*** Notify list: mundane_echo, jaded_glance, tr33_(1imb3r, lucien, WolfNOne, ChaoSpiral, buckysinister, barbed, brianvf19, meghanlore, dr4g0n8ait, mickey_lvs_mallory, fr_eliot, adamiikhan, soultoast, burninCow, peachnut

***brianvf19, fr_eliot, adamiikhan are Online

/nick Temporal

NewUser is now known as Temporal

/join #themasquerade

/join #wolfslodge

/join #BloodySatin

/join #backroom

/join #alleyway

Temporal: ((Hey. Anybody seen Barbed in here tonight?))

Windy: ((Sorry Temporal, no sign of her at all.))

Gabe: ((Temp, try 1 of the smaller netwrks. She was here erlier and said she’d be on 1 of them. The usaul ones, like skylink or netwerkz, ect.))

Temporal: ((thnx. See you guys l8r))

/server #irc.netwerkz. net:6667

*** Notify list: mundane_echo, jaded_glance, tr33_(1imb3r, lucien, WolfNOne, ChaoSpiral, buckysinister, barbed, brianvf19, meghanlore, dr4g0n8ait, mickey_lvs_mallory, fr_eliot, adamiikhan, soultoast, burninCow, peachnut

***barbed is Online

/query barbed

Temporal: Hey. How’s it going?

Barbed: {{{temporal}}}

Temporal: Hiya. Glad to see you. I’ve been looking for you.

Barbed: I’m good. what’s shakin’, baby?

Temporal: Just having an odd week. My roommate is kind of MIA.

Barbed: he’s in the army?

Temporal: No, no. He’s just not around. Haven’t seen him in over a week, I guess. It’s weird.

Barbed: that is weird.

Barbed: so. wanna play some?

Temporal: Yeah. Yes, I think I do. What have you got in mind?

Barbed: we have to finish up. they revealed the gate, but didn’t seal it, and I think things are going to get weirder now.

Temporal: What game system are you using, for this? I mean, if things are going to start involving powers, we’ll need to figure out some rules, right?

Barbed: just role it, instead of roll it. you know? tell the story… let the rest just happen

Temporal: But I don’t want to throw my character up against something that will just wipe him out without thinking unless I know how to deal with it using the rule system. Seems like that’d be a bad plan.

Barbed: I understand. but don’t worry, baby. I won’t create anything too ridiculous.

Temporal: uh… ok. I guess. Where to?

Barbed: #alleyway

/join #alleyway

User Temporal has joined channel #alleyway.

User Barbed has joined channel #alleyway.

Barbed: ((oh, you beat me here. you’re the op. can you op me?))

Temporal: ((Sure. There you go. Now you, too, have the power.))

Barbed: ((thx luv. I feel it coursing thru me… <weg> heh heh heh))

Barbed: ((so we’ll pick up a bit after we left off. I’ll set the stage. let’s say it’s the next day.))

Temporal: ((ok. should I give you the costume?))

Barbed: ((hell yes))

Barbed: _____IC_______

Barbed: [the night has passed, but during that time, the rift has grown and become more obvious to those with supernatural sensitivity. Barb has returned to the club, and calls Temporal on her cell phone, asking him to meet her in the alleyway. She is wearing a long black leather trench coat and knee-high shit-kicking steeltoed boots. She also wears red leather pants and a black tank. Her hair is pulled back and tied, and she has on a pair of sunglasses. In the light, she seems somewhat tan, or to have a slightly reddish cast to her skin. She waits, one hand on her hip, the other holding a cigarette.]

Temporal wears a light green long sleeve t-shirt and black BDUs. He has on greasy black Dr. Martens boots and a black sport coat. His sunglasses are the same from the other night.

Temporal: We meet again.

Barbed: hello, lover. how are you this morning? did I wear you out too much?

Temporal looks at her, not sure how to respond. He isn’t sure if there’s any chance that what happened last night might happen again, but without the hocus pocus reason. But then, she seems like she might be some sort of succubus or some other demon. He doesn’t know if he should trust her, but he does want to find out what she’s up to, and what’s going on with the rift in reality.

Temporal: No. I’m pretty well rested. But I think I need some answers, and not just a good sex partner. What’s going on now?

Barbed: see for yourself…

Barbed gestures to the wall where the rift looks like a glowing crack floating a few inches away from the bricks. the crack is spreading and opening wider, slowly, and a white light is spilling out.

Temporal: So… we’ve made it visible… but we still need to seal it.

Barbed: yes. perhaps your abilities can slow the fracturing until we can find some way to seal it?

Temporal strokes his chin and thinks. He’s not sure what to do here. He could use the pocketwatch and slow the rate of time around the alleyway. That would buy them time, assuming the rift worked within this world’s space/time continuum. But beyond that, he wasn’t sure what to do.

Temporal: I’ll try it. But what do you have in mind, then? I can only buy us some time.

Barbed: ::smiles:: that’ll be good, though. we can then go and do some research. I think I know of a book that might fill us in on what we need to know.

Temporal: Very well. I’ll activate the time damper.

Temporal pulls out his pocketwatch and flips open the cover. He walks over to the rift and stands nearby, then closes his eyes. In his imagination, he pictures the alley and the wall, and the rift, and then turns the set knob on the pocketwatch two full turns back, clicking the button and exhaling as he releases his power through the focus of the watch.

Temporal: #slow time#

Barbed watches him, and tosses her cigarette away.

Temporal starts moving incredibly slowly toward her. To him, it seems like the normal amount of time, but he sees her and the world beyond a 10 foot radius zipping by incredibly quickly. Her cigarette butt zooms toward him, then hits the bubble of slowed time and moves at the regular speed.

Temporal steps from the time bubble and immediately appears to move at the normal rate. Barbed sees her cigarette, though, suspended in midair and falling at an agonizingly slow rate.

Barbed: impressive. how long will it last

Temporal: Maybe five hours. Maybe less. We’ll have to work quickly and get as much done as possible. That five hours for us will be like 2 hours for the rift, maybe even less. But we don’t know how much damage can happen in that short time.

Barbed nods

Barbed: Let’s get going. I have a car around the corner.

Temporal nods and follows.

/query Barbed

Temporal: So… what now? We’re not going to play out the research, right?

Barbed: nah. that’d be boring, I figure. what do you think?

Temporal: Yeah. And I dunno if I can stay online too too long tonight. I’ve got a few hours and all, but…

Barbed: yeah, it’s cool. I gotta work tomorrow. luckily I get to go in late. I have a night job.

Tim sat back from the screen. God damn… that fits with everything Ethan was saying, with all his suspicions. Was there a way to get her to tell him more, and confirm it all? He decided to keep pushing. She’d been rather non-forthcoming to this point, but maybe she’d let something slip.

Temporal: When you gotta go in?

Barbed: oh, not til about 6 PM. I have an early shift. sometimes I go in later, but then I have to stay past 3.

Temporal: Oh. Wow. Third shift is hell. Do you sleep all day?

Barbed: lol. it’s not exactly 3rd shift, but right. sometimes I sleep a lot. depends.

Temporal: Do you have a long commute?

Barbed: nah. it’s not far. thankfully.

Temporal: you live in a big city?

Barbed: oh, I live in a moderate sized town. kind of a suburb of a big city, really. well, maybe a suburb of a suburb.

Temporal: Suburb, huh? You don’t strike me as very suburban.

Barbed: <weg> and just how DO I strike you, hon?

Temporal scratches his head… ;)

Temporal: Well, you seem a little more… edgy?

Barbed: lol. if you only knew, my boy.

Temporal: Well, fill me in. Just how edgy ARE you?

Barbed: weren’t we about to play a scene?

Temporal: Oh yeah. That.

Barbed: I’m not anywhere near as interesting as what’s about to happen in the story.

Barbed: well… maybe almost. but not as evil.

Temporal: Evil? Oh geez…

Barbed: let’s get back to it, shall we?

She wasn’t going to spill that easily. And the story was waiting. Tim got out his dice and switched back to the other channel, where the story was unfolding.

Barbed: [they go and do some research. she has a store of ancient scrolls, but can only read about half of them. Temporal has the ability to decipher the other half. they piece together some things, and go to speak to a scholar named Mick. he’s an old man who used to be a private detective during Prohibition, and he knows a lot about the supernatural. Mick tells them that they’ll have to repair the rift by purifying a well beneath the city. the sewers have leaked into a pure water source that connects two worlds. water is always a liminal feature—it always creates a border between worlds. the water is the key to fixing the rip. if they can stop the contamination, the other world will recede. but they’ll have to get down there and find the well, then clean out the impurities.]

Barbed pulls up in front of the club, and looks over at Temporal.

Barbed: are you ready?

Temporal: Sure. Where’s the closest sewer access?

Barbed: in the alleyway.

Temporal: Then let’s go. ::gets out of the car and heads for the side of the building::

Barbed: Temporal… wait.

Temporal turns and looks at her. His face is determined. He knows now what they must do, and is ready to do whatever it takes. He removes his sunglasses and looks her in the eye.

Barbed: Are you sure you want to do this? I’m asking a lot of you…. you realize this, don’t you?

Temporal: I understand. And I’m willing.

Barbed: I don’t think it will be easy. the other world has leaked into ours some already. there’s no telling what we’ll encounter down there.

Temporal: I’m ready. Let’s go.

Barbed: all right. yes.

Barbed leads him around the corner. they head into the alleyway. the rift is now readily visible, a white crack seven feet tall, hanging in the middle of the air, lighting up the entire alley. she looks into the rift, and then starts searching for the sewer cover.

Temporal looks for the sewer cover as well. He finds it behind some boxes, and shoves them out of the way. He looks around for something to pry it off with.

Barbed: allow me. ::her features shift again and the horns split through her forehead. she keeps her wings hidden, but her tail splits through the leather pants and whips around her thighs. she reaches down and picks up the sewer cover with one hand, and tosses it aside:: no problem. now, stay close. we need to be careful down there. can you see in the dark?

Temporal: ::blinks, and shakes his head:: I can’t. But I’ve got a flashlight. Nice work. ::he is surprised, but realizes that it makes sense for a demon to be powerful::

Barbed: it’s nothing, babe. now stick close. ::drops down into the sewer::

Temporal: No problem. ::starts climbing down behind her::

Barbed: [as they climb down, they are unaware that something is shambling and shuffling toward them on the street above. as they make their way through the muck and water, behind them they hear two loud splashes, as if a body feel into the water. then they hear the loud clank of the manhole cover falling back in place.]

Temporal: ::grabbing his watch:: What the hell was that?!

Temporal spins around, looking for whatever is behind them.

Barbed: Don’t worry about it. Keep moving.

Temporal: What? That didn’t sound good…!

Barbed: we don’t have much time. we have to keep moving ‘til we find the water source, and can plug it up.

Temporal lets her head on a bit, and stands very still, listening, waiting.

Barbed: [he hears a sloshing sound from behind them, moving slowly]

Temporal: ((can we pause a moment))

Barbed: ((sure. what’s up?))

Temporal: ((what system will we use for this?))

Barbed: ((yeah, good question. there’s about to be conflict. if it’s cool with you, I’ll roll dice here. you give your power and action value, and I’ll give your yin and yang, and we’ll figure it out from there))

Temporal: ((what is the target of what we’re facing))

Barbed: ((it’s gonna be 8, I think))

Temporal: ((ok. that’s doable. thx))

Barbed: ((sure. ready?))

Temporal: ((yes. good to go))

Temporal: ::catching up to her:: I think we’re being followed, but they’re not chasing… sounds slow

Barbed: ok. let’s just head forward. we’ll deal with them when the time comes.

Barbed leads him down a long tunnel, and then into an alcove. They find the markings on the wall that Mick told them to look for, and open a secret compartment. Inside, there is a handle, which opens a hidden door.

Temporal: So… is this it?

Barbed: turn on your light.

Temporal: ::does so:: what do you see?

Barbed: [before them is a splashing fountain, which seems to have its own light glowing from within. the light is bright gold, but one side seems to be throbbing and is crisscrossed with a red network of spiderwebbed veins, like a bloodshot eye. a hole in the wall and a pipe beyond that wall spills brown, gross sewage into the bubbling spring]

Temporal: The spring! It’s incredible…

Barbed: Quickly… we have to patch that hole, or reroute it, as soon as possible.

Temporal: ::looking around the room for something do use to do so:: What can we do?

Barbed: [suddenly, two forms rise up out of the water and stagger toward them. they are zombies, and moan as they stagger toward our heroes]

Temporal: ::reaching for his stopwatch:: #slow target- AV 15#

Barbed: #yin: 2 yang: 4#

Temporal succeeds in slowing one of the zombies to a level where it is barely moving.

Barbed: [the other zombie staggers forward and reaches for Barb]

Barbed punches the zombie in the head #strength of demons, martial arts AV 13 (of course) yin: 4, yang: 3, total: 12#

Barbed knocks the zombie’s head off, with a blast of decomposing dust

Temporal: Nice work! ::picks up an old lead pipe lying on the concrete::

Barbed: [the other zombie moves so slowly that Temporal barely has to try to land the blow]

Temporal hits the zombie’s head as if it were a ball on a tee. The corpse’s head flies across the room and splashes into the water, and the rest of the reanimated body collapses into the water.

Barbed: ((nice work. good description))

Temporal: ((thx. you too))

Barbed looks around, to see if there are any more of the creatures waiting. She then moves to the wall to take a closer look at the broken pipe.

Temporal follows. He scratches his head, trying to figure out what can be done.

Barbed: Can you slow the flow of the sewage long enough for me to melt the pipe and seal the breach?

Temporal: I think I can. But that will probably be the last I can handle for a little while. My energy level is low. I’ll have to wait at least fifteen or twenty minutes to regain power.

Barbed: Do it. We should be fine after this.

Temporal reaches out and holds his hand in front of the filth spilling from the pipe. He holds his pocketwatch and concentrates. the flow starts moving so slowly that it appears to stop.

Barbed: [the sewage that had been spilling falls with a sickening sound to the concrete below, and the last of it spills into the fountain.]

Barbed: find something to clear that out and away from the fountain, and then rinse your hands in the water over there. I’ll need that pipe.

Temporal hands her the pipe, and goes over and gets a broken board, starts scraping the crud away into the flow of water.

Barbed: #firey vision, AV 10, yin: 1, yang 5, total 14#

Temporal: ((nice roll))

Barbed uses the pipe as a piece of solder, and with firey beams of energy from her eyes, she welds the broken pipe back together, sealing it. she reinforces all around the fractured area.

Temporal: Nice work. I’ve got all the crud out of here. I think it’s cleared away.

Barbed: Good.

Barbed takes off her jacket and lets her wings unfurl from their recessed, mystical area where they stay folded. she unzips her boots and starts taking them off

Temporal: ::confused:: What are you doing? Shouldn’t we get out of here, and make sure there aren’t anymore zombies around?

Barbed: We have to heal the spring. We’ll need to perform a ritual. Take your clothes off.

Barbed pulls her tank top off over her head. her full, round breasts hang, pert and alert, nipples the red of her lips and eyes. her skin has taken on an orange-red cast. she starts to unzip her leather pants, down the back

Temporal: ::blinks:: uh…

Barbed gives him a look as she pushes the leather pants down and steps out of them. “this is the only way we can make sure this doesn’t happen again”

Temporal looks at her and thousands of thoughts run through his mind. Is she telling him the truth? Does she really want to seal this gap between the worlds? And this “sexcraft” stuff—does it really work? Or is she just trying to seduce him and keep him from really solving the problem at hand. What if the zombies are her minions…?

Barbed: ::licking her lips, revealing pointed canines and a long, narrow tongue:: it’ll be fine, really, lover. I’ll start the spell while you get ready.

Temporal watches, taking off his shirt and untying his shoes.

Barbed walks over to the fountain and step into it. She flinches, and it’s unsure if that’s from the chill or some other, more mystical, sensation. whatever the case, her nipples harden, and she closes her eyes and opens her mouth, in a silent moan.

Temporal unzips his pants. Watching her already has him aroused.

Barbed runs her hands all over her body, cupping, caressing, squeezing, teasing. she reaches between her own legs and begins to massage herself, sinking slowly down til she is lying in the fountain, on her back, her legs spread, knees bent, feet flat on the ground. her hand moves between her legs faster and faster, and her breathing increases in speed

Temporal finishes removing his pants and sets them aside with his other clothes. He watches her, rapt.

Barbed: come here, lover… it’s time for you to do your part of the ritual…

Tim sat back from the screen. Wheeeewwww. Wow. She always seemed to do the best job getting him all riled up. Damn. And if she was a stripper, holy hell… He could feel all the fillings in his teeth. He wiped his palms on his jeans and went back to typing. They continued like this for another forty minutes.

Barbed looked down at him, as she straddled him and moved her hips in a grinding, circular motion. she smiled and bit her bottom lip, the pointed tip of one tooth drawing a slight amount of blood

Temporal: Oh god… tell me when… mmmm….

Barbed: oh, don’t invoke that name. or if you do… don’t leave ANY of them out… call on ALL the gods…

Temporal: ::smiling:: Sorry… I forgot about that…

Barbed: no problem lover… I might BE mythology, but I’m not AFRAID of mythology. ::she winks, and keeps moving on him::

Temporal: ::feels it starting:: oh… Barb… I can feel…

Barbed: ::closes her eyes:: my name… it’s better if you just… think of me… as a bringer… of Light…

Tim stopped and sat back. “Bringer of Light”? But that would mean… is she making an allusion? Or is “Barbed” playing a character all-together more powerful than he had imagined?

Temporal: What should I call you? Would I have heard your name…? ::He looked up at her, and remembered what his feminist friends said about Lilith::

Barbed: ((lol. she’s not Lily… oh no, something far more interesting.))

Tim blinked again. What have I gotten myself into here? He continued typing, as did she, and they finished the segment of the scene. Ordinarily, it would have ended a bit more arousing and provacative for him, but tonight, he was too distracted and consumed with finding out what he could about this woman playing the character, and if she was the stripper at the club that Ethan frequented.

Barbed: [she stands, as the ritual ends. the throbbing of the fountain seems to have died down, and the redness if fading to pink. it seems, at least for now, that the ritual worked, and the healing has begun.]

Temporal stands and leans one hand against the wall, as he slowly makes his way over to his clothing. He is overwhelmed by the intensity of their connection.

Barbed: [as Barb leans down to pullon her leather pants, two zombies round the corner. the light of the fountain is bright enough to illuminate them…]

Temporal: Barb! More of them! ::reaches for a two by four::

Barbed: I see them. Can you slow them down?

Temporal: No! My power is still drained! We’ll have to fight them!

Barbed: [the zombies are an odd pair. one is a prom queen with a slit throat. she staggers toward Temporal with her arms outstretched. Her teeth seem to be in a death-grin, and her skin is stretched across her skull tightly, flaking away in green chunks. the other is a corporate businessman, with a huge gash across his forehead. his jaw hangs slack and will not close, and seems to be only barely hanging by a tendon]

Temporal shoves the two by four into the stomach of the creature, then brings it up to catch the zombie girl in the chin

Barbed: ((AV for melee?))

Temporal: ((11))

Barbed: ((yin: 5 yang:1 total:7 – miss!))

Temporal: Shit!

Barbed: [the zombie girl just takes the shot to the stomach, but her flesh tears away, and she is not stopped. the board is caught within her rotting carcass, and she continues forward, reaching for him with outstretched broken fingernails]

Barbed: ((AV 8 yin: 2 yang: 5 total 11—hit?))

Temporal: ((damn! yes… how much?))

Barbed: ((1 point since she barely made it. if she bites, it can be worse, though))

Barbed: [the creature catches him by the cheek and scrapes a long cut down to his neck]

Barbed: [the other zombie heads for Barbed. topless, she leaps at the creature, head down, horns out]

Temporal: ((she can attack with those?))

Barbed: ((dude, I dunno. sounds good, though! plus, it’s just a zombie))

Temporal: ((right on.))

Barbed: ((AV 13, yin: 2, yang: 4, total: 15))

Barbed ‘s charge tears the creature into five pieces, and it flops away into the water, unable to function.

Temporal turns the board and swings, driving the creature toward Barb, and knocking it off balance.

Barbed catches the teamwork play and puts out her hand, straight-arming the monster in the nose, driving the septum back into the brain. the force of the blow knocks the creature’s head back, and the double trauma snaps the neck and crushes the frontal lobe, rendering the monster nonfunctional

Temporal: Nice work. Let’s head back topside, shall we? To clean up anymore of these that might have gotten out, eh?

Barbed: Good call. Our work is done here.

Barbed: [the duo grab their things, pull them back on, and head for the surface]

Temporal: ((wow. pretty cool stuff))

Barbed: ((hon, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet))