A Night Visitor - part 2

JP with Redsword, Lorem, Jaxx, Lasersexpanther and Cindy

May 12
2:30 AM

Lily was tired and went to sleep by 9:30 pm. True she could stay up and enjoy her freedom of staying up late as an adult but she had a lot of duties to attend to and knew she needed her rest. Taking care of the mail and checking up on the good doctor took up a lot of her time and energy and this was before any additional work bestowed on her by Lady Elizabeth. She also knew her schedule would get tighter when he training was going to begin for her future place in the Order. So despite her wrestles sleep from her troubled life incorporated into her nightmares she managed to get enough sleep to get through her day however this was different since she was rudely woken up by the sound of a feral animal.

A stray cat jumped out of a tree and upfront of Sung, letting out a loud "OWWWW!"

She stood up in a half glazed state as her enhanced hearing alerted her to the hissing and growling of a cat nearby. She rubbed her head and eyes to regain her composure despite her fatigue. Then she sighed and took a sip of water from the glass on her night stand to clear her throat. Once she cleared her throat she got out of bed and put on her robe. Then she crept to her window to see where that naughty cat was hiding.

Meanwhile Dr. Jackal was still asleep despite his nightmares. He rolled a bit in his bed covered in sweat as his skin began to turn reddish then back to normal as he anguished in his dreams. This was a normal night for him as he was reliving every horrible experience he had as Big Red. From scaring others to hurting others to killing others to eating others, Dr. Jackal resisted his change as he fought for his humanity. He refused to let the beast control him even in his nightmares while rolling in his sleep. He was so entranced by his nightmare that he was completely oblivious to the sounds outside. Sadly he might even not notice gunfire going on around him in this state.

Lorem gripped the hand cannon tighter, trying to keep the weapon from rattling out of her shaking grip. She angled her body in the direction of the cat. She could hear it moving off, but there was another sound moving in the same proximity. She assumed it was another cat, or some other animal that the cat was yelling at. What unnerved her most was the fact she could hear something move but couldn’t see it. It made her imagination jump to all sorts of wild, and irrational, conclusions due to her insecurity.

Perhaps she should investigate further. If it was a danger to the household just waiting for her to go back to bed, then she would have failed at protecting the others; perhaps herself if she went back to sleep.

Lorem gulped, better safe than sorry; she could ask for forgiveness later. She aimed in the direction of the noises and fires up into the air. The "Happy Hummingbird” took flight. It featured a burst of sparkling random moving lights and buzzing hum, stunning and disorienting foes within its range. She was hoping it would catch the attention of any interloper and send them fleeing. In addition to shine some light on the situation.

Lily was almost blinded by the bright flash out the window as she was still sleepy and her eyes adjusting to the night sky. She stepped back and covered her eyes as she instinctively did a partial transformation to reveal her wolf eyes, ears, teeth and claws. She was on edge now and peered out the window as she let out a low growl.

Sung instinctively moved again to the right now, being beside the house as the shot rang out. Sung was still close to the ground but now against the house. The Hummingbird lit off Sung was in the shadow of the house. Sung thought this could get out of hand and weighed some options. Sung could just run and they would not even know he was there hopefully. he would have to see their next move. He took one of the stones and threw it at a statue in the yard striking it. hoping that would get everyone's attention.

Oddly enough the bright flash and sounds outside did trigger the good doctor to do a partial transformation in his sleep as he burst out of his pajamas and ripped his sheets as well. He opened his yellow eyes for a moment in anguish before they rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed out cold and slowly transformed back into a human. Oddly enough he lay in tattered pajamas and ripped sheets in his sleep. He or anyone who would wake him up in the morning, would be in for a surprise.

Lorem’s head turned on a swivel when she heard an unfamiliar growl sound coming from the house window. Was her mind playing tricks on her? There was a bipedal humanoid looking beast like silhouette at one of the windows. Was there an intruding monster inside the building.

Her heart pounded in her chest as a surge of adrenaline spiked in her tiny system. She fumbled to reload and was successful despite trying not to look away from the window. She let out a loud cry, but her tiny soft voice didn’t carry far. “Intruder! In da house!”

Suddenly she heard another sound nearby as a stone thrown by Sung hit a statue. She shrieked in fright and turned towards it. All she saw was the statues silhouette and thought it a live threat; a potential monster up from the under dark come to claim her. She fired…

The “Blazing Tiger” launched and hit the ground not far from the statue. A much bigger burst of light, sound and heat erupted upon impact. Things had escalated.

Lily could see something was going outside and was very concerned, but also knew she could not leave her room like this. Only three other members knew of her condition and she was not ready to confront them yet. So she watched in silence out the window hoping to clam down and revert back to her human form. She knew she was in no condition to stop anyone who broke in the house and prayed the others would take care of it for now.

Elizabeth hit the ground outside in the back right as the "Happy Hummingbird" went off. She and Harold looked at each other. The "Blazing Tiger" had lit up enough of the area to make out the silhouette of a person. Elizabeth was certainly trained enough to not let the rock at the statue distract her, and Harold followed her lead.

Elizabeth knew she did not need to yell for Lorem to hear her. "Lorem please stop. It's under control."

Meanwhile, both Elizabeth and Harold quietly snuck over by the shadowy figure. Harold with cane in hand, Elizabeth ready with her magic.

They got closer, but still weren't able to make out excatly who it was, both prepared to strike.

Lorem caught the instructions from Lady Elizabeth. It was just in the nick of time too, because she had loaded another round and her trigger finger was so close to taking out that statue; which she was finally starting to realize wasn’t a real person.

She watched as others had arrived on the scene and gladly abdicated responsibility over to them for whatever was going on. The barrel of her hand cannon though traced behind the steps of Lady Elizabeth and Harold just in case.

Sung realized he had been found out when he heard Lady Elizabeth say something to Lorem. He might be able to still run and make it past the wall with his speed but why, Sung had seen enough at this point but did give Sung some ideas and things the team could work on.

Then the thought of the neighbors and all of this Sung feel a bit guilty. He knew there would be some explaining to do. Sung made a mental note not to do this again at the house.

Sung raised his hand up with a smile "I submit" Sung said looking a bit guilty.

Sasha had been awoken at some point by all the noise, but when she heard the explosions she'd taken cover. Now that the sound and fury had died down she approached. Clutching her still aching side but holding up 'Les Neuf du Chasseur' with her good side. Only having falling asleep a short time ago she had a bit of vertigo as she stood bleary eyed in nothing but her slacks, undershirt and mask. She lowered the gun. "I thought you'd be sneakier." she said shifting her weight.

Lorem’s nose wrinkled at the sound of Sung’s voice. She couldn’t yet see the man, but apparently he was the catalyst for the craziness that ensued tonight.

Lorem, barefoot, made her way out towards them quickly. She was still scared and moved as if the shadows would jump out and grab her. she wanted to talk to them as soon as possible.

“Lady Elizabeth! There is trouble.” It was a little hard to make out because she was switching between German and English in a frantic tone of voice.

Lorem look around at all the others that seem so casual now and obviously unaware of the danger still in their midst. It was like a little frightened kid surrounded by mature grownups, trying to get their attention.

Elizabeth sighed. "Mr. Sung, I ...you..." really she was at a loss for words. "Harold..."

Harold put his hand up, she didn't need to say it. "I will put on some water for tea." He then walked back to the house.

Elizabeth just shook her head at Sung, "Mr. Sung, I will deal with you later. Everyone is welcomed to join us for tea." Though her voice was calm, sort of, it wasn't excatly the nothing rattles her tone that most were used to from her. Elizabeth was not happy about what had occurred, and it was obvious to anyone that knew how to read her.

She was going to return to the house but heard Lorem, "What kind of trouble?" It seemed as if the Gnome was discussing something other than Mr. Sung's sneakiness.

Lorem was trying to get it out, it was a little incoherent. She was pointing to a window in the house and ranting, “A monster! There is a beast inside.” She didn’t even realize she was pointing the grenade launcher at those present as she waved about.

Sung looked a bit confused "Monster?" Sung comely moved to one side to look at the back of the house. "I don't sense anything," commented Sung. Looking up "Lily?" Sung seemed to be questioning what was going on.

Elizabeth put her hand on the launcher, "Miss Ipsum please stop waving about while holding that launcher." She looked up to where Lorem was pointing. "That is Miss Lavigne's room. I do not see anything. There has been a lot of excitement tonight, but if you want one of us can go check and make sure everything is well with Miss Lavigne." Elizabeth looked at Sung. "Mr. Sung being you caused tonight's uproar, please go check on Miss Lavigne."

"Yes My Lady" Sung replied with a bow. Sung quickly walks into the house.

Lorem was quite confused. She could have sworn she heard a feral growl and then saw the visage of an unfamiliar creature. Had she just been imagining things due to the hysteria and poor lighting.

“I … I was sure I heard a … I saw..” she calmed down and lowered the cannon apologetically. Feeling embarrassed she deflated her intensity level quickly. Once again in the midst of action she had made a fool of herself. In front of all the other super amazing women, to make matters worse.

“I guess I may have misinterpreted what I saw.” She tried to rationalize. She looked back to the window, at Lily’s window.

Sasha looked at Lorem's shoulders sag "Would you like to take a walk around the grounds with me. Double check that it is safe?" Sasha asked.

"It is a easy enough to misinterpret things, in the night with a lot of things going on. It is good you let us know." Elizabeth felt bad, she wanted to tell Lorem what likely had occurred but couldn't. She couldn’t break that confidence. Elizabeth did hope her words made some difference.

Sasha's offer to walk the grounds with Lorem, was met with a nod from Elizabeth. "Please, feel free to do that. Then come to the main house. We can have some tea, or something stronger, if you prefer. I think we could all use a chance to settle our nerves."

Lorem definitely did not want to go walking around this great big dark perimeter. She wanted to go lock herself in the workshop and curl up in bed with the sound of an engine soothing her to sleep.

“Yes.” She timidly replied. What?!? Why did she say that, peer pressure?

Elizabeth didn’t miss the way Lorem responded, "You do not have to go on the walk, if you would rather not." She wanted to be sure the Gnome understood that.

Lorem could tell she had a chance to get out of it. Yet simultaneously she felt like it would be a good opportunity to get to know Sasha better. She would be outside her comfort zone, but perhaps make a connection with a teammate. A teammate that it was hard to spend time with in general. She couldn’t miss this rare moment.

Lorem doubled down. “No I am sure. A walk around would be good.” It probably didn’t sound convincing.

"Very well, then." Elizabeth responded. "I will see you both when you are done." With that the Eldren headed back to the house.