Poppy stared, then lunged forward for with a yowl. Against something small, she didn't feel the usual cowardice that plagued her. She shoved fingernails hard against Zoog jaw hinges until they released, and she started to fling them back into the trees.

"Off! Gerroff, damn fings!"

She didn't bother with her weapon, just grabbed the zoogs and threw them, less from mercy than from an effort to help the cat escape alive. Dead things could still hold tight with their jaws, after all.

"Simon! 'Elp us out! Keep ovvers away!"

She'd be fighting a losing battle if the creatures came right back. Lots of small injuries could add up, and would surely doom the poor black kitty!

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Bear frowned slightly. "Hrm... Which way is that?" He absently scratched the back of his head. Thankfully someone was calling him away, simply because he... didn't feel comfortable letting anyone take his coat off him. Though he had incredible healing, his coat was more than just a convenient way to carry a lot of things—it was his armor. Especially in a new place like this, he didn't want to take it off for anything.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Seela jerked her head towards Eve at her exclamation, and at the reminder not to interrupt, she scowled and looked down. "Someone, please... explain...?"

Her eyes remained glued to the thing, especially with a knife pulled on it—not from any sympathy, but from her instincts screaming that something could go very, very wrong at any moment.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

The young woman stepped down, and the crowd became a crowd again. Elizabeth watched her go, until movement at the box brought her eyes back to a young man who asked about field studies.

Oh, she felt so out of her depth without knowing full details, and she felt cheap for offering the bare answers she did give.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that. I haven't had a chance to speak yet with Hecate about what I can and can't do to help here, and I'm reluctant to give firm answers in such an uninformed state. My goal speaking to everyone now is merely to ensure that you're aware I'm here, and that my intentions are not malevolent towards you."

She felt strangely relieved, admitting to that. It was honest and it wouldn't give false expectations, she hoped.
 
A few final thrashes of it's head rendered the zoog that the black cat held quite dead, and after being thrown off, the creathres were quick to retreat to surrounding branches to eye this new combatant. The black cat, one eye squinted close, one ear scratched bad, and the othrr eye in an intense glare, scanned the surounding area.

It opened it's jaws in an irregular series of angered vocalizations. It was by some miracle of the dreamlands that Pearl could find meaning in it.
"...who's next?..."
No zoog dared leap down from the branches, and two more shales darted out of the bushes, an american shorthair with too many digits on it's paws, and a grey and orange chimera with another dead zoog in it's jaws.
"I think we're in the clear..."

Simon, unable to understand the speaking cats, stood close and attempted to look menacing with this sword.
"H-hello..."
He said to the cats.

The cats did not respond. One looked at Pearl and tilted it's head.
"...something weird and new and Simon Mortimer is the first at the scene. Sounds about right..."
The small creature said to it's comrades

The black cat relaxed slowly, hus wounded ear twitching and tail swishing back and forth as it began to shred at the zoog carcass with it's teeth. The remaining zoogs soon cleared out, their numbers insufficient.

---

"Ah, yes. You will want to go through the lobby, and to the tunnel just left of the excavation site, where there's another door like the. There is another setup like this one."
Carpenter gestured to the device on the wall.
"They intend to see the three of you within the next half-hour, they said."

---

Eve's careful observation did not cease, she continued staring with wide eyes until at last, the next step of the ritual began to commence. It was at this point that Eve had been sent into a furious panic, for in an instant, the robed figure had not plunged the blade into the creature, but rather had thrown the heavy blade, which spun through the air and punched it's way through the chest of one of the other figures restraining the creature. Two more were swept away by motion of the figure's hand, letting go of the binds as tge creature thrashed it's way free, and lept upon another robed figure, who it now began to maul.

"Holy shit!"
Eve shouted in a high-pitched voice as she ran to the scene with as much haste as she could muster.

---

A handful of people caught the attention of the current speaker, and after a brief exchange, he spoke again.
"Arthur and the Professors want to talk to you. They're directly to the left of you at the moment, uh.. my left."
 
Poppy panted as the Zoogs seemed content to stay away, but she watched where they disappeared to, wary for a moment before she shot a rude gesture their way and then looked back towards the angry black cat.

Simon... didn't do much. Not that she blamed him. Choking up in danger was easy to do, especially if you didn't get in danger often... She learned that the hard way, and hell, sometimes still choked up... Mostly, she choked up. It was really only against something small, a fight between cats and something wanting to kill them, that she was experienced enough to jump forward.

These cats though, they didn't speak in the usual way between cats, with noises too high for human ears and the typical body language. They still had some of the body language, but... they were more advanced than the cats she was used to back home—the ones that weren't like her or her mother.

She watched the black cat starting to shred the dead zoog for a moment, then wrinkled her nose. "Oi, settle a moment and lemmie clean ye ea, yeah? 'Ardeh to clean out if blood gits in an' dries, innit?" She pulled a small square package from her pocket and opened it, then put the wrapper into the opposite pocket and unfolded the wet nap.

"'Old still. 'Is moight 'urt a lil, but Oi'll be gentle, yeah?"

She spoke in a high voice, aware that cats as a whole linked high pitches with positivity, and she hoped he wouldn't bite _her_. Cat bites and human bites were some of the most highly infectious bites of anything natural.

She moved slow as she moved the wet nap toward the cat's ear, staying in its field of vision.

"Moi name's Peahl," she offered. "An... Seems ye aready know of me mate, Simon. 'E saved me from a sca'y fing back in the ovveh wohld."

Poppy hoped an introduction would help distract from her care to the injured cat's ear.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

"I'd better get Seela before I head that way, then." Bear gave a single nod. "Pleasure meeting you, Carpenter."

He started to jog the way he'd come, figuring a show of haste would give a good impression, and honestly? He had no idea what he was doing, so following instructions seemed the best way to go about it.

As he made it to where he left Seela, he looked around, frowning slightly as his eyes lingered on the various patients. He wanted to go over, to read charts, to find out what he could, but they were another's patients, and he would be an annoyance at best if he started to intrude uninvited.

Plus, he had to find Seela—

As if on cue, she ran out of one place and into another.

He blinked, then he frowned.

Seela didn't... run. Not unless she had to.

He hurried after, shockingly fast for his size.

Seela kept up easily with Eve, dagger drawn. It was damn clear this wasn't supposed to happen. Seela wasn't the best combatant, but she could smell Bear as he followed after. Reassuring.

She glanced back.

"Bear. Caster turned traitor and freed a monster."

Bear grunted and sped to keep pace with Eve. Unlike Seela, who paced herself so she could share information, he concentrated on reaching the danger quickly.

He assumed what Seela said would make sense once they got to wherever they were going.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

"Oh?" Elizabeth looked to her left, then to the young man's left as he corrected himself. There, she spotted what looked like the right place, and she nodded to him. "Thank you. I'll head over right away." With that, she fiddled with the mic a moment before she turned it off, assuming that way would help to avoid any feedback mishaps, should anything knock into it before the system could be turned off.

That done, she forced a deep breath, then made her way towards 'Arthur and the Professors'. Best to see what they wanted, if for no other reason than to learn more about this place.
 
As Simon watched the perimeter with a wary gaze, Pearl had been able to treat the wounded ear with no objection beyond a puffed tail and an expression of supreme discontent from the black cat.

"...and she can understand us by the looks of it. What do you guys make of it?"

The black cat's comrades looked to eachother for a moment, before looking foward and responding.
"Black Magic?"
"Mad Science?"

They looked to Simon, whose eyes had since wandered on then locked onto the dead zoog, particularly on a strip of flesh that had been torn out to release vivid red gore which spilt out onto the dead leaves. He very briefly thought he began to smell sand and salty air, and tried in vain to drown out the thoughts. He thought he could feel muscles pulling in his neck, as if trying to pull open gashes along the sides above his clavicle. He felt a slice down his spine as if a jagged blade was pulling it's way out from within. He felt his eyes swell and grow deformed. His skin dried and cracked and burnt and stung, and it grew scabrous, and the patches of gnarled flesh tightened into scales beneath his coat He rolled up his sleeve to see blistered and bleeding flesh reshaping dead patches into dull greenish scales. His hand felt like it was being crushed and contorted into the and he saw himself, and it was not himself. He saw them. He was there. Yha'nthlei. The Deep Ones sent out another call.

From Pearl's point of view, the still very human-appearing Simon had suddenly grown pale. His eyes dilated, staring at the carcass as if right through it. He backed up suddenly, his face pinching into one of anguish as he gripped his own arms and held them close to his body. He began sweating now and he smelled disturbingly different... a smell like dead fish and beach air. Physically, he was still "normal". He shook now, backing up against a tree and slowly sliding down to sit at it's base.
"It's almost done, It's almost done, I'm almost out, I'm..."
Simon whimpered, his knees rising up to come close to his chest.

He shouted suddenly, and began to beat his own head with a flat hand.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD. FUCK YOU! YOU CAN'T HAVE ME. THIS ISN'T REAL. GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!"

The three cats, which had been staring with wide eyes, now exchanged concerned glances, their fur puffed up.
"...poor thing, too much studying magick must have sent him off the deep end..."

Simon slowly broke down into wild-eyed ranting and heavy gasping breaths, seemingly in full the swing of whatever was happening to him.

---

By the time Eve had made it down the stairs, she paused for a brief second. The creature which had been restrained, the Ghast, had a severed arm clenched by the hand in it's too-human teeth. It stared at her with a ferocious look in it's glassy off-white eyes and closed it's jaws tight, severing the part it held and allowing the rest to fall to the ground in a puddle of blood.

Her moment of hesitation cost her.
"IÄ DAGON!"

The black robed figure was upon her, leaping high to match her height and knocking her to the ground. A knife was plunged toward her face, and she survived by reflex when she tilted her head to merely recieve a gash across the face.
"IÄ HYDRA!"

The figured tried to bring the knife down again but Eve Caught his wrist, the Ghast leaping over the both of them, intending to barrel directly over Seela and Bear with all it's strength. Coven members lay scattered across the ground, three of them have been killed, the rest incapacitated. There was a commotion coming from the hall where the Ghast had been brought out.
"IÄ! IÄ! CTHULHU FHTAGN!"
The young man shouted.

---

Elizabeth's short trek to Arthur and The Professors was cut off by a distinct series of sharp blasts that resounded through the lobby and left people screaming in their wake. Three shooters were picking off coven members from a vantage point atop a run-down construction area. One bullet was sent in Eliza's direction.

"IÄ! IÄ!"
Shouted a voice suddenly behind Eliza. A large-eyed, smallish young woman with a disturbing inhuman smell leapt at her with a knife, and at her proximity, the potent explosives under her coat could be smelt, ready to detonate.
 
"It's because—" she cut off answering when Simon's scent changed, and her eyes jerked toward him, pupils widening. It took a few moments, and him screaming for something to get out of his head, that she realized.

Her mouth gaped a moment, and then she looked at the cats. "Oi, kin you make a lotteh noise ter 'elp me snap 'im outtev it?"

With that, she turned back to Simon, then hurried over and grabbed one of his ears, twisting it as she shouted into his ear. "OOOOOOI!"

She couldn't hide how puffed her own tail had become, nor how it arched in alarm.

"OOOOI!" This time it sounded more like a cat's howl, deep and throaty.

She twisted his ear again, then full-howled in his ear, the sound of a cat in distress as she started to panic—part of the reason she came here was to help snap him out of this! She whined quietly and let go of his angrily red ear, then pinned his arms to his side, looking around for any sort of idea for a few moments before...

She bit his nose.

Not hard enough to make him bleed, but she wanted him to wake up, and her gut told her this was a good idea.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Bear snarled and charged right back, crashing into it with a Hunter's strength. He wrapped his arms around it and kicked one leg around, slamming the creature's ankles, and then he fell to the ground with it. Unthinking, he yanked his dagger from his pocket and slammed it into the thing's armpit, hoping for a nice, big artery as his other arm shoved hard against his foe's neck.

Seela watched, eyes wide, then drew her own knife and surged the hall. Eve seemed to have the cultist handled, and Bear, she was sure, could take the ghast on his own, short of it pulling something strange out of its ass.

She wiped fresh blood from her nose as she sought the hall, ready to back the two up by keeping their enemies from getting backup.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

The bullet intended for her didn't hit its mark, but burned away at the edge of an unseen perimeter. She snarled as she turned toward the small young woman, and without thinking too hard, grabbed her and flung her at the three shooters, knocking one from their feet.

She turned to the panicking members of the coven, then ran to stand between them and the shooters as she raised her voice, tone filled with confidence and command. "Gather close behind me if you can't find cover!"

With that, she yanked down her blazer and spun it, then threw it over the gathered people. By the time it landed on their heads, it was a large black sheet, quite nearly large enough to cover the assembled people. "Stay under or behind the black cloth! It blocks projectiles!"

In doing this, she left herself vulnerable, but these were children, and her protective instincts were strong. Stronger than her self-preservation. She wasn't supposed to remove her cloak, especially in situations that could lead to violence.
 
Last edited:
Pearl’s initial attempts at breaking Simon out of his hallucinatory state were largely ineffective. The three cats, after a few moments of hesitation, began to yowl in tandem, that their cooperation may contribute something to Pearl’s effort. All it achieved was a fearful reaction from Simon, who recoiled at the noise and whimpered incomprehensible words in a fit of hysteric babbling. His eyes met Poppy's several times, yet there was no clarity in their gaze, and it became increasingly clear that whatever force held Simon in it’s clutches, it had a potent influence over his sense of reality. He tensed up hard when she clutched his arms to his sides, and the sight of her sharp teeth flashing in his face was enough to send him into sheer panic. His nose didn’t remain pinched between her teeth for very long, as he gasped loudly and jerked his head back to hit the tree trunk that his kicking legs now tried fruitlessly to push him further back into, his whole body trashing it's way from Pearl's grip not unlike the piscine creature Simon himself vaguely resembled. His wide eyes began to redden and water as he continued to gasp for breath.

“Oof… he didn’t like like that…”
The chimera cat commented, feeling pity for the poor fool.

Simon's eyes slowly closed, and he mumbled.
"Oh no... oh no... oh God no..."

His arms trashed free and he covered his eyes, his whole body shuddering madly.
"Getoutgetoutgetout!"

His eyes opened suddenly, meeting Poppy's once more and yet staring right through her, and he began to speak in a primordial and hideous language of utterly inhuman design, pausing in intervals as if conversing with someone, or something.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-
Eve began to yell furiously as the gash on her face grew more and more painful with every passing second, she felt blood gushing from her sliced cheek, and she tasted blood in her mouth, and in a mix of fury and panic she loosed one hand's grip on her assailant's wrist. The knife plunged downward and dug into the flesh of her shoulder, eliciting an intense scream. In desperation she threw a mighty punch, which connected with the mask of her assailant and sent his head jerking sideways. He fell over on top of her, and as he attempted to push himself up, his neck was seized in Eve's arms and broken with a distinct pop, she rolled the corpse off of herself and immediately set to checking the

In the meantime, the Ghast fought back furiously, even with the knife pushing it's way into the creature's torso, opening up a gash which oozed foul-smelling blood in abundance. One of it's thrashing hooved feet managed to find sufficient grip on the rough stone ground, and the creature managed to poise the other leg to deliver a furious kick into the midsection of the Hunter it fought.

Down where the Ghast had come from, Seela caught sight and scent of one of the released creatures. It was the size of a man, leaping out with wild grace from behind the corner. It was not human, but approached humanity in the structure of it's body, though hunched, slender save for a round belly, hairless, rubbery, with a face that was mostly canid and perhaps vaguely like that of a human. It's hands boasted claws and it's back legs terminated in odd feet that blurred the line between hoof and talon. In it's long arms it lazily dragged a large metal rod. It's lips curled into a snarl and it glared with vivid red eyes at the hunter before leaping back behind the corner in an apelike motion.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-

There was a sizable explosion at the detonation of the explosives strapped to the knife-wielding assailant, who met their end while still flying through the air, disappearing in a cloud of smoke, dust, and the scent of inhuman gore. Those huddled under the cloth panicked and shifted clumsily. The shooters, shaken but uninjured, reloaded their weapons and took aim as one shouted.
"IÄ! IÄ! CTHULHU! FHTAGN!"

The three opened fire at once, focusing fire on her center of mass.
 
Pearl squeaked and fell onto her butt, staring at him, and then mewled quietly.

"Simon," she whined, then decided to at least try to keep him from thrashing. Her arms wrapped around him, firm but careful not to break anything as she pulled him a short distance from the tree.

She began to force herself to purr, a self-soothing trick she learned from her mother, and after a few moments, she started to groom Simon's face with her scratchy tongue, trying to clean away his fear-sweat some.

Maybe a gentler approach would work? Being noisy and bitey didn't...

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Bear gave no indication he felt pain, but he would when the adrenaline wore off. For now, he answered the harsh kick by shoving his weight down further and slicing down the creature's side, his strength and his knife seeking lung and rib and heart alike before he yanked the blade free, shoved the arm against the thing's neck higher, and then lifted his middle enough to slam his knife against the thing's chest, his aim imprecise as he yanked back, then stabbed again and again.

If he couldn't hit the vitals the first time, he could damn well hit something if he just kept going!

Seela held her dagger ready, and when she saw the thing, she only barely kept herself from charging it.

Instead, she hung back, watching, waiting. Defensive...

It glared and snarled at her, then went back around the corner, and then...

The ground shook?

Was it caused by that thing?

She rushed forward, turning the corner like she believed she couldn't die.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

"Stick together!" Elizabeth ordered, her voice cutting through their fearful shouts.

She was unarmed, unarmored, and being shot at.

And yet...

She grinned, looking ten years younger as her eyes took on new life. She ran forward, not to the shooters, but to a shovel she spotted on the ground.

Two bullets hit her, one in the stomach and another in the shoulder, and though she jerked back from the impacts, she continued forward with a manic grin.

She lifted the shovel in one hand, then pulled back and let it fly.

A moment later, one of the shooters was pinned to the wall by something unseen. Only when he fell away did the shovel come into view—a few inches of the handle stuck out from the wall.
 
“Pearl…”

The Deep One whimpered, quivering fear in his voice. He broke down slightly, a few sobs escaping his mouth as tears began to stream down his face, contouring her attempts at cleaning off his face.
“GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!”
He blurted out with a wild look in his eyes. beginning to cough, choke, and gasp as if he could no longer breathe. He shut his eyes hard, and sucked in air sharply through his teeth.
“...Pearl…?”
He muttered again.

He continued to shudder.
“...they're starting something big, I can feel it…”

He gasped suddenly as if burned, and struggled in her arms a second time.
“They're mad, they're very, very mad…”

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-

The creature continued it's fighting back, doing so for long enough that Eve was able to get ahold of herself and draw a long knife from her boot, taking a swift step forward to aid Bear before a new attack befell her, as an arc of electricity shot from the hand of the sorcerer she supposed she had killed. Her entire body thrashed and wisps of smoke rose from where the blast had connected. The now undead being stepped forward, hand outstretched at Bear before Hecate's blood and dye spattered figure leapt upon him, the arc leapt out and hit the wall, leaving a frighteningly large crater…

The Ghast's blood began to ooze out of its mouth, and it's trashing weakened the blade plunged into it again and again.

As Seela turned the corner, the ghoul made its move, leaping out at the moment the Hunter turned to deliver a swing of inhuman strength toward her shins, hoping to take her legs out from under her with the metal rod it wielded.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-

The two shooters did not respond to the sudden dispatching of either of their comrades. They continued to fire with stony expression, large eyes glazed over as if they were under the effects of some hypnotic force, and there was an unnatural chill through the air with each utterance of their cultist chants.

“IÄ! IÄ!”
 
Poppy held tight, careful not to hurt him as he struggled.

"Somefing big...?" That statement was enough to worry her, but she forced herself to purr harder, to hold his chest against hers so he could feel the rumble. There was some sort of science about how cat purring was the right frequency to help heal things faster, and more science about how if a panicked person heard a calm heartbeat or breathing, their body would start to calm.

Hers wasn't fully calm, but it was calmer than his, she assumed.

"Oi'm 'ere, Simon," she assured as she rubbed his back. "Oi'm keepin you from 'ittin yer 'ead again. If 'ey're insoide it, 'ittin the outside ain't gonna do a fing, yeah?"

She hoped he didn't notice the tremor in her words, and glanced towards the cats, seeking advice about what more she could do.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Seela fell with a grunt, but with one arm, she pushed herself to the side and used the momentum to hit a wall and rise. In the same movement, she lunged the creature's side, dagger in hand.

She slammed a hand against the thing to get it pinned to the wall before she aimed her dagger at its eyes.

This angle left very few vitals open and easy to hit, but a blinded enemy, even blind in just one eye, was an easier enemy than one that could see.


Bear kept going until the thing wasn't able to do much anymore, and then he rolled off and rose, glancing around to see what else was happening. The ghast, he felt sure, wouldn't be getting up, but still he stomped its head with inhuman force: never leave an enemy alive when you aren't sure what it's capable of.

Eve had the cultist, dead by the new scent of feces, but she seemed to be struggling. He didn't see Seela, so assumed she either went to get help or saw another enemy and followed them.

That left Eve and a killer undead cultist with him. Eve seemed capable, but she wasn't fighting without a struggle. He had to help her, but he didn't want to accidentally stab her, so he waited for a chance, and then took it the moment he could, body-slamming the cultist into the floor with a bear-like snarl.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Their chanting wore at her nerves, and the chill in the air...

Oh, something was very very wrong here, and she had to stop it quickly.

She ran forward, faster than any human, and more agile as she closed the distance, zigging occasionally to avoid being too clear a target, but more worried about being fast—bullets hit, but adrenaline was high, and they weren't silver bullets. Their impacts slowed her a little, and the pain and shortness of breath nagged at her, but when she reached the cultists' perch, she didn't hold back.

Her fist hit the first one in the face with a resounding boom and such force that bone shards flew at dangerous speeds.

Eyes wide, she realized she wasn't supposed to be doing this. She wasn't supposed to use her full power for anything except where Beryl ordered it, but here she was, and she followed her punch through to the last shooter, other arm pulled back and ready to strike with the same speed and power.
 
When Pearl glanced at the cats, the cats glanced at eachother. The other two eyed the Chimera cat expectantly, and the creature spoke with certainty.
"Keep him restrained, try to keep him calm, and pray to the Great Ones it's not the dream that turns him..."

The other two tilted their heads.
"I'm surprised he's letting her do that..."
Said the black one.

"I'm surprised she's letting herself do that."
Responded the American shorthair in a wary tone.

The cats stepped no closer, for they could detect in Simon's scent something bizarre and primordial, the scent of his Innsmouth blood, stronger in this moment than it had been before.

Simon leaned forward into Pearl, which could have been interpreted as progress.
"They're furious Pearl... furious..."

He cackled madly.
"They realized they might lose their High Priest after all..."

More tears ran down his face, with what little arm motion he could achieve, he attempted to wrap his arms around her. Stuoendous sights and grotesque horrors danced in his eyes, and the cacophanous whine of alien flutes mingled with the pounding of blasphemous drums formed a discordant rhythm which sent his mind voyaging to distant stars. He came at last, to a barren planet, where he found himself laying on the ground, draped in a worn brown cloak, his body soaked in cold sweat. Things danced in the sky above him that that he dare not gaze upon, and he cowered, desperately clinging to the feeling of Pearl's purring and her heartbeat and her breathing...

He attempted to speak, but only desperate stuttering came out. He inhaled sharply and held his breath, just trying to stand still and perhaps relax.
"I-I was hoping this wouldn't h-hap-pen in th-the forest..."

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-

The ghoul howled a high-pitched and ear-piercing howl as the dagger drove into it's eye. The metal rod clattered to the ground and the creature's arms shot up to clutch Seela's wrist, pushing with barely sufficient strength to prevent the searing metal from driving any further. It's jaw opened and closed rapidly, it's teeth clacking together as it's strange claws/hooves scraped the ground fruitlessly from it's elevated state. It pushed once more, trying with all it's strength to free the blade from it's eye socket.

Hecate shouted when Bear tackled the cultist she had also tackled, it was fortunate she was able to actually leap off of it's back fast enough to avoid being an unintended vicitim of Bear's attack. She looked around, picked up a knife, and joined in the carnage, not hesitating to begin plunging her knife into the howling undead as Eve got up slowly.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-
The final colleague suffered the same fate as it's colleague. The head was destroyed, of course, but there was significantly more resistance than the other kill. The answer why likely had something to do with the oily black mass bubbling with luninescent green spheres that oozed up from where the head once attached to the neck. Despite this, the cultist fell over just the same, gave off no scent of magic, and did not move. Still, the scent it did give off was uniquely foul and alien.
 
With instructions from the Chimera cat, Pearl felt a little more at ease. Their confident delivery helped her, and she nodded, flashing a closed-mouth smile that showed the tips of her eyeteeth before she resumed rubbing Simon's back. The comments about each letting the other 'do that' amused her, though she could understand why—his scent was wrong. It set the hair at the beck of her neck on end.

Still, when he wrapped his arms around her, she purred harder.

"Oi'm wiv you, Simon," she said. "Oi'm wiv you. You lasted 'is long wivvout givin' in, you ain't gonna give in now, yeah?"

She moved one hand from him and put it into her pocket, then pulled out a pink crayola marker.

It was a stupid idea, but... what if it worked?

"Yer gonna feel a lil tickle, but... stay wiv me, ok?"

Hecate showed her the Elder Sign, told her what it did—maybe, just maybe, it would help Simon fight back.

She uncapped it with her teeth, thankful it wasn't a sharpie, and began to draw the elder sign on him as she kept her grip and spoke to him. "Yer gonna pull through, still bein' Simon, still bein' a badass, an we're gonna go on adventchas," she told him. "Yew ain't allowed to tell me 'bout a cat city an' not be the one to take me 'ere, ye goose."

She drew still more Signs, not caring where. Face. Clothes. Anywhere.

"An' then weh gonna make 'Ecate piss 'ersef in shock as we grab yeh stuff and vamoose! Ye'll get t'meet me mum and da, who will get all protective but secretly, boff're softies an' 'ey'd protect ye wivveir loives. You'll loik Bio, even if she's complete bonkehs and'll prolly steh at ye feh hours."

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Bear's knife burned the thing with every touch, and once he got his hand on the cultist's head, he stabbed through the neck, then pulled his dagger to one side, nearly severing the neck entirely as he snarled.

Seela withdrew from the ghoul quickly once the damage was done, dancing into its new blind spot before she lunged forward a single step, gripped its head, and then drove her dagger hard and fast through the spine, searing and cutting all at once.

The sooner over, the better.

She jerked her dagger out to the side, leaving the head dangling by a few scraps of flesh as she held the thing by its head before she sliced those last threads, then discarded the head and leaned down to wipe the blood off her blade using the body as she listened for any signs of more.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

She coughed as she stepped back, glaring at the strange mass as she did. Only once she made sure neither body was going to get back up did she look around for any other problems.

"Beryl forgive me," she whispered, wide-eyed as she realized that stunt might have cost her own life. "They were attacking children..."

The edges of her vision filled with crystals, and she alone heard a voice like wind chimes.

The crystals faded, and Elizabeth shuddered as she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd held.

For this instance, she was allowed, but Beryl didn't like how quickly she'd run into battle. Elizabeth placed a hand on her chest and forced a few deep breaths in the apparent peace before she jumped down, accidentally leaving a crater as she winced.

Training. She needed to train her control. Perhaps she start that up after she got home? It might help her lose the spare tire, speaking of...

Either way, with her mind reeling from a near death by rulebreaking, she approached the group huddled underneath her cloak and lifted the edge just slightly, just enough to make it move a little and let some light underneath.

"The shooters are gone," she assured in a gentle voice. "You should get to shelter." Even as she urged this, she smelled the trapped scents beneath her cloak, testing for any sign of the same scent as up above... Just in case.
 
Simon continued to hold onto Pearl tightly and awkwardly, his coordination and sense of balance having been affected greatly by the psychic attack. He could barely make out what he was saying let alone what she was saying. His conscious mind was screaming orders at his seemingly distant body, begging it to stand still and make no sound, and no matter what, not to black out. He felt something funny rubbing up against his face, then another spot on his face, then his coat, then his scarf.

Simon had grown silent, his eyes shut tight and his grip tightened. It wasn't easy with his somewhat damp face and dark clothes opposing the light shade of her marker, but a number of Elder Signs seemed to function on the surface of his skin, and he was lulled into a calmer but not significantly more lucid state.

"...we should be on our way in case the Zoogs return... That creature isn't much useful in a fight at the moment. Split, go fetch Chester's group."
Said the Black Cat. The chimera cat's ears twitched in acknowledgement and he darted off.

Meanwhile, as if it were an itch on his face, Simon reflexively moved a hand up to try and wipe one of the signs off.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

With the threat subsided, Eve backed up into a wall and slowly slid down, shaking slightly after having taken a searing shock. She put her hand on her forehead and looked hesitantly at the dead around her. It was hard to breathe while she looked at them, so she turned her attention to Hecate, who was being attended to by two friendly robed figures who threw a dark grey cloak over her.

Hecate laughed wearily and slowly collected herself, her voice taking a serious tone.
"I-I think it was EOD..."

Eve nodded slowly, her gaze slowly shifting to the ground.
"Probably. They shouted out to Dagon and... Hydra..."

Hecate continued, cackling weakly.
"Holy fuck I need a shower..."

Seela heard a voice on the intercom directly above her.
"Combatant, there are a dozen Ghasts closing on your position, please withdraw with maximum haste."

There was an audible clatter of hooves on stone and inhuman roars coming from down the hall. Eve and Hecate's heads shot toward the hall at once. A number of young men and women with guns and basic body-armor rushed down the stairs, taking an orderly formation as they went down the corridor Seela had ran down. One gave Eve a machine gun, and she nodded, gripped it, and stood up, following to cover the group with her natural height.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

Elizabeth could smell no trace of the cultists' distinct scent under the cloth, and the stumbled outward, escorted to their domiciles by others in combat gear with random firearms, who had arrived just as Elizabeth returned to the crowd. More armed people went right back in the direction from where she came.

"Excuse me, ma'am."
She was suddenly approached by a slightly tall young man looking to be in his early twenties. He had round glasses, tired grey eyes, and well-kept blonde hair. He smelled only very slightly inhuman.

"My name is Arthur Angel, I am aware you and your colleagues arrived shortly before this attack.”

He cast a grim look on the spot where the young woman who had lunged at Elizabeth had exploded, then looked back calmly to the Councilman.
 
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Poppy pushed his hand back down, glad that the signs seemed to help a little bit. She should have picked a better color, but this was the marker she grabbed first.

As the black cat started giving orders, Poppy glanced back towards him, pocketing the marker. She picked Simon up, holding his arms still, and kept an eye on the cats. "Please, let us go wiv you? Oi ain't a foighteh..."

As if that wasn't evidenced by how she made no attempts before at actually hurting the zoogs, so much as just getting them off and away.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Seela glanced up at the intercom, and then toward the sound of more ghasts. She could hear the approach of people as well, and she remained for a moment, going over the options, before she turned and ran from the hall.

Much as her training told her to stay and fight, she was bad against multiple foes. She lacked the focus needed to track everything happening, and if the local forces could handle it, she should let them, now that they'd made an appearance.

She watched Eve and some others pass her, then turned to watch them go. Eve seemed pretty rough, but fine enough to hold a weapon, from the looks of it. Good.

Seela changed course, following the group, ready to act as backup, should they need it, and an observer, should they not. "I'm here if you need support," she offered aloud, probably more soft-spoken than she should be.

Bear, left behind with Hecate and two friendlies, rose to his feet slowly once Eve and the gunners hurried off. He looked around, sniffing the air as he did, before he sighed and looked over at Hecate. At the sight of her doing better, he smiled a little, showing his relief at the sight of her cloak-clad figure. "Good to see you're back with us, ma'am."

He approached her, looking her over briefly, but not touching. She seemed ok, but he was hesitant to check more thoroughly by testing her pulse and pupil dilation, especially given his gore-covered hands. He looked toward one of the friendlies. "Can you check her pulse and her pupils for me? My hands aren't clean, and I don't know if this crap might cause a reaction."

He turned away a little and used his hands to wipe away what he could, letting it drop onto the ground away from Hecate and the two, and careful not to fling it haphazardly.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

No trace of weird smelly cultists under the cloak, and as escorts began to lead the frightened young people away, she reclaimed the cloak, spinning it around onto her shoulders, where it once more became a blazer, and its heavy weight settled properly onto her shoulders. Just as quickly, she felt the seals wrap around her, and for a moment, she stumbled under the sudden shift before she caught herself.

A voice caught her ear, and she turned to look at the tall young man. He was clean and carried himself with a professional air that she approved of. She started to offer her hand for a shake after his introduction, but at the sight of blood, quickly withdrew it.

"Eliza Leauge, and yes. We arrived very recently." She followed his gaze and frowned. "Do these sorts of attacks happen often?" Her words came out more breathless than she would have liked in a professional introduction, but it couldn't be helped. She turned to look at the departing crowd and sighed before she returned her attention to the man.

"I... believe you wanted to meet me and my Hunters earlier?" She hoped he might give her a chance to sit and collect herself, but she didn't bother asking. She could function, and for now, that would do.
 
"You're clearly a better fighter than Smoke."
The American Shorthair blurted out, then swiftly dodged the black cat's retaliating swat at his face.

"I-I c-can't go back home..."
Simon mumbled.

"I'm not... I'm not the only one... the only..."
He put a hand to his forehead and sucked in air sharply through his mouth, his breathing growing frantic for a few moments.

"They'll catch me, and... they'll kill you or... they'll bring us both back... we gotta..."
His hands went suddenly to cover his eyes and he whimpered softly, before controlling his breathing again. He reached into his pocket, drawing out a tarnished silver key with arabesque engravings. Though outwardly dull, at mere sight it had an implacable aura about it that suggested great power. Not only that, but the sight of it peaked the interest of the two remaining cats. The black cat or, "Smoke" chimed in.

"I remember that key... Pearl, this young man used that key to create a door to an urban nightclub. The door lasted a day and a half and loud music blared out the entire time. Don't let him do that ever again and we'll surely see you out of here without any Zoog biting your ankles."

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

Hecate was about to point out the futility of attempting to check her pupils, but was interrupted by the deafening sound of many automatic weapons firing at once just down the hall. She balled up the long sleeves of her fresh wizard outfit and held them to her ears until the sounds subsided.

Eve returned alone, shortly after the commotion stopped, the sounds of calmer if still stressed voices echoing down the hallway.
"Targets neutralized..."
She said coldly. Her eyes pointed upward toward the ceiling. She didn't want to see the bodies being taken out, she almost didn't want to find out who they were. Ruined bodies. Disemboweled, amputated, mutilated, butchered, taken apart. She hated it, hated it. It always reminded her of her first sensation, her birth… she sucked in her first breath as every border between every stitched-together puzzle-piece making up her body wreathed her in a net of white-hot agony, unrelenting until the anesthesia kicked in for the first time…

She wasn't the only creature screaming there, but she was the only one after she woke up… It was the first example of what would be a recurring pattern in short life thus far.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

Arthur's eyes shifted stoically over the bloodstained hand.

"The Esoteric Order of Dagon often intercepts fieldwork, this is the first attack within our barriers in a decade... This is a... disturbing occurrence, but I hope the introduction of your Hunters will make up for..."

His face grew a shade paler at the sound of a distant pained cry.
"...for the casualties suffered."

A handful of operatives now entered the structure atop which Elizabeth had slain the cultists. Arthur continued.
“I need to know everything you know about our situation thus far, and I need to know more about who you and your Hunters are. As for us, we gather knowledge, acquire artifacts, and conduct research on supernatural and extraterrestrial forces.”
 
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Poppy blinked at the key, and then at Smoke. The key would take them to Parasite? She gently pried the key from Simon's hand. They could use it later. "Oi, Simon, is aroit. Lissen, we ain't gotteh go back if ye sayin it ain't safe. We kin jus call me mum when we wake up. Oi promise, es goin' te be aroit."

She slipped the key into her own pocket, then rubbed Simon's back. "The noice cats'eh gonna 'elp lead us outteh 'is fo'est, yeah?"

She kept up her purring, hopeful that it was helping Simon.

"We got 'is, Simon. One big adventcha b'foh we go wiv me mum."

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Seela returned alongside her, expression seemingly bored. She tried to help protect the crew of gunners, but they needed minimal aid, to the point Seela felt a bit useless.

"Bear?" she said as she approached her partner. "We need reinforcements. This place is too big for just the two of us to protect, if these attacks are common."

Bear looked at her and grunted agreement. "You get to tell the Councilman, since you said it first."

Seela winced, but didn't object.

Bear, meanwhile, looked toward Hecate and finally realized that pupil-checking would be... pretty useless. Still, his eyes went to Eve.

"Eve," he called, his voice quiet, but stern, "Deep breath with your belly. In.... Out... and unclench your hands." It was a common method he used to help lessen his own tension when he realized he was too tense, and Eve... Her scent worried him.

⋯﴾﴿⋯

The cry in the distance tightened her lips, and Elizabeth closed her eyes. She hadn't done enough, though she'd overstepped what was allowed.

"For right now?" she started as she opened her eyes, looking back at Arthur, her face holding more age as she answered. "I know that things have... been chaotic and dangerous since I arrived, and likely before. Horrors are real here, and... Bloody hell, I am going to need to call in reinforcements to try to keep everyone here protected."
 
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The Chimera Cat, Split, returned with a small host of other felines, who perched themselves atop branches, stumps, and the larger mushrooms in the area. There was brief chatter among them, referencing directions, Zoog movements, and of course Simon and Pearl. A number of silent glances and head-tilts toward the duo was the reaction of many. Then Smoke turned to Pearl.
"There's an intact wheelbarrow covered in vines a bit up north, we'll take you to it if you think the Thuum'ha won't remember how to walk anytime soon."

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

Eve followed his advice, calming herself down a little, but she could no longer stand to be surrounded by dead bodies.
"I'm going to try to go to bed..."

She said, before heading for the exist at a brisk pace. Hecate chimed in as she walked out.
"You go get a nap! You deserve that shit!"

Hecate stared with distaste on the gore and bodies of freind and foe on the floor around her. She suddenly became aware of a puddle her bare right foot was in contact with, and she stepped back rapidly, almost falling over.
"...uh..."

She headed toward the door as well.
"...I'm gonna go get blazed and pass out..."

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

Arthur nodded eagerly at the mention of reinforcements.
"We need anything and everything you can give to aid our organization. Our enemies include but are not limited to; cults, monsters, necromancers, mad scientists, aliens, kaiju, other various clandestine factions, and..."
He raised his eyebrows, staring unblinking at Eliza for dramatic effect.
"An Evil. Living. Color."
 
Poppy's head lifted slightly, the closest her human form could do to pricking her ears as she looked around at all of the cats, and as Smoke brought up a wheelbarrow, she nodded. "Yeah, 'at sounds roit 'elpful. Please?"

She paused.

"Wot's a... Fooma?"

⋯﴾﴿⋯

"Rest well," Bear urged as Eve left, though really he wanted to urge her to do anything _but_ lay in bed with nothing to occupy her mind. In the end though, it was her choice in what to do.

As Hecate started to move around a bit, Bear turned his attention to her in time to watch her stumble. Without thinking, he reached out to put an arm behind her back.

"Careful," he urged. Unlike them, the gore didn't bother him much—he'd been fighting against awful things for most of his life, and the choice was simple: get used to it or die.

"Do you need help getting there? You seem a bit unsteady."

⋯﴾﴿⋯

"It's teal, isn't it?" the words left her lips before she could stop them, her tone and expression just as serious as his.

She took a moment to ponder who to bring as reinforcements—who among the Hunters could she trust to know she had a daughter? Who could she trust with discretion? Trust was... difficult for her at best, especially since she didn't know many Hunters personally so much as by reputation and files.

She couldn't call on Ober or Rare—they were 'dead' and having their scent all over Bear and Seela would be a _problem_. A big problem.

She sighed. "I will need some time to select who to call in, but... Hm. You know roughly how large this place is, yes? Perhaps you could help me figure out how many Hunters I need to call for."

Hopefully Ark wasn't as big as she imagined. The fewer Hunters present—the fewer who knew of Poppy—the better. She didn't even like that Bear and Seela knew, but Poppy pleaded for Seela's life when she let slip that she'd been talking to Seela, and Bear was a homosexual in the Hunter organization—if anyone could keep a secret on fear of death, it was him.
 
The black cat's ears twitched.
"You must be a new Dreamer. Welcome to the Dreamlands. The Thuum'ha are amphibious creatures that start life looking like... well like Simon Mortimer."

The black cat suddenly hopped up forward, landing on top of Simon as Pearl held him to talk to her at eye-level.

"They have also been called Deep Ones by many. They have other names but I do not know them."

Smoke turned his head toward the young man, who had yet to obtain sufficient coherency to interpret the situation. The weight of the black shape on his chest had been shortening his breaths, and his discomfort was growing. The black cat regarded the pitiful creature with a mere tilt of it's head before leaping back off, and brushing past Pearl's leg as he, began to lead her in the direction of the wheelbarrow. The rest of the group followed with fluid grace, forming a loose circle around the trio.

Zoogs could be seen in the distance now, regarding the numerous cats and suspicious-smelling bipeds which they were now tending to woth wary glares and displays of their frightening teeth. They didn't dare approach though, not yet at least. Despite this, the cats moved forward undaunted, and they came across the wheelbarrow, it's wheel half-buried and the rest of it wrapped in loose vines.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

Hecate stood for a moment, feeling incredibly weary, her senses blurred and her thoughts scrambled. She took a while to consider Bear's question.
"...I just wanna pirate a movie and go to bed about now..."

She started shaking.
"Y-you shoulda seen when I squared off against a c-th... Chth..."

She paused for a second.
"A Starspawn!"

She laughed, and stumbled again, gripping onto Bear's arm to help herself up.
"I-I'm s-still seein' shit... Everything's..."

She snapped her fingers several times quickly.
"It's sleep at this point I just gotta sleep."

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

"We hold just above seven-..."
He paused for a moment, his expression remaing the same ashe adjusted his glasses with one hand.
"...around seven hundred members."

He motioned in various directions.
"There's the Magic Wing. The Defense Wing, the Science Wing, the Maintenance Wing, the Resources Wing, the Sanctum, the Hospital, the Farm, the Dungeon, various surface outposts, and I expect now we will have higher success rates in recruiting members..."

His gaze trailed off as he spoke, before moving slowly back to the councilman.
"When will you consider your work with us done...?"
 
Poppy nodded, thankful for Smoke's explanation. She walked quietly among the other cats, carrying Simon until they arrived at the wheelbarrow, and she got to work.

Thankful for her boots, she used one foot to brace against the vines before she yanked the wheelbarrow from its resting place, then thumped the wheel on the ground a couple times to shake free the dirt before she flipped it. She turned the wheel slowly to dislodge more dirt and make sure the thing still worked, before she found it was doing an ok enough job of it.

"Looks good!" she chirped as she flipped it back, then moved Simon into it, tying his sleeves into a makeshift straight jacket. She pulled a small pillow from a pocket and put it underneath his head, then nodded to the cats.

"We're ready!"

⋯﴾﴿⋯

Bear wrapped his arm around her, then suddenly lifted her, holding her bridal-style. "Alright," he agreed. He couldn't do much about the gore he was getting onto her robe at this point, but she didn't seem like she'd do well walking. "Does your room have a shower or bath, or should we stop somewhere on the way?"

⋯﴾﴿⋯

She needed... much more Hunters than she had on her 'trusted' list for this. This could be a problem, in that she might have to destroy Hunters who found out about her daughter.

His question of when she would consider her work with them done brought her from her thoughts suddenly. She had the feeling he expected her to leave at that point, and to take the Hunters with her.

"I'm here primarily to reclaim something, but I will be leaving a population of Hunters here after I have left to ensure further survival of your members until such a time as they are no longer useful..."

She assumed that to him, that would mean the Hunters would be there 'forever', but really, she wanted to evacuate these kids to another universe, if she could, at which point the Hunters wouldn't be needed here anymore.

She offered a small smile. "I'm not one to leave allies defenseless."
 
"Wh-what?"
Mumbled Simon as he limply fell into the wheelbarrow, his now restrained arms wiggling fruitlessly.

Once the wheelbarrow was rolling, smoke jumped on top of it, wincing only momentarily at Simon's unnatural smell as he sat upon the Deep One's leg.
"H-hi...."
Simon said.

The creature didn't respond, talking instead to Pearl.
"We kept track one time. Simon experiences attacks like this at least three times per dream."

It looked down on him.
"If he didn't have the Dreamlands to fall back on, I'd wager he'd be experiencing this daily in the Waking World."

The protests of the Zoogs to the cats' pressence grew more intense. The formation of the cats grew tighter, but they remained perfectly calm.

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

"Ohshit."
Hecate blurted out as her feet went out from under her. She became fully aware of the sensation of cooled blood dripping dripping down her toes and she shook the foot to hopefully dislodge as much of the fluid as possible.
"Nasty shit..."

She considered Bear's question, before patting his arm lightly.
"Yeah, I got a bathroom in my room..."

As he carried her along, her head rolled back, the empty hole in the robe's hood pointing straight up to the ceiling.
"...you ever hears of Cthulhu, big guy?"

-[├┬┴┬┴┤ /|\(;,,;)/|\ ├┬┴┬┴┤]-​

"Excellent."
Arthur said.

He leaned forward slightly, talking in a quiet, earnest tone.
"We are aware of the informant, and are taking efforts to ensure their anonymity is preserved. However..."

He leaned forward more, his voice lowering to a nearly inaudible volume before he went on.
"We highly reccomend you send in opperatives to retrieve them. They may not be safe."
 
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