"Tessa," Elissa blurted out, casting aside any form of 'formal' speaking that was supposed to be used, "even though it's just great that this worked out fine for us, I want to know what the fuck was going on when, somehow, it was down to 2 agents to kill off a goddamn blood summoned demon and - let me finish- how exactly do you plan on changing methodology so shit like this doesn't happen again. Yeah, I heard about sigils in the school, but I doubt Miss Demon Queen is going to be at school everyday for the rest of her life."

By the end of these words she was leaning far back in her chair. Elissa was notorious for being very...earnest, "Unless, of course, you love to dispose of agents. God knows I should be dead right now if I wasn't breaking regulations with that kind of firepower in a public area."

She raised an eyebrow over the perpetually worn sunglasses, "I hope I'm not getting a reprimand for the grenade launcher, too."

Caleb had arrived early. Using his binoculars he checked out the different possible sniper locations. The old roller coaster probably wouldn't hold a person at the top even if someone could manage to get up there. And the old fun house might hold someone if they could get in but the locks all looked in tact. The entire place had been secured years ago when this place was turned into a meeting local, but it had been awhile sense then.

Finally deciding it was safe he went ahead and locked up his car. He walked through the poorly illuminated amusement park. "They really should just tear this place down..." He thought to himself.

He made it to the meeting area. It was a large gazebo, walled in except for the four entrances. Sitting down on one of the benches he waited quietly until Nathaniel arrived.

“Well, are you here or not, Caleb?” Nathaniel shouted as he entered.

Caleb waved to his old friend. "I'm right here." taking a quick glance he noted the time. "Still a couple minutes till 9. Tell me though, Is there anyplace more creepy then an abandoned themepark? Caleb commented echoing the sentiments expressed in Nathaniel's thoughts earlier.

The group started hearing Laurella's singing voice coming from the kitchen, singing Disturbed's "Deify".

"I only wanted a blessing made,
Now I've been labeled a renegade,
It seems so clear now what I must do,
You're no immortal,
I won't let them
Deify you,
They view you as the new messiah
Deify you,
Renew belief in some demented man."

The Mother of Hell pushed open the door to the family room with her faded denim overall-clad ass and entered with a plate of bacon, eggs, and grits layered in butter and lightly blanketed in salt that she cooked herself. To complete her getup that was clearly meant for her personal comfort instead of style, she wore a pale yellow tank top and white running shoes and a light blue scrunchy for her ponytail. It was clearly spur-of-the-moment "As long as I'm wearing something" fashion.

Noticing that most of the official protectors had been assembled there, Laurella took a brief moment to turn off her iPod and removed the earpieces. "Sorry 'bout that," she apologized.

Zack grimaced. He had been so close, so CLOSE... but they just HAD to hold that stupid meeting right then.

He fumbled around for a Contact card and touched it softly.

You and I need have something very important to talk about afterward, Laurella. I'll see you in your room afterward." He smiled in her direction as his telepathic message whizzed through the air and echoed in her mind.

"What else do we know of this cult?" Narzeal spoke first. Someone had to break the ice when it came to questions. "Also was that the only known base of theirs, or do we know where else they are located?" Narzeal went on, clearly this man wanted to stay on top of his job.

It was then that Laurella walked in on the meeting. "Don't worry about it Laurella." Narzeal was struck then by her cooking. "Wow that does smell good. I think I might have to grab some after this is over with." Narzeal said, in a small attempt to complement Laurella's cooking.

Laurella smiled warmly at Narzeal, which looked a little unnatural given that she also concentrating on hearing Zack's mental message.
I hope it's nothing freaky that he has to tell me. I think I've heard enough freaky stuff from him to last me all week.

Duane spared a quick glance for Laurella, and would have certainly commented, under different circumstances.

"The cult isn't the issue here", he said sitting for ward in his seat. "Our main problem is that half a dozen Protectors are expected to contain a situation of that caliber on their own. We were supposed to have a team of S.E.C.A operatives standing by. Standing by implies they get their quickly, they don't dawdle around doing who knows what." Duane paused for a moment, and began reclining again.

"I was under the impression that the fate of the world hangs on this and whatnot," he added bitingly. "I had no idea we could afford to disregard common sense."

"The operatives on standy by aren't the protectors for a reason, you are... We are, each of us is the best at what we do. A single blood summoned was able to do so much damage because of a lalck of coordination among us, the people assigned to be on hand. We are the front line, as such we need to be used intellegently, not launch into our own little battles. Had I known you would have acid grenades of that Elissa did have the firepower she had on hand, I wouldn't have charged in and bruised my ribs!" Harm took a deep breath and winced, "We have comm units for a reason, we need to use them and report in to someone who will deploy us in an organized fashion, with appropriate groupings to deal with the issue. Soldiers without generals are a mob that is easily confused and beaten. Today we were lucky, our ineptitude was outweighed by the simplicity of the enemy's tactics and obvious underestimation of the individuals here. As I said we are the best, lets act like it and get our squad in order." Harm stepped back and waited for someone to step forward, after all he had been ordered to follow, he just needed someone to lead the way.

Heatedly Kase leapt up "As far as the fiasco at the school went, I think a big part of that wasn't having an Evac plan for everyone. That and it seemed we needed to remember our ONLY job... We protect the mother. End of story. That means getting her OUT of the situation. That doesn't mean picking fights with demons, or even playing nice with personal property." Kase sat down suddenly slightly embarrased at how much he just said.

"We really shouldn't be trying to assign blame." Zack stepped forward, easily taking command of the room, with thanks given to his concealed Grandeur card that made him hard to ignore. "I think we all did the best we could faced with a school full of thousands of possessing spirits, most with hosts, no less, and attacked by a blood-summoned demon."

He cast his gaze around the room. "By all means, we shouldn't ignore the fact that the S.E.C.A. standbys made a mistake by not arriving fast enough. And yes, our regulations and rules of concealment are probably a little flawed, but those things can be corrected. I think the most important thing to remember is that we're a TEAM, and we did our job: protect Laurella."

He gave the card another rub, intensifying its power the barest bit. "I realize that our organizations aren't always in synch. As a Society member, sometimes I can't STAND not knowing what a lot of S.E.C.A. operatives have up their sleeves... sometimes literally. But that doesn't mean I don't trust that they have my back."

"I suggest we all divide ourselves... let me finish before you react to the word 'divide' and call me a hypocrite... into squads, balanced according to the capabilities of its members. The members of the teams should know EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, about the capabilities of the other squad members. They should also be constructed so that each squad has a way to contact the others. Just a suggestion, though."

He stepped back to his place on the edge of the room, taking his hand off of his Grandeur card and letting its power fade. Even if they don't accept the idea, that was a good speech.

Jimmy was leaning against the wall near the entrance to the kitchen when Laurella entered. He wasn't an official protector or anything, and wasn't sure if he wanted to be. Following orders wasn't exactly his gig, but free food and a warm bed were pretty tempting.

'Especially a free bed two doors down from her,' Jimmy thought, as he managed to ignore Zack long enough to drink in a nice long look at Laurella's ass. Apparently his sex drive was more powerful than magic.

Gael sat back, mildly amused by how worked up everyone was getting, especially Brother Harm, and listening to the suggestions. All well and good, but we've got more work to do than with us..

Stepping forward slightly, if only to get more attention than his voice would alone, he began, "I think we have another problem besides our coordination. There were students and faculty at that school that aren't protectors, I don't even think they were Society, that were able to resist possession. More than that though, they did as well, if not better, than us while dealing with the demons. We've already got him," he paused, trying to remember the name, "Jim? here, but we need to at least get tabs on these other students."

He paused again, before remembering the 'and faculty part', "Do any of you know anything about 'Mr. Silva?' He seemed to know what was going on, but so far as I know he's not a part of us."

Mr. Silva, for reasons unknown and for things beyond your reach of understanding, is in a nearby park, teaching the pigeons how to sing in chorus.

He has received twelve phone numbers.

And, for some reason, there seems to be a pigeon outside the building where you people are talking right now...almost like it's listening...

As Harm watched the boy step forward his amulet began to burn against his chest."The boy thinks to persuade us by magic as opposed to his words..."

Harm stepped up next to Zack and spoke under his breath, "A word of advice boy, seek to manipulate me again and the Mother will be down a protector," Harm raised his voice so the others could hear him, "As the boy suggested teams are needed, communication is needed, as is a definate support and command structure. With those in place we need not worry that we should be elsewhere, and can commit ourselves fully to the task we are assigned. As for outsiders, they remain outsiders until they are cleared by the higher ups. We are to protect her from all elements, supernatural and mortal."

The sound of a weapons moving parts suddenly interrupted the proceedings, as Simon raised his rifle, sighted down the barrel... and pulled the trigger...

CLICK!

Satisfied, he flicked the safety back on and closed the dust cover on the side. He then looked up, and saw that every head in the room had suddenly turned to look in his direction.

"Sorry, functions check", he said, rather sheepishly. He hadn't had time to finish cleaning the weapon before, so had brought the dissasembled weapon to the breifing with him. Now that he was done cleaning he had reassembled it and performed the functions test to make sure it was all working smoothly. He now placed the weapon on the floor at his feet and turned to face Tessa.

"As interesting as all of this talk is of various fuck ups and lack of team work and breaking protocol, which by the way I whole-heartedly agree with, the thing that concerns me is the extent to which this cult decided to go to in order to get Laurella".

He let the words sit a moment to sink in before continuing.

"They summoned hundreds of spirits and two blood summoned! That's a huge step up from the norm. I fear that this is just the beggining, if hundreds of spirits is their first wave of attack. Personally I think we need to re-double security around Laurella. We seem to have become lax in our duty and our enemies have taken the initiative."

He now raised his hand and began counting off his fingers as he spoke each of the following sentences. "Increase security. Find out who's behind all of this. Force them out. Crush them. It's really that simple."

((OOC: Sheesh, this thing moved fast! Sorry Ecurt! Oh, I'm godmodding just a little bit since time seems to have passed since my last post, and we probably shouldn't be standing in the school hall still... Lemmie know if this is a big problem and I'll change it.))

"It's worth a shot," Trish sighed. They were standing far off of the school premises, avoiding the rush of police, reporters, and ambulances. The authorities had swarmed the place, and so the twins thought it best to vacate the area. (END GODMODDING!!)

Now Trish held up a paper crane in her left hand, examining the contents of Laurella's backpack with her right.

"I mean, it's not like we have much to lose," she continued. "We can always figure out what to do once we get there. Worst comes to worst and we just run like crazy and hope nobody's developed anti-ninja missiles."

She pulled a sheet of paper out of Laurella's binder. It had a doodle of a woman shooting demons down with what looked like a missile launcher. Demons in various stages of vaporization littered the margins.

"Ah yes," Trish said. "Art as mirror of the soul. Tells so much about a person, you know?" She examined the page further, than grimaced. "Freeeeeeeaaaky stuff goin' on in that kid's head." She folded the drawing up into a tiny square, and slid it into the slit between the crane's wing and body. Then she cupped her hands around the little bird and whispered something to it. The paper glowed momentarily, then rose unsteadily into the air with a great flapping of paper wings. It twirled once or twice, then floated drunkenly away in a west-bound course, supposedly towards the Mother of Hell.

"Yes, yes. Go forth, my papery minion," Trish said grandly. "We will follow thee. Onward to VICTORY!" Thus saying, Trish skipped off after the birdy tracking device.




The sigil bird neared the gate of McCragge Manor, then erupted in a small burst of smoke and fell twitching to the ground. Huh. So they had defenses. Well, at least they found the place.

Trish leaned against the building down the street from the manor, eyeing the 'safe house' from around the corner.

"Nice place, anyway," she commented. "Not a place I'd want to be shot to death trying to approach, of course, but... nice. Good neighborhood."

John was sitting in a lone corner, coughing and looking rather dead. His healthy behavior from before the meeting didn't last very long. He hadn't been paying attention during the meeting, since he didn't care. The only thing John had learned from his meeting was that he did not like Zack. The little human boy was far to cocky with his pathetic magic, and obsessed over the Mother to much. He made a point to eventually take the boy down a peg.

But first, John needed more M&Ms. His current bag was empty. "Oh, Mother" John took a moment to cough, "would you be so kind as to fetch me another bag of M&Ms?" John made sure to not refer to her by name, since he was certain Zack would be displeased by this.

Edit - Changed last line a bit.

OOC: Wow, and I had every intention to make Zack a likable character. Instead, he is growing more hated with every post I make. Not that I mind, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out, but wow, I had no idea. *sniffle* I just hope this isn't a reflection of how you all really feel about me.

"Oh, for God's sake, I wasn't trying to MANIPULATE you!" Zack faced Harm without fear. He brandished the Grandeur card. "The only thing THIS does is make you more likely to pay attention to me! It has no other bearing on your inclination! I was only making sure that you all wouldn't IGNORE me, like what happened the LAST time I made that suggestion." In spite of himself, tears began to well up in his eyes, threatening to spill over onto his cheeks.

With voice cracking, he finished, "I was only trying to make a harmless suggestion! Can you blame a person for not wanting to be ignored? This has nothing to do with ego, it has do with protecting Laurella!!!"

Without even waiting for a response, Zack sprinted out of the room and down the hall. He ran into his room and slammed the door behind him, hurling a Force card at it to keep it closed. Like so many shunned, misunderstood children before him, he dove onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow and sobbing violently.

Why do I keep failing at EVERYTHING? Laurella might as well not even have me as a Protector, for all the good I seem to be doing.

OOC: Zack is very sensitive on the inside, in case you can't tell. The reason why will hopefully become apparent very soon.

John coughed a bit, spit up some blood, then sighed. "I'm going to have to get my own M&Ms now, aren't I?"

After sighing at the emotional display -- "Here Demon boy." Elissa called, tossing a King-Size bag of M&Ms to him.

"You're lucky I remember to bring these things along."

Laurella wasn't quite sure what to say. Then she had the perfect idea. "I'm going swimming."

So she cleaned her plate, left it on the coffee table for Jenkins and rushed up the stairs. She was back in view in less than three minutes, wearing a simple two-piece. It was pink with royal blue floral patterns. She had a Final Fantasy VIII themed towel depicting Squall, Rinoa and Laguna draped over her right shoulder and wore plain white flip flops with blue bands on them. "Gotta enjoy the days off of school while I can."

Laurella stepped out the back door, set her stuff in one of the lawn chairs, and climbed into the heated above-ground pool. "If Duncan wasn't so old, I'd be his girl just to continue living here forever."

((OOC: I'll change the last part if it seemed too far TB, though I don't intend it to do anymore then alert the protectors to their being more then the linear possibilities.))


Impassively Michael watched Zack sprint out of the room in a fit of emotions. As soon as he saw Laurella depart as well, he stood up and took a chance to speak. Agression, frustration, conflict; I wonder if this was not the true goal of the cultists today. It would seem appropriate for people such as them to sacrifice a gathering of their own just to ferment dissent amongst their primary enemies. That is seeing as, the amount of cultists that were taken down were barely negligable on the larger picture. As well as there always beeing more eager demons to summon out of hell.

In a rare occurance of eloquence Michael interjected himself into the conversation. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt but I want to put something out that may figure into our calculations. Hoping that he had at least a few of the participants attentions, Michael lifted a finger and pointed towards the gluttonous John. "This example here proves something I've been theorizing for a while. Not all the demons in hell; nor the cultists to these same said demons have the same goals. They are as divided as our side of this conflict are."

Michael stopped for a moment to let this thought sink in and to catch his breath. "I would not doubt if many, if not the majority of demons and cultists are not focused on the possibilities surounding Laurella's person. This is so for a few reasons. One being that of experience. Contrary to popular belief, demons and the hell cultists surounding them do learn from their mistakes and what has happened in the past. Many should have theorized by now, that in whatever way the circumstances fall; the prophecy will never advance beyond the stage of the singular person of the Mother of Hell."

Michael reached over to his left and opened his laptop as he continued speaking. "Most of these said unharmonious existances are now seeking to capitulate on the circumstances and establish more of their influence. They will have realized that whenever the Mother of Hell comes into existance much of their enemy combatants will be centered on protecting or destroying the Mother of Hell. This will have, truthfully, left gaps in country's and region's defenses that have not existed before. Thus right now, Hell Cult's will be establishing more and more power as long as the Mother of Hell has a continued existance. As they recieve more and more power, the indirect danger from them will increase. Eventually, they might make a gambit for power and these new emboldened organizations will vie for the MoH; turning their threat from indirect to direct."

Michael ran his hand through his hair as he surveyed the scene again before restarting his speach. "In addition to this there will be others that have interests in maintaing the status quo, or even supporting our efforts. Those in interest of maintaing the status quo will be the hardest demons to repel. These demons will be those of middling to high rank in the heirarchy of Hell. These demons are the ones able to increase their power by achieving hegemony over sections of the Earth, but their power is high enough that they do not want to risk a potentially weak demon gaining undue power by jaunting freely into earth. "

Michael shifted his gaze down conspicously to the sling that held his right arm. "It is from these that the greatest personal danger will be alloted to Laurella and the protectors. For, their minions missions will be nothing more then to kill and reak as much damage as possible. They will be undaunting in their efforts and personal injury or death will not matter for their goal. Whereas in another case, the demons that seek to capture Laurella will need to keep some part of themselves back and unharmed to be able to accomplish their goal. Thus they will have to be dealt with in a different manor."

Michael continued to type away at his computer until finally a satisfied expression alit his face and he started to turn the screen towards the group. "There will most likely be a third major group to this gathering. Those that wish for the protectors to succeed. These will be those under the demons of the greatest power, ones that risk the most from the near certain upheavel of earth being open to demons and the the constant manuevering of the lord under them to gain influence over earth's populace. As evidence I would like those assembled to take a gander at my screen."

On the screen were displayed what seemed to be a series of different police records of different countries and regions that Michael shuffled through slowly. "These all link to various gruesome murders. These murders though, are not as simple as they appear to be on the surface. The majority of the victims were identified as suspected, or confirmed hell cultists. The methods used to kill these cultists were extremely different from anything used by our side of the conflict. However, they were very similar to the methods used to kill by demons and cultists when they have assaulted us."

Closing his laptop with a sharp snap Michael bowed slightly and finished his speech. "Thank you for listening to me. Hopefully this information shall help us prepare for any of the said circumstances I alluded to."

"So," Troy said. "You're worried about getting shot just by approaching here, and you call this a good neighborhood?

"Why in the world did we stay in this town, again?"

With a sigh, he looked up in the sky. There he saw a pigeon. Except, it wasn't acting like a pigeon. It acted like...a ninja. Or a spy.

It had to be a spy. Ninja birds didn't exist.

At least not anymore.

If a pigeon could approach it safely, so could they, right? Well, either way, they were about to find out.

"Let's go - before they try to charge us with loitering."

And, with that, Troy walked to the door and rang the doorbell.

((OoC: Isn't there a gate and other defenses preventing Troy from simply walking up to the door?))

Jacob hadn't said anything. He wasn't much of an arguer, nor a discusser, and he was more of a follower besides that. Most of these ideas were sound, though, he just wondered who he might be paired up with in the end.

He took the situation with Zack as a spectator; Noting things down like a scientist, but not saying or doing anything about it. 'A tad emotional some of these people,' Jacob thought, 'let's just hope that doesn't hinder him later'

Jacob agreed with Simon the most, if only for his bluntness. 'Just a matter of cooperation, elimination, and protect...inization.' Jacob grinned at that. 'But wherever we go, I'll be sure to follow."

Josiah walked up to the gate of McCragge manor, his cane tapping on the ground as he strolled along. He grunted and looked straight at the camera, and said "Josiah Martin, of the Wardens, here for Duncan McCragge".

He waited for a response.

Jimmy watched Laurella walk past in a two piece, and a moment after she had walked out, so did he, not bothering to say anything about his leaving the meeting. After all, no one had decided to make him an official protector yet or anything, so it didn't really concern him.

Laurella in a two-piece, however? That definately concerned Jimmy StClaire.

He walked out around the pool and took a seat at a random chair where he'd have a good view of Laurella's swimming.

P.S. Closing until TB gets the new thread up, because I feel like being nice to him.

Also, I'm an admin and I'm allowed to double post. Ha ha.