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The fire alarm has caused an evacuation to begin.

OOC: Moving both the 32-8 and 32-9 threads action into this one for ease of posting.

John hops from the roof and opens the front doors, helping to usher people out.

The evacuation plan has people exiting the building at many points, and teachers doing counts of students.  With 3000+ students it's a major undertaking to get them out in a semblence of order.

Donnie's sword disappears in a sparkle of golden light and he helps Kel get the downed thugs none to gently up. Donnie elects not to clean his face until they turn in the guys to the police and make sure Mrs. Haversley talks to them as well.

He lets the cops call an ambulance for the old woman and lets the EMTs clean him up and check him over. He makes sure the police understand that the boys had been hired by girls to attack him, and gets the thugs to tell the police who it was.

He says to Colin "Should we get the PCD in on this for all the spells being flung around by the coven?"

Sammy, disguised now in a biker jacket and cool sunglasses, makes her way around the uppermost part of the building.  Still coughing, she wishes she hadn't given both mints to Donnie earlier.  

People are filing out in a steady flow.  Sammy has not trouble getting boys to listen to her, and keeping them calm helps with keeping things moving.

The EMTs check out the librarian, and she gives a detailed staement to the police about the boys that attacked her.  Even in a school of 3000+ students, she knows them by name.

Megan has no trouble opening the various doors from the inside, since some aren't meant to open from the outside normally.  Once she has all the doors propped open she can easily find John near the front doors.  "Sly and Sarah are over by the paramedics.  Donnie's a little banged up but okay I guess.  How are you doing?"

Megan gives John a smile as she replies.  “For having been almost gassed asleep and smacking into the sound barrier somehow, pretty good.  I don’t know how, but I can feel I’m moving faster than ever now.” 

Looking over towards the paramedics, she pauses, once again angry at the witches for all of this.  “I set them a text about meeting near the practice field, and told Sammy to head there once she cleared the building before we all left the roof.  Hopefully we can get this spell off and stop being so distracting for all you guys.”  She gave John a little wink as she watched more of the students clearing out.

Colin sighs in relief as the old lady wakes up.

"They ran away, Mrs. Haversley, don't worry about them now. Are you all right?"


He helps her on her feet and gently supports her on her way out, then he leaves her to the cares of the EMTs.


Colin shrugs.
"And accuse them of throwing beneficial spells at us to mess with our lives? After we did the same to them? I'm afraid we're a bit on our own with this."
He sighs and hands him his phone.
"The PCD magician should call me back soon. Ms. Kellogg, you met her... at Palmer's. Maybe she should talk directly with you. I asked her how to break the spell, but the girls already know, Mitzi found it first. I'm going to check what's this alarm about, and I'll try to find Seth too. We should stay together."

And with that he starts going around with his camera, asking people what they saw.

Fire trucks begin to arrive, and teams of firefighters begin to join the evacuation effort and looking for the fire.  By the time they arrive, smoke can be seen coming from the lower floors.

Most people say they didn't see anything, just heard the alarm.

Smoke is starting to fill the hallways where Sammy is searching.  She ducks into another bathroom, praying that the water pressure is still good, and wets down her hoodie again.  She wraps it around the lower part of her face to protect her from smoke inhalation.  She also grabs a mop from an abandoned janitor's pail, and starts pounding it against lockers as she walks to draw attention to herself.  She hopes if someone is stuck up here that they will shout out when they hear the noise.

"Sammy's still in there?" Sylvia asks the others, worried.  "She shouldn't be alone."  Sylvia takes a nervous breath, knowing she'll burn as easily as anyone but feeling she can't just stand by.  "I can get us back in."

Sarah looks at Sylvia, "She shouldn't be alone but I don't think either of us is fast enough to help her with smoke filling the bottom floor.  Maybe John or Megan could grab a couple masks from the fire truck and zip in there?  Heck they could hold their breath long enough to zip in and back out probably."

Megan looks at the scene as smoke starts to appear and looks over at John.  “That boy who tried to gas us might still be unconscious in the music room!  I don’t think I can carry him out fast enough, can you look for him and I’ll try to find Sammy to be sure she is okay?”

"Ok.  Be careful.  If you get stuck in the smoke, head up to the roof."  John leans over to give Megan a kiss on the cheek and then takes off to find a less crowded door to go in through.

Megan waves a quick goodbye to John and then was off around the corner and then up the side of the building to the roof, figuring it was the easiest way to start.  Then, taking as deep a breath as she could, she was heading into the building to try to find Sammy, stopping at intersections and trying to focus on looking and listening before moving again.

(yes, Megan is taking 20 on Notice checks every intersection, which, as a move action for her, allows her to pretty much keep moving :))  

OOC: Need a Fate Roll from Megan and one from Sammy.

As Sammy makes her way down one of the stairwells after finishing her search of the 4th floor she sees someone holding onto the rail, coughing.

(fate roll for Megan is a 12 http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=946069)

Fate (1d20=17) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=946192)

Sammy moves over towards the coughing person.

It's a girl.  She seems familiar, but you're not sure where you know her from.  She seems startled when you touch her.  "Who's there?"  She pulls away from your initial contact.

"There's a fire.  I'm gonna get you out of here.  Here, take this..."  Sammy hands the wet hoodie to the girl.  "Wrap it around your mouth and nose.  We're going up to the roof then out of here."


*OOC:  I'm going out to dinner with the hubby.  Hooray grandma.  Back in a few hours.

Colin hoped it was a false alarm, like the one he caused when Randy was about to shoot the class, but the smoke clearly has to come from somewhere.

God and Great Spirit, what's happening today? Is there someone still in? Blackbird, can I borrow your eyes and get in?

Sammy starts to escort the girl towards the roof, and she stumbles some.  Reaching up the girl touches a spot on her scalp and brings her fingers down, they have blood on them.  "Ow."  she says.  "Tell me that's not blood."  They move back up and towards the roof.  "Someone hit me, I woke up and there were fire alarms and no one was around."  They get back to the fourth floor and head towards the roof access.  "She said, he's mine, keep your hands off right before she clobbered me.  I only know two boys here.  This is stiff competition." 

Megan makes a pair of rounds of the upper floors, using Sammy's chalk marked doors as a map of where she's been.  On her way back up she spots Sammy helping another girl up towards the roof.


A moment later the black bird comes to rest on Colin's shoulder, it looks at him with it's cocked head, and then takes flight, taking Colin's vision with it.

OOC: Where are you looking?

OOC: If I can, I try to find out where the fire started, and check the rooms nearest to it.

Megan rounds a corner to see Sammy helping someone to the roof.  Slowing down, the blonde speedster waits till they are just at the stairwell entrance, and then she decides they are close enought to being out and that its time to get out herself as she had not seen anyone else in her rounds.  Zipping by Sammy and the other girl as a blur, she is quickly back up on the roof and then down the wall and looking for John to see if he got the band boy out.

You swing down through the lower halls to some rooms that make up part of the basement.  There you see smoke pots burning, billowing clouds of smoke.  There are no fires.


Megan sees John standing over by the paramedics truck, the boy sitting up on the bumper inhaling oxygen.

Megan swings over to come to a stop near the side of the paramedic truck John is near at a spot where John could see her but the boy could not.  “Sammy is getting someone out right now, she should be flying down soon.  I didn't see anyone else on my pass through the upper floors.”  Megan says in a low voice that John should be able to hear.

John nods, and glances over at Megan to let her know he heard her.

What?! What are they up to? Why did they want us out of the school?

Colin/Blackbird checks the rooms most filled with smoke, flying low to be sure no one is collapsed there. After he's reasonably sure no one is left, or when the firefighters arrive, he comes back outside.

Blackbird, do you know where the witches are now? Can you show me?

Sylvia searches the crowd of evacuees for key faces:  Logan, the witches, their acquaintances and accomplices.

The witches are nowhere to be seen.

Logan is sitting on a bench, across the street from the front doors watching the crowd.


All things at their appointed moment.

Megan gives him a smile in return, hoping he is not having too much trouble focusing.  She was really getting tired of this spell, for she would really like to hug him, but was a bit afraid of causing him more difficulty once more as she had with the kiss earlier.  Taking out her cellphone, she sent Sylvia and Sarah a text message.

Find spot to end spell.  Let me and Sam know if u do.

Hopefully Sammy would have the girl she was helping down to the paramedics soon and they could meet up with Sylvia and Sarah to end this spell so if anything else happened, they would not be a detriment to the boys when around them.

Sylvia gravitates toward him.  She'd like to know what's going on behind those eyes at this moment, and she's hoping he'll feel like sharing his thoughts.

Colin tries to grit his teeth but fails, having no teeth to grit in blackbird's body. He flies over the crowd a couple times, hoping to find Seth at least, then returns to his body.

Sarah cools her heels feeling way too normal.  What are the witches up to?

She texts Megan and John.

Update?  Is there a fire?  Sammy OK?

Megan looks at the screen of her phone and says to so John can hear.  "I've got this."  And then resends the text she had just sent to Sarah and Sylvia to both girls once more.


And adds

Sam’s ok.  Helped someone out.

Kel sighs running his hands through his hair as he says, "I wonder if just once we can have a normal day..."  He looks around patting Donnie on the shoulder, "I'm gonna take a look around see what's happening around here, things are dying down but I just don't like it."  He begins moving through the crowds scanning over looking for anything out of place, making sure all of the people he knows are out and safe, and of course making sure no one else is still milling about with baseball bats or other such messes.

Sarah looks around.  "Why did they chase us all outside?  They got us hiding, fighting and running around everywhere so they wouldn't be interrupted.  Why?"

She starts walking towards the school.  "Is it a spell or something that would set off Colin's alarms or Donnie's protections?  Where would they go?" 

She dials this time.  *Ring* "Pick up Megan."

If Megan answers, "Did anyone check the basement?  Don't go down there on your own."

Trying to keep the girl's mind off her head wound, Sammy says "You're going to be all right as soon as we both get out of here."  She's hit with another coughing fit.  When she can speak again, she asks, "Who are the boys?  Careful, here's the access."

Megan looks at her phone as it rings, answering it.  “Hey, you find a place for us to remove the spell?”  When she hears Sarah’s question, she frowns.  “I don’t think so, there is a lot of smoke on the ground level.  I was checking the upper floors for Sammy and John was getting the band kid we left out cold in the music room out.  Look, right now we need to get this spell off us.  As long as its there, we are more of a distraction to the boys than a help.  If we ran into the witches with them, they might not be as effective as they normally would.  So we should get it off us while we have the chance, let the boys try to figure out where they might be and we can catch up.”

"Okay, okay.  How about back in the building?  Meet in the library or something?  Sylvia can get us inside without a problem.  The boys can come to and we can finally figure things out.  If you don't want inside... well where are you?  Syl and I can't exactly waltz up onto the roof right now.  It's a little crowded out here."

Sarah turns to talk to Sylvia and sees she's wandering off.  She covers the mouthpiece and calls out, "Hey Syl!  Time to go!"

“I’m near John and the ambulances.  Not exactly the most private place.  You two try to find some place and I’ll wait for Sammy to bring the girl she was helping here then we will catch up.”  Megan replies.  “Outside is better, the inside is full of smoke.”

Sylvia looks back, expression unreadable.  She would dearly love to get a little insight on the situation from Logan, but it seems like she's needed.  "What?" she asks, when she's walked back.  "Where are we headed?"

"Kel and Elrod.  I don't think Kel has a girlfriend, ,you think Elrod's would crack me over the head?"  She navigates the access to the roof.  "Okay,, being trapped alone in a fire is going on my 'Reasonse why being blind sucks' list as soon as I get home."

You can spot Seth in the crowd without trouble.  You don't see the witches at all.

Sammy suddenly realizes who the girl is.  "No, she wouldn't.  *koff*  Not a chance in the world, unless she was slipped a mickey or hypnotized or something equally horrible.  She's a very nice person. *koff koff*  And you're not alone.  I'm here."   She pushes through to the roof.  "Take some deep breaths; I need some air too."  More coughing.

"Let me see if I can find Kel...  oh, crap.  Crap-Crap-Crap!  My phone... I think I lost it. *koff koff*  I was using it to talk to..."  Elrod.  In the rehearsal room, before I passed out.  It's probably there, since I haven't touched it since.  "Never mind.  Too late now.  I can get another phone.  OK, plan B.  Are you afraid of flying?"

"Not flying."  She says through her own coughing, "Just poor landings."

Colin returns to his body, nods his thanks to the blackbird and goes back where Donnie is.

"It's not a fire. Just some smoke pots in the basement. They're up to something. Can you find them through the girls, as you did when you found Jane through the spell she used on me? They probably expect it, but it's our best bet."

A sound can be heard from inside the building.  The din of the fire alarms and the emergency vehicles and the crowd are covering it somewhat, but it's a distinct sound, and it's getting louder.

Megan is over next to John in a moment, gripping his arm with one hand as she looks back towards the building.  “Do you have any idea what that is?”  She asks, wondering just what else the witches might have in store today, and really wishing she had her costume with her.

Kel stops his movement through the crowd when he hears the noise, his ears prick up and he begins to move through the crowd thinking what the hell is that?

OOC: Kel can assume to know the same thing John is about to say.

"It sounds like insects.  Bees maybe?"  John says, looking back towards the building.

As Kel begins to realize what's going on all he can say is, "Oh shit..."  He bursts through the crowd heading for the paramedic vans waving wildly he nearly shouts to everyone, "We need to get these people out of here!!"

Sarah is puzzled by the sound.  "We should get everybody to move back or maybe into the cars or something in case they're about to wreck the building." 

"OK then.  I'll do my best to land well."  Sammy suddenly grips the other girl in a tight hug.  "Hang on!"  They go up and off the roof.  Sammy hears the buzzing growing in the background, and fears that she might know what this might be, but first things first.  She flies to the parked ambulances, and puts Breanna's feet on the ground next to the busy EMTs.  Then she yields to another coughing fit.

People see Kel, and they begin to move back.  It's uncertain if it's because of the direness of his statement, or they think he's crazy.

A second later fireman come running from the building, swatting furiously and pulling their air masks off.  When the firefighter begin to echo Kel's warning, people begin to move faster.  It's not quiet a stampede, since it's wide open, but the ground can be felt to tremble with the pounding of feet as the students massed outside clear away from the building.

The paramedics grab their patients if they can walk, or start pushing gurnies if they can't and move away from the front of the school.  An EMT takes Sammy and puts her on a gurney, giving her oxygen and moving away towards where they're retreating.  The police form a line, not sure what to expect, but trying to get the civillians past them away from the potential danger.

Kel now caught up in the rush of what's going on spots Breanna and says, "Hey, wish I could help you out but the EMTs will help...talk to you later, k?"  as he helps her get onto a gurney and pushed off Kel thinks, God what a terrible thing to say when about to rush in against, what bees?  He then stares at his friends, the other heroes, "So how do you stop a swarm of Bees?"

Donnie slips out of the ambulance and moves through the crowd over towards his friends, following Colin. "Sorry dude, I need prep time to cast that spell, plus the peppermint unguent which is at home in my filing cabinet. All I have right now is my invisibility spell and the blindness one."

Megan watches the chaos that starts to unfold and glances up at John.  â€œWell, should we get back as well or see if there is anything we can do about this?  I’m not so sure that being able to run at superspeeds will help much with dealing with a mass of swarming bees.”  

Sammy claws at the oxygen mask and pulls it away, forcing the EMT to pay attention to her.  "Fire hoses,"  she says.  "Tell the pumper trucks to aim their hoses at the cloud of bees.  Water took care of them the last time.  The Bees have sedating stings too, makes people pass out.  Tell them!"  She puts the mask back on her face.

"Last time I tried this way. I hope it works again"

The Spirit Dancers starts to sing, to a tune that sound ageless, with words no one can recognize anymore.

He sends his emotions to the sky, hoping that it will listen to his prayer, and that his desire to protect the other students will be enough to gather some rainclouds.

The EMT nods to Sammy and looks to his companion, "Go."  The man turns and heads back to the fire fighting line.


John nods and goes back to the group with Megan.


Almost immediately the sky begins to darken.  The swarm begins to come out of the building, and it's a cloud of black.  Colin's voice takes on an eire echo, and water begins to fall from the sky, in torrents.  A few seconds later the firemen turn their hoses on the cluster of bees as well, forcing them to apart or to the ground.

Between the sudden downpour and the fire hoses it only takes a couple of minutes for the bees to be neutralilzed, having drowned under the flow of so much water.  Then Colin's voice trails off, and he slowly slips towards the ground.

Megan was moving back with John when suddenly they were all caught in sudden rainstorm that appeared just as the bees were swarming out of the building.  The heavy down pour very quickly had Megan’s hair completely soaked, as well as her clothes, which were now clinging tightly to her curvy figure as she looked up at John.  “Normally I would be like sooo mad about this, but given it is stopping the bees, I don’t really mind.”

Sarah stands in the downpour smiling.  He did thunder and lightning and now he made it rain.  Where is he? 
She shrugs to Sylvia, "Usually I don't like the rain much.  Do you think we could do that chant or whatever sitting in the VanGo?  If you think we could I'll call Dave and ask to borrow it."

Her cellphone was still in her hand and she texts Colin.

Wow!

As Kel stands there, soaking wet he says with a joking tone, "Ya know Colin...it's great that you can like mojo the weather and save the day.  But really...did you have to get us all soaking wet..."  As he tosses about his soaking wet hair he laughs.

Sammy relaxes back into the gurney, and gives the EMT a smile and a thumbs up.  She closes her eyes, not caring about the cold water raining down on her on this chilly late autumn day.

The EMTs begin loading the injured and taking them to the area hospitals.  Parents are arriving, frantic at the edge of the police tape to find their children and confirm they're safe.

John looks down at Megan, and she hears a sound that must be his teeth grinding together.  "Run."  is all he manages to say through his clenched teeth, and he reaches for her.

OOC: Need an initiative from Megan.  Unless she decides not to run.

Colin slumps to the ground in exhaustion, falling in a puddle formed by the sudden rain.

Healing Kel's words, he laughs too.

"Well, I figured rain was about the only thing that could make this day worse."

Colin's phone rings in Donnie's pocket. Donnie gets it out, but it's not Ms. Kellogg, just a message from Sarah.

"I really hope this is not more trouble. I had enough for today."

He sits on the ground, taking the phone back from Donnie. He reads the message and visibly squirms.

Thank you. Please get the spell off asap. Staying away from you hurts.

Sylvia takes her best guess and nods, face squinched up at the downpour.  Purple-haired, bandaged, and now soaked to the bone.  She doesn't think she needs the attraction spell removed for her.  It's been washed away along with her dignity.

[Round 1]

[Initiative 22]

Megan's Turn.

Megan heard the sound of John’s teeth grinding and saw the look in his eye, a feeling of panic coming over her.  “Oh John.”  She said quietly as he told her to run.  Though he was incredibly fast, the motion was still somewhat slow in her eyes as her mind raced with what to do.  Just dodging his hands, the blonde teen was off, speeding away from him around the side of the school towards an exit that would lead her out to the street.  She knew he would be following and that was what she needed, at least for now, so she kept her speed such that he could pursue, but not catch up with her.  At least she hoped. 

As she goes, she sends a text message back to Sarah.

SOS!  john aft me!  will ld away.  how lng 2 rmv?

Donnie helps Colin to his feet and laughs through the rain as it sputters and dies overhead. "Dude, that was awesome!"

He looks around. "Anyone seen the girls? They took off while the paramedic was looking me over."

Sarah smiles at her phone thinking it is another response from Colin.  Reading she starts swearing.

She looks to Sylvia again. "You'd think after a cold shower things would be better!  John's pants are too tight and he's after Megan!  If we can do the spell in the van Dave could drive us out of John's hearing and we can get back here in a couple minutes."

She calls Dave: *Ring*  Pick up Dave...

Sylvia frowns.  "Doesn't Megan have to be there for the spell to affect her?"

Sarah nods, "Yes, that's why if she can ditch John she can meet us somewhere or even just hide in the van.  If the radio is turned up John might not hear us chant until we're out of danger.  If she ran by could you make an illusion to sidetrack John?  A Megan lookalike or someone in danger or something?  Just long enough for him to lose track of Megan?"

"Yeah, what's up?" is Dave's answer.

"Maybe if he crosses my field of vision."

Sarah practically squeaks with relief when Dave picks up quickly.  She says, "Dave!  Think you can chauffeur the girls in secret out of here... or maybe just leave me the keys if you're worried about being distracted?  John's lost it and hunting Megan down caveman style.  If she can ditch him we can undo the charm spell in the van with the radio on.  Hopefully with everything else going on he wont find her right away."

Sarah asks Sylvia, "Could you make a Megan clone up on the roof or heading out into the side streets?"

Sylvia seems uncertain.  "I'm not sure it works that way.  You know that thing, about the tree falling in the woods and no one around to hear it?"  She hopes Sarah is enough of a Jedi to get it.  "Yeah."

"I'd be happy to, except there was a Senior planted in the front of the van, so it's a crime scene."  Dave says,  "I'll call Elrod, maybe his ride is in better shape."  He hangs up to call Elrod.

Megan continued running, moving at a speed that would allow her to stay in John’s sight and thus keep him following her.  Her and John had gone at least a quarter of a mile from the school already as she glanced at her phone, noting there was still no reply from Sarah to her question.  Of course she realized her sense of time was likely making her think it had been far too long since she sent her message.

Deciding to clarify her message in case Sarah had not fully understood, she sent another.

ask syl, h’w lng 2 rm’v spell?  I’ll dbl bck wh’n u r set!

Sarah looks at her phone.  "Oh!" 

She looks at Sylvia, "Meg wants to know how long will the chant take?"

"Like I know."  Sylvia is no witch, just the daughter of one.  "Uh . . . pff.  Five minutes?"

Sarah types.  Syl thinks 5 min.  Go fast and ditch him.  Dave can't move car.  Elrod can take us out on the sly?

One of the unnerving things about being loaded into an ambulance is that no matter how careful the EMTs are, you always feel like you're about to go sliding off the gurney, head or feet first.  Sammy sucked in the sweet, cool oxygen and hoped they wouldn't drop her on her head.  She also hoped that at least El had seen where she landed, and could guess that she was in one of the ambulances, and that maybe someone would tell her parents what had happened so that she wouldn't have to be in the emergency room alone.  Unless the EMTs and the hospital staff were really careful, her superhero secret was going to be out.  She stared at the clean white walls of the transport's interior, at the cabinets full of equipment, listened to people on the radio calling in patients and getting directed to hospitals, and thought it really didn't matter if the secret got out; these guys were as much heroes, if not more so, than she was, so what's the big deal?

Megan had just glanced back to confirm John was still on her, and the looked at Sarah’s text.  She sent back.

k, i’ll b bck in 9 min.  f'd sam nd b rdy.  tell me wr 2 meet.

"I'm trying to stay clear of them so my brain keeps working."

Colin warns the firemen that there's no real fire, but the smoke is coming from the basement, then start checking around for the witches. if he finds someone who could be in their classes, he asks if they were at school at all that morning.

OOC: They are taking a head count, Colin would know to ask one of the administrators before he'd know what people might be in their class.

Colin is told by the person he asks not to worry, the girl he asked about wasn't at school today (this is repeated no matter how many of them you ask about.).

Seth finally manages to make his way over to Colin after the head count.

"The chaos. I couldn't wade through the students. And then when i could, i got snagged by my teacher for head count.

There is a lot going on. You always seem to be the de facto leader in these situations.

So what do you want me to do boss?"

Donnie follows Colin around, his visage getting more frustrated as he realizes the extent of the coven's activities. "This is terrible. I thought my binding would keep them from harming others, but look at all the chaos they have wrought around the binding. %&$# this. We need to do something more drastic, or bring the authorities in on things. Colin, can I have a meeting with this Kellogg person to talk about things?"

Sammy's sense of discomfort in the ambulance was soon intensified, when they crashed into something, and she heard the driver say "Oh shit."  Everything lurched forward, and there was a momentary pause, and then finally the ambulance rolled a few more yards.  "I just hit a kid."  The driver said, and he started to get out.  The man in the back with Sammy reacted instantly, throwing open the back doors and hopping out.

"Where is he."

"Oh crap."  the drive says, "Over there, the kid climbing out of the wreckage of that other car."

Sammy rips off the mask and hauls her ass off the gurney.  If this kid is crawling out of a wreck, he might be a paranormal, which means it could be either one of her friends who is hurt or it could be a threat that the EMTs shouldn't have to face.  She races out of the ambulance, coughing from the exertion.

"I seem to be what?!"

Colin looks down at his muddied and drenched self. He doesn't feel a leader at all. That's a job for Sylvia, or for Megan.

"Seth, you've been a little out of the loop. Most of what happened today is the witches' idea of payback for binding them, that is taking it out on anyone in a mile radius. They put a spell that normally would be beneficial on the girls, to work around the "do not harm" restriction on their magic, then put a protection on it, so that anyone who tried to dispel it would get clobbered. And the spell is really really strong, think of a love filter, but that works on any male that watches them. They had to lock themselves in a room to avoid, well, me among other things, and while they were away, they send some more bat-wielding thugs after Donnie and probably John. We dealt with them, but now they're up to something else. There is no fire at school just some kind of smoke pots in the basement. If you have any ideas about how they wanted the whole school out of the building, I'm listening.
It also looks like they didn't bother coming to school today. Donnie, if they were watching us through a crystal ball or something like that, would you be able to notice?"


"I'm sure something could be arranged. I wonder why she isn't calling back. I'll try calling Chris again."

He dials Chris' number again, hoping he won't be too busy with all the reports that are surely coming his way.

Seth had been out of the loop, but as Colin got the knowledge out his brain began to work on overload.

I don't know a lot about magic...But i can infer some things.

It seems like they wanted the Usual Suspects at odds with one another.

They want the school evacuated, and us on our toes fending off attacks from bat-wielding thugs while we are unable to keep all of ourselves together and organized.

The fact that they haven't been seen at school doesn't mean they aren't here.

If they are prohibited against wielding offensive magic, that certainly isn't a prohibition against a glamour.

Or I mean, they could be changing their appearance, like a kind of illusion. From what i've read about magic, glamours aren't offensive or defensive. More like cantrip charms. Which means they want everyone out of the school, and us unable to mount an effective counter attack.

They could be trying to locate something. Or if the voodoo or circle magic books I'm reading have any merit, they could be trying to secure some of our personal effects to amplify their power or maybe break Donnie's Binding.

If that's true...The smoke is a diversion, and we need to get into that school.

"If you're right, we may be late. But glamor... I think I should be able to see through it."

Shouldn't I? Could they have been invisible, or hidden behind a spell when we went into the school?

Yeah, but that's only if they were out in the open. I mean they could have just as easily walked in...avoided us, gone into the basement and started setting up smoke bombs or whatever.

If your using a glamour to change your appearance the idea is that you don't want to be seen. So they would probably do all they could to maximize that.

We need to find away out of here, and back into the school.

I can probably create a diversion if we need to, but i'd just as soon we find a way to sneak in.

Kel looks over at Colin as he explains, Seth continuing to discuss magic, and then shouts, "WHAT?!"  Kel's face is one of shock and confusion.

"Did I go too fast? What part wasn't clear?"

Kel just shakes his head shuts his eyes tight, pressing his hand to the bridge of his nose as if suffering from a massive sinus headache, then after taking a deep breath says, "All. Of. It.  What do you mean the witches are behind all this, and they're using ogod magic to...oh just fuck it."  He says and then looks at Seth and explains, "We can't go after them now as much as I want to because they're plan has actually succeeded.  We are unable to mount a counter attack.  Sammy's en route to the hospital, Donnie is still all banged up from the battle with the other guys, Colin right now no offense but you look exhausted, Megan's running across town with John chasing her, and Sylvia and Sarah are dealing with whatever is going on with them which you say is caused by the witches..."  He sighs as he thinks of it all and then says, "That leaves you and me, plus Donnie and Colin hobbling along though they'll be good soon I'm sure but we need to plan big time.  Our first one has come back to bite us in the ass, next time we need a full blown assault and we need to do it soon but we can't now.  As much as I'd like to pound on those bitches right now I don't think it'll stop their magic, and neither will your powers Seth, we can only slow down the process, plus even if they're gone they obviously got goons all about.  I rarely like to say this, but we can't fight right now we need to lick our wounds and get ready.  Right now the war stands even, we won a big victory by stopping them from directly hurting us, but now they've come back and made things even worse with good stuff.  We need to get ready to end this conflict, for good and that's not going to be done with more gung ho cowboy shit Seth."  After Kel finally says so much he shakes his head as if he's surprised he even said it.

Seth managed to avoid rolling his eyes at Kel. He knew he was going a mile a minute. But thats how fast the thoughts were coming. So he tries to rephrase, listing his points on his fingers.

The tactics that have been employed...They suggest a pattern.

Look at the facts:

1) A spell was cast today which effectively split our forces. Made it so that we were distracted, disorganized, and unable to work as an effective unit.

2) As we were disorganized, bat-wielding lackeys were further employed to keep us off balance.

3) "Smoke" or the threat of a fire was employed to empty the school. No student or teacher is in there to monitor the situation.

4) The witches didn't "show up" today. That doesn't mean they aren't here, although it's possible that they still aren't.

When you put those 4 facts together, It seems that an awful lot of trouble was went to keep us disorganized and empty the school.

Which further suggests that there is something that they want or need inside it.

They know the firefighters are going to try to figure out where the blaze is coming from. A smart person could avoid the Firefighters long enough to get just about anything out of there before said firefighters realize there isn't a fire. Or even if there is one, by the time they get it put out...

Seth let his voice trail off.

Half of us are here. We need to stay organized and hope that we can figure out what's going on. And if we do. We need to stop it.

Because whatever their objective is, they have expended a lot of thought, energy and effort on attaining it. And right now they are winning.

You are damn right. So we need to stop their "action" whatever you want to call it, right now. And then we take the fight to them. Because we don't know what their ultimate objective is right now, but we know enough to know that it won't end well for us.

We draw the line, and then we don't budge.

"Wait a moment, you two, don't talk together."

Colin has to rub his eyes.

"Kel, if you're sure about Sammy and Megan you have to call Sarah and Sylvia and tell them if they don't already know, They need to be together to end the spell. What happened to Sammy? Why is she going to the hospital?"

"Seth, there's a big hole in the witches plan, if it was as you say. The bees. While we could expect them, as far as I know they don't have anything to do with the witches, and if they were in the school when the bees came swarming out... well... then they aren't a problem anymore.
And the firefighters already know that there is no real fire, because I told them where to find the smoke pots. That restricts their time even more.
Besides, what could you possibly need from inside the school that you have to drive everyone out to get it? They had no problems getting into the principal office and using the alarm system before."

He rubs his eyes again, as his hair is dripping into them.

"Maybe they're trying to bring something in, instead? Kel, you really think it would be a bad idea to check? Donnie, can you make invisible only yourself?"

UGGGH, Seth wanted to scream an in the intractable idiocy. Again he held it in.

The bee dude could be just as easily allied with the witches, or something the witches have done themselves. It could be a further distraction meant to keep us off the scent.

And the fact that the firefighters allready knew about the pots wasn't a flaw in their plan, it was an early win on our side of the fence.

The attack needed to be pressed now.

Instead Seth closed his eyes, and reached out with his other sense. Focused it on the school. Tried to get a sense of the school. As far as he was concerned he was about what...300 feet away from the school. He wasn't at his best at this range...But all in all it wasn't bad.

(OOC- Seth is going to feel up the school and all it's contents like a senior couple at prom...Call it an extended search. Let me know when he finds something)

Kel shakes his head, "Recon is a good idea, but a confrontation, any sort of attack is far too dangerous at this point, we have very little idea what we'd be walking into even if we do go in there.  It's dangerous but if they can clear the smoke pots that'd eliminate the major hazard of being there."

OOC:Make a Search roll, unless you intend to take 10 or 20 which are certainly options.

Megan, with John in tow, passed through the intersection, with plenty of room to spare.  The pair maneuvered through the cars and emergency vehicles with relative ease, then the sound of an accident drew her attention for a moment.  One of the ambulances struck someone, and they were climbing from the wrechkage of a nearby parked car.  It was Cory Wells, the Sophmore that had been the last of her "casual dates" before her and John started seeing each other regularly.  She sees him remove himself from the wreckage of the car and also sees Sammy climb out of the back of the ambulance.

Sammy exits the ambulance to see the paramedics as they observe a boy pull himself from the wreckage of a parked car.  They look at each other, then at the dented front of their ambulance, then back to the boy.  "You, you okay kid?"  the driver asks.

The boy gives them a glaring look, and looks around, taking off at a fast run in the direction Megan and John went.

OOC- Taking 10! so it should be 14...a 14 touch search.

What the hell?  Megan thought as she saw the accident with Cory pulling himself out of the wreckage of a car.  But she had little time to try to slow down to see what that was all about, as she had been keeping the distance with John rather close for now to be sure he stayed after her.  And when she saw Sammy exit the ambulance as she passed by, her heart sank.  If Sammy was there, then how in the world were they going to get the spell broken?

Pulling ahead a slight bit more, she sent another text to Sarah.

Jst saw Sam w/ EMT!  Try 2 c’ll her ab’t plan!

Of course, the blonde speedster had no idea Sammy’s cell phone was sitting forgotten in the music room. 

It takes Seth a few minutes but he's able to determine that there is no one in the school.

Sarah looks at her phone again.  "Oh crud!  Sammy's out there somewhere with the EMTs.  Is she in an ambulance?"

*Speed Dial Sammy*  *Ring....Ring....Ring....Ring.... "Hi this is.." 
"Aw crud!  Her voicemail!  Sammy, it's Sarah.  Where are you?  Are you okay?  Get ahold of me or Sylvia or Megan as soon as you can so we can meet up and get rid of this spell."

Sammy looks at the paramedics and shrugs.  (At least Megan was running too fast for her to see. Don't know where John is either.)  "I don't know him.  I might be able to stop him and bring him somewhere, but he looks fast.  I might wind up chasing the wind."  All that speaking makes her cough again.  "Do you want me to try?" 

OOC:  By now they know that her lungs have been hit with a double whammy of something like inhaled anesthesia and smoke from the smoke pots, and have a guess as to how long the exposure was and how close she was to the source of each.  In RL, at the very least she ought to be given a bronchoscopy to make sure that the smoke particulates haven't coated her lungs, or caused enough irritation to seriously inflame them.  She could get pneumonia otherwise, or even die from suffocation if she can't process enough oxygen.

Sammy's voice seems to bring them back to the hear and now, "No."  one says, coming over to her, "You need to be checked out first, so let's get you back on O-two and get another rig out here to get you to the hospital."

While they sit Sammy down and put the mask back on her the driver gets on the radio and cals the police to let them know about the boy they just hit and that he's on the loose.

Both paramedics almost leap from their skin as a car comes screeching to a stop a few yards behind the ambulance.  The black Mercedes-Benz roadster looks menacing in light of the days events, and Elrod gets out.  "Sammy?"  he says, coming to her and holding her for a minute.  "What the hell?"


Megan sees Cory begin to pursue her and John, it's obvious his attention is focused on Megan as they move.  He seems to be about as fast as John is, but moves with less precision probably due to his lack of experience at moving this fast.

EDIT:

Sarah's phone rings, it's Dave.  "Elrod is on his way to the hospital to get Sammy, and he's driving a 2 seater today so that's as good as it gets.  Any other transportation ideas?"

Donnie looks between Seth and Kel as if he's never seen them before. Colin's question breaks him out of the ping-pong match between the two 'tacticians'. "What? Uh, no, just me. Gimmie fifteen minutes and I can reconfigure it to be usable on others."

A series of very unlady like curse words flash through Megan’s mind in a millisecond as she sees Cory join the chase, also focused on her.  You have got to be kidding me!  Had this stupid spell caused another extreme reaction?  She had to wonder if he was doped up on Superman, or actually possessed powers, though at this point it really did not matter.  All she could do right now was focus on staying ahead of them, checking back regularly as she went, threading through traffic, and lead them away and hope that the others could gather soon so she could loop back at full speed to met up. 

As if the events at the school were not bad enough, this little chase could very well be all over the media tonight.  She really would need to talk to her dad when she had a chance and see what could be done to try to control this mess.

She hugs him back, getting great comfort from his touch.  The combination of her face being pressed up against his chest and wearing the mask causes her words to be garbled.   "Schleep gass den schmoke innalashun.  Cant shtop coughin. Gown to hoshpital.  Amblansh hid a kid.  Call my mom pleesh."*   Koff-koff-koff




*Sleep gas then smoke inhalation.  I can't stop coughing.  Going to hospital.  The ambulance hit a kid.  Call my mom, please.

Sylvia, sick of waiting, calls Mitzi.  "Mom, do we have to do the spell all at once?  Does it work if we do the spell individually?  Or if we repeat it as we find everyone?"

"I depends on weather it was cast on you all at once or individually."  She looks up a quick ritual to give you the answer which involves having at least two of you spit into a cup then pouring salt water into it while chanting an incantation.  It only takes a few minutes for you to determine that it was cast on the group of you, therefore you need to be together to break it all at once.


"Well screw waiting for another ambulance."  Elrod grabs the O-two bottle and helps Sammy off the bumper, "Call the hospital and tell them we're on our way."

The paramedic begins to protest and Elrod turns his head, a look like death in his eyes.  "Make the call."  And then he puts Sammy into his car.  A minute later they're on their way to the hospital.  Elrod can't fly, but his car does a reasonable facimile thereof.  It's only a couple of minutes before they're sliding into the space in front of the emergency room doors.  The hospital staff was wating and they have Sammy out of the car and on a gurney before Elrod can get back around to her side of the car.

Megan takes a corner close and hears a crash as Corey plows into John and the pair go sliding down the pavement for several yards.  Corey gets up first, road rash evident all along his right side.  John picks himself up off the pavement, his cloths more abraded from the pavement, but he looks fine.  "Time to see what I got thrown over for Quarterback."  In a blur Cory moves for John.

OOC:Going to start a sub thread for this one that is this combat.  When it's over we'll come right back here.

Donnie looks around. "Ah $%&#. My notebooks are still in the library."  He ducks between Kel and Seth and casts his invisibility before their astonished eyes. A voice echoes from about where Donnie's head was as Kel feels a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for the cover guys. I had better retrieve my notebooks."

Then he is gone.

Blackbird, I know I'm asking a lot today, but can I borrow your eyes again to follow him? I'd just feel better.

If the blackbird consents, Colin makes sure to use his ghost sight and check for any residue of magic.

OOC: Assume that you can.  It's your clairvoyance power effect.  I need to check the range on that too.

OOC: Do you need a search/notice roll?

Sylvia, phone in hand, scrolls through all the messages she was totally ignoring.  Looking at the phone, she realizes there's someone she can call, someone who might help.  She dials Dylan Sterling's number, muttering, "He's not in my head.  He's not in my head.  Donnie said he's real. . . ."

OOC:I'm sorry, I thought you were just following Donnie.  I reread the post though.  Make a Notice check, DC 18


"Don't you ever return calls?", the voice that answers says.  "I was begining to think maybe you thought I was only in your head."

Aw, crud.  And there his name is in the missed-calls list, when she looks.  "Um, yeah.  That's a funny story.  I'd tell it to you, but you were there."  She pauses.  "Can you help us?  We're in some trouble.  Everything seems to be going to hell today, and we need to figure out where some witches are hiding."

"When you say witches is it a polite pronunciation or is it actually witches?"

Donnie slips past the various firemen coming n and out of the building and heads towards the library. This time he is not moving blindly though, and has all hs senses attuned for posible attack; magically or otherwise.

Donnie's Notice/Search roll. Both have the same modifier. (1d20+3=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=949556)

"I mean witches.  They're not nice girls, but they're honest-to-god double-double-toil-and-trouble witches, and they're hexing us.  Blessing us, really, but they have ugly intentions."

"Sure.  What can I do?"  Dylan says.

Donnie makes his way into the library with little difficulty.  There is a slight tingle as he crosses the threshold from the wards, but since the casting took place elsewhere the wards do not harm him.  Arriving at the cube where he was working he finds, nothing.

"I have names and addresses.  Maybe that would be a good start."  She pulls her notebook out of her totebag and reads them off.  "I wouldn't want to get you in trouble," she adds, "but they deserve some serious smacking around."

"Ok."  Dylan says as he copies the names and addresses.  "I'll see what I can learn and get back to you."  He hangs up.

Sarah's phone rings, the caller ID says it's her mother.

Donnie wavered in his "tactile vision" for a moment, But Seth could still feel him.

He kept his presence around Donnie...If the boy got into some trouble...He would have a little guardian telekinetic angel.

[Continued from 32-10-1]

"If today is any example I can tell that being your boyfriend is gonna be a tough job."  he says with a smile.  "I still feel what I feel, but I think I can keep from trying to mate with you like a neanderthal for a while.  How are the others doing?"

OOC: Notice check in the haunted school (1d20+9=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=949598)

There are magical sigels in the library, but nothing else that you can see.

“Just wait till you go on a shopping trip with me.”  Megan says with a smile, trying to lighten the mood a bit.  


She was relieved to hear John had some manner of control over himself, but her smile faded a bit as he asked about the others.  â€œI don’t know, I have been a bit busy you know.  I have been texting Sarah, but not heard much back.  Sammy was in that ambulance that hit jerkoff here.  She had climbed out of the back, so she seemed possibly okay, but with that gas and then the smoke…I hope she didn’t try to follow and went on to the hospital.  I let Sarah know I had seen Sammy, but who knows when we can get this spell off us now.”

Megan had a sad look on her face as she looked at John.  â€œAnd I really want it off.  I would love a hug and a bit of snuggling, but would hate to put you through more than you have already been through.”  She turns slightly towards the sirens and then back to John.  â€œWe should go.  Why don’t you head back to school and check on the guys?  I’ll stay clear, but near enough I can be there quick if needed and try to reach Sarah and Sylvia to figure out what to do next.  If I can find out what hospital she is in, I can go check on Sammy.”

"Ok.  I'll go back to school, let us know if you find Sammy and how she is."  With that John takes off back towards the school.

Donnie tucks himself into a corner of the library and calls Colin.

"Colin, did the guy who you let go leave the library carrying a bookbag? 'Cause mine is missing, along with my notebooks."

“Okay, be careful John.”  Megan says before he can leave.  With that, she starts back on the path she had taken to see if she can find the ambulance Sammy had been in.  As she goes, she tries to call Sarah only to get her voicemail.  Hanging up, she then call Sylvia.

"Yes?"

“Hey, John has gotten himself back under control after a fight with a jealous rival.  Long story for another time.  He is on his way back to join the rest of the guys.  I am heading back towards where I saw Sammy, but she might be gone by now.  Have you or Sarah heard any more?”  Megan said as she ran down the streets.

"No.  Situation's still the same.  Sarah and I have been staying away from the others.  One of them might have more information."

“I am going to see if I can track down Sammy this way, you two see what you can learn from anyone else.  Call Dave for Elrod’s number in case he has heard anything.  Did Sarah get through to Sammy?”

"She's on the phone now.  I don't know who she's talking to."

“Okay.  I’ll see what I can learn.  Call me if Sarah has any news.  I’ll be in touch.  Hopefully I won’t run into any more attraction spell sex crazed guys that have crushes, or are attracted to me, or just plain have had dirty thoughts or something.”

OOC: You wheeled three guys out of the library and none of them had your book bag.

"Yeah, um. . . .  Go home.  Wear something baggy."  Sylvia hangs up and calls Dave to get Elrod's number.

It only takes Sylvia a few minutes to get Elrod.  "Yeah?"  Introductions out of the way he continues, "She's at gottlieb Memorial.  They're checking her out now.  She's on oxygen and her mom is on the way.  They're saying she's gonna be okay."

"Are you there with her now?  Can you ask her to stay there?"

"I don't think they're gonna let her leave before tomorrow.  I'll call you if they let her out though."

"Thanks.  I'll try to get Sarah and Megan there."

Megan gets texted:  sam@gottlieb mem.  Then Syl turns to Sarah and tries to get her attention.  Sarah's on the phone.  It may take some time.

School is obviously dismissed.  The parents have begun to find their children and they're letting people go home.  Donnie's mom is in the crowd, looking for him.  Chris and Colin's mom are here also.  Megan's mom is here, and she's called Megan to confirm that she's alright.

It's been roughly an hour since things went to hell.

Dylan calls Sylvia.  "None of them are home, but they didn't go to school today either.  Very peculiar."

"It's never easy, is it?"  She thinks.  "Donnie said you're some kind of . . . something.  Magical.  Do you know anything about witches?"

Kel stands around enjoying the calamity, thinking about the whole situation.  Donnie was in the school, Seth hadn't peeped up recently so from the looks of it they'd be following the regrouping idea, Colin was on the phone and everyone else was heading home.  He stretched a little and began to think about everything, how exactly could they get back at these witches.

"Not much.  Funny hats, brooms and cats.  That's about it."

She rubs her forehead, searching her memory.  Then she snaps her fingers.  "I know.  Can you check one more place for me, please?"  She gives him the name and address of the magic store in Chicago, where the girls were supposed to have studied magic.

Megan was on her way towards Gottlieb Memorial (or that general direction anyway) when she saw her mom calling her.  “Hey Mom.  I’m sure your worried, but I am fine, long story, but I am not at school at the moment.  I think I am going to need to talk to dad soon, very soon.  I just need to see about something right now.”

Sammy grabbed a pad of paper and a pen.  "Who was that?" she wrote on the note.  She had insisted on his being allowed to accompany her back to the exam room.  She was scared and she didn't want to be alone, and nobody chases him out when Mom arrives on the scene.

Donnie avoids his mom until he finds Kel, Seth and Colin. "Guys, I think the witches have my notebooks. That could be bad. The first workings of my spellcasting are in there, plus the basic tenets that I learned form all the textbooks. We need to find them,fast. When I get home, I will crank out a formula for finding them, and we have to strike before they can decipher my terrible handwriting. It will take be less than an hour to set it up. Should we meet at the bomb shelter to plan the attack?"

Kel immediately goes from enjoying the calamity to hating it, "I thought we got everyone in the library?  Dammit to hell, yes hurry the hell up with that and we'll try to meet up at the bomb shelter soon to figure this all out.  Looks like this attack is going to have to be faster than I'd like."  He sighed and clenched his fists.

Seth refrained from making any movement or word in the "I told you so department"

It was harder than it should have been.

"We're with you."

"Sylvia.  She wants you to stay here.  Something about getting Sarah and Megan here."

She grimaces and scribbles: Like I'm going anywhere.

Megan took a turn at a road sign pointing to her right for Gottlieb while she waited for her mother's response.

"As long as you're okay, that's all I needed to know."  her mother says.  "I'll see you later, be careful."

“I will mom, I will.  I’ll call you again soon.”  Megan says as she hangs up and slips her phone back in her pocket.  She saw the hospital up ahead, and came to a halt behind some trees in front of the hospital.  Feeling her hair, she found it was rather frizzed out after being wet and then air dried.  Sighing, she pulled it back into a ponytail that she fixed in place with a scrunchy.

With that about as taken care of as she could get it right now, she made her way out and over to the emergency room entrance.  Making her way over to the check-in desk at a hurried pace with an anxious look on her face, she looked down at the nurse and asked, “I’m from Oak Park High School, I heard a friend of mine, Samantha Jameson had been checked in here.  Is she okay?  And is she able to receive visitors?”

The Nurse checks the charts and directs Megan to the room where Sammy is.  Elrod is there, Sammy's mother was absent, having just gonet o fill out some paperwork and call dad to give him an update.

Megan makes her way into the room and gives Elrod a smile as she sees him first.  “Hey El.”  She says before she moves where she can see Sammy, and her smile instantly is gone.  The sight of the other girl sitting in the hospital bed with the oxygen mask made the blonde teen’s anger at the witches grow.  Sammy had been initially hurt because of a reaction caused by their “beneficial” spell, and it had only gotten worse. 

“Sammy, you doing okay?”  She asked in a concerned tone as she moved over near the side of the girl’s bed.

Sammy nods, writes, and passes a long note.

Probably OK.  Have to keep mask on until DR says I can take it off.  El can give details, he's been here whole time.  Everybody else okay?  Anybody seen Kel?  Tell him Breanna = smoke inhalation too.  Don't know if she's here.  Some girl hit her over head b/c of some boy, left her to die on 4th floor.  Br. says she only knows Kel and Elrod.  I know I didn't do it.  Lost my phone too.

Megan looks at Sammy as she writes the note, a sinking feeling in her, mainly because the other girl must really be injured if she is having to write instead of speak.  Taking the note, she reads it in a matter of seconds.  “Some girl attacked another girl over Kel and left her to die?”  She asked surprised, looking back up at Sammy.  “Man, everything went crazy today.  I’ll be sure to tell Kel or have someone else let him know.”

“From what I know, everyone else is doing okay.  Colin, Donnie, Kel, Sarah and Sylvia made it out of the library, some goons attacked Donnie again.  I made the dumb mistake of sticking around John when the school was evacuated and when we got caught in that freak rainstorm this spell triggered some real primal instincts and I had to spend some time keeping away from him.  As if that wasn’t enough, Cory Wells, one of my casual dates decided to try to start something with John over my going steady with John instead of him.  John’s fine, and that helped him get back under control.  He should be back with the others by now.  Sarah and Sylvia have been keeping away from the guys, and were trying to reach you.  We were hoping to all gather here to remove the spell, but that looks like it is going to have to wait, as we all have to chant something to make it work.”

The blonde teen put a hand on Sammy’s arm.  “You rest and try not to worry.  I’ll go out in the hall and call Sylvia to let her know what’s going on and the others to let them know how you are about Breanna.  I’ll come back in before I leave, and we will figure a way to stay in touch with you.”

Sammy nods and gives Megan a thumbs up.  Then she takes hold of Elrod's hand again.

Leaving Sammy with Elrod, Megan makes her way out into the hallway and calls Sylvia.

"Donnie, with your notebooks, they can find a way to undo the binding?"

Sylvia may still be on the phone with Dylan.

A bruised, drenched and exhausted Colin gives a quick and wet hug to his mom, and tells her that's he's fine, even though his face tells a slightly different story.

He asks Chris about Ms. Kellogg, and learns that she is still looking for a way to counter the spell.

"The girls may have found a way to do that, but we got even bigger problems now. I'll have to talk with you or with her. I'm afraid we need some help."

"Not with their usual method of blood. I still have their athame. Hopefully they do not realize that. But they can figure out a way to banish it if they understand my cribbed handwriting and notes. Dammit. Why did I flaunt reading them every day in the open? That was idiotic of me."

After Colin's conversation with Ms. Kellogg, Donnie looked forlorn. I need to be there. Maybe we should have gone to the police first.

Then his mom sees him. "Ah crap." He plasters a smile on his face, glad the blood was gone and that the bruises would be hours in forming. "Hi mom. Another fun day at High School."

Donnie's mom falls to her knees and wraps her arms around him, holding him for a minute.  "I was afraid something had happened to you."  she says,, picking herself up.  "You have things to take care of?"

(ooc going with this then)

Finding Sylvia's phone busy, Megan then tries to call John.

"Hey beautiful."  John says, "Find Sammy?"

"What can I do?"  Chris asks.

Megan’s mood brightened slightly at John’s greeting causing her to smile slightly.  “Hey yourself handsome.”  She replied cheerfully at first then she let herself get more serious.  “Yeah, I am at the hospital now.  Elrod is here as well, and I think her mom is here somewhere.  They still have her on oxygen, but she thinks she is okay.  But she seems to have gotten a serious dose of smoke inhalation, as she had to write me a note.  Have you met up with the guys yet?”

[Megan]

"No, I'm watching them from up the street.  I figure I'll keep some distance for now."

“Well, can you get a message to Kel?  Sammy said a girl she helped out of the school is someone he knows, named Breanna.  She also wrote that Breanna had been hit over the head by some girl because of a boy and left up on the forth floor when the evacuation started.  Apparently Breanna only knows Kel and Elrod, and we all know Sammy didn’t do this.  I’m going to try to reach Sylvia or Sarah and see what we will try to do now.  Maybe Sammy will be well enough soon to talk, but I would hate to hamper her recovery by making her do anything too strenuous.  Any diagnosis on that future Dr. Elliot?”

After Megan has left the room, Sammy scribbles another note to Elrod. 

"Sorry, now you have more secrets to keep.  Tried to keep you from knowing who others were.  Oh well.  BTW, are you feeling ok / normal around me?  Other than worrying about me being hurt?  There's a spell on me that might make me seem 'more interesting' today than other days.  That's what she was talking about.  Its on her and some others too."

"They're likely to keep her for observation overnight.  She's got a lung capacity that's scary, so she might have gotten a lot of crap in her lungs.  We'll just have to see what the doctors say."


"Now that you mention it I did have the urge to see if you wanted to skip school and come to my house for some hot tub time, but I managed to resist the urge."

“Well, that likely comes from all the time practicing her trombone.”  Megan replied.  “But yeah, we will have to see what the doctors say, hopefully she will be back up soon.  I can’t help but feel a bit guilty, seeing her problems started because of some guy gassing us to get to me.  I know it stupid, but I just feel bad.  Well, I’ll try to hang here a bit, can you get that message to Kel?”

Sammy raises an eyebrow at him but smiles anyhow.  Thanks for keeping it together.  Nice to know I can trust you.  I'll try not to do anything to test your willpower.  Like you too much to take unfair advantage of temporary weakness.  Don't like using cheap tricks unless in self defense.

Before John could respond to her question about getting the message to Kel, something else pops into Megan’s mind, which was working overtime.  “Oh and another thing.  Last night I told my dad about my involvement in the incident yesterday with Fern, he did not ask for information about any of you, but did say if we needed help, all we had to do was ask.  I am not sure this is a time like that, or what he could do, but there is the thing with Cory.  I don’t know if the police will arrest him or anything for just being knocked out cold or running from the scene of the accident with the ambulance, but if he is with the police, what might he be telling them?  He knows about us now, well, you and me at least.  It might be good to get my dad involved to..I don’t know, control that?  I won’t tell him anything you don’t want me to of course.”

[Megan]

"I'll talk to Kel."  John says, then when Megan mentions the incident with Cory he sighs.  "Well, don't forget the crowd in the back parking lot.  They all know about me now too, so we'll just have to see what happens."

[Sammy]

Elrod smiles.  "Curse my self control."  he kisses her hand.  "I'm gonna track down your mom and see if everything is okay.  Even hospital paperwork shouldn't take this long."

Megan sighs as well as John mentions them.  “Yeah, but Cory could be more of a problem, he comes from a wealthy family.  Maybe the fact he got his butt kicked by a girl will keep him quite.  I still should probably mention him to my dad, but I won’t say anything about you.”

OOC: Finally catching up... sort of

IC:

"I'm really okay Mom, I promise.  No I wasn't involved in any of it.  I was sitting around in a music room chatting with a couple of friends when it all started.  I got a friend out of the library and then I pretty much stood around watching everything happen.  Listen I promise I'm fine and I'll be home for dinner I think.  I have to check to make sure everyone else is okay though.  There is still a lot of smoke.  Love you to."  *Click* 

Note to self - Block calls from parents when being a superhero

Sarah looks around finally, "Where did everybody go?  Crap!"

*Beep Boop*  *Ring* "Hey Megan.. sorry.. sorry sorry.. are you okay?  What happened and where is everyone?"

Syl hangs up on her call and squeezes in a line before Megan calls.  "Sammy and Megan are at the hospital.  We should parkour our butts over there."

[Kel]

John finds Kel and explains to him about Breanna and what Sammy relayed.  "Megan's there still if you want to call her and ask her if she can check on Breanna for you."

[Colin]

Blaire Kellog finally calls back and relays the instructions for dismissing this kind of blessing.  "Also, it'll fade some with time.  They're usually really powerful in the first twelve hours, then they fade some so there shouldn't be any major problems after twelve hours, or the moon reaches it's high spot in the night sky, whichever comes first."

[Sylvia]

Dylan calls back about ten minutes after you gave him the lead for the magic store.  "The guy working the counter said they were in last night, picked up a bunch of candles, some animal blood, a ceremonial dagger, and some herbs.  I'll bring the list to you."

Kel shakes his head, "No, I'll go check on her now, I'll meet everyone else at the bunker later."  He is then off at a mad dash, within moments he's already leapt onto a building, using the height and running starts to get him moving farther as he leaps.

Sarah grins at Sylvia, 'That was funny." 

She talks into the phone, "Never mind.  We're on our way!"

Grinning at Sylvia she says, "Last one there is a purple-haired elf."  And runs. 

"Thanks," Sylvia says.  "You've been great."

She calls Donnie.


Syl loses just enough time in a stagy sigh to get left in the dust.  She races to keep up.

Colin pulls him to the side, because he'd rather his mom not to hear.

"Well, I'm not sure. I'd like to know if you can help us stop these witches. We thought that making them unable to use their magic for harm was enough, but clearly it isn't. I don't know if casting unwanted spells on someone is an offense, but hiring some thugs to smash someone's head it with a baseball bat definitely should."


Colin applies his memory to the instructions, making sure he doesn't miss one bit.

"Thank you, Ms. Kellogg. We have another, maybe bigger problem now, though. They have taken my friend's notebook, with all the info and notes he used to create the binding spell. Even if they don't break the binding, there is potentially dangerous stuff there, like a spell to become invisible. Is there a way to protect us from them, as long as we retrieve it?"

"The guys they picked up will probably testify, so that's not an issue.  Blaire tells me that casting a spell on someone without their consent is illegal and we can prosecute based on that, if we can prove it."

Donnie answers the phone. "Hiya Syl. You doing okay? My mom just got here." He waves at Kel as the muscled Devil Dog slips away on his own mission.

"I'm all right," she says.  She wants to ask the same, but of course he's all right.  What was she worried for?  "Sarah and I are headed to meet the others at Gottlieb Memorial.  I called Dylan and sent him around to check the witches' residences and the magic store in Chicago.  He has a list of what the witches bought yesterday."  She wonders, suddenly, what Dylan did to get it.  "He's going to meet me at the hospital, but maybe you can call him and find out directly.  It might help, and it'll just be nonsense to me."

"I'll call him. I have his number. You get accosted on the way to the hospital by any dudes looking for a date, just remember what Caroline taught you." Sylvia heard his grin through the phone. She had given him stern warning on their first date that Caroline had taught her daughters exactly where men were most sensitive and how to cause blinding pain, if necessary. "I hope your hair stays purple a while longer. I still think it's rad. We are meeting at the bunker for a war council, if you and the others can make it." He gives them times.

Syl's hand goes to her hair.  Rad?  Purple?  Really?  She finger-combs it out of its clumpy post-fight, post-rain state.  "I'll make sure to let everyone know.  Elrod says Sammy's going to be stuck in the hospital for twenty-four hours or so, so we have to get the spell off there.  Is it cool if Dylan shows up, too?"

"Hell yeah. I'll ask if he can join us."

After his phone conversation with Sylvia Donnie will go home with his mom, long enough to study up and convert some of his spells.

Then he tells his mom he's goin out with Colin and Sylvia and takes the Althea Express over to the Bunker.

Seth's parent's were nowhere to be seen. But that was expected.

His dad was in court, and his mother was on a shoot.

He touched base with everyone before they left, and with nothing else to do...slipped away to grab some custard.

He then made his way to the bunker...It was going to be a long day...and he knew already he wasn't making it to dance class.

Colin frowns.

"I'm afraid we did the same, though. Or at least, when we talked about it, Blaire didn't tell me that binding them would be illegal."

"I hate to be such a nuisance for you. Half the time I get you and mom really worried and the other half you have to find a way to keep me out of jail. Are you having trouble at work because of me?"

He stops suddenly and nearly sneezes his lungs out.

"I've got to get home and change, or I'll catch something really bad."

He's visibly exhausted too, but there's no way in hell he leaves his friends alone.

"I've just got to make a call first."

With trembling hands, he dials Sylvia's number.

"Hey Syl. Ms. Kellogg called me back. Gave me instructions on how to break the spell."

He repeats her the instructions in case there's something different from what Mitzi said.

"The spell should wear away on its own in a few hours, or until the moon is up. Any update? How is Sammy?"

"It'll wear away on its own?"  She sounds a little annoyed.  "I'm outside her hospital room now.  Haven't gotten a look at her yet, but from what I hear she'll be okay.  She just has to stay here for a while is all.  How're things with you?  Everything okay?"

"Well, at least it should get weaker. I'm ok, I guess. I hate to feel this useless. You're sure Sammy will be fine? 'Cause otherwise I can just get there and try to help her."

"Stay where you are, monkey boy.  Until we've got this curse-slash-blessing off us, you are restricted to your quarters where you will think pure thoughts and do push-ups."  Her tone softens.  "Maybe later you can come and see Sammy."

"Ok, boss. Talk to you later. Good luck with the spell. Let me know if you need anything."

He grabs his stuff and goes back to his mom.

"Let's go home. But I'll have to go out again later."

"Will do.  Thanks for calling."

"Well, Blaire says that's actually different.  It's like making a citizens arrest, you didn't cast a spell on them, a binding is sort of like making them follow the rules."  He shakes his head, "Eventually I'll understand this a little better.  Until then, just know that the binding wasn't illegal."


"No."  Chris says, "If anything they tell me you're the crash course in how strange life gets in the PCD."

After his call they take Colin home to let him get cleaned up anbd dried off before he has to go.  His mother insists he drink some hot chocolate before he goes, to warm him up on the inside too.