Larry and
Halesey, in what is sure to be a decision they will remember as a totally worthwhile one, decide to try and press their current advantage in order to eliminate the demon lady once and for all! Larry sprints off after her right away.
[Larry's body roll: 3-1]
By the time he gets there, though, the lady seems to have successfully risen off the ground and begun to float in his direction in a very subdued manner, her expression quite unreadable due to the potato vortex consuming her face. Halesey, meanwhile, attempts to conjure another barrier of hairy mafiosi.
[Halesey's affinity roll: 6-->4]
And he does indeed manage to create a protective criminal cordon of impressive proportions and formidability! Turtling up in the embrace of his hairy guardians, Halesey follows in Larry's footsteps, eventually reaching his compatriot just as he intends to unleash a mighty mucus avalanche on their mutual adversary!
[Larry's affinity roll: 6-->2]
His sinuses begin to tickle as the magic flows through him, and in all the excitement Larry completely forgets that he shouldn't put his hands in front of his mouth as he lets loose an eldritch sneeze of unspeakable filthiness! Fortunately, the power of the snot blast that follows easily sweeps his hand aside, but the inherent ew-ness of this is enough to give Larry more than a little pause even as the mucus flies toward the woman and, strangely enough, is sucked in entirely by the vortex, which appears to selectively increase in power for that exact moment! Not a single drop of the hideous discharge even touches her! Well, maybe a few drops do, but they seem to get absorbed again.
[Larry's body roll: 4-1]
And for a moment there, he feels himself slowly slide toward the demon until the vortex resumes its peculiar harmlessness! For some reason, this disconcerts him greatly! But then the barrier of hairy thugs that has shuffled up to his position parts, Halesey emerging from his mafioso shell and showing the demon one of the centerfolds! That familiar flame envelops the lady, her body burning without smoke and leaving no ash, vortex included! She does not even make much of a sound apart from a low hiss and a sharp crackle as her form disintegrates before the two wizards' very eyes! The demonic temptress tried to steer them from the right path, and now she is vanquished! Score one for the good guys!
* * * * *
John believes that some adjustment of strategy may be in order, and calls for yet another huddle, but more secret this time.
"Shit, I think he saw us. Alright, I'll handle talking to him. Trey, do you think you could cast that avalanche spell again? And Luz, do you think you can cast methhead sphere around him? You know, in case he decides to be a prick and won't cooperate.""I can't do methhead spheres. That's Trey.""That does sound like a good idea, though."Huddle complete and plans made, John turns back to the watchman, clearing his throat and commencing the typical announcement of intent.
"Yes! Us! We have come for your leyline! Hand it over willingly and no one needs to get hurt!""How about I just put the three of you fuckers into the salty denture dimension? Bet you'd like that!" the unpleasant ginger shouts maliciously, then begins to move his arms in a menacing fashion.
[Trey's affinity roll: 5-1]
A small sphere of methheads suddenly materializes around him, however! And even though it falls apart within moments, the sudden proximity of the most unsavory city dwellers known to man is enough to give the ol' fellow a moment's pause, but no longer!
[Luz's affinity roll: 1-->3]
Luz's attempt at attack goes no better, as a top-of-the-range washing machine suddenly appears in front of her and seems to slowly, yet powerfully fly in her direction!
[Luz's body roll: 1-->4]
She is swept off her feet as the washing machine smashes into her, and the girl cries out as the bulk of the appliance lands on her and begins to rather rapidly crush her!
"Shit! Luz!" Trey yells and quickly moves to shove the thing off his girlfriend, giving the watchman all the time in the world to try and muster up a spell at the people who may or may not have cost him a pretty cushy job tonight.
[Night Watchman's affinity roll: 1-->5+1]
He gestures and gestures, but doesn't seem able to conjure whatever he is trying to conjure, probably that denture hole he was talking about earlier, at his enemies. Fortunately, they seem to be doing rather nicely at killing themselves presently, so he guesses it's all good. And the methheads around him seem remarkably peaceful and confused. Rather nice, all in all.
* * * * *
Myles guesses he needs a drink if he wants to check if this magic tripe will work out as poorly for him as it seems to be doing for
Dave. And so he embarks on a quest for alcohol that takes him out of the alley and into the street, where he finds that all of the respectable liquor stores (and this part of the city, also known as the Classy Side of Town, only hosts respectable establishments of that sort, naturally) seem to be closed, while all the bars and clubs he manages to approach seem to have suspended non-regular (or, in the case of clubs, uninvited) access, or so say the signs in front of the doors and the large, immaculately-groomed bouncers in front of the doors.
However, as Myles wanders frustratedly down the streets, he notices a fellow in an expensive suit sitting on a bench at a bus stop, sipping from a dark glass bottle and occasionally checking his watch. He wonders if his powers would work on that, and whether it would be advisable to experiment with booze somebody is already drinking.
Dave, meanwhile, understands that bottomless is definitely no way to be in this modern world of restrictively conservative mores, and tries to summon up a distracting underwear storm to provide much-needed garments to himself.
[Dave's affinity roll: 4-1]
And though a storm fails to appear, he does manage to summon up a pair of underwear! And lo, it is glorious - a leopard-print C-string covered in what appears to be glitter, in fact. Mr. Pilton looks quite amused.
"Man, you remind me of Nate. What a guy he was. You probably don't want to overdo it with the casting, though. You don't seem to be really... open to it, so to speak. Kind of easy to see it in your movements, really. But yes. Anyhow, I've got a task for you. See, you have your matches and you've got the basic methods down. What I want you and also your partner to do is to get yourselves a whole list of spells, as many as you can, and then call my secretary in the morning. He'll steer you in the right direction. I assume you know how to reach him, right?" he says, looking questioningly at Dave.
* * * * *
Eta, not overly terribly disturbed by the apocalypse basically getting harbinged pretty hard in her apartment, sets down her tea on the unharmed coffee table in front of her, then gets up and commences an investigation undoubtedly reminiscent of the examination her insurance provider (recent events in the city have turned insurance into a very sorry business to be in already, honestly) will try to conduct within the next few days. That is, unless they just tell her to piss off instead, like she suspects they might have done to many other people this week with similar issues.
First, she looks through the holes, and finds that the object that tore through her apartment seems to have indeed traveled in a straight line - the outgoing hole gives her less of a nice view of her neighbors' apartments than one might have expected, and instead offers a rather small window to the dark sky. The ingoing hole, however, provides a different view entirely - Eta isn't entirely sure, but she thinks she can actually see people through the hole - far-off people in that alley behind Chez Ronardo's, if her topological skills haven't failed her. And those people seem to have very little in terms of destruction about them, though she does get the feeling that one of the fellows may be lacking in pants of any kind - it's a little difficult to see from this distance, but this is what she suspects. Not exactly par for the course at this particular hour and this particular lunar phase, but still not exactly a cause for great concern.
As for the somewhat good news, Armageddon does not appear to be in progress, and her bookcase is not so on fire that she cannot extinguish it in a matter of seconds.