Leaping up from his sleeping area outside of the Hell Knight's home, Mimic had no clue what had happened. Surely the one he was now working with would know. He waited outside for her to exit, if he wasn't needed she would surely wave him away.... wouldn't she?
The Crimson abomination was already up before the practically Novus rattling explosion. It was already up and looking after the Craveloft guard dogs. A daily routine it took upon itself much to the confusion of the Craveloft manor staff. Not that they would dare speak out against the beast's presence in person, and even if they did, it's actions over the two weeks made it pretty clear it had not intentions on harming the pups and they were in no danger. The pups themselves seemed to be more accepting of the creature, despite it's outward appearance. It was just about finished with setting up the food bowls when the explosion was heard. Aside from stopping and looking toward the general direction it heard it originate from, it did not pay the disturbance any mind. The dogs on the other hand were understandably startled by the loud ruckus and began barking wildly. That more then anything was what bothered the sanguine specter and it tried it's hand on calming the bunch of barking dogs down. "Shhh...shhh...there, there" it tried to sound as soothing as it physically could to placate the agitated pups, "it's okay...it's alright...everything...okay...nothing...to worry" The one day it didn't take a chew toy there would have to be a huge explosion. So it reached inside it's form, and ripped out a femur. After shaking off any of it's residue it waved it front of the pack in an attempt to get their attention.
Still in bed in a state between asleep and just laying there with a headache, a rumble went through the manor, as if the very foundation was budged by the earth itself, making Johnathan Craveloft get out of the plush bed in a frenzy of flailing limbs in thinking something was attacking the house. "Who!What!Why!" He asked no one in particular as he finally found his footing. "There seems to have been an explosion in the city sir." Butler Jenkins said calmly from outside the door, more than likely waiting for the young sir to awake, meaning there was news. "And...?" He inquired the butler in a pain groan as he held his head now. "No real news, just speculations." Jenkins replied. "Also, Ms. Kaspara Craveloft has arrived and is waiting to meet you in the main living room by the way." He added, only hearing another, annoyed groan through the door in response. "Fine...I'll be ready in like...a few minutes...maybe." The boy mumbled as he started getting some cloths on and fix himself up to be much more presentable than he his now, Jenkins leaving to go do his other house keeping duties. Now in his usual attire, this time a deep blue suit with a dark purple tie to go with it, Johnathan sighed and left his room with cane in hand to find his cousin and face the music. "Sigh..Hell-" He was about to greet his cousin as he rounded the corner to the living room, only to see it empty still. "Wait where the fu-" he was about to question out loud before an arm was around his neck in a chokehold as Kaspara's pale face was suddenly next to his as he struggled in her grasp, close enough for him to see the individual black veins coursing under her skin, her orange slit pupil eyes side glancing into his like a serpent staring at prey. "Hallo kleiner Kumpel!" She said in a sing song voice and a grin of sharp fangs. "How's my favorite member of the family doing today?"as she kept the strangle hold. "F-f-fine." Johnathan was able to mumble out as he tried to get a breath of air. "Gut! Now, I'm sure your Vater told you what happened and why I'm here, Ja?" She asked to confirm, to which he just made a noise for yes. "And now, I'm guessing he also said to keep me from getting the WBSA here all riled up." And again, he only gave a confirming grunt with annoyance now. "Pfff, what a kill joy." Something even he could agree on with her. "Buuuuut, you're not going to do that right? Bitte?" Kaspara asked with faux puppy dog eyes at her cousin. "Let. Go. I. Explain!" Johnathan spat after reaching his limit, to which she did with the same smile she still had on and letting him catch his breath as he leaned on his cane. "Did you really have to fucking do that?" "Well of course, that always how we say high to each other remember?" she reminded him after plopping down on one of the couches. Now no longer behind him holding him around his neck, he saw her wearing a attire that was more akin to a military brat than anything, with combat boots that were on the furniture now, getting a thwack from his cane on her leg. "Feet off the furniture!" he said, her rolling her eyes but complying at least. For now. "But yes, I'm not going to leave you high and dry, not doing anything while you're here." he told her, a spark of hope now reflecting on her face now. "With all the changes going on in Novus, I see a chance here to have a greater hold over it all. To wretch power from the other families, slowly but surely, to the point that they're not even competition. But we must start small and at the foundation. A lot of the slum areas are still free game and filled with a bunch of smaller gangs, which I know the Santanos have been trying to make moves on for awhile now. Its untapped manpower and influence on the very streets. I want to get some more harden people under us, not the dock working mooks like our warehouses. People that know how to handle a damn gun." "Soooo, where do I come in this Johnny?" she asked with interest but trying to figure out his line of thinking. "The way I think of it, most of them are going to respond better to someone whose physically strong and not to words" he explained. "So, you want me to scare the shit out of them into joining, with some serious violence?" she grinned. "Its what you do best." he smiled back with an actual compliment. "You sure Alduwin won't care?" "Not even the government cares about them, there's no one but criminals they can turn to for protection, and if Craveloft looks like the best option well...." He reasoned. "Of course there's things you can say to make it more worth it to them, things we can provide what the politicians always promise but fail to deliver. Clean up the streets. Get businesses going again. And, of course Security." "Hah, if I didn't know any better I would think your little chainsaw skater girlfriend got you thinking this. You know, helping the poor and Scheisse." Kas laughed for a moment, before she saw the smile on Johnathan completely fall off. "What? What did I.......wait. What happened?" "We're not seeing each other currently." "Ok.....but why? You seemed pretty happy for once with her." "....Father...had disagreements." "Oh." "Hit squad." "Oh for fuck's sakes. Is she?" "No, she's still alive thankfully. But doesn't talk to me anymore after that." he told her. There was an awkward silencer for a few minutes before his cousin spoke again. "Uh, sorry about that Johnathan." She apologize, seemingly serious about. Johnathan just shook his head. "You have nothing to do with it, don't see why you're saying sorry." And again another moment of uncomfortable silence. "Soooo, what do you want to do?" She asked to try to get the ball rolling again. "Well, we'll head out. I want you to get a lay of the land so you can do your blood covered assassin bit without getting lost. I got a pit thing to start getting ready this weekend. I'll touch up some contacts and see what gangs and who to target for our expansion." "Sounds like a plan to me. Think we can grab something to eat on the way out?" she asked as she got up "Wait, let me get my armor and shove it into the car." she said before heading out to get the case. "Make sure to put in the trunk of the red one! That one's mine!" he reminded her, before getting up to go get his things as well. "Give me a few minutes, got someone to check up on." he yelled after her before heading outside to the Dog kennel building. If what his staff had told him to be accurate, big red and mean should be there still.
<Serpent> The lizard cop had a rude awakening. He was in deep rumbling sleep, one leg and arm over the bed. When the explosion hit, he woke up with a yelp and fell off the bed in a startled jump. Serpent stayed down on the floor on his back, recovering from the rude wake up. Then his phone started vibrating on his night stand, which caused it to drop over the side and hit him in the face. He grumbled, sat next to the bed and checked his phone listening the message. "Greaaat." He tossed the phone to the bed behind him. Serpent yawned loudly and stretched. He did his routine morning exercises, ate a big breakfast and got ready for work. At WBSA HQ he would put on a a black bodysuit made specifically to wear under the armor, surprised how easily and well it fit. He put the armor on, save the helmet for now and booted up Ilona, gearing up fully. He headed for storage site alpha to find out what this day had in store, carrying his shotgun in one hand and his helmet with the other, shock baton and assault rifle mag locked onto his armor. <Deoluk> These past three weeks had been strange for the centaur druid. It was supposed to just be a routine ruin investigation. He should have known better once he found the mirror amidst all the rubble all pristine and immaculate. Of course he had to touch it to find out if it was real. Not like decades of eradicating vile magics would have hinted him to not touch unnatural looking mirrors. The nymphs back home would never let this go if they knew, teasing Deoluk over it for months. He had these thoughts daily, regretting the error he had made. Still there was beauty to be found in this new realm he was in, lucky he had found himself in an open field next to a forest after the magical relocation. First thing he did was to avoid the local human populace, making note of those who were closest to his claimed territory. Deoluk had explored some of the surrounding land before claiming his own territory, finding the perfect spot to plunge the Worldstaff to. He spent the second week making rituals and spells to care and grow his little piece of paradise in this new world by amplifying the passive magic of the Worldstaff. The staff made his job easier and faster, nurturing and growing the nature around it. Speaking of the land it felt somehow off. Like it wasn't born naturally, but still Deoluk find nothing different in how it behaved and responded to his magic and care. The thought gnawed at him daily every time his thoughts wandered. Then there was the explosion, despite his distance from the human hives Deoluk heard it. He ventured outside of his territory to get a better look, looking towards the city in concern. He kept his distance for now, he didn't know how the local populace would react to a centaur druid. So Deoluk kept watch and patrolled his borders, hunting only to fulfill his needs. This realm was much louder than what he was used to.
Daniel had been walking around not doing too much, in reality he had done very little the last two weeks, consuming the two WBSA agents two weeks ago had been a pretty Big turning stone, even if he had been killer before in truth. Though his reverie was ended when a massive explosion rocked the city and allmost threw him to the ground, though at first alert, he saw that curretly little Else seemed to be happening, and for lack of a better idea, and maybe in danger of being a bit clische, Daniel made a B-line for the nearest diner, surely they would have a tv with the news on in such here and event.
Suffice to say, waking up to a continent-rattling explosion is not good for someone with mental problems. Especially when said problems originate from outside the physical universe. The Prophet sat up in bed, opened the door to his room and looked around. His followers, now given proper faculties with the abandoned complex they had taken over, had also been shaken from their sleep, some even gripping their ears in pain from the noise. "Alright, people, settle down." Prophet said. "This is the kind of event that is opportunity for those so inclined. And we, friends, are inclined. Now, I'm going to contact our superiors and see what in the swirling depths is going on, and what we should do about it." The Prophet went back into his room. Their, he used his connection to the Void to contact his patron. Not the insanity-inducing one, the sort of human one.
<Phoenix> Waking up suddenly from the explosion, Phoenix jumped out of her bed coverings, and only after a few seconds to pause and confirm that she wasn't having to leave the building pretty quickly she scrambled for her phone by her bedside table to hear the Code Black on her phone. She immediately got out of bed and throw on the closest attire she had to hand, a shiny one-piece. Not that she cared about what could be read into her choice of clothes, given the Code Black was far more important that yelling to the world what she liked to wear in her spare time, or other things like having a breakfast. The agent then hung up the phone, so she could suit up with the weaponry of choice she could keep at home and the Whisperplate armor in peace and quiet. She then dashed out and once out of the main building, she waved away Mimic, given this was WBSA business she was on, and he didn't want to be near WBSA for all the obvious reasons of not wanting to be imprisoned . Gunning her bike towards the Storage site, the Knight of Hell dropped in at an out of the way location, an unused warehouse that seemed to have been bought and then forgotten about, but one she was shown during the two weeks she had for work. There was a keypad by a security door, which at first seemed to not be out of place until her 'blessing' allowed her to pierce it's Glamour and reveal the demonic script that replaced the normal numbers of a keypad. She quickly typed in the access code, and then entered the building. Inside the place, there was a locker full of keys, and an array of locked weapon racks that held a variety of firearms. If 'variety' meant from weapons that seemed normal, if nothing earth-like in general appearance to the more.... Outlandish designs that Phoenix would admit terrified her just by looking at them, let alone the idea of picking one of them up and using them on people. And at the back of the storage area was a firing range to test out the ordinance. Suffice to say, the targets on the firing range weren't made from paper. So Ellyaina took out a smaller and saner looking piece of firepower which looked like something akin to a submachinegun and then left the premise. She had put a Glamour on the weapon to make sure nobody saw that it wasn't a normal gun. She then finally headed off to the Storage site, only to make one final stop for a quick breakfast on the way. <Thunderbird> Rervana however, was already awake when the explosion happened, reviewing recently gathered seismic data from the Laboratory section of her ship. The Warbird, the sleek vessel that the Starlen called home was still located within the depths of Novus's forests, concealed from prying eyes, ears and sensors with a good location, hard work and inbuilt feats of technology. The Laboratory that was graced by the Pathfinder-Legate's presences was a decent and well white lighted space, with tools for the sciences both soft such as a booth to conduct interviews with natives and hold them captive for more primitive forms of experimentation, to hard science equipment useful for pulling apart technology and understanding physics and chemical issues. Even a firing range with holographic targets for weapons testing, if that was something for her to do. Suffice to say the shock from the explosion caused her to jump out of her seat, figuratively speaking. Thunderbird then immediately (and psychically) called for her slave (@Casavay ) "Q'rasha! I've got something that needs investigating among the local land mammals, given whatever the hell made that big explosion needs to be looked at! So come to me at the armory!" This was while she darted off from her now boring data analysis, and went to get herself dressed and equipped for being out in the land mammal's public spaces.... In the armory, and without caring about modesty for her slave's eyes.
<Aura> The young superhero woke with a start - and found herself on the laminate floor of her bedroom immediately thereafter, pulling a rat's tail of her sheets and a pillow down with her. A lightning spell had passed halfway through her lips when Aura realised that the offending noise had not originated from within her room. With a frown, she dissipated the gathered humours and let the static of an unfinished spell wash over her before she twisted unelegantly to sit on her butt, instead of lying on her knees and face. And pretty much at the same time, she noticed her phone ringing. The unfortunate setup of her bed and nightstand had caused it to get pulled along in the avalanche of bedding; it took the young woman quite a bit of fumbling around in the darkened room ere she found her sleek silver comm-device and favourite radiation source. And while she'd never experienced a Code Black before, she knew it was tough enough business to get dressed quickly and pick up her spellbook before heading for the Storage site. <Dirge> @Maleth The cybernetic Syren too was already awake by the time the detonation's din reached them. Clad in her battle armour, and straddling a simulated foe, she paused in her pummeling to listen up, her sensitive ears ringing from the blast but her mien unperturbed. She quickly dealt the finishing blow to the simulacrum – smashing its head with a tendril while not even looking – before rising to her feet. It gave the raven-haired warrior pause, as she was not even entirely sure how to proceed at this moment. But at the same time, Rervana likely would, and the cyborg moved towards her Domina's last known location in the labs. About halfway through the Warbird, she felt the pleasant song of the bird of land's psionic voice permeate her mind and turned on her heel. Rervana's call, even without any barbs of compulsion, was a more powerful siren song than any Dalneathan could ever hope to produce. Dirge found herself hurrying, large strides taking her forward swiftly without breaking into an unsightly run. “My Domina!”, called out the slave upon entering the armoury, immediately confronted with the naked Starlen. Used to this sight by now, she gazed through her mistress without interest. “And a good morning. What will you have me do?”, she asked dutifully, with a tinge of urgency in her voice.
Being shoo'd away Mimic made his way back to his new home. He was in need of a good shower anyways. Once that was done he got himself some breakfast and began pouring through what news he could find about the explosion. He flipped on the tv to the news as he scoured the internet for anything useful.
<Thunderbird> Seeing her slave arrive as she had commanded, Rervana replied "I'm heading out into the local hive of land mammals, so I'll need you with me to make sure my method of transportation isn't opportunistically stolen by the younger members of the species looking to impress their mates. Naturally this entails means coming with me, on this fine morning." (@Casavay ) This was said as the Starlen dressed herself in front of the Syren, neither flaunting or trying to conceal herself (okay, maybe with some flaunting) in front of her property. Once attired for the occasion of being outside and in the company of humans, she selected her equipment for being covert and not so easy to detect from prying eyes, yet still able to defend herself from hostile actions. This was basically her railpistol, the hand-sized, red, black and metallic weapon carved out in the usual Imperial style of looking like it was a cutting-edge miracle, all angular and sleek. It had two thin protrusions from the main body of the weapon that were the rails of the railgun, unlike the single barrel of a coilgun. Along with the modifications for the railpistol that could improve it’s damage, accuracy, rate of fire and even allow it to shoot in more modes that semi-automatic, Thunderbird also picked up an explosive charge for if she needed to renovate a wall in order to get away from hostiles, alongside the small tweaks it could do for either remote detonation, or being used as a mine to buy her time to escape. Naturally, the weapons were for if she had to 'go hot' (that is, reveal that she was not a normal person in terms of technological capabilities) in order to evade capture, which would blow her cover as a ‘normal’ person. Otherwise, Psychic Powers were the great equalizer for her ability to solve problems and evade capture. Being dressed and equipped for going out into the human hive, the Pathfinder-Legate then ventured off to the Vehicle Bay, gesturing for her slave to follow her. Suffice to say, she was picking a vehicle that could better 'blend in' with civilian traffic. Like a fairly small hover vehicle that could be passed off as a high-tech model if she was forced to answer questions about where it came from.
