IC - Bug City Blues

[arcanus]

Cassandra Alban moved easily through the ward of her own design, its edges were tattered, she tutted, she was if nothing else a perfectionist when it came to the arts. Flowing across the basements astral space, she stopped to notice a different astral presence, no not one, two, a magician and an elemental.

How long had she been gone, had new dwellers moved into the basement, were they hostile 'Oh god, her body'
Now slightly panicked she followed her cord, something ordinarily not visible, back to her body.

Stopping short she realised that her body had changed, some form of spell was locked or rather quickened to it.
Engaging it, she battled until she unravelled the Quickening, the petrification spell dropping and her body slowly returning to flesh and blood.

Once it had magically thawed, she assimilated.
Her first breath in over a year, hurt her lungs and brought about a long rasping cough, movement from the next room.
Exhausted she prepared to face whoever came through the door of the little store room.

Then it erupted from astral space and Cassandra screamed.

[Curren]

Curren rolls his head around to loosen the cramp that had been caused by his sudden but much needed sleep.
He wipes the sleep out of his eyes and props himself on the table with his elbows, his eyes not leaving the mirrored eyes.

'Better play it cool here.' He thinks as he turns a tight smile on the intimidating solo.

'Well, I was casually minding my own business when the whole city seemed to fall into this big bag of shit, and I've managed so far to stay alive. I helped rescue Gianeno here and he was kind enough to offer me sanctuary.'

'The best way to fight fear is to fight it toe to toe!' Curren thinks grimly

Rubbing his neck languidly he asks.'May I ask what the fuck it has got to do with you?'

Brace myself for a reaction using a continuation Reaction test.

'Fight fire with fire!' he exults to himself, free from fear!

[arcanus]

Curren is literally punched into astral perception, and not from the source he expected.
The entirety of his surroundings seems to flow as if mutable, time, flesh, blood, sex, magic seem to partially freeze.

The samurai is lifted from his feet but stuck in rearward propulsion, everyone else in the room stand or fall in frozen shock and horror.

Turning as if swimming through molasses, Curren see's the sphere of organic wire rend its way into the astral space of the basement.
It vomits several half devoured insect spirits, imediately gathering them in one second fleshy then metal tendrils.

Its fabric, fleshy tubes, razor wire, fuck fuck fuck, reality bleeds, stretches across the room.

The Gagglepus roars its defiance and challenge at Malthalamus Curren.

[Nazir]

Swallow returned, swooping low over the grey block rooftops. The processed materials that were the visual iconic representation of real-world buildings had a battered and worn appearance, even here in astral space.
The bird landed on the Egyptians outstretched arm and chirped a shrill song.
Nazir listened intently to the birds tale. It seemed Silk’s old gang were in trouble again.
Swallow disappeared, it’s services complete.

Nazir turned slightly, looking across the mass of drab grey blocks in the general direction of the 1st Midwest Bank. Every now and then a hint of colour would show itself amongst the blocks. Could they be another spirit? A mage? Or another bug? These days there were far more foes around than friends.

This brought a serious question to the Allied Spirit’s mind... how was he to approach the Signs Gang?
His current attire, his traditional Arabian robes, were a little out of character for downtown Chicago, but would that instil suspicion or would his obvious foreignness put them at ease.

Granted, Winter was among them, but Nazir was unsure whether the solo would remember him, it had been many months.

Go as you are, he told himself.

Stepping off the roof and floating out over the street the Anubian shot toward the rooftop of an old Chicago bank.

[Nazir]

The sun was yellowish smear in the sky above the 1st Midwestern Bank as it struggled to show through the almost perpetual smoke cloud that seemed to hover above bug city, fuelled by the fires started in many districts by the shells of the UCAS Army. adding to that were the hundreds and thousands of cooking fires that remaining residents had lit to try to provide themselves with rudimentary hygeine.

U-Turn sat looking tired, and for the second time in as many minutes checked that his magazine really was empty. It didn't really matter, he couldn't shoot straight with his arm in a sling anyway.

Soloman kicked his booted foot as he passed. 'You ain't bein' much of a look out sat on your ass are you,' the troll complained.
'Alright, alright!' U-Turn scrambled bacxk up to the parapet. his arm may be useless, but his eyes worked just fine.

'SHIT!' he yelled, 'INCOMING!'

He ducked down behind the old concrete as bullets raked across the rooftop blowing chuncks of masonry all over the place.

Solomon dived down beside No Entry and grimaced. 'Bastards!' he snarled.
'They're a bit miffed we broke their last one I take it!,' No Entry joked, before popping up over the cover and opened fire with his assault rifle.
Within a dozen rounds the magazine was empty and the situation was greeted with a curse.

The drone swept in fast, shooting over the rooftop and coming around in a wide arc. It had four targets registered and picked up a fifth as another burst out of the roof door.

Flechettes flying Winter again yelled his defiance at the flying machine.
Then he too ran out of ammo.

'Where the fuck is Give Way with that ammo?'

'No idea,' No entry said scrambling intop better cover.

Nazir appeared in the material realm stood on top of the elevator equipment housing. He concentrates and blasts the incoming drone with a wreck spell.

Magic+Sorcery: 21 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 'nice way to introduce himself!!'

[Curren]

Does this look like a Mass Chaos spell?

[arcanus]

No something of a truly higher and alien order of magic entirely.

[Curren]

'WHAT THE FUCK????!!!!' Curren roars in sheer shock and terror.

Astrally Project and tear off at full speed away from it using a concentrated mana charge to make sure the astral me has its full attention! A bit like chaff and flare from a warplane. Hopefully it leaves the people and my meat body alone.

Curren prepares to attempt to banish this thing.

'What have I done wrong this time?' He thinks with frustration as the astral winds buffet and pound him.

Escape, escape, escape! His gut instincts scream at him.

I'm pushing my Ascelerity to the envelope, Currens astral form becomes almost bullet like and moves very similar to a dogfighting jet. It never stays in the same position for more than 2 seconds.

[arcanus]

No-Entry blinked as the pulse of magical power erupted across the rooftop.

The drone shook, and they exploded, its shell torn apart, internal components igniting and disintergrating.

The Signs Gang turned and looked fearfully at the creature resembling Anubis, glowing with power.

[arcanus]

A pulse of magical power launches from Curren's form, MetaMagical power surges through him, his astral form blurring and accelerates through the chaos.

The grey morass of manmade materials becomes a single grey sheet, as Curren reaches astral speeds far in excess of anything he has experienced.

The reality of the basement reinserts itself, with a thud, imediately everybody within the room vomits as if recovering from hi-gees.

The Gagglepus, assumes the form of an astral lance and fires through the cosmos, propelling itself to a velocity just behind Curren, as they race across the astral sky of the CZ.