Home of the local screw up! (Open.)

[Roy Atenwood]

"See you later, Tech." Roy said, as he walked out of the room. Roy felt half dead, and diddn't really know what he was going to do for the rest of the night. It was only Seven O' Clock. "Just great." He said. Tech was fixing his microwave, and all the "Dinner" food he had was instant ramen.

This really sucked, because he was hungry, and only had ice cream. Ice cream was NOT good if you were this hungry. Ne needed something with substance to it, some kind of huge hamburger or something.

He grabbed the pillow that had been thrown at him by Ayschoine. He set it on the floor, and proceeded to lie down, and was promptly asleep. Dreaming of food.

[Brandon (Tech)]

"Roy" Tech was knocking at the door, the fixed and somewhat improved microwave in his other hand. By improved he meant that it could provide almost ten percent extra heat with the same amount of electricity. By somewhat, he meant that it had changed appearance drastically, looking dark and crude, a trademairk of Tech's work.

Tech was losing his patience. He had slept badly, waking up to find that he had run out of chocolate, again. He was more than just an addict, he was dependent on it, the endorfines it released maintaining a form of chemical balance within his brain. "Roy, if you don't open the fucking door, I'll break it!" It wasn't fair, he knew that, but he had a headache that could spilt a mountain and the anger had to go somewhere

[Roy Atenwood]

"Buh?" Roy said, as his head lifted from the pillow. He heard banging at the door, and went to answer it. His hair was out of its usual iron ring, and was sticking out at some odd angles, while still managing to flow out behind him.

He opened the door, his eyes half open, and heard residual thouts about chocolate, of all things.

"Hey, thanks dude......you want some ice cream? You look like you need it......and I've got at least four different kinds of chocolate."

[Brandon (Tech)]

Tech was taken slightly aback by the apparantly undead Roy, but his brain seemed to work at its usual level as he read his thoughts about chocolate. The light surprise triggered nerves that released some chemicals into his system, lessening his head-ache. "Yeah, I'd go for some chocolate or icecream or whatever," He answered, lightening up "but you look like you could use a few days more sleep and a decent meal"

[Roy Atenwood]

"I....I heard some news from my home town last night. Something major. It's the basic reason why I'm at this place." Roy said, as he put the newly enhanched microwave on the counter. He took a pint of Ben&Jerry's tripple chocolate chunk. He handed it and a spoon to Tech.

"I've just got some....issues...at home involving a demon. It's nothing to worry about. I'll handle it."

As he plugged the microwave in, Roy diddn't realize that he was projecting his thoughts. He thought of the demon itself, its glowing yellow eyes peering over the small village. He thought of the children it was killing with its twisted nightmares, and the monsters the children became.

Then he realized he was projecting when both Esiuhoieufe and Ayschoine screamed.

"Oh jeez.....I'm really sorry about that."

Ayschoine screamed at him, "What was that thing, and why were those small humans changing into large beings? What was happening?"

"I can't explain it......it's......look just forget about it."

[Brandon (Tech)]

"Thanks" Tech took the ice cream and the sponn and began eating. The setup of his brain was nothing short of phenominal, in the view that it was a replacement for a humen brain, but it also had it's down sides. He suffered from a neural imbalance that caused severe headaches, unless there was some sort of pain releaving drug in his bloodcirculation. Chocolate was simply the easiest way.

He listened to Roy speak as he ate, the drug that all chocolate contained releasing the endorfines in his system, his head-ache fading. It didn't sound too good, bt Tech would help him if he needed it. Then came the images. Tech froze, the horrible thoughts flooding his own. "Holy shit" he mumbled, all thoughts of his own pain gone.

The thoughts ceased as they had begun and Tech slowly returned to the present, blinking. "What the fuck was that?" He asked Roy with barely restrained frustration. " 'I will take care of it, I can deal with it' " He sat down the icecream the first availible place, walking up to Roy. "Are you nuts?" He asked him. "Are you gonna go up against something like that alone?" He channelled his energy through the bond he shared with Mek, his familiar. "Mek? Get the gun. We're going hunting"

[Roy Atenwood]

"No, Tech. I'm not even going to fight it yet. I don't know where it is. All I'm going to do is fend off the nightmares.....through Dreamwalking."

Roy had to convince Tech not to do something stupid. All Roy had to do was purge dreams, not kill the demon.

"I'm only going to ease thier suffering. I can't end the pain."

[Brandon (Tech)]

Tech calmed himself down, which wasn't easy. There was tto much shit going on at the moment, and he was too stressed for his won good. "Sorry Roy, just having a bad day. You know I'll be there if you need a hand with anything, right?" He pushed the palm of his hand against his biological temple, the head-ache resurfacing. He had devoloped a short temper of sorts, almost purely because the adrenaline killed the pain.

He put his hand on Roy's shoulder, seeking support. He quickly grabbed the icecrea and began eating again, wanting the endorfines to wash away the pain, but he knew that there existed not the amount of quality of chocolate to shrug the pain off, and it wasn't just neural either, the majority was emotionel. He looked at Roy, realising that he had just thought out aloud. "Did you catch that?" He asked, his features taking on a slightly threatening edge. He didn't want anybody to dabble with that subject

[Roy Atenwood]

"Catch what?" Roy said, as he started to fix his hair. "I was thinking. I got some bad news about who the demon got its hands on. It's nothing I can't handle, though."

Roy made an effort to keep his thoughts to himself, now, as he ignored the questions posed by the hydrogen elemental, and the terrified look of the oxygen elemental.

"I can handle it alone, and I'm not letting anyone get hurt on my account. It has no power in the real world, and it functions only in dreams. Miss Oki's class is going to help me defeat it. Mt mind is stronger than its is."

He put a Cup-O-Soup "Souper Meal" in the microwave, and waited for it to finish cooking. He was a decent cook, having developed several recipes that had made it big in Ireland, but he had no kitchen, or tools, so Ramen was the way to go, until he got an electric Wok.

"Tell you what, invite some friends over, and I'll make some stir-fry. I'm going into the city to get some cooking stuff today. We'll throw a bit of a party. It'll help me get my mind off of my village."

[Brandon (Tech)]

At this, Tech let out what resembled, and was, a small sad laughter. He ran one of his metallic fingers down the border between flesh and metal on his right cheek. "What makes you think I have any friends? People tend to run away at the mere sight of these. Demons and swampthings are cool, but not this apparantly." He sighed, sticking his artificial hands in his pockets. "It really sucks, ya know"

"I came here because the stupid tracer said that there'd be people like me, people who would understand me rather than despise me." He cleared his throat before he continued. "´People despise darkness, deny madness and hate the afflicted. They seem to forget that all they hate is part of themselves. My power is acceptance, my truth is my strength. And yet, people despise me for not being like them´". He finished his little poem looking into the cieling of Roy's room. "Oh yeah" He said tapping his artificial temple as if making a point. "There's more in here than just math"

[Roy Atenwood]

"I know how you feel. I grew up in a human village. Trying to hid my ears got tireing after a while. Eventually I left, after...well....I really don't like talking about it."

Roy diddn't even think of it. He hated Reydan, and everything the man stood for. Thievery, lies......tears were threatening to overtake Roy as he stared out the window.

"In a week or two, I'll be headed back to Inoa village. I wasn't born there, but it's the only magical town in Ireland. They're the ones having trouble with the demon. After I ditched my old...err.....teacher, I lived there for a while. The whole village is like family to me. There's almost everything you could ever want in that place."

Roy realized he had been talking, and looked over at Tech. "Sorry about that....I always start to ramble when I talk about that place. It really doesn't deserve the trouble it's having with this demon." Roy let out a sigh. Tech sounded like he'd benefit from being accepted somewhere.......and he needed help dealing with things there.

"I'm sorry to ask you this....but will you help me? I need someone to help dispose of the...monsters...this thing turns kids into. Then I'm going to kill it. Once and for all."

[Brandon (Tech)]

"You know me" Tech responded, although he knew that Roy didn't. "If I get to conduct some research, I'm cool with it." The gloom was still visible in his features, but forcebly overridden by his curiousity. "Mek is on his way, when are we leaving? I can be packed up by tommorrow." He let his wristblades slide out ad back in again, the clunk feeling comforting in a strange way. "When we leaving?" He asked, looking back at Roy

[Roy Atenwood]

"Not until I can controll my magic. I'll be of no use to them if I burn the village down or something."

Roy let out a sigh. He wanted to help them right now, but he couldn't. Melzas, the demon, could easily outmatch him. He had jumped the gun. He diddn't want to bring his friend into this.

"Just forget about it, I'll handle it on my own. I'll bring back whatever I can for your research. You shouldn't get involved."

The microwave dinged, and Roy removed the ramen from it. He got a fork out of his duffel bag, and started eating.

"Something wrong on your end, Tech? You look troubled."

[Brandon (Tech)]

"No offence Roy, but I don't have the greatest trust in your abilities since you botched that summoming spell" He gesticulated towards the twi elementals that had appeared instead. "Have you any idea how lucky you were, that these were the result? Have you any idea of what lurks out there?" He realized that he was almost shouting, and calmed hismelf down.

"I guess you do know, since you are about to face one of them" He took a big mouthful of the chocolate icecream, hoping that the endorfines would lessen his headache soon. "You aren't going on yuor own, and that's not an argument, that's a fact. now, for the second time, when are we leaving?"

[Roy Atenwood]

"Tech......I won't be going for at least two months. Before I came here, I found an artifact that can hold the demon's nightmares at bay. Someone I know left the village.....and it diddn't end well."

Roy's first love had been affected. She was too strong-willed to change into a monster, and was too old to, as well. She also just happened to be a Water Elemental. She was in a coma, and would be unaffected, but it still made him worry. They were still friends, after all.

"She's going to be fine, immortals aren't affected by the nightmares, but I'm still worried about her."

Esiuhoieufe looked at him, puzzled. She knew that elementals had gender once they "Ascended" into their "Mature" forms, but she was wondering how she knew he had loved this water elemental.

Across the room, Ayschoine wondered the same thing, but decided not to bother Roy with it. He had enough problems at the moment. She went back to sleep, shimmering in a faint cloud above Roy's bed. She was feeling pretty crappy after Roy had projected his thoughts like that.


"Look.....I can fight this on my own. It doesn't live in the same form people do. It lives in dreams. If I can lure it into my mind, I can kill it."