Actually, that's what we did with Redbeard's Revenge, to the tee. And, WOLT, maybe for those like me who are a little challenged in the realm of posting in an advanced style, could you detail just a bit the magic you wove to separate the story from the comment, if we do it that way? Looks good, and enables one to comment on the direction the story is going.

Ahh, WOLT, never mind - just "quoted" you, the codes come up and the method is clear -

oops

got it

it's also a button directly on the "go advanced" posting option.

There are several other options there for posting.

If you're not familiar with post formatting I'd like to suggest you take a look at THIS

Story

She'd have to explain to the director why the episode was late... but all of a sudden that seemed a little less of a priority than it might have otherwise been.

"Christ, Donnie, stop! The mirrors are warded, you idiot." Eve rubbed her forehead with one hand, determined not to give in to the urge to knock him on his ass. He deserved it, but it didn't seem very constructive right now. "The whole place is warded. After the last time you were here, I beefed up the protections, big time." Her expression went flat, annoyed. "To keep you and your crap out."

Donnie stopped and lowered the kitchen tool, blinking stupidly. That lasted for just a few moments, then he grinned broadly. There was the smug again. "I knew this was the right place to come. I need your circle," he said as he paced back to the kitchen where he could toss the tenderizer back in the sink.

"No." The refusal wasn't just immediate, it was also utterly disbelieving. "You don't just come to my home, bringing whatever the hell is following you, smash things up, and expect to use my sanctum without an explanation. I told you to get lost for a reason, and this is it. The arrogance, the secrecy, all of it. Come clean, or I'll throw you into that thing's arms without even the mildest pang of regret." Her voice dropped into a growl as she began unconsciously gathering her power to herself, readying to take him down if he didn't relent. She'd get her answers, one way or another. "I'll be doing the world a favor."

Story

"I'll be doing the world a favor."

"Really? Really? Oh... oh god. I'm sorry Eve, I'm sorry for everything."

Eve's face went blank as she witnessed Donnie break down in tears just then. Was he acting?

"I... I don't know how to express myself. Playing with tenderizers, you see, is the only way I know how. I'm such a... such a jack ass! Dammit..." He continued to whine, "I just want you to be my girl friend! Can't you see! It's the only way that the world will be saved. That the universe will be saved. Be my girl friend! We need to defeat evil with the power of love." His voice choked off awkwardly, and he didn't have any more words to say.

"Alright." Eve's left eye twitched madly. She'd had it. "Come down to my basement." Donnie's head jerked. "But on one condition. Sit down! On one condition. You'll be tied up. And I'll have to beat you first."

"You're gonna have your way with me?" Donnie asked. Smack. "Ow! It was a joke! A joke!" Eve stepped on his toes. "Feck!"

"It won't be over until I say it's over!" Eve cackled madly, as she continued to beat Donnie to a pulp.

Whoops. I forgot it was supposed to be an NYC apartment by the time I got to contributing. I shall change it posthaste to fix. Sorry 'bout that.

In other news, that last entry has some strange extrapolations. I'm not even sure what to do to bring it more in line with the overall tone and feel of everything that came before it.

story

"It won't be over until I say it's over!" Eve cackled madly, as she continued to beat Donnie to a pulp.

*

Charlie Zingle had pushed the old John Deere 2050 hard over the years. Lizzie pulled the rusty two-bottom across the field, just as she had for those same years, despite the abuse; the simple four-banger never seemed to quit.

It all bothered Tom Herman; since he could never seem to keep a tractor that long—it was the reason he stood along the south fence of Charlie’s east forty, patiently waiting to catch his attention. He needed a part, or at least the name of Charlie’s mechanic. It wasn’t polite to walk onto the property without a nod, and Lizzie was coming his way, anyway

The hot Kansas sun pounded every inch of Charlie’s exposed skin, and as he reached up to wipe his brow he noticed his envious neighbor. Smiling, he waved him over to where the tractor would be in a minute. He turned her off halfway there to give her a good rest.

“Tom, you old geezer. How’s your wife and my kids?”

“Better’n nothin’, farmer. How’s the soil here?” he asked as he walked.

“Oh, little heavy, is all. Been fallow two years. Smells good for hay, and expectin’ a few new calves this summer. “

“Don’t say! That makes about six for you…oof!” Tom tripped over something as he walked, falling to one knee. “What the good god…!?”

Charlie hurried the last five feet to his old friend. “Tom, you alright? You hit a chuckhole?”

Tom regained his balance and checked his ankle. “Yeah, no problem. Looks like you’ll have to fill…what the…?” he said as he looked down at the hole.

Charlie looked down as well. “Ain’t no ground hog what made that!” The hole was nine inches in diameter, perfectly round with smooth edges; the edges appeared to be melted into a glassy surface; around the hole were five other holes spaced in a rough circle two feet in diameter. “Y’ever seen such?”

Tom shook his head; “No, nup, nothin’. Derned crazy-lookin’ thing. No car tracks, or signs of anyone bein’ out here to dig anything. Ain’t no mound of dirt around, neither. Wonder how deep…” he said as he picked up a small rock and held it over the center of the large hole. He dropped it and both men leaned over for a sound; although it was a quiet day, neither heard a thump from the bottom.

Tom leaned over further and lower to hear, but he pulled back quickly with a wincing look, gasping for air. “Damn…(cough)…stinkin’…(wheeze)…some kinda sulfur, or sumpthin!”

“Yeah, I just smelled it. What the blinkin’ hell stinks like that?”

“I don’t kn…” Tom said, then stopped, looking straight at something shiny, right beside one of the smaller holes. “Whazzat, Charlie?”

Charlie reached for the object; it was a shiny hunk of gem, multifaceted and deep in color. It felt extremely heavy and warmer than it should, despite the hot sun. “Dunno. Federal man in town might know. Maybe moon rock or sumpthin’. I guess I ought to get it down there.”

“Saw it first. Finders, keepers.”

“My land. My…uh…rock.”

“You’d never a’ see'd it if’n I hadn’t tripped over it.”

Charlie sighed. “Alright, count of three. One, two, three…”

Scissors beat paper. Tom stuffed it into his pocket.

This is a change of scene, as you may have noticed. Let it sink in...

story

Scissors beat paper. Tom stuffed it into his pocket.

After a few more minutes of their usual banter, just as Charlie was turning to go back to his work, Tom suddenly fell to the ground convulsing. Charlie quickly whipped around, and upon seeing his old friend on the ground, quickly hurried over to try to help. Just as he gets their, Tom with his dieing words says, "The stone"

Charlie quickly searches his friends pocket but finds nothing but a burnt hole in his pocket and a new abrasion, on his hip, roughly the size and shape of the mysterious stone. Upon finding no evidence of the stone on Tom person Charlie started to search the ground where he was standing to try en find it. when that failed he returned to his friends body to find his skin boiling, and his frame being contorted into something completely alien.

being contorted into something completely alien.

It was only about two hours before the feds arrived. The field was covered in black helicoptors, men in black suits with ominous sun glasses. The sun was setting and charlie was huddled in a tent with a blue fuzzy blanket, some hot chocolate while his feet soaked in a hot salt bath.

He looked up from his cup, surrounded by men and women dressed in Tyvek Suits and respirators and operating some strange equipment with esoteric knobs and dials that Charlie was certain he would never come to understand.

Can I help you? he slapped away the hand of one of the operators that was taking some kind of reading from him with a blinking device, spilling a few drops of cocoa on his red flannel, it didn't show though, not after a day in the field.

I swear to Christ another one of you tries to take a flake of my skin and there's gonna be an ass whoopin' he stood up and took off his trucker hat, exposing his bald head for emphasis. He even snapped one of his suspenders with his free hand, dropping the blanket partially in the hot water of the washtub.

There won't be any need for that. Another one of those guys in the suits that looked all the same came through the tent flap, only this one took off his glasses.

So you must be the big dick around here? You with the government? Charlie pulled the blanket from the water, the corner was soaked. His face soured.

Actually my name is Agent Reed, Don Reed.

So you'll probably want to know I was captured and probed by aliens when I was a kid.

Really? Donnie's eyebrow went up inquisitively.

Naw, I'm just f*ckin' with ya. I always wanted to yank the chain of some pretty boy city slicker government agent, let 'em know just cuz he's got fancier clothes don't mean he's special or that us farm folk are dumb. I mean, you are with the government right? This whole thing with Tom and the stone... it ain't doin' a whole lot of good not to look like one o' them sci-fi books, and my wife used to tell me nothin' good ever happened to us farm folk in them books. Charlie's expression changed from comical to worried as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

Yes, of course. Donnie lied expertly, We're with the government. but the straight talking farmhand saw right through him.

Tell Stella I love 'er. his bottom lip started to quiver and his eyes started to swell with what would have been tears.

Donnie pulled the trigger and the man fell to the ground silently.

I will. he promised.

Across the 'room' the gelatinous, pulsing form that once was Tom oozed and popped in a giant petri dish with strange cables wires that were hooked from it to the read-out machines. Tiny electric fields buzzed in the air around it, creating micro lightning storms that fizzled.

Agent Branston came up behind Donnie as he finished his promise.

Did you find the stone?

Not yet. Clean up hasn't found a trace.

I don't need to tell you how important this is.

But you did anyway. Donnie reached down and checked the man's pulse. He felt bad.

*ooc note: this very likely means the scene retroactively occurred before the opening scene.
**ooc open suggestion: someone cut this and do something cool with eve's background. Just a thought because her name is eve I'm sensing some umbrella corp type stuff. For Donnie I was shooting more for technocracy. Or don't to any of that I think part of the fun of this is not knowing where it's going.
***ooc question: Where are you OP? you should come back and play

Story

She'd never asked to be special. The glares, the whispers; she'd never asked for any of it. But looking at Donnie again reminded her of all those things she'd thought she'd forgotten. He'd been her biggest fan once. He was the one who encouraged her to stop hiding behind long mousy bangs with books pressed to her chest. He'd been the first one to make her believe, just for a moment, that words like "special," "different," and "abnormal" could be good things. There'd been a time of sunshine and laughter, when words dripped with honey and eyes shined with knowledge beyond mortal comprehension. Donnie, with his easy grin and powerful charm had once been able to make her believe that "special" could also mean "treasured" and "loved." He'd seen the dreamer in her, he'd seen her desire to escape this world, and he'd shown her all the other worlds no one ever got to see but her. The memory hit her like a steel knife to the throat.

But that was before the stone. That had been before the hollow notes of apology and cold, empty bedsheets beside her every morning. That was before her magic became a tool not a quirk. That night with the Djinn on the docks of the Astral Sea had taught her that much. For the first time since she'd met Donnie, she'd felt the urge to hide again. For the first time she'd looked around her and saw only unfamiliar faces from unfamiliar worlds, and she'd felt like that fly in the poem, caught in a silver web she didn't understand with nothing but an empty looking glass before her. He'd given her a present earlier, a beautiful locket with a single seed inside.

"Open it" he'd said, eyes sparkling in the starlight. She'd glanced at him shyly, running a finger down the delicate filigree. It looked expensive; part of her was terrified of touching it, lest someone look over and notice how she, a mere human (and an unimpressive one at that) had dared besmirch it with her touch. "Go on then."

"Alright." she'd sighed, sliding a nail underneath to touch the clasp. It opened smoothly to reveal a tiny white seed nestled in violet velvet. She'd looked at him curiously, wondering what the significance was, as she doubted he was trying to renew her doomed relationship with plants.

"It's a Kyriye seed. From the last Kyriye Tree of Life, before it burned along with the rest of its world. It's one of only two in the universe. I have the other." The fire in his eyes had been so bright, his tone so ardent she'd been speechless. That was when he'd kissed her, and it had been like trying to catch a storm with her bare hands, wild and exciting, terrifying and exhilarating all at once. He'd tasted like summer wine and cotton candy. Looking back, she never felt so used in her life.

"Donnie," she said, trying her level best not to be patronizing, "I'm serious. Why are you here? I'd have thought your suited watchdogs find my company unsuitable for the likes of you."

"Christ, Eve, why does it always come back to my employers? In case you hadn't noticed, there's a bit of a Big Problem right outside your door, and I guarantee you it wouldn't mind killing you as well as me."

"I simply want to cut the crap. In case you hadn't noticed, I renounced that life. Worlds, monsters, adventure, all of it. The most adventure I get now is a periodic trip to Walgreens to confirm a friend is not pregnant. I'm astoundingly normal. So whatever new cock-up you've gotten yourself into, I'm afraid I can't help you."

"Which explains the wards and circle you'd like to deny. Face it Eve, you'll never be normal." He was smiling again, as if laughing at an inside joke. It infuriated her. "You can't help it; you'll always be my special girl, you know. Have you forgotten us already?"

The cold silence which answered him was deafening. Too silent. Whatever monster was outside had been pounding steadily outside the door for the entire conversation. Now it was eerily quiet. Donnie picked up the abandoned tenderizer and gave it an experimental swing.

"By the way, you may want to arm yourself right about now. Unfortunately, your "normal" house is not smoke-proof"

story

Eve's fear lasted only for the half-second it took her to remember this was all Donnie's fault. Giving him a look that could freeze magma, she hurried into the living room to check the wards around the fireplace, then grabbed a poker from the stand. She had no idea what this thing was, but iron was generally a safe bet. Donnie might be able to make do with any kitchen implement, but he had certain advantages she did not and besides, she had always preferred the classics.

She hefted her improvised weapon, muttering curses as she headed for the bookshelf on the far wall. There, her eyes flitted from spine to spine until she spotted the old Bible, which she opened on the chair. Reaching in, she removed the amber-colored vial full of clear liquid that had been nestled between the hollowed-out pages, shoving it into her pocket, hoping fervently she wouldn't need it.

Donnie wasn't in the kitchen. She found him bent over with his head to the ground, staring at the crack under the back door. "Not here either. Not yet..." He got to his feet, nodding with approval at her new weapon as he smiled that damn smile. "Well, it's probably still circling. Let's get to the circle before it

eeeeeeeeeeeeeee ------- eeeeeeeeeeeeeee ------- eeeeeeeeeeeeeee ------- eeeeeeeeeeeeeee ------- eeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Donnie slowly turned in the direction of the kitchen. The enchanted wards had failed to alert her, but a mundane smoke detector was a good enough warning sign of the intruder. In that moment Eve wanted to yell, wanted to hurt him for bringing this mess back into her house and her life. But when she looked at him she saw that real fear etched onto his face, and couldn't help feeling a twinge of panic herself. The fact that this might be called sympathy for Donnie was not a thought she permitted to enter her mind.

"Please," he said, and she knew she was probably just being gullible again. She fell for it anyway.

"Fine. Upstairs!" She bolted for the steps and he followed, overtaking her as they rounded the corner and took the stairs two at a time. Donnie reached the top first, turning and extending a hand to pull her up into the hall, but what he saw over her shoulder made him freeze halfway through his turn. "Damn."

Smoke was pooling at the foot of the stairs, a roiling cloud that piled atop itself in waves, forming an inky black tower. Eve bounded up the last few steps as the cloud began to shrink in on itself, its outline solidifying into something dangerously real. "Get the circle ready!" he yelled at her as he shoved between her and the stairs, and whatever objections she had to being thus commanded were ignored as he lifted the tenderizer over his head and focused. There was a spitting and flaring noise as his cufflink burned and melted, then he let the small hammer fly like a bullet.

It crashed into the intruder with a thudding impact that shook the house and knocked Eve to the floor as Donnie staggered. The tenderizer seemed to hover for just a moment at the edge of the cloud's wavering form, then with a noise of whooshing air it was hurled into the ceiling as the cloud burst, reduced to heavy black wisps that sank to the floor. The dust had not even settled before the smoke began to stream back towards the foot of the stair.

As Eve got to her feet and opened her bedroom door, Donniecaught up to her, clutching his wrist. "It's re-forming, I only delayed it maybe twenty seconds. Let's hurry then, shall we?" His smile was weaker then it had been, she noticed, and the fingernails on his right hand were blackened, the skin burning an angry red. Whatever he had just done had cost him. She nodded, ushered him in behind her, and closed the door.