Chapter 3: Old Enemies and New Allies

The old TV crackled and showed a fuzzy screen. After a few moments, it became a bit clearer, showing what appeared to be a broken bridge. A woman's voice over the television set, audible between crackles of static. "...Appeared to be... Attack... Unknown... Several casualties..." The TV then flickered, then went out all together. But not before the man watching the set was able to catch a glimpse of who was on the bridge. "Hm. Looks like we found them." The man spoke in a gruff voice. The voice belonged to an equally gruff-looking man, wearing a black cloak and black headband. A tall creature stood beside him looking ominous. The creature, who was once a proud warrior, was now misshapen and looked as if it was beginning to decay. "It would appear so, master. When do we go after them?" It spoke with broken english. "Soon, friend. Soon."

Tender Love and Dare
Splashing out onto the bank of a nearby beach, Akihiro coughed violently while gritting his teeth, painfully regenerating while he could. Water had some sort of... slowing or negating effect on the regenerative process. Whatever it was, it was a huge pain in Aki's ass which was, currently, bare and uncovered. A nearby... Hispanic-looking plumber guy walked up to him slowly, carefully. He must've been off-duty or something. Aki didn't look at him and merely continued to regenerate until he was at his best. Unfortunately for him, it took him a day to get out of that river. Bits and pieces of him had to find each other and meld back together while sailing down a current at rapid speeds. Not fun.

The plumber-bastard began asking "You... okay, man?" Quickly reaching up and gripping the man by his suit's collar, he smirked as the wounds were gone and he was fully healed. "Oh... just peachy~" At this, a quick but loud scream could be heard as blood splattered on the nearby sand.

He zipped up the suit up to his neck while examing it. A bit small for him, but whatever. He'd get a change of clothes soon enough, then bust his boys out of jail... then nail Sadow's skull to a wall. Chuckling menacingly, he folded his collar up to avoid people seeing his face and walked on down the sidewalk of the city's streets.

Lauren Presburne

Lauren was as giddy as a child on Christmas. Matt had proven most of her theories right, whilst opening up new doors for exploration for her. "Now, what next?!" she asked, sitting by him in Arra's house. They were going over what the paper called "The North Bridge Brawl". Supernaturals... everywhere... She felt like rolling on the floor and giggling while hugging a pillow tightly. Will, in the meantime, was rubbing his temples feverously while wishing he was at home, in bed or watching TV.

Earendur Surion

Earendur stood by next to Tami, conversing with her in Elven. He still had been bringing her up-to-speed on all the chaos, which not even he really understood. She nodded at everything, though, hardly ever asking questions and when she did, they weren't really as important as what she could've been asking. What Earu wanted to know, however, was what happened to the two Irishman and the white-haired gunslinger? And the other guy? They still had the robot, however. She had been deactivated and stored at the police station for examination. Seems the American government had alot to answer for. He loved saying that... America. A word that, to him at least, meant confidence. He had began saying it a bit more often as a sort of exclamation when feeling good or empowered. America.

Matt

Oh, poo...Lauren and Will were drilling into he and Auby, wanting answers. But Lauren was especially drilling Matt. He wished she would just go away so he could toke up and forget about everything, at least for a little while. But he forgot...That's the reason all this shit started. They were going to buy Arra an apology present. If that hadn't happened, then they wouldn't have been on the bridge. If they hadn't been on the bridge, then none of this shit would've started. But, then again, he wouldn't have had a badass new tattoo thing on his arm and he wouldn't have found out that he could fuse with Nyx and possibly Uriel. But that was beside the point. "Fuckin' hell, Laury! I told you all that I knew! Two Irish guys with some trenchcoat wearin' motherfucker came and busted shit up, then left! I don't know anything else! I swear!" Matt said exasperatedly. Before she could say anything else, though, there was a knock at the door. Matt jumped a bit, then stood, walked to the door and opened it. He was tentative at first, but for some reason felt a bit safer with two cops, two aliens, two supernatural beings, and Arra being there. He felt...Secure. But when he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of a small figure. She stood at barely his shoulder height, and most of her face was covered by her long, brown hair that extended to about the middle of her back. What face he could see, he recognized immediately. Angelica, a cute girl from school who had an obvious crush on Matt. "H-hey, M-m-matt...I s-s-saw you on TV and...Well...Um...Got w-worried about you...I...Um...S-sorry to come over uninvited..." She stammered, her face growing redder as she spoke. Most times, Matt found her to be slightly annoying, but this time she was a welcome sight. A bit of normalcy in this crazy world. "Oh, hey, Angelica. No, no, I'm fine. Wanna come inside?" At that, he looked to Arra to make sure that it was okay if she came in.

Shade

Shade awoke next to a dying campfire and the glare of the morning sun peaking through some trees. "Where...where am I?" he managed to sputter while he tried to clear his head. He propped himself on one elbow and tried to see what was around. Nothing but trees far as the eye could see. Now the only question was, how did he end up here and where was here in relation to the bridge?

A sudden noise pulled the assassin from his scan of the area and his thoughts. Quickly, he trained his hawk-like vision on the source of the sound. Although framed in shadow, there was no mistaking the person. His target, the Man in Red. Shade simply laid still, observing the man carefully. The last instance between them arose from arrogance and anger, helped along by what could best amount to a gang war in scale.

Unable to support himself with his elbow, he let himself collapse back into a prone position for a moment, pushing himself onto his feet a second later. Shade did a mental rundown of every weapon he had that morning and what likely happened to it. Two knives were missing, a revolver was gone and a sniper rifle was left on a bridge who know how many miles away.

Then a thought crept into him. Where was Metharme? He wasn't worried at all about the information she had, that was so well encrypted, you'd need a genius to read even one sentence. But she was his partner, not just a machine.

Arra Sans

Arra visibly cringed. More company was not something she exactly welcomed. "She's had her condolences. You're still alive, aren't you?" She shot a look at Matt. "Now tell her to leave. I'm in a pissy ass mood and the house is full as is." She looked up an Angelica, shameless at her blunt rejection of her. "Breakfast is almost done. I don't want everyone to eat in front of you.... Sorry kiddo." She said before turning her attention back to the scrambled eggs she was frying up.

Arra.... was not a happy camper, that was for sure. Matt and Auby almost died. She watched them almost die. She was powerless to stop or change anything.

Just like all those years ago.

She slammed the bitter memories of her father out of her mind. No. Not here. She reminded herself. '' They're still alive, aren't they? They aren't Dad. You're okay.... '' Trying to soothe herself and take her mind off of suppressed memories, Arra went back to hurriedly fixing eggs. 3 carton's worth. Considering that her and Matt ate an entire carton between the two of them, this might actually not be enough....

A stir in he back of her mind altered her to her swelling anxiety. Last night was.... an experience she'd rather not repeat, that was for sure. Once she got home, she just went into her room and cried. She cried and cried, until she was so exhausted that she passed out. She didn't care if Matt heard her. She just needed to let it all out. Between the potential lost of her best friend and resident alien, and all the gunfire, this were pretty stressful. Horribly stressful. And there was still so much she didn't know. So much uncertainty in her own little world. She hated how uneasy things were.

"Come and get it, fuckers!" She yelled into the living room. "Breakfast is on!"

Tamuríl Telrúnya

The Prince told her that food was ready. It made her sick, most times, but otherwise it was harmless. Being a Drow, she was unaccustomed to such... healthier foods. Down in the dark tunnels of their old planet, her race survived on cave fungi and the meats of other creatures dwelling below. Stuff that could poison most.

Scooping the hot scrambled eggs into her mouth, she made a face of pain as it burnt her gums. She swallowed and gripped her chest, doing battle with a jolt of heartburn from swallowing something fresh off the skillet. Earu instructed her to blow on it first in Elvish, but she haughtily rebuked him that an elite warrior such as herself could handle it. Something she was regretting as another burn seared through her tongue comically.

Earendur Surion

Tamuríl wasn't exactly modest in her pride. As for Earendur, he loved Arra's cooking. Scrambled eggs, bacon, oatmeal... The works happened in this apartment. He often considered how he could repay all this kindness. Of course, he didn't stay the night at Arra's. He has just been visiting quite frequently lately since the school incident, though his Human mother has been worried. In the three years that they've known each other, Earendur still hasn't quite gotten close to his biological mother. She was... strange, to him. Warm, welcome... but foreign. It reminded him of his mother that he knew, back when...

His mind shifted to happier times, giving him a thoughtful look. A stab of egg slipped out and onto the plate as his train of thought had left eating. Unbeknownst to him, Tami was giving him a somewhat concerned look. He just felt... nostalgic. He hasn't been this happy since before the incident that claimed his home.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow looked up dazedly at his previous opponent, staring at him for a while before muttering "Yo..."

Two minutes later...

Sadow tackled the assailant to the ground, punching his side repeatedly while keeping his head pressed against the man's chest, intent on keeping him down long enough to get a few hits in.

Matt

''Well...Shit. ''Matt thought when Arra said no on Angelica coming inside. Now this was just awkward...But thankfully, Angelica only smiled. "It's okay...I-I understand...W-well, s-s-see ya, M-matt..." She said before departing. Matt liked Angelica. She was a nice girl, albeit quiet. Matt could only attribute that to the fact that she had a stuttering problem or something. But Angelica soon left his mind whenever Arra called for breakfast. He slid to the table, grabbed his chair and spun it in his palm like a pro, then sat in it as it was spinning to a halt, facing the table. He had done it many, many times before, and always with the same accuracy. He loved doing that. Grabbing a bottle of ketchup, he drenched his scrambled eggs in it. It always had to be scrambled eggs. And covered in ketchup. It was that or nothin'. Matt dug in, impaling huge wads of scrambled egg and shoveling it into his face. He wanted to finish eating and bounce out as soon as possible. He had things to do, people to see. Mainly Nyx, whom Uriel was taking care of. They had found a sanctuary within a nearby graveyard where they could rest in peace...No pun intended.

The Genocide Brothers

Several crashes rang out throughout the empty field. A flash of light reflecting off blades, a flash of red...Then the two combatants were standing back to back. Geno and Cide. Geno, in his normal pajamas with his multitude of blades, and Cide, in a black undershirt and ripped jeans, blood dripping down his arms. Each had a stern look on his face. "...Why does it always come to this?" Cide asked without turning his head. "'Cause you's is a bitch." Geno retorted, also not turning his head. A wind rushed through the field, carrying a lone leaf. As the leaf fluttered to the ground, they both reacted, jumping forward simultaneously. Cide threw a tendril of blood at Geno, which Geno quickly ducked and hit away with his blade. The two raged on in battle until they were both exhausted, panting and doubled-over. "Wanna...Call this...A draw?" Geno asked between breaths. "...Fine..." Cide replied. Cide stood, grabbed his gray hoodie off a nearby tree branch and patted Geno on the back. "Not bad for a dead man." He chuckled. "Yeah? Not too bad for a fag neither." Geno replied, laughing lightly. Geno slung his arm over Cide's shoulder as they walked back to the campsite. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a struggle. Looking at each other, they both nodded and raced to where the sounds were coming from.

Shade

Shade barely had time to prepare as the white-haired man jumped him, sending the hapless master assassin to the ground. A dull thud echoed in his head as his skull slammed back into the dirt. Pinned to the ground, he could feel each impact as a fist nailed into his side.

Shade reached out and grabbed the offending hand with ease. Although he wanted to gloat about stopping a demon's fist, bragging rights went out the window the moment he ended flat on his back. Taking advantage of the temporary opening, he quickly took hold of his attacker's other hand bearing down on his chest.

Without so much as a warning, the positions were in effect reversed. Shade used his limited leverage to get into a sitting position while shoving his opponent over. In order to prevent a second reversal, Shade placed his knee at the crook of the demonic man's elbow and pinned the man's other arm at the shoulder with his hand. Not one to waste the opening, he launched into a barrage of knee-kicks into his target's side. "Not. So. Fun. Is. It?"

Arra

Eating put everyone in a better mood, especially the short and usually angry Arra. She shoveled pile after pile of eggs into her mouth, trying to see if she could best Matt at another breakfast. The two of them have developed a routine of sorts- who ever ate the fastest didn't have to do dishes. This tended to lead to the two of them shoveling food into their mouths, until both of them starting vomiting. Great fun.

Arra was sitting at the table and eating, enjoy the taste of her eggs. Scrambled eggs were just the best. No subsitutes. Easy to make, too. The taste of the food gave her something to focus on instead of all of her unanswered questions. But heym nobody had any answers, either. They were just as confused as she was. But they seemed.... fine? Rather unworried? Well, so did Arra, on the outside, at least. Maybe they just hid it better than her? Who knows.

Earendur Surion

EARENDUR LOVED SCRAMBLED EGGS. Salting them a bit, he practically ate his plate before licking it clean. After two whole plates of breakfast and three glasses of orange juice, practically emptying the gallon, he sat on the chair with a full and warm belly. He patted it with a belch and muttering happily "Americuh~" Like a worm, he slid out of the chair and layed on the floor, tired after such a meal. He felt like an Earth bear.

Lauren Presburne

"Is your friend... dead?" she asked, staring at Matt's seemingly comatose friend lying on the floor near her feet. He twitched a few times, signifying some life at least. Meanwhile, she restlessly prodded Matt with her own plastic fork asking "Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey Matt. Hey. Hey Matthew. Hey Matthew. Hey Matthew." She had the face of a childish kitten trying to get his attention so that she could learn more about all of this supernatural stuff that happened.

Sure, the Chief already questioned all of them but she wanted to know personally. Plus, the Chief was certain that, knowing him on a personal level, Lauren could reach out to Matt where a bunch of detectives could not.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow was getting pissed, a glare forming in his eyes before he mustered the strength to lift up against Shade's weight. If only he had his gun, he could end this fight immediately. And he wasn't keen on using the Qliphoth... Besides, if he could subdue Shade he might get some answers.