Aberrant: 2011 - Ashes to Ashes

[Dustbin]

Mikita slammed the top of the opnet terminal with his fist. He was a mixture of rage and anticipation. The taunting 'Emerald' would not need to be found, only hunted and devoured. Stupid girl. She gave him her location, along with another taunting message. For Mikita, this meal would tast the best. He would tell all of them what happends when they taunt demons from the jungles. He would even save some of her dust, to savor as a reminder.

Shaking with rage, he shifted his eufiber back to cover his deformed face. We will see who is a deformed scarf-monkey! Those words kept repeating in his head. He would show her. When they meet, he will reveal himself to her before reducing her to a pile of quantum infused atoms. In a flash, he was gone to where she said she was waiting.

It was late in the afternonn where he appeared. It felt like the jungles he lived in but different. The noises were alien, The earth was not the rustic red of the African soil. As he turned to survey his new landscape, he say a large grey and black stained structure. It was a pyramid of sorts, and the jungles encroached upon it's base, like a lion waiting to jump. She had said that she would be waiting inside. He would oblige her with her wish.

((OOC: 7 successes on Teleport @ +1 diff.

4 succ on Awareness to detect Emerald.

5 succ on Stealth.))

,,

[Emerald Panadero]

Emerald padded back and forth inside the temple atop the pyramid. Her eufiber had become a black bodysuit. Her raven mane swung free and he emerald eyes scanned the jungle below her. The vantage point gave her a limited view, but also limited who could see in. She liked – No, Loved this waiting.

The laptop remained open on the altar. This had been a trap laid by her and she was frightened and excited. This was better than sex, even with the molten Pele. This was the greatest rush of her life. She knew she might die. She knew she might well have to kill somebody too, and she was okay with that. She was the way she was.

Her .50 caliber handgun felt comforting in her two-handed grip. She had brought an assault rifle as back up, with its under-mounted grenade launcher, but that tool was so impersonal. She wanted all of this to come down with the breath of her killer in her face.

She padded from one entrance to another, looking out for her angry visitor. She was so hoping this would be a surprise her him. Angry was better than cunning, and she needed him angry right now.

{Sneak 2! Successes, but she has cover}

{Awareness 5 successes}

[Dustbin]

He was careful in his ascent of the structure. There were many places that someone could hid from view. Taking the main steps to the top would have provided him nothing to use as cover. Instead, he carefully scaled the side of the structure, using his flexible limbs to aid him. His arms stretched to the next 'step' of they pyramid with his legs stretching to puch him up. He was glad that a monkey howled in the jungle, as it hopefully masked the small pieces of rubble that broke off and tricked down the sides. It was more like walking up it than it was climbing.

His anger drove him onward. One step at a time. Soon he would be at the top.

I am coming for you. I can taste you. He was smacking his lips as he ascended.

(OOC: 3 succ on Athletics roll)

[Emerald Panadero]

When she heard it, she was surprised with how close he gotten. Her fear spiked and she licked her lips. Close was not on her though and she readied herself mental for what was to come. How ugly was he going to be? Just how unhinged by his anger?

‘God, it was delicious.’

Emerald went to the altar and grabbed up her package. The ease of her motion gave evidence to her conditioning of her body. She was ready. She kept telling herself that anyway to keep the fear at bay.

When he was close enough, she supposed, she called out.

“Dustbin, that you? It seems I won’t need that book after all.”

She said nothing to strong to send him over the edge after his long climb up here.

“I’m excited that you actually found the anger to come here. You normally come across so cautious.”

{Awareness 6! Successes – to be facing him when he comes around into view}

[Dustbin]

He reached the top and circled around looking for a window or door to enter. There was only the main entrance. She had picked a place where he would have to expose himself before getting to her.

She was speaking to him from inside the square building on top. She knew he was there, and was exicited. She spoke of caution. Maybe he had better be cautious. His anger, still boiling, pushed him onward. Not to the door where she would be waiting, but from the side.

The familiar surge of energy he always associated with eating was directed at the wall in front of him instead. Instantly a large section of it vanished, revealing a dark interior. He could feel her eyes on him.

"I have come. Prepare for your end." He projected his heavily accented voice into the interior, as he stepped inside.

((2 succ on awareness: that Creeping Feeling active))

((Disintegrate: 6 sucesses. 11 levels Aggravated damage to wall))

[Emerald Panadero]

Her laugh was nervous, but she stood her ground. Her eyes show. Dustbin’s display of power sent chills down her spine. Emerald shifted her stance and brought up her package. It was a man, blindfolded, hands tied behind his back, and sluggish in movement. At the same time, Dustbin’s instincts assured him the three of them were alone.

“End? How about a new beginning?”

She shoved the man forward and he stumbled toward Dustbin.

“See, I brought you an in-flight meal. Afterwards, if you still want a taste of dessert, well …”

Hell yes, she would run if things went badly. She just had to rely on her reflexes being fast enough. A short hop would get her off the pyramid. That should give her enough time to get home, or to a safe house to plot her next move.

“Care to see the nature of my trap?”

{Attempting to Persuade Dustbin to listen (Man.+Sub) 1 success}

[Dustbin]

He could now see his prey. She was certainly pretty, and it was going to be a shame to destroy her. There was someone with her though, but it was only one other. Quickly, a figure fell foreward, landing at his feet from deeper in the building.

“End? How about a new beginning?” she yelled out to him.

“See, I brought you an in-flight meal. Afterwards, if you still want a taste of dessert, well …” What? What is she trying to do?

He realized that she seemed to be offering him a bribe. A bribe that promised futher meals. Her offer was genuine, as she showed ruthless indifference towards her captive. Someone like that might willingly provide food...But for what in exchange.

Still, she had also insulted him publicly. While he didn't doubt her sincerity, he was too angry at the moment to listen.

"I not care for 'gifts'. I can get them myself." He tensed, looking at her weaponry. Apprehension crept over him. But, he came here for a reason, and she was now only a few meters away. If he acted quickly enough, he could finish it.

{Willpower to resist persuasion- 2 sucesses}

{Credibility: (man + sub) to detect if offer is genuine- 3 succ}

[Emerald Panadero]

Step One- get him not to kill you right off the bat. This had worked, but it was dampening down her buzz. A pity, but she could live with living.

Step Two - and now what?

"Of course you can get them yourself. This isn't about you being a hunter, this is about you being a demon."

Emerald stepped up to him, covering half the distance. She could see the horror that was his face. It was kinky in a roadkill kind of way.

"A demon amongst our own kind."

Emerald licked her lucious, red lips and took another step forward. She was less than a meter away now.

"You have everything you need. You are a perfect design."

She sounded nearly orgasmic.

"You want more, don't you?"

He didn't say anything, but she could see the need and loneliness in his eyes. She pressed on.

"We, my family and I, could provide you with all the people you need. Rapists and murderers in prisons around the world that won't be missed. No need to waste your stalking and hunting prowess merely to survive. Now you could do it as a true terror born out of nightmares. A killer who enters without doors or windows. A killer who leaves no trace. Nothing to remember, nothing to mourn over, nothing to point to a killer ... but the Fear. The Fear of you."

"That is what we want from you. That is the downside; having to kill those who treaten us and our interests. Do it and we can get you an estate and servants, entrance to clubs and restuarants, a home to call your own."

"Dustbin, you are alone. You have no one to share your triumphs and troubles with. What are your successes without the record of them. What novas do you have to share your existance with? What novas have offered? Truly offered what I'm offering you now?"

Emerald looked over Dustbin's shoulder and for an instant he felt a stab of paranoia, but he could see she was staring off at the horizon.

"I already know half your world. The whole world is a step away. Every bit of space people expect to be precious is nothing to us. Its a snap of the fingers, the wink of an eye. We can touch people across the room or,"

She dazzles Dustbin with a smile, "across an Opnet connection."

Emerald steps back and raises her gun toward the altar. It thunders twic in quick succession in the enclosed space. The Atlar explodes down the middle, far more damage than could be expect from a gun so small.

"I like ending things to, though -sigh- I leave much more of a mess."

{Seducing Dustbin to the Darker Side 3 successes - offer is genuine}

{Firearm - 4 successes, 5 damage/ 1 successes, 4 damage}

[Dustbin]

Why was he letting her go on talking? Something inside kept telling him to hear her out. Another part of him wanted to kill her and go. Still, as she told him more, his anger began to subside. Estates and servants? Entrance to clubs and restuarants? A home to call my own? It was more than he had ever hoped to have in his life. These things were only figments in his mind growing up and when in prison.

He lowered the scarf covering his face, revealing his disfigured and maimed visage. Ears were only small flaps with holes, the lobes completely gone. There was a large hole in the middle of his face where his nose once existed; now it was a black, glistening hole surrounded by ashen colored skin. The skin was tightly squarish on his cheekbones. His lips were gone, revealing rows of heavily stained and tartared teeth, like trees growing from a bed of red earth. The skin on his face and neck was mottled in black and grey.

"I am Demon. Yet...you want to give me all those things?" he was not really confused now. He was smart enough to know that this 'Emerald' was a ruthless killer, who conned him here to propose such an offer. She was right. He was alone. He had been alone for many years.

Her display of prowess with a firearm gave pause. She could have used it on him. She still might. On the other hand, she admitted to being a killer. He could respect that. He had wondered if he could kill for money and power. She was going to give him the chance. Still....

Quantum energies burst from his node at their intended target. There was barely time for any reaction or sound. Where flesh, muscle and bone existed, now lie a pile of dust the size of a pear. Slowly Dustbin walked over to where it lie, shoveled it into his hands, and began pouring it into his mouth. A look of joy came across his face as he fed, licking the ash that still clung to his fingers.

{Willpower to resist seduction: 1 succ}

{Disintegrate: 4 sucesses = 9 agg damage}

[Emerald Panadero]

"I am Demon. Yet...you want to give me all those things?"

His face was a living mockery of humanity, yet it fit him – this monster, this demon, so well. Intense revulsion warred with equally strong desire to feel what his warped flesh felt like beneath her lips. She also had to bite down on these twisted desires, because she was far from safe. He showed her just how far.

The man died without a sound. It was a perfect kill then he went over and really began devouring the ashes. He needed them after all. It wasn’t some act. It was almost touching. The passing of her power scared the ever-living shit out of her. She wanted more of that fear, that rush.

“You’re not boring,” Emerald told him. “Were do we go from here?”

She walked around so she could better watch him eat. She seemed entranced seeing the ashes pass between his teeth.

“Their plan is to put you up to a villa in my country, Venezuela. Personally, I think you should ask for something more in your own backwoods. Surround yourself with people you can trust to be yours. Not that my people aren’t trustworthy, but we are killers, drug dealers, and thieves.”

“Put us to work for you. Don’t take our cast-offs. You think you can do that?”

As he was finishing up, she added,

“For now, I will be the person you are dealing with.” Emerald’s nose wrinkles girlishly, “I think you scare the shit out of them … which is probably a good thing. They could do stupid things around you if they stopped taking you seriously.”

That was from experience. Let them fear the Demon.

She had put a lot before him and there was still more changes to come. Time to ask once again,

“Were do we go from here?”

The next twenty-four was tense enough. This was her brainchild after all and she was asking the Cartel to expend its hard earned capital to help this loose cannon. She preferred to call him an ‘Independent Asset”, for there was no controlling the Mangled Demon out of Africa. The Cartel would help Dustbin establish himself somewhere in Africa, with a house and some assistance acquiring his own help. Dustbin would kill at there beck and call, no questions asked. He would be free to pursue his own interest when not working for the Cartel. They didn’t like that part overly much, but Emerald pointed out they could garner favor and money by marketing their latest killer’s abilities. They had given their final approval to her scheme and she had caught back up with Dustbin, this time on his ground.

Likewise, she had to explain to Dustbin just what kind of wit she had. She confirmed his suspicions that she had seized upon his anger as a way enticing him to their rendezvous. He made it know that he wasn’t someone who enjoyed being played with – not at all. Esmeralda took the hint. In her favor, she could see the wheels move behind Dustbin’s eyes as they talked about his new future. He was looking forward to things he never had before. Greed and lust for things was growing in his heart and to Emerald that was a good thing. Time to move toward the future.