A bad start to a monday OR Slipping Away!
 

Rob shivered a little. Wait, it’s the middle of fricken August! Son of a… Rob felt the funny sensation of something trying to break into his mind. Well, not just a something. Hey, hey guys, one at a time, he says quietly to himself. He has little problem fighting off possession, thanks to the training.

Rob then begins to hear the screams of the possessed. He still to this day cringes at the sound. It has never lead to good things in the past.

Okay, reality check, He thinks, the briefing said the Mother of Hell had somewhere around 7 or 8 guardians near her, so she should be okay for a minute. But the briefing said NOTHING about a few hundred Demonic Entities spawning inside the school! What to do… I am so not an exorcist.

Rob didn’t have much time to decide, as a few fellow classmates, who seem 100% more demon possessed then 30 seconds ago, noticed his presence, and how it didn’t have a demon in it.

Well, from what I read, my normal lethal combat tactics are ill advised. I can’t be sure as to the safety of the Mother of Hell in this situation. But if I’m there and useless, I may as well not be there… dammit, now I remember, today is Kendo Club! Crap! That would have been much more helpful… Well. they are high school students at the core… Rob pulls the blindfold out of his pocket, and covers his eyes and ears with it. He concentrates very hard on making the area that immediatly surrounds him as quiet and dark as possible. Time to get myself equipped! He thinks and runs as fast as he can to the Physical Education Equipment storage area, dodging demons as best he can.

Laurella shot up from her chair. "Aw, shit. I hope this gets us the rest of the week off."
Here, she tried to help Stacey up so that they could get behind the Protectors, only to find that she had glowing red eyes. "Damn them."

Laurella and Stacey had a brief struggle which ended in Laurella pushing Stacey over her own desk, knocking her on her back on the other side. She then turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, are you all right?"

'Shit' Jacob thought. Some magic users were shooting various spells at the cover he was using. He knew that he couldn't hide forever, all he had for protection was a pillar and some rubble, not really a match for fireballs or lightning; the other S.E.C.A. soldiers didn't have much better cover either. Before he could make any notion of a plan, a S.E.C.A. soldier was hit in the arm with a fireball, sending him sprawling on the floor in pain.

"Suppresive fire!" Jacob yelled. As the other two soldiers opened fire, Jacob sprinted over to the fallen soldier.

"Everything's gonna be okay, it was only a singe." Jacob said, trying to comfort the wounded. It was actually worse, but he wouldn't let him know that. He grabbed one of what he called "insta-morphine"'s and jabbed it into the guy's arm. He couldn't treat the soldier farther than that, not while under fire.

"Stay calm and low." Jacob said sternly, then he rose up and aimed at the attackers. There were four of them, each of them throwing attacks as if they were fending off the devil. Jacob fire a few bursts at them, catching one in the arm. Another team-mate finished him off before another one got hit from a sniper. An ice spell shot forward into a S.E.C.A. soldiers' chest, sending the soldier falling backwards, dying practically instantly.

'Damnit' Jacob thought. He went to cover, prepared another grenade, and flung it across the room. After the Fthoom! of the grenade, Jacob stood up and killed a wounded cultist, and witnessed the last one being taken out by another sniper bullet.

"Room cleared, one man down, another wounded." Jacob said into the his radio. He moved with the remaining and able soldier that was left of Bravo team towards the door that led to the docking bay entrance. There job now was to secure the retreat of Charlie team so that Echo team could take out the blood-summon.

Upon coming through the door, a body was thrown in front of them, covered in saliva and blood. The beast that was before them was wretched, bulging muscles making it look almost deformed, more teeth than it would ever need, and spinly tentacles flailing at the back. It didn't help Jacob's ease that it's mouth had human flesh in it, and that it was looking in their direction.

"Fall Back!" Jacob yelled, turning around and grabbing the door handle. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

Not that closing the door helped much, the demon still broke through it with more ease than was comfortable. Jacob turned to see the red jaws reaching for him, and time slowed down. Thinking fast, Jacob veered to the left, barely missing the beast's lunge. It crashed into some rubble, getting covered in the debris.

"Move!" Jacob yelled at the other soldier, half-knowing he didn't really need to say it. The two soldiers quickly hustled outside of the room, Jacob grabbing the wounded soldier before moving towards a safer area.

Trish was busy doodling in her textbook-- behind the book's illustration of Narcissus kneeling to kiss his reflection in the stream, a cartoony figure was preparing to kick him over the edge and into the water. Trish had been slightly worried when Troy had been all but shoved out the door with the bleeding kid, but she figured it was no big deal. He could take care of himself. She mused over this for a moment while she drew, but didn't give the thought a great deal of concern. The cartoon man now sported a huge grin as he prepared to send Narcissus to his watery doom.

Clink! The pencil fell from Trish's fingers and onto the floor as a horrifying tickling sensation pricked at the back of her skull. She recognized it almost instantly-- Demonic possesion in the making. Something was trying to quietly sneak in and take over her mind. Feh. Not likely. The ninja closed her eyes and focused, blocking all entrances to her mind. The demonic presence subsided.

"Little creep," Trish muttered. She was about to go back to her drawing when she noticed something far creepier—the little monster had come with some friends. Trish gripped the edges of her desk as she saw—or felt, she wasn’t quite sure which—the malignant cloud of demonic souls settle upon her classmates like a fog over a city. Screams of terror reverberated throughout the room as the students met their fates. By the strangled sounds coming from behind each wall, she guessed a similar scene had opened in the classrooms on either side of them. This was by far the largest incidence of demonic possession Trish had ever seen.

Around her, the battles were becoming pathetically one-sided. It was evident from the moment of first contact which side would win—Those who could resist did so with all their might, but the majority fell without so much as a decent struggle.

The girl grimaced as another spirit tried half-heartedly to take control of her. So they had decided to attack the Mother of Hell with her own schoolmates. The creeps.

Trish jerked her head to the left as a balled fist swiped by her face in a wide, careless arc. She crouched on the balls of her feet, perched on the wooden seat of the desk as the possessed student struggled to regain his balance from the missed swing. The demon was having a slight problem adjusting to the strength and ungainliness of his new host, but that wouldn’t last.

A larger student shoved the first out of his way. He too was possessed—Trish could tell by the vacant stare. Feh. She’d probably get in trouble for killing them. It wasn’t their fault they were possessed. He lurched forwards, and Trish thrust herself off of the desk, straightening her legs to launch the desk at the student. She landed in the same crouch a few feet away, and almost instantly fell back to kick the legs out from underneath the girl behind her. The possessed girl dropped the textbook she had been wielding and fell to the ground with an undignified THUD!

“TROY!” Trish yelled in a decidedly un-ninjalike maneuver of anti-stealth. She leapt off the ground and slammed her foot into the chest of the guy who was trying to hit her with a chair. He fell back, the chair landing on top of him. Trish didn't know where Troy had taken the bleeding kid, but she rather hoped it wasn't too far. The Mother of Hell might need all the help she could get.

Caleb dialed the number on the paper slowly. He hadn't spoken to Nathaniel or Duncan in almost 10 years. It wasn't likely either of them would be the ones picking up the phone, but still. The phone rang twice before being picked up.

"McCragee mansion Jenkins speaking sir how can I help you?" an older male voice answered the phone. Caleb really hoped this man wasn't a butler.

"Ah yes, my name is Caleb Balthazar, I am an old friend of Duncan McCragee. I was hopping to speak to either Nathaniel Jackson or Duncan."

There was a brief pause, "I am sorry sir but Master McCragee and Master Jackson are not in at the moment, they stepped out to run an errand. May I take a message for you sir?" Came the kindly, yet slightly suspicious reply.

Caleb at this point was convinced he was in fact a butler. A butler named Jenkins how clever. "Yes please. When either return would you please let them know I have some information for Nathaniel. My name again is Caleb Balthazar, make sure you say it clearly. They will have my number already."

"Very good sir is there anything else?"

"Tell Laurella I say Hello." The thought came unbidden. "No that is all." Was however, his inevitable response. "Have a good day Jenkins"

"You as well Mr. Balthazar."

Caleb hung up the phone. He tapped his fingers against his desk quickly. He debated getting hammered. But only for a moment. "If they went out on an errand then they won't be back till later tonight. I should stop by my house and get out my old black book. I have a feeling I'll be needing it in the next few days." Caleb walked out of the small office and into the reception area where Susan was writing up some sort of college essay.

"Susan I am going to go out for a bit. If a Nathaniel Jackson or a Duncan McCragee should happen to call. Please tell them I will return the call as quickly as I can."

"yes sir Mr Balthazar sir!" Came the quick and perky reply. "But before you go. I just have to ask. Where is your hat?"

Caleb reached up and checked his head. He had left it on the desk. Giving Susan a thankful smile he retrieved it and then left. The drive home was swift. He didn't want to be out to long. When he got out of the car he could feel something was wrong. Something in the air, felt like the old days. Shrugging it off for paranoia he went inside his house. Behind him, and down the hill, the school yard was a clamor of activity. At a time when there should have been none.

"Son of a bitch." was all she had the chance to say before snatching the jittery boy before and rushing forward.

"Move it!" she ordered, as if Jared wasn't doing that before.

In a blur of human agility, both of her hands clinched two orbs on her person -- one white and one green -- as she darted away from the beast. With two guillotine-esque bites, she tore the pins away from both grenades and lobbed them soundly at the monster.

"JARED. LOOK AWAY AND COVER YOUR EARS."

She followed her own advice and could only help but think, "Jesus fucking Christ I need to get to a bigger gun."

The buzzing of her radio shook her from her wants, "Crestin here! What the fuck is going on?! We've apparently got hundreds of hostiles and most of them are about to be students at this school. I've got atleast ONE Blood Summon demon. Reinforcements now."


(OOC-- Standard Fragmentation Grenade and Flash Bang. Leaving it up to you, TB, on how well they work. I'm assuming we'd both still be on route to Miss DemonQueen's first period, and if so, Elissa will have a bigger gun stashed nearby (Big gun near everyone one of the chosen's classes!))

Gael felt the hair on his neck stand up mere moments before the whispering began in the back of his headLaissez-nous dedans. Il n'y a aucune évasion. Standing up quickly enough to knock his chair over backwards, Gael turned so that his back was to the wall. This, unlike the images of far away kami in the book, was something he was familiar with. That didn't make him like it any more though.

"Damnez-l'à l'enfer" he swore under his breath, knocking his backback over as he pulled his dagger out of it. A quick scan of the room showed that about six or seven of the students that I can see he added to himself, were also resisting the possession, as was the substitute. Of those resisting, several had already engaged the demons, and were showing surprising skill in the matter. Now all they needed was to form a barrier...

A balled fist to the side of the head interrupted Gael's thoughts, as one of the demon possessed classmates, already replete in a Manson shirt and black nail polish, punched him from the side. Gael staggered back several steps before regaining his balance and turned to face the student.
"Rebellious spirit of the damned, depart from these grounds immediately!" With that shout, Gael slammed into the student, his dagger sliding through his body and into the demon within. Gael stepped back, and began pushing his way towards the mother of hell. "May the maiden have mercy on you for this transgression."

"Why didn't they notice? Probably something to do with the inattention spell he had cast on him. Or whatever it was called. You know, the one only people trained to see through simple sigil illusions could have seen through. Which you did. And by the way you reacted, you defiantly didn't know about Mr. Smiths... 'situation', while every official group in the area probably does. So your just a magic user who just so happens to be in the same class as you-know-who-and-don't-even bother-telling-me-you-don't. So assuming your not a hell cultist, an assumption I can always reverse by the way, you've had training in the wonderful art of demonology. Or magicology. Or a mystical ology of one sort or another. And that isn't the sort of thing that you pick up in a normal school like this one. So I repeat, who are-..."

Airan's little interrogation was rudely cut off by a tingling down the back of his neck. Something had just tried to posses him. And then the screaming started. Lots of screaming.

"Oh no..." He was already turning around, having released 'John' to Troy. Real, present threat beat out potential future threat by a mile. "Laurella!" He had to get back! He was sprinting back down the hall before he'd even finished that thought. Only to have his danger sense flare up as he turned a corner and heard someone shout from up ahead.

"JARED. LOOK AWAY AND COVER YOUR EARS."

Realizing it would probably be a good idea to follow that advice himself, Airan had only a split second as he turned away to recognize a blood demon trying to make its way into the building. "Oh son of a bitch!"

He took it back. Today was going to be a bad day after all.

(OOC: Laurella should know Michael from seing him in school and probably a few chance encounters at the mansion.)

Even as Michael finished tracing his basic sigil inconspicously on the texbook he felt something cross his layered alarm wards. Demons... my God, not just a few demons either, there's dozens, hundreds of demons. Spirits all... each and every one converging throughout the school onto the minds and bodies of the unprepared. In the name off.... this is an outbreak I've only heard of happening in texts; no normal cultists ever summon in this amount, they could never get away with it. Dammit, I didn't think of this... I'm nowhere near prepared as I should be. I need to to get to Laurella now, but I need to give her a ward first. How though, how will I get through the mass of demonic entities to her...

It seemed almost as the second the demonic entities entered into the room Michael burst upwards from his desk shoving his chair backwards explosively tripping a person he felt becoming newly possessed. Michael felt his own battle as a score of demons assaulted his mind each trying to find their way into his facade; but his will remained iron and each one wilted before the wall of his mind and moved on trying for new targets. No demon will get ahold of me or my charge. I've got to get a sigil or myself next to Laurella now, a ranged incantation won't work fast enough. Michael thought in the intial split seconds chaos of the demonic possessions.

I've got it! Lets hope this works... Michael thought even as he slammed his hand down onto the sigil he had previously drew. Even as he did so Michael started to state out its starting incantation, a whisper would require a longer incantation and a yell usually left too much room for mistakes. Despite what one might think, to ward himself was not Michael's intention, that was almost never his first action unless it was absolutely needed. No, Michael went into action the second the first word of the incantation was spoken; burning the sand into a fixed glowing pattern on the textbook that would not move because of mundane means.

I just hope I can aim right this time. Even as Michael continued to state out his incantation his other hand slid under the textbook. Flexing his muscle Michael lifted it above the desk and over his shoulder while still holding onto the sigil. With one single smove action Michael pushed upwards and released the sigil with the incantation almost complete, lacking a single activating word. Nonetheless the textbook slid through the air gracefully in an arc; from its top blazed an iridescent light that seemed to grow and retract in a globe; almost as if it was struggling against an unseen foe to strangle it. "LAURELLA! CATCH!" Were the first words that Michael spoke, nay yelled this morning.

The one problem with this singular plan was that Michael, with his action, had just left himself completely open. He was joking before when he thought himself completely unprepared for this. From behind him came a vicious, bestial snarl of pain and annoyance. Michael did not need to turn to realize that it was the student, nay demon that he had knocked down with his chair only moments before. No, to revise that, Michael COULDN'T turn around, seeing as the same possessed individual delivered a twin buffet of astonishing force against Michael's shoulder and abdominials. This demons action was extremely strong, based moreso on the bodies initial strength then its demon enhanced one.

I hate jocks Was all Michael could think as the blow sent him unceremoniously tumbling head over heels over his. I just have to pray that Laurella got it... Michael thought, he had no time nor capacity to see through swimming eyes while hurtling through the air, as he shouted out the activating word "Shastin!" As he did this Michael reached out with his right arm, the one that had been punched and attempted to grab onto a chair or desk to slow his fall. He did grab a hold of something, but not what he had expected or wanted to. His flopping arm had been grabbed by the same demon that punched him.

Michael could feel the forces working against him Now I should have remembered what happens when two opposing forces interact... if equal the medium breaks down. Were his cold analytical thoughts even as he bit down a scream. For the demons interaction had served to pull his arm bone out of his shoulder socket, dislocating it smoothly as a child taking apart their a toy. The pain glazed Michael's vision with a sudden blackness even as he forced himself to stay consciouss and awake.

Ever analytical Michael knew he had to take advantage of his predicament and relaxed his body in such as a way as to appear completely unconscious. This seemed to satisfy the demon who left him draped where he had fallen, his head resting on his own desk and his legs jammed on the seet and under the book carrier of another chair. I'm not somewhat free to act... I have to construct a barrier around myself before I can move again or my dislocated arm along with my almost nil hand to hand abilities will leave me defenseless against any ill intentioned demon... Ha, what demon isn't ill intentioned? Michael thought even as he lips parted minimally and he breathed out the start to another incantation, this one without the use of a sigil...

Harm was sitting outside the storage room he had followed a very suspicious figure to when his comm link went wild, something about the warehouse being a decoy, hundreds of least demons and blood summoned being there. Then came Crestin calling for backup.

"Oh hell, a summoned here!" Harm quickly weighed his options,"I have someone in there, possibly controlling the demons, and a blood summoned out front with Crestin," Harm sighed, "Best deal with this first, if this is the one behind everything then Crestin's situation becomes easier to deal with."

Harm stood up straight, breathed deeply and spoke, "La fede è la mia protezione", rapidly he was encased in a silver sheen, giving him the instant appearance of a short, muscle bound silver surfer. His Crest stood out on his chest and began to glow. With a growl Harm launched himself through the storage room door. As the door streaked across the room Harm spotted the stranger, and stopped. The man wasn't a demon, or possessed, but was definately wielding several sigils.

Keeping his Crest active Harm confronted the man, "Who are you and what are you doing here? Be quick about it, your life hangs on your answer!"

((OOC: Josiah would probably recognize the Crest due to his long association with the society and long history in the whole game. If you would like you can know Solinus and use that to stop me from mashing you just to be safe.

My character will think and speak in light blue Italicized text will be thoughts, and Bold is speech for now. ))