GranspearZX

Went and corrected a math error (spent 1 PP too many), and dropped Improved Trip. Also I changed some things up on his device; figured I'd try to get a little bit more utility out of the points with an Alternate Power in it.

"Hm. I suppose you're right..." For his first time actively using his powers, it could have gone a lot worse... No one got hurt, justice prevailed, and all that good stuff. Still, Marcus was too modest to really consider himself a hero. As far as he was concerned, he was just a guy who happened to have a little bit of magic on his side. Watching Mary with her parents reminded Marcus of his own, a thought that made the wide-shouldered teen's mood go south. He remembered when he was that age, when he didn't have to worry about controlling his powers or accidentally zapping someone with a lightning bolt. He sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking elsewhere. "I wasn't REALLY scared, but... y'know. Kids pick up on that sort of thing. I get the whole 'balance' thing, but I'd hate to have dream monsters running all over the city. Seems like a huge hassle..." Marcus cleared his throat, looking down at his shredded clothes. "...I should probably get outta these."

I'd been playing it as Sustained all this time, but it wouldn't hurt for it to actually be in the sheet. I also added the fact that his device--all his devices, really--are applying effort to the device itself, not Arcturus.

Fashionably late. Jerk. Something was still bothering Marcus. Perhaps it was the lingering aggression from the Beast Rune; it could have very well been his growing list of reasons to dislike Agent Stone. Either way, Vigourie's arrival only served to deepen the scowl etched across the teenager's face, and he made absolutely no attempt at hiding his feelings, looking the so-called expert squarely in the eye. "Nice of you to show up, Captain Obvious," he muttered, turning around and heading back inside the church--mostly because he didn't want to be anywhere near Vigourie. Still, the air inside the church was downright oppressive; even though Equinox had extinguished the fire, he could still smell the smoke. Among other things. "I hope you're here to help clean this mess."

"Hero? Nah, I was just... I just happened to be here. Name's Marcus." He shook his head, shaking the offered hand. "...don't meet many people who introduce themselves that way." "Thanks for the help, by the way, Mr. De Saens." He smiled faintly. "Not sure what I really could've done if you hadn't shown up. I'm... not much of a mage. Heck, I don't even know where we just went. Pretty new to this whole 'magic' thing... ...and now I'm rambling." Marcus rubbed at the back of his neck, a little bit embarrassed. "Hopefully that thing won't be terrorizing any more kids."

At least Mary might've dismissed the huge bear as a figment of her imagination. Rene, on the other hand... well, he seemed too smart and too well versed in the arcane to really fall for that. Marcus figured that his best defense was probably to pretend it never happened; then again, Rene was a magic-user, too. "You should... probably try to find her parents," Marcus commented, picking up his sketchbook. He wasn't even sure how much time had passed, but just thinking about the entire ordeal made him tired. One would almost think falling asleep would be a bad thing, given what they'd just been through.

As the threat passed, Arcturus's aggression waned. The return transformation didn't take long, and he watched Gabriel, clearly the most bothered by the entire ordeal. He had no idea what to say that Equinox hadn't already, so he instead turned his attention to the rest of the church, frowning. This is gonna take one heck of a clean-up. At least that's one crisis averted. He looked at the spot where the beast had been, then he looked at Push; without realizing it, he narrowed his eyes at Agent Stone and averted his gaze elsewhere, stuffing his hands into his pockets, stepping over debris as he headed back outside.

Shaking himself out of his shock, Marcus suddenly shot forward. For a kid as big as he was, he moved with astounding sureness of himself--and that was before he changed forms. The Beast Rune flared to life as Marcus was replaced once again by Arcturus, and for a second it seemed like he actually sped up a little, teeth bared as he closed the distance between himself and Leraje. Instinct took over where reason blurred; maneuvering to keep out of anyone else's way, the black-furred giant lunged at the demon with a vicious open-pawed claw swipe that might've taken a lesser man's head right off.

1d20+9=26 Arc goes in, claws swinging!

Arc's Initiative: 1d20+5=13

Marcus stood there, dumbfounded for a moment as he watched Equinox do her thing. Again. He flinched reflexively, worried for a moment that he might've been too close to her, but after a moment he just... stared. It was really all he could do, and as the flames settled in her hand and faded as is if it were nothing at all, the shapeshifter finally found his words. "...you have got to show me how you did that." He followed Eric inside, regarding the woman that had been in the burning church with a somewhat confused expression. This was their culprit? She looked weird, and the scene was a wreck--downright blasphemous, really--but she seemed mostly harmless. Crazy, but harmless. When she showed her true face--literally, as she turned into a he--Marcus's jaw went slack. He'd never seen a demon before, and all the pictures and theory in the world couldn't really prepare anyone for the real thing. He wasn't afraid of it, but there was a considerable amount of uncertainty in his body language, even as he stood his ground. "...holy crap," was all he could manage to get out as he stared at the monster...

Push taking off the way he had rubbed Marcus the wrong way. It reminded him of the look that he'd had at the station, and now there was a name to Mr. Stone's warlock--Scratch. He'd never heard the name before, but suddenly things started to make a little more sense--Stone's sense of urgency was very specific and narrow. Perhaps dangerously so. Not that Marcus was the most level-headed person on the planet, but he at least had a magical nudge when his emotions were getting the better of him. He didn't even get a chance to respond before Push and Equinox took off in a rather unusual fashion. "...the hell was that?" Marcus grunted as Eric suddenly levitated him; it felt weird, but he didn't panic--it was depths, not heights, that gave him problems. When they got there, he took a moment to reorient himself, and that was all it took before the sound of shattering glass echoed through the streets, followed by the all too familiar smell of something set ablaze. Staff in hand, Marcus wasn't long behind Equinox once he'd landed. God, this is gonna get ugly...

The threat was mostly an empty one. In reality, he had no idea how he was going to follow up if the monster called him on his thread. He could have certainly trapped it in something, but that sort of thing took time. In the meantime, though, Marcus looked up and saw things starting to fade back into normalcy; he did the same. He'd managed to shift without much damage to his clothes, but they were ripped and torn all the same. He looked at his hand from the earlier burn; Marcus couldn't even tell that he'd been hurt earlier. The fact that his secret was out to two strangers didn't seem to concern him at all. "...hm. I don't think he'll be bothering you again, Mary... you alright?"

Arc tries to Intimidate the Boogeyman! 1d20+11=16 ...and I'm gonna use a Hero Point to reroll that. @.@ 1d20+11=22

For a brief moment, Marcus's compassion wrestled with the Beast Rune's aggressive nature; it made him hesitate, staring at the cleft in twain monster with obvious incredulity. "Why? So you can terrorize little kids in the real world too? Do I look stupid to you?!" The big bear's eyes flared red as he leaned forward, pointing a menacing claw at the unsettling ink spot that was the Boogeyman. "This is what's gonna happen. You're gonna crawl back under whatever rock you came out from. You're gonna leave this little girl be. And if I hear about you trying to pull this with another kid, I'll put you in a jar. Several jars."

"Magic can be... dangerous in the wrong hands. For a while, I couldn't really control this little trick I do either. First time it happened, I slung a guy across my living room. Broke another guy's collarbone. Don't get me wrong; I was trying to protect someone, but... that's really not much of an excuse." Marcus tapped his staff on his shoulder as they walked, eyes narrowed a bit as he remembered that night. The night AEGIS agents came and hauled his father off... and his ursine nature surfaced for the very first time. Much of that unfortunate event was blurry in Marcus's mind. He'd gotten so agitated that he literally went blind--so pissed he couldn't see straight, in a disturbingly literal sense. Since then he'd been more than a little apprehensive about getting violent; the Beast Rune fed on aggression, after all, and thus far, he'd done a decent job of reining it in. "From what I can tell, my magic comes from my dad. He couldn't control his either and... stuff happened. Bottom line is, if you can't control yourself, controlling magic isn't gonna be a walk in the park. Just the thought of a bunch of undisciplined yahoos slinging fireballs all over the place..." Marcus shuddered a bit at the thought. He made a mental note to get back to Eric about the whole 'dying' thing. "...and who the heck is Dick Dale?"

Ack, I knew I forgot something... I meant to do this yesterday. Got a bit sidetracked. :| 1d20+9=22

"This nose is nontransferable," he replied, shaking his head. "Sorry for the shock, ma'am." His return transformation was just as noiseless, and he put his coat back on as he changed back. He rubbed vigorously at his nose and made a particularly displeased face. "I kinda figured it wasn't you." He nodded faintly at Equinox. "Good lord... I can still smell it. But I could probably recognize that perfume if I smelled it again. Definitely not gonna do that in town though. Not in plain sight anyway." Stepping outside the crime scene, Marcus was quick to remove the plastic covers on his boots and head. He eyed Push's bike for a moment... then shook his head and started walking. "To town it is, then."

Marcus drifted around the edge of the crime scene, a bit further away but still facing east. Casting off whatever nervousness and apprehension he'd had up until that point, he glanced at Officer Durand. Curious as to what Equinox's spell had gleaned, he decided to see--or smell--for himself. He made doubly sure he was well away from where the body had been found. "Since we're all sharing... ah... well, I'm sure you've seen bears before." Marcus took his coat off and leaned forward, the entirety of his form engulfed in a warm, dull glow. For the brief second that it lasted, it obscured his features entirely and then grew at least two feet taller, leaving Marcus standing there in his bear form as the light faded, his nose in the air. He'd gotten better at the transformation in recent months; his clothes and even his boots were still in tact--though he'd forgotten about the plastic boot covers and the one on his head, making him look far more comical than intended. Even his book, knapsack, and staff were all still there, though the staff was significantly larger than it had been in his human form. The second the smell hit his nose, he covered it as best he could with his huge hands. "...ugh. That's nasty! And somebody has crappy taste in perfume." Still covering his nose, he watched Eric as he spoke, his cryptic words catching his attention. "Sir?"

Arc's Knowledge (Arcane Lore) roll: 1d20+11=23

"...hm." Marcus grinned faintly, though he was certainly not going to confirm or deny anything. Instead, after putting on the plastic boot covers again, he simply watched. Watching Equinox's magic at work, he raised an eyebrow. It really was rather impressive--not just from the pretty lights and what not, though that was nice too, but because for once he could actually grasp the mechanics of what she was doing... vaguely. "...are you okay?" he asked, frowning. He could just imagine if that had hit his bear senses how it would have smelled... better her than him, he supposed. He looked off towards the east, fingers tapping on the book still hanging at his right side. "Well, *I* definitely can't track it. Not like this." If the sheriff had reacted as she had from something as innocent-looking as Equinox's spell, his beast form would definitely jolt her if she wasn't prepared for it. He could probably cobble something together, he thought, but that would take time they likely didn't have.

Arcturus kept up his assault, stubbornly refusing to let up even for a second. Always in his peripheral was Mary though... She didn't seem to be scared at all. In fact, her overall condition seemed to be improving; he wasn't sure if that was his doing or Rene's. Maybe there's more to his 'hero' business after all. He couldn't fire a lightning bolt, but he took another swipe at the Boogeyman, roaring as he tried to cleave the apparition in two.

Marcus had moved further from the body by the time Push showed up. Frankly, the young wizard looked a little ill, trying to shake off having seen someone his own age in that state. He didn't even look at the agent as he passed, more concerned with not embarrassing himself. After taking a second to compose himself, he turned around to face the rest of the group--still keeping to the back and out of direct visual view of the body. As the sheet came to him, he stared quietly at it, reading... and his eyes narrowed a bit. "I knew that sounded familiar. And that crime scene definitely looked like someone was trying to summon something... Crap." At that point, Marcus was mostly talking to himself. "...to summon something like that, you'd need a lot more than just some random circle and a little blood; if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it. And from what I heard and saw, there should have been more blood at the scene than there was. I can't really speak on what this.... this murderer was trying to do, but whatever it is, I don't think they're anywhere close to being done." He paused for a moment in thought; for a second, he seemed... stuck. "I'd need to actually look up that book. But I wonder if anyone else in this town already has..."

Arcturus's Arcane Lore (1d20+10=22) roll. Since he doesn't actually have that other Knowledge skill, an INT check is all he's got (1d20+1=12)

Marcus sighed. He wasn't going to say so, but there was a reason that he didn't want much to do with religion. Vigourie was one side of the coin... and Equinox was the other. Still, he sympathized with her more than she realized. He was certain that this part was where he was supposed to say something profound and consoling; the best he could come with was muttering, "It's not like I agree with the guy..." He was actually a little more concerned with 'Mr. Stone'. This warlock of his was surely going to cloud his judgment, not that he would have minded clubbing him over the head to get him to think clearly. Especially not after being called 'shorty'. The subtle reactions about the room--the same ones that dissipated when he left--caught Marcus's attention too. He knew enough about anger to know what it looked like. His just wasn't as obvious outside his own body. At worst, someone might notice his pupils going red or his teeth getting a little bigger; past that it was just too late to catch it and he'd have some real explaining to do once he'd calmed down. He winced a little bit as Push slammed the door shut and his palm found his forehead. Sheriff Durand and Eric back to the morgue. It was rather unexpected; he half expected a trip to a hospital somewhere. As tough as he was, or pretended to be, the sight of the body caused a very physical reaction in the artificer, forcing a muted grunt from him. "...that's about what Officer Malloy said it looked like. Reminds me of... somethin'. I can't remember what exactly though... I'd need to look it up to be sure." "He said there was a windstorm that day too... Ten bucks says it wasn't a normal weather pattern either. I would've checked around the woods a little more, but... y'know. Procedure." He took a step back, pretty much done with staring at a dead body.