Matthew

"Heather, you do make some good points, Pablo you too, but there's something you guys aren't taking into account." Matthew crossed his arms and looked over the school. "Mina hinted at it. Not everyone's gonna react to magic like it's something wonderful, unique or beneficial. There's always gonna be assholes who react to something different or a change in the status quo by getting violent and aggressive."

Matthew then related from his own history, "I had to deal with that quite a few times. And something tells me this latest time we might see those types around."

He then looked off toward the distance, toward the city outskirts, "While I won't lie, I'd prefer if we could just openly state what was going on, it's not realistic at present. Keep in mind we don't even know the cult's name yet, let alone what kind of firepower or troop count it might have. If we suddenly force what's left of the masquerade off, we could also be forcing them into their end game before we even know what that is. Which would mean a lot of fighting when we'd also have to look out for reactionary blowback against such a huge change."

Matthew shook his head, "It sounds good, but there's just too many variables right now."

As far as a name though, that would be ironically answered then and there. The last message on Jayden's phone from that number was. Oh ok. uh btw. u weren't told? We're the Umbral Horde. ttyl reiji out

As Casey turned she would hear something like a lot of metal suddenly creaking and cracking together as all the police cars converged at one point and then seemed to flow together. A foul smell would hit the air. And if she looked again she would be able to see a thick fog leading off into the woods.

At first, Casey kept walking.

She was entirely aware of the sound, of the smell, and it made her want to go in there even less. She didn't know exactly what she'd find in there, but she knew it didn't have a mundane explanation.

And then she realized what was happening. She was being lured in. Something wanted her to go in there, the same thing that wanted her to experience all of the magic, all of the monsters, all of the cult stuff, all of the chaos that followed her everywhere.

She stopped to consider her options. On the one hand, however exasperated with it she may be, these supernatural events weren't a danger to her. She knew enough to defend herself, and a lot of her best memories involved the supernatural in one way or another. She wasn't afraid of magic, she was just sick of it.

And then there was the path out. At first glance it had seemed like the obvious choice. Magic or mundane, take your pick. But it wasn't that simple; a supernatural entity was trying to make the decision for her. For now, it was using simple lures, but if she pushed hard enough, it was going to start using brute force. Why go through all that when she could give up now?

She sighed, turned on her heels, and walked in.

Mina Parker

"U-Umbral Horde, h-huh..." Mina sighed, looking at every member of the group anxiously. "J-Jayden, you should go pursue your lead with R-Reiji while I pursue my lead at h-home. Before we d-do that, though, we should d-decide how we sh-should plan expeditions into the f-forest."

"Everything m-monstrous that's happened so f-far seems to come from th-there," she explained. "We're g-going to have to head into th-there eventually. If we only k-keep to the town, we may m-miss leads. We can't b-be on the defensive forever. It all l-lead to what happened here t-today. We didn't h-have enough intel to know wh-what was going to happen today. It sh-should end here."

"We n-need more training, too," Mina said decisively. "Matthew, you need to s-start teaching us m-more advanced spells. I'm p-particularly interested in remote s-sensing spells, like scrying and stuff like that. If w-we're going to be on the offensive n-now, we need more experience."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 7th 2021 at 9:07:34 AM

Pablo just sighed. This shit is way too complicated.

"Just do as you must, but better start ironing out that reveal plan or else..." He didn't feel like completing the sentence. He swore he heard the clock ticking.

"And I still need to learn anything about this, even if it's the bare basics" He noted. "...Feeling like in finals week around here"

Post-Battle Debrief

Heather's post-speech face fall brightened once she noticed that her concerns were getting both support from her fellow Investigation Club members and then actually getting addressed by the closest thing this group had to an authority figure... Well, at least acknowledged even if the course of action was going to be continuing to mindwipe people until some unspecified goal is met.

"Alright well fine I guess but as soon as the cult's gone I'm going public with this. Until then? I'm up for slaughtering the terrors that infest the local woods, sure."

She clicked her tongue a few times, looking around at the group.

"Might need a new Focus for that though, anyone got any suggestions so I can drop by the mall real quick and buy it?"

"I concur" said James "in the short term we're going to have to work with what we have".

he turned to Pablo "Hey are you doing okay? What you did was reallyh brave, I don't know if I would have done it. I mean, you could have died."

He was looking forward to the future ahead of them. The idea of a whole world of magic excited him. He had a great deal to learn, and he intended to relish every iota of newfound knowledge.

Casey's Look

As Casey headed in, she would be able to hear the sound of something like enormous metallic footprints - and then it stopped. The fog drifted in a direction toward a clearing near another entrance to the woods. And then, if she hanged by the trees and out of sight, she would be able to start to hear something.

And see a pair of figures loitering about.

The enormous bipedal creature was the source of the fog, pouring out of a number of exhaust pipes proceeding up out of the back of the shoulders. Its figure was gigantic, easily around 20 feet tall, and apparently comprised of the violent merger of numerous police cars, metal bending and merging together in a way it was never meant to - its eyes were mutated headlights, glowing red and forced into an eye-like appearance. A pair of rear facing blades made of broken material emerged from the elbows.

Being that Casey was from the magical world, she would know this "Everliving". Dhakar the Everliving, a creature around since the Crusades.

Dressed in a sorcerer's robes fitted to some light, red and black battle armor was a thin, awkward looking redhead with a pair of maroon eyes. Reiji stood there - or more accurately, paced around like he was about to have a nervous episode.

"What? H-Has he not committed to showing up yet? After I lent you my phone!?" Dhakar shouted - he always went loud - and grumbled, "...If we had better name recognition, this wouldn't be happening. Me, teamed up with someone whose title hashes out to NERD!!"

"I-I just...just, can we please calm down?" Reiji wiped his hand on his face several times, an obvious nervous tic, and he shook his head, "I'm...I'm sure he takes us seriously. He doesn't even know what an Umbral Horde is! I mean, we're probably the most impressive things ever to him!" Reiji tried to show some confidence, but then immediately sank back down, pacing back and forth, "W-What if he detects we're not exactly on the higher ups list!? What if he laughs us off? What then, Dhakar!?"

"Well, honestly, I made this plan thinking we could use him to bump up our status. But if he laughs us off...well, we already committed to the plan back in Oron'gur. We'd look like idiots if we came back without at least ONE new recruit!!" Dhakar grumbled and stomped around.

Matt and Investigation Club

"Alright, you two do your missions to infiltrate the Horde," Matthew started, "But no matter what. Don't go out of contact. We're dealing with something we know barely anything about. Don't take any unnecessary risks, and bail if you think they're wising up."

Matthew then looked at Pablo, and wryly grinned for a moment. He got ready and stated, "I'll get you caught up, and keep you guys nice and trained up for whatever comes next." He then moved behind Pablo, and said, "Lo siento de antemano."

He then crashed his spread open hand hard against the small of Pablo's back - and almost immediately Pablo would feel a sudden pain, like a cramp or muscle strain he didn't even know about had suddenly been made aware to him and started to be alleviated. It was almost bad enough to send anyone to their knees.

"That'd be your Mana Circuits being unclogged." Matthew explained, "Once you learn how go to about this, you'll be able to do the same stuff as the rest of us."

"I'll live, but just never been good at backing out from a jerk looking for a fight" Pablo commented, with a wince. "I have the bruises and fouls and yellow cards to prove it" His teammates have either had to hold him back or scold him after one too many taunts or the like.

"Sorry for being an inconvenience," He said to James. He might need to figure out how to make this less awkward for himself.

And then Matthew hit his back, and he jumped out reflexively. That kind of pain felt familiar, but he got out a groan.

"Hijo de..." He managed to get out, as the pain stopped. He needed to take his breath for a second. A visible wince was on his face.

He looked at his hands to see anything different.

"So, now what?" He asked, confused.

Jayden

"Roger roger!" Jayden said with a grin, saluting Matthew. Omigosh, I can't believe I'm doing this! This is gonna be amazing. And informative! And scary. But mostly informative!

He sent Reiji a few more texts.

Post-Battle Debrief

"Mkay. I like that we're all settled on what we're doing tonight. Still though, anyone got any suggestions for an accessory I could grab? I was considering a gold crown but that would just give me similar abilities to my existing 'unstoppable badass sword guy' thing..."

She pauses for a few seconds, looking confused.

"Mmmmmaybe that makes less sense than I'd expect. Whatever."

"Oh, you weren't an inconvenience, you were really helpful out there. As for what happens next, you would know about as much as I do."

He looked out onto the field. The charred bodies of the security guards still lay there. He didn't think that he had ever seen a dead body before. he'd been to a few funerals, but the casket was always shut. "Guys, we should start looking for any surviors, not to mention calling 911, though somebody might have already done that. Matthew, how effective is magic at healing injuries? Obviously the systems involved are much more complex than a fireball is.

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Apr 12th 2021 at 4:10:29 AM

Orik'eth - The Memory Doctors

By the time they got back over to the field where the battle had taken place, a number of silent figures clad in white and black odd armored robes were moving around the place. They had helmets featuring a visor with one downward line, and two lines going out to the sides, ending in a three pointed trident motif - the visor lit up by red light. They were in all a very ominous presence, all the more for the fact they came in so suddenly and without making so much as making a noise. Their armored robes seemed split in half in a way - more silver on the left side, more black on the right.

They used what looked like a silver gauntlet on the right hand and a black gauntlet on the left for two different purposes. The left hand manipulated a black mist, which flowed in and out of the minds of living unconscious students and staff.

The right hand manipulated a shimmering bright light that seemed to swirl around dead staff - who promptly vanished into the aether.

Matthew introduced them, looking at two of them manhandling a barely conscious Marco into a portal, "These would be the eeriest fuckers on our team. The Orik'eth. Let's see, they have an oath of silence, which they get around with telepathy. They can teleport people around, heal others, and alter memories. And they have a special division that functions as jailers."

One of the Orik'eth stepped forward, and "spoke" into the minds of the assembled teens, which sounded like the blaring of bells forced into the sound of a human voice; ALL INJURED PARTIES NOT IN THE KNOW OF MAGIC HAVE BEEN HEALED. MEMORIES ALTERED TO MINIMIZE CHANCE OF A RUPTURE EVENT. LACK OF MASQUERADE HAS BEEN A GREAT HINDRANCE.

As the Orik'eth one by one disappeared as suddenly as they appeared, Matthew addressed James' question, "Answer: very. There's a whole school of healing magic."

Reiji and Dhakar

A pause as Reiji stopped his fretting upon getting another message on the phone. His curious expression turning joyful as he and Dhakar leaned over the phone and read Jayden's message. "He said yes!!" Reiji promptly broke into a "dance of joy" - more an awkward jerking as he tried to approximate some actual form of credible dance.

Dhakar puffed his "chest" as it were and chuckled, "Well of course he would say yes! My glory calls for no other response!"

"But I didn't mention you though." Reiji responded.

"Yes—-I—-well—-because shut up Reiji." Dhakar promptly turned away.

Meeting the Orik'eth

Heather looked visibly distressed once the ominous healers wandered in and began 'fixing' the devastation left behind by their battle. Black mist and white light, Heather tried to hold back her immediate urge to make a dumb reference to ghost banking or word magic and instead focus on the fact that there was some fucking bells in her head trying to speak human language.

"Hey. Hey thug? I'm gonna need you out of my head mkay? I did not give you permission to be in el casa del Heather brainscapio so just... Back off."

She tried her best to stare down the masked figure 'speaking' to the group before she lost interest in fronting and backed off.

"Mmmmkay those guys rub me nine directions of the wrong way so who wants to bounce and go shopping for expedition supplies and a new accessory?"

Mister Anderson...

Pablo paused as the creep just went and took their perp out as if nothing happened. This was just wrong. Even if they healed everyone else, there was just something that put every nerve on his whole being on edge.

"Anyone else thought they'd shove a hand on us and turn us into a masked drone or something?" He asked out loud.

"Wish you luck, señorita," He said to Heather, not really realizing.

"I dread tomorrow," He said, speaking kind of automatically.

Edited by Blueace on Apr 17th 2021 at 5:27:38 AM

Mina Parker

"Wh-What..." was all that Mina could say, staring after the eerie dark figures that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere before going about their business wiping memories and fixing the damage that had occurred. After all of this, it looked like Mina's classmates wouldn't remember anything magical happening at all. That was a relief, but at the same time, it left more questions that Mina could not answer.

This was the first time that she had seen or heard of the Orik'eth. Today, this was the first time—as far as she knew—that she had ever interacted with these strange beings. One thing lingered in Mina's mind, however. If she had seen them before, she would have no way of knowing, since they were able to manipulate memories. She remembered looking into her mother's disappearance, and failing, and slinking home to ultimately do nothing.

What if it was all wrong...?

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 19th 2021 at 2:02:30 AM

Matthew

"Don't really blame you all for feeling these guys are creepy or rub you the wrong way. I know the first time I ran into them, I almost ran in swinging." Matthew looked over at Pablo and said, "Alright so, whenever you're available I'm good to start your training."

He knew that today there'd be a lot of dangerous missions started, and he hoped that these kids kept themselves safe.

Matthew handed over the Badge again to James before stating, "Alright, so, we have our missions set up today, right? Make sure and be careful, everyone. If anything goes disastrously wrong, get notice out right away."

Meanwhile however as the meeting continued and just about concluded, Duane Logan watched the ensuing events from the sidelines with an oddly blank look on his face for a moment before seeming to come back to himself. He then scowled and nodded before walking off back into the school.

Alan Godfrey stopped running, noting that it seemed he was far enough away. It figured that Marco would lose, didn't it? That insane moron was good for helping advance his plans, but couldn't defeat a pack of juvenile idiots. What a world to live in. On top of everything else, by now the masked freaks were probably around editing out his mental control over the school's regular populace.

So it was all ultimately a wash.

He stopped to catch his breath, back up against a fence - he was between a section of homes on one side and the woodland on the other. "And I'm no closer to discovering who else is involved in this little beacon city's games..."

He thought he heard something for a moment and propped himself up off of the wall.

"Why not just ask?" Alan almost jumped when he saw a figure sitting on top of a section of the stone fencing, kicking his legs. Slate gray one eye, amber the other and with auburn / brown hair. It was of course Xander Nyczus - who had wisely stayed home that day.

Alan saw Carter step out from behind a tree, and Eli seemed to appear out of the shadow of another such tree. Alan gulped, feeling suddenly quite surrounded.

As if detecting his fear, Xander jumped down and took on a more relaxed demeanor, "Now let's not jump to any conclusions. We're not here to start shit. We're here...to ask if you might be interested in working for a party much more likely to win."

"...Depends on what "party" that is." Alan commented, "But if you guys help me get some revenge...well, I'm amenable."

Pablo got up. Looking like twenty different emotions ran through him.

"As soon as possible, then" He said, getting ready to move "It feels like I won't be able to be productive in anything unless I feel like I can do something useful"

He might still have his fists clutched, but he should check the rest of his teams are okay.

And to see what they think went down, if anything.

Jayden

Jayden froze upon seeing the Orik'eth, and the way they just...removed memories from everyone. They didn't show any hesitation or remorse, they just...did it.

"Um" was all he could say. He was too stunned for anything else. These guys...how long had they been active? How many memories had they wiped? How much...how much information had been lost because of them?

...had he ever had a run-in?

"R-right," he murmured in response to Matthew. "Start...start the mission. I can do that."

...wait a minute.

"Did we ever go to class today?"

Team Meeting, We Are All Upset By The Orik'eth

"Honest? I think it's probably safe enough to call today a scrub school-wise and use our time to work on our missions. Besides, those fake-cops probably don't care about doing regular cop jobs enough to patrol the mall for kids out of school."

Heather does a little yawn and kicks at the ground.

"We all set to roll then? Who's with me on mall trip then monster squad?"

"You know what, what the hell, I'll go along with this whole mall thing. Nothing interesting ever happens in class, and I want to get away from those memory creeps. Magic like that shouldn't exist, its a violation of the most fundamental level."

He shivered slightly at the thought of those mask things, he did not like the idea that everything he knew could be an implanted memory. Best not to dwell upon that too long. His memories were too consistent to be fake anyway, right?

"I'm willing to help pay for the expedition supplies, but the money for your katanas isn't coming out of my pocket."

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Apr 21st 2021 at 10:59:13 AM

Skipping School

Matthew nodded along with what James said. The Orik'eth were a moral compromise that he didn't make lightly - one he'd prefer not having to make. One he hoped he wouldn't have to see done ever again after today considering that the Masquerade was finished, and the only thing left was...easing people into it. The problem being that it seemed this year in particular was a year for violent xenophobia to run rampant. The only hope he had was that by taking these actions today, things wouldn't proceed like they did before.

"Now, I can't exactly say I condone skipping school..." Matthew contemplated, looking at them, crossing his arms, and then shrugged, "But considering that the school just got attacked by a psychotic magic user and most of the school's gonna wake up with altered memories, I figure a skip's all good."

"First and foremost, Pablo, if you can, head on over to the old clubhouse by my high school. Soon as I'm done dropping Jayden off, I'll head over and give you some lessons."

He looked over at Jayden and gestured at his motorcycle, "Jump on and hold on tight. I'll get you close by the forest, but I can't go too close. Let's just say Dhakar has a habit of telling whenever I'm close by."

Duane soon enough walked out in a rather...uneasy way. It seemed he was still shaky, but he was back on his feet well enough. It seemed Jackson and Kyle had went off on their own. Hm. Whoever those weirdos were it seemed that he definitely felt the reciprocity from his "other" in anger. He shook his head, and went along. "Hey guys, feeling...better, after that incident in the building."

Jackson couldn't believe his luck. Those creepy masked creatures, whatever they were, seemed to have their eyes on everybody else. He watched them do something fucky to Tobin's eyes, and took a swing with his right hook, only for the guy to just seem to suddenly be to the left and continue with his work with utterly no words.

Jackson didn't get anything out of them - and he couldn't hit them for the life of him.

For some reason, the masked freaks had completely ignored him and Kyle, who was now in Jackson's car.

In Jackson's car.

Jackson blushed bright red as he realized it. What this might look like to astute enough eyes. Two jocks just...out like this. He bit his lip. He couldn't afford to—-to ask. What if he refused? What if he freaked? Told Jackson's dad?

Jackson went slack. He remembered that night nine years ago. He remembered waking up and hearing the door roaring open on its hinges, and sneaking down. Seeing his father dragging something out in a tarp, stained with blood. He then never saw his adoptive mother again. Jackson didn't need to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together.

The jock gulped. Of course he never told anyone. Kenneth White was one of the richest men in California period, possibly even the west coast. And now, now he was off in DC kissing some ass to get a position he could milk for even more money.

Jackson swallowed down the fear. Worst case scenarios...worst case scenarios. He proceeded back to his huge BMW and decided. Today...today, he was gonna ask Kyle out.

On a-a date.

Conrad Parker knew that things were getting kind of out of control now. He didn't want his daughter entirely under Kellon Nyczus' control. And he couldn't afford to act right now. Not with the Scion bringing everything in right now. Doing so and directly exposing his armor and affiliation would only jeopardize his position and result in Antonius having complete and total power over the way the events shook out.

Something big was coming - everyone knew it. The powers that be were moving.

And he knew - he had to do whatever he could to protect Mina. So perhaps it was time then.

To awaken his son.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Jul 12th 2023 at 11:25:06 AM

Pablo just sent a thumbs up, as he went to where a couple of his friends were. On the way, he saw a blond guy and a black-haired dark-skinned guy were talking, walking out. Pablo with just a look managed to smile, as he tried to get out of the school. And among the crowds, he didn't see Ha-Yun on the back.

At the moment, he just wished they were safe.

What will they say about today? He thought. Even if there aren't memories and likely any evidence, tomorrow will just be another day. Lucas, Xavier, Yun please stay safe

With that done, he slipped outside. Getting to the place seems like the next move, even if he could use a breather in the meantime.

Better plan out the trick on the family He thought At least I am relatively clean so far, even if I might have to step up my game to cover for it

Jayden

Jayden mutely nodded, mind still on the Orik'eth. My prior investigations...I thought they yielded nothing. But what if they had, and I just...forgot? Maybe I wrote some of it down. Maybe...

...maybe my theories were right all along.

He didn't say any of this as he climbed onto the motorcycle and Matthew started speeding towards the forest. He just stared at the blurring scenery, lost in his own thoughts.

What did I forget?

It didn't take long for them to reach the forest. They slowed to a stop, and Jayden got off the motorcycle and started walking into the woods. "Alright," he muttered, trying to psyche himself up even as the forest got darker, the canopy of leaves thicker, the wood more gnarled. "You got this, Jayden. This is something you've been waiting for your whole life. You can't miss out on it."

He took a deep breath, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, "REIIIIIII-JIIIIIII! ARE YOU STILL UP FOR THAT CONVERSATION? CAUSE I'M READY TO HAVE IT!"

Edited by LilyTheLitten on Apr 25th 2021 at 7:53:13 AM

Forest Conspiracy

The sound of someone falling over, and frantic movement inside the treeline. There was some loud murmuring from something huge within the treeline. There was a brief moment of silence as if there was a discussion going on in there...and then movement. Reiji started to walk out of the trees, striding out - though his royal purple mage's robes and other garbs were covered in some light amount of leaves and twigs.

As if he had stumbled and fallen over in the course of getting out there.

But surely Reiji wasn't that physically awkward...?

Reiji looked around briefly as he saw Jayden arrive...and then frantically dusted himself off and took on a more aloof visage. "Ah, so I see you have decided to join forces with us. You deserve to finally get what you want. Trust me, I know the feeling - looked down upon, underestimated, your theories dismissed and your knowledge regarded with disdain. Well, now you can reverse your fortunes."

Getting out of school was the easy part. It took him a bit to find the clubhouse, but at least he thinks he got to the right place. And making sure he wasn't being followed was the hard part.

Making way in, he tried to steel himself, for whatever comes.

"Hello...?"

With how things are going, it's the right moment to get attacked by ninjas He thought If that happens, I'll be pissed