Fantasy Z O D I A C | Umbra [Currently CLOSED]

[Boss]

| Sam Sarith | ​

???
Limbo
Setsu World
​

Colt didn't know how to feel. Relieved to finally see Camilla, or distressed because of the shape she was in? Without a doubt, she dropped her shotgun, which seemingly disappeared into a golden portal before it had touched the ground. "Camilla!" Colt shouted, completely shoving the matter of Fushensetsu out of her mind for the betterment of Camilla's health. She slid down to the cage, where Camilla's crippled body leaned on the bars. It was worst than Colt thought. The injuries Camilla sustained didn't look as bad from afar. She reached through the bars and clutched Camilla's bloody hands in her own.

"K-Kill m-me...al-already."

"No, no, what are you saying? We're here. We made it. You're saf-"

BANG

Blood and brain matter littered Colt's frozen face. Her widened eyes saw the smoke rising from the revolver's tip.

"Hey, she asked."

Colt's body froze. The girl's hands fell limp in Colt's own. Was this real? It felt too elaborate for an illusion. At once, both Sam, Cetus, and her crew flew into a rage that buried Fushensetsu underneath it all. Oliver, one of the crew members, cut open the cage and quickly retrieved Camilla's body, Colt had to stop herself from hanging onto Camilla's hand. She hadn't felt this helpless since the plane accident.

 

[Kiosk]

JANAIYA WILKINSON
Has a bad idea​

Janaiya simply shook her head. She didn't really know what to say, she wasn't much for small talk and all this information about James and Nikky left her a bit shaken. She looked over at the VIP section and pulled her hoodie down some more. Now that she thought about it, Nikky finding her 17 year old niece in a club like this wouldn't go over very well.

The next thing to happen was- well she really didn't know what was happening but it was loud and it scared the shit out of her. People on the dance floor began screaming just as terrified. Some began going for the door to see what was going on but Janaiya watched as all those that stuck their heads out the door were decapitated. She couldn't even see where the attacks we're coming from, just the gallons of blood spraying from the lifeless bodies. Janaiya covered her mouth, her stomach unsure whether it wanted to throw up right now.The screaming seemed to get louder than the music now. All Janaiya needed to see was a glimpse of that monstrousity and she sunk in her seat, instinctually, grabbing onto Yue in her panic.

A hollow.

She had never seen one up close before but she knew what these things do, powerful, inhuman monsters. Janaiya looked over at Yue. The bar was close but it was far enough away they could get caught. Same with the entrance they got in from. She should have looked for other exits, the two of them seemed shit outta luck at the moment.

Still, Janaiya looked back at the bar and the alcohol.
"Yue, I just got a very shitty idea, you got anything better?"
The teenager gave her a nervous smile.
"Please say yes."

hwayi Azukai Boss

 

[Solemn Jester]

James Mac niadh Lane

Having thankfully gotten the backing of everyone aside from Herald. She reluctantly backed off on Lexi drinking. Although now all she seemed interested in was getting plastered herself. In all his years of heavy drinking. James had never seen someone so small drink so much. It was like watching a sponge absorb water. He was just sitting there watching in amazement. He couldn't look away. He had a lot of booze tolerance, but this was monstrous! Of course, before he could progress that thought he heard Lexi call Devan a furry. This caused a roar of laughter from him. He couldn't help crying as he fell to his back holding his sides from joy."Oh-ho-ho! That was gold Lexi! It's almost enough to make me forget"-BOOM! James was cut off by an earth-shaking explosion. He turned off his back. Following along as everyone starred out the window. The destruction was one thing. But all the monster like shadows made sure any joy James had been feeling was sucked out of him.

He was almost positive those had been demons. But maybe the booze was playing tricks on him. Although he had drunk a lot more, and never seen monsters before. He half suspected someone of spiking the booze. But then his fears were confirmed. When two spawn of Satan forced their way into the club. James body went numb, he didn't know what to do. His fears had been realized. He was about to be ripped apart by the same monsters he hated so much. Of course, these monsters seemed different from host. But James saw very little reason that mattered. Monsters were monsters after all. His heart had made its way to his throat. When a low growl snapped him out of it. James turned to look down at his brave little dog Champ ready to fight. Suddenly all his fear was replaced with rage. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. His muscles bulging from beneath his shirt more than usual. James suddenly began to move, unsure of if this would work. He completely removed his shirt, ripping it into ribbons. Then he took bottles of booze not yet victims of Herald. He stuffed pieces of his shirt into each bottle. Then laid them out in a line on the table, taking out his lighter. He gave Herald a stern look, pointing a finger at her like he would Champ to let him know he wasn't supposed to do something."Don't drink my explosives!" He warned in a stern tone. Suddenly James took out a lighter, ignoring Popeye's dope head cousin as he picked up one of his Molotov cocktails, lighting up his strand of shirt, and tossing it in the direction that the monster's hand had come from hoping to set it ablaze. He lifted another one, ready for his next throw. Standing in front of Lexi, and Champ to guard them against the horrendous sights.



Tom B. Stone

Tom was so happy about getting to help with such an important job. He didn't even mind Angel's clear hatred towards him. He hummed happily to himself until the moment they arrived at the safehouse/hotel/whatever."Haha, alright. Time to get to wooooork! Spike what are you doing! This is not the time to suddenly get a will of your own!" Tom yelled as Spike decided to take a detour up the massive building. It was unusual of Spikes general behavior. But as far as Tom could tell it wasn't exactly betrayal. More like Spike was trying to help. Tom could only wonder what motives the toothy tentacle had. Luckily this distracted him from the heart dropping heights he was scaling to as they climbed the building. Tom had no idea what he was running into. But he doubted Spike was going to run towards danger...at least he hoped not. His mind raced as he stared up at the opening of a broken window above. His thoughts as to how he would be rewarded should he succeed in his mission. This moment was like a scene from a legend. The demonic warrior climbing the tower of Babylon to reach God so that he could claim his throne as his own. Suddenly the height didn't matter. Nor did Spikes odd behavior, so long as he kept his end of their bargain."Here's TOM-eeh!?" Tom squeaked as an explosive wave suddenly came towards him. It was almost instant, one second he was charging the tower. The next he was face to face with his possible demise. As he was cursing the gods he felt something envelop his body. It was dark and spread across his body. It was almost alive, like the spirits of the dead had been kind enough to act as Toms meat shield. Then he was falling. Like Lucifer must have felt when he was cast out of heaven. Tom was confused and furious. How come every time he got close to a goal he was sent spiraling back to the beginning. He watched as the world seemed to fall into hell before him. It was chaos, it was horrible, it was, beautiful. Tom couldn't help but crack a smile as he crashed into the ground. It took a second, but after making sure Tom's hadn't lost any limbs. He groggily stood up, suffering slight whiplash as the world seemed to spin before him for a second. Once it had stopped, he made his way towards the commotion that was nearest. He also noticed he was clad in a black armor like the outfit."Huh, cool threads. Now where the hell is everyone?" He asked smoke flooding his vision. After walking a bit, he finally made it to the group. Without running into anyone else amazingly. It took a moment for Tom to realize monsters were surrounding, and devouring people. Mainly because he wasn't on the menu himself. But once he did notice he turned to Spike, "Huh, these friends of yours?" He asked Spike, only for Spike to lunge at the nearest moving life force. Tom tried his best to hold back his frenzied tentacles, yelling at him as he tried to not devour his rescue target."Bad boy! Stop that! I'm in charge! You're, not allowed to eat my mission! Didn't you get enough grub with those Dominion stooges! I SAID STOOOP!" Tom roared grabbing the tentacles with both arms. Hugging onto them tightly as he fought for control. Now massively pissed off."Anyone got any suggestions?" He called to the others. Hoping some of these more knowledgeable host had some answers for what was happening to his slithery companion.

interactions~everyone

 

[Sinny The Fool]

Clown
(Mentions - Boss )

Eli stared at Hinako vacantly, watching her trance-like state with curiosity and pondering to himself what she could be thinking about in such a trance but otherwise didn’t disturb her and took the short time to scope the selections of cybernetic augments & limbs.

"N-no, that's unnecessary."

“Hrmmm~ Wait wait” Eli raised a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture toward Hinako as he leaned over the display which had first caught Hinako’s interest, carefully considering the different options “How much for this?” he called out, raising one of the better cybernetic arms out of the pile, the owner calling back out “You have a keen eye! That one sure is a beaut’, comes with all the specs you could want!” he gloated as he quickly shuffled over to Eli to show off the product, and coming up with a price “Gimme 2700g’s kid and I’ll let you leave with it, whaddya say?”

Eli gave a large smile “DEAL!” he shouted as he took out the cash, and shook the man’s hand. Leaving the cash in his palms and trotting out of the store, his hands a little more full now “You can’t say you didn’t want something, besides Tom wouldn’t have it if I didn’t buy you something suitable..” he said & continued to trot on toward their destination.

Soon they would reach Brookfield's very own shanty town, located at the lowest point of Combine. There, streets and well-built foundations were non-existent, replaced by low-roofed shacks and narrow passages. This was where a large majority of residents too poor to live downtown resided. It was also common grounds for victims of the great war who had lost everything in the collateral damage. Here, people looked to the larger criminal organizations to keep the peace rather than the police or even the Dominion. It was a perfect environment for a black market to thrive in.

As Clown and Hinako pushed forward, they passed several shop-oriented shacks with items ranging from cheap electronics and knock-off shoes to used cybernetics and even the supernatural drug invertigo.

Swinging the briefcase full of cash back n’ forth, with the cybernetic arm slung over his shoulder Eli didn’t speak out too much or go on his usual random rantings, instead contemplating what he was going to do with the rest of the cash ‘Roughly four-hundred and ninety-eight big ones left...Ooohhh what to spend it on what to spend it on, the possibilities are endless~ The less change to give back to Tom the better tehee~’ dozing off in his own mind, daydreaming about all the possible and useless ways Eli could spend the money, which wouldn’t take him long. Eli quickly became distracted by all the trinkets on display at the various ‘shack-stores’ they passed, feeling compelled to stop at each one and buy something “I shouldn’t, Kruz’s is just around the corn- OH TO HELL WITH IT, I MUST HAVE ALL OF THESE TH-” he stopped as the piercing sound of Hinako saying his name crossed his ears, turning his full attention on Hinako.

"Elijah." Hinako suddenly started, "Why work with people like Tom?" All that silence used to think eventually ended up with Hinako pondering Clown's reasoning for doing what he does. "Had it not been for me, he would have killed you last night."

“Hrmmm…” Eli pressed his eyes together “Y’know...You remind me of someone I used to know...Because I have plans and goals to achieve, but to do that I need someone like Tom; someone with connections and a roaring ambition..” leaving a dramatic pause for a moment as he started leading the way to their destination, turning his head back and with a cheeky tone he added “Oh, and besides! Me and Tom are best pals~” he chuckled to himself as he pointed the way to go, which was down a closeby alleyway. “Noww, to our finaaaal destination!” he chanted, waiting up for Hinako and turning into the alleyway “Kruz’s shop is just down near the end of this alleyway.” but once turning that corner a scream filled the air sending chills down Eli’s spine and down near the end of the alleyway, right outside Kruz’s shop a horrifying figure emerged into view with a resident wearing rags dead in its grip; it was a hollow. Eli stood and stared directly at the hollow, which glared right back at them, making Eli wish to himself that Kruz’s shop had been anywhere but here.

“Hinako, what should we, uhh, do…?” he said, his tone as frail as his nerves were right now.​

 

[Kiosk]

NIKKY VIOLE​

Relax. Relax.
Janaiya never picked up, or at least she assumed so. She was pulled away from her frantic phone call as tearful screams filled the air. She began to realize the direness of the situation, this took her back.

Quickly, she moved over towards Lexi who was curled into a corner. She didn't like the idea of exposing herself as a host, but this was an exception. The woman gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. The effect would be instant, and a bit dizzying as Lexi disappeared from sight. If Lexi looked at herself, all she would see was the faint outline of her body and clothes. Nikky leaned down taking the chance to turn Champ invisible as well.
"Calm down, stay out of the way and keep the old boy safe." she placed the pug in Lexi's arms then straightened up, The afro woman looked towards The herald who was just relaxing. It made her confident that she knew how to defend herself. Still, she was unbelievable. Though, not as unbelievable as watching Devan shoot up and fall off a balcony.

She'd laugh, but he might be dead.

The dark skinned woman kicked over a couch to act as a shitty cover for James and his party. She got down and leaned against the overturned furniture next to James and pointed a finger gun at the door.
One exit was being blocked and James was throwing Molotov cocktails at it, "Be careful." The last thing they needed was to die from a fire instead. Closing one eye, ripples of invisible force began to envelop her hand, it looked similar to heat rising up from a road on an especially hot day. Concentrating, she focused her power on her pointer finger, and took aim at where she hoped its head was pass the flames.

CRACK.

The force of the shot made her hand recoil like it was an actual gun. She winced, holding her newly broken finger in her other hand. Effectively sobering her up some.
"Tsk."


Azukai Solemn Jester SidTheSkid Jackaboi Boss @@@@@@

 

[hwayi]

Yue sighed loudly, holding her palm on her forehead. Her head hurt from all this loud music and the reek of alcohol. She wasn't a fan of drinking. An extra glass of wine a day took 30 minutes from your life away! She felt a bit dizzy. Maybe it was from the constant stress she had been under for a while now. Yue still had to go to the range today. Can't skip if you want to the absolute top.

She played with the idea of amusing herself with short range pistol shooting. It was a great way to reduce stress when you imagined your target as a human being. Grim? Perhaps it was. Then again, Yue Chen herself was as equally grim too. Letting her hand slide down back to her lap neatly, there was a loud crash far away. She immediately sprung up, alert and hand ready to reach for her gun. She could hear someone talk about something collapsing. Great, this shithole of a place seemed to get worse by every second! Just as she thought that this was the dead-end slump, everything else in her world collapsed too.

Yue heard the screams get louder than the annoying, thumping music. She looked at Giantess to confirm that she wasn't the only one hearing it. Noting the terror on her face, she realized something was really wrong. Following the direction of the eyes of the girl, she laid her eyes on something truly horrifying. A large, odd figure. It took her a moment to register what it truly was.

A hollow.

Someone clung to her small body, Yue didn't have to look to know who it was. Keeping herself calm, the shooter girl from Hong Kong looked at the exits. Both not in the best condition, to be honest. Gritting her teeth in both anger and frustration, 'Tess suggested something. It wasn't the best idea nor did the girl know if it would work, but they had no choice at this point.

"Yue, I just got a very shitty idea, you got anything better?"
"Please say yes."

Yue looked at the alcohol and back at the dark girl. The desperation was present in her voice. She shook her head, again letting out a very angry growl. She just wanted her medals back, why was the universe so adamant on putting stokes in her wheels? God damn it!
"Fuck this shit, I can't die now. I still have my homework to do and my medals to save. We don't have the luxury of dying now," she jumped behind the counter, something that she probably couldn't do unless she was so full of frustration. Obviously, she had no better idea. It was either this or shooting everyone else out of their way. Not a good idea. She didn't even feel fear at this point. Yue Chen had no time to be afraid in these situations. She was just pissed and full of adrenaline.

Kiosk

 

[Azukai]

Kiosk SidTheSkid Jackaboi hwayi Boss Solemn Jester

The server assigned to the VIP lounge was bustling with excitement. It was his lucky day, now that the Herald was here. Her generosity when it came to tips knew no bounds; thus, he was likely going home with a sizable haul to fund the remainder of his week. Every since his last delivery, the Herald had ordered a cart full of jungle juice, and so, he was currently in a small service elevator that connected with a hidden portion of the lounge. Of course, as the wall slid away and revealed the state of the lounge, he was left in an immediate state of shock towards what he saw. Not only was there a sizable hole in the wall, a half naked man was throwing molotovs out the window, a woman was seemingly shooting bullets from her hands, all while the herald was sprawled on the floor, chugging booze like it was Christmas. "What the fuck..." he said while reaching for his walkie. "Owner we got a situation in the lounge..." Nonetheless, static was his only response, and for a good reason, as the threat of hollows only grew...for one of them, literally.

Outside, the source of the hand took a direct hit from the force of the makeshift bullet and the fires of the cocktail. As a result, it immediately bellowed out of pain; though any danger to its body was soon absorbed into its bone-like structure. Rapidly, the size of its body began to grow, just before it stuck its head through the existing hole in the wall--a skull-like shape with its eye sockets filled with a blinding purple light. It opened its mouth, and from it came a ear-shattering roar that only amplified itself within the confined space of the lounge.

The Herald's reaction was immediate. She cupped her hands over both of her ears, using her teeth to hold the bottle of alcohol that remained pouring into her mouth. Overall, she had little intention of moving, and lucky for her, the subsequent hand that came crashing through the roof was not directly over her position. In fact, none of the room's inhabitants were in immediate danger from the hand; expect for the server who was immediately crushed under the weight of the rubble and hollow. Satisfied with the death of another, the hollow began retracting its head and hand from the room; with it, pulling the flattened body and the cart of jungle juice. For most in the room, it was a horrific scene, watching a trail of blood form across the remnants of the room; however, for the Herald, it was the horror of watching round three vanish before her eyes.

"Aww, like hell you taking my booze..." She suddenly said, tossing away the empty bottle which was still between her teeth. Jumping to her feet, she began sprinting out of the room and towards the stairs of the club; though her drunken stupor left her severely off balanced and less observant than usual. Directly outside of the room, was a wooden spike that had risen out of the ground--something the Herald never saw before she tripped over the object and like Devan, was sent plummeting over the bannister. Realizing the potential danger she was in, she began screaming the entire way down--an act that proved to be her greatest mistake, as her voice drew the attention of the downstairs hollow who was already pissed from being hit in the head. Immediately, it drove the tip of his umbrella into the floor and sent a spike goring through her chest. Blood spluttered from her mouth, as her body began sliding down the length of the spike, and soon, the fire in her eyes began to fade, with tears welling as she glanced towards the door with sorrow on her face.

Back upstairs, the lounge was in relatively poor shape. A good portion of the roof was missing, and the center of the floor had caved in to form two distinct halves to the room. One half had Nikky and Lexi who were isolated away from the stairs; whereas, the other contained James and his collection of potential firebombs. Thanks to the previous attack, the hidden service elevator was far from functional; whereas, the wall connecting with the outside was now mostly destroyed. That being said, it gave the room full visibility of the threat they were up against. The hollow was a tall...scarily so, it stood nearly ten feet in the air and was defined by a massive girth of its skeleton-like structure. Connected at its tailbone, was a blackened rope that ran across the ground and off into one of the distant alleyways. Another roar erupted from its body, as it prepared its next attack. Both arms rose into the air--one aimed at each side of the lounge--and seconds later, they came crashing down with the intent of crushing the remaining individuals in the room.

 

[Boss]

| The Clown |​

Late Afternoon
Brookfield | Combine
Shanty Town | Alleyway​

“Y’know...You remind me of someone I used to know..."

"..Used to know..?"

Hinako was oddly silent after that. In Brookfield, to 'used to know' someone generally meant they had passed away. She had learned of Brookfield's extreme affinity for the unusual in her time living here. She didn't quite know how to feel about Elijah, who had even gone as far as to buy her a cybernetic arm after noticing that her own were artificial.

“Oh, and besides! Me and Tom are best pals~”

Originally Hinako had thought Tom had some kind of dirt on Elijah that would force him into servitude. It was about the only reason she could think of for staying loyal to a man who tried to kill you a little under 24 hours ago. Now, she thought he was just stupid.

Their journey took an unexpected turn - not only was there a loud boom echoing into the atmosphere, but a hollow had appeared! Though it was covered in its usual ebony mass, the shape of it was roughly resembling of a minotaur. Standing up straight, the hollow easily cleared ten feet tall. It's upper body was a tower of corrupted muscle that easily tossed the deceased human aside.

“Hinako, what should we, uhh, do…?”

With eyes glaring red, the beast locked onto its new targets and let a deafening warcry out into the air before charging down the alleyway. In that panic, Hinako had just enough time to shove Elijah to the right while she dived to the left. The beast had hooves, which granted it the ability to break into full sprints almost instantly. On the contrary, its speed was also a problem for itself. Rather than collide into Hinako and Clown, the minotaur slammed into a shack behind it, completely crushing it underneath it's sheer size and weight.

This was bad. Hinako didn't have her sword with her. She cursed herself inwardly as she scanned her surroundings. Now that she had a good look, everyone was in a panic. Dozens, if not hundreds of people were running in all directions. She could briefly see the quick skittering of smaller hollows just on their heels. Most people were retreating towards downtown or towards a properly built building to barricade it off. Many weren't lucky, running just slow enough that a hollow or two could leap onto their back and chew on their bodies.

"We need a weapon!" Well that was obvious, but Hinako had hoped Elijah carried one on his person at least. They had to act fast - the minotaur wasn't done with them yet.

 

[Boss]

Evening
Brookfield | Combine
Night Owl | Streets
​

Another roar erupted from its body, as it prepared its next attack. Both arms rose into the air--one aimed at each side of the lounge--and seconds later, they came crashing down with the intent of crushing the remaining individuals in the room.

..Or so it seemed. A stray bottle smashed across the dome of the lengthy hollow, temporarily grabbing its attention. A suited figure stood idly in the open - a dense fog rolling in behind him. Through the mask he wore, the man openly taunted the hollow. "That's my club you're smashing." His tone nonchalant in the conveyance of his words. Behind him, a pair of blood-red eyes pierced through the thick film of smoke high above the man. The snout and ridged jaws of a white-furred wolf poked through the smokescreen. Going by the size of it's head, the wolf itself had to have been four stories high at least. With not another second wasted, the wolf lunged forward, jaws locking around the entire top half of the hollow. Like a dog playing with it's chew toy, the wolf violently shook the hollow left and right.

Meanwhile, the man was merely concerned with the damage done to the Night Owl. Under his mask, he peered at the open hole in the wall and sighed, shaking his head lightly. With a gust of wind, the man's very form dissipated into a trail of smoke that traveled up towards the hole and materialized into his original, flesh form that stood in the destroyed opening. He had arrived just in time to witness the scene unfolding in the VIP area. Silent, his head turned with his gaze, until he spotted Nikky among them. Even though his expression was masked, there was a clear sense of murderous intent flowing from his core.

Where was Devan, even?

"Welcome back to Brookfield, Nikky."

 

[Azukai]

Boss Randomfella TerraBooma Solemn Jester

Lilith wasn't concerned with escaping the collapsing hotel. As such, she was crushed under the weight of the rubble that fell on her--not that such a turn of events was anything more than a minor nuisance. Her blood and guts were splattered all throughout the upper level of the wreckage, yet even still, the immense waves of hollow energy continued to flow from her body. All across the city and surrounding suburbs, hollows were wreaking havoc, but the true threats were the ones nearest the source. Lilith's influence was more than just a magnet for hollows--it was a source of raw energy that could be readily absorbed and converted into a fuel that stimulated their strengths and primal instincts as a beast. And it wasn't just hollows who were affected. Although a slow process, even Zodiacs were at risk of absorbing the energy, though for them it was more of a toxin rather than a boon.

It didn't take long for Camilla to return to the battlefield. Based on her words alone, it was obvious that she desired a conclusion to the feud--even at the cost of her own life if it came to that. The moment she stepped foot in the center of the wreckage, movement began to occur. Thin fountains of black blood rose from the cracks of the rubble--all together melding into a singular, pulsating sphere that hovered above the ground. The sphere had no distinct relation to the girl from before; however, based on its energy alone, it was obvious that the abomination encompassed Lilith's true nature. Small, grotesque tendrils erupted from the surface of the sphere, right before they were reabsorbed at a similar rate to their radical appearance. All in all, it gave the sphere the aura of an unstable atmosphere--yet one that was about to change for the utter worse. The rate at which tendrils appeared began to dramatically increase, up to the point that the entire sphere lost its general shape and began to warp. Noticeable appendages began to form from its core, and within seconds, the shape of a human was once again standing in front of Camilla. However, it wasn't Lilith, rather a familiar image from Camilla's more recent past--a youthful version of herself that was cast in the colors of a hollow, and stood radiating with the anger and sorrow that was pent up within.

At a speed none other than her own, the copy flashed the distance between them, with its arm, swinging in a counter clockwise arc towards Camilla. There was still a couple feet between them; thus, leaving Camila at little risk of being hit by her fist. However, from the tip of her hand jetted a highly pressurized blade of water that closed the distance...and the attack didnt stop there. At the same time the copy rushed forward, a black orb erupted out of Camilla's back--a soul fragment formed from the negative emotions she harboured. From the orb, a towering tentacle came crashing towards her head, yet just before an impact could occur, it ignited into a brilliant display of blue flame that began to rain across the immediate area.

 

[TerraBooma]

Samantha, Leviathan​

Everything moved too fast for Samantha's new body. Camilla's explanation, the arrival of Len and the stranger, and Lilith's out cry at her betrayal. Before she knew it she had been vacated from the building, falling to the ground as she lost her balance from the sudden shift in location. The spirit...ex spirit? She didn't know anymore. Forced herself slowly to stand. She swayed in place, holding a hand to her face as an ache radiated around her. All these swirling emotions. She didn't understand...

The pain, the Nausea, the...anger? She frowned and looked down at her hands. Why was she shaking so much? Camilla...couldn't really be working with the dominion right? They hated hosts. They wanted everyone she knew dead...Sam, her family, the village. Camilla wouldn't be working with them right? Confusion swirled inside of her. Her own twisting and turning of negative emotions. She felt the call of Leviathan, tempting her to fall into a rage and take her vengence. Samantha clutched her hands to her head, she was-

"Samantha..."

It was the small voice of Lucy that pulled her out of her twisted mind. She shook her head. She'd deal with camilla later. She....there had to be more to what was going on. That was it, there had to be. The spirit smiled at the sight of lucy. Though they'd had a bit of a rocky start, Samantha was glad the other girl was here. It was...reassuring, to know there were others who didn't understand what was going on to them. She smelled...different too, it was odd. She made a mental note to ask later.

It was then the mysterious stranger's own tentacles started going crazy. He tried ordering them to stop, but it hardly seemed to be working. Samantha found it to be a...concerning lack of control over his own power, whatever the source would be. She threw a hand out, and a nearby manhole shot up as water fled out of it. Some of it went to restraining Tom in a small whirpool. It didn't cause damage, the intent was merely to pin spike to Tom proper...making the rogue appendages non threatening. It was a week and shoddy restraint, hoping to just buy time without spike actually eating anyone. With her other hand, she shot water towards the fight. Nodding towards Lucy.

"You are...right. We have to do something don't we? Come! let's go." She snapped, and the familiar shields of water encompassed Lucy and herself. She started running to the fight proper...just in time, as it seemed to be kicking off. She flicked her wrists outwards, and the water encircled the two speedsters. Camilla and her clone. It quickly formed a large dome of water dripping from the ceiling, keeping them both from escaping it by encircling them entirely.

"Camilla! I...I don't understand, but I don;t understand a lot right now..." Her gaze turned to the shadowy figure that contained Lilith. "There's no need to fight here! She was your friend, was she not? I do not...particularly understand such notions, but if I know anything, its that a fight between friends should not be fatal!" Water from the dome trickled out as she spoke. While Samantha wanted this to end diplomatically, she was under no notions that Lilith would react to her words. As a contingency plan she threw water towards the real Camilla, encompassing her in a protective shield at the sacrifice of her own. As some of the attacks came close, jets of water flew out of the walls, attempting to knock them off course.

Samantha wouldn't let Camilla fight alone...but most attacks were too fast for her to react to. The plight of a non-speedster in a lightning charged fight.

 

[Jackaboi]

Lexi Caiheart
Losing hope by the second​

Lexi remained completely silent, too scared to dare let out a peep. While she refused to look out that window... She could hear everything. The screams, the terror... She couldn't believe it. There was real monsters out the streets and they were killing everyone! Lexi covered her ears in an attempt to block it all out but to no avail, she could hear it all. The night club's music wouldn't even hold a candle to the terror outside. Suddenly a huge hand burst out of the wall and grabbed the bouncer, pulling him back in to the crevice from which it came. Then rose the desperate blood curling screams, only to be stopped by a sickening crunch. Lexi was on the verge of tears, closing her eye and holding her hands on her ears tighter than ever. "Stop it! STOP IT! THIS ISN'T REAL!" She screamed, desperately hoping that she'd wake up from a horrible nightmare any second now, but alas she opened her eye again, only to see that this nightmare was very much real. She watched as the fox guy ripped off his mask and pulled out a needle from his pocket, with the chamber filled with a wierd substance and stabbed it into his thigh. He giggled like a maniac before tumbling over the balcony and making contact with the floor below.

It seemed that everyone else was going just as crazy as her... Or so she thought until James stepped in, looking like he was waiting for this day to come his whole life, she watched as he ripped off his shirt and tore it up before stuffing them into bottles and setting them alight. Lexi stared in awe at his ability to stay cool in such a horrendous situation. Witnissing this Lexi had somehow managed to regain some of her composure before James' friend touched her shoulder, immediately she started feeling dizzy, she staggered for a moment and stood straight again to see her body had went completely invisible! "Wha! What's happening to me!?" If Lexi was in any other situation she'd find this super cool. But right now she was more scared of being eaten alive, she was also pretty scared of how the woman turned her invisible in the first place. She did the same to champ before placing him in Lexi's arms. She held tight, fearing that if she dropped him he'd be gone for good. Then she watched as the woman shot blasts out of her fingers. Lexi had always heard about the term of "hosts" and their supernatural abilities from the news. Of course the news also said they were incredibly dangerous criminals and murderers. If that woman really was one of them... That thought alone frightened her, but also confused as to why she'd save the young girl.

However Lexi couldn't argue with the fact that she was safer now, out of sight from the monsters she watched intently as James hurled bottles of fire in combination with the woman's "finger gun". The monster bellowed with a large shriek which gave Lexi a little spark of hope. "You got it!!!" She shouted happily, of course she spoke too soon as the creature's skull like head peeked through the hole in the wall and shrieked even louder, Lexi grabbed her ears again to try and block out the deafening sound as a large had crashed through the roof and squashed the poor server who had just arrived with another round of drink. Once again what little hope she had died off as the sickening squelch reached her ears. Honestly if her willpower had been any weaker she probably would've puked by now. Looking away from the putrid mess the monster left behind, she looked over at Herald who had finally moved, looking incredibly drunk but really angry at the creature taking her drink. "W-wait!" Lexi held out her hand as Herald bolted out the room and immediately fell over the banister. Her fate from there could only be left to the imagination at that point... Lexi looked back, the room had pratically been split in half at this point, with Lexi and the woman on the side with no escape, she was finally able to get a general view of the whole monster. It was huge, and it was going to crush everyone inside."W-we're all going to die..." Tears welled up in Lexi's eye as the creature prepared to finish everyone off. Then suddenly, the thing was dragged away by... nothing? The skeletal monstrosity seemed to be getting ragdolled by an even bigger invisible monstrosity, well... She'd never have drawn that conclusion if she wasn't invisible herself. A plume of smoke had formed in the opening in the wall and there materialised another masked man. Judging by the choice of entrance, this was probably another host. Despite him saving them, Lexi was still taken aback by the intense aura he had. As if this guy was even more serious trouble than the last monster.

Kiosk Solemn Jester SidTheSkid Azukai Boss

 

[Boss]

Camilla Ferrari | Lucy Black | Samantha | Tom B. Stone​

Late Afternoon
Brookfield | Downtown
Streets
​

Camilla didn't know what she was thinking or how her words were going to sway Lily into ceasing her rampage. As the black mass recollected into a gravity-defying sphere, all Camilla could hear were the screams of innocent people around her. People who, before Camilla arrived - was having a perfectly normal life. She wasn't aware of the sheer size Lily's hollowed energy was covering, nor was she knowledgeable of the countless hollows that began to take shape all over the city. Nonetheless, she could only find blame in herself for the current events. The sphere had finally began to take a humanly shape. To Camilla's immediate dismay, the form Lily had taken was.. Camilla's? She looked a lot like she did before meeting the cult. Young, but a bottomless well of anger and sadness.

"That's a low blow, Lily.." Her words weren't intended to reach Lily's ears. Sure, Camilla could understand being upset for working with the Dominion, but to play mind games as well? Lily was a mere child - how could she have the capacity for mental torture?

Either way, Camilla had to come up with an apology that Lily would take notice of. Just like her appearance, Lily had quickly closed the distance between them, carrying a quick gust of wind within her own speed. She saw Lily's fist coming, but the thought of dodging felt.. wrong? In her mind, what she needed was a good punch for her foolishness.

*WHAM*

Having shown zero effort to dodge, her fist cleanly connected with Camilla's face, knocking her down and fortunately saving her from the high pressure blade had she dodged backwards. Camilla spit out a bloody tooth, but it wasn't enough to force her to fight back. Emerging out of what felt like her soul, a black orb quickly took the form of a tentacle. She probably deserved this too. However, before the tentacle could envelop Camilla under it's weight and flames, a familiar, thin barrier of water propelled the force of the tentacle back with a torrent that reacted upon contact. Camilla's eyes glanced through the water-like dome to spot Samantha and Lucy just on the other side. They probably shouldn't watch.

Camilla crawled up to her knees and stared at her clone once more. "I get it, Lily.. The feeling of being lied to.. The anger that compels you to seek revenge.. It probably feels good to let it out on someone, right?" Was that another loose tooth she felt? Camilla spat out a second tooth and fixated her gaze on what felt like.. herself. "I know how tempting it must feel, but-.. These are innocent people you're hurting. People that have nothing to do with-.. any of this. Please, we can't be the monsters they all see us as."

 

[Boss]

| Tom B. Stone |​

Evening
Brookfield | Downtown
Streets
​

The streets had become grounds for slaughter. People left and right were either sprinting into the nearest buildings or driving away with no regards to a speed limit. So many hollows of all shapes and sizes began to invade Brookfield, turning it's once peaceful and busy society into their own personal hunting grounds, as if the winner with the most prey consumed could earn their spot alongside the girl who summoned them.

It was faint, but Tom could hear the many corrupted voices from hollows that surrounded them. "The Queen has awakened! We shall celebrate in blood!" Spike's telepathic chant echoed through the minds of the surrounding hollows, only serving to further courage their bloodlust. Just in front of Tom, a teenage boy had misjudged a step and fell to the ground in a panic. It was convenient for him to land in front of Spike, whose teeth drooled in anticipation. Just one little bit-

"Bad boy! Stop that! I'm in charge! You're, not allowed to eat my mission! Didn't you get enough grub with those Dominion stooges!"

Spike visually flailed in response to Tom's beatings. Why did he have to get in the way now?! The teenage boy had just seen the tendrils close in around him, but just unable to touch.

"I SAID STOOOP!"

Tom had given the boy enough time to escape from Spike's grasp, but the tendrils were not happy. Each toothy end of his tendrils turned inwardly, staring Tom down with a new-found hostility. "INSOLENCE!" Spike cried out in rage as the tentacles began to naw away at Tom's body armor. It seemed like Spike wasn't directly connected to the armor that had suddenly appeared. Rather, it felt independent from usual insanity that was Spike. This armor-.. was it manifested out of Tom's own will? Regardless, Spike blindly struck at the armor's exterior - primarily the face. It wasn't until he was completely cast in a whirlpool that Spike had diverted his attention from his bodily host to give a futile effort in stopping the watery ride.

 

[SidTheSkid]

.

Spoiler: Devan Eldridge "

[IMG='width:514px;']https://i.postimg.cc/RFhHQKsw/oi.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG='width:503px;']https://i.postimg.cc/jdXvgF0S/cooltext306989087362014.png[/IMG]
. ​

(Location: Brookfield-Combine, Night Owl Dancefloor)
(Mood: Angry)
(Interactions: Janaiya, Yue, El Chompo (Monster) )
(Mentions: Herald)

Absolute murkiness enveloped his unconscious fantasies along with vivid audible hallucinations of agonizing screams which brought him to life once more with an abrupt gasp as he awoke to this new environment which happened to be a pitch-black room, a compressed one at that. A burning sensation of claustrophobia had made him slightly panic once he felt his own physique being squished in by the four sturdy walls that had encompassed him. "What the fuck?!" An unsound roar vibrated his throat once he stood, attempting his best to forcefully push his way out from the closeted space that he was in. However, his endeavors at breaking through were all in vain once he had become aware of the fact that no number of brute strength was going to crumble them. Collapsing to his knees with a dramatic pause, he realized that there was no way out of this screwed-up dream he was in, if it even was a figment of his imagination or not! For all he knew he was probably in purgatory along with all of the other unfortunate people that murderous abomination had killed off. “Devan.” A spine-shudder murmur unexpectedly invaded the hopeless ambiance with unspeakable apprehension, he couldn’t help but swivel his head in the general direction of where he heard the ominous sound. An ungovernable urge of interest took authority as he unwillingly drug his feet ahead. Each progressing step he took made him more compelled to wildly struggle out of this dazed illusion yet his opportunity was soon lost as the undeniable fear made him completely obscure his own muddied eyesight with his both of his shaking hands. “Please just.. Stop.”

Unmistakably it became evident that this idea of ‘purgatory’ was just a blissful fabrication compared to the familiar horrors that were unyielding in voicing themselves in the form of hair-raising screams until the dying tones had faded causing him to separate a few of his fingers away from his vision and become greeted with a chalky mirror containing a standstill reflection of himself but alternatively instead of capturing his own fear, it was staring directly at him with a blank expression. “W-what?” Just what was in that syringe?! Now he was seeing an exact replication of himself? As if it couldn’t get any worse he himself felt the need to raise out his hand towards the dusted mirror, caressing it with his fingertips although that also proved to be a vital mistake once another hand, similar to his had stretched out and tugged him through the antique vanity and brought him plummeting downwards to a deep abyss along with the shattered pieces of glass that were trickling all around him. In one fell swoop, Devan’s body had eventually come into contact with the bottom of the ‘abyss’, sending him straight back into reality where he had woken up to the horrid stench of tainted blood and smoldering ash beginning to fill his mouth with a stinging burn. Clenching his teeth through the pain of his previous fall, it was clear just by the unnerving noise of terrified customers that this living nightmare was far from over. “Greaaat... Just what I wanted to wake up to!” This was not he wanted to wake up to, it didn’t make things much better one he saw the discount adaptation of pac-man munching effortlessly on someone’s deceased body. Nevertheless seeing a blonde haired beauty skimming her firm body over the polished countertop of the bar and beside him was enough to put him back in a good mood. “Come here often beautiful?” Devan promptly winked at the girl before having his humorous remark utterly ruined by The Herald who let out a gurgling death-wail after being gruesomely impaled by a now blood-soaked umbrella attached to that grotesque bastard.

“You son of a bitch.” Phrasing with his lips, to think they were going to be the bestest of friends and maybe even with benefits! Damn that thing! It was only appropriate for him to take matters into his own hands and calm this disgusting beast but not before tugging The Herald’s body off from its spike and placing her motionless body behind the safety of the counter, last thing she needed was her body to be desecrated by the likes of that thing. “Hey, Mary Poppins! That was my future drinkin’ buddy you just killed you piece of shit!” Not hesitating to fulfill his vengeance, a film of dark smoke lingered off from the sleeve of his suit soon enveloping the entirety a handgun he had retrieved from his breast-holster. “Hey ‘Chompy’ how about ya chomp on this.” Positioning himself halfway over the counter, Devan energetically rammed the smoky-muzzle of the firearm into the creature’s mouth and immediately begun dumping the whole magazine down the hollow’s throat as he fired shot after shot, each individual bullet discharged gracious amount into the creature’s throat. Several clicks followed as he pulled the trigger making him abandon the handgun, ultimately discarding it away into the nearest trash bin before reaching underneath the bar itself to snag all of the alcohol siphons he could, alcohol spurted out in a rushing flow of pressure once he had twisted a majority of the tabs. “In honor of the fallen, I shall follow a last request of my dearest departed drunkard.” A triumphant holler rang out as he stuffed every individual hose into its mouth, hoping that it would instinctively guzzle most of it down as it focused on the smoke billowing in its belly. “If you ain't pukin’, you ain't leavin!” Retrieving a pocket-lighter from his pants, Devan flicked the wheel in a singular motion and in an instant a blazing flame had torched from the metal opening. Without warning he heaved his lighter into the creature’s mouth, Devan briskly lept to the floor behind the bar’s counter, gritting his teeth as he expected the worst.

Kiosk Azukai Jackaboi hwayi Boss Solemn Jester

.

 

[Solemn Jester]

James Mac niadh Lane
James was so busy tossing explosive cocktails at the growing threat he didn't have time to notice Nikky using her powers. Not until she was standing next to him shooting finger pistol at the monstrous skeleton creature. James was ready to meet his maker as the demon reached towards them. When suddenly it was yanked away. Being tossed about like a rag doll, only for a masked host to manifest from smoke before them. His gaze almost making James miss the hollows ugly mug. James was startled to hear him greet Nikky. But suddenly he recalled something about an older host similar to the man before him. The leader of the Crimson hand, " Dominic Ferrari." He mumbled to himself. His gaze just as murderous as his body tensed up before probably the most wanted man in Brookfield, and that was saying a lot in a hole like Brookfield. James felt his head pounding as all the stress, and pieces of new info swarmed into his brain trying to form into some kind of sense of it all. He didn't know what to think. He felt lied to, betrayed. If James was her friend why didn't Nikky tell him her secret? Although even then he didn't know how he react. But at least he wouldn't have felt so deceived. With everything going on James didn't have time to process much. He looked around searching for Lexi to guard her incase one of the monsters came back for them. Although his chest tightened when Lexi was nowhere to be seen."Lexi! Where are you!? Lexi! Where is she! What happened to her!?" James growled, his death glare turning to everyone in the room. He couldn't live it down if something happened to her


Tom B. Stone
Toms plea for help was quickly answered as one of the strange third party individuals sent a whirlpool of water to bind Spike and himself. He relaxed some as Spikes thrashing was contained for the moment. Tom scoffed at Spikes actions."Pathetic. You're supposed to be the one helping me reach my goals? You can't control yourself when a little girl throws a tantrum. You can't even break free from some water. You're barely more useful than a normal limb. Even then my arms never went out if control trying to kill everyone around me. If this is Karma's way of getting back at me she sure has shit timing. Punish me for doing badly when I'm trying to do good. If you don't snap out of this I'll amputate you myself you good for nothing!" Tom growled from the watery prison. Sick and tired of all the incompetent fools he had to suffer. He has thought Spike was going to help him reach the throne. But at this rate, he wouldn't even help him reach a jar of peanut butter. He had noticed Spike couldn't control the armor of Toms. He had assumed Spike was responsible. Protecting his host. But now he wasn't so sure. If Tom was right then he himself had tapped into his Zodiacs power to defend himself. Tom closed his eyes, almost meditating as he focused his thought on Spike, and blocking out all the other noise. Not bothering to think of the twins doing battle, or blood fest surrounding him. He only focused on Spike and the power that came with him. He imagined himself taking the seat at a throne. Gripping onto reigns of dark energy, and pulling on them with all his might."This is my body! You are my weapon! I refuse to let you get away with biting the hand that feeds you! You call me insolent!!! You are the insolent one! Pathetic Little worm latching onto anyone they can for power! You want power!? Then stop fighting me!! Bow to my will, and we can rip this queen a new one!! Refuse, and I'll take control by force!!" Tom's thoughts roared at Spike, as he put all his emotion, and willpower into taking control.

TerraBooma Boss Randomfella Azukai SidTheSkid Kiosk hwayi Jackaboi

 

[Azukai]

SidTheSkid hwayi Kiosk Boss Solemn Jester

Despite all that happened, the Herald was still conscious, and getting lifted off of the spike was one of the more unpleasant sensations she had to experience. Leave me here to die, she wanted to say to her "less-than-welcomed" savior; though nothing but the sound of sputtering blood escaped her lips. Apparently lungs were important after all...at least from the perspective of making conversation during your last few minutes of life. The club was in utter shambles, yet even still, the music and bass continued to boom--an aspect that seem to annoy the hollow who soon continued his onslaught on the screaming, fleeing guests. As such, Devan was given a free opportunity to drag the Herald right past the hollow and behind the counter where they joined Yue and Janaiya. The Herald was simply dumped on the ground, just before Devan began spouting some nonsense that signaled the start of his own personal counterattack. The Herald's body began to convulse in her efforts to scream something at Devan--ultimately to no avail as the sound of gunfire began to ring.

BAM BAM BAM...Bullet after bullet was fired down the throat of the hollow, and while the attack triggered an ear-splitting scream, it wasn't enough impact to do anything more than invoke the wrath of an irate supernatural being. "Zooooodiac energyyyyyy." The creature roared after its interior was rapidly healed from its own regeneration. Its head began to swell, and its jaws expanded to the full width they could manage; all in the preparation of its next attack. Nonetheless, for Devan, it was his second opportunity for action--like a blessing from the gods. He grabbed as many alcohol siphons as he could find under the bar and stuffed them into the generous opening that the hollow had courteously provided. Using a lighter he found in his pocket, he followed up his offering of booze with a glorious, flaming catalyst--one that would turn the creature's insides into a burning pyre and save the day for the survivors left inside.

...at least, what should have happened if it wasn't for the unfortunate, trickle of smoke that lingered on his suit.

"Fooooound yooooooou." The hollow taunted in the split second before the lighter triggered the explosion of fire. At lightning speed, the tip of the umbrella made contact with the ground and sent another wooden spike shooting upward...right into Devan's gut as he attempted to slide back over the bar. It didn't stop there, however, as the body of the spike became a conduit for dozens of smaller spikes that exploded outward and impaled his body that many more times. The force of his slide combined with the weight of the numerous spikes, caused the original spike to splinter at its base, and allowed him to finish his escape behind the bar...and not a moment to soon. A brilliant display of flame burst from the inside of the hollow and sent it stumbling backwards under the pain that it experienced. Furthermore, it didn't take long for the fire to spread to the rest of its body, which in turn caused an immediate reaction with the alcohol drenched floor. Thankfully, the club's sprinkler system was still in functioning shape; a boon that lessened the threat of a potential inferno, but also saved the hollow from its burning demise.

Back under the bar, Devan was in poor shape. There was a wide pool of blood that now surrounded his body, in addition to the shreds of his lower, inner organs that were plastered across the floor. To maker matters worse, a lose siphon that never made it over to the hollow was busy spilling its contents on the floor--an additional pool that began to rapidly meld with the blood of both Devan and the Herald. Seconds past without any change. The hollow remained incapacitated, still attempting to recover its injuries from before; Devan remained on his death bed, his vision approaching the light; and the Herald...well the Herald was now the source of a mysterious blue flame that burned within the hole in her chest. "Everyone can go to fucking hell..." She said, seconds before her guttural screams erupted from her lungs that were practically reformed. Nonetheless, her regeneration didn't stop there. Everything from the tissues up to her outer layer of skin, was repaired in a literal blink of an eye; though the price she paid was blatantly obvious as her body violently convulsed and streams of visible tears began to pour from her eyes. Heavy, labored breaths followed the immediate conclusion of her body's repair, yet even still, she forced her still into a seated position and for the first time in the night, barked serious orders at Janiaya and Yue. "Whatever this fool tried wasn't enough to kill it. I'm going to try and keep this fucker alive, which means I'm gonna need you two to kill that thing...or at least buy me enough time." She sprung to her feet and began rummaging under the counter of the bar, where she pulled out an lever-action rifle that was tossed at their feet. "Bartender was always a weirdo with his guns...But either way, if neither of you know how to use it, rock paper scissors it for all I care." With that, she pointed at the umbrella that was still wrapped in the hollow's tendril-like grasp. "Aim for that. Gun won't do shit against the hollow itself. Blow his weapon out of his hands, while the other one of you be ready to grab it and run like hell." With her explanation complete, she turned to examine what was left of Devan; though before any actions, she paused and returned her attention back to the two girls. "No pressure, by the way. If you can't do shit, then leave, but if you want to save some people, then do as I say. Oh, and that hollow reacts to sound...coordinate your timing, or the runners gonna become his shish-kebab, and I can't save two."

The Herald had little concerns with seating herself next to Devan, in his pool of blood. She was hardly squeamish, and after what had already happened in the night...well little blood was the least of her worries. A sigh escaped her lips as she bent her upper body down to his ear, where she began whispering in a soft, almost caring tone. "Told you there were sharks, you little shit. I know you're still there...fading, but you're there. I can save your ass, but you ain't gonna like it. It'll be the worst pain you'll ever feel in your life...trust me on that. Your call, kid. I guess...sleep tight...if you don't want it."

 

[Randomfella]

Lucy Black
Streets of Brookfield​

Lucy's eyes trembled at the sight of the stranger, the horrid thing that sprawled from his blood-soaked body, seemingly with a mind of its own. As Samantha trapped it, she turned her gaze toward the spirit, doing her best to keep that... Thing. Out of her mind. As the watery shield surrounded her body, Lucy gave a nervous nod toward her, doing her best to keep up with Samantha's pace.

Short breaths left and entered the girl's body, just behind Samantha as they arrived at the scene of battle. Lucy stood just out of their barrier, body shaking, the scene before her hard to gather with how fast the two of them moved. Camilla and... A version of herself Lucy had not seen since they first met, the horrible colours that it donned, it was like the spider that haunted her dreams... A monster.

Even now the tenseness within her body itched at Lucy. More and more she felt like a shaken bottle of soda, ready to pop at a moments notice if she didn't find release soon. Still, her mind was hardly focused on the feelings as she watched the only friend she had come to know being battered by some horrid creature. Lucy watched as Camilla spat out another tooth, her body filling with disgrace as she sat back, doing nothing. "N-No..." She silently mused, shivering, staring onward. "Stop it!" She attempted to yell out through the barrier of water, her own breath seeming to choke at her, turning her words into whispers.

All her quivering body could see as she looked up was the intent in the creature's eyes, it sent the chilling fear straight back into the girl's body, paralysing her.
That was until a pair of feet appeared, seemingly from nowhere, planting themselves into the creatures side.

The memory played itself through her mind, Camilla wasted no time in coming to her aid, putting herself in danger to do so, and now here she was, sitting back once again. Even with Samantha's shield on her, Lucy knew their fight was far from over. What she didn't know, was how much more Camilla could take. "...Let me through." Lucy mumbled, barely loud enough for Samantha to hear, as her gaze moved up toward the spirit. By now it was covered in a combination of grit, tears, and snot, yet she still stared toward her.

The conflict within her mind was almost as agitating as the feeling that continued to course through her body. The danger of stepping into their fight was undoubtedly severe, but... There was no way Umbra had left her with nothing, if she was supposed to help Camilla through whatever transition it was. The way Byakko talked of Lucy not deserving whatever it was... Whatever power she might have offered, even if it was only enough to buy the girl some time, Lucy would use it.

Boss Azukai Solemn Jester TerraBooma

 

[hwayi]

Yue Chen​

There was so much happening around her, she started feeling confused and dizzy. It didn't seem...real at all. Nothing like this happened to normal people like her. Just today she had seen people take extra measures against hollows in her campus. Yue was unable to cry, move. She was just there, sitting and staring before her with empty eyes as screams surrounded her. She could feel the heat coming from somewhere behind the counter. Someone was still trying to burn the hollow down. She sneered and exhaled a little bit. They were all dead if it would continue like this. Despair coming out of every direction and filling Yue up.

She lazily shifted her gaze towards Giantess. It was a pity, Yue still hadn't asked for her name. Her mother, or whoever that woman who eerily looked similar to her was in this nasty club too. If Yue would have seen her mom like that, she'd probably lose all her control. Goes without saying she was never really good at this 'control' thing. Just as Yue was about to peek behind the counter to see the situation and how it was progressing, the roof decided to give up on her. She didn't scream, scurried in her place for a while before backing away aggressively. Something seemed to lie down amidst all the rubbish. She couldn't hear what the hell this person was trying to say, but the wink told her everything she needed to know. This guy was just as much trash as the debris he was lying on...

Yue had chosen the worst place to hide in. There was someone probably already dead next to them. This guy was adamant on killing the hollow over his seemingly dead friend. He shot at the hollow, set it on fire and whatnot. Yue kept her hands over her ears as she sat there, watching the nightmare unravel before her. The last thing she clearly saw was the trash getting impaled. And that was it? That's how he would die? It was almost comical. The sprinklers reacted to the fire and Yue was saved from being burned in this Hell. Sadly, the Hollow had the same advantage.
The woman from before seemed to come back to life as she was busy giving orders to both Janaiya and Yue. She received a wide-eyed gaze from the pale girl, wondering if it was truly the same person she just saw on the floor.

Nothing was making sense anymore. Yue wondered if someone poured something in her drink.
Oh..

Right...

I didn't even drink...

I'm a teetotaler...

She grabbed the gun almost instinctively from the lady, not bothering to ask questions now. This was her job. Looking at Giantess, she jerked her head towards the hollow. "You look like you can run," she looked at the girl from head to toe. Yue knew very well that it took longer for people with long legs to accelerate. But once they got to full speed, they were practically unstoppable. Yue was a fast runner, but handing a gun to this chick? No way, she would never trust anyone with her life like that but expected 'Tess to trust her enough. "I'll cover you. Either we die this way or get eaten by a hollow," she said, taking a closer look at the gun. She had seen thousands of videos of people levering with godspeed rivaling a machine gun. Some type of cowboy action was that. But had she ever done it herself? No.

She didn't waste any time. She loaded the gun, still not quite sure how many rounds she had. Yue put the butt against her shoulder socket and supported the barrel to minimalize the excess movement. She'd have to just hope that the recoil wasn't going to blast her arm away.
"Get your ass up from the floor 'Tess, you're going to have to make a run for it," she grit her teeth as she aimed at the umbrella. She was still shaking. Steadying her breath, Yue tried to get the stress under control that she oh-so lacked.

Just pretend you're at the range

Kiosk Azukai SidTheSkid everyone

 

[Depresso Espresso]

Diana Young
( Boss Solemn Jester Sorry it's so long :'D)
Diana blinked awake slowly sitting up slightly and holding her head as the explosion ranged out. The whole room shaking as she heard the screams from down in the casino as she looked around. Realizing she was now in her room, "What the...?" before ending her sentence one of her guards basically bashed down the door before her eyes realized the flash of light.

"Wait... WHAT!?" Yelling that out her expression was one of confused and pissed before she realized the plastic arm she now had instead of the cold metal one, "Oh... For fuck sakes..." Moving to stand she quickly grabbed the henchman by the collar and brought his face close to her's yelling, "NOW LISTEN HERE! GET TOM ON THE FUCKING LINE AND LOCK THIS PLACE DOWN STAT! GET GUNS IN THE WINDOW AND LOAD UP THE BIGGEST FUCKING GUNS WE HAVE ON HAND GOT ME!?" Yelling that directly in his face he threw him back lightly moving past him into the kitchen area, seeing the kids she had tried so hard to keep off the streets terrified before moving over to them before stopping, looking at them with a sigh, "Axel. Get out of your fucking little world now." Saying that she waited for her to appear before looking at her, "We are going to have a long sit down and talk. Mark my words, you and I are gonna sort out some god damn rules." Saying that she moved over to the kids and put on a smile. Hiding the rage she felt bubbling near the surface.

"Hey, it'll be alright. I just need you guys to head down to that safe place remember? Take only the things you need ok?" Saying that she watched them all nod while some of the younger kids clutched the older ones legs. "Now be strong ok?" Saying that she nodded at them before turning on her heel as the guy she grabbed the phone she offered, walking out into the lobby she saw them pull out all the stops, a large machine gun being loaded as large bars were put on the doors.

Pulling up the phone she typed the number of the guy who was nowhere to be seen, which worried her even more since she had seen him earlier... "Come on Tom.. pick up..." Saying that under her breathe she heard the line ring as more people rushed around her, some shouting orders as she watched the kids go down the stairs with toys and backpacks full of clothes as she offered them all a soft smile before they disappeared, hoping that it would pick up.​

 

[Boss]

| Diana Young |​

Evening
Brookfield | Red Light District
Diana's Base | Lobby
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By the time Diana had gotten to the main lobby, there was already a considerable effort being made to barricade the front entrance. A collection of poker tables, sofas, and other large objects had been stacked one after another in hopes that it's weight could keep the doors shut. Most of Diana's men had weapons trained on the door for any unholy creature that managed to break through. All in all, the situation within the casino was acceptable, especially when compared to the chaos outside. More than once, an unfortunate individual would flee towards the casino's front doors, only to realize that it had been heavily barricaded and wasn't going to open for any reason. As a result, a number of people had been mutilated just on the other side of the door.

Meanwhile, Axel had appeared nearby, just as confused as everyone else. Diana's tone was not something Axel appreciated, but that was an issue for another time. "What are hollows doing here..?" Never expecting an answer, the Zodiac glanced over to Diana as she desperately tried to contact someone she cared about.

An ear-shattering crash echoed through the casino's main lobby. A winged hollow roughly the size of a poker table had charged through the glass! With swift action, the creature was met with a flurry of high caliber ammunition. Luckily, it was enough to send it crashing into the ground - the bad news was that it wasn't the only hollow. Several move of the same type had flown in, this time they were on the offensive. One by one, the winged hollows swooped in and snatched up one of Diana's men with their talon-like appendages, only to be dropped from lethal heights or consumed in mid air.

One of these hollows targeted Diana, but it's dive was interrupted when it was suddenly impaled with one of Axel's daggers, effectively knocking it off course and sending it into a crash landing beside her. While it wasn't dead, the hollow couldn't lift itself from the floor with the weight of Axel's dagger in it's body. It was almost as if it carried the weight of Mjolnir itself. Using the other dagger, Axel grew it's size into that of a broadsword and used it to rend its head from its body, finishing it off for good. There were still a number of flying hollows remaining in the casino. The two had better get to work, fast.

 

[Depresso Espresso]

Diana Young
( Boss )
Diana quickly threw the phone away after the first one came threw, even though it was completely dispatched by her guys, she knew it wouldn't be the end of them. But before she could even yell out more orders to grab something else some of her guys began being picked up and either eaten or dropped to the ground, "The one god forsaken time Tom isn't ar--" Getting cut off by the fact a Hollow was about to hit her, and then it wasn't she looked over to Axel and nodded, "Thanks! Now let's hurry it up a little," Saying that she morphed her open palm of her hand into Axels dagger, but the one minor change being it was near a large blade by this point, it's weight feeling heavy but the fact she was shooting lasers at the hollows in the room made the thing feel light as a feather.

Crouching down on the ground for a second she jumped up in the air causing a movement of some objects around her before she sliced a couple on her way up- The problem was the falling part of it all. Thinking quickly she moved bringing her now sword down into a flying one that was just out of reach before somehow catching it, bringing it down with her in the process as they crashed causing some of the objects beneath the fall of them both braking apart into splinters that flew all over the place.

Standing up from the mess the made she took multiple strides to cleaning up the rest of them, hopping jumping and even grabbing a gun or two to finish them off, "AXEL! PLEASE TELL ME NONE OF OUR MAIDEN FRIENDS ARE HERE!" Yelling that out over the sound of gun fire which she was using to keep one away before it swooped in at her.​

 

[Sinny The Fool]

Clown
(Mentions - Boss )

With eyes glaring red, the beast locked onto its new targets and let a deafening warcry out into the air before charging down the alleyway. In that panic, Hinako had just enough time to shove Elijah to the right while she dived to the left.

It was as if the universe loved to prove Eli wrong, each time he thought things couldn't get worse, here he was standing face to face & staring in the vacant glowing red eyes of the minotaur-esque hollow figure at the end of the alleyway ‘What should I do? What CAN I do?’ he could only think of one thing, his hands shaking while reaching for the pocket in his suit. Right before Eli could reach for it though, he was stopped by a bellowing war cry emitting from the hollow that sent sent utter chills down Eli’s spine and throwing his mind state into panic overdrive right as the hollow came charging right for them - and before he could even think of reacting ...Thud Eli was caught off guard as he was shoved to the side and sent falling flat on his face into the ground, the briefcase of cash he was holding and the cybernetic arm being dropped in the process.

Rather than collide into Hinako and Clown, the minotaur slammed into a shack behind it, completely crushing it underneath it's sheer size and weight.

Eli rolled around in a panic & pain, muttering to himself with a desperate tone “This is crazy this is crazy this is CRAZY!!! This time I’m dead, dead for sure, WHY IS THIS STUFF ALWAYS HAPPENING TO ME!!~” before using the closest nearby object to help himself up “W-we NEED TO GET THE HELLLL OUT OF HERE!!” he shouted out in the midst of the chaos happening around them, stumbling toward Hinako he looked over to the hollow, which had gotten itself crushed underneath a shack “I-is it dead?” he looked back down the alleyway toward Kruz’s shop and for a moment wondering to himself if he was still holding his own, or dead.

Dozens, if not hundreds of people were running in all directions. She could briefly see the quick skittering of smaller hollows just on their heels. Most people were retreating towards downtown or towards a properly built building to barricade it off. Many weren't lucky, running just slow enough that a hollow or two could leap onto their back and chew on their bodies.

"We need a weapon!"

Eli didn’t get the chance to ponder long, with all the panic and screaming erupting around them there was no room for Eli to worry about whether Kruz was alive or not - that could come after getting himself out alive, the minotaur-esque hollow still wasn’t finished despite Eli’s hopes that it would just stay down he wasted no time in reaching for the pocket inside his suit and rushing over closer to the hollow, taking out the taser he obtained from Tom “I really hope this works” he said, thrusting the end of his taser into the hollow
*BBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTT*

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[Azukai]

Boss Solemn Jester TerraBooma Randomfella

The copy was caught off guard by Camilla's decision to allow her punch to connect; it was left dazed, unable to process its next move, which in turn allowed an opening for Samantha's water to assume control. For a moment, its body became wary, as it processed the changes to the environment surrounding it. Though, ultimately, it returned to a combative stance that signaled the preparation of its next attack. Despite all that happened, Camilla was still focused on calming Lilith down, yet her attempts were largely futile, as her words never reached their target's ears. Lilith's conscious was locked away, deep in the depths of her mind--hidden behind the numerous layers of mental abuse that the girl had suffered over the years. As such, it wasn't Lilith, herself, who was in control of her current actions, but rather, something far more sinister that defined the truth about her existence. Now that Lilith was locked away within an enclosed arena, her latent aura was gradually beginning to dwindle from the outside world. On the flip side, however, it also meant that Camilla was now experiencing the full depth that her energy had to offer...and were she paying attention, a secret hidden at its core--a peculiar feeling, something almost foreign, despite being equally familiar to every hollow that came before it. Something new, almost as if Lilith were a creature that transcended beyond what zodiac or hollow energies had to offer. Nonetheless, there was little time for Camilla to dwindle on the thought, as Lucy's entrance into the arena triggered a sudden attack from Lilith. A dark tendril erupted from the side of the copy's body and rushed at the girl with lightning speed. It was an unmistakable threat in of itself; however, one that was entirely dwarfed by the activity outside.

Drawn by Lilith's prior waves of energy, dozens, if not hundreds of hollows were now converged around the site of the wreckage. Yet despite their numbers, the Dominion was providing a fearsome defense that prevented the area from becoming entirely overrun. Although there were numerous casualties on the Dominion's side, there were double, onward up to triple the number of slain hollows, that were beginning to decay across the streets of Brookfield. Nonetheless, driven by their desire to reach the pinnacle that was their queen, the hollows blindly charged to their needless deaths--all except for one who remained motionless and unmoving. There was nothing special about the hollow. It was a simple hell hound, which was considered one of the lower tiered threats; but they were also known for their extreme ferocity, which was the literal opposite of what the current specimen displayed. Minutes went by, and the hollow remained unmoving, right up until its body suddenly exploded with a wave of immense energy. The subsequent reaction was immediate; starting from its back, the skin of the hollow began to peel back almost as if it were an egg being shelled. But it was not muscle and bone that resided under the skin, but rather an dense abyss that immediately sent a flurry of tendrils erupting out of its back. Wriggling and writhing, the tendrils began to turn on their own flesh and blood--the surrounding hollows that were literally consumed by the horror of mouths that formed along the length of the abominations. In an instant, the air was filled with the cries of pain, as hollows were eaten alive, but with so many of them condensed in one area, there was no room for them to escape...or for the Dominion to stop what the source was about to become...

Satisfied with their meal, the tendrils concluded their ravenous feast and returned to the hound, where they began a reformation that concluded with an all-encompassing cocoon--one that began to rapidly grow, until it reached a colossal size that stood nearly thirty feet high and over fifty feet in width. With its growth finished in a matter of seconds, the surface of the cocoon began to rapidly harden, right before a series of spider-like cracks began to form on its surface. From the openings, an eerie, dark mist began to flow into the world, and with it came an earth shaking roar. A monstrous front paw was the first appendage to escape the cocoon. In of itself, it was the size of a single hell hound with talons that stretched the length of several men. Next, came another paw, soon followed by a single humanoid arm, then several more, all of which surrounded a collection of hound heads that defined a majority of its tremendous size. Having escaped its enclosure, an even louder roar erupted in the area, with enough strength that shattered the windows across the surrounding streets.

Every element about the monster suggested a new species of hollow, but for the veterans of the supernatural, it was immediately obvious that its energy was not so. There was no denying that it was similar to the expectation of a hollow; however, something about it suggested an alternate being--one that was intelligent, sinister, and overwhelmingly powerful. To put it into perspective, Lilith immediately aborted her attack against Lucy, her tendril faltering seconds before it made contact with girl--all because of her body which began to tremble...out of fear...

 

[Azukai]

Kiosk hwayi Solemn Jester SidTheSkid Boss Jackaboi

Everything felt like it was going according to plan, it appeared as if this grotesque Hollow was permanently going to be reunited with the dullness that is the ‘void’ except unbeknownst to all nearly all of the ‘brilliant’ schemes that this ex-detective had secluded within’ his impulsive lunacy were flawed nonetheless relatively sufficient in getting things done, however this? This quirky strategy went downright amiss and as a consequence, he had now recklessly been mortally wounded by one of the sickening wooden spikes which had morbidly skewered through his side and splintered out his stomach without him knowing, well until his bodily functions were beginning to shut down including the adrenaline and narcotics that had been pumping throughout his system. An excruciating misery afflicted him and provoked his muscles to vigorously react by spasming and tensing up at the horrible pain, its intense sensation perceived as if there were multiple molten nails being driven into the farthest lengths of his lower stomach by a sledgehammer! Uncontrollable cries of regret hysterically vibrated his throat once he brought his forearms to the laceration in his stomach, a part of him wanted to regurgitate at feeling his own viscera being visibly shown, not to mention held as he pressured them back in. “I-it hurts!” Streaks of tears violated his cheeks during the full process of his harrowing torture, Devan’s own pale skin complexion was virtually covered in his own life-essence along with that black substance that ‘thing’ was secreting out of a nearby alcohol siphon. Luckily he had felt some relief knowing that he made that nuisance conceive some level of similar pain once it spontaneously combusted into a blazing pyre, hearing that jackass stumble backward was enchanting for lack of a better word, additionally being remotely awake to witness the sprinkler system do its thing was not. “Of course.” An unsettled grumble could be heard from him, additionally a loud ‘thud’ as he came into contact with the ground after losing most of his motor functions with blood-loss. “Herald?” It came as a shock, just before his eyes could completely shut they had witnessed that apparent carouser of his erupt with an azure-colored flame. She was a host, all this damn time? He didn’t know whether to be happy she was alive or befuddled as to why he tried to avenge someone who wasn’t dead. Surrounding puddles of his own life-essence grew as did the numbness once the idea of Death came to light, barely audible quotes made from the others could be discerned as he continued to fade into the state of eternal darkness, strangely one of the voices made its way to his conscious as Devan reached the final stages of his death, it was Herald and that angelic drunken voice of hers that offered a solution making him give one last effort to squint his eyes open and listen to her caring offer, one that he couldn’t help but take as he struggled to reply. “As long as we get to finish that toast, I don’t mind how much pain I go through.” A pitiful cackle wrested its way out from him, he felt as if this was the right decision despite a part of him knowing he would come to regret this.

“Your life.” The Herald muttered, seconds before thrusting her hand directly into his stomach wound. A similar burst of blue fire erupted around her fist, gradually spreading to the surrounding area and triggering a similar pain to that of which she had experienced. For Devan, nothing in his life could have ever compared. The blue flames were hot, unimaginably so. To compare it to an ordinary fire, was like comparing a lighter to the raging inferno of Hell. And to make matters worse, its regenerative properties prevented any of his pain receptors from ever being destroyed--hence an infinite turmoil that thrust his conscious into utter disarray.

“Devan.” From the depths of the abyss, a familiar voice called out his name. After all, it was his very own that spoke to his conscious in a somewhat irate tone. “What a useless piece of shit you are. If it wasn’t for me, what would you even be…” The voice paused for a moment to consider its nexts words, but soon decided against it. Instead, it opted to show itself--a sudden manifestation of a suit-clad figure that shared an eerie parallel with Devan. The only difference between the two, was the colors of their hair, and the depth of insanity that enveloped the crimson eyes hidden behind the bloodied mask of a demon. “You know, I’ll tell you...you’d be nothing more than a heroin addicted, gang banging fucker without any future or any success to your name. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.” The figure’s tone was no longer irate, but rather, condescending, as it approached Devan’s sprawled out body and began driving the boot of its heel into the burning wound on his stomach.

Everything about the figure was present in the bar; however, its existence was seemingly void to anyone but Devan. Not even the Herald was aware that he existed, which allowed him to reach over and lick the side of her face. “Now that’s a cute face I can’t wait to take advantage of later.” He said with a maniac laugh that signaled his anticipation. “So if you don’t mind, can you hurry up and shoo off into the afterlife. Daddy, here, needs your body.”

His entire being, every individual tissue, bone, and vessel scorched with throes of inconceivable misery, unlike anything that he's ever gone through. To think, having his own internal make-up being spread out and displayed like a grisly canvas was enough for him to burst out in a flowing stream of salted tears. Herald's bluish conflagration happening inside of his guts was directing Devan to have aspirations for death itself to grant him some form of mercy in order to stop this ceaseless pain. Gurgling on his own wails and blood wasn't exactly the best experience he has ever went through in life, sincerely it was doubtless that this was the shittiest thing he's gone through to date but it only somehow managed to get even 'better' as it always does only when the ongoing embers continued to swirl inside of him like a whirlwind. Statis between oblivion and reality, a constant equilibrium was met and made the unfortunate past detective become reunited with a manifestation of himself but far different, this embodiment wore a mask and its personality was cold, unforgiving, and malicious, only reinforcing its wicked atmosphere as it taunted him and revolved the heel of its boot into his insides causing waves of even more agony to flow through him like a connected circuit. "Mercy please!" He was brought to a wallowing state of despair, it was insult to injury seeing that figure in the corner of his eyes sensually bring his vulgar tongue up to the woman's jaw and up through her cheek, Devan knew that this sickening being wanting nothing more than to give light to this husk that was soon to be his body although a part of him felt that without him, that thing would conclusively fail in whatever endeavors that it wanted to achieve. "Wait." Barely having enough strength, he was at least able to use the last of it in his reserves to grab ahold of the doppelganger's ankle before gifting him a sincere but flinty glare as his jaw unhinged, commencing to word his response while clutching tighter. "I-I could say the same, in a way you need me too. Wasting away with me will probably do the same to you.." An additional emphatic whooping cough shot from his dried throat, spitting out whatever traces of blood that was left in it by the floorboards accompanying his mouth. He knew that he didn't have long, it was time to make a decision, one that would probably change is life for the worse but as a conclusion save it. "Both of us are at an impasse, now it seems like we both need to make a deal."

The figure began to laugh in response to Devan’s counter argument. While doing so, he turned his attention away from the Herald and proceeded to sit on Devan’s chest. There, he began slapping the man’s cheeks in rapid succession, up until blood began to trickle from both sides. Strangely enough, however, it was not further pain, but rather, energy Devan began to feel. “Bold words from a dying man. Contrary to your beliefs, a demon such as I, is in no way bequeathed unto you.” He began scratching under his chin, in a lazy manner that suggested he was growing rather bored with their exchange. “You see, it has been many centuries since I have been outside of that hellish realm, and I plan to enjoy every second of it to the fullest...without you to weigh me down, of course.”

His earlier boredom was replaced by a sudden sense of excitement; all in all, brewing anticipation towards the life he was about to experience. All it required was for Devan to die--something that had yet to happen for unexplained reasons. Suddenly, there was a hint of curiosity coming from the demon, as his eyes squinted and his fingers began poking at Devan’s face. At this point in time, the wounds on Devan’s stomach were mostly regenerated; yet even still, the pain of the fire continued to linger on.

“You know, you’d be doing everyone a favor if you could hurry up and die. Unlike you, I am a proper killer, and I could, ya know, save all these delicious, feminine morsels from their imminent fate with the hollow.”

Pained him to think anything else but, he was right. If anyone stood a 'chance' against that hollow it was him or Herald although she was too busy thoroughly repairing those crude wounds of his, a process that was still on-going as those two other ordinary girls were fighting a losing battle, if he couldn't properly distract them then what gave them a better chance of surviving this dangerous encounter? Hearing that his proposition was shot down, being regarded as nothing more than a simple myth was discouraging and it made Devan's options limited to two choices. Take a chance on Herald being able to save his life without sacrificing himself to this devil-eyed hellion but risk having Yue and Janaiya die if things take too long or become an offering and have his soul thrown into nothingness. "So, this is it." Not even that irritably finger of his bouncing against his forehead could distract him from the future repercussions he imagined when he thought even deeper about the two courses of action he could take. "You really are a bastard, taking advantage of this whole situation..." It wasn't like he had any options, his own personal morality forbid him from not assisting others, it's one of the sole reasons he took up his former profession of being a full-on detective in the first place! Putting his life on the line in order to serve, protect, and most importantly save the lives of others who are in grave danger. "Nonetheless, it seems that cannot be helped." Leisurely drifting his arms apart in the position of an embrace, it looked as if he was almost relinquishing himself as he ogled into the eyes of the depraved 'spirit', not a trace of regret was shown through his expression while finalizing his resolution and submitting to his own fate. "Do as you must, I've already lived my life." Visions of his current reality were flickering away, his last bit of attention was focused on Herald trying her best to revive him as the gloomy shadows squirmed were beginning to fade away the surroundings, consuming them into nothing. Seeing flashbacks of his past floating through his memories, he understood that this life that he had lived was reckless and unfulfilled, a part of him hoped that through this atonement that reconciliation can be made with those he has wronged.



At the same time Devan chose to submit to the demon, the Herald also finished healing his body. Right before the wounds in his stomach were fully closed, she quickly removed her fist and subsequently, the fires that came with it. A small trickle of flame was all that remained; the exact amount needed to seal the remainder of the wound. In a wisp of smoke, the fire went out, and under it was a pristine layer of skin--one that was void of any scars or lingering splinters that might have suggested his former injuries. It was a job well done, and something the Herald should have been proud having done; yet even still, a frown lingered on her face. It was still invisible to her; the demon that sat on Devan’s chest, with a smile that had grown at an exponential rate. He rose his right hand into the air and manifested an over sized meat cleaver that was heavily stained with splatter of blood. “Ah, compared to the fire, I’m sure this will just be a pinch or something.” The demon reassured, just before he positioned himself onto Devan’s stomach and hovered the blade above his chest.

SWISH. The tension was released and the blade plummeted downward, yet before it was driven into Devan’s beating heart, it came to a sudden stop just above his dermis. Small trickles of blood began well around the minor wound, at the same time that beads of sweat began to gather on the Demon’s forehead--the cleaver clattered onto the ground, while his upper body rapidly swiveled to gaze at his rear. Immense levels of pressure were being exerted by the Herald, and although they lasted for only fraction of a second, a single gaze was enough to send the Demon scurrying off Devan and huddling against the lower shelf of the bar. To Devan and the demon, the Herald’s aura was as bright as day--a raging inferno of immense blue flames that practically enveloped the entire ground floor of the bar. It wasn’t something that any human would have noticed, but for a trained host, such as Dominic or Nikky upstairs, it was a clear demonstration of a mysterious energy that wasn't akin to a host.

“Time to wake up, you shit.” The Herald muttered in her usual bored, drunken tone. Without any risk to Devan’s life, her serious nature had long faded, and soon, she was reaching for the nearest siphon that provided her with the last of its remaining alcohol. “Quit living a lie, being a baby-faced pushover, and get your ass out there to finish what your new companions have started.” She added in a whisper once the alcohol provided by the siphon had run dry. Her head nodded in the direction of Yue and Janaiya who were about enact her concocted plan.