Summary:Ford gets ambushed by the Evil Dead 2 woman in the fruit cellar, can Dani and Voodoo save him?!? Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
   |
Every so often, something comes lumbering out of the Disaster Zone that many folks will swear was not there and came out of nowhere. Sometimes it gets far and makes a ruckus. Sometimes, it gets cut off before it causes too much damage.
This is one of the former instances.
A stalker has been wandering about the city streets late at night, though finding it has made for a tricky thing to do. It has a penchant for transforming into other shapes and preying on individual citizens roaming about the streets, ambushing those it fancies and dragging them into the darkness. The only thing the rumors agree on is that a long tendril comes lunging out from nearby alleys and swiping at the prey. Some stories also report a voice asking for help, usually an elderly woman's voice. Some manage to get away, others fall victim to the attack. Whatever the case, it's terrorizing folks and encouraging them to stay indoors after nightfall.
That would explain why the streets are quiet tonight, and largely empty. Save for one either very brave or very stupid soul. Ford, getting home late from the garage, walks alone along the streets of Lower East Side. He hasn't been made privvy to the rumors just yet. He just knows he needs to get home and quick. Ira was probably having to get herself ready for bed.
Brave and stupid? Well, Danielle Moonstar, aka Mirage, aka Midgard's Newest Valkyrie, could arguably qualify as either. Certainly, to hear Alison tell it, she can be remarkably pig-headed. But she did hear the rumors, so currently she's clad in her Asgardian armor and riding Brightwind.
The winged stallion glides silently overhead, as she does spot the stranger walking alone in the night. She frowns, but doesn't go down just yet, mainly out of concern he might know more about what's been happening. Or maybe he's actually the monster in disguise!
Hey, weirder things have happened!
Priscilla Kitaen used to live on the Lower East Side, and still has a safehouse here. More importantly, the Obsidian Club, the forum for her exotic dancing, is here. As such, she has heard about the attacks. She may not be working here as much, and not living here at all, but when she heard about the attacks she knew some of 'her people' could be in danger.
That's probably why there's a (usually) alien-hunting stripper ninja stalking the rooftops, searching for trouble. She may be hunting something other than aliens tonight. But the tactic is the same.
Luckily for both Priscilla or Dani, Ford is none the wiser to their presences. The encounter is probably predictable all the same. What Ford IS aware of is what sounds like crying from a nearby alley up ahead of him. Priscilla can likely hear it as she passes by overhead, but for Dani, it's probably less obvious. It certainly catches Ford's attention, evidenced by him moving a little quicker to the entrance of the alley, then stopping to peer into the darkness. "Hello? Anyone there? Everything alright?"
"Oh, thank heavens…" The response is raspy and feminine, clearly belonging to an elderly woman. "I was so hoping to acquire the aid of a strapping young man. Perhaps you can help an old crone with her problem…" Ford stared hard into the darkness of the alleyway, searching it a bit. After a moment, he looks rather shocked as if he's seen something, stepping back a bit before responding. "You-!"
That's all he gets out, before a long, slippery sounding tendril launches from the darkness and wrapping itself messily around his head, yanking him with a cackle into the alley.
Dani's eyes go wide at the sight of Ford getting tendriled into an alley, and she shouts a challenge from above, Brightwind going into a sudden dive. The horse snaps his wings wide, arresting the descent low enough that Dani can jump off the back of the horse.
She then manifests a glowing purple sword in her hand, shouting, "Let him go!" She didn't hear the little old lady cackle, but she moves in to try and cut through the tendril with her psychic blade.
Frankly, Voodoo has no idea what that thing down there recognized about this guy before the attack truly unfolded in earnest. But what she does know is that thing is dangerous … and why she is here. A quick hop and an acrobatic twist in mid-air, and the purple-clad, gold-accented figure pikes into the alleyway and emerges from the shadows with sword in one hand and blaster in the other. « Good horsey. Pretty horsey. Please don't buck my head off, OK? » comes a telepathic croon towards the almost glowing-white form of Brightwind, as the rather curvy ninja starts around the horse to advance and help this fight …
As if on cue, the moon comes out from behind a cloud to help illuminate the scene unfolding… and what that scene is turns out to be /strange/. Hunched on top of Ford's prone struggle is a hideously misfigured elderly woman. She barely even looks human, her sickly white-green skin stretched taut over her wiry, bony form, white hair an absolute frazzled mess in every direction, and her jaw unhinged as a long, pale pink tongue nearly 5 feet long hung out of it. The other end of said tongue was currently wrapping itself around Ford's head, who was struggling to loosen its grip around his head and neck.
Dani's battle cry and attack shocks the frail-looking monster woman from her focus on Ford, turning to eye Dani and screech furiously at the intruder. Her tongue loosen from her prey just in time to avoid having it be sliced off, leaving Ford to sputter and catch his breath on the ground while the woman leapt to a nearby wall and wailed angrily. "Nooooooo, you cannot have him! He's MINE!" she shrieked, before grappling a nearby trash can with her tongue and flinging it at Dani, before leaping over her to pounce on Voodoo.
Brightwind whinnies, communicating pretty clearly to both Dani and Voodoo, « Go right ahead! » The horse takes a few steps back, giving Dani room to focus as the Valkyrie quickly ducks under the trash can that's hurled at her.
"Eew, gross! Here, eat this instead!" The sword she was holding in her hand shifts into a psychic spear, which she then tosses directly towards the monster woman.
The fully masked and purple-encased Voodoo twists out from under the monster-woman's leap and leads with her sword. "Don't really want 'im. Jus' can't let you eat 'im!" a heavily modulated voice shouts as the sword strikes towards the creature. « Thank you, beautiful. Very kind. » is sent to Brightwind. Every girl loves ponies, don't they?
The shrieking old hag glances back with pale eyes just in time to see the purple spear flying right for her, contorting her emaciated limbs just out of the way in time to dodge it and cackle. But this seems to have distracted her long enough for Voodoo to get in a clean strike and cut off nearly half of her hideous tongue. The wailing screech she lets out could nearly cause someone to go deaf from it. "THAT HUUUUUUUUUUUUURT! You miserable little tramp!" Snaking what's left of her tongue in a wide arc, she changes targets to one that is likely much less dexterous and agile; Brightwind. Wrapping her tendril around the horse's torso, she moves to fling to poor creature at Dani and Voodoo… and despite being skinnier than a light pole, she is /strong/! Strong enough to certainly accomplish her intended task.
Dani blinks in surprise, and steps in front of Voodoo to take the shot from Brightwind. Which she does! Oof! Brightwind knocks her for a loop, but Dani's hoping that angelic ninja can get clear and take care of the fiend.
Fortunately, Dani /does/ have Asgardian armor, so she can take the hit. But she might want to soak in a jacuzzi for a little while after this is all over…
Voodoo flips up and out of the way with some of that improbable agility, bouncing off the wall and twisting around to drive her sword towards the hag below. "No fair striking at pretty pony!" that modulated voice declares.
Yeah. Sorry, Brightwind. Voodoo, not a big horse person, doesn't know the right words. But she likes ya? That has to count for something, doesn't it?
The horse is up! And it's good! But so is Priscilla, and while the hag clearly is strong, that big throw took a lot out of her. She wasn't quite expecting such a swift counter-attack. That's why Voodoo's sword finds its mark and drives home, lodging itself in the head of the craven crone. She screams and flails angrily at Voodoo, scratching at her with chiseled nails at the end of her distended hands, but judging from the sound dying out, she's out of the game at last. In a few shorts seconds, the rest of her screeching gurgles out and her disfigured body goes limp.
"Phlbbt! Feh! Oi…" Ford manages to rouse himself to his feet at last, trying to wipe his face clean from the old crone's handiwork. "Well… not the *phbt!* best evening I've spent with a lady…" he muttered, shaking himself a bit before blinking. Was that horse always there? …and it was crushing someone! "Whoa! Hey, c'mon, up and at 'em! Time to nap later!" He said, trying to coax Brightwind to his feet and decidedly off of Dani.
There's a soft *tchtch* under Brightwind, as the horse rises with a wobble. Dani is underneath him, looking a bit battered but none the worse for wear. She slowly picks herself up, "That… well, they never really taught us what to do when our mount is thrown at us. With all the Jotuns, you'd think that'd be something they'd teach." She glances over at Ford curiously, though her eyes do drift quite a bit in Voodoo's direction, "You okay?"
Ford's certainly noticed Voodoo. The result is predictable, but in Ford's case, the vibes he gives off are not quite… natural. A little too much for one normal person, at least. But he quickly manages to refocus and nod back to Dani. "I should think so, but then again, that's a pretty mean tactic." he replied, before laughing at her question.
"Me? I've had the pleasure of having not one, but /two/ lovely ladies come to my rescue. I'm doing fine! Are /you/ okay? You're the one who wound up playing pillow for an unwitting horse." Ford asked, reaching up to pat Brightwind on the muzzle to check on him as well… and wiping a bit more saliva off with his other hand. He was definitely needing a bath now…
The full-coverage mask leaves nothing but a wealth of curves on display, encased entirely in gold-accented purple. The curves are pretty prodigious, though, that is undeniable. Voodoo approaches and checks on Dani, glad to see that she is largely unhurt given Brightwind's mass. « Hi there. » comes her voice to the young Valkyrie's mind. « Long time no see. » Aloud, she offers that modulated voice. "Glad everyone is alright." Her own wounds from those claws seem to be closing up literally before the others' eyes … and the purple costume then repairs itself the same way. Eerie stuff. "Hopefully she's alone, and that will be the end to the attacks in the area."
Dani grins, "Yeah, long time no see. More's the pity, for that." She winks at Voodoo, then looks over at Ford with a curious expression, "Well, fortunately Asgardian armor is durable enough to cushion a hit from an errand steet. Though I agree, I hope it's just the one."
Brightwind, for his part, nickers a bit at Voodoo, remembering the woman it seems as he nudges her a bit.
Ford made no comment on the quick fixing properties of the curvy ninja. Hard to tell if it because he was simply taking silent notes, or too distracted to comment. "I'm fine, spittle aside. Normally, I don't mind a little tongue action, but this is certainly overkill." Ford mused, trying to get the last strands of it out of his hair and salvage his dignity. "I'm open to a helping hand, of course~"
The comment about Asgardian armor made Ford stop and blink, however. "Asgardian? Well, I'll be damned if it isn't my actual lucky night. I have it on good authority from a Greek god that Asgard has absolutely killer drinks. What say I run home and make myself presentable, you hustle to Asgard and grab a couple crates of the stuff, and I pay you back with a nice dinner?" His gaze quickly darted to Voodoo, smirking. "Both of ya?"
Voodoo just stands there watching all of this as her body finishes putting itself back together. « Is this guy serious? Twenty seconds ago something was trying to eat him, and now he's hitting on us and trying to set up some kind of three-way date with Asgardian ale? » she sends to Dani.
Outwardly, Voodoo just shrugs, moving over to scratch her fingers through Brightwind's mane and along his flank. « Good to see you, too, sparklehooves. Glad you didn't get hurt, tossed around. I'd give you an apple if I had one. »
Aloud, "No payback needed. Just stay alive. Next time, maybe look before you wander into a dark alley?" Voodoo's heavily modulated voice comments to Ford.
Dani chuckles, "Well, I'm from Colorado, I only /work/ in Asgard. But the Rainbow Bridge doesn't take that long for commuting. Besides, not sure my girlfriend wants to be waiting for me too long." She winks over at Voodoo, as if letting Ford draw his own conclusions.
Then she nods in agreement with what Voodoo says, "Seriously, you need to be careful, especially this close to the Disaster Zone. Weird stuff comes out on a pretty regular basis."
A thin, but polite smile crossed his face at Dani's wink. Just his luck… rotten. As it always seemed to be. Ford inhaled and placed his hands on his hips, eyes closed as he shook his head. "To be fair, I did check. Just hard to see in the dark." He gave a shrug of his shoulders and sighed. "Guess that's what I get for being a good Samaritan. I'll be sure to leave the 'heroics' to more qualified folks next time. Like yourselves."
Ford glanced back at the body of the old hag and huffed. "Welp, not that this hasn't been fun and all, but I think I'm going to head home and get a bath. I'm sure my sister's wondering what's taking me so long too. Thanks again for your aid, ladies. Next time you make a round trip to Asgard, be sure to bring back some of that mead, eh? I wanna prove Hercules wrong if I run into him again." Ford gave a modest bow, smiling and making an about face, headed back out for the sidewalk and making his way home.
"Be safe." are the last words Voodoo has to say to Ford on the subject. Then she waits for him to walk away, continuing to scratch her fingertips through Brightmane's mane and along his flank. « Big, beautiful boy. So handsome. »
Dani nods, "Well, I'll see what I can do there. Mead isn't too hard to come by, I'm pretty sure I can score some at the Embassy." She grins and waves over towards Ford, staying pleasant enough as she looks back towards Voodoo, giving her a wry smile.