Weirder Stuff - Session IV - CHASING DEMONS

[Jaunt]

Whatever that thing was she raised to his neck, Devin was out of fight.  He let it happen and didn't offer up much in the way of fighting back.  He looked at the figure, the helmet, studied how 'she' had walked, her posture, everything.  He was far more perceptive than he was a warrior, especially when it came to women.  "Judging by your walk," he stammered out, stopping to spit some blood.  His whole mouth was nothing but irony after taste.  "Sway in your hips, lean frame, cut of your chest plate... you're either a chick, or a Cassidy."

He stumbled back, leaning against the teacher's desk to assert some balance in world that was spinning.  "I'm not up on my nerd lore... are you the asthmatic guy with the S&M fetish, or the guy who gets eaten by the dessert vagina?"  Despite being tired and at his limit, each of his words still seemed to carry that infallible tone of snark and wit that had become his trademark.

[WS ST]

The armored figure said nothing as the injection took effect

Devin straightened and took a step and his legs went knobbly, he fell back against the desk and coughed bracing himself for the pain which had accompanied the earlier coughing...and the blood. neither came but then his head went wonky and his vision blurred and he slid down the face of the desk to rest on the floor. He saw the figure approaching him again, crouching down. The last thing he saw was her reaching out to him...

... Devin woke up with a cough, but this time it was because his throat was dry. There was no pain and the air smelled normal, dusty but normal. He felt...good. He opened his eyes he was in the storage room in the gym, the same one he had teleported Cassidy to a million years ago this morning. He appeared uninjured although his clothes were a wreck.

He sat up and out of habit checked his phone.there were a gazillion texts from his sister, Tawny, and, surprise, Laurie Cassidy. he checked and found the texts he had gotten while on the other side proving it hadn't been a nightmare. That was when he noticed the bracket on his left wrist. it looked like it was made of shiny cooper the kind of bracelet they advertise on tv at 3 am that are supposed to make you healthy wealthy and have unending erections. But Devin knew immediately that that wasn't what this was. For one thing it was thinker than a normal bracelet and it was light and very cool to the touch, but mostly because he could feel it with his Psi.

[Jaunt]

//Chill.  I'm okay.// He mass texted everyone, whether they were looking for him or not.  Not even thinking that Tawny wasn't up on any of this, he thumbed out another.  //Got Dark-napped.  Fought a sphincter demon.  We need to meet.  EVERYONE needs to meet.  Guys... I brought something back through with me.//

He inhaled and turned to make sure the door was locked.  Comfortable that his current hiding spot was safe from interruption, he turned to face the back of the equipment closet and peeled off his hoodie while starting to kick off his shoes.  "I need cheaper clothes... the Dark is costing a fortune in name brand.  F'real."  He shook his head, a bit irritated that it was the second outfit of his the monsters had eaten.

With a 'pop' his dresser appeared in the equipment closet, a bit cramped, but it fit.  He slipped open the drawers and proceeded to collect what he needed and with the same thought it disappeared.  Yup.  This was his life now.  Dressing on the go in random closets trying to avoid people searching for him... and it wasn't even college yet.  He changed and lifted up his dirty clothes in a wad and 'poof' they popped away to the laundry room.  He could help but smirk... this shit was kinda cool.  He swung his arm around and a clean hoodie appeared in mid motion and with one practiced gesture, if slipped over his arms and it was on.  He rubbed his face clean with the wash rag he'd used this morning, but still hadn't dried, and again it poofed back home to fall carelessly on the bathroom floor.

//Equipment storage, Laurie knows the one.//  He tapped out with his thumb work.

[WS ST]

Lauri, Tawny, and Marissa had spent the last three hours texting and texting trying to locate Devin when out of the blue they received his texts.

Tawny who was in class stared at her phone in silence. Several of the texts didn't make any sense to her, but the last one set her teeth on edge.

22 hours ago, Jaunt said:

//Equipment storage, Laurie knows the one.//

She typed a reply then backspaced the whole thing typed another and erased that as well.

Laurie fucking Cassidy a sophomore, a fucking jock!

Tawny was fuming by the time the bell rang and blew off luch she was going to go give Devin fucking Jauntson a piece of her mind and kick Cassidy's skinny little ass.

Everyone in the fellowship had gotten the text and those that could made their way to the aforementioned storage room, Sean was also wondering how his sister ... no he didn't want to go there.

Devin waited till they were all there and after calming Mari down before starting, "Guys some weird shit happened to day and I thing every..."

The door banged open and a very Irate Tawny stormed into the crowded storage room, "Devin I want to know..." her voice drifted to a stop when she saw who all was present.

Spoiler

Anyone who wishes may react in this scene. we will assume all of you are there unless you state otherwise.

 

 

[Lilly Pryor]

The door banging open prompted Lilly to turn to pivot, turning to meet whatever threat may have found them. She relaxed when she saw it was Tawny, who looked a little surprised or confused. Maybe both.

"S'up Tawny?" Lilly asked with a hint of a smile, somewhat uncertain how to play it since she did not know if she was brought into the fold yet or not. It was possible that Devin had told her about his abilities. Hell, it was even likely, but Lilly did not know for sure.

< Does she know? I mean, like know know? > she asked mentally, assuming the 'network' was still up and not realizing that Devin was not in it.

"Uh,, wha-?" was about all Tawny managed to get out as she tried to make sense of the assembled teens.

[Jaunt]

"Hey, Tee," Devin said without missing a beat.  The whole situation was already about as jacked up as life could get for them, but it was easy to tell, despite his wardrobe change, that Devin had been through hell already today.  He just looked... well, like shit.  Tired, worn down, already ready to check out.  "Close the door, could ya, hottness?

Absolutely stunned with with confusion, the small parts of her mind just conceded, figuring 'sure, what fresh hell is this'?  "Uhh... the holy heck is going on in here?  Is this a cult thing?"

"Yes, Tawny.  It's a cult thing," Lona rolled her eyes.  "Grab some goat leggings, and practice your kicking.  The sacrifice is in an hour."

Marissa opened her mouth to speak and just fell silent.  Then sighed.  "Shit, that was a good one.  I have nothing."

Everyone shared a silent chuckle until Devin produced the copper bracelet held pinched between two fingers.  "This came through with me from Notaworld.  I was pulled there, this came back with me.  Guys... it shines.  I can feel it, it's so powerful."

[Bannon]

Bannon had arrived silently, sat himself on a pile of mats with his legs folded Indian style, then calmly taken a paper bag of homemade jerky from his satchel and settled in to wait.  His gaze was curious, but other than that he radiated stone-like patience as the rest of the teens had filtered in, chewing absently on his snack.  He trusted that Devin was no more likely than he was to skip lunch without good reason.

And then an angry blonde had whirled into the equipment store and stopped dead in the middle of some angry line of questioning.  Jason sighed - evidently Devin's text had been sent to Tawny, too.  He glanced at Devin, then scrutinised Tawny with his habitual stare, then shrugged and settled back against the wall behind his perch, popping another piece of jerky into his mouth as Devin waved her in.

Then Devin displayed the bracelet, which immediately drew Jase's attention.  The thing practically hummed with the light of the Shine.  He glanced at Sean and Sara.

"Is this like the arrowheads and suchlike you two saw in Helena?  Psionically active?"

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean and Sara entered the storage room together, talking softly about the work being done on his Jeep. He gave Laurie a suspicious look when he found her here first, but his sister's face gave away nothing about why she knew which storage room Devin had been referring to. Sean's suspicious gaze was drifting towards Devin when Tawny barged in.

While the sunny blonde make her demands and Lona explained - such as she did - Sean pulled a sandwich from his cooler bag, spraying a few crumbs as he chuckled at Lona's response. He was about to ask Devin what he meant about being Dark-napped, if it was something to do with his 'jaunting' or if he thought it could happen to any of them, when he revealed the copper bracelet.

When Jase asked him about the bracelet, Sean quickly finished his sandwich, then stepped forward and narrowed his eyes as he focused on the Shine, his head cocked slighly. Then his turquoise and jade eyes widened as the bracelet blazed with psionic power.

"It is like them, but if anything it's stronger," Sean said. "I think its Shine is being enhanced or influenced by your own, Devin." He blinked several times and refocused his vision, looking up at the taller boy. "Where did you get this? Just found it on the Otherside? The arrowheads and spearheads were saw at the museum were unique, coming from a very specific dig site."

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Lona’s phone chirped and she casually checked the texts, wonder what the latter half of the day held for her. It was from Devin, and she was already smiling and blushing a bit as she opened the text. The smile and the blush both disappeared as she read his message. She bolted from the classroom, leaving the music teacher staring after her. 

She didn’t get far before Mr. Abraham’s yell stopped her in the hall. Turning, Lona tried to compose herself and look embarrassed rather than afraid. “Lona, where are you going?”

“Ummm, bathroom?” she said, doing her best imitation of a pee dance. “Sorry, uh, breakfast burritos are a thing? That I ate this morning, and pleaseIreallyneedtogotothebathroom!”

“Next time, ask before you leave the room, but you are excused,” Mr. Abraham said, turning back to the classroom. It was so close to lunch that it didn’t matter, and they both knew it, but the rules of the classroom had to be adhered to or chaos would rule.

“Thank you!” She ran off again, her thoughts already back on Devin. Holy shit, I am scared. I’m scared for Devin. Which didn’t make any sense because he was fine, he’d said so. He was fine, and she’d see that, as soon as she found Laurie and figured out which storage room she had knowledge of. Shared knowledge with Devin, and there was probably a story there, and Lona found that she cared less about whatever story that was than the idea that Devin had been pulled to the Otherside without warning.

A quick query over the Network -- which was becoming the best, most helpful thing ever -- told Lona which closet, and she all-but ran to it. When she opened the door and saw Devin, the naked relief on her face was clear. Oblivious to the other members of the Fellowship present, she gave Devin a big hug, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in her chest. As his arms enclosed her, he heard her breath hitch as she let out a deep sigh. At the same time, warmth flowed from her to him, easing the trauma of his life-and-death fight.

“What happened?” she asked him, tilting her head back to look up at him without letting go of his torso. “You look like shit.”

“Thanks, you look great, too,” he told her, smirking a little. Before he could say more, the next person arrived, and Lona realized she was clinging to Devin in front of all of her friends. Her cheeks turned crimson as she shuffled to Devin’s side, where their movements allowed for casual touches. 

When he displayed the bracelet, Lona’s eyes widened and she reached for it without thought, not to take but to gently stroke. “It’s alive,” she whispered, her voice full of awe. “I can see that it’s a living… thing? Bracelet? What the hell is that thing?”

[Clara Lys Wright]

The last fifteen minutes of Calculus were usually just study time anyways, with any classwork not finished assigned as homework. Her phone was on vibrate and she sneaked a quick look at the odd mid-day text, frowning in alarm when she saw the text. Jesus, it can kidnap us? She stood up from the desk, putting a hand on Jase's shoulder to get his attention and glance down at his worksheet. "Mr. Fremont? Can Jase and I be excused please?"

"What exactly are you going to be doing wandering the halls, Ms. Wright?" the older man asked with an arched brow.

"Working on a group project. It's turned out to be pretty complicated and time-consuming." 

The man sighed and regarded the two - a goody-two-shoes star student and the genius that had finally come out of hiding and quite frankly creeped him out -  then shrugged. "No hall pass, so keep out of trouble. Turn your assignment in before you leave, too."

Out in the hall, Jase split off from her with a, "Need to grab a few things. Go on without me."

Clara had made it to the shed only a few steps ahead of Lona and blinked in surprise when the other girl plastered herself to the former Prince of Shelly. When did that happen? And Devin? She sighed and admitted to herself, like I have room to disapprove. She squinted at the metallic-appearing bracelet, trying to extend the sensory ability she picked up at the very tail end of training yesterday over it. Aloud she said, "Jase is on his way. He said he needed to pick something up."

[Charlie Cole]

Just now, Charlie Cole said:

Mr. Abraham's Desk

"Of course." Charlie agreed, smiling sweetly, echoed by Andrew just moments later. Mr. Abraham gave them a knowing look, then accepted their rivalry would not get in the way of their professionalism regardless of the outcome. "Good. I'll get back to you with the answer in a few days. Have some free time. I suggest you use it to prepare for both options."

Shortly after stepping out of the classroom, Charlie got a chance to review his texts. Seeing the ones Devin sent made him groan and start heading for the shed. When Charlie entered, he took in the scene, Devin holding the bracelet, Lona clinging onto him, Tawny around looking confused, and prepared his most dramatically deadpan look. "What did you do, Devin? Yes," he preempted Devin's obvious response, "I know the text says, but I will insist you did something on principle."

"He hasn't explained to me what this is about!" Tawny burst out. "Or whatever you're all talking about."

Charlie sighed, before his head morphed, taking on the features of Rachel Maddox and her voice. "In breaking news: psionic powers is real, there is an extra-dimensional force of evil called the Dark active, and the town of Shelly, Montana is run by a secret government project. And now the weather."

Charlie's looks snapped back to normal like a rubber band. "So what exactly happened, Devin?"

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly had just arrived and hardly had a chance to say a word before Tawny stormed in and she greeted her. Once the others began speaking about the bracelet and to Tawny, Lilly turned back to Devin and looked him over for a moment.

"Dude. Are you okay? You look beat." she asked as she slung her back off her shoulder and reached into it, fishing a bottle of Gatorade from her chilled lunch back within and offered it to him.

Lilly fully expected some snide comment from him or Marissa, or for him to slap it away or something, but it did not change the sincerity of her offer or concern for him, as even though he was wearing clean clothes, he looked like he had been through hell.

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra was last to arrive, having had to go clear across campus after making a lame excuse to get out of class.

When she got there...it looked like a freaking White House Press Corps event. Everyone crowded around to the point she had to get in close to see Devin...with Lona wrapped around him.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked. "I was going to open with 'are you okay, Devin' but it looks like you're doing just fine."

[Jaunt]

Devin and Lilly still weren't cool.  It was no secret.  Today though, he just wasn't in the mood to fight.  He gave her that 'this doesn't change anything' look almost all teens are famous for and accepted it.  "Lona hit me with a pick me up when she hugged me.  Girl's like a walking Red Bull."  He smirked and Lona bumped him, playfully accepting his teasing.  He twisted the cap.  "Thanks."

He took a drink and frankly it could have been bleach for all he cared, he was parched.  He looked to his left, where Lona was, offered her a warm, slightly embarrassing smile, then he fell back, his butt planting squarely on a stack of mats like Jason was sitting on.  He wasn't hogging the bracelet, for those that wanted to hold and look at it, he offered it.

"So, I walked Laurie to her first class this morning,"  he started.

Marissa folded her arms and stared daggers at Laurie.  "Oh, did you now?"

"Yeah, she was strangely nice to me this morning, which led me to believe she might be out to kill me," he pressed on.

"That's understandable," at least three of the present young women all said at the same time.

"Ha.  Ha.  You're all a riot.  Leave the wit to me, it's my thing."  He popped his collar with a smirk.  "Anyway..."

Devin told the tale exactly as it happened.  Truth be told, most in attendance would have expected him to embellish the whole thing, but he remained pretty true to the actual events.  "...I felt like my insides had been ran through a blender.  It was chasing me for... oh, I don't know, an hour maybe?  I hid where I could, tried to stay as quiet as possible, but... it always found me and I had to keep moving."

"So, somehow you made it there by attempting a teleport, but then you couldn't leave?"  Jason asked.

Devin shook his head.  "Nope.  That bathroom became my new spawn point, and when I tried to cross the boundary, it was weird..."

"Weird how?"  Clara asked.

"Well, picture our two worlds side by side," He held up his hands.  "Now imagine that thin place in between... that void, that nothing... when I teleport I fold space, making point A and point B... simply zero.  Well, this was different.  It was like I was trapped in the infinite thinness of the Zero point... and it felt like I was in a blender.  It wrecked me.  So... I was running right..."

He pressed on with his tale, explaining the appearance of the school and the demon and every thing he could remember.  He slowed down.  Devin rarely slowed down, but his eyes were lost back the moments he knew would haunt him.  He just sat there and stared for a long awkward moment in complete silence.  Marissa slowly walked over, passing Lilly without so much as a sneer or an eye roll.  There was a silent understanding that personal issues would be resolved in a different forum at a later time.

"Deej,"  she sat next to him on the mats, crossing her legs and lamenting that every time she wore a short skirt or tried to look nice the drama train always seemed to place her somewhere that wasn't practical for short skirts.  Her voice was sweet and compassionate, not the usual Marissa but for the most part they were used to her being kinder to him than them.  "You okay?  Where'd you go?"

He shook his head and inhaled, waking him from his day trip to wherever.  "I... I won't lie guys," they all noticed the slight tremors in his wrist that made the Gatorade ripple in the bottle.  He didn't notice and that only made them worry a bit more.  This was what shock looked like, and for all his bravado, the more he remembered, the more his brain reminded him that it was real, it happened, and he could either accept it, or let it break him.  "I was terrified.  I had almost given up.  I had no weapons, no way to escape.  It had ran me to the point of exhaustion.  I was hunkered under the lab tables."

"Where the text said to go?" Lona rubbed his arm with a bit more affection than she intended but it helped to show her support.

"Yeah,"  Devin nodded.  "I was done, guys.  I was about to write out my last words.  No joke.  Something to let you all know how I felt in case you ever found it.  I was ready to die."  He pressed on, filling in the parts about the gas and the texts, even spinning his phone about to show them the text convo.  "I honestly thought it was one of you guys...,"  he continued with his story...

"So, let me get this straight," Marissa chimed up.  "You knew that the first time you tried to leave it almost tore you apart... so your dumb ass goes and does it a second time?"

"Had no choice,"  Devin shrugged.  Marissa smacked him in the arm, giving him the 'you're a reckless idiot' face.

"The means by which we achieve victory," Jason finally said after remaining relatively quiet.  "Are as important as the victory itself."

"I did what I had to do, I don't need a sermon,"  He snapped.

"No sermon.  It was ballsy.  Reckless, but asking you not to be is an exercise in futility."  Jason smirked.

"And, that's when the armored girl appeared?"  Cass said.  "You did your thing, at it made another play for you and she shot it with a crossbow, or something?"

"Yeah," he nodded, confirming her story.  "I was spent.  As she approached me she injected me with something, world got all spinny and I woke up in here... two and a half hours-ish later, judging by text time stamps.  The bracelet, it was on my wrist when I woke up.  I think she gave it to me."

"What did she inject you with?"  Cass asked?

"An injection," Devin said with a bit of snark.  "Wasn't really in a position to stop and read the label.  My insides were transdimensional pudding at that point."

"This is bullshit,"  Charlies said with a huff.  "Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad you're okay, but I can't even get Max to give me extra strawberries on my waffles and now even women in alternate universes are sending you home with promise bracelets... I mean, come on... is every woman, everywhere just attracted to assholes?"

"Well..." Devin said calmly.

 "Yeah," everyone said in unison like Charlie was the only one in all the multiverse who wasn't up on that bit of truth.  Devin smiled as he embraced the joke, his nerves weren't calmed, not by a long shot, but everyone knew he retreated into his wit and sarcasm instead of dealing with problems head on.

Spoiler

 

[Bannon]

Joking and sage advice aside, Jason knew what it was to face death and know that this was IT.  He'd felt it in the woods, when the sabertooth had pounced and he'd seen nothing but death there.  The adrenaline spike had left even him shaken loose from his normal rock-solid moorings, enough that he'd been curiously vulnerable to Marissa's concern, and the connection she had offered.  In many ways, that moment was when he'd decided to set aside his 'person mask', and step into the light.  He studied Devin for a long moment, then floated his bag of honey-glazed jerky over to the boy who, despite the recent gulf, he still considered a friend.

"Chow down." he said.  "It'll help you recover some energy you burned off."  His tone was calm as usual, but there was a note of fellow-feeling, of sympathy there that was usually missing in his normal conversation.

"What is it?" Devin took a sniff, then shrugged and made ready to chew on a piece.  Tawny stared at the floating bag, then at Jason, then at the others like she was going quietly crazy, or was convinced they had.

"Venison."  Jason said, leaning forward to peer at the bracelet from where he sat.  "Seasoned, dried, then honey glazed.  Good energy food."  he added absently, then glanced at Cassandra with one eyebrow raised.  "You're our meta-sensory expert - what can you get from this?"

"Meta-whatory?"  Tawny blinked, then looked at Cassie, then at Devin again.  "Can someone please tell me what the... the poot is going on  before I scream to wake myself up?  He-" she pointed at Charlie  "Just morphed his darned head into a newsreader lady.  Devin-" she pointed at the currently happily-chewing Jauntsen "-just talked about teleporting and monsters and women in armor.  You-"  she pointed at Jason "- just floated a snack!"  The lovely girl screwed her eyes shut tight, then reopened them.  "Nope, still here."  she said, her face pale and taut.  "Someone please, please tell me I'm not mad?!"

[Cassandra Allen]

"Probably for the play," Cassandra explained, then made grabby hand movements towards the bracelet. "Let me borrow that for a second?"

When it was put in her hand, she backed away from the group and leaned against the wall just to one side of the closet the gaggle was goggling in.

Heh. Devin in the closet. Hafta remember that. Headline material.

Then she closed her eyes. And opened her inner eye...just...a tiny...little...bit...

Standing too near the Fellows was like standing next to a bunch of thousand watt kleig lamps, but she could start to focus past them and concentrate on the twisted quasi-circle of copper in her hands. It was easier than she'd thought, because IT was bright too. Stories churned in little rivulets, trapped in the metal, and she did her best to tease them out one by one...

Attunement - 3 successes

Details:[7d10 (10 6 3 8 1 9 6)]
Details:[1d10 (5)]

Living Echoes (gaining knowledge of who and/or what has interacted with it) - 2 successes

Details:[7d10 (9 7 5 8 2 4 5)]

Area Insight (gaining knowledge of where it's been and what's happened to it there) -  2 successes

Details:[7d10 (7 8 10 7 2 7 5)]
Details:[1d10 (2)]

[z-Avalon Wilson]

At the mention of injections by mysterious women in armor, Lona turned her gaze back to Devin. Some girls would have been staring hard at the suggestion that he’d attracted the affections of yet another girl -- and this one an interdimensional badass -- but Lona’s expression was worried. She studied him, her eyes ranging from his head to his toes before taking his hand and examining the palm closely. The conversation drifted past her as Lona looked deeper into the other guy’s health, taking a second look at something she’d half-glimpsed earlier.

Motes of light, just like the energy from the bracelet, coursed through Devin’s body. As Lona stared at them with horror, wondering how she was going to dig these out of him, she realized that they were fading away on their own. As the others watched her manhandle Devin’s hand, she pulled it closer, watching another moment just to be sure she was right. 

“She injected you with nanootes,” Lona said suddenly, looking up at him. “I think they’re fixing your body. I can see them disappearing too, so maybe they’re breaking down or your body is breaking them down.”

There was a beat of silence. “Nanootes?” Sean asked, then his eyebrows rose. “Nanites?”

Lona colored slightly at the correction but pressed on. “Yes, those little machine-things that heal people from the inside. I’d say they might give Devin super-powers but that would be redundant. I’d also say that’s silly and movie-stupid, but I can’t anymore.”

“What?” Tawny asked again. “What the hell is going on?!”

Lona sighed and glanced at her, taking pity on her after the clear interobang in her question. She made her tone nice rather than impatient, trying to be nice to Devin’s oldest friend even though there was the little voice in the back of her head insisting that Tawny was a rival. “We all have mysterious brain-powers and are fighting a monstrous Evil with a capital E that thrives off pain and misery, so think happy thoughts, kay? We’d be happy to have you help us, if you want. We are trying to make things better for everyone in Shelly.”

[WS ST]

Cass had felt the coolness of the bracelet but just figured that that was because Devin had been waving it around.

She was wrong.

The connection it held with the Traveler was tenuous as it had not been completely invested yet so it took several seconds for the shared life force to bleed off leaving the Compensator's own bio-chemistry to become florid. It detected the contact with a second lifeform one not compatible with the Compensators function.

Then before it could issue it's warning the second life form attacked.

1 hour ago, Cassandra Allen said:

Standing too near the Fellows was like standing next to a bunch of thousand watt kleig lamps, but she could start to focus past them and concentrate on the twisted quasi-circle of copper in her hands. It was easier than she'd thought, because IT was bright too. Stories churned in little rivulets, trapped in the metal, and she did her best to tease them out one by one...

The physical pain that surged through her body locking her muscles into rigidity and arresting her heart was nothing compared to the infinity she found her mind falling into it was as if a universe of possibility were laid before her stripped bleeding, burning it was heaven and Hell combined, infinite and Eternal...

Spoiler

Everyone with a psi of 2 or more is aware of a massive Psionic exchange of energy between Cass and the Bracelet. Lona with her kierlian sens can tell that the braclets life force and cass's are in compatible and it is killing her.

 

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Cass froze, holding the bracelet, to all appearances focusing inward. But to Lona, who saw all the auras of life and health constantly, Cass’s body stilled completely -- right down to her heart. “Cass?” she said, releasing Devin’s hand and focusing on the blond girl. When she didn’t respond, and her body remained frozen, Lona said, “It’s stopped her, guys, she’s frozen--” Lona’s eyes widened in alarm as she saw the first signs of suffocation. “She’s dying, it’s killing her! Get it off!”

Nina asked me to put up a post calling for Initiative rolls.

 

[Lilly Pryor]

Lilly turned to face Cass and moved so fast that the assembled teens could almost swear she had started moving before Lona had even said anything. Her friend was in danger and she had to do something to help. The most obvious action seemed to be to separate Cass from the bracelet, so that is what she did.

In an instant, and without hesitation, Lilly reached out with both hands, hooking a finger of her right hand into the bracelet Cass was holding while she placed her left hand squarely on the middle of Cass' chest, just above her breasts. Then, in unison, her toned arms flexed, one pulling away to jerk the bracelet from her friend's hand while her other pushed to in an effort to ensure the bracelet was removed. With what seemed like a casual exertion for Lilly, she easily shoved Cass backwards into the stack of mats Jase was sitting on, ripping the bracelet from her grasp with her hooked finger, only to swing her hand down, letting the bracelet fall to the linoleum floor at her feet.

"You okay, Cass?" she asked, glancing to her and then back to the bracelet at her feet, her stance shifting, reading to kick the thing away at a moment's notice if anybody called for it.

"Brake it? Kick it away? Leave it?" she asked Lona who seemed to have some sort of insight into the thing.

[Bannon]

Jason was already coming to his feet as Cassandra was shoved toward him but scarcely missed a beat, long arms catching the blonde girl and bringing her to rest gently atop the mats.  Her face was pale, and it was with a certain amount of concern he realised she was not breathing.  The lanky teen held one hand out to forestall others rushing in as he placed two fingers against Cassie's throat, even as invisible hands straightened her out on the stacked mats into a more comfortable position.

"No pulse, no breathing."  he muttered, loud enough for the others to hear as he began CPR, starting with chest compressions, his hands linking together one atop the other and pressing down sharply, one to two pushes per second as he counted to thirty under his breath.  "No quitting yet, Cassandra."  he told the unconscious girl, his voice calm but underlaid with an edge of something.  Moving to her mouth, he gently pinched her nose closed then breathed deep into her lungs, turned his head to inhale, then repeated the deep breath, absently aware of the scent of caramel lipgloss.  Then he straightened, felt her pulse for a moment, then went back to the chest compressions, one to two per second, blocking the world out so that all that existed was Cassie and the task at hand. 

To the others he appeared calm, coldly focused on what he was doing.  It was the truth, but not the whole truth of what was going on inside Jason's head as he tried to save his friend.  He felt her Shine, dim but there, and reached for it as he again hit the count of thirty and moved to breathe air into her lungs once more...

Spoiler

2 succs on the roll for CPR.  Not sure if enough, but can make more rolls / spend Momentum if needed.

 

[Cassandra Allen]

Abruptly Jase felt Cassandra stir, and the Shine strengthened. She turned her head sideways, breaking contact with his, and inhaled deeply...then coughed and opened her eyes.

For a second she didn't seem to know where she was, looking around, wide-eyed...then she glimpsed the bracelet on the floor where it had fallen, and THEN she realized Jase Bannon was holding her in a sort of classic 'cradle' posture.

"Shit," she gasped. "I musta...blacked out or something. It's alive. The bracelet is...it's alive somehow. And...it's big. Really really big. Oh my God. It was like looking into forever."

Cassie reached up to pat Jase's arm. "Thanks."

[Bannon]

"Blacked out?  You had no pulse and no breath."  Jason told Cassie, taking advantage of their current closeness to examine her eyes, one after the other.  "Like you'd been electrocuted."  His lips quirked in a smile.  "Depending on your theological position, you were looking into Forever."  He took her wrist gently, taking her pulse once more.

"I want Lona to check you with her Shine.  Till then, you sit still and chill."  he told the reporter, a certain firmness to his tone as he helped her slowly sit up, then sat himself beside her, glancing over to catch Avalon's eye.

[Clara Lys Wright]

At Lilly's well-timed push and pull to get Cass and the bracelet separated, Clara looked for something to do to help. She spotted a small tin box and snatched from a shelf, pouring out the assortment of keys, nails, and other random bits of metal it had inside. She scooped the bracelet up inside of it, snapping the lid shut and flipping the catch to secure it. She gave the box a disgusted look with the catch clacked uselessly and she realized the metal had rusted through enough to destroy part of the locking mechanism. She plucked one of the random keys up and pushed it against the lid and bottom, fusing the three together with the key across the seam to keep the box sealed up. Not like cutting the box open would be all that difficult later, if needed. 

When Cass came to again, Clara held the box out in Devin's direction before putting a hand Lona's shoulder as the other girl moved towards the reporter. She might not be able to heal Cass herself, but she could make sure Lona had all the oomph she needed to do the job. She looked over at Devin, asking hopefully, "Any idea what just happened?"

[Sean Cassidy]

Sean felt a sharp spike of excitement at the mention of nanites. A glorious example of high technology. They should have been way beyond current levels of technology, but then again, so should have been an atomic generator the size of a fridge. Also, these came from the same Otherworld as Devin's bracelet, tech levels could be higher there, he supposed, though that made the crossbow somewhat anachronistic. Still, if there were nanites, he should be able to manipulate their functions, at least stop them all from discorporating inside Devin's bloodstream, so they could get a sample or several to study. If he could figure out what they were capable of, he might be able to figure out what the people who injected him with them in the first place are capable of.

"Nanites," Sean breathed in wonder, despite the troubling revelations Devin had revealed.

His thoughts and attention went from the provenance of the bracelet and explaining things to the bewildered Tawny - with the texts, he had thought Devin had told her already -to refocusing on Devin, or rather, what was coursing inside him, opening his senses to the Electromagnetic spectrum once more, the nanites must communicate with each other, those signals would give him something to pinpoint them, give him a chance to arrest their self-destruct protocols before they were all gone. Unless they were entirely organic... Organic organisms had bioelectric patterns, in theory, he might be able to figure out how to manipulate them as well...

So intent was Sean on trying to save some of the nanites that he didn't notice Cass locking into place when she bent her will towards the bracelet, and was slow to react when Lona shouted the bracelet was trying to kill Cass. He almost stumbled getting out of Lilly's way when she turned and rushed to help her, Sara steadying him with a strong hand. He nodded his thanks, his eyes flicking from Jase and Cass, giving him the space he requested with an upraised hand to the bracelet on the ground, back and forth.

3 hours ago, Cassandra Allen said:

It's alive. The bracelet is...it's alive somehow. And...it's big. Really really big. Oh my God. It was like looking into forever."

 

2 hours ago, Clara Lys Wright said:

"Any idea what just happened?"

"Maybe the person who gave it to you, Devin, set it to work only for you? A biometric - or psimetric - lock of some type?" Sean opined. Alive... He glanced up over his shoulder at Sara. "If it's alive, can you maybe... I dunno, 'talk' to it? Convince it we aren't hostile against... its purpose I guess?" Sean frowned and crossed his arms against a phantom chill witnessing what it had done to Cass. "In a certain sense, an AI could be considered alive. Considering the nanites, if this thing has a supercomputer running it, I might be able to talk to it. Or we can try and combine our efforts."

[Jaunt]

Surprisingly Devin didn't really react much to the chaos that resulted from the bracelet.  Not because he wasn't interested, but because he wasn't really invested in reality right now.  In all the madness Tawny slipped over and knelt near Devin.  "Deej, the heck is all this?  I'm scared."

"It's just as they said," he replied as Jase and Lilly helped Cass.  "Been meaning to tell you, in all the weirdness I forgot that I hadn't.  We have... abilities, Tee, but look, please, just bear with us and I'll give you the full run down later.  Lona's right... we're the good guys,"  he shrugged and smiled.  "Most days."

When Clara presented him with the box he raised his hand, like he didn't want it.  Around his wrist swirling motes of light coalesced and tightened then bonded into the shape of the bracelet around his wrist.  He removed the bracelet from the box and simply ported it back to his wrist.  He looked at it like it was his Precious, like he could see something within it that no one else saw.

Maybe Cassidy was right.  Maybe it was formatted and custom made for him, in which case he was honored.  It was nice to know hotties in other realms worshiped him and expected his arrival long before he knew it.  Made sense though, like, for real... he was kind of a big deal.  He relaxed and gave Tawny a calming wink and a grin.  "Strap in, Tee... things might get weird."

"When are they ever not," Marissa huffed with a lazy, annoyed sigh.

"W-what's 'Notaworld'?"  Tawny whispered softly to Marissa.

Marissa shot her a once over that conveyed that now wasn't the time for 'talky'.  "It's where paisley comes from.  Shh."

He closed his eyes, taking Cassidy's advice he reached out with his new senses.  He'd try it this way first, see what happened, and if it went sideways, he'd recruit the others and really juice this puppy up.  He focused on the bracelet.  He let his senses extend to the shimmering luminescence of the torcs other persona, just beyond the veil of human perception.  In his own way he reached out to the artifact and made a psychic phone call...

[Sean Cassidy]

Able to port things right to your hand, that's awfully convenient, Sean thought with not a little interest and envy. Between that and being able to port just about anywhere, he's gonna have to watch out about getting fat. Trying to make his interdimensional collect call, Devin heard Sean's voice as though from far away.

"If the bracelet has been locked to Devin, or made for him, could it possible he wasn't Dark-napped? Assuming they couldn't whip one of these things up in a second, could Lady Fett or her people have been the ones to pull Devin to this Notaworld? With the express purpose of giving him the thing?"

[Jaunt]

"I considered that," Devin said softly, still concentrating.  "But... I need to go back.  We need to help her.  No one deserves to have to live like that.  Maybe we can help them."

"Maybe they can help us,too," Sean replied, keeping his tone level, trying not to distract Devin from his efforts. "Rough that place may have been, but from the way you've described it, seems like the lady knew what she was doing and was handling herself just fine in addition to helping you."

"True,"  He replied.  "But surviving is not the same as living."

"Also true."  Sean agreed.

[Clara Lys Wright]

"I'll go with you," Clara said. " He was right - if someone was stuck over there, they needed rescuing. If they weren't stuck and given the whole bracelet thing, then they likely knew a lot more about that place and maybe the Dark than the Fellowship did. Rescue or ally, either way, there's a another person involved and we should find out what we can. "Tonight or this afternoon? Do you think you can get us over to the other side now or are we trying the trailer again?" 

I'm so going to flunk junior year. More important things are more important.

[Lilly Pryor]

"I'm in too, if you'll take me." Lilly said without hesitation.

"She helped you," she said to Devin, "and so it is only fair we return the favor. Maybe we can make a difference for them there. It could even be like a scrimmage game against the Dark."

"Though I should mention that something's happened." she said with a small sigh.

"My ability to 'pick' seems to be gone. I can still peek ahead a second or two, but that's about the extent of it." she clarified before continuing, "On the other hand... I feel even faster and stronger than I was when we tested ourselves yesterday. Like, way more. I feel like I could catch a car... on foot.. and then pick it up over my head." she explained.

"I mean, it's like you all have your psi powers that let you do all manner of things, while I seem to be made to oppose the Dark, or these monsters, or whatever, in direct physical conflict and/or protect you guys. So if you are walking into danger, then I got your back. Just let me know where and when." she said with a nod.

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Cass’s psi was drained and she showed signs of suffering from suffocation, but Jase’s CPR had otherwise fixed her. With the immediate trauma dealt with, Lona turned her attention back to the conversation. It felt as if Cass and the bracelet had gotten into a Psi catfight -- and the bracelet had been kicking Cass-ass.

Lona held up her hand. “Guys, wait a minute here, let’s think about it. If we’re going, we have to realize there are a few limitations we need to deal with. First, how many people can Devin carry? If it’s one, then someone like Clara or Cass or I isn’t the best first choice, someone like Lilly or Jase is. Second, are we sure that Devin can jaunt around safely right now, or is it always going to pull him over? Third, if he can choose to go over or not, then how does he get back? I get that we owe her for saving Devin’s life, but do we know that trying to help her won’t force her to expend more resources to rescue us?

“If we do this, we need to have a team going over supplied and ready to deal with stuff.” Lona smiled slyly. “I mean, if she has to rescue Devin again and he’s all ‘We’re here to save you’ it leaves the wrong impression, right?

“So,” Lona added as she resumed her position by Devin -- not at all territorially, not a bit -- “is probing Etienne tonight more important than staging a mission to find out if this woman needs rescuing?”

[Cade]

Cade had remained silent up till now, listening to what his friends had to say.  Devin's misadventure was a veritable nightmare to be sure, and he was actually glad he'd come back from it.  He'd regretted remaining silent when Devin had left, even if he understood the reservations and issues the others had raised.   They needed to stick together, or else they'd get picked off one by one.  Isn't that pretty much what had just nearly happened?

"Lona raises some excellent points.  Do we ALL need to go? Assuming Devin can take others,  I'm not chickening out here,  I'll go if needed, but I don't really think I'll be as useful in a fight in this other world, whatever you're going to call it, as others here will be.  If anyone should go, I'd say Cass, Jase, Lona, and Lilly should be the ones going across.  A good mix of abilities, capabilities, and resourcefulness."

"As for probing Etienne, well I'd be up to help with that.  Who knows, it might go abit better.  I did actually save his life the other day from that thing, even if I had to take his shotgun out of his hands to do it."  He looked over to Clara, who'd likely be the leader on any sort of conversation with Etienne.

[Marissa Jauntsen]

"Ooookay,"  Marissa widened her eyes.  "Why you guys feel the need to vomit up everything you're capable of, every chance you get is beyond me."

"You have abilities too, Marissa?"  Tawny asked.  "What can you do?"

"Tawny, sweetie, there's two things I've never discussed with anyone but my brother: my business, and my next move.  You want to be regaled with ego, but all means, ask the room and watch as they bore you to tears with their problems, their defects, their deficiencies, their powers... it's a wonder they get anything done."

Yup.  She was still mad at them.

"Well, if y'all don't like each other, why you all in here?"  The blond needed to know what precisely was going on.

"Because the evil we're facing is more important than our petty squabbling."  Lilly offered up to Marissa, trying to ignore the harpy, but she made it so damn difficult.

"Truth," Marissa agreed.  "It's a union of necessity, I assure you."

Devin stood up, Lona helped him as he wobbled and it was obvious he wasn't at a hundred percent.  "Yeah, Devin, no.  I get what you want to do, but even if you could take all of us, you'r ein no shape for adventures right now."  Nurse Lona had his back and politely put her foot down.

"I'm labeling these, 'artifacts'."  He started off.  It's not 'alive', it's a machine.  It's programmed with a sort of psionic program... a NOONite app."  He smirked at Lona and she dug her elbow into his side to get him back for picking on her.  This one has been programmed for me, I don't know why, but... if anyone tries to use it, it'll try to kill them."  He took a breath and continued.  "It wouldn't do you guys any good anyways.  It's a dimensional anchor.  It keeps me from accidentally jumping sideways into Notaworld if I'm near a weak spot in the Veil.  You guys don't do subatomic lateral transmissions, so you have nothing to worry about."

Not a single person missed the incredibly big phrasing Devin just used.

"On the up side, if we can find a space where the Veil is weak, I can use this to transmassion us through."  Again with the big words.  "Down side... it can't detect where these rips are.  We need to find them on our own.  And they're sort of random, I think."  He looked to Lona and offered her a smile, a weak one, but it was there.  "Avvie's right though.  I'm not in any condition to play hero.  Like you all said, we need to play it smart.  Rest up, get our shit together, plan.  Then we show the Notaworld monsters how we roll."

"For now, maybe you should head home and get some rest, Deej."  Marissa rubbed his back lovingly.  "I will let mom know you left sick."

"No," he shot her a look.  "Last time you told her I had explosive diarrhea and possibly syphilis."

Marissa chuckled evilly and spoke in a long, satisfied sigh.  "Yeah, I did.  Go on, let us see what she comes home with tonight.  It will be fun."

[Bannon]

Once Lona had cleared Cassie of more than a headache and exhaustion - being resuscitated takes a toll - Jason relaxed somewhat from his attitude of vigilance, though he did pass Cassandra a plastic bottle of fruit tea from his bag.  He, like most, didn't miss the 'sudden' erudition Devin was displaying - but then he, unlike most, knew what it was to project a self that was vastly different to what lay beneath the mask.  He wondered how Devin kept up the act - personally, Jase had found acting mediocre to be exhausting and frustrating.

To each their own talent, he supposed, smiling very slightly as he leaned back against the wall behind the stack of mats and relaxed.  As others spoke, he merely listened.  Lona, Devin and Marissa were all on the right track - he saw no reason to waste words voicing support without being asked.  Etienne was Clara and Sara's operation, principally.  He saw his role in the interrogation as being for physical security and, he mused, to possibly take 'necessary action' - a handy little euphemism which could mean anything.  He saw no dichotomy between caring for his friends and callously disposing of enemies - the same hands which saved the life of a girl could just as easily snuff the life of a spy if he saw it as needed.  The only difference being that he cared whether Cassandra lived or died.

The meeting seemed to be wrapping up.  The summary being: there were people in the other world.  Devin had been given an anchoring artifact to stop his teleportation acting as a banana peel and sending him sliding sideways rather than forwards.  Lilly's gift seemed to have altered, with more focus on her physical prowess.  Cassandra had nearly died meddling with a device intended for Devin.  Marissa was still mad at everyone.  And at some point an investigatory / rescue mission would be going to the Notaworld place - which he of course would be on.  He didn't even see the need to vocally assert his intent to go.

He slid forward off the mats, shouldering his satchel.  He stopped for a moment by Devin.  "Interesting morning you had."  he said quietly, pale eyes studying the other boy.  "I'm glad you made it back."  Then he moved towards the exit, the door opening for him as he approached.

"Where-?"  Lilly began.

"Getting lunch."  Jason replied as he walked out of the storage room, the door swinging shut with a 'click' behind him.

[Lilly Pryor]

As the impromptu meeting began breaking up Lilly walked over to Marissa who raised an eyebrow as she was approached,

"Hey. I just wanted to apologize for Saturday." Lilly said to her. "Regardless of what others might've done prior, or what double standards were in play, I still shouldn't have interrupted you like I did. I was only trying to help because I thought you had a great idea, but I shouldn't have done it that way. It was rude and my bad and I'm sorry." she said sincerely to Marissa, though she had doubts as to any impact the apology would have. It was irrelevant though, because regardless it was the right thing to do.

[Clara Lys Wright]

"That's fine," Clara said in response to the points about who was going where. "My contribution is just buffing others, so I thought that could be important if getting back and forth is difficult. I don't bring as much as others for doing stuff there, so if smaller groups are wanted, I'll stay here."

Her stomach grumbled and she winced in a bit of embarrassment. "So, yeah, lunch. Lona, you coming for lunch or sticking around," her lips twitched for a fleeting second into a small smile or smirk, "here for a bit?"

[Cassandra Allen]

Cassandra managed to get back to her feet, sensing the time to move on was well nigh here.

"Okay. Lesson learned about trying to look into weird things from other worlds, I guess. Thought I might be able to get a feel for the lady who gave it to you, Dev. Sorry that didn't work out." She nodded at Tawny and added, "Welcome to the madhouse. I'm sure Devin will explain stuff, but...if you want to talk to someone about it, you can always get in touch with me. I'm a bit more of a 'third party' around here than most."

"Anyway, glad you're okay, Devin. I'd say something about being more careful but...that'd be a kind of dumb thing to say, since none of us knows what the hell is going on, and even if you did...you wouldn't be careful. So be good."

She paused in the hallway and looked back at Devin.

"You know, I might be able to get a reading of her off of you, come to think of it. But only if you promise not to try to kill me."

[Jaunt]

"Well, I mean," he smiled in that way he did.  Annoying as he was, Devin had this undeniable charm to him... and it mostly just irritated the women around him even more since they couldn't figure out why.  "I'm all for getting felt up by a hot blond.  Seriosuly, though, can we later?  I'm really tapped.  Text me in a bit and I'll jaunt you over."

"You can do that?"  Cassy asked.  "Just woosh people to you?"

"Yup."  He said lazily.  "Clothing optional."

"But you have so many years ahead of you," Cass smiled, her snark obvious.  "Hate to see you throw it all away.  I'll text." She finished up, sounding more serious towards the end.

[Marissa Jauntsen]

"Points for effort," Marissa said calmly.  "I applaud the attempt, but you do realize that your interrupting me has no bearing on why my brother and I are pissed off at your little gaggle of mental and social degenerates, right?"

She sighed and shook her head.  "Look, it is fine.  Apology accepted in the spirit of the apology.  He and I aren't the easiest to deal with, so I understand why there is frustration and irritability.  So, let us all just... move on."

[z-Avalon Wilson]

Lona turned red and shrugged. “Dunno,” she said in answer to Clara, her gaze flicking over to Devin and back to her sorta sister. “You are going home to rest, right, Devin?” she asked him, her tone going firm. “You and Cassie both need to take it easy for the next day or two to be back at base health.” 

“I am done for the day,” he confirmed, his grin going wicked. “But if I don’t have a personal nurse to make sure I get proper care. I’m sure I could find a nurse’s outfit in the house.”

“Haha, I can’t miss all my afternoon classes,” Lona replied, “but I can see you to the office so your mom can take you home.”

“Or, I can ‘port both of us to my house and let you tuck me in,” he said in that low, warm voice that left Lona nervous and very intrigued. “Maybe feed me some chicken soup.”

Lona bit her lip ring, then said, “If you need advanced care, I can provide it.”