Inside 68: Dawn of a New Season (or two)

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

"Those folk'll require magical medical attention," Michalson tells the other officers. "Somethin'... bit into them. But I can't tell much right 'ere." He then points in the direction of the forest. "And we've got a new trail to follow."

[Shadowcaller]

[Docks Sewer Nightmare]

To be fair to the horrible thing, books are generally not used as magical grenades and to be fair to Anika, she had no indication that what happens next would happen. The last time she threw a book like this all it produced was an odd smell.

The druid stands there, just blinking for a moment before she turns to run in the opposite direction. "This place is collapsing, get those victims and let's get out of here! I can carry some of them!" She will at that moment shift into the form of a saber, ready to carry any non-skinwalkers up to the surface.

[The Blizzard Below]

Jaahlyn panics briefly when she sees that Morning Glory missed her, this was bond to be a painful death. But she isn't ready to give up hope yet and to her relief, that wasn't in vain once she spots Down. Running-up, she is capable of taking quite an amazing leap into the air and grab onto Down's legs, instantly feeling sorry for the poor pegasus that likely didn't even want to be here in the first place. But now she wouldn't have to die again and that was always a plus.

Trying to remain as still as possible, she just clings to Down's legs and lets her do the escape bit. With her hands occupied, she couldn't really do much in this situation.

[Rebonack]

[Blizzard Below]

Let's be real here.

Morning Glory had no idea whether or not that would work.

It was a hunch more than anything else. She was operating more or less on the her understanding of pony logic where love and friendship can conquer even the greatest evils. A horrible elemental force of icy hatred and conflict attacks you? Respond with love and compassion and you'll weaken it. Maybe.

Just when it looks like everything is going great, the whole cavern shudders from something else horrible happening.

Probably something relating to conflict, because the Windigo just got even more riled up.

So Glory does the only reasonable thing and leans in to give the angry windy horse a kiss on the nose.

*smek*

"I'm going to need to go, okay?" she informs the elemental spirit of hate. "People are being hurt and I need to help them. Because I love them. I love everyone here. Even the people who don't behave themselves. Even the people who need to be Corrected. You can do better, I know you can. You just have to try."

And then with one last little squeeze, she shrinks out of existence as she jaunts away perpendicular to reality. It makes moving around way easier. Especially when you're in collapsing underground tunnels. From here she'll turn her attention toward the surface, hunting for the source of the disturbance. Which... doesn't prove to be very difficult.

"Oh wow that thing is pretty big for a creep."

Something like that would be easy to engage unbound. Almost trivially so. But being seen in the middle of the City would cause way more problems than it would solve. And having just invoked the Sea of Glass, she's pretty tapped out in terms of resources. She'll need some time to think about what she's going to do. Thankfully this particular instance is creeping along at a glacial pace. That should give her plenty of time to ponder her options. For now? For now she'll catch up with the burdened Down Feather.

"Tail fire," she announces as she suddenly pops back in, beating her wings a bit awkwardly. "You can let go of Down, Jaahlyn, I've got you."

Passenger transfer!

"That impact was a giant pod person getting teleported into the middle of the City," she announces. "I'm out of high powered ordnance. I don't suppose anyone has a giant incendiary bomb anywhere?"


[Sewer Nightmare]

Geneva blinks at the sudden absence of... lots of stuff.

Where did it go-?

That question is shortly there after answered by quaking earth and a false 'hostage' suddenly unfurling like a very aggressive meat-flower. As it flails uselessly against her barrier, Geneva responds with a hearty application of fire. She feels pretty relieved that her paranoia wasn't unjustified while at the same time feeling sickened that they didn't get here fast enough.

~Take the ones I've already tested!~ Geneva sends as she levitates the already confirmed-not-awful-meat-beast hostages down to Anika. That'll free up her focus for testing faster at least. With both she and her Substitute prodding at the hostages, this should go pretty quickly. Rather than taking the time to cut people out of the pods, she'll simply shear the cocoons off the ceiling and pass them to the other waiting VIGILanties.

Actual person.

Actual person.

Skinwalker. FLAME THROWER!

[Morty]

[Docks Sewer Nightmare]

Calm Reed will carry out some of the captives, her broad shoulders further augmented by exerting her Essence.

[bc56]

Abrajin's Library

"My apologies. I assumed you knew what was going on." The scout pauses. "This will take time to explain, possibly more than I have left, and it will put you at risk." It waits for approval before continuing.

Office of Horror

Tethrik falls down, finally unconscious. His madness is still a mystery, but Alfred is safe from him for now.

[Arkhosia]

Docks - Sewer Nightmare

Blanche will do her best to help with getting the victims out before the place collapses, mostly in the form of helping place them for Anika to carry out - while not exactly weak, she'll have difficulty carrying more than one person at a time.

[Earl of Purple]

Office of Horror

What? Now Tethrik's fainted, there's a flash of light as Ben starts to glow, and float into the air. Ben's head grows larger, as his body and legs atrophy and shrink down, the leafy arms moving up to his head. When it's over, and the light has faded, Ben's much larger, now standing a metre tall and doesn't look like he can move as easily. "Weeeepinbell?" The former collection of pixels exclaims, surprised at its new form. Arnie, meanwhile, charges a hole in a formerly intact wall and drags Alfred out. The office cleaner is led to his first pokemon, which he picks up. Together, the three of them run to the stairs, hoping to escape before the space demon awakens.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Streets]

Sam smiles warmly at Lucy.
"Lucy, I know what you're doing. You don't have to pretend to stare to make me feel better. I'm over it.
I think...there might be one thing though. I really liked those gauntlets. Even though they were uh- anyway, do you know where I could get some cool gauntlets with neat powers? We can find an armory somewhere I'm sure." Sam's near death experience might have made him comfortable with himself, but he still doesn't think he's attractive. And when it comes to magic items, well, he thinks he should ask the magic dragon with a hoard before he goes and buys something.

[The Part Where Dobbers Gets Startled]

Melvin happened to be looking down at his book at that exact moment as he'd been going to show it to his new partner. Someone sneezing loudly in your face when you're not looking is pretty surprising. Looking up at the same time to find a large yak-man towering over you barely a foot from you is also rather surprising, and these two things do a great job in getting Melvin to jump. Unfortunately, that causes him to explode in size. As it turns out he wasn't kidding; while slightly shorter than Ithuriel, he beats her in width, giving him the dubious honor of being the second largest therianthrope on the force after Officer Al. Who's basically cheating anyway, stupid dinosaur.
Regardless, the barrel-chested were-hippopotamus now finds himself towering over his partner, which is sadly nothing new to him. He rubs his face with a groan. The cheap enchantments on his uniform seem to have reached their limit, but are holding for now.
"Just once, just once, I'd like someone to go a day without seeing me like this. I-wait a second." He stares down at Wilfred. "Don't I know you? Do you go to that library down on Hodgepodge Street?"

[Streets]

"Psha! You clearly don't know what I'm doing, 'cos I'm deeefinitely not pretending. I'm staring at your butt because I want to stare at your butt." She strolls back round in front of him, grins, and gives him a big thumbs up. "Also it looks good on ya! Aaaand I got no idea what to suggest when it comes to magic items. I just like shiny things."

*****

[Sneeze-Yak and Hippo Surprise!]

Dibbles goes wide-eyed at the sight of his partner hippoing up in front of him and very politely tries not to look at the uniform struggling to contain his bulbous hippo bulk.

Oh dear.

This isn't really a good thing for either of them, is it?

"Aye! Aye, I r'member nae! I've seen ya a few times around the wee. Thar was that one time where that wee lass thought y'were there ta read stories tae all the kiddies! That wa- oh, ah, I'm sorry. T'ain't easy for us big'uns is it? Ahah...hah."

[Deathkeeper]

[Streets]

Sam grins, shaking his head.
”Well, you should know that ogling is reserved for gals planning on taking me out, and we didn’t talk about adding dinner to this outing.” he chuckles.
I’d only asked because I thought you might have some neat armor in your bag or something. If you don’t know anything about it I can do that part on my own time. By all means, do you want anything?”” he asks, even though he knows she doesn’t need to buy clothes.

[Sneezy Yak and Jumpy Hippo]

Melvin droops, defeated.
”Yeah, that was me. I was hoping you’d forgotten. And now we’ve both gone and gotten ourselves changed in the middle of-” he turns stiffly- and stops as he hears the distinct sound of a thread snapping.
”Okay so um, confession time. Usually when this happens at the office I just undo my shirt buttons. No one cares since I’m usually a desk jockey and no one stops by my cubicle anyway. And this one fits worse than usual. But I can’t do that with the people out here to see me! Um. I don’t suppose you have a spell for tailoring? The Sergeant will have my head if I shred my uniform on the first day.” He eyes Dibbles’ kilt.
”Does that kilt work for you when you change size? I don’t think I could pull off the look but I’d try anything.” Dobbers is sadly well acquainted with ripping all manner of clothes thanks to a random noise in the night.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

The SWAT commander nods, and barks a few names with hand gestures. Four of the officers nod and continue helping the victims, while the remaining officers form up on Michalson, giving him enough space so that he can track, but remain close enough that they can hopefully defend him should things go south.

"We move on your orders, Detective."

Docks - Sewer Nightmare

Quin moves up, doing his best to to maneuver in the tight quarters, and tries to shield the smaller members from the falling debris with his bulk and energy shield. He stands a better chance of surviving a cave-in than they do, after all.

[bc56]

Office (the horror is vanquished)

Tethrik is out cold. Alfred has plenty of time to escape and alert his choice of authorities.

[Earl of Purple]

Office, End of Horror

Well, that's going to be Intersection, once he's calmed down and got signal with his pokedex. Until they turn up, he's going to sit and wait on his tuktuk. It's not a large vehicle, nor is it fast, but that's most of why Alfred picked it when he had a discount ticket from those alien car dealers. It's small, so he can park it pretty much anywhere he wants, and in the city there's a lot of traffic so fast speeds can't be easily reached.

[Rebonack]

[Abrajin's Library]

Myriam and Derelith share a look.

Not that they have to.

Technically they're the same person.

But she has picked up a few tricks during her interactions with flatlanders that help her seem more approachable! And doing things that make it seem as though they aren't a single mind operating multiple bodies really helps.

Anywho!

Myriam nods.

"I think I should help you," she concludes. "Since you helped me. That would be an equitable exchange. Tell me what I need to know."

[Leostales]

Ice Devil Dimension

The gates swing open as they approach and slam shut as they enter. As they are walking down the entrance hallway, Blackwall discusses their plan of action. "The chances are he's not going to listen to any pleas or any bargains I am capable of delivering on, so our best bet is for you to pretend to be the emissary of someone he fears and that he has claimed my soul. Just tell him Tymaret sent you and leave the rest to me."

The hallway ends in a gargantuan throne room carved out of the ice. Sitting in the throne is a humongous Ice Devil wearing a crown carved out of frozen blood. "YOU BOYS HAVE A LOT OF NERVE COMING HERE. SPEAK YOUR PURPOSE OR RISK A FACE A FATE FAR WORSE THAN DEATH."

Palace-Group 2
Metalheads eyes are very keen. He sees the red patch and with unerring accuracy fires a gun at it. He then activates his rocket boots in order to have more room to maneuver.

Blizzard Below
Muun grabs Down's legs. When Morning Glory asks for the explosive, he offers up his gun, "This thing seems to pack a punch. I also have this..." he removes the funny hat he was wearing earlier. "I think it can suck a creature's life force, but I'm not exactly sure how it works."

[Morty]

[Industrial Strength Investigation]

Michalson draws his sabre and his gun. He was expecting trouble before, but it's even more close by now. He nods.

"Let's get goin'. Be ready for anythin'."

He sets out to follow the trail at a brisk but cautious pace.

[bc56]

Abrajin's Library

The Scout nods. "Very well. You'll need these." It waves its hand, and a pair of small metallic objects appear in it. It spends a few seconds fiddling with each of them then passes them one at a time to Myriam. "Press the side of the projector to turn it on. It'll display a set of coordinates. Go there, find the computer logs, kill the Overseer, and take its head." The first object passed is a flat, metal and glass disc with a rectangular button on one side. "The other bit's harder. Keep this on you, and if you encounter a creature whose presence causes it to shake and glow, give them the head and the logs, and they'll know what to do." The second object is a metal cylinder about the size of an inkpen. "Does that make sense?"

Spoiler: ooc

Show

The coordinates on the device are those for Darkness Falls.

Ice Devil Dimension

"I come on behalf of Tymaret! Do not dismiss me so easily." Tethrik boldly replies, resisting the urge to say something flippant.

Office

Tethrik will continue to lie unconscious until the authorities arrive. Unless you want to RP that out, I think we can end the scene here.

[Rebonack]

[Abrajin's Library]

Oh!

That's interesting.

It must have some kind of storage space that it teleports objects from? That's a clever trick.

Myriam has to use a backpack.

And considering physical strength wasn't very high on the list of attributes she focused on for her anchor, that means lugging things around is tough.

"The set of instructions is understandable, but I'm not sure why these things are needed," Myriam replies. "Though I'll confess, there are many things I don't know."

Both devices are stuffed into one of the side pouches of her pack.

"How will I recognize the overseer?" she asks.

[bc56]

Abrajin's Library

The Scout nods. It's a good question. "Looks like me, but only two arms and a bulbous head. You'll know it when you see it." It pauses, then adds, "It's better you don't know. That way you can be spared more easily should you fail. If you knew, they would certainly kill or recruit you if they caught you."

[Leostales]

Ice Devil Dimension

"Oh, that's different." The Ice Giant says, his demeanor changing. "We have an extradition agreement with him. Just tell me what facility you're taking him to and just exactly what you are planning on doing with him, and why you didn't just ask us in the first place and you should be on your way."

Blackwall lets out a groan, he didn't know about the extradition agreement. The negotiations will be a bit harder now.

[Rebonack]

[Abrajin's Library]

"Death would be inconvenient," Myriam admits. Without a material anchor to hold her firmly lodged, she would be quickly dissolved by the world's caustic, unnatural laws. That would be bothersome. Getting a fragment of herself here had been difficult to begin with. And she still hasn't completed her objective. Being forced to start over again because something kills her body? Not a best case-scenario.

"I take it you can't help?" she asks. "What exactly will I be fighting? Or... does that fall under the 'best not to know' clause?"

The cereal eating spooks watch the exchange impassively.

It doesn't look like they have any intention of intervening.

"I think we can use the exit door at any time," Myriam continues, gesturing toward the door with the green word EXIT glowing above it. "But I'm not sure where it would take us."

Somewhere that isn't the library, presumably.

And given that it is a pan-dimensional library, that somewhere could be anywhere.

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius' Custom Constructs- Closing Time

It's been quite a hard day, for Prumathe and Sekhmet. He's been carving the fingers onto a temple statue for a church of Andraste, which wouldn't be so bad if they didn't want the statue to be made from blue dolorite, a very hard stone. Sekhmet's still working with metal, so she's likely hot and sticky. But now it's time to go home, have a rest and relax.

Prumathe's wearing a thick leather apron over his workman's overalls, his dark curly hair matted near flat by sweat, as he approaches Sekhmet and coughs to attract her attention. "Um... Hi. So... Sekhmet, I was wondering. We've got tomorrow off, so... I was wondering if you'd like to go out and have dinner with me." He's quite nervous, and hoping she says yes.

[bc56]

Abrajin's Library

"I can't come along. I'd give the operation away with my presence, and they'll already be hunting me. All you need to know is that they're attempting to colonize this world, and that I'm pointing you towards the least defended site I know of," the Scout answers, then turns to the door. "I don't have anything else to do here if you don't."

Ice Devil Dimension

Time for some good old-fashioned bluffing. Tethrik quickly racks his brain for some hells to borrow the names of. "We're taking him to Hvergelmer in Muspell, where we'll put his talents to work on a secret project. As for why I forgot to ask, it slipped my mind. I've always enjoyed a fight."

Pontius' Custom Constructs- Closing Time

It's been a hard day of work. Sweat drips from Sekhmet's brow, and she was looking forward to a clean shower, but at this moment, all that is forgotten. "I, uh, me?" Her face is filled with shock and surprise. "Yes!" she responds quickly. "Where, uh, would we go?"

[Rebonack]

[Abrajin's Library]

Myriam nods, though she looks a bit uneasy at this.

"Colonizing the planet sounds like it wouldn't be good for the people who live here," she reasons. "I'll do what I can. Thank you for helping me again. I hope the other machines don't destroy you."

And then?

She'll head off through the exit door.

...

....

The two cereal spooks are still watching.

And eating cereal.

Loudly.

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius' Custom Constructs- Closing Time

"Wha- uh, really? Um." Sounds like Prumathe wasn't expecting a 'yes'. Or at least, not such an emphatic one. "Um, well, Trog's does food. Or there's this fancy kobold place in Mallside, but they're not vegetarian friendly, if that matters. Also they eat odd things, but I hear that if you can get past the oddness, it's good food." 'Cave lobster', for example, is a type of giant blind cricket. "There's also the Den, but... it's a little shady. Or the Dancing Fox. I think the Dancing Fox, it's just outside the city, and it's very nice. At about... seven, maybe? So we've got time to, uh, freshen up." Not talking about Sekhmet, there; Prumathe is himself quite sweaty from carving rocks all day. Even if he didn't have to move them too much because there's golems that do it for him, it's still hard work chipping away with a hammer and a chisel.

[bc56]

Abrajin's Library

The Scout turns to the exit and leaves as well. It needs to get a head start against the forces undoubtedly beginning to hunt it down.

Pontius' Custom Constructs - Closing Time

"That, uh, that sounds good, I guess," Sekhmet replies. She hasn't heard of this place, but she's only been here a week or so. She hopes it's not too expensive. A chance to clean up sounds good too. "I will, uh, see you there?" The first seeds of worry start to creep into her mind. He said it was nice, that means she'll have to find something nice to wear. What if she doesn't have anything nice enough?

[Leostales]

Ice Devil Dimension

"Secret project? That sounds like him. That also would explain why I've never heard of that place. Let me just send a confirmation messenger to your boss, and we should be set."

He clicks his pinchers and a smaller ice devil runs into of the room.

"Because your boss is so hard to get a hold of, I'd recommend taking this messenger directly to him."

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius' Custom Constructs- Closing Time

It can't be too expensive, or else Prumathe won't be able to afford it either- he's an apprentice too, and whilst he does have more savings his wages are no higher than Sekhmet's.

"Uh, yes! See you there." He smiles, and turns to leave. His own mind's fluttering with worries. What if she backs out? What will he wear? Do those nice trousers still fit him? What about that shirt? Isn't that shirt maybe a little too morbid for a date? What else is there? What if it's more expensive than he thinks it is, and he can't afford and she has to pay for her food? What if she doesn't realise it's a date and she's got a boyfriend somewhere? What if everything goes wrong and she winds up hating him? Oh, gods, please make sure it all goes good!

[Chaotic Bob]

[The Blizzard Below -> Industrial District Again]

It would be pretty misleading to say that the windigo appreciated having its snout kissed.
It pretty much does the exact opposite of that, recoiling around like someone stuck a blazing brand on its face instead.

The blizzard once more seems to begin stalling out a bit, though a bit less abruptly than before.
And then Morning Glory is gone!

Which brings us back over to Down Feather's strained escape flight through seemingly and arbitrarily rumbling, unstable tunnels.
Briefly. It becomes substantially less strained once Morning reappears, has a flamethrower hesitantly and wobblingly pointed in her direction, the action reconsidered, and then Jaahlyn foisted off on her.
This should make the last leg of their trip significantly easier, as Down has far less problems holding Muun by himself.

This gives her a small amount of time to consider what Morning had reported back on, which sets up rather nicely that unholy stream of profanity she unleashes upon returning to the surface and actually seeing for herself what the new problem is.
"No, sorry Morning, I don't carry balefire bombs on me during day-trips. Stars above, I don't even know what else we can drop on that that won't just make it screechier and more world-endingly hideous. Sorry guy, I don't know how much a gun and a hat are going to ruin that thing's day."
She almost could sound genuinely apologetic to shooting down Muun's offerings, if she wasn't so phenomenally terrified and angry at the same time. Not at any of them, of course, but mostly at the universe itself for conspiring to make her life a walking disaster of unbridled proportions. Is she being haunted by Lucky? Is that what all of this is?
Figures that the jerk disappears on her probably forever but still manages to ruin her life in the process.

This is not constructive internal ranting she's having, however, while hovering somewhere above the ground with a semi-captive passenger.
When that occurs to her, she flies back down a bit to deposit Muun on the ground near the hole they had originally descended, where she is now free to begin pacing frantically and ranting out loud.
"Okay. Um. Okay. Maybe this is just what I get for wondering why the city hadn't been overrun yet. Wait, no. This is definitely why the city hasn't been overrun yet. The little freaks were just glomming together, weren't they? What the heck kind of plan is that? Other than horrifying, I mean.
Options. Uh, die. Always a big one. Fling small ordinance at it then probably still die. Not great. This city is full of super-powered lunatics, maybe one of them will step up and deal with it? Princess Sunder might notice. One of those hero organizations, maybe?

Hey, do any of you know any hot-shots who can make things explode? Maybe explode twice?"
Morning blew her explosive/glass magic on an inferior threat that had, admittedly, seemed pretty bad at the time, so she kind of disqualified herself here.

[Docks - The Now Less Threatening Sewer Nightmare]

There's still a degree of body-horror going on down here, to qualify this under most sane peoples' idea of a nightmare.
Sure, there's not really a lot of threat left, but none of it is very fun.

Getting the victims out and back up to street level isn't super hard, as the group never had to move far from the entrance. The cavern's collapse seems to be pretty slow, so far.
And the skinwalkers that were in here, seem to be stuck in some inexplicable catatonic state up until Geneva bops them, at which point they're pretty much just sitting ducks for getting set on fire while they shriekingly wake up.

It's all a pretty anticlimactic ending to this particular event, up until people get outside and see that abomination howling off in the distance.

Good going Anika, you broke someone's neighborhood. Property values across the city are plummeting, as the unpleasant noise and visual pollution afflicts the sensibilities of Home Owner's Associations across the town. Okay, they're probably not, because this is Inside and something horrible is always going on, but it's something worth considering.

There always has to be some sort of consequence to taking a shortcut during your tasks. And this particularly consequence appears to be a horrible raid boss being dumped on some poor unsuspecting buildings.
At least all the people the group are rescuing are too busy being unconscious to notice.

[The Understreets]

For better or worse, the giant tower of flesh seems to be largely rooted to its new location. This does not, unfortunately, mean it is harmless.

While its rainbow-colored excretion tide mercilessly assaults the nearby streets and lower floors of buildings, bleeding tentacles have begun to sprout from various portions of the monster. They are setting about finding any of the little drow too foolish to either hide or flee, instead having the audacity to try to defend their homes.
Their odds are slim.

[Halae]

[An Alleyway - a week and a half ago]

Alice Cold is walking home. This is far from an abnormal situation; she works late at the local grocery store, which closes at 10 PM to make sure that the folks who can't handle daylight still have a chance to shop. Of course, that leads to walks home in the dark. She's taken a trip behind the local Frikken Chicken - a restaurant chain that's never really caught on outside of its home universe - to avoid the front of a local no-name bar where some of the more rowdy men around like to hang out and drink.

Despite this, she's seen as she passes through the alley, her red hair clear in the darkening night. The person following her appears to be another woman, dark of hair with an athlete's build and supple curves, in contrast to Alice's overly skinny body. "Hey!" she calls out, crossing the distance between them. Alice turns her blue-gray eyes the olive skinned woman following her, curious, "You know it's dangerous out here, right? You should probably stick to the streets."

Alice, though, waves it off, "I've got good ears, I can hear when someone's coming up to me. Besides, if there's something scary, I can just run before it gets close."

"That right? You're not worried at all?" the redhead blinks in confusion at the odd tone the other woman has adopted, and her features going neutral. Before she has time to respond, however, the brunette's hand lashes out and clamps over Alice's face. Her desperate flailing can't stop tendrils from moving out from the other woman's hand to claim her biomass. She can't scream for help, as they have her throat in but a moment.

[Apartment 322 - one week ago]

Alice woke up.

Any other day, this wouldn't have been particularly notable. She'd dreamt of a a gray place, a car driving along a barren, gray road. She was in the passenger's seat, the driver's seat occupied by someone faceless, their clothing, their body shifting constantly. It had the same color as the rest of this place - drab, empty, dull, and completely devoid of color. Alice had, with some difficulty, pushed the faceless creature out of the driver's seat. It had fallen to the ground outside of a door that may have been made of paper for all that it prevented the being from passing through. She took the driver's seat, and the steering wheel gained the color of simple leather, her seat the brown-red upholstery of an older car. Trees, rocks, and other things became real on the sides of the road. the path, which had been straight and narrow before, broadened, and began to wind about.

And now, here she was, three days later. This was particularly notable because three days ago, she had died.

Naked and shivering, weeping from the realization that she had been killed - consumed for raw materials by a monster - she spends several hours just trying to keep herself from going into hysterics. this isn't helped by the fact that her arms now and then sort of melt before she panicked and they came back to their original shape, responding to her will. It takes her three hours to pull herself off the floor of her apartment to look in the mirror.

Logic, her own voice says to her in her mind, a southern drawl affecting the tone, Think it through, dumbass. Use your head.

"Right... right, think this through," she tells herself, her voice again, this time natural, without the inflection. She lifts up her hand, looking at it both in her reflection and right before her eyes, "I'm... melting. No. no, that's not right. I can stop that from happening. I set a shape and it stays in it until I stop wanting it to be that shape," she balls a fist, "So... focus on a different image than your normal hand."

Her mind goes back to the olive-skinned woman that she'd been killed by. Her hands. Alice's hand changes, then, shifting to match the other woman's skin tone... and then the tendrils come out. Alice panics, and suddenly it's her own hand again.

You have control. Just focus a moment, her voice comes into her mind, once again with that strange southern drawl, You're the shaper. you get to decide.

She closes her eyes a moment, focusing on what she wants to look like. Her hair lengthens, turning dark. Her body, athletic but curvy. Her eyes brown. She was in control. Whatever had happened, she was now in control. A shudder passes through her - why did those words feel so powerful?

[A Ditch behind a bar at the edge of town - five days ago]

Neon green sludge gushes out of Alice's mouth as she purges her body of the strange substance. A woman vomiting behind a bar? As unseemly as it is, it's hardly an uncommon occurrence. It's why she chose to do it here, since the last time she'd done it it broke the pipes in her toilet. The sludge - having changed from green to red, and already well on its way to shifting to purple - glows in the night which is, admittedly, a problem, but not something she's really concerned about at the moment.

Because, she found out that doing this, getting rid of... whatever this glowing goop her body builds up is, lets her think more clearly. There isn't the animal instinct in the back of her head urging her to collect another body, to kill as she had been killed. Getting rid of that is worth any level of this magical bulemic nonsense. It never fully goes away, but it's like a wall gets put up in front of it, and that's enough for now.

[Ralph's Superstore - two hours ago]

Keeping yourself in one shape, as it turns out, isn't particularly difficult. You just have to close yourself off from the ideas for other shapes - it had been harder than Alice expected, of course to not play around with it. To toy with the idea of being whoever she wanted to be at the time. She'd even indulged a little, using different shapes that were somehow lodged in her memory. That she'd... inherited, for lack of a better word. Going back to work had been an odd ordeal. She'd been missing for about a week, and when she explained to her boss that she'd contracted some kind of magical illness, it had taken her producing more of the glowing rainbow goo to convince him she wasn't lying. That's the sort of thing that happens now and then around the Nexus.

Things were, ever so slowly, starting to fall back into place. She had a handle on her body, she could just purge herself of the goo every morning here and there, behind a bar or into a sewer grate or something. There was normality in it, a kind of comfort that she was trying to get back to her life from before the change had happened. Had turned her into some shapeshifting creature.

That all came into stark contrast when a young man, blue haired, walked into the store. she couldn't help but stare at him, because she could feel his presence there innately. Why? Why was he so obviously notable in some way?

It was when the boy looked at her and smiled that the same drawling voice echoed in her head, because he's like you. Shapeshifters can feel each other out. And what do you think that means?

He was looking for another victim, she realized after a moment, as he walked out the door. He was looking for a new body to steal, and had left because she was already there, and he... he assumed she was already on it, so didn't want to bother her. It was the strangest kind of messed up politeness she'd ever encountered.

[An alleyway after dark - Now]

It had probably been deeply stupid to follow the blue haired guy, Alice reflected. He'd clearly noticed her following him, after all, but he also didn't seem to pay it much mind, probably assuming she was just doing something that fit her current character.

It made a shiver go down her spine to realize that in a way, he was right.

Still, a pressing need to keep up with him had come to her, and for the first time in over a week, the urge wasn't at the behest of some otherworldly instinct or problem she faced in light of her new body. This one was born of altruism, pure and human. Because it was clear that this guy was going to do whatever it was that happened to her again.

she just needed to corner him away from anybody he could hurt, and this alley made a perfect place for her to try it. Wait for the right moment, her inner voice drawled, then strike. Only when the moment is perfect should you kill.

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Alleyway After Dark]

There is zero suspicion in the figure she follows.
Why would there be? They are as one, as far as it's concerned. She's probably just being pulled along on the same summons it is.

To her, perhaps, it's just a faint static in the back of her mind. A deeply muffled, quiet voice, muttering off the description of several individuals and a scene.
Something about a machine-woman, a little boy, local authority figures, and 'the will of Mother'.

To him, it is far more than that. It is direction, it is purpose, it is need.
The man that Alice follows is on a mission and he harbors no suspicion towards her, because she is as he is and must also be on the mission.

And so he continues on his seemingly merry way, humming quietly to himself, even waves to a man watering his window-ledge plants in a nearby building.
Down the street, past a small little alley-way soup shop, around a corner, and then slipping off through the alley between two town-home style apartment buildings. Looks like he's just going to hop that fence in the back?