Posted by: Daemos

Daemos has hunted them down for most of his life. Daemons, or daemons it depends on who was talking, but they are the same. Something was odd this time, they were nowhere near as powerful this time, he could tell.

NoMel was with him on the roof. He might need help, this time, the sheer numbers were astonishing. "I have never came against this many of them before, have you?"

"No, it is strange."

The demons cam upon the two on the roof. Daemos could not see the sky, there were so many. Daemos'es powerful wings lifted him off the ground. The demons were falling under his blades as if they were grass, and NoMel was taking them out almost as fast. There were many, but suddenly he met up with one who's skills were extremely well trained. Daemos was having a tough time killing this one, the savagery it used startled, the style was so familiar to him. It was as if he knew the creature.

"Recognize me, brother?" The demon said.

Daemos was startled, he did know who it, "Jedaen? what happened to you? You died, I tried to heal you, but you kept slipping, I did not want to fight you. Why are you here Jedaen?"

"The king granted me power in exchange for my spirit, when I died, he took my spirit and placed it in this stronger body." the thing sneered at Daemos.

The fight resumed the demons stayed out of the fight. "NoMel stay out of this." Daemos shouted over the noise.

The demon slipped and Daemos was able to run the thing through. the bode began to shrivel away. Under the ugly shell was a Faldren, his face was peaceful. "It seems that you've defeated me again Daemos, you always were better. Thank you."

"Be still Jedaen, I'll heal you" but he had already passed away. "No, No, Not again, he's gone. He can't die, Not this time." Jedaen's body fell to the roof and slowly faded away. the emotions in Daemos were building, NoMel could feel the energy building up, and fled the area back into the bar.

"NNNOOO!!!" Was the next and last thing that the demons heard as a brilliant light emanating from Daemos began to disintegrate there flesh, as the light subsided, Daemos slowly fell to the roof, in pain and unconscious, but he would live.

In the bar Dalen sat there playing with the Evania when an image of Jedaen walked over to him, knelt next to him and kissed him on the cheek. Dalen reached for the image, but it slowly faded away.

After that Dalen buried his face in the Evania's fur sobbing. "What?" the bunny asked, but Dalen continued to sob, and did not answer.

"What happened?" Coota asked as NoMel brought Daemos in. NoMel told him what transpired above the roof, and walked off to the corner noticing Dalen crying.

Posted by: Evania

Evania nuzzled Dalen's cheek gently. Empathy she was good at. Independant thought, no; emapathy, yes.

Posted by: Chrysophylax

Winded, Chrysophylax ducked into a darkened room.

"Note to self. When sneaking past cyber agents, turn off cell phone."

Oh well, at least the agents were cleared out. He'd never used four knives at the same time before...

He searched the next few doors and found a room with Shelagh looking at a small glowing spot on the floor. She looked up at him, startled by the appearance of the dark figure.

"I am a friend. I think. I'm going to get you out of here. The agents are dead. Let's go, quickly, before it's too late."

"What? But, who... but... I just ordered a pizza!"

"Pizza Hut?"

"Papa John's"

Chrysophylax pondered.

"Hmm... Tempting, but there's no time. Come on. We have to get very far away very quckly."

Chrysophylax led Shelagh outside and looked nervously at the sky. He saw several jets on the horizon... arrrg! No time!

"We're too late... come on."

Chrysophylax jumped into a nearby dumpster, lifted Shelagh in and closed the top. This would protect them for now... a few minutes later the sounds of screaming civilians and melting cyber agents came from outside. Chrysophylax pondered their position. They were safe from the napalm, but it would still be burning when the explosives went off. There would be no chance for escape.

"Hold on to something, miss. This is going to be a wild ride."

Posted by: LaughingMoon

NoMel lays Daemos on the ground near his brother, returning to human form, stripping off his gore stained shirt he sighs and with a flash of ice that quickly melts cleans himself off, laying a comforting hand on Daemos's shoulder, no words are exchanged, the simple understanding of one warrior to another. NoMel turns to Dalen and sighs, wiping the tears from the child's cheek, "shhhhhhhhh little one." No other words are offered, as NoMel leans over and whispers something in Daemos's ear. NoMel then stands and looks Coota in the eyes "Looks like you're in charge. What next?"

Posted by: Coota

"NoMel, if you can, clear out all those napalm fires: I want it easy for the civilians and the Rat to clear out of here," Coota ordered.

"Right; I'm on it," NoMel replied, beginning to chant. Outside, fires began to freeze in place, dissapear.

"As soon as he's done, let's move. The streets are clear of agents and the surveillance trucks all got napalmed. The civilians are leaving this area pretty damn quick as well. As far as Irony knows, we'll try to get out the conventional way and die when the place blows up. C'mon, into the sewer system; I mean, there can't be too many hideously mutated creatures down there," stated Coota, grabbing his MP5 submachine gun and his Remington shotgun and leaving all his more heavy weaponry behind.

"Then why are you taking a shotgun with you?" asked Rabidazell as he grabbed his own weaponry, a sidearm, a shotgun and the plasma rifle he'd found.

"I was just trying to boost morale. I've been down in those sewers before. Shoot anything that moves that has more than two arms," replied Coota.

"Crikey, mate, why don't you just lead us into the seventh layer of hell!" exclaimed Rab.

"It would take too long and it won't get us out of Paris; I would have them use one of those traveling magics, but Irony would have some kind of interdictor up; the government has it's own magic users, you know," Coota continued as he led them down into the safehouse basement and opened up the entrance to the sewers that would lead into the depths of the Paris underground.

Davel's eyes widened, "Geezus, we'd thought the government didn't even know magic existed."

"The government knows a hell of a lot more than you think. You know all those robotic missions to Mars?" asked Coota as he tossed them all infrared goggles and started to walk into the sewers, flipping his own sunglasses to infrared mode.

"Yeah?" came Davels answer.

"Faked: we colonized Mars over a decade ago; we're using it as a base to interdict any possible alien attacks. And Reagen ended up implementing his Star Wars plan after all; there are a ton of sattelites up in space ready to launch nuclear weapons and lasers to stop other nuclear warheads at any moment. It'd be scary if I wasn't one of the people who was in charge of that kind of stuff till recently," continued Coota.

"CRIKEY!" exclaimed Rab.

"Shhhh... the tentacle things'll hear yah... there's some stuff down here worse than killer bunnies. Just whatever you do, don't turn on any lights: they're really, really, attracted to light," whispered Coota, moving down the sewer tunnels with a purpose.

"You're sure you know where you're going?" NoMel asked.

"Of course. Trust me," Coota assured.

"I've got a bad feeling about this...," mumbled Rab, clutching his shotgun.

Suddenly Evania piped up from Dalen's arms, "Hey! That thing behind us looks like a sweet potato!"

Coota's eyes widened as he swung around and leveled his submachine gun at the large creature behind them, yelling out, "Everybody get down!"

Posted by: Rabidazell

The thing rumbled to itself for a few minutes
then a tentacle suddenly grabbed one of Rabidazells heavy steel capped boots.
"Watch it pal!" shouted Coota.
"Bloody hellfire!" Rabidazell swung around with the plasma gun, working on pure intuition he fired.
At first everything went still, then slowly every hair on Rabidazells body stuck out at right angles, his sideburns began to pick up BBC 2 and the sweet potatoes baked themselves. The sewage turned into a faint green steam as blue sparks earthed themselves into Cootas cell phone which began
repeatedly called the swiss bank, asking to
withdraw 15 million dollars out of Adolf Hitlers account and into the Figian stock Exchange.
Slowly the surronding brick and mortar melted, looking like a very tacky candle.
Rabidazell was thrown back, lightly concussing Davel as a bolt of nuclear power
launched itself onto the giant potatoe monster passing straight through its body into the nearby wall.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, nicly done!" commented Evania as she ate the sad remains of the monster.
"Hmmmmmmmm, at least we have a easy path outta here!" decided Coota, looking at the massive passage the gun had made.
"However, what we are going to do about HIM I have no idea..." Coota pointed at Rabidazell, who had a mad smile on his face while making small "wwweeeeoooowwweeeeeeoooo"
noises under his breath. His sideburns were reporting on the local weather of yorkshire.
"Do you think he will be alright?" asked Dalen.
"Best he will ever be I think, right, Nomel and Rat, drag our Australian friend along untill he gains consiousness, we owe it to him for making our trip a bit easier" decided Coota.

Posted by: MrIrony

The sound of passing planes and screams had gotten Mr Irony's attention somewhat and he took out his cell phone. He knew quite well who was in charge of those planes and phoned the wing commander immediately.

Mr Irony: "What the HELL was that?!"

Commander: "Napalm strike as per your orders, sir!"

Mr Irony: "My orders?!"

Commander: "That's right! You said very clearly you wanted that area napalmed, sir, there's no doubt about it."

Mr Irony: "... Whatever." *click*

He looked at the phone strangely. It made a strange hissing sound it hadn't before, but whatever it was, it couldn't really be important. He pocketed the phone and checked his watch. Half an hour left.
The napalm struck him as an odd occurence, but what difference did it make? It would only make Coota's escape much more difficult, and surely kill some civilians along the way. He smiled, not at all wondering why the strike had happened in the first place.

He wondered how many people were still in the three-block radius, and if the team would really make it out...

Posted by: Coota

"I have a question, Coota," Davel piped up.

"Yes?" Coota replied.

"Why DID you use napalm? I mean, all it did was clear out the remaining agents, melt those surviellance trucks and kill a couple of civilians," Davel stated as they continued the sewers as fast as humanly possible, trying to make it out before the whole area went up.

"Well, to tell you the truth, it would seem like pure idiocy. So much idiocy that Irony would figure I was suicidal. Which is what he's going to think when he finds teeth matching my dental records on a charred corpse on the road. Same thing with Rab and the Rat; for some reason their dental records were on file, soI whipped em up and left the basic remnants lying on the floor. And without surveillance to check anything, Irony will just have to assume that we're dead," replied Coota.

"Isn't that a little convenient?" NoMel asked, dragging Rab's unconcious body by himself.

"Well, yes, but that's what I like about this: I can pretty much say whatever I want and it's probably true," explained Coota.

"What are you talking about?" Daemos inquired, puzzled.

"I don't know myself, actually. C'mon move faster; we're nearly out of the blast radius, but when the place explodes, a big tidal wave of water is going to come rushing down here and slam into us," Coota stated.

"Why didn't you mention that before??" shouted Davel.

"It never came up; drop all your heavy equipment," Coota mentioned, moving faster and getting rid of his suit coat, his submachine gun and his shotgun, as he didn't feel like getting dragged under and drowning.

Posted by: Orin

Dharlè stood in the doorway between the expanse of nature before him and the interior enclosure of hut. His instincts begged him to disappear into the forest stretched out around the mountain hideout. He knew they were no longer hidden, he sensed the darkness probing. Carefully, tentatively. He would be safe out there, in his own domain. That was why he had picked this place. He breathed deeply, the fresh air filled his lungs and invigorated him. But, he reminded himself, it was not his life at stake here. He listened to the deep breathing of the man he was here to protect. Sleep well my friend, he thought, soon you will have to take up your destiny.

He cast his thoughts to the party already battling the forces of darkness. He had faith in their resourcefulness. They would make it here. The one called Coota knew a great deal about the gates. At least as much as any human did. He had seen many places, many times, but he did not know about the elven gates. Nor did he realise what was at stake here. Still, he was the right choice, he would uniquely be able to pull together allies from all walks and lead them with the spirit and flair Dharlè so admired in humans. He had been watching their progress by touching the dragon's vision from time to time. Curiously NoMel did not seem to object, even though he did not know Dharlè, he surely knew of him. One of his age had to. They shared a kind of kinship he mused, both respected, but different from the rest of their kind. The demon invasion had worried him, the darkness must be growing in strength. Slowly the bounds that kept chaos at bay would disintegrate and it would leak into this world... raw unhindered chaos. The thought brought a chill to him.

Behind him Carson stirred.
"Don't you ever sleep?" he muttered drowsily.
"My people have lived in their own dreams long enough." Dharlè whispered, almost to himself.
Carson shook his head, he wished the elf could say one thing without placing double meanings into his words.
Suddenly Dharlè tensed his senses tingling. Something was not right, in the distance the forest became quiet. He sensed the disturbance.
"Danger approaches! Carson listen to me carefully, they are here to capture you alive."
"That's a relief."
"If they do, you will wish you had killed yourself first."
"Oh."
"Whatever happens, do not come outside. Do not pass that door. Do not interfere."
Carson nodded mutely, he was a cartoonist, not Rambo.
Dharlè moved outside and closed the door behind him. Quickly he turned and placed his hand against the wood. He stretched his mind harmonizing his thoughts with the elements around him. Briefly the door shimmered and then stood as it did before. He smiled to himself, a little surprise package just in case. Slowly he turned and settled into the wait.

Carson watched from the shadows behind one of the windows. He looked at the elf standing alone in the night. A silent sentinel. He wondered why he was doing this. It was obvious his protector would sacrifice his life before letting anyone get past him. But why? What made him so important anyway.Patience the elf had said. Surely his little tales and sketches could not possibly have pissed off so many people. It didn't make sense. There was something else. He sighed and clutched his broomstick. Outside Dharlè removed his robe and threw it aside. For the first time Carson got a look at what lay beneath the folds of cloth. The elf was covered in a light armor which perfectly fit his frame. It gleamed a deep blue in the moonlight and was unlike anything he had ever seen. It seemed to blend into the surroundings in a way he could not quite explain. The more he tried to focus the more his mind seemed to blur his vision. His subconscience fought with what he knew to be true. He shook his head and concentrated on Dharlè's face instead.

Dharlè's breath steamed into the darkness. A slight fog was beginning to form along the ground, the next day it would be thick and visibility poor he thought. If only it had come sooner, they might have remained hidden. He sensed them out there, moving just beyond his vision. He could feel them, his mind was in tune with the forest around him. This was his domain he reminded himself. Four... there was four of them... human, and someone, something else... five. Finally they moved forward choosing the direct approach, two were trying to flank him, but they kept their distance, waiting... looking to the one. He sensed fear among the humans... not towards him, towards their companion. Good, he thought, it would help distract them. The three remaining figures approached him confidently until they stood only meters in front of him. The humans were clad in a camo suit of oriental design. He had heard of these warriors, trained in an art called Ninjuitsu if he remembered correctly. But they did not concern him much, the fifth however bothered him. He reached out with his perception, but could not feel anything but blackness beneath the robes covering the dark figure. He waited for their first move. The figure did not speak, did not move. Instead one of the humans shouted.
"Freeze! We are from the United States Government."
So melodramatic thought Dharlè.
"We have you surrounded. Stand aside and surrender the prisoner to us, or you will be killed."
It amused him how humans always stated the obvious. The elf gave a wry smile,
"Not likely." was all he said.
The man looked at the shadowed figure briefly and nodded at the other soldier. They both unsheathed long thin swords and stepped up on either side, circling slightly. Dharlè remained motionless.
"Hey Sarge," said the second warrior in a taunting voice, "Lookit the ears on this freak!"
"Yeah, I seen 'em, they gonna make nice trophies to show the boys back home." sniggered the first.
The second soldier lunged out in a wide arc with his blade. Dharlè stepped back and avoided the stroke with ease. Taking the cue the first warrior struck out forcefully. Dharlè twisted himself, the blade barely missing his body. He began to focus and drew on the latent power of the elements surrounding him. Stroke after stroke he began to flow inbetween the attacks. Faster and faster he moved, enough he thought, looking for his chance. The second warrior lunged again in frustration, Dharlè struck with lightning speed. He grabbed the mans wrist with immovable strength and landed a blow with his open hand against the soldier's chest. Surprise and shock filled the man's eyes. His chest exploded in pain, he was burning, burning. "Fire!" was all he could gasp as the glow of flames shimmered over his chest smothering his life. He staggered back and collapsed on the ground. Dharlè spun around, his fury was raced through him. He drew on the chill of the night air and leapt towards his remaining opponent. The soldier brought down his sword in defense. This time Dharlè did not try to avoid it, but stretched out his hands. The blade shattered in a blue glow, fragments of ice tearing into the soldier's arms. Before he could retreat Dharlè was upon him. He cursed as he felt himself slowly lose consciousness.

Standing over the two bodies a warning seared the elf's perception, he whirled to face his right, one of the flanking warriors was leveling a gun in his direction. He stretched out his arms and dove to the ground as a bullet cut through the air above him. Suddenly a shape bounded out of the forest behind the sniper and uttered a low growl as it pounced. Not a moment too soon old friend. thought Dharlè. As the surprised shriek of the soldier died down Dharlè rolled to see what had become of the remaining man. The soldier had circled round and was running towards the door of the hut. He reached out to shove it open, and as he touched it lightning arced out from the frame to meet him. Dharlè smiled and began to stand up slowly. A grey wolf bounded from the brush to his right and nuzzled into him whimpering concern. He turned to look at the figure who had not moved during the skirmish.

For a while the cloaked being regarded them, it seemed... amused. Finally in a deep hissing voice it spoke.
"Fools. But then I expected no more from them. They have served their purpose. Savour this victory elf, soon my master will walk across your lands and all you hold dear will be no more."
It turned and slowly disappeared into the thickening mist.

Posted by: MrIrony

Mr Irony checked his watch.

Mr Irony: "Ooh, I'm so giddy! I wonder if Coota and his team have made it out, or maybe they're desperately trying to escape now... Oh boy! This is SO exciting!!"

His phone rang.

Mr Irony: "Whoever this is, make this quick!"

Gore: "What the HELL are you doing?!"

Mr Irony: "Huh?"

Gore: "We've got the french embassador here, and he's a LITTLE PISSED OFF THAT YOU NAPALMED FRANCE!!! We've got one hell of a bad situation here, and as expected, I find you in the middle of it!"

Mr Irony: "Hey, you wanted a job done, so I did what I had to... Although, come to think of it, it wasn't me that ordered that napalm."

Gore: "I DON'T CARE!!! You're responsible for this situation, and you..."

Mr Irony, checking his watch: "Sorry to shut you up, Gore, but I have to go, as much as I'd like to hear your angry ravings. Bye!" *click* He looked out the window of his cadillac and glanced at his watch. "Five... Four... Three... Two... One..!"

*BOOM!!!!!!!!!*
Three blocks suddenly shattered in a destructive hail of concrete, splinters, fire and metal. The blast shook the entire city and sent pieces of buildings over a five-block radius.

Davel suddenly looked up, a mental cry ringing through his head. SHELAGH!!!

Davel!! Aaaaaaaaiiieeee......... The scream faded away, much to his horror, and he wondered if she'd been in the blast.

Mr Irony: "AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! YES! YES!! HOW YOU LIKE THAT, BITCH?!!?!?" He jumped up and down in his seat, waving his arms and laughing hysterically. Then, to the driver. "Go! Go to the explosion! I wanna see the destruction!!"

The driver floored it and screeched towads the carnage while all the other vehicles drove away from it. They arrived at a scene that sparked old memories from the war. Bodies, ruins, and death littered the area. Sirens began in the backround, wailing like the cries of nearby injured people. Mr Irony stepped out of the vehicle and walked onto the rubble, a frightening smile on his face as he observed the chaos.
It was beautiful.
He strode over to the safehouse, parts of it still standing. He walked through the hanging door and saw, to his surprise, several charred bodies.

Mr Irony: "No... It can't be..." His smile vanished as he ran to the corpses, kneeling and then examining them. "No, Coota... You can't really have been killed in that blast... Could you?"

An agent approached.

Mr Irony: "Check these bodies. I want to know whose they belong to."

Agent: "Yes sir!"

Mr Irony then walked away from the safehouse and went across the street. He stood where not too long ago was a dumpster, but he didn't know that...

Mr Irony: "I wonder if that girl made it out...?"

He stood for a while, contemplating. He considered the possibility of actually having won and how unexpected it was for him. He still had plenty of ideas on how to get them, but if they were all dead... He no longer laughed but stood silently in the smoking ruins, a dark silouhette in the chaos. A Cyborg Agent approached him.

Cyborg Agent: "A bio scan reveals no traces of the girl."

Mr Irony: "..."

Cyborg Agent: "The bodies were identified as belonging to Coota and several of his team members."

Mr Irony: "..."

Cyborg Agent: "Gore has publibly announced your dismissal and that you no longer work for the government. However, on a personal note, he congratulates you on a mission well-done and that it must have been hard to strike down an old-time friend. Though the public believes you to be no longer an agent, Gore has assured you a more secretive position, and your career will carry on. Congratulations."

Mr Irony: "..."

The Cyborg Agent looked at him carefully, sensing something amiss.

Cyborg Agent: "Are you alright, sir?"

Mr Irony: "Yeah... I-I'm fine... Let's... Let's go have some... coffee... or... something..."

They walked away from the scene as firemen and police arrived. No one took notice of the black cadillac pulling away with a lone figure glaring intently at the ruins, hoping against hope that someone would walk out of it alive...

After all, he didn't want the chase to end so soon...

Posted by: LaughingMoon

NoMel grins as he watches the humans dump all their heavy gear, Rab slung over one shoulder, he leans down and picks up the biggest nastiest looking gear and wraps it all up in a nice bundle, and slings it over his other shoulder. "Humans may need these later...", he mutters.

NoMel whips his head around, his eyes peering into the darkness. "oh shit RUN!!!", he shouts, as the blast from the explosion nearly knocks him over. He turns and sprints at full speed towards the rest of the group, grim determination on his face "screw not using magic" he thinks "I'll do what I have to to get us out of this, even if I have to flash freeze that wave that's on it's way. Coota better have a way out of this..." "What the hell are you waiting for? MOVE!" he snarls and curses in draconic as he runs for his very life.

Posted by: soleil

Davel looked at the walls of the tunnel... expanding...contracting...expanding...contracting... dear Mother, he thought hazily, Rab hit me harder than I realized. He did his best to keep walking with the others, but every step was becoming more of a problem.

Shelagh did her absolute best to breathe shallowly through her mouth, but the odor in the dumpster was making her sick.

"You could... at least... call me... Shelagh, you know..." she said between breaths.

The man looked at her and taking in her condition in an instant, said, "If you throw up, it's going to smell worse in here." He returned his attention to the walls of the dumpster, checking for heat at specific intervals. He frowned and cautiously cracked the top of the Dumpster, peeked out, then slammed the lid all the way open. "The fires are out." The man looked puzzled, and Shelagh was too. The fires should have still been raging, but all she cared about at that moment was the sweet smell of fresh air.

Posted by: Chrysophylax

Mrs. Prune was having a nice flight; there had been some turbulence, and that was hard on her 68-year-old frame, but it had subsided early on, and the complimentary socks British Airways had given her were comfortable. The sun warmed her through the small window, golden and untainted by the atmosphere. She relaxed and drifted towards sleep.

The man to her right leaned over her quite rudly and stared out the window.

"What the hell is that?!"

Mrs. Prune was taken aback at the man's language, and prepared to give him a verbal thrashing for his impoliteness, but her eye drifted to the window.

"Why, I'll be..."

Flying alongside the plane was a rather beaten, flaming dumpster.

Posted by: Evania

Davel stumbled. He was falling behind, he realized. His head spun.

Dalen was having trouble running with a squirming rabbit in his arms. He slowed to drag Davel to his feet. Still, the three of them were being outdistanced rapidly by the other team members, who were too busy running for their lives to look back...

Daven noted with surprise that his head had cleared a bit. He motioned to Dalen to stop. "We'll never make it by running," he panted. "We have to... magic out of here."

"But I can only do healing spells," said Dalen.

The sprite wiggled free of Dalen's grasp and dropped to the ground. "I'll get us out of here," she said. "I don't want to swim today."

"Don't take us too far," said Dalen. "We want to be able to catch up with the others."

"Gotcha." The rabbit began to glow.

"But Evania's magic---" started Davel.

A tremendous roar drowned out the rest of his sentance as a solid wall of water came rushing down the tunnel, ripping bricks from the walls and rushing over a lingering blue glow where the three had stood...