[Day: Tuesday, June 22nd. The time is 9:00 p.m.] [Once upon of time, there was a group of people called Mystery Club who went to China. There, they saw a performance by a band called Arcana, an overwhelmingly popular group whose music far surpassed anything the Beatles ever did, but because MC is stuck in the past, they didn't realize and thus didn't get any autographs.] [They went back to Japan only to find there was a mass-murderer (actually a wizard!) on the loose while they were gone and, on the advice of Shiho, headed to the slums to ask a buncha people a buncha questions. During the trip, Maria decided she'd like to go there alone and did, except she must have gotten lost because she's not there.] [The rest of you are driving through a rundown-part of town. Where ya gonna start? And more importantly, where ya gonna park? Time is running out...] [Session Start] * Chomei looks for any parking places. * Rei vrooms! Parking place, schmarking place. Just find a place to stick her bike. * Chie follows Rei. * Makoto is on the lookout for a place to park his car. The Subaru isn't as easy to park as the girls' bikes. * Chomei rides the bike, and is thankful he's not the one trying to follow Rei. ( Good thing Lazar only adds weight, not length, to the car. =P ) [Rei sees a spot near a buncha thugs.] ( Hehe. ) * Rei glances back, sees Chie following her, and grins. She makes a game out of it, weaving in and out, accelerating and braking almost at random, and very *nearly* passing up that spot, which she just squeaks into. [Rei parks near a buncha thugs.] * Rei blinks at the thugs, then waves. * Makoto drums his fingers on the steering wheel as he cruises very slowly down the street. "This is... well, it's lame. See any place my car will fit, Lazar?" [Chie sees a spot a bit further down near a buncha goons, and Makoto sees a spot near "Used (Not Stolen, Honest!) Cars"] * Lazar points to the spot the GM just helpfully mentioned. ... is nice area. Look like very nice thugs and goons. * Chie follows Rei, and does a pretty good job of it, then zooms past her once she's parked and takes the spot near the goons. * Makoto looks at the spot and sighs. "I really should have gotten Rei to install that security system that works like a combination tazer and a pair of mechanical pantsing arms." He parks in the spot anyway. I prefer axe. Nobody steal car from man what have axe. * Rei hops off her bike, removes her helmet, and activates the tazer/whipped cream security system. She whistles cheerily as she walks by the thugs over to Chie + Chomei + Goons. * Makoto turns the car off and unlocks the doors. "You have a point, Lazar. Sadly, I am lacking axe." (*pumps shotgun*. My name is Detective Kimble. And I'm very protective of my car.) * Chie pulls off her helmet, grabs her bag, and hops off the bike. She waves at the goons. "Evenin', guys." She then motions to Rei. (WOOT, Ahnold.) Wow, Chie! Fancy seeing you here! * Chomei takes off his helmet and puts it where helmets go when you're not using them. He doesn't so much as look at the goons. "Nice neighborhood." * Chie grins. "Yeah, I know. Isn't it just the strangest coincidence?" * Makoto waits for Lazar to disembark before getting out of the car himself and then locking the doors. He stares at the car for a moment, as if mentally preparing himself for a world without it. Really, really strange. Oh, who're these guys? They your new friends? [Funny that nobody went down a block to "Safe & Secure Parking Garage"] (Well, if we were all psychic... But that character's in China!) (Because you didn't tell us about it until now?) ( Well it's a bit late for that NOW! ;p ) * Lazar hops... well, thuds out of the car, closes the door, and walks over to the others (plus goons). (Interesting how he'd tell us that NOW.) * Chie looks over the goons. "Possibly." ( Nah. Safe and secure is obviously a demon-infested hell ppit. ) (True. We have, after all, faced demonic parking attendants.) (Point made.) [The goons look like goonies. Really. Even that one foreign kid with all the traps.] (*snerk*) * Rei adjusts her backpack. "Soooo... Maria decided to run off by herself, but I don't see her, which means eventually she'll probably catch up by jumping out of the shadows and yelling, 'OOGA BOOGA!' only without the ooga booga part. Where we startin'?" Ya got me. ( Anyone with urban tracking (underworld), make a roll ) * Makoto rejoins the group last, and looks over at the goons with a nod of greeting. "If this is the place," he says to Rei, "we should probably start shaking the locals down." * Lazar walks over to the corner, rips the stop sign out of the street, walks back to Chie's bike, and plants it in the ground, STOP facing the goons. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (2d6-2) and gets 6. [Makoto realizes that the best place to look is probably the local pub] * Rei ooohs. "Shake. Like dice? How many sides? Maybe three six-siders like that game I vaguely remember playing while drunk?" * Makoto looks up and down the street until he spots the sign over a handy pub. "Yeah, something like that. Speaking of drunk, we can start over there." He nods in the direction of the fine drinking establishment. * Chie grins at Lazar, then looks over at Rei. "Yeah. You lost, too." She winks. * Lazar makes sure the STOP sign is planted deep enough into the concrete, then turns back to the others, LOOMing cheerfully near the goons as he speaks. "Shake people? I good at that." * Chomei raises an eyebrow. "... Right." * Chomei might seem cool until these people realize he's lame. [The goons stare at the stop sign, and simultaneously realize Chomei is lame.] (Good! We don't want them to get the wrong impression.) * Makoto grins at Lazar. "Yeah. You stick close to me. And, Rei and Chie can stick close to me too. Chomei, you walk on the other side of the street." He starts toward the pub. "C'mon." * Chomei rolls his eyes. "Just lead the way." * Rei sticks her tongue out at Chie. "I was drunk! Besides, it's not like that game takes actual skill, not like poker or... huh? Okay." She walks with Makoto! Yeah, well, I was drunk too, but I still managed to win once. * Lazar waves to the goons, then follows Makoto. * Chie gives the goons a smile and waves, then walks off with the others. * Chomei follows the group. * Makoto stops in front of the pub and pulls the door open. He waves the others inside before him. * Rei goes in, tail twitching behind her. She looks around. * Chie heads in and has a look around. No drinking while on duty, though it's so tempting. * Chomei goes in after Chie enters. He quickly glances around the room, as well as noticing the smell. * Lazar goes in. He's big and muscley. Ugh. [The PCs enter a seedy bar, complete with loud music and exotic dancer, loud music, several guys who look like thugs, loud music, a guy in a cloak in the corner, and, of course, loud music.] ( A stripper? Wow, that is pretty seedy. =P ) [Did I mention loud music?] (Is it good loud music? Or just loud loud music?) * Makoto blinks his eyes as he comes in behind the others. "Choice," he mutters. ( You can't really tell what kind of music it is, over the shouting. It's just there. ) * Rei looks back at Makoto. "What? The music's too loud!" * Chomei doesn't seem affected too much. I wonder why. [Chomei doesn't hear any music :P] Uhm. Ahem. Stay close to me, everybody! (*doubletakes, then remembers that Schneeb plays a Makoto, too*) * Chie doesn't seem bothered, either, though she sticks close to the rest of the group. (I'm not *deaf*, Brett. <.< Just not up to par with hearing.) ( Along with half a million other people :P ) * Lazar blinks at the stripper, mutters something about how odd the Japanese are, then follows Makoto. * Chomei follows Makoto, as well. * Makoto threads his way over to the corner with the cloak, though slowly enough for his backup to stay close enough to actually LOOK like his backup. * Rei shrugs to herself and scoots in closer to Makoto to be able to hear him. Yeah, that's it. She also adds, "If we stay too close together all the time, won't we look like the not-Russian-but-really-not-Russian Mafia only without cement?" ( Not if you don't have a Demitri ) (Damn, we forgot to stop and pick one up on the way down.) Actually, have cement. Kind of. * Makoto smirks. "I think we'll be fine. I'd rather not lose anybody in this place." He takes a closer look at the cloaked man when he approaches. [You head over towards the cloaked figure. Sure is cloaked.] (... Okay, any other seats at this guy's table?) ( Yep. 6 ) (How convenient.) ( How 'bout that? :P ) (It is.) ( Hehe. ) * Cloak has joined #besm ( Where's Dagger? =P ) * Makoto puts his hands on the back of one of the chairs at the cloaked man's table. "Hi!" he shouts through the background noise. "Mind if we sit here for a while?" (Hiding.) ( Don't ask. He may show up in one of our backs. ;p ) (...dammit, I was thinking that too.) * Cloak looks up suddenly and smiles, the hood of the cloak falling back to reveal a familiar face. "Sure! Yay! You're back!" * Chie narrows her eyes. "Oh, hey. It's you." ( Actually, I was thinking of Cloak and Dagger, the craptastic Marvel team. ) * Victoria waves. "Hi! Wanna fight?" She beams. * Chomei would facefault if this were an actual anime and if he weren't so, um... agrivated all of the time. "Not today." * Rei waves back, smiling. "Hi Victoria! We're kinda too busy to fight right now." I'll pass this time. Want me to buy you a drink? * Victoria pouts. "Aww..." And Joe says hi, too. * Makoto supresses a double-take. "Yep! Most of us, anyway." He motions for the others to sit down. "We'll fight you later, if you want. But we're looking for somebody right now." Nah, I got one. * Rei plunks her butt down on a seat next to Makoto. * Victoria gestures to her glass, which is apparently milk. (But is it in a dirty glass?) * Lazar scowls at Victoria, but decides it'd be better to keep his mouth shut for the time being. [Nope, it's a milky white glass.] * Chie sits on Rei's other side. * Chomei takes a seat next to Chie, after inspecting the chair with a short glance to make sure a whoopie coushin or tack wasn't on it. * Lazar also stands behind Makoto, crossing his arms and looking all serious and muscley. I've been waiting here for an hour for someone to start a fight, but nobody's gonna. * Victoria beams suddenly. "Maybe I should take the initiative!" ... Right. Maybe you could answer our questions before then? * Makoto actually sits down now that the appropriate mood is set. Sort of. He sighs as if to indicate that this would probably all be much cooler if he weren't talking to Victoria. Huh? Sure! What's up? We're looking for somebody we think is killing people and taking their bodily organs. Who? * Chie leans her elbows on the table and props her chin on them. A wizard, probably. I mean, which one? * Chomei leans back. There's more than one person killing people and taking bodily organs? Eew. * Victoria blinks at Rei. "Well, it IS Tuesday..." Oh! They follow a weekly schedule? You mean up here! * Makoto blinks. "How many do you know of, Victoria?" * Victoria looks up. "Um.... 1... 2... 3, 4... 12... 36..." Guy taking eyes. And virgin heart. That narrow down? * Makoto nods when Lazar clarifies. "Right. And he or she is operating in this area." Well, eyes can make a nice stew, but they don't go with hearts at... Oh, in this area? * Victoria puts a finger to her chin. "Well, I do know a wizard." But would he be the one who does those sorts of rituals? Um... I guess? Got any other candidates? Hmmmmmm..... * Victoria beams. "Nope!" * Makoto grins crookedly. "Okay, then. What can you tell us about the wizard around here that you DO know? Like his name and address, for starters..." Okay, maybe that's him! Or her. Whoever it is really should stop, 'cause it's just not good for the city's health, and with all the money we paid for shots recently, we don't need it catching the flu. ... Right. Ummm.... * Victoria beams. "I forget! I can take you there, though!" * Rei blinks. "Uh... okay, that's weird. How'd you forget?" * Victoria giggles. "I dunno!" * Lazar mutters. "Yeah, this no is trap..." You forget where he is, but you can take us there? How does *that* work? No, no! I know where, just not who, you know? We kinda just met. Ah. Well, we may have come across you just in time to save you from certain sacrifice and mutilation for some terrible ritual. Awww... You'd be the one getting sacrificed and mutilated, Victoria, not the other way around. So it's a good thing that we're saving you from it. Probably. I know! Isn't it a trip? * Chomei raises an eyebrow. * Victoria grins. Yes. * Chie snorts and shakes her head slightly. Anyhow, wanna go? So where is he? So we can find him. Because killing people is very very bad. I'd kinda like to know where we're going before we actually go there. * Victoria grins. "Or if you don't mind waiting a few minutes, we could start a brawl first!" Quite... a trip. Speaking of which, this music is giving me a headache. Let's go, yeah. * Rei scratches at the back of her head. "I have this aversion to pain." She grins. "It doesn't sit well with my stomach." Find this guy first, and then you can come back and fight to your little heart's content. Brawl later, Victoria. Seriously. * Victoria looks sympathetically at Rei. "That's a shame." * Victoria bounds to her feet. "Anyhow! Time to go!" * Makoto stands up as well. * Chie straightens, then slowly stands up. I know. I guess I didn't get spanked enough as a child. Didn't build up a tolerance like to caffeine- oh, we're going! * Rei hops to her feet. * Chomei gets up silently, pushing his chair in. Yay for being quiet! (And lame!) (And lame.) (<.<) ( He's Lame, he creaks! ) * Lazar is already standing. Why? Because he would have broken the chair! * Makoto glances at Rei. "As much as I'd love to take the opening you've provided, I'll have to pass." * Chie stifles a snicker. * Lazar patpats Makoto. "No time for coffee. Work to do." * Makoto grins. "Yeah. Work to do." * Rei sticks her tongue out at Makoto. * Victoria heads outside. "Whee! I hope there's a big fight when I get back. And I hope I don't miss it." ... ( There is no Ard. ONLY ZUUL! Oh? You know ZUUL? ...) ( I know Zuul! He's so cool! ) * Chie mutters. "Yes, I really hope *something* doesn't miss you." I'm sure you won't miss it, Victoria. In fact, it'll probably wait for you. (Totally totally cool!) * Chomei nods. ( Whoo! Makoto's theme song is up on my playlist now. ) * Rei wanders after her, grabbing Makoto's hand as she does and pulling him if she has to. "Think it'll really wait for her. That's so nice of it! I mean, if you're into fights and things like that... do beer bottles really make that good weapons, anyway? Hmm, broken glass, maybe could use it for the next defense system I install, but might be too deadly..." * Chomei raises an eyebrow to the mention of 'broken glass'. Beer keg better weapon than beer bottle. * Grydle is now known as Grysar No, definitely too deadly. Don't need cuts being infected and stuff. * Makoto is dragged along. "Yeah, glass is pretty deadly. That's why they make those super-safe mirrors and windows now that shatter into powder. Big pieces of broken glass can kill." * Chie follows along, her hands stuffed in her pockets, both eyes on Victoria. She does not look happy. * Chomei doesn't let his eyes wander too far from Victoria. He don't look happy at all. ( Chie's just made 'cause Rei likes Victoria better. ) ( Chomei's just mad 'cause Victoria's prettier than Chie :P ) ( Why's Lazar mad, then? =P ) (Rei does not like Victoria better than me. Does she?) (Because he's Lazar.) (Rei, tell me it's not true!) (... Aaaand, Shiggy's theme just came up.) ( Lazar's just mad 'cause he's a rock ) (Actually, a good reason Cho would be mad is because he's Chomei.) ( What's not true? Who what where when's the fire AAAAH!) * Lazar grumbles, continueing to walk. He's also eyeing Victoria warily, and has managed to work his way next to her. ( I'm lame! Noooooo! ) (*snerk* Except that would require Chomei to actually realize he's lame.) [You drive away! Victoria leads you out of the slums and some distance away, to a house in the suburbs. It's not quite high-class, but comes close.] (He's too lame to realize he's lame. It's a vicious cycle.) (Just remember: It could be worse.) (It could?) (Like, he could be named Captain Chomei Allsbane.) (He could talk to fish) ( Chomei now permanently has a Kirby attached to his head. ) ( I'm assuming Victoria went with Makoto and Lazar? ) ( Yeah. Probably. ) [You're there. Do something.] * Makoto looks through the windshields at what he can see of the nice neighborhood. "Wow, what is it with serial killers and suburbs?" ( ...duh? ) * Rei parks and hops off her bike. "They don't like living in the slums because it's dirty and gross?" * Chie parks as well, pulls off her helmet, and vaults off her bike. Oh! And did I mention that there are thugs there? They like trying to steal your bike and then get zapped with tazer systems. * Lazar gets out of the car. He starts stretching, then stops himself, shaking his head a bit before just deciding to stand stillish. * Victoria bounds out of the car. "Tonight is a shining new night! Yay!" * Chomei takes off his helmet and gets off the bike as well. * Chie *eyes* Victoria. ( A little *too* perky...) * Makoto disembarks and waits for Lazar and Victoria to do the same before locking the car again. "I just wouldn't expect such rational behavior from a person who thinks that carving up virgins like Christmas pigs is a good idea." Well of *course* not! It's a Thanksgiving event. * Chomei rolls his eyes. Oh. So what do ya do on Christmas? ( Hey baby... I hear there's a killer targeting virgins. I know a way to make sure he doesn't come after you, though... *wink* ) * Victoria grins. "Presents!" * Rei giggles. What about Chanukah? Last year I got a head. It was soooooo cool! * Makoto facepalms, despite his strong urge not to do so. ( Victoria is like the Chomei of villains. ) * Chie rolls her eyes. * Chomei has that 'WHY HER' look on his face. "Let's get this over with..." [The house looms ahead. Loom.] * Lazar has no eyes to roll, alas. * Lazar looms back at the house! LOOM! Yes, let's. Lead the way please, Victoria. The quicker we talk to this guy, the quicker you can get back to your fights. [Lazar, make a looming roll] Wow, y'know, if you're gonna pick the scariest house out of this perfectly-safe-honest suburban neighborhood, this might be in the running, if not necessarily the winner. And Victoria does know this guy. I wonder if he's spooky. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lazar (2d6-2) and gets 5. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Brett (2d6-2) and gets 3. ( Is Loom Body or Mind? ) [The house wins. It looms over Lazar] ( Soul :P ) (Okay, if the house has soul...) ( I'm afraid. ) (Elf booty got soul. o/~) * Lazar scowls at the house. Damn loomin' house... (Elf girls like to rock 'n' roll!) (The house is possessed? ;p) * Victoria walks towards the house. * Rei walks after her, looking around. * Lazar follows, slipping on his demon bracers as he walks. * Chie looks over at Chomei. "Are you as thrilled as I am to be here?" * Chomei says *very* flatly and sarcastically. "Overjoyed." * Makoto brings up the rear, as is his wont. Thought so. We'll just have to do something later to make up for it. What do you have in mind? * Chie smiles. "Oh, several ideas... but we can talk more about 'em later." * Chomei smirks. * Victoria knocks on the door. When there's no answer, she pulls out a pistol and shoots the lock off, then opens it. "Ok! Let's go in!" ... * Victoria goes in! * Makoto makes the "I would be feeding smooth responses into your brain right now if I didn't think that your Lamefield would neutralize any good ideas you acquired" face. * Chie stares. "...yeah. Let's let her go in first. Maybe if we're lucky, something will happen to her." ( [Later that night] Trivial pursuit! ... damn. I thought you meant we were gonna make out. ... strip Trivial Pursuit. ^_^_V ) * Rei blinks. "Wow, I guess that works when Maria isn't here to open things... uh..." She steps in, peeking around. * Makoto changes that expression when Victoria blasts the door lock off. "Well, that was cool." ... hey, that my job! [You're in the house! The inside is tastefully decorated in beige and blue. Cool, man.] This place could use more color. * Chomei makes a face. "It really clashes." * Rei points. "Like orange there." She points again. "And red there." Another point. "Green and yellow!" (Beige woodwork never clashes!) ... That clashes even more. Rei, it's probably got PLENTY of red in one of these rooms, and I'm in no hurry to find it. * Rei blinks, takes a moment to process that, then looks a bit paler. "Uh, yeah." * Chie looks around. "Yeah, boring. Let's go find this wizard guy so we can get far away from Vi- from here." * Victoria looks around. "Hmmm... Now where was it?" I is. Faster find blood, faster find wizard, poke *his* eyes out. * Chomei nods. ( Chie's jealous because Victoria's present for Rei was so much cooler than hers. :P ) Oh yeah! Downstairs. (But Rei doesn't have Victoria's present with her right now, now does she? ;p) (* Smashes Victoria over the head with a table, then a park bench, then a school buss, then a military tank, then an ocean liner, then an oil tanker...) * Victoria opens the door to the cellar and goes down stairs. ( Chomei, you'd still lose :P ) (And then O'Hare?) (And then Texas.) (And then Norway!) (And then Greenland!) ( I bet Victoria's been posessed by Zuul. ) * Lazar looks back at the others, shrugs, then follows behind Victoria. * Chomei follows cautiously. * Rei swallows. She, for the first time, does not immediately follow Victoria in and takes a moment to fish a flashlight out of her backpack. * Chie follows, keeping her senses alert. * Makoto descends last of all. He takes his job as the official rearguard very seriously. * Rei looks over at Makoto now that everyone else went, bites her lip, and heads down. [Chomei sees the well-lit corridor in green now.] [The well-lit corridor leads to a single door.] * Makoto leans foward on the way downstairs. "Don't worry, Rei. I've got your back." Yeah. Okay. That's good to hear. * Victoria turns around suddenly, and blinks. Oh. Not literally. * Victoria turns around again, looking disappointed, and opens the door. * Chie rolls her eyes. Yes, she saw that coming. * Chomei sighs and rolls his eyes. Again. ( Got yer nose! Got yer nose! ) [Inside the door is a semi-large room illuminated by numerous candles. Books are strewn all about, and there's a shelf with jars on one side of the room. Also, a big red pentagram is in the center of the room. ] ( Ah, a pentagram. Always a good sign. ) ( I was hoping it would be a pentacle, but no such luck. ) ( This ain't Arcana ) [Within the pentagram is Sum Gai... Er, some guy. He's a very handsome guy, with long flaming red hair, and carries a large axe. He wears a purple-ish robe. Standing in front of him is... ] (Axe as in axe and not guitar?) [... A woman dressed in a white blouse and black slacks. Her hair is black with some white streaks running through it, done up in a bun. She's holding a red-oak staff, tapered at the ends, with several symbols carved into it. ] ( Yes ) (It's Xu-Huang's Axe!) (How old are they?) (...Asanjya?) [They both look about your age ^^] * Rei peeks around Lazar. * Chomei quietly summons Rownal behind the nice wall Laz's providing. ... hello. We from Japan League of Eye Doctors. We hear you doing very bad things with eyes. No like. Please stop? * AxeGuy turns as the door is opened. "Who dares-" He's cut off by Victoria. "Hiya! I brought some people!" ... (This game is awesome.) * Makoto crouches a little from his position partway up the stairs, so he can see over the heads of the people in front of him and under the top of the doorway. ...I should have known. Really. (Victoria rules.) ( I know, I do :P ) Er, uhh... Victoria? What are you _doing_ here? I'm a little busy right now! * AxeGuy takes a step forward, out of the pentagram, raising his axe in anger. "Who are you to come in here and make demands of me?" * Mage gestures at AxeGuy. I know, I know, but they wanted to find a wizard, so.... Couldn't you knock? Or call? I have a phone! * Chomei waits silently for the phone to go off, as cell phones usually do when people mention them. * Victoria blinks. "Phone?" * Chie raises an eyebrow. "Excuse us, but what the hell's going on here? And I do mean 'hell.'" [Chomei's phone goes off.] * Chomei had it set to vibrate, so he clicks it off. Oh, silly, this isn't hell! (As in, turns the phone off.) [Chomei's phone goes off. He fails to call in and claim his $500000 prize ;_;] (Meh. If it's important, they'll leave a voice mail.) * AxeGuy looms over Chie. "And who are you, that I should feel the need to explain myself?" * Makoto coughs discreetly. "I hope we weren't ruining anybody's 'fun with whips and chains and plastic axes' alone time. We were just looking for a serial- killing wizard. We thought it was kind of urgent." ( They will, telling you how you lost out :P ) * Lazar LOOMS over Axeguy. "No loom over little one." * Mage looks to Chie, then up at AxeGuy, then blanches. "... Uh oh..." * Chie looks up at AxeGuy. "Actually, I was asking them." She motions at Victoria and the mage. "You don't have to explain yourself if you don't want to." Aww, come on, can't we not fight for a little while? Violence doesn't solve everything, just almost everything, and besides... oh. Never mind. Sure it does! * Rei looks a little more at ease and starts walking around, peering at various things. * AxeGuy raises his head and looks down at Chie. "So you were ignoring me? How dare you!" Violence solves everything and anything. And besides, it's fun! * Lazar notes that his LOOMing seems to be less than effective as of late. No, I was just saying that you've probably got more important things to do with your time than answer questions. And if I were ignoring you, I wouldn't be talking to you, would I? * Chomei smirks. * Mage waves her hands. "Look, Marduk, I'm sure she wasn't disrespecting you, just kind of, you know, trying to be blunt, and not smart and cunning like you, you know?" She smiles sweetly. * Makoto is thinking something along the same lines as Lazar's thoughts, thought he doesn't realize it. He decides to let events run their course. (Marduk! He's that demon from Sacrifice!) * AxeGuy growls at Chie. A light and a wind flares up beneath him. His eyes glow an eerie purple color. "Do not think to mock me, woman." The effect dies down in a second, but he retains his glare anyhow. * AxeGuy is now known as Marduk * Lazar sighs, but doesn't move, as he wants to be ready in case... Marduk tries anything. * Rei picks up a bottle filled with what must be eyes. "Hmm..." She peers. "Nope! Not human." And she puts it back. * Chie puts her hands up. "Wouldn't dream of it." ( How big is Marduk? ) [He seems average height.] [Say... Oh, 5'10"] * Makoto stage-whispers to Chie. "Ask-ay about-ay irgin-vay acrifices... say." * Rei keeps walking and finds a pile of books. Oooh. (So he can loom over Chie with no problem. ;p) * Rei starts looking through those. Who cares if the girl's here. If she wanted people to not look at them, she wouldn't just leave piles around! * Victoria snaps her fingers. "Oh yeah!" They want to go sacrifice some virgins. Wanna come? * Chie turns to Victoria. "No we don't!" * Makoto sighs. * Mage goes white again. ... Have you been listening to us at *all*?! Hey, we do not. We're looking for the person who's doing virgin sacrifices, remember? We want to *stop* that from happening, not cause it! Sure I have! * Mage hisses, "Vic-TOR-i-A!" * Rei flips through a paperback, then plunks it back on the pile. Nah, don't really like that one. * Rei picks up another book. Well, you need to get your hearing checked, then. Do not. What-the-fuck-ever. * Chomei is lookin' *mighty* pissed now. * Marduk is too. * Rei throws that book back on the pile and keeps walking. "Keep cool, guys, or you'll get burned up like that guy's hair. Hey, you're in advanced bio classes! Neat! Never really was my subject." * Chie looks at the mage girl, who seems to have some sort of sense. "Okay, look. Can we ask *you* some questions?" * Lazar is just confused. He just wants to know who to hit. ;_; * Marduk glares at Rei. "Do NOT insult my hair, unless you'd like to burn with it!" * Chomei might even have a vein throbbing on his forehead... if this was the kind of place for that. So he doesn't. * Rei peers at printouts. "Now, I'm sure *these* could unlock the secrets of life. Huh? No, I just said I don't want to, and I actually think you're hair's really cool. Hot. Keen, yeah! Keen. I like it." I don't think my hair burns as pretty, though. * Makoto fantasizes about situations that do not involve people screaming at one another. At least not while fully clothed. * Mage looks back up at Marduk. "Look, it's turning out to be a bad time. Could you go back, pretty pretty please, and I'll call you and we can talk about when you kicked En-Lil's ass later, okay? PLEEEEEASE?" (...) * Marduk grumbles, but hefts his axe over his shoulder. With one hand. Did I mention his axe is huge? Really. "Very well, I shall leave, for now." * Marduk vanishes in a fiery flame of... um... burningness. * Mage sighs with relief. "Thank you, o mighty Marduk, Lord of the Magicians, wielder of the double-bladed axe and Guardian of the Sixth Gate. Return to whence thou came!" She makes wavy hand motions. * Rei puts the printouts down and starts looking at more reagants. "Wing of bat. That's classic. Ooh, snake scales. Toenail clippings! Eew." * Chie clenches and unclenches her fists a couple of times, and watches the mage do her thing. Wow. * Mage collapses back into a pile of books with a sigh and puts her hands over her face. Aw... There was just about to be a fight, too. * Chie exhales. "Okay, cool. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt your quality time with the lord of the Gate or whoever, but we really need some info. Now." I have to hand it to you guys, you managed to skirt violence AND botch an attempt at civil introductions simultaneously. I think that's a first for us. * Rei puts a jar of fur down and looks to the others. "I don't think this chick is our wizard. I mean, she is, just not the one we're looking for. Thanks, Makoto, I had nothing to do with it!" * Mage looks up. "Man, you almost had us all dead!" Civil my *ass*. If Victoria here had maybe *warned* us as to what we were getting into, then maybe we could've done civil. Marduk's not the kind of guy you trifle with, even if he does look scrumptious in that form. * Chomei nods in agreement. Donm What? I told you I was gonna take you here. * Chomei nods in agreement. Don't get in her way. * Mage struggles to her feet. ... he no look that tough. Well, yeah, he was cute. The fiery hair, though, that's hazardous. He's the guardian of the sixth gate. You do the math. * Chie looks over at Victoria. "You neglected to mention the demon." She then gives Rei and the mage a *look.* * Rei blinks at Chie. "Well, he was!" ... means he need do lot more work before he promoted to guardian of first gate? Rei, he's a freakin' demon! Demons aren't cute! Not in that way! Sure they are! You saw him! Hey, I didn't know he'd be here! That was just a pleasant surprise. ... Right. * Victoria is cute, for that matter ^^ * Chie sighs. "Whatever." * Mage turns to Chie. "Well, for good or ill, you're here. What did you want?" * Lazar rubs his head. Finally. Look, we heard about this wizard who's been killing people and taking their eyes, and is planning some sorta ritual involving a maiden's heart. And we want to stop that. We need some info. Anything you could give us has to help. * Makoto reaches up and pats Lazar's shoulder comfortingly. * Rei walks back to Makoto, leans against the wall, folds her arms, and hmphs, tail flicking annoyedly. * Chomei stands beside Chie, Rownal in his left hand. * Makoto takes a step back and leans against the wall beside Rei. "What's wrong, cutie?" He keeps his voice low, so as not to distract from the 'girl talk' closer to the center of the room. * Mage 's eyes widen. "Taking their eyes? Maiden's heart?" She spins to Victoria. "And you thought it was me! You know better than that!" Wha-? I just said I'd take them to a wizard I knew! * Chie sighs. "Yeah, she's telling the truth about that. We just didn't know if this wizard friend of hers was the one or not." * Rei shrugs and replies, quietly, "I dunno. The girl isn't the one we're looking for, okay, but we don't need to pick a fight, and there really wasn't anything that was going to hurt us, I think, and this girl might actually help, and he was so cute. Not like I'd go out with him, because as cool as the hair was, it'd burn me up and I got you anyway, and he probably isn't that much of a conversationalist, but he was." Obviously, you're not. But maybe you'd know who is? * Chomei relaxes his grip on Rownal, the black longbow forming into the light motes and going into his hand. * Mage crosses her arms and looks at Victoria askance. "Well, alright." She sniffs. "I've heard about the murders. It's all over the demon world." I didn't know about the maiden heart part, though. That makes it something else entirely.... wait just a second. * Chie relaxes a bit. "Sure thing." * Mage goes diving into a pile of books, tossing one after another over her shoulder till she comes up with a mouldering tome with iron edging. "Ah, here we go." * Makoto continues to speak quietly to Rei. "I'm sure there won't be a fight. Not here, anyway. I wonder... was his hair actually made of fire, or was it just burning hair? I don't know if you've ever gotten the chance to smell burnt hair up close, but it really stinks." * Chie watches the mage intently. * Rei nods. "Yeah, I bet it does. Which is why I think it was a fire, but think about it, you get too close to him? Woosh! Not-quite spontaneous combustion! * Victoria watches the jars intently. "Hey! You got lizard tails! Cool!" Yeah, really. Though you could roast marshmallows over his head, which could come in handy. * Rei grins. "And those little hotdog sausage things? On toothpicks?" ( Would you rather just fight the meatloaf monster again? :P ) * Mage flips through it. "Lung, liver, kidney, eyeball, ah, here we go. Heart. Pig heart, dog heart, ostrich heart, dodo heart.... maiden's heart!" She clears her throat. "Ye maiden's heart can best be used for applications in thee field of reanimation, or as 'tis properly callt, necromancy." * Mage makes a face. "Ewww, necromancy." * Rei crosses her eyes. ... undead. Hate undead. Or in brownies. Oh, yay! Necromancy! Just what we wanted to hear! .. * Lazar removes his demon bracers, and puts on his undeath bracers. * Makoto nods, grinning crookedly. He and Rei probably look like the troublemakers in the back of a classroom right about now. "I think you have to roast them on metal skewers first. Toothpicks are very flam--what? Undead? What did I miss?" He looks around. Evil wizard probably want to call forth army of undead or something. Oh, crap. Yay! ( .. Man, I must need sleep. I read "bracers" as "braces." ) Undead armies! I remember the one I got for my birthday... I was hoping he was just a lonely guy with REALLY bad dating skills. * Mage keeps reading. "Thee ritual involves thus: thrice blah blah blah blah circle, blah triangle, blah Cthonic waaaaardd....oh, my. Thee ritual happenth best upon yon midnight." Maybe he's got such bad dating skills he's trying to summon a date that won't go away? ( Maybe he is :P ) ... Eew. ( Well, Lazar DID bite that one werewolf... ) Okay, that's nasty. She'd need to chew lots of Orbit gum! Midnight, huh? That gives us... Midnight? What time is it now? Not that we know where this guy is, but... * Makoto checks his wristwatch. * Rei checks Makoto's wristwatch. ... always midnight. Why nobody ever raise undead army at noon? [Time: 10:00 p.m.] Because midnight harnesses the power of the moon, silly large man. Because that's when you raise the unundead army. Otherwise known as senior citizens. What if there isn't one? What if it's a new moon? (Ba-dum ching!) ( Lame. But funny lame. ) Even better. No moon means dark energy! * Chie looks at Chomei. She then smacks him in the arm. That doesn't make a whole lotta sense, but okay. We have to find him! If you're LOOKING for this guy, I can find him easy. ... okay. So any idea who might be doing bad ritual? And what bad tirual might be? * Chomei takes it somewhat happily. He made a joke. That's his joke for the day! ... Two hours. So, do we have any idea whatsoever where this crazy necroph--whatever is? * Chie looks at the mage. "Yes, please!" ( Chomei, when I said I wanted to get you to lighten up some more, I *didn't* mean to start by making bad jokes.) ( ... Right.) Please do? ( Chomei's taking "Lighten Up" lessons from Togo! ) ( Hehe. ) (Haha!) Okay, but not until we've been properly introduced. I don't like to walk places with people I don't know. Walk? We have to walk? Right. Hi. Chie. * Chie waves. Unless you've got cars, sure. You can ride with me! And we have transport, yeah. * Rei grins madly. * Makoto raises his hand. "I'm Makoto! I don't mind walking unless there's certain death at the end of it, but sometimes you just have to make sacrifices." * Chomei waves at Mage, then shakes his head when Rei mentions that. "Chomei." And I have a car. * Rei pokes Makoto in the side. "She's riding with me," she restates cheerily. "And I'm Rei Ueda, no relation to oranges. Nice to meetcha." Lazar Thau. From Transylvania. * Mage smiles. "I'm Asanjya. It's very nice to meet you all." * Makoto pokes Rei back. "You are too related to oranges. Yesterday you told me you were queen of Orangelandia." * Mage is now known as Asanjya Yeah, nice to meet you, Asa... err, you mind if I just call you Anya? No, that's fine. Now, Let me get my coat and Xaphan and we can go. * Rei yelps. "Okay, but just because I'm queen of Orangelandia doesn't mean I'm *related* to the oranges. It's kinda like when the French took over the English aristocracy." * Chomei nods. Oh. I'll have to take your word on that. Who's Xaphan? ( "My pet Tarrasque." "..." ) ( Hah! ) ("Cool! Can I play with it?") ( ... bad image. CHIBI-TARRASQUE! ) * Asanjya grabs a black and white cloak off a wall hook and sweeps it around her. Then she picks up her staff, and taps it on the ground three times. "Xaphan, get your scaredy-demon hide out here NOW!" ( Super-deformed Tarrasque smashes sand-castle-Tokyo! ) (RAAAGH!) * Merin|Sleep has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer ) * Chomei eyes Asanjya. "You know, I'm begining to not care." Chomei, I'm shocked. You always take such pride in your work. If you stop caring, you might start tolerating *me*. * Xaphan peers out from behind a stack of books. He's a tiny gargoylish demon, about 9 inches tall. "Yes, ma'am!" He flies out and lands on Asanjya's shoulder. * Victoria beams, showing her fangs partially. Ah. Is... what word... familiar? * Rei points. "Demon! Cute. See, I told you demons can be cute." She looks at Victoria. "Right?" Yes, but that's cute in a different way. Like Joe is. Yeah. And we can't have that, can we Makoto. Joe's cute, too! * Asanjya smiles at the group. "This is Xaphan. He's kind of like my familar, only not really. Be NICE to him, Victoria." Anyhow. Can we go now? Yep! Please? Cool. Let's go. * Chie snags Chomei's arm and starts dragging him out and *away* from Makoto. Demons can be very cute! Like that Charlie. Mmmm... I remember when we had our first fight. Or Bruce... * Victoria gets a dreamy look on her face. * Lazar heads up the stairs, desperate to get out of the Basement of Giving Him a Headache. * Asanjya follows the group up the stairs after blowing out the candles, turning off the lights as she goes. * Rei hurries out of the house, tail trailing behind her. "It's wizzie hunting we will goooooo..." * Makoto shakes his head wearily, but he still waits until everybody but Asanjya is gone before following upstairs and onto the street. * Chomei goes up the stairs as Chie goes up. [They all go a wizard hunting.] [Session End!]