Shadowess

Amelia faltered. "What do you mean she took your powers? Carol doesn't have that kind of power," she asked. She glanced back at Sara briefly then tilted her head back to give an exasperated sigh. "I'm not going to destroy you, Ash. And I can't force you to be a father, either." She lowered her head to look at him tiredly. "I don't know what happened to you and I'm sorry that I couldn't help when you clearly needed it. But taking your anger out on this kid, who has done nothing but exist, isn't right. Don't be angry with Sara or Ophelia. They're victims in this too." she hesitated then turned away from him to look at Sara. Ash may not be willing to care but she still had a duty to make sure they would be ok. "C'mon, Sara," she said softly. "Let's give him some space and go home. I'll help you set up the nursery then we'll go and get Ophelia, ok?" --- Sensing Xenos's question may be private, River nodded and stood before vanishing. When they were alone, Shezmu looked up at Xenos curiously. "What is troubling you?" --- Kris stared at Blake for a long moment. The corner of his mouth twitched briefly but his cold expression didn't change. Lost, orphaned or abandoned trickster kids were unfortunately common and it wasn't unusual for a few of them to end up on Kris's doorstep asking for shelter, training and some form of parental figure. He preferred it like this. It meant the kids were more likely to grow up to be fiercely loyal to him. "Maybe," he answered. "But you have to earn it, like every other member of my gang. Show me every day that you are worthy of my respect and you could have quite the happy life here. I might even teach you a few of my own tricks... if you work hard enough to earn it." --- Henderson followed the other officers into the meeting room and felt his cheeks grow hot when Dick made his comment about him. Then he caught the eye of a few of his colleagues who had given him a quick glare. He felt suddenly torn. He was attracted to Dick but he knew his colleagues would see it as a betrayal after what the hitman had done to one of their own. So he lowered his eyes shamefully and waited for the meeting to get started. --- "Our children!" Azrael repeated as he realised that marrying Death would make them all a family. He laughed and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Then this is merely the beginning of our happiness! Oh, my love!" he kissed him softly. "My heart is singing." he chuckled.

"Ok. No." Amelia growled as she marched over to Ash angrily. "Get off your ass! And show this woman some respect!" She shook her head. "Have you any idea what she's been through today? I don't know how it happened but I do know that the child is here now as a result whether you meant it or not. That makes you responsible! So, step up and stop being a selfish prick!" --- "No. Thank you both for answering my call." Shezmu nodded to him. River frowned. "I feel weird leaving you like this after you just found us." Shezmu smiled at him. "Go." he reassured him. "I will be fine and you are both welcome to visit me any time." --- While Blake had been getting washed up, Kris had moved into another room with a large rectangular wooden table in its centre. On it were various maps of the city, as well as the underground and sewer systems. As well as blueprints for different stores and clubs in the area. He'd been looking over these carefully when the other Trickster had walked in. Hearing him, Kris couldn't help but look at him and chuckle. "I hope he's not expecting a bedtime story." he put some of the blueprints down and walked over to the door. "Ortiz, why don't you and a couple of the guys check in on Miss Blaire over at the Vampire club and make sure those filthy leeches know not to stray onto our turf again? Set an example of what happens when Vampires cross into Trickster territory." He left the room and headed into the bunks. Named so for the rows of bunk beds on either side of the room. Right now, Blake was the only one in the room. Other young Tricksters lived and trained here as part of Kris's gang but right now they were all out running errands and wouldn't be back until the early hours of the morning. Kris opened the door and stepped in with his hands in his pockets. He said nothing as he walked further into the room. His boots sounded heavy with each step on the hard, cold concrete floor. He stopped at the foot of Blake's bunk and turned to look down at him emotionlessly. "Talk to me." --- Surprisingly there came no laughs. No jabs or jokes. The officers were as professional as they were on their guard. The hitman might be telling them the truth, but that didn't mean they'd relax around him. After all, he'd put one of their own in the hospital not that long ago. The only reaction to Dick's name was a cold silence. "Um..." Henderson mumbled, trying to break the tension. "In old comics, the detectives were sometimes called dicks. Like in the Noir ones with the weird funny way that the detectives describe things..." he trailed off, a little embarrassed and feeling like he'd just outed himself as a complete nerd. In truth, those comics were one of the reasons he became a cop. --- "Neither am I." Azrael laughed softly. His own happy tears rolled down his cheeks. "So, we'll have it in our traditional dark tones." he grinned, barely able to contain his joy as he wrapped his arms around Death. "I don't think I could ever be happier than I am in this moment!"

Alrighty 🙂

What's the other Trickster called? lol

"I know, I know. Thank you again!" Amelia then vanished, appearing in front of Sara. "Ready to find the baby daddy?" --- "Do you think me a fool that I hadn't already considered this?" Shezmu raised an eyebrow at Xenos. "I am merely disheartened to have awoken to a world where I feel that I am no longer welcome." he sighed and lowered his gaze to the ground. "To return to a home whose people had once considered me their leader only for them to gaze at me with fear and suspicion because I dressed and spoke differently to them. Not one vampire here was alive in my era... I am a stranger now. Lost, alone and looking for a new purpose." He fell into silent brooding and for a moment, River didn't know what to say or how to react. He couldn't begin to imagine the pain that this ancient being was feeling. He looked at Xenos briefly then gingerly moved over to sit next to Shezmu on the couch. "We might not be from your time, but we're here now. So, at least you're not completely alone. There might only be a few of us now but, you know, it's a start." "Perhaps you're right," Shezmu said quietly. "And you were around when there was a lot of us, right? So, if we have any questions about our kind and stuff, we could come to you, right? You'll teach us stuff?" Shezmu's eyes lifted and he turned his head slightly to look at him. "Of course. My knowledge would be your knowledge." "Well I'd say our species isn't completely doomed yet, then." River smiled optimistically. Despite his serious and stoic nature, Shezmu found himself smiling a little in turn. --- "My name is Kris," he said simply. "Everyone else calls me The Tyrant Trickster of New York. You will call me 'Boss' or 'Sir', understood?" He looked over at the other trickster. "Take him to the bunks and set him up with a bed. I want him washed and rested before his training starts tomorrow." --- Henderson realised a little too late that the way they'd walked in had made it look like he was the hitman's hostage. He ran over as soon as Will grabbed the hitman. "Wait! Boss, he's telling the truth. Just hear him out. He wants to help us and we could take out the whole seedy organisation!" --- "I think announcing it at the ceremony would be perfect," Azrael said softly as he brushed his thumb across the back of Death's hand. "It would be romantic and all leaders of the realms would be there to witness it." He blushed as a thought occurred to him. "Would it-..." he started and then hesitated. Gathering his courage, he finished his thought. "Would it be too forward of me to suggest that, while the leaders are here to witness it, we declare our love in a- uh... matrimonial sense?" he asked then bit his lip in anticipation of Death's answer.

Omg what if Kris and Rickster are rivals from way back? 😂

"I just know she'd be safest with you both. I know I'm asking a lot..." Amelia said as she watched Vincent soothing the baby with a lullaby. "Honestly, we'll be as quick as we can and hopefully when I come back I'll be able to take little Ophelia and Oliver off your hands." she smiled at her son who was babbling happily to himself while smacking the squeaky button shapes on a toy. She longed to hold him and take him home again. But she had work to do. --- Shezmu lifted his gaze to Xenos's. "We must be careful who we turn. Choose carefully. After all, we would need to be certain that they could survive a millennia of existence. They'd need to be strong enough to protect themselves in case there is ever another genocide attempt." "I think he means more like a romantic partner, dude." River suggested. "Romance does not interest me." Shezmu waved dismissively. "Or a companion, then. Someone to keep you company." Shezmu thought for a moment and sat back in his seat with his arms folded as he crossed one leg over another. His mind briefly went to the boy he'd been training. He shook his head slightly. "I would not turn another in haste, nor out of loneliness. Like I said, such a thing needs to be done with care." --- Hearing the boy explain what he'd done caused a wicked smirk to spread across Kris's face. When the other trickster grabbed his wrist, he gave him a stern look. Even through his sunglasses, the other trickster would get the sense that Kris wanted him to back off a little. Turning his attention back to Blake, he lifted his own hands and pressed his fingertips against his. "Shhh." He hushed him gently while using his own powers to 'measure' the boy's through their fingers. "You're going to be very useful to us." he chuckled darkly as he removed his fingers and turned his back on him to walk back to his throne. "Take a look around kid. This is your home now. You work for us. You'll train up those powers and learn how to fight. You'll steal for us. You'll fight for us. Hell, you'll kill for us if we tell you to. You do good enough and we can make life really easy for you. Fuck up though and well, I'm sure that vampire out there would find another use for you." --- "Will's not guna like it but fine." Henderson sighed. "I guess you'd better come in and talk to my boss then." --- "And I am ready to follow by your side. From here until the end of time." Azrael kissed his cheek and stood from the bed, offering a hand to help Death to his feet.

I thought something was missing 😅

"Uh... " Amelia hesitated to answer. "Newborn-y? With a teeny tiny hint of... magic shenanigans? She's super cute though." "Trucks! Trucks! Trucks!" Neva started chanting and then ran around them excitedly with her hands up, pretending to be turning a big wheel while making truck noises. --- "LIES!" Shezmu shouted and all at once his eyes flashed red and the armoire behind him crumpled in on itself as if crushed by an invisible force. "Dude!" River had gasped and stared from the armoire to Shezmu who now seemed a little embarrassed as his eyes returned to their usual dark colour. "Apologies for my outburst." He said quietly then walked over to the couch and sat down, cradling his head in his hands. "Everyone I ever knew... gone." "But, I mean... at the risk of pissing you off. It is kinda true though." River broached carefully and when Shezmu lifted his head to glare at him he lifted his hands up. "Hey, I'm not saying all Blood Gods are evil psychopathic nutjobs but I was definitely one before I had my ass handed to me and my soul split a couple of times to handle the sheer level of crazy." "You were born of trauma." Shezmu sighed. "Your turning. It was violent, wasn't it?" River frowned as he thought back to being Parker. The night Bryce had caught him on his own. The terror from his prior kidnapping as well as witnessing Carter being shot. He nodded silently. "B-But I forgave him for it. I-It's all cool now." "Matters not. Blood Gods must be created with care. With patience, guidance and love. Creating one of our kind out of violence or cruelty runs the risk of their mental stability being broken in the process." Shezmu explained. "These things were once common knowledge among our kind. But since we have been reduced to a mere few, I fear most of that knowledge has been lost." "So, wait, if our kind were mostly 'not' crazy, bloodthirsty or take-over-the-world-sy... why did we get hunted off?" "Is it not obvious?" Shezmu smiled bitterly. "Heaven is the domain of Angels. Hell is the domain of Devils. But we Blood Gods claimed Earth as our domain. Yet Angels and Devils have warred for control of Earth before. Caught in the middle and with enough power to hold either side at bay, we became an obstacle. We were 'in the way'. The possibility of one of our kind being born mad was obviously used against us for propaganda... to make the genocide of our kind 'justified'." --- "Kids are good for all sorts," Kris answered with a shrug. "They can pickpocket. Spy on our enemies. Look out for potential 'marks'. Run errands." Kris stood and walked over to him. Stopping just a few feet in front of him. "Or they can learn magic and train to become one of the team. Hold up your hands and tell me, you ever managed to do something weird without meaning to? Ever dabbled in the arts?" --- Henderson flustered a little more. His eyes darted from the hitman's to the ground shyly as the corner of his lips twitched into a small smile, unable to help himself. He felt a little hot under the collar with the hitman so close to him. "Y-you will? You're ready to do it properly then?"

I give you... Kris!

"Oh! Um... I'm not sure. I never had those kinds of games at her age... mostly books... a lot of books..." Amelia said distractedly. "I like the trucks!" Neva cheered then looked at the game in Vincents hand. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing at Sherlock. "His glasses are broken, he's only got one!" she laughed as she immitated the image by placing her fingers in a circle around her eye. "Is he a pirate?" Oliver babbled happily as he sat in the little seat on the shopping cart. Smiling, Amelia walked over to him and kissed his forehead. She then stood straight and looked at the little family. "So guys, I know you have your hands full with Neva and Oliver... Can I be a pain? I really need someone I can trust to look after a newborn too. I'm taking her mother to Hell to try to find her father." --- "Most interesting indeed." Shezmu agreed as he looked up at the stranger who already seemed to be familiar with this castle. He wasn't from Shezmu's time so he assumed he must've been created or born sometime after he went into his slumber. He got to his feet to regard the other Blood God curiously. "I admit we had our debate over leadership when I arrived but that has since been resolved and Jean still rules this place. I have offered him my knowledge and guidance in return for my staying here," he explained. "Where the party at-?! oh..." River announced excitedly as he popped in then paused awkwardly when he saw there was only X and Shezmu. "Man, I thought more of us would show up than this... I kinda assumed it'd be some kind of family reunion type thing..." "You are a curious one..." Shezmu pointed out. "I get that a lot." River laughed in response. "I mean your soul. I see it. You're only a fraction of a whole. How is this possible?" "Wait, you 'see' my soul? How powerful are you?" "Powerful enough," Shezmu answered dismissively. Clearly not wanting to answer that question. He looked despairingly between the two men. "Are there really no more of us than this? Have we dwindled so drastically close to extinction?" --- Kris sat back in his makeshift throne of gnarled tree limbs. He had lightly tanned skin. Wore black, circular sunglasses despite the dimly lit room. Short purple dreadlocks decorated his head. A long scar was sliced across his face from his upper right cheek to the left side of his chin. He wore a long patchwork trench coat with military boots. After watching the display before him for a moment, he simply gestured for his man to release their grip on the kid. "Boy," he said. His tone was deep. Commanding. He gestured with his fingers for Blake to step forward. "Let's get a look at you." he then gestured for the boy to turn on the spot so that Kris could get a good look at what he was dealing with. "You seem healthy enough. Not got any defects that'll slow you down? Asthma? Anything like that?" --- Henderson jumped when the hitman appeared. He stared at the rose and chocolates in disbelief. "Are you serious?" he gasped. He couldn't help blushing but at the same time, he seemed flustered. "Do you realise how much hot water you put me in?!" he said in a hushed tone. For reasons he couldn't fathom himself right now, he didn't want his colleagues to hear them or know the hitman was here. "You shot cops. You killed a taxi driver outside the building, which, thanks for that! I'm not going to get the image of that man's exploded skull out of my head anytime soon! And to top that all off you dumped a load of info on my lap before just taking off, leaving me to try to explain things to my boss when he got back and saw that the one task I'd been given I'd failed spectacularly at!" The more he ranted, the redder his cheeks grew. There was an excitement in this secret meeting. Even if he was a little pissed at the mess he'd had to clean up the last time they'd met.

lol No worries.

Is Oliver still with Elliott & Vincent?

Amelia thought for a moment. "Will you be ok if I leave for a sec? I think I know a couple we can trust but I'd like to check in on them first and make sure they're in a good position to help." --- Tears welled in Azrael's eyes. He was worried that their enemies would exploit their love but at the same time, he also felt Death's pain. "My love..." he whispered, cupping his cheeks in his hands as he pressed his head against his. "Then let us break free of this cage and stand in the open together." --- Rolling his eyes at Jean's theatrics, Shezmu teleported into his own room. He sat in the middle of the room with his legs crossed and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his shoulders and reached out with his mind. Searching from country to country for more of his kind. Sending out his greetings, reassuring them he meant no harm but that he had enough power to defend himself if necessary. He reached out with invitations to meet them and to know what has become of their kind. --- "The fuck- Who do you think you are?" The vampire complained. He debated killing them both but for the sake of what would basically be a snack, the trouble didn't seem worth it. "Fuck it! Fine! Have him!" he threw his hands up in the air. Then he had a thought and pointed to Blake while grinning in a sinister way. "These Tricksters aren't to be trusted. Take my word for it. Come and find me when you've had enough of being treated like dirt. I'll give you something those fantasia fuckers only wish they had!- Immortality!" laughing, the vampire took off, content that his parting comment might stir enough temptation in the kid to make them want to wander from the flock.

Hmm, maybe. Or if it'd be easier your Trickster could be working for another Trickster (My own). What do you think?