"Hold on!" Lloyd cried. "You can't expect me to just accept this deal right? I have to know what I'm getting into here! I don't want to be hasty." He grinned. "Will there be any side effects like gaining powers, or growing a third arm out of my belly button? This wouldn't be like one of those demon contracts?"

OOC: Making a new post so you guys can see it.

Johnathan, summoning a billhook, rapidly made his way over to Logan. He hadn't drawn a sigil onto another person before. Grabbing his wrist, he lightly and quickly traced Arx. Then, he plunged the same billhook into the ghost, drawing Fragor. He knew he already applied Arx on himself, and Logan had arx now too, which should protect them both.

"Alice, I... I can't," Tsubaki called back, her weak voice fighting against the winds. "I don't have the skill or the materials, there's nothing I can do."

That wasn't exactly true, and she knew it. Still something had to be done, and it couldn't be that. Something, something...

"I mean if they were all crowded in one place and I had enough time, there's probably enough of us to activate one really large, really powerful talisman, but it would have to be the size of a house!"

She also had her two remaining ofuda at the ready in case one of the people got to close.

---

Okay, desk. Wood is good vs magnetic fields, but wait, what killed ghosts again? Iron? Derrek seemed to recall electromagnets, like ones used at junkyards, were created by running electricity through coils rapped around soft iron. Now electricity wasn't good for his powers, but while the ghost wasn't paying attention and the thing wasn't on, Derrek saw no harm in giving the crane a push back towards the ghost. It was, after all, in nearly the same spot as the thing had just passed a moment ago.

Ducking behind the the desk he carried out just that, almost, but not quite, forgetting, "Oh hey, WATCH OUT!"

The man's description of the suited villain offered little help to Maximilian's imagination and quickly the boy was beginning to tire of this lunatic song and dance. Maximilian felt that his time was being wasted and soon was beginning to wish that he were back at school or still in that quaint tea shop with Evelyn, but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a devilish howling from somewhere in the darkness. With haste he turned to face the noise, but was unable to immediately spot its source. Above? Beneath? Ahead? It wasn't clear to him where it was coming from... what a bother.

The fireball was loosed at the woman, who quickly caught fire, yet she still ran as if she was not. Her eyes seemed to pierce into Daniel's very soul. Ms. Ignianus pushed him aside, slamming her staff into the ground and sprinkling what looked like salt onto the earth. Immediately vines sprung from the earth and began to wrap themselves around the woman. There were so many, in fact, that they smothered the fire and the woman could no longer move.

Ms. Ignianus clucked her tongue and shook her head disapprovingly. "Child" she said addressing Daniel "You have grown weak." She didn't bother to explain though, and she walked at a brisk pace, leaving Daniel with the pot, and turned down one of the streets. It was down this said street that the pair found themselves face to face with Miss Rachel, and the priest.

"Ah, there you are" spoke Ms. Ignianus calmly.

"I had a feeling you'd be a bit late" replied Miss Rachel knowingly.

Both these women in one place was quite a frightening experience. Daniel couldn't quite tell if they were friends, or enemies. The priest however seemed torn, his emotions ranging from confusion, understanding and fear.

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OOC: Clever Johnny, very clever.

Johnny's inventive idea resulted in a large and sudden explosion, as soon as he had finished drawing the sigil onto the spirit. Fortunately, the sigils of arx had protected both of them, though Johnny's protection was starting to wear off, his energy for that particular sigil being spent. The ghost was nowhere to be seen, though Li still lay on the ground glowing in spirit energy. The ofuda in his hand glowing a brilliant blue as it had been imbued with energy. For whatever reason, in Li's attempt to make contact with the spirit using the ofuda, it had become aware of him before it could touch and effectively banish him. Thus, the ofuda remained unused and fully charged with energy.

Just then, all the lights in the junk yard flickered on and the ghost appeared, though before it could attack Logan or Johnny once again, a desk went flying through it, causing it to disappear with a sigh, as the desk smashed into pieces on the ground, having passed through the ghost.

The spirit returned a considerable distance away from the group, though still quite menacing. Its eyes were now hollow sockets, "Get ouuuuuutttt!" he moaned.

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Suddenly, to Maximilian's right he could hear snarling, there was a shadow that passed quickly from one area of the s**** to the next. The frightened man screamed and held onto Maximilian, despite being an adult male, and began to sob as he held onto the youth for protection. That's when they approached.

Their eyes glowed red, and saliva dripped from their maws. Their fur was jet black and seemed to have an ethereal sheen to it, making it seem to almost blend into the shadows around it, as if it were almost more spirit than physical. Most distinct was the silver collars around each of their necks, and a rusted chain that extended into the void of darkness. Their owner was quite a distance away. Three hell hounds.

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As Evelyn and Dom dealt with the demons on their own side, she noticed that Tsubaki and Alice had a considerably higher concentration of demons approaching, or perhaps remaining, on their side.

"Do...you guys need help?" she called out over the wind.

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As Damian walked through the back room he could sense something, but it almost seemed like the kettle was masking itself, as if it didn't want to be found. It was clearly the work of the jinn. The room was quite large, considering it belonged to the star of the show. Closest to the door was a large vanity with a large mirror and equal mirrors angled on either side of it, with lights above. It was covered with various objects and masks and had three drawers. In the very back of the room was a rack with various costumes hung on hangers or simply thrown onto it. In the middle of the room was a coffee table and two couches on either side of it. The coffee table was completely covered with scripts and books and photos of the actor who they had seen in the s****. On one wall behind the couch was a closet door which all the props were kept.

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The jinn narrowed its eyes at the boy. He much liked the girl better, quiet and compliant. "You need no other powers, boy. You shall gain nothing beyond the respect and fear of those inferior to yourself. I am no demon, and I have no use for your soul, or your spirit, or any part of you besides your talents. If you do not offer yourself to me, that is fine, for the girl and her tiger shall be sufficient enough."

OoC: Someone stole my desk?

OOC: It was your desk, I just didn't explicitly state it.

OoC: Roll an Arcana check to see who stole my desk? Derrek didn't move it, so he'll be surprised come my next post.

Ah, I see now. I'm not home to edit the post so feel free to act accordingly

Lloyd felt a trickle of sweat run down his neck. Damian didn't find the kettle yet? He felt Damian leave, but it seemed he didn't locate the cursed thing yet. He was beginning to think a fight with this jinn was inevitable, as it grew more impatient with each statement he made. Lloyd ventured on regardless, his voice betraying his concern, making it sound more confident then he felt. "I think she's just humoring you. She isn't interested in joining your legion." His eyes shifted towards Lotus, but the jinn was still in his peripheral view. "Are you?"

---

Johnathan was starting to get annoyed. This thing was tough. Another idea started to form in his mind. Maybe he could use the ofuda...? Assuming the whole thing with the demon contract wouldn't interfere. His Arx was fading, and he didn't know how long it would keep him protected. Turning sharply to Li, he attempted to make a beeline for the ofuda.

The explosion was almost as surprising to Logan as the fact that he had survived it, seemingly unscathed. As he stood to his feet, he did a quick inventory to make sure he still had all of his body parts. Fortunately, everything seemed to be in order. With that out of the way, he quickly scanned the area for the spirit. It appeared again briefly but was temporarily fazed by a flying desk. The junior tried not to question it. Before long, the junkyard's lights flickered to life as the ghost rematerialized. Out of the corner of his eye, Logan saw Johnny make a mad dash for Li's unconscious body. He seemed to have some kind of plan, so the Scot's role was clear.

"Why don't you come over here and make me!?" He shouted at the ghost aggressively as he summoned his weapons and armor. "You're not frightened of me, are you? I guess that's not too surprising, what with my being so intimidating!" As Logan spoke, he began to bash the face of his targe with the sword. With any luck, the spirit would overlook Johnny in favor of a louder, more metal-clad target. This was definitely the best idea.

OOC: I'm totally lost atm
Daniel was paralyzed with worry about how Ms. Rachel would react to him. He assumed she shared Alice's hatred for magic users. At least he seemed to be on the same page as the priest. "A-are you going to kill us?" He quietly squeaked out. "What is this meeting for? Do you want something from us?"

Alice took a moment to gaze at Tsubaki. "They're already grouped together!" She said. "That's a great plan! We can take them all out at once. I believe in you, Tsubaki. Don't forget that time we trained in the s**** - you were the one who took down Phora when nobody else could!"

Just then she heard Evelyn's voice through the wind. "Give us a minute! Tsubaki has an idea!"

Damian covered his mouth and exhaled dramatically into his hand. "Damn where in..." He trailed off from mumbling into silence. His nerves were starting to catch up to him and he felt he was running out of time. It didn't seem like a good idea to waste time thinking so he just dove toward the vanity drawers, fumbling through them and tossing much of the contents around to hopefully make that kettle visible should it be there.

Idelia ran towards the group. As she appeared on scene she used a demons face as a squishy spring board to get into the middle. She was holding on to the propane tank. Idelia began to chuckle as she loosened the nozzle. The gas began to release in a steady stream. "Boom boom." Idelia laughed. She rolled the tank towards group. "EGO!" a streak of fire flew by igniting the gas before vanishing. The tank turned into a explosive that stopped in the group of demons.

Lotus panicked slightly at Lloyd's comment about extra limbs. She checked her belly button to be sure. When Lloyd asked her that question began to truly consider how serious she was. Then she had an idea. She knew Damian was looking for something to stop the jinn. She needed to stall, and if they failed at stalling long enough at least she had a job in the world ruled by Abbud. "No, I'm not Lloyd. I'm sick of you always dreaming yourself to be the perfect hero. You haven't once considered how anyone else might fair." she turned to the Jinn before bowing "Lord I wish to slay him for his foolishness an ignorance. He will never serve you, his self righteous pride prevents that." She stood facing Lloyd summoning her weapon. "So may I spill his blood with my katana, Lord?"

Ms. Ignianus and Miss Rachel looked at each other with unreadable smiles before turning their attention to Daniel and Father Albright.

"I would never dream of it," she said with a smile, "You're quite precious, a bit confused perhaps, but precious nonetheless."

Ms. Ignianus chuckled to herself as she took the travelling cauldron out of Daniel's hands and placed it on the ground in front of the priest, "In order to complete the spell, we need the tears of a holy man and the blood of a sage," she handed Daniel the knife from before, "Well, go on, we only need a few drops, prick your finger and we'll be done," she then turned to the priest "You too, get to crying"

Father Albright looked incredulously at Miss Rachel who merely nodded her head in agreement.

"Sorry Father, this is the only way"

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The jinn's eyes widened excitedly, he was truly quite pleased with his new general. So eager she was to spill the blood of her own comrades. The fool would not see such a betrayal coming. Abbud crossed his arms and nodded once.

"Yes, my general" he said in a calm voice "Make this infidel see the error of his ways, and perhaps I shall spare him mercy...that is, if there is anything left after you are finished with him." With a puff of red smoke the jinn disappeared, as did the others within the auditorium. In a subsequent puff of smoke, the jinn reappeared sitting front and centre in front of the stage, while Lotus and Dot stood on one side of the stage while Lloyd and Grayson stood on the other.

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OOC: Lucky guess!

As Damian scoured through the drawer he found a small kettle. It looked very old, and beaten up, as if it had endured much over the centuries. If he were to touch it, he would feel an odd warmth coming from the pot, as if it had been recently filled with hot water.

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OOC: Such teamwork!

The ghost for whatever reason, had a personal vendetta against Logan. Perhaps, because he had threatened to burn its bones. Whatever the reason, it took the bait, and blindly flew towards Logan, its eyes flickering like a fading light bulb.

"Yoooouuuuuuuu" it moaned angrily, it pointed a finger at Logan, loosing a bolt of electricity at the boy.

In the meanwhile, Johnny was able to make his way over to where Li lay unconscious to grab the glowing ofuda. Even while passed out, Johnny could sense the amount of energy that Li had infused into the spell tag. Hopefully, it would do the trick.

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"Well then tell her to hurry up" replied Evelyn sharply, exorcisms were no easy business. Sure, she was spiritorum and inherently had a large store of spiritual energy to wield, but she had lost count of the amount of exorcisms she had done in those few minutes alone, she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to last.

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Waiting for: Maximilian