Loa Blood

[cats]

Nia

IC: I didn't feel like walking to my new life. I suppose I was still in thought. I came to the train station completely with out money, but still hopeful of getting a ride. It wasn't to long ago that people considered it romantic to be homeless and jump into train to go from place to place, I suppose the idea of being so free isn't as romantic now.

I looked around tell I found a train that I was reasonably sure was heading for bridges. I climbed in hoping no one would find me. A thought still lingered in my mind but had been fading each day. I was almost surprised I didn't jump under the train my head next to a wheel rather then in it.

I sat down in the corner. I was hungry and homeless riding the train, one couldn't be truer to the sad stories. My hunger some how left me with a strange feeling as if it wasn't natural, as is it was strange that I have gained weight with out eating anything.

I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. Hopefully I will soon be in bridges and then I can start a life once more. "Perhaps I will have some pasta when I get there."

 

[Mirad182]

Rufus nodded and laid back on the bed. "Well this was a Loa testing facility. I doubt a lot will be left but it might be worth going throgh."

 

[Morgoth]

The Crusher nodded. "Very well. It might be a good idea to-. Ahhhh!" he screamed, sinking to his knees as he clutched his head. After a moment, he stopped and stood, his composure returning. Rufus gave him a questioning look and the Crusher thought for a moment. "Ah. It must be the environment. I believe that my body, unused to this environment, is trying to adapt. I assume that periods like this may become frequent. I will learn to cope", he explained.

 

[cats]

Nia

IC: "So this is the bridge?" I was walking down the street, one of the few the city had, considering what to do. The place was impressive and I could definitely get used to it, but I still am rather hungry. I wish I had a pickle, that would be so good right now. I lowered my hand to my belly which now stuck out to a small degree because of my mysterious weight gain.

I stopped at a small channel, it didn't seem to be the best part of town, but a normal person doesn't scare me the way it once did. Their was a small shop with a sign in the window, a help wanted add. "I wonder if they have pickles there?"

I causally walked in and set about my quest for cucumbers soaked in salt. On the third self in the back I found a jar of them. I picked them up and took them to the front desk. Setting the pickles down I went for my purse, realizing I didn't have one or money to pay for the treats. "Um... is that position of help still open?"

 

[SwampThing]

Nia gets the job in the small general store. Bridges has just received federal grant money to hire refugees from Bay City. The old Argon woman who runs the store tells Nia she's glad the job is going to a good "clean" girl.

"There was a man asking after that job with pink scales. Scales! Would you want one of them handling your food? For all we know they're contagious, or just waiting to hatch into one of those Crusher things."

After only a few days, Nia sees the old shopkeeper paying protection money to a couple Sejealan thugs in dark green jackets. She can see their martial arts training in the way they walk, and the calluses on their hands tell of training with the lightweight, curved Sejealan swords.

On the street outside the small shop, a pretty young Draconian woman is putting up hand-made posters looking for a roomate to share an apartment nearby.

Bridges is built on it's tourist trade, and the elaborate stageshows of it's famous hotels and casinos. Many of the Gifted arriving from Bay City are meeting with prejudice, not finding normal jobs, and joining the fighting circuit.

 

[SwampThing]

World News

Nameless terrorists attack the GAIA science vessels generating the force field around Dracon Island. The terrorists had secured high-ranking undercover positions on the GAIA ships and nearby navy ships. They were stopped by a mysterious flying man in a black suit and bowler hat, and no one was hurt. Only one photograph was taken of the flying man, and in that one photo, a small bird was flying directly in front of his face.

A regular Aralian satelite repair space mission suffers technical failure, putting twenty people a risk. The shuttle crew is rescued by a flying red lion the size of an aircraft carrier. In high orbit above the Earth, the huge lion grips the failing shuttle in it's teeth, and returns it gently to Aralia.

A few days later, the lion is seen in Svetla, carrying huge amounts of ocean water to put out bushfires that threaten local crops. Among the worlds' other questions about the lion, why didn't it show up in Bay City, to stop the Crusher?

Locrir's military, under the leadership of Emperor Savanti Romero, continues to expand acoss the Northern Phrygian continent. Small pockets of resistance in Phyxa are easily crushed by the Locrian tanks and troops.

The King of Dracon Island, missing since the Crusher attack, is found dead in the rubble of his hotel. This sparks more debate over who owns Dracon Island, GAIA or the millions of displaced refugees mostly still living in Bay City.

 

[SwampThing]

Dracon Island

Rufus and the Crusher spend the night in the old, abandoned testing facility. In the deepest sub-basements, antmen pick over the old, mutated corpses of the doctors, technicians and test subjects who had been less lucky than Rufus.

At night there are different screams in the forest, different energy flashes over the city.

In between the camp and the city of Tiamat, a huge metal wheel writhes and twists across the landscape, destroying farmhouses, highway overpasses, and fields of mutant sheep. The wheel is twenty stories tall, made of crushed cars, shattered girders, and shards of sheet metal. At it's center, a naked, bearded man floats, arms and legs held out rigidly, his face controrted in rage, pain, and fear of his own power. The man screams and tears across the land, unable to escape the wheel of destruction created by his Gift.

 

[cats]

Nia

IC: It was interesting, when I was hired she said I was clean. I haven't showered since I left bay city. Handling food I'm sure my employer must be getting mad.

I walked outside quickly and grabbed a flyer. Well she only posted this yesterday, perhaps she can help. My salary wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. Honestly I don't know how the old Lady does it paying those thugs. "If I had my sai I would of showed them a thing or too."

"Oh who am I kidding, I don't fight. It was all an illusion. Besides, if I hit one then they would simply place a bomb on the building for resisting. I guess I do understand the situation" Besides I'm over weight now.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Nikki liked this new idea of moving to a new city. There was sure to be plenty of action. She smiled at Mark "Lets get started then." She new the exact agents she would choose. She immediatly notified each of them and prepared to leave Bay City. She wondered if there were any gifted in Bridge.

 

[Mirad182]

Rufus slept on the old cot. His head filling with all the images of the night of the disater. He thrashed in bed screaming as his mind filled with thoughts of blood and rage. As the chemicals enterred his body. His muscles tensed His eyes bluged His skin turned white. He jumped up, his head bursting with pain. He thrashed about the hut nocking over the table. He ran outside.

"MAKE IT STOP!!!" He clutched his head as he awoke his head throbbing. The whole world suddenly rushing in. All the sound of the world. The wind the destruction. HE felt the cold of the night and sensed all the energy flowing over the island. The cries from within his head. He saw nothing but red. He was suddenly in tune with everything on the island. He fell to his knees clutching his head. His brain felt like it was going to burst his skull. When it finally stopped he gasped for air and in his frustration and pain and confusion he wept.

 

[Morgoth]

The Crusher sat silently in the corner, sleep evading him. He doubted that he would willingly go to sleep anyway. The nightmares that still haunted him... The darkness that crept up on him every time he closed his eyes for as much as a moment. And then, the mental battles that he fought every minute of every day. They were draining him. Slowly but surely, he was giving ground to those bastards inside his head. Even Dan, who had been so weak, now had a cleaned-up room. The warehouse of his memories and thoughts had become a battleground. Some areas had seen such intense fighting that they were totally incinerated. Nothing was left of those, not even the shelves. Whole memories had been suddenly expunged from his mind, and he strained to fill them in. Also, he had noticed that the Crusher within him had begun to absorb the nameless terror, fusing into a new, stronger, primeval entity. It angered him. He needed to regain his control. Soon, his limbs might give way to the others. That would be disastrous. He jerked his head up as Rufus ran screaming from the shelter. He shrugged. Everyone had their problems. Everyone must deal with them as they see fit. For Rufus, it was avoiding them. For him, it was obliterating them. Only they refused to give in. They continued fighting long after hope had fled and evil had settled in. They continued to evade him, to trouble him, gnawing and biting. The stokes alone were negligible, but they were adding up. He needed to destroy their impetus. With no reason, there could be no hope. With no hope, they would lay down and die. He looked in sudden shock at his finger. "No!" he gasped as it twitched slightly. His mind retreated upon itself. Battle would be met within the warehouse once again. This battle of mental attrition. Unfortunately, time was not a luxury he could afford. And it was beginning to tell...

 

[SwampThing]

Bridges

Nia meets Dani, and the Draconian girl shows her around the apartment. It's an old, ricketty loft above a canal-boat repair shop. Dani has filled much of the space with plants, but there is still lots of room.

"I was lucky, I was evacuated on the first boat from Draco, before the monsters gained control of the island. I could never find a job in Bay City, and there's no legitimate work in Bridges for someone tainted by the Loa. But I've found a job as an exotic dancer in one of the casino stageshows. It pays for most of this place, but . . . what do you think? Do you like it? And when are you expecting?"
_____________________________

Dr. Dugan sends Symphony, and all the sound equipment they could salvage from his Bay City studio, by GAIA privite cargo jet to Bridges. The musician/spy sits between rows of frozen human organs being shipped out of Bay City.

"I want you to put on a performance in Bridges." Dugan had said, "A huge performance, on national TV. I want the people of Argo to see Loa Gifts being used for something besides violence. It may help them to accept the new Gifted among them.

"And I want you inserted into the Bridges entertainment culture for a covert assignment coming up, but for now, just give the performance."

 

[IDreamofBunnies]

After arriving in Bay City, Brewster gave Jen a field test, having her use her powers to link the minds of a CODA crew in charge of clearing debris over a few city blocks. They are able to coordinate their efforts with extreme efficiency for several hours until Jen grows weary from the exercise.

Dr.Brewster himself used his clearance and resources to attempt to track Nia and look into the status of Monolith.

 

[SwampThing]

Dr. Brewster finds Monolith under heavy Coda guard in his pre-fab bunker in the park. The bunker contains the strange crystaline structures, created by Monolith, that allow him to heal. Monolith is still unconscious, and surrounded by a swarm of scientists.

Nia left the GAIA Embassy about a week ago. She's been given a tourist Visa, but there are no records of her using it to leave town. If she takes a legitimate job, rents an apartment, checks into a hotel, or opens a bank account anywhere in Argo, Brewster will be alerted.

 

[cats]

Nia

IC: 'I'm Dani.' The girl sticks out her hand to offer a shake, a custom more common in Argo then in the Draconian isles or my home in Val. I shook her hand but closed my eyes for a few seconds the typical custom of my culture. "I am Nia."

The room was plethora of green plants. I imagined the water bill, still the room smelled very fresh with all of the oxygen produced by them. I could get used to it, after all finding a place to live else where wouldn't be easy. "I apologies if I smell bad, I've been here for a while and haven't been able to take a shower." I really should wash the clothes as well. The thought of taking off these garments was rather appealing, they were a tight fit after all.

'I was lucky, I was evacuated on the first boat from Draco, before the monsters gained control of the island.' I wonder if she escaped the curse many of us got. 'I could never find a job in Bay City, and there's no legitimate work in Bridges for someone tainted by the Loa.' So she is similarly troubled. I wonder what the exact effects are. Should I tell her I am also a so called gifted? 'But I've found a job as an exotic dancer in one of the casino stage shows.' Well it beats starving, still her power has forced her into an honor-less way of life. No not honor-less, to be honor-less is to be a criminal, to become a monster.

'It pays for most of this place, but . . . what do you think? Do you like it?' "This place suits me perfectly fine. You seem a decent person to live with so I'll be fine."

I set down my bag, with all of my few belongings. I had one book on mind over mater that I had partly read, fork and a spoon for eating, a pocket knife, a partial packet of dough nuts, and a bowl of instant soup. 'Well if you can pay a fair share, your welcome.' "Thank you." I began to walk to wards the shower.

'So when are you expecting?' "Expecting?" I looked at her a bit puzzled. Something in her eyes seemed to tell me what she was thinking. "Oh, I'm not pregnant. You see I'm still a..." I fail to the ground, feeling pressure forming behind my eyes. She was right, she was right.

 

[DarkThoughts01]

ooc:sorry i havent been on lately,i had a death in my family and i didnt get on)

Symphony
Stepping off of the cargo jet Symphony smiled and breathed in the air,then supervised the moving of his equipment from the plane into a large van,then hopped in,and was driven to a hotel,where he ordered a luxurios meal and happily spent a few hours on downtime.He checked the scheduel someone gave him,and knew his show was tommorow evening starting around 7pm.

Loki
Loki was confused,and it felt like his brain..itched He had grabbed all his spare money and change,but hadnt really thought of going to an atm.He had bought a ticket to the closest city that had an airport to this Mary Monroe,then quickly dumpe dhis clothes and bough liughter ones,specifacally baggy jeans and a t-shirt.All ina daze he did this,then purchased a bus ticket to the small village closest to Ms.(or Mrs.?,he thought)'s house,and promptly passed out in his bus seat

 

[SwampThing]

Dani rushes to Nia's side. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
_____________________

Mary likes her privacy, and she bought the house for Kell and herself well off the bus-routes. Loki gets let off a half-hour's hike across cactus-strewn rocks. Even before the large house and black jeep in the driveway come into view, Loki can see the satelite signals beaming to and from the house. He is aware of the security alarms around the outside, and that someone is home.

 

[DarkThoughts01]

Loki
His mind took the fact that he could see(?) satelite signals and the security systems.
Finally he arrived at the house,suprised to find he isnt even tired,and carefully avoids the front yard's security system,and stepping up to the door.
A little nervouisly he puts his hand out and knocks timidly.

 

[cats]

Nia

OOC: Skipping to concert a week or so after my last post.

IC: Dani was an exotic dancer by trade. She had been one since her arrival here shortly after the island incident that scared both of our lives. It ruined my chance to secure a noble name for my family, and her chance at normal business. This concert was some big to do, no one quite knew what was so special but the show is suppose to be a big event, the kind that only arrives once every few years. What seemed strange is Dani was selected from all the normal dancers to perform in the show, with this unknown artist.

Dani insisted that I come, to take my mind off my pregnancy. She caught me once swallowing dozens of birth control pills trying to kill the demon inside of me. I simply told her I was raped, and she left it at that, still she has done what she can to prevent me from stopping it, ending it's life and possibly my own. Despite my constant thoughts of killing myself with the child to preserve the small remains of my pride she has never complained and always managed to stop me. I don't know why she cares, perhaps I'm the only one willing to live with those stained by blood. Maybe she knows, I to am stained, but I doubt it.

I have gone to work, and I have payed for the apartment. My name isn't on the records yet, that'll be fixed at the end of the month, or so she tails me. When I risk the child of Balron* and my own life she tails, me that she turned down the other offers already, that she won't be able to make ends meet with out me. I hold off, wondering if I have chosen the honorable thing, wondering if I am choosing the right thing.

I step up to the front of the line, ticket in hand. The seat was a gift for Dani's family, some how I ended up with it. The crowd is sold out and the traffic is horrible. My seat wasn't a good one, but it was an aisle seat, since I was Valin and taller then most, that was good enough for me.

OOC: Balron is a demon from Valin myth, the creator of martial arts, and among the most powerful creatures to ever live. The creature looked like a human but had the head and tail of a snake. He was eventually defeated by Valous who used Balrons own creation the martial arts against Balron and founded man kind in Valin myth.

 

[SwampThing]

Dani had a small but expensive wardrobe, and she had dressed Nia carefully for tonight's event. Still, Nia's pregnancy is showing, and she is out of place in the concert crowd.

This is no white-noise nihil-punk concert like the recent Twelve show in Bay City. This is the cream of Argon high society, many of them northerners, their shining golden skins veined with black. Film stars and producers, media CEOs and senators, athletes and heiresses. The men wear crisp suits in the latest styles, the women's satin ballgowns trailing to the floor, their throats adorned with feathers. Silent Svetlan waiters carry trays of champagne, and style-magazine photographers fill the air with flashbulbs.

Mixing with these Argon aristocrats, are the Sejealan gangsters who run this playground city. They are solidly built, but move lightly and gracefully, eyes always alert and probing the crowd. Old masters and grand dames are surrounded by strong young bodyguards. Nia is aware of other guards lurking hidden in the shadows, blowguns scanning the crowd.

The crowd murmers of the mystery of the night's performance.

A tinkling laugh draw Nia's attention to a knot of men, Argon and Sejealan, orbiting a dark-haired woman with a sulty look and a live snake coiled around her shoulders.

 

[Morgoth]

He lay there, in the corner, curled up in a fetal position, soft and negligible. Thoughts raced through his rapidly dissolving mind, and darkness tore at his heart. He whimpered softly as a tear of blood dropped to the floor beneath his face. A scream erupted from his lips as the mutations, unnoticeable, but clearly there, began once more and the blood began to pour from every orifice. After it had finished, he sat up, slowly, silently. “Darkness has o’ertaken me”, he said, quoting the ancient Sejelean author Dori Throus. “It has taken my mind, but more importantly, it has clutched my heart. I am alone, entirely and completely. There is nothing but darkness, all around me, and all within me. There is no light at the end. Only more shadows”, he whispered, finishing the quote. As he sat there, quietly, a few stray drops of blood dripping from his face, his mind finally took into account the uncanny silence. A silence in a place of constant noise. Even the screams had stopped. The screams that had haunted him once before, and had begun to haunt him at his return.

He rolled to the side just as a massive spike, sheathed in metal, tore through the roof and rent the ground where he had just been. He leapt out the door, instincts taking control. A massive spider-like creature towered over the shelter, a small human head fixed to where its face should have been. Its body was fat and bloated, and in places, human shapes could be seen pressing against the sides. Its tiny head let out a terrible roar, and acid spat from its mouth, melting a huge hole into the spot the Crusher had just been standing. It charged towards him, and he let loose a blast of heat. When the dust cleared, the spider still stood there, completely uninjured. It raced towards him again, spiked legs tearing the ground beneath it. He fired another blast of heat into it, but it ignored it once more. A silver tube suddenly, emerged from its belly, growing until it was clear that it was the top of a cannon. Dan screamed as a blast from the cannon caught him square in the chest, flinging him back and into a building. The spider rushed towards him again, a leg whirling through the air. Dan caught it in both hands, and with a wet noise, tore it off. It was instantly replaced by another leg, the new limb growing immediately from the spider’s heavy bulk and swinging towards Dan again. Once more, he caught it, but this time another of the monster’s legs caught him from the other side. As the pain caused him to release his hold on the first leg, he was crushed in between them. As they drew back, he sank to the ground, breathing heavily. With a terrible yell, he leapt at the creature’s head, landing atop its back. There, another cannon greeted him with a blast from two feet away to the face. He was silent as he sailed through the air, tearing clean through the building. He rolled away again as the creature’s spiked legs erupted into the ground where he had just been. He lifted into the air, flying back. Once there he began to fire blast after blast of heat into the spider. Shrugging it off effortlessly, the spider’s cannon opened fire again, knocking the Crusher from the sky. Not wasting a minute, the monster raced at him again, only to fall, screaming to the ground as some sort of sudden pain erupted within it. Dan shrunk back, staring in terror as hundreds of smaller spiders tore from their mother’s belly. They surged around it, and Dan began to run as he heard the first sounds of the cannibalizing.

 

[cats]

Nia

IC: I was wearing a gown that had lose folds of cloth to better hide my obvious mark of evil. Dani insisted I wear a dress, of some sort. She preferred something more in the lines I'm pregnant and beautiful, but I refuse to decorate the seed of evil. The way she had me dressed one would think I was going to a symphony, although I did here something about an orchestra here.

I could see the head of a serpent looking at me from around a ladies sholders. The head was slightly coiled back as if hiding from the darkness inside of me. Or perhaps the snake was symbolic of the evil and ready to swallow me whole. I needed a drink and I could only hope it was bad for the baby.

I walked over to the bar and sat down. "I need a shot." Now how the hell should I get rid of this thing? I casually looked around the room, not planing to do it here but my eyes wondering as I think.

 

[DarkThoughts01]

Symphony
At the stage,stagehands begin assembling large metal pieces of equipment,some of them nothing more then an overtly large tuning fork.Directing them is a tall thin silver-haired gentleman dressed in a simple pair of black pants and a black dress shirt.

As Symphony directed the stagehands around,Symphony could feel the eyes of many of the audience swiveling to look at him.He strode offstage for a moment,having directed teh stagehands what to do withthe klast of the parts,and took small drink of water and stubbornly refused to allow either his wardrobe(ist?,er?dunno what there called lol)or his Make-up(ist?,er?again^-^) to touhc him in the last few minutes.

 

[SwampThing]

The crowd stirs with excitement as the curtain rises on the opening act. Some take their seats, but most watch from the bar, or continue to walk and laugh, and mingle as the dancers take the stage.

The dance number is excellent, well-choreographed, with elaborate costues and beautiful dancers. However, it's nothing original, just more of the standard fare shown in countless casinos all over Bridges. The only difference here seems to be the number of Gifted among the dancers. A woman breathes a burst of flame, then spins, winding wreathes of fire around herself. A man levitates, dancing on the walls, the sets, the extended hands of the other dancers, even the air itself. Dani becomes a flock of brightly coloured birds, weaving around the stage and between the dancers, reforming seconds later.

When the curtain drops, the dancers all hurry off stage. Dani smiles at the stranger called Symphony, and quickly whispers "We set 'em up. You knock 'em down." She gives a flirtatious glance backward as she follows the others to their crowded dressing rooms.

Nia becomes aware that the man next to her at the bar has been talking to her. He's Sejealan, athletic, but face worn rugged with
age. " . . . join us in my private balcony. You'll have a much better view than here at the bar," he says, offering Nia another drink.

The hotel's MC is announicing the star of the show, and now the audience takes their seats, excited chatter fading to whispers as the lights dim.
__________________________

On Dracon Island, thousands of metallic spiders devour their mother from within. Fire rages across the hillside from the Crusher's battle with the spider-creature, and the muated grasses struggle to regenerate faster than they burn.

The battle, and the Crusher's screams, have attracted some attention. The ground shifts and ruptures as curious antmen dig towards the surface. A small pack of winged dogs lands on an outcropping of rock to the north, staring at the Crusher. From the south, a herd of glowing unicorns approaches, their slender legs bearing them swiftly toward the scene of commotion.

And from the east, a woman dances towards the Crusher, six arms waving as she twirls and weaves. Around her, the rocks and earth flow like water, turn to steam, or snowflakes, or folded paper frogs.

 

[cats]

Nia

IC: I took the shot of hard liquor and turned to the stage. The dancers were off including Dani. If this show was worth seeing, which it was judging by the people it attracted then perhaps I should take the man up on his offer.

"Sure why not." I fallowed the man up the stairs to his private balcony. Once their I took in the environment and looked out over the stage.