Loa Blood

[LadyRozes]

After hearing the story of the little boy's plight, Roza's eyes filled with unshed tears, "I dont care what it takes, but we should help that little boy. Who knows where he comes from, and the Goddess protect him, until we get there. I will go, For now , I have some practicing to do." She stands and heads out towards her rooms, where one is specifically meant for practicing her gift.

She had no idea how she would help, but the one thing she knew, was that the little boy reminded her of a smaller and younger scared version of her. There was no way she would let the boy die.

 

[Morgoth]

Leos

Leos smiled at Troll. "I'm tired." The boy digs into the food, shoving it into his mouth. The skin and toes he had lost have regrown already, but his toes still hurt a little. He pokes them tentaviley, then winces when pain flashes through his foot. He looks up at Troll after he finishes eating. "Hey, did I win?"

 

[SwampThing]

Bridges

"Yes," Troll's expressive face wrinkles in a sad, wise smile. "You won, Leos. You are a natural fighter. But you still need technique. Warp hurt you badly before you dropped him. You still have a lot to learn here."

The blue man leans back from Leos' cage. He is dressed in plain and shabby brown clothes, sitting cross-legged on the hallway floor. "And control. The crowd loved the way you took Warp apart tonight, but we also need your opponents to live. Fighters like these are hard to find, and not everyone can heal like you can. Do you understand, Leos? That other people stay hurt? That if you hurt them too much, they die?"

 

[SwampThing]

Dracon

The golden spaceship is as large as a skyscraper, many large levels lined with obscure pipes and equipment, linked by a huge central dropshaft. The ship is crashed into the city at an angle, so all the floors are slanted, and the Crusher has to climb the floors and walls, crawling through open airlocks or jagged holes in the thick metal interior. The dim green lights flicker, casting strange shadows through the huge, empty vessel.

Not empty, a lone figure crouched in the darkness ahead of the Crusher. A man in filthy rags, filthier beard, bone-thin and eyes staring mad. The man does not rise to speak, but stays huddled in his corner. Noxious green-brown vapor rises and coils from his mouth.

"Can't squat here . . . this is my spot. Think you can scare me? I've been living here for ashen years! Years . . . It's smashed to ash anyway. The ship. Useless. S'tough though . . . good house . . . you can't stay here."

 

[SwampThing]

Bridges

Roza watches the approach into Bridges from the window of a small GAIA plane. Olu brings them around in a wide circle to the airstrip, the city's cleaming casinos and dark canals spinning sickly beneath them. The whole city is grimy and depressing in the daylight.

When the plane lands, Olu comes back into the passenger compartment to talk to Roza. The Svetlan woman wears her tight leather stealth armor, sleek despite belts and pockets loaded with gear. She wears heavy goggles around her neck, her red hair tied back in a cluster of tight braids. She shows Roza a map of the city.

"They're probably holding the boy in one of these warehouses here. They're not officially owned by Hass, but by shipping businesses she controls. Remember, you embarrassed her by disappearing like that, and her ninja will be watching for you. And we have to maintain a low profile anyway, GAIA can't be officially connected to this mission. So, what's the plan?"

 

[Morgoth]

The Crusher

"Be silent!" he snapped to the man, looking around him. "Hmmm. Yes, this will work quite nicely. Those bastards won't be able to get to me if I ever need rest. As for you, old man, we're gonna have to do something about you..." He called the heat to him, then lashed out with it, the man screaming as he was incinerated. "Yes. A definite improvement."

leos
"What? What happened? Warp died? I don't remember. My eyes went all red, and I was hurting, and then I was sleeping. Who killed Warp?" asked the horrified boy.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Nikki entered Mark's office humming under her breath. She had finally learned something about that Gem. It had taken a long time to gain Hass's trust enough to learn it. "Mark I have some information you may be interested in. That Gem that was stolen so long ago? The reason I entered into Hass's confidence? Well I now know exactly what it is. It's called the "Basilisk's Heart". According to Svetlan legend, the gem really is the petrified heart of an ancient monster created by the Loa. According to current Loa research, the Loa created many monsters to blend in among the dinosaurs, creatures which survived the ice age. All the monsters were eventually killed by prehistoric humans, giving birth to the legends of today." Nikki sighed "I just don't know why Hass wants it. But I will find out somehow. What about you, anything new?"

OOC: sorry I haven't posted.. I haven't been able to find time to come online.. sorry!

 

[LadyRozes]

Roza looked over towards the woman, " A plan huh? .. well do we even know where exactly this place is located. If we coudl figure that out, the est thing to do, would probably slip in as a patron of the place, then find out where he is kept. I figure he has to be somehwere on the premises. I dont think he is safe anywhere else. "

What do you think about that? I am not much on ideas, This is just kind of a feel it out sort of thing. " Felling a little like a secret agent she smield. " I almost feel like a spy.. Hee hee hee"

SHe smiled waitnig for a reaction to her plan.

" I am sure there are people that will tell us of where that underground fight took place right? "

 

[Lady_Siren]

Nikki ran her hand through her hair letting out a frustrated sigh. She knew Hass was planning something big. A weapon of some type but she couldn't figure out her plans for the weapon or why she would need so many strange items. Relics, and strange ingredients. Not to mention some very old scrolls. It all seemed so... she shook her head. Magic didn't exist, it was stuff of fairy tails. Yet in the past Loa Blood would have been thought the same thing. Damn it she needed more information. Mark didn't know anything yet and Hass wouldn't explain anything to her. Whenever she broached subject albeit subtly Hass would merely smile and say "In due time my dear" and then she would firmly change the subject. Nikki had tried to hack into some files but nothing was on the computers. All her information was hidden somewhere that even Nikki couldn't locate. Not to mention everybody who knew anything about it had mind blocks stronger then anything Nikki had ever encountered. She didn't dare risk pushing or her cover would be blown. Picking up her cell she dialed Mark. She wasn't worried about being traced, she had taken the neccessary precautions. She leaned back in her chair waiting for Mark to answer his phone.

 

[SwampThing]

Bridges

Olu meets Roza's smile with a deadpan stare. "You are a spy, honey. We both are. And I like the way you think."

Roza had worked this town as an exotic dancer, and she knows who's well connected in the club culture. The two women hit a couple bars, starting in the classy casinos, and eventually being redirected to sleazier dockside shacks. These dark and sweaty dives are frequented by more of the Gifted refugees from Dracon island.

A 6-armed bartender named Ben tells them "The fights are in different warehouses each night, so the police can't catch them. The warehouses are all clustered over between piers 7 and 14 over there. But I'll tell ya', tonight's fight is happening just a couple blocks from here, at the trainyard. No word yet who's fighting, but everyone's going to see this new kid . . . the Crusher kid."
_____________________________________

Nikki hears the rush of wind over Mark's phone. He's driving fast with the top down. "Our boys caught one of Hass' boats bringing some huge stone altar into the city. Biggest piece yet, and old as sin, by the look of the video feed. Anyway, the boys left tracers, and let the shipment go. So we know the antique went to a warehouse at pier 12. Security looks tight. We might be able to get close by hitting one of those fight-clubs in the area. I'm on my way to pick you up. I brought your disguise, a new dress I can't wait to see you in, and your battle armor just in case."

 

[Lady_Siren]

Nikki smiled into the phone. "I'll be ready when you get here. I'll be happy to finally get some answers. I'm reluctant to admit that not knowing the details has been starting to get to me. I'll see you when you get here. Bye" she clicked the phone of with a sense of satisfaction. She'd been missing Mark as of late unable to see him due to her undercover status. It would be nice working side by side again.

 

[SwampThing]

Draco

The Crusher incinerates the filthy, bearded man. The room still reeks of diseased flesh, stained with his sickly fumes. The Crusher wanders on through the caverous, ruined spaceship. It is as the squatter had told him, the control room is shredded beyond recognition. In the lowest levels of the ship, jagged spears of rock thrust up through the crushed armor hull. Higher up, the Crusher finds huge viewports looking out over the ruins of Draco city.

The rubble-strewn streets and alleys crawl and seethe with antman and gargoyles fighting over the misshapen corpses of countless battles. Hulking shapes lurk in the shadows. Bursts of energy suddenly errupt, toppling another building. North of the Crusher's new fortress, the monstrous fungal tower pulsates where the park used to be. Further north, across the bay and the demolished bridges, Draco's twin city of Tiamat holds the Coda research facility where the disaster began. If there are still reserves of Loa Blood on Dracon Island, they will be somewhere in Tiamat.

Above Draco, above the Crusher and his gold leaning tower, a huge blue ape beats it's leathery wings and screams at the force-grey force-field sky. The ape conjures a golden energy cannon from a black portal, and fires at the force-field dome. The shot thunders as it riccochet's uselessly around the sky. The ape howls and hurls it's titanic cannon into the street below, flattening the remains of a freeway overpass. The golden gun looks like the same design as the crashed gold spaceship the Crusher is standing in.

 

[SwampThing]

Bridges

Leos stares at his blue-skinned mentor, horrified. Troll shakes his spiked head.

"Warp will live. His Gift makes his life too valuable to waste, so he is resting with our doctors. But he can't fight. He may never use that arm again. Because of you, Leos. Because you are that dangerous. That is why the crowds love to watch you fight.

"But most fighters are too affraid to challenge you now. Only the bravest, the fiercest, the most valuable, will fight you. So you have to give a good show without really hurting them, without losing control. Okay? Are you ready to fight again?"
___________________________________

The darkened trainyard is still running, train moving swifttly and quietly around the growing crowd. The ring has been staked out between rail tracks, and surrounded with floodlights. Mandrilman, dark and freakish, swings from the scaffolding above the ring, hyping the crowd, urging them to place their bets.

The crowd is a strange mix of the high-society types from Hass' parties (mostly Argon and Sejealan) and low-life dock scum (mostly Svetlan and mutated Draconian). The ring is surrounded by Gifted fighters, all names the crowd knows; Chillwind, Shockwave, Nightlife, Biomass, Gibbon, Cactus Jack, Blaze. Beyonds the crowd, hidden in the folded shadows of the trainyard, the Cold Blood ninja watch, silent and alert.
_____________________________________

Nikki and Mark pull into the guarded parking lot beside the limousines and other sleek Aralian sports cars.

"Pier 12 is just beyond this trainyard," Mark says, "See that warehouse? The boys are standing by on our orders," Mark grins "And we've got two assault droids flying in a holding pattern above the clouds. So, how do you want to do this?"

 

[SwampThing]

Aralia

Loki flips through channels in his gleaming arcology apartment. He blinks, and the channel changes.

" . . . the new Meteor aircar. Bigger, sleeker, faster . . ." blink.

" . . . factory bombing in the lower city led the mecha police on harrowing chase today, across seven districts, finally escaping . . ." blink.

" . . . spokesman for the Bureau announced new tax incentives for longevity research. Companies in the cybernetics and Loa-based pharmaceutical sector . . . " blink.

" . . . factory bombers caught by a mysterious flying man in a bowler hat. Our satelite-camera shows strange objects appear around the man and attack the terrorists. A grand piano, a giant pelvic bone, an oil painting of a seascape, a chocolate cake . . ." blink.

" . . . cortical implant offers active protection against 60% of known head-jacking and cyber-viruses . . . " blink.

" . . . And in freign news, Locrian dictator Savanti Romero's army has secured control of the northern Phrygian continent. The Emperor is using his now vast natural resources and trade influence to apply pressure to GAIA for more Loa Blood. Aralia is turning to neighboring Argo for more of our food and raw materials . . . " blink.

" . . . alleged members of the notorious Killer Bee gang were apprehended in connection with the bombing. . . " blink.

" . . . video of a small boy, dubbed the Crusher Kid after the infamous Bay City monster, forced into barbaric Argon underground pit-fighting arenas. The boy is seen crippling . . ." blink.

" . . . bowler-hatted vigilante calling himself the Surrealist, has appeared before in Reva, Sejeala, and northern Argo. Satelite photos and eleven street security cameras failed to catch his face. See in this shot where a bird suddenly flies in front of his face in the moment he looks at the camera . . . " blink.

And then suddenly Loki isn't watching the news, he's watching the security cameras in his own arcology. Watching three men in long coats, and wide hats, two with large, heavy suitcases, emerge from the elevator and walk to the apartment directly below Loki's.

 

[SwampThing]

Landry

Faith rides across the desert, her battered motorcycle following the rail line east from Bay City inland to Bridges. The heat and dust turn the horizon into a shimmering blur. Faith rides east, and ahead of her light gleams on bright clear water. A wall of water always ahead of her. Someetimes Faith catches a glimpse of black hair, a white gown, weathes of flowers. But she knows better than to look the Drowned Woman in the face.

The apparition hangs limply in her standing wave, her mirage. She watches Faith come toward her out of the desert. The water shifts, and the Drowned Woman sees echoes of the past.
__________

Faith crawling from the wreckage of Bay City with detective John Price. Saying last rites for Micheal, the man she'd met in the coffee shop, just before the world fell apart.
__________

Faith leaving the ruins with the convoys of refugees heading east across the desert. She and Price embrace as they load up her motorcycle. He remains behind, helping Emergency Services.
____________

Faith breaking off from the refugee caravan, riding to Landry, a tiny ghost town mentioned by psychotic arsonist Kate Beckett in their interview.
_____________
Faith searches beneath Kate Beckett's old convent. The cellar, dark and long abandoned, is part bomb shelter, part machine shop, part nest. Faith finds a heavy book, as thick as her parents' beloved Locrian novels, plainly bound on cheap paper. The cover bears a single word in lowercase, typewritter black.

Cuckoo

. . . that in a world where the very laws of physics and biology are at the whim of confused and isolated individuals, all certainty and security become null and void. Clinging to an obsolete model of order . . .

. . . when you arrive in any town is to visit pawn shops, sport shooting clubs, tuner garages and tattoo parlors. Here you will meet desperate thrillseekers with connections to contraband and a distrust of the authorities . . .

. . . has to tear the world apart so that it can be built again free of old paradigms. Everything must be stripped clean away, down to our language, our rationality . . .

. . . become invisible simply through confidence, by acting as though you belong . . .

 

[Morgoth]

Leos

"I... I think so. I didin't wanna hurt Warp. I'm sorry for hurting him. But I like fightin. If I promise not to hurt anyone real bad, can I still fight?" asked the eager boy, staring up at Troll.

The Crusher

He surveyed his new domain. He needed a plan. His eyes roved over the blasted city before him. They caught every monster battering at the forceflied in the sky, every rat scurrying across the streets, every piece of rubble. As he thought and plotted, his eyes were drawn time after time to the Coda research center. Finally, a smile curled across his face as the scheme developed in his mind. With a chuckle, he spun, moving to the entrance.

 

[DarkThoughts01]

Loki

"ohh...oh no this isnt good"

He said outloud as he blinked and turned his head a bit.the camera zooms in on the men.
"even if they arent...after me"He said mostly to himself."That can't be good,i think i may be leaving soon."He talked rapidly to himself as he puttered around the small rooms,gathering up 2 quick bags of essentails,one for himself and the other for the baby,slinging boht easily over a shoulder with a grunt as he grabbed the small card that allowed him to buy things he would need,just in case.

He stumbled into the room,tugging on a pair of shoes as he stopped for a minute,smiling down at the growing girl in the small crib like mount attached to the floor.

Those beautiful eyes opened for a moment and smiled up at hima nd he retune dit as he lifted her out of her crib,dressing her gently before settling her into the crook of his arm,tickling her stomach playfulyl,making her giggle a bit.

"you get me into trouble you know that don't you?"He murmered fondly as he opened the door,stepping out and locking the door to his apartment,then hurrying off to the farthest exit away from his apartment.

"lets get us out of here huh?I for one don't think strange scary men are a good sight anywhere ,even if they are just downstairs at another apartment"He talked partially to the baby and partly to himself as he stepped into a glowing elevator,the doors closing with a soft chime from an unspoken command.

 

[Lady_Siren]

Nikki bit her lip thoughtfully. "We should take it slow at first. I know Hass, she has a back up plan should her shipment become endangered. Lets feel this one out before we make a move." She glanced at the fight club. "That may be our best bet for information. I know Hass has alot invested in these clubs. Her lackeys are bound to be in there. Luckily no one but those highest in authority know who I am. They think me one of their secret weopons." She smiled at Mark. "Sound like a good plan? I'm ready when you are." she leaned over giving him a quick kiss on the lips. It was nice to be back in her old role.

 

[LadyRozes]

Roza smiles a triumphant smile at Olu and then says,, "well if thats where the party's at then count me in, Im sure it will make one exciting time. "

Roza and Olu head towards the trainyard and find themselves ushered into the underground fight club, so far no one recognized her. Sighing with relief they settled in to their seat and waited for the show to start. CHances are they would probably be alble to find him after the fight than befroe.. it would be less likely to be noticed if they relieved him after ward.

 

[cats]

Nia

IC: Pit fights? I can't possibly get hurt there by virtue of being me? Still, my honor could suffer more. Defeat is a dishonor one can suffer more then once in there life time. Jei, knew that. I wonder how my brother fairs now. Was he allowed to enter the grace of valous or was his dishonor to great for him to ascend.

I need to train and become stronger. I need to defeat the crusher to reclaim some of my honor but judgeing from the last time we met I have no chance of that. Otto means well but his school has tought me nothing, perhaps if my foes were simlarly gifted I could properly train. Still I best see what they are like before I jump in.

'Nia, foods ready.' I turned to my room mate Dani. 'Let me guess your thinking about Otto again.' I blushed slightly at her suggestion. "No... my mind was on other things."

 

[SwampThing]

Nikki, Nia, Roza and Olu all join the gathering crowd in the floodlit trainyard. The women all recognize each other from the night of Hass' party last year.

The usual fighters stand guard between the crowd and the open ring.

Mirrorman, gleaming silver and featureless.
Gibbon, hairy and bestial, her dark claws scraping the ground.
Nightlife, cloaked in night and dusted with glowing stars. ,
Cactus Jack, green and spiky.
Shockwave, Chillwind and Blaze, looking like confident, athletic normal humans in their leather and kevlar.

Mandrilman, dark with bright streaks at his face and ass, swings in the scaffolding above the ring. He calls for final bets. Two freight trucks back up to the arena. Their back doors sing open. Mandrilman addresses the anxious crowd.

"Our champion is so dangerous, no one in the league will challenge him. But tonight we have an outside challenger, a newcomer to the arena . . . Symphony!

"And our champion, the boy so vicious and deadly he's called . . . "

"CRUSHER!" the crowd roars.

 

[Morgoth]

Leos stepped into the ring. He was used to these fights now. he was used to not only beating his opponents, but also giving as good a show as he could. He smiled for the crowd, teeth glinting in the lamplight. Using both hands, he cracked his neck, then methodically proceeded to do the same, but now with his nuckles. He waved to the five Gifted seperating the crowd and him, a little tradition of his. Even as he warmed up for the fight, his mind was on other thoughts.

I hope the fights get better. What with all the recent Gifted that have stepped in here recently. I need a good fight. A real fight. I hope my real mommy and daddy are watchin this. I hope their proud of me. I hope they know I'm workin hard.

As his opponent stepped into the ring, Leos's mind snapped back into place. A moment later, he cleared it, focusing.

 

[DarkThoughts01]

Symphony

SYmphony grimaced as he stepped into the ring.
I feel Ridiculous He thought to himself,looking over the tasteless costume he had to endure to wear.It had been the good Doctor's idea,and he had been less then enthused.

Ah well,whatever,at least my opponent seems ready

"Hello there"He said simply to the kid,a sketchy bow his only other greeting."I see you havea nickname already,funny,you don't look like the crusher,he was much taller"

He said it softly,but it carried across the entire arena,and everyone fell silent as he whispered something only the boy could hear."If you are as powerful as the crusher,did you ever think you may be his offspring?a hard fate to follow i guess,but i wouldn't waste it fighting a bunch of barely gifted weakling here."

He smiled,hoping his taunts were working.Ifthis was someone like the crusher,then this should prove it.He probably couldn't win in an all out fight,but he had a trick or two,hopefully they'd work.He knew the good Doctor had a get away planned,though of course he had not been told what it was,only that it would be there when it was needed.....

 

[Polite]

Faith

One foot...in front..of..the other. Keep going and...Lights. Head towards...the lights.

She runs her hand over the stubble that used to be a mane of curls and winces at the sting of the salt of her skin in old cuts. Beneath her feet are the uneven spaces between the railroad ties. She wasn't even sure if she'd chosen the right direction when she started, even though all railroad tracks lead somewhere .

The real quesion was, and still is, which will finsh first? The tracks, or what is left of her strength?

 

[Morgoth]

"But I'm the Crusher. There's no one else with my name. And my daddy's just a normal person. He was mean to me sometimes, but he'd be proud of me if he saw me now. He'd be proud. And some of these guys ain't bad. But, come on. Let's start the show," Leos replied, charging forward instantly, spearing Symphony in the waist, lifting him up, and then slamming him into the ground. After the fluid motion was done, he instantly sprung to the edge of the ring, waiting for his opponent's move.