Saint Patrick's Day: Trouble Ahead

As the illusionist walked out and his illusion shattered, as Trix's body vanished before him, he rose, a very slow and deliberate motion. He looked like the soldier he once was, once took pride in being. There was blood, a trail to follow, a means to find her. The only means he could reasonably figure out. Kyle's voice rang through the horrible noise of the bar, demanding he go, and he did. The one eyed Ravnos moved towards the entrance he'd come in from, hurling anything and anyone that got in his way off to the side. There was no aggression in his movements, his rigid steps, his violent shoves and throws. They were the simplest means to accomplish his goals.

It didn't take him particularly long before he exited the bar, and his one eye caught sight of something very important. Trix's jacket. Ignoring still everything else that was going on, he grabbed it, tying it off around his neck like a scarf. "Jack!" He called out to his Jack-O-Lantern like friend. He didn't wait for his response, he moved, with that same deliberate rigid air about him over towards his Ducati. No illusion helmet appeared on his head, and his bike didn't purr to life. It roared to life as he revved the throttle. Whether Kyle hopped on with him or not didn't matter much to him. There was a blood trail, and he was going to follow it. With or without Kyle on the bike, he'd gun the engine, shooting rocks and sand all over the building and any of the vehicles near him and take off, following the trail with the conviction of a bloodhound.

Jude raced along the roads, turning and maneuvering at speeds that were more than reckless, more like borderline suicidal. Each turn had him scraping his knees against the unforgiving pavement. Speed, more speed, FASTER! Jude listened, paying careful attention to Jack's directions and explanation as he tore across the countryside. As the warehouse district came into view, he'd slam on the brakes, turning the bike a full ninety degrees before bringing it to a halt. The tires steamed from the abuse they'd taken. Jude kicked out the stand sliding off his bike and began walking plain as day toward the district.

The scent of Trix's blood on the air drove him on unrelenting. His walk changed as he moved and her scent grew stronger. From walking, to jogging, to running, to outright sprinting. While virtually unarmed, the Ravnos' didn't alter in his course. There was no rage in his brilliant green eye, no glint of Jude was there at all. Just a simple, all consuming compulsion to find her, to save her. He leaped for the first of them that he saw, his approach low, like a spear tackle, only his shoulder was aimed for their throat. Dozen's more of him appeared just before he'd made it, all running at the myriad of Asians floating around the area. They'd all be running with bats and chains meaning to ruin the Asian's unlives.

Jude managed to attack one of the strange creatures, catching it by its throat and sending it tumbling to the ground, clawing at its collapsed throat. The others had seemed, for a moment, oblivious to what was going on. They all stumbled back, towards the main warehouse they were trying to defend. A few drew what appeared to be special stun guns, others holding traditional katanas. Each of the two dozen monsters turned to face one of the illusions, only three able to focus on the real Jude.

One raised a stun gun, shooting the prongs out from the weapon. They were aimed for Jude's side, hoping to bring him down. The others with guns raised their own and shot at the illusions.

Kyle manages to get away from the main portion of the brawl and to the door of the warehouse, where the smell of Bellatrix's blood was thickest. He manages to open the door, but standing just inside was a nearly seven foot monster, weighing in at over two hundred pounds. It roared, raising two thick, muscled arms into the air. His legs were spread in an effort to hold himself in proper fighting position, trying to bring both fists down on top of Kyle's head. Again. Poor Kyle.

Kyle cursed his luck. But he dove under the man's legs, as he was going under he would drive a swift fist up! Right into the family jewels. Hoping this would be enough to distract him Kyle would send out a mental signal. Summoning every bat that he could so that they would show up in a swarm.

When they showed up he would smile.

"I'm Batman!"

Octavian had forgone the helmet as he and his wife mounted the modified dirt bike that had been his pet project since Amy had allowed him the construction of his garage. The white and blue bike had practically flown over the roads between the Manor and the warehouse. Octavian's skill behind the handle bars of the bike put to the test. It had taken a while for them to get to the warehouse the strange little creature had given them directions too. Instead of simply jumping off the bike, he'd grab Amy, his loving wife and jump with her. It looked like they didn't have the time for him to comfort her. He knew how much she hated the bikes, truly feared them, and he felt a pang of guilt, but there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

Releasing her, he surveyed the scene for a moment, watching as all the separate Jude's seemed to be attacking the grouped of kidnappers. Then both of their voices broke through the sounds of yelling and gunfire. "Damn!" Octavian swore, something he did so rarely that it should be warning enough to everyone around him that things were serious. "Amy, let me take care of the men out here. Please. Help Jude!" He'd turn and run for the closest group of Asians, glancing toward each of them only for a moment before moving on.

He had often wondered what it would be like to have to be in Finn's mind and he'd explored the possibilities for quite some time. It was those terrifying things that he fed them, those fictitious images, those terrible things that the Golden Boy had explored being inside the Madman's mind, now inhabited those of the Asians around him.

Jude took a few steps toward Trix. Amy was an afterthought. His green eye had changed completely to red as he made his way toward his love, fists clenched and white knuckled at his sides. There was nothing but rage, Jude's rage in that red eye as he looked to the two Asian's that had chosen to stand between he and Trix. His movements that had been so stiff, so precise earlier seemed to take on a whole new life as the beast roared out it's hatred. He became almost ethereal, Amy seemed to float across the ground as she walked, a mixture of training and age. Jude was like smoke, formless, everywhere around the remaining pair of Kindred, his strikes were clear, precise and fueled by every ounce of rage he possessed.

He led into the first, moving as if he were going to smash into him head on, only to drop down into a crouched spin. He'd come up from that spin halfway through, with a crossed backhand to the face, followed immediately, by an open palm to the throat. He hit with all his force, every bit of strength he and the beast possessed, he meant to punch through his throat, through his spine, to decapitate the creature.

The first hissed a high pitched noise, but it was cut off by the open palm that hit him in his throat. His spine gave a sickening crack, head tossing to one side. The light in his eyes began to fade and he fell, lifeless to the ground. His neck was poking out through his tanned skin, his face contorted in an expression of absolute agony, frozen for eternity.

The second moved towards Jude but also fell to the ground, crumbling in a bloodied mess. A glittering blue kunai poked out from the back of its neck, having been thrown through by the Ice Queen. He, too, fell lifeless. The only other one standing in the cargo bay was the illusionist.

Does Jude go after the stiff, frozen Keui-Jin? Or does he go through to door to find Bellatrix?

Kyle manages to get to the door without incident. When he opens the door, he sees Trixie curled up in a ball on the floor, in a puddle of her own blood. She is crying softly, hiding her face behind her hands. There are a few shallow wounds along her body, and one deep wound against her side. Standing above her, one foot pressed down on the side of her head, is a very familiar Asian smiling a wicked sort of grin.

Nichiya DeMorieve tilts his head to one side. "And now, who do we have here?"