Rasmus stepped out of his teleport spell, which manifested itself as a bank of fog that he'd simply stepped into when no one was looking, and emerged in David's apartment. Immediately, he kicked off his shoes and grabbed up a blanket and threw it over the bar that held up the curtains. Calling upon his power, he wove a frame along the edges of the blanket, then ripped apart reality between what the blanket truly led to, which was the surface of a fuzzy piece of bedding, and made it lead into Rezo's pocket dimension. Well... Rasmus's Rezo.

Reaching into it, he first pulled out some better clothes for fighting in, followed by his two green gemstone talisman that he could use to amplify his power. Lastly, he pulled out a staff, in case it came to physical fighting. Quickly, he redressed in the loose white pants, bound around his shins by tall white boots, his shirt was belted around his waist and finally, his cloak was clasped on by the two emerald talisman with knee length priest ribbons hanging from them.

Taking up his staff, Rasmus breathed, "Ready, David?"

"As I'll ever be. Just don't get us killed."

Nodding, Rasmus ripped reality again and stepped through the fog, "I promised Sylphiel, and any promise I make to her I'm gonna keep." He emerged on the roof of the apartment building, but it wasn't very tall and thus, his field of vision was limited. Below him, people were fleeing- unsure of what they were running from, except that something had caused everything less intelligent to suddenly up and head out in one giant mass towards Flagoon. Most people were heading towards Flagoon too. Rasmus turned and peered in that direction, barely able to see the tall tree waving in a breeze that almost looked as if it were thrashing to draw the people's attention to it. Rasmus kicked off the roof of the building and took to the air, gliding to a taller vantage point, aware that he was quite visible in his all white garb despite the streetlights. People were stopping to stare and point at the flying man. "Idiots," Rasmus muttered.

Closing his eyes, Rasmus took a moment to look around, finding that... indeed, the tree was calling them, drawing them towards it. It had a hook in David too, but it wasn't pulling on them. "It knows," David murmured, "It knows we have the power to fix this."

"Indeed you do."

Turning, Rasmus scowled, "Mazoku."

Floating casually beside him was the Mazoku he'd seen earlier, only this time dressed as a priest in a yellow shirt with a matching sash, black pants, dark purple cloak with a silver clasp studded with rubies. In his hand was a staff with a branched end, a large red orb clasped in the strange twist of the wood. His eyes were closed and he was smiling an infuriatingly knowing smile. "Why, yes! How did you guess!" the Mazoku asked sarcastically, then bowed. "You may call me Xelloss, the Mysterious Priest."

"OR I could call you shit and tell you to go away before I destroy you," Rasmus replied sourly. "I don't deal with monsters."

Xelloss smiled again, "Oh, but you do need me. You need me." Abruptly, the Mazoku disappeared and Rasmus swung his staff down into the air the astral being had occupied with a melodic clang of the rings on the end.

"Piece of shit! If there's one thing I learned from Rezo it's to never deal with monsters!" Rasmus shouted, then turned, closing his eyes. The only astral activity in the area was Flagoon's, all else was either obscured or not there at all, and Rasmus frowned. Even that Mazoku had disappeared from his detection, "Xelloss... Beastmaster's General and Priest," he muttered, remembering where he'd heard that name before. "How the hell did HE get here!" Rasmus snapped.

The world twisted again, the building beneath Rasmus's feet feeling almost like it had turned to sand under him and his balance was too far off to cast a levitation spell again while it moved. All he could do was cling to the radio antenna that was bolted to the top of the building. Closing his eyes once more, Rasmus searched the sky, the horizon, and the ground for good measure with his astral senses. He focused all his attention on looking, trying to see through the buildings, if he could. There were people still in them, people huddled together in fear, but even as he watched, sirens went off all over the city. Some of the people began moving, most of them, but still some stayed. The streets were about cleared by now, except for the new flood of escapees.

"Maybe they can't get out?" David suggested. "The people in the Hospital wouldn't be able to move."

"I'd have to blow holes in their houses, David. I don't know what their homes look like to teleport in," Rasmus answered, but that didn't mean he had to like the answer. "I'll...just have to make sure the city doesn't get destroyed," he stated firmly and finally the movement stopped. He still hadn't found the source.

Opening his eyes, Rasmus took off into the air again, his clothes and hair pulled in every direction by a sudden wind that sprang up, lifting the arm not holding his staff, Rasmus tried to shield his eyes. It was a good thing he had.

A blast of wind followed by a pillar of light in the center of town flung Rasmus back quite a ways before he caught himself and found somewhere to set down, perching atop the roof of a radio station as he squinted at the light, cloak and ribbons flailing behind him in a wind that was definitely magic born. "Rei Wing!" he cast and launched again, fighting the wind. Below him, anything that wasn't tied down began moving, some being light enough to be picked up by the wind and sent into his path. He dodged as best he could, but was glad he'd cast a Rei Wing instead of a simple Levitation when a garbage can hit his shield. The spell cracked a little, and his flight faltered, but Rasmus continued on, feeling David 'peering' over his shoulder in concern.

Slowly, he made headway towards the pillar of light, only to suddenly find all resistance gone, followed by blinding light as the pillar pulsed and expanded outwards. Unable to see in either the physical or astral plane, Rasmus spiraled downwards and landed hard on something flat and covered in gravel. "Should have brought my sunglasses," David muttered with twenty/twenty hindsight.

"Seriously," Rasmus agreed sourly and pushed himself to his hands and knees, blinking the spots from his vision. "Haven't even SEEN the bloody thing and I'm already bruised; Wonderful way to start a battle."

"Seriously," was the only answer David gave.

Behind him, Flagoon had gone silent, all the people it could call had apparently made it through the city and to its trunk, which was just fine with Rasmus. Less area to protect. Except for the few people who hadn't left. "Idiots," he cursed them, but could honestly do nothing.

Once again, the pressure in the air increased, like the time Xelloss had presented himself to Rasmus, grinding into the sorcerer's bones and crushing him flat against the ground. Desperately, he gasped for air and shifted, trying to get a look at what was going on, but his view was limited to the pillar of light, which had expanded to cover at least six blocks of the city ahead of him. And in the center...

"It's a gate!" Rasmus gasped, watching in horror as Something stuck a portion of its body out of the pillar, slowly easing itself from the astral realm into the physical. "Is it..." Rasmus narrowed his eyes, trying to read the astral signature of the beast that was emerging before him and his eyes watered from the effort. "Cephied," he sobbed from the pain of the pressure of the gate opening.

Painfully slow, the demon slipped out of the portal, and at last, hung above the city, vaguely resembling a flying scorpion. The gate closed behind it, but not before something else popped through in a twist of black that looked much like a Mazoku teleportation. Five spots fell, silhouetted against the light, then the light went out and Rasmus pulled himself up to his knees, clutching his chest and casting a healing spell on himself. "Damn it!" he hissed, "I can't do anything when my heart threatens to give out at every little bit of stress!"

David, thankfully didn't argue his ownership of that particular body part, nor did he apologize or comment. Doing so would have been pointless, after all. Gathering himself up, Rasmus leaned heavily on his staff and stared up at the demon. "It's not a dark lord. But it's powerful... powerful enough to be..." Rasmus's eyes widened, "Yes! That's what it is. It's a demonbeast, like Zanafaar. Only... not dead already and not partially controlled by a human. David, why do we get all the luck?" he asked.

"No clue, little brother. Let's just beat it up quick before it destroys anything."

Sighing, Rasmus shook his head, "Beating it up would require destroying a lot of stuff. But you're right. Let's do it." He took off, lifting straight upwards, hunting for a better place to perch. He found the tallest building in the city and set down atop the radio antenna, balancing carefully on it. "Let's try something spiritual first."

Taking a breath, Rasmus held his staff out in front of him, then slowly turned it between his hands, drawing a white glowing circle. "Powers bound within the earth, air, fire, water, and spirit, hear my call and lend me strength." His talisman flashed briefly, and he gripped his staff again, upright once more.

Another breath, and Rasmus started the actual spell, closing his eyes in an effort to concentrate, "Source of all souls which dwell in eternal and infinite..." His voice echoed strangely, in his mind as well as outside. David was chanting along, too calling upon his power which gathered on the end of his staff, becoming a bright ball of nearly fluorescent white, "Everlasting flame of blue," he continued, "let the power hidden in my soul be called forth from the Infinite!" Opening his eyes, Rasmus set his sights on the demonbeast and shifted his hold on his staff, holding it like a bat, "Now die! RA-TILT!"

His swing set the spell sailing off to its destination, which was a bit farther than the spell was ever meant to travel. Leaning forward and peering closely, Rasmus watched as the demonbeast turned one of its bulbous eyes- set on top of its head like a chameleon's- to look at the spell, which was a puny pebble compared to it. "Oh god," Rasmus murmured as the spell went "Paff!" against the demon's forehead. That was the best descriptive word for what happened.

"Paff!" Rasmus sobbed a laugh, "God dammit!" he flailed his staff at the beast. "Get out of my CITY! You bloody stinking beast!" he shouted, letting off steam with a childish temper tantrum, his staff jingling madly as he waved it. "How dare you come here and fuck up my new life! How DARE you! I'm going to make STEW out of you! Or maybe just SUSHI!" He left off exactly how he was going to accomplish that and settled down before the antenna he was on broke under his weight. He seethed in silence for a few moments. "Alright, FINE!" he snarled, "I'll Dragon Slave your ass!" Launching up into the air again, Rasmus shot like an arrow towards the demonbeast, staff at the ready and a wail of howl echoing across the city.

Amelia peered up at the white clad figure perched on the antenna set atop one of the many tall buildings in the city as they ran along the street below. His voice sounded eerily familiar, but it was a bit hard to tell with the echo and distance. "That's no Justice speech," she observed, then glanced towards Zelgadis who shook his head, not knowing much more than she did.

"Get out of my CITY!" the figure shrieked, "You bloody stinking beast!" It was the sound of bells ringing in time with every flail of that staff that grated on Zel's nerves as he followed the fluttering tail of Lina's cloak.

"Zel, Amelia," Lina called back to them, "Did you see what spell he cast?"

Zelgadis didn't have the answer, but Amelia did, "I think it was the Rah Tilt, Ms. Lina."

"It certainly didn't do anything to it," Zelgadis added and they came to a stop beneath the building the strange sorcerer had been atop.

Sylphiel staggered and put her hand against the rough brick, panting, and shaking her head slowly, "Ms. Lina- this is... Sairaag. It feels like Sairaag! I can feel Flagoon."

Gourry remained silent, staring up at the sky, as the voice floated down to them in the eerily silent city, "Fine! I'll Dragon Slave your ass!... HHYYYYAAAAAAAAAAaaaaa!" the voice faded with speed and distance and Gourry pointed up.

"Lina! He just took off towards it!"

Glowering, Lina cursed, it was times like these that she wished Gourry hadn't given away the Sword of Light. After all, what harm could it have done if it had been left in Lina's hands? She'd earned it too! "Damn," she muttered, then turned and grabbed Gourry's arm, "Levitation!" Taking off upwards her other three companions with the ability of magic followed, and together, they reached the top of the building, just as the unknown sorcerer reached his goal. In a flash of movement, one of the demonbeast's massive legs moved, intercepting the sorcerer's intended physical attack, or so it seemed, except the man disappeared at the last moment, and a white speck far above the creature appeared, falling swiftly downwards, a glow of Ruby Eyes's power flashing around him.

"He's going to Dragon Slave it," Lina whispered, amazed by the guts the man had. "While falling towards it."

Gourry shaded his eyes from the light of the rising moon and peered towards the monster, "Well, it is pretty high off the ground. I don't think one of your spells could reach it, even from here, Lina."

Lina shook her head as she stared upwards at the demonbeast's belly and chin, and spun around at a gasp behind her, "Ms. Lina! It IS Flagoon!" Sylphiel was pointing her rod towards the holy tree that stood on the horizon, strong and proud and sheltering. The explosion of a spell going off brought Lina back around, just in time to see the white shape go flying off limply towards the holy tree.

It was definitely not a controlled flight Lina thought, "Zel, Amelia, go catch him!" without even a nod, they took off. "How can we defeat this thing?" she asked and peered into the smoke from the Dragon Slave to find that the demonbeast was unhurt.

Xelloss teleported in beside her and set down on the gravel of the roof, eyes open for once. "Hm, looks like this one will be a challenge, even for you, Lina Inverse. So long as you hold grudges," he said, then smiled, closing his eyes, "But I'm sure you'll figure out a way to defeat it."

"If Filia were here, I'd have you combine powers with her," Lina pointed out.

Softly, he laughed, "Oh, you don't need Filia for that."

Snapping her hand out, Lina grasped Xelloss's shirt and yanked him down to eye level, "What's that supposed to mean? Amelia isn't powerful enough to do something like that, and even if she combined with Sylphiel, they still wouldn't be. We need someone who's truly touched by the Gods to do that!"

Lifting a finger, Xelloss smiled, and touched Lina's wrist. Her hand went slack, and he disappeared just as abruptly as he'd come. "Damn it!" Lina shouted and shook her fist at the demonbeast.

"Ms. Lina," Sylphiel called, and Lina turned, watching as the falling figure suddenly called a barrier around himself, his flight path was straight towards Flagoon, and it didn't look as if Amelia and Zelgadis would reach him in time. Sylphiel shifted nervously, watching as a plume of dirt exploded upwards from the impact of the shielded sorcerer. "Oh, I hope he lived through that!"

Nodding, Lina silently agreed, whoever he was, he'd probably be a good ally against this demonbeast.