New Orleans by Night: The Stroke of Midnight

[B4UTRUST]

Jax gave the man the once over, giving him an amiable smile.
"This thing," Jax asked, half seriously. "You wouldn't be interested in this. It's all messed up, chief. It wouldn't fit you no way. You lot bigger den me. But, I saw one lot like dis, in lot betta shape few blocks ova in da store. Maybe dat one fit you betta, no? I bet dey have your size. Maybe I make a contribution to de cause, so to speak. I think we both come out happy wit dat, no? So what you say, chief? Maybe you know dis man I lookin for too?"
(Manipulation Role, Diff6

B4UTRUST rolled 2d10:
7, 1

)

Jax reached back into a pocket, feeling around for one of the bills. He closed his hand around it, knowing it wasn't more than a $10. But with a effort of will that could be changed.

(Matter effect, Diff5

B4UTRUST rolled 4d10:
7, 1, 7, 5

) Jax pulled the bill all the way out of his pocket, still hiding its value from plain view. He extended his hand that held the bill to the man in a gesture to shake on it.

[SirNitram]

Eddie rubbed his hand a bit, moving to climb into the front seat of the car. "Sorry, distracted. Gonna need to talk to the Professor when we get back.."

[LadyTevar]

Ally was looking at the card when Eddie got in. "What's this, Cole? Cause I'm not gonna take you home, we have to go check out a couple clubs in the area." Eddie's comment made her look sharply at him. "What? Why?"

She paused, eyes narrowing. "You two saw something up there, didn't you. What was it? If it's important enough for the Professor, it's probably very important for me to know it as well, right? Especially if it's got anything to do with the guy we're looking for." She did not say Vampire, since Eddie wouldn't like the reminder. "So, what is it?"

[Jans]

It isn't quite clear how one could click a pen angrily, but Cole does it. He exhales loudly through his nose as his frantic scribbling tears the paper a bit, but hands the completed note up to Ally. The handwriting is slap-dash and messy, but legible.

Yes home. Not far. Not long. Need Firepower. Don't know what IT was. Will walk if need be.

Future? Buddy System.

D=<

[LadyTevar]

A refrain from an old song goes through Ally's head. "What is IT? What is IT...." Ally turns in her seat, glaring at the two men. "Ok, we go NOWHERE until I get an answer about what you two saw and what it did. Obviously it didn't hurt you, so what gives?"

[SirNitram]

"It's not connected to the sun haters." Eddie said simply. "It's something entirely different that goes bump into the night. The Professor needs told, so we can send word on to those who normally fight them. I do not relish fighting the corrupted.."

[Dark Silver]

The big man looked down at the pro-offered bill then squinting as he took it and examined it. The bill the homeless mountain held up to the fire to examine was a fifty dollar note, still slightly warm from Jaxson's change to it, though the man might have thought it was from the fire, or Jaxson's own body heat.

Another hack and spitting of the blackish-grey flem into the barrel caused the fire to sizzle and pop, as the man pocketed the bill in his own ratty jacket - and revealed a row of yellowed teeth beneath the beard. The voice rumbled slightly, as the man looked Jaxson over, his wet tongue snacking over to lick the top row of teeth, "Yo' gots a picha o dis boy? Dun't know da name, but maybeh 'is face."

The other bums shuffled a bit, making sure to steer clear of touching Jaxson, or the big man, their eyes traveling between the two as they talked, more than one or two eyed the money Jaxson so easily handed out to the larger man....


--------


The Lizard-thing watched the three and the vehicle from it's place on the rooftop. The rooftop of the three story was flat, with a bordering wall which allowed it to stay mostly hidden. It kept careful watch, as it was told to, for any coming out of the old bookstore. The creature gurgled to itself with a low hiss at the pleasure it'smaster would undoubtedly give once he returned with his news.....

A low rumbling growl echoed behind the lizard-thing, causing it tense in primal fear, before slowly looking over it's shoulder, at the large yellow and blue feline eyes looking directly at it. The lizard thing hissed loudly, and began to scramble over the ledge, before Rumor crashed into it's body, flinging it into the building across the street, along with nearly a thousand pounds of fur, muscle, claw and tooth.

The sounds of a distinctly feline roar echoed in the alleyway, even as the body of the lizard-creature fell with a went thunk onto the asphalt and concrete, followed seconds later by it's head, and a leg. Rumor himself climbed down off the wall, licking the blood from his muzzle, illuminated in all his glory by the headlights of Ally's car...

[LadyTevar]

Nothing like a humungous feline throwing a lizard-like THING across an alleyway to get notice. Most folks would start the car and flee at this point, especially when a leg and head roll out of said alley, followed by the bloody-mouthed MoorCat that just dispatched it.

By now, Cole and Eddie should know Ally wasn't most folks. "RumoR?!?! Are you ok?!?! Did it hurt you?" she exclaimed, scrambling out of the car in a rush to check on the feline. Of course, morbid curiousity meant she also paused at the head.

"Ewww.. so 'what is it' just got answered I guess" She looked to Rumor, then back over her shoulder to Eddie and Cole, "Why didn't you just say it was a lizard-thing watching you? Honestly, does Rumor have to do Everything by Himself?"

She looked back to Rumor, noting none of the blood was his, then again to the head. "Ok, I gotta take a better look at this thing, so I know what I'm up against, Rumor. All Eddie would say was it's corrupted, he needed to warn Prof S. it was here, and get someone to hunt it down." Forensic Pathology or Curiousity didn't matter at this point, this was Death, and Ally wanted to understand what it had been and what would happen now.

((I want to use Life and Mind together to examine the head. I am looking for how it got to be this way, what genetic/mystic change twisted a lizard like this... or a human...))

[SirNitram]

"Good Rumor." Eddie smiled to the big cat. Maybe some mammals were redeemable! "It's not a lizard thing. It appeared as a human. It's unnatural and warped by corruptive energies of a powerful entity. The word that you may have heard is 'Fomori'." A grunt at the word. A Werewolf one, and he didn't like them in general.

[Jans]

Cole hops out of the car behind the other two, but lets Ally do her thing. He hesitates visibly before scribbling out a note and passing it to Eddie.

Silver? Cold Iron? Steel? Wood? Fire? Bullets?

[SirNitram]

"Cole, get that out of my face." A grunt from Eddie. "You lot are NOT hunting these things, period."

[LadyTevar]

Life had left, no Mind to touch anymore, but Entropy ... Entropy pooled about the head like an eddy in the River. It swirled and clung to the skull as a rapid decomposition began, yet there was something somehow unclean about this, something that made Ally step back shivering.

"It's ... corrupt, isn't it Rumor," she said to the moorcat. "But why was it here?"

[Jans]

Outrage flashing in his eyes like fire, Cole opens his mouth to say something but clenches it shut with clear effort. He snatches the note back and whirls away, stopping a few steps away so he could write without having to make eye contact with anyone. The muscles across his shoulder are tensed, but loosen slowly as he works on the note.

[B4UTRUST]

Jax nodded, passing over the picture given to him by the old man.

[Dark Silver]

The man took the picture, his eyes looking over the picture, before passing it around to the others for them to see.

"Sorry haus," he spoke in a strange mix of New Orleans Yat and a mix of some strange accent thrown in, almost Texan, "Taint seen dat boy 'round heah."

The same was said by several others, except for a much older man, his hair scraggly and unwashed, his eyes holding just a hint of senility to it, "Is seen 'im" the old timer said, "Ovah on Rampart, 'n coupl time over on Urquhart. Weird fella him. Just walk roun, when I's see 'im."

The bearded man chuckled, "Wouldn't lisen to im too much. He got a touch in da head."

-----------

Rumor shook his big head as Ally asked the questions, rubbing up against her, licking the blood clean from his face, before striding towards the car, not answering the questions. The big cat eyed Cole as he stalked back to the car in a obvious mood, before shaking his head, and with each step, he seemed smaller and smaller....till he was the size of a house cat, a miniature version of his normal self, minus the bloodstained chops. With that done, Rumor climbed into the open car door, and settled himself in the passenger seat, curled up in a furry ball.

[LadyTevar]

Ally watched as Rumor shrunk and curled up in the car, and got the message immediately. "Alright, everyone in the car, we have to get going," she said, leaving the head to finish decaying. As she stalked forward she grabbed Cole by his arm and started dragging him as well. Eddie had never left the car, so once Ally all-but threw Cole into the car (avoiding Rumor).

"We have to go find Jaxon," Ally stated firmly, starting the elderly Crown Victoria with a rumble of 8-cylinders. "The ... formori ... was dressed for the streets, so he was probably homeless. Since Jax was going to go get info from his contacts, there's a chance he'll run into one of these Fomori," she explained, putting the car in gear and rolling.

"It's really odd that you call these Fomori, Eddie, because Fomori are ancient enemies of the Tuatha de Danaan of Ireland. But it really makes sense, because all the accounts of the Fomor say that they were inhuman in some way, blemished, corrupt, twisted somehow, to the point the Tuatha had a rule only unblemished men could be King." It was another Ally ramble, and she was hitting her stride. "What is odd, Fomori women actually intermarried with the Tuatha, so it could be just the men were twisted...." Yes, it was a full-on lesson in Irish Mythology.

"SO, if these are the same Fomori as the ones from legend, then they're really nasty dudes. The Tuatha were major mojo, and the Fomori were beating them until Lugh got Nauda Silverhand back on the throne." a pause, a blink, a thought.

"Eddie, would these things be hurt by Silver? Because by the stories Silverhand put a real hurting on them," Ally asked, then was off again. "Although it was Lugh who really hurt them by killing his grandfather Balor. Balor was the Fomori king, and he only had one eye, but that eye would shoot out beams of light that would kill a man with a look. But Lugh shoved the Spear of Destiny through his eye."

"So, what's a Fomori doing here, attacking you two? Did he say anything? Do anything?"

[SirNitram]

"He stated he would devour us." Eddie said simply. "Yes. Properly prepared silver weapons will harm them, as will things the Professor refers to as 'pattern-rending'. Many can recover from less serious wounds than that. I don't know about Irish Mythology, but these things are warped humans with corruptive power." He flexed his hand, shaking his head. "I could fight one on even footing, but this would place all of you in danger. I am here to assist you in completion of your duties. We will not engage these beings unless there is no other option. That is not a suggestion."

[Jans]

Cole gets dragged, still working on the note.

That all changes as Eddie answers Ally's questions. He jumps as if startled and bangs his head on the ceiling. Staring, wide-eyed, at the back of Eddie's head his mouth slowly drops open. He casually tosses the note to the side and pinwheels his arms from the elbows down in front of him as he gesticulates wildly in a move of pure frustration. This moment of unbridled oddest ends shortly, and he finishes with his arms tilted up, hands out slightly to the side. His jaw is hanging open as he stares at the other man.

[LadyTevar]

Ally can't help it, she bursts into giggles. "Cole, that was completely random, and totally hilarious. Is there a reason you went Larry-Moe-&-Curly on us?"

[B4UTRUST]

"Rampart and Urquhart, huh," Jax stated, looking at the man who appeared slightly less than all there in the head. There was something about the eyes. But, Jax, knew, that wasn't necessarily the truth. There were lots of possibilities here. The man could be speaking the truth, he could be lying his ass off, planning on him or his friends jumping him if Jax went to investigate that area, or he could be honestly mistaken. Or completely off his rocker and was making shit up that he only thought he knew. Jax knew he could find out, but that would cost him time that he could use to talk to other people here. He had street names of areas the guy might have been. If the homeless guy was telling the truth or was at least halfway credible, someone else may be able to corroborate. Plus, the mountain man wasn't doing much to make him feel safe in this situation. That was another thing you picked up quick in the streets. You learned to listen to gut instincts.
"Thanks fo da help, chief," Jax said to the man, taking the picture and putting it back in his pocket. Glancing at the others around the fire he nodded respectfully.
"Imma check it out, though. Thanks guys."

Jax, for once listening to the inner voice, went with his instinct and prepared.
[Rote: Spidey Sense - Correspondence 1, Entropy 1, Mind 2

B4UTRUST rolled 2d10:
8, 8

]

Letting the effect spread out around him, and paying attention to anyone who may be wanting to cause him harm, he began to leave the area to find another group of homeless to talk to.

[Dark Silver]

The bums all mumbled something, and the crazy eyed one smiled, the missing teeth in his mouth leaving it rather gap filled.

There was no sense of danger as Jaxson walked away from the men, most others in the alley gave him long sideways glanced, or ignored him entirely - those who weren't huddled in their own meager blankets to keep warm that was.

There were a few other barrel fires down the alley, but for the most part - everyone else seemed to ignore the young man and went about their own concerns.


----------

Rumor looked up from his curled up place, and hissed at Cole as he made the crazy motions, then moving into Ally's lap, then down between her legs, to the floorboard, disappearing into the blindspot caused by the car's bench seat.

[LadyTevar]

"Ruuu-morrr... No tickling while I'm Driving!" Ally exclaimed, although it didn't seem to bother her driving. "No hiding under the seat, last time you left a hairball that took FOREVER to get out!" Glancing back to Cole, Ally asked the big question. "So... if you're Ashakic, and Askakic are Master of Mind Sphere... why haven't you just cast a mind-speaking spell already?"

[B4UTRUST]

Jax looked around as he moved away from the bums and homeless, heading back towards the streets and the rest of the world that existed outside of these little conclaves. He lit up another cigarette and got his bearings. Heading back down to the bars, he kept his feelers out for anyone after him, just in case any of the homeless decided to come following.

He walked inside the bar where his bike was parked at and made his way over to the bar. Once at the bar he signaled a bartender and ordered a beer, laying down a ten to cover it. He knocked back the drink and set the glass down, looking expectantly at the bartender. He motioned for another and as the bartender went to pour it he pulled the picture out from his jacket and set it down facing the bartender.
"I'm looking for someone," he said, louder than normal to be heard over the noise of the bar and the music from the jukebox. "Seen him around?

[Jans]

Cole sighs dramatically, pushing a gush of breath at his bangs. He roots around in his pockets for the stack of notes he had been working on earlier and riffles through them. He finds one, adds something to it, and passes it forward to Ally.

Because that's not the point. In seeking answers, I gave insult. If necessary, life-threatening, I will invoke my will. Otherwise, this is the price I pay for that information.

Frankly, I don't even know if he actually silenced me. I don't plan to try.

[LadyTevar]

"You should always test yourself, Cole," Ally answered after a quick read of the note, dropping it to the floor where Rumor could grab and read if he wanted to. "You never know you can't do something until you try it, and once you've tried, then you know how to make it work the next time. That's what Prof. S. told me, anyway. Your loss...." she added, slowing down for a stoplight.

"Still, it might be a test to see if you would use your magic, and how you'd cover up using it. He's done that to me before."