17958/Red Reign: Queen of Blood, Princess of Truth

Red Reign: Queen of Blood, Princess of Truth
Date of Scene:	15 May 2024
Location:	Alley
Synopsis:	Diana decides to check out the chaos going on in Gotham for herself. She comes to blows with Mary Seward and her vampires...When the fight's done, Mary comes out the other end, more resolute than ever. Good for her, bad for everyone else.
Cast of Characters:	Mary Seward, Diana Prince
Tinyplot:	Red Reign

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Mary Seward has posed:
News spread of Gotham going through a mysterious strings of disappearances. Strange sightings of winged bat creatures seen flying through the air also began to surface. But, neither of those were odd for the city. Especially, the latter.

No, what was odd was someone who had the distinct look of a vampire slamming into the windshield of the invisible jet and crashing down below. Disappearing into the darkness. Hardly the strangest thing to fly into the jet by accident, but the circumstances were telling. It wouldn't take the world's greatest detective to put two and two together.

The Undead in Gotham? Sounds like something in need of intervention. Perhaps, finding where that bloodsucker landed and tying them up with the lasso of truth could provide some easy answers.

Diana Prince has posed:
The Invisible Jet is a piece of alien technology. A 'disc' gifted to Diana by an alien race known as the Lansinarians. Gifted to her after Diana saved their Princess from an ambush of assassins that tracked her all the way to Earth's most remote continent of Antarctica. The disc itself, bound to Diana, can take on any design she wishes it to within a limitation of size. Diana most commonly utilizes the device to create the transport she's become renown for. A transport jet plane.

Having something collide with it is fairly rare, but obviously not unheard of. Being that the Jet has an AI system that generally alerts those within it of any incoming aerial obstacles, most of the time there is more than enough chance to avoid them. Apparently something got through tonight.

Following the collision, the multi-passenger Jet descended from the sky, cloaked in invisibility, it hovered silently above where its sensor systems indicated the object had fallen, and after a moment, a figure slipped out from inside the cloaked aerial vehicle.

The object fluttered in the wind, faling from the sky with a controlled grace, before it touched down in an alleyway within the gloomy city of Gotham.

Armored boots, wedged heels, touched down upon dirty, wet, pavement. They shifted softly, as their wearer turned to look north, then south down the alley's confines.

Wonder Woman, adorned in her Eagle Armor, stands within the alley, a sword mounted upon her back, and her shining metal bracers glinting in what ambient light is present. She let her senses peel, as she began to quietly walk upon her armored boots further in to the alley's shadows.

She was searching...

Mary Seward has posed:
She wouldn't have to search for much longer. For it was her, that had been found. Up above noises was made, sounds of hissing and fluttering wings, sudden shifts. One look up would show what stood above in the rooftops on each side of the alleyway.

Vampires. By the street clothes they wore, these ones look to have been recently turned. Poor souls, so freshly stripped of their humanity. Now, eager to do so to others.

Seeing fresh meat down below, they leapt down towards the princess. Diana would be able to see about four heading down her way.

Diana Prince has posed:
It did not take Diana too many steps before she began to detect the sound of rustling motion up above, along with the sensation of being watched. Her eyes ssubsequently rose up to the roofs above ,where she observed those gathered on either sides of the alley's apex. She did not really have much of a reaction to it, as it seemed like something that could be happening to her on any other day, likely a testiment to her long lived life of dealing with the pitfalls of interactions with all manner of people, beasts, and creatures alike.

When a handful of the looming figures dropped down toward Diana's level upon the floor of the alleyway, the Princess simply watched them descend, and kept her hands at her sides, wrapped in leather strips that were well oiled against her otherwise soft skin. She did clench her fists for a brief moment, before letting her fingers loosen again.

"Hello." Diana spoke in her naturally husky voice, her long, dark, hair flowing calmly in the wind rushing through the alley, gently waving against her bare shoulders.

"I am Princess Diana, of Themyscira. I came to check on whatever I may have accidentally injured in the sky above..." She explains, her voice laced with a thick accent foreign to any location within the United States.

Mary Seward has posed:
"Aw, well, aren't you sweet? Stopping the car and walking back to see the check on the roadkill that you hit. Such a bleeding heart." It seems that not everyone present made themselves known to her. At her right, Diana would find a someone upon a fire escape, leaning against it's railing. Her skin was pale, her hair was short and red. Red as her eyes, red as the stripes coating her body, and the blood dripping from the side of her lips.

"We love bleeding hearts over here." She laughs.

The rest of the vampires around stood at attention, staying under the woman as she spoke. Seems they answered to her. Someway, somehow. "...Last time I checked, Gotham wasn't your city. Shouldn't you be over on good ol' Lesbos island or whatever you call it, where it's good for you?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Naturally the voice speaking up would draw Wonder Woman's attention directly to the red eyed woman standing a short distance away, and above. The Princess would look upon her, after eyeing the minions who had dropped down to 'greet' her, and she'd simply shake her head gently once from side to side. "I was visiting friends." She says in a bit of counter dry-humor. "Seems our systems were only scanning for heat sources upon take off, rather than ... well... those absent of body-heat."

Another glance was sent to those on the ground level with her, Diana standing with her feet slightly apart in a strong stance, a confident presence.

"I will make the necessary adjustments to our launch protocol, and perhaps we'll avoid such sour results in the future..."

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward lets out a slow, pitiful "Oooh, ho ho ho." Then, she clicks her tongue. "Well, I'm glad you could serve to be so polite." She pushes herself slightly higher over the railing. "But, the future isn't here yet. Don't take I.O.U.s unfortunately. You'll have to make it up to us right now, I'm afraid." She crosses her arms.

"I know how...As you can see, my friends here are...a bit peckish. And you, tall, nice and juicy, came here all by yourself into this place all alone...Now..we've never tasted amazon blood before, so please, do be kind to allow us to expand our palates a bit. Yeah?" She laughs. "I think it's fair, don't you think it's fair?" The rest of the vampires begin to gnash their teeth and snarl as they more closely approach Diana. All the while their queen looked down from her spot, an all-too amused look on her face.

Seems they never came in with peaceful resolutions in mind.

Diana Prince has posed:
The words from the Mistress of the Minions, the sounds that the minions then begin to make... all of it causes Diana to roam her eyes around the visible forms that are before her. "I would not recommend that." She warns them, a bit more of a serious edge bled in to the intonation of her voice.

At Diana's side, hanging upon the leather harness strapped around her body, the golden lasso of Truth suddenly glows brightly with a Divine power, with a Holy power, that is likely quite repulsive to the eyes looking upon it now.

Diana's right hand clutches the end of the divine twine, letting it gently slip between her fingers as she further makes its presence known.

"I am not here for a fight, nor am I prone to allowing those who would mean the people of Gotham City harm to simply walk away either. I had hoped for your assurance that neither were the case here, but, I am sensing otherwise..." She states, her voice carrying through the alleyway, as the sounds of Gotham City echo through the spaces between the buildings.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward rolls her eyes, and theatrically swings her arms back. "Oh, well, what gave you that idea?!...Miss, I am plainly offended that you would think me a malicious actor." She did a purposefully overzealous scandalized scoff. "Clearly, you aren't as polite as I thought. Looks like we'll have to teach you a lesson after all.

The light of Hestia's Lasso made the nearest of the vampiric pack shrink away. It's radiance was too reminiscent of the sun for their taste. Still, their Queen of Blood's command took highest priority. With their rational, their advantage in number and individual vampiric power combined gave them good odds. It was up to Diana to put those odds to the test. Reason wouldn't make these monsters back down. It's such a shame that it almost always seems to come to this.

"Attack!" Mary gives the command. The two farthest back, leap towards Diana, their arms shifting long bat-wings enabling flight and aiding speed to their lunge. They circled around as they slashed at she who was called Wonder Woman with their claws.

Diana Prince has posed:
Such was the life of Wonder Woman, often prone to finding herself battling against the forces of some dark intentions.

When the two Vampires began their transformation, Diana detached the coiled-up lasso from her hip! It was unwound within a split of a second's time, unfurled, and extended out in a long twisting motion that sent the rope swirling around the body of the armored Amazon at its center! The sound of the rope slicing through the alley's air caused a swooshing of flowing motion, followed by the rope snapping out toward one of the first of the clawing creatures descending upon her place!

The second winged nightmare's claws were intercepted by one of the shining bracers of submission that encase Diana's forearms, leaving a ringing of metallic sounds bouncing off of the alley walls!

That same free hand shot back behind Diana's back, where it wrapped around the blue leather grip of her Athenian sword, drawing it from its gilded sheath and leveling it at the next attacking foe, shining blade sent in a curving swipe to intercept the incoming creature's blows before they can land upon her!

Wonder Woman begins the dance of combat within the alley, her movements as graceful as one would expect of a heroic icon of her magnitude!

Mary Seward has posed:
The rope coils around the vampire liked a snake, with it's constriction equally as tight. His brethren found himself stumbling after the swing of his claw met nigh-unbreakable metal. A third of the vampire's finds itself joining the rest, in leaping at the amazon. Unfortunately for him, that's when the sword came loose. The blade met with flesh, and the ill-gotten blood of the undead spilled out to stain the pavement below.

Mary's face becomes wry at the display. Less a look of anger and more an expression one would show when a performance isn't captivating them. It seems she lacks the ability to appreciate the beauty of Wonder Woman's dance. Does the curse of undeath reap all souls of their perception of art?

The fourth vampire was nowhere to be seen. But, the princess could briefly hear the flapping of wings from behind as a mundane bat rapidly flew behind and flash-shifted into human-resembling form. In some sort of mid-somersault position as her hands were brought down to wrench off Diana's eagle-shaped helmet.

What these monsters lacked in Diana's grace in combat, they substituted with pack instincts, apparently.

Diana Prince has posed:
The good people of Gotham City might behold quite a sight, should any of them happen to be in a place to provide a chance to peer within this alleyway. The 'show' would be of rather impressive spectacle, even if it is a bit mundane for the redheaded woman with the crimson eyes.

The sound of combat moved through the alleyway, with the Amazon Princess advancing forward, dashing to the side, and swirling her blade out for follow-up strikes. The lasso of Hestia moving in the wake of the sword itself, twirling in tight circles that fanned out in broader lashes of Divine power toward the dark creatures!

The one that fluttered in behind Diana, gained purchase on the edges of her gilded helmet, causing Wonder Woman to duck, and roll! The helmet came free, clattering to the ground as the Princess tumbled over her shouldrs, coming back up upon her armored boots, with her legs in a wide stance, her knees bent and her lasso cutting through the air! She raised her sword up, expecting a follow-up lunge, and sending a thrust straight toward the creature that had teetered her helmet from atop her head, leaving her dark locks of curled hair to flutter around her otherwise bare shoulders!

Diana's shining sword is thrust outward, not afraid of delivering true death to the undead creatures before her!

Mary Seward has posed:
The amazon's mighty blade strikes true! The monster feels the might of an Athenian blade pierce straight through it's chest. Only her rapid movement in stealing the Amazon's prized helmet and landing on her feet was able to spare her heart from being caught in the sword's path.

Her brothers in blood continued their assault, as they each attempted to rush the Amazon Princess. Two of them were forced to shriek back as the godly lasso lashed across their bodies, leaving streaks not too dissimilar to some sort of enchanted whip.

An extra one of them however was bold enough to continue. The vampire had ducked underneath the lasso's twirl, before lunging for the arm of Diana's that held the sword.

The sword that had cut him mid flight. The sword he now felt to be hateful, and thus towards it he was hateful in return. His move was an attempt to rob DIana of that blade as his newfound sister had robbed her of her helm. This sister, now also an enemy of this sword and seeking to claim something else of this amazon, aside from her blood of course, reaches down to assist him.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana was a well trained warrior with nearly a thousand years of practice, and experience at wielding a blade. She had the reflexes of the Gods, and the agility that comes with it.

Her blade was ready for the incoming attack, and though she saw a window of possible opportunity to slice the blade across the creature's throat, she did not take it. Instead, she pulled her blade up, and rammed the butt-end of its hilt right in to his nose!

Diana was quick to dash out of the way, a second later, spinning herself across the alley to press booted foot against brick, bracing herself with one leg held up high, and the other extended beneath her, carrying the bulk of her weight. She twirled lasso, spun sword, and paused in a motion of poised readiness!

"Enough!" Diana called out. "I will not yield to your people, and should you press further, I will see to it that I end each one of them before I pursue you!" Diana calls out, her voice to everyone, but meant only for the Crimson woman who commanded them.

Mary Seward has posed:
The exhausted bloodsuckers looked up at the princess, who seemed to have them beat. Yet, as she called out her threat to their queen, she...was nowhere to be seen. The fire escape where she once was had been left empty.In the commotion of the fight, Mary had appeared to vanish out of the amazon's sight.

Yet, she did not flee. Her presence was felt. "Brave words. Tough words..." Harsh winds blew throughout the alleyway, carrying with them a thick breeze and a thicker mist. "Threatening my own just to get to me? Here I thought you were one of those heroes'..." The woman's mocking voice laughs it up. "...Thinking yourself an uplifter of the downtrodden, and a warrior of change...Instead, just another weapon of mankind's oppression....Though, you amazons claim to be different." The tone turned from teasing to venomous.

"I guess it really doesn't matter after all. Amazon...Human..." The woman formed from behind.

"You all taste the same."

The queen of blood's arms move to bind themselves around Diana's torso as the princess' lasso bound one of her vampires. In that instant. She lunges downwards, to the neck that her servant most excellently exposed for through her theft of the eagle-adorned helmet. The Queen of Blood is upon the neck with her piercing fangs.

Piercing. Diana's greatest weaknesses.

Diana Prince has posed:
Sometimes in an active situation it was possible to get in a advantageous position. Case in point, Mary found herself able to slip in behind Wonder Woman, she found herself able to drop down behind her, wrap her arms around her, and get a good look at the Amazon's neck!

When the bite was inbound, Wonder Woman had but one option that sprang to her mind...

She raised her forearms in a blur of motion, and slammed her bracers together. The Ageis of Zeus, the kinetic wave of golden energy spread out from Diana's forearms, smashing its way through the alleyway to the south! The wave of power sent everything within the alley spreading out in a far distance of shock, toppling items over, and in the process, a fair amount of it slammed in to a pylon of brick and stone beside where Diana was!

Utilizing the pushback of gravity, diana slammed herself back in to the brick wall, attempting to crush the Vampire who'd dropped down behind her, smashing her against the old brick and metal supports of a Gotham rundown building!

Mary Seward has posed:
All in front of Wonder Woman, especially those in front of her, found themselves blown away by the massive force generated by the meeting of those bracelets together. They went flying faster than they had on wings, before hitting the ground hard.

"Jesus-!" Even Mary couldn't help but balk at the Amazon's surprise tactic. She of course was dragged along for the ride as consequence of her latching on so tight to Diana. In soon to be no time, she would find herself sandwiched between Diana's body and the brick wall. A hard place and an even harder place.

However, the vampiress had a surprise tactic of her own. In the moment they went soared back, Mary's body began to twist shape, cracking and twisting. Her minions had demonstrated the ability to give themselves the wings of a bat, the one Diana impaled even taking on the form of a bat outright.

But, what their queen turned herself into could hardly be described as a mere bat. No, she was starting to increase in size. Her neat pin-prick fangs now became a mess of jagged teeth jutting out of her mouth. Hair sprouting across body. Those arms holding onto Diana's swelling with musculature. She was half-way between becoming something much, much worse. She seemed to hold herself in this mid-point however. Her legs dug into the ground beneath, slowing their momentum just briefly before they finally slammed into the wall behind them.

In Mary's transformed state, the building took much greater brunt of the damage than she did.

"You actually had me there, you little scamp." She chuckles. "Scared me for a bit there...Oh well..."

She goes for the neck once more.

Diana Prince has posed:
With the chaos following the Aegis blast, and Diana slamming back in to the wall with Mary behind her, the duo were locked up enough to give Mary a chance to transform in to a larger beastly creature behind the Amazon Princess.

Considerable strength upgrade, but not enough to disuade Diana from going vertical! Just as Mary-- in her new form-- lowered her larger fangs down to engage with Diana's neck, the Princess shot straight upward, right in to the metal fire-escape that lined the side of the old Gotham structure!

Diana wasn't kind about it either, using her power of flight to propel both of their bodies upward, with the intention of slamming Mary's head, and shoulders directly in to the old iron railings, edges, corners, and outcropppings of the brick building they were adding a healthy amount of scars to the facade of!

With a few grunts of displeasure, and a fair amount of reversal strength applied, Diana shot herself free of the large creature's shoulders, coming to stand now upon the top of the building, her sword swept around to point tip toward where she expected fangs may be found!

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward found herself once again dragged along by the Amazon's movement, though obviously this time with more weight applied. It seems this was enough to alert her to start completing her bestial transformation, and with good reason. As her massive head slammed against brick and mortar, decimating this side of the building. "Oh, goddamn it!" She couldn't help but voice her frustration. It was more out of annoyance than pain.

Soon, they both found themselves upon the building. Though, where Diana expected an attempted bite, she instead found a massive arm slamming down towards her. The change had been noticeable before but now the towering, hulking, fur-coated, sharp-toothed monster up above had been unrecognizable from the woman she had faced earlier.

"Just stay still for god's sake! Don't tell me you're scared of little ol' me!"

Diana Prince has posed:
Vexing her enemies was an activity that diana was all too familiar with!

She found herself face to face with the beastly variation of the redheaded woman, and with it she glared upon the hulking furry form. the growled-out words received no response, and the strike to her blade was met with a twirling of the Princess to the side, the lass of Truth creating a funnel of golden glowing protection around her as she danced in to the center of the building's roof!

When she came out of the spin, Diana's arm lashed out, sending the lasso toward the massive Vampiric monstrosity before her, the intention to ensnare it clearly at the behest of the skillful Amazon wielder!

Diana's rope was sent to grasp on to the beast, her graceful motions moving to capture her would-be-bloodsucker, so it seems!

Mary Seward has posed:
Diana's spinning was an extra vex upon the vampire queen. Her hand slammed down into the roof they stood upon, crashing a hole through it. Her other, equally massive arm went to swing down upon the amazon as well. But, then came of course, her trusty lasso of the heavens. That which all vampires present tonight will come to know as that accursed rope. "

In seeing it, she knew to attempt to pull back, but she was a bit too late in the reflex. The lasso found itself moving true, catching the vampire in it's bind. Like the other massive beasts that Diana has met in battle with this mystical lasso, Mary finds herself roped up like a steer on a rage. Ironic considering the next words she screams.

"You COW!"

Diana Prince has posed:
In the following result, Diana begins to move with a tremendous amount of speed! She moves to and fro around Mary's position, taking with it the length of golden glowing rope that ends with the Princess behind Mary, and Mary fully wrapped up.

Diana raises her right foot up, delivering a hard kick to the back of Mary's knees, intending to drop her to the ground, with a display of viscious ferocity.

Should she fall, and should she look up, she'd find herself staring down at the form of the Amazon Princess now standing above her, the tip of her gleaming blade aimed at her fanged face. With the end of her lasso in her left hand, wrapped around it a pair of times, clutching it tightly, and with her sword ready to plunge forward shoulds finality be required, the Princess speaks again.

"Your name." Wonder Woman demands, coldly, her body covered in the detritus of their fight in the alley, against the building, and above, but no real signs of damage, or any scent of exposed blood yet to be upon her skin.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward comes crashing down as the Princess strikes at her knee. Her impact causes a brief shake as Diana takes her place above her. She is bound within the lasso, seeming to be another enemy felled by the Princess of Themyscira. Enemy of the undead. Bound to the lasso, even she could not tell a lie. Though, as Mary was prideful, she would not hesitate to give her title if prompted even without the lasso around her.

"M-Mary Seward! Queen of Blood! Leader of the Blood Red Moon..."

Within that mess of a jaw...on closer inspection, Diana could manage to see at least once thing on this monster's crooked lips.A smirk. "The one who will let vampires rule!"

In that instant, rather than fighting against the lasso. Mary took a different method...She turns into pure mist. Ah yes. So this is how she managed her stealth around Diana earlier. As the mist blew through the air, through it the princess could see, had she looked up,the four vampires from earlier. They had taken flight during the scuffle between the two women who would be royals upon the rooftop, and now they were flying downwards as a swarm to dogpile her together in the confusion of their mistress' escape.

As the vampires would land upon the princess, Mary would reform behind her, another latching on maneuver as before...

"Now, let Mama Mary give you a kiss..."

Once more...She goes for Diana's neck.

Diana Prince has posed:
An enemy with many forms... troublesome, but not unhread of.

With the lasso going loose around what had been Mary, and was now a puff of mist, Diana pulled the rope back, causing it to swirl around itself in to a rapidly shrinking cone of swirl twine, until she clutched it once more in her left hand, coiled-up perfectly with thousands of years of practice behind the motions of her movement.

With Mary's minions regrouping, and descending, Diana took several quick steps back, her feet apart and her eyes up on the incoming enemies, only to know that Mary was going for her goal again.. She was dedicated, and Diana was well practiced, and now she had elevation.

In elevation, she had an ally.

From behind Mary, and Diana, a whining noise grew louder, alien and unusual, suddenly a new light blazed across the darkness of the Gotham buildings, a brilliant blue light!

From an unseen location, streams of hot plasma began rapidly peppering the air where the Vampires were moving! The Invisible Jet's weaponry was laying down a barrage of cover fire, enough to provide Diana a moment to send back a powerful elbow, aimed right for Mary's face!

She leapt in to the air, a second later, ascending up in to the sky!

Mary Seward has posed:
The vampires' are peppered by the jet's assault, crashing down to the pavement below. "Oh, well, that's just cheat-" Mary finds herself struck by the amazon's elbow, knocked backwards. Thrice denied her most coveted taste of the amazon's blood.

As Diana takes off, Mary simply looks up and watches as her hand is brought to her face.

She could easily pursue...maybe even catch her outright...But, instead she just stays where she is, watching Diana's escape with yet another smirk on her face.

Diana Prince has posed:
Once in the sky, Diana pauses in mid-air, turning to look down at the mess made during the fight. She lingers there for a moment, before she raises a hand up, retrieving a small comm device from behind her left bracer. "This is Wonder Woman. Inform the Bats that they have a growing issue in their city. Tell Batman that I would like to speak with him as soon as possible..."

She lowers her arm down again, a gust of wind rushing across her form, with the dark clouds of the Gotham sky over her shoulders.

A second later, she blinks out of existence, having slipped back in to her invisible cloak once more.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary Seward stands to her feet, laughing as the Amazon takes her leave of Gotham. As she does, the rest of her kin manage to recover and join her where she stands.

"She got away...just like the ninja one did." The one she had stabbed snarled in frustration. Mary had a reassuring rebuttal for her acolyte.

"They both ran."

She turns around and begins to walk off.

"Just a little old team of us five sent that Golden Girl running...The men and women in tights know to fear us now, even if they get a lick or two in on us."

The rest of the vampires listen, starting to buy in on her hype. She always had her way of working around.

"Now, more than ever, I'm feeling that our cause rule is the way of the future. The vampire's uprising is at hand....Once we get our army just as big as we need it to be...We'll send them ALL running. ALL of them." She raises a fist, proud in the air. All the warnings she got about that Batman feel all the more silly in her head now.

"Now, how's about we kick things up a notch, huh? Let's get REALLY wild with this....I mean, what's a good revolution without a riot?" She grins, before taking off into the air.

The vampires look amongst eachother, newly invigorated by the words of their blood queen.

"RIOT! RIOT! RIOT!" They chant, following her as they take off into the sky.