((Okay, here goes. Tell me if I screw somethin' up. The <> means it's translated from Japanese.))
A young woman dashed behind the remains of a building. Actually it used to be her next-door neighbors' house, but now it was like the rest of the small town; empty and ruined. It was hard to believe that just a couple weeks ago they had waved at her from their yard, yelling a cheerful <"Good morning, Bu">. No more, however.
When the monsters had first appeared, she'd managed to hide from them. Escaping the fate many of those she used to know had suffered. Unfortunately, it had left her stranded in the small residential area just south of Shinjuku.
For the last few days she'd managed to avoid the roaming bands of demons, but it was obvious that it wouldn't last for long. There were only two glimmers of hope for her survival. The first was that she might be able to make it to Shinjuku where, she'd heard over the radio, there was protection.
The second glimmer was actually a small object clutched in her hand. It was a small circular device that she had been given a long time ago when she was only 12. When she had found herself trapped with the demons, she had activated it, and now a small light flashed repeatedly.
Feeling she couldn't afford to stay still any longer, Bu began making her way out of town, hoping that with some luck she could make it to the protected Shinjuku. This idea was dashed when a loud shrieking cry told her she'd been spotted.
Not bothering to look back she ran, the sound of wings spurring her on even in her fatigue. She looked about wildly for anywhere to hide and escape, but there was no chance now. More demons joined the chase, attracted by the crys and commotion of pursuit.
Finally Bu stumbled, crashing to the ground in a pitiable heap. She tried to stand, but her ankle was clearly broken, and any attempt to move it sent agony shooting through her nerves. As the demons gathered around their injured prey, she closed her eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable.
It never came, though. Something heavy suddenly landed close to her and she heard the death shriek of one of the monsters. Opening her eyes she saw a large figure looming over her. It was at least 7 feet tall and looked to be made of large, gnarled muscle. He wore a battered overcoat and dusty boots held tight by large leather straps. An uruly mass of brown hair sprouted from the top of his head, and his face was weathered, hard, and strangely lacking both ears and a nose.
The remains of a demon hung from his hand, it's crushed head held in one large mitt. With the element of surprise, the figure quickly dispatched the remaining four monsters and turned back to the girl. Now it would only be natural for a person to shrink from the sight of this intimadating man, but Bu actually threw herself, broken ankle and all, into his arms.
<"Louis!"> she exclaimed in relief. <"I was afraid you wouldn't come.">
<"Hey, I toldja I would, shortstuff,"> he replied in her language, returning the hug which almost swallowed the smaller woman up in his large arms. <"That gadjet's got a range in the lightyears. Soon as I heard it I made a bee-line for this mudball. Got here just in time too."> He grinned, pulling back a little, but still holding her up to keep the pressure off her ankle.
"Yo, Lou," a small voice drifted from his hair. "We got more company." The big man turned around to find another group of demons advancing on them.
<"Hold tight here for a bit, babe,"> he told Bu, sitting her carefully on the ground. The group was slightly larger this time, and he no longer had the advantage of surprise. Lou shrugged out of his overcoat revealing arms tattooed with languages and symbols never seen on Earth. "And I'm not even gettin' paid for this," he muttered as the monsters lunged at him.
((Oh, fine. By the way, Cowman, Earthworm Jim = best game ever.))
The Circle of Thorns mages looked among each other. Each was older, more powerful than any of these demons would ever hope to be. But they were not going to be staying.
They had a summon to cast.
Thunder strikes the ground and water in Tokyo Bay swirls with whirlpools as they activate the hyper-range teleport spell. In a brilliant, blinding flash of light, and a clap of thunder, their summon is there.
Before them stands a man, the skull of a dragon covering his head. Eyes as chilling as ice stare blankly, a misty blue energy radiating from them. The man is by no means weak-looking - Though no skin can be seen, he stands tall at 6 feet even, with a powerful build shaped under his robes.
None could guess that he was older than Tokyo itself.
The mages seperate, the spell complete. Scattered blessings and magickal energy releases blow in the breeze, and the summoned one looks up.
He knows his job.
---
Stepping to the edge of the robotic defenses of the Tokyo Bay area, he watches a large wolf-like demon eat a promising hero alive. Wordlessly, the summoned one walks out of the safe zone, approaching the wolf.
The beast looks up, snarling, and begins to charge right as the Mage throws something out from under his hood. A small glass vial explodes in the demon's face, a stinging liquid filling its eyes and sending it to the ground. With another vial broken against its body, the demon loses its life. But the Summoned One is not bound by such things.
The demon slowly rises, reforming itself, bones snapping off and on and sinew tearing and seeping away until all that is left is two humanoid skeletal warriors. The mage merely waves his hands, and the skeletons' lower arms are charged with negative power, enabling them superior melee and ranged attacks.
The Circle of Thorns is here, and the demons will soon be gone.
But certainly nowhere but under the heels of the Archmagi of the Thorns.
(OOC: You might wanna be careful with those Circle of Thorns guys in the shrine barriers and Shinjuku, since their magic would clash with the magic of the barrier, and best giving them a migraine and at worst destabilizing a barrier and collapsing it. Akihabara would be an ideal camp for you, since it's protected by technology (though there is a shrine and a temple in nearby Ochanomizu) Just be careful)
Three years ago, the Rikti attacked. Before that, Ukyo Sae was a normal teenage girl. She had make-up, hair dye, fake nails, a fake tan, and baggy socks, just a normal girl, going to a normal Middle School and spending nights and weekends in normal Shinjuku-ku.
The Rikti attack changed all that. Her friends died left and right from the attacks of both friend and foe alike. She fought back. She trained to use two pistols and a sword left behind by a fallen hero. At first, the pistols were mere peashooters, but after the war, her prowess and performance awarded her two Desert Eagles modified with Rikti tech to reduce the recoil but not the firepower. Her hair has grown out, no longer dyed, and tied back in a ponytail.
She thought her fighting was finished, she thought she could finally rest and return to school. After the war, she entered a prestigious high school with a full scholarship in exchange for her services. In her third year, however, the portals opened, and the demon forces poured through. Once again, Sae was forced to bear the weight of her weapons, once again she would hold her home's fate in her hands.
"\Sae-chan! Over here!\"
Sae turned to face a girl she knew as Chihaya, her group's miko (shinto priestess) and a friend.
Chihaya was indicating a large crater blown out by a baku (bomb) type demon.
"\It's a hole, Chihaya...\" Sae said dismissively.
"\No Sae-chan! It's a nest, look!\" Chihaya pointed to a pile of rocks at the bottom, oddly shaped and bearing a great deal of fire damage. Her team had just finished doing battle with a rather stubborn bunch of demons, which included a Rock Devil, very difficult to kill stone demons. Disposing of it had involved hefting it onto a baku and making sure it detonated. Tough work.
"\So what should we do Sae-chan?\" Chihaya begged. Her eyes were wide with worry. Chihaya was cute, small, frail. A three pronged scar across her left eye symbolized Sae's only failure as her guardian.
Sae pressed a button on her headset, "\Eichiro, we have a nest, bring your hammer.\"
"OSU!" was the response over the comm.
Moments later, a large man with tan skin and a pompadour wiedling a gigantic hammer walked up to the two girls.
"\Down there\," Sae said to him, indicating the hole.
At once, he leapt down the hole and proceded to smash every rock inside, each one containing disgusting black goop.
"\After he's done, we're heading back to Shinjuku Station, so get ready to move\," Sae said as she got up and walked in the direction of Shinjuku.
The Magus walked slowly down the street, demons unable to sense his heat at all. Behind him, cool mist rose from where he stepped, and the unblinking eyes stared out from under the dragon's skull.
Time seemed to slow down as he walked. Loose papers drifted incredibly slowly, and as he passed a clock ((That was off anyway)) The second hand slowly, slowly moved.
Tick.
He was past the item before the second tick.
He heard people ahead.
((He's using a weird power that slows time, but only to him. As in, he can move really fast by just walking, if that makes any sense. To everyone else he's a quick-moving shadowy figure. Think Dark Servant.))
The soldiers ahead noticed the dark shadow moving quickly...almost too quickly! towards them.
"MIKO!" the commanding officer shouted.
"HAI!" the miko, a girl in her twenties, replied.
She took out a series of seven seals, each hand crafted by the most powerful priests and priestesses and imbued with substantial divine energy.
"\I hope this works...CELESTIAL SHIELD!\" the seals flew into the air and circled around them, offering their protection.
"\If they break through, I'm ready!\" she said, drawing out other seals.
"\MEN! HOLD THE LINE!\" the leader announced to his men.
The situation turned faces quickly.
-
With a comical THUMP! On impact to the shield the shadow turned into the robed figure, who was now sprawled all over the ground.
"Damn it all!" He cursed, rising slowly. "These demons learn new tricks every day if you don't keep your thumb on--"
"Erh.."
He silenced.
"\It's...human....I think...\" the miko said.
The soldiers, however, knew better. They were a mishmash of Longbow and Council troops, lead by a veteren of both groups. They knew the Circle of Thorns when they saw them.
The leader walked over and pointed his gun, a Magnum with bullets cast from a melted down cross sent by the vatican, right at the robed figure's face.
"State your business, mage!" he shouted.
(OOC: BTW if you want, you can control this team Soviet)
((Nah, I'm about to have my own.))
"I am here to control the demonic threat, as all of you." He snarled, pushing the magnum aside. "And yes, I detect holy energies in the bullets. I am not a demon, fool mortal - Don't be stupid."
He paused momentarily to turn and spit acid onto a flying Imp, sending it screaming to the ground.
"Let me be. I am here on official business. The Archmagi will not like an interruption."
The leader lowered his gun.
"Well, given the nature of your powers, you're probably headed for the Akihabara base, correct?"
The Magus blinked.
"Yes." He lied.
"Now go away. As you fools would know, Circle magi are far more powerful than pitiful...demons." He smiled wryly, though none could see through the shadow of the skull, "We have our ways to stay safe anywhere."
The entire contingent of soldiers, or the ones that spoke english at any rate, burst out laughing.
"Mage," the leader said, wiping a tear from his eye, "You and your group are in for a RUDE awakening. Lemme give you a run down of some of the guys we've encountered since we got here."
(OOC: The following is an all purpose rundown of a few of the more common demons.)
You've probably seen a Shrieker or a Lesser Hound already, they're all over the place. And the imp you just iced is called a flapper. Those three are irritating, but mostly harmless as long as you kill them right away if they bite you.
Greater Hounds, Bakus, Oni, Rock Devils, and Scythe Mantis' are much more dangerous.
If you see a greater hound, kill it or it will find you. They're about the size of an SUV and stronger than a Warwolf.
Bakus are filled with an explosive substance. They explode, and usually take a large portion of the city block with them. Thankfully they're not all that common and most groups can get them to expel their fluids before driving them to explode.
Oni travel in groups. They're ugly, they're strong, and they're immune to pain. They earned the name because they really do look like the Oni from Japanese legends.
Rock Devils are particularly nasty. They're incredibly dense, and can hurl parts of their bodies as weapons, and then call them back. Most of our tanks were wasted by them.
Scythe Mantises....well, they have 8 legs and 6 tentacle arms, each that end in a scythe-like blade.
There are other demons of course, like the worm demons that ate most of the trains, or the Greater Demons that only the most powerful teams have survived battle with. But those are the ones we see regularly.
The grouped turned to walk away after dropping the barrier, but the leader stopped.
"Oh, don't go near Inokashira Park. Don't ask why."
The Magus only smiled, reassembling the bones of the imp to dance a strange dance around the group.
The skeletal construct chanted:
"No Death No Fear No Death No Fear No Death No Fear..." Before falling into dust. When the group turned back, the mage was gone, blue mist rising from the place he had stood for an extended time.
---
He was now on top of a building, letting some Spectral Daemons he had conjured hold off the imps that were harrassing him for now. He surveyed the landscape, seeing corpses litter it and demons patrol it.
"Fallen." He uttered in a deep voice.
"Rise....."
Magic...it smelled magic.
Delicious magic. Exquisite.
The Greater Hound, whose name cannot be spoken with a human tongue, "smelled" magic.
He wasn't alone. The "scent" of magic attracted Greater Hounds from all over. Most knew already to avoid the magic of the High Priests and Priestesses, and a specially designed seal kept them from smelling the magic of lesser priests and miko across such distances.
No sooner did the unliving army arise, than the first of the Hounds arrive.
The spirits attempted to defend themselves in vain, many were dispersed within moments. Worse, the Hounds seemed to be feeding on the very essence of the Daemons.
The Magus saw the demon dogs coming through the eyes of the Skeletal mage standing right behind him. In the blink of an eye, one had slammed into the skeleton and the robed Thornsman had smashed a potion into its face, flooring it and rising it again mindlessly.
"If I cannot use souls, then I will only have more free essences to work with later..." He mused as he cut the life force from his zombie army, leaving them as shambling automatons with only one thought -
Kill.
The potion connected with the Hound, dissolving it into a puddle...that reformed into two Lesser Hounds.
Many of the Hounds seemed to enjoy hunting and devouring the shambling zombies.
Three of the Hounds, however, had caught scent of the bigger prize: the mage himself. Ignoring the hordes of undead, they charged at the mage, leaping at him like a...pack of hungry wolves.
A shadow moved quickly in front of the mage, and all three wolves were blasted back, and turned to dust.
"\Chihaya! NOW!\" he roared.
"\Seal of the Rain God! RAIN OF LIGHT!\" Chihaya shouted, throwing a stack of seals into the air.
Each seal emitted a flurry of light-rays, each directed at the attacking Hounds. Surprisingly, none of the hounds were dusted, but they were scared off.
The attack finished, and Chihaya collapsed into Eichiro's arms.
"You need to use holy magic or no magic at all to kill the Hounds," came a voice from behind the mage,"Any other kind just attracts them, especially soul magic, since nearly every demon above a Shrieker likes to eat souls."
Sae jumped down off a nearby ruined building and faced the mage, pacing around him and looking him up and down.
"Though I'll admit, it's a good way to act as bait," she mocked, "You should be careful, seriously, at least the Rikti left survivors, these things only want to kill us. More than that, they want to devour our souls."
Sae reached into her backpack and pulled out a small communicator, obviously a retrofitted cellphone. She tossed it to the mage.
"My team and I have to get back, we've been gone too long anyway. If you get into trouble, just type 119, and someone will send a rescue team, if there's one to spare."
Sae kept walking down the hill, tailed closely by Eichiro.
Chihaya, conscious again, turned to look at the mage.
"I know you're strong mister...and I can sense your age, so...remember 'shellshock'," she said, before running off after her teammates.
The Magus snarled. He was ancient and proud - Not stupid. It looked like he'd be fighting with potions alone for now...
At least he had a few...interesting concoctions for the demons to experience.
((Hm...I think I'll try this out then...))
A shadowy figure sat in a dark room, only the board table with the seven seats illuminated by any type of light. Six video moniors showing six strange symbols with the numbers one through six were turned toward him instead of the other chairs along the table, while the shadowy figure sat at one end of it.
"This is not goint to be enough." the cold voice of One said, "Containment will not hold them forever."
"I agree." Four commented, "But our public face cannot be seen starting a war here. It has always based itself on containment. If we were to intervene directly, we would have to reveal ourselves to the world."
"No." the shadowy figure moved closer to the light, immuniating a gray muzzle full of sharp theeth, "I suggest I handle this one alone, under guise. There are enough resources at my disposal here - and do not forget that we cannot affort to lose the Earth...to anyone. We will need humanity when the Final Conflict arises."
"This is true." Two agreed, "But are you sure you can handle this by yourself?"
"I will not be by myself. I would like to request that you dispatch the AGS IV with enough of my crew aboard to help me stop this invasion. With the humans and many other beings already fighting for this planet, I should be able to tip the balance in their favor."
"Old friend..." One continued, "I'm afraid nothing we can say will dissuade you. I only wish we could come to help. The AGS IV is on its way as we speak."
"Good. Then I shall engage them while I wait."
"Don't take this lightly, Al. If the containment plan fails..."
"If the containment fails, I shall do it myself!"
And so the silent agreement had been struck...
---------------------
A large, armored vehicle with oversized wheels ((imagine tha 'tank' from Aliens)) sped over a devastated highway to the scene where the reports of the large engagement were coming from.
Transmitters and receivers inside it busily encoded and decoded relay messages to and from the multiple high-altitude drones that gathered information on the situation in Tokyo.
Simply put, the whole place was a mess, large areas of the city in complete shambles. It was even worse than the Rikti invasion.
"Still better than the Shades, I suppose." the driver mumbled as the vehicle hopped over bumbs and debris, heading toward the fight...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
The Magus first heard the tank while he was strangling a Flapper alive. As the last squeak cracked from its throat, he dropped it, making sure to step on it as he moved away.
The contact from his foot dissolved its flesh like tissue in acid rain...
Slowly drinking a potion of teleport, he appears on the roof above the massive vehicle.
"Hmh. Looks like Crey is...Wait. That's no Crey ship..."
One of the tank crew hears a clanging on the hatch.
Shinjuku Station AKA "Base Yamato"
Shinjuku station, being the second largest in the world behind Nagoya station (Which, at this time and during the Rikti war, was a refugee camp) had been retrofitted to be a military base. Several of the train lines, including the Shinkansen (OOC: Hey, even a demon has trouble catching something that can travel 300 KM/h) had been secured and were being used to transport refugees and supplies in and out of Tokyo.
This train station was the primary reason Shinjuku was as defensible as it was. Akihabara had the benefit of dumb luck: proximity to the Meiji shrine and an overabundance of extremely eccentric model builders made the entire Chiyoda area highly defensible, but Shinjuku succeeded in this conflict purely because it was still fortified from the Rikti war.
The wards played havoc with magical abilities not related to the divine, so the human defenses were primarily SDF, Hero Corps, and non-Mu Arachnos.
In recent years, however, "SDF" had come to be a broad umbrella term for anyone who would take up the sword, so to speak, and fight for their country.
Sae wore the badge of a Squad Commander, a rank designated to team leaders of groups sent to eliminate nests, rescue hostages, or recover artifacts.
Finally back at the base, she took the time to relax.
Shinjuku had changed so much...just three years ago it was a party town, and now it was a symbol of defense and human will...
"Ukyo-san!" a young man, younger than Sae herself, called.
"\What is it Kenta?\" she said halfheartedly, sipping some green tea.
"\There's reports of...of...a tank! In the area you were just in!\" Kenta announced breathlessly.
"\A tank? But I thought the last tank was smashed during the last gate raid?\" Sae was intrigued.
"\It's a foreign model, they've sent military! The foreigners have finally sent tanks!\" Kenta was so excited Sae was afraid he'd piss himself.
"\Calm down, go get Chihaya, Eichiro, and Ryuji, we're gonna see this for ourselves\," Sae grinned, picking up her sword and guns.
"\By the way...Ukyo-san?\" Kenta asked, his face scrunched.
"Nani?"
"\Why do you wear your school uniform? Wouldn't some fatigues protect more?" he asked, blushing a little. Sae's uniform consisted of a plaid blue skirt and short sleeve blouse. She didn't wear the neckerchief, having used it on a splint for someone's broken leg during the initial attack. She had made some 'alterations' to the skirt, making it shorter and easier to move in. She wore bike shorts for the sake of modesty, however.
"It's comfortable, and if I wore armor it'd just slow me down," she replied, "War isn't a time for modesty."
The gunner manning the smaller front turret siwveled his scope about to see what had landed on the roof, already expecting the first attacker. However, while the scanner showed readings of powerful arcane properties, the blind passenger was far from demonic.
He signaled the trooper team and the hatch at the side of the vehicle, located almost centroidally between the huge wheels slid open, and a humanoid in a black armorred suit that resembled rikti armor, though it was covered in some sort of thin green energy, peered onto the roof, waving to the magus to come in.
"It's a bumpy ride!" he shouted, his voice somewhat muffled by the speaker in the front of the elongated helmet, "And it's a lot less windy in here!"
As if to reinforce his point, the vehicle came upon the end of the highway, where the demons had smahed a secion straight out of the skyway bridge.
The driver didn't stop, though - that was right where they wanted to go. He gunned it and the vehicle lurched over the edge...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
(OOC: Not many if any skyways in Tokyo btw, they take up a lot of space, most roads go underground)
"\Chihaya, how close to the last signal can we get?\" Sae asked when the team was prepped at a 'jump pad' that allowed fast access to recovered shrines and celestial beacons within a 5 km radius.
"\About 100 meters, it's pretty close to where we were before. It's gonna be bumpy though,\" Chihaya replied.
"\Most beacons are...\" Sae groaned.
"\Sorry I'm late\," a short young man, about five feet tall wearing a heavy grey fur coat with a hood. His features were highlighted by a serious looking scowl and a shock of white hair .(OOC: Think Tetsuo from Akira with white hair.)
"\Bout time you got here Ryuji\," Eichiro chided.
"\My sister's not exactly improving you oaf\," Ryuji retorted.
"Enough, we're jumping," Sae interjected before one of them got violent.
The term "Jump" is quite literal: The miko will activate a seal and they'll be flung in the air, and land at the beacon. Shrines were equipped with the protective seals, and were thus a lot cleaner landing.
Beacons however...you're lucky to land right side up.
This team was seasoned, and landed relatively as is (Chihaya did a faceplant after landing) and began surveying right away.
They saw the tank some distance away, with the mage from before on top of it...
...and a horde of shriekers in hot pursuit.
"Good thing we took care of that Rock Devil earlier...or this'd be for nothing," Eichiro said.
((Murr...*sneaks in*))
Sitting hunched over at the bar at Akihabara was a man. Tall and strong, shaggy brownish-black hair and deep eyes, he wore a simple combat gi. It was tattered and torn, however, and his muscles bulged from beneath it. He had a likeable, jagged smile and a bit of stubble; he didn't find time to shave lately.
He listened not to the hushed whispers of fear.
He listened not to the explosions outside.
He listened not to the wailings of demons and screechings of the dead.
He heard nothing.
This man was plastered.
Suddenly disrupting his movement, he pounded his fist on the bar, speech slurring. "Mama-san! Bii-ru o mo ippon ya! Bring me another beer, and make it snappy! Asahi! Move it, woman!"
The middle-aged Mama-san eyed the man neutrally, polishing a glass in her kimono. "Toshio-kun, I am afraid I'm going to have to say no. After all, we have limited supply of alchohol now. It wouldn't be fair to the other customers."
"Aaah..." Toshio grumbled, but resignedly nodded. "Mm..." He lifted himself off his stool, slamming a 1-man-en bill on the counter. As he moved to go out, he accidentally tripped on another man's foot.
"Watch where I'm goin', ya big lug...!" the other man screamed in anger, holding his foot. Toshio just eyed him and moved to go out the door, but the other man blocked him.
"I know who you are." he taunted. "You're Pygma--"
Toshio's eyes hardened in that moment and a fist suddenly was embedded in the other man's gut. As he doubled over, Toshio elbowed him in the back of the head, sending him down cleanly in two blows.
"Oyasumi, oyasumi." Toshio muttered to the man, dusting his hands off before exiting the bar.
Toshio Fujii was a drunken master, and he had work to do.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
(OOC: Uh...hm, how do i put this...10 man en is 100,000 yen, and I don't think they have a currency that goes that high. Add to that, minor thing, but there's more than one bar in Akihabara 
There's three under the rail bridge alone hehe. Though I supposed that bridge would be gone in this story.)
(OOC: I know that, he's just -drunk- and doesn't really care. 10,000 yen = 100 bucks. It's easy to spend 100 dollars in Japanese bars. I've done it. *L* XD; And since he's a drunk, he really only goes to one bar. I've been to Tokyo too, y'know. <.< I taught English classes for two months in Chiba-ken, Hanamigawa and Katsutadai to be specific.
EDIT: Also I screwed up and put 10-man instead of 1-man. XD;; stupid alternate numbering system.)
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Fourteen days have passed since it happened. All across the sprawling metropolis known as Tokyo, Japan, over a dozen portals had opened. At first, they were believed to be from the Rikti homeworld, but Rikti "contacts" immediately refuted this.
Then, the legions poured through. Within hours, the city of Tokyo was a warzone. Demons, many of which had never been seen before, ravaged the city, killing or infecting everyone they saw.
The police and the SDF fought back, but were ill-equipped for such an invasion. Shinto priests and priestessses and Buddhist monks, and even some Catholic priests and paladins, united to erect barriers throughout the city. Each barrier was able to protect areas around a certain shrine or temple, if it was still standing. The most protected areas were Shinjuku, Harajuku, Akihabara (apparently some kid had developed a giant robot below the streets..), and the areas around them were well protected. Places like Ikebukuro, Ginza, and Ueno were warzones, with many of the residential areas completely under demon control. The areas around the demon portals were completely corrupted, and only those with a death wish have tried to get close to one.
Two before now, Japan had been completely sealed off, out of fear of the threat spreading. Now that camps and "safe zones" have been set up by the mystic barriers (and giant robots built by kids with way too much free time) a call has gone out to the nations of the world:
Help.
In response, Longbow, Wyern, Hero Corps., and other hero groups have sent a sizeable force to deal with the threat. Arachnos, Crey, the Council, and even the Malta group have dispatched forces to "aid" in the defense, with obvious ulterior motives.
Other demons not born on earth, however, cannot enter the country. The barriers recognize them as demons, and degrade them, and attempts to ally with the invading forces have resulted in death or, if the demon is incapable of death, captivity with torture.
(OOC: This is an RP about the battle for Tokyo. I chose Tokyo for a number of reasons: It's the largest city on Earth population wise right now, a lot of heroes and villains and anti-heroes on these boards are of Japanese descent, it's popular, and I've...actually been there LOL.
The rules are simple: You either enter Japan or you're already there. As this is a high pressure situation, creating a new Japanese hero is encouraged. Your character or characters are stationed at either Akihabara or Shinjuku. There are smaller bases throughout the city, and Tokyo Harbor has been cleared for incoming craft, but the aircraft that take off from the harbor and land in the metropolis only land or drop people at those two locations.
There's no set limit on number of characters, but no god moding, and try not to kill each other.
There are a lot of different demons, but the most common are ones called Shriekers, so named because they shriek when killed. They fly, and carry a venom that infects anyone they bite, turning them into a demon gradually over five days. The demons themselves are savage, they kill people, or bite them. There's no reasoning, there's no joining them. There is a consciousness in control, but that's for later. For now, begin introductions)