Halloween Town

[Aiden]

Serana

"... stubborn beast." She let out a loud 'tsk' at its continued resistance, and then knelt down to bring her hand to the ground. "Cease your pointless prancing!"

A terrible surge of dark magic pushed forth through the ground, reaching for the creature's large limbs that allowed it to walk about at all. It seeped into them, into its veins and nerves, and began to rot those out from within as well. It would struggle to so much as crawl without, perhaps, dragging itself along with its heads.

And that would be just disgraceful.

[yinsukin]

Hallow Queen

The short little girl smiled as she walked closer, finally descending to the bottom of the stairs.  She placed a gloved hand onto the beasts torso, rubbing it softly.  "THere there, settle down.  We won't hurt you anymore if you just simmer down."

Meanwhile the fox girl clung to Zeke's chest.  "W-whats going on?  Where did this thing even come from?!"

"That doesn't matter dear.... all that matters is that he or she is safe now."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

Safe? What a sick joke.

"Beats me!" Zeke shrugged. He really didn't think this would happen, he was honestly just as surprised at the rest. But he sighed in relief. His boss seemed to handle the surprise alright, this was going pretty smoothly. Even though he was sweating all over, he tried not to show concern. His boss had this!

*click*

Something cold and hard grazed his cheek,. And in that moment, there was a boom.

He barely had the time to react when he realized a gun was pointed from behind him, pointed at the fox girl no less! He turned barely in time to move her out of the way, but managed to take the bullet in his eye instead! "Argh!" He collapsed, but not before shielding the girl with his body. He was starting to grow cold...

Amidst the evacuated refugees, a handful of masked individuals held the rest at gunpoint. Wait, weren't these-

They were humans. The masks they bore were different too on closer inspection. They each bore the staff of Hermes. "Our...sal...vation...." Zeke groaned as his blood and brain matter leaked from the wound. As he thought, this attack wasn't a random monster attack, but an organized attempt.

Now they were all held hostage. One wrong move, and many innocent monsters would lose their lives that day.



The Hydra (At the same time)

The beast finally stopped, with a cry of anguish that could tear a man's heart out. Its nerves boiled and melted and like a sick beast it fell to the ground. Its eyes began to darken, the spark of life fleeing...

It stared at the two. For a moment, it seemed to be pacified...

Then there was a gunshot. And its eyes widened with a venomous flame. With a beastly cry, it began to swell and bulge, trying to crawl as it may. And its maw trembled unnaturally. Venom seeped from its mouth, which was channelling a blast of venom even greater than before! No, this beast was like a time bomb now, even with a castle's wall worth of defences, those in the immediate vicinity were in grave danger! The ground was already melting from the acid poison!

Wasn't it down just a second ago!? Where could this surge of power come from!

Before he could find the answer to that question, his head filled with static.



The Leader of the Cultists

BZZZZZ!!

"May I have a moment of your attention, o monstrous brethren?" An old man sneered with gloating contempt. The voice came not from the crowd, nor the beast...

Static filled one of the advertising televisions hanging on a building's wall. Soon, it revealed an old cloaked man, bearing the symbol of salvation on his cloth. His eyes were hidden, but one could see his gaping smile, as if it were mocking them. The hallow queen, the elven lich, and especially the monsters.

"We may be distant races, but I hope you enjoy the current event. Oh, please do carry on. The struggles of monsters are quite amusing."

[Aiden]

Serana

Oh, her servant had gotten itself shot with some manner of firearm. How inconvenient. The elf motioned for the Hollow Queen to continue to hold the stage as the rampaging beast somehow got its second wind, and smiled. "By all means, continue. I'm quite certain your subjects would prefer to see you handle this from here."

But then some form of screens, which Serana's consumption of the whispers of the dying had told her days ago were 'televisions', began to show images and sounds in the semblance of a man. Her mood seemed to immediately plummet.

"On second thought, I have changed my mind." She sent another bolt of crippling force in the direction of the bloated beast attempting to bombard these buffoons with its bile, hindering further its capacity for motion. "This creature irritates me."

More chains rose up from the shadows, wrapping around its body and causing its flesh to decay where they touched.

[yinsukin]

Hallow Queen

"Please dear we are all monsters," she said, frowning as she sized up the beast.  "Today you learn what makes me the worst of them all.  I have one request and that is that you look away.  As for you discusting human, you should keep your eyes on me.  Today you will learn why this district is not to be trifled with."

The queen sunk her arm into the creature's belly, her arm glowing as she cooked the poison.  The sounds of bones cracking echoed through the streets.  With a ripping sound, the arm came out, revealing that the queen had torn out a car sized chunk of the beast.  Her mouth expanded as she placed the meat in her mouth, allowing it to slide down her throat.  Licking her lips, she reached for more.

A blink and everything was different.  Thats what it felt like at least.  One moment she was watching her beloved queen, another she was staring at the handsome man, his body shielding her.  She raised her hands to the sky, hoping she would be spared.

"H-how did you get in?"

A shadow appeared behind one of the men, their disinterested gaze looming over the gunmen.  A swift strike put the one furthest behind into the ground.  Many more candlemen emerged from the ground, seemingly appearing from wax puddles.  If one looked behind the gunmen, they would see more puddles creeping towards the scene in the distance.

"Please!  Get him out of here!  I don't know if he can regenerate!"

[Kotomine_Rin]

The Leader of the Cultists

A coarse laughter rasped through the televisions, like offal being ground out of a rusted machine. "Ufufufu... The elven queen. It is such a pleasure. But my my, you seem upset. Why the sour face? Did you not once cull our own kind the same way? Oh, but of course. It is perfectly reasonable and sane to do so when the grand future of your kin is at stake." It paused before winking at them. But static was slowly starting to overtake the channel, making it harder and harder to hear or see intelligibly.

Meanwhile, the serpent was torn to shreds. Cultists turned and fought with their guns and weapons, but were being gradually subdued by the candle men, though not as onesidedly as it should. The weirdest part was how these humans fought without the regard the living usually gave to their meagre existences. They'd rush into fatal wounds, gleefully brandishing weapons as long as they could take down the opposition. It was utter chaos.

"But you know, no matter how hard you smack that snake... it won't make them come back, will it? So why bother? Why not let *bzzzztt* wash this whole city away, just like it should have 10 000 years ago? War, violence, let us purge such *bzzt* Is there no greater salvation I ask?"

And the static stopped. The hydra fell. Now, there was but one final cry from the people.

"Save us!!"


M E A N W H I L E . . .

As her brethren and cultists fell around the fox girl, as she gripped the body of the handsome man, her vision began to grow a bit darker, hazy. The wounded body began to crack and visibly age, before slowly crumbling like empty clay between her fingers. The cold sensation would be the last reminder she'd ever have.

But something was crawling into her mind. While everyone was busy fighting, a dark smoke was seeping into her brain, like sweet honeyed words.

"They're too far. They're too late. This body will not last." Isn't it frustrating? Isn't it infuriating? Being unable to protect anything? Being a weakling tossed around.Everyone is fighting around, meanwhile all you're doing is crying. Can't you make yourself useful already?"

The void was feeding information directly into her. The one way she could save that man, whose body had just reached its limit...

[Aiden]

Serana

"... ah."

She was going to have to brutalize her servant more when this farce was done and over with. Serana approached the so-called Hollow Queen as she indulged in her indecent feast of flesh. She stood next to her,  examining her handiwork with a critical and unblinking eye. "You do seem rather decisive. That is a good quality for a ruler."

Then the lich turned her eyes up to one of the strange 'televisions' again. "Are you familiar with that particular example of vermin?"

[yinsukin]

Hallow Queen

The Hallowqueen groaned with displeasure, stuffing her expanding mouth with the corpse of the hydra.  Her belly expanded, its size a mere fraction of the beast.  Digestion had already begun.  Hearing the girl's words, she turned towrds her, her smile fading rapidly.  "Why thank you," she said, her pupils darting towards the TV.  "This sort of thing is more common than you would think but less common than it feels."

She sighed.  "I have never had to deal with a mess like this..."  The strange thing about her speaking was she sounded more tired than alarmed, as if she didn't want to deal with any of it.  Turning to the TV she shouted,

"Ironic that you call us monsters but you result to such tactics.  Release them and come fight me.  I will call off my men!  If you kill them, I will make your last days as painful as possible."

[Aiden]

Serana

The lich queen crossed her arms, her eyes moving between the so-called Hallow Queen and the television. Was she attempting to negotiate with them? What a foolish strategy - but then, Serana supposed this woman was not a necromancer. "Yes, do come forward. I wish to witness the mettle of this world's humans. Are you as wretched as the ones I'm so unfortunately acquainted with?"

What was her wayward servant up to over there, anyway? Pretending that something like this could hurt it.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

While the candlemen were busy finishing suppressing the assailants, he opened his eyes weakly, confused by the alien surroundings around him. It was like he was a child again, waking up from some dream.

"What is... going on...?"

But amidst the confusion and chaos, the fox girl dragged him away without mercy. She slipped along with the crumbling husk, her eyes darkened by a spell, and her form cloaked by dark illusions. She sneaked past the crowd  into a manhole leading into the sewers. With no eyes turned to them, they disappeared. Something was just too uneasy, he had to take care of this body, and fast. A mere bullet should not do this much damage, unless...

BZZT

Serana. My dear Serana. My cute adorable Serana. I don't think he can hear you. It's probably a recording... A coarse, dark whisper ran through his leader's very large and cute ears, in the form of a single black moth who posed on her shoulder.

He noticed it first. The hydra, the bullet, everything was aimed to take him down. It was as if there was a mole in Salvation itself, who had managed to nearly kill him while he let his guard down. His dear master was safe, but something about this was not right. And he had too many things to take care of right now... "Help. P-please." His weak voice trembled inside the sewer gates, but it was drowned by the snapping sounds of dark, forgotten beasts working on his body against his will.

The spider whispered nonetheless. Looks like it's taken care of, for now though. I should go, it isn't safe for me here. Erm, the cultists look taken care of. Why don't you take the steering wheel now? Weave this little accident into a story, and make it a good song while you're at it. Something to get the masses to hate these humans who dared attack them, and love their heroic Savior. So many shops broken, oh how grateful would they be for a generous donor helping out a friend in need. Or don't. Urgh, my eye hurts, like, a lot.

It still didn't answer the question though. Who could have done such a thing? But the truth is, it was a question that needed no answering.

He knew who dunnit from the start.


? ? ? ? ?

"Kahahah! No dice. Looks like he escaped. No luck on the assassin either, or that lousy pet. Jeez, today's just not your day, huh Lamespeare?"

A burning bird cackled over the clouds around a transmission tower. Hanging on it, a masked, cloaked figure grabbed onto the metal structure, before removing the mask...

"I warned that woman. If she is wise, she'll do what is right. My part here is done."

With that, the ashen man smacked the cane on the structure, jumped down, and caught his companion before flying away. Much like his entrance, his exit was unremarkable.

[yinsukin]

Hallow Queen

The hallow queen stared at the body of the woman who escorted the two to her palace, ignoring the chaos in the background.  "I think i've had enough of both of your games," she said, licking her fingers.  Her massive belly began to deflate, displaying her abs once more.  However, this time, they seemed just a tad more visible.  A rush of power flowed through her body as it began digesting the beast.  She always loved when people came in thinking they could fight monsters with monsters.  She just wished the ring leader could be here to see what they had done.

"You aren't just average guests, nor are you naive heroes.  How about the you two tell me what you are really here for?"

In the background the candlemen finished up the guards.  They lined up, a pool of blood flooding beyond their feet, their expressions blank but focused.  The two were completely surrounded by candlemen.

[Aiden]

Serana

How unfortunate. But how would a pre-recorded message be aware of Serana's own presence here ahead of time? So very strange...

Don't keep me waiting for too long, You. I will find further use for you in this sooner rather than later.

The elven monarch turned her attention to the so-called Hallow Queen with a smile, and held her hand out invitingly. "I was here for no more reason than to introduce myself, and perhaps open up negotiations regarding a mutual threat. But I see now the humans have made my point rather more directly than I was expecting to."

Now that there was nothing assuming the form of a threat here Serana took the time to look her host up and down once. She nodded in approval of what she saw.

"They are such filthy creatures, are they not? Of all other races, I find myself despising them and their arrogant hypocrisy the most."

[yinsukin]

Hallow Queen

The Hallow queen tilted her head to the side.  The candlemen encircling them followed suit, tilting their heads as well.  Then, the Hallowqueen straightened it and smiled.  The candlemen's heads remained tilted.  "I agree with you," she said.  "Its disgusting how hypocritical humans are.  The funny thing is they are just as disgusted with each other as we monsters.  Its just that they invent different things to be disgusted with."

The woman clenched her fist.  "So what, you came to work for me?  I don't mind having someone like you around to erase the foolish humans who wander into my district causing harm."

[Aiden]

Serana

"I was actually hoping for more of an alliance." She motioned for the Hallow Queen to come closer, though it was entirely rhetorical. "You see, I just happened to come into a bit of land and troops myself recently. And I would rather not trade with the surrounding humans if I can help it."

The scrunched up look of distaste at the notion was entirely genuine. Serana didn't have to act at all for that part.

[yinsukin]

Hallow Queen

The queen shrugged and said, "And what do you have to offer hmmm?  The power of someone like you is enticing, but the power of an individual is not something I really need right now, not after those fools delivered to me that treat...."