"It's good to see you Carmilla.
Anyway. We need to get to Sullivan's body to stop him. and Hopefully we'll find the Ring before Rat finds it and uses it to bring darkness across Earth."

Therefor, We are going to want to bust though Both Rat's and Octavian's forces to get to our objectives."

Heading forward with the weapon ready.

You hear the sounds of her shuffling to her feet. She sounds really tired, and when she rounds the pillar, she, unlike Tex and yourself, is coated in a shining golden dust. She shakes that off, and staggers forward. The look on her face is not one of exhaustion, but rather a focused fury.

Tex doesn't draw his weapon, but he does follow. "You...uh...need a hand, Carmilla?"

You don't see her reaction, but Tex's reaction is audible. "Fair enough. You have your hair still, and your intestines seem to be in you still. Better than most. Guess you Shinigami are really made of something else, huh?"

Her silence is quite noticeable.

It isn't long before it is broken. A horde of rats surges at all three of you straight from the walls, crawling out of the cracks in the walls, foaming at the mouth and with green eyes to match the saliva coming from them.

Before the rat come I ask Carmilla
"Is something going on? Your not talking and ... Should I connect to your mind so we can talk?

================================

Vs. the rat horde

My gun blows holds in concrete and cooks everything around the impact point.
Therefore I am using it to thin out the rat horde. I aiming for the greatest concentrations of rats without hitting my allies.

She gives a look of anger to you and throws her arms out in frustration. That is when the rats arrive.

You blast away the ones coming at you and Tex, but they regroup quickly and press to Carmilla, coating her in rats. She simply spins in place, and then hurls herself bodily at the wall, sending most of them flying or falling.

The cracked wall they came from has a gorilla's fist coming through it. Furious roars precede several more strikes as the rats scatter away.

A very furious, glowing green eyed gorilla is smashing the wall down. You notice before he gets all the way through that his fanged maw shows the same greenish foam the rats had...

If none of my allies are in the way, I'll shoot the raging ape. And continue shooting it until it stops moving

The weapon does not adhere to this world's normal physics regarding firearms, and the demon is mildly surprised to find itself destroyed by this weapon. So is the remainder of the wall he was coming through.

Camilla's eyes have a mild greenish tint to them now. She takes the mask off of her face, and coughs up a heavy green...flem? That's what you think that is.

"Rat, what have you cooked up this time?" Tex is shuffling his cards with one hand, and his fingers have moved in subtle ways. "I hope he likes maledictions, I got a few more I'm gonna give him for this one."

Camilla stands up fully, knives drawn. She strides through the hole you have made, looking for more hostiles. Your chi sense is giving you a bad aura on her. Her chi is somehow poisoned, strengthening her and weakening her at the same time. A similar fading aura was on the demon you just killed.

There are dead rats and demons of many kinds strewn about in this room. The fighting seems to have moved on, but it is not far off at all. In fact, despite being empty, there is a palpable aura of danger ahead of you.

"You be careful with that gun of yours, friend." Tex looks at your blaster. "I don't know how that works, but no prayer weapon can fire forever. Either they run dry, or they overheat. One of the two."

"I'm aware of how dangerous the gun is. I'm not exactly sure how it works... Maybe I need to get around to analysing it...

Anyway, That illness is something else. But I think I can get rid of it. What can you tell me about it. I'm Analyzing it. But I might miss something you specialize in."

I'm focusing on the Illness in Carmillia. Trying to analyse it deeper.

Your chi sight is catching quite a bit of interference from the energies here, and it's hard to get specifics. All you can see is that it is turning her innate chi against her.

"Rat was a genetics and chemical specialist for Graham once." Tex closes his eyes for a moment, apparently thinking about something while shuffling his deck. "When his Okami blood woke up, his decision to leave the world behind was not hard for him. It was said only Graham himself cared about the unpleasant and odd R&D worker leaving his employ: no one else cared. He intuited magic on his own, and picked up quite a bit of blood magic to augment it. This is demon made, but there is something a bit off about it, even for them."

"You dare attribute this to my kind?" You see a woman come around the corner, a blue skinned beauty dancing her way towards you. The deep rumbling voice you just heard, however, was unmistakably Octavian's.

You see the demon woman's chi starting to flare fatally, and she starts to convulse while dancing. Tex and Carmilla dive behind the nearest pillars, their instincts going off. You evade the blast on reflex as well.

Octavian is now standing where she was, drench in both oil and blood. "You DARE attribute this to MY kind?! I know the Rat is here, in this room, right now. Step forward, Rat, and die swiftly!"

Octavian spins his metal pole, clearly showing off his skill with such a heavy weapon. Octavian seems uninfected so far.

You notice Tex's aura starting to sicken, however.

Well. As much ass I would like to try fighting Octavian without my magic to back me up. There are things I need to do here. So I follow Tex and Carmilla behind the pillar.

I whisper to them
"Time to go. Tex, You might want to try curing the infection before it gets established.
My magic is down at the moment."

I'll then lead them in the direction in that is not occupied by Octavian.

Tex has a look on his face like he was going to throw up. "I'd love to do that, except I don't know what I am infected with. In addition, you seem immune, and I'm not sure why. I didn't bring anything for something like this, partner, and unless a scientist shows up other than Rat, we don't have the means to make it."

Carmilla throws a knife in front of your face and shakes her head negative when you try to leave. She points to Octavian, still yelling a challenge, and gestures to her ear.

"Octavian..." You hear the Rat reply, although you can't tell quite where he is. Carmilla is in a battle crouch, and she seems to be trying to track him. "Why would I step forward and be killed by you, when I can just watch you butcher your own army? In time, this disease will overtake your forces, and even if it doesn't, you'll be quarantined and lose your hard earned holdings. I don't need to beat you in battle, Octavian the Living Tower. I'll let time do my work."

Octavian snarls and fires a sickly red pulse at the wall from his staff, hitting nothing but stone. The Rat chuckles. "Nice try, but seriously, I want my lair back and everything you found in it. It is more valuable than you know."

"You mean it is the center of your little plague here." Octavian sneers. "You think I can't track the flow of power within my own home? You can't control it, Rat, and I will settle for taking you with me. Give up!"

The Rat gains a condescending tone to his voice. "My, my, an impasse. Perhaps we should ask a third party what they think? Would you honor it?"

Octavian slams his staff down impatiently. "You mean the Shinma-spawn." He yells in your direction. "You are flirting with a lot of treaties just being here! Have the Shinma finally gotten off of their high pedestals and started making their own Akuma? About time, if you ask me."

I reply to Tex
"I can see that it infects your chi and turns it against you. I can't use chi at the moment so there is nothing for it to turn against me..."

I listen to them then step out. I'm prepared to dodge in case something happens

"No they haven't, I'm something else. I suppose that I could mediate between all of us. If I understand it correctly. Rat wants his lair back along with the body of Sullivan to make some sort of weapon from it. While Octavian just wants Sullivan So he can kill him after he revives. While we are here to kill Sullivan again Preferably sooner rather than later.
If that Is correct I have a question for Rat. If Sullivan was Revived and then Killed again, would that affect the weapon you are making? If no, Then I think there is a way for all of us to get what we want.

Allow Us to confront Sullivan before he gets to his body. If we win, Rat gets the body in the condition it was in before along with his lair. Octavian missed out a bit in this case but he can then fight me for the ring to make up for it.
If we lose, Octavian gets his chance to fight Sullivan. If Octavian wins he gets what he wants and Rat gets the corpse.
If Octavian somehow loses, then Rat can try to make Sullivan into a corpse.

What do you two think?"

The Rat replies in that shrill nails-on-chalkboard voice of his. "No dice! Sullivan's return to brief life is critical for final component of the spell. And again, I have you demons to thank. Fusing your own with the drugs I made for Graham, though? Thanks for the ideas. I'll put it to good use."

Octavian roars out, firing another shot while speaking. "WE don't DO this sort of thing when you MORTALS can consume us! This is Vitriolic Distillation, the purist of Alchemy, and it is of Demons, for Demons, and by Demons! Not for your lowly kind!"

Rat chuckled. "But sorry about that, Magnus. I really like your work, but I need Sullivan to get back in his body juuuuuuuust long enough for me to give him a present."

"You rigged an arcane bomb on his corpse, and when it rises, kaboom. Plague city." Tex coughs and draws a cigarette out. He's reminding you of a man who's facing a firing squad. "Don't know the specifics beyond that, though. Also don't know how you are powering a spell like that, unless you are borrowing some otherworldly power. That'd be his ring, wouldn't it?"

Rat chuckles without answering. Octavian now looks shocked. "So, I really did do this, huh?" He looks like he's about to go into a depression of some kind.

"I see Octavian, You gave him the ring... No, he got the ring when you forced me to throw it. From the sound of it that plague bomb wont just affect the city on Earth, It'll affect a wide area here in Yomi-wan. You might not care for the First-Circle Demons. But that plague will spread like wildfire here. possibly affecting your fellow Second-Circle Demons. It might even move up the chain and affect the Third-Circle Demons or the Yama Kings themselves.

You may have gave Rat the materials he needed to pull this off. But you can do something about it. You can help us help you. We want to stop Sullivan from reviving or kill him when he arrives. We also want to smash that bomb of Rats. And You know where Sullivan's body is, Therefore we can throw wrenches into Rat's plan. Ally with us temporarily so that we can help each other accomplish those goals. Help us prevent that bomb from going off."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:25, Mon 23 May 2016.

"Oh, by all means!" Rat is speaking in a politely sarcastic tone meant to infuriate. "Get closer to the source of the infection, all of you! Better yet, Octavian, why don't you personally destroy the infection, and save your army. Give it a shot, I'll listen for the results."

The Rat chuckles again as Octavian casually fires another shot, although this time it swerves off course and slams into a pillar above Carmilla's head. "Hey, that almost hit me! Fire again, and maybe you'll land it! Hauwauhahahahahaha!"

Octavian snarled. "I'm an artillery captain at heart, Rat. I'll bracket you, and when I do, you are dead."

Carmilla is glaring a hole into one particular spot, and Tex is deliberately channeling his own chi down trying to slow the illness.

Octavian gives you, finally, a cold look. "Alright, Shinma-spawn. I'll make a new bargain of my own. I'll bracket this room off, no one goes in or out, not even a rat. You kill the Rat, you get the lives of all the non-demons in this fortress and Sullivan's corpse. Rat, you kill him, and I give you that which I promised him. I will swear this deal on the Pyrian Flame herself."

He extends a hand to you in a handshake, holding the staff in the other. "Do we have a deal?"

Carmilla is looking very annoyed at this bargain, and Tex is looking somewhat relieved to not be noticed.

"So let me get this straight. All you are going to do is seal up the room so we can kill Rat And Not kill us. In exchange We have to Kill Rat Which will take us long enough that Sullivan will get to his corpse so we have to kill him again. And if he does kill us, You'll give him what he needs to finish his plan. Plans that we have already established hurt You, the Raven of Whispers and the Pyrian Flame. Fine. We will do your work for you. If I wasn't occupied With my own things I would punch you for being stupid.

Close the room. We'll kill the rat for you.
We have a deal for now"

I shake his hand

Then I prepare myself for battle the Rat.

Octavian accepts your handshake with a vicious grin. "Oh, you don't need to worry about the would-be Yamijin. He's well in hand."

The outskirts of the room begin flooding with soldiers, several of whom do not look very good, due to physical illness.

Octavian speaks up. "Rat, you might want to accept this offer."

"Fine." A massive grey furred humanoid rat wearing a filthy once-white lab coat steps off from the walls. "Offer accepted Octavian, not that it will do you much good."

"So, magus." The Rat gives a...well, he bears teeth, anyhow. "Feeling a little pale, yet? I bet you feel worse than all of them. It turns that gloriously high powered magic you possess against you! And more..."

He raises his hands into a feral stance, but has a deception to it you can see: it is defensive.

I cough a bit and say "Yeah. I'm a little green around the gills."

I'll approach him looking defensive like I believe that his stance is for attack.

When I get close, I'll suddenly grapple him and then savagely knee him in the stomach or solar plexus

The Rat buys it, and shifts his bulk upward, making him almost taken of his feet by your sudden lunge. He holds his footing, and grabs you right as you do that to him and strike him a bit lower than you were aiming for with your knee.

He snarls at you, digging in with tiny claws, and then gives a grin. "Liking that newfound strength? Almost feels like you are flying, doesn't it? Give in to that feeling, get mad! Soon it will all be over."

He narrowly grazes you with his fangs as he makes a quick snap at your face.

I continue grappling with the Rat for a bit to get the proper positioning for my next move.
I project getting angrier as I grapple to help fool the Rat
"Your Disease must have a cure. Tell me it!" I demand in an angry voice.

Once my grappling ends up grabbing Rat by the scruff of the neck. I immediately go into a move that my school copied from Muay Thai. I slam my elbow into his face.
While he is stunned from my elbow strike I follow up with a hip throw.

I'll follow him to the ground and get on top of him. Where I'll start punching him.
He is going to try swing at me while he maneuvers to throw me off.

I am planning on catching the arm he uses to swing and then Trap it into a figure four armbar.
Instead of my first instinct of forcing a submission, I'm going immediately into hyper-extending and then breaking the arm.

OOC: That is quite a long list of actions. Let's see if it all goes According to Plan.

"Try dying! Cures every-!" Your elbow hits the line of his face, a point he expected you to impact.

However, he doesn't go to the ground, and you are not able to grab the back of his neck. He continues snapping at your hands and arms, and you notice a bit of that green foam coming from him as well. You feel a sharp pain under your left arm as he jabs his clawed hand into you.

He snarls at you as both of you tumble back from each other as a result of your pain reflex punching him away from you, improvising the whole way. "Why..? Why aren't your eyes like theirs?"

You get painfully blasted from behind by a bolt of eldritch power, and the room floods with laughs and insults. "Too long and boring. Rat, kill him already. He can't channel an bit of power, and therefore isn't worth my time. Not anymore."

Rat steps forward and everything goes dark for a moment. Smoke fills the air, and suddenly you hear Rat screaming at the top of his lungs. "Get it off, get this thing off me already!"

He then adds one more line as Octavian laughs at his misfortune. "Servants of my power, kill them all!"

You see a lot of faint green dots lighting up through the smoke, and the rooms demonic jeers and cheers have just faded away into snarls and growls.

I have a feeling that Carmillia is attacking Rat. There for I charge forward to get a visual on the Rat.

Normally I wouldn't care about fighting with odds stacked this much against me. But I have other things to do. Plus I have to make sure Carmillia lives.

If I see Carmillia on the Rat, I'll go in with a flying side kick to knock the Rat away then I'll grab her and retreat through the hole in the wall.
Otherwise I'll go to where I thought she was and then retreat with her.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:17, Mon 06 June 2016.

You clear the smoke, and you see quite the sight when you get out: Carmilla is holding on to his back by a pair of knives she has stabbed him with. A riot has broke out around you, with green eyed demons tearing each other apart with tooth and nail, forgetting weapons in their desire to kill whatever is nearest to them.

"Restore order, maggots!" Octavian is crushing the skull of whoever is closest to him. "If you are infected, submit to death! If you are not, kill the ones who are!"

Rat is clawing at his back, and then snarls in fury. He ignores you and barrels into the crowds of demons, slashing with scalpel-like claws in a mad frenzy. The demons in turn are laying into him, and Carmilla leaps off of him, one eye bright green, into the smoke.

Your situation? Octavian is busy, Carmilla is in the smoke behind you, the Rat is leaving a trail of dead and wounded with his back to you, and Tex...you have no idea where he's gone.

I level my proton accelerator at Rat. But pause a moment. I should just shoot him and fire at anything in the room that is not Tex or Carmillia... But shooing someone in the back leaves a bad taste in my mouth, even if it will help a lot of people. Damn my Honour sometimes.

I go into the smoke to find Carmillia And say to her.
"Let's go while they are busy with each other. We'll take care of Sullivan."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:06, Mon 06 June 2016.

Something funny, actually... you cannot find your accelerator anywhere nearby. And the swirling melee and smoke make searching very difficult.

Octavian is cursing generally everything as the metallic impact sound of his staff hitting the flesh of something rings over the screams and fury around you. You cannot see why, but Octavian's voice shifts to loud anger aimed at the Rat. The Rat just laughs, and you cannot see what he is doing anymore either.

In the smoke, you here the sounds of two man-sized things being cut open and dropping. Your chi sense detects two demons dying, and that familiar aura of death coming at you fast.

You are swiftly killed, as her knives strike true. You see a white explosion of light, and the green glow in one of her eyes fades out.

Your journey in the next world is just starting...

My eyes widen in surprise as I am killed. With my last moments before I am killed, I smile at Laura and say "goodbye" before the explosion of chi vaporizes me.

OOC: Well I had fun with this world. Wish I could have seen it to it's end.