The Black Sand Bar:

[Evil Omens]

Temozariel envied this woman's ability to draw out souls. Should a power like that belong to him, he could feast on not just body but also soul. No doubt he could sustain himself for a much longer period of time...

This power had to be his!

However. Attempting to tackle someone such as this could prove troublesome. But she had given him a little high ground. Family? Yes. The demon prince found it quite valuable to keep track of his surroundings, including the affairs of the powerful mortals that settled on the beach.

"I know of these mortals you speak of. Soon enough I shall consume them. Perhaps I could be persuaded not to, with proper tribute.

Perhaps he could take through tribute what would be bothersome to gain in battle.

"Even you must realize that you are not omnipresent. In an instant I can devour all that you care about."

[notmuch_23]

Like Totally Not A Mule

"The heart, to rob them of power. The tongue, to keep any ghosts quiet. The lesser-demons the angels controlled took the rest."

Mr. Crazy grinned at that.

"Evil for the greater good. What one does for good is always right and never wrong." His fingers began to tap together, and he shivered. "Al-ways all-ways. Irony, isn't it?"

"So what exactly did the lesser-demons take?" The crazy didn't mention taking any eyes, and Stabler doesn't think this guy would know how to excise them properly, since he's likely too crazy for any kind of school, much less medical school.

***

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"That's what the guards tell me."

She looked a bit worried at that. Understandable, given the whole "kidnapped and attacked" thing.

"We came here a few days ago. We'd been planning this for half a year. Airfare is expensive, right? Anyway... we came here. Took a room. We went all around - Oceanside. Puerto Dee-ablo. Even went to the black market for costume jewelery and some old jade statues. And then that night, he told me he was thinking of going home a little early, taking out money, and then buying a fishing boat and living down here. And we fought about it. It was kind of... extreme, you know?"

A few blinks and an incoherent noise that could be described as a sob.

"And in the middle, he said he needed a drink. He left, and then I fell asleep. Next morning, he hadn't come back. So I went to the bar to get breakfast and wait for him there. And... well, you saw what had happened. I talked to the priest from the Fellowship of Saint Jude for a while, and he helped. Then, I figured, ******** it, my life's a mess right now, and drank too much and had too many drugs. Next thing I know, I wake up in bed with some strange man leaning over me. He grabbed me, stuffed some rag in my mouth, and then ran away with me. Security came by where we were hiding, and he jumped out, killed one, took his weapon, and shot the other. There was a lot of noise and I couldn't really see. And after that, he said I saw too much and started cutting my eyes, but then more security showed up. So he shot them and ran. Some blue midget chased him. Then I got taken here, got the stitches and medicines, and told politely I couldn't leave and would be questioned about what happened."

"Well, so far you're the only witness we have to these incidents..." Gorent comments, "what did you see that was 'too much'?"

Goren knows damn well that even the most whacked-out mentally-ill person knows that removing one's eyes doesn't eliminate all past visual memory. In fact, with the statements of the crazy, dubious as they are, seem to fit the evidence, and already poke holes in the woman's story large enough to fly a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III through.

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

"Meat and innards, after the angels had finished."

He shrugged a bit.

"The angels took eyes and hands and objects of power. Rings, necklaces... I don't know why. To purify them?" The same "not exactly listening" look came on his face, and he tilted his head sideways. "The voices don't want me to tell you more. But the angels tell me they can stop the voices?

The man mostly looked confused by this.

***
As well as her story having more holes than Swiss cheese, there was also the not-exactly-hard-to-miss fact that the cuts to the corner of her eyes were big and crude, and seemed to be slightly jagged, as well as deeper on one side.

"Uh," She stared at the TV screen for a second or two. "I think you'd have to ask him? I was too busy being terrified to figure out why."

She felt around the bed, then sighed.

"It's too dim in here to find my smokes. You don't happen to have any, do you? But let me think. I saw.... uh. His face?"

Blondie was getting nervous with this line of questioning.

[Arretsu]

"Uh huh..." Terra gently prodded a corpse with her foot, and would grumble when she felt the stir of the soul she had collected stir. Ah this was a loved one? But his soul was far gone, so she couldn't collect and thus guarantee him a second life. "Yes yes you say you can but I doubt it. My dear you are not omnipresent either." She said calmly, though a hint of anger flashed within her golden eyes as she focused on him once more.

"Make a move against them though, I will destroy you. Though I rather not get to that point, its just to bothersome." She'd said with a wave of her hand, then began stride around the clearing, once in awhile stopping to peer at a corpse curiously. The woman didn't seem to care about the fact that this demon had devoured so many, and dismembered many more. Nor did she bat a eye at the power that rippled strongly from his being. His energy was pure evil, the strongest she had ever felt from a demon, and she had to constantly keep a aura of calm wrapped around her being or her own power would retaliate against him.

She could hear the cry of nature around her, his very presence causing fear in the heart of the jungle.

But she was just curious more then afraid.

"But I will humor you...I am guessing the tribute you desire is this?" Pausing, Terra would glance towards him, a wicked smile on her lips as she lifted a hand and gently touched the bell that glowed faintly with the soul.

[notmuch_23]

"The angels... who are the angels that can stop the voices?" It's pretty obvious to Elliot that these "angels" are accomplices, as he suspected, since one person would be hard-pressed to pull off two murders and try a third in the span of three days.

***

"Nah, had to quit when Michael Bloomberg taxed the hell outta them. What did his face look like?" Goren asks, and then he notices something about the cuts around her eyes.

"What the hell did that psycho do to your eyes?"

Goren sees that cuts are large and jagged, uneven, and are nothing like the cuts around the eyes on the other body, so now he sees that either he was just rushed, which is very unlikely, or taht there is more than one suspect, which is very likely.

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

"My friends? Masters? One is tall with a voice like gravel. The other is fat and talks through the tall one, mostly. Screeches a lot. He's the one who binds the lesser demons."

With this being said, he grabbed at his head and started keening, hands curled tightly into his hair. He'd start to tear chunks out, roll around, and scratch at his arms. Even with neatly trimmed fingernails, he was starting to do some damage.

"Spiders everywhere! Wrongwrongwrong, make it stop make it stoooooooop!"

There went the lucidity. Given the overlapping nullers, it was pretty improbable that someone was mentally attacking him from a distance. Or even from right next door.

***

"He tried to cut them out, like the others!"

Exactly which others she was referring to was kind of hazy, given that the details of the initial body hadn't been given out. Either way, dun dun DUUUH. Right after having said it, she tensed a bit, then continued.

"Like that first guard. Just took his head clean off at eye level, I think he was going to go back for them later."

[Evil Omens]

Temozariel's eyes glowed an evil red when she mentioned destroying him. That single threat was enough to cause a fury with him. It was a deliberate strike at his pride! She was bringing his power and his glory into question!

"Angels in Heaven tremble before my might."

Well, not all angels. Arrogance often ignores reason.

Demonic embers dripped from his maw, mixing with the blood and saliva. Clearly she had offended him.

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN A LORD OF HELL! NOT EVEN TEN THOUSAND SACRIFICES WILL STAY ME FROM YOUR SLAUGHTER!"

Demons did not operate on reason, they operated on instincts and desires. Where most might wish to avoid a fight in favor of tact, a Temozariel pushed forward. A demon lord cannot have their pride insulted! Despite not even being close to his full power, he could not stand a single insult!

Opening his maw, Temozariel unleashed a torrent of hellish black and crimson flames. This was no ordinary fire, either. Not only did it smell of death, but contact caused burning and mutation, rot and a disruption of magical energies. Literally sin and corruption in physical form. The true fires of hell. The worse part was that any evil within Terra would increase the damage... like throwing a log into a fire.

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

[Okay, putting on glasses now. I read

"Not only did it smell of death, but contact caused burning and masturbation..." and was wondering what the ******** sort of attack had such strange side effects.]

[Arretsu]

Terra rose a elegant eyebrow as he started to shout, a amused smile on her lips. "Oh my did I hurt your lil ol feelings?" She teased him as she began to gather energy to her being. She drew from the leylines of energy that ran deep within the island, and from her own angelic power that ran within her veins, letting it course through her body and connect her with the elements she expertly wielded.

As he opened his mouth, her nose wrinkled at the smell of death and hell that wafted in the air. She could already sense what he was about to do, when one opened their mouth in a way he did, usually a attack would be following.

Lifting her hands above her head, she drew in water from the ground and the very air around them. The grass became brown, a few trees withered behind her and the air became dry as she sucked out the moisture. Streams of water followed the path of her hands as she turned in full circle, pushing her angelic energies into the water, and then unleashed the raging river towards the torrent of hellish flames that was headed towards her.

A Icy blue rimmed her now glowing golden eyes, a sign of her holy heritage. But another darker side that she always kept locked away began to stir at the presence of the demon prince.

((Ahaha that would be a very formidable attack.))

[Evil Omens]

Demonic flame clashed with angelic water.

A roar thundered through the jungle as these energies clashed against each other. Waves of flame and water rushed in all directions before turning into a thick purplish-blue steam, concealing the clearing. The pungent stink of death overpowered the once lush smell of vegetation. Temozariel's red eyes glowed behind the veil, and a deep rumbling growl echoed all around.

"A light of glory. You are not as you appear to be."

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The sound of heavy footfalls echoed all over, getting louder and louder.

Temozariel knew that he could not consume Terra now, because her holy energy would act as a poison to him. This alone would "save" her from him. At this rate, it would be a mere waste of energy to continue this fight. He was not at his fullest strength, and he had nothing to gain in victory

Yet reason escaped him, and he pushed forward.

Should would respect his power!

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

[One of these days I'll have to backread and classify each plot.

I know we've had the Strike on Summer, the Zombie Horde, the GODFIGHT, and obviously the Murder Mystery, I'm just... sort of not sure what the others are. And if I start from the beginning, this turns into a whole big manga series.]

[Savoki Sanoci]

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[ Kinda time paradox]


" You flatter me with that little show."

Preparations were already under way towards his participation in the annual Gaian Tenkaichi Budoukai tournament, each combatant there served on a stone platter otherwise symbolizing the arena. Withdrawing those lewd fantasies for his trip for later, it appeared someone sought him out for a particular reason, indulging this figure with an appearance. Adorned in his leathery cassock, recently omitted of its satanic emblems and decorating his jet-black dreadlocks with honed scalpels; Darius stared at the one who made the tribute through his welding goggles.

" What transaction do you request of me? No one bothers me for just any old chat."

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

[I just got a pink link followed by a blue giftbox. One right after the other. Wow.]

"Ah, my old friend. I've got a gift for you."

The speaker indicated the captives with a sheer lack of concern. His gold armbands and other indications of his status clinked together.

"And no, no. This is about pleasure. A certain mutual acquaintance of ours has a wonderful plan to train his little apprentice twins that just so happens to work within my goals. We have a certain... understanding. I figured it would be prudent to invite you to join in on the fun."

A gravelly laugh (hint hint, this is the tall one) at that.

"No obligations. Simply put, friend, a certain establishment is going to start having its patrons slaughtered. Messily, and quite thoroughly, at that. I'm inviting you to take advantage of the sudden lack of the full attention of the police in Puerto and Oceanside to make a few kills in our style. And, of course, whomever you feel needs killing otherwise."

It was a professional courtesy. Heat was going to shift off of some of the questionable activities Darius had going on and into the bar, where it would inevitably be obstructed and corrupted. That meant more free reign, especially if one just so happened to know about it in advance.

[Savoki Sanoci]

" Quite the proposition you are giving me. Of course by a hedonistic viewpoint this reaps me with only rewards."

Exposing a cigarette outside the confines of his leather cassock, baleful energy surged to conjure a searing spark or two to light the tip. Maintaining concentration and proficient in energy manipulation made utilizing Morsatra for a mundane task like assisting him with a cancer stick was child's play. Charismatic and insightful at that meant he had dealing in the underworld, making a transaction between them perhaps worth the risks associated with this little idea of his.

" Anything to note about these two little ********, assuming I will be encountering them? "

Prudence was rarely a description to define this b*****d, unrelenting akin to an emaciated predator seeking out his quarry. Curiosity nonetheless plagued his conscious, preferring to exploit this opportunity to kill time and sharpen his combat capabilities prior to the tournament. This cave was a decent hideout, yet the sociopathic mercenary felt more at home within say his face between a busty broad or stringing himself up with a copious amount of drugs.

" Sure, you can count my a** in this endeavor of yours."

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

"Well, I can say that I'd unfavorably compare the intelligence of one of them to a brick wall, but that would be a grave insult to the brick wall. Her master... well. You know the kind of dogs fed on scraps and blows? Feral little shits with dominance issues with only one purpose? That's him, although he thinks of himself as a chessmaster. Slap him down, point him at your target, stand back, and then come in later to pick up the pieces." More amused laughter. "I'd ask you try not to kill them unless they deserve it. Which they probably do, but you know what I mean."

The speaker tossed down the heart, which landed with a wet little splat.

"The other twin. I think you'd like her. Doesn't talk much, and she's very practical. I know she'd like you."

Although it was left unspoken, the implication was that she was the craziest of them all.

"Aside from that, though... certain resources inside the Church are telling me Brother Fortunatus is coming. You've heard of the Fellowship of Saint Jude? All those poor, whiny little priests trying to overcome their vampirism or lycanthropy or whatever? He's a member, and is expected. Consider him the other part of the gift. I would have kept him to myself, but..."

...but surely, it would be far, far more entertaining to Darius to break the poor b*****d over and over for shits and giggles.

"Lastly, the kills will have certain hallmarks. Take a hand, take their jewelry, take their eyes out - intact if possible. And then eaten. If all goes well, once some of their group gets caught, I'll call you again with some dangerous and fun little monstrosities. If you can dominate them, they'll be yours until their death. Fair warning, if you lose control they'll eat your face off. Tough little buggers."