Scene #9622: Abnormality Tales: Red Wolfed Mercenary

Owner	Pose
Angela	Angela was pretty public with her request that people look into the fate of the Red Hooded Mercenary and the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf as they, through a combination of timing and Flamel Parson's attempt to subdue them, they ended up in the same book together after Flamel threw The Red Hooded Mercenary's mind into the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf's. Even Angela doesn't really know what this would amount to as the confluence of events means she's not really sure what state the Abnormalities are in. There are, like, SO MANY versions of the Red Riding Hood story. As usual, this is relatively open call. Encouraging Abnormalities to adapt to the world in a less murderous manner is pretty unobjectionable. But unusually, Angela has a much less certain idea of what should be done than usual. r"Normally," Angela says. "The best way to subdue Red Hooded Mercenary is to help her kill the Wolf while avoiding friendly fire. Straightforward enough." Angela clucks her tongue in preemptive annoyance at what she has to say next. "But that was before Flamel--" And then she sighs in resigned acceptance. "--Got creative. By implanting the mind of one into the other, there's no telling what condition they might be in. Ideally, they just went back to their respective roles once they've been booked in which case you can use the standard procedure, but it is equally likely you'll have to think on your feet for this one." Angela sets the Red Hooded Mercenary and the Big And Will Be Bad Wolf book onto the table before her. "She'll likely attack you at some point and like with the other Abnormalities it should be taken for granted she's stronger within her book. The wolf too. But if it becomes too much, please contact me and I'll let you out." "After the heart I'm happy to do anything else." Roland admits with no explanation on what exactly happened when she jumped into the Heart of Aspiration's story. "You're worrying too much, Ange!" Love has gotten to using Petra's nickname for her. "If they could help me, I'm sure they could help you!" She throws out a dabbing V-sign at her and then winks at Flamel so hard a star flies out of her eyeball and pops a few inches away. r"Roland and Love will be helping you since I am loathe to send you into an unknown situation without significant backup." Angela explains, who doesn't seem to change her level of worrying. "If there are any questions, I'll answer them now, but otherwise..."
Angela	After she answers, she opens the tome up and that familiar (to most of you) pulling sensation occurs and then... Once upon a time... When you open your eyes, you find yourselves in a dark forest of dead leafless trees. Light is provided by the visage of a large crescent moon hovering in the sky. There's no wolf in sight. But there is a young woman in a red hood leaning against a tree. Unlike the classical red riding hood, she is armed with a sickle in one hand and a shotgun in the other, which she has pointed towards Flamel. She's wearing numerous belts as a corset around her waist and numerous other wrappings around her body. The most notable feature she has, though, is her face shrouded in shadow and her viciously scarred mouth permanently grimaced and grinning in a way that shows off numerous sharp jagged teeth "Fancy meeting you here, Pink." Red Hooded Mercenary says. "Done you a favor and held off on putting a shell through that bastard's head yet." She nods towards Flamel. "You know I don't care for people who get in the way of my hunt. What did you bring him over to my neck of the woods for?" "Red!" Love chirps. "Gosh! It's been so long, like over a year you know! These are my friends! They're so cool, you're gonna be the best of--" Red Hooded twists her shotgun and fires at the ground before Love's feet. "Talking too much like usual, Pink. What're you doing here? If you're planning on getting in the way of my hunt for that bastard wolf again, I'll kill you right now." "We won't!! We're here to help this time!" Love looks over to Flamel then to everyone else. "Right? Right?? Red's really nice, she's just a little shy you know!" Roland gives a half shrug and looks over to the others, content on leaving the path forward to them.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel frowns at the book, waving a strange little antenna over it. "Yeah, I definitely don't know what could have happened." He says. "Complete astral transcription while someone's projected inside the mind... There's a reason I don't try the Cobb Maneuver if I can help it, and this would be a lot more risky than that." Pulling back, scratching his head, he gives a big, helpless shrug. "I guess there's nothing for it but to look! She was a fighter, I'm sure she's pulled through!" The pulling sensation isn't familiar to him, but he's used to Psychonautry, so... Pulling off his sunglasses, he finds himself diving in, in a rather familiar way! And now there's a gun pointed at him. He didn't even have to raise his hands, they were already up in a friendly, positive surrender. "Hey now, I'm far from someone who wants to get in your way." He says, chipper and cheery smile all wide. "I was trying to help, you know? Isn't a psychonautical projection sort of like better than killing? At least it should have helped the hunt, really! Might have been my bad that I didn't brief you about it before giving you all those options..." He jolts and yelps when the gun is whipped around and fired, but hey, he's still alive! So it's right back to friendly. "I'm always here to help, honestly! I'd love to figure out the best way to see your mission through. It's, 'Will Be Bad', right? Precrime? I've always wanted to precrime." He tries to match Little Red Vivziepop's jagged grin with his own smile. "Let's see about this hunt. Any chance you've got tracks? A lead?" He'll even start clairvoyantly scanning with his psychic senses, if he can. This is so normal, so far! Assuming his head doesn't get blown off.
Holly Asturias	"The best way to subdue Red Hooded Mercenary is to help her kill the Wolf while avoiding friendly fire. Straightforward enough." Helping allies was part of her trade with the Concord, obviously. Holly is happy to receive help, but she'll surely go mad if she doesn't return the favor. And besides, it's so interesting how other worlds are. She's about to plunge into a story book! That's novel! It's so novel that she giggles to herself at the pun. "Hm, but if the purpose is to help change its behavior, isn't subdual counterproductive? Or are we merely here to ascertain the story's new state?" "After the heart I'm happy to do anything else." Holly, from behind Roland, places both of her hands on his shoulders, creeping in close from behind with an excited smile. "Oh you must tell me how it went! Petra and Angela had such high hopes for it! Hopefully it was worth the hassle?" "If they could help me, I'm sure they could help you!" Oh who is this? Holly bends down a little bit, away from Roland and to peek at Love. She squees a little bit. "Oh my gosh you are the most adorable little thing! It's like you jumped out of the pages of a colorful comic book!" She wants to fawn over her so badly!! She'll be strong, she'll control herself. For now. "Talking too much like usual, Pink." "Mhm, quite so!" Holly backs Love up, more than happy to put herself forward despite the whiplash of the shotgun firing its warning so quickly into this. "But before we hunt, might we bother you with some questions? It'd only be fair we answer some as well if you'd like. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Doctor Holly Asturias. Holly is quite fine if you prefer that." And yet so few do! If she only knew why. "Oh! I know! Why don't you tell those of us who are new about our quarry?" she asks, in a similar vein to Flamel's own query. "I should think one can't possibly hunt without being brought up to speed!" It's an easy question to ask, and it'll let the others determine if the subject of the hunt, or the hunter's methods, have changed at all.
Tamamo	Tamamo has a certain amount of automatic fondness for Love, just from thinking about the past... though 'nostalgia' seems like the wrong term. Things were rather difficult... but, maybe, that's what nostalgia is about, after all. She can remember just the good part about something difficult, where something good was accomplished amidst suffering. "We shall see what can be seen, Ms. Angela, with all due caution. It would be mere tragedy to allow great harm in the process of only seeing what aid may be rendered unto another, after all." She'll have to ask Lilian about V-signs. Her own research came out mixed, but she thinks it's probably a cute thing. No questions for now, if only because, "It would be of little use to merely speculate, in such a unique situation." 'After the heart I'm happy to do anything else.' About this, though... "The Heart? Oh, you did mention a Heart of Aspiration, or some such thing, I believe?" Once upon a time... 'You know I don't care for people who get in the way of my hunt.' 'We're here to help this time!' "Ms. Red, is it? I should like to learn more about you and your hunt, I think. Would you please permit us to tag along, at the least? Wolf-hunting... was not common in the lands I once lived, you see."
White	Maybe White doesn't really like going into the Abnormalities' personal worlds, and maybe she doesn't feel like she has the skillset for this kind of thing in most cases, but... Today, she feels a little better about her odds for a few reasons. For one, Flamel and Tamamo are both here. Past experiences with them have her rating them relatively highly in their own fields, and even if Flamel is a weirdo and Tamamo is a little scary, they both have their own kinds of empathy. Second, the last few attempts have actually gone pretty well in general. Some scary moments, sure, but it worked out! Though, this is mostly just filling out her list of reasons so that there can be three of them, and to put off admitting that... Her third reason is, well. After hearing about what happened with the two Abnos before, White is actually unusually familiar with this weirdly specific kind of arrangement. At least, if the aftermath plays out how she expects. She herself basically disarmed the Demon Lord from actively trying to kill her by accidentally shoving a bit of her mind into Ariel's, so. Like. You know? You know?! However optimistic she can be, she does still remember that it wasn't an instant change, though. Just getting a bit of someone inside you doesn't make you friends- you know what, scratch that phrasing, we're trying that one again! It takes time to come to terms with that kind of outcome, especially when you've been trying to kill each other, is the point! From the sounds of things, that might mean that one or the other ends up lashing out too. Just gotta plan out how to handle that in advance. After hearing out Angela, White mostly only hesitates to... Imitate Love's star-wink. She didn't open her eyes, but moving her eyebrows can kind of imply what she's going for regardless, as the little illusory star flies off to match Love's. "We'll... Do our best." She's not much of an orator, but pandering to a magical girl is emotionally important. To White, that is. Going by the people she's working with today, it kinda looks like she's the most qualified 'frontliner' as far as how risky it would be to take a hit... She's not enthusiastic about 'Tanking', but she'll just have to make the most of what's available. Maybe Holly's tough enough for that, too. Drawn into the book, White's first order of business is to open up those special peepers of hers and get the lay of the land- which quickly lands her attention on Red, and likewise on the firearm pointed at Flamel. Can he stop bullets? Probably, if he can get his weird psychic hands out in time. But these might be extra powerful bullets, or something. Even if White steps in front of him, they might just go through her and hit him anyway. Hmm. Better not try and be too heroic then, it'd be really embarrassing if she messed up like that! Well, now she's kind of just staring at Red with her spooky glowy eyes, and while she did flinch a little when she shot the ground near Love... Maybe White should've tried to look more concerned? Or less? Bah. Following Holly's introduction, White just lifts one hand to slow-wave for a moment and adds, "White." in self-introduction, letting the conversation play out a little bit more; while the others chat, White tries to get an idea of whether Red's status has gotten scrambled and mixed with the Wolf's using the Evil Eye, looking for odd Titles or Skills, strange stat values or any other cue that might confirm or disprove her own theory. In the meantime, with the others not already being horribly maimed or killed, she tries to fill air by insisting to Red, "I'm good... At finding, too." She would've said 'hunting', but bragging about that feels a little too edgy.
Calvin Nash	By implanting the mind of one into the other, there's no telling what condition they might be in. Calvin's COMP buzzes. Hell Biker: Oh SHIT. You're telling me we could have a self-hating loser on the loose? ARMED? Hell Biker: Sign me the FUCK UP. He diligently hunt-and-pecks a reply. Calvin: i knew youd say that. Hell Biker: Whoa-ho, now, hick. I didn't say I'd HELP. Calvin: you can help or you can stay in here. thats your options. Hell Biker: C'mon, man. Calvin closes the COMP unceremoniously. It buzzes several times after. He ignores it and doesn't open the monitor for the rest of Angela's explanation. He holds up an index, then--"No questions. Just lemme check if this shithead's gonna be useful real quick." Hell Biker: Alright! Jesus!! I'll fuckin' help. Hell Biker: I dunno what you think I could do. Calvin: just pretend its mesmer and she'll actually shape up if you tell her the right shit. Absent any response, Calvin nevertheless gives Angela a thumbs-up. Inside the book, among the other figures arriving to meet Red, there's a skeleton in 70s motorcycle leathers, complete with gloves, boots, a classic helmet and a stylish red scarf. He sits astride a chopper with rings of fire in place of its wheels. The shotgun goes off, and-- "Do it again. I wasn't lookin'," he utters in his coarse, strained baritone. "Hell Biker," Calvin says, as tersely as he's uttered 'Petra' or 'Mesmer'--the curtly authoritative 'stop doing that' tone one uses for small children and dogs. He had flinched, and accordingly, the constant mental calculations going on advised him that asserting his authority over someone other than the person firing the gun is the way to regain what was lost by having flinched. r I've always wanted to precrime. "I bet, suit," scoffs Hell Biker. "Points for saying it out loud. I guess." I should think one can't possibly hunt without being brought up to speed! Calvin pats his COMP. "This'll do you," he says. "Cover me once it shows up and I'll tell you all you need to know." "I'm interested in 'bastard,'" Hell Biker says greasonously. "What's that about? What'd he do?"
Tamamo	Gunshot! It's fine. They were warned about possible violence, and that was only a warning. Tamamo knows that those who have limited means of communicating sincerity will resort to such things. Her ears still do flatten at the sound, which is, somehow, the only flinch she shows. 'It's like you jumped out of the pages of a colorful comic book!' 'Holly is quite fine if you prefer that.' Adjusting her knowledge of preferred address, "Her story was quite colorful, I would say, Dr. Holly." 'Precrime? I've always wanted to precrime.' "This word strikes me as unwholesome. Is it not merely natural for a hunter to pursue a wolf? Is there a crime in mind, after all...?"
Angela	''There's a reason I don't try the Cobb Maneuver...'' Angela is starting to feel uneasy about the fact that Flamel is easier to understand over time rather than less. Maybe all these little adventures with the Abnormalities are a bit like Psychonautry. "I can't complain about you doing what you had to in the moment. But the Mercenary is pretty focused on her own situation and pretty heedless of others." ''But if the purpose is to help change its behavior, isn't subdual counterproductive?'' "Changing the story is the goal, but I am speaking hypothetically how one goes about preventing the Mercenary from becoming hostile. If I had a good read on the situation and could solve it on my own, I wouldn't have asked for your assistance so brazenly." ''Oh you must tell me how it went!'' "Uh well I wouldn't say it was the most dangerous, but there was a whole lot of blood." Roland explains. "Thought I was going to have to burn my suit." The Magical Girl of Love is a twintailed cartoon character with long pale silver to purple hair that's wearing a pink and magenta courset and skirt and white leggings. She has a mostly black heart hairclip on her side and off-golden eyes. ''Oh my gosh you are the most adorable little thing!'' "It...wasn't a comic book!" Love sputters. "Are you an ally to love and justice, Holly? Or are an ''evil'' Doctor?" Don't worry, this demon negotiation is probably not that hard! ''We shall see what can be seen, Ms. Angela.'' Love has a certain amount of automatic fondness for Tamamo! Her already bright mood gets about fifty percent brighter upon seeing her and this is mimicked by Angela, albeit in a much more subdued manner. Love outright shouts, "Tamamo! You came! Yay! Red's a sweetie you'll see!" This is probably not reliable information. "Naturally. Ideally, the Mercenary can live a normal life--by at least Elite standards--but there's no reason to harm her--ahh, except in the process of defending yourself, of course, should it come to that." ''Oh, you did mention a Heart of Aspiration.'' "Yeah..." Roland nods to Tamamo. "It wasn't... like hard or anything. It was just kind of a little gross. Pretty non-hostile, as far as Abnormalities. I didn't even become spiders." ''We'll... Do our best.'' Love is thrilled by White joining in with a 'wink' of her own, Angela smiles ruefully but Love throws TWO v-signs at White while wiggling her hands from side to side like she's doing the jazzhands. The v-sign style jazzhands. ''No questions. Just lemme check if this shithead's gonna be useful real quick.'' Angela suddenly feels a deep empathy for Calvin Nash that she hadn't felt before. It wasn't something she had considered before, really, because she saw the demons more akin to strangely flavored pokemon than agents or even abnormalities. The fact, however, that he has to check if someone under his banner is going to be actually helpful as opposed to a deteriment to everyone involved? Let's just say Angela has a lot of empathy for that.
Angela	INTO THE BOOK! ''At least it should have helped the hunt, really!'' Flamel reassuring Red that he's not going to get in the way of the hunt, but is going to help gets Red to lower her guard some. She tries to think if a psychonautical projection is better or not but... "Hate to say it, but my memories are a bit hazy after that. Lost track of the Wolf. Haven't been able to find him since." ''Might we bother you with some questions?'' "Sure. But let's talk on the move. We won't find the Wolf standing around, Doc." The presence of a Doctor actually reminds Red of her scars. She reaches towards her enshrouded face and rubs at it before hissing angrilly and spitting to the side and moving forward through the forested path. There's no roads here, nor any visible trail. No paw prints or anythying like that. It's like she is just picking a direction and hoping for the best. "That Wolf tricked me, long ago, pretended to be all friendly like. Then he gobbled up my grandma and maimed my face. I can't rest until he's gone." Roland grimaces uncomfortably but doesn't speak up. "The Wolf acts like he's a harmless guy but he can't help but want to eat people, he becomes ferocious in an instant while acting innocent. Agents of the Dark Kingdom often hide their true nature before inevitably enacting their evil plans!" "Surprised you remember, Pink." The mercenary says. "I'm so good at remembering things now." Love says, glancing to Flamel briefly like an innocent throwing knife. ''Wolf-hunting... was not common in the lands I once lived, you see.'' "Wolves like to wear sheep's clothing. They'll ask to be let into your home, but you can't let it or it'll gobble you up. Gotta build your home strong, or he'll knock it down. It'll act all innocent, then devour you with your whole family." Red's understanding of wolf hunting is very different from the real thing. She doesn't even seem to consider 'a pack of wolves' to be a thing. "Not surprised you haven't run into many wolves. Foxes are clever. They know better than to confront wolves directly." Red pauses, though, as White indicates she's good at 'finding'. "You think you can find that bastard? Don't let me stop you. Just don't get in the way when I cut him open." She nods at the name of 'White' too. "White. Good name. Nice and easy to remember and short." "He's called the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf not in the sense that he hasn't been bad yet, but in the sense that no matter what he does, he'll always go back to being a monster. Even if he thinks he's being better, it's inevitable. He'll always fall into old habits. He can't help himself. Too hungry not to eat." ''I'm interested in bastard.'' "Heh." Red says. "That's about the gist of it, but glad you're getting the picture quick." ''Is it not merely natural for a hunter to pursue a wolf?'' "Wasn't always a hunter." Red says. "I've only one prey. But he'll make prey of me if we aren't careful." But throughout the walking, there's no sign of the wolf. "Can't you people draw him out or something? He hasn't been this tough to find before. Gotten better at hiding...?" Love mmmphs worriedly, glancing about through the trees. Clouds pass by the crescent moon, briefly obscuring it.
Calvin Nash	That Wolf tricked me, long ago, pretended to be all friendly like. Then he gobbled up my grandma and maimed my face. I can't rest until he's gone. The Wolf acts like he's a harmless guy but he can't help but want to eat people, he becomes ferocious in an instant while acting innocent. "Ohoho, he can help it, all right," asserts Hell Biker, following along at a crawl that allows his bike not to outpace anyone on foot. "He just doesn't wanna. The innocent thing gets his foot in the door." He's called the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf not in the sense that he hasn't been bad yet, but in the sense that no matter what he does, he'll always go back to being a monster. "Shit. Shit. You mean Little Red Riding Hood's about--" "C'mon, man. You're usually good at this shit." "Damn it," Calvin spits. "Well, what the hell's that mean for us?" Can't you people draw him out or something? He hasn't been this tough to find before. "I'm thinkin'." The story's about the dangers of trusting men in isolated places; nice isn't the same as good. This story is more focused on the Wolf himself; shining a light on an apparently insatiable need to predate and an inevitable return to predation. Red's story is about the need for closure through vengeance, an all-consuming desire for it. She 'can't rest' until the Wolf is dead. If Flamel put them both in the same book--what does that mean? Calvin frowns. "Red, what'll you do once he's dead?"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel gives a firm nod. "If you ever want me to de-haze them, I've got something for that." He rambles, straightening out his tie. "Also got some shears if they're fuzzy." "I bet, suit," scoffs Hell Biker. "This word strikes me as unwholesome." "So much feedback today! Thanks for the help, everyone." Flamel says, with genuine cheer. "I'll try out 'proactive protection' next time." He says, nodding along as he begins to walk. Like Red, he's armed. Unlike Red, it's a bit more abstract. He taps his temple a few times, making a series of motions; the sound coming from him is like a gun loading, so his two-finger hand-gun gesture must be real. He keeps it readied as they walk, safely aimed dirt-wards. "Hunger... I don't put much stock in Gastronaut techniques, but I'll try looking for that interpersonal hunger. No matter how innocent you act, I'm pretty sure I can detect something like that in the deep brainstem, if I'm looking for it." He'll work to supplement White's work, but it seems like it's not going far... "Draw him out... Hmm. I'm not very delicious. But I'm not picking him up... I'll try something." As the clouds cross the crescent moon, he raises his "hand gun", pulls a pyrokinetic flare out of his temple, and seemingly "loads" it by working his thumb. "A rescue flare... if it's looking for the vulnerable, maybe that'd draw it in?" He raises the "gun" and fires, striding forward into the woods. "Hellooooo! I'm looking for rescue! I'm very vulnerable right now and I'm so sincerely interpreting everything at face value, so if someone innocent and nice came by, I'd follow along! Wow, I wish there was someone here who knew these spooky woods!" He cups his hands briefly. "Maybe I can even vent about my difficult life, in private, away from any third parties moderating exploitation of my vulnerability! Also I've got meat on me!" This is less helpful than his flare's broadcast. The mental image coming out of it, when one looks, is of Flamel, wounded, struggling a bit to find a path through the woods, alone, scared and seeking a friendly face...
Holly Asturias	"This'll do you," "This?" Holly asks, glancing at Calvin's little wrist greeble. She can put just enough together to guess what it is (it helps that Calvin spells it out), but still has to wonder: "So that can analyze anything? Or only what you're hunting?" "Her story was quite colorful, I would say, Dr. Holly." "Are you an ally to love and justice, Holly? Or are an ''evil'' Doctor?" "Oh wonderful, I love a colorful story! Ah, but evil? Hardly!" Says the six foot tall gothy vampire doctor with obvious fangs and red eyes. And sharp nails like claws. "Though, Sarracenia seems to think I dress like a villain. But I labor to cure, not harm!" Harming is why she has guns, though. Just in case! "Uh well I wouldn't say it was the most dangerous, but there was a whole lot of blood." "I could tell~" Holly smiles at Roland, without clarifying. Though, does she really need to? "But my, I should think 'a lot of blood' is exactly the desired effect! Let's talk more after this little hunt then, yes?" "Sure. But let's talk on the move. We won't find the Wolf standing around, Doc." "But of course!" Holly is happy to follow. She even pays attention to the air, just in case. If there's a bit of a blood scent to be picked up, she'll be right on it, and in such a place and story, it could ever really lead one place, now could it? "That Wolf tricked me, long ago, pretended to be all friendly like. Then he gobbled up my grandma and maimed my face. I can't rest until he's gone." "How cruel... you must have had to train very hard to become such a fierce hunter in return. Are you all on your own, then? Doesn't it get lonely or scary, sometimes?" Just a bit of experience talking. Fighting wasn't so fun, earlier in her life. Sometimes it still isn't!
Tamamo	'Just lemme check if this shithead's gonna be useful real quick.' "Are there," Tamamo picks over how to frame this, "arenas in which you would regard him as more or less reliable an ally, Mr. Nash?" 'Tamamo! You came! Yay! Red's a sweetie you'll see!' Smiling, "Naturally." 'I didn't even become spiders.' "And glad am I to hear this." Tamamo smiles a bit less about turning into spiders. 'Then he gobbled up my grandma and maimed my face.' "Oh! Well, then. That is firmly in the realm of 'crimes committed,' rather than the hypothetical." If Tamamo weren't including the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf among the Abnormalities she's attempting to rehabilitate, it'd pretty hard to convince her toward clemency, after that. "Gobbling grandmothers and maiming girls' faces are not the sort of acts that should be forgiven with only temporary punishment." 'Foxes are clever. They know better than to confront wolves directly.' "A fox should rarely wish to encounter a wolf, it is so." She won't mention how little experience she has in common with the woodland variety, even if they do regard her as one of their own. It's complicated. The more she listens, the more a couple of things bother her. One of these is... "Was it rather easy to find him, before? Did he often attempt to... perhaps, convince you of his changed nature, seek your forgiveness, or seek to again be invited into your home? Or... was it only with others that you found him?" She's trying to feel out if there was anything else to their relationship between now and that initial tragedy, and if that's in contrast to what's happening now. "If you would, Ms. White. If it is so difficult to find this story's other 'important figure,' that might tell us something important, in itself." 'Hunger... I don't put much stock in Gastronaut techniques, but I'll try looking for that interpersonal hunger.' "I once placed a geas upon a certain creature that hunted humans by choice, that it should never do so again. Much later, I traveled to see how those of that island lived, and was satisfied that all had been as well as could be expected. I did not, however, carry out such justice as some would desire, and I did not find that creature pleased with such a restriction upon her life. Forever would that leash chafe, for the knowledge that one could live without was never in doubt, and its realization was no great thing, though I should like to think there was some grudging gratitude for what that peace allowed." 'Ohoho, he can help it, all right. He just doesn't wanna.' "I should like to believe you correct. The alternative is that we shall have... less with which to work."
White	White doesn't have to hesitate much at Red's one condition, shaking her head lightly before fixing her hair. "... It would be rude... To steal them from you. I had a quest... Like that once, too." It's sounding more and more like the wolf just doesn't have any particular redeeming qualities, or at least certainly not much basis to trust it, even if it claimed to be willing to be peaceful. Which is... Simpler, but probably bad. On account of the fact that having that kind of unpredictable predator squatting inside your head unknowingly doesn't inspire much confidence in one's self-control. That's the kind of thing you have to try and rule out sooner, rather than later. So, White squats down to let some of her spy-ders crawl out of her sleeves, putting on a slight show of foreleg-saluting at Red one after another as they start to disperse into their surroundings, posting up in trees and spreading out to make an observation network in the local area that White can keep track of. If they get attacked, it'll still serve as a warning in advance! And, maybe more importantly, it lets her credibly pretend to be genuinely searching while she continues to examine the mercenary with the Evil Eye. Surely there's gotta be some kind of sign in her status, somewhere. If not mismatched titles, maybe a suspiciously dropping MP meter due to mental strain? She really can't afford to put her whole focus on the physical search for a wolf if she's still convinced it's mind-melded with Red and she might do something the moment the group has turned away from her; all of this fuss about how unusually hard the wolf is to find, now, only has her more certain of her theory. The trickier question is... If she's right, what does she do then..? If their minds are just coexisting in one head instead of fully melded, maybe Flamel can kick the wolf out again and Red can do what she needs to from there...
Angela	''Ohoho, he can help it, all right. He just doesn't wanna.'' "There are those that'll act to their nature no matter how badly it goes for them." Red rephrases. "Maybe that's the case with all us 'Abnormalities'." "We can change our stories. But we can't do it alone." Love tells Red. "Were you alone when you blasted off Rose's face, Pink?" Love gasps, then frowns. Then looks down at her hands, awkwardly. "I think it takes more effort for us. Not saying they didn't try, but ... struggling to change isn't the same as not wanting to." ''Was it rather easy to find him, before?'' "YES." Red snarls, less at Tamamo and more the scenario. "We were drawn to each other. He'd hunt me, I'd hunt him. It was the way things had to be. But he's changed now, can't find him at all. Is he out there instead somewhere? That damned wolf, at least he knew we were bound to tearing each other apart before, now he's hiding? What is he, afraid now? Damn him..!" "That's true... In LobCorp, they always went straight for each other when one broke containment." Love pipes in, agreeing with the oddness of the situation. ''Flamel and White's investigations! Flamel launches the flare. This doesn't seem to do much but light up the night sky. A moment passes, then another. No wolf. Even more strangely, Flamel plays the part of an innocent lost victim and nobody shows up to ask about his grandma. There's no pawprints. No trail. It's peaceful. Too peaceful for someone like Red. Or for Love for that matter. "That definitely should've gotten the Wolf's attention." Love frowns. "Can Abnormalities die if you hunt them in their mind?" Roland wonders aloud. Red shoves a gun into Roland's chin. "He's not GONE. I'd know if I successfully took him down!" "Ah...right." It takes a moment for White to read Red's status but it's clear pretty quickly that something's wrong. Some of the text is jumbled up, like Red's very essence is corrupted and struggling to stabilize itself. She's no longer listed as a WAW Abnormality, either, but has a ??? for her LobCorp classification--that usually suggests something very dangerous. But White does know what she's looking for, at least, because she's been in a circumstance like this before. And that helps her skim the scrawling text ever faster to find what she needs. TITLE: DEV0UR3R 0F THe woLf DEBUFF: MENTAL CORROSION HIGH It's almost a textbook case of what White remembers what happened to the Demon Lord, but perhaps more dangerous--the level of hatred that Red has for the wolf is a key component of her self identity. Where would that go now? She's increasingly agitated with every passing moment. "That bastard would hate the leash, but I can't be satisfied with that, I won't be satisfied until I see him DEAD." ''Doesn't it get lonely or scary?''
Angela	"You can't survive if you don't get scared at all, but I don't have time to feel lonely." Except now, apparently. She brings her hand to her face and-- ''Red, what'll you do once he's dead?'' Red stops. "Wh...aatt?" White sees a spike of mental corrosion hit with that question. Like Calvin just struck her soul. "What'll I do..." She stares up at the moon. "Once he's dead?" White can sense that something is coming as the stat screen rapidly shifts and garbles and the SHAPESHIFT (UNCONTROLLED) scrolls past her eyes--along with a warning that Calvin has just become the focused target of the consumed entity within Red as a wolf's head explodes out from Red's back and opens up its jaws and tries to clamp down on Calvin, not really going for a 'swallow whole' more like a 'rip apart with its teeth'. __________________________________________________________ \|ARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING W\| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\|=\|??? CLASS THREAT\|=\|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Red __________________________________________________________ \|ING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARNING-WARN\| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ "When I kill him... I'll kill him again and again and again..." Red says, as if heedless that the wolf is bursting out of her body. "He's mine to kill... HE'S MINE...!"
Flamel Parsons	Flamel hollers into the empty woods like a fool for a while, which he can do without wincing from embarrassment because he's a camp counselor. He's soooo vulnerable! He's such good bait! ...But nobody came... "No matter how much I try to lay bait, it won't..." He starts, rambling and shaking his head. He's keeping an ear on the discussion, the talk of what to do once the hunt is finally complete. It's psychological, it's personal, it's about Red's feelings. But he can't platform in those right now, can he? But... Something emerges, something that makes it clear he's about to find himself deeper in this situation than he anticipated. "Jeez! What the-- Oh crap it's all in her!!" He hollers, when the wolfhead tears out of her. "I put her in his mind, I don't know how he got into her identity!" Then the second impulse, to rush into her mind and disentangle the pair with direct action. But there's a fizzle at his temples, and a strong wince. "We're already astrally abstracted once, I don't think I can get us in there... Going to have to figure something out. Quick! Opposed poles, cognitive magnetism! We have to impart a strong force that impacts only the Wolf-concept. Think quick!" He's backing off, fast, trying to flutter away into invisibility. "And we need an opposed one that would only affect Red, working in the opposite psychological direction!" What can he do with that? He hasn't perfected his understanding of Truth Phenomenon yet. But... These two are polar opposites in some way. One is an obsession with protecting and avenging vulnerability, the other is an obsession with consuming and destroying it. One is raw honesty, the other is raw lies. One is teeth, one is tools. What can he do here? "Red! Hey! No, wait!" He calls out. More of those flares of his load up, this time with stronger, more essential psychic forces. Critical emotions. Joy. Fear. Anger. He whips that gun around to fire them around the environment, creating intense areas of effect where the emotional output is strong, a massive force towards or against it. "Think, think about this! Once you kill him, you celebrate! Joy! You dance on whatever passes for his grave!" A shining purple light slams into one of the trees, near a rage flare, hopefully a pair that will draw her in. "He made you scared, he took advantage of vulnerability, so you can drive him out of you just like the world!" Another array of flares. Both fear (a cold yellow-green) and trust (a soft, orange-gold) are launched to the opposite side of the path. He's hoping that these psychic emanations will interact with the psychic phenomenon. But it's guesswork. If the others call shots, he'll take those too, just shout an order to him! But he's gotta keep distant -- he can't stay invisible while doing this, and invisibility is the main tool he'd use to avoid being bitten and eaten lethally, which is a substantial risk. The forest might light on fire. We'll deal with that later.
Calvin Nash	What is he, afraid now? Damn him..! "Who gives a shit?" "What'd I tell you?" Calvin demands, pointing at him accusingly. "Be helpful or you're outta here like shit through a goose." "I'm serious," Hell Biker protests, holding both hands up, palms out. "Red, right? I'd love it if we could just break this guy's neck. I know the type. It's pretty fun to hear 'em beg! But, uh, you've done that how many times, now, and it hasn't stuck? Over how many years?" He crosses his arms. <J-IC-Scene> (NPC) Hell Biker says, "Ah shit. Don't die before I can have my fun, hick!" Hell Biker's engine roars. A trail of fire snakes across the ground, left in the motorcycle's wake as he tears off to place himself between Red and Calvin. The bike is nearly parallel with the ground, Hell Biker's powerslide slamming the wheel into Red's shin to knock the Wolf's snapping jaws off course. Calvin flips open his COMP and dives for cover, wasting little time to capitalize on the opening he's been given. Rolling to one knee, "Dr. Holly, you're bout to get a demonstration. Hell Biker, keep 'em off me." "WHAT'S IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOIN', YA DUMB BASTARD?" He's mine to kill... HE'S MINE...! "You can't FINISH THE JOB, BITCH! You know why? Because if I smeared his GUTS across this forest RIGHT NOW, he'd still be living in your fuckin' HEAD!" Hell Biker rights the motorcycle, standing with one leg on the right peg and the other on the ground, chest puffed outwards. The fire explodes upwards, the attack an effort to drive Red backwards. Calvin's fingers race across the keypad of the COMP. .load analyze
White	There it is. White often has this feeling; not sure whether to be glad or unnerved when she finds her assumptions correct. She elects to favor the latter, as she sees the fluctuations in the synthesized status screen. Unfortunately it's clear off the rip that there's not a lot of time or leeway to try and finesse her way through this situation and set up a plan with the team; Red's getting agitated already even without that. She opens her mouth to try and piece together something to help control where Red's thoughts are going, but- She's already lashing out! The others obviously wanted to probe her too, and even White had thought Red might endure a little more of it before this point. Crap crap crap..! Flamel's asking for some kind of idea again, but White's too focused on the immediate danger to brainstorm; instead of planning, all of her energy goes straight into her fist. Maybe it's a bad idea to leap at a bunch of teeth like this, but it isn't the first time; she's been bitten- and worse- before. One big lunging stride pushes her forward with no intention of stopping to adopt a proper stance, all of her weight pushed behind her fist as she aims to drive it into the side of the newly sprouted jaws! It's a big, dumb, artless punch with only one foot on the ground, solely aimed at knocking those teeth off-course from Calvin and maybe making some distance between them with sheer force, but she's not expecting it to deal lasting damage given the circumstances. From there, White tries to recover her posture and calls her scythe into one hand in a soft blink of violet light, trying to put her head on right and straighten out her words. She had something she was thinking to say to Red, but trying to rush herself, raise her voice and even get the words in the right order is throwing her off and actively distracting her; even the grey-black 'flames' of her scythe's rot-attribute aura seem to be flickering and dripping down the blade irregularly, like the weapon itself is agitated and anxious. What CAN she even say right now? She thinks all kinds of things, like insisting on how Red's won, how she's finished her hunt, how she can overcome the wolf through sheer will. White should be able to espouse all of that confidently, even reassuringly. She's done this before. Yet... She ends up contrasting Flamel, instead, because she's not actually listening to what he's trying to sell when she finally squeezes out one little sentence. "... You won. You devoured... The wolf. It's yours to use... now. Don't... Let your prey... Eat you up..!" She's too off-kilter to be proactive here, while still trying to press the midcombat Talk button. For the moment, the best she can do is react; block attacks up close with her scythe, keep the jaws from clamping down on anyone with her webs, or get in the way if she raises her gun by raising stone columns in her firing line. It's going to take a minute for White to get her own plan straightened out better than that.
Holly Asturias	"You can't survive if you don't get scared at all, but I don't have time to feel lonely." "I think... that might be true, but I also think it's a sad way to look at it. Too busy to be lonely... that's a little bit familiar, I suppose." A bit. Just a bit! Though it's not much of an issue anymore, bless her staff. "He's mine to kill... HE'S MINE...!" "Please, calm yourself!" When has that EVER helped? But she has to try it. Flamel's EXPLAINING, and it's surely extremely important to pay attention to! Something about... concepts, opposing poles. Does she have anything like that? No, not even a bit! 'Opposite a wolf', that's... CHOMP. And then the wolf is bursting out of her. Calvin looks like he's got it handled-- and Flamel, she doesn't know, but knows he's a Partner, and knows he's doing Helpful Psychic Things. What can she do? <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Mr. Nash -- and whomsoever may help -- please attract the wolf's attention, if you could. Focus upon rejection, despair, and the violence that accompanies both." ... it'll be painful. But it's not hard. She just has to think about her father. His rejection of the family, his treatment of her and her mother. His distance, his degrading condition, the inevitable death at the end of that road if she can't cure it. Maybe even if she can. Her blood, mostly golden, streaked red, gushes out of her body to form her rifle-bayonet in her hands, and she twirls the weapon defensively as she takes a ready stance with it. It seems more like a spear than a rifle in her hands, right now, and that might well be the point. Hunters do love their spears. She'll be ready to intercept anything headed for Flamel's direction, since he seems busy, but maybe if she thinks about how much she hates her dad enough, she'll get that lock-on instead. And heaven does she.
Tamamo	Tamamo's not entirely certain that listening to Flamel is going to work, here. On the other hand, he is, apparently, at fault for the current entanglement, even if he'd had no idea it would happen like this. That's enough reason, on top of the psychonautry, to at least accept the idea that opposing emotional forces might cause disentanglement. She calls out to Calvin, but Hell Biker is in there before she could have moved. That's something, and gives her a moment to get herself out of range, moving around to Red's half of the field. "Forceful methods it is, then. Mr. Nash -- and whomsoever may help -- please attract the wolf's attention, if you could. Focus upon rejection, despair, and the violence that accompanies both." This isn't the path she'd hoped for. "If only kinder methods would suffice... but, providing a happy ending for both hunter and hunted is not within our means, it seems." More quietly, "Miracles are for those who pray. Of all your wishes, were any for the wolf? Would one pity the oni?" She can judge, but she won't. These are thoughts to be set aside, for the sake of saving the girl in front of her. 'Will Red be okay, Miss Tamamo?' "I shall see to her side. Worry not." There are many traditions that allow for charming, whether in the sense of talismans or... as in this case, in bewitching, shining, mystic eyes. "Ms. Red, please, look this way." She's already standing in front of her, so that's not difficult. It's not a shocking impact, but the reverse, when she speaks, heat-haze flickering around her. Divine gravity is as a sun-bright abyss for one to fall into, able to look a little to one side, only to be drawn back in, visible even if one's eyes were to close. "The satisfaction of vengeance in its completion, is it not?" It's hard to argue with her, like this. Hard to force one's way against her words at all, where she's exerting this much overwhelming force, though a breaking-down Abnormality is the kind of being that still would, if any. "The joy of the hunter is to return home, the prize attained, the borders of the village safe. You thought there were none to await you, but that was only then. Am I not before you, now? Others wait for you now, as well. They wait to see you home, not the wanderer, but the victor." It is, maybe, a more forceful shift to the story than she'd first envisioned, but she doesn't want to see Red become what she most hated, and she can't imagine the Wolf finding peace here, either. "You thought there was nothing else left for you, did you not? Once, it was true, but not now. Even scars can be healed. Will you place this much trust in me?" Nothing has ever gone wrong from trusting a fox. If Tamamo is right in trusting Flamel here, then focusing on joy, satisfaction, healing and acceptance on Red's side, while directing the negating and opposite feelings on the other side will force things to progress.
Angela	If... He's gone My story is over. ''I don't know how he got into her identity!'' "He's always been in her mind... When you put her in his, maybe they eventually combined--Abnormalities do that sometimes." Love says. "Who we are isn't always up to us, we're stories before we're people. Her time in the wolf's mind must have changed her own sense of self. Especially if it's been for so long." Love isn't very smart but she knows specifically what it's like to be an Abnormality, and how they are both a precarious and constant existence. But that's just a theory. "Or maybe her will was just that much stronger than hers, when they became one story she ate him up from the inside out." Roland has his own. His expression is stricken, like this situation is hitting somewhere close to home despite the surreality of it. Red laughs as Joy is expelled from the flares, then she seems to finally notice the Wolf. "There...there he is..." A spike of that anger. "You think I'll...let you go!?"But she can't really get a good aim on something erupting out of her back try as she might. ''So you can drive him out of you just like the world!'' "I don't want to drive him out...!" Red snarls. "He's right where I want him. You think I'll just let him go?? He won't die just because I kill him--" The forest DOES catch fire! The dead trees combust quickly as the fire spreads around them which probably won't be good for the Huntress in the longterm. In the short term, Flamel's at least getting Red to talk. It's therapy while someone is trying to kill him! Just like he always wanted! And indeed, it's Red--not the Wolf--who draws a bead on Flamel and fires a shotgun blast at him! ''But, uh, you've done that how many times, now, and it hasn't stuck?'' "We don't die..." Red says. "Over so many loops. Over so many years. But I've got an opportunity now." But What do I do when he's gone? The wolf's head jerks away and splits itself in half, a second wolf head, rips itself out of the neck as Red reaches out to push a tail that has burst out of her chest back into her body. ''He'd still be living in your fuckin' HEAD'' "Of course he would! Could you hunt the beast across endless iterations, across time and time again, and be able to kick him out!" The fire blasts Red back towards the trees, and the fire, and she grits her teeth as she throws a hand down into the floor, almost as bestial as the beast ripping out of her as she points her shotgune towards the Hell Biker and takes a shot at his front wheel, trying to cause a wipeout. "I thought you were a bit like me with that 'face' of yours, but you don't understand, do you?!"
Angela	"What are you saying...?" Red demands of White. "I devoured him--you're saying he's trying to eat me from the inside?" "Red! Come on, we can just--talk this out right?" Love tries. "We're friends right? We both fight the bad guys right? I... I struggle to know what to do when there isn't evil to fight either, but we live in such a big world--there's a lot of wolves out there!" Red pounces for White and Roland recovers enough to step forward and bash her back with a hammer, interrupting her first strike--but when she tries again, she goes with the scythe, bashing Roland away with a foot as she presses up against White's scythe with her sickel as the leftmost wolf head bites at White, just barely missing her thanks to her scythe's reach. Stone columns helpfully stop shotgun blasts from slamming into Roland's gut. "Shit--she's tough to read when she's all fucked up like this..." Roland says. "Thanks White..." She'd love to go after Flamel more too, but Holly is in the way and Red isn't quite hostile at Holly to go through her, but the longer she's in the way, the more that'll change. "Get out of the way, that bastard deserves this..." ''Of all your wishes, were any for the wolf?'' Long ago... I remember... Being grateful for him "I...What kind of miracle could I wish for him? He's gone now. He only remains in my heart and mind." ''I shall see to her side.'' Love is relieved. "I... Maybe like last time, if someone is able to really reach her for a moment--that's what you did for me, right?" ''Ms. Red, please look this way.'' Red still considers her human head to be the primary one. She turns to look at Tamamo but seems briefly unsure before focusing on her. ''You thought there were none to await you'' "Isn't that true...?" Roland murmurs. ''Am I not before you, now? They wait to see you home, not as the wanderer, but as the victor.'' "We...don't know each other, clever fox, are you saying you want to?" "I know you!" Love insists. "I've missed you a bunch, Red!" Red hesitates, stepping back from Tamamo warily--much like the wolf she's consumed. "Trusting a fox... I don't know... Even if there is a home, it's not one I'd recognize." Roland's fingers tighten around his hammer. "Dammit.." He mutters. "What do you want me to do, wise fox? If he's my prize, I'm keeping his pelt. If I let him go, he's free again."
Calvin Nash	Text scrolls rapidly across the screen. Calvin's eyes skim the details hurriedly as he rushes to put his back against a tree. Analyze v. 2.3.2 developed by Trina McElwain 'Red Hooded Wolf' Affinity: Physical Threat: Severe Notable Techniques: Devour - the Wolf swallows a victim whole. Let Me In - the Wolf attacks from anywhere within Red's body. Observations: A fusion of the Red Hooded Mercenary and the Big and Will Be Bad Wolf. The fusion is unstable due to the opposition between the components. "Keep your distance if you can help it! That sumbitch wolf can pop out of her any which way he wants, and he's liable to eat you whole! If it's between that and gettin' shot I know which one I'd want!" Mr. Nash -- and whomsoever may help -- please attract the wolf's attention, if you could. Being given free reign to berate someone by someone he respects as much as Tamamo is like being given a blank check, as far as Calvin is concerned. "You listen here, you dumb piece of shit," he bellows, wheeling out from behind his cover to point accusingly. "Everybody here knows you're nothin', and you're always gonna be nothin'. You ain't never gonna get no better, you ain't never gonna be close to nobody, 'cause all you do is take and take, and when they try to get away, you fuckin' take even more. You take until it draws blood, until people come to put you away for it. The only reason you ain't dead is 'cause you keep findin' people to buy your bullshit. And where did they end up?" Over so many loops. Over so many years. But I've got an opportunity now. "HAH! Bullshit!" Red's shotgun hits the wheels of his bike--it definitely has an effect, the pellets tearing through the flames and thinning them out. The lowered ride profile at speed sends him careening off course towards a tree. He halts it with a skillful lean, though even then he collides with it, slamming his ribs into the trunk hard enough to splinter it. I thought you were a bit like me with that 'face' of yours, but you don't understand, do you? "I know a goddamn junkie when I see one," spits Hell Biker. "You said yourself you fuckers don't die. So what? You're just gonna waste your whole fucking life chasing the high of pretend-killing him?" I devoured him--you're saying he's trying to eat me from the inside? "Yeah, no shit that's what she's saying!" Hell Biker stands on the side pegs, revs the engine and drops back into the seat. "This guy RULES YOUR FUCKING LIFE!" Rather than charge towards Red, he peels out on the spot. The exhaust pipes of his chopper spew bilious, thick black smoke, propelling it in a rapidly-encroaching cloud that envelops Red. Shot through with red cinders, it burns and chokes.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel can take cover behind Holly and continue his work, even though the forest is beginning to blaze... Hope this book's fireproof, though burning books isn't outside Angela's wheelhouse is it? "The hunter cooks and makes trophies and stuff after!" He calls out, peeking out from behind Holly -- and taking a harsh red flash of smashing buckshot dead on to the body for his trouble. Gah! With his invisibility not useable, he can't avoid that! He has to take cover again. "Ghhhh...!" "The point of a hunt is enjoying the outcome, you know!" He calls out. "The best revenge is killing, but you can add living well on top of that and you get even better revenge! It's great, you can do one and then the other!" But Tamamo is suggesting a focus on despair, on rejection, on violence... "And you," He jabs his hand-gun at the wolf-head. "Don't think you're getting off scott-free! Just because you're bigger and badder than the average traumatic fixation doesn't mean I respect you more!" The shots here aren't flares now, they're shots of raw aggression. "My job is to make people get as close to forgetting things like you as they can get! If Red hunted you to take a pelt, it's my job to put you down and bury you deep enough that her pulse doesn't even flicker looking at you, so get ready to go into the vault you mutt!" He can't say anything negative to Red, or judgmental, it's literally outside his mental faculties! But a mental figure that she's internalized? Well, that's something he can pile rejection and vitriol onto, and hopefully that'll facilitate Tamamo's plan, even if it means Flamel himself has to stagger from the buckshot that occasionally snakes its way around Holly's generous cover.
White	For what it's worth, it helps the process of getting her head on straight that Hell Biker volunteers to ram right into Red and cover for Calvin. A bike is a lot heavier than a fist, and it's an easy signal to take; she steps a little back and a little to the side, giving the biker some space to work with while taking the same away from the mixed up mercenary. Whether because she has few options or out of personal drive and emotion, Red focuses on White and closes the distance on her; strangely, this seems to help White's brain work. If someone's coming after her, fighting is completely second nature; she could defend herself in her sleep, and not have to spare it any thought. Now that she doesn't have to make up her mind whether to press the attack or not, it actually frees her up a little mentally... And all the better, pressing into a weapon-lock this close together makes it easier to be heard. It's like one thing after another is getting knocked off her list of worries! Roland's swoop to help cover her with his hammer is mindfully and subtly leaned away from to give his striking arm more clearance to work, only for White to take that space back up after he's knocked away; she conjures a pair of columns from the ground to cover him against those blasts, one from a tap of her heel and another from an upward motion with her fingertips on her free hand, leaving Flamel to Holly out of convenience. Her scythe's length helps keep her out of biting range, certainly, but she doesn't plan to keep that advantage; even with grey rot-flame licking at the steel of the merc's sickle, White abandons that potential advantage to let her own blade slide higher, then away, shifting to pressing against the sickleblade with the blunt haft of her weapon. She leans around the new wolf-head's first bite, then risks the second by plunging her free hand down over the snout wrapped in webbing... Clamping onto it as if to lock it shut with nothing but superhuman grip strength and supernatural silk. If she gets bit while wrestling for that position, oh well. She'll probably be less happy to get caught up in Hell Biker's attack, but whatever mental math is going on inside her head seems to say 'don't worry about it', given she's not trying to evade immediately. She will wrench Red around so that she's taking the brunt of it as much as possible, though. It seems as though this leaves her open to being casually shotgun-blasted in the chest while her own hands are busy, but a new pair of appendages sprout from her waist, white chitin and off-pink sickleblades of her own crossing over the gunbarrel from this closely entangled position to hold it down. If there's anything that justifies all of this effort to just wrestle with Red, it's that this is the only way to make sure her voice is heard... She's quite nearly cheek-to-cheek with Red when she struggles to mumble, "You have... Two choices. Reject it... Or absorb it." She even rephrases. "You can move on... Or you can make it, 'you'." She's probably struggling more, now, given the flames from Biker's attack are going to weaken her webbing and she doesn't have a ton of leverage over Red's weapon from this close, but the spider-limbs seem to be for demonstrative purposes of all things; at least that's how it seems when she emphasizes, "You might be... A little bit 'the wolf'... Yourself. But if you want to win... Once and for all... I think you can. The Demon Lord... Survived it. Don't you want... To write... Your own epilogue..?" Once again, she's not on the same wavelength that the others might be; she seems convinced that just separating the two of them isn't the better option, but whether she's right or not... That comes down to what Red wants, and what she's willing to become. "Choose... What will make you... Happy."
Tamamo	'I... What kind of miracle could I wish for him? He's gone now. He only remains in my heart and mind.' Near as softly, though easy to hear, it's almost like Tamamo's words are coming from somewhere else. "That is not a decision I could make, but it is one for you. To finally be other than a monster in waiting, perhaps. To be worthy of forgiveness. A miracle is a miracle because it is something one could only have called 'impossible.' If you reached for the impossible, what would it look like?" '...if someone is able to really reach her for a moment--that's what you did for me, right?' "It was not only my own wish, then." It's harder, like this. But that's what she's trying to do. 'Isn't that true...?' Tamamo really is putting a lot on Petra, but that's a secret. 'We...don't know each other, clever fox, are you saying you want to?' 'Trusting a fox... I don't know... Even if there is a home, it's not one I'd recognize.' There's that shine, again, and the voice from within its fire. "It is worth making the attempt, to live, and to find a path that can be called 'living.' That a home may be found after being lost is something I know well, myself. It may feel easier to walk in circles in the wilderness forever, chasing what you have already known, but that cannot be victory, and there is no satisfaction to be found, there. You are strong, no? You are one who never gives up. I am telling you this, that you are permitted to hold ambitions beyond these woods. You have been given that right." 'What do you want me to do, wise fox? If he's my prize, I'm keeping his pelt. If I let him go, he's free again.' "Can you truly keep him toothless? Show me," spoken like that, the force is focused, a sharp ache of need to demonstrate what was requested, beamed through her Charm, "or show that you can let go, and end this cycle."
Angela	Roland gives a look to Calvin as he explains the Wolf's techniques. He has gotten an idea of the Wolf being able to pop out from anywhere, certainly, that's evident enough by looking--but the idea that the Wolf is still capable of filling its belly is a harrowing one. He's fought a lot of crowds before but not a crowd in one. But ... he sort of fights like that doesn't he? "I'll keep the heads busy, y'all ... do what she needs done." He knows he's the wrong damn person to talk to Red right now, but he can still fight. He rushes at Red, deflecting a shotgun with the hammer and then trading the hammer for two knives that he summons in an instant, swinging them both for the two jaws of the wolf, using steel to keep the fangs from reaching him--or anyone else in the moment. ''The only reason you ain't dead is 'cause you keep findin' people to buy your bullshit. And where did they end up?'' "Consumed..." Red focuses. And the wolves, snarl, biting at Calvin but Roland grits his teeth and plants his feet to keep the Wolf off the Demon Marshall. ''You said yourself you fuckers don't die. ... You're just gonna waste your whole fucking life chasing the high of pretend-killing him?'' "So I stop caring? That's it?? Then all is hunky-dory, huh??" Hell Biker is quite adept at getting a rise out of Red, at least. ''This guy RULES YOUR FUCKING LIFE'' Roland is forced to pull back when the Hell Biker charges in, spreading his burning and choking smoke. Roland stumbles away, coughing himself, though some of this might be a traumatic reaction--he got out of there faster than he even needed to, by instinct. Red hisses. With three faces, she inhales three times as much smoke. And the forest is burning around her. She might go down with the ship at this rate. "We were always two parts of the whole..." She murmurs. ''But you can add living well on top of that and you get even better revenge.'' "I can have both...?" Can ''I'' have both? Roland wonders. ''Get ready to go into the vault, you mutt!'' White grips one of the wolves' jaws with her hand--the Wolf is strong, but White is certainly plenty strong herself. There's a moment where it looks like it might bite her, but Red snarls at it and it stalls long enough for White to seal it shut rather than risk losing a finger. Red grimaces tightly and the other of the heads pulls back into her body, though the effort is exhausting on her part, especially with the smoke. She stumbles out of it, hacking and wheezing. "A chained mutt. I ''do'' like that..." She can't muster the energy for a sneer. ''You might be... A little bit 'the wolf'... Yourself.'' ''Don't you want... to write... your own epilogue?'' Red doesn't really know of the Demon Lord, but the idea that she can survive this, that she can write her own destiny, that she can win once and for all--even if it means being a bit wolf herself.
Angela	What is it of the wolf that spoke to her, when they first met, in a part of a story that never reached reality? "Why did I stray from the path in the first place?" She was told it was dangerous from the start, but she still wandered out there. It's because... "I'd forgotten... That freedom of that beast. I thought I could have some of it for myself." ''If you reached for the impossible, what would it look like?'' ''Choose... what will make you... Happy.'' She doesn't know what that looks like. That's the problem, isn't it? The shroud of smoke and fire make it hard to envision that freedom. Her gaze turns towards the Hell Biker. With a ride like that, he could go anywhere he pleased. His 'scarred face' doesn't seem to bother him at all. ''It was not only my own wish, then.'' Love's eyes widen. She doesn't remember who else was there. But if Tamamo says there were others, there must have been, right? But she doesn't need to remember faces and names to remember the idea. It's buried into her soul so fiercely that it forms the strongest part of her core. "I know what to do! Thanks Tamamo!" She drops her staff and runs towards Red with a big old smile on her face. And as Red's shotgun is aimed at White, and her finger hesitates over the trigger--Love gives Red a big old hug right then and there. "Wh--Pink?!" "Red... it's okay if you're a bit wolf now, I know your sense of justice and your kindness and hatred is stronger than that big old dumb wolf." Love assures her. "There's such a big world out there, and there's so many things to hunt, and you won't be alone anymore." ''Can you truly keep him toothless?'' Red pulls the other head back into her body, finally, slumping against Love. Maybe all that shittalking of the wolf has weakened its will, but White can see that the situation is stabilizing within Red--not unlike with Ariel long ago. Skills and traits become more legible and less garbled and unstable. The SHAPESHIFTING quality becomes truly UNDER CONTROL. Red reaches for her hood and slowly pulls it back, revealing her face properly for the first time. She's got red hair that's dry and matted like she hasn't been taking care of it for ages, but most of her face is horribly mangled and scarred. It's not just her mouth, one of her eyes is just missing and the other is bloodshot as all out. "...Sorry for flying off the handle there." Red apologizes, awkwardly and uncomfortably as if she has grown out of the practice. "When you asked what I had planned after I killed him, I didn't think there was an epilogue. But if all I have to do to beat him for good, is to let go of his hold on me. And move on with what's left of him isnide me...? Then that's what I got to do." She pries Love off of her and adds, "I'm not really into the PDA, Love." "It's mission critical." Love chirps. Red stands up and takes a look back around the burning dead forest of what remains of her home. If it wasn't Flamel's flares, Helldiver's bike certainly handled the rest of it. And yet, Red can only feel something like peace when she sees her home burning to the ground. "Let's get outta here." She mutters. "There's nothing left for me in here." Love beams and looks to Tamamo for confirmation as she so often does but she can't help but think of her home that she very much can go back to... But either way, leaving Red in the tale isn't really an option--half of the story has been devoured whole and no longer has a sway over the protagonist. And as you leave the book...
Angela	If only it was so easy for you... But what you want is something different, isn't it? That narrator-like voice gets one last quip in before you are pulled outside. "I...wasn't expecting you to bring her out with you." Angela says. "But I take it--this means your job went well?" "Mhm! I'll fill you in on all the details!" Love says. Somehow she makes the retelling of the story take twice as long as your efforts within it. Roland quickly excuses himself and leaves to go think by himself for a while. Angela watches over him quizzically but sometimes Roland has moods, she's learned that much about him and she knows better than to poke him if it's bad enough that he leaves the room, especially since Red has already started bickering with Love over the story's details. "Mm... Well, I'm glad the situation wasn't too out of control...?" It's going to be a while before she really has the full story.