Whispering Shadows

Dead eyed and flipping through the channels with no energy was Palm Perdu, uprising villain. After assisting Crimson Scar in a gang fight she managed to get some much needed off time to recover. Everyday she woke up in the same eerie, silent household and watched TV. Everything was bland during her off time unlike the thrill of...being The Ripper. Palm stood up with wide eyes as she realized something important.

"A-am I enjoying this?" She whispered to nobody but herself as shock and disgust started to fill her being. She knew that killing others would be necessary for her goal but she didn't want to enjoy taking the blood of innocents. Having been raised morally upright how could she not consider enthusiastic murderers horrible people.

"Of course you are, stupid, little worm." The voice sounded like it came from everywhere but nowhere in particular. It sounded as if the sound was dispersed and Palm couldn't even come close to pinpointing its location. Nevertheless the voice gave her the scare of her life. She jumped over the couch where she was previously sitting and cowered against the wall.

"There you go again little worm, all you do is cower." Claimed the haughty voice again. After several seconds had past Palm investigated her surroundings only to find nobody there. Confusion started to overtake the shock and fear coursing through her body as she tried to figure out the mystery.

"W-where..are you," Palm said hesitating with each word. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to know where this unknown voice was at. All she wanted to know was why the hell was it talking to her or even why it was inside her house for that matter. Then she looked to her right side to see her arm looking directly at her.

"I'm right here, dumbass," stated the...arm to Palm. Seconds past, minutes past, hours past, and even eternity past, at least that's what it felt like to Palm before she spoke again.

"What," one simple word was all it took for more verbal insults from the arm.

---

"P-please spare me," desperately shouted a man who was looking at 'death'. Donned with a blood stained cloak was the entity known as 'death'. The man tried to run but his legs were broken. The men tried to crawl but his forearm was piercing through the skin. Once the man tried to talk again he couldn't even do that as some unseen force slowly choked the life out of him.

Unbeknownst to even Palm herself her thin lips were spread into a small smile. Her eyes lit up with a certain light as she stared down at the person who was pleading for her to stop. It was the situation she had been in her whole life. The tormentors never did relent and she had even given up fighting back. All her efforts to resisting went towards making sure her parents never found out. However now, the shoe was on the other foot.

"Oh, I didn't think you could make that sort of face, little worm," remarked her arm, Baltizard von Reinhard IX. During her conversation with the arm it was insistent on being called a 'high and mighty' name so it eventually decided on that. It was also firmly set on her calling it by its full name and threatened to crush her head if she didn't otherwise.

"W-what are you talking about...I-I don't like this sort of thing, okay!?" Palm shouted in irritation to Baltizard. In fact her voice may have been a little too loud as it may have attracted some attention from unwanted guests.

"♪Found you!♪" Arachna's voice suddenly called out in a musical lilt that was actually rather uncharacteristic for her style. Certainly dark alleys were a fairly safe place to go murdering people out of sight of the general populace, especially in a sparsely populated area such as Mocca City, but when you were being unknowingly pursued by one who traveled across rooftops rather than down streets and was beginning to decipher your general murder pattern... remaining hidden became a tad bit more difficult. The angry shouting to seemingly no one in particular kind of helped as well.

For the moment, Arachna merely peered down from the roof of the building that created one of the alleyway's walls, meaning that when looking up Palm would only be capable of seeing her head adorned with its six eyes peeking downward at her and the mess she was in the middle of making.

"The East Diamond Ripper, I presume?" the spider-woman asked rhetorically. There was not really any arguing the fact that this killing fit the ongoing pattern to the bill. She'd found her target and quite easily at that. "You're becoming far too predictable, girl. I'd suggest changing your patterns before some honest-to-god heroes decipher what you're doing like I did and start trying to bring you in. Why do they call you the Ripper, anyway? It doesn't really fit you at all," she rambled a bit, attempting to gauge this girl's personality straight off the bat by assaulting her with a plethora of wordage to react to. "I think I'd call you... East Diamond's Bloody Angel... You have got to be plenty bloody after what you do to people, Angel."

There was a moment of pause from Arachna after a time of looking into those glasses covered eyes as she talked away, her expression twisting into one of near remembrance as she thought about something in particular long and hard.

"Your eyes look familiar..." One of the first things she'd heard about upon arriving in Ruby City was the fallout from the hero couple's disastrous end. It had really struck her, even as a villain posing as a hero. Such a poignantly emotional turn of events. They'd provided photos, of course and Palm wore her glasses no matter whether she hid her face or not. It almost gave her away... but not quite.

"No matter," she dismissed the brief remembrance quickly with a wave of her arm. "So, you don't like what sort of thing now?"

"Look up, little worm." Interrupted Baltizard as Palm was just beginning her angry rant. She complied with the arrogant ass and when she looked up her body immediately tensed up. Staring down at her were six bright eyes that contrasted the darkness surrounding them. If Palm didn't freeze up she would have fallen back as she didn't take surprises too well.

"The East Diamond Ripper, I presume?" Said the feminine voice from beyond, sounding chipper as if she had found a new toy. A shiver was sent down Palm's spine as she thought that she had encountered her first hero. Yet the emotion that came after the woman's barrage of questions was shock. Every time she tried to open her mouth to ask a question the woman was already mid sentence. Even if she was going to hesitate during her sentence she couldn't even start it. But during her long speech the woman did ways a few good concerns. If a stranger managed to find her what's to say that the Superhero Foundation isn't about to come down this alleyway and make her body look like Swiss cheese.

"Your eyes look familiar..." The voice started off once more, but this time a new fear had emerged within her. If her civilian identity was brought out then her life was over. There was no way that Father or Crimson Scar would keep around a liability. Not to mention she had absolutely no power to fight against the Superhero Foundation. Too many factors were appearing at once; what did this woman want, why would she make her presence known, why the hell she got six eyes.

"Uh..." Palm said whenever the woman finally gave her room to talk. She reached underneath her cloak to adjust the face portion of her full black body suit. The only portion that was visible was her eyes so even if she was bluffing about noticing her eyes it seemed plausible. There were too many things to address and even more things that Palm was curious about.

"Bloody a-angel, are you trying to flirt with m-me?" She asked her voice was leaning towards shy but she managed to say it at a decent volume towards the end. Suddenly Palm's head was smacked as her chin was slammed into her collarbone. To an outsider's perspective the sporadic movement may have looked weird and awkward as if an unseen force was doing it.

"Are you a fucking idiot, why the hell are you asking that? More importantly why aren't you saying 'kaa, hurry and kill her the magnificent Baltizard von Reinhard IX'?" Baltizard practically screamed into her head. Palm had to admit that asking her that question first may have been stupid but it still didn't deserve physical discipline. But Palm quickly recovered as she positioned her head back to where the eyes were at.

"Um...what...er, who are you?" Palm asked the glowing eyes. Palm didn't seem to have any indication to answer the voice's questions until she made herself known preferably known to the point that Palm could see her. It was unnerving to know that somebody could see your exposed body whilst you could only see their bright eyes. But who could sit down and have a casually chat with some unknown figure that was specifically looking for the 'East Diamond Ripper'. That meant that this woman was crazy, dangerous, or both.

"Hmhmhm..." Arachna's throaty chuckle emerged at a volume only barely heard from Palm's position down below. "Would you like it if I was, Angel?" she asked noncommittally with obvious amusement tinting her tone. If she registered the oddly sporadic motion of the girl's head, she didn't actually deem it necessary to mention.

"Who I am is a rather important question, now isn't it?" she continued, once again giving the girl no chance to reply to her first question. "I'm nothing more than a spider on the wall..." As she began her answer, she slid over the edge of the roof to begin crawling down the wall on her hands and knees, her four arachnid limbs walking along with her as would a normal spider's limbs. "However, if you require a name, please call me Natalya. That would be most preferred."

She spiderwalked her way down the building at a slow, suspense-building pace till she was practically face to face with the diminutive murderer, one of them standing flat-footed upon the ground while the other crawled upon the wall as if it were simply a second dimension to the ground.

"More important than any of that, though. What I or other people would call you matters very little. What would you call yourself?" She followed the question up with a genuinely warm smile, attempting to get the girl to warm up to her a bit rather than the likely reaction of being terrified of a scantily-clad woman that looked and functioned like a giant spider creeping up beside her like some creepypasta nightmare nursery rhyme bullshit.

"I'm telling you little worm we should kill her right now, no question." Palm responded with a slow shake of the head. She didn't think that she should kill her, yet. Why would she make herself known if she had foul intentions and why would any sane person search for the 'East Diamond Ripper'. She was either insane or ridiculously strong. If it was the latter Palm sure as hell didn't want to provoke her.

Her decision was on the verge of changing as she met with...the spider Natalya. As Baltizard was continually chanting words along the lines of 'kill it, burn it, squash it,' Palm was thinking of something along the lines of 'I'm gonna be eaten by a spider woman'. Yet the woman just casually walked....er, climed...spider walked her way down till she was face to face with Palm. Letting out a low exhale, Palm quickly tried to calm herself. While the smile did help to an extent there was only so much somebody could do to prevent a mental breakdown. She had seen weirder things like a sentient invisible third arm, or more specifically her sentient invisible third arm. If she made any hostile move she trusted Baltizard to handle it.

"Um, you can call me Ma-" she immediately cut herself off. Spending too much time around Crimson Scar and she had already forgotten her own villain alias. He had proven himself rather fond of calling her by a 'pet name' of some sort. After remaining silent after some time to recall her alias she finally remembered it.

"A-ah...you can call me Slight...um, Nata- Miss Natalya." She said rather slowly and unsure of herself. Her body was unmoving and tense anybody could tell that even from a distance. She didn't want to anger the mysterious woman but she also wanted information; more specifically to know why she was here. When it came to her hits she was fairly confident provided that they were non-supers. But now she was face to face with an obviously super and somebody that was eager to find The Ripper.

"Hurry up little worm, we don't have all day for you to keep on getting tongue tied. It'll be easier to kill her." Baltizard spoke up and once again suggesting the choice of killing her. Yet Palm wasn't going to take a risk of irritating her, she may be wanting to change but she wasn't willing to be reckless.

"N-no, we aren't killing her, Baltizard." She spoke verbally and only after she finished that sentence did she realize her mistake. Even before Baltizard could punish her for her mistake she managed to get to the other wall and practically hugged it.

"U-um, I didn't uh, you know...mean that. A-anyway what are you doing here...Miss Natalya?" Palm's voice was tense as if she thought that Natalya would attack her. Justified reasons considering that Palm made an open statement about how...Baltizard wanted to kill her. It may have seemed even more strange from Natalya's perspective, seeing a girl randomly acknowledge an invisible third party about not killing her then freaking out.

"Damn idiot," retorted Baltizard.

"Otlichno!" Natalya exclaimed in Russian, apparently thrilled by the sharing of names. "Slight it shall be then!"

And then it happened. The woman's wide smile turned down into an angry frown almost immediately, quickly dropping down to the ground beside Slight with a mildly acrobatic flip. Rather than landing on her human feet, however, Natalya held herself high on only her spider limbs which gave her an extra foot and a half to loom tall over the smaller girl, her human feet dangling far over the ground.

Her eyes were narrowed sharply now as she looked quickly back and forth along the alleyway before looking up to the rooftops and all the way around.

"Who are you talking to?" she demanded forcefully, drawing in close to the girl's face in confrontation. "Who is Baltizard?! Show yourself!" she called out to the empty air, expecting someone to reveal themselves at any moment and attempt to end her life. To have fallen into a trap like this... Had she actually been the one being lead along all this time?! For the moment, the girl's question would go ignored as there were much more important matters at hand such as not getting caught in an ambush.

"You done fucked up, little worm." Baltizard stated almost sympathetically, almost. Palm was almost about to scream at the voice inside her head until Natalya dropped to the ground and flipped beside Palm. Her gut dropped as Natalya towered over her with her spider apprehends. Baltizard had fucked her over and Natalya's lack of personal space wasn't making Palm's situation any better. Now she had to explain to a paranoid overgrown spider woman that she simply had a voice inside her head who's first suggestion was to kill everything they come across.

"U-uh, Miss...Natalya please calm down it's just a voice inside my head." Well, that came out worse than Palm expected.

"Nice explanation," and Baltizard's snarky comment made it all the better.

"W-what I meant to say is...it's sort of my power. I-I have this little voice inside my head called Baltizard and he- I mean, Baltizard von Reinhard IX. He's uh...a little paranoid. Y-you have to believe me or else...well, um, you won't find anybody else in this alley, Miss Natalya." Palm's voice was tense and nervous, no matter how calm or collected she tried to be while explaining it was a bit difficult with a spider woman standing beside you threatening to kill you. Palm had every reason to believe that she could.

"He...sorta just appeared yesterday evening a-and I'm still, you know, getting used to him. A-anyway enough about uh Baltizard von Rein IX. W-what are you doing here...Miss Natalya?" She swiftly tried to change the topic if she did believe her. She could always go and look for this mysterious being but she wouldn't find nobody else in the alley expect for the invisible third arm that belonged to Palm.

Natalya drew back slightly, her face twisted into an expression of extreme confusion on the girl's opening remark to attempt to calm her. Well... it did sort of have that effect, so good on her. Further explanation didn't actually help matters any, no matter how true they were.

"I'm fairly certain that's considered a mental illness rather than a power, Slight..." she remarked with a dumbfounded expression. Was the famed Ripper of East Diamond really just a crazy teenager with schizophrenia? She lowered herself down to the ground now, her fury and paranoia cooling quickly as her extra limbs lifted off the ground to rest comfortably behind her back, now acting more like arms.

"I wanted to seek out this famous killer, assuming that she was a girl with wonderous powers, but if all you've got is a voice inside your head that doesn't seem so remarkable..." She now regarded the young woman before her with a look of doubt and uncertainty, her cheek resting in the palm of her hand to simply enhance the effect. There had to be something else though. How was such a wirey looking girl taking down hardened gangsters with seeming relative ease? More than that, it would take more strength than she seemed to possess to accomplish the wickedly gruesome murders she'd seen.

Palm let out a deep sigh as Natalya seemed to have calmed down. Now that she didn't have a murderous spider woman inches away from her face Palm had breathing room. She had almost gotten herself killed due to one of Baltizard's stupid comments. She had to make a mental note to stop responding to Baltizard's remarks.

She was about to retort that her voice wasn't a mental illness when Natalya brought up that she wanted to seek out the Ripper. This gave Palm's eyes a certain glint to them. Perhaps she could be looking to use her power. The dots connected, first she made her presence known and even told her how predictable her patterns were. She even gave her helpful advice on how she should change her tactics which she will discuss with Crimson Scar on another date. She even seemed friendly before Baltizard's name was brought up.

"You were...coming here looking for the...um, Ripper knowing she was strong? That seems pretty stupid." Palm immediately paled after she realized what she said.

"U-um, sorry Miss Natalya I was...uh, really surprised at what you said. So, what...did you have in mind if the 'East Diamond Ripper' didn't turn out to be a girl with only a voice in her head?" Palm switched gears quickly. She had to play this smart if her speculation was correct. Natalya could be looking with her assistance for something and Palm was always willing to get more contacts. While she did have Crimson Scar's help there was never a bad thing about having too many contacts.

Natalya's doubting look immediately regained some of its previous hostility the moment the mention of her and being stupid were strung together into the same thought.

"For being such a little thing you sure are trying very hard to test my self control. A wasp who gets too bold will find itself snared in a spider's web just as easily as any helpless fly, little one. Don't forget that and choose your words more carefully in the future. If you weren't so downright adorable you'd probably be a meal by now." She shrugged.

"In any case, I was looking to secure another partner in my criminal network, preferably someone with some real power and fame behind her name. You fit the bill... or at least you did."

Now Palm was getting some really mixed messages here. Adorable, spider web, self control. She couldn't tell if she wanted to flirt, kill, or eat her! Palm normally would have been blushing at such a compliment but the other remarks were too scary.

"Hey kid, I think this chick is trying to flirt with you just so she can kill then eat you." Even Baltizard thought something along the same line of Palm. She felt that her future was becoming more and more doubtful. Yet what Natalya said didn't fly past Palm. Palm's thin lips broke out into a smile as the previously glint in her eyes became even brighter. This was an obvious chance to increase her connections.

"U-um, I'm sorry for that Miss Natalya." Palm's tone of voice changed as she tried her utmost to sound collected and calm. She needed to show Natalya that she was worthy of being an assist yet she did have more room to work with than her last negotiation deal with Crimson Scar. She had a reputation backing her and had connections to Crimson Scar one of the best fighters in Fight Club.

"But, if you are asking whether I am...reliable I can assure you that I am. Um, my current display was rather...uh, unbecoming but I am the authentic 'East Diamond Ripper'. What sort of offer do you have for me?" Palm asked masking her tone into one of indifference.

"Not too bad, little worm. But I'm telling you that it would be much easier just to beat the contacts out of her and work with them. After all what's to say that this women even has good contacts for all we know they could be some wanna-be gang while we are working under a REAL gang." While Baltizard did have a point Palm always made it a habit to hear people out. After all she would still be stuck on the street randomly killing others if Crimson Scar hadn't heard her out.

Natalya crossed her arms over her chest, casting the suddenly changed girl a gaze somewhere between wary and thoughtful while one of her spider limbs stroked at her chin, pantomiming what one would do with a normal hand once under deep thought. It appeared that the girl was deadset on not revealing the hand that she was playing with, even if it wasn't a full one. She had secrets that she wanted to keep close, but she could deal with that despite her curiosity. After all, what man, woman or child who has ended another human being's life doesn't have secrets to keep? She'd unravel this enigma in time and with a dose of patience.

"Ocheny horoshiy," she answered in the apparent positive. "I've already begun a wide-spanning web of connections throughout the criminal underworld, but something that I'm able to boast that most others in our line of work cannot is the ability to also collect information directly from the heroes of Ruby City. I'm a teacher with a straight-pointing moral compass after all... so far as they know..."

Palm opened her eyes in surprise as the woman revealed her connection to the Superhero Foundation. Quickly afterwards her brown eyes narrowed at Natalya. You could say that Palm was being overly-paranoid but after being put after trial and trial to test her loyalty to the Red Diamonds she thought that it was safe to be paranoid. Being reckless in East Diamond could cause a whole gang to want your blood, a situation that Palm almost put herself in.

"What does the finer details of your...'web of connections' contract entail? What can I provide for you and you provide for me?" Palm's voice was tense unlike the joyous Natalya's. Call it a lack of experience or an unending need to question everything before her that was creating this paranoia. But a question crossed Palm's mind as she wondered if she told Natalya that she wasn't interested in her offer. She would have most likely killed Palm in order to keep her 'connections' from spreading beyond this discussion in an alley. A silent sigh escaped past her lips upon this realization. Why must every time she has a discussion with someone that there was always a chance of death or being put in a situation in which death is likely.

"No need to get worked up, little worm. After this you can start gathering slaves for me to bask in. Perhaps you may be a greater asset than I thought. Now ask that freaky spider woman to pledge allegiance to Baltizard von Reinhard IX." Joyfully spoke the voice inside her head. Was Baltizard enjoying Palm's misery? That seemed likely since Baltizard was a certified bastard, certificate and everything.

"I-I'm not asking that," Palm immediately cut down Baltizard's delusional dream. How was an arm even supposed to have a harem? More importantly what did he mean by 'basking' in them? Palm's train of thought immediately froze as she realized that she had spoken verbally.

"U-um, sorry about that Miss Natalya. You know...those, uh, voices were acting up again. Anyway back to business." Palm said apologized immediately and tried to smoothly change the topic back on course.

Natalya was only just about to address the girl's informed question before she spoke out of turn. The fem-spider pursed her lips tightly at the unexpected interruption, but assumed that she already knew the reason it had happened. A few more words and an apology proved her theory correct and she was, assumedly, left to actually address Slight's concerns now.

"Back to business, indeed..." She hesitated a moment, eyeing the girl closely as if she expected her to suddenly start shouting at the top of her lungs to interrupt her again at any moment before actually picking the subject up, now walking an idle circle all the way around the girl's person as she spoke with a practiced tone. "If you're speaking of such things as fine print regarding our future interactions under this binding verbal contract, I can assure you that there are none. Not knowing what one such as yourself actually desires makes offering you a solid deal rather difficult, but I can promise to you a wealth of knowledge and, if necessary, manpower to accomplish whatever goals you may have that have lead you down this bloody and gory path. In return, I ask only for the same; useful knowledge if I believe you possess it and an agreement to assist me if I'm ever in need of an extra hand possessing your specific... qualifications. Does this sound agreeable?" she asked, stopping to once again face forward.