The plushie sticks its head out of the bag, and tilts its head a little. Its beady eyes catch what little light there is (headlights and interior illumination in the bus). "First, I am not a bunny, and certainly not a cat. Foxes are most closely relate to dogs, so if you must, you can call me a ... puppy. And rub my tummy. I like tummy rubs." It coughs into its hand, slightly ashamed of this digression. "So, whatcha got, buster?"

The syringe is now in Zoe's hand. The metallic thing twists ever so slightly, as if trying to stab the hand holding it. Echoes of anguish and pain become audible and palpable, the Light drawn from so many people held in there by black bands of magic. Her fingers trace over a sigil on the syringe - a circular wave.

She squeezes out a little bit out of it. The droplet shines brightly, illuminating the immediate vicinity of the Darkness far better than mere bus headlights can.

The droplet divorces itself from the needle tip, and falls slowly towards the metallic legs jutting from the driver.

Hundreds of faint red eyes open, behind broken windows, beneath rusted cars, far down the street. Hungry eyes. Watching the descending droplet of pure Light.

Or is it only your imagination?

In the bus, Inari's ears perk. "Shitshitshitshitshit!"

The spidery limbs soak up the droplet, and the thing stops struggling to savor the taste of souls you condemned.

(Let's have that Int+Medicine roll now. fail=driver dies messily, Thing still in him. 1-2 successes= Thing out, driver dies. 3-4 successes= Thing out, driver has 50% to survive. 5+ successes=Thing out, driver survives.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:17, Mon 31 Oct 2016.

Having finished putting her gloves on, Zelda silently gets to work the moment she sees the squirming stop. Her scalpel glowing a brilliant orange as it passes through the driver like hot butter, she rapidly makes a series of deep yet perfectly smooth cuts, lifts the flesh away to expose the temporarily-docile thing, nonchalantly lifts it out and sets it as far away from her patient as she can without getting up off her knees, (does various internal manipulations?,) and places everything back where it should go. The entire process takes less than half a minute, at which point she returns her knife to her kit and turns her head very slightly toward Zoe.

"Magic. Now."

Should anyone bother to look at Zelda closely enough, they'll notice a single bead of sweat near the edge of her hairline.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:43, Tue 01 Nov 2016.

Nina appears utterly calm as the red eyes briefly appear, although her pace does quicken slightly. Ignoring Inari's brief glare, she produces the bomb from her bag.

"The bomb from earlier keeps talking to me. I think its some sort of dark magic. Most of what it says is drivel, but it mentioned that it could make 'A opening in the Darkness' its words, not mine." Nina places on emphasis on both the quote as well as the word 'drivel'. "While I don't trust it, its all we have to go on, so I'd thought I'd get a second opinion."

Holding it out for Inari, to inspect, she looked it over herself, trying to divine some of its inner workings as well.

11:13, Today: Nina Washburn rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more with rolls of 2,8,8,5,1.  Int+Occult Magic Bomb Inspection.

Zoe nods, trying to put the reality of what she just did from her mind. This man can still be saved.  She Drops to her knees, and brings out a bit of her light, healing him.

12:54, Today: Zoe rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s ((2,10(+2),1,5,1,5,9,4)).  Balm roll with Willpower.

EDIT: 14:25, Today: Zoe rolled 1 success using 3d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 7,10(+7),4.  Balm corrective roll.


23 Lethal healed.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Thu 03 Nov 2016.

After confirming that the driver is stable, Zelda's gloves and other medical equipment turn to light and burn away. Summoning her pistol back to her hand, she extends it toward the exposed Darkspawn and unceremoniously holds down the trigger.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
12:28, Today: Zelda rolled 4 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,7,9,8,5,9,7,5,3,9,2,4.  Levinbolt medium burst, ([Successes] + 4) lethal damage.

---

Thirty seconds later, the operation was complete. The heart-size spider thing and its foot-long metallic legs move drowsily where they were discarded, a few feet to one side. A warm blast of Light envelops the driver as Zoe restores him, her awesome magical power re-kniting his flesh into something more in line with a living person. The bleeding has stopped, but there's still a mostly open wound in his left chest. He lets out a soft groan. Doubtlessly he'll be overjoyed that he's still among the living. And he'll be forever indebted to you... yeah, right.

But you all expected that, right? Just like you expected more and more red eyes to open in the shadows, peering at you from afar, their number growing by the second. The grave-like stillness enveloping you gets even more oppressive. Ordinary animals might make growling sounds to intimidate their prey; these inhabitants of the Dark spread pure silence instead.


Meanwhile, Shira checks on the woman who was stabbed with the syringe. There's a barely visible stab wound in the center of her chest. No blood. Nothing seems to be missing. The woman stirs in her sleep, some kind of nightmare not letting her simply drift off into deeper dreaming.

Inari stops cussing long enough to take a look at the bomb.

The bomb stares back at the plushie, LED lights making a frowny face on its status panel.

After a moment's battle (plushie vs. bomb, how thrilling!), Inari chuckles. "Yo, girls, if anyone has a bright idea now would be the time! Dying a virgin means you lived wrong, you understand?

BLAM! The Levinbolt cuts into the spider-thing with the force of a dozen suns. There's a pained shriek, and the burnt spider-thing bounces and skids off into the darkness, burning and shrieking. There's time to squeeze off a couple more shots at it, if the heroines wish.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:44, Thu 10 Nov 2016.

Blazing Striker was concerned for the woman, but she seemed to be in good enough shape that making sure she doesn't get eaten by monsters would be the most pressing to do in this triage situation.

"I'm going to get the driver. If no one has a better idea by the time I get him back inside, I'm going to er..." the emoting bomb gave her pause, and improvised with the incredible mental prowess that typically got her Cs at school, "owthray ethay ombbay atay ethay onstersmay."

She ran to the exit where their bus driver was unconscious on the ground. "I realize that this is probably not going to do this guy any favours, but we really need to get him inside now. Slap something on him to stem any bleeding and let me grab him." Once the others did what they needed to do, she picked him up and slung him over her shoulders to carry him in a fireman's carry, and brought him inside.

Zelda watches with contempt as the thwarted monster attempts to flee and continues to track it with a hail of magical projectiles. There's no way she's letting it get away, not after what it did and could do again.

As Shira comes to take the driver, Zelda replies without taking her eyes off her target.

"Wake him up while you're at it, he might know how to get everyone out of here."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
10:58, Today: Zelda rolled 2 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 1,1,2,3,5,3,10(+3),8,3,1,3,5.  Levinbolt medium burst, ([Successes] + 4) lethal damage.

10:58, Today: Zelda rolled 5 successes using 12d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 3,5,8,8,8,9,4,1,3,3,4,10(+6).  Levinbolt medium burst, ([Successes] + 4) lethal damage.

So yeah, that makes (23 – 3*[Armor]) damage total, no way it's still alive.

---

"Alright." Blazing Striker said as she dragged the man inside, "Um... is the bomb aware or something? I saw it make a face." she asked Inari and Nina.

"Hey, wake up!"

OOC:
14:00, Today: Shira Rosenberg rolled 2 successes using 4d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,1,6,8.  Medicine to try and wake up.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Sat 12 Nov 2016.

Zoe gives Blazing Striker a helping hand as she brings the driver back inside.  "Here, let me help."  The Driver dangling between them, she digs with a free hand into her pouch for some smelling salts, waving them under the driver's face.

15:56, Today: Zoe rolled 2 successes using 8d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 5,2,8,1,4,6,8,1. Dex + Medicine + med kit.

The driver seems light as a feather in Shira's hands as she carries him back into the bus. All the blood didn't seem to bother her at all. And it's not like her clothes will stain from it, right? She puts him into the first best place in the bus she can think of, and that is the front row of seats, right next to the entrance.

The driver stammers something unintelligible, caught in the midst of multiple nightmares. Perhaps waking up is not the safest thing to do. But it's not like his rescuer gives him a choice. Shira recalls the painful stimulus axiom from her first aid lesson - and promptly rubs her knuckles against the poor driver's sternum, which produces considerable pain, and in turn elicits a pained yelp from him. Oh, he's awake too, his eyes wide and bewildered. Zoe's smelling salts prove to be totally redundant.

"Fuck! What are you doing? Who ripped me open? And..." the man looks around at all the unconscious people in the bus, then the distinct blackness outside, and... the animate plushie flipping a bird. "...dafuck. I need to stop drinking that crap." He shakes his head, as if that will help him regain his senses.

...no. The plushie is still making obscene gestures. Isn't that particular gesture used only in New Zealand? At least his side seems to only mildly ooze blood. However, he's at a loss to explain how exactly he got here. The man fixes his gaze on the two princesses tending to him, searching for something in their eyes... and not finding it. He seems to sigh in relief.

Outside, the smoking remains of the spider-thing twitch a bit before melting into unidentifiable black goo.

Nina seems to pale and freeze up as she peers into the darkness, far ahead.

"Sir, I need you to focus. What do you remember of the last few hours?" Blazing Striker was going to ease him into the whole "you had some monster inside you, possibly controlling you and now we're in some dank dimension surrounded by monsters".

Soon Nina snaps out of her funk, tearing her gaze away from... whatever she saw. "Seems like it." She mutters in Shira's direction, before turning towards Inari. Briefly double-taking at the sight of a plushie doing obscene finger gestures, she swiftly recomposes, then starts talking. "Alright, what do you got for me? Look familiar at all??"

As she talks, she can't help but turn the bomb she's referring to over in her hands, studying it with an annoyed expression on her face.

Nina Washburn rolled 2 successes using 5d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling on 9 or more ((10(+3),1,2,8,7)).

"Back to the bus," Drachenstern whispers to the other Nobles. "It's as safe a place as any to hold out until we have a way out of here."

"Good plan."

Zelda moves briskly back into the shelter of the bus and decides to step in when she sees that the driver is awake. Not that she doesn't trust Shira, but... In her experience the other Adventurer's bedside manner leaves much to be desired.

Kneeling beside the driver, Zelda cups her hands around one of his and looks him warmly in the eyes.

"Hi, I'm Rose. It's okay, we're here to help."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
03:19, Today: Zelda rolled 4 successes using 6d10 with the World of Darkness nWoD system with a target of 8, rerolling 10s with rolls of 9,9,5,6,8,8.  Presence + Empathy to calm the driver and make him feel safe so he's more ready to talk.

---

Blazing Striker moved aside to let Rose do her work and moved to where she felt she could do the most work as a protector.

Now that the obvious things to do had been done, Zoe looks around, unsure of herself.  "So... I'm a bit new to this." She says to Blazing Striker. "How do we get home?"

"I'm not really sure myself. I was going to ask the driver, but I decided to let Rose here talk with him. I normally ask Inari for things like this, but right now, I'm guessing our guess is as good as his. I believe the bomb might know something." Blazing Striker answered Zoe.

"Wait!" Drachenstern runs over to the others as a possible answer comes to mind. "There's a type of magic that can be used to escape the Dark World. Maybe we can improvise a spell based on it to take these people with us."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:27, Thu 08 Dec 2016.

"Very well, what do you propose we do?" Blazing Striker asked Drachenstern. She had an idea on what they might do, which was more than what she could say right now.

"We need to make a slight change to the ritual, to account for the passengers." She places a hand on her chin. "Start by forming the circle around the bus. One of us will have to be on board, to sort of...hold the magic in place. Rose-" Drachenstern glances at her friend.

"I think it would help if we use our blessing charms on a few of the passengers. The point is to get the magic of the ritual to recognize these people as part of the group leaving the Dark World." She then turns her regard to the rest of the Nobles. "Come on. Let's be about it. We're on borrowed time, here."

Shira's inquiry catches the driver somewhat by surprise. He had hoped you'd explain what exactly went wrong to him, not the other way around.

"Uh... let's see. I went to work. The bus... oh, there was something important I had to do today." Absentmindedly, he starts patting his pockets, and the torn jacket of his driver uniform. "I left it here somewhere, didn't I? I had... It has... Oh." Sudden realization blooms on his face; then, insufferable guilt that weighs more than a single human should be able to shoulder. He hangs his head. "So it wasn't a dream after all. Is she... yes, she should be out there, watching. She said she would."

Meanwhile, Nina is turning over the bomb in her hands. Its LED display flashes various obscenities, not fit to be reprinted here. Suffice to say that the bomb has quite a large vocabulary, and draws onto more than one languague. The amount of synonyms for your mother's reproductive parts it knows is bedazzling. Nina doesn't find out anything else useful, apart from the arming instructions (printed on its underside in friendly letters).

Inari makes a couple more obscene gestures, then shrugs at Nina. "You know as much as I do, bae. The thing makes BOOM. I think it might be able to rip a tear back to the real world. It might also kill us all doing it. Hmmm. Your call."

Zelda applies some of her charm on the driver. In return, he looks back at her with those suddenly helpless eyes of his. "How do we get out of this? I didn't want... I mean, I didn't expect this to really happen. Dreams don't suddenly become reality, do they? I just wanted help with my daughter. She said, she could help me, for a price. But it was all in a dream... dreams shouldn't come true. Should they?"

Drachenstern looks around, noting that the tire marks the bus left on the street stretch back a few dozen yards, but not further. Nothing in the vicinity suggests there's any magical inscriptions or the like around. No, the trigger is not out there... perhaps in the bus itself? The magic circles and ritual sigils could be anywhere in the vehicle - under the seats, on the underside of the bus, painted on the tires. Now that she knows what she's looking for, it should be easy to find them. However, time is slowly running out, and the girls can feel it. The denizens of the dark are closing in, slowly but surely.

Somewhere far in the darkness, a girl with dissimilar eyes allows herself a cold smile. The thing she's scritching behind its ears lets out a sound not meant for human ears.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:21, Wed 26 Apr 2017.

"Wait... daughter... were you the man from the dream?" Blazing Striker asks, some pieces falling into place.

However, her senses, supernatural, mundane, and common, all are screaming at her to get them out of there. Turning to Drachenstern, she speaks, "Do what you need to do. I'll go outside in case anyone out there tries anything. And to help with the spell of course."

Blazing Striker gets off the bus with a guarded stance. Anything that was going to attack was going to go through her.

"Okay. Just..." Drachenstern begins searching the bus, awkwardly stepping over unconscious passengers as she goes. "There's one more thing we need to deal with. Obviously, the bus couldn't have gotten here on its own. Someone used magic of their own to enable it to enter the Dark World. We need to get rid of their work before we set up our own ritual." On a hunch, she checks the area around the driver's seat and dashboard.

Zelda looks at the driver sympathetically and speaks in slow, measured tones.

"You're right, dreams aren't supposed to come true, not literally. Unfortunately that wasn't a normal dream; something evil slipped inside and tricked you. It's okay though, it's gone now, so now I need you to try really hard to remember some things. Can you do that for me? You brought this bus into another world. I need to know how, and more importantly, how you were going to get back."