How remarkable. Lily thought to herself, her blue eyes watching over the others, even as she slowly shook her head, to get the annoying ring of the gunshots out of her ears.

A run down, yet obviously well thought out improvised theatre... who'd have thought from the mere inhospitable look of the abandoned hospital? She'd definitely have a story to tell Fillæna later. The special effects were outstanding as well... clearly, they had the budget. She wondered if there was someone with a video camera near. Then again, it wouldn't do to have the camera image smeared by a fox nose smelling it out, so maybe she'd just wait until the movie was published... hopefully on VHS.

Still, was something to maybe look forward to... and how about that one new woman that entered the scene? Lily went to wander closer to her, but thought she saw, or perhaps felt, a flicker of movement. She blinked, pausing a moment. Through the wall? She wondered to herself a moment, before continuing over towards the woman.

Tall, red hair... glasses... there was absolutely no doubt in Lily's mind as she drew closer. As a self-respecting human-watcher, she knew right away that she had seen her before. She had one of the prop guns too, Lily noted. She wondered how they got such a good supplier... just another sign of their fair budget. Though, there was something else as well. Lily sniffed the air around the woman. The lingering, faint scent of qi in the air around her wasn't that strong by itself, but there almost was something else as well. It took Lily a moment, but she noticed it seemed to be a bit denser near her hand. Intriguing.

Lily could also detect the scents of a couple other humans nearby, a bit further behind the woman. Inwardly she wondered just how large a cast this group had. It was already looking bigger than the drama club she attended. She had seen a lot that interested her... but she knew she couldn't stay too much longer. Elly wasn't waterproof right now, and she was probably getting lonely, or wondering what Lily was up to.

So, she decided she had seen enough for the evening, and started to make her way up and out of the hospital.

After hastily making certain that the creature was not here, Guy looked for the woman who had spoken earlier. She was showing concern for the hitman, but certainly she had not been in his vision at all she could not have been a significant figure here tonight, all the same though her appearance was troubling. Perhaps, she was not an ally after all and was merely teasing the man that it was none too wise for this skilled, albeit ordinary, human to fight the creature without any defenses. Guy would have to be very careful around her. She did have a shield in place though, hmm that too was somewhat suspicious. It seemed as though everyone was leaving though... Guy needed a place to hide and consult his gift.

Tuesday June 1, 1999 (O -3)
12:01 AM – Heavy Rain, Strange Women, and Extreme LARPing
Abandoned Hospital B1
Aaron ignored the new woman as he holstered one of his weapons to free up his left hand. More people only made for more chances that someone else would make a huge mistake and screw everything up for him.

He strode over the pool of demonic blood and turned quickly into the operating theatre, gun raised at whosoever felt inclined to mess with him next. The room had mostly emptied in the time he had gunned down the demon. Only the man with the blown knee and the one who had drugged himself unconscious remained.

The unconscious man lay still at the edge of the pentagram where Aaron had first seen him, but the large man who he had shot had dragged himself to the centre of the room next to the central torch. He was still shivering from the adrenaline high and the shock of the pain from his leg. He looked up but said nothing as Aaron came in.

Aaron could see in his eyes that this one was smart, he could see the revelation that inaction meant living overpower his pain-driven instinctual aggression. He ignored him, starting toward the door in the back-right when the cultist spoke up.

“You haven’t killed it, you know.” Aaron paused. “The Fiend Spirit. Even now it is probably looking for a way to strike back at you.”

~***~

The woman shrugged off Aaron’s response and turned to Guy, still holding his chair. She was about to speak when a massive shadow intruded into the area of the torchlight. She tensed up, but realized quickly that the creature coming at her was not hostile. Instead, she froze, waiting to see what it would do.

Lily’s fur shifted from pitch black to an orangey-grey as she stepped into the light, but it couldn’t compensate at such a close range. She stepped forward timidly, like a friendly dog without the tail-wagging, and sniffed the woman’s hand.

“Hello, there. What have you been up to?” the woman said, scratching the large fox behind the ears briefly. “We’ve got business to get to,” she told Lily, letting her pass. She looked up to find that the kid had run off somewhere.

“Keep your eyes open—I don’t know what’s going on, but I think someone beat us to the punch. We don’t know who all is with us or with them, so be very careful,” she told her companions. She clicked on a flashlight with her free hand and stalked down the hall to the door where the light was emanating from.

~***~

From the darkness further down the hall and around a corner, Guy silently counted the newcomers as they approached the door. There were three—the red-haired woman with the glasses, a dark-haired girl about twenty years old and a blond guy about the same age.

Fate had introduced more players. What this meant and what he should do about it he didn’t know. The prey was on the run and his fellow agents were each heading off on an individual heading while yet more fell into the mix. He needed to deal with these developments, and he needed to know his path.

Guy stepped off the stage for a moment to take his queue. He scanned the corridor that stretched away from him, but the illumination was next to completely none. His only clue that the hallway even stretched away in that direction was the empty feel of the air and the way sounds rebounded around him.

Satisfied that he wouldn’t be snuck up upon, he allowed his perception of the present to fade. His irises flared with a soft, silvery light as the future unfolded before his eyes.

He saw the fox again, in the half-light of the entrance, only this time it looked anything but the calm companion that had followed him earlier, sniffing curiously around. It was standing on its hindlegs, hunched over. He caught the smell of fire in the air and heard indistinct shouting in the background before the scene faded.

Next he saw the man who had been shot in the knee by the hitman. He was lying dead in the dark, his body curled up around the torch stand in the middle of the room—which had apparently gone dark.

He saw a stairwell full of people running up to the first floor. The man with the pentacle that the hitman tried to kill stopped at the door to the first floor, and then continued up the stairs alone.

Finally, he saw three men stumbling around in a dark room (clearly his mind’s eye could see in the dark much better than he could himself) until one of them finally found the door and opened it, dropping them all out into the hall that Guy was now in.

Guy sucked in his breath involuntarily as at that very moment he heard a door further down burst open suddenly. He flattened himself out against the wall reflexively. He couldn’t see any of the men and he suspected they couldn’t see him, either, if he held still.

“Wha-? Where are we?” inquired one clearly stoned man. His two fellows fared no better with their mental alacrity.
“Dun’ know. Can’ see a damn thing.” The second
“‘Veryone else wen’ down thataway, I think. I’m hungry.” The third.

“Whaddyou talking ‘bout? Our lives are in-endangered here,” the second asked.
“What? You heard ‘im, s’long as we shut up, we’ll be safe,” the third argued.
“Shuddit both ya. I dun’ want nuthin’ to do with this ‘nymore. Let’s get outta here. This way.” Guy heard the three of them retreating—and then heard it once again, with his ears. He realized that he actually had one last vision, showing him not to interfere with the three men—at least for now.

~***~

Meanwhile Lily padded up the stairs back to the first floor, unaware that she would soon unwillingly join the cast of this very real play.

Lily -5 Essence (10 in use, 10 ambient)
---Camouflage 4/12 rounds Aaron -20 Life ()
>>> -3/-3 Gun cap ()

(Perfect, that leaves you with some options [except Reralae, but I promise I’ll get you into some action as soon as your fellows advance the timeline] and gives you just enough info to interpret what your options are, roughly.)

(Oh, and a note for Guy--it makes it easier to cobble together a vision if I have an idea what he's looking for specifically and what kind of assumptions he might be making about the future.)

(Finally, don't anyone worry about trying to 'force' their characters together into a party. I'm fully not expecting any of these folks to suddenly come together at the end of this and say 'hey, let's all band together and fight the forces of evil together, whaddya say?' Though of course, if it works for you, you can still try to get to know one another and be friendly )

Tuesday June 1, 1999 (O -3)
12:01 AM – Heavy Rain
Abandoned Hospital B1
“You haven’t killed it, you know.” Aaron paused. “The Fiend Spirit. Even now it is probably looking for a way to strike back at you.”
Aaron turned to the man. He could probably squeeze some information from him, he decided—perhaps he would be willing to share a dirty little secret about the mark, namely where he might be running to.

He decided to start off polite with a subtle air of menace. “Tell me, where has your leader gone? It would be in your best interests to be honest.”

The answer the man was preparing to give apparently did not agree with the question that was asked. He hesitated at first, then answered, “Through those doors there is a corridor that connects to all the operating rooms in this wing. At the end there is a staircase that comes out near to the front entrance. Any moment now they should run into your witch friends.” As he spoke, his eyes trailed to the body behind Aaron, the ODer, a fact that Aaron did not miss.

“I don’t think you’re telling me everything,” Aaron said, tossing off the comment about his friends, for now. “If you’re smart enough to know that the front entrance will probably be guarded, I’m sure your leader won’t run headlong into the trap along with the peons.”

The man practically flinched at the retort. “I- I’m not sure where else he might have go-.”

“You waste my time with your babbling,” Aaron interrupted sharply. This time the man actually did flinch. There was a small sound behind Aaron. The cultist’s eyes darted unsubtly behind Aaron’s back.

“Well, he might have gone to hide upstairs until everything calmed down, but, well, he’ll be ready for anyone following him—and with all that power he’s carrying, too.”

“That’s enough out of you, then-.” Aaron was cut off by a sudden sound from behind him. Prepared for this treachery, he threw himself out of the way before the gunshot went off, triggering cries of protest from his ribs.

The other man wasn’t so lucky, however. With Aaron no longer in the way, there was nothing between him and the path of the bullet. He was struck in the right side of the chest and fell to the floor, clutching the wound.

Aaron quickly looked to the shooter. It was the unconscious man, still laying on the ground with a .38 revolver in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot and vacant, as though he was still unconscious, but his malicious grin refuted that summary.

“Hah! Too bad for him. Did you really think you could be rid of me so simply, mortal?” The voice was different, but the disdainful sneer was the same.

Aaron -20 Life ----- -3/-3 Gun Cap

Possessed OD -1 Gun Cap (-1 unfriendly fire)
Wardmaster -27 Life (-18 shot in the chest) Unconscious and dying, if not dead.

(Since Aaron lacks any nearby cover, he is rather vulnerable, which limits his options. He can keep diving for cover (full round) while the shooter runs out of bullets (he’s got a revolver, so that won’t take long, though it could be dangerous), he can shoot back and hope that he wins initiative (not unlikely) and this one goes down with one or two between the eyes, or else he’ll be a fairly nice target, or lastly he can bolt for either door while being shot at.)

(For Guy and Lily—he hears the gunshot a moment after the men take off down the hall while it reaches her ears climbing the stairs, whatever the individual reactions may be )

Aaron had no time for peons, but the words were disturbing. However, he did not let this impede on his logic: he needed to be rid of this enemy now, before he let off another shot. It was to the "man's" folly that he gloated over Aaron. It would be to his down fall. Aaron quickly took aim and fired a shot straight at the target's head.

(I will use my +1 luck on the initative roll)

Tuesday June 1, 1999 (O -3)
12:01 AM – Heavy Rain
Abandoned Hospital B1
Aaron rolled onto his back while the man adjusted to aim at him. Aaron had already been faster on the draw, but on top of that the man suddenly burst into a coughing fit.

BLAM

The bullet ploughed directly in to the man’s eye socket, laying him flat on his back. He was plainly dead, and yet his mouth moved.

“Damn this frail body! I suppose I’ll have to look for something a little more suitable next time.” The moment the words left the corpse’s mouth, every muscle in the over-drugged man’s body convulsed briefly before falling dead-still again, the blood quickly beginning to form a pool around his head.

Aaron glanced to the man lying around the torch. His blood had also began to pool, reflecting the light from the flame. He was still breathing very shallowly, he surmised. The fact that he wasn’t yet dead was a mere formality before his body realized it could no longer function. A pity. He was going to leave him live.

Aaron -20 Life () ----- -3/-4 Gun Cap (-1 right point-blank)

Possessed OD -200 Life (-200 boom, headshot) – Very Dead Indeed ----- -1 Gun Cap ()
Wardmaster -27 Life – Unconscious or Dead

(Nice shot. Now your choices lie between charging directly after your target, or dreaming up a different direction to strike from. Wherever you go, other than the lobby or near the windows in the upper floors, it's going to be very dark there).

(Oh, and lastly, we'll give Guy a bit of a chance to respond, then have Lily's part come into chronological order while Aaron works out where to go next and Guy picks a heading.)

hmm, the lack of information regarding the newcomer in his vision was troubling but he had seen the fox again in his vision. Guy felt that he still needed to be near the fox then as it was still alive in his vision. Trailing behind them seemed like it would be his best bet. The chairs stealth inhibiting size meant that he would have to leave it behind. But what would he need stealth for anyways they would know that he was there? at any rate it would hurt to be difficult to locate even if his presence was known...

Tuesday June 1, 1999 (O -3)
12:02 - Moderate Rain, Gusting Wind and Flying Lead
Abandoned Hospital Lobby
Guy slipped back around the corner. He could see the woman in the small pool of light extending from the pentagram room, with two shadows behind her. She was looking in on the hitman and the cultist’s gunfight. One of her allies was shining a flashlight down the hall they had come from and her light was held down. A second gunshot rang from within the room.

The red-haired woman turned away from her survey and motioned for the two behind her to return the way they came. She paused when she noticed Guy’s approach from the darkness, and flashed her light at him, then, realizing he wasn’t an enemy, made a quick gesture, inviting him to go with them.

“We’re going to try to catch the other two at the entrance,” one of the shadows explained to him–a young man, probably a bit older than himself.

He followed as Aaron inside the room glanced at the fallen cultists, neither of which were his intended marks. The hitman quickly took up the torch in the room and followed his prey through the back door.

In the next room there were sinks for surgeons to wash up in pre-op and another door. He followed this door out into a corridor lined with lockers and cupboards, broken up by doors to other operating theatres. He followed the central preparation corridor around the same corner Guy took, but on the other side of the line of the theatres, and down. He noted in his mental map that he was travelling down the north wing, below where he entered the building.

Aaron came to a door that led out of central preparation next to a stairwell at the end of the hall.

~***~

There was a bang and a crash to Lily’s left, startling her into turning toward the commotion. She was just about on her way out the front doors to the abandoned hospital and off into the night when the tides of fate caught and tugged at her heel.

There was shouting as a pack of humans burst forth from a side-hall. There were about a half-dozen of them, waving frantically in some kind of escape scene. Lily was just thinking about getting out of their way before she intruded on the set, but she didn’t get the time to act on this thought.

The group unleashed a level of incomprehensible shouting and expletives over and above the one they were already maintaining at the sight of the beast standing before them, guarding the exit. The monstrous wolf was guarding their only exit. They would have to kill it and escape before its master caught them, this fact was clear to them.

They did not see Lily trying to move out of their way before they opened fire on her.

The first shot roared like thunder, the bullet struck the ground next to her with a crack, causing her fur to stand on end and bristle out in every direction. Her forepaws were already off the ground as she tried to roll out of the way when the second shot buried itself in her hip.

The sudden stinging pain in her side, sharper than any she had felt before, caused her muscles to freeze up, sending her stumbling while the other two shots struck the floor and the circular infodesk behind her. (-18 Lily)

She shrugged off the pain easily after the onset while three men approached her, surrounding on her on one side from a cautious distance. One drew a knife while the other two prepared their fisticuffs with nervous glances.

Guy and the team of raincoats were mounting the central stairs between the basement and the lobby when they heard gunfire breakout–and an involuntary yelp from the mysterious grey fox–towards the exit.

Meanwhile Aaron sped past a meek trio of stoners hiding on the stairwell and up to the second floor.

Aaron -20 Life ----- -3/-4 Gun Cap
Lily -14 Life (-18 hip/flank +4 regen) ----- -3 Essence (+2 regen, 10 in use, 10 ambient)

Lily's ears twitched as she heard a repeat of the sound from the first man's gun. Strange, why were the actors up here too? Or were they improvising, having seen her, and decided to add her as well?

She decided to play her part at least, but then the second shot hit her. She yelped, her body tensing and stiffening a moment before she growled loudly, baring her fangs. That actually hurt. Quite a bit as well, though the pain began to subside as soon as it occurred. Lily's hackles rose as she turned towards the ones that had attacked her. There was no real thought. They had hurt her, and she felt her instincts take over.

She wasn't exactly cornered, but a deep anger slowly resonated through her body. She leapt forward at the one with the knife, baring down with tooth and claw at his fragile body.

She couldn't afford to lead them to Elly.

Tuesday June 1, 1999 (O -3)
12:02 - Moderate Rain, Gusting Wind and Flying Lead
Abandoned Hospital Lobby
Any confidence that the knife-wielding drugee might have held about his ability to take on the animal quickly washed away as it slashed his gut before he understood what was happening. The monster had close in on him in two bounds, standing up for the third to gut him with one claw. (-8.)

The man curled reflexively from the shallow cut, only to have the furious Lily claw out his throat with a powerful, lucky swipe. His last conscious thought was to realize that, whatever else it was, the beast was not a wolf, but a really large grey fox. (-48 critical hit)

His corpse fell to the floor like last week’s trash, Lily still standing over him on her hind legs, slightly hunched and prepared to leap at the next challenger.

Both of the men on either side of him, already doubting their chances of coming away from the fight unharmed, turned and ran with naked terror on their faces, filling the air with the scent of their fear.

Of the four remaining, the only two women of the entire group, a man, and the baseball capped fire-shooter, the three without magical talent filled the lobby with the tremendous roar of their guns.

Lily didn’t have the time to dive for cover, this time. Of the six shots fired, three struck their target. One buried itself into the area of her kidney, one pierced her lung on the right, and the last tore into her shoulder. (-18, -36, -12) The pain was fantastically intense, but still not yet debilitating—a fact that was screwing with the shooters’ nerves, hard.

Guy hit the top of the stairs just behind his new allies. Even in the darkness he could make out across the lobby from him an anthropomorphic fox being shot at by three people standing at the mouth of a hall. It was as if the scene was pulled directly from his mind (something he was used to seeing, by now) with the singular omission of the scent of fire in the air. He glanced left at the two who had fled past him, screaming, and determined that neither would pose any threat.

~***~

Aaron tried the door at the second floor. The old, rusty hinges protested and the door jerked open unsteadily. He didn’t have to go looking to know that his target hadn’t stopped on this floor; as he removed his hand, the door started to close jerkily, but got caught and didn’t shut all the way.

If Mr. Anderson had passed this way in as big of a hurry as the target of a hit should have, the door would still be partially open when Aaron got there. He turned and continued up the stairs to the third floor where, he suspected, was the most likely place he would find his target.

Aaron coaxed the door of the third floor open with a mild screech and stepped through. The door closed slowly behind him, the system that kept the door shut still able to overpower the accruing rust and disuse.

“Is that you, fool? Hasn’t it occurred to you yet that your mundane skills cannot hope to compete with the power given to me by my lord? Very well, come and taste the flame that fatally lures the moth to its death and you shall see what it is that makes me fit to rule in the New World and you only to serve or die.” The cultist cried out from somewhere on the floor.

The hitman dropped his torch in the corner, depriving his mark an easy chance to see him and shoot—or do something else—from the cover of darkness. The stairs he took lay at the end of a hall, sheltered by a turn. Aaron stalked up to the corner of this bend and peered down the corridor. On either side as far as he could see were rooms, most of the doors hanging open where someone could fire from.

Aaron -20 Life ----- -3/-4 Gun Cap
Lily -76 Life (-18 kidney, -36 chest, -12 shoulder, +4 regen) ----- -3 Essence (10 in use, 10 ambient)

Gun-1 -3 Gun Cap (-2 shots each)
Gun-2 -3 Gun Cap (-2)
Gun-3 -4 Gun Cap (-2)
Knife -56 Life (-8/-48 aggravated assault by wild animal) [Probably Dead]
Fist-1 OMGWTF
Fist-2 OMGWTF
Baseball Cap
Marcus Anderson

(Heh, though I didn’t plan for it that way, Guy’s visions came about in exactly reverse order to how he foresaw them. Anyway, he may now go ahead and state his intentions (He is currently maybe 50-60 feet from the shooters and a bit further from Lily). Note to Aaron that he knows the upper floors of the building form a ‘C’ shape, of which he is at the end of one arm. Lily—you already know what to do, just tear them apart for their impertinence.)

Lily cried out as she was shot. Three more times to be exact. The pain was beginning to get to her, but adrenaline ran through her veins, keeping her conscious and ready. If she was thinking clearly, it'd have been more than she could take in human form. But she was not human, and she was angry. She growled, dashing forward, moving onto all fours, before suddenly rearing up, back-flipping to kick hard at the first gunner in her path.

If that wasn't enough, they'd soon feel their share of pain in the form of claws being raked savagely through their body.

Though, all things considered... Lily was now having a bad night.

Aaron decided that he would have to find a means to get this man into the open. He would shift back towards the door and out into the hallway. He would then holster his gun and unsling his rifle from his shoulder, and prepare to fire a little ways from the entrance he had just entered...

If all went well, the man would have just as much pleasure in hunting his target as Aaron did. It sure sounded like Anderson was wanting to teach the hitman a lesson. Aaron just hoped that his bait would be taken: the man would only look like a pitiful weak fool saying such exceptionally strong words only to flee when given the first chance.

Tuesday June 1, 1999 (O -3)
12:02 - Moderate Rain, Shootouts and Stalking
Abandoned Hospital Lobby / 3F
Aaron peered down the pitch black hall. The chase had become a game of wits and guile—oh, how this hunt was developing in new and interesting ways.

He withdrew behind cover and unslung his M 107 Sniper Rifle from his shoulder. All the while keeping a keen ear out for sounds coming from his prey, he cradled it in the crook of his arm while he turned the safety on his handgun on.

With a few, expert movements, Aaron switched hands and stepped out into the hall with his rifle ready to fire and the handgun in a reversed grip. Finally, he drew his arm back and threw the handgun as deep as he could into the darkness.

The sudden, unexpected sound so far down the corridor and so far from where his prey through he ought to be should at least startle the man into giving away his position, if not actually draw him out into the open.

Aaron drew up his rifle and watched the shadows of the hallway carefully. Ideally a sniper rifle was meant to be fired from a prone position where the weapon’s significant kickback wouldn’t be an issue. Aaron didn’t take jobs where the conditions were considered ‘ideal’, however.

The sharp sound of the handgun striking the floor crashed out loud amongst the muffled gunshots from the lobby and the hushed patter of the rain and wind against the windows in the rooms. Aaron held his breath and listened carefully, and was rewarded for his diligence. With the clatter of the weapon there came a startled scuffle from very far down the hall and around a corner.

Under the veil of obscuring shadow, Aaron smirked to himself. He quietly stalked forward, moving from entrance to entrance, confident that Anderson had not concealed himself in one of them.

He managed to travel almost the entire length of the wing, knowing by memory that he was almost up to the point where the wing would branch together with the back portion of the ‘C’ behind the main lobby below. This meant that he would soon be approaching a junction in the hall, though he couldn’t see exactly where.

~***~

Guy saw the strange fox taking heavy gunfire and knew that the promise of regular fire hung in the air. Acting quickly, the young seer hefted his chair above his head and focused his psychic power on it. Again his irises glowed softly with inner energy as he lobbed the chair, throwing it with his mental might more than with the strength of his muscle.

The woman with the gun on the close end turned just in time to see the chair, but not soon enough to do aught by cry out in surprise. The plastic and metal chair struck her hard and fast, cracking several ribs on her right side and throwing her to the ground. (-14dmg)

“Throw down your weapons and surrender now!” the red-haired leader of the group of raincoats cried, strafing along the railing.

“Don’t you dare!” cried the capped man, “The True Lord of the Earth will not suffer weaklings in the New World! Prove yourself worthy of dominion!” He turned to the newcomers and raised his hands before him.

“Flamas!” he cried. The energy he had gathered was channelled through the matrix he had created with his will and manifested before him as a wave of flames sweeping out from his feet across the linoleum floor in a two metre wide arc.

The red-head was out of the way of the wave, but the dark-haired girl and the blond boy in front of Guy were both in the path. They both tried to dodge but couldn’t get out of the way fast enough, while Guy who had no practice with evading attacks stood even less of a chance.

Steam leapt up from the three as the heat rapidly evaporated any lingering water from their bodies and scalded their legs badly. (-8 dmg)

The man with the gun was clearly feeling the pressure was too much for him to handle. He wildly unloaded the last two bullets from his revolver at Lily, and then threw the gun to the floor, fleeing back down the hall he came from.

“Coward!” spat the fire-thrower. Neither shot struck Lily as she leapt swiftly away from where she had been standing.

The woman who remained standing turned her attention to the red-haired woman and fired three times. The first shot deflected off the shield that the woman had cast around herself while the other two flew off into the darkness. The last woman, whom Guy struck, remained unmoving on the floor, whether dead or submitting was uncertain.

Guy could see the energy beginning to gather around the two before him as they spread out along the railing ahead of him behind their leader, so that another wave of fire wouldn’t hit all of them again.

Both the fire-thrower and the last gunner retreated behind the cover of the hall as light briefly flooded the room from the glass roof.

~***~

Somewhere outside lightning flashed, casting brilliant light upon everything within its range in a massive discharge of energy—including the third story windows of a certain decrepit hospital.

In a inside-hall as he was, surrounded on either side by rooms between him and the nearest windows, Aaron remained enveloped in shadows, but from the hall he knew to be ahead of him light poured in, revealing the precise location of the T-junction.

The hitman knelt down softly, searching the area where he heard his gun skid to with his hand. He found it almost instantly and returned it to its place on his right hip.

“Why don’t you come out to play, guns blazing, again? What? Not so bold the second time?” The voice came from a ways the hall that split off to his left. “Perhaps the displays of mine and my fellow disciple’s power have taught you some inkling of respect for the forces of the True Lord? Clearly not enough, however, else we wouldn’t here, now would we?”

Guy -8 Life (-8 burnt) ----- -4 Essence (-4 charged Mindhands)
Aaron -20 Life ----- -3/-4 Gun Cap
Lily -72 Life (+4 regen) ----- -3 Essence (10 in use, 10 ambient)
RC Red Hair
RC Black Hair -8 Life (-8 burnt)
RC Blond Hair -8 Life (-8 burnt)

Gunner1 -14 Life (-14 flying chair) -3 Gun Cap ----- Dead?
Gunner2 -6 Gun Cap (-3 shots)
Gunner3 -6 Gun Cap (-2 shots and disarmed) Fleeing
Knife -56 Life (-8/-48 aggravated assault by wild animal) [Probably Dead]
Fist1 OMGWTF Gone
Fist2 OMGWTF Gone
Baseball Cap
Marcus Anderson

Lily almost froze momentarily as she saw fire emerge from nowhere. A second time it had done so that night. She quickly looked to pinpoint its source... Mr.BaseballCap it would seem, had some means to do so. She didn't know how, and honestly didn't care how right now. All she knew was that he was the biggest threat of the bunch, and so, had to be taken out.

Swapping back to all fours, she leaped forward, so close to the last gunner that they probably were afraid for their own skin. But, fortunately for them, they were not Lily's target. She reared back, continuing forward and spinning around with a high, clawed kick at Mr.BaseballCap. That was all she could do for now, but when opportunity presented itself, Mr.BaseballCap would learn the futility of trying to preach with an aggressive wild fox nearby. Not that Lily was remotely interested in or paying attention to what he was saying anyway. For her, there was only the moment, guided by instinct and feral aggression to take out all threats to her.

Guy was hit! He hated when that, but it has happened before. This time he was burned too, this would be difficult to explain to his foster parents. How does one explain getting a burn in the night while you are supposed to be asleep? Well that would only matter if he didn't die here, so he put those thoughts from his mind...

He needed something to through and some cover. Cover being the first priority, he cast his gaze seeking a place to hide from any other fiery attacks like the last. If on the way he found something to throw at them, he might feel a little more optimistic about this encounter.

If he could keep throwing things at his enemies might cause sufficient disruption in the fight as to open up an opportunity for a better action later. Most of the gifted like himself were physically below average, like himself, and poor hand to hand fighters. This kind of scenario might give him the advantage with his abilities... a bit of extra fighting ability with his mind and the future revealed to him. Yes that kind of fight would be ideal. If he could get them closer together too that might discourage the use of the flame throwing attack.

Now he had a plan. Find cover and throw things at the two behind the railing trying to move them closer together and then find a way to get close...