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