TKaG, A Prologue (IC)

[Isle of Lithonia]

---

It had been around a year since the members of the Illuminati had first left Chimera Tower. And through an interesting set of circumstances, they now found themselves back at the same.

The Tower was the HQ of the world's largest arms manufacturer: Chimera Industries. Found in the heart of Seattle Washington, the massive structure was one of the many wonders of the modern world. Most of the inside had an extremely open layout, the colors and general shapes of the rooms mimicking the metals and technology of the postmodern world. Most of the walls were merely massive windows, looking out at the city beyond. Several businessmen and personnel hurried along with their duties, paying little attention to anything outside of their current business. And at first glance, this entire Tower was just an abnormally high-quality business center.

But beneath this lay the most powerful semi-criminal syndicate in the entire world: the New Satan's Disciples (NSD). This syndicate boasted of many powerful members such as the Latin Kings, New Gangster Disciples, Russian Mafia, numerous Italian Mafia families, Folk Nation, Public Enemy No. 1, Irish Mob, Academi Security, and most importantly, Chimera Industries. And the Illuminati, well, they were the all-important assassination, mass destruction, and god-killer branch of the NSD. It was their task to undermine Ira Dei, and take the fight back to the heavens.

The members were dropped off at the main lobby on the first floor, where they were soon joined by Balaam's newest recruits.

[Finland SSR]

"Move it. boy! The tower isn't going to come here by itself!"

It was a strange sight indeed. On a red park bench, you could see a teenage-looking man, probably aged 15 or 16, sitting, heavily engrossed in the black smartphone in his hands, while next to it, there was a blond woman in a trench coat with an RPD in her right hand standing and commanding her to move. There was constant banter between the two, but unfortunately to the lady, the "parade" was not moving anywhere.

"Just one minute, okay..." The boy, who is known as Eric, muttered the short, but common to his speech phrase. Looking at the screen of the phone he was holding, you could see an orange burrito flying through large Super Mario pipes, "flapping" and cleanly moving though the gaping holes between the obstacles. The score counted at 65, and increasing by one with every pipe flown through. Eric was really engrossed to it lately, after downloading it a few days ago. Unfortunately, however, the phone and his hands were getting incredibly hot, but to him, it was great - today was a rather cool day.

"Your minutes are, like, what, half an hour long?" The woman, Emilija, shouted in frustration, and Eric responded with his stock phrase of 'just one minute'. This was getting ridiculous. They are already late, but her host just couldn't get his ass off the bench. Especially when THE TARGET BUILDING IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. You asked for it, child. Time for some serious measures. Emilija raised her RPD and pointed it at Eric's forehead. However, thanks to the game, he did not even notice it. "HEY! Look at me!" the woman exclaimed, and for the first time in a few hours, the boy raised his eyes for a second, almost immediately dropping the phone and jumping behind the bench.

"Do you know how many bullets this gun can fire per minute?" Emilija asked with a sly smirk while grabbing the phone that Eric dropped. No response. "I don't know either, 'Eric', but it's definitely enough to turn this phone into mush. Now, please, can you turn around and walk into that building 15 meters away?"

"God damn it, Ms. Emilija, you don't need to point your gun at everything that doesn't do what you want."

"Why not? You know what they say - A McDonalds does serve breakfast after 10:30, but only if you have a gun. Now move it, boy!" As if taking a prisoner, she poked Eric in the stomach, then pushed him forward towards the Chimera Tower. Still holding the phone though, which showed a "YOU FAILED" screen and a score of 71. The duo crossed the empty street, and the boy opened the door, slowly entering the designated building.

[Altito Asmoro]

The bus stopped near the terminal across the Chimera Industries' building. The HQ, actually.

Pierre stood at the terminal after the bus gone. Brought a backpack behind him, he was led to here. Months ago, he dreamed of a demon, appearing in the form of...Goebbels, former Minister of Propaganda during the darkest era of the modern period of Europe, Nazi period. A friend of Hitler, a successful orator and filmmaker, and a very good propagandist. From what he spoke of, Pierre was chosen as one of many who will fight for the fate of humanity.

Clearly, it's a very hard choice. He had to left his hardware store to his uncle, preparing stuffs for his trip to the building in USA. To make the trip safer and easier, he went from Marseille to Vancouver via plane, and since Canada is a Francophone and Anglophone nation, it's easier to get his way to the building. At least he didn't had to learned English so hard.

He went to Seattle from Vancouver via train and bus with all of the money he could brought of. During his trip, he chatted with his familiar, a term Joseph said about who he is to Pierre. A protector and a contractor, a contract was formed between them through the use of the dream earlier back in Marseille. He made a good relationship with his familiar.

Anyway, now he's on the front of the building. He made his way to the building.

[Saleon]

David Crentley takes the bus to Chimara Industries. He wakes up two stops away with his sister smacking him in the knees. "OW! Why did you have to watch that violent movie," he cried out while trying to yawn. He picked up his supplies and made it off the bus. "she hits like a *****," he mumbled.

Anyway, now he's on the front of the building. He made his way to the building.

"'hello random person..." he said trying to be friendly, "I'm gonna guess you are here to kill angels?"

[Charmera]

We haven't been here in a long time... Jim muttered in Laura's brain, the girl looking at her hand for a moment in contemplation. Jim noticed her errant thoughts. You did what you had to do. He spoke up. Laura mentally sighed in response, closing her hand into a fist and bringing it to her side, then relaxing it. Her slight, barely noticeable frown returned to her usual neutral face. New recruits... She thought. Wonderful. The strange thing was she wasn't entirely sure how sarcastic that was. Perhaps she wasn't exactly being fair.

I suppose dying a million times tends to make you less trusting of good things. She wondered. We could use a few more members. She decided pragmatically.

"So. These are the reinforcements..." She commented, seeing those who had managed to arrive early or on time. "This it?" She asked, her voice not betraying the fact she was mildly unimpressed, but still willing to give them a chance. After all, they were not too much better themselves.

[Finland SSR]

-snipper-

"Sorry, sorry. We're kind of late." Emilija stated, trying to come up with good excuses for why that was the case. Maybe they were not actually late at all, as there still were not that many people nearby. Or maybe everyone just got unlucky and got gamer nerds like Eric as well. Well, at least the excuse was right in front of her. "This lazy kid took hours to get off the bench and move on!"

"Oh, now you're just going to hyperbolize the situation in front of people I barely know?" Eric looked at the demoness and shouted at her. The two started bickering again.

"Stay back, imbecile! This is a real bardakas! don't get that close!"

"Oh, the insult bomb? Why don't you just go back in my body and rant from there? At least the others won't have to hear your lashing voice!"

"You've done it now, child!" Almost immediately, Emilija sent a hard slap to Eric's left cheek. The force of the impact sent his head away a bit. The boy was furious, but he knew he won''t be able to do anything to her. She's a demoness, and he's a normal teenager, at least when she is outside. Instead, he reached onto his pocket, took out his second smartphone and started rapidly typing.

"What now?" Emilija was confused, though still had not calmed down from before.

"What do you think? I'm typing up an angry tweet about your behavior and that I hate my life and such."

"Wait, what?" The two were arguing for so long they had even forgotten that there were people watching them.

[Atlannia]

The car was silent except for the scratching of pen on paper. The luxurious leather rear seat of the car was half occupied by a girl in a school uniform with her legs crossed underneath her and half taken up by a languid woman in a long, blue dress. The scratching was emanating from the girl's lap and the woman lounged idly on the seat, dividing her gaze between the window on her right and the girl, a cocktail dangling in one slender hand.

"Are you sure you don't want a drink?" asked the woman, wiggling her glass invitingly. "I mix them myself,"

For a while the only response was the continued scratching of pen on paper and then the girl looked up, tucking a strand of hair out of her face and eyeing the glass warily, one eyebrow raised. Whatever liquid was contained in the glass was an alarming shade of neon purple and seemed to be glowing slightly, although it may have been a trick of the dim light. "That's why I don't want one," she said before drooping her head to turn her attention back to her notebook. "Besides I'm working,"

"In 'the Importance of Being Earnest' Oscar Wilde uses farce as a vehicle for political satire, discuss." read the woman aloud, peering over the girl's shoulder to read her notebook "Or you could just shoot yourself," she suggested drily "It would be more fun,"

"I'm not writing this for fun," said the girl tersely "I'm going to meet these stupid demons and avert this stupid apocalypse and then hand in this stupid essay on stupid Oscar Wilde's stupid play and it's gonna be the best goddamn essay anyone's ever handed in,"

"All before supper no doubt," said the woman drily, before suddenly throwing back her glass, draining it completely. "We're here," said the woman, as the car slowed smoothly to halt. "I can't face my superiors without being some kind of drunk, they're as boring as Oscar Wilde,"

"I doubt it," replied the girl, putting down her pen and shrugging on her navy blue blazer. "Have you read this play?"

"Oh they are," assured the woman as the driver got out and opened the door for her, "Nobody interesting builds a tower, interesting people knock towers down,"

The girl opened her own door before the tuxedoed driver could make it to her side of the car.

The car started up again and pulled away quietly as the pair, the girl in her school uniform and the woman in her long blue dress, started walking towards the enormous tower ahead of them.

The woman entered the lobby first, looking extremely bored and the girl followed after her, warily scanning the room from corner to corner. Milling at various points in the spacious areas were a group of people that seemed roughly half teenagers and half people of various ages, some of them very strangely dressed. To one side a pair of these figures, a weedy looking blond boy and a girl in a trench coat were arguing loudly and heatedly.

"So did you people literally just grab random passer-bys off the street or did you specifically try and find idiots?" the girl asked, she was addressing the woman at her side but made no attempt to lower her voice.

[The Republic of Atria]

"So. God is pissed and has his mind set on blowing up the earth? And we have to stop him?" Kilian asked on his way to the tower. If what he was hearing was right, then a wild ride was certain to follow.

"That's the gist of it." His familiar, Naja replied.

"Has anyone ever mention that the whole idea of trying to kill the creator of the universe is a bit... Absurd? And how long is this gonna take?" He asks. He was a Christian, and used to go to church, but the apocalypse certainly wasn't playing out how the good book said it was going to. "Which means I was lied to. I hate a lot of things. Cats, lettuce, Walter White's wife in Breaking Bad, School, and being lied to. Not in any particular order.

"You're asking a lot of questions. But in order, yes, and I have no clue." She replied to yet another barrage of questions. Answering them wasn't a big deal. All things considered, the human was pretty much volunteering to go on a suicide mission.

"Well, I'm pretty sure school is cancelled on account of the apocalypse... I likely wasn't going to graduate, so there's a silver lining to this. Fuckin' hate school. I wonder if at some point I can blow it up and blame it on the apocalypse? Think I could do that?" Kilian hated school for more than one reason. After his mother dying, it was like adding insult to injury just having to go and deal with condescending dickheads he wasn't getting paid to deal with.

"Possibly. Who knows, Maybe you'll make some friends and have them do it with you. We're here. The Chimera tower." Naja stops and points at the large tower. "Some of the others are meeting us here. So you need to go around and meet some people, make allies and try not to die." She says and goes right back into knife mode, which Alex puts in his sheathe.

"You're not my supervisor!"

[Drakmah]

The sun peaked over the clouds as the morning began to take light, a deep red and orange glow coming over the balcony of Daeshan’s apartment as he sat, legs crossed, meditating on the now warm tile. His meditation consisted of reflecting on the previous days events and going through the spiritual sequences of using his powers. To one looking over him they would notice how his aura would change, going from the brown of the Ox, to the green of the Turtle and so on and so forth, each transition marked by the roaring of the spirits as he shifted between them. His demon resided in his hand wraps as he meditated, likely doing the same in the spirit world.

His focus was broken by a chilling hand on his shoulder, his eyes opening as he slowly looked up, giving a respectful head nod toward Jhekuashi as he stood over him, blue wisps ethereal magic flowing off of him as he stood over his student in spirit form.

"Daeshan, while i never encourage the halting of meditation, it is urgent that we leave for Chimera tower, we are to be expected soon."

By soon Daeshan knew he meant that they were to be there a few hours from now. The reason for leaving now being that instead of using a vehicle to reach the destination, both preferred to walk. Daeshan for the exercise and Jhekuashi for the wonder of looking at all of the buildings. He was a very simple man, and the tall buildings of the modern world fascinated him. He would always remark on the way they looked and compare them to the huts in his village. Daeshan never laughed but he found the remarks funny in an interesting way, as while in combat and discipline he was mentored by his demon, when it came to the wonders of the modern world he was almost like a mentor to his demon.

He packed up a few things. While he would have worn more modern clothing to fit into the Seattle crowd, he decided that should he have to perform any combat demonstrations at the tower jeans and a sweatshirt would be too restrictive. He went into his closet and pulled out something combat appropriate and quite a lot lighter as well, a simple tunic and pants. He slung his robe on over it as the handwraps materialized back onto his hands, Jhekuashi fading in next to him, dressed in similar tribal wear. They had traveled together like this before and drawn weird looks, but most took them for the type of people who dressed like that for fun or one of the religious fanatics. He always smiled when people brushed him off as someone who did that, knowing they knew nothing of the world around them.

He shut his apartment door behind him, happy to be out of the house. His parents believed he was doing an internship and had thus allowed him to rent this apartment to be closer to his "job". While he had been raised to never lie to his parents, Jhekuashi had assured him that for the greater cause he was fighting for permitted such a fib to allow him to fight without trouble. They journeyed down the street, Daeshan lost in his own thoughts as he walked the familiar route to the tower. Back when they used to train harder to get him into shape he ran back and forth the tower once a day, not only helping his running and speed but also burning the path into his head. They took a slow pace, as Daeshans body was about as fit as it was going to get so running to the meeting seemed unnecessary. Jhekuashi remarked on different building as he always did and Daeshan happily explained their function and how they were made. As time passed they began to near the tower and he began to jog, wanting to wake his muscles up. They arrived quite quickly, his yellow aura speeding him along. As they reached the tower he slowed down and began to breathe differently to recover any lost stamina, however little, that he had lost. Together he and his mentor entered the building.

There seemed to be a few people around, likely people in the same situation like him from what Jhekuashi had told him. His demon stood at his side as he viewed the room. He turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "What shall we do now?" He asked, his face calm. Jhekuashi smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Just relax, take a seat if you would like. I highly doubt that these are all the people who are coming so you should have some time to mill about and talk if you would like. Either way if fine. Once everyone arrives i would like you back here, as the leaders of this organization do not take kindly to those that are out of line."

Daeshan nodded and bowed slightly, but Jhekuashi wasnt finished. "As I am sure we will see soon enough, those more powerful will likely use it should someone be out of line, while i was lucky, some of my kin have not been blessed with a structured pupil such as yourself. I am interested how they will react to them."

Daeshan bowed once again and thanked him for the compliment. He never thought himself easy but then again he wasn't very difficult. He walked back closer to the door to see if anyone was interested in conversating.

[Rob Halfordia]

Damien walked down the street, the Chimera tower in sight. A tall suited skeletal being walked behind him, the chains descending from where ears would usually be rattled in the wind, and Damien spoke, "You know Vic, you could give me a few more details about why we're going here, not just where we're going and who we're meeting. It bothers me not knowing the full details.", he said, clearly perturbed by not knowing something.

Vic's skeletal mouth didn't move as he spoke, speaking clearly without the need to move his mouth, "I know it bothers you, and I find it amusing. But, aside from my own amusement, you need not hear it from me. You'll know soon enough.", he said in a raspy and chilling voice, the clamps around his mouth keeping it firmly shut.

Damien's face grew an annoyed look, "I don't really care about your amusement, I want to know what's going on. How useful am I going to be to eliminating the Ira Dei if I have no idea what in the Hell is going on? If you haven't figured out yet, I'm not the strongest person out there. My mind is just about all I got, and if there is any structural weakness in it, it's no longer maximizing its potential. So if you want me to be useful, then tell me what you are withholding."

Vic's expressionless face moved not as he spoke, "If you really want to know, I'm not the one to tell you. Ask someone else who knows more about what they're talking about.", he said, not wanting to discuss it any further, before suddenly saying something to shut Damien up, "Otherwise, we could always find somebody else."

The demon's words had the intended effect, and Damien stopped questioning him. The last thing he wanted was to go back to his boring old life. While he often feigned apathy, it was really just a result of his boredom. He felt as though nothing was worth his time and effort. But this was different. Now, he had some excitement. The kind of excitement that rushes through someone when there is a chance for a devastating storm or global war. Even though something terrible could potentially happen, the danger was exciting, and even sometimes adrenaline inducing. He wouldn't pass this up for anything.

As the thoughts of what might come next rushed through Damien's head, he involuntarily smiled, unable to maintain his apathetic and annoyed look. Vic noticed, and if he could smile, he would have. He knew that Damien was craving the chance for excitement just based off the look he gave, and spoke once more, "If you listen to me, I assure you that we will go far in this little 'war'. With my powers and your intelligence, we would already a force to be reckoned with. But, as time goes on, we could become the most powerful beings on the planet, and maybe even the universe.", he said, hoping to ignite the spark within the enthused mortal before him.

Damien continued smiling as he responded, "If what you say is true, I'll obey you. I want that power, I want it more than anything, and I'll sacrifice whatever I need to for it. Maybe then, I'll finally get some excitement in my life.", he said, as they began to approach the tower.

"That's good.", Vic said. He cared not for the boy's feeling or state of being, but instead simply wished to use him as a vessel. But, he was starting to develop a connection with Damien, even if he didn't know it. His life and Damien's were intertwined. He needed Damien as a host, and that meant that he needed to protect Damien. Vic transformed as Damien caught him, speaking as they approached the doors, "Remember, listen to what they say. That's our ticket to what you and I seek."

Damien nodded as he stuck the scythe in the sheath on his back, and wrapped the chain around over his right shoulder and under his left one, with the end eventually just hanging over his right shoulder. Looking around at the others, a state of apathy returned to his face. He simply leaned on the wall in the room and nonchalantly swung around a small section of the chain of his weapon, which was still hanging over his right shoulder.

[Wine-loving Chimps]

Brian Carmichael should have been the first to arrive, seeing as he lived a 20 minute walk away from the building. Instead, he had shown up a little bit late to the party, due to the fact that he had gotten into an argument, again, with his demon familiar....


''... UUURRRGGGH.... kids these days...'' moaned a voice in Brian's head as he strolled past a playground full of the things.'' They won't be so foolishly laughing when I get round to them. Because they will be dead!''

Brian recoiled in horror, stopping his walk for a moment'' Jesus...''

''OOHHH, we're bringing him into the conversation now, are we? He cheated in a game of poker against me once, the jerk!''

''... You're saying Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of the Christian religion... cheated on a game of poker against you?''

Jimenez explained'' It was a cultural exchange between heaven and hell, bloodily bastards! They wanted to improve relations, those bullshitting cloud wanderers! So 3 angels and 3 demons competed in a historic round of poker to show that even though we have our differences we are still supernatural... or some other complete bullshit invented by somebody who's never been told ''No'' for a thousand years! Whatever. Of course the fucker had to cheat in this game!''

Brian was now genuinely intrigued'' How exactly did you get short-handed... by Jesus? ''

''The fucker drew out an ace and beat my king on the 4th round, the jerk!''

''...Um... that sounds like a legit move.''

''F*** YOU, SMARTASS!''

Brian Carmichael staggered and crashed into a wall with that deafening insult being screamed inside his own mind. Was this really an acceptable price for saving the world? Probably yes, he concluded, so Brian simply staggered back up and tried to edge out a nice side'' You did mention that you served Jesus when alive though... surely because you were in the Catholic Church ....''

''OOH, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH! BAN THE LOT OF THEM!''

Brian Carmichael was both aghast and vaguely satisfied at this particular memory'' Well, to be fair when old pope Francis popped it Italy just moved in and told the Church that they were a thing of the past. They've been banned for a few years now...''

Jimenez was, for no actual traceable reason, explosively angry'' I KNOW! NOT FAIR! I wanted to do that! I should have been the one to torch the Sistine Chapel and to pummel every single pope into the ground, especially that guy Francis! And John Paul I! Bloodly bastard is already a level 3 angel, the overachiever! Clearly it wasn't enough for me to just kill him, but -''

The host was getting a little bit uncomfortable, and the building was about 10 minutes normal walking away. At this pace instead of being ridiculously early, as was his habit, he was going to be late. Carmichael wanted to get up... sadly though, Jimenez had done something to him, forcing him to stay put in one place while he got an unending rant about the Catholic Church accusing of everything from the legitimate (even the demon Jimenez doesn't think raping kids is cool), to the blatantly one-sided (the use of bibles and crucifixes in churches made it uncomfortable for him to visit), to the really pretty insane but weirdly credible considering the source (that the Catholic Church still lived and was being run by a group of specifically Portuguese men who were taking direct orders from God in their headquarters in Switzerland).

After a full 30 minutes of exhausting ranting about the Catholic Church, Jimenez managed to get himself so angry that he burned out and literally couldn't talk or act while the spirit was catching it's breath. Brian then asked'' Jimenez? Could you please turn yourself into a shotgun and let me carry you in my bag? For...um... safety.''

This annoyed the ex-inquisitor'' Are you thick? In the middle of city, HQ of Liberal America? I don't want the police catching us when we have to be somewhere.''

''Do it. I demand it for my sanity.''

''Oh, your SANITY, eh?!!! Well, fuck sanity! Let's go in with style!''

Oh goodness. Berserker mode has been engaged, I repeat berserker mode has been engaged! Brian is now a flaming lunatic charging at the speed of a bull straight at the destination.

In a spectacular entrance, the pair's entrance involved crashing though the door like it didn't exist, everyone jumping out of the way and the need for a security guard to grab a fire extinguisher to put out the damage when all was said and done.

[Isle of Lithonia]

God, its been a long day. Since the early hours of the morning, Lieutenant Karlson, Jessica Lightheart, and Matthius Nightingale (his familiar Jasmine wasn't quite the type to help him out in this area) had been working their asses off. There was paperwork to be filed, special info on new members to be looked over, resources to be apportioned, weapon designs to be accepted or rejected... Basically the grind had been non-stop. And now, well, it was time to babysit.

At least that's how Lightheart put it. "God-fucking-dammit, Karlson!" Her lips curled back in a snarl as she strove to keep from knocking someone's brain out. "We've got better things to do than babysit a bunch of goddamned pricks!"

Looking up from his papers, Karlson shifted his legs that now were not so comfortably laid atop the conference table. He let out a sigh, cigarette smoke rising from his lips. "Jess, they may not be the best Chimera has to offer, but they have grown a shit-ton since they began their training. At least give them that."

"She was probably referring to the new members we've just been entrusted with, Chris." Matthius pushed a stray hair out of his face, that ever intelligent gaze directed to the pair in front of him.

The demon crossed her arms, that pissed-off glare only getting worse. "The shit we had to go through to get those pussbags up to speed was way too fucking much. Goddamned Balaam for putting us in this shit-hole of a job... And now he expects us to do the same for the dipshits that he just picked up off the slums?!What a fucking brilliant jackass..."

It had been difficult for them all (aside from Matthius, since he had nothing to do with the training), admittedly. But Karlson was satisfied with the outcome. He now had a decent sized group of well-trained killers who had absolutely nothing left to lose. And they were ready to do whatever he deemed necessary to end Ira Dei. How could he ask for more?

Of course he did ask for more. More recruits that is. And Balaam provided. They'd need to be trained like the last batch, and there was little time to do so, but at least they were under his command now.

With a heave, Karlson got his lazy ass out of his chair, putting out the butt of his cigarette in the ash tray next to him on the office table. "Well, let us go greet the newcomers."

Lightheart and Matthius followed his lead as they headed out to the main lobby. Seeing a few gathered around, the three approached them. With a nod of acknowledgement, the Lieutenant began in his typical not-unfriendly-not-friendly tone. "Good morning to all of you. For those who don't know, I am Lieutenant Christopher Karlson, your commanding officer in the Illuminati and head of Chimera Industries' Security Department. The young woman to my left is Lady Jessica Lightheart, my Blue Demon Familiar," Jessica continued her intimidating glare at the gathered, "And the man to my right is Matthius Nightingale, the new head of Chimera's Intelligence Agency. He will be providing you with the most up-to-date information on Ira Dei and its activities. Moreover, he will be the closest thing to a counselor you will get here."

The young CIA officer grinned, his violet eyes scanning the persons now in his care. "As the Lieutenant said, I am Matthius Nightingale. I've not met any of you before, but I do hope to change that now. If you ever have any problems on your mind and you need someone to speak to, let me know. And don't worry too much about my familiar. Jasmine may be dangerous, but she won't harm you."

As if on cue, a tiny teen girl materialized next to him. Her blue eyes were lit with a rage bordering insanity, like a rabid wolf glaring at a pile of meat. No word was spoken by her, but a maniacal chuckle escaped her lips. If she had been closer to the little children, perhaps she could have eaten them...

Calm yourself down, Jasmine. They are not here to hurt you.

Hearing her host's voice in her head, Jasmine grabbed a hold of his arm, clinging tightly to him. Good girl.

Without wasting any further time, Lightheart finished for them. "Now listen up, you shits. Not all of you have arrived yet, and we expect a rather large number of you to come. Until then, we ask that you stay in this general vicinity, and try not to break anything. If you have questions, ask Karlson."

But when some dick and his demon crashed through the doors, she got real pissed. Lifting the boy telekinetically fifteen feet to the ceiling, she barked out, "WHAT IN THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT, YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKING SON OF A BITCH?! WHAT THE FUCK MADE YOU THINK YOU COULD JUST BARGE IN AND TEAR A FUCKING WHOLE IN THIS BUILDING?! IS YOUR ASS JEALOUS OF THE AMOUNT OF SHIT IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR FUCKING SKULL?! YOU USELESS FUCKTARD!!!"

Dropping him not-so-lightly onto the ground, the now-pissed woman walked up to him, ready to beat him senseless. Thankfully for the kid, Karlson stepped in. "I think he's learned his lesson, Jessica. Let him be."

With a growl, she turned and walked back to her host, merging with him. Lifting the kid up off the ground, Karlson brushed the dirt off him. Although he wasn't violent like Jessica, you could still tell he was pissed. "Listen, this is not your property, and this goddamned building cost a shit-ton more money than you will ever have to build. Don't cause any more damage to it."

[The Republic of Atria]

Kilian snickered a bit at the scene unfolding for several reasons. Namely the disproportionate amount of swearing from the woman and the idiot who smashed through a wall. "Yes. Let's smash up the place and get ourselves killed before we even get to start training. Brilliant." He muttered to himself. He could already tell he wasn't going to be able to take the woman seriously. It was like watching Gunny in Full Metal Jacket. "The only thing missing from her being even more of an asshole is if she took a big bite out of an apple."

"What are you talking about?" Naja asked from inside his head.

"Haven't you ever watched a movie? Every time they want someone to come off as an asshole, they make them eat an apple while talking in a very condescending manner. It works. Don't know how to explain it, but it works." He explained. It was a funny movie cliché, and sadly the only one stopping him from just bursting out laughing. "Here, eat this apple, it'll make you look like even more of an asshole. Come on! You have to know what I'm talking about!"

[Rob Halfordia]

As the newcomer broke through the door, Damien was suddenly surrounded by a mass of chains, spiraling around him from the scythe on his back effectively forming a cacoon, blocking all the debris. The chain slowly receded, seemingly disappearing into the handle of the small scythe on his back. He was somewhat shocked by what had happened. Not the chains themselves, as, he already knew about the defense Vic offered. He was more surprised by the reaction time. In an instant he had already been completely surrounded.

Regardless, he turned his attention to the psychotic little girl slamming the newcomer into he ceiling, and then back into the ground. Damien couldn't help but chuckle at the entire incident, but it was a fleeting chuckle, as he was still very interested in getting some excitement. Speaking in an apathetic, borderline bored voice, he looked at Karlson, "Now that the temper tantrums are over, when does something interesting happen? I mean, all of this is very interesting, but I've got a proverbial itch in my trigger finger."

[Mnar Secundus]

We haven't been here in a long time... Jim muttered in Laura's brain, the girl looking at her hand for a moment in contemplation. Jim noticed her errant thoughts. You did what you had to do. He spoke up. Laura mentally sighed in response, closing her hand into a fist and bringing it to her side, then relaxing it. Her slight, barely noticeable frown returned to her usual neutral face. New recruits... She thought. Wonderful. The strange thing was she wasn't entirely sure how sarcastic that was. Perhaps she wasn't exactly being fair.

I suppose dying a million times tends to make you less trusting of good things. She wondered. We could use a few more members. She decided pragmatically.

"So. These are the reinforcements..." She commented, seeing those who had managed to arrive early or on time. "This it?" She asked, her voice not betraying the fact she was mildly unimpressed, but still willing to give them a chance. After all, they were not too much better themselves.

-snipper-

- snip -

"Better than nothing," Clarence said. After observing the newcomer squabble with his Familiar for nearly a minute straight, he quietly added, "I suppose." The Demon Host was sitting next to Laura, checking his Magpul PDR in detail for the umpteenth time. He was trying to keep his mind off the ... test he had just passed. With flying colors, too, he thought grimly.

It had been so easy. One shot to the leg, two to the chest -- The back, you mean --, and then a last one to the head just to finish the target off. Target? It was a little boy. He was younger than I was back ... then. Yet the motions had come to him as naturally as breathing. Dodge the thrown pebble, aim, shoot, shoot, shoot. Clean up the corpse, check the surroundings. Fall back and report to superior officer.
Once a killer, always a killer, I suppose. He suddenly felt Boali's elbow against his left side: the little Demon was leaning back on his shoulders, taking weight off her crude prosthetic. The wooden crutch Jackie had made her a while ago was helping, but Boali had always been partial to using Clarence as her main support implement.
"Stop this," she whispered. "I can feel you tensing up. It's uncomfortable for both of us, so let go of this for the time being and focus."
"Yes ma'am," Clarence answered with a slight shrug, shaking his head to dispel the memories. Laura didn't seem to have as many issues about this as he did, but then again, that was hardly surprising. She was ... Strong. Stronger than him, at any rate. What was stranger was Boali's lack of concerns over the matter -- although she was a Demon after all, and had grown up in a war zone. Get your act together, man, Clarence admonished himself. He quickly went over his weapon one last time, then let go of it and stood up.

It was nice in and of itself to be back to the Tower. The building itself was not particularly attractive, but anywhere looked like paradise when all you had seen for the past year had been the aptly named For the Love of God boot camp and its various delights. Clarence stretched out, pulled Boali onto his left shoulder where she sat down with fairly impressive balance like some kind of huge bird, and was just in time to sharply stand at attention for Lieutenant Karlson's arrival. The Lieutenant had his heartfelt respect -- Lady Lightheart, significantly less so, because there was a conservative limit to the benefits of constant abuse for troops morale, but he nevertheless showed her the deference that she would have forced out of him otherwise.

He listened to Karlson's speech with somewhat less than rapt attention, primarily focusing on the newcomers. They didn't seem significantly worse off than Clarence and his generation had been one year ago ...
"Heh," whispered Boali into his ear, "this brings me back. If they're as bad as we were last year, this is going to be a fun ride."
"That's a way to put it, I suppose," Clarence murmured back with a straight face.
"Then again," the little girl added, smirking, "they do have us as their senpai ..."
"They'll have their share of hilarity, then."

When the slightly overweight person with the fedora came in crashing through the wall, Clarence grinned slightly. "Now that certainly brings up some memories. Lady Lightheart never does change, does she?"
What was more worrying was hearing one newcomer (a muscular, tattooed young man) criticizing the Blue Demon's behavior. The Demon Host privately wondered if the newbie truly wasn't taking Lightheart seriously -- the last time this had happened, there had been dismemberment.
He also paid great attention to the man with the chain. Fast. Not a threat at this point, though. I wonder what his power is.
Boali was too busy hiding her snickers between his shoulders to answer, so Clarence waited for the chaos to die out, then turned slightly towards Laura with a noncommittal smile and said, "Well then, what do you think? It seems our leader is antagonizing some of our new teammates. Reminds me of something."

[Icrum]

3 Hours Before Present
"Shit! I don't have much time before I have to pick up Blair, take her on a tour of the city, and be on time getting in Chimera Tower." Shirmon said. He quickly turned off his Terminal S game system, a game system made by a small start-up game development company. He downed another energy drink, even though they barely effect him, and he quickly packed up his stuff in the hotel room. He was currently at a hotel that was conveniently one hour from the airport in which Blair's flight would be landing.

"Dude, don't vorry. Ve got plenty of time." Louis von Kraust III, Shirmon's daemon familiar, said still laying down. He was in his uniform still, but his hat covered his face, possibly to block out the sunlight. His uniform revealed that Kraust was a Waffen-SS officer, well was when he was alive. He didn't tell Shirmon how exactly he died, he just told Shirmon that he died while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.

"Dude, we need to go pick Blair up. I promised I'd pick her up at about an hour from now, and I will keep that promise." Shirmon explained, frantically packing his stuff. He forgot the time, and staying up all night playing video games did not help at all. That's why there was a bunch of energy drink around the hotel.

"You and your promises. Vhen vill you learn zat sometimes you have to break promises so you don't get hurt?" Kraust asked in his heavy German accent while sitting up. He hated people that put promises before their safety, unless keeping the promises was the only way to stay safe.
"And vhy do you spend so much time vith zese moving pictures?" Kraust asked, standing up and putting on his hat.

"Well, I just really like video games. They're fun. And now that we got all packed up, let's get to the airport." Shirmon said, closing his suitcase. He then reached to grab the keys, but was stopped by Kraust.

"You did not get any sleep, I vill drive." Kraust reasoned, grabbing the keys and heading towards the door. After they finished up with the hotel, they stepped outside towards Shirmon's car. It was a light blue VW Beetle. But not just any VW Beetle. Shirmon knew a friend that that was really good at tuning up cars, and his friend tuned up the VW Beetle to go 180 mph at top speed. Shirmon called it the "Doombug". Shirmon walked up to the car and put his bag in the back seat, with more than enough room for Blair's things. As Shirmon entered shotgun, Kraust started up the engine and pulled out of the hotel onto the street.

"You know where we are going?" Shirmon asked Kraust, pulling out his phone and pulling up the map feature.

"Ja, I know vhere ve are going. It is pretty much a straight shot from here." Kraust said, pulling onto the street. Because he didn't get any sleep due to Shirmon's all-nighter, he figured he would at least study where they were going to go. So, he knew the route to the airport and he planned to get there quickly. Vhy does Shirmon want to pick zhis 'Blair' up so badly? What is so special about zhis lass?" Kraust asked himself. As they neared the airport, Shirmon pulled out a piece of paper and read it.

"Alright Kraust, we need to head to Terminal 5. That's the Terminal Blair's plane is landing at." Shirmon said to Kraust. Kraust just nodded as they pulled into the airport. Soon they reached Terminal 5, and Shirmon jumped out and opened one of the back doors. Opening his suitcase, he pulled out a sign that had Blair's name on it. He held it up so Blair could see it and waited for her.

[Ben M]

Seattle bus, heading to the Chimera Tower

Franklin was squished inside of a cramped Seattle bus. Even though it was crowded, he was not alone. Even now, that thing was monitoring his every thought.

I know you don't like me. I know you are uncomfortable, but you did sign the contract. We are together now. Together we will do great things.

Frank visibly shuddered. The sun peaked out from behind a building and cast its rays on him through the bus's window. In his shadow, there was something. Something that was more than just his shadow.

Look. I told you. We must fight God. We must fight everyone.

Frank clenched his teeth, ignoring the voice in his head. The bus stopped as people got off, then got on. Frank just sat there alone. He had left school that morning, completely alone. He had no clue what was going to happen to him, or what he was going to do. He had apparently signed a contract with the devil, and now he was in deep shit.

Not the Devil. A demon.

Frank twitched, agitated. The Demon had some weird accent. He couldn't place it. It had told him to go to the Chimera Tower. There it said he would have a room, possibly money.

I am not an It. Also, the accent is Nigerian.

"WILL YOU JUST STOP!?" He screamed clutching his head. That garnered strange looks. He just sat there skulking.

If you do not want me going through your thoughts, I can try not to. It is hard though. We are now one and the same.

Frank said nothing. The Chimera Tower loomed above them. A harbinger of his future.

Look dude. I don't know who you are. I don't know why you chose-

I chose you because we are perfect together. You like to burn things, and I want to watch the world burn.

Frank shut up. This Demon was weird. The bus stopped and the doors opened. Rising Frank put his hands in his hoodie pocket while he slung his backpack over his shoulder. Everything he owned was in there. Wasn't much, but it was his life. He walked out not the throngs of people. There were tourists everywhere, snapping selfies on their nice, expensive phones. Frank looked at his own. A cracked and outdated model. Useless. I only have one contact on it anyway.

Well, now you have a friend that is always with you.

"Shut up." Frank muttered.

You don't need to talk, just think it and I shall know.

Frank just shook his head as he ascended the stairs into the chimera tower. Ignoring the crowds of people he went straight up to a reception desk. His hood was lowered, covering his face. He looked down at his Nikes and an attractive blonde lady smiled at him sweetly.

"What can I do for you?" She asked. Frank barely mumbled some shit about a key card.

"Oh of course!" The girl practically sang that. "You are one of the noobies! Here is your card." She handed it to him. Frank took it and blushed when she smiled at him. Girls were weird.

Yes they are. There was this one girl in Nigeria-

Shut up. I don't care.

Frank walked over to the elevators, pressed the indicated button on his key card and waited. He looked around alittle confused.

Why are people shouting?

Then he saw it. Some people seemed to be fighting. He rolled his eyes.

Show offs.

I agree. They are the flashy ones. They will be the first ones to be struck down.

I didn't ask you.

[NeoFeudalJapan]

The sun is just beginning to rise as Jacob Cain leaps off the roof of the old warehouse that has been his home over the past few months. It's a 40 ft. droop to the road below, but just as he is 10 ft. above the ground his momentum shifts and instead of falling towards the ground he is skimming just above it. Jacob drops the last few feet at a sprint running along the sidewalk as the first light of day hits the road.

As he runs partially up the side of a building to vault a fence Jacob can here a female voice in his head, One of these days you will get distracted and I won't be there to save you followed by what sounds like someone trying and failing to conceal a chuckle. I love you too Alice. He continues to run as his mind goes back to when he first met Alice about 3 weeks ago. He remembers the skepticism he felt when she told him she was a demon a few days later. I still can't believe how quickly you just accepted everything I said as fact Well you kind of was just floating me in mid air, can't really dispute what happening to yourself can you. Anyway enough nostalgia when is the meeting supposed to start? Um, well I don't remember... It starts sometime in the morning today that's all I know.

Jacob stops at the corner, behind him something raises out of his shadow and solidifies into a young woman. He turns to face her with a slight anger being displayed on his features. Alice notices all this and more, the tightness in his calves, his tight mouth, and the movement of his chest as he takes deep breaths. "I'm sorry I should have told yousooner that I forgot the time. I'm sure we won't be late." Jacob turns away from her, Alice reads disappointment in his shoulders, acceptance in the muscles of his neck, and a sense of urgency growing in the muscles of his lower back. We should go. At this Alice slides back into his body. She is silent for the rest of the journey.

When they arrive at the chimera tower the sun is just rising above the lowest buildings, no later than 7 in the morning. Are we late? No don't think so, did you try the doors? Jacob walks up and the doors to the lobby spring open. No one inside yet. we must be early, no since and standing around. Jacob then proceeds to walk up one of the inner walls and lays down on the ceiling.

A few hours later the sound of talking can be heard below, followed by a loud crash. Jacob looks down to see the lobby covered in what remains of the doors and an angry girl bashing a young boy across the room. The boy comes close to where Jacob is laying on the ceiling before being dropped back to the floor. I will take this as my cue to join the group. Jacob then gradually falls to the ground feet first as if he where floating towards the ground landing in a corner away from everyone else. He positions himself so that he can observe the group from afar.

[Drakmah]

Daeshan watched from the side as the front of the building was destroyed, the raging teen bursting through the wall and tumbling onto the ground. He then made his way back to Jhekuashi, who was shaking his head as he watched the young man. "As i said Daeshan, some pairs are just not ready for the discipline needed for this task, they fight with each other and seek to undermine them, and i assure you, this disagreement will not go unpunished."

Daeshan nodded as 3 people came out into the room and began to look around. Both Daeshan and Jhekuashi gave a bow as they glanced in their direction, both listening to them intently as they spoke, and eventually as the man who had busted through the front of the building was reprimanded and what looked like almost killed. Finally they were told to stand down and relax until the rest arrived, to which Jhekuashi turned back to him. "One of the things our superiors are looking for is obedience. They have much to teach but have very little patience to teach it. Should you ever have the chance to learn information or techniques from them do not waste their time with complaints and grievances, the only time that you should speak being to either ask well thought out questions made to clarify or to express your thanks. Some of these people are going to suffer because of their selfish concerns, whether it be through the missing of information or the punishment that comes with insubordination i don't, but compliance with their rules is crucial, and i trust that you will follow the lead of those assigned to guide you."

Daeshan nodded and looked over the rest of the people, some still coming in, wondering if there would be any more incidents. He turned back to his mentor and nodding once again. "Understood."

Jhekuashi smiled and patted his shoulder. "Now assuming that no one will burst down anymore walls, i would like to re-encourage that you mingle with the others until authority returns."

The younger man smiled at the condescending humor and bowed slightly, turning back to the rest of the people here. Jhekuashi's form faded into wisps that fluttered back into his hand wraps, returning to them to watch him as he interacted to see if he would be able to make any connections. One of the things Jhekuashi wanted for his student was to reach out. Whether this mean making a friendship with one of the other recruits or through mentoring one of them as he did for him he did have preference for, feeling that such interaction would be essential to his success here.

Daeshan wandered around, looking for someone he could talk to, someone who had just wandered in. He saw a younger kid who had entered after the destruction of the front, he had gone to the elevator and was watching the people who were fighting looking at them distastefully as he waited for the elevator to go to his room, and chose to speak to him. He approached and stopped just short of him.

"While im sure we don't have much in common, we both have signed contracts. So who did you sign yours with?" He asked.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Speeding through the streets of Seattle, a sleek black motorcycle carried its two riders across the city and towards their destination. The first of them, the one driving the vehicle, was a young woman with long blonde hair braided up in a thick ponytail. She was dressed in an austere black suit, something not seen every day, but without a doubt the strangest thing about her were her eyes: pitch black, like the abyss. Behind her on the motorcycle was a boy, taller than her but younger-looking, with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, who wore a pair of jeans and an orange jacket. He had his arms wrapped tightly around the woman's waist as the duo rode through the streets, eventually reaching their destination, an enormous tower that could be seen from a great distance despite being deep in the heart of the city. Coming to a halt next to it, the two unmounted and looked at each other briefly.

"Well, here we are. Any questions before we go in, Arthur?" The woman asked of the boy, who nodded.

"Wynn, did you have to steal that bike?" The boy asked. Maerwynn simply shrugged.

"We were in a hurry." She said plainly, before both her and Arthur's focus was drawn away from their conversation and to the tower. Someone had crashed through the front door, causing quite a bit of ruckus, and not long after that, plenty of yelling could be heard coming from within the tower. Once again, Arthur and Maerwynn looked at each other, the former having a somewhat bewildered look, while the latter had mostly curiosity in her eyes, merely shrugging at Arthur's confusion.

After maintaining eye contact for a while, the boy sighed. "It's to save the world, isn't it?" He asked, and the woman nodded in response. And with that, Arthur turned to walk into the building, Maerwynn trailing behind him. Truth be told, the boy was not afraid, but he was quite confused. He hadn't really known what to expect when he was told that he would be fighting alongside other hosts to save the world from Ira Dei, but if he was certain of something was that he hadn't expected something like this at all.

Walking through the hole in the entrance, Arthur looked around, scanning the room with his icy blue eyes and taking note of the people who appeared to be his future teammates, and their demons of course. They all appeared to be fairly young, none of them much older than he was. Mostly men, though there were also a handful of women, some of them quite pretty, though this was but a fleeting note in Arthur's mind, as now did not seem like a good moment to think of that, not in the slightest. Instead, he walked up to the two older men who were standing near the group, assuming that they were the ones in charge of the whole operation, and addressed them.

"I apologize for being late." He said quietly and respectfully, bowing his head. "We..." He trailed off, glancing at Maerwynn, who was next to him, before continuing. "We ran into some traffic on the way here." He explained, hoping that it wouldn't be an issue, but also hoping that he would find out what was going on.

---

At around the same time Arthur and Maerwynn arrived at the Chimera Tower, another pair of people, another demon and demon host duo, was making their way towards the massive building in the distance, walking towards it as they had been for the past few hours. One of the two, the demon host, was a pale, short teenage girl with bright golden eyes and long black hair falling to the sides of her head, tied up with a pair of ribbons, white as the bandages that covered her hands. She wore a pair of jeans and an unzipped red jacket over a plain white shirt, the jacket's red hood pulled up over her head, concealing part of her face, though her golden eyes were still quite visible. Behind her walked a much taller man, with platinum blonde hair and eyes black as a pair of coals, numerous battle scars adorning his face. He was clad in a white shirt hidden underneath a long black coat, the left sleeve limply fluttering in the air as he trailed behind the young girl, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever.

Eventually, after several more minutes of walking, the pair finally reached the gargantuan tower that stood tall in the heart of Seattle, with the girl slowing and halting just one step away from entering. The Chimera Tower was really, really enormous, especially by her standards. It was easily the largest building she had ever seen in her short and unprivileged life, and the fanciest, too. She really did not know how to feel, being 'invited' to this place after living on the streets for most of her life. Truth be told, the building alone was already enough to intimidate her a bit, but then, on top of that, there was the fact that there was an enormous hole at the entrance, and a person sprawled on the ground inside the building. Worse yet, not everyone inside the building was human, there were all kinds of creatures in there, from a scary-looking little girl, to a lizard woman, to a creepy skeleton. She simply froze at the entrance, pondering whether or not it was a good idea to enter, when she heard her familiar speak.

"We have only just arrived, and already you are scared?" The tall man, Gauvain, asked with a deep growling voice, a hint of disdain showing through his otherwise emotionless tone. "You are truly pitiable, Eleisha. I seem to have made the wrong choice." The demon said, glaring down at the girl who was now looking at him. Eleisha initially took a step back, still not used to the power of the demon's voice, but after a moment, her face twisted into a scowl as she walked right back up to him with balled fists. "I'm not scared, you big dummy!" She shouted, proceeding to punch the man in the chest. Gauvain, however, didn't even flinch, and this only angered Eleisha even more. Frustrated, she started banging her fists against the demon's chest, to no avail, only stopping this after several moments because of a coughing fit that forced her to cease her meaningless attacks and back away from the demon.

Upon recovering from her coughing fit, Eleisha straightened up and let out an annoyed huff, before looking around the room at all the faces present. Plenty of people, mostly boys, some girls, lots of weird things. Quickly forgetting her earlier tantrum and completely oblivious to the fact that anyone in the building would've been easily able to notice said tantrum, the girl strolled into the building at last. "Anyway, what's going on here?" She asked no one in particular, hoping someone would bring her up to speed since Gauvain had been so quiet in that regard. The demon merely followed her into the building, saying nothing and looking at no one.

[Saleon]

Upon recovering from her coughing fit, Eleisha straightened up and let out an annoyed huff, before looking around the room at all the faces present. Plenty of people, mostly boys, some girls, lots of weird things. Quickly forgetting her earlier tantrum and completely oblivious to the fact that anyone in the building would've been easily able to notice said tantrum, the girl strolled into the building at last. "Anyway, what's going on here?" She asked no one in particular, hoping someone would bring her up to speed since Gauvain had been so quiet in that regard. The demon merely followed her into the building, saying nothing and looking at no one.

David turned around from his current conversation to see an introverted girl in red. "hmm?" he exposited, "Well I don't quite know either. Alicia just said to meet at the tower. I assume it's to kill some An---"

He was interrupted by Alicia biting the leg of the large and intimidating demon next to her. "Alicia!" he remarked while pulling her off. He was quite embarrased. "sorry about that," he posited, "She had a demented little childhood... I often have to stop her from going too crazy. Can't even watch action movies. When we did she played paintball with a couple of other kids. Took only a couple of seconds to realise she had been using real... uhm... well, you know... Fortunately, I was able to explain it away... hehe" He was quite embarrassed just from telling that story. "oh, and we are David and Alicia Crentley, " he stated while motioning to shake her hand.

[Imperial--japan]

Lavi Ackerman

Lavi Ackerman, everyone's favorite resident idiot had undeniably suffered during the torment of her training. In addition to horrible attitudes, she also lost her pet gun in a brutal training accident. Nobody had alerted her that guns lacked the ability to move without the assistance of another party, but mere moments after throwing Susan...it was Susan right? Something like that. The gun had ceased all movement, and was undeniably killed by the pessimistic aura that every recruit in the facility seemed to give out. It was a tragic event that Lavi would never forget for the next thirty-seven minutes. To some, that would be an achievement for Lavi to keep herself focused on a single event for so long, and could perhaps be seen as a sign of growth.

"One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish". Lavi read from the yellow classic in front of her. The uniquely drawn pictures mesmerized her, and just as she was about to turn to the next page, she tossed the book out the window of the moving van. If anybody was behind them in close proximity, they'd have a rather shitty day.

"May I remind you, that we talked about throwing books out of moving vehicles. What did we agree on"? William, Lavi's demon familiar asked his host. The exhasperated tone in his voice, gave the assumption that this was a regular occurrence for the duo.

"I have to finish reading it first"? Lavi asked. William grunted in acknowledgement, but his host had a smug look on her face. That never boded well.

"Ah, but the question is, did we agree on what a book really is"? The host taunted. If he was in physical form, a wide open mouth, and the twitching of his brow would be the most notable features on William.

"You think I'm so dumb like everyone else huh? Well I googled what a book is Willy..." she tapped to the tab on her Galaxy S4 to show what she meant, and read it aloud.

" To reserve, buy, in advance. From there I looked up the definition of reserve, and guess what I got to? The federal reserve. I didn't know what that was either, so I googled it, and found out it was a bank. By your logic, you want me to read banks? Who's the dumb one now Timmothy"?

"William..."

"WILLIAM"!! She cried out.

"You understand there are multiple definitions to a single word right"? Lavi of course, paid him little to no mind, and when she got out of the van with the rest of the red demon hosts, she skipped leisurely to her directed location, all while talking about the cartoon classic 'The Iron Giant' with her familiar.

[Ben M]

"While im sure we don't have much in common, we both have signed contracts. So who did you sign yours with?" He asked.

Frank looked surprised at a man suddenly came up to him, asking about a contract. He froze, like a deer caught in head lights. He didn't know his demons name.

Feshwa

Frank blinked and looked down at his Nikes, shuffling his feet.

"His name is Feshwa. He made my teacher give me the contract so i didn't know what I was signing."

Like the Nigerian Scammers on E-mail.

That was uncalled for.

I honestly don't give a shit.

Frank twitched slightly. He really felt awkward. "Uh. Who did you sign yours with?" He inwardly cried out. Who was this man? Why was he bothering him? Why couldn't he see that Frank wanted to be left alone.

Be nice. A friend is a friend is a friend.

Shut Up.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

As she looked around, Eleisha noticed a boy close to her responding to her general question, a boy with white hair and yellow eyes. Stopping to look at him, she listened, though much to her disappointment it seemed like he didn't know much more than she did, only saying that someone, his familiar presumably, said to meet at the tower and maybe kill some an-something. Animals, perhaps? Eleisha didn't really know why they would want to kill animals, but looking around at the assortment of strange figures present, she didn't find it all that far-fetched at all. She herself wasn't keen on playing along with them, though. She had no reason whatsoever to kill animals at all, she was quite fond of them in fact, and didn't understand why these people disagreed.

She didn't really think about it much longer, as she was soon distracted by the sight of a little girl biting Gauvain's leg, her teeth sinking in through his pants and reaching his skin. At this, Eleisha immediately burst out in laughter, bending over and clutching her stomach as she struggled to control her sudden mirth. She found the sight of Alicia biting Gauvain quite amusing, evidently, and only managed to calm down after several moments, straightening up and wiping a tear from her eye as she panted from laughing so much. "Serves you right for being a big meanie." She told her demon, snickering. Meanwhile, Gauvain had been looking at Alicia with a curious expression that was a mixture between a pained grimace and a glare of sheer annoyance. He had been about to start trying to kick the girl away, but fortunately for both of them, David interrupted her in time, pulling her away from the former knight.

Listening to David's story, Eleisha couldn't help frowning a little. Not because of the kids that had played paintball with her, but rather due to the mention of Alicia's childhood. She felt somewhat sorry for the girl, and while she didn't know the details about how demons became demons, she felt a bit of pity to see such a young girl turned into one of them nonetheless. She quickly left those thoughts behind, though, smiling once again as David introduced himself and Alicia, holding out his hand. The girl with the red hood shook it, introducing herself as well.

"My name is Eleisha, Eleisha Andromeda. Pleased to meet you." She said. "Oh, and the tall meanie is Gauvain. Just call him Vain. It's what I do." She chuckled a bit.

Gauvain displayed no reaction at the repeated insults, merely glaring at the siblings. "Human, keep your familiar under control in the future." He growled.

[Charmera]

We haven't been here in a long time... Jim muttered in Laura's brain, the girl looking at her hand for a moment in contemplation. Jim noticed her errant thoughts. You did what you had to do. He spoke up. Laura mentally sighed in response, closing her hand into a fist and bringing it to her side, then relaxing it. Her slight, barely noticeable frown returned to her usual neutral face. New recruits... She thought. Wonderful. The strange thing was she wasn't entirely sure how sarcastic that was. Perhaps she wasn't exactly being fair.

I suppose dying a million times tends to make you less trusting of good things. She wondered. We could use a few more members. She decided pragmatically.

"So. These are the reinforcements..." She commented, seeing those who had managed to arrive early or on time. "This it?" She asked, her voice not betraying the fact she was mildly unimpressed, but still willing to give them a chance. After all, they were not too much better themselves.

- snip -

"Better than nothing," Clarence said. After observing the newcomer squabble with his Familiar for nearly a minute straight, he quietly added, "I suppose." The Demon Host was sitting next to Laura, checking his Magpul PDR in detail for the umpteenth time. He was trying to keep his mind off the ... test he had just passed. With flying colors, too, he thought grimly.

It had been so easy. One shot to the leg, two to the chest -- The back, you mean --, and then a last one to the head just to finish the target off. Target? It was a little boy. He was younger than I was back ... then. Yet the motions had come to him as naturally as breathing. Dodge the thrown pebble, aim, shoot, shoot, shoot. Clean up the corpse, check the surroundings. Fall back and report to superior officer.
Once a killer, always a killer, I suppose. He suddenly felt Boali's elbow against his left side: the little Demon was leaning back on his shoulders, taking weight off her crude prosthetic. The wooden crutch Jackie had made her a while ago was helping, but Boali had always been partial to using Clarence as her main support implement.
"Stop this," she whispered. "I can feel you tensing up. It's uncomfortable for both of us, so let go of this for the time being and focus."
"Yes ma'am," Clarence answered with a slight shrug, shaking his head to dispel the memories. Laura didn't seem to have as many issues about this as he did, but then again, that was hardly surprising. She was ... Strong. Stronger than him, at any rate. What was stranger was Boali's lack of concerns over the matter -- although she was a Demon after all, and had grown up in a war zone. Get your act together, man, Clarence admonished himself. He quickly went over his weapon one last time, then let go of it and stood up.

It was nice in and of itself to be back to the Tower. The building itself was not particularly attractive, but anywhere looked like paradise when all you had seen for the past year had been the aptly named For the Love of God boot camp and its various delights. Clarence stretched out, pulled Boali onto his left shoulder where she sat down with fairly impressive balance like some kind of huge bird, and was just in time to sharply stand at attention for Lieutenant Karlson's arrival. The Lieutenant had his heartfelt respect -- Lady Lightheart, significantly less so, because there was a conservative limit to the benefits of constant abuse for troops morale, but he nevertheless showed her the deference that she would have forced out of him otherwise.

He listened to Karlson's speech with somewhat less than rapt attention, primarily focusing on the newcomers. They didn't seem significantly worse off than Clarence and his generation had been one year ago ...
"Heh," whispered Boali into his ear, "this brings me back. If they're as bad as we were last year, this is going to be a fun ride."
"That's a way to put it, I suppose," Clarence murmured back with a straight face.
"Then again," the little girl added, smirking, "they do have us as their senpai ..."
"They'll have their share of hilarity, then."

When the slightly overweight person with the fedora came in crashing through the wall, Clarence grinned slightly. "Now that certainly brings up some memories. Lady Lightheart never does change, does she?"
What was more worrying was hearing one newcomer (a muscular, tattooed young man) criticizing the Blue Demon's behavior. The Demon Host privately wondered if the newbie truly wasn't taking Lightheart seriously -- the last time this had happened, there had been dismemberment.
He also paid great attention to the man with the chain. Fast. Not a threat at this point, though. I wonder what his power is.
Boali was too busy hiding her snickers between his shoulders to answer, so Clarence waited for the chaos to die out, then turned slightly towards Laura with a noncommittal smile and said, "Well then, what do you think? It seems our leader is antagonizing some of our new teammates. Reminds me of something."

It did. Specifically of their own training, their own gruelling and painful training. She remembered that disorder and lack of discipline. Shameful to admit but she was once very similar. Knowing Karlson and Lightheart, they should fix this in short order. "Yeah." Laura replied. "Just hope we don't get another Jackie with this batch. One is quite enough already." She added, not exactly as an insult. She didn't bother to look for the Jackie-Ass himself. She was of the belief that it tended to either ruin a surprise or annoy her. Besides, she was sure Jackie knew better than to try something with her... and if not she could always teach him a simple lesson on the effects of freezing temperatures on the human body...

She paused. "Clarence..." She started, about to continue about the test they had both taken, but now was neither the time nor the place. "Nevermind... we can talk about that later..." She said. She was glad for the conversation, as it distracted her from the brewing moral dilemma. She paused, as she thought up another topic for discussion. "Are you as unimpressed with them as me?" She asked, noting the goofball behaviour was especially goofballish this time around.

3 Hours Before Present
"Shit! I don't have much time before I have to pick up Blair, take her on a tour of the city, and be on time getting in Chimera Tower." Shirmon said. He quickly turned off his Terminal S game system, a game system made by a small start-up game development company. He downed another energy drink, even though they barely effect him, and he quickly packed up his stuff in the hotel room. He was currently at a hotel that was conveniently one hour from the airport in which Blair's flight would be landing.

"Dude, don't vorry. Ve got plenty of time." Louis von Kraust III, Shirmon's daemon familiar, said still laying down. He was in his uniform still, but his hat covered his face, possibly to block out the sunlight. His uniform revealed that Kraust was a Waffen-SS officer, well was when he was alive. He didn't tell Shirmon how exactly he died, he just told Shirmon that he died while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.

"Dude, we need to go pick Blair up. I promised I'd pick her up at about an hour from now, and I will keep that promise." Shirmon explained, frantically packing his stuff. He forgot the time, and staying up all night playing video games did not help at all. That's why there was a bunch of energy drink around the hotel.

"You and your promises. Vhen vill you learn zat sometimes you have to break promises so you don't get hurt?" Kraust asked in his heavy German accent while sitting up. He hated people that put promises before their safety, unless keeping the promises was the only way to stay safe.
"And vhy do you spend so much time vith zese moving pictures?" Kraust asked, standing up and putting on his hat.

"Well, I just really like video games. They're fun. And now that we got all packed up, let's get to the airport." Shirmon said, closing his suitcase. He then reached to grab the keys, but was stopped by Kraust.

"You did not get any sleep, I vill drive." Kraust reasoned, grabbing the keys and heading towards the door. After they finished up with the hotel, they stepped outside towards Shirmon's car. It was a light blue VW Beetle. But not just any VW Beetle. Shirmon knew a friend that that was really good at tuning up cars, and his friend tuned up the VW Beetle to go 180 mph at top speed. Shirmon called it the "Doombug". Shirmon walked up to the car and put his bag in the back seat, with more than enough room for Blair's things. As Shirmon entered shotgun, Kraust started up the engine and pulled out of the hotel onto the street.

"You know where we are going?" Shirmon asked Kraust, pulling out his phone and pulling up the map feature.

"Ja, I know vhere ve are going. It is pretty much a straight shot from here." Kraust said, pulling onto the street. Because he didn't get any sleep due to Shirmon's all-nighter, he figured he would at least study where they were going to go. So, he knew the route to the airport and he planned to get there quickly. Vhy does Shirmon want to pick zhis 'Blair' up so badly? What is so special about zhis lass?" Kraust asked himself. As they neared the airport, Shirmon pulled out a piece of paper and read it.

"Alright Kraust, we need to head to Terminal 5. That's the Terminal Blair's plane is landing at." Shirmon said to Kraust. Kraust just nodded as they pulled into the airport. Soon they reached Terminal 5, and Shirmon jumped out and opened one of the back doors. Opening his suitcase, he pulled out a sign that had Blair's name on it. He held it up so Blair could see it and waited for her.

Three Hours Earlier
Blair yawned as she walked with the rest of the British arrivals. This was her first time abroad in another country. America was quite the interesting place to be dragged to by one's demonic familiar as part of ending an ancient war with Angels and Demons and such. Honestly it had been pretty hard to accept until now, at which point Blair just decided to stop fighting it and let these weird things roll over her.

My goodness this is busy. Blair, could you be a dear and find your friend before we get trampled by this mob of peasants. Spoke the british accented voice of her familiar. One would hardly be able to tell she was a scot at all. Blair on the other hand.

They're nae peasants Moyra. She explained. An' Ahm trying as hard as Ah can.

Not hard enough evidently! She exclaimed. She mentally pointed to Shirmon. That fellow. Over there.

Blair sighed as she navigated the crowd. Bumping into more than a few people as she dodged them. Eventually she made it over the Shirmon, sighing.

"Sorry about 'at. Didne notice ye thaur for a wee bit." She explained. "Yoo're Icu? Shirmon Reaght? Or are ye lookin' fur another 'Blair'?"