Fantasy &nbsp; New Oasis: Four Heavenly Kings

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 2 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Yuto, Kisara, Celestine, Evil Dragon People

✕ POTENTIALS BANNED:

None

TAILING THE DRAGON'S HEART

BAM!

Bash’s head whipped around at a blinding speed when the bathroom-door-banging came to a halt, replaced by a concerningly-loud slam. Shit, so he WAS an HP! His hands quickly dropped the random pieces of trash he’d been shuffling through and became fists that protected his face from whatever was about to emerge from that washroom.

Fuck it. He’d tried being nice– by not turning this guy’s head into mush and all– but that obviously didn’t work. It never did. Now he’d have to teach that bald bastard a lesson. He had no other choice but to put this fucker down before his position became compromised.

Hearing the doorknob break forced him to brace for impact, but instead, the door slowly opened and shoved the chair out of the way. Was he being fucked with? His eye twitched. Refusing to wait another second, he dashed forward, rearing his fist back to deliver his signature Potential-Deleting blow to the face.

Take THIS, you fucker!

“Senpai!”

If this was some sort of cartoon, the sound of a speeding car screeching to a halt would have played as Bash slammed the brakes on his violent fist, thankfully coming to a stop mere inches away from the pretty face of his confidante.

“Jesus– FUCK, Kisara!” He exclaimed, peering into the bathroom to get a good look at the explanation for the loud bang that had occurred moments earlier. “I was gonna kick the fuckin’ shit outta ya! How’d ya even–”

He was interrupted by her rundown of the current situation, which prompted his eyes to shoot upward. If this stupid rock was in the ‘Chief’s office’, then said office was probably at the top of the building, right? It was just like some of those old games he’d played when he was younger– The big boss always sat at the top of the tower. But if the Dragons were onto them, then that meant that the tempo of the mission had changed. Stealth may no longer be the best option to deal with things as they were.

“Fuck. Whatever,” He growled, eyes now locked onto the door that led out of the messy room. “Guess we’ll just grab this dumb pebble an’ kick the fuckin’ shit outta anyone who gets in our way, huh?” He pivoted off his back foot to face the opened door, taking a step forward to exit. “Then I’ll kill those pussy-ass fuckin’ Dragons downstairs. Let’s g–”

The surprisingly soft texture of the pink girl’s hand around his own cut Bash’s sentence short. His head turned slightly to face her, and a very subtle shade of pink tinted his cheeks. Why the hell was she suddenly holding his hand, in a room like this, in a place like this? Was she making a fucking move? What about the rock? Why did she smell so good all of a sudden? Why was her hand so fucking soft? What the fuck was going on? Now with a befuddled expression on clear display for her to see, he opened his mouth to utter a confused “Huh?–”

Before he could say anything else, Kisara was ahead of him, and he was being dragged behind her like some kind of twisted fucking tow-surfing session. To make things worse, she was grabbing his wrist instead of his hand now, so there was no way for him to break free from the soft-handed speed demon’s lockjaw grip. Just when he had managed to get a hold on his footing, Kisara suddenly whipped back in the other direction, dragging him back down the hallway they had just dashed up and stopping in front of some sign on the wall.

Taking this time to catch his breath (and, to make sure that his arm hadn’t fucking snapped in half), Bash looked at the sign as well. “For fucks sake! What the fuck’re you fuckin’ doin– WAHH!!”

By the time they had made it to the office, Bash was on his hands and knees begging for air while Kisara triumphantly claimed the gem as her own. Shortly after she lifted it from its stupid pillow-throne, a loud alarm began to blare, reaching every corner of the building in seconds.

“Fuck the alarm!” He groaned, getting to his feet and talking a step towards his friend. “If that shit’s goin’ off, that means there’s probably 30 fuckin’ piece ‘a shit Dragons runnin’ in our direction as we speak! And as much as I’d love ‘ta rip their fuckin’ heads off, we gotta focus on this… damn-ass rock!”

He reached for Kisara’s legs, -lifting her off her feet to carry her bridal style– and dashed through the broken door and back into the halls.

“Hold onto that fuckin’ thing! We’re gettin’ outta here!”

Fuck, heavy…! He thought, but didn’t dare to say out loud. She’d always looked lighter than she really was, and it had always caught Bash off guard whenever he had to do anything involving force with her. He'd have to suppress his grunting for now, and hit the gym later so that he could do things like this more often. To distract himself, he looked back in his mind and tried to remember the contents of the sign they had stopped at earlier.

Laundry Chute was… this way, right?

Thankfully, Bash’s mind hadn’t failed him, and they were in the laundry room in no time. Right in front of them was a large chute that led to god-knows-where, but Bash didn’t hesitate to rotate his partner and slide her into it, preparing to climb in shortly after her descent had ended. It was finally time to get the fuck out of this hellhole!

QuirkyAngel · Jul 15, 2022

Meirin Azuza

SCENE:

Serpent/Tiger Arc 2: Scene 2 [Matter of the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dante, Reveler, Peyton, Meirin, Tri, Anna, Kisara, Yuto, Bash

Matter of The Dragon's Heart

“What the hell…?”

Meirin covered her mouth with one hand while the other fanned away what it could of the thin, pink haze that started to spread throughout the lobby. Anyone with common sense wouldn’t breathe in substance that came from a Serpent’s gun, but with how quickly the gas was contaminating the air there wouldn’t be much choice in the matter. Blasted air conditioner.

A moan came from Meirin’s right. “R-Roxi?”

Hunched over the receptionists desk, the normally prim and proper lady’s face was red and her eyes over in a lustful, almost painful, expression that made it apparent what the pink stuff was. Meirin clicked her tongue. Naturally she was familiar with the effects of aphrodisiac. Some in Eternal Night Palace used it to make sex more pleasurable. She’d even tried it once…and didn’t like it. Or rather, she didn’t like the aftermath. It made the unwilling more willing. If both parties were fine with it, and might even improve sex life for those who otherwise needed a libido boost.

However, she’d seen it used to make unwilling workers more compliant as well. Propagate rape. Before she and Jun inherited Eternal Night Palace, such practices were more common.

Holding her breath, Meirin supported Roxi as Paul and Steve chased Tri out the door. Her? Hold things down? How? What was she supposed to do against aphrodisiac gas? Platinum Rabbit wasn’t even her establishment…but still, they were her friends. Therefore she nodded.

She could see Velvet Meadow edging up the stairs and followed suit…though she was more sprinting than edging. Distancing oneself from the cloud of pink by leaving the room or climbing to the next level only made sense, after all . Meirin exhaled once she deemed herself in clear air, her steps slowing to match Velvet’s.

An eyebrow rose as Velvet Meadow stammered out excuses for her ‘father’. “No can do. I’m not letting you out of my sight until I can be certain you chaos-mongers aren’t planning anything nefarious. ” ‘Scouting’ one of their brothels definitely sounded suspicious. Didn’t the North District have their own, less expensive, brothels? Why go through the trouble of hosting a birthday party in one of the Dragon establishments…not that Pei hadn’t already debunked their lie by claiming Paris’s birthday to be in June (which had already passed) anyway. “Besides, if we aren’t allowed to wander around doing inspections, I don’t see why you would be allowed to ‘scout’.”

Not that there was really anything stopping a Dragon from doing what they wanted. Shen, especially. Meirin respected the rules…to an extent. She saw no point in aggravating their allies either, hence why she opted to book a room for them rather than disturb business. That didn’t apply to all Dragons. “Pay for a room or leave.”

Meirin shrugged, glancing at Roxi. “...is what I would normally say, but this is kinda’ an emergency…”

One caused by the Jack of the Sable Serpents. Truthfully, Revie had opened up with bullets and blades, which led to Meirin throwing Tri out the door, so his response wasn’t completely unwarranted if he was trying to escape. The problem was that he seemed to be shooting random civilians as well, contaminating the air with what seemed to be a very potent aphrodisiac. Not as life-threatening regular bullets, probably, but definitely disturbing the peace of the East District. Meirin didn’t trust Serpent drugs–which weren’t very likely to be clinically safe.

Proper thing to do would probably be to warn the owner that their lobby had been contaminated; Have the area quarantined off so workers and proper paying clients didn’t wander down there.

She looked back at ‘Velvet Meadow’, who struck her as more of a grunt Serpent than anything else. Or an unwilling pawn/lackey, given how quickly their Jack had abandoned her. “Look, I wasn’t born yesterday. If you won’t tell me what you two were up to perhaps a talk with our King would–goddammit! What now!?”

An alarm sounded throughout the building.

Eyes darting from Velvet to Roxi to up where the source of the noise was coming, Meirin made her decision quickly. She called down to the lobby. “Revie!” Back to nicknames since anger faded with the developing situation. They could argue later. “I know you want a piece of Deacon, but Steve and Paul have that covered, so do you mind keeping an eye on her for me!? I’m going up!”

And with that said, Meirin dashed the rest of the way up towards the owner’s office…which she’d been heading towards anyway. Meirin hadn’t even reached her destination when she caught sight of the…Ace?...of the Sable Serpents dumping what looked to be a pink girl in his arms down one of the Platinum Rabbit’s laundry chutes. Bash. That was Bash, the rumored Taipan of the Sable Serpents that could take away potential, right? There was a gleam in the horned girl’s hand, but her brain was trying to process what she was seeing. Laundry chutes were for dirty laundry. Why was he climbing down there?

“Are…they trying to steal panties…?”

Scowling at the thought, Meirin pulled out her phone knowing she was a bit too late to stop them from going down the chute. She snapped a picture

More snakes spotted inside Plat Rabbit. They’re headed down to the basement laundry room.

Sending the text, along with the picture, to Reveler, Peyton, Callan, and every other Dragon she knew working in the Platinum Rabbit, Meirin sighed. Roxi kissing her neck and the slight tingling sensation she felt reminded Meirin that she’d need a cold shower when this was all done as well.

Elenion Aura · Jul 18, 2022

MINATO MAEDA

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 6 [All Proceeds]

LOCATION:

Cloudwalk Stadium, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Passeri, Daemon, Sabrina, Dagger, Fahru, Masked Concertgoer K, Minato

ALL PROCEEDS

”N'aw, I'm not here to drink. I'm here to work, homie. Didn't know you were comin' through're else I'd a' met ya' outside! Though, to be honest, I didn't think I'd see you for days. You were a wildman last night!"

Minato giggled as he listened to his drunk friend be drunk and entertaining, all the while remembered how drunk—and entertaining—last night's party had been... Even if it had been another Mina who'd experienced it...

Though he probably couldn't get away with getting sloshed like Osamu and still function, Minato reasoned that, while he'd come to work, nobody said he had to be miserable while he did. Osamu's presence made it easier to bear, though his presence also made the temptation to skip out on the whole thing and blitzed in some back-alley South bar all the more tempting.

Minato nodded along, agreeing with Osamu's sage advice. Cheap beer got the job done just fine! Though, they were in a concert venue, so even the cheap beer was expensive. Just then, a gruff, familiar voice crackled to life in his ear, speaking the words, ”All stations, Minato is in charge now—…” He'd stopped actively listening after that, as he pumped his fist in the air, nearly dropping Osamu in the process.

”Aw yeah! Promotion, bay-bee. Gimme some—" Minato's voice cut off as his fist awaited a bump. His eyes went wide momentarily, his smile faltered, before swiftly returning to normal.

Somewhere, somehow, he'd just died. What's more, he knew who'd done it. Or, at least, his other self got a glimpse of them before he bit the dust. Now he knew. Something was definitely going on here, let alone the stand-off happening up above. There were too many questions that needed answering, and Minato wasn't familiar enough—or smart enough—to deduce what exactly was going on. If only he had a super-genius buddy who could Sherlock Holmes this shit...

”YO!" Minato stopped short again, but this time he didn't try and cushion Osamu's fall. He needed the blond man lucid...er. More lucid. He needed him to crack the case.

And as Minato shared what little—it really was precious little—information he had on what was transpiring at the concert, the brigade of other Minatos continued to scour the area in search of their killers. A few of them were successful.

The One Eyed Bandit

>>> To The Next Post

Caffeine_Obsessed · Jul 18, 2022

Yuto Nishimura

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 2 [Matter of the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Bash, Kisara, Celestine, Dante(Sonnet), Peyton

MATTER OF THE DRAGON'S HEART

-

angel doe

The Regal Rper

Coyote Hart

Caffeine_Obsessed

-

“I’m green with envy at your skills,” Peyton said, tipping his head back towards Callan. He kept himself looking at the building, in order to give the two ladies some privacy. Nobody liked a peeping tom after all. “You’re going to have to teach me some of that stuff later.”

‘Callan’ smiled. Peyton was sweet. She’d been about to respond that was until-

Yuto descended from the building with a ravenous, monstrous look on his face and his three eyes boring into Peyton, brighter than bubblegum. Seeing the spider figure in such a state of bloodlust, Peyton decided that it would be alright if Peyton prepared. The taste of metal met his tongue as Peyton licked the side of his bayonet, coating it from base to tip in a layer of his pain and paralysis inducing saliva.

“Taffy? Well, if you want this snack,” a frisky and feral expression played across Peyton’s face as he let his inner monster out just a little, “You’re going to have to come take it!”

With that, Peyton received Yuto’s lunge by thrusting upwards at him with his bayonet mounted rifle.

At the same time, the demi-giant Celestine retaliated. For the most part none of what Celestine said fazed Dante, the entire time she spoke or balked to regain her sensibilities, he had been watching her with Sonnet’s trademark content neutral smile.

The only thing that made him feel bad, was the fact he was the source of her current misery. Yet like father had always said: Emotions can get ya killed out on the field.

So he squashed them out like a dying cigarette the moment Celestine’s hand gripped a rock and that same arm pulled back.

The rock flew true- like an arrow launched from a bow. With a simple twist and some footwork Dante moved off to the side to dodge the projectile- but it curved, wind giving it a twist he hadn’t been expecting and so with minute instinct and proficient reaction time- he moved his left arm down to swat the projectile away from hitting one of his lower ribs. It stung terribly, but even as he came out of the dodge he took it as a win. Better than a bruised rib which would slow him down much much more from the way his arm now hurt.

Issue here now is staying out of her range.

Yuto’s enlarged eyes quickly narrowed in on the blade swiftly approaching his face. His jaw clenched as he braced his heels against the floor to delay his hasty attack, a puff of dust trailing behind him. As he finally came to a stop on his now frictioned burned feet, his hands shot up to grasp on tightly to Peyton’s bayonet, the blade slightly cutting into his palm. He winced in pain, the three fuschia eyes narrowing further onto his target’s face.

Blade still firmly in his hands, Yuto attempted to thrust the blade aside. With a shocked gasp, Yuto’s other arm came to cradle the one that previously touched the weapon. What was- He furrowed his brows, mouth slack. His eyes widened in confusion as he stared down at his hand. His hand hurt, but- at the same time… it felt like it’s been in the freezer for too long. His eyes rose to side-eye the other, a contemplating look passing across Yuto’s face.

Well then… What an interesting turn of events~ A smile came upon Yuto’s face, his eyes scrunching up in delight. A low laugh surfaced from the three eyed boy, very quickly morphing into a high-pitched cackling. His head snapped to the yellow eyed man, his back straightening. “You are just full of surprises!” That said, he ran backwards, away from the other, eyes never leaving him. He stopped, digging his foot into the ground, before launching himself in the air, leg outstretched. If he couldn't very well fight against his fancy accessorized gun, then he’ll just have to tear the vile thing away from him!~

“Thank you!” Peyton said in genuine happiness. It always felt great when his enemies complimented his fighting. And now, his spider-like assailant was going to see the other tricks he had up his sleeve.

In order to avoid his gun being kicked out of his hands, Peyton tossed the gun low into the air as he had practiced, which twirled as it landed in his other hand. Now Peyton was holding the rifle by the barrel, with its butt pointed out in front of him. All he needed to do was a simple throw in the air so that the gun was in its right posit–

That was when Yuto’s kick landed on Peyton’s shoulder, sending him staggering backward and onto the ground. Go figure. Defense was always Peyton’s weak point. He still had his gun in his hands, but now Peyton was down on the floor.

A triumphant laugh, and a bearing of dangerous teeth, Yuto pounced. He straddled the other man’s torso, one hand shooting down to gain ahold of his neck, the other digging its nail’s into the arm holding the gun. His eyes bore unblinkingly onto his opponent, a too wide of a smile on his face.

Peyton winced and his free arm immediately went up to grasp the arm holding onto his neck. He met Yuto’s three pink eyes, a defiant smirk on his face despite his position. He took this moment to ask some questions despite being in no position to do so, “Who are you anyway? What are you doing here?”

The dark haired man’s mouth twitched slightly, head tilting in confusion. Was he… really talking to him right now? His eyebrow twitched in annoyance, the grip on the guy’s neck tightening. He leaned forward, until his nose barely brushed the other’s. “Are you looking down on me right now?...” His voice was a curious, threatening lowly whisper. Yuto’s voice rose, a hint of anger making it hiss between his teeth, “I. AM. Yuto!…” He drawled, a grimace on his face.

"And I am Callan" the female voice interrupted. The notable shadow above Yuto signaling her presence. "I see my boy you're riding caught your attention." Dante grinned, revealing sharp fangs, "ain't he a charmer?"

Yuto’s eyes widened, his posture going stiff. Who- He whipped his head around to see who had the audacity to demean him even further!

“I guess I would be looking down on you,” Peyton choked out, “Since if you’re riding me, I’m on top!”

With that, Peyton used his free hand to grab hold of his rifle. Up close, the glaive-like weapon was not particularly effective. But detached, the sword style bayonet was. So Peyton detached the blade from the rifle itself, and with one swift motion, slashed at Yuto.

In his moment of distraction, Yuto felt a searing pain shoot up his chest. Eyes wide, He slowly looked down at himself, seeing and feeling scalding blood start to bleed through his clothes. A moment of silence is all it took Yuto to process what exactly just happened. A deafening scream tore through his throat, both hands coming up to clutch at his bleeding chest. He rolled off of Peyton, curled up on the floor, panicked breaths leaving him. No… no! Still shaking, his weary legs got himself back on his knees, still hunched over. A low growl resonated from his chest, a harsh glare directed at those before him. How he was going to enjoy having his hands coated in their blood.

Too bad one of ‘Callan’s’ tails wrapped around both wrists and in a display of prehensile strength, jerked the spider-esque HP to the side and then with a spinning motion that yanked Yuto off the ground, hurled him with a tail flick in Celestine’s direction.

Celestine had been avoiding getting too close to strike in fear of potentially hitting Yuto, taking a few moments too long to consider all her options, she barely managed to snap her attention back to the situation at hand in time to witness the strange woman fling Yuto in her direction. Eyes narrowing, Celestine moved quickly and caught her friend without a problem, holding him there for a moment to steady him.

"yuto, are you okay?" celeste didn't take her eyes off the strangers in front of her, her free hand resting on yuto's shoulder until he pulled away on his own. she wasn't sure if he would actually hear her and reply, but she had to check up on him, even though it probably wasn't the best time for that.

“Hey!” ‘Callan’ shouted at the two Serpents. “Hey, what’s wrong?” the two tailed fiend sneered. “Can’t fight back after a little toss? Man, Pey, I was expecting somethin’” shoulders went up in a shrug, “actually challenging? But since the meat loving seer is the only one putting up a fight, I guess we don’t have much to worry about. You some kinda pacifist girl?”

Pulling out the walkie they’d taken before, Dante pressed it on and spoke in: “We found them at the back, currently engaging one spider-man, and one giant lady, the remaining Serpents are somewhere deeper in the building- over n out.”

Peyton pulled himself off of the ground and reattached his bayonet back onto his rifle, flipping it back into his dominant hand as he did so. The front of his hoodie and the blade of his bayonet were splattered with Yuto’s blood, although that didn’t seem to bother the short figured Dragon. In fact, he seemed somewhat pleased.

“No kidding,” Peyton responded to Callan, although his was not meant as a taunt. The virus that made up his Potential was already making Peyton almost delirious with bloodthirst. Peyton’s original intent– figuring out why the Serpents were even in such a place– had gone completely out the window, into the dusty recesses in the back of his mind. All he wanted now was to satiate his taste for violence.

“Come on, it’s okay,” Peyton said to both the white-haired gal and Yuto, a vicious grin on his face revealing his canine teeth, “Come fight us with what you’re worth! I won’t mind getting a little hurt… if you don’t mind getting hurt too.”

Yuto rapidly blinked his three eyes, his vision still swimming from being flung so harshly. Letting out a shaky exhale he did his best to right himself, shaking his head and his body out. He glanced at Celestine, only now noticing her existence. Despite his pain and the obvious dangerous situation, a soft smile spread across the three eyed man’s face. He lightly ran a finger along her jaw before stepping away on slightly wobbly legs. “Never better! Other than these fleas being so mean of course!~” He mocked a pout, a cheeky smile quickly replacing it as he turned his attention back on the other two.

He started moving, a slow, deliberate stalking as he eyed them. He tilted his head, trying to assess the situation, licking his own blood off his lips. Yuto abruptly stopped, humming in thought. It was obvious if he even came close to them it would be bad news… Yuto suddenly perked up, light glistening in his fuschia eyes. A manic giggle erupted from him, the excitement he felt overcoming most of the pain. If he couldn’t go to them… they’d have to come to him! He quickly sprinted backwards, his body still facing their opponents. He stuck his finger out, closing one eye- winking at Peyton. Web suddenly shot out from the tip of his finger, latching onto the black and yellow man’s torso, before he stopped the stream, wrapping the web around his wrist to yank- attempting to haul the other man to Yuto. His other hand shot out as well, pointing a finger and shooting a web onto the gun, making to fling it away from him.

Peyton twisted his gun in an attempt to cut the string but was just a bit too slow. His gun skidded across the pavement, clattering to a stop out of hand’s reach.

Peyton’s eyes twinkled at the sight of the bloody spider boy’s wink. It was kinda charming. A cold sweat ran down his back, although it wasn’t because he was pulled away from Callan. Being yanked over to Yuto didn’t bother him, as he wanted to fight the spider boy, although he did try to slow himself down with the skidding of his sneakers on the pavement. The big thing was that he wasn’t sure how he would fare without his signature weapon.

“If you wanted to get rid of my gun so much, you really must want to see the beast in play, don’t you?” Peyton shouted, his voice cocky despite the fact he knew he was at a disadvantage. He regressed back into his fighting style of the past, aiming a kick at Yuto as he barreled at the spider boy in a crash course.

The option to stop Yuto’s attack was decided a second too slow as Peyton was already barrelling in Yuto’s direction.

A slight widening of Yuto’s eyes is the only thing that could flash across his face before the sole of a shoe was whizzing towards him. A hand shot out, grasping onto the boy’s ankle. He lifted the heavy weight up into the air, before aiming a knee into his opponent’s ribs.

With an oomph, the air was knocked out of Peyton’s lungs. Still, he persevered with his attack, reaching out his hand, which was contorted into a claw-like shape to swipe at the wound that he had made earlier. Despite his lack of actual claws, the virus that ran rampant in his veins made the admittedly inadequate attack feel natural.

A pained gasp left Yuto, immediately dropping the taffy man and clutching at his bleeding chest. He grit his teeth, a shaky breath leaving him as he did his best to compose himself as quickly as he could. It only meant his downfall if he showed he was too injured now. With a slight growl, he backed away, baring his teeth in warning before he lunged, hands directed for his neck.

Peyton’s snake-like irises constricted as he stared down his opponent Serpent. He didn’t care that Yuto was aiming for his neck. Defense was never a part of his modus opperandi after all. All he would have to do was kill Yuto first. With a snarl, Peyton lunged at Yuto, slamming into the spider boy in a crazed frenzy.

A grunt left the three eyed man as he and the other collided, his bare feet scraping against the ground to stop himself from toppling over. Now at a close distance, he could finally get his hands around that stupid neck! His palms lashed out, one of his hands gripping the other just below the jaw, the other hand braced against the taffy man’s shoulder. He squeezed harshly, bloody nails digging into pinkened flesh.

Peyton hissed, the feeling of his windpipe being crushed making it even harder to concentrate. He raised his leg and kicked at Yuto’s shin, hoping to knock his arachnid enemy onto the ground, where he could pull back the advantage.

Yuto yelped at the sharp pain on his leg, making him lose his balance and topple forward, as a consequence, the tight grip he had on the man’s neck went away. Instead, both arms flew forward, catching himself before he crushed the man beneath him. Hissing he glared at the yellow eyed man, once again baring his teeth.

Perhaps that wasn’t the most well thought out idea in the world. No, in fact, Peyton hadn’t given it much thought at all. Once again the air was knocked out of Peyton as his back hit the ground and his body absorbed the impact of Yuto collapsing onto him, the taller man’s chest smashing into Peyton’s face. Goodness gracious, just how much muscle did that lithe body hide? Blood from Yuto’s wound smeared Peyton’s cheek.

Peyton grabbed onto Yuto’s back with both hands. With a grunt, he attempted to roll his opponent around onto his back. Right now, he was the one on the bottom, and that position was going to do him no favors.

Despite his previous weight advantage, Yuto found himself on his back. When did this happen?! Maybe blood loss was getting to him… Three eyes opened wide in shock. Now this was just starting to get embarrassing.. Huffing, his gaze landed onto the blood on the other man’s cheek. A mischievous smile slowly spread across Yuto’s face, leaning up to lick a the blood off. The taste of Yuto’s own blood wasn’t as satisfying as others, leaving him a bit disappointed. With a pointed look, he grabbed the back of Taffy man’s head, smashing his lips onto his and biting the bottom, finally getting a taste of the other’s blood. A fang sunk into the flesh, injecting his cotton candy and bitter orange peel tasting venom.

“Hnmph?!” Peyton made a stifled noise of surprise. His eyes widened in shock, staring into Yuto’s three bubblegum colored ones. A kiss during the middle of battle? Didn’t Yuto know the effects of his saliva? Then, as he felt the man’s fangs pierce into his lip, he understood. The spider boy was trying to incapacitate him. A red blush sank into Peyton’s cheeks. Alright, if he wanted to play this game, Peyton would play along. It would be a good opportunity to try to learn from Callan's kiss.

He quickly realized that he didn’t mind the kiss. Yuto tasted good; it felt good. A pleasant sugary taste coated his mouth, the bitterness lending a nice bit of complexity. Peyton returned the kiss, his tongue tangling with Yuto’s as he tried to share saliva. Hopefully the paralyzing effects of his saliva would take out Yuto before something similar could happen to him.

A smile overtook Yuto’s face, a playful, overdramatic moan rumbling in his throat. He bit harder, before pulling away, wrapping his hand once again around the man’s neck. Licking blood off of his lips, he winked, before tightening his hold, nails digging in hard enough to bleed. Now that he had a taste of his delectable blood, he wanted more. His smile broadened into a manic grin, he was making an effort to suppress an overjoyed giggle rising in his throat. “I might just have to tie you up and save you for dinner.~” He laughed, eyes watching flesh turn white under his grip.

“Really? Why not savor me right now?” Peyton choked out, his head tilted to the side as he grinned at Yuto. He clutched at the arm that held him, although his grip felt a bit weak. A bit slack. Blood trickled down his neck. A jolt of delight ran down his spine as he was mesmorized by the sight of Yuto licking up Peyton’s blood. Perhaps it was some sort of instinct imbued in him by the disease running through him, but it felt great knowing that his virus was spreading. “Here, let me help.”

Peyton twisted around to gain a bit of extra reach to grab the back of Yuto’s head, straining to pull the spider boy’s head down and force Yuto’s lips back onto his, fervently trying to paralyze him.

A breathless laugh left the three eyed man, disbelieving. Did this guy want Yuto to eat him? He was making it all too easy to do so… he bit down, but not hard enough to break skin as he let venom flow freely out of his fangs. All of a sudden he began to feel… odd. His brows furrowed in confusion. With a growl, he wretched himself away, gasping for breath. Maybe it was all that blood loss, but something was most certainly… wrong. He glared down at the other, trying to piece together what had happened in the last few seconds. Suddenly, he felt… weak. uncontrollable. His body fell forward onto the smaller man. His arms strained to pull himself back up- but no matter the effort he just… couldn.’t “What.. did you do to me… Taffy~” Despite his helplessness, a blank smile stretched across his face. Yuto was enraged. With no emotion in his voice, he rumbled out, “Your end will be me… just you wait…” tears began to prick in the corners of his eyes. Yuto didn’t like not being in control of himself…

Peyton whimpered as he felt the venom run down his throat. Some of it spilled out of his lips, running down his chin in a small pink stream. Although he tried to stay with their lips intertwined, the last of Peyton’s strength left his arms, and he had no choice but to let his trembling arm fall to the ground.

“Taffy… That’s a nice nickname,” Peyton said weakly. He smiled at Yuto, the usual feral bravado absent from his voice, “I look forward to you taking me down.”

It took all of Peyton’s strength to force his arms up, patting Yuto lightly on the back and resting his arms on him in a hug. He should’ve expected that a man whose Potential gave him spider-like abilities would have venom so potent.

“Don’t… cry,” Peyton croaked out, “That was a good fight. You were real scary.”

A breathless laugh escaped Yuto. “You’re…. Weird. “ he used the last bit of strength he had to flop himself beside Taffy, despite everything- still not wanting to crush him. He looked at the other beside him, a smile on his face. Giggles abruptly erupted from Yuto. Even if he didn’t get a meal in the end… “This was fun.~ we should play together again some time!”

Weird… no, Yuto was weird. There was no way that someone that creepy could be normal. But regardless, Peyton did his best to return Yuto’s smile with a grin before all the strength left his body.

Deciding to leave the two to duke it out, Dante turned attention to the larger Serpent. If he had to get involved in Peyton’s fight, he’d do it later.

A tail flicked of the two and Dante took a step circling around her. Keeping distance. “Not much of a fighter are you? Got that weapon but you haven’t used it. What? Were you forced to join the gangs or something?” Small talk. Something to fill the void of silence. Had to play his part after all. Even if his attention would flick over to Peyton every now and then to ensure he wasn’t in too tight a pinch. “I thought a woman like you” and the unnaturally long tongue snaked out, licking lips as Dante’s feminine expression turned into a mocking grin, “would have more bite for a Serpent. But I guess not all of you are rabbid beasts like that slimeball webslinger of yours over there.”

celestine's gaze followed the woman called 'callan', unwavering as the other circled her, her own expression devoid of any emotion. "i was not forced into anything, i made the decision to join." the corner of celeste's mouth tugged down into a slight frown as she continued, "i do not want to fight you, callan, i would much rather take my friend and leave. i hate fighting." once she said that, she risked a brief glance at yuto and saw him on the ground, gritting her teeth as she thought about what to do next.

celestine didn't take more than a second to consider her options, looking back at the strange woman and making direct eye contact, "i hope we never meet again, callan. this was most unpleasant." her lips curved into a smile as she took a couple of steps closer, just close enough for her ability to work; her eyes glowing white as she put all of her focus into scrambling callan's memories. celestine didn't know how long this would keep her confused, but she hoped it would be long enough to give her and yuto a chance to get some distance on them.

breaking the mental connection she had with callan, celeste slung her weapon over her shoulder and ran to yuto, "while it appears you had fun, we must go." pulling yuto into her arms with ease, she held him close to her chest and booked it out of there. celeste wasn't sure where she was supposed to go from here, but she didn't want to stick around any longer than she needed to.

It was only after she left that Dante collapsed, reeling as if he’d been struck over the head by a steel pipe with enough force to actually daze him. An internal curse and a hiss came from his grit teeth, furious. He’d gotten cocky, and made a mistake. Hadn’t been paying attention to how close she was.

Still in Sonnet’s form but even then, barely maintaining it- Dante grimaced. Despite his best efforts the form broke down, and he felt nothing but drained from it.

In a flash of light ‘Callan’ was no longer a female but now a white haired light brown young man. Dante was still grimacing in his hunched position, a hand to his head. Managing what he could though he called out to Peyton, and with a stumble up, suggested they make a round back to the front.

His head was killing him, but he hoped he could change back before they reached the front- else he really would have to book it out of here.

simj26 · Jul 19, 2022

Dagger

Fantasy - Four Heavenly Kings: CS Thread

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 5 [A Dangerous Game]

LOCATION:

South District

PARTICIPANTS:

???, ???, ???

A Dangerous Game

A black blur shot through the streets, weaving through the sparse traffic with the ease of a hot knife through butter, cutting a singular path towards its destination. Hauteclere had taken her out for a spin on one of his bikes before, and then later taught her how to ride one proper. She took to it pretty well, she had to admit, if one discounted the three occasions she crashed the bike, once into a kebab food stand, and twice into a pile of trash. Hauteclere had only laughed at her failures, picked her up, dusted her down, and held back the tears seeing from the scratches she had earned his ‘baby’, as he called it. He was an aloof big brother to her, but he did teach her a few tricks.

She missed them dearly. Was this really the right way to pay them back? She shook her head. She had time to think about this later. She had a job to do. Once it was done, she had all the time in the world to beat herself up over her poor choices in life, and then some. A grim thought that plagued her often wandered into her head. Maybe this time, she’d finally meet up with them in the next world. A cruel smirk crept onto her expression. Or maybe not. Where she was going, she was probably not going to see them. She deserved to burn for all that she had done, and once this was over, her reserved spot was going to be set a few more levels down.

She returned her focus to the mission. From what Markus had told her, the Tigers were making their way to a bridge, and once they went across, they were home free. For the most part. If their opponents had any thought put into their strategy, they’d set up a roadblock of sorts at that bridge. There would most likely be a group of them at the venue. One woman against an army. The same as always, it seemed. The more things changed, the more things stayed the same. More pain, more struggle, more war. No matter how far she ran, she would always shuffle back to the same routine, over and over again.

She could see the bridge now, and she was closing in quick. She could see, maybe two persons flanking the cross-junction. The Tigers were most likely coming in from her 9 o’clock, a straight shot to the bridge at her 3. She couldn’t discount a sniper or another of those HPs hiding up in the buildings that flanked the 9 o’clock road. She gunned the throttle, and sped even faster forwards. Strategies scrolled through her brain in rapid succession. This was a trap, a mine waiting to go off when someone stepped on it. The only mine that was safe was one that had been safely defused and disposed of.

Her bike ran past the cross junction, shooting past the two that stood there. She had only a momentary glimpse of the two of them, and, for that fraction of a second, thought she recognised them. No. There were no friends in war. They were either on her side, or they weren’t. She let her bike run for several more meters before she hit the brakes, leaned her weight to her left, and jammed her left foot onto the ground. The bike screeched to a halt, spinning to its side. She glared out from behind the black visor of her helmet at her targets. One of them was holding something in her hands. She wasn’t sure of what it was, but from the cursory glance that she had of them a second ago, it resembled an IED, or maybe it was just a regular explosive device. The gangs were packing military armaments? She scowled.

She rolled her bike around, swivelling it back to face them. She unholstered her handgun, and revved the bike up.

There was another type of mine that was safe.
One that had been detonated beforehand.

She released the brakes of her bike, it began its screaming advance, like a pilot aiming his plane straight down in a nose-dive towards a battleship. As she closed in, she pushed up her visor, and aimed down her sights, straight down towards the device in the woman’s hands. She exhaled, and pulled the trigger once, then twice, then thrice, then emptied the entire magazine straight at her.

Saturn_moon @someotherpeopleholyshittheressomany

Vahn · Jul 19, 2022

Omar Ayad.

CS Link

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 2 [A Brief Meditation]

LOCATION:

白春花茶莊,East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Shen, Kairong, Hadrien and Omar

A Brief Meditation

Omar waited for a response before putting away his cellphone and turning his attention back to his tea cup. Omar decided that he was going to savor the tea. It had a subtle taste as if it was reminding Omar of a time when Omar visited White Springflower Tea House but Omar stopped that thought as he started to enjoy the aroma and taste of the tea. His thoughts drifting back and foward before remembering a certain contractor. Omar watched as the king Shen Yue left and by Omars' guess to meet with the Mr Gauthier who left earlier. Omar would simply keep quiet even though he wanted to say something about the masked contractor only for Elder Lin Kairong interrupt Omars thoughts with a question about staying or helping prevent Shen Yue from tearing Mr Gauthier in two and this only made Omar remember Faa Yun words as Omar answers in his flat monotone voice. "I'm not a fighter just a person who finds the specialists. I have no power or obligation to stop the master Shen Yue. Just like when the master Shen Yue fought against Shuwei Yun to be the Jack."

Omar would place the tea cup back down to which Omar slowly stood up and gathered up his belongings. Omar would pull out his wallet from his pants pocket and remove a four thousand Amestrian Yen bills as he gently placed it under his tea cup as Omar calculated the thirty percent before placing an extra one thousand and two hundred Amestrian Yen bills in addition. Omar looked at Elder Lin Kairong as Omar placed his wallet back into his pocket. " Unfortunately I have some more errands to run to keep the remaining contractors from leaving us altogether. Oh I also need to help the Driver make some appointments too something about license renewal. I'll ask him to drop by when he is around.

Omar would begin to walk out when Elder Lin Kairong and the teenager girl Karin was making a commotion about a little boy coming from the kitchen and mentioned that the kitchen door was locked only thing for Omar to do is just leave only to be stopped by the ongoing rain. Omar let out a sigh before walking out the tea shop and attempted to leave from the situation that seems to be brewing outside between the master Shen Yue and Mr Gauthier.

Meanwhile at an apartment building somewhere in the North District; the body of a low ranked Sable Serpent pusher was found dead and rotting on his own bed while the walls of his apartment had dry spray paint that reads : " Known to Death and Feared by Life. " accompanied by a Jack-O'-Lantern insignia.

simj26

QuirkyAngel ,@azenmannumber2

The One Eyed Bandit · Jul 20, 2022

Masked Partycrashers A & T & I

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 6 [All Proceeds]

LOCATION:

Cloudwalk Stadium, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Passeri, Daemon, Sabrina, Dagger, Fahru, Masker Concertgoer K, Minato, Osamu

All Proceeds

Crack. Splatter. Crunch.

"Hah! It's like zombies!" Heavy, steel spheres ricocheted between the assorted Minatos' skulls. His heads blossomed into a forest of crimson roses, perfuming the air with the sickly scent of iron. T frolicked through the field of ephemeral flowers, keeping A close at her side, and lashing out at any of the Minatos that had the audacity to get close to the two of them.

It was only after a few frightfully short moments that the armada of cheap, shovelware clones had been cut down to shape. Only a few of the duplicate boys remained, and T rushed over to the one who appeared the most beaten, and bloodied.

"Hold still for me, darling~" She whispered, as she took up a handful of the boy's hair in her hand and gripped down on his skull. A surge of electric, or rather, a connection flowed through his mind, and his eyes were flooded with a bright, yellow light which spilt out of his skull and onto the wall before him.

Before A, T, I, and the other Minatos, a sepia-stained showreel of Minato's day played out. His morning routine, breakfast, and whatever other nonsense he'd gotten up to before arriving at the concert whirred past in a blur, and then the relevant material crawled onscreen. The stadium's depths, the staff, the distribution of security, and...

The Tigers?

A cracked a grin.

"Oh-hoh" The brown-haired woman scoffed, her eyes glued to the impromptu screen. "What has this crazy bitch been up to?" This was much more than she'd been hoping for. In the first place, her plan had been a gamble and a half. No matter where duplicitous shit that Passeri had pulled on her in the past, there had never been a guarantee that the sycophantic maggots she called her fans even would have cared. But involvement with one of the Albino Tigers? That was something she could work with.

"Right!" A snapped her fingers, suddenly possessed by a rare good mood. "Let's keep moving, ladies. This is going to be easier than I thought."

Interacted With:

Elenion Aura
General:

simj26 ,

Mqueserasera ,

Slav ,

The One Eyed Bandit · Jul 20, 2022

Passeri Park

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 6 [All Proceeds]

LOCATION:

Cloudwalk Stadium, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Passeri, Daemon, Sabrina, Dagger's Dogs, Fahru, Masker Concertgoer K, Minato

All Proceeds

The crowd roared, their voices melding together into one booming uproar of applause and adulation. A jolt of energy, electric and stimulating, shot up Passeri's spine as her fans' collective infatuation crystalized together through the lens that was her Potential, and flowed into her body in an unbidden torrent. She smiled wide, sporting an expression of fierce victory, which was broadcast onto the monitors which dotted the stadium, as she drifted through the air and let the crowd do what crowds did best.

Go rabid.

"Thank youuuuuuuu!" Her voice, now dispossessed of the airs she'd had to maintain around her follow Tigers, rang with impish glee. Her teeth flashed clean and white through her smile, and her eyes beamed with perfect, pure clarity. She loomed close now to the stage, hovering only meters above it, so that she may still be bathed by the spotlights that adorned it.

"You know! I was really kind of w_rried! It's b__n a l_ng ti__, so I __ou_ht may_e ___ a__ __d f____tt__ _____ __!"

Bzzt.

Passeri's brow creased. Her lips were moving, and her voice was coming out of her throat, and yet, it went untransmitted, cut off from the array of speakers that allowed her to speak over the ravenous mass below. First, it faded into a static haze, before plunging into a total nothing. The stadium's central lights, too, were worse for wear, flickering and pulsating as Sabrina's subconscious current flowed through the stadium's electrical system. She might have been able to play off the black-hair woman's light show as part of the act, but the moment that the music cut and the lights went kaput, that was when their suspicions started to rise. This was a concert after all, blinding lights and deafening music was kind of the whole point.

She hardly needed to be a genius to put the pieces together. The woman had electricity, and the lights were on the fritz. Pinning the blame on her was just basic math. The monitors had been cut off now too, and the stadium was now only lit by her Potential, and whatever wasn't wired into the central grid, so she let her expression drop.

She wanted to have faith in Fahru, she really did. It was an important thing, especially at her age, and especially when she was trying to make a good impression, but... She clenched her first. Even if this entire shindig had been at Markus's request, it'd inadvertently turned into something even more important. Things going wrong here could really sting her in the ass. The energy she'd just gathered surged through her body, and then exploded out in a smokescreen of her typical assortment of hearts, stars, and petals, a fresh cloud of iconography to both distract the audience and obscure her flight.

Passeri took a moment to send the present Tigers a text once again instructing them to keep the crowd safe, and then followed after the two women in a cloud of violent pink. She burst onto the roof flanked on all sides by a swirling vortex of her Potential, engineered for the specific purpose as to impress. If she could end this without a fight, she would.

"Hey there, ladies!" Her voice rang as the sole spot of sunlight in the dreadful weather that blanketed the district. The performance was back on. "You know, I'm all for freedom of expression and all, but don't you think this is a teeeeeeeny bit too much? The show's dead in the water!"

Passeri touched down onto the roof, and the constructs she'd bought with her fanned out through the air. She paced over to Fahru and the woman. This looked worse than she thought. Her voice still beamed, but her eyes were cold.

"But hey! I'll cut you a deal! Leave my cute assistant there alone and scram, and we can act like this never happened! I think that's pretty generous!" Her constructs, which had now been spread thoroughly about the roof, rippled. "And I'm not going to ask twice."

Interacted With:

Mqueserasera

QuirkyAngel
General:

simj26 @azenmannumber2

The One Eyed Bandit · Jul 21, 2022

Shiri Itami

SilverFlight @The Prophet

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 1 [The Child]

LOCATION:

Rooftops, The Markets, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dyne, Ra, Shiri, Hou, Ruriko

The Child

Shiri quirked an eyebrow. Whoever this feller was, he was making some decent points, points which Ruri did not seem to have the answer for. He followed along with the conversation the best he could, and by the end of it, actually found himself siding with Hou's side of the ordeal more. This peacekeeping thing was a headache and a half.

"Well-" Shiri started to rattle off some meaningless taunt or another, before the Child was snatched away from the lot of them. Ruri moved quickly, chasing after the kid's assailants as a diligent Dragon did best.

Ineffectively. Shiri moved from the rooftop in a blur of cloth a silver, and his blade swung wide and fast. He descended upon the first of the assailants he spotted, and steel bit into flesh, slicing through the supple flesh of his arm like a hot knife through butter. Blood splattered across the alley's pavement, and Shiri landed on the opposite side of the group to Ruriko. His teeth flashed white in a menacing grin, and he twirled his blade, now coated in fresh, hot red playfully in the air.

"Comon sis! Dudes like these learn better from actions than words. So let's try this again-" He took a step towards his victim, and extended his blade in his direction. "Drop the kid, or I'm gonna keep slicing until he looks like a chicken nugget."

Interacted With:@Beann

Elenion Aura
General:

Damafaud

Chaos Gallant · Jul 21, 2022

Jack

CS Link

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 3 [Happily Ever After]

LOCATION:

Shopping Mall, Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Alice, Elias, Jack, Charmy, Jackson

Happily Ever After

Jack let out a satisfied sigh, leaning back into his chair, “See, I knew ya’ wouldn’t let me down.” He paused briefly in relaxation before slapping his knees and jumping to his feet, “Well I think that’s about wrapped up now, I don’t think we need much else from y’all. Lemme just tidy you up a bit..” Jack lowered the boys onto the floor before dissipating the hooks holding them up. He followed through, sending his needles down to suture the cuts and punctures on the boys, undoing the stitch over Claire’s eyes and mouth as he did so.

“Well now, I clean up quite nicely don’t I?” Jack said matter-of-factly. “So then we’ll be on our way then.” He put his hand up to tip his non-existent hat, grasping only air. The smile fell from his face as he turned away from Claire and Ben. He furrowed his brow, “Actually, I think I’m still in a bit of a foul mood…” He raised his hand, flicking his index and middle finger, sending a dagger into the back of each boys’ head. Their bodies fell over lifelessly as Jack sent his needles to work on last time to seal their final wounds.

“Prolly’ better we don’t leave any witnesses around anyhow. I’ll have Jessi get someone to clean the rest of this up, how ‘bout we stop by that café?” He asked pulling out his phone to text Jessi. “I could use me a coffee right about now.” He didn’t wait for an answer as we walked to the door, and out towards the Honeycomb Café.

AriAriAbabwa

QuirkyAngel

BluEndings

BluEndings · Jul 21, 2022

MIMI

SCENE:

Phoenixes Arc 2: Scene 2 [The Bounty]

LOCATION:

Dilapidated Slums, North District

PARTICIPANTS:

Hide, ~~Kyoden, Raphael,~~ Sang-Cheol

THE BOUNTY

Swipe. Swipe. Swipe.

She adjusted her posture, and leaned against the doorway. Attention had long since been absorbed into the glistening screen in her hands and—now with earbuds—she was free from the majority of hassle the nearby chaos brought. The shouting may have been humorous at first, but now it was just obnoxious white noise. Sonorous music from trending music was the perfect thing for this kind of atmosph—

A sudden blast, and a following fumble.

“Huhhhhh?” She managed to hiss, part shock and part displeasure. “Is… Is everything okay over there?”

It wasn’t a genuine question. The diction in her voice had hardly shifted, so there was no chance any reply would come. Instead, the tall hunk of rock that still remained outside stepped from one foot to the other. Its movements continued as its neck lurched downward while one arm craned to meet halfway. Clawed fingers curled around the obtuse crag of its head, forcefully crunching down until noggin was rended from the rest. Then, in one full telegraphed motion, the ball of debris was rolled further into the heart of the building.

Lacking any resemblance of a smooth surface, the orb carried forward primarily on speed alone. When motion began to wane and it resorted to a wobble, two thin sprues split from the bottom. These make-shift limbs did little to pull along the new golem’s oversized headpiece but they managed all the same. The laughable saunter proceeded well into its short expedition to the scene in question. Though before treading onward the rounded construct fell flat, and the bulk of rock and cement shattered.

Now thinned down, the miniscule figure quickly hustled into the source of the encroaching flames.

NAVIGATE

BluEndings · Jul 21, 2022

CHARMY DEVLIN

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 3 [Happily Ever After]

LOCATION:

Shopping Mall, Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Alice, Elias, Jack, Charmy, Jackson

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

The two fresh corpses lopped over.

Charmy’s eyes flickered, but not in response to the dead. She may have brandished a delicate smile, yet there was no joy on her face. Nothing but cold frustration. A radiating sense of unease that had only continued to fester as the day progressed. Now it mounted at the beck and call of each and every one of her words, lining them with a layer of screeching metal.

“A fool’s death.” Her posture peered towards the corpses, but her eyelids did not waver. “This ‘Lana Rochelle’ knew the pair. Cleaned or otherwise, I’m sure their disappearances will eventually reach her.” She tailed, steps behind the cowboy. “If she’s Acacia’s heir then—”

She bit her lip.

“Drastic action against anyone in the Fox family could lead to non-negligible consequences.”

That’s right. The best course of action was still to proceed cautiously. Cautiously. The same thought swirled back again and again until the close-eyed woman flicked off the welled blood from the rim of her mouth. No one was laughing, but she could still hear an indignant stifled chuckle. Not mockingly. It was amusement.
It had always been amusement.

Charmy’s pace quickened to match Jack’s own.

“We should tread carefully.”

NAVIGATE

Mqueserasera · Jul 21, 2022

REVELER

SCENE:

Serpents Arc 2: Scene 3 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit Lobby, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Anna, Tri, Reveler, Merin, Dante, Peyton

TAILING THE DRAGON'S HEART

This anger rose and flared up, exceeding a set limit, penetrating it like one pent-up bullet. The nozzle of her frustration turned Meirin’s way. Once again, the Dragon, another Dragon, one she treated as a friend, had gotten in her way to kill the one person she should’ve been allowed to kill. Thorned and irritated, she barked one sharp sound. The dagger hands itched. Though in the end, all said and done, she would not attack Meirin. She would not. But this frustration had to go somewhere, had to be released. So many times it had been reined in, contained violently and unduly. Like damning heat prone to eruption beaten back by walls of wood. It asked for burning. So it caught fire. So irises sparked hellfire to damn it all, that one pitied it all that stood in the face of unwarranted wrath, to meet with extreme prejudice edged on by irrationality.

These eyes stared into the foul haze of pink. She had just enough sanity reserved to avoid breathing in the haze, but being too close to its source, even as she moved, her nostrils were covered in a time, at that point she could not avoid inhaling it entirely.

Meirin’s voice jerked her from the momentary stupor. Still slightly glazed, her eyes turned to the Serpent fleeing upstairs. Hell, something fun was going on up there, a fact that consciously registered in her mind, as it twisted, intensified by ways of warped senses.

“Yeah,” affected, Reveler answered vaguely, “I shall take care of the horse-headed, really carefully.” So she assumed it was the dampening disappointment from everything that had gone wrong that had ignited something of a burning hot organ round her center of mass. There was no shortage of fuel in a body and mind corrupted with thoughts of murder and romance. For when it comes down to it, what exactly are the differences between blood and love—certainly not many, if at all. And so what if she derived pleasure from flaying a person? If? There was no if. She craved the flesh and the blood for intimacy, that was no secret to the only person that mattered.

Her dagger hands twitched. They certainly were wet with hot sweat now. But not so slippy she couldn’t hold with even greater desperation. As extensions of her limbs and honest feelings, they must be plunged deep in seeking the pleasure of the flesh. And now the thought of soft tissues being severed, dispersed and coated all over her living blades in red was invading, taking over her mind. So she ceased to function in likes and dislikes, hate and affection, but had come to transcend all the things that are lowly and insignificant, finally crossing over to the infinite expanse of love and desire.

An energetic cackle escaped her curled lips, one mirth-filled. She had not the slightest idea what was there under the animal head, a human, old or young, ugly or pretty, but all those things seemed not to matter. The blade needed only a place to plunge deep, undeterred by what the mind had to offer. Plunge and twist of course, repeatedly so it would arrive again and again, ensuring a bloody mess that would set the place in one flattering putrid aroma.

She threw her head back, brazenly breathed in a stomachful of the pink haze, for why should she care? And when the flustered face returned its fixation on its target, it was marked with a new wild spark, with bare fangs and labored breathing. In that state, she launched at the Serpent.

A mixture of excitement and an abandoned craze constituted her battlecry. In the air, her hand twisted, down came the flashing blade at the Serpent's chest. “Come now, why don’t you die!” The next movement, Reveler pivoted, spun, the other dagger went low at the abdomen, a smile broadened. “Please do give me lots of comfort with your corpse okay!”

SilverFlight · Jul 22, 2022

Hou

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 1 [The Child]

LOCATION:

Rooftops, The Markets, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dyne, Ra, Shiri, Hou, Ruriko

THE CHILD

Hou didn't hear anything until the trap sprung; he started to move as soon as it did, whirling around and reaching out. He saw the child's frightened eyes as the steel closed around him. Hou launched forward, tried to catch it, but the whole thing was torn away from the roof, and his hand closed on air.
"Dammit!"

He should have been watching!
Several shapes began to move, Ruriko shot past him but he was moving too. He grit his teeth as his knees hit the edge of the roof, the end of his grab for the kid, but he continued forward; he pulled his feet under him and sprang into open air. Hou back-flipped once to land on the roof of a nearby car, the weight of his staff punching a hold straight through and ruining the dash.

"Oh you boys just made my day. I really didn't wanna beat up any dragons today. Woulda made the rest of my job a lot harder." Hou had made sure to land with the same distance between Ruriko and Shiri, tightening the circle around their targets. It would be all that much harder for them to escape.
"Hey Ponytail, were these the guys you met before?" He asked Ruriko quickly, ripping his staff free of the car and spinning it once to brace it against his forearm.

Hou dashed forward without warning, but instead of the man, Hou went for the cage, he lashed out with his staff to deflect attention, stretching his free arm towards the steel wall of it. If he could just touch the cage, he could make it too heavy for the man to hold, he would be forced to drop it.

Damafaud

@The Prophet

The One Eyed Bandit

@Beann

Lucem · Jul 23, 2022

Ezra Knight

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 5 [A Dangerous Game]

LOCATION:

South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Callahan, Dagger, Ezra, Isobel, Welsha

A DANGEROUS GAME

Ezra didn't ease up on the gas pedal for a single second, fearing what would happen if the car slowed down even a little. He and the others somehow managed to escape the literal lion's den, but they weren't in the clear just yet. They were still deep in enemy territory, meaning Phoenixes could be lurking around every corner, waiting for a chance to swoop in. The people they just robbed were probably pursuing them and trying to do the same.

Even with all the chaos going on, Ezra managed to maintain his composure and keep the speeding car from crashing into a nearby building. Although, that didn't mean the stress wasn't getting to him. He was still riding the waves of anxiety that had yet to settle after the recent standoff, and now he had to worry about getting everyone back home in one piece. Honestly, he had no idea how he managed to get through his last high-speed chase without getting crushed by all the pressure, especially when that one involved being shot at by rockets. Maybe he had to wait for the third time before he got used to sitting behind the wheel of a getaway car.

One of the only things helping him stay calm right now was the knowledge that reinforcements were nearby. Isobel was updating the King on the situation, so it probably wouldn't be long before their backup arrived to help get them out of the South. Normally, the image of several Tigers pulling up next to him in armored cars would probably make him even more nervous, but it was oddly comforting right now. However, that image vanished from his mind when he heard Isobel drop her phone.

While the Jack was digging under the seat, Ezra tried to empty his mind, not wanting to think about the worst-case scenario. This was okay. It was just a minor setback. If Isobel couldn't find her phone, she could just use his.

"Um, if you reach into my pocket, you can-" He never got a chance to finish that sentence. Instead of going for the phone, Isobel went for the wheel, forcing the car to turn down a nearby alley. The beast of a vehicle ran through several trash cans and assorted litter. That was no big deal, but the big thump at the end of the path was. They hit someone.

Ezra remained still, his hands tightly gripping the wheel. He'd been momentarily paralyzed by shock, confusion, and concern. Even though he was worried about the man on the ground, he never budged. If they stayed here any longer, the Phoenixes would catch up. However, if he sped away, he'd be leaving someone to succumb to injuries he could easily heal. No matter what he decided to do, the result would be terrible.

He was surrounded by enemies. One of his team members was out of commission. There was a possibility that backup wasn't coming. Now this. It was just one thing after another. Although, he really shouldn't have been surprised. His bad luck was in full force today, and it had taken its toll on him.

To his credit, he'd gotten this far without letting the constantly worsening situation overwhelm him. He'd been taking everything on the chin, trying to push through and get out of this alive. However, this was the straw that broke the camel's back. He'd finally hit his limit, and there was no distraction to push back the flood of emotion this time.

As the redhead slowly peeled themselves off the ground, Ezra felt a familiar tingle run up his spine. He watched with narrowed eyes as waves of heat radiated off the roadkill's body, but there was a severe lack of interest in its squawking. Paying it no mind, he pressed on the gas pedal, driving away without sparing the shrinking figure in his rearview mirror a second glance.

Considering that the person they hit hadn't immediately been crushed by the impact, they were most likely an HP. There was a slim possibility that they were just an extremely fortunate passerby, but the sudden change into a human radiator made things pretty clear. It was a safe assumption that any HPs in the area were affiliated with the Phoenixes, so there was no need to worry about them. Well, even if they didn't have a connection to the gang, he wasn't going to stick around and play doctor. There were much bigger concerns, and he needed to act fast.

Once they were back on the road, Ezra glanced at the Jack from the corner of his eye. He doubted she was eager to commit vehicular manslaughter, so what happened just now was most likely an accident. If he had to guess, the newly appointed Jack probably panicked and did the first thing that came to mind when she noticed they were about to miss a turn. It was good that she managed to get them back on track, but he could've done without the sudden interruption. If her Potential couldn't give proper directions before something like that was necessary, then he'd be better off using the car's GPS.

As they took another turn, he addressed the Jack with a playful tone in his calm voice. "I'd prefer if you just point from now on." He'd refrain from voicing some of his more harsh opinions. Getting on his superior's bad side wasn't a smart idea if he planned on climbing the corporate ladder.

Aside from the incident in the alley, there were no interruptions on the way to the bridge. There was no sign of Markus and his merry men, but the same went for the annoying sky rats. Although, something was definitely off. While he couldn't see anyone, a series of loud bangs caught his attention. Had the other gang members finally caught up?

Before he could guess at what was happening, the car crashed into yet another person as it crossed the first end of the bridge. He could've sworn he saw three other blurs fly by as the reinforced tires ran over a small bump on the road, but he was preoccupied with the new body he'd just picked up. Like an insect, they remained sprawled across the windshield with a now broken motorcycle resting beneath them. Similar to the last victim, they appeared to be mostly intact.

When he got a closer look at the face obscured by white hair, he decided against turning on the wipers. It had been quite some time since he last saw her, but he definitely recognized the person taking a nap on the hood. It was another surprise he had to deal with on this ridiculous mission, but it was the first that wasn't entirely unpleasant. There was an opportunity here.

"If you're still eager to get your hands on the wheel, I have a request." Ignoring the terrible sense of déjà vu, Ezra turned to Isobel. "I'm going to make sure nobody can follow us. While I do that, take the wheel and make sure we don't crash." If a half-dead Titus could manage it, then surely the Jack of the Albino Tigers could drive in a straight line for a minute or two.

Reluctantly trusting the Jack with everyone's life, Ezra opened the door and immediately felt the force of the rushing wind. He grabbed onto the metal frame and exited the car, letting his feet dangle just a little above the road. As he hung there, he looked at Dagger, briefly reminiscing on their time together from last year. "I have to say, this isn't how I expected our reunion to go." Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to recognize him because of his disguise, but there'd be plenty of time to catch up once the claw business was over with.

Smiling beneath his mask, he tightened his grip on the door and used his free hand to take two shards from one of the motorcycle's broken mirrors. Stretching his arm out, he used his Potential to move the metal remains off of the hood. The bike seemed to magically repair itself as it was drawn to one of the shards, now hovering slightly over the road like the fixer's feet. Releasing the first piece of the mirror caused the motorcycle to drop, but as soon as the tires hit the road, he channeled his power into the remaining piece in his hand. Adjusting the speed of the restoration to be just under that of the car, he watched as the motorcycle followed ever so slightly behind, desperately trying to become whole. It appeared as if a phantom was riding alongside him.

His primary motivation for repairing the motorcycle was to prevent it from obscuring Isobel's vision, but he was also feeling a little generous. He still wasn't entirely sure what happened, but he assumed Dagger was the person to thank for the lack of Phoenixes trying to ruin their escape. Fixing up her ride was the least he could do to repay the favor. Well, that, and taking care of her injuries. Speaking of which...

After giving the one-eyed soldier a tap to patch her up, he pointed his chin to the car's interior, offering up the remaining seat in the back. "You're welcome to join the party inside, but if you're content with a bit of roof surfing, I'd appreciate it if you could keep an eye out for any stragglers. I've dealt with more than enough birds for one day."

Returning his attention to the road, Ezra slowly lowered his body, allowing his feet to skid across the concrete surface. As soon as contact was made, he made use of his Potential once again, reducing the path behind them to a mess of paste, aggregates, and water. He took great care not to disturb the foundations of the bridge, not wanting a repeat of what happened in the East. It was just enough to ensure that nobody aside from them would be crossing into the West anytime soon.

Ezra kept making more work for the construction crew until they finally crossed the second end of the bridge. Once he was satisfied, he reclaimed the driver's seat and charted a course for Tiger HQ. "So, any luck finding that phone? You should probably let Boss know that he and the others will have to take the other bridge if they feel like going home now."

gxxberkit

Saturn_moon · Jul 23, 2022

ISOBEL PHAM

Scene: Tigers/Phoenix Arc 2, [A Dangerous Game/Home Cookin’]
Location: South District
Participants: Callahan, Corvo, Dagger, Ezra, Isobel, Markus, Mbaye, Suzu, YY

A burst of red, like a technicolor sunset, came and went in a flash as they turned the corner. Except this was no sunset. It was very much physical and struck the car with the force of an ox that had Ezra slamming down on the brakes. Isobel's body was thrown forward, stopped from crashing through the windshield by her seatbelt and outreached hands pressed into the dashboard. A soft thump could be heard as her phone came sliding out from the dark abyss and stopped between her feet. The car sat in bewildered silence, stunned by the shock and confusion of what had just happened. What had just happened? Glancing into the rearview mirror, a man dressed in shades of bright red and gold overshadowed only by the fiery mop atop his cranium could be seen lying still as a corpse in the middle of the alley.

Oh, Fuck me.

Panicked, she hurriedly unbuckled herself from the seat to go check on the man, but as she reached for the door the figure miraculously pushed himself up on his feet looking fine as day. Wha- How- From their reflection, she picked up the faint ripple of heat emanating from the man's body that seemed to grow in tandem with his impassioned shouting and swearing. A potential.

"Go." She signed at Ezra. No other words needed to be said as the young man seemed to come to the same conclusion as her. If a potential was openly running about this part of town dressed as flamboyantly as he, there was a good chance they were part of the phoenixes and they already had enough of those to deal with. Feet on the gas, they sped off once more.

They were not far from the bridge now. Three minutes give or take and they'd be home free. They just needed to -

Another figure struck their car. If Isobel could scream, she would probably be screaming right now. She glanced over at Ezra who was taking this far more calmly than she had ever expected anyone who had just crashed into a person AGAIN to be. She looked from him to the person smeared across their windscreen. The hint of white hair and an eye patch barely visible through their cracked visor.

"If you're still eager to get your hands on the wheel, I have a request." Isobel took a deep breath and nodded assuredly. She had absolutely no idea what he was about to do. Perhaps it would have been wise to inform him at some point that she did not have a license or that every time she'd been put in the driver's seat the car had come out arguably worse than before. However, the time for that was not now. Straddling the center console, she seamlessly slipped her foot onto the gas as Ezra removed his. One hand steadying the wheel, she reached the other out to grab the back of Ezra's shirt as he hung precariously from the open door.

Eyes fixed on the road, she let Ezra do his thing while she focused on getting them across as quickly as possible.

100 meters. She saw the shooter's motorcycle reform behind the car.
50 meters. In the rearview mirror, she saw the road slowly melt away.
30 meters... 20... 10...

Just like that, they'd done it. She handed the wheel back to Ezra as he shut the door behind him and curled up in the passenger seat. Picking up the claw, she recounted the insane things they just gone through for this and an inaudible laugh bubbled up in her throat.

"You should probably let Boss know that he and the others will have to take the other bridge if they feel like going home now."

Isobel turned back to own her potential, this time rather than seeking out the quickest route, she had it tuned to Markus. Queromancy was an odd potential. It sought out the tangible using the intangible. It worked on the familiarity of the seeker with what they were seeking, be it though constant exposure or personal attachements. It was no secret that their king was a difficult man to read. He was cold, aloof, and impossibly distant. That said, bad traits were traits regardless and Isobel had had thirteen years to attune herself to them and him. Like a lighthouse on a pitch black night she found him in a flash, less than a kilometer beyond the destroyed bridge sitting in the backseat of an SUV. He'd been tailing them.

Tiredly, she sent one more text to Markus alone. 'We got across, but you might want to turn around.'

Coyote Hart · Jul 24, 2022

Peyton Xiong

SCENE:

Serpent Arc 2: Scene 3 [Tailing the Dragon's Heart]

LOCATION:

Platinum Rabbit, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dante, Reveler, Meirin, Peyton, Tri, Anna, Bash, Kisara, Yuto

Tailing the Dragon's Heart

Make their way to the front of the Platinum Rabbit? Peyton lifted a shaking hand. Obviously Callan couldn't tell from him collapsed, splayed on the ground that he barely could move. Yuto's venom was coursing through his body, making his limbs feel like lead.

Painstakingly, Peyton slowly crawled over to his gun and set the butt of it into the ground, using it to force himself to his feet. In the reflection of his bayonet, in the areas not covered by Yuto's blood, he could see himself. He was covered in blood, most of it his. Sweat poured down his head, his hair sticking to his face as he strained against the effects of the venom. The veins underneath his face, going down to his neck, were illuminated with pink. It looked quite cool, if not a bit concerning.

Peyton tore the bayonet off its mount, wiping Yuto's blood onto his uniform and slipping into his belt. There was no way that he was going to be able to wield his gun with his bayonet in his condition. And he planned to use his gun as a walking stick. It would be problematic if he accidentally cut himself in his weakness.

As he slowly stumbled around the building to the entrance, using the wall and his gun as support, his stomach growled. It was the side effect of using his Potential-- he became ravenous afterward. Peyton grumbled as his stomach also grumbled. He wanted some duck roast.

"Hey nice form," Peyton complimented 'Callan's' new look, "It's nice and pretty."

Fortunately for Dante, Peyton wasn't smart enough to deduce that Dante was actually in his true form.

As he finally made his way into the inside of the Platinum Rabbit, Peyton's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground, dropping his gun in the process. Nobody that he had been with was there anymore-- Tri, Meirin, Reveler, all of them were gone. A quick look at his phone and seeing all the missed text messages explained all that he needed. Sighing, Peyton put his phone back in his pocket. He wasn't going to be able to help anyone in his state.

"Well that went as well as it was going to," Peyton said to Dante. He pulled himself to a wall and propped himself up. "Oh, how many forms do you even have?"

Peyton had initially guessed that all of Callan's forms had some sexual element to them, considering Callan and his feminine Sonnet form, but this new form broke Peyton's expectations. The new soft white hair and chocolate skin resembled more like an angel than anything.

The Regal Rper

Doctor Llamabean · Jul 24, 2022

BLITZ (Boltius Beckman)

CS Link

SCENE:

The Recruit

LOCATION:

South District... Random back alley...

PARTICIPANTS:

Hector, Darren, Milo

THE RECRUIT

Boltius glared on quietly as Hector scolded him, taking the words in but sparing them no actual thought. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t, as his flaring temper cast a foggy steam over his judgment.

First was Darren to follow the Ace while Boltius stood by himself, momentarily brooding. Right now, he hated Hector, which wasn’t a first, but also hated Milo whom he’d chosen to forget after Nanami. For a while now, Boltius had denied facing his feelings toward Milo.

He shoulda kept in touch…

But here they were, hitting him full-force. A bottle of pent-up emotions, all at once, ready to tip and shatter, sending his mind in circles.

He grit his teeth and clenched his fists.

He’d better see Milo again.

Storing within him a promise that he would seek Milo out after today was said and done, Boltius turned away from his agitation and pushed on after Hector and Darren, willing his mouth shut so as to avoid snapping that last remaining thread of patience that was, perhaps, holding the Ace together.

Together, the three of them trekked on in the direction of Lyric’s. Darren and Hector walked in front, Boltius in back, trying not to let his head get the best of him. He wasn’t even looking where he was going—just following the road, watching his feet, relying on memory.

Somehow… For some reason… Right now, he wished today was seven years ago.

Weak. No more of that.

Boltius shook his head, biting frustration. It was getting harder to breathe. Damn… Inhaling felt difficult. His steps slowed and his knees grew wobbly, one of which buckled and sent him kneeling. “Guys-” he gasped tryingly.

Just above, unbeknownst to the Phoenix trio, peering down at them from the rooftop stood a woman in gray, dressed for business. She smiled satisfactorily as if appreciating fortune in her favor.

From around the corner, another woman stepped out in front of Hector, cutting off their route. She wore a tight, spaghetti-strap tank top with designer jeans.

She opened her mouth and spoke, “What is the Ace of the Scarlet Phoenixes doing so far away from all the action, hm?” She paused, twirling a golden bracelet around her index finger. “Little hard to breathe, isn’t it?”

Despite his outward struggle, Boltius could only think, Let’s fuckin’ gooooooo!! Finally some long-awaited action!

He kicked into gear and pushed off into a wild, breathless sprint. So she takes breath away, huh? Get real!

At a close enough distance—the heat of his body unaccompanied by flames due to the absence of oxygen—he went in for a punch, which would have landed if not for a sudden blast of atmospheric pressure releasing from the woman’s body, centerpoint, in all directions, sending Boltius (and perhaps the other two) backwards like weightless dolls. At the same time, all of the air that he’d been gasping for filled his lungs in one breath, and he thought they’d surely burst.

All the way back, down the length of the alley, Bolt’s tumbling path was interrupted by a wall of solid brick. Falling to his hands and knees, he coughed and hacked and spit, gripping hard at his chest from the overflow of intake straining his lungs.

Wrong-... I was wrong…

At least he could breathe again.

Elenion Aura @FangS31

BOLTIUS NOTES: — —What he's wearing (Click)

— —Tattoo Reference (X)

— —Physique Reference, since his face-claim art doesn't accurately depict it (X) (X)

— —Boltius and Hector's food dishes were left behind by Darren.

— —SCENE DESCRIPTION: They're traveling the alleyways to get to Lyric's apartment after an encounter with Milo Nagisa, one of Bolt's closest childhood friends. After getting hit by a car, Boltius and Hector bickered before proceeding on their route, which was promptly cut off by a Tiger NPC with an interesting potential.

Elenion Aura · Jul 24, 2022

SHEN YUE

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 2 [A Brief Meditation]

LOCATION:

白春花茶莊, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Shen, Kairong, Hadrien, Omar

A BRIEF MEDITATION

Shen watched and listened, his face plain and void of any doubt. His mind was a clear, spotless sky. Silent, he waited until Hadrien had finished his speech before lowering his guard and straightening his posture, clasping his hands together behind his back once again. Then, Shen stepped forward and approached the Rookie Dragon until they were but a pace apart. While he made no aggressive movement, it was obvious by his sheer nonchalance that Shen was either unphased by the prospect that Hadrien might try and attack him while he closed the distance, or, perhaps hoping for it. Once he'd sufficiently penetrated Hadrien's personal space, Shen stopped in his tracks and cocked his head to one side, his confusion suddenly evident upon his face.

Shen had been under the impression that the Rookie wanted this fight. Surely, he didn't think that speaking to his King the way he had done inside Kairong's teashop would go unanswered. Certainly, that had been a challenge, hadn't it? One that Shen readily accepted, one that he would always readily accept, if only out of the dim, fading hope that one day someone would prove a match. But, now... It sounded like Hadrien was walking that back, with talk of guarantees, and locations.

Shen simply did not understand.

Or perhaps it was Hadrien who was the ignorant one. After all, he had spoken his mind, and speaking one's mind in the presence of a King came with consequences. Shen would've been within his rights as King to strike down this upstart here and now for his insolence. And yet... That didn't feel very sporting. By Hadrien's own admission, he wouldn't be fighting at his best under these conditions. Defeating him here and now would ring hollow, knowing what he knew.

However, the strangest bit of all was his first condition. If results don't go your way aside, Shen wondered if Hadrien didn't know that—were he capable of defeating Shen—he'd become King! And whosoever is King need fear no retribution, for he who is King is already the Strongest.

For a moment, Shen pondered what Hadrien had said quietly to himself, before he finally chirped up and smiled, saying, “Okay! I hope you're as strong as you think you are.” He could accept postponing their fight, and his retribution for the wrong that Hadrien had done to his honor, under the conditions that Hadrien had set forth, even as he prepared himself for disappointment. Shen had defeated foes the size of mountains! This battle—this foregone victory to come—would be... Fine, he supposed.

simj26

Vahn

The Child

Scene Post

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 1 [The Child]

LOCATION:

白春花茶莊, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Omar, Kairong, Shen, Hadrien

THE CHILD

The Child did not know how he got here. One moment, he had been with Hou, Shiri, and the other people on the roof. The next, he'd been flying through the air into a place that was very dark, and very small. And now he was here. And now there was a man, older than Hou and Shiri, before him. The Child could tell his age from the wizened lines that formed the creases of his face. Even kneeling, the Child had to look up at him. A little.

"Are you lost?”

The Child nodded solemnly. He was lost. He had been lost all day, from the moment he'd escaped the Bad Men, to the moment he met Hou, then Shiri, and now Old Man. Lost, lost, lost... The Child turned to the young woman the old man had called over. Another unfamiliar face greeted him. The Child smiled timidly at her before she was sent away by the old man.

"Do you know where they are?”

The Child shook his head. He didn't know where anyone was. Still, Old Man and Young Woman seemed nice. At the very least, they didn't seem to be connected with the Bad Men. Even so, The Child would have liked to be with Shiri and Hou again. He wondered where they were, or if they were looking for him.

Just then a second man, younger than Old Man, moved from his seat in the Child's peripheral vision. He left some paper under a cup on a table and spoke to Old Man. His words were confusing to the Child, but one stuck out in particular, one that made his ears flatten against the sides of his head. Shen.

A low growl escaped the Child's lips at the mere mention of him, but when the Second Man opened the door to exit the tea shop and revealed that the object of The Child's fear and terror stood just outside, it was as if everything had already ended.

“Oh! Leaving so soon? Goodbye, Omar! Mister Kairong, I'm coming back in! Oh? Who's this? Your great grandson?”

The Child's heart was in his throat. His instincts screamed at him to run, to attack, to flee, to attack. He took an involuntary, tiny step back, as his teeth bared themselves in the face of his enemy. His mission.

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The Regal Rper · Jul 24, 2022

Dante (OG) | East | Platinum Rabbit

Dante, grimaced as he more or less waited for Peyton to get up and lead the way.

The right thing to do would have been to help Pey, but he had no intentions of touching him. Not after he had seen what he could do- not in his own current state. He was in no position to fight, and even more, hadn't brought any weapons aside from his compact staff. Wasn't wearing his gear for protection, and worst of all his face had been exposed.

Plans changed yes, but this was not going out the way he had thought.

Even as they moved, Dante felt more drained than he appeared. Sure he moved with the same calm and steadiness that Callan had, but he was noticeably slower as he walked with squinted eyes. Trying to shield his pupils from the light as if it alone was magnifying his headache like some horrible hangover. His body didn't hurt but there was a clear feeling of lacking stamina. The throbbing headache didn't help either- even as he recanted details of his life while they moved steadily forwards. His real name, his name, his siblings, his parents, his family, his status, his gang, his goals. Then came the details about the Dragons. If he could still recall who Meirin was, what she looked like, her mannerisms. If he could recall who Reveler was, and if he remembered her history of stalking him over the better part of a year. If he could recall his good opinion of Peyton or not or if somehow Celest had managed to muddle that up also.

The details were there but there were somethings he couldn't immediately recall. Took longer than he would have liked instead of the near instant recollection he was used to.

It was truly frustrating. And also frightening.

This is why he hated Potentials that dealt with the mind. He always had. Ever since their time at Illustros City, the neighbor to Oasis miles away. Never had liked them since they had to deal with that one assassin that was targeting one of his uncles when they had lived out in Kanto, two cities away from Illustros back when he was 13 before they had all split with his parents returning to this place to rekindle old connections and him and the others going to the Fatherland for his introduction to the rest of the family.

For a brief moment, Dante considered just walking away. The idea was tempting, but it left such a bitter taste in his mouth. Not out of pride, or even a form of conceit. So many variables to factor in. Even if he wanted to run, the best he could manage was a jog. Not even the power jumps he could normally do to scale buildings would do him any good here. Celest, though he was proud of her for putting up some kind of fight, had seriously put him jeopardy here if things went south. Being in any long standing fight or chase right now would be dangerous. There was no way he could fight Meirin, let alone Reveler given her abilities- and add Peyton to the mix and he was screwed.

Running, leaving, was so easy. August had done it without any remorse- and he wasn't a Dragon. He had nothing to keep him from just disappearing.

Friends, it was laughable really. If they saw fit, any one of them- even Meirin, would turn on him if it brought danger to something they valued more than his relationship with them. That's just how it was. Being a Tiger allowed him to see the cutthroat nature of business here in Oasis. Things were simply business, no hard feelings. There'd be none on his part if he left- just like there'd be none when he inevitably saw August again and decked him for abandoning them in the collapsing bowling mall.

This really is the worst possible scenario that could have happened, he sighed.

He should have known better, but he'd been so caught up in the act- so sure she wouldn't make a move that he'd forgotten about her ability's distance. And failed to keep his own.

Some might be furious, angry, if he were unstable- more unstable at least for normal people probably didn't want to get involved in the criminal network in the first place-- then perhaps he would have hated Celest just a little for what she'd just done to him.

Yet, Dante felt nothing of the sort. If anything, it was his own fault.

A foolish mistake, and a blunder he would be sure not to make again. His father's words echoed in his head as they made it to the front of the Platinum Rabbit. Dante could hear his dad's voice so clearly as if he were still alive.

"Cockiness is death. Pride is undoing. When ya fight, ya kill or maim, so the bastard yer facin' know you'll end 'em. You kill, cuz ya must. Spare no one, cause they sure as hell won't you if the tables are flipped. My brother taught me that. It's a life lesson, sadly, you'll need to learn too."

And true to those Serpent teachings that dad's brother had indirectly passed on to them- he had.

His mind wandered to Celest. She hadn't known it was him, and that was exactly how he wanted it. She could know some of his faces, of his forms- but no one, not even his closest friend Auvura, could ever know them all. It would be his undoing if anyone ever did.

There was no room for mistakes in this city of moral spectrums and corruption. Right now, even as he walked with Peyton back to the Platinum Rabbit, he kept his distance. He knew Peyton had some kind of poisonous effect- and right now, he wouldn't be able to transform for another few minutes till he had his energy back up. While the comment about his current 'form' was sweet, Dante couldn't muster the satisfaction from the compliment. It was good to see that he still had Peyton fooled, but that didn't mean it would fool the others.

Silently, he slipped in around the Dragon, taking a knee not far away from him but far enough he couldn't be touched. In a moment or two Peyton went on to check his phone for messages.

The Tiger considered leaving just then and there. It was a blessing in and of itself that neither Reveler or Meirin were present. He didn't want Reveler to see his true face, this was the same image, one of the illusions he'd been using to tease Ruriko to get a reaction out of her. To have her see him take this form now, it would tip off alarms in her head. Meirin hadn't even seen his true face yet and he had intended to show it to her and Jun privately. Thoughts and back-up plans ran through Dante's head as he stared at Peyton with a look of concern despite his thoughts being more focused on himself.

I need to leave. This visit is over. The problem was, if he left now, there was a certainty on some level his relationship with the others would be damaged. He'd spent too much time working to get into any Dragon's good graces to allow a hiccup like this to screw everything up. More importantly was the fact Meirin's sister might still be in danger. While his own identity security had far higher priorities, he couldn't just leave Meirin in a situation like this.

If one of his younger siblings were here and had been left to a perilous situation because someone had been selfish....well...death would be too easy if anything happened to said sibling, and once he eventually found the culprits. That was for certain. As the Dragons said, "an Eye for an Eye", and he most certainly had no problem giving what he got back with interest to compensate.

"Oh, how many forms do you even have?"

Dante blinked- snapped out of his thoughts. His mind was still processing Peyton's question when he asked. It was honestly rare anyone, even among the Tigers, ever got to see his true form smile. The number of people that were able to see him in his True Form for any extended period of time, could be counted on one hand. Most of the time he remained in Jasper's body. It was only for show that he really bothered to change back to his True Self at all. To at least burn it into the back of people's minds that he and Jasper were one and the same so if he ever was forced out of a transformation, he wouldn't turn into a friendly-fire casualty.

It was a psychological card, but it worked.

To Peyton's question, Dante soon responded: "Many." It was a one-worded answer that said it all. "To put it simply, I can become anything I want, so its limitless really." And that was no lie. He really could be anything he wanted if he pictured it. The tiny lie in there was the number of times he could. If he had the freedom to change whenever he wanted to, as many times as he wanted to- he would certainly abuse the power. There was no way anyone would be able to stop him from single-handedly taking over Oasis in a week or a month. Numerous versions of himself, each one with his power, his personality, linked together with each other and the power to attain new abilities with each new form.

He'd be unstoppable. He would be a literal god. The citizens feared the Kings, but if he had that freedom with his power- the world would fear him.

It was that kind of mentality he tried to steer clear of.

Perhaps that's why he was only able to change 5 times, before he lost the power to change again at all for hours.

Right now he was down to 3 more transformations.

Maybe there was some god out there that bestowed them gifts and knew what it was doing.

"So..." Dante said, changing topics, rising to his feet and moving to take a seat with some distance away from Peyton. "you used to be a Serpent as I understand it?" given the interaction with Tri, he was curious. Just how did Peyton know the guy. "I'm surprised honestly. I didn't think gangs were too accepting of people that liked to swap." He admitted. Then eyeing Peyton asked. "Are you going to be okay?" The genuine concern in his voice, was obvious.

Mentions:

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The One Eyed Bandit (Anna)

Elenion Aura · Jul 24, 2022

MARKUS WEISS

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 5 [A Dangerous Game]

LOCATION:

South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Callahan, Ernesto, Ezra, Mbaye, Isobel, Welsha

A DANGEROUS GAME

Markus read Isobel’s text and immediately placed an outbound call to his newly-minted Jack. What the fuck do you mean turn around? They were close. They were so god-damn close to being done with this shit. If only some jacked up moron could resist the urge to lob yet another fucking monkey-wrench into the intricate machinery of his plans, then maybe, just maybe, Markus could finally call this shit-show of a day a wrap.

Rather than let the call go through, a disgusted Markus shoved the phone violently away from his ear before he jabbed a finger in the direction of his backseat passenger. "Tell everybody left ta’ clear out. We’re done here." He didn't wanna hear from Isobel. He didn't want her to elaborate on why he ought to turn around. He'd see for himself soon enough.

Once he’d given the retreat order, and heard it relayed via Actualize to the rest of the Tigers in the field, Markus sat back in silence until they arrived at the southern end of the South-West Bridge. The Tiger driving the vehicle eased the car right up to the lip of the bridge, but went no further when Markus ordered him to halt. The whole place stunk of an ambush gone wrong, a trap that had been sprung, poorly. The Tigers for whom the trap had been set were long-gone, and now all that was left was the clean-up crew.

Once he was there, Markus understood. As if sensing the possible presence of enemies nearby, the Tiger King slipped the blue bandana from around his bicep before affixing the skull-shaped mask to his face. In his mind, he'd already made peace with the notion that he was gonna kill whichever unlucky, unfortunate fucks had gotten the bat-shit insane idea in their heads that they'd get away with stealing from him twice. He only hoped that the hummingbird fuck was with them. That one he'd let himself enjoy. The rest would be strictly business.

Taking one last, deep breath to steel himself, Markus kicked open the backseat door and stepped out into the afternoon mist as cold steam coiled around his balled up fists, shoved as they were in the pockets of his coat. The first thing that caught his eye was the bridge. Markus understood now why Isobel had suggested he turn around. Anything on four wheels would have a Hell of a time trying to get across that lake of muck in its current state. Unfortunately he had a motorcade of Tigers who needed to get across. He clucked his tongue in annoyance. Always somethin', he thought to himself as he noticed the second thing.

Phoenixes on the periphery.

Markus turned, pulling his fists from his pockets, ready to blast these fuckers to kingdom come...

Instead he addressed the gathered Phoenixes in a cold, imperious tone, stating," Game's over. Ya' lost. Now fuck off, before ya' lose even more." The threat was obvious, but there was a tenderness there that try as he might, he could not stamp out of his voice. Idiot, the hell're you doin' here?

Lucem

simj26

gxxberkit
@ Whoever else should be @'ed here

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Elenion Aura · Jul 24, 2022

The Child

Scene Post

SCENE:

Dragons Arc 2: Scene 1 [The Child]

LOCATION:

The Markets, East District

PARTICIPANTS:

Dyne, Ra, Shiri, Hou, Ruriko

THE CHILD

"Weh-hell, lookie here, boys. Y'sure know how ta' run yer mouth, lassie," said the giant man as he jostled the solid-steel trap hooked under his arm. "S'like ah' said, lassie. We nabbed 'im, fair n' square, now you lot can make 'is a lot easier on us, an' you, if ye just pack it in, right bloody now!" As if to punctuate his statement, the man used his free hand to brandish an iron club in Ruriko's direction, as the rest of his crew followed suit, drawing their various weapons. They were obviously confident that they could handle whatever it was that Ruriko intended to throw at them.

And then Shiri fell from the sky and unhanded one of the mercenaries in one fell swoop as Hou followed suit, his touch against the cool metal prison causing its weight to increase exponentially until the lead kidnapper was forced—strong though he may have been—to release it lest it draw him down with it.

In a mere instant, the streets of the Markets had erupted in chaos.

"W-... WHY YOU BLEEDIN'..!" Struggle though he might, the gargantuan mercenary could not lift the steel box that held his quarry. So instead he took a swing at Hou with his club, reasoning that if he bashed the red-headed firebrand's skull into smithereens, then maybe whatever effect he'd placed onto the cage would dissipate.

Meanwhile, the man that had recently lost his hand to Shiri's blade leered murderously at the long-haired swordsman, clutching his stump to stymie the bleeding as, all of a sudden, twin beams of ultra-violet light erupted from his eyes and blasted ahead toward Shiri himself.

The rest of the roving band of ruffians rushed toward Ruriko, weapons raised high as the blood that pumped through their veins.

Damafaud
@The Prophet

The One Eyed Bandit

SilverFlight
@Beann

gxxberkit · Jul 25, 2022

YONG-YUT SOMSRI

SCENE:

Phoenixes Arc 2: Scene 4 [Home Cook'n]

LOCATION:

Lyric and Alex's Townhome, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Yong-Yut, Corvo, Suzu, Alex, Ashley, Auvura, Vulken, Lyric

Home Cook'n

Everything happened so fast.

They were out of the car. Bombs were now in Yong-Yut’s hands. Suzerain was placed on a convenience store’s roof, and Yong-Yut moved over to where she was instructed to stand. Corvo was safely across the street, prepared for an ambush.

Then a blur shot past them, turned around, and bullets went flying.

In Yong-Yut’s direction, mind you.

Her eyes widened as a volley of bullets headed straight towards her.

Quickly switching the bombs from her hands to her ribbons and moving them out of the line of fire, she took the brunt of the shots. If not to save the bombs, to save herself from the bombs exploding in her face.

And then the blur suddenly changed velocity. With the use of a van.

Yong-Yut finally doubled over, moving her arms over her torso as she watched a person stick themself out of the driver’s side of the van, reaching over to the new passenger on their windshield.

Taking a deep breath, Yong-Yut stood back up, eyes still on the van, torso still in pain. The bombs in her possession were forgotten. She was just confused. In what was probably world record time, the blur —who Yong-Yut now figured was a person— and their bike seemed patched up, and the bridge, in contrast, was fucked.

More importantly, the van was now on the other side of the bridge.

Yong-Yut looked over the ruined bridge, contemplating her options. She could try flinging herself over the bridge…

Before she could think too much into the choice, she glanced over to Corvo. Good time to return the explosives. The bombs were replaced in the bag, and her ribbons stretched over the expanse of the road to place the bag in Corvo’s hands.

As the ribbons returned to Yong-Yut’s side, a van pulled up and slowed to a halt. A door audibly opened. It didn’t close.

Turning around, her gaze reached a familiar face.

Everything was happening so fast.

He was angry. Of course he was, they were in his way. And from the looks of it, he was about to take out his anger.

But he didn’t. Not yet, anyway. A threat was given instead.

She looked down, and then over to Corvo. Retreating now would mean this would’ve been a complete waste of time. It’d mean they’d lose whatever was stolen. And most importantly, it’d mean that they’d give up, and Yong-Yut knew Lyric didn’t like people that gave up.

But maybe it would be a good idea. For one, Yong-Yut didn’t want to look at his face for longer than she’d have to. For another, he was strong, and he had backup. Backup that could be here any second. Sure, there’s Phoenixes all around, but she was sure the Tigers could outnumber the ones that’d show up unless word spread fast. She doubted that it would. On another hand, Yong-Yut just got shot straight in the solar plexus. Multiple times. She’s an HP, but it still hurt, and she wasn’t in the mood for any of this, really.

But then she met Corvo’s eyes. Untrustworthy eyes that Yong-Yut would usually prefer to not be looking at. But here, they said something. And Corvo nodded. And she would’ve nodded, but she knew better. She didn’t want to be associated with it. Looking back at him, avoiding his face, she paused.

God, she hoped this entire thing was worth it.

“Okay. We’ll go.”

Glancing to Corvo, and then to her right towards the car, she grasped one of her clammy hands with the other. She was sweating. How long had she been sweating? It doesn’t matter. It’ll be cold here in a second. So she waited for Corvo to move.

AriAriAbabwa

Ambiloquous

BriiAngelic @ i forgot who else is in our scenes sorry

AriAriAbabwa · Jul 25, 2022

JESPER ALBRECHT

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 1 [Charity from the Upper City]

LOCATION:

Central District

PARTICIPANTS:

Akira, Helva, Jesper, Lucy, Dimitri

Charity from the Upper City

<<< Remember

"Y-Yasuo Saiwa! I-I didn't..." Jesper chuckled nervously. The world had a cruel sense of humor. Of course he was not only important, but probably one of the most important that Jesper failed to recognize: current owner of Saiwa Industries, not to mention a relative of the Dragons' own Queen. And of course this meeting had to happen just as he lamented memorizing these names and faces...

"I'm sorry I couldn't recognize you sooner... All my focus tends to land on... family work, what with the Guardian program and the like."

Taigakitt

Mqueserasera · Jul 25, 2022

Fahrelnissa Peynirci

SCENE:

Tigers Arc 2: Scene 6 [All Proceeds]

LOCATION:

Cloudwalk Stadium, South District

PARTICIPANTS:

Passeri, Daemon, Sabrina, Dagger, Fahru, Masker Concertgoer K, Minato

ALL PROCEEDS

The raindrops beaten down on her drenched visage stung more than the punches numbing her skin. She found herself restrained, still half dazed from the biting effect of electricity. A grunt escaped through her pained neck as the woman pulled on her hair. It was not unbearable, but still, punches that could shatter an impotent human’s skull were heavy. And down they came one after another, hammering on her delicate face, wet in rain and blood. Through the drenched, cracked glass, she peered at the whiteness of the woman’s face, which was grimacing in rage. Why was she so angry? Did she want to kill that man so much or was it because of an entirely unrelated reason? But humans sometimes need no reason for violence, don’t they? Such a very unpleasant world.

At the edge of her vision, Maximon bore down on the woman. Its sharp beak was working, and soon she too must recover and fight back. For that was her job, her duty. It was sometimes as simple as that. Like a special reason is not needed to wake up every morning to go to work. Another day. Another day. It is by braving unwanted tasks, by grinding one’s life to the final conclusion that one is human in earnest. Lofty ideals are but icing on the cake.

As she gathered her determination and focus once more, Passeri’s voice rang from afar. She turned to look. The idol had arrived. Fahru after all had failed to timely contain this trouble maker and now the show was interrupted. A wave of soaked disappointment swept all over. Passeri’s constructs of light were brilliantly penetrating the downcast weather. How well could the idol fight? She sure didn’t give off the impression of someone who could get her hand dirty. But what did Fahru know, she had only known the woman for a couple of hours. Perhaps Passeri was strong enough to subdue this woman in black. But that was all the more reason that Fahru could not stay helpless. She had a role to fulfill. Failure should not be an option.

But could she compete physically against the thug holding her hair? Who knows. Seventeen years roaming the plateaus, contending with horses, rams, and goats had not built a girl any weaker than city people. Fahru struggled. Balling fists thrust out, but in the end, they did not strike the woman, not any more than to grab her clothes. What was once black now a warm orange in the color of gentle dawn. But it obeyed her. It was her color. The constant warmness that never fails, weathering storms and tempests from above tall clouds and roaring thunder. Fahru lived by this color. It warmed her, urged her on, never allowed her to give up. No matter how dark or depressing this world is, one just has to keep trying—trying and holding on until the day the clouds are lifted and reveal again a gentle dawn.

The dyed clothes came to live, tightening on its wearer, contracting round her muscles, bending away her limbs. The force was not too heavy, but it had long past the time to pull punches.

QuirkyAngel

Mqueserasera @azenmannumber2