The Honor Circle Returns! (IC)

[Cogidubnus]

 The wolf shook his head and scoffed, opening the door after the diminutive alien and the armored canine entered for the jackal, and then grinned. "You clearly bested me, madam." he said drolly, and gestured inside. "Victory drinks await. And possibly a bandage for that cut. Speaking of - if you get a bandage first, I don't think you mentioned which you wanted."
The wolf waited for the jackal to enter, raising one eyebrow at the little alien snuggling the arm of the brown-furred canine.

* * *

Linos grabbed the hand and shook, turning his head to look at the woman. "Aha, I see." he said, grinning again. "But ah. I'll just keep my thoughts on the matter to myself, shall I?" he winked one blind eye at her, and leaned back in his chair. "But the pleasure is all mine, truly."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paladin grinned big as Piix agreed to his proposal, his gamble had paid off. When she grabbed his hand he let Piix drag him inside.

When Piix stopped dragging him and started nuzzling his arm, he directed her over to the bar. "Barkeep got any spare rooms with a king size bed?" He asked grinning widely.

[Boog]

Boog made his way back to the counter, considering his next step regarding he psychic. A funny side effect of being a datavore was nigh-insatiable curiosity, and he wanted to properly get a handle on what she was. I've seen hives that were capable of some of this stuff before; half-mad from too many of us taking up residence at once. She looks perfectly sane though, and a healthy degree of insanity too. More than a couple psychiatrists end up with minds like this. Politicians. This looks more like something she consciously does though. Maybe- Hm? Paladin jerked the manlike thing out of his extrapolation.
The Boogeyman openly stared for a couple seconds at the two patrons. A thousand jokes, snarky comments and observations rocketed through his hypothetical brain and were discarded, on the basis that nothing he could say aloud would really do the situation justice. He was speechless.
Oh, right. Reply.
"Right upstairs." He jerked a thumb at the stairs. "Just go, leave what you figure the room's worth on the counter." Well, different strokes for different folks. He thought, as the two made their way toward the stairs. Boog blinked, then shut his eyes as tight as he could and tried to force the word 'stroke' out of his currently conscious thoughts. Yeah, not needing that as part of my day.

---

More cigarettes were being offered. Marya could hug the skinny bastard. She grabbed one and pocketed two more, finishing off the cig she already had greedily and lighting up the next. She didn't get many chances to smoke, she lived with someone who cared about her health.
"Tannes," she replied with a nod, "Most just call it the world, but the name the scientists give it is Tannes. Big planet compared to most others we've observed, gar-fuckin'-gantuan. Don't think anybody's ever really explored the whole thing, most globes have like half the world filled in with HTBM space. Ah, that is..." he probably doesn't know the term, "'Here There Be Monsters'. Bit of an old joke, technically not PC. Yeah, you find monsters everywhere, and every so often you get some real oddballs wandering out from who-the-hell-knows-where with territorial drives and an axe to grind with everything in sight up to and including the scenery, but it's rude to mention someone else's embarassing instincts." She shrugged and took another drag on the cigarette. "I'm from Redland anyway. Big city-state out on the plains, near the edge of the Submerged Expanse. Nice sorta place, gets people from all over."

[Angel]

All Sylvie could do was listen intently, focusing carefully on what Stygian said. This wasn't simple self-deprecation; the two veins of shadowy power crawling beneath his skin reaffirmed that for her. This was a warning - nothing but pure honesty. The dark entity she had fought was as much a part of him as the more pleasant side he was showing her right now. Somehow, when he'd asked her to act like the fight had never happened, she'd let even herself forget what else he was - not completely, but still, it surprised her how quickly she'd overcome her own fear. Next to this remembered problem, her own anxiety about relationships suddenly seemed pretty trivial.

She grew a little pensive, considering every aspect of what he'd just told her. If this really was the result of some hypnotic side he couldn't control, she should be worried. She knew it wasn't just his appearance she liked; the earlier conversation had proven that to her. But that side of his personality could just be a result of this manipulative side he was referring to... as much a part of his "image" as his looks. And she had only known him for half a day... not that she had a very good grasp of time in a place where the sun never set.

"All right," she said evenly. "I'll keep everything you just said in mind..." She let a little smile sneak onto her face, half-reassuring and half with a sense of 'i have no clue what this will result in, but i'm going to try it anyway.'

"It's still not going to make me run out of the room, though." Not unless he suddenly presented a real threat, rather than a possible/probable one.

[Stygian]

If there was anything that she had said so far that could be interpreted as a challenge - Hell, those eyes and that smile were one on their own - Stygian hadn't caught it so far. She got her meaning across all too well this time though, and both his sense of concern and his hungrier urge reacted. For a moment, the man's look intensified, and thin black lines started spiderwebbing at his collar and his temples once again. He made some sort of growling sound, and got out of the sofa. He took a few paces with his back toward the elf, then turned, and gave her a thoughtful, yet still dark look that was more than easy to make, courtesy of his eyes and the subtle hints of taint growing in his features.
   'Why do you keep challenging me? Do you find it that interesting?' he asked, taking a step closer and fixing his gaze dead straight on hers. Something made it more clear than ever where his attention was. 'Because for someone who fears fire, you certainly seem to wish to play with it much.'
   Something flickered, and for a moment Sylvie almost though that she had blinked. She was almost distracted away from Stygian long enough not to see the subtle grin sliding onto his face. Once it did though, she could barely take her eyes off it. He moved closer still, and something triggered an almost reflexive urge to back away, even though the sofa made that impossible. The room loomed around, darkening by shades slowly, the walls seeming farther and taller than they could have been, somehow. Some seething sound went and came in the background. It sounded almost like breathing...
   The world flickered again. And for an instant, sheer terror gripped the elf. The images that flashed past her vision, of shapes... faces... twisting, howling in anguish, fangs bared, watching her... They were over in an instant, impossible to imagine, and yet there right in the back of her mind...
   'Do you want to know the truth?' Stygian's voice seemed disembodied, coming from everywhere around her as he spoke. He was still smiling, and now those veins were crawling onto his face, shapes rippling under the edges of his skin. 'The truth is... I faced horror. I went where sanity ends. Into darkness like most people never can imagine.' There was a twist to his voice, somehow, a deepening rasping, acidic flanger edging its way in, taking it over. Her sight was slowly failing, but Sylvie still saw the movements rippling under his shirt, starting to strip and tear it asunder, turning it to black dust. Along with his skin. Cracks in his neck and cheek started growing as something ripped its way through, snaking and wet and ridged, and his blackening, glistening teeth parted around an oily dark tongue like a snake rising from his throat. Glistening talons clattered on the table as he bent over it against her. And more things followed their movement. The darkness, and all in it, moved with him. 'Into nightmares untold.'
   It was too horrid to watch, and yet there was no way to escape. The sofa was the one, lone point of solidity in the darkness. Everywhere else, Sylvie could only guess what was. But there was no way she wanted to. She could feel it. She could feel the breathing as chills along her spine, hear the subtle, moaning voices of pain and rasping hisses. The black nothing was alive around her. And all that she could see now was the green glowing flares of Stygian's eyes before her, the glint of his obsidian teeth, and hints of those horrid shapes snaking around him...
   'And I brought them back with me.'

- -

It was not quite visible at first, but even downstairs, some of the darkness could be felt. And in that sort of crowd, not a few could at least guess at what was happening. Something dimmed the light, causing the lights to flicker for a moment. The air went just a hair colder. And for those particularly sensitive, their attention was drawn upward. Not least of all, the Boogeyman could feel some sort of 'shroud' developing upstairs. Likewise, Andrea blinked, and looked up. As did the android in the corner...
   ':no...'

[Boog]

To those in the room, Boog's gaze snapped up to glare at a point on the ceiling in the direction of the rooms. He recognized it and expanded his metaphorical maw to take in more thoughts from the room in question, inhaling and examining the concepts to check and see if he had to jump in.
This I've seen before, under These and Those conditions. That time, he was insane. Properly insane, not this functional variety he opts for. I probably have little to worry about until his monologue gets more creative, but the last thing I need is another of his famous blowups. After all, I can't remember where I left the mop...

[Cogidubnus]

 Linos seemed to pay the sudden flurry of activity upstairs little mind, looking around only at the bartender's sudden staring at the ceiling, and the priest in the corner's sudden lifting of his head. Laertes, roused from his rest, clutched something hidden beneath his shirt, one eye narrowed as he stared at the wooden ceiling.

[Angel]

Mere seconds after the disturbances above started to happen, a few painful and frustrated noises came from the infirmary. There was a thump, like someone trying to stand and falling over, and a few curses muttered in an angry, gritted-teeth whisper. Then there was the sound of something scraping along the floor, like a pole. Then came a series of little hisses of pain, uttered oaths and self-assurances, and finally the sound of slightly labored, uneven footsteps.

Dani appeared in the doorway of the infirmary, leaning against her glaive, her limp reasonably better than when she'd first awoken in the bar. The burns on her legs were a little better, but still painful; at this point, it was the least of her concerns. She walked over to Sahlena's place, using her weapon as a walking stick, and remained standing so she wouldn't have to get up again. She wasn't hypersensitive like a few who had looked up, but as with anyone who forms a close bond with a person, she knew. Sylvie was in trouble. Not big yet, but not a minor threat either.

"What now?" was all she said, her eyes turning toward the ceiling before looking straight back at the android.

---

Sylvie couldn't figure out where she'd gone wrong, but whatever it was, it must have been bad. One moment, everything was reasonably okay; the next, Stygian was off the sofa and looking more than a little cross - and slightly more inhuman.

The lights flickered, and Sylvie looked around for a moment before looking back at Stygian - only to be fixated on the slight grin that had appeared on his face. She couldn't think of a way to respond to his question before he moved closer. Somehow, that made her nervous - no, scared, and she wanted to get away from him, but she was cornered, and her shock about what was going on rendered her immobile anyway. The room was changing as he did - or was this an illusion? The walls were taller than before, and the room was growing darker, almost as if she was at the bottom of a growing pit.

When that flicker happened again, she nearly screamed. In what was by any judgment the most terrifying split second of her life, she saw pained, tormented faces, with sharp teeth and eyes that burned into her... Even when it was gone, it lingered behind her eyes and thoughts.

Stygian spoke again, and although the elf didn't move her head, her eyes darted around the room before focusing on him. She didn't want to focus on him, but his eyes; the blackness beneath his skin; his fanged, wicked smile... In an impromptu flash of memory, she recalled what he had said about the worst people being able to smile at you while longing to kill you.

His warnings. Their bargain. The fight. Why didn't I pay attention when he gave me the chance?

That regret, though, blinked out in favor of a strange mix of fear, survival instincts, and a few clinging threads of logic that even now refused to die. Stygian neared her again, his voice twisting as it had during their fight, though it seemed almost...stronger now. Considering what had happened only moments before compared to what had happened at least two hours ago, this was worse. The room was darkening faster, or she was going blind, whichever one, it didn't matter. Even as the room became dark as the night she couldn't survive for very long, her terrified chartreuse eyes remained wide open and fixated on the only anchoring point in the room - Stygian. She could barely see his shirt getting destroyed by whatever form he was taking, and his skin along with it, but his own darkening skin and fearsome shape-change were hard to miss.'

She thought of maybe running for her life, but she could no longer see the door, and in any case she didn't want to get up. She didn't even curl her legs up, though something in her wanted to do that. These shadows that surrounded her now were part of him, as much as his glowing eyes and jet-black teeth before her. The dark power was breathing down her neck as she shivered uncontrollably, the shadows moving around her. Even now, though, he couldn't kill her; it wasn't allowed, and even if no-one in the bar was as powerful as Stygian, there were more than enough strong people to be a match for him. And if he wasn't going to kill her...

Almost unconsciously, Sylvie's eyes began to glow from her own power - she had started a hypnosis spell, she realized. She swallowed, then began to speak. Even if it wasn't going to work, she could still show that she was serious. Of course, she didn't want to be taken the wrong way again.

"Whatever you think I meant, it wasn't a challenge, I promise. You said you were dangerous; I believe you. You also said you could control parts of this. So please let me go, and I'll leave you alone. I won't tell anyone what happened." She didn't say it out loud, but she hadn't been challenging him to reveal his true form; she'd been trying to say that unless he lost control, she'd trust him. Whether this counted or not had yet to be seen, but either way, her reaction towards him would be the same.

[Stygian]

Watching Dani hobble out with a look of surprise and disbelief, the machine half got up from her table, looked up again, then around, and then to the Red. She seemed genuinely hesitant, somehow.
   ':we... please sit down. you can't do anything like that. you're only going to hurt yourself', she said. Standing up fully, she turned around, searched, and then found what she was looking for. Moving with her mechanical decisiveness again, she crossed the floor, ignoring Andrea's apprehensive look, and approached the ermine present. She grabbed Alex gently but firmly for just a second, to get his attention.
   ':you. i think we might need some help', she began, then stopped and lowered her voice. ':more specifically, i might need you to... can you...? you know.' She gave him a look that conveyed hidden meaning in spite of her lack of facial expressions, resisting the urge to say 'oday ethay imestay optay'. ':in case something happens? tell me when i get back.'
   Turning on the spot, the machine left Alex sitting, rushing outside to get something from the packing she had brought with her. When she returned, she was holding what looked like either the largest, most advanced rifle in three star systems, or the largest, most advanced portable electromagnet of the same. It was a long, ventilated, precision-made thing of smooth, gunbolt gray metal, armored wiring and machinery. The main part of its length was made up of what looked like two perfectly straight, rectangular rods of steel, polished to a mirror finish. It gave off a menacing, electric hum, as she hefted it with no visible effort.

- -

Sylvie's reply, if it could be called that, went unanswered for a long time. The darkness kept seething and slithering around her. She actually felt something brushing her leg, snaking past underneath the sofa, and no one could blame her for imagining fangs responsible for those wet, slicing sounds and hisses to her side. It was impossible not to recall that thing that he had summoned forth during their fight. If that was something he could just casually create in broad daylight, what might be surrounding her now?!
   'I do not enjoy when anyone attempts to toy with me. This is not a menagerie, nor a game', his voice continued. Something moved through the dark; a hand, the blackness starting to flake and fall from it. 'Some things are simply best left undone, undisturbed, difficult though that may be.' There were lights, wispy and dim, growing from within the blackness of his form, licking it, coalescing as the darkness began to unravel, revealing slithering forms of black. White-green flares that began breaking through as his skin of black evaporated. There was another flicker, and then a rush shook Sylvie where she sat, rustled her hair and stung her eyes as a wave of black swept out through the room.
   A ghost. An angel. Attempts to find a suitable word to describe failed in view of the pallid, off-celadon light that made up the Apollonian shape that floated before the elf, its feet inches off the ground. A man, made out of the fire of burning phosphor and a dash of copper, which turned in veins and scars to glistening black and long, wicked claws from his forearms and ankles out to his hands and feet, where the darkness seemed to snare him, and he it. The black that surrounded him was a roiling, horrid swamp of movement; tentacles, impossibly fanged maws, hideous ridges, spines and claws, all meshing and seething and glistening in the green light. One faceless, hollow-eyed head of many, hovering next to Sylvie, had fangs like kitchen knives, and yet more maws inside of it that showed when it stretched its jaws. And all that darkness seemed to be spilling out from his back. He leaned in.
   'Do not feel secure because of the others downstairs.' His voice was fire and acid, and his face... It was perfect, and yet blood-curdling. Deathly white curves over empty, dark eyes and long, razor-sharp, glistening black teeth in a maw of complete darkness that turned his beautiful features into a skull-like mask. 'You do not know me. You do not know this', he continued, knife-like teeth slicing the words inches from her face as he spoke. 'It is not a question of power or of possibility or even leverage. There are many worse things I could do than hurt you.' His words echoed against the fear inside her, powerful enough to entrance and command in themselves. The hiss that made up half of them made them whispers, and yet they shook the darkness around her as he spoke. And suddenly, it came to her. Something that at least came close to describing him. Wraith. His hand touched her skin, and she felt it pass through it, a spike of painful, numbing chill the result of the contact.
   'I do not wish for you to fear me. It matters not whether if you do or not. I do not wish you harm, and no worse. I do not wish, and I do not hope', he intoned. 'But I do want you to know.' He straightened again, stared down at her for a long time. And then, it ended.
   A ripple passed through the whole room, snapping through the air, preceding the following rush by a fraction of a second. The darkness drew inward in a tidal wave, wrapping together, compressing, obscuring all vision until it had drawn in so far as to pass the elf by, accumulating into a single, pitch-black form before her. Coagulating, it at last assumed form. Skin, hair, clothes, all took shape once more, wisps of shadow rolling off them as they gained color, and at last, with a final cloud of smoky black drifting off him, Stygian stood before her again, a mournful look on his face. He turned, shoulders slouching, and walked over to the bed. With a tired grunt, he sat down on the end of it, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, and sighed. Now, with his eyes hidden behind bangs of blond hair, he looked no more than a weary, sad young man.
   'You seem to want to leave. I can't argue against that', he said, then looked up. 'I promise that I will not attempt to manipulate you or do anything to you, if you will show me the same courtesy. Ignore me, if you wish. I hope you would bear reassuring the others that nothing is amiss with you though.' His speech seemed to have changed, and there was a subtle difference in his accent which made him sound worlds more resigned. Not to mention disappointed.

[Sunblink]

...Dekuyaketh:

Once Marya had finished her description, Dekuyaketh thoughtfully echoed the name "Tannes" under his breath, as though ruminating over each syllable for some sense of familiarity. After a moment, he resigned, not recognizing the name anywhere. Etakor's knowledge of other worlds was simply speculative, although not disregarded as entirely chimerical due to the magic fueling the whole planet.  Most other planets in Etakor's solar system were uninhabitable, and technology which could safely enable the inhabitants of Etakor to colonize other planets was not available. Dekuyaketh was at least hoping he had heard of Tannes or Redland from some form of literature, but he supposed not. He guessed that it would be fairly interesting to find out that one of the fictional worlds he revered as a child was actually real.

"Huh. Sounds a bit like Etakor," Dekuyaketh reminisced, drumming a crimson-tipped fingernail against his temple. "The planet's fairly large, but that's a bit of a virtue, given how many races of creatures there are. Disproportionate to its level of gravity, too. At the size Etakor is, if it wasn't all equalized by the magic in the atmosphere, life would be rather... difficult."

The lights flickered, momentarily dimming the tavern, and Dekuyaketh glared irritably at the ceiling just as the lights returned. He was about to dismiss the phenomenon as something unimportant until, as he started to turn his attention away, a far more demanding sensation started to tug at the back of his brain. His third eye independently swiveled toward the ceiling again, locking onto the mildewed boards. As Dekuyaketh focused on that insistent pull, an eerie coldness suffused his insides, almost as though someone had injected him with poison. Unconsciously, Dekuyaketh's pupils dilated into felid slits as his gaze matched the angle of his third eye, the amber wreaths intertwined in the gold of his irises flaring.

Dekuyaketh returned to Marya. "Did you feel that?" he asked, for clarification. His more visceral Demonic instincts, usually triggered by something impending elsewhere, were very rarely inaccurate, but he wanted to make sure he wasn't alone before he decided to investigate. Something akin to the sensation he experienced was acutely unnerving.

---

...Keaton:

Keaton grinned sardonically at Cog, flashing her rows of pearlescent fangs in a manner almost insidiously upbeat. Fortunately, by the time they reached the tavern, she felt she was capable of walking on her own, and released Cog so she could limp into the tavern. Her pace was still labored, but she was considerably faster and less haphazard than before. The gash wasn't hurting so badly anymore, either. Once inside, Keaton dragged herself, although at a decelerated pace, to the booth and collapsed in a chair, scratching languorously behind one of her (as Sahlena noted) uncharacteristically large ears.

Dekuyaketh wasn't the only one who felt something. The lights flickered, and Keaton felt something inside of her snap, although not necessarily out of infuriation. A crawling sort of sensation was wriggling along her spine, as though someone had released thousands of icy spiders underneath her skin, and she felt compelled to pull her feet up and away from the floor while she was sitting. She almost expected for something to reach out of the floor, grab her by the ankles, and toss her into a waiting maw. Keaton could feel her eyes ache as her pupils pinpricked into obscurity, the chocolaty irises vanishing as a white, grotesquely lifeless white light pealed from her eyes for a few minutes. Suddenly self-conscious of her hypersensitive sight, Keaton shut her eyes tightly. When that sort of sensation disappeared, retreating with a flourishing motion and beckoning all the scrabbling, frenzied ice-insects that accompanied it back into the darkness, Keaton was still not reassured, as she still felt as though it had lingered. Like those bugs had laid eggs inside her skin, and they were prickling at her flesh as they developed.

Keaton reached up and pressed her palm to her forehead, momentarily overwhelmed. She opened her eyes again - they were back to normal, although her prosthetic eye was unfocused and glazed over with a dead, crisp color. When she blinked again, that lusterless color was gone, along with most of the creeping sensations underneath her skin.

---

...Piix:

Piix may have felt something when the lights went off, then returned, but she forgot it quickly enough amidst her rabid anticipation. Plus, the darkening of the tavern went mostly unnoticed due to her ability to see in dimmed environments. Instead, she wound her arms around Pal's a little more thoroughly, so that way she was securely anchored to his body, and grinned, remaining blissfully ignorant. Piix wagged her tail furiously.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Paladin Sheppard]

Paladin smiled down at the Orin as he reached out to pay the Boogyman, as the lights went out Paladin winced at the flood of images and emotions filtering down from above. Looking up at the ceiling when the lights came on he frowned and reinforced his mental shields. He was not going to get distracted from the task at hand...Or in this case hanging from his arm wagging her tail very much like a puppy.

"I may as well pay for a weeks worth, might stick around for a while" he said forking over enough furrae script and coin to pay for two weeks at a upscale furrae hotel.

"Physical keys? or do the rooms have a mental lock on them" the wolf asked.

[Magic]

While observing the machine, Alex kept silent, but anyone with fine senses could tell something different. His breathing was forced to be calm, so much so as he did not even so much as react at the machine bringing out a weapon. Yet he still feared; as he put one hand in his pants pocket, to pray to whatever deity governs this universe. His other hand is in the left side of his jacket with a tense grip on the combat knife. Exquisite and remorseless, cogs in the watch of eternity, turning another until crisis. Time is not kind, so I pray that I do not falter.

In a moment, it would seem, he would have to openly use his powers. Best time as any to fully utilize them.

[Angel]

After the impressive, terrifying, and quasi-enlightening display and explanation from Stygian, Sylvie sat still for a minute. One couldn't say that her gaze was fearful; it certainly wasn't the frightened deer-in-the-headlights look she'd had prior to subconsciously attempting to hypnotize his presumably monstrous form in the dark. It wasn't quite the awestruck expression she'd assumed when he turned into the beautiful/hideous wraith-form either, though her skin still had a numb, almost sharp feeling where he'd 'touched' her. No, she was looking right at Stygian, her eyes almost sympathetic and a little sad, feeling and looking like someone who has had a profound shock and perhaps learned more than they wanted to know. Knowledge may help a person in the long run, but it's not always welcome.

After a second that seemed like an eternity, she stood up. Purely out of habit, she straightened her skirt and tucked back a strand of hair, never taking her eyes away from Stygian. She walked away from the sofa, turning to face him halfway from the door.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I'm sorry I provoked you. I'll tell the others nothing's wrong." The way she said it, telling them that wouldn't be a lie, though she did seem more than slightly rattled. She nodded with a subdued expression, and left the room.

-----

Dani was clearly annoyed by Sahlena's warning, but she did as she was told and sat. The Red scanned the bar; almost everyone had noticed, but the concern was ... infrequent. The winged Wolf from before looked annoyed, if anything; Piix looked too lost in Paladin to care; the rest looked more on edge than worried. She was on the verge of becoming truly impatient. There weren't too many other noises upstairs, though one could feel the power used in whatever the hell was going on up there.

Almost right after Sahlena walked backin holding a gun big enough to make most men self-conscious, the power-feeling stopped. Dani looked up at the ceiling, confused, concerned, and unable to do much about it in her current state.

As it turned out, she didn't have to do anything. Mere minutes after the feeling was gone, Sylvie Dahl walked back down the stairs, disconcerted but unhurt. Dani's eyes could have rolled out of their sockets and back into the infirmary and the guard wouldn't have noticed. She started to get up, but thought the better of it and sat back down. The last thing her friend needed was more attention drawn to her.

The elf walked quietly to the bar, sitting down in the chair where she'd draped her cloak earlier and placing a gold coin on the table.

"I don't care what it is, as long as it has sugar in it," she said, sounding not entirely normal, but in no way angry or afraid. Either way, she felt eyes on her, so she looked over her shoulder at the others.

"Nothing dangerous happened, and no-one is hurt, so you can stop acting like the Apocalypse is about to happen." With that, she turned back to the bar and focused her eyes on the table in a distracted way.

[Stygian]

Keeping his gaze down, even when she spoke to him, Stygian felt Sylvie leave more than he saw her, and an empty silence filled the room. He did not know how much she had managed to deduce, but to himself the problems and the pains of his condition were so intimate that they became difficult to put forth. And then of course, there was the very issue that he was not, and could not be, as disinclined toward what he was as he sometimes seemed. Nevertheless, this was one of the times that he only regretted it. Almost.
   Laying back at last with a hard sigh and letting himself relax, Stygian raised his hand, and watched it. The sensation, the faint taste of the elf still fresh in his memory, he rubbed his fingers together. The chilling sensation she felt would pass in minutes. He wondered if she was suspicious about what he had actually done.
   Great work, he commented to himself. Maybe words would have been enough. For now you've just convinced her that you're slimy and dangerous. Then again, there was the question of whether if she realized how volatile his 'condition' was, and whether if that had been better to speak of.
   Well, it's all pretty much screwed up, either way. She should thank me in the end, he continued, even as that hand before his eyes rippled with movement and claws tore open his fingers, and the blackness around him began deepening once more. It crawled out over the bed in tendrils, beginning to thicken, slithering over the floor and up the walls, enveloping the room. Now, I can cut loose just a bit...

- -

Standing absolutely still and watching Sylvie all the way from the top of the stairs and to the bar, Sahlena waited with switching off the weapon in her hands until the last second, her tension fading together with its electric hum, then made a sound akin to a relieved sigh, and set the gun down next to a table. She gave Dani a brief look, then an unnoticeable one with her peripheral sensors to Andrea. Hesitant for a glimpse of a second, processing her thoughts and wondering whether if she had perhaps been a bit paranoid, she turned to Alex next, gave him a shrug, and then walked up to the ermine.
   ':sorry for the turn down', she said. ':actually, sorry for the inconvenience in the first place. can i buy you a drink or... something?'

- -

Andrea's gaze did not stay on Sylvie for long, but her attention never left the elf. Downing the last of her drink, thoughts raced through her mind, far from all of them her own. She felt like smiling. Now that the Green was out of that damn monster's vicinity, her thoughts were as easily plucked from the air as anyone else's again. And among them were quite a few useful ones. She had only managed to sift scraps and pieces of Stygian's image and the feeling of his presence before. Now, she had a whole image to work with, since the elf didn't seem to be able to stop thinking about the ordeal. She could have grinned. But she kept herself under wraps.
   A feeling of that cloudy numbness from above, and someone else's feeling of apprehension and discomfort touched her again, and Andrea shifted her gaze upward once more, muttered, and set down her glass. Then, she smirked, looking slightly toward the panther next to her.
   'Well, we don't have to clean. That's good enough for me', she said. 'Hey, I think it feels a little stuffy in here. Why don't you play something relaxing, to take people's minds off things?'
   Her smirk solid on her face, the woman gazed over at the elf once more. Useful thoughts, oh yes. She was not about to go back on a promise...

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Karazkt listened to the strange musician converse with the other surfacer, but soon lost interest. He was going to return to his vigil for the Xenoqueen when suddenly, he felt somewhat...sick. He looked around, a little disoriented, and realized the sensation was being radiated from above. Looking up, and seeing the world with infravision through his goggles, he saw, even through the wooden ceiling, heat being leeched out of a room, the area turning dark, rapidly becoming a cold dead-zone. After a little time, it subsided, and color started to seep back in, though not as much as before. A few moments later, a strange green surfacer female walked into the bar from the quarters corridor, seeming somewhat...off in her demeanor.
   Karazkt glanced at his surrogate Queen, who was still in regenerative slumber, then back to the woman. He was picking up a strange scent off of her with his antennae, a scent that his mind told him shouldn't be emitted by a surfacer. However unusual though it may be, Karazkt knew he must return to his duty. He had already lapsed in that regard, and couldn't afford to continue. He walked back toward the Queen, and sat back down where he was before the powerful music had been played, removing his goggles again, and making sure his bottle of nectar-ale offering was in place.

Mechangel

   The cloaked man was standing at the door to his room. He had seen everything of course, it was hard to miss. He certainly wasn't happy about it, but it wasn't like there was much he could do about it anyway. He was about to enter his room, but then stooped, and turned around. He scanned the main bar again, the last thing his gaze settled on being that time-manipulator, [Alex]. He hadn't forgotten that [Alex] had noticed him, and wondered if anything was going to come of it.
   The cloaked hunchback leaned against his door, continuing his watch of the bar.

[Sunblink]

...Dekuyaketh:

In the end, Dekuyaketh didn't wait for an answer from Marya. He was already convinced that his instincts were correct, judging by their consistent history of accuracy. His decision was partially encouraged by impatience, because such an irregularity in the otherwise tranquil - or as tranquil as could be allowed, given the circumstances and the customers' natures - disturbed him. Signaling to Marya that he would be right back, Dekuyaketh swiftly, almost elegantly, climbed off of his stool and turned toward the nearest stairway. He left his cigarettes on the table, assuming Marya hadn't satisfied her nicotine addiction yet. He assumed it would be better to keep her busy in his absence.

Relying on that pulsating presence oscillating within his artificial, third eye as a directional tool, Dekuyaketh crept up the staircase, his footsteps gradually disappearing, petering away in audibility until they were utterly silent. Unconsciously and quietly flexing his mechanical arm's claw, Dekuyaketh approached the doorway to Stygian's room, but did not enter. He remained close, however, and indulged his curiosity. That creeping, horridly cold feeling had intensified as he advanced on the speculated source. Dekuyaketh couldn't distinguish it to any sort of aura emitted by a Demon, or any kind of corrupted "Mortal," either. It was individual.

For now, he laid his ear against the door, listening for any abnormal sounds.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Stygian]

There was ghastly silence. At first, Dekuyaketh might as well have listened on any of the other unoccupied rooms. But slowly, unnervingly unclear and right at the edge of hearing, some sound grew, whispering, seething. Like sand shifting under a slow breeze. But this sound held a far more eerie quality, wet and acidic. It was like a manifestation of that crawling, chilling sensation before. Like unsettlement turned sound. Captivating, the slow rolling of it almost like breathing, despite the fearful sensation it instilled it somehow drew one's attention. Like when one sees a corpse, and just can't look away.
   It was only when he felt the door somehow grow cold against him that Dekuyaketh realized. The corridor was so dark he could not see the end of it. The sound was around him, inching closer with every moment. It was breathing. He heard faint scraping, imagined that he could feel something on the other side of that door, and yet he could not move away, some dark gravity of fear holding him right where he was. The air throbbed with a slow, immaterial pulse.
   'We can feel you.'
   The voice was many. Dying men's rasping breaths. Flesh slowly being ripped asunder. The burning of skin. It suffused the air around him.

- -

Tilting her head at Alex, Sahlena studied him as she waited briefly for a response, then sat down, propping her chin in her smooth, hard hand. She was not quite sure of what to say. Being able to draw on or emulate many examples of conversation and being quite imaginative for a machine was only useful if the opposite party wanted to converse. She was also somewhat out of practice when it came to small talk. Working with Stygian made sure of that. And then, of course, she was not sure why she had approached the ermine again anyway. She supposed that she was simply curious.
   ':it's good to be alert, but tense...' she said, giving his hand, still gripping his knife under his jacket, a quick look. ':i thought you looked tired at first, to be honest.'
   Behind her, calmly and smoothly, Andrea got out of her seat, bringing her glass along and walking over to the bar to get herself a new drink. She casually slid into a seat, seemingly by chance choosing one just one spot away from Sylvie, and pulled out a crumpled bill, slapping it on the counter.
   'Hit me again, please.'

[Boog]

Boog shook his head and handed Pal a key. "Just... Try not to make a mess..."
His attention turned back to business as soon as he heard money. He grinned and swiped it off the counter, pocketing it. "Same as before? Or something more interesting?"

--

Before Marya had the chance to figure out what the hell Dekuyaketh was talking about he'd already wandered off in search of the source of... Whatever it was. The mongoose got up and followed, on the basis that if there WAS anything she didn't want to miss it and if there WASN'T then it would be good to know if the guy was going nuts, so she could grab whatever other cigs she could get out of him and vamoose before the little yellow pixies in his head or whatever told him to do something REALLY weird.
"Hey, Dekky?" (as she'd already personally nicknamed him), "Yanno, I don't know how things go where you're from but lights flicker all the time, it's probably nothing to-" Looking around upstairs, things were so dark she almost couldn't see Dekuyaketh. The audible errata of horrific violence suffused the area in a susruss of the agony of others... "-Worry about..."

[TheGreyRonin]

 The Queen shifted slightly. Something had awakened her, fully healed and very hungry. Casting about mentally, she could sense that something, somewhere above her.
A concern for a later time; there was no threat nor easy prey that she could feel. The creature before her, though, was another matter.
The massive head slid forwards from under the armored edge of the comb, and she regarded the silent Karazkt thoughtfully, her senses sweeping to include the rest of the room.
"You are not of my hive," she thought at the Insectis in cold, black waves. "Yet you serve. As it should be."

[Paladin Sheppard]

Taking the key from the Boogyman, Paladin replied "Heh I'll try my best."

The armored wolf lead Piix towards the stairs and up them. Arriving at the door marked on the key he unlocked the door and opened it, "after you Lass" he said waving her though.

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Karazkt had almost completely tuned out the sounds of the bar again, when the Queen in front of him finally moved, awakening from her slumber. Her sleek black carapace, now once again flawless, shined in the light as she moved. As she warmed up her mind, Karazkt made sure that his antennae were in the most submissive posture he could manage. She took in the activity of her surroundings, before focusing her attention on Karazkt.
   When she projected her thoughts into Karazkt, they slammed into his mind, enveloping it in cold darkness for a moment. He was unprepared for this mental intrusion, and it did cause him some slight pain, but the beleaguered bug quickly marshalled himself to accept it for the next time.
   He responded in his own language, the collection of buzzes and clicks, still hoping she would be able to understand him... "Of course. The hierarchy must always be observed, something these-" His head turned for a moment, glancing at the other occupants in the bar. "-surfacers...don't understand. Even though you are not of my race, I wish to place myself at your command, to serve you any way possible while you are here. And as a tribute, though it is small, I offer this to you."
   Karazkt picked up the bottle with the golden fluid in it, and held it up to the Queen. "This is a bottle of the finest Insectis nectar-ale, brewed by the best makers of liquid nuitrition in all Insectis hive-cities. Though the portion is small, it can fill one with fire, and its taste is exquisite."
   As Karazkt said the last bit, he suddenly remembered that taste is relative to race, something he had observed in surfacers. What was appealing to one could be repulsive to another. Karazkt suddenly found himself dearly hoping that the Queen would like the offering. Things could be very bad for him if she didn't.

[Sunblink]

...Dekuyaketh:

Remaining utterly soundless, Dekuyaketh, unconvinced of the silence, pressed himself a little closer to the door and attempted to listen, keeping alert for any impending noises. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marya meander up the staircase and approach down the hallway, her light footsteps a precursor to her appearance. Under normal circumstances, he would have been bemused, or at the very most, irritated by her newfound nickname for him, but he was too concentrated on other matters. She didn't seem to understand why he had left, so he assumed she didn't feel anything unusual before.

Dekuyaketh noticed, around that time, that the wall was beginning to feel like ice beneath his cheek. Underneath, he could barely hear a scratching noise, which intrigued him, compelled him to remain, although, as his eyes selfconsciously shifted away from the surface of the wall, he noticed the darkness encroaching upon the hallway. Suddenly, Dekuyaketh started to feel claustrophobic; at first he thought his heart was picking up, but then he realized the pulsing was coming from the air itself. Marya had gone eerily quiet from behind him. Dekuyaketh wanted to move away, but somehow, he couldn't force his body to pull away from the wall.

"We can feel you."

Surrounded by that voice, a myriad collection of horrific sounds swelled. All of them he was methodically able to identify. Dekuyaketh's pupils pinpricked, and this time he was certain he had felt his heart leap into his throat. He felt something flare in his mechanical arm, and forced himself away from the wall, although his impulses were slower than normal.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[TheGreyRonin]

 The shape of Karazkt's thoughts were more surprising to the Queen than anything else she had encountered in this place. Creatures had worshipped her before, but they were clearly insane, often not fully comprehending ven what they were doing.
But this creature was fully sane, reasoning, even a touch fearful of her. Truly amazing in a lifeform from outside her species.
Considering the offering, she extended her smaller left hand and took the bottle slowly and with a delicate touch that belied her powerful muscles. Her lips parted slightly, inhaling, and the scent that came to her caused her hunger pangs to sharpen.
Drawing the bottle close to her chest, she sent her thoughts to the Insectis, softer in volume but no less a command.
"Accepted. I hunger. Bring me something still warm."

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Karazkt was relieved as the Xenoqueen accepted his gift, and promptly gave him a task. When she entered his mind again, not only was he prepared, but she was even slightly gentler about it...but still completely dominating. Karazkt welcomed this entirely, he wouldn't have it any other way.
   Waving his antennae in something of a salute in his own culture, he got up and rushed across the bar, over to the counter where the Boogeyman was. "You!" He said, once again speaking in his heavily-accentented surface language. "I need zeveral large dishez of anything filling and warm, KwiKly!"

[Stygian]

The darkness did not fade, following Dekuyaketh even as he moved back. Another throbbing pulse seemed to make the world shift. It was not physical, and yet somehow it made the floor tremble underneath him. Or maybe it was he who trembled.
   Weakling. The first whisper reached his ears. The silence that followed only accentuated it.
   'We want to rest. To soothe our temper', the voices continued. The doorknob clattered, then slowly moved. The door began creaking open. 'And then you come here, echoing...' The crack widening, Dekuyaketh still could not see anything but darkness beyond the frame. It swung open fully, the knob hitting the wall, and yet... 'Shattered, frail creature.'
   The world flickered, and an image of a bleeding, screaming face appeared before Dekuyaketh's vision. A face he knew too well. Creep. Something tugged on him, invisible evil reaching out for him through that darkness, and it felt as if he had to tense his legs and push back with his feet just not to tumble in through the open doorframe. Another flicker, faces shattering like glass, crumbling like porcelain to a hammer. Scum.
   'Your soul is full of shards', the voices intoned. Another flicker, like a flash of lightning, and standing down the corridor Marya thought she could see, just for a moment, a man-figure hovering in front of the manticore. Weakling. A nightmarish thing, reaching for him. Rapist. The sight vanished, yet remained caught in her memory, on her retina. 'Filthy. Your pain...'
   Something trailed down the side of Dekuyaketh's face. He felt warmth run down his chin. And only when that brought his attention did he feel the agony. Filth! Three slashes, as if made by claws, one by one biting deep into his skin and slowly running down his cheek. Abomination. Nothing touched him. Idiot! The darkness was there. Scum! It was horrible!
   '...your pain is far too ugly for our tastes.' Something stared into his head. The voices. You little weakling creep! Melting together. To dare come here... They were in his mind! Scum! I should...! He couldn't make them stop! Stop! Never! You filthy broken Horrible! rapist! You deserve to burn and there is nothing that can Stop! me from making you...!

- -

Watching over her shoulder at the Queen and the Insectis, Andrea made a brief expression of mixed puzzlement and distaste. That alien thing, she had not sensed any thoughts from earlier. Its influence wasn't forceful, likely not intrusive or focused, but it still discomforted her when its attention swept over the bar, and her with it. She did not want to try and block its attention though. Likely, she could have faded from its vision, but it could probably still smell and hear her. And with an alien mind like that, she would likely incur its anger long, long before she could really convince it that she were not there.
   Suppressing her annoyance, she turned back to Boog, trying not to mind the roiling of the darkness overhead. He was doing something up there, though she did not know what, and probably did not want to know in too much detail either. For now, she busied herself with trying to puzzle out exactly what the flurry of thoughts in front of her was doing. It wasn't moving to make her drink, so she guessed that it was waiting for her order.
   'I'd like a... um... a Screwdriver. And a glass of water', she said. Folding her hands, she looked next to the elf beside her. There was a dilemma. Had that damn bartender not been around...
   'Had enough?' she asked the elf with a bit of a smirk. 'I was actually worried for you a bit, but you seemed to figure out that you wanted to go somewhere else pretty quickly...'
   She was not sure how easily she would be able to get away with it. The words weren't accentuated, but the compulsive power that she gently slipped along at just the right time ought to have made them and the idea they conveyed slip rather easily into the girl's mind. Not to mention, it was possible that synchronizing things like that, she could completely slip them under that entity's radar...

[Angel]

Dani watched Sylvie long after most people had stopped, thouh she did glance at Sahlena when she felt the android's lens focus on her. When that lens flickered over to the woman with the short hair, Dani noticed it and glanced at her too. The Red instantly mistrusted Andrea. Maybe it was her own impulsive nature controlling her, but still. Something about what she said, the way she said it and that smirk she wore irritated her. And she knew that the woman had been talking about Sylvie when she said her piece.

Speaking of which, she needed to talk to her friend, even if it drew extra attention to her and meant the guard had to stand again. Sighing a little, grabbing her glaive and standing up slowly, Dani kept her eyes trained on the elf as she limped over.

-----

Sort of dejected, very confused and unsure whether she was still scared or not, Sylvie was patiently trying to drown her emotions in apple juice - and failing miserably. Maybe ordering something alcoholic wouldn't be a bad idea... factoring out the taste for once. She barely registered what was said about her or the earlier situation; her own thoughts were noisy enough without the opinions and comments of others creeping in.

When the Maine Coon and mongoose headed upstairs, she got a slightly concerned look, which deepened when she sensed a familiar sort of darkness upstairs. Her senses weren't greatly heightened, but she knew how to sense power and magic, and the power-feeling right now was unmistakable. A few conflicting feelings pushed at the confines of her skull, asking whether she should go up there or not, reminding her of her other mixed-up emotions, giving her one hell of an annoying headache...

And then the woman who looked vaguely like Dani addressed her. Sylvie looked over, half-surprised and wondering what she meant. Had enough of what? She was about to ask when Andrea spoke again, and somehow the Green got the feeling that maybe she should leave. The sensation felt out of place somehow, but she couldn't figure out why right away. In any case, the woman wasn't acting entirely friendly, and there was still the issue of what might be going on upstairs. Going somewhere else might be a good idea...

Fortunately, she was distracted from all this by a finger tapping her shoulder. She turned her head quickly, accidentally hitting Dani in the face with her hair. But the Red didn't seem to care, apart from a slightly annoyed blink and briefly rubbing her nose. "Come with me," the guard said, quietly enough not to be heard, but with a familiar blunt tone.
"But-" the elf started, quiet and almost indignant, getting cut off by her friend.
"We need to talk."
"Wh-"
"Now."

Sylvie sighed a little herself, albeit with a smile; it was Dani's nature to try to help her whenever she felt something bad had happened. Her first run-in with Stygian was Exhibit A of the usual negative effect this had, but even so, the elf found herself wanting someone to help her reason through what had gone on and soothe her whirling thoughts. She slid off the chair, supporting Dani (although the Red did rely more on her own steps now than before), and the two walked into the infirmary - but not before Dani glanced back at Andrea suspiciously. It was for the shortest of moments, almost unnoticeable, but it did happen.

[Boog]

Marya stepped back a moment in shock. Dekuyaketh crumpled for little discernable reason and then, then...
   '**** **** ** **** ** ******', the voices intoned. Another flicker, like a flash of lightning, and standing down the corridor Marya thought she could see, just for a moment, a man-figure hovering in front of the manticore. The sight vanished, yet remained caught in her memory, on her retina. '******. **** ****...'
There was the sounds of grease boiling, and the former owners of said grease objecting. There was that frantic breath that one usually only hears at the other end of an anonymous caller. That voice, like someone speaking through a bad intercom...
It was horror. It was death and control and all too familiar awfulness. It was the sort of thing that only people did to each other, or things that people made.
An old tent, filled with smoke. The man lying on the mat, frothing at the mouth. The chants being said, the rags and bones being waved, and it was her job, always her job...
Four blunt, pawlike fingers curled into a fist and slammed into the door of the room and for a second that single, flat noise was the only thing that could be heard. Marya liked hitting things, on a deep and personal level. It was simple, effective, and it focused you on the here and now so damn perfectly. Her hand raised again, like the hammer of some forge-related deity of ancient times before coming back down on the door with a slam.
"Keep it down in there! Some of us are trying to fuckin' drink!"
Regardless of what her job had been, she was a bouncer these days.

---

"And I need money, before I get that food to you!" Boog replied to Karazkt, mimicking his enthusiasm cheerfully. He then turned back to his other customers. "Screwdriver? Sure thing, Toots." He said to Andrea, glancing at the Green and Red and shooting the psychic a last second I saw that, look.
The thought entity disregarded the thump and the vibes from upstairs, but Richard's head snapped up from his beer and toward the stairs. He knew the sound of that impact. He scooted his chair back to make it easy to get up in a hurry and placed one hand on the head of his axe...

[techmaster-glitch]

Karazkt

   Karazkt was, put simply, shocked and aghast. His normally swaying antennae had gone stiff, then started twitching madly. Of course he could and would pay for the food, but right that moment? He needed that food now, and all the valuable metals he had were back in his digger mech! Of course, since it was for the needs of the Queen, there shouldn't have to be payment, but Karazkt did not have time to argue.
   Emitting a noise that sounded an awful lot like an angry hornet, he ran off down the hallway that led to the garage housing his mech. Twenty seconds later, he ran back in, went to the counter, and dropped another lump of gold on it, all the while making a somewhat restrained stream of noises that resembled an overturned beehive, one in which the bees also had mandibles that could make snapping sounds.
   "Now Kan you produze the food I need?"

[Stygian]

It looked like Dekuyaketh were about to slump. He was still tense, but whatever had been assailing him slowly turned its attention to Marya instead. The air instantly grew pressing and thick, the acrid scent of smoke welling up around her again, and faces in pain flickering. But only for a couple of seconds.
   It ended as quickly as it began, simple, dark stillness settling as the whispers withdrew at first. Then, the lighting seemed to ease up, the darkness retreating in an eerily crawling fashion. At last, the door began turning, gaining speed, until it finally slammed shut and locked. And the corridor was silent and still again.

- -

If she had caught the entity's look, Andrea might have cursed herself and ceased outright. But, in lack of any intervention, or much of a response at all - she was fairly sure that the thing had somehow tried to talk to her, not that it was in any way intelligible, so it could have been anything - she put on a surprised and slightly indignant face, and took her drink once it was served. Looking after Sylvie, observing Dani as she interrupted the elf, she seemed hesitant for a moment, then walked after them as they headed for the infirmary. Dani's look though made her blink, and almost flinch, her expression turning into a glare once the Red and the Green were both out of sight.
   The mix of orange juice and vodka going instantly to her mouth for a hefty swig, Andrea stopped, leaning on a chair to think and focus. The woman had so much as challenged her! Now there was an obstruction that she had to get around. Not that she was not confident she could bend that one as well. It was just that the two of them together, and one feeling suspicious and hostile, would make it that much more time-consuming. And perhaps outright hard, if she wanted to avoid attention. She sipped her drink again, eyes narrowing. Perhaps she should pick a fight, to give her time to work off her temper and think?
   Composing herself once again, righting her facial expression and putting on an outer calm that betrayed little or nothing, Andrea sighed, let her drink hang from her fingers, and slowly walked over to stand by the infirmary door, planning and waiting.
   Across the room, sitting beside the still silent ermine, the machine-woman followed the psychic with a sideways, intense red gaze, before turning away. Her fingers drummed once, flexing as though they wanted to grip something.

[Sunblink]

...Piix:

Piix broke out into a toothy grin which nicely brandished her poisonous cuspids after Paladin opened the door for her. Under normal circumstances - that is, if Piix was on her home planet of Oriaendi - people, such as other Orin, would find such a gesture relatively attractive, but in the company of a species that didn't follow animal courtship tendencies, she probably looked insidious. Given the situation, however, this was probably appropriate.

"Why thank ya," Piix replied cheerfully, and scurried inside.

---

...Dekuyaketh:

Dekuyaketh's mind was starting to fall apart. He felt those haphazard barriers protecting his sanity burst at the seams, threatening to spray his subconscious all over the insides of his head, rupturing like the St. Francis Dam. Over and over again, grotesque images flashed and flickered through his head like a monochromatic montage of memories, chipping away at his defenses and cutting away toward the fragile mind cocooned within its protective shell. Every word uttered by that apparition was like an ephemeral blade, slicing away thick layers of Dekuyaketh's ethereal shields, almost as though it was meticulously peeling an apple. Around him, there was no longer the tavern. Dekuyaketh could only see naked apartment walls, bearing cracks and dents testament to its age; wooden floors; eviscerated window-frames; and rotting, vermiculated furniture. Without realizing it, Dekuyaketh felt the Herculean strength in his body start to fly away, even as the gemstones ornamenting his mechanical arm regurgitated gouts and sparks of red electricity as though it was backfiring.

Red was flickering in front of his vision. Dekuyaketh was hyperventilating; although he didn't realize it, his pupils were contracted and he was baring his fangs, even in his state of horror. He couldn't think straight, his mind kept flickering from the tavern he didn't recognize to that dilapidated apartment, and sometimes to the sight of an arm outstretched toward him. Wherever he went, as his mind circled and ran and crumpled, screaming, to the bottom of his brain, he couldn't escape those words. They all felt like they were stabbing at him. He felt something syrupy trickle down the side of his face, and for a moment he thought it was his tears. Instinctively, without any control over his body, Dekuyaketh glanced down, and had to stifle a scream with what little tatters of insanity that adhered to his panicked mind. There was so much agony, so much horror, so much madness -

Those words were repeating like heartbeats. None of them seemed distinguishable. None -

You little weakling creep!

Nothing -

Scum!

It wasn't -

You filthy broken -

He didn't -

Dekuyaketh felt his eyes go blank, and he uttered a low, rasping sound akin to a dying animal's groan. The strength was siphoning away from the muscles in his knees. He started to buckle and wanted to scream and let everything grow unintelligible -

Until there was a magnificent BANG like a thunderclap, and the door slapped shut, cutting off both the apparition from its victim, and the victim from the spiraling world. Everything seemed to go silent, and Dekuyaketh opened his eyes. He couldn't hear anything aside from his accelerated breathing, and the fingers of both his organic hand and his mechanical arm were curled in his hair. For some reason, his mind had just... silenced. There was no longer any fear of suddenly collapsing and reverting, but he still felt some discomforting instability, present in the absolute terror that gripped his body, the way he bit down on his lip until his teeth split the skin and he was tasting his own blood, the red rivulets running down the dark fur of his chin, the way his eyes seemed wide and horrified, his hair disheveled, his heartbeats thumping in his ears. There was residual horror, and he still couldn't think straight, even if he was technically coherent. But one look at Marya and he somehow got the impression that he owed the beastfolk his life.

They had to leave.

Dekuyaketh fluidly dashed forward with inhuman instincts, his organic arm swinging around and hooking underneath Marya's torso, tucking her neatly underneath his arm like a mongoose-turned-football. "We gotta go. NOW!" Dekuyaketh said, far quicker and far more panicked than what the situation called for, and he ran down the hallway, far away from the door.

The derelict state of Dekuyaketh's dismembered mind shields sat in subaudible silence, suspended in the middle of his brain. He felt his mind bleeding and climbing out of its death throes.

It was like watching a caged animal.

And in the back of his head, he could hear a raspy voice, uttering in a darkly humorous way that was, truly, only amusing to one person. So. Was it good for you?

~Keaton the Black Jackal