Although it was the middle of the day, the dark clouds made it nearly as dark as night outside.  Occasional flashes of lightning illuminated the sky briefly, soon followed by deep, powerful rumbles of thunder that seemed to roll across the sky.  Across the city of New York, animals paced and howled, uneasy with the change they could feel in the air.  It was the opening day of baseball, a day full of the possibilities of a new season.  Not that anyone expected more than a few innings before the storm overhead broke.

Jack couldn't believe he had been tagged for protection detail today of all days. Walking around this part of the city with expensive clothes and electronics wasn't the best idea on any day.  Plus it was going to start pouring soon.  The small Asian man he was supposed to be protecting, Akio Tanaka, seemed unconcerned about the threatening storm or the neighborhood.  He just kept checking his lap top computer, apparently looking for some specific location.  "This way, officer," he said in his too perfect English motioning down the street to the left.

Jeff leaned against a wall, gasping for breath.  He could hear yells and the pounding of feet behind him, hopefully as far away as they sounded.  Very bad luck to be making a buy when the Trinitarios wanted to push against the DDPs.  He clutched his precious package in his hand, lurching back into a winded run.  He had just concluded his business, when the salesman saw the lime green Trinitario bandannas heading his way and took off running.  Some chased him, while the others took off after Jeff.  Jeff knew enough about the Trinitarios to know they sometimes made examples using a machete - so he'd been running ever since, trying to find a way to ditch his pursuers.

As thunder boomed overhead and lightning flashed, Jeff whipped around a corner, trying to keep his footing.  Suddenly, he slammed into a small, Asian man, sending both of them head over heels.  An expensive lap top and Jeff's package fell to the ground and the two men wound up tangled up with each other.  Just as they hit, a tremendous crash of thunder erupted, shaking the street around them.  Huge, swollen raindrops came pouring down, soaking everyone on the street to the skin.  Following the thunder, a wave of energy ripped through the city.  As it passed over the street, all the cars just stopped dead, their engines cut out.  The wave hit Jack and knocked him to the ground, slamming his head against the nearby building hard enough he saw stars.  Akio was yelling in japanese as he struggled to untangle himself from Jeff and reach his lap top.

Jeff muttered to himself "Tourists!" and starts trying to disentangle himself and find what he'd dropped at the same time.  He rolled free and grabbed a small plastic package and stuck it in his coat pocket.

"Not for long!" said the scruffy - probably homeless - middle-aged man that Akio had collided with.  "Bad neighborhood, bad people, and a bad time to find them.  Get moving!"  He gestured firmly back the way Jack and Akio came, while shifting uneasily on his feet.

After speaking harshly in Japanese for a further moment, Akio visibly brought himself under control.  He continued in unaccented, too perfect english.  "I am not okay.  This idiotic ruffian knocked me down and may have damaged my computer.  I thought you were supposed to be protecting me, officer."  The small asian man moved over and picked up his lap top from the ground.  After a brief external inspection he opened it again.  The screen glowed serenely and showed various Japanese characters on it, an a background with a large red K.

Jack rolled his eyes at the verbal abuse he was getting from not one but two sources now.  Pulling out his badge he points it at Jeff, "Up against the wall, and tell me what you mean by bad people and bad timing, also whats in the package?"

Looking over at Akio he just shrugs a bit, "Your laptops fine, no harm no foul.  In this rain though it probably won't last much longer."

Jeff looks over his shoulder at around the time the badge comes out, "What I mean is the Trinitarios are out to play, probably packing machetes and nines, and you're on your own in the middle of a storm.  Time to decide on your priority, officer."

As Jeff and Jack glared at each other, people around them slowly got to their feet.  Most appeared dazed or scared.  Three of them, however, were looking around in wonder.  One, dressed in a business suit and tie, spoke slowly, as if in the throes of a epiphany.  "Can you hear it?  Can you feel it?  She is here.  Lanala wants our love."  He reached up and ran his fingernails down his arms, scratching himself deeply, gouging again and again while laughing with joy.  He seemed to hunch over, growing more bestial in appearance.

Beside him a young woman in the revealing clothes of a street walker stared up at the sky in wonder.  "Sensation is everything.  I must feel for Lanala."  Looking around, she suddenly fixed on Jack.  "Take me, give me feelings for Lanala."  With a wild shriek she threw herself at the officer, pulling at her clothes as she did so.

The third man, obviously homeless from his dirty clothes and bags on his feet, grabbed a frightened passerby.  "Can you hear her?  You must listen."  He shook the teenage boy fiercely.  "Don't deny what you feel."  The boy, panicked, kicked out, his knee connecting with the homeless man's groin.  The man doubled up, but was smiling as if he enjoyed the pain.

Suddenly the bum who ran into his client wasn't Jack's biggest concern.  Doing his best to shove the woman who had literally thrown herself at him off his person Jack tried to spare a glance for Akio, "Mr. Tanaka, you should get back to the car.  Things have gotten a bit out of hand here."

Jack found the woman who clutched at him stronger than he would have suspected.  With animal ferociousness she clung to him, tearing at his clothing.  Finally, with a heave, he threw her off, her long nails taking a significant amount of skin off his arm as he did so.

Once he gets the woman off him Jack reached for his cell phone wishing, not for the first time, he still had his radio with him.  Dialing dispatch he waited to connect while doing his best to control the situation, "All right, everybody freeze!"

The phone was dead.  Not only was there no signal, but the phone itself didn't seem to be on.  Pushing the power button didn't accomplish anything.  As he yelled, he saw the woman rise again.  Lust had been transformed into rage as she howled in anger and threw herself at Jack.

Jeff backed up against a wall and gazed at the crowd in shock, looking much less confident than before.

The man in a business suit who had been gouging his skin turned to Jeff with a feral grin.  "I will bring you Lanala's love.  I will open you to her embrace."  With that he sprang forward, swinging his briefcase like some kind of club. Jeff stepped aside and dodged the brunt of the blow then pushed the businessman to the ground, his movements appearing reflexive.

Akio held back from the chaos.  "Officer," he called, "It is more essential than ever that we get to our destination.  Your car and radio are useless.  We must go quickly."  He glanced down at the lab top, then over at Jeff.  "That man should come with us as well."

Jack threw down his phone in anger before drawing his gun.  He wasn't going to shoot anyone, so far no one had been seriously hurt and none of them had weapons to speak of but the situation could get bad fast and he wanted to be ready.

"Fine whatever!" he practically grunts out looking to Jeff, "well you heard the man, follow the leader." he says nodding towards Akio as he does his best to keep himself between all these crazed lunatics and everyone else.

Jeff shook his head, then shrugged.  "Man, either I'm crazy or they all are, and odds are it's me.  'Whatever' is right, but the man with the gun goes first."

As the men argued, Akio moved down the alley, apparently following something on his lap top.  Jack looked back from Jeff in time to see a clawed hand slash at his eyes.  Instinct took over and he ducked, barely avoiding the woman's attack.  She continued to scream and howl in rage as she threw herself at Jack with no regard for his gun.

The business man struggled to his feet again, snarling in rage.  His face was bestial, almost cro-magnon in appearance.  He howled, his face turned up into the rain.  Blood ran down the side of his face where his head had hit the sidewalk when Jeff shoved him, but he didn't seem to notice as he stalked the homeless man, a feral grin twisting his features.

Turning to follow after Akio Jack did his best to keep some distance between him and any of the crazies in the alleyway.  As he passed Jeff he doesn't even spare him a glance, "Follow or not, I'm out of here and you're on your own."

Mr. Tanaka seemed to have at least a little bit of a handle on what was going on so Jack figured it was best to keep him safe so maybe he could get an explanation out of him later.  Keeping his gun raised and ready if anyone looks ready to attack him or Jeff or Akio he'll fire aiming for their feet or the ground right in front of them, I don't want them hurt, besides it'd be a pain to explain and a lot of paperwork.  They're obviously disturbed but I can't deal with that right now he thinks to himself as he keeps pace with his original protectee.

Jeff backed carefully but quickly away from his stalker, following Jack and Akio and muttering to himself. "Hallucinogens? In the rain? How?"

Their attackers seemed to lose interest in them as quickly as they moved away.  Akio led them down an alley way and emerged onto another street.  Cars were stalled all over the street and  people were running everywhere.  A few seemed to be feral and primitive, like the people from before, the rest seemed scared and confused.  As Akio headed across the street, still following the directions on his computer, Jeff and Jack saw two feral men leap forward on a third man, knocking him to the ground.  They hooted and howled as they stood over him, grabbing pieces of debris and raising them in their hands. 

Both men felt the world come into focus.  They stood at a moment of choice.  They could leave the man to his fate and follow Akio, or intervene and risk being attacked themselves.  Seeing them looking over, Akio spoke up.  "Ignore it, gentlemen, we have not time for pointless heroics." 

Jack didn't even dignify Akio's suggestion with a response instead he stopped turned and raised his gun at the two ferals, "Hold it right there!" he boomed in his best crowd control voice, "NYPD!" he added as an after thought.

If you didn't want pointless heroics you shouldn't have hired the New York Police Department, thats kind of our thing. he thinks to himself as he watches the two men, any movement of aggression and he was putting a bullet in the both of them, preferable non-vital.

Also ignoring Akio, Jeff waited tensely for the feral's reaction to Jack's challenge.  He looked around for pebbles and garbage, collecting objects to throw, focusing on things that would be solid enough to sting but light enough not to injure.

At Jack's commanding tone, the two men's heads snapped up.  They snarled at Jack and Jeff.  One of them laughed, a deep feral sound.  Jeff recognized him as one of the Trinitario gang member from earlier.  "NYPD huh?" he growled in a harsh voice.  "Better mean Not Your Problem Dude."  The other man laughed and turned back to their victim on the ground.  Neither seemed concerned about the pistol in Jack's hand.

Jack had had enough with today, he'd had enough of being pushed around and disrespected and ignored when he was just trying to do his job.  These damn gangers were the last straw for him and as he squeezed the trigger of his pistol he tried to aim for somewhere nonvital but he didn't really care where he shot either one of them.

There seemed to be some sort of resistance.  The gun didn't want to fire.  Jack could almost feel strange energies working to prevent him from shooting.  He pulled firmly, confident that the pistol would work, waiting for the usual report..  His own belief seemed to over come the resistance, and the gun spoke sharply.

His skill and aim proved true and the bullet slammed into the man with a thud.  His target staggered back, staring at him in shock.  "The pain," he cried, touching his wound.  "The pain is... wonderful."  As he said this, he slumped to the ground, blood pooling under him.  The other man looked up in surprise, the, with a frightened whimper, ran off into the darkness.

Holstering his gun Jack ran to the civilian to make sure he was okay.  Stopping next to the feral man he'd shot to see if he was dead or not first (tergiver asks OOC: is it OK to delete that section?  It doesn't quite seem to flow with the actions.  Don't want to change your text without an OK, but I think it will work better this way.) Jack spoke to the civie, "You alright?  I don't know whats going on here but you should probably get to a police station or some other place where you can fortify yourself." he says before looking at the man to check him for any injuries.

To Jack's surprise, the man wore an NYPD uniform.  It was torn and muddy.  He seemed confused and spoke shakily.  "I'm OK.  I was at the station, but some kind of monster knocked it down."  His eyes grew more haunted as he remembered.  "It was like a dinosaur or something all teeth and attitude.  Bobbi," his voice faded for a moment, then continued in a horrified tone.  "Bobbi tried to shoot it with our shotgun from the car but nothing happened."  He stared up at Jack, madness dancing in the depths of his eyes.  "It ate her.  Didn't even chew, just scooped and swallowed.  I could hear her screaming."  He looked away, his hands clamped over her ears.  "She's still screaming.  I can still hear her screaming."

Jeff pulled a white cloth out of his backpack, carefully folded it a few times, and warily pressed it against the feral man's bullet wound.  "Just hold this tight until someone comes to help you out, you crazy son of a gun."  As he leaned in, he realized the man was either dead or unconscious.  He didn't react to Jeff at all.  Jeff arranged the man's arm to keep pressure on the cloth, performing basic first aid but pointedly not checking for a pulse.  He warily disentangled himself from the bleeding gang member while waiting for Jack's reaction to the fallen cop's raving.

Jack listened to the shaken man's words and couldn't believe them, I don't know what he's been through but its rattled him pretty bad, no way he saw an actual dinosaur.....but crazy or not he's still the only other cop in the area, he thought to himself before looking the man in the eyes. "Hey! Get a hold of yourself, you need to get to a station house and try to get as many civilians there with you as you can!  I've gotta go, I think I've got a lead on whats causing all this." he says gripping the other cop by the shoulder briefly to keep his attention before standing back up and looking around for Akio so he could catch up to the self involved Asian.

"Don't you understand?" the man screamed at Jack.  "There is no station house.  A dinosaur ate it.  Ate them all."  He screamed again, the turned and ran, tripping and stumbling over the rubble.

Akio suddenly appeared at Jack's elbow.  "Enough, Officer.  We are very near what we seek.  This is the only chance we have to stop this madness.  You must come with me now before it is too late.  Both of you."  He pointed the direction they had been travelling, down a nearby street.

With a nod he backs away from the raving lunatic that used to be a police officer, "Lead the way Mr. Tanaka." he says while reloading his gun, "I'm looking to get this over with."  His jaw set Jack seemed a litle more grim now than he had been before if that was possible but he kept his thoughts to himself as he turned to follow Akio down the street. Jeff hestitated, shrugged, and followed.

Akio led the two of them down the street and turned a corner, still focused on his computer screen.  Suddenly he stopped and looked up with a gasp.  "Officer, there.  They have what we need."

Across the street a strange foursome was exiting a  house.  In the lead were three lizard like creatures, all standing upright.  They clutched strange spears in their hands and looked around nervously.  Behind them was an even more amazing sight.  A large starfish hovered in the air.  It was multicolored and what little light there was filtered through its body, lighting it up like a stained glass window.  Thin tentacles dangled from its underside and, clutched in them, it carried a bundle a few feet long.

If Akio was shocked by the strange sight, he didn't show it.  "Officer, we need that item.  Stop them and retrieve it."

Jeff's jaw drops, and he almost staggers.  He asks Akio, "Bossman, why don't you tell us what you see, and then we'll know who's hallucinatin'."

Jack's grip on his pistol tightens as he looks at the creatures before sliding behind a corner and crouching.  Looking from his gun to Tanaka after several seconds he speaks, "That other cop wasn't lying about a dinosaur was he?  What the hell's going on here Tanaka?!" Confused and angry it was obvious from the man's tone nothing was going to happen until he got a better handle on the situation.

Aiko gave Jack an annoyed look.  "Our planet has been invaded, Officer.  These creatures have come to destroy us.  Only a few people, like you and our companion there are capable of saving our planet.  I can explain further later, but right now we need that object before the stalenger flies away with it."  As he spoke the starfish started to gain altitude, keeping the package clutched tightly in its tentacles.

A low groan almost like a growl rolls out of Jack's throat as he spins around the corner and into the open.  Taking aim with his pistol the cop squeezed of as many shots as were in his chamber at the star shaped thing floating in the air.  This whole thing came off as crazy to him and he felt a little bit like he was dreaming but too much had happened already, he was committed to the situation and he knew it.

The crack of Jack's pistol echoed through the rain.  His shot proved deadly and true as the center of the creature Aiko called a stalanger exploded under the impact.  The creature spiralled to the ground, dropping the bundle it carried, and lay in a heap, the rain quickly washing the strange purple blood away.

Jeff shook his head at the situation, but he followed Jack around the corner.  After Jack cut loose with his pistol, Jeff shaped his hand like a gun, kept it partially concealed, and pointed at individual lizardmen, shouting "Bang!"

If the lizard men were confused or frightened by Jeff's actions, they didn't show it.  With a hiss, two of them charged at the heroes.  They moved remarkably fast and were nearly on top of Jeff and Jack before the two reacted.  The third jabbed some kind of a stick into its own side and hissed in a strange language.  Suddenly Jack was filled with overwhelming feelings of pleasure.  Pure ecstacy filled him, leaving him immobilized and unable to react.

Looking worried, Jeff stepped forward and tried to punch one of the lizardmen before it could bring its spear to bear.  The lizard man seemed surprised by Jeff's action and hesitated for a moment.  Jeff's fist smashed into the side of it's elongated snout, staggering it.

Jack stood, lost in pure pleasure, barely aware of the approaching lizardmen.

The lizard man Jeff had struck hissed angrily at him and lunged forward with its spear.  Jeff's fighting skill and natural speed were barely enough to allow him to dodge aside.  The spear tore his shirt, but missed his flesh.

The other lizard dodged around Jeff, focusing on the nearly oblivious Jack.  The slippery ground proved his undoing, however, as he stumbled, missing Jack by a mile.

The third lizard man pulled the sharpened stick out of his side and watched Jack with sharp toothed interest.

The world seemed muted...fuzzy.  Honestly Jack couldn't remember really what had happened, or how he ended up on his knees.  As the world came in to focus the first thing he saw was the pointy end of a spear as it flew wide by his head.  His eyes going wide and his adrenaline pumping the cop brought his gun up, letting its weight carry across the lizardman's body as he pulled the trigger and waited for the familiar click click kick.

Stumbling backwards to his feet Jack saw the other lizardman on Jeff and the situation came rolling back from his memory, "Hey!  Go get that Package!  I'll take care of this guy!" he yells mostly from the adrenaline but also to be heard over the rain and the general din of melee combat.

The loud bang of Jack's pistol rang out over the sound of the storm.  A bloody hole appeared in the side of the charging lizard and it gasped audibly.  The pain of the wound made it stagger, but it didn't go down.

Jeff yelled "You got it!" and ran toward the fallen starfish.  He ducked away from the lizard on him and sprinted across the wet ground past the third lizard man.  He grabbed the bundle off the ground, the tarp was sticky with the strange purple blood of the stalanger and surprisingly heavy.  Whatever was inside was long and thin shaped.

As Jeff cleared the way, Jack switched targets and fired at the lizard man before it could chase Jeff.  This time, however, the wind and rain threw off his aim and the round went wide.

Jeff turned back, holding the wet sticky package to his chest.  Like a running back headed for the endzone he sprinted back across the wet pavement, trying to avoid the lizards.

As the lizard man Jack had shot tried to shake off the pain of the bullet wound, a pair of arrows suddenly appeared in its chest.  It gasped again, then staggered and collapsed, thin red blood running from its wounds and mixing with the water on the street. 

Behind Jack, a strange loud yell rang out.  It sounded like a child's voice, but raised in an odd screech.

The closer remaining lizard man turned to Jack and hissed again.  "Lover of dead things, I will give you the love of Lanala before I destroy you," it hissed.  With a snarl it lunged at him, spear raised.  Between the ecstacy still flowing through him and the fact that he was on his knees, Jack couldn't get out of the way fast enough.  The spear drew a bloody line across his skin.

The third lizard man, the one that had chanted before, hefted its spear and hurled it at Jeff.  The running man didn't see it until too late.  The spear plunged towards his back.  Time seemed to slow down for the homeless man.  Strangely, possibilities and outcomes seemed to dance before his eyes.  He could almost see different outcomes before him.  Almost unconsciously he chose one and the spear tore a painful line down his side rather than piercing his lung. 

ooc:  Next round time.  Heroes have initiative again.  No special events, Trick and intimidate are approved actions.

Breathing heavily, Jeff offered Tanaka the stained package.  "Special delivery!"

Tanaka took the package, a faint small crossing his face.  "Thank you," he said calmly as he carefully started unwrapping the bundle, ignoring the carnage around him.

Jeff turned back to face the lizards and picked up a fallen spear. "I've got to see a lizard man about a thing."  As Jeff scooped up the spear that had cut his side, he realized it was some kind of sharpened plant, complete with roots growing out of the bottom of it.  Even as he looked at it, the sharpened tip sank down into the plant and vanished, leaving him holding a pliant plant stem.

Jack stood up on wobbly knees the effects of his debilitating bliss still running through him a bit but his expression didn't show it.  Raising the gun he pointed it squarely at the lizardmans right eye, "Back the fuck up!" he half yelled half growled his intent to blow the creatures head clear from its body obvious.  Truth be told he couldn't even remember if he had any shots left with the pistol, he hadn't been keeping track and his brain was too adled and tired right now to think about it anyway.

Just as Jack raised his gun and yelled, a young boy ran up beside him and also yelled at the lizard.  It stepped back, looking at both of them for a second, then hissed and fled into the rain.

As Jeff looked down at the plant in his hand, he heard a hiss and saw the last lizard man rush out of the rain.  It ignored him and threw itself at Tanaka.  "Mine, stormer," it said angerly.  It had no spear, but its sharp claws slashed downward at the Asian man.  Akio managed to throw himself backward, barely avoiding the lethal strike.  Jeff, Jack and Elias could feel strange power crackling between the men for a second.  Somehow they knew it was the power of reality, a power they could control and use.

Jeff dropped the spear, then quickly wiped his hand on his legs. Still looking uneasy, he looked around and noticed Elias.  "Hey!  Kid!  Get away from that thing!"  He stepped toward the edeinos, fists swinging.  His aim proved true and his fist cracked into the head of the last remaining lizard.  The edeinos' attention was on Akio and it never saw the punch coming.  With a groan, it staggered and then slumped to the ground, unconscious.

ooc:  Jeff rolled really well for his attack and dropped the last edeinos.  Please move to the new move:  Storm Knights United