Owner	Pose
Michael Morbius	If someone had brought up the concept of the cure for his affliction being worse than the disease, he would have scoffed. Loudly. The fate he had been facing would be unspeakable, filled with pain and madness. But his cure...it had held so much potential. He had enjoyed the sudden reversal of his condition, feeling better than he had in recent memory. Then the night had come, and the nightmare had begun. The agony was exquisite in its intensity. He had felt so THIRSTY. He had tried going to his lab and had found the man and his two bodyguards. And then...something had happened. Something his mind would not show him. And when it was over, three men lay dead. He had hidden the bodies, destroyed two of them, and dumped the third in the East River, but the entire experience left him with confused, alien thoughts. In the end, as the second night had come, he sought out the last place he had felt some comfort...a small coffee shop. But he couldn't go in. He did not trust himself. Conflicted, he moved around to the rear of the building, the hood of the sweatshirt pulled up to conceal his face.
Mary Bromfield	Tonight, Mary had the closing shift, finally finishing up with the cleaning and taking care of everything. She exits from the back alley door, making sure it's all locked up and ready for the morning. She's wearing her normal attire, no barista outfit needed as she looks around the alley cautiously. It's not that well lit, but typically the Upper East Side isn't a problem for that. Still, it's a fairly long way to Queens, and she starts walking along, pulling out her phone to send off a quick text. Her lips purse in a slight frown as she puts her phone away, glancing back and forth as she walks along the sidewalk.
Michael Morbius	The man in the black hoodie and black slacks looked up as the woman exited the coffee shop. It was...yes, it was closed. Of course. His sense of time was...strange. And he could see the Pulse. He could almost see the blood coursing through her, the heat of it... He closed his eyes. He was not an animal. He was a SCIENTIST. A NOBEL LAUREATE. His mind was his strength. That made it easier...but not by much. He had the two pouches in his pocket, should it come to that. He stood up, then moved as far as he dared in the alley, before he called out to her. "...MARY..." His voice was recognizable as Michael's, but it was...deeper. Rougher. And maybe...just a little predatory.
Mary Bromfield	Mary blinks at the call to her, gasping a bit as she pauses, then she recognizes the voice, "... Doctor Morbius?" She glances over towards the shadows, pausing in her steps, "Sorry, I didn't see you there." She pauses, as well, that was a bit strange, her heartbeat increasing slightly as she looks closely towards the shadows. "Is... is everything alright? You sound a little different."
Michael Morbius	He tried not to react. He sensed her on multiple levels, but he focused on controlling himself. His head turned slightly, but not quickly enough to hide his eyes. They had changed color from the ocean-blue to an entirely different color. Red. "I...I am. A little different. I...I am sorry to call upon you like this, so late at night. I had planned to go inside...but I could not." He doesn't move forward or away. His voice does seem to ease slightly the more he speaks. Less rough, raising slightly in tone, losing that predatory edge...but still more resonant. "I...needed something to find normalcy in. I'm...I'm frightening you. I must be..."
Mary Bromfield	Mary blinks, noticing the eyes first, then she blinks again, "Wait, your eyes... what //happened//? I mean, they're..." Well, red. Demonic vaguely? But she doesn't say it, even if she's clearly thinking it. She then clears her throat a bit, taking a half-step towards Michael, "Well, okay, you startled me... but it isn't... that scary? But it's definitely different?" She tilts her head, giving Michael a cautious smile. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Michael Morbius	Good God, are all New Yorkers this brave? No wonder so many heroes gravitate here! He looked to the left, then to the right. "I feel I should sit. I am...less intimidating if I sit, I think." The man sits down, his back against the brick wall, his arms folded as if willing away the cold. "I...do want to tell. So that if something happens to me...that someone might believe I am not an evil man." He breathes in, out...and then speaks. "Remember that test I showed you? The one with the positive result? I was able to replicate the result, and found that it not only halted the degeneration of the disease, but actually REVERSED it. I was feeling real, actual hope as I put together a serum for testing. It took hours, but was able to produce one complete series. Then...the day before yesterday, I collapsed in my lab. It was another seizure, a grand mal, and I could FEEL the disease accelerating in my body. So...purely out of desperation...I injected the entire series into myself."
Mary Bromfield	Mary looks a bit nervous, but then says, "And... something went wrong, I'm guessing?" She doesn't sit down, but crouches down near Morbius as he sits down, looking at him with a curious expression. "And, well, I had a supervillain hold up the Bean on Easter Sunday, so I think my fear receptors were burned out on that." She smiles wryly, giving Morbius a concerned look, her pulse still racing just beneath the skin, the artery pulsing visibly to his hyperaware senses...
Michael Morbius	His eyes closed. He could hear it, and... Hold to yourself. You are a rational man. You hope. "Initially, no...in fact, it was more than I'd dreamed. Brain lesions were shrinking until they were gone. Brain cell regeneration - it is nearly impossible for brain cells to regenerate. Muscle repair, bone repair, white blood cell count...the technician who performed my MRI refused to believe the results. It was...like being tortured for years, and suddenly the torturer is gone, the body is healing...it must be what people who are pleasantly intoxicated must feel."
Mary Bromfield	Mary nods, listening intently as she shifts a bit, sitting down on the alley ground across from Mic... from Morbius. With the eyes and the voice change, it's hard to think of him as the same person as before. Still, she watches him carefully, her eyes growing a bit wide, "Wow... that sounds incredible." But there's a dark voice in the back of her mind whispering about the catch...
Michael Morbius	Morbius sighs. "Then someone came. To the facility. Apparently it was in someone's...territory. A man, two bodyguards. He said his name was...Gardenia. Something like that. One of his bodyguard knocked out my security man, and then he advanced on me. Gardenia said that I owed him, and that if I paid, nothing terrible would happen to me or my lab...I could not process it. I told him that he had no power here, that this was a research facility...and then I was hit from behind. I was knocked down, and they started...kicking me..." His face tightens as he tries to remember. "I...don't remember what happened after that. I just remember three things. One...Gardenia was dead. As were his bodyguards. There was...blood. But not a lot of it. And...I had changed." His hands rise up to draw back the hood. The slightly-pale skin had gone nearly bone-white. His face looked...firmer, but more angular. The irises of his eyes were a rich crimson. He looked...less gaunt, less emaciated. He looked...firmer, stronger. And when he opened his mouth to speak, Mary could see the fangs. "...This was what I saw when I looked in the mirror."
Mary Bromfield	Mary gasps at that, standing up quickly, eyes going a bit wide, "... Michael? You're..." She shakes her head, "This is, what... how???" She then crouches back down, "You... I mean, it sounds like... self-defense, but..." She shakes her head, trying to process things as... well, she's fairly close now. Her pulse racing underneath her veins as she says, in a bit of dark humor, "Though, at least you could look in the mirror still? Sorry, bad joke." She sighs, looking at Morbius with a curious expression, though there's still a bit of apprehension in her eyes.
Michael Morbius	He could see the fear in her eyes. There was resolve, too, and it was stronger...but the fear was still there. Which was normal, under the circumstances. Even healthy. He even smiled a a little at her joke. "This...this was what I needed...thank you." He paused,closing his eyes again. He was relaxing, and the pull was stronger. "Excuse me...I need to...take care of something." He reaches into the pocket of his hoodie and pulls out a medical bag of blood O-POSITIVE, it said, with FOR MEDICAL TESTING USE ONLY under it. He bit into the bag, and then she heard the sucking sounds. The bag began to shrink, the blood disappearing down his throat. When the bag was empty, he looked up again to Mary's face. There was a new difference now - his face seemed to have softened, the nose less vampire-bat-ish and more human-looking. Even the fangs had receded into the gums slightly. "It...I can taste the chemicals. The preservatives used to keep the blood viable. But...it is filling. I feel...more in control of myself." He smiled slightly. "I hope it was not too...distressing to watch."
Mary Bromfield	Mary can't help but say, "Um... we're not adding that, to the menu, Mor... Michael." She smiles a little, not looking too discomforted as she says, "You haven't seen my brothers around Halloween." Four little brothers? Yeah, she's not too weirded out by that apparently. Then she reaches out, touching Michael's cheek, "Look, I'm not going to say I'm not terrified. But, I don't abandon my friends, Michael." Her pulse throbs in her wrist, so close... So... tempting...
Michael Morbius	The pull is still there, but it is a nagging feeling, like wanting a candy bar. The more blood he ingests, the more control he has over this...thirst. Very important to remember. Michael looks down, placing his hands firmly in his lap. "I thought the same thing you did, Mary. Vampires. Dracula. Creatures of the night. But then I remembered that I was still a scientist. I had studied virulent diseases for years. For me, this was...a reaction to a medical treatment, and I had to treat it as such. I spent the day...yes, the day, the lab has no windows to the outside...disposing of the three men...and testing what I knew and what I thought. I have no aversion to holy objects. Before I came here, I had gone to St. Paul's. No reaction to holy ground, to sizzling flesh opening the door to the church, and I did not burst into flames as I sat down in the pews. Although I did say a prayer for my immortal soul." He looks up to Mary again. "No issues with crossing running water, garlic, silver...sunlight is...painful, but I do not burst into flames in the noonday sun."
Mary Bromfield	Mary nods, "Well, magic /is/ real, after all." Which is an odd thing to say, as she continues, "Vampires, too. But... you're not like that. You're similar, but not the same." She pulls her hand back, but then sits down next to Morbius against the wall. Then she looks over at Michael, "I... I can't judge you for what you did to them. I mean, it was horrible. But, it sounds like there's part of this you just can't control." She sighs a bit, looking down at her lap, then she glances back over at Morbius. "I wish there was something I can do. I mean, the cure isn't worse than the disease, but..." Well, it does beat dying, right? Right?
Michael Morbius	Morbius nodded. Her closeness was soothing. Because it was normal, having a conversation like a normal person. What a strange, noble, brave woman she is. "What my...objective is, now, is to find a way to stabilize this disease. My professional opinion is that it mutates the disease, somehow, or created something entirely new. I need to study it, find a cure for it, or at least a way to control it through medication." He sounds more like himself, grasping his change within him as an issue of biochemistry, not magic. Because it certainly doesn't act like traditional vampirism. "But you are right. I have to learn how to control this. I have to master it, or it will master me. It will mean testing, and analysis, and study..." He pauses for a moment. "At the very least, I can process food and drink. The downside is, I gain no sustenance from it. Thankfully, I can cover that...need...through the purchase of blood for research purposes, but it is...problematic. There is a pull towards the living that I have noticed. It is...intoxicating. But any intoxicant is inherently dangerous, causes you to lose perspective. That's why I brought two of these bags." He looks a little guilty. "You have been so considerate...I did not want to return your grace with violence."
Mary Bromfield	Mary gives Morbius a curious look, "I... appreciate that. But I think I can defend myself better than you think." She smiles a little bit, tilting her head as she looks at him. She doesnt elaborate on that, as she continues. "Well, if I can help you, I will. You're my friend, Michael. And I want to see you get better, if I can." Not exactly undying (ha!) love or anything, but she's definitely offering to be a friend in need. She offers her hand to him, "And, well... you trusted me with this. That's no small thing."
Michael Morbius	Michael smiles warmly. Even the fangs are not that obtrusive. "Thank you, Mary. I..." the pale cheeks flush slightly. "...I realize I need to learn how to...extract blood from people while still maintaining control. By my calculations, I need between 1-2 pints every 24 hours. I can extract a pint of blood from a normal adult without putting undue strain on the...donor. And I have taken to carrying alcohol wipes for sanitary purposes. Although there is one interesting caveat." He rubs his face. "Apparently this condition kills any bacteria in my body. I daresay I have the cleanest mouth in Manhattan."
Mary Bromfield	Mary blinks, then laughs. "Well, gee, as long as it's sanitary..." She grins a little bit, and looks at Morbius. She pauses, looking a little curious, "Um. You don't need anything right now, do you? I mean..." She fidgets a bit, part of her afraid, but well... she's read enough bad fiction about vampires, it would be a lie to say she wasn't at least a little curious.
Michael Morbius	Michael looks startled. "...I can...get by with what I have. I do feel I have enough control, but...my dear, I must confess, it seems very..." His throat tightens. "...intimate. Plus, you are trusting me with your very life. I can...I can try, if you feel comfortable with it. But I did not come here to drink your blood, Mary. I wanted something...normal, to keep my humanity." Truth be told, he is also a little curious.
Mary Bromfield	Mary blushes a bright red, "Oh! Well... maybe we should save that for... um, an emergency then!" She ahems, then suddenly laughs, "Yeah, um... wow, that's not... er, okay, I guess that much is accurate to the stories." She shakes her head, then looks wryly back to Michael. "Sorry, that's... really unfair of me. But I do want to help with what I can."
Michael Morbius	The tension passes, and he relaxes. "Maybe...when I feel more comfortable...we can try it. I want to minimize the risk to you. You are a very brave young woman, and the city would seem a little darker without you in it. As your friend, I want you to be safe." He looks up at the night sky. "I was never the athletic sort, but this is a condition with odd side effects. I am stronger, quicker, more agile. I don't know if there is more. Further testing is required. But having friends...I don't feel so alone. And I will do all I can so what happened last night will never happen again. There are enough monsters in the world as it is." He looks to Mary. "But I don't think I can show my face to anyone I know...unless I can fix that as well. Where could I go where this appearance would attract no attention?"
Mary Bromfield	Mary nods, "That's fair, and... well, I mean, I don't know if my boyfriend would understand my being... er..." She blushes again, as she continues, "I mean, you're my friend, and a good one. And I want to help you." She ahems, her color receding as she continues, "But, it definitely sounds like you have a chance to do some good, that you might not have been able to before." She looks over at Morbius curiously, "If you wanted, I could help with that, maybe?"
Michael Morbius	Michael smiles wryly. Her boyfriend is fortunate, indeed. "I know nothing of this part of existence. And truth be told, I do need assistance. First, to discover what I can do. Then, maybe you can illuminate who can be helped and how. I am not so arrogant to think I know everything about everything. But ask me about biochemistry, and I have those answers."
Mary Bromfield	Mary nods, "Okay, well..." She pauses, and smiles, standing up, "I think I can help you test your physical limits, if you need it. One second." She takes a few steps back, then looks back and forth to make sure there's no one around, then she gives Michael a smile. Then she says a word, boldly... "SHAZAM!" Suddenly, there's a flash of lightning, striking Mary with blinding intensity. Then the ozone clears, and Mary is... older, taller, and actually Lady Shazam?!?
Michael Morbius	Michael stands up, looking at Mary. What is she... The lightning bolt seems to charge the air and suddenly he has jumped twenty feet back. Then he looks at Mary...only it's not Mary. Maybe it is who she will eventually become, but... <Gods above and below!> he gasps in modern Greek, his eyes wide and staring, irises dilated to nearly swallow the red of his eyes. He is somewhat sheltered, and the work of heroes has only gathered a passing interest. "What in...I...HOW...?"
Mary Bromfield	Mary... well, Lady Shazam, smiles warmly, answering in modern Greek, <It's a... bit of a long story, Michael.> She looks a little sheepish, switching back to English. "Sorry about making you jump, but I thought you should see why I wasn't that scared. Well, that and I do trust you. Obviously." She gestures to herself, then smiles, "Magic is real, Michael Morbius. It's what gives me these powers, as a champion of humanity." She says that with a hint of pride, but not too much. It is one of the sins, after all. But a little bit isn't a bad thing, as she continues, "Anyway, I thought you deserved to know. Since you placed so much trust in me, this is something I don't let many people know."
Michael Morbius	It's hard to tell what instills the awe he feels. The beauty of the women Mary will become, or the implicit trust she has placed in him. Their connection is tenuous at best, and they could be polar opposites. But the importance of this is not lost on Michael, and he stands up straight as he nods. "I'm...honored, Mary. Wait...do I still call you that when you are like this, or do you have some sort of code name?"
Mary Bromfield	Mary smiles a bit, "Lady Shazam, is what I go by." She makes a bit of a face, "You would think with the Wisdom of Athena I'd think of a better name than that, but... well, it is what it is. What can I call myself? Mary Marvel?" She looks a bit amused at that, then moves over towards Morbius, offering him her hand. "If nothing else, I wanted you to know that, no matter what happens? I trust you." She then gives him a warm smile, "And I want to help you, if I can."
Michael Morbius	Michael nods, still wearing that wide-eyed look. After a moment, he grasps her hand, but does his best not to gaze too raptly. Because she has a boyfriend. He squeezes the slim but firm hand for a moment, then lets go because it feels a little awkward. 2,000 years ago, a woman like her would have temples devoted to her. We live in enlightened times. He reaches into a pocket and takes out a card. "Here. My email, my private cell phone number, and the address to the research facility I purchased last year to try to find my cure. I see I shall have to re-purpose it to find a cure for the cure."
Mary Bromfield	Mary smiles over at Michael, taking the card and pocketing it, "Thank you, Michael. I'll send you a message when I get home." She hmms, "If you want a lift... I could fly you there?" Her head tilts a bit, "I actually could carry you without too much of a problem. That is, if you didn't mind?" She grins just a little, maybe enjoying the reversal a bit more than might be healthy, but... well, there's still a bit of worry visible for Morbius in her eyes.
Michael Morbius	Michael chuckles. "I have a vehicle parked in the parking lot that I should use to get home. I do thank you for the offer. Maybe you can help me with something I've been trying to figure out soon." He bowed to Mary. "I want to thank you. Not just for the offer of help. But for helping me feel like a normal human being for a short time. I had almost forgotten what that was like."
Mary Bromfield	Mary smiles, and impulsively hugs Morbius, not worried about him hurting her right now, since... well, she isn't vulnerable to his fangs right now. Then she releases him, and nods, "I'm glad I could help, Michael. You are a good friend." She smiles, and hovers slightly off the ground, "Plus, well, it does beat taking the bus to Queens." Which she still does, but in this case... well, she transformed anyway, so it's time to fly. Which she does, waving to Morbius as she launches herself into the air, soaring into the sky, then taking off like a streak of lightning.
Michael Morbius	Michael cannot help but suppress a sigh. This was what he missed. Feeling human. Even being envious of another man is still preferable to the sudden impulse of reaching for her mind like he had done to Milena from the front office. He reaches for his keys as he walks toward the Cadillac SUV. Just another monster, heading home.