Catalysts: IC (Oh the thread is slowly dying...)

A series of splashes consistent with the desperate running of a human approximately six feet tall and wearing sneakers echoed around the alleyway, followed by a thud indicating that the said human had tripped, landing in what I shall not describe at this moment for the sake of your latest meal. The human picks herself up once more and continues the run. Her mind is confused, disorientated. Things have changed within so short a time frame, it is hardly surprising.

The human then proceeds to stop, finds a dark corner to huddle in, and wraps herself up in such a way that from a distance any human would mistake her for a pile of clothing. Salty substance begins to emerge, accompanying regular fits that is often associated with sadness. But that is not all. From her head protrudes approximately fifty snakes of a dark green texture, all with a diameter of two inches at average. They too begin to exhibit their own form of displaying sadness, throwing up their heads to the sky in a wide mouthed hiss.

From below the lower portion of the human, a rodent emerges. Without warning, the nearest snake proceeds to snatch the rodent away, but instead of eating it, offers it to the human hosting them. The human promptly refuses, allowing the snakes to pick apart the rodent in order to provide themselves with a small amount of satisfaction, as all nutrients they require come from their host. A special organ not unlike the oesophagus of humans connects the base of the snakes to the host's vital organs.

Winter nodded at Ragnarok and stood aside. Luckily, the ladder had been placed by a stone platform which raised - mercifully - above the goo.

For a second, Winter fancied she could have heard something else splashing somewhere off down the tunnel, but it very well could have been her imagination.

She discarded the worry and looked back up at Ragnarok in his attempts to free them from the revolting tomb.

He managed to press the manhole upwards, but almost fell from the ladder. He moved it slowly, inch by inch, away from its spot and finally pushed it completely out to find a large package left upon the manhole. He sighed, tired, and crawled out into the overworld once more, breathing in fresh air.

"Right. You can come on up now so we can discuss more of my intentions.. Though I know you don't really believe me."

Damnit... She'd seen things burn. The smell of charred flesh assaulted her nose. Despite how deep she buried her face, it found it's way in. Whenever she closed her eyes, she could see through the eyes of her snakes. And they lacked the ability to close them. So, she stared into her knees, pressed against each other, waiting for something to happen.

Winter quickly followed Ragnarok up the ladder and out of that foul stench. She dusted herself off as best as she was able - quickly wiping her hands on a passing tumbleweed of newspaper - and breathed in the sweet air.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get off the streets first; wouldn't want the police to stumble upon us."

Thus, she led the way into a nearby alley, heading for her designated hovel.

"Yeah, you've got a point there. It's broad daylight too.."

He breathed in sweet air then walked no further than three steps behind her, his eyes scanning. He had been through quite a bit of the abandoned city but this was.. Well.. it was NEW. It was surprising and new and it felt like he was exploring.

Holy shit... I'm having FUN?!

Nox checked the watch in his pocket. 5:43. What the hell was he doing up this late? It would be day soon! He stalked off to a cot in a janitorial maintenance room. A voice rang out in the darkness. "Hungry! Morning! Want food breakfast food soon!" Nox giggled. That bird had no grasp of English. He doled out the requested seeds. The bird looked at him, examining. It then shouted "Want a sleepy tickle!" Nox looked at him, tickle his neck, and then said, "Oh Tippy, you slay me." And then he was off to bed.

She slowly stood up, wiping mud off the back of her jeans. She didn't mind if her underwear got wet, the worst that the cold could do is make her drowsy. Grating her nails against the rough brick wall, she stumbled further on towards the street. "Screw whoever did this..."

She tore at her waist again, trying to scratch at her violently irritated skin. A large gash was sewn across it, not that it concerned her much. But the itching...

He walked ahead of Winter, assuming where they'd go before noticing the girl scratching into her waist. He stared for a moment and the multitude of squamates on her head then sighed a sigh of relief and smiled at her.

"Better be careful, there are some right pissed off police around here. I'd suggest a sewer route or some metro route."

Her gaze raised from her waist slowly to two figures some distance away. The male had slowly approached, giving a warning which seemed reasonable enough. Letting her shirt slip back down over the gash, she looked at him for a moment, still dazed from the explosions.

"Wha..." Her mouth fell slightly. People had survived, her brain was struggling to comprehend it. "Sewers? Metro... wha?"

"Are you alright dear? The bombings must've shaken you up quite a bit. Lucky us huh? No deaths on our part.. But sadly a lot of the populace DID get killed. Leave it to the government officials eh? Bunch of idiotic jarheads if ya ask me."

He placed his hands behind his head and stretched. It felt like his muscles were cringed up a bit from the damp sewers, but surely it was a state of mind. Noticing for a second time the serpents, he hoped he and his friend hadn't the stench of rodents on them.

Steph's eyes began to flicker. Her snakes began flicking the back of her neck with their tongues, trying to keep her awake. It was quickly becoming a struggle. Still, she managed to open her eyes once more. Her mouth still hung open, the dust collecting on her tongue.

"What... government? Jarheads?" The only thing she could think of was that one trip to the museum, seeing reptiles preserved in jars. She found it oddly distressing. "I'm... I don't know anymore..."

He stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He could barely get a read on her emotions; it was like there were twenty conflicting personalities all centred around her face. He looked at the snakes, not apprehensive since they were blatantly attached to her head.

"Look, calm down okay? Can you remember where you last were? Or somewhere you might stay? C'mon, me and Bloom will help you home."

Steph looked at her shoes for a moment, scruffed up from her running. A piece of shrapnel was embedded in the left. If she lifted her big toe, she could feel the sharp point. She shook her head softly, trying to clear some of the cloudiness from her vision.

"It's gone, the whole building's, gone... I'm, S-s-Steph." Her eyes closed again for a moment, snatching the chance to rest even for a brief instant.

He looked at the shrapnel and sighed looking about. He'd have to take her to the Hovel with him and Winter and hope to whatever god there was that they could treat the wound. He smiled at her and laughed.

"Hey. I'm Dmka. I have these really goofy eyes.. One's blue, the other's green, see?"

Steph looked up at him dazedly. She wasn't sure if she was seeing what he described. Then again, her own eyes weren't exactly normal. Perhaps she had one thing in common.

"Yeah, mine are surgery altered." She closed her eyes again, opening them once she felt the cloudiness fade. The scene was worse than she imagined. Still, Dmka seemed nice enough. "I'm feeling a bit better." She sensed one of the snakes at the base of her skull scenting the hand he had on her shoulder. "I'm... okay."

Lieo had recovered from his mental outrage, slowly calming down. He told himself over and over: No, no, no, you are a gentleman! Why would you scream like that on the television? That was jejune, although innocuous. Although it wasn’t quite insipid, so he had to give himself that credence. He had already reformed from the inside the suit (a much easier way he realized of going about playing dress up), and was looking around the now abandoned news room (although the lower floors were still frantic with screams). Sirens echoed a distance away. Oh, now all the attention was on him again! The other kids will be throwing rocks at him again, but this time, Lieo will be the one laughing! Yes! But first… he had to establish a base of operations. This news room will work nicely. The entire building will be a home, a hive, under control of the true queen bee – himself of course. He was the central hive, and this building was expendable. Now it’s time to say hello to his old friends, but first…

Lieo lifted up his arm and a queen bee and a couple of drones flew out towards to the underside of the desk in the news room. First, this room will be swarming with bees. Then the next, and the next… the entire building would be under his control; and depending if the hive feels the needs to stretch their wings to a new location, they might just invade the next one. One that will probably be abandoned by the time they get to that size, due to danger of a mega-hive being next door. As for the threat for invasion, he had no worries about the authorities. None at all…

Walking out of the news room and peering through a window that overlooked the city, he saw colorful sirens about a mile off and closing in from many directions. The rocks will continue to be thrown, laughter will soon be exchanged, and weeping is destined to echo through the ears of many; and no remorse will be had. Lieo broke himself from the window and continued to march down the hall towards the elevator shaft. Just as he was, the doors opened, revealing a man distracted by a newspaper. He slowly looked up to see Lieo the homicidal bee man strutting towards him, causing him to frantically push the buttons and close the door, but the collective made its way in before the door finally shut closed.

Lieo stared at the man long and hard, who simply pressed himself against the wall, facing the shut door. Lieo raised his hand and reached over to touch the man’s face… and the man’s scream echoed throughout the building. Lieo scrubbed off some of the powdered sugar from some of the doughnuts he has been eating earlier from the corner of his mouth before turning around to face the door. The man simply stood there slightly traumatized but his breathing starting to slow down to a manageable pace. “Why did y—“

“Bad mistake.”

Lieo slammed the man against the wall with his hand around his throat, the swarm slowly crawling it’s way around his neck, down his chest and around his face. Lieo tilted his hand expressionlessly, before the swarm thinned out around his head. The shape of a skull appeared, yet still covered by bees as if it were skin. The bees formed basic facial structures such as eyelids, a nose, and even lips. He decided to look at the man with a human resembling face as an act of courtesy. “Hello,” Lieo whispered as he opened up his mouth, showing a tongue made up of bees. Lieo leaned forward and ‘licked’ up his cheek starting from his jawline. “You just had to say something, didn’t you? You just couldn’t leave well enough alone, hm?”

The man managed to let out a choked out cough, a gag. The elevator made a ding as it met its destination at the first floor. Lieo lifted the man off his feet by his neck and walked out from the elevator before slamming him against another wall. He lifted up his other arm, making his fingers walk across his face before meeting the man’s lips. The slid his fingers into his mouth before stretching off to one side and shoving his other hand (that was originally choking him) into his mouth, making its way down his throat, stretching the esophagus beyond the capabilities it was made for.
“I really, truly am sorry for this. But to put it simply, this really is the easiest way of doing things. Trust me; I hold absolutely nothing against you. But I actually am kind of pissed of right now; you know those things that you get, when you’re mad? And you just can’t help but want to kill everyone? Yeah, it’s kind of like that in a way. But I assure you, this is all for a good cause, do not fret.”

The man gagged, his eyes starting to fade away.

“I’m sorry? You want some air? I wish I could, but that would be rather counter-productive to my goals as I am very sure you can imagine. I’ll make sure you get your place in the hall of the honored dead.”

The man’s faded eyes suddenly burst to live, his eyelids peeled wide. He struggled to scream, and tears welled in his eyes. In only took a few seconds for the agony that showed in his face to die off and his vital signs to scatter. Bees emptied themselves from the body and rejoined Lieo. His face reformed into a more vague shape as per normal. He sent off about five bees to scout around for the exit while he made his way down a hall looking for the door himself. After walking down the hall and taking a left, the front sliding glass doors came into view. Ah, wonderful. Damon always had a wonderful hunch, but now he’s dead, there’s no looking back on him now. He pushed through the doors and a warm rush of air, panicked people, and an array of police vehicles greets him. Men are crouched behind their car doors and guns are aimed at his chest.

“Freeze!” Yells out multiple officers.

“That would be atomically impossible under these conditions.”

"Alright. You don't know what those military punks will do to people like us.. You know? Not quite human but not quite entirely unhuman. My friend and I are actually looking for a safehouse to converse in; you're welcome to join if you'd like. And your eyes are quite amazing, I've never seen surgery altered eyes like this. Usually most people wouldn't go that far."

He shrugged and smiled turning around to look at Winter. He raised an eyebrow, hoping the gesture would ask the question for himself.

You mind if we save this one? he thought stupidly as though they had some form of telepathy. As if THAT could happen.

Steph looked around for a few moments again. It took a while for the notion of a, compliment, to settle in. She was so unfamiliar with them that she didn't really realise what he had said at first.

"Uhm, alright. I guess it's better than standing out here, waiting to die..." Sniffling slightly, she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets and waited.

He shook her shoulder gently, as if to try and snap her out of some form of trance. He tried getting a feel for her emotion but once again failed due to the living snakes on her head.

"Well that's.. that's a way of putting it. I don't suppose you're in need of home and a nice meal for you and your friends? Our subway tunnels DO have a small vermin problem but we could probably try and breed the little rats.."

Her gaze went fuzzy as he shook her shoulder. Rats... nasty things, even though her snakes did choose to eat them. But breed... Her eyes closed, encouraging her snakes to adopt their dormant state. For the moment she needed to conserve energy.

"What friends?" She stared at him, her expression of confusion never ceasing. "I guess food is okay with me. As long as it's better than dumpster diving."

He motioned to the snakes that lay upon her head, shrugging as though it was nothing out of the ordinary. In honesty, he had seen someone use their femur as a weapon, so this probably wasn't out of the ordinary to him.

"Of course. We raid the stores, malls, all the good places. Use the heat lamps, get their supplies.. It's all easy.. Are you okay? You seem out of it... Maybe you should take a rest."

Her eyes slowly wandered around again. So tired, yet unable to sleep. What she would do for a nice soft bed, blanket covering her, pillow to rest her head. It seemed apparent that things she was used to would quickly become rare luxuries.

"I don't know where to rest. I'm worried, about falling asleep up here." Her eyelids drooped downwards. Much as she fought it, sleep was desperate to take hold.

He nodded and shook her awake, sighing. He was worried about her state of mind. She seemed damage to him, as though she had been beaten or abused in some other means.

"Look, I'm sure the little house we're going to will have a bed.. You can rest there okay?"

He judged the size of her body and, should she pass out, whether or not he could carry her for the trip to the hovel he and Bloom were going to.

Her eyes rolled around for a moment. She needed to move, but where? She hadn't been told of a specific place to go, and pacing wasn't her thing. Finally spotting a relatively dry spot, she wandered over, sitting down on the ground.

"Okay. Just lead the way, and I guess I'll follow behind."