Beyond Star City: IC Thread

ChasNicollette said:

Shrieve quirked an eyebrow.

Rolled that around in her mouth.

And she nodded, implicitly taking back everything irritated she'd concluded about the man and reserving further judgement... for now.

"Okay. You'll do."

Liv rolled her eyes. "I'm sure in 2055, plutonium will be available in every corner drugstore, but here in 2025, it's a little hard to come by."

Lori squinted. "...wait, and pocket dimensions aren't?"

A faint smirk graced Olivia Moore's pale lips.

Shrieve half-shrugged.

Lori put her hands in her dark, dark hair, eyes wide. "Okay, what the Hell. Who are you people?"

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Nevyn_Black said:

Frank craft smiled at the girl reassuringly.

"Would you believe, we're the good guys?"

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Danny smiled at the girl. "Hang with us little girl and you will see things that will blow your mind. After all here we are talking calmly about Lilith, Cain and Judas as people who we know lived and in two cases are still living. You have an actual Devil here," he bowed to her, " And an ex Angel of heaven," he said tipping his pitcher to Frankie. "I even work in a place that has connections to so many dimensions it would boggle your mind, So a pocket dimension is really not that outrageous. I could even tell you all about Lucifer and take you to Hell if you wanted,"he smiled at her.

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny smiled at the girl. "Hang with us little girl and you will see things that will blow your mind. After all here we are talking calmly about Lilith, Cain and Judas as people who we know lived and in two cases are still living. You have an actual Devil here," he bowed to her, " And an ex Angel of heaven," he said tipping his pitcher to Frankie. "I even work in a place that has connections to so many dimensions it would boggle your mind, So a pocket dimension is really not that outrageous. I could even tell you all about Lucifer and take you to Hell if you wanted,"he smiled at her.

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Craft nods his head. "I once invaded the Unseelie court, though it was an accident at the time and in the end I brokered a peace accord, after killing the boogieman, who turned out to be this automaton, like a Golem that was self repairing and it's programming had gone haywire long time back, which is funny, cause it started out as a scarecrow...long story. I'm gonna go outside for a smoke."

No, no, no, no. This sucker's Non-Euclidean. (Black Alice/Revenant/Shrieve)

Nevyn_Black said:

Frank craft smiled at the girl reassuringly.

"Would you believe, we're the good guys?"

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Lori opened her mouth, and shut it again, and actually found herself reassured despite herself, despite everything. "Coming from you, maybe. Bowie Knife Barbie and Steampunk Hulk and Smells Like Liquor Store Spirit--" here she meant Constantine, if that wasn't readily apparent "--not so much."

Blue Devil and Liv Moore seemed... okay. And Frankenstein seemed nice enough, she supposed, but of the people here she was having the hardest time adjusting to his appearance-- but that was probably her problem, not his.

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny smiled at the girl. "Hang with us little girl and you will see things that will blow your mind. After all here we are talking calmly about Lilith, Cain and Judas as people who we know lived and in two cases are still living. You have an actual Devil here," he bowed to her, " And an ex Angel of heaven," he said tipping his pitcher to Frankie. "I even work in a place that has connections to so many dimensions it would boggle your mind, So a pocket dimension is really not that outrageous. I could even tell you all about Lucifer and take you to Hell if you wanted,"he smiled at her.

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"I'm okay with a little paradigm shift so long as we give me time to pop the clutch," Black Alice replied, "but you can stow it with that 'little girl' crap. I'm 18, I'd have graduated high school by now if they didn't make do a few weeks of summer school, I'm old enough to vote and join the army, you can blow the diminutive anti-feminist terminology out your horns."

She paused. "...is Hell seriously a tourist destination? Tell me they've at least remodeled since the John Milton days."

Nevyn_Black said:

Craft nods his head. "I once invaded the Unseelie court, though it was an accident at the time and in the end I brokered a peace accord, after killing the boogieman, who turned out to be this automaton, like a Golem that was self repairing and it's programming had gone haywire long time back, which is funny, cause it started out as a scarecrow...long story. I'm gonna go outside for a smoke."

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Black Alice stood easily, dusted herself off a bit. "Cool. You can gimme a light while you tell me more about that Faerie stuff."

Liv laughed faintly. "Well, I did wonder if we should compare notes about our collective abilities. Now I know we're good at namedropping." She squinted, though. "And, you know-- don't get me wrong-- I've bucked the procedural stereotype in my day-- but is the middle of a briefing a good time for a cigarette break? I mean, we all know Constantine's gonna need one eventually, why not all go at the same time?"

Liv glanced at Shrieve. "Hell, you could even use the smoke-'em-if-you've-got-'em as another chance to run away."

Shrieve grimaced, shrugged dismissively. "What, and get secondhand smoke? No thanks. This body is a temple."

Constantine looked at Liv and grinned.

"If everyone insists on it we can break for a few. Course, the glamour I just laid on us here we could have a full Bacchanalia and no one would bat an eye in our direction. But I did just drop some heavy information on the table so if air is needed take it."

"For the record, not exactly an angel. Technically. Angelic, yes, Angel, no. Sort of. It's a long story. Now is not really the time. But Constantine is right about what he is saying. When he brought me this theory I ran it through some of the Scribes of Heaven, who verified the history. It took some persuasion, but they gave us the intel we needed. And, regardless of our differences, I am glad to have each of you here. But I will stress, this is playing with a fire unlike any we have seen on this or any other plane in a very long time. If anyone wants out, knowing the risks, now is the times. If you leave, you may evade his wrath. For now. But if we don't succeed, we will all face his wrath eventually."

Danny smiled. "Well as a Devil I may avoid his wrath a bit longer than you other guys but I still don't fancy having someone like that around. You know I am in. Suicide missions are my specialty anyway. What would this make it, my third or fourth time I have died."

He lifted up the pitcher of guiness and drained it then wiped away the white foam from his lip. "If it's all the same to you though I think I will stay here and just have a few more of these. Smoking is really not my thing. Brings back a lot of memories of the pit that I would really rather forget if you get my drift," he smiled wryly.

He looked up at the young girl and sighed. "Don't corrupt the young one too much you two. You are already old and world weary, she seems to be young and bright eyed. Let her dream for a little longer. And in answer to your question Alice, No Hell is not a tourist destination, but it seems nearly everyone is trying to get in nowadays. However if you truly and I do mean truly want to see what hell actually looks like I can take you for a look see. You might want to think long and hard about that though."

Danny waved at them as they started to walk out then turned to Shrieve. "So can I buy you a drink or does your temple not like that either," he asked her cheekily.

Craft smiled a bit. "you see, I'm 45, I have no magical powers sustaining me, and my ass is convinced that this chair is designed to be a torture device."

He gathered his coat and nodded politely all around. "So I'll be going to stretch the sciatic nerve and burn one. You can all discuss the plan without me, I'll catch up."

Picking Your Poison. (Revenant/Shrieve/Black Alice)

Lunaramblings said:

Constantine looked at Liv and grinned.

"If everyone insists on it we can break for a few. Course, the glamour I just laid on us here we could have a full Bacchanalia and no one would bat an eye in our direction. But I did just drop some heavy information on the table so if air is needed take it."

Click to expand...

Not that Liv didn't appreciate Constantine's ability to roll with the punches. But that Bacchanalia kind of soured it for her. She quietly sipped her drink and wished she'd ordered something stronger after all.

She knew he was kidding. But the pangs of never ever being able to be conventionally intimate with a person again-- of never letting her guard down, not completely, in that respect-- that never entirely went away. Even condoms couldn't stop the viroidal pathogen that spread zombieism, anyone she made love to would become like her, and she couldn't risk that, not ever.

There was-- there was a chance that Frankenstein might be immune. His body was already some differing variety of undead-- but then again, the zombie pathogen resulted from a bizarre combination of a tainted drug and an energy drink, who knew how her personal brand of toxic love would interact with whatever otherworldly forces swam in Frankenstein's bodily fluids?

And while she was daydreaming, Blue Devil could probably shrug off the infection-- but then again, what if he couldn't? She knew from hard, horrifying personal experience what it was like for her to digest a brain with metagenetic material. How much worse would it be if an actual metahuman contracted zombieism?

No, no, better to guard her heart and keep her sexcapades of the self-inflicted variety. She'd gone through enough roller-coasters and risk-taking with Major before they'd settled into their strange little version of "just friends."

She glanced quietly at Frankenstein as he spoke again, and her slow-pumping heart ached in her pale chest.

Lunaramblings said:

"For the record, not exactly an angel. Technically. Angelic, yes, Angel, no. Sort of. It's a long story. Now is not really the time. But Constantine is right about what he is saying. When he brought me this theory I ran it through some of the Scribes of Heaven, who verified the history. It took some persuasion, but they gave us the intel we needed. And, regardless of our differences, I am glad to have each of you here. But I will stress, this is playing with a fire unlike any we have seen on this or any other plane in a very long time. If anyone wants out, knowing the risks, now is the times. If you leave, you may evade his wrath. For now. But if we don't succeed, we will all face his wrath eventually."

Click to expand...

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny smiled. "Well as a Devil I may avoid his wrath a bit longer than you other guys but I still don't fancy having someone like that around. You know I am in. Suicide missions are my specialty anyway. What would this make it, my third or fourth time I have died."

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"And I'm dead for a living," Liv quipped. Quipping was easy, and fun conversation made it easier to deal with the oddities of one's anomalous life.

Aussie_Wolf said:

He lifted up the pitcher of guiness and drained it then wiped away the white foam from his lip. "If it's all the same to you though I think I will stay here and just have a few more of these. Smoking is really not my thing. Brings back a lot of memories of the pit that I would really rather forget if you get my drift," he smiled wryly.

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For what might have been the actual umpteenth time that day, Shrieve rolled her eyes. She didn't have a lot of sympathy for his sense-memory struggles, considering he'd made that deal-- whatever his motivations-- his ending up in The Pit of Perdition was self-defeat at its finest.

Aussie_Wolf said:

He looked up at the young girl and sighed. "Don't corrupt the young one too much you two. You are already old and world weary, she seems to be young and bright eyed. Let her dream for a little longer. And in answer to your question Alice, No Hell is not a tourist destination, but it seems nearly everyone is trying to get in nowadays. However if you truly and I do mean truly want to see what hell actually looks like I can take you for a look see. You might want to think long and hard about that though."

Click to expand...

Lori still rankled at this "young one" talk, and she certainly felt like an old soul-- old before her time-- and the light in her eyes had been dimmed by death, depression, addiction-- her dreams were harrowing and oft-forgotten visions of wars on a battlefield beyond all reckoning-- but then she supposed, everything was relative. This guy had actually been to literal Hell, she'd just done a few tours in a figurative one.

"I'm good, I guess," she grunted. "From the sound of things we're all gonna end up there anyhow, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

Nevyn_Black said:

Craft smiled a bit. "you see, I'm 45, I have no magical powers sustaining me, and my ass is convinced that this chair is designed to be a torture device."

He gathered his coat and nodded politely all around. "So I'll be going to stretch the sciatic nerve and burn one. You can all discuss the plan without me, I'll catch up."

Click to expand...

Alice was on her feet beside him, hands in her back pocket, and if that comment about his being 45 dimmed the alleged brightness in her eyes in the slightest, she certainly didn't let it slow her stride.

"Somebody record a voice memo on their phone so we can listen to the briefing in the car on the way," she suggested.

Liv's eyes widened, and she blinked, and took out her phone. That actually wasn't a bad idea, even for the people who were actually staying to listen-- like making audio notes of an autopsy to review later for a report.

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny waved at them as they started to walk out then turned to Shrieve. "So can I buy you a drink or does your temple not like that either," he asked her cheekily.

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Shrieve stared at him for a moment.

And then actually cracked a smile.

Fine, demon boy, she thought to herself, you wanna lubricate this arduous experience for me, go ahead. But don't expect me to do you any favors later-- I don't make deals with Devils.

"Okay. So maybe it's not a temple."

"Maybe it's a diesel engine."

"Which means," she pointed at him, "none of that unleaded shit."

ChasNicollette said:

Not that Liv didn't appreciate Constantine's ability to roll with the punches. But that Bacchanalia kind of soured it for her. She quietly sipped her drink and wished she'd ordered something stronger after all.

She knew he was kidding. But the pangs of never ever being able to be conventionally intimate with a person again-- of never letting her guard down, not completely, in that respect-- that never entirely went away. Even condoms couldn't stop the viroidal pathogen that spread zombieism, anyone she made love to would become like her, and she couldn't risk that, not ever.

There was-- there was a chance that Frankenstein might be immune. His body was already some differing variety of undead-- but then again, the zombie pathogen resulted from a bizarre combination of a tainted drug and an energy drink, who knew how her personal brand of toxic love would interact with whatever otherworldly forces swam in Frankenstein's bodily fluids?

And while she was daydreaming, Blue Devil could probably shrug off the infection-- but then again, what if he couldn't? She knew from hard, horrifying personal experience what it was like for her to digest a brain with metagenetic material. How much worse would it be if an actual metahuman contracted zombieism?

No, no, better to guard her heart and keep her sexcapades of the self-inflicted variety. She'd gone through enough roller-coasters and risk-taking with Major before they'd settled into their strange little version of "just friends."

She glanced quietly at Frankenstein as he spoke again, and her slow-pumping heart ached in her pale chest.

Click to expand...

Danny noticed the look of pain in Liv's eyes at Constantine's words and sighed a little. God (Ouch) that guy could be an insensitive prick sometimes, but he was pretty sure he had not done it intentionally this time. Still he should have remembered Liv's little 'Problem'. Then again perhaps it was because he was in a similar boat that he did, and that he maybe had picked up on a solution. He needed to get her alone to talk about it though and that may be a little difficult considering the situation.

Alice was on her feet beside him, hands in her back pocket, and if that comment about his being 45 dimmed the alleged brightness in her eyes in the slightest, she certainly didn't let it slow her stride.

"Somebody record a voice memo on their phone so we can listen to the briefing in the car on the way," she suggested.

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"Hey you want to take the easy way out you leave your own phone. No way am I letting you use mine. I have some very private numbers in their I don't want anyone getting a hold of, not to mention a few pictures I would prefer people not to see," he smiled.

Shrieve stared at him for a moment.

And then actually cracked a smile.

Fine, demon boy, she thought to herself, you wanna lubricate this arduous experience for me, go ahead. But don't expect me to do you any favors later-- I don't make deals with Devils.

"Okay. So maybe it's not a temple."

"Maybe it's a diesel engine."

"Which means," she pointed at him, "none of that unleaded shit."

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"Alright then if you can't handle the good stuff I guess you would be wanting something like scotch or whiskey then. How about a nice 15 year old bottle. That normally goes down smoothly." Danny turned to Liv and smiled. "And what about you Doc. Can I interest you in a drink? Before you say no,"he hurried on, "I have gotten my hands on something that may help you to enjoy it." Reaching into a small bag he carried on his waist he pulled out a small hip flask. The bag was actually a portal to a small sealed space where he could store a few things. "This is pure distilled ghost chilli oil. One drop of this would normally blow a persons head off. I keep it for a few customers at the bar but I think it would be good for you. What do you say about that drink now. Join me at the bar and pick something out?"

The Finest in Beverages that Make You Blind. (Black Alice/Revenant/Shrieve)

Aussie_Wolf said:

"Hey you want to take the easy way out you leave your own phone. No way am I letting you use mine. I have some very private numbers in their I don't want anyone getting a hold of, not to mention a few pictures I would prefer people not to see," he smiled.

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Lori crossed her arms at Blue, scowled. "Hey, I'm old enough to remember The Fappening and all that revenge porn bullshit being on the news ten years ago, I wouldn't leak anyone's nudes or stalk anyone's celeb exes." She paused. "Unless it turns out you dated Amy Lee at some point, I might stalk her a little."

"It's okay, B.D.," Liv held up her phone, the recorder already running. "I got it. I can just message it to her phone when I'm done. And if it turns out the wifi here isn't so hi-fi, well-- I haven't had anyone to sext with since a couple of handsets ago, and I've only ever dated one minor celebrity."

Another twinge. Remembering Lowell.

Oh, poor Lowell.

Aussie_Wolf said:

"Alright then if you can't handle the good stuff I guess you would be wanting something like scotch or whiskey then. How about a nice 15 year old bottle. That normally goes down smoothly."

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Shrieve's cheek twitched. "'Unleaded' means they took the good stuff out. I can totally chuck back vodka or Everclear--" she paused to consider. "Okay, whiskey could be good. But Tennessee whiskey, Grandpappy Shrieve swore by the stuff, none of that Ardbeg slop Constantine bathes in."

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny turned to Liv and smiled. "And what about you Doc. Can I interest you in a drink? Before you say no,"he hurried on, "I have gotten my hands on something that may help you to enjoy it." Reaching into a small bag he carried on his waist he pulled out a small hip flask. The bag was actually a portal to a small sealed space where he could store a few things. "This is pure distilled ghost chilli oil. One drop of this would normally blow a persons head off. I keep it for a few customers at the bar but I think it would be good for you. What do you say about that drink now. Join me at the bar and pick something out?"

Click to expand...

Liv's eyes lit up at the mention of ghost chili, that stuff was fantastic-- there was a bunch of it in the Beelzebub's Burn hot sauce that she swore by--

--but getting proper pissed (as Ravi might call it) just wasn't in the Tarot for her.

"I appreciate it, B.D., I really do. You're a real Good Samaritan. But I've had alcoholic brain often enough to know that I just can't shrug off a bucket of booze when I'm on the clock. Not to mention-- I think that the brain I'm on now is the opposite of alcoholic, totally teetotal, straight-up straight-edge, he didn't want his hyperawareness to get clouded by chemicals."

She held up her glass of sarsaparilla-with-sriracha, offering it up to that flask with its Holy Grail spice-juice.

"But if you kicked this up about twelve notches, my tastebuds would owe you big time-- it'd be a real feather in your capsaicin."

ChasNicollette said:

Shrieve's cheek twitched. "'Unleaded' means they took the good stuff out. I can totally chuck back vodka or Everclear--" she paused to consider. "Okay, whiskey could be good. But Tennessee whiskey, Grandpappy Shrieve swore by the stuff, none of that Ardbeg slop Constantine bathes in."

Click to expand...

Danny smiled at her. "Fine Tennessee it is. Hey I will even treat. Why don't you two sit back and I will be back in a second."

He made his way to the bar and got the attention of the barmaid. He must have made an impression before because she sidled up pretty quickly. Then again a guy downing a pitcher of Guinness in a few seconds did tend to make an impression anywhere.

"Hello Darl'n, I need your help. I want your best bottle of Tennessee whiskey and I truly mean it when I say money is no problem."

He saw her eyes light up and she headed behind the bar and returned with a bottle of Jack Daniels Single Barrel. "This is just the thing Sir. It was bottled in 2012 and has been aging in our back room ever since. I am sure it will be even smoother by now. I can let you have the bottle for $120."

Danny smiled knowing she had probably increased the price a little and planned to pocket a bit for herself but he did not mind. "Very well my dear, $120 it is." He handed over the money and took the bottle and two glasses back to the table. Placing one in front of Shrieve and one in front of him he poured two shots.

Liv's eyes lit up at the mention of ghost chili, that stuff was fantastic-- there was a bunch of it in the Beelzebub's Burn hot sauce that she swore by--

--but getting proper pissed (as Ravi might call it) just wasn't in the Tarot for her.

"I appreciate it, B.D., I really do. You're a real Good Samaritan. But I've had alcoholic brain often enough to know that I just can't shrug off a bucket of booze when I'm on the clock. Not to mention-- I think that the brain I'm on now is the opposite of alcoholic, totally teetotal, straight-up straight-edge, he didn't want his hyperawareness to get clouded by chemicals."

She held up her glass of sarsaparilla-with-sriracha, offering it up to that flask with its Holy Grail spice-juice.

"But if you kicked this up about twelve notches, my tastebuds would owe you big time-- it'd be a real feather in your capsaicin."

Click to expand...

Then slapping himself in the forehead he looked at Liv. " I am sorry where are my manners. I totally forgot about your drink." Danny reached into his coat pocket and took out the flask and added three drops to her cup. "That ought to spice things up a bit."

He then handed her the flask. "Why don't you keep that. I have a lot more." Smiling at them both he lifted his glass, "Well here's to possibly our last days on Earth." He threw the liquid down his throat and sighed in satisfaction. "Hmm not bad at all. I guess this will do to lubricate things," he chuckled as he refilled his glass.

Pub Quizzical. (Shrieve/Revenant)

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny smiled at her. "Fine Tennessee it is. Hey I will even treat. Why don't you two sit back and I will be back in a second."

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Shrieve squinted. And... processed. Here she was, walking a moral tightrope. Was she literally going to be drinking buddies with a devil? An actually-Godforsaken Duke of Hell? Was this what it had come down to?

But she supposed that Constantine and Frankenstein had revealed that they were after a bigger fish-- the sort of thing you might expect would be in the crosshairs of The Saint of Killers, not this ragtag band of urban hedge-mages, half-breeds, shambling corpses, and rookies. So it was acceptable. For now. As she had rationalized before. To cozy up with a lesser sardine so she could drag a wicked tuna out of the depths.

Besides, if she could patch up with The White Plague over there with her sarsaparilla, Moore was in good with Captain Babineaux of The Seattle PD-- that could get her car out of impound in a hurry. Okay, yeah. All part of the game.

Yeah, that was it.

Meanwhile, Liv arched both pale eyebrows as Blue Devil sauntered off, lowering her glass as she did so. Her eyes darted from Shrieve to Blue and back again, and she made a knowing little noise in her mouth, sighing and shaking her head.

She'd been all over The Kinsey Scale with her brains over the years and while she was herself heterosexual, she could totally recognize that as murderous as Shrieve was, she filled out that red turtleneck like a champ. Still, of all the times to get distracted by Buffy the Vampire Slaughterer, this was not the best one.

"I've said it before," Liv murmured to herself, and sipped her drink, "and I'll say it again: horny boys are the worst." And, hey, if any boy was horny...

Aussie_Wolf said:

He handed over the money and took the bottle and two glasses back to the table. Placing one in front of Shrieve and one in front of him he poured two shots.

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Shrieve slammed it back like a pro and closed her eyes, pressing the empty shot glass to her forehead with a gratified sigh. "Okay. Yeah. I needed that. Fire down the chakra. Thanks, Duke."

Aussie_Wolf said:

Then slapping himself in the forehead he looked at Liv. " I am sorry where are my manners. I totally forgot about your drink." Danny reached into his coat pocket and took out the flask and added three drops to her cup. "That ought to spice things up a bit."

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Liv smirked her trademark smirk, and took a grateful swig. "Ah, see, now that's a good burn going down. Blue, you're a thespian and a scholar."

Aussie_Wolf said:

He then handed her the flask. "Why don't you keep that. I have a lot more."

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Liv grinned and slipped the flask into her inside jacket pocket. "I'll have to owe you something. Much appreciated. Honestly, I should really start carrying condiments with me if S.H.A.D.E.'s going to be whisking me cross-country first thing every other morning."

Aussie_Wolf said:

Smiling at them both he lifted his glass, "Well here's to possibly our last days on Earth." He threw the liquid down his throat and sighed in satisfaction. "Hmm not bad at all. I guess this will do to lubricate things," he chuckled as he refilled his glass.

Click to expand...

Shrieve slid her glass over for a refill. "I'd rather be vicious than viscous."

"Now then, John, Frank," Liv mused, glancing at the two supernatural gentlemen. "What were we briefing?"

Frankenstein looked over at Liv and smiled that sadly broken grin again.

"So here's the thing. We know Judas is behind it. But we think he has help. We were heading to New Carthage to check things out. It's bad he is syphoning these souls. But what worries us is what he intends to do with that much juice."

"Right. Thing is that wit the kinda power he's pulling he could do jus' 'bout anythin he wan's. Souls are incredibly potent. 'swhy Lucifer and The Creator both wan' em so bad. One soul is enough to wreak some major havoc. But the number we have confirmed, between Wales and here, and God knows how many other places, well that's enough to do a lot of damage. Like change the world as we know it damage. So we gotta find out who he 'as workin wit 'im and what they have planned." Constantine looks around as Alice leaves.

"Not all of us are likely to come out of this. Not in one piece anyway. I might be lots of things, and that girl certainly has power, but I have seen too many follow me into battle and die. I don't want to be responsible for some young angsty kid losin her life if I can help it. If we let 'er come, she might not come back. And I don't want that on my conscious. I got 'nough on it as it is." A shadow seems to pass over his soul as he speaks. A look of loss and sorrow fills his eyes for just a moment. And for a moment John lets the mask and bravado slip. Revealing his broken shattered heart. "Like I said though. She has a shit ton of power she does. And pretty sure she will come in handy. But I ain't gon' sacrifice her to take the shot."

Soul Survival. (Revenant/Shrieve)

Lunaramblings said:

Frankenstein looked over at Liv and smiled that sadly broken grin again.

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Liv smiled her own broken smile right back, and had to remind her sluggish undead heart not to flutter at that smile. Goddammit, Moore, we were just going over this...

Lunaramblings said:

"So here's the thing. We know Judas is behind it. But we think he has help. We were heading to New Carthage to check things out. It's bad he is syphoning these souls. But what worries us is what he intends to do with that much juice."

"Right. Thing is that wit the kinda power he's pulling he could do jus' 'bout anythin he wan's. Souls are incredibly potent. 'swhy Lucifer and The Creator both wan' em so bad. One soul is enough to wreak some major havoc. But the number we have confirmed, between Wales and here, and God knows how many other places, well that's enough to do a lot of damage. Like change the world as we know it damage. So we gotta find out who he 'as workin wit 'im and what they have planned."

Click to expand...

Shrieve slid her glass from side to side on the table, and squinted down at it. "My family's diaries talked of a rumor of a legend of a prophecy, a small religious following among housecats. It says that if a thousand cats dream the same dream in one night, the whole world'll change so that cats would be giant, and enslave Mankind the way that cats are now dependent on humans. Not only that, but it would change the world retroactively, so that it would always have been that way and we would never know the difference. The prophecy says that this has happened before-- that men and women were once tiny and helpless and fodder for our feline overlords, and that when a thousand of these humans dreamed a dream of their freedom, the world changed so that it was always as it is now. I'm sure it's bullshit. Cats telling themselves they're important. But then again."

Shrieve shook her head. She didn't usually talk so much at one go.

"If a thousand dreams can rewrite time and space, what can you do with a thousand souls?"

Liv placed her own hand on her own heart pensively. She was an undead creature with both her oversoul and undersoul intact, which meant she was just as vulnerable to this darkness as any of the humans. If her soul got harvested, would she die for real, or would she just immediately degrade into the sort of shuffling, lurching, ravenous, full-time "full-on zombie" that she might become if she didn't eat brains on a regular basis?

...a fate worse than undeath.

She shuddered.

Lunaramblings said:

Constantine looks around as Alice leaves.

"Not all of us are likely to come out of this. Not in one piece anyway. I might be lots of things, and that girl certainly has power, but I have seen too many follow me into battle and die. I don't want to be responsible for some young angsty kid losin her life if I can help it. If we let 'er come, she might not come back. And I don't want that on my conscious. I got 'nough on it as it is." A shadow seems to pass over his soul as he speaks. A look of loss and sorrow fills his eyes for just a moment. And for a moment John lets the mask and bravado slip. Revealing his broken shattered heart.

Click to expand...

Liv winced, and slid her hand across and gave John's a squeeze, careful-- as ever-- to not graze skin with her fingernails.

He'd called Black Alice "angsty," but that wasn't uncommon in this bunch. All of them had burdens on their heart. Black Alice just seemed newer to carrying hers, was all.

Lunaramblings said:

"Like I said though. She has a shit ton of power she does. And pretty sure she will come in handy. But I ain't gon' sacrifice her to take the shot."

Click to expand...

Shrieve grunted. "It's not like you to use every weapon at your disposal. And make no mistake, she's a weapon. A Person of Mass Destruction, judging by what she did to my motorcycle. If New Carthage is Hiroshima and this girl is Little Boy, you best believe I'm gonna make like Harry S Truman and salute her from the bomb bay doors all the way down."

"Well," Liv mused hesitantly, shocked that she would agree with Shrieve on anything-- but not for nothing was she an Agent of S.H.A.D.E. "It certainly sounds like we could use some power in our corner right now. Not a lot of us have a lot of power, with all due respect to Frankenstein and Blue. And-- like she said, she's a woman now. Old enough to vote, old enough to join the army. And whatever her reasons for showing up here and now, she deserves the right to choose if she wants to sacrifice herself."

She paused, and thought again of Lowell Tracy, and closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again with a sad shake of her head.

"Obviously. Obviously. That's a last resort. But we have to be aware that she might have to resort to that. And she deserves the chance to make that call."

Contempt of Court. (Black Alice)

Trudging outside to find Frank Craft grimly, dubiously eyeballing that short black Sheriff's lieutenant and her Colonial Williamsburg cosplayer of a partner-- they kept their distance, but they eyeballed right back --Black Alice popped a cigarette out of her pack and stepped up beside him.

Holding the coffin-nail up expectantly, hoping that he'd give her a light, she pointedly ignored their constabulary peanut gallery.

"So."

"Faerie, huh?"

"Is it like Lost Girl? Tell me it's like Lost Girl."

ChasNicollette said:

Shrieve slid her glass from side to side on the table, and squinted down at it. "My family's diaries talked of a rumor of a legend of a prophecy, a small religious following among housecats. It says that if a thousand cats dream the same dream in one night, the whole world'll change so that cats would be giant, and enslave Mankind the way that cats are now dependent on humans. Not only that, but it would change the world retroactively, so that it would always have been that way and we would never know the difference. The prophecy says that this has happened before-- that men and women were once tiny and helpless and fodder for our feline overlords, and that when a thousand of these humans dreamed a dream of their freedom, the world changed so that it was always as it is now. I'm sure it's bullshit. Cats telling themselves they're important. But then again."

Shrieve shook her head. She didn't usually talk so much at one go.

"If a thousand dreams can rewrite time and space, what can you do with a thousand souls?"

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Danny smiled sadly "Oh you would be surprised at what you can do with a Thousand souls," he said shaking his head. "You would be amazed at what you can do with only a couple actually. I have witnessed first hand what they can do and I assume old stitch face over there," He smiled to take any sting out of his words, "Has as well. We may say we have been to Hell and Heaven a lot but I don't know if you guys can actually grasp what that means. Just how long do you think God and Lucifer have been fighting for the souls of Humanity? Just how many people have died in that time. So just how many souls do you think they have to call on? That is why they are the two most powerful beings on the planet."

Danny sighed in frustration.If they could get either one to take an interest and stop him, Judas could be stopped in an instant. However Lucifer was off whooping it up in Los Vegas and had basically cut himself off from most of his powers or so he had been told, and God had not taken a direct hand in things for a long time.

Liv winced, and slid her hand across and gave John's a squeeze, careful-- as ever-- to not graze skin with her fingernails.

He'd called Black Alice "angsty," but that wasn't uncommon in this bunch. All of them had burdens on their heart. Black Alice just seemed newer to carrying hers, was all.

Shrieve grunted. "It's not like you to use every weapon at your disposal. And make no mistake, she's a weapon. A Person of Mass Destruction, judging by what she did to my motorcycle. If New Carthage is Hiroshima and this girl is Little Boy, you best believe I'm gonna make like Harry S Truman and salute her from the bomb bay doors all the way down."

"Well," Liv mused hesitantly, shocked that she would agree with Shrieve on anything-- but not for nothing was she an Agent of S.H.A.D.E. "It certainly sounds like we could use some power in our corner right now. Not a lot of us have a lot of power, with all due respect to Frankenstein and Blue. And-- like she said, she's a woman now. Old enough to vote, old enough to join the army. And whatever her reasons for showing up here and now, she deserves the right to choose if she wants to sacrifice herself."

She paused, and thought again of Lowell Tracy, and closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again with a sad shake of her head.

"Obviously. Obviously. That's a last resort. But we have to be aware that she might have to resort to that. And she deserves the chance to make that call."

Click to expand...

Danny nodded in agreement. "The kid came here on her own and and she didn't run away screaming like she should have when she saw us," he laughed."That makes her either Brave or stupid or maybe a bit of both. Either way the kid has made her choice to stay and if she continues to do so then that is fine by me. We're fighting for the survival of the world here and she is a part of that. If she wants to help out then I say we let her."

ChasNicollette said:

Trudging outside to find Frank Craft grimly, dubiously eyeballing that short black Sheriff's lieutenant and her Colonial Williamsburg cosplayer of a partner-- they kept their distance, but they eyeballed right back --Black Alice popped a cigarette out of her pack and stepped up beside him.

Holding the coffin-nail up expectantly, hoping that he'd give her a light, she pointedly ignored their constabulary peanut gallery.

"So."

"Faerie, huh?"

"Is it like Lost Girl? Tell me it's like Lost Girl."

Click to expand...

Frank puffed on his cigar, enjoying the smell and flavor, using his trusty zippo to light Alice's cig, carefully not thinking about her legal age.

"Uh...not exactly. Except in the way that all faerie creatures are scary fuckers that feed on humanity in some fashion."

He noticed the odd couple across the street, watching the long haired dude turn his head quickly away, snorting to himself at amateur sleuths everywhere. He turned back to Alice and went on with his story.

"I was investigating a missing persons case that involved young women disappearing from locked rooms, with no obvious means of exit. I figured out that something was coming out of the closet and taking them back with it. So a friend and I went through...passed through some kind of dark realm in between worlds and came out in a place that was forever autumn and winter, always night, with a moon that seemed to go through it's stages without ever setting or rising."

"The unseelie had become the last refuge of all faerie. They were having trouble breeding and had hatched a plan to kidnap human females who might have enough fey blood to breed with. They'd created this automaton, like a living scarecrow, to find and take the girls. It had been doing it for so long that the programming had become conflicted. It was self aware and self repairing and it was a bitch to destroy it, let me tell you."

"The fey come in two types, the Noble Fey, or Sidhe, and the lesser fey, which come in a bunch of varieties, like leprechauns and brownies. The lesser fey were bio engineered using magic a long long time ago, to do various tasks. The Sidhe can look however they choose, but it takes some juice to maintain a glamour. Their true form is...eerie. Like a cross between some giant insect and a human being. Tall, but reed slender, elongated limbs, bone pale, jewel like compound eyes."

"They are as a race, a bunch of psychic vampires. They feed on human emotion and that doesn't always mean the good stuff, like joy and lust and laughter. The Seelie court mostly feeds on that stuff, but the dark fey feed on fear and pain and despair. They once lived side by side with us in this world but the age of science pushed them out, caused them to retreat to a pocket universe of their own."

"Thanks to me, they came back into the world a few years ago. They had to give up a big chunk of power, but they are still dangerous. Make no deals and accept no gifts from them, ever. And if challenged...know that you're probably going to die, but never back down, or they will swarm you like ants on a beetle."

Frank went quiet and smoked his cigar, letting her digest that.

Unsealing the Unseelie. (Black Alice)

Nevyn_Black said:

Frank puffed on his cigar, enjoying the smell and flavor, using his trusty zippo to light Alice's cig, carefully not thinking about her legal age.

Click to expand...

Hey, 18 was old enough to smoke. Not drink, not that that was what was stopping her these days. She inhaled gratefully, and sighed out smoke through mouth and nostrils like she'd just taken a drag off of the mists of Avalon.

Nevyn_Black said:

"Uh...not exactly. Except in the way that all faerie creatures are scary fuckers that feed on humanity in some fashion."

Click to expand...

Lori laughed a strangled little laugh for a moment. "Well that figures. Everything's relative. Even the food chain."

Nevyn_Black said:

He noticed the odd couple across the street, watching the long haired dude turn his head quickly away, snorting to himself at amateur sleuths everywhere. He turned back to Alice and went on with his story.

Click to expand...

Speaking of everything being relative, this particular "amateur" was nothing but. And his partner was a trained professional with eyes on Quantico. But standing guard over a person and making sure they weren't up to no good was not the same as sneaking up on a person, and it certainly wasn't the same as researching monsters in dusty tomes before hunting them through misty, purgatorial woods.

In any case, they weren't nearly used to a human who "saw" as much as Frank Craft did.

As cute as Lori found Crane and his shorter, badge-wearing partner, they weren't nearly as appealing as the gruff, salt-and-peppery fella to whom she returned her gaze as he continued talking.

Nevyn_Black said:

"I was investigating a missing persons case that involved young women disappearing from locked rooms, with no obvious means of exit. I figured out that something was coming out of the closet and taking them back with it. So a friend and I went through...passed through some kind of dark realm in between worlds and came out in a place that was forever autumn and winter, always night, with a moon that seemed to go through it's stages without ever setting or rising."

"The unseelie had become the last refuge of all faerie. They were having trouble breeding and had hatched a plan to kidnap human females who might have enough fey blood to breed with. They'd created this automaton, like a living scarecrow, to find and take the girls. It had been doing it for so long that the programming had become conflicted. It was self aware and self repairing and it was a bitch to destroy it, let me tell you."

"The fey come in two types, the Noble Fey, or Sidhe, and the lesser fey, which come in a bunch of varieties, like leprechauns and brownies. The lesser fey were bio engineered using magic a long long time ago, to do various tasks. The Sidhe can look however they choose, but it takes some juice to maintain a glamour. Their true form is...eerie. Like a cross between some giant insect and a human being. Tall, but reed slender, elongated limbs, bone pale, jewel like compound eyes."

"They are as a race, a bunch of psychic vampires. They feed on human emotion and that doesn't always mean the good stuff, like joy and lust and laughter. The Seelie court mostly feeds on that stuff, but the dark fey feed on fear and pain and despair. They once lived side by side with us in this world but the age of science pushed them out, caused them to retreat to a pocket universe of their own."

"Thanks to me, they came back into the world a few years ago. They had to give up a big chunk of power, but they are still dangerous. Make no deals and accept no gifts from them, ever. And if challenged...know that you're probably going to die, but never back down, or they will swarm you like ants on a beetle."

Frank went quiet and smoked his cigar, letting her digest that.

Click to expand...

More like indigestion, really.

Of course she'd suspected that Faerie wasn't even a little bit like fairy tales, no godmothers, no blue goddesses bringing puppets to life to cheer up a dear old man. It wasn't like her outlook tended to much besides dim and grim, these days. But to find out the universe was crawling with even more gnashing predators than she'd already thought, that wasn't especially cheering to someone who'd just basically abandoned her life to go on a mystical hunt-slash-vision-quest.

Black Alice stared into the slender prehensile tongue of smoke wisping up chiaroscuro from the tip of her cigarette before taking another drag and causing the cherry to flare brighter.

"No deals, no gifts, got it. But never backing down shouldn't be a problem, and if they do challenge me, well, I got more juice than they've got glamor, you've even seen it."

ChasNicollette said:

Hey, 18 was old enough to smoke. Not drink, not that that was what was stopping her these days. She inhaled gratefully, and sighed out smoke through mouth and nostrils like she'd just taken a drag off of the mists of Avalon.



Lori laughed a strangled little laugh for a moment. "Well that figures. Everything's relative. Even the food chain."



Speaking of everything being relative, this particular "amateur" was nothing but. And his partner was a trained professional with eyes on Quantico. But standing guard over a person and making sure they weren't up to no good was not the same as sneaking up on a person, and it certainly wasn't the same as researching monsters in dusty tomes before hunting them through misty, pergatorial woods.

In any case, they weren't nearly used to a human who "saw" as much as Frank Craft did.

As cute as Lori found Crane and his shorter, badge-wearing partner, they weren't nearly as appealing as the gruff, salt-and-peppery fella to whom she returned her gaze as he continued talking.



More like indigestion, really.

Of course she'd suspected that Faerie wasn't even a little bit like fairy tales, no godmothers, no blue goddesses bringing puppets to life to cheer up a dear old man. It wasn't like her outlook tended to much besides dim and grim, these days. But to find out the universe was crawling with even more gnashing predators than she'd already thought, that wasn't especially cheering to someone who'd just basically abandoned her life to go on a mystical hunt-slash-vision-quest.

Black Alice stared into the slender prehensile tongue of smoke wisping up chiaroscuro from the tip of her cigarette before taking another drag and causing the cherry to flare brighter.

"No deals, no gifts, got it. But never backing down shouldn't be a problem, and if they do challenge me, well, I got more juice than they've got glamor, you've even seen it."

Click to expand...

Frank nods at this. "Yeah, you pack one hellofa punch, kid. But remember that the things you'll be fighting wont always come at you that way. A lot of them try to trick you, twist you around yourself, use your own power and strength against you. You gotta learn to be smart, not just tough. Like Constantine. That man knows so many mystical loopholes and obscure clauses, he might as well be a lawyer."

He looks at her out of the corner of his eye pointedly.
"You should learn as much as you can from him. He always plays his cards close to his vest and holds a trump card ready to play, but what lets him DO that is, he knows the game. Also, much as it pains me, watch Shrieve. She's spent most of her life fighting things that are twice her size and ten times her strength. She is an expert at thinking on her feet and turning on a dime when the situation changes. With your power, if you can learn something from those two..."

Craft shakes his head. "You could really be something special. Something this world needs. Someone able to go toe to toe with the darkest, baddest, things."

Constantine looks about the room. He didn't expect to have this much power to back them. He fully expected to just be him and Frankenstein. He would need to adjust his plans a bit, but he grimly thought that he might actually be able to pull this off.

"Listen, I don't know if we can win this. We are going against a being shunned by both Heaven and Hell. And if that weren't bad enough, there are other players. Beings that are going to see this happening and use it for their own purposes. We have plenty of strength, but we need to also be cunning. So, here's wha' I think we need to do. We need someone to talk to the families. Get background, find a common thread. And then we need a team to check out a couple of local hot spots. There are at least 2 leyline convergences nearby. Thats... unusual. In addition, this area is an epicenter for some strange things. We need to make sure we are covering our backs and making sure we aren't leaving breadcrumbs."

Frankenstein nods as John finishes. "I think that given her credentials and her medical knowledge, Liv should be the one leading the investigation of the families. But she can't do it alone. We don't know if one or more of those families is involved. I would like to assist."

"Mate, all due respect, but you sort stand out like a severed and reassembled thumb. You don' think tha' might be a problem?" John flashes a knowing grin at Frankenstein, knowing full well why he wants to go.

"It's fine. Remember the trip I went on last month? I found a werewolf pack. They were hunting in plain sight using a set of magical talismans that allowed them to appear like a normal human. I may have kept one when I turned them over to S.H.A.D.E. for safety."

"You did freelance work for those bloaks a month ago? Why di'nt you tell me?"

"Because you would have either tried to talk me out of it, or tried to come with and raid their pantries. And yes, occasionally, when there is a significant threat I assist. Just because I left the team full time doesn't mean I am going to let monsters tear things apart rather than helping them out. We had our differences, but humanity comes first."

"Fine. You and Ms. Moore can look into the human angle. So the rest of us look into the two convergences. One is here in Sleepy Hollow, the other is in New Carthage. I think we take this one first. Thoughts?"

Dark Sidhe of The Moon. (Black Alice)

Nevyn_Black said:

Frank nods at this. "Yeah, you pack one hellofa punch, kid. But remember that the things you'll be fighting wont always come at you that way. A lot of them try to trick you, twist you around yourself, use your own power and strength against you. You gotta learn to be smart, not just tough. Like Constantine. That man knows so many mystical loopholes and obscure clauses, he might as well be a lawyer."

He looks at her out of the corner of his eye pointedly.
"You should learn as much as you can from him. He always plays his cards close to his vest and holds a trump card ready to play, but what lets him DO that is, he knows the game. Also, much as it pains me, watch Shrieve. She's spent most of her life fighting things that are twice her size and ten times her strength. She is an expert at thinking on her feet and turning on a dime when the situation changes. With your power, if you can learn something from those two..."

Craft shakes his head. "You could really be something special. Something this world needs. Someone able to go toe to toe with the darkest, baddest, things."

Click to expand...

As Craft gave her pointed pointers, Lori nodded, rubbed her upper arm with one hand and furrowed her brow.

There was something Nietzschean about all this.

The abyss gazing also, and whoever fights monsters should be careful not to become monsters themselves.

Breath hissed into her lungs filled with nicotine and tar and she blew it back out again between teeth.

It occurred to her, standing here hundreds of miles from Dayton, that she didn't actually know for sure that she wasn't one of "the darkest, baddest things."

"Sounds like Summer School's just getting started," she reflected ruefully.

Life and Soul of The Party. (Revenant/Shrieve)

Lunaramblings said:

"Fine. You and Ms. Moore can look into the human angle. So the rest of us look into the two convergences. One is here in Sleepy Hollow, the other is in New Carthage. I think we take this one first. Thoughts?"

Click to expand...

Liv grinned softly at the thought of being teamed up with Frankenstein. It had been awhile-- between her being a S.H.A.D.E. part-timer and him being strictly freelance, she hadn't been able to coincide with him on that werewolf op.

But whether she had a chance with him at the nearest possible approximation to a normal human relationship or not, it would be good to have someone that stalwart in her corner.

"I was gonna suggest I help investigate the deaths, even if Frank didn't," Liv agreed. "Any idea how intact the bodies would be after the soul-siphoning process? Once we've talked to the families, I'd like to take a look at the bodies, and maybe the, uh, brains. Old investigative techniques die hard."

She paused. "Also, and I know this might prove kinda a controversial suggestion, but if we're going to still be doing legwork in this town before we go, maybe we wanna loop in the local authorities somewhat? I wouldn't blame them if they didn't buy my story before and if they don't know we've got a legitimate case on our hands-- well-- let's say I'd rather have them as a help than a hindrance."

Miranda Shrieve stared into her glass for a moment, glanced up at everyone.

"Here's my human angle: seems to me that if there's two ley-line intersects near here, maybe we should split up and recon 'em both at the same time? There's enough of us now. Maybe that'll spread us a little thin, but time might be of the essence."

ChasNicollette said:

"I was gonna suggest I help investigate the deaths, even if Frank didn't," Liv agreed. "Any idea how intact the bodies would be after the soul-siphoning process? Once we've talked to the families, I'd like to take a look at the bodies, and maybe the, uh, brains. Old investigative techniques die hard."

She paused. "Also, and I know this might prove kinda a controversial suggestion, but if we're going to still be doing legwork in this town before we go, maybe we wanna loop in the local authorities somewhat? I wouldn't blame them if they didn't buy my story before and if they don't know we've got a legitimate case on our hands-- well-- let's say I'd rather have them as a help than a hindrance."

Click to expand...

Danny looked over at her and shrugged his large shoulders. " Hey if you want to go try and explain this to the boys in blue go right ahead. Don't be surprised if they laugh in your face though. It would be great to have them on our side but the best way would be to concoct some cover story like an outbreak of a new type of Flu or something and get S.H.A.D.E. to make up some pretty badges for you." He smiled as he shook his head and grinned ruefully. "It was a lot easier back in the JL days. You flashed that card and the cops couldn't do enough for you no matter what crazy situation you found yourself in."

Miranda Shrieve stared into her glass for a moment, glanced up at everyone.

"Here's my human angle: seems to me that if there's two ley-line intersects near here, maybe we should split up and recon 'em both at the same time? There's enough of us now. Maybe that'll spread us a little thin, but time might be of the essence."

Click to expand...

He looked at her. The argument was sound but at the same time it was risky. Basically there were two powerhouses on the team and one was going with Liv to check on the families. That left the makeup of the teams pretty lopsided. Then again with the girl it could work. She was raw but she did have a lot of power and if she went with someone smart it could work.

"It's a bit of a catch 22 on splitting up. As Shrieve says, we might not have much time left but we might also be reducing our strength too much. Still if we keep in touch I think we should risk it. With the five of us left you have one powerhouse and one potential. Got to give the kid her due, when she gets going she can bring some serious power. So one of us on either team. I would suggest either Craft or Constantine go with the kid though to keep her focused, hell I would say both but that is up to you guys. Then Shrieve either with me in a two person group or with the kid, but the Kid's group definitely is the three person group. She needs the more backup.

As the group discussed splitting up John considered the possibility. "Th'only issue is, one is 'ere in the Hollow. Th'other is in New Carthage. I don't quite wan' ta send a small group into that wasps nest. Honestly, if we are goin' ta do much here we need a cover with the authorities. That we can handle." Constantine reaches into his pockets and pulls out several wallets, waves a hand over them and mutters something in a strange tongue. He then tosses them across the table. "Psionicly responsive IDs. Whatever you think, whatever you want them to be they will. Only works on Mortals. Demons, Angels, those sorts tend to see right through them. Course, if we run 'cross one a them blokes, chances are they might be involved."

Frankenstein looks over at John. "Listen. I agree with John. Let me and Liv talk to the local guys. Something is... different about them. I can feel it. I think that there's more to them than what it appears. Maybe more than they realize. One of the things that came with my resurrection was the ability to sense things with certain spiritual power. Unfortunately only at a close range. And I can't really focus it. More obnoxious than anything. Anyway, lets talk to the locals. See if they have anything odd to report, if not,then its likely the leylines here are dormant. If that's the case we can move on to New Carthage in force. Liv and I do the human angle, you lot do the spiritual angel. Then we convene to compare notes. Unless you all object and have a better idea. But either way, we need to be careful about tipping our hands. If Judas sees this much power coming at him, he might react potently, or worse, disappear again."

As he finishes, Frankenstein pulls a small pouch that appears to be made of some sort of skin or leather, marked with strange runes. He slips the leather thong around his neck, tucking it under his shirt. As the pouch touches his skin, his lets out a small hiss as the magic sears into his flesh. In an instant his visage shimmers and for the first time in many years, Chas, not The Monster, is visible at the table.

A Pact made in Shadows. (Revenant/Shrieve)

Aussie_Wolf said:

Danny looked over at her and shrugged his large shoulders. " Hey if you want to go try and explain this to the boys in blue go right ahead. Don't be surprised if they laugh in your face though. It would be great to have them on our side but the best way would be to concoct some cover story like an outbreak of a new type of Flu or something and get S.H.A.D.E. to make up some pretty badges for you."

Click to expand...

Liv nodded slowly at this. "Hey, I wasn't going to be right straight out with them. But it'd be better for them to think we're working on something legit rather than me just picking up after some pyrotechnic flash-mob. My friend Ravi works in Pestilence and Pollution, and he used to work for The Center for Disease Control. He actually could probably whip up something like that, pride himself on authenticity, I wouldn't rule it out."

Aussie_Wolf said:

He smiled as he shook his head and grinned ruefully. "It was a lot easier back in the JL days. You flashed that card and the cops couldn't do enough for you no matter what crazy situation you found yourself in."

Click to expand...

Liv squinted. "Do you still have your Justice Society card? Because-- because that could work. 'Sorry we lied to you before, it's a superhero thing.' I had a dim opinion of superheroes when I worked with the police, but that was before I took a spin on costumed-vigilante brain and it put things into a whole new perspective."

Aussie_Wolf said:

He looked at her. The argument was sound but at the same time it was risky. Basically there were two powerhouses on the team and one was going with Liv to check on the families. That left the makeup of the teams pretty lopsided. Then again with the girl it could work. She was raw but she did have a lot of power and if she went with someone smart it could work.

"It's a bit of a catch 22 on splitting up. As Shrieve says, we might not have much time left but we might also be reducing our strength too much. Still if we keep in touch I think we should risk it. With the five of us left you have one powerhouse and one potential. Got to give the kid her due, when she gets going she can bring some serious power. So one of us on either team. I would suggest either Craft or Constantine go with the kid though to keep her focused, hell I would say both but that is up to you guys. Then Shrieve either with me in a two person group or with the kid, but the Kid's group definitely is the three person group. She needs the more backup.

Click to expand...

Shrieve arched an eyebrow. Not a bad distribution of resources, there. And she couldn't help but notice that Blue was still partnering himself with her. Either he'd forgiven her, or didn't trust her out of his sight, or was still nursing a Hella crush-- or some mix of the above. Hey, she could work with that.

Lunaramblings said:

As the group discussed splitting up John considered the possibility. "Th'only issue is, one is 'ere in the Hollow. Th'other is in New Carthage. I don't quite wan' ta send a small group into that wasps nest."

Click to expand...

Liv winced. "Actually, that's a good point. Father Time tried to bilocate me into New Carthage to drop me off and he hit a ward-barrier that saw him coming miles off. It killed him. You know, this him, he'll get better, but yeah. We should probably not try to cross that town line until we're good and ready."

Shrieve harrumphed. "Damn. I was really hoping I'd get to off this one."

Liv glared at her, eyes blazing, almost threatening to turn red.

Miranda shrugged one shoulder, a glint in her own eye entertained by the Hulk Smash expression on Revenant's face. "What? ...he'd live."

"'Killing Time,'" Liv shook her head, taking a calming breath, refusing to rise any further to Shrieve's bait. "There's a Phantom Tollbooth reference in there somewhere."

Lunaramblings said:

"Honestly, if we are goin' ta do much here we need a cover with the authorities. That we can handle." Constantine reaches into his pockets and pulls out several wallets, waves a hand over them and mutters something in a strange tongue. He then tosses them across the table. "Psionicly responsive IDs. Whatever you think, whatever you want them to be they will. Only works on Mortals. Demons, Angels, those sorts tend to see right through them. Course, if we run 'cross one a them blokes, chances are they might be involved."

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"Psychic paper," Liv grinned brightly. "Ravi indoctrinated me. Do all mysterious British guys in coats carry this stuff? Is it standard British issue?" She elbowed Blue Devil. "Hey, even if you don't still have your Justice Society membership card, now you've got the next best thing!"

Shrieve eyed the wallets, then picked one up open towards her, narrowed her eyes at it, concentrating. It turned into a nude picture of Blue Devil in all his blue devilish glory, much to her surprise, too much subconscious leaking through, but she hurriedly clapped the wallet shut and it had only been facing her anyway so there was little to no chance she'd get caught out. "These are like that playing card you used to have, Hellblazer. Do they also have its nasty habit of getting its owner killed?"

Lunaramblings said:

Frankenstein looks over at John. "Listen. I agree with John. Let me and Liv talk to the local guys. Something is... different about them. I can feel it. I think that there's more to them than what it appears. Maybe more than they realize. One of the things that came with my resurrection was the ability to sense things with certain spiritual power. Unfortunately only at a close range. And I can't really focus it. More obnoxious than anything. Anyway, lets talk to the locals. See if they have anything odd to report, if not, then its likely the leylines here are dormant. If that's the case we can move on to New Carthage in force. Liv and I do the human angle, you lot do the spiritual angel. Then we convene to compare notes. Unless you all object and have a better idea. But either way, we need to be careful about tipping our hands. If Judas sees this much power coming at him, he might react potently, or worse, disappear again."

As he finishes, Frankenstein pulls a small pouch that appears to be made of some sort of skin or leather, marked with strange runes. He slips the leather thong around his neck, tucking it under his shirt. As the pouch touches his skin, his lets out a small hiss as the magic sears into his flesh. In an instant his visage shimmers and for the first time in many years, Chas, not The Monster, is visible at the table.

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Mixed emotions tangled their way over Liv's face at his transformation. He was handsome as a human. But he wasn't ugly as Frankenstein, either. And it would be nice to pretend to have-- a normal relationship with a normal person-- something that might be out of her reach forever. But beauty wasn't skin deep with Liv Moore, she'd been fooled by enough handsome faces to know. She certainly wouldn't be turned off by Frank's real face--

Stay professional, Olivia.

She rose to her feet, snagging one of those "carte noire" IDs and slipping it into her pocket-- it certainly couldn't hurt to supplement her existing S.H.A.D.E. ID. "Okay. This all is starting to sound suspiciously like a plan. Shall we go pick up our surly smoke-breakers and see if we can't rustle the listless repose of this sequestered glen?"

ChasNicollette said:

Liv nodded slowly at this. "Hey, I wasn't going to be right straight out with them. But it'd be better for them to think we're working on something legit rather than me just picking up after some pyrotechnic flash-mob. My friend Ravi works in Pestilence and Pollution, and he used to work for The Center for Disease Control. He actually could probably whip up something like that, pride himself on authenticity, I wouldn't rule it out."

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Danny was nodding his head thinking this was probably the way to go when of course Constantine just had to pull the perfect solution out of that bloody trench coat of his.

"Psychic paper," Liv grinned brightly. "Ravi indoctrinated me. Do all mysterious British guys in coats carry this stuff? Is it standard British issue?" She elbowed Blue Devil. "Hey, even if you don't still have your Justice Society membership card, now you've got the next best thing!"

Shrieve eyed the wallets, then picked one up open towards her, narrowed her eyes at it, concentrating. It turned into a nude picture of Blue Devil in all his blue devilish glory, much to her surprise, too much subconscious leaking through, but she hurriedly clapped the wallet shut and it had only been facing her anyway so there was little to no chance she'd get caught out. "These are like that playing card you use to have, Hellblazer. Do they also have its nasty habit of getting its owner killed?"

Liv squinted. "Do you still have your Justice Society card? Because-- because that could work. 'Sorry we lied to you before, it's a superhero thing.' I had a dim opinion of superheroes when I worked with the police, but that was before I took a spin on costumed-vigilante brain and it put things into a whole new perspective."

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Danny sighed and reached into a hidden pocket in his Jacket. He had never officially left the JS, he had just sort of stopped going to the meetings and slipped off of the radar with them. He was still on call with them and any worldwide emergencies would probably see him getting summoned, but other than that he was left alone to do his own thing.

The card itself was pretty basic. It looked like a piece of plastic with his picture on it and the JS symbol identifying him as a member. In actuality it was a sophisticated piece of hardware packed with alien and mystical tech that keyed into the users own DNA and allowed no one else to use it. Any one else touching it would make it look like a blank card.

"Got it right here. All you guys have to do is envision your paper looking exactly like this, well except put your own faces on your own of course. Most government officials don't even bother checking them too closely. They see the seal and a picture and they can't help you enough, but we will not be too well known to them so we may have a little trouble. Plus Franky says there might be something funky about them so watch yourselves."

Liv winced. "Actually, that's a good point. Father Time tried to bilocate me into New Carthage to drop me off and he hit a ward-barrier that saw him coming miles off. It killed him. You know, this him, he'll get better, but yeah. We should probably not try to cross that town line until we're good and ready."

Shrieve harrumphed. "Damn. I was really hoping I'd get to off this one."

Liv glared at her, eyes blazing, almost threatening to turn red.

Miranda shrugged one shoulder, a glint in her own eye entertained by the Hulk Smash expression on Revenant's face. "What? ...he'd live."

"'Killing Time,'" Liv shook her head, taking a calming breath, refusing to rise any further to Shrieve's bait. "There's a Phantom Tollbooth reference in there somewhere."
She rose to her feet, snagging one of those "carte noire" IDs and slipping it into her pocket-- it certainly couldn't hurt to supplement her existing S.H.A.D.E. ID. "Okay. This all is starting to sound suspiciously like a plan. Shall we go pick up our surly smoke-breakers and see if we can't rustle the listless repose of this sequestered glen?"

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Danny looked at Shrieve and shrugged. "So you ready to go cause some mischief and mayhem. Only maybe we try to keep the mayhem to a minimum until we have to cut loose." As they got up he chugged the last of his pitcher of beer and then smiled. "Got a feeling I am not going to be having one of those again for a little while. Hey Shrieve ever seen Lord of the Rings? When the time comes I'm Gimli and your Legless the drunk elf. Let's see who wins our game okay?" He wondered if she got the reference as he started to walk out of the bar but she would once the fighting started.