Chapter 17: The Season for Taking

[Jack O. Trades]

As his mind wandered to work on his next scheme the world seemed to fade away. His focus returned as he heard his pooches yelp. Flexing his fingers until they popped he seemed to quake with rage. As she ranted his anger seemed to continue to rise as he grit his teeth. And in an instant he spun around, striking her with the back of his hand.

"Who am I? WHO AM I!?" Stalking towards the girl he gripped her by the shoulders lifting her up to eye level "The question is who are you? I'm Jack O. Trades, the clown prince of crime, the harlequin of hate"As his voice lowered to a hissed whisper he drew her face close to his until their noses were touching "I'm not your mommy and daddy, you aren't a princess"

Pushing the girl against the wall his lips spread into a deaths head grin as the mutant pups began to growl in response to his anger "Those who follow me are perfectly free to do so.....but those who annoy me without being useful don't last long. I'm the king of this fucking nut house and no one forgets it" Turning again he resumed his walk his laughter escaping him once more as a menacing chuckle. With each step he took it grow louder and more manic "So get in line, or you're just as free to leave with a few extra holes!" As his laughter grew louder the pups followed him once more as his laughter filled the halls with the sounds of his savage joy.

[Anya Louteius]

Anya felt tears stream down her cheeks and she knew now, she was trapped. She couldn't voice her opinion or anything. She was to far now to turn back, if she left she would be found and punished. She would hate to have to be shipped back home in ashes or pieces or whatever condition he left her in. She sobbed and fell to the floor. Sher was a teenager, she wasn't even 18 yet! She had lost everything now, the only way out now was in a body bag.

After a moment she collected herself and one of the pups came up to her. She looked down at it and it grabbed her loose shoelace, the other head grabbed her shoe and tried to eat it. She laughed a little and reached to pet it and it made a sound similar to a purr. She sighed softly, then laughed. "Did he send you after me? The jerk....." It growled and tugged at her foot as if telling her to get up. She stood and it barked and ran off. She walked in behind it, as it was tripping over itself every few steps. She laughed and finally picked it up and wandered.

She finally found him and she sighed heavily and wiped away remaining tears. She took a deep breath and spoke softly, but she was sure he could hear her. "What all else needs to be done before your next appearance?" The pup was placed on the ground and it nuzzled her hand before walking back over to it's master.

[Kyra Majarae]

((TO TRISTAN))

Kyra eyed Tristan with a deathly aura that seemed to drown out all the color in the room. A sick air was formed and her eyes were in a cold, icy, straight stare. She was not going to be reasoned with, she saw. She would have to do this by force. She grabbed his arms and pinned them to his back, she may be tiny, but she was strong, after-all....she knew martial arts. She growled in his ear and spoke in a sickenly beautiful tone. "Listen to me, and listen to me good. I am no force to be reckoned with. I may be small, I may be young and may seem frail. But if you don't give me what I want. I will steal the very heart from your chest and devour it in front of your dead corpse!" She hissed. She tightened her grip and continued to speak. "Give me and my sister the money, or you will leave and go to your superiors with nothing. Got it?" She was clearly irritated and turning vicious, which anyone that knew her since she snapped could easily tell. She was strangly calm about it at the same time, which was even worse for the person she was going after. "You have until midnight, if you don't bring it. I will hunt you down and kill you. I can follow your every move." She shoved him out the door and slammed it and locked it. She took a deep breath and smiled. "Eva! It's safe now!" She whispered, but loud enough where only Eva could hear her.

((OOC: Since Eva will be away I have permission to take control of the character. =) ))

[Jack O. Trades]

As he turned to a door he swung it open, his rage seemingly forgotten in an instant as he stepped into a laboratory right out of an old black and white horror film. Blinking once he looked down to witness his pups tugging at his pant legs. A fond smile went across his lips as he wandered to a table surrounded with treats. Eying the the various cookies, brownies, and candies. Picking up a lollipop he promptly put it into his mouth turning about watching absently as both pups began to chase the other ones tail.

Watching the two puppies chase one another he crossed his arms in front of his chest biting absently at the candy. Though his demeanor seemed almost negligent of the world his mind was racing. Most have a problem with a lack of ideas, his mind provided too many too quickly. Raising his gaze from the pups he looked at the girl. What was she doing here? Who was sh-...oh wait. He shrugged once, his mind drawing the information on who she is. Looking back to the pups a cruel smile played across his lips "We are going to crash a party...." His his eyes began to roll lazily towards the girl a devious glint in his eyes his voice low, menacing "And we're going out in style!"

[Anya Louteius]

Anya clapped her hands and jumped up and down. "Oooooo! I love parties! Is it the Christma....I mean Marx-mas party that nice lady you were talking to is throwing?" She took a few steps closer; being cautious, but warming up to him. She kept her hands clasped together in front of her chin.

She then heard him talk about how they would go in style and she looked at her clothes. She looked confused and innocently looked up at him. "But Mr. J.......what's wrong with the clothes we have? For you, I understand they would know it's you and they would try to catch you....but what is wrong with my clothes? And can I take a bath first?" She asked as cute as possible.

[Linnea Korpela]

Linnea woke up on the floor of her living room. She often experienced large periods of time where she would black out. Sometimes her apartment and gallery would be untouched and others she would awake to find trash strewn about. But she how it got there was beyond her.
Sitting up her bones would crack in places and her body felt sore, she must have been there for a while. Finally forcing herself off the floor Linnea went into the bathroom and started the hot water for the shower. she hoped that this would loosen her sore muscles. Afterward she would look at her phone messages which she expected all of which would be from Keito harassing her about work or some other nonsense. She really didn't have many friends, the few people that she had become friends with were just using her or hurt her.
So after checking messages the rest of the day would really be spent doing nothing.

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

"Oh-ph-ee-lee-ah!"
Ophelia pulled her shirt down over her head, and opened the greenhouse doorway to see to the front of her store. She didn't really have to look to know who it was who had entered the shop. The long haughty pronunciation of her name and the typical slam of the door gave her away. She waved to the 13-year-old girl, Apolline, and took out a hairband to tie back her freshly washed hair into a bun. She decided she'd just empty the metal tub of bathwater later and exited the greenhouse to chat with her young friend.
"Good afternoon, Apolline." Ophelia shut the greenhouse door and walked through the narrow kitchen into the shop, "How are your studies going?"
"Brilliantly! I got a perfect score on my Manalist studies today." Apolline answered sitting down at the rickety wood table by the front door.
"That's very good." she nodded, picking up Apolline's bag from off the floor and hanging it on the back of her chair.
"Yes, it was very good!" Apolline bragged, "There was only one girl who failed and--"
"Would you like some tea Apolline?" Ophelia asked before she could go any further.
"Of course!" Apolline answered like her question had been a duh, and without a pause continued her story, "And that girl got the most terrible punishment by Priest Marcus! He whipped the back of her hands with the ruler 15 times, because that's how many questions she missed. The back of her hands were all bruised and red! I'm so happy I didn't fail! My hands are far too fair to recieve such abuse!"
Ophelia listened to Apolline's story from the kitchen as she boiled the water for the tea. She didn't mind Apolline's pompous, concieted ways, in fact she was used to such an attitude. It seemed more common in Rome having the largest temples of Manala and more aristocrats. But Apolline at least had a good work ethic and charm. It made her easier to be around than most other passionate young manalists. Especially a 'Blessed' one, which Apolline clearly was.
"I think corporal punishment in school is monsterous! Did you ever get in trouble at school Ophelia?.. Oh, you weren't able to go to school were you? It is really terrible, you're lucky."
Ophelia came out with the hot camomille mint tea in two cups. She was about to correct Apolline's assumption that she hadn't gone to school when Apolline spoke again.
"What is this?" Apolline pointed out the window, her nose crinkled up snobbishly.
Two little young boys and one girl had come running up to the floral shop window, shabbily dressed. They smiled into the shop and waved at Ophelia.
"Ophelia! You can't have them standing in front of your shop, they're bad for business!"
Ophelia smirked at Apolline and plucked three daisies out of one of the display bouquets on the window sill. She opened the front door and the three children gathered around to recieve a flower. Once they'd each been handed one they ran off and Ophelia shut the door.
"There. They're gone." Ophelia said to Apolline as she finally sat down across the table from her.
Apolline folded her arms, "You know Ophelia, I think you're Blessed even if you aren't all that rich.. But every time your heart melts for those children running up to your window, it makes me think other wise.. You are so elegent, well-composed and self-reliant. You should encourage others to be the same and not be so giving.." Apolline hesitated at what she had just said and took a sip of her tea thoughtfully," Well.. At least not ALL the time.."
Ophelia merely smiled softly and gazed out the window.. She wasn't feeling so focused today since it was 'MarxMas'. She could never help but take notice of the day that her brother enjoyed so much.

[Jack Kruschev]

The time had come. Anth had run out of ideas and needed some fresh ones for his experiments. Rarely, did this happen, but it did happen occasionally. What a shame when it did happen. Like writers got writers block once in a full moon, scientists, like Anth, received the same kind of deli ma, only with science ideas themselves.

Anth turned away from his computer and walked out of Genetech headquarters. Taking a teleporter to a nearby town, Anth saw a flower shop.

Why not? he thought to himself. He'd go in, get some ideas, and get out. Flowers were always interesting plants, and they often had unique structures and functions.

Anth opened the door and went inside.

"Hello?"

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

Apolline continued to yap Ophelia's ear off until Anth entered the shop, which she immidiately began to gather up her stuff.

"Oh, it appears I must be excusing myself! Go take care of your customer Ophelia! I shall be back another time!"

Apolline stood up from the table and passed by Anth with a flirty glance out the door. Ophelia waved Apolline good bye and turned to Anth then, quickly putting her red apron on which she had slung over the back of her chair.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?"

[Jack Kruschev]

Anth ignored the girl who had glanced at him and continued on his way into the store.

"Yes, you can give me a tour of your store and describe your plants. I am from Genetech, and will need some specimen's to experiment with in order to create a new product for the market," Anth explained.

Anth got out his working card and showed it real fast to prove his identity. Putting it away, he caught a glance of a red plant in the corner. It looked like the red leaf, but from the distance, Anth couldn't be sure.

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

Ophelia's heart nearly stopped when he pulled out his ID. Her immidiate thought is that she was in trouble. What had she done? Were they here to see if she had red leaf? Were they really still watching her even after her brother was gone?

"Oh.. Okay." she gulped. There was no reason for her to be in trouble, she reasoned. She hadn't done anything wrong.

Ophelia calmed herself down inside and followed his eyes over to the red patch in the corner. Roses. No, he wasn't going to find red leaf here. She'd killed that plant a long time ago.

"Why don't we go into the greenhouse? There's a lot more variety in there, sir.."

The thought of her plants being experimented on and used to create yet another bizarre product by Genetech was not a pleasant thought. But she really had no choice but to go along. She led him to the small greenhouse in the back.

"My family has been in the floral business for generations. We have some of the rarest flowers. Even some flowers from North America that once grew."

[Jack Kruschev]

Anth nodded as the woman gave a brief history of her families involvement in the floral business. He didn't particularly care that her family had been in the business for generations, but it was somewhat reassuring that she at least had some experience.

Now when she said that she had some rare flowers, Anth wasn't very interested. He had some of the rarest flowers in existence, hell, he had a red leaf growing in his own office to show his power. But when she mentioned that she had some flowers from North America, now that was of interest.

Turning and looking her in the eye, Anth used his parenthetical vision to see her nametag.

"Ophelia," he began. "These flowers native to North America, could you show me them? They seem to be of interest."

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

"Of course, Mr.West." Ophelia smiled, remembering his own name from when he flashed his ID. She led him to the far corner of the greenhouse, passed the tub of bathwater which she cursed herself now for not emptying. She didn't usually let people view the greenhouse, but obiously he wasn't here to buy a bouquet.
"There are a few lily plants, such as the tiger lily. It is definitely one of the most beautiful flowers.. There's also ferns of sorts.." she went down the row of flowers, naming each.

She picked up little pot at the end of the row with a bunch of peculiar looking flowers and leaves sprouting from it that looked like gaping jaws with long green fangs.
"Now this little plant right here I don't sell in my store.. He isn't exactly bouquet material." Ophelia said transfering the small blue pot to one hand and pulling out a pencil form her pocket, "He's a carniverous plant called the venus flytrap. He's native to the Carolinas. Just above Florida y'know?"

She tapped her pencil inside of one of the spiky mouths growing in the pot and the plant closed its flimsy jaws, attempting to capture the pencil tip.

"It's a mouth and stomach in one. Once he's got his prey trapped in his jaws he let's out a stomach-acid like substance from the glands inside, killing and dissolving his prey.. I kind of feel sorry for the flies and bugs he catches. Even if most bugs are pesks, being acidified to death sounds horrible for any poor little creature to go through, don't you think?"

She looked up from the plant to Anthony, then blushed, realizing that she'd gone a little off on her own tangent.. She often did so when talking about her plants. She'd pretty much forgotten who she was talking to.

"Well, heh, I suppose you have a lot more things to worry about than the feelings of bugs..." she laughed nervously and cleared her throat. Well, she was the only person she knew to sympathize with a bug, and she was probably the first person he'd met to sympathize with a bug too.

"S-so, what kind of product are you currently working on? - If you don't mind me asking." Ophelia asked, quickly changing the subject before she could destroy her self-image any further.

[Jack Kruschev]

Anth nodded at each plant that Ophelia had pointed out. He’d heard of the majority of them, and seen most of them, so the majority of them failed to impress him. The plants in his own lab displayed a far better selection of colors and abilities.

When they had finally gotten to the end, he saw a most interesting plant; the Venus Fly Trap. He’d created countless carnivorous plants in his career, but he had never actually seen the original one.

When Ophelia poked the pencil tip into the plant, and it closed it’s “mouth” on it, Anth couldn’t help but be impressed. The Venus Fly Trap was clearly a true feat of nature that couldn’t be denied, even by a genius like Dr. Hoito.

"Amazing," Anth said.

When Ophelia asked about his work, Anth turned his attention far away from the plant and thought back to his lab.

Anth laughed for a second before getting serious. "Well, I'm not really working on anything at the moment," he said. "I've been trying to create a Kukkahenkilo that can shapeshift into any plant, rather than just a single one, but I've run out of ideas on that matter."

Anth frowned to one side and asked, "Know anything about Kukkahenkilos?"

[~Ophelia Vespera~]

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about.. Koo..kah-hen-kilo..? I'm not much of a scientist." Ophelia chuckled, "What is it?"

She hoped maybe while she had this scientist here, she could also get other questions answered.. Like what the hell was in smeet and other curious food products Genetech created. Ophelia was grateful she rarely had to buy any of their unusual highly processed food with her own personal garden in the greenhouse. She only had one bite of 'smeet' in her life when she was going to school, and from then on she remained on her family's strict garden veggie diet.