As Ex came hurtling past him, Ozzy dove out of the way. He rolled to his feet as he did, stopping to look at the *thing* that had attacked them. He'd felt the reading on Andy sort of move... was that?

He scanned the demon for his residual magical aura. If that turned up negative, then he'd conjure up a paint sword and force-shield, hoping that the sword didn't instantly dry up and turn to dust or something in this heat.

The demon registers as Andy its clear he's changed a lot in his time here though.

"Andy! Dude, it's you! We found you! Oh, dude, what happened to you? C'mon, bro, it's us, your friends! Don't you recognize us?" said Ozzy, hoping that Andy was still in there... somewhere.

Excelsior was rmoving towards the Deomon raising afist for a punch when Ozzy dropped the identity bomb. "ANDY?!"

WHen the demon came Erica shrieked and dived behind a rock poking her head up when her son asn th others with him seemed to recognize the demon,.

  He blinked at them, and shook his head, then straightened and shifted almost instantly, with a crackle of flesh and bone, his body morphing back to 'human', but changed.  Six feet six, with enough solid muscle to make him look like he could probably seriously hurt someone by muscle alone, and his eyes no longer had
 white scleras, they were black with purple irises. He said "I have to say, you guys look a hell of a lot better than I do.  But if you don't want to play Tag with the fellows playing 'tag' with me, we'd all better get our butts in gear.  Trust me, you don't want caught."  His voice had deepened, and CLEARLY, he had been there a while.

"No problemo. Gate, one trip back to my grandpa's basement, if you please. Guys, let's get ready to defend Gate, if need be. Ex, grab your Mom, I just remembered something Orthos told me last night. Looks like you get a ten finger discount on your deal with the devil, bro!" said Ozzy, grinning.

  From the tunnel Andy had emerged from, came the sounds of several Demons coming. And they could hear approaching wingbeats and footsteps.

  Meg looked rather unsure, and she told Ozzy via mindworm {{That doesn't smell like Andy did before.  Are you sure it's Andy?  His scent has changed, and people don't change scents!}}  But she laid her hand on his human-shoulder, giving him a jolt of healing when the snarls sounded.

Ozzy snarled, and pushed his way past the others, drawing runes on the cave where the demons could be heard, laying a spell to raise a rock wall between the demons and the heroes. That, at least, would hopefully slow them down.

"Gate, get us outta here, now! Move move move move move!" he said, hoping that he was fast enough to get his spell off before the demons came.

{{Meg, he's got residual aura from *my* magic, and I haven't cast any spells on any other demons. I don't think that any demons would be able to specifically replicate my magical residue, either. His body has clearly changed, Meg, I'm not really surprised that his scent did, too. Heck, I'm surprised you can smell anything through all the fire and brimstone.}}

  Andy moved around, closer to the stone wall that rose up, and snarled back, even as several impacts hit the stone wall.  His nails had turned back into talons, and he said "Tag in Hell is not a fun game.  They catch you, they get to torture you until you figure out how to escape, or they get bored enough to want a new toy."

Ozzy grinned as he tried to magically reinforce the wall, to give Gate some more time.

"Well, then, let's see how they like it when I turn a game of 'Tag' into a 'Boffer LARP'." he said, before sighing.

"Ugh. That sucked. Remind me to smack myself later for that."

  Andy said "Turn it into a what?  Ozzy, I've yet to figure out how you guys look the same after ten years, but I know I've changed a little."  He shoved one shoulder against the wall as it began to shake from repeated impacts on the other side.

"Ten years!? I know time flows differently in Hell, but it's been less than twenty four hours on our side, at least from when we left! Man, I hope we're not gone a year or two from the Mortal Realm by the time we get back..." said Ozzy, looking shocked as he tried to help Andy keep the barrier up.

Gate recoils when the demon shows up his hand on his dagger and gets ready to help out if they need it. However when people started talking about it being Andy he looks suspicious. "Well if you guys are sure." He says when he's told to make a gate. He didn't know himself but the thought of being tortured by demons didn't sit right with him either. "You going to have to wait a bit this isn't going to be easy. Also anything close is going to know what I'm doing so be ready."

As Gate starts to try and open the portal this time he stabs the knife into thin air and starts pulling down. A scream seems to rip through the air as the gate starts to open and the blackness that was there before ripped out in leg thick tendrils waving around trying to attack anything close to the portal. The Knife in Gates hands flares white and the tendrils keep their distance from Gate still feeling for anythign else.

  Meg drew a gravitational shield around them, then lined it on each side with a magnetic field.  She said quietly "I think we have more company coming . . . "

Ex looks out into the distance his mother standing behind him. "We've got company on its way can you make that go any faster?

"I'm more worried about whether or not he can close it fast enough once we're out. Grandpa'll be *PISSED* if I let some demons out in his workshop." said Ozzy, praying that their defenses held for long enough for Gate to do what he did best.

  Andy snorted to Ozzy, and said dryly "You already ARE letting a Demon loose, Oz.  I really don't think I count as human anymore at all.  But I still think human."  He spotted a taloned hand sneaking through a gap, and added "But I suppose we don't have to tell the registration office about that, do we?"

The portal was about half open and opening faster though the knifes blade was glowing red hot now. "There is a reason demon's don't break out of hell very often you know. This isn't as easy as it looks."

The blackness starts to part and the otherside can be seen. "It will close very quickly but I have to be the last one through."

  Meg said "Okay, let's move it as soon as it's open far enough, get through it.  Those guys behind us sound like they REALLY want to give us some bad days."

"Eh, you I've got permission for. It's these other jokers that are trying to Gate-crash that he wouldn't like. And when Grandpa gets pissed, you don't wanna see it. Think Gandalf when he was scolding Bilbo about the Ring in the movies." said Ozzy, chuckling, as he leaned back to avoid a claw that managed to pierce the wall.

"Hey, Gate, how's the gate coming? The demons are almost through, I need some good news, here! Please tell me we're ready!" called Ozzy, worry starting to creep into his voice.

The gate wasn't as big as he'd like it to be but it looked like they were out of time. "Its going to be a tight fit for some of you." He says and then, twisting hte dagger, removes it from the portal. The blackness suddenly disapates and they can see the inside of Ozzy's Grandfather's house. Tossing the dagger from hand to hand to avoid burning himself anymore Gate focus's on keeping the portal open.

"Everybody go. I won't be able to hold this for long without causeing other problem." Already his voice seemed strained and his face looked weary. Opening the way out had really exhusted him and the protection the dagger gave. He was close to his breaking point in more ways than one.

"Awesome! You heard the man, let's get a move on! Next stop, outta here!" said Ozzy, before backing up a bit and throwing up a quick magical wall to give him and Andy the few seconds they'd need to get from the wall they'd been holding up to the portal that Gate had opened. Then, once everyone but Gate was through, he'd duck through the portal, hoping that those tentacle things that had appeared earlier weren't still in a grabby mood.

  Meg ducked through, moving quickly, and said "We're back!!"