* Monica: You've been summoned to a church by one of your elders, with no explanation given. Just to repeat. * It's pretty slow, and there's barely anyone in there. * Monica is dressed in her riding gear. Never a good idea to draw a large audience to a meeting of our kind. * Monica walks up to the front, and kneels before the altar, crossing herself. She then sits in the front pew, and waits. * There's 2 or 3 people, randomly praying at pews and stuff, and someone waiting outside of the confession stand. But the elder in question is way up in the center, behind the alter. * Who's dressed in a nuns attire, and is apparently the Mother Superior of this particular church. * Monica gets up, kneels again before the altar, and looks up to the Mother Superiour, waiting. My child. Have upon thee the blessings of the Holy Father. *this is said with a trace of mockery* Are you willing to serve, my dear? Yes, Mother Superiour. I have much penance to pay. What does my Lord ask of me this day? I am glad to hear that you are willing to seek redemption with us. *she bows her head.* The lord asks of you to visit one who does not believe. * She slips a piece of parchment across the altar as she bows. What is the infidel's name, and what service shall he ply to buy his redemption? * Monica takes the parchment, and pockets it * MS hisses a little. "Not so loud," she says in a softer voice. "All the Lord asks of you is to show him the true way," she says in her normal, fake religious motherly voice. (The true way... To the next dimension!) Bowing again, and crossing herself yet again (my isn't this ritual tedious), Monica thanks the Mother Superiour for the opportunity to serve, and backs away from the altar. * MS crosses herself, and bows her head. "May our lord watch over us." (Yeah, but it might be confusing for someone reading the log.) * She then retreats from the altar, pulling off the illusion of a graceful old woman perfectly. * The peice of parchment, when you get around to reading it, has an address, a name, and the directions, "He's on the verge of something. We want it. Let him finish, then bring him and it to us." * Monica stands, turns away, and walks down the aisle. * The name: Joshua Fremey. The address is a middle-class address, really near the local university. * Monica shoves the double doors wide open as she leaves the chapel, reveling in the glorious sunshine. * Monica walks to a nearby pub, and orders a shot of the local best. * Monica sits, opens the parchment, notes the information, then burns it in the candle on the table. * The drink is served, for no charge. But the bartender does slyly wink at you and gesture upstairs in a meaningful way. o/~ "I thank you for your generosity, sir. However, it would be to your benefit to maintain your propriety." * Monica finishes her drink, then heads to the address from the parchment. * 'Hmph. Just my luck I see someone I like and they go cold turkey.' A professor doesn't even demand special attention. I always get the grunt work! * Monica ignores the stares along the route. These became trite long ago. * The house thats at the address looks pretty much like all the others. Altough there's a lot of smoke coming out of the chimney. * Monica knocks on the door. * Theres no answer! For 4 or 5 minutes, anyways. Then some indistinct yelling, then some more yelling, 'Hang on, I'll be right there!', and some coughing sounds and a slight muffled boom. * Monica waits patiently * And a few more minutes after that, the door opens! A geeky looking guy with sandy hair and stylish glasses, and covered in soot. * Well, he opens it, too. *speaking in French* Oh, my! Are you alright? * Monica reaches out and cradles his head. * Monica wipes soot from his face, checking for injuries Uh... I think.... I was fine tuning the arcane ingredient amounts when I heard the knock, and couldn't be pulled aw.... away.... * He starts drooling as he's grabbed. * Uh... Can.... can I help you? (he's not speaking French?) ( Err... ) * He switches to french at that last line. But he didn't start out in french. *continuing in French* Monsieur, are you hurt? Here, let me... * Monica ushers him inside, removing her gloves, and continuing to run her fingers across his face and through his hair. * Joshua continues to attempt to say stuff, but it all comes out in stutters and stuff. (what kind of room am I dealing with?) ( Messy and unkept, papers and books and the empty boxes of the eras equivalent of microwave meals piled up in a corner. ) * Monica makes a quick scan of the room, checking for assistants, students, etc. * Monica ushers Joshua to a nearby chair, sitting him down. * There is a rather proffesional looking portrait of a really purty lady, though. No sign of anyone else at the moment, either. * Monica starts to remove his shirt, running her hands over his (presumably scrawny) torso. *french* Sir, are you injured? Is there anything I can do for you? * Joshua finally manages to gain some measure of coherence, and only midly stutters in french. "Uh... I'm fine. Really. I just didn't expect the flamberge root to react as violently as it did.... Um..... who are you?" Not that I wouldn't want you here if I didn't know who you were, but it's just kind of awkward ... in this... uh... situation, and we haven't even introduced outselves yet? * french * Ooh, flamberge root? What were you working on? Are you sure you aren't injured? * Monica leaves his side to look around the room for a cloth (and see what she can see) * Joshua grins sheepishly. "Really, I'm okay. It's nothing." * Messy. And the smell of expirements from the door leading to the basement. *fr* You are so brave! Dealing with such dangerous chemicals! (If you're speaking in another language, a common way to show that is to put things in some kind of brackets. <> and [] are the most common.) * Monica finds a cloth, and returns to his side. She kneels beside him. * Monica sticks out her tongue, licks the cloth slowly, then begins to rub to soot from his cheeks... his chin... his lips... * Joshua shrugs it off. Well... tries to. He kinda gooifies again. @_@; [Excuse me. I am so rude. I am Monica de Crosse. _Miss_ de Crosse. And you are?] * Joshua blinks, trying to get his mind back to something resembelling focus. "Uh... Joshua. Josh for short. I'm... I'm a student at the university." [Ooh! *sultry* I _love_ an intelligent man. What do you study?] * Joshua goofies again. "Since you ask so politely... Uh... Uh...." *he bonks himself on the head* "I've been working on a way to use dead supernatural essences to fuel magical devices. I think I've almost got it down." * He perks up. "I can show you! If you want." * Monica leans over, stabilizing herself with one hand on his chest, and reaching up to his cheek with her other. [You... have this... effect on me... I hope you don't mind?] N... no... I don't mind at all. * Monica kisses Joshua deeply, feeling the rush of his life-energy * Monica shudders [Wow! You are so... invigorating!] (What, did I knock him unconscious?) * Joshua's eyes glaze over, and when it's over, it's like he's been shocked. "Uh..... I...... Uh.... Uh...." * And then he gives up on trying to say anything coherent. * [Now, I believe you were going to show me your latest project?] [You know how a brain turns me on!] Oh.. uh... right. I kind... I kinda though you didn't want to see it.. after that. *He grins sheepishly* Come on, it's down here! * Joshua gets up, and glances at Monica to make sure she's following, and leads her to the basement. [You bad, bad man! So presumptuous!] * The basement is one big room, as big as the first floor would be, if there weren't any walls. * And if you didn't think there were enough books upstairs, there's even -more- down here. There's lots of shelves, with books and ingredients and stuff. * Monica stands agape, trying to look as though she's impressed. * And a big table with a cloud of smoke still lingering over it. You like? I managed to weasel a big loan from the univserity for my project. *He says this with the unmistakable streak of pride in his voice* * Monica walks over to the smoking table. [Is this the project? What does it do? How does it work?] * It smells pretty distinctly of flash-burnt stuff, and various ingredients. * Monica turns to Joshua, clinging her hands together and bouncing like an excited schoolgirl. * Monica 's actions give a distinct bounce to her... um... hair ^_^ Uh. Well, you see, dead supernaturals have a different type of energy than humans. It dosen't go away when they die, and I've theorized that if you can extract the enrgy from it quick enough, it'd be pretty potent. [Supernaturals?] You know. Ghosts, demons, succubus', vampires, stuff like that. [Oh. You are so smart.] * Monica gets a glint in her eye, and saunters over to him. * Joshua grins sheepishly. "Well, yeah. A lot of people say I'm smart." [I... I think I feel something coming over me again. I just can't help myself.] * Monica leans over and blows in Joshua's ear * Monica whispers to him: "What do you DO with this 'other type of energy'?" I've... been extracting it from samples.... And.. uh... Getting more efficient.... Gonna.... gonna try a big spell with it... test it.... * Monica speaks in a low, whispery voice: "Can I see?" I should have enough... I was gonna wait till I got a bit more.... But... I can try.... (Okay, it's officially true. Monica's a succubus.) ( ... ) (*winkwink*) * Monica leans in and kisses Joshua again, leaving him intact this time, then stands back and watches him do his stuff. * Joshua picks up a book, and flips to a page. "If my calculations are correct, I should have enough to cast a gateway spell. If I can do it, that means I've exceeded my expectiations by at least 20%." * Monica gazes on in (mock) admiration * He switches to Latin. Wai. "Essence of those not in this world, come to me," he says, waving a hand over a glowy crystal ball. Now for the moment of truth..... *He glances at the open book, and starts reciting from it.* * Monica feels a slight twinge, but shakes it off, speaking to herself, under her breath, "It's nothing." * A few long moments pass, and there is a thick ozone spell in the air. Then an audible snap, as a thin, flat wavery panel forms. * Monica applauds, in honest admiration. Yes.... Mardukais Gate worked! *He turns to Monica* It's got a higher energy cost than the normal gate, because it's aligned to a specific type of creature. [Impressive! What is it?] (Marduk? A little too much Tekken, eh?) In this case, succubi. If there was a succibi near it, it'd start sucking them into it, to who knows where. Good thing there's no succibi around, eh? (Hah!) * Monica walks quickly but casually from the room. * Oh-ho-ho. Now that he mentions it, there's a strong pull tugging from it. o/~ [Where is your bedroom, my darling Joshua?] * You're finding it ... hard to walk away from it. ( Don't go torwards the light!) * Monica grabs onto the nearest wall and tries to make her way toward a doorway. Uh... Upstairs. Why? It's all a mess anyways, I've got to clear it out. [Joshua, hold me!] [I must have you now!] * Fwooom! Fwoomfwoomfwoom. It's starting to pulse. * Monica reaches out with her mind, trying to tell Joshua to close it. * Joshua walks over, and hugs her with more strength that you'd think he had. "We did it!" [Turn it off! It's scaring me. What if a succubus comes through from the other side?] * He picks her up, and twirls her around, a bit oblivious. "It worked, it worked!" * Monica! Body roll, +3! * Dicesuke throws the bones for Monica (2d6+3) and gets 12. It won't happen. It's very specifically a one-way spell. (... You failed.) * Monica clings to Joshua tightly (yeah. I got that) * .... not tightly enough. Or maybe so! Because one of the portals pulses seems to latch on with an invisble grip, and pull her into it. .... Oh dear, poor Joshua goes with her, too. Whaaaaa! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!!! (in a completely ladylike fashion ^_^;) (BAMF!) (My wardrobe!!!) (Fanservice!) * Insert stock portal footage here. It was most definitely -not- a freindly trip. But you somehow managed to stay concious through it, and near the end, you see some kind of black shape. It's approachng quickluy, and you hit ? No, pass through it, it turning into some kinda of liquid surface as you make contact. *blinkblink* * Impressions of other lives fill your head momentariily, and then you're spit out forcibly. You manage to get a glimpse of pointy rocky wet ground, before you hit it, and pass out. *swoon* * Endies!