Shade Oneshot: A Day with Daji (Closed to Shade)

The heavy dark clouds that grumbled over head appeared to of been a direct message from heaven itself, as if the incoming thunder and lightning were but a warning to the monsters that lurked below. Amidst the rolling fog and the shrieking winds of the New orleans wilderness was the creaking timber and rusted iron of an abandoned kingdom, once there to provide joy to children and adults alike. But such a thing a thing was never meant to last and as the years went on the park eventually found itself decaying like a corpse...never again gifting its visitors with the bright and endless thrills it was supposed to. The monolithic landscape that was speckled with hidden gems of surprise and fun was now but a shell of its former glory. But fate always twisted the roles that earth played by and no sooner had this gargantuan waste of space been left to rot against the howling winds and disapproving looks of the community did a particular organisation take hold...one who had turned the once magical place into its lair. All darkness and evil had overcome this area and n amount of wind, rain or storms could deter its occupants from revelling in the abandoned amusement park, where for all intense and purposes they were very amused.

Shade had invaded the park, its wide open areas and hidden spaces perfect for the various members in league with the Crimson witch. A few details were added, some renovations were made but the general integrity of the park was left intact. The 'house of horrors' but now a luscious mansion used for the groups meetings and where most of their planning took place. Everything else was merely up to the scrutiny of the members who roamed the park..enjoying the various bits of entertainment that riddled the deceased structures. One member in particular had grown quite fond of a castle, aptly named the 'fairy castle' and the Ferris whell directly adjacent to the grand structure. Su Daji, the demon princess of old had transformed the decaying pinks and purples into a lavish silk and bronze place of pleasure...pleasure for her anyways. Here she was queen and for the moments she roamed the castle hallways and spires she forgot about the various other members who were of less than savoury personalities.

Although the princess was not entirely sane herself she did retain her incredibly sharp mind and stoic attitude to the 'peasants' surrounding her. Here she wallowed in her lust and the pleasure she freely absorbed herself in. A large bedroom was the main feature of this castle, the gigantic oak bed, complete with silken red blankets and multiple pillows was rarely ever properly made for the princess was more often than not involving herself in some twisted sadomasochistic act with a pretty peasant she had more than likely kidnapped. Today was no different. The sheets were rumbled across the wide frame of the bed, clothing was strewn across the floor and the humid atmosphere within the room was enough to evoke what had happened only a few minutes earlier. The flawless porcelain body of the oriental princess lay still, her breathing was quick and the layer of sweat that clung to her skin made it appear that her body had a shiny quality to it under the swinging chandelier that hung from the roof. A snivelling girl was curled up on the other side of the bed, vibrant red scratch marks tainting her supple skin, making it quite clear as to what the vicious princess was like when she was in particular need of her brand of fun.

"I'm definitely keeping you...", Daji panted, crimson lips parting in a cheshire grin as glanced down at the tear stained face of the girl who dared not look back. Brushing away strands of hair that clung to her face the Asian woman propped herself up on her elbows, lolling her head back as she let a cool breeze from a nearby window rush against her naked skin. Her lips were curled up in a content grin, her pale chest rising and falling with every breath. Swinging her legs out out of the sheets and bouncing off the edge of the bed Daji treaded over to a mirror, soft feet making muffled steps against the large persian rug as she dragged her fingers through her fringe, propping it to the side in an attempt to clean up her visage. Grabbing a comb she dragged its teeth through the slightly knotted layers of her midnight black hair, only glancing backwards to see how her bedfellow was doing. The peasant girl, who was originally some bartender, was still curled up into a ball, head hidden between her arms as the pained sobs escaped her trembling lips.

A sudden knocking on her door caused the petite woman to perk her head up, her arms instinctively covering her bare chest. Before she could even allow the visitor into her room the door swung open, the slender form of her servant girl, Marian, hopped in...a troubled look on her face. Whilst Daji was known throughout Shade for her temper and overall bitchiness she was particularly nice to Marian, who on more than one ocassion has sated Daji's ridiculous libido and bedroom expectations. Not only did she willingly seek to please the crazed princes but her regenerative abilities were more often than not incorporated into their activities together, the princess didn't have to control herself whenever Marian was involved. The sudden entrance and the troubled look on the blonde girl's face did irritate Daji however and before she could scorn the servant for being so silly Marian butted it, bowing her head in a mix of fear and embarrassment "Ma'am...something has happened to your pandas downstairs, they're not wanting to eat...all they're doing is rolling around with a vacant expression on their face..." , her voice was barely a whisper by the end of it..maybe she feared Daji's wrath even though the princess was particularly fond of her.

The pandas were stolen from a ship introducing them to an American zoo. They were Daji's pets, they were extremely well taken care of and were the one thing that made the woman genuinely happy, genuinely happy that did not involve some form of coitus. Exhaling loudly Daji's eyes squinted in irritation, what could possibly be wrong with the pandas who were freely allowed to roam the park? the other Shade members knew full well not to damage them. "I see...well, I shall check on them and you will take this girl back to her cage okay?", she ordered, cocking her head in the direction of the snivelling teenager as she quickly slipped on a black nightgown that brushed against her thighs, barely covering much skin at all. Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth the princess scrunched her perfectly shaped brow, curious to know what had happened to her beloved pets...for if they had been tampered with she was going to go on rampage. She was going to find the insolent, ignorant and stupid peasant who dared to test her (supposed) authority and personally show them the real meaning of pain...

Days traveled came and went through the American south. The rage of the humidity drew the ire of the sweaty cowgirl with a bad attitude and guns. The past few cities all turned out to be major drawbacks in her quest for enlightenment. A quest ultimately leading the girl with cowgirl boots almost reaching her running capris and a cowgirl hat with a drawstring hanging just onto the shoulders of her dri fit shirt to the pearled gates of a rundown carnival.

"Can I find enlightenment here?"

"Is that what you think we're doing? I thought you were just finding small problems and blowing them up into a completely exaggerated situation."

"Enlightenment is finding a small peace of mind and blowing it up to an exaggerated sense of being."

"Congratulations on being the latest person to use the word 'peace' and 'blow up' with no inflection or irony."

"I didn't hear a word you said, because I'm so close to enlightenment."

Standing before the gates of the broken down amusement park filled the two with a sense of bewilderment. Failings came and went, and while seeing the park only stopped them briefly, the sounds from within purchased their undivided attention.

"How many abandoned carnivals still keep stuff going?"

"The ones with those small problems I was just talking about."

"It's only a problem if you have a solution." Swinging her drawstring bag around her white, dri fit shirt, Elaine pulled out her pistol.

"That's a correct answer for a wrong reason."

And with her response, Elaine moved with quickness towards a broken section of the chain linked fence. While she slid herself into the beginning section of the sprawling carnival, a gust flew through a row of decrepit booths. Storm clouds hung overhead, prior hidden to her by the treeline surrounding the far edge of the complex. Given the harsh situation of the southern weather, any drifter could have sought out the carnival as a refuge, or any deranged lunatic could hope to avoid watchful eyes in the shadows.

"Doesn't look like anyone is here to meet us." Moving with the powerful spurts of wind pushing through the grounds, her hat shot from her head, whipping the drawstring past her face. Each new gust powered the hat down the alley, pulling Elaine along for the ride.

"Count your losses?" Following Elaine into a rather sinister looking encampment wore its charm away very quickly.

"I like that hat." Blowing past a three booths long since removed from their days of prosperity, Elaine caught up with her hat. The savage gust blew it several feet inside of a house of mirrors and Elaine found herself joined in her search by dozens of others who claimed their prize. "This should be a decent enough place if it starts raining."

"If we're alone."

"I'd be able to see them; there are mirrors everywhere."

"At angles. The angles are important." As his warning carried on, Elaine moved forward into the house of mirrors. Following the twists of the walls became disorienting and drew her focus away from the lighted entrance. With light fading away from her, she opened her back up again to pull out a small flash light. The illumination along the mirrors glowed through the pathways and highlighted the twists and turns.

Slowly the path became less familiar to her path finding. The only light remaining came from her flash light, and those of the dopplegangers she felt she was alone with. The feeling felt superficial.

The worn out old amusement park where Shade had located themselves was desolate as usual, and the blue haired menace was bored again. Kicking dirt into the air as he walked, Volt made his way towards his favorite place in the park, the roller coaster. Just as he stepped onto the track, he took off running along it. As he sprinted full speed, he made sure not to step on the gaps between the tracks, saving himself a lot of grief. After about fifteen minutes of running, Jake was once again bored. "Damnit, I hate when Tek has work to do. I have no one to hang out with!" he said with a sigh. Suddenly, he remembered the fact that he was on a team now. "Time to get to know my Shade homies!"

Hmm, who should I talk to first? Volt thought to himself. Theres the lava guy, but he doesn't seem too sociable... Maybe I should go lay some moves on that asian chick! Yeah, definitely! Satisfied with his decision, Volt headed for the castle. The doors moaned loudly as he opened them, and slammed shut behind him. "Helloooo? Nice place you got here! Anyone home?" Jacob yelled through the castle. "Hmph. Guess not." Just as he was about to give up, Volt heard something from the bottom of a stairwell. He zipped down to the bottom of the stairs and found himself face to face with a bunch of fucking pandas.

"Oh. My. God. Fucking. Pandas. I gotta call Tek." Volt exclaimed as he whipped out his cell phone. "Yo Craig! Dude. No. I don't care what you're working on. Come to the castle... No, not bitches. Pandas dude. Yeah dude, fuckin' pandas. Get your ass over here. And bring your bong, we're gettin' these motherfuckers stoned." he hung up the phone and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Walking over to the pandas, he opened the pack, revealing not cigarettes, but twenty perfectly twisted joints. He petted one panda on the head as he hit the joint, blowing it into the panda's face. "I'm gonna call you Rickardo."

Tek had arrived upon The Carnival of Shade after a day of wreaking havoc. His love for killing was at an all time high, and he just finished having himself a field day. It started at the local supermarket. He found a random lady in a checkout isle and blasted her in the chest with his Tek-Cannon. Little did he know she happened to be pregnant. With a loud chuckle Tek roared as Stop and Shop fell silent. "That is REALLY going to piss some people off." Tek said as his eyes widened at her stomach. "Looks like she was ready to pop at any second too." Tek stated laughing a little more. He saw she had her food stamps card in here hand and Craig tilted his head to the side as he picked it up. "Sydney Jacobson huh? Kid's probably better off, you're not very fit for it anyways." The store didn't know what to do as they all stared directly at the monster named Mr.Black. With the flick of his wrist every register in the store opened. "For al the years of therapy needed for these kids here, take what you need from this joke of a corporation!" The technopath cackled as he exited the grocery with a smirk on his face. Once outside local law enforcement had shown up. "Really.. Not even those Talon punks? Regular fuzz?" Tek wondered as he gazed at the armed idiots with disappointment.

He took and quick glance around, then flew up into the air and glared down at the men like a hawk above it's prey. "Give yourself up and we won't shoot you!" one of the officers said shaking in his boots, and his voice cracking. "How long have you been a pig for? A week? Two?" Tek pulled his sonic blaster from his back and fired it directly at the officers below him. The Technological Terminator watched in satisfaction as they started grabbing their heads and dropping to the ground. Blood had started pouring out from their orifices. "Now THAT is entertainment!" Tek laughed to himself as he flew back towards the Shade base. On his way he got a call from a scheming Jake. Tek didn't have any of his smoking devices on him so he stopped by a local head shop.
As the doors to "Sam's Smoke Shack" opened, the man smiled at Tek as he welcomed him and asked how he could be of assistance. Without so much as a thought, the blood thirsty killer ended the man working. All six people in the store were next. Within seconds using his cannon, this smoke shop had become a morgue. Walking over to the carcass of the cashier, he bent down and ripped the worker's name tag off his shirt. "You picked the wrong day to come into work Sam." Craig said as his signature, malicious, smile crept across his ever so pensive face. His words were quiet and soft, but they carried power.

Reaching for a interesting red and pink colored bong, he prepared to leave. One man was left hiding in the back room and Tek heard the door creek. "You fool." Tek roared as he opened the door to find a man holding a baseball bat. The technopath blasted a shocking dart at the man's throat and he dropped the ground. "You are weak." Tek said as he ice like eyes gazed into the soul of the next victim. "I hope they serve cupcakes in hell you -fat- fuck." and the viper named Craig vaporized the defenseless man's face. "Looks like you get a closed piano case."
As he walked out of the store he called Volt. "I wasn't near the penthouse. I stopped and got a new piece for us to use today, be there in ten." His powers allowed him to talk on his cellphone without having to touch it, so he hanging up only required thinking about ending the call. As he arrived at the sight of Shade, he took a deep breath in. "Daji isn't going to be happy about her Pandas." Craig chuckled as he walked into where they were kept. Volt was waiting for him. Sharing his story of the market and head shop made the two laugh hard together. It was almost a competition between the two now for the most disturbing kill. The world was the playground for their games and the humans were but toys to them. "Sorry about the wait Volt, had a lot going on. Time to get some Japanese wildlife stoned."

Tightening the bow around her waist, ensuring that her silk dressing gown covered all that was necessary the Princess set off down the kitschy staircase, her bare feet silently treading the lacquered timber steps. The smell of something peculiar filled her nostrils and for a moment the petite woman paused, gazing around to find the source of the particular aroma...it could not of been her, the perfume of her latest victim still clung to her skin so whatever the smell was it definitely was not from her. Brushing her hand again the decorative hand rails of the grand spiralling staircase the woman furrowed her brow, the agitation of discovering what may have happened to her pets was digging into her and the mere thought of them being sick actually elicited the nervous grinding of teeth and fiddling of hair. The long black glossy strands was 'after-sex' hair by it's common definition, yet not messy enough to make her look like a peasant...she still attempted an air of refinement even if she had no idea what was happening downstairs. "..and I was going to have round two..", she muttered with a frown, looking exasperated from the mere thought of continuing coitus with with teenage girl back in her room.

The golden light of the grand space at the bottom of the staircase welcomed her with a warm glow, wrapping her petite frame with woundrous light and colour...and yet the smell remained. Hopping over the last three steps the princess quickly rearranged the crumpled neckline of her gown and continued forward, clenching her pale fists together preparing herself for about anything. Anything other than what she discovered when finally entering the room. Her two gorgeous pandas, Ling-Ling and Changpu, were huddled together, unharmed yet eerily calm, they did not even acknowledge her entrance and the closest thing to moving was a drawn out yawn from Ling Ling's mouth. Daji wrinkled her nose, slightly taken aback by their behavior as well as the overpowering stench that wafted in the air, something was wrong...and by wrong she meant two fools lounging around on her sofa smoking to their hearts content.

Now normally Daji would have just slaughtered any male foolish enough to enter her 'domain' without permission but these two idiots, self proclaimed 'Dynamic Duo' were by far the worst offenders in her book. Ever since meeting them she instantly loathed them; loud, obnoxious and a pungent odor that always had her internally gag whenever they were near, the two peasants known as Tek and Volt embodied everything she hated about the opposite sex. What Elena saw in them Daji did not know and if she had it her way she would have shackled them up and experimented with their anatomy, sing all of her macabre, twisted knowledge to welcome them to pain like none other. Her eye slowly began to twitch, her crimson lips peeling back into a snarl as she stomped over to the stoned 'enforcers of Shade', making sure her presence was known.

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU HERE?!", she screeched, tossing a nearby pot of tea at the blue haired idiot's head, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PETS?" , she bellowed an octave higher, jabbing her dainty finger in the directions of her two pandas. It was a shame she did not have her sword...she didn't have much other than her silk dressing gown, which could do nothing but hide her nakedness from these two imbeciles. "IF YOU DON'T ANSWER NOW I WILL TEAR YOU BOTH APART! I DON'T EVEN CARE WHAT ELENA WOULD HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT!"

"Um..." Elaine quickly turned off the flashlight. Darkness overcame her, illuminating a problem. "Oh, I can't see now either." The light came back on with the same reflection across the mirror faces. "So you are a person. I too am a person of sorts."

"What are you doing."

"Being diplomatic."

"You pick this time to do that. Be diplomatic with someone who clearly doesn't belong here?"

"Neither do we and we're pretty awesome."

"You're a borderline sociopath, and I'm your spirit companion."

"Good point." Wearing a black leather suit in itself felt suspicious to the girl dressed as a cross country running cowgirl. "If you don't mind--" Failing to think of what to say next, Elaine pulled her lasso from her bag and swung it to catch Elena. Failing to ensnare the illusion troubled Elaine, as she peered around her shoulder to try and identify who stalked her.

Taking a new path of enlightenment, Elaine pulled out a new creation she developed. Instead of her regular deadly rounds, Elaine put together a gun with a foam cartridge inside. The foam would quickly harden as it reacted with the air, incapacitating the subject Elaine fired upon. With her lasso around her shoulder, Elaine held the flash light of her gun hand. "Do you see anything behind me?" She asked her companion, gazing from where the illusion came from.

"Yes a bright light, but it may be from your flashlight, because you are asking a dog for assistance in seeing in low light conditions."

"Okay then we'll go with my plan." Light flashed across the faces of the mirror as Elaine pushed towards the end of the hall. Shadows painted enough of a perception to let her know the hall diverged into to separate corridors. With a wide enough stance, Elaine shuffled from side of the hall to the next to examine the two sections she needed move into. Inching along the side, with her back to the mirror, she slowly came to the end of the hall she traveled, and peered down the new corridor she sought to survey.

"Woah woah woah..." Volt said calmly, a cheeky grin on his face. He turned to Tek and whispered "Let me do the talking, bro." Jacob looked back to Daji and took a hit of his joint. "You've gotta relaaaaxxxx mannnnnnn...." He looked over to the pandas, and smiled wider. "You mean Rickardo and his apprentice Sergeant Fuzzy Slippers? We didn't hurt them, man! We just smoked 'em up on some of that green stuff. See? They're happy and relaxed! I even fed them some Chewie Bars!" The psychotic menace took another hit of his joint, and coughed.

Volt thought for a moment. He truly didn't understand why Daji was upset, all he did was show her pandas a good time! "Listen, we didn't mean any harm by this! I just kinda saw pandas and thought 'weed!' ya know what I mean?" He said, pausing to see her response. "And ya know... I don't know if you've tried this stuff, but it could do you some good! You shoulda seen me before I started smoking!!" Jake smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't eat his soul or whatever this chick's crazy demon powers were.

Cain Vulsore, The Lord of Shadows, King of Darkness, Vampire of London, and member if Shade who of course has been recently absent in the world for five moths. Was now sitting in a chair in a castle in London. As to where he was for Five months it was simple. He had been in Tasmania hanging out with the Tasmanian Devils because he simply could. Well that and New York was destroyed, London had gotten boring and he had never been to Australia or anywhere near Tasmania before and he wanted to see what they really looked like. Sadly, they didn't meet the expectation he thought they would, they weren't bad per say thy just weren't Taz the Tasmanian Devil.

He shrugged his shoulders sitting in his room in the Roses old mansion petting one of his werewolves when he saw a note on the desk, raising an eyebrow he used the shadows to lift it up and move it over to him. Reading over it once or twice he chuckled at what it said and who it was from. Mrs. Elena Marie had apparently called him in to some base in New Orleans a month or so ago. She called herself the most powerful sorceress and couldn't even tell where he was? This brought a smile to his face as one of his shadow monsters rose up out of the ground, "To (insert address of amusement park here) and make it snappy, Cainey got some catching up to do." He said grinning, showing off his pearly white canines. The shadows rose up all around them and he and any vampires, werewolfs and shadow monsters were transported to the location he had been given.

A few seconds later he appeared, rising up from the shadows, in a room that appeared to be a basement but at the same time looked liked a petting zoo. The room of course had a faint smell of burning grass, and ecstasy. Raising an eyebrow he turned only to see three members of Shade he 'met' that fateful night all this was created. "Well, Well, well, are you three the welcoming comity?" He asked with a sly smile on his face, his blood red eyes reflecting perfectly off the dim lighting in the room. With a wave of his hand a shadow like monster appeared handing him a glass of blood, which he of course gladly took a sip of. The Lord of Shadows was back.

Glimpses of the apparition faded with the lasso making contact with the facade. A voice emanated from off in the distance, sending some kind of chagrin towards Elaine's model of operating. Quickly, she rolled the lasso up and wrapped it around her shoulder, while Elena would continue to make light of the situation, Elaine would push forward into the dark.

Her first push towards the ever enlarging path reflected the light of her flash light far into the hallway. "Looks good."

"None of this looks good."

Starting to get he legs moving to take a few elongated steps, Elaine slammed into the face of the mirror. Lashing in anger, Elaine kicked the mirror, fracturing the pane at the point of impact. "I got an idea." Elaine pulled out a bandanna and wrapped it around her hand. She punched the mirror to strike another fracture into the breaking glass. Pieces dislodged themselves, but stayed in place. She swung again. And again. On the third blow, the glass splintered and a large enough piece to meet Elaine's needs fell to the ground. "Mirrors reflect easier with other mirrors. You just set the light against it--" And Elaine set the light just right against the mirror. "And then it lights the room up a little better to make it more navigable."

"I'll take your word on how well light works in this situation."

Her steps came easier and more elongated as she stepped backwards towards her goal of one of the deepening paths. She stepped back and this time moved further down the hall, eventually bringing herself to a locked door. "So, can illusions talk back or are you just like a recording of someone?" Elaine gave her request as she continued her backward trek through the hall of mirrors. "Or are you just some type of projection from the amusement park made?"

"I'd tread a little more on the side that puts you more alert to danger, and not think this is a prank."

"Because eventually I'll--" A hard surface bumped against Elaine's back. Turning around, she came to notice a door tucked away within the mirrors. Elaine knelt down to examine the key hole and determine the lock mechanism. Looked simple enough for her to do herself, so Elaine reached back into her hair and pulled out a hair pin. Pressing the pin into the lock, Elaine felt the mechanism turn as the point of the pin pushed against the inside mechanism. Once the lock felt right to twist, she slowly moved the lock to the right, feeling a gentle click in the door. Creaking with the sound of a poorly maintained hinge system, the opening of the door moved just enough to allow Elaine to slide through the door. Everything still looked so dark.