Match of the Millennium

Description: Jedah's a busy guy -- plotting out the course of the post-humanity era is a never-ending job. But that's not to say he can't spare a few minutes to talk with Zabel and Lotus about an upcoming mission.

[JEDAH]
Vampires.
Many of the pale-skinned residents of Majigen are older than the Vampire Savior: wiser, perhaps, but nowhere near as powerful. In the grand hierarchy of Majigen culture, the vampires comprise the highest echelon -- the enforcers, the overseers, the architects of order.

In this case, they are acting in the role of messenger. They carry a simple if ominous messages: 'Jedah wants to see you as soon as possible.' The vampires make no attempt to disguise their condescension, clearly visible in an ash-white frown until the message recipients comply with the implied order.

Said vampires provide access to the teleportation portals that would allow one to acquiesce to such a pressing demand. These portals look like puddles of blood, and a trip through them would feel like exactly like sinking through a four-foot-wide tube filled with blood. The fall would take a few seconds, but bottom of the tube, as it were, would be the slate floor of one of Lord Dohma's many laboratories. Slate tiles line each of the twenty-foot-tall walls, acting as the backdrop for the blue-green light thrown from the chandeliers hung overhead. The faint scent of brimstone hangs in the air. Soft shadows are cast by a U-shaped array of laboratory tables and equipment. Each table is covered with a sheet that may have been white at one time, but has since been stained dark crimson from the unholy experiments conducted therein. All tables are bereft of a subject, save for the one at the bowl of the U shape.

Jedah Dohma himself is blocking the view of those subjects.
In place of the Reaper's scythelike wings, eight bloody tendrils project outward from his back. Each of Jedah's tendrils ends in a blue-grey hand, bearing a surgical tool of some kind -- scalpel, forceps, spreader, scissors, needles.

The body before him twitches, threatening to break free from the leather straps holding its limbs down to the table. Another body -- the presumed source of the organs being grafted onto the first -- lies motionless at his feet, missing both its arms and dripping blood profusely, its scarlet a stark contrast to the neutral grey floor tiles.

Jedah does not see any point in using anaesthetic. Terror, fear and pain are valuable currency, and not to be squandered.

[ZABEL]
Even when alone, or just in the presence of other non-humans, Zabel still spends a great deal of time in his more mortal seeming appearance. It's not that he has any particular attachment to his old life compared to his new state. It's more that he has a flair for the dramatic, and he can't dramatically transform into a horrible undead monster if he already is one. So he usually saves his true form for combat and putting on shows, activities which of course blur into each other with some frequency.

But when some uppity leech errand-boy comes around acting all high and mighty, well, you'd best believe that Zabel reminds him of exactly what he's dealing with. The ghoul's distorted features are quite suited to leering at the vampiric messenger, and though he can't refuse the summons, he can still be rude to the one presenting it. Vampires may be the upper echeleons of Majigen society, but that doesn't mean they're all gods of undeath. "Yeah, yeah, don't get your cape in a knot, count. I'm coming."

Although he's not a vampire himself, Zabel isn't particularly bothered by jumping into a pool of blood. Coming out on a solid floor instead of winding up sinking to the bottom is still nice, though. He casts an appraising eye around Jedah's laboratory. The bloody sheets are nice touch, as is the blue-green light. Still, it needs more pyrotechnics, and there aren't enough sharp metal bits about.

And although he's already dead, and has a decent amount of personal power, Zabel is still self aware enough not to go mouthing off to Jedah... too much. He is also aware enough to catch the implied slight of being summoned 'as soon as possible', while Jedah is in the middle of working on something else. "Hey, I'm here. What's up? You need someone to get you some more spare parts?"

[JEDAH]
The vampiric assistant has been around long enough to take Zabel's disrespect in stride -- the only response he gives is a raised eyebrow. And the portal spawning of course. He comes through the portal afterwards, appearing a good few feet behind the zombie musican. And pretty much staying there in silence.

Jedah, for his part -- he can stop at any time. He just chooses to not acknowledge Zabel for a good five, ten seconds after his arrival, his surgical instruments completing the sutures on a painful-seeming graft. The chimera subject before him appears to be a dark-skinned creature with leathery skin, and two new arms of a lighter shade, matching the shade of the disarmed creature curled upon the floor

A low guttural moan rolls from the creature's mouth, as the Dark Messiah turns around -- finally! For all intents and purposes it seems as if, all throughout the bloody operation, the Lord of Majigen been stroking his chin with his right hand, elbow curled in the palm of his left hand. The disembodied hands and their tendrils deposit their surgical instruments upon a metal tray on the side of the table, then float backwards.

The bloodweaver glances at Zabel's eyes, and then those of the vampiric servant behind him. Only two pairs of eyes -- a mild frown.

"It is good to see you whole again, Zarock."
The words come out with an icy cold tone.
"... I did have something quite different in mind, sadly. I had hoped for another set of ears before I speak... but no matter."

His arms unfurl out to either side -- and the bloody tendrils instantly dissolve into a curtain of liquid. A moment later, the curtain falls into the form of two blades, which then curl upwards into his signature scythe-wings.

He exhales sharply.
After a moment, his lips curl into a faintly amused smile.
"Good help is so hard to find. Luckily I can always count on you to deliver." He bares a feral grin lined with dagger-sharp teeth.

"I will need you to enter a tournament on Earth. The... King of Fighters tournament."

A blond eyebrow arches, as the Reaper waits expectantly for Zabel's response.

[ZABEL]
Zabel is fairly obvious in his brief attempt to glance around Jedah at the unfortunate chimera on the table. But with it just sitting there moaning it doesn't hold his attention for long. The transformation of Jedah's wings is much more interesting, and Zabel does have to grudingly admit to himself that it's pretty stylish. As he hears the reason for his being summoned here, the zombie gives a toothy grin... not that he can really give another kind in this form. "King of Fighters, eh? Yeah, I saw the announcement about that." He pounds one boney fist into the palm of his other hand. "Sounds good to me! It's been a while since I really cut loose to kick some ass."

He gives Jedah an appraising look for a moment. "I doubt you need the money. You interested in those magic robots or whatever the hell they are?" Some folks wouldn't ask their monstrous boss to explain his evil schemes, especially after walking in on him performing unspeakable experiments anyway... but even with how thoroughly Jedah demonstrated the difference between them, Zabel doesn't really /fear/ him... he just knows that seriously angering him is liable to cause a whole lot of trouble. But short of some pretty extreme effort to wipe him from existence, Zabel can roll with most punches.

[LOTUS]
Vampires. They think they're SOOOOOOOOO important!

HA!

Lotus makes it a point to grin and be as unconcerned as possible. She doesn't mind taking time out to talk to the big boss, or have a problem with most of his other minions. That is, except for the ones with attitude. As she happily saunters over to the portal and hops in, she spins and sends one of her poisoned blades at the arrogant messenger along with a grin and a wink, aiming for juuuuuuust to the side of his heart. If he evades, fine. If he doesn't, the point is made: Be careful who you piss off!

Appearing in the room with Zabel and Jedah, Lotus ooooooohs as she spies the twitching body and appraises the work being done. Almost as good as Tess! Then again, maybe not. Lotus admits to being biased to herself as she gives an exaggerated half-bow to Jedah "You called, boss?". Zabel is given a glance, but otherwise is ignored for the moment, as she isn't here to see him that she is yet aware of.

[JEDAH]
The chimera tries to flop around, but alas the leather straps are still holding him down. Not to mention, the new arms attached to his arms are rather large and cumbersome in comparison. But before he can groan too much more, Jedah glances over his shoulder, raising a single, perfect finger to his lips as he casts a sideglance at the creature.
"Shhhhh... Rest now, child. Save your strength."

As he turns back to Zabel Zarock, the demonic smile grows even larger than before. "Excellent. Draw..."

Jedah would continue. But his attention is riveted to the spot just beside Zabel, where Lotus ceremoniously drops into the room with a shower of crimson. The bloody rain splatters onto the floor, but it -- like most of the Dark Messiah's unholy experiments -- does not obey the usual rules of physics, and rapidly evaporates.

The toothy grin transforms into a more measured half-smile. "So good of you to join us, Black Lotus," are the silky words that follow, as he gives the assassin an acknowledging nod.

A moment later, her attending vampire drops into the room, with similar fanfare. The only exception is that, soon afterwards, he wrenches a dagger out of his eye socket with an irritable frown. A hankerchief is withdrawn from his lapel; this cloth is used to wipe the poison and vampire blood off of the blade.

"As I was telling Zarock -- I will have you two enter the King of Fighters tournament together. As partners. It is a team affair -- two fighers for each side, one after the other. And the eyes of the entire planet will be upon you two."

From behind Lotus and Zabel, the vampire groans lightly, rubbing at his eye socket. The poison was... not anticipated by the antediluvian devil.

Jedah glances back and forth between the two summoned fighters. "You two will spill as much blood as you can. Make a spectacle of it all -- remind the fragile humans of how much punishment their bodies can take before utterly collapsing. Paint the arenas crimson. Just make sure that you keep the carnage to the official tournament venues -- if we get disqualified, I would hate for it to not be on camera, mmmm?"

The injured vampire begins to list from side to side. His companion begins to show worry, but does not budge from his spot.

"Do you have any questions?"

[ZABEL]
Zabel cackles briefly, flexing the fingers of one partially skeletal hand with a series of cracks and pops. "You know me! Spectacle is what I do." He glances over at Lotus. "I'm usually a solo act, but I think I can swing this." But then he tilts his head to one side, raising an eyebrow as he looks at Jedah. "But is this all about the carnage? What about the prize money? Some of us can still find stuff to do with that kinda cash out in the world, ya know." Not that Zabel is particularly hurting for money. Dying did cause him some issues in that department, but his albums still sell.

[LOTUS]
%Mmhhhhh.... KoF. She has heard of the event before. it's rather famous back in the human realm. She quickly does the math:

Toying with opponents? Check!

Making a mess? Check!

Making a spectacle of it? Double check!

Lotus sloooowly grins as she nods "Bleed them dry. Do it painfully. Make an example of it. My kinda scene!". Like Zabel, whom she now looks over, she isn't usually the type that works with someone, but hey. Long as it's fun, she can dig it! She nods in agreement with Zabels question "Hey, *I'M* fine being a big messy distraction or inspiring fear. Long as i know that's what you want to see happen! Any OTHER objectives for us while we're painting the town red?".

She giggles madly to herself at her joke, way too easily amused.

[JEDAH]
Jedah nods slowly back to Zabel as the question of money comes up. "The carnage is -my- ultimate gain from this tournament. Money, technology, real estate... I have all of these things. But inspiring fear and terror across entire societies and cultures transcends the material world. Fear and terror can change the landscape of the -world-, can spur on... evolution."

He chuckles softly, with a slow acknowledging nod to Lotus. "The secondary objective is winning. You and Lotus can split the money between you. My financial assets in the human world are incalculable and of no consequence. The 'base' promised would undoubtedly be useful as a target for those who would seek to strike against us... but likely little else. As for the chi technology..."

The Dark Messiah raises a hand to his forehead, kneading it gently. "I have a plan in mind for that. These humans believe they have some kind of 'advantage' with this technology, but in the end, they are only delaying their ultimate fate. Technology and weapons didn't do them a lot of good in the realm of Shao Kahn's, did it?"

[ZABEL]
While he has a better understanding of magic than super advanced technology, Zabel isn't one to scoff at weapons that blow stuff up really well. And if Jedah decides he's not really interested in the robots, well, who knows... maybe Zabel can find something to do with them. Possibly involving installing speakers. "Well however things work out, I guarantee you that people will remember our matches." The red light in Zabel's eye sockets flashes brighter for a moment as he grins. He's not quite as much of a sadist as one might think... but as a soul devouring heavy metal ghoul, that's not saying much.

Then he looks thoughtful for a bit. "Hmm... Not too much time, better get the word out. Wouldn't want the fans to miss out..." He trails off muttering to himself, becoming pretty unclear but it does sound like he mentioned something about 'merchandise'. Because hey, some people appreciate the kind of show Jedah wants them to put on!

[LOTUS]
Lotus, like Zabel, seems to like the whole idea. She gives a semi-mock salute and a vicious smile, saying "ya vol mein kommandant! I promise to do what i can to make it nice and..... messy!". She giggles, which becomes a laugh, which becomes a full-on maniacal cackle.

She's crazy. It's in her contract!

She turns her attention to Zabel as she calms down a bit, trying to get an idea of what he can do "This promises to be fun!"

[JEDAH]
The vampire standing closest to Lotus falls to one knee, clutching at his injured eye. He'll live, or ... unlive, or whatever. He just thought he was immune to the poison, but ... maybe not?
His companion just shakes his head, sadly.

Lord Jedah, for his part, points at the kneeling vampire, raising a finger to Lotus. "Really? There were better ways I could have made use of his time. Take better care of your elders, Lotus." A sardonic half-smile may be in place on the noble's face, but his eyes do level an element of harshness at the junior assassin.

As for Lotus and Zabel both expressing their intention to make a bloody spectacle of the tournament, the Dark Messiah nods in approval. With a deep, bass-filled chuckle, he claps both hands together. "Do whatever you need to. I have the utmost confidence in you both. And if you both bring home the championship... we can certainly work on expanding our reach. And the coffers, as one might expect."

Jedah laces his fingertips together -- an altogether pleased grin spreading across his face as he rises to his full height, levitating a foot from the floor. "Now, I do apologize for inconveniencing you two, but I appreciate your prompt responses. I... should get back to my experiments, but if you have no further questions..."

He gestures to the vampire standing behind Zabel. "Zarock, you may feel free to return to your previous engagement."
The bloodfiend then gestures to Lotus' companion. "You may want to consider apologizing if you want similar treatment, Lotus."

Log created on 16:14:40 07/27/2017 by Jedah, and last modified on 12:00:30 07/28/2017.