Evil's Return Chapter 6: Road Rage

[mauve]

"Oh, come on!" Trish protested as her brother brought up the tank incident. "It was funny and you know it. Besides, we stopped the Evil Mime Cult from resurrecting their Dark Mime God from within the Invisible Box of Unyeilding Evil, didn't we? Mission accomplished."

Trish leaned back and put her hands behind her head.

"And anyway, a speeding car just isn't as cool as a speeding tank. I wouldn't waste the sigil on that. Now, a flying car..." She trailed off with a grin. She wouldn't really try anything like that; she was just talking to keep her mind off the fact that both "good guys" and "bad guys" now had her name on the "Kill List." She hoped she had made the right decision.

[PyrosNine]

Task sighed. He heard the two talking, and weeped for those poor, misunderstood mimes! For all Task knew, the mimes actually wanted to release their wrongly imprisoned leader from the invisible box of unyielding torment, and were unable (as they were mimes) to convey the truth to Troy and Trish before they ran them over with a superfast tank.

Somewhere out there, a mime cried. And then, inexplicably he gained the ability to dance, but that was another thing entirely.

Task looked at Harm and pointed at the trunk. "If anyone's riding in the trunk, it's you. Now, we can be confrontational about this and argue about this all day, but...what if I gave you a fifty?"

Task held out the dollar bill. The ninjas had the power of stealth, ninpo, and strange sign things, whilst Task had the power of money on his side. (at least, until his allowance ran out.)

[Astral Harmony]

Laurella recalled her dialogue with Stacey about flying cars as she got into the driver seat of her Mustang. She wore a maroon tank top and black cargo pants which were two sizes too big for her over some black running shoes. Reaching over, she opened the glove compartment and pulled out a pair of shades, then wheeled the car out so it was ready to go at a moment's notice. "C'mon, let's get moving. We do want to be gone before they know we're on to them, right?"

[secretskull]

"I've got a van in case anyone wants to come along", added Duane as the room began to clear out.

"I have room for anyone who wants to come along. Just one thing, I've been working on a few "projects" in there, so I don't recommend touching anything. I can never remember which mixtures are supposed to explode..."

He looked down at his feet for a moment, deep in thought. "So, anyone up for it?" He asked brightly, beginning to walk outside.

[IHateMakingNames]

John would go in whatever was left. Which seemed to be Daune's van.

[Toastburner B]

"Sir, we have movement inside the mansion."

Brandon Archer, S.E.C.A. Strike Team captain and current agent in charge at the scene of the Council's attack force muster point, took his radio off of his belt, and put it to his ear. "What kind of movement."

We've had a number of people exit the building...the Mother of Hell isn't among them. What do you want to do about them?"

Brandon thought for a second. They have enough connections that they have probably heard what is going on by now...my guess is that those are the ones who wanted out before it hits the fan...

"Assign some people to track them, but don't move against them unless they move against us. They're probably just trying to get out of the line of fire."

"Roger that, sir. We also have a number of heat signatures moving towards the garage, sir."

"That would be the breakout we've been expecting. What's the word on the mustering?"

"We're still waiting for Strike Teams Echo and Foxtrot to report, and three Death Books, including their commander, are still en route, and won't be here for a few hours."

Archer thought it over. There's not too many of them left...we have more than enough firepower to put them down. "Copy that. Ready your men, pick them off as they come out. Capture them if you can, but don't put your men at risk to do so...kill them if you have to."

"Roger that, sir."

Brandon put the radio down and rubbed his eyes. He didn't care much for his orders. He had joined with S.E.C.A. to hunt monsters, not teenage girls. But he knew he really had do choice. What was the life of a handful of people to prevent the enslavement of the human race at the hands of demons.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure we can trust this information, Father?" one of the minor cultists asked.

"Father" Erik Hensen, Head Priest of the Black Cults, shrugged. "We cannot afford not to trust it. We have seen the signs ourselves. There is a greater force at work here...working to upset the balance."

"But, Father," the cultist asked, "If the information is correct, and the Fallen seeks to use the Chosen to open the Gates of Hell, should we not assist it, not try to hinder it?"

"Our objective may be the same, my son," the dark priest answered, "but our purposes are not. Who knows why a divine abomination would want to enter Hell? All I can say is that I cannot see it seeking to bring our Lords into this world to rule. As such, allowing him to capture the Mother of Hell to open the Gate according to its plan would not go well for us. As such, we must step up our own efforts to capture her. How do our forces fare?"

"We've rallied every member we could, Father. We've managed to summon a fair force...however, given the short time, we weren't able to perform more than one complex ritual, so all but the Road Rex have but a tenuous hold in this plane."

"Fear not," Erik said, looking at the fearsome form of the demon known as a Road Rex, "for you have done well to summon such numbers so swiftly. I am sure that victory will be ours this day."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man, clothed in simple clothes, stood at the center of a nightmare. Around him stood a force of walking dead...or, more to the case, riding dead. It smiled grimly to itself. Mankind was ever the inventive race, and now instead of horses of flesh, they road upon horses of steel. However, that mattered little...his magic was enough to force the long broken machines back into working order.

"The time has not yet come for the Gates to be opened,", it said to the assembled host, "And there are those who seek to defeat us by eliminating the Mother of Hell, the key to the Gates of Hell. My brothers, for our exhalation to come to pass, the Mother of Hell must live until we are prepared to open the Gates ourselves. Keep her from the clutches pf those who worship the foul demons, and protect her from those who believe they are serving the greater good. However, if her Protectors fail to keep her safe, we shall have to take her into our care directly...take her alive, kill the rest.

"I know I ask much of you...but the rewards shall be great up my return to grace. Protect the Chosen at all costs."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cultist mimes? You're kidding right?" Duncan looked over the twins once more. "...You're not kidding?"

"Master McCragge," Jenkins appeared at the window of Duncan's car. "I have informed the rest of the staff that you are leaving for a time."

"Thank you, Jenkins. Take care of place while I am gone. Open the front gate, would you?"

"Of course, sir, and good luck."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Commander, the front gate is opening."

"Copy that. All units, stand by to attack on my order." Archer said.

As the first vehicle sped from the garage...a single man on a motorcycle...gunfire erupted from behind Archer.

"Contact! This is Strike Team Beta, reporting enemy contact! Three of my team are down.."

"This is Shocker reporting," came in the call...one of the Warden mercs..."we've got demons coming out of the woodwork out here! Leapers and Striders!" The crack of gunfire and of lightning striking filled the radio for a second, "We need reinforcements at location Beta-4," a massive roar shooking Archer's eardrums. "Oh, crap...fall back, FALL BACK, DANGIT!"

The gunfire behind Archer intensified. As he looked over his back, he saw what the men were shooting at. About a dozen figures road through his rally point on horseback or on motorcycle...but the horses were fleshless, and the machines looked like they had no right to be running at all. And what rode them were in no better condition.

One of the skeletal riders charged him, raising a rusty, blood-dripping blade. Before Archer had a chance to pick up his weapon, a blur of metal struck down the figure. A Death Book landed on the broken figure, smashing it's bones to dust. Archer regained his senses. "Alpha, Beta, and Charlie teams, defend this point against the attackers. Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, your on demon hunting duty. They're trying to catch the Chosen! Whiskey, Tango and Zulu...capture the Mother of Hell."

The roar of more choking engines filled the air, and Archer dived to a place of cover as he adjusted the frequency on his radio. "Command, this is AF Lead...we are under heavy demon attack. Requesting deployment of Eagle element for air support."

"Copy that, AF Lead...air support incoming."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few miles away, three helicopters roared to life. They were older machines...Huey class...all that could be scrounged up on short notice. However, each was heavily armed. Mounted rocket launchers with a machine-gunner in each doorway. The gunships lifted from the ground and sped towards the Manor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even as Nathaniel lead the charge from the Manor's garage, he could tell there was trouble as the unmistakable sound of automatic weapon fire filled the air. He was surprised when he figured out that the weapons were not aimed for him as he expected. As planned, as he pasted the front gate, he stopped in the middle of the road, his handgun drawn to cover the rest of the makeshift convoy as it made it's escape. As he saw movement in the surrounding light forest, he aimed and pulled the trigger. The first leaper that sprang from cover was gunned down before it had a chance. As the last car past him, Nathaniel sped away.

As he brought up the rear, he risked a look behind him. His eyes widened as a Road Rex emerged from the forest...things had just gotten a lot more serious.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duncan lead the "convoy" in their wild flight...and he saw their end all to soon in front of them. A pack of Striders charged them from down the road. On the narrow city streets, only him and the ninja twins could target them, and he doubted if they had the firepower to put down so many before they counter-attacked.

However, as the Striders ran through an intersection, a group of bikers and horsemen slammed into the pack from the side. The surprised demons turned to face their attackers. As Duncan swerved past the melee, he could see that the bikers and horsemen had no flesh on their bones. Demons and undead...fighting each other...

Along the next street he passed, a number of darkly colored SUVs rolled in. From the doors of one came automatic weapon fire that carved a bloodly swath through a small group of leapers. From the another came a flash, and a stream of smoke. Duncan turned hard, but the rocket had over shot him. "This is insane!" he yelled to no one in particular. "How can they use firepower like that in a populated area?!"

Still, it was the middle of the night, so the streets were almost empty...other than the demons, the undead, and the forces of the Council.

And the small convoy of Protectors.

Duncan took the next left, and sped up as he hit the freeway. The eight-lane road was empty, but Duncan knew that it would soon become the scene of a running battle.

He pressed the button to the walkie-talkies he had had Jenkins put in each car. "Spread out...no point in letting them get all of us in one shot. If we get seperated, there is a diner called 'Greasy Al's' just outside of Lofton...four hours down the road from here. We'll meet there."

Duncan looked in front of him. It seemed that others had thought that the highway would be their path, as both men, demons, and undead were on the road ahead of him.

"Hang on...this is going to be tougher than I though."

((OOC: Okay. The demons are trying to capture Laurella...so they won't risk destroying any cars until they're sure of which one she is in. The Council's Forces are out to kill her, so they're going to open fire on anyone. The Undead, for the moment, are just trying to keep both the demons and the Council's forces from killing/catching Laurella. It's a massive brawl, since all three are fighting each other as they are trying to follow us.

Skeletal Riders: A relatively common fast attack undead. The animated body of a horse and rider, or a rider on a bike that has no business actually being able to run, Usually armed with some kind of long-reach melee weapon, or an older style gun. Not overly tough for an undead, but can still take a lot of abuse before they "die."


Leapers: A small demon. While not very fast runners, they can achieve quite impressive speeds by jumping. They are very dangerous to fight on the run, as they are much more manoverable than your average car. Easy to kill if you can hit them, however.


Striders: A medium sized demon, roughly the size of a very large ape. Striders are faster than they're size would suggest, able to keep up with most cars. They are harder to kill than Leapers...able to shrug off most small caliber fire. However, they do have a well know weak spot. Striders are made for running, and that makes their legs a relatively easy target.

"Road Rex": A rare type of demon that has only been sighted in the more modern times. Road Rexs are large, bipod monsters that are a lethal mix of strenght and speed. Fast enough to keep up with most vehicles, strong enough to flip a bulldozer, and tough enough to shrug off anything short of an RPG, Road Rexes are the toughest "fast" demon out there.

The Council's forces are riding in armored SUVs...bullet-proof and the like. The gunships are armed with rockets and machine guns.

Everything is fair game to kill...but the Road Rex is going to be extremely hard to bring down, and the gunships are going to hard to hit...so no one-hit kills on those. Other than that, do damage as you will.))

[Astral Harmony]

Laurella's Mustang picked up speed once it hit the freeway. She quickly swung out into the middle of the road as gunfire from one of the helicopters tried to ruin the paint job. "Hold on tight!" Laurella said, spotting the barricade ahead. "Not to me, though," she added as they plowed through a skeletal rider and almost a Leaper to boot, which simply evaded by jumping. The demon landed on the back of the car, turning around to face the front of the vehicle. "You're up, men! Don't worry about me. Worry about our mobility."

[Demetrius]

"Oi! I got paid fifty bucks to sit back here, you're not getting any of that action!" Harm shifted around to face the demon as he summoned his armor and quickly swiped the leaper off the car with his sword.
"Alright Laurella, we know where we're meeting the others, lets see what this puppy can do! Task you have any ranged attacks you can slow things down with?"

[mauve]

"You know, it's times like these when I wish we used guns," Trish sighed, leaning back in her seat. "Do you know how useful a shotgun would be right now? Useful and cool looking? Ninjas just weren't created for intense car battles, you know? Tank battles, yes obviously. But car battles, no."

She looked up at Duncan.

"We'll do what we can if any of 'em get too close," she said, referring to herself and Troy. "Although I don't suppose you'd have a rocket launcher hidden in the trunk of this thing? Nah, didn't think so. Oh well."

[PyrosNine]

"Nope. Not really, but if one of those demons get closer, I can throw them for some good damage." Task sighed, holding his hand outside the car as if they were joyriding.

With his other hand, he pushed in the cigarettes lighter of the car. He had an idea in case someone got too close.