ic Bedlam Burning : Beauty and the Beasts

[Dr Archeville]

I'll be so glad when he gets outta his 'angsty teen vampire' phase....

 

Dead Head gave a nonchalant shrug/nod to Merge.  "Yeah, I been injured an' killed in jus' about every way ya can think of.  I keep comin' back, though -- ya cain't keep a good ghoul down!"  His cheesey smile quickly faded as he felt more vampire eye-shaped holes being burned into the back of his head.

 

"So, ah, the question is, do I go in like this," he swept a hand over himself, his scuffed boots, ripped jeans, torn tee, and weathered leather jacket, "or this?"  A flash of violet light briefly outlined his form, and now he appeared to be an elderly man, pale and wan, slightly hunched over, in a charcoal gray suit.  "Julius C. Brownstein, had a stroke a few days ago.  His obituary was in yesterday's paper.  Or, how about," another flash, now a strikingly beautiful Brazilian woman in a black shapeless dress, "Adriana Silva, a plastic surgeon's nurse who was also a plastic surgery addict.  After the doc refused her latest request, she tried doin' it herself."  "She" peeked down the dress, "ooh, y'all do not want to see what's under here.  Or, how about," another flash, and now a young African American boy, not even ten years old, in a blue suit and matching patch over his left eye, stood before them.  "William Newman was in the wrong place at the wrong time during a convenience story robbery."  Each change was not only physical, his voice and even scent all shifted (Strix noted an undercurrent of embalming chemicals in all three).  "Hey, Merge, maybe you & I can go in together like this?"

Edited September 29, 2019 by Dr Archeville

[Tiffany Korta]

Merge Trois

The rather bitchy response to Strix was lost as Merge watched the transformation with a raised eyebrow, she’d seen some weirdness back home but this place took the biscuit. When she quickly realized that there had been people she felt a pang of sadness, though she managed to keep it to just her eyes. Especially when the last one was a (as far as knew) an innocent child. She could also be pragmatic when needs be, so she quickly considered there options and formed a possible plan.

 

“So we play crack baby and his mommy to get close to on of them? See if we can get close to them or if not just grab ourself one and we you put the whammy on them!”

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

Quote

"So, ah, the question is, do I go in like this," he swept a hand over himself, his scuffed boots, ripped jeans, torn tee, and weathered leather jacket, "or this?"  A flash of violet light briefly outlined his form, and now he appeared to be an elderly man, pale and wan, slightly hunched over, in a charcoal gray suit.  "Julius C. Brownstein, had a stroke a few days ago.  His obituary was in yesterday's paper."

 

"If you're actually soliciting advice and not just showing off, then I say go with the old white man. He's the one with the best chance of getting mugged in Hardwick Park. Nurse Silva sounds like she can at least pass for the 'right' ethnicity to enjoy the park unmolested. They probably won't mess with the little black kid and his young mom, either. The Mara don't want other gangs in the Park, but they do want it to stay a nice place for their kids to play in. Or, at least, their version of a nice place, where they still get to sell poison out in the open. Re-painting the see-saws with a teen mom's blood would cause more trouble for them than it'd be worth." The man in white waved his thumb at Merge Trois. "But the old man? They see her with him, they'll think she's a working girl and he's a trick. Which means they definitely have cash on hand. But it's your call. I'll be watching."

 

Between the blinks of an eye, the man in white was suddenly just gone, as if he'd never been there in the first place, as if he'd been a figment of their shared imagination.

 

Edited November 4, 2019 by Grumblefloof

[Dr Archeville]

"Why cain't it be both?," he was about to reply as he shifted back to his true form, but then Strix was just gone.  Gone from mortal senses, at least.  The vampire vigilante still 'pinged' on Burt's necropsychic senses, though even that was quickly fading as he sped away.

 

He turned from the empty spot where Strix had been standing to face the Merges Troi, and raised a hand to the side of his mouth.  "I know he seems all gruff an' mean," he stage-whispered, "an', wel, he is.  But I'm hopin' it's jus' a temporary thing.  Most undead tend t'go through a phase like that, an' I'm hopin' t'help him get through it."  He lowered the hand and crossed his arms, shut his eyes and shook his head, "might take a few decades, though.  Probably be easier if'n I could get him outta Bedlam," he shrugged, opened his eyes, "but, well, I wanna help Bedlam, too.  An his idea is a good one, sooo," a flash of violet light outlined his form, and he was again the late Mr. Brownstein, "shall we?"  He extended an arm to Merge.

[Tiffany Korta]

Merge Trois

With a smile Merge split into two, the second Merge being even more scantly dress than the first. A slightly less stylish trashy that her other clothes but pretty much suitable for the part she was playing. This Merge snuggled up against the disguised Dead Head with arms around her like they were getting to know each other very well.

 

“Well now I can strike snuggling with a zombie off my bucket list, at least you smell better now.”

 

The “original” Merge rolled her eyes like even she was embarrassed by the second her and added.

 

“I’m not as good as Strix, but I can stay out of sight ready for if any trouble starts.”

 

She stood back into the shadows, not completely hidden but hopefully the others wouldn’t be looking for her.

[Tiffany Korta]

GM Post

For those that were less observant the approach to the park seemed pretty peaceful with few people out on the streets at this time of night. But to the enhanced senses of the undead were more attuned to the night made out small groups of thugs just out of the light read if trouble really started. For now the couple making there way to the park weren’t a threat so they lounged around chatting with each other.

 

As they go close to the gate that lead into the park, which might have been important to the occult minded gangster as the threshold of a place, they were stopped by one of the members a reasonable built man with covered in occult looking tattoos along with the gang colors of the group they were looking for.

 

“What are you two looking for at this time of night?”

[Dr Archeville]

"Eh?," "Mr. Brownstein" replied, raising his free hand and cupping it behind his ear, "sorry, sonny, my hearing's not what it used to be.  Though, uh," he turned to leer in Merge's direction, and brought his hand down to pat hers, "I promise you, that's the only part of me that's not, ah, up to snuff!"  He smiled and winked at her, then turned back to the tattooed fellow, "we're just, ah, looking for a quiet place, y'know, away from prying eyes.  Especially my wife's," he stage-whispered, then pointed to him with his free hand, "so if you let us on by, and make sure no one... interrupts us, I could see my way to giving you," he reached into his coat pocket, "oh, say... five bucks?"

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

The entire time that Dead Head and Merge Trois had walked through the Hardwick Park streets, the man in white had shadowed them from above, as he said he would. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop, his boots making not even a whisper as he landed. He clung to the sides of buildings like a spider, sticking to the shadows when he could and broadcasting a psychic signal that clouded the minds of all who might happen to look upon him, commanding them to look away and forget. It was one of the first uses of his dark power he'd mastered, and within weeks of being turned into an undead abomination, he'd developed such mastery over it that it required about as much effort as blinking his eyes. As he dropped down behind the Mara thugs, he continued to command them not to see him, while knowing that Dead Head would. The revenant had never been fooled by Mister Strix's hypnosis, though Strix had no idea whether it was on account of Burt's personal strength of will or if was a trait shared by all who were raised from the dead by similar circumstances. His black eyes made direct contact with Dead Head's, and he gave the zombie a silent nod, but for the moment, he merely watched and waited.

 

[Tiffany Korta]

GM Post

The gang member look the two of them down for a moment before giving a rather uncomfortable grin at Merge.

 

“Yeah you go have your fun old man, if you need something to help out you see our guys and they’ll sort you out.”

 

He step aside and gestured to the center of the part where it was obvious that a group gathered there. The rest of the part looked perfectly normal and very clean and tidy, obviously they encourage the locals to keep the park pristine compared to the run down nature of the rest of the district.