Log:Halloween Dreams, Scene 2

Halloween Dreams 2014/10/30 	 Amy Raven Kyle Strong Lazare Annie Psyn Lazare

2

This is lush green park surrounds an inlet of water which appears to be a lake, but is in fact and arm of a creek open onto the bay itself. Water-lilies float on its surface, while flowering bushes and shrubs dot its edge; numerous benches allow one to sit and enjoy the view. Large trees of various species surround the "lake" providing shade for the recreational area. Fields of flowers are seen in the clearings between some of the trees, providing a vast array of color everywhere on all directions. The recreational area has a baseball diamond, a soccer field, a children's jungle gym swing set, and several covered picnic areas.

To the west the trees are more numerous, forming pleasant wood. In the north the land climbs in terraces up to Colonial Heights, where the old mansion of the Buckinghams still stands, a separate property now, since the family lost their fortune and were forced to sell both house and garden. The southern terminus of the Main Street MagLev line emerges from underground near the house; it is designed to blend with the landscaping of the park.

The park is quiet, though the temperature is getting chilly, now that it's late October. School is off for today, as it's an 'in service' day for the teachers, leaving parents to have to deal with their kids on the day before Halloween. Many of those parents have come to the park, to let the kids use some of that energy on the jungle gym and other rambunctious activities outside. There are a good 20 kids running about.

In Service Day! It's one of Annie's favorite holidays, since it happens several times a year. She's out walking through the park, mostly because it's between her and wherever she's going. The weather may be colder, but she's still stuck in summer mode with shorts, tank, and sandals.

Amy has come to the park to feed the ducks, as his her won't. She's left Natasha 'on guard' back at the store - most because she's found it's hard to get Natasha to stop chasing the ducks.

Amelia is enjoying the day off school and goes to the park to get some exercise after being stuck working on lighting schemes for the school drama club most of the day anyway. Some fresh air appeals to her.

There are a couple of women seated on a bench, watching their kids on the playground. One has another child with them, in a stroller. She's rocking the stroller back and forth, "Seems like little Stevie's having a dream of some sort. Must be a bad one with the way he's squirming."

Anastasia is here at the park, having been told she needed to by her aunt, but she sticks to the edges away from the biggest crowds. She does see a few familiar faces and gives a wave towards Annie and then Amelia as she sees them.

The ground rumbles, not unlike an earthquake or a passing high speed train, though it's more localized. The swings start to swing on their own, ominously. The wind picks up slightly as well, chilling the area by a few degrees.

Kyle Strong was there for a bit of fun and demonstration with the kids from a local gymnastics club. Parents watched on the sides, and the fact that they were all in loose street clothes was obvious. Kyle's aim was that he showed them how well anyone could move in just every day, ordinary clothes. The large blue mat that was typically used was spread out and Kyle seemed to be having as much fun as teaching the kids as they were learning. Even if one or two ended up doing cartwheels off the mat a few times.

Amelia's gaze is drawn to Lazare, who she has seen once before. He's an agent of Chaos, empowered by the Lords of Chaos to act on their behalf. He's currently standing off to the edge of the playground. He smiles slightly as he feels the rumbling of the ground.

Amy looks around, half wondering if her friends have dropped by! That would explain the wind and the rumbling Earth. But no, no sign of Rocher or of Sylph....

Amelia starts heading as fast as she can towards Lazare without drawing too much attention to herself, "What's going on here, Lazare?" she asks as soon as within reasonable conversational distance.

Annie waves to Amy and Amels. "Hey, what's... shaking?" She changes when things start rumbling. "Besides us?" Annie looks around curiously, looking back only to see Amelia's moved. Maybe that explains it.

Anastasia cocks her head to the side and frowns a bit as she looks at the ground. She starts to look around for a possible cause. She moves over towards Annie, "Know what is up?" she calls out.

Amy tries to work out - well, guess - the source of the shaking.

Lazare looks at Amelia, with a twinkle in his eye and a lopsided grin, "Chaos. I was drawn here because of what's about to happen. I'm not the cause...merely a moth drawn to the flame of entropy. Plus...I find bugs fascinating."

As if on cue...the ground on the far side of the playground bursts open, and a HUGE centipede the size of a train crawls out. The screams of the children fill the air.

Lazare(#2432TOn)

A young (mid-20s?) Caucasian man dressed in a dark suit that seems to shimmer in various colors as the light hits it from different angles. His necktie is pitch black, however. His hair looks markedly unkempt, like he's just woken up from a nap.

Giant Centipede(#2438TOn)

A huge centipede...the size of a maglev train. Its individual legs are the size of light posts, and its pincers look powerful enough to rip through a hovercar.

Amelia

Amelia is one of life's nerds. She's slightly short, lacking somewhat in the feminine curves department and is often seen dressed in dull drab clothes. Even when wearing, as she is now, the rather smart Bayside Academy School uniform, clothes fail to improve her appearance significantly. Amelia's hair is a mousey brown hue and appears unkempt in spite of any amount of brushing. Her face... well there's really nothing wrong with her face. It's just that it's instantly forgettable. Around her neck is a silver link necklace. If it becomes visible there's a rose quartz pendant hanging from the necklace.

Amy

Standing only 5'1" tall, this young woman is seldom without a smile on her cherubic face, and her the twinkle in eyes is echoed in the the dancing light motes which always surround her, shifting colours with her mood. She wears her chestnut hair swept back behind her ears, but she is always pushing it back again as it falls forward.

She's wearing a T-shirt with the caption "Feeling lucky, punk?" tucked into her jeans; both are tight over her distinctly feminine curves. On her feet are well-worn sneakers.

Kyle Strong

This man's appearance is that of what might as well be a college student. He wears a black t-shirt with a light, hooded windbreaker over it in dark blue. The shirt shows off that he at least has a fit body with a decent sized build almost like a runner or a swimmer. His face is what most would consider handsome with no scars or blemishes. The eyes looking out are a dark green-blue color which is occasionally obscured by a lock of his red hair. Styled into a neat mess, his hair hangs neatly along the sides to hide his ears and down to the start of his neck.

For pants, he wears a set of cargo pants with a light blue coloring to them that matches the windbreaker. Lastly, his feet are covered by strapped boots in a black color. His only pieces of any sort of accessories is a watch, a pair of black with white striped gloves sticking out of his back pocket, and a necklace with some sort of bird in flight design as a pendant from a thin silver chain.

Anastasia

This young lady looks to be in her mid-teens. At first glance, she looks a bit younger, just because she looks a little more on the thin and frail side. A closer look shows that she is more lithe and wiry than frail. Her pale skin caresses her body, and is stretched tight in the few places it is seen. She has little to no body fat. She has fiery red hair that cascades down to the middle of her back. It is usually braided together to keep it need and out of the way. A pair of pale green eyes takes in the details of her surroundings.

A light blue t-shirt fits snugly over her upper body, though it is either cut short or was made too small to start with, as it leaves most of her belly bare, showing off an emerald stud piercing her belly button. If one looks there is also a tramp stamp of a black dragon in flight. The shirt is tight enough to show that she is probably wearing a sports bra or something similar. Hugging her hips is a pair of faded blue jeans that almost look a size too small. A pair of comfortable looking sneakers cling to her feet.

Annie

Long legs, blonde hair, blue eyes. Not everyone notices her features in that order, but many do. She is only average height, but her limbs and athletic figure make her look an inch or two taller than she really is. For the summer, her skin is a light golden bronze: not pale, but not over-baked. Her posture, smile, and skin all exude youthful vigor and exuberance.

Her pale blonde hair falls nearly to her waist when it's down, and mid-back when in a usual high ponytail. Matching brows and light blue eyes both look even lighter against the tan, or make the tan look darker. Either way, it's a nice contrast.

For the season, she's usually dressed lightly. Shorts, tank, and sandals are very popular. A bikini with or without the shorts is great for around the beach and ocean. Whatever she wears, less is usually more. She has to keep up that tan somehow.

Amelia shouts out as loud as she can, "Earthquake! Get out of the park!" Not that she believes it's anything so mundane but that might serve to clear the park of bystanders and especially kids.

Blinking, Kyle calls out, "Everyone down!" Once the rumbling starts, not that it's needed. He's looking confused, then turns to the parents as the giant centipede appears. "Kids, go with your parents! Keep calm and get away from here! Go!" He quickly works to usher the kids away from the scene of what is... well... a giant bug attack. A very dangerous bug if he remembers school science right.

Amy is alarmed enough abut the children that she doesn't even pause to think about how cute the giant monstrous centipede is. At least, at a distance.

"Bug!" Annie could yet out a few other words, but there are kids around. She sticks with the obvious and starts running for the centipede. Something that actually has more limbs that she does, for a change!

Amy doesn't hesitate. She immediately sends her 'luck motes' throughout the area, trying to protect everyone nearby, especially the kids. "Come on kids, follow me - I'll keep you safe1' she says cheerily.

Annie doesn't have any motes, but it's definitely playtime over for the kids. The little ones. "C'mon, time for ice cream!" To help speed them up a little more, and to try and out-do the centipede, Annie semi-explodes in a medusa/dough barber mass of extrusions. At least enough for every nearby kid to help move them behind her a ways and away from the bug.

Most of the kids are grabbed...screaming and crying now that they KNOW they're about to die. After all, they've been grabbed by some kind of tentacles! They're still moved toward safety, but they're not thinking logically at the moment.

Amelia needs to change to her whiteface identity. The woods seem a good place, so she makes a grab for the one child left after Annie's mass tentacle swoop. o O(must remember to congratulate Annie after) and carries the child to safety in the woods. intending to change in a few seconds after the child is put down and continues fleeing.

Amelia grabs the child, although it's as much the child grabbing onto her, and continues her run into the woods away from the monster. Putting the child down at the end of her move she tells him or her, interminate in the rush, "Go find your parents.

Anastasia takes stock of the situation and with the distraction of what is going on, she darts behind a tree and then emerges, lifting into the air to hover about 20m up as Psyn, in full costume.

Kyle starts running /towards/ the giant centipede unlike the others running away from it. He calls behind him, "Get the kids out of here!" He says over his shoulder, then moves a bit faster. He's limited to the normal, average human running at the moment, but that doesn't mean he can't take a running leap to get closer and whistle loudly up at the giant centipede. "Hey, ugly! Down here! Want a snack!?" Here's hoping he can at least outrun a giant centipede monster... or it has bad aim.

The centipede doesn't even seem to notice Kyle, instead focusing on the playground.

The parents start to scramble to get their the kids...and the kids return the favor. More screaming and running about...though all of the civilians appear to be out of the way.

The Centipede skitters (though at this size, the movement makes sounds like a series of cabers being tossed) toward the playground, and it attacks the jungle gym proper.

Wood splinters...metal tears...and the jungle gym is snapped in half like a series of twigs. The centipede turns its head, looking about for a new target...

Amy is glad to see the children will probably be safe - that leaves the monster to tackle. And especially to try to stop it from chasing anyone! Very important. She shoots some bad luck in the monster's direction, aiming for that sort of effect.

The centipede, confused by the motes of light, twists about and gets the jungle gym tangled up in some of its legs.

Annie ignores the kids' cries long enough to move them. She's not even trying to be scary right now. That'll be tomorrow. Now she focuses on the but that IS trying to be scary.. and also getting tangled up. "Good idea!" she compliments the jungle gym (or Amy if she saw her do that). Her flailing mass of self condenses to only a couple tentacles, much stronger and tougher. The ends also start to drip with venom before one lashes out at the bug.

Annie's elongates extrusion prods a less-chitinous spot on it's underbelly. The paralytic poison is transferred and absorbed into the bug's system causing it to freeze. For now.

Psyn doesn't think she can really do all that much after all it is not a human mind. She cocks her head for a moment and looses a blast of psychokinetic energy at it.

Psyn's blast seems to bounce off the centipede's armored exterior.

Amelia changes into her Raven persona and takes to the air, flying up out of the woods and heading back towards the playground and the giant centipede.

Kyle looks at the heroes, giving a bit of a nod, before, for a civilian, getting the hell out of there. Namely into the woods. Once in the woods, he finds a handy, large tree, and proceeds to put on his gauntlet after looking around. A small green and gold glow hides him as he changes to Showdown, the hat appearing in his hand to put on his head before moving to get out of the woods.

The giant centipede breaks out of the venomous grasp and it goes after what it feels has caused the most of the problem. Rather than go after the heroes, it tears up the remaining bits of the jungle gym, strewing metal around. Clearly that's what caught it up in the first place, slowing it down.

Lazare, for his part, it just watching the goings-on raptly. He grins, taking in the general disorder of the situation. He places his hands behind his back, and stands there.

Annie darns as that didn't really hold it still for long. After that comes a lap as this bug didn't grow its brain any bigger. "Hey, shick for brains! They were using that. Gotta wait in line like everybody else!" So, since the poison didn't stop it moving, she tries to do this the hard way. A quartet of muscled tentacles elongate again to try and wrap up as much of the bug as they can... which might not be much, as big as it is. "Anybody bring bug spray?"

Raven flies down to a stroller with a sleeping child in it. Landing close to the stroller she looks to the side of it, "Stop this and go. You'll only get one warning." she says to seemingly empty air.

Psyn still can't do too much. She is curious about what Raven is doing but for the moment, she fires off another pk blast at the bug, till she sees something else she can do.

The creature shudders a little this time as it's hit. Though it doesn't seem to be hurt overly.

Now that he's transformed, Kyle looks at the giant centipede. Then blinks as he sees Annie... well... tangling it. "... that explains a lot..." Shrugging, Kyle crouches down as magneta coloring sprouts around his body, forming into an exoskeleton. Then he leaps with a green pulse, soaring into the air and flipping at the mid-point of his jump before pushing off another green pulse and bringing his hand back. He's aiming to just slam a fist into the centipede's back to get it's attention with the full force of an exoskeleton amplified punch.

The centipede makes a growling sound as it's hit. It definitely felt it. But..again, not as much as expected.

Amy continue to try to slow the beast down with the same luck effect...tangling the centipede's legs in a collapsed tunnel.

The centipede's body drops partially into the earth as the tunnel underneath it collapses.

The centipede thrashes about, freeing itself from Annie's grasp...and rather than bite her, it just swings its head back and forth, attempting to strike her.

The centipede swings over Annie's head, missing her completely.

Raven lifts the young child out of thr stroller and rocks it in her arms, "Wake up, little one." she tells it, her voice starting soft and low and increasing in volume as she repeats herself as many times as it takes. "Come on, little one, wake up. Time to wake up."

The boy starts to wake, and in inverse proportion to the child's wakefulness, the centipede starts to fade from view. As the child comes completely to his senses, he says to his mom, "I had a bad dream...about one of those bugs we had in the house." He's looking away from the beast, though...so he doesn't see it as it fades out of reality entirely.

Lazare grins, clapping loudly, "Marvelous!"

All that's left of the beast is the tangle wreckage of the jungle gym and some collapsed tunnels. And questions.

Psyn blinks as she looks around, definitely confused.

Raven holds the child rocking it in her arms as she continues to look to the side of the stroller. "You had your warning." she says, and a shimmering sphere appears where she is looking.

The spirit is caught, unable to get free. It hovers there, watching Raven.

The spirit is englobes in an immaterial barrier that cannot be passed by a desolid form.

Raven holds the child in one arm and a ball of witchfire forms around her other hand. "This can burn you,. It can destroy you. I am Raven. I am the Chosen One. You won't be playing these type of games in the future. Will you?"

The spirit says, "I am of my nature. I do what I must. This is no game. All Hallow's is upon us."

Raven says, "Huh? Look, according to all the books your crowd take Halloween off. I'm not even scheduled to patrol on that night. Have the rules changed?"

The spirit shivers slightly, moving about within the globe. "We do not 'take time off'. Ever. We are warded from going places. We are driven from haunting areas. We are scared away from many children. But not all."

Raven says, "You're wrong. You're about to have a time out."

Raven casts Lucqqi's Demon Binding Ritual upon the spirit.

Raven catches a stone talisman as it appears from seemingly thin air. "We'll keep you like this until Halloween is over." she says. She not sure if the spirit is still conscious and aware but if it is she'll reassure it that the condition is only going to be temporary.

A lick of witchfire pops the spirit ward. Then she starts to look for the child's mother, wondering why the child was left unattended in the first place.

The boy is with his mother now, who looks concerned. She looks at Raven, "What was that? What happened to my son?"

Raven hands the boy over to his mother, "He has a vivid imagination and had a nightmare. Which was made real by a chaos spirit. It's been dealt with." she tells the mother.

Lazare corrects Raven as he walks over. "Nay...not a chaos spirit, but a spirit, nonetheless. 'Twas a spirit of fear. Of Nightmares Made Real."

Raven says, "So, semi-friendly agent of Chaos, what about the books that clainm Halloween is a nice peaceful night which all self respecting demons, spirits, and undead take off. Right or wrong?"

Lazare grins, "The books are only half right. Do you know why those spirits and undead and the like take the night off? They're scared away by the costumes and jack o'lanterns."

Raven says, "... and let me take a wild guess. About half of them *aren't* scared away by the costumes and jack o'lanterns? There goes my night off."

Lazare shakes his head, "No...but they're drawn to those that don't protect themselves."

Lazare continues, "This is the second such event within a week in this city. There may be more. There may not be."

Raven nods, "Thanks. Well, thanks for being helpful. Can't say I'm overjoyed by the news. I was looking forward to a night off myself."

Raven

Raven stands out in a crowd. She's not especially tall but there's an almost palpable aura of power around her to anyone sensitive enough to detect it. Her hair has the deep redness of fire and hangs freely down to her waist behind her. Raven's face is an alabaster white except for jet black eyes with no visible pupils and deep crimson lips. She wears a high-collared witch's robe of midnight blue that extends from neck to ankles. The robe is decorated with arcane symbols embroidered in gold thread

Lazare grins, looking at Raven, "If you could predict the future, what would be the point, dear Champion?"

Raven grins back, "Spoken like a true agent of chaos, Lazare." she says with a chuckle.

Lazare motions to the talisman, "By your actions today, you may have prevented something far worse happening. Maybe. But you may never know for sure." He grins, "But I suspect you've saved at least one more child from a physical nightmare, so...you can take comfort in that, at least."

Raven nods. "It's like sticking my finger in a hole in the dyke at high tide. It stops a flood... but tomorrow there's another high tide, and another the day after. I'll do what I can but in the end nothing changes. And they," she waves her hands to indicate the inclusiveness of all the demon, devils, spirits, undead, etc., in that 'they, "only need to get lucky once and there'll be a new Chosen One facing the same problems. Lazare, if you know the date of my death, be kind enough not to tell me. Some things I'd rather not have predicted in advance."

Lazare laughs, "No, I don't know your future. Like I said...what would be the point? It's like knowing the end of the movie before you see it. It ruins the enjoyment. I'd much rather be surprised by life."

Raven nods, "Well, take care of yourself. I ought to go and tell the Coven the happy news. Although, really, that's their purpose. They ought to be telling me."

Lazare nods, "Of course. And if you should see my counterpart in the city, please do let me know."

Lazare(#2432TOn)

A young (mid-20s?) Caucasian man dressed in a dark suit that seems to shimmer in various colors as the light hits it from different angles. His necktie is pitch black, however. His hair looks markedly unkempt, like he's just woken up from a nap.