Futuristic An Agent of Maniacles

[Darkling0096]

"Of course, I've got ideas for additions, too," Sam said with a nod.

She was a little surprised no one had commented on her luggage. It was all one set of gear, but hard to store.

"How's the whip it been holding up?"

 

[mmarage]

01 looked confused as Kotsu talked to him. He tilted his head and then looked down at his leg. "Huh...? There's... there's nothing to forgive. You didn't do this to me, Kotsu." He said, he gave a little shrug. "I might not have my original leg, but... I'm alive. So that's all that matters. Andras was the one that did it to me. You have nothing to blame yourself for." He said, his voice completely even. Despite what he'd gone through 01 didn't seem that bothered by the loss of his leg. If anything, he'd at least have one functioning limb until the end. One thing he wouldn't have to worry about breaking. Thankfully for the two, it seemed that physically, they'd have little to do, it seemed all they'd have to do is make it through the mental world.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu looks to Aria, watching the soap splash in her eyes and not even flinching. Kotsu thought to himself for a minute that she too must be battling her inner demons. He'd walk up to Aria and hug her, a gesture he had just been shown by Sam that maybe it's okay to let your guard down again. "I dunno what you're going through, but I'm here to help you if you need it." Kotsu said with a gentle pat on Aria's head before turning to Sam.

"Thank you, Sam." Kotsu said, bowing to her in respect. "You've packed light. I suppose we don't need to take much with us in this case like Dionysus said. Surprised you haven't made another bike. But then again, your uh, niece? She said her name was Halo, so I don't know who that is. I told her that the whip upgrades were performing amazingly. I've also developed my own trick with them I'd be more thawilling to show you." Kotsu said, thinking of how the chainsaws would rip into whatever enemy fell before him. Maybe Denton was right. Enemies did need to be killed. "Anyway. She said you were vacationing. I'm hoping to do the same at some point." Kotsu said, a small smile creasing his lips. "Who am I kidding though? I'm married to the job." Kotsu said with a dull laugh.

Kotsu turned to the 01, his gaze would usually be full of remorse and sorrow. Now they just registered with melancholy. "If I had been stronger, you all wouldn't have gotten in danger." Kotsu said, staring at his friends. "Owl'd be okay. Denton'd have a hand still. You'd have a leg. Sam wouldn't have been bed ridden." It was clear that Kotsu was carrying a lot of the weight and responsibility for what happened on his shoulders, but there was an unspoken weight he didn't talk about. With how much he was feasting on his vampiric brethren, he felt himself growing more hungry. He could still sustain it, but he found the pangs of hunger were always quelled by screaming victims. He felt he was becoming a monster, and that, he couldn't find himself to confide in the Finder twins on. Not here anyway.

Spoiled Bread Darkling0096 mmarage

 

[Darkling0096]

"I got an upgrade, but the bike is in mass-production. Halo's not my niece, though. I'm an only child, she's an AI," Sam said, "Halo?" The hologram flickered out and then reappeared full-size in front of Sam. A blonde angel with glowing blue eyes and snow white robes, wings folded.

"Pleasure to meet you," Halo said, bowing. "I trust your equipment is in good condition?" She was facing Kotsu, but the question was directed at anyone who brought their equipment.

 

[Exzalia]

Sands of the forgotten​

Dionysus raises a hand. “Enough chatter, the time has come everyone select a pod. Owl you will be going in the one in the middle.”

“Okay!” Owl skips over to it and lays inside, as do the others. Dionysus snaps his fingers and the hanger doors slide shut plunging them into complete darkness. Each pod shuts tight and for a few brief moments they all lay quietly in the dark as if, these were their tombs.

Then, light Owls mental magic flows from her drawn out by the central pod it channels her eather into the ones surrounding her flooding the metal tombs with her magic. Owl voice sounds in their heads.

“So, apparently only mind mages can get to the sand lands normally, so all your minds are going to have to be connected to mine. Don’t worry I won’t peak at any secrets mother always taught me that was rude. Although I must say, feeling lots of negative vibes from you Aria, are you alright?”

Aria opens her mouth to respond, but instead of speaking her jaw simply drops in awe. As did all of theirs, they were here, the sand lands and what a sight.

A vast dune choked desert stretches for eternity but that was where the similarities to the real world ended. The sky was purple, then green, then pink changing colors gradually. There was no sun, yet they could see, and the sky was filled with, stuff.

Ruins floating ruins one looked like a medieval castle flipped upside down, it sails over them like a cloud and crashes into a giant pink elephant, also floating aimlessly in the sky. Trains, cars, dinosaurs, a blue skinned woman singing opera while upside down, all manner of randomness was just floating around in the sky lost in space and time.

“What, the, hell?” Bickle asks staring up at the definition of randomness above them.

“Dreams,” Owl says happily. “Most people forget their dreams when they wake up, and the dreams that are forgotten end up here. Look! That one, some one dreamt of a zebra riding a unicycle!” Owl laughs and her bubbly laugh draws Bickle attention to her form, she had changed.

“Owl, you’re younger.”

Owl looks down at herself, she was wearing her yellow dress again and floating in the air like a fairy, but instead of looking twelve she looked more six.

“Oh ya, you take on your true forms here, got to be honest with you guys being in an adult body feels weird, this is much more comf- Wahhh! Samantha your, your...”

Everyone turns to Samantha who was looking far less human, her legs arms torso, all of it cybernetic, even her eyes looked like little cameras.

“Bickle you look different too, you all do.” Owl exclaims and each person inspects themselves. Bickle lost all his black eyeliner and bangs. In this world he was a small blond skinny little thing with large glasses and braces on his teeth, he looked down at himself disappointed the dream world had revealed him for how he truly saw him self.

 

[Darkling0096]

Sam looked down to the machinery and flinched. "Halo."

"Yes, Ms. Adams," Halo chimed, hologram vanishing and projecting Sam's real-world appearance over her dream-self.

"That's better," Sam said with a nod. "Alright, Halo, open the luggage, please." The AI beeped confirmation and the two carryon suitcases began folding outwards towards each other. "Excuse me," she said, stepping into the contraption and pulling a curtain shut. Machinery whirred and clicked, alongside the sound of something being sprayed like an aerosol can. After a few moments, the machine collapsed into a single, much smaller suitcase, revealing Sam in what appeared to be a mix between RoboCop and Iron Man armor.

"What?", she asked, "I was talking about this armor all last mission. Don't pretend you didn't know."

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Aria​

Aria was in awe with the scenery sprawled in front of her. It was otherworldly, yet it was beautiful. She needed a bit more time before she realized that she was wearing her former working clothes, a set of trousers and shirt made of plain looking canvas clothes.

"Ahhahahaha. Fascinating. Fascinating!!" That heavy laugh. That thick brittish accent. It was definitely not her voice. Aria noticed the presence looming over her. She exerted all her will to not look at her back.

"Aria. Look at me." The voice boomed. Aria stayed still although all the muscles on her body were screaming to move.

"Look. At. Me." Her body was shaking. Her eyes were going wild and each of them was displaying the look of pure terror. A bulky hand grabbed her head from behind. Cracking noises could be heard as the hand spun Aria's head into 180 degree, forcing her to stare directly into the eyes of her former master... or maybe not so former anymore.

Standing at almost nine feets was a solidly build man with sharp dark attire. His eyes were blood red and his white hair was swaying wildly. When he smiled, his rows of fangs can be obviously seen. The man exerted a dreadful aura that sometimes manifest itself as some kind of black haze oozing from his whole body.

"Obey me." The man said. Aria was struggling for a brief moment before she succumbed.

"As you command, father." She said flatly. The man grinned then snapped Aria's neck back to its normal position.

"Very well. Since you are now a good girl. I will forgive you for ignoring me for the past three years." The man then shifted his attention to the group.

"Greeting, humans... I am VERY pleased to meet you." The man scanned the group one by one, his stare stopped at Kotsu for a brief moment before he continue.

"My name is Alucard. I am Aria's father." He performed a slight bow for the group. "Today I will accompany my little girl playing pretends as some kind of independent mercenary to save their beloved friend. Ah, please no need to be awkward in front of me. For I am just an old man wanting to teach his child some lessons."

 

[Exzalia]

"What?", she asked, "I was talking about this armor all last mission. Don't pretend you didn't know."

Owl laughs teasing. "I didn't know, but to be honest I wasn't paying any attention hahaha!" Owl flies up to her circling Samantha like a curious kitten.

"Shiny I like it, but could use more pink." owl manifests a paint brush and paint into her hand, neon pink in color and is about to desecrate Samantha Armour with rainbows and sprinkles when suddenly another presence alerts them.

"My name is Alucard. I am Aria's father." He performed a slight bow for the group. "Today I will accompany my little girl playing pretends as some kind of independent mercenary to save their beloved friend. Ah, please no need to be awkward in front of me. For I am just an old man wanting to teach his child some lessons."

Saved by the vampire Sam is spared the aesthetic whims of the six year old mind mage. Owl forgetting the paint flies up to Alucard scrutinizing him.

"Hey Aria, I think i found the source of your negative vibes. Daddy huh? hello mister Aria daddy, no offense, but I don't think she likes you very much."

 

[Freikugel]

The God evaded Fizzy Roy's question twice, this only increased his concern regarding their mission. A hunch told him it would be as dangerous as The Andras

The pods started and nothing happened, something failed it seems, Fizzy, fritz roy the pop, the fizzy pop couldn't comprehend, meaning he didn't understand, there was no connection here as nothing happened. The pods started and nothing happened. He woke up from his hospital bed, boy his musles sure were sore, he stood up, the chains were heavy of course, they ended at nothing, were connected at nothing, they just floated over his shoulders and waist, but the chains were heavy. He wore a black toga, or more likely the lower bottom of a black toga as his chest and arms were naked.
Frizt, the pop, the fizzy didn't wore shoes, not sunglasses, it didn't mattered. He woke up from his hospital bed and stood and boy the chains were heavy. WAIT! STOP! I'm forgetting bunny, The Pop Roy looked desperately in the sheets of the hospital bed until he found it, bunny, he hugged the stuffed animal. That was bunny, the fluffy toy, it had a neutral expression and cute eyes, the arms and legs were made of metal or looked like metal but they were fluffy as well. The Pop, the fritz also known as fIZzy felt empty without bunny.
He glanced at his environment, the sky shattered and millions stars fell, but they weren't stars, they were "alive?" didn't had meaning. The Roy, the fizzy jumped on a cloud, it felt like bricks, he hugged bunny, at the distance he visualized his team, where they friends? No, the fizzy, the pop ,has little friends. That was Aria.
What is an Aria? is a vampire, a sucker of blood, her form was different, her clothes as well, in Fizzy's eyes it changed many times until it adjusted as work clothes. Then there was the Alucard, the master. Whaat is an alucard? Is like butter, did you know butter is written "Mantequilla" in spanish. I can't believe is not Aria!!! That person isn't within my mental records... Fritz, the roy was scared and he hugged bunny. And then there was a machine, the mechanical body, made the Pop, The Frizt relaxed at her sight "her", yes he was sure the machine was a her, it was special, it was his machine, like bunny was his bunny. But he remembered half of it wasn't metallic; "Iiim ssssuuuure yoou'ree mooore humannn than anaaanything, one, body hereee" Stated to the machine and The Roy, the fritz jumped out from the cloud in front of the mechanicall doll; he knelt in front of her, "her" yes he was sure the machine was a special her. And kissed its mechanical hand. Bunny was happy, he was sure of it.

It broke entirely, everything, shattered, stopped working, life ended, you're the executioner Fritz Roy, you're death Fizzy Pop. He suddenly felt his face was a skull, the skull of death, the skull of execution, where is bunny? where is everyone? where is some? DEATH? DEATH! DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH DEATH SENTENCE TO DEATH
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

The sky shattered and Pop, the roy, the fizzy, fritz pop broke into thousand of pieces...

The pods started and he stood up in the new environment, he met Aria, The mechanical Sam and the unknown figure, the dark vampire. Fizzy has half naked, only carrying a black half toga as bottom, chains over his shoulders and waist, and half of his face was covered by the mask of a skull. He carried a stuffed animal, a rabbit with mechanical limbs
"So, where are we?" Asked the man confused, his voice echoed through the sky

 

[mmarage]

"...Kotsu, it was a demon. A really strong being. We were practically guaranteed that we were going to lose something. I chose to lure the demon to give everyone a few extra seconds to figure things out. No one else made that choice for me. I knew I could have lost my life. I only lost my leg. It's fine." He said simply, before following the others to the pods. The twins took pods next to one another.

They... didn't know how they'd look like when they got there. They... doubted it would be anything pleasant. They just hoped they didn't end up scaring the ever loving crap out of Owl.

When they appeared in the dreamscape... the two... had a rather grotesque appearance. They looked like life sized and old marionettes, their wood aged and cracked, their paint long since been faded, their strings cut and loosely dragging behind them. 01 was missing an eye altogether, and his the leg he'd lost was severely cracked, and looked like it could fall apart at any moment. 02 looked to be in better condition... relatively. Still had both of his eyes, but there were cracks running all through his body. The two looked at one another. "...Well... that isn't too surprising..." 01 mused, 02 nodding in agreement.

 

[Kinggunlucky]

Captivation was something that had long ago run its course for Denton, in the sense of the supernatural anyway, but being here, standing in another world took him back to another time. A time when surprises were still actually surprising. When they had impact. He did his best keep stoic when faced with the great The landscape itself was impossible not to take in, infinite grains of sand, infinite land. According to Dionysus it was infinite. No way to measure it, no logical way for a human.

The sky's hypnotic glow beckoned him to look at it. He whistled. A beautiful sight, but beauty did not mean safe. This place was terrifying, alien, and unknown. Owl said the floating myraid above were dreams. All dreams. Isabelle's were probably there. He would pay all the money in the world to be able to see them.

It left him humbled, wanting to stand forever, drink in all the details he could.

Denton took stock of himself. He wore the same clothes he had before. His right hand all its fingers back. Sweet. He ran a hand across his face. Blinked. A mask covered his face. It was a theater type masked. White Faced. The eye holes in it were in half-moon shapes turned on the flat side and the mouth formed into a huge cartoon smile. The mask of comedy. None of Denton's other features could be seen through the eyes holes or mouth hole. Only a black hole.

A sense of panic took hold of him. He started searching for seem. A place where the mask could be lifted. He found it within a second. Denton lifted the mask off. Another mask was in its place. It looked the same as the first, only the grin had flipped into a hideous frown, as if it were screaming in agony. The mask of tragedy.

Denton repeated the process three more times. His real face was nowhere to be found. Only masks. Mask after mask. Sometimes the grin was more jolly or more sly, sometimes the frown was more sad other times more painful.

He laughed. A genuine laugh.

"This is me, huh?" He asked. "I guess I have some unresolved issues to workout. Jesus. This is place is wild."

"So, where are we?

"We are in the Sandlands," Denton said, walking over to Fizzy Roy. "I'm feeling rather exposed here. It's like showing up to class naked."

Interesting form he had taken. So much meaning. Sam wasn't so unexpected. Her unresolved feelings about her humanity coming to light.

"Today I will accompany my little girl playing pretends as some kind of independent mercenary to save their beloved friend. Ah, please no need to be awkward in front of me. For I am just an old man wanting to teach his child some lessons."

He measured Aria's innervampire. Her father apparently. Big man. Dangerous. Perhaps an ally, though. "You're the Alucard. yeah? The one who tried to build his own vampire colony or city or whatever. We have records about you back at HQ. You been in her this whole time?"

Denton walked up to him and extended a hand. "Denton Fisher."

 

[Freikugel]

Fizzy raised an eyebrow, the one under the mask.

"I take.. you are Denton right?" DEATH!

"Huh?" Fizzy looked around confused.

He walked toward Sam. He knew it was Sam

"Uum Sam? So you see yourself as a machine more than a human..." GUILT!

He hugged her. "Don't worry, I'm here for you" LOVE!
Bunny was happy, he was sure of it

Then the twins, both puppets, grotesque puppets, not alive at all. Fizzy, the Pop, hadn't really interacted much with them yet he felt sorry for their figure

 

[GamerCarrot]

Vivian looked around the world they were in, she was in awe. She couldn't believe a world like this existed, there was something beautiful yet confusing about it although her attention was quickly drawn to how the rest of the group looked. Owl looked completely adorable and Sam looked a lot more robotic than normal and it seemed to be very confusing for them as well. Vivian looked down to see what the changes where to her body she noticed she was wearing Maniacle power armour, which looked dented and beaten up like it had seen a few hundred battles. Moving her hands up to her hair she felt that it was a lot shorter now, the ends of her hair barely reaching her shoulders. Moving her hands to her face she felt so many fresh scars covering her cheeks and one going across her eye, she noticed she did carry guns whether or not they were usable in this world was a completely different thing. She looked up after seeing how different she was and noticed that Denton, Fizzy, the twins and Aria all looked different too.

 

[Darkling0096]

Sam flinched away from the contact. "Please don't," she whispered, "I don't like this form." Even under the armor, she felt the machines that made up her form in this world clicking, processing information. It was unnatural, she shouldn't be able to feel the exact location of every synthetic organ in her body.

I am more than my parts. I am an engineer. Machines do not make me, I make machines, she told herself internally. Although se didn't fully believe it. There was no mistaking the components under the melting synthetic skin. She saw herself as a machine. It made some measure of sense, she was a soldier, after all. But it wasn't something she liked thinking about.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

AriaAlucard​

"Hello mister Aria daddy, no offense, but I don't think she likes you very much."

Alucard looked at the little Owl and lower himself so his eyes would be the same level as the kid. He showed Owl a slight smile.

"It's normal for children to hate their nagging parents." He ruffled Owl's hair before turning his attention to Denton's extended hand. He accepted the handshake.

"Ah, Mr. Denton. I am glad to hear that at least history doesn't forget about my past endeavor. If only my kid over there didn't threw a tantrum and destroyed decades of my creation." Alucard shook his head. "I am an old vampire. Sensoral stimulus doesn't give me much thrill anymore. So I turn to the more... intricate things to fill the void in my life. I'm sure you understand that, Mr. Denton."

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu turned away from the twins when they told him that he wasn't the reason the group had lost in regards to the demon. He didn't care, he'd been dwelling on it for months at this point. Climbing into his pod, he felt himself focus on Owl. He'd hoped she wouldn't see him for the monster he'd become.

Kotsu heard the pods start and found himself soon in a never-ending stretch of landscape filled with wonders and things of various shapes and sizes. Some things that he didn't even know could function as they did. He turned back to face his teammates and took in the sight that was their new forms before looking down at himself. Though he couldn't see his own hair. He could see his own attire. A three piece checkered suit with black and white along him. His undershirt stained with blood which made it almost look like the shirt itself was red. His hair cut in a different style than his normal grown out hair with three streaks of color going through it. Brunette, gray, and black hair in that order from left to right. His eyes were completely red with no pupils, yet he could see just fine. Ethereal horns donned his head that swirled into various shapes of screaming faces. The faces of his recent victims.

Kotsu seen Alucard grab Aria by the neck and had started to get ready to fight him before Aria didn't make a single action against him. "Hey jackass! I don't care if you're her father or not!" Kotsu said, almost snarling as he pet Owl. "You hurt anyone here, Aria included? Well... The odds aren't in your favor." Kotsu said with a wide grin, revealing rows of sharp teeth, stained red. Kotsu wouldn't realize just how intimidating he had become, or how this might affect Owl in her current state.

Spoiled Bread Exzalia

 

[mmarage]

The twins were looking around the landscape, in awe of the ever expansive fields of sand, the constantly shifting colors of the sky, and the strange sights that lay above them. "...Whoa..." They said in unison. They were finally brought back down to earth when they noticed some commotion going on. The two turned to look at Kotsu and a stranger they'd never seen before near Aria.

02 had been barely paying attention, but apparently this man was her father... and now Kotsu was antagonizing him. Well, he was pretty sure that it was Kotsu, it looked like him, but he'd changed. He saw the blood staining his shirt... could practically smell it all the way from where they were standing. He could see the ethereal horns... and the screaming faces constantly shifting within. He saw the intimidating rows of sharp teeth. What... had happened to him?

The twins walked behind Kotsu and each put a hand on his shoulder. "...We've got your back." They said in unison as they looked at Kotsu. The decrepit puppets laid their eyes on the vampire. He was taller than them... perhaps that was a sense of a swelled ego, lording over everyone. This place was showing how everyone saw themselves... so naturally, this man must have truly believed he was better than everyone... or it was possible that was his natural height. But... they hadn't seen this man before, so they would never be sure of that.

 

[Freikugel]

"No.." mumbled Fizzy as he was rejected by Sam, no, he wasn't rejected by Sam, she was rejecting her own body
Bunny wasn't happy, he was sure of it.

"Everything about you is wonderful Sam, and you're the most human person I had ever met" Stated Fizzy looking at her eyes, her mechanical eyes. Was that a tear or was his imagination?
Boy the chains sure were heavy

 

[Darkling0096]

If a camera could demonstrate it, Sam's mechanical eyes would have looked beyond sad. No one enjoys being confronted with the truth of themselves when they aren't ready, even less so when it's something that defies what they wish they were in every way. She wished she could believe Fizzy, but she couldn't.

"I wish you were right." Sam would hug Fizzy back, but she thought her armor might hurt him.

 

[Kinggunlucky]

"I am an old vampire. Sensoral stimulus doesn't give me much thrill anymore. So I turn to the more... intricate things to fill the void in my life. I'm sure you understand that, Mr. Denton."

Denton nodded at Alucard. This fellow could be an asset here, another ally. They would certainly need more muscle with Morgan sitting this one out. "A kindred spirit then," Denton said. "I understand more than you might know. People, events, games, movements. They are where the interest lies. How far can you take something, reaching end points, and finding new paths. I can't imagine it has been easy for you stuck in someone passive like Aria."

Denton turned around, eyes widening, well his pupil-less pits widened, at the demonic looking Kotsu. The horns were a nice touch. He must have thought himself more of a beast then. He looked at Alucard again. "Don't mind him. He can be quite feral at times."

"Aria," Denton said. "Alucard here could have been an excellent friend to Maniacles and to our little unit. I wish you would have said something earlier."

The others seemed emotional, overrun by their appearances. Hard not to be of course. The falsehoods had been stripped away, everything laid out. Vivian was being reasonable, but the others weren't adjusting as well. Emotions were bad for survival. Composure is key. "Team," Denton said. "Keep it together. We are here to get what we need, get out. I'm quite curious to see what we'll find here anyway...besides death anyway."

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu turned to Denton, a bigger grin crossing his lips. "Feral? Nah, I just know my nature. At least I don't hide behind a mask, Denton. At least I'm open about what I've done. My sin stains me to keep you alive. And now you turn your back to the monster you've wrought. I can only imagine you'll turn your back on Morgan all the same eventually." Kotsu stopped smiling, and realized how cold what he said was, his horns flickered as well when he took the moment to contemplate his behavior. This was unlike him. Even when Denton called him a dog, he never snapped back. Kotsu pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke it.

 

[Freikugel]

"I know I am right" replies Fizzy. He opted to hold her hand, it was mechanical, yet still the same hand he held in real life.

He turned to Kotsu and took a good glance at him. BEAST!
"I could use a cigarette as well" asked to Kotsu

"Denton, what's our next move?" He asked

 

[TheAdept]

Booze put a small protective barrier between Clayton and his personal demons, but it wasn't enough. It was never enough...

Following the battle with Noz, Clayton recovered all thanks to the thing he hated most; his own thirst that he constantly attempted to drown or at least poison. Clayton was very experienced fighting enemies of all species, but he was new to Maniacles, and the fact he tended to keep to himself didn't help him make any friends. This only posed any problem when the mission was over and he opted to be mainly by himself or in the company of total strangers. This was when his rageful thoughts were amplified by what he drank, and nobody could stop him from acting on them.

During the rest of his time between missions, Clayton hunted just like Kotsu, but he didn't hunt vampires. He frankly didn't give a shit about them. No, he hunted mages. Sometimes they proved more dangerous prey, but in the off chance he was defeated, perhaps his time as a vampire would come to an end.

It couldn't be just any, only those who his higher ups would consider...expendable. He saw the faces of the mages who turned him on everyone he killed. When he walked through the streets on his way to his target, he saw the unpaved horse shit-encrusted roads and dim streetlights of his hometown in Nevada. When the corpses of cultists lay at his feet, and viscera smeared the ground, walls, and ceiling, he remembered that first fight involving mages and leaving his home as a monster.

Now this story was a tad more clear to the people around him here in this sand land. Rather than contemplate and hesitate to enter his pod, he jumped right in, like ripping a band-aid off a wound. Now it was laid bare; he was the monster he attempted to drown here. Clayton only vaguely resembled a human, but looked like more of a bipedal hyena. A layer of fur covered him, and in place of a normal human mouth with vampire fangs was a gaping maw full of razor sharp teeth, so large he couldn't even speak. His fur was anything but pristine, but caked with dirt. He looked like an animal, a dangerous and rabid one, that needed to be put down.

 

[KotaKotsu]

Kotsu looked at Fizzy and laughed hard, which actually caused his horns to disappear temporarily. "Aw, man. We should take you here more often. Here man, have a smoke." Kotsu gave him one and lit it for him. "Ah, you have no idea how much I needed that." Kotsu said still stiffling a chuckle while wiping a tear from his eye. One eye had become normal, the other still as red as before. But Kotsu's horns came back and so did his teeth. The one eye remained though, oddly enough. "Oh man." Kotsu said with his usual smile and put his hands behind his head. "Maybe you aren't so bad, Fizzy Pop."

 

[Darkling0096]

The distraction of the two men's conversation gave Sam a few seconds to get herself together. For now, anyway. Sniffing she separated herself from Fizzy. Mission time, she needed soldier mode.

"When we're out of this hellhole, I promise we can go do whatever you want," Sam swore, "Get drunk, plane trip, whatever. But right now I'm not doing the us thing while I can see through my stomach." She hoped it didn't hurt his feelings, but some things needed to be said out loud to convince herself of them.