Max Avendir walked down the city block heading to the scene. He'd been called earlier by police chief Hardy, to come investigate a murder that by any means wasn't conventional according to Hardy. If he had been called, then there was something going on here that was not of the ordinary.

Max arrived at the scene a few minutes later, noticing it was in the alleyway next to the discount liquor store. He crouched under the police tape and went over to where Hardy was standing. He could see the corpse laying there, barley any signs of a murder. How this was a murder was beyond him, but he would know in just a few moments what happened.

Walking over to the corpse, Max bent down and ran his hand over the victims arms. Visions flashed before Max's eyes. He kept his hand on his arm and he saw it. Saw the whole thing happen right before his eyes. Creatures he could only assume belonged to hell following the man down the street, creeping up on him and forcing him to run into the alley. With nowhere to go, he turned around to face the creatures and in a split second it was all over.

Max stood up and turned to Hardy. "What we have here are hell fiends, minions of the devil and they extracted this man's soul. That's why there's no sign of struggle. I know what you're gonna ask and I'm already on it. I'll call up the team and get right on the case. I'll contact you with more info when it's available."

Without even waiting for Hardy to respond, Max walked away, took out his phone and dialed a number. It rang 3 times then picked up. "Hey it's Max. Get the team and meet me at the coffee shop and 21st and 7th ASAP, we got a case and this one has hell written all over it. I'll explain the details when we're all there. See you"

He hung up and walked towards the direction of the coffee shop. As he walked though, he could feel as if there was a presence following him. Turning around, he could not see anything, but he felt it. After a few minutes he made it to the coffee shop and went inside, found a table and sat down. He motioned over for the waitress to come over and he asked for an espresso, as he would sit and wait for the rest of the team to arrive.

Maggie Carter grabbed the message off her voicemail, listened to it, and let out a long, low whistle. This was going to be her first case with S.I.N., and considering she'd apparently be tangling with the forces of Hell, the name was already starting to sound rather appropriate. She left some food out for her pet cat, Lucky, and headed for the coffee shop.

Alexander sighed as he stood up from his seat. He had been sitting in front of the television, watching same age old cartoons that was being re-aired. He found some pleasure in seeing some old school animations and fight scenes. It wasn't odd to see him like this; he had a fascination for watching animations from when he was a child all the way to the present.

Two barks from both his Shiba Inu and German Shepherd alerted him of the message that was left on his phone. He stood up and listened to the voicemail. He then pocketed his cellphone, took his twin guns and then left the building with both of his dogs in tow. The main reason why he didn't bring his sniper rifle was because this just might be a debriefing and he'd have enough time to go back to his apartment and take it if he needed it.

Reaching the coffee shop, he left his two dogs outside and then scanned the inside. His eyes caught their familiar leader and then picked up his pace to go there. "Heyo Boss. Heard we were dealing with hell things." He said as he sat down and then ordered some coffee. Nothing beats some good old coffee from his favorite coffee shop.

Kite didn't know what woke him up first: the sunlight streaming through his window, the crick in his neck after spending the night reading, or the shrill ring of his phone in his ear. Mumbling a half-hearted curse, the young man fumbled around his book ridden bed for the source of the ring. He pushed past precariously placed books, remnants of studying spells from last night, and threw pillows before finding his phone perched at the end of his bed. By the time Kite grabbed it, the ringing had stopped leaving one new voicemail.

Kite suppressed a groan as he let it play. Another case, and by the sound of it, the team was going to have a hell of a time with this one. Literally. "So much for a break," he mumbled as he hauled himself out of bed. He dressed quickly and stuffed his bow into a dark, faded duffle bag. There wasn't much of a chance he was going to use it at the meeting, but still. Kite felt better having it close.

The cafe was close enough to walk. Kite combed through his rat's nest of thick, dark hair, quietly hoping no one noticed his disheveled appearance or the dark circles beneath his eyes. He headed inside and gave the team members already there a brisk nod. "So, what is it this time?" he grumbled as he swung himself onto a seat. "Possessions? Cultists? A girl with a spinny head going around throwing up pea soup?"

Most people would think two ways of how not being human would be. Either you would not be treated the same, quite badly in fact, or that over time you would come to be respected and welcomed into the arms of humanity. The real fact is that both of them are quite right, the former more than the latter, by tenfold. The realistic fact is that though some people may do it, those people may very well be on the other side of the planet, or buried and long left to lie. Even of those people are right next to you, you are not next to them, as the next person along is not the same.

That is why Penny Opal chose to avoid those around her. Those who treat her normally she follows, but does not interact with them unless she has reason to do that, be it for fun or to be generally sociable for a few moments. Penny leaps from the rooftop she was upon, avoiding the watchful eyes of cops below, and landing on a lower roof, sliding down to the edge of the roof in order to listen into what Max Avendir, leader of task force SIN, was saying.

Hell fiends? Huh. Hope he won't mind if I just follow him a little more. Sounds like an adventure. The girl held back a giggle so that an officer below her did not hear her, and then proceeded to crawl back to a space on the roof where she wouldn't be seen, only leaving cover to leap off of the roof and onto another. She hadn't received a call, she wasn't actually a member of the task force, but she was a little surprised she hadn't been conscripted into it by choice of words or wounds.

Once she had made it into the coffee shop, Penny carefully slid into an access and crawled through the panels of the coffee shop's interior roof, moving around slowly in the tiny space. Her ears picked up the sound of Max's voice, so she crawled along in that direction, occasionally lifting a panel and peering in to see how far away she was. Finally, the girl made it to the panel above Task Force SIN's leader, and she lifted it just enough to look in. She made a mistake, however, as if someone were to look up, they'd notice that something was wrong with the panel, and then would most likely see her.

Penny, however, tried to ignore this fact, as there would be no other way she would hear or see what was going on. More people started to arrive; Penny recognized Kite Savik, as well as Alexander Harrison (who, in her eyes, she adored, despite his dogs). Admittedly, the girl half-wanted Alexander just to look up, just so he could notice her. Penny listened intently, waiting for more words, more information.

SEAN: Ok, let's see.

Sean opened the newspaper and he started to look it for some interesting news. Like usual, there were the political ones that occupy the majority of the newspaper, and there wasn't nothing about criminal ones to beat the boredom.

SEAN: But it's possible to find something that isn't crap? Anytime, i must endure these stuff.
AAMU: Relax Sean, I don't see why you should be so negative. After all, you can find something of funny also in this stuff that you call crap.
SEAN: Something of funny? Where do you see the fun in filthy politicians that do the brainwashing to us with their bullshits?
A AMU: Well, it's always beautiful to see corruption and deterioration in the human society.
SEAN: Oh yeah sure...Sometimes i forgot your true nature.
AAMU: Eh eh.

In that moment, his phone ringed and saw there was a voice mail that was sent by Max. After that he listen it, put away quickly the newspaper and took his black jacket and his walking stick.

SEAN: Finally a little of action.
AAMU: Yeah, i want to kill someone. I don't kill someone from that time where we fought that sexy succubus. She was so wonderful. Especially when i cut her head and i used it like a rugby ball.
SEAN: That thing scared a great part of the neighborhood and i didn't do a good impression that time. So don't pretend to control completly my body today.
AAMU: Ok, Dr. House. I won't fight you and your walking stick. But when we will arrive there, could we take a coffee cup? I would want a bit of caffeine.
SEAN: Sure. Good idea.
AAMU: No problem.

After these discussions, they arrived to the coffee shop and when they saw Max and the others around a table, they joined to them.

SEAN: Hi, guys. Something of interesting this time?

@datadogie

"Heya Kite!" He practically exclaimed at the other who had entered who was part of S.I.N. Perhaps the other would be annoyed by this but Alexander didn't seem to mind if he would.

Perhaps it was because of his neck hurting or because someone was half-wishing for it to happen, but Alexander did indeed look up to see that the panel above had been moved... or well out of place. Through it, he could see a familiar face peek through it. Maybe she wasn't aware of it but he had caught on to the neko girl ever since she started stalking them, following them in their missions and such. He was sure Max knew of it as well but he couldn't be too sure with the others. How he found out about her was because of his attentive dogs, who did not seem to bark but always had their heads looking at a certain direction. This continued on for some time while on missions and finally, Alexander saw Penny. He did not know her name, however, but he was quite pleased that someone took an actual interest in what they were doing.

Considering her cat ears and tail, he would assume that she might be interested in joining but she never did say anything about it. Thinking that she probably didn't want anyone to notice her presence, he pretended to look up and stretch. He would then place both of his arms on the back seat, each folded so it would fit, and gave her a small greeting smile. It was a smile that could've indicated somewhere along the lines of, 'Heya!' or maybe, 'You coming again?' or possibly, 'Wanna talk later?' He meant all three actually but he wasn't sure how the hybrid would take it so he simply looked down again. If she were to meet with him later to talk, then she would just have to call out to him. He then proceeded back to waiting and listening to Max who held all the information needed for the later investigation.

It was then that Sean and Aamu arrived. "Heyo Sean, Aamu." He said with a wave and his smile widened as he saw the two.

@Polaris North

SEAN: Hi Mr. Harrison. It's always wonderful to see your gentleman face.

In that moment, Sean's body was blocked by Aamu.

SEAN: What are you doing?
AAMU: Didn't you see her?
SEAN: Who?
AAMU: The neko girl right there.

Following the direction indicated by Aamu, Sean gave a look to a table at the right of their fellowship one, and he saw Penny.

SEAN: Oh come on. She's creepy, i'm starting to be annoyed by this girl. We can't let her stalk us everytime. Doesn't matter if she has good or bad intentions, this must finish now.
AAMU: Don't be too rude, man. After all, she's a NEKO GIRL! She's so cute.
SEAN: Shut the fuck up, Aamu.

First that someone of his fellow could say something, he went to Penny and when he was right in front of her, he gave her an angry look.

SEAN: You don't have any problem if i sit here with you, no?

Sean sat quickly and crossed his arms.

SEAN: Do you think that this is a funny game, little girl? Because if the answer is "yes", i will kick your softly ass from here. We're serious people that do a serious job and stalking people like us, could be considered a crime. A crime that will kick you right in the cell for a few weeks.
AAMU: Yeah girl. A cell full of women that could use you like a teddy bear, if you know what i mean.
SEAN: Sh..ut...u..p (said silently)
SEAN: However, did you undestand?

Maggie entered the coffee shop, taking note of everyone there. She sat down, glancing around at her new partners. Let's see, we've got a cat girl over there. Wonder what would happen if I dangle my keys just out of her reach? The rest of them looked human, at least on the outside, but Maggie knew that there were many things that could be mistaken for human, at least at first glance. It was how everybody managed to stay hidden in the first place.

She leaned forward casually, resting her chin in her hand. "So, whaddaya got for us? I understood some sort of demons, but I need details. The more we know, the better off we'll be."

Max looked at the rest of the crew sitting at the table as they arrived. He sipped the espresso as he waited for everyone to settled in. Once they were all there, he began to let them know the details.

"Alright so PC Hardy called me up to go check out this murder victim. I get there and there's no signs of a struggle, no stab wounds, no blood, no nothing. So i did my usual, ran my hand down the victims arm and then like a ton of bricks it hit me. The vision showed hellspawn minions following the guy, then trapped him with nowhere to go, but down the ally. After that they took his soul. That's why there's no signs of anything. And if my hunch is right, then these minions are working for some greater power of hell, perhaps even satan himself."

As Max finished the last word, his phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket and put it up to his ear. "Hello...Yes...What?...Ok...Be right there."

The call was breif and he hung up within moments. "Guys we gotta book it. That was PC Hardy. Says the corpse just started moving. I think there's sill some demons around trying to reanimate it. So we gotta get down there and stop whatever is going on."

He picked up the espresso and downed the rest of it, fished some money out of his pocket and slapped it on the table. Max pushed his chair back and stood up. He looked towards the door and his jaw dropped. Turning back to the table, he looked at everyone else.

"Uh guys, we got issues. There's some demons out that door. Looks like we've been followed. I guess it's time we show these bastards just who's the boss."

Maggie's eyes went wide as saucers when the she heard that demons had showed up at the coffee shop. She got up and spun around, seeing the monsters with her own eyes. She recovered enough to grab one in a telekinetic lift, then applied a heavy crushing force to try and squash it. Her face contorted with strain; magic like this wasn't easy on one's mind. If she couldn't defeat it on her own, perhaps someone else could finish it off while it was immobilized. And quickly too, before it escaped.

Edward burst through the door of the coffee shop late, as per usual, and directly into a fight. Several demons, and the rest of the S.I.N. crew. Great. He unsheathed his dagger and held in his left hand while he kept the pistol in his right. The demons had yet to see him, and he wanted to keep it that way. Ed looked towards Max and mouthed Orders? Max would probably have him either use his advantage and get some silver down range, or hang back until the end of the fight so he could heal anybody who needed it. That was his thought, but he wasn't the leader. He'd trust Max, he always had. He'd come to the coffee shop expecting a reprimanding, but he might just get himself a commendation. Well, would you look at that. He thought. Being late has its perks.

And people wondered why Kite always lugged his weapons around. His nimble fingers unzipped his bag as he quickly retreived his bow and arrows. With the speed and grace conceived by years of practice, Kite notched notched a silver tipped arrow and aimed at the nearest demon. A spell tumbled off his lips, the swiftly uttered words strangely familiar. As he let the arrow fly, a gust of wind from seemingly out of nowhere pushed the projectile at an impossibly fast speed. The demon screeched as the arrow tore through its midsection and embedded itself in the wall behind the hellspawn, sinking halfway in through the wall.

Kite was already reaching for his next arrow when he spotted Maggie with a demon captive in a telekinetichold. He aimed, murmured another wind spell, and let the arrow fly. The arrow met its prey true to the heart, if demons had hearts. Kite glanced at Maggie and offered her a sharp nod before readying to strike his next target.

"Oohhh Hellish spawns? Cool!" Alexander said as he practically jumped up to a stand as Max just ended his explanation. With a bright smile, he set out for the door but tensed up almost immediately when his two dogs howled, in sync with Max's announcement of the demons outside the coffee shop. "Fighting already?" He asked before taking his twin pistols out of his pockets and into his hands. "Sweet!" He practically shouted before whistling.

His two dogs burst inside the shop, taking their position beside their master, growling at the multiple demons outside. With that, Alexander started to take aim, the light appearing on the demons before he started to repeatedly shoot at the points. Although it was quite hard hitting the mark considering that the demons were moving but he did manage to shoot one down before he had to reload his guns. "Got one!" He shouted excitedly.

He saw there were two demons left and started making his way towards the door. Max drew out the hefty sword from the sheath on his back, as if it was nothing and was ready to strike. He hated these things and the fact he was followed, the reasoning for their appearance at the coffee shop pissed him off even more. He made his way to the door and pulled it open let it slam behind him. He passed the others i the task force without even a slight nod and stared down the one demon who was eyeing him. Max raised the sword and watched as the silver blade gave off a shimmer from the sunlight.

As Max started to step off the curb and into the street to face the demon full on, he was thrown backwards by a gust of wind emanating from a speeding car that came out of no where and almost careened into him. Before Max could even comprehend it, there was a loud crash and Max got up to see that the car had crashed at the end of the block into the street sign. As max watched for a moment he saw another demon jump out the car window and run off into the distance, the last two demons following suit.

"Fucking shit." Max spoke it aloud, turning back to the task members that were outside. "Seems we've got another one. Looks like this dude was possessed. Looks like there's something larger going on here. We need to get to the bottom of this." With that, max put the sword away and looked back at the task force members. "I think our first order of business is we better get our asses over to where PC hardy is and see what the heck's going on over there. Come on, Lets get a move on. It's the alley way next to the discount liquor over on 28th and 3rd. Lets book it."

When the demons started leaving, Alexander actually followed up with two or three more shots before reloading it. It seems he was just wasting his ammo but he was honestly trying to hit at least one of them. Despite being an expert marksman, he couldn't hit even one of them because of their movement. His dogs kept barking and then started running towards the demons before Alexander whistled for them to come back with they did.

The blond haired male put his pistols back into its holsters. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair and then petted his dogs for a job well done. He then looked back at Max who was already giving out instructions. "Yes sir!" He exclaimed before starting to follow him towards where PC Hardy was. He seemed to be ecstatic to start this mission... or well continue it in this case.

As Max started to walk down the block, something caught the corner of his eye and make him look upwards. He saw a shadow on the roof. This wasn't a good sign. He hoped it wasn't another demon that made it's way up there to troll the rooftops or strike from above. Max cautiously watched the shadowed figure on the roof, looking for any sudden movements or oddities about it, but he wasn't able to make out anything. The only thing he did notice was that whoever or whatever was up there noticed that Max was looking at them.

Max turned away and started walking down the block again, each few steps he took a look back to see if whatever it was was following him.

Rrrrrrriiiiiiiip.

The sound of something wet being torn echoed through the chamber. A light giggle sounded once the silence returned, and then another tear. Then a solid thud. Then a sustained splattering, which lasted a full minute before trickling out. Just as the echoes faded and it seemed another sound would come from inside, a sound from outside broke the chain.

Ring ring! Ring ring!

The door swung silently open to reveal a youth wearing safety goggles and a long white overcoat normally seen in chemical labs. A scorpion tail sprouted from the back, and was currently shrinking back into the youth's back. Most striking, though, was that the youth was splattered liberally with a red liquid and seemed ecstatic because of it.

The youth reached toward the only piece of furniture in this next room, a chair, and lifted the ringing cell phone to answer it. "Hiii~ You've reached Scorpio! I'm washing my hair or something right now, so leave me a nice message! Piiii~" Scorpio listened to the agent relay Max's instructions while removing the overcoat and goggles, knowing that the fun was over - for now.

The message delivered, Scorpio began making themself presentable - the chief had chosen a public meeting place that made it easy to set up an ambush, so Scorpio needed to blend in. The red was cleaned from the face more easily than the hair, but Scorpio figured red-streaked blonde hair would be considered a fashion statement nowadays and so would not be an issue. Somehow, carrying twin silver-edged swords crossed on one's belt didn't seem at all conspicuous to Scorpio's mind, though.

---

Whud.

The roof beneath Penny shook as something collided with it at high speed. Scorpio had landed with their tail flat on the roof to spread the force of the landing in order to prevent the roof from caving in. Looked at from the side, the position would look like a G on its side, with Scorpio as the hook.

Scorpio turned back to look up at a tall office building a few blocks away, giving a low whistle. As the tail receded into Scorpio's back, they winked at Penny.

"Nice cosplay. How do you like mine?"

The scorpion didn't wait for an answer before jumping down onto the street, landing not far from Max and the gang. Scorpio hurried over to the group with a wave. "What'd I miss?"

Alexander noticed how cautious Max became when he looked up so he followed his movement. Towards the roofs, in one particular roof was a figure, watching their movement. One would consider it extremely creepy for someone to be doing that but not for them. They just simply thought it was perhaps a demon who wants to get the jump on them. A surprise attack from above, that would be brilliant.

However, Max started moving again so the blond followed without hesitation. Their leader was still looking back every once in a while but this time, Alexander didn't copy his movements. His two dogs beside him were constantly alert so if the figure would even try to leave the rooftops and head towards them without identifying themselves, the dogs would howl or bark to alert their master. So he eased up and continued walking.

His German Shepherd barked at the new figure that neared them and Alex turned around, hand ready to get the gun out. When he saw Scorpio, however, his hand eased to his side and he smiled. "Nothing much. You missed the whole demon attack though so I guess there's that." Alex replied with a shrug before raising a hand to stop his dog from growling or even going as far as biting the person with a scorpion tail.

Penny would have helped out with the fight, however it didn't help that she was stuck in the tiny crawlspace above. Deciding to leave them to it, Penny did a one-hundred and eighty degree turn and crawled back to the access where she had gained entry to the crawlspace. She made it out just in time to hear the final moments of the fighting, however by the time she had peered over the side of the building's roof it was all over.

Frowning, Penny listened carefully, hearing Max talk about going to an alleyway next to the discount liquor on 28th and 3rd. Penny leaped onto a nearby roof, scaling it before walking along at a low crouch, watching the team's movements. She froze, however, when Max looked up. She kept absolutely still, and when he had continued to walk she did too. She froze once again, however, as he looked back every few steps he took. She was absolutely certain that he had seen her.

Suddenly, the roof shook, and fearing it was a demon, Penny spun, her hand on the hilt of Alafia. It turned out to be Scorpio, however Penny's hand did not leave the hilt of her sword until Scorpio made off again down to the rest of the team. It was a little frightening to be surprised like that, however Penny jumped onto another rooftop to keep on following the team.

However, on the next jump, Penny calculated wrong. She was watching the team too much, and as she jumped her foot clipped the edge of the roof, making her fly at a wrong angle and end up curving down. Her catlike instincts, however, saved her as she landed on her feet, on balance. She froze as she landed in front of the team, right in front of Max, her eyes widening as she stares at them.

"...Hi."