ic Everyone Is From Somewhere (IC)

[Dr Archeville]

Emily's voice drew Dead Head's attention back to her, though he kept glancing back at Strix to make sure he wasn't going to do anything rash.  "Brains?  YUCK!"  He shuddered and stuck out his tongue, making exaggerated displays to put her at ease.  "Those things're nasty!  So full of cholesterol an' salt!  Nah, I don't touch 'em.  Don't really eat anythin', though I can, unlike some folks I know.  An', uh, as for Murray over there," he nodded towards the Woodchuck Man, "well, I think he'll be okay, he jus' needs t'rest a bit.  An' aybe get some orange juice in 'im."

 

He turned now to Ratcatcher (and his horde), keeping one hand on Emily's shoulder.  "I think everyone 'ere knows a lil' somethin' 'bout keepin' folks away, an' we all know it never lasts.  Not forever.  So someone's been pokin' 'round yer territory, settin' fires, tryin' t'make it their own?  Maybe we can help y'all with that."

Edited November 19, 2019 by Dr Archeville

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

The man in white took a step backwards. He glared at The Ratcatcher, his stare unmoving as he addressed his companion. "We did help them, D. That's what I didn't have time to say before." His glare finally broke away to glance down at The Woodchuck Man. "The memories I saw in his blood. The miscreants burning homeless people. We found them. We caught them in the act. It was the college kids. It's what they do for fun. That gas can that turned the alley into an inferno after the booze-soaked genius over here knocked it over with his earthquake? The fratboys brought it with them. The 'Nowhere Men' here were just trying to scare them away. Just trying to get them to stop. And they did, like he said, for a while." Strix slowly stepped over to where The Woodchuck Man lay. "But then the Woodchuck here found Ashley Fairchild. He wasn't the one who attacked her. That was her scumbag boyfriend Ethan Pfeffner, the same one leading the pack we just ran into. No, Chuck here just lifted her up out of the gutter where Ethan had left her to bleed out. Chuck brought Ashley to the restaurant because it was a big group of people, the kind of thing he'd usually die rather than get near. But he thought they could help her. Emily here, he only took her because he thought she was in danger. He didn't want to see what happened to Ashley happen to her. Just a simple misunderstanding. But it gave Ethan an excuse." Strix reached down under the several layers of jacket The Woodchuck Man wore, grabbed something, and yanked. He opened his hand to reveal the gold and diamond necklace Pfeffner had mentioned in his interview. "He didn't give a damn about Ashley. He came for this." He looked up at The Ratcatcher again. "And we need to give it back to her, or else they'll keep coming." He shoved it into a pocket on his belt. Then, still kneeling on the ground, he turned to little Emily. His voice changed. For once, the slight echo reverberating beneath it was gone. He sounded completely normal. Dead Head wasn't sure if he'd ever heard a human voice like that come out of Strix's mouth. He wasn't sure if it was even possible until this moment. "We're not here to hurt you. We're here to take you home, to your family."

 

[Dr Archeville]

"... oh."  Dead Head slowly blinked as he realized what had been and was happening.  "Ohhh... okay.  So we-"  He paused again at Strix's sudden change in tone.

 

Well, well, this is a night a' wonders.

 

He gave Emily's shoulder a light squeeze, then tilted his head at an anatomically improbable -- and, he hoped, comical -- angle, and stretched his rictus grin wider.  "Yup, we'll getcha home safe an' sound.  I'm sure you'd like t'see yer folks again, an' I know they's worried sick 'bout ya.  I'll even escort ya there m'self, if'n you'd like, I can tell ya all kinds a' stories along the way!"

 

He pivoted just enough to look Strix in the eyes, "while I'm handlin' that, you gonna return the necklace?  I don't think either task'd require both a' us."

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

The man in white nodded at the zombie. "Agreed." The otherworldly echo returned to his voice. The kid likes you better anyway. That's the problem with becoming a scary guy: You don't get to pick and choose who you scare. His fist clenched around the diamond necklace. "If Pfeffner survived whatever..." He raised an eyebrow. "...Whatever...'Grim'...'Diddle?' ...Whatever he did to him...then he's probably in an ambulance on his way to Bedlam General right now, or he's already there. But that won't last. As soon as his family finds out, he'll get transferred to Beth-El in Stone Ridge, just like Ashley. One-stop shopping. I'll head straight there, return this to her, see if...if there's anything I can do for her...then I'll wait there for you and Loverboy. We need to have a little chat with him. About his extra-curricular activities. And we need to inform him that this," he lifted his fist, causing the thin gold chain to sway beneath it, "Doesn't belong to him anymore. And neither does she."

 

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head nodded at Strix, then pivoted his head back to face Emily.  "So, ya wanna head home now?  Or," he nodded towards the Nowhere Men's kit-bashed entertainment system, "d'ya wanna finish the film you was watchin'?"

 

Dang, seein' that does take me back.  I saw that one in theaters, when it first came out, an' I weren't much older than her.

 

"And, ah," he glanced over at the prone Woodchuck Man, then back to the girl, "I'm sure that -- if'n you wanted to -- you an' Murray can meet up again some time, hang out for a bit.  Maybe I can even join y'all!"  His rictus grin widened a bit, "ooh, we could be like Th' Wizard a' Oz!  You as Dorothy, Murray as th' Cowardly Lion, an' me as Scarecrow, searchin' fer a brrraaaiiinnnsss..."

 

An' maybe hangin' out with a few monsters will help ya learn how t'deal with some a' th' people you'll meet in Bedlam.