Iron Station Savage Masks IC II [Archive] - Page 6

mmdeforrest

2022-08-06, 06:23 PM

John
“Correct,” Emi says softly into his mind. “I trust you to make me a cup. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

A minute or two later, Emi enters the lounge and smiles gently at John. She’s wearing a black top with half length sleeves and a black and white plaid skirt with matching low heels.

“I was worried I was going to miss you,” she says as she takes his offered cup of tea. As she does, she flinches and looks down at John’s left hand.

“What’s going on with your hand, John?” she asks. She’s not yet suspicious, but curious. “It feels… odd. Did something go wrong with a spell?”

She looked so beautiful. The black of her top had the effect of darkening her eyes while it contrasted against the lightness of her skin and hair. Not that it was a surprise to think of Emi as beautiful but it did make his stomach switch from butterflies to churning the moment she flinched and he hoped that gentle smile wasn’t the last one he would ever see.

“Your father was kind enough to let Keith and myself know you would be back within fifteen minutes or so,” John explained, “so we lingered to get the chance for me to say hello and for him to have what appears to be an extended conversation with Burnout. It also gave me time to get to know Grayson a little, I’m pleased to say. He seems an interesting fellow. He left before he could get into detail about the stars or one of the bands he listened to. Prague was the name of one of them, I think.”

He looked at her. Somehow, she had not yet learned of what had happened — although the thing itself had made itself apparent to her. She deserved an explanation.

She deserved more than that but it was all he had to offer right now.

“Why don’t we sit down,” he suggested, leading her to the couch with his right hand. “As much as I would like to play for time and ask you about your exam, which I trust went well, I probably shouldn’t avoid the topic.

John was careful to place Emi on his right before he sat down.

“The good news is that this morning’s mission and follow up interview were both successful. Miss Balinski offered some details I was able to recognize and we believe the Cult of the Red Dawn is the group performing the summonings. Keith and I are going to check out their last known location after we leave here.

“As to this morning, the mission was a raid on the River King’s Treasure store, which is in a pocket dimension accessed through the sewers in order to recover Stella’s mother’s soul, which had been separated from her body — most likely by the greater demon possessing her brother. He’s also probably the one who laid the curse upon her.

He cleared his throat. “It turns out that dimension has become unstable. By the time we found the box Madame Bordeaux’s soul was in, the doorway we had entered by had moved. We discovered that a little after being beset by a mob of shadow creatures that coalesced into a single, 100 foot tall figure.

“It was then that the greater demon presented himself — the Extat Prince Zylas, formerly of Vaskiina-ros, the fallen second House of Vaskiina. The short explanation as to what all of that means is that he is a diplomat and magician of the formerly second most powerful house of the most powerful circle of the dimension. One of the other demonic Houses destroyed his House, shifting the balance of power there, with possible ramifications for Iron Station, and has left him a hunted being.

“He was in a weakened state because someone had summoned and bound him there for some time, during which the Crowns had been draining his blood to serve as the raw material for Nova. As I mentioned, the dimension had become unstable and the circles that bound him were broken in an earthquake.”

John took a sip of tea, swallowing hard. “He offered to lead us to the one stable point from which we could attempt to teleport out and back to our home dimension — on one condition.”

It took a surprising amount of effort to show Emi the back of his left hand. “The triangle is a glyph, an outward manifestation of the ka’yal we swore. In exchange for him leading us out, I would make certain he was housed and safe until he was sufficiently recovered from his ordeal.

“It was a sign of his desperation that he did not negotiate and that he was willing to enter into such an arrangement with a mortal.

“Fair play to Keith — he tried to step in and take the burden upon himself, although he wasn’t in a position to be able to honor the arrangement, which would have resulted in pain or death. And, of course, mister ‘Oh, look at me! I am dark and dangerous’ decided to threaten the demon with bodily harm, even though it would have meant harm to me, instead of stepping up to protect Stella from taking the burden upon herself. He doesn’t even have the right kind of cloak for that kind of thing.”

John offered the briefest of sardonic smiles but found he couldn’t quite meet Emi’s eyes. “Zylas had a crush on Stella, it seems — which, predictably, upset Nightgaunt.

“Anyway,” John continued, looking at the floor and beginning to absentmindedly rub the back of his left hand, “I knew we couldn’t leave him behind. Eliminating the possible single source of the Crowns’ supply of greater demon blood was too important a consideration.

“So I, um, entered the ka’yal and this appeared.

“After that, we went to the clock tower that was the obvious first place to go. Nightgaunt started to unwind some of the runes we found there and triggered our return to this world. Unfortunately, his aim was a little off and we ended up in the basement of our base instead of the sewers where we planned to go.

“Thus far, Seraph has tolerated the thought of having a greater demon under his roof and Doctor Riviera, as you might imagine, wants to know when she can come over to interview him. And Nightgaunt reports that the return of her soul has had a positive effect on Madame Bordeaux.

“It’s not contagious or radioactive, in a magical sense,” John continued a little more quietly as he focused his attention on the back of his hand. “But it, as I was afraid it might, appears to disturb you. I’m sorry for that and sorry if its necessity upsets you or disappoints you.

‘I preferred it when I was redecorating for you,” John admits.

“So. Those are the broad outlines of how my morning went,” he said with feigned normalcy. “I, um…I hope you aren’t upset with me.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-06, 08:01 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-06, 08:41 PM

Keith
“Some kinda… demon… worm… thing,” Kylie says. “Show him, Emi.”

The image of a giant, open mouthed worm with lots of teeth and armored skin (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/ac/da/a2acda8c35b5a0d9569a592fd96d1ac3.png) pops briefly into Keith’s head.

“Not fun to fight,” Kylie sighs. “But, at least it decided to pop up on the outside of town, rather than downtown. Lot less damage that way.”

Emi shakes her head and smiles. “Well, I’m glad you’re all okay.” She gives them a little wave before making her way over the lounge.

Keith shudders a bit seeing the worm in his mind and contemplates just how hard they would have had to hit it from the outside since it took them near about everything. He just nodded.

"Definitely good it showed up out of town rather than middle of the city." He shakes his head. "I'll be glad when this is entire demon thing is over with."

He waves when Emi makes her way to the lounge, and turns back to Kylie. "For real though, glad y'all are all good." He glanced at the ground for a moment before meeting Kylie's gaze again. He was worried since this was the most important date for him with her, and there's just so much that needs to go right.

For instance, what if she wasn't that into the concert too even though she mentioned it? What if she actually just wanted to do that as friends? His thoughts started to go a hundred miles an hour again. Just another great spiral into the abyss of despair.

Then again there was always just hope that this was a genuine interest and a suggestion since it is semi neutral and not something that would always be around. Wait, crap what was her favorite band again?

Smarts for Memory? (https://orokos.com/roll/949966): 1d6o6 4 1d6o6 4

"I should have asked her about potentially borrowing a car while she was out here. That can wait. So ummmm... I'm gonna look into some stuff going on and see what all else we can get into. Figure the concert could be a bonus as well, time permitting." Keith has a dopey lopsided grin again. "I'm lookin' forward to our date."

mmdeforrest

2022-08-06, 08:42 PM

John
Emi listens to John’s tale intently, waiting until he’s finished to take his left hand in her own and study the mark. Her delicate fingers trace the glyph before she looks up at him.

“So you bargained with a demon. A Greater Demon. And you’re letting him stay in your base. Seraph, an angel, is letting him stay. Explain that in more detail to me, please,” she says as she tilts her head and her eyes narrow in confusion.

“If you knew where the exit was, why didn’t you kill him if he was so weakened? You would’ve deprived the Crowns of their source of demon blood, and rid the world of a Greater Demon.”

“There’s a good bit to unpack here,” John answered, drawing his focus from the touch of her finger to the reality before him — a reality he worried he would not be able to control.

“Bargain is a complicated word with demons and their contracts. It might be closer to say that Zylas and I exchanged promises of mutual aid rather than the kind of payment that bargain might imply. He made the initial offer and I put the limitations on it — the ones that would fix his behavior within certain parameters.

“I had deduced where the fixed point was that we needed. There were a few things that hinted at it — the fact that time was out of joint and that an eclipse was taking place in a dimension without a proper sun and moon to create shadows, for example, it a time-based phenomenon. The ancients used to measure cycles to predict when such things would occur.”

He looked again at the glyph.

“Deduced, however, is not the same as knowing — especially when you are helping get a team out of an unstable dimension. Also, the 100 foot tall shadow creature was being held at bay by the greater demon’s hellfire. Polaris and Redline’s fire and light powers were enough to hold parts of it back. The full force of the creature, however, was threatening to overwhelm us. Keith’s powers, for example, had no effect on it. Vitriol and Mercury’s abilities had nothing to purchase on.”

Look up, John. You are answering her questions, not the glyph’s.

“Even thought I was pretty sure on the location, I wash less sure about our ability to independently reach it.

Focus, John. Yes, her eyes are all the more beautiful when they are focused on you but don’t get so lost in them that you cannot answer her questions.

“Attempting to end his existence at that time would not have been certain and engaging in that fight would have created a three-way fight between our team, Zylas, and the shadow creature. That would have likely resulted in casualties — either caused by him or the shadow he was keeping at bay. I knew I couldn’t protect them all.”

More blood at Windsor. The guards, security, the figures they kept him from in the other rooms.

“It was not my plan to have him stay at our base. My plan, after we returned here, would have been to find Zylas a safe house for him t heal up. I think Seraph wanted to keep him where he and Harbinger could keep a close eye on him.”

John sighed. The thought of getting to go to dinner with her tonight had helped him keep going in the pocket dimension and he felt it slipping away. “I’m left with the impression that something passed between Seraph and Zylas that I don’t know about. I haven’t had a chance to follow up with Seraph as to what his additional reasons are. It could be something as simple as wanting him monitored or it could be more complicated — something involving the politics of the Houses or a plan that leverages Zylas against the greater demon that has been the author of our recent issues.

“And that points to a final reason to keep him alive. He is a source of information we don’t usually have access to on what’s going on in Vanuusha. In between the fall of one of the major Houses and a greater demon having access not only to his powers but all of the knowledge possessed by Innovatech, disposing of a source of intelligence, however limited, feels wasteful.

“In the moment, it did not feel like a viable option.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-07, 01:17 PM

Keith
Though he can’t remember Kylie’s favorite band, he does remember that she likes all kinds of modern music, from country to rap to jazz to rock and everything in between.

“You and me both,” Kylie says. “The sooner we can get rid of these demons, the better. I never thought I’d ever say that I would rather fight Exodus or Flatline.”

“The date is whatever you wanna do, Keith. I just thought I’d offer the concert since I thought Grayson had been talking to you about it. I thought you’d be excited for it.”

John
Emi is silent for a moment, digesting all the information John has told her while she continues to hold onto the magician’s hand. “I see. Given all of that, I can… understand why you did what you did. You had little choice, it seems like.”

She picks up her tea cup and takes a sip before setting it back down. “It’s just… very hard for me to believe that a demon would be willing to bargain with a human and then be okay being under the watchful eye of an angel. But I know you’re not lying about any of it. And the mark on your hand doesn’t radiate malice like Miss Menagerie’s curse does. How long will this demon prince be at your base?”

Roguewolf

2022-08-07, 03:51 PM

Keith
Though he can’t remember Kylie’s favorite band, he does remember that she likes all kinds of modern music, from country to rap to jazz to rock and everything in between.

“You and me both,” Kylie says. “The sooner we can get rid of these demons, the better. I never thought I’d ever say that I would rather fight Exodus or Flatline.”

“The date is whatever you wanna do, Keith. I just thought I’d offer the concert since I thought Grayson had been talking to you about it. I thought you’d be excited for it.”

Keith chuckles a bit at Kylie's thoughts. "Can't argue there, would much rather fight them over all this." Keith shakes his head. "Might even be a nice break from fightin' demons if they were to do something now."

At the mention of the concert and the date being whatever he wanted to do, Keith grinned and nodded. "Oh yeah, we hadn't talked much about it but I'm excited for it. Just tryin' to think of things that you'd enjoy too."

mmdeforrest

2022-08-07, 09:48 PM

John
Emi is silent for a moment, digesting all the information John has told her while she continues to hold onto the magician’s hand. “I see. Given all of that, I can… understand why you did what you did. You had little choice, it seems like.”

She picks up her tea cup and takes a sip before setting it back down. “It’s just… very hard for me to believe that a demon would be willing to bargain with a human and then be okay being under the watchful eye of an angel. But I know you’re not lying about any of it. And the mark on your hand doesn’t radiate malice like Miss Menagerie’s curse does. How long will this demon prince be at your base?”

“I don’t know,” John responded honestly, feeling the tension begin to melt out of his shoulders — strange though it was to recognize himself relaxing as he told his beloved that he would have a greater demon living downstairs for an extended period of time. He realized that he had been hunched, like Grayson had, as if bracing for a hit that he knew he could not nor should not dodge. She was still holding his hand and he did not feel any revulsion from her. She still might ask for time to process this news but it was not a goodbye.

It was strange. He did not feel fear but the absence of an emotionally destabilizing reaction had not prevented a host of other emotions or his mind’s ability to produce a list of increasingly worse case scenarios from impacting him. While the Amulet remained a potent edge for him, it clearly had its limitations.

“As soon as possible is the short answer,” he said, finally able to meet her eyes, “but I would like to consult with Dr. Riviera before I try to do anything to accelerate his departure. I don’t want to have overlooked something and find myself paying the wrong kind of price for it.

“And, for what it’s worth, you aren’t the only one who is surprised to find Seraph willing to accept Zylas’ presence. I felt like a grade schooler being called up to the principal’s office when he asked to speak with me before he confronted Zylas, in private. And then later, meeting his fiancée,” he took a deep breath, hoping his thoughts about her were sufficiently far behind his mental defenses to not spoil Seraph’s secret, “who doesn’t know everything yet, felt even more nerve racking. She may have said that Seraph is exceptionally patient but the smoke that issued from the top of his scabbard indicates that his sword is not.

He looked down a moment before returning to her eyes and speaking quietly. “The only thing that concerned me more than speaking with him about this was having to tell you.”

John tried a smile, daring once more to hope. “So that’s how my day has gone — full of extra-dimensional challenges but balanced by the joy of getting to see you, lovely and remarkably well put together as you always seem to be. What about your’s? I trust the exam went well?”

InTheMachine

2022-08-08, 01:53 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-08, 02:31 PM

John
“I remember feeling like that,” she says with a small roll of her eyes. “Whenever Apex called me up to her office it was usually in reference to something my brother did, but I would still get that sinking feeling in my stomach. But knowing the two of them, I would pick Seraph to chide me any day over Apex.”

“My day has been much more mundane than yours, John,” she replies with a soft smile. “I feel really good about my Psychopathology exam. There was only one essay question, when I had honestly expected the entire test to be composed of them, so that’s why I’m back so early. Apparently I missed out on an exciting fight with a demon worm, according to Kylie.”

She takes another sip of tea. “I want to go back a few topics though. You spoke to Grayson? He’s been avoiding me for the past few days,” she says, her expression growing a little more downcast. “But he talked to you about music?” She chuckles and her smile returns. “He was probably talking about prog, as in progressive metal. Like Dream Theater, Tool, or Periphery… I think. Those genres kind of blend together for me.”

P-r-o-g, John thought as he simultaneously smiled and blushed. Not P-r-a-g-u-e — like the bands Boston and Chicago. And Kansas.

Which is a state — not a city.

Same idea, though.

Focus, John.

“So, I am guessing that Gent is not an ironically named British band and Metalcore not some group out of the Midwest? I’ll add that to the list of things I need to know about and make sure Stephen knows his older brother is, despite his and Jeffery’s best efforts, still not cool.

“After we got past his apology for avoiding me, we talked about music but not before we talked about his desire to work at NASA someday — helping to discover intelligent life outside our solar system. Zach apparently teases him about his Astrophysics major, which I told him sounded like one of the coolest majors you could choose. His stutter faded the more he talked about astronomy and it wouldn’t surprise me if the same happened when he talked about music. Well, perhaps with someone who knew anything about the style of guitar he plays — which takes me out of the running for that job.”

John paused a moment. “Do you think you could show me your roof space before Keith and I go? Perhaps we could set him up with some kind of a telescope up there with a request for him to show us some of the stars as a kind of peace offering and a reassurance that we would like to spend time with him.

“I also mentioned that Redline, Keith, and I had planned on seeing a local Jazz show before we went into lockdown and asked if he’s like to join us if we got a group together. It sounded like he would consider that, although it depended on who was there, he said.

“He is conscious that his avoiding you is probably hurting you and, strangely, seems to be assigning the blame for that to himself. I suppose I should take it as a compliment that he thought you deserved someone better than him. I did mention to him that you would probably chide both of us for believing that you deserved better than either of us.”

John furrowed his brow. “There was one other strange detail. Dr. Riviera’s pet has taken a liking to him in a way she has not to others. Dr. Riviera believes that Grayson’s need for a friend could be the reason for it but the similarity between the claws that Grayson sports and the ones that Zylas has makes me wonder if it is not sensing more than just a need for comforting. It’s one of the things I will need to watch when Dr. Riviera meets with Zylas.”

John folded his free hand over Emi’s. “It’s going to take him some time, Emi. When he left, he was whispering to himself, ‘I can’t yet.’ That ‘yet’ is a hopeful sign, as it suggests a time when he can see you — and perhaps see you with me — somewhere on the horizon. But he knows that you and Burnout care for him enough to be ready to face down Ryker for him and with him. Sooner would be better, of course — both for your sake and your father’s — but whatever is driving his insecurities may be worrying at my sudden appearance on the scene.

“I promise that I’ll do whatever I can to help, though.”

Roguewolf

2022-08-08, 04:27 PM

Keith
“I’m gonna go ahead and get showered and changed,” Kylie says. “Let me know about Saturday, okay?”

Kylie smiles at Keith and heads down the hallway to her room.

Keith nods and smiles. "Sounds like a plan, and hope ya get to relax some the rest of the day too. And I'll let you know real soon, we just have a couple more stops today, I hope. Wouldn't ever forget to give you the plan."

He waves as she heads back down the hallway and just kinda stands there for a few minutes. Sure no pressure to plan the date tonight, and hopefully have it finalized by tomorrow. And maybe take the offer of the concert as a safe route. Or try to have the date earlier and make it to the concert, of course, that depends on Grayson still wanting him to go too. He should probably talk with Grayson about that.

Keith sighed at the thought. Might still be a good idea to let Grayson cool down a bit. It wouldn't do to interrupt the time John and Emi had together right now either, even though they would need to leave soonish. He didn't want to hold up Yuki and Drake too much if he could help it. Was always the option of him heading out by himself though, but that posed its own risk. He took out his phone and started looking through different events for the weekend and figured it would be better to look later when he wasn't going to be heading out to scope a cult's den.

He ended up walking back down to Grayson's room and knocking on the door. "Grayson? I want to apologize for earlier. Didn't do the best at bein' supportive and you deserved better than that. I'm sorry bud."

InTheMachine

2022-08-08, 08:08 PM

John
Emi shakes her head. “Both of those are genres too,” she says with a quiet laugh. “He had to educate me about them as well, and even then, I still don’t hear much of a difference between them. I much prefer the instrumentals.”

“He stutters when he’s nervous,” Emi explains. “Once he starts to talking about something he’s interested in or if he’s comfortable with you it usually fades. It’s almost completely gone when it’s just he and I talking, and he’s gotten much better in the last two years. He could barely string a sentence together talking to me when I first met him.”

“I’d be happy to show you the rooftop, but I’ll let you know that Grayson already has a really nice telescope. He’s shown me all of the planets, several moons, and a few galaxies. We drove about two hours away from town one time to lower the light pollution so we could see the Andromeda galaxy better. He takes pictures too.” She pulls out her phone and flicks through her photos before turning it around to show John a picture of the night sky with bright stars and a mountain range and large cacti in the foreground. (https://image6.photobiz.com/2068/26_20170304003624_4267044_large.jpg) “This one is from somewhere close to Phoenix.”

“I do think he’d like to go to a jazz performance. He’s a fan of live music in general, I just…” Emi looks up at John as she squeezes his hand. “I would feel bad if he felt like a fifth wheel. I completely understand that it will probably take him a while to… work through everything and be able to see us together. I feel terrible about it.”

She tilts her head as John speaks about Dr. Riviera’s demon. “What do you mean, Grayson has claws? Like, not in his dragon form, you mean?”

Keith
Grayson’s door slides open as he answers. He looks a lot better, and even manages a smile at Keith. “Hey. It’s all good. I’m sorry about earlier too.” His face turns a little pink. “I did a lot of complaining and I know you were trying to help. I’m sorry I walked out on you, Keith.”

OOC: Because I finally remembered: SESSION ENDS Everyone gains 3 XP! I’ll update cards in Discord

Roguewolf

2022-08-08, 09:09 PM

Keith
Grayson’s door slides open as he answers. He looks a lot better, and even manages a smile at Keith. “Hey. It’s all good. I’m sorry about earlier too.” His face turns a little pink. “I did a lot of complaining and I know you were trying to help. I’m sorry I walked out on you, Keith.”

OOC: Because I finally remembered: SESSION ENDS Everyone gains 3 XP! I’ll update cards in Discord

Keith shakes his head and just smiles. "Hey you were feelin' a type of way and needed to express it. We're good bud, nothing to apologize for." He walf waves the concern away. "Sometimes, ya just gotta vent."

He glances back up the hallway for a moment and then back at Grayson. "So whose playing Saturday? Oh, you're still doing astronomy right? How's those classes goin'?" If Grayson lets him back in, he'll enter the room and sit back down.

Keith gains 3 XP! Ranks up to Seasoned!
Keith gains more Power Points!
To be allocated soon.

Benny EXP (https://orokos.com/roll/950159): 3d6 1, 6, 3
Keith converts one Benny to XP, and marks 2 potential.

Keith feels that he has, in a way, grown closer to the team. John giving him support and helping ot teach him from his mistakes allows Keith to see where he had gone wrong the past few days.
John gains Influence over Keith.
Keith clears Guilty.

PK-Leon

2022-08-08, 09:12 PM

Scott nods. “I can do that. It won’t kill me to close for a day or two.”

"Thanks. We haven't told Sidney about any of this yet but I think she'd feel better about it if she knew you were okay." He reassures Scott.

Ryker walks over to one of the lower cabinets and kneels as he opens it before he rifles through and pulls out two rolls of duct tape. He offers them to Louis to put in his bag. “Let’s do it. Don’t worry, Big Man. I can be gentle. Sometimes.”

"Oh yeah? I'll believe it when I see it." Louis says incredulously as he throw the two rolls of duct tape into his duffle bag.

Outside

“Toss me some duct tape,” Ryker says as he goes through Jackie’s pockets. He finds a butterfly knife, which he slides into his back pocket, a wallet, and some keys, one of which has a Chevy logo on it.

Louis looses a low whistle to himself as he approaches, inspecting Rykers handiwork. "Damn, that was pretty good. Great use of your environment and the way you used your powers to disarm and down your secondary target without inflicting any serious injuries was impressive." He says, nodding at his own assessment. "That was a 9 outta 10, easy. All you're missing is a good one liner. How good are you at improv?"

Louis moves over to the larger rook and deposits the contents of his pockets into his duffle bag. "We should probably take this guy too. He's gonna wake up wondering what happened and where his partner went. The last thing we need is for the rest of the Rooks to be on high alert." He removes a roll of duct tape and tosses it over to Ryker.

“You got a place you wanna take ‘em?” Ryker asks as he tapes Jackie’s wrists, ankles, and mouth. “I bet can get answers outta this guy, easy.”

"Great question. I was thinking about it while we were talking to Scott. Do you think any of those safehouses we visited could keep these two locked up and out of sight for a few hours? They've been abandoned for a while now so I doubt anyone would-." He pauses as Ryker's words finally catch up to him. "And how do you plan on makin' them talk exactly?"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-08, 09:28 PM

“I do think he’d like to go to a jazz performance. He’s a fan of live music in general, I just…” Emi looks up at John as she squeezes his hand. “I would feel bad if he felt like a fifth wheel. I completely understand that it will probably take him a while to… work through everything and be able to see us together. I feel terrible about it.”

John smiled at the picture, admiring its composition and fighting down a wave of jealousy at her driving out of town with Grayson, reminding himself that she and he had not even met then. “If we made it a large enough group, he wouldn’t feel singled out and I can moderate my displays of affection, if you think that would help ease him into things.” John smiled. “For a second, Seraph acted like he was about to join us but thought better of it because of the paparazzi. Maybe we could rent out a small venue somewhere.” He shook his head. “No, we would all have to go in costume then so that the band wouldn’t connect those of us with secret identities to those with public identities.”

She tilts her head as John speaks about Dr. Riviera’s demon. “What do you mean, Grayson has claws? Like, not in his dragon form, you mean?”

John blinked. “So Grayson doesn’t normally have to beg off shaking hands because he had talons that tear the skin of his palms? Until today, I’ve only seen him in his draconic form or from a distance and he has, to the best of my recollection, always had his hands in his pockets.”

A Demonic Worm, you say? (https://orokos.com/roll/950161): 1d12o12+2 13 1d6o6+2 4

“Oh, but before you answer or I get lost in your eyes and forget…forget to mention it again, the demonic worm was probably a kajarta’taeel and they are vulnerable to ice — which is a superior approach to your plan of attack to start with being eaten but probably not available to your brother, Zach, or Burnout at the time of their fight — unless there happened to be a liquid nitrogen-filled rail car at hand.”

“So. Grayson doesn’t usually have talons?”

End of Session
John levels up and takes More Power Points, investing two in Super Sorcery and one in Flight, with the Device modifier.

His one Bennie does not convert and he marks Potential.

John grows away from the Team: While he still thinks of everyone as friends and teammates and has no hesitations about working with any of them, the team’s unwillingness to accept his lead while confronting a greater demon, recognizing that their active kibitzing (as Keith did when he tried to take the ka’yal upon himself even though he didn’t really understand it) while he tried to assess Zylas’ rank (higher than he would have guessed and something he might have learned, if Louis hadn’t interrupted his formal discussion), being unready to take on the burden instead of Stella (as Raphael didn’t) caused him to lose his temper and rush his own actions. Raphael, who was willing to have him be harmed at the end of two weeks by violating the ka’yal, loses influence over John.

InTheMachine

2022-08-08, 11:07 PM

Keith
Grayson lets Keith back into his room. It’s a much more comfortable temperature this time around, though still a little chilly for most people. He pulls out his phone as he takes a seat on his bed. “Looks like Dayseeker is opening, then it’s Veil of Maya, Asking Alexandria, and Ice Nine Kills is headlining. Should be a pretty awesome show. I haven’t seen any of them live, so I’m super pumped for it.”

“Classes are good, I guess. I have a project due at the end of the week and I’ve been procrastinating really hard on it. I should probably get on that,” he admits with rueful smile.

John
“You might be right,” Emi says. “If Seraph wanted to come, I could use my powers to make sure no one notices him. I know he has a hard time doing anything because he can’t hide his wings. I would be happy to help him out.”

“I’ll be sure to let the three of them know to bring Draconian next time,” she says with a short laugh. “As for Grayson, no, he doesn’t normally have claws. Was he hurt badly?”

Redline
“One liners aren’t really my thing,” Ryker says as he unlocks the truck and throws Jackie over his shoulder. He puts the Rook into the bed of the truck, followed by his bald buddy. Ryker hops into the driver’s seat and puts the key into the ignition. “I bet the one over on Fox Lane would do. It’s only ten minutes away.”

The truck roars to life. “You want to find out where this these scumbags are keeping that girl, right?” Ryker asks, looking over at Louis. “The threat of having your face melted off is usually a pretty good motivator for people to tell me what I wanna know.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-09, 06:21 AM

“I’ll be sure to let the three of them know to bring Draconian next time,” she says with a short laugh. “As for Grayson, no, he doesn’t normally have claws. Was he hurt badly?”

John smiled along with her. “It will likely do his self confidence some good to know there is a dramatic foe out there that he will be better positioned to take down than Zach or Ian.”

“It didn’t seem like Grayson was hurt but I only got a brief glance” John observed. “While not exactly hiding his palms, they weren’t clearly visible for most of our talk either. There was some dried blood and clear scratches but, other than making it awkward to shake hands, he didn’t seem the worse for wear — assuming that draconic skin comes with the talons. He wasn’t worrying at them the way I have been catching myself doing with this glyph and it didn’t slow any of his body language when he was talking about the stars.

“Nor was there any sense of danger coming from him. Of course, that has its limits,” John admitted. “I wasn’t able to pick up your father’s surprise arrival through the roof on Sunday, for example, so it’s pretty weak as far as precognition goes. Not that I’m not grateful for it, mind you.”

Skip the bit about it having saved your life before, John, he thought. Her focus of concern is her friend Grayson — not you — and your job right now is to help her and be supportive. Don’t let your ego or your desire for her attention get in the way. You can be secure enough to not make this about you if you try hard enough.

“I wasn’t aware he could selectively transform like that. Unsurprising, perhaps — given that I only just met him.” And, he thought, have resisted the urge thus far to do opposition research. “I suppose it should have occurred to me, given the cold that hung over Keith when he returned from visiting him and the small puffs of cold that came from him when he initially spoke, that his draconic powers are closer to the surface than they might initially appear..”

John took a slightly larger than usual breath. “So do you think you still might be free for dinner this evening? My day is, surprisingly, running on schedule.” He smiled a little sheepishly. “Of course, I don’t know if I am asking you out or if we need to get takeout because of the stir you would create just by being there or if I should be looking for a place with a private room. But it would be nice to see you without the same kind of time constraints that we are under now.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 08:36 AM

Roguewolf

2022-08-09, 08:37 AM

Keith
Grayson lets Keith back into his room. It’s a much more comfortable temperature this time around, though still a little chilly for most people. He pulls out his phone as he takes a seat on his bed. “Looks like Dayseeker is opening, then it’s Veil of Maya, Asking Alexandria, and Ice Nine Kills is headlining. Should be a pretty awesome show. I haven’t seen any of them live, so I’m super pumped for it.”

“Classes are good, I guess. I have a project due at the end of the week and I’ve been procrastinating really hard on it. I should probably get on that,” he admits with rueful smile.

Keith shrugs off the chill since it was about nothing compared to earlier. It was kinda odd since he hadn't been there a while. Felt about normal, though maybe he was still riding the high from Kylie agreeing to a date. Aside from the planning aspect, nothing was going to bring him down!

At the mention of the bands, Keith just laughed a bit and a wide grin crept across his face. "Dude! That's gonna be so sick!" At that information, it was extremely hard to not say the concert was the date plan, though backups were always necessary. Run this through with Yuki and Sidney, don't rush through, he found himself thinking.

"Man, that's even better than I thought it would be." Keith winced at the next thought. "So ummmmm Kylie agreed to one date. And suggested the concert too."

"I'm glad that they're goin' good for the most part. And man I get that, I gotta finish a paper for one of mine. Just need the motivation." Keith shakes his head. "Anythin' I can do to help or just shoot ya a text to remind ya?" He thought about talking with Aeryn later about parts of the project if it could help. Though, then again that kinda feels like cheating on a school project a bit.

Keith spends 2 Power Points for Selective Energy Control
1 Point for Infravision to get Darkvision
2 Points for undecided as of yet

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 10:08 AM

Roguewolf

2022-08-09, 11:00 AM

Keith
“Yo, that’s great, Keith!” Grayson says with a wide smile. “I uhh… haven’t been out of my room much the last two days, so i-it’s not like I’ve talked to her a lot. I know she was talking to Emi about it when we were on our way back to base Saturday though. Concert starts at six, so we should probably get there by 5:30 or so to make sure we can get in before Dayseeker starts playing. We can hammer out the details Friday. Are you guys gonna do lunch or something beforehand?” he asks.

“I should be good with my project. I just need to get on it, ya know?”

Grayson is silent for a moment, looking down at his knees as he thinks. “John seems like a really nice guy. I t-talked to him a little bit, earlier, to apologize. I would’ve kept talking with him, but I heard Emi pull into the garage, and I knew the dragon couldn’t handle seeing them in the same room together.”

Keith just smiles and can't really get it to tone down. "No lie, didn't know how that would go so been wracking my brain trying to make a plan. Thinkin' of somethin' else to maybe do beforehand just in case the concert isn't what she would like. Kinda nervous since she suggested it would be fine, just.... feel like I need a plan ya know? Definitely going either way." He tilts his head to the side. "Sounds like a plan, and yeah, gonna try and do lunch or an early dinner beforehand. I uhh.... need to see if I can potentially either borrow a car or just grab a few Ubers."

Keith nodded in understanding. He knew Grayson would be good with the project, but he figured he would still talk with Aeryn later just in case. If he remembered while still being on cloud nine.

When Grayson goes silent, Keith looks at the ground a moment and listens to what he says about John. He just kinda nods and offers a supportive smile. "I get that, I'm pretty sure he understands that too. He's one of the first people I really talked to over at West Side, well, outside of the South Side team. Polaris was my first friend over there, John joined up the same day I did, just much later in the evening." Keith smirked a bit. "We'll have to try and get him playing KMBU sometime. Think he mentioned a tournament-style game at some point."

mmdeforrest

2022-08-09, 01:34 PM

John
“I’ll ask Kylie to check on him later,” Emi says. “Those draconic traits can come to the surface when he’s emotional. Though usually his breath just gets ice cold. I can’t imagine Grayson trying to hurt you, so it doesn’t surprise me that you didn’t sense him or my father, if I’m understanding what you mean.”

She checks her phone’s calendar. “The only thing is see here is ‘dinner with John, 5pm’,” she says, pointing at her screen. “I was still interested in going to 5th Chapter, if that’s somewhere you want to go. I’ve never been before.”

“Let’s find out if we can set that up, then,” John replies, drawing out his phone and dialing the number he had saved a couple days before.

“Yes, hello, this is John Kelley and I was hoping you could help me out with something,” John said when the line was answered. “I somehow managed to get Emilia Shaw to agree to join me for dinner and she mentioned that she had wanted to try your restaurant out. I don’t…yes, Siren,” John said, glancing up at Emi and smiling before his voice gentled and he held her eyes. “No, I have no idea how I pulled that off. All I know is that I am going to do everything I can to make her happy in the hopes that she will go to dinner with me again sometime in the future.

“Which brings me to my request:” he said as his voice returned to normal. “I don’t suppose you could squeeze the two of us in this evening at about 5 or so? You can? Thanks, you are a real life saver! Yes, that’s Kelley, with two e’s. If something comes up with her schedule that requires her to save the world and, as a result, we end up running late, I will be sure to call and let you know. Thanks, I’ll see you this evening.”

John hung up the phone and smiled a little more broadly. “Five-fifteen at 5th Chapter it is. Your name certainly opens doors,” he said, leaning in to gently kiss her on the cheek. His eyes dropped to note the glyph for a moment before he looked back up at her. “I’m glad we’ll still be able to have dinner tonight.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 04:18 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-09, 04:31 PM

John
Emi turns her head so that John’s kiss lands on her lips instead. After a few seconds kissing him, Emi pulls back a little and smiles. “Me too, John. I’m looking forward to seeing you later and enjoying a delicious meal with you.”

She shakes her head a little before she looks back at John. “My father is gently reminding me that you had something else to do before our dinner date later.”

“And that’s just the part of my to do list that he knows about,” John offers with a mischievous smile. “Given that he is going to be managing Dr. Riviera’s desire to visit our base, however, he has my sympathies so I won’t try and push my luck — no matter how much I would like to.”

Ready to visit a haunted house?

“I’d invite you to join us, but I don’t know what we will find in a purportedly haunted house that has been abandoned since it was last used by a Cult working on summoning greater demons. Given our new resident, how much should I manage your sensitivity to things like this? It’s not that I don’t trust you to do so, but knowing where the borders are will help me make sure that I am not dragging you into someplace I shouldn’t or, if such a visit is unavoidable, how I can help mitigate the risk to you.”

Roguewolf

2022-08-09, 05:00 PM

Keith
“I think you’ll be fine. Kylie isn’t very high maintenance,” Grayson says, looking back up at Keith. “I don’t think Emi will mind if you borrow a car either, as long you let Kylie drive. I mean, she has three of them. And since her dad’s in town, she has a chauffeur too.”

“Hell yeah, we can play some KMB,” he says. “We could probably set up an online tournament. Does South Side play at all?”

Keith exhales and smacks his face like he's trying to wake himself up. "Yeah, you're right. Break into Empire bases? That's a Tuesday! Plan a date with Kylie and it's just chaos on the brain." He says it with a laugh. He was actively still minorly concerned, but Grayson was helping. "Thanks, man, and true. Kylie is definitely the better driver. I'll ask her afterwhile."

Keith just grins and nods. "That would be an awesome idea! And probably safer since they do too. Ryker and Mercury get really into it. Polaris is still kind of a beginner, but he's good. I haven't seen Zodiac play, and I know Redline and Nightgaunt would get in on it." Keith feels his phone vibrate and takes it out to see the text from John. "John askin' about a haunted house, guess they finished up talking." He types up a quick response and looks back up at Grayson. "Sorry about that."

Sure thing! I'll send Yuki a text so she can meet us there too. Just finishing one thought with Grayson right fast and making sure he's good.

"I haven't played against Ryker or the other West Siders, but Mercury is a beast, and Polaris like I said is kind of a newbie but he's getting better. I promise not to teach him any of your tricks though," Keith chuckles at the thought. He then has a slightly concerned look on his face. "Just like earlier man, you need anything I'm here for ya ok?" He offers a fist bump to Grayson before he heads back up the hallway to meet with John, pondering the time between his parting with Kylie and the start of talking with Grayson. It was only a few minutes so maybe not enough time for her to finish up. He types up a quick text to send, then another to Yuki.

I figured you'd still be cleaning up and getting changed but me and John gotta run by a possibly haunted house in South Side. Did at least want to say bye though, and will have something figured out hopefully by the end of the day. Still, sorry this isn't said in person.

He mostly prays that this is a good idea since it'd only been a few minutes. He didn't think she would have finished up that fast but ya never know.

Hey Yuki, we're about to head out from East Side over to that one place. Think y'all might beat us there but, thank you again for coming with us, and thank you Drake as well!

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 05:47 PM

Keith
Grayson fist bumps him. “I know, Keith. Be safe out there.”

As Keith leaves Grayson’s room, Nora comes over the speakers. “Kylie has just gotten in the shower. She probably won’t be available for the next 20 minutes or so.”

We’ll meet you there Keith!

John
“Unfortunately I won’t know until I’m there. Most of the time, magic doesn’t bother me too much. Being around Stella after draining a lot of my power just ten minutes before made her curse that much more… oppressive to be around. And there were a lot of emotions swirling around in that room.”

Emi shrugs. “I’ve dealt with it for 21 years. I understand that you’re worried about me, but I promise that I can handle it, John.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-09, 05:53 PM

“Unfortunately I won’t know until I’m there. Most of the time, magic doesn’t bother me too much. Being around Stella after draining a lot of my power just ten minutes before made her curse that much more… oppressive to be around. And there were a lot of emotions swirling around in that room.”

Emi shrugs. “I’ve dealt with it for 21 years. I understand that you’re worried about me, but I promise that I can handle it, John.”

Twenty one years, John thought. That is either relying on the colloquialism of all her life or it implies someone who has been present in or around her family for that length of time. Normally, he wouldn’t give such a turn of phrase a moment’s thought but, given her mother’s situation, it could have additional meaning.

“I’m sure you can,” John replied as his phone buzzed. “Given my role, and my propensity for dealing with demons, I thought I should at least check.

Sure thing! I'll send Yuki a text so she can meet us there too. Just finishing one thought with Grayson right fast and making sure he's good.

John read the message twice before looking up at Emi. “We may want to say our goodbyes here or in the garage rather than they foyer.” He uttered a brief, quiet laugh. “Traditionally, one tries to maneuver around the father innn-stead of the friend at the lady’s residence.” John felt himself blushing slightly and tried to cover it with a smile “Hypothetically speaking, how many states away would I have to go to sneak around your father anyway — or would it require me to leave the continent to make such an attempt?

“Not that I would make such an attempt, of course.

Leaving the continent would make such a thing impractical anyway.

Not that I am making any plans.

Except for the ones involving the North Atlantic.

But that’s different.

Mostly.

Stop this train of thought before you panic or get flustered, John.

“I was just curious as to whether your telepathic ranges are roughly the same. I had the opportunity to reach out to him today to ask about teleporting in to stay on time and it would be good to know what his effective range is, given the increases in demonic activity.”

That’s the problem with telling the truth sometimes, John realized. It could sound entirely implausible.

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 06:26 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-09, 06:27 PM

Keith
Grayson fist bumps him. “I know, Keith. Be safe out there.”

As Keith leaves Grayson’s room, Nora comes over the speakers. “Kylie has just gotten in the shower. She probably won’t be available for the next 20 minutes or so.”

We’ll meet you there Keith!

Keith smiles and nods. "Always my brother. You stay safe too man." He waves as he exits the room. He looks up and smiles as Nora comes over the speaker.

"Thanks a ton Nora! Just at least wanted to say something. It's good to hear ya again." When his phone buzzes again he'll look and read the text from Yuki. He nods at it and continues to where John is. When he arrives at the garage, Keith waves. "Hey John, Zodiac and Mercury are gonna meet us there. And hi again Emi!"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-09, 07:36 PM

John
“My father’s passive range is effectively double mine,” Emi says. “His active range is… massive. He could probably talk to you from here if you were standing in Aeon City.”

She stands, pulling John up as well. “Let’s head down to the garage. I need to get my bag from my car.”

The foyer is empty, and Emi leads John down into the garage. Parked next to Clea is a bright blue convertible Porsche (https://s3.amazonaws.com/the-drive-staging/message-editor%2F1504231344037-remote.jpg9.jpeg), and sitting in the the passenger seat is a small gray backpack (https://849762.smushcdn.com/1806624/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Cute-Fashion-Backpack.jpg?lossy=1&strip=1&webp=1).

She blushes lightly. “I may have been a little excited to see you,” she admits.

“I hope you aren’t making Clea too jealous,” John noted as he glanced over the car and remembering that the past two days of magical research had left little time for him to begin to understand cars. “But the excitement at getting to be together again was mutual,” John admitted, stepping closer and drawing Emi towards him. “When your father said you would be back soon, I started tripping myself up, volunteering to help him make some more tea when he said you would be back soon — before remembering that I have no idea where the tea is kept here.”

John reached up and caressed Emi’s cheek, sensing his quickening pulse. Yes, she was good looking — almost painfully so. But it was something about her eyes that pushed her beyond just that. There was a depth to them that promised a mind and soul as deep and unfathomable as the kind of sea at night that beckons you out to see what wonders lay beyond its dimly visible horizon.

“How did you know I would be here?” John asked quietly as he leaned in for another kiss.

A hand on the doorknob? (https://orokos.com/roll/950232): 1d10o10+4 17 1d6o6+4 6

The cadence of the door handles’ rattle called Keith to mind, who had just said he would be meeting him here.

All sorts of people to work around here at East Side, he projected as he stole a quick kiss.

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 09:09 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-09, 09:42 PM

John
“She shouldn’t be jealous of this car,” Emi says with a small smile as she leans in closer. “She has way more horsepower, though, sorry Clea, I do prefer the Miami Blue.”

“You offered to help my father make tea? That desperate, were you?” she teases. “He told me after I’d wrapped up my exam to hurry home, and I made the correct deduction that you were around because he refused to tell me why. I was planning on doing some violin practice after my exam, so I’m very glad that he told me to come back.”

John and Keith
She kisses John briefly before pulling back as Keith opens the door to the stairs. “Hi again Keith. I’m glad your talk with Kylie went well.”

John smiled as he noted Clea shifting to a hue of grey that matched the Miami Blue of the Porche.”I’m not sure if she’s teasing you or trying to impress you,” he observed as he turned to face Keith. There was an extra bounce in his step and his smile grader and less self-deprecating. There was a certain hunted, wildness about the eyes, however, that made him think the conversation to their next stop on the investigative tour would be interesting. “

As John observed Keith, Clea projected ‘Both ;)” in black outlined white letters, just low enough on the driver’s side door that Keith would not see but Emi would.

“Please tell Ian I was sorry that I missed him,” John said politely. Not so much as I was willing to sacrifice any time with you, of course, John projected quietly. “Shall I come by at 4:30 to pick you up?”

Roguewolf

2022-08-09, 09:46 PM

John and Keith
She kisses John briefly before pulling back as Keith opens the door to the stairs. “Hi again Keith. I’m glad your talk with Kylie went well.”

Keith walks in and about stops and turns when he realizes he has interrupted them until he hears them talk. "Me too, thank you, Emi! Now just hoping the uhhh.... date plan goes well." He scratches his cheek with his index finger. "Think I may be thinkin' about it all too much. I uhhh... do have somethin' to ask but already feel bad askin'."

He sighs and takes a deep breath. "Could we borrow a car for the date please? If not that is totally fine, I can schedule an Uber, just thought about askin'." He figured Emi already knew Kylie had suggested it but why not ask since the suggestion was placed in his head? He really should have invested in some form of ground transport.

He hears what John had said about Ian and glanced back at the stairs. "It was actually really good to see him and Zack again. Though, don't think they would believe me tellin' them that."

InTheMachine

2022-08-09, 10:22 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-09, 11:32 PM

John and Keith
“Sure Keith,” Emi says. “Do you want the Porsche or the Jag? I’d offer the Audi, but that’s mostly Ian’s.”

Looking past Clea and the blue Porsche, there’s a large white Jaguar SUV (https://ag-spots-2022.o.auroraobjects.eu/2022/01/09/jaguar-f-pace-svr-c202609012022193222_2.jpg?1641753186) and a bright red Audi sedan (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/0d/fa/d20dfa04572297be7785d93c72b2defe.jpg) parked a little further into the garage.

“I’ll let Ian know,” she says to both of them. “4:30 sounds good, John. I’ll see you then.”

Keith looks at the cars in question and gulps. He'd probably owe an arm, leg, and a soul looking at the vehicles. "T-thank you Emi! Is the Jag automatic? I don't know how to drive stick." He winces a bit. It wasn't exactly the top priority when he was learning to drive, with flying and all. Oh and the breaking and entering. And not getting killed on infiltration. "Seriously though, I appreciate it. Now to just calm down the nerves and..... focus on haunted house first."

He nods and smiles when she mentions she'll let Ian know. "Thanks for that as well. I.... it's still kinda odd not wakin' up here." He huffed out a laugh and then glanced over at John. "I promise not to keep ya out too late." He turns back to Emi. "And for real, you're a lifesaver."

InTheMachine

2022-08-10, 08:56 AM

Roguewolf

2022-08-10, 09:40 AM

John and Keith
Emi sighs. “Yes, it’s an automatic. They don’t make the SVRs in a manual over here in America,” she says with a small pout. She starts to go on about the car but realizes that both of the boys she’s currently talking to weren’t interested in it the way she is. “Anyway, I’ll give Kylie the keys and she can come pick you up.”

“It is a little weird without you being here, Keith,” Emi agrees. “We all miss you, even Ian and Zack, though they probably wouldn’t admit it. Grayson most of all.”

Keith has a sheepish look. "I promise you I will learn to drive a manual. Will be a fun story to tell John though." He turns to the magician. "Uncle tried to teach me and someone forgot to tell him the car he was going to use was supposed to be a decoy car. Empire came after us and just a good thing he was driving." Keith shrugged.

He turned back to Emi and nodded. "Sounds like a plan! Now to just finalize all these ideas. She is definitely the better driver between me and her."

"I miss you guys too. And it makes it even weirder since Vikas is back home too. Don't know if I'd rather spar with him or Ryker," Keith shuddered at the thought of either of them using their full power in a match. He knew Ryker held back a lot, he wasn't sure how much Vikas had the last time they fought. He shook his head to push the thought out. "Hopefully I can actually visit some more soon."

PK-Leon

2022-08-10, 11:11 AM

Â“One liners arenÂ’t really my thing,Â” Ryker says as he unlocks the truck and throws Jackie over his shoulder. He puts the Rook into the bed of the truck, followed by his bald buddy. Ryker hops into the driverÂ’s seat and puts the key into the ignition. Â“I bet the one over on Fox Lane would do. ItÂ’s only ten minutes away.Â”

"And I'm not saying they have to be. But when you have a crowd watching the right line can really help sell a scene. And you could probably use the boost to your PR. We both could honestly." Louis says as he takes his spot in the trucks passenger seat.

"Then Fox Lane it is." The hero rolls down a window and snaps his fingers. The black truck transitions in color to that of a bright red from head to tail and with the Icarus company logo across both doors and tailgate. The truck bed now appearing to be filled with various automotive parts in boxes strapped down into place.

The truck roars to life. Â“You want to find out where these scumbags are keeping that girl, right?Â” Ryker asks, looking over at Louis. Â“The threat of having your face melted off is usually a pretty good motivator for people to tell me what I wanna know.Â”

"Yeah, that's the plan. I feel like it's our fault that she got caught up in all of this. The least I can do is to get out of it even if it means she never talks to me again..." He says looking out of his window. Louis looks back to Ryker, "Well as long as we're not actually melting any faces I'm here for it." He smirks.

Louis marks the Guilty condition.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-10, 12:34 PM

“I’ll let Ian know,” she says to both of them. “4:30 sounds good, John. I’ll see you then.”

“You’re so charming,” Emi sighs into the magician’s mind. “Be safe looking at this haunted house, okay?”

I will, John promised gently. Anything less and I would jeopardize getting to go to dinner with you tonight and that thought is what has kept me going a couple of times today.

“Remind me to look into getting a loaner vehicle for West Side,” John asked Keith. “I’m sure you’re not the only one who will find themselves in this position. The insurance question may be complicated but it isn’t anything that a halfway decent agent wouldn’t be able to work out.

“That said,” he offered with a sidelong glance at Emi, “we should probably involve someone who knows more about cars than I do in that conversation. Who knows? With the correct tutelage, I might even learn something.”

“I’ll see you later tonight,” he told Emi with a besotted smile and a squeeze of her hand.

Your preference on the question of public displays of affection? John asked Emi. I suspect your answer is more important for me to know for this evening than right now, but I do want to respect your wishes.

InTheMachine

2022-08-10, 02:20 PM

Louis
Ryker shifts the truck into reverse, but pauses before he backs out of the parking space. “I’m gonna say a lotta **** to this dude to scare him, Louis. And I’m probably gonna break some fingers. I don’t know how much of a stomach you got for that, but we’re on the same page, right? I won’t hurt him too bad… probably.”

If Louis agrees, he’ll back out of the space and pull out onto the street. The house Ryker drives to is one of the ones he showed to Louis last week that has giant, unmelting ice spears from the foundation through the roof. Ryker pulls into the driveway before he hops out of the truck and breaks the lock that holds the gate to the backyard shut. “The front is ****ed, but it looks like the back’s good,” he says as he gets back in the truck. He pulls through the gate into the backyard and parks. “I’m gonna take Jackie into one of the bedrooms down the hall. If there’s still a couple’a chairs, I would tape Cue Ball into one of them so we don’t have to worry about him while I talk to his friend.”

After shutting the gate and a quick recon of the house to make sure its empty, Ryker takes the still unconscious Jackie and his larger buddy through the back door into what used to be a living room/dining room attached to the kitchen.

There’s the remnants of a dining room table and three wooden chairs. “Perfect,” the former villain mutters. He wastes no time getting Jackie taped into one of them, and dragging it down the hallway to the end of the house into one of the bedrooms, before he comes back and helps Louis get the bald one situated.

“You mind droppin’ your illusion on me?” he asks Louis before he goes back to the bedroom. “I wanna make sure he knows who he ****ed with before I get started.”

Keith and John
Emi lets out a short laugh. “You don’t have to learn to drive a manual, Keith. It’s not for everyone. And these days there are less and less cars that come with them.”

She returns John’s smile. “It’s only a few hours, John. I’ll see you later.”

“As long as you don’t snog with me in public, I’m fine,” she replies to John with a quiet chuckle.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-10, 02:32 PM

She returns John’s smile. “It’s only a few hours, John. I’ll see you later.”

“As long as you don’t snog with me in public, I’m fine,” she replies to John with a quiet chuckle.

I’ll try to limit myself to hand holding and the occasional racy little peck on the cheek, then, John responds with a twinkle in his eye before he melts a little again. You really are wonderful, you know that?

“Okay, Keith,” he says turning to his teammate. “Let’s get going before I discover some new and exciting way to appear foolish in front of Emi.”

“Until I get to see you again later this this afternoon, particular friend of John’s,” Clea teases as John opens the door.

“Behave yourself, Clea,” John mock rebukes the AI with a smile.

“Only if you manage to turn in the correct direction as we leave this time,” Clea responds pertly.

“That’s the kind of thing I was talking about, Keith,” John explains as he blushes and glances back towards Emi, “Although I don’t think it’s a fair test, seeing as I have no idea where this address is.”

“Don’t worry, particular friend. I will make sure the boys get there in one piece.”

“I’m going to quit while I’m behind,” John tells Emi as he gets in and closes the car door.

Roguewolf

2022-08-10, 02:39 PM

Keith and John
Emi lets out a short laugh. “You don’t have to learn to drive a manual, Keith. It’s not for everyone. And these days there are less and less cars that come with them.”

She returns John’s smile. “It’s only a few hours, John. I’ll see you later.”

“As long as you don’t snog with me in public, I’m fine,” she replies to John with a quiet chuckle.

Keith chuckles and smiles. "True, but it is something I wanted to learn. Just preferably not getting chased by an evil organization in the process."

He nods at John's suggestion of a loaner car. "Good call. And fair point." He does listen to the exchange between John and Clea and raises an eyebrow.

"So that's what you meant. And don't worry, I have the directions pulled up right here." He shows John his phones GPS app with the address typed in.

"Won't have him out too late, I promise!" He says with a wide grin as he takes a set in Clea and buckles up.

InTheMachine

2022-08-10, 07:37 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-10, 10:04 PM

John and Keith
"Ooohh... very racy," Emi says as she smiles at John through the window. "You're pretty wonderful yourself, John. I'll see you later."

"Thank you, Clea," Emi replies. "I'm counting on you."

The drive over to South Side is uneventful. Clea drives past the rubble of a warehouse-sized building surrounded by a tall chainlink fence with barbed wire on top. The red brick walls look like they were pulled inward toward the center of the building. John finds public parking just down the street from the address.

"Dee, Crowe, Mercury says over comms, "Zodiac and I are inbound. We're going to land on the North side. I can shift the fence to let you guys in."

Passing through a discrete alleyway, Clea switch from the grey that matched Emi’s Porsche to the daytime color profile to that of Dee’s vehicle and drop the plates with an image of the Hieroglyphic Monad. Simultaneously, John summoned his uniform, tucking his iPad Mini back into its pocket and dropping the police file into the secured compartment in the arm rest.

“I’m glad to hear your encounter went well,” he offered Keith as he drew up his hood.

Having parked, John walked back to the condemned building, examining it more closely from the outside. “Not exactly a traditional haunted house,” Dee observed as he regarded the space. Floating upward, he began to study the space, looking for any anomalies. “Crowe and I are in position, Mercury,” he said as he studied the location. “It’s a less than inviting plane and I am hoping we discover the greatest risk present is structural instability.”

Notice Roll for the Haunted House (https://orokos.com/roll/950325): 1d10o10+4 8 1d6o6+4 8

Roguewolf

2022-08-10, 11:48 PM

John and Keith
"Dee, Crowe, Mercury says over comms, "Zodiac and I are inbound. We're going to land on the North side. I can shift the fence to let you guys in."

Passing through a discrete alleyway, Clea switch from the grey that matched Emi’s Porsche to the daytime color profile to that of Dee’s vehicle and drop the plates with an image of the Hieroglyphic Monad. Simultaneously, John summoned his uniform, tucking his iPad Mini back into its pocket and dropping the police file into the secured compartment in the arm rest.

“I’m glad to hear your encounter went well,” he offered Keith as he drew up his hood.

Having parked, John walked back to the condemned building, examining it more closely from the outside. “Not exactly a traditional haunted house,” Dee observed as he regarded the space. Floating upward, he began to study the space, looking for any anomalies. “Crowe and I are in position, Mercury,” he said as he studied the location. “It’s a less than inviting plane and I am hoping we discover the greatest risk present is structural instability.”

Notice Roll for the Haunted House (https://orokos.com/roll/950325): 1d10o10+4 8 1d6o6+4 8

Keith willed his costume back on while going down the road seeing John get his ready and nodded at his statement about the encounter with Kylie. "Thank you, and will probably be askin' some advice, though later when you're not entirely time constrained." He chuckled a bit and drew up his hood. "Glad to see that the encounter with Grayson went well. And he's on board with a KMBU tournament. Possibly online so he doesn't end up too close to Ryker for the time being."

Keith suppressed the urge to whistle seeing the condemned building and nodded in agreement. "I expected more..... well I don't wanna say organ music but hey, day's not over with yet." He decided to listen and wait while Dee responded to Mercury and keep his eyes glued to the building trying to see if anything maybe stood out. He didn't expect much until getting a closer look.

Notice (https://orokos.com/roll/950327): 1d6o6+2 12 1d6o6+2 3

mmdeforrest

2022-08-11, 09:28 AM

The Car Ride to the Haunted Warehouse

Keith willed his costume back on while going down the road seeing John get his ready and nodded at his statement about the encounter with Kylie. "Thank you, and will probably be askin' some advice, though later when you're not entirely time constrained." He chuckled a bit and drew up his hood. "Glad to see that the encounter with Grayson went well. And he's on board with a KMBU tournament. Possibly online so he doesn't end up too close to Ryker for the time being."

“Advice?” John said, pointlessly cocking an eyebrow in the darkness under his hood. “You should probably seek that out from someone who knew how he managed to start dating the woman he is rather than someone wandering around perpetually surprised that it somehow happened. But we have a few minutes before we arrive if you want to ask.

“Before you do, I am glad that my meeting went as well as it did with Grayson — although his partial transformations and draconic breath while in human form were somewhat surprising. I wasn’t able to gauge if that was a question of him not being fully in control of his powers or a natural extension of his day-in, day-out existence — akin to the way I magically sense danger as a matter of course rather than needing to focus on it.

“Given the mini-tournament on Sunday, I’ll be fighting Ayern for the basement in an online tournament, but I’m in.

“But what advice were you looking for?”

Roguewolf

2022-08-11, 11:05 AM

The Car Ride to the Haunted Warehouse

“Advice?” John said, pointlessly cocking an eyebrow in the darkness under his hood. “You should probably seek that out from someone who knew how he managed to start dating the woman he is rather than someone wandering around perpetually surprised that it somehow happened. But we have a few minutes before we arrive if you want to ask.

“Before you do, I am glad that my meeting went as well as it did with Grayson — although his partial transformations and draconic breath while in human form were somewhat surprising. I wasn’t able to gauge if that was a question of him not being fully in control of his powers or a natural extension of his day-in, day-out existence — akin to the way I magically sense danger as a matter of course rather than needing to focus on it.

“Given the mini-tournament on Sunday, I’ll be fighting Ayern for the basement in an online tournament, but I’m in.

“But what advice were you looking for?”

Under his hood, Keith just grins and shakes his head. "To be fair, I didn't think I would get this far, so you may be the perfect person to ask! Still, I do plan on covering part of it with Yuki since she helped out a lot before hand as well."

He tilted his head to the side and chuckled a bit. "It's kinda like how some of our powers bleed through with emotions. So like how Louis about blinded some of us the other day? It's a bit like that. Though the cold chill is almost normal. It's only really noticeable if he's in a state." Keith shrugs. "Really though, you'll know with him if you're in trouble. Mostly just hard on himself."

At the mini-tournament Keith raises an eyebrow. "I miss all the fun when I go out of base it seems. You should be ok, and we'll get in some practice rounds too so you can climb the ladder a bit more. I'm not as good as Grayson, or Ryker for that matter, but can still help ya improve."

"As to the advice, all ideas of potential dates sorta left my head when Kylie told me she would go on one date with me and potentially another if she felt something. I didn't want to tell Emi, though I think she already knew anyway, but Kylie suggested asking to borrow a car, and then also suggested a concert because she thought I'd be excited for it. I'd like to plan something else, since yes I am excited about both the date amd concert, but I want her to have a good time as well." Keith sighs and rubs the back of his neck.

"Wondering if maybe I'm thinkin' about it too much. Or maybe not enough. Ya know?"

InTheMachine

2022-08-11, 01:46 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-11, 03:22 PM

"Wondering if maybe I'm thinkin' about it too much. Or maybe not enough. Ya know?"

“Thinking too much is a way of life for me,” Dee conceded. “I don’ think I have much advice that would be of use in that regard. In terms of the date, I’d recommend an unpretentious but nice restaurant within walking distance of the music venue. It’s a good time of year for eating al fresco so a place with a patio or some tables on the street would be nice. Of course, her favorite kind of food would be better. I’d imagine you have had the opportunity to note her preferences sine you shared a base with her. Select that kind of food and one or two other options, in case she wants to try something new, then offer her the options sometime later today.

“This never worked for me, but I am told that trying to build off common interests and likes is the way to go if you want to move something past friendship. Spend time asking her about herself then resisting the urge to tell her about how you do that too in a way that might make it sound like a comparison. Give her space to be herself and then ask follow up questions.

John’s smile softened and he felt a shudder in the steering wheel as Clea’s facial analysis system indicated who he was thinking about. He shook his head, amused at himself.

“That obvious?”

“Always,” Clea said with a teasing lilt to her voice.

“Thanks, Clea. Emi and I spent a lot of the night asking one another questions about each other. We had the advantage of not being in a public space, though — which you won’t have. You could try something similar. Her favorite time of year and why it is her favorite probably won’t involve anything classified.

John glanced out the side of his eye at Keith and offered a mischievous smile. “If you feel you need an edge, there was an article in the New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/style/modern-love-to-fall-in-love-with-anyone-do-this.html?referringSource=articleShare) a few years ago that listed out the questions you should ask if you want someone to fall in love with you. I’m not sure how well it would work in your situation, as it requires the cooperation of the other party. And I can tell you from personal experience that trying to casually work them into a conversation is painfully awkward. But it might give you some ideas.

“Given that she’s a Psych major, Emi probably knows about the studies associated with the questions. Still, I’d rather you didn’t bring it up in front of her. I’m not ready to relive that bit of embarrassment with the woman I’m dating.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-11, 03:36 PM

Haunted House
Both Dee and Crowe spot Mercury and Zodiac, currently in her wolf form, on the inside of the fence as they emerge from the shadow of a partially destroyed wall.

“I guess you don’t need me to let you in,” Mercury says. “I didn’t know you could fly, Dee.”

Once Dee and Crowe are inside the perimeter, Mercury asks, “Are we looking for anything specific? Zodiac said that this is on old base for the cult that summoned the two greater demons, but nobody’s been seen around here for years.”

“I’ve never noticed anything while I was on patrol, at least,” Zodiac adds. She sniffs the air a few times and then wines as a heavy raindrop hits her right on the snout. Her long ears flick back in irritation.

“Levitation is a new addition,” Dee responded to Mercury over the comms. “I enchanted my cloak to allow me limited flight. It isn’t fancy or fast but it should keep me from falling to my death if the griffin demon comes back and decides to try and grab me then drop me from a great height.”

He surveyed the partially collapsed building as he floated down in front of Zodiac and Mercury. “I’d have almost been surprised if these ruins were still being used by the Cult,” John admitted. “Still, we had to make sure. The primary thing we are looking for are any clues as to where we can find past or current members so we can determine if the ones who have been summoning greater demons recently are a continuation of the ones responsible for this or if they are a new group building on an old name.

“Not that the Cult of the Red Dawn had a reputation worth building on but that may be a reflection of my own prejudices rather than what an impressionable teenager might think sounds cool. Have the two of you had a chance to look inside?” Dee asked as he conjured a rain barrier above Zodiac.

Matter Control: Water 2
Spell casting — Kind of Like an Umbrella (https://orokos.com/roll/950347): 1d12o12 11 1d6o6 1

PK-Leon

2022-08-11, 03:56 PM

Ryker shifts the truck into reverse, but pauses before he backs out of the parking space. “I’m gonna say a lotta **** to this dude to scare him, Louis. And I’m probably gonna break some fingers. I don’t know how much of a stomach you got for that, but we’re on the same page, right? I won’t hurt him too bad… probably.”

Louis' smirk vanishes just as quickly as it appears. "Wait, you're actually gonna torture the guy?" He runs a hand through his hair as he wrestles with the idea. "And what if neither of them knows where they're keeping Izzy?"

He waits for Ryker's response before he continues. "If you can keep their injuries within reason then I think we'll be okay. Nothing more than what they would've got walking away from a fight with you, got it? I figure that should give you enough rope to work with." And enough plausible deniability for me.

There’s the remnants of a dining room table and three wooden chairs. “Perfect,” the former villain mutters. He wastes no time getting Jackie taped into one of them, and dragging it down the hallway to the end of the house into one of the bedrooms, before he comes back and helps Louis get the bald one situated.

"So how many times have you done this exactly?" Louis asks, his curiosity momentarily getting the better of him. Though he's quick to correct his thinking. "Actually... don't answer that." He says as they finish taping up the bald Rook.

“You mind droppin’ your illusion on me?” he asks Louis before he goes back to the bedroom. “I wanna make sure he knows who he ****ed with before I get started.”

He nods and releases the illusion on Ryker as he makes his way to the back room. And now we wait. He took out his phone to check the time and any messages he may have missed while he tries to piece together an explanation as to what he and Ryker were up to for the better part of the day.

Roguewolf

2022-08-11, 04:04 PM

“Thinking too much is a way of life for me,” Dee conceded. “I don’ think I have much advice that would be of use in that regard. In terms of the date, I’d recommend an unpretentious but nice restaurant within walking distance of the music venue. It’s a good time of year for eating al fresco so a place with a patio or some tables on the street would be nice. Of course, her favorite kind of food would be better. I’d imagine you have had the opportunity to note her preferences sine you shared a base with her. Select that kind of food and one or two other options, in case she wants to try something new, then offer her the options sometime later today.

“This never worked for me, but I am told that trying to build off common interests and likes is the way to go if you want to move something past friendship. Spend time asking her about herself then resisting the urge to tell her about how you do that too in a way that might make it sound like a comparison. Give her space to be herself and then ask follow up questions.

Keith nods and chuckles a bit. "I promise I will never bring that up to Emi. Scout's Honor." Not that he was a scout by any means. "But that all does help a good bit. We do have a few things in common to talk about, and while not all the musical tastes are exactly the same, I have listened to some of what she enjoys."

He thinks for a moment pondering while Clea picks on John. "I suppose the first order of business should be the meal. Since that's how this all started. And an offer to help with looking through Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Once we get back I'll look into the places nearby and pick a few." He smiles. "Thank you John. And may loo, at the article for a laugh."

"Now the only main concern is if the concert is the way to go, or pick something else. I'm gonna ask the council about it." He smirks realizing that John may have been the best person to ask among the guys. Well, him and Drake.

Haunted House
Both Dee and Crowe spot Mercury and Zodiac, currently in her wolf form, on the inside of the fence as they emerge from the shadow of a partially destroyed wall.

“I guess you don’t need me to let you in,” Mercury says. “I didn’t know you could fly, Dee.”

Once Dee and Crowe are inside the perimeter, Mercury asks, “Are we looking for anything specific? Zodiac said that this is on old base for the cult that summoned the two greater demons, but nobody’s been seen around here for years.”

“I’ve never noticed anything while I was on patrol, at least,” Zodiac adds. She sniffs the air a few times and then wines as a heavy raindrop hits her right on the snout. Her long ears flick back in irritation.

“Levitation is a new addition,” Dee responded to Mercury over the comms. “I enchanted my cloak to allow me limited flight. It isn’t fancy or fast but it should keep me from falling to my death if the griffin demon comes back and decides to try and grab me then drop me from a great height.”

He surveyed the partially collapsed building as he floated down in front of Zodiac and Mercury. “I’d have almost been surprised if these ruins were still being used by the Cult,” John admitted. “Still, we had to make sure. The primary thing we are looking for are any clues as to where we can find past or current members so we can determine if the ones who have been summoning greater demons recently are a continuation of the ones responsible for this or if they are a new group building on an old name.

“Not that the Cult of the Red Dawn had a reputation worth building on but that may be a reflection of my own prejudices rather than what an impressionable teenager might think sounds cool. Have the two of you had a chance to look inside?” Dee asked as he conjured a rain barrier above Zodiac.

Crowe shrugs. "Didn't realize he could either. Would be glad to help you get your wings a bit more if ya like Dee." Crowe offers.

He floats up over the fence and lands nearby Mercury and Zodiac. Nodding along with Dee as he explains what he hoped to find. "Could be interesting though. Honestly anything in here could be useful. What about secret basements?" He asked a little jokingly.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-11, 04:26 PM

"Now the only main concern is if the concert is the way to go, or pick something else. I'm gonna ask the council about it." He smirks realizing that John may have been the best person to ask among the guys. Well, him and Drake.

A date in two phases, John considered. Phase one at a restaurant, offering Keith the dignity of a chance in an unequivocal date-like setting. Phase two, they meet a common friend, who is a close friend of Keith’s, providing the option of continuing the date, shifting the event into the friend-zone, or pleading some discomfort (e.g., the meal disagreeing with her) or a phone call (e.g., from Miss Balinski) that requires her immediate departure without the awkwardness of leaving Keith standing on the street with a foolish look on his face wondering what happened.

Been there. Done that. Watched it happen to others. Not sending Keith the postcard.

“I think you would be well served to go with the concert if she suggested it,” John offered, turning away from Keith as he pulled Clea into the parking lot. “If it is something she would like to see, you don’t want to set up the date with the possibility of disappointing her by not giving her the chance to go to the concert — especially a concert you had been thinking about attending already. After all, the goal is to try to make sure she has a good time, right?”

Roguewolf

2022-08-11, 05:55 PM

“I think you would be well served to go with the concert if she suggested it,” John offered, turning away from Keith as he pulled Clea into the parking lot. “If it is something she would like to see, you don’t want to set up the date with the possibility of disappointing her by not giving her the chance to go to the concert — especially a concert you had been thinking about attending already. After all, the goal is to try to make sure she has a good time, right?”

Keith nods after thinking about the last bit John had said. Why else would she suggest it? It could also be a nice connecting point too and may just be what's needed.

"I can't argue any of those points at all. It's possible she's excited about it too, and....." He thought back to how she had mentioned the concert back on Saturday. "I guess I'm just a bit slow on the uptake. She mentioned it a little bit Saturday afternoon."

He smiled and chuckled. "Thank you, John. You've really helped me put this all into perspective and get a better idea of things."

InTheMachine

2022-08-11, 07:55 PM

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Louis' smirk vanishes just as quickly as it appears. "Wait, you're actually gonna torture the guy?" He runs a hand through his hair as he wrestles with the idea. "And what if neither of them knows where they're keeping Izzy?"

He waits for Ryker's response before he continues. "If you can keep their injuries within reason then I think we'll be okay. Nothing more than what they would've got walking away from a fight with you, got it? I figure that should give you enough rope to work with." And enough plausible deniability for me.

“Yeah,” Ryker says flatly. “He won’t talk if I don’t. We’ll deal with it if he doesn’t know where Izzy is.”

He nods. “I can work with that.”

"So how many times have you done this exactly?" Louis asks, his curiosity momentarily getting the better of him. Though he's quick to correct his thinking. "Actually... don't answer that." He says as they finish taping up the bald Rook.

“You wouldn’t like the answer anyway,” Ryker says as he starts to drag that Rook to the opposite side of the room. He situates the chair so it’s facing down the hallway on the East side of the house, away from Jackie.

He nods and releases the illusion on Ryker as he makes his way to the back room. And now we wait. He took out his phone to check the time and any messages he may have missed while he tries to piece together an explanation as to what he and Ryker were up to for the better part of the day.

Louis’ phone shows 10:22am. No new texts or calls.

When Ryker and Louis enter the bedroom, Jackie is just starting to wake up. He strains against his bonds as Ryker stalks closer and he realizes who exactly he’s been abducted by.

“Hey Jackie,” Ryker calls with mock friendliness. “How ya feelin’?” He walks up to the restrained Rook and leans forward, looking Jackie in the eye. “You understand what’s goin’ on here, right?”

At Jackie’s slight nod, Ryker says, “Good. So, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice.”

Ryker rips away the tape that covers Jackie’s mouth and the Rook lets out a grunt of pain before looking back up. “**** you, McKay. I ain’t tellin’ you ****,” he spits.

“That wasn’t the right answer, Jackie,” Ryker says as he grabs the Rook’s pointer finger. He braces his thumb on the joint and with a sickening pop, breaks it.

Jackie screams as tears well up in his eyes. He looks down at his hand and sees his finger pointing the opposite direction it’s supposed to and swallows before shaking his head.

Ryker looks at him for a moment before putting his hand on the Rook’s shoulder and leaning the chair back so that it balances on two legs. “Look… Jackie, this is me bein’ nice. You recognize me. You know what I used to do to people when I worked for Jesse.”

“You can’t do that **** now though,” the Rooks replies weakly. “You’re on a hero team—“

“So what?” Ryker growls, cutting him off. “They’re not here to stop me. Ain’t no cameras. Nobody knows you’re here. I can do whatever the **** I want to you.”

“Y-you won’t kill me,” the Rook says in a shaky voice.

Ryker smiles widely. Smoke starts to curl up from under his hand as acid eats through the Rook’s shirt. “You’re right. I won’t kill you. I’ll just make it so you wish I did. I’m gonna melt your eyes, your nose. I’ll leave your ears alone though, so you can hear the little kids that’ll scream and cry every time they see your face. Even your own mama will wish you’d died because you’ll be so ****ing disgusting to look at.”

He pushes lightly, and the chair tips over and slams into the bare concrete floor. Jackie whimpers as Ryker stands over him. The former villain puts his hand off to the side of the Rook’s face and the concrete sizzles as a colorless liquid drips off of his index finger, right next to Jackie’s ear.

The Rook flinches away as Ryker leans closer. “You got five seconds before I move my hand and that **** that’s eatin’ the concrete goes on your face.”

“Okay okay!” Jackie screams. “I’ll tell you, McKay! I’ll tell you!”

Ryker glares at the Rook a moment longer before grabbing his shirt and pulling him and the chair back upright. “So start talkin’, Jackie.”

Jackie catches his breath and blinks a few times before he manages to look up at Ryker. “Do you know Seth Remington?”

“I’ve heard of him,” Ryker replies, crossing his arms. “He was one’a Vic’s boys. Meta.”

“He took over the Belcaro set when Vic got killed by ISPD a few weeks ago and he wanted to prove himself to the boss. A couple’a his boys saw you last week on Highland Avenue, and another guy saw the dude you rode in with talk to the old guy that owns the coffee place before you two rode off. So, as motivation, Seth had Leo capture one’a the girls that worked there when she was on her way home Sunday night. We thought that maybe the old guy might call the other dude, but I didn’t expect you of all people to come by within two days.” Jackie swallows again. “You know the guy?”

Ryker grabs Jackie’s pinky finger on his left hand and snaps it. “You’re gettin’ off topic,” he says as Jackie cries out again. “So this is all Seth’s doin’? Jesse doesn’t know about it?”

The Rook nods as he breathes through the pain. “H-he wanted to surprise the boss by capturing you; that’s what he said at least. Wanted to prove himself.”

“Where are you keepin’ the girl?” Ryker asks, grabbing another finger.

Jackie winces, looking down at his hand before looking back at Ryker. “Honest man, I don’t know! My best guess is at the safehouse on Summit. That’s where Leo usually stays.”

Ryker breaks his ring finger anyway.

“What the ****, man!” Jackie exclaims as he strains against the tape again. “I wasn’t lyin’! I don’t know where she is!” His head drops to his chest as his nose starts to run and tears roll down his cheeks. “I don’t know where she is, man…” he mutters.

“You got anything you wanna ask him?” Ryker asks Louis with a disgusted shake of his head. “Keep it together, Jackie. They’re just fingers.”

Haunted House
Mercury’s eyes narrow slightly at John as he casts his spell and he sighs gently.

“Thanks Dee,” Zodiac says with a wag of her tail. She sniffs the ground, and starts moving toward the rubble.

“We just did a quick walk around the perimeter,” Mercury replies as he moves to follow Zodiac. “She didn’t smell anything recent.”

The two of the carefully pick their way through the destroyed building until Zodiac stops in front of a destroyed section of wall that’s covered with a large broken bit of roof. “I can smell something from under here,” she says, pawing at the piece of metal roof.

Mercury squats to get his hands underneath it, and lifts, exposing a steel trapdoor in the concrete floor that’s covered in warding runes.

Roguewolf

2022-08-11, 08:38 PM

Haunted House
Mercury’s eyes narrow slightly at John as he casts his spell and he sighs gently.

“Thanks Dee,” Zodiac says with a wag of her tail. She sniffs the ground, and starts moving toward the rubble.

“We just did a quick walk around the perimeter,” Mercury replies as he moves to follow Zodiac. “She didn’t smell anything recent.”

The two of the carefully pick their way through the destroyed building until Zodiac stops in front of a destroyed section of wall that’s covered with a large broken bit of roof. “I can smell something from under here,” she says, pawing at the piece of metal roof.

Mercury squats to get his hands underneath it, and lifts, exposing a steel trapdoor in the concrete floor that’s covered in warding runes.

Crowe looks over and sees the water umbrella Dee creates and then catches a glance (https://orokos.com/roll/950364)at Mercury's reaction to it. He just smiled under his hood, and turns to follow Zodiac back into the building.

He shrugs on hearing the update. "Too much to hope there might be somethin' recent." At Zodiac's mention of something under the bit of roof, Crowe watches as Mercury lifts it. "Mercury, remind me not to spar you full power," a nervous laugh leaves him as he says the last bit.

He looks at the runes a bit curiously though. "Dee, you recognize them or how to get rid of them?"

Occult Knowledge (https://orokos.com/roll/950370): 1d6o6 1 1d6o6 2

THOSE BE RUNES!

mmdeforrest

2022-08-11, 09:47 PM

Crowe looks over and sees the water umbrella Dee creates and then catches a glance (https://orokos.com/roll/950364)at Mercury's reaction to it. He just smiled under his hood, and turns to follow Zodiac back into the building.

Dee extended and split the rain barrier so that one hovered over each of them. “Ladies first, of course,” he offered to Mercury apologetically.

Crowe looks at the runes a bit curiously though. "Dee, you recognize them or how to get rid of them?"

“You had to ask for a secret basement, Crowe” Dee says with a shake of his head and a half smile before kneeling down to look at the runes more closely.

(Note: The Link will show Notice because I forgot to change the name of the roll)
Occult (https://orokos.com/roll/950367): 1d12o12+2 8 1d6o6+2 4

If the roof laying over them were not enough of a hint, the runes appeared less than recent. More troubling, they were also properly set, with all the correct conjugations and declinations. Whoever had set them in place was better at what they were doing than the Cultists who had been in the Iron Station sewers of late.

He focused and passed his hands over the runes, erasing them from existence.

“They had been there for a while,” Dee observed as he stood and considered the trap door. “I would rather not have to beg off my dinner plans because I strained my back trying to lift something beyond my strength.” He glanced at Mercury. “Do you think it would be safer to open it or for you to flow the metal out of the way, exposing any mundane traps beneath it as you go?”

Notice/Danger Sense, if needed (https://orokos.com/roll/950373): 1d10o10+4 8 1d6o6+4 6

InTheMachine

2022-08-12, 11:27 AM

Roguewolf

2022-08-12, 12:22 PM

Haunted House
Mercury heaves and shifts the piece of roof so that it leaves the trapdoor exposed. He kneels in front of it, placing his hand on the metal. “No traps,” he reports. “Just stairs.”

There’s a quiet grinding noise as the lock disengages with Mercury’s mental persuasion. He grabs the recessed handle as Zodiac shifts to her tiger form. “Ready?” he asks before pulling the trapdoor open.

A set of wooden stairs descends into the dark below. The stairs are warped and broken in places and Mercury looks doubtfully at them. “Do you guys want me to go first? I can try and put a sheet of metal on top, a few steps at a time.”

Keith looks down into the dark below and shrugs. "I can go first since I pretty much see normally, can call out anything if need be." He looks back down at the stairs. "Then again, the metal sheets might not be a bad idea.... If we knew just how far down it was, I'd about suggest a makeshift slide." He shrugs. "Would be a bit safer for ya than the rickety steps."

He turns back to the group. This might be the dumbest idea he ever had, but it was the best he had at the time. "This may be the worst idea I have had in a while, but I'm gonna see how far down they go right fast. At least get a gauge of how far they go." He starts floating only slightly off the floor and makes his way down turning back to Mercury momentarily. A tendril of darkness that's almost rope-like extends from the palm of his hand to Mercury.

"I pull twice it's all good, it goes slack, I'm racing back up here." He says with a smirk before turning back and going down the stairs. Keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of traps or really anything as he descends.

Notice (https://orokos.com/roll/950476): 1d6o6+2 13 1d6o6+2 12

mmdeforrest

2022-08-12, 01:34 PM

"I pull twice it's all good, it goes slack, I'm racing back up here." He says with a smirk before turning back and going down the stairs. Keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of traps or really anything as he descends.

Dee reached out and put a hand on Crowe’s shoulder just before he reached the stairs. “A brave offer, but I think you may find danger sooner than that and fast enough that you would not have time to react. Let’s take a closer look from up here first.”

Dee walked around to where he could look down into the darkness, drawing his binoculars out of his cape. Switching on the Dark Vision mode, he carefully crouched down, peering down the stairs and into the darkness below.

Notice Roll for Looking Down the Steps (https://orokos.com/roll/950485): 1d10o10+4 7 1d6o6+4 8

InTheMachine

2022-08-12, 03:29 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-12, 04:46 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-12, 05:05 PM

Haunted House
Both Dee and Crowe notice an additional ward on the ceiling as it slopes downward. It’s small, barely the size of a golf ball, in black paint that blends into the darkness.

At the bottom of the stairs it opens up into what looks like a larger room.

“Defense in depth with a covert approach,” Dee observed as he exerted his will and removed the second ward. “Either there is a second point of entry we will find downstairs or whoever set those wards wasn’t worried about descending these stairs after they had been collapsed. Either way, we are dealing with someone who likes to be prepared and doesn’t care if others are harmed. We must be cautious.”

Dee offered the binoculars to Mercury. “Did you want to use these to help you see while you reinforced the stairs? Unless I missed something, we should be clear down the stairs.”

Crowe nods in agreement and clicks his teeth. "Would have about missed that too, or been too close before noticing. Thanks Dee." He looked back down the stairs again thinking back to the most basic of basics he had been taught. Always look before you go in. He watched as Mercury was offered the binoculars.

"I'm never saying secret basement again." He thinks for a moment. A larger room may have some sort of light source, but they couldn't be entirely sure. "More than likely a second hidden entrance. Or the collapse of the building was planned. Wouldn't be surprised after seeing that ward and it being perfectly blended into the dark."

InTheMachine

2022-08-12, 07:23 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-12, 07:55 PM

Haunted House
Mercury shakes his head at Dee. “I can use the nails in the stairs as guidelines,” he says as Zodiac shifts back to her wolf form. “You keep them, so you can be in the lookout for more spells.”

“I can provide a little bit of light as well.” Soft blue fire ignites in rings just above each of Zodiac’s paws.

“Crowe, take point. Keep your eyes peeled for anything else. Dee, you and Zodiac next, and I’ll bring up the rear.” Bright silver metal flows from Mercury’s shoes over the first five stairs, covering them completely. Zodiac waits for Crowe and Dee, then follows them down.

The closer the team gets to the room at the bottom of the stairs, the more a sense of dread fills them. The air gets colder with each descending step.

Once at the bottom, the stairs open up into a large square room made of grayish stone. On the back wall is a humanoid figure that looks to be carved out of the wall (https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/a/a6/Rogue_Eidolon.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20200718172112). It’s face has no features other than some carved runes and two tall horns stick out of the top of its head. Longs arms are head low in front of its body and in it’s cupped black hands sits a yellowed, intricately carved skull (https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/images/6617368/C4E8A2F6-462C-4D58-99DD-2A95E9A26F30.jpeg) with glittering green-black stones for eyes.

The runes on the statue’s face are shorthand for a demon’s name— Turai Vaneya-ket

There is a blasphemous ritual that can attempt to bind a spirit to their bones after the person has departed. This skull looks ancient, and was probably something that the Cult of the Red Dawn worshiped before they were destroyed.

The skull and statue ping John’s senses as something very dangerous. The eyes of the skull seem familiar though, like he’s felt their pull on his soul before.

Crowe nods and starts to float down the stairs, commenting about the fire. "Didn't know you could do that Zodiac. Pretty cool really!" He continues to float down the stairway, keeping his eyes peeled as he descends into the large room they had seen a moment before.

Notice (https://orokos.com/roll/950595): 1d6o6+2 5 1d6o6+2 7

When they are all down, he shivers as they get about partway down. "Dee, you pickin' up on anything?" Crowe didn't have the sense for danger that Dee did, but he could tell something was off. It wasn't hard to with the way the air just kept getting colder. Upon reaching the room, Crowe still doesn't stop levitating just in case. He takes a quick look around before everyone else comes back down.

Notice (https://orokos.com/roll/950599): 1d6o6+2 3 1d6o6+2 6

When he looks at the statue and skull, Crowe just feels a shiver. "Creepy."

Occult Knowledge (https://orokos.com/roll/950600): 1d6o6 5 1d6o6 4

"Definitely ain't anythin' from the Empire that's for sure....." He mutters mostly to himself. As he turns to Dee he holds up his hands. "I promise I ain't touchin' anything. Any ideas?"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-12, 08:38 PM

Dee descended the stairs with a growing sense of dread, causing him to summon the Enochian Tablets in order to be ready for whatever they found. There was something all too familiar that he could not put his finger on. When he had descended the stairway that led to Sir Bedford Stukes-de Ville‘s long-hidden lab but the feeling he was getting from this space was noticeably different than the background menace that the trance-like state he had fallen into had dulled.

This was more immediate and, as Zodiac’s light forced the shadows from the far wall, were centered on the statue and the skull it held.

He released the Tablets.

"Definitely ain't anythin' from the Empire that's for sure....." He mutters mostly to himself. As he turns to Dee he holds up his hands. "I promise I ain't touchin' anything. Any ideas?"

Occult Roll in the ‘abandoned’ Cult room (https://orokos.com/roll/950597): 1d12o12+2 11 1d6o6+2 12

Notice/Danger Sense Roll in the ‘abandoned’ Cult room (https://orokos.com/roll/950598): 1d10o10+4 7 1d6o6+4 14

One Bennie spent to reroll Occult (Frickin’ 7….)

“More than I would care to, Crowe,” John admitted thoughtfully. “I am not sure if I should consider this my day or not. Please, everyone: Don’t touch anything.”

John’s eyes swept the room, looking for anomalies. “With your permission, Mercury: Zodiac, could you check the area around the doorway for scent markings or disturbances in the dust pattern to determine if it has been used recently?”

John reached up and tapped his comm, switching to Angelical. “Direct to Seraph and Harbinger — High Priority: This is Dee. Crowe, Zodiac, Mercury and I have discovered a hidden basement room, inside of which is a statue in the honor of the demon Turai. The statue is holding a ritual skull — likely containing a spirit and definitely containing a Stone of Vashuuna. I intend to study the statue and try to obtain the Stone and skull. I will wait for five minutes to give you an opportunity to direct me otherwise.

“If someone is available to provide overwatch to alert us to incoming demons, I would appreciate the backup.

He took a breath. “I will also attempt to contact Dr. Riviera — telepathically or over comms — in three minutes unless you countermand.

“Dee out.”

“The Cult seems to have dedicated itself to House Vaneya,” John explained, switching back to English and setting two timers on his watch, “given that the demon Princess the team defeated before our arrival was of the same House commemorated by this statue. The skull has been ritually prepared to house a spirit after death and, although you probably have already guessed it, appears to have been venerated by the Cult of the Red Dawn.

“One of the gemstones is of the same kind found in the necklace we retrieved recently. Out of an abundance of caution, please do not say its name. Speaking in Angelical here was already more of a risk than I would have preferred to take, as it risks perking up the metaphysical ears of any spirits that linger here.”

The visions he would receive from this Stone, logically speaking, would be different from those received by Harbinger. It would probably be for the best to consult with that more senior hero before touching the Stone. His own visions were far less developed than his and engaging with one of these Stones would be several orders of magnitude more significant than noting the infidelity of the AEGIS Agent who sat in the same booth he did.

It might also blow open the case they were working on.

It would almost certainly derail his dinner plans.

John studied the floor and the skull, searching for linguistic or ritual clues as to the name of its possible occupant. The patterns called to mind Tibet — although the skeletons could have been Mesoamerican as well.

Notice roll for Names or Ritual Markings (https://orokos.com/roll/950616): 1d10o10+4 7 1d6o6+4 5
Occult roll for Names or Ritual Markings or other Skull-y Infromation (https://orokos.com/roll/950617): 1d12o12+2 8 1d6o6+2 6

There were safer ways to approach this — ones that took time, but he was curious as to whose skull was here and, with the wards gone, felt like the clock was ticking before the Stone started calling out more broadly.

“I don’t suppose you would like to save us all some time and tell us who you are and the appropriate form of address we should use when greeting you,” Dee said to the skull and taking a cautious step closer. “The investigation is interesting but I imagine you haven’t had many beings to speak with over the last decade or two.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-13, 10:07 AM

PK-Leon

2022-08-13, 10:24 AM

Louis leans against the frame of the door as the interrogation begins, looking on with interest after the Rook spits out a few words in protest.

He can't help but wince at the first sickening pop of Jackie's finger being snapped out of place. Louis readjusts his position in the doorway so that he's facing the wall instead of watching what unfolds inside of the room. Substituting the periodic snap that filled room with the sound of blown fuse helped him to stomach the scene.

“You got anything you wanna ask him?” Ryker asks Louis with a disgusted shake of his head. “Keep it together, Jackie. They’re just fingers.”

Louis looks backs over to Ryker and walks towards him nonchalantly with both hands in his pockets.

"I've got a few questions actually but I don't think your friend here has enough fingers left to break."

He looses a tired sigh.

"Tell you what? You answer my questions and I'll try to keep this short. That work for you?"

He waits for a cooperative response.

"Alright for starters what's Jesse been up to these days? Gotta imagine keeping up with the Crowns has him busy as of late."

Roguewolf

2022-08-13, 10:47 AM

Haunted House
John only gets static back from his comm. The team is most likely too far underground for them to work.

Mercury shakes his head at the statue and skull as he walks over to the right side of the room and studies the door that Dee had indicated. "Doesn't look disturbed."

Zodiac observes the figure and her hackles raise. The fire around her paws flares up a little brighter. "Dee, everything you just said is... terrible news. But why would they dedicate themselves to such a low-ranked House? Vaneya is the lowest plane, is it not?" She joins Mercury next to the door. "I don't smell anything recent here."

As John scrutinizes the skull, he sees one rune that stands out to him. It says Rizaska, 'master summoner'. The carvings themselves do look like they could be Tibetian, but something seems a little off about them.

The gemstones set into the skull flash and seem to shift as John speaks to it. The bottom mandible shifts and a thin female voice, barely a whisper, answers Dee. "You ask me for my name and title, yet you have come into my shrine and spoken in the language the Erelim use, even though you yourself are no Erelim. You and then others here are trespassing, and for that, you will die."

The runes on the statue's face begin to leak a reddish-black fluid and the skull sinks down into its hands, into the black stone. The statue pulls itself away from the wall with some effort, cracking the stone as it stands to its full 12-foot height, fixing its blank face on Dee.

Combat Begins!
Dee begins its Combat on Hold
10s... Crowe has Initiative

Crowe looks over the stone door again and then back to the statue as Dee speaks. Then nods in agreement with Zodiac. It was a bit odd they would ally with the lowest level, but there had to be some reason for it.

At the voice coming from the skull, his head tilts a good bit. "That's..... oh ****......." He summons some of the darkness around his hand to shoot a blast at the statue.

Keith attacks the statue! Heavy Weapon!
Shooting (https://orokos.com/roll/950646): 1d10o10 5 1d6o6 19
HE REALLY WANTS IT DEAD!
Damage (https://orokos.com/roll/950647): 5d6o6 20
OOC: That's, fairly underwhelming.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-13, 11:30 AM

Haunted House
John only gets static back from his comm. The team is most likely too far underground for them to work.

Mercury shakes his head at the statue and skull as he walks over to the right side of the room and studies the door that Dee had indicated. "Doesn't look disturbed."

Zodiac observes the figure and her hackles raise. The fire around her paws flares up a little brighter. "Dee, everything you just said is... terrible news. But why would they dedicate themselves to such a low-ranked House? Vaneya is the lowest plane, is it not?" She joins Mercury next to the door. "I don't smell anything recent here."

“It is,” John replied. “If they are dedicated to that single house, it may tell us something about our as of yet unnamed opponent. Limiting our list of possible candidates to a single House would make our research much more manageable.”

As John scrutinizes the skull, he sees one rune that stands out to him. It says Rizaska, 'master summoner'. The carvings themselves do look like they could be Tibetian, but something seems a little off about them.

The gemstones set into the skull flash and seem to shift as John speaks to it. The bottom mandible shifts and a thin female voice, barely a whisper, answers Dee. "You ask me for my name and title, yet you have come into my shrine and spoken in the language the Erelim use, even though you yourself are no Erelim. You and then others here are trespassing, and for that, you will die."

The runes on the statue's face begin to leak a reddish-black fluid and the skull sinks down into its hands, into the black stone. The statue pulls itself away from the wall with some effort, cracking the stone as it stands to its full 12-foot height, fixing its blank face on Dee.

Combat Begins!
Dee begins this Combat on Hold
10s... Crowe has Initiative

Great, John thought. Plan B, then. The absence of interference or effect on Zodiac’s telepathy made him consider his next move safe.

Emi, darling, John projected. Can you let Seraph, Harbinger, and Dr. Riviera we have come across another Stone at our destination? We’re too far underground for the comms signal to get out. He signed mentally. I have to keep this quick. There’s a master summoner inhabiting a skull I have to attend to now. I lll…ook forward to having dinner with you.

Be careful with your thoughts, John. Your amulet may moderate your fear reaction but it can’t prevent carelessness.

Focus, John.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-13, 06:23 PM

What surprised Dee most was not the nonchalance with which he had sent a telepathic message to his stunningly beautiful and powerful psychic girlfriend about facing a master summoner who possessed one of the nine unaccounted for Stones of Vanuusha, Dee thought to himself as he mentally ran through which of his spells would be the best option. What surprised him was the absence of manners with which the summoner had addressed him. You would think that a master summoner — whether a true master or merely self-styled — would have developed a greater sense of civility, given the entities she would be contacting. In retrospect, his own introduction was a little cheeky but his own station was at least close enough to that of a master summoner to permit a certain collegiality. Nevertheless, he had to concede that he had contributed to things getting off on the wrong foot.

Of course era and culture could have an impact on her reaction. After all, it was more appropriate for him to wait for the lady to initiate the introduction. But the whole “my shrine” thing suggested it was an air of self importance that was driving the conversation.

Not to mention the whole her being a probable leader of a demonic cult thing.

The Enochian Tablets appeared beneath his hands as he scribed out his spell, pushing his concerns about how easily he was accepting all of this as normal. Calling upon the Circle of Amun-Set was an option, of course, but when he drew it from his case he had expected it to eventually be used against a demon and he suspected he should retain that option — especially of there was a raeksha or worse on the way.

A more direct approach felt like it was more called for here anyway. It would let him gauge their relative standings as magicians and let her know what kind of a figure she was facing.

His spell would force the statue into a form of his choice rather than of her’s, opening it up into a pedestal with pincers that held the skull in place with a hair’s more pressure than was strictly necessary — making it clear that she should stop.

Matter Control: Earth/Stone (10), Requires Material (-2) = 8
Paralysis (3), Contingent (-2) = 1 (Test of Wills v. Spellcasting roll of 9?)
Spellcasting — Matter Control (https://orokos.com/roll/950648): 1d12o12+2 9 1d6o6+2 7

InTheMachine

2022-08-13, 07:21 PM

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Jackie glances up at Louis before he hangs his head again. "Y-yeah. I'll tell you what I know. But I'm just a runner for Seth. I've only seen the boss in person once, from a distance, when he came by to talk to Seth after Vic got popped and he took over the set."

He turns and wipes his nose on his shoulder. "Since Coldfront's been knocking over our hideouts, the boss has been layin’ low. The Crowns have been pushing into our territory— the ****in’ Dragonovs killed Todd Osrick, the guy that ran the St. Rhais set yesterday.”

That catches Ryker’s attention, but he stays quiet as Jackie continues.

“They’ve been scrambling to figure who’s gonna take over. My money’s on Ollie—“

Ryker starts to grab another one of Jackie’s fingers, and the Rook flinches and shakes his head. “Okay okay okay! To answer your question though, I don’t really know what the boss is up to. He’s been real quiet the last year or so. The sets have kept pretty separate. I think the leaders meet every month or so, but like I said, I’m just a runner.”

“What did your buddy do?” Ryker asks.

The Rook swallows. “You mean RJ? The bald guy I was with earlier? He’s muscle. Tryin’ to work his way up to enforcer for Seth.”

Haunted House
Crowe’s blast of darkness knocks a chunk of stone out of the statue’s shoulder, but it reforms back into it’s original shape.

While it’s distracted putting itself back together, Mercury crosses the distance and punches it in the knee with one silver fist. The statue wavers a moment before it backhands the metal hero, sending him sliding over close to Dee.

Dee’s spell makes the statue pause in its movements for only a moment before the blank face swings to face him, and it crosses the distance between them much more quickly than something that size should be able to. The smell of rotten blood and sulfur envelops Dee as it attempts to slash him with it’s long fingers that have sharpened to blade-like edges.

As the first finger is about to slice into his shoulder Dee feels a hand grab part of his cloak and yank him out of the way of the statue’s attack.

The blank face jerkily turns to glare at Mercury, the one who’d pulled Dee out of danger, and it rakes its claws across his chest. They cut right through his armor and deep into the flesh underneath. He falls to one knee as red and silver blood spills onto the ground.

Zodiac snarls in response and leaps at the statue, but she’s unable to harm the stone with her fangs and claws.

Initiative:
The statue soaks the damage from Crowe’s attack and beats John in the test of wills with an 11
9s… Mercury goes and the statue soaks again before counter attacking, but it fails to surpass Mercury’s armor.
7s.. the statue goes! It misses Dee, and then attacks Mercury. He gains 3 wounds! (Oof)
5s… Zodiac goes, but doesn’t hurt the statue.
Initiative resets!
Kings… Dee has Initiative!

mmdeforrest

2022-08-13, 08:11 PM

Haunted House
While it’s distracted putting itself back together, Mercury crosses the distance and punches it in the knee with one silver fist. The statue wavers a moment before it backhands the metal hero, sending him sliding over close to Dee.

Dee’s spell makes the statue pause in its movements for only a moment before the blank face swings to face him, and it crosses the distance between them much more quickly than something that size should be able to. The smell of rotten blood and sulfur envelops Dee as it attempts to slash him with it’s long fingers that have sharpened to blade-like edges.

As the first finger is about to slice into his shoulder Dee feels a hand grab part of his cloak and yank him out of the way of the statue’s attack.

The blank face jerkily turns to glare at Mercury, the one who’d pulled Dee out of danger, and it rakes its claws across his chest. They cut right through his armor and deep into the flesh underneath. He falls to one knee as red and silver blood spills onto the ground.

Zodiac snarls in response and leaps at the statue, but she’s unable to harm the stone with her fangs and claws.

Initiative:
Kings… Dee has Initiative!

“Get out of there, Mercury,” Dee barked, shifting his tactics to buy his teammate time to put some distance between him and the statue, striking simultaneously at the form and the mind behind it as magical tendrils leap up from the ground around it.

Spellcasting — Ensnare/Stun/Jinx (https://orokos.com/roll/950677): 1d12o12+2 12 1d6o6+2 7

Ensnare (3), Very Strong (2); Stun (2); Jinx (2); Ranged Touch Attack (2) All Contingent on Ensnare (-2)=9

The statue is bound by Ensnare and can do nothing but attempt to break free, using Strength or Agility at -4.
The Master Summoner must make a Smarts roll or be Incapacitated.
If the Master Summoner attacks me, any one on any skill die results in a mishap.

InTheMachine

2022-08-13, 10:02 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-13, 11:14 PM

Haunted House
The statue strains against its bonds before they tear and break. It focuses on Dee before more reddish-black fluid spews out from the runes in its face, all over the magician. The smell is horrendous and any exposed skin starts to burn.

Zodiac growls as the fire around her paws flares, leaving scorch marks on the stone.

Initiative:
Jacks… the statue goes! It breaks free of entanglement (and stun) and attacks Dee! He takes 15 damage, and needs to make a Spirit Roll, TN 10, to resist having all of his Attributes reduced by 1 step
10s… Zodiac goes! She wounds the statue, but it soaks!
8s… Crowe has Initiative!

Crowe keeps his eyes focused on the statue and considers a possibility. It was a hunch, but he had to try for it. "Something tells me the runes are a weakpoint! I can't explain why but my gut says it!"

Assess the Situation (https://orokos.com/roll/950679): 2d6+2 7
How can we best end this quickly? Answered in Discord

Crowe takes aim at the runes on the face and fires.

Crowe fires a blast at the Statues face! Called Shot and Heavy Weapon!
Shooting (https://orokos.com/roll/950696): 1d10o10-4 0 1d6o6-4 -1
OOC: Benny to Reroll!
Shooting (https://orokos.com/roll/950697): 1d10o10-4 3 1d6o6-4 4
OOC: PLEASE!

Damage (https://orokos.com/roll/950702): 4d6o6 23

InTheMachine

2022-08-14, 01:41 PM

Haunted House
Crowe’s blast of darkness impacts the runes and breaks through, leaving a hole where the statue’s face was. It starts to crumble as it falls down to its knees. One arm extends outward, palm down, and presses into the ground before the stone completely disintegrates. No skull appears in the crumbled bits of statue.

Zodiac rushes over to Mercury’s side as struggles to get back to his feet. “Drake, don’t move. You’re losing too much blood.”

“I’m fine, Zodiac. Where’s the skull?” Mercury asks as he stands.

She looks up at him and then back over at the remains of the statue. “It didn’t come out.” One ear flicks and she looks intently at the floor before she trots over to the stone door, staring at the ground. “I… can hear it. It’s burrowing through the stone and it’s headed wherever that door leads.”

Combat Ends!

mmdeforrest

2022-08-14, 06:19 PM

Haunted House
Zodiac looks up at him and then back over at the remains of the statue. “It didn’t come out.” One ear flicks and she looks intently at the floor before she trots over to the stone door, staring at the ground. “I… can hear it. It’s burrowing through the stone and it’s headed wherever that door leads.”

Combat Ends!

“Mercury, try and cage her with the rebar in the floor — or at least slow her down. She can’t fight us both easily. I’ll work the concrete and entrap her in a magical sphere once we draw her up out of the floor!”

Magical sphere? Come on, John.

At least it’s direct.

Dee focused, ignoring the burning sensation on his jaw and scribed another spell, reach through the stone to find his quarry. He opened a fissure around the path of the skull and drew the skull up from the ground within a magical bubble that hovered three feet above the floor before turning to heal Mercury.

Spellcasting Reroll (https://orokos.com/roll/950751): 1d12o12 13 1d6o6 2
Force Control (2), Matter Control (2) Contingent (-2) = 2
One Bennie spent to reroll.

InTheMachine

2022-08-14, 10:12 PM

Haunted House
Mercury grits his teeth and bolsters Dee’s efforts, using the rebar in the floor to cut off the skull’s escape so that the magician’s spell can capture it.

The skull twists around inside it’s prison, locking its gemstone eyes on Mercury before he coughs and doubles over, vomiting blood onto the floor. The open wounds on his chest grow wider and deeper as he collapses onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily through clenched teeth.

“Release me,” the skull demands in its whisper voice. “Or I will kill him.”

Zodiac wines as Mercury starts to try and say something. His eyes get wide with pain as a new rend opens in his armor, across his throat, and a thin horizontal line of blood appears.

“Damage me, and my spell with be completed,” the skull continues. “Release me.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-15, 07:02 PM

Haunted HouseZodiac wines as Mercury starts to try and say something. His eyes get wide with pain as a new rend opens in his armor, across his throat, and a thin horizontal line of blood appears.

“Damage me, and my spell with be completed,” the skull continues. “Release me.”

Dee’s face darkened as he drew and cast a flattened ring from his jacket pocket at the skull in a single, fluid motion. As the ring cleared his hand, it stretched and accelerated towards the skull, unfolding into multiple interlocking, rotating circles and twisting Space-Time as it sought out its maker’s target — its higher dimensions taking hold almost instantly while lower dimensions shifted through time to catch up.

A wrenching hum pitched in the eyes of those in the room as ten circles began to twist in and out of existence around the skull as they shifted through visible and invisible spectra, replacing the magical sphere Dee had conjured with a synesthestic torus that severed the skull off from its ability to impact the worlds around it.

Unleashing His Power (https://orokos.com/roll/950838): 2d6+2 11

John sighed, feeling the weight of his Work as it took hold in the Mundane world, shuddering at the thought of what Seraph was having to bear with all of the wards that he had laid to protect himself and others.

Dee shifted his focus back to the here and now as he assessed the results of his Work. The development of the Circle of Amun-Set had been attributed to any number of ancients in a variety of secret texts — Pythagoras, Hermes Trismegistus, Amenhotep, and others. It had posited four-dimensional theory long before Einstein, demonstrating magically what modern physics later proved. Following the publication of the Poincaré Conjecture in 1904, several magicians had begun work on updating the Circle to include a fifth dimension.

John’s mathematical genius had allowed him to push those calculations to include the ten of the eleven dimensions now known to science.

No one — including John — had ever seen it used before now. Indeed, only he knew his improvements existed.

He was glad it had worked.

“I trust you will excuse me for a moment,” he said to the skull somewhat acidly as it rippled within its prison, as if seen through heat distortion. “My friend is quite robust but you appear to have done him a serious injury.

“I had hoped we could at least be civil with one another,” Dee continued as he turned to treat his friend. “I was under no illusion that we would probably come to blows but to jump straight to the battle without the traditional exchange of names and, were appropriate, titles is quite beyond the Pale. I would have expected better from someone who claims the title ‘Master Summoner.’”

He was intentionally quiet as he cast the spell to heal Mercury — more for effect than out of any need. He wanted the skull to have a moment to think about its position.

Healing (5)
Spellcasting Reroll (https://orokos.com/roll/950753): 1d12o12 10 1d6o6 5
John heals one of Mercury’s Wounds — because the player forgot to include the -3 penalty and the result should be 7, which is one frustrating point short of the raise needed to heal two wounds.

John watched as the pooling metallic blood retreated from the floor and stitched itself back into Mercury, closing the wounds but leaving ugly bruises and a scar that, he suspected, would fade away in time. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you, Mercury,” he offered apologetically. “I fear Seraph will have to take it from here.”

“Now,” he said as he turned, scribing the spell again — this time for himself, “perhaps we can try this again.“

Spellcasting — another Healing spell (https://orokos.com/roll/950867): 1d12o12+2 5 1d6o6+2 4

John heals one wound on himself — although you would think I would have remembered to include the -1 penalty this time….

“I am known as Dee,” he said as the burn damage faded from himself and his uniform and he crossed his arms. “A humble practitioner. To whom am I speaking?”

InTheMachine

2022-08-15, 09:34 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-15, 09:45 PM

Haunted House
Zodiac helps Mercury get to his feet, letting him use her shoulder to steady himself. He spits out a globule of blood to the side and wipes his mouth with the back of a gauntlet. “I can’t complain, Dee. Thanks.”

The skull is silent for a moment after it’s addressed. “I am Rizaska Kisharha,” it says simply.

Crowe's face darkens and then goes back somewhat ass Dee traps the skull and heals Mercury. "The hell is that thing?" He turns to Mercury and then back to Dee at the healing job. "Still a hell of a patch-up. Now just pissed that blast didn't get the skull too from that statue."

"No healer but what can I do for ya Mercury?"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-15, 10:19 PM

John
As soon as the skull is trapped within the Circle of Amun-Set, John hears an echo of Emi’s voice that slowly gets stronger.

“John… John? What happened? I heard something in the back of my mind, like a whisper that I thought was you, but then I couldn’t locate you. Until now. Are you alright?”

“Testing comms,” John said as a smile spread across his face. “Do you copy, Mimi?”

Now that I can hear you clearly? How could I not be? John responded to the psychic message. Sorry — I should be more professional. A Master Summoner was blocking me. My comms didn’t work and I wanted to ask if you could contact Seraph, Harbinger, and Dr. Riviera to let them know we had found another Stone. In the course of the battle, I…we have contained it and the skull the Master Summoner — one Kishara — is inhabiting.

We got a little banged up but are okay. I have Mercury to thank for that. We do need to continue our investigation here. I don’t know as it is worth interrupting Dr. Riviera for information about Rizaska Kishara. It is probably worth letting people know about the Stone, though. I’m testing my comms to see if she was blocking them as well.

Haunted House
Zodiac helps Mercury get to his feet, letting him use her shoulder to steady himself. He spits out a globule of blood to the side and wipes his mouth with the back of a gauntlet. “I can’t complain, Dee. Thanks.”

The skull is silent for a moment after it’s addressed. “I am Rizaska Kisharha,” it says simply.

“Rizaska Kisharna inhabits this skull, Crowe,” John said, inclining his head toward the skull in recognition, “prolonging her life — and her service to House Vaneya by directing the Cult of the Red Dawn, unless I miss my mark. I’d tell you more but I can’t say as I am familiar with her name and works. She must work in different traditions, much different regions, or, over the long years, have had her works lost to time.

“Do I have that right, Rizaska?” John asked as he stepped towards the door and examined it for Wards. “Or were you given a different goal by House Vaneya and the Cult was more of a hobby to pass the time?

“Given the sloppiness of their work, I can’t imagine that you were devoting that much time and effort to them. I understand that it is perennially difficult to find good help but really! The mistakes they made were so basic that I can’t help but think you sent them to their deaths intentionally.”

Occult: Searching for Wards on the Stone Door (https://orokos.com/roll/950887): 1d12o12+2 8 1d6o6+2 3

John is attempting to Provoke Rizaska Kisharna — hoping her wounded pride inspires a fit of villainous verbosity, where she tells us about herself and her nefarious plans.

Provoking the Skull (https://orokos.com/roll/950888): 2d6+2 13

PK-Leon

2022-08-16, 12:03 PM

InTheMachine

2022-08-16, 08:39 PM

John
“I’ve contacted Seraph and Harbinger. Seraph’s on his way, and Harbinger will along shortly,” Emi says. “Let me know if you need anything else, John. And please, be careful.”

Haunted House
Dee still only gets static from comms and Mercury shakes his head. “We’re too far underground,” he says before glancing over at Crowe. “I’m fine. Worry about this crazy skull first.”

Drake is not fine. Despite his efforts to act tough and try to keep people from worrying, he wavers slightly on his feet. His jaw is tight and his breath is shallow from the pain.

After Dee speaks, the skull’s jaw unhinges and it lets out a quiet cackle. “Though your magic is powerful, your words reveal you understand little. No, House Vaneya-ket answers to me. I know not what has happened in recent years with the cult that once worshiped me, as I have been enshrined here for many years and no one has disturbed my rest since the failed summoning of Jarek Vaskiina-ros.”

Dee feels a ward on the other side of the door, similar to the one he and Crowe spotted on the stairs.

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Ryker pulls a slightly squished pack of cigarettes out from his pocket and taps the carton on his palm before pulling one out. “I’m curious too, Jackie. Did Jesse replace me?” he asks as he lights it.

The Rook hesitates, looking between Louis and Ryker, until the former villain leans in a little closer and ‘accidentally’ flicks an ember onto his lap.

“The Big 4 ain’t changed in the last fifteen years, until Ozrick got murdered. There’s Lady Orchid and her daughter Violet that own Tupelo. Bramble, Pat Masterson, and his right hand lady Haze, Lauren Shogo, have Redhill. Mire, JT Braxton, runs the Palisades set with Marrow, Mason Price.”

“Ozrick and Two-Tone ran St. Rhais, and I don’t know who’s gonna take over for them. Then there’s the smaller sets like Belcaro and Hayes— they have a lot of turnover. We keep pretty separate, unless the boss has a big job. I just work for Seth and Leo.”

“I ain’t seen the boss, and I haven’t heard of him picking up another enforcer.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-16, 09:25 PM

John
“I’ve contacted Seraph and Harbinger. Seraph’s on his way, and Harbinger will along shortly,” Emi says. “Let me know if you need anything else, John. And please, be careful.”

I will, Emi, John replied gently. I am currently hoping that I am not in the process of adopting another supernatural being today. Seraph’s patience — and his ability to bear this kind of weight — has its limits and I would prefer not to test either. And as much as I would like to try to impress you with some daring-do, I don’t want to cause you any worry. So, I promise to be careful.

Haunted House
Dee still only gets static from comms and Mercury shakes his head. “We’re too far underground,” he says before glancing over at Crowe. “I’m fine. Worry about this crazy skull first.”

Drake is not fine. Despite his efforts to act tough and try to keep people from worrying, he wavers slightly on his feet. His jaw is tight and his breath is shallow from the pain.

Notice Roll (https://orokos.com/roll/950989): 1d10o10+4 18 1d6o6+4 6

“I suspected as much but given Rizaska Kisharna‘s ability to mask telepathic conversations, I thought it worth testing. And while I know you are as strong as an ox and tough as a boar, Mercury, I trust you will allow Seraph to attend to you when he arrives — if only to make the three of us feel better about you.”

After Dee speaks, the skull’s jaw unhinges and it lets out a quiet cackle. “Though your magic is powerful, your words reveal you understand little. No, House Vaneya-ket answers to me. I know not what has happened in recent years with the cult that once worshiped me, as I have been enshrined here for many years and no one has disturbed my rest since the failed summoning of Jarek Vaskiina-ros.”

Dee feels a ward on the other side of the door, similar to the one he and Crowe spotted on the stairs.

Of course,” John responded as borderline patronizingly as he could manage, hoping to continue to antagonize more information out of her, “Master Summoner and all. That said,” he continued without a hint of condescension, “I am honored you think my magic powerful. Given the difficulties we had with you and the strength and subtleties of your wards — including the one on the other side of this door, I consider that high praise.

“The philosophical distinction between whether one serves a Demon House or whether the House serves you is an interesting one,” he continued in a more conversational tone, “especially given your deft avoidance of what happens after death to those who engage in such things. As one who has recently entered a kay’al, my own deliberations have become somewhat more than academic, though.

“But you asked about your Cult. They were believed to have destroyed themselves in the failed summoning you mentioned but have recently made a reappearance. They attempted to summon Zalta’lastura Vaneya-ket — although she was sent back soon after her arrival. They appear to have successfully brought someone else across — perhaps Jarek perhaps another Prince. I’m afraid the name was destroyed when they completed the summoning — although expert assessment hints that they may have destroyed themselves again, based on their poor scribing of the circle. They may have gotten more sloppy after years without your expert direction.

Dee cast another spell as they spoke, summoning a lens that permitted him to look through the walls and into the space beyond. As with Nightgaunt’s room, he studiously avoided the doorway.

Heightened Senses: Infravision (1), Low Light Vision (1), Spatial Sense (2), Contingent (-2)
Spellcasting Roll (https://orokos.com/roll/950991): 1d12o12 11 1d6o6 4

“Do you think they would have attempted Jarek after a decade,” he asked as he examined the room beyond the wall, “or would they have tried to reach someone who was better matched to Zalta?

Roguewolf

2022-08-16, 10:01 PM

Haunted House
Dee still only gets static from comms and Mercury shakes his head. “We’re too far underground,” he says before glancing over at Crowe. “I’m fine. Worry about this crazy skull first.”

Drake is not fine. Despite his efforts to act tough and try to keep people from worrying, he wavers slightly on his feet. His jaw is tight and his breath is shallow from the pain.

After Dee speaks, the skull’s jaw unhinges and it lets out a quiet cackle. “Though your magic is powerful, your words reveal you understand little. No, House Vaneya-ket answers to me. I know not what has happened in recent years with the cult that once worshiped me, as I have been enshrined here for many years and no one has disturbed my rest since the failed summoning of Jarek Vaskiina-ros.”

Dee feels a ward on the other side of the door, similar to the one he and Crowe spotted on the stairs.

Crowe glances back at the skull and then again to Mercury.

Notice (https://orokos.com/roll/950996): 1d6o6+2 7 1d6o6+2 3

He shakes his head. "Have to agree with Dee, still gonna worry but I got my sights set on it." He smirks a bit eyeing the skull as Dee questions it, ready to make a move of he needs to.

"Besides, starting to feel like myself again." He keeps his eyes glued to the skull as Dee examines the door. He was curious about what was behind it, but figured it best to let Dee do his thing.

"Pickin' up anything behind it?" He asked Dee without turning away from the skull. Seems that today just kept getting more and more interesting.

InTheMachine

2022-08-17, 09:25 AM

Haunted House
As Dee looks through his lens, he sees another large chamber on the other side of the door. There’s another ritual circle that’s been carved into the floor and in the center is a pool of blood twenty feet across, twice as big as the circle that they used for Zalta. There’s a small circular dais at the exact center of the circle that has a stone pedestal atop it with similar runes and markings as the skull Dee has trapped.

It looks undisturbed, though the blood is still liquid and fresh.

“They attempted to summon Prince Jarek against my advice and they paid for it with their lives. I could feel his wrath from above, so I protected myself with several wards that have since faded with time,” the skull says. “I tried to tell Isla, the leader of the Red Dawn before this incident, that 1st plane demons were too powerful for her to control, but she did not believe me.”

“Without my help, and without Isla’s experience, there is no possible reality that the remnants of this cult summoned Prince Jarek. If they managed to summon Zalta, then one of them may have found the grimoire that Isla scribed under my tutelage. This is speculation, of course, as I have been dormant for many years.”

Raphael

And We're Back:

"See?" Raphael says quietly with a smirk. "I told you all that was left was to wait." He looks up at the sky and holds his hands up in supplication. "Why, why don't more people just listen to me?" He intones with mock severity.

A muffled buzzing sends one pale hand digging around in his pocket. He frowns when he sees the text is from John, but shelves it to focus on the good news.

"The effect was almost immediate, the conventional wisdom of the staff is she could still take several weeks to completely resuscitate, and then a lot of therapy to be mobile again.

If you're near Seraph, if you'd float the idea of getting her transferred to an AEGIS facility, that'd probably be useful. We can't stand watch over a public hospital waiting for demons and riverfolk to show up.

The pale vampire does a double take at the nurse reappearing and smoothly steps not quite between her and Stella. "Actually, I just got off the phone with him. He indicated he'd stop by to visit sometime in the next few days." He offers in a pleasant tone and a warm smile. Years of lying to almost every soul he encountered made it shamefully easy.

The nurse smiles at the two of them. “That’s great. I bet he was just as ecstatic. You know, I didn’t see him yesterday, or last Monday. Is he okay?”

Stella nods. “Very busy at work,” she manages to say.

“Tell him I said hi, Estelle,” the nurse says before she closes the door again.

The sorceress takes a deep breath before looking up at Raphael. “Thank you, bouille,” she says with a smile at the vampire. “Tu es le meilleur.”

Raphael’s phone chimes again.
Miss von Stein wants me to talk with you. Meet me at 5th Chapter at 5pm. Ask for Feris.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-17, 09:45 PM

Haunted House
As Dee looks through his lens, he sees another large chamber on the other side of the door. There’s another ritual circle that’s been carved into the floor and in the center is a pool of blood twenty feet across, twice as big as the circle that they used for Zalta. There’s a small circular dais at the exact center of the circle that has a stone pedestal atop it with similar runes and markings as the skull Dee has trapped.

It looks undisturbed, though the blood is still liquid and fresh.

“They attempted to summon Prince Jarek against my advice and they paid for it with their lives. I could feel his wrath from above, so I protected myself with several wards that have since faded with time,” the skull says. “I tried to tell Isla, the leader of the Red Dawn before this incident, that 1st plane demons were too powerful for her to control, but she did not believe me.”

“Without my help, and without Isla’s experience, there is no possible reality that the remnants of this cult summoned Prince Jarek. If they managed to summon Zalta, then one of them may have found the grimoire that Isla scribed under my tutelage. This is speculation, of course, as I have been dormant for many years.”

“Hubris, I sometimes fear, will catch us all someday. Was there a particular reason your acolyte wished to summon Jarek Vaskiina-ros or would any Prince of that House have sufficed?”

“You’ve been dormant for decades,” John observed, “and yet the blood in your chamber appears quite fresh. All told, quite a remarkable feat for one who has lain dormant for all this time. It must have cost you to preserve it over that time. Or did you summon something to bear that burden for you?”

The detachment he felt when observing the blood pooling around the central dais surprised him — although he suspected that was a defense mechanism. We’re he to attach that blood to a name — or, worse yet, a child, he wasn’t sure how his reaction might change. Affecting the cool, professional magician — detached and above mundane matters — might risk his reputation with his friends but it would keep him mentally whole.

It was not just that, he had to admit. The way she spoke of House Vaskiina was of immediate and personal concern. There was the real possibility that, if the reconstituted Cult of the Red Dawn had found Isla’s grimoire and attempted to summon Prince Jarek, he could be looking at having a kay’al with one Prince of Vaskiina while opposing another Prince within the context of the latter possessing the body of his friend’s brother and neither having a home to return to on their native plane.

And could the absence of such a Prince have been enough to precipitate House Vaskiina’s fall? It bore considering, given Prince Zylas’ current state — and location.

Occult Roll — Who is Prince Jarek? (https://orokos.com/roll/951107): 1d10o10+2 8 1d6o6+2 3

As frightening as these possibilities were, they were still easier than thinking about the blood.

So much blood.

It isn’t on the plinth — as it was when it was sprayed up to Victoria’s knees.

Focus, John. This is Iron Station and not London.

This is now — not then.

Emi is out there, should you need to reach out and ask her to help you anchor yourself.

You will be fine. You are strong enough for this.

Focus.

“I must confess to a certain amount of curiosity,” he continued, playing for time and hoping to learn more. “If your circle is complete in the other room, who is it charged for — or is it not a summoning circle and more a place of power and protection for yourself. The patterns on the pedestal, after all, do match those on your skull. I assume it is all of a piece — although, as you have pointed out, my knowledge of such things is limited in the way I suspect yours would be of my own area of practice.”

Occult Roll — how much does John know about the circle and the matching patterns (https://orokos.com/roll/951104): 1d10o10+2 3 1d6o6+2 7

InTheMachine

2022-08-18, 01:35 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-18, 02:34 PM

Haunted House
John does remember a small amount of information; Jarek is the eldest of the Vaskiina-ros children.

The circle looks like it would be able to use the skull as a focus point if she were put on the pedestal.

“There is a just a simple spell woven into the circle that keeps the blood fresh,” the skull replies. “It takes very little to maintain.”

“Isla would have been happy with any 1st plane demon. She just happened to find Prince Jarek’s Name. She refused to tell me where. I believe she made a deal with a demon from Urvaan-et, but that is just speculation. The Circle in the next room is incomplete— It was meant to summon the High King once all preparations were complete.”

“An interesting coincidence, that — if your suspicions are correct and she did receive his name from House Urvaan,” Dee observed, “From what I have heard, Isla would now find it very easy or very difficult to summon Prince Jarek. House Vaskiina fell to House Urvaan sometime relatively recently — the exact time frame remains somewhat unclear. Prince Jarek is likely on the run or destroyed. It was some time ago, but I wonder if her being provided with his name was an early move in House Urvaan’s plan to supplant Vaskiina.

“Summoning the High King is an ambitious and audacious plan,” he continued, not liking what he was hearing. “Were you planning to do so in order to achieve so great a feat and tick off a professional goal or were you partnering with someone to achieve a broader plan?”

A broader plan, John thought, like moving the King of Hell to a different plane in order to further political ends and ambitions in Hell — like consolidating a power base in a series Houses in order to usurp the current King.

InTheMachine

2022-08-18, 07:42 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-18, 08:55 PM

The skull takes a moment to digest this new information. “What better ultimate goal for a summoner than to pull the High King of Vanuusha to this world and bind him to your whims?”

Dee nodded. “You climb the mountain because it is there and the King of Hell is the biggest mountain before you. It would be the ultimate test of your skill, your ability, your cunning, and your power. My mountains are much different than yours, of course, but I can appreciate what you would be striving for, Rizaska Kisharha — although I trust you will understand why I am glad you did not achieve your aim.”

Seraph’s voice calls down the stairs. “Dee? Crowe? You down there?”

“We are, Serpah,” Dee replied, “along with Mercury, Zodiac, and Rizaska Kisharha. Mercury could use some attention from you, if possible. My own work helped but our fight with Rizaska Kisharha took a bit out of him. Indeed, it would have taken more out of me if it weren’t for his timely intervention and a well placed blast of Shadow from Crowe.”

Which reminds me, Dee thought. If you happen to be describing our activities come up while within certain parties’ hearing, Emi, I thought I would pass along that it was Crowe’s well aimed blast that disintegrated the construct housing the ritual skull that Master Summoner Kisharha is inhabiting. If such a thing would impress Burnout, that is. I haven’t been formally introduced to her in an informal context yet and don’t know if she would consider that interesting information or not.

Since he is at least as anxious to impress her and I am to impress you, I though I should at least mention it.

Roguewolf

2022-08-18, 09:40 PM

Haunted House
The skull takes a moment to digest this new information. “What better ultimate goal for a summoner than to pull the High King of Vanuusha to this world and bind him to your whims?”

Seraph’s voice calls down the stairs. “Dee? Crowe? You down there?”

Dee nodded. “You climb the mountain because it is there and the King of Hell is the biggest mountain before you. It would be the ultimate test of your skill, your ability, your cunning, and your power. My mountains are much different than yours, of course, but I can appreciate what you would be striving for, Rizaska Kisharna — although I trust you will understand why I am glad you did not achieve your aim.”

“We are, Serpah,” Dee replied, “along with Mercury, Zodiac, and Rizaska Kisharna. Mercury could use some attention from you, if possible. My own work helped but our fight with Rizaska Kisharn took a bit out of him. Indeed, it would have taken more out of me if it weren’t for his timely intervention and a well placed blast of Shadow from Crowe.”

So the King of Hell was her goal and what caused most of the destruction? Guess that would do it. Crowe just shrugged. He was kinda lost in most of the information flow here.

"Impressive as it would be." Seems more answers and questions were coming up. He kept his responses short since Dee led the interrogation.

Hearing Seraph and the response from Dee, he nodded on instinct and kept his focus still on..... eh whatever the name was. White had made the off hand comment, 'Mrs. Skullhead No Hands.'

"Just hate the placement wasn't sooner," he responded back. "Zodiac and me are relatively alright. Think you'll find Rizaska Kisharna rather interesting too."

InTheMachine

2022-08-19, 12:04 AM

PK-Leon

2022-08-19, 12:57 AM

Good Cop, Bad Cop

“The Big 4 ain’t changed in the last fifteen years, until Ozrick got murdered. There’s Lady Orchid and her daughter Violet that own Tupelo. Bramble, Pat Masterson, and his right hand lady Haze, Lauren Shogo, have Redhill. Mire, JT Braxton, runs the Palisades set with Marrow, Mason Price.”

“Ozrick and Two-Tone ran St. Rhais, and I don’t know who’s gonna take over for them. Then there’s the smaller sets like Belcaro and Hayes— they have a lot of turnover. We keep pretty separate, unless the boss has a big job. I just work for Seth and Leo.”

“I ain’t seen the boss, and I haven’t heard of him picking up another enforcer.”

"I find it hard to believe he hasn't found a replacement in a year's time. Unless you think he's been keepin the spot open for ya?" Louis says, giving Ryker a sidelong glance. "Earlier you said that Leo's usually over on Summit right? Is he the only one that stays there or does he keep a couple of Rooks posted there to watch the place while he's out?"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-19, 06:16 AM

Haunted House
A strong, flickering light illuminates the stairwell as Seraph carefully descends. He emerges in the doorway, sword drawn and ablaze in heatless golden flame.

The skull’s green-black eyes glitter. “This is who you were attempting to speak to earlier? A true Erelim?” she asks Dee.

“Yes,” Dee responded. “He is one of the ones I was attempting to reach.” He thought it best to leave the exact number vague. It would keep her a little off balance but keep him in the ‘good cop’ position he had managed to cultivate.

“Would you please take a look at Mercury, Seraph? Dee healed what he could on the surface, but I think he has some internal injuries,” Zodiac says with a whine as her ears fold back.

Seraph takes in the scene and makes his way over to Mercury before putting a hand on the metal hero’s shoulder. Fire washes over him and the angel takes his time making sure everything is back to the way it should be before he turns his attention to the skull.

“Do you think we can get more information from it?” he asks Dee in Angelic.

“I fear I am beginning to reach the limits of what I will learn from Rizaska Kisharha,” John replied in Angelical. “She once was worshiped by the Cult of the Red Dawn and taught them how to summon demons. She has taught one of her past students — one Isla — how to summon and led her in the writing of a grimoire. She believes Isla to have died in the attempt to summon Prince Jarek of House Vaskiina. Unless we have her body, we should probably at least consider the possibility that she was possessed by him during the ritual that resulted in the destruction of this building.

“We do have someone we can ask about Jarek’s recent movements, at least,” Dee observed wryly. “His firsthand knowledge of the Princes of House Vaskiina will be advantageous in that regard.

He nodded in the direction of the door. “The door is warded. Beyond is a circle with pooled, magically preserved blood that the Rizaska had planned to complete and use to summon the King of Hell as the ultimate test of her skill. I’ll need to attend to that before we leave, I suspect. I can appreciate the audacity of her plan but I don’t think it prudent to leave it half completed.

“We have not yet discussed the Stone in her possession. It might be worth at least trying to learn more about that.”

It would be an interesting test, Dee thought. Kisharha had indicated she could recognize Angelical. Could she understand it as well? The offhand, unnamed reference to Zylas and nodding to the Stone might be enough to flush that knowledge out, if the implicit threat in Serpah’s question was not enough.

“I wouldn’t share details of your mission unless you wanted me to, John,” Emi answers. “But if it comes up, I’ll be sure to tell her Keith finished it off.”

If it would be usual for you to do so, John responded, then you probably shouldn’t. I was hoping to give him a little help but if it looks like I am meddling, it won’t help him. Seeing as she has built a more carefully arranged contingency plan for her departure than is usual, I was hoping to give him a bit of help. My trying to influence things on his behalf would, I suspect, make her using that more likely rather than less.

InTheMachine

2022-08-19, 09:16 AM

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Ryker takes a long drag on his cigarette. “He stabbed me in the back. Ain’t no way he’s leavin’ a spot open for me,” he scoffs.

Jackie gives Ryker a look of confusion before he nods and glances back up at Louis. “Yeah. That’s his usual place. A lot of the Belcaro set will crash there though. There’s usually a couple lookouts keeping watch for cops or Coldfront.”

Haunted House
“I can ask the detective to look missing persons to see if we can find her,” Seraph replies. He switches back to English as he addresses the skull. “What was Isla’s surname? How old was she?”

“Her name was Isla Adelita. When I knew her, she was just entering her third decade,” the skull answers.

“Ask her about the Stone,” Seraph says back in Angelical. “I’ll destroy the ward and inspect the circle. I’ll get a team from AEGIS down here to catalog it before I destroy it.”

The angel crosses the room and puts his hand on the stone door before pushing it open and entering the second chamber.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-19, 11:19 AM

Haunted House
“Ask her about the Stone,” Seraph says back in Angelical. “I’ll destroy the ward and inspect the circle. I’ll get a team from AEGIS down here to catalog it before I destroy it.”

The angel crosses the room and puts his hand on the stone door before pushing it open and entering the second chamber.

“He’s on a bit of a tight schedule,” John offered half apologetically to Kisharha and keeping the lens that permitted him to see into the next room in his peripheral vision. He suspected he could learn from Seraph’s approach to addressing the circle there. It was more than that, of course. He had been cautious about entering the room, lest there be any surprises lurking there and wanted to be ready to assist the angel if he needed it.

It was probably best that he not learn some of the combinations of runes on that circle, though. As much as he would have liked to know the formulae for binding the King of Hell, that likely fell well within the category of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.

Not that it would be that difficult for him to uncover.

He returned his attention to the skull floating nearby, floating within the torus he had conjured.

“So, where did you manage to find your Stone of Vanuusha? I’ve only seen one before today. It cannot have been easy for you to obtain.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-19, 04:26 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-19, 04:56 PM

Mercury tilts his head as the skull replies. “Why have you been so straightforward with your answers?”

The skull is silent for a moment. “I know I am about to finally pass on to the afterlife after almost 4000 years of unlife. I have been caught and beaten by a few children. The Erelim will not let an abomination like myself to continue to exist. I have nothing to hide from you.”

Dee turned away as Seraph’s light flared, listening carefully as Kisharha explained herself and admitted to what he knew was the inevitable ending of their conversation.

“Have all the Stones arrived or are some already en route? There is a greater demon attempting to find them and we have, as of yet, no way of determining how many he has gathered to himself.” He sighed. “I am going to have to try to determine how to seek them out, I fear.”

“It is kind of you to educate us here at the end,” Dee observed. “What was your sister’s name, if I might ask, and where did the two of you live? Four thousand years puts you back before well understood recorded histories. Civilization as we now — in our pride — define it had only just begun. Do you think you will see her when you cross over?

“I am sorry that I can foresee no other path forward for you right now. Doubtless, we could learn much from you still, if we had the time.” John considered. He did not expect a positive response to his next questions but they were the right thing to ask. “Do you have any last requests that are in our power to grant to ease your passing? Even now, it is not too late to turn toward the light and cross over to a better place.

Roguewolf

2022-08-19, 05:06 PM

Haunted House
As Dee continues to watch the adjoining chamber, the room gets uncomfortably bright as Seraph clears out all the remaining wards.

“I do not know,” the skull answers. “I was on my deathbed when the ritual was preformed on me. My sister was the one that found it, or maybe she bartered for it. It was a very very long time ago. The Stones have a tendency to slowly come together and then separate once more. They wish to become whole, but their power eventually makes them repel one another back into the far corners of the world. There are several Stones that have lain dormant here for some time, and they have slowly attracted the others to this city.”

Mercury tilts his head as the skull replies. “Why have you been so straightforward with your answers?”

The skull is silent for a moment. “I know I am about to finally pass on to the afterlife after almost 4000 years of unlife. I have been caught and beaten by a few children. The Erelim will not let an abomination like myself to continue to exist. I have nothing to hide from you.”

Crowe tilts his head to the side in thought. "4000 years you say? And they repel and attract each other? Suppose we'll see more of them soon then with that in mind. How many stones are there?"

He thought a bit on what the skull had mentioned about her sister making the deal and with the ritual. Who wouldn't make any sort of deal to keep someone they cared for alive? "Was she a practitioner as well?" He was actually curious. This skull in front of them was now just acting human, even though it had tried to kill them all just a few minutes beforehand. Knowing she would die, Crowe hoped she could find some comfort in thinking of the past and family. Again, he felt odd thinking that since Kishara had tried to kill them, and curse Mercury.

He shrugged. "Sorry had some of the same questions he did. Thank you for the information and being so forthcoming with us."

HIDA

2022-08-19, 11:37 PM

Manny wakes up from a sleep that feels like weeks. He slowly drags himself out of bed. His dreams still feeling all too real even when he know he's not there. and the worst is that they're never enough to wake him anymore. just the same scenes playing in his mind again and again.

He Drags himself in to a shower as Bernie prescribed a while back. "As hot as you can handle then A snap of frigid cold at the end. Keeps you focused and it just the jolt you need." The towels himself off and brushes his teeth and gets dressed: a nice Green button-down, over a white teeshirt. Brown belt with Khakis and some nice loafers. He gives himself a once-over in the mirror and smiles.

not bad

"Mimi darling? Where's the team currently and what's the time?" He says as he goes through his mental checklist: Eat something. Check messages. Meet with Bernie and get a briefing, I think.

big teej

2022-08-19, 11:38 PM

Clever Title:

Raphael offers Stella a wink and says "I know, but I appreciate you noticing." He gives her a kiss on the cheek before turning and walking up the wall onto the ceiling. He uses the vantage point to get several pictures of the room's set up before walking back down and taking several pictures of each machine, getting a close up of each side that has text or stickers on it.

He scrolls through the pictures making sure everything's in focus and sends the entire batch to John.

Not sure what all you need, so I tried to be thorough.

Raphael's cheerful demeanor collapses as he reads the text from the unknown number. He scans the message several times before typing a message out and sending it before he can reconsider.

If it's what the lady wants, I'll be there.

He looks up at Stella with a frown. "Are you going to be okay cooling your heels at HQ tonight? Or do you wanna try and double with John at 5th Chapter?"

1 potential from failing to convert a benny to exp
Raphael grew away from the team: The Ka'yal incident really torpedoed the rapport John and Raph had.
Dee loses Influence over Nightgaunt.

I'm going to say I *did* make progress to overcoming my nemesis/doom, because they were finally on screen, and now Stella knows the secret.

PK-Leon

2022-08-20, 05:02 AM

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Ryker takes a long drag on his cigarette. “He stabbed me in the back. Ain’t no way he’s leavin’ a spot open for me,” he scoffs.

"Either way that's one less Rook standing between us and Jesse now." Louis replies as he pockets his phone.

Jackie gives Ryker a look of confusion before he nods and glances back up at Louis. “Yeah. That’s his usual place. A lot of the Belcaro set will crash there though. There's usually a couple lookouts keeping watch for cops or Coldfront.”

"Hm, good to know. I appreciate your willingness to cooperate today Jackie. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you later."

Louis looks back to Ryker. "Unless there's anything else you wanna ask I think we're good for now?" He snaps his fingers and Ryker's delivery clothes reappear.

InTheMachine

2022-08-20, 11:38 AM

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Ryker shakes his head. “I got nothin’ left to ask him right now,” he says. “You be good while we’re gone, Jackie.”

The Rook nods furiously. “You got it, man. I won’t ****in’ move.”

After Louis steps out, Ryker follows and slams the door shut behind him.

“So what’s the plan?” he asks Louis in a low voice. “I know what I would do, but you know I’m not really a guy for subtlety. The safe house he talked about is about 15 minutes from here. I’d expect at least two guys to be there, along with Leo. He’s a meta; makes **** explode when he touches it.”

Manny
“It’s currently 2:12pm,” Mimi replies. “Keith and John are at the East Side base. Louis, Ryker, Raphael, and Stella are up in North Side. Drake and Yuki are at Briarwood University. Aeryn, Sidney, and Seraph are all currently still inside West Side base.”

Raphael
Stella looks at Raphael in concern as he reads his texts. “Everything okay?”

She takes the vampires hand as they go to leave her mother’s room. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’d really enjoy going on a date with you, with or without John,” she says with a soft smile.

Haunted House
“I do not know if all the Stones have arrived yet, but there are ten in total,” the skull replies. “When I was still human, I lived in the city of Ur with my sister, Kishar. I do not know if I will see her again, but I can hope with whatever soul I have left.”

It pauses, considering Dee’s words. “I have no last request, other than to be destroyed quickly.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-20, 12:18 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-20, 01:05 PM

Haunted House
“I do not know if all the Stones have arrived yet, but there are ten in total,” the skull replies. “When I was still human, I lived in the city of Ur with my sister, Kishar. I do not know if I will see her again, but I can hope with whatever soul I have left.”

It pauses, considering Dee’s words. “I have no last request, other than to be destroyed quickly.”

Dee smiles wistfully. “The City of Gilgamesh — ša naqba īmuru, watched over by the Goddess Ishtar and her Priestesses.” He shook his head. “When I lived in London, I visited the Museum there and saw the artifacts from your city — including the famous Flood Tablet that detailed Gilgamesh’s search for a plant that would cheat death. Some versions of the story say it was to bring back his friend, Enkidu. Other versions say that he had come to fear death because his friend had died.”

How many questions could Kisharha answer for scholars worldwide? Losing her knowledge seemed such a waste.

It would be indiscreet to ask if she had met Gilgamesh, given his proclivity to overuse his droit du seigneur.

“We will not cause you to suffer, if we can,” Dee continued. “Perhaps a friendly face from your past may bring you some comfort before you pass,” Dee offered, scribing out a spell that sifted through the Akashic record for the memory of Kishar and summoned it forth before her.

Crowe's eyes go wide when he hears the name of the city they had lived in. "That's amazing...... We just had a discussion on this in one of my school classes looking back through the epic tale."

He thought about asking so many questions for the next paper he would need to write over the weekend but that would also feel like cheating. That and how do you actually cite an interviewed source that should be dead? Even then, it'd be a little odd just asking about it all.

He just nodded in agreement with Dee's assessment. Seeing the specter before them speaking with the skull, Crowe walked up and put a hand on Dee's shoulder. "An incredible act of kindness, my friend."

He just watched the rest of the scene play out, considering the possibility that as much of an act of kindness as this was, it could also be an act of torment. In this case, however, that thought was moot. it was requested, not something meant to be torture. He did hold some hope that maybe, these sisters would be reunited in the beyond. Whatever that might be, he had no idea. If anything remained, they could probably bury the skull somewhere that Kisharha would prefer. though that spot may be very difficult to locate.

He wondered if he would feel the same sense of pity he did for Kisharha right now when confronting his father. Was there more to the story than he knew off hand? What if he hadn't become a villain in the first place? Crowe could never forgive him for what he had done, but he did wonder about the rest of the story. Maybe he would ask his uncle when he finally got a hold of him. Or Don when he had to talk with him later.

"Do you think, if circumstances were different we'd be in her place?" White had spoken up for the first time in a while.

I don't know White. But we balance each other out, and I know you'll let me know if I go too far. Or I'll let you know if you go too far. Or Suppose Dee will let us know.

White chuckled a bit. "Fair enough."

HIDA

2022-08-20, 01:14 PM

“It’s currently 2:12pm,” Mimi replies. “Keith and John are at the East Side base. Louis, Ryker, Raphael, and Stella are up in North Side. Drake and Yuki are at Briarwood University. Aeryn, Sidney, and Seraph are all currently still inside West Side base.”

"Thanks Mimi." Makes sense they're all busy. I probably wouldn't have been sent here otherwise.

Manny heads to the Kitchen to make himself some tea. "Mimi is Seraph available? I'd fancy a chat with him if he can make the time. You said Aeryn is still here too?" Manny asks, stirring the honey and milk he added to his tea. He looked at his phone and a cold dread washes over him. I've been out of the country for 2 days and I forgot to take my personal phone out of airplane mode.

210 New Messages.

1300 Notifications.

42 missed calls.

Gods. I really miss having a publicist.

Manny sets the phone face-down on a table while it continues to vibrate.

InTheMachine

2022-08-20, 03:34 PM

Manny
“Seraph is currently resting in his suite. Would you like for me to take a message for you?” Mimi asks.

As Manny stirs his tea, both Sidney and Aeryn round the corner, talking quietly between themselves.

“Hey, Manny, right?” Sidney asks as she walks over to the fridge. “You hungry? Aeryn and I were just about to make lunch.”

“We were going to make caprese paninis, if you want one,” Aeryn offers as he goes to the pantry and pulls out a few ingredients.

Haunted House
“You know much about my homeland,” the skull says quietly before the shade of its sister appears.

The woman is tall and dressed in traditional robes and a fancy headdress with dark hair and eyes. (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e8/93/6e/e8936e07e2571fa2365d4bbe277305bd.jpg)

The skull sighs. “She is just as beautiful as the day I lost her,” it says.

Seraph returns through the door and observes the scene for a moment. “Why don’t you all head back upstairs? I’ll… be with you in a moment.”

Mercury nods and carefully makes his way up the stairs with Zodiac following close behind him.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-20, 05:43 PM

Haunted House
“You know much about my homeland,” the skull says quietly before the shade of its sister appears.

The woman is tall and dressed in traditional robes and a fancy headdress with dark hair and eyes. (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e8/93/6e/e8936e07e2571fa2365d4bbe277305bd.jpg)

The skull sighs. “She is just as beautiful as the day I lost her,” it says.

Seraph returns through the door and observes the scene for a moment. “Why don’t you all head back upstairs? I’ll… be with you in a moment.”

Mercury nods and carefully makes his way up the stairs with Zodiac following close behind him.

Dee nodded at Seraph and patted Crowe on the shoulder. “Godspeed, Rizaska Kisharha. May you find peace on the next stage of your journey.”

The walk black out felt long, as he moved out of the flickering light provided by Seraph and into the dim light spilling into the hallway from the hatchway. There were so many questions left unasked. How did she maintain her sanity over the course of millennia? How did she adjust as the years slipped by? Her native language had disappeared as did the script that it had been written in.

Things were changing faster than they ever had. The Ziggurat of Ur — one of the greatest buildings of the age — had been built of mud brick. The technology had advanced in that time but did so slowly. Things moved much faster now. Mankind had moved from powered flight to walking on the moon not in centuries but within a single lifetime.

How much would have changed in his life when he was 4,000? Who would he be mourning and how far from home would he be?

He drew out his phone to mark the date. Perhaps it was the drama of the day, but he felt it might be good to mark this date and try, every year, to take stock of his past and what he risked becoming.

While they had been underground, a text from Raphael had come in.

The pictures showed what, to his untrained eye, appeared to be a standard hospital room. The one thing that stood out to him were the women who appeared in the picture. There was no mistaking the family resemblance between Stella and her mother. In addition to inheriting her ability to do magic, she had inherited her mother’s beauty as well.

His own magical line was complicated and had been intentionally hidden by the Unseen Masters and had lain dormant for centuries as they waited for him to arrive in London.

I’ll start to work with AEGIS’ requisition systems and see what we can do. We will likely need to talk to Seraph about bringing in a nurse to monitor things.

Let me know if you need help with having her ‘brother’ to appear in order to get her moved.

Just a few hours until he had a nice, quiet dinner with Emi, he thought to himself as he blinked at the light and scanned the sky for Harbinger.

That thought was almost enough to banish the melancholy hanging over him.

He could not know if Seraph’s dispatching of Kisharha would disrupt his Circle of Amun Set, leaving it an inanimate collection of interlocking circles, or if it would be able to retain its form long enough to transport the Stone of Vashuuna back to the Warehouse. Whether it was in existence or not, he felt he should at least volunteer to bear it back. It wouldn’t be difficult to shape a container and ward it and he felt certain that Harbinger would be able to give him whatever pointers he needed to avoid triggering an issue.

The temptation, however, remained to remove a gauntlet and pick it up — to have the kind of vision that Harbinger had had and know, rather than guess, what kinds of thing he had seen.

Dee shook his head, trying to clear it of the temptation. He knew the Stone had called to him and was influencing his thinking even now — having planted that seed of desire.

He looked down at his left hand, sensing the triangle that lay below the leather of his gauntlet and closed his eyes. Yes, he needed to know more if he was to ever banish the threat of the Homunculus. But there were limits to what he should do in a single day. It should be enough that he had extended a kind of grace to not one but two entities that would be classified as abominations but, when spoken to, were all too like himself.

John’s head dropped and he began to silently pray, as he had for the men who attacked Raphael and for Calvin, asking forgiveness for his sins and for Kisharha.

As he came to amen, he felt her depart from this world and he released the spirit that bore her sister’s memory — it having bore witness to this passing of her as the actual sister had the prior one.

“It’s done,” he said simply to Crowe, Mercury, and Zodiac.

HIDA

2022-08-20, 05:47 PM

Roguewolf

2022-08-20, 06:14 PM

InTheMachine

2022-08-20, 07:08 PM

Manny
“Aeryn’s the chef,” Sidney says as she pulls what she needs out of the refrigerator and moves everything over to the counter close to the blender. She starts to get everything ready for fresh pesto. “I’ve only been here for a few days, and he’s already taught me a couple things.”

The tall blonde flushes a little. “Sidney’s a better baker than me though. Before Friday, I hadn’t even baked a cake before,” he says as he pulls out a cast iron griddle and cutting board. He set the griddle on the stove and lights the gas flame to let it heat up before he carefully cuts several tomatoes and a ball of mozzarella cheese into thick, neat slices. “She made some sweets from England for Siren when she come over Sunday. What were those again?” he asks the dark haired woman.

“Jaffa cakes and Jammie Dodgers,” she replies before starting the blender. After 30 seconds, she pours her pesto into a bowl. “John made some homemade scones too. They were delicious. You’re from over there too, aren’t you?” Sidney asks Manny as she spreads the pesto onto some slices of sourdough. “I’ve always liked that accent.”

Haunted House
Harbinger lands in the vicinity as Dee bows his head to pray. “Mercury, Zodiac, report,” he says. His eyes and tone betray a deep exhaustion that seems to have gotten worse since the last time Dee or Crowe had seen him.

The two South Siders recount what had happened in the last thirty minutes or so as Seraph emerges out of the trapdoor. In his right hand he holds a small metal box that has a few Angelic wards on it and a series of metal rings. He transfers the box to his left hand as he offers the rings back to Dee.

“Mercury, are you feeling okay?” the angel asks as they finish their report. “Your injuries were pretty severe.”

“I’ll be alright, thanks to you and Dee,” he replies with a nod at the magician. “I’m just feeling… tired.”

“You probably shouldn’t fly back with me,” Zodiac says before she turns her gaze to John. “Dee, would you mind driving him back to base? Please?”

“Do either of you need healing?” Seraph asks Dee and Crowe as Harbinger looks intently at the box the other angel holds.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-20, 07:21 PM

Haunted House
Harbinger lands in the vicinity as Dee bows his head to pray. “Mercury, Zodiac, report,” he says. His eyes and tone betray a deep exhaustion that seems to have gotten worse since the last time Dee or Crowe had seen him.

The two South Siders recount what had happened in the last thirty minutes or so as Seraph emerges out of the trapdoor. In his right hand he holds a small metal box that has a few Angelic wards on it and a series of metal rings. He transfers the box to his left hand as he offers the rings back to Dee.

“Mercury, are you feeling okay?” the angel asks as they finish their report. “Your injuries were pretty severe.”

“I’ll be alright, thanks to you and Dee,” he replies with a nod at the magician. “I’m just feeling… tired.”

“You probably shouldn’t fly back with me,” Zodiac says before she turns her gaze to John. “Dee, would you mind driving him back to base? Please?”

“Do either of you need healing?” Seraph asks Dee and Crowe as Harbinger looks intently at the box the other angel holds.

“Thank you,” Dee offers as he takes back the components of his Circle of Amun Set, running his fingers along their now tuneless surface, wondering if re-enscribing the mathematical formulae would be any faster for having done the calculations once before. “And I am fine — thanks in large part to the timely intervention of Mercury. He managed to keep me out of the way of Kisharha’s claws and I was able to heal the damage caused by whatever ichor she spewed out.

“And I would be happy to give Mercury a lift back, Zodiac. It’s the least I can do. Did you want to ride back with us as well?”

He turned his attention to Harbinger. “Is the Stone calling to you even from within the warded box, Harbinger?” Dee asked with no small amount of concern. “There was no question this time that it called to me when I first arrived and it feels like it has, at some level, been working on me ever since.”

Roguewolf

2022-08-20, 07:26 PM

Haunted House
Harbinger lands in the vicinity as Dee bows his head to pray. “Mercury, Zodiac, report,” he says. His eyes and tone betray a deep exhaustion that seems to have gotten worse since the last time Dee or Crowe had seen him.

The two South Siders recount what had happened in the last thirty minutes or so as Seraph emerges out of the trapdoor. In his right hand he holds a small metal box that has a few Angelic wards on it and a series of metal rings. He transfers the box to his left hand as he offers the rings back to Dee.

“Mercury, are you feeling okay?” the angel asks as they finish their report. “Your injuries were pretty severe.”

“I’ll be alright, thanks to you and Dee,” he replies with a nod at the magician. “I’m just feeling… tired.”

“You probably shouldn’t fly back with me,” Zodiac says before she turns her gaze to John. “Dee, would you mind driving him back to base? Please?”

“Do either of you need healing?” Seraph asks Dee and Crowe as Harbinger looks intently at the box the other angel holds.

Crowe looks at the ground a moment as Mercury makes his report and mentions he was fine thanks to Dee and Seraph. If he had just thought about aiming at the runes sooner, or even just the head at first on the statue, it could have been avoided. Granted he still may have fallen prey to that weird curse that Kisharha placed on him before Dee did that thing with the rings, could have avoided the initial chest injury.

Stop beating yourself up for things you can't control..... He tried to tell himself, shaking his head.

He then turned to Seraph when he asked if they needed healing. "I'm all good, Seraph. Just, thinking bout a few things." He looked at the box for a moment and shrugged.

At the mention of Mercury being tired, and the offer for everyone to ride back, Crowe nodded and had potentially considered flying back on his own, just to get a bit of air. Then again, Seraph would probably give him a look for doing that exact thing right now.

"Don't think Clea hit any bumps at all during the trips today so would be a smooth ride." Fresh air and just flying around would be nice, but best to keep everyone semi-together for now at least.

big teej

2022-08-20, 09:16 PM

Romantic it ain't:

Raphael holds up his phone and wiggles it from side to side. "Social Call, the kind I can't ignore." He frowns and puts his phone away. "More of a Summons, really. It's a--" Raphael casts his eyes around the room, indicating to Stella he can't talk plainly. "--distant relative of mine, I'm sure they wouldn't ask for me out of the blue if it wasn't important."

A muffled buzzing prompts the vampire to dig his phone right back out and check the message from John. "I can't promise accompanying me will be a romantic or pleasant endeavor."

He tilts his head, considering John's offer. He smiles again, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Ya know, it pisses me off how smart John is sometimes. You know, in a good way. He almost thinks of everything." I'm glad he's on our side, just if he was a little less insufferable.

He shoves those thoughts aside, the more immediate concern and solution being much more important. for now

That'd actually be a big help. It'd solve almost everything except them trying to call whatever number he left with the hospital.

InTheMachine

2022-08-20, 09:21 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-20, 09:53 PM

Haunted House
As Dee speaks to him, Harbinger blinks a few times and tears his gaze away from the box. “It’s not… anymore. I just—“ he pulls his wings in and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ll go with Seraph and lock up the Stone.”

Zodiac looks up at the sky, still dark and dreary, and agrees. “I’ll take you up on that, Dee. The rain could start again anytime.”

Seraph steps away for a moment to contact AEGIS and Harbinger narrows his eyes at the other angel, shoving his hands into his coat.

Dee drew out his phone and cocked his head to the side as he read Raphael’s text. He wasn’t sure he understood the issue but it was also true that his teammate had only just returned and his emotions were somewhat all over the place. He’d suggest therapy but he wasn’t sure if even AEGIS had someone who could talk you through death and return with confidence.

“With the Stone warded,” he said, keeping Harbinger in his peripheral vision as he swept out a response to the text, “we could always drive it back. I could reinforce the wards if needed and the two of you would be able to get some additional time to rest — assuming we don’t run across a jewelry store heist that focuses on another of the stones. Kisharha suggested that the stones could be attempting to assemble themselves here in Iron Station. That could explain an increase in demonic activity. Had we more time with her, perhaps we could have asked her about prior moments when they gathered over the past 4,000 years. Given that she was in the possession of her stone for much of that time, she would have experienced that cycle more than once.”

Text to Raphael
All the more reason for ‘him’ to visit and update his contact information to a non-traceable number. I’d need a sample of his writing and his signature, in case I need to duplicate it by commanding the ink in the pen to flow out and match whatever forms they have on file, but it would be a straightforward enough task.

Dee did not like the look on Harbinger’s face. There was no way to know if the Stone had called to him during their fight or if it was just the moment when it had lost one possessor but before it was placed in Seraph’s warded box.

Whatever was pushing Harbinger was beginning to tell. Dee would need to try to learn what he could do to help him — sooner rather than later. He could ask Seraph but he worried his mentor was already bearing a greater burden than he needed to. There was no question that he would be the best source of information.

His mind, as it so often did, drifted towards Emi. It was clear from the way they spoke to one another on Sunday that they had a longstanding relationship. He would have to ask her about it on the drive to dinner.

“If all ten Stones were gathering here, could they cloud with your visions, Harbinger?” Dee asked quietly.

InTheMachine

2022-08-20, 11:04 PM

Raphael
“Oh, I see,” Stella says. “But any time I get to spend with you is pleasant. And after you meet with them, we can have dinner and enjoy ourselves, oui?” She smiles. “Why would it make you angry that John is smart? Just that he needs to actually think of everything?”

She looks back at her mother before leaving the hospital room and waves to the nurses’ station as they pass and enter the elevator. The sorceress leans against the wall as they descend 10 floors. Her expression turns serious for a moment. “Raphael, are you in trouble? You know I’ll do anything I can to help you.”

Haunted House
Harbinger considers Dee’s words, looking down at the ground. “It was dangerous, Dee. With the power one Stone has, your spell wouldn’t have held it forever. It could’ve killed Mercury.”

“I can handle the Stone, Dee,” Seraph says as he returns from his call. “The less time it spends out in the open, the better. Let’s go, Harbinger.” He looks at the four younger heroes and smiles gently. “Good work, all of you. I’m glad you’re all okay.”

The angels open their wings and take off, headed West. The two of them disappear into the dark clouds.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-21, 11:01 AM

Haunted House
Harbinger considers Dee’s words, looking down at the ground. “It was dangerous, Dee. With the power one Stone has, your spell wouldn’t have held it forever. It could’ve killed Mercury.”

“I know,” he replied quietly. “I am glad the two of you arrived. I am certain that the passing Seraph provided to her was cleaner than what I could have managed.” He smiled ruefully at the angel. “And given all the answers she could have provided to my questions, I have no doubt that I would have pushed it too close to the line when the power of the Stone would begin to overwhelm my Circle of Amun Set.”

“I can handle the Stone, Dee,” Seraph says as he returns from his call. “The less time it spends out in the open, the better. Let’s go, Harbinger.” He looks at the four younger heroes and smiles gently. “Good work, all of you. I’m glad you’re all okay.”

The angels open their wings and take off, headed West. The two of them disappear into the dark clouds.

“I worry about them,” Dee said quietly but audibly enough for his teammates to hear. “Not only do they carry the emotional burden of watching over us, they are stretching themselves increasingly thin with their extra patrols and warding the Stones and Demons I keep bringing home.”

He thought it indiscrete to mention the apartments that Seraph had also warded.

He sighed. “I need to find out how I can help share those burdens — among other things. And although this may be presumptuous and the height of hubris for me to say, I think we should keep an eye on our mentors — a little more openly and deliberately, exchanging what information we have so that they do not end up so stretched thin that they find themselves in over their heads.”

He glanced at Mercury. “Our first order of business is getting you back to base so that you can take a well deserved nap, I think. I’m not sure if my schedule has enough time for me to install a hot tub up on the roof for you to soak some of the aches away. I’ll have to look into that.”

John tapped the side of his head. “Clea, please meet the four us at the fence line. We are making for the point closest to my current location.”

“Acknowledged, Dee,” she replied in a direct communication to him. “I will begin to rebalance by suspension in preparation of Mercury entering the passenger compartment. I had hoped that it would be you and your particular friend who were affectionate with one another in the back seat, as is stereotypical for a young, American male.

“And don’t worry: I am pleased to report that I feel no jealousy when she demonstrates affection for you.”

John opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it, given the presence of his friends. Also, the formulation of Clea’s reassurance about not being jealous gave him pause.

“Acknowledged,” he replied and trying not to sound flustered. He had too many other things to worry about before he could focus fully on his relationship with Emi — and, apparently, their relationship with Clea.

He turned to his teammates. “Shall we?”

Roguewolf

2022-08-21, 11:24 AM

“I worry about them,” Dee said quietly but audibly enough for his teammates to hear. “Not only do they carry the emotional burden of watching over us, they are stretching themselves increasingly thin with their extra patrols and warding the Stones and Demons I keep bringing home.”

[....shortened for...]

He turned to his teammates. “Shall we?”

Crowe watches the scene and looked up at the sky to see the potential rain come in. Just nodding in agreement with Dee's assessments and seeing Seraph and Harbinger take off.

"I worry too Dee, everything that's come up today and even just beforehand makes that keep growing." Crowe sighed and closed his eyes a moment. "I'll spend some time this evening seeing what I can find out about some of the other puzzle pieces. Maybe something will come of it."

At the mention of Zylas, Crowe shakes his head. "With everything goin' on some of it can't be helped either. May try again later to see if Seraph will allow an evening patrol so he's not too stretched thin and maybe actually get some rest."

Before he could mention flying back on his own, even though he knew it would be a bad idea, Dee had already called Clea to them. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit seeing Dee and Clea communicate. Obviously, she was picking on him again.

"Some clean-up time, a soak. Mercury, you want to see what's cookin at base, or I can order us all something and go grab it? Least I can do to thank you both for helpin' us out today."

HIDA

2022-08-21, 12:03 PM

InTheMachine

2022-08-21, 01:52 PM

Haunted House
“I especially worry about Harbinger,” Zodiac says as they walk toward the fence. “He’s gotten so much worse in this past week alone.”

“He has,” Mercury agrees. “I’ve never seen him look so tired. And it got way worse after he touched the Stone in the kitchen.” He grins at Dee and Crowe. “Yeah, I think I’ll take an nice hot shower and the might do some reading, and maybe a nap. I’m not hungry though. Zodiac and I just had lunch before we joined you guys.”

As they get to the fence, the chain link shifts and breaks, leaving a large square hole that Mercury leaves open until everyone’s through before it resumes it’s previous shape.

Clea silently pulls up and the two South Siders climb into the back seat. Once inside and the door’s closed, Yuki turns back into her human form and Drake lets his armor absorb back into his skin. He sighs deeply and closes his eyes for a moment, and Yuki takes his hand, rubbing her thumb across the back of it.

Manny
“I know,” Sidney replies. “I meant Emilia— Siren. John’s from Rhode Island. I’ve never been… anywhere really. I’ve been to Arkansas, but that’s about it.” She starts assembling sandwiches.

Aeryn shakes his head. “Never been over there.”

Once Sidney’s done assembling, Aeryn takes them and sets them on the griddle, covering them with another heavy cast iron skillet.

HIDA

2022-08-21, 02:04 PM

Manny
“I know,” Sidney replies. “I meant Emilia— Siren. John’s from Rhode Island. I’ve never been… anywhere really. I’ve been to Arkansas, but that’s about it.” She starts assembling sandwiches.

Aeryn shakes his head. “Never been over there.”

Once Sidney’s done assembling, Aeryn takes them and sets them on the griddle, covering them with another heavy cast iron skillet.

"Ah yes. Siren." Manny says taking another sip of his tea. "At least his eyes seem to be working fine. Anway, I think the idea of staying in one place has a way of making one comfortable, and generally not for the better. I'd implore you both to travel when you get the opportunity." Manny says with a grin on his face as the scents from the grill finally waft his direction.

"On the subject of being out and going places. why are you two still here in base? -Not to take away from your culinary skills, but wouldn't you be better served helping the team?"

Roguewolf

2022-08-21, 02:31 PM

Haunted House
“I especially worry about Harbinger,” Zodiac says as they walk toward the fence. “He’s gotten so much worse in this past week alone.”

“He has,” Mercury agrees. “I’ve never seen him look so tired. And it got way worse after he touched the Stone in the kitchen.” He grins at Dee and Crowe. “Yeah, I think I’ll take an nice hot shower and the might do some reading, and maybe a nap. I’m not hungry though. Zodiac and I just had lunch before we joined you guys.”

As they get to the fence, the chain link shifts and breaks, leaving a large square hole that Mercury leaves open until everyone’s through before it resumes it’s previous shape.

Clea silently pulls up and the two South Siders climb into the back seat. Once inside and the door’s closed, Yuki turns back into her human form and Drake lets his armor absorb back into his skin. He sighs deeply and closes his eyes for a moment, and Yuki takes his hand, rubbing her thumb across the back of it.

Crowe nods and grins. "Sounds like a solid plan! Figured I'd offer anyway, and will again later on. Where at if ya don't mind me askin? Need some ideas for Saturday." Mercury may have been one of the better people on the team for him to ask.

As Clea pulled up and everyone got back in, he buckled up and then turned back to talk with Yuki and Drake.

"So ran into Burnout while we were East Side. Some good-ish news was I get one date at least. A bit nervous since she mentioned a concert to me, mostly because she thought I'd enjoy it. And then remembered Draconian was planning for us to go as a group so not sure how to read into that." He shrugged.

"Workin' up other ideas too just, need to look and see what all is going on in town."

mmdeforrest

2022-08-21, 03:09 PM

Clea silently pulls up and the two South Siders climb into the back seat. Once inside and the door’s closed, Yuki turns back into her human form and Drake lets his armor absorb back into his skin. He sighs deeply and closes his eyes for a moment, and Yuki takes his hand, rubbing her thumb across the back of it.

“Recognized:” Clea notes as Yuki and Drake settle in, “Koyuki Kitagawa, code name Zodiac and Drake Varga, code name Mercury. Both associated with AEGIS Iron Station Provisional South Side and South and West Provisional Joint Operations Teams. Access granted to AEGIS-level limited controls.”

John closed his eyes and waited for the rest.

“Not quite the level of access granted to particular friends of John’s, of course, but that is to be expected. I am pleased to report that Mercury’s weight remains well within operational parameters — although it will slightly compromise maximum effective range.

“Konnichiwa and Hola to you both.”

“Thank you, Clea,” John responded. “Are there any updates we should know about? We lost comms when we were underground.”

“AEGIS delivered several packages for you while you have been investigating this site and visiting you particular friend after briefing her father and the Myriad occult expert. Mimi expressed some concern at losing contact with you and asked me to attempt to serve as a relay. As the interference was on your end, I was unable to assist. You know about the bulletin that resulted from your particular friend’s contact with Harbinger and Seraph, of course.

“There have been no notices of updates on your reservations but, between you and me and your passengers, there may be complications on the horizon for that event. Mimi would not elaborate on that but did offer me the heads up. I would be put out if I did not respect her discretion.”

“So far, demons and the undead have tried to complicate my dinner plans. Perhaps there is some kind of connection to faerie at the restaurant I don’t know about,” John observed.

“I have no data on 5th Chapter that could assist with your assessment,” Clea offered. “The expected dress is fancy casual so you should not need the contents of two of your shipments. Speaking of your good fortune, Keith, I have also taken the liberty of sending you a list of restaurants within easy walking distance of the concert venue on Saturday, along with the reviews found on the usual social media sites.

“Thanks again, Clea,” John replies, “That was kind of you.”

“I suspect,” she responded in a direct message to John’s comm, “that he could use the help.”

“Finally, I would note that you have promised to contact Agent Montcrieff as soon as you are able. Your involvement int he retrieval of a second Stone of Vashuuna has been noted in AEGIS communiques and I suspect it would be advisable for you to call her once you return to base.”

“I’ll make a point of doing so,” John replied. “Thanks, Clea.”

“You are welcome, John.”

Roguewolf

2022-08-21, 05:24 PM

“So far, demons and the undead have tried to complicate my dinner plans. Perhaps there is some kind of connection to faerie at the restaurant I don’t know about,” John observed.

“I have no data on 5th Chapter that could assist with your assessment,” Clea offered. “The expected dress is fancy casual so you should not need the contents of two of your shipments. Speaking of your good fortune, Keith, I have also taken the liberty of sending you a list of restaurants within easy walking distance of the concert venue on Saturday, along with the reviews found on the usual social media sites.

“Thanks again, Clea,” John replies, “That was kind of you.”

Keith chuckles a bit as Clea teases John some more, but shakes his head listening to their interaction. As John jokes about faerie's interrupting his plans for dinner, he just tilts his head.

"Now that would be some rough luck. Good front for deals though!" He just grinned.

When Clea mentioned the list of restaurants she had sent him, he felt his phone buzz and took it out to look through the list. "Thank you so very much, Clea! Could use all the help I can get. He started scrolling through a few of them. A few had stuck out as familiar where they had all had lunch together before, but something new was always a good idea as well.

"Hopefully no having to recite a eulogy for a restaurant this time either." He tilts his head reading one of the restaurant's names. "Red Lantern? Must be new, don't think I've seen that place before."

InTheMachine

2022-08-21, 09:01 PM

Manny

"Ah yes. Siren." Manny says taking another sip of his tea. "At least his eyes seem to be working fine.
Sidney raises an eyebrow. “And what do you mean by that?”

“Anyway, I think the idea of staying in one place has a way of making one comfortable, and generally not for the better. I'd implore you both to travel when you get the opportunity." Manny says with a grin on his face as the scents from the grill finally waft his direction.

"On the subject of being out and going places. why are you two still here in base? -Not to take away from your culinary skills, but wouldn't you be better served helping the team?"
“It’s hard to travel when you and your dad run a little coffee shop seven days a week. I’ve always wanted to though,” she says a little wistfully. “Honestly, I’m recovering from having my brains scrambled, and I’m kind of under house arrest.”

Aeryn pulls the sandwiches off the grill and plates them. “Seraph asked me to stay here in case he needs help with our guest on the 1st floor. If he escapes, I’m the only one fast enough to catch up and keep tabs on him from the air.” He sets one in front of Manny and hands one to Sidney. “Hey Mimi, do you think Seraph’s hungry?” he asks as he pick up a third plate.

“I’m sure he would appreciate it,” Mimi replies.

Aeryn smiles and heads out of the kitchen with one of the sandwiches, headed toward the stairs.

Haunted House
Drake gives Keith a thumbs up without open his eyes and tired grin. “Good for you. I took Yuki to this little hole in the wall place over by Briarwood, La Taberna de los Sinvergüenzas. La Taberna, for short,” he says with a smirk. “Super authentic Mexican. Best chimichangas in town. There’s a little abuela in the kitchen that makes most of the food. My dad and I went there all the time before I got recruited by AEGIS.”

“It was really good,” Yuki agrees. She looks up at Keith. “If she suggested it, why not go? I wouldn’t suggest something like that unless I was excited about it.”

Drake chuckles as Clea introduces herself. “You have a very talkative car, John.”

Roguewolf

2022-08-21, 09:44 PM

Haunted House
Drake gives Keith a thumbs up without open his eyes and tired grin. “Good for you. I took Yuki to this little hole in the wall place over by Briarwood, La Taberna de los Sinvergüenzas. La Taberna, for short,” he says with a smirk. “Super authentic Mexican. Best chimichangas in town. There’s a little abuela in the kitchen that makes most of the food. My dad and I went there all the time before I got recruited by AEGIS.”

“It was really good,” Yuki agrees. She looks up at Keith. “If she suggested it, why not go? I wouldn’t suggest something like that unless I was excited about it.”

Drake chuckles as Clea introduces herself. “You have a very talkative car, John.”

Keith grins as Drake and Yuki congratulate him and tell him about La Taberna. Honestly, that sounded good, and it would be a cool idea. He flips through the list again and decided to add that mentally as an idea for if he got the second date. Or maybe if they were nearby.

"That's pretty awesome y'all went all the time before your recruitment though. And now I'm craving chimichangas." He thought back to how each time over the years that he had come through a certain town on missions, he and his uncle had stopped at random diners. Always better than most of the places you would think had the best food. Thinking back on Drake's comment though, he felt he had missed out on a lot of important things growing up. regular days with a parent, just having routine, regular stuff. Not many get trained to take down an organization as a kid.

Come to think of it, if the business with the Empire ever ended, would he be able to just have a routine like that? He hoped, but it would be all new memories and things that most would expect him to have done already. Yuki's question had him thinking for a moment as well.

"I-it's more so I'm just worried about everything being good enough." He sighed. "Then again she probably also thought I'd be a lot less nervous if we did that. I'm really new to all of this, dating I mean."

HIDA

2022-08-21, 09:50 PM

Manny

Sidney raises an eyebrow. “And what do you mean by that?”

“It’s hard to travel when you and your dad run a little coffee shop seven days a week. I’ve always wanted to though,” she says a little wistfully. “Honestly, I’m recovering from having my brains scrambled, and I’m kind of under house arrest.”

Aeryn pulls the sandwiches off the grill and plates them. “Seraph asked me to stay here in case he needs help with our guest on the 1st floor. If he escapes, I’m the only one fast enough to catch up and keep tabs on him from the air.” He sets one in front of Manny and hands one to Sidney. “Hey Mimi, do you think Seraph’s hungry?” he asks as he pick up a third plate.

“I’m sure he would appreciate it,” Mimi replies.

Aeryn smiles and heads out of the kitchen with one of the sandwiches, headed toward the stairs.

"I'm a little confused. We have 2 people on house arrest? and what do you mean brain scrambled? You seem fit enough to me." Manny says with a smirk.

"Does running a cafe take such a toll? or is there more to this that I'm missing." He adds, handing Sidney a plated panini.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-21, 10:19 PM

"I-it's more so I'm just worried about everything being good enough." He sighed. "Then again she probably also thought I'd be a lot less nervous if we did that. I'm really new to all of this, dating I mean."

“Clea, please take the wheel,” John requested as he drew his iPad Mini from his cloak.

“I’m sorry, Dee,” she replied teasingly. “Were you under the impression you were driving?”

“I like to flatter myself that I am in control of things from time to time, Clea,” he bantered back as he began to search for furniture he could modify for Zylas. “Depending on your experience with parking, Crowe, it might be worth using the availability of valet parking or nearby parking lots to narrow your options. Parallel parking a car you are unfamiliar with could make the evening more stressful than you would like. The exchange of insurance information should get messy, in terms of secret identities, if the police, other drivers, or insurance companies link the car to Emi.”

He quickly found himself limiting his search to Etsy, beginning to sort the furniture by colors that could work well with the inlay recommended by Dr. Riviera.

“I think the best thing you can do is commit to trying to have a good time and push all other worries to the side as much as you can. The more stressed you remain, the more stressed she will be.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said glancing over with a smile on his face as he tapped ‘buy’ on one of the couches, “some nerves can be endearing — or at least I can hope they can. She will either like you for yourself — and she is at least willing to give you a chance, so that option is open — or she won’t. And you don’t want to get yourself into the trap of trying to be someone you are not.

His smile turned a little wry as he looked for a chair and coffee table to match the couch. “I had to have a conversation with myself about the goatee I was sporting before the date — if we can dignify what had grown in with the title of goatee. It was an affectation I was growing, thinking it made me look more the part of a magician. But it wasn’t authentic and I was more comfortable having let it go.

“Just keep reminding yourself that she is willing to give you a chance based on you and you have been being you for several years now. So you have that part down. And since you wouldn’t ask someone out who you don’t enjoy spending time with, you are likely to enjoy yourself.

“All you need to do is prep a couple of topics to be ready to speak on when she looks at you and every thought you have ever had tries to disappear and you will be fine.”

PK-Leon

2022-08-21, 11:22 PM

Good Cop, Bad Cop

After Louis steps out, Ryker follows and slams the door shut behind him.

“So what’s the plan?” he asks Louis in a low voice. “I know what I would do, but you know I’m not really a guy for subtlety. The safe house he talked about is about 15 minutes from here. I’d expect at least two guys to be there, along with Leo. He’s a meta; makes **** explode when he touches it.”

Louis leans against the wall as he hears out everything Ryker has to say. "Being bulletproof will do that to you I suppose." He shrugs a bit, smiling at the thought. "Well for starters we can save ourselves the trouble and have the cops pick these two up while we take the truck back to get our bikes. From there we ride over to the safehouse, scope the place out, then when we're ready we make our play to take out Leo and save Izzy. Am I missing anything?"

InTheMachine

2022-08-22, 01:39 PM

Manny
Sidney’s eyes narrow as Manny avoids her initial question. The stubborn streak within her starts to rear it’s head, but she takes a breath and lets it go. “Three of us, technically. Me, Stell, and Ryker. I was being mind controlled for… a while. It really messed with my head. But Siren sorted me out. Mostly.”

She turns and leans against the counter. “I mean, it’s not like we could just take a week off. Bills, ya know? It was just me and him running things. And traveling takes money. We… didn’t have much when I was growing up. My papa struggled through being a single dad until I could start helping around the shop. He never asked me to, of course, but I could always see how hard he was working to get the two of us by.”

Haunted House
Yuki smiles gently at Keith as she squeezes Drake’s hand. “I get what you mean. This is my first relationship as well. After everything we went through, I think that if it’s meant to work out, it will. And John’s right, of course. You’ve known her for a while now, and she was willing to give you a chance. Have fun. Enjoy yourself.”

“Sorry I’m not more help, Keith,” Drake says. “I was never nervous about dates. The girls were always the nervous ones. Something about my personality.” He smirks as he brings Yuki’s hand up and kisses her knuckles.

HIDA

2022-08-22, 02:05 PM

Manny
Sidney’s eyes narrow as Manny avoids her initial question. The stubborn streak within her starts to rear it’s head, but she takes a breath and lets it go. “Three of us, technically. Me, Stell, and Ryker. I was being mind controlled for… a while. It really messed with my head. But Siren sorted me out. Mostly.”

She turns and leans against the counter. “I mean, it’s not like we could just take a week off. Bills, ya know? It was just me and him running things. And traveling takes money. We… didn’t have much when I was growing up. My papa struggled through being a single dad until I could start helping around the shop. He never asked me to, of course, but I could always see how hard he was working to get the two of us by.”

Manny's expression softens. Realizing his initial image of Siren may have been too presumptuous. He sips his tea while listening to Sidney explain the dynamics of her childhood and found himself thinking of his father and grandfather.

"That's fair, I suppose. Nothing in this world is free and traveling internationally certainly isn't. Have you -gotten a chance to speak to your father? Since Siren set you right? Not to press if the subject is still unresolved."

Manny rubbed the back of his neck. An awkwardness that was a bit foreign to him crept into his mind. He had strong feelings on the matter but his own experience made him feel a but more voyeuristic when probing into the interpersonal relationships of other people and their families. He knew his family dynamic wasn't normal, but where did the similarities start and end.

Roguewolf

2022-08-22, 03:28 PM

“Just keep reminding yourself that she is willing to give you a chance based on you and you have been being you for several years now. So you have that part down. And since you wouldn’t ask someone out who you don’t enjoy spending time with, you are likely to enjoy yourself.

“All you need to do is prep a couple of topics to be ready to speak on when she looks at you and every thought you have ever had tries to disappear and you will be fine.”

Haunted House
Yuki smiles gently at Keith as she squeezes Drake’s hand. “I get what you mean. This is my first relationship as well. After everything we went through, I think that if it’s meant to work out, it will. And John’s right, of course. You’ve known her for a while now, and she was willing to give you a chance. Have fun. Enjoy yourself.”

“Sorry I’m not more help, Keith,” Drake says. “I was never nervous about dates. The girls were always the nervous ones. Something about my personality.” He smirks as he brings Yuki’s hand up and kisses her knuckles.

Keith thought about John's words and smiled with a nod. looking between him and Yuki. He ponders asking John if he also means to ask a voice in his head to remember things for that moment, then thinks slightly better of it.

"Don't rope me into this! You know I'll forget to!" White immediately chimed in.

Keith rolled his eyes internally and shook his head. "That may just be the best advice I've ever heard. As for driving, still pretty sure she's the only one allowed to drive the borrowed vehicle. Wouldn't dream of putting stress like that on Emi. And any extra stress would just, drag it all downhill."

He thought for a moment. "Still so much more I want to learn and just hope I don't forget it all just by seeing her. Then again, bound to happen."

He does chuckle a bit at Drake's comment and smirks. "Would never have guessed bud. A lot of help actually since now there's a lot of ideas just swimmin' in my head." He nods. "But main plan, have fun, make sure she has fun, and see where it all goes."

Meant to be it'll be huh? Something people always said but it struck an odd cord with Keith. Some before had used the expression saying he too would be a villain one day, and as much as he thought it wouldn't phase his mentality, it still stung. This had been one of few times he heard it used in a hopeful manner. He couldn't help but smile at the prospect.

InTheMachine

2022-08-22, 08:49 PM

Manny
Sidney’s gaze drops to the floor, and she shakes her head. “No. I haven’t seen him for over a year.” She picks up her sandwich and takes a large bite as Aeryn returns to the kitchen.

The alien picks up the last panini and smiles at Sidney before taking a bite. “You we’re right to make four. Seraph was starving.”

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Ryker shrugs as he takes another drag. “Not gonna lie, it’s kinda nice,” he says with a smirk.

After taking the truck back to the parking lot they’d stolen it from and picking up their bikes, the two ride over within a few blocks of Summit Street. Ryker suggests another illusion so that they can scope out the house.

The house a small, two-story brick construction on a corner lot. It has a tall chain link fence in the back and an old matte gray Monte Carlo (https://www.carscoops.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Chevrolet-Monte-Carlo-1024x555.jpg) in the driveway. All of the blinds are down. Nothing seems to stir in the house.

“My guess is that they’re keeping Izzy in one of the bedrooms upstairs,” Ryker says as they casually walk by. “Leo‘s here. That’s his car.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-22, 09:20 PM

John let Keith slip into his reverie about the future as he continued to find some basic furniture from Zylas’ room. At one level, he felt a twinge of guilt at imposing a handful of key pieces of his suite upon Zylas. His guilt was severely limited by the practical question of the need for some basic furniture before he could become involved in choosing the rest. The futon, end table, and small desk he had already installed would make sure he had a place to sleep and sit and sleep and the couch, chairs, and coffee table he just ordered would provide a comfortable sitting area. From there, he could work with him on other pieces that expand and replace these quick purchases and hold up his side of their bargain.

As much as he would have liked to believe the futon and incidental pieces he had already purchased would suffice for the short time Zylas would be staying, he had begun to wrestle with the thought that his stay might be extended — if, that is, he and Dr. Riviera did not come up with a way to keep his recovery time brief. He also wondered how much he would eventually be tasked with keeping Dr. Riviera safe from herself. In Zylas, she had a subject for extended study — one that now did not have any home to return to. How simple would it be for her to employ her considerable knowledge in writing a beneficial contract — one what would bind Zylas to her in exchange for her providing him with a place to live.

He couldn’t imagine Seraph approving.

He had a brief image of Zylas and Manny forming a team to take the Iron Station party scene by storm — as even more unlikely a night life tag team as Manny’s and his own, and shook his head. He wasn’t sure any plane of existence was prepared for that combination.

As the garage door to their base opened, he surveyed the pile of boxes that had come with the AEGIS deliveries. It wan’t a large pile, but, looking at the inventory provided by Mimi and Clea, he could see that the stack contained items that went to various points of the base: raw material and an apparatus and for his workshop; coffee syrup, truffle oil, and tea for the kitchen; and several items of clothing — some from London, some new, including a tuxedo he was unlikely to need but thought prudent to have in case Emi or an investigation required formal wear. With their arrival, he would no longer be rotating through the clothing he had brought over in his backpack and having to do loads of laundry every six days.

Not that there was much from London there. The flat he was using was fully furnished so he had accumulated little more than some souvenirs and some clothes that Jeffery had recommended that he pick up. Most of the rest of his collection from there was digital — pictures he had taken with his phone, electronic books that could be downloaded from everywhere else on the planet, and his notes from class and his magical research.

As he surveyed the small but noticeable stack of boxes as he got out of his car, he was confronted with the reality that he had assembled more things in Iron Station than he had in London or at Salve. And while he could attribute some of that to his work here, he began to mentally assemble two lists in his head — the things he had purchased because he needed them (e.g., general clothing, basic alchemical laboratory equipment, Clea) and the things he had purchased because Emi had entered his life and — quite clearly — had irrevocably charged it (the equipment he was assembling to help her mother, the tuxedo, an entire outdoor room that he kept planning to expand). The only reason the former list remained longer than the latter, he decided, was because of Clea.

And even she figured prominently in his relationship with Emi.

From a rational point of view, he thought as he plugged Clea in so that she would be fully charged before he left to..pick…up…Emi, it was absurd. They had known one another for such a brief time and here he was laying in supplies as if he were preparing for a siege. And while it was true that being the head of his Foundation might require him to be prepared for a formal event, there was no question that every time he thought of what such an event would be like, Emi was always imagined at his side.

He glanced over at Keith, who was engaged in some small talk with Yuki. What was the advice he offered to him? Try and have fun and not worry about it? Perhaps, he realized, he should take his own advice to heart.

big teej

2022-08-22, 09:46 PM

Duty Calls:

Raphael spares a final glance at his conversation with John before pocketing his phone and sauntering out of the room with Stella. He'd wrack his brain trying to solve the handwriting problem later. He wasn't about to risk activating her curse again.

He hums tunelessly as they walk through the halls and get on the elevator. "I dunno if I'm in trouble" he says, putting his back to the wall. He runs his hand through his hair a few times, trying to get it to stay back out of his eyes. "It's been a long, long time since I was summoned by..." He shrugs. "Family, much less to meet a servant."

His phone chimes again and Raphael pulls it back out, trying to buy himself some time to figure out a better answer for this woman he found himself wrapped up with.

Originally posted by Louis LeBlanc

Hate to interrupt whatever your up to but I could use your help right now. We've got a hostage situation over at 903 Summit Street. Some Rooks kidnapped a civilian and are using her as leverage against Sidney's old man. We can probably get the jump on'em if we raid their safehouse when they least expect it. I'm thinking a strike team of three should be more than enough for the job. You in?

"Louis has been busy." The vampire muses aloud. He looks up at Stella. "He says he needs me for some regular hero work. Are you okay to get home alone?"

I'm on my way.

"Then again." The vampire says with a smile. "I'm not supposed to let you out of my sight. So I guess we're gonna go get your good deed in for the day."

PK-Leon

2022-08-23, 10:53 AM

The house a small, two-story brick construction on a corner lot. It has a tall chain link fence in the back and an old matte gray Monte Carlo in the driveway. All of the blinds are down. Nothing seems to stir in the house.

“My guess is that they’re keeping Izzy in one of the bedrooms upstairs,” Ryker says as they casually walk by. “Leo‘s here. That's his car.”

Louis studies the 2-story in an attempt to find another point of entry.

He whistles as they walk by the Monte Carlo. "Never worked on one of those before. Shame it's gonna go to auction after today."

7 (https://orokos.com/roll/951902) + 2 (Perception) = 9!

Spent 1 Benny to reroll!

After making their initial pass Louis suggests that they take a position on a nearby rooftop with a good vantage point.

He checks is phone and smirks a bit after reading Raph's reply. Cavalry's on the way now so all we have to do is keep watch. Once they've found a suitable watch point Louis creates a duplicate to serve as second set of eyes while he updates Raph with their new location.

"So you said Leo can make anything he touches explode? How's that work exactly? There's gotta be some sort of limitation to it right?"

InTheMachine

2022-08-23, 11:34 AM

Manny
As Aeryn and Sidney enjoy their sandwiches, Seraph rounds the corner to the kitchen, carrying an empty plate. He sets it in the sink after saying a quick thank you to the two before turning to Manny. “Glad to see you’re up. Mimi said you wanted to talk to me?”

Good Cop, Bad Cop
Louis spots an open window on the back of the house on the second story as another possible entry point.

“It is a shame,” Ryker agrees. “He’s done a lot of work to that thing. Full engine and transmission swap. I think he told me one time that it makes like 600 horsepower. He’s had it as long as I was in the Rooks.”

Once they’re situated on an adjacent roof, Ryker shrugs at Louis’ question. “Look, I talked to Vic way more than I ever talked to Leo, and it’s not like I asked him exactly how his powers work. He puts his palm on somethin’, it explodes. He can control how big the explosion is, but I can tell you that it ****in’ hurt when I sparred against him even when he wasn’t using his full power.”

As they observe, Louis notices a dark haired woman (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/84/5a/2d/845a2dc9ae98d8f1605373f1f7403b03.jpg) quickly look out of one of the front windows of an upstairs room. She seems to look down at the driveway, and then at the road before she disappears behind the blinds again.

Ryker swears. “**** I missed whoever that was. You saw the blinds move, right?”

John and Keith
Once Clea’s parked in the garage of West Side, Yuki and Drake say a quick goodbye to the two of them and head upstairs.

Raphael
“J'aime ta façon de penser, bouille,” Stella says with a smile as the elevator stops on the bottom floor. “Did Louis say what he needed help with?”

I like the way you think

mmdeforrest

2022-08-23, 12:00 PM

Manny
John and Keith
Once Clea’s parked in the garage of West Side, Yuki and Drake say a quick goodbye to the two of them and head upstairs.

John wished Drake and Yuki well as they departed the garage before summoning four Serving Spirits to aid him in moving his boxes.

Minions (8) — Four movers
Spellcasting Roll — the muscle (Minions) (https://orokos.com/roll/951903): 1d12o12 9 1d6o6 1

“If the two of you could take these downstairs to my workshop,” he said as he began to sort the boxes and point them out to the spirits, “and set them down in one of the areas outside the circle, you drop these two small boxes off in the kitchen, and you carry the remainder and follow me, I would appreciate it. Once you have set the boxes down — you will be setting them down in front of my closet, you will be free to depart. Thank you for your assistance.”

John picked up the box that contained his tuxedo and turned to Keith. “Do we have anything left that we needed to cover? My schedule gets tighter as it goes on and I would hate to forget anything.”

Roguewolf

2022-08-23, 12:45 PM

John and Keith
Once Clea’s parked in the garage of West Side, Yuki and Drake say a quick goodbye to the two of them and head upstairs.

John wished Drake and Yuki well as they departed the garage before summoning four Serving Spirits to aid him in moving his boxes.

John picked up the box that contained his tuxedo and turned to Keith. “Do we have anything left that we needed to cover? My schedule gets tighter as it goes on and I would hate to forget anything.”

Keith waved goodbye at Yuki and Drake, still grinning at the help they had all given him. He did watch a bit in awe as John summoned his minions. Though, he at least knew these wouldn't be coming after him.

At the question of anything left to cover and the schedule getting tighter, Keith shook his head.

"I think that's most everything and anything else can wait until later. I'd rather not be the cause of holdin' up your dinner plans more than I already have. Think I'm gonna hit the gym for a bit and try a little research after."

HIDA

2022-08-23, 03:49 PM

Manny
Sidney’s gaze drops to the floor, and she shakes her head. “No. I haven’t seen him for over a year.” She picks up her sandwich and takes a large bite as Aeryn returns to the kitchen.

The alien picks up the last panini and smiles at Sidney before taking a bite. “You we’re right to make four. Seraph was starving.”

Manny's mood shifts slightly. Something was wrong. Why hasn't she seen him. especially after she's back to normal. There has to be a reason, right? Even still, she should be allowed to see him even with supervision or something.

"Or the sandwiches are simply quite spectacular." He says to Sidney with a grin.

"By the way Aeryn, Did Seraph seems awake enough for conversation? I still need to chat with him." Manny says, looking back towards him.

As Aeryn and Sidney enjoy their sandwiches, Seraph rounds the corner to the kitchen, carrying an empty plate. He sets it in the sink after saying a quick thank you to the two before turning to Manny. “Glad to see you’re up. Mimi said you wanted to talk to me?”

"As a matter of fact, I did." Manny says, both grateful and cursing his timing.

"I'm looking to take a tour of the city and was wondering if i could borrow yourself and/or these 2 for companionship. I understand your responsibilities, but a relatively quick once-around may be nice for all involved. It's been more than a touch stressful for you and yours recently. I thought it would be nice for you and informative for me. What do you think?"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-23, 05:57 PM

At the question of anything left to cover and the schedule getting tighter, Keith shook his head.

"I think that's most everything and anything else can wait until later. I'd rather not be the cause of holdin' up your dinner plans more than I already have. Think I'm gonna hit the gym for a bit and try a little research after."

“I hope you will be reading Yelp reviews rather than something heavier than that,” John suggested to Keith with a smile as they moved towards the door.

“Good afternoon, John,” Mimi said. “Agent Montcrieff had asked that I alert her when you and Clea returned. She has asked if you will be able to speak with her soon.

John exchanged glances with Keith. “Please let her know I will call within the half hour, Mimi. And thank you for letting me know. While I had not forgotten, I would not have wanted to disturb her.”

“I doubt you would have,” Clea added through her exterior speaker. “There are indications your activities today have resulted in a good bit of chatter among AEGIS’ Occult Divisions.”

John sighed. This was not the kind of notoriety he had craved in middle school.

“Thanks for the warning, Clea.” He stopped. “Wait: Why do you know that?”

“Agent Montcrieff told me, 007 Mark 2,” she replied airily. “You really didn’t expect her to not reach out to me, did you?”

“Let’s just say I did not expect her to do so this quickly,” he responded as they walked into the base.

“Tee hee,” Clea teased after him as the door closed.
———
Of all the people to find in the kitchen, John was fairly certain Harbinger was no where near the top of his list. The scent of the tea he was brewing marked it as the same formulation that Yuki had given him to help with his migraines and he was not looking any better than when they spoke at the ruins a short time before.

“We are worried about you, Harbinger,” he said quietly, setting down his boxes and removing his hood. “That’s not me trying to put on oracular airs. Emi mentioned it the other day after you arrived as did those of us who you just came to help. We know you are strong and capable but we do care and want to do what we can for you.

“Thank you,” he said to the Serving Spirits. “You may depart.” As they vanished, he turned back to Harbinger as he began to unbox the truffle oil and coffee syrup. “Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do to help? I’m likely to be around here for the immediate future — long enough that I could tie up some of my magic into creating a buffer for you and at least get you started on a nap.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-23, 09:24 PM

Manny
“As much as I would like to, unless something urgent comes up, I’m staying at the base,” Seraph says. “I don’t think I should stray too far in case I need to deal with our… guest downstairs.” The angel’s face is carefully neutral as he speaks of the Greater Demon.

“I’d take you,” Aeryn offers. “But I haven’t been here very long. I’m still learning the city too. We’re you wanting to like… drive? The city’s pretty big. Also, we don’t have a car.”

John-3:15pm
The angel jumps as John speaks.

He slips a blue pill bottle into his coat pocket as he turns around.

A range of emotions pass over his face as he turns to face the magician, which eventually settles on irritation. “I don’t need your help, John. I’ll deal with it,” he growls. “I get it. Everyone’s worried about me. James won’t leave me alone. Emi keeps asking to help me sort through my visions, but I don’t want her to see what keeps going through my head. Yuki and Kenzie keep telling me to take it easy—“

He cuts himself off before he can keep going, running a hand through his hair as he lets out a gusty sigh. Several gray feathers drift to the floor as he pulls his wings closer to his back.

He looks back up at John and the magician can see the pain and worry in his eyes before the angel blinks and it’s replaced by the same hardness that’s usually there. “Sorry, John. I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” he says quietly. “I know you’re just trying to help. I… I’m fine. Okay?”

big teej

2022-08-23, 09:35 PM

Game Face:

Raphael steers Stella through the lobby toward the parking garage. "You know, in hindsight, the roof might have been better for you." He says, looking around for security cameras. Finding an obliging pillar that blocks line of sight to the cameras on this floor, he pulls his phone back out and share's Redline's current location.

"Here's where we're goin. It's a hostage situation that's kinda close to home. Someone close to Songbird's dad. Anything else before we head out?" He asks, giving her another quick kiss.

If not, Raphael explodes into a murder of crows that flocks its way across the city toward Redline.

HIDA

2022-08-23, 10:04 PM

InTheMachine

2022-08-23, 10:26 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-23, 10:39 PM

John-3:15pm
The angel jumps as John speaks.

He slips a blue pill bottle into his coat pocket as he turns around.

A range of emotions pass over his face as he turns to face the magician, which eventually settles on irritation. “I don’t need your help, John. I’ll deal with it,” he growls. “I get it. Everyone’s worried about me. James won’t leave me alone. Emi keeps asking to help me sort through my visions, but I don’t want her to see what keeps going through my head. Yuki and Kenzie keep telling me to take it easy—“

He cuts himself off before he can keep going, running a hand through his hair as he lets out a gusty sigh. Several gray feathers drift to the floor as he pulls his wings closer to his back.

He looks back up at John and the magician can see the pain and worry in his eyes before the angel blinks and it’s replaced by the same hardness that’s usually there. “Sorry, John. I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” he says quietly. “I know you’re just trying to help. I… I’m fine. Okay?”

Notice Roll — the pills (https://orokos.com/roll/951934): 1d10o10+4 10 1d6o6+4 8

“There are no apologies necessary, Harbinger. Sometimes it helps to snap a little,” John replied gently. “I’m a big enough boy to be able to take it if you do. And given the list of people who have already offered to help — and their place in your life — I can understand why my own offer is less likely to move you.

“For what it’s worth, though, it’s not okay,” he said quietly. “If it were, you would not be seeking out pharmaceutical help — probably a wise approach to take, as it implies you have taken the first step and seen someone. When I was trying to recover from my own PTSD following the Windsor Incident, I learned that wasn’t an option for me — and never would be.”

He smiled wryly as he took down two glasses and got the milk out of the refrigerator. “They even did blood tests to confirm that the drugs were in my system. At the time, they had to drape my arm to take it because the blood risked triggering me, but they could see the drugs in my system and learned that they just flowed through my bloodstream and did not react. Doctor Pearson was really annoyed at that result — even if he was the one who first observed that they were unlikely to work.

He mixed the two coffee milks, offering one to Harbinger. “I’m not saying that what I was going through was anything like what you are facing. The visions I occasionally have were magnified for a bit but they are relatively tame — object reading compared to the visions attributed to you. And now that the Stones are making there way to this city, I would guess that the kind of thing that could happen is getting worse and the chances of it happening are increasing.

“You have been a hero to this city and to the people you train for some time now, Harbinger. It’s only natural that Emi, Yuki, Kenzie, and Seraph would want to return the favor to whatever degrees they can. If you do decide you want to talk, you can add me to the list of those who will help. And I speak a language you can use that not even Emi will be able to intuit, so it should be private enough. Well, at least until she figures out how to learn it from you or me or Seraph or some other source. I’m honor bound to keep it secret and I believe she would not try to learn if you asked her, but my instinct says she will figure out a way if she puts her mind to it.”

He winced.

“No pun intended.”

“What I am trying to say, Harbinger, is that pushing everyone away is not going to help you and runs the risk of harming yourself and those around you — whether it is because you cannot function or because you have made them feel so helpless in the face of your issues that they cease to believe they can have the kind of positive impact we need to believe we can have in this line of work.”

He took a sip of his coffee milk. “You will know better than I will if it is one of us who can help of if you need to go to someone else. But you need help. Please let us help you get it.”

John attempt to Comfort and Support Harbinger, trying to employ a logical angle (per his Brain playbook: When you comfort or support someone by rationally pointing out their mistakes so they can do better next time, roll + Superior instead of + Mundane. If they do not open up to you, mark a condition.)

Comforting and/or Supporting Harbinger (https://orokos.com/roll/951937): 2d6+2 6

John adds +1 for sharing a vulnerability, using an obscure, ancient, and probably should have been forbidden ritual, reaching the magical number 7.

.

HIDA

2022-08-24, 12:18 AM

Cavalry’s Here
Stella gives Raphael a lingering kiss before she snaps her fingers and her form fades into the shadows. “See you there, bouille.”

As Ryker and Louis continue their lookout, a single black crow lands on the rooftop next to them. Soon after, a thin line of black smoke climbs up from the backyard to the roof, coalescing into the still slightly see through form of Miss Menagerie.

Manny
Seraph shakes his head. “Sidney’s currently in AEGIS custody and is under house arrest.”

“I’m kind of a wanted criminal,” Sidney admits more than a little sheepishly. “I did some things while my brains were scrambled, so I don’t think you want me walking around outside with you. ISPD would probably have something to say about that.”

Manny allows a moment to pass.

"Ah. Well I don't think it's in my best interest to press the issue further.

at least until i come up with an argument more compelling than "Wanted criminals shouldn't be outside".

--That was all that i wanted for now. Th- wait. I do have another question. Can I request secured and encrypted 2-way video communication? I'd ask Bernie but since you're the Team's leader I'd assume to ask you first."

InTheMachine

2022-08-24, 01:12 PM

Manny
“Don’t you have an encrypted laptop issued from AEGIS London?” Seraph asks curiously as he moves over to the fridge and rifles through it. He pulls out a plastic container of green grapes and pops the top. “That’s usually what the team uses for secure communications. Or I can requisition you a phone from the office here. It might take a few days to get to base though. You have someone you need to talk to already?”

John
Harbinger’s eyes are pinned on John as he speaks. After he finishes, the angel takes a few breaths before he accepts the coffee and walks over to the dining room table, taking a seat. He situates the square mug exactly parallel to the edge of the table.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he says in Angelical. “The pills, I mean. They’re a cocktail of drugs that are about 50 times normal strength and they don’t seem to do a damn thing to me. I was hoping that…maybe they would help.” He shakes his head. “I know you haven’t been in town long, so you probably haven’t heard of her, but I’ve been working with Dr. Snowblood. Off the books, of course. We’ve known each other for a long time and over lunch on Sunday she asked if I would at least try some drugs. So she mixed these up and told me to give them a week, but I’d probably know if they’d work in a day or two. Obviously they haven’t.”

He takes a drink of coffee before looking back up at John and continuing in English. “I’m just so tired and pissed off of being the one with problems. The weak one. James isn’t even 30 yet and he—“

The angel takes another breath and turns his glare down into his mug of coffee. “That’s… beside the point though. I hear you, John. I’ve tried a lot of things to try and get my visions and migraines under control, but nothing’s worked. I don’t know what to do anymore, but I don’t feel like I can ask anyone for help. They can’t do anything for me. If you have an idea though, I’ll… hear you out.”

Dr. Snowblood is a doctor that specializes in treating metahumans. She currently works at Iron Station General.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-24, 02:35 PM

John
Harbinger’s eyes are pinned on John as he speaks. After he finishes, the angel takes a few breaths before he accepts the coffee and walks over to the dining room table, taking a seat. He situates the square mug exactly parallel to the edge of the table.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he says in Angelical. “The pills, I mean.”

[Snip]

Dr. Snowblood is a doctor that specializes in treating metahumans. She currently works at Iron Station General.

“I’ll add it to the list of things that I haven’t seen,” John said quickly in Angelical. “I’m glad to hear you are seeing her, though.”

Smarts Roll (https://orokos.com/roll/951971): 1d12o12 13 1d6o6 3

“I don’t know her, but I recognize the name,” John replied, sitting down across from Harbinger and smiling ruefully. “She was at the top of my list of names I was supposed to contact once I got here to continue my own treatments. I, um, seem to have gotten distracted and sidetracked of late.

“I do want to issue an important correction — one that my own therapists kept working to hammer home. Just because I have been given access to these powers doesn’t mean I will cease to have problems of my own. You aren’t the only one with problems, Harbinger. We all have them and, from time to time, we all have them in greater and lesser degrees. Right now, you are the one who has them to a greater degree and those of us around you are here to help you — just like you have been helping others for years and not giving it a second thought. If it helps to think of it as all of us paying you back for the times you have helped us and others, embrace that. If it helps to think about how you will help others after and, in doing so, even out the karmic balance sheets, embrace that.

“So long as you embrace the idea that it is okay to need help and to accept help when it is needed.”

John took a deep breath. “A lot of this is going to boil down to a question of trust. I could try to block out some of the outside influences, letting you sleep — if they are outside influences. We are not going to be able to help you sort things out if you can’t rest and heal. But that would require you to both trust me to cast that spell over you — and to experiment until we find the kind of spell necessary — and to let go enough to let others take up your burden while you rest.

“A first step in this, and I do not expect you to answer this right now — because I, ultimately, may not be the one you choose to get help from — is determining why you would not want Emi to see what it is you are seeing. If you are worried about protecting her, you could ask her father for help — if you trust him to the same level you trust her. Your indication that you are, in some ways, protecting her hints that trust isn;t the issue there.”

John offered a self deprecating smile. “If you think you could stand the way we look at one another and how scattered I get in her presence, I can ask if she would be willing to work with me on this. Mr. Shaw and Seraph shouldn’t be the only team leads in this town afflicted with that enforced comedy. We’re ready to go live with a 80s sitcom with me in the bumbling husband role and her as the competent wife.

“Not that I’m thinking of us in those terms…”

He shook his head as he blushed. “I’m just going to stop that train of thought before it derails by ability to think entirely.

“Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that our first step will be defining the larger problem while we get you a chance to rest and recover. I’m not looking for an answer now, as I am sure you will want to think about it, but if you want to give it a go, I am sure we can find a quiet space for you to rest — whether it is a spare room, Seraph’s quarters, or the roof space I set up for Emi.

“Not just Emi. For everyone — including angels who need a place to grab a quick nap.”

While it was true John was getting increasingly distracted by the thought of Emi and his ongoing drift towards thinking of her within the context of marriage and his apparent need to let the team leads of Iron Station know about it, the higher thinking portion of his mind remained alert — if annoyed at the other portions of his mind — and was studying Harbinger. It was looking less for his reactions and more for hints as to whether the first spell he should try would be to protect the angel from an external influence or something coming from within him.

Occult Roll to sense what direction to take (https://orokos.com/roll/951975): 1d12o12+2 16 1d6o6+2 4
John spends a Bennie to reroll

InTheMachine

2022-08-24, 07:50 PM

John
“Jesus, John. You sound like my old man,” Harbinger says, leaning his chair back onto two legs. “He was always full of good advice, especially the stuff you didn’t want to hear.” He closes his eyes for a moment before letting the chair drop back down.

He reaches out to the napkins in the middle of the table and pulls a pen out of his inner coat pocket and writes down a number— Dr. Grace Snowblood is in his loopy script on the top. He slides the napkin across the table to John. “She works late tonight, ‘til 9:30. Tell her Nolan gave you her number.”

He takes another sip of coffee before looking back at John. “Are you over your fear of blood? You said you can get object visions, right? Mine are strong enough that you might be able to get a reading off of me, so you can see why I don’t want Emi or Alistair to see them.”

He offers his hand to John. “Only if you’re sure. And only for a second or two. It’s going to be… intense.”

The second John’s hand touches the angel’s, the world goes goes red. A woman screams as her daughter’s entrails are ripped out by the sharp talons of a lion headed demon. John can feel the hot blood on his face—

The scene shifts and John sees a city street from above. Cars are wrecked and burning; he can smell the burnt rubber and plastic. A legion of demons roams through, butchering the few remaining people—

Harbinger snatches his hand away, watching John carefully.

Roguewolf

2022-08-24, 08:04 PM

“I hope you will be reading Yelp reviews rather than something heavier than that,” John suggested to Keith with a smile as they moved towards the door.

Keith nods in agreement. “First Yelp reviews, then some heavier reading. Just going to focus on getting all the ducks in a row. And thank you again, John. I appreciate everything.” Keith waves as he makes his way back into the living quarters and towards his room.

It isn’t too long after he closes the door to get changed that he hears a phone ringing and recognizes it as a communication program on his computer.

Don E. wants to video chat? He wasn’t sure just how well that would go over but at least no one else was around right now. He sat down at his desk to open and accept. On the other end, a bald man in his early 30s sat at a desk wearing a button-up shirt with various patterns not matching his job title.

“Keith buddy! How ya doin’? Ok down to brass tax, what the actual hell is going on over there? I saw the **** on the news with the Volta Memorial. What did someone do?”
Keith just grinned and shook his head. “Doin’ good Don E. just staying busy. You? Ya just get straight to business don’t ya? And can’t say much about it. You know some of the rules.”

Don tilts his head on the other side of the monitor and sighs. “Keith c’mon, you can tell me. You know I’ll find out anyway eventually. Infiltration unit, we do info gatherin’, nothin’ gets by us. Guess a better question is do you think your old man is behind it?”

Keith shook his head. “Can’t say, mostly because I don’t know. I doubt he would be behind the entire thing here but involved? Maybe to a degree. No signs of the Empire just yet. All we gathered were those raeksha were after something and trying to learn more about it now.”

Don sighed again, then turned to take a look behind him and shouted at someone. “HEY! IF YER GONNA HALF-ASS THAT PROGRAM RUN, THEN JUST GET THE **** OUT AND LET ME FIND SOMEONE THAT WILL!”

He turned back to the monitor. “Sorry Keith, new guy. But nah, summoning something that big to do his work don’t sound like Magatsu, and even then, I doubt he would swing back by right now without having a scout there or somethin’. Oh right, that reminds me. Kenneth has been workin’ undercover the past week and hasn’t gotten your text about your first few days at West Side. I got his phone.” Don holds up Keith’s uncle’s phone. “He should be back any……”

Don is cut off by a middle-aged man with white hair (https://i.pinimg.com/originals/81/1b/3c/811b3c2f340eaad6ea5502d7dddb57b4.jpg) that bears a resemblance to Keith barging into the area and lighting a cigarette. “DONALD! Why did my bugout location move and why the hell am I two days late to get here?!” He smacks Don upside the head.

It’s about that moment the older man recognizes the other face on the screen. “NEPHEW! How’s life in Iron Station? Things goin’ well? No attacks from my dip**** brother? It’s good to see ya! Gimme all the updates!” He about shoves Don out of the chair, who yelps at being shoved.

Keith can’t help but laugh at the antics of both of them. “It’s good to see you again Uncle Kenny. So far so good, got transferred to West Side so back in AEGIS territory. On the same team as Redline so that’s interesting but haven’t had that chat with him yet. Oh there’s an occult expert here from London, thought he was part of the Empire at first and that would have went SO badly. There’s just a lot to tell too. Oh Don, how did you know to send that one text earlier this afternoon?”

Uncle Kenny glares over at Don for a moment who throws his hands up in defense. “Look it was a lucky guess. I heard through the grapevine that he was talkin’ about a date with someone and, ya know, just gave him a little push! Just lucked out that his phone’s GPS pinged at East Side back in Myriad territory!” He is almost immediately smacked again.
“Who did he push you to talk to?” Keith’s uncle started inquiring a bit.

Keith wore a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. “So ummmm…. I asked Burnout on a date Saturday and…. Well she said yes to at least one date while we were at East Side.”

Keith’s Uncle just grinned from ear to ear. “That’s good to hear! About time too. So what’s the plan, where y’all goin’?” Don just sat back to stay out of the way still with more questions.

Keith just nodded. “Didn’t expect this at all. So we’re going to do a late lunch slash early dinner, then more than likely go to a concert that’s in town. She suggested it because she thought I’d be excited for it so also trying to think of another idea.”

Kenneth and Don looked at each other and then back at the monitor. “You do realize that’s both good and bad right? Then again she knows you.”

Don just shrugs. “Eh go for it. Worst case it don’t work out, and best case, she has fun, catches feelings and wants another date. Can’t really help it much. Now if only you had a car or somethin’. Hey Kenneth, shouldn’t he have another familiar by now?”

Kenneth shrugged. “No idea, maybe? Ok so anyway, updates. Got into an Empire base and was stuck there a bit. The good news is Magatsu hasn’t made much of a move right yet, and more than likely is still bolstering his minions.” A smirk crosses Keith’s uncle’s face. “Not since that last batch we all took out a while back.”

Keith lets out a sigh of relief. “That’s good at least. No new updates on them here, just the regular Iron Station stuff and other things I can’t talk about.”

Don pipes up. “We’re running out of time a bit before setting off again but you need anything? Can try to put in a req form for ya and get stuff there overnight?”

Keith and his Uncle shake their heads before Keith speaks up again. “Man, most kids would probably kill to have two father figures like y’all. Eh some form of ground transport would be nice, right now borrowing a car for the big day. Say, fun story. Did y’all know there’s a betting pool in London division on who my father is?”

Both Don and Kenneth look at each other and back at the screen. “Any chance we could get in on it? How much and what are the odds? Seriously, we could be entirely set!”

Keith smirks. “Unfortunately, bragging rights is the main prize, and I've been told someone already guessed it.” Keith shrugs. “Not that I have confirmed or denied it.”

Don throws his hands up in the air. “WELL, THAT FIGURES!”

Keith’s Uncle just laughs and turns back to the screen as Don rants a bit. “It is good to see you again Keith, stay safe out there ok? We’ll talk again soon. And welcome back into AEGIS territory. Love ya kid.”

“I will, you be safe out there too. And try not to kill Don too much. Love ya too Uncle.” The call is cut off from Don’s side and Keith readies himself for Ryker’s workout regiment again, planning to spend a couple of hours in the gym at least before reading up on his yelp reviews.

mmdeforrest

2022-08-24, 08:41 PM

John
He reaches out to the napkins in the middle of the table and pulls a pen out of his inner coat pocket and writes down a number— Dr. Grace Snowblood is in his loopy script on the top. He slides the napkin across the table to John. “She works late tonight, ‘til 9:30. Tell her Nolan gave you her number.”

“Thanks,” he replied, pocketing the napkin. “Given everything that is going on, I’d imagine she has quite the waiting list. Dr. Higgins — the head of the therapy team at City of London — will be glad to know I have contacted her, though.”

He takes another sip of coffee before looking back at John. “Are you over your fear of blood? You said you can get object visions, right? Mine are strong enough that you might be able to get a reading off of me, so you can see why I don’t want Emi or Alistair to see them.”

He offers his hand to John. “Only if you’re sure. And only for a second or two. It’s going to be… intense.”

“It was never a fear of the blood,” John explained as he reached for Harbinger’s hand. “It triggered some flashbacks and kicked in my fight or flight reflex. The drugs may not have been an option, but my Amulet serves the same purpose.”

The second John’s hand touches the angel’s, the world goes goes red. A woman screams as her daughter’s entrails are ripped out by the sharp talons of a lion headed demon. John can feel the hot blood on his face—

The scene shifts and John sees a city street from above. Cars are wrecked and burning; he can smell the burnt rubber and plastic. A legion of demons roams through, butchering the few remaining people—

Harbinger snatches his hand away, watching John carefully.

Blood. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, so much blood.

The girl’s screams mingled with Christie’s wails at the base of Victoria’s statue. The mothers’ cries were eerily similar.

His mind kept circling the thought of Christie as he watched the scene unfold — something out of an image of the End of Days.

The vision was snatched away with Harbinger’s hand — although the echo of the girl’s scream lingered in his head.

He took a deep breath. It came out raggedly as he released it.

He saved Christie.

He took a sip of coffee.

He could save that girl, too.

“Stella had dreams she worried were precognitive before we made the raid on the River King’s treasury,” John said, sensing his Amulet as it fought to moderate his reaction to the vision. Even so, he was breathing more rapidly than usual. “The vision she described was of a piece with this one — although this was a more immediate experience for me than listening to her tell me about my potential future disembowelment.”

He set the cup down on the table, cupping it in his hands and feeling its warmth.

You are here, John. Here and now.

Focus. He needs your help.

“Perhaps I should have risked getting a reading off her. Her curse made me over cautious.”

So much blood.

“Some data points: One: Per Dr. Riviera, if the Stones of Vanuusha are gathered together, they can bring the King of Hell himself across. Two: Rizaska Kisharha, who had the summoning of the King of Hell as the big item on her bucket list, speculated that the Stones were gathering in Iron Station. Three: Stella’s dream and your vision both indicate possible futures when we are overwhelmed by demons, who go on a rampage of destruction. Four: Prophetic dreams and visions show possible futures — ones that can be prevented through concerted effort if they are countered correctly. I believe you have made a career of that sort of thing.

“Given these data points, we have been warned not only of such a future but have been given the tools to make sure it does not happen. And with two Stones in our possession, we have begin the task of making sure it can’t.”

John took another sip of coffee, trying to deny the echo’s power over him.

“I would suggest to you, little comfort though it may bring, the same thing I told Stella. There are two ways of looking at this — that it is a warning that will allow us to change the future you have seen or that you are seeing into the mind of our opponent and are seeing his plans. Again, this will let us counter them and lets us know that he is so worried about you and your abilities that he is exerting his will to sideline you.”

John paused. Sometimes, he reminded himself, it helps to name the fear — rendering it into something one can face. He looked across the table at Harbinger, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice. “Is it always a little girl? I’m trying to determine if that image was my little addition to where we began that scene or not.”

PK-Leon

2022-08-24, 11:23 PM

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Louis spots an open window on the back of the house on the second story as another possible entry point.

"Hey, that window around back looks like it could look way in." Louis whispers, slightly inclining his head towards the building as the two make their pass.

“It is a shame,” Ryker agrees. “He’s done a lot of work to that thing. Full engine and transmission swap. I think he told me one time that it makes like 600 horsepower. He’s had it as long as I was in the Rooks.”

Louis' eyes narrow as he tries to gauge the authenticity of Ryker's words. "You serious? Cause what you're sayin' is true then it really would waste if it got turned over to ISPD."

Once they’re situated on an adjacent roof, Ryker shrugs at Louis’ question. “Look, I talked to Vic way more than I ever talked to Leo, and it’s not like I asked him exactly how his powers work. He puts his palm on somethin’, it explodes. He can control how big the explosion is, but I can tell you that it ****in’ hurt when I sparred against him even when he wasn’t using his full power.”

"So don't get tagged? Got it. At least I won't be surprised when he tries to bring the house down on us if he runs."

As they observe, Louis notices a dark haired woman quickly look out of one of the front windows of an upstairs room. She seems to look down at the driveway, and then at the road before she disappears behind the blinds again.

Ryker swears. “**** I missed whoever that was. You saw the blinds move, right?”

"Saw more than that." Louis confesses, a smirk lining his face. He waves a hand though the air then uses it to thumb at his double. "I took a few liberties but that's what she looked like more or less." He shrugs. "You recognize her?"

The dark haired woman standing in front of the two heroes shakes her head in confusion. "What are you talkin' about?" She asks as a strand of hair falls in front of her eyes. Her head recoils in surprise and she attempts to move it out her face only for her hand to pass through it. Louis' double looks back at him with the same deadpan expression as the woman who's appearance he was currently borrowing.

"Nailed it! That's exactly how she looked when I saw her in the window."

"What can I say? It's a gift."

As Ryker and Louis continue their lookout, a single black crow lands on the rooftop next to them. Soon after, a thin line of black smoke climbs up from the backyard to the roof, coalescing into the still slightly see through form of Miss Menagerie.

"Hey Raph's finally here! With company?" Louis asks as the couple appears on the rooftop. His double turns his attention to the new arrivals. "Oh, hey... you two?" He gives his head a quick shake, getting a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Sorry Raph, I uh... wasn't ready for you to see me like this."

InTheMachine

2022-08-25, 10:57 AM

John
“I know that these are just possible futures,” the angel scoffs. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.” He sighs as he observes John, seeing that even though he was hiding it well, the magician had been rattled by the images. “Since I touched the Stone last week, that’s what I’ve been dealing with. Day and night. I’m usually much more detached from them. I’ve had a few that were that intense, but it was maybe once a year. There’s no feeling, no smell. But these are so… vivid and real. There’s been times where I’m the one that’s been disemboweled and I can feel it.”

“I’ve seen her before, the girl. She… sometimes her death is slow and painful. She cries for her mother—“ Harbinger clears his throat and takes another drink of coffee, falling silent for a moment.

“I know Emi and Alistair are mentally strong, but I worry about them seeing things like this— Especially Emi— for long periods of time while we pick them apart and try to figure out the fine details. Emi’s helped me before when a vision was too fast for me to really figure out what happened.”

Good Cop, Bad Cop
As Louis changes his double to look like the woman, Ryker does a double take and his eyebrows climb high in confusion. “What? That’s who you saw? Why… would she be here?” His expression darkens and he starts to slam a fist down into the roof, but stops himself before he can make contact. “What the **** is she doin’ here?”

Stella looks at the woman and back at Ryker. “You know her?”

The former villain nods. “She’s not a meta or anything. Nobody hurt her, okay?” He curses under his breath again before he takes a second to get his emotions under control. “So, do we wanna try and get in through the back window? Get in, grab Izzy and get out? Or are we takin’ down Leo?”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-25, 01:32 PM

John
“I know that these are just possible futures,” the angel scoffs. “I’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been alive.”

“Sorry,” John offered. “The list of data points was much more for my benefit rather than for yours.”

He sighs as he observes John, seeing that even though he was hiding it well, the magician had been rattled by the images. “Since I touched the Stone last week, that’s what I’ve been dealing with. Day and night. I’m usually much more detached from them. I’ve had a few that were that intense, but it was maybe once a year. There’s no feeling, no smell. But these are so… vivid and real. There’s been times where I’m the one that’s been disemboweled and I can feel it.”

“I’ve seen her before, the girl. She… sometimes her death is slow and painful. She cries for her mother—“ Harbinger clears his throat and takes another drink of coffee, falling silent for a moment.

“I know Emi and Alistair are mentally strong, but I worry about them seeing things like this— Especially Emi— for long periods of time while we pick them apart and try to figure out the fine details. Emi’s helped me before when a vision was too fast for me to really figure out what happened.”

“The central trigger I was for me is a young girl who has attacked by the Homunculus just outside of Windsor,” John observed quietly as he looked into his cup of coffee. “I stopped and healed her. She survived as a result. More than one person — and animal — died within Windsor itself. There is no way of knowing if they would have still died if I hadn’t stopped. The sight of all of her blood, splattered across the plinth the statue of Victoria stands upon and across the bodies of her parents and her blood pooling in the street….”

John closed his eyes. “I wanted to be certain I had not added to the vision somehow.”

He took a breath.

“So. She is a recurring feature of the vision.”

John closed his eyes and cast a spell, separating the faces from the horror that surrounded them.

Illusions (2), Film Quality (1)
Spellcasting without Bennies (https://orokos.com/roll/952092): 1d12o12 8 1d6o6 3

“Mimi, please see if you can complete a facial recondition search on these two ladies.” He opened his eyes and regarded Harbinger. “If they keep coming back, it would be useful to know why them. What is their particular connection to this that makes their presence repeat.

“In answering that question, we can hope that your unconscious mind latches on to the fact that we are doing something — and, in doing so, reassure it that all hope is not lost and the desire of the Stones or of those trying to work with them is not preordained.

“In terms of rest, I can try and dampen your visions for a time — if you would like and are ready to be temporarily be cut off from them. The effect is not unlike a nullified collar. Having worn one for a few, brief moments, I will confess I would have to think hard about opening myself up to having my third eye and connection to magic forcibly closed. If you want to give it a try and at least get a couple hours of rest, I am happy to make the attempt.”

He offered a wry smile, thinking back to his encounter with Stella’s curse. “It is a quick way of confirming that the Stones are not somehow still directly impacting you.”

PK-Leon

2022-08-25, 08:06 PM

Good Cop, Bad Cop

As Louis changes his double to look like the woman, Ryker does a double take and his eyebrows climb high in confusion. Â“What? ThatÂ’s who you saw? WhyÂ… would she be here?Â” His expression darkens and he starts to slam a fist down into the roof, but stops himself before he can make contact. Â“What the **** is she doinÂ’ here?Â”

Stella looks at the woman and back at Ryker. Â“You know her?Â”

The former villain nods. Â“SheÂ’s not a meta or anything. Nobody hurt her, okay?Â” He curses under his breath again before he takes a second to get his emotions under control. Â“So, do we wanna try and get in through the back window? Get in, grab Izzy and get out? Or are we takinÂ’ down Leo?Â”

"The answer to that depends on a couple of factors. For starters, who's the mystery woman and why is she so important?" Louis asks thumbing back at his double.

InTheMachine

2022-08-25, 08:24 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-25, 08:45 PM

John
“It’s choice you made in the moment,” Harbinger says. “You can’t always know what the right thing is to do. Even seeing the future, I don’t know what the best choice is. What matters is that you saved a little girl.”

Mimi answers John’s inquiry quickly. “The woman is Kelly Walker. She works in IT at Innovatech under Matteo Boudreaux. Louis, William, and Keith met her on Sunday. The girl is Jazmine Walker, age 4.”

“She’s so young,” the angel mutters, looking down into his mug. He sighs, then looks back up at John. “So what kinda spell are you going to use on me? Nullifiers don’t work.”

“Two years younger than Christie,” John observed quietly as he dismissed the images, struggling with his memories. “And, via her place of her mother’s work, in immediate proximity to the greater demon we believe to be at the center of this.

“What is less clear is if she repeats because of an accident of proximity or if she is an active target — an intended sacrifice.”

John looked at Harbinger. “This opens the possibility that Bordeaux’s possessor already has a Stone — perhaps having it in his possession when you touched the first one we obtained. If — and this is a big if — that is the case, that connection may be something we can use to our advantage at some point.”

John sighed. “I’ll have to add that to the list of things I need to research. Or ask Dr. Riviera about.”

“That, however, is for the future. Your present need for sleep is what is before us. As I understand it, Nullifies are a physical block — scrambling nerve impulses, making it impossible to act on your powers and abilities by hijacking the nervous system and interfering with nerve signals and receptors.

“I would be attempting to creating a similar kind of interference on a metaphysical level — something akin to a Ward. It would not directly affect you so much as jam or filter the signals you are receiving in the same way a window shade partially blocks sunlight.”

big teej

2022-08-26, 07:25 PM

Recon in Force: (https://pics.me.me/recon-in-force-scoutswith-attitude-imgtlp-com-battletech-recon-in-41859248.png)

The crow squawks once before dissolving into a roiling cloud of red smoke that Nightgaunt walks out of. "Gentelmen" He says with a mock salute.

The faceless hero walks over to Redline's copy and circles it, making a show of examining the woman. "It's not so bad." He muses. "but I can't really say this is a good look for you."

Nightgaunt turns to the real Redline and jerks a thumb at 'her'. "Is this our distraction? Doesn't really seem your style."

He turns toward the building Vitriol and Redline have been scouting. "So. What's the play?" He points at the building. "We're already here. And you sound like there's some meta muscle over there. His ex not withstanding, it sounds like a perfect opportunity to provide our enemies with an object lesson." Nightgaunt says with a hard edge in his voice.

"That lesson being, 'Unpowered hostages are out of bounds."

Nightgaunt crosses his arms. "But you called me. What do you think, Redline?"

PK-Leon

2022-08-26, 09:48 PM

The crow squawks once before dissolving into a roiling cloud of red smoke that Nightgaunt walks out of. "Gentlemen" He says with a mock salute.

The faceless hero walks over to Redline's copy and circles it, making a show of examining the woman. "It's not so bad." He muses. "but I can't really say this is a good look for you."

Nightgaunt turns to the real Redline and jerks a thumb at 'her'. "Is this our distraction? Doesn't really seem your style."

"You think so? I kinda like it." The woman replies with a not so serious pout.

"Nah, I just caught of glimpse of a woman looking out of the window of that building so I created an illusion to show Ryker who I saw. Didn't expect him to recognize her though." The original explains.

Ryker waffles for a moment before, looking back at LouisÂ’ double. ItÂ’s not quite a longing glance, and he quickly moves his gaze back down to the rooftop. “She’s an ex,” he finally admits. “Before Sid. I kept her out of the Rooks ****, so I don’t know why she’d be here.”

"Oh..." is all that escapes the lips of both Redlines as they share a glance.

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to dig up your past or anything." Louis offers in apology. "Yeah, we had no clue who she was." His double adds, dispelling the illusion with a shrug of his shoulders.

He turns toward the building Vitriol and Redline have been scouting. "So. What's the play?" He points at the building. "We're already here. And you sound like there's some meta muscle over there. His ex not withstanding, it sounds like a perfect opportunity to provide our enemies with an object lesson." Nightgaunt says with a hard edge in his voice.

"That lesson being, 'Unpowered hostages are out of bounds."

Nightgaunt crosses his arms. "But you called me. What do you think, Redline?"

"As much as I'd like to level the place this is still a hostage situation so saving Izzy takes top priority here." Redline says as he gets to his feet. "Ideally we'd get in and out without having to throw down inside the building but that's pretty unrealistic considering who we're up against."

Redline runs a hand through his hair as he collects his thoughts, consolidating them into a singular plan and any necessary contingencies should the operation go awry. "Until we get the hostage to relative safety we try and keep damage to a minimum. We leave with the brunette too if she's willing to go with us without a fight." Redline adds on, glancing at Ryker.

"Once we've done that then feel free to bring the place down but we take any Rooks we can alive, Leo included. Though that might be difficult considering he has the ability to cause anything he touches to explode. We're not working with the full scope of his abilities so if we have to fight him try to avoid any exchanges at close range. Our entry point is an open window on the second floor around back. If you find yourself needing an emergency exit you'll have to find one or make your own."

"Oh! I know we're already dealing with a lot here but if you can try to keep the chaos away from the driveway and street I'd appreciate it." Redline's double interjects. "Any questions or is everyone ready?"

InTheMachine

2022-08-26, 10:50 PM

John
Harbinger considers John’s offer for a moment and finally nods. “I’ll try it. As much I don’t want I sleep in the same building as a Greater Demon, I trust James’ wards, and I really really would like to sleep.”

Rescue Op
“It’s all good, man,” Ryker says, looking back at the safehouse. “I didn’t expect to see her either.”

“I can make us all invisible for a short time,” Stella offers. “We can cross the street and get in the backyard and up through that window.”

Ryker nods. “I told Louis earlier that I expect Izzy to be upstairs somewhere. If I remember right, there’s three or four bedrooms upstairs.” He gets up into a crouch, ready to jump off the roof. “I’m ready when you guys are.”

Stella whispers a few words and everyone present goes the same see through that she currently is. “I can hold the spell for all of us for a few minutes.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-26, 11:24 PM

John
Harbinger considers John’s offer for a moment and finally nods. “I’ll try it. As much I don’t want I sleep in the same building as a Greater Demon, I trust James’ wards, and I really really would like to sleep.”

“Just as he is our guest,” John said as he stood, “so are you. Per the Rules of Hospitality, any attempt to harm you would be a violation of our kay’al and would cause him to come to harm. It is is a question of distaste on your part, however,” John offered with a wry smile, “I fear my spell will not help you.”

John gathered in his will and focused, driving the images that haunted Harbinger from his mind and building the spell he had researched for his first attempt to help the older of the two angels he worked with.

He wondered if he would ever be in less awe of working with angels and talking with them as colleagues.

The Enochian Tablets faded into view and John began the long, complicated scribing of the spell.

Healing (5) — Fatigue, Negation (4) Leach (5); Slow to Activate (-1), Contingent (-2), Limitation (-2): Must be Maintained — No Spellcasting with these points until released = 9 — all of John’s Spellcasting power!

Spellcasting without Bennies: Harbinger and Sleep (https://orokos.com/roll/952351): 1d12o12 10 1d6o6 4

John removed two points of Fatigue from Harbinger.

The casting complete, John sagged against the table. Maintaining the spell was taking all that he had.

“I hope that works” John said, straightening as he adjusted to the burden. “It should have eased your sleep deprivation a little to help ease you into things. I should warn you that either one of us can break this at will. I don’t expect to have to cast any spells this evening, as the only thing on my agenda after checking in with Montcrieff is to go to dinner with Emi at 5th Chapter. If something comes up, I will have to withdraw it and the nightmares will likely return in full force. If it turns out you need to break it, I will notice it.

“The good news in that regard is it won’t send you into an enchanted sleep, like some drug. In case of emergency, you will waken normally but be able to go back to sleep afterwards unless you actively dismiss the spell.

“If Angelic sleep matches human sleep, you should be able to get in at least a full sleep cycle before anything happens,” he added, knocking on the wood of the table.”

John stretched. “How do you feel?”

InTheMachine

2022-08-27, 10:41 AM

John
“Seraph told me about your ka’yal,” Harbinger says with a deep scowl. “It’s the only reason the two of us haven’t burned him to crisp yet. Don’t worry though, John. I like you enough that I won’t kill him anyway.”

Once John casts his spell, the angel’s eyes close for just a moment and he lets out a deep sigh. “I feel good, John. Better than I have in a long time. Thank you.”

He finishes his coffee and looks back up at the the magician. “I think I’m going to head upstairs to talk to Seraph for a little bit. Did you need anything from me before I go?”

Rescue Op
Ryker stands and hops down to a lower part of the roof before jumping down the the ground. Despite the height, he lands with just a slight flex of his knees. Stella returns to her ‘smoke’ form and follows him down.

It’s an easy walk and hop over the fence to the backyard of the safe house. There’s a slight bit of roof underneath the open window, which Ryker jumps up to to pull himself up so that he’s underneath it. He carefully looks into the room and waves everyone else up before vaulting through the window into the room.

Once everyone’s inside, Stella lets her spell drop. The room looks to be the master bedroom, with a large king sized bed on one wall. There’s a woman’s purse sitting on one of the nightstands and a set of men and women’s clothes on the floor. Other than that, the room is clean and taken care of. The door that looks like it would lead to the hallway is closed.

“Allow me a moment and I can cast my spell again,” Stella says quietly as she coalesces back into a physical form.

Ryker glances up at the door as the handle starts to turn. He gets ready to rush whoever it is, until the door opens.

The woman from the window comes into the room, not really paying attention. She looks totally lost in her thoughts until she blinks and finally sees the five people standing in the room. Her mouth opens and Ryker darts forward shaking his head.

“Don’t scream,” he says in a low voice. He grabs her wrist and pulls her into the room fully before closing the door behind her.

“Ryker?” she asks, moving some dark hair out of her eyes. Her hazel eyes roam over the rest of the group as she fidgets with the black velvet choker around her neck. “I never thought I was going to see you again. And I definitely didn’t think it would be here.”

Ryker swallows thickly. “I didn’t either.”

mmdeforrest

2022-08-27, 10:58 AM

John
“Seraph told me about your ka’yal,” Harbinger says with a deep scowl. “It’s the only reason the two of us haven’t burned him to crisp yet. Don’t worry though, John. I like you enough that I won’t kill him anyway.”

“I’m flattered,” John deadpans, “We’ll see if the team here shares that sentiment.”

Once John casts his spell, the angel’s eyes close for just a moment and he lets out a deep sigh. “I feel good, John. Better than I have in a long time. Thank you.”

He finishes his coffee and looks back up at the the magician. “I think I’m going to head upstairs to talk to Seraph for a little bit. Did you need anything from me before I go?”

“No, thanks,” John replied as he reached for his boxes. “I promised to call Agent Montcrieff when I arrived so I should probably go off and do that before she figures out how to send an AEGIS Extraction Team to find me. Enjoy your rest.”

HIDA

2022-08-27, 11:13 AM

mmdeforrest

2022-08-27, 11:18 AM

“Mimi,” John asked as he hung up his tuxedo, “how long ago did I ask you to tell Agent Montcrieff that I would call?”

“Twenty-eight minuted, fifty three second and counting, John,” Mimi replied.

“In that case,” he said as he stepped in front of the video screen, “please place a call to her.”

Montcrieff appeared on the screen almost immediately, still in her office and was rubbing one of her temples with one hand and holding a cup of tea in the other. None of those things were a good signs.

“I’m sorry to have waited so long to call, Montcrieff. It’s been a more than usually busy day.”

“I’m impressed you managed to work me in before your dinner plans, actually” she said without a hint of sarcasm before fixing him with her full attention. Even in a video call, the intensity of her focus was unnerving, leaving him with a sense she already knew the answers to all of her questions and, at best, she was only looking for confirmation and, at worse, she was testing him.

He could appreciate why those she interrogated tended to crack so quickly.

“We are still under a fortnight since you arrived in Iron Station, Kelley,” she said as she glanced at a screen off camera. “And, based on your calendar and these reports, you have added to your list of accomplishments today the retrieval of a practitioner’s captured soul from a dominant river spirit, entered into a ka’yal with a greater demon — which several experts in various stations continue to insist is impossible for a mortal to be an equal participant — from a fallen but exceptionally high ranking House — the second highest ranking House, to be precise. And in making this arrangement, you have provided the Occult Divisions of AEGIS with new information about the political alignments of a different plane of existence — while also depriving a street gang of a source of demon blood it was using to produce a dangerous drug that occasionally transformed its users into demons and, more rarely, into metas.

“As if that were not enough, you convinced an angel that it would be a good idea for said greater demon prince to stay in the facility he oversees before heading off, with a side stop to catch a world expert in demonology working for a rival agency up on the state of affairs in Iron Station and Vanuusha, to retrieve one of the other missing Stones of Vanuusha — the second you have come across in under two weeks — because you had captured its possessor — a four thousand year old something — there are debates between Delhi, Bangkok, and Amman as to which of four ritual objects it was. Whatever the proper name for the skull it inhabited, however, she was clearly a master summoner that had cheated death by inhabiting said ritually prepared skull since the time of Gilgamesh and was stopped only when you held her in a Circle of Amun Set that impacts, at minimum, double the standard number of dimensions.”

“It’s a ten-D construction,” John observed, not sure if he should feel proud of himself or ashamed.

Montcrieff rolled her eyes. “Oh, of course. Ten dimensions: a figure several experts refuse to believe possible despite the annotated video footage from Q Division identifying the different metals circling in and out of existence — mostly because they were bad at maths while you just so happen to be a mathematical genius.

“Kristian, incidentally, mentioned how put out he was that you did not do this in publicly available footage,” she mentioned in an aside while she took a sip of tea, “as it means he can’t cite it in his Ph.D. work.”

“And if all that was not enough,” she said, setting down her teacup and turning her full focus back on him, “from the looks of things, you did so while your mind kept drifting off to the question of where you were going to take your girlfriend, who happens to be an internationally known psychic so beautiful that I am still getting to enjoy the schadenfreude of watching Psi Division buy Q Division’s lunch all this week, to dinner this evening.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You aren’t showing any signs of nervousness when I mentioned taking her to dinner. I expect you to be unflappable about occult threats but not about Miss Shaw. How did you manage to juggle all that and select an acceptable location to take her?”

“Um,” John confessed, “she selected it. I had to use her name to get us a table this evening.”

“I should have known,” Montcrieff admitted. After the briefest of pauses, she turned to him and asked, “Are you alright, Kelley?”

“Well,” he replied, looking off to the side, “it was a bit of a bruise to my male ego that I had to drop her name to get the reservation, but…”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” she flared.

He glanced back at the screen, feeling a little guilty about the look of concern on her face. “I know. I was hoping the humor might put you more at ease. I’m sorry, Montcrieff. I wasn’t trying to make light of things or dismiss your concern.

He sighed as she nodded in acknowledgement of his apology. “I’m okay. The ka’yal is unnerving and something that I am still processing but it hasn’t interfered with anything so far.” He held up the back of his hand so she could see it. “I know this shouldn’t be here — for a variety of reasons. I can’t quite get over the feeling that I should have been able to think of a different way out of that situation and I let my frustration unfairly color my impression of Raphael. I frightened you and Emi and disappointed Seraph. Heaven only knows what my mother will say.

“My mentioning it didn’t phase Rizaska Kisharha,” he said, sounding a little put out. “I guess you see it all in four thousand years. But as you have told me before, sometimes you don’t get the time to consider all options.

“Prince Zylas is charming and charismatic, of course — as you might expect of a diplomat from Hell. Those skills and abilities are more of a concern to me than his magical prowess right now. I’ll continue to keep you posted on what he is doing and saying. As you alluded to, Dr. Victoria Riviera has been brought in on a consulting basis by Myriad and is being housed at the East Side base. She is anxious to interview Zylas and will be coordinating that visit with Seraph. They were at University together. I’ve asked to be in the room during the interviews. We’ll see if Seraph permits that.

“I think I met her at a conference once,” Montcrieff observed as she took another sip of tea. “We spoke only briefly. It was difficult to get a word in edgewise, given the cluster of males around her at almost all times. Your gender is bad enough with its tendency to make statements rather than make inquiries during the Q&A period after a talk. The coffee breaks didn’t require the attendees to try and contain their self-importance as they sought to impress her. Is she still as brilliant as she is beautiful?”

John opened his mouth as if to answer but stopped before falling into her trap. “She seems every bit the scholar I grew to respect while reading her papers.”

Montcrieff offered a knowing smile. “Try to remember that formulation, Kelley, in case the question comes up at dinner. Your Emi may or may not be the jealous type but it doesn’t hurt for you to be prepared. Hell hath no fury and all. Given your activity today, you should probably work to avoid that.”

“Thanks, I think.” John responded wryly.

“I shouldn’t let you know this, Kelley,” she continued, growing serious again, “but your antics today have shifted the stance at every AEGIS Occult Division in the world. We prepared an edited version of your visor’s recording and it went out as an emergency communique soon after Clea uploaded it. There was some grumbling here in City of London about working late but when questions started coming in from Singapore, Hong Kong, and Melbourne, we began to feel a little luckier and as the footage was reviewed concern for what we heard silenced all grumbling beyond what was required for gallows humour. There are rumours of high-level emergency briefings between Rome and the Swiss Guard’s Esoteric Division. Several specialists are being flown into Baghdad Station to sift through what remains of its archives and look into the ruins of Ur for any record of Kisharha or her sister. Pearson has led a team to the British Museum to search the cuneiform tablets located there. He doesn’t speak Akkadian but his knowledge of the Stones makes his presence necessary.

“Don’t be surprised if you receive images at dinner to assess our team’s translations. The thought of asking you to come back here to help was mooted but it was decided you were needed there more than here right now.”

“There are only a handful of our agents worldwide who have seen a Stone of Vanuusha and only half of those sightings have been confirmed. Not only have you seen two, you recovered them.”

John glanced off to the side. “I’m not sure if I should apologize or feel proud.”

Montcrieff smiled a little wickedly. “After Windsor, you should be used to that particular mixed feeling. Speaking of which, I have to prepare to give a briefing for Sir Vincent at Buckingham Palace a little later this evening. He’s been asked to chair an emergency meeting on what AEGIS and Myriad’s stance should be if the Stones are about to gather themselves in Iron Station. I’ll be sure to give him your regards.”

It was in the moment of silence that John realized he was looking down at the floor, feeling a little overwhelmed at the enormity of what was happening and the central role he was playing.

He looked up to see Montcrieff regarding him carefully.

“Chin up, partner. I can’t think of anyone I would trust more to be there. There may be other practitioners in the world with more experience and with access to more power, but I doubt any of them would have shown the kind of compassion you did twice today with entities that no one would have thought twice about destroying out of hand. I noted some tears in the eyes of some hardened agents when you summoned Kishar for no other purpose than to give comfort to an entity that had tried to kill you moments before in the hope you could offer it some kind of peace as it approached its death. Before it’s all said and done, your compassion may move more mountains than Debonair’s magic can.”

“Thanks, Montcrieff. I’ll try to live up to your trust in me.”

“You’ve already surpassed it, Kelley,” she replied. “But you are running short of time. You need to shower and select an appropriate outfit for this evening from among the clothes that, if my records are accurate, arrived earlier today. I’d suggest the blue-grey button down. Given the water cooler assessment from the women of City of London station, it ranks only second to the shirt that your sister and quasi-brother selected for you. That might prevent her from noticing the magical burden you appear to be carrying, but I doubt it.”

John shook his head and opened his mouth to begin an apology.

“Don’t bother, Kelley. I perceive you can’t tell me. It wouldn’t be like you to leave that out of your review if you could speak of it. I suspect she will notice, given her reputation for being perceptive. Miss Menagerie, Seraph, Harbinger, Zodiac, and Prince are likely to notice as well. Your resident vampire and shadow caster might but it wouldn’t be a guaranteed thing, I suspect. Given the way you have been recovering as we have spoken, it will grow increasingly difficult for others to do so as you adjust to the burden.

Her eyes narrowed again. “Given what you can do, it must be a substantial burden — which would seem to confirm that it has to do with Harbinger, given the way your face stiffened in an attempt to not give anything away. You are improving in that regard, for what it is worth.

“You know me too well for me to believe I could keep a secret from you for long.”

“I do,” she said. “I hope he is well and your aid is working. I won’t press any further but would be interested to know, professionally speaking, if you are ever free to discuss it.”

John nodded, not trusting himself to say anything lest he inadvertently provide Montcrieff with information she was not seeking. “How could you tell?”

“There is a tightening around the eyes and a furrowing of the brow involved in the concentration,” she replied. “It’s the kind of thing you pick up on when you train agents on how to set some of the minor wards we use from time to time. It’s exaggerated for most of us because we aren’t used to the kind of power you are. That it is showing up with you indicates the burden must be substantial.

“Oh, keep an eye on your messages from me in case I need some colour for my presentation. One seldom gets a chance to impress Her Majesty’s Court Magician.”

“For you, Montcrieff, I will even answer the phone while driving to the restaurant with Emi.”

“Flatterer,” she replied with a grin. “I will consider it a major victory on your part if you even remember you have a phone without my having to prompt Clea to help in those circumstances. Montcrieff out.”

“Kelley out.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-27, 01:00 PM

PK-Leon

2022-08-27, 07:28 PM

Ryker glances up at the door as the handle starts to turn. He gets ready to rush whoever it is, until the door opens.

The woman from the window comes into the room, not really paying attention. She looks totally lost in her thoughts until she blinks and finally sees the five people standing in the room. Her mouth opens and Ryker darts forward shaking his head.

“Don’t scream,” he says in a low voice. He grabs her wrist and pulls her into the room fully before closing the door behind her.

“Ryker?” she asks, moving some dark hair out of her eyes. Her hazel eyes roam over the rest of the group as she fidgets with the black velvet choker around her neck. “I never thought I was going to see you again. And I definitely didn’t think it would be here.”

Ryker swallows thickly. “I didn’t either.”

Louis watches the exchange with some interest before breaking the slightly awkward silence. "Stranger things have happened in the past few days, believe me." He sighs.

"Unfortunately we don't have time for introductions so I think we'll have to skip those for now. We heard about a woman being taken here, Latina, early 20's, voice like an angel. You know anything about it?"

mmdeforrest

2022-08-27, 07:49 PM

John, having showered, stood in front of his whiteboard, considering what was in front of him and on his iPad Mini. Too much had occurred of late and they had continued to be in a reactive stance as more complications arose — whether he considered the situation from the vantage point of the Team or the vantage point of his personal life. While they have been relatively successful, Harbinger’s visions had made plain the stakes — not just for them but for those like Jazmine and Kelly Walker.

For all their successes, lingering issues remained. Their base had been compromised on a variety of levels. The Nightwatch had tracked Raphael to this quarter of Iron Station. The greater demon possessing Matteo Bordeaux had the unmasked images of Keith, Louis, and William. He had been party to bringing a greater demon under their roof — the second demonic entity charged to his account. And, in the process of bringing that demon to their base, he had increased Emi’s stress levels rather than making her more relaxed.

He was brought here to help — to be the Joint Task Force’s expert and be their ace in the hole. While he had performed that role well, it didn’t feel like he had done enough. They were still treading water.

He took a sip of coffee and considered his notes on Stella’s greater curse, wondering how much he should share with Zylas and how much he should begin drawing from him to complete his lines of research. He should certainly be consulting with Dr. Riviera on the project in a way he had not yet been — not that he had really had time to do so yet. He couldn’t afford to do this on his own. Stella’s well-being depended on a more rapid removal of the curse than he could affect on his own.

Further, they needed to get her mother moved as soon as possible — a necessary move but one that would draw their enemy’s eye even more towards the base.

They needed a fall-back position, should their base ever be assaulted. Emi needed — and deserved — a place where she could find greater peace and, as needed, recover in quiet.

He looked at his list of priorities. Setting down his coffee cup, he tapped on Project Spire on his Reminders list and dragged it further up the list before switching back to the search results from the Icelandic sagas he had been consulting moments before.

He remained grateful for Dr. Svogun’s offhand comment about the importance of annotated bibliographies for keeping track of one’s research. He shuddered to think of how long it would take him to have back tracked through his research on vampires to have found the correct secondary source that compared them to the draugur and the oblique reference to an obscure Icelandic saga.

As temped as he was to teleport to Reykjavek to examine the original copy, John had had to resort to reading the Myrkur Sjóbær Saga online. John knew that his appearance in too many archives was not conducive to maintaining a secret identity. They digital scans were not without their flaws, of course, but they were good enough for the work he was doing. In between what he had found there and the cross references with the Secret Annals of St. Brendan the Navigator, he had sufficiently narrowed his search area to something more manageable than the stretch of sea between Jan Mayen, Ireland, and Iceland.

Even so, there were thousands of square miles of ocean to visually scan — far more sea than he had the time to look over before the meeting.

He turned and projected the section of open ocean onto the television screen.

“Mimi: Please scan the section of the North Atlantic I have up on my screen for any and all islands greater than twenty feet in height so that I can make a visual scan of them. I need to narrow down the candidates that match some vague descriptions found in the Myrkur Sjóbær Saga. Please consider this a standard priority request — one that can be bumped in as needed but I would prefer to have done in the next day or two.”

“Of course, John,” Mimi replied. “It should not take me long.”

InTheMachine

2022-08-27, 10:20 PM

Rescue Op
The woman’s expression goes cold. “I just found out she was here about 30 minutes ago. I can’t believe Leo kidnapped her. One of the boys that picked her up used some kind of drug on her. I convinced Leo to at least let me look at her and I was coming in here to get her some anti-nausea pills from my purse.”

Even though Louis had said they don’t really have time to talk, Ryker can’t contain his curiosity. “Aria, what are you doing here?” he asks.

“It’s Iris now,” the woman replies as she walks over to her purse. “I was here for Leo’s birthday this weekend. A gift from Seth.”

Ryker’s eyes get wide. “No… you’re working for Lady Orchid? Aria, why would you do that to yourself?”

The woman ignores his question. “She’s being held in the room at the other end of the hall. Cooper is watching her. He’s a meta, I don’t know what he does though. Leo, Trent, and Denzel are downstairs in the living room packaging some product.”

“Please,” Ryker says as he comes up behind her and touches her shoulder. “Tell me what happened. I tried to keep you away from all of this. If you’re in trouble or somethin’—“

“So you can ‘protect’ me like you did last time?” she scoffs bitterly as she shrugs off his touch and turns to face him. “I know you just wanted to keep me safe, but don’t you think you could’ve come up with a better way to do it other than suddenly becoming an absolute ******* and then ghosting me?”

“I did that so Haze wouldn’t kill you,” he replies fervently, just barely managing to keep his voice down. “Yeah, I could’ve handled it better, but I didn’t have time. I’m sorry, Aria.”

Stella comes up behind Ryker. “I’m not saying that this isn’t important, but do you think you two could talk about this later? We need to get Izzy.”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” Ryker says. “We’re here for her.”

big teej

2022-08-29, 08:58 PM

Calm before the Storm:

Nightgaunt, under the cover of Menagerie's spell, casually walks down the side of the building and up the other to join everyone else in the target room.

He remains impassive throughout Vitriol's exchange with his ex until she says something pertinent and actionable.

"Just this 'Cooper' guy? Alone?" Nightgaunt asks without preamble. He makes for the door, looking over his shoulder at Redline. "I'll deal with the goon while you grab Izzy. Menagerie can get her out while Vitriol handles anyone who comes calling."

He pauses as he grabs the door handle. "Then. We hurt people. Objections?"

The faceless helm turns towards "Iris." "This is your chance to get out." He says to her.

Nightgaunt flinches when "Iris" and Vitriol mention The Lady Orchid

PK-Leon

2022-08-30, 01:10 PM

Recon Op

15 (https://orokos.com/roll/952881) + 2 (Perception) = 17

Redline catches the shift in Nightgaunt's demeanor at the mention of Lady Orchid but without any context as to why he doesn't see a point in questioning it.

He remains impassive throughout Vitriol's exchange with his ex until she says something pertinent and actionable.

"Just this 'Cooper' guy? Alone?" Nightgaunt asks without preamble. He makes for the door, looking over his shoulder at Redline. "I'll deal with the goon while you grab Izzy. Menagerie can get her out while Vitriol handles anyone who comes calling."

He pauses as he grabs the door handle. "Then. We hurt people. Objections?"

The faceless helm turns towards "Iris." "This is your chance to get out." He says to her.

"He's right." Redline adds. "After we go through that door and deal with Cooper we can't guarantee the safety of anyone inside of this place. If you're gonna leave I'd suggest doing it when we get Izzy, unless you think you can walk out the front door without any issues?"

He looks back to Nightgaunt. "I'd like to keep this as quiet as possible until the evac is over. Can't say I like the idea of getting Leo's attention any earlier than we have to when he could bring the entire safehouse down with a touch. Remember we don't know the extent of his powers or the meta down the hall for that matter. Here, this should help get the jump on'em." Louis waves a hand and in the time it takes to blink Nightgaunt is replaced by a mirror image of Iris.

"Menagerie, do you think you can cast a spell to dampen any sound coming from the room once Nightgaunt goes in?" He ask the magician.

InTheMachine

2022-08-30, 01:55 PM

Rescue Op
Ryker and Iris both notice Nightgaunt’s flinch, though Stella misses it since she has her back turned to him.

“You know Lady Orchid?” Ryker asks Nightgaunt.

Iris turns to Redline. “Leo knows I’m waiting for a ride. He’d be suspicious if I just walked out. Are you going to bring her back in here? What’s the plan to get out from the house? I don’t think that the girl will be able to walk. She wasn’t looking too good when I was in there a few minutes ago.”

Menagerie nods. “I can float both of you down to the backyard,” she says before agreeing with Redline. “I have a silence spell. I can modify it to cover most of the second floor, I think. As long as I concentrate it down to the end of the hallway, we should be good.”

“Can you see the upstairs from the living room at all?” Ryker asks Iris. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in this house.”

The woman shakes her head. “There’s an open banister… loft thing, where the stairs are, but it faces the front door.”

“I can back you up then, Nightgaunt,” Ryker says. “You can go in first and leave the door open a little so I can rush the dude.”

big teej

2022-08-30, 08:37 PM

Violence is the Question:

"He won't be doing much when I'm through." Nightgaunt says cheekily before creeping down the hallway.

"After a Fashion" He whispers to Vitriol as they approach the door, answering his question. "Stow it for now." He says, not unkindly.

He stands up straight, remembering his disguise, and walks right into the room like he belongs there. The disguised vampire crosses quickly to Cooper and grabs him by the throat and drains the fight out of him. 'Iris' stares into the Rooks eyes as his skin turns gray and he seems to shrivel up. Nightgaunt lets go and the man collapses to the floor, breath wheezing through cracked and parched lips.

"Grab her." He says, turning his attention to the woman handcuffed to the footboard.

Fighting To-Hit: 6 (https://orokos.com/roll/952981)+4 with The Drop for 10...-1 for conditions for 9

Going to use Bolstered and mark my Doom Track to Wield My Powers: 9 (https://orokos.com/roll/952982)
I'm going to choose "Neutralize an Opponent or Threat" and pick Cooper.

InTheMachine

2022-08-30, 09:29 PM

Rescue Op
Ryker comes into the room a few steps after Nightgaunt and watches him drain the life out of Cooper. “What the ****, dude,” he mutters. “Damn.”

He crosses the room and kneels by Izzy, who blearily looks up. Her eyes can’t seem to focus. “Stay quiet, okay? We’re here to rescue you. Are you hurt anywhere?” he asks as he starts to carefully melt a link of the handcuffs.

Izzy shakes her head and swallows. “No…”

Ryker breaks the weakened metal and quickly checks over Izzy. “Can you stand?”

She shakes her head again.

“I’m gonna carry you then,” Ryker says as he maneuvers her so that he can pick her up bridal style.

Izzy wraps her arms around his neck as thick tears start to run down her cheeks.

The former villain looks uncomfortably over at Nightgaunt before quickly checking the hallway and heading back down to where the others are waiting.

As they come back into the room, Ryker gently sets Izzy down on the edge of the bed.

PK-Leon

2022-08-31, 01:09 PM

Iris turns to Redline. “Leo knows I’m waiting for a ride. He’d be suspicious if I just walked out. Are you going to bring her back in here? What’s the plan to get out from the house? I don’t think that the girl will be able to walk. She wasn’t looking too good when I was in there a few minutes ago.”

Redline's expression darkens upon hearing the details of Izzy's current condition. "Don't worry, I think I've got something figured out. We'll bring Izzy here and see how well she's holding up and then we'll get you guys out of here through the window."

Menagerie nods. “I can float both of you down to the backyard,” she says before agreeing with Redline. “I have a silence spell. I can modify it to cover most of the second floor, I think. As long as I concentrate it down to the end of the hallway, we should be good.”

"Can you make that three of us? I'm going with them. If Izzy's too weak to walk then we'll have to take the Monte Carlo out front. I'll get it started."

The former villain looks uncomfortably over at Nightgaunt before quickly checking the hallway and heading back down to where the others are waiting.

As they come back into the room, Ryker gently sets Izzy down on the edge of the bed.

The two Redlines tense up at the sight of Izzy when Ryker brings her back into the room. The guilt he had been harboring resurfaces once more causing him to choke on any words he tries to produce. It takes a look from his double to give him the push he needs to speak up.

Redline walks towards the bed and takes a knee beside Izzy. "Hey... Sorry we're late. We came as soon as we could after Scott told us what happened. I- I owe you an explanation and an apology but this isn't the time or place for that. I'm gonna get you to the hospital for treatment first if that's okay with you?" He asks looking into her eyes. "Then we'll take things from there."

"Once they're clear we've got free reign inside of the building. I'll lead things off with a flashbang when we head downstairs which should give us a brief advantage." Redline's double explains to the team. The fight should provide enough of a distraction for the three of them to get out of here in the car." He slides his goggles down over his eyes. "I'm ready when you are."

InTheMachine

2022-08-31, 01:59 PM

Rescue Op
Izzy sniffs, wiping her eyes with one hand. “Louis?” She breathes heavily, looking down in confusion at the manacle still on her wrist before she seems to remember what’s happened. “I’m just so glad you came for me,” she says as she leans forward and wraps her arms around him.

“We should be able to get around the house without them seeing if we go around to the left,” Iris says. “There aren’t any windows and the gate doesn’t have a lock.”

Stella nods and chants a few words. Louis’ body immediately feels lighter. She looks over Iris. “Go ahead and jump out the window. My spell will slow you down so you won’t hurt anything.”

Iris glances at her doubtfully after she looks at the height of the window from the ground.

Seeing her hesitation, Ryker joins her by the window. “You can trust her. But if you want, I can go down and catch you.”

“It’s fine,” Iris says. She looks up at her ex boyfriend and lets out a frustrated sigh before standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Bye Ryker. I wish we had more time. I missed you.” Before he can say anything back, she jumps out the window and gently floats down to the ground.

PK-Leon

2022-08-31, 06:35 PM

Rescue Op

Izzy sniffs, wiping her eyes with one hand. “Louis?” She breathes heavily, looking down in confusion at the manacle still on her wrist before she seems to remember what’s happened. “I’m just so glad you came for me,” she says as she leans forward and wraps her arms around him.

Louis smiles warmly at the sound of his name and offers Izzy a small nod. "Yeah... it's me. Well technically it's Redline while I'm on the clock but we can talk about that later." The hero embraces her before scooping her up in both arms.

“We should be able to get around the house without them seeing if we go around to the left,” Iris says. “There aren’t any windows and the gate doesn’t have a lock.”

Stella nods and chants a few words. Louis’ body immediately feels lighter. She looks over Iris. “Go ahead and jump out the window. My spell will slow you down so you won’t hurt anything.”

Redline walks over to the window and stops to look back over his shoulder just before he steps out. "Thanks for all of this by the way." He says to everyone in the room. "I owe you one."

He jumps out of the building and lands beside Iris with Izzy in his arms. Magic. He thinks to himself, trying to to shake away the disbelief. "Alright, let's go around the left side of the building and wait for things to pop off inside. Shouldn't be long."

Meanwhile...

Louis' double dispels the illusion of Iris on Nightgaunt and uses it for himself. "I'll take point and walk downstairs first." he says to the group. When everyone's ready the double slowly starts down the stairs and looks for any sign of the Rooks gathered together on the first floor.

InTheMachine

2022-08-31, 08:14 PM

Rescue Op
Ryker follows Louis’ double to the top of the stairs and stops, ready to intervene if need be.

As ‘Iris’ comes down the stairs, she sees two guys sitting on a worn leather couch working on measuring out and packaging a large white brick of coke into small baggies on the coffee table in front of them.

A black guy on the end of the couch gets up and heads into the kitchen while another, scrawnier guy continues to measure product.

Hearing someone come down the stairs, the huge blonde guy with a buzz cut and a close beard (https://db4sgowjqfwig.cloudfront.net/images/6512173/Exodus.jpg) sitting in a chair at the end of the coffee table looks up. “Hey sweetheart,” he says. His voice is deep and his shirt stretches thin over his biceps and chest as he leans forward to tap the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray on the table. “Everything okay up there?” He waves her over, patting his knee. “I know your ride’s supposed to be here soon. Come sit with me for a little longer.”

He smiles up at her, and it seems genuine, almost at odds with his tough appearance. “I really enjoyed our weekend together, and I hope you did too. Did you see I left you a little extra in your purse?”

PK-Leon

2022-08-31, 09:17 PM

Rescue Op

As ‘Iris’ comes down the stairs, she sees three guys sitting on a worn leather couch working on measuring out and packaging a large white brick of coke into small baggies on the coffee table in front of them.

A black guy on the end of the couch gets up and heads into the kitchen while another, scrawnier guy continues to measure product.

Hearing someone come down the stairs, the huge blonde guy with a buzz cut and a close beard sitting in a chair at the end of the coffee table looks up. “Hey sweetheart,” he says. His voice is deep and his shirt stretches thin over his biceps and chest as he leans forward to tap the ash from his cigarette into the ashtray on the table. “Everything okay up there?” He waves her over, patting his knee. Â“I know your ride’s supposed to be here soon. Come sit with me for a little longer.”

Damn, Santa's been liftin'... Redline thinks in amusement as he walks down the stairs. He uses one hand to trace the railing while he keeps the other inside of a jacket pocket.

He smiles up at her, and it seems genuine, almost at odds with his tough appearance. Â“I really enjoyed our weekend together, and I hope you did too. Did you see I left you a little extra in your purse?”

Redline pauses upon reaching the last step. "I did." He says, flashing a coy smile. "But for some reason it still felt a little... light (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkcPLAqUNU)?"

Redline removes a what appears to be a thick roll of dollar bills from his jacket pocket and tosses it onto the coffee table just as he finishes his sentence. It erupts in a flash of intense white light upon contact with the table and envelops the room.

"Two in the room, one back in the kitchen!" Redline calls out to the team as he teleports past them up the stairs in order to create space.

Flashbang (Hit): 7 (https://orokos.com/roll/953173)

Target's affected must make a Vigor roll at -2!

big teej

2022-08-31, 09:49 PM

and the Answer is "Yes":

Rescue Op
Ryker comes into the room a few steps after Nightgaunt and watches him drain the life out of Cooper. Â“What the ****, dude,Â” he mutters. Â“Damn.Â”

"He'll be fine." "Iris" says to Vitriol's outburst. "Eventually." 'she' adds as an afterthought.

Redline walks over to the window and stops to look back over his shoulder just before he steps out. "Thanks for all of this by the way." He says to everyone in the room. "I owe you one."

Nightgaunt puts a hand on Menagerie's shoulder. "You should go with them." He says quietly. "As much as I'd love for you to stick around so I can impress you with some Very Manly Violence." He says quickly, hoping to forestall her objection. "They need your protection more than Vitriol and I need help busting heads."

Rescue Op
Â“ItÂ’s fine,Â” Iris says. She looks up at her ex boyfriend and lets out a frustrated sigh before standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Â“Bye Ryker. I wish we had more time. I missed you.Â” Before he can say anything back, she jumps out the window and gently floats down to the ground.

"I won't tell Songbird if you dont... Nightgaunt tilts his head before deciding that the fight will do better for Vitriol's head-state than any snarky comment he could make. He still watches the man closely for several seconds before following 'Iris' into the hallway.

Rescue Op

Redline removes a what appears to be a thick roll of dollar bills from his jacket pocket and tosses it onto the coffee table just as he finishes his sentence. It erupts in a flash of intense white light upon contact with the table and envelops the room.

"Two in the room, one back in the kitchen!" Redline calls out to the team as he teleports past them up the stairs in order to create space.

As soon as "Iris" diseappears from view, Nightgaunt leaps down the stairs, dissolving into a shrieking murder of crows (https://youtu.be/wNnf_mhk-qo) that swirls through the living room, shredding and tearing at the two goons.

Goons within the swarm automatically take damage: 2 (https://orokos.com/roll/953179)1+4 for the drop = 25

Start of Battle:
Nightgaunt considers Redline 'The Leader'
Redline has Influence over Nightgaunt

Nightgaunt's purpose in the fight is to send a message via egregious violence and property damage - 'unpowered hostages are out of bounds'

I don't think we mistrust each other, nor are we ill-prepared.

mmdeforrest

2022-09-01, 04:30 PM

“We’ll see if they can fill this quickly,” John said to himself as he hit the submit button on the AEGIS requisition form. It wasn’t the expense — which turned out to be less than he feared but more than his accountants would let pass without some explanation, should AEGIS choose to use his funds for some or all of the medical equipment he had ordered. Nor did he expect Seraph to blink at it — although he, too, would want an explanation. It was a question of what was and was not available locally and if there were an AEGIS medic who could be spared to oversee the room they were setting up for Madame Bordreaux.

The need to move quickly, however, was palpable.

“Mimi,” John said as he stood, “I have several requests. First, please search for any public records of Matteo Bordreaux’s handwriting. Second, please create a file on Jazmine and Kelly Walker. I would like their publicly available records — especially their home address, school address, and if the father has a known address — along with anything that AEGIS might have on them. If there are files I am not permitted to access because of my security clearance, please let me know. Also, access public sites like ancestry.com to build out a family tree — highlighting metas, religious figures, or those associated with the supernatural in their background. The goal of the research is to see if there is anything that would be cause for them to be specific targets of the greater demon opposed to us or if it is proximity to Matteo Bordreaux.

“Is she has a publicly available running or other exercise pattern, please upload the associated map along with the pattern of her activity. That would be a good way of being able to observe if she is being actively surveilled or not.

“In an ideal world, we would be able to see if there is any hint of an office romance between Matteo and Kelly, given the greater demon’s willingness to use emotional bonds to get people where it wants them. I would guess Innovatech has a tight leash on its employees when it comes to social media, but do a quick sweep of social media and fitness tracking sites to see if there is anything that links the two of them — exercise paths that meet at a specific location for inexplicably long periods of time, photos of parties, the usual kind of thing. Try to avoid sites like LinkedIn that will track your having looked at them unless you need to confirm something.

“Use my anonymized card for any expenses.

“One final request — for now,” he continued, laying out the contents of the file from ISPD on his desk next to his open iPad Mini, “and I suspect this will take some time. Do a search of the local news outlets, jewelry stores, museums, and auction houses for unusual activity surrounding gemstones. If the ten Stones of Vashuuna are making their way here, I can’t believe all of them will come in quietly. I would like to identify them — if not get my hands on them — sooner rather than later.”

John had quickly scanned the reports of the demonic activity earlier. Now began the hard work of piecing together additional insights based on more careful readings and consideration of what lay before him. If he had lost a potential asset to his investigation when Seraph dispatched Kisharha as to what she had seen over the past four millennia when the Stones gathered, at least he had formal contact to Detective Varga through Seraph and a back channel through Drake.

There was always a pattern.

He just had to find it.

He glanced at his watch. He was unlikely to find it before dinner but he could at least see if there were any other hints at Houses or Names that would make his next conversation with Zylas about his fellow Prince Jarek more fruitful — or if there were any hints about Isla’s grimoire or where it might be found.

Investigation — read of the file #2 (https://orokos.com/roll/953243): 1d8o8+2 7 1d6o6+2 5

Requested Occult roll
Occult Roll (https://orokos.com/roll/953258): 1d12o12+2 9 1d6o6+2 7

InTheMachine

2022-09-01, 06:27 PM

Rescue Op

I won't tell Songbird if you dont... Nightgaunt tilts his head before deciding that the fight will do better for Vitriol's head-state than any snarky comment he could make. He still watches the man closely for several seconds before following 'Iris' into the hallway.
Ryker stares after Iris for a few long seconds before he turns and follows after Louis, ignoring any looks from the rest of the team.

Nightgaunt puts a hand on Menagerie's shoulder. "You should go with them." He says quietly. "As much as I'd love for you to stick around so I can impress you with some Very Manly Violence." He says quickly, hoping to forestall her objection. "They need your protection more than Vitriol and I need help busting heads."
Stella nods with a roll of her eyes and a quick grin, not giving him any objections. “You’re right. You three probably don’t need my help. I’ll keep an eye on the girls.” She grabs Iris’ purse off the nightstand and hops out the window, floating gently down to the ground before she makes her way around the left side of the house.

Redline pauses upon reaching the last step. "I did." He says, flashing a coy smile. "But for some reason it still felt a little... light?"

Redline removes a what appears to be a thick roll of dollar bills from his jacket pocket and tosses it onto the coffee table just as he finishes his sentence. It erupts in a flash of intense white light upon contact with the table and envelops the room.
Leo manages to put his arm up to shield his face before the explosion of light, but the scrawny one, Trent, isn’t so lucky. He screams as he goes light blind and again as several crows tear at his face and neck.

Ryker vaults over the railing of the stairs and lands on the center of the coffee table, collapsing the legs and sending carefully packaged coke all over the floor. “Hey Leo. Long time, no see, huh?”

“I told Seth not to mess with that coffee shop or with you,” Leo says with a shake of his head as he stands. “But what the **** do I know, right? Was it Jackie or RJ that snitched? I need to know who’s legs I need to break.” He grabs a crow that flies at his face out of the air and there’s a small, intense explosion from his hand. He drops the mass of charred feathers before he pops his neck and cracks his knuckles. “You didn’t hurt Iris, did you?”

“She’s safe,” Ryker replies as he puts up his fists, moving into his ready stance. “Along with the girl you kidnapped.”

“It was all Seth’s idea,” Leo says as he moves into a similar stance as Ryker, though he keeps his hands curled only loosely. “But if you really wanna do this, I’ll oblige. Denzel,” he calls over his shoulder, “shoot a text to Seth and tell him the house is compromised and that I was ****in’ right.”

“Already done, boss,” a voice calls from behind the counter in the kitchen.

Combat Begins!
Trent is Stunned and then KOd!
Leo makes his Vigor roll and isn’t hurt by the swarm
10s… Redline has Initiative!

Outside
Stella joins Redline, Izzy, and Iris while they wait for the distraction from the others inside. She hands Iris’ medium-sized, black purse over to her.

“Thanks,” Iris says quietly. “I totally forgot about it.”

“You’re welcome,” the sorceress replies as they hear a cacophony of caws and squawks from inside. She pushes up to look around the corner of the house, and sees only the matte gray car in the driveway on the other side of the front door. “You know how to get it started without keys, Redline?” she asks.

John
“I’ll get started on all of that, John,” Mimi says. “I’ve created a folder for Kelly and Jazmine Walker for you. Much of their information has been scrubbed from the internet by Innovatech, but I will gather what I can. A sample of Matteo’s writing is available here in the base. Stella has a letter in her belongings that is signed by him.”

“As for the Stones, I will see what I can find that matches ‘unusual activity’.”

As he looks at the file, John doesn’t see much more than he did when he skimmed it earlier today. The ISPD is lacking an expert demonologist, so the notes are basic at best. He sees only Zalta’s True Name until he looks closer at the circle from the first ritual site.

There’s a partial rune above where the second demon’s name has been burned away. Though it’s too damaged to see exactly what House it says, he can figure out that it’s the rune for the Plane of Urvaan.

mmdeforrest

2022-09-01, 07:22 PM

“I’ll get started on all of that, John,” Mimi says. “I’ve created a folder for Kelly and Jazmine Walker for you. Much of their information has been scrubbed from the internet by Innovatech, but I will gather what I can. A sample of Matteo’s writing is available here in the base. Stella has a letter in her belongings that is signed by him.”

“As for the Stones, I will see what I can find that matches ‘unusual activity’.”

“Thank you, Mimi,” John replied, “although I confess that unusual activity in a town beset by demons is going to be a difficult calibration. We should probably also include pawn shops in the list of stores experiencing unusual activity with gemstones. Given the sometimes shady world of the occult underground, it’s unlikely that all of the Stones are in upscale markets.”

As he looks at the file, John doesn’t see much more than he did when he skimmed it earlier today. The ISPD is lacking an expert demonologist, so the notes are basic at best. He sees only Zalta’s True Name until he looks closer at the circle from the first ritual site.

There’s a partial rune above where the second demon’s name has been burned away. Though it’s too damaged to see exactly what House it says, he can figure out that it’s the rune for the Plane of Urvaan.

Second Circle, John thought as he made a note on his iPad. In his Mind Palace’s puzzle room, he connected that piece to Isla’s Grimoire — which may have contained the name of the demon of Urvaan-et she had bargained with to obtain Prince Jarek’s name. He held off on connecting these two to the attack on House Vaskiina by House Urvaan. Yes, the pieces appeared to fit and handing over the True Name of another demon to a summoner — even one as apparently incompetent as Isla was. It happened, of course, but the way that Kisharha described it made it sound more like a mutual agreement than something Isla enforced.

The pieces certainly looked like it was part of a move in the larger game that Urvaan appeared to be playing. He wondered if having one of their princes trapped here would complicate their plans…

…or assist them? If their ultimate goal was to unseat the current High King, what better way to make the move than to absent him and whatever minions he might summon from his seat of power before trying to take over.

Zylas would not be the only exile in such a scenario. And Iron Station would become Hell on Earth.

It felt a little early in his career to be trying to prevent an End of Days scenario — although, if it were anything like movies and comic books, Mr. Shaw and Harbinger had faced this kind of thing every year or two.

John checked his watch. He had time for a quick talk with Zylas and a brief, unplanned encounter before he had to leave, he calculated as he returned the papers to their folder and placed it neatly on his desk. He wanted a chance to catch up with Manny but that might have to wait until after dinner.

“Mimi: can you ask Prince Zylas if he is free to receive a visitor? I have an update for him on his furniture and a question to ask about one of his brethren.”

PK-Leon

2022-09-02, 01:24 PM

Leo manages to put his arm up to shield his face before the explosion of light, but the scrawny one, Trent, isn’t so lucky. He screams as he goes light blind and again as several crows tear at his face and neck.

Ryker vaults over the railing of the stairs and lands on the center of the coffee table, collapsing the legs and sending carefully packaged coke all over the floor. “Hey Leo. Long time, no see, huh?”

“I told Seth not to mess with that coffee shop or with you,” Leo says with a shake of his head as he stands. “But what the **** do I know, right? Was it Jackie or RJ that snitched? I need to know who’s legs I need to break.” He grabs a crow that flies at his face out of the air and there’s a small, intense explosion from his hand. He drops the mass of charred feathers before he pops his neck and cracks his knuckles. “You didn’t hurt Iris, did you?”

“She’s safe,” Ryker replies as he puts up his fists, moving into his ready stance. “Along with the girl you kidnapped.”

“It was all Seth’s idea,” Leo says as he moves into a similar stance as Ryker, though he keeps his hands curled only loosely. “But if you really wanna do this, I’ll oblige. Denzel,” he calls over his shoulder, “shoot a text to Seth and tell him the house is compromised and that I was ****in’ right.”

“Already done, boss,” a voice calls from behind the counter in the kitchen.

Damn, there goes our chance to blindside Seth. Guess there's no point in sweating over it now. We've got more pressing matters to deal with.

Redline teleports down the flight of stares and takes a quick glance around the room, assessing the scene to determine his next target. With Leo as the only visible threat his decision comes easy. He lifts a hand and fires off two rounds of red light into the massive man.

Ranged Attack #1 (RoF 2): 7 and 4 (https://orokos.com/roll/953345)
Ranged Attack Damage #1: 18 and 22 (https://orokos.com/roll/953347) (Light, Heavy Weapon)

Outside...

As soon as "Iris" diseappears from view, Nightgaunt leaps down the stairs, dissolving into a shrieking murder of crows that swirls through the living room, shredding and tearing at the two goons.

The shrieks coming from the inside of the house signal the original Redline to begin the next stage of the operation. "So he went with a murder of crows, classic." Louis says mostly to himself as he catches the sounds of the fight beginning inside of the safehouse.

"Sounds like things are getting started inside. Do you two think you can support Izzy while I get the car started? Oh yeah, you might want to put some distance between yourselves and the wall. Just in case." He adds before setting Izzy on her feet and into the arms of one or both women, then disappearing in a flash of light towards the driveway.

Louis reappears near the Monte Carlo and takes a few seconds to look it over before teleporting into the driver's seat. He slides the seat back and repositions himself so that his legs hand over the seat and his upper body is underneath the steering wheel. "Alright, let's take a look at what we're working with..." He taps the lenses of his goggles and produces a light to illuminate his workspace before carefully cutting open a panel with a laser created from his fingertips to access the car's circuitry.

Streetwise: 7 (https://orokos.com/roll/953085) (Spent 1 Benny to Reroll)

InTheMachine

2022-09-02, 04:36 PM

Rescue Op
Redline’s two lasers burn holes through Leo’s shirt. His skin smokes a little underneath, but he grins up at his opponents. “That all you got?”

Ryker darts forward and feigns a strike at the Rook, getting under his guard and sending his left fist deep into Leo’s stomach before pulling away.

Leo uses the proximity to reach out and slap his palm against Ryker’s shoulder, sending the former villain flying into the couch and into the wall with an explosion.

Initiative:
Leo spends a Benny to soak!
8s… Ryker goes and Shakes Leo
7s… Leo unshakes and then Shakes Ryker
5s… Nightgaunt has Initiative!

Outside
Stella and Iris help Izzy over the car. They open the passenger door and Stella clambers into the backseat with the barista while Louis works on hot wiring it. Iris sits in the passenger seat and closes the door, watching the hero work.

A loud boom and be heard from inside and Stella leans forward between the seats. “Do you have something metal? I think I can make a key.”

Iris opens the glovebox and pulls out a screwdriver. “Would this work?”

The sorceress nods and takes the tool before putting it against the ignition. She chants a quick spell, and the metal melts into the slot, conforming to the inside. “Cela devrait fonctionner. Try that, Redline.”

That should work

John
“Zylas says that he is happy to speak with you,” Mimi says.

mmdeforrest

2022-09-02, 09:08 PM

“Thank you for receiving me,” Dee said as Zylas opened his door. “It has been a busy day and I have a good bit of news for you as a result.

“The good news,” he observed as he looked around the room, “is that Dr. Riviera — who is anxious to make your acquaintance — was able to identify a close parallel to Las’katari in the Art Noveau style. I have already ordered some basic pieces to replace some of this purely functional furniture but, I suspect, unworthy of your station furnishings. I wanted to discuss the possibility of adding fire opal inlay — which she thought you might prefer.”

Dee pulled up the images of the furniture he had ordered on his iPad Mini and showed them to Zylas. “I will need some direction from you as to how to flow the furniture material to match what you are looking for, of course. However close I do or do not get, however, it should be superior than these stop-gap pieces of furniture I picked up so you wouldn’t be sitting on the floor.

“Regardless, Dr. Riviera is hoping to meet you as soon as possible and, as a scholar of demonology, I suspect she will be asking for more than one conversation with you.”

“The other thing I wanted to mention,” he continued, measuring Zylas’ reactions, “was something we learned after confronting Rizaska Kisharha. We learned that one of your fellow princes — Jarek, by name, was summoned to Iron Station by the Cult of the Red Dawn about a decade ago. The Rizaska believed his name had been offered to her slain student — the then leader of the Red Dawn — by a demon of Urvaan. It feels like too much of a coincidence. I don’t suppose you and Jarek spoke of the incident?”

big teej

2022-09-02, 10:47 PM

Home Wrecker:

The crows rush into a single mass behind Leo while Vitriol goes flying across the room. Nightgaunt emerges from the swarm with one arm raised, his hand twisted into a cruel talon.

"You should have been more persuasive." The faceless hero says, raking his claws across Leo's back.

To hit: 7 (https://orokos.com/roll/953411), 11 if I get the Drop
Damage: 15 (https://orokos.com/roll/953412), 19 if I've got the drop

InTheMachine

2022-09-03, 09:47 AM

big teej

2022-09-03, 10:54 AM

Predator!

He'd thought he was in control. He'd thought draining some of Cooper's essence, skipping the middle-man of drinking his blood, would be fine, it'd take the edge off, juice him up for the rest of this fight. It certainly wouldn't loosen his grip on The Beast.

He was wrong.

Nightgaunt snarls in fury hunger as Leo twists away from his grasp. His canines stretch out, elongating into fangs, hidden by his helmet as he steps into the bigger man, swinging wildly. Leaving himself wide open for Leo to grab his helmet and white out his vision with an explosion, leaving the Vampire reeling. Nightgaunt's boot snags a piece of debris that used to be furniture and he falls over on his butt, dazed.

Infinite Power roll: 8 (https://orokos.com/roll/953476) - I borrow 20 power points worth of super sorcery, and retain the effects for 10 rounds. I spend 8 points on Super Edge: Counter attack, first strike, frenzy, and two fisted and 2 Points on Super Fighting

Nightgaunt attacks Leo 3 times! (https://orokos.com/roll/953477) +1 from super fighting. -2 for Frenzy
6
3
9
to hit!

I'm assuming 3 doesn't hit, so damage twice! hopefully maybe
Damage 1: 16 (https://orokos.com/roll/953478)
Damage 2: 20 (https://orokos.com/roll/953479)

EDIT: an explosion!
Nightgaunt takes a powerful blow: 8 (https://orokos.com/roll/953484) - I'm going to choose to 'give ground, the opposition gets an opportunity'

HIDA

2022-09-03, 12:09 PM

Manny
“I’ve started your request,” Mimi says. As Manny leaves the kitchen and starts downstairs, the AI continues, “What is your reason for requesting a second phone? I need to add that to this form for Seraph’s approval.”

As Manny walks away from base, about five minutes down the road he comes across Aubrey Park. There’s people walking, joggers and a few people sitting out in the grass enjoying a late lunch.

Manny thinks on his wording for a second.

"'For Discretionary Communique with outside agents and Separation of Identity with yet to be met persons of interest.' Thanks again Mimi!" He says before walking out of the Door.

It doesn't take long for Manny to stumble onto a quaint park close to the base with a green wooden sign with white embossed lettering:

Aubrey Park

The park is filled with people taking a moment to enjoy themselves. Manny thinks back to a time he went on holiday with family and they had a lunch in the park there was a duo playing a nice song on the harmonica and guitar ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOKB26N8Tc0%22) that always reminds him of that day. He hums the melody while walking through the park until he sees a busker sitting by the fountain near the center of the park. His guitar case has a some cash in it and he%27s strumming his guitar while singing ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=677k1_yqfvU%22) a song and he's gotten a decently sized crowd gathered. As the song end he says he'll take a quick 15 and will take requests afterwards.

Manny Takes his time to look around the park, Its picturesque and placid atmosphere was able to get his mind off of some of the worries he had while he was here, specifically being identified or just not being able to operate normally and really enjoy being in a new place. It was one thing to be known by your friends and family but random strangers thinking they know you from a part you played in a play or on a show is entirely another.

He casually moved to a water fountain close to the stage to get a good seat to the next show. He leans over and takes a couple of sips

"A long way form Coronation Street, aintcha Ben?"

"Excuse me? ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD4p4buPTv4%22)" Manny says choking through a sip of water. He looks at who spoke to him it's the busker from earlier

"Sorry sorry, bro that was my bad. Didn't mean to startle you but you look just like a kid from this old BBC show."

"Yeah I get that a lot." Manny says, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry didn't get your name."

"Jack. Jack Alstot, Freelance Musician. And You?"

"Ben. Ben Smith. It's part of the reason I was so freaked when you called my name." Manny says, smiling. "Heard you singing earlier, you're really good."

"Thanks man, You gotta any requests? My break's almost over and I'm headed back to stage."

"Nah, Man I'm-- Actually, You know any Bill Withers." Manny asks, reconsidering mid-sentence. "It some of my dad's favorite and i haven't talked to him in a bit."

"I'm trying to remember. You sing a couple bars to jog my memory." Jack says, tuning his guitar.

"Yeah, Can you strum me out an E minor 7?"

Jack raises an eyebrow. "Hm? You Play?" He asked, plucking out the chord and then strums it.

"Me? No. My Mom likes to sing though. Learned it from her." Manny says, humming on the pitches before singing a couple of lines ("https://orokos.com/roll/952704%22). Jack sits back for a moment "Damn bro. that's pretty good. wanna sit in?

"I mean I was just planning on getting a drink of water.

--BUT, If you're asking it would be rude of me to say 'no'." Manny says with a big grin on his face.

Manny and Jack get back to the fountain. Manny hums a few bars before jack finishes getting the audio ready and plugs in his guitar.

Jack steps up to the mic. "Ladies and Gentleman. Thanks for coming out today. Before I begin taking requests I ran into an old friend and he's gonna sing a song. May i introduce, Mr. Ben Smith.

As Manny walks up to the mic and looks out at the small crowd there's a moment where he feels nervous. He smiles. There's not a lot of situations where Manny gets this feeling anymore. It's part of his draw to being a member of Aegis.

Butterflies.

That sensation in your stomach you get when your body recognizes a moment to rise to the occasion. It is addicting.

I love it.

Jack puts his hand on the Mic and nods to the Guitarist and Jack begins to vamp.

"Good afternoon guys, I hope to do Jack justice with this one. Hope you guys like it. This is for my father."

Manny takes a deep breath and hums along with the vamp before he start his song. ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEeaS6fuUoA&ab_channel=BillWithersVEVO)

As soon as Manny starts he loses himself in the feeling of remembering his father singing the song to him as a child. He opens his eyes at the end of his performance as Jack end on a riff. The Crowd claps in appreciation.

"Thank you." Manny says, with genuine smile.

"Give it up again for Mr. Ben Smith!" Jack says again before asking the crowd for their requests. Manny waves to to Jack and the ground again before he lets the man get back to work and continues on his walk.

InTheMachine

2022-09-03, 12:15 PM

Rescue Op
Leo reaches down and grabs Nightgaunt’s ankle as he goes down and throws him through the front of the house. He impacts the wall and breaks through, landing on the front lawn with chunks of brick and mortar.

Ryker pulls himself out of the remains of the wall behind the couch and rushes at Leo, exchanging punches and kicks with the Rook. Acid from his fists eat through Leo’s shirt and leave the skin underneath raw. He ducks under a right hook from the Rook and catches him with a left uppercut that sends Leo reeling.

“Lucky shot,” Leo growls as he touches his chin and finds blood there through his beard.

Initiative:
Leo spends a Benny to soak the one attack from Nightgaunt that hit
He then attacks Nightgaunt since his last attack was used as an Attack of Opportunity! He does 20 damage to him!
Jacks… Ryker goes! He Wounds Leo and he fails to soak
9s… Redline has Initiative!

mmdeforrest

2022-09-03, 01:05 PM

John
The demon stands as Dee enters and bows to him. Looking around the room, Dee sees only a book sitting on the end table next to the futon with a bookmark about halfway through out of place.

“Hello again, Dee,” Zylas says as he takes the iPad. He briefly turns the device over his hands before looking at the furniture the magician has ordered.

“This is very similar to what was in my home. Your expert is truly knowledgeable to know my House gemstone,” he says as he hands the iPad back. “All of this is more than sufficient. I could not ask for anything more.”

He smiles. “I am more than happy to speak with her. I’m sure our conversation will be enlightening— for her and for me.”

“I haven’t spoken with my elder brother since he was summoned,” Zylas admits as he returns to one of the chairs next to the end table with the book. “Even my sister hadn’t heard anything about him, and she’s been the human world for many years under a contract. House Urvaan-et must have been planning this for so long.” he shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. “If only we’d seen it coming. They were our allies at one time.”

“The long game was my assessment of Urvaan’s moves as well,” Dee confirmed, as he weighed the possibility that Jarek was at liberty in Iron Station — although he could have traveled much further afield in a decade’s time. “It almost sounds as if they are preparing to make a bid for the throne.”

He nodded at the book. “You’ve made quite a bit of progress since this morning. I am not sure if you are familiar with electronic books or not. I can provide you with one that has a large selection of books available on it so that you would have a variety of works to choose from.

“I see you have chosen a history of Iron Station. I have a fondness for the topic as well. Are there any periods you are particularly interested in?”

He had weighed the risk of offering that detail about himself. The need to determine if he had chosen the work out of curiosity or to familiarize himself with the area before attempting to settle in — as his brother may or may not have done — seemed like something he should risk.

The revelation that his brother might be at large in the area was, at minimum, a complication and perhaps a concern. It certainly changed the variables he had to account for. He would have to try and determine if he was still in the vicinity sooner rather than later.

“Have you found it difficult to be separated from your siblings in that manner? I’ve known people who have had to travel for work for extended periods of time and, from what I have seen, it has been difficult for them and their family at times. From what you are describing, it has been years since you have seen either of them — although perhaps I am misunderstanding the nature of your sister’s contract.”

InTheMachine

2022-09-03, 04:40 PM

mmdeforrest

2022-09-03, 06:41 PM

John
“Many have tried,” Zylas says. “But the High King has ruled for many millennia. He has crushed several Houses that thought they could challenge him.”

He glances over at the book. “I merely wished to learn about the city I currently find myself in for the foreseeable future. It’s been an easy read so far.” He tilts his curiously at the mention of an electronic book. “I have not heard of such a thing, but I am interested. It would cut down on book clutter. I often had that problem in the castle. My room was always full of books and scrolls.”

“I am the second youngest,” the demon explains. “Both Jerek and Lazka were grown by the time I was born and were never home much anyway while I was growing up. Lazka always doted on me when she was there, however. I do miss her. Since my mother started sending me on diplomatic trips, I haven’t had a chance to speak with her face to face, but she does occasionally contact me if she’s in of help. Her contract here in the human world has hopefully kept her out of danger. I did not hear of her death, at least.”

Dee was unsure how to process the image of a doting demonic older sister. Nor was he certain he wanted to risk adding what that image might imply to those he has picked up from Harbinger earlier. He was off-balance enough as it was.

He also recognized the risk of sympathizing too much with Zylas. He was a diplomat, a magician, and a demon. While Dr. Rivera had implied trust was a theoretical possibility, so was the threat of his playing the sympathy card and determining how to best manipulate him and their kay’al. Yes, he might be redeemed but he might also be an eventual source of temptation — if not now then in the centuries hence when Dr. Faustus’ dilemma — what more was there to learn or master — became a concern.

Who would he even be by then?

“Practitioners capable of engaging with a Princess of her rank would, I imagine, be part of a small community,” Dee observed. “Perhaps Dr. Riviera will know how one might contact the individual your sister has entered into a contract with. Perhaps, though her, you will be able to learn more of your family.

“As to the electronic book,” he continued as he flourished his iPad Mini, “they can cut down on the clutter and are wonderfully convenient — although the feel of a special book simply cannot be replicated on such a device. I’ll pick one up for you and get it set up for you — this evening, if I can. I have a dinner engagement that will require me to leave soon. But, as I said, I wanted to update you on the things I had learned and check in on you. We will have more time to chat tomorrow, I suspect.” He smiled from under his hood. “Unless Dr. Riviera arrives and wishes to monopolize your time, of course.”

“Was there anything else you needed before I left?”

PK-Leon

2022-09-03, 10:32 PM

Outside

Stella and Iris help Izzy over the car. They open the passenger door and Stella clambers into the backseat with the barista while Louis works on hot wiring it. Iris sits in the passenger seat and closes the door, watching the hero work.

A loud boom can be heard from inside and Stella leans forward between the seats. “Do you have something metal? I think I can make a key.”

Iris opens the glovebox and pulls out a screwdriver. “Would this work?”

The sorceress nods and takes the tool before putting it against the ignition. She chants a quick spell, and the metal melts into the slot, conforming to the inside. “Cela devrait fonctionner. Try that, Redline.”

Redline's hands come to a stop as he looks up from his work at the makeshift key in the ignition. "I was almost finished ya know?" He sighs from underneath the steering wheel. There's a flash of light and the hero reappears right side up in the driver's seat. "But then again we've got places to be." He concedes, taking a glance back at Izzy before he starts up the engine. "Thanks Menagerie."

Redline holds a pair of fingers up to his left ear and activates his communicator. "Hey inside man, you guys alright in there? We're rolling out of the driveway now."

"Fantastic actually." the inside man replies as he watches Ryker fly across the room in a fiery explosion. "We've already got Leo running on fumes so this should be over any minute n-"

From behind counter, Denzel pops out and flicks a pen at Redline. It increases in size, mass, and velocity and impacts the hero with the force of a bullet, piercing into his chest

The line goes silent as the Redline inside the safehouse diffuses into red orbs of light.

"Hey... you still there? Can you hear me?" Redline asks as he starts to back the car out of the driveway. What the hell's happening in there?

"Well, it sounds like they've got everything under control. They'll probably be walking out of the front door any minute now." He says to Stella, looking past her to ensure the street is clear.

Leo reaches down and grabs Nightgaunt’s ankle as he goes down and throws him through the front of the house. He impacts the wall and breaks through, landing on the front lawn with chunks of brick and mortar.

Redline taps the brakes and looks back to see Nightgaunt skid across the front lawn. "See." He says nonchalantly. So that's what happened... A second flash of light illuminates the inside of the car. When visibility returns to normal levels a second Redline can be seen taking cover behind the driver side door. The driver's window lowers. "Hey, you mind grabbing the keys while you're in there? We gotta go."

"You got it."

The double puts a hand on the hood of the car and starts to vault over it before disappearing in a streak of red light, reappearing between Nightgaunt and the newly installed front door. He spots the demolition man inside the building and raises an open right hand at his target, bracing it with his left, then fires off two spheres of intense red light.

The original reverses the vehicle onto the street, shifts gears, and tears off. "Hey Mimi, you mind routing me to the nearest hospital? And while you're at it can you get someone from the ISPD Meta Division on the line too? I'd appreciate it."

Redline creates a Duplicate!
Redline (Duplicate) teleports to gain line of sight on Nightgaunt's assailant

Ranged Attack #2
To Hit: 5 and 6 (https://orokos.com/roll/953608)
Damage: 24 and 26 (https://orokos.com/roll/953609) (Light, Heavy Weapon)

InTheMachine

2022-09-04, 10:08 AM

Rescue Op
Both of Redline’s lasers hit Leo in the back and he grunts as one of them leaves a circular burn. He twists around to find his attacker and sees the gray Monte Carlo roar away.

“My car!” he exclaims. “You mother*******…”

Denzel looks over the counter again and this time sends a small screw at Ryker, which hits him in the temple and stuns the former villain enough that Leo manages to punch him in the chest and send him flying out the front of the house with another explosion.

Ryker comes skidding to a stop next to Nightgaunt and slowly gets to his feet, wiping his forearm across his face to get the blood from the cut on his head out of his eyes.

Leo stalks out of the remains of the front of the house, glaring at the three heroes. “Y’all are starting to piss me off.”

Initiative:
Leo soaks one hit from Redline and gets 1 wound from the other
5s… Denzel goes and Shakes Ryker
Initiative Resets!
Aces… Leo goes and Wounds Ryker!
Queens… Nightgaunt has Initiative!

In The Car
“De rien,” the sorceress replies as she makes sure Izzy’s comfortable.

Stella and Iris watch out the window as both Nightgaunt and Ryker are thrown out into the front lawn. Redline turns a corner and the house and the fight are soon out of sight.

“They’ll be fine,” Stella says, mostly to herself.

Iris looks over her shoulder at the other woman, but stays silent.

Mimi begins directing Redline to Iron Station General, and starts a call to ISPD.

“Detective Krieger,” a female voice answers Redline.

You’re welcome

John
Zylas smiles at the possibility. “I would be grateful if you would ask her, or perhaps if she’s here tomorrow, I will inquire myself.”

His expression falls ever so slightly as Dee makes to leave, but he quickly smooths it over and hides his disappointment.

“Not currently,” the demon replies. “Mimi has been wonderful at answering any questions that I have as I come across new things in this book, and she’s assured me that my dinner will be served soon. Would you thank the chef for me, if it is the same person?”

mmdeforrest

2022-09-04, 12:41 PM

Zylas smiles at the possibility. “I would be grateful if you would ask her, or perhaps if she’s here tomorrow, I will inquire myself.”

His expression falls ever so slightly as Dee makes to leave, but he quickly smooths it over and hides his disappointment.

“Not currently,” the demon replies. “Mimi has been wonderful at answering any questions that I have as I come across new things in this book, and she’s assured me that my dinner will be served soon. Would you thank the chef for me, if it is the same person?”

INotice (https://orokos.com/roll/953696): 1d10o10+4 7 1d6o6+4 9

Dee smiles. “It is likely to be the same person. He has developed an interest in cooking and is indulging his interest whenever he can. I will be sure to mention your appreciation.

“I will also check with Mimi when I return to see if you are still up and about. I’d promise to sit down and chat some more but hesitate to do so, given the number of surprises I’ve encountered today. It feels too much like tempting fate.

“Until we meet again,” he offered as he made his way out the door.

As he closed it behind him, Dee tried to shake the feeling that he was a jailor closing a cell for a prisoner in solitary confinement who had been moved from a maximum security prison to a minimum security prison.

Occult Roll (https://orokos.com/roll/953699): 1d12o12+2 11 1d6o6+2 3

He also thought back to the detail Zylas had provided about the Riverfolk searching for something in the pocket dimension. If one of the remaining eight Stones were there and trying to make its way to Iron Station proper, it might be enough to create the destabilization they had observed.

Indeed, he felt it was all too certain and that they would have to make a return visit there some point soon — which would require speaking to Seraph about getting a day pass for Zylas so that he could serve as a guide, given how much more he knew about the location than any of them.

Raphael would love that, he thought as he shook his head and began to make his way toward the garage, given that Stella would be the other obvious choice for such a mission.

“Two requests and a question for you, Mimi:” he said as he willed his uniform back onto its stand and returned to his blue-grey shirt, charcoal grey slacks, and black jacket. “Can you ask Clea to calculate if I have time to stop at a Best Buy with locker pickup on the way to East Side without compromising an on-time arrival? If there is one, I would like to order a Paperwhite or Oasis.

“Can you also pass along to Ayern that Prince Zylas appreciates his cooking?

“And, finally, can you offer me your assessment of Prince Zylas? I am interested in hearing what your perceptions are — within the bounds of propriety and respecting his privacy, of course.”

big teej

2022-09-04, 08:59 PM

Dirty Laundry, Public View. Something.

Red and black streamers waft up from the pile of rubble and earth Nightgaunt rests in. A pale hand emerges, streamers trailing from two of its fingers. Nightgaunt leverages himself free and pushes himself to his feet. His helmet is scuffed, cracked, and scorched from Leo's touch.

"The feeling is mutual." The vampire growls. The streamers evaporate as he rushes Leo again, pushing down his murderous instincts. He slashes and tears at him again, trying equally to put the villain down as give Vitriol and Redline a chance to act.

Nightgaunt became Unshaken (https://orokos.com/roll/953714)
Nightgaunt attempts to directly engage a threat: 6 (https://orokos.com/roll/953713) + 3 Danger = 9
Nightgaunt gets +2 on his attack rolls (negating all of his penalties to roll normally.) AND
Nightgaunt chooses to create an opportunity for Redline by causing him to Draw and Play an adventure card.
Redline Get's Savage: Immediately, and permanently, gaining an Edge he qualifies for, this does not consume an advance.
Nightgaunt used Fury Swipes! (https://orokos.com/roll/953715)
it hit once! 16 against Parry
Damage: 25 (https://orokos.com/roll/953716)+3 is 28

InTheMachine

2022-09-05, 11:06 AM

John
“There is, unfortunately, not enough time for Clea to stop by Best Buy if you wish to be on time to pick up Emi accounting for current traffic and weather,” Mimi replies. “As for our new resident Greater Demon, I am unsure what to think of him,” the AI admits. “Seraph is suspicious of him, of course, and as soon as he left HQ earlier to assist you, Zylas checked every wall, floor to ceiling, for gaps in the wards. He didn’t seem to find any, but I did alert Seraph, just to be safe.”

“He has spent much of his time today deeply asleep, other than when he was reading and asking me a few questions about this world. He asks similar questions as Aeryn, which is unsurprising. So far, none of his posture or expressions have indicated any kind of hostility.”

Mimi pauses a moment before continuing. “He does seem to greatly enjoy talking with you. As soon as you left he paced for a few minutes, glancing at the door as if hoping you’d return. He is lonely, I suspect. No one else has come to visit him today, and I doubt that anyone else will, other than yourself and Seraph.”

As John passes through the living room, he sees Drake sitting at the end of the couch with a book in his lap. Yuki’s cuddled up next to him, and Aeryn and Sidney sit a few seats away. They’re all watching some anime movie that Aeryn and Yuki seem very invested in.

Manny
As he leaves the park, several people look up and point. As Manny follows their gaze he spots Seraph flying off in a southeastern direction before he disappears into the gathering gray clouds.

As he keeps walking, Manny comes across a pizza joint before the sky opens up and it begins to pour down a heavy rain.

Rescue Op
As Nightgaunt tears into Leo, he catches the large man across the throat. Leo gurgles as he goes down to his knees, holding the wound that pulses out bright red blood with every beat of his heart.

A moment later, Denzel picks his way out from inside the house. He has his hands up and in one he holds a gray dish towel. “I surrender!” he says. “I just wanna help the boss.”

Ryker nods and Denzel comes up to Leo and presses the dish rag into his neck.

“He’s not gonna make it if we don’t get an ambulance over here,” Ryker says and he wipes more blood off his face.

Combat Ends!

mmdeforrest

2022-09-05, 11:59 AM

John had almost regretted quietly walking past his friends with no more than a wave he did not expect them to notice, let alone return. He was aware they would know where he was going and understand his haste but he would have liked to check in on Drake especially. Seraph’s healing would have been complete — far more complete than what he had offered, but he still worried about his friend.

“It doesn’t sound like we will have time to swing past a Best Buy, Clea,” John asked as he opened the door — being careful not to bang it into the strange grey car parked next to him.

“Unfortunately, no — even with me doing all of the driving,” she replied lightly.

“Does it make that much of a difference?” John asked.

“Don’t take it personally, John,” Clea offered sympathetically. “I have been programmed to handle roadways with a level of precision and efficiency most humans cannot match and can adjust to traffic conditions in real time. If I drive to East Side, for example, we will have ten minutes to spare instead of the five minutes you have figured into your planning.”

John smiled. “It’s hard to feel bad about it when you phrase it like that. Your driving to East will also free me up to place a few calls.”

“Including to your sister? Her last text about your timing your calls home to match moments when she and Stephen are out indicated she did want you to call.”

“If I have time,” he replied guiltily. “Business before pleasure and all that.”

“Of course,” Clea replied after just long enough of a pause to make it clear she did not agree.

“I’ll make the business calls quick. Please ask Mimi if Seraph will be available soon for a call regarding the possible-to-probable location of another of the Stones. After transmitting the request, please patch me through to Agent Montcrieff.”

“Transmitting and calling,” Clea responded as she backed into the street.

The line rang only once before Montcrieff’s face appeared on the car’s screen.

“Good evening, Kelly; Clea.”

“Good evening, Henrietta,” Clea replied. John was surprised to note that the two of their personalities had already created a divergence in the tone and intonation of their voices. It was akin to listening to a voice actor providing multiple characters’ voices in an audio book. That there would be a difference was not the surprise. That it had happened this quickly was.

“I’m surprised to hear from you, Kelley — given where you are going. I’d complain about you having some time off while I am working but, as we discussed a short time ago, your day has been fuller than usual.”

“I wanted to get some things off my mental plate before dinner,” John replied before wincing.

“Sorry about that. Anyway, the item I wanted to draw to your attention is the part of the reports that may or may not have mentioned the Riverfolk searching for something in a destabilized pocket dimension. It’s just a hunch, but if the Stones of Vashuuna are gathering, as Dr. Riviera is theorizing, there may be a Stone in that dimension trying to make its way here.”

Montcrieff pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. “A shrewd piece of intuition, Kelley. I hadn’t gotten that far but you are right. That is a distinct possibility.”

“Thank you, Montcrieff,” John replied, feeling a little proud of himself. “I am thinking of asking Seraph if we can bring Zylas along on the mission. He knows the way that place shifts and his sense of things there might help us. That said, he did not appear to have a sense of where it was. Do you or Dr. Pearson know of a way to track these Stones? I didn’t sense it while we were there and Zylas has made no mention of it. I would rather not spend more time there than I have to.”

“Bringing Zylas is a risk,” Montcrieff said carefully, “but one I suspect you have already considered. I can also see the logic in doing so. Dr. Pearson is still at the Museum but I will send him a message and ask. It does stand to reason that, if they can gather that there should be some kind of harmony or resonance you can tune into. The question will be less how safe is it to do so — as that answer is certain to be ‘it is not’ — and more what mitigations you will need to take.

“I hate to have to admit this, but you may be better off coordinating with Dr. Riviera than with any of the AEGIS operatives you know. She is in close proximity and one of the world’s experts in these matters.

“Nevertheless, I will see what we can determine on this end and coordinate with you after your well deserved break for dinner. I will also update the communique to indicate a possible third location for a Stone has been determined with a promise of more information to come and ask if anyone knows how to tap into any kind of harmonics or similar the Stones may be emitting.”

“Give me a couple minutes before you transmit that,” John asked. “I haven’t had a chance to mention any of this to Seraph and I would hate for him to find out about my theory through a communique from London.”

Montcrieff smiled. “It would be impolite, now that you mention it. Send me a text when you have updated him. I’ll sign off now, as we need to leave time for you to call your sister.”

John looked at the speedometer and back to the screen. “How much information has Clea been feeding you, Montcrieff?”

“Would I do such a thing?” Clea asked innocently.

“You would,” John replied immediately.

“Very little,” Montcrieff said, answering the question. “She did note when she transmitted your call that you assured her you would call Kate and I agree with her assessment that you should.”

“You’re both right, of course,” John sighed. “Kelley out.”

“Montcrieff out.”

“Seraph is available for your call, John,” Clea noted as Moncrieff disappeared and the screen cycled back to the infotainment system.

“Please connect us, Clea,” he said.

“Good evening, Seraph,” John said when the angel appeared on the screen. “My apologies for not speaking with you in person but the thought only occurred to me after I spoke with Zylas.

“I should quickly mention, before getting to the important part,” John said, wondering at his definition of important here, “that Zylas has not heard from his brother since he was summoned here ten years ago. If you or Harbinger have not attended to him, we should probably consider how an unbound greater demon might complicate this mix — especially if Matteo Bordreaux has been possessed by a member of the House that just deposed his House.”

He took a deep breath “I believe there is a third Stone in the River King’s pocket dimension. Its need to appear in Iron Station would explain why the dimension has become unstable. We should probably move on this relatively quickly — either to confirm or deny that it is probable. What I would like to know is how large a team we should assemble to conduct this reconnaissance and ask if we might include Zylas in the team. He, more than any of us, knows that pocket dimension and its quirks and he proved willing to assist us while there.

“I acknowledge the risk involved in such a move,” he continued, hoping that he did not sound like he was asking if they could take their pet demon out for a walk, “which is why I wanted to seek out your guidance and, if it is a sound idea, your approval.”

PK-Leon

2022-09-05, 03:19 PM

In The Car

Mimi begins directing Redline to Iron Station General, and starts a call to ISPD.

“Detective Krieger,” a female voice answers Redline.

"Morning Detective. This is Redline, West Side Provisional Team. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important but I'm calling to report an incident at 903 Summit Street. My team was responding to reports of a recent kidnapping that we tracked back to that address. And as it turns out those reports were accurate and the victim was being held hostage in an attempt to draw out another individual. The building is actively being used as a Rook safehouse, though I'm not entirely certain what you'll find there since we didn't get a chance to search the place properly before making contact with several Rooks inside. At least three of them are metahuman, which is why I'm calling you now.

With some help I was able to get the victim into a vehicle we found at the address and I'm currently transporting her to Iron Station General however the rest of my team is still there. If possible I'd like to know if you could send first response to the scene for emergency treatment and detainment. One of the metas we encountered is capable of creating localized explosions simply by touching an object with his hands so I'd ask any units responding to the scene to exercise more caution than usual when dealing with him. With all of that being said is there anything else you need from me?"

big teej

2022-09-05, 03:20 PM

All in a day's work:

Nightgaunt staggers back from Leo, letting Denzel tend to his fellow ganger. His shoulders and chest heave, breathing in ragged gasps as he looks at the blood on his hands. He blinks rapidly, trying to clear his hazy vision. He looks at the blood oozing out around Denzel's fingers through the sodden rag and licks dry lips. He...

He turns and stalks away from the fallen Rook. "I'm sure Redline has already called the lights and sirens." He says. He walks down to the street and plants his butt on the curb, pulling a shiny silver bag from unreality. He pushes his helmet off and lets it bounce and roll to a stop as he drains the bag, willing his body to put itself back together.

Nightgaunt activates Regeneration: 11 -2 = 9! (https://orokos.com/roll/953775)
Now that the fight's over and he's concentrating on healing, Nightgaunt heals up, shiny and chrome, within a few seconds.

HIDA

2022-09-05, 03:34 PM

Manny
As he leaves the park, several people look up and point. As Manny follows their gaze he spots Seraph flying off in a southeastern direction before he disappears into the gathering gray clouds.

As he keeps walking, Manny comes across a pizza joint before the sky opens up and it begins to pour down a heavy rain.

I wonder where he's going. Manny thinks as the skies open up and he ducks into a... Pizza place?

"Bordeaux's" Manny says aloud to no one before sitting Looking up at the order board.

Pizza, Stromboli, Calzones, Pasta. Salads. Sounds good. smells good too.

He looks around. No one's at the counter. No bell or anything either.

He sits at a table and waits for the rain to let up. Or someone to take his order.

InTheMachine

2022-09-05, 05:05 PM

Rescue Op
Ryker shakes his head as he makes his way over to Leo and Denzel. He waves the Rook away and puts more pressure on Leo’s neck than Denzel was able to do. “Go get another towel and call 911,” he tells the Rook. “They’ll be able to tell us if someone’s already on the way or not. You owe me, Leo.”

He talks quietly to Leo as Denzel heads back into the house, sending an occasional worried glance over at Nightgaunt.

In the Car
“Can you hold for a moment?” she asks before the line is muted. She picks it back up a few moments later. “I have police and EMS on their way, Redline. Can I get a callback number? I’m going to need a report submitted for this from you or one of your team.”

Manny
A minute or two after Manny sits down, a pimply faced teen comes up to the counter. “Hey, have you been helped?” he asks. “You waitin’ on a pizza?”

John
Seraph considers all of the new information. “I’ll think about it, John. You go enjoy your evening with Emi. Take a few hours off, okay?” he asks with a smile. “If you want, we can talk when you get back.”

HIDA

2022-09-05, 05:22 PM

Manny
A minute or two after Manny sits down, a pimply faced teen comes up to the counter. “Hey, have you been helped?” he asks. “You waitin’ on a pizza?”

"Not yet, Mate." Manny says, Smiling at the guy. "But I'm thinking of grabbing a couple of pies. Let me get a Supreme, biggest size you have, and a Chicken Bacon with bell peppers. Same size Please and Thanks."

mmdeforrest

2022-09-05, 05:26 PM

Seraph considers all of the new information. “I’ll think about it, John. You go enjoy your evening with Emi. Take a few hours off, okay?” he asks with a smile. “If you want, we can talk when you get back.”

“I will. And thanks, Seraph,” John said hanging up.

He looked at the screen. “I guess there is no putting it off now, is there?”

“I took the precaution of placing an order for a top of the line Kindle Paperwhite in between the Warehouse and East Side,” Clea responded. “It will be ready for pickup on our way back. Not that you would ever think to use such a thing to delay speaking with your sister.”

John smiled. “No, never. Thanks, Clea.”

“You are welcome, John. Shall I call?”

John took a deep breath. “Okay, Clea: Please call Kate and set up an internal soundscape that makes it appear I am in a gas-driven vehicle.”

“It’s about time,” she teased. “Connecting.”

He had not quite been avoiding speaking with his sister. In fact, he actively missed speaking with her. It was just that, having grown up together, he knew that she would be able to figure things out about him more easily than most — making the preservation of his secret identity all the more difficult. And he knew she would have questions that would be very difficult to answer without, at minimum, stretching the truth to the breaking point.

“Well, hello there, stranger!” Kate quipped as she answered the call.

“Hello, Kate! I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

“No, not at all. Jeffery and I are sitting here at Dave’s Coffee studying together. Since you didn’t text first, I’m assuming this isn’t a IMM call, so I’ll switch over to speaker.”

“Hi, Boyfriend!” Jeffery said, in a mock whisper. “I hope you have called with juicy details about the new lady in your life. Some of the ‘society set’ are at a nearby table and I would love, love, love to see the looks on their faces when they hear you are dating Siren.”

“I don’t know if we are ready for that to appear in the society pages just yet,” John replied, wishing he were a fly on that wall, “but we will be risking exposure to paparazzi for the first time this evening. As it so happens, I am on my way to pick Emi up for dinner out now.”

“I thought it sounded like you were in a car,” Kate observed. “A rental, I take it?”

“It seemed easier than trying to navigate public transit with her,” John explained while Clea projected a masked face emoji on the infotainment screen. “It’s not the kind of vehicle she is used to driving, but it will get us to the restaurant.”

“Okay, boyfriend, spill the beans: How did you manage to catch the eye of Emilia Shaw? While I know you are quite the catch, it isn’t every day one meets such a woman — let alone start dating her.”

The social set are straining themselves to listen and passing a phone around with Siren’s picture on it. I’ll try to send you a picture of Chhhaaahhhddd’s face in a second. The outrage and envy are just so delicious.

“It was a bit of a chance encounter in Amity Court,” he offered, smiling at Jefferey’s text. “I was about to have some tea and joked about a particular kind I saw in London. We started chatting about teas and I took a chance and offered to try to make high tea for her. Luck has played a bit of a role in all of this.”

“Try not to run through all of the money you made this summer in the first week,” Kate suggested. “Although you will have a challenge entertaining her at the level she is used to, given what Jeffery tells me about her wardrobe. Of course, the small inheritance that mom and dad mentioned should help a little but we’re supposed to be using that for school.

“Of course, she can afford to look past a college student’s need for money but I suspect it would be a challenge for you to not try and pick up the tab.”

“I’m being careful,” John replied vaguely. “I may have gone a little overboard with some of what we have done but I am still within my budget.”

That budget is a bit larger than is publicly known, John thought to himself.

“Well, the boyfriend is a gentleman,” Jeffery said in an exaggerated fashion, “but is he dressed as one?”

“I’m wearing the blue-grey shirt,” John explained.

“Good choice, boyfriend,” Jeffery confirmed. “It’s good to hear you have been listening.”

“I’m getting close to where I am scheduled to pick her up,” John noted as he closed in on East Side’s base. “I’ll try to call again when I have more time.”

“Ask her if she wants to talk on your way to dinner,” Kate asked archly.

“And if she will let me design something for her,” Jeffery added.

John smiled broadly. He missed them so much.

“For the two of you, I promise to ask. I’ll talk to you soon.”

InTheMachine

2022-09-05, 07:30 PM

Manny
“You got it dude,” the teen replies. “I’ll be those right in.”

About ten minutes later, the guy walks out from behind the counter and sets the two pizzas down at Manny’s table.

The rain still hasn’t let up at all.

In the Car
“So what happened after you broke up with Ryker?” Stella asks Iris as she leans forward a little in the backseat. “He seemed really surprised to see you with the Rooks.”

Iris clutches her purse a little tighter before she answers. “After I graduated high school, I’d planned on going to Briarwood, but my dad got into a really bad accident. His medical bills were… crazy. I had to get a job or my mom would’ve lost the house. It didn’t take long for me to realize that something normal wasn’t going to cut it.”

She sighs, looking down at her lap. “I had met a couple girls at this party that Ryker took me to right before we broke up and I had remembered them talking about making good money over the weekend. Like a couple thousand just in tips. We’d exchanged numbers while Ryker was playing pool with some guys, so I texted one of them. And she got me an interview with Lady Orchid.”

“Technically, she’s not a Rook and none of her girls are either,” Iris explains. “But we still… service… the higher ups in the gang, or the other guys if they can afford it, in addition to the normal clients that Lady Orchid sends us to. It’s not a bad gig, honestly, if you can stomach what you do. We get paid really well and our housing is taken care of, along with anything medical that we need. All of the clients know not to mess with us.”

“My mom and sister think I got super lucky and landed an overnight IT job. I couldn’t tell them what I really do,” Iris says, guilt plain in her voice. “I don’t know what they’d say to me.”

PK-Leon

2022-09-05, 07:56 PM

On the Scene

Red and black streamers waft up from the pile of rubble and earth Nightgaunt rests in. A pale hand emerges, streamers trailing from two of its fingers. Nightgaunt leverages himself free and pushes himself to his feet. His helmet is scuffed, cracked, and scorched from Leo's touch.

"The feeling is mutual." The vampire growls. The streamers evaporate as he rushes Leo again, pushing down his murderous instincts. He slashes and tears at him again, trying equally to put the villain down as give Vitriol and Redline a chance to act.

"Hey, you two ok-" Redline starts to ask before his attention is drawn towards the supernatural display beside him.

Nightgaunt surges across the ground at the towering Rook faster than Redline can bring himself to act.

As Nightgaunt tears into Leo, he catches the large man across the throat. Leo gurgles as he goes down to his knees, holding the wound that pulses out bright red blood with every beat of his heart.

A spray of blood signals the end of the fight as Leo drops to the ground and the tension in the air gives way to uncertainty.

In the Car

“Can you hold for a moment?” she asks before the line is muted. She picks it back up a few moments later. “I have police and EMS on their way, Redline. Can I get a callback number? I’m going to need a report submitted for this from you or one of your team.”

"Sure, I don't plan on going anywhere." Redline replies. "You can reach me anytime at this number. And if you're looking for a report then you'll want to talk to my double. He was on the scene with the others the last I checked and should be able to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for the help Detective."

Redline reaches out to himself over comms after the call ends. "Heads up, you've got first response inbound. You guys have things under control yet?"

He turns and stalks away from the fallen Rook. "I'm sure Redline has already called the lights and sirens." He says. He walks down to the street and plants his butt on the curb, pulling a shiny silver bag from unreality. He pushes his helmet off and lets it bounce and roll to a stop as he drains the bag, willing his body to put itself back together.

Ryker shakes his head as he makes his way over to Leo and Denzel. He waves the Rook away and puts more pressure on Leo’s neck than Denzel was able to do. “Go get another towel and call 911,” he tells the Rook. “They’ll be able to tell us if someone’s already on the way or not. You owe me, Leo.”

He talks quietly to Leo as Denzel heads back into the house, sending an occasional worried glance over at Nightgaunt.

His double looks between his two teammates then over to Denzel as he moves back into the house. "Uh... yeah. Leo went down and the other guy gave up as soon as he saw his boss drop. He's losing a lot of blood though." He adds, his voice conveying a trace of concern.

"Got it. Try and hold things down until EMS arrives. We're only a few minutes out from the hospital so I'll leave the rest to you."

Grass is Greener

Redline flash-steps across the yard over to Ryker and takes a knee at his side. "First Response is already on the way. Anything I can do to help? How ya holdin up by the way?"

He tears his eyes away from Leo's neck and let's his gaze rest on Nightgaunt's back as he rests along the curb.

HIDA

2022-09-05, 08:27 PM

Manny
“You got it dude,” the teen replies. “I’ll be those right in.”

About ten minutes later, the guy walks out from behind the counter and sets the two pizzas down at Manny’s table.

The rain still hasn’t let up at all.

Manny looks outside at the torrent and sighs. "Wanna Slice?" He offers to the guy. "Not exactly goin anywhere in this ****e. Reminds me of home, sadly."

InTheMachine

2022-09-05, 09:19 PM

Manny
“Sorry man,” the teen replies. “I don’t get off the clock for another three hours and we’ve got a ton of orders right now.” He goes back behind the counter.

Over the next fifteen minutes several dozen people and drivers come in and pick up orders before leaving. Rain continues to come down, though it does seem to be getting lighter.

Rescue Op
“Not unless you know anything else about neck wounds other than keepin’ pressure on them,” Ryker says, wiping more blood out of his eye with his free arm. The rag he’s holding is soaked through, and Leo’s looking increasingly pale.

Denzel returns for the house with two more dish towels. “Jesus,” he whispers as Ryker takes one and quickly swaps it out for the one he’s holding to Leo’s neck.

The wail of an ambulance and police cars gets louder as they near the house. Soon several officers and EMS arrives. They load Leo into the back of the ambulance and a cop gets Denzel into custody before they head into the house.

One cop comes up to Redline and Ryker. The name under his badge says Zandri. “Do any of you guys need medical?” he asks also jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Nightgaunt. He narrows his eyes at the cut under Ryker’s hairline when the former villain shakes his head. “You could probably use a couple stitches.”

“We have two more in need of EMS. Both are unconscious,” the cop’s radio says before someone from dispatch answers.

He shrugs when Ryker insists that he’s had worse. “If you’re good, one of my higher ups is asking for a report,” the cop says. “You can write one or you can come into the station for an interview. Either way, we’d appreciate it.”

“That’s all you, Big Man,” Ryker says with a smirk at Redline as he pulls out his pack of cigarettes.

HIDA

2022-09-05, 09:26 PM

InTheMachine

2022-09-05, 09:32 PM

Manny
“John had asked for assistance,” Mimi replies. “Seraph and Harbinger have returned to base. John, Keith, Drake, and Yuki have just arrived as well.”

HIDA

2022-09-05, 09:42 PM

Manny
“John had asked for assistance,” Mimi replies. “Seraph and Harbinger have returned to base. John, Keith, Drake, and Yuki have just arrived as well.”

"Good. Something to do with all this Pizza. Returning to base." Manny replies. On his way back his starts checking his messages. he also send his mother a quick text. and then turns off his phone again before she tries to take a massive swath of his time.

He arrives unceremoniously at base looking like a drowned cat before dropping the pizza off in the kitchen and stripping out of his wet clothes on his way to his room.

PK-Leon

2022-09-06, 11:06 AM

In the Car

Redline listens with mixed interest as Iris explains what happened. He tries to keep his focus on the road rather than anything being said however his curiosity eventually gets the better of him.

"So your dad... He's alright now yeah? And your parents were able to keep the house with the money you brought in from," Redline pauses, considering if he even should've opened his mouth to ask the question. "work?"

Grass is Greener

One cop comes up to Redline and Ryker. The name under his badge says Zandri. “Do any of you guys need medical?” he asks also jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Nightgaunt. He narrows his eyes at the cut under Ryker’s hairline when the former villain shakes his head. “You could probably use a couple stitches.”

He shrugs when Ryker insists that he’s had worse. “If you’re good, one of my higher ups is asking for a report,” the cop says. “You can write one or you can come into the station for an interview. Either way, we’d appreciate it.”

“That’s all you, Big Man,” Ryker says with a smirk at Redline as he pulls out his pack of cigarettes.

"Actually..." Redline starts with a grin. "I was gonna have you go in for the interview; or file a report, whichever you prefer really since you're technically the only person who's seen this through from beginning to end.

You don't seem too worse for wear after eating a couple explosions point blank so I think you can handle things down at the station for us. Unless you actually do need medical attention that is? Then I guess I could step in for you while they get you patched up over the hospital. I'll leave the choice to you." He finishes with a devilish look in his eyes. It was the look of a man who knows he's already won a hand of cards and is simply waiting for the game to play out.

Redline looks back to the officer. "I think he'll be fine but I'll check on him anyway." He says, inclining his head towards Nightgaunt before disappearing in flash of red light.

He turns and stalks away from the fallen Rook. "I'm sure Redline has already called the lights and sirens." He says. He walks down to the street and plants his butt on the curb, pulling a shiny silver bag from unreality. He pushes his helmet off and lets it bounce and roll to a stop as he drains the bag, willing his body to put itself back together.

The hero reappears within a few steps of Nightgaunt and stops upon reaching the curb. "This curb taken?" He asks, as he squats beside his friend.

InTheMachine

2022-09-06, 02:02 PM

In the Car
Iris shrugs to Louis’ questions. “My dad isn’t the same as he was. He’s been through several brain surgeries, and he can’t work anymore. My mom and sister spend a lot of time at home with him. But yeah, they got to keep the house.”

The hospital comes into view as she falls silent again. As soon as Louis stops the car, Iris gets out to pull the seat forward for Stella and Izzy. The sorceress helps Izzy out and Iris heads into the hospital to let them know that they’ve arrived.

Cleanup
Ryker glares at Redline as he puts his pack of cigarettes back into his pockets. “That’s real low, man. Real low. Fine. I’ll go get checked out. All this blood is kinda annoying anyway,” he sighs as he makes his way over to one of the ambulances.

As Redline goes to talk to Nightgaunt, the ambulance Ryker had climbed into pulls out into the road and heads toward the hospital.

Manny
As Manny makes his way through the hallway to his room, he spots Harbinger talking to Drake. Drake looks freshly showered and is dressed in some black athletic shorts and a gray Brairwood t-shirt.

“I understand, sir,” Drake says.

The angel nods at the younger hero before turning and making his way toward the stairs. Several gray feathers drift to the ground his wake.

Drake crosses his arms and leans one shoulder against the wall as he lets out a deep breath.

HIDA

2022-09-06, 07:31 PM

Manny
As Manny makes his way through the hallway to his room, he spots Harbinger talking to Drake. Drake looks freshly showered and is dressed in some black athletic shorts and a gray Brairwood t-shirt.

“I understand, sir,” Drake says.

The angel nods at the younger hero before turning and making his way toward the stairs. Several gray feathers drift to the ground his wake.

Drake crosses his arms and leans one shoulder against the wall as he lets out a deep breath.

Manny walks by Drake and quickly changes out his wet clothes and into some Dry Joggers and and a Grey tee with "OXFORD" in Blue across the chest.

"You alright, Mate?" Manny says, to Drake when the angel is out of assumed earshot. " sounded like a me when Bernie gives me an earful."

InTheMachine

2022-09-06, 08:15 PM

HIDA

2022-09-06, 08:40 PM

Manny
Drake, deep in thought, glances up as Manny speaks to him. “I deserved it,” he says quietly. “It’s nothing for you to worry about though. Just that I need to keep a better eye on Ryker. Apparently Harbinger got a call from ISPD today that he, Louis, and Raphael took down a Rooks safe house, and Ryker needed to get checked out at the hospital afterwards. He caused a little bit of scene there.”

"Sounds like you missed out." Manny says teasing slightly. "and None of this 'I deserved it, nothing for you to worry about.' nonsense. We're a team, we hold everyone accountable so we share the triumphs and setbacks." Manny says, realizing he's sounding an awful lot like Bernie trying to cheer him up after one of his former teammates fouled things up. "Either way, You've had your dressing down, No need to beat yourself up again. You up for a drink or a spar? Today's been wildly boring with everyone busy with their own plans. Obviously you all have had pertinent thigs to take care of but I'd rather like to have my teammates to think of me as, well, part of the team. What do you think?" Manny says, offering the man a hand with a winning smile.

big teej

2022-09-07, 08:33 AM

Post of Opportunity

"There's plenty to go around." Nightgaunt says with an expansive gesture. He tosses the shriveled and empty blood bag between his boots and leans back on his hands.

"Some complications aside, not a bad bit of work for the day." He says, trying hard to be cavalier about the whole incident and the bleeding Rook behind him.

"It was almost really nice... just doing hero stuff again."

InTheMachine

2022-09-07, 02:21 PM

HIDA

2022-09-07, 03:05 PM

Manny
“Ryker’s still my responsibility, more than anyone else here. I was the one that agreed to put him on South Side team and make sure he didn’t cause too much trouble.” He shrugs, moving off the wall. “I stand by my decision though. For all his faults, he’s a good guy… deep down.”

“You call raiding an alternate dimension owned by the River King ‘wildly boring’?” Drake asks, raising an eyebrow. “I guess I need to reevaluate what I would call a boring day,” he says with a small shake of his head and a half smile. He shakes Manny hand. “I’m up for the drink, but not for a spar. I got sliced up earlier and, honestly, I’m still kinda feeling it.”

"No worries, mate. If Ryker was really an issue at all, I trust an angel to make a decent judgment call on someone's character. Trust me His being here is no accident. A drink sounds fine." Manny says shaking his hand. Heavier than I thought.

"I have, for better or worse, seen some truly outrageous ****e in my travels. I do not recommend trying to work off my scale as far as 'boring' goes. I am doing my best to get reacquainted with something a bit closer to 'normal'.

Drake heads toward the kitchen. “You like Modelo Negra? I have those, or we have some Fireball that Aeryn wanted to cook with. Yuki, Aeryn, and I were gonna watch a movie starting in the next ten minutes or so, if you wanted to join us. I don’t know how into anime stuff you are, but Yuki loves it and something new just dropped a few days ago. She’s been dying to see it, so… I agreed to at least sit with her while she watches. And Aeryn loves movies.”

"Modelo sounds great." Manny says following Drake into the kitchen "I've seen a few anime before. You don't enjoy them?"

PK-Leon

2022-09-07, 07:18 PM

Sidewalk Talk

"There's plenty to go around." Nightgaunt says with an expansive gesture. He tosses the shriveled and empty blood bag between his boots and leans back on his hands.

"Some complications aside, not a bad bit of work for the day." He says, trying hard to be cavalier about the whole incident and the bleeding Rook behind him.

"It was almost really nice... just doing hero stuff again."

Redline lets himself fall into a seated position and stretches his legs past the curb, letting the heels of his boots rest on the pavement.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm still trying to make sense of the last few days." He sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"But this? This keeps me grounded." Redline nods a bit to himself.

"So... you good?" He asks, looking to Nightgaunt with a hint of concern.

Road to Recovery

Iris shrugs to LouisÂ’ questions. Â“My dad isnÂ’t the same as he was. HeÂ’s been through several brain surgeries, and he canÂ’t work anymore. My mom and sister spend a lot of time at home with him. But yeah, they got to keep the house.Â”

Ask depressing questions, get depressing answers. I shouldn't have even asked... He thinks to himself as he sinks a bit into his seat.

The hospital comes into view as she falls silent again. As soon as Louis stops the car, Iris gets out to pull the seat forward for Stella and Izzy. The sorceress helps Izzy out and Iris heads into the hospital to let them know that theyÂ’ve arrived.

Louis finds a relatively isolated spot in the lot to park the Monte Carlo and pockets the 'key' before rejoining the others in the reception area of the hospital.

InTheMachine

2022-09-07, 08:57 PM

PK-Leon

2022-09-07, 11:26 PM

And Now We Wait...

As he enters the ER, Louis spots Stella, dressed in her street clothes, waiting for him just inside. “They took her back already. Iris stayed with her.”

"They're probably gonna look her over and start her on detox if I had to guess? Do you know if they'll allow anyone else to visit her? I should be there." He says sliding both of his hands into his jacket pockets. "She wouldn't've been caught up in any of this if we were more careful from the beginning."

Roguewolf

2022-09-08, 08:23 AM

After a couple of hours in the gym, Keith takes a seat by the wall. He might have pushed himself a little far but he needed to make the effort. Afterall, he was useless at close range and needed to get stronger. It wasn't but a minute after he sat down his phone buzzed.

Hey kid, just something to add from earlier. I know that you wanted to look into Silver Horn, that hero Magatsu crippled into retirement, and broke. I have another assignment for ya. Try to learn from one of the other heroes in Iron Station too. Think Cold Front is still in the spotlight there. go and talk with her.

Keith sighed seeing the text. "You gotta be kidding me..... Wonder if Ryker can tell me anything else about Cold Front before going to try and find her." He just shook his head. Remembering what Ryker had told him about when Cold Front had captured him, he wasn't too keen on wanting to see her, but he didn't have too much choice if his uncle gave him the assignment.

Why couldn't I just go talk to Eidolon instead and get this over with? He thought to himself.

"Hey Mimi? Do you know where Ryker is?"

"He is in his room at the moment."

Keith nodded and looked up with a smile. "Thank you, Mimi!" He then proceeded to get up and make his way to Ryker's room and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Ryker? Got a question for ya about someone if you got a moment."

InTheMachine

2022-09-08, 09:57 AM

Iron Station General
Stella goes up to one of the nurses on staff by the door and says a few words to the guy before waving Louis over.

“He said he’d take you back to her,” Stella says. “I’m probably going to head home unless you want me to wait here.”

The nurse puts his badge up to the door and waits for Louis to follow him through, then leads him down a few corridors to one of the smaller rooms directly across from a nurses station before knocking on the door. Inside, Izzy is propped up on the bed by a large pillow and is already changed into a gown. She has an IV hooked up that has steadily dripping liquid flowing through it. Other than that arm, sticking out, she has a thin white blanket pulled up to her chin, although she still shivers slightly. She smiles tiredly as Louis walks in.

Iris looks up from her phone. She’s seated in one of the two chairs next to the bed. “I told them what I thought they might have used. They’re trying to get her fixed up now.”

Through the door the nurse left slightly ajar, they can hear one of the nurses across the hall call for security. “Can I get an officer with a nullifier to room 126 please? We have a very uncooperative patient. He came in uncuffed, but he has gang tattoos. Some of the other nurses are scared.”

Keith
It takes a minute, but Ryker’s door opens. “What’s up, Keith?” he asks flatly as he crosses his arms and leans into the doorway.

Roguewolf

2022-09-08, 10:09 AM

Keith
It takes a minute, but Ryker’s door opens. “What’s up, Keith?” he asks flatly as he crosses his arms and leans into the doorway.

Keith looks a bit nervous as Ryker's door opens and with the flat tone. He figured he had really screwed up.

"Well, first I'm sorry. Shouldn't have acted like an idiot around you." He was a but uncomfortable. Maybe it would have been better to just figure it out all on his own. Or just talk with Eidolon.

"I.... heard from my uncle a bit ago. Something he said was kinda odd though. He wants me to go talk with Cold Front. Says it's to differentiate myself from my father, just no idea how she handles things. How bad of an idea would you say this is?"

InTheMachine

2022-09-08, 11:29 AM

Roguewolf

2022-09-08, 11:54 AM

Keith
“I’m not mad at you,” Ryker says as he turns and waves Keith into his room. “Ain’t nothin’ for you to apologize for.”

He snorts as he sits on the edge of his bed. “Jesse didn’t call her the Ice ***** for nothin’. The only time I ever met her, she was tryin’ to kill me, so I might be just a little biased,” he says pinching this thumb and forefinger together. “Why does you uncle want you to go try and talk to her, anyway?”

Keith nods and grins a bit following Ryker. When Ryker takes a seat, Keith takes his normal floating seat as he does in meditation. "Still felt like I should man. Finally starting to get back to normal-ish after the past few days."

He chuckles a bit as Ryker explains the nickname and his bias. "Yeah, I could imagine there would be a little bit of bias there. Completely understandable though." He grimaced. "**** that does not bod well either."

Keith took out his phone and pulled the text from his uncle up again. "So, I've been trying to track down a retired hero my old man crippled, supposedly his greatest victim. I don't know what all he did to the guy, but all I have to go on, for now, is his hero name, Silver Horn. Think he was rhino-themed or somethin'. Anyway, uncle wants me to learn a bit more on heroism from one of the others in Iron Station. Learned a bit from Apex, but he suggested Cold Front since she's usually the one ya hear about in the city."

Keith thinks for a moment. "With the thought of her trying to kill ya, makes me wonder if he wants me to see that not every hero is as forgiving or understandin' as, well Seraph or Harbinger."

He shakes his head. "At least with the other guy I know he asked me not to, but I wanted to try and make some kinda amends. But can't do much until I know who and where he is. Cold Front all I knew was she had ice powers and now, is kinda ruthless it seems."

InTheMachine

2022-09-08, 07:16 PM

Roguewolf

2022-09-08, 09:10 PM

Keith
“I think you might be right about your uncle wanting you to learn that not all heroes are as nice as Seraph. Harby’s an ******* sometimes, but he’s not as unsympathetic or vicious as Coldfront is.”

“Her and Jesse threw down once like 10 years ago. They destroyed a whole city block. Jesse has some crazy scars from it. She wasn’t fighting to subdue him. She was trying to kill him,” Ryker says, looking over at Keith as he leans forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “Just like she tried to kill me. I’d be really ****in’ careful if you’re gonna go try to talk to her, especially now that you’re with AEGIS and not Myriad.”

He winces a little as he leans forward.

Keith nodded in agreement and huffed a laugh. "Yeah, ruined his nap earlier to ask about pokin' around South Side. Next time I'll just go to Drake first. But true, he's still nice in his own way."

Notice (https://orokos.com/roll/954076): 1d6o6+2 13 1d6o6+2 4

Seeing Ryker wince as he leaned forward caused Keith's eyebrow to raise in concern. He thought Ryker got healed up earlier. Was it still bothering him? He just nodded thinking about what Ryker had said about Jesse and Coldfront's fight. Then he started to wonder what may have sparked them, to work together that one time. So many questions.

"Holy ****...... What the actual hell?" He shook his head and shuddered a bit. "Yeah, she probably won't take too kindly to me since I'm with AEGIS again. Doubt she even knows why I was a part of Myriad either. Empire knows I'm with AEGIS, wouldn't expect to see me with Myriad." He shrugged.

"Bet if they knew Eidolon was here they'd have said go talk to him instead. Could hope anyway." He stretched his arms back. "You ok man?"

HIDA

2022-09-09, 01:43 PM

Manny
Drake shrugs as he opens the fridge and pulls out two brown glass bottles. As he hands one over to Manny, the bottle cap pops off and flies across the room to the trash can before it drops in.

“It wasn’t something I watched as a kid,” he says as he takes a drink from his own beer. “I didn’t watch a lot of cartoons. Mostly documentaries. Anime is just a little… different, you know? Yuki shown me a couple series that I liked since she joined the team, but I don’t remember the name of what she wanted to watch tonight.”

Manny accepts the bottle with a nod and takes a swig before coughing at the Documentaries bit.

"I'm sure -- it'll be enjoyable." Manny says between coughs. "Did you choose to watch documentaries of your on volition over cartoons? I mean I get it: My Father is a professor and archaeologist, but even he was aware that cartoons have a reasonable place in child-rearing or at least my mother made him aware. Either way, There have been some pretty good anime out this season. So I'm sure it will be good." Manny says, reassuring Drake. He takes another swig.

"So if you don't mind my asking. what made you want to get into Heroics? I mean you have an aptitude for it but plenty of people have it and don't hoping to live normal lives or realizing powers can help them achieve their goals in other ways."

InTheMachine

2022-09-09, 07:06 PM

Keith
“You saw that, huh?” Ryker sighs. “Me, Louis, and Raph fought with a couple Rooks earlier and I got a little roughed up. A meta doctor at the hospital patched me up, but her powers work way slower than Harby’s.”

He gingerly touches the left side of his chest. “She said I have a couple cracked ribs and some internal bruising. It hurts, but it ain’t gonna stop me. Doctor lady said I should be fully healed by tomorrow.”

Manny
Drake nods as he takes a drink. “I just thought cartoons were a waste of time when I could be learning something instead,” he says with a shrug. “I didn’t spend a lot of time watching TV anyway.”

He considers Manny’s question for a moment. “My dad’s a former Army Ranger and now he’s a detective for ISPD. He’s done everything in his life without powers. He’s a hero, and he’s not bulletproof like I am. I want to make him proud, and right now I have the opportunity to help an entire city of people. It’s worth the pain and the long hours to make sure someone that wouldn’t have made it if I wasn’t there gets to go home to their family.”

“What about you?” he asks.

big teej

2022-09-09, 08:52 PM

Clever Title:

"Good as new." Nightgaunt says, running a hand through his hair.

"But that's not what you meant, is it?" He asks.

He clicks his tongue and stares at a crack in the pavement, and the ants crawling in and out of it.

"It's been a hell of a week. A lot of it doesn't sit right with me." the vampire muses, producing another silver baggie. He pops the nozzle free and takes a sip. The blood still covering his hands draws his attention and he holds his hands out in front of him with a disgusted look.

He wipes them off on his suit's legs as best he can. "This has become a very bloody business of late. I don't think that's what any of us signed up for."

His eyes narrow. "I'm also still not ready to accept that thing living under our roof." He says. Nightgaunt sighs heavily. "Aside from that. Yeah. I think I'm okay."

HIDA

2022-09-09, 11:26 PM

Manny
Drake nods as he takes a drink. “I just thought cartoons were a waste of time when I could be learning something instead,” he says with a shrug. “I didn’t spend a lot of time watching TV anyway.”

He considers Manny’s question for a moment. “My dad’s a former Army Ranger and now he’s a detective for ISPD. He’s done everything in his life without powers. He’s a hero, and he’s not bulletproof like I am. I want to make him proud, and right now I have the opportunity to help an entire city of people. It’s worth the pain and the long hours to make sure someone that wouldn’t have made it if I wasn’t there gets to go home to their family.”

“What about you?” he asks.

Manny takes a huge swig be fore letting out a sigh.

"My Dad--
was a refugee that was adopted by my grandfather after the Embassy that he worked at was attacked. The incident left my father orphaned, so my grandfather brought him back to London. My father is a ridiculously optimistic man. He sees the future as a beautiful goal that is perpetually worth striving for and works relentlessly for it with a smile on his face. i truly envy his outlook. Even after the accident, He started working as a professor and still tells me stories from when he was an archaeologist. My goal as a hero is to help create the future he envisioned."

Even if he cant see it anymore..

Manny shakes his head to clear that thought and finishes his beer. He tosses the bottle and grabs a second beer.

Roguewolf

2022-09-10, 07:09 PM

Keith
“You saw that, huh?” Ryker sighs. “Me, Louis, and Raph fought with a couple Rooks earlier and I got a little roughed up. A meta doctor at the hospital patched me up, but her powers work way slower than Harby’s.”

He gingerly touches the left side of his chest. “She said I have a couple cracked ribs and some internal bruising. It hurts, but it ain’t gonna stop me. Doctor lady said I should be fully healed by tomorrow.”

Keith grimaces and shakes his head. "Do not miss having to go to the hospital instead of findin' Seraph or Harbinger. But sounds like y'all came out on top at least. Sounds more exciting than.... well talkin' to reporters."

"At least tomorrow will be by fast either way. Still, just ****." He rubs the back of his neck. "Hopefully just regular mundane stuff and not more demons. We ended up finding another of those weird stones on the way back. And might have a name for our big bad demon Louis, Will, and I about ran into the other day. Though, with all that, guess I may have to put the plan to look for Coldfront on hold. Have a feeling that she might not take kindly to any of us showing up."

He thinks for a moment. "Oh right, calmer news and thoughts. May have a potential KMBU tournament set up with East Side. Oh and Burnout agreed to one date."

PK-Leon

2022-09-11, 12:01 PM

Iron Station General

Stella goes up to one of the nurses on staff by the door and says a few words to the guy before waving Louis over.

“He said he’d take you back to her,” Stella says. “I’m probably going to head home unless you want me to wait here.”

Louis shakes his head slightly. "Nah, I think I've asked for enough favors today. Wouldn't wanna hold you up any longer than I already have." He pauses in thought. "Do you... need a ride back to base? I know you have your 'friends' but I'd imagine they're not the best for keeping a low profile?"

The nurse puts his badge up to the door and waits for Louis to follow him through, then leads him down a few corridors to one of the smaller rooms directly across from a nurses station before knocking on the door. Inside, Izzy is propped up on the bed by a large pillow and is already changed into a gown. She has an IV hooked up that has steadily dripping liquid flowing through it. Other than that arm, sticking out, she has a thin white blanket pulled up to her chin, although she still shivers slightly. She smiles tiredly as Louis walks in.

Iris looks up from her phone. She’s seated in one of the two chairs next to the bed. “I told them what I thought they might have used. They’re trying to get her fixed up now.”

Louis smiles warmly at the sight of Izzy under the blanket as he walks into the room. "You know you didn't have to help us with any of this today?" He say looking over to Iris. "I imagine things would've played out differently if you called for help after seeing us, but you didn't. Don't know what your reasons were but I appreciate it. Is there... anything I can do for you? I definitely feel like I owe you for all of this."

Through the door the nurse left slightly ajar, they can hear one of the nurses across the hall call for security. “Can I get an officer with a nullifier to room 126 please? We have a very uncooperative patient. He came in uncuffed, but he has gang tattoos. Some of the other nurses are scared.”

5 (https://orokos.com/roll/954538)

Louis tilts his head a bit as he overhears the commotion from across the hall. Seriously... In a hospital of all places? Who is this guy?

Sidewalk Talk

"Good as new." Nightgaunt says, running a hand through his hair.

"But that's not what you meant, is it?" He asks.

"Not exactly." Redline chuckles. "I've seen you walk away from worse so I wasn't too worried."

He clicks his tongue and stares at a crack in the pavement, and the ants crawling in and out of it.

"It's been a hell of a week. A lot of it doesn't sit right with me." the vampire muses, producing another silver baggie. He pops the nozzle free and takes a sip. The blood still covering his hands draws his attention and he holds his hands out in front of him with a disgusted look.

He wipes them off on his suit's legs as best he can. "This has become a very bloody business of late. I don't think that's what any of us signed up for."

His eyes narrow. "I'm also still not ready to accept that thing living under our roof." He says. Nightgaunt sighs heavily. "Aside from that. Yeah. I think I'm okay."

"Can't say it's what I envisioned hero work would look like but here we are somehow... I think anyone would find it all a bit hard to believe. I'm not too thrilled about Dee bringing that demon home either."

Redline casts his gaze skyward as he considers something. The gap in conversation is filled by the sounds of city and the remnants of first response until he speaks up again. "So what exactly was that back there if you don't mind me asking? The aura surrounding you before you lunged at Leo I mean."