14480/The Low

The Low
Date of Scene:	23 March 2023
Location:	Bronx Tenements
Synopsis:	Demona is out hunting vampires, Venom is investigating human traffickers, and vampires are dying horribly when the two meet.
Cast of Characters:	Eddie Brock, Susan Sullivan

---

Eddie Brock has posed:
It is not raining, but everything is damp. That cold, wet-concrete damp that lingers for too after a downpour this time of year in New York. Not cold enough to for things to get icy. Not warm enough to evaporate quickly. It changes the smell of everything and not necessarily for the better.

The Bronx Tenements have their own odours, especially inside. In the alley behind the building it's mostly just the smell of urine and uncollected trash. The twelve storey building looks like it stays standing mostly out of habit and partly by leaning on one of the buildings beside it.

Eddie walks into the alley off the street about half a block from the building. He looks a little unkempt, hair tousled, and his beat up leather jacket just accentuates the impression.

   <<Venom>> "We are hungry and they are bad"

"I'm eating, okay? This is an investigation, real journalism. Which, you wouldn't know anything about," Eddie retorts, exasperated, to an empty alleyway.

   <<Venom>> "That is not food"

"Yeah, well, who asked you?"

A door at the back of the tenement opens and a young man in his early 20's tumbles out, down the two concrete steps and lands in a heap on the pavement. He scrambles to his feet.

"I'm sorry, I'll..."

"Save it." A woman's voice cuts him off. An unnaturally beautiful woman with straight brown hair, stands in the doorway. She smirks, has one hand on her hip. And such a light complexion.

"I told you to bring us two more. You found one and he's so cracked out he's useless. Do what you're told, or I'll use you to fill the quota."

The tenement door slams shut. The young man takes a ragged breath and starts walks in Eddie's direction.

   <<Venom>> "She is bad. We can tell from her smile. We should eat her!"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    The man left in the alleyway is landed on by a stick-figure-thin person from above. The stick figure actually smells like sticks, too. And leaves. Basically, it's yard-waste, the person, at least in odor. The incompetent kidnapper yelps as the intertia is enough to make him topple once more. The sounds of feet rushing down the fire escape nearby betray another presence approaching. "Hold him!" comes a distorted voice, clearly through a speaker.

Eddie Brock has posed:
The man goes down with a yelp. He is starting to cry in fear before he hits the ground. His already ruined eyeliner starts running again.

"I'm going! I'm sorry, no, I'll do it, tonight, please! I just need more time!" he begs.

Eddie looks up, startled and confused. "What the hell? Grab him... Like, the stick guy? Why do you sound so weird?"

   <<Venom>> "It was not us. We do not like vegetables."

The man on the ground starts trying to scramble out from under the attacking greenery. Eddie stomps down between the man's shoulder blades as soon as he is partially out from the stick figure.

"Who are you?" Eddie calls out.

"Enrico... what... what are you going..."

"Shut up, not you. You!"

   <<Venom>> "We are venom"

"For fuck's sake, not you either!"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    The ladder slides down, a definitely female form riding it while carrying a silver and iron staff. "Let go," she says. The dead leaves releases the terrified human. She hoists the stickman up. "Stand still," she says. It immediately complies. She moves to the place where the scrambling man has been pinned down by Eddie. Her face is covered by a gas mask with a skull motif. "Voice modulator," she says, tapping the side of the air filter. She looks over the other man. "You, uh..." She narrows her gaze at him. "You're not with these guys, are you?"
    The man under Eddie's foot squirms uncomfortably, not so much to get away from the pressure against his back, but to get away from the metal rod engraved with silver holy symbols in the woman's hand. She lifts it and puts it down on the man's shoulder, getting close enough to really smell her. He winces and groans in pain as soon as she gently rests it on him.
    She definitely smells like a human. She also doesn't seem to have any idea Venom is there, though the way she's not reacting to the pain of the other underneath his boot is telling that she isn't surprised by it at all. She knows what she's dealing with.

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Venom>> "Pathetic. She did not even hit him. We should not eat him, he will make us weak"

"Yes, we won't eat him... This... This sandwich," Eddie clears his throat and tosses the sandwich.

"So... Hi. No, I'm looking for... them. The Carnitas Club. You... Wow, okay. So this guy doesn't like your stick. Is that silver? A... magic stick?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan's eyes betray her self-confident smirk. "Holy," she says. She squats down and reaches into her shirt. Pulling out a necklace with a crucifix on the end, she begins quoting a prayer in latin. The man tenses under Eddie's boot as he grimaces in agony, muscles too tight for him to even take in a breath to scream with. "I am a servant of the most high God," the skull-themed mask says. "May he have mercy on your thrice-damned soul." Standing again, she raises her staff and drives it against the man's head. It pops like a water balloon, the fluids quickly turning to ash in the alleyway. The rest of the body begins to deteriorate in like manner, quickly withering and dissolving into dust, collapsing like a construction of dominos when one is pulled.
    Demona looks back at Eddie. "Vampires are real," she says. "You should be very careful, sir." She can tell from his lack of a reaction to her staff that Eddie isn't a vampire, which is good, as she doesn't need to stake him, apparently. "What's your business with the Carnitas Club?" she asks.

Eddie Brock has posed:
"That's gross," Eddie says and steps as the body starts to come apart. "Are you kidding me? Vampires?"

   <<Venom>> "We have not eaten a vampire! Delicacy!"

"I'm here to..." Eddie makes a face. His shoulders twitch.

   <<Venom>> "Eat them! I want to eat the pretty one!".

Eddie stumbles back a half-step. "To... I'm here because..."

   <<Venom>> "They are not people! They are monsters! Yes! Yesss!"

Eddie's shoulders bulge and squirm under his jacket.

"What the fuck? A hunter? Oh this is a good night." The woman from earlier is walking down the steps from the tenement building. Two men follow behind. Then another woman. They start to walk towards Demona and Eddie. One of the men runs his tongue over prominent fangs and grins wickedly.

"I'm gonna drink you dry hunter," he shouts towards Demona.

Eddie's eyes bulge. He looks almost pleading for a moment. "I'm here to..."

Black ooze surges over Eddie's body and he becomes Venom. The long tongue lashes out in delight. "...EAT THEM!". Venom leaps into the air towards the vampires.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan spins her staff. She then notices that her leafy man is smouldering. She tenses her jaw as she realizes she didn't put enough distance there before she let loose the holy. She's not THAT surprised by Venom coming out to play, though she's probably more distracted than she should be by that tongue...
    As one of the vampires comes at her, the man, assuming she's weak because she's a woman, she sidesteps and hits him a total of four times in a second. Where she's hit that's exposed, his body displays burns of the silver holy symbols. He tries to back away from her, but she gets him where she wants him, against the wall. In a movement, she stabs with a stake as she makes intense eye contact with him. Her holy symbol hangs outside her shirt as she says, "Christ be with you." He winges before his body contorts and he withers into a husk. Not as old as the one who turned to dust, apparently. Demona steps back and lets the dessicated corpse fall to the ground, looking over to check on Venom's progress.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom lands behind the vampire leader, between her and the other man. The woman reacts blazingly fast, her turning kick catches Venom in the ribcage. She has to open her wide to kick that high on the massive alien. Venom is turned a bit by the blow. He chuckles and tendril flies out of his side, slams into the vampire woman, and sends her flying in Demona's direction. To her credit, the woman rotates in the air and lands in a crouch, ready to face off against Demona.

The man on the other side of Venom swings to punch him, but Venom catches his fist, catches his other fist when the man tries to punch again. Venom slowly stretches the vampire's arms out until they're straight. His tongue forks out, tasting the air around the vampire, saliva drips from rows of teeth.

"You are the expert, yes? Now I just... bite the neck?" Venom's mouth opens impossibly wide. He chomps down, biting off the vampire's entire head at the neck.

The fourth vampire, the second woman, has come to a stop. She looks between Demona and Venom, terrified. The tables have turned ands he does not like it.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona turns as the leader moves toward her. She holds her staff out in front of her. She assumes this one is more powerful. Breathing deep breaths to keep her center, she's proven her strength with underlings, but this might be a bit more challenging. She moves to holding the staff like a Shao Lin master. Stepping forward twice involves her moving the front foot, then following with her back foot twice.
    "Hug her!" Demona commands. The smouldering plant thing runs at the vampiress and embraces her. Susan steps forward and swings her staff around, not to smack, but to hold it behind herself. Holding up her crucifix, she says that prayer in latin. The plant thing suddenly bursts into flames!
    As the leader woman struggles with undead strength against the strength of undead wood, Susan spins and puts all her inertia into a solid strike with her staff. It collapses through the woman's stomach until the metal stick thunks against her spine...as she burns.

Eddie Brock has posed:
Venom drops the headless course to the ground. Venom steps forward, the body explodes in dust when he puts his foot down on it, through it.

"So ssstrange, so interesting, so satifying," Venom says. When the vampire leader screams, burning from the inside out, a deep rumble of satisfaction escapes Venom. He closes the distance to the last vampire and palms the top of her head. She hisses desperately, bares her fangs, then whimpers when Venom's long tongue slides down on side of her face.

"No, no, no..."

There is a scream. It is cut off. The vampire's limp body falls to the ground and Venom turns.

Venom stalks slowly towards Demona, predatory, two-legs, all fours, crouched.

"You will help us. Yes. Find more. We want more of these." It might be a question. It might be a test. And how does he speak with a tongue like that?

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan is still really distracted by that tongue. She nods when she can come to her senses. "Absolutely," she says. "We can help each other in that regard. It's my mission to exterminate these--" She gestures to the ashes and burning and withered corpses that litter the alley. "--creatures," she continues, spitting the word. She looks over Venom's tarry, black form. "That's a good look for you," she says. Without visible eyes, she's talking to his mouth.
    She clears her throat. "You, uh..." She reaches into her shirt again and pulls out her wallet. She opens it and pulls out a small rectangle of card stock. She speaks confidently, having made her decision. "You should ask me out, sometime. I promise you, there is a bounty of vampires to eat, if that's what you're into." She offers out the card. "Just call or text me and say something awkward, yet charming."

Eddie Brock has posed:
<<Eddie>> "Are you shitting me? Why didn't she give me her number?"

   <<Venom>> "Because you are a loser and we are Venom"

Venom circles Susan, just inside staff range when she reaches into her shirt for her card. Closer. A tendril snakes around from behind her to take it, withdraws, and disappears into Venom's body with the card. With Venom this close, she can smell him. It isn't foul, it's... other. Odd.

"We are into many things," Venom rumbles. He seems to smell the air near Susan. "But vampires are new. Intriguing. You are intriguing. We will contact you and we will hunt."

Venom crouches and jumps. He claws his way up the side of a building and disappears over the roof line.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan watches the beastly thing launch itself up like a catapault had thrown it. A shiver runs up Susan's spine after Venom is out of sight. "Okay, girl," she says to herself. "Keep it together. Get out of here before the fire department shows up." She turns and sprints away from the scene down the alleyway, leaving the burning corpse and dead vampires behind to be someone else's problem.