“And since when could the Jaws talk?”

"Beats fucking me," Madison shrugged as she was a bit floored by the thing herself. "Usually he doesn't say a damn thing, but something about the Outsider..."

The Jaws didn't have fond memories of the Outsider... still, Madison had no clue what was even going on. Lyss, naturallly, had more of an idea of the situation or the Outsider than her, but Madison's only goal was saving her friends.

"Is just straight booking it outta here off the table? I could fly two of ya' out here if it's not. But hell it's a tight squeeze."

For once Quinn almost had a smart idea. Almost. They had to get the fuck out of here... the place was probably going to be crawling with cops any second now. What was worse was that Madison was probably out of a fucking job. Good fucking grief. Maybe they can go beat up Blake Schmidt and get a few months' worths of rent out of him. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea right now. Madison crossed her arms as she looked at Quinn and shrugged.

"... My whip's right out back," Madison flatly said, "We don't need to summon any monsters or any other weird shit." She shrugged.

Frederick nervously unlocked his phone and handed it to Lyss and the first thing that she saw was his background. It was Frederick posing naked in front of a Confederate flag. On hard. Okay, he admitted that he fucked up... but right now, for the sake of his penis. He should just shut up and agree with the spooky ho's terms and get this over with. Maybe they'd be able to stop the Outsider. Maybe he'd be able to get high again.

"Okay! Whatever you say!" Frederick knew he was gonna get high again and then forget.

However, the Jaws manifested again when Lyss addressed them and in the same way as usual; three skulls with three long snake-like necks. They faced Lyss as they spoke,

"Recovering is ideal," One spoke.

"However," The second head continued.

"The Outsider is cunning,"

"Devious,"

"She will most likely reach full power,"

"Before the sunrises,"

"However, because you completed our rite,"

"We are obligated to lend our power to you,"

"Regardless of how poorly you utilize it,"

"Or other poor decisions you make,"

This was all true, but right now... Madison knew that assembling the Coven would be near impossible. And not just that... she glanced over to Quinn and Izzy... they were fucking wasted. They needed to sleep off this liquor - and so did Madison herself. They should risk it. And maybe they can get their DENS friends involved in this. Speaking of which...

Madison grabbed onto Lyss's upper arm as she looked her in the eyes as she said, "It's nice and dandy we got a plan, but we gotta go."

She shook her head as she looked at this really fucked up scene. Then said to the Coven as a whole.

"Ya'll better get ready to pile on each other," Madison started as she started walking up the stairs, "Ya'll better have your entire crew with you because I'm out of here."

Madison lead the Coven out the back door of the club before they all hopped in her car and sped off... she could hear the sirens in the distance and sigh in relief.

---

It was a simple meeting... for the young lady that was one of Blake's many sugar babies. She was a young nineteen-year-old woman with shaggy, short, brown hair, and green eyes. She wasn't that curvy but Blake liked them in all shapes and sizes. She applied lipstick to her lips in the back of the Uber... even though it's about to get very smudged. She showed up at the usual spot; the Emperor Hotel. And then she shrugged as she said her goodbyes to the driver and then stepped out of the car and into the building. She stepped into the elevator to the top floor... as Blake liked having sex on the top floor. Something about being above everyone else or something - whatever, her bank account was filled up either way.

Stepping up the top floor, she made her way to the number one room and it was ajar like Blake said it would be. There was a strange orange glow coming from behind the door, but that definitely had to be candles. She stepped inside as she announced herself, "Blake, I'm he-" The orange glow was definitely not candles. It was these strange glowing sigils on the walls and floors and she stopped. With other women bound and gagged on the ground.

She heard a rustling behind her as she could barely feel the napkin being pressed against her face and then nothing.

The final sacrifice dropped on the floor as Blake sighed and wiped the sweat off his head. They were scrambling around on the floor, wiggling like worms! It was sad that Blake had to do this to them, but with the power, he was looking for... he'd have everything he wanted and more. Still, part of him wanted to have one more bang with his sugar babies before he had to bid them goodbye. Blake had to do this himself since those vampire junkies were worthless and he didn't know what he was expecting. For them to be able to find their ass with two hands?

However, the Outsider came through the wall and the wall shifted like it was a puddle of water being disturbed by the smallest pebble.

"̶̼̰͎̭̯̽̽̒H̸̨̢̼͚͛͊̓͌͐̕e̶̡̞͊l̸̢̲̲͉̉l̶̡̝̘͉̜̮͓̋͝ö̷̧̢̭̟̩̥́͒͗͆͘ͅ ̸̟̘̱̙͌̀́̐̀͝m̸̨̹̟̱̙̖̽̂̌y̴̡̢̧̛̜̺̩̺͐̑̂̇ ̷̦̘͍͚̒̂̅̊̐̇̅f̶̳̳̠̥̪̬́̔̈́r̸̨̛̩̺̤͊̏͐̎ͅḭ̵̧̑̏̆̓̚ͅë̴̡̨̘͙̩̹̟́̀̀̐̿̒̕ṋ̶̢̢̝̬̊͛̓d̴͍̝̈́̏͝,̵͍̭͂̿͆ ̸̖̙̯͙͍̊ḫ̸̳͕͎̈́͛̕ǫ̶̝̪̲͎̑̏̄̑͂͒̑ẁ̷̠̯̠̫̜͑̊ ̷̤̲̟̄͒ī̶̩̽͠s̸͈̩̠͈̞͐̅ ̸̱͐̈́͂̀͆p̶̪̭̻̥̞̮̤̈́́̚ṛ̶̈̒̎o̶̧̨̢͉͖̞͐̓̏͠g̷̣̉ŗ̷͓̩̱̻̈̔́͐̊͌ḛ̵̾͌̐̚s̸̜̞͈͖̪͎͎̀͂̊͆̆͌̌s̶̢̢̛͓̲̹̞̍͐̃̽ ̵͉̠̩̲͚͆͑c̸̢͍͚̤̝͗͌͐ͅo̵̡͍̗͕̝̲͈̾̽̂̌̍m̵̼̞͕̱͉͇̆͗̾̕î̸̤͓̎̎͛͐͘̕n̶̡̟͛͌́̏́̉̕g̴̳̩̝͆?̵̲͔̮͇͎̈́͑̈͜"̵̙̩̬̗̭͊

The Outsider looked around and smiled.

"̶̡͒A̷̝̮̞̓̐̾ĥ̵̗͖̪̮̹͕h̸̭̠̤̮̄̍̍͊͝.̴͍̠͇̍̀̾̀͠.̸̨̨̬̺̗̹̞̾̂̑̓͒̈́.̴̢͍̳̠̗̬̏̀̽͊̽͋̚͜ ̷͍̘͐͜y̵̗͆̉ơ̵̤̙̐͒̌̓̂ư̵̡̒͂̽'̶̧̗̳̬̗̇ͅv̸̤̦̞̲̯̓ę̷̢̼̼̤̣̞̑͂͛ ̵̳̗̤͚̝̅̊͛͝͠d̵͈̫̀̀̈̽o̵̡̪̼̪̣͎͎͂n̶͖͙͐ë̴͎̯̭́̍̽̊͜͝ ̶͉͎̲̍͛́̈̐w̷̨̧̟͕͉̩̟̏̅̔͒e̸̬͔͕͔͓̿̀͊̕͘l̷̗̖̰̻̆̑̕͜ͅͅl̶̳̼̼̟̭͆͠.̴̻̈́̓̊̂̉ ̴̨̮͖̗̎̈́̄̑̚V̷͎̆͘͜͜͝ę̵̫̫̘͙͑r̴̡̢̬̗̭̂̈̐ỵ̷̢͎̮͈̼̙͒̀͐ ̷̨̩̻̘̆̿ŵ̵̺̒̈́e̷̢̛̅̂͊ļ̵̗̺͇̽͐̓͠l̶̻̬͈͉̺͉̠͒̉̏.̵̝͐̾̓̓̋͝.̵̭̻̽̑̆͂͊͠.̶̛̙̻̣̉̀͘͜͝ ̶̣̮͆̎t̶̹́͂͐̿͑̓h̵̨̺͖̬̤̭̍́̊ͅǐ̴̧̱̉͘͘s̸̹͈̎͋͆̍ ̴̻̖͔̋̎̒͊ͅŝ̵̨͉̞̼̭̓̇̐͌̎h̶͉̽̋̔̊o̷̮̲͔͆͠ͅu̷̢̡̼̠̥̒l̶̛̯̘̈̃̊̽̚d̷̞̫͛͆͂̌̀͋̀ ̴̢̻͓̣͂̎͋̒̾͘͜b̷̼̥̱̺͈̈́̐́̚ḕ̴͕͎̲͗͊̈́̀ ̷̰̯̊e̴̯̼̬̍̂͛̐̇̕n̸̳̹̗͔̥̩͎̎o̵̜̠̒̈́͜u̶͍̫̯̥̽̈̔̑g̵̠̗̐̃͋h̷̬͇̑̐̀̈́͐͝ ̵̨͔͇̗̗͐̇̃̓̔̉͝ͅf̴̧͈́͝õ̶̠͚̗̰̮͂̎̄͐̽͜ṙ̷̰̗͛ ̴̧̝̗̙̰͗m̸͚̞̣̂̇͘ĕ̶̟̟̊́͗̇̽̕ ̷̢̙̓̄̇t̸̨̨̛̪̞͇̫̔͐̏̒̅͋o̵̫͛̓̀́͌ ̷͔̲̋̂͋̿͝r̶̨̜̣̙̮̗̦͐̄̍̈́͘é̴̤͚̈͛͑̾̔a̷̘̖̘͊̉c̴̛͓̆͊͑̌̄h̶̨̙͇̤̭̫͑̽̽̇̀͆̈͜ ̷̤̻͌͋̍̆f̶̨̛̮̠͎͗̇̇̈́͝ų̵͙͖̪́l̶̜̝̹̗̟̭̈́͛̓̅͑͝ͅļ̴͈̻̙̭̊͆ ̵̜̱̔͛̓̑p̷͕͔͖͋͂̚ơ̷̞̰̐̐̍̿ẃ̵͇̄̀̈́ͅe̵̪̱̿̔͌r̷͙̉̾̔̓.̴̧̢̘͚̦̭̔̌̂͑͘͝͝"̸̢͓̣͎̦͔͌́̅͂̋̉̋

The Outsider floated forward before stopping and looking at Blake.

"̷̢̢͙̻̩̟͎̀.̶̛͚̝͉̹.̴̓̀̈́̍͘͘ͅ.̸̭̣͌̒ ̶̡͎͎̝̤̞̿Ḭ̸̼̣͕̄ ̴̨̲͕̊̀͜w̵̞̟̹̋̐̌̚̚ọ̶͍̖̤͎̪͖͌͐͌̎̍̄̄u̶̧̱̞͇̤͙̣̔̉́̌̏l̷̛̹̼̠̮̥͕̂̒̔̓̐ͅd̸͕͉̱̭̀̈̋̍͗ ̵̨̟͕̻͈̗͋h̴̻̰̻͈̀͑̀͊̄ả̵̡̛̩̲́̀̚v̴̦̯̼̳͉̌̏̿̂͐̌e̶̘̕ ̴̤̬̥̗̝̃̒̉͘̚̚͜r̸̢̢̰̥̹̥̂͛̈́e̷̥͖̽̂̄͝c̴̰͖͔̟̜̪̾̽̽͂̓̈́͝ͅǒ̴̞̰̫͎͙͖̿́͆̓̆͝m̶̢̛̠̭͔̠͈̀͊̀̃͘̚ͅm̶̝͛͗̄̉́͘͝è̴͇͙̮͓͒̓͛̈́͜͝͝ņ̶͚̖̌̌̀̏͊͐d̵͎̝̜͓̖͙̑͐̕ͅë̴͉̯̙͓̤̹͉́̾̈́͑̀d̵̢̰̤̱̹̘̾́̓̈̀̚͘ ̷̧͓̳͖̂̆̓́̈́̽̕ã̵͚̌̌̆̈̓ĝ̸̨͇̗̲͌̌̎̉͂͝á̸̙͓̊͂̚̚͝ͅį̸̨̺͓̼̲͋̽̽ͅņ̵̗̫̎͛̑́̀̊͂ś̷̼̟̙͍̭̼̔̏ͅt̵̖̋̈́̓͗̆̓̚ ̶̺͎̳̩̮̪͕̍́͗̀͝ḻ̷̦̤̥̙̣̅ë̸̳͙͚́͘à̶̡͕͉͕̽͝v̴̥̟͐̍̋̍͛̋͝i̶̧̢͈̜͕͓͆̆̉̚n̶̪͉͈̬͓̫͂̓͛̚g̷̝̲͕̀͌̉͒̅ ̶͙̍̄ȁ̴͕͙ ̶̝̻̜̥͆̉̆̈́͘͘ț̴̥͔̝̤̘̋r̶̩͂̃̄a̵͖͉̗̺̋͂͜ȋ̶̧̨̯̳̇ͅl̶̮̜͇̮̀͜͝͠ ̸̗̞̽d̴͉̑̈́̈́ͅī̴̯̳̟͇̭̬͍̈́̉̀̚͠ṟ̶̼͛̕͠e̶̜̪̥̲̅̕͝c̵̘̆͘t̷̤͔͈͓̥̗͗͌͐̽̾̄̕͜l̷̙͠ͅy̵̟̱̥̩͙̘͛͒̊̐̍ ̷̡͈̳͇͈̟̥͋̓̈t̵̠̲͓̲̄͗̽̈́͂̑o̶͖͎͊̈́̾͐ ̴͓̮̬̟̝̝͕͐̊̈̒̾͊̋y̷̬̱̤͔̏̀̍̊̄́̕ọ̶̰̯̅͋̌̆̽̅͂u̴̧̲͉̿͜ŗ̴̲̬̙̣̎̃̂̆̓ş̵̢̢͕̤̯͒̎̂̊͆ẹ̵̢̢͓̰̆̿̿ḷ̷̨͓̬̜͙̗̇͐͑̽̅̋f̷̭̖̻̜͔̽,̸̢̡̳͉͍̗̳̽̆ ̸̙͇̹̯͍̂̑̒̈́̚ͅh̶̩͍̠̺̖̳͑̾̆ͅǫ̵̥͓̙̟̱̟͑ẁ̸͉̊̄̍͊̕ȩ̴͚̮̦͐̊͠v̶̩̈̇͋̍̀͠ẽ̴͚̬̿̊͠ŕ̷̭.̵̧͙̳̬̙̣͑͋̽̋̿̍͠ ̸̧̯̩̖̥̜̂̉̀͠B̶̨͈͇̉͐̏̓̄̚u̸̡̡̬̬̭͂̀͗̾͝ṱ̶̋̃̌͜,̷͚̀̾́ ̴͔͔̬̲̳̆̒͝ȉ̷̗̇̐t̸̝̹͖͈̜̩͌͝ͅ ̴̺̼̻̓s̴̡̡͚̙̘̩̿͋̈́̈́͛͛͘ḫ̴̟̜̅͌̒̆o̵͖̞̳̓̀͠ù̴͓̞͓̓͊l̵̨̜̕ď̵͉͍̤̰̹̥͂̂̈́͜n̸̦͉̦͈͐̄̾̓̚͝'̷͍̤͚͙̘͓͂̑t̶̪̯̖̞̐͝ ̶̧̝͚̖̈̇̌m̶̪̏́̆͐̈́͐͋ǎ̵̧̗̫̙ṯ̷̣͍̝͇̮̒̔͂̔̐̑͘t̷̟͚̫͉͎̪̀̑͒̐̒ẽ̶̳̪̺͕̱͂r̶̨̙̱̾͛͗.̵̨̢͉̘̭͓͈̄̉̈̈"̵̼̲̏̑̈̎̽̇̕

Doh. Blake thought to himself. "... You aren't planning on betraying me once you get to full power, right?"

"̵͔̀̈́̀̉̓O̸̡͚͓̿f̶̧̧̫̪͚͙̃̚ ̷̦͆̑̋̀͊ͅc̸̢̨̡̱̣̥͔̔͂ọ̶͔̫͇̟͖̃͆̄͋͊ủ̸̡̢̘̗̌͊̐̌̌r̶̪̦͕͈̘̠̄̇͗̕s̷̛̥͓̘̦̼͋͗̀͛ͅę̵̘̫͇̗̥̿̈́͛̂͑͜͝ ̷̤͚͙̩̖̞͖̀͑̑̽̆̉n̷̗͉͉̗̦̠̈̓̒͑͆̃͝o̵̩̺̲̺͔͌̈́ͅt̶̰͍̣̣͖̥͑!̷̗͍̥̌ ̷̳̱̈́̐͂Ǐ̵͉͇̟̎ͅ ̸̛͉͆̾̄̒̀̀w̵̩͇̭̪͚̺͙̓̉̚à̵͚̙̬͍̊̈́͝ͅs̸̛̤̹͔̙̹͓̞ ̵̞̬͚̙̣͖̗̒ṭ̷́̈́̍̒̍̈́̌r̵͎̠̹̉̿̀͆̊̚a̶̹̝̮͉̒̑͒̔̈̌̕p̶̱͔̘͇̞̰̻͒̌́̄̈͒p̴̹̦̈́̋̈́̍̽͗͜ę̷̼̬̃̊̃̅͘d̸̡̳͈̼̂̓̒̈́̋͆̀ ̴̡̗̼̦͌́͌i̵̙̓͝n̵̛͇̙̲̻͇̥̈̀̑̓͂̌ ̴͔̩͈̹̺̝̣͋ẗ̴̩̻̥̼̠́̉̈́̎̊ḩ̴́e̵͔̗͖̲͉̔͑́̔ȑ̸̦͕̼̰͉̝͖̌̔e̸̼͎̣͂̆̄ ̴̞̀́f̴̢̥̯̹͐ơ̴͇͇̘̰͖̙͂͋́ŗ̷̘͇̞̠͔̠̃͝ ̴̘̺͍̈̐̓͜͠ẻ̴͖̼̏̔o̵͚̗̔n̶̝̺̲̗̝̹͐͆͘s̷͇͗̂̓̄̃͋͝ ̴̨̱̭̝͝ͅͅa̴̡̛̔̏̇̍n̴̨̳͈̹̤̼̒̇̂̏̀͝͝d̴̜̮̮͙͈͋̂̀̋̌͘ ̵̢͎̻̟͔͍̞̆͛̓͝I̷̳̅̃ ̸̰̰͖̗̻̫̉̎̚a̷̳̯̋̕p̵̯̦͛̿p̴͉͔̟̝̲̪̐̾̀̇̈͝r̴̠͙̭̼̼̽̈́͋ḙ̷͚̱̣̽c̵̡̪͎͂̒̽̐͊̒̉ḯ̶̡̭̗̺͍͙́̔à̸̫͈̖̲͌̾̂̌̈́͜ţ̵̝̻͂͂͜ȩ̵̱̳̠̱̍͛̐͌̓́̈́ ̵͖̖͖͌̌̑̒́̈́͝y̸̤͈̜̻͉̤͋̓̎̕͝ơ̸̧͕͓̖̾̒́͗ͅu̴̧͇̪̱͇̗̝͛͛̀̃ ̵̛̞͉̯͚̤͝f̸͓̠̺̠̝́o̶̩̯̯̱̼̭̾̃͂̌́̋͠ṙ̸̡͇̀̂̇̌ ̴̺̣̝͉͉̤̓̊̐̃ȑ̸̹̭̙̰̦̮͈͆̇̌ę̵͎̠͚̗̰͋̎l̷̠͔̀̈́̅̏ę̶͕̮͉̦̤͊͑̅͂̚͠͠ͅa̷̫̹͙͑̿̚͝ş̸̪͖̀͌̈́̿̌̊͝ͅį̵̈́̂̊̉̆͋n̶̙̩͈͇̔̈͆͑͜͝ģ̶͔̘͔̹̳̻͝ ̴̰͓͈̫̻̅̆̕͝m̵̙͈̾e̵̠̹̓̀͒̐̈̂̋!̵̢͘ͅ ̵̢̜̥̞̏͆͑͑͑͑͛Ą̶̡̥͉͔̏͌l̸̬̞͠s̶͍̓́͝ŏ̴͎͎̠̘̮̄͋̕ ̵͕̪͍̏̾̔̎͗̓̓ỳ̴̢̮̥̄̇͠ó̶̺̥͓͋̉͘u̴̹͚̦̩̱̩̒̌'̸̲̬͙̹̬͐̀̃r̶̺̞̿̀͂͑̿e̷̹̻̾͛̊̈́̓̈́͒ ̴̟̾͌̈͜͝͝a̵̡̗̜̳̋̎́͐́̚͝ͅs̶̨̼̺͍͇̜̀̓̊̂̎̀k̶͇̻̞͓̥̹͘į̵̔͛̅̂̊́͊n̵̢͎͆͊͗̏̑̔̃ͅg̵̜̼͚̰̠̀͝ ̴̻̳̮̒͂̋t̴̤̃̑͑͑h̷̨̙͍̹͚̺̰͆͒́̋͘̕a̴̛͙͔̥͎͔͉͛̌t̴̞̮̺̝̕ ̴̞̦̬̇̂͠q̴̲̺͊͂̃̿̋ų̶͎͇̋̌è̵̙͙͇͌̉̇̔s̴͈͂̾͑͝͝ț̷̋̇̆̀̏i̴̟̟̪͖͌̊̉͗̀͊̈́͜o̶̢̘̠̺͖͂n̶͖̙͕̐̊̉̚ ̸̛̤̻̯̾͌͒f̶̢̢̩͆̈́̌̏͝á̸͎́̎͝r̵͚͙̰̦̮̓́̇́̍̽̕,̸͕͉͎̪̊͑͠ ̵̢̰̯͓̰͙̣̈́͗̾̓̈́͝f̸̧̱͙͓̠̳͓̌a̷̡͐̍̅̇́͠r̴̨̞̹̾̉̔̋̚͜ ̴̹̉̾͋t̴̖̜̮̣͇͓̓͊ờ̴̛̙͛̂̀̈́ȍ̸̭̒̀ ̶̈́̍͆̆́ͅl̵̯̣͚̀̏͗̆͠à̸͖̙̠͓̊̔̀̚ţ̴̫̞͊̃̏ẽ̵̡̦͇̲̈́͗͂̓.̶̧̡̪̱̯̗̦̊"̸̩͚̆̈́̋̌͗́̚

The Outsider walked over to the nearest sigil and then touched it with her finger-tipped and began laughing as the women were engulfed in an orange light... and the Outsider began glowing. She stopped laughing as she felt powerful. She turned towards Blake with a burst of menacing laughter as Blake started regretting his decision. The Outsider began to float over towards him as he took a step back. And this kept going on until there was nowhere else to go - the wall had completely stopped him. He slumped down as the Outsider took over him - still laughing like a maniac. She stuck her hand out towards him as his heart was racing so fast that he was sure that he was about to have a heart attack.

"̶̨̛̬͈̙͈̀̋̐͜.̷̧̳̘͙̝̻̯̈́.̸̨̗̠̮̹̀͝.̸̧̻̹̝͛̈́́͛͋͂ ̶̤͎̊͗̈́͆̆͌W̸̛̟̣͔̬̦̋̌̈͜͠h̷̢͍̩̰͋͆̿͛a̵̯̥͊͐͝t̷̡̾̏̊͒͘'̶̧͕̰̗͖̆͗͜s̶̜̭̪̎̐̈́̏͌̍ͅ ̷̀̀͜ý̴͍͇̙̰͜o̴̩͙̼͗ͅu̸̹̖̙̹͗̉͗̑͑̀̕r̴͚͈̳̣̳̘̉͝ ̸̧̘͖̥̯̳̦̂̎̔̓͊f̴̧̖͙̣̥̥̔̉̉͐̇̂̚i̶̧̲̜̮̦͍̎͒̋̃̑̚ͅr̷̊͒͜͝͠s̴̢̙͍͗͊̎ṱ̴̛̀͗͗̌̐͝ͅ ̷̞̬̮̯̓̈́̑̓̃̀͠č̷̡̲̯̬̜̄͊͊̏ͅő̶̗̙͐ṃ̸̤̠̗̭̦̈́̂͐͒m̶͚̹̬̹̰̩̖̄̕͠ą̸̛̻̹͙́̾̀̈́̂͝n̷̡̼̠͖̪͉̏̎͗d̶̗̥̆̈́̊̕,̸̧̼̭͎̼̲̩̎́̑ ̷͇̇͂f̴̧̛̝̰̥̙͓̄̃̆̈́r̷̹̩̳̄̈́i̴͇̖̪̰̺̓̊e̷̳̫̒̄̔͝n̷͈̮̼̣̻͙̒͂̑͐͛͜ḍ̸̄́?̷̨̱̟̻̝̑̌̉"̴̫̹̹̤̆͌͑̓̓

The Outsider stopped laughing and tilted her head with a catty smile on her face. As she asked the question, and then Blake sighed out of relief. Before he smiled deviously.

"... Destroy the Coven."

The Outsider laughed again.

"̸̧̫̀̌̈Ȃ̶̩̘̗̻̦͛͐͒̕n̷̢̹̮̦͈̯̈́̋̿̂̊̌y̶͕̼̹̦͈̔̔̄̌̅ẗ̵̖̹̖̭̖͔̩́̈̂̈́̅͘h̷̯̊̈́̽̚͝i̴̢̬̣̮̩͗n̵̡̨̞̰̣͎͂̿̋́͛͒̈́g̴̡̞̜̹͐͋ͅ,̷̣̱̻̺̗̬̎̊͆̚ ̵̛̗̃̿̇̄ͅf̷̧̯̝̘͊͂̋̅͂͝r̴̟͇͔̭̹̈́͑̉͛͆ͅi̴̡͕͎͐̐͛e̵͓̞͐̀͛̏͝n̵̻͔͚̦̍̂̏͐́͌d̸̦̜̻̈̊͜͠.̴̱̗̰̭̐̋͝"̸̧̗͇̹̼̊



Reading the pamphlet, the homeless lady that received the kindness of the two Forgiven finally followed the trail and decided to visit their party. It was a rainy, cold, and miserable night and she couldn't take it any further. North of Tampa, in the town Hillsborough, bordering the edge of the place was a massive mansion with a gate around it. She walked up to it and the gates were wide open... and naturally, she went up to the door and knocked on it hard as she could. She had to because she could hear the music would drown it out... however, the doors opened wide open and it revealed Savannah. She smiled at her.

"Oh, I remember you," The homeless woman was unsure of how true that statement was but her tone made sure it was perfect. "Come on in!" Savannah grabbed onto her hand and pulled her in.

The Homeless woman saw the large crowd of people merely just talking to each other, drinking punch (or she hoped it was punch). Children were playing and people of all ages and sizes and it looked peaceful, fun even. She sighed as she had to stay strong and remember what she was here for. However, Savannah would never let her go as she carried her to the center of the crowd and just announced.

"Hey, we got a new friend!"

And suddenly she was crowded with people, smiling... and touching her.

"Oh hey, what's your name?" Someone asked.

"... Susan." She answered.

"Your hair looks so nice,"

"Are you homeless? Poor thing."

"Let's get you cleaned up."

"Get you some food, too."

And Savannah grinned as she took a few steps back.

However, Susan was being... overwhelmed by the affection... everything started spinning as she felt something wrong. Her stomach felt weird. She felt hungry. More hungry than ever before as her stomach loudly rumbled but there was something wrong. She focused on the woman with short blonde hair that looked pretty good for being an older woman. She... was gorgeous. However, Susan's attention was directly on her as she felt stranger than ever before. She found herself closing the distance.

Everything went blank.

A scream pierced the room.

Susan lunged for the blonde-haired lady and chomped down on her throat... and ripped it out with her teeth. Blood splattered everywhere as everyone took steps back from Susan, but it was... tasty. The blood tasted better than anything Susan had ever eaten. And she couldn't help but take it further as she lunged on the woman and tore open her rib cage with odd strength as she noticed herself... changing. At least for one instant, she noticed, the rest of her attention fell on the woman's delicious insides as she pulled out her lungs and jammed them into her mouth. Then her heart was crushed between her claws as she drained the blood into her gaping mouth.

There were screams as the people began savagely eating each other alive the same way that Susan did her the rest of them did as the place was transformed into an absolute blood bath. The door creaked open... and a person in a black robe and deer skull walked in. She observed the massacre as she took steps forward and with each step she took the rest of the maneaters that she had just created walked moved away. There was one person that was not a man-eating monster, nor was being attacked.

Savannah.

She was hauling ass towards the backdoor the second it started but Annabelle began running on all fours as she charged through the crowd of monsters. Annabelle crashed through the back door as she caught Savannah in the yard. The two locked eyes for a second as Savannah pulled out her berretta and unloaded it on the monster. Some of the shots missed but most of the clip went into the humanoid abomination. And didn't do anything to stop her. Savannah was taking steps back as Annabelle was closing the distance... and she tripped over something and fell directly on her back. Annabelle stood over her and was quick to rip her stomach open with her claws and yanked out her intestines.

Savannah screamed as she tried to tug for them back.

"... Quit the act," Annabelle seethed from beneath the mask. "You're less human than I am."

She yanked out more of Savannah's intestines as she got closer, before asking.

"Where is Saul?"

"... Unfortunately, you will not be harming Saul or Savannah, demon," A voice spoke from behind Annabelle... and she immediately whipped around as she didn't hear anyone approaching. It was a figure in a white robe... with golden accents on it. Annabelle let go of Savannah's guts as she faced this... thing. Whatever it was, it was giving her a horrific feeling. Like something that shouldn't exist, but does. "He's under divine protection."

"... Me-Messiah?!" Savannah choked out before she coughed up more blood. She pulled her intestines back in.

"Now, just who in the hell are you?" Annabelle asked as she faced the thing... walking circles around him. "You're their Messiah?"

"Correct, I'm their Messiah," They spoke with a strange flatness that sounded like a combination of a little girl and a little boy's voice. "However, I am Mother's most loyal servant and I have a special title for abominations like yourself to use. You may refer to me as..."

They turned both of their palms upwards.

"... The Speaker."

A tendril came out of both of their hands that looked like it was made out of embers and orange light and it launched Annabelle across the yard directly into a tree. It was a loud crash as the tendrils faded away. The being in the hood turned towards Savannah and spoke.

"Flee."

Savannah put her intestines back into her body as the wound quickly sealed itself shut... and she immediately got up and took off like nothing ever happened.

"I'll fucking kill you and whoever the hell else stands between me and him!" Annabelle hissed as she began to transform... into something even less human. "So, let's go you bastard!"

"Well, you just killed a few hundred people coming here..." The Speaker trailed off as they watched Annabelle's form grow massive, "... You're nothing more than a wild animal. I expected nothing less coming from the False Light."

Annabelle's massive claw collided with the ground so hard that it created a miniature crater and the Speaker sighed.

"Come now," They started. "... Let's get this over with."

Annabelle let out an ear-piercing roar as she lunged at the Speaker and the Speaker merely chuckled.




The day was honestly kinda shit.

They awkwardly scrambled to get back to Fantasy Land, but regardless of how fucking much they prodded and bugged nobody could show up on time. Madison shook her head, she wished that she could motivate the Coven into getting their shit together but they're going have to learn the hard way. Madison was mildly hungover but coffee and other home remedies fixed that. Hopefully, they'll be able to get this shit over as fast as possible and she'd be able to go home and mope. And she was not in the mood for dealing with the Coven's dumbassery. At least not now, not today. Madison found her seat in Fantasy Land like usual, but she pulled out her flask which had some good old pina colada with a dash of vodka. She's gonna need it to deal with this. The Jaws was in her head, constantly being a pain in the ass about her decision. Before she could even take a sip, she felt a gentle hand intercept it.

"... Not now, Mademoiselle" Claudette softly said as she was honestly confused as to what's going on herself. "What's even going on?"

"... I'll tell you what's going on my afflicted darling," They heard the voice of Babylon approach, floating alongside Emily as per usual. Emily herself was wearing some army-style cargo pants with black combat boots with a tank top and smooth leather jacket on. She had her hands in her pockets. "That fool Blake released the Outsider... and I wish you had told me this just a little sooner so I could maybe tell you all that at this point the Outsider already found enough sacrifices."

"I have no clue about the Outsider," Taylor said with a roll of her eyes. "Or what the fuck's even going on. Can someone tell me what even happened last night?"

"Well, since this lady Alyssa's fault in the first place," Babylon rolled her eyes. "I think she should explain - she gave Blake the idea in the first place." She looked at Lyss as she dragged her name through the dirt.

"... and why the fuck are you naked?" Taylor asked and got no response.

"Babylon," Claudette hissed her name, "That's enough."

Babylon shrugged at both statements. They better have a good idea as to how to fix this mess... because the last thing that Babylon wanted was to be subsumed by that thing.

---

Nervous was becoming the new norm for Vashti. She had managed to give Herik the hard truth, but when Emily asked her the other night about what it was that she could do the girl had only smiled dumbly and said, “Morale support!” Truthfully, Vashti didn’t know either of them that well, but she felt like Herik would be able to gently bring up the issue of the Leviathan to the people who needed to know it. As for Emily, it wasn’t the girl that Vashti was worried about so much as her invasive ghost friend. She’d nearly fallen off of the bike after that first boop.

Vashti had almost fallen off again as Emily and her almost immediately fled the scene with the rest of the Coven. She’d only been one of the girls for a day, but she was quickly realizing that they had a horrible habit of ruining things: a business meeting, a strip club, a fine date at the Red Lobster. Perhaps something as destructive as the Leviathan wouldn’t be as ostracized as she had first anticipated. Chaos seemed to be the only thing the Coven was regularly capable of creating. The Leviathan would fit right in.

Vashti wasn’t so certain about herself, or if that fit was something she even wanted. She’d figure that out once she lifted her curse. Assuming if they could lift her curse. Herik had said something about Adepts and finding a blue one for Emily’s sister, but it wasn’t like they couldn’t take a look at Vashti too. However, until they managed to do that she had to keep herself in check. No picking fights in elevators. She had to be zen. She had to be cooler than a cucumber. She had to be the Dilly Bar that fell behind the shelf inside of the DQ walk-in. Easy peasy. All she had to do was avoid situations that could be high-tension.

So maybe she should’ve skipped the meeting.

"Can someone tell me what even happened last night?" asked Taylor.

“The gist I got was that trailer park vampires stole a bunch of strippers for a billionaire’s evil scheme to awaken some magical genie thing. Wait, weren’t you there?” asked Vashti, perched upon the hood of the number eight bumper car. The wayward bumper car was quickly becoming her seat. Her fingers picked at the peeling paint as Babylon blamed Lyss for what spooky nonsense it was that’d necessitated this meeting in the first place.

“Hey, don’t blame Lyss for this,” said Vashti defensively. “We could just as easily point the finger at Emily for setting up the meeting in the first place, but that would be stupid. Nobody in the Coven is to blame for...” She nearly said for once. “For whatever it is you’re all freaking out about. The only person to blame for Blake Schmidt’s actions is Blake Schmidt.” She wagged a finger between herself and Taylor. “But anyway, us newbies would really appreciate being caught up on this whole Outsider thing.”

Herik went to visit his mother after the strip club incident. There was nothing for them to do. The girls had already left and he wasn't taking on a bunch of vampire hillbillies. Instead, he dropped the pizza off at home and took the appetizers with him for dinner while he sat at her bedside. She looked paler than when he visited her yesterday and paler than the day before that. Each day she loses more color. He pushed back her blonde hair from her forehead, felt her temperature like she used to when he caught colds. She was a little cold. When he asked the nurse about it her temperature was still in normal range. He's relieved that she's not dying. The doctor said it's lack of sunlight for her color loss. He stayed the whole night and woke up early, because for the meeting today. There's a lot going on and he doesn't completely understand it. He's hoping for an explanation. Before he left for home he kissed his mother's forehead, promised to come see her later tonight, and opened the window hoping the sunshine would help.

He stuck the pizza in the oven while he got ready for the day. He dressed in short navy sport shorts and a white t-shirt, checked the pizza was hot enough, then went on his way to the meeting. He was a little late, but he didn't miss much. Seems like no one came on time, but most of the members show up before he did.

“The gist I got was that trailer park vampires stole a bunch of strippers for a billionaire’s evil scheme to awaken some magical genie thing.” Was the last thing he thought he'd hear come out of Vashti's mouth. He also needed to speak to her when he gets time to pull her aside.

Herik placed the pizza in Vashti's hands, then sat in the seat of her bumper car where he could see the group over her head. "I need to talk to you about last night." He whispered, then turned his attention to the rest of the group. "So Schmidt did something he wasn't supposed to and it's dangerous? Something to do with an outsider? Like people outside the Coven?"

---

Maya wasn’t feeling great.

While she’d woken up without a hangover, she had an annoying headache from an infrequent ringing in her ears throughout the night stopping her from sleeping. A bad side effect of a loud abstraction. She was pretty sure she’d have tinnitus in no time. But she forced herself to roll out of bed before midday, putting on light makeup and getting dressed in white shorts and a blue, of the shoulder shirt. Something a little more practical than normal, because she knew there would almost definitely be a fight today. She pulled her hair into twin braids to keep it out of the way before heading out.

She turned up almost on time for once - actually understanding the urgency of their meeting for once, having watched a bunch of strippers get sacrificed the night before. The only reason she was a little late was because of traffic on her way there (and totally not taking the wrong turn multiple times, that would never happen). She arrived just before Emily, making sure to hurry when she saw the other girl behind her and finding somewhere to sit.

Folding her arms, Maya tilted her head slightly as she listened to what was said. It filled in the gaps that she’d missed when she’d lost her hearing during the fight - that the sacrifices had been for the Outsider and that Blake Schmidt was behind it all. Because, of course he was. She also had absolutely very little idea what the Outsider was out of what Lyss had said at the original meeting with Blake. It wasn’t like she was given a crash course to the Extra-Normal when she awakened. She kept that to herself, though.

"Well, since this lady Alyssa's fault in the first place."

“If we’re going to play the blame game, we’ll be here for hours,” she rolled her eyes at Babylon - who of course had to ruin saying something useful by being a bitch. Unlike some of the others (herself included), Lyss actually seemed to look out for the other girls. She was glad that Vashti seemed to agree with not blaming each other… Though Maya would normally jump on the chance to shit on some of the other’s (Emily). “But, Lyss probably does know the most about the Outsider so it’d be best if she explained.”

She snorted as Herik arrived and got completely confused about the Outsider in a way that somehow wasn’t entirely annoying. “No, the Outsider as in some ancient evil ghost.”

“Either way, we just gotta find Blake and the Outsider and beat the shit out of both of them, right?”

---

Lyss struggled to get out of bed in the morning. A noisy neighbor woke her up way too early. Right at 8:00 am on the dot. She groaned as she reached towards the glass of water on her nightstand. The glass rose to her lips as she sat up and finished the contents. It wasn't enough water.

With a sigh, she drug her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself onto wobbly feet. Her feet shuffled over towards her kitchen as her hand rubber her bleary eyes. When she reached the sink, she gripped the faucet and turned to fill the glass to the brim. A bit spilled out as she once again swallowed the entire glass in a few long sips. Much better.

Her head turned towards the clock. She had a few hours before she would meet with the Coven, then with the vamps, and then... Well, she would be facing one of the most powerful apparitions besides Death. Maybe Babylon was a level below. The Jaws might be on the same level as the Outsider. At least, she was hoping it was. How much power would she be given today? Would it be enough?

She needed a shower. Cold water to run over her head and sweaty body. To clear the mind so she could focus. She needed to be strong today. Strong enough to hold back the fear that gripped her stomach. She drank another glass of water before she headed to the bathroom.

---

When Lyss arrived at the rusty amusement park, she pulled a travel mug from her backpack. Even though it wasn't that bright out today, Lyss wore her darkest pair of sunglasses. She even wore a dark shade of purple on her lips to match her mood. When Babylon began to explain to the girls that weren't at the club last night, Lyss took another swig of coffee so the others wouldn't see the shame on her face. It was already too late. Eight more girls were dead, and the Outsider was at full strength.

Her eyebrows furrowed when Babylon blamed it all on her. She pressed her lips together and her right hand curled into a fist. She could feel her ring around her finger. Her hand began to rise, and she had every intent to teach the apparition a lesson with her lux. She was halted mid movement by Vashti, who defended her position. Even Maya did too.

Lyss's hand fell into her lap, loose and relaxed. She took another sip of coffee. As much as she appreciated the girls for defending her honor, Lyss still felt like she had enough blame as Emily in this situation. The regret she felt would go away soon. Hopefully. She was going to take care of the Outsider with the help of her friends. Maybe, if they joined forces and acted as a real team, they would leave the battle with only a few bruises or broken bones.

She took one more sip of her coffee before she took a deep breath and sat the mug on the ground next to her bike.

"The Outsider is an extremely powerful and ancient apparition," she began as she looked around at those who were unaware of the spirit's history. "It feeds off of destruction, and has consumed entire cities within a day before my people took action. It shows itself in the form of a woman with blue skin, with an orange fire lying beneath.."

"It took many adepts to battle the Outsider. Many died in that battle, but some were strong enough to withstand her power. They sealed her within a music box and... until recently, the box had been hiding from the mortal world for decades."

She frowned.

"Today, we will risk our own lives to do what those adepts accomplished years ago. It will take all of our abilities combined to stand any chance. We must work together, like a Coven should." She looked around at the group to make sure that they understood before continuing.

"When we face the Outsider, we must weaken her before I can seal her into the music box once again. I can hold her still, with Madison's Jaws' help. That means she will be a relatively easy target, but you can't get too close to her."

She sighed once more and leaned back on her bike.

"We also need to worry about Blake, and any potential power he's been given by the Outsider. Hopefully the bloodsuckers can keep him at bay, but they're about as useless as a knife would be against a gun."

She nodded her head. [color=D3D3]"That's basically the run down that I have for today. If you fear for your life, and you won't be able to commit to fighting the Outsider, you may go home and pray to Satan that we succeed."[/color]

Her voice then carried a gravity to it in her next words.

"Yet, we need as much strength and power as we can get if we want this to work."

---

---

Interactions:

“Wait, weren’t you there?”

"Was, sugar," Taylor said with a shrug. "My body mighta' been there but my mind's in a state of confusion."

Even with all the explanations about the Outsider, Taylor was still fucking confused. She just showed up here the other day and watched as where ever the fucking Coven went mayhem followed. It was honestly fucking incredible, like watching a train wreck that just kept piling up and kept getting worse. Taylor just wanted to see when this fucking roller coaster would stop.

Either way, Taylor patiently and quietly listened as Lyss gave her big heroic speech and then she wondered where the other fire crotch was. Lyss seemed to be more of a leader than she was, but again, it wasn't her place. It was still standard stuff but nobody explained what the fuck it could, you know, do. Taylor shrugged as Lyss ended her speech with the classic, "If you want to leave now, then leave". She was tempted to be a smartass and walk the fuck out but she was committed to Kim's little request. And she wanted to see what else they can fucking ruin.

Babylon, meanwhile, looked bored as Lyss was talking. She was floating in the air with her hand against her head as she looked at her nails as if she was lying down on nothing. "Let me just add that a lot of you are probably going to die. Horribly, but that's par for the course," Babylon floated upright as she looked at Lyss, "Personally, I would rather that we jump ship to another dimension and let whatever happens here, happen. There's lots of wonderful places out there, you know."

She shrugged. However, Emily was quiet the entire time as she crossed her arms, letting her apparition speak. Still, a grin formed on her face.

"... This is my fault," Emily forced out the statement, her voice was low and anyone with a brain could tell she wasn't sincere. "I should have done better to make sure the deal didn't fall through like it did, but-"

"It ain't fucking important, sis," Madison cut her off as she took a swig of her alcohol. She was getting tired of this pity party finger-pointing bullshit. The only Madison wanted to do was get the sacrifices that the Outsiders have freed out and then go the fuck home. And get high. After the whole thing with the Hound, she wasn't exactly in a good place. And what was worse was the fact that "Molly" was, like she expected, far gone with her roomie also missing. Madison blamed herself for that, but she wasn't going to let the failures keep piling up like this.

"What is important is that we stop bulleting and stop the Outsider," Madison spoke before she turned her head towards Lyss. "Which is why I'm with you, sis. Even if no one else is."

"I'm with you, Mademoiselle," Claudette said... resisting the urge to sneer at Vashti for her outburst yesterday. "I wish I was there last night, things would have gone far differently."

"It's my mission to stop beings like the Outsider, anyway," Emily shrugged. "... And dimension-hopping is a last resort."

Babylon crossed her arms.

"... And when the outsider kills you all," Babylon started, "I'm going to be laughing at you."

Before their conversation could continue, Sin came back and... brought a friend. Madison couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Oh boy," She mumbled, "They're multiplying."

She received an elbow from Claudette who heard her, but Sin introduced her new friend... Grace. What a pretty name, but Claudette thought it was a horrible time to be introducing new members to their group. Like quite honestly horrible.

"Um, Sin..."

"It's Quinn," Taylor said because she couldn't help but cringe at that nickname.

"We been knew that," Madison rolled her eyes.

"Whatever!" Claudette said to the group, "Sin, bringing her here right now was not a good idea. At all."

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Emily said with a grin. "She brought another thing for the Outsider to shoot."

Claudette facepalmed and Madison shook her head... just before the Jaws manifested the three skulls again and Babylon's expression changed to fear and they both spoke in-universe.

"... She's here!"

---

---

"̵̜͖̫̜̻͗͆̓͂͊͠.̸̨̟̪̜̩̮̩̓͛̆́͒̈́.̵̡͙͙͚̣͓̈̌̈̅͌̽͊.̶̨̨̛̙̩͈̿́̋̉̄͘͜͜ ̵͕̱̓I̶͖̞͋̊̇n̶̨̬͔͖̰͑d̷̤̉͗̃̏e̵͙͓̳̱͓̱͇͆̀e̴̗̳̩̅͂͜ḑ̷̱͉̪̀̆̅̾̉͋͘ ̵̢͕͙̙̔̑̄͌͠I̶̖̿̿̏̆ ̸̛̰̭̥̼͊̀́ȧ̴͕̖̏̍̉͒͜m̷̢̺̘̘̹̝͖̉̈́̊͑̚,̷̗̥͎̖̹͍͛̋́̌͝"̸̺̽̇

They heard the otherworldly voice of the Outsider as she merely descended from the ceiling. Landing on one of the tables in the center of the Coven's little meeting as if she was not even there. Merely a phantasm. The Outsider grinned as she looked around.

"̷̢͎͉̝̬̓͜A̴̛̛̙͌̄̀́̑r̶̨̞̭͙̞̗̈́̃͝e̷̻͉̟͙̝͕̹̐̌̀́̀̎͌ ̷̫̜̾̈́̏̅͗ỳ̶̛͉͆̈́̄͘o̷̧̦̗̊̈́͗͌͂u̴͍͓̯̹̝̪̓̔͜ ̸̢̻̰͕̌t̵̞̝͗̂̕ả̸̠̰̬͂̋͝l̸̙̬̩͛̃͗̈́͑̈k̷̰̞̙̘̻̫͇̍̈ì̵̳̱͛͆͝ń̸̡̰̞̳͓̝̤̈́͛͌g̷̡̱̖̬̬̬͎͒̓̂ ̶̨̤̻͛̍̈́̑̚̚a̶̧̢̘̘̱͓͈͌͠b̴̙̌̌̈́ȏ̷̤͖̘̦̟̯̈û̷͚̗͋t̶̢̧͍͖̪̟̥͗͑͐̑̉̔ ̸̛̞̦̲͑̀͑̅͜ͅm̴̪̻͔̦̱͆͋̊͑̍͜͝ę̸̥̯̜͔͕̑̾̚?̶͍͇́ ̶͖͍͝Ḑ̸̬̺̖͠ͅö̷̭̠͍̦́̏͜n̶̪̹̮͙̪͔̰̾̏̿̃̌̕'̴͖͎̺͆͑̽̂̃͠t̸͓̖͔̂̈́̐̚ ̵͎͓̹̘͊͐̓͝y̷̡̛̬͍͂ọ̸̡͍̰̭͐̏̀̉̿́̒ͅu̴̟͕̮̅́̉͂̅̾̈ ̵̻͓̲̦̃̽̅̍͘͘k̸̢̛̰̲̰̩͔̈̒̅n̸̜̄͋͋̓̚o̸͎̤̟̺̩̺̘̍́̎w̷̪̩̩̏̍̋́̂͜ ̶̗̼͙̩͆̇i̷͙̰͖̗̝͍̿̋́ţ̶̝̖̞̭̜̓̃͋̓͗̄̓'̴̹͎̒̋s̶̹̿͒̋̏̀ ̵̛̤̯̠͉͖̒͊́͋r̴̮̖̮͖̖͚̍̿͗̐̎̎͑u̶̟̤̾̎ͅd̴̼̣͚͕͂̎̎̌̃͆̉e̵̘̹̺͎͇͙̋͗̑ ̵̨̗̺̀͊͌̏ţ̶̥̟̮̙̺͊͑̒̌̽ơ̸̦͙̈̂ ̶̨̫̟̟͇̺̋̃̅̿t̴̛̟̣͍͉̙̔̒̂̂̋̚á̴̖̫̱͔̏͗͜l̷͍̩̱͖̆ͅk̴̯̝͍͇͐̔͛͆̕͝ͅ ̸̨̜̲̦̦̀́a̴̡̫̱̖͙̍̐ͅb̵̹̪̓̀̈́̀͐̑ö̶͍̹̱̩͈́̆̽ų̷͚͉̗̲͎̑͘t̷̪̫̱̭̝̄͐͘̚ ̸̜̝͕̈͐̊͗͑̓͗p̶̥̭̥̻̄̽̌͝ͅe̴̢̬͈̻̗͑̒̃̈́̃ǫ̵͔͐̈́̈̒ͅp̶͉̻͚̱̅̈́̾̆l̷̮͙͙̎̒ě̵̥̽̃̀̋̈́͠ ̶̱͍͙͍͂́͊͋͂͘ͅb̶̨͕̜̠̝̭͒̊̄̾ë̴̖̘̭̀̈́̒̌͠h̵̙̗̎͗͑̽͑̕̚i̴̙͉͐̈͝ṇ̴̠̣͎̬͓̇ḓ̴̢̛̲̺̙̒̐́͒̆̾ ̵̯̝̞̝̒̾̌͛͑͠͝t̴̨̥͕̥̠̃͛̆̏h̶̻̩͕̹̙̯̱̋̌̐͆ȩ̴̞̰̍͋̑̇ͅǐ̸͍̺̱̀̈́̌̏̿r̸̛̪̫̹͗̊͑̄ ̸͓̦̬̱̑̏̅͜͜͠ḅ̴͙͓̣̆͊̈́͗́͒͜a̶̗͎͕͎̘͈̋̈́̉ĉ̴̝̖͕͗̒̚̕k̴̬͔̼̥̝̈̇ŝ̸̡̨̭̰̮̹̜̏?̸̢͇͎̠̍"̵̝̭̮͋͌̔̇̄͑̿

The Outsider said as they walked around.

"̷̙͈̩̰͙̅͜E̵̢̹͈̭̠̐͒͠ş̴̛͔͍͍̹̼͋́̾p̵̢̭͕͈̼̪̉̈́̀̒̇͝ė̶̤̞͔͂̏͒̓͘͠c̶̡͉͎̟̱̳̈́̾̇͝i̷̺̺̫̮̯̲̗͂͊͗ả̷̭͖̈́̽̅̎̚l̴͉͐́̚͘l̶̪̬̿͛̈́̽́̉y̷̡̧̰̮͊͆̈́͗͝ ̴̥͇̠̳̫̯̗͗̆̈w̷̩̲̣̬̐̏̀̉̑͜ͅh̵̖̪̼̎͠e̴̫̅ñ̴͇̾ͅ ̶̲̈̚y̴̢̰̌̀̇͋̔̅̊ọ̷̢̼̻̞̲̞̀̈́̈́ú̸̡͈͙̦̙̪̃ ̵̲͔̠̦͍̒̀͘h̴̯̣̘́̉̊a̸̲͚̓͆v̷̺͕͎͍͇͛͋͂ȩ̸̮̞͆͛̈́̇̐͘͜͝ ̸̧̱̫͍̖̬̈̈́̏̊͝B̷̩̬̝̼̭̳͕̃ã̴̛͔͎̗͍̱̂͊̅͘b̵̯̤̀͗͑̌͂͂y̶̘̾̇̒̓l̸̨̡̗̯͇͖̯̄͗͂͛̚ŏ̸̘̺͎̅͘͝ņ̶͈̓́ ̸̡̟̯̝̞̘̤͊͂͒̉̎̇̂t̶̼͖̠̩̦͆h̸̭̞̹͍͕̙̐̂̄̓ę̵͙̩̩̥͎̂̈́͋̈́͂̐͜ ̶̭̣̆̈́͌͝G̵̤̲̺̩̀̓̔̃̿̌ͅŗ̷̲͙̣̺̽͒ȩ̴̹͚̦͊̀a̵͇̼͔̓t̸͖̪͆̍͐̍̎͘͜͝ ̸͈͎̹̫̀̓̏̍͛ä̶̗̐́͌́n̵̖͎̎̈̈͐̓͐́ͅd̵̢̰̟̹̦̯́̓̀́̇ͅ ̶͉̲̱͂̎̓̎́͐̕ȃ̸̢̜̗͓̻̎̈́̽̇̌̚ ̶̡̡̮̥̫̘̬̎̎B̶̙̄͌ù̷̻͉̃̊̅̀r̶̬̀n̶͕͔̱̜̾̂̈́̕s̸̢͚̹̫͚̹͓̓̈́̓͛̇ ̸̧͍͓͚͙̖̑̔̀̎̍͝ĩ̷̹͍̤͔̊̌n̵̨̨͚̲̱̞͎̈́́͌͐ ̷̲̠̱̲̮̃̊̏̂̚͝ỳ̸̞̗̺̟̱̀̈́̾o̴͈͖̰̺͓̦̣̎̅͛ṳ̴̱̗͖̓̀̕r̷̪͈͎͉͓̈͑̃̈́ ̵̝̹͋͝ͅm̷̝͙̙̫̙̠̈̕ë̴̢̠̦̻͎̽͗ṃ̵̛̠͍̔̿b̶̻̬̖͚̜̪͈́̊͝e̶̠̩͒̇͐̚̕r̵̹͑͝ś̸̺̗̟͈̙̾͠͝h̷̗̽̈͒̓͂́͝i̵̼̊̆̔̾̎͝p̸͔̳͆̊.̸̼̤͈̯̟̒͛͋̄̒̇̃.̷̪̻͋̇̎̀̋͠͝.̴̘͇̥͚̀̓ ̴̧̛̗̟͑̋́ņ̶̦̪̺̑̽̀̕o̵̘̐̔͝w̷͙̗̻̟̝͌̊͛͗̒̚͝ͅ ̶̨̢͇̍̄̂͐́̊͝I̸̛̻̤̙̲̫͚̫͘ ̶̙͖̈́̒̉̀͜͝ḱ̵̺̅͝n̶̬͈̽͜o̶̪̓͌́̕͝ẘ̴͎͖̱̓͒̎ ̵̥̠̞͎̺̱͍̈̀͂̓̉̑y̶̫̳͉̱͎̍ǫ̸̨̢̯͎̬̿͒ú̷̩̮̫̮͖̯͎͑̌͂̀̚'̴̜̫͌ͅr̶͓̔͋̐͠ĕ̵̢͍͙̜̰ͅ ̵̖̈́́́̕a̸̘͎̦̳͔̋̾l̵̫̙͕̠̾l̷͙̬̓͂ͅ ̴̝̠̩̺̀̅r̷̘͇̿́͘ë̴̘̝̹̹̙͔̱́̀á̶̛̯̆͋̎̎̚l̸̰̀͋̌̚l̸̡̗͚͈̰͠y̷͓͑̂̂͐ ̸̞̙͖͍̀̈́͊̊̃̌̕ͅm̶̡͊̽e̴̡̨̨̯͕̬̙̊̇͊̀̋s̶͕͚̒̔̒̐͛͌ŝ̷̩̈́e̶͕̿d̷̡̗̗̞̗̓̽̈̍͑̽ ̸̣̄̔̾̒͝u̵̢͍͓̾̓̎̆͝p̶̢̢͉̖̼̈́̿̽̚͜.̶̖͕̳̮̀"̷̨̞̹̜͛̈

"... Jaws."

Madison muttered as she was not in the mind or mood to listen to this abomination ramble on and on. The Jaws fully manifested a barrier of ghostly bones around Madison as she flew forward and punched the Outsider right across the face. The Outsider was sent flying backward, spinning as she hit the ground again and again... before, in the blink of an eye, she appeared right back on her feet. The cracks that had formed on her face gradually repaired itself as she grinned.

"Fuck, why does that keep happening?!" Madison said as she grabbed one of the plastic chairs and tossed it at the thing... however, Babylon's sigil hit it and the chair exploded in flames mid-flight... and was melted before it even hit her.

"Watch it, Mads!" Emily shouted as Babylon had a sigil in both hands, prepared to launch them. However, the Outsider focused her attention on Maya... and merely pointed a finger at her.

"̴̫̤͇̭̇̉͋̅͑͘̕M̵̧̡͙̳̞̽́͐r̸͈̰̫͓̙̦̆̑͑̽̚.̵̬̘̹̒ ̴̰̠̩̠̯̔̈́̂͋̅S̸̡̪̜̟͕̠̀͌͗͛̅̅̚c̶͕̪̮̼̫̒̄͑̐̚ẖ̸͙̥̰͇̰̾̈́́̇́͘͜m̷̻̋̊̚i̷̖̭͍̭̰͑̀ḍ̸̮͖͐t̷̢̝̲̤͕͍̎̍̃̃ ̶̡̨̲̤͈͇͑̑͌̇͘š̴͚̗͉͆́͋ạ̴̧͚̈̍̓̈͘i̸̪̝͕̗̦͌̊̍̈́̚͜ḑ̴̠͝ ̸͚̞͊̈̅̀̈́͌̈́͜͜ḥ̷̖̑̒̀̆̚ȅ̷̱̠͎̤̑̾ ̴̱̮͙͇̉́̕w̵̰͔̅͌͊a̶̤͝ͅn̶̜͖̠̦͔̎̍̃͠t̷̖̉̆͊͘e̴͕͒̂̆͜d̸͓̳̿͐̽̾̐͠ ̵̧̫͑̌͛y̴̜̬̅̋̄͆̈̅o̶͈̩͚̣͠ú̴̬͑͋̿͒̎́ ̶͔̱̺̲̬̌͘d̷̛͕̩̩̟͉̋̀̿͛̊̚e̵̖̝̗̳̅͛̓̅̚a̶̗̲̫͉̎ͅd̵̰͈̫͓̖̓̈́͗ ̶͇̙̃̅̉ṱ̶̭̬̯̎̂̍̈̾͋h̵͈̙̕̕͝ḛ̴̢̫͖̺̙̑̈́͜ ̸̧̞̜̮̩̪̀̾͆͝͠ḿ̷͓͉͋ǒ̶̬̖͚̿́͠͝ͅs̵̭̰̣̼̀̔t̵̢͎̟̦̆̔̍̆͘͠.̷̛̳͎͕̺̫̗̤̆̀̾̿"̵̪̮̿̃͊

And that finger quickly extended at lightning speeds towards Maya.



"... They pulled another body out the wreckage."

Maximilian said to Meifeng as she stood in front of the wreckage of the compound with her hands in the pockets of her suit. She heard him speaking but honestly, she couldn't listen anymore. She just stood there, staring at it with a completely blank face. The entire building was collapsed in on itself and the entire place within miles was destroyed. Shredded to bits as there were craters every other step, entire buildings cleanly cut in half, and bodies everywhere. The bodies were covered with a black cover but... they weren't pretty.

"This is not good," Maximilian said in an attempt to get her attention.

"... Who are you telling?" Meifeng asked as she pivoted towards him and took her hands out of her pockets. "Dozens of people, dead. And with the Extra-Normal incidents popping up..." She shook her head.

"We'll do what we can, Agent Liao," Maximilian said.

"But are we doing enough, though?" Meifeng asked as she looked at her feet. "The fate of the world is in our hands but... I'm not acting like it. If I wasn't fooling around... I could have stopped this." She sighed as a tear welled up in her eyes. She would never let Maximilian see it.

"... We're human, Meifeng," Agent Keagan walked up with her hands in her pockets and stepped between the two before she said to Meifeng, "We need to have fun. Enjoy ourselves... you know it's only a matter of time until, well..."

"You're right..." Meifeng sighed she pivoted on her heel as she turned towards the wreckage of the Forgiven Compound. "We need to devote all efforts towards finding Annabelle Heart. We need to end this at all costs."

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about, Agent Liao," Maximilian sighed himself as he closed his eyes. "It's about the Coven."

And Meifeng's mood soured even more, "And what about them...?"

"Last night... well, it's a long story," Maximilian made sure to sidestep some kind of fooling around he did. "But, the Coven pissed off Blake Schmidt and he's sic some Apparition on them."

Meifeng was silent for a few seconds as she opened her mouth to say something but stopped.

"... That's their problem."

"Agent Liao," Maximilian said as he walked up but he stopped not too far away from Agent Keagan. "We can't just let this happen."

"And we can't just rush to their rescue every time they fuck up," Meifeng hissed in between her teeth as she kicked a stray piece of rubble. "They're all grown women when I was their age I was fighting my own battles. Not just by myself, but with pride."

"There's only so much they can do on their own," Maximilian said.

"Do you see this, Maximilian?" Meifeng pointed.

"I do, but-"

"Do you see it?"

"Agent Liao, this is what we're supposed to do!" Maximilian shouted.

"What we're supposed to do is stop shit like this from happening, Agent Cornell! We have to stop Annabelle Heart because God forbid I'll let my children get killed by that monster!"

Meifeng shouted... and that last bit was completely unintentional. Just a slip on her part. Meifeng sighed as she put her hands in her pockets and walked past Maximilian. "We prioritize this, Agent Cornell. And that's an order, got it?"

Maximilian sighed.

"... Got it."

Looking around at the other girls, Izzy felt foolish. Here she was crying on the floor while the others had a better handle on things. But that didn't stop the fact that Izzy had been shaken to her core. They may have experienced shit like this before, fights with other extra normals and near death experiences, but not Izzy. She was just a normal girl with an apparition that could heal. Any normal person in this situation would be terrified!

Antheia appeared after feeling the strong emotions of her host. The apparition did her best to calm Izzy down and somehow managed to get her away from the strip club and back to her own home. For once, Izzy was thankful to Antheia's motherly tendencies. All the crying had worn her out and she passed out as soon as she hit the bed.

Waking up had to be the worst feeling in the world. Her sleep had been restless and filled with nightmares. The overall shitty feeling of a rare mild hangover clung to her as well. Antheia instantly appeared and forced Izzy to get ready for the day. Numbly, Izzy complied. She went through her normal routine, but her mind was constantly on last night. "You have a coven meeting to get to, so come on." Antheia pushed her to the door. Izzy nodded and grabbed her things. She paused a moment, staring at the flask normally in her bag. Antheia only watched in shock as the redhead tossed it into the kitchen sink instead of filling it up.

---

At the Coven meeting, Izzy was unusually quiet. Antheia even stuck around to get the details and make sure Izzy was alright. The more she listened, the more hopeless and useless Izzy felt. She didn't have cool offensive powers like the others, plus given her pathetic display last night she was no use when dealing with an actual threat. All she could do was clean everyone up once they were done. And if they died, then there was nothing she could do about that.

"Whatever we do, I'm not- I can't-" Izzy took a moment to steel herself. Her social anxiety was at an all time high since she was sober for the first time in a long time. Plus the topic matter at hand didn't help any. "I don't think I should be involved in any fights. For obvious reasons." She started out strong, but her words grew mumbled. Antheia nodded, resting a hand on Izzy's shoulder. "We will both do our best to support you guys, but for both strategic and practical reasons we should stay out of the thick of it. As for Blake Schmidt…" Antheia grew angry at the thought of him. "As for that bastard, he will get what's coming to him."

Looking around, Izzy felt her heart clench at the thought of losing any of these girls. Sure there were a few she didn't know well or didn't really get along with, but they were all, in a way, family. So of course with this sentiment in mind, Izzy immediately panicked and froze when the Outsider appeared out of nowhere. She was terrifying, but in an almost beautiful way. It took a splintering chair nearly hitting her to shake Izzy from her stupor. She furiously looked for a place to hide, but the best she could do was hiding behind a counter off to the side. Running away was the best option or so she told herself. For strategic and practical reasons. For strategic and practical reasons. She repeated Antheia's words in her head as if they would somehow resolve the feeling of guilt deep in her gut.

"Deep breaths," Antheia reminded her, glancing over the counter to keep an eye on things. Izzy realized she was hyperventilating and tried to steady her breathing, but the sounds of yelling and breaking didn't help. "You have to help yourself before you can help others," Antheia continued to reassure her host. Izzy felt the tears stinging her eyes, but managed to keep them down this time and focus on her breathing. This time… this time she would redeem herself. Even if it was just a little bit, she would use her ability to help the Coven.

---

Vashti didn’t know if she was more surprised to see Herik or to see him bring the pizza from their interrupted dinner. Part of her was worried that the whole “Hey I’m the embodiment of chaos made physical” thing would end up being a dealbreaker. It still might be. It didn’t seem like he’d informed the others yet, and judging by how he quietly insisted to her that they talk about last night she was beginning to worry more than she already had been. However, nerves did nothing to cage her hunger as she reached into the box and grabbed a slice of lobster pizza. The look of disappointment on her face was heartbreaking.

“Okay, sure. After this,” said Vashti, masking her lips by flicking open the lid of the pizza box. Maybe the second slice would be better.

It wasn’t. In fact, it was much worse, quite like how as Lyss explained the Outsider to the group it sounded much worse than Vashti had imagined. The whole dying in battle part was a rather concerning detail. Perhaps if she was a viking berserker searching for a quick way into Valhalla she might find herself thrilled at the idea of a glorious death in a fight against an “extremely powerful and ancient apparition” but as a girl who wasn’t even old enough to drink yet the whole ordeal sounded a bit much. She’d only been with the Coven for a day, and her experiences so far had been...well, they had yet to make a really compelling case to get herself killed for them.

“You know, Lyss, when you said we had to be willing to help I kind of pictured it less as being a meat shield against an angry ghost and more as the sorcerer’s apprentice style of helping where I fetch buckets of water and carry spellbooks,” said Vashti as she hopped off the bumper car. “I don’t think I’d be much help in a fi—”

Vashti froze as she felt the Leviathan stir inside of her. How? She wasn’t happy with the Coven, and there was a lot happening, but none of this should’ve been able to trigger her. Her eyes dilated as her heartbeat quickened and she caught herself against the frame of the bumper car. She shot Herik an alarmed glance as she attempted to slow her breathing. Vashti tried to block out the world as she strived to achieve gnosis. If she figured out what was stirring the Leviathan awake then she could control it, or at the very least get away from the others before it unleashed.

"... She's here!"

“Fuck!” was the final thing Vashti shouted as she broke concentration as the Outsider glided down to a table in the middle of the Coven. At that moment, Vashti knew she should’ve been terrified as Madison enshrouded by a cloud of bones coldcocked the Outsider. The only problem was that she wasn’t terrified. A wide, toothy smile stretched across Vashti’s face. She was excited. Meetings, dinners, flirtations, how trivial, how boring. It’d been too long since she’d a proper fight; her trophy collection was beginning to look stale. The smile kept growing until it split her skin and was a smile no more. Instead, it was the look of a rabid animal baring its teeth.

And it was going in for the kill.

---

---

After the Leviathan crushed this shit right here, these dumb primate bitches would grovel at the feet of the Lizard Queen. Then they wouldn’t dare try and seal away their Queen, no, fuck that, their Goddess. If they did then she would tear them apart like she was going to tear apart this Outsider, real savage like, nothing but teeth, nails, and an orchestra of shrieks. The Leviathan lumbered forward from the bumper car, muscles and tail expanding as she crouched low and began to charge on all fours. She would kill this dumbass Outsider and then these idiots would throw a feast for her. Perhaps the summoner’s plus one would be offered up as a sacrifice. Maybe the summoner could call forth a few more tasty morsels.

Thunder clapped and rain began to tin on the awning above them as the Leviathan moved towards the Outsider as it recovered from a punch from the Jaws. A weak hit from a weak, stupid being. Bones were so fucking easy to break. Scales, on the other hand, were impenetrable. The perfect defense. Never would there be anything superior to it. Her tail flicked to and fro as she charged, haphazardly knocking aside tables without any concern for collateral. It was just a bit more chaos to add to the shitstorm that was already unleashing around them. The sound of rain pinging on the roof started to sound more like a machine gun. Now that was a primate invention the Leviathan could appreciate: an instrument of quick death. Just like the Leviathan.

A roar escaped from the Leviathan’s throat as the Outsider dared, had the fucking audacity even, to raise a finger to one of her minions. Only the goddamn Queen had the royal right to kick the ever living shit out of her stupid, worthless servants that got her weakass vessel stuck in elevators and chain restaurants. The darkening sky was lit up by lightning as the Leviathan vaulted over a table and spun, swinging her powerful tail at the Outsider to knock it away from her royal subjects. Grovellers couldn’t grovel if they were dead.

Herik listened to explanations of the Outsider and it's worse than he thought. It understood it was a creature not to be trifled with, something like the Hound in comparison to strength maybe. Nothing any of them should mess with, but nothing they could run from either. He knew they shouldn't have dealt with Schmidt at all. Deal or no deal they're in a lot of trouble. Vashti stopped talking and turned to face him looking worse for wear. He stood from the bumper car and caught her while she leaned on the car, her eyes widen and her gaze panicked when she looked into his eyes. It's the Leviathan and that's not good at all. She looked more monstrous by the second, until there nothing left in her face, just an animal looking for it's next meal.

The Outsider showed up, which is the scariest thing he's ever seen, and Leviathan was on the attack. Outsider shot it's finger at Maya.

"Maya!" Herik didn't have time to think, well he did, he thought about how he wanted to save her, get her out of harms way. He threw his left arm out and from his hand came a giant transparent gray lion that snatched Maya by the back of her with its teeth and brought her back to him the same time Leviathan hit Outsider with its tail. She came at him too fast to brace himself, so he fell back on the bumper car with her in his arms. Herik had a tight grip on Maya, afraid he'd drop her. The lion paced in front of them, tethered by its tail to his arm. Is that the? He looked at his ink, the lion on his bicep was gone and in its place was a symbol. He recognized it from his childhood far away from here and on his mother's right shoulder blade. Whatever it meant he'll think about it later. For now he'll roll with it.

"You okay?" He asked Maya, setting her down on her feet.

---

Maya listened to what Lyss said with folded arms and a slightly tilted head. She knew that shit would be dangerous - while she may want to save her own skin, she knew that if Blake wanted anyone dead it was her and she had a much better chance here with the coven. Not that she’d abandon them anyway over something like fear. She wanted to be able to absolutely beat the shit out of Blake anyway, so if she had to go through the Outsider to do it… Well.

“... She’s here!”

Shit. Maya jumped out of her seat and spun around to watch as the Outsider floated down from the ceiling. In ways, she looks nothing like Maya had imagined… but there was a terrifying air to her nonetheless. She was talking, but Maya paid no attention to it - she couldn’t even understand half of what was being said.

Instead she moved around, backing away slightly as Madison attacked with the Jaws. She was itching to just straight up blast the Outsider… but she couldn’t risk losing her hearing yet for a pot shot at this distance.

Then the Outsider pointed at her, speaking of how Blake wanted her dead (not a surprise). In the split second Maya had as the finger sped towards her, she froze. How was she meant to get out of the way of that? Sound blast it away?

She let out a shocked yell as something snatched her up, sweeping her off her feet and out of the way of the finger of probable death. Her mind struggled to keep up with exactly what was happening as she went from whatever had saved her and right into Herik’s arms. She could hear something crashing against the outsider but couldn’t see where she was, still frozen in shock.

“You okay?”

Herik put her down, and she snapped out of it. “Fine, thanks to…” she turned her head to notice the grey lion attached to him. “...you?”

She shook her head and looked back towards the Outsider. The massive reptile creature that had appeared out of nowhere was attacking, and Maya hoped it took attention off her enough to get in a better position to not just get attacked again. But she didn’t want to be useless… and needed to get close enough for her abstraction to do any damage when it hit. She wanted to get into the thick of it but she had no defences. Not to mention affecting other people with her attacks. Fuck.

“Cover me,” she muttered to Herik, moving around the room and ducking behind a pushed over table. It wasn’t a great defence but better than nothing. She peered her head out with a frown. She’d managed to get far enough away that a directed sound blast shouldn’t hit the others… yeah, this would do. Keeping most of herself behind the table, Maya twisted and waited for a clear path before shooting a sound blast at the Outsider. Her ears rung as she shot another in quick succession.

Ah, it seems the Outsider missed. Right when her attack was about to hit, a lion appeared out of one of their male members' hands. The finger collided with the wall and went right through it... when it was meant to go through young Maya. No matter. One failed attacked doesn't mean that young Maya will survive the rest of the attacks. However, the Outsider turned towards the massive beast that had transformed right before her eyes... She smiled as the tail came right for her and merely raised a hand...

The Outsider was slid back a few feet but stopped when she firmly planted herself on the ground. With the tail still in hand, she took a step forward and swung the massive creature around, and... the sound blast from Maya caused her to let go prematurely and sent Leviathan off in a random direction. The Outsider's mouth went agape as she looked sideways at Maya.

"... Moral support my ass," Emily hissed to herself as Vashti fucking transformed. Okay, this was something new that she should have been made privy to, but hey, she looked like she was about to kick the Outsiders...

... Oh, and she just got tossed like a ragdoll. Jesus Christ. How powerful even is the Outsider? Unlike the rest of these sluts, Emily is starting to realize that just throwing firepower her way was not working. They needed a plan and a good plan. And right now. That was probably apart of Blake's plan; attack them before they could formulate a plan. While Mr. Schmidt was a lot of things (a manwhore being on the top of that list), completely stupid was not one of them. Emily felt the raindrop leak through the ceiling and realized it was raining.

Madison would have been a bit more impressed by that little middle-eastern girl (?) turning into a giant monster if it didn't have the same result as her punching the Outsider. The Jaw's manifested wings as the Outsider chucked "Vashti" a bit prematurely and realized that maybe punching her over and over again was not working. The Outsider had to have a weakness, everyone does. Madison took to the skies as she figured that she was the toughest person here.

Kayla, where are you?

After all of that chaos, the Outsider merely sighed.

"̴̧̟̬͖̫͇̻̣̕͝ͅY̵̧̧͍̫̗̲͍̌͛̊͜ó̷̻͚͚̬̳͛u̸͖̎̄͒̐͋̕͠ ̵̨̞̥͍̄̊ͅc̴̥͍͙̗̎̚ȃ̵̢̨̳̲͇̳͔̯̍͂l̶͔̲̺̲̰̘͎͑͑̂͐͒̚̚͝l̶̢̡̛̙͉̬̞͇̈́̆̚͝ ̷̧̤̻̟̥̈̚y̴̢̥̭̮̼͍͚̦͚͂͠o̷̡̧̜͇̼͚̬͖̜͆̄̀̽̋͛̏u̵̜̣̯̎͜ŕ̵̡̳̬̭͍̭͌̿͛͜s̷̯̹͖͓͎̽̾͂̀̾̅e̴̜͖̺̟̽̽̊̐̂ļ̴̹̠͠v̷̥͔͙̝̯̿̏̌́̐̑̐ͅe̸̼̬̘͇̗͂̈́̇̌̅s̴̨̛͖͇̝̲͇͙̖̝̏̈́̅͛̄͘ ̸̡̮̤̩̽̿͛̏́̀̎̄w̵̮͐́̓̋į̵͔͔͓̺̥̮̾̐ţ̵͓̞̥̗͉͝c̶͓̔͌̈́̊̃̓̇̅͑h̴̺͚̀̇͝é̶̬͋̇͌̎̉̏̕s̷̛̞̰̲̯͍̱̖̑͠?̸̜͆͠ ̴̤̉̍͋̔̃̐̓̂Ẇ̶̢̜͍͎͗̅͋͘͜ẖ̴̢̩͙͖̩͑é̵͖r̷̬̤͉͍̼̗͉̞̜̽̔̿̄͂̃e̵̯̦̋̂̚̚̚'̵̢̰̭̙̟̥̏͌̑̈́̑s̸̜̻̘͖̳̹͛͝ ̵̛͍̑͑ẗ̸͙̫̫̝͂́ḩ̵̟̟̙͉̂̾͑è̵̞̲͐̇́̈́̃́̕ ̵̘̳̮͓̮͐͑͌̈̀͆͠h̷̢̦̬̗̊̄͝ǎ̵͈͕̤̯͙̮̰̏t̷̻͒̋̂s̸̻͈̀̌́?̸̫̿̏̏̓͗͝ ̷̜̈́̇Ẅ̴̨̛́̉͐͆͝ḧ̴̛̯͕̠̉̈̒̎̐̓̚e̴͚͎̰͙̔̔̅̅͠ŗ̵̨̝̤̮͔̲̬̎̈̃ȩ̷̤͓̝̮̌͜ ̷̣̲̖͓͔͔̙̓̅̾̍͗͗̇a̴̡͎͎̦̱̖͇̮̔̀̇̆̃ͅr̴͆̆̒̍͋̚͜ȩ̸̹̟̭̝͌̈̾͗̎ ̶̗͍̾̋̚ṯ̸̘͗͝ḩ̴̛͈͓͚̮̺̙̓ę̷̨̲̞̻͉̋̄̊͝ ̷̧͕͋̊̐͊̀̿̈́̍͝r̶̜̽͋̑̓o̶͇̥͕͇̗̘͔̘͆͛̈͊b̷̡̢̬̻͎̰̤͈͂̈́͝ḙ̸͎̼͖̦͒̓̊̆̌̉̋̉̕s̶̫̣̩̤̟̟̍̋̑ ̴͈̖̽͑̾̑̎a̴̪̋̏̐̈́̊̚n̷̹̘̮̝̽̏̌̿̃͜d̵̙̭̙̳̺̠̊̐͋̐̒͐̽ ̵̧̢̮̗̪̻̋͗w̶̱̩̙͜͠ͅa̷̱͒̓̾̄͊̓ͅͅn̸͍̱̅ḑ̶̮̝̤͙̦̿̇̅̒̒̌̌̏͠ş̸̟̜̮̫͈̯̾̈́͋̽̈̕̚͝?̷̧̥̞̐̂͆̌̈́ ̸̜̦̼̞̟͓̐̔̽̽̊́̉W̵̱̦̙͝i̷̱͔̘͙͇͈̙̻̇̈́́̅́̏̂t̵̩̼̀̐͘c̷̱̙͕̄̓̀̓̈̿͐̄h̴̩̀͋e̴̢͉̟̟̪͓̰͗͋̒̋̊̅̚͘͝s̴̝̫̰̺̘̰͔͉̆͌̿̐̈́́͠͠ ̶͍̑̽́̿c̷͚̤̜̝̟̻̣̪̞͌̓̇́̽͐͝a̶̛͈͇͋͊͂̃̏͝n̶̨̗͔̣͔͔̲̥͗̏͝'̸͕͍̜̙̻͚̣̭͒̔t̷̹̪́̏͂̋́̿̋͛͠ ̴̯̔́͗̿͋̿́͠d̸͖͍͓̄̈̎̊̑̏̿̒ò̷͇̽͠ ̷͎̎t̵͙͓̲̀̽́̈́̎̓̐̕͠h̶͖͘͜à̵̧̟̘͔͔́́̋͘ț̸͉̘̘̬̻̟̙̌.̶̙̗͚̥̟͚̑"̸̡͉̜̯̟̯̫̊ͅ

She pointed at Madison, but... A red liquid that looked suspiciously like blood pooled on the floor and it quickly stretched outwards until it nearly filled up the entire room. And coming out of the pooling blood were creatures that were seemingly like infants of various sizes and shapes. Except made out of blood and demonic-looking with horns, claws, and razor-sharp teeth. Dozens of them leaped out of the blood as they attacked the Coven, scratching and knawing at their flesh.

"The fuck?!" Madison shouted as she was completely covered in the demons almost instantly. Fortunately, the Jaws protected her, but there were some gaps left in where the creatures got in and began attacking her. Madison screamed as she felt one tear her open. Then the Jaws disengaged. For a moment, Madison was wondering what in the world was he doing; before he reforged the barrier explosively and sent all of them flying. Madison took a deep breath as she felt the pain of the open wound that just one of them made. It was oozing blood. Okay, this wasn't going well.

"We need to get away from her!" Madison shouted as she just flew through the flimsy roof... but it didn't feel right leaving he Coven behind like that. So she stopped and looked back.

"Babylon!" Emily shouted as the beasts hopped on her and began brutally ravaging her... and it didn't take long for Babylon to apply the curse of unending flames to Emily and the surrounding area went up in flames. It burned the creatures that were on her to death while it made the others retreat. It incinerated her clothes but she would rather be naked than eaten alive. Unfortunately, when the flames faded her wounds were bleeding, and, yeah, she was naked.

Okay, they needed a plan but fortunately, Emily got one...

... and it went up in flames when her clothes did.

God damn it. Fortunately, Emily has a backup... except it's in her moped. Along with a change of clothes.

"One of you!" Emily shouted as she made a break for the door. "Distract her!" She screeched.



The Outsider was... terrifying. Reminded Claudette of the Apparitions that used to haunt her, but Claudette was going to stay strong. She's stronger than she was before, fortunately, and she was going to stay that way. She sighed as she immediately did the most logical thing: Protected Izzy. Claudette hopped in front of Izzy and pointed her hand at the ground and then brought it up. Creating a wall of darkness that covered herself and many others and protected them from sight. Claudette grabbed onto Izzy's hand as she said.

"Mademoiselle!" Claudette shouted... looking at her Apparition with a bit of revulsion for a second before she said. "You must come with me! We must get to safety!"

Taylor still had no clue what the fuck was going on... she decided to stick with Claudette because she seemed to be prioritizing that one chick that came with them to the strip club last night. If anyone needed protection, Taylor would be there to give it to her. Though part of Taylor wanted to protect her because she was so damn hot.

"I got your back, sugar." Taylor's hands began to ignite with flames as she decided to put herself right next to Izzy. However, she turned towards Lyss and then asked, "I hope you have an idea of how the fuck to handle this, sugar. You seem to know what you're doing." Don't prove me wrong, though, sugar.

"The first thing we should do is get Izzy out of here!" Claudette said as she pulled Ms. Sasaki towards the exit and Taylor followed. They needed to get the healer out of the line of fire. "Then we come up with a plan." Claudette said as she kept the darkness up.

Strangely enough, none of the Outsider's minions penetrated the darkness.

---

Lyss nodded her head slowly. It seemed that everyone was on the same page. As much as Babylon stated the grim facts, it was nice to hear that the others were just as annoyed with the spirit as herself. She turned her head when Quinn arrived, and her eyebrow rose when she looked at the new girl. This girl better be able to hold her own, or she's dead meat. Or better yet, she should just send the girl home before they head to the battlefield.

Except... the battle came to them. Lyss felt the overwhelming sensation of a powerful apparition before she could even see the blue demon. She stood as soon as the Outsider descended onto the table. Her foot kicked over her travel mug and coffee began to spill out of the opening and onto the concrete. There was no time to cry over spilt coffee. The girls were unprepared, caught off guard, and they didn't even have Kayla there to help. Kayla, please show up this time. She thought desperately.

The Outsider mentioned her family name, and the hair on the back of her neck rose as she clenched her hands into fists. She began to breathe in through her nose, and out through her mouth. She had to muster up any energy she had to even stand a chance. At least last night she'd recharged, after a brief one night stand that was satisfying and yet regrettable. She could feel her energy pooling into her chest, and flowing down her arm and into the ring she wore on her finger. This was it. She couldn't seal the apparition on her own, but if she held it still enough for the other girls to weaken her, she could try.

Just as her hand raised to save Maya, Lyss was shocked to see Herik manifest an abstraction right before her eyes and save her. Lyss stepped away from the spilt coffee. She backed up a few paces from the apparition and then moved to the right. The others were starting their initial attacks. She had to take a moment just to watch the ferocious leviathan, Vashti in full cursed form, take up a fight against the Outsider. But, she couldn't gawk for long. If she could position herself the right way, and trap the spirit in the right spot, it would be the perfect place for the other girls to attack without consequences. At least, not any direct consequences.

She found her spot just in time to see the bitch grab onto Vashti's tail. Her nerves suddenly took hold of her as she worried for the leviathan woman's fate, but Maya showed her strength just in time to make the Outsider release the tail. Vashti went flying, but at least she could recover from a fall.

Maybe not from the blood-formed demon children, though. Lyss, even though she feared for the other girls safety, had to focus on her own as the disgusting spirits came her way. She held up her arms before her, forearms facing towards the children as she activated her abstraction for the first time in months. Taylor's words were distant to her, but she knew that this next action would show Taylor her true strength. All of this time without using her abstraction, all of this energy unspent... it was time to release it. She brought her elbows down, and a barrier of black lux energy burst from the ring and expanded towards the blood babies until their blood splattered against the Outsider.

Lyss didn't miss a beat. She stood tall and planted her feet apart into a strong defensive stance. Her righthand stretched towards the Oustider, her knuckles and ring aimed towards the spirit, and she stared intently at her as her ring began to glow with black energy. Another barrier of energy began to stretch towards the Outsider until it trapped her in a transparent grey bubble of energy. "I can only hold her for so long, so now is your chance to weaken her!" She shouted. "I can't protect you inside of the barrier, so be careful!"

The Outsider stood there as she was trapped behind the bubble with merely a blank look on her face as she tapped it. "̷̯̉.̸͔́.̴̪͘.̷̳̿ ̸̥͠Ḭ̶͝s̴̖͠ ̴̟̉t̴̖̔ẖ̷̾i̴̛͈s̴̤̾ ̵̙͑y̶̯͆o̸͔͠u̸̼̾r̴͖͛ ̵̘͋ŕ̴͙e̸͉̒a̵̤͝ḽ̶͝ ̵̩̽p̴̻̆o̸͚͐w̴̲͗ė̵̻r̸̢̂,̴̧̔ ̶̙͌B̶̩̂ü̴͍r̵̯̕n̸̨̅s̵̼̏?̵͉̀"̶̧͂ The Outsider asked as she put her hand against it. "̵̭͐I̷͉̍ ̵͇̀s̵̞̋ȁ̵̹w̶͚͂ ̵̛̰y̴̘̿o̷͚͋ú̶͓r̷̖̍ ̴̬́a̷̛̺ṋ̷̕c̵̜̈ë̸̘́s̸̫̚t̴̖̃ô̸̝r̶͙̈ ̶̭́s̷̗͐u̴̗͠m̸̼͝m̷̯͗ô̴̧n̵̟̔ ̷̟͊a̴̛̟ ̷̮̐m̴̟͂o̴̮̿ü̷̺ǹ̸͜t̵̳̽a̶̢͒ǐ̵͜n̴̡͝ ̴͈̃ǒ̶̦f̷̭́ ̸͓̃f̶̡͝l̶͍͋ĕ̷͖ș̸̆ȟ̶͔ ̵̮́ã̷̜n̴̙̑d̴̛̳ ̵̝̂b̶̬͒o̶̲̐n̵͎̂ē̴̢ ̴̢̅t̸̳́o̷̬̔ ̸̡͌b̷̪͊a̶̜͆t̸̼́t̴̰̅ḽ̵̽ẽ̴͕ ̶̞̒ḿ̶̻e̶̻͗.̶̧͑.̴͋ͅ.̸̡͠"̷͍̈

A wave of dark bluish-green energy came out of the Outsider as she decided to fight fire with fire. It pushed against the barrier however, the real attack was towards Lyss. Her hand transformed into a scythe-like claw that was long as she was tall. The scythe was pointed at Lyss and was launched at her in hopes that it'll kill her. The Burns had it coming, they all did.



Babylon summoned another sigil of flames and the area burst into flames and warded off the monsters. The room was filling up with smoke as Emily couldn't help but cough. The smoke was irritating her lungs, but the monsters were being kept just outside of the range of the fires. The flames dissipated and in the span of a second, they all lunged at her and completely covered her. She felt their claws and teeth slash away at her as she screamed, falling backward.

Then she felt like she was falling... and felt the rain against her bare skin. She took in hurried breaths as she seethed... she grabbed her side as she was bleeding. What didn't help was that she was naked but she was out of the chaos. She looked up... to see Ellie. The girl that she treated like garbage all this time, saving her. A tear almost ran down Emily's cheek as she felt so appreciative.

"Ellie, thank you," Emily started, almost laughing. "I'm... I'm so sorry for the way I treated you all this time. I promise I'll do better."

"It's okay," Ellie answered. "I'm-"

Babylon appeared behind Elise with an ornate blade and quickly brought the blade to her neck. She grabbed onto as much hair as she could as she just yanked it so hard that she almost pulled off her scalp. The blade slashed her throat with much, much, blood splashing all over the place. The blood dripped... off the knife as Emily merely screamed.

"BABYLON!?"

Babylon laughed as she threw Ellie to the side as she looked down at Emily. "... They're easier to work with when they're dead." Babylon started.

"What the fuck?!" Emily screamed.

Babylon flew into the open wound on Elise's throat and then it sealed itself shut as Elise's eyes opened. She pushed herself up to her feet as she had a wide smile that was mildly disturbing. Emily felt Babylon leaving... or more accurately, the void that she left inside of her. "Elise" held the knife in air as she tapped the blade and looked down at the wounded Emily.

"I'm sorry, Emily," Babylon started, "I'd rather cut and run than take my chances with the Outsider of all things."

"I... is this what you wanted all along?!" Emily shouted.

"Yes and no," Babylon started... it felt wrong since it was in Elise's annoying voice, "When I first laid eyes on you, I saw a monster. One that was wrapped in chains... and one that was perfect for my empire, Ms. Reed. I just needed to give you that push to break your chains, the first taste of power in your hands... I did everything I needed to."

Babylon kept tapping her finger against the knife as she continued monologuing, "Because you know what I wanted, Ms. Reed. An empire of sin and hedonism... and for that, I need loyal minions. And you had potential and you know how elated I felt when the Coven was formed...? And how disappointed I was when they wasted that potential?"

"... Babylon..." Emily trailed off as she climbed up to her feet. She was in agonizing pain... even taking one footstep was enough to send a shock through to the rest of her leg and fell to the ground.

"Look at yourself, Reed, you're about damn ready to die," Babylon started, "Just do yourself some good and cut and run. If you do survive, then..." Babylon just shrugged as she turned off to the side. "You're free to seek me out."

"I won't let this happen-" Emily hissed as she lunged as Babylon... only to meet the handle of her knife. Emily saw stars as she always fell forward... however, Babylon yanked her forward. Her vision was blurry and her ears were ringing as she could barely hear what Babylon was even saying.

"... That's why I liked you, Reed," Babylon said, "Stubborn as a mule."

And then she planted a deep kiss directly into Emily as she was barely conscious... and still confused as to even what the hell was going on at this point. She tried to resist as she pounded Babylon-in-Elise's shoulder with her fist but she was so weak that it barely did anything. After she was done, she pulled back... and tossed Emily to the ground hard as she could.

"Ciao."

Babylon said as she walked off with a skip in her step... and Emily watched as she couldn't do a thing about it...

Damn it.

How could I have been so stupid?



"Jesus, sugar" Taylor saw the damage that was done to Quinn and the new chick... and saw that Quinn wasn't lying when she said that she was a summoner. Greatest? That remained to be seen but it ain't like Taylor knew a whole lotta them. She shook her head as she continued, "We need to get that patched up ASAP or you could get an infection, sugar."

"Izzy can handle it," Claudette said as she looked on... Alyssa seemed to be the one trying to hold the Outsider off. For that, Claudette applauded her, however, Claudette knew that some of them would be better off regrouping and coming up with a different strategy. To Claudette this was shock and awe... but she was going to keep herself composed. Worse comes to worst; they'll have to completely cut and run and think of a new strategy. She was confident that they could defeat the Outsider - or at the very least stall it - but what Lyss and the others said gives her a very... poor perception of what's going on.

"Fuck it," Taylor said as her hand was coated in a fire, she turned towards Quinn. "I'll burn it shut if you want, sugar. It'll just suck."

---

---

Hah! The ghost jerk was so stupid, so primodial that she didn’t even have the survival instincts to turn and flee as the Leviathan’s mighty tail sliced the air towards her. Something so scrawny wouldn’t be able to survive the hit. Another fucking one shot. Easy victories were still victories, but it was nice to have a real fight every now and then. Maybe the Leviathan would tussle with the bone bitch afterward to prove to the Coven that she was the baddest. Even then, it’d be another easy victory. Nothing could stop her from dominating.

The Leviathan’s tail crashed against the Outsider. The hit was punctuated by another brilliant clap of thunder, which explained why the Leviathan didn’t hear the Outsider go colliding through tables or the adoration of the weakling witches. The Leviathan felt herself being lifted up, likely thrown upon the shoulders of her diminutive flock of dumbasses to be carried back to her red throne of the number eight bumper car, and then she started to spin. The reason she didn’t hear any of the chaos she’d imagined herself causing was because it hadn’t happened: the Outsider had grabbed her tail.

The Leviathan roared as she was spun around and lifted from the ground. The sky was not the place for a sea monster, but her disdain was drowned out by a blast of sound as the Outsider let her go. The Leviathan thrashed as it soared through the air, tail nearly whipping the greatest summoner in the world off of her greatest summon, as she crashed through a support beam and smashed her red throne. The Leviathan howled in pain—over the loss of her throne, because it hardly hurt to get tossed like a fucking morsel of meat about to get snapped out of the air by a pair of powerful jaws. The Leviathan lumbered back up to its hind legs and swatted the destroyed throne in rage, flipping the bumper car wildly away from the group.

Then something tickled her. The Leviathan rose her hand up to her face to see some tiny little demon shit sinking it fangs into her hand. Idiot. The Leviathan huffed and returned the favor, the demon’s blood bursting all over her an overly ripe tomato as she bit in. Not the best blood she’d ever tasted in her life; she’d take a freshly squeezed primate over a demonic baby anyday. The Leviathan snorted in annoyance as more of the little bastards latched on. When swatting them with her claws proved to be underwhelming the Leviathan dropped to all fours and went into a death roll. When she stood back up the great beast looked like she’d fallen in while making wine the traditional way. The Leviathan was soaked from head to toe in blood, as the apex predator should be.

The Tempest continued to pick up as the Leviathan popped another blood creature between her teeth. The second one tasted better than the first, or maybe she’d just acquired the taste. The Leviathan glanced around. The summoner and her sacrifice were raining down lightning while others fled from the scene. The Leviathan’s eyes narrowed into slits as she saw one of the girls turn on and throw her to the ground. Beautiful. Everything was fucking chaos. This was her kingdom, and that dumbass Outsider was still trespassing in it.

The Leviathan began to lumber forward again, tossing chairs, smashing tables, and squashing demon babies that were in her way. Something was wrong with the color around the Outsider. Everything appeared grey, but it didn’t matter because the Leviathan was currently only seeing red. Without hesitating, it stepped through the barrier—at the same time as the Outsider launched its attack at Lyss. The scythe meant to kill the girl instead sliced into the Leviathan’s chest, tearing through the already tattered coat as it ripped a deep cut across the Leviathan's chest. The already blood-soaked clothes deepening in color. A scream of actual pain ripped out of the Leviathan’s throat as she began wildly thrashing about while continuing to push towards the Outsider. The Leviathan was an absolute hurricane of claws strikes and snapping teeth, a fucking unstoppable whirlwind of death.

However, behind its fury there was a rising tide of fear ready to come crashing down.

“Cover me." Maya said, then ran off for cover. Okay. That should be simple. The lion came out of no where, but it shouldn't be hard to get it moving. The lion stood by his side, tall enough to meet him at his hips, but taller than him if it stood on it's hind legs. The beast was massive, but graceful and proud in its movements. A gorgeous companion it is.

"Alright, I don't know what I'm doing, but let's help out our friend, yes?" Herik smiled down at his new friend. It yawned and looked up at him, then ran to cover Maya like he wanted.

Leviathan was tossed away, he worried for his friend, but she can take care of herself. Protect Maya, she'll need the support from the thing trying to kill her. Maya hit Outsider twice, yet the creature didn't move. That's worrying. Herik followed his lion to Maya's side and sat down behind the table. He had to tilt his head so it didn't show over the edge. It didn't matter, however. Something red filled the room, demon babies came out of the floor and jumped him. His lion was at Maya's side, destroying the babies in his strong jaws. Its fur turned red, instead of translucent it looked solid. Herik was left to his own devices. He'd rather Maya be protected then himself when he can handle his own, even though the bites hurt a lot. He grabbed baby after baby and threw them off of him. Tiny, bloody bite marks covered his chest, arms, and legs. One went for his ankle, he kicked it off. They can't stay here. They'll get eaten alive if they waited. Herik saw Claudette's dark bubble going for the exit, Sin and Grace ran out a hole in the wall, and Lyss was holding off Outsider on her own. Emily needed a distraction, but he didn't know what he could do with his lion friend and they were still covered in demon babies. They needed to get out first. He knew Maya has setbacks when she used her power. He picked her up again and ran for the door, lion kept the babies from crawling up his legs. He ran inside Claudette's barrier and set Maya on the ground.

"So what's the pl-"

An animalistic scream hurt his eardrums. Leviathan. It couldn't be anyone other than her. He needed to help. "I'll be back."

He ran out of the darkness and stood next to Lyss. Being around her kept the babies at bay. His lion charged at Outsider's scythe, he rammed into it head first, the blade ripped out of Leviathan's chest and flew across the room. Outsider lost its hand.

---

Maya’s ears rang as all the sounds around her were muffled, but she had managed to hit the Outsider and forced her to let go of the Leviathan. That was something. She saw the demonic infants swarming towards her. She tensed herself to blast them away only for Herik’s lion to be right beside her, destroying them before they could even get near to her. She nodded her thanks and peered a head around the table to try and figure out what was going on from here. Lyss stretched out her hand and a barrier of energy stretched out towards the Outsider. Maya couldn’t hear what was said but she could guess it, she just had to-

Before she could even decide, Maya was swept off her feet as Herik picked her up once again. She turned her head to give him an incredulous look but didn’t say anything… because she didn’t want to sound stupid trying to talk when she couldn’t hear. Her lips were a thin, harsh line as she was set down inside Claudette’s barrier. It didn’t take long for Herik to run back in. She had not signed up for being rescued from something she was actively participating in.

The ringing stopped and she could hear again. She glanced around at the five that were here - Quinn and the new girl were both injured, Izzy was still panicking and Claudette was the one protecting them all. Maybe it was smarter to stay here with them and formulate some kind of plan. But there was no way she was running from a fight that she’d already taken part in. One that she was partly at fault for, at that. And Maya had never claimed to be smart (she definitely had).

“I’m going back in,” she said to no one in particular, before ducking through the shadows and back inside. She ignored the chill that went through her as she emerged from the shadow. The Leviathan was going on an absolute rampage and Herik’s lion seemed to be helping. She took the chaos as an opportunity to move towards Lyss and Herik.

She didn’t know how long Lyss’ barrier was going to hold but with the Leviathan right next to it she didn’t have a clear aim to hit. She was itching to attack but she shouldn’t if it was just going to hit a coven member instead.

“How long can you hold that?” Maya asked Lyss. She glanced at the Leviathan and noticed just how much she was bleeding, before looking back at the Outsider. “I don’t want to waste my energy wildly shooting but I managed to get her to let go of the reptile creature before, maybe I can get her away from it before it’s hurt more.”

Because with all that bleeding it was only a matter of time before the Outsider damaged the Leviathan further. She raised her hands as she tensed, body on edge and ready to use her abstraction in reaction to anything that happened. Waiting for an opportunity where the Leviathan wasn’t in her way to blast the Outsider with all the power she had.

Ah... it seems the reptile has chosen death.

It was unfortunate, as the Outsider seemed to only really want a few people dead above all else. Mainly Maya as Mr. Schmidt wanted her dead, the Burns scion, and the next puppet for Babylon. However... Mr. Schmidt said to wipe out the Coven, so that's what the Outsider intended on. The blade pierced the creature and it stayed there. The creature attempted to tear the Outsider apart with a series of blades and slashes... to which the Outsider merely let it. Leviathan tore the Outsider apart, sending bits and pieces of its ghostly form all over the place as if she was flesh...

Madison had used the Jaws to create massive claws and with one powerful swipe, Madison managed to cut through a large swathe of the creatures. Fortunately, they were weakshit compared to the Jaws however, that wound of hers was still oozing and it was extremely painful. She grit her teeth as she tried to ignore it... but it was getting harder and harder. Emily disappeared with Ellie but Ellie hadn't come back yet and she wondered what else Blake had in store.

Vashti kept attacking the Outsider - but Madison already knows the thing is probably just toying with them. It went without saying that they needed a plan... honestly, they should probably just haul ass. Especially if the thing is as dangerous as Lyss and Babylon says it is. Madison looked and saw that Herik came back in... followed by Maya. Madison would have facepalmed because that action was so outstandingly stupid given it was going for her ass. Shit, shit, shit. Madison flew in onto the other side and punched the Outsider in the back with all of her strength to give a distraction as she shouted.

"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, MAYA!"

"̵̦̾I̸̥̔́ ̶̧̙̏͆w̶̤͇͌̃o̶̒̕ͅu̶̺̽l̵̯͇̃̈́d̶͙̈́̄ ̴͕͓̔̊p̵͚̽r̷̊͜ȅ̵͈̹f̵̠̾ȇ̸̙͕͗ŕ̴̪͓̚ ̴̭̔̎t̷̮̳̏h̸̥̜͂̈́ả̸̖͛t̴̺̓ ̸̢͆s̶̙̑͠ḩ̵̮͗̿ẹ̷̾̾ ̴̡̳͛s̸̯̀̚t̸̹̀̈́a̴̝͔̍̇y̴̼̓̀s̴̛̮̾,̵̡̦͝"̵̝͙̚ The Outsider said as they reformed in an instant as they ignored the attacks. The Outsider raised their hand. "̸̧̥̔T̶͔̹̈́h̸͈̟̋ẽ̴̹̟͒ ̶̠͆r̸̮̙͑ẽ̷̹ś̵̩̮͌t̴͋͜ ̵̯̼̃o̶̗̱̐f̷̻̓ ̶̧͖͝y̸̭̦͝o̸̞̙͋́ư̸̢ ̷̡͊̓͜c̶̪̉̊ǡ̶̮̭n̵̲̼̄ ̸̼͍̾͗ġ̸̪̫͝ö̷̖́̏.̷̼̐ ̶͔̭̄͝G̵͓̺̃̈́o̴̻͛ͅo̵͔̲͂̔d̵͎̓b̴͍̘͛͋ȳ̸͎e̶̥͋̓.̷̥͖̋"̸͙͑̀

Before a powerful wind came from the Outsider, pushing outwards... one that so strong that not even Madison could take it. She was sent flying through the roof as the building came crumbling down and everyone else was sent out the building. Until it was nothing but herself and Maya...

---

"̷̯̉.̸͔́.̴̪͘.̷̳̿ ̸̥͠Ḭ̶͝s̴̖͠ ̴̟̉t̴̖̔ẖ̷̾i̴̛͈s̴̤̾ ̵̙͑y̶̯͆o̸͔͠u̸̼̾r̴͖͛ ̵̘͋ŕ̴͙e̸͉̒a̵̤͝ḽ̶͝ ̵̩̽p̴̻̆o̸͚͐w̴̲͗ė̵̻r̸̢̂,̴̧̔ ̶̙͌B̶̩̂ü̴͍r̵̯̕n̸̨̅s̵̼̏?̵͉̀"̶̧͂ The Outsider asked as she put her hand against Lyss's trap. "̵̭͐I̷͉̍ ̵͇̀s̵̞̋ȁ̵̹w̶͚͂ ̵̛̰y̴̘̿o̷͚͋ú̶͓r̷̖̍ ̴̬́a̷̛̺ṋ̷̕c̵̜̈ë̸̘́s̸̫̚t̴̖̃ô̸̝r̶͙̈ ̶̭́s̷̗͐u̴̗͠m̸̼͝m̷̯͗ô̴̧n̵̟̔ ̷̟͊a̴̛̟ ̷̮̐m̴̟͂o̴̮̿ü̷̺ǹ̸͜t̵̳̽a̶̢͒ǐ̵͜n̴̡͝ ̴͈̃ǒ̶̦f̷̭́ ̸͓̃f̶̡͝l̶͍͋ĕ̷͖ș̸̆ȟ̶͔ ̵̮́ã̷̜n̴̙̑d̴̛̳ ̵̝̂b̶̬͒o̶̲̐n̵͎̂ē̴̢ ̴̢̅t̸̳́o̷̬̔ ̸̡͌b̷̪͊a̶̜͆t̸̼́t̴̰̅ḽ̵̽ẽ̴͕ ̶̞̒ḿ̶̻e̶̻͗.̶̧͑.̴͋ͅ.̸̡͠"̷͍̈

Lyss pressed her lips together and shifted her feet to get a better stance. The comment jostled her, but she wasn't going to let the Outsider know. So what if she didn't dabble in necromancy? It's not like it's a practical abstraction anymore. One video of a zombie crawling out of the ground and she would be burnt at the stake by sundown. She didn't need the undead to keep this apparition at bay. She just needed her trap, focus, help to weaken her, and the right sigil.

The long blade of flesh and bone was flung her way. For a moment, Lyss considered cutting the barrier and running. If she made it far away, she could gather the rest of the Burns clan to stop the Outsider once again. She stared the scythe down instead, and mentally told the blue bitch to bring it on. Yet, instead of the scythe colliding with the edge of her barrier, Vashti the Leviathan jumped in the way. Lyss gasped as the scythe slashed through her chest. She almost lost her focus at the sight. Almost. The Leviathan was okay. Just a bad cut that Izzy could heal, if Izzy kept herself safe.

Lyss looked over at Herik, whose Lion abstraction saved Vashti's life. She gave him a grateful nod, before her head turned to survey the other girls. Emily was on the ground and barely conscious. Her side was bloody. So was Madison's. One of the blood demons must have clawed its way through the Jaw's protection. Claudette, Izzy, Quinn, the new chick, and Taylor were gone. Had the cut and run? Was it just Lyss and Herik left to fight?

The odds weren't looking good.

"How long can you hold that?"

Lyss turned her head around to see Maya standing next to her. The relief of seeing another friend ready to help felt amazing, but Lyss also felt a deep worry for her. Maya was number one on Blake Schmidt's shit list. She would be the only person besides herself that the Outsider really wanted dead.

She didn't get a chance to tell her to run. Lyss saw Madison swoop in for one more hit before the Outsider's ominous voice announced Maya's doom. Lyss paled as the Outsider raised her hand and watched the windstorm come her way. She shut her eyes tightly and curled her right hand into a tight ball. She was going to hold onto this trap no matter what. She could-

She was thrown back by the wind. Lyss felt her body flying through the air. The trap was still intact, dragging the apparition along with her until Lyss felt her body crash through the restaurant's large window. The trap was gone within the next second.

---

Lyss groaned. Everything hurt. It felt ten times worse than a hangover, or being thrown off of a wayward motorcycle. She remembered her first tussle in the Black Market, but even that couldn't compare.

Maya... Where's Maya? Lyss's head was blurry as she used her elbows and hands to push herself up. Her hand pressed against something sharp and Lyss hissed. Broken glass. It was all around her. She could feel where bits had sliced through her jeans and the back of her head on her way through the window. Fuck.

Her eyes looked up at the building. It looked like it exploded. Herik and the others weren't in her sight. She wasn't even sure how much time had passed. A few minutes? A few seconds? "Maya!?" She shouted. What if I'm too late?

No... The Outsider would have come for herself next. Maya must still be alive somewhere in the rubble. The Outsider was still distracted with that order to worry about Lyss... for now.

Lyss slowly rose to her feet, wincing as she did so. I'm not even getting paid for this. Her head turned to look around her. She needed an object. Something that could easily be overlooked and left to rot for centuries. Something she could easily transport to the middle of the ocean and drop into the abyss.

Her necklace? It could work. It was made of strong metal. Not easily broken. Next all she needed to do was make the sigil. She'd need the Outsider to be near it, if she was going to trap the spirit and seal her all at once. Hold on tight, Maya. I'll be there soon. Please stay safe She thought as she began to crawl over what was left of the restaurant's walls and into the rubble. She just needed a flat surface to draw the sigil, and there it was.

Almost in the center of the rubble laid what remained of a white door. It was stained from years of sitting there, but it was the perfect place to do her job. Lyss knelt down in front of it and, without a thought to her own safety about the cleanliness of the door, began to smear her bloody cut against it.

First she drew a large circle, and then began to fill in the inside of it with a sigil she'd only used once before in her lifetime. She'd trapped another spirit that was at least a third below the Outsider's power with this sigil. She'd just need to do it at the right time.

Lyss's bloody hands fumbled with the clasp to her necklace before she'd successfully removed it. The necklace was set into the middle of the sigil. Now it was time to wait. The time to hope to Satan that Maya was still okay.