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After confirming that Lei-Fan would be arriving soon, he let out another sigh and tried to put the events together. Alice had mentioned they met the Ring Master!? He ran his hand through his dark hair, wondering about what went wrong. He got up and peeked into the room Hatsumi and Alice were in. He noticed Hatsumi was awake and decided to get some information while he waited for Lei-Fan.

He grabbed a chair and sat across from her, "You alright?" She seemed kind of out of it. She looked fine on the outside, after getting patched up, but she seemed to be in a mental shock.

"Hatsumi.." Rei gently said with a low voice, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Night Club

As Li-Fan attempted to open the front door he'd find that it didn't budge. "what leaving so soon?..." The Obeah Man's voice echoed throughout the night club, making it impossible to pinpoint exactly where it had come from. Suddenly Li-Fan would feel a figurative explosion of energy, as the whole club seemed to spike with a very familiar energy signature. The pitch darkness was suddenly pierced by the yellow glow of dozens of eyes, all ominously staring Quinn and Li-Fan down. "after all, the grand ball has just started..." he said, the lights slowly starting to fade back on, revealing all of the partygoers standing there with glowing yellow eyes, all holding knives and forks, and stool legs, pretty much anything that could be used as an improvised weapon. Worst of all they all stared unblinking at Quinn and Li-Fan, not one shifting their gaze from the two for a second. More green smoke and fire began emanating from behind the cluster of people, the shadow of the Obeah man being cast along the back wall, holding up a card in it's shadowy grip. "you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat..." he said, the shadow on the wall flicking the card, causing the real thing to come twirling through the air from behind the crowd of people, landing face up at Quinn and Li-Fan's feet. The card had the image of a cat, skewered with 9 swords, resembling a pin cushion. "The future is clear, but never kind..." The Obeah man said. "soon you to will have a friend on the other side...." he said ominously "and speaking of friends...mine have just arrived, and they're just dyin' to start this party off right" he said, referring to the possessed party-ers. The dark aura that radiated off of them was so strong even Quinn would be able to feel it, and both of them would feel a cold sensation coming from the masks that jebadiah had given them, the same strange aura trying to spread over them and posses them as well. "so what will it be?" The Obeah Man asked, the mask victims suddenly parting away from him, revealing him standing with green smoke and energy swirling around him, as the smoke passed in front of his face it'd reveal flashes of a monstrous visage, showing what was really lying underneath his skin.

Rei decided to stop the conversation. He stood up and patted Hatsumi's head, "You did well." He stepped out of the room when he heard Roxy ask 'what happened'. He pressed the button on his communicator watch and responded, "They faced the Ring Master. It was bad..Darren has severe burns. They almost lost their life to a fire caused by the makeup freak." He then went to check on Darren who was quite a mess. He sighed and shook his head, wondering if Lei-fan was on the way. He decided to contact him to see, "Lei Kung? You on your way?" He waited for a reply while seating himself back in the room.

Night Club

The Ring Master let out a sickening cackle, an almost reptilian rasp in his voice. "strong words little man, but are you willing to bet your friend's life on that conviction?" he asked, raising up his staff the eyes glowing brightly, before slamming the cane down. "now my friends, have fun to your hearts content" he told the possessed party guests before vanishing in a swirl of smoke and fire, leaving Quinn and Li-Fan alone with the mob of murderous citizens. "kill....kill....kill" they chanted, drawing closer with weapons drawn, some of the more supernatural attendies even started readying their powers, claws popping out, hands igniting with ice and fire. It was clear that this mob would not be easy to take on as some random group of drunks. "KILL....KILL...KILL...." they chanted even louder, drawing ever closer.

Rei didn't like it when Lei-Fan respond. "Something must of happened...."
Rei's tired eyes followed the entrance of Benten, Roxy and Prim. He was a bit unnoticeable since he was just sitting in the corner, like a shadow. He got up and walked over to where they stood; next to Alice and Hatsumi. "Glad to see your mouth yapping again.." He turned to Benten and said, "They met the Ring Master. Apparently he was just an illusion and things got bad for them. My group faced Jezarmo. Did you know anything about this? Something about shipment and weird looking masks?"
He sighed then added, "I think now Lei-Fan's group are facing something bad..he wouldn't answer right after he said he was coming."
He turned to answer Alice, "He is in pretty bad shape..."

The Hive

T’kkhe’kk had been on a bit of peregrination about New Zion, having stripped himself off the connectivity of his communicator and his vestiges of bestial pride which left him alone in this city. He began his trek in the direction of Headquarters but was compelled to take a series of turns which had placed him in a most unfamiliar portion of an unfamiliar city. It was a quaint little park on the outskirts of a business district, which acted as a buffer zone to a slum on the opposite side of the park. A beacon of humility amidst degradation and prosperity which indicated just how easily it was to fall from the graces of success into an impoverished existence. Like a walk in the park.

Having found this natural sanctuary, he claimed a wooden bench as his own and placed his immense bulk upon it. The wooden struts groaned beneath the torment of his weight, whaling in agony as their breaking point approached like an oncoming express train. It was yet another small defeat for the insectoid which seemed to well up from within his embittered heart as a day presented itself that T’kkhe’kk had not expected. He was a coward, having run from a fight which didn’t seem insurmountable to the Bug given the right amount of strength and unity. But how was he to overcome such an egregious mistake on his part and reclaim his manhood in the eyes of his community? What was he to this group if not for the Bruiser, the unstoppable battering ram which propels the group forward behind his own strength. But what if the odds were insurmountable from the start? Is it not better to preserve oneself to facilitate another day of fighting? Who was really at fault on this day? Roxane for rushing off, half-cocked, and leaving them in a highly detrimental start without the ability to plan for many recourses, Rei for pulling everyone from the field of battle before its conclusion or himself for his faulty upbringing and the Fight for Death mentality which had been engrained in him for his entire life?

All four of them had fought valiantly against odds which would make other’s cringe. The Hive held off the goons which gave a chance for the others to take on the bigger villains which saved man power against the larger fight. Rei acted decisively in protecting the others and matching prowess against the most dangerous opponent on the field. Primrose acted wonderfully under the pressure of stopping the Tiki God. Roxane…was Roxane but perfectly executed the opening maneuvers so give them the initial opening that they needed, but perhaps the events of the day will give her more inclination to think before acting, because she could probably think as quickly as she can move which meant that she had the potential to be an amazing field general if she would just use that portion of her gift. Was the point of training as a team to become better as a team, and grow as Heros and as a unit? Was this not just field practice which had gone very wrong in the form of very strong opposition?

The Hive stood up, finally understanding (at least in part), that he was not a Coward. The group he worked with today did fantastic work and, if nothing else, firmly instated their presence in this city which may give criminals pause before functioning within its confines. They worked together in what could be described as a success considering how poorly the fight could have gone, the group could have been lost in one fell swoop of hurried anticipated fighting but “Live and Learn” as the humans say. He turned his head, the feelers fidgeting upon the iridescent crest of his head as he scanned the area. The Headquarters was always easy to find because it gave off an electrical signal which much exceeded everything else within the city, save for the power plant and the power station which laid on the outskirts at the far end of the city. So having defined his destination, The Hive fell into his six limbed lope of a sprint and headed back in the direction of the Headquarters, expecting to see all the members of the Corps congregated there to discuss what things they have learned by these events.

It took a few minutes for T’kkhe’kk to reach the Headquarters building, the shining example of the goodness of humanity in a world of filth and decay, and he entered it quietly.

”Rei, I want…” The hollow words fell away from his lips as he saw that the building was completely empty, which meant that the group had not returned from their show-down nor had any of the splinter groups returned from their given assignments and, after a quick scan through the building with his feelers, their Benevolent leader Benton wasn’t occupying the Headquarters either, which led to a grave feeling in the pit of The Hive’s stomach. He produced a metallic ring covered in a layer of PVC and Rubber from a nook in his exoskeleton and slipped it back onto his antennae, which was immediately turned on to try and render some form of radio contact with anyone else from the Corps.

”T’kkhe’kk here. What is happening?” He spoke as loudly as he could and, thanks to the silence of the headquarters and the close proximity of the communicator to his face, it would sound like a booming report of that tinny little voice. In heightened anticipation, he waited for a response.

XXXXXXCompany: N/a

XXXXXXXXLocation: Around

XXXXXXXXXXMood: Thoughtless

Darren groaned as he opened his eyes, he could hear the others, they must be in the next room. Sitting up he winced in pain, noticing just how bad he got burnt. "Great, just great, peachy ******** keen. Hey nurses I would like to leave!" Darren said rather loudly, he faintly remembered giving his home number out which meant someone from his family would be coming. A nurse came in giving him a look that said he couldn't leave. "At least bring me a wheelchair my friends are next door." The nurse sighed before walking away bringing back a wheelchair, she handed Darren a hospital gown to put on. Darren yelped when he put weight on his foot earning himself a lecture from the nurse who wheeled him over to the other room pulling his i.v and pain med fluids with her." Hey everyone." Darren was relived to see that Hatsumi and Alice seemed ok physically that is Hatsumi seemed to be beating herself up. The nurse left him next to Hatsumi's bed before laving muttering something about she was transferring back to a normal hospital in a normal city. "Hatsumi don't beat yourself up, look how much help I was, I'm covered in burns and doped up on very very strong pain meds. If it was't for the fact that most humanoid beings like myself heal a bit faster I probably still be out. Darren reached a bandaged hand out to Hatsumi and rubbed her arm gently. Darren was about to say something else when a quiet knock was heard at the door. There stood a rabbit girl who looked nervous until she saw Darren.


"Oh Darren my widdle bunny boy your all hurt!" Her voice was high pitched and on the annoying side. "See my widdle fluffy wompkins this is why you should have stayed home." She threw her arms around Darren who let out a yelp of pain which she ignored. "You should come home and marry me now, mr. Fuzzy we have babies to make!" Darren mouthed the word help as she continued to hug him.