Evil's Return Chapter 6: Road Rage

[PyrosNine]

Task held down the gas and drove. It was both nerve wrecking and amazing, as he was too young to drive a car, and he had never done this before. Furthermore, there was a Fallen Angel chasing him from behind.

It tended to fry one's nerves beyond their limit.

When Laurella was safely aboard the flying car, Task awaited his turn....but then thought differently. This fallen angel thing, well, Task wasn't sure if he even believed in fallen angels. But he knew this thing was no good, in almost every fiber of his being.

It would continue to follow the flying car, and who knew if it could go faster in the air than on crowded highway stretch, or was merely moving slowly to destroy those who were trying to kill her before he did....then it would be a good idea to try and slow it down some more.

Furthermore, he certainly felt Laurella would be more safe with the Ninjas than with him, and he didn't feel like leaving Trish behind, even if she could somehow leap back onto the flying car after Task got on.

Task swerved the car around, much to the shock of the others, and after a bit of off road driving, headed back down the road to the pursuing Fallen.

***

Troy was aghast. "Is he crazy? He's going to get himself killed!"

***

Task revved the car at full speed towards the Fallen angel, but before the car made impact, Task flipped over to the hood and leapt out at the Angel, in attempt to keep him from simply flying over the oncoming car.

It was as if the moment was frozen in time for Task, and all who were watching, as he seemingly flew, suspended above a hurtling car, with both weapons drawn. In the darkness of the night, his headband and armband, his sword and dagger, shone brightly.

[Incendius]

(GM approved reentry)

*SLAM*

Michael groaned softly as his wounded right arm was jostled against the side of the van waking him up from a deep, and well needed slumber. Over the next second, Michael struggled to organize his thoughts, and place himself back in the world. In a dizzy haze, not even having opened his eyes yet, Michael thought Damm SECA drivers, when I requested being driven to the hospital, I thought they at least had some modicum of ability to drive a van without engaging road rage.

Michael gathered up his strength, and prepared himself to open his mouth and admonish the drivers of the van when he suddenly heard the din of the surrounding battle. This isn't any simple road rage, they drove me right into a battle... Dammnation, the call to kill Laurella must have already gone out. I didn't think it would happen so soon, I thought I might have at least a day to recover.

As Michael opened his eyes to survey his surroundings, he found himself in the back of a SECA van, lying on two fully lowered seats behind the backs of the SECA drive and his cohort, who was currently firing bullets at the window at a foe Michael couldn't see. I can't believe I was sleeping through this, my blood loss must have been more damaging then I thought. In any case I have to hope they haven't got Laurella yet, if they have, that means that right now my two chauffeurs are fighting something far worse then us protectors.

Not even moving his head, or doing so much as to quicken his breathing Michael tilted his eyes upwards and looked outside the window. What he saw stunned him. My G-d, its a battlefield out there! At least this probably means Laurella is still alive, or the demonic entities would have retreated to wreak mayham in a more effective place. First I have to prioritize though, I need to get on my own and neutralize my two chauffeurs without crashing us, then see what I can do for the battle.

Michael slowly, quietly, and carefully reached into his sand container and withdrew a handful. Devoting himself to controlling his shaking hand, Michael unobtrusively sketched two intricate symbols onto the seat of the van. Under his breath Michael muttered. Aerie; euphoria; of; given; the; by; divine; the; winds; reaches; send; of; aloft; heaven; your; grace; messengers; these; to; anger grace; ridden; this; fighters; structure; so; and; G-d's; rise; peace; it; can; closer; be; to heaven's; attained heights.

As the two runes started to glow a soft subtle light, the SECA agent riding in the passenger seat looked back and let loose an expletive saying "S***t, kid what are you..." The agent got cut off as the most peaceful look crossed his face and that of the driver. Both men were being graced by the most pleasing and relaxing feeling either had ever felt, or would ever feel again. Far greater than that of any drug, and potentially far more addicting, a reason that not many use this spell.

To safeguard the fact that the driver would not be in any shape the manipulate the vehicle in this state, Michael's second rune went into effect. The SECA vehicle rose into the air, only inches off the ground, far enough the the furiously running wheels no longer propelled it forward.

Michael pushed under himself and worked through an intense pain, going into an upright position, then crawling forward in between the two SECA agents. I am sorry I have had to subject you to this. Michael said quietly, referring to both the heavenly feeling, and his next action. Michael reached over one by one and opened the doors even as he continued his twin incantations. With two quick shoves conducted simultaneously, Michael pushed both SECA agents out of the car and onto the hard gravel.

Crawling into the front seat of the SECA vehicle, Michael released both the runes and shoved on the gas, speeding away from the two agents and back towards the battle. It appears to me now, that I am not quite qualified to drive this, and am probably committing suicide in any case. Ah well, none of my family was ever known to preserve their own life beyond their charge, where would be the honor or dedication to duty in that? Michael thought rhetorically.

As Michael approached the battlefield, driving around and through the unsuspecting other SECA vehicles and away from the rampaging demons and undead, he bore witness to the beginnings of Task's insane stunt. I've got to help him, not only is taking down that Fallen key to stopping the SECA attack, that one is going to get himself killed with his heroics. Heroics are fine and worthwhile, but they don't necessarily dictate that you have to die to perform them.

Michael drove strait towards the Fallen and Task's charge, thinking even as he formulated his plan. This is going to be one of the hardest feats of magic I've ever performed. Four spells going off at the same time, all complete incantations and without sigils, one of them being a spell with its properties twisted oppositely. Oh well, this isn't the time to complain. One can only act.

Reaching out quickly, Michael unhatched the door to the SECA van and he practically shouted.

The; cradle; force; marioneteer; mire; of; inherent; that; of; divine; in; is; the; presence; G-d's; the; deeps; shield; will; most; ever; me; draw; holy; seeks; carry; yourself; grant; to; as; me; down; me; entrap; as; onto; abilities; and; a; one; for; slow; mother; that; the; in; does; wouldst; sake; rare; a; defy; of; times; child; thee; man; the; in; bear; help; mire; her; down; me; does; womb; upon; preserve; the; preventing; who; thy; opposite; dangers; wouldst; will; entrapping; and; sail; and; its; forces; in; pause; foes; from; the; thy; with; causing; skies; enemies; a; me; when; from; gambit; undue; thee; wrecking; of; harm; has; the; speeding; take; commanded; show; them; me; all; that; along; in; all; is; to; your; look; your; new; protective; to; boundless; destinations embrace; ground; domain.

Even if all the magic backlashes, this will be a fun way to die. Michael thought as he expended his mounds of built up magical energy to activate the four spells. Additionally, as he did this, Michael rolled out of the drivers seat of the SECA van and jumped out of the vehicle towards the hard pavement rushing below him, a stunt that unaided by spells would surely cost him, and still could cost him. As he jumped Michael splayed out his hands, fingers separate, and all pointed towards the Fallen.

The first of the four spells Michael uttered was a reversed spell, the original intention of the spell was to slow the movement of an object or person down. Through clever wording and intelligent application of magical properties, Michael had reversed this spell and applied it to the entirety of the SECA van. If the spell worked, the van would accelerate at monumental speeds, possibly breaking the sound barrier, towards the Fallen. Hopefully at the least distracting him, at the best crushing him underneath the force.

The second of the spells Michael spoke applied to his own being. It was a normal and common spell among ward mages, and in fact almost all mages. The spell surrounding the caster in a cradle of energies, cushioning the caster or recipient of the spell against harm from impacts, such as jumping out of a speeding van onto very hard pavement. Assuming it worked, Michael would only get jostled. If not, at least he would go out knowing he personally insulted the Fallen with the spell backfiring and his body exploding over the street, and onto the immaculate form of the Fallen.

The third spell cast by Michael targeted the Fallen. In a very audacious move, Michael had invoked the very forces of gravity upon the Fallen. Calling on gravity to hold down one who would presume to fly and deny its power. Especially when that being was one cast down from the grace of G-d, cast down to forces such as gravity. Hopefully this spell would slow the Fallen down, make it less able to counterattack Task. At best it would crush the Fallen slowly, incapacitating it.

The fourth and final spell was the most audacious and risky of Michael's moves, surpassing that of any of the others, for it risked attaching himself to the Fallen. From each of his fingers, a dozen threads would connect themselves to various point on the Fallen's body, giving Michael a chance to halt the Fallen from fleeing from the attacks, combined with the gravity, if both worked the Fallen would almost be a sitting duck. Luckily Michael had been sleeping through most of the orientation, so he couldn't really describe much that the Fallen hadn't already stolen in the previous encounters, so if they connection to the physical body of the Fallen did backfire, only his sanity and eternal soul would be at risk.

[mauve]

"Bloody idiot!" snarled Trish. She was hanging onto the underside of the flying car in a white-knuckled, one-handed grip. She had been standing on the Mustang's roof, helping Laurella get in and preparing to trade places with Task, but as the thief stomped on the gas, grabbing Duncan's airborne vehicle was all she could do to keep herself from being thrown aside.

"What is he doing?! We gotta go get him!" she yelled up at Troy. The ninja boy only pulled the nose of the vehicle upwards, making it sail higher into the sky.

"You're kidding! And deliver Laurella to the Fallen via air mail!?!" he asked incredulously. "Look, I know what Task just did looked incredibly crazy and suicidal, but we can't risk getting Laurella any closer to that Fallen! He's buying us time to make a run for it."

Trish gave a nod of understanding, not that Troy could see it.

"He's not alone; there are other Protectors down there already. They'll do their job, and now we've gotta do ours." Troy finished. He sighed. "And would you get up here already? Duncan's not going to like it if you end up pulling something off the bottom of his car there."

Trish muttered something under her breath and pulled herself up to the trunk of the car, using the back tire and bumper for leverage. She crouched there, keeping an eye out for further attackers as the car sailed onwards. She reached through the back window to dig into the newly-discovered box of throwing knives. Through the rear-view mirror Troy could see the occasional glint of steel as knives flew towards anything that came too close.

The acceleration sigil still burned brightly on the car's roof, letting the vehicle rocket forwards through the sky.

"Welcome aboard Ninja Airlines," Troy said to Laurella. "We hope you enjoy your fl--"

"Cut the comedy and drive, Plushie Boy," Trish interrupted flatly.

"Tch. I can't do anything fun."

[Loki, The Fallen]

Rick had few choices, few options. He saw the insanity in front him, and the insanity behind him. Well, guess we better catch up! He twisted the throttle and the bike lurched forward.

Rick had never driven a motorcycle before, but he was a quick study (And Alicia was quick to inform him if he was making a mistake.) He started hearing and detecting projectiles, entirely too close for comfort. Some of his pursuers had not given up.

I can't maneuver one of these things very well, lets try...

While looking straight forward, he split his concentration. He managed to distort the image of the motorcycle enough so that those behind him were confused. They shot in the general direction, but didn't seem to endanger them.

There, looks like we may be catching up, just about ready?

[Astral Harmony]

Laurella smiled at Troy. "Ninja Airlines, eh? So I guess the in-flight movie is Ninja Scroll? Or maybe some Naruto cartoons? I'm kinda tired of watching hardcore pornography."
She looked behind the flying car, recalling the dialogue Stacey and she had over flying cars. It made her melancholy to realise that she wouldn't be seeing Stacey for a long time, if at all. To bring her generally optimistic mood back, she tried to think of something to sing.
"It's the Great Space Coaster-"
Oh God, not that.
"Get on board,
On the Great Space Coaster,
We'll explore,
A comet ride of fantasy,
To a place where dreams are fast and free..."

[Toastburner B]

The Fallen calmly observed the two vehicles hurtling towards him.

The van seemed to be the most immediate threat. He raised his hand, and simple stated, “Repulse.”

The van’ front caved in like it had just ran headlong into a concrete wall. A force then gripped the van, and flung it end over end back down the highway. The Mustang he handled in his move conventional fashion. As it almost struck him, he brought his sword down, and neatly split the vehicle, the halves passing harmlessly past him.

With the most immediate threats taken care of, the Fallen glanced at the ground, then over at Michael. With an certain level of contempt in his voice, the Fallen muttered, “Dispell.”, and in that moment, Michael sensed the destruction of his spells…well, most of them.

It seemed the Fallen had some plans for the strings.

He grabbed them, or as many as he could, and pulled, which yanked Michael right off his feet, and sent him flying towards Task.

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((OOC: I’m going mildly god-moddy…but, well…I theGM, so I can. Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill anyone.))

Duncan ran down the road as fast as he could…which considering he had just jumped out of a flying car only to have his trump card thrown back at him, and had escaped death only by blind reflex and a good few cuts from the broken rocks peppering him and his brief flight, wasn’t all that fast.

Certainly not fast enough to put a stop to what was happening up ahead. Michael’s sudden appearance had done painfully little to turn the course of the battle. The remnants of Laurella’s car came to a halt a few dozen yards ahead of him. He could see the Fallen grab something. At this distance he couldn’t see what. But suddenly Michael was pulled off his feet and swung into the air, directly at Task.

“Duncan, it’s Nathaniel, do you copy? Nat’s voice came in static-y over the radio.

“I read you, Nat,” Duncan replied.

“Listen, I think I got a way to stop this thing…or a least stop him long enough for us to make good on our escape.”

“I’m all ears,” Duncan returned. “We’re getting pretty thrashed up here.”

“Yeah…I know. Listen, I think Task and Michael had the right idea…just not enough mass. Keep that thing busy for a few minutes, and then when I call you, get the heck out of Dodge.”

“Roger that,” Duncan said.

“I parked my bike about a half-mile back from where you are…it should have enough gas to get you into the next town. I left the Garand on there, too, and two of my special bullets. I had to take the fire one…need it for the surprise. It’s too good of piece to go out like this…”

“Nat, what the heck are you planning.”

“[i]You’ll see…just distract that thing until I get there.”

“Nat? Nathaniel! Dang it, answer!” Duncan called into the radio, but only static answered.

“Distract the most powerful being on the face of the Earth…no problem.” Duncan muttered to himself. The road began to vibrate, and he turned to see the Road Rex running towards him. He found himself smiling as what may have been the dumbest plan in human history filled his head.

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The Road Rex was still well and properly pissed off. Blind in one eye and cut up, anyone would be pissed off if they weren’t already dead.

So it didn’t really help when pain suddenly racked it’s nervous system. It bellowed out in its torment. It looked around to find its attack, and the sight of a winged figured filled it’s vision. The Rex roared as it identified the one who hurt it so, and began to charge. The image faded, but the figure could still be seen, only a few dozen yards away. The Road Rex roared it’s challenge, and picked up speed.
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It was a simple, stupid plan, but it seemed to work. A simple agony spell, followed with an illusion of the Fallen in the last good eye of the Rex, made it focus on the Fallen. Hopefully, the power blood-summoned would be the distraction time Nathaniel needed to work out his plan, whatever it was.

Now, however, there wasn’t really anything that Duncan could do. With the appearance of the Fallen, everyone’s battle-plans had been completely and fully fouled up. The S.E.C.A. pursuit force was breaking up…many of the chaser vehicles had already pulled back. The leapers and striders were also breaking off, or were facing off against the few remaining undead. And the Rex and the Fallen itself were about to face off.

“Whoever is left…break off, I repeat, break off. Nathaniel has something up his sleeve, and I get the feeling we won’t want to be near it when it goes off. The Rex looks like it will be kind enough to buy us some time...so get lost. You all remember where to meet. See you there.”

Duncan began to walk back down the road, to look for Nathaniel’s bike. He worried about his old friend, who would never leave his bike just up for grabs…but whatever Nathaniel had planned, he was committed to, and Duncan knew he couldn’t change his mind.

In the distance, a big rig was building up speed. It was hauling two oblong tanks…

((OOC: I’m looking to end the chapter soon. Scare up some transportation and get out of there.))

[Demetrius]

Harm watched from the driver's seat of the SECA van as Laurella climbed aboard the flying car, Task began his suicide run and then, “Whoever is left…break off, I repeat, break off. Nathaniel has something up his sleeve, and I get the feeling we won’t want to be near it when it goes off. The Rex looks like it will be kind enough to buy us some time...so get lost. You all remember where to meet. See you there.”

Harm spoke into his radio, "I'm going to try and see if I can get Task and Micheal out of there. God willing we will meet again." With that Harm slammed down on the gas and break pedals, spun the van around, and, tires smoking and squealing began speeding back toward the Fallen, back to his comrades.

[Incendius]

Well at least the fall didn't kill me, I can always say THAT went my way. Michael thought optimistically as he landed softly against the ground. I wonder why the Fallen didn't dismiss or take over the threads though, those would have been the logical choices. Did they really get through his guard? Michael Pondered as he struggled to sit up without the use of his hands. It was at that moment that Michael noticed the Fallen gathering the strings up, and then the subsequent pull. Oh was Michael's initial thought.

The first thing Michael noticed as he was thrown was the fact that the wound on his arm had become open again, as could be evidenced by the reddening of its bandages. Maybe attaching myself to the Fallen through my injuries wasn't quite the intelligent idea. Michael thought, drastically understating the issue. As Michael whistled through the air towards Task he thought sarcastically Well, when I said that I wanted more offensive capabilities at my behalf, I did NOT mean I wanted to be that offensive force.

Noticing that he was still attached to the Fallen, Michael let the energies from his spell disperse, and the threads dissolved into nothingness. So lets see... can I cast anything fast that would save me, and wouldn't hurt Task when I impact him? Michael thought, then mentally kicked himself. Really, I do have a problem with over complication don't I? I don't need to do something spectacular. He admonished himself.

I have no weight, I have no draw, I am as a feather floating in the breeze. Michael muttered hastily, drawing upon what spare energies he had left. The spell wouldn't work entirely, because of his strained situation, but if Task did nothing at least they wouldn't break too many bones when they collided and crashed to the ground, instead of dying like they would have before.

[Rhiya Ravenwing]

"Ah-HAH!" Rick was almost dislodged from his precarious back-seat driving as Alicia suddenly came up, triumphant, clutching ten new bolts. In one fluid motion, Alicia grabbed the handles, allowing Rick to shift into a more or less comfortable position behind her, while her other hand stuffed the newly made bolts into her crossbow bolt case slung on her back.

"Now that you're hands are free, think you can hang on with your legs and provide some serious cover for us? I--" The order to break off from the fight crackled over her communication link in her helmet.

"-- Oh second thoughts. Just hang on, a''ight?" In a mere moment's thought, Alicia's bike brought on a fresh burst of speed, jolting into a higher gear and closed the gap between them and the others in no time.

[PyrosNine]

Task felt Michael crash into him like a football player at the 20 yard line (or something, Task doesn't know football) and the two hit the ground some distance away painfully. It could have been worse, but it seemed Michael slowed himself down somehow.

Task picked himself up. "Gah! I coulda sworn I had a free shot...It's as if he somehow rearranged reality when I actually had a chance to keep me from attacking!" Task turned to Michael, who didn't look so good for the wear.

Then Task got back to the problem at hand....The fallen right over there. It continued forward, ignoring him. What was he, a mere fly?

<-r-bably->

Oh great. The voice in his head again. This just kept getting worse.

"Hey...magicky guy. Are you all right?" Task asked Michael. Noticing Harm's coming, Task shook Michael and tried to pull him up and get him in Harm's way (A Pun! Yay!). "C'mon, move. Maybe I can get someone else out of danger..."