But's that's all cosmetic stuff. Back there, when I lost it at Valravn, I must have scared the hell out of those kids. I haven't really been able to face them since.
When those tentacles come out... I'm not really myself. Or rather, I am myself, but only the worst parts.
I had a good chat with Kallaway earlier about all this.
"Well, here's what I think," Kallaway said after a minute of thinking to himself. "You messed up. You lost control, let those insults get to you, and lashed out, scaring everyone there. And now you feel bad about it."
"That just about sums it up," I said.
Kallaway smiled calmly and tilted his head.
"You're human," he said.
"I sure don't feel that way," I replied.
"You fucked up," he said. "You lost your cool, and now you feel bad about it. You're human. So, what are you gonna do about it?"
I looked down at the crutch laying across my lap and thought about that.
"I'm gonna get back up, and keep making progress," I said. "I'll need to improve this thing, though..."
"No," Kallaway said, seeming to tell where my thoughts were going. "You are not turning that think into a rifle."
I looked back at him spitefully.
"Try and fucking stop me," I said.
"Anyway, as for Kai, he's gonna been fine," he said. "He's been through a lot. Seeing your nightmare tentacles won't keep him down. Plus, when I said you scared everyone there, I meant it. You mopped the floor with two Fears, who both bailed with their tails between their legs. People are gonna have to think twice before trying anything with you again. Where else could they be safer?"
"Me and safety don't exactly play nicely together," I said, smirking. "I do have a dangerous reputation behind me."
"You can say that twice," came another voice, entering the room.
Tony walked into the room, a bokken resting on his shoulder. Kallaway, who still wasn't well acquainted with the detective yet, immediately drew his sword, prepared for a fight, but I motioned for him to calm down.
"Put that thing away," I warned him. "Make a move on Tony, and you'll find yourself unconscious on the floor with 2 broken collar bones and filled with enough tranquilizer to down a cow."
"More like a raging bull," Tony corrected me. "You must be David Kallaway."
Kallaway lowered his sword, but didn't sheath it.
"Tony Helioson," Kallaway replied. "What brings you here?"
"Business," Tony said, producing a large manila folder from his coat. "I figured you'd like some of the data I've collected on Valravn and her forces."
"I thought you dropped Kai's case," Kallaway said.
Tony smirked coyly at him.
"Oh, is that what you think?" he said.
I couldn't hold back my laughter after hearing that.
"What?" Kallaway asked confused.
"Oh, you smug prick," I laughed. "Pulling this shit again, huh?"
"I'm confused," Kallaway said. "What's going on?"
"I didn't really drop the case," Tony explained. "I simply told Kai that I was, knowing that he would mention as much on his blog, convincing those reading it, Valravn's forces included, that I was no longer involved."
"In reality, he was just distancing himself from things in order to gain a strategic advantage," I added. "He's done this before."
Tony handed me his folder before producing another, flipping through the pages.
"I've been looking into both the forest and your intern on the side," he said. "I haven't been able to learn much, but I can confirm that Tyler and Dawson have been in contact."
"Damn it," I snarled. "I was worried about that."
"The Nightlander's seem to be acting against the spread of the forest," Tony said. "I think Dawson might be the one who got Tyler started on catching those seeds on their way down, to slow the spread and add to Tyler's power."
"But that still doesn't mean the Nightlander's or Dawson are on humanities side," I said. "I don't like any of this."
"As for the hypothesis you proposed in your previous post, I have to agree," he said. "Forging a weapon from whatever metal we can extract from the Baby is worth attempting. Which is why I'm really here."
"Oh?" I asked.
Tony stroked the back of his head for a moment.
"A certain somebody needed a ride," he said.
As soon as he said that, a woman strode in as if she owned the place walking up to us. She was tall, had an athletic physique, and was dress in a turtle-neck shirt with a leather jacket over it, along with a miniskirt and black stockings. She had long, jet-black hair tied into a ponytail.
"For the love of god, could you have taken any longer setting up my dramatic entrance?" she asked. "You just had to rambling on like a fucking nerd, huh?"
She walked up to Kallaway and jovially rapped him on the chest with her knuckles.
"You you must be the tough guy whose been looking after my idiot, huh?" she asked. "Nice to meet you! Cool scar. We'll have Ciel look at it."
She turned to me next.
"Everyone else is unloading Terrence car," she said. "We're gonna be crashing with you for a bit. Cool? Cool."
This everyone, is Sera Philips. Strong. Beautiful. Confident. Unapologetically badass (And that's coming from me).
God, I've missed her...
"You must be... Sera?" Kallaway asked.
"Please," she said. "Call me Seraph."
Justin walked in a moment later, and his eyes quickly fell on some unopened cans of beer I had lying on a table.
"Oh! Beer!" he exclaimed, before drawing his kusarigama, giving it a bit of a spin, and tossing it. It stabbed into one of the cans, causing it to spray beer everywhere. He then tugged the chain, pulling the can into his hand, and he lifted it above his head, allowing the beer leaking from the can to trickle down into his open mouth.
"Your aim's improving," I noted.
"Wish we could say the same for his table manners," Ciel said, as she strode in.
She immediately marched up to Kallaway, grabbed him by the chin, and jabbed a syringe into his cheek, right below his scar.
"Ow!" Kallaway exclaimed. "What the hell was that?"
"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to," She replied, pushing the plunger down and examining the wound. "Daniel did a half-decent job with your stitched. It should heal up into a handsome looking battle scar. Don't get anything in the wound, and be careful what you wash your face with."
She came to me next, went behind me, and forced me to bend over, as she ripped my labcoat off.
"Your turn," she said.
"I'm fine!" I snapped.
"I'll be the judge of that," she said, examining my stitches. "Okay, who the fuck is responsible for this mess!?"
"Elie stitched me up in the back," I said.
"Well, he did a shit job of it!" she snapped, producing several jars of ointments and syringes full of liquids. She opened up one of the jars and rubbed something incredible cold onto the wound.
"What exactly is that?" asked.
"Something that should help with the infection," she told me.
"Infection!?" I replied, shocked.
"Yes," she replied, jabbing a syringe into me. "Next time, have a professional stitch you up. Okay, now let's see that leg."
She tore the gauze away from my leg and examined the stitches there.
"Not as bad here," she noted. "I take it you did these ones yourself?"
"Once I was conscious, yes," I said.
She began treated that one with ointments as Terrence walked in with some suitcases.
"Where should I put these?" he asked.
"Who gives a shit?" Ciel replied, sticking a needling into my leg. "These should heal up okay, but the ones on your back are gonna leave some gross looking scars."
"Terrific," I said, turning my attention back to Sera. "I suppose we've got a lot to catch up on.
"That can wait 'til later," she said, producing a mason jar from her pocket. "You were needing this, right?"
She handed it over to me, and as she did, Ciel finished up, stretched a bit, and clapped Kallaway on the chest.
"I'm gonna steal your futon," she told him as she left the room.
"Why my futon?" Kallaway asked.
"Why not your futon?" She called back, snarkily.
"Your friends are intense," Kallaway told me.
"Don't forget," I pointed out. "You're one of them now, too."
He smirked at that.
"So, that's it, huh?" he asked.
The Baby. A piece of the Newborn I had Extracted power from, contained inside a jar engraved with runes meant to contain its power... and keep other powers out. It used to be a USB card, but had assimilated several small gears, screws, and what seemed to be the carcass of some kind of rodent, that was not looking very good after all these years. I 'm that the runes could also seemingly contain the smell...
"There should be enough metal in here to make something out of," I said. "We'll need a professional, though. Hey Justin!"
"Yeah?" He asked, looking up from his second beer, which he had opened normally this time.
"You got your bike?" I asked.
"Naturally," he said.
"How do you feel about taking a field trip to visit Ozzy?" I asked.
"Sounds good," he said. "I take it this was his work?"
He turned to show off his right arm, which was now equipped with a prosthetic forearm tipped with a mantis-like scythe blade.
"Cost me a bit, but he was happy to take up the commission," I confirmed.
"Well, that works out perfectly," he said. "I'd like to thank the mad bastard in person. We set out tomorrow?"
"Sure thing," I said. "The rest of you can hold down the-"
"Yes, we can," Sera said. "we'll keep your kids safe, don't worry."
"Good to know," I said. "It's nice to have the gang together again."
So yeah. We've got some stuff to take care of. I'll keep you posted.
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