O.o
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
Dr. Proxy staggered a bit, leaning on the lid of the thermos. He slid his hand into a pocket inside his coat and pulled out a small sheet of clear material that looked like clear plastic of mylar. He tossed it to the ground at Recursive's feet.
"Give tha to herr...sssmore in the office back...back at the chursh." Recursive picked it up.
"Her? Who? Give it to who?"
He shuddered and wave them away. "Back! Ge..get back..now before I passsss..ow...out.." Recursive took FD's arm and walked back towards the door.
"Think there's a bomb in there?"
"No. But something dangerous."
Proxy grunted something inaudible and flipped the latch on the side of the thermos. He twisted the cap slightly. There was a loud hiss as a cloud of green mist sprayed out of the sides. The doctor snorted and coughed, shaking. The lid suddenly spun and shot off, bouncing across the room. A jet of green liquid fired out of the container, hitting Proxy in the throat. Blood squirted out in an arc from his carotid artery as he fell back to the floor, arms flailing. The green liquid expanded and coalesced, moving over his spasming form as it burned his flesh away. His face and torso dissolving to the sound of eggs of frying.
"GADDAMN!"
"Wait.." Recursive could sense FD beginning to power up. "Hold on....look."
There was a humanoid form on top of Proxy's dissolved carcass. It crouched there, watching them through the exposed fragments of his ribcage. It roughly approximated the shape of a woman, angled luminous green eyes with no pupils. Waves of spikey protrusions played over its surface. The creature suddenly pushed off the floor with its arms. It flipped up in the air and landed on the ceiling, standing upside down facing away from them towards the back of the room. It's form continued to coalesce, appearimg more like green skin. A naked, green skinned athletic woman with spikey protrusions radiating from her scalp. It make a warbling, chirping sound.
Recursive stepped forward slightly and waved slowly. Without turning around, the creature repeated the motion. It made more of the strange chirping sounds. They started to change in pitch and rhythm, slowly becoming intelligible as speech.
"mmble kakaka...ttt target dead made dead finish assignment with target."
"Yes you did it. Good job."
The creature suddenly arched back, facing them with both of its thumbs wiggling directly in front of its face. "Good job Soft yes good double thumbs up yes yes."
Recursive laughed. "Yes very good job! Nice job!" She clapped her hands. "FD....applause please...."
"F*** man, for real? Ok....Yay! Good job!" He clapped loudly. Recursive beckoned to the creature.
"Could you come down please? Over here to me? Soft? Is your name Soft?"
The green woman arched her back further and placed the palms of her hands against the ceiling. She started moving forward like a four-legged animal, leaving discolored pock-marked hand and footprints on the walls where she passed over them.
"That thing ain't human."
"No, she's making herself look human. She's trying...but it's all just appearance. Even the eyes are for show. I think she can see us from any direction."
The creature crawled in front of Recursive and righted itself, standing and facing her. "Soft Assassin yes yes."
Recursive reached out and took one of the head spines between her fingertips. "Can you soften these spines?" The spikes started to droop and Recursive worked then with her fingers, bending them and shaping them into an approximation of human hair. She took Soft's arm and led her to one of the stacks of metal crates, pointing to the reflection.
"See?" Soft grinned, exposing rows of pointy, shark-like teeth. "May I?" Recursive gently opened Soft's jaw and started pressing down on the points, evening and straightening them.
"You are fricken crazy, man, you are pure loco..."
"Just making friends." They looked in the reflection again. Soft's smile was considerably less menacing.
"Like like like."
"Oh, I need to give you this." Recursive reached into her pocket and pulled out the clear material and handed it to Soft. The latter shoved it into her mouth and swallowed it. There was a hissing sound, some vapor escaping from the corner of her mouth.
"Mmmmmgood good payment for wack job. Good quality where is more and my upgrades?"
"We have more back at our base. Wanna come with us?"
"Hmmm yes yes good good."
"Ummm...hold on a second." Recursive went to the smoking pile of remains that had been their leader. Pinching her nose, she reached down and grabbed the collar of the lab coat, lifting it up and dumping the dissolved remains onto the floor in a heap. The fabric ripped away and she was left with most of the back and half of one sleeve. She took it away from the corpse and walked back to the others. She waved the fragment in the air in front of her and it reformed, the fabric expanding and returning until it was clean and white and new again.
Soft clapped her hands. "Ooooh magic fancy girl so magic."
Recursive slid the coat over Soft's arms and buttoned it up the front. She waved her hand in front of Soft's face. "Remember now, this is the front. Look at people and talk to them this way."
"Yes yes remember now yes in box for long time."
"How long were you in that thing?"
Soft turned slightly towards FD. "Two years think two years think."
"Wow, that's a long time. Who hired you to do that?"
"Mmmmmm Proxeeee mmmmProxee man offer upgrades in return I kill mmmmmm."
"Proxy hired you? Who were you supposed to kill?"
"mmmmm anyone who open container first come first serve yes yes."
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?
This has more twists and turns that a Stephen King novel blended with an M. Nite Shyamalan screenplay.
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
I like Soft Assassin. 
That's a really neat character.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
That is why I said his pacing sucks.
For us readers that is.
Now we want more........yesterday or your banned from the pvp zones. 
I am taking my sig to MWO and MWT. Let them wonder what it means.
The parking lot was empty when they left the office building. Recursive shielded her eyes against the light and looked up and down the street. There was no sign of the van. It had been towed or stolen or somehow removed by the Crey agents. She took the magic eight ball out of her bag and shook it, waiting for the words to float to the surface.
WALK BACK TO THE CHURCH
"What does that thing say?"
"It says to walk back to the church."
"What? Awww hell no....screw that..." FD stepped into the street looking at the parked cars on either side. "Ok here we go..." An orange cab drove up and he flagged it down.
Recursive frowned. "It says to walk..."
"For real? Can you walk that fast? If you can't move fast its gonna take us all day to get there. Come on." He opened the door and got in. Recursive started moving towards car. Soft brushed past her and slipped inside.
"Me sit near hunka hunka man yes."
"Oh shizz......"
Recursive laughed as she climbed into the car next to her. "See? Making friends pays off. Nice and snug"
"It's always the freaky ones man...always the crazy bi*****."
Recursive shut her door and the car started moving.
"Hey...take us to King's Row...make it fast." The driver mumbled something about King's Row and the vehicle picked up speed. Something was wrong. Recursive looked at the door lock. It was moving rhythmically, up and down. She concentrated on it and the button lifted, then immediately locked again. The cycling resumed, open-close-open-close. She examined the glass between them and the driver. An extra layer of reinforced plastic, much thicker than usual. She could see perspiration glistening on the side of his neck.
"FD..."
"Yeah..what now? More eight ball?"
"No, something's wron..."
The wheels squealed as the car suddenly sped up and tore across two lanes of oncoming traffic.
"HEY JACKASS WHERE THE HELL YOU GOIN-" There was a moment of agonizing realization as the taxi sped up the exit ramp of the southbound freeway. Recursive reached out to the man's mind. It was clouded, a shell of darkness surrounding his thoughts that she could not penetrate.
"He's being controlled! It's a trap! He's trying to get us killed!"
"Sit back..I'm gonna get it back." FD placed his palms flat on the glass. Darkness streamed out of his fingertips, sliding over the edges. Recursive could see it shoot forward on the other side like serpent, coiling around the driver's arms and torso and seizing the steering wheel. "DON'T FIGHT IT BISH I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
The driver grunted and the car jerked as FD shifted the wheel. Vehicles shrieked and blasted their horns as the cab began to weave around the flow of traffic. The wheels turned hard to the right and Recursives door sparked as it ground against the hard median.
"SOFT GET HER OUT OF HERE. THROUGH THE ROOF." Soft ran her finger over the ceiling of the cab, burning a circle through it with corrosive fluid from her fingertip. She punched out the roof fragment and stood up in the opening as the wind roared in the back seat.
"Come now fancy girl go time go."
"Umm.." Recursive screamed as Soft lifted her out of the cab and leapt into the freeway, bouncing and running over the surfaces of the traffic at 60 miles an hour. The green woman jumped over the median, dodged several vehicles coming from the opposite direction and sprang towards a street light, sliding up the surface and carrying recursive along with her. They turned and looked back for FD.
In the distance the taxi veared wildly back in forth in the lane driving the other vehicles to either side. Then it abrupty lifted, rising into the air on two thick columns of darkness that lurched clumsily in the lane, the cab lurching loosely on to of it. The legs turned the car around in a half circle and then stepped over the median. It walked across the opposite lane as cars and trucks crashed into each other to avoid it. They watched as it dropped off the freeway, floating and falling over the surface road and stumbling into a small park where it rammed into a tree trunk, dropping to the ground and then bursting into flames.
"Get us over ther.." There was an explosion underneath the vehicle, fire and debris spraying over the area.
"Mmmm booby trap mmmmm yes."
"Oh my god.."
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
[ QUOTE ]
"Me sit near hunka hunka man yes."
[/ QUOTE ] Ya know FD, you really really really need to RP Soft, 
Man that was a good episode with some great lines. Your really making it hard to hate on the hard core PvPers you know.....or is that your agenda? 
I am taking my sig to MWO and MWT. Let them wonder what it means.
Deep down inside, Slan is really a transplant from Virtue. He just happens to be a very good PvPer.
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
The flames writhed over the wreck of the car and an amorphous shadow that shifted within. The passenger side rear door blasted off its hinges and FD climbed out, singed with large gashes across his chest and arms that leaked a black, tarry liquid. His left arm was encased in darkness that extended back into the wreck. He wrenched his hand forward and a black shape was yanked out of the car and deposited on the grass in front of him, still connected to his arm via the tentacle of darkness. The shape jerked like a human body, the silhouette of arms and legs jutting out for a moment before the darkness began to shrink back into FD's body. A feral light pulsed behind his sunglasses for a moment as his wounds closed and healed completely.
Recursive shifted her clothing, her shirt and skirt in disarray after being tossed around by Soft.
"Was that the driver?"
"That was lunch."
"You ate him?"
"No he got fed to the goddess."
"You mean your.."
Recursive was throw violently to the ground, scraping both knees. The wet pop of an impact resonated over her head. She was jerked to the side as a bullet whistled by her head. And another as she was lifted into the air. Soft's left arm held her aloft. There was a bullet hole in the middle of the lab coat. A shell grazed Soft's right hand and took off two fingers. The surface flowed and immediatley formed two new fingers. She turned to the side slightly in anticipation of the next shot. As the gun's report registered on their nerves, her arm flashed and she held the smoking shell casing in the palm of her hand. She lowered Recursive behind her.
"no no stupid glass head man no kill soft with low velocity firearm you die soon now maybe yes yes."
Bulb stood in front of a tree, maybe a hundred feet away. He was casually loading bullets into a snub-nosed revolver, The vague patterns inside his glass head swirled. His gloved hands moved smoothly. Recursive clutched her bag, stiffling the urge to run. Beyond the immediate threat of being shot, something wasn't right. After two indirect attempts, he was trying to gun her down in the open, when she was with FD and Soft. She dug into the bag and grabbed the eight ball.
Bulb lifted the revolver. Soft moved her arm in a wide arc. Three large spikes penetrated his forearm and pinned it to the tree. The darkness in the glass cleared a bit and momentarily revealed a large mouth. A large human mouth which opened a bit, allowing a lizard-like tongue to emerge and run over the lips. Recursive shook the eight ball. FD made his way towards the tree.
DO NOT USE ATTACK POWERS
DO NOT ATTACK BULB WITH YOUR POWERS
DO NOT
"Wait..FD..."
"This the thing trying to kill you? This freak?"
"Wait....don't attack it...."
"What are you nuts?!"
Bulb wrenched his arm free of the tree trunk and opened fire once again. FD gestured and a curtain of darkness rose in front of the women. The bullets richocheted off, skimming across the surface as if it were water. Recursive shook the ball again.
IN DEFEAT IT WILL STEAL
DO NOT USE POWERS
DO NOT
She looked up. The creature turned slightly and opened fire on some pedestrians in the distance. A shot winged a woman and sent her sprawling into a trash can. Her children screamed.
"Give me that damn thing!" FD shook the ball furiously. "Speak bish!"
NO ATTACK POWERS
NO BUFFS
OLDSCHOOL
He shook it again. The letters slowly turned into place.
FITEKLUB
FD tossed it back to Recursive. "When I see that [censored] Proxy again I'm gonna punch him in the head." He shifted his sunglasses and looked at Bulb. The latter dropped the guns and flipped him off, pressing his gloved middle fingers forward. Then he shook his arms and two weapons slid out of the sleeves, a knife in the right hand and a cattle prod in the left. FD smiled at Recursive.
"How are you going to handle him?"
"This loser? I'm gonna knock his azz out." He slammed his fist into his palm. "It's just like the playground back home."
FD walked up casually and lifted his hands into a left lead boxing stance. Bulb lunged forward and thrust with the knife. FD parried it lightly with his left hand. As the creature followed up, swinging the cattle prod overhead, he scooped it with the same hand and passed the strike to his left. When the weapon cleared, he followed up with a right cross, stepping in and hooking Bulb with his left as the assassin was driven back by the initial punch. Bulb tried a backhand with the cattle prod but FD caught his wrist and struck his elbow joint hard. There was a crackling glass sound as FD broke the joint. FD threw three quick shots to Bulb's head and then slammed a punishing knee to his midsection. Pok-Pok-Pok-- Bulb flew back and slammed into the tree, cracks appearing in the suface of his glassy "head".
The creature shook its left arm. The forearm realigned with the elbow joint. Bulb bent it a couple times, flexing and turning its wrist. He then lifted and tossed his knife hand, still holding the knife, at the ground at FD's feet. The hand and knife sank into the ground. Then he rushed forward, thrusting the cattle prod at FD's face. FD sidestepped the blow and threw a hook at Bulb's midsection. His fist passed through the image of the creature as the illusion faded. He spun around as the knife missed his right kidney and grazed the meat on the side of his torso.
"DAMMIT ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP!" FD seized Bulb's arm and lapel and threw him hard to the ground, kicking the glassy head and driving it across the playgound and into a metal merry-go-round. FD darted after the body, leaping through the air and landing his foot square on Bulb's chest, pinning him to the ground. As Bulb thrust the knife into his calf, FD slammed his other foot onto the head, breaking the glass further as it started to leak a grey smoke. Shouting a stream of Spanish profanity, FD kicked the knife away and leaned down, grabbing the metal disk of the merry-go-round. The metal creaked and groaned as he tore it away from it's axle. He lifted it over Bulb's head.
"OPEN WIDE YOU MOTHER F.."
A bolt of force caught FD in the back and sent him and the disc sprawling across the grass. He rolled to the side as another one blasted a hole in the ground where his body had been.
Recursive scanned the area frantically but couldn't locate the source of the energy. She focused her powers on Soft, a reddish aura encasing the latter's body.
"Can you see them Soft?"
"Sneak attack in sky now hunka break glass man soft kill back stabber."
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
[ QUOTE ]
Deep down inside, Slan is really a transplant from Virtue. He just happens to be a very good PvPer.
[/ QUOTE ]
From what I've seen, Protector actually seems to be more the home of the authors than the RPers. Roleplay is wrought with perils that can be detrimental to the overall story ("paranoid" players, for instance, who simply do not believe in teamwork), whereas an author can do, as we can see here, pretty much whatever he wants to keep the story moving forward.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Surrender now!"
The voice boomed in their minds. FD raised his arms and summoned a circle of darkness around himself. His form turned to shadow, one of many silhouttes circling around in the pit. The concussive blasts punctured the miasma but connected with no physical presence. Bulb rose to one knee and pulled another pistol out of a shoulder holster. He fired into the air. There was a shimmer as the bullets connected with an invisible force. Another bolt of energy was thrown and it caught him square in the chest, tossing his body like a rag doll.
"FD we can't let these heroes fight him!" Recursive yelled at the shadowy mass. "You've got to finish it!"
Two figures materialized above her. A man and a woman in white uniforms with a black diamond in the middle of the chest area. They were young, both early twenties with brown hair. Similar facial features, possibly siblings. The woman generated a bubble of force around them. Recursive could tell she held them aloft through some gravitational power. The man's eyes flashed with light as he looked at Recursive. She stepped back as he dropped in front of her, his fists glowing with energy.
"You two are coming with us. Any resistance and I will..." Soft suddenly rolled forward. As the man turned to blast her, she sprang up, landing for a moment with her feet on his shoulders. He grunted as she jumped off, leaving a cluster of bloody dots where spikes from the bottom of her feet had penetrated the uniform. She flew through the air towards the woman, her motion suddenly slowed as she hit the bubble of force. The woman's eyes widened in fear as Soft's body began to ripple and flow through the energy. She raised her hands, glowing particles flowing out of her fingertips. Soft suddenly opened her mouth wide, blowing out a jet of green vapour that hit the woman in the face. She screamed and clutched her eyes, the surface of her head instantly turning beet red as the flesh sizzled. The power dropped and she fell to the ground, snapping her left arm beneath her body as she landed.
"Mary!" Soft flipped and ran to the side as the man fired bolts of blue force at her. He seized Recursive by the hair as she moved towards his partner.
"If you want her to live, you let me go!" She broke away and rushed to the dieing hero, placing both hands on her head. The flesh of her face reformed, regaining its color. The eyes darted around spastically, the lids gone, the whites completely red. Recursive concentrated and they returned. The blue came back in the pupils, glassy with tears as the focused on her. The woman gasped and then squeeled with pain as she shifted on the ruined arm. Recursive rolled the woman on her back and took the arm in her hands, setting the bone.
"Why...why are you..doing this..."
"You have to stop interfering."
There was a gunshot. The blaster growled as Bulb's bullet grazed his side. He turned, energy swirling in his hands and eyes. Before he could fire, tendrils of darkness rushed forward and seized Bulb. They dragged him back into the pit of shadow beneath the trees. The darkness coalesced into a human form. FD reappeared behind the bound creature and hit its head with both hands, crushing it between his palms. There was an explosing of sound, like the windows of a building all shattering at once. Bulb's body broke apart and disintegrated as the pieces spun to the ground like dry leaves.
The blaster fired on FD, but the shot was knocked wide as Soft kicked him in the back.
"Mmmm stupid to attack yes stupid mmm yes yes?"
The blaster swung at soft. She laughed shifting her torso as his punches sailed by. He threw different angles and combinations but she dodged them with ease, his reflexes unable to keep up with the blur of motion in front of him. Finally, Soft lifted her arm and blocked his punch. He gasped as his forearm was impaled on spikes emerging from hers. He threw his other hand up to try to pry himself free but she grabbed it. Holding both of his arms apart, she dipped her torso forward and lifted ber back leg up in a semicircle, bring the heel crashing down on his collarbone and breaking it. He dropped to his knees and she yanked him back up to his feet, the surface of her body rippled as hundreds of poisonous needle-like spines peppered his neck and torso. He grimaced and began to turn blue, his nervous system locking up and failing. She dropped him and began fingering the holes she'd made in Proxie's lab coat.
The other hero clutched Recursive's shirt. "My brother..please.."
"Only if you'll leave after."
"Yes..yes we'll go."
Recursive stood over the blaster. The needles worked their way out and then toppled over on his body, dissolving. The man heaved and gasped, his body jerking. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet.
"Go help your sister. Get out of here."
Soft Assassin moved directly in front of them both.
"Why fancy girl she stop my kill so no kill so no?" Recursive took Soft's hand, rubbing it between her palms.
"It's fishing Soft."
"Mmmm fishy fishy mm mmm?"
"You want to catch a big fish. So if you catch a small fish, you send the fish back so that it can become big later. Catch and release. Big fish are better."
"mmmmm big fish tasty more tasty mmm yes yes?"
"Yes more tasty."
Recursive waved at the lab coat. The fabric refromed and closed all the holes. Soft grinned.
"Thank you so magic girl so magic thank you thank you."
The blaster staggered toward the prone figure of his sister. Another man in a white uniform arrived near the road at the edge of the park. He stood there uncertainly, particles of rock and earth begining to swirl around his body as he watched them. FD appeared next to the woman and lifted her to her feet. He studied her features for a moment, then took a cloth out of his pocket and rubbed some dirt off the side of her face.
"You better think twice about sneak attackin me baby, cuz you know half my dates start that way and if you keep it up we'll end up back in the crib bumpin uglies. Just sayin, cuz it wouldn't be the first time you know." He smacked her a** and nudged her towards the blaster before rejoining Recursive and Soft.
"Stupid kids. And you too, healing people that try to attack us. We shoulda just killed them. Now they'll be getting all up in my grill any chance they get." Recursive laughed.
"Sorry, wanna head back to the church?"
"Yeah, let's split before cops show up."
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
LOL, fraternizing with the enemy...
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
The church was dark inside, with no sign of Dr. Proxy. They turned on a few lights and checked the offices for any sign of his presence.
"What does the eight ball say?"
"It's dead. See for yourself." Recursive tossed it to FD. He shook it repeatedly but no words came to the surface.
"Figures, piece of crap." He tossed it on Proxy's desk. Soft entered the room, scowling.
"Where proxy man mmm put put my enhancement mmm must have?"
"Did you look in the storeroom in back?"
"Yes yes broke down door many boxes no see see no."
"I'll help you look."
The storeroom door lay flat in the middle of the ransacked room. Recursive stepped around it, looking over all the overturned crates and the books, knick knacks, and odd pieces of equipment littering the floor. She looked at Soft.
"Did he tell you it was going to be in a crate?"
"Mmmm mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm....." Soft slowly shook her head.
"I think it's probably somewhere else in the building."
Recursive slid past Soft and turned the corner in the hallway, heading towards another back room. She flipped on the light to what appeared to be a small library/break room. The sofa on the far wall held a beige duffelbag with the word "Soft" scrawled on the side in black marker ink. Recursive laughed.
"Oooopsy ooops oooop oppps bad so bad Soft." Recursive patted her on the head.
"It's ok. I'll clean up the mess for you. It's no big deal." Soft grinned.
"Thank you so fancy magic so girl fancy."
"Go see what the goodies are in the bag!"
Soft ran to the bag and ripped it open, pulling out a large roll of clear shiny material. She instantly started ingesting it, cramming the sheet into her mouth and sucking it inside. The roll fell on the ground and kept spinning as the material flew into her mouth.
"Is that clear latex?"
Soft nodded. There was a hissing sound and a strong chemical odor as she guzzled the material. Her skin started to darken and change color,turning rust red. Yard after yard flowed down her throat until the cardboard roll was bare and bounced away across the floor.
The surface of Soft's body glistened and shifted. She reached inside the duffel again an pulled out a shiny metal discus-like object with a hole that went through the center. She crammed it into her mouth and quickly pulled out more metal pieces, balls and cylinders of various sizes, quickly ingesting them all.
Soft, removed Proxy's lab coat and tossed it aside. Her transformation continued as the reddness deepened and gathered, forming a tight red catsuit with a deep v cutaway down the front from the throat to abdomen. He right arm and left leg took on an armored appearance, the material thick and plate like, with articulated joints. There were circular cutaways exposing the green flesh beneath as well as areas with protruding metal tubes and spikes. In contrast, the left arm and right leg had much less coverage. The leg had the appearance of a shiny latex stocking, held up be an assymetrical garter belt. The boot was much smaller with a higher,sharper heel. The left arm had a line of large, dot-like openings down the sleeve that ended in a latex fingerless glove.
Recursive looked her up and down, marveling at the change. "Wow, you look really impressive."
Soft waved the clawed fingers of her right hand. "Mmmm good good upgrades battle soft mmm good. Armor central nervous system upgrade mmm yes yes." She turned to the rooms single window and slid the glass sash open.
"Fancy girl watch facy now watch watch." Soft stepped back and they stared out of the small opening, the sound of wind and traffic permeating the break room. There was a moment while nothing happened, then a small cluster of birds flew across the sky in the distance. There was a short, crisp "POP", then the screen had a hole in it and one of those birds fell lifeless through the air. Two more staccato reports and two more birds died like the first. Soft bounced up and down clapping her hands.
"Very nice!" Recursive noticed one more object peeking out of the duffel. She went the couch and pulled a small black journal out of the bag. "What's this?"
"Mmm memory book mmm memory mmm before Soft memory."
"Can I look at it?" Soft did a strange, full body shrug but said nothing. Recursive flipped it open to the first page.
The journal of Christine Larsen
research project SUSTAIN (terminated): bioengineered spore colony X-79
June 5th, 1998
She looked at Soft. "Soft, who is Christine Larsen?"
"Mmmmm...mmmm...mmmm...mmm..."
"Is she a relative? Friend?"
"mmmmm...mmmmm.mmmmmm.....mmmotherrr..but..me...al so...mmmeee am Chhhrissstine amm mmmmooother.."
"You are Christine or...she is your mother?"
"Mmm...mother...me...mother...me...killed...mother ...killed...me...killed..."
"Umm I'm sorry Soft is this upse.."
Soft stepped forward, the claw hand seizing Recursive's arm and lifting her up until her toes barely touched the floor.
"KILL TO LIVE LIVE TO KILL KILL TO LIVE LIVE TO KILL."
"Unngh..OW..um just um pardon me a sec Soft....FFFFFDD! FD NEED SOME HELP IN HERE PLEEEASSSE!!!!"
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
Oh crap. O.o
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
"You are friggin CRAZY. Man, you are completely nuts. You wanna die or what?"
Recursive rubbed her arm, peaking out of the office towards the storage room. "Hey, I didn't know talking to her about her past would set her off like that."
"I thought you were psychic or something."
"I can't see the future. I just have...like a really strong sense of intuition. It's usually right. And I can touch people's minds and plant hallucinations, but its on a pretty basic level." She moved away from the door and sat on an office chair.
"Thank god she wants to bang you. As soon as you showed up she snapped out of it and got all doe eyed. She must want your bod pretty bad."
"Hey, you see this? This?" FD tapped his chest. "There will be no banging that with this Mexican. No way. I draw the line with plants and animals."
"Aww come on. Did you see her new outfit? Tell me you didn't like that cleavage."
"Oh hell yeah I like that. It looks good but listen...when they tell you ..as a kid...about the birds and the bees--IT DONT MEAN SCREW BIRDS AND BEES OK? I GOT MY PRINZIPLES."
Recursive laughed. They heard the sound of a crate falling in the storage room.
"I'm gonna go help her."
"Fine. You die that's your problem. And let's get the hell outta here. You and her get your stuff together and we'll go back to my place. I'm sick of sittin around here Proxy can come and find us there."
"Okie dokie."
Soft had a pile of two crates in the corner of the room. She was filling a third, looking for small objects that would fit and meticlously placing them inside, one by one. She made a warbling grunting sound as Recursive stood in the doorway.
"Sorry so magic girl sorry sorry." Recursive motioned for her to come over.
"Come here Soft." Soft went and stood by her side. Recursive lifted her hands. There was a storm of activity as the boxes and bits and pieces shot back and forth across the room, reordering and reassembling until things were as they had been in the beginning. Soft grinned and clapped her hands.
"Soft you don't remember grabbing me do you?"
"No no grab no. Feel heavy now no feel nice now."
"It's ok. Don't worry about it." Recursive ground her teeth slightly, steeling her nerve, then she hugged Soft. Soft patted her back, uncertain of the protocol of the embrace. He skin changed color slightly for a moment then resumed its usual hue. She took Recursive's hand.
"Mmmm fancy girl mmmm can tell maybe can telll mmmmm?"
"What is it?"
"Hunka hunka man mmmm angry mmmm no love for Soft mm no no? True yes true?"
"Umm, I don't know about that..."
"MMm angry hunka man voice say angry word sound like no love no chance chance for love Soft."
Recursive looked into Soft's luminous green eyes and smiled, fingering the edge of the latex at her neckline. "I have a friend who might be able to help."
Soft shuddered a bit. "Oh yes yes yes? Who friend who what friend name?"
"Tequila. The friend's name is tequila." She put her fingers to her lips. "But we need to keep it a secret ok?"
"Ok yes ok ok ok." Soft shuddered again, grinning.
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
Tequila, eh?
"Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you... you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end..." -- Q
ROFL
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
FD hotwired a sedan and soon they were driving through the working class neighborhoods of King's Row, on towards the highway and eventually the outskirts of Independence Port. The sky became obscured by row after row of pillbox shaped warehouse buildings, vestiges of industries that had come and gone and now home to cargo shipments and urban blight. Shifty men on the streetcorners eyed the car as it passed, calling out as FD's middle finger peeked out at them through the window. In the shadow of a vacant stamping plant, he abruptly stopped the car in the middle of the street and climbed out. Recursive and Soft watched as he dragged his finger on the hood of the car and left a dark horizontal line that turned into an arrow pointing down.
"This is it ladies. Come on out and see my fortress of solitude." Recursive and Soft opened their doors and slid out into the street. There was nothing but warehouses on either side of the road.
"There's nothing here. And what's the mark for?"
"That's a sign for the locals to take care of this for me. They'll strip it and get rid of it. Come on."
He turned and walked towards the warehouse on the left. He kept walking, passing right through the side of the building. They could hear him calling out from the other side. Recursive shrugged and they followed.
Beyond was an open courtyard lined with old victorian homes and a couple brick tenement buildings to the sides. In the center was an immense, mansion-like building with dual peaked towers on either side of the entrance. A neon sign above the oak double doors spelled "The Majestic". There were no cars on the street. It was oddly quiet as if everything was dampened somehow, the air stiffled. There was an intense scraping sound. The turned to watch a scrap of paper blow across the street.
"Well, watcha think?" Recursive scratched her head.
"Honestly? It feels..wrong." She looked up in the sky. There was a line over the house where the sun and blue of the day ended, sharply turning to grey. "I'm a bit creeped out."
"Well you should be." FD took off his sunglasses. His eyes were black like onyx, whites and all. "I live here. But it isn't really my house. Don't forget that."
The art deco tile of the foyer was dark with dirt and dust but otherwise in very good condition. The rows of copper plated mail boxes still shined in the dim light of a chandolier overhead. Unlike the outside, the interior of the building was full of vague, ambient sounds. Voices. Murmerings. Vague sounds of music and activity. FD led them to an antiquated elevator, sliding the metal cage open and pulling a lever to summon the box to their floor.
"Hey man your back!" They turned towards the voice--a young boy on the oak staircase on the other side of the hall.
"Whattup dood!" The kid came running to FD, eyeing the two women. Recursive pegged him at eight years old.
"She's at it again man! All day long!"
"Aw hell..for real?
"Yep, she wouldn't stop..."
FD reached into his pocket and pulled out the roll of cash Dr. Proxy had given him earlier. He peeled off several hundred dollar bills and handed them to the boy. "Get me some more. See if you can get more of those ones that had the bullseyes on them."
"Ok man, I'll see what they got." The boy ran off down the hall, a moment later they heard the front doors creak and then slam shut. FD stepped into the elevator and then motioned them in.
As the box rose through the shaft, they passed a couple floors that were completely dark, a thick curtain of thick black mist filling the hallway.
"Mmmm dead man no eyes dead with bat baseball bat hmmm strange yes yes?"
"You could see in that Soft?"
"Yes yes yes."
"Security. Gotta keep the kids outta this place so they don't steal everything. It's more serious in the basement."
Eventually the elevator stopped and opened into a large room, like a banquet hall. Overhead skylights with ornate stained glass bathed the space in red and gold pools of light. The middle of the space had a collection of couches and chairs with two entertainment centers. One wall had an immense stereo system with mammoth twin speakers in cases that mimiced upright coffins. Another wall was covered with assorted firearms hanging on brackets. They ranged vintage AK47s to odd, futuristic tubes with no obvious triggers or firing mechanisms. There was a rectangular opening in the middle of the collection's wallspace with words written in red spraypaint:
HEY IF YOU READING THIS..JUS SO YOU KNOW IF YOU TOUCH MY GUNZ I WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL YOU DIE...OK? HAVE A NICE DAY --FD
There was the sound of a crash coming from the hallway to the left, followed by giggling and humming.
"Jessica! JESSSSSSIIIICAAAAA! I'm home. What you doin in there?"
A woman's voice murmured in the distance. Recursive couldn't make out the words.
"WHAAT? WHAT was that? BISH HOW WAS YOUR DAY?"
"Ohh heeeey bayybeeeee! heeee heeeeee heeeeeee." There where more crashes and the sound of running water.
"I'll be back in a few. You guys just chill out and we'll make a plan."
"You got a girlfriend FD?"
"Nah thats just dark servant. I told her to do some housework while I was gone, that's all. I'll be back in a minute."
Recursive looked over the gun collection as FD left the room. She shuddered.
"Mmm it's kinda cold in here. Are you cold Soft?"
Soft stood still, fingers together staring at the floor. "mmmm she want to know we what we doing here what purpose what what."
"Who wants to know?"
"Mmmmmm speaking to me mmmm death god maybe death supernatural creaturrrrrrre mmmmmmm speaking."
"You are talking to someone? In the house?"
"Mmmmm speaking hear the thoughts hear mmmm hear hear mmm power creature mmmmm owns thisss house."
Suddenly Soft looked up and turned to Recursive. Above her green eyes, another pair had appeared on her forehead. A pair of burning red eyes focused on Recursive.
"Uh Soft..you have..more eyes now."
"The better to see you with my dear." The voice was not Soft.
"I'm...my name is Recursive."
There was a commotion in the hallway. Recursive looked away for a moment and when she looked back the eyes were gone.
"Dark Servant you moron! How many times I gotta tell you DON'T THROW THE PLATES! You use them to carry food. You wash them. You don't break them."
"Oookaay Baybeee. Is cool esse."
"No it's not cool Jessica... you gotta learn this."
A woman entered the room carrying a tray of burritos, pastries, and potato chips. She wore a pink tank top, blue jeans and yellow flip flops. Her body and hair was composed entirely of a purplish smokey energy bound in the shape of a curvaceous female. Her burning red eyes were identical to ones that had just appeared on Soft.
"Everybody, this is dark servant..I call her Jessica. Let's eat something."
"Pleased to meet you Jessica."
"Hi Mmm jessica hi hi."
A black, smokey tendril shot out of the dark servant's mouth and lassoed two of the burritoes. She threw her head back and snapped them into her maw, downing them with one gulp, then smiled at the guests.
"Bbbbuuuuuurrp"
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
Insomnia
Recursive glanced at her watch. It was 3:00 AM. FD was sprawled on one of the couches under a nest of empty beer bottles, Soft sat on the floor, motionless, slumped against a recliner. Recursive leaned forward.
"Soft....Soft. Are you asleep?"
The green woman remained motionless, small spikes periodically rippling on the surface of her body like goose bumps. She didn't stir.
Despite the late hour, and the lack of activity on the part of her companions, the building was noisier than before. Voices
from the hallways. The sounds of keys turning, doors opening. Recursive got up and went towards the kitchen. She stuck her head in the doorway.
"Jessica? You here?"
She turned in time to see a figure turn and disappear around the corner of the opposite corridor.
"Hello?" She followed. The light grew gradually dimmer, the light bulbs in the wall sconces shimmering as if underwater. The hallway zig-zagged and continued, far beyond what Recursive imagined to be the footprint of the building. She sighed and turned to go back the way she came, but the layout had changed. As soon as she turned a corner, the corridor veered off in a new, unknown direction.
"Well crap. That was stupid." The light continued to darken. The shadows on the walls writhed and danced. She felt, but could not see objects brush past her as she walked. There was a ghostly unlife surrounding her now. She felt unseen eyes everywhere. Watching her. Studying her movements. She turned into a new passage and could see lines of bluish-green lights, blinking and shifting like fireflies. A brighter light appeared in the distance, like a golden lantern hanging from the ceiling. As it moved closer, rows of spectral bodies became visible, their eyes upon her. People dressing in antiquated evening wear, jazz age tuxedos and flapper dresses. Couples going in and out of rooms, their tanslucent figures revealing leering, animated skeletons. The lantern approached. Not a lantern at all, a glowing feeler hanging down from a strange creature that was a mix of Fish and spider. It's hug maw gaped, rows of triangular piranha teeth glinting. It's spindly legs were a flurry as it scampered across the ceiling. Recursive shrank against the wall as it moved past, one of it's immense lidless eyes turning to glare at her as it went by.
"Girl...."
There was someone in the passage behind her. A man? It was too dark to make out the figure's features.
"Human girl...come....here......"
Recursive's skin crawled as her eyes adapted to the gloom. A male figure standing by a doorway. Someone in a tuxedo but the hands were wrong. Something about the head was wrong. She squinted as it struck a match and lit a cigar. The hands were dark and oily, beastial along the lines of a gorilla. The lower part of the face was refined, perfectly human. But it faded into a tangle of tubelike forms that may have been horns or tentacles. The smoke from the cigar emitted a baleful green light, flashing before it's face every time it exhaled. The mouth smiled as she staggered back reflexively. Her pulse pounded in her ears and she found herself wondering about Bulb. Had it followed her to this place?
"Scared? Took me...so long...to look human."
"I'm sorry. You're...not quite there yet."
"Really?....hahahaha......." It took another puff on the cigar. "Do you want a child?"
"Pardon me?"
The figure turned slightly towards the doorway to his left. "There is a child...in the room....hiding..."
"Oh my god..for how long?"
"Long?"
"Yes, how long has the child been in there?"
There was a long pause before the creature replied. It puffed and exhaled several times, explosions of hellish light as the smoke wafted. "In human...time reckoning...maybe one....hundred years...."
"What?! How could a child be here that long?"
"I...devour his thoughts...memories....passage of time..."
"Why..why would you do that?"
"The mortal...mind is fragile...too long to feed...on nothing but itself." The creature suddenly smiled broadly. "He thinks I'm the devil."
"Are you?"
"Maybe...."
The thing made a strange barking noise. Was it laughter? It moved, the shape darting forward in the darkness. Recursive was knocked off her feet. She screamed as she was dragged along the floor, caught in a mass of sinewy flesh, kicking and yelling until she rolled clear of it, the hulking shadowy mass fading down the hallway. She was sweating, locks of hair matted to her forehead as she got to her feet. She brushed them to the side and crept back towards the doorway, a bar of yellow light glinting from the opening underneath. Her hand slid over the grainy surface of the oak until she found the door knob.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" Silence. The knob felt cold. "I'm coming in...."
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
I wouldn't do that if I was in her shoes...
Great creep factor, FD.
City of Heroes taught me that when the world is burning, you don't just stand by and watch, you grab a fire extinguisher and do whatever you can to stop it-even if it's not much at all. Sign the petition to keep City of Heroes alive HERE.
@MissKyo, Leader of the Teamsters coalition on Protector
Guess I better bump this thread. Will have an update soon.
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
Yeah UPDATE!
@tiggy
Beware the attack cat
The door swung open smoothly. There was a nightlight on the wall, bathing the room in a cool blue light, dust motes dancing in the glow. There was an arm chair. A table with a lamp. A small glass coffee table. And in the center a massive piece of dark grey stone. A cylindar, the top of which twisted and stepped into a spiral, all of it exactly like an oversized drill bit. The thing stood there in the center, the carpet pristine around it. It hadn't been dragged there.
Recursive slid quietly into the room. The door clicked shut behind her as she searched the corners and sides of the room for other doors. There was a bedroom to the left, a bathroom to the right. She went to the stone, running her fingers over the cool porous surface. She could sense a presence, something hidden inside.
"Hello?"
The object remained dormant.
"Hello? Can anybody hear me?" She tapped the surface with her fingertips. They gradually became dark with a thick grey dust that was accumulating on the surface. She backed away as the air around the stone began to thicken and darken, the surface of the cylindar dissolving into a mist. The dust spiralled around the object, which soon was completely obscured. After a moment, a small row of lights flickered in the center.
"Hi, can you come out please? It's safe."
The dust evaporated, revealing a little person. It was a child, 5 years old at the most. Recursive giggled at his appearance. He was clad head to toe in a silver material that looked just like a stereotypical spaceman uniform. The pajama-like garment covered every part of the child's body except a cutaway section exposing his face. He had pale smooth skin with big glossy eyes, some sort of shiny transparent membrane covering the pupils and whites. The flashing lights were were now visible as glowing vertical bars on his forehead, mostly covered by the hood. The boy rubbed his face with the back of his right forarm, blinked, and then looked at her.
"Hi there. What's your name? Can you talk?"
The boy looked down at his feet, swaying slightly. The lights flickered more quickly for a moment, but he did not respond. Recursive reached out. He hesitated for a moment then took it, going to her. She picked him up and bounced him in her arms.
"How did you get here? Where are your parents?"
Again the lights flickered. She stared at the bars. Most likely the child was speaking, in some sort of visual code through the lights flashing. He made a semicircular mothion with his hands and pointed towards the door.
"You want to get out of here?" Recursive nodded her head "yes." The boy tentatively mimicked the gesture.
"Me too." She carried him doorway and turned the knob, slowly sliding it open. The child buried his face in her shoulder. The door swung open, but there was nothing. No light. No sound. Only solid black. She rubbed his back and let the door swing shut. She turned and carried him back to the center, mulling over her options.
"I guess we might have to wait here for a while."
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
FD scowled folding his arms. "Do I need to say it? What were you thinking?"
Recursive shrugged, shifting the odd child on her arm. "Hey, I just went to take a look around. I didn't know your bachelor pad was a gateway to the underworld or whatever. If it makes you feel any better I've been holding this clingy child for hours now. He doesn't wanna get down."
FD laughed. "That ain't no child."
"What are you talking about? Of course it is."
"Nope. It ain't human at least." He took a step forward. The boy buried his face in Recursive's shoulder.
"What are you talking about? Explain."
"It's got no soul. I can see people's spirit energy inside their bodies. He ain't got none. Nothing. Nada, No light."
"You can see mine?"
"Yeah. It's kinda weird...blurry and brighter than usual but it's there. He's got squat." He lit a cigarette and took a puff, staring at the boy. "How did you find him anyway?"
"Well...um there was this weird...devil guy. He called me over."
"Hahaha you idiot!"
"It said it had been watching this child for a long time.."
"Demons don't sit outside a place watching it for sh**s and giggles. He was probably bound to guard this thing and you relieved it when you went in the room."
"Yeah maybe. Probably. I dunno."
"You're lucky I knew where to look for you."
"How? Jessica knew where I was?"
"Haha no. Proxy. That [censored] is back. Called me this morning."
"Oh wow. Back from the dead."
"Yeah wants us to meet him at a warehouse. He better have some answers this time."
The warehouse perimeter was surounded by a canopy of barbed wire that curved over their heads as they walked along the building. There were remnants of cloth scattered over the surface, vestiges of past attempts to camouflage the walkway in the past. Recursive trailed the others, leading the boy by one hand as he slowly shuffled along. She watched Soft anxiously, wondering if she would again try to butcher Proxy if he appeared.
FD slid a large section of sheet metal wall to the side and they entered into the building. The space was flooded with light from flourescent bulbs above them. Everywhere industrial machines and workstations occupied the floorspace. They wove their way through it until Soft spotted Dr. Proxy on an raised dias making adjustments to a large upright ring of metal.
"A portal?"
FD nodded. "Yeah looks like it."
Proxy turned and smiled at them, then walked off the platform beckoning for them to follow. He was dressed the same. It was definitely the same man. But this version struck Recursive as younger, as much as 10 years younger than the first. He stopped at a large round table, motioning for them to be seated as he reached underneath and pulled up a large black duffelbag, setting it on top.
"Welcome friends. So nice to see you all again." He looked at the boy, who had stopped walking and was dragging his feet as Recursive tried to pull him along. "Even you Toobit. Hahaha come on over you little [censored] you can't get away." Proxy pulled a small light out of his pocket and flashed it extremely quickly, the pulsing light repeating some sort of visual code that synched with the lights on the boys forehead. Recursive felt the boy's body seize up and go rigid, like a wooden plank.
"Can you carry him over here please?"
"What did you do to him?" She gingerly lifted the little body and carried it to the doctor, who laid it on the table. FD laughed.
"What the hell is that thing?"
"This is Toobit. He's a synthetic being from an alternate reality. This particular unit was somehow corrupted...nobody was really sure how or why...but it altered its own genetic code to become extremely powerful. At which point it slaughtered the populations of two cities. See these bars of light on his forehead?" He slid the hood back slightly revealing more of them.
"These are prison markings. The bars recode Toobit's body to force him to regress to the earliest period of development where he did not exhibit sociopathic tendencies, roughly 5 years of age."
Recursive glanced at FD and Soft for a moment. Proxy continued.
"I have put him in a temporary stasis. Later I'll code him to obey my directives. He will come in very handy a little ways down the road."
"Handy for what? Mass murder?"
"Haha yes! Exactly that. But before you have a fit of moral indignation, as ridiculous as that would be in this context, realize that I would employ Toobit in order to negate a far worse scenario."
FD leaned forward. "Ok [censored] I'm sick of this mystery bs. I wanna know what your master plan is and I want to know what it has to do with me. Lay it out!"
The new Dr. Proxy clapped his hands. "Excellent! I have come prepared to do exactly that." He reached down and began to unzip the duffel.
Blacklisted
"I'AM SATANS FAVORITE CHILD!!"
AND?
Well we are waiting...*taps foot*
Really good and damn your pacing is so good it sucks.
I am taking my sig to MWO and MWT. Let them wonder what it means.