"Serpent's Kiss"

It was your average dark, gloomy night in Aerilon. The time was half past midnight, and the streets laid mostly empty. Two men were walking down one of the roads, down a relatively well known red light district. When it came to crime, prostitution was really way down there in the list of Aerilon's worries, so the business here worked without too many issues. Oddly enough, even the monsters around town weren't able to take these places down. Or, rather, maybe they just didn't want to. I'm just a narrating voice, I don't judge. Except for when I do. Anyway, the two men stopped in front one of the larger, more renowned brothels, the "Serpent's Kiss". They looked at each other, nodded, then stepped in. Inside, they were greeted by an... 'enticing' aroma. The entire foyer was painted in red and pink tones, the name of the club plastered in neon letters over the empty receptionist's desk. Rather than being greeted by such a receptionist, the men were immediately surrounded by women, all of differing ethnicity, age, looks, so on and so forth. The women grinned as they separated the two, dragging them off towards two different areas in two different groups. Yes, this was why the place was notorious and so famed across Aerilon - it seemed as if as soon as the men stepped in, the women already knew what they were after. The man dressed more casually, wearing a plain T-Shirt, a leather jacket, jeans and sneakers was taken by a rather varying crowd of women, while the other man, dressed in a suit, was escorted entirely by blondes. The more casual man was seated somewhat roughly in a red velvet couch, curtains dragged closed behind him as he entered the room. He smirked as he relaxed slightly in his seat. Showtime.

First he heard a faint whispering behind himself. He ignored it for now, instead focusing on a scented candle sitting on a table in front of the couch. He leaned slightly closer and sniffed it. Cinnamon. His smirk spread into a full-on grin. So the stories really were true. He leaned back into the couch once more, and felt a soft touch on his neck. "Hello there, Sssssauvage." A hissing voice said. The man cleared his throat, and promptly stood up, turning around to face the half woman, half snake resting on the back of the sofa. He sighed, facepalming slightly. "Really, Rash? Were you honestly expecting people to believe you're human when you pull [i]that[/i] shit?" The man asked, gesturing at the sight in front of him. The woman tilted her head, then shrugged. "You got me. But when most people see their ultimate sexual fantasy coming to life, they don't really care all that much whether or not they're dealing with humans, you know. Seriously, man. The amount of times I've had to do ponies here actually disgusts me." The woman then looked around the room. "Didn't know this was [i]your[/i] thing, though." "It's not. I don't really have 'an ultimate sexual fantasy'. I just sort of kept going 'Snake lady tits, cinnamon, snake lady tits, cinnamon' in my head. And here we are." The snake woman uncoiled from her position, her form beginning to shift slightly. "Why snake lady tits, though?" "I don't know, but the place is fuckin' called 'Serpent's kiss', isn't it? Dumb name, by the way. Sounds kind of like what you'd call the worst oral sex in the world." He paused. "Also, the last oral sex experience you'd have." Meanwhile the woman continued to transform, her entire body seemingly liquidizing and hovering in the air for a moment, before shifting around and turning into a slightly rat-faced young man with dirty blonde, unkempt hair. "Brilliant. You should do standup, Phoenix." 'Rash' said sarcastically. "Fuck off. Why in the hell are you pleasing a bunch of random strangers for a miniscule amount of cash, exactly?" Phoenix replied, then gestured back towards the drapes. "And how the hell are you managing to multiply yourself like that now?" "Oh, funny story about that- I'm not."

"What do you mean 'you're not'? No, you're not pleasing strangers, or no, you're not managing to multiply yourself? Because, knowing you, you probably [i]would[/i] blow me for a fiver." Rash let out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, you see, I've kind of been hanging out with the wrong crowds lately. I know that implies Aerilon has good crowds, but these crowds are... They're pretty bad. Like, not 'stealing candy from a baby' bad. More like 'selling the baby on the black market, failing to sell it, then sending a bloodied piece of candy back to the parents demanding ransom' bad. I'm talking Westboro Baptsit Church Bad. I'm talking fuckin' AIDS bad here, man, I'm-" "For fucks sake, Rash, I get it, get to the point already!" The rat-faced man raised his hands. "I'm just trying to paint you a mental picture here, you know! Anyway, those women out there are also shape shifters, been around for a bit less than I have. Thing is, they made a deal with Satan, or Death, or Odin, or Joe Pesci, I don't even know anymore, and I don't care. I ended up owing them some, and now they got me stuck here, doing his humiliating shit for them. Could you believe it?" "Yes." "Fuck you, get me out of here!" Phoenix sighed and pinched the convex of his nose. "Fine. I'll help you out this time, but this is [i]the last time[/i]." "Oh, thank you, Sauvage! So, what's the plan? We sneaking out? Getting me a replacement? Figuring out how to pay them back, we- Whoa, okay then." The shape shifter cut himself short as he saw Phoenix pull a silenced USP Compact Tactical out from his jacket. "We're going to kill them, dumbass." He said. "Kill them. Right, gotcha. Now, but, uh, thing is, I feel like this room is important. There are lots of them, so, you know. You could use a fallback point. As such, I am willing to sacrifice my own safety to stay back here and defend this position. Without going out there." Rash said, backing away and climbing back over the couch. "You're a twat." Phoenix responded, before stepping out from the room and back into the foyer.

As he entered the foyer, he was met by the same group of smiling, flirtatious women as before. But as they took notice of the gun, their expressions contorted. They shrieked and hiss, each transforming their bodies in different ways, protruding blades, tendrils and spikes all over. But, alas, this wasn't Phoenix's first time dealing with shape shifters. The man rushed by as the beings were transforming, jumping behind the reception desk. Just as his legs made it over, a crooked blade, formed in place of the head of one of the women, embedded itself into said desk. Phoenix quickly pulled his bowie knife out from behind his back, and slashed at a tendon connecting the blade to the rest of the body. The entire limb immediately dropped off as the rest of the body released an inhumane screech, before collapsing on the floor. The rest of the group was now charging at the desk. Phoenix raised his gun and started to open fire on the women, trying to chip the tendons just like before. Shape shifters relied on very few 'central' parts of their body, scattered mostly across their joints in the shape of such tendons, which became much more noticeable when the creatures became this aggressive. Rash, being an older, as well as a more cowardly shape shifter, rarely reached such a state, if ever. A few more of the beings died, before one of them lunged at Phoenix over the desk. He ducked out of the way and rolled, discarding the now empty pistol magazine away. He stood up and began to ran towards the area to which the other man had been taken, reloading along the way. He ran in, took aim, and fired at the woman sitting next to the other man, causing her head to dart back and contort, while the man's eyes only widened slightly. He looked up at Phoenix, who nodded and turned to fire at the oncoming group. Meanwhile the other man stood up as the woman's head snapped back into a proper position, blood oozing from her forehead. He swung his right hand back, a stiletto sliding out from his sleeve and into his palm, and slashed forward. The blade cut through the woman's neck, likely slicing those oh-so-important tendons. The woman collapsed, balling up and paling rapidly, while the man turned to the door Phoenix was standing in. Another stiletto appeared from his other sleeve. Phoenix tapped him on the shoulder and stepped back as he reloaded. "Go get 'em, Rom." He said. And so 'Rom' rushed out, grinning, so happy to meet the few remaining shape shifters.

About a half an hour later, three men left the building, two of them covered in blood. A red sports car sped down the street, screeching to a halt in front of the group. A petite, young blonde jumped out of the car and over to the group, promptly giving Phoenix a powerful slap to the face, knocking his head back harshly. "If you ever fucking sneak out on a goddamn mission like that without telling me again, I'm going to [b]staple your balls to the fucking fireplace![/b]" She shouted at him, kicking him once in the groin and causing him to drop the his knees, before turning to the rat-faced man. "Oh, Mr. Rash! It's been so long since I've seen you! How's Margery?" Rash laughed awkwardly. "Oh, she's, uh, swell. Doing just fine." "Well, that's good to hear." She said, then turned to the third man. "Roman, come on. We're going home." The woman said, and began to lead the man towards the car. Phoenix shakily stood up, grunting. "Who the fuck is Margery?" "Yeaaah, might've shape shifted into this big-titted brunette last time I was in Aerilon and claimed I was my own girlfriend to her. Was kind of hoping to get laid with her." "Ooof course you were." Sauvage responded, and took a couple of steps towards the car. The woman had already started the car, and Roman was getting into the passenger seat. "Hey, hold up, wait for me,speed racer!" Roman called out, earning a glare from the woman. "Figure out where you're spending the night yourself. You're not coming back to our place." She snarled out at him, then drove off, leaving Phoenix in a cloud of dust. Rash walked up next to him and patted him on the back. "You can stay at my place tonight if you want." The rat-faced man said. Phoenix looked at him and nodded. "Where's your place at?" He asked. "Not too far from here, but be careful, I gotta do some cleaning up soon." He said, turning around and walking back into the brothel. Phoenix sighed. "Of fucking course." He muttered, before following the shape shifter inside.

The two drove quietly for a moment, before Roman spoke. "...I'm sorry, Els." He uttered. The woman glanced at him, smiling faintly. "I't s okay, Roman. But you don't need to follow that idiot everywhere, okay? He's only going to get both of you killed like that." Roman shaked his head slightly. "But... We work well together. He's... My only friend, Elsa. Besides you." As he spoke, he pulled a carving knife from a sheath in his suit jacket and began to lightly cut at the front panel of the car, several cuts already marking it in several places. Elsa didn't seem bothered by it. She sighed. "I know, but... Promise to at least tell me when you do these things, okay? You're my big brother. I'm worried about you." She said, glancing at him once more for just a moment, before looking back to the road and turning the corner. Roman paused, then nodded slightly and continued fiddling with his knife. "Okay. I promise you, Els." The two drove home in silence after that.