Loa Blood

[RoyalPurpleVelv]

Kryna Ennairy

Leaving Andante leaning against the outside of the warehouse, Kryna heads back to the door.

“I’ve got to go back and help Dex, you’ve got the gun, you should be ok until I get back”

She pulls out her ever present stunner and runs through the door just as the Ragdoll is about to take a second swipe at Dex.

“Can’t get a man of your own you wooden bitch? You may be able to take on the boys but you’re no match for me.”

The taunting didn’t work to distract the Ragdoll, she just laughed and continued going for Dex. Kryna raced towards them activating the stunner when she was still several feet away. To Kryna’s surprise as much as the Ragdoll’s the stunner’s electric beam shot out closing the distance between her and the Ragdoll. The electric shock sparked against the metal rail ties, catching the canvas on the doll’s arm on fire.

 

[SwampThing]

Ragdoll screams, a terrible sound of scraping metal. She throws herself on top of Kryna, wrapping her burning arms around the thief, and tearing into her back with the heavy, blunt claws. The weight of her brings Kryna crashing to the ground.

"If I'm burning up, I'm taking you with me." Her already inhuman voice is distorted by pain.

 

[RoyalPurpleVelv]

Kryna Ennairy

Struggling with the Ragdoll she brings her knees up, getting her legs between them. She manages to make herself grow about a foot, giving her longer limbs and larger muscles. She plants her feet against the Ragdoll and kicks as hard as she can. At the same time she hits the insides of the Ragdolls arms, breaking her grip.

The Ragdoll goes flying through the air landing a few feet away. Kryna rolls along the floor as soon as she's free, extinguishing the spots on her clothes that had started to burn.

Riding on a wave of adrenaline, she doesn't feel any pain, yet. Sitting up she hits the Ragdoll with another beam from the stunner.

 

[SwampThing]

Ragdoll is wreathed in flames now, howling as her body is burned away. She spins towards Kryna, kicking the stunner out of her hand. Then she reaches up and grabs hold of Kryna's throat, her iron fingers burning hot. It doesn't look like she will last very long in those flames, but she will have time enough to crush Kryna's windpipe in her firey grip.

 

[SpectralDragoon]

Dex groans with the pain roaring through his torso from that rusty iron. From his knees he watches the stunner go skipping across the dirty warehouse floor and growls as he watches the fight escalate. Holding his side, dripping a little blood, Dex moves quickly to skirt grappling couple so he's sure he's got a good shot.

Eyes and fingertips beginning to glow with light, Dex holds his hands apart and lets the light coalesce in his hands before throwing a massive beam of light at Ragdoll. He keeps the channel open and drives her through the air with the force of the continuous beam, finally driving her into a steel beam of the warehouse structure.

Dex turns to Kryna, "Arghhh, this is gonna leave a mark, lets get the hell outta here."

 

[SwampThing]

The burning rags and bits of wood fall to the floor, metal parts clattering. Outside, Andante stares at Dex and Kryna.

"You killed her? How? You barely got scratched. She'll be back, she always comes back. We have to keep moving."

 

[SwampThing]

Bay City

Price lays two sets of crime-scene photos on the desk before Faith. The first shows a highway crawling with crows and starlings, graffitied with the word "Cuckoo". Nearby, two private security cars lay abandoned.

"This was a month ago. A busload of kids from an Argopolis prepschool, along with their driver and guards, disappear while en route to a field trip at an airforce base. These were the children of important people. Ministers, Generals, CEOs. The daughter of the head of the Chapel family was on there too. The Chapels are the Aralian family that currently controls the Killer Bees, not that we can prove it. The security cars and grafitti were found halfway between the school and the airbase. And they disappeared the same hour as the Dracon Island disaster."

The second set of photos shows an asylum, walls breached by a huge yello bulldozer. The bulldozer is crawling with pigeons, andd the word "Cuckoo" is sprayed on the damaged wall beside it. In some of the photos, the small band of Gifted heroes can be seen emerging from the rubble. Faith recognizes Monolith, and the winged Prince of Dracon Island.

"This was yeterday. Bulldozer was stolen from the construction site of the new clock tower. Whoever did it never tried to steal the valuable Loa medicines inside, they just seem to have wanted to set a bunch of psychos free. Fortunately, these guys were on hand to contain the incident, but a number of high-profile serial killers escaped, and are loose in the city right now."

Price hesitated, looking questioningly at Faith. "Two of the escaped killers are powerful Gifted. Those are them in the group photo. I don't want that hitting the news, though, that's exactly the kind of panic we don't need.

"So that's what we know about the "Cuckoo". I don't know if it's a person, or a group, or just a copycat thing, or what. But it's not just random. There's some kind of plan here, and this is just the beginning.

"I'm sorry, I really do have to get back to work. Maybe we could continue this discussion later? Over a drink?"

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Faith

Faith committed the photos to memory without touching them, then sat back.

She grinned at him with blinding winsomeness. "You know what? I've only been in town 12 hours and I'm in on a hot story!" She packed up her things. "And I have a date with a really cute cop! I think I'm gonna like this town. Don't worry about me keeping it underwraps, I will. I'm at the youth hostel for now, so pick me up later?"

 

[RoyalPurpleVelv]

Kryna Ennairy (Paikairy)

“Wood and canvas burn big bro,” she says holding up her stunner. She frowns at it. The stunner wasn’t supposed to be capable of shooting a beam of electricity out like it did in the warehouse. As bizarre as it sounded she had an idea why it did.

“We better get going someone is bound to come investigate those gunshots. We’ve got a pilot waiting over on the airstrip.”

When the trio got to the plane the pilot, having gotten jobs through Fagin before, didn’t show too much surprise at the blood on Kryna and Dex.

After using the plane’s first aid kit to clean and bandage as best they could, Kryna experimentally pointed the stunner away from the aircraft and hit the button. It functioned like it always had sending a spark of electricity between the diodes. She pointed it again and imagined the beam of electricity shooting out 5 feet into the airfield, and it did.

Lost in thought she climbed into the plane and the group took off headed back to bridges.

 

[SwampThing]

Once the plane is in the air, Andante clams down considerably. He introduces himeslf to Dex, and thanks him profusely. It turns out he and Russel, the pilot, know each other from years before.

In the back of the small craft, Andante goes into more detail about his first meeting with Ragdoll.

"You remember Fagin used to tell stories about Fogg and Dark? Civet Fogg and October Dark, the greatest international duo in the business, until us anyway. They had a good run, and then 6 years ago, October, she gets shot and left for dead in some chemical waste dump, and Civet, he just disappears. She's been in a coma in a prison hospital in Reva, but I only just found out what had happened to him while I was looking for you. Civet was holed up in some mansion near Boomtown, way up in north Argo. Going by a different name, of course, and apparently doing really well for himself. So I figured I'd break into the place, see if there was enough of their old loot to fund my search for you, and maybe a nice present for Fagin. And there was the Ragdoll.

"I didn't get it at first, the place was locked up tight. No one had broken in. But there was the woman in the living room cutting the old guy up. Then she heard me or something, and she turned. It wasn't a woman, just a bundle of clothes and stuff, with scissors and steak knives for fingers. She dropps Civet and she comes after me. I figured she was there for the loot, so I gave her everything I'd grabbed, but she didn't care. She just wanted me dead.

"I've cut her head off, I've hit her with a truck, I've burned her, but she keeps coming back. Whenever I stay in one place, even for a few hours, she finds me. I've been traveling on the ground though. Maybe we can lose her in the plane.

"But enough about me, what the hell happened to you? Where have you been?"

 

[RoyalPurpleVelv]

Kryna Ennairy (Paikairy)

Kryna listens intently to Andante’s story giving him a look and a nod towards Dex when he mentioned “the business” letting him know that Dex didn’t know what they did for a living. She starts talking very quickly wanted to get everything out before Andante has a chance to say anything.

“I’ve made some rather interesting new connections lately. I’m sure you figured out that I bungled that last job, I dropped the vial and it broke. When I woke up thankfully I hadn’t been caught and managed to get out but I was so afraid of what getting exposed would do to me I ran for a long time. That’s why I missed our meet. I ended up in Bay city and how I met Dex is a long story.

“Not long after I met him there was another incident I got exposed to Loa again, Dex saved my life. That was only two days ago. I got involved in an asylum outbreak and had to go into the police station. I couldn’t believe it, me Kryna Paikairy giving a statement to the police.
“There were several of us “gifted” at the police station. I don’t think the government quite knows what to do with us. We were given the option of working for the police, working for Coda Corporation or living in a fish bowl for the government. I had to choose something so I chose Coda. You’d never believe in a million years what they’re going to have me do.” She laughs.

“As far as the job goes, I didn’t just take it because it was my only option at the time. I think I really do want to get out of the business. I’m getting tired of the life; it’s been ten years already. We’re not exactly street rats anymore”

Finally finished she waits anxiously wondering what Andante’s reaction will be. Telling him she was not Loa gifted and wanted out of the business all at once, as well as giving him the alias she was going by was a lot of information at once.

 

[SwampThing]

"You survived two doses of Loa? Kryna you must be the luckiest girl in the world. But working for Coda?" Andante doesn't even try to hide his distaste. "I guess we're not going to be partners anymore, then. I'd only slow you down, now. That bitch took my eye. If we're going to Bay City, I'll have Fagin get me to a doctor. Then, I don't know. Leave the country, I guess. There are some people in Aralia owe me a few favours. I'd really hoped that we could keep working together."

 

[amon_darknight]

Ghost Elva

He looks to the man known as Tag and he watches him close, but now thinks of more important things, he keeps hearing those voices telling him that he is trying to steal her away from him, but Ghost pushed those thoughts again from his mind. He saw Pol’s people bring food and drink to Aya and himself and he smiled at them.

“Thanks, thank you all for this. So you are all martial artists, I am big into martial arts, I have trained ever since I could walk, I have learned so many different styles, but have found none that I want to stick with. I would love to learn from you and your disciplines. If you would be willing to teach. LOA worshipers, well everyone needs something to believe in, and thank you for helping us. Do you mind if I look around?”

Pol shook his head and Ghost walked away from Aya as she ate, Ghost felt strangely attracted to something in this room, the voices were strong in his head, he saw this little girl with a silver chain around her neck with a pendant of a Black Raven, he saw that and memories of Marrow island flashed in his mind, he saw the little girl that gave him the same pendant and than saw her killed by a solider, after that he again saw all his friends, family, people murdered and tortured to death and there was nothing he could do to stop these demons, he let out a primal scream that sounded like a lions roar, and he had tears falling from his eyes as he seemed to vanish from the basement, he than found himself running down a dark ally, and than all went black. He fell from his over exertion, and he knocked some trashcans over and broke the rest of a broken window left in the ally, he cut himself up pretty bad and he laid on the ground bleeding and unconscious. He dreamed again of the destruction of his home and the voices told him to kill and get revenge for what happened.

 

[SwampThing]

"Us, martial artists?" says Pol. "Well we're training. We could probably learn a lot more from you than you could from us. Tag's really good, he'll probably be asked to become full Cold Blood this year."

When Ghost walks away to explore the rest of the basement, Tag immediately sits down across from Sugar.

"Hey. I hope we're not putting too much pressure on you or anything. You're just so fascinating. We'd all really like to help you do whatever it is you're doing, go wherever you're going from here. Although personally, I hope you stick around for a little while."

Then Ghost roars, and a wind rushes through the room. The doors upstairs bang open, and there is some yelling from the kitchen.

"Most holy," whispers Pol, "He is truly a monster."

"Should we go after him?" Tag asks, as several of the teenagers are already heading upstairs, and taking motorbikes from the restaurant's storage room.

 

[RoyalPurpleVelv]

Kryna Ennairy (Paikairy)

Kryna started to get tears in here eyes, persistently pretending they weren’t there. “Dante you could never slow me down. I agree first thing we should do is take you to Fagin and get you to a doctor. I don’t want to split up the partnership,” she squeezes his hand and grins. “We were the best. But the whole time I was running I did a lot of thinking, and I’m ready to try something different. Even if we DO break up the partnership you’re still my brother and I don’t want to lose track of you again.”

 

[SwampThing]

Dante squeezes his sister's hand and nods. He sleeps the rest of the flight back to Bay City.

 

[Jacobo_Curious]

How does she stay slim, eating all that?

I wonder if she wants my breakfast...

Kell stared down at his plate, pushing his bacon around and glaring at it. The cooling, congealed fat and meat somehow reminded him of the reality that was his life. Far too disgusting to eat.

The bacon actually smells pretty good. Well seasoned, too -- but nobody can stop Kell when he's angsty, eh?

The young man grimaced, more obvious now that his face was freshly washed. His skin had become blemished and an angry infected red in some places due to the grime and filth, but it could pass as mild acne. He retained his boyish good-looks; after all, he had spent several minutes in front of the mirror trying to arrange his hair just so.

Read your Neitzche, read your Kesey, and don't forget to comb your hair nice. Give me a break, Kell.

"Fucking mental board of directors," mouthed Kell to himself while hiding his face with his napkin, speaking silently rather than thinking in the hopes of establishing some form of independence from his brain for his superego. Or, perhaps, in the hope of convincing himself he still HAD a superego, and wasn't just a boiling morass of confused brain and malfunctioning body.

Mmm. Mary's certainly grown up, hasn't she?

"Bastards," he mouthed again. Adolesence was unavoidable, no matter what Kell considered his mental maturity to be.

I mean, I've seen a lot better, but still, when she smiles, she--

"Looks fake," Kell interrupted his own thoughts. Knowing that soon his companions would notice his semi-sane behavior, he put down the napkin.

"Well, I guess I don't have much of an appetite," he said quietly. "I haven't been feeling very hungry recently. I... had to leave home only a little while ago, and I haven't been feeling too good about it. I don't have anywhere to go back to, though." He smiled weakly at Mary. "Seeing someone familiar just made me go a little crazy. I'm really sorry about that."

Ooh, key up the melodrama a bit MORE. Sound more angsty, too. Deeper voice. Chicks dig the deeper voice.

Kell sucessfully hid his rage at his own thoughts.

 

[KisstheSky]

Sugar

Sugar ate slowly and silently, savoring the unique taste and flavor of these dishes.
She watched as Ghost took notice of a little girl wearing a pendant. She could sense deep emotions pouring off him and as they ran over her skin she couldn't help but shiver.
Repressed memories were always painful to relive...

The boy with the thorn tattoo moved over and sat beside her, and she lost her focus on Ghost...

"Hey. I hope we're not putting too much pressure on you or anything. You're just so fascinating. We'd all really like to help you do whatever it is you're doing, go wherever you're going from here. Although personally, I hope you stick around for a little while."

She smiled faintly and was about to reply when....

Suddenly, Ghost roared, and a wind rushed through the room. The doors upstairs flew open, and yelling could be heard from the kitchens upstairs.

She leapt to her feet, her skin beginning to prickle, but she shook it off.

"Most holy," whispers Pol, "He is truly a monster."

To this she shook her head, "no....he's just human...its just life taking its toll..."

She noticed Tag had risen as well and was now standing beside her.

"Should we go after him?" Tag asked, as several of the other teenagers headed to the storage room to grab motorbikes.

She nodded slowly...."yes, but if you find him you won't be able to handle him if he attacks you. He's upset and confused. I should be able to help him though..."

She headed for the storage room, "Tag...or Pol...one of you need to drive however, I've never been on one of those contraptions before."

 

[SwampThing]

Tag nods and helps Sugar onto the back of his bike. Pol puts a dark green helmet on her. A few others are riding out as well, but it is only Sugar's empathy that allows her to follow Ghost's psychic trail, and direct Tag to where Ghost is lying. Beneath his dark green leather jacket, she feels his body heat, and tight, coiled muscles. She also notices a short sword sheathed to the side of the bike.

When they reach the alley, they find Ghost laying in broken glass. He's re-oppened the wounds from the mouth-creature, and is bleeding. Ghost's new clothes have been cut up, and Sugar and Tag can see a large tatoo on his back, a Lion and a Raven, winding around each other.

 

[Lady_Siren]

After Nikki left Damien she headed back to her room to pack. She would go somewhere else, even furthur from Aralia. She hadn't meant to stay here this long as it was. Damien had proved to dangerous a distraction. He caused her to want things she had no right to. Not to mention as soon as word of her crimes arrived, not even Damien would be able to protect her. Aralia was a city that dispensed punishment mercilessly. They also sent bounty hunters after their most wanted. And killing the prince had definitly put her on that list. Quickly packing what little she had she grabbed her jacket and left the hotel. She was raising her hand for a cab when a hand roughly grabbed her from behind covering her mouth to prevent a scream. A mouth was pressed her ear and a gruff voice spoke in Aralian "In the name of Aralia I am here to exact justiced. You are found guilty, say your prayers now." She struggled against her attacker. She bit down hard on his hand and was rewarded with a blow to the head. She stumbled her vision slowly fading. She fought and won conciousness standing up strait she glared at the man even as his hand lashed out grabbing her throat and lifting her off the ground. As if out of no where a clarity came upon her and she found herself staring at the dagger the man had in a sheathe at his side. Inscribed with symbols of justice it was a common weapon for a bounty hunter to use. She focused in on that dagger and ever so slowly it rose silently out of the sheathe and floated unstably for a moment before gaining control, she sent the dagger into the bounty hunters back not a moment to soon. She was about to pass out. The bounty hunters eyes widened in surprise as he dropped her and collapsed. She fell to her knees coughing and raggedly drawing in breaths. Stumbling to her feet she grabbed the dagger from the mans back cleaning it on his clothes. It would do as protection. Without a backward glance Nikki took off down the street. Now she had a criminal record of two murders. She was truly doomed.

 

[SwampThing]

Nikki finds herself wandering through the ethnic neighborhoods downtown. It is evening when she reaches Little Aralia, and the deep, slow sounds of electronic jazz float through the steamy streets. A crowded bar beckons. Here, her distinctive mane of silver hair will blend right in among the other expatriates.

Several heads turn Nikki's way when she enters the bar. Some young, some old, all silver-headed. The TV in the corner is playing an Aralian soccer game.

A handsome, clean-cut man in his thirties approaches Nikki. His suit is fine-cut but casual, his hair shaved to a metalic sheen on his scalp. When he offers his hand, she sees the stylized bee tatoo above his thumb.

"Hi, I'm Mark. You look like you could use a drink. Would you care to join me?

"You know, I recognized you as soon as you came in. Your face has been all over the Aralian networks. Don't worry, you're safe here. So, what are you looking for? Because I guarantee I can help you find it."

 

[KisstheSky]

Sugar

As she got on the back of Tag's motorbike she wrapped her arms tightly around his slender waist as Pol placed a green helmet on her head.
He reved the engine and sped off, a few others following them, but eventually splitting up heading to different parts of the city.
Sugar's mind sought out Ghosts. She could sense his fear and frustration and through her directions she was able to lead Tag straight to him.

When she saw him there, battered looking, lying there like a ragdoll she cried out. Leaping off the bike before it had even completely stopped sending her crashing into the dumpster.
She ripped off the helmet and rushed to his side, her knees and palms skinned and bleeding from her fall but she paid them no mind.

Ghost was bleeding as well, but they were his old wounds that seemed to have been reopened...whether he'd done this to himself or not she couldn't tell....
His new clothes were ripped and bloodstained and she could make out a tattoo on his back. The artwork was beautifully done, a Lion and a Raven....they seemed to be winding around each other...she noticed Tag taking note of it as well, though she had almost forgotten about his presence there entirely. She'd have to ask Ghost what it meant when conditions were better.

She turned him over, glancing over his wounds. She was careful as she moved him, not wanting to do more damage than he'd already acquired.
She cradled his head in her lap and probed his mind, trying to broadcast a sense of ease into him....to cancel out the anxiety he was feeling.

"What's wrong..." she whispered, uncertain if he could hear her or not, "we have to take care of each other....you have to let me help you...the way you've helped me..." her voice was shakey and almost childlike as she stroked his hair.
"Please wake up...."

 

[amon_darknight]

Ghost

He laid there out cold, he dreamed of Marrow Island and all the people there, living happily and peaceful. Than everything turned red and he than saw everyone dead, or being killed. It was horrible, but he saw the little girl that he considered a daughter holding the Lion and Raven Pendant and he saw her smile, but suddenly she was pinned to a tree and killed in a most horrible way right in front of Ghost. He tried to save her, but went right through the attackers and saw her die. Ghost let out a scream and suddenly awoke at feeling the rush of calmness and he drew his gun and aimed it at whoever it was that was touching him. He rolled away and sat up and saw it was Aya and he dropped the gun and tears started to stream down his face. He put his hands to his face and cried, and you saw the pendants fall from his shirt on the chain, and you saw a black Raven shaped from metal, and a lion head shaped from metal that was silver.

“Ohh Aya, I am sorry, I don’t know what happened, that little girl looked like Raine, and she even wore the pendant, why did those fucking murderers have to kill my people, why did they have to come to Marrow Island? I will find the people that killed them and I will destroy whoever is responsible. And I will destroy there home. What happened, anyways… where am I?”

He looked to Tag that was standing behind Aya and he picked his gun up and held it firm in his hand. He looked to Aya and smiled at her.

“Aya, I felt you in my heart and soul, it felt wonderful. I think I am falling in lov… AhhhHH”

He grabs his head and he falls back to the ground and screams, his scream seems to shake the ground and Aya can see a flash back of Marrow Island and everyone getting killed. She sees him pass out again and slam his head on the ground to open yet another vicious wound.

 

[SwampThing]

Tag looks embarassed as Ghost is speaking to Sugar. When Ghost collapses again, he rushes off the bike to her side. "That's a bad head wound. We better get him to a doctor. Don't worry, I know a place where they don't ask questions." He takes a cell phone from his jacket, and calls Pol to arrange for the restaurant's delivery van to pick them up.
________________________

The next day, Sugar sits beside Ghost's bed. The Revan doctor operates out of a sprawling basement complex under a seedy hotel. Physically, Ghost's wounds are stable, but he hasn't regained consciousness yet. Sugar is drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of the elevator arriving. Through the crack in the door, she can see people emerging from the elevator into the waiting room, but isn't sure if they can see her. She recognizes the quiet girl from the asylum, the one who seemed so out of place among all the heroes.

Kryna helps her brother out of the elevator. She deposits him on the waiting room couch, and goes to make arrangements with the doctor.

 

[SwampThing]

Price takes Faith down to the beach, where the sprawling tent-city of the Draconian refugees lies. In the evening, muscians play, and the refugees gather around a bonfire to drink. They all know Price, although they seem a little wary of the cop in their midst.

Faith meets the man with seawater blood, and a man with toasters for hands, drinking through a long straw. A six-year old girl, out well past her bedtime, is accompanied by a large purple squiggle in the air. She feeds it sandwiches. A young woman dances by the fire, dissolves into a flock of songbirds for a few seconds, then reforms and continues dancing.