Owner	Pose
Satana	They come from all walks of Gotham life. From the boardroom to the flophouse. From the halls of justice to the halls of crime. They are a snapshot of Gotham's peoples, reflecting the diversity of life in a city mostly known for its darkness and violence. To a woman or man, they make their way, by limousine, by private car, by public transit, or on foot to Gotham Cemetery, arriving over hours in ways designed seemingly to not draw attention to themselves. Once inside they take meandering routes to a single, overgrown mausoleum. The final resting place of one named Geoffrey Spinrad. One by one, or in pairs, they slip inside. Once inside they disrobe, placing their clothing with varying degrees of care into the opened, empty coffins arrayed along the edges before donning black robes festooned with fancy occult symbols. They then descend a set of stairs revealed by the pushing-aside of a decorative altar into cunning concealed catacombs beneath. This slow, meandering train of people end in a large room, in the centre of which is a large pentacle, drawn on the dirt floor in salt and blood, surrounded by candles made from rendered fat of pigs. And thus begins the chanting, with the robed people swaying as they march in a circle around the pentacle, led by a single person in more ornate robes and wearing a hood that covers his--or her--face. And eclectic energies radiate forth into the Astral plane, searching, and beckoning. Bellal. Who will reply to the summons?
Saeko	Celestial beings, divine messengers, creatures like Tenko were all about rules...but that didn't mean they had to be completely restrictive. Like anything, there were ways to interpret, grey areas and points of view that enabled a little more freedom for the creative...and Saeko liked to think she could be quite creative. A little 'tweak' enabling her to answer 'those who call' rather than strictly 'those who pray to Inari' had enabled her to intervene more, offer blessings and even a little 'mischief' of her own...but it was not without downsides. A wider net meant more to get tangled, those searching energies reaching out to cross space pulling at the senses of the kitsune currently lounging in the suite she'd taken as her current mortal hideaway. It wasn't quite so skilled or precise as to pull her into a circle immediately...but it was like a metaphysical alarm clock ringing in her skull until she at least attended the oh-so-noisy invocation likely not meant for her. A sigh on her lips and a flicker of light, soft rolling mists begin to encircle the mausoluem as Saeko draws near. Perhaps Tenko favoured being a little dramatic?
Satana	~Buppity Bup~ What? What was that? It's like someone speaking, but from all around Saeko. But ... why would someone who could do that to a spirit in transit say something so ... stupid? ~I wandered lonely as a cloud, till I came upon a crowd of geeks. Never seen a stranger crowd, swaying, gyrating on filthy feet.~ OK, that's annoying! Someone is playing ga... Oh. Astral traveller. Those annoying jerks. ~My aren't you an adorable one.~ The voice comes in closer until suddenly, still in the Astral realm, the form of Satana is visible. A form that is itself, as with the Kitsune making its way to the crypt, eerily enticing, though in her case the charms more substantial and earthy than the more graceful and aetherial charms of the fox. It makes its way toward Saeko, oozing its raw sensuality as it approaches. ~Are you planning to fuck with my Daddy's cultists?~ she asks as she approaches, her spectral face blank like a kabuki mask. Or perhaps more like Noh. The spectral form stops and crosses its arms before it (in ways calculated to drive compatible gazes to feast upon what's above them). It regards Saeko for a moment before bursting into a wide grin. ~If so, can I watch? I mean I have use for them, but fucking with them is just too much fun. Both literally and figuratively, I mean.~ Then the figure steps out of the astral plane into being in front of Saeko. "Satana Hellstrom. And you are?"
Saeko	There are plenty of stories of Kitsune being succubi themselves, and plenty of them were well-founded. Even Saeko herself was not without her own more mischievious years in her long lifespan and like many of her kind she still retained an edge of that wicked streak. If the cut of the deliberately short and more open yukata was anything to go by, even 'Elightened' and otherworldly beauty wasn't above some more traditional draws of the eye...although not as overt as Satana herself perhaps. "I am Saeko, Tenko of the Amatsu-Kami..." she offers in introduction before tilting her head, her form turning and the flair of the tails behind her that marked her authority to her own kind punctuating her movement. "And your 'cultists' make so much noise. It is...clumsy, messy...like a song off-key." A shift of her form manifesting into the physical, that momentary silhouette before she's revealed in full before Satana. "And my tastes are my own...I would be suprised if they could really catch my eye." Those ears shift, another step taken forwards before she lifts her hands. "By all means, if you are here to answer their call, I am not here to stop you."
Satana	"Who, me? No, they're summoning Bellal. I'm just here to enjoy the show. I think I'll let a few of them get eaten before I step in and tell Bellal to go to Hell." Satana's blithe statement of casually allowing people to die for a mistake is probably shocking. And probably indicative of something of her nature. "See, if they summon Ballal and start getting eaten, then I show up and rescue them, they, recognizing me as Daddy's little girl, shift their alliegance to me a bit. Daddy's off in Hell doing his own stuff. I'm here rescuing the incompetent boneheads. I come up smelling like roses and I get a few dozen people who'll now obey me, thinking they're doing Daddy's will." Satans smiles perkily at that. "See how it all works out? But yes, they are botching it. They've got the summoning part right, but they're not calming him which means he arrives agitated. And look at the sloppy workmanship of that circle! You can hold an imp or such. You know, familiar-grade demons. But it's not going to hold a Power like Ballal. He's going to hit that wall like a hammer hitting a wine glass and there will be so much feasting it will be glorious." Off in the distance a Power indeed makes itself felt as it speeds toward the summoning circle. Its rage is manifestly felt even at this distance. "Oh look!" Satana says, clapping her hands in glee. "He's coming!"
Saeko	"So if I am to understand," Saeko begins, a shift of her weight bringing her laying out almost like she were lounging were it not for the fact that her form remained floating in the air to keep herself at eye level. "You consider them your father's toys, yet they call for another...and you chose to wait until they are slightly more broken before you step in to claim them for yourself?" A little shiver flows through her body, she could feel that power of the incoming demon at the edges of her own senses, power very different to her own despite the fact that there were plenty who saw any fox spirit as a demon themselves. Should she intervene? A Tenko was meant to benevolent spirit...but she wasn't a superhero herself. They had asked for the demon, invoked him quite deliberately, but they were mortals playing with things they didn't understand. Besides, she wasn't above seeing the humor in it all. Her form turns in the air, reclining like she were seeking to lounge on a throne and folding her arms under her bust. Apparently Saeko would watch the show!
Satana	"Well, my father is actually a bit of a bastard. I hate him. Keeps trying to rope me into his plans for Infernal domination and such. Thinks of me as his tool, not his daughter. Yadda yadda yadda. You've heard it all before in angsty poetry from goth teen girls which they carefully inscribe in their journals and 'accidentally' leave lying around for their friends to read and mock so they can be even more angsty." She points to herself. "Goth girl with extra punch." Watching as Ballal arrives, Satana leans against a wall. "This is going to be so much fun!" she says. "Ballal will get fed. Daddy will lose some of his believers in favour of me. And ... see that one over there? The big guy with the muscles? I think he's dinner tonight! He looks like he'll be fun to watch the face of as he realizes how the tables got turned on him and his muscles won't do a damned thing to save him." Beat. "Oh, how rude. I forgot to ask. Any particular feeding you need or enjoy? I mean there's plenty to share, but as my guest I should let you have first choice." All the while the malevolent Power closes in rapidly when it suddenly appears in billowing smoke within the ring, roaring in rage and defiance. Chants rise in terror, echoing in the room and down the halls where the pair are peeking in from. Flickering firelight portrays the soon to be grisly scene as arms are raised and ... ... sigh ... demonic summoning jazz hands. Really? The lead summoner's delusions are pricked when with a single slam of its body, the Power shatters the dome of smoke surrounding him like it was made of shards of glass. The freed demon steps toward the quivering lead in the mask while the rest of the cultists, realizing what a nightmare they've just unleashed scream and start to flee. "Uh uh uh!" Satana says. "That's cheating!" A few mystic words and the ceiling collapses at the exit, half-filling the tunnel with dirt and debris, trapping the cultists within. "That's better." She turns to Saeko. "Let's get a bit closer for a better view. I figure once Ballal smears the head guy, who's one of Daddy's loyalists, I'll show up and save the day and get the rest eating out of my hand. Remember, if you have specific dietary needs or desires, let me know!"
Saeko	"Demon-spawn then?" Saeko questions, although the words that she speaks don't seem to carry any distaste. Curiousity after all, was one of her favorite indulgences. A tilt of her head and she makes to turn to face the panic at the moment that defence shatters, those first screams rise and the divine being doesn't seem to blink. Not even when Satana closes the way out for the cultists. The question of dietary needs however actually gets the reclining fox to turn her gaze back to the other woman, breaking her musings on the political games of demons and their children. "I...my kind can feed on the 'life' of mortals, their essence...but it is not necessary for survival as it is for some." A shift, her form rises till she's once more standing, arms crossed under her bust and her tails wavering behind her. "It is just...an indulgence. A thrill to itself...A rush."
Satana	"Well, pick one then," Satana says magnanimously as the pair find new perches from which to observe. "I'm mostly partial to the menfolk, though either does in a pinch if they like what they see in me." She visibly flaunts what they see in her. "It's that little seed of lust, you see, that I grow into nurturing food. And corrupted souls that taste best." She glances across, then, at Saeko. "Don't worry. You're safe. I can only eat mortal souls, not immortal spirits. So if you do like what you see..." Her grin grows broad. Inviting. "Feel free to partake. I'm always game to party." She turns to the scene before her as the lead summoner gets his--it turns out it's a man, which can be seen when the robe is torn off of him in the process--head bitten off, Ballal wolfing it down and pulling out the robe, sans head, from between his teeth. The pandemonium among the cultists is loud and panicked. Several of the men, egged on by the women, rush forward to try and tackle Ballal, a tactic that results in all of them going flying into the wall. One of those landing with his head at an impossible angle and eyes open as he slumps to the floor. "OK, that's my cue, I think. Want to join in the fun?" Beat. "And yes, half-succubus, that's me. My mother's human, but that's OK. I'm all bad." Satana winks and then steps into the fray, as yet unnoticed in the din and confusion.
Saeko	There's a laugh from the fox-spirit, a shift of her stance as she lifts a hand to her own face and lightly traces her fingertips from her cheek down to rest one simple index finger at her lip. "Men, women, it doesn't matter much to me. I am kitsune, I can be whatever I wish to be...as can my tastes," That resounding crack of that neck brings a slight click of her tongue if only for the harshness of it, but finally as the ritual fails its last with the lead summoner's demise she actually lets out an audible sigh of delighter relief. "Finally..." she practically purrs, the clumsy call of the summoning answered and the summoner dead. "That was getting almost unbarable." Satana was already moving, leaving the kitsune to bite her lip in consideration, she could leave now if she wished, unbothered entirely. But then...curiousity was getting the better of her, and she wasn't above seeking a little entertainment. Eyes glowing faintly she steps forward, but a few steps behind the demoness. Of course, by her own appearence alone it was probably hard for her to be quite so unnoticed.
Satana	And she's not unnoticed at all. First the panicking cultists see her and this causes another scream as a knot of people recoil from the direction they were going in a desperate bid to perhaps try and scrabble out of the collapsed entranceway. Which causes them to back into the knot of people backing away from the demonic ... *sigh* ... hippo. I mean COME ON! Yes, hippos are death-dealing monstrosities, but they don't LOOK it to those not familiar with them! And yet here we are. A hippo-headed creature, blood pooling in its mouth as it chows down on the final remnants of the lead summoner, staring at the crowd like it's ready for the next meal. "OH SHIT! ANOTHER ONE! THIS ONE LOOKS EVEN MORE HIDEOUS!" They're looking at Saeko. Their panic can likely be forgiven, however, and the alienness of the kitsune in this realm of death and terror is likely making them imagine things. Still, hurtful words! And through this all, Satana just walks forward to Ballal. "Ballal! Hitz egiten dizut! Zure elikadura osoa, obeditzera behartua zaude! Zure edukiontzira lotzen zaitut!" The calm voice of Satana cuts through the noise with supernatural power. As Ballal looks at Satana, hearing its name, it makes a move to strike, only to suddenly bellow in rage and pain as Satana holds up ... ... a plush. Hippopotamus. Toy. "Obeditu zure andrea! Obeditu zure andrea!" Satana's words continue, compressing Ballal into a ball of smoke that starts drawing into the plushie. In the meantime, the cultists, now seeing even more craziness coming from the strangely underdressed woman, decide that enough is enough, and if Saeko is between them and the exit... ...it's a bum rush on Saeko!
Saeko	Hurtful indeed, a young kitsune was meant to be a youthful beauty, one such as Saeko was meant to be an unfathomable vixen that kings had gone mad for. Perhaps that was just the price of standing next to a succubus and revealing her true form? Still, it was an insult and most of the Amatsu-Kami did not take those all too well. "You called like clumsy animals..." she speaks, that glow growing and her tails shifting to a full display of her station, "messing with forces you do not understand and disturbing those who rest above. But now...?" Her form pulses with an eerie blue light, the 'kitsunebi' florishing around her until she lifts her hands upwards. "You have truely pissed me off!" It wasn't hellfire as Satana knew it, but it burned just the same as the air crackled and the cultists are hurled backwards by its force.
Satana	Well, isn't that pleasant! Getting hit by a flying cultist from behind while she's doing a complicated binding and its paired test of wills causes Satana's spell to start losing control over the demon. The smoky form billows away from the plushie and the demonic form can be seen striving to break free. "A bit of a heads-up next time, darling, if you're going to throw people into me?" The words are lightly playful. The tone of voice is strained. Satana's face is a mask of concentration as she brings her formidable willpower down on the demon once again, stopping its flight, but not yet managing to get it into the final container. She hazards a glance over her shoulder, releasing a low whistle. "Hey, babe, after I get this guy in his new home ... uh ... how 'bout you and I just find somewhere private. 'Cause that thing you're looking right now? You're one of the nicest pieces of tail I've seen in a coon's age!" Any audience who might be watching is likely clicking the "thumbs down" button from the sheer volume of bad punning and word play in that. Caught between Scylla and Charibdes, the cultists do the only thing left for them. They fall to their knees and beg for mercy, bargaining in their piteous way for their lives. Satana finally gets her demon into her plushie and slumps. "That was more work than it should have been." She turns to the cultists. "Now you, stop your mewling. Look at me. Look at my face. My eyes. Then say my name." She winks at Saeko, mouthing 'watch this'. Before licking her lips invitingly.
Saeko	"Apologies," Saeko actually gives a little bow that might take away from the manifestation of terror that the fox was bringing about (and there was quite a bit of competition in the room for!). Her form shifts, more a creature of trickery and magic than direct might, the air around her begins to darken, the exit quickly obscured by growing shadow and offsetting that flickering flame. Then the cultists fall to their knees and beg for forgiveness and the fox is left actually pouting. It had felt a little good to cut loose, all over too soon! Satana's 'flirt' actually earns a raise of an eyebrow, the tails giving a little amused flick. The pun made her chuckle softly under her breath. Apparently not one to steal the spotlight, she leans back to give Satana the chance to do her demonstration.
Satana	"Th-th-th-th-..." One of the cultists starts to stammer, trying to answer Satana's question, causing her to roll her eyes in frustration. "OUT WITH IT MAN!" she growls. Literally growling with the sound of every predator on Earth behind it. "The Lady Satana Hellstrom, Daughter of Marduk Kurios, Duke of Hell, known as Satan?" Satana smiles at that. "Why yes, I do cut a recognizable figure don't I? Now tell me, why am I here?" There's great consternation in the remaining living and conscious cultists at that question. She wasn't summoned. Nobody knows why. "IT'S BECAUSE YOU INCOMPETENTS NEARLY UNLEASHED A DEMON OF RAGE ON THE WORLD, UNDOING MY FATHER'S GRAND PLAN!" That silences the murmur. And opens eyes and mouths in wide Os of terror. "Aren't you happy?" she purrs, more quietly, calmingly, while still giving the vibes of an apex predator as she steps forward into the group, stopping at the muscular one she'd identified earlier as her meal, resting a hand on his head, then cupping the side of his face. "That the Duke Marduk sent his only begotten daughter to protect you from your own stupidity? Sent her to take over your gathering and guide you in His ways? What do you say to His daughter among you?" She lifts the man with one arm, showing no visible signs of strain. She glances across at Saeko with a questioning look: you want him? "You will obey me in all things," she continues as she holds the man up. "And I will put those who survive up in the world in positions of power, authority, and wealth." And condemn their souls to Hell even more than they already are, but no need to point that out just now. "Oh, and this one is my ... ah ... compatriot." A hungry look enters her eyes as she looks at Saeko. "If she needs to feed, you will sacrifice yourself willingly for the victory of Marduk!" Beat. "AM I UNDERSTOOD!?" Again with the growl. There are many affirmations voiced of a sudden. And many pairs of eyes pinned on Saeko.
Saeko	A blink a shiver. Offerings were kinda a big deal for Tenko, they were power itself but...they had to be volunteered. And Satana had just made them do exactly that... The offer of the man the succubus had earmarked? Saeko shakes her head lightly and lifts a hand. All hers, after all the Kitsune was here as a guest after-all. Then again, she'd be a poor guest if she was to refuse all hospitality offered to her, and her people were all about rules. Her hand lifts, one finger pointing to one of the women, then another to one of the male cultists before she gently beckons with her finger. No words, but that eerie light within her eyes seems all the stronger, almost hungry. It had been a very long time since she'd done this, the equivlent of indulging on food from childhood she'd restrained herself from having in these later centuries...
Satana	Satana seems satisfied. Good hostess done, fear maintained, good little cultists will do what they're told by their saviour and predator, Satana. The man in her grasp is set down, then pulled in against her. Tightly. Lasciviously. The man is wearing Satana, now, like a piece of too-tight clothing in female form. The kiss is at first delicate. Probing. Satana's hands cradle the man's chin as she kisses and he stiffens. His breathing intensifies and a low moan escapes him as she grinds against him, the kiss still doing its magic. His eyes roll back in his head, face a beatific mask of raw, lustful pleasure. His climax is visible as his body shudders against her. But the kiss goes on and the eyes, now registering surprise, then pain, then existential fear, show the shift in experience. Purple light streams from the man, gathering in the form of a butterfly in between Satana and the man. His body mummifies more and more rapidly as the butterfly forms and lights up bright. The husk that was once his body falls to the floor, looking like a centuries-old dessicated corpse. Satana ignores the remnants at her feet and instead gently puts the butterfly into her hand, admiring its wings and its movements. Before crushing it cruelly and absorbing the purple energy entering her nose and mouth. Her own climax is now very visible too as her body shudders in wanton ways and she falls to her knees, head thrown back, letting out a howl from her throat. There's a few seconds of stunned silence from the cultists witnessing this. "That was a trip!" Satana says, struggling back to her feet on shaking knees. "He was tasty! Multiple murderer souls are just the best!" The crowd turns their fearful gaze at Saeko as she prepares to feed herself...
Saeko	It was a display of lust and demonic power, something the Tenko had knowledge of but had never witnessed for herself. Interesting, certainly enticing...but over quite quickly, at least as far as things go for immortals. The husk might frighten the others, a shift of fear as they look towards Saeko, but the fox herself gives a soft inhale of anticipation. There was less overt lust to it, less frenzied hunger, the man and woman both seem to...relax, as if some mesmerizing charm had overtaken them both. One hand comes up, cupping the man's face before she leans forward, her lips meeting his own in a variation of Satana's own feeding. There's a shiver from her victim, a faint glow of that same 'fire' passing from his throat into the woman with an expression of bliss on his face. There was no dessication, instead the man falls back drained and apparently comatose as Saeko turns, her hand moving up to stroke its way up the woman's cheek and draw her in. Soft muffled noises within the kiss and the woman falls away before Saeko herself straightens up looking 'brighter' than before. Everything about her seemed simply enhanced or charged up as she gave a shiver of her own. They were far from pure...but well, apparently even kitsune could enjoy 'Junk food'. "That was...wonderful."
Satana	Satana watches with interest. More than casual interest. Her hungry eyes watch the soul energy exiting the bodies, lips parted, breathing enhanced. She's found a new hunger. "Yes," she finally says after Saeko speaks. "That ... was." For a moment she closes her eyes and shudders again. "Damn, girl!" she says as she opens her eyes. "That was hot. We need to compare notes. You're doing something different from me, but ... seems familiar." Satana slinks forward, hips swaying like the infamous "walk of shame" as she advertises that she'd ... had her way lustfully speaking, crouching beside the two cultists Saeko had fed from. "Are they dead?" she wonders, passing her hands along their bodies, feeling for their souls' presence. "Or is this more like my sipping?"
Saeko	A little shift, Saeko herself had a bit of a flush to her cheeks that might be rather similar to those Satana had seen before, but the kitsune shakes her head and gives a little raise of her hand. "They are...embers of life, it would not take much to nudge them in either direction, but they will live. They are lucky I felt like more than one flavor..." She looks back to the husk of Satana's victim before turning her gaze to Satana herself and giving a shrug of her bared shoulders. "I am not greedy, and you did lay claim to them after all." Her words are calm, clearly her mood was a little 'elevated' at the moment and she seemed quite happy to speak without thought of the remaining cultists around them.
Satana	"Did you understand that?" Satana asks now-her cultists. "She left them alive. Like I do if you please me. If you don't..." She picks her way back to her victim, nudging it with her platformed boot. "I will have no more of your incompetence. I will not have you set back my father's plans with stupidity." She holds aloft the plush hippo. "And Hell help those who make me unlease Ballal on them!" She doesn't point to the blood smear where the head cultist once was. She doesn't have to. "I will summon you when I need you. You will continue in your activities as before, just call my name instead of Marduk so I can know what you're doing." And can drain their victims. She doesn't say that part out loud. And with that, Satana walks up to Saeko, offering her arm. "Let's go for a walk, darling," she says, a hand waving and moving aside the detritus blocking the tunnel. "I really want to get to know you better..." There's endless layers of invitation behind those words...