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Aberrant: No Fate - Chapter 2: The shape of things to come


Joani

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Since no one else says anything Cherub speaks up,

"Jack, I think you're going to need to undorm and take us, or at least Synner, to that safe house you mentioned."

"If someone else has a different option they haven't mentioned it."

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Nosferatu was getting pised at The Fool's waffling. He was hoping that there was some sort of fall back position before hiding out with Newton. He had made up his mind. The Fool was useless to them in his current state. He would however be useful when Nosferatu got hungry.

"We don't need his hideout." Nsferatu finally said with exhasperation in his voice. "Synapse gave me the coordinates to Newton's place. He assured me it was secure."

He reached over and grabbed The Fool. "If he can't help us, then I'll use him for when I need to eat." If that didn't snap him out of his funk, then Nosferatu would take a bite once he got hungry.

"Synner." Nosfertu said as he nodded to them. "Here are the coordinates to Newton's place. "I want you to open a warp there as soon as we return with my coven. Right now, we need to go get them, and bring them here."

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It wasn't the decision he wanted, or even liked, but it was the one he had ... and they had to move.

He repeated the coordintates and then put them solidly in his mind.

"Your people better move with a purpose, Nosferatu."

With that, he mentally pinched the two points in time/space together until they were one. A portal opened and Synner stood waited for Nosferatu to get his people through.

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Quote:
He reached over and grabbed The Fool. "If he can't help us, then I'll use him for when I need to eat." If that didn't snap him out of his funk, then Nosferatu would take a bite once he got hungry.


Jack's eyes open wide with fear.

"N-No!" He struggles against the vampire's brute strength. Suddenly he spasms violently and breaks free falling backwards with an unceremonius thud.

"Alright."

For a moment, Jack looks suddenly sullen as if in defeat but when he looks back up at the team his eyes seem far more self confident and calculating than he seemed just a moment ago, as if he had been acting the whole time. He begins to speak almost sing-songy with each word dropping a note. At the first word his skin begins to blacken and char, by the second it is boiling. At the third his eyeballs burst and his skin seems to visibly catch flame for an instant and an invisible,inaudible blast seems to engulf his body, ashes exploding off him into nothingness. By the fourth word, his melted skin has cooled into scars and The Fool opens his eyes of flame, grinning with malevolence.


"Merrily."

"Merrily."

"Merrily."

"Merrily."

PassOverFace.jpg

As soon as he has remanifested, it is obvious to everyone around him that the Fool has grown exponentially in power. Whereas before there seemed something off about his presence, he now radiates the palpable horror of Abomination. His form flickers slightly almost as if he was a three dimensional cinematic projection overlaying reality. His voice echoing in everyone's mind is even more disturbing and uncanny.

Life is but a Dream...

He holds one lanky arm out horizontally and Eufiber black as night flows onto him, engulfing him in its liquid darkness. A tendril of the living colony attaches his smiling mask to his face and his other hand dons his cap with a flourish, 3 feet of blood red died pheasent tail sprouting as if created by the splash of an artists brush.

The Fool bows deeply again as is his way of greeting.

"I trust I'm not late for the party?" he inquires, producing a long slim stilleto and balancing it it point first in the air motionless on his index finger. "Jack tells me you all have been in quite a bit of fun since we last left our Newtonian Portent. Tell me, shall we summarily sojourn to our sympathetic Sphinx or might you all have the time to spare for champagne and strawberries in the Lion's den?"
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Sean wasn't sure what was worse, Jack's sniveling, or the Fool's constant lack of seriousness. Sean growls slightly in the back of his throat in frustration and says to no one in particular, "I thought for a split second that I was feeling guilty over Jack, then quickly realized, I'm just hungry." Looking to the Fool, "Now that we have the option, I think we should visit Newton rather than your home, although, you should take Synner there so we will have an avenue of escape if one becomes necessary."

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Nodding his silent assent, The Fool appears next to Synner faster than the eye can follow. Wrapping one arm around the other Nova, The Fool takes his other hand and seems to grab just above his head. In a disturbing fashion he "rips" a hole into reality, peeling back space as if it were a two dimensional piece of paper. He litterally tears the two of them off the "page" of reality, a gaping abyss visible beyond. Just as quickly the torn edges flap back into place leaving empty air.

An instant later a warp portal opens, faint orchestral music wafting through and a profusely sweating and highly disturbed Synner emerges, along with the towering Fool.

((For a visual of this particular teleport check this out at 1:46...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8yY_fRom5s ))

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Seeing The Fool change to his natural form was a good omen. At least he still had some sense of preservation.

When the Warp to his coven opens, Nosferatu steps through to where his his worshippers were hiding. He hoped that they were still here, and that the authorities had not found them yet.

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Malcolm makes a bit of a disgusted face at the Fools transformation. All things considered I guess I lucked out hardcore. "Let's just get the fuck out of here, I feel exposed enough as it is even if I don't trust Newton any further than I could throw him at the moment."

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As the Fool made his monstrous transformation Nadine flinched and looked away with a pale face. She couldn't bare watching him and shyed away to Toms side. She hoped this was all just a bad dream and that she'd wake up any moment...

Originally Posted By: Nosferatu

When the Warp to his coven opens, Nosferatu steps through to where his his worshippers were hiding. He hoped that they were still here, and that the authorities had not found them yet.

Raquel and the other members of the coven were well off but extremely disturbed by the events. Synapse managed to evacuate them to the lower levels and Raquel seemed to be very excited not only about the events - there was something she wanted to talk about but time was not on your side.

Once Nosferatu has taken some of Raquels blood, obviously not enough for his taste but it'll had to do for now, Synner opened the Portal to Newton's hideout.

Stepping through the portal you find yourselves in a room that may be directly out of a science fiction movie. Cold black metal merges with ice to create a very unique architecture, yet the temperature seems comfortable enough to not make you freeze. The room itself is vaguely octagon in shape and has several computer terminals on different levels circling the room. Whatever was going on in the room everyone went silent and stared at you. You can see Newton and his "Gang" obviously surprised by your arrival and too stunned to act.

Newton seems to quickly regain his composure and smiles at you. "I suppose you've met Synapse?" He looks fairly "normal" now, like a human made of quicksilver. The constant flux of power that surrounded him in the cave last time you met is gone.

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Malcolm steps through the warp an into the room. He takes one look around at the decor which practically screams "stop torturing the laws of reality" and shrugs to himself. The kid has to show off his power even at home? Somebody is a little insecure in the size of their node I think. Malcolm gives Newton a level, menacing, look; the kind that says "you betrayed us" but says nothing, preferring to wait and see what the others say at this juncture. He looks around noting that the bizzare architecture provides only limited amounts of shadow. He makes a mental note to himself that fleeing this place will not be easy.

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Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar
As the Fool made his monstrous transformation Nadine flinched and looked away with a pale face. She couldn't bare watching him and shyed away to Toms side. She hoped this was all just a bad dream and that she'd wake up any moment...
Tom shifted a hair to be between Nadine and The Fool, and gave her a look that said *Well, I didn't pick him.* If she's willing Tom will hold her hand.


Once inside Newton's place he tried very hard to look innocent. whistle
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Synner is beginning to feel a bit drained, and a bit more than freaked out. The people around him seem to be in some degree or another lost in their circumstances and not facing up to reality. At least Payton can blame The Fool's teleportation experience for his missing a perfect opportunity to attack Newton and his crew. Maybe (but not likely) later.

Into the pregnant pause that stands between the two groups, Synner waves, saying,

"Hey there. I'm Synner ... with the Aberrants. I guess you are the other group of people I've been looking for. Don't mind me."

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The Fool whirls through the warp in a dervish-like spin. Stopping abruptly still he bows to their unexpecting hosts before he continues prancing, right up the walls of the chamber. His movements seem to be hyperreal, as if ones eyes had just sped up to 60 frames per second but only in regards to him.

He says nothing but seems to be right at home.

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Newton followed the Fools surreal entrance with suspicious eyes.

"I take that as a 'yes'.", he waved Synner over to him indicating that he should join with the others.

"Good work there, Synner. I'll tell Roussaeu of our progress once I've talked to our guests.", he walked towards the assembled Novas obviously sure of himself or not expecting any attack. His friends remained calm but vigilant, ready to take action if necessary. There was tension in the room but not as hostile like the first encounter with Newton.

"I don't know where to start. You most likely still think I'm responsible for what has happened in Manhattan. But to be honest - I wasn't. You may think I'm crazy - but I'm not a mass murderer. I was hoping to prevent it but it seemed I lacked some vital information. Luckily I was able to save Caroline and given some time I can try to finish what I've started. Maybe this time - with your help - it can work and we can undo the worst.", Newton was closing in you holding a device that roughly resembled a Star Trek Tricorder.

"I would like to scan your 'guest', with your consent.", it was hard to read Newton's eyes but his voice sounded sincerely - almost naive like a scientist in some strange sort of way.

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Cherub sputters,

"This time? Undo the Worst? What are you..." The penny drops and Tom connects what Newton is talking about to their missing days and continues, "...time travel?"

He takes a deep breath, glances at Nadine and asks her,

"Well, I don't see any problem. You good with it?"

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So, he's been talking to the Aberrants as well as members of the Teragen. I wonder what his motivation is? Nosferatu could only imagine what other groups Newton had associated with. How deep does this rabbit hole go? he found himself wondering, as he pictured scenes from the The Matrix

Raquels blood had invigorated him, even though it was not as much as he wished. At least they were safe, and he could go back and feed when the need arised. Things would be much less tense with his associates now that they knew he would not seek their blood to feed on.

He looked Newton in the eyes as he spoke. "I would very much like to know what sort of agreement you made with Synapse. He mentioned that he had been in contact with you for some time."

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After stepping through the warp Sean just stands quietly waiting to open up a large can of 'whoop-ass' should the need arise. For the moment he is content to remain silent. The mention of trying again to help Caroline was interesting though, Newton's last attempt had caused them all to increase in power considerably. Sean had to admit to himself that a second taste of that wouldn't be a bad thing, as long as they didn't destroy another large metropolis in the process.

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Nadine looked irritated at Newton's appearance and stepped even closer to Cherub. "Does it hurt?", she asks obviously scared.

Newton tries to smile and says evenly, "No, it doesn't. It'll be over in less than 10 seconds. I promise". Before she could answer Newton proceeded with the scan while he answered Nosferatu's question.

"Synapse was among the first who took notice of us. I realized quickly that I had to ally myself with him else he would've turned us in on any occasion I tried to access the Opnet. Nowadays it's virtually impossible to remain hidden long enough without leaving some traceable tracks. Synapse proved to be... too good for my endeavour to hide from him. You know how the saying goes... The Devil you know..."

Newton took a break to look at the scanner in his hand and hesitated visibly. "This is... unexpected... but intriguing. You could be the missing link. Would you mind if I borrowed her?", Newtons voice was void of emotion.

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Synner give Nosferatu a knowing look before moving over to Newton's team's side. He tries to make head's or tails of any of the equipment and only appears to be paying peripheral attention to the discussions.

Internally, he is thanking his twitching node that he isn't the highest ranking member here and the call to end this 'function' isn't his to make.

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An unnerving counter-point to the discussion at hand, The Fool dances across the ceiling and then down the wall. He prances around Newtons gang, coming close enough to them that he could be a threat, sometimes even coming right up almost to their noses before whirling away, seemingly oblivious to any potential danger. In fact, he might be the most dangerous thing in the room...

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As the Fool danced his surreal dance of bizarre and unreal movement Newton's friends got visibly edgy and nervous. They may wield incredible powers but they were kids after all. Especially Bastion was close to snap. "Fuck off you... clown! Freak!", he tried to slap the Fool but was too slow and forced himself to practice restrain in the face of the tensed situation.

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The Fool pauses just out of reach of Bastion.

"There, there... Did not your Mum inform her son that a tantrum doth become no one?? Do lighten up and have a little fun!"

The Fool rhymes, his voive echoing disturbingly from the walls and in the mind's of all those present, before he continues his Danse Macabre, to music only he can hear.

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Malcolm gives and exasperated sigh and rolls his eyes toward the Fool. "Dude? Seriously stop fucking with the kiddies, we're having enough trust issues without that crap making them nervous." Malcolm shakes his head, How the hell do I get myself into this crap?

"Newton, can you even come close to explaining what the hell is going on? I'd really like to know why I woke up in a crater."

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It occurs to Sean that the Fool is providing an excellent distraction and that it could present an opportunity to get in the first strike and perpetrate some serious destruction. Unfortunately, there is a little voice in the back of Sean's head saying this might present other opportunities, that and the tiny thread of doubt about Omega is staying his hand.

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Originally Posted By: Joani Reikspar
Newton took a break to look at the scanner in his hand and hesitated visibly. "This is... unexpected... but intriguing. You could be the missing link. Would you mind if I borrowed her?", Newtons voice was void of emotion.
Cherub says,

"Why yes I do. I had some probing of my own in mind for her later." Cherub gives Nadine a wink.

Cherub continues in a more serious manor,

"Newton... we're all on edge here and lots of people are dead or hunting us. Would you please tell us what's going on before someone makes a tiny mistake... and it escalates into something stupid? Assume we're not your mental equals or we're missing big pieces of this puzzle."
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Quote:
"Dude? Seriously stop fucking with the kiddies, we're having enough trust issues without that crap making them nervous."


The Fool faces Sean and asks quizically,

"Whatever reason would they have to be nervous? It isn't as if they kidnapped us....oh..."
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Originally Posted By: Callum Uallas

"Newton, can you even come close to explaining what the hell is going on? I'd really like to know why I woke up in a crater."


Originally Posted By: Courier


Cherub continues in a more serious manor,

"Newton... we're all on edge here and lots of people are dead or hunting us. Would you please tell us what's going on before someone makes a tiny mistake... and it escalates into something stupid? Assume we're not your mental equals or we're missing big pieces of this puzzle."


Newton looks at both men and it gets obvious that he lacks almost any sense for social skills. He seems even oblivious to the tensed situation as if his mind is set on something more important - greater than this.

He turns halfway to where Bastion is and says evenly, "We've got a truce here, no actions unless they kill me. Is that clear, Bastion?"

Bastion looked at Newton with righteous fury and incredulity in his eyes. They may have been friends in the past but something about Newton must've put Bastion patience to a test. Without saying a word Bastion backs off making sure the rest of the gang stays close to each other and covers their backs.

Turning back to Cherub and Callum Newton proceeds to answer the questions, "On my quest to uncover the reason and truth for our eruption,", he gestures to include his friends, "I've found out that it was unlike any other. We may have been latent Novas genetically speaking but there was a trigger, an event that caused us to erupt... and amass an unusual high amount of Taint.", Newtons voice was monotonous but you can tell from his body language that he seems very emotional about this matter.

"Of course I had been intrigued with the Teragens philosophies as it appeared to be a way out of this spiral of madness. A means to get it under control and lead a normal life but I had to find out soon that it was nothing like that. So I set myself upon the quest to find an alternative. Something to reverse the effect... and if that is not possible, then something to undo this unnatural eruption...", Newton paused for a moment where a normal person would sigh.

"We've been tricked by Proteus. That is what I have found out. They are working on a weapon to affect our nodes... to destroy it right away which would have devastating effects should you be so unlucky to survive it. Their weapon is biological in nature, maybe even a Nova. We were supposed to be their guinea pigs but instead of killing us it made us... stronger, tainted. I believe that weapon is that woman,", he points at Nadine, "and I intent to change the past. The problem is - I am not able of temporal manipulation - only with Caroline's help I can reach out and reverse time... but I lack control to be precise. It is exceedingly frustrating but this time we've come extremely close to the source.", without letting that sink in Newton tilts his head to look at Nosferatu.

"Synapse is one of the few Novas that realized that someone was messing with time. It seems as if he has a sense for minimal changes which he perceives through the OpNet. Changes a human or most Novas wouldn't notice and he has never failed to find us only minutes after I reversed time."
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Sean frowned. This was not what he thought or expected, he thought Newton was looking to increase their powers, but this sounded like he was trying to reverse his own eruption.

"That explanation was not very clear... Tell us a little more what it is you are trying to accomplish. Before it sounded like you were trying to harness Fong for more power to make yourself and your buddies more powerful, now it almost sounds like you are trying to change the past and unerupt or something crazy like that. Just exactly what are you hoping to do?"

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"So what sort of arrangement have you made with Synapse?" Nosferatu responds. It was vital that they got to the reason behind the web of relationships that Newton had forged. Nosferatu continues. "It could be that the OpNet itself is not affected by temporal changes. Since he lives there, he can see when time is changed 'outside' of the OpNet." He didn't want to let Newton know that the mole may have been relaying the info to Synapse. It was better to put the suggestion that Synapse was doing it by himself. The mole may be a necessary resource to use at a later point.

Nosferatu noticed Bastion's reaction to Newton. He wondered: Could Bastion be the Mole?

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Cherub chokes and sputters,

"An Uncontrolled Time Machine? You have an Uncontrolled Time Machine!?! No Wonder so many people think you're a high level player."

"That's why we're missing days... wait. You don't cause a New York level incident every time you use it. And the people weren't fried..." Tom guesses, "...aged into nothingness? Teleported into the future? Or was that something else entirely?"

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The Fool chants as he dances about,

This thing all things devours:

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;

Gnaws iron, bites steel;

Grinds hard stones to meal;

Slays king, ruins town

And beats high mountain down.

At some point his seemingly aimless whirling has led him near to where he can can feel someone watching him invisibly. He gives several exploratory pokes with his index finger, very fast but light jabs intended to catch their unseen voyeur off guard. Whether he is successful in touching the watcher or not he says,

"Come out, come out, whomever you are..."

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Originally Posted By: The_Fool

"Come out, come out, whomever you are..."


The flurry of quick jabs hit solidly on a woman's chest which had been standing only several feet away from Bastion. Stumbling back obviously surprised she reappeared backing away from the Fool hiding half behind Bastion who immediately took her hand.

Her face was unbelievably beautiful as was her perfectly shaped body that was wrapped skintight in an Eufiber suit similar to Bastions in color and design. Even the Fool was stunned by her grace and bright shining green innocent looking eyes. She had long brunette hair with a hint of red streaks which had an unearthly glow to it. Whoever this girl was, she must've been one of the most beautiful creatures on earth (App 5, M-App 5 and Syle 5 for reference).

Bastion's eyes almost glowed with righteous fury. He didn't say a word but it was clear from his demeanor that he would kill for her, maybe even his friends.

Originally Posted By: Mr Fox
Sean frowned.
"That explanation was not very clear... Tell us a little more what it is you are trying to accomplish. Before it sounded like you were trying to harness Fong for more power to make yourself and your buddies more powerful, now it almost sounds like you are trying to change the past and unerupt or something crazy like that. Just exactly what are you hoping to do?"


"I WANT to have a chance for a normal live... with or without eruption. I don't really care anymore. What Proteus did should've killed us but instead it gave us power... too much in too little time. We tried to get into Bahrain and find answers but instead we found more questions... and we found Caroline. I immediately saw the potential and knew we had not much time to scientifically analyse her. So I decided to take a more practical approach and hoped to learn as we moved on.", Newton looked a bit defeated to the ground. His voice remained devoid of emotion but his bodylanguage clearly showed that he was extremely frustrated.

Originally Posted By: Nosferatu
"So what sort of arrangement have you made with Synapse?" Nosferatu responds. It was vital that they got to the reason behind the web of relationships that Newton had forged. Nosferatu continues. "It could be that the OpNet itself is not affected by temporal changes. Since he lives there, he can see when time is changed 'outside' of the OpNet."


"He made one with us. He knows that I've got Caroline and he knows that I mean her no harm. I promised to give her back once I've accomplished my mission."

Originally Posted By: Courier
Cherub chokes and sputters,

"An Uncontrolled Time Machine? You have an Uncontrolled Time Machine!?! No Wonder so many people think you're a high level player."

"That's why we're missing days... wait. You don't cause a New York level incident every time you use it. And the people weren't fried..." Tom guesses, "...aged into nothingness? Teleported into the future? Or was that something else entirely?"


Newton looked up again at Cherub, "It was her.", he pointed at Nadine. "But I wouldn't say it's her fault. It's Proteus'. I scanned her and she is the genetic counterpart to the 'living weapon' Proteus has built. It just slipped out of their control... and instead of killing Novas it made us latents erupt. Given some time I could find out how she does it. This is the third time I saw it happen. I was glad to have pinpointed its trajectory but now try to find a single individual in Manhattan. Even with Synapse's help we couldn't predict who was the most likely host. Now that I know her face and her name I can focus on getting to her before the Singularity does... but controlling Time is extremely complex. I need more practice and I can only do it with Caroline's help. Are you willing to help us, or do you still want to kill us? I can't really tell anymore which outcome is better... being dead or trying to reverse what happened."
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Quote:
The flurry of quick jabs hit solidly on a woman's chest which had been standing only several feet away from Bastion. Stumbling back obviously surprised she reappeared backing away from the Fool hiding half behind Bastion who immediately took her hand.
Her face was unbelievably beautiful as was her perfectly shaped body that was wrapped skintight in an Eufiber suit similar to Bastions in color and design. Even the Fool was stunned by her grace and bright shining green innocent looking eyes. She had long brunette hair with a hint of red streaks which had an unearthly glow to it. Whoever this girl was, she must've been one of the most beautiful creatures on earth (App 5, M-App 5 and Syle 5 for reference).


"Hubba. Hubba." says The Fool with a deadpan and rather dispassionate demeanor.
Quote:
Bastion's eyes almost glowed with righteous fury. He didn't say a word but it was clear from his demeanor that he would kill for her, maybe even his friends.


"Oooh! Beauty AND her Beast!" adds the Fool, this time with more relish.

"How about it Meatwall? Care to duel for the lady's affections?"
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Malcolm d'oh-slaps himself in the forehead, Time travel? THis can't be ... wait, Christine! Suddenly intensly interested in the conversation Malcolm simply tunes out the Fool. He grabs Newton by the shoulders. "How far can you send me back? Can you help me save my wife?!" There is a sadness in Malcolm's eyes that overwhelms even the joy at finding hope and his excitement at locating a solution to his greatest mistake.

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Nosferatu responded to Newton. "Does Synapse know what you have been doing to her chrysalis? Divis Mal might think that your time travelling experiments, with Caroline, are abominations. What would he do to you, if he knew what was happening?" The Fool was a distraction. His prancing and rhyming were not conducive to 'business'. Nosferatu wished he regretted helping The Fool undorm.

Just then, a figure appeared next to Bastion. A goddess. At least she looked that way to Nosferatu. He found himself drawn in by her green eyes. Her neckline and bosom were flawless in shape and tone. Nosferatu saw himself sinking his teeth into her, tasting her essence flowing through him. If only....

Quote:
"How far can you send me back? Can you help me save my wife?!"

Time travel! Oh Great! It has started. Now everyone is going to want to go back in time and save their long-dead cat, Snowball. It wasn't that Nosferatu had no sympathy for Malcolm, it was that there were more important things to take care of than dead loved ones. On any night, Nosferatu could drink a human dry, leaving a lifeless corpse. To him, most humans were just cattle. It's not like Malcom's wife was Homo sapiens novus, he found himself thinking, with a slight curl to his lips. Suddenly he realized that Malcolm was still very human, and would embrace such feelings. Nosferatu told himself that he would suppress those ideas for the time being, out of respect for Malcolm

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