Revenge on the 'Fat Doctor'

[hellburger]

A cat demon and a blond man in military fatigues are picking their way through the winding streets of the Nexus Commercial District. The buildings and infrastructure are still festooned with ice and snow, partly from whatever passes for winter in the Nexus, partly -- Miller suspects -- the work of that spirit, North.

One of the (admittedly many) perks of the demon body seems to be a better tolerance for the cold. He glances back at his real body to make sure it's not getting frost-bitten before revisiting Dr. Hill's business card. He brings it to his nose and gives it a long sniff. Some kind of aftershave, notes of tea. God, he'll gladly keep this nose if he can. What an asset.

"Smell's getting stronger. We should be close?" The two tails swirl in slow, deliberate circles.

"How're you holding up, Neko-chan?" he calls over his shoulder.

Comments

[workthroughit]

The bugs haven't stopped still. But bugs burn just as well as anything else, so fire it up.

Once Nekomata steps away from the wall containing the bookshelves she's pulled burning material from, several more books tumble to the floor in loud thumps. Revealing a soft glow on the wall behind them. TV screens stacked in a grid, each flicking on one by one. The images behind the wrinkles and static depicting gruesome, pulsing gore and blood, like they were security camera feeds to whole rooms made of bleeding meat and organs.

There's a new sound coming from the open drawer; choked, female sobs. A voice crying pitifully as if deathly afraid. Slowly growing in volume.

[hellburger]

Kaz's attention is grabbed by the light of the TVs, but the moving images on the older tube screens are difficult for his cat's eyes to process. It's more aggravating than anything, and he keeps his eyes on Nekomata's arson in progress.

The crying is harder to ignore. He flattens back his ears and grimaces, keeping close to his partner in crime.

"Neko-chan. Before you go lighting this place up, we should have an exit strategy." He tries the obvious solution -- the door. Locked tight, naturally, but it didn't hurt to try, right?

The window is next. He yanks at the boards, trying to free up enough space to bust out the panes and climb through.

[magnetite_plz]

"That! Is a good point." Shk-Click! Nekomata closes the lighter and takes a look around the grotesque turning room. "Holy titties mya, this guy's off his rocker. Look at this. Most demons aren't this sadistic. And who's the chick? Some lady he pined over forever and then locked in his murder basement?"

She moves to help Kaz with the boards on the windows. Despite appearances, Kaz will find her body stronger than even his own at brute forcing things. Something Neko seems to be finding out as she strains with the boards.

"Come onnnnnn boards work with me! Kazkaz and I have to bond over the crazy psychiatrist's just desserts. Fire!"

[workthroughit]

The boards come loose with enough pulling, though you might want to be careful of the rusty nails that held them in place. The windows are free!

But should anyone bother to break or open them and peer down? The street is gone. The park it was overlooking is gone. It's just a sheer drop down into roiling fog after an impossibly high series of floors. At least seventy of them. Some of the windows lining the lower levels flicker with faulty lights from the inside. Bars are sometimes visible.

Looking up will reveal the exact same. Floors and floors and floors of a decrepit brick building before the top vanishes into more dense fog.

The crying woman voice is begging now. Pitifully choking out pleas for mercy, for deliverance.

[hellburger]

"Well, shit," he spits upon looking out the window.

Kaz dusts more insects off of his person as he takes another sweeping look around the room. His eyes light on that panther statue and he beelines for it, ears flattened tightly back to ward against the heightened wailing.

He easily hefts the statue in his arms, hustles it over to the window and heaves it out -- both to shatter the glass and to test out the boundaries of this potent illusion.

[magnetite_plz]

"Don't look at it, it's only gonna make you more sure he's right." Neko warns, lighting the papers she's scattered about the office. and then, for good measure, lighting one of the books on fire too.

She stands there looking pretty proud of herself for a moment before the fire really takes hold and she nods in satisfaction.

A couch cushion gets shoved out the window to brush aside any remaining jagged pieces of glass before Nekomata starts climbing through the window and holding a hand out for Kaz to take.

"C'mon Kazkaz. Trust me, okay? We're gonna be fine and this place is gonna burn~"

[hellburger]

"Alright. Let's fucking get this over with."

Now that the fire is lit, his options are suddenly limited. He takes her strong, manly hand and quips -- albeit a little nervously, "Cats always land on their feet right?"

He doesn't wait for her to answer, just closes his eyes to block the hallucination and jumps. He'll find out here shortly.

[workthroughit]

And.

Thump.

The expected several-story drop is not even a few feet. The pair land in a back alleyway, populated by a few trash and recycling bins and back doors to various businesses. The hustle of Nexus foot traffic can be heard from the entrance way of the alley, the sound very benign and maybe jarring after all the noise and chaos that had surrounded them moments before.

There is no window behind them. Just a solid brick wall.

[magnetite_plz]

"..." Nekomata opens her eyes and looks around. Back alley, just where they should be. She grins and turns around and scoops Kaz up into a big hug. "You trusted me!" She sounds so thrilled.

There's tears at the corners of her eyes, but she's still grinning like an idiot.

"Humans...they don't normally trust me about anything." Nekomata explains. And while the fire might have been motivation for him she still is beaming. "We coulda been caught in his illusions for a long time if you hadn't believed in me Kazkaz. That's how they getcha. Fear."

[hellburger]

Kaz barely has time to register what's happened before the hug is administered. He grunts in surprise, but manages to return the gesture with a triumphant, toothy smile.

"Yeah ... good job, Neko-chan. Never thought I'd have to trust a yōkai with my life, but here we are." He wipes the tears away in a gesture that might be affectionate, but is probably more to save face. Or both? Maybe he's learned something from this trying ordeal. (Are you still watching, Dr. Hill?)

Once released from the hug he glances around the alley. While the office window is most certainly gone, the panther statue is definitely lying on the ground. Kaz lifts it and gives it an appraising look. Spoils of war.

[magnetite_plz]

"I'd kiss ya but that'd be real weird for both of us mya." Neko grins huge before she lets Kaz go and looks around. She laughs at the ridiculous pair they make.

"Guess he learned not to mess with us, eh?" Or maybe he's just sighing at yet another pair of patients who get their therapy through destruction and violence. Still, he's had worse patients.

"So, there's only one thing left to do, now." Nekomata gives Kazuhira a serious look. "Can I keep those shades when we switch back?"

[hellburger]

"Sorry, Neko-chan. These stay with me," he says, adjusting said eyewear.

He adjusts his grip on the panther statue. It really is too nice (and surprisingly unscathed) to leave lying around in an alley. One last spider is startled out of hiding on Dr. Hill's decor. It rappels down on a bit of web and scuttles away.

"I tell you what, though. After all the shit we've been through, I'll find you a pair of your own. Deal?"

[magnetite_plz]

"Really? Yay! You know, I still don't like this whole body swap nonsense, but I"m glad that I got swapped with you Kazkaz. You're pretty great for a humie. The best humie a girl could ask for, really."

A very decisive nod.

"I was kind of hoping it would draw him out so we could get him to change us back though....."