"Thanks. I'll be quick as I can."

True to her word, Alex takes a reasonably fast shower. That doesn't mean she cuts any corners. When she comes out, her skin looks raw from the scrubbing.

"Good news, there's still hot water. Bad news, it didn't help. I still feel like I'm covered in an oil slick."

At Alex's words, Jiro jerks awake, having nodded off. More tired than I thought I was... "Thank you, Alex-san. Ah, could you call for some delivery pizza or something while I clean up? I meant to, but..." He shrugged, gave an apologetic smile.

He stripped out of his clothes, smelling of sewer, sweat, and adrenaline, and fired up the shower, letting the hot water wash over him as he scrubbed, hoping and praying that he'd manage to feel at least a tiny bit cleaner after. Memories of the foul thing he'd wrestled with as he'd tried to purge Johnny's mind haunted him, distracting him and grating on already-frayed nerves.

Tired mind racing as he scrubbed, he lost track of time. A jolt of cold water announced the hot water tank growing tired of her antics, and coincidentally woke her right up. Swearing under her breath, Jiro finished, then started to dry off. Her clothes from earlier held no appeal. There's no way I'm putting those back on. I feel filthy enough without adding that to the mix.

Wrapping a towel around herself, she poked her head out the door. "Can you toss me my backpack, Alex-san? The stuff I was wearing stinks too much of sewer for right now. You're right... scrubbing didn't help nearly enough."

"Don't worry about it. Delivery it is."



Alex looked up from her computer and blinked. She started at Jiro for a moment, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah. Here you go."

She leaned over, grabbed the back pack and tossed it right to her hand. Without opening her eyes.

Jiro caught the backpack easily off the toss. She can use a sandal as a thrown weapon. Of course she's got perfect aim with a pack. "Thanks!"

She ducked back into the washroom and quickly pulled on something clean. And resolved to do laundry at some point tonight, because she was down to her last two changes of clean underwear. If I recall correctly, there's a coin-op washer and dryer by the office... should be safe enough. Gathering up the various bits of dirty clothes, she repacked the bag for the evening and headed back out.

"Sorry about that. I lost track of time. Anyway, once I'm feeling a little more awake I'll see if I can figure out what that... black spirit thing was." A pause as she sagged into a chair again. The jolt of cold water was fading fast. "I have some notes kicking around, I might get lucky. And who knows, you might find something online. Ah; I can't really think of a better plan than that right now... Too much stuff to process before I'll be comfortable in making a plan, Alex-san. Any ideas yourself?" If they suggest going out after those things today I'll say no, but other than that, I think I'll defer to the huntress. And rested, I think I'll be up for a little more poking around; see if we can't find the boss vamps... if we want to.

That spirit, and the magics laid into Johnny... That was terrifying. I really, really don't want to try and fight those guys in their lair right now... but I somehow doubt Alexandria will be satisfied with just giving the information to Dragoneye. She felt one corner of her mouth twist up into a smirk. Be jonest, Koji, you wouldn't be happy with doing that either.

Alex was demolishing a large burger and fries when Jiro emerged. "Pizza's over there. I got the same toppings as the last one, though it's from a different place. Still pretty good."

She paused and considered Jiro's words. "I... have no fracking clue. This is important and all but... does it make me a bad person to want nothing more then to veg for a couple hours? After the last... has it really only been three days? Frack. Feels like years. I'm just..."

Alex sighed deeply.

Jiro nodded. "I understand, and I agree, all things considered." The aquatransexual grabbed a slice of pizza and sat on the edge of the bed. "I am entirely cool with doing nothing more strenuous tonight than laundry and brainstorming. Far, far too much has happened these last three days." Ooh, delicious pizza... thank you, kind and merciful Kamis.

After a few bites, she glanced to her friends. "Far too busy. What is the phrase... it never rains, it just pours? Resting now would be good, I think. The rain will be waiting later."

Alex leaned back on the couch and visibly relaxed. "I support this plan."

She took another bite of her burger. After finishing she spoke again. "So... ignoring martial arts, real super powers, and pissing off organized crime... who are you Jiro? What do you do for fun? Any other hobbies? Favorite TV shows?"

Oh. Sure. Ask me a hard one... For a moment, Jiro sat quietly, munching pizza. Well, it's a fair enough question. I can think of no reason not to answer...

She shrugged. "There is not, perhaps, much to tell. I was raised in the family tradition, with the expectation that someday I would take over the family school of martial arts and teach the next generation. For fun... well, I enjoy nature; exploring and communing with the wilderness. Cities... have their good points, but for the most part I like fresh air and open space and green. That, I think, is the best part of my... exile... this last year and change. Too much of Japan is built up." Not exactly answering the question, Koji... Alex-san wants to know what you do for fun. Her little mental voice seemed to leer. Can I suggest a few things to say to them?

No! Merciful Kamis, where do you come from? I refuse to believe this much... undignified behavior... can truly come from me. "Ah, I do enjoy reading. Mostly fantasy or science fiction," she felt the corner of her mouth twitch upwards into a self-depreciating smirk. "Things as unlike my real life as I can find." A pause. "As for a favorite television show... A hard question to answer. I honestly could not pick one offhand. Well... probably one of the Macross series." Another smirk. "I'll admit, I used to sort of like Ranma 1/2 before, well..." she gave a vague gesture, as if to highlight her body. "Not quite as funny, any more. Most martial arts shows just annoy me... even with, as you say, real super powers, it doesn't work that way. Brings out the pedant in me."

Jiro had relaxed with her friend(s?). She was already tired, and had a tendency to ramble at the best of times. Ramble she did. "I used to dabble in origami, once upon a time, but I am terribly out of practice. I wanted to play baseball when I was younger, but with my abilities it was... unfair to the other players, and not terribly fun. Some challenge is needed for a contest." Another smirk as a memory replayed. "I still remember my school's coach's reaction when I quit the team. Visions of championships evaporating in his head." A giggle.

As the giggle faded, Jiro's expression and tone turning maudlin. "I lost a lot of friends that day. We were just elementary kids, school league... and most everyone else on the team had been my friend. After that day, none of them would speak to me." A sigh. "Had trouble making friends. Thought those guys were good friends... couldn't make more after that; not for years. Not 'till I met Omiko..." She felt her eyes well up. "Omi didn't care that I was awkward and weird and stand-offy. She just liked me. We'd hang out, and help each other with homework, or just talk about stuff... Then this happened, an' she didn't care, an' her father tried to have me killed... Hated to leave, hated to run away from another fight... one of her friends would pass my letters on, until Takashi found out..."

Abruptly, Jiro stiffened, shook her head as if to clear it as her cheeks heated in embarrassment. "Gomen - I am rambling. Too tired. I hope I have not given offense, Alex-san."

Alex leaned back and listened, a small smile on her face. It was nice to talk about something normal.


She giggled. "Wonder why?"


Alex waves her hand in negation. "In my programming life I never was one for any sports but Slayer side I was on the Rugby teams in high school. It wasn't easy when I decided to quit either. I was already pretty alienated from my old friends on the team by then, with all the time I spent secretly hunting vampires but it still hurt. I had dreams of sports, ever since I was a little girl. To get a scholarship and be a full time Rugby hero. I kept playing for a while after I got my powers but it just wasn't fun or fair and I didn't have time for it, school, vampire hunting, and sleep. Something had to give and I just didn't feel honest."

"At least I had a few friends. There was a small group of us who worked together to protect the people of the town. We called ourselves 'The Band' and our meetings 'Band Practice'. Gabe, Glenn, Josh, Sarah, and Laura were the first ones in the group. There was another girl to, Emily, but she died before I met them. I joined up with them a while later. They'd been fighting vampires and demons for months before I got involved. They'd all run into monsters at some point and decided to do something about them. If it wasn't for that common bond, there was no way we'd ever have been close. Well... I had a crush on Gabe the football star, but the others were the less popular kinds of kids. Not the sort of people a popular Jock would hang out with."

"We drifted apart after high school, but we always had each other to call on. That's what was going on when I lost it a bit at Starbase yesterday. I was thinking about friends who could help and didn't realize they weren't here. Wish they were. After almost ten years of fighting evil we were pretty damn good at it."

Alex sighed. "Oh well. They aren't even in this universe so we'll just have to do the best we can."

Jiro nodded slowly as she listened to Alex's tale. "A heavy burden to carry. Such burdens are always best carried with friends. I hope to be able to stand in their stead."

A pause. "Forgive me if this is too forward a question, but I admit to being curious. You have compared me to two of your friends before; to Tommy and to Sarah... Could you tell me more about them? Or, if that is a subject too personal to speak on, perhaps about your own hobbies and television likes and such?"

"It's exactly what I was wanting to avoid, but talking about TV I like is going to be just as bad now that I think about it. Trying to figure out how to talk about how much I loved Dawson's Creek and how much I disliked the one episode I saw... just..." Alex shudders a bit, then shrugs.

"So, yeah. We can talk about my friends. I'll start with Sarah. I met her first, back when I was still in high school. She was a geek, a real geek right out of the stereotypes. D&D, Anime, and all of that. She had a lot in common with my programmer side actually. She wasn't from Aberdeen, but moved from Canada when her mom got a job in town. Her parents figured the move would do the girl good, get her away from some bad memories. Really bad."

"From what I picked up talking to a couple of her friends from back home and her mom, Sarah had been a real geek, awkward around everybody. Shy and quiet. Your typical high school outcast, with just a few friends. That was until she met a nice boy named Tom when she was fifteen. Not the Tommy I was talking about, he was no geek and uhh... not dead. Anyway from what I managed to piece together he was geek to, just better socialized. Best I can tell they dated for almost a year. She really came out of her shell learning about makeup, dresses and all the girlie stuff that she'd ignored. I saw a picture of them once, and they were so cute together."

"That changed after they got attacked by a monster. She was cut up bad, and he died when he tackled the thing off the edge of a cliff to save her. Obviously that undid all the good that had come from her dating him. Took her a while to start talking to people again. The scars the monster's claws left on her didn't help either. She wasn't the prettiest girl to begin with, but afterwards? People avoided her from first glance. I know I didn't want to have anything to do with an ugly wierdo like that." Alex puts scorn into her voice as she says the last, but it's clear she doesn't mean it. At least not anymore.

"When I met her, she was... not quite normal. Quiet enough for the most part and still obviously a geek but there was this edge to her. She had absolutely no back down in her. Even before I found out about vampires I'd watched her stand up to three older bullies and go down fighting. No matter what, she fought until she or her opponent wasn't getting back up again. Said she subscribed to the 'Ender Doctrine'. Of course I had no idea what she was talking about then, but since Ender's Game is one of my programmer side's favorite books I understand her a lot better."

"While she was ready enough to talk about most things to her friends, even the attack itself, she never mentioned Tom when she talked about her past. Even after all this time, after killing the monster that hurt her, putting Tom's ghost to rest, and moving in with Josh you could still sometimes see hints of that old pain. I think it was only her faith in God and falling in love with Josh that kept her from going off the deep end. You and I seem to both have had a fair bit of crap dumped on us, but she had it worse." A sigh.

"Sarah was the real brains of the group. Whenever we were digging into old tomes or books of eldritch lore she lead the charge. Josh tended to be right behind her, while Gabe and I flipped through and made jokes about the freaky pictures. Of course when it came time to stomp on the vampires, she didn't do as well. Still tenacity, a total lack of fear, and a willingness to cheat helped."

"All that studying of magic lore did have an effect on her and by the time we were out of high school she was casting spells pretty regularly. Not just the one off rituals that we pieced together to banish a specific demon or monster, but real spells. Stuff like you... well you would believe considering what I read on Wikipedia. She wasn't as powerful as most of the superheroes I read about, but she could toss vamps around with her mind and throw a fireball if things were really desperate. I nearly peed myself the first time I saw her do it."

"After high school, things are starting to get a bit fuzzier. I know she went off to college, and studied something. The Band still existed for a while, but with us starting to go off on our own, like I said we drifted apart. I got better with the whole research thing, but I know that whenever I ran into something I didn't get I would call her up."

Alex falls silent for a little bit. "That's pretty much the last I remember. I guess my post high school memories haven't managed to settle in very well yet. The gaps there would be really freaking me out if it wasn't for everything ELSE that's happened inside my head so far."

Suddenly she barks a little laugh. "And you were apologizing about rambling. See, I'm worse then you are. Nothing to apologize for... assuming you'll forgive my own ramble."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Tue 24 May 2011.

Jiro smiled. "Of course I shall forgive it. Sarah sounds like an amazing friend, and I am flattered by the comparison to one of such will and tenacity."

Then she yawned; tiredness creeping over her. "It has been a long day. Still, thank you for sharing, I appreciate the trust you place in me." And I note you did not speak of Tommy, and from what you said before he is a less... impressive association. Still. I shall not pry.

"Is there anything else you wish to speak of? I... If we are to take more action against these creatures today, I will need some rest. My attempt at healing Johnny... has left me drained." Laundry is just gonna have to wait.

"Oh! Sorry. I should have realized that using so much life force in such a different way then you are used to would knock you down hard. You have a nap and I'll wake you up a couple hours before sundown if you don't on your own. I think I'll toss some clothing into the laundry and then read for a bit outside. You want me to toss your stuff in to?"

"Arigato Goziamasu, Alex-san." Jiro tiredly fished out the plastic bag full of dirty laundry from her pack. Hrm... that shirt got torn when Alex was wearing it, and that set's all... sewery... A lopsided grin. "It is time and past for this... and I may need to replace a few of these... the coin laundry here may not be up to defeating the sewer. Still, I greatly appreciate the help, Alex-san."

As her friend left to do laundry, Jiro shucked off shirt and pants, climbing under the blankets on the bed. Though her head was filled with maudlin memories and a vague disquiet from the thing that had infested Johnny, she was tired enough to drift off quickly on her own.

The coin laundry is better then average, and the clothing ends up reasonably clean.

Jiro sleeps for a few hours, waking around 4PM.

Jiro Koji walks through the darkness, a deeper shadow stalking him. The martial artist ghosts through it, her lithe form gliding from one safe nook to the next sheltering cranny. Jiro feels some vague, threatening thing growing closer, and redoubles his efforts, her deft fingers scrambling for handholds as he scrambles up a wall; trying to distance herself from whatever is following. Finally, he rolls over the top of the wall onto a roof. Before her, she sees the hunched form of Johnny. The silent vampire turns his head, and two pits of soul-drinking darkness glare at him hungrily. Jiro turns, intent to flee, but behind her is a great, looming blackness made of fear and death and endless, ravening hunger.

The blackness speaks; You were delicious, little warrior, the taste you gave me. I will sup deep upon your soul soon... Talons of pitted obsidian reached for his throat-

In the hotel bed, Jiro sat up abruptly, waking with a wordless cry. For a long moment she sits there shaking, hugging herself as the last moments of the dream fade. Finally, she slides out of bed, one hand rubbing at her forehead as the other fishes for clean clothes, pulling on a grey T-shirt and sweats.

Afternoon light streams in from outside, and she exits the hotel room, still barefoot, snagging some cold pizza as she goes. Outside, she sees Alex, and sits beside her in the sunlight. "Thank you for letting me sleep, Alex-san. It... helped. And thank you for doing laundry. What is our next step?"

"Da nada." Alex replied, carefully not commenting on what she heard when Jiro awoke.

"Our next step should be to keep the pressure on, I think. We've taken out pretty much the whole offshoot group and that means there isn't going to be anything keeping the other group in check. If we move tonight, we should be able to watch them as they find out about what happened. How they react should be revealing."

Jiro nodded slowly. A logical plan. I would prefer not to act at night, but he- no, this is probably almost all Alexandria, so she - is right about keeping the pressure on. "So, in essence, look for a point of weakness and hammer on it? That sounds reasonable."

A pause. "That said, diving in headlong could be quite dangerous while the things are awake and alert. We shall have to pick our moment."

She took bite of pizza, then, "Have you learned anything that gives you a more specific idea of where to find them, or will we be scouting this the hard way?"

"The way I figure it, they are going to be investigating the Ruthless Asian Gang territory. They'll have heard about something going down from their human servants, so they will be curious. We just need to hang out on the edges of the territory and watch. If we find a good target, we jump 'em and see what we can learn before dusting them. If we don't, we tail them back to their lairs."

"I like the sound of that plan, it makes sense. How soon will we need to be in position?" And how likely are you to fly off the handle if you recognize one of them again, Alexandria?

"I want to be in position just before the sun sets. Let's find a nice roof to settle on. One with some clear sight lines and some cover."

"Okay. Give me a second and I'll be ready to roll."

Quickly, the aquatransexual darted back inside the room and into the bathroom. One splash of hot water and a quick bit of sock-finding and shirt-swapping later, and he emerged back outside, now wearing a loosely cut black shirt and pulling on his shoes. "Lead on, Alex-san."

A roof is found and the pair settles in to watch.

As they settled in to watch, Jiro turned their last several fights over in his mind. I have been consistantly struggling to bring decisive harm to these creatures... But Alex has not. The family school is... perhaps ill suited to battling the living dead. I need to do something that will hurt.

Still watching the street, he ghosted to Alex's position, and said, in a voice pitched to carry no further than their ear, "Alex-san; can I borrow a few of your stakes? I... believe I will have need of them, should the fighting become intense." A small pain in the pride. Oh, how I dislike such. But it will likely aid my odds this night.

Alex felt a small shiver go up her back in response to him almost whispering in him ear. She looked down to hide a faint blush in the gloom and pulled a pair of stakes out. "Here. Just aim for the heart and hit hard."

[OOC: 19:38, Today: Alex rolled 25 using 1d20+7. Notice Check.
19:40, Today: Alex rolled 11 using 1d20+10. Stealth. ]
This message was last edited by the player at 23:41, Tue 24 May 2011.