[IC] MONSTORY

[Dead Cruiser]

"Aha, we have a deal." Riley said, his grin widening but otherwise not moving. "Now then, here's your hint: what's that immortal body of yours good for? Try and remember now. Use your head." His eyes seemed to narrow, his smile now seeming coy, almost sly.

What was he implying? Another vampire characteristic? Izzy knew only what she had learned from mass media, movies, TV, that kind of thing. Here and there parts of it were proven to be true, but it seemed that just as much wasn't. How was she supposed to know how her body could help Trevor? She only seemed to learn anything about herself in fights, or when Cerasus deemed it necessary to mention something to her. Wait, had Cerasus said something to her? The adrenaline from the fight and the panic and grief she felt over Trevor was overwhelming her, she couldn't think straight enough to remember.

[Riven Wight]

A hint? After all that, he was only going to give her a hint?
Wanting to look at neither Riley nor Trevor, Izzy cast her gaze to the ground, doing her best to recall everything she knew--or thought she knew--about vampires, but everything from the night kept interfering. She wanted it to be over and done with, to just wake up in her bed back home and find that the night, that the entire past week-and-a-half, was nothing but a nightmare.
“Not being dead?” she snapped, wrapping her arms over each other. Every second that ticked by was a dangerous moment stolen from Trevor. She withdrew a hand as she brushed the still healing burn on her arm. “Regeneration?” She shook her head, then placed a hand to her forehead. She didn’t have time for his petty games. She dragged her hand down her face, the red on her fingertips from Episode mostly dry.
Use your head... Her hand froze over her face, Riley’s statement and the color on her skin bringing back her last little chat with Cerasus. She blanched. He has to be joking. But a quick glance to Trevor’s body made up her mind.
“I really hate you, you know that?” she growled to Riley as she quickly wiped her fingers off on her pants.
She inhaled deeply, raised a shaking hand toward her temple, and closed her eyes, trying to not think about what she was about to do. With a look mixed between dread and disgust frozen on her face--and hoping regeneration covered preventing her from vomiting--she drove her fingers into her head. The sickening crack of her skull reverberated with a low-pitched sound in her ears that made her stomach churn, and she scrunched her eyes shut tighter. Though her vampiric powers worked to prevent more than just the initial pinch of her nails against her skin, it was harrowing, to say the least, to be rooting around in her skull and the wet, soft mass inside for a memory, for some piece of information she had missed and Riley refused to outright tell her.

[Dead Cruiser]

Izzy usually tried to avoid Cerasus during the long nights and longer days they spent waiting around in the abandoned school. He seemed generally content to while his days away sleeping and staring off into space, but even he got bored sometimes, and would occasionally track Izzy down to talk to her. Usually he was actually just tormenting her for his own amusement, but sometimes he tried asking questions about herself or her family. Izzy almost never answered him. Most of these conversations ended up just being Cerasus prattling off about something or another, and Izzy idly sitting by, waiting for him to leave. However, one small detail sprung back to mind, its memory ignited by Izzy's brain massage.

"...Of course, my wounds will heal as well." Cerasus explained to an uncaring Izzy, "Not as fast as yours, but such is part and parcel with vampiric immortality in my bloodline. There is healing power in our blood, integral to our kin..."

[Riven Wight]

The moment the memory came to her, she pulled her hand from her head, the wound healing no sooner than she had removed the object that inflicted it, and opened her eyes. Her blood. Her blood could heal him.
Hoping she would be in time to save Trevor, she actively avoided looking to Riley as she returned to her friend's wounded side and raised the hand freshly painted in crimson over it.
“How much will it take?” she asked Riley, her words coming out in a quick jumble. Even before he could answer, she used her other hand to brush the thick red from her skin, making it drip on Trevor’s gaping gash.

[Dead Cruiser]

No sooner did the first few drops of blood land in Trevor's wound, did it start to regenerate. Slowly at first, but Izzy dug into her skull again and allowed a fresh gout of blood to pour straight into his wound. Watching, it was as though time was being rewound. Organs began to knit together, shattered bones fused and realigned. It seemed far more like the wound was being reversed, rather than healed. Izzy healed much faster than Trevor, and her blood evaporated quickly, and so she had to keep wounding herself to keep pouring blood into the wound.

Soon enough, Trevor's skin crawled back over the muscle that had been exposed, fully healing the wound. There wasn't even a scar left. Just pure, smooth skin. Experimentally, Izzy placed her hand on the exposed flesh. Warm and taut, she could feel the strong muscle underneath, and the steady pulse of a strong heartbeat. Looking up to express her joy to Riley, she found that he had vanished without a trace.

[Riven Wight]

Izzy gave a relieved exhale as she placed her hand on the newly-formed skin, the blood soaked into the shredded fabric around it the only evidence remaining that there had been a wound at all. Trevor was alive. She bent her head, a triumphant smile daring to spread over her lips. At last, she looked up to find Riley, to share the news, but he had gone.
Then her gaze fell to the problem that had gotten pushed to the back of her mind in the wake of Trevor’s impending death. Psychotic Episode. He had not moved from where she had left him.
She looked to Trevor’s face, reluctant to leave him, but his heart beat in reassurance that he would be fine. And she needed to deal with the whole reason for this catastrophe in the first place. Slowly, Izzy got to her feet, carefully stepped around Trevor, and made her way to Episode, glancing back once to reassure herself her friend would be fine. She held her breath, fearing she had killed the hunter. She had certainly been ready to rip his heart out just a few short moments before. She shuddered at the thought.
Slowly, cautiously, she neared him and squatted a couple feet away, ready to jump back in case he regained consciousness and went on the attack, and hoping “murderer” would not be a term applicable to her.
"Psychotic Episode," she said, doing her best to make her voice stern.

[Dead Cruiser]

The vampire hunter, completely passed out, did not respond to Izzy's calling of his name. He was breathing, at least, though the bruises around his neck still looked brutal. Whatever regenerative factor he had, it didn't seem to allow him to heal at any speed that was visible to the eye. He would probably still be out cold for a little while longer.

However, it seemed that someone else had awoken. "Izzy...?" A soft, weakened voice called from not far behind her. Trevor was glancing about, squinting, trying to find her. It must have been difficult in the dark, his glasses knocked off of his face. "Wha... What...?" He seemed disoriented, to say the least.

[Riven Wight]

Izzy crossed her arms as she watched Episode’s chest rise and fall, her gaze lingering on the nasty bruises she had left and the small circular blood spots around finger-sized holes in his outfit in turn. She had seen enough blood in the last few minutes to last her a few lifetimes.
This time, when she heard her name called out into the night, her head eagerly turned toward the source of the voice, a voice she had thought she might never hear again. In an instant, she was once more at Trevor’s side. “Hey, I’m here.” She smiled down at him. “Lie still. I don’t know how...” she glanced to his healed flank, letting the statement fade away. “I thought I’d lost you,” she breathed, her eyes tearing up again. She wanted to hug him, but the worry she might hurt him kept her back. She quickly wiped at an eye with the back of her hand. She looked back to him. “How do you feel?”

[Dead Cruiser]

"Ughh," Trevor groaned, slowly picking himself up into a sitting position. "I feel... something. Like I just woke up from a bad nap." He felt his face, realizing that his glasses were gone, and carefully felt around himself to try and find them. Meanwhile he continued to speak to Izzy, "So, uh, I guess since we're having this nice chat, you won?"

[Riven Wight]

Izzy lifted her hands toward Trevor to help him sit up, and gave a sigh of relief at his response.
“Good. I think. Here,” she added, realizing what Trevor must be looking for, “let me. Night vision, remember?” She scanned the ground for his glasses, before finding them a couple feet away as he asked his question.
“Yeah, I did.” Izzy grabbed his glasses and handed them to him. “Thanks to you. I just, uh,” she glanced toward Episode and rubbed the back of her neck, “have to wait for him to regain consciousness.” She looked back to him and frowned. “Trevor, what’s the last thing you remember?”

[Dead Cruiser]

"Thanks," he said briskly as he accepted his glasses from Izzy, putting them back on. It was quite dark out, and he probably couldn't see all that much better for having them, but it was comforting for him, judging by his expression. "Remember?" Trevor scratched the back of his head, trying to recall what had happened. "Calling for you, and then I heard you yell, and then I got knocked to the ground by... something. I don't remember that much after that." He leaned over to look past Izzy at Episode's limp form, and then looked back at Izzy with an anxious, tight-lipped expression. "I ought to get going. I'll... talk to you tomorrow, Izzy." He got up, leaning heavily on his knees, and slowly easing onto his feet. "I think I'm gonna study... or something..." He muttered as he began to walk home, waving Izzy goodbye.

No sooner had Trevor crossed beyond the threshold of the athletic field and out of sight did Riley reappear, leaning over Izzy with a subdued, satisfied expression. "Glad to see that worked out. I love a happy ending. Though actually, this story isn't nearly over yet, is it?" He looked back to Episode's unconscious body, and stolled over to stand over him. Picking the man up by the collar of his shirt, he shook him around like a ragdoll, while calling, "Episode... Mister Episode... Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."

It seemed that somehow, Episode was actually roused by this, as his eyes fluttered open. As soon as he regained consciousness, though, his face contorted in pain, his hands slowly traveling to where Izzy had throttled him, but stopped where she had nearly torn out his heart. He grimaced, shaking off Riley's grip to slowly get back onto his feet.

"Un-friggin-believable," he muttered bitterly, "Lost to a total ameteur. Must be losing my edge." He noticed Izzy looking at him, obviously with some choice words planned for him, "Oh, don't glare at me like that." He said to her, "Look, I'm sorry about your friend, honest. I got over-excited. Plus, I might've been playing it off, but a battle with the thrall of the Aberration Slayer is no picnic for me. I couldn't afford even a regular human tipping the scales. Though I look like a real smacked ass now that I lost." He held out a finger toward Izzy in a warning gesture. "But don't think a cute little trick like that is gonna work on Guillotine Cutter. I might be pretty crazy, but his crazy is on a whole other level."

With that, he had Riley wandered off a ways to talk on their own. Izzy tried listening in, but she couldn't catch much more than some scraps of the conversation. They even seemed to be speaking another language at one point. From what she could tell, they were just talking about finalizing their arrangement.

"Alright, I'll see you there," Episode finally said, and departed.

Riley helped Izzy put the athletic field back in order. They filled in the massive gouges Episode's cross left in the ground, picked up the sand and put it back into the long jump pit (which had been emptied by the force of Izzy's landing), and did their best to wash away the bloodstain that Trevor had left. Unlike a vampire, his flesh didn't evaporate when he regenerated, so Riley went about and collected the loose bits of his body that had been shorn off. He buried them in the school garden, and then put over the plot a little marker that read, "Here Lies Tweety." He even made it a little cross, maybe as a joke. It made Izzy a little sick. With the school back in reasonable condition, he waved Izzy off, telling her to wait for him back at the school. Just like that, another battle fought and won.

[Riven Wight]

Izzy nodded as Trevor answered her question, grateful that that was all he remembered. Or, at least, all he let on about remembering. Hopefully the giant hole in his shirt would not jog his memory.
“Yeah,” she said absently when he said he should go, then gave him a half smile about talking to him tomorrow. “You better.” She raised her hands once more as if to catch him if he lost his balance. She wanted to make sure he got home okay, but she knew that would only spell more trouble for him, and leaving the field in its current state and with Episode still there would be unwise. "Let me know you got home, okay?"
She watched Trevor go with worried eyes, returning his wave from where she still knelt. When he was out of sight, Izzy sighed and moved to stand, but startled back when Riley leaned over her. She snorted and gave a dry laugh, her mood shifting from relieved to irritated.
“Like you give a crap what would’ve happened to him,” she growled, standing as he continued. Slowly, she followed Riley over to Episode. When he picked him up by the collar, she thought for just a moment to stop him, not wanting him to risk the hunter's further injury and lengthening the time it took him to regain consciousness, but a part of her rather enjoyed watching the scene.
Izzy crossed her arms over her chest when he, surprisingly, came to, her murderous gaze watching as he seemed to take stalk of his injuries and feeling no pity for the pain on his face. Whatever he felt, he deserved nothing less.
Hatred burning in her eyes as he complained about “losing his edge,” she took a slight step toward him. She opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted. She snorted at his apology, and raised her brows when he held a finger out to her.
“Well, thanks for the warning,” she spat, but, before she could say more, the hunter and Riley walked off.
Suspicion coating her face as she tried, but failed, to listen in on their conversation, she waited impatiently, her fingers tapping against her thigh, until, finally, Episode left.
She said nothing to Riley as the two cleaned up, wishing he would just disappear like he always did.
At least I actually know he’s here, she thought with a heavy sigh, casting him wary glances every now and again.
However, when it came to cleaning up what remained of Trevor, she was glad for his help, unintentionally leaving him the brunt of the work. Glad, at least until he decided to make a mock grave.
“You think you’re real cute, don’t you?” Izzy snapped. She swallowed and turned from him, running a hand through her bangs. “Inconsiderate creep,” she muttered under her breath as she walked away from him.
When he told her to wait at the school, she groaned. She wanted to protest, but was sure it would do no good. So, with a sigh, Izzy started toward the school, trying to not dwell on what had happened that night, though her mind kept wondering to Trevor. She limped slightly even once her foot healed from the unevenness of her soles until she paused to deposit both the remains of one shoe and the entirety of the other in a dumpster.
Her shoulders slumped when the abandoned school came into sight. She paused just outside the door, wondering if she could avoid Cerasus’ notice until Riley arrived. Mapping out the quickest way to the room where she had her things--she was sure she had shoved an extra pair of sneakers in her pack--she squeezed through the doors as quietly as she could and headed deeper into the school.

[Dead Cruiser]

Despite Izzy's efforts to avoid Cerasus, he wasn't idling away his time in one of the classrooms like he normally was. Rather, she encountered him in one of the school halls. He was hanging upside-down from an exposed pipe in the ceiling by his knees. He looked much like a child playing around on monkey bars. Or a bat. Noticing Izzy walking past, he cracked an eye open and looked over her. He might have been sneaking in a little shuteye while he was up there. In any case, seeing her caused him to grin slowly, his fangs poking out over his bottom lip.

"Damocles: two; vampire hunters: zero." He quipped, before dropping from the ceiling and landing quite nimbly on his feet. "Now where is that boy?" He mused aloud, not really expecting an answer.

He got one anyway, though. "Pizza delivery!" Called Riley from downstairs.

"Speak of the devil..." Cerasus muttered as he led Izzy downstairs.

Just as before, Riley handed Cerasus a human arm from out of his duffel bag. This one was somewhat different from the last, in ways other than merely being a right arm rather than a left. It was severed at the elbow, rather than the shoulder, for one, and it was not cleanly cut off. Rather, upon close inspection the arm appeared to have melted off, judging by the burns and hanging flesh on the mutilated end of it. No doubt the work of Psychotic Episode's silver cross.

"Just a moment," Cerasus said, before departing to a nearby room with his arm.

Again, the sounds of eating filled the hall. This one seemed to go by faster, though, as he had less arm to get through, and a larger body with which to eat it. Izzy was somewhat grateful, as it cut down on the awkward silence that carried between her and Riley. She was still sore over his seeming indifference over Trevor's near-demise. Cerasus emerged after he had finished eating, and once again he had grown. Now he appeared to be about Izzy's age, practically a young adult. He was taller than her now, with a defined musculature and more mature features. He was actually quite striking and attractive, if one could look past the "flesh-eating immortal monster" aspect of him. His blond hair had grown even longer, but was now tied back in a roguish ponytail, and his schoolboy uniform had been replaced by a similarly old-fashioned rugby uniform adorned with silver and red stripes.

"Mmmh," he sighed, in what sounded like contentment. Already his voice sounded much deeper. Cerasus seemed just as pleased now as he had when he had gotten back his other limb. "Yes, this feels much better. I dare say my immortality has nearly returned."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy startled when she noticed Cerasus out of the corner of her eye as she passed the hall in which he hung. She jumped and spun toward him, her arms raising defensively before she realized it was only him hanging from the ceiling. She cocked her head at him as if trying to see him more right-side-up, thinking how strangely fitting the position was. It's appropriateness only grew when he grinned, showing his fangs.
Her shoes would have to wait.
“Yippee,” Izzy said stiffly, watching him return to the floor.
With Trevor still on her mind, she eyed Cerasus questioningly when he asked about “that boy,” but before she could ask, “What boy?” the answer came from the main level. Her face twisted in a snort at Riley’s voice, but, nevertheless, she followed Cerasus downstairs, lagging behind a few steps.
Izzy kept a fair distance between her and Riley as he handed over the arm she had won, not wanting to be near him. When Cerasus took the arm and left, Izzy wandered toward the door and looked out at the night beyond, shuddering at the sound of Cerasus downing his arm. Trying to tune it out and keeping her back to Riley, she naturally reached toward her pocket for her phone to text Trevor, to make sure he had made it back okay--or, at least, was doing alright, since she had no idea what, if any, side effects her method of healing him might have--but remembered that Trevor still had it. She sighed, then contented herself with just placing her hand into her pocket.
All of that, she thought bitterly, because I left my stupid phone here. She closed her eyes and took a breath. But it’s over and done with, she reminded herself. He’s alive. That’s what matters.
When Cerasus’ returning footsteps replaced his munchings thankfully quicker than the last time, she turned from the door to see how he had changed. If she had not spent the last while with him, had not known what lay just behind his comely appearance, she would have said he looked rather suave. For a fleeting moment, she imagined him attending her high school, and could not help but smirk. Yet, that he was now taller than her made her feel a bit uneasy. Already, she had grown used to him being shorter, looking younger.
"Great." She crossed her arms loosely with her hands on her elbows, still looking Cerasus over. “Where are you getting the outfits?”

[Dead Cruiser]

"Hm?" Cerasus quirked an eyebrow, looking at his clothes as though Izzy had said something strange about them, "Oh, a vampire's clothes are practically part of their body. My clothes never get dirty, do you notice? Remember as well, whenever Dramatic Theurge or that other one turned to mist, their clothes did as well." He rolled his neck, thinking of how to better explain the idea. Oh great, Izzy got him started again. "You could think of it like Dramatic Theurge's swords, but attire relies more on the ability of matter generation than transformation." He walked over to sit on top of one of the desks in a somewhat delinquent manner. "I too sometimes wield a sword in battle, but unlike Dramatic Theurge, I employ matter generation to do so, not transformation."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy nodded at Cerasus’ question, then looked down at the sorry state of her own clothes. She suppressed a sigh when he rolled his neck, knowing a rant of some sort was surely to follow, but she had decided it best to pay closer attention to what she thought was just useless prattle from him. After all, if she had only listened better, she could have saved herself a good deal of the trouble that occurred in the athletic field. She turned to keep her eyes on him as he went to a desk.
Izzy glanced to the floor. Now there was matter generation. That was another one to add to the books.
She looked back to Cerasus, and took a step toward him, uncrossing her arms. “Can you teach me to use that? Matter generation and transformation?"

[Dead Cruiser]

"Ehh, perhaps," Cerasus answered noncommittally, "It comes as instinct more than anything else, and can be difficult to teach. Especially for me in my current condition." He swept his arms over himself to demonstrate his point. "I could explain the functions and eccentricity of either power to you from A to Z but I doubt that would do you much practical good. With you about to fight Guillotine Cutter next, you will need all of the practical good you can manage."

A strange unease hung in the air when the final vampire hunter's name was mentioned. Cerasus' brow seemed to knit together as he mentioned him, and Riley's smile falter slightly. Guillotine Cutter, the man in priestly robes with an otherwise punk appearance. The man with no obvious weapon or powers. The man that took both of Cerasus' legs from him.

[Riven Wight]

“Oh.” Izzy’s shoulders sagged slightly. Instinct. Great. Her eyes widened slightly when he offered to explain the powers--she was not ready to listen that intently.
The change in the atmosphere when Cerasus merely mentioned the name made Izzy shift her weight uneasily. She was sure that it bode ill for her when just the name could make even Riley’s smile falter. And if the hunters each claimed the limb they had torn asunder, as the state of the arm Episode had possession of implied, Guillotine Cutter had removed two, while his companions had only one apiece.
She wrapped her arms around herself and cast a quick glance between the two. “What is he?” she asked quietly. “What..." Her gaze settled back on Cerasus. "What can he do?"

[Dead Cruiser]

Cerasus brow furrow further as he started to explain more about Cutter to Izzy. Or tried to. He stammered a bit at first, and his gaze moved to the floor. His hands seemed to clench at his sides and he searched for exactly what it was he wanted to say. Riley merely leaned up against a wall and said nothing, looking expectantly at Cerasus. He didn't seem his usual happy-go-lucky self now that this topic had arisen, but he didn't seem as bothered as the vampire.

"Guillotine Cutter is..." Cerasus finally said, "Human. Not a vampire. Not a half-vampire. A perfectly pure, plain, ordinary human. Like yourself, before we met. He is also what you might call... a holy man. He is, oh what was the word, a... bishop. No, an archbishop. An agent of the church."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy held her breath, watching Cerasus’ reaction with anticipation.
“Human?” Izzy repeated incredulously, thinking back to the speed at which the man had moved, speed far more superior than any human she had ever heard of, and how both Cerasus and Riley reacted to the topic.
When Cerasus finished, she blinked and raised her eyebrows.
“Guillotine Cutter,” she said slowly, making sure they were still talking about the same person. “Punk-rocker hair,” she moved her hands above her head, pretending to lift her hair into crazy spikes, “and enough metal in his face to give all airport security in a hundred-mile radius a heart attack? That guy. An archbishop? What, he a Van Helsing wannabe or something?” She ran a hand down her face. Though she had seen to an extent the damage holy relics could do to vampires, the full gravity of the title was lost to her in the absurdity of it. “What does that mean for me, then? What should I expect? Prepare for?”