Shadows of Sandfield RP Thread

Mina Parker

"S-Suspect in this c-case being...me?" Mina asked, cocking her head. She still kept her guard up in case anything happened, and the shield that rested just beneath her skin. She had great wealth and propensity for fire and wrath as of late...it reminded her of a dragon, and she would keep herself and her greatest treasures—her friends—safe. She imagined that she could sprout scales at any moment and felt safer, at least for the moment. "W-Well, ask away, th-then...but y-you'd probably want to talk to my f-father after this. He'll be home in a b-bit. I'm just c-coming home from a club f-function."

She made sure not to fidget but looked the cops in the eyes like a good citizen who had nothing to fear. She did not make any unnecessary movements, since she didn't want to be attacked just for scratching her head. Something deep inside of her clenched its teeth and growled deep through the mental bars keeping it restrained.

How easy would it be, after her display in the abandoned factory, to ignite the gasoline in the police cars and burn these liars and pretenders to naught but ashes?

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 10th 2021 at 7:30:03 AM

Heather At Home

"Don't worry mom, I've got it!"

Heather yelled as she bounded to the front door, undoing a couple deadbolts so she could open it a crack to find out who wanted to speak to someone in the house.

"Good luck, Tom" Pablo said as the connection was cut. At this point, he just needed to get back to the road home, and think of what to do.

What was out there, why did it target him and whoever else, what was the forest hiding, what happened to Tom...

Damn it, I am in the middle of this He tried to avoid the growl, but he couldn't stop it. He hated that feeling of powerlessness. Stuff he can't change. And seeing someone lost to somewhere he can't reach or even explain to others. He reached for the rosary in his pocket for some comfort.

Whatever else, he needed some rest after doing all that running after his own practices lest he damages something, to do something to investigate that forest without making it into the obituary.

Growl

... And probably get something to eat. Running for your life either kills the apetite or makes eating a whole cow a plausible challenge.

What Nana Jo will make for dinner...

Mina and (Fake) Police

One of the two cops looked at the other, rolled his eyes, and then looked at Mina with a downright snide glare, "I don't give a fuck where you were, little girl. Alright, if you are who you say you are, then get on the ground, hands behind your back. Or this gets uglier." The way he said that with a disgusting grin left little doubt about the real purposes of his arrest warnings.

Heather - Home Invasion

The moment the door was cracked open, a large, meaty hand stuck inside the gap, and pulled it open enough that she could see the person on the other end. Staring at her with a deadpan, cold expression was the very same Japanese man from earlier. He sighed, "More's the pity that you were in the home I decided to target."

There was a slightly familiar noise in the air and suddenly he pushed against the deadlocks on the door...

And ripped each and every one of them off the hinges in one movement. Steel deadbolts let out a metallic screech as the metal exploded apart. The Japanese man immediately went to shove Heather to the ground, looking around the house.

Just as he was about to try and knock Heather out, he shifted slightly as he registered an aluminum bat cracking over his head. Heather's mother stood there, petrified, realizing as she looked at the dent in the bat that swinging it damaged the bat more than it damaged the maniac. "Now now, I believe this business can still resolve itself. I'll just find my way to the money and credit cards and be on my way."

Duane Logan

Dammit! Of all the times for him to sneak out!

Duane was going around near the forest, having separated from Mina due to personal issues. He had to make sure his...bothersome thing resolved itself. But that left him with a thundering headache and by the time he registered the presence of Pablo, he was running right into him head first.

"Fuuuck...fuck fuck, sorry about that, headache..." He looked up, and was briefly mortified when he recognized Pablo, "You're...not gonna tell Jackson about that slip up, are you?"

Mina Parker

Mina raised both her hands in a placating gesture and took one step back. "Y-You can't arrest a-anyone without p-probable cause, and I have the r-right to know what I'm b-being arrested f-for in the first p-place," she argued softly, continuing to back away. "How is g-getting on the g-ground supposed to p-prove anything about who I a-am? It d-doesn't make any s-sense."

"I'm s-sure you didn't mean to th-threaten a g-girl walking home after d-dark," Mina continued. "Why can't you just let me pass so I can go home?" She looked between the two police officers, feigning confusion. In reality, she had already realized that this was probably some sort of kidnapping attempt. They were not taking her to a secondary location. If they did, it meant almost certain death for her.

The thing inside her snapped at the bars of her mental cage. One of them bent and was ripped away by its sharp teeth. Mina tilted her head. "Pretty please?" the girl whispered nervously. "Aren't police supposed to be the good guys?" She smiled anxiously at the fake police officers while still retreating slowly.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 10th 2021 at 11:24:30 AM

Mina and (Fake) Police

Click

Clack

Both police officers took out what looked like some odd kind of taser, and the leader out of the two of them grinned in that grimy, horrible way, "Then you're under arrest for...mm, resisting arrest!" He openly looked at his partner like he was just pulling that out of his ass.

At that they fired what seemed like their "tasers" at her. It was obvious whoever these two were, they lacked patience for even trying to put on an act like police officers. However what got fired out wasn't a taser dart - it looked like a robust, small pyramid that promptly floated in the air at Mina's chest level.

Both of these devices released four prongs out, making them resemble claws more than pyramids. As soon as they seemed to lock into place, Mina would start to feel like her energy was drifting away quickly. Her limbs locking up and her eyes swimming in vertigo.

The police were swirling around like oozing paint in her sight.

"Hey, hey!" Mina might be able to recognize that voice. From school. Standing there in a sleeveless black undershirt, cargo pants, and boots was Xander Nyczus. He acted mirthful if confused by what he was seeing. "What's going on here? What're those weirdo devices you guys are using? Let her go!"

The cops, looking at one another disdainfully, drew their guns in their offhands.

And promptly shot Xander six times, right then and there. In front of Mina. Xander landed backward, barely even making a noise in response.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 10th 2021 at 8:51:06 AM

Mina Parker

"Xandeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" Mina cried, not even minding her own situation as she saw Xander going down. Truthfully, he'd always been the nice not-quite-neighbor kid she sat next to during his father's sermons. And seeing him being downed was...

...It filled her with rage. Rage and panic. But mostly panic.

If she could overcome this, then she could get him to Father Corpheus. Maybe that would save him, maybe it wouldn't, but first she had to get out of this mess. Fingers scrabbling forwards, she latched onto one of the claws and tried to pull it out of alignment and away from her, even though she was partly collapsed herself.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 10th 2021 at 11:24:52 AM

Mina and a Mook Horror Show

Shortly after Mina cried out, the lead cop gloated, ".45 magnum. They'll be picking the pieces of him up off the g—-" He was then stopped as both heard something.

"Geez, shoot first ask questions later, and you ruined my shirt. Not even pretending, are you guys?" Xander pushed himself back up, looking none the worse for wear. He brushed off the shirt, and indeed, the worst damage done was the bullets ripping a hole through the shirt - and being flattened against his skin. Xander's tone was as mirthful as before, but there was a definite annoyed edge to it.

He stood before long, arms hanging at his side, looking menacingly at the increasingly alarmed cops, one of them starting to go for his walkie-talkie.

And Xander moved.

It was like seeing a blur as he darted forward, eyes suddenly cold and focused. One arm extended out to the side, and as Mina watched, she would see - more clearly as she managed to dislodge the floating claw a little - a long shadowy blade seeming to emerge from a suddenly visible odd tattoo on Xander's skin.

And then in a quick, wicked movement he slashed the long, reaping blade right through both cops at once.

At first, it seemed like the blade passed through both of them without injuring them, but it hissed and bubbled as if it was alive itself. The two cops suddenly fell backward, very quickly degenerating - their bodies dehydrating and shriveling. It was almost like watching them age as their forms became wretched and bone thin, skin turning leathery and flaking off at the slightest movement.

Where there were once two living men, there were only a pair of mummified corpses.

Xander walked forward and crushed the remaining floating claw in one hand. "You okay, Mina?"

Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 10th 2021 at 10:14:06 AM

Mina Parker

"Wh-What the..." Mina muttered in slack-jawed awe as Xander stood back up and straight-up bodied the fake cops. She gasped as the last claw was ripped away from her and thought to herself about the implications of this. If Nyczus was sinister, then Xander was...

...Probably not good news either. But he was interested in helping her as of this moment, and Mina remembered that her father had proposed that she go to the ball with Xander. This gave her an idea. She immediately played up the distraught damsel angle, though half of it wasn't acting.

"Xander! Y-You're not hurt! I th-thought for a second—" she babbled tearily, eventually settling for wrapping her arms awkwardly around him. "—The b-bodies will be s-suspicious. Wh-Whatever you did, it w-worked, so we have to get out of h-here now, right?" Mina looked desperately up at Xander since it looked like he knew what was going on.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 10th 2021 at 11:25:27 AM

Heather Does Have A Mom, Yes

For a moment, Heather was just kind of annoyed more than anything by the pushy person trying to get inside... But then they broke the door and Heather herself was flung aside by a shove. That was clearly not a regular Japanese business man in the suburbs in the evening who doesn't wear a wristwa— okay maybe Heather should have figured something was up earlier. As she went down on her ass, the pair of sunglasses she brought to magic practice fell from her pocket but honestly that was small beans compared to the fact that the man shrug off mom's baseball bat skills. So this was clearly some kind of magic man.

Unfortunately for Heather, she was still in her funk from earlier... At least, when it came to magic belief. When it came to getting angry and attempting nonmagical combat she was pretty angry right now.

"H-hey bastard, how about you turn off that magic juice and we fight like mortals eh?"

Mina and Xander

"Yeah, you're right. We can lay low at my dad's place. He wouldn't mind if I had Conrad's daughter over. I can call your dad and let him know I had to kill some people to keep you safe." He said, still smiling. Xander started leading the way. The manner in which he said "had to kill some people" showed he considered that absolutely normal. It was really nothing unusual for his day to day life.

As they approached the Nyczus Residence it would become clear there were two houseguests already.

Carter and someone else from school - Eli Mossden, one of the nerds from campus. A svelte young man, Eli usually had his dark brown hair long enough that his bangs covered his green eyes. Today though, Eli had his hair bound back by a hairband... and he and Carter both had their shirts off, and seemed to be conducting some kind of full contact fighting training of some kind.

Heather's Home Invasion

When Heather said that, the man promptly broke into a hysterical bout of laughter, "You...really don't get what kind of situation you're in, do you?" He promptly pulled down one of his sleeves, showing a long green and red snarling dragon tattoo coiling around his arm. "I used to be a somebody in the organized crime world. Now look at me, robbing homes. The name's Yoji Rikumo, you...might have heard of me."

Indeed, about a few years ago, when there were actual Yakuza around town, there were a number of outright murders heavily suspected of being done by the infamous "Iron Spider" Yoji Rikumo. He also seemed to have a talent for being involved in all the ugliest crimes of the Yakuza.

Supposedly he got his nickname from his storied durability and part of his name. According to stories, due to getting caught, the boss, Shouji Kaneshiro, tried to have a section of his finger chopped off. The blade broke instead.

And every time there was an attempt at a trial, key witnesses kept ending up dead. This very same Yoji Rikumo now stood before Heather.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 10th 2021 at 11:18:09 AM

Heather's Home Is Under Attack

"Can't say I have. But I guess you haven't heard about me either."

A blatant lie, but it helped her to feel a little better. She picked up the sunglasses and stumbled to her feet.

"But fine, if you're big honor Yakuza guy how about we do this honorable-like? I get my magic up and we brawl?"

Mina Parker

"S-Sounds like you d-do this a lot..." Mina observed neutrally, hoping that it would at least coax some information out of Xander. "You s-seem to know a l-lot more than I'm a-allowed to know...th-though I've recently b-beginning to discover some s-secrets that my f-father's been keeping f-from me. I b-bet your d-dad is okay with you doing...whatever it w-was that let you help m-me out. I just w-wonder how deep this r-rabbit hole g-goes..."

"Hey Xander," she began, in a shy manner, just short of being too quiet to hear. "If I p-promise to go to that g-gala—the one our fathers m-mentioned to me—with you, c-can you fill me in on wh-what's going on in this town? It'd p-pay off if I could have s-someone I could trust, especially with all th-this craziness going on..." It would pay off to have someone she could trust, especially with what was happening, but Mina did not mention that she would trust Xander specifically. But if words were weapons, then wiles would help her win. The more secrets she could find out, the more knowledge she could unearth, the more power she had.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 11th 2021 at 3:26:27 AM

Pablo had just been going his way when he felt someone crashing on him. He might have avoided falling, but he looked at the guy, with a raised eyebrow.

"Why would I tell anything to that tool?" He asked confused. With the kind of day he's had, he just wanted it to end. "Not my sports, dude" He might have played football that one time, but that's a circle he won't deal with.

He turned to continue, but he decided to give a warning.

"Careful with the forest, the woodland creatures got ugly and mean" He said "Good luck finding your friend, by the way, there are hopes to find him alive, even if the whole thing got complicated and hard to understand" Well, being sincere was something really difficult. Better get ready to get punched.

Mina and Xander

"I've had to do a lot of things before."

Xander then seemed to consider a few things Mina said, and then looked at the others training outfront. He then looked back at Mina, "Alright, I'll go call your dad. I...if you really are serious about going to the gala with me, and it's still on, I'm looking forward to it." Xander then pulled out his phone and started to go in toward the house to make the phone call.

If Mina listened in, she might overhear some of the conversation;

"Excuse me, sir. It's Xander. Just letting you know Mina was almost taken in by some of those cops..." Mina's dad said something she wouldn't be able to understand.

"Of course," Xander said easily, cupping his chin, "They're dead. I'm not a novice. I know how to take care of problems. If it's okay, could Mina maybe stay the night with me and the other Junior Leaguers?"

Some more talk from her dad.

"I'll make sure nothing untoward happens, sir. Don't worry. All glory to the Eight." And with that, the phone call ended.

Carter, meanwhile, was finishing up his training and glaring holes through Mina's back figuratively. He still remembered what happened in the office, and his own perception of events. Eli - who still seemed eager to keep going - walked up and asked, "You good, Carter?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm good. I just need a breather." Carter crossed his arms in front of his chest and picked up his glasses - having taken them off to avoid damaging them during the training. He whispered under his breath, "Don't act like I just forgot everything."

Heather's Home Invasion

Yoji seemed to chuckle under his breath, and looked Heather over, "I do enjoy a good worthy opponent, and since my little fall from grace, I haven't exactly had a wealth of opportunity. But a glance tells me you're lacking motivation." He rubbed his chin a little and then saw Heather's mom, standing by the stairs looking increasingly worried - and down at the baseball bat she dropped on her way over. A grin came over Rikumo's face. "I think I know just the thing."

He casually picked up the baseball bat and threw it with shocking force - clocking Heather's mother over the head with a glancing blow. The older woman falling on the stairs, bleeding from her head.

"There we go. That should get you properly motivated." And with that he kicked off the magic user brawl by moving in and swinging his brawny arm right at Heather in a deliberately slow, telegraphed overhead swing. More trying to gauge what she was able to do and how this would go than anything else.

Duane and Pablo

"...Oh, oh you're...you're not an American Football player..." Duane breathed, and then looked around, "Sorry about that. I'm just—-wait. What?" Duane paused and then noticed Pablo seemed a little like he just ran or something. Just escaped from something.

Something happened here.

"Hey uh, did you happen to see or experience anything...weird?"

Mina Parker

Mina's eyes widened as she realized that yes, in fact, this rabbit hole did go deeper than she thought it did. What was this Junior League? What did it have to do with the cult worshipping the Ruinous Powers? This couldn't mean anything good for anybody.

Mina looked down at the claw she'd managed to rip from herself. A few of the prongs were broken but it was evidence of something. She'd show it to the club later. For now, though, there were alliances to be brokered and knowledge to be obtained.

Mina had wandered close to the two boys training in the yard to deflect suspicion from her eavesdropping, only to feel the weight of Carter's gaze on her and hear what he said. She gulped, and took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I haven't, Mina whispered back, then repeated it louder. "I h-haven't. I'm n-not sure if you're r-referring to the matter w-with the cameras, but...I a-apologize."

"From my p-point of v-view, it was n-necessary," she continued, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. "My c-club needed those c-cameras to i-investigate our s-suspect for Tom's disappearance. If I d-didn't say those h-horrible things, you wouldn't h-have given them back. For some r-reason, you've always h-hated me. Nearly e-everyone did, except for my f-friends. And after Tom w-went missing, I realized I c-couldn't let any of it c-continue anymore. I n-needed those cameras, so I b-became...like the p-people who would always s-spit on me in the h-hallways."

"I w-would offer to make up for it any w-way I could, but..." Mina trailed off, shaking her head. "I'm really s-sorry—I'm not s-sure I c-can keep being a d-doormat. I have th-things to stand up and f-fight for now. Maybe I can l-learn how here. And in th-that case..."

"If we're both going to be part of the same group, I'm sorry, but I think we'll just keep throwing our weight around in response to the other doing the same," she finished resolutely, an odd blue glint in her eyes cementing her determination as she stared back at Carter with the same level of intensity. "If you're still up for another spar, well, Xander's gone, and I've learned a few things under my dad's nose, even if he probably wouldn't approve of such unladylike behavior. So come at me, if you want."

Perhaps Carter would slip up and reveal yet more information about this group's fighting capacities. Perhaps he would forgive her and she could gain another friend here. Either way, Mina was under Xander's protection, and she would win in any given case.

A Parker was not someone to tread upon lightly.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 15th 2021 at 9:03:36 AM

Pablo just sighed, he overshared, probably. But whatever, he got that done, so the only thing he can do is to finish. If he tries to call the loony bin, he might need to figure out what to do.

"I felt something was following me" He admitted. "Everyone has been paranoid lately, so I just ran a bit, and indeed something was there but whatever it was, it was... wrong. Like it didn't fit in the world. And even its own body, tendrils, a crazy tongue, way too long limbs... Nature sure got mocked. It apparently had an issue with water bodies, so, a clue given to me by some voice got me out alive"

He decided to keep the identity hidden. At least for now, first, gauge reactions. If whatever crap they got up to was real.

Heather: [S]tep Up

"No! Y-you don't get to..."

Heather tried to duck out of the way of the overhand swing without magic. She was running out of options, if she wanted to survive this night and so many others she'd have to get the mojo flowing. So in desperation, she found three beliefs:

Firstly: Her passions were important and valid.
Secondly: Symbols and concepts are important and powerful.
Thirdly: This guy was gonna pay for hurting her mom.

Grasping the pair of sunglasses she bought for magic training day (a symbol: triangular, opaque black from the outside) she put them on and tried to push the magic through them and through herself.

"Hey, fucker. The name's Heth. And you do not get to hurt my family like that, got it?"

Heather smirked, one hand flicking to try and manifest a proper weapon for the symbol she was adopting: She really needed a katana right now.

Mina and the "Junior League"

Carter seemed to cup his face for a moment and looked over at Eli, as if wanting some kind of counsel for what he should do next. Mina had after all just explained what in all she was up to - or at least it seemed that was the case. He didn't doubt she had some ulterior motives. She had other things she wanted out of this.

Eli leaned in and whispered something in Carter's ear, pulling him closer.

Carter nodded, and then looked back over at Mina, "Well, I think Eli and I have a pretty good rhythm going, and I don't really feel comfortable about suddenly putting you in. And...tell the truth, you've always been richer than me, my family - every single time, you rich folks get everything you want. And I have to pick up the pieces, and act like I'm happy with those."

Carter accidentally let out a bit too much anger toward the end as he aired his frustrations. He breathed and calmed down after a few heavy breaths.

Mina might notice Eli was making some rather odd motions with one of his hand, as if he was possibly trying to communicate some kind of message.

Before long, Xander returned and looked around, "I hope that this doesn't cause any awkwardness, having Mina over—- and by the way, Mina, I talked to your dad. He's okay about you staying over for the night. He's gonna take care of the ugly business going on."

Heather - Home Invasion

"Ahh, but I do!"

Yoji thought this was just going to turn out to be an elaborate bluff, and so had immediately responded when Heather said he didn't "get to" do that. Then Heather seemed to find her second wind, and the former Yakuza found himself staring at an undulating, continuously shifting energy sword the teen was wielding.

"Haah! Look at this!" He bent forward to look at the sword, "Is that even—-yes, yes it is. Well then, let's see if you can beat me and in enough time to answer your mother's current state!" The giant criminal lunged in and swung his arm right at Heather's face, not even phased by the idea of swinging his arm at a sword wielding foe.

Pablo and Duane

"...Holy shit..." Duane wondered if this could've been what got to Tom. It definitely sounded like something that'd be associated with the ruinous powers. The dark forces at work in Sandfield were on the move. What did they even want? Why Tom? And why now did they want to get at this jock guy too?

But then Pablo said he heard some voice and Duane tried to move closer, looking desperate, "It—-Was it—-was it Tom? Was it my friend? Cmon man, don't leave me hanging!"

Mina Parker

"...I-I suppose you're r-right..." Mina murmured, dropping her head and scratching the back of her neck. "J-Jackson, he—no, n-never mind. If you w-want, you can s-swing by the club room t-tomorrow and we can e-explain in more d-detail what's...going...on..." She trailed off and put on her best cheerful smile as Xander approached.

"That's g-good," she remarked, face a mask of ladylike politeness, though her stance still being pointed at Carter—the last person she was talking to before she had to cut herself off—betrayed her anxiety. "Wait—ugly b-business? Then, Xander, d-doesn't this mean that he kn-knows what's h-happening, and d-didn't bother to tell me? He kn-knows, doesn't he?"

"You'll have t-to tell me what he w-won't," Mina continued, not quite sticking with her polite front any more. This statement was more of an order than a request. "B-Because apparently my f-father didn't think to warn me a-about a gang...c-conspiracy...thingy in t-town that's willing to shoot k-kids like you and m-me...w-with actual guns! And this! Whatever th-this is!" She held up the broken taser claw and gesticulated half-wildly.

"Don't you th-think that's...not r-right?" At this point, Mina seemed to withdraw into herself, but it was partly an act for all present. The distressed damsel angle was only going to work up until the point where she had to reveal her newly-gained magic abilities, but she was determined to milk it for all it was worth at the moment.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 16th 2021 at 3:35:49 AM

Pablo gave a step back, startled, but he managed to give a nod. His expression turned solemn for a second, he didn't know what to say. In times like these, being direct was what worked for him, but this time, words just kind of fail him.

Heather's In A Bit Of Strife Right Now

Heather's first reaction upon seeing the fist come right at her was of course to try and bring up this cool-ass sword to block it. If she had the time to act on anything other than instinct she'd probably have attempted to cut it off but time was not on her side here.

Mina and Xander

Carter was quiet when Mina brought up Jackson - a sore spot indeed that incident of her taking the pictures - and he just took in everything she let him know. Why would she mention that as if she was trying to keep it secret like he didn't know?

Xander however just ran a hand through his hair as he realized just how much and how little Mina really knew. He contemplated for a moment and decided to fill her in - to a degree. "Yes, Mina, your father does indeed know what's going on. He's...well, right now we're all allies as we plan out our next moves."

He paused. Looked at Mina and sighed, regretfully, "Alright, we don't really know who these guys are, but they're hostile to magic users. All we do know is that they're working with a Japanese group called the Mikinomi Anti-Magic Group. I'll tell you as much as I can. But there are certain things that, due to your unique position, I just can't say." Xander said with a shrug.

Duane - Explaining

"Okay, this may sound a little crazy. Okay, a lot crazy." Duane crossed his arms in front of him and paced a little to manage the stress and sudden emotional high, "Y'see, Jackson had an angry fit and chased my friend Tom into the woods when Tom uhh, pinpointed Jackson's issue. Guy's got a closet made of cast iron if you know what I mean."

Duane continued, "And...something, I'm guessing what you saw, grabbed up Tom, and only left behind a shoe covered in some gross stuff. The authorities say he's dead, but I think we both know better now."

Duane then finished with the powers that be explanation, "We uhh, we also discovered there's a pretty sinister cult in town. There's a ritual site out in the woods, dedicated to eight creepy idols. We know the names of two of them so far."

Heather vs. Yoji

The collision of Yoji's fist and Heather's sword resulted in a shower of sparks and thin bolts of magic from the sword that cut into the walls and the floor behind Heather. Eventually, seeing he couldn't push through it, Yoji backed up and looked at his hand. A very small burn visible on the knuckle and even then it was quickly looking less severe.

"Interesting construct girl, but let's see how you do with this!" Rikumo feinted another punch, but in reality moved and tore off the round door handle from the door...

And then threw it with astonishing force right at Heather's midsection - a quick and dirty test of her ability to suddenly reinforce her body.

Mina Parker

"Wh-What? Not you t-too, Xander!" Mina exclaimed, looking quite dismayed. "How long h-has this been h-happening? And 'unique p-position?' What u-unique position? I d-didn't ask to b-be kept in the dark!"

She appeared to take a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down, and then nodded solemnly at Xander. "F-Fine. Just t-tell me what y-you're allowed to tell m-me, and I-I'll keep myself safe w-with an incomplete i-idea of what's going on, then," Mina acquiesced, with a biting sarcasm that was rather uncharacteristic of her. "It's not l-like what happened today p-proves otherwise..."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 19th 2021 at 2:18:04 AM

Pablo just looked up, grabbing the rosary and running his fingers to think of a prayer and regain some serenity.

"Wherever he is, doesn't make much sense, anyway" He noted, feeling like everything has gone so fast, he might have outrun his freak out. When it catches up, it ain't gonna be pretty. "Always shifting, with a lot more to escape from" So they have a cult, idols, and a whole bunch of weird shit running around with no one else

"What, in the name of LeBron we got thrown into?" He started walking away. "Good luck, and might you get a miracle in your favor or whatever, you will need it" He felt that he at least did something to help.

As long as he can ignore his quickly rising heartbeat and near hyperventilation.