The Masquerade

It was a nice day out, getting very close to dusk, but still light out. A sky colored with a gradient being very familiar to the tall, tubby kitten wearing her casual sun-protective clothes, consisting mostly of orange, fading to a small thin pink which on Earth would be referred to as "The Belt of Venus", and finally leading into dark blue off in the distance, the night sky coming soon... Mobius was familiar to home in many ways. But it wasn't home.

The kitten tended to stare at the ground as she walked for one reason or another, her chubby face framed nicely in the shadows protecting her from fading sunlight until she raised her head to read a sign. 
Her face stung in the sunlight, and for as uncomfortable as it was, what she read on the sign was intriguing at the very least. 
"Hm...", she began, thinking to herself before deciding to enter the candy store, pulling down her hoodie now that she was out of direct sunlight, revealing her crimson eyes and beige fur. 

Something felt off about the room... More or less, she felt something could easily go wrong...
The fur on the back of her neck stood on end, her fluffy tail swaying softly as she kept walking forward, taking in the room - the sights, smells, and sounds. The aura of the people... All at least 3 feet shorter than her still. 
She didn't care. She was suddenly in the mood for sweets. Oh, the jokes to be made if the owner was an asshole...

The shop had opened itself up just as the sun started to set over the horizon. The hours posted on the front of the glass door showed that the store primarily operated during the night. Such a thing would be expected of a bar or club, but a candy store?

The bell set in front of the door chimed as the hooded cat pushed it open. The interior of the shop was decorated in bright, cheerful colors, but the room's dim lighting made the place feel more somber. The people there gave off an ominous vibe, though they seemed to be enjoying themselves. As the cat approached the counter strange scratches and claw marks could be seen on it's surface. 

There wasn't much time to think about how odd this sighting was as a bright fox popped up from the other side of the counter. "Welcome!" She shouted, smiling with a toothy grin that showed off her large and very noticeable fangs. Despite her friendly smile, there was something off about her, much like most other people in the store. "How may I help you?" As she said this there was a noticeable drop in the tone of her voice. She was cheerful with her greeting, but as she asked this question, her voice was eerie and a little foreboding.

It had been a decently long dayfor Darren and Rena. some shopping, playing, some basic errands Darren had to handle throughout the day. they had finally gotten done and were heading home until Rena saw the candy store.
Darren finally gave in after her begging and pleading and they headed into the store. Rena wasted no time quickly running from corner to corner looking at all the sweets and candy, trying find something to get. Darren lookiled around himself and found found some chocolates he liked.

As Rena ran around, Darren couldn't help be feel uneasy. like he was being watched In a sinister way. instinctively his hand slid to his copy gun and flicked the "Standbye" switch. with those egg goons that had been after Rena he didn't want a repeat on that whole scenario. he die before he let anyone try to hurt her.

several tense moments later Darren went to the counter carrying what they were gonna buy while Rena looked around the store some more. her eye's lit up with joy and her gem glowing with a passive cyan light. 
as he approached the counter he saw someone was already there. another cat mobian, this one much taller than himself, at the counter talking to what appeared to be a fox. what unsettled him was the almost sinister undertones he felt from the fox. not to mention in the dim light both of there eye's gave of a red glow.

Suddenly a more cheery aura entered the room, one similar to a child, but she decided to ignore it for now. Kids were expected at candy stores, after all. 
The room's dissonant mood as the bright colors as if the room were painted by a child were undermined by the atmospheric lighting, all accentuated by a lot of the people there seeming rather dark and brooding themselves and enjoying the candy... Julian had a lot of conflicting messages. 
Then the vampire fox appeared - she didn't even try and hide it, showing off her fangs. Her suddenly popping out from behind the counter elicited an "Oh my-" reaction, revealing her own fangs to those attentive enough. The fox's shifting tones didn't help anything.

"U- um- uh... H- hello, I uh," she looked around the room as she noticed all the candy along the walls - she had walked past all of it, "oh, there's the stuff. I guess... I could ask-"
She was suddenly cut off by the sight of Darren and Rena, Rena being a noticeable figure as a small, pink cat robot.
The much taller, noticeably flashier cat kneeled down to the level of the young kid while keeping a distance, "Aw, how adorable~! What's your name little one~?"
Julian looked to Darren afterwards, "Did you build her? How old is she?" She was enamored by the adorable living robot, distracted from the creepy-talking, "I'm a vampire"-sign holding fox for a bit. She could tell, though, that Darren was put off by both of them, not just the fox. Julian didn't want any trouble, and meant no harm to the robot, not that she  could suck them anyways.

(I assume it's full, and sorry for butting in)

(Yo, bro. Closed RPs are roleplays only available to the specified users. If you weren't invited or haven't signed up for one in the "Plotting" area, then you can't participate. Sorry.)

The fox's grin widened as she noticed more newcomers in her store. "Hello, hello~" She waved at them. The small robot had her interest. It wasn't common to find such an advanced, living machine with a personality of it's own. She wondered why a robot would want candy. What was she going to do with it? Doe she actually eat? Nevertheless, a customer was a customer.

But the one who really had her attention was the other cat with her. She could strongly smell his blood. Of course, there was nothing to be found in the little robot, and she couldn't sense much in the one who walked in before them. She had a few ideas as to why. So, her focus was on Darren. "My, my~ It seems I'm getting quite a few new faces here already~" She gave what seemed like an innocent sounding giggle, but something about it didn't seem so friendly.

Darren felt a chill go up his spine as the fox giggled. he didn't like the current circumstances as he placed the bag on the counter. All in all he didn't feel safe. The cherry colors that decorated the building suddenly seemed dark and foreboding.

Rena was to busy being the hyperactive bundle of joy to notice anything or even acknowledge Darrens own uneasiness.

"No silly," Rena said as Julian asked the Question to Darren before he could answer, "The flickies brought me to my parents like all babies. Yeee : )" he eye's emoted into stars as she hopped up 9n the counter and in an instant was all around Sweetie, bombarding her with questions. 

"Ooooo, is that sprinkles in you're hair? is that a real peppermint? do like lollipops? do you have candy powers? Ooooo... you have sharp teeth."

Darren pulled out the money needed. wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. everything in him said danger as he placed what they got on the counter, grabbing Rena as he did so.

"Uh... n-no... I didn't build her. uhm... I'll just pay for this. it's late and I gotta get her to bed for tomorrow. kids ya know?"

Rena crossed her arms in defiance "Meany... technically I'm older than you..." she mumbled as she huffed under her breath.

Julian's curiosity was peaked as well as her concern, pouting a bit as Darren tried rushing out, "Uh, sir, are you okay? You don't sound like you're alright."
She decided not to a knowledge the robot kitten for now, for as adorable as they were she didn't feel okay being treated as a danger. The fox, she understood, and she glared out the corner of her eye at the fox to make her know she knew that, but Julian was upset she was being treated as some kind if monster.

Still, if they had to go, she wouldn't stop them, she just waited for some sort of response from someone to relieve the awkwardness before the cat could get her own candy.

"My, my~" Sweetie appeared to be unfazed by the robot's bombardment of questions. She remained rather calm in the situation. Though, she was unable to respond to any of her inquiries as Darren took the little robot and made his way towards the door.

As he were to attempt to leave the store with Rena, he would find that the door leading outside wouldn't budge. Pushing, pulling, there was no way to open it. "Hmm? Now what could possibly be going on here? The door won't open~?" With the tone of her voice, it was hard to tell whether she was playing dumb or whether she was giving a fair warning. Either way, she definitely was the most suspicious one. Having the door conveniently not open at the time Darren was leaving was extremely odd and unnatural. All signs blatantly pointed to her.

The others in the shop didn't seem to take notice as to what was happening. It was hard to tell if they were simply blind to this all, or if they were all too familiar with the situation. These people were as abnormal as the place itself.

Sweetie looked over at the other vampire, and smiled. "Care for a bite?" She spoke softly enough for Darren not to hear. It was obvious what she meant by this. Sharing is caring after all.

Darren felt his stomach drop as he realized the door wouldn't budge. But he didn't panic, not yet. maybe it was fluke, a jimmyed door that happens alot or something. no particular reason to be all afraid right? after all he had a habit of getting a little panicky over small stuff. this was probably one of those moments.

turning back to the counter, keeping Rena behind him, he waved to the fox.

"Uh... h-hey... the doors jammed or something. I... can't get out.. heh.." Darren said nervously, "Sorry to bother you but... I... don't know what to do. I don't wanma break your door or anything."

Rena, still being oblivious and slightly upset they were leaving sat down beside the door and held her hands up. unseen to anyone besides her she created a small ball of light that hovered between her hands. she began to shape it into many other forms from small toys and simple shapes.

Julian was a little upset, but when the door wouldn't budge for Darren to leave, she went wide-eyed.
The fox... they made it very clear what was going on. Somehow they were keeping the door closed.
Then they popped the question.

"Care for a bite?"

Julian stared at Darren, and was actually... for a short moment... Tempted.
She took a deep breath, and thought through it... She's ate sustenance recently. She didn't need to have Mobian blood, the feral animals have all been enough. She hated herself for even thinking of it...
She hated herself for ever wanting to be a vampire, the reality was never going to live up to the fantasy...
She missed James... so much...

She knew He would appear soon if she kept this up, she needed to make a decision. She reached behind her, her bat materializing into her paw.
"You Aren't very subtle you know...", she spoke softly, looking back at Sweetie, seemingly more annoyed than I was mad or upset. It was probably the tired eyes that gave that impression.
"Let them go. Don't do something stupid that we'll both regret. I came here because I was in the mood for something sweet, not to be reminded of how Hellish my life is...", she cried out back at the fox, turning to face her.

Her tail flicked from side to side, staring down at the Minoan vampire, bat to her side as she stared the fox down.

Sweetie's ear twitched and her smile widened as she listened to Darren's nervous voice. She kept her eyes on the cat in front of her, watching her pull out a bat from behind her back.

The fox tilted her head. "Hmm~? Subtlety was never my strong point. If you came here looking for sweets..." She paused for a moment, her voice growing more quiet and serious. "There's nothing sweeter than the taste of blood." She giggled and starred at the weapon. "Now don't tell me you're willing to start a fight... It'll be harder for you to draw blood if you're so caring about others' lives."

She stepped back and within seconds she appeared right beside Darren, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her voice was dark and serious as she spoke, but even so, she still had a smile on her face. "You don't want to start something you know you can't win."

Darren felt his knees weakened as Sweetie appeared next to him. true... he probably couldn't win. but he sure as heck wasn't gonna just give up and let himself get killed. he had to protect Rena.

with this thought in mind he braced himself as got ready. he grabbed hold of one of the grenades on his belt and slowly put his thumb on the pin, priming the catch. just then he heard Rena.

"M-mister Darren?"

her voice was scared now as she stood up behind them. rushing forwards and grabbing onto sweetie, small body shaky a little as she defiantly pulled on her to get Sweetie off.

"Hey! you leave him alone you big meany!"

she continued to batter at Sweetie. her gem starting to glow brighter. Darren quickly called to her to stop as he said aloud to Sweetie.

"Don't you dare think I'm not gonna try and fight back. I'm especially not going to let y'all hurt her. back off..."

Julian narrowed her eyes, growling, before Sweetie seemed to teleport away... She looked forward. Rena was attacking the vampire and Darren was certainly concerned for her...
"It'd be a hell of a lot smarter to feed off of feral animals than another person!", she cried out, walking closer, "Let them out or I'll make a way out."

Julian, holding her bat to her side, rushed her down with vampire speed, swinging the bat at the other vampires head as if the body were simply a Tee for a younger batter to hit the ball off of...

Sweetie couldn't help but laugh at the robot's adorable attempts to protect Darren. Her eyes narrowed as the cat announced that he wasn't going to let anyone hurt Rena. "Oh, I don't plan on hurting her. She's not who I'm after~" She laughed once more before turning her attention to Julian.

"Feral animals? Oh~ it's simply not the same." Just as she finished her sentence she saw the cat rush at her with extreme speed. Being able to react just quick enough, she was able to dodge the attack. She ducked under the bat as it rushed over her head, brushing past her ears. "Aw, what's this? Three against one? How unfair~" She gave a fake pout, and quickly regained that bone-chilling grin of hers. 

The intensity of the glow in her candy red eyes grew as she became more serious about this fight. She unsheathed her claws. Due to their abnormal length, they easily tore through the fabric of her gloves. Her claws extended roughly three inches from her hand. On top of their unusual length, they were also of an unusual color, red.

Her sinister grin widened and within moments she threw her hand out, making a quick jab at Julian with her claws, ready to pierce into her flesh.

Darren was completely caught off guard. a nice vampire? He thought all of them were just heartless blood thirsty creatures. He quickly shook himself out of his thoughts as Sweetie went in for a slash with her now enlarge claws.

"Oh no you don't..."

He jumped forwards between Julian and her attacker. As claws made contact with his stomach.... there was a humming sound as the claws bounced off of him. 

~Good thing my P.S.S was working. good thing it actually took the blow...~ Darren thought as he winced from the impact. His Personal Shield System could tank stuff but Darren always did end up feeling some of an attack he was hit with. he quickly called to Rena, "Rena. Flash. Make it sunny."

Rena gave a determined look as her gem glowed and a ball of light form between her hand, "Oki doki mister Darren!" with that she spread her hands before clapping them together. causing a loud bang as what little solar energy she had left she turned into a flash bang attack.

Darren stood between the light burst and Julian. if she was indeed nice he was going to try and help her. The first thing being to shield her from an attack that would hurt vampires.

Julian braced for impact, hoping her endurance would hold out. Her softened body could take a punch but would probably be cut through like butter with a 1000 degree hot knife if treated as such. She expected Orion to appear by now - the one moment she hoped he'd be there...

Gladly, someone who wasn't an asshole came to her rescue instead.

She was surprised as he took the blow well, chuckling from pure relief, a goofy expression on her face as she soon looked oddly pissed.
"Hol- holy fuck, thanks dude, she began, clearly forgetting if she had been given his name yet, "I'm glad to see I'm not helping someone who hates me. You had me worried earlier, you know, Mr.'Y'all'?" She hated that word due to it being used to blame both the victimiser and the victimised for causing a problem, something she knew well from childhood. A pet peeve if hers, you could say.

Hearing the words, Julian immediately kneeled for cover, putting her hoodie back over her head sloppily before the blast.
It still stung the piss out if her due to being so bright and reflecting off the walls and floors just enough... it wasn't bad though. Didn't help her sensitive cat ears didn't like the loud noise. She was seething, but fine.
She looked up from her crouched position behind Darren, looking around him at Sweetie.
Fine or not, she jumped up from her crouched position to slam her bat down on her, water from the vapor in the air collecting around the bat heavily as the air grew drier.

(Is Sweetie the kind of vampire who can't move past running water?)

Sweetie was caught off guard by the sudden deflection of her attack. She stumbled back a few steps, and just before she could regain balance, there was a sudden flash of bright light. She let out a small hiss, and shut her eyes tight, rubbing them with her arm. Being a day-walker, she was unaffected by this light. Though her powers were to grow weaker if she were under constant sunlight, this merely lasted a few moments.

Even if the flash bang didn't affect her in any major way, it caused her to become disoriented. During this time Julian dashed at her, ready to strike. Sweetie noticed this last second, and attempted to sidestep, but was unable to dodge the attack entirely. The bat came down and crushed her tail, causing her to let out a painful yelp.

She pulled away and dashed into the air, making distance between them. "That's not very nice, you know." She spoke with a smile. Her body levitating in the air. It appeared that she didn't necessarily need to use her wings for this action, seeing as they remained fairly still.
 
She was tempted to strike Julian after that last attack, but she knew who her target was. Her eyes locked onto Darren. If she was quick enough, she'd be able to take him down. Settling on this decision, she burst forward, speeding right towards the cat. She was aiming to pin him down and take his blood in one quick action.

Darren's look of fear turned into one of determination as he took a head on stance against the leaping vampire. his hand twitched a bit as he waited for the perfect moment...

"Rena! Wall!"

"You got it."

with a slide Rena slid between Darren's feet and threw up a light construct of a brick wall. Blocking Sweeties advance. Before the wall had even finished fully constructing Darren grabbed the top and lept up and back from the wall. giving him perfect line of sight against Sweetie. With a flip he whipped out his Copy gun and fired it on full auto, Pelting the area where she was In small energy bolts.

~Gotta get myself an edge.....~ Darren thought as he once again fell behind the construct wall, ~Hmm... Ah ha! got it!~ with that he reached inside belt and pulled out a weapon chip marked with a snowflake. with a click he snapped it in and prepared it for use.

~If anything my Ice chip should slow her down... gotta find an opportunity though...~

"Oh yeah?! Well neither is sucking another person's blood without permission, you dumb bitch!", Julian yelled at her, getting ready to attack again.
Then Sweetie began hovering.
Oh dear.

The tall cat stepped back, bat still ready to swing if she was needed, though she worried for Darren...
Gladly, he knew what he was doing, and with Rena's help he kept his blood for a little longer.
The gun looked interesting... she kept staring at it until he pulled out the chip.
Unsure what the chip did, other than having something to do with... snow(?), she wanted to see it in action before she started thinking of a plan.

The chamber in the bar's thick end began filling with water as she waited...

(Is there a bathroom, or maybe a sink somewhere behind the counter?)

(Iiii'm not sure if there is a bathroom. I haven't really planned that out, but she does make the sweets herself, so there should be a sink in the back room where the kitchen is, behind the counter.)

The wall construct appeared right before Sweetie's
eyes. She was unable to stop herself from flying through at such high speed, so she twisted her body around and kicked off the wall as she reached it. This once again created distance between her and her foes. 

Just as she backed away, she was hit a few time by some sort of bullet. She felt like she was getting shocked and burned at the same time. Ouch. This wasn't good. Realizing what was going on, she did her best to dodge the rapid fire, but still ended up getting hit a few more times. As the firing died down and Darren retreated back behind the wall, Sweetie let out a loud hiss. She was furious and in pain.

She dashed around to where she could see Darren at the other side of the wall, and launched herself at him. Once again relying on her speed. She was persistent and determined to get what she wanted, and the crazed look in her eyes clearly showed this.

Darren had just finished putting in the ice chip before suddenly Sweetie dashed around the wal and sjot right at him. He desperately brought his gun up to fire but got slammed into by her, knocking the gun out of his hands. He looked up in time to see her going for the bite.

She was gonna kill him.

"No... you... don't..." Darren grunted as he tried to hold her back, grabbing her neck in one hand and holding onto one of her arms. He strained against her but obviously wasn't strong enough to hold her back.

"Why... are you donig this?" Darren asked as continued to fight back, "How can you be so willing to throw peoples lives away and hurt others?"

Julian was caught off guard, watching the scene unfold in front of her, and immediately flung into action.
She could have gone for the gun. She didn't know what the chip he put into it would do. Plus, what if she missed...?
She could have beat her over the head... it probably wouldn't have done anything.

So she. I say she flung into action, I mean she flung into action.

The tall, chubby cat litetally jumped onto them, before fighting with Sweetie to put her bat against Sweetie's neck and hold her back with vampiric strength, "Fuck off you crazy freak!"

Sweetie soon realized that having multiple enemies made her job much more difficult. She needed to separate them. She needed to keep them away from Darren. The fox slipped away and put a small span of distance between her and her foes. 

It would seem that she was backing off for a moment, but within seconds she dashed at Darren. However, instead of attacking, she grabbed his arm and took to the air. With her enhanced strength, she was having no trouble holding him off the ground. As she starred at Rena and Julian her grip tightened on the cat's arm.

She then looked over at the door to her kitchen. Without a second to waste she darted into the room and shut the door behind her, barricading it with a small shelf of cook books and recipes. 

She then threw the cat onto the floor, and lowered herself to the ground. Unaware of what their full capabilities may be, she had a feeling that the barrier wouldn't last for too long. She slowly walked up to him. Her eyes illuminating in the dim light. It was almost intimidating. Time was of the essence. If no actions are taken, Darren may be in trouble.

Darren could only helplessly struggle as he was swiftly carried to the back room and thrown down, his vision slightly disoriented as he hit the floor. He quickly shook himself and looked up just in time to see sweetie approaching him, her eyes glowing with intent to harm.

Quickly getting up he checked himself for anything he could use, Anything at all. His face paled a bit as he realized he didn't have anything to defend himself with. He was going to die here... Rena was going to die without him to be there for her... her condition would worsen until-

"No..." his fists closed tightly as he brought them up. His P.S.S flickered to life with what power it had to protect him, "You are not killing me... someone else's life depends on mine and I won't let you endanger her life." Darren quickly looked around a grabbed a nearby knife, granted it was small as it wasn't exactly a traditional kitchen for food and more for candy thus large knives weren't needed. But it was better than nothing. Darren prepared himself, his eyes had that fear of a sacred child, but just behind it was a glint of determination that made itself present, stating that he definitely was something to underestimate.

"I won't let you make her cry."