Diana and the cult of evil bird ninja wizards... and Silus

Late Evening, close to midnight.

Canada. It was as cold as Diana imagined, and was thankful to be inside as soon as she could.

At a Gene-tech Labs, the lights were out on every floor save for the employee lockers and gym area, up on the 35th floor, which was a service level with employee cafeterias and other wonderful amenities. Security was not as strict in these general areas, as staff blowing off steam from working hard was a common sight. However, there wasn't supposed to be anyone left there tonight.

Diana gasped and breathed, exhausted, having been engaging in training for hours. When not out fighting, she prepares to fight, and the training of a bound demon is no easy feat. All around her was equipment tossed about, pools of sweat and droplets of blood. She had of course, means beyond the ken of science, to be in places.

Her face was drenched. She looked at her hands, calloused and rough from swinging around a massive barbell like a mace. Pain coursed through her forearms having to keep the thing under control. Her knuckles are red and sore, skinned from delivering punches and kicks to heavy bags. Her abdomen and thighs were also cramping up from excessive use.

"Our training is concluded. Do what you will." There was nothing to indicate the presence of her otherworldly master, save a shadow that flitted in the peripheral vision.  Diana slumped down, sitting against the wall. Though her body was screaming in pain, Her mind was in a welcome state of post-workout euphoria.

"...Why are we in Canada?" She suddenly asked, the thought of talking to the spirit making her feel like that cowgirl.

"To kill." Was the only response. Typical. Over two years, and Corvus seemed content to merely spill blood and sow the seeds of strife. Diana had been along the ride and could not glean much of the demon's motives, and did not bother much to, as her life has been pampered and comfortable... outside of these grueling training sessions. She wolfed down the food she raided from the cafeteria, a large helping of deli meat and rye bread.

"No spas open at this hour..." Diana found the strength to get up and hit the showers, hot water soothing her soreness. It was going to be one of those very long showers, since the air was uniformly cold in the building. She placed her things in the locker room, a small pile of bags, and the Blood Sword leaning on the locker wall.

She thought she was alone. No one had been on the floor for hours.

However, outside, a large plane flew high over the laboratory. From its belly it disgorged dark, unseen figures, humans in night gear and advanced glider suits descending upon the roof deck of the laboratory, the 43rd floor. Their approach was one of stealth, as their presence went almost undetected.
A pair of sentries on the roof pick up moving shadows. The private security, clad in winter military gear and armed with powerful firearms, moved in to investigate.

"Halt!" He cried out, and the figure stopped in his tracks, raising his hands. He turned around to reveal his dress, some outlandish get up clad in dark feathers and wearing a porcelain white mask with distinct avian features.

"Dave, radio this in. We've got us some clowns. Dave?" The security guard addressed his partner, but when he looked at him he found the man to be rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The man asked, keeping his weapon trained on the intruder.

"So... sleepy..." Security Guard Dave mumbled, then slowly laid down to sleep soundly. Another of the bird ninja wizards stood behind him, holding a wand.

"Fuck..." The guard too, felt himself rapidly becoming groggy, his weapon getting heavy.

"Why are you up here, staying up all night in the cold? You must be so tired. How many shifts have you done? Why don't you... rest, for even a couple of minutes?" The bird ninja wizard said, his voice sounding so soothing and somnolent. The guard suddenly felt it too.

"Yeah... I've been... busting my balls... Maybe... a nap... you guys don't go... making trouble..." He slowly laid down peacefully, proving to be no further threat to the invading force. The bird ninjas fanned out, heading to one side of the building and setting up climbing equipment. They began to rappel down to the desired floor. They began cutting through the secure tempered glass with diamond cutters, here for one objective in mind.

The Sword.

blah blah not important:

"Whatcha doooooin' daddy?" Silus asked a little tune in his voice as Zell continued to work on something with intense focus, emerald eyes and a white tarp over his latest works. Apparently Silus wasn't allowed to see it until the great unveiling when it was actually to be used.

"Oh nothing. The finalizing touches on my gift to you. I gave the prototype over to a friend of mine to use in his crime-hunting career. You remember Jacob Matthews right? He was here not that long ago. Anyway I gave him a prototype, condensed it into a gun for him." Zell continued on to explain. Silus' head cocked to the side as he began to age ever so slowly (yet It would be "fast" as he was rapidly shifting ages forward.)

"So wait, did it work then?" He would ask, Zell just nodded and continued to work quietly. "So then why didn't I see him come back? You never let anyone keep your prototypes..." Silus mumbled. Zell stopped and shook his head solemnly.

"Jacob was an arrogant young man. He-" Zell began, but Silus was already entertaining himself on his father's laptop. His father of course noticed, but continued to talk anyway. Silus clicked a glowing red box that said "SECURITY BREACH" and video of a sub-company a city over was shown. There was a woman in the gym, she was...what appeared to be sparring, or training. Silus' mouth curled into a smile when he recognized who it was. He saw her face at the Tournament of Champions, but he didn't get to say anything to her. She had changed so much since he last saw her, Cheo-well...it was Bloodsword now.

"Hey, I'm gonna go bother an old friend. Do you mind if I use your Moleculararah-bleh-de-blah-blah." He asked, pointing to the display that said Molecular Entity Transportation Assistant. It was a teleportation device Zell used to transfer his Genetic monsters creations to other facilities. Zell sighed and nodded before returning to work on the item.

"Sure, only if you answer me one question." Zell said as Silus stepped onto the platform, his hand on the lever which would initiate his teleportation. He looked to Zell with a cocked head, willing to indulge his father's question. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The question had never come to his mind before, but now Silus had to think of it. But he didn't want to be late to seeing an old friend... such conflicting things in such a little boy.

"An omniversal dude with a smoking problem and who steals little boys cotton candy. Bye!" Silus said as he pulled the lever. He refused to forgive Rozmer for his past transgressions. His "uncle" would get his justice some day, but for today he had a lesbian vampire ninja to meet.

Arriving in the gym itself he was utterly silent as he stood outside the locker rooms. He instantly took the shape of a younger person, the same age as he would be in his seventeen year old form. He had long sandy blonde hair with tanned skin but naturally fair complexion. Of course he had to make his back hurt a little bit, oh yeah and he was officially a girl dressed in a thieving black Kevlar suit with a thin mask that covered the region around the eyes as well as the forehead, the emblem marked with a little kitty-skull emblem in the dead center. Make up was already on thankfully, red lipstick was something he still couldn't put on himself. Young professional thief look was a go. He also took the time to go through Shael's check list as to what make guys different from girls. Adjusting his pillows and looking down at his bladed high-heels he felt as if he were ripping this off of something, but that didn't matter as he put the high-tech glasses down over his pretty green eyes. He silently stepped into the female locker room, noting that thankfully there were no cameras here, and he didn't need to worry about anything in particular jumping out at him.

He- I'm sorry- SHE stood there and looked at the infamous blood sword that seemed to have corrupted his friend. Granted she was always a bit of a priss, and very "popular" in fashion and form but Silus always saw the best in her. She seemed to need him in that regard. He always believed in her, and eventually she could count on him, so she was never mean to him. He still thoroughly believed that that was all she needed. Someone to believe in her, someone to actually care about her. She was like the sister he always wanted, probably his best friend other than Yancey. But just like all his other friend, darkness seemed to slowly corrupt her. Oh well, enough of the moping, Silus sat down on the bench and began to think of names for HERSELF as SHE looked to the blade.

"What are you looking at?" She asked the blade curiously as she crossed her legs, waiting for Diana to finish what she was doing. Little did poor Silus (or whatever her name is) was unaware of the fact there was some form of Avian-loving-super-monk-guru-shaman-ninja thing putting the S.T.A.R.K forces to sleep. It was probably time Zell upgraded the privatized army's filters and psionic resilience headgear.

Diana, Shower Room

"Our only target is the heretic. Slay her. Capture anyone else." Once the glass had been silently breached, the glass was gently lowered onto the floor. The glass cutter ushered in his teammates, the first wave of Ravens fanning out under cover of invisibility. With only the most barely audible footfalls, they rush the showers. One of their number broke off and headed to the women's locker.

They made their way to the shower stalls, creeping up slowly towards the sound of a running shower. Their invisibility lifted once they were in position, and in unison the trio of Ravens pulled out silenced handguns and emptied their clips into the shower, bullets ripping through the shower curtain and into the shower tiles. One quickly pulls back the curtain to see that they had shot at nothing but a wall.

They were not aware of the smack down they were about to receive from the towel wearing Diana, who hid in the utility lines above them. She landed with a silent grace, and came face to face with their white porcelain masks.

Before any of them could bother reacting, hardened fists and feet began smashing masks and limbs, disarming guns and throwing bodies around.

Silus , Women's Locker

The sword remained silent in Silus's presence. However, once he began examining it, it pulsed with dark energy ominously, like the feeling of sensing thunder without sound. The blade was darker than black, and it would actually hurt the eyes looking at just how deep it was, like peering into a black hole... or pure emptiness. The sword was of course, awaiting this moment when the cult had showed, their sorcerers using ancient spells to lead them to the Blood Sword.

A voice began speaking to Silus before he could turn around to face the opponent. The Raven had begun speaking, his voice having a most unusual, sonorous quality to it. His hand was raised towards Silus in a strange gesture. He had begun casting a spell, and the magic was woven into his words. (I'd say magic 6?)

"Hello there friend... I see you're here for the Blood Sword? that's so unusual... it must've taken you such a great effort to know about it and find it here. You must be tired... and weary from getting this far. How about you take a breather, friend? Wouldn't you like to just... lie down... relax... rest those eyes. You deserve it. I promise things will be... so much... better."

Well Silus wasn't expecting this to be honest. He really didn't have time to react before beginning to feel the effects of the spell. His eyes grew heavy and began to feel dry, tempting him to shut them for just a little while. Despite whatever this man wanted, Silus knew that this wasn't good nor the time to fall asleep. He sadly couldn't fight it forever though. Quickly he pulled an act of trickery. He left a doppelganger in his place and slipped through the void as he remained invisible and able to watch everything transpire. His doppelganger appearing and his own disappearing was seamless with no sign whatsoever that he had changed. He was now no longer able to be affected by anything on the mortal plane, including this devil-bird-sandman magic!

But he was already sleepy... it couldn't hurt to take a nap right? Oh no, keep awake Silus, keep awake. You have to see what he's doing. What is he doing again? Oh right the strange demon sword. His mind was on a thousand different kinds of "running on reserves" as he was barely even able to keep up. He finally caved in, but not until the man was gone. Silus quickly dropped to the ground and his doppelganger would fade into a indigo and emerald shimmering smoke. He would fade into reality again and lay there on the locker room floor, entirely incapacitated as a woman in a strange costume.

Dreams. Dreams. He wanted to dream, but this sleep was dreamless. No stories for the subconscious to tell tonight. Perhaps that was best.

The figure who cast the spell did nothing more to Silus, their mission clearly dedicated to the sword and assorted belongings in the locker. Two more Ravens of lesser rank, because their uniforms weren't as fancy, materialized out of invisibility.

One pointed her wand at the locker, and intoned a spell that sounded like it came from the Harry Potter books. With little fanfare the padlock unlocked and fell off, while the locker opened itself. They took all of Diana's bags, including a bag containing her phat loot and wads of cash, and were even polite enough to return the padlock. Then, they leave, not even sticking around to note the illusion...

A few minutes later.

The next thing Silus would feel would feel would be a blast of icy cold water on his head as he found himself in a shower stall. Diana had rushed to her locker and found her stuff gone, and one suspiciously unconscious thief. She was still in a towel and still slightly damp, and dragged Silus to the shower. She pushed him face first up against the wall.

"You had best think of what you're going to answer to my first question. WHERE DID YOUR FRIENDS TAKE MY STUFF?" Diana growled at Silus, slipping her hand under his shirt and using some pressure point technique to very painfully prod him in the side of his abdomen. It would hurt in a way he didn't know he could be hurt, like a bundle of nerves coupled with some internal organs. If he moved it would only hurt more.

Silus would also see the three Ravens bodies sprawled on the ground, Diana having beaten them to a pulp, their limbs twisted at different angles, several tiles on the floor and walls broken, blood spatters everywhere.

Silus awoke to back pain, big boobs and a ton of cold water. Pain beyond words hit him in the side, the damned nerve cluster he knew all to well to generally avoid letting get hit. Of course he was there in a bad situation and there was a Diana pounding him. Of course, he wasn't enjoying that as much as his brother once said. He said that it felt good. It didn't. Silus tried to shift, twisting but finding himself otherwise pained and unable to escape. Of course he couldn't talk while Diana was keeping him screaming in pain, she would first need to relent if she were to hear any answer other than a girls screams. Of course if Diana weren't so inclined to care about all the loot and the blood blade she could sit here and torture the pseudo-female.

"Owie, owie, owie! Stoppit! Think about this for a second willya? If I took any of your stuff do ya think I'd be vacationing on the locker room floor? Besides it wasn't me after your blade. It was one of the Aviators. Avian as in birds, not as in literal people who fly planes and stuff." Silus chirped in his female voice. Trying to wiggle around again Silus continued to speak. "I'm a cat. I hunt birds. I'm here to stop the evil bird men's leader. He knocked me out with his sleepy spell when I tried to stop him. 'cuz my arch-nemesis being in a ladies locker room is just weeeeird." He drew it out as he looked around for a moment then looking to Diana expectantly.

"I was totally gonna kick his but too, got my bladed high-heels and e-rrything. Gonna maybe even kick him in the junk for what he did to me last week. Had a whole villainous monologue and everything, a basin of acid and waaaaaay more bacon than he needed. But then again you lookin' FIERCE girl. You even got yo-self a new paint job on the tiles. Good on you Chica!" He rambled on, and then his, well her, eyes widened and looked to Diana expectantly with a huge smile. "Oh I wonder what would happen if we were to like... stop him in the middle of his villainous monologue. I mean it's not like we really care about what the villains are after right? So why don't we just stop them while they talk themselves to boredom!? Oh wait...phooey, there's probably some ancient hero tradition that says we have to let him finish huh?" He finally stopped looking back to Diana before smiling, forgetting the pain he had felt moments ago. It was probably awkward for Silus to be so friendly to Diana. Had he been his normal self she probably would have been more keen to understand the friendliness of an old friend doing friendly chatty things. The worst part was that he was so terrible at being terrified, he was just rambling on that he very well may have been thought of as a scatter-brained blonde.

"Do you enjoy hearing yourself talk all the time?" Diana said after the first sentence, but it seemed her one captive was determined to talk her ear off. Thankfully it remained attached once Silus finished talking. She was surprised that this stranger was unafraid of her, after seeing three would be assassins in heaps on the floor. Diana was mad. Flustered, angry, frustrated, definitely. A few more broken tiles on the wall were pulverized by an angry fist.

"I'm no hero. Never was. You say you know these guys? Then tell me what you know about them." She said, shutting off the water. At least she was mother earth's hero.

All her earthly belongings had been stolen and all she had on her was her towel. She relented her grip on Silus. She went over and stripped one of the Ravens of his ninja clothes. She worked while listening to what Silus knew about their assailants. They were all a couple of sizes bigger on Diana, so she had to tie up so it wouldn't snag. She searched them for all their belongings, finding only some shurikens, extra magazines for their guns, gas pellets and a knife.

She tried asking the actual Raven, trying to slap them awake but Diana did too good a job beating them up. They all suffered terrible concussions, and without medical attention they would likely suffer brain damage, fall into comas or worse. Not that Diana cared. She paced back and forth for a minute thinking of what to do.

She looked at Silus again. "Quick, you've got a phone with the stolen phone finding app?" She said snappily, picking up one of the bird masks. It was the only clue to the identity of the group. She had a feeling of Dejavu when she inspected it, its raven form oddly familiar even though she was certain this was the first time she saw them.

"Oh yeah, I checked your gut there when I was pressing a pressure point. You should scale back the bacon and the cupcakes. It's no good for your kidneys and insulin." She remarked off handedly.

"You got it boss-lady!" Silus said cheerfully as he withdrew a cellphone. He almost shirked when he used the term boss-lady, as that was a term he often used as Silus whenever Diana would ask him to help her or assist her. He hoped the slip up wouldn't be too suspicious. After all, he was a woman at this moment in time. He quickly punched in a few buttons, the next thing you knew there was a "Thank you for purchasing the E.S.C.A.P.E App! Silus handed the phone over to Diana.

"Punch in yo numba! Then let's get to it!" He said, rather excited but not as overbearing anymore. Of course he was beginning to feel a slight twist in himself as he began to feel cool on the inside, like a drop in temperature. His inner fire being extinguished as he looked around, wondering what had happened to make him so "meh" all of a sudden. He then recalled the fact that Diana very well may need a blade of sorts. After all the Swordmistress couldn't be seen without her blade. She'd look more naked than she would without the towel on! Not that Silus even thought about that. He wasn't in an aged body to have adapted the hormonal effect. Thankfully for himself.

"So what did the Emergency Stolen Cell Assistance for Populated Expanse have to say?" Silus asked as he began to wonder which blade to offer up Diana, granted neither of them were there at the moment, but it was still interesting to consider her with Wishing Star. Of course Phantom may have been more her style, either way it was going to be interesting to see her use one of his weapons rather than the blood sword. Of course it seemed as though it was time to leave with Diana all suited up. She did it earlier obviously, but Silus just now noticed. Regardless Diana made a half-hearted comment about bacon and cupcakes. One that made Silus frown a little.

"Bacon I can do, but not my Peanut-butter silk pie. It's too delicious and totally worth a clogged artery." Silus added in as he followed Diana. He neglected the fact that his whole "magical physiology" was helpful in avoiding ever getting fat or in having common problems. "Oh, and insulin is produced by the pancreas... just sayin'." Silus added as he seemed to keep with Diana.

Diana input her phone info and password, and soon enough the program began working and quickly. Meanwhile she looked at disguised Silus giving him a good long stare, wondering why he was so cheerful in the Blood Sword's presence. Some people weren't afraid of a good thrashing it seemed.

"Phone found." the app's female robot voice said. Diana looked at the phone and groaned. The signal had been moving for the last few minutes but it stopped at location in one of the more affluent places in town.

"Oh, it's that place. I'm going to need some formal attire." Diana handed the phone back to Silus. "Thanks for the phone. I'll let you go now. Goodbye." Diana headed for the emergency exit stair, knowing it to be the most expedient way to vacate the building without triggering more alarms.

If one looked at the phone, it would point towards a five star hotel and Casino near the Niagra Falls. Good thing too, that they were in Toronto.

Silus void-walked and appeared right in front of Diana after swiping his phone. When he reappeared he pulled off the glove of his left hand and with a flick of his wrist his glowing finger tips produced their magical paint and began to swirl around Diana with glittering lights as the glowing light of a liquid all clashed against her, transforming and solidifying into the softest and most luxurious fabric she'd likely ever felt. The dress itself was elegant but practical in it's own right. Perfect formal wear for being inconspicuous but also keeping yourself on an upper scale. Of course this was Diana so Silus had to pick colors that he believed would accommodate the Blademistress.

Black shrouded itself over blood red lined that followed the entire length of the dress. It was rather well crafted, but the question then becomes how the hell did paint form fingertips make...you know what. Screw it. It's magic. I will explain nothing. With the dress settled on Silus smiled and nodded after giving Diana a once over to make sure everything was revealing enough without being overly so. He then snapped his fingers and took the glove off of his other hand and flicked both wrists. Two blades appeared. One was an immaculate white and steely silver with a glowing sphere floating in the middle of the blade's hilt. The second blade was something Silus figured would be more Diana's style. It was a double-sided spinning scythe-a-rang blade with a glowing blue mist, one that sent a shudder up ones spine just looking at it. No matter the conditions surrounding it, the blade was always cold, and it was always accompanied by a faint ghostly mist.

"Hey now. Can't go looking for a fight without a little fire power. Pick one." Silus offered, almost insisting as he brought the sentient blades up, making each more easily taken.

Diana stopped herself from hitting Silus when he was performing a harmless spell and conjuring up a dress for her. She broke out into a genuine, giddy princess-y smile for a couple of seconds at the sight of the outfit, and thus had to suppress it with a snarky comment.

"What, are you a fairy godmother now?" She said, taking the dress and changing into it quite rapidly on the spot. It was sleeveless and had a generous enough slit, perfect for chronic punching and kicking.

Then the girl surprised Diana some more by summoning magical swords out of the air. She now looked at Silus, very suspicious and curious. she inspected the blades, tempted at the second weapon's flashier style but as a fighter preferred the practical approach. "I'll take the one that doesn't look like I'd cut myself, thank you very much. Though I'm not walking around a crowd armed with a sword. And why are you talking like you're coming with me? You don't have much stake aside from these people being some kind of nemesis of yours. Who are you?" she leaned in closer, testing the limits of Silus's personal space.

"You caught me!" Silus said with a smirk in reply to the fairy godmother comment. He was almost proud of her when she selected Wishing star. Of course he also felt bad because that was the sassy blade, but she'd find that out soon enough. Be it a witty remark about sloppy stance, or insulting one's intelligence, this blade was not the most friendly. Then again, neither was Diana. A match made in heaven almost. She made quite the statements about not walking around in a crowd with the sword, and quizzing Silus as to why he was so sure that he was coming with her. Silus smiled and rolled his eyes as he tried to fit his own little tricks and trips. Then he got a bit of an idea, wanting to see how a reaction would spark. It could be interesting to witness....

"Of course you're not going to take it into a crowd with you. You're going to wear it." Silus said as he waved his hand over the sword, it's shape shifting to that of a beautiful necklace with shimmering jagged edges. Silus found this to be the most "Diana expressive" piece. "Look, a dim light on the inside and all prickly and scary on the outside. Sounds just like my godchild!" Silus said with only a hint of sarcasm, mostly because that...sort of suited Diana. But unless he wanted another hit to the nerve cluster he might want to speak quickly to answer the other questions.

"As far as WHY I'm coming with you, it's because they have a captive, someone important to me. If you're going in, so am I soul sister... Also...I suppose you might be able to say that I'm invested in you. Not that little blood sword. I don't care about that, but you are another story." Silus said with a little sigh, stepping back through the emergency exit and pressing himself back against to allow Diana exit, actually just trying to get more personal space for himself. "As for who I am, well. You already guessed it. After all, what Princess doesn't have a Fairy Godmother? Oh, and I'll see you out back." Silus said with a little giggle before leaning back on the stairwell and falling ever gracefully backwards. Silus would fall down a few flights before spinning and grabbing onto a railing. It was a jarring and jolting experience, almost felt like his arm would be ripped from it's socket. Thankfully that wasn't the case. He'd then just climb over and sit on the railing and let gravity slide him down a little. He'd quickly make his way to the dark ally out back.

Meeting Diana in a dark alley...not his finest moment in life.

Diana was skeptical at first, but when she reached the alley and saw Silus conjure up a limo and chauffer using a dumpster and a sleeping bum, she was almost ready to believe. Irrelevant.

"Whoa? Man I oughta lay off the drink..." The chauffer suddenly woke up to find himself in the most unusual and suspect circumstances, his ragged clothes having transformed into a sharp tailored suit and his face clean shaven.

"Niagra Falls View Casino, Jeeves." Diana said, stern enough to keep the man in his seat behind the wheel.

"Uhh... yes ma'am..." He said, complying with her request, partially because she was pretty and partially because her eyes had a wild will behind them.

Fast Forward to the Hotel and Casino, which was a twenty minute drive from their location the duo disembarked from the Limousine. The grand entrance lobby beckoned, and Diana walked in without much resistance as she headed to the information bulletin, struggling with the high heels. She looked at the bulletin and looked over all the functions occuring. The concierge, a young asian man in a red blazer with slick hair, approached her and spoke in a very polite tone.

"May I help you ma'am?" Diana turned towards him. "Oh, I uh..." Diana wasn't prepared with a story. However, the man saw her carrying a Raven mask in her handbag.

"Oh, so you're here for the special event. It's already underway. You'll want to take the elevator to the roof deck. Would you also like to book a room for overnight?" He said, helpfully, gesturing to the elevator lobby.

"Thanks. Uh, no. I'll be... leaving after the event." Diana said, looking at Silus then gestured him to follow.

Once in the elevator, the ride to the top would take about a minute and a half, soothing elevator music playing in the background while Diana would finally see herself in the mirror in the dress. Again with the mirrors, she felt like she hardly knew the person she was looking at... she raised her arm to get a look at her side. "I... have lot of scars. Why doesn't the blood sword heal these?" She thought to herself.

Silus followed Diana with a smirk. Of course he was not in his own "Dress" which was highly uncomfortable for him. He was a by, he much rather ran around in his genes or his basketball shorts. Not playing dress up like a... what was that word Transylvanite? No not that... either way he didn't much like this dress of his. He continued with Diana until they had to come to a stop and had to take the elevator onward and upwards. Silus stepped in with Diana and grumbled a little as he tried to fix his dress thingy. With a little blink he couldn't help but smile at Diana who seemed to be entranced by something. This was when Silus suddenly noticed the little scars. Had those...always been there? All the way back since the Awesome Squid? He recalled the night he first met here. He ran away from Ouroboros with plans of his to level LA. He just so happened to run to the same place she and Helia and Frost(y) the iceman. Silus smiled and sighed.

"Well... before we go any farther I want you to promise me that if things go bad...you leave and get more people before coming back for the sword." Silus said, voice rather serious in comparison for the light-hearted persona he had adopted. Silus looked to Diana with a small smile but nodded before clearing his throat. "If anything happens to you I wouldn't forgive myself ever. It also makes me the worst fairy ever. So don't go and die. You can always get a sword back. You can't always get a life." He said before getting a little anxious about being trapped in an elevator with a potentially mad or overly suspicious Diana.

A little ding made Silus' eyes light up as he tried to step forward and exit the elevator and hopefully into public view so the big bad Bloodsword couldn't hurt him again, though he found himself irritated? No no, it couldn't be that. He wiped the thought from his mind. Tried to at least...

Diana looked at fairy god Silus but her face remained stoic. The concern was truly out of place, but Diana made no comment on it. Something in the back of her mind reminded her of her old acquaintances from Awesome Squad... It felt like a lifetime ago. The power of the sword was hers alone. "The Blood Sword... it can be used for much, much worse things. In my hands it's trouble. In others, it's a calamity waiting to happen."

The elevator opened up to an elevator lobby, and other people were coming onto the floor as well, wearing those masks. "Oh right." Diana realized and donned her own mask when she came face to face with an aristocratic looking pair in those white bird masks.

"...Silly initiates." The man in the coat and top hat said, as he walked in with cane in one hand and a female gown and mask wearer clinging to the other.
Ceremony Hall

They proceeded into the closed off hall, a large function room with two dozen or so formally dressed folk of obvious wealth and tacky taste, arranged around one of those ranked ninja wizards, kneeling in the middle of a mystical circle surrounded by candles. The room was stuffy because of the smoke, and an eerie silence dominated, as all eyes were on the figure. Then slowly, four more ninja wizards around him began chanting, while their hands were moving around in large, sweeping gestures.

"Hey, keep an eye out here. I need to go find my stuff. Call me if something bad happens." Diana said to Silus, patting him on the shoulder. He would get to watch the whole ritual unfold, how exciting... Except, if he knew his demonology, they were summoning something very, very bad.

STORAGE ROOM

Diana didn't bother listening to this rubbish, making her way through the crowd as she followed the exact location of her mobile device. She briefly came face to face with an taller than average man in a suit, who didn't pay her that much attention, nor did he seem as enthusiastic to be here.  At last she happens on her bags in one of the side rooms, most of her clothes and cash intact but no sign of her Sword. She sweeps the room with the stacks of chairs, folding tables, folded linens and speakers, but no artifacts of doom.  

"Excuse me? May I help you, initiate?" A man in a suit wearing the mask came in, following Diana into the props room. She turned around and feigned surprise.

"Oh. well! Hello, I, uh, was wondering what were you going to do with the bags?" She said, referring to her phat loot and wads of cash.

"The belongings of the heretic shall be seized by the order sister, for its benefit. Her ill gotten wealth will be put to better use." He explained in a most formal English that didn't quite suit his accent.

"I see... a proper course of action. hmm. And what is your rank, brother?" Diana asked, slowly approaching the man.

"Well... I am a journeyman, with recommendations of the arch wizard of- GUUGH!" Well, it seemed magic didn't do much against a swift kick to the groin followed by a knee to the gut then a double palm strike to the ears. The poor fellow's solar plexus crushed and his eardrums ruptured, he goes down. Then Diana puts him in a sleeper hold, to knock him out.

Ceremony Hall
The summoning Ritual was apparently near completion as the Raven in the circle stood up, holding in his hand a bracelet while red steam was rising from his body. The present bird aristocracy looked on with great anticipation, as the ninja wizard uttered some legit magical incantations, causing the bracelet to wildly begin morphing into armor around him.

"Blood Mail, I offer my blood and flesh, to call forth the Faceless Ones!" With that final incantation, his body also underwent an extreme transformation, as he grew three times his original dimensions into some red skinned fiend armored in silvery plate. His agonized voice warped and changed, but the crowd only gasped in more thrill and anticipation, as the four ninja wizards who chanted held out cups to collect the demon's blood as it fell to the floor.