Kayin Cloud

K.G. may have ended up setting it up for Darth to post...I'll remind her to fix it or look over it next time we can borrow someone's wifi.

Word up, Vex. Mighty knows his sh- Er... That's good. Hope you don't push yourself too hard though :/

Welcome back to the boards then and welcome to everyone else!

I can do that. 4355-9718-7115

You can actually blame me for this one. I have family in for my cousin's wedding and I was more or less responsible for what's up next. They're leaving tomorrow so we should be back on track then. Really sorry, guys.

Once Dassem's strange activity seemed to have resolved, Chiron knelt down to inspect one of the slain creatures, gathering a chunk of its remaining mass and looking it over as the other two continued. It seemed like it was something that wasn't made in nature of any kind. These seemed to be man-made which was lining Chiron's suspicions up with Victor's. But only someone with a high intellect, impressive technology and a way to keep it all hidden would be the kind of culprit he'd expect. Most likely an alchemist...or potentially worse, another mage. Whatever the answer was, Chiron knew he wasn't going to like where it lead them. He stood up, shoving the sinewy contents into a vial and stowing it away. It was then he poured the vial of Nayomi's blood into the palm of his hand. Instead of spilling through his fingers, it became gelatinous and shaped like a sphere before it expanded into a compass like arrow. "Good, she's still on the move. Her condition is still stable. I'll lead the way," he said, walking ahead of the taller men. He was grateful for Victor's ability. Though snow wasn't too hard to concentrate through, it was nice to be able to focus solely on the task at hand with Victor's shielding.   "So what is your take on our ghoulish friends, Chiron?" Dassem asked, Victor seeming to be interested as well.   Chiron exhaled, watching his breath condense in front of him. "My theory would be that these creatures are indeed unnatural, though not supernatural either. They seem to be manufactured and that would limit our culprits for the most part. They could either be crafted by alchemy or necromancy. Either way, they're nothing I've ever seen or heard of from any of the known planes."   Victor nodded, seemingly in thought. Dassem glanced to Chiron and then to Victor once their larger friend began to speak. "So how hard would it be to trace it back to the source with your skill set, Chiron?"   Chiron tilted his head a bit then sighed before peering over his shoulder. "In all honesty, it depends on just how powerful a being we're dealing with here. If they lack the power or skill to cover up their tracks, it could take me days to a month. If they were too proud in their work, it could take a matter of hours. It's very circumstantial for beings so complex. However..." Chiron paused, thinking a bit on it before he looked back again. "Being that these creatures are as powerful as they seem to be, there can't be too many people with the power or resources to complete them. I would merely need the time to figure things out."   "Well, it's a lead even if it's theoretical. For now we should get to the Wolf and head to town to see what we can't find out for sure," Dassem said after digesting Chiron's input. With that, the three men made their way to find their squad leader. It didn't take much time since she was tracking them as well. "Good to see you're more or less in one piece..." Dassem said, looking over the damage.   "Yeah...Glad to see you three our in one piece though. How'd things go?" Nayomi asked, obviously favoring her shoulder then looking to Chiron. "Really...? Why do you have my blood handy?"   "So that I can be creepy and stalk you to the ends of the earth," Chiron said flatly. As Nayomi's face began to show worry, Chiron chuckled to himself.   "So, the blood mage has a sense of humor...Ha...ha... Not funny," Nayomi huffed before cringing at the pain that racked her body.   Chiron shook his head. "Well, this will be another reason to keep your blood handy," he said, pressing the blood sphere to her shoulder and uttering a few unrecognizable words, causing the wounds to close up and the blood to return to her body. "Though I suppose I'll need another vial sometime," Chiron said with a chuckle, dodging a punch from their leader. "Or I could have just let you suffer longer. Is that how you say thank you?" he asked with a faint smile.   "Yeah, yeah. But seriously, thanks. I can't believe those zombie-like creatures can get so mobile though. I wasn't expecting that kind of speed," Nayomi said, shaking her head and massaging her recovered shoulder wound. "The next step should probably be h-"   "Heading to town, regrouping, and gathering information?" Dassem spoke up, catching Nayomi off guard briefly. "We were thinking that ourselves at least."   Nayomi nodded in agreement. "Well, that's probably our best bet. Anything you guys may have come up with already?" The others filled their squad leader in as they made their way to the town ahead, not sure of what to expect exactly.

I think I joined in '03 or so. Was known as Keiji for a while before I changed to Kayin.

Sounds good. Glad we've gotten things started back up again at least.

Sounds like a plan to me.

No worries. I know KG started one earlier. Two posts are better than one though to get the ball rolling again.

"So they truly do hunt in packs...which means this one must have been the scout. With their current numbers and with very little element of surprise on our side, we would be overwhelmed for sure," Chiron thought out loud, rubbing his jaw briefly. He looked to the others, seeing if any of them had any ideas. They all seemed to be trying to come up with something of their own plan with no promise of a secure place to be. We still can't determine if this is a trap for them or for us until we figure out who planted these remains. Certainly an illusion won't work since they rely on their sense of sm- At that moment, Chiron broke his thoughts. "I've a way to distract them..." He said, drawing the others' focus to him, but by the time they noticed, he had opened a small hole in the shadow realm and stepped into it by himself, closing it behind him.   "You guys don't think he's ditching us do you...?" Dassem asked, eyebrow raised with a small smirk. The other two shook their heads at him though they were likely just as curious of their plans.   Victor seemed to notice something a ways off. Only to see the creatures all take off in the same direction that he had felt something. "They must have noticed it too...That sudden appearance felt like it might have been Chiron. But he's not there any more so what did he find to distract them with?" he asked, the others seeing the portal open and Chiron emerge from it.   "Sorry about that..." Chiron said, wrapping a bandage around his forearm. "That will only distract them for so long. We need to move."   "You managed to lead them that far away with your own blood?" Victor asked, eyebrow raising.   "It was the first thing that came to mind. I did manage to leave it near an animal, but there's no guarantee that they'll pursue it. Any ideas of where to go from here? It's a given that they need to be stopped, but we need to be able to figure out a plan of attack. Going head on against them would be foolish. It would be wise to dwindle their numbers instead before going after the whole pack. But we need to do so in a way that wouldn't draw attention to usshit..." Chiron facepalmed as a thought crossed his mind. "I have a plan that could either really piss them off or really work in our favor."   "Well, couldn't we just plan things in the shadow realm thing that you keep going to?" Nayomi asked him, head tilting.   Chiron shook his head. "The three of you wouldn't be able to survive in there longer than necessary. It's not really for the likes of you. I can go into detail but essentially, the time flow there isn't the same here. It would affect your aging because of it to put it simply," he said, looking to the others. "I'm not going to risk that. Now we could individually wound the four toward the rear of the pack, but given how durable they truly are, we wouldn't be able to just do a hit and run. We'll have to seriously damage them first. Once they're wounded, however, we'll need to escape quickly. Once we do, it could slow the pack down enough to work on the stronger ones, but we'd have to be able to actually single them out. The problem is, there's no guarantee we could all stick together or coordinate enough of a strike against multiple Corpses that would take them out of the fray... For now, we have Victor's barrier. Once they make their return, I'll place us elsewhere so we have a chance to come up with something at least. If anyone has any suggestions, speak now. Our time is limited."   (OOC: Just trying to give us a little push forward for now. May add to it when I have more time though.)

With a fanged grin, Herutama took advantage of the downed and blinded Balor, leaping from the spot he stood before pinning the remaining arm of the Balor with his jaws. "Thish ish for Kat!!" he shouted as he tore Jin's sword arm off from the elbow down and drove his own blade into his chest. The blade anchored the massive writing body into the ground as Jin screamed in agony. Heru wiped his mouth and spat the demon's blood on the ground. He panted heavily but a grin stuck to his face. "I've been waiting for this day too, but I was expecting you to come after me as a human, Jin. The day you came after me would have been the day I'd kill you in self-defense. But this...this is going to be payback..." his eyes narrowed as he spoke as he could see the edge of Jin's blade edging toward his waist instead of his heart. "Sorry, can't have that..." Heru drew out his revolver, firing three rounds into each of the Balor's legs before tearing them clean off from the hip.   "GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Jin let out a blood-curdling scream as he flailed his handless arms against the ground, trying to free himself of his own weapon. "H-Herutama, p-please stop this!"   "You're begging me for your life...? Do you think you deserve mercy? What about Kat? She deserved mercy...but you killed her out of your hatred for me and put me to blame. You were a demon before you died...so you'll die as one, Jin!!" Herutama shouted, slugging Jin's face hard enough to bury his head into the ground without removing him from his sword.   "Ungh...P-ple...please...s-spare m-me..." Jin grunted, fighting to lift his head out of the ground before he was caught with the same impact from Heru's head this time.   "I'm going to treat you to my own personal hell. Then I'll think about sparing you, you heartless piece of ****..." Heru's eyes narrowed as his claws dug into both of Jin's shoulders as he thrust them clear through the scale and muscle. For almost an hour, Heru did everything while leaving the demon within an inch of his life. Heru panted heavily before looking up at his sister's grave and then to Etna who seemed to be concerned for him. He closed his eyes before returning to his human form. "Fine..." his eyes rested sadly on Ekaterina's grave marker as he approached and placed his hands on top of it. "For you...I'll let him live... I know killing him isn't what you'd want. I'm sorry, Kat...deeply and truly..." Heru reached over and snatched the sword from Jin's chest and looked down to the Balor. "You're a strong Demon. But you've always been a demon. ...But you were also my sister's father. I'll let you live, but I swear this upon Kat's and mother's graves. If you pursue, look for, or attack any of my pack...I'll kill you in one shot. Got it?"   Jin nodded weakly as Etna looked to Heru. "You sure you really want to leave that to chance?"   "Yeah...if he comes after me...or even you again...he'll regret it in hell..." Heru replied, looking to Etna before giving her a nod. He gritted his teeth as he forcibly removed the deeply driven sword from the demon's chest. Within a few minutes, he gathered all of Jin's limbs, looking to the demon. "...Be careful of demon hunters while you recover. Play dead if they show up...otherwise you'll be in a very lopsided fight..." Jin remained silent as his head turned toward Heru. "What?" Heru said flatly. "Do you want put out of your misery, old man? Not gonna happen."   "Why..." Jin spoke weakly. "Why spare me..."   "...Demon or not, you've got a second chance. Don't **** it up," Heru said, gathering his things and cleaning up his sister's grave marker. He started walking away, Etna following soon after. Don't make me regret this, you bastard...

Name: T.J. aka "Tempo"   Age: 25   Appearance: Tempo   Equipment: Tempo created his own weapon suitable for his fighting style: The Nova Gloves and Boots. These reinforced boots and gloves are armored enough to allow Tempo to punch through the hull of a ship with little reprucussive damage. On top of which, they are equipped with internal generators that are powered by the number of blows thrown with each one. Given enough power, T.J. can use them to generate searing heat or even electricity. The energy can be discharged in a one-shot projectile once powered enough, though it depletes the generators in all of the units.   Skills: Tempo is a hand-to-hand specialist as well as being very tech-savvy. While not a complete hacker, he did single-handedly engineer the design for his Nova Gloves and Boots. While being small in size may have their disadvantages, he takes every advantage of his height when he can.   Snippet: "From shaaadooooows weeee'll deeeeescend upon the world, take back what you stoole-" Tempo sang to himself quietly as he regulated his breathing with each blow, striking to the beat of the song in his headphones. He bounded from the floor, slamming his left knee into the robot's center before landing a solid right kick to send the machine sliding sideways across the ground despite it raising its arms to defend itself. Tempo could be heard singing the same song as he hit the ground running after the bot as it rose to its feet and opened fire on Tempo. Lowering his body, he bounded forward with an explosive force from his boots over the incoming fire before coming down like a meteor on the machine with his right fist. The war machine managed to avoid taking unsustainable damage and tried to get up to move from the young man's offensive by discharging electricity from its body. Unfortunately, it backfired as an overheated knuckle punched clear through the mechanical body. Tempo withdrew his hand, shaking the heat from his fist. His other hand reached up to press pause on his headphones, lowering them to rest on his collar.   "Nicely done, T.J. Maybe you ought to try saving some of the training bots for the rest of us next time though, huh?" a brown haired man chuckled as he walked into the simulation room, seeing the training machines scattered about in pieces. "You know it helps when you leave enough parts to salvage, right?" he added with a smirk.   "Listen, Hunter... You and I both know these bots are recycled into new and stronger training machines based off of gathering information from their defeat. If they can't adjust to my fighting style transitioning, they'd better make some better observations in the lab. Otherwise, it's just showing that my style of fighting is effective enough to not be predicted," Tempo replied, shaking his head.   "Yeah, but you'd think they'd figure it out with all of those oldies you listen to," Hunter laughed.   "Think you can read it then?" T.J. looked at Hunter with a challenging glance. Hunter shook his head with a nervous chuckle. "Come on, Hunter, you're as skilled at close quarters as I am with your streetfighting. Why do you continue refusing to spar with me?"   Hunter scratched the back of his head with a grin. "Well, you see, if we got into it, there's a good chance one of us would wind up knocked out and they might need us on a mission so...er...yeah..."   T.J. stared at Hunter blankly for a while. "Either you're scared you'll beat me or scared that you'll lose. Having a hard time figuring out which it is right n-"   "Attention UFO operatives: New mission is being assigned. If you are summoned, report to the director's office immediately. Tempo-" blared over the intercom, interrupting T.J.   "Gotta jet. Don't think you're out of the woods yet," T.J. said as he slipped his headphones on before taking off toward the director's office to be briefed on his mission.

Chiron awoke with a start as his alarm went off, still a little shaken up from the conversation he left the prior evening off with. He shook his head, exhaling sharply as he rose out of bed. It wasn't the first time he woke up that way, but it didn't make him any more used to it. He rolled his neck, popping the stiffness free from it before rubbing the base of his neck. He rubbed his eyes, seeing the time was roughly seven hundred hours. He took a half hour to himself to get refreshed for the day. He stepped into the shower, cleaning himself off thoroughly, cringing a bit at a recent scar on his back. "Still hasn't healed completely..." he sighed, going back to washing the rest of himself. After washing his lengthy hair and drying it along with himself with the aid of a quick spell, he got himself dressed with a second spell as his shadow engulfed his body then descended again. The man walked out of his bathroom in his regular attire, gathering the items he carried in his pockets since he could summon the remainder of his belongings if need be. Once he was prepared, it was about 0745 so he decided it would be a good a time as any to head to the mess hall.   As the mage stepped into the hallway, he felt something amiss. "No, she should be dead..." Chiron's eyes narrowed as he disappeared into his own shadow, appearing within Victor's to his surprise. He braced the massive soldier before, looking up to the troops who were just as confused as he was. "What happened here?" he asked, his glance moving curiously to Victor's hand on the wall.   "W-we don't know, sir. He started acting like he had a sudden migraine and-"   "That's alright. Victor, Victor are you with us?" Chiron said, shaking the soldier. This can't be good. How could she influence him with her soul gone? he thought to himself, trying everything to get through to him and remove his hand from the wall before Dassem arrived. After explaining the situation and a bit more time and effort, the two got their squadmate free. With a sigh of relief, he let the old friends talk about what happened as he investigated the area, only to further his suspicions. As Victor departed the two, Chiron looked to Dassem before heading along with him to the Mess Hall. "Dassem, I've been meaning to tell you something."   "What's on your mind, Chiron?" Dassem asked, glancing over his shoulder at the blood mage. "You're generally not too talkative," he added with a chuckle.   "While this is true, I've been meaning to thank you," Chiron said, glancing ahead of the two. He could see the questioning look on Dassem's face so he saved him the trouble of asking. "For essentially saving me back there. However it was that you dispatched the demon kept me from losing myself."   "Wait, so you made a pact with the demoness back at the church? What if anyone else had killed her, Magus?" Dassem asked, stopping in his tracks, causing Chiron to do the same.   "I would have survived..." Chiron said, looking over his shoulder. "But the consequences would have been dire. Surely you must have heard that I'm considered a 'risk' to any squadron that takes me. Not unlike Wolf, there are two sides to me in a sense. There is my soul, and the soul who originally owned my weapon," he explained, the two walking again. They made their way into the mess hall and grabbed some food to go as well as something for Nayomi and Victor. "The demoness made a pact with the Doom Sickle's original owner. Had she died and her soul survived, he would have absorbed her soul and had the chance to overwhelm my strength of will...and there would have been no way to be sure if I could win my body back."   "Sounds like quite the gamble you took back there, huh... You really wanted to save that kid, huh?" Dassem asked, taking a bite of the muffin he'd picked up for himself. "What would you have us do if you ever did fully lose it?"   Chiron gave no response initially, looking ahead as the two made their way to meet with their squad. After a long silence, Chiron finally spoke. "If you couldn't subdue me long enough for me to recover, you will cut me down. I expect you not to hesitate, Dassem. Our squad cannot afford it," he said solemnly, eyes closed.   "Should...we tell the others?" Dassem asked with an eyebrow raised.   "You're the only one I trust who could kill me...And I'll entrust that task to solely you," Chiron said casting a shadow over his palm, drawing blood from it as it filled the lines of his hand. He reached out to Dassem, pressing it to his shoulder and uttered a few words. "Wear this rune like you wear the others and you will be protected from the shadows that strike against you..." Chiron exhaled as the blood disappeared and the rune seemed to do the same. "I apologize if it comes across as a burden, but at least I can grant you a bit of insurance," Chiron said giving a very faint smile before heading back toward the meeting room.

"So what do you wanna do on our date?" Kurama asked Anue with a chuckle, hands shoved in his pockets with his button down shirt only halfway buttoned up. He looked ahead on the sidewalk as Anue walked alongside him. There wasn't a whole lot left to do in this town. Despite him making it a personal point to protect it, he couldn't save all of it of course. He glanced down to the young woman with a smile. "I'd say we could hit the bar but it's a little early in the day for that," he shrugged, still smiling.   Anue shook her head, looking to the presently black-haired man. "I'm not sure....are there any amusement parks?" she asked, looking hopeful.   Kurama shook his head, shrugging. "Not in this town, I'm afraid..." replied the half-demon, looking up in thought. Anue sounded deflated as she let out a sigh in response to his answer. "Geeze, lady. You tend to forget, I'm a half-demon... One who can teleport...You know? Freely? At-will? Just as long it's somewhere I've been," he said, glancing to her with an eyebrow raised. "So we're going to an amusement park then, okay?"   Anue smiled brightly and nodded excitedly. "Alright, let's get going then!" she shouted, grabbing Kurama by one of his arms. "Work your magic, mister!"   Kurama stared blankly. "It's not m- whatever. Just hang on, goofball," he said, the two disappearing from sight.   Connecticut, United States   Heru avoided Jin's onslaught as best as he could, unable to get any openings with the flurry of attacks and so little room to fight back with the demon's extensive range. He hadn't even had the chance to shift yet for fear that he might be caught off guard in the midst of his transformation. Despite the short span of time it took for him to shift, he wasn't going to chance it. However, there was no way he was going to take Jin on like this without turning the tide somehow. It hit him quickly. So quickly he didn't realize it until he was knocked off of his feet by the Balor's whip. As Jin aimed to plunge his sword into Heru's chest, Heru turned enough for the blade to strike the knife in his vest. In the moment it struck, Herutama became the Vulvitorr he needed to be for this fight, knocking Jin off balance with a quick sweep and lunging for him like a wolf on its prey only to meet air. Unfortunately the impact of the knife against his chest knocked some of the wind out of him or he probably would have landed his attack. Heru had to catch his breath briefly as he watched Jin take to the air, lashing a blazing whip down at Heru. Heru caught the whip in his fangs despite the burning, pulling the Balor down to his level and landing a solid fist to Jin's face. The Balor crashed into the ground, catching himself before Heru could get a head-start in on him. "You're wasting your time, boy. You don't stand a snowball's chance in hell against me!"   "I'm not your 'boy' anymore, Jin. I never WAS!!" Heru snarled as he charged toward the Balor, parrying his sword with his claws alone until he was inside Jin's range. He leapt up and let loose a flurry of blows, each landing into Jin's midsection, every attack increasing in ferocity before he could feel heat gathering where his blows were landing. He quickly kicked off of Jin's chest before the Balor's body exploded with hellfire. Heru landed carefully, bracing himself for the heat to reach him, but luck was on his side as he escaped the range of the flames just barely. He let out a huff through his nostrils, staring up at Jin with mild irritation. "Fancy."   "Isn't it though?" Jin grinned widely, flames wreathing his sword. "It makes it much easier to cut through flesh this way," Jin laughed as he charged for Heru again but was caught by a ball of neon green hellfire and sent sideways by the sudden impact. "What the...?"   Heru's eyes widened as they headed to the source of the fire. As if he didn't already expect it, he saw a heavily breathing redhead with flame still surrounding her hand and hatred in her bright yellow eyes. "What in the nine hells are you doing here? You're gonna get yourself killed!" Heru said, sounding more concerned than upset.   "I came to rescue your fuzzy hide, Heru," Etna responded, watching as Jin got back to his feet, looking rather pissed himself. "And don't ask how I found you. I just did what I had to do. I had a nightmare about you and when you were go-"   "I get it, Etna. Let's deal with him so you don't have to relive that nightmare, alright?" Heru cut her off since there was a lot more important things to worry about. Considering the demon that stood before the two of them.   "How touching, Herutama. Is this your mate or something like that? Being a wolf-like beast and all. She must be a half-blood just like you. It will be my pleasure to rid this world of both of you then!" he shouted, hellfire spewing from his gaping maw toward the two half-demons.

Shwa's right. We all have our crosses to bear. We're not here to discuss personal issues. We're here to discuss the RP. So let's stick to discussing the RP. KG's running the RP with things on our mind, but that doesn't mean we can't help her figure things out. In the meanwhile, let's all have some patience here, and just enjoy the RP.

"One of these days maybe she'll stop asking me favors. She's our team leader, she could just as easily issue orders to me. The gesture is pleasant, but unnecessary," the pale-skinned man spoke to himself quietly as he read the book in his own solitude again. "I suppose that's just Nayomi. Better to request than force someone to do something, hm?" he spoke again, eyes narrowing.   "You say this though you willingly force me to be your strength because your own is insufficient!" a voice familiar to Chiron came from within his mind before the man was standing in the realm of shadows, seeing a mere outline of a man in front of him, crimson eyes boring into him with a glare.   "Silence yourself. I figured out the only reason you made that pact with the witch. Surely you didn't think I wasn't prepared for you to gain her strength should she perish traditionally," Chiron returned the glare.   The figure remained silent before a wide gleam of a white grin came from where his face would be. "Come now, Chiron. Why ever would you think I'd do that to you? Cert-" he was interrupted as a bright light appeared around Chiron's fist, staggering the figure. "AGH! Stop being so unreasonable!" it pleaded toward the blood mage. Chiron extinguished the light, staring at the figure. "Ugh...F-fine... I know you aren't stupid. I've known you since you were a mere child after all..." he said, catching his breath and looking to the mage. "Can we just call it even after that one?"   "For what reason should I be so foolish? 'Because of all of the power I give you and ask nothing in return' always seems to be your response and it's getting old. You must know by know I know how to make the Doom Sickle rightfully mine..." Chiron said, still furious at the soul who stood before him.   "What are you talking about? That isn't possible, so stop your bluffing, Magus," the figure chuckled with a grin. "If you knew how to do it, you would have done it by now. Or would you just miss me too much?" he asked before loosing a chorus of maniacal laughter.   Chiron shook his head, closing his eyes and when he reopened them, he was back on the material plane. He closed the book he was reading it, returning it to its rightful place. He was then behind Nayomi in an instant as the two headed to be briefed for the next mission. Chiron looked to his comrades after receiving the same update with this mission. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he was still very exhausted mentally from the fight with Clair. He glanced to Dassem, sighing softly. He was grateful to him and his sword, for if not for that, Chiron might have been lost as well. He would be sure to thank him for it in time, but he didn't think now was the time. The squad was dismissed and Chiron was even less at ease after hearing the Commandant's comment. It wasn't the threat of the gods' return, but his own situation. He only had a grasp on what had to be done in order to gain full control over the Doom Sickle, but he knew it would take more research. But now was the time to go rest his mind. He slipped through the shadow he cast on the wall, returning to his own room through the shadow plane.   Chiron took a seat on his bed, laying back and staring up at the ceiling. He shook his head as it was flooded with memories of his childhood, closing his eyes tightly. If only... Too bad I can't go back to that day. He sighed as he usually did, rolling onto his side. "Supposed to relax, Chiron. Just...relax until the mission," he said to himself, eventually dozing off into another empty dream.