ic [ToV] Being Green

[Avenger Assembled]

Reagent took shelter, thoughts of the senses a creature that lived deep beneath the sea might have swimming in her mind. Luckily, her guess proved right - this was not merely darkness, this was an actual disruption of light, and the big-eyed Deep Ones didn't seem to be able to see through it better than any land creatures. But as she heard the fish-frog creatures hopping around in the park around her, their bellowing voices croaking in rhythmic, inhuman patterns, she thought of an invention tested closer to her own age than this one - Sonar. 

 

Heedless of the crowd of Deep Ones streaming after the giant, Sea Devil landed between the monstrous reflection of a Deep One and its evident target, a Surfacer building with many glass windows, looking to her vaguely like a school or an apartment building. She didn't really understand most Surfacer buildings, and didn't have time to puzzle out the words on the brass nameplate behind her. "You!" she declared, pointing with her energy trident, the trident she realized that she had never actually used against a living target. "I don't know what you are, but you are not the chosen of Dagon - or any other god! Stop! You will bring them down upon our heads!" 

 

The creature croaked a mighty sentence beyond Aquaria's command of language - 

 

"ARRY SMILA! OME OU! ILLER!"  

and the glass of the windows behind Aquaria shattered, the building vibrating as if hit by a speeding semi-truck! Only Aquaria's helmet kept her from being deafened; as it was, she had to fight to stay on her feet, planting her trident in the ground to hold herself in place the way she might have used wrought iron to stop herself in the midst of a powerful current. When the croaking was done, she staggered to her feet, just in time for her fellow Deep Ones to begin streaming past her, going for the now-damaged building behind her.

[Electra]

There was a moment, albeit a brief one, in which the tactical portion of Jessie's mind saw an opportunity to stem the tide. She didn't trust that portion of her mind very much; it was something that had never been trained into her, but rather had seeped in along with a lifetime of borrowed memories overlaid with later-acquired skills. It was the same way she knew how to cook and drive a car, but it wasn't always reliable. It told her that if she caught the Deep Ones at their chokepoint behind the monster, took them down in their numbers with the skills she'd honed fighting zombies, she could stop their rush entirely here, and possibly dissuade them from further advances. But the monster was hurting Aquaria, and it had to be stopped too! And really, despite the monster she knew herself to be, Jessie didn't think she could do to those Deep Ones what she remembered doing in all the other mass-combatant fights she'd been in. There were children in there, for god's sake. 

 

So she ignored that voice of borrowed experience and instead stretched her baton along her wrist like an extension of her arm, then made a leap for the monstrous yelling creature. She scored a solid hit on it, with a reverberation that sang through her bones, but it didn't seem to be affected at all, and suddenly Deep Ones were everywhere... 

[Brown Dynamite]

Glamazon made a similar connection as to the benefit of creating a chokepoint between the giant Deep One and the hostile crowd.  However, unlike, Jessie she had no reservations about what she had to do next.  Underwater she was a creature of grace.  Hardly a wasted movement.  On the surface it was a different story.  Thaelia had to be like a locomotive sticking to a predetermined route so as to avoid accidentally causing collateral damage.  At least that was the case before three years of classes at Claremont.  Now it was time for the princess to go off the rails.  Concentrate, only the warriors.  Spare the young and defenseless.  Even for these monsters.

 

Taking off into a dead sprint through the streets, the red and green blur that was the Glamazon found herself beside a straggling Deep One.  Without a hint of hesitation, her fist collided with the side of the creature's abdomen.  As it crumpled to the ground, the Atlantean princess had already darted off.  Crashing shoulder first into another one.  Sending it barreling into its nearby kin.  This process of running up beside a Deep One and taking it out in a flash of violence, upon confirming it to be a hostile member of the nearby assembly, continued until finally Glamazon had left a trail of Deep Ones consisting of about half the crowd.

 

"I believe I have attained your sample!"  Glamazon confidently shouted at the top of her lungs to Reagent.  Although her voice couldn't quite match the sound of the massive creature's croaking.

[EternalPhoenix]

Terrifica did what she did best. Observe, record, and analyze. When the small girl threw her glass container, she ducked behind a car. A heroic Deep One? Sure, why not? She’d take whatever resources she could get. But…Arry Smila? It kept repeating that. Almost as if he was searching for something. Or someone. “That will do nicely. That…thing, whatever it is, is not spouting nonsense. I think Arry Smila is a name, and whatever that is either has a terrible accent or a speech impediment. Furthermore, I don’t believe it has dropped by for tea and cakes. We need to find Arry, and before the Deep Ones do.” She stood up. “The faster the better.” She was right, as usual. This was going to end with some punching. And to that end… She took her Staff off her belt and shook it open. She had to shout so that the massive creature would hear. “Harry!? You’re misinformed, friend! Nobody with that name lives there! But if you and your friends will follow me, I’ll lead you to him!” The plan was simple. Get him away from the people. The Deep Ones should follow. Then the punchy heroes could, well, punch.

[Gizmo]

"Well, good luck with that," Winifred muttered largely to herself as the verbose woman in dark blue and orange shared some linguistic theories and ran off. The alchemist was more focused on the loud heroine in the fanciful armour - she really needed to start paying better attention when people introduced themselves - and her idea of procuring a sample. "Alright, Wei, this is the very thing for which that beastly fitness instructor has been running drills. Couldn't possibly end poorly." Taking a deep breath, she dashed out from behind her cover toward the unconscious amphibians Glamazon had laid low.

 

Tugging on a pair of gloves from her equipment as she sprinted, Reagent hunkered down into a crouch next to the first invader she reached. It was difficult to concentrate on what she was doing while simultaneously swivelling her head up and around to keep track of the Deep Ones who were still very much active. Scooping some of the unfortunate creature's saliva into an empty test tube was straight forward enough if nerve wracking and more than a little disgusting. She glanced up at the big, shouting monster and wished that her friends from Claremont were there before setting her jaw resolutely and setting off again for a nearby parked automobile behind which she could begin working.

[Avenger Assembled]

Fred knew the creatures were hunting her, and hunting close - the cloud of smoke she'd thrown up was beginning to dissipate and she could hear the thrum thrum thrum of undersea voices speaking in near-subsonic tones as they hopped their way near her, bodies moving with unnatural flexibility like the great fish-frog-men they were. But she continued her work unmolested - with the screen in place, Reagent had a clear space to operate with her science. For now! 

 

-

 

Sea Devil stared up into the maw of the giant Deep One, acutely aware of the Deep Ones looting the damaged apartment building, the hugely bloated parody of a male before her, the Atlantean tearing through them - and suddenly saw in her mind a clear image of the little ones in the aquarium in Freedom City, and vengeful Surfacers pounding down the door to get at their little green bodies. "NO!" she bellowed and snapped her hands forward, green glowing tridents flaring to life as she shoved them at the creature's face. The great green Deep One before her stepped backwards as she went for his face, giving ground before her assault. "You're making it bad! Co-ax-co-ax! Don't make me bleed another Deep One!"

 

The giant showed no such compunctions against hurting Aquaria - striking out with a massive forelimb that missed Sea Devil but hit the pavement next to her, cracking it with a single blow and sending fragments flying everywhere. He was so focused on the crab on his toe he was ignoring the feast laid out before him; he was focused on Sea Devil and not the damaged building behind her. It was a good strategy. For now! 

 

 

[Brown Dynamite]

Glamazon reached out and grabbed a nearby armed Deep One.  The large Deep One that had been croaking something fierce for longer than the Atlantean had cared for.  Seeing as she had already done her part in retrieving bodies for the girl to do her science, Glamazon had another job to do.  "Artemis, guide my aim,"  the Atlantean demigoddess whispered under her breath.  Suddenly, she jerked the Deep One she held prisoner into the air, and in one fluid motion threw the Deep One towards

 

The deep one flew through the air like a dart.  Screaming all the way.  That did nothing to attract the attention of the massive behemoth, whose gaze had been taken by Aquaria.  As such, Glamazon's living projectile managed to strike the massive Deep One directly in the eye.  The creature screeched in pain, and the projectile found itself crashing the ground unconscious.

 

"You have chosen to fall by the hands of the Daughter of the Seas rather than to retreat, foul beast.  Do not regret your decision!"  Glamazon called out.

[alderwitch]

"Enough." The statement was flat, the hollow voice booming and echoing oddly from the phantasmic guardian. She floated above the fray and with a gesture of her leather clad arms, thrusting both fists up towards the sky eldritch chains bound the Deep One at the command of the Chosen from Heshem. Fred would likely recognize the form as her classmate used a very similar spell for his bindings but Huang had neither the power nor the experience that his mother held in her gloved hands. 

 

The bonds of lightning drawn from the Void wrapped the oversized Deep One from head to foot, lashing back and forth unnaturally and tightening down against the giant's muscles. Phantom's face was shadowed by her deep hood, her gaze glinting impassively as she swung it over the Deep Ones. "This is no Chosen creature and your god does not stir this day. You have been misled. Go home."

[Gizmo]

The sharp crack followed by bubbling indicated both that Winifred had achieved the desired effect with her chemical tinkering and that it was time to move. She couldn't see through her gradually dissipating smoke cloud any better than the Deep Ones - although she had the good sense to keep low to the ground where it was much thinner - but she could hear enough to know they were getting closer. Close enough for the audible reaction to give away her location, certainly.

 

Gathering up her test tubes and leaving the equipment she didn't immediately need behind to be collected later the displaced Victorian moved with a purpose in the direction of Mrs. Faretti's booming voice. "Right, hello! Antidote to psychoactive hallucinogen saliva here! Probably. Only have a few doses ready, though, need more time to make more." Balancing on the balls of her feet as she broke into open air, she took stock of the situation as quickly as she was able. "Ideally with fewer distractions but I so try to be flexible."

[Avenger Assembled]

Before she could quite escape, though, Reagent was confronted by a Deep One! The massive creature leaped in front of her and gave a menacing croak, lashing out with its tongue just a few inches past her head as it spread its arms and three-fingered hands wide. She didn't know if the creature was toying with her or simply a poor marksman with its oral weapon, but it didn't look put off by its near-miss. In its copper-green half-armor and helmet, the creature looked like a monster from a childhood storybook, albeit all too real as it glared at her with goggle eyes! 

 

-

 

As the great Deep One struggled in Phantom's spectral grip, bellowing in a bizarre language that was certainly not Lemurian, Sea Devil focused on her target. She wanted to fight Glamazon - she wanted to fight the Atlantean fighting other Deep Ones, but she knew that the princess wouldn't do any lasting hurt to the raiders on the Surface, she wouldn't dare, not with so many witnesses about. She had to stop the greatest threat to the greatest number of people - which in this case meant the creature whose single bellow had nearly deafened her through the thick plates of her armor and had wrecked the Surfacer dwelling-place behind her. 

 

She pressed the handles of her tridents together, forming them into a single, crackling blade, and leaped into the air, striking the giant Deep One between the eyes. The monster shrieked once, electricity rippling through its body, as Aquaria dug in, pouring wave after wave of extra-dimensionally forged electrical energy into its flesh. When it fell, she dropped to the ground too, not surprised as the giant form began to shrink down to a more manageable size. Now we'll get some answers! she thought, wondering who had transformed this mad one into the giant and sent it loose on the streets of the Surfacer city. 

 

But the Deep One kept shrinking, and shrinking, and transforming further - until Aquaria Innsmouth found herself standing, glowing trident still in hand, over the unconscious body of a small Surfacer boy wearing only red pajama pants, head down and breathing regularly, twitching in what looked like an uneasy sleep. "Oh no!" she croaked in immediate sympathy, her trident retreating into her hands in shock. "What happened?" 

[Electra]

As soon as the enormous Deep One wilted and began to shrink, Singularity dismissed it as a threat and began to look for other targets. The scene was still a wild melee of rushing bodies and blowing smoke from somewhere, but she had experience reading battles (did she? of course she did. but where and when?) and it only took her a moment to notice an ally in trouble. A quick bound took her over the general scrum and put her down between Reagent and the Deep One who was threatening her. "Go to the others," she told the alchemist, "just keep your head down and run." 

 

With that, she rushed the armored Deep One in a ridiculously brazen attack, no tactics, no attempt at active defense, merely plowed into him with her body, her right fist leading the charge. It was surprisingly effective, actually. The Deep One went flying backwards off her fist, obviously stunned and not looking ready to continue the attack anytime soon. 

[alderwitch]

Phantom floated down, the mystic bonds that had held the monster in place easily shifting to cradle the boy as he collapsed. "Magic of some sort," Phantom replied to the distressed Deep One as she ghosted down to alight next to the fallen not-monster. The chaos with the Deep Ones might have not been happening for all the attention the chosen of Heshem gave it as she focused her full attention on the child before she knelt down, solidifying as she did so. 

 

Her hand glowed with white light as she passed it over the boy's face, and what little of her expression below her deep hood was grim. The boy wasn't all that much older than JJ. Younger than Huang. Phantom frowned, but her gloved hand was steady as she passed her hand over the unconscious boy's body, working the same spell she used to heal the cuts and scrapes of a rambunctious dhampir. "He'll be alright. The blame belongs to whoever would cast their spell on a child."

 

The rumble in Phantom's voice was dark, a banked anger as no one here deserved the brunt of it. 

[Avenger Assembled]

Catching the Atlantean's intent, Sea Devil hastily interposed herself between Glamazon and the remaining Deep Ones, glowing tridents at the ready. "No!" she bellowed, "Leave them alone!" Raising her voice, she bellowed - a tremendous sound, made louder as the speakers on her armored suit projected her bass shout throughout the square. There were Surfacers who were hurt, but there were heroes on the scene for that. No one was going to save the Deep Ones but her. What she said sounded to most Surfacer ears like "Ia! Kathulu Fthagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nfah Kathulu Rlayh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" But to those who spoke Lemurian, it sounded like "Your Chosen One was the pawn of a Surfacer game! The stars are wrong! There is no invasion today! Run back to your rivers while you can!" 

 

At her shout, at the site of glowing tridents in her hand, the Deep Ones in the square fell to their knees - or rather, crouched on four legs and began chanting. The deep, basso and decidedly amphibious song was clear enough for those who spoke Aquaria's language. "CHOSEN ONE! CHOSEN ONE!" 

 

-

 

A compounding pharmacy, its occupants eager to take in someone who certainly looked to be a superhero, provided Fred with the resources, and lab equipment, she needed for her chemical engineering; after all, the maddened humans were still out there! The violence proper seemed to be settling down, though not for lack of madness; the people outside had begun to slump to the ground, or the street, muttering feebly amid smashed glass and spilled blood. There was only so much a human being could do before adrenaline ran out - even one driven crazy by Deep One venom. 

 

"They're crazy out there," the pharmacist was muttering as Fred went about her work. He and his clients, an older couple who looked to be about seventy years Fred's junior, had been in the back room when she arrived. The latter were still there - but when she looked back, the pharmacist was behind her, his bald head gleaming in the artificial light above his head, a shotgun gripped in his fingers. "Just so crazy," he muttered, peering through the window. 

 

- 

 

"Oh my god!" Back at the wrecked apartment building, a middle-aged woman, clutching her bloodied head, had staggered out the door. "It's Linc Stebbins! Oh my god, is he all right?" she asked, running to the fallen boy's side. "We heard he disappeared right out of that foster home, that poor boy!" She looked up at Phantom. "He used to live here, he and his mother were my neighbors!" 

[Gizmo]

"Merely a moderate level of 'crazy' I should think," Winifred replied to the pharmacist off-handedly while she bustled about the equipment behind the counter, rifling through supplies and making substitutions where necessary. "You live in a city with any number of individuals capable of flight under their own power, sir. Have some perspective." A note of irritation crept into her voice and she silently counted backward from ten as she worked. There was no time to calm herself properly, not with so many outside in need of treatment. "And do put down that firearm. Your agitation is making me agitated and an agitated alchemist is a sloppy alchemist, hm? Brilliant."

 

Setting a machine to mixing the prim teenager took a moment to look up and observe the serious looking woman with the auburn hair who had come to her aid earlier. She hadn't let Winifred too far out of sight since, apparently appointing herself a temporary bodyguard while the slighter girl worked. "Ah, I haven't had an opportunity to thank you," she called. "A brawl between myself and that armoured fellow would have gone poorly." She didn't elaborate on the specific way in which it would have gone poorly; it didn't seem the time to get into all of that. "Winifred Wei, though perhaps I ought to give my name as 'Reagent' in this context. Pleased to meet you."

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia clenched her fist firmly.  The appearance of a different Deep One, albeit one she knew by name, hardly did much to dissuade her in her current course of action.  It was only when she heard the instructions for the remaining Deep Ones to retreat that she relented.  Ever so slightly.  Her stomach violently rejecting the sight in front of her as the group of Deep Ones quickly began worshiping Aquaria. 

 

If there was one thing that the young Atlantean princess had been taught early on.  Any being the wretched Deep Ones worshiped was not to be trusted.  The number of twisted artifacts and blood rituals to their name helped to strengthen this point.  And even with that whole amusement park incident in mind, she found it increasingly difficult to take the Innsmouth at her word.  Especially when her actions seemed to amass more and more followers.

 

This is simply madness.

[Electra]

"I'm Singularity," Jessie replied, rocking lightly on the balls of her feet as she kept an eye on the situation all around them. She didn't like being away from Aquaria in such a volatile situation, but the slightly-built human scientist seemed far more vulnerable at the moment. She stepped between the pharmacist and the scientist, confounding his aim by presenting him with a point-blank shot at her own back "Are you going to be able to help all those people out there?" she asked, watching Fred at work. "Can I... should I be doing something?" 

[alderwitch]

"He's going to be just fine," Phantom assured the woman, her voice echoing with the same hollow intonations but the gloved hands that picked up the child were gentle. "Could you possibly tell me where he and his mother moved to... and perhaps why? It is generally my experience that these things are not just random acts."

 

Shifting the boy slightly in her arms, her glowing gaze flicked to the woman's brow and the streaks of blood there. Without comment or gesture, Phantom touched on the same magic that had healed the boy, surrounding a woman with the white light of healing energy while she continued her conversation. Multitasking! "Does someone named 'Harry' happen to live around here, also?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Aquaria croaked nervously, the glowing tridents in her hands vanishing as she took in the worshipful crowd of Deep Ones. She suddenly felt, deep beneath her muscular chest, a quavering in her heart that had nothing to do with the stress of the battle or the Atlantean she was engaged with, and everything to do with the crashing waves of loneliness that came upon her when she was away from her people - a loneliness no better when she was among people she could not join. Spontaneously, she began to sing, her words echoing back and forth among the crowd of Deep Ones, their powerful voices carrying her song until every Deep One in the city and in the waters around could hear it. Across Providence, the Deep One invasion was over. 

 

"Elders find children

Eggmate find eggmate close by 

Our war is over"

 

-

"Fran Nielsen. His mother's in jail," said the older woman, a look of pity on her face as she looked at Linc, who in his now half-conscious state was clinging to Phantom with great energy. "She couldn't pay her rent and so she got into a punching match with...hey, Harry? Harry Smilac?" Her eyes widened as she turned and glared around at the crowd of people who had fled the half-wrecked building before she pointed at one man in a tanktop and boxer shorts who was suddenly trying to hide despite his bulk, bald head, and pale skin that made him stand out even in a Providence crowd. "With Harry Smilac, our idiot landlord!" 

 

"You are evicted, Nielsen!" yelled Smilac, trying to find authority in a situation where he lacked it. 

 

"You can't scare me, Harry Smilac, my grandson's a lawyer!" yelled Nielsen. "He'll sue your ass off if you try and evict me because I told this superhero you got that perfectly nice woman evicted just because you wouldn't take a check a week late!" Now they were shouting at each other for real, all but ignoring the super-scene around them. 

 

"That's two," Linc muttered into Phantom's shoulder. "That's two." 

 

- 

 

Scowling, the pharmacist put his gun down, even showing enough presence of mind to unload it as he did so. "That damn place is haunted, anyway," he sneered, pointing his finger towards the still half-visible apartment complex that had been the apex of the Deep One's invasion. "You know it used to be some kinda creepy Catholic orphanage? I heard they closed the whole place down after some Mob guys burned it down in the 40s. Fulla prevert ghosts if you ask me." 

[Gizmo]

"Not unless you have what some would characterize as an uncomfortable level of knowledge regarding sedatives but thank you for the offer," Winifred told the taciturn woman, looking up from her work long enough to give her a polite nod. After a beat it occurred to her to follow it with a small smile; 'Singularity' radiated a sort of serious-minded concern that somehow made her think of the polar opposite of Sanderson. 

 

"As for helping, that is the plan. I could use your help carrying all of this." She sealed the last batch of her antidote, having produced enough to at least make a serious start at treating the effected outside. "You, sir," she told the pharmacist, "should either begin or cease availing yourself of your own treatments. Thank you for the use of this equipment."

[alderwitch]

"Do not," Phantom turned the glowing gaze that had made far greater beings than one lowly landlord tremble on the man. She shifted the boy up in her arms, the gesture soothing even as she floated up to get a slightly better vantage point. "What did you murder, Harry Smilac? I have no doubt that you wrongfully evicted the boy and his family and I am out of both time and patience. I suggest that you provide the information I request the easy way."

 

Her gaze narrowed below the dark cowl, her voice rumbling low, "You will not enjoy the other methods at my disposal. They are as thorough as they are unpleasant."

 

It might be less than politic to threaten the citizens of Freedom City but it was often expedient. Jack really had been a terrible influence.

[Electra]

"You should also stay inside for now," Jessie advised the pharmacist, who looked to be in no danger of wandering outside anyway. She regarded the bundle of antidotes for a moment, tugging at her hair and then rubbing one hand over her face. "You... you made those really fast," she told Fred. "Are you sure they're going to, um, work? Like you want them to?" She hugged her arms to her chest for a moment, then fell into a stance something like parade rest, then just rubbed her hands together, somehow still graceful even in her fidgeting. "There's no chance that giving this to people could do anything bad to them?" Her voice was quiet, less like she was doubting Fred's acumen and more like she was hoping for reassurance. 

[Gizmo]

Winifred blinked, not having expected the note of uncertainty from the efficient fighter. She still had difficulty predicting modern reactions to any given treatment or medical practice, whether it be a theory debunked while she was petrified or a miraculous advancement regarded as a bare minimum while other habits were attributed benefits or dangers based on word of mouth and 'common sense' rather than scientific evidence. In that way, she supposed, people had not changed very much.

 

"A sensible concern," she assured the uneasy woman with a curt nod. "Admittedly the lest robust among them are likely to have rather unpleasant headaches tomorrow morning but in this case my speed is more a factor of relative simplicity. A sedative to calm them and another component to temporarily aid the flow of qi and flush the system of toxins. Nothing terribly flashy." She tilted her head slightly as she regarded Singularity, "Ah, I don't mean to pry but..."

[Electra]

Singularity looked up to meet Fred's gaze, her brown eyes full of grief and remembered horror. "It's nothing," she murmured, letting go of the death grip she had on her own fingers in order to pick up the bundle of antidotes. "It didn't happen. Stay close, okay?" she added in a firmer voice, tucking the bundle under one arm and leaving the other free for fighting. She pushed open the front door and looked around, assessing whether it was safe to move at all. "Looks okay for now. Where are we going with this?" 

[Avenger Assembled]

Singularity and Reagent went about the rather difficult business of tracking down and dosing all the citizens affected by the Deep One toxin. It wasn't easy, especially for Jessie, for whom this business of being among screaming, ranting people stirred up strange, unwholesome things like the ghosts of memory. But the treatment Reagent had designed did its work quickly and at least the maddened civilians were easy enough to find given their condition. First responders could move in now that the riot had faded, meaning that the hurt, the traumatized, and the others left damaged by the Deep One invasion had aid besides the two heroes working to help save their sanity. 

-

"Why did you come here?" In her armor, trident lit, Aquaria had accosted the tribe's chieftan and his shamans, the anger she'd been sorely repressing now boiling hot now that the invasion itself was over and the tribe was no longer in immediate danger from the Surfacers or the Atlantean princess. "There was no signs from Dagon here, just a Surfacer boy possessed by Surfacer magic!" The tribe, divided, was arguing amongst itself - but at least they had food. The park, the river, everywhere around her was Deep Ones. "They could have been killed! That Atlantean could have murdered them all because you misread the signs!" 

-

 

"Hey, lady, I didn't do any murders!" declared Smilac, alarmed at the accusations from the witch. "Sure I threw the Smilac lady out, but she punched me in the freakin' eye!" He pointed to where there might have been the ghost of a bruise over his left eye. "She misses rent payments all the time, gives me a sob story every time! And now her kid wrecked my place and put half my tenants out!" he declared, waving back at the smashed apartment building. "What am I supposed to do now, huh? Maybe sell it back to the bishop, see if he can get the stink of frog out?"

 

[alderwitch]

Phantom eyed the man with grave dislike, the little boy still in her arms as she fixed the man with a gimlet stare. "I suggest you put it up for sale, Smilac, I am sure that someone more reputable than you will purchase the property in short order." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how apartment buildings get owned by the vampires of Freedom City. Dismissing the man with a single cutting glance, Phantom's gaze gentled as she turned her attention back to the boy. "Its alright. No one's going to hurt you. Now... did something happen to your mother?"

 

Her voice was very gentle as she asked the question but Phantom had... concerns. In general, little boys did not wander out of their parent's eye sight to be made use of in a fell ritual if all was right and well with the world.