[Day: Saturday, Oct. 27th. Time: 12:00 p.m.] [Two hours ago you had a bunch of exposition that ended with only YOU can save the world maybe. Then you went to do your things, and finally made your way back to the Dancing Fiend. Does that summarize or what?] [So like, the dance floor is cleared, save for a circle of mages ready to open the portal for y'all. Most of 'em are regulars here. Penny's one of 'em. Maybe you'll be zombified if you fail. Jacqueline's there too, and Mikaela came with Lukas, not that they're expecting to do much.] [Ok, good enough. Session Start!] * Herman is there! Something about almost negative travel time and all that. He has a pipe, is wearing a fresh change of clothes, and doesn't look tired at all. * Ashley is there, dressed in a blue turtleneck and slacks. He looks a little apprehensive, and non-drunk. Thusly, sad. [Sad Ashley in snow.] * Alys is bouncing as she walks in, though she looks fairly tired, regardless of the amount of caffeine she's had over the past few hours. She sees Penny and waves. Hullo Alys. [Penny waves back.] * Togo has managed to change into clothes that haven't been torn up by large angry bugs. He also thankfully cut back on the vodka a bit, so he's mostly sober at this point. Hey. Do we get a break after this? I need angsting time. Maybe. Care for a snog before we go save the universe? * Lukas does look tired. And a little cold. He's standing near Mikaela, and has a little snow on his shoulder. He's looking up at the ceiling. * Ten matches Ashley and Mikaela, but not because she didn't change clothes, no, she's wearing a different frilly blue outfit and seems to have survived the battery transplant. Yes, definitely. Excellent. * Alys walks over to Ashley, pulls on his hair to get his head down to her level, and starts kissing him. * Ashley ... enthusiastically responds! Hooray, it's Ashley Life Signs. You'll all get a bunch of time off as soon as the apocalypses stop happening. And geez, I'm glad I have no eyes. * Lukas looks away from the ceiling to Alys and Ashley. His eyes... are no longer blue. They've gone slightly black with a mix of blue. "Gods, why am I the adult?" * Togo pauses. "Did I just say that? Christ." *shakes head* * Ashley sneaks out a moment to say, "Because you can't get laid for love nor money, Lukas. Stow it." Then resumes! Doesn't seem like an altogether bad idea. * Lukas snorts derisively, then goes, "I guess I've heard worse." * Togo turns to Herman, deadpan. "Sorry, you're not my type, man." Really? Damn. You'll just have to make due with Volt. I like how I'm the second choice. * Ashley would say something snarky, but! SNOGGING Well, the other options in the immediate vicinity are one of the mages or Khalil. Former are busy, latter would punch me in the face for suggesting it. He wouldn't punch you in the face, but he wouldn't pull the stick out of his ass, either. * Herman looks around. "Speaking of, where in the hells is he?" * Lukas looks over to Herman a moment, then runs his hand through his hair. "Wasn't he with you? Talkin' with his sister?" * Herman nods. * Alys pulls away for a second to tell Herman, "That would make it difficult for you to sex him up," then goes back to snogging. [Mikaela and Jacqueline talk, just 'cause.] Couldn't be more right. * Lukas shakes his head ruefully. "Fantastic." He glances to Mikaela being social and then runs his hand through his hair. * Togo wanders over to Volt. "When things get ugly, how many shots do you have in you?" * Lukas looks over to Togo slightly. "Handful." Beat. "And one big trick. Dunno exactly how it'll turn out, but..." he looks back over to Mikaela. "...it's there." * Togo reaches into his coat, and pulls out his DEagle pistol, along with a couple of spare clips. "Save your ammo 'till we really need it. Use some of mine." * Lukas looks down to the gun, then shoves it in his pocket. "Uh, thanks for the couple hundred bucks of hardware." * Lukas then rubs his hands together. I can get another. But if we run into random goons that won't go down to a tranq dart, I want you to be able to do more than hurt their feelings with a withering insult. Right. * Lukas exhales noisily. "I know, okay? Still not a fan of lethal, or having no choices. Or both." It's not like we haven't been lethal sometimes anyway. Where the hell's Khalil? All else being equal, I've been trying to avoid lethal. *pauses* Some fuckers gotta die, though. [Finora makes her way over. "Hey guys, are you ready to go? Some of the patrons want to get back to drinking."] We're missing one. Soon as our last member gets here, we'll get out of your way. Sorry 'bout the lost business, Finora. * Lukas chuckles. "You're the ones who wanted to use the dance floor." Then he looks over at A&A a moment, then back up at the ceiling again. [Leroy comes up, "Um... Not that anyone cares or anything, but that guy with the feathers you're always hanging out with?"] Yeah? [Leroy holds up a cute little plush griffon with a giant head, kinda like Khalil was when he was cursed. "He coughed and turned into this."] ... huh. I can honestly say I did not expect that. ... Me neither, but that's him. * Ashley comes up for air. "Can we keep him?" Sure. Right then. Take him with us and hope he gets better, or leave him? * Alys blinks. "What? Why did you..." She trails off as she sees the plushie. "This happens with alarming frequency." * Ashley shrugs and looks down at Alys. "We can get in another three minutes. Game?" Sounds good to me. * Ashley gets back to necking. * Herman rolls his eyes. Herman? Volt? Ten? Opinions? I. Do. Not. Understand. His. Curse. Jesus fuck. We go. Can't wait for him forever. Yeah, but do we take him? * Lukas shrugs. "Well, if we take him and we lose, he dies. If we leave him and we lose, he dies. If he somehow snaps out of it, he can help us." Sounds like a go to me. Point. * Togo sticks the Khalil plushie into his coat. "Right. Untangle your tongues from the tonsils, you crazy kids. Time to get going." * Lukas looks over at Alys and Ashley. "Yeah. It's time to try dying one more time." He grins a little. * Ashley unliplocks. "Sigh. I'll have to take a raincheck, love." * Alys grins. "Let's do that again some time. Okay, go time! I wanna hold the plushie!" It amuses me. Sorry. We need both your tongue AND your hands free. Aw. You. Can. Resume. After. * Togo signals to the mages that they're ready. "Let 'er rip. The fabric of time, space and reality, that is." [Bella appears from out of nowhere! "Maybe we can make it a threesome."] * Lukas glances to Ten. "Godsakes, don't encourage 'em." * Ashley grins. "Maybe later." * Ashley looks up and wipes his mouth with the back of his sleep. "So! We're going? You know I'm bloody worthless, right?" s'part of your charm. [Jacqueline stops talking with Mikaela long enough to talk with you, instead. "Be careful in there. We'll be trying to dispel the barrier from out here, but no idea how long that will take."] Excellent. * Alys says sadly to Bella, "I'm still not a lesbian, or even bi. Sorry." * Herman nods at Jacqueline. "All right." * Togo hands Jacqueline a piece of paper with a couple of numbers on it. "If you guys manage to get through, call these numbers, and tell them what's going on. Might be able to get some extra backup." [Jacqueline nods. "Okay! And Claire should be in England soon, too."] ... gee, I feel more secure already. ...Does she have to be? I don't like her. Doesn't matter right now. Let's get the show on the road. [Finora waves to the mages, and they start chanting archaic words in unison. It'd make a good nursery rhyme.] * Lukas looks to 'Kaela and smiles a little. "Maybe when I come back we'll look almost alike again, huh?" * Herman steps back a bit. [Mikaela shakes her head. "Nah. You're too short for that."] * Lukas looks down at her and chuckles a little. "Can always count on you, 'kaela." (She's tall, but I am sadly taller.) [Mikaela gives a little thumbs up. "Stay safe, okay?" She glances down at Ten. "Don't let my bro do anything stupider than normal."] Oh. Kay. [The mages finish their spell, and a vortex/portal/glowing hole in space/time appears! Ooooh.] (Oooooh.) (Oooooh?) (Yes.) * Herman looks the portal over, nods to himself, and walks in. * Alys follows Herman! [Only Herman can appreciate the aesthetics of such a fine portal.] * Ashley follows Alys. Y'know, if we're gonna run into this many rips in space/time, I should at least have beautiful alien women throwing themselves at me constantly. It worked for Kirk. You've got... uh, your succubus. [Bella waves.] * Lukas steps away from Mikaela, pauses a moment, takes a deep breath, and then... portal! * Ten goes with Lukas! * Togo would roll his eyes. But. So he just steps through the portal. [You go through the portal! It's kinda neat, like swimming without having to breathe.] (You mean hold your breath? ;P) ( No, you all have gills now. ) [And then suddenly you're in the Umbra. It kinda looks like London. I mean, all the buildings are there and stuff. You're right outside the Dancing Fiend! Only.... It's awfully dark, and everything looms overhead.] [I mean looms. The buildings all look like they're tilting forward. And everything seems more spikey, in general.] ( LOOM. ) * Herman takes one look around, holds up his hand, and says, "Lumen." The small sun bursts into existence nearby. [The sky's kinda cool. Black, but with a purple mist. And the moon? Blood red, baby.] ( OOM! No, they arn't the same thing.) * Lukas looks around. "I think 'Kaela'd like this place." Beat. "Maybe." (Stop humming and heal me!) [Thanks to Herman, you can see! A little better.] Wow, it's like a comic book. We should so have our own comic book. ( Not me ) ( Togo actually did have a comic book, in his original incarnation. Lemme find it... ) Only if I ever actually get laid in them. They'd make little figurines of us and everything! Then I'd be bigger than you! [It doesn't take a genius to figure out where you're supposed to go. But still, you guys are in trouble.] (Uh, actually, I don't know where we're supposed to go.) [Just kidding. Actually there's a funky light show happening at the top of Big Ben, some several, maybe 30 minutes, walk away.] That's okay, most people are bigger than me anyway. I'm used to it. ( http://authorpics.improfanfic.com/TOGO-ManFromBeyond!~smallish.jpg ) (Nifty!) * Lukas catches the light show. "... appropriate, I guess." Hmm? See something? Magic type fireworks! Someone's having a laser show on Big Ben. ( Gimme hearing checks! ) Ah. Figures. Nobody ever attempts an apocalypse at the corner pub. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ten (2d8) and gets a natural 15 for a result of 15. 2d8-6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Togo (2d8-6) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 4. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Alys (2d8) and gets a natural 13 for a result of 13. 2d8-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Lukas (2d8-2) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 8. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ashley (2d8) and gets a natural 12 for a result of 12. 2d8 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Herman (2d8) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 10. (Heheh, no.) d4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Brett (d4) and gets a natural 4 for a result of 4. [Ten is eaten by a Grue :(] ( :/ ) ( Hey, I had to kill at least one of you off at some point :O ) [Ok, maybe that doesn't happen, but.] ( Damnit, he's right) * Lukas looks over his shoulder, hand going in his pocket. Footsteps. Someone's coming. * Togo pivots, hand reaching into his coat... * Herman looks to Ashley. * Ashley waves. Way ahead of you. * Ten looks around for things with feet! [Out of the darkness comes (ooh, spooky) a man. He's ordinary looking enough. 30ish, Pin-striped suit, nice tie. His rainbow-colored hair is kinda weird, though.] Unless he's got the Sight, we're invisible. Anyone know him? Nope. * Lukas says disparagingly, "I'd hope I'd remember that hair." Never seen him before! [He's not the Grand Mongoose.] Not a clue. [If you were wondering.] [That guy's bigger.] Right. So what do we do? Don't look at me. Aren't you the leader here? We go to Big Ben! And then we kick ass! * Lukas smirks and says, "I'm with Ten. If he's on our side, he'll show up there and kick ass too." Good point. Let's go. [Says the man, "There's no point in hiding. I know you're there."] Or we could talk. He could have said that earlier in the conversation! That's totally not fair! If it's all the same, the shield stays up. Drop the sound shield at least. For you. * Ashley waves his hands. "Togo's got voice." ( Ashley's clever. ) Ooh, so we can make not-so-witty commentary while they talk? Naturally. Right. You'll excuse us for our caution. Friend or foe? ( WHAT'S THE PASSWORD, BITCH?! ) [He bows to the air. "Andrealphus, at your service. I have here a device to be given to the first mortals - that would be you - to enter these realms."] ... oh, for fuck's sake. * Togo looks back at Volt, and makes an 'explain' gesture. Should've invested in a bloody truth detection spell. It's a quest giver! Can we light him on fire? Ashley, drop my invisibility. * Ashley snaps his fingers. "Done." Right then. Hi, I'm the first mortal. What've you got? [He produces a device! It looks like a holophone.] This is? [He nods.] ... what is this? ["Your guess is as good as mine. Master said you were to have it."] Who's the master? If you're allowed to say. Oh bloody hooray. * Herman sighs. ["If you're here, you probably already know."] Why do people assume we know things? They're always cryptic and mysterious and should be strangled slightly. Just slightly. We don't, but there's an apocalypse about to happen, so I don't have time to wade through the cryptic right now. Can you tell us what we're up against, or how this thing'll help? ["You can take it and use it, or you can not. It doesn't matter to me."] For FUCK'S SAKE, Togo! Take the fucking thing! If nothing else we can toss it in the bloody gutter. * Ash is now known as Phantasm ... right. No time for the cryptic. *takes the object; heads towards Big Ben* Thanks. Maybe. Who knows. * Ashley re-upps the invis on Togo. And voice. [You now have a holophone! Andrealphus vanishes into the darkness.] * Herman goes back to the walking. "Looks like a bloody phone to me." [Upon closer inspection, it seems there's already a number in the holophone's database. Though Togo can't see it.] Hm. Drunkdial or plaindial? We're supposed to call someone, I guess. *hands the phone to Herman* Let me call! My turn for fun things! * Herman takes it and looks at the number. "Why me?" Yes, why him? Because you're the other other sane one and you're totally better at magic than Lukas! [Herman doesn't recognize it.] * Lukas looks down at Ten. "That doesn't take much." Lukas doesn't even use magic. His powers come from something else. Because I'm not famous for my diplomacy. Neither is Volt. Alys and Ashley... are Alys and Ashley. And Ten's Ten. See? Totally better. Fine. Ashley, turn off the illusion for me? And Khalil's a goddamn plushie at the moment. Which leaves you. Yep! I'm excellent at diplomacy! I resent the implication. I talked to that German mad doctor guy. And Penny. And Jackie. People like talking to me. * Ashley snaps his fingers. "You're visible, Herman." * Herman hits dial and holds the phone away from him to see who/what pops up. [Dante does! Something's wrong with his face, though. The area around his right eye is all scaly. And the eye itself is glowing, creating a bright contrast since this is a holophone.] * Herman raises an eyebrow. "You have something on your face." Okay, he might not have liked talking to me. ["A minor side effect."] ["I take it Valmont is dead, then?"] He is. You sent him to us? ["Sent you to him, more like."] * Herman shrugs. "Amounts to the same bloody thing." ["Guess so."] So, willing to give us that magic whatsit so Sarah and company can have their spells back? ["I instructed Andrealphus to give it to you, once we'd had a chance to talk."] * Herman nods, totally unsurprised. "So, what's the deal?" * Lukas rubs his hands together as he waits. He's looking to the light storm. [Dante glance upwards, folding his hands behind his back. "Do you want the full story?"] If standing in the middle of this infernal street won't get me killed in a hundred gruesome ways, go for it. But if it's too bloody long, I'm gonna need a beer. Sooo, like, is he trying to stall us, or just give exposition? * Lukas adds, "Yeah. We might want to, uh, not wait for him to destroy the world. Or whatever." * Herman doesn't say, "Then *you* go stop him while I stall him." That would be too obvious. [Dante shuts his eyes. Even the glowy one. "Twenty years ago, Lucifer and Dracula hatched a plan. Dracula would bring Lucifer to this world to use it as a battleground against God. Lucifer would allow Dracula to rule what was left of the world once his war had ended."] [His eyes open. "But their plan never saw fruition. Dracula was destroyed before he could bring Lucifer to our plane by a group from Interpol. Among them was my adoptive mother, Asanjya Mikigawa."] * Herman frowns, then nods in recognition. "All right." * Lukas blinks, then says, "Hey, she was one of the people the stupid shield was supposed to let in." ( If Dracula back, I going to be very angry. VERY angry. "Look, there a Ueda" angry. ) ["Lucifer's not one to be forgiving, and mother won't live forever. Once she dies, he'll get custody of her soul and torture her for all eternity."] And you have a problem with this? (Won't live forever..... yet.) [He nods.] (o/~ Who wants to live forever? o/~) (People who sell their souls.) [Dante continues: "He knows I'm not strong enough to stop him. He's been torturing me with that knowledge every chance he gets. But I devised a plan."] ...Wait, so has he not talked to his mum about this? You'd think she'd be concerned and make her own plan if she cared enough. Whatever it is, it's crazy. You sure this line's secure? I bet his mom's pretty scary. She's gotta know people who can do stuff! ( Like I'd let myself get caught in a contract like that?) ["Positive. And perhaps it is crazy. But there's no sane way left."] * Herman snorts. "You've already put your friends at risk. Could've killed Xuan - she's lucky to still be alive. So what's the rest of it?" ["It started when I got word of Valmont. A man with the money I needed to begin the operation, but an abominable person. Meanwhile, Asmodeus, Moloch and Beelzebub hatched their trinity plan: Moloch sacrificed Beelzebub to bring Asmodeus into our world. But Beelzebub wasn't pleased at the prospect of dying."] ["So I conducted the soul contract: Binding a demon's soul to a human upon death. In this case, Valmont's."] ["In return, I had his resources at my disposal and was able to set up Covenant to get the items I needed."] * Togo bites his tongue. He does not look very happy. Predictably, something has gone horribly wrong? * Herman shrugs a little and waits. ["Of course, I needed more help than just Covenant could provide. I needed your help, as well as the rest of my group, Mystery Club."] (So, Officer Lockstock! Is this where you tell them about the drought?) ["Though it pains me to have done what I did, I had no choice if I'm to save my mother. When Hiyoko died, our wills were weakened. I was able to influence them, convince them that by summoning Lucifer, we would be able to save Hiyoko's soul."] That was a bad plan! ["It wasn't a total lie. If we could have defeated Lucifer, her soul would have been saved. But I knew we didn't have that kind of power."] ["So I needed you to help me stop them from actually achieving it."] So... he fucked up, then decided to fuck up, then fucked up getting us to stop him from fucking up? WHY aren't we doing this drunk, again? So, wait. What? Ditto. You told them to summon Lucifer *why*? I'm confused. ["So I could gather everything I needed. A plan which almost failed, due to your interference. But I can't blame you for that."] We should kill him just to stop him from being stupid in general. I think he didn't realize they couldn't beat Lucifer until after he got the ball rolling, and then couldn't stop it. * Herman rolls his eyes. "With the amount you told everybody, I wonder why. The hell did you need? That black rock?" Only explanation I can think up. ["And the Rosetta stone. And a few other trinkets you couldn't have known about. But it doesn't matter now."] You didn't get the bloody stone, I should point out. What does matter now? He's still too stupid to live. Quite. ["Of course I did. I took it from the Vatican after sending you to the Russian base in Lithuania."] Right. Go on. ["There's not much more to say. I sent you there to kill Shibamura. The man does not deserve to live. Afterward, Valmont wanted the wellspring of magic beneath Stonehenge, Beelzebub wanted the same so he could return to his own body. I sent you there to kill them both."] ["The only thing remaining is Lucifer."] ... jesus fucking christ. You sent us to kill LUCIFER? Oh, *that'll* be bloody easy. The hell do you think we can handle him... or you... or both of us? This guy's delusional. We'd need, like, a full raid for that. [He chuckles. "No. Your work is done. I'm going to deal with Lucifer myself."] ...Oh fuck, we're doomed. Hooray! Drinks! Yeah, you're insane. So why are we here? Because it's not going to work. It never works. What makes you think *you* can do it? * Lukas smirks a little. ["What makes you think I can't? I've studied demonology since as far back as I can remember."] You wanna to have Lucifer rape your corpse for all eternity, that's your issue. What're we here to stop? Sure, and I studied magic as far back as I can bloody remember, and I know better than to mess with him... much less mess with him alone. You bring him up and screw up, and everyone else has a world of trouble to deal with. ["It's true that Lucifer is powerful. As God's most perfect creation, could he be anything less? I've gained a lot of power recently, but even I know it isn't nearly enough."] So, like, he's as powerful as God now? Oh Darwin, this man is blasphemizing your name every second he exists. Smite him down in your name! I knew there was a reason I fancied you. ... so you want to take him on why? Togo.... You know he can't hear you, right? It's like yelling at the main character in a horror movie. It's cathartic, right? [In his current state, it's doubtful I can ever achieve the power I need to destroy him." ] Then what're you looking to do? ["Time travel."] ... oh, what the shit. But that only works in movies! ["I'm going to go back in time, before creation. Back to when Lucifer rebelled against God."] ... oh, what the unholy shit. ... And you'll be able to live in an airless vacuum how? ... right. He's bloody crackers. Can we go home so I can possibly get in a shag before we all die? He is totally free to do that and spare us the annoyance of hunting him down ourselves. ["When Michael defeated Lucifer, Lucifer was condemned to Hell. When that happens, I'm going to be there to strike when he's at his weakest."] So, like, he's gonna go up to God and go, "Like, this Lucifer guy you're gonna make? He sucks, don't do it."? * Lukas mutters, "The paradox inherent in that is really fucked up." I know. I just wanna reach through the phone and strangle him, though. You *do* know that this is before the world was BLOODY FORMED, right? End of universe error! (Actually I think it's after..) (Regardless) ["Traveling back in time before creation sort of implies that, yes."] ( Is it? 'Cause I'm not sure either. ) So how are you handling that little problem? ["Did I mention I've gotten a lot more powerful?"] (Depends on who you listen to, I imagine.) You got a glowing eye. ["Side effect."] * Lukas rubs his temples. "Okay, Herman? Do you know how time paradoxes resolve?" Because this... sorta causes a big one. He's pretty much making himself not exist. Painfully? Right out the box. ... can't he just, like..... set a time bomb? An like, lots of history's gonna go poof too! So it doesn't go off until ten minutes from now? * Herman rubs at his eyes. "Right, so... you want to destroy Lucifer before he even exists, really." And how's this going to change the way things are now? ["It will create a world without Lucifer. That alone is reason enough."] It'll completely change everything around. You can't know if creating a world without Lucifer will be a good thing in the end. Starkers. Bloody certifiable. And if he wins - which he can, being Lucifer and all - we're *really* in deep shit. This is even more insane than the Hiyoko thing. ["On the contrary, I don't see how it can be anything but good. Especially since, with Lucifer gone, I'll be able to keep the other demons in check."] * Herman frowns. "I see. Well, not much *we* can do about it, so what do you want us to do?" ["Nothing. I just thought you'd like an explanation."] ... so why're we here? * Lukas starts walking towards Big Ben. "Because your favorite old guy thinks it'll go wrong." Right. So, when's your friend gonna show up so we can save Liadan's life? ["I thought he had already? Well... In a few more minutes, it won't matter."] Ooh! Oooh! Ooh! Hey Herman! Have you ever, like, been in Big Ben so we can teleport in there, like right now? Yup. See you on the other side. ["I'm sorry it had to come to this. But trust me, it's for the best." He shuts the holophone off.] * Herman hits end, shoving the phone away. "Port won't work, Ten. Come on. Gotta kill the fucking insane future demon lord or whatever the fuck." He takes off at a run for the Big Ben. * Lukas sees Herman running and tries to run too. "Fuck. Why didn't I think to bring my bike?" * Ashley runs! * Alys yells, "In the name of keeping stupidity out of the gene pool!" and starts running. * Ten gets carried along with Lukas. [Plushie Khalil does not run.] (LOSER.) (Plush Khalil is not amused.) () ( It's Alys's fault. ) ( The shock of watching her make out with Ashley turned Khalil into a plushie. ) (XD) [Anyhow, since Togo doesn't look like he's going to join in the running...] [Session End!]