Character Lounge

[Stygian]

The moment they arrived at the attic, Stygian practically flung herself to her knees beside the corpse of what had been the head "angel". With her hands supporting her, she hunched over forward, bending back her head and straightening out her throat. As she opened her mouth, something came crawling up her oesophagus, all the way down from the chest, causing it to bulge outward. A myriad of gleaming black tendrils of different sizes, coated with blood and some green fluid spilled from her mouth, digging into the no doubt still warm flesh of the angel and spreading beneath it, pulsing as they began draining it.
   Not much time went before the flesh of the angel-creature began blackening and its skin sagging, then corroding. Stygian closed her eyes as even more pain wracked "her" body, tissue being infected and reshaped, muscles and tendons bunching and snapping, then healing themselves again. A black "ridge" spread along her spine, small tendrils reaching out under the skin and the fur taking on a charcoal colour, and the same thing happened at her hands and feet. Yet still, though she grew obviously bigger and more muscular than the girl had been from the start, when she had only stood just taller than Aisha's shoulder, her appearance was still very recognizable.
   The tendrils then withdrew into Stygian's mouth, and she fell to the side, panting.

[e_voyager]

(ooc thanks for the update Mel.)

e shivers. he was too late to help. the wolf Gareeku he had memories of him of side of this from he was somewhere between life and death. the enemies seemed vanquished and with the exception of some patchwork in the  med bay. he turned to Mel and those with her.  "i was too late to help. maybe we can stabilize Gareeku maybe not but i know this. i am truly angry for the fist time in a long time. angry that i fail to lend support to a friend." he looks at Stygian. "you girl , shadow entity. are there any more of you invading Brethren  here and alive?" E's eyes narrow in a way that the face was not human.  "if so tell me where they can be found so that this can be ended."

[Stygian]

Stygian simply sat up, supporting herself with her arms. She glared at E, the stare of her glowing eyes so intense that Aisha was surprised they weren't sending out sparks.
   "I have had a very rough evening. I was doing fine until suddenly you people showed up, and now I am going to have to find out real fast just what is going on." She stood up, walking slowly against him. Her neck was arched, and her fangs were bared in a vicious snarl.
   "I just saved your hide from being burned into a piece of ablated slag. I am tired, I am wounded, I am hungry and in desperate need of a shower. And this bloody flesh won't change as I want it, and it won't stop jiggling! So please, while I get myself together, shut the hell up!" She leaned in against him, her eyes narrowing and meeting his head on. Then, she practically started to the side and limped down against the stairway. Stopping just before it, she spoke again.
   "I'm going to fix myself up. Leave those things where they are. Oh, and one more thing..." She glared over her shoulder. "If ever you imply that I would be related to those things again, I will kill you."
   Slowly, she limped down the stairs.

[Zedd]

*in comes a red black winged incubis wearing a blue suit and sliver rimmed and yellow glassed shades as his boots track around on the ground loooking through the lense* Well now....Seems like missed something? *as he spoke with a soft cajin accent*

[Boog]

Boogey was completely and utterly unable to work up any sympathy for Stygian. Insofar as he knew, and in fact according to most of what he'd seen, it was still Stygians fault that all this was going on. He knew when not to ask questions though, and merely filed talking to him about this away to be taken care of later. Thus he turned to the two remaining angels, clawing at their own eyes. He tried to get Aisha's attention and pointed at them, mouthing Now what do we do with these two?

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha released an exasperated sigh, watching Stygian and his vessel walk back down the stairs.  What a grump... she couldn't help but smirk.

She turned her attention back to Boogey, who was pointing at the two remaining angels.  Her eyes widened.  "Wha...huh, apparently my boomerang missed...I thought I killed one of them."

Brushing past him, the panther's right hand shot out in front of her.  After a second and a mutter of enchantment, words taught only to her to make the boomerang return no matter where it was thrown, something shiny appeared from the back of one of the angels.  It stopped clawing its own eyes, feeling the weapon lodged in its spine for the first time.  The boomerang made a horizontal slicing motion right through body and bone, catching the subordinate right in the neck as it made the exit.  The creature fell, and the boomerang returned in a flurry of silver and stains on the polished surface.  She caught it in an expert swoop.

"Nope, I was wrong, it didn't miss," she smirked.  Aisha was now in an almost giddy mood, which was quite rare for her...but it happened every time she won a battle.  "Boogey, Mel, someone...I'm sure one one of you can take care of the remaining."

Turning her back, she made for the stairs and stood on the entranceway to the attic, looking down upon the illuminated hallway.  The house still seemed so dark, whatever and wherever it was.  Everyone lost such track of time...Aisha couldn't tell if it was still night, or day, or even two days from when she first entered the place upon having been invited to the party.  She awaited the hour that it would be time to leave with eagerness.

And everyone else would leave alive too.  She thought of Gareeku.  Medbay had better be taking good care of you, or so help me...

[e_voyager]

(ooc i'm not sure were Zedd is so i'm just going to focus on Stygian and ignore all others factors in the room)
E's eyes darkened and he anger took on a palatable hue. it was dark energy that was seeping "into his processor now. he speaks to the departing Stygian both vocally and on a carry frequency. "before you  and that girl showed up my friends greatest worry was that there pizza was late now one of them that i remember form somewhere is laying Nealy dead.  if you need to heal fine but don't start a pissing battle with me."
E's eyes  glowed with suppressed anger. "and don't presume you saved me either. there is more to me the circuitry and wires and even so by you states i've been dead before and it tool a hell of a lot more then what happened here to do it."  e  goes to the wall and leans again it.  there would be no point in attacking her through form his point of view she was even more responsible for then the he was helping to set that thing lose. she was the on that took one the form of the creature that hurt his friends. she was likely the one that brought that creature here in the first place. Gospel sat a little away from the doorway not quite privy to his masters thoughts.
E's body armor slowly upgrades it's self to the shadow armor made in the same style as zero's black armor. he is anger and in his mind a second preses is stirring. someone other then Erebus it waiting for there chances to  take control of his form not that he cared at the moment. all he wanted was to either kill those responsible for the pain his friends were feeling or to have this battle over. Permanently.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel dealt with the one remaining one the same way she dealt with the one earlier. She released an intense cold spell that immediately turned both flesh and metal brittle. Then she picked up a fist sized hunk of wood from the floor and handed it to e. "Throw it at the creature. It will come apart like a pane of glass. I used to find that quite a satisfying thing to do when I was frustrated, back when I was a fledgling of only a few millenia."

[e_voyager]

e leaned an muled over things. wit ha off hand shot he blasted the frozen angel that Mel had provided. he was still angry too angry for what had happened. you make them sound young Mel  e says not realizing that he said anything

[Stygian]

The creature with the severed spine on the floor twitched a bit, her silver hair falling across a face that was iconically beautiful, even in death. Her screaming and crying having stopped, red tears of blood still trickled down her almost ivory face as she stared at Mel with such fear and sadness that it was impossible to put in words. She whispered, her tone slightly off, sounding heartbroken but still somehow... questioning.
   "The- there is a thing... in my head? Please, get it out? Ple- please?" Her eyes were dimming, looking not at Mel now, but beyond her. She tried to reach out with her hand, but did not manage to lift it from the floor.
   "H-he said we would see the stars..." With those last words, she became still.

Downstairs, Stygian was already in the shower. Warm, clean water trickled down her flesh, the blood and caked grime easily washing out of her snow-white fur. She stood absolutely still, leaning against the bathroom wall with eyes closed and a sour look on her face. A very sour look.
   Once again, she - it - tried twisting the flesh in this host, with as little luck as the last time. It did change, but it went so slowly and took such effort that it was pointless to try. And pain kept on building up inside it whenever it tried, like it was growing in the wrong way, not changing the flesh but just pressing on it from within.
   She smashed her fist into the wall behind her. Damn them all! Now those people would demand explanations, and it would have little choice but to answer and be content with its situation. Worst of all, if Neraux's little pets had reported back to where they came from there would be more of those things, and no doubt some Ophanim, or perhaps even Cherubim with them.
   Sharp pain flared in her hand, and it looked down. It had made a cracked hole about the size of a dinner plate in the tiled wall, and was full of sharp pieces of ceramic. Carefully, she removed them, watching the broken bone and torn flesh in the hand heal before her very eyes. Well, at least something worked like it was supposed to. But her other powers didn't. And why were her eyes green? At her first run-in with a "true" angel these things had happened as well, but that had not lasted, and neither had the effects from that time either, fortunately.
   She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, drying herself with a large towel and muttering at her own softness. Then she brushed off the white coat, slipped it on again, and went back toward the attic to fetch her things, singing quietly to herself as she did to help her focus and soothe her anger. It helped, but it did so seemingly less than usual.

[topher chee]

*Throws himself up against the wall, his heart pounding*
I've never seen anything like this!
Not even with Netami, and stuff got pretty gory on missions he took on.  I'm not sure what to do
*turns to look at the others nearby*

[Zedd]

*sighs* Well looks like this place is empty...

[Mel Dragonkitty]

"Almost everything is young to an adult dragon, e. Why don't we go see how Gareeku is doing?" She looked at the girl on the floor and sighed. "I wish we knew more of what is going on. At the end that girl seemed rational. Perhaps someone else in the party has heard of things put in the head turning people into killing machines."

Mel started for the stairway.

[Zedd]

Hmmmm I will just keep looking arounds...*walks around the place looking for peoples*

[topher chee]

*hurries outr the room with Mel*

[Boog]

Oh sure, leave me to clean up the other mess. Boogey frowned and turned toward the remaining angel. He was still parly not there, but the more real he got the less actual power he had at his immediate disposal. It would take effort to create a new form, the ones he had downstairs were recovering, he was too real to convince something that it was him quickly and that only left argument toxins, which may not work anyway. Besides, he wasn't a killer and it was just sitting there. He'd feel guilty later on. He cautiously moved closer to it, reaching out with his mind for any aspect of it he could use.
"Alright, while you guys are dealing with those wounded I'll just poke this guy with a stick or something. Oh, and I think I heard someone wandering about looking for people, could someone make sure he's not another one of these sorts of Complication?" That last bit being shouted after those leaving the room.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel turned back, her foot on the top step. "Is that last one still alive? I thought it had died from Aisha severing it's spine." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "E, could you ask the Admiral if he has the resources to keep this one alive and secured? I think we should try to learn more about the thing in her skull she wanted removed. But not if the resources are needed for our own wounded."

[Zedd]

*softly bumps into Tropher* Oohhh crap..Ow...I didnt see ya theres

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha turned around back into the room, allowing Mel to pass her on the stairs.  The panther hoped that she had enough sense not to cross Stygian, for she thought she heard him/her/it coming back up to the attic.

Catching Boogey's shouts, she waved her hand both dismissively and to help him stay quiet.  "I wouldn't worry about cleanup.  Stygian wanted them to stay there, and right now if we want peace enough in this house for everyone to leave, I suggest we do what he says until he would be cooperative enough to answer questions."

She walked slowly around the attic, taking a curious glance down at the dead angel.  A flicker of emotion appeared in her eyes.  She had heard something about taking over their minds...were these angels acting of their own will?  Did everyone who had battled valiantly to defend the house really kill just innocents, slaves to their own minds?

For right now it was all too much for the bounty hunter.  No longer was there a battle taking place, and so there was no longer reason to stay in that reeking and dank corpse garden that used to be a mere attic.  She started for the stairs, suddenly feeling a complaint from her gut.  "I don't know about the rest of you hombres, but I am due for a slice of pizza.  And to see if everyone in the medbay is okay..."

On the way down, Aisha locked eyes with Stygian, or rather the eyes he used to see.  "I think everyone is still edgy, but your bodies are still there," she rolled her eyes and moved past.

[Stygian]

"Thanks," Stygian said, peering over her shoulder at Aisha. It looked at her for a while, then turned and ascended the stairs.
   The bodies of the angels lay as they had, which was good. She would have to eat again, very soon. And it also meant that she could study them closer later on. Too sad that the Kyriote had burned herself out; she was sure that Stephen would have loved to have had a look at those wings of hers.
   Moving across the floor, she went to the back end of the attic and opened the large wardrobe where she had kept the girl before, pulling out a large, strapped round black bag made of leather and some coarse fabric. Opening it, she went through her things by routine, pawing the inside pockets to feel that the things in them remained as well. When she had made sure that everything was in order, she cast a look behind her, making sure everyone was clear of the attic. She then removed her lab coat and pulled out some of her old clothes, a plain black shirt and a pair of heavy trousers, and put them on along with a pair of large boots she had also put in the wardrobe. None of the things fit, of course, especially the boots, but the difference in height at least was not that large.
   Setting her bag in order again, she then took out a small, metallic black object. It looked much like a pocket watch, but was slightly too large and far too intricate, laden with dials and meters inside the large glass-covered face, and with buttons and several lines and movable rings around its cover, to be something like that. She held it up, looking quickly at the dials, and thumbing one of the rings slightly, frowning at what they showed. She couldn't use it here, not any longer. That was rather disappointing. She slipped the thing into her backpocket. Well, she could always ask that other one down there to make another gateway.
   She took a small flask of some brushed metal out of the bag, and then closed it and slung it over her shoulder. Before she would have another go at one of the angels she would like a drink. And she'd probably need to water her mouth after the oncoming talking, she thought as she walked to find the others downstairs.

[e_voyager]

e nods and he opens a channel and hail Karl. "Karl Mel would like to study one the the barley alive angels here in the attic. can you assist her with that?". as he waits for a responds the speaks to Ashia " You're right Ashia at least about me. i'm very edgy right now and that's not good. not for me or anyone else around me"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha had to smirk at E's cynical reply.  Misery loves company, it was true, and after this whole mess everyone was just a little miserable in some way...or jumpy, out-of-the-way, just plain mad, or frustrated.  Questions haven't been answered, business was left undone, and people were hurt.  It was that kind of complication that bred more than its share of conflict.

But for now, it wasn't of Aisha's concern, the battle or the cleanup.  Not unless she was required, in which her sense of duty would override it.  The panther stepped away from the bottom stair and strode through the hallway, feet creaking in the empty corridor.  Empty save for her and for the sounds from other rooms.  The guests most likely were all gone, having been evacuated since the noises first came from the attic.  Time flies with the feet of fear...

The puddle of oil was still on the floor from when the robot hung from the ceiling before.  There was a dank smell.  Out the window, the sky looked wierd.  But it was probably from the foggy, hazy pane that the twilit clouds took on a crimson glow.  Finally, she reached Medbay and opened the door, glancing in to the invalids still there, and sat on the edge of a bed where she could keep an eye on everything, including Gareeku.

"They'll need a wrench to get me to stand up again," the panther chuckled to herself.

[Stygian]

"Whatever it is that he's suffering from, I don't know. I suppose that it's the circulatory shock from all that energy." Aisha heard a female voice from the corridor end of the room say. It wasn't much alike what she had heard of Stygian's voice earlier, but that slightly off, melodious but chilly accent was unmistakeable. Looking slightly to the side she could see her - it - standing with its back to the doorway.
   "I'm not sure whether you believe me on this, judging from what I learned of you when... Well," she said, letting the rest of the sentence remain unsaid. She pawed her backpocket, picking out a black etui that when opened revealed itself to be full with some sort of grey cigarettes. "I don't suppose that I should smoke in here, but somehow I think that he's not that sensitive," she said and nodded to Gareeku. "Want one?" She proffered the etui to Aisha.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha sneered slightly, showing her disapproval of Stygian's offer, but respectful of him yet.  She turned around and raised her palm up, shaking her head.  "No, I don't."

She kept her eyes on the comatose form of Gareeku.  Eyes of dark ruby narrowed in thought.  "I don't deny that possibility, really.  But I do deny that he could be dead.  He's too stubborn, if I know him well enough."

After a moment, the panther glanced back at him/her.  "You're aware that the head angel wanted to take me alive to their master?  Something about darkness inside me.  I don't suppose you left something in my body when you left?" she asked with incredulism at the possibility.  It would've been nice to have gotten some kind of answer.

[Stygian]

Stygian's eyes widened, a confused look across her face. Then, it changed into a bothered one. She put her black, clawed thumb up, and from it a little poison green "flame" that seemed to crackle with small chartreuse sparks sprang up. She lit the cigarette on it and then quickly flicked it out, and drew a deep breath. She almost sighed out the smoke, a darkish green-grey mist that quickly faded.
   "I think that I may have. But whatever I left, it's not part of me anymore," She said, staring Aisha deeply in the eyes. "I've... changed. And I think that whatever I left within you would have changed by now as well. I don't know what's happened, but the effects are somewhat similar to something I've experienced before, though a lot stronger. I'm having a rather hard time controlling myself, and before I couldn't at all." She took another breath on the cigarette, cupping her hand across her mouth as she peered down, on herself or on her feet or whatever. "If he wants you though, I know that it's all for the worse."

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha's gaze wavered as she listened to Stygian, watching the expressions on the creature's face and not liking them one bit.  Her composure though still was kept calm and with grace as she had been trained to, even while in her mind it was a raging maelstrom of questions.  Some of those questions wouldn't even be asked, for they would probably simply be too troublesome and of no consequence.

"Bueno," Aisha muttered with sarcasm as her face turned away again, instead moving down to the floor just beneath her felid feet.  Ears were turned against her head so that she could still hear Stygian clearly as if she were still looking at him.  The very thought of having something left behind after being touched with such darkness just somehow made her sick, but a shred of optimism came to thought.  "Well, I probably shouldn't be worried about whatever's been left, then.  Some I have met before would say that I have a darkness in me regardless."  The panther had to spare a smirk at the irony.  "No worries on your part."

With a sigh, Aisha loosened the red cape about her neck a little, an idle motion to keep her mind from getting restless.  "So, he, then.  I take it you have quite a history with these wierd things.  I can't see what use a little shred like that would be."

[Stygian]

Stygian's expression went from bothered to bitterly amused, and she made a little chuckle. As little as the girl knew, she was quick to catch up with and deal with things, obviously. She liked that.
   "He," she said matter-of-factly, "is the Trinity. Or, at least that's what he calls himself now. His real name is Simon Armand Neraux, a man of great stature and power where I come from. And my former employer. A not altogether pleasureable arrangement, as I believe you can understand." She looked at her hand, frowning, as if she was thinking of or trying to remember something.
   "Where I come from, technology and information are the means to control the world, and that has nurtured a kind of dependent society where spies, assassins and thieves are some of the most valuable agents of power one can find. Or at least, the good ones are. And I was considered a particularly good one, which is how I ended up with his company. But that earned me a perspective on what a creep he was, even while others refused to see it. And this was even before he started making things like the ones in the attic." She was still examining her hand, snapping her fingers slightly as she continued.

[KarlOmega1]

*Karl turned around and Gave Stygian a look*

Karl: Did you say "Simon Armand Neraux"?

*Karl then grins*

Karl: You're not from this quadrant, are you?

[Stygian]

Stygian turned her head to Karl, grinning.
   "Not even close, tech boy. It's not even possible to measure in distance. Only in time," she said. "In short I ended up on the wrong side of Neraux, and then when we finished this long-time project at the company things went... awry. I was changed, and away from the world for a good twenty years. Or rather, that's how much time passed while I was gone. When I came back I found things had turned out very badly, and him at the heart of it all. So I did what I could, I gathered some support and then information on what he was doing. And when I found that out I fled, using the new powers I had somehow earned to run to another world entirely, another universe. I've been skipping across a dozen or so before I ended up here, but I haven't stayed as long anywhere else. I think that might have to change soon though." She stubbed out the little that was left of her cigarette by now, and then flexed her hand again, staring at it. She seemed bothered.

[KarlOmega1]

*Karl's grin got wider*

Karl: You're from another dimension? No wonder! I've been getting word from the "multiverse law enforcement and monitoring agency", known as "No-Zone", that there was multiple dimension breaches...all originating from Universal Dimension 00563-032...I have some allies in "No-zone" that told me that, mostly their chief.