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[DragonRage]

"Entities referred to as 'demons' in many cultures are not inherently malevolent, but rather whether they are considered good or evil is a matter of perspective," Alexandria states, "I prefer to judge based on verifiable fact and actions, rather than such nebulous concepts as dubiously scientific terminology, place of origin, or conceptual nature of one's powers.  In my native universe, many of the best doctors in known space practice the art of necromancy, which in centuries past was once condemned as solely the domain of those who profane the souls and remains of the dead.  The domains of Deception and Destruction may have more positive applications than even I can think of, and I can think of quite a few."  The gynoid shrugs, "Removal of cancerous cells or condemned structures perhaps, or hiding civilians during battle.  You cannot control your origins, only your thoughts and actions, and I have seen nothing objectionable from Sakura or her supernatural sponsors as of yet."

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

"Hm.  Something has attacked this place.  If the fire marshal is still here, he is likely in peril,"  Layers of hexagonal panes of light flash around Alexandria's body as she runs a quick diagnostic on her shields.  More tiny panes materialize seemingly out of nowhere before her outstretched hand, forming a thick barrier in front of her.  Thus fortified, she steps into the doorway, hammer at the ready-in her off-hand.  "We may investigate with due diligence once we know whether he is present or safe.  Please follow me, and stay behind my shield."

[Chevaleresse]

Martyr draws her gun at the sight of the building. "We probably shouldn't charge in. If the thing we're hunting is an ambush predator, wouldn't that be exactly what it wants?"

[Sora]

Sakura listened to the explanation of the Dea and her thoughts started to wander off. She remembered Juno talking about the Clan's tradition, and what it meant to be an Umbra Witch. She was trained to keep the Balance between Light and dark by using the forces of Darkness to counteract any light that would grow too strong. Angels and their machinations were a prime example of that. Especially given the stories of the Witch hunts that she heard about

"Looks like we got a Scholar at our Hands here. It's nice to meet somebody who won't condemn me or my heritage right away. But let me be clear that I intend to be as much a force of positive change in this world as anyone else. My methods just differ from the commonly used practice."

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

The witch jumped out of the van, taking a close look around to see anything suspicious. "If it's an ambush predator, and we can find them before they strike, maybe we can lure them into a trap and turn the tables on them. We should tread carefully though to not fall victim to it..."

[Unlurking Sentinel]

That the seemingly level-headed Alexandria considered necromancy perfectly moral was a shock, but Cicivexa quickly refocused on the rejection of his experience. "When I describe the Voidsent of my star as forces of 'deception and destruction', I refer not to abstract theological domains and ideals, with room for interpretation. I am describing monsters from a foreign reality of Darkness and Void, whose sole desire is to feast on living aether, and some of whom are intelligent enough to employ any means to do so, deceiving mortals into summoning them and allowing them to excise their influence.

"Those are the 'demons' of my world... though I concede that is merely an informal term. If that term is commonly used in the languages and dialects of other stars to refer to beings I cannot bring any such associations to... then there is nothing that I can do about that. I must leave the discretion on this matter to my seniors in this endeavor..."

"...So long as you never again lecture me like a child, as to what annihilation can accomplish. He looked Alexandria in the eyes, and slammed the base of his Stardust Rod against the van floor, as he clutched his soul crystal. "What do you believe I am, if not a chirurgeon's blade upon the canker of my own world?! Even as... to more carefully cure the 'multiverse' without injuring it, I must require further honing." He glanced away again, giving the second and final admittance to his mistake he was willing and prepared to offer.


Sakura at least seemed intelligent. "Allow me a moment, then, to identify where it is hiding." Once again, he relied on the Kanohi Akaku, to now analyze the building.

[StormLord]

Firehouse

As Lyra and everyone else approaches they're hit with an almost noxious stink from the drying ooze, vaguely reminiscent of ammonia and rancid blood.

Looking in through the windows to the living/office side of the firehouse on the right Lyra finds relatively undisturbed spaces, unlit, with large generous-to-code windows at regular intervals.

Daphne gives Martyr a raised eyebrow and askance look as she pulls out the handgun.
"Hunting?  You mean you think whoever is behind this is like...some kind of serial killer?"

As she approaches the doorway Alexandria notices a number of small lumps buried in the ooze and around the edges.  More of the worms, both living and dead as they rapidly desiccate exposed to open air.  The layout of the building seems to be a large double garage on the left, a long hallway in line with the blown-open door, a pair of connected rooms to the right, and a stairway up to more rooms on the floor above.  On the far end of the hallway there's a doorway to the left leading into the garage.  The ooze seems to follow a trail of...footsteps maybe?  Leading down the hall towards the garage door.

"Eww maaan, it's worse in here than the morning after my famous asparagus-mustard burgers"

"Ruck!"

Scooby hacks out a couple coughs and scrapes his tongue at the smell.  Climbing out of the van and hearing Sakura's words Fred pipes up.

"Right, everyone stay together.  We don't want a repeat of the sawmill on the werewolf case."

"Yeah I'd rather NOT be almost cut in half again thank you."

Activating his Mask of Vision Cicivexa is able to rapidly scan the building, the only lifesigns or movement he finds are the occasional twitches and lurches of a few dozen worms in the ooze.  He see the trail of ooze leading into the building and to the garage.  Inside he recognizes some kind of ritual circle, a hole in the roof above, and a humanoid body slumped against the way.  There's a lot of blood and something is...off about the body, it looks emaciated through his mask.

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"We need the utmost caution with this room," pointing toward the garage. "There's an emaciated corpse on the other side, and the remains of a sinister ritual, one that likely created the hole in the roof. If the roof is stable enough, that gives us another angle of attack, one that is less likely to involve a trap."

[Sora]

"If i were the one to construct such a trap, I'd leave an obvious angle open so that another can be overlooked. But that's just my opinion on the matter..."

Yokou gave the Witch her own opinion quite a lot. To be fair, it usually wasn't bad advice. It was just most of the times uncalled for. But such were the extend of the pact they shared.

"If i knew an attack was imminent, I could try to make whoever is in there believe they got me cornered, only for me to jump away at the last second. But that requires that I know quite exactly when I will be attacked"

Sakura was pulling on straws here, but that was better than nothing wasn't it?

[Chevaleresse]

Vi-Ra-Nor wrinkles her nose. It wasn't the first time she'd smelled something nasty like this, but it didn't make it not unpleasant. "A serial killer, or worse. Does this stuff look earthly to you?" She gestures at the slime and the weird. . . worm. . . lumps. "It's some kind of interdimensional monster, probably. A real one, not some girl with a mask and a strobe flashlight."

[AzyWng]

Lyra

Lyra backed away from the window and returned to the rest of the group. Upon hearing Cicivexa's suggestion, she looks up at the roof, trying to gauge how high up it is and whether or not someone could get on it - maybe if someone boosted up someone else? "I'm not sure how we'd get up there, is the thing, assuming there isn't something waiting for us on the roof. I don't suppose any of us can fly?"

Situations like this made Lyra wish she'd brought along a Sidewinder... but there was nothing for it now.

[StormLord]

Firehouse

"C-corpse?   Eeegggghh"

Daphne shives at the thought and crosses her arms.  Fred gives Velma a look and she sighs as well before turning back to the Mystery Machine and grabbing a carpet bag with the word "F O R E N S I C S" on the side in huge red letters.  She adjusts her glasses and looks around.

"Alright gang, try not to touch anything important before I can take a look and the crime scene.  If you think there's someone dangerous possibly still inside we'll wait out here until you say the place is empty."

Those assessing the roof figure the rough brick and siding further up make it a pretty easy climb all considered.  The only issue with dropping through the hole in the roof is having something to break your fall.  There are however a few large second story windows on the building that look easy enough to pry or shim open.

[Chevaleresse]

"I guess that's our cue? If there's nothing else we can see from here." She gestures for Alexandria to go first.

[AzyWng]

Lyra

"I could try to get one of the windows on the second floor open, maybe. I'd go for the roof but I don't know if jumping down into the building from that high is a good idea at all.
Of course, both paths mean I'd be separate from the rest of you - unless you could climb with me. If everyone else is going to go in through the front, I'll be with you."

[Sora]

"I could come with you. I'm not the most proficient climber there is but I can probably make it up there without falling."

Sakura tried to ascertain if the moon was shining right now. Of course, now would've been a good time to ask Phantasmaranae for help, but she was kind of stuck with Yokou for the time being. These two really didn't like each other, so it was best to keep them seperate.

"We can try to jump in when we see somebody coming to spring the trap"

[Unlurking Sentinel]

"I can use a spell to follow you. Worry not."

[AzyWng]

Lyra

"In that case, I'm willing to split up the teams so we can approach from two angles. Sound good?"