Inside 69: Nice.

[bc56]

Prison

The secretary looks boredly up at the vigilante. Apparently, she's seen scarier things. "Sir, I'm not Warden McKenzie. I'm just his secretary. Do you have an appointment?"
As he leans in, however, he may note that the sulfur levels visibly (to his sensors, anyway) increase as he approaches the woman. She absolutely reeks of sulfur.

[Recaiden]

Rooftop Statuary Garden

If Anchor checks, there is actually soil under the grass. "Well, you get meadows on mountainsides and stuff, right? Where there's rock and it's too steep for soil? I guess it's a bit like that. As for the statues, I've got no idea. I mean, magic and technology makes lots of things possible, doesn't it?" Jack follows Anchor, so they're not being looked at by Winston Churchill any more. Around this half of the garden, there's a crude stone man, a black granite Egyptian block statue of a pharaoh, a bronze mermaid on a rounded boulder, another bronze of a cross-legged man with his hands in his lap sits on a lotus leaf and a marble statue of a seated Victorian gentleman with crossed legs, a squared beard and a bald head, with his jacket draped across his knees.

"That's true. I mean, I just don't expect to find mountain landscape in the city. How neat." Anchor stands in front of the crude stone man for a while. It's so plain and abstract compared to the others, except those pointed lines.
"Never heard of anyone whose collection this is?" An idea springs into her head. Are the statues organized in some clear way, or just scattered around?
"Ooh, look at this one. The details on that jacket he's got." Really they're all delightful.

Hive Sewers

"Um... Do I have to ask the favour now, or can it wait? I'm... Not sure I've got anything I really want protected, nobody's annoyed me enough for me to want revenge, and... I suspect most of my questions will be answered after I join you." Most of her questions she actually suspect will be answered with a 'no', so she really doesn't want to ask them just in case she's right. Questions like 'will you let me go', and 'will I ever see the surface again'.

"You might need to compromise more later on, but I think we can do that." Fay says, smiling.
A worker comes in (picture a crested crab the size of a lion, floating just off the ground by fluttering its webby legs, with too many legs. It has a band of blue fabric around its left claw). It offers a pair of bottles to Sylvette. The red potion bubbles and glimmers much the same in the light. If tasted, it's a lot like a cola, sweet, fizzy, syrupy, and it will heal someone's body as well as begin the insidious transformation into a hive creature. The darker potion admits little light, only revealing a faint purple around the edges. It's the same consistency all the way through. It takes like olive oil mixed with blood, and sticks like molasses. It's purpose is to strengthen someone's mundane and magical specialties.
"I think you're right about the questions. Drink up."
No, they won't let her go.
Yes, she'll see the surface again (as long as she manages to keep her eyes)

[Chaotic Bob]

[SNS Street Gym]

Heroes have to confident, G'nichi! Own it!

Yeah G'nichi, act like you belong in this outfit and nothing could ever look better on you. If you believe hard enough, you can delude yourself into thinking it's true!
Maybe it'll make you notice less when people are staring at you.

The birdguy is at least doing a decent job of being focused on things other than the weird lizard kid's choice of dress.
Mostly because he's casting a scowling side-eye towards those dogs in the back.
"You'll want to ask them, then. The Woofpack is the local gang."

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Now, this is a pretty unusual position to be in as a little girl. Starting with the fact that you died terribly, then became a ghost...but now we're hear after having been eaten by some creepy little monster girl who wants to do either a team-up or double-eating?

Terrifying.

But less terrifying, maybe, than it should be. Sadie isn't really sure what most of this stuff Melissa is talking about actually means beyond a weirdly happy "play or be eaten" sort of choice being in there. Playing sounds pretty good, being eaten sounds pretty bad.
Easy choice.
So she gives her enslaving nekomancer a shy little nod, before proving herself slightly more situationally aware and looking off towards the smiling man.

Her shy look dissolves into a rather literally haunted one and she points.
"Boogeyman."

And then Isaac's little force bolt flies off into them, striking the man solidly in the chest after they don't do anything at all to dodge it. Then the bolt keeps going, splattering what looks like ink in all directions behind him and leaving a decent sized hole behind, the top of which drips more of that ink onto the lower part. Each drop seems to fill back in more of the hole.
Smile ever wide, one of his hands lifts up and reaches towards Isaac, which despite being several feet away, seems alarmingly close to the boy.

And then he's gone again, along with the mass on the floor nearby.

The shadows filling the air are still roiling in apparent distress though.

"Give her back give her back!"

[Delilah's Old Hideout]

In Ambriel rushes.

This place is a disaster. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all full of holes, cracks, and tears. Portions look burnt, others melted, bits of destroyed display furniture are scattered about.
A door leading to a room on the left has been broken in half, only the lower portion still tentatively connected to the frame.

Forwards, towards the kitchen are voices.
"Once more, then just bring her to me. I will check back in after terminating the wishful protagonists."
And like someone turning off a static-y television, most of that heavy atmosphere of magic is gone.

There is still an amount, certainly, but it seems less catastrophic in nature.
"I apologize. If it's any comfort to you, Libitina didn't anticipate how cruel a side effect this really was."
Depending on how much access Ambriel has had to past Magtok data, that would have been the voice of Feia herself and something vaguely similar to her son.

Some other ragged, barely functional voice rasps something in response, but it is entirely unintelligible.
"I know. But the end is inevitable, without you."

Rush into the kitchen, Ambriel? Or something other tactical idea?

[Earl of Purple]

Rooftop Statuary Garden

The statues seem to be pretty randomly placed, without much rhyme or reason to placement. They're mostly copies, too, though I don't know if Anchor would recognise the statue of Charles Darwin from the London Natural History Museum.

"I don't know whose collection this is. Probably the landlord's, whoever owns this building. But I don't know why they'd put them here, rather than somewhere they'd be able to look at them. Unless they live here, or something. I dunno." It's a tricky one, but Jack likes it up here. Very peaceful and relaxing.

Hive Sewers

Sylvette manages not to recoil too badly from the worker approaching her, and takes the bottles she's offered. The first bottle is nice; she drinks it quite slowly to savour the taste. That makes the second bottle a particularly unpleasant surprise; she nearly gags from the foul taste. Despite that, she finishes both bottles and even feels a little bit more refreshed than she did before, though she doesn't know why.

[Deathkeeper]

[SNS Street Gym]

"G-gang? Gangs are involved? Oh, dear. I-is there anything I should know? I could use any help you can give." he asks of the birdman.
Meanwhile, he asks if any of his 'friends' can help him if he just happens to be stabbed or shot.

[Rebonack]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

"Don't worry Sadie, we'll make sure they can't get you," Melissa assures her as the boogie is rather unceremoniously reduced to goop. She can tell there's something weird going on here. That guy wasn't a ghost. OR a boogie. At least not one like her. More like... some really fancy gossamer trick? Like the ghostly flames she creates. They aren't real fire. They're made of dream stuff.

And she's thinking that's what all these spooks are, too.

Dream stuff. Or nightmare stuff.

Like how she's made of nightmare stuff. Just with more her than these guys.

Just because they aren't real doesn't mean that they can't cause harm, though. Melissa knows her fire can burn people.

And she knows those goopy jerks can bite faces off, too.

Melissa frowns when the voice starts yelling about giving Sadie (she assumes) back.

"No way, Sadie's my friend now!" she hollers back. "I'm not going to let her just fade away! We're going to have fun and adventures and stuff! You should come with us too this house is gross."

Lucas, meanwhile, gives his flashlight a flick. Suddenly it is a stick! Another flick later and there's a wrought iron tip on the end of it. "That shadow guy looked like he was made of fae magic. Or something like it," he says. "Let's check the rest of these rooms up here quick."

Then?

He'll try to open the door that the sounds of children mumbling were coming from behind.

[Deathkeeper]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Isaac warily follows Lucas. Looks like his bolt...might have done something? It's fairly hard for him to tell.
"Did you make a friend, Lissa?" he asks the cat.
Because it seems like she might have enthralled a ghost.
Cait Sith are so creepy. He doesn't like this at all.

[Chaotic Bob]

[SNS Street Gym]

The bird turns that beak back towards G'nichi and is rather grim in his reply.
"Yeah, that quivering little prey thing you're doing? Stop that."

Her other choices aside, confidence really is important, hero. Attractiveness and respect both spring forth from it.
Heck yeah it does. Also huge muscles, those come from huge muscles too.
Not helping. Don't worry about knives or firearms, hero. We are with you.

Those dogs have split into two groups of two. One pair is feverishly lifting larger and larger amounts of waits, while the other pair seems to be loudly bettering against each other on which of the other two is going to quit first.

The elves continue to look annoyed by this.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Oh, the smiling man wasn't reduced to goop. Sure, some of that ink was splattered behind him in the way of Isaac's attack.
But he simply disappeared over the course of an eye-blink like all of those strange silhouettes have so far.
It isn't a reassuring phenomena, if he's actually dangerous.

Sadie looks quite a bit happier with him gone, one way or another. Still kind of confused about what's going on here, but less mortally terrified.
So it depends a bit on how much freedom of movement she has here, in regards to positioning around Melissa, but she'll at least give a shy little wave to Lucas and Isaac, if she can't look at them a little closer.

"No, I can't let this happen again..."

And there's a rather audible clicking noise as that door Lucas reaches for locks. Along with every other door in the hallway.
On top of this, the shadows here are beginning to flow under the doors. This has the bright side of making the hallway progressively (if slowly) easier to see in, but it likely isn't doing any favors to the rooms beyond it.

[Deathkeeper]

[SNS Street Gym]

G’nichi takes a deep breath, puffs out his chest, and walks over to the yapping dogs.
”Hello gentlemen. I’m looking for a pair of dwarf weapon suppliers that I heard came through here. Have you seen them?” he asks, trying his best to sound confident.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Isaac grits his teeth. Taking a step forward he launches a precise bolt of force at the lock.
”Let us in, please.” he growls.

[Rebonack]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Sadie actually has a pretty significant range of motion. Those nearly invisible strands of moonlight just keep her tethered to Melissa. She can move around quite freely, but the nekomancer could always call her back.

Melissa is actually wondering what happened to Sadie's body.

Probably collected by the people who cleaned out the house and then locked it up, right?

"Yeah!" Melissa replies enthusiastically to Isaac. "This'll let her be kind of alive for a while until it's time for her to move on. And when she has to go home I can take her there! I'm like... one of those things. The grim reaper people?"

"A psychopomp," Lucas offers, trying to figure out what he wants to do with his bundle of sage. It doesn't appear to work that well against the shadow things. Hopefully the iron-tipped spear he just made will work better.

"Exactly. A psycho-pop!" Melissa almost agrees. "Something really rotten must have happened here to make so many ghosts," she reasons before turning to Sadie and then-!

She does an actual necromancer thing!

"Hey Sadie? Something super-bad happened here, right? That's why there are so many ghosts?"

[Chaotic Bob]

[SNS Street Gym]

It's not particularly relevant to anything, but the dogs appear to be two golden retrievers, one yorkshire terrier, and a huskie.
And it is the terrier that first turns towards G'nichi, being one of the two betting dogs.
"Yap somewhere else, chew toy."
And then stares him down, unblinkingly and challengingly.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Isaac blasts another hole in another poor door.
And then a slender and far, far too long set of fingers attached to a far, far too long arm shoot out of said hole, looking to grab him by the face and slam him forward into the door.
The faint vision of a smiling is higher up on the door, grinning downwards at them from where it protrudes through the darkened wood.
"Boo."
Words in a raspy voice, like sandpaper against the ears, from between glistening teeth.

And it is this precise occurrence that tears a rather ghostly wail from Sadie, serving as both a warning to everyone else and an answer to Melissa's question.
Something terrible has happened here.
She seems to think it's that.

[Deathkeeper]

[SNS Street Gym]

G’nichi is fairly sure that he’s seen the normal four legged version of this dog, and he’s fairly sure he remembers it being tiny.
So that fact that this dog-person’s pectorals are each bigger than his head is mildly humiliating given the nature of this whole quest. But he can’t back down now! If he doesn’t pay off this collar he’ll have to go look at one of the other solutions the staff offered which will likely result in something even worse. So he stares up at the massive dog-person.
”I asked you a question, sir. Answer it, or you’ll have to make me go elsewhere.” he challenges.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Isaac is smashed against the door!
The door might not survive the impact, as the moment the pain registers with his brain he quickly balloons in size into a large white loxodon carrying a massive two-handed mace, which might just displace the door he face impacted with. He hopefully doesn’t get his tusks stuck in it, but either way he is momentarily knocked senseless and is left stumbling to his feet.

[Rebonack]

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

Looks like the gloves are off.

"Isaac!" Melissa cries out.

Would you look at that.

She's concerned about her older brother's well being.

"Your giant elephant butt is in the way! I can't get the bad guy!"

...okay maybe not.

As far as Melissa is concerned Isaac is SUPER tough and no one can beat up her big brother, least of all some stupid make-believe bookie who isn't even real.

Lucas, meanwhile, is looking for an opportunity to shank a spook with a cold-iron spear.

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

"Thanks, but I don't need help: I'm sure I'll eventually find him again," Holly says - She will, one way or another. "And, when I'm around HALO, I'll have to take you up on that offer." She suspects she'll probably actually spend more time around HALO at least until she figures this out.

...but she thinks she really would need to overcome her nightmares and/or nightly panic attacks before she feels comfortable actually sleeping in the same bed as someone else: because of it, the last time she slept in the same bed as someone else, she ended up killing them while asleep. Sure, there's that Shapeshifter's Bane dagger, but she just recently learned how bad everything can go if she depends on it to sleep. Or maybe she could just roll out of the bed onto the floor and pretend she's just a deep sleeper who rolls around a lot while sleeping? Thinking about it, she decides that's probably the best option if it comes up. And then she could brush it off, saying that's why she sleeps more comfortably in a hammock.

As the waitress has just arrived and begins putting out the plates and cups, Holly gestures to show which ones are hers and which are Reinholdt's. "Oh. I, um..." What even are her hobbies anymore? She never has time to do anything because she's always switching between different lives and personas...maybe what she does in her other lives? "Most my hobbies are pretty boring," she claims. "I kind-of like following politics and studying biology," she says. "I also enjoy doing practice swordfighting," she says as well, but then adds, "but I'm not nearly as good as I want to be." There are also a couple other things she wants to do but doesn't have time and besides, the food's here so no point in talking about hobbies she wants to do but doesn't do.

[Temperance Teahouse]

Reinholdt smiles warmly, no doubt already imagining things, but is quickly distracted by the arrival of the food. He turns his head slightly and nods at the waitress delivering their meal. "Thank you." Taking the red tea, he gently blows on it twice before taking a sip. There's a moment of pondering before Rein nods with a gentle mmm and takes another sip before putting it back down.

"I admit, I've never been a fan of politics. Maybe because I'm not a big fan of rules in general. The police would fire me very quickly." He's a loose cannon that Inspector Reinholdt! "And I guess I've never studied any proper melee techniques. I really should for my own safety. I'm just more of a bring a gun to a knife fight kind of guy. Which isn't as fun or dramatic as swordfighting." A blot upon his usual theatrics, it's true. More than one person is ashamed by this.

"Biology though. That's a new one I've never heard of as a hobby. A field of study, certainly. Do you just mean... like watching Animal Planet or something? How does that work?" Rein's trying to imagine biology as a hobby, but he's coming up blank.

[Hattish Thing]

Prison

The secretary looks boredly up at the vigilante. Apparently, she's seen scarier things. "Sir, I'm not Warden McKenzie. I'm just his secretary. Do you have an appointment?"
As he leans in, however, he may note that the sulfur levels visibly (to his sensors, anyway) increase as he approaches the woman. She absolutely reeks of sulfur.

The vigilante turns his head slightly within his helmet, glancing around the room for just a second before explaining. He also takes a moment or so to analyze the secretary herself, attempting to determine whether or not she showed any signs of physical injury or anything otherwise out of the ordinary.

[5a Violista]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Holly also starts with her tea: food can wait until they've finished asking each other questions, and one of them decides to start monologuing, right? She's pretty sure that's how it's supposed to work.

"Well," she says, "I just like learning about biology from all sorts of different worlds and places. Like, reading papers on it and seeing how different animals act and how stuff works, and so on. Different ways thinks like bones work or different analogues to muscles...besides reading romance novels it's been one of my favorite pastimes since coming to the Nexus." Plus, controlling her shapeshifting hinges on understanding how it works and the more she understands the stronger she can be, so...it's kind-of obvious she'd end up doing that.
...
Plus, one of her alternate personas that's largely stayed off-screen so far is working as an assistant to a vet in Riverside. It's mostly so she has access to the latest scientific journals and can see the weird things that are brought in, but it benefits her too. "If I had more time and money," she claims, "I'd probably go to a university and study that."

She drinks more tea.

[bc56]

Prison

The secretary reaches into the top drawer of the file cabinet and withdraws a thin stack of forms, three or four pages total. "Please fill these out to the best of your ability, sign and date at the bottom." She passes them over along with a pen. "What smell?"
The scan will turn up much the same result as the guard. Physically, she's a slightly out of shape middle-aged human female. Emotionally, she's blank and unreadable.

[Hattish Thing]

Prison

Unsure of how to deal with a threat he wasn't sure was even there, the vigilante sits down upon the table, absentmindedly filling out paperwork while remaining aware of his surroundings. After about a page, he pauses for a moment, setting his pen down upon the table before turning his helmeted head to the side.

With a sigh, he rises up, clenching his hands into fists before speaking. Aftert that, he'll leave the room, before attempting to navigate his way to a set of stairs leading deeper below.

[Recaiden]

[Rooftop Statuary Garden]

"Maybe they don't come up here often. Or maybe they don't like statues, but can't just get rid of them. Whatever. We can look at them. I mean, they're some of the best things on this rooftop."
Anchor has never been to London, but this particular statue has his name chiseled at the bottom, so one can recognize it that way. "Oh hey, Darwin."

[Hive Sewers]

"It's started. Right now, you're pretty human. By the end, you'll be something superhuman."
Once she's done, the worker takes the empty bottles and retreats, fluttering backwards out of the cloakroom.
"You should change out of your clothes; they'd get soaked and ruined. You can take a robe if you like."
The Tineye will probably start to feel, in some vague way at the back of her head, just how not alone she is. Hive creatures here, there, everywhere.

[Lord Magtok]

[Delilah's Old Hideout]

In Ambriel rushes.

This place is a disaster. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all full of holes, cracks, and tears. Portions look burnt, others melted, bits of destroyed display furniture are scattered about.
A door leading to a room on the left has been broken in half, only the lower portion still tentatively connected to the frame.

Forwards, towards the kitchen are voices.
"Once more, then just bring her to me. I will check back in after terminating the wishful protagonists."
And like someone turning off a static-y television, most of that heavy atmosphere of magic is gone.

There is still an amount, certainly, but it seems less catastrophic in nature.
"I apologize. If it's any comfort to you, Libitina didn't anticipate how cruel a side effect this really was."
Depending on how much access Ambriel has had to past Magtok data, that would have been the voice of Feia herself and something vaguely similar to her son.

Some other ragged, barely functional voice rasps something in response, but it is entirely unintelligible.
"I know. But the end is inevitable, without you."

Rush into the kitchen, Ambriel? Or something other tactical idea?

"Hostage, Green. What d-" "I heard, Wings, I heard. Get me eyes, give him a reason to face forward," Haz's faintly distorted voice growls in his ear. That's right, a building like this is nothing to HazMag's gun at its maximal setting, and with Ambriel's eye mapping out the building's interior, it'll be like there aren't any walls between him and the hostage-taker at all. We'd better hope it's just Vemnaunt and Delilah in there, though. If even a fraction of Feia is still monitoring the situation, oh boy, I don't want to think about that.

"Hands in the air, freeze!" Ambriel shouts, as soon as he's taken his first step into the kitchen. He's pointing a pistol in the general direction he heard Venmaunt's voice, but he's not really expecting to fire it today. Haz is a very good shot, the best on team Faction, and half-dragons usually have pretty big, dumb, and ugly noggins. A man-portable hyperlaser should be more than enough to burrow through the building and Venmaunt's ugly face. Delilah may get some mild burns from being close to the beam when it drills through her captor's face, but nothing too bad. This'll be over in an instant, all Ambriel has to do is look pretty and distracting for a split-second, he can do that!

[Reinholdt]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Holly also starts with her tea: food can wait until they've finished asking each other questions, and one of them decides to start monologuing, right? She's pretty sure that's how it's supposed to work.

"Well," she says, "I just like learning about biology from all sorts of different worlds and places. Like, reading papers on it and seeing how different animals act and how stuff works, and so on. Different ways things like bones work or different analogues to muscles...besides reading romance novels it's been one of my favorite pastimes since coming to the Nexus." Plus, controlling her shapeshifting hinges on understanding how it works and the more she understands the stronger she can be, so...it's kind-of obvious she'd end up doing that.
...
Plus, one of her alternate personas that's largely stayed off-screen so far is working as an assistant to a vet in Riverside. It's mostly so she has access to the latest scientific journals and can see the weird things that are brought in, but it benefits her too. "If I had more time and money," she claims, "I'd probably go to a university and study that."

She drinks more tea.

[Temperance Teahouse]

Reinholdt doesn't think it's supposed to work that way at all, given that he takes his sushi and starts to eat it. He does strategically only eat while she's talking though, so it'll be something of a slow process.

"Yeah, I suppose the Nexus is something of a special opportunity to learn about creatures you'd never see anywhere else. I can see that becoming engrossing in the right setting." Rein still thinks he'll give it a pass at the end of the day. If he has time to study a newly discovered species, he has time to translate ancient hieroglyphics detailing buried treasure. He ends up smirking at Holly pretty hard though. "Romance novels, eh? Trashy or classy?" Can you really be one without being the other? Yeah, probably.

"I have noticed that time and money do seem to go hand in hand," Rein says, taking a taste of the wine as well. Mmm, so good with the fish. He drinks a fair bit. "You usually either have both or have neither."

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Fungus House]

Well.

Stabbing the relic could be an answer.

Maybe?

Or maybe not.

Regardless of whether or not that action is taken (or whether or not it would be helpful) the unseen horror continues its rampage through the library. It sounds like it's getting dangerously close to the secret passage.

Melissa blinks and replies, sounding panicked, "Y-yeah, that's probably a good idea! Here, let me give it a shot..." She gingerly presses the sword tip into the relic, half waiting for it to explode. She eventually increases the pressure and, if nothing happens, draws back and stabs it at full force!

[bc56]

Prison

It isn't hard to find stairs leading down. The prison has three floors, and a stairwell is located at each corner of the building. The door at the bottom, however, is a sturdy steel fire door with the words "EMPLOYEES ONLY" stenciled onto it in large black letters. Trying the handle will reveal that it is locked tightly.

[Rebonack]

[Intersection HQ]

A few days after the incident that ended in a new district of Inside popping into being Intersection's office delivery minion will be knocking on Nick's door before trotting inside.

Trotting since he's an earth pony.

Good ol' Rubberband Ball!

When it comes to doing mail deliveries and making sure everyone is topped off on their supply of paperclips there's nopony quite like him!

Up to Nick's desk he goes before reaching back into his saddle bags and pulling out a hard-shell plastic carrying case and thumps it into Nick's desk.

"Some guys dropped this off down at the front desk," Rubber says. "Officer Cane vouched for them. They said it was for you."

Well!

Judging from the crown and crescent logo stamped on the case it's probably pretty obvious what it is.

[Deathkeeper]

[Intersection HQ]

Nick bobs his head in acknowledgement.
”Oh, thanks Rubberband Ball. I was expecting it.”
Do ponies prefer you say their full names, or is it like saying someone’s first and last name every time? He really needs to ask Geneva.
He’ll wait until the pony leaves the room before he opens the case though. Can’t be too careful.

[Rebonack]

[Intersection HQ]

Rubber gives a little hoof-salute before turning and trotting out of the room.

It isn't uncommon for equestrians to go by just part of their name or a nick-name. Stern Sleet, for example, is called either Stern or Sleet by most all of her squad-mates. But they probably don't mind their full name being used, either. Equestrians are typically pretty laid back about that sort of thing. Geneva's full name is Geneva Pressurefront. Would probably be something like... Stormy Pressurefront if she were a full-blooded pony.

Anywho!

GUN!

Nick pops the case open finds within, nestled in its black foam cushioning, is a chunky pistol.

It's black. And glossy. And it feels more like it's made of stone than of metal. It looks to be made completely out of interlocking equilateral triangles, some curved and others not. A subtle blue glow occasionally shines between the joints in the weapon.

Also, quite helpfully, there's a little folded instruction booklet that comes with it!

Handy.

The weapon apparently has two firing modes. Crystallize and disintegrate. The former will harmlessly freeze a target for several minutes. The latter causes rather a fairly unfriendly reaction in the strong and weak nuclear forces that results in matter just kind of... coming apart. Normally that would result in nuclear explosions but the gun somehow feeds on the excess energy to power itself. Using the disintegrate firing mode against something that has been crystallized will cause the crystallized target to explode violently.

Fancy!

[Deathkeeper]

[Intersection HQ]

Nick carefully checks the booklet for warnings, then closes up the case. The weapon does sound awfully powerful. He will make a point to use it.
But maybe he shouldn’t go around wearing it openly. He gets the idea that plenty of beings would not appreciate him having this.

[Rebonack]

[Intersection HQ]

The book, in fact, carries a warning about exactly that and other subjects!

First of all, over using the disintegrate function will cause the weapon to begin overheating and emitting ionizing radiation.

Which is bad.

The weapon will give warnings when it is nearing the overheat stage and simply not using it for a while to allow it to cool down is sufficient.

Second of all, possessing such an Artifact will make it more likely that adversarial forces or deranged cultists might target Nick.

Significantly more likely, in fact.

However... Nick will probably notice the Sign of Koth engraved on one side of the weapon and the Intersection logo on the other. Having the weapon on his person will also serve to ward against some of the nastier things spooky critters could potentially do to him.

[5a Violista]

[Temperance Teahouse]

Well, if Reinholdt is going to eat already then that leaves Holly no choice but to eat as well - obviously, when he's talking.

There's probably lots of buried treasures all over, too - and somebody's got to discover it. Probably just as important as finding new species. "I-I like both kinds, okay? What's wrong with that?" the Half-Elf^TM says, defensively in response to his smirk. "Stories for the sake of just reading were hard to come by where I came from: books had to be handwritten or used awkward machines." Like, printing presses.

Sure, you can justify it however you want, Holly, but that doesn't change anything.

"Well, what sort of books do you like?" she asks, counterattacking with a question of her own.

[Chaotic Bob]

[SNS Street Gym]

Dogs are interesting. Staring them down is a sign of aggression and dominance. It's why the yorkieman was glaring down at G'nichi.
But now G'nichi is doing it back and presenting a pretty blatant authority challenge.

It seems, even granted anthropomorphism and a fondness for the gym, some basic instincts still rule here. He's going to have to prove himself in some capacity or another.

The other three dogs have turned to look now, ears pricked and curious as the yorkie's glare darkens.
"Want me to make you, huh? Wish granted."
And with that he moves forward to close that gap between the two of them.

I wonder if they still raise their hackles when they're mad? I can't really tell from the front.
Oh right. Bad doggy!

Drawing on some blatant presumption that G'nichi didn't want to actually become a literal chew toy, the staff flashes! And literally balloons out to a fairly prodigious size, complete with sound effect.
It inflates so quickly and forcefully that it knocks the yorkieman backwards onto the ground, leading to a moment of surprised confusion on the faces of all present.
Surprised confusion that's probably going to change into something angrier momentarily.

[Golden Flock Orphanage]

There's a dark laugh from the mouth, as Isaac's face hits the wood, the fingers releasing their grip on his head as it begins to change.
So freed, the door should be spared any particularly catastrophic destruction.

Not that it especially matters, since the door is pulled open and in shortly after, to the scene of pitch blackness.
The only visible feature of the room beyond is the hand that just grabbed Isaac smoothly retreating back into it, mockingly gesturing a "come hither" with a finger.

The look on Sadie's face suggests that she would really rather they all just went literally anywhere else.

[Delilah's Old Hideout]

This scene is nightmarish.

The kitchen has suffered much the same fate as the hall, clearly the site of extensive fighting, but that is to be expected.
It's that thing pinned to the wall by a giant sword, high enough up that what remains of its feet can no longer touch the floor, that is the horror.

It's the right height for Delilah, and it has her special little necklace around its neck, but...she should be very dead. The sword is going directly through the middle of her chest, easily large enough to be ruining several vital systems. Discounting all of the other wounds, missing flesh, and clearly broken limbs.
Almost a third of her head is just skull, on one side.
But live it still does, rasping something from the ruin of its mouth and pawing something like a hand on the sword's flat side.

Standing before her, surrounded by a literal cloud of golden glowing symbols, stands Venmaunt.
The half-dragon looks immaculate. Not just in a clean sense, but his simple bearing, demeanor. There is a serenity about him that could possibly be related to that very faint golden corona drifting behind the tips of his spiraling horns.
At Ambriel's shout, his face half-turns, revealing eyes of molten gold interspersed with flecks of amethyst.
"I wouldn't shoot. You'll want to hear this, for your own sake."

He does not raise his hands up in the air, more than they are. Which, currently, is in the middle of finishing the tracing of two more runes in the cloud.