Sunday, June 15 (shortly after sunset)
While the rest of the group is out in the waiting room discussing Mike and Molly's condition, Mike regains conciousness in the examination room feeling disoriented. He glances around the room and notices someone familiar-looking laying on another table in the same room. It takes him a moment to realize that he's seeing himself. While this sinks in, the other him starts to stir and looks around. Upon seeing him, the other Mike begins to scream.
In the waiting room, the group hears Mike screaming and rushes in to the examination room. There's a great deal of confusion until Mike tries to manifest his angelic powers and they all see Molly standing there in gleaming armor and sprouting angelic wings. Danny takes a closer look at their Chi and confirms that Mike and Molly have somehow switched bodies. Joe admits that he's never seen anything like this before.
Unfortunately, the group still owes Joe for the help he provided in freeing Molly from the clutches of the Oni sorcerer. They decide that they don't know how long it's going to take to get Mike and Molly back into their correct bodies, so they should go ahead and investigate the strange goings-on in the swamp. Joe promises to look into what may have happened. Danny agrees to stay behind and help.
A short way into the swamp, but far enough for the town's lights to no longer be visible, the group beings to start having some strange encounters. First, a crow is startled by their passage and flies off squawking loudly. This begins speculation on what exactly it is the team may be up against. Several times the idea of the Fae comes up, which makes the group nervous as none of them have much experience in that area. A bit later they can hear faint moaning and tinkling sounds off in the distance. Then a low thick fog rolls in but seems to hover around knee level.
A bit further in, several members see glowing marks on a tree a little way off the trail. Kayla sneaks head of the group to investigate. She cannot make out what the symbol is but when she looks around, she notices that something is not quite right in the trees. She's not sure what it is but something doesn't fit. She sneaks back and brings the rest of the group over. None of them recognize the symbol either and when she directs them to the clump of trees with the oddity they go over to investigate. Attached to one of the tress is a long rectangular box. Inside is a battery-powered black-light pointed directly at the tree. It doesn't take long to come to the conclusion that someone is attempting to pull a 'Blair Witch' on the locals.
The group continues along the trail, Kayla again scouting ahead. After a short while, she hears voices ahead. She makes out one of them saying something about, “...that damned bird gets spooked by everything...” She risks a closer look and manages to stay hidden. She counts four men, all carrying pistols and flashlights.
Kayla sneaks back to the group and warns them. They set up an ambush and easily take the 4 by surprise. They offer no resistance other than some mouthiness. When they get handcuffed together, they demand to know if the group are cops. Julian identifies himself as a “swamp ranger”. The mouthiest member of the group (and their apparent leader) asks if they're being arrested and what for. Julian and Zeke start asking questions about what the four are doing in the swamp and who they work for. The spokesman of the four says that if they're under arrest, they should be read their rights and that they won't be saying anything without a lawyer. Zeke decides to try intimidating the speaker by hitting him in the face several times with one of the captured pistols. This draws a response of angry shouts about police brutality, lawsuits and the like. Eventually Julian pulls Zeke back. Zeke tells the man that they're not police and starts hinting at what will happen if they continue to refuse to talk. However, the only information they really get is a response from the spokesman, “You guys won't think you're so hard once Mr. Sweetland gets wind of this.”
Julian recognizes the name as a Vibora Bay businessman who is rumored to be the local Mafia boss. The team takes the 4 back to Joe's office where they are tied up and the local sheriff is called to pick them up. Before the sheriff shows up, they head back into the swamp to try to get more information. A little way past where they had ambushed the 4 men, they find a dead raccoon nailed to a tree with some sort of 'arcane symbol' painted above it in the raccoon's blood. Zeke and Julian can tell that whoever made the symbol didn't know what they were doing from a mystical standpoint.
After another 30 minutes or so, they discover an encampment of about 12-15 men and women. There's a pile of crates on the opposite side of the clearing and one other path out. Four of the men are off to one side arguing about the men sent out earlier not returning. One of the men has a shotgun, another a hunting rifle and two of them carrying some kind of submachine-gun. The rest of the group all look to be packing basic pistols.
Kayla and Sonia sneak around the camp to take a closer look at the crates. Kayla silently knocks out the man standing guard over the crates and then picks the lock on one. The two discover that it's filled with stuffed animals. Ripping one open, they find a bag of white powder under its stuffing. After they return and report their findings, the group decides to attack.
The attack is quick and decisive, the group putting down nearly half the opposition before any real defense can be managed. Mike is briefly stunned by a rifle shot bouncing off her helmet but no real damage is sustained by anyone. The handful not quickly put down try to run away. They are quickly run down (one by a Demon Hound summoned by Zeke).
Zeke proceeds to clean up the scene to remove evidence that they were the group responsible for the attack. They concoct a story about being mercenaries hired by the Sovereign Sons (Sweetland's main competition in the drug trade) and tell it to a couple of the guys they captured. The rest of the group vacates while Julian calls the scene in to the local sheriff, planning to tell him that he came on the scene after the fighting was already over.
2 points each for Julian, Zeke, Sonia, Kayla & Mike