If I can, make it there, I can, just about make it anywhere (Doc and Cain)

Entering New York

Diana marveled at the haste with which New York had been pieced back together. A city in ruins months before, the will and power of the world's biggest industries and planners had pieced together the city and improved it like never before. She took the high speed rail into the city, the clean, pristine station seamlessly interwoven with a public bus service featuring smart docking tubes where one paid for a bus ride right outside. Everything was structural steel, drywall, plexi glass and touch-screen electronics, and there was visible police presence. It worried her to no end that security would pose a threat, but cash-only travelers could still get around with travel cards.

The Mall

She dropped herself off at a rebuilt Mall, with a bus drop off actually inside it, and featuring more of the rebuilt Architecture and open spaces with lots of sunlight and vegetation. All this white and green made Diana feel like she woke up twenty years in the future, especially with the semi-holograms and interactive touch screens. Looking around she had forgotten her original purpose for being here, but that wasn't a problem as there was a lot to do, and people had lots of energy moving on from the tragedy of the New York attack.

She'd walk around window shopping for about twenty minutes before purchasing for herself a new silk scarf, a new hiking backpack and some new general sports shoes. It wasn't because her current shoes were worn out, or that she needed it, but because she had cash to burn from her previous job and there was little else she used her money on.

Diana then stopped by the foodcourt and headed to a milk tea stand manned by a pair of teenaged servers, a boy and a girl. She ordered herself a nice tall cup of honey and wintermelon milk tea, with crushes oreos in it. For once there was nothing that was going to bother Diana. Nothing...

...until she hears the high pitched cries of a lost toddler that seemed to echo throughout the mall.

"Momma... momma... mommaaaaaaa....!" The little beast cried for her mother again and again, each time somehow louder and more painful than the last.

Diana rolled her eyes and looked elsewhere. "Ugh, a lost kid? where the heck is her mom? I'm sure somebody will help the kid anyway..." She thought, not really the type to help first. Though, most of the people in the mall seemed rather indifferent to the child's plight, and there seemed to be fewer people around than would be expected, but it wasn't that significant yet.

Any minute now... someone ELSE is going to help this wailing, ear-splitting tear factory...

As Arthur watched the people of New York go through their everyday lives, he could not help the looks he received in return. To the people around him, Arthur was about as subtle as a bull in a china shop; the king was adorned with armor of such pristine gold, one had to wonder how one could afford such an article of clothing.

Regardless, the King of Avalon was not troubled; he enjoyed being the center of attention, for that is what a king was to do, to be something that attracts the eyes of his people; King Arthur's clothing was not the only thing that attracted the people around him. Men and women alike could not help but look at the king's chiseled perfection.

What truly impressed Arthur was the humans tenacity, shown in their response to the NYCA a few short years ago. Through his memories as Dante, Arthur learned of the humans futile but valiant defense of their homelands by a superior army; though they failed and their city was in ruins, it did not take the humans long to rebuild. Knowing this made humans a tad more worthy in his mind.

Eventually, Arthur found himself in a modern marketplace, known as a "mall" in the modern era. Though the merchandise had changed, the overall feeling had not; people all around him buying food, talking about the gossip of the town, or watching the people in the same way Arthur was; there was only one thing missing in the scene before him and that wa-

"MOMMMAA!!!" Came a child's cry as if on cue. Arthur looked to the source and saw a little girl with tears flowing from her eyes like rivers. Under the eye of the king, the child continued to cry as people walked past her, trying to not to get involved. This is however, not the response of a king. With a confident step, Arthur walked towards the child.

"Child!" Arthur boomed as his armored boots clanked against the tile floor. Upon hearing the king's thunderous voice, the girl ceased her crying her eyes still watering as she looked up at him. Kneeling down, Arthur met the girl's gaze, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why is it that you cry?"

"I-I lost my m-momma" The girl sniffled as she attempted to hold back tears. Despite her sadness, she could not help but be diverted from her sadness to the awe of looking at Arthur's face. Her admiration was met with a warming smile, one that she couldn't help but reciprocate.

"What is your name child?"

"Jessica"

"Jessica... a beautiful name, fitting for one such as you. Worry not Jessica, your king shall find your mother." Arthur assured as he rose to his feet. With a deep breath, Arthur raised his golden-clad fist in the air. "Mother of Jessica! Your king would have words with you! I have found your child!"

Great. First, there were fewer and fewer people around. Now some weirdo in golden full plate comes by and tries to soothe the girl by talking in Ye Olde  English. It worked apparently, and Diana now had a show to go with her bubble tea. She watched this unfold with an amused glint in her eye and a smirk on her mouth.

Shouting at the top of his lungs didn't seem to work, and what  was stranger was that the normally energetic and wary people of NYC didn't pay the full plate armored man claiming to be a king much attention. Diana was the only one in fact, looking at them. She looked around and it was obvious Jessica's mother was not within earshot.

After a few minutes Jessica started bawling again. Diana was now slightly annoyed; irked in fact. She may as well be looking at a history reel of her own life, her own mother having done something similar. Poor Diana, so bitter and hung up.

She stood up and headed over to the Customer Assistance booth, wanting to have a word with someone, only to find the booth empty. Diana walked around and saw other stores also empty. The only people who were present were indifferent mall goers who were also near Jessica, murmuring to themselves over the presence of Arthur.

"Where the heck is everybody?" Diana thought, and Jessica's crying was now reaching a critical meltdown point. Diana would probably stab somebody any second, if there was anybody around. The few people present seemed to all be walking in the same direction deeper into the mall, towards the green atrium. A few people sat around near Jessica, watching events unfold.

Before she'd investigate, she pulled out a chocolate bar from her bag and marched right over to Jessica. Once the child saw the strawberry-chocolate bar, her eyes went wide and she looked up at Diana.

What an insufferable child. Give her a treat and she shuts up. "Little girl, Your mommy is close by isn't she? How about we go look for her? If you're a good girl and be brave, I promise I'll find her. What does she look like?" In truth Diana needed to get away from Jessica.

"She's tall... an... pretty long hair... an... she was wearin a green coat... an... an..." Diana patted Jessica on the head.

"Okay. Just stay here alright?" The girl nods and begins nibbling on the chocolate bar.

Now that Jessica fell quiet, Diana could hear her surroundings better. The usual mall music wasn't playing, but instead, some kind of opera song was playing over the speakers. Diana felt... calmer. Much calmer. She wanted to go somewhere. She snaps herself out of it. She felt the foul, dishonorable taint of witchcraft afoot.

She looked at Arthur. "Hey, do you hear that?"

With little prompting, the remaining people began getting up and walking towards the atrium. Diana materialized her sword, and nobody even reacted. She starts marching towards the atrium, starting to feel a bit light headed.



THE ATRIUM


The reason would be made apparent once one made their way to the public Atrium. The people in the mall had been gathered by the strange song, sung by a lovely, long haired, buxom redhead in a flowing translucent dress made of silk and jewels. She sang her enthralling song, holding the mall goers captive with her voice, which oozed enchantment. One by one they went forward and tossed their belongings- phones, watches, jewelry and wallets into a loot bag held up by a tall, heavily robed and veiled figure.

But this was not all they took from the people. A strange, supernatural phenomenon began to take effect on the people who were listening to the song for so long; young adults and middle aged New Yorkers held mezmerized by the song slowly swayed back and forth, their features aging rapidly, their life force literally leaving their bodies. Those unfortunate souls in front slowly laid down in a tired sleep, pushed to the final hours of their natural lifespans in mere minutes. The effect began to take effect on the rest of the crowd, and Jessica's mother was somewhere in the middle of it, rapidly becoming a senior citizen.

A third figure sat by the songstress in a wheelchair... A shirveled old woman at first, but as the performance went on, her features became younger and more lovely, her skin taking on a youthful and pink glow. She was slowly becoming a raven haired beauty, filling out a similarly ravishing dress, a match for her songstress's own comeliness.

Cain was not a morning person, in fact he wasn’t truly what you would describe as a person at all. But that was beside the point. The point was the Lord of Shadows did not get up before dawn ever except apparently for today. Today he was up at around noon to go to the mall and possibly have a little fun. The answer to how Cain Vulsore is able to go to a mall in the middle of the day is quite a long story, but the short version is that he can be very persuasive when he needs to be. That and no contractor or builders in New York really wanted to piss him off. So, this mall was a special mall in the sense that it used polarizing glass for every piece of glass in the building.

Putting the finishing touches on his outfit, the usual black pants and shoes, purple t-shirt, and black leather jacket, Cain spiked his hair up as it was an up kind of day and summoned a shadow monster. In the next moment he was stepping out of the women’s bathroom with a wicked glint in his blood red eyes quite surprised that he wasn’t bursting into flames. He’d have to thank the person who invented whatever the hell was used to make this place possible when he saw them next. Unless of course he already had them for a meal. Walking out from behind him where three groups of vampires, each consisting of one ‘tracker’, ‘tank’, and a ‘flyer’, and all intending to do their own little thing.

Cain had given his followers free reign today as this was a special occasion. It would be most of their first and possibly last days back in the sunlight without fear of dying or whatever else happened to them in the sunlight. Which of course was a cause for celebration. Dismissing them with a wave of his hand the Lord of Shadows walked off in his own direction taking note of the different ‘attractions’, stores and food places until of course his eyes rested upon an attractive relatively young lady at about average height with nice hair, a green coat, and very nice assets. The only downfall was that she was currently holding hands with a child.

Now, Cain wasn’t exactly the nicest being in the world and had certainly made some of his own orphans in his time but he usually didn’t set out to do that. It just sort of happened as an after affect, and just as he was about to pass the woman by in hopes of finding a more suitable lunch the people in the mall started migrating towards one area, but Cain was more focused on the mother going off in, unknown to him, the same direction while leaving the child behind.  Making his way through the crowd he slips an arm around the waist of the ‘mother’ and pulls her into the nearest store which is oddly deserted.

Not one for being too keen on keeping track of time Cain exists the store some time later whipping his mouth dry of blood and fixing his slightly ruffled shirt with one hand and pocketing his lighter in the other. Laughing to himself ready to continue the day he stops, tilting his head to the side noticing the music…the strange, calming almost alluring music and steps forwards in the general direction of the music. He knew not where it was coming from but he knew he had to follow the sound to find the source of such beautiful sounds. The King of Darkness was ensnared…at least momentarily. Something was certainly not right, why would he willingly go in the same direction as a crowd of Bag O’ Bloods and not be intending to wipe them all out?

As he made his announcement, Arthur could not help but notice the lack of attention that he was getting. Rather, he began to notice that barely anyone beyond his immediate vicinity was even acknowledging each other's presences, let alone his own. Everyone around him seemed... distracted.

Without her mother immediately coming to her rescue, Jessica began to cry once more; but before Arthur could turn to console her again, a young woman walked to her and began to comfort her. At first glance, it simply appeared like she was being a Good Samaritan; a second glance revealed that she was clearly annoyed by Jessica's wailing. Still, it was a sign of integrity for her to do it regardless.

"Hey did you hear that?"

It was not until the woman spoke that Arthur acknowledged what she was talking about. He noticed the songs. On a physical level, the music was simply a well orchestrated piece, something to enjoy. However, if one looked at the crowd, they could tell immediately what was going on.

"Sirens..." Arthur glowered as he acknowledged the source of the music. Before him, people were flocking towards the infernal creatures, and Arthur watched in disgust as the humans began to feed the desires of the blasphemous creatures.

What made matters worse, Arthur knew that Jessica's mother was among the crowd, and she too must have been coerced by their vile machinations. Such an action against Arthur's honor could not be let to pass.

"Demons!" Arthur boomed across the crowd, his arms folded across his chest as a sign of judgment and disgust. He looked past the crowds to the three figures above as they went through their unholy rituals. Two women and a hooded figure, that was all that Arthur could see. "You dare perform such sorcery in my presence? Recognize that you are in the presence of Arthur Pendragon, King of Avalon, Land of the Summer Fae. Cease this dishonorable impropriety at once, or I shall strike you down!"

By the time he got hold of his prey, Cain would find the mother unit already a shriveled crone, her mind gone as she came along with him to the empty store. As he fed on her, her blood was thin like water, utterly lacking of the vital life energy that vampires required. In effect, the sirens had gotten to her first.

The Siren songstress glanced aside to meet Arthur's gaze. At his proclamation She immediately knew fear, and halted her song. Her audience was enamored still, chanting her name. "Syren... Syren..." Though in a weak tone befitting their artificially advanced age.

"Continue singing, child. Mary, deal with this fool." The Raven haired beauty said, showing only contempt for Arthur, not even deigning to make a proper reaction to him.

The robed one, Mary her name was from being called as such by the leader, tossed aside the loot bag and moved forward to put herself between the Sirens on stage and Arthur. Somehow she looked alot taller now that she was closer, and pulled out an enormous sword from beneath her robes, a claymore from the looks of it but barely more than a light blade to her proportions. Her arm was bare and slightly pale yellow, with dark red scales on the back. She pointed the man cleaver at Arthur. "You get this one warning, one and future king. Walk away, or I shall castrate you like a rutting stallion and feed you your manhood." It was a woman's voice, deep and menacing, but still feminine.

She also glanced at Diana carrying her sword. " And don't even think that little metal toothpick of yours will be of use against me, girl."

Diana stood beside Arthur throughout the ordeal and was thrilled at the sight of the large robed figure. "Mary? Really? Twelve feet tall carrying a claymore in one hand, and you're called Mary?" She held her Blood Sword in both hands. "Well, I don't really mind about size. The question is... are you any good?" She said, relishing the chance to fight someone so threatening.

It wasn’t until he got close enough to the stage that he noticed something was a tad bit off concerning the music. Okay, sure that meant he was a tad bit slow concerning things but no one ever said Cain was the smartest man in the world, the most powerful maybe but smarts weren’t his thing. At least he did notice something was off unlike these damned Bag O’ Bloods, which by the way tasted like absolute garbage. It was like he was drinking water with no nutritional value, and by the looks of things from the glaring eyes he got from the rest of his followers they had noticed the same thing. Giving them a signal to keep quiet, keep their heads down, and play along the Lord of Shadows moved his hand to his Kilij ready to make some racket, when someone else beat him to the punch.

He could barely contain his laughter when the big gold armored man declared himself to be King Arthur. The King Arthur, like the one from all the myths and stories that Cain read as a child growing up. It wasn’t however until the sirens actually identified him as being the real deal that he actually started to believe it; but whether or not the man was truly who he claimed to be was still up for debate in the mind of the King of Darkness. Allowing his body to melt into and become one with the shadows Cain moved around in them watching the scene unfold taking in every little bit of the conversation until he deemed it was time to make his presence known.

“Mary did you know….Mary did you know….” The Lord of Shadows sang out, his voice eerie and sounding as if it was coming from everywhere in the room. Which in a sense it was for the voice was made to sound as if it came out of every shadow in the room. “That Black is not your color….” Sure, he could have simply killed the bitch by having a shadow rise up from behind her and slice her head off or stab her through the heart but where would be the fun in that? It was so much better to make his presence at least known to the fools you were about to slaughter before actually ripping them limb from limb until they were only left with a chest and a tongue in their mouth so they could scream out his name in hopes of getting him to stop.

There was also the fact that little Mary wasn’t exactly the main target on Cain’s agenda. Oh no, after being in the game for as long as he was you started to realize quickly that the grunt wasn’t always the main priority and if you had the chance you took out the queen bitch first. Which after listening to the first one speak out to not only convince the singer to continue but had Mary make herself known to ‘deal with the fool’ that she was the one who needed Cain’s attention. “Also, these Bag ‘O Bloods are officially property of the New York Vampire…get your own sacks of blood someplace else.” The words once more rang out across the entire auditorium as Cain himself rose up behind the raven haired queen bitch herself Kilij drawn.

In one quick motion he swung it at a downwards arc intending to remove the burden of her big head from the rest of her body. At this exact moment one of Cain’s ‘tanks’ made their move too. Moving from behind Mary he steamrolled forward intending to essentially tackle her to the ground like you’d see a football player to do the quarterback. Whether or not he was successful wasn’t really on his mind, he had a feeling the other two sword wielding people in the room were sure to help him out. That or the other creatures of the night would make their own chaos eventually.

Arthur's vein pulsed as he was once again treated with insubordination. Instead of heeding his wishes, the Sirens instead decided that it was better to disobey the king and continue with their foul ritual. However, this was not a difficult decision for Arthur to make.

The Sirens had made their choice.

Before him, the amazonian creature known as Mary brandished her claymore and spouted threats towards the King of Avalon. Despite this, Arthur did not move his hands, nor did he make any motion. Instead, he merely waited.

"Normally, fighting one of your status is beneath me. Unfortunately for you, I have made an oath to a subject to find her mother for her. You stand between me and my goal." Arthur began, assessing how much effort was required in order to fight against this creature. It carried itself with power, but it seemed to lack skill in comparison to Arthur's. "However, you have other things to worry about"

Beyond Mary, Arthur heard the sounds of another force at work. It was a voice, a voice that mocked and echoed from every direction. It didn't require an enhanced mind to see dark magic at work; Arthur was no fool.

From the shadows, monsters began to attack, aiming to kill the Sirens all at once. The strategy itself was fine, and required a leader of a certain caliber to coordinate it. However, Arthur did not believe that the Sirens would be so easily defeated by simple creatures of the night. As such, Arthur remained in his position, and merely smiled.

"Go ahead, don't mind me" Arthur chuckled "I can wait"

"Come and see what it is like to fight your better, little human." She taunted Diana to attack, but the room was suddenly plunged into a darkness, a third unwelcome presence attempting to decapitate the operation at its head. Cain would find that being wheelchair bound did nothing to remove from her effectiveness; the blade sliced through something solid, but a split second later that which lay on the ground was a branch, as where Banshee once sat there now was a twisted tree bereft of a limb. His original target sat not three feet away, protected by fell magic.

Mary was very quick to react to the large vampire creature trying to tackle her. He closed in and gripped hard, only to wrap his arms around an empty cloak, taking a few clumsy steps forward before realizing his error too late. Covered by the cloak, the lumbering creature would not see the large woman Mary was, a massive serpent below the waist, while her massive female torso supported six large, muscular arms, each sporting a unique melee weapon, each emitting a magical aura. Her chest also supported other things.

"Six... now that's just cheating!" Diana said, intimidated. She'd fought two-weapon wielders before, but a six armed Marilith? She needed to rethink her strategy. The lady's head was between twelve and fourteen feet in the air, bald, and her lipstick was black. Mary had tattoos and earrings in all the right places. Seeing her mistress threatened, She slithered over to engage the room's biggest threat, Cain.

"No one approaches lady Banshee and lives, fiend!" Marilith was all about full frontal assault, both with her weapons and her impressive proportions. A pair of swords, a battle axe, a flail, a mace and a spear, all attacking in a rapid and deadly unison lashed out at him, in a unique combat style utilizing her six limbs as well as her serpentine mobility.

"So many meddlers!" The banshee exclaimed, and stood up from her wheelchair finally. Intoning a dark song, dark twisted vines shot up from the ground all around Cain, attempted to bind him with thorny branches capable of halting even giants at bay; he would be held in place as Mary would attempt to slice him to ribbons.

Then, she stood at the edge of the stage waited as her Siren daughter reached a part of her song, and added her own dark refrain; the song brought forth a dark sorrow upon those who heard it, but those already enthralled, it was a voice of unrelenting madness. About four or five civilians were seized by an unholy transformation that saw their bones and flesh twist and writhe, transforming them into dark, bat like monsters.

"Keep The King and his knight occupied!" she commanded her newest thralls, and they too turned their dark attentions on Arthur and Diana. The Banshee would rejoin her champion in battling Cain, while Those unfortunately transformed would launch themselves into a frenzy of fang and claw, hungry for blood...

Diana met them in combat. They were swift indeed and their claws capable of crushing concrete, but Diana's swiftness allowed her to weave around them; a sword plunged into a heart then pulled out sideways would send blood flying onto the floor. "GET SOME!" Now THIS was what she was here for.

Mary... the Marilith: Occult 9 Str 6 Spd 7 Dur 6 FS 9,
Weapons: The Black Spear, Occult 9, Demon Swords (2) Occult 8 Axe, Mace, Flail Occult 7

Possessed Ones: Occult 1 Str 6 Spd 6 Dur 6 Fs 6

Cutting through someone with a Kilij did not feel like that. Cain growled ever so slightly when he noticed the cut tree branch that was now beneath him. The hell was this!? He hated magic, and those that used it were a bunch of bloody ass holes. He of course moved to turn his attention back onto the wheel chair bound disappearing bitch, only to hear not so little Mary calling out to him. “Oh shut your yap you god damned snake thing, I mean what the bloody hell are you anyway? Did someone decide to play God and took all the ugliest pieces and put them into you or something?” His Kilij of Shadows melted back into his sheath as the vines and weapons came flying out at him.

If the vines were truly meant to hold Giants at bay then they had never met Anu or Thistle for that matter. Those plant bitches, especially Anu, had some freaky fantasies and were much more powerful than this not so wheel chair bound American Idol failure thought she was. He turned the some of the shadows into chainsaws and started using them to cut through the vines closing one eye and cringing as the weapons all came down upon him. Only for them to bounce off his skin or even shatter upon hitting him, his clothes however were a different story. They were ripped to shreds and that only made the Lord of Shadows even madder. With the added boost of the shadows he ripped himself free of the vines and used the shadows to lift himself into the air.

“Play time’s over bitches.” He growled out as two more tanks, a flyer, and one tracker came out of hiding to help out Diana and Arthur…however one flyer, a tank, and two trackers were also turned into the monstrous things controlled by the song and they raced off after Arthur. “Lets see how you like being bound in chains.” With a flick of his wrist the shadows rose up at startiling speeds intending to ensnare Mary by her arms and around her waist, chaining her in place. Cain setting himself down in front of her Kilij of Shadows once more in his hands. This was starting to get fun, and might even make up for the fact that these three had decided to interrupt his fun day at the mall…the only time he’d ever been able to go to the mall.

Arthur watched the monsters as they launched their respective attacks at one another, analyzing the styles and tactics that they used; Arthur was taught to always pay attention when given the opportunity to look at your opponent's fighting style, especially when you didn't have to partake in combat yourself.

Out of all the monsters, the leaders of each faction were the most strange. They each had powers to move in ways that were not natural, beyond the body and into the mystic arts. Sorcery was never a popular in Arthur's time, but he believed in the values and advantages that it gave, due to the influence of Merlin. The powers of these creatures, however, spawned a very negative reaction from the King of Avalon.

Before his very eyes, Arthur watched as several of his subjects were transformed into terrible monsters by the sirens; the bodies of the humans contorted and twisted as they were forcibly altered forever into creatures of terror. With a grim look in his eyes, Arthur released his arms from their crossed position.

"A foolish decision" Arthur growled as his arm shot out to meet one of the creatures by the throat. Without hesitation, Arthur crushed its windpipe and let it flop to the ground. "I am sorry my subjects, your king has failed to protect you. I am sorry Jessica, for I have failed to save your mother from these creatures surely. However, your king shall not allow them to live with this sin"

With a flash of light, Arthur's hand held Indra. Though unassuming, the weapon held the very power of the skies and Arthur intended to use it well. With a wave of his hand, Arthur unleashed a destructive blade of lighting to meet his enemies, vaporizing them instantly. Though some survived, they looked at Arthur ominously as he brandished his weapon before them.

"I, Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot and Avalon, hereby sentence these wretched creatures to death by personal execution" Arthur proclaimed as he held Indra in front of him, gathering energy in a form of a javelin of pure lightning. "Prepare yourselves!"

Mary's Black Spear and other weaponry glowed with demonic power as the shadows attempted to entangle her. Her reflexes were simply sublime as she moved mere milliseconds before her limbs were ensnared. The spear was cutting through the shadowstuff, but the demon was definitely occupied by the effort.
Once Cain closed the gap between himself and Mary, the demon called for support. "Mistress!"

"Foolish boy." The Banshee opened her mouth, and this time a truly horrific wail came from it in the form of an ear splitting, earth shaking scream. This was her true attack, and she unleashed it on Cain before he could make short work of Mary; it was a supernatural attack that was directed in a line towards Cain.

As a final cruelty, the creature Arthur killed reverted back to human form, dying in his arms, pleading too late as the life left their bodies. Diana too, sliced apart monsters but they became normal once they hit the ground. Even the murderer, Diana, hesitated when she saw that the body at her feet reverted to some teen girl her age.

"...Crap." She muttered to herself, feeling guilt. She hated to fight things that were simply mind controlled into battle. She ducked under their attacks and made serious efforts to reach the stage through the crowd.

Arthur's weapon made short work of the siren's transformed thralls, reducing them to dead humans. But as long as the Banshee sang a dark refrain and her siren held them captive with her song, there would be no respite.