Tribulations

[Blaze]

"Well well well, looks like I found my target. About time too, for a moment I thought I was going to run out of color fruit"

Sam focuses his attention solely on the boy as he looks around for any possible gang members that may be hiding near him. While doing this, Sam is putting on a trench coat as he prepares for following to boy on the streets to his destination

"Can't be too cocky here. Last thing I need is to scare the boy off and have him call some of his friends to take care of me"

The trench coat has become a popular choice of late, as they effectively hide wings, tails and the like for both sides! So Sam doesn't stick out too much as he stalks after the courier. Looking around, Sam does see some Southerners milling about, but none seem to be guarding the route per se, just hanging around.

Soon, the boy slips into an old, dank abandoned building... an ideal place to grow more uncarrots!

~*stuff*~

Both gangs were wary of the CTC obviously. That level of military power could take down both of them and they both knew it. Naturally, both had sent spies, but their reports would all stop, and the city's populations only grew, so they stopped. Now, each gang was content with keeping guards up near the barricades, catching any who tries to slip through and as precaution in case the tanks started rolling in. IN fact, just the threat of the CTC had helped keep the war from escalating further, as any explosives they gangs had scraped together was being kept in those outposts, and not used to attack.

However, the CTC's concern about the space elevator, while well-founded, were needless. While Niflheim had not seen fit to quell the gang war themselves, they did have a vested interest in keeping that elevator safe. Muffinvile Delta's population grew by the day, and Niflheim maintained a strong, visible guard around it. The few times a scuffle broke out between the androids and the gangs, the androids were always the swift, decisive winners.

-----

As the transports and gunships approach the combat area, they see Alex dodging and flipping through a forest of celestial blades and a rainstorm of hellfire blasts! It seems that this time, she has managed to get both gangs after her at once. One demon manages to grab her by the head and squeezes... only for the illusion to break, revealing a bunch of tomapples he just crushed in his hands, the juices doing their known effect! The real Alex bursts out of a window and opens fire on both gangs once again, and the battle continues!

Konoko rolls her eyes as she heads over to the east wall and watches the scuffle some. "Hey guys? Hey, hey guys?" She asked. "Why do you all insist on keeping up with this complete and total stupidity? Both of you realize that all this fighting is getting you nowhere, right? Are all of you just so gosh darn dim and ignorant that you value your insignificant pride over the potential loss of so many people on both of your sides? I mean, you both are clearly trying to endanger the lives of innocents who didn't even have a part in this mess to begin with, right?"

Crosses her arms. "You're all nothing but children throwing a tantrum."


Marco blinks a bit as the succubus walks up to him. He didn't even really seem to register the swaying, or if he did, he didn't linger on it. "Huh? Oh, no, I don't think so. I mean, well, my mom is somewhere around here. Oh! I did lose my birth mother years ago when I was born! Then I got a step mother who was mean. Then I ran away from home..." He goes on a bit of a tangent about his life. "... and then I got adopted not too long ago!" He smiles brightly, but then tilts his head.

"So... are you a demon? If so, then that's cool, you know?"

... sadly for Konoko, her metaphor is lost, as both of them ARE children. They can't look to be any older than 12, both wearing hoodies and jeans in an attempt to hide their scrawny pubescent builds. The angle is a girl and the demon is a boy and they're circling around each other, both clutching switchblades. They are distracted by Konoko's arrival though.

"Hey, it's the undead whore!" the angel yelps in surprise, causing the boy to spin around and gape! "D-Don't drink my blood! I'm pretty sure demon blood is poison!"

-----

The succubi all kinda zone out as Marco rambles on. All except one, who is flicking though a folder. Each gang had a 'Persons of Interest' folder that every member was issued. The folder detailed Muffinville's Most Wanted basically, the people with skills that the gangs considered valuable, as well as any info they had on them. Marco himself wasn't on there... but Francesca, as a scientist who specialized in color energy, was. Those who brought in someone in the folder, or something that could help the gang 'acquire' that person was rewarded handsomely.

"Hey... uh, you wanna come with us?" that succubi asks, not sounding suspicious at all.

The boy gives the angel a lingering stare, some of the discomfort from before reappearing in his thoughts. With all he knew about the Choir on his mind... it was probably a good idea that he handled this as calmly and as quickly as possible. He lets go of the angel's hand.

"Because most of the gangs out here are dangerous. If they didn't hurt me and force me to help them, then they would at least slow me down." He motions to a package slung around his side. "... and I really can't afford that right now. I'm trying to get these supplies to a group of my friends on the other side of town."

He backs away, bowing his head slightly. The expression he wears makes any fear left in him less conspicuous. "I'm sorry to rush this conversation, but I should really be going. Thank you for helping me to my feet, Mr. Angel." With that, he turns and makes an attempt to casually walk away. The quicker he got away and back on his route, the better.

As the boy tries, the angel grabs him by the stuff of the neck, his grip form and unyielding. He lifts him into the ear easily, giving him a shake.

"Supplies huh? I bet you stole them from us, you brat. Why else would you be so scared of us? We're the good guys. Did the Southerners send you?" he barks, the conversation taking a shift into an interrogation!

He snatches the bag and tosses it back to the miko, who opens it and starts going through the contents.

"I see you have a bow. Can you use it?" the angel demands, turning the boy around to look him in the face.

*Mendo narrows his eyes, gazing at the rising dust and smoke in the distance... before seemingly disappearing from the rooftop. Dashing from building to building... he jumps off of the village's outer wall and begins to run at full speed, his eyes taking on a slight red hue as he tried to scan ahead. His cybernetic body wasn't always preferable to his old one, but in situations like this he appreciated having the added utility.*
Alex... Please don't do anything too foolish.

Mendo's internal scanners show an unusually high concentration on infernal and celestial power clustered around the source of the lasers, even for Muffinville around this time. With his awesome ninja speed, he soon arrives, seeing Alex dodge-flipping around the attacks coming from members of both gangs! One demon gets tricked by a Tomapple Clone, soon just another ditz wandering around the area, one of many in fact... at least she's making good use of what Mendo taught her to cause mischief? ^^;;

[KonokoHasano]

... sadly for Konoko, her metaphor is lost, as both of them ARE children. They can't look to be any older than 12, both wearing hoodies and jeans in an attempt to hide their scrawny pubescent builds. The angle is a girl and the demon is a boy and they're circling around each other, both clutching switchblades. They are distracted by Konoko's arrival though.

"Hey, it's the undead whore!" the angel yelps in surprise, causing the boy to spin around and gape! "D-Don't drink my blood! I'm pretty sure demon blood is poison!"

"Ah, you are kids..." She raises an eyebrow. "How rude. I'll have you know that I am not a whore at all, but it's not like either of you would understand that, since you're all just apparently following whatever wrong decisions your parents are doing." At what the boy said, she decided to just smirk. "Oh, but demon blood is quite tasty, as is angel blood. In fact, I bet I could..."

She then just bursts out laughing as she moves over and wraps her arms around both the kids' shoulders. "Kidding, kidding. Wow, the looks on your faces. Oh the young and impressionable."

The succubi all kinda zone out as Marco rambles on. All except one, who is flicking though a folder. Each gang had a 'Persons of Interest' folder that every member was issued. The folder detailed Muffinville's Most Wanted basically, the people with skills that the gangs considered valuable, as well as any info they had on them. Marco himself wasn't on there... but Francesca, as a scientist who specialized in color energy, was. Those who brought in someone in the folder, or something that could help the gang 'acquire' that person was rewarded handsomely.

"Hey... uh, you wanna come with us?" that succubi asks, not sounding suspicious at all.

"Huh? Oh sure! I've got nothing better to do, you know?"

[Restless Lucidity]

As the boy tries, the angel grabs him by the stuff of the neck, his grip form and unyielding. He lifts him into the ear easily, giving him a shake.

"Supplies huh? I bet you stole them from us, you brat. Why else would you be so scared of us? We're the good guys. Did the Southerners send you?" he barks, the conversation taking a shift into an interrogation!

He snatches the bag and tosses it back to the miko, who opens it and starts going through the contents.

"I see you have a bow. Can you use it?" the angel demands, turning the boy around to look him in the face.

He doesn't react at first, too stunned to respond. His eyes go wide, but in a few moments, he hardens his gaze and gives the angel a long stare. His words emerge from his mouth with the slightest hint of irritation, building anger, and anxiety... but not necessarily fear. "I'm not scared of you, I'm scared because I'm afraid these supplies might be the only relief my friends get for a long, long time." He wiggles a bit in the angel's grasp. "Angels are supposed to be trusting, merciful beings, aren't they? You have my word that those goods weren't stolen, and that I'm not with the Southerners." He looks into the angel's eyes. His own reflect sincerity whether the angel chooses to ignore it or not.

"Ah, and my bow?" He chuckles. "If I can be honest, it's just for show. I don't have the slightest clue how to use it. It's just to ward off potential threats." He heaves a sigh. "Now please. Just let me go. If you need to see what's in the bag first, fine, but after that, leave me be."

As far as the contents of the bag concerned, inside are mostly food items. Namely a pair of apples, a pair of oranges, several loaves of bread wrapped in plastic labelled 'long lasting' in faded black letters, bottles of water... everything in the bag so far would confirm his claims. The more the miko rummages through, the more food she sees, mostly just mundane lunch selections and canned goods aside from what had already been mentioned. Potato chips... ah! Wait a second... there's a small glimmer from beneath one of the various foods. If the miko inspects further, she'll see the tiniest crystal shard. That raised a bit of suspicion; it looks, and feels, as if it has magical qualities of some variety. However... whatever it was looked far too small and felt much too weak to be used in combat. So what is it...?

[Sam]

Sam smiles at his good choice of a disguise as he follows the boy inside the shady building. Of course he keeps his head down while doing so to keep his face hidden from other gang members. Of course when the time comes for Sam to confront his target, he has a mask on hand to put on to disguise his identity from the lad just in case things don't go as planned. Sam keeps quiet for now as he too slips into the building... quietly.

[Axel Akutare]

Standing atop a building overlooking some carnage, there's what appears to be... a camera crew!? It consists of a lady fighter, a mage, a healer, a Prinny with an eyepatch, and the one and only Axel(No pic needed for anyone that's cool)!

"Vermouth! Make up!" Axel poses as the healer rushes over and applies make up to him. "Izumi! Lights!" The mage lights up some Star Magic that shines on Axel. "Rocky! Security!" The one-eyed prinny sets up near the edge of the rooftop. "Sherry! Camera!"

"Cameras rolling!" The lady fighter starts filming Axel.

"All eyes are on me and tourism is hot! It's time once again for Tripping With Axel! As our loyal viewers will recognize that we're doing another Muffinville episode. However~ It seems that this time we're in the middle of a warzone, so it's become a perfect destination for any heroes looking to level up, Space Police that need to fill their quota for brutality, or just for Overlords looking to kill some time! I'm here to show you the places to go, and the people to meet!"

[Mendi-chan]

*Standing at the perimeter of the fight Mendo smirks at Alex's efficacy. She was doing quite well for herself, so that much was neat. Still though, he wanted to get her out of here before she got herself hurt. His hands move together... blurring for just a second as he performs the necessary hand seals for the jutsu he wants to perform. With a small spike of chakra darkness seems to spread out from his feet, billowing out like smoke into the area directly around him. This was no ordinary darkness though, this jutsu was designed to dull everyone's senses but the caster. He'd blind everyone and snag Alex, pulling her into the shadows so they could discuss things... and make sure she was safe.*

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Both gangs were wary of the CTC obviously. That level of military power could take down both of them and they both knew it. Naturally, both had sent spies, but their reports would all stop, and the city's populations only grew, so they stopped. Now, each gang was content with keeping guards up near the barricades, catching any who tries to slip through and as precaution in case the tanks started rolling in. IN fact, just the threat of the CTC had helped keep the war from escalating further, as any explosives they gangs had scraped together was being kept in those outposts, and not used to attack.

However, the CTC's concern about the space elevator, while well-founded, were needless. While Niflheim had not seen fit to quell the gang war themselves, they did have a vested interest in keeping that elevator safe. Muffinvile Delta's population grew by the day, and Niflheim maintained a strong, visible guard around it. The few times a scuffle broke out between the androids and the gangs, the androids were always the swift, decisive winners.

As Commander Pleasance studies the displays indicating the Niflheim guard protecting the base of the space elevator, an incoming message catches her attention.

"Commander, Skywatch has detected another group of refugees trying to make a run for Academy City."

Nodding to herself, the commander toggles her display, and the holographic wireframe slides across Muffinville to reveal the fortified boundary between it and Academy City. A small cluster of green dots indicates a group of citizens -- perhaps two families, as the drones indicate four adults and three children are present in the group -- trying to make their way from building to building in order to reach the relative safety of Academy City.

Of course, the gangs' own barricades along the roadways and within the buildings facing Academy City were the final obstacle in their path -- and the CTC had seen at least three groups of refugees already caught by the gangs just moments away from safety. The commanders knuckles turn white as she grips the side of the holographic display tightly enough to make the plastic groan from the strain.

Enough of this. Biting her lip, she mentally toggles the comm. "Alert Barricade Three. Incoming refugees."

"But sir... the gangs..."

Commander Pleasance nods, and lets go of the display with a sigh. "Barricade Three is to use any and all measures necessary to ensure the safety of those seeking refuge in Academy City."

There's a pause, as the aide on the other end of the line processes the order. "Yes, sir!."

Meanwhile, at Barricade Three...

"Flash traffic from command, Lieutenant," one of the soldiers reports. "Incoming civilian refugees. Skywatch suggests ETA is five minutes."

Lieutenant Morgiana mutters as she brings up the data regarding the refugees. "Those punks are going to nab them at the barricade, no doubt," she mutters, holding back the urge to spit within the confines of her command vehicle.

"Orders from command, sir."

"Hmph... probably want us to sit tight and avoid provoking those little..." She pauses, as the orders scroll across her screen, before a slight smile plays across her lips. "... Heh. Guess the commander has balls after all." Grabbing her helmet, she gets to her feet, and steps out into the night air as she suits up.

"All squads! We've got incoming civvies! Orders are to use whatever force is necessary to ensure they make it through those barricades to reach us! Gunny, load the GMGs with AFC2 rounds! Both HTR squads stand by configured for non-lethal combat -- no sense shedding any more blood than we need to -- but we're talking about angels and demons here, so be ready to use lethal force if necessary. Overwatch, stand by to pick off any guards that might raise the alarm once those refugees come into view. Everyone else, stand by to go in hot."

As the transports and gunships approach the combat area, they see Alex dodging and flipping through a forest of celestial blades and a rainstorm of hellfire blasts! It seems that this time, she has managed to get both gangs after her at once. One demon manages to grab her by the head and squeezes... only for the illusion to break, revealing a bunch of tomapples he just crushed in his hands, the juices doing their known effect! The real Alex bursts out of a window and opens fire on both gangs once again, and the battle continues!

Even as the vertols approach the site of the battle, any of the CTC's drones that remained in the area have begun to congregate around the battle, giving Special Adjutant Abel and her squad a preview of what's going on.

"LZ looks hot, sir," the squad leader reports, studying the data feeds.

Abel nods to herself, giving her equipment one more check. "Hang back for the moment... we'll just be pouring gas on the fire once we go in," she murmurs, studying the rooftops around the battle.

The vertol's sensor tech turns to her. "Sensors picked up what might be a small chakra spike nearby, sir, and we've recorded a loss of sensor effectiveness!"

The silver-haired woman smiles. "There you are..." She nods, and turns to the squad in the vertol's bay. "All right, boys, our primary goal is to talk with the one called Mendokusee. We believe he's most likely in the area, but our best chances of finding him are to track the individual known as Alex, who's currently at the heart of that free-for-all down there." She takes a moment to glance over them. "I know you've all been rather eager for a chance to strike back against these punks that have been terrorizing the city, but let's not get foolhardy down there. There's a whole lot of them, and they've got their usual bags of supernatural tricks to back them up. On the other hand..." She smiles again. "You're some of the best the CTC has to offer, and your tech's the product of years of development to counter just this sort of thing. So let's do what we need to to get this job done!"

The soldiers out let out a yell that echoes within the confines of the bay, as Abel walks past them to the rear hatchway, pausing for a moment to let the two EDU robots stand up and take the point. A klaxon begins to sound as the hatchway opens, and the swirling wind outside begins to blow into the cargo bay.

"Hawk One, Hawk Two, you've got overwatch. Eagle One, pull up and stay on station once we're clear."

"Roger."

"All right, team! Go go go!"

With that, the EDU robots immediately charge out the opened hatchway, plunging down towards the street below, followed by Abel and the HTR squad!

[Blaze]

"Ah, you are kids..." She raises an eyebrow. "How rude. I'll have you know that I am not a whore at all, but it's not like either of you would understand that, since you're all just apparently following whatever wrong decisions your parents are doing." At what the boy said, she decided to just smirk. "Oh, but demon blood is quite tasty, as is angel blood. In fact, I bet I could..."

She then just bursts out laughing as she moves over and wraps her arms around both the kids' shoulders. "Kidding, kidding. Wow, the looks on your faces. Oh the young and impressionable."
-----
"Huh? Oh sure! I've got nothing better to do, you know?"

Both kids shriek in surprise as Konoko teleports over! Putting her arms around them though might not have been the best idea hwever. The angel is still young, but she still radiates holy power, which is painful to vampires! D:

-----

The succubi leads Marco away, a few hanging back to try and keep him from running in case he wises up.

They lead him into an old apartment building, heading towards some stairs leading down. Two big burly oni, one red and one blue, block their way until one says, "This guy is the son of a P.O.I." They look at each other and nod, moving their clubs so that the group of female demons can lead the clueless boy down!

He doesn't react at first, too stunned to respond. His eyes go wide, but in a few moments, he hardens his gaze and gives the angel a long stare. His words emerge from his mouth with the slightest hint of irritation, building anger, and anxiety... but not necessarily fear. "I'm not scared of you, I'm scared because I'm afraid these supplies might be the only relief my friends get for a long, long time." He wiggles a bit in the angel's grasp. "Angels are supposed to be trusting, merciful beings, aren't they? You have my word that those goods weren't stolen, and that I'm not with the Southerners." He looks into the angel's eyes. His own reflect sincerity whether the angel chooses to ignore it or not.

"Ah, and my bow?" He chuckles. "If I can be honest, it's just for show. I don't have the slightest clue how to use it. It's just to ward off potential threats." He heaves a sigh. "Now please. Just let me go. If you need to see what's in the bag first, fine, but after that, leave me be."

As far as the contents of the bag concerned, inside are mostly food items. Namely a pair of apples, a pair of oranges, several loaves of bread wrapped in plastic labelled 'long lasting' in faded black letters, bottles of water... everything in the bag so far would confirm his claims. The more the miko rummages through, the more food she sees, mostly just mundane lunch selections and canned goods aside from what had already been mentioned. Potato chips... ah! Wait a second... there's a small glimmer from beneath one of the various foods. If the miko inspects further, she'll see the tiniest crystal shard. That raised a bit of suspicion; it looks, and feels, as if it has magical qualities of some variety. However... whatever it was looked far too small and felt much too weak to be used in combat. So what is it...?

The angel seems to waver a bit, sensing the sincerity radiating from the boy... but the miko then finds the magic shard. "Julio!" she yells, tossing it to the angel.

"... you DO know that we've been snatching up stuff like this? And that we'll take any recruits? And those that we do are fed? So, maybe you didn't steal, but I think it's for the best if you come with us."

He shifts the boy, now carrying him under his arms in a more comfortable position.

"Are you gonna give me trouble if I carry you like this?"

Sam smiles at his good choice of a disguise as he follows the boy inside the shady building. Of course he keeps his head down while doing so to keep his face hidden from other gang members. Of course when the time comes for Sam to confront his target, he has a mask on hand to put on to disguise his identity from the lad just in case things don't go as planned. Sam keeps quiet for now as he too slips into the building... quietly.

The building is as dank as the exterior promises, small hole shaving been pricked into the water pipes to encourage the fact. Sam can make out voices in the next room, one adolescent male and the other a deeper male voice.

"... said to keep the pH at 4 this time, or you can go dig more manure to keep the other gardens going." the adolescent voice says.
"Yeah yeah yeah, make one mistake and they don't let ya forget it." the deeper one mutters.

Standing atop a building overlooking some carnage, there's what appears to be... a camera crew!? It consists of a lady fighter, a mage, a healer, a Prinny with an eyepatch, and the one and only Axel(No pic needed for anyone that's cool)!

"Vermouth! Make up!" Axel poses as the healer rushes over and applies make up to him. "Izumi! Lights!" The mage lights up some Star Magic that shines on Axel. "Rocky! Security!" The one-eyed prinny sets up near the edge of the rooftop. "Sherry! Camera!"

"Cameras rolling!" The lady fighter starts filming Axel.

"All eyes are on me and tourism is hot! It's time once again for Tripping With Axel! As our loyal viewers will recognize that we're doing another Muffinville episode. However~ It seems that this time we're in the middle of a warzone, so it's become a perfect destination for any heroes looking to level up, Space Police that need to fill their quota for brutality, or just for Overlords looking to kill some time! I'm here to show you the places to go, and the people to meet!"

A seraphiam, having been blasted into the air by a laser blast from Alex, looks over at the trio and snarls.

"What are you doing?! Begone, stop filming this!"

A blade of celestial light extends from his flat palm and he slices at the building Axel and his crew stand on, making it start to crumble!

*Standing at the perimeter of the fight Mendo smirks at Alex's efficacy. She was doing quite well for herself, so that much was neat. Still though, he wanted to get her out of here before she got herself hurt. His hands move together... blurring for just a second as he performs the necessary hand seals for the jutsu he wants to perform. With a small spike of chakra darkness seems to spread out from his feet, billowing out like smoke into the area directly around him. This was no ordinary darkness though, this jutsu was designed to dull everyone's senses but the caster. He'd blind everyone and snag Alex, pulling her into the shadows so they could discuss things... and make sure she was safe.*

The darkness envelops the area... demons, angels and ditzes alike staggering around in confusion... well more so for the latter. Those in the air continue to blast, shooting blindly into the smoke!

Alex shoots several more beams into the air! A signal? Or lasers for the sake of lasers? Either way, it gives Mendo her position!

~*more stuff*~

The CTC at Barricade 3 sees the two families, one a typical nuclear family, Mom, Dad, a boy, a girl and a dog sprinting towards the CTC barricade, a single mother with three children behind them. As they get close, some miko rise up from their hiding place, wielding yumi, Japanese bows, their arrows dipped into blended moonberries. Their line up their shots, aiming at the families, secure in the belief that the CTC won't intervene...

-----

As the robots and soldiers drop into the hot zone, they see it become enveloped in a shroud of black smog! Those caugt in it seem to slow down and become disoriented as those outside of it continue to shoot celestial and infernal blasts into it blindly! Alex fires a few beams into the air at random, a few coming close to hitting the CTC aerial vehicles!

[Restless Lucidity]

The angel seems to waver a bit, sensing the sincerity radiating from the boy... but the miko then finds the magic shard. "Julio!" she yells, tossing it to the angel.

"... you DO know that we've been snatching up stuff like this? And that we'll take any recruits? And those that we do are fed? So, maybe you didn't steal, but I think it's for the best if you come with us."

He shifts the boy, now carrying him under his arms in a more comfortable position.

"Are you gonna give me trouble if I carry you like this?"

The boy shuts his eyes tight and tenses up the muscles on his face. This visible display of irritation and discomfort only recedes after he takes a deep breath and exhales.

"Mister... Julio, right?" He tries his best to make eye contact with him. "I'm sorry, but I can't go with you right now. You can have that crystal if you want, but please, give me the food back and let me go. I have to get to my friends." He tries to drive the point home as best as he can with another unwavering, earnest, and determined stare. "If you let me go now, I may even apply to join you later. So... please? I promise that it would be the right thing for you to do."

After that last word, though, he shuts his eyes again, this time in contemplation. Before long he opens them again with a renewed sense of determination. "Wait. I'll go with you without a struggle on one condition. If you recruit me and keep me fed, you have to keep the three friends I'm talking about fed, too. Is that acceptable?"

After he finishes that statement there's a pause before he adds: "Oh, and they're too young to be involved in any sort of conflict. You also have to agree not to try to recruit them."

[Sam]

Sam grows a big grin as he hears that there are other gardens. Knowing that he might gain more juicy information from uncarrot holders in the next room, Sam gets closer to the next room to see what else he can hear from the two. Before he does though, Sam puts on a mask that resembles Frankenstein's monster to conceal his identity when he eventually has to interrupt their meeting.

[Axel Akutare]

A seraphiam, having been blasted into the air by a laser blast from Alex, looks over at the trio and snarls.

"What are you doing?! Begone, stop filming this!"

A blade of celestial light extends from his flat palm and he slices at the building Axel and his crew stand on, making it start to crumble!

"Stop filming? Since when do I listen to jerk angels? Right, viewers?" Axel shoots the camera a grin, "Rocky, take care of our guest star while we film a different locale."

The camera crew hops off the building onto a nearby one as it falls, except the Prinny, who is above the Seraphiam, throwing a pile of knives down at the winged jerk.

[KonokoHasano]

Both kids shriek in surprise as Konoko teleports over! Putting her arms around them though might not have been the best idea hwever. The angel is still young, but she still radiates holy power, which is painful to vampires! D:

-----

The succubi leads Marco away, a few hanging back to try and keep him from running in case he wises up.

They lead him into an old apartment building, heading towards some stairs leading down. Two big burly oni, one red and one blue, block their way until one says, "This guy is the son of a P.O.I." They look at each other and nod, moving their clubs so that the group of female demons can lead the clueless boy down!

[Oh jeez, how do I play this part out after all of the stuff I've ended up incorporating into Konoko's backstory and such...]

Konoko gives a very small wince at the tinge of holy power, but seems otherwise unaffected. If she were still just a vampire, it would have been a lot more painful, but with what she was now, it was more of an annoyance in the initial feeling of it. "Don't your parents ever teach you that you should have manners? I understand that they're all caught up in a useless little tizzy fit, but they should be setting an example. Let me ask you... why do you dislike each other? Is it just because one of you is an angel and the other is a demon?"

----

"Oh neat! Oni! They even have clubs. Hey look, I can have a club too." As he says 'club', the very words appear and turn into a club made of the word, looking rather solid. "It's even like a club." Swings it some, though he accidentally lets go of it and it flies at the blue Oni's head. "Err... oops. Didn't have a good grip on that, you know?"

[Jello Shot Mischa]

The CTC at Barricade 3 sees the two families, one a typical nuclear family, Mom, Dad, a boy, a girl and a dog sprinting towards the CTC barricade, a single mother with three children behind them. As they get close, some miko rise up from their hiding place, wielding yumi, Japanese bows, their arrows dipped into blended moonberries. Their line up their shots, aiming at the families, secure in the belief that the CTC won't intervene...

-----

As the robots and soldiers drop into the hot zone, they see it become enveloped in a shroud of black smog! Those caugt in it seem to slow down and become disoriented as those outside of it continue to shoot celestial and infernal blasts into it blindly! Alex fires a few beams into the air at random, a few coming close to hitting the CTC aerial vehicles!

At Barricade 3

As the families come into view, the atmosphere around the barricade grows tense, as the soldiers ready themselves. The moment the miko rise up, drawing their bows, the CTC snipers open fire, their suppressed .50 caliber rifles firing subsonic plastic rounds at the centre of mass of each miko. The suppressed rifles and their subsonic ammunition is quite silent, so the gang forces likely won't realize they're being attacked yet, but that plastic rounds hit with a heavy punch, at least enough to throw off the mikos' aim, if not send them sprawling. What's worse, the rounds are designed to fragment on impact, absorbing some of the kinetic force of the impact but also releasing the contents of the hollow ammunition, sedatives mixed with DMSO. The liquid compound quickly soaks through any cloth or light armor, and upon coming into contact with skin, the DMSO ensures the sedatives are carried directly into the bloodstream. Any targets hit by the ammunition should be feeling woozy and disoriented, with any average person likely to fall unconcious within seconds.

While the snipers may cause some momentary disarray, the CTC realize it's unlikely those are the only guards on the sides of the gangs, so the remaining forces hold themselves ready for the next wave of attacks...

Around Alex's Position

"Sir, we've got undirected AA," one of the pilots reports, his vertol swerving out of the way of the laser blasts.

"It's unguided fire, it won't hit us..." the other pilot objects.

"I'm not about to get some golden BB down my... exhaust..."

Abel rolls her eyes for a moment. "Pull further back but stay on station. We'll still probably need fire support, but I don't want any unguided fire into this mess while visibility is limited," she orders over the comm.

"Roger that." Both aircraft pull further back, circling around the outer edges of the combat -- although that means one of them may stumble across the Prinny attacking the seraphiam.

Meanwhile, Abel leads her squad through the streets, staying on the edges of the black cloud. "Hawk One, Hawk Two, I'll need you to direct us towards the point of origin of those lasers..." She pauses, and glances at the buildings nearby. "Perhaps... all right, team, let's try and get a little altitude." Motioning with hand gestures, she orders the CTC squad to use their thrusters, and jump up atop one of the nearby bulidings!

[Mendi-chan]

*The cloud of shadows soon has spread outward into the sky, reaching heights just shy of where most of those above are flying. To them, it would look as if they were soaring above an endless void... But far more daunting was the sight afforded those on the ground, standing in the middle of the black expanse with no light reaching their eyes and all senses dulled.*

*The ninja doesn't waste any time heading to Alex's location, dashing through the darkness which only he can move through with accuracy. It was his chakra flowing through the dark cloud of shadows after all. Snatching Alex up into his arms he makes his way to some nearby brush and drops her down... they stand just outside the area of effect of the shadows.*
Alex, I need you to calm down and give me a full report of your situation.
*He speaks softly, but with a seriousness he rarely had been seen with. *

[Blaze]

The boy shuts his eyes tight and tenses up the muscles on his face. This visible display of irritation and discomfort only recedes after he takes a deep breath and exhales.

"Mister... Julio, right?" He tries his best to make eye contact with him. "I'm sorry, but I can't go with you right now. You can have that crystal if you want, but please, give me the food back and let me go. I have to get to my friends." He tries to drive the point home as best as he can with another unwavering, earnest, and determined stare. "If you let me go now, I may even apply to join you later. So... please? I promise that it would be the right thing for you to do."

After that last word, though, he shuts his eyes again, this time in contemplation. Before long he opens them again with a renewed sense of determination. "Wait. I'll go with you without a struggle on one condition. If you recruit me and keep me fed, you have to keep the three friends I'm talking about fed, too. Is that acceptable?"

After he finishes that statement there's a pause before he adds: "Oh, and they're too young to be involved in any sort of conflict. You also have to agree not to try to recruit them."

Julio considers this for a moment... eventually giving a small nod.

"That's acceptable. We'll get you converted, then you can lead us to these kids you're protecting."

The group heads into a small church that stands nearby. Inside, nuns do nunlike things, sweeping the floor, cleaning the stained glass windows, taking inventory of the weapons stored there...

"Can we get a moonberry over here? We got a new recruit!" Julio yells. A nun slips through a door next to the alter and the sounds of her running up the stairs echo. She soon comes back down, carefully holding a moonberry, almost reverentially. Julio takes it and places it before the boy's mouth.

"This is it. Open up kid."

Sam grows a big grin as he hears that there are other gardens. Knowing that he might gain more juicy information from uncarrot holders in the next room, Sam gets closer to the next room to see what else he can hear from the two. Before he does though, Sam puts on a mask that resembles Frankenstein's monster to conceal his identity when he eventually has to interrupt their meeting.

Listening in, he hears the older demon planting the uncarrots the younger had brought, reading instructions off of a list.

"Okay, fertilize the soil with alligator turds, snake sheddings, hydrochloric acid, guano... pour water on top, then spit on each one." The sound of loogies being formed and spat out comes from the room. "Check the soil pH... 4! Perfect, thanks kid."

Well, at least Sam now knows how to make a crop for himself! But, the younger demon is starting to leave!

"Stop filming? Since when do I listen to jerk angels? Right, viewers?" Axel shoots the camera a grin, "Rocky, take care of our guest star while we film a different locale."

The camera crew hops off the building onto a nearby one as it falls, except the Prinny, who is above the Seraphiam, throwing a pile of knives down at the winged jerk.

The angel scowls and parries away each of the knives, but a few nick his cheeks, making him bleed!

"Begone damned soul!" he barks, lashing out to try and grab Rocky by the leg!

As for Axel and his crew, they land on a nearby building... the same one that the CTC lands on!

[Oh jeez, how do I play this part out after all of the stuff I've ended up incorporating into Konoko's backstory and such...]

Konoko gives a very small wince at the tinge of holy power, but seems otherwise unaffected. If she were still just a vampire, it would have been a lot more painful, but with what she was now, it was more of an annoyance in the initial feeling of it. "Don't your parents ever teach you that you should have manners? I understand that they're all caught up in a useless little tizzy fit, but they should be setting an example. Let me ask you... why do you dislike each other? Is it just because one of you is an angel and the other is a demon?"

----

"Oh neat! Oni! They even have clubs. Hey look, I can have a club too." As he says 'club', the very words appear and turn into a club made of the word, looking rather solid. "It's even like a club." Swings it some, though he accidentally lets go of it and it flies at the blue Oni's head. "Err... oops. Didn't have a good grip on that, you know?"

"Man, how can you NOT hate the Choir?! Buncha self-rightous, stuck-up pricks is what they are!" the demon yells.
At the same time, the angel says. "The Southerners are all conniving, evil people who delight in misery and feed on despair! They must be purged!"

"NOW LET ME GO!" they both say. Well, at least they can agree on one thing. Konoko is bad touch!

-----

The oni snarls at Marco as the club smacks him in the face! But apparently, his status as the son of a P.O.I, whoever that is, keeps him from pulverizing the boy. The succubi lead Marco down the stairs into a dank basement. The room is dominated by a large table and a map of Muffinville on the way, the gang's territories coloured blue and red for the Choir and Southerners respectively.

Sitting at the table is a young feminine boy. Marco likely hasn't been keeping up with the news, but this boy is Abba, leader of the Deep Southerners. He looks up and regards Marco, and despite his thick-headedness, even he can tell this boy is nothing to be trifled with.

~*even more things*~

The miko are struck with the subsonic rounds, their shots going wide! They try to look around for who hit them, but the sedatives kick in and they slump to the ground, the families moving on, not aware of the danger they were in.

However, it seems that the gang had prepared for the fact that the CTC may start doing this. Two SUVs pull out from hiding places in alleyways on both sides of the street, obscuring the sniper's view of the families, the nuns inside getting out on the side facing away from them!

-----

As for the drop team, they land on a roof currently occupied by a C-list demon celebrity and his film crew! They notice that the lasers suddenly seem to stop. Either Alex has moved, stopped firing, or was taken down.

The aerial vehicles do indeed stumble across the sight of a demon penguin attacking a seripham with knives. Just another day in Muffinville! Thier sensors may have spotted something suddenly leaving the cloud...

*The cloud of shadows soon has spread outward into the sky, reaching heights just shy of where most of those above are flying. To them, it would look as if they were soaring above an endless void... But far more daunting was the sight afforded those on the ground, standing in the middle of the black expanse with no light reaching their eyes and all senses dulled.*

*The ninja doesn't waste any time heading to Alex's location, dashing through the darkness which only he can move through with accuracy. It was his chakra flowing through the dark cloud of shadows after all. Snatching Alex up into his arms he makes his way to some nearby brush and drops her down... they stand just outside the area of effect of the shadows.*
Alex, I need you to calm down and give me a full report of your situation.
*He speaks softly, but with a seriousness he rarely had been seen with. *

Alex blinkblinks, still a bit disoriented by the effects of the black cloud. SHe shakes her head to clear the effects and replies to Mendo, her own voice quiet and oddly serious.

"I was tracking the demons to one of their gaaardens, and I attacked to burn it down, but the angels had set up an ambush and I got caught between them~"