T - Jenn, Nako, Xenon, Bee, Lucca

[Nako]

It really was all just too much. The stress, the children disappearing… the possessed Mayor. And now Donnie was once again going into a rage and was set out to kill this poor idiot.

That's what he was.. a poor idiot doing what his mommy told him to do. That's what had been explained before Donnie began chomping down on his as if he were a philly cheesesteak sandwich.

It was suddenly painfully evident to Mikael that he did not like what Donnie was doing. Didn't like how she was handling the situation. The people had -told- them where the children were. If they were malicious.. they were damned good at showing it.

Queen Donnie was out of line.

"For fuck's sake, DONNIE, GET OFF OF HIM."



Critter very suddenly appeared, bidden by his master. He gave a series of frightened squeals before lunging into the frey at Mikael's command and swinging his quills toward the Queen. (Ugh… rolled a 1)

Notes: He has no back legs and often curls up and rolls places instead. He is capable of using his spikes to transfer a small amount of poison that causes the area of body it pierces to become numbed and hard to move. He can do this once per day.

"They're idiot pawns to something bigger and much worse, damnit Donnie I'm tired of seeing you tear people apart!" He screamed it out, his voice cracking "This is not how you should act as the Queen of…" But finally, in her biped form, he noticed a flash of red on her chest. He fell silent, very suddenly and profoundly confused.

[Nathalia]

((Dalphus was beyond being able to acknowledge Mikael, his paws digging into Donnie's neck as her teeth sank deeper and deeper into his flesh. He felt his windpipe close from pressure before the teeth broke into it.
Blood gushed down his throat and he sprayed it out of his nose and into the Queen's eyes as he fought hard (15), spittle flecked with foam in his panic.
He was going to die!
The paw aimed at his eyes missed in the panic...it would have been better for him had it connected.
Writhing, and lifting his feet, paws braced around the Queen's neck, to deliver a clawed kick to her stomach. (18)

The officer nearly jumped out of his skin when McDuck swung the cane around to point at him.
Eyes wide with horror, he seemed unable to truly turn away from the sight of Donnie's massive teeth buried in the false Mayor's throat.
"Aye, Sir. Lookit 'im. Doesn't look too fit now, does he?" He mumbled, tearing his attention away as a monstrous ripping noise came from Donnie's direction.
"Scuse me." He managed, before ducking and vomiting behind the desk, backing up as he went and trying to avoid getting it on his own feet.

Scooting sideways back around the desk, bile drizzling from his face, he gave the Duck an awkward salute. "S'the Selkie poisoning, McDuck,sir. We dunno where s'really come from, an' trust me, sir. We tried. If that-" He gestured to the gory remnants of his comrade. "Isn't enough t'convince you that we've put our lives on th' line, then I guess I may as well curl up 'n die too, Sir. Dunno what more I can do t'prove it to you. There's many more of 'em like this...most of 'em cops. We're always the first t'go." He gave the man a flat, empty look, watching the corpse of his comrade slowly being trampled beneath the berserk Queen's feet. "We were th' last ones, y'know? The other guys s'just men from around the nearby towns n'such."
The statement is made sadly, as he rifles through a desk drawer and pulls out a small syringe.
"N'fact...m'tired of it, sir. If y'don't mind my saying. N' I don't fancy goin' next after poor Dalphus." He jabbed the syringe into the side of his neck and emptied the contents before slowly sitting down and dropping the canister to the floor.
"You got any more questions...ask 'em now." He mumbled, staring vacantly at the ceiling, tears slowly starting to leak down his face.))



~Nathalia

[Lucca]

Graeme did his best to ignore the brutal carnage behind him...though as logic came rushing back he began to feel slightly sickened by it. In fact, this -entire- situation sickened him, and it was worse every time he found out some new piece of information. Dalphus was lying and incompetent, yes...but that didn't mean the Duck wanted his death. Especially if too many Selkies were turning out like the poor antlered man in the corner. It was just hard to believe that none of the other Realms seemed willing to help at all. Obviously, they were keeping this whole thing rather quiet...though, from a strictly business standpoint, Graeme could see why, too.

"I know," he said, a bit sadly, lowering the business end of his cane slowly to the floor and frowning as the man vomitted (not that he could really blame him; the sounds of the now-feral Queen ripping into Dalphus weren't at all pleasant, and he was sure the sight was worse). As much as he wanted to remain cold and unsympathetic to the Selkie plight...it really didn't seem that this whole mess was their fault after all. "Ah nae said that," Graeme protested, frowning. "Ah ken that ye're all in a mess. Ah just thought ye might've nae led us here under false pretenses." But the words sounded strangely without conviction, even to his own mind.

Gold-orange eyes widened in alarm as he saw the man draw out a syringe. "Please don't tell me tha's..." he trailed off, watching in horror as the man stuck himself with it. "Surely there's another way than that? Surely you have somethin' left! It's nae too late tae save ye! Have ye tried isolatin' the substance t'give tae a Corvie? There must be a cure!" Worried, Graeme knelt beside the man and put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay with me, now! Don't take your own life! There's a solution, laddie!" Though if they hadn't found where it had come from...but it had to be from the drilling, right? The oil wells had smelled odd. "Are ye sure it wasn't from the oil?"

[Nako]

Critter gave a soft noise before scrambling out of the way, avoiding the Queen's feet as best he could. (11)

Mikael for a few seconds, just stood there. His breathing was rapid.

"I quit."

"I quit."

He began to shake all over. Rage. He sucked in a breath as if preparing to say something, but stopped, instead, shaking his head.

"Donnie. You need to go find your daughter." It was interesting how he said that. How she should go find her daughter. Not 'we'. His voice was flat, and his ears were cocked back against his head. Not pinned, but angrily set. His tail was stark straight and bristled. He was pissed, and containing it. Not well.... but well enough. Perhaps the only think keeping him from screaming at the woman was because he wanted to keep his throat.

But at that point and time, he almost wanted to. He wanted to scream at her and dare her to rip him to shreds. Then call her out on her complete lack of control and her willingness to destroy anything in her way. She was out of control.

And this issue with the mark on her chest.... He didn't know how that happened. And it had nothing to do with his quitting. He was leaving her side, and would have even if the spade symbol was still on her chest.

[The Jenn]

Involved in her struggle with the victimized Dalphus, Donnie accidentally punted the creature instead. It stuck at her foot, prompting what would have been a roar if her mouth hadn't been otherwise occupied and sending it rolling back towards its master at a high speed (2).

She couldn't hear over the rushing of blood pounding in her ears. She could barely think around the blinding and all-encompassing rage that clouded her vision with red. Or was that the blood spurting from the gasping man's neck? Did it even matter? She closed her eyes on reflex, teeth clamping down in a vice-like grip as she continued to worry at the flesh in her mouth (5). The blood was nearly choking her and she had to gasp and sputter, releasing her hold with a rending motion as claws dug into her thick-skinned stomach and raked several bloody gashes into her fur (6).

Even if she'd been able to see what was happening in other parts of the room, she couldn't have made herself care in that moment (1). Mikael's words came at her as though distorted over a long distance. She shook with the force of her emotion, heightened to a state she had felt so rarely in her life and yet so horrifyingly natural, like breathing.

Like killing this worthless, whining thing.

She tried to reattach herself by jaw, the flailing canine evading her attempts (8) and forcing him to chase after his bleeding, dying self, heedless of the chaos around her or that she was causing. She took one swipe and then another (9), lunging, relentless, raking him with superficial damage that would nevertheless hinder his feeble attempts at defense.

(Permission granted.)

When all was said and done, the man remained nothing more than a bloody, battered pile on the floor. And she was left staring at him. Slowly coming down off her emotional high. Starting to feel the smallest pricklings of sickness at what she returned to.

[Nako]

His screaming… his words. They meant nothing to the Queen. They fell on deaf ears as she mercilessly went after the profusely bleeding man. The only reason Mikael didn't make a further move to stop her was because at that point, death was going to be a release for the maimed man. The poor punted Critter curled up behind his foreleg. It was never the most affectionate creature, but Donnie was enough to make anyone cozy up to someone else for support.

"Are you done yet?"

((and now some filler for post length.))

Ow ow ow! Being kicked was no fun! Critter made a series of noises as he flew through the air, contemplating such things as how comfortable he'd been in his little bed back at the Court before he was summoned. He'd just gotten done grooming himself too, and now he'd been stepped on. No doubt his fur was mussed and he might very well have some broken spikes.

There was no way he was going to convince that sweet little mome down the hallway that he was hot shit with some broken quills.

[The Jenn]

Donnie stared down at the scene, bile tingling at the back of her throat as she really thought about the substances filling her mouth and... sticking in her teeth. She held everything down by sheer force of will, spending a moment trying not to swallow before giving up that fight. One of her claws literally dripped with blood.

She didn't look around for a moment. Heard Mikael. Took a second to register his words as a question, and then to formulate an answer.

"...yes."

Then she looked up, took in the screaming madman in the corner, the policeman who seemed to be wilting in front of McDuck, and the complicated expression on Mikael's face. Hostile. Disappointed. Plenty of other things. She would deal with that later. Right now, she was covered in blood and things were falling apart all around them, a factor to which she had just contributed.

Strange how things started to become weirdly focused after an... 'episode'. Like that.

She twitched, shook herself, and resumed her human form. Bloody and messy though it might be, it was still better for her to focus. Her daughter. The Lakes. Important things. She heard McDuck pleading with the man, who seemed to have reached the floor. She took several steps closer and then thought better of it. "Is the former Mayor still there at all?" Or had she just killed one of the only people who might have had some knowledge of past events, beyond the one dying on the floor?

[Nathalia]

((Dalphus had no last thoughts.
There was no time for anything but panic and desperate clawing, one final, horrified attempts drawing three long gashed over the Queens neck, permanently scarring her, before her teeth tore upward and away. Taking his life with them.
The officer watched, eyes a little glassy as the corpse hit the floor, blood streaming from the open wound and the open gut steaming a little as the heated organs cooled.
His eyes slowly slid back to McDuck.
"Tha' right there? Tha's what I wanted t'avoid, Sir..." He whispered, a ghost of a smile playing about his face.
The Weasel trembled a little, the arm he injected the fluid into no longer responding to his brain. He stared at it for a second, before using his other hand to shove his mane out of his eyes.
"S'nothin' left t'live for." He whispered, eyes on the Duck. For the first time since his friend had exploded in a ball of fire, he looked legitimately frightened. "We're all gonna die...us here, you haven't seen what it does." His eyes rolled over to the maddened Mayor, writhing on the floor and giggling as inky liquid seeped from his sockets.
"He isn't the worst of 'em, y'see..."
He shook his head lightly at the offer of help, gingerly pulling up the hem of his officers' uniform so that the other man could see.
The blue rings had begun to fade...the fur in at least a two foot chunk on his torso had been stained a weird red-brown on the undercoat, an ugly yellowish color had taken the place of much of the blue.
"We ought not t'have lied to you, yeah, I know. What kin y'do though? They're th' bosses...Cillis wasn't that bad off half a week ago, now lookit 'im. No thanks, I'd rather take my own way out."
He watched the empty syringe and then gave the Duck a sad smile. "Shouldn't do a thing t'you, we've tried everything; Corvies, Esterberry, no cure. Capital cops won't take our calls anymore; says we're on quarantine, the Captain does." He turned the syringe over with his foot. "Feel kinda bad...this was for him, y'know, but... I don't think he even knows he's in pain anymore...s'not fair." His eyes glazed a little and his breathing became more shallow.
Gingerly, he raised his hand and clasped the feathered one on his shoulder heavily.
"S'not just in the oil...S'in the water."
SIghing heavily, he slumped over, leaning back against the desk and slipping over sideways.
"Finally meet someone important, 'n it's like this, what would m'Mum say?" He mumbled, head lolling to the side.

A few seconds later, and he was gone.
The badge on his jacket proclaimed him; officer Timothy Ridley.
The office fell quiet; the man in the corner screamed.

Something falls out of Timothy's pocket at McDuck's feet.
Small Gold Coin: Odd, this doesn't look like the casually used currency, it's quite pretty and has an image of a Tiger's head on one side, and a strange building on the other. It tingles slightly to the touch and once it makes contact with the SD it will grant a power (though only to one SD or Rabbit).
Once a week, the SD is now able to cause a victim of any Rank except for Queen and Joker, to begin babbling nonsense words. Though their minds still operate just fine, they will not be able to communicate their actual thoughts as their mouths have almost literally run off without them. The things they say will be utterly ludicrous and sometimes incriminating...
Best hope they know how to keep themselves in check or they might incur the wrath of someone they don't want upset...
This spell does not affect mental communication should the victim be capable of it.))

(This thread is being combined!
Ayden, Eurwen, Kamina, and Jovan will be joining you over here shortly.)




~Nathalia

[Nathalia]

(Since they're joining you, posting this here so you guys know what's going on.)

((Ayden nodded at the assertions. Time to find out what had happened here.
Pausing to help Eurwen up, he whispered to her. "Intrepid hot-head, what did you find?" He murmured affectionately, giving her a small smile, before pulling out a cloth as they moved to wipe her nose clear of blood, a small magical solution in the cloth began to numb the pain of it. "People in there? Not when I was here last...things seem to have...gone awry in the worst of ways. Gods, I'm sorry for getting you involved." He hissed, as they turned the corner, passing the door they now knew was open; cries and moans of pain still ringing faintly from it.
Chills rippling down his spine, he continued, on the lookout for guards and more Aces.
The fact that they found nothing only chilled him further.
The Ace had given Kamina and affectionate lick on the cheek, tail wagging hard enough to make its bottom shake.
At her order, it nodded once, dully, before taking of to join the others in the lead; tongue lolling and seeming to be sincerely enjoying itself, it skidded to the front, causing Ayden to jump back a little in surprise and to avoid its bulk as it slid haphazardly around another corner, leading them deeper into the building, and down.

As they ran, the shouts and screams ahead very abruptly died.
Leaving the area silent.
Ayden held out an arm as he spied a room, well-lit, and voices still quietly issuing from it. Gesturing for silence, he pointed, letting the Ace barrel on ahead.
Calling the smoky dagger back to his hand, he gestured for Joavn to join himself and Eurwen at the fore, pointing to the room.
From this angle, they could just see an odd, incredibly long-fingered creature and the strong back of a Wolverine Biped. The latter was covered in and drizzling blood, she also seemed to be growling faintly.
The Ace spun into the room with the force of its momentum, skidding to a halt at the sight of Donnie and yelping at the smell of so much blood. It growled in confusion before backing its way over to the officer just as he slipped into death.
Not seeming to understand this, and looking as though it recognized the man, it whined loudly, tail tucking as it took another glance at Donnie and nudged the dead man's hand.
Ayden turned to the others. "Listen for a few seconds, see if they hurt the Ace. Id not, we enter and try to calm them down. Should that not work..." He nodded to Jovan, the young man knew what to do, he was proving to be an invaluable help.
Watching and listening for the reaction, Ayden readied himself.
His eyes, then widened, whispering lightly in Eurwen's ear, he pointed a little ways down the hall. A small curtain had been hung over something on an otherwise blank wall...underground? Odd..
"Right there, I was telling you earlier that they sent me through a door they found to the Capital? That's the one! We can get out of here once we've discerned what this little mess is." He gently squeezed her hand, watching their immediate danger once more, but feeling a sensation building in his chest...they had a means of escape!))



~Nathalia

[Lucca]

Graeme had seen death before. He could hardly have lived the life he had for as long as he had and not done so. He saw his first man die at the tender age of 5, from a combination of malnutrition and a wave of sickness that had swept the slums he was living in at the time. It was only through his Mother's persistent drive to be more hygienic than their neighbors that Graeme himself had avoided catching the deadly disease. He'd seen men crushed by rocks, shot in the head by Corvie quick-bows, and die from various other hazards of the road and poverty.

Somehow, this was worse than any of them. He saw the glassy eyes of the man speaking to him as he watched Dalphus die. But Graeme could not look. He didn't have to. He heard the horrifying sound of flesh being torn, and then...silence. Gold-orange eyes closed and he shuddered slightly.

He hadn't thought much of Dalphus, but no man deserved that. He felt ashamed for the way he'd lost his temper. Perhaps, if he'd kept his own head, he might have been able to help the Queen snap out of her blood lust in time...but no. Even her retainer, the artist, couldn't do such a thing. If he Duck had been a religious sort, he would have uttered a small prayer for the Canine's soul. As it was, he just listened to the officer in a sort of horrified sorrow. Apparently, the situation was worse than he could have even imagined it.

"But laddie," Graeme started to protest, until the man lifted up his shirt and showed his fur. Then, he knew how truly bad it was. Then, he understood the magnitude of this. One thing was sure, he'd been right in what he told the false Mayor. There was something more important than just the economy of the lakes..and it took a lot for a man as focused on money as Graeme was to think so!

When his hand was clasped, he didn't draw away, but looked the man right in the face unflinchingly. In the end, he couldn't exactly blame the officer for his decision to end his own life. "In th'water?" he repeated in a whisper, paling. The water that went out to the other Realms...the Capital...they really may be seeing the extinction of the Selkies entirely. "That's...horrible...but it still has to be from the oil...there's no way anyone would ever do tha' intentionally, right?" It was a beyond horrifying thought.

And he didn't expect the other man to answer, anyway...he was too far gone. As the other fell limp, Graeme gave him a salute, and leaned over to close his eyes, glancing at the badge as he did. "Farewell, Timothy...Ah'll do m'best to assure your sacrifice was nae in vain." As he straightened back up, slipping his hat off his head, he caught the glint of something and snatched it up out of sheer force of habit and pocketed it.

It was a mark of the gravity of the situation that he only vaguely noticed the tingle that ran up his arm from the coin. But as he stood, something came barreling into the room, huge...an Ace. And it recognized the dead man. Graeme frowned...there was no way it was here alone. He turned boldly toward the door, eyes cold and hard. He was even more resolved to get to the bottom of this.

"Is there someone there?" he called in a clear tone.