Participants:
| Scene Title | Prelude to the End |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | NYC changes into New Atlantis! |
It's a snowy afternoon in New York City. The streets are still crowded as people finally leave work. The cars are honking loud due to the usual traffic as the snow pours down. It's been two inches per hour thus far, and considering the blizzard in the northeast not too long ago, this is a brief respite. It's windy and chilly and just not a good day at all. It sucks. People are grumbly and are just trying to get home.
That's when someone breaks the lull though. There's a haggard looking man. He's not a bum though, he's dressed as if he's a wall street broker of some sort while stumbling out of one of the skyscrapers in the area. He seems distracted as he starts heading towards the street. Is he watching where he's going?
Matthew wanders along with a snowball in hand, the first of many! The walls of the city showing the splattered marks of his previous snowballs as he has been having way too much fun. Huh. He peers at the fellow not looking where he is going and decides to get his attention in a rather direct fashion, arm arcing back and the snowball suddenly being thrown in his direction.
Dee has business to do in this neck of the woods. Mundane business, really. Mostly mundane. She broke into the brokerage firm the month before, and now she's offering them services to plug those security holes. Life is good. She doesn't miss the haggard man, but this is Wall Street. In this economy, there's been a lot of that around here lately. She just keeps an eye on him for the moment.
The grumbly quotient in the area is amplified exponentially by the arrival of Jacob, who immediately questions the wisdom of leaving a perfectly warm lobby to step out into this godsforsaken blizzard. He vents his ire into the receiver of his cell phone as he casts a sour look around, taking note of the man heading out into traffic practically right across from him. Rather than, say, intervene, he pauses a moment to watch. His mood seems to brighten in anticipation of something bad happening to someone else, because that's the kind of mood he's in.
The thing about the new and recently 'leveled up' Scions. They don't know their own strength. First Gayle flooded her house by accident, and now Matthew throws a fastball snow ball towards the unweary wallstreet broker. It hits him square in the shoulder, but the force of impact and the already slippery concrete is /NOT/ a good combination. Wooosh! There's a sudden thud as the man falls back, slipping onto his back and landing on his back. Oh dears!
"Huh" Matthew says to himself upon knocking down the grubby stockbroker sort of dude. He peers at his hand dubiously, bad throwing arm, bad! Still he hastens forward to say, "Woah there man. You ok? That ice sure is slippery isn't it? Good thing you didn't land head first in traffic or anything."
Dee watches the snowball, but she's certainly not in any position to intercept it even if she wants to. She does wince as it takes the poor man down, and then turns to see where it came from. Despite that it's cold, she pauses on the street.
Jacob snickers discreetly behind a loosely curled, gloved fist as the target of the oddly potent snowball topples to the pavement and cuts a glance toward the culprit, continuing to smirk. He follows the action as Matthew moves to check on the poor man, attending with a bored interest before a vague guilty stirring prompts him to take a step forward. He's on the fence about what, if anything he'll do once he's close enough, but in motion all the same.
Huh indeed. The man had the wind knocked out of him and as Matthew rushes on over, he'll see that the man has opened his eyes. Wide. The thing is though, there are no pupils this time. His eyes are completely milky white and instead of a man's voice, the voice of an elderly woman can be heard escaping from his lips.
"The Flame of the Heavens has awakened. Beauty will conspire with him and will empower the Flame-haired Fiery Hunter. The Moon will wear the Tiara of Dreams and Illusions. The Trickster works with the Fangs of Devastation and the Interpreter of Condolences will arise. Woe be to the Dodekatheon, the Aesir and the Amatsukami. The bell rings and the twilight of the gods is at hand.
There's a brief pause as the man/woman takes yet another breath.
"Woe be to the New City. The great serpent will awaken from the depths. What was lost is now found and will displace all that we know. Those that were bound are free again. The end is nigh."
Dee has wandered closer, and then sighs when the thing talks. "If it's not one damned thing, it's another." she grumbles.
"Oh fuck" Matthew opines, "You have a concussion or brain damage or something. Don't worry dude! I mean just like.. lay there a little and get your bearings back. And uh.. blink and stuff. Your eyes are going all weird and funny too and you got the wind knocked out of you." Obviously that was one hell of a snowball!
"You hit it so hard it's spewing bad poetry," Jacob quips to Matthew as the young man's investigations provoke the snowball victim to ramble on floridly. He offers up a golf clap muffled by his gloves. "I guess someone should call an ambulance or something." He hangs up the call he was ignoring and starts to thumb the numbers with a marked lack of urgency. "Or an exorcist." He skews his jaw to one side and snaps his phone closed, having reconsidered his earlier notion.
Bad poetry it is, but aren't most prophecies? The man just stares into thesky, his eyes still completely white while completely oblivious to Matthew's flailing about.
That's when it strikes. There's a rumbling, the ground quaking. It's an earthquake in New York City. It's rather unusual considering the faults near the city haven't had much activity in decades. It's probably a 4 or a 5 on the Richter scale. It doesn't destroy anything, but it does cause a few car accidents from panicking drivers and there are panicked New Yorkers who have never experienced an earthquake before.
"Another sinkhole" Matthew boggles and boggles some more and he complains to the world at large, "I DIDN'T THROW THE SNOWBALL THAT FUCKING HARD!" It's unfair. That is what it is. Toss a few things around and parts of the city just start to cave in around you. He hooks a hand into fallen dudes collar to drag him out of the path of anything that might topple down upon him.
Dee doesn't look so much surprised as put out. She had plans for today. She growls a bit, then jumps into the air to stay above the shaking ground. Her eyes move slowly around the area, looking for whatever might be coming to try to kill them.
Drawing in a sudden, panicked gasp, Jacob is nearly toppled at first by the unexpected rocking of the world around him, but quickly claims his balance and rides it out, although not without a stream of muttered invective that takes as many liberties with the English language as it does with anatomy.
Is there anything around that is trying to kill them? There's nothing obvious in the vicinity that would trigger any subliminal warnings. Still, as the trio looks about, they'll definitely notice a few new features in Wall Street. Sure there have always been decorative fountains and statues in front of various sky scrapers. Businesses like to feel cultured afterall. But when did they get marble statues.
In front of one of the corporate buildings, especially Kuroko Industries, what were once lions by the doors have changed into something else. There is a statue of a old man, most definitely Greek in origin. He looks old with a full bushy beard, but with an Adonis like body. For those familiar with mythology, it's Oceanus, at least that's what it says on the bottom. On the other side is another old man. He looks like a monk of some sort, with flowing robes. Tibetan perhaps? Who knows? There's undecipherable sigils on it though. What does that mean? Who knows?
Of course, that's not the only building that's changed. In front of the Chase Bank building was a fountain spouting out water. Instead of just a regular fountain (that's off of course) is the statue of a young woman. Again, she's in flowing robes. Her features will be familiar to Dee of course. Is it Maia? Or is it Amnis? They share features in the present now afterall.
Matthew looks around him and complains to the figure on the ground, "Now I'm having delusions. You totally gave me your concussion man, I didn't even know those things were catching. Damn it. And I'm having the worst delusions ever, why is only one of them a hot chick? Your concussion sucks."
Dee frowns, studying the changes. "Hm." She drifts towards the statues to try to better get some sense of what's happening. She isn't great at sensing magic, but she does try to work out what she can from her other senses.
"Teach you to throw snowballs, won't it?" Jacob mutters, his mouth working largely on autopilot as he takes in the radically changed scenery. The upshot of all this, as far as he's concerned, is the improvement to his mood. Now he's intrigued, particularly by the reactions of those around him to the changes. Mass hysteria? Bored indifference? The latter isn't entirely unlikely, given that they're in New York. All the same, he opts to stay primed for trouble, and reaches inside his coat briefly.
The widespread panic from the minor earthquake has dissipated for the most part. If the new features at the various buildings are noticed, none of the mortals seem to mind. To them, it would appear as if they were always there as a few even sit down on the fountain chatting amicably.
"Mmm, Amnis, queen goddess and mother of us all." one says softly with a wistful sigh. "I pray to her, you know." she tells her companion before they start to walk off to do it is that they were planning on doing.
It's then that two children appear not too far as they looks towards the three gathered Scions. One is a little blonde girl in a short and frilly dress, though she has a bit of emo-goth style to her. Her skin is milky white like porcelain and she's blonde and a red bow in her hair.
She's holding the hand of a boy a few years older than her. He seems to be eight or nine, having a bowl cut like little children do. He's wearing khaki shorts and a simple button down shirt with a pair of penny loafers. There's an impish chuckle from the both of them as they mouth somethingat first. It's then that they actually speak audibly, and the three would know that they are the ones being spoken to somehow.
"Daddy's pet is going to wake up. We hope you're ready."
Matthew gives the magically appearing little children a bemused look and then, still dragging unconscious guy by the collar advances on the kids. "Listen guys. This is no place for a pair of kids, especially not in shorts. There is slippery ice and crazy rambling scruffy guy and maybe sinkholes and contagious concussions. You two totally need to get inside. Is your mother around? We can call her if not. Would you like a hot dog? I think I can afford a hot dog."
Jacob rapidly determines that normalcy has gone on sabbatical and that to try to assign mundane reasoning to any of it is folly. Against what he considers his better judgment he steps up to try and intercede on Matthew's behalf, since the poor guy seems to be having trouble with that bit. He'd never admit it, but he can sympathize. "Hey, kid, I think you can stop worrying about them. The Redrum kids are just another fun feature of the Twilight Zone we're in. This guy," he nods toward the unconscious 'prophet', "might not be holding up so well, but whenever things get this wacky," he nods toward the kids now, "the best thing to do is roll with it." He steps up to address the children, right before he realizes he doesn't know what to say to them. "So, I hate myself for asking this, but…ah…who's your daddy?" He grimaces, and then sighs through his teeth before elaborating, "And is his pet some kind of world-ending monstrosity? 'cos I haven't seen one of those in a while."
Dee looks at Matthew as though he has a hole in his head. "You do get that they aren't normal child, right? They're something having to do with 'us'." She looks back towards the children and waits for the answer to Jacob's question. "What's the name of his pet?"
There's an impish giggle from the little blonde girl. Mary smiles cheerily towards Matthew as she nods and giggles happily once more, her cheeks blushing. "I'd like a hot dog." Hey, daughter of some powerful force she maybe, but Matthew is a handsome teen Scion. Even Titanspawn in child form can have crushes, right?
The little boy however just shakes his head once more. "Gods, there you go ruining our mystique, Mary." he says under his breath. Philemon sighs softly before he looks towards the two seemingly more mature adults. There's a wry grin curling onto is lips. "Puros is our father. Apophis is his pet."
"You might not have been a normal child" Matthew says snippishly to Dee, "Does that mean it would have been ok for people to ignore you if /you/ were a kid and wandering outside in a snowstorm in your shorts." A nearby vendor is still looking rattled in a post quake kind of way and Matthew quickly wanders over to exchange a few dollars for a hot dog, breaking it in half and offering half to Mary and half to Philemon even if he has not volunteered for any! "There you go. Eat up. And really guys. Get inside. You can talk all you want somewhere where it is nice and warm. You don't want to get sick do you?"
Dee watches the kids, then slowly looks around them again. She shakes her head a bit at matthew's comments, though. "Wake up, kid. They aren't mortal."
Jacob knuckles his brow and watches in bemused frustration as Matthew proceeds to carry on heedless of the explanations so generously supplied. He cuts a glance over to Dee and, while the young man is preoccupied, points to him and mouths the words 'dropped on his head', sharing his theory on the stubborn insistence of the other Scion. He turns his attention to the youngsters again, now that they are hot dog-enabled. "Okay. So you've delivered the ominous warning, now is there something we're supposed to /do/ about this?" He looks to the changed buildings for some indication that there might be more lucid answers past their thresholds, just in case the scene outside stays firmly rooted in Cryptic Mystery Theatre.
There's a happy little squee from Mary. Oh goodness. Titans squeeing. That is a frightening sight. She starts omnoming on her hotdog half before she reaches into her pocket pulling out a bright blue jewel. It's not sharp, it's smoothand oval in shape as she hands it to Matthew. "You will need this soon, Son of Lugh. At your time of need, swallow it." she says matter of factly, waiting for him to take it from her before she happily eats some more. It does pay to be nice at times.
"You are always too generous to these children, Mary." Philemon continues, shaking his head a little with clear amusement readily apparently on his features. "And how do you know we aren't mortal? Everything dies, even Scions. Even Gods. Even Titans." he says firmly and resolutely. "In the end, they all succumb." He then takes the offered hotdog hal and takes a bit, omnoming a bit before he looks towards Jacob. "Stop it. Or fail to stop it. We are not the masters of your fate. You are."
Dee almost manages to not laugh, at Jacob's explanation. To Philemon, she nods. "Everything dies, but fewer things won't easily die of old age." she replies to him. "Why do you warn us?" she asks then, curious. "Do you favor humanity, to want to give us a chance to save them?"
"Uh.." Matthew says and flashes Mary a smile, "Thanks! It's very pretty, I'll hold onto it. But you really shouldn't put all things pretty into your mouth, sometimes they can hurt you" He continues to dispense his sage advice to the pair of children and he laughs at Mary's words, "But thank you! I'm not actually the son of Hugh Hefner though, my dad was a football player and while I think the Hef has thrown a lot of passes in his kind they aren't my kind you know?" Pause and he clears his throat, "Well you probably don't know. Which is good!" Then back to the others, "And whatever people might be, you take care of children right? I mean it is just the right thing to do."
Lacking the patience or wisdom to appreciate advice of this sort, Jacob lets out an exaggeratedly impatient sigh. "Is it waking up now?" He pulls up his coat sleeve to check his watch, more to be demonstrative than to actually see what time it is, "like, in the next ten minutes? I mean, otherwise you could've just emailed or something. This burning bush crap is a little excessive." Of course, no shrubbery is actually on fire, but he gestures to changed buildings that serve the same attention-grabbing effect. Matthew's rebuttal catches him off-guard and he offers a pained, slightly patronizing smile. "That's beautiful, kid. Really."
"You're funny. I like you." Mary says with a cheery smile. "I did not say Hugh, I said Lugh of the Tuatha." she tries to make it absolutely crystal clear to him before she just shakes her head as she peers towards Philemon. "Humanity is doomed." she whines as she makes a motion of her thumb towards Matthew.
At that, Philemon lets out a soft chuckle of amusement. "Indeed." he says with a sage nod before looking towards Dee and Jacob. He blinks blankly for a few moments, mulling over the question a bit. "Without humanity there would be no gods. I am ambivalent." he says matter of factly. "Even if humanity is destroyed, we will still be here. You won't."
Dee considers that. "If you're ambivalent, why warn us?" she asks. It is effort you might have spent in more entertaining endeavors."
"As long as people do things like try to get kids in out of the cold and buy them hotdogs, humanity isn't going anywhere" Matthew opines, "Cause the good guys always win, so it's just a matter of being good people and it all works out."
"And why us?" Jacob asks. By now he's starting to look around for something to shoot. To his credit he doesn't consider children, even mysterious and presumably powerful ones like this, to be acceptable targets. At least not when there are witnesses. "And /when/? When is this going down?" By now he's not holding out much hope for a straight answer, but morbid curiosity compels him to keep poking at this like a scab. He knows better, but he just can't help it.
"/I am ambivalent./" Philemon emphasizes as he gives Dee a dismissive wave, not really liking to repeat himself. He then points to his sister as he sighs softly. "It is her who favors humanity. She throws tantrums if we do not give humanity a chance, and you really do not want to see her throw a tantrum." he says matter of factly with a bit of a facepalm. He then reaches into his pockets and pulls out two more round jewels handing one to Dee and Jacob. "Swallow these during your time of need. It will come soon."
It's then that Mary chirps up once more as she looks at the three. "Humanity needs champions. They cannot defend themselves against what is to come. I'm sleepy, Phil. We should go before daddy realizes we're missing." she says witha sage nod. And with that, they simply disappear. Poof.
It's at that point that a song can be overheard in one of the car's that's driving. It's window is open, and there's a song being played. It's an India Arie song actually. The Cure to be specific..
"~Say a prayer for humanity, say a prayer for humanity…~"
Dee considers, then nods and accepts the gem. "Thank you." And then they're gone. She takes a deep breath, and shakes her head again. "It's always something, isn't it." That is aimed more to Jacob than Matthew.
Despite some initial wary hesitation, Jacob follows Dee's example and takes the gem offered to him. "Yay, a suicide pill," he mutters, pocketing the little treasure. He smirks, and is poised to say something when the mysterious children suddenly vanish. He looks over to Dee and shrugs. "Never a dull moment. Anyway, maybe we should check out the new architecture." He starts toward the Kuroko Industries building to see if the changes were merely external, sparing a glance toward the others to see if anyone shares his curiosity.
"I hope they got somewhere warmer" Matthew opines after the pair of children go all vanishing into thin air. "I mean whatever they were, they really weren't dressed for New York this time of year. I guess that happens to lots of tourists though."
There are people coming out of Kuroko Industries! "Badarus' left nut! No way, did he really do that?" says one of the workers as he talks to another of his male colleagues. "Mr. Kane will probably be pissed."
"Yes, he really did that! When I heard I was going "Demosia's left teet!" the other man says, gesticulating wild in the air. "Imagine, selling all your assets like that."
Dee frowns. "think this will wear off?" she asks Jacob. "Or not until we beat… whatever it is."
Jacob watches the newly devout New Yorkers pass, wearing a comical look of distaste, considering the question for a moment before he offers his thoughts on the matter. "They seem happy enough, just…well, uncharacteristically for this city. You'd think once the Headtrip Twins had gone on their merry way they'd take the crazy with them. Clearly it's decided to put down stakes of the time being. I'd be flattered to think it's really all about us, but it could just as easily be coincidence. Either way, I'm thinking we should look around and if we find something that looks Apophis-y we shoot the ever-loving piss out of it, maybe save the world, and return our fellow New Yorkers to the godless heathens we know and-" he coughs into a loosely curled fist "-love."
Matthew stares at Jacob dubiously and then looks back to the passing people and then back to the various statues all around, "I like it. It's prettier than it was. Things should stay the way they are. It's classier you know? Livened up the place? Ohh.. we should go to someplace big! Like Rockefeller plaza! I bet they would have even better statues and stuff!"
Dee replies offhandedly to Jacob "There's no coincidence. Only Fate." Then, she stares at Matthew. "You really were dropped on your head as a baby, weren't you."
Jacob regards the pair with a steady look, blandly tortured as it settles on Matthew and then resigned as he bobs his head hesitantly to Dee. He rubs at his temple with two fingers as he concedes the point. "Still getting used to that part. Anyway," he shakes his head, holding up a hand with his fingers splayed in a bid to head off any arguments at the pass, "Much as it pains me to admit it, the Boy Scout has a point. We should see if the changes are localized or—wait, better idea." He flips open his phone and quickly stabs in a number. If his cronies, alternately referred to as the Good Squad, Glee Club, or Ketchup Advisory Board as his mood suits him, are spewing this 'Hail Demosia' craziness, then the change pervades past their immediate vicinity. He turns to one side to have a quick conversation.
Matthew says to Dee, "Me? You are the one always spouting crazy stuff and acting weird. I'm just saying that the city looks better now, that's all. It's that re beautification stuff they are always talking about you know? Except like.. no tax dollars were spent? How awesome is that."
Dee purses her lips. "It might not be that simple. We might not technically be on Earth. You've noticed the doorway in Times Square, right?" Given that, she lifts off the ground a bit to look for what might be a doorway of some sort. She does reply to Matthew, "And it doens't bother you at all that these people were forced to change? You don't believe they should have free will to decide who to worship?"
"You thinking of going around and asking every one of them if they're happier now?" Matthew says to Dee, "Or were you just thinking to change them back without asking them what they want? I mean, I guess it sucks if you think about it but wouldn't you just be doing the same thing?"
Dee frowns, and replies sharply to Matthew, "So, you don't believe in free will, then. If they want to worship these gods. If they want to improve the world around them, every one of those people has the power to do so. Because they aren't what you want them to be, you'd force them?"
"You're the psycho bitch talking about brainwashing what may be an entire city" Matthew says to Dee, "Don't try to force your crimes on me. Just because they are a little different than they used to be you now think them wrong. It's all.. morally reprehensible and stuff. Not that I guess I expected any better out of a Scion."
Ring Ring! Jacob easily catches up with his hench people. They are good folk. They really are. One of them answers with a raised brow on the other end. "What's up boss?"
Meanwhile, there are a few places with TV screens nearby. There are pubs for people to drink and relax before going home, right? If anyone heads on over, there will be new coverage going on about the day's events.
"The Amnis District of New Atlantis had a rededication of one of it's temples today. In attendance of course were Princess Melanope.." That should be a familiar figure to Dee. She broke into Gene's house afterall, and there were pictures of the two. "Along with her royal consort, Gene Horkos of Eris. Her bodyguard was there as well, leader of the royal squadron, Carel, and finally chief scientist Tychon."
Dee looks at Matthew like the hole in his head just got bigger, then just shakes her head and continues looking around them carefully. Her senses search the airwaves to see whether radio and television signals reflect the changes as well. She does catch that news then, and her forehead furrows deeply. She calls down to Jacob "This is very bad."
Matthew does in fact wander near a store window and catches the news and he looks terribly cheered, "And there is a Princess! Just like out of storybooks? Isn't that awesome?" A look at his companions and he seems to decide to abandon the effort of talking sense into them and instead simply starts grabbing passerbys asking directions of the temple rededicated today. Maybe there is still royalty to be seen!
Jacob's crew aren't really 'good' folk, or else they wouldn't be on his payroll. Formidably competent and unflinching in pursuit of duty, yes, but morally they wallow in a broad grey area and tend to favor the darker end of it. They are also completely normal, and largely skeptical of the paranormal shenanigans he frequently has them in the thick of. They're loyal beyond the level of collecting a paycheck for services rendered and utterly trustworthy. If they're spouting Atlantean nonsense (as Jacob has come to think of this, upon hearing the blurb from the TV over the fracas between Dee and Matthew) then this is not a localized bit of oddity.
"Okay, indulge your fearless leader," he instructs the gentleman at the other end of the line. "When I say 'Amnis' what do you think of? "
He gestures impatiently to the other two, covering the mouthpiece so he can hiss, "Don't make me pull this crazy land over, kids. Trying to figure something out here, okay?"
Dee nods to Jacob, obviously understanding the importance of getting information. She does consider, then says "If Melenope and Gene are involved, that's where we should go. They're the bad guys."
Odd. There are air waves all about New Atlantis. All the media stations like ABC (Atlantis Broadcasting Company), NBC, FOX and other stations are covering it. Oddly enough there is no World News.
Jacob seems to have wrapped up his phone call, as he turns to the others and snaps his phone closed. "O-kay, apparently this is either not an isolated pocket of wackiness or it's a rather big one. I've got people elsewhere in the city seeing exactly the same change we are." He lets out a sigh and looks back and forth between Matthew and Dee. "I'm going to stay on the fence about what's right or wrong about all of this. I tend to favor the status quo, so there's that. What we need to do is find any answers we can, so I'm on board to go see these good-or bad- guys." He looks to Dee then, asking, "You know the way?"
Dee nods to Jacob. "It's a big one. I'm not hearing any world news though. It might be just the city. If we're lucky. The country, of we're not lucky." she says to him, still listening carefully and trying to sort through all the noise. "I can find the way." she says then. Between the information on TV and her directional sense, she should be able.
Matthew grumbles at Dee, "I guess you can lead the way then. Just don't go crazy or anything ok? I mean that would be bad and people would probably mind if you started knocking down their statues or throwing weapons at them or things."
"I'm gonna go out on a limb," Jacob ventures as he pulls his coat more tightly closed and adjusts his scarf, "and guess you two have met." He's smirking as he makes this observation, belaboring the obvious with laughter in his tone. "Is discretion going to be a problem? Not that I mind, I just want to know if that's how we're rolling here, so I can see it coming." Whatever the case, he's perfectly content to follow Dee, and not just because it seems she has a clue-a commodity he is loath to admit he lacks at the moment.
"She was breaking into a high school to peek at guys and stuff" Matthew explains to Jacob, "And was all hooking up with the weird furry pedophile lesbian chick. It was really weird. And you hear how insane she is every time she speaks, but fine then, you don't want me along I'll go my own way. I don't usually hang with twisted sick evil fucks anyways, just mildly crazy bitches. Big difference."
Dee rolls her eyes, then says to Jacob "The school is Junior Scion High, and some religious fanatics are trying to kill young Scions before they come into their own. I was installing some surveillance to keep an eye on things. He and some others were in one of the school bathrooms at night, summoning the ghost of one of a girl who was killed. The other Scion there was Hikaru. Weird, but not a bad guy."
"Since when is that a bad thing?" Jacob queries, giving Matthew an odd look. "Cougar comes to my high school scoping out the young talent, in my day we called that a compliment." As to the rest he's a bit lost, and quickly changes tracks to talk to Dee as he deems her the sane one of the two. He bobs his head and seems to roll with the whole 'Scion High' thing pretty easily.
"I've got a cousin who goes there. She was pulling a Sailor Moon schtick one night and actually wound up helping me prevent some pretty nasty stuff there. So okay. I don't think any of us is here to 'use our powers for evil'" he frames the snide remark in air-quotes before stuffing his hands back into his coat pockets "and there's no reason we can't work together other than wildly clashing personalities and a tenacious refusal to acknowledge reality. And really, once the bullets start flying that shit matters about-" he takes a hand from his pocket to make a zero with his thumb and forefinger "-about yea much. We don't know what we're going to, or what we're going to find out, or even if we're not just chasing air. But we're doing something, which is kind of what we're born for. Let's make up the rest as we go along and agree to agree with me because I'm the one who seems to have the fewest issues."
"Nah" Matthew says with a shake of his head at Dee, "She's right. She's evil, I mean really and truly evil you know? I was thinking it would be ok to be all out and about with someone like her but.. uh.. I really should think more than that. I'm almost certain she is going to do some hateful and cruel and dumb and I don't want to be in the middle of the crossfire when she does caught on the wrong side. So I'll go check out sculptures and leave you two to whatever stuff you're going to do." A wave is given and he says to Jacob, "Nice speech though man. Really. Just.. you know.. be careful?" Then he's off! Making his own way through the crowds.
Dee watches Matthew head off, then says to Jacob "I absolutely agree it's smart to all stick together. Ultimately, we need to be united. I just don't think that kid's able to do that. He's too mixed up, looks like. So, we go see what's what. Along the way, I'll call some people and see if we can get a decent group together."
Jacob says, "Alas," Jacob muses in feigned despair, biting his knuckle lightly for effect. "However shall we prevail against the forces of evil without Captain Head Trauma to be our vanguard. Woe is us." His words taper to a deadpan as his expression grows increasingly bland while he watches Matthew depart. In spite of the sarcasm, he does seem a tad dismayed that one of their number has scurried off to do his own thing. He quickly turns to address Dee, brighting incrementally. "Considering that five more minutes of that was gonna have me fitting him for a gag, I guess we can muddle through. Right. We'll gather intel. I've got people waiting for the signal and a target. If you've got real talent to call on, all the better. My crew are good, but they're only human.""
"It's part of what I do," Jacob affirms. "Or at least, it is now. I try to stay flexible about that sort of thing. If I don't need to know anything before the shooting starts, all the better. Whatever else Junior may have been wrong about, he did call into sharper focus the fact that this is probably not as simple as it would seem." He spares a glance to the newly emergent statuary as they pass and wrinkles his nose in distaste. "I don't agree with his aesthetic sense, though. Anybody who puts this kind of tacky shit all over a city that didn't need any help looking overdone deserves to be perforated."
And woosh the pair goes! Off to the Amnis District. Really it's the financial district so it isn't too far from Wall Street. Already they can see Melanope in the royal regalia. She holds on her three items. The Tiara of Atlantis. The Scepter of Atlantis. The Ring of Atlantis. As such, she's got quite the belly. Preggers for sure as she stands with Gene until he has to go off. How the Scion of Eris is serving her, who knows?
"Carel.." she says, calling over one of her royal guards. "Make sure Gene doesn't go too far. I am not sure how long my spell will last. Make sure you bring him back so I can make him love me more."she whispers softly.
Dee chuckles to that. "Okay. Let's go." She offers Jacob a hand, to take him with her through the air towards the Amnis district. She does keep them as much to the shadows as possible, of course. And then she finds them a shady spot from which they can watch what's going on.
Carel approaches at Melanope's motion, rolling his eyes just a touch at her whispered words. It seems he is not fully in agreement with this plan, despite that he says, "I'll go keep an eye on him, but you really should consider a more agreeable hobby."
Jacob only hesitates a moment before accepting Dee's hand, and then bites back a yelp of alarm as they take to the skies. Clearly he didn't see that one coming, but he adapts quickly enough. Once they're back on the ground and looking for cover, he's clearly in something closer to his element. Once they've found a proper vantage point he takes stock of what he's seeing, but lacks an essential frame of reference to make sense of it. Thus, he consults his fellow spy with a shrug. "You know these people?' he whispers softly.
Dee replies to him quietly with "Only a little. I don't know a lot about these people, unfortunately. And I use the term 'people' very loosely. They're more powerful than we are, though. Individually, anyway." Meanwhile, she sends some texts. Funny how she doesn't have to actually type, though. She's just holding her phone and it all gets done.
"Su~perrr," Jacob drawls miserably. "Somehow that just seems par for the course." He shrugs, resigning himself to these facts. He steals a glance at Dee's phone out of idle curiosity, but doesn't quite figure out what she's doing with it. The little screen changes too fast for him to keep up so he pretends he wasn't being nosy and dutifully returns his attention to the exchange taking place below them. "So these are our new overlords? They're a photogenic bunch at least."
Dee mmms. "Apparently, yes. These are our new overlords." Of course, one of those texted was Officer Lin. "Isn't it nice to know that the prettypretty people really and truly win?" Sarcasm? Sure.
Dee meanwhile lets her enhanced senses tell her what they can about what's going on over there.
There's only really one way, beyond the merely objective, for Jacob to look at this scenario. Presently he considers precisely that viewpoint, the one which demonstrates faults in the stability of the moment. How, he wonders privately, can this go from an orderly procession to an outright cluster fuck? He's more or less got his mind made up that this needs to be stopped. "Looks like the milf's about to pop any second now," he observes casually.
After a few minutes, Lin tromps up over to the curb as the spot that Dee sent to him. He has his overcoat pulled around him as he walks over.
"Oh come now, Carel. Don't tell me you're jealous of the Erisian." she says with a hearty laugh. "It was mother who taught the art of stealing one's divinity to his enemies. He is a tool, just like any other." Melanope says matter of factly, letting out a wry chuckle under herbreath.
"Jealous, no, but he really is such a great deal of effort" Carel says wearily, "If you have had your fun with him better to kill him off or destroy hid mind completely rather than this endless dragging things along. You never know when to put away your toys so they aren't endlessly being tripped over."
Dee nods slowly, then hmms in thought. Once she becomes aware of Lin's arrival, she tosses a pebble at him gently and then gestures him over to them. She muses then "I wonder how closely she guards her fancy toys when she isn't wearing them…"
With a sharp hit to his head, Lin looks around as he rubs at the side of his head. He finally spots Dee, making his way over to her. "Hey there." He mumbles as he joins them.
As he examines the oh-so-pretty Atlanteans and overhears their exchange of names it occurs to Jacob that he has no idea who his teammates are. As Lin makes his way to within earshot, he rememdies this. "I'm Jacob, by the way," he offers to Dee, and to Lin with a nod to greet the new arrival with. "You up to speed on what's going on?" he asks. "Or, at least, as much as any of us?"
"When I am done with him, he will commit suicide. Demigods are even mere puppets for one such as us. Aphrodite has made it so." Melanope says with a wry and predatory grin asshe chuckles softly once more. "Besides, we can't out right kill children of the gods. Remember my dear Carel, you killed him in our past lives. You were jealous then and I am sure you are jealous now." she teases.
Carel growls at Melanope and says, "Some of us outgrow what we were as children. Toss aside that which we no longer have a use for. It does not require jealousy to find his presence tiresome, a waste of labors better spent elsewhere." A further grumble, "And I can kill anyone I please."
Dee smiles, first to Lin and then to Jacob. To the latter, she says quietly "Nice to meet you, Jacob. I'm Dee." She lets Lin introduce himself. Picking up the mention of Aphrodite with her enhanced hearing, she mutters something unladylike. "It's Aphrodite behind this, apparently. Lucky us." She explains "She's a bad guy, now."
Lin offers his hand to Jacob as they make introductions. "Hey there, Jacob. I'm Lin." He offers back to him. He shakes his head. "Sorry, I have been occupied with my little hole in the ground." He answers before lifting up his eyebrows in surprise. "Aphrodite? The Greek Babe is bad?"
"Probably for the best," Jacob quips as Lin explains where he's been. "I envy you. To summarize," he points to the Atlanteans, only to pause and double-take as Dee puts a finer point on the implications of that vague overheard reference to Aphrodite. He recovers a moment later, pressing on, "they're from Atlantis and they've taken over. We're sorting out how best to stop that. Aaaand….wow. The ultimate prom queen is playing for the evil team? This is my 'not surprised' face." He murmurs thoughtfully all the same, and gives the notion enough of a further thought to shrug.
"Yes, I know you can kill anyone whom you please. If it makes you feel better, I think you should've been the leader of our band when we locked away Avernus all those millenia ago." Melanope replies, her tone softening as she idly runs her fingers through her hair. "The Son of Badarus was chosen mainly because well, he was a son of Badarus." she says with another shrug. "He still has not awakened. Somewhere he is out there, one who carries our spirit. Hopefully mother will find him and bring him into the fray. Along with the others, the daughter of Demosia and the son of Versak."
"You know that never truly mattered to me" Carel says to Melanope, although her words do seem to take a bit of the coiled predatory tension out of the man. "I was there for the hunt, the challenge, the kill. It did not matter who led us so long as they did not stand in the way of me getting what I wanted. Do you look forward to seeing them again? The others?"
Dee purses her lips. "Hm. Things we can't let them find. But for the moment, there's more pressing things to do. We need someone who can figure out what caused all this, and what can end it. That is not my area. Info gathering is easy. Unless magic is involved."
Lin sighs and digs his hands into his pockets, scrunching his mouth up. "Well, if she is the ultimate Prom Queen, then it looks the Ultimate Bad Boy has showed up to take her away. So we need an Ulimate Quarterback to show up to kick the Bad Boy's ass." He comments outloud. "Well, sort to speak." He nods his head to Dee. "Yeah, well if we can find the spell, maybe we can trace to who did it."
"We were the greatest of our people. The chosen seven. The children of the gods of Atlantis. Yes I do miss them. I miss our camraderie. I miss our adventures. " Melanope says wistfully as she looks out and lets out a soft sigh. "We were the only ones to see what we saw. We discovered the secrets of the Dark Hour, what would eventually become our prison for millenia." she says a bit angrily. "And it was us who defeated the most dangerous of the Titans, Avernus." she says angrily. "And that is how we were repayed, by getting destroyed by the other pantheons, those ungrateful wretches. Our people, our civilization, gone. But it okay, we have it back." starting to calm herself down.
"Unfortunately the Redrum kids were less than forthcoming about any of this," Jacob muses. He elaborates for Lin's sake. "A little while ago, just after the earthquake, we met two creepy little kids who hinted that something awful was waking up. I'm still tumbling all that around in my head and I'm completely out of my depth. They didn't bother with straight answers to any of our questions. Oh, and-" he raises a finger to his lips and points toward the Atlanteans, as their discussion starts to offer up glimmerings of insight.
Lin continues to ponder Jacob's words as he looks up towards the talking Atlanteans, trying to hear what they are talking about. He leans towards Jacob. "Maybe we need to find these kids and see if they know more?" He says lowly.
Jacob spares a glance toward Lin and nods, acknowledging him while devoting the greater sum of his attention toward the Atlanteans and their celebratory furnishings. He seems to be zeroed in on something at first, but then turns to answer Lin. "Good luck with that. They probably weren't really kids. I forgot to tell you that part. They disappeared on us. Vanished into thin air. Sorta led me to conclude they'd done all they were going to. Now these two," he nods toward the pair, "don't look like they're going anywhere. They're pissed about something, and from the sound of it I can't really blame them. Now, I'm not saying I think they'd happily turn the city back over to us, but at the same time I don't see where taking them out is going to do us any good. I'd wager this is bigger than just the two of them."
Dee's expression has become one of deep thought. "We can't let them hold us hostage like this, but from what little I know the Atlanteans did get a raw deal from the other pantheons. It's possible they'd consider a better relationship with the Scions, if they were given a reason for it. One of Aphrodite's sons had a thought about that, but I wasn't able to pursue it more than once. Funnily enough, it involved something Gene had hidden in his apartment."
"Then you miss them more than I" Carel responds to Melanope looking out over the city, "It meant something to you. To me our companions always seemed as distractions, useful in their ways and at times but best when they were not in the way. I'll not weep when they return, but neither do I mourn their absence."
Lin tries to listen to both conversations. He looks to Dee before reaching up to rub his chin. "That Goddess..she was like a Lust Goddess. Wasn't she part of these guys? Hmmm…You know, these are Gods, right? We need Gods to help fight the Bad Guys. If these guys are raised back up…maybe they will join us? We need all the help we can get." He says to both of them.
"Oh come now, I thought there was something between you and the daughter of Demosia." Melanope says teasingly. Still, she sighs softly. "I do not even remember their names anymore." she says with clear frustration before she takes a deep breath and hrmms. "I will go through the series of mortals once more. Mother is convinced that the sleeping spirits of our companions are still out there in New Atlantis." her tone firm and resolute. "Either way, we should get going to ABC soon. I know they want an exclusive interview on how my child fares. The first true Atlantean. Exciting, no?"
Jacob seems content to eavesdrop for a bit longer, but finally he shakes his head. "I don't think they're gods. There'd be a lot more sturm and drang around here if they were. I do agree that if we move against these guys we're going to need more than fireworks." That last bit slipped out of his stream of consciousness, part of an aborted plan of attack. He doesn't see fit to elaborate, perhaps leaving unanswered questions in his wake. "I'm going to see what I can find out elsewhere. Aaah…here." After a moment he fishes into his coat and produces two business cards which, apart from his name and contact number offer no insight into precisely what his business is. "In case something comes up. Count me in. For now-" he raises a finger and then points it emphatically thataway, which is the path he takes to depart. He keeps to the shadows and turns down the first corner he comes to.
"We certainly need something." Dee replies. "It's not going to be just the three of us stopping them. This is not what gaming geeks would call a 'balance party'. Okay, I can't really know that. You two could be incredible warriors. I, however, am not. I sneak. I don't fight."
"Given that you walked in on us once, you more than think there was" Carel responds with a chuckle and admits, "I did not say that they were sometimes without their pleasures. But it is not as if I lack for companionship now, it is enough to pass the days in comfort." Whether or not babies are exciting goes unremarked upon.
Dee nods then to Jacob, then gives him a business card as she takes his. "We need to stay in touch, yes." She gives him a wave, then.
Lin nods his head to Jacob, taking the card before looking to Dee. "Well.., sneak after them and find out what their weakness is then." He says back to her with a slight smirk. He still considers as he tries to remember the encounter. "Well, that Lust Goddess said her husband was frozen or something. Maybe we can get him to help?"
A crowd gathers around the pair once more. Melanope rolls her eyes and gives a dismissive wave and the crowd dissipates. She wants her seemingly private conversation with an old companion. "On more than one occasion. She was one of my senior advisors. We were all members of the royal court." She then looks out at the changing city and hrmms. "We did not have any homeless in Atlantis. They are anathema to me. What should we do to them? Provide for their needs or I don't know.. kill them out right? What would be easier?" she asks.
Dee looks curious. "I don't remember that." she replies quietly. "Tell me about it?" she asks him, though of course part of her attention stays on the other conversation.
"Give them to Tychon" Carel responds, "Either to kill them or to feed them seems a waste. I am convinced he can find some way to make them serve some useful purpose and provide us with something new to marvel at in the process. A superior outcome I'm sure you will agree."
"I think it was after New Years. There was alot of nudity and…well other things going on because of her. So a group of us went in and she showed up. So Leonard…do you know him? He and I stayed while the rest inside the invisible building. I try to talk her out of causing the problems. I think I just got so tired of listening to me that she gave up. I took her goblet, though." He says, trying to recall, looking to the crowd.
"Perhaps he can use our knowledge to improve them somehow. They can become productive members of society. I do not know how other civilizations had unproductive members of society." Melanope ponders for a few moments, rubbing her belly before she ooohs. "Or we can make them slaves." she says with a bright smile. "At least they will have work and food. Their signs do say they will work for it. I remember seeing that before I awoke in this nubile young body of mine."
Dee hmms. "Well, we're going to need all the help we can get. I'm going to stay with these two and learn as much as I can. See what you can learn about the frozen guy? Also, if all of this has her trapped or unable to have any fun, maybe she'll help beat them." Then, "Anything interesting about the goblet?"
"Wherever would you put them? Feed them? What labors would you put them to?" Carel fires off the questions in rapid order, "It seems a great deal of work to enslave so many, and to find a use for them."
Lin nods his head to Dee. "I will try to dig up some stuff…no pun intended, on the frozen guy. As for the goblet.." He shrugs. "I don't think it was special. I guess I could give it a look for any magic or anything?"
"I guess not. They will have to power his devices then. I remember he always took sadistic pleasures in using the worthless of society as energy sources for his machines." Melanope says with a shudder of disgust. It seems she doesn't even approve of something like that. "It's just boorish. I understand the human body produces energy, but to make them batteries is just..wrong. Better dead than a battery for a Tychonian device." she says.
"Why not?" Dee replies to him, keeping her voice low. "We can't risk overlooking a potential asset. I'll see who else can get pulled in and what they can find, and we'll look for the right moment to strike."
Carel makes a wave of one hand, "Then do both. Sort through them for any attractive or entertaining in some way to make slaves of and send the rest to the labs. That salvages the best of the lot and sees the other goes to some proper purpose."
"Or..I think I know what to do. Let's kill them all. It's been a while since I have raised corpses. Remember that one Yoruban necromancer? What was his name? I do not remember, either way his father was Samedi and taught the arts of death. Tychon shouldn't be the only one to have fun." Then a wry and predatory grin curls onto her lips as she leans over and kisses Carel on thecheek. "You can even have the honor of slaughtering them."
"Yeah, very true. We need all assets we can get our hands on." Lin says in agreement, a little afraid of the talk coming from the new "Bosses." He looks to Dee. "Anyway, this Lust Goddess…Have you ever met Maia? I met her once. It look like her…but riding that three head dog that guards the Greek Hell…and the Hogwart's Dungeon."
Dee hms. "Maia, I know. I'll keep an eye out for her, but if you've spoken with her in the past, you might have more luck getting her help." she replies.
Lin nods to Dee. "You know, I haven't seen her around. Well, anyway, I am going to dig up some info on the goblet and this Lust Goddess. Keep out a watchful eye. Call me if you need me." He says, patting Dee's shoulder before walking off quietly.
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