Evil's Return (redux) Chapter 1: First Day Jitters

[Toastburner B]

Like all the others, Jared saw the car come flipping through the window, along with the unlikely twist of events that would seemingly lead said car to exploding. However, Jared was in the middle of the foyer, completely exposed, not a shred of cover. Acting completely on reflex (re: panic): he dropped to the floor, curled up into as tight of ball as he could,, shut his eyes and muttered the chant for his shield. The shield, by rights, was meant to repel demons, but it had some utility against physical objects...but not cars or shrapnel flying at high speed.

Of course, he didn't really have time to think about that.

The explosion was...loud. The sound of something metal and heavy landing on the tile floor right in front of him wasn't quiet as loud, but infinitely more terrifying, as was the sound of shrapnel striking the floor around him.

However, there was the heartening lack of feeling said shrapnel cut through his body. He opened one eye, and was surprised to see that the hood of the car had embedded itself into the floor not two feet in front of him. Given the large amounts of shrapnel that seemed to have been caught by said hood, it seemed to be something that Jared should be more thankful for than fearful of.

Slowly, shakily, Jared stood up, peeking over the hood and taking in the scene of carnage.

He meant to say something witty, but when he opened his mouth, it came out simply as a squeak, and he shut his mouth quickly.

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Jenkins nodded as Pamelia filled in the events of the day. "Yes...I suppose the sushi can keep for another day or two." The butler muttered.

Jenkins had been head butler at McCragge Manor for quite some time...well before Pamelia had moved in. He was well aware of his employers doings...let's face it, it's hard to hide the fact that you're a demon hunter from the guy who has to clean demon blood out of your clothes (no mean feat, by the way. Demon blood stains as if the creature is holding it's grudge on you from beyond the grave). This, of course, gave Jenkins a unique insight as to what to prepare for dinner.

Large, smelly, skinless worm?

"If you're asking my opinion, Miss Barsonne, I daresay that they won't have much of an apatite after facing off against such a creature, let alone dealing with the mess that is bound to follow. Might I suggest something a little lighter, and likely meat free. I would suggest a fruit and salad bar.

As he was considering, he pulled a cellphone from his pocket, and with a speed that one doesn't usually see in people of advanced years, typed in a text message and pressed "send".

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Duncan found himself usually comfortable, seeming as he was laying down on concrete. He was still blinking away the after image of the blast from his eyes, and the ringing in his ears by getting taken down by the shockwave had gone down somewhat.

In fact, he was almost thinking straight again when he got the radio call from Lynn.

"Well, you'll be glad to know that all police and emergency services that will respond to this school are under-cover SECA agents, so at the very least we don't have to worry about more civilians seeing the carcass. As for students seeing it, if someone would be kind enough to pull the fire alarm, that will close the fire doors, thereby sealing off the foyer. I know those things usually open...but...well...let's just say our friends at SECA did some modification. It may not be very fire-safe, but it seemed like being able to seal off sections of the building in case of demon attack would be wise."

He sat up. According to his untrained eye, it appeared that the worm had caught most of the shrapnel that would of flew out of the building. "As for what happens to the carcass...I believe there is a reason why everyone here signed-up to be a Protector and not on the clean-up crews."

His phone beeped. "Oh, hey...I got a text message. It's from Jekins...looks like Pamelia got back to the Manor alright. And he says he's making enough food for everyone for lunch...dinner....what freakin' time is it anyways."

Duncan stood up, still kinda shakey. "Pam took my car," he muttered to himself, "how am I supposed to get home?" He turned his radio back on, "Can someone give me a ride? I sacrificed my car for a quick getaway."

((OOC: By the way, movie physics are now revoked.))

[Overcast]

Richard crawled back out of the window. The place was looking rather bad, large carcass of a creature disgusting alive, but reached a new kind of morbid feel dead. The wreckage of the car was strewn across the landscape and the look of things said that there was going to be quite a bit of work for anyone who actually had to constitute the clean up crew. They got paid well for their work though so they ought to have nothing to complain about,

"I figure the last one out of the building should pull it. After all we don't want any associates forced to sit around with all the children with far too many questions."

He meandered his way toward Duncan as simply a matter of being within a more notable earshot, and in case something else was about to drop off the bounds of Hell to fuck with them. He took off his sunglasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief in the blazer,

"I got room in my car. Fairly comfortable vehicle. I'll let you choose the radio station if you'd like."

He slipped on his shades once more staring up at the sun a moment as if giving God a slight bit of the scorn or apathy from having to be in this shit,

"Could have done better for a first day."

[DanteFalcon]

Damien saw the car, and thanked the one blessing he had. That he was further away then most of the protectors. He broke into a run in the opposite direction, turning a corner in the school and sprinting down the hall as it burst into flame behind him.

After the explosion and the shrapnel had calmed down he had managed to get to the front of the school again, yelling "Who the Hell had the genius idea to throw a CAR at it!? I think they deserve a talking to about unnecessary force!" He was breathing hard from the adrenaline rush and the running, his handgun still out and making sure no birds were still moving about to slit their throats.

He didn't care if anyone spoke up, turning away and heading towards his car. No doubt he'd be able to find out at the mansion that night and let someone else do the talking as usual. There was little point in working himself into a fluster when others could talk to him and probably have more effect.

He returned to his car- noting to some relief it was still there- and got in, making sure none of the other protectors needed a ride; if so giving them one to the mansion with him; before driving off.

((OoC: My apologies on the slow reply. Writers block sucks))

[Astral Harmony]

Pamelia was about halfway finished making...

"Brunch?" Pamelia asked herself, looking at her wristwatch. "It's still pretty early in the day, after all."
Brunch was inexpensive and followed Jenkins' idea of a meal lacking in meat. The only problem Pamelia had was judging the kind of preferences her various protectors had. So she decided to cook up something just about anyone would enjoy. And it was turning out excellent! Pamelia could feel the saliva building from the great smells.
"Melt-in-your-mouth grilled cheese sandwiches, steaming and revitalizing vegetable soup, and if you've got a sweet tooth then you're in luck because my perfected chocolate and walnut cookies will swing your exhausted frown a hundred-eighty degrees!"

She opened the fridge and looked at the two pitchers of tea, chilling rapidly. Satisfied that everything was going as planned, Pamelia returned to the grilled cheese and vegetable soup and turned up her MP3 player, singing the kind of music you'd never hear a sweet girl like Pamelia sing.

"I want to keep my money,
And give away absolutely nothing.
To the government who moderates my spending,
And obliterates depending on what time of the year,
Brutality is near-
In the form of income tax.
I'd rather take a fucking axe-
To my face, blow up this place-
With you all in it, I'd do it in a minute!
If I could write off your murder,
I'd save all of my receipts..."

Pamelia singing Dethharmonic in her soft voice was probably as disturbing as if her head spun in a complete circle.

[Bard The 5th LW]

After things calmed down a little Abdul walked out to examine the demon's corpse. "Geeze I feel sorry for the poor guys who have to clean this up," he muttered looking at the torn up mass of organs. "So were do we go now?," he asked, but his question was answered well enough when seeing Richard and Duncan climb into Richard's car. "Oh crap my car!" Abdul thought rather loudly, and ran to his parking space. He was calmed down at the sight of his jeep being intact. "Anyone need a ride!" he called out as he hopped in, figuring he would just follow Richard and Duncan to their next destination.

[Teal Mage]

"Sorry folks." Lynn stated, into his radio, running a hand through his black tussled hair, "I'll be late. I used up most of my spells in the school; I need to head back to my apartment to restock."

"But," he continued, "I'll leave my radio on, if sometime important comes up, I'll listen in."

With that said, the black haired mage began to leave the school grounds on his own. Idly, Lynn glanced down at himself. The mage grimaced at what he saw; the battle had done a number on his clothes. It would take him a few hours at least to repair the damage from the lucky hits the birds had made. Not to mention he'd need to clean out the cuts from their wings...

Lynn sighed.

It would be another late night.

[PyrosNine]

Task was at his house already, eating ice cream as his physical trainer mothered him. The person who portrayed his mother just laughed.

"I bet that girl thinks you were some sort of demon rapist or something." she chuckled, sipping a diet coke.

Task winced as some rubbing alcohol was put on his cuts. He hadn't noticed it at the time, but some of those flying rats knicked him a bit as he was running from them, and someone had apparently shot a bullet that grazed his side. Probably when those other guys opened up automatics wildly on the tentacle monster.

"Is your cover safe?" The Father asked, sitting at his chair. The man was old, grey in everything but his clothes, yet when he moved you could almost feel his energy. He was somebody important, but Task wasn't in any position to find out.

"I don't know. I just ran like a normal high school student in the presence of demons."

"They will still be suspicious. The people who perform these kind of duties always will be. Even perfectly normal people can be demonists, and even utter satanists can be perfectly normal people. They come to check you out, and you will prove to them your normalcy. But that will have to come later. You have some work to do."

"What? After all that shit I've got even more to do?"

"You are in peak physical health, Task-san, and your fatigue after a half mile run is not detrimental, but shameful." His physical instructor, a man who spoke Japanese, but was born in Taiwan and grew up in Hawaii, (and spent a few years training in China) was generically asian. Almost stereotypically so, until he wore the leather jacket and hit up Daeth-smash concerts. Heavy stuff.

The Father continued, acting as if Task had never spoke. It was his way.
"It may seem like little time has passed between the now and the event, but already there has been a massive amount of information created by various agencies, including the Society. The name of the demon, where the birds were acquired as hosts for the Flock, and furthermore, what agents were on the scene, enemy and friend." He tapped a small crystal as if it were some sort of manila folder.

"The key point here, is that no one came or entered the facility, which has been under watch for sometime, to undo one of the myriad wards protecting the building, which the demons made their entry through. Therefore, there must be another, unseen who has been at the building for some time now, possibly before the fire that claimed the mother of hell's first school. This suggests the possibility of traitors in the Society, which was the very thing you are protecting the Mother from. You must go to the school, in stealth, and discover which ward failed, and signs of whomever tampered with it. Find this information, and bring it back here. You will set out when the night is darkest, and return well before the first hint of light."

"In layman's terms, poor little schoolboy, you got a few hours to write emo poetry and angst before you hide in another locker." The military trainer came in, carrying a dark outfit, some sort of stealth suit, and a small digital camera. The military trainer was some sort of ex-navy seal ex-demon hunter, who spent the majority of the time teaching the technique and habits against the Physical trainer's Skill and Form.

He also once let Task fire an automatic at a bunch of moving targets in a room in the lower basement. Task hated him but loved his stuff.

Task sighed. There goes enjoying the perks of no longer living in the orphanage: having the chance to go to your room and watch tv for the rest of the day.

Well, at least it was only the first day of school, and in all odds, the next day of school would be perfectly normal. But Task's day was not over just yet.

Task bit into his Klondike bar. Ah, life is bittersweet.

[Toastburner B]

As the adrenaline started to wear off, Duncan took in the scene. Even with the main foyer sealed off, it was going to hard to hide a corpse of a giantic worm...especially when the news media would start swarming.

The first fire trucks and police cars pulled up, along with a haz-mat truck. Out of that truck stepped a man in full gear. "What we got?" he asked, as a crew of similiar garbed men ran forward and began to cover up the the biggest pieces of worm carcass with bio-hazard isolation tents.

Duncan shrugged. "Some kind of giant worm."

He barely see the expression of abject horror on the man's face. "So you cut it into little pieces?!"

Duncan waved the man off. "Oh, don't worry. It had way too many bones and organs to be a proper worm, so I highly doubt it's going to regenerate into a bunch of little worms that grow into a bunch of large worms. I mean, I hope that's the case, but that's why you guys are here to do clean-up, right?"

The man in the haz-mat suit shrugged. "I assume since you're making with the flippant attitude that the Chosen is safe?"

Duncan nodded. "Back at McCragge Manor, safe and sound."

The man nodded again, and turned to take in the scene once more before getting to work. "The Council isn't going to be happy about this one."

Duncan sighed. "Don't I know it."

In the distance, there was the sound of news helicopters starting to arrive, and students were starting to file out of the building as the fire alarms roared to life. "You and your people should either get out of here or back into your cover identities. I daresay that school is canceled for the rest of the day....and probably tomorrow, too."

Duncan turned and started to follow Richard. For a second, he took out his phone and almost called Nathaniel, but he just as quickly decided against it. If he, or, by extension, the Council, had anything important to tell him, undoubtedly they would call him.

[Overcast]

He was a bit amused about the slight awkward reaction of the apparent lead of the cleaners, It was always a bit odd that the Council ever be anywhere near critical of what they had to do to protect the Mother. The world was at risk, and if they didn't want the sudden amount of demons they had to deal with to go from the occasional nonsense to Armageddon(which some folks might just enjoy) they ought to just stay out of their way. With such critical thoughts he moved on down to his car. It was an unfortunate thought for him, the unusual trouble between the groups that supplied them not only with associates but information. They didn't have them meet together the first day, people still gave them crap, and apparently they even had a secret Protector somewhere in the location. It made his brain itch, made his eye twitch, but he'd stay down and do what he was ordered to do.

Though expect him to bitch every once in a while,

In the car he went, let Duncan in as well, started up his baby, and off they went. He would appreciate being in a building he could count on being secure for once. He was about ready to calm his nerves, change his clothes, and perhaps even get a bit better informed.

The next chapter of this new assignment, and about fucking time.

[rapter200]

Isaac was out of there a few seconds before the cleanup crew arrived, all his equipment now nicely settled into the back of his trunk. He quickly made his way to the rented apartment that he had called home for the past few days. Today’s event will all be digested with a good bottle of whisky or three. The other protectors had gone their own way leaving him behind without information on where they were going, and he didn’t want to get caught up in anything official, so he didn’t want to ask anyone involved with the cleanup crew.

When he entered the 3 room apartment Isaac threw his keys on the kitchen counter and grabbed a bottle of whisky that was conveniently placed near his couch. He gladly plopped down on said couch, turned on the TV (it was tuned in onto the local news channel), and took a swig from his bottle. The news was of course covering the events that happened at the school, or at the least it was covering whatever the government fed them.

This channel goes with the story that some crazy student released a bunch of pigeons into the ventilation system to distract everyone inside while he planted some organic bomb outside of the school. This caused Isaac to take a few more large mouthfuls from the bottle, idiots would believe anything except the truth.