dumps. Hearing about some of the darker parts of American History are one thing, actually seeing it and knowing someone... well, something you knew was involved was another.
Stephy frowns himself, as if his drink has suddenly turned sour on him. "Arja, can you take her in the girl's room and jill her off or something? I mean, I can taste that y'know." he pouts, the bitter tang of depression filling his faerie senses, then yelps as Simoni gives him a kick under the table before passing another bit of her chicken to Dusk, who popped out of her shirt collar long enough to nab it before ducking back down. The restaurant had a strict 'service animals only' rule, but kids who regularly break the laws of nature aren't too concerned about small potatoes rules like that one.
Arja smirks, lightly kicking Stephy as well, "Oh shush, it's hard for her. As shitty as he is Nelen's little rider is part of him. Seeing that, even as the whole demon of hell thing, involved in something so fucked up can be rough." she smiles sympathetically, leaning over to pat Simoni's back. "It's ok. Nelen's good at keeping him on his leash." she snorts softly, "It's kinda karma, after all that crap he's stuck in the body of a guy who uses him for good."
Sammi just nods, stealing one of Natasha's 'stakes' and chewing on it "Hah, garlic bread too…" he grins, getting a kick of his own from Natasha, "Ow! Shit you're wearing boots…" he huffs as he bites into the bread.
"Things are... often complex," Natasha offers Simoni as Sammi rubs his sore leg. "I mean, I'm your friend, you know I care for you, but I've done things in the past humans consider quite 'dark' as well. When you live in the shadows you can't be offended by darkness, simply seek to be better than it."
Simoni nods, "I just thought, I dunno... Merihim was twisted in his own way, but even when he was at his worst he was still fighting something just as bad like Uncle Robert's ghost or those Naga that attacked the temple or something. But those were just people, they had a hard enough time defending themselves from other mundanes." she sighs, "I just... I need some time to process this." she frowns, then sits up as a gigantic crash comes from behind them, a car flying end over end down the street to land in a twisted heap, spinning gently on its roof. Her eye twitches, "I said I NEED SOME TIME dammit!" she snaps, getting up and looking towards where the car came from.
Down the path is a lone figure, a man half hunched over yet positively trembling with energy as he lurches up the road towards where the car landed. As he draws near Sammi and Stephy are all but knocked out of their seats by the overwhelming stench coming off him, but it's not a physical smell... its emotion. He's snarling and growling under his breath as he heads closer to it and the kids see inside of it a man and a woman trying to crawl out the windows, the pair of them bleeding badly from the injuries where the glass in the car's windows shattered and the vehicle bounced along the road.
Arja leaps up to her feet as Sammi is nearly bowled over by the surge of emotion, the fae breathing raggedly as he tries to compose himself. "Holy shit!" he exclaims, groaning "I've never felt this much pure... feeling... coming off a mortal..." he shudders, actually feeling his nose bleed from the strain of 'filtering' all that energy.
"There's no way that's a mortal…" Arja growls, leaping over the fence of the cafe, charging at the man to try to distract him from the helpless couple.
Natasha nods as well, getting to her feet and following more slowly behind, moving to the car to try to get the people out of it as Arja works.
Simoni looks around, then looks down into her shirt and pulls out Dusk by the scruff of his neck, "Not supposed to do this, but its an emergency. Get those two in the car outta here!" she nods to the small kitten and then points at the two. Dusk grins and raises a paw to his forehead in salute, "Gimme a boost bird?" he replies as she pulls her arm back and whistles up a gale behind her, tossing the cat overhand like a pitcher, "Cheshire! I choose you!"
Dusk yowls as he's picked up by the wind and set flying towards the car, landing on one of the tires and almost falling off before quickly running down the side and crawling into it, he touches his back paw to one and his front paw to the other and reality has a little hiccup, and suddenly the lurching creature pauses, confused as he notices he's heading towards an empty car... right before he's hit in the gut with a cannonball made of wind and realizes that, despite the warm Louisiana night, the ground under him has suddenly frozen over. He lets out a roar as he topples backwards, the ice cracking all along the surface as he lands on it.
Arja leaps onto the attacker as he's caught off guard, Sammi composing himself enough to work with his brother, the ice shifting into chains around the creature to hold him down as Arja growls angrily. "Who are you?" She snarls, looking him over for any signs of familiar traits. Natasha just frowns, nostrils flaring as she gets closer to the figure, feeling something odd about him...
There's something odd... something extremely odd indeed! Arja was wrong, he is a mundane! There's not a whiff of anything but human anywhere on him, and yet... he's practically crackling with envious emotions! Sammi and Stephy get flashes of 'working at a soul-crushing minimum wage job for years' despair, a burst of depression to the tune of 'dumped three times for someone with more money', but it’s all muted under the horrendous waves of envy coming off him, the surges smelling like a chemical sewer to the fae boys... and then Natasha notices the other stenches. A rotten, contaminated smell that suggests horribly polluted blood and the telltale marks of needles on his inner arms. He's human, but he's a junkie and given the state of him he must be on some serious shit.
Simoni looks around, then down at him, "Guys, we should probably get this sorted out fast unless we wanna wind up all over twitter." she nods. She'd tried to whip up enough of a gale that anyone holding a phone would get it blown out of their hands, but that'll only stop them for so long...
Arja nods, punching the man right in the face to knock him out as she grabs him. "Come on, he's on something and it's not normal, we need to get him somewhere quiet to figure this out." she says as Natasha nods, leaning forward to sniff him again.
"His blood is tainted for sure..." she comments as Sammi nods, waving his hand to make the ice fade away.
"He's... jealous too... it's like someone turned the envy up to a million in his brain." he adds as the girls move to drag him down a nearby dark alley.
As they pull him in he suddenly starts roaring and thrashing about again, showing off the same incredible strength that let him throw a Chrysler like it was a tennis ball. Arja is one of the strongest of their group, but all she managed to do is stun him! He sits up quickly and grabs her by the head, tossing her over his shoulder as carelessly as someone throwing an empty soda can, then shoves Natasha to the side, "Where is he?! Fucker thinks he's better'n me just 'cause he works for Apple?! I'll show 'im! I'll tear his fucking spine out! See his money fix that!" he barks, frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal as he starts to run down the alleyway, seeking out the object of his ire.
Simoni manages to whistle up a wind cushion for Arja to land on, but by the time they regroup he's vanished into the alleys behind the buildings, the young garuda leaning against a wall as her formerly depressed state is all but forgotten. "What the HELL was he on?!" she asks, looking at Sammi and Natasha. The vampire might recognize it if it's something injected into a vein and Sammi might because, well, he's Sammi... but Stephy seems to be rather green with something that isn't envy himself, the feminine fairy boy using a nearby trashcan to get sick in as he's overwhelmed by the dregs of the emotional overload.
Sammi whines, rubbing his head, "It's something emotional, he's got just... pure envy shooting out of every pore... There are things in Arcadia that can do stuff like that but stuff this strong would be rare even for someone like me to get, let alone waste on shooting up some random mortal with it..." He sighs, patting Stephy's back, "Let it all out little brother..."
Arja just huffs as she stands up, dusting herself off, "Well lovely, so what, rogue changeling?" she offers, making Sammi just shrug.
Natasha shakes her head at that. "No, this was injected in him, it wasn't magic, or at least it wasn't magic to get it in him..."
Stephy coughs a few times, wiping his mouth as he stands up and shudders, "We should head back, see if Nelen is awake yet." he nods, "He's been around more than any of us. Maybe he'll have an idea as to what the heck was going on with him." he suggests, still a bit queasy looking.
Simoni looks bothered by that, but gives a grudging nod. Its not like any of them are specialists when it comes to potentially supernatural dru... she glances at Arja and Sammi... well, its not like any of them seem to know what that was.
Arja nods, "Yeah, let's head back, I've got nothing here." she agrees as Sammi lets out a sigh.
"I'd like to get my hands on whatever that is, could super charge our entire holding with that stuff..." he muses, the idea of a potent source of glamour intriguing him, even if it screws up a mortal good and proper. But then, the fair folk aren’t known for their compassion.
Stephy shakes his head, "I don't think so... couldn't you tell how off it tasted?" he asks as the group heads back out of the alleyway and carefully away from the wreck as police sirens draw near. "It was... wrong... artificial almost, but also really badly tainted too." he nods. "Doubt we'd get anything out of it besides a really nasty headache." he frowns, looking back over his shoulder at the mess the drugged up mundane left.
Sammi nods, "Yeah, maybe we could spruce it up though…" he chuckles, rubbing his head still just a bit as the last of that surge leaves him.
As they walk Dusk appears on Simoni's shoulder, curling up there, "Humans got away." he grins, "Dropped 'em infront of some big flashy building and they ran like scared mice." he adds, his tail swishing as Simoni reaches up and rubs his ear, promising him sardines for his trouble.
Eventually they reach the hotel and, after a short ride up, they enter the suite. Nelen is laying on the bed next to Drusilla with a plastic shopping bag full of hotel ice pressed to the large bruise on his stomach, his shirt gone to show all the scars and marks on his torso as he tries not to think about the new one. Dawn is sitting on the floor, watching a local news report showing the front of a very familiar looking voodoo themed restaurant with an upside down car infront of it and snacking on Whiskas Cat Treats like they're popcorn. Nelen looks up as they enter, points to the TV, and simply grunts, "Well?"
Arja just grins a bit as they walk in to the news already on. "If it helps we didn't start it this time. Some guy came out of nowhere flipping a car around."
Natasha nods along at that "It was a mundane." she adds. "He was injected with something in his blood, the fae say it was some kind of crazy powerful artificial emotion."
"Envy," Sammi adds, thinking it important to stress that. "Like, I get trying to hulk someone up with rage, or selling black-market joy, but who makes 'envy'? What good does that do?"
Nelen nods, then pauses as he hears Sammi mention 'envy', glancing at Drusilla, "So... he stank of envy, he was super strong, and it was some sort of drug..." he scratches at his beard, "Hrm... definitely not something normal, could be a lot of shit. Doctor Delerium was experimenting with something similar, but last I heard he's still in South America trying to get together another private army. Its definitely not The Chemist, he'd have dumped a few hundred gallons into the local water supply, not just shot up one crackhead..." he frowns.
Dawn looks up at him and asks, “What about that one guy from Wyoming? The one with the syringes for fingertips?” she asks.
Nelen shakes his head, “Nah, last I heard a Drood caught up with him, tore his fingers right off and nailed him to a wall.” he replies.
“Good, that guy was a freak.” she nods, going back to her kitty treats.
Nelen smirks, then glances towards the kids, looking at Natasha in particular, "Don't suppose you managed to bleed him at all did you?" he asks her, "If I had a sample I might be able to get Merihim to tell me what it is."
Natasha shrugs a bit before blinking, flaring her nostrils and looking at Arja.
"Eh?" The monkey girl says, Natasha grabbing her hand and lifting it up. The knuckles where she slugged the guy had blood on them. Not a lot of blood, but more than anyone else got!
"I thought you smelled funny..." she comments, Sammi smirking a bit as he goes to the minibar to wash the taste of synthetic emotion out of his mouth. "More than usual?" he mutters.
Simoni casually elbows him in the side as Nelen looks at Arja's hand, then nods and holds out his own towards it and... nothing. He blinks, then tries again, then frowns and smacks the side of his head firmly, "WAKE UP ASSHOLE!" he snaps as his eyes go red around the rims and he grumbles in another voice.
"Still suicidial Fullmoon? Fuck you and your friends and your stupid voodoo plan. I'm going to hibernate, all the damn way, until we're back in India." sneers Merihim as Nelen shakes his head.
"Dammit Merihim, throw a temper tantrum on your own time. We've got some joker running around town who's practically pissing envy out his eyeballs and Arja got some of his blood on her knuckles. You know what I need you to do." he retorts.
His eyes go bloodshot in an instant, "I KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT YOU NEED AND YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT ON YOUR OWN!" snaps Merihim, "Until we're WELL away from Al's little project I. AM. ON. STRIKE!" he snarls, and then Nelen shudders as his eyes go back to normal, the blood mage flexing his hand repeatedly before cursing under his breath.
"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He's serious. My magic isn't working." he frowns, shaking both hands as if trying to coax even a drop of blood out of them. "This is really bad..."
Arja sighs, "Wow, for a badass demon he sure is a little bitch..." she sighs, shaking her head "Lara's in India. Nessa's a different kind of blood mage, unless we want to sacrifice him to the sun we can't do much there with here..."
Natasha frowns, but nods, "Well, I could taste it. I've been around long enough to have a pretty good tongue. I can't exactly be a hunting hound with him, but I can taste to see if he tastes like anything odd enough to be unique."
Arja shrugs, raising her hand at that. "It's your body, if it starts reacting weird tell us and we'll help you out as best we can." Natasha simply nods, leaning in to lap the still damp blood off of Arja...
Simoni watches, then suddenly gets a chill up her spine, "Natasha, wait!" she shouts, grabbing her before she can, "That's probably a really bad idea." she nods firmly, "We saw a mundane on this stuff throw a car across a street... I don't think I want to know what it'd do to a vampire." she looks at her brother, "Is there ANY other way we can figure it out without Merihim? Anything?" she asks.
Nelen sighs, leaning back and thinking. "Hm..." he frowns, then glances at Drusilla, "Hon, pass me my phone please."
Natasha huffs a bit as she's yanked away from the blood, "I'm sure I'll be fine... but fine if you're that worried…" she mutters. Drusilla just nods, tossing Nelen his phone over. "Well I hope this idea works, otherwise we're gonna have to get Nessa to do the magic version of poking around at a thing with a stick until something explodes..."
He takes his phone and brings up his call list, "Hope Rajesh doesn't mind a really long and odd distances call on the bill..." he mutters as he presses a button, then switches on speaker phone. The phone rings several times, then the other end picks up.
"Who the hell are you and how did you get this number?" asks a rather sullen and angsty sounding voice with a British accent. In the background there's the sound of glasses moving around and conversation, as well as some truly awful music.
"Alex." sighs Nelen, "Tell me you did not let Leo Godsdamn Morn talk you into letting him play at Strangefellows again..." he rolls his eyes as, in the background of the call, a guitar strikes a chord that has Dawn, Dusk, and both the fae wincing and covering their ears.
"Ohforfuck's... I owed him a favor okay? Now what the hell do you want Fullmoon? You're still banned!" he snaps. Alex Morressy, the owner of the self-proclaimed Oldest Bar in the World and final resting place of Merlin Satinspawn, and who apparently still held a grudge against Nelen for summoning said entity last time he visited the Nightside.
"Look, I need to talk to someone. Either put them on or tell me where they are and I'm out of your hair. Is Harry Fabulous around?" he asks.
"The hell do you want with that degenerate? Is shooting crack up your cock not cutting it anymore?" he sneers, "Yeah hang on, he's over here." he holds the phone away, "HEY FABULOUS! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! PHONE!" he hollers, then there's the sound of people moving around again for several minutes.
Sammi blinks "I've heard that name before..." Arja opens her mouth to make one of the thousands of jokes that rushed to mind before Sammi raised his hand not holding overpriced sparkling water to flip her off. "Doesn't he work for some magical gossip rag?"
Nelen shrugs, "He used to, until the Unnatural Inquirer decided he was bringing down the tone of their product too much and fired him. These days he's a dealer." he replies as the phone is handed over on the other end and a cheerful voice that has 'used car salesman from your worst nightmares' written all over it speaks.
"Hello hello hello! Harry Fabulous, purveyor of fine goods and exotic delights! How can I help you?" it asks, the voice almost subliminally underwitten with 'give me your money' over and over on repeat. Walmart could learn a thing or two from this guy.
"Not looking to buy Harry. Look, I'm in New Orleans and my friends just had a run in with something that has 'supernatural bullshit' written all over it. If it's some sort of magic drug or superscience compound then it's gotta be in the Nightside. If we describe what it did can you tell us what it was?" he asks.
"Now Nelen m’boy, I don't give handouts. I'm a businessman remember? How about you place an order for some red martian weed? I just got in some lovely new samples, oh, and I got a fresh shipment of-" he starts, but Nelen cuts him off.
"You'll tell us because I know why the air vents at the Mammon Emporium started spitting out blood and scarab beetles back in June of oh eight and I've got John Taylor on speed dial." he replies with a smirk.
There's a sniff from the other line as Harry replies, "Bully, just like you Fullmoons to harrass someone who's just trying to make a living..." he replies.
"Tell that to Djoser, I'm sure he considered it harrassment when you pawned what you found in his tomb." he smirks, "Alright you guys, tell Harry what happened." he nods, holding the phone out by Arja and the others.
Arja smirks just a bit at the conversation. "We're in New Orleans, some guy, totally mortal, starts throwing a car around. We have a couple fae with us and they both said he was pretty much brimming with fake envy emotions, nearly knocked one of them out and sent the other one hurling because I guess processed emotions give them a tummy ache."
Sammi huffs at that loudly. "Oh, yea, just eat generic brand bologna all your life and never go for a fresh cooked ham I guess!"
"ANYWAY!" Arja continues, "He ran off still all hopped on it. The guy was apparently already an addict so this stuff was probably injected, he may not have even known what it was. You know who'd be selling bootleg emotions in the gulf coast?"
There's silence as Harry seems to consider it, "Hm... doesn't sound like any fae emotional drugs I've ever heard of... and those don't usually turn you into the Incredible Hulk." he comments, "What did his face look like? Was he acting strangely besides superhuman strength and an overabundance of negative emotions?" he asks.
Simoni nods, "He was foaming at the mouth pretty badly, and his eyes were all red." she comments.
"Hm... could be a lot of things, could be more than one honestly. He could be mixing some super steroid with a fae drug, or freebasing something that's out of fashion right now..." he replies, then mutters a bit and falls silent, "... that... envy your fair folk friends sensed, you said it felt... artificial... did they feel any other emotions underlying it?" he asks.
Sammi thinks on that. "It felt...organic? Like, it was a fake emotion but it came from a real place. Like, he was bitter about his job, mad about women leaving him for guys he thought were 'better off', that kinda stuff, they all blended in the envy together..."
There's a laugh from the other side and the sound of fingers snapping, "I know precisely what that is! Your superpowered mundane was completely off his tits on Hyde! I'm sure of it!" he replies in a triumphant voice, "Though... an entire car. Hyde does make them stronger, but its really more of a sudden adrenaline rush than anything like actual increased muscle mas-" he starts as Nelen grimaces.
"Right, I can take it from here. Thanks Harry. I'll call again if I need to blackmail more information out of you." he nods, hanging up the phone. "Hyde, well shit that would do it..." he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes, "Fine time for Merihim to get his infernal panties in a bunch..."
Sammi thinks on that "Hyde... I've heard that name a few times but never really looked at it, lemmie guess, boosts all your bad side and hulks it up?"
Nelen nods, "More or less. Think of it like this: Everyone has a vice that's inherent to them. Wrath, Envy, Pride, whatever... Hyde is just what it sounds like, its a modernized version of Doctor Jekyll's old potion, just souped up and produced for sale to people who think smoking meth is too wussy. Hyde finds whatever your vice is, turns the knob for it as high as it'll go, then rips it off." he explains, "But Harry is right, superhuman strength isn't part of the deal. The original Hyde was stronger than Jekyll, but that wasn't anything physical, Hyde just didn't have any scruples and wouldn't hold back in a fight like the Doctor might have. Sounds like someone's making an enhanced batch and it's made it's way to New Orleans."
Arja nods, "Well there can't be that many people making evil potions in town, well, REAL ones at least... So, where should we look?"
Nelen shrugs, "Thats the catch. It doesn't necessarily have to be made in New Orleans if they're in syringes. If they found a way to preserve it they could be making it in upstate Georgia for all we know." he frowns, "... and I'm no use right now. This black mark on my gut is bad enough, but if Merihim is really serious about shutting off my powers then there's not a whole lot I can do here." he leans back on the bed and presses the ice pack back to the large purple bruise on his middle, letting out a hiss through his teeth as it ices down the sore spot.
Stephy thinks, then nods, "Well, I guess we have a couple options. We know he works retail, so we can try looking around anywhere that has guys like him and see if we can't figure out if they've got someone who likes to stick needles in themselves and has been missing work. Otherwise, I guess wait until another Hyde junkie starts causing trouble." he suggests.
"Probably not a good idea..." interjects Nelen, "Hyde is nasty stuff. I mean this guy did that because he was full of envy. Think for a moment what someone who's getting a huge blast of, say, lust might do." he nods grimly as Simoni and Stephy picture that, then cringe.
Sammi thinks on that "Well, like Stephy said we know where they work...we could just send someone in, have them act like their fiending or something, see if they can't get the right kind of attention? This guy is probably targeting very specific kinds of people, people with vices that can be exploited and all, all we need to do is just stick to a good script and bait a hook..."
Simoni tilts her head, then pulls out her phone and does a quick google search before frowning at Sammi, "Y'know, it really makes the Mundanes suspicious when a kid our age knows what words like THAT mean." she huffs, then looks at Nelen, "What do you think?"
"Its possible..." he replies, "But really, anyone is a good target for Hyde. Like I said, everyone has SOME kind of vice. Its part of being human..." he looks at Arja and Drusilla, "Well... a sentient creature." he corrects, "Point is, he could be shooting coke bottles full of the stuff and get the same effects no matter who drinks it. Only difference is what emotion goes haywire." he nods, then thinks, "... unless... this might be a test. Maybe... maybe the drug isn't finished yet. Harry said that it sounded off from how Hyde usually works. Maybe whoever is making this stuff is still experimenting with it, and this guy got his hands on a test batch or got sold some without being told what it really is." he nods, "If we find him again, we might be able to track down whoever sold it to him!"
Arja nods, "That would make sense. Natasha said his blood already smelled off to begin with, this could just be a junkie who found something weird in a needle and shot himself up assuming it'd work..."
Sammi sighs, but nods, "Well, Stephy and I can help search, I'm sure that guy still is a nuclear ground zero of synthetic emotion, get us near him and we can pinpoint him for you..." he smirks, slapping Stephy's chest playfully "You were bitching about Simoni's pouting ruining your meal, now we gotta shove our heads in a dumpster to help out, see what happens when you complain?"
Stephy smacks him right back, "Whatever. Lemme change into something easier to fly in and we can see if we can't spot him from the air." he replies heading back to the hotel room that he's sharing with Trixie, who had stayed behind to help keep Patli distracted so she wouldn't... well... be Patli at everything, "Hey hon, things got weird aga- EEP!" he yelps as he's suddenly pulled into his room by his shirt and the door slams shut.
Simoni watches and sighs, "Well, he's gonna be a while." she sighs, flopping onto the bed as Dusk hops off her shoulder and pokes at her cheek, "Sardiiiiiiiiiiines..." he mewls. "You promiiiiiiised..."
Arja smirks, "Might as well feed the cat while Stephy gets... changed." she giggles, patting Dusk's head "Yes and Dusk was very good helping out, he got the guy's target out of the car... wait... oh FUCK!" she exclaims, looking to Simoni. "This guy wasn't just hulking out, he was ranting about how he was gonna 'kill that guy' and all. He has a TARGET."
Simoni sits up, then winces, "Um... if he has half a brain he's probably left town or is hiding out somewhere by now. I mean, some guy threw my car across a four lane street, I'd go visit my aunt in Nova Scotia, right?" she suggests.
Nelen tries to sit up, then falls back down and curses, "Owowowow... dammit why did I hit myself that hard." he gasps, then frowns, "No. No he wouldn't. He'd think that the guy got arrested, or that he'd give up, or that something sane would happen and it'd all be over. He probably went straight back home after that." he replies, "If that junkie knows where he lives he's probably on his way right now to kick the damn door in, followed by his teeth." he sighs, "Seen it happen so damn many times, you think these idiots never saw any horror movies." he grumbles and tries to sit up again, then flops back down after another spasm, "Fucking hell, Drusilla is this what every day is like for you?" he asks.
Simoni looks over at the door to Stephy and Trixie's room. There's a lot of thumping and a painting falls off the wall outside of it, the frame crashing to the floor. "... yeah, not interrupting that. Dawn, get the window." she nods, kicking off her shoes and rolling up the sleeves on her teeshirt. "If we're lucky we can spot him from the air."
Drusilla simply smirks at Nelen, nodding a bit. "Mhm, you better be glad you only have to deal with that a couple days." She teases as Sammi nods.
"I'll go with you and be the emotion sniffer, let Stephy have his... well I can't really call that REST..." he sniggers.
Simoni nods, "Somehow I get the idea that it's more for Trixie than him... guess Patli must've gotten into the sugar or something." she nods, then blinks, "Wait... where is she?" she asks the group turning to face Stephy's door as, outside, a green haired streak zips past along the rooftops opposite shouting 'I'm Sonic the Fucking Hedgehog!', though none of them hear it. "Eh..." shrugs Simoni, "She's probably fine. Arja, climb on!" she nods, turning back to the window and stretching her arms out as feathers begin to sprout along them.
Arja nods, hopping onto Simoni's back as Sammi looks out the window. "Can you carry me too, birdy? I'll be better fae radar in the air with you two."
Simoni nods, then lets out an oofing sound as Sammi climbs on next to Arja, "I think so." she replies, two were a bit tricky, but she'd managed it with Drusilla and Arja before and Sammi wasn't even half Drusilla's size. She spreads her wings, then whistles and dives out the window, the wind catching her midway down as she arcs up, trying to gain as much altitude so she could see as far as she could and, more importantly, stay out of camera range of most smartphones. "Sense anything?" she asks Sammi.
Sammi takes in a breath, focusing on the emotions of the people around him. People often confuse glamour for some kind of psychic thing. Really emotions were like a faint mist that covered the world, constantly swirling and shifting, growing thicker and thinner. Glamour was just the art of tapping into that mist for fuel. This guy's 'mist' should be pretty damn distinct. New Orleans was an 'emotional' city, but a big mobile source of envy in a crowd of 'happy' or 'pissed off at my boyfriend' or whatever should stand out...
Simoni circles around, letting Sammi smell as much as he could, but most of it was standard city fare. A bunch of wild excitement from a party here, a big burst of panic from a car wreck at a busy intersection, some small bits of anger from a fight in a bar parking lot... and then suddenly a wave of nausea almost sent Sammi off Simoni's back as he gets a huge burst of the toxic-waste stink of the artifically enhanced envy coming from the Hyde-junkie.
Sammi shakes a bit, choking his bile back down. "Yep, there we go!" he gasps, pointing down in the direction of the feeling. "He's right down there!"
Simoni nods and arcs into a dive, swooping down towards the direction Sammi pointed in, and as they draw close a loud crash rips through the night air along with a sound like an oxen bellowing in distress. Upon closer inspection they find it's their target, but he's even more twisted than before! His eyes are glowing with a sickly green glow, his body swollen with extra muscle, and his teeth having grown longer and sharper. He's tearing apart the front of a small two story house, a pair of terrified voices coming from inside. "Good gods..." mutters Simoni, "Well, I was gonna say we should go back and get the others, but the way things are going it'll be on the news soon enough." she nods, landing nearby and letting them off her back, "What are we gonna do? I can't carry someone adult-sized, nevermind two of them!" she nods frantically.
Arja frowns, "Well... I'm pretty sure you know what we're gonna do..." she replies, nodding to Simoni "You and me hold this guy back. Sammi, hedge portal?"
The fae nods, "Trust me this will be low on the weirdness scale for them today.” he replies.
Arja just nods in response, motioning for Simoni to follow as she runs at the creature, forming a ball of fire in her hand and throwing it at his back. "Hey ugly! I got multiple credit cards with limits bigger than any money you've ever had in your life and I'm just a little girl! How's that make you feel?"
The creature snarls as the flames burst along it's back... yet they don't even scorch it, the monster turning to face her as it reaches for Arja with arms longer than any human body should ever have. Whatever the enhanced Hyde is doing, this thing is barely human anymore! It's eyes are still vulnerable though as Simoni swoops down from the sky with an eagle-like shriek and points her talons right at it's face, clawing and tearing with reckless abandon before whistling sharply and spreading her wings, a sudden burst of air coming from behind the monster and pushing her away before it can get it's bearings.
Simoni eeps as the creature's arm just barely misses her, one of it's eyes gouged out but the other still glaring around as it focuses on Arja...
Arja grins as she looks up to see Sammi vanishing. "Yeah, come on big boy…" she taunts, motioning at him to come at her as her iron claws slowly extend from her fingertips. "I'm better off, more powerful, and way cuter than you'll ever be, bet that really pisses you off huh?" she grins, it had been a while since she had a proper fight with something powerful.
Meanwhile Sammi appears in the house, motioning for the others inside to come along with him. He wanted to get a good bit of distance from this thing, figuring the best place was the hotel, no way this guy would think of that.
The creature snarls, then pauses and turns back towards the house, sniffing at the air before letting out a loud roar. He can't see inside but he somehow KNOWS his prey is escaping! It turns back to Arja and lashes out harshly with one of it's massive hands, catching her across the jaw and sending her sprawling, then prepares to break down the front wall when suddenly...
"HEY OOGLY! UP HERE YA BLOODY GREAT LUMP!" shouts a loud feminine sounding voice. The creature's head snaps up as a shadow jumps down from a nearby roof, a long shining blade glinting in the moonlight. It reaches up but the person twists in midair and points the blade down, the metal sinking harshly into the monster's shoulder as it lets out a furious roar, the swordswoman jumping back and landing on the pavement, then getting to her feet and pulling a hunting knife off her boot. "Och, ya dinnae like that did ye?" she grins, her bright green eyes shining mischeviously and her flaming red hair fluttering around her head in the breeze.
She's wearing a short mail jacket over a bright green teeshirt, a pair of black leather pants over her legs and matching leather motorcycle boots on her feet. She looked to be in her twenties, she was clearly a talented fighter, and that accent was as Irish as potato soup... oh boy...
Arja glares as she sees the woman appear, pulling herself up angrily. For a moment she's actually more focused on her than the monster, charging at the redhead and slashing her claws at her "Why are you again, didn't we make it clear your form of 'help' isn't welcome Morrigan?"
Meanwhile inside Sammi is practically throwing the people through the portal to the hotel as he gets a sudden surge of Anger coming from Arja and hears the heavily accented voice yelling. Last he needed was this thing breaking in and shoving an arm or something through the hedge... "Alright there's about to be some kinda divine smackdown outside as well as the hulk's rampage, so we're just gonna go and hope New Orleans exists tomorrow morning, come on, it's the creepy portal or almost certain death, fun choice I know." he rattles off quickly, shoving them through.
The woman looks at Arja, tilting her head, then smirks, "Ach, ya thinkin' ah be th' lady 'o th' battlefield lass? Nae nae, ya mistaken ya wee monkey! Ah'm not 'er ladyship, ah-" she starts to explain before she's suddenly punched in the face and sent flying backwards through the front of the house, half the first floor collapsing, "OCH YA BLOODY CHEATER! FOUL!" she shouts angrily from inside as she starts digging herself out. Simoni just about thought the same, but there's no magic coming off this woman... which is odd. If she is from Clan Fullmoon she wouldn't be fighting with a sword like one of the boys... would she? Its possible tha- is about as far as that thought gets before simoni yelps and zips upwards out of the mutated human's reach.
"Arja! Worry about her later!" she calls, whistling up another blast of air and aiming it at the creature's elbow joint, which has all the effect of a BB gun on it.
Arja frowns, but nods, turning back to the creature and charging at it. "Alright big boy, I'm not gonna be outdone by some Fullmoon girl then!" she grins, jumping up to try to cling to the creature's face, iron claws digging into his skin.
Meanwhile after rather ungracefully dumping his cargo off at the hotel, Sammi returns to the fight, throwing a patch of ice down on the ground under the beast to try to get him off balance.
The monster bellows loudly, but falls down to all fours and slams it's fists down, cracking up the ice before it tilts is head down and charges at a building opposite the house, trying to smash Arja into it! It's a few feet away when suddenly it lets out a loud yelp and falls prone on the ground, the Fullmoon woman standing behind it with her hands wrapped around it's ankle, "Quick 'n yer toes eh beastie? 'ow bout ya try runnin' on THIS!" she grins, grabbing his heel and toes and twisting harshly. The creature lets out a pained bellow as a loud SNAP fills the air, it's ankle broken clean through. Unable to run, it twists around and tries to grab Arja off it's back, flailing with it's arms as it gnashes it's teeth in fury.
Arja hangs on tight as the creature flails around, biting and slashing at the thing as it moves around to the back of its head. "This drug is clearly a bad batch, I'm pretty sure 'brings out your vices' doesn't involve super powers!" she calls as she sends a burst of flame into the creature's flame, trying to get it into the thing's mouth or remaining eye where it's hopefully weaker.
It splashes over the thing's face like water, but it seems whatever it's skin has become isn't flammable anymore. It shakes her off and hobbles around on three of four limbs, it's remaining eye glowing with malice as it starts to swell up bigger, it's teeth sharpening into points and it's muscles bulging...
Simoni lands next to Arja, still in her garuda form, and gets ready to take off again once she's on, the Fullmoon woman gripping her knife hilt tightly... and then the monster suddenly gives a lurch and spasms all over, coughing as greenish bile spills out of it's mouth. Simoni lowers her wings slightly as the woman narrows her eyes, "Wot th'..." she mutters as it starts to shake violently, its eye rolling in it's socket as it falls onto it's side, coughing and retching as tremors build up all along it's limbs. It vomits up another wave of bile, then finally slumps as it's eye goes unfocused.
The Fullmoon woman tilts her head at it, "... och, ah think it daed..." she mutters, " 'ang on, ah'll check." she nods, walking up to it's head and crouching down, then sticking her knife straight through it's eyeball and pulling it back out, "... aye, seems daed..." she tilts her head, "Ah'd best be sure." she nods, then jabs it in it's eye three more times. "... aye, pretty dead." she nods, then stabs it in the eye another five times. She seems to enjoy doing it.
Arja frowns, "Well... that was helpful at least... I don't even think a raging rakshasa is that tough..." she groans, rubbing her sore arms as her claws fade. "Sorry about yelling at you there…" she nods to the woman, "So… just who are you then?"
She looks quizzically at Arja, then laughs, "Wot? Nelen nae told ye about me?" she grins, wiping off her knife and putting it back in it's sheath. "Ach! Ah'm 'urt! Well monkey, me name be..."
"... Loren Fullmoon." whimpers Nelen as he sees her walking into the hotel room with Simoni and Arja a half hour later, his face going pale as Dawn fights down a laugh, "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!" he yells, getting up as if his stomach wasn't even sore and making a dive for the window before Loren grabs his ankle and tosses him back onto the bed without looking.
"Ach! Noo issat any way fer ya ta greet yer kin Nelen? 'specially after ah pulled yer wee friends outta th' fire fer ye?" she grins at him, slamming the window shut so hard that it cracks a bit at the top.
"Kin?! You tried to fucking kill me while I was in exile at least twelve different times!" he retorts, though so did most of the clan. Clearly there's more to this.
"Nelen... Nelen..." she smirks, waving her hands dismissively, "T'was jus' orders m'boy! Ya ken well as ah do ya dinnae dare go 'ganst th' ol' man back then... 'sides, 'tis not like ah gave ya more'n ah few love scritches~" she smirks, flicking her fingertip against a rather gruesome scar on his shoulder that looks like someone tried to take the entire arm off with a sword...
He flinches as she does, "What the hell are you even doing in New Orleans?" he asks.
"Ach, well, th' ol' grannie been keepin' watch o' yer after th' whole mess with th' usurper blew over. Grannie 'ad some lads go ta yer curry smellin' 'ome ta keep yer big ol' pussy busy while ya afield 'n grannie got th' feelin' ya may need lookin' after in th' colonies so she asked me tae pop o'er fer a visit. Said somethin' up 'round 'ere 'n that ye may well need someone else who ken what th' beasties be up tae." she nods, putting her hands on her hips and smiling.
Simoni blinks slowly, then glances at Arja, "... you get any of that?" she asks.
Dawn smirks, "She says that Jeannie has been keeping an eye on us since we killed Franklin, she sent some of Clan Fullmoon to distract the Manticore while we're here, and sent Loren here to help us." she nods to Simoni.
"Aye, 'tis wot ah said pussy. These wee ones nae ken proper English?" she asks.
Arja shakes her head to Simoni's question, "And people complain about learning Hindi..." she grins.
Drusilla smirks a bit. "I like her, I thought all the girls in your family were scrawny birds... no offense..." she nods.
After a bit Nessa and Alice finally make their way back in, sighing loudly. "My gods that school is exhausting to deal with, and then of COURSE there's traffic on the way here! Half the roads are blocked off for some commotion…" Nessa huffs as she makes her way to the minibar, pulling out a can of beer.
Loren smirks, "Scrawny? Ach if ya werenae wit' child ah'd show ye how scrawny ah am ya one eyed monsta!" she smirks, jabbing Drusilla in the arm and knocking her right off her feet and into a chair. "Oho, ah ken this 'un. Ye be ah Roche girl aye? An yeh lass, yer nae one ah th' line, but workin' fer 'em." she smirks, grabbing a beer for herself.
Nelen rolls his eyes at Loren and nods to Drusilla, "Y'know how Stephy was? That shit goes both ways apparently. Loren is him in reverse." he explains, "And she's ten times worse than any of the men. Franklin kept her on my ass and anything else he could find for her just to keep her out of the castle..." he turns to Loren, "But why are you here? I mean isn't there a pack of rogue werewolves you can be strangling to death or something?" he asks, "I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to piss off Jeannie..."
She shrugs, knocks back the entire can, then gets out another, "Ya nae send he any yule greetin's, ah ken that." she replies.
Nelen blinks, then frowns, "Right, forgot the Christmas Card, she would take that personally." he sighs, "Well... I guess this kinda works, I mean if there's anyone I can think of in the clan that'd be insane enough to take on a Pride Demon it'd be you."
She smirks and flexes, "Ach, ya got one ah th' Morninstar's lot comin' fer ye? Ah nae had ah tussle wit' th' likes o' them since mister high 'n mighty Walker bann'd me from th' Nightside!" she nods, looking quite eager for a fight already.
Simoni blinks, "Wait, she's banned from the Nightside? As in all of it? How the heck-..." she asks as Nelen shakes his head.
"Long story..." he sighs.
Arja grins, "I like her too, so she's like girl Stephy... or boy Stephy... it's complex..." she giggles a bit.
Alice nods to the woman "Mhm, Alice, always nice to meet a Fullmoon who isn't throwing me into a bookshelf," she smirks softly.
"Is it wrong I hope our kid comes out like her Nelen?" Dru asks with a grin as she pulls herself up to her seat again.
Nelen glares at Drusilla, "Yes, yes it is wrong. It is a catastrophe of wrong." he grumbles, fingering another sword wound on his side that looks like it almost took out one of his lungs.
"Speaking of…" Sammi asks, swishing his mouth with water, still trying to get the creature's 'taste' out. "Hey Stephy, get out here and join the family reunion, I just did the heavy lifting for you!" he calls to Trixie's room. "Hey, you'll like Stephy and his girlfriend…” he grins.
Stephy walks out, the fae having changed into an icy blue nightgown and robe, "Whats all the noise for guys? I... ohcrap." he eeps before he's suddenly swept up.
"Och lookit th' wee pixie ah caught!" grins Loren, pulling Stephy into a literally bonecrunching hug, "Ya too much ah fairy princess ta give yer cousin ah 'ug now?" she smirks, then drops him onto the floor in a heap, "Aye, th' gentry worked ye over good dinnae they? Ach, ah daresay ye make ah better un ah them then ye did ah Fullmoon." she nods, seems like she's not one to judge in that respect at least.
"N-nice to see you too Loren... Sammi? Be a dear and pop my shoulders back into place." he whimpers.
"Right right, fuck it. We need firepower to take on Al and Loren is the Fullmoon equivalent of breaking the Geneva Conventions. Hell she almost did a couple times." sighs Nelen, "Look, lemme explain what's going o- AGH!" he gasps as she pulls him into a headlock.
"Aye ye will m'lad! First ye gonna 'splain 'ow ta get ta th' pub from 'ere! Th' pisswater 'in 'ere ain't worth a damn!" she nods, snatching up his shirt off the bed and dragging him into the hallway, still barefoot despite his frantic protests.
Simoni lets out a low whistle as they go, a faint breeze tickling the ankles of everyone in the room, "So THATS Loren. I heard about her a few times... but jeez..."
Sammi just giggles, helping his brother get all his limbs correctly in their sockets. "Well, he is right, if we need firepower it sounds like this one is the nuclear option of Fullmoons."
Arja nods, grinning at Simoni, "She's cute too, huh?" she teases, playfully hip bumping the girl as Drusilla nods in agreement.
"Good, I'm glad we have her then. Something's REALLY bugging Nelen about this 'Al' guy, not just the expected 'oh god a powerful demon is mad at me'... it's like he's scared of something. She sighs softly, shaking her head and rubbing her stomach softly. "I know we're not exactly a... what's that word..."
"Nuclear Family?" Alice offers, the cyclops nodding at that.
"Mhm, that. I know we're not normal or whatever, but it's not too much to ask to just want to have a kid and a mate and a safe place to call home for all of us, is it?" sighs Drusilla.
Simoni shrugs, "Safe? I remember that word... I haven't heard it in a looooooooooooooong time though..." she smirks.
Meanwhile...
A well dressed man in an antique green velvet suit is looking over a notepad infront of him. "Died did he?" he asks, tilting his head at them.
"Yes Sir." replies a massive creature with an exaggerated nose and chin, leaning over them as well, "Heart gave out before the transformation could finish. Seems we won't be able to use the enhanced Hyde after all. Human bodies can't handle the strain before they break." he nods.
"Hmm... but he was immune to Arja's fire, that's important." he nods, tapping the handle of an elegant cane against his chin as he does. "The monkey's divine heritage is worrying, but if this plan succeeds then we won't have anything to worry about in Hell, or Heaven, for some time." he nods, turning away from his desk and walking towards a large window. Out below are several large vats of a poisonous looking purple liquid. Several people are walking along a walkway above them, measuring out chemicals and pouring them in as needed. They aren't wearing any protective gear or masks despite the harsh fumes and are all quite clearly very dead. As he watches one of them stumbles and falls over the walkway, narrowly missing one of the vats and landing in a broken heap on the floor next to it.
Al frowns, watching it fall, "... what of our necromancer? Are they still onboard?" he asks, turning back to the other demon.
"Yessir. All you have to do is remind 'em of why they signed up in the first place and they're back in line." he nods, grinning, "Its almost sad really..." he chuckles.
"Sad? Oh nobody will be sad in New Orleans soon..." he smirks, "They'll be many many things, but certainly not sad."","pools_count":0,"title":"Part 2.11 Hyde and Seek","deleted":"f","public":"t","mimetype":"application/msword","pagecount":"1","rating_id":"2","rating_name":"Adult","ratings":[{"content_tag_id":"5","name":"Strong Violence","description":"Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death","rating_id":"2"}],"submission_type_id":"12","type_name":"Writing - Document","guest_block":"t","friends_only":"f","comments_count":"0","views":"56","sales_description":null,"forsale":"f","digitalsales":"f","printsales":"f","digital_price":""}