Jane, Cal and I arrived at the hotel around noon. Abdalin couldn't come because booze happened. Stupid hungover bastard...
“So, how's Isaac doing?” I asked.
“Okay, I think,” Jane said. “He's been quiet lately.”
“So can this guy really keep me safe?” Cal asked.
“Sure can,” Jane said. “The Fears have been leaving us alone for a few months now thanks to him.”
“Really?” Cal asked. “How come?”
“They don't wanna get on his bad side after what happened with the Smiling Man,” Jane said.
“So they're scared of him?” Cal asked.
“There's a difference between being scared and being cautious, Cal,” I said. “So what happened with the Smiling Man?”
“Nothing that you need to know at the moment,” said another voice.
We all turned to see Isaac approaching us. His younger brother, Adam, was at his side. Isaac was maybe a little taller than me, with long silver hair. He was dressed in a black shirt with a modified Operator symbol on the front, and a deep blue hoody on over it. He stepped up before me and smiled.
“Ferris,” he said, holding out a hand.
“O'Zalia,” I replied, shaking his hand firmly. “Glad you could make it.”
“Of course,” Isaac said. “Nice to meet you too, Callin.”
“Um... hi,” Cal said.
You'll keep him safe, right? I thought.
Yeah, Isaac thought back. You'll keep yourself safe?
Yeah, I thought. I'm gonna stick around in this town for a while, see what I can find out about High Blood.
Watch your back, Isaac thought.
Don't worry, I assured him. I'll keep a low profile.
Until it comes time to get your generic action hero on? He thought.
Until it comes time to get my generic action hero on, I confirmed. I think I'll go with Nightwing next time.
That got a laugh out of him.
“What are you two thinking about?” Jane asked.
“Just making sure this insane, childish monkey-man knows what he's doing,” Isaac said.
“Who are you calling childish?” I asked.
He laughed a bit more.
“I'll take good car of Cal,” he said.
“You'd better,” I said.
We parted ways. Abdalin and I have been keeping an eye on the mansion and checking out potential High Blood activity since then. We haven't found much yet, but I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Ain't no party like a High Blood party
Sorry for the delay in updates. Kinda been busy/lazy. Anyway, Abdalin, Cal and I went to the address that the Scarlet Marked gave me. It was a medium sized mansion with a couple of red haired guards idly chatting by the front door. I had with me a long bundle of cloth with a belt wrapped around it.
“So, what's the plan of attack?” Cal asked.
“I don't think attack is such a good idea,” Abdalin said.
I quietly reached into my pocket and pulled out a pair of earplugs.
“These are Blood Vessel's,” Abdalin said. “They're some of the most dangerous servants out there.”
I pushed the era plugs into my ears, so the rest of the conversation was kind of muffled.
“Ever heard of a combat sadomasochist?” Abdalin asked. At least, I think that's what he said.
“No...,” Cal said.
“Basically, they enjoy inflicting and receiving pain,” Abdalin said.
As they spoke, I untied the belt from my bundle of cloth.
“So, fighting them is a bad idea then?” Cal said.
“Yeah,” Abdalin said.
I tied the belt around my chest diagonally, criss-crossing from my left shoulder to my right ribcage.
“So, we have to be sneaky then,” Cal suggested. Slip in the back, try and blend in or something?”
I unrolled the bundle of cloth and withdrew my Sonic Sword. Its an interesting weapon. At first glance, it looks like a metal pipe with a sword hand. It has a cool looking retro-punk cross guard. However, a neat little thing about the weapons design is that the metal pipe part's internal structure is built to magnify sound waves, so it'll create a deafening clang when struck against something.
“That would be a good idea,” Abdalin said. “Although, these are the allies of Red Daniel, so they'll probably recognize Daniel when he walks in.”
I began walking up to the door.
“So then what should we-?” Cal started to say.
“Wait,” Abdalin interrupted. “Daniel, what are you doing?!?”
I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Getting my Dresden on,” I said casually.
I strolled right up to the pair of guards. They apparently suck at being guards, because they didn't pay me any attention until I was right there, and they both just kind of looked at me.
“Hi,” I said, gripping the sword with both hands.
It was about then that they realized who they were looking at, and reached for their weapons. One had a PR-whatever nightstick, and the other had what looked like a butterfly knife. I went for the knife wielder first. Before either of them had their weapons drawn, I bashed that guy in the head.
Something you should know about Blood Vessels. Not only are they sadomasochists who grow stronger while their in pain, but they has varying degrees of hemokinetic control over their own blood, allowing them to harden it at will. This protects them from several forms of attack, so blades and bludgeoning weapons can't inflict more then flesh wounds most of the time. However, sound can still hurt them. Being hit directly in the skull with a weapon designed to amplify noise was enough to bring him down. Thanks to my earplugs, I only took a fraction of the noise.
Downside to wielding a Sonic Sword; they vibrate. Then my attack hit, I had to deal with vibrations going all the way up my arm. Fortunately, I had a good hold with both arms, so I managed to not drop it.
The other guy swung his police baton at me, and I lifted my sword in time to block the attack. He recoiled a bit at the noise our two weapons produced, and I took the chance to knock him out with a quick blow to the head.
I had a bit of time to recover from the vibrations before the door opened and another Blood vessel poked his head out.
“Hey, what's with all the-” he said, just before I hit him in the jaw with my sword. He fell backwards through the door, unconscious like the other two.
Abdalin caught up to me, and picked up the nightstick.
“You're an idiot,” he said.
“Sue me for taking action,” I said, slinging my sword across my back and sliding it through the belt like a make-shift sheath. I shoved my way through the door, reaching inside my coat as I did. It gripped the handgun tucked into my pants and drew it out.
I was no in the foyer of the mansion. Through a large doorway to the right was what appeared to be the main party area. I entered and fired my gun five times into the air, the shots being heard over the sounds of Jeffrey Star's “I'm In Love with A Killer”. Silly Blood Vessels, and their taste in music. Every head in the room turned to me. Most of the people their seemed to be ordinary human, but there was also a good dozen or so Blood Vessels.
“My name is Daniel Xavier Ferris!” I shouted. “And I'm here to kick some High Blood ass!”
All the Blood Vessels drew various close range weapons and stared charging toward us.
“You couldn't have been a bit more subtle?” Abdalin asked.
“Subtlety takes too long,” I said, drawing my sword.
The Blood Vessels reached us, and I proceeded to get my Dante on. I'm not gonna describe the entire fight here, because it would be like, 68 paragraphs longs, and I'm waaaaaaaaaaay too lazy for that. Though, there's something I noticed during the fight. Mainly the fact that I was staying three steps ahead of all my opponents. I'm no slouch in a fight, but I normally don't do that well. For some reason I was able to see every thing coming and adjust my fighting style accordingly. I didn't realize why at first, until I caught side of someone in the crowd. Someone I knew. I smirked a bit and continued fighting. Then a voice broke through the room.
“STOP!!!” a woman demanded.
The fight ceased, and the seven or eight Blood Vessels who were still conscious backed off. A tall, crimson haired woman, dressed in black tights, appeared in the doorway at the other end of the room. She began approaching me seductively. As she got closer, more of her details became apparent. She was latina, and her long hair went down to her waist, and was tied up at the ends. Her black tights had a red vein-like pattern to them, and her eyes were the same crimson as her hair. He had a small hunting knife clipped to her loose-fitting belt, which seemed to have no purpose other than holding the weapon.
“Daniel Ferris,” she said, smiling.
“Reout Rodriguez,” I replied. “Been a while.”
I met Reout several months ago. She's the current leader of High Blood, having took over after Red Daniel's death. And, like Red Daniel, she has an annoying habit of flirting with me.
“Welcome to my Parlour,” she said.
“The spider's supposed to say that to the fly,” I said, raising my sword to point at her, while simultaneously putting my gun pack in my coat. “Not to the wasp.”
“You certainly do have some sting in you,” she chuckled. She turned away from me and took a few steps onto the dancefloor. “You've come a long way. Why not enjoy yourself a little?”
“Sure,” I said, sheathing my Sonic Sword. “But do you anything a bit better then Jeffrey Fricking Star?”
“Very well,” she said, turning back to me. “DJ, put on some... what you our guest prefer?”
“Play I'm Alive,” I said. “I've been going through a bit of a Shinedown phase lately.”
As I spoke, I summoned my Wakizashi to my. It's a japanese shortsword that the blind Man gave me. The sheath was cut in two and gorilla glued back together before I got it, and it seems to have some level of sentience and loyalty, and it teleports into my hand whenever I want it to. It took me a while to figure the whole summoning thing out, but it comes in handy a lot.
“You heard him,” Reout said, drawing her knife.
Music started to play, and she cut the palm of her free hand. Her blood dripped from it, but instead of dropping to the ground, it began revolving around her hand like a morbid asteroid belt. She extended that hand toward me.
“May I have this dance, good sir?” she asked me.
I gripped the hilt of my wakizashi and drew it a couple of inches.
“Indeed you may, M'Lady,” I said.
And then we charged at each other. Her blood expanded, forming into a liquid whip. She slashed it at me, but I sidestepped just enough to avoid it. I clashed my sword against her knife. She slipped behind me, and I turned quickly to parry her attack. I kicked her in the stomach, pushing her away from me a bit. She shot her blood at me like a grappling hook, and I barely dodged it. Instead, it kept extending and wrapped around the throat of one of the party goers. She yanked him of his feet and dragged him straight at us rapidly. I raised a leg, catching him in the solar plexus as he flew toward me. I then quickly knocked him out with another kick.
“Sorry about that,” I said to him, before turning back to Reout. “That's only cool when Scorpion does it.”
“Well, how cool is this?” she asked, using her blood grappling hook to lasso one of the snack tables.
“Crap,” I said as she yanked it toward us.
It few at me, and I ducked beneath it just in time. Unfortunately for Reout, I was between her and the table, so when I ducked, its momentum carried it directly toward her, and they collided painfully. She picked herself back up quickly, and I threw my sheath right at her face before she could get her bearings. I ran up to her and hurdled over the table. By the time she was focused again, my gun was in her face. She stepped back in fear, and I moved with her. A Blood Vessel can harden their blood to the point that they can withstand long ranged gunshots. But point blank shots carry enough momentum to penetrate their bloody armor. And she knew that.
“You know, Red Daniel was a much better fighter than you,” I said.
It's true. Red Daniel was a damn good martial artist, and to my knowledge was the only legitimate drunken fist master in the world. And while most Blood Vessel's can only harden their blood, he could crystallize his, a talent he used to construct weapons during battle. She was no where near as good as him.
But she did have a bunch of friends. One of which threw their bo staff at my head. I managed to duck just in time, but that gave her a chance to swipe my legs out from under me with her blood whip. I hit the ground and rolled away before her knife hit the floor where my face had been. I got back up and fired at her. She dodged the literal bullet and took a few steps back. I fired again, but she dodged it a second time. Her blood expanded again, and swirled around her like a tornado. Then she sent it all flying at me in a torrent of crimson fluid.
“Burn!” I hissed, and in an instant, by sword burst into bright, warm flames. At least, they seemed warm to me. I've never been burned by them, but everything else is a different story. The sword's always been able to do that, ever since it came into my possession. It has something to do with the being possessing it.
The blood she sent at me recoiled away from the fire before it could get close. I rushed at her, and her blood moved away from me as I did, clearing a path. I could see panic in her eyes as I slashed at her knife hand, causing her to drop the blade. I kicked at her legs, knocking her down, and aimed at her face.
“Game over,” I said.
Then I heard about a half dozen click from all around me. I looked around to see all the other Blood Vessels pointing guns at me.
“Oh,” I said. “Damn it...”
Then explosives happened. A bunch of miniature pyrotechnics all around the room went off, blanketting everyone in smoke. The Blood Vessels were surprised, and I took the chance to duck down into the smoke and exit the dance floor. Someone suddenly grabbed me by the wrist. I almost attacked whoever it was untilo they smoke.
“It's me!' she said. “Come on, we have to go!”
I got a look at her through the smoke. It was the same person I'd spotted earlier during the fight.
“Abdalin!” I shouted.
He appeared right next to me.
“'Indeed you may, M'Lady'?” he asked.
“Shut up,” I said. “I was trying to be cool.”
“Failing to be cool,” he said.
“Shut up and get us out of here!” I said.
“Got it,” he said.
He teleported us both outside, where Cal was standing, a confused expression on his face.
“Grab him,” Abdalin said.
“Right,” the girl said, gripping the front of Cal's shirt.
“Don't leave town yet,” I said.
“Right,” Abdalin said, before teleporting us to an unfamiliar part of the town.
“Well, now that's over,”
“Um, who's this?” Cal asked.
“I was about to ask the same,” Abdalin said.
Both me and her started laughing.
“Man, you've changed, Jane,” I said.
“So have you, Danny,” she said.
Exposition time! Jane is a runner from the Cold Boy who I met a while back. She was 16 when we first met, which should put her at about 18 or 19 now.
“So, what brought you to the party?” I asked.
“Isaac put me up to it. He said to infiltrate and set up an escape for you. He even taught me how to throw together the smoke bombs.
“Heh,” I said. “Speaking of...”
I turned away from everyone and thought How long have you been watching us?
Since you arrived in town, Isaac O'zalia's voice sounded in my head. Fucking telepath...
So you're the reason I was doing so well in there, I thought. Why I could tell what everyone was about to do and stay a few steps ahead of them. That was all you.
Mostly it was you, He replied. His voice sounds a lot like Karl from Law Of Talos, though its taken on a more sombre tone lately. I just gave you some subtle nudges in the proper directions.
You and your mental bullshit, I thought. So where are you?
Meet me at this hotel tomorrow, He said. The image of a hotel and directions to it flashed through my brain. We'll talk then.
Sure thing, I thought.
“Change of plans, boys,” I said. “We meet with Isaac tomorrow.”
I'll explain what happened next later. Need sleep
“So, what's the plan of attack?” Cal asked.
“I don't think attack is such a good idea,” Abdalin said.
I quietly reached into my pocket and pulled out a pair of earplugs.
“These are Blood Vessel's,” Abdalin said. “They're some of the most dangerous servants out there.”
I pushed the era plugs into my ears, so the rest of the conversation was kind of muffled.
“Ever heard of a combat sadomasochist?” Abdalin asked. At least, I think that's what he said.
“No...,” Cal said.
“Basically, they enjoy inflicting and receiving pain,” Abdalin said.
As they spoke, I untied the belt from my bundle of cloth.
“So, fighting them is a bad idea then?” Cal said.
“Yeah,” Abdalin said.
I tied the belt around my chest diagonally, criss-crossing from my left shoulder to my right ribcage.
“So, we have to be sneaky then,” Cal suggested. Slip in the back, try and blend in or something?”
I unrolled the bundle of cloth and withdrew my Sonic Sword. Its an interesting weapon. At first glance, it looks like a metal pipe with a sword hand. It has a cool looking retro-punk cross guard. However, a neat little thing about the weapons design is that the metal pipe part's internal structure is built to magnify sound waves, so it'll create a deafening clang when struck against something.
“That would be a good idea,” Abdalin said. “Although, these are the allies of Red Daniel, so they'll probably recognize Daniel when he walks in.”
I began walking up to the door.
“So then what should we-?” Cal started to say.
“Wait,” Abdalin interrupted. “Daniel, what are you doing?!?”
I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Getting my Dresden on,” I said casually.
I strolled right up to the pair of guards. They apparently suck at being guards, because they didn't pay me any attention until I was right there, and they both just kind of looked at me.
“Hi,” I said, gripping the sword with both hands.
It was about then that they realized who they were looking at, and reached for their weapons. One had a PR-whatever nightstick, and the other had what looked like a butterfly knife. I went for the knife wielder first. Before either of them had their weapons drawn, I bashed that guy in the head.
Something you should know about Blood Vessels. Not only are they sadomasochists who grow stronger while their in pain, but they has varying degrees of hemokinetic control over their own blood, allowing them to harden it at will. This protects them from several forms of attack, so blades and bludgeoning weapons can't inflict more then flesh wounds most of the time. However, sound can still hurt them. Being hit directly in the skull with a weapon designed to amplify noise was enough to bring him down. Thanks to my earplugs, I only took a fraction of the noise.
Downside to wielding a Sonic Sword; they vibrate. Then my attack hit, I had to deal with vibrations going all the way up my arm. Fortunately, I had a good hold with both arms, so I managed to not drop it.
The other guy swung his police baton at me, and I lifted my sword in time to block the attack. He recoiled a bit at the noise our two weapons produced, and I took the chance to knock him out with a quick blow to the head.
I had a bit of time to recover from the vibrations before the door opened and another Blood vessel poked his head out.
“Hey, what's with all the-” he said, just before I hit him in the jaw with my sword. He fell backwards through the door, unconscious like the other two.
Abdalin caught up to me, and picked up the nightstick.
“You're an idiot,” he said.
“Sue me for taking action,” I said, slinging my sword across my back and sliding it through the belt like a make-shift sheath. I shoved my way through the door, reaching inside my coat as I did. It gripped the handgun tucked into my pants and drew it out.
I was no in the foyer of the mansion. Through a large doorway to the right was what appeared to be the main party area. I entered and fired my gun five times into the air, the shots being heard over the sounds of Jeffrey Star's “I'm In Love with A Killer”. Silly Blood Vessels, and their taste in music. Every head in the room turned to me. Most of the people their seemed to be ordinary human, but there was also a good dozen or so Blood Vessels.
“My name is Daniel Xavier Ferris!” I shouted. “And I'm here to kick some High Blood ass!”
All the Blood Vessels drew various close range weapons and stared charging toward us.
“You couldn't have been a bit more subtle?” Abdalin asked.
“Subtlety takes too long,” I said, drawing my sword.
The Blood Vessels reached us, and I proceeded to get my Dante on. I'm not gonna describe the entire fight here, because it would be like, 68 paragraphs longs, and I'm waaaaaaaaaaay too lazy for that. Though, there's something I noticed during the fight. Mainly the fact that I was staying three steps ahead of all my opponents. I'm no slouch in a fight, but I normally don't do that well. For some reason I was able to see every thing coming and adjust my fighting style accordingly. I didn't realize why at first, until I caught side of someone in the crowd. Someone I knew. I smirked a bit and continued fighting. Then a voice broke through the room.
“STOP!!!” a woman demanded.
The fight ceased, and the seven or eight Blood Vessels who were still conscious backed off. A tall, crimson haired woman, dressed in black tights, appeared in the doorway at the other end of the room. She began approaching me seductively. As she got closer, more of her details became apparent. She was latina, and her long hair went down to her waist, and was tied up at the ends. Her black tights had a red vein-like pattern to them, and her eyes were the same crimson as her hair. He had a small hunting knife clipped to her loose-fitting belt, which seemed to have no purpose other than holding the weapon.
“Daniel Ferris,” she said, smiling.
“Reout Rodriguez,” I replied. “Been a while.”
I met Reout several months ago. She's the current leader of High Blood, having took over after Red Daniel's death. And, like Red Daniel, she has an annoying habit of flirting with me.
“Welcome to my Parlour,” she said.
“The spider's supposed to say that to the fly,” I said, raising my sword to point at her, while simultaneously putting my gun pack in my coat. “Not to the wasp.”
“You certainly do have some sting in you,” she chuckled. She turned away from me and took a few steps onto the dancefloor. “You've come a long way. Why not enjoy yourself a little?”
“Sure,” I said, sheathing my Sonic Sword. “But do you anything a bit better then Jeffrey Fricking Star?”
“Very well,” she said, turning back to me. “DJ, put on some... what you our guest prefer?”
“Play I'm Alive,” I said. “I've been going through a bit of a Shinedown phase lately.”
As I spoke, I summoned my Wakizashi to my. It's a japanese shortsword that the blind Man gave me. The sheath was cut in two and gorilla glued back together before I got it, and it seems to have some level of sentience and loyalty, and it teleports into my hand whenever I want it to. It took me a while to figure the whole summoning thing out, but it comes in handy a lot.
“You heard him,” Reout said, drawing her knife.
Music started to play, and she cut the palm of her free hand. Her blood dripped from it, but instead of dropping to the ground, it began revolving around her hand like a morbid asteroid belt. She extended that hand toward me.
“May I have this dance, good sir?” she asked me.
I gripped the hilt of my wakizashi and drew it a couple of inches.
“Indeed you may, M'Lady,” I said.
And then we charged at each other. Her blood expanded, forming into a liquid whip. She slashed it at me, but I sidestepped just enough to avoid it. I clashed my sword against her knife. She slipped behind me, and I turned quickly to parry her attack. I kicked her in the stomach, pushing her away from me a bit. She shot her blood at me like a grappling hook, and I barely dodged it. Instead, it kept extending and wrapped around the throat of one of the party goers. She yanked him of his feet and dragged him straight at us rapidly. I raised a leg, catching him in the solar plexus as he flew toward me. I then quickly knocked him out with another kick.
“Sorry about that,” I said to him, before turning back to Reout. “That's only cool when Scorpion does it.”
“Well, how cool is this?” she asked, using her blood grappling hook to lasso one of the snack tables.
“Crap,” I said as she yanked it toward us.
It few at me, and I ducked beneath it just in time. Unfortunately for Reout, I was between her and the table, so when I ducked, its momentum carried it directly toward her, and they collided painfully. She picked herself back up quickly, and I threw my sheath right at her face before she could get her bearings. I ran up to her and hurdled over the table. By the time she was focused again, my gun was in her face. She stepped back in fear, and I moved with her. A Blood Vessel can harden their blood to the point that they can withstand long ranged gunshots. But point blank shots carry enough momentum to penetrate their bloody armor. And she knew that.
“You know, Red Daniel was a much better fighter than you,” I said.
It's true. Red Daniel was a damn good martial artist, and to my knowledge was the only legitimate drunken fist master in the world. And while most Blood Vessel's can only harden their blood, he could crystallize his, a talent he used to construct weapons during battle. She was no where near as good as him.
But she did have a bunch of friends. One of which threw their bo staff at my head. I managed to duck just in time, but that gave her a chance to swipe my legs out from under me with her blood whip. I hit the ground and rolled away before her knife hit the floor where my face had been. I got back up and fired at her. She dodged the literal bullet and took a few steps back. I fired again, but she dodged it a second time. Her blood expanded again, and swirled around her like a tornado. Then she sent it all flying at me in a torrent of crimson fluid.
“Burn!” I hissed, and in an instant, by sword burst into bright, warm flames. At least, they seemed warm to me. I've never been burned by them, but everything else is a different story. The sword's always been able to do that, ever since it came into my possession. It has something to do with the being possessing it.
The blood she sent at me recoiled away from the fire before it could get close. I rushed at her, and her blood moved away from me as I did, clearing a path. I could see panic in her eyes as I slashed at her knife hand, causing her to drop the blade. I kicked at her legs, knocking her down, and aimed at her face.
“Game over,” I said.
Then I heard about a half dozen click from all around me. I looked around to see all the other Blood Vessels pointing guns at me.
“Oh,” I said. “Damn it...”
Then explosives happened. A bunch of miniature pyrotechnics all around the room went off, blanketting everyone in smoke. The Blood Vessels were surprised, and I took the chance to duck down into the smoke and exit the dance floor. Someone suddenly grabbed me by the wrist. I almost attacked whoever it was untilo they smoke.
“It's me!' she said. “Come on, we have to go!”
I got a look at her through the smoke. It was the same person I'd spotted earlier during the fight.
“Abdalin!” I shouted.
He appeared right next to me.
“'Indeed you may, M'Lady'?” he asked.
“Shut up,” I said. “I was trying to be cool.”
“Failing to be cool,” he said.
“Shut up and get us out of here!” I said.
“Got it,” he said.
He teleported us both outside, where Cal was standing, a confused expression on his face.
“Grab him,” Abdalin said.
“Right,” the girl said, gripping the front of Cal's shirt.
“Don't leave town yet,” I said.
“Right,” Abdalin said, before teleporting us to an unfamiliar part of the town.
“Well, now that's over,”
“Um, who's this?” Cal asked.
“I was about to ask the same,” Abdalin said.
Both me and her started laughing.
“Man, you've changed, Jane,” I said.
“So have you, Danny,” she said.
Exposition time! Jane is a runner from the Cold Boy who I met a while back. She was 16 when we first met, which should put her at about 18 or 19 now.
“So, what brought you to the party?” I asked.
“Isaac put me up to it. He said to infiltrate and set up an escape for you. He even taught me how to throw together the smoke bombs.
“Heh,” I said. “Speaking of...”
I turned away from everyone and thought How long have you been watching us?
Since you arrived in town, Isaac O'zalia's voice sounded in my head. Fucking telepath...
So you're the reason I was doing so well in there, I thought. Why I could tell what everyone was about to do and stay a few steps ahead of them. That was all you.
Mostly it was you, He replied. His voice sounds a lot like Karl from Law Of Talos, though its taken on a more sombre tone lately. I just gave you some subtle nudges in the proper directions.
You and your mental bullshit, I thought. So where are you?
Meet me at this hotel tomorrow, He said. The image of a hotel and directions to it flashed through my brain. We'll talk then.
Sure thing, I thought.
“Change of plans, boys,” I said. “We meet with Isaac tomorrow.”
I'll explain what happened next later. Need sleep
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Beta
I paced around my office anxiously, waiting for the phone to ring. Keursio watched silently. After about a half hour, she spoke.
“So who was that guy?” she asked.
“Bill Dawson, “I said. “He was an bad guy.”
“So what happened with him?” she asked.
“Well, from what I know, he used to be an archaeologist in the field of Egyptology,” I said. “He disturb the tomb of some Nightlanders, and they attacked him.”
Nightlanders are the Fear of darkness. They're living shadows, obsessed with order. Only problem is, they have a twisted sense of what qualifies as order. And if you disturb their order, they don't respond to kindly to it.
“For some reason, they didn't kill him,” I explained. “They... sort of fused with him. Turned him into something called the Shadow Man. Dawson didn't like humanity much. The Nightlanders twisted that dislike into loathing. He became genocidal. He wanted to wipe out everyone, except the Fears and their servants. So he tried to recreate the plagues of Egypt, on a worldwide scale, with the Fears' help.”
“That's awful,” Keursio said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But some Fears didn't go for it. Neither did Daniel or Malkator. They stood against him. It was Malkator who defeated him. He tore him from the Nightlanders and left him for dead in the same ruins he had disturbed.”
“But he survived?” Keusio asked.
“That's right,” I said. “He was found by a rescue team. They transported him back to the U.S., where he found Silvermist.”
“She's... a Dying Man shard, right?” Keursio asked.
“Was, yes,” I said. “She was badly wounded. So was Dawson. So they joined forces. He let her possess him. And they started killing and absorbing other shards. Until Estren and HELLFIRE stopped them. HELLFIRE absorbed Silvermist, and they kicked Dawson into the river that flows through the Dying Man's domain.”
“And he survived that too?” Keursio asked.
“Looks like it,” I said.
It was silent for a few more minutes before Hideaki finally called back. I answered.
“Got my message?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know where he's based. Or, rather, where he was based before.”
He gave me the address.
“Thanks,” I said. “I'll check it out.”
“Be careful,” he said. “Beta is a dangerous man.”
“I'll be civil,” I lied.
I hung up.
“Come on,” I said. “We're going to Beta's place.”
“Okay,” Keursio said.
She followed me out the door, and made a bee-line for the car. I just kept walking. She noticed what I was doing and jogged to catch up to me.
“We're not driving?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said.
“Well, how far is it?” she asked.
“'Bout three blocks,” I replied.
“You're joking,” she said, baffled. I just smiled.
It didn't take us long to get there. I was only a couple houses down when I noticed a heavily bandaged man sitting on the roof, above the front door. He was about average height, and his bandages covered his torso, arm, and his entire head. Below that, he was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, with a tactical military belt.
The Fury.
As soon as he noticed us, he disappeared, and reappeared right in front of me. We would have been eye to eye if his eyes were actually visible. How the hell does he see with all those bandages.
He reached in his belt and pulled out a cell phone. He punched some stuff into it, and then my phone vibrated. I pulled it out, and found a new text saying “What are you doing here?”
“How'd you get my number?” I asked.
He texted me again. “Sources. Why are you here?”
“I'm looking for Martyr Beta,” I said. “is he here?”
Another text. “He is not.”
“Can you tell me where he is?” I asked.
“Negative.”
“Well, you're annoyingly unhelpful,” I said.
“Your face is ugly,” came the reply.
“Well...” I was about to say his face was ugly, but as I couldn't see his face, I went with “Beta's face is ugly!”
He typed something else into his phone, and then mine started ringing. Unknown number. I answered.
“The Fury tells me you think my face is ugly,” came Beta's voice.
I glared angrily at the Fury before responding.
“What do you know about Isiore?” I asked.
“Born April 8th, 1545,” he replied. “At the age of 26, she drank the waters of the fountain of youth, along with her younger sister, Keursio. They both barely survived the toxicity, and were help to recovery by the Wooden Girl. They both became servants to repay the debt. Isiore, for unknown reasons, began dressing in a manner that left her gender a mystery to others. She and her sister once found the Ace Of Chaos wounded, and nursed him back to health. He trained Keursio in the use of Mana before vanishing to continue his quest to combat the Fears. When Keursio was dragged into the Unclaimed Domain, Isiore broke all of her ties with the Wooden Girl, and began searching for a way to find her sister again.”
“That's... all, very interesting,” I admitted. “But I need to know her current location.”
“I know,” he said. “I read it on you and Daniel's blog.”
“You... you've read it?” I asked.
“I was notified the instant Daniel started that blog. I know everything you two have posted. I know Hideaki Kelterry called you not long ago to give you my address. I also know that you and Moss Garden have been stealing Archive data, and I want you to stop it.”
“Uh...,” I stammered.
“Now, I may be able to help you with Isiore, but I'll need you to help me with something.”
“What?” I asked.
“Not over the phone,” he said. “Dawson and his partner could be listening.”
“Dawson has a partner?” I asked.
“I'll contact you when I'm back in town. We'll talk then.”
And he hung up. Great...
-Tony Helioson, Signing out.
“So who was that guy?” she asked.
“Bill Dawson, “I said. “He was an bad guy.”
“So what happened with him?” she asked.
“Well, from what I know, he used to be an archaeologist in the field of Egyptology,” I said. “He disturb the tomb of some Nightlanders, and they attacked him.”
Nightlanders are the Fear of darkness. They're living shadows, obsessed with order. Only problem is, they have a twisted sense of what qualifies as order. And if you disturb their order, they don't respond to kindly to it.
“For some reason, they didn't kill him,” I explained. “They... sort of fused with him. Turned him into something called the Shadow Man. Dawson didn't like humanity much. The Nightlanders twisted that dislike into loathing. He became genocidal. He wanted to wipe out everyone, except the Fears and their servants. So he tried to recreate the plagues of Egypt, on a worldwide scale, with the Fears' help.”
“That's awful,” Keursio said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But some Fears didn't go for it. Neither did Daniel or Malkator. They stood against him. It was Malkator who defeated him. He tore him from the Nightlanders and left him for dead in the same ruins he had disturbed.”
“But he survived?” Keusio asked.
“That's right,” I said. “He was found by a rescue team. They transported him back to the U.S., where he found Silvermist.”
“She's... a Dying Man shard, right?” Keursio asked.
“Was, yes,” I said. “She was badly wounded. So was Dawson. So they joined forces. He let her possess him. And they started killing and absorbing other shards. Until Estren and HELLFIRE stopped them. HELLFIRE absorbed Silvermist, and they kicked Dawson into the river that flows through the Dying Man's domain.”
“And he survived that too?” Keursio asked.
“Looks like it,” I said.
It was silent for a few more minutes before Hideaki finally called back. I answered.
“Got my message?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know where he's based. Or, rather, where he was based before.”
He gave me the address.
“Thanks,” I said. “I'll check it out.”
“Be careful,” he said. “Beta is a dangerous man.”
“I'll be civil,” I lied.
I hung up.
“Come on,” I said. “We're going to Beta's place.”
“Okay,” Keursio said.
She followed me out the door, and made a bee-line for the car. I just kept walking. She noticed what I was doing and jogged to catch up to me.
“We're not driving?” she asked.
“Nope,” I said.
“Well, how far is it?” she asked.
“'Bout three blocks,” I replied.
“You're joking,” she said, baffled. I just smiled.
It didn't take us long to get there. I was only a couple houses down when I noticed a heavily bandaged man sitting on the roof, above the front door. He was about average height, and his bandages covered his torso, arm, and his entire head. Below that, he was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, with a tactical military belt.
The Fury.
As soon as he noticed us, he disappeared, and reappeared right in front of me. We would have been eye to eye if his eyes were actually visible. How the hell does he see with all those bandages.
He reached in his belt and pulled out a cell phone. He punched some stuff into it, and then my phone vibrated. I pulled it out, and found a new text saying “What are you doing here?”
“How'd you get my number?” I asked.
He texted me again. “Sources. Why are you here?”
“I'm looking for Martyr Beta,” I said. “is he here?”
Another text. “He is not.”
“Can you tell me where he is?” I asked.
“Negative.”
“Well, you're annoyingly unhelpful,” I said.
“Your face is ugly,” came the reply.
“Well...” I was about to say his face was ugly, but as I couldn't see his face, I went with “Beta's face is ugly!”
He typed something else into his phone, and then mine started ringing. Unknown number. I answered.
“The Fury tells me you think my face is ugly,” came Beta's voice.
I glared angrily at the Fury before responding.
“What do you know about Isiore?” I asked.
“Born April 8th, 1545,” he replied. “At the age of 26, she drank the waters of the fountain of youth, along with her younger sister, Keursio. They both barely survived the toxicity, and were help to recovery by the Wooden Girl. They both became servants to repay the debt. Isiore, for unknown reasons, began dressing in a manner that left her gender a mystery to others. She and her sister once found the Ace Of Chaos wounded, and nursed him back to health. He trained Keursio in the use of Mana before vanishing to continue his quest to combat the Fears. When Keursio was dragged into the Unclaimed Domain, Isiore broke all of her ties with the Wooden Girl, and began searching for a way to find her sister again.”
“That's... all, very interesting,” I admitted. “But I need to know her current location.”
“I know,” he said. “I read it on you and Daniel's blog.”
“You... you've read it?” I asked.
“I was notified the instant Daniel started that blog. I know everything you two have posted. I know Hideaki Kelterry called you not long ago to give you my address. I also know that you and Moss Garden have been stealing Archive data, and I want you to stop it.”
“Uh...,” I stammered.
“Now, I may be able to help you with Isiore, but I'll need you to help me with something.”
“What?” I asked.
“Not over the phone,” he said. “Dawson and his partner could be listening.”
“Dawson has a partner?” I asked.
“I'll contact you when I'm back in town. We'll talk then.”
And he hung up. Great...
-Tony Helioson, Signing out.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Club Jouissance
Keursio and I arrived at the club just after it opened. The
guy at the door let us in and we walked inside the brightly lit nightclub.
There was a bar. There were dancers. There was illegal activity talking place
in dark booths. I tried to ignore all that and focus on the task at hand.
“So what now?” Keursio asked.
“Now we ask questions,” I said. “The best part of being a
detective...”
I approached a table where a man and woman with dark red hair
were sitting. And I don't mean normal red hair. It was an unnatural shade, as
if it had been died. That kind of hair is a common trait of Blood Vessels. The
Red Cap in their system changes their hair and eye color. I've seen it before.
Now, the thought of interrogating Blood Vessels wasn't
exactly comforting. But, as always, I imagined how Daniel would approach the
situation. That cocky bastard would probably storm up to them, sword in hand,
bang a fist on the table, and demand answers. I smiled to myself. I'm pretty
sure I couldn't do that as well as he could. I opted to take the more civil
option.
“Excuse me,” I asked. “I'm looking for a friend, and I was
wondering if you might have seen her.”
“Maybe,” the man said. “What does she look like.”
“Well, uh...,” I said.
I had to pause for a moment. I didn't actually know what
Keursio's sister looked like. I had read a description on O'Zalia's old blog,
but if I gave them THAT description, I'd look like a nutcase. I told them
anyway.
“She's a tall woman,” I said. “And she dresses in body armor
that makes it really hard to guess her gender.”
They just laughed.
“Sorry kid,” the man said. “I don't know anyone like that.”
“He might,” the woman piped up.
“Who?” I asked.
“That guy,” she said.
She was pointing toward a man in a private booth. He was
dressed in a longcoat and a fedora, and I couldn't really make out his face.
“I saw him talking to someone in a crazy outfit the other
night. I was drunk, so I don't recall what they looked like, but it might be your
armored girl.”
“Thanks,” I said. It was a start.
I approached the man.
“Excuse me,” I said. “I'm looking for-”
“Isiore,” he interrupted. “Yes, I know why you're here, Tony
Helioson.”
Well shit. He knew my name and hers. Now that's fucking
suspicious.
“How do you know who I am?” I demanded. “Who are you?”
“I'm sure you've heard of me,” he said, rising to his feet
and facing me properly.
He was in his 30s, I think, and underneath his coat, he was
wearing a heavy suit of cyberpunk armor, like an Iron Man fanboy. I had seen
his face before. Not up close like this, but in pictures. In photographs from
the Archives files. I had heard Daniel and many others describe him to me.
“You're dead,” I said. “Estren and HELLFIRE killed you!”
I gripped my bokken tightly as he took a step toward me.
Honestly, I'm kind of surprised the doorman let me hold onto it. Maybe they
wanted a fight to break out...
“No, they didn't,” the man said. “Please, allow me to
formally introduce myself.”
He drew some kind of high tech sword, and raised it into the
air above his head.
“My name,” he said, “I William Dawson!”
And with that, he brought the sword down on me. Now, I'm not
much of a sword fighter, especially compared to Daniel. But I know how to
deflect a blow coming down in a straight vertical line. That's easy. A bokken
is really sturdy, but I didn't want to run the chance of it breaking against
whatever that sword was made of. So I stepped to the left a bit and raised the
bokken at an angle. Dawson's sword glanced off of it, missing me completely. I
swung the bokken up, aiming for his skull, but he vanished and reappeared a few
feet away. Unfortunately for him, he had teleported right into Keursio's path,
and she had already drawn the cutlass she keeps hidden in her dress. She
slashed at him, and he barely managed to turn and parry. She swung at him,
forcing him onto the defensive. I tried to sneak up behind him to attack while
he was distracted, but he vanished again. He appeared a few feet to the side,
and raised his free hand. A burst of pure force exploded from him, and we were
both knocked off our feet. Next thing I knew, he had me by the throat, and I
was pinned against the wall.
“Now, I want you to tell me what I want to know,” he said.
“Then, I'll consider telling you Isiore's location.”
“You fucking bastard!” I gasped.
“Tell me!” he demanded. “Where is Daniel Ferris!”
As if on cue, another man appeared behind Dawson. I couldn't
see him well with Dawson in the way, but I could make out the shoulders of a
dark blue raincoat.
“Which of us are you looking for?” ParaDan asked casually.
“And why aren't you dead?”
Dawson turned sharply, swinging his blade, but ParaDan
stopped it effortlessly with his rapier. I could now see him a little better.
As always, Daniel's future self had ghostly pale skin, and pitch black eyelids.
His hair was dark black with flecks of gray and white. His right eye looked
puffy, and they were both pretty bloodshot. One corner of his mouth was bruised
slightly. He also wasn't wearing a shirt. His bare chest was visible beneath
his coat. He looked emaciated. There were spots of black and purple everywhere,
and I couldn't tell what was a bruise and what was a deformity caused by his
powers.
Dawson released me, turning his full attention to ParaDan.
ParaDan calmly raised the blade of his rapier to his lips and whispered to it,
and I could just make out what was being spoken.
“Blade of darkness, deliver mercy to the wicked.”
And then they both attacked.
Watching ParaDan fight is a damn terrifying thing to watch.
He's the epitome of a Devil Killer, having all the power my Daniel used to have
and then some. Dawson, on the other hand, was equipped with a super suit. I
don't know what all it's capable of, but apparently it fires force blasts,
projects barriers, allows him to teleport, and gives him super strength. IT was
hard to keep track of every detail of their fight, so I didn't bother. Instead,
I drew my tazer and waited for an opening. As soon as the fight slowed down
just enough, I took aim and fired right at Dawson's face.
I missed.
I did hit his armor though. And metal conduct's electricity
pretty well. He took some serious voltage, but apparently the suit had some
insulation, because he was able to shake it off just long enough to teleport
again. This time, he didn't reappear.
I got up and helped Keursio to her feet. She was okay, but a
little stunned. It looked like most of the other people had bailed during the
fight.
“So, what the hell's going on here?” I asked ParaDan. “How'd
you get so beat up, and what are you even doing here?”
“Long story,” ParaDan said. “Have either of you seen the
Slender Man lately?”
“No,” I said.
“Damn,” he said. “I have to keep searching.”
“Hold on,” I said. “You know about the case I'm taking for
Keursio, don't you?”
“Finding her sister?” he asked. “Yeah, I read your post.”
“So that's why he was here,” Keursio muttered.
“Did I take the same case in your timeline?” I asked.
“I think you took a similar one,” he said. “This timeline has
changed.”
“Do you know how it ends?” I asked.
“Not for sure,” he said. “The ending could have changed. When
I broke the timelines, I changed a lot of things. This case might not be the
same any more.”
“So do you think you could tell me how it ended for you?” I
asked.
“Talk to Martyr Beta,” he said. “It's a good place to start.”
Then he was gone.
If Daniel was there, he would have said “What the hell, Me?”
They both refer to each other as “Me” a lot. It's kind of
confusing.
But yeah, now Keursio and I have to go track down Beta, which
I am not looking forward to. Beta is the Fury's watcher, the guy who keeps the
living super weapon in line. And he kind of scares the shit out of me. It takes
a special kind of Badass to deal with someone as terrifyingly powerful as the
Fury.
- Tony Helioson, Signing out
- Tony Helioson, Signing out
Sunday, December 14, 2014
P-A-R-T-Why? FUCK YOU!!! That's why!
So I got the location from Tony yesterday. I had Abdalin teleport me there this morning. Yeah, he can do that. It was an old gas station. I went in. There was a man working at the counter. He seemed normal, but a bright red hanky tucked into his shirt caught my eye. I approached him.
"You're a Scarlet Marked, right?" I asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, but he tensed up, and that gave him away.
Where can I find High Blood?" I asked.
"I don't know anything," he said.
"Yes you do," I said, glaring into his eyes.
"Look, kid," he said. "I don't know you, but-"
"Daniel Fertis," I interupted.
He stepped back, shocked. He quickly wrote down an address and handed it to me.
"Party tomorrow night," he said hesitantly. "But they won't let you through the doors."
"Good," I said. "More fun that way."
And with that, I left.
"You're a Scarlet Marked, right?" I asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, but he tensed up, and that gave him away.
Where can I find High Blood?" I asked.
"I don't know anything," he said.
"Yes you do," I said, glaring into his eyes.
"Look, kid," he said. "I don't know you, but-"
"Daniel Fertis," I interupted.
He stepped back, shocked. He quickly wrote down an address and handed it to me.
"Party tomorrow night," he said hesitantly. "But they won't let you through the doors."
"Good," I said. "More fun that way."
And with that, I left.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Business
I woke up this morning and went to my desk. Hideaki had rearranged the entry room of his old place into a sort of mini office. My desk, complete with laptop, telephone, and drawers full of files. I reached under the desk and pulled out some of my cup ramen stash and took it into the kitchen. I filled it up with water and put it in the microwave. I know you're supposed to fill them with hot water and let it soak in a while, but I really don't give a shit. As I was starting it up, I heard my phone start ringing from the office, so I went to pick it up.
“Solar Progeny, Tony Helioson speaking, how may I help you?” I asked.
“Can I get a double cheeseburger with fries and a diet coke?” asked a failiar voice from the other end.
“Very funny, HELLFIRE,” I said. “So why are you calling?”
“How do you know this isn't Estren?” the voice said.
“Estren would've asked for the toy,” I said. I heard the microwave beep. “Excuse me, I'll be right back.”
I went to grab my ramen and some chopsticks (because that is the best way to eat ramen) and went back to the office. Being too lazy to pick the phone up again, I hit the speaker phone button and sat down.
“So how's Venice this time of year?” I asked.
“On fire,” HELLFIRE replied.
“What?” I asked.
“It wasn't my fault!” HELLFIRE said.
“It wasn't the pyrokinetic psycho's fault?” I asked. “Okay then.
He spoke again, only somewhat softer. Estren was the one talking now. Although Estren and HELLFIRE share the same body, and thus the same voice, I had learned to tell which of them was in control.
“To be fair,” Estren said. “It's not that bad. Just a couple buildings burning, and everyone's been evacuated safely.”
“Good to know,” I said. “So who done it?”
“Shikoba,” Estren said.
“Who's that?” I asked.
“A Dying Man shard,” Estren said.
“And a huge dick,” HELLFIRE followed.
The Dying Man. The Fear of death. That's what HELLFIRE is. The Dying Man was once a whole being, but a long time ago it broke up into pieces. These pieces can possess people, and control them. Most victims degrade over time, but not Estren. He's not a normal human. He can keep HELLFIRE in check. Most of the time. Fortunately, HELLFIRE's a good guy. Sort of...
Well, he's better than most other Dying Men.
“So, you've got a rival shard running around?” I asked.
“Yes,” Estren said. “We've been contacting as many people we can.”
“So we can inform you if we find out anything?” I guessed.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Estren said.
“If you hear anything, hit us up,” HELLFIRE said.
“Since when does the Dying Man say 'hit us up'?” I asked.
“Since go screw yourself,” HELLFIRE said.
HELLFIRE doesn't like swearing. Honestly, I think his comeback would have would better if he had dropped the F bomb.
“Alright, fuck-face, I'll let you fucking know if I fucking hear anything about this motherfucker,” I said. Then I added another “Fuck” for good measure.
“Yeah, whatever,” HELLFIRE said grouchily.
Then he hung up.
I sat back and finished my ramen. I took a quick glance over the five stacks of files on my desk. One was pretty big, but the rest of them weren't, really.
I made a call.
The phone rang for a bit before Daniel picked up.
“Hey,” he said. “What's up?”
“Saw your post,” I said. “Finally found Abdalin, huh?”
“Yeah,” Daniel replied.
“So, I guess you won't be needing the data Moss pulled up on him?”
“I dunno,” Daniel said. “Might be useful later.”
“I'll keep it handy, then,” I said. I lifted up the larger of the stacks and shoved it into my file cabinet, under “A”.
“Dig you dig up anything else?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Moss and I snagged a bunch of files from the Archive. Want me to start with the ace?”
“Sure,” Daniel said. “What do you got?”
Marshall Smith. Also known as the Ace Of Chaos. A sorceror who's been around for over 800 years, the ancestor of Benjamin Malkator and David Kallaway, and, through a very complex series of bullshit, he's also another universe's version of Daniel. Don't ask. It's really weird.
Anyway, he sort of died, but his ghost is still active, and Daniel's been wanting to know more about his history.
So, I reached for the next stack and opened it up.
“Okay, there's a lot in here,” I said. “Want the short version?”
“Sure thing,” he said.
“Okay,” I said. “Supposedly, he was experimenting with mana for 76 years before he learned to properly meld light and darkness into chaos magic. It was four months after that that he killed the Ace Of Spades and acquired his mask. Over the course of the next 239 years, he killed 83 of the Game Master's cards, and 13 Emissaries. At that point, the Game Master began considering him a worthy foe and upgraded his mask.”
“Really?” Daniel asked. “And yet he left the self destruct sequence there?”
That's sort of how the Ace Of Chaos died. He tried using the self destruct function of his mask to destroy a himself, along with a Dying Man shard.
“I think that was the point,” I said. “It doesn't straight up say it in the files, but I think the Gae Master wanted the Ace to commit suicide. It was in the mid 1800's that the Game Master captured and imprisoned the Ace Of Chaos. He could have just killed him, but he kept him alive.”
“Because he wanted him to want to die,” Daniel said.
Daniel doesn't think much of his own intelligence, but he catches on faster than he gives himself credit for. He'd be as good a detective as me if he'd only apply himself.
“Yeah,” I said. “There's a lot missing from the files, but it says that in the late 1700s and early 1800s, there was a conflict with another time traveler.”
“Yeah, the Ace OF Chaos is a time traveler of sorts. That's why he was alive that long ago. Time travel's a weird thing. Apparently, it's possible to go back in time, but if you do, it splits up the timelines, and it becomes impossible to return to your old one.
“Another time traveler?” Daniel asked. “Weird. Does it say anything else?”
“Only that the Ace of Chaos won. It doesn't say anything else worthwhile.”
“Damn,” Daniel said.
“And get this,” I said. “Those 13 Emissaries he killed? Well, apparently, the Archangel refused to take their souls. According to the file, they were sealed somewhere else.”
“Weird,” Daniel said.
“I got a file on the Fury too,” I said, glancing at the next file.
“nd?” Daniel asked.
“And nothing,” I said. “It's all blacked out with sharpie. The Archive doesn't want anyone knowing about this guy.”
“You think the Fury's babysitter would know anything?” Daniel asked.
“I don't think Beta would know,” I said. “This is Alpha level stuff. The rest pf the Archive is as in the dark as we are.”
The Fury is a weapon. A man covered in bandages, who does the Archive's dirty work. The Archive is a group that serves the Fear called the Blind Man. They're primarily an intelligence gathering group, but they're still dangerous. Especially the Martyrs. The Fury is monitored by Martyr Beta, the second in command of the warrior faction, but I don't think he has access to the information regarding exactly who the man he's charged with is.
“So, nothing useful on him?” Daniel asked.
“Well, maybe,” I said. “There's some surgical documents dated in march of 2013, so we know he's had some work done on him.”
“Yeah, that's totally useful,” Daniel said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Anthing else?”
I movewd to the next file.
“Some stuff on the Red Cap,” I said. “I got a lot of stuff, actually, but I only have the more recent stuff out right now.”
“Good news or bad news?” Daniel asked.
“Depends on the definition of good and bad,” I said. “Our universes Red Cap is losing the war. Its numbers are dwindling.”
The Red Cap is the Fear of lust. It's a liquid being, a lot like blood, that infects peoples bloodstreas. It causes them to embrace their darker nature. And it can possess them at will. Soe time ago, Daniel accidentally triggered an occurrence of dimension bleeding, causing a bunch of other Daniel's to be pulled into our universe. Their all dead now. Long story.
One of those Daniel, who we call Red Daniel, brought some of his universes Red Cap with him. It spread, infecting a large number of people, and has been waging war with our world's Red Cap. The people infected by the Red Cap are called Blood Vessels. Our universe's Blood Vessels have become calling themselves the True Redness, while those infected by the other Red Cap call themselves the High Blood. And so far, High Blood is coming out on top.
“The way I see it,” Daniel said, “Is that this war is Evil vs. Evil. I don't care which side wins. It's the people caught in the crossfires that I'm worried about.”
“I know,” I said. “That's the bad part.”
“Give it to me straight,” he said.
“Fourty-eight casualties,” I said. “And that's November alone.”
“Shit!” Daniel said. “I've gotta do something about this bullcrap!”
“Well, I have a location for you,” I said. “Give me a sec.”
I turned to my computer, and after a minute or two of typing, I emailed the info to Daniel.
“You get it?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “It's a State away. And I have to wait for O'Zalia here so he can pick up Callin...”
“You could probably be there and back by the time Isaac arrives if you can get a ride.”
“I'll talk to Abby about it, but I'm not sure if I wanna take the risk,” He said.
“I know,” I said. “I have one last document. Some stuff on something called the Daesidgean Crest. I thought it might be important.”
“Will it help be combat the Fears?” Daniel asked.
“That has yet to be determined,” I said.
“Will it bring me closer to the answers I need regarding High Blood or Marshall or any of the other fuckers I've been looking into?” He asked.
“I don't know,” I said.
“Then it's useless to me,” he said. “File it away under 'U' for 'Useless'.”
“Sure thing,” I said, setting it aside for later. Regardless of what Daniel says, I still think there might be something important about it. “So how's Abdalin?”
“Asleep,” Daniel said. “I think he's recovering from a drinking problem.”
“Can you blame him?” I said. “The Game Master was more than a boss to him. They were practically brothers.”
“I know,” Daniel said. “I think I'd be just as hurt if you... well, you know...”
I knew all too well. I had seen what happened to him when Malkator died. He's been hiding the pain, but I know he's still hurting. And the worst part is that he blames himself. He feels responsible for Benjamin Malkator's death, and nothing can be said to convince him otherwise.
“Well, look man,” I said. “You be careful. It would suck for me too if you died.”
“I know,” he said. “Good luck with the Agency.”
“Fight on, an,” I said.
We hung up.
For the past year, former SMSC agent Moss Garden has been helping me start the Solar Progeny agency. He helped me get my official Investigator lisence. Before that, I was just an amateur detective who found lost dogs and shit. Now I'm the real deal. And Hideaki's letting me use his place as an HQ. I take whatever case comes my way, but my big thing is Fear related cases. And not an hour after I hung up with Daniel, one of them knocked on my door.
I answered, and allowed a young woman in.
“Welcome to Solar Progeny,” I said. “My name is Tony Helioson. How can I help?”
“I'm Keursio,” she said.
A familiar name. I had seen in before, on Malkator's old blog.
“Wait,” I asked. “The 300 year old magic pirate Keursio?”
“Yes, that's me,” she said.
“So how can I help?” I asked. In y experience, 300 year old magic pirates aren't as surprising as they should be. I've seen weirder shit.
“It's my sister,” she said. “She went to investigate something last night, but never came back.”
“What was she investigatin?” I asked.
She gulped.
“The True Redness,” she said.
Damn it. Why can't it ever be Timberwolves? I'm sure I could handle a Timberwolf or two. Blood Vessels are another story entirely. They're total masochists. Being in pain is like sex to them. It only makes them stronger, and more aggressive. But I swallowed my fear, and continued.
“Do you have a location?” I asked.
“Club Jouissance,” she said.
I knew the place. It was two towns away. I've suspected it of being a Vessel establishment, and apparently so did Keursio's sister.
“Hold on,” I said.
I walked into the living room. There's a weapon rack- and actually fucking weapon rack- in Hideaki's living room, on one of the walls. He's got a ton of japanese weapons there. I'm not allowed to touch the actual steal, but he says I can use any of the bokkens or kobudo weapons he has there.
I grabbed one of the bokkens. A bokken is a 32 inch oak weapon, carved in the general shape of a katana, and used for sparring. A lot of samurai used to use them in battle, to prevent damaging their katana. It's a fact that more people have been killed by bokken than by actually katana. I'm not sure if wakizashis or kodachis are included in the ratio, but that's still pretty impressive for the bokken.
The club doesn't open till later tonight, so I'm writing this post and doing some research on the place before we leave. We're gonna drive out there and see if we can find out anything about Keursio's sister. Wish us luck.
-This is Tony Helioson, signing out.
“Solar Progeny, Tony Helioson speaking, how may I help you?” I asked.
“Can I get a double cheeseburger with fries and a diet coke?” asked a failiar voice from the other end.
“Very funny, HELLFIRE,” I said. “So why are you calling?”
“How do you know this isn't Estren?” the voice said.
“Estren would've asked for the toy,” I said. I heard the microwave beep. “Excuse me, I'll be right back.”
I went to grab my ramen and some chopsticks (because that is the best way to eat ramen) and went back to the office. Being too lazy to pick the phone up again, I hit the speaker phone button and sat down.
“So how's Venice this time of year?” I asked.
“On fire,” HELLFIRE replied.
“What?” I asked.
“It wasn't my fault!” HELLFIRE said.
“It wasn't the pyrokinetic psycho's fault?” I asked. “Okay then.
He spoke again, only somewhat softer. Estren was the one talking now. Although Estren and HELLFIRE share the same body, and thus the same voice, I had learned to tell which of them was in control.
“To be fair,” Estren said. “It's not that bad. Just a couple buildings burning, and everyone's been evacuated safely.”
“Good to know,” I said. “So who done it?”
“Shikoba,” Estren said.
“Who's that?” I asked.
“A Dying Man shard,” Estren said.
“And a huge dick,” HELLFIRE followed.
The Dying Man. The Fear of death. That's what HELLFIRE is. The Dying Man was once a whole being, but a long time ago it broke up into pieces. These pieces can possess people, and control them. Most victims degrade over time, but not Estren. He's not a normal human. He can keep HELLFIRE in check. Most of the time. Fortunately, HELLFIRE's a good guy. Sort of...
Well, he's better than most other Dying Men.
“So, you've got a rival shard running around?” I asked.
“Yes,” Estren said. “We've been contacting as many people we can.”
“So we can inform you if we find out anything?” I guessed.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Estren said.
“If you hear anything, hit us up,” HELLFIRE said.
“Since when does the Dying Man say 'hit us up'?” I asked.
“Since go screw yourself,” HELLFIRE said.
HELLFIRE doesn't like swearing. Honestly, I think his comeback would have would better if he had dropped the F bomb.
“Alright, fuck-face, I'll let you fucking know if I fucking hear anything about this motherfucker,” I said. Then I added another “Fuck” for good measure.
“Yeah, whatever,” HELLFIRE said grouchily.
Then he hung up.
I sat back and finished my ramen. I took a quick glance over the five stacks of files on my desk. One was pretty big, but the rest of them weren't, really.
I made a call.
The phone rang for a bit before Daniel picked up.
“Hey,” he said. “What's up?”
“Saw your post,” I said. “Finally found Abdalin, huh?”
“Yeah,” Daniel replied.
“So, I guess you won't be needing the data Moss pulled up on him?”
“I dunno,” Daniel said. “Might be useful later.”
“I'll keep it handy, then,” I said. I lifted up the larger of the stacks and shoved it into my file cabinet, under “A”.
“Dig you dig up anything else?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Moss and I snagged a bunch of files from the Archive. Want me to start with the ace?”
“Sure,” Daniel said. “What do you got?”
Marshall Smith. Also known as the Ace Of Chaos. A sorceror who's been around for over 800 years, the ancestor of Benjamin Malkator and David Kallaway, and, through a very complex series of bullshit, he's also another universe's version of Daniel. Don't ask. It's really weird.
Anyway, he sort of died, but his ghost is still active, and Daniel's been wanting to know more about his history.
So, I reached for the next stack and opened it up.
“Okay, there's a lot in here,” I said. “Want the short version?”
“Sure thing,” he said.
“Okay,” I said. “Supposedly, he was experimenting with mana for 76 years before he learned to properly meld light and darkness into chaos magic. It was four months after that that he killed the Ace Of Spades and acquired his mask. Over the course of the next 239 years, he killed 83 of the Game Master's cards, and 13 Emissaries. At that point, the Game Master began considering him a worthy foe and upgraded his mask.”
“Really?” Daniel asked. “And yet he left the self destruct sequence there?”
That's sort of how the Ace Of Chaos died. He tried using the self destruct function of his mask to destroy a himself, along with a Dying Man shard.
“I think that was the point,” I said. “It doesn't straight up say it in the files, but I think the Gae Master wanted the Ace to commit suicide. It was in the mid 1800's that the Game Master captured and imprisoned the Ace Of Chaos. He could have just killed him, but he kept him alive.”
“Because he wanted him to want to die,” Daniel said.
Daniel doesn't think much of his own intelligence, but he catches on faster than he gives himself credit for. He'd be as good a detective as me if he'd only apply himself.
“Yeah,” I said. “There's a lot missing from the files, but it says that in the late 1700s and early 1800s, there was a conflict with another time traveler.”
“Yeah, the Ace OF Chaos is a time traveler of sorts. That's why he was alive that long ago. Time travel's a weird thing. Apparently, it's possible to go back in time, but if you do, it splits up the timelines, and it becomes impossible to return to your old one.
“Another time traveler?” Daniel asked. “Weird. Does it say anything else?”
“Only that the Ace of Chaos won. It doesn't say anything else worthwhile.”
“Damn,” Daniel said.
“And get this,” I said. “Those 13 Emissaries he killed? Well, apparently, the Archangel refused to take their souls. According to the file, they were sealed somewhere else.”
“Weird,” Daniel said.
“I got a file on the Fury too,” I said, glancing at the next file.
“nd?” Daniel asked.
“And nothing,” I said. “It's all blacked out with sharpie. The Archive doesn't want anyone knowing about this guy.”
“You think the Fury's babysitter would know anything?” Daniel asked.
“I don't think Beta would know,” I said. “This is Alpha level stuff. The rest pf the Archive is as in the dark as we are.”
The Fury is a weapon. A man covered in bandages, who does the Archive's dirty work. The Archive is a group that serves the Fear called the Blind Man. They're primarily an intelligence gathering group, but they're still dangerous. Especially the Martyrs. The Fury is monitored by Martyr Beta, the second in command of the warrior faction, but I don't think he has access to the information regarding exactly who the man he's charged with is.
“So, nothing useful on him?” Daniel asked.
“Well, maybe,” I said. “There's some surgical documents dated in march of 2013, so we know he's had some work done on him.”
“Yeah, that's totally useful,” Daniel said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Anthing else?”
I movewd to the next file.
“Some stuff on the Red Cap,” I said. “I got a lot of stuff, actually, but I only have the more recent stuff out right now.”
“Good news or bad news?” Daniel asked.
“Depends on the definition of good and bad,” I said. “Our universes Red Cap is losing the war. Its numbers are dwindling.”
The Red Cap is the Fear of lust. It's a liquid being, a lot like blood, that infects peoples bloodstreas. It causes them to embrace their darker nature. And it can possess them at will. Soe time ago, Daniel accidentally triggered an occurrence of dimension bleeding, causing a bunch of other Daniel's to be pulled into our universe. Their all dead now. Long story.
One of those Daniel, who we call Red Daniel, brought some of his universes Red Cap with him. It spread, infecting a large number of people, and has been waging war with our world's Red Cap. The people infected by the Red Cap are called Blood Vessels. Our universe's Blood Vessels have become calling themselves the True Redness, while those infected by the other Red Cap call themselves the High Blood. And so far, High Blood is coming out on top.
“The way I see it,” Daniel said, “Is that this war is Evil vs. Evil. I don't care which side wins. It's the people caught in the crossfires that I'm worried about.”
“I know,” I said. “That's the bad part.”
“Give it to me straight,” he said.
“Fourty-eight casualties,” I said. “And that's November alone.”
“Shit!” Daniel said. “I've gotta do something about this bullcrap!”
“Well, I have a location for you,” I said. “Give me a sec.”
I turned to my computer, and after a minute or two of typing, I emailed the info to Daniel.
“You get it?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “It's a State away. And I have to wait for O'Zalia here so he can pick up Callin...”
“You could probably be there and back by the time Isaac arrives if you can get a ride.”
“I'll talk to Abby about it, but I'm not sure if I wanna take the risk,” He said.
“I know,” I said. “I have one last document. Some stuff on something called the Daesidgean Crest. I thought it might be important.”
“Will it help be combat the Fears?” Daniel asked.
“That has yet to be determined,” I said.
“Will it bring me closer to the answers I need regarding High Blood or Marshall or any of the other fuckers I've been looking into?” He asked.
“I don't know,” I said.
“Then it's useless to me,” he said. “File it away under 'U' for 'Useless'.”
“Sure thing,” I said, setting it aside for later. Regardless of what Daniel says, I still think there might be something important about it. “So how's Abdalin?”
“Asleep,” Daniel said. “I think he's recovering from a drinking problem.”
“Can you blame him?” I said. “The Game Master was more than a boss to him. They were practically brothers.”
“I know,” Daniel said. “I think I'd be just as hurt if you... well, you know...”
I knew all too well. I had seen what happened to him when Malkator died. He's been hiding the pain, but I know he's still hurting. And the worst part is that he blames himself. He feels responsible for Benjamin Malkator's death, and nothing can be said to convince him otherwise.
“Well, look man,” I said. “You be careful. It would suck for me too if you died.”
“I know,” he said. “Good luck with the Agency.”
“Fight on, an,” I said.
We hung up.
For the past year, former SMSC agent Moss Garden has been helping me start the Solar Progeny agency. He helped me get my official Investigator lisence. Before that, I was just an amateur detective who found lost dogs and shit. Now I'm the real deal. And Hideaki's letting me use his place as an HQ. I take whatever case comes my way, but my big thing is Fear related cases. And not an hour after I hung up with Daniel, one of them knocked on my door.
I answered, and allowed a young woman in.
“Welcome to Solar Progeny,” I said. “My name is Tony Helioson. How can I help?”
“I'm Keursio,” she said.
A familiar name. I had seen in before, on Malkator's old blog.
“Wait,” I asked. “The 300 year old magic pirate Keursio?”
“Yes, that's me,” she said.
“So how can I help?” I asked. In y experience, 300 year old magic pirates aren't as surprising as they should be. I've seen weirder shit.
“It's my sister,” she said. “She went to investigate something last night, but never came back.”
“What was she investigatin?” I asked.
She gulped.
“The True Redness,” she said.
Damn it. Why can't it ever be Timberwolves? I'm sure I could handle a Timberwolf or two. Blood Vessels are another story entirely. They're total masochists. Being in pain is like sex to them. It only makes them stronger, and more aggressive. But I swallowed my fear, and continued.
“Do you have a location?” I asked.
“Club Jouissance,” she said.
I knew the place. It was two towns away. I've suspected it of being a Vessel establishment, and apparently so did Keursio's sister.
“Hold on,” I said.
I walked into the living room. There's a weapon rack- and actually fucking weapon rack- in Hideaki's living room, on one of the walls. He's got a ton of japanese weapons there. I'm not allowed to touch the actual steal, but he says I can use any of the bokkens or kobudo weapons he has there.
I grabbed one of the bokkens. A bokken is a 32 inch oak weapon, carved in the general shape of a katana, and used for sparring. A lot of samurai used to use them in battle, to prevent damaging their katana. It's a fact that more people have been killed by bokken than by actually katana. I'm not sure if wakizashis or kodachis are included in the ratio, but that's still pretty impressive for the bokken.
The club doesn't open till later tonight, so I'm writing this post and doing some research on the place before we leave. We're gonna drive out there and see if we can find out anything about Keursio's sister. Wish us luck.
-This is Tony Helioson, signing out.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Comeback
My name is Daniel Xavier Ferris, and my story is a long one. If you want, you can go read my other blog, which explains pretty much everything that has happened to me so far. But if you're too lazy to do that, I'll try my best to explain this along the way. After all, my story may be long so far, but this is still just the beginning.
I guess I should start by telling you what I am. Or rather, what I used to be. You see, centuries ago, one of my ancestors made a deal with someone called the Jack of All (who is a total dick by the way), so that the males of my bloodline would possess the power to combat the Fears. If you don't already know what Fears are, I'll explain that in a minute.
So, the men of my family gained powers, but it didn't stick. After several generations, the powers stopped. Faded away. Went dormant. However you wanna put it. But the Fears never stopped watching us. They were always attentive, and eventually someone noticed them. My mom.
My parents divorced when I was young, and I hardly saw my mom. But a few years back, when she was visiting, she saw them. The creatures watching me. She got worried about me, and HE took advantage of that fact. Jack approached her, and offered to awaken the dormant powers within me.
You see, Jack's basically what would happen if the Evil Genie and Nyarlathotep got married and had a baby. He's a deal maker. He gives people what they want, but there's always something twisted about his deals. Sometimes there's a huge price to be paid. Sometimes he twists the deal away to benefit him and screw you. Sometimes it something even more complex.
He awakened my powers as a Devil Killer, at my mom's request, but I don't know what the price was. All I know is that he said I'd lose something. I don't know what I'm going to lose. Hell, I've probably already lost it, and I just haven't figured it out yet.
So, I gained the power to fight the Fears. Eldritch abominations that embody the things we fear. And for a while, I fought against them with those powers. I even killed one. The Archangel, fear of religion and physical manifestation of the afterlife, met its end by my hand. But the Fears weren't my only enemies. I've fought people were just as evil as the Fears.
One such enemy cost me my power. He was so strong, that the only way for me to win was to involuntarily sacrifice my powers as a Devil Killer. And just like that, I was human again.
That hasn't stopped me from combating the Fears though. It's been a year since I lost my powers, and I continue to resist them. I've been doing what I can to foil their plans and protect people from them. But it's not enough. People still die by the Fear's hands. And they've been more aggressive than ever lately.
And I think it's my fault.
I think I started this when I killed one of their number. I think it's because of me that they've gotten violent.
I realized that I needed help.
I mean, I sort of have help. My friend Tony has been working a an PI helping in Fear-related cases, with the help of former Fear servant Hideaki Kelterry and former SMSC (an anti-Fear organization) agent Moss Garden. They've set up base in Hideaki's old house in Oregon (speaking of which, if anyone needs help in that area, look up the Solar Progeny Detective Agency). Also, my friend Kyle, and my girlfriend Seraph have been helping in any way he can. Plus, Estren Saltown, Isaac O'Zalia, and David Kallaway sometimes help me out, but they've got their own stuff to deal with and I can't always rely on them.
It was ParaDan you suggested I get Abdalin's help. If you're wondering, ParaDan is y insane future self from a tangent timeline or some shit. That whole thing is screwy...
But I trust his word. He tries to kill anyone who goes bad in his future, so if he thinks someone's good, then I'll take his word for it. Even though Abdalin kind of worked for the Game Master, who was one of the most vile, evil beings in the world until O'Zalia literally erased his body fro existence. Yes, that's a thing that happened.
So, I spent about two months trying to find Abdalin. It wasn't easy, since I didn't have any leads. Tony tried to look into it for me, but he couldn't find much either. But then I found a note in my fridge telling me to meet someone at the local dam. So I went their, and found another note. It had the word “SEE” written in electric tape, and the symbol of the Vision.
(For the record, the Vision is the Fear of Destiny, who died a long time ago and was apparently a pretty okay girl. She still has servants around called Scions, and they're also okay I guess. They don't try to murder e like most other Fear servants do, so I guess that's good...)
So, I looked at the symbol, and I suddenly just knew. I knew where Abdalin was.
I went there with Callin. Callin's a runner from one of the Fears. From what he tells me of his encounters, I think he's running from the Burning Bride, the Fear of fire and violence.
We got there, and talked with him. He looked a lot more teenage then I thought. Apparently, he can gradually alter his appearance over time. Neat trick, I guess. It took some convincing, but as you can see in the video above, I managed to persuade Abdalin to help me put a wrench in the Fears plans.
So...yeah. That's what I've been up to.
Unfortunately, I'm losing it. I have coughing fits. Sometimes I cough up blood. It's painful. And I keep breaking into these uncontrollable fits of laughter. I'm losing my mind. And I think the Fears are the reason why.
I'm gonna go ahead and sign off for now, but first, I have one last thing I need to say.
This day... This is a very significant day for me. Two years ago, one of my closest friends, a man who helped me in my fight against the Fears, died. Benjamin Malkator gave his life to stop the Game Master. And I can never forget that sacrifice. That moment is forever burnt into my head.
That's why I chose today to get back into the blogging thing. Because this day means a lot.
Rest in peace, Ben. You're still missed.
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