The Takeover, the break's over [Alec, Demitria, or invite. NR]

All was quiet in the predawn light of edge. A strange sight for a city that never seemed to sleep. Throughout the districts, people carried on with their lives normally. Pimps pimped out their hoes for cash, the hustlers hustled their wares for what cash they could make. The police force policed the donut shops, stuffing their faces with as much glazed, cream-filled and and sprinkled baked goods as they could; all before getting back into their cars only to drive around the block before coming back for more. The junkies and addicts slipped through the shadows of the suburban communities,  scoping out the houses for quick cash to get their next fix. People slept in their houses, peaceful and blissfully unaware as to what was about to happen to them. 

But all of this would pale in comparison to what was about to befall Edge City. To the east,  the sea began to churn, the water whipping up terrifying whitecaps. The waves crashed upon the beaches of Edge, creeping closer and closer to the blocking dunes, as well as threatening to swallow up the vacant beach houses. But lo! And behold, the sea gave way, parting to reveal the source of its distress: an army, a literal sea of identical faces, each baring the same grim determination. 

The army marched with the precision of a highly trained force, highly reminiscent of the marine forces. There was no clear leader, the forces moved as one, nare a step missed. Legs lifted straight into the air before coming back to connect to the ground and drive them forward. As the crossed the beach, they began to spread out,  dividing out to literally fill the streets of East Edge, their violet eyes set on the gleaming tower in the center of the city.

But they were not alone. From the south, making its way through Old Edge was another massive force was making its way through the antique town. Like the army from the sea, each face within the army was identical to each other.  But this was not all!

From the West and North, two additional armies marched making their ways through Edge City. And like the army from the sea and south,  as they moved, they divided, and filled the streets of Edge City, leaving no street bare, no lawn and garden untrampled, no alley empty. The citizens of the Edge that were out could only stare in wonder as the millions of look-alikes surrounded them, seeming oblivious to their presence. But for the lookalikes, they could care less; their violet eyes were focused on their target: Darkman Tower. The armies carried no weapons, but that is not to say they were not defenseless. They were not here to fight; they were here to make a point.

If one were to look upon the armies with a certain type of vision, they would see the energy of a fallen warrior, the one that was affectionately known by many as The General. And if one would take care to examine each person of the four armies, they would come to the shocking conclusion: each one was a clone of the legendary General, all the way down to the tattoo on his neck, as well as the hole where his heart used to be..

As the armies converged on Darkman Tower, they stopped just short of crossing the property line, effectively forming a barrier with their bodies. From within the the eastern army, something moved, parting the crowd as he stepped forth. Was this the actual General himself? Possibly. Whether he was or not, he made his way towards the entrance to the lobby, gaining access with a Company pendant. As he crossed the lobby, he nodded to the receptionist and stepped into the elevator, pressing for the 1000th floor.

As he waited in the confined space, the male released a two pulses of Madness energy from his body: one to awaken the current Master of this tower, as well as his former child, to inform them both that he wished to see them. The second pulse would inform the awaiting Armies that it was time to begin what they had come do do. Gargantuan speakers were materialized from thin air each some fifty feet by fifty feet, positioned to point in random directions. All of this feeding off the male's madness energy as he waited in the elevator, rising to the top of the Tower. When the elevator dinged at the 100oth floor, the male smiled and stepped out.  Outside the speakers crackled to life, and the battle cry was sounded, a million voices raised to cry to heaven. 

"Oppan Gangnam Style!"

And the madness began...

Spoiler:

Sleep. It was currently Demi's best friend, since her real one, and now sister, had just whooped her ass thoroughly only an hour ago. They'd been sparring, brutally, over in Old Edge. But, that had been Demi's doing. She had told Dez not to hold back; she had no options - she had to improve or she would die. She had to get used to this new form, all of it. She knew how to fight as a vampire, that was what she was good at doing, now she had to learn from scratch how to fight as an angel, and Dez had been more than willing to do what she had had to do to ensure that Demi improved. At first it had only been Demi with the wounds and destroyed clothing, but soon Dez had started to sprout the same look as Demi began to be able to fight back and improved, quickly. Then the usual banter and jokes had started that the two normally did while fighting - at least until both were too exhausted to move much.

So, she had trudged back into her suite, blood stained torn clothing and all - though the wounds had healed almost as soon as they had been made, but otherwise happy - especially as she face planted the couch and refused to move as sleep took hold. But now... well, now something was disturbing her sleep - a madness that was familiar and yet now distant all at the same time. Why did people want her now? Now fo all... --- Voices, loud ones, like over speakers reached her ears and she jerked, now fully awake. Awake and cursing like a sailor beneath her breath.

She climbed up from from her sprawled position, looking down at her ratty and torn clothing. There would be no time to change, no time to do anything... she'd find out what she was wanted for, and then she would find a way to shut that racket up so she could sleep. Wings twitched before she folded them behind herself, and then she walked out into the hallway, and took the stairs up. She knew where to go of course, it had to be Alec's office - everything happened there.

She made it to Alec's office and stepped inside, still grumbling and cursing beneath her breath. "Pardon my french.. but can the noise be turned the fuck off?" She reached a hand up, rubbing at her head. She had taken a nasty blow to it earlier in the training session, and while the injury was healed, she didn't need a repeat of the momentary headache she'd been forced to endure when it had happened. "Before that nasty headache Dez gave me comes back, preferably..."

The fuck is this shitty ass music??

Windows opened simultaneously along Darkman Tower. Each of them housed a .50 caliber fully automatic machine gun within. Gunfire erupted from the tower. The deafening booms that were let off sounded like thunder, and felt like an earthquake. Speakers began to be blown to pieces and circuits at random. The explosions from the bullets ripping through the music equipment set off showers of sparks that would be reminiscent of the 4th of July.

Yes, Alec had been aware of the whole thing, even before Maxi sent out that pulse. He was sure Maxi would show up sooner or later, and told his people down on the 1st floor to let him in should he show his face. It was because of this reason that he was let in and not because he had a pendant, because that had been de-activated. So, yet again, Alec had to save Maxi's life since he'd manipulated reality within the Dead Zone, by quickly re-activating the pendant when he put all of his powers into play.

The guns were still booming outside when Demi walked in, Alec pushed the button to open the door to his office to allow Maxi to come in next. Alec put fire to one of his "Cigars" with a frown. Clouds outside began to gather like they always did when just about any Kane was in a bad mood. What was Maxi reaction going to be to finding out that Demi was no longer related to him? The story Maxi was about to spin to account for botching a month's worth of work and doing little to nothing compared to ninjas, blind kids and teenagers wearing robotic suits making all kinds of crazy accomplishments was going to be an interesting one. So he said nothing for now, and clouded the air around him with green smoke.

Well, okay then... a sudden army, loud speakers, noise, and then... gunfire. Niala couldn't help but just shake her head from her position behind her own desk. A straw was between her lips, this one a neon blue in color, and she was sucking up the usual frozen chocolate from the large cup in her hands. She had been amusing herself with the video up on the screen before her - the video footage of Demi and Destiny fighting - when the chaos and madness had erupted.

She could imagine it all away, if she really wanted to... but she was feeling lazy, and besides, she liked the way things were currently being taken care of. It was indeed fun to watch from her swivel chair which was now pointed towards the window... at least until the smell of blood reached her nose and she turned herself back around as Demitria walked in.

She took one look at her less than good appearance and willed the mess to fix itself. Blood would fade to nothingness on her clothing while the rips and tears would reverse until they too were fixed, any large holes would suddenly have their missing fabric. It would take all but a few seconds for Demi to be completely back to her well dressed self - though she found the smell of blood still lingering in the air. She also added in a cup of frozen hot chocolate, which appeared on a nearby table by Demi - the girl looked like she was going to fall over and pass out after all.

She took another sip from her own drink, looking between everyone, as she waited for something to happen... and she was sure it was going to. For the moment though, she allowed her red gaze to go back to the video she had been watching, just in time to see Dez kick Demi right in the gut... and through a thick concrete wall. "That had to hurt...", she mumbled softly.

Imagination Manifestation:

Madness slid out of the elevator, a slight frown crossing his face as the sounds of gunfire reached his ears. Damn Angel was fucking up his record attempt; the main reason beyond using the music to get the male's attention was that the vampire was going for a world record; Largest Flash Mob in one place ever. With the speakers gone, it would be hard to attract the attention he wanted, but oh well.

Voilet eyes cooled as the doors slide open before him to Alec's office. Upon stepping in, the male sniffed the air; weed. Some people didnt change, but there was something else. A scent that was familiar and yet.. strange. Those eyes peered through the fog of smoke in the room, locking eyes on the torn and dirtied woman that appeared to be piss-...and then, it was no more? Voilet eyes flickered to the other female, taking note of her. It seemed the energy that worked over the once dirtied female had originated.

The air felt thick, like a slow build right before a violent storm. He could feel it: Kane was his usual self, emotionless, allowing nothing to leak past the weed smoke, but there were certain thing that could not be hidden, especially from one whom knew what to look for, or was attuned to certain things. But, there was still the matter of something pressing. The female that appeared to be dirty one moment, yet clean the next..

Demitria. But something was off. She felt different, yet.. she was the same. Another sniff of the air; senses analyzing -- was that blood? Judging by the scent, it was, and it familiar, a sort of sweetness that he'd only tasted once in his li--...

...


"So, this is what happened while I was away?" The voice was quiet, a low rumble coming from withing the chest. Arms folded across it as those voilet eyes it up, flickering gold. Madness boiled and brewed within him, the voices screaming and telling him what he should do, the destruction he should be causing; death be damned. Instead, a low laugh left him, a giggle that quickly devolved into something strange. Outside, the voices stopped thier war cries, each figure bursting into laughter as well.

"I must say...wow. You really did it, eh? You went and did the unthinkable..."

The gunfire wasn't helping the headache that was threatening to return any, and her grumbling continued - at least up until her clothing suddenly righted itself and became far more comfortable and warm than it had been. She knew who had done it of course, the same female who had given her the power to do much the same - had Demi been thinking clearly enough to actually use that power; something she had only used once, and had sworn not to abuse.

She offered the smaller female a slight smile and a nod of thanks; it being all she dared give in her agitated state. But then, she also took note of the frozen hot chocolate that appeared nearby her position, sitting on a table top as if rip for her pickings. She picked the thing up as her now silvery gaze turned to Maxi. She took a pull from the straw but didn't respond to his words. What could she say? She had't exactly been given a choice in the situation, but then again, she hadn't protested it or fought it off either. She had simply agreed and gone along with it. The outcome of course was her, far faster than she had ever been, and after both Alec's lesson and the sparring session with Destiny, she was far more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

But, it still made her at a loss for words, words she was sure Kane likely had. So, she sipped her drink and stretched out her angelic white wings for a moment with a content groan - making sure not to hit anything or knock anything over as she did so - before folding them up behind her again, the wings seeming to melt right into her back. Out of everything that could have been sore, it was her wings... probably because she hadn't been using them as oftem as Dez had suggested now that she knew how to fly with them, she could even still hear Dez word for word in her brain as she told her to make sure she stretched them often.

With her wings gone she sprawled herself into a nearby chair, one hand holding the large frozen hot chocolate she was continuing to sip through the straw, and the other idly flicking the halo above her head - which made a soft ding sound like a bell as she did so.

"This is what happens. I got tired of seeing that girl suffer. Didn't seem like that airhead Flynn cared very much when he was around, dozing off in a suite while the mother of his kids got her head cut off, not to mention whatever he was doing for 4 days in a hurricane that set a new world record, but now you too?... So, shit happened, I did what I had to do, and now you don't have to worry about her or those kids anymore, they are all taken care of."

Alec still wasn't educated on these Malkavian Vampires. The eye colors, the growls and grunts, the voices in their heads, this "cobweb" thing. He seemed mad, and Alec didn't doubt that he'd probably rage mode and fly off the handle in some Vampire blood frenzy thing. The smoke constantly being filtered through his lungs quickly brought about a hard buzz, along with fogging the area about his desk.

Alec had also been aware of Demi and Destiny fighting like they always did. He said nothing about Demi's battered and beat up state because he knew healing up such injuries could take seconds, demonstrated by Niala. He pushed several buttons on the desk, causing the guns on the lower floors to stop firing and the windows to close.

"I gave you a whole month's worth of work. I don't think it was anything too hard. Recruit some grunts off the street, see if they can hack it, do a couple of activities or something. Made kind of a big deal out of it too, printed up all kinds of flyers. That whole thing flopped, and I just ended up hiring in a couple of them. What about you, Maxi? Can you explain your whereabouts for that week?"

Niala returned Demi's smile, and watched the Angel flop into a nearby chair. She returned to watching the video of the fight - something she had already watched twice now, once live and once after it happened - at least until she heard the conversation start up. She pressed one of many buttons on her own desk, the whole top of it glowing softly. The screen blanked, the video pausing before disappearing. She would watch it again later, when this newest issue that she could tell was beginning to brew was taken care of.

With the gunfire gone it was more peaceful, but that peace was a lie. She knew there was anger in almost everyone in the room - probably everyone but Niala herself. Niala was calm, cool, collected... though this constant smoke that Alec was blowing out was likely affecting her in some way, but regardless of the hows she was likely the calmest person in the room. So, she made sure to pay close attention encase she had to use her calmness to keep things from erupting into a bloodbath.

She knew people did and said things when they were angry that they later didn't mean, but with all of the power currently held within the office... well, someone was likely to end up dead and quickly if things turned violent, at least, unless Niala was capable of putting a stop to it first. Her very imagination was at her fingertips after all. But, she wasn't going to interfere unless it was completely necessary, and only if the situation didn't seem justified. And even then her strong loyalty to Alec would also play a serious factor in how or if she interfered.

She took another sip of her hot chocolate, just watching and listening for the time being.

"Where was I? Real good question. I went away, or rather, I went home." He paused for a moment, head tilting as those eyes continued to flicker. "Sorry for missing that recruitment event, but I'm sure you'll understand why in a moment."

"You understand that as a malkavian, I hear voices, yeah? The minds of every malkavian that has ever lived, and those that currently still live." The male shuddered, gaining a disgusted expression for a moment. "I can even hear that fuck up Kimmi's voice occasionally if I listen for it, much to my dismay. The Cobweb houses our entire clan history: the summation of millions of lives, before and after thier turn. My life is there, starting from the time of my birth, my first death, my time as a slave, my crossing into this dimension, and such forth. Demitria's memories are there as well, all the way up until the 'job' that was done on her recently to change her." He pause, turning to look directly at Alec. "I keep my memories of my early life locked away; to prevent them from being seen, and taken advantage of. In all the confusion of the clan's screaming and yammering, my secrets go unnoticed."

"In addition to the Malkavians, there are seven 'other' voices that reside there, ones that only speak to me. They are not vampires, not by a long shot. They are... dear people to me. They are my childhood pals, the people I grew up with, who taught me everything and continued to right now. It is because of them, they other malkavians are held at bay, allowing me to think clearly right now. They..." He broke off, looking down and took a breath. "They are from my home dimension, and have no bodies of thier own anymore. Not unless I go 'home'; a recreation of the village we grew up in, the place and thier bodies recreated from memories of all of us. But they are only partially the point."

"They speak to me, keeping me company and guiding me throughout my life. They do not have access to the cobweb like I do; they are only able to see the lives of those whom I have 'touched': Demitria's, by bite, Nova's by blood, and a few others in this world. Yours too, Occasionally, Alec, though its a lot tougher than they care to tell me. Ninety-nine percent of the time, all they get is static. Hell, the last -decent- vision they had of you was the final defeat of the Sith and Kingdom." Maxi frowned; rambling Malkavian was rambling. 

Get back on point.

"Anyway, these certain voices have warned me of certain events in my life since I've been here: my meeting Kyrie and you... my fathering Demitria and Kimmi.. as well as a vague warning of this. I've learned to listen to them when they give me a warning; the last time I ignored them, I lost Kyrie. So, forgive me if you percieve me as being impulsive. They gave me a rough estimate of time and adivsed me to "not be here for this timeframe". I would have said something to either of you, but I didnt want to risk affecting things. So, I left and went home, demanding that they answer questions."

Arms tightened across his chest as he looked up at each of them in turn, those gold eyes settling down to a deep brown. "They saw a change coming to Demitria, something that would greately benefit her, that would give her protection that I could not at the moment. The voices could not say precisely what the change was because they could not see her beyond it, but they assured me that it was the best thing for her at this time. So... I let it go, and did my time there. However, now that I'm back... I see what they meant. And I find it hilarious. So, thank you, Alec. I cannot say that I would have done the same if I were you-- there are some lines I refuse to cross. But that its YOU, someone I know and trust, that you did it to empower her to keep herself safe, rather than a misguided attempt to intervene.. I can deal with that."

Demi hadn't known how to react or feel at the thought that he had disappeared again, without word... At first she had been angry, then hurt... then she had settled on numb. She had kept herself from thinking about it, she had forced it from her mind and used other tasks to keep herself occupied - such as being turned into a full blooded Angel by Amaranth with Kane's blood, or having her ass beaten severely by Destiny. But now the truth was in her face again, and she still didn't know how to feel about it.

She wanted to hug Maxi for his reason behind leaving, and yet at the same time she wanted to reach out and strike him for leaving without any word at all. She settled on pacing - quickly. Arms were crossed across her chest, her drink having been left on the table she had sat near, and her gaze was on the carpet. Her form was moving so fast as she paced that it would be a blur to the untrained eye. Her brow was furrowed, a small frown on her face. But, she didn't care to concentrate to keep her movements slow or human looking, she was far to deeply trapped in the turmoil going on in her mind again.

After several more times pacing her path ended at the large windows. She stared out of them with her body entirely still - there was no slight rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed, no blinking, no random twitches that the female otherwise would have had, it was like she was a statue... or dead.

She spoke only a few words, lips barely moving as she did so, "You know what the worst part is? My head's so quiet and empty that I have no choice but to focus on how I feel... and I hate it, because there's nothing to hide it behind. No dark corner to shove it into. It's like I'm forced to face how I feel about this situation... and it's chaos."

When one thought Alec would have caused tornadoes and typhoons there were only a gathering of thunderclouds. Green smoke was breathed in and out, wondering how they lived with so many random voices inside of their heads. People taking to them at any random time, jacking into each other's minds like something out of The Matrix. But, how to respond to all of this? Alec didn't feel like having another long drawn out soap opera.

"So, what you're telling me is, the voices in your head told you to go away and stay gone to purposely get me mad, and make me do what I did. They foresaw me doing this, because it was for the best... I'll settle for that story because I don't feel like arguing, and I suppose i'll never understand some nutty Vampires that have cobwebs and hear voices."

Alec flicked ashes in the tray. He began to look sleepy from the intoxication. Demi probably would never get over so much happening to her. Alec at least knew that killing her now was nearly impossible. She would get over all of this her own way eventually...

"What I need to know now is if you plan on being an active member of The Company. Like I said, I have kids running around doing jobs and traveling cities. If not i'll need you to return my father's pendant. I can't have someone walking around with that kind of power who hasn't earned it. I feel I should inform you that a doorway to a dimension parallel to this one opened, a dimension where there's other versions of us, and we're all ninjas. The Gods there re-wrote time and reality, and some of the people there escaped here beforehand. There's another version of me, he calls himself "Spook." He earned his way into The Company and is around here somewhere now. Some of the people made it here in spirit too, and fused with the version of themselves here. The leader of a big village called Konoha, her name is Aisling, she's Demi here. Spook was her personal bodyguard."

"I feel I should also inform you that your boy Xan is over in the Red Light District, seeing as how you two were close and the original creators of Murder Inc. He has a rivalry going with another employee of mine, a super hero who calls himself "The Vigilante." Had an epic fight, and they may go at it again. Xan is predicting that his days on the outside are numbered, so if you want to go see him i'd do it soon..."

Her gaze took in Demi's fast pacing, at least until the female went and stood by the window. A frown crossed her face as she thought about all of the crap she knew that the female had had to deal with recently - it was a surprise that she was as sane as she seemed to be at the moment, but maybe she was like some sort of ticking bomb waiting to explode... Only time would tell on that note.

So, she focused her attention to Alec, having been expecting some sort of violent reaction to everything he was being told, but his reaction was far calmer than Niala had imagined. She flicked her gaze over in Maxi's direction before she reached into a drawer on her desk and pulled out a book with the faded elegant printing on them that would easily read "Shadow Death Lexicon", the Moor book - something she had recently discovered she was.

Seeing as no violence was popping off at the moment she leaned comfortably back in her chair and began to read, flipping to near the end of the book where her bookmark was. She kept herself silent as she read, but kept an ear tuned into what was going on in the office regardless, just encase it did end up taking a violent turn.

"You do not have to believe me. But, I'd rather you did. And no, I'm not sticking around, not just yet. I have a bit of 'cleaning' to do in parts of the world. I came back to explain my absense, talk to Demitria, and give you back this." From around his neck, the company pendant was removed and tossed towards Alec through the air. "I'm going to be here for a few days before I leave, so I can run a few errands for you--"

Dimensions openings, people crossing over? Guess the party was starting already. The Malkavian bit his lip; shit was happening alot faster than he'd liked. Perhaps this was why Demitria couldn't be seen; she'd been merged with herself from another dimension. But something was said that caused the vampire to stop cold.

The male shifted his stance, an eyebrow lifting up and staring at Kane as he spoke. The person he was talking about? Someone that Maxi trusted with his life, a man that made him the infamous vampire that he was now.

"Xan? The fuck, man? How long has he been here? And why the hell hasnt he come up here yet? Last I saw of dude he was turning old as fuck. I'll pay him a visit later, after me and Demi have a chat over lunch..."

She kept her gaze turned towards the outside world, beyond the glass that was only a foot or so away from her. She remained as still as a statue, or a corpse really, as she listened to everything that Alec said. Explaining about how he wanted his pendant back if Maxi wasn't going to stick around and be an active member of the Company, then about the merging and the others coming over from the other dimension, and finally about Xan.

None of it could interest her much to distract her from her thoughts, it was things she already knew after all, information that had been given to her a while ago - especially seeing as the merging had happened with Demi before it had even happened with Amaranth.

However, her silvery gaze flickered to Maxi as her form turned upon hearing that he wanted to talk to her over lunch. An eyebrow rose, puzzled curiosity showing on her face. She had no idea what he wanted to talk with her about - he had already explained why he was gone - what else was there to talk about? But, she'd give him the chance. She wasn't childish enough to storm out and go drown herself in alcohol or whatever else had happened to pass through her mind during all of this stress. Nope, she didn't give in like that, she was too much of a fighter.

On que her stomach growl and she rolled her eyes, thinking back to the last time she had eaten... which she couldn't honestly remember. Just a few things here and there, but nothing actually hardy enough to be considered a meal. "Damn stomach...", she grumbled. She moved over to the door. "If you want to chat... I'm going to get food, now. I hate feeling hungry, it's agitating..." Yup, hunger as an angel was far different than it was when she was a vampire, and the difference was something she hadn't got used to yet. She figured if he wanted he would follow her out of the office. She walked out and down the hallway, heading to the elevator, far less angrier than she had been, especially now that she was waking up more.

Alec caught the necklace. It used to be Squall's and still had some of his blood on it. Alec put it on the desk to his left side. The "Cigar" was about gone so he put the rest out in the ashtray. The clouds outside slowly but surely began to disperse, indicating that tensions were calming.

"Well, he's more robot than man now, and the shit he went through was kinda traumatic. I'll let him tell you better than I could. Been over there a couple of months now... But anyways, good luck with your cleaning jobs..."

He was just glad this ended without someone getting hurt. Alec blew out the last of the green smoke while leaning back into the leather recliner.

Niala looked up from her book, having been keeping an ear out for everything that was going on. Seeing that it seemed to resolve itself in a peaceful manner she looked back to her book and leaned back more into her chair. She remained like that for a moment, the chair on the two back legs... balanced perfectly until a chill went up her spine and she toppled backwards, plush chair and all.

A meep of a sound escaped her as the chair hit the floor, though with how much padding the whole thing had it wasn't like it would hurt her any. She simply blinked, book having gone flying somewhere, and stared up at the ceiling.

"Well then... I should've saw that coming..."

Maxi nodded to Alec before turning to step towards the doorway. He'd have to see for himself exactly what happened to his bro. Shit could not be that bad for holmes to not look him up. But then again, Maxi didnt make himself exactly easy to find.

"I'll look him up, and have a chat with him to see what he's been up to. Is there anything you want me to pass along?"


-Thread exit after Alec's response-

Those two meeting again would probably be pretty cool. Alec used to work for both of them, and probably still would have been if people weren't so scared of Murder Inc. Watching blind kids and ninjas running around and completing missions left Alec wondering when The Vigilante would go back over there for a rematch, if he still planned on it. The News lady Stacey Newman and all of his fans were left wondering as well.

When Niala went down, Alec reached a hand over to take hers and pull her up off the floor. There was no longer any reason to have his blocks up when it came to her or anyone else for that matter, so if she chose to read his mind there was no worry of absorbing her.

"Nah. I went over there and conversated with him already. The Goons and wiseguys he has working for him in that Massage Parlor over there might give you some shit, but they're pushovers. Enjoy the catching up..."