Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jun 22, 2011 9:30:31 GMT -5
New York City! The lights-- the sounds-- the buildings! Now that he had seen them in person, Maurice understood why they were called "sky scrapers." He had thought the buildings in The Switch were huge. He wasn't so sure he wanted to climb on any of those particular buildings. The vampire decided to settle on just taking pictures of them with his phone. The city was beautiful when it was all lit up at night. He was impressed with how much there was to do after the sun went down. Sure most of those things involved being social...with friends... but they were still there! And he appreciated them for it. What he did not appreciate, however, was the traffic. The other big cities had crazy traffic, sure, but this was New York. Maurice had never dealt with this beast. It was like...they were trying to hit him. Trying hard. Because that's sure as hell what happened. Part of it was his own fault. He'd stopped on the crosswalk to take a picture of one of those big advertising screens. Part of it was the man in the blue car who'd had a very, very bad day. Here he was, waiting on the light, and there's some marshmallow in a backwards hat rubbernecking. He prayed for the light to change. Whatever dark gods the man followed answered him because the light changed and the tourist was still there. His tires screamed as he stomped the gas. He expected the man to let out a wail and flail out of the way and for himself to have a good laugh about it. That didn't happen. His bumper connected and before he knew what happened, he had half a dozen angry cars behind him and an even angrier man on his hood. This was not the first time Maurice had been hit by a car. It probably wouldn't be the last time either. It was, however, the first time he did something about it. Once his eyes uncrossed, he twisted around to glare through the windshield at the surprised man behind the wheel. He let that glare linger between them in the chorus of horns and impatient swearing before plunging his fist through the glass and and introducing it to the man's face again and again. Then it was over. Maurice sat outside a sketchy looking pharmacy with a roll of ace bandages in his teeth and a raincloud over his head. He'd been having such a good night. The guy in the car was lucky his cell phone didn't get smashed or he'dv probably been dead. Maurice had a photo of THE COOLEST street performer on there and if that were to disappear... He winced as he pulled the bandages tight around his arm to stop the bleeding. He couldn't afford to bleed here. He didn't know the lay of the land and hunting would be hard. He'd planned on derping around for a few days and then going home when time to do his dirty work came around. 8C POO.
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Post by Krepta on Jun 22, 2011 13:11:32 GMT -5
What might have been a stray cat made it's way down the street. It certainly looked like it had seen better days-- dusty black fur, crooked whiskers. Those wide green eyes that glimmered in the darkness of the city looked hungry, and angry too. And for a good reason. Krepta had traveled to New York for dinner because the good denizens of Gotham were beginning to get suspicious. For most it took a few hours to get there, but for Krepta, it only took a hop, skip and a wing flap-- downwards of thirty minutes. So it was no great pain to travel to Gotham's sister city for a supply pick up. Unfortunately, New York was a tad brighter than Gotham, and a great big red reptile would be noticed there. So cat it was, which all in all wasn't terrible. She had grown accustomed to the way her different forms worked and she was as comfortable in their skin as she was her own. No, the biggest problem had been the hooligans who had decided to cat the nearest stray cat and tie some fire-crackers to it's tail. Well, Krepta had set off some fire crackers of her own! She suspected they were still trying to put out their hind ends. As satisfying as that was though, Krepta was still in a bad mood. Or rather, she was until she caught a familiar scent. Maurice? Here? Couldn't be. Unless this dimension had it's own Maurice. Curiously she plodded down the dark street, following her nose to the all too familiar form of the pudgy vampire. She couldn't be sure how he would react to her though if he didn't know her. So she would have to wait. And that's exactly what she did. Stepping just into the circle of light she sat down and twitched her tail at him, luminous green eyes trained unwaveringly on the man like only a cat could. Needless to say that feline stare was fairly unnerving.
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jun 22, 2011 17:51:03 GMT -5
Maurice tugged the final knot tight and flexed his fingers. The windshield had given him some pretty nasty cuts. He remembered being a kid and getting his arm cut on some sheet metal he and his brothers had been playing on. His whole arm had throbbed then. Now? Nothing. Sometimes he missed having a pulse.
He shifted on the spot and pulled out a colorful map of the city he'd picked up at the subway. Maybe finding somewhere else to go would lift his spirits. As he tried to unfold it, he noticed it-- a strange tingling at the very edge of his field of vision that the ancient animal part of his brain lived in. Something was watching him. Tensing up and grimacing involuntarily, the dead man glared all around him.
There!
...IT WAS A KITTY. He deflated against the side of the building and grinned a humorless grin. He'd been all freaked out over a cat. He didn't recognize her, naturally. He rubbed his hands together and splayed them out for his visitor to see. It was a gesture he'd used growing up with his mother's feline hoard.
"Sorry, kitty, I aint got nothin' to eat."
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Post by Krepta on Jun 23, 2011 19:03:19 GMT -5
Maurices reaction worried Krepta at first. It wasn't a good thing when vampires snarled at you. When he held up his hands to show that he had no food though, Krepta relaxed. Well, at least he liked cats, even if he didn't know it was her. Had she ever shown him her cat form? She couldn't remember. It had been a long time. Well, she supposed if worse came to worse she could high-tail it out of there. It hardly mattered if she was slower than a vampire because she was much, much smaller. Speed didn't matter when you could duck into holes six times smaller than your pursuer. She doubted Maurice would pursue her anyhow, even if he freaked. He was much more likely to run away. "Maurice," she tried cautiously, "It's Krepta..." Her voice sounded a little strange coming from a cats mouth, but it was undoubtedly Krepta. She stood, ready to bolt should his reaction turn violent. She had enough scars without adding one more earned through stupidity. Normally she wouldn't have even bothered but right now she desperately needed to see a familiar face.
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jun 23, 2011 22:35:01 GMT -5
Maurice had actually started to cluck his tongue to see if the cat would approach him. Even though he was allergic, he'd always liked animals--cats included. However, when the cat opened its mouth and HIS NAME came out, he almost swallowed his own tongue.
WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT--oh. Oh.....Oh!
"Krepta!" An enormous grin spread over his face. "Girl, what in the world are you doing in New York City?"
He remembered her cat shape now. She'd slipped into a clothing store before when he'd been positive some clothes dummies inside had moved. It was a chore knowing so many shape shifters--it was like remembering somebody's cell number, home phone, and email address. They were all the same person, but they all looked different.
"I probably sounded really dumb just now, didn't I?" He was glad he hadn't started baby-talking her. He might never live it down...
or end up getting sat on.
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Post by Krepta on Jul 4, 2011 20:13:53 GMT -5
Krepta looked relieved. It was her Maurice! She barked a joyful laugh and ran forward leaping up briefly on her hindpaws to get a better look at him. She had never been happier to see the pudgy vampire. "Maurice, you dork!" she said with a grin, "Did you really just shoo me?" Honestly, she couldn't have really expected him to recognize her out of god knew how many other stray cats, but still, that one deserved a razz. "And what am I doing here? What are you doing here? Of all the places to run into you..." She shook her head and grimaced. "And, uh, I'm looking for food." She looked embarrassed. She was sure he would understand, but she was supposed to be a hero, and heroes didn't steal. Not even to eat. "This isn't exactly my neighbor hood and, ah... well, it's a long story. I'm a long way from home and there's some bad stuff going down. It's a long story..." She looked sad for a moment. Still, despite it all... she was better off here than back home. At least there was no price on her head yet here. No ruined reputations. No constant reminders that she could never go back. At least here she could start over again... maybe. "You should be careful out here. There are some weird things going down and things are dangerous right now. I'd take you back to my base right now but... ah, it's occupied." Speaking of such, she still had to find some food for the both of them and figure out how to get him on his way. He seemed to be behaving himself for now but there was no telling how long that would last, and her poor nose couldn't take much more of his foul scent.
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jul 4, 2011 22:19:02 GMT -5
Maurice grinned tiredly. "Well, I was havin' a sort of vacation. I never been to New York." He held up his wounded arm. Not a very good start.
He listened to Krepta's story and tilted his head a little. Didn't she stay with somebody? He couldn't remember, it had been so long. It was hard to resist the urge to reach out and pick her up. Maurice didn't think she'd appricate that too much.
"Maybe I oughtta reschedule my vacation and just go home..." He looked disappointed, but Weird Things in a city he didn't know the lay of were very different than Weird Things at home. The only thing that separated Maurice from the other wide-eyed tourists was his lack of a fanny pack. "It's real good to see you again."
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Post by Krepta on Jul 4, 2011 23:23:08 GMT -5
Krepta nodded. "You too..." She looked almost disappointed, but managed to swallow the expression quickly enough. She wasn't his problem. If he wanted to go home he could go home. It was probably safer there anyhow. It was just a good thing it was unlikely that Maurice would be able to recognize disappointment on a cat anyhow. Lacking proper lips and eyebrows made for a rather excellent poker face. "You can try," she said after a moment. "It's probably safer. With all this dimension mucking somebody's doing though, you're just as likely to wind up somewhere you'd rather not be." Krepta couldn't willingly hop dimensions, but Sol and Draco had taught her a little when ever they broke through the veil between Faerie and Earth. They had to hop on an almost regular basis, Sol more than Draco. In fact, she wondered if Sol was looking for her? Probably not. She had managed to hide herself fairly well, even from his seeking mind. It was unlikely he even knew she was gone. That was both good and bad. She liked being able to fly beneath the radar. No one knew who she was here. No birth records. No new clippings. No one had even heard of her. In fact, she was almost positive that she had yet to be born here, or perhaps never would be. If something happened to her though... Well... At least Maurice might be able to get help. Not that she wanted or needed her. No... If something happened to her here, well... maybe it was better. She coughed a bit and shook her head, trying to dislodge that unpleasant thought and ignore the sudden tightness in her throat. She'd deal with that if and when it came to it. If she had to go meet her maker... well, she would have some choice words for him or her.
"New York's nice anyhow though..." She grimaced. "If you watch out for the traffic. I don't know how the crime is in this New York, but... I haven't seen anything here yet. It's mostly been in Gotham and Metropolis." She turned those mismatched eyes to the sparkling city-scape. Despite the grime evident in some places, and the roar of traffic just beyond the sidewalk, it was still beautiful, and it felt... almost like home. Maybe she would start here... when this was all over. "All I'm saying is be careful. Keep an eye out. You don't have to cut things short but..." She thought about the twins and the problems they had caused-- about the odd creature sightings. The poor dragon who had so obviously lost his mind and become feral. There was something going on and it was bad, very bad. "Just be careful."
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jul 5, 2011 2:08:26 GMT -5
Maurice visibly cringed when she mentioned traffic.
"This New York...? Oh, you mean you're world-walking too? Man...man that is wild that we ran into each other! That's-- that's some kind of funky hoodoo fate right there."
Maurice was a true poet. He thought for a moment and watched Krepta as she stared out at the thrumming city. Despite his pain, a tiny mischievous grin formed on his face. So what if she got a little mad at him? She was his buddy! Without warning, Maurice gently reached out and tried to scoop her up around the middle. He was raised with cats. He knew not to squeeze.
"WELP. French fries aren't gonna eat themselves, are they, Miss Kitty?"
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Post by Krepta on Jul 5, 2011 11:36:11 GMT -5
Lost in thought, Krepta didn't notice Maurice reaching for her until she was soaring suddenly through the air. Her eyes widened until they were nearly bugging out of her skull, her ears flattened, and through a grimace, she let out a strangled sound. "Maurice, what are you doing?!" Had he lost all reason? If he had been anyone else, fingers would have been missing. As it was, he was Maurice, and he was her friend. She didn't hurt her friends. So instead, she squirmed humorously as she tried to escape his undead grip, furry legs flailing as she screwed up her face. "Augh, leggo! I don't do hugs!" she yelped, scruff ruffling as she tried to squeeze out by bracing her hind legs on the bottom of his arms. It just wasn't going to work. Eventually she gave an irritated huff and flopped down in submission. However, Maurice's second comment, while meant to lighten the mood, brought only fresh shame to her face. She flattened her ears again and looked away. "Maurice... I don't have money like I did before. I-- remember when I told you I had to steal sometimes to survive? I'm god knows how far away from home... I'm feeding some other guy right now, and I've got no idea how to get rid of him, and--" She sighed, and looked up at him, hoping he wouldn't think less of her for it. None of these were excuses, but these were desperate times for the scarred old shapeshifter. "Well, this is one of those times."
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jul 5, 2011 15:23:47 GMT -5
Maurice watched her squirm and flail, half expecting her form to suddenly balloon out into the big red dragon he knew her as and whup up on him. But she didn't. Once she stopped squirming he brought her close to his chest and started walking.
"You're a cat, Krepta. Cats don't have pockets. I do. It's on me." He frowned a little, hoping he hadn't been such a moocher in the past (WHICH HE HAD) to make Krepta think he expected her to feed him. In fact, he fully intended on repaying her. Both for the icecream and being kind in general. It was a friend thing.
But something she said struck him.
"Wait, who'r you takin' care of now? Why can't they get their own food?" Something...maybe the big brother mentality he'd developed from hanging around Heather so much made him worry that somehow Krepta had worked herself into an abusive relationship. He knew how that felt.
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Post by Krepta on Jul 5, 2011 16:18:58 GMT -5
Krepta chuckled. "I have other means of keeping my money with me. Besides, I hid my bag behind a dumpster back there so that I can drag it back with me when the time comes." She settled down a bit, peering out from his arms. It felt weird be to being carried. Usually she did the carrying. "And... thanks, but I can't take your money. I need a lot more than you can pay for anyhow. This guy is huge and I need food for a couple of weeks anyhow... Some other supplies too, mostly medical. Something tells me I'm going to need a lot of Tylenol this year." She glanced over her shoulder toward the alley, hoping her bag would be safe where she left it. She had hidden it well, but there was a lot of valuable things in there. Well, at least valuable to her.
"He's some big ape named Lobo. Bit of an ass, but I'd rather he was on my side. I left him back at my base in hopes that some punks that have been harassing me will stumble onto him." She grinned. "Just his stench alone can knock you flat." She chuckled a bit at that thought. The twins who had caused her so much trouble not too long ago would be in for a nasty surprise. Lobo didn't seem like one of the good guys to her, but he did seem like a man of his word. Hopefully if she kept up her end of the deal, so would he. If he didn't... well, she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. She had fought him once and she could do it again. "Anyhow, I told him that if he took care of those two then he could crash with me until he found his... hit or something. I think he's a bounty hunter. It's a pretty good deal if you ask me. I get a bit of security for when I'm out on the town, and he gets a bite to eat and a place to stay that doesn't leak or have rats." She shrugged. While she sounded confident, Krepta was still wondering if she had made the right choice.
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jul 5, 2011 16:41:45 GMT -5
Maurice frowned further. That didn't sound like base security. That sounded like...a reverse hostage situation. He didn't like it. The vampire squeezed her a bit as they rounded the corner and he turned his nose up to seek out the blessed grease vats of fast food culture.
"Well I can feed you for a night...but this guy...I don't think I like the sound a' him.Why can't he get his own food if he's so big? Who's been bothering you? I'll break their heads."
>8c HIS KRETPA.
He had half a mind to just take her home with him. It was very, very tempting.
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Post by Krepta on Jul 6, 2011 23:47:47 GMT -5
Krepta laughed. "Maurice, I love you, but this man would eat you for breakfast and still be hungry after. I had some trouble fighting him and I don't say that very often. There may not be much finesse to my fighting style," and she was the first to admit that, "But I can usually take on most things that come my way, barring heavy hitters like Superman and the Martian." And Batman, but he was a special case. "And I suppose he could get his own food, but this Lobo isn't something I'd like to unleash upon the unwitting population of Gotham. You know what they say, 'Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.'" She stretched out her neck and gave a dainty sniff herself. Her stomach roared it's displeasure and threatened to throttle her backbone. "Anyhow," she continued, settling back down, "If he is a bounty hunter, I want to make sure his hit is no one innocent. If it is, then I can stop him, or at least try." She looked up at Maurice with a critical eye. "That is what I do after all." It was all well and good that he was protective of her... In fact, it was kind of nice to have someone care about her that much. However, taking her life into her own hands for the sake of the people she protected was her choice. She knew the risks well; her scars vouched for that much, and she wouldn't be deterred. She was quiet for a while after that, simply staring out into the traffic rushing by as they continued to search for a restaurant to settle their hunger at. It was nice to have company again. Company that didn't burp or smell, and company that didn't want to turn her in for crimes she hadn't committed, or god knew what else. "It's good to see you again, Maurice," she said with a small smile.
There was something else niggling at the back of her mind though. Creeper. Surely he was capable of finding her-- she had returned to the very place they had first met. Possibly, it was even subconsciously on purpose. So why hadn't he? Certainly he had had adequate time to recover by now! Krepta was beginning to worry about the yellow skinned clown. He had been a bit of an insensitive ass at times, but over all he was a good man, and hadn't even tried to expose her to the other League members when she had mentioned that she didn't want to be known about just yet. What if they were holding him captive there in that lab? She wouldn't doubt that it was possible-- especially when humans were involved, particularly the scientific type. She didn't mind the Draconic scientists much-- they were more nutty professors than mad doctors, but human beings-- well, that was a whole other can of worms. Doctors and "white-coats" in general as she called them, had always given her the creeps. If he had been taken captive, she couldn't break in to save him herself. As much as she was confident in her, er, bashing skills, she knew that a rescue mission was a foolish task to take upon one's own. Not to mention such things needed brain-power. Krepta was no fool-- in fact, often she was very bright, but in the heat of battle, she often lost her head, and in the wake of the beast, all room for reasonable thought was lost. No, as much as it pained her to admit to herself such, she needed help. She needed help for Creeper's sake. The question was though, who? She hadn't encountered any true heroes yet but Robin and Kid Flash, and they were mere children. And as reckless as she had been at their age, she couldn't bring herself to cause them to make the same decisions. Some of those decisions, for the greater good though they were, had caused her permanent and lasting damage, some of which still afflicted her to this day. No, she couldn't do that to them. So it seemed she would have to search. She had no idea where to start though. Gotham maybe-- Perhaps Batman would listen to her if she could find him. As frightening as the man was, Krepta had a lot of respect for him, and would even go so far as to say that she would trust him with her life. Batman was not an easy man to find though, and trying the Batsignal would risk bringing the entire GCPD down on her. She'd do no one any good locked up. So who else then? Superman? Maybe, but she was hesitant to speak to that one. Though the rest of the world saw him as their collective knight in shining armor, she genuinely disliked the man, for many, many reasons. The Manhunter? Had he even arrived yet in this dimension? It was impossible to tell. No-- Creeper had mentioned him when they had spoken of repairing the damaged dragons. He was an option, though a terrifying one. A telepath would be useful though in locating Creeper if they had moved him, and what was more, she suspected the Martian a practiced tactician, something they would need to pull this off. Creeper, she vaguely recalled, had even mentioned working with him once or twice? Then it was possible he knew him more than the other two candidates. The League was a large organization these days-- at least, it was if it was anything like her League-- and it was possible that Superman and Batman had yet to even see much of Creeper. Well, Superman at least, Batman probably knew every little detail of every little hero in the League, if not without. It would surprise her if he had already manage to keep tabs on even her by now. Well, none of that mattered right now. Not until she could deal with her little Bounty Hunter problem and actually find another hero or so to help her. All of that would have to wait. First things first was getting herself fed and collecting her essential supplies. She would do no one any good starving and unprepared.
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Wolfy T. Twisted
Rookie
"...and then she stabbed me. I don't even know."
Posts: 33
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Post by Wolfy T. Twisted on Jul 7, 2011 0:17:46 GMT -5
Though he knew nothing about what was stewing under Krepta's hood, he could tell something was the matter. She wasn't cracking off her one-liners or making goofy empty threats at him. Her mentions of Gotham bothered him. Ugh, Gotham. It sounded like some foul curse in another language. He decided it was.
As the silence stretched, he couldn't help but feel in awe of Krepta. She was maybe his age and had so much responsibility on her shoulders. Because she was a good person. She could have lived out her entire life as a cat in some old lady's lap and nobody would know the difference, but here she was putting her life on the line for people she'd never even meet. She reminded him of Leo. Only grouchier. And she was a dragon.
As they entered the warm glow of a Denny's parking area, the vampire said, "Krepta, you're a good person." He carefully returned her to the ground. "I hope you know that."
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