Las Vegas gets aliens too

Viva Las Vegas!

"Wattterrrrr.... need... watterrrrr...!" A witch dressed girl made the terrible mistake of underestimating the heat of the Nevada sun. Virtually no one else was outside at this time of day, when the sun was giving its all to roast everything.

Of course this being Las Vegas, it wasn't long before the witch dressed girl found herself wandering under some shade, then an automated door, then an air curtain and finally an air conditioned casino.  "Shiny!"

Since it was Vegas, even the Casino had a ton of interesting characters. A man in a gray suit, glasses, and carrying a shoulder bag was waving around the bible (new king james version) and calling for casino goers to repent. his name tag said "Elder James Earl Mason."

"...Begone from this place, brothers and sisters! There is only sin and ruination in those halls! Repent and cast aside your evil ways, and..." The preacher turned around to come eye to eye with Dabbler. his fiery oratory reached a fevered pitch. "AAAHHH! THE HELLSPAWN! THE HELLSPAWN IS HERE! BEGONE FOUL THING! IN THE NAME OF THE ALMIGHTY I CAST YOU OUT!" He waved a crucifix at Dabbler, who simply tilted her head in wonder. "You're not quite right in the head are you mister?"

Security eventually came by to take the preacher away. "Shut up, Jimmy."

She perked up at all the lights and sounds of the casino floor proper, but the Asian casino concierge in the nice little red dress with the nametag 'Amy' stopped the witch from going any further.

"I'm sorry miss, but no minors on the casino floor." She said with a friendly smile, as she welcomed other guests in.

"...But everyone's having so much more fun in there!" Dabbler said, as she looked at all the slot machines and card tables.

"No minors, I'm sorry but it's the rules. You'll have to wait until you're 21. Would you like to try the arcade, or the buffet instead while you wait for your parents?" She said, being cool and doing her job of keeping kids innocent until they're old enough to ruin their own lives.

"Hmph. Fine!" Dabbler looked the concierge lady in the eye, then started blowing into her thumb, comically imitating cartoons.

"What are you doing?" The concierge chuckled at Dabbler's antics at first, but her amusement turned to horror as Dabbler quickly seemed to grow to match Amy's height and proportions, including her augmented bust and posterior size. Only Dabbler's eyes retained their original color, but she was otherwise Amy's spitting image.

"There. Do I look grown up enough for you?" Dabbler asked, in Amy's voice.

"...S...s..s..sure... " The casino concierge stammered nervously, as Dabbler entered the floor as the concierge, before Amy picked up the intercom and warned casino security. Dabbler was completely taken by all the slot machines, before spotting a waitress with glasses of soda, which Dabbler-Amy quaffed down to sate her thirst. The latina waitress just stared, wondering what the concierge was doing inside, before spotting real-Amy at the entrance.

Knightfall wasn't having a whole lot of luck with the machines it seemed. He'd been in Nevada for a job and decided to stop by Las Vegas, this being the first time he was on the western side of the U.S., he would like to see as much as he can before he eventually left. After losing a few rounds at the slots he noticed the nice concierge from the front desk walking towards him and tensed up. She probably knew who he was and already called the police. Getting ready to make his way out of the casino he looked to the front doors and saw the concierge still there. He flipped the visor on his motorcycle helmet not sure if he was seeing this correctly but there were in fact two identical concierge's. Now this could be good or bad. Either this other concierge was just her identical twin or it was a meta-human. Knightfall hurriedly flipped his visor back down and sat quickly back at the slot machine glancing at the supposed concierge downing a glass of pop.

Blake had been riding the grey hound bus for a while now. What money he had left, was either stolen or the remainder of Christmas/birthday money he had left in savings. He was extremely
tired of eating from dumpsters and begging for scraps. "Las Vegas." Said the bus driver. Vegas, huh? Sin City it is. Blake thought and stepped off the bus.

He entered a casino, seeing on the sign that they had a buffet. He walked inside, brushed his orange hair back and looked around. He saw the buffet, when a woman stopped him. He noticed that her name tag said Amy. "Sorry, no minors in the casino. Let's just get you to the buffet." Amy said with a warm smile, though the grip on his back told him she was obviously stressed about something."So... how are minors supposed to get to the buffet if they aren't allowed to go through the casino?" Blake asked but was quickly shoved into the buffet area without receiving an answer. The smell of food at low prices eased his suspicion.

2 plates later, Blake saw that Amy lady trying to get another minor out of the casino area. He shrugged it off as he moved for a third helping of macaroni and cheese; when he saw that Amy was now two people. Concerned about what was in his food, he turned his orange eyes to the entrance. Person in a bike helmet indoors, and a double concierge. Nothing to be concerned about. Thought Blake as he simply continued eating, but keeping an eye on the situation.

If Bliss knew one way to make a quick buck using an amazing mind for math skills while also being able to consume an unhealthy amount of alcohol, it would always be coding. But, casinos operated in a similar way as well. Especially blackjack. Bliss stepped up to a table showing four face cards on the board and put down a stack of chips. Dolled up with make up with her hair loosely styled in a braided down look, Bliss wore a blue, sleeveless dress with black boots up to her knees. "Hit."

The dealer looked at the board. Then at Bliss. Then to her considerable stack of winnings. He could not just say no to her, but he could touch upon a silent alert to let security know about a potential card counter.

He dealt her a card, then dealt her face up card. She looked under to see an eight, with a seven showing. "Hit"

"Of course." He slid a card on top.

A six. "Bam, bitch!" Bliss stood up and shook her rear in a manner some would consider dancing. "You're too kind."

"Leaving so soon?" The dealer took out another deck of cards from the shrink wrap and shuffled it into the deck.

"Yep. Gotta go meet up with the girls for drinks. Don't worry. I'll be back." Bliss moved to her next mark to check to see if her rotation still moved in the direction of her choice. Only three face cards were on her next table, and the third table opened up a new deck and shuffled it in. "Well suck."

It took her a while to find her seventh table, the one she left prior to circling back to table one, and take a count of six face cards on the table. She took her seat, stealing the next draw from a man to her left. "In."

"I'll get you in on the next round." A woman passed the opener to a man and a woman beside her before attempting to skip Bliss.

For some reason the card refused to pass Bliss over. Not the same reason Bliss' drink always remained cold, but a reason from the same source. "Excuse the fuck out of me?" Bliss pulled the card in and looked it over. Nine.

Not wanting a fight, or at least assuming security would soon be down to do the fight for her, the dealer let it slide, sending out the face up cards of a five, jack, seven, and eight in the same order she dealt previously. Bliss counted a zero, then looked at her card again. One. Okay. Now, she just needed to get a little more of a read while sitting at sixteen.

Her read would come with a little complication as a man placed his hand on her shoulder. "Not now dick; I'm in the middle of making a read." He cleared his throat as a seven and eight slid over to the man and woman beside her. "Hit! Hit now!"

Before the card slid across the table, a man grabbed it and gave it to the man to Bliss' left while the man behind her grabbed her arm. Bliss pulled the card to her telekinetically, letting her take a look at the card- a four. "Hey, hands off, I'm in this." A real temptation to put this guy through a wall crossed Bliss' mind. It lingered there. It petitioned for asylum and took out a small business loan. Then, Bliss decided against it. "I still won that hand!"

CASINO FLOOR

The security radio chatter was abuzz, as quite a handful of security teams were now dispatched to the Casino floor.

"Be advised, the metahuman shapeshifter is on the loose in the casino hall, looks like Amy. Detain them both."

"What if she changes face again?" Someone asked.

"Then detain whoever looks identical!" An authority figure retorted to the stupid question.


Dabbler paced back and forth watching all the Vegas tourists hemmoraging money to the Casino's machines and tables. Of course, as a shapeshifting teleporter, money was never quite an issue. A few chips here, a few dollar bills there, and Dabbler was frantically losing money as quickly as she pilfered it. The thrill of winning games of chance, combined with the lights and sounds stimulated her mind greatly. The security team looking for her were frantically passing through crowds; it was hopeless, seeing as she literally was anyone.

"OOoooh!" After having burned through several hundred dollars of chips, she finally was amazed when the slot machine put out a winning... of twenty bucks.

After a period of time probably spent thinking, Dabbler noticed Bliss having gained significant winnings. She must've had a lucky face, so the next time Dabbler passed by a column, she was the high roller, having pilfered one of her caches of chips at a Blackjack table.

"...Hit me!" Dabbler-Bliss said enthusiastically, dumping a pile of chips and having misheard how she went about this game. She didn't bother looking at the cards she was dealt, a 10 and a Jack.

The Blackjack dealer, "But ma'am it's already..." A covert security member subtly shook his head. The dealer nodded. Taking a card from the deck, Dabbler sadly did not quite imitate Bliss's win streak.

A two of hearts. "...I'm sorry miss. Play again?" The dealer shrugged apologetically, while Bliss's rivals at the table laughed quietly among themselves. They had no idea of course, that Dabbler-Bliss did not even know the rules of blackjack.

"Nooo.... sure!" surely, it would take Bliss picoseconds - the time which the Flash would decide which fist to use on Luthor-Braniac in the DCAU - to notice that her huge piles of chips were now quickly vanishing.


OUTSIDE...

The casino security teams definitely had their hands full, with chatter being filled up with a shapeshifting metahuman likely up to no good, and a card counter up to the regular variety of no good. It made dealing with a crazed Vegas preacher almost boring, the old man struggling feebly.

"I saw the devil, the devil I say! Unholy Hellspawn born of evil and darkness, harbinger of the end times... The flesh shall be flensed from our bones, Maggots shall devour our entrails! Demons shall drink the blood of virgins!" Elder James continued his ranting

"This is Vegas old man, there ain't no virgins here, not for a thousand miles. haha!." The security personnel jokingly said.

Their conversation was cut quite short when a most unusual phenomenon descended on this stretch of Vegas. A thick mist had rolled in down the street, and people and cars were going from walking to frantic running.

"...No... noooo! The mist! the harbinger of darkness!" Elder James found the strength to break free of the young men and retreat back into the Casino. The sec team, dressed in suits and carrying only handguns, didn't see the threat of this phenomena, and stayed in the lobby to call the police.

"DEAAAATH! DEAAAATH HAS COOOOME!" James the preacher bellowed, pushing his way into the enclosed Casino, where most people would be oblivious to the happenings outside.

The situation inside the casino had certainly escalated with the security team now on the casino floor. Knightfall could no longer see the meta-human as she'd gone behind some of the machine's. The security team seemed to be looking for the meta-human as well, Knightfall was safe from the police, for now anyways. Considering whether or not he should find the meta before the security team did, he heard a commotion over at the Blackjack tables. Looking over he saw a pale woman with black hair being wrestled away from one of the tables. Assuming it was the meta-human he stood up from his machine and walked over towards the tables only to find a familiar face at the next table over. He'd fought with her before back in Tokyo and it was quite the coincidence that she'd be here now. Maybe she was after the meta-human as well, that or she was just there to gamble. Knightfall walked over to her and leaned over her shoulder observing as she lost more of her chips. "Not your lucky day eh Bliss?" A hint of a smile appeared under his motorcycle helmet's visor.

Blake looked out into the crowd, seeing now that there were two of the same woman once again. He cursed, then moved to the casino floor; almost certain that a kid on the casino floor couldn't be worse than having multiple threats running around at once. He saw the preacher, and heard him screaming about death. 

He was nearly certain this had to do with his dad, and the stress was causing the back of his wings to pop out; nearly tearing through his Devils hockey jersey. He pulled off the jersey and shoved it into the back of his pants. He grunted as he spread his wings to the full extent that he could. ”Infernus!” Yelled Blake and a flaming pitchfork came out of his chest. Grimacing as he felt the tingling feeling that came with it; he flew into the air. ”Everybody out, or this place literally goes to hell!” He yelled, though his face may have betrayed his intent to evacuate them all before his father showed up. He seemed semi-worried. 

At first, the crowd just continued drinking. Then, he threw a fireball at the bar and heard the bottles explode before they even got licked by the flame. ”I said…GO!” The crowd responded with cheers of appreciation. “The effects look so fake, but the acting is certainly great!” Yelled one man. “They're using teenagers as performers?” Another woman yelled. “This casino has everything!” The bartender cowered behind his bar however, cementing in their minds they this was all a very elaborate magic show. “Pull a rabbit out of your shoe!” A very drunk sounding man yelled and threw a beer bottle at Blake. 

The crowd would catch a glimpse of an infuriated Blake before he simply breathed in, and fell back to the ground. These people were not going to be in for a fun ride.

Bliss won all the money. Compare your life to hers, then kill yourself. But, Bliss would not get to keep it, at least the casino believed she would not get to keep it. Bliss believed firmly she would keep it. Now, it all rested between a battle of the wills between Bliss and an entire company.

Also, some kid walked into the middle of the casino and pulled a pitchfork out of his chest before setting things on fire. "Okay, so that can happen in a casino, but I can't win money? I don't know if it's because I'm a woman or Japanese, but I'm going to sue you for both and probably win on both fronts just so you know." Bliss felt herself continued to be pulled away until she finally realized a security guard could not technically remove her without it constituting kidnapping. And Bliss knew a thing or two about kidnapping. So, she stopped, slapped his hand, and then locked eyes in a glare contest.

He was not prepared.

Once Bliss won the proper contest, she took out her cell phone. She needed to send a quick text to Ashley, whom most likely would be enjoying festivities elsewhere seeing as her current view of Bliss' activity was 'shady as best'. Going to new casino. Current one is poorly run and sore losers. Putting her phone back in her purse, Bliss walked to the front to try and cash out her chips. It did not go as planned, leading Bliss to a very confrontational situation between Bliss and Amy.

The racist, sexist argument sounded much different when lobbied against Amy.

Too many things were happening at once in this Casino. Let's try to get through them all.

CASINO FLOOR

This Mist thing was plot, antagonist and mechanics rolled into one. Only a few people noticed at first, but soon more and more people realized their devices had no signals. No WiFi, no phone coverage. Only a small handheld device with a camera, flashlight, calculator, compass, and other useful apps. The smartphone zombies slowly awoke to realize they were in a genuinely difficult situation.

"Oh my god, what's happening?" There was no internet with which to look up news about Vegas.

"...Mist? is that mist, in Nevada?" Of course some people still were capable of making observations... by looking out the window.

"...It's climate change. It's expected." Another blamed the ongoing changes in nature brought about by man's selfish industry, but this was much worse.

KNIGHTFALL
       
        Dabbler-Bliss turned around to face Knightfall, a most-un-Bliss-like grin on her lips. Dabbler's sharpened teeth were showing, while her eyes were a hue of gold and violet that was not of this world. "Yeah I just can't seem to win! How do you play this game anyway? It's so dumb. I have more cards than everyone else!" she unconsciously spoke in her little gremlin voice, but realized Knightfall addressed her by name. "I mean. Yes. I am Bliss. fear me!" Dabbler needed to invest in voice acting.

BLAKE

The people were still confused and awed at Blake's "performance". Rest assured, there were no demons in the vicinity except the Dabbler, who was only 1/3 demon anyway. The mood of the Casino was still one of sin city, as the music and lights and smells of slot machines masked the eldritch event that was enveloping the outside. If one glimpsed outside the high windows, one could see that the Nevada sun was now fully obscured by this alien mist, and shadowy figures of malign intent flitted about, drawn to the lights and sounds of the Casino interior.

BLISS

The cash-in stalls near the entrance boasted 6 windows, but were sparsely manned at the moment. As Bliss would approach only one attendant was available, the man seemed a bit... distracted.

A split second later gunfire erupted in the entrance lobby. the preacher, Elder James, rushed into the casino floor, shoving past Bliss as forcefully as an octogenarian chased by monsters could. "DEmoooonnnnsss!" He was followed by guests who were running for their lives as well.

The casino security team followed right behind, with a few policemen who had arrived to deal with scalawags. "Everyone get inside! get inside!" The cops said, remembering their duty to their fellow man.

The man who would have cashed in Bliss's chips keeled over in the booth, drooling all over the window at Bliss, to reveal the cause of his illness. A trio of giant mosquito-like interdimensional bug-thing the size of a purple lobster was sucking his brains and spinal fluid out. Once they were done with the cashier, they leapt at the window, wanting a piece of Bliss. Bliss got a nice view of their thorax, but they were not quite able to get through the bullet-proof glass.

Of course, more things were happening than just this. The Casino security, ever pragmatic, flipped the switch that lowered the roll-up cage to the casino floor, isolating the gambling area from the outside world.

A few guests and cops were still caught on the other side of that roll-up door. There were lobster-sized mosquitos flying around, looking for brains the skewer. A female cop was protecting an innocent child, and for her valor had her brain skewered, her body falling to the floor in a twitching heap. Her colleague used her Glock to waste the cranium eater.

"Hey! HEY! what are you doing?! let us in!" He pleaded, banging the cage, complete with a crying little girl among the guests still out there in the lobby... with the aliens.

"...No! They'll come in and kill everyone!" The Casino security team said, having to deal with horrified stares and a guilty conscience.

Something wasn't quite right here but Knightfall couldn't quite put his finger on it. Oh wait maybe it was that Bliss had razor sharp teeth, her eyes were mismatched and oddly colored, a teenager just flew into the air and grabbed a pitchfork from in his torso. So you can imagine as all of this happened that he was no longer smiling. Realizing quickly that this was not the Bliss he knew, he conducted a pressure-point technique on the imposter trying to knock her out for the time being. "I'd be afraid of the real Bliss if I were you." Only after he was done did he notice the mist that seemed to be building outside of the casino. Either this was completely normal weather for Las Vegas to be having or this was a meta-human's work, he didn't believe in magicks and hocus-pocus bullshittery. Knightfall pulled out his phone and attempted to call Nocturne but he had zero reception for some reason. Suddenly an elderly man came running up to him and leaned against him with all his weight. All the man did was point towards the casino entrance, slump over, and faint. Looking over to where the man had pointed he saw several flying mosquito-things the size of cat's. He quickly drew his Deagle and aimed it into the crowd of flying monsters. He fired three times and their bodies burst with bodily fluids exploding outwards. "I fucking hate bugs."

So much happened so fast, Blake's head nearly popped from trying to analyze all of it at once. Mosquito things flying everywhere, people dying, guns firing, but worst of all? He couldn't do anything to help. He was trapped in a cage. He needed a way to combat these things, but how? That's when he had a spark of inspiration. Using his pitchfork; he melted through the cage. Leaving a hike dripping with molten hot metal dripping from it. Nothing living could've made it through before Blake did. The burns on his back scarred quickly leaving burns covered in metal along his back. He didn't have much time to think about it, but his wings felt like they were on fire. Adrenaline allowing ignorance for pain; he shoved his pitchfork into one of the alien mosquito things. The beasts continued flying at him; and he threw fire at them as well. Soon he was surrounded by charred bug corpses; but there was still an endless supply that seemed to be coming after the other patrons.

He saw one coming for the child that the cop was protecting and he moved to intervene. His voice deepened to a heavy growl and his alit with a yellow and red inferno. ”This one is now under my direct protection. Come at me at your own risk.” Something crawled out of the cops corpse, it looked like a skeleton with translucent humanoid flesh covering it’s entire body, making it look like you could reach out and touch it. However, it did still have similar wounds to the cop whom had died. Suddenly, more and more of them began rising from the bodies of the deceased and stood guard around the boy who had begun sobbing in fright. All in all, 5 were chosen.

Blake had decided that he was to be protected, but the child didn’t like the cambions performance. He rather felt as though he’d been chosen only to be killed and fed to these ghost-zombie creatures.

Before watching a man be impaled by a giant mosquito, not getting her money filled Bliss with the most annoyance in the casino. After, not getting her money remained number one, but she could deal with money later. Right now, she needed to get heroic. Heroism involved pushing people out of her way in annoyance. "Oh for shit sake, get out of my way."

Reinforced glass would keep the monster away for now, but how long now would last moved relative to the amount commotion the people trapped with the casino would apply. Any enclosed, secure area would only keep the security of the most insecure person, and in this case, even the guards looked fairly unsafe- and so did a particular policewoman fending off the mosquitoes in defense of a child.

Blake moved out of the casino to defend the area in his own unique and terrifying way. Bliss could appreciate the effort, but she knew if a swarm of these things would descend, it would take more than flaming skeletal ghosts to keep everyone safe. And so, Bliss formed an ice barrier between the mosquitoes and Blake, keeping both the child and the second policeman safe from the reach of the aliens.

Once the barrier protected the front entrance, Bliss would roll the gate up with telekinesis, letting the would be victims enter the casino, avoiding the death given to the others in the streets. "That is the first part of the plan. The second part of the plan-" Most of Bliss' composure began to melt away at the sight of the skeletons Blake summoned up. Her eyes widened and she could not keep her hands from shaking as the skeletons shambled about. "Triggered."

Unbeknownst to most, Bliss harbored a deep fear and hatred of skeletons all stemming back to her early youth when a skeleton at a haunted house scared her so much her mom needed to take her home, ruining Halloween for the young Bliss up until the current age of twenty seven where Bliss still hated Halloween. Not because of skeletons so much, but more because other people liked it and Bliss did not have the greatest relationship with other people. Still, Bliss hated those skeletons and her hatred began to push the fear away. "The second part of the plan does not involve skeletons, so those things can go back to wherever they came from."

Slowly, the casino crowd began to realize that these were not performers and special effects, but actual energy projecting metahumans. Ignorant wonder and fascination turned to doubt and fear, as the cries of a frightened child was a serious sign of the dire situation. A kind old lady knelt to comfort the lost child. The crowd began to flee and huddle in the middle of the casino floor, like lambs seeking safety in numbers. Cheerful pop music still ironically playing despite the sour mood, as the people put distance between themselves and the metahumans. The security team doubly ironically put themselves between the humans and their saviors, training their guns on the metas, the ungrateful gits.

The combined efforts of Knightfall and Blake significantly thinned the numbers of the alien wasps coming in through the entrance lobby, and Bliss's ice wall discouraged the arrival of any more.

Dabbler was still messing around with Knightfall, until the emergence of the spooky scary skeletons, the ice wall built by Elsa, and the Scorpion-Flies that were trying to get in. The Dimensional Witch looked at all the dead things on the ground, smears of yellow and purple flesh and blood.

"Hey, who ordered the Scorpion-Flies?" She asked, when order was quickly restored by the very-well projected cockney accent of a woman in paramilitary dress, long blonde hair, and 70% cyborg.

"Alright enough! I want to bloody know what in Queen Elizabeth's Knickers is going on 'ere?!"

"Heeeey robot lady! Is this your Casino?" Dabbler cheerily greeted lady Bernadette St. Croix, born in Glasgow, served in the S.A.S, later the Danger Divas, and now was a private security expert, having very conveniently been hired by this very Casino.

"Oi, you're the witch that sprung me from the jungle... Why do you look like..." The woman said, giving Dabbler a scrutinizing look. The voice, the demeanor was unmistakable, but she was still borrowing Bliss's face. She looked at the gifted folk resolving the situation in her casino. The asian woman was famous to a degree, and Bernadette heard of her from her more superpowered associates. She gave her a warm greeting. "And you're Bliss. The real one. why is the witch wearing your face, luv?"

She then turned to Knightfall and Blake, giving them a more respectful look than most would. "I don't know the rest of you lot though, but I appreciate you helping out. I need to pistol whip the guy who shut that gate.... but are the ghoulies necessary? I mean, what, you gonna make them dance Thriller now, Memphistopheles?  And can someone please explain what's happening?" Bernadette asked, looking for handy exposition, and someone was on hand to give it.

"Well the Scorpion Flies are natives from another dimension called Neth. They're a social insect, meaning they usually hive in the hundreds. These scout drones you all killed leave a trail of pheromones, releasing tenfold upon death, drawing more drones supported by soldier Scorpion Flies. It's fascinating to note that Scorpion Fly society quite mirrors the bee hives of earth, up to the existence of a queen; they also produce a honey that acts as a powerful hallucinogen when consumed by humans, though of course this is highly unlikely as the species is not of earth. Furthermore-"

Bernadette had a robot body but she was still a common Glasgow born lady. The sudden outpouring of exposition from Dabbler, mostly the part about far flung dimensions, and more worryingly, hundreds more coming, got her scratching her plated head.

"...Bloody hell, guv'na. You said... soldier drones? bigger than these blighters?" She asked, looking at how troublesome those simple drones already were.

"What?" Dabbler asked, seemingly getting stares from the security team and Bernadette, and possibly the other metahumans present. Dabbler's knowledge was eerily convenient, and perhaps there was someone in the room who might point out knowledge might imply responsibility.

That someone was a random NPC. Late fifties, middle aged, thick round glasses, and a vacationing prosecuting attorney. "Wait...How can you know all this? Are you responsible for this... invasion?"

"Meeeee? no, I've been to Neth but-" Dabbler tried to deny any involvement.

"Bullshit... You're a metahuman, you claim you're a dimensional traveler? Then You must be responsible somehow! Why did they come here to Vegas of all places? You're culpible aren't you?! Don't try to hide it. You must have brought them here, what, with your tampering of the fabric of reality!"

The mob needed someone to blame, and the lawyer's case was as good a reason as any. It was time for a man vs. man conflict, since the man vs. interdimensional alien situation was resolved for now. "It's the metahumans' fault!"

Public opinion somehow turned against their saviors, because someone proposed a theory that Dabbler's power was the cause. It probably was.

Dabbler-Bliss was agitated by this sudden accusation. she tried to seek comfort behind her doppelganger. "I- I didn't do it! Tell them Bliss lady! I-i-it was a gas leak, that's all!"

Knightfall observing the rest of the chaos that had ensued was awfully unhappy with the overall situation. Grumbling, he handed his Deagle to the cyborg woman that had arrived on scene. "Give the guy a good hit for me." Noticing the real Bliss now had the situation under control, so as to avoid further drones arriving, Knightfall drew his attention back to the shape-shifter. "There's a queen for these things." He said with a scowl under his helmet. That's when a middle-aged man stood up and decided to speak the mind of the rest of the residents there. Knightfall walked up to the man and lifted him into the air by his throat. "I suggest if you'd like that heart's beat to not be its last then you don't jump so quickly to conclusions." Knightfall then threw the man across the room the guy's body crashing through one of the tables. Knightfall dusted his trench-coat off and said, "Anyone else want to blame the meta-humans." Turning himself around to see several guns pointed at him. Knightfall narrowed his eyes and got down on his knees facing the police officer's and put his hands behind his head. "If we're going to be blaming anyone then leave the other's out of it." Two of the officers nodded to one another and shoved Knightfall to the ground they both quickly grabbed his arms and clipped on the handcuffs.

Between Knightfall and Blake, it would seem that they had been extremely effective in clearing out the bug infestation. However, ice had formed around him and his minions as they continued protecting the child. People began speaking as Blakes eyes slowly returned to their - ahem - "normal" shade of orange.

He nodded to the kid, and smiled what he hoped would be a reassuring smile. Instead of responding, both the kid and the cop moved to the huddled mass now in the cage. As they commanded, Blake's ghostly zombies fell into the floor where they only left a slightly glowing puddle of  translucent green ectoplasm.

The exposition came that came after that, quickly shook Blake from his state of confusion at the peoples actions. "Wait, but no... I burned them. Wouldn't that pheromone have been destroyed with them? Furthermore, I second the question on how you know this?" People kept yammering, and the man in the helmet had gotten himself arrested. "Shut up!" Blake yelled and slammed the business end of his pitchfork into the ground where the ground cracked underneath the weight he put into it. The adrenaline and injuries he was sustaining was bringing out the demon. He hoped that it wouldn't show up in front of them, as it had only happened one other time since he left home. and he still had no idea how to control himself in the form.

His eyes once again lit into a hellish blaze, and his voice was a deep growl within his throat. "Release him!" He said to the officers, ripping his pitchfork from the ground and pointing it to them. "This doesn't have to be you versus us, we're trying to help you." He then swung his pitchfork back at the girl. "I want answers, lady. How do you know all of this, and are you the one causing it?"