New Arrivals

[Atropha]

Somewhere in a dark alley a spot in mid-air began to glow faintly as reality began to twist and turn around it. Loose paper and assorted garbage were flung through the alley as the rip in the space-time continuum widened into a decently sized rip. On it's sides tendrils of distortion were flickering in and out of existance.

And then, without much fanfare, Atropha materialized inside the shifting chaos. Still wearing her self-satisfied smirk she steps out of the portal.

[Atropha]

Later...


It was a bit of an effort and a wobbly flight, but eventually Atropha lands next to the portal she emerged from, caryying the still unconscious Nailah.

[Atropha]

Standing over Nailah Atropha stares into the portal and whispers.

"This helpless one, asleep
This helpesss one, silent
We alone know how to find you
We alone know how to wake you
At the gates of the mysteries of the shining ones,
The Ways are opened once more, the banks of the rivers are swollen."

Then she lift up Nailah and moves her towards the portal, which grabs a hold of her with some of the strands of twisting reality protruding from it and pulls her into the rift.

[Atropha]

Then atropha looks up, turning her head towards the Wembley stadium (or the direction she assumes it to be anyway) and furrows her brow, thinking. After a moment she spreads her wings and takes to the air.

[Samantha McManus]

That was likely when Atropha noticed that there were a distressing amount of ravens perched about the various windowsills and fire escapes of the alley.

[Atropha]

Shit! How long has she been there? it shoots through her head as she sees the ravens and her take-off turns into a glorified jump. Landing again she actually seems a little clueless as to what to do for a moment.

[Samantha McManus]

"For someone who wanted me to trust her, you've done an awful lot towards proving my paranoia right."

"So I'm going to ask you, very slowly so you don't misunderstand me."

"Where. Is. She?"

[Atropha]

"That's... a little complicated to explain." she responds, though despite her mental discipline, the events of the day leave an almost glaring connection to the three terrorists at the stadium in her mind.

[Samantha McManus]

"It's very much in your interests to find a way to explain."

[Atropha]

"I will. And she's safe, I promise. But there's no time right now. Legion is like a plague. You have no idea how many of him are running around on the other side but right now it's still just one here!"

[Samantha McManus]

"I have no reason to believe you, after what you did to her."

[Atropha]

Fuck! You really screwed this one...

"Alright then, fine, what do you want from me? She's in a different universe. The one those three stooges at the stadium are from."

[Samantha McManus]

"Bring her back. Now. I'm not going to lose her."

Perhaps it was the agitated state Samantha was in, but Atropha caught a wisp of a thought on the end of that. It wasn't that Samantha wasn't going to lose Nailah, but that she wasn't going to lose Nailah again.

[Atropha]

"I'm afraid that's not quite going to work b--" she starts before Sam cuts her off.

[Samantha McManus]

"I'm not asking. You get her back, or you're not leaving this alley alive."

[Atropha]

"Okay now that's just a terrible idea. You'd regret that, Sam."

[Samantha McManus]

"Don't talk to me like you know me. You don't, and you don't want to test me."

[Atropha]

For a moment she looks genuinely scared, though if Sam picks up on the mental effects of it it seems to be about something other than her own life, oddly enough.

"Alright, okay, I'll get her back. I'll... I'll just need some time to prepare."

[Samantha McManus]

"I'll wait."

The ravens stayed where they were.

[Atropha]

"It... might take a little longer than that. And I'll need some supplies..."

[Samantha McManus]

"You didn't seem to need any to send her away..."

[Atropha]

"Look I can't just reach in there and pull her out!"

[Samantha McManus]

"And why not? Because it upsets your plans to replace her?"

[Atropha]

"Because it doesn't work that way! I... need her over there, at least for a while. You have no idea what it's like over there!"

[Samantha McManus]

"So I'm supposed to take pity on you for wanting to escape, after you sent her there in your stead?"

"And you expect me to believe she's safe..."

[Atropha]

"Yet you think you can trust me if you send me back there."

[Samantha McManus]

"I'm more than willing to make sure you do what you say you will, but the only way you're leaving this alley is through that portal, with me coming after."

[Atropha]

"You have no idea what a terrible idea that is, Sam..." she says, either ignoring or forgetting Sam's earlier reaction to using her name.

[Samantha McManus]

"I don't know what I'm like over there, but you haven't at all earned the right to be that familiar with me."

[Atropha]

Atropha just shakes her head. "This is going to be such a train-wreck..." she mumbles, turning around towards the portal.

[Samantha McManus]

"Then perhaps you should have seen that coming..."

The flock swept down behind her, resolving into Samantha's shape.

[Atropha]

"Har-di-fucking-har." she says, stepping on Nailah's staff that's lieing on the ground so it flips up and she can grab it. A button-press later it collapses and Atropha steps, somewhat hesitatingly, into the portal.

[Samantha McManus]

"After what you've done, a little black humor from me is the least of your worries," she said before following Atropha through.