Fenrisulfr - Closing the Portal
Jun. 9th, 2008 06:46 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsWanda and Cain close the portal, while Doug deals with the leader of the Lokian Ásatrú cult.
When the dog went flying through the portal, Wanda couldn't help but smother a laugh. That had been inventive. But they had another problem - the gate and the magic that was holding it open. "Cain!" she yelled, getting his attention. "The gate!" The rune holders were looking startled, which meant it was the perfect time to make a beeline towards the rune she'd had her eye on.
Pulling himself up from where he was facedown on the ground, Cain looked at the cascade of colors in the portal. Something was very faintly visible on the other side, like one of those posters the kids had that you could stare at for hours before seeing a sailboat in the middle of all the static. "Do what now?" he bellowed as he stood up, ignoring the chaos around him.
A memory came to him, of standing in front of a similar rift, one one side the mansion and the world he knew, and on the other side the hell dimension of Limbo, where demons had taken Illyana. Back then, he had to hold the portal open so that his friends could return.
Well, if he could hold it open...
Reaching out, Cain pushed his hands against the edge of the rip and clenched his fists.
As soon as he did that, Wanda nearly faceplanted as the chaos strings exploded in her mind. Not literally and she was forever thankful for that but the strings in the area suddenly exploded, changed, or vanished and it was all centered around the gate that Cain was messing with. Gritting her teeth, she shook her head to clear herself of the spots in front of her eyes and kicked out at the nearest cultist. Who really was too involved with the fact that the runes were started to glow in odd colors as they fought against Cain's hold.
She curled her hands around the one on the ground and nearly let go at - she hadn't expected it to be as warm as it was. Still, she got a good hold. "Brace yourself!" she called out to him, preparing to send a concentrated blast through it.
--
Bingo. Time to go from "cowed potential sacrifice" to "pissed-off martial artist". Bjarne stood watching as his plans dissolved around him, his gaze flicking from Wanda to Cain and back again. Which meant it was entirely too easy for Doug to plant his foot in the cult leader's back and send him sprawling in the dirt. He immediately darted after the man and piled onto him, not giving him a chance to get his feet under him and bring the knife into play.
Doug and Bjarne rolled around the runic circle, grappling and clawing at each other. Bjarne kept a tight grip on the knife no matter how hard Doug twisted at his wrist. "Eager to give some more blood?" Bjarne asked Doug, a fanatical light in his eyes. He could still salvage the situation.
"No, you," Doug grunted, slamming his elbow into Bjarne's ribs.
--
Cain grunted as he flexed, pulling the edges of the portal closer together. "I am sick... and tired... of anything to do... with Asgard!" he shouted, exerting all his strength to wrench the rift between dimensions shut.
Through the swirl of colors, he could see an image resolve. Blinking, he paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to glance into a completely different dimension, to see what lay on the other side.
It looked curiously like a large dog turning around and running at full speed directly for him.
"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Cain cried, trying to rip at the portal. "Wanda go go go go go! Evil puppy! Evil puppy!"
--
Doug and Bjarne continued to roll around, sweat, dirt, and the oozing blood from Doug's earlier wound smudging his bare torso and Bjarne's robes.
He hissed as Bjarne's knife scored a gash along his forearm, and Bjarne howled in triumph. His yell cut off, though, as Doug chopped his bladed hand against the other man's throat. As he gasped for breath, Doug rolled them again, clutching Bjarne's knife hand with one fist, and hammering at his face with the other.
"That," he grunted as he landed a solid blow to Bjarne's eye, "is for cutting me."
"That," he continued as he thrust the madman into the trunk of a tree at the edge of the clearing, "is for beating me and Amanda and Angie up." He popped up to his feet as Bjarne writhed on the ground, clutching at his back.
"And THAT," he yelled as he drove his foot forward, punting Bjarne's head like a soccer ball, "Is for interrupting my goddamn blowjob!!" He leaned over, elbows on his knees, panting from exertion before spitting on the unconscious man's robes. He grinned weakly and addressed the passed out cultist. "Dude, Loki himself was like 'not sending you back, ha ha', and I showed him where he could shove it. Compared to him, you're just a wannabe. Enjoy jail, kortr."
--
"Stop sticking your head in things it doesn't belong!" Wanda yelled back as the red light from her hands enveloped the rune. When it faded, it didn't crumble in her hands like she was half-expecting. The glowing sigil lost the light for a moment, fading to stony gray and Wanda glanced up in concern at the portal right as the rune exploded into color between her fingers. Yelping, she tossed it to the ground and backed away, watching as the next rune did the same thing and then the one after that - a chain reaction of blinding color that was glowed brighter with each passing second. Some of the smarter cultists tossed down their runes and ran. Those who didn't...Wanda was scrambling back as they started to explode, covering her face as shards of stone rained down.
"Let go of it!" she screamed, watching as the lines of chaos pulsed and condensed around the portal edges.
Cain didn't need to be told twice, letting himself fall backwards away from the glowing portal.
After a moment, Wanda staggered to her feet and stepped over one of the cultist - who had passed out after losing both of his hands when the runes exploded - and staggered over to Cain. Hands on her knees, she peered into her face for a moment. "You smell like dog breath," she told him with a straight face.
Cain just groaned, refusing to look around. "Is it done?" he asked with a moan. "I feel like a chew toy."
She glanced around. "Portal's closed and these jokers won't be using the runes any time soon," she informed him, "so I would say probably. I would give you a hands up but, uh, you're covered in dog spit. Ew."
"Good," Cain said with a sigh, spreading his arms out to the sides. "Everyone seem like they got shit under control?" At Wanda's nod, he smiled.
"I'm just gonna lay here for a while. Least until Jubilee finds out what I did with her chicken."
Doug staggered across the clearing to where Cain and Wanda stood, attempting futilely to brush his chest and arms clean of the muck and blood. "Thanks for the save, guys," he told them gratefully. "I owe you one."
When the dog went flying through the portal, Wanda couldn't help but smother a laugh. That had been inventive. But they had another problem - the gate and the magic that was holding it open. "Cain!" she yelled, getting his attention. "The gate!" The rune holders were looking startled, which meant it was the perfect time to make a beeline towards the rune she'd had her eye on.
Pulling himself up from where he was facedown on the ground, Cain looked at the cascade of colors in the portal. Something was very faintly visible on the other side, like one of those posters the kids had that you could stare at for hours before seeing a sailboat in the middle of all the static. "Do what now?" he bellowed as he stood up, ignoring the chaos around him.
A memory came to him, of standing in front of a similar rift, one one side the mansion and the world he knew, and on the other side the hell dimension of Limbo, where demons had taken Illyana. Back then, he had to hold the portal open so that his friends could return.
Well, if he could hold it open...
Reaching out, Cain pushed his hands against the edge of the rip and clenched his fists.
As soon as he did that, Wanda nearly faceplanted as the chaos strings exploded in her mind. Not literally and she was forever thankful for that but the strings in the area suddenly exploded, changed, or vanished and it was all centered around the gate that Cain was messing with. Gritting her teeth, she shook her head to clear herself of the spots in front of her eyes and kicked out at the nearest cultist. Who really was too involved with the fact that the runes were started to glow in odd colors as they fought against Cain's hold.
She curled her hands around the one on the ground and nearly let go at - she hadn't expected it to be as warm as it was. Still, she got a good hold. "Brace yourself!" she called out to him, preparing to send a concentrated blast through it.
--
Bingo. Time to go from "cowed potential sacrifice" to "pissed-off martial artist". Bjarne stood watching as his plans dissolved around him, his gaze flicking from Wanda to Cain and back again. Which meant it was entirely too easy for Doug to plant his foot in the cult leader's back and send him sprawling in the dirt. He immediately darted after the man and piled onto him, not giving him a chance to get his feet under him and bring the knife into play.
Doug and Bjarne rolled around the runic circle, grappling and clawing at each other. Bjarne kept a tight grip on the knife no matter how hard Doug twisted at his wrist. "Eager to give some more blood?" Bjarne asked Doug, a fanatical light in his eyes. He could still salvage the situation.
"No, you," Doug grunted, slamming his elbow into Bjarne's ribs.
--
Cain grunted as he flexed, pulling the edges of the portal closer together. "I am sick... and tired... of anything to do... with Asgard!" he shouted, exerting all his strength to wrench the rift between dimensions shut.
Through the swirl of colors, he could see an image resolve. Blinking, he paused for a moment, taking the opportunity to glance into a completely different dimension, to see what lay on the other side.
It looked curiously like a large dog turning around and running at full speed directly for him.
"SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" Cain cried, trying to rip at the portal. "Wanda go go go go go! Evil puppy! Evil puppy!"
--
Doug and Bjarne continued to roll around, sweat, dirt, and the oozing blood from Doug's earlier wound smudging his bare torso and Bjarne's robes.
He hissed as Bjarne's knife scored a gash along his forearm, and Bjarne howled in triumph. His yell cut off, though, as Doug chopped his bladed hand against the other man's throat. As he gasped for breath, Doug rolled them again, clutching Bjarne's knife hand with one fist, and hammering at his face with the other.
"That," he grunted as he landed a solid blow to Bjarne's eye, "is for cutting me."
"That," he continued as he thrust the madman into the trunk of a tree at the edge of the clearing, "is for beating me and Amanda and Angie up." He popped up to his feet as Bjarne writhed on the ground, clutching at his back.
"And THAT," he yelled as he drove his foot forward, punting Bjarne's head like a soccer ball, "Is for interrupting my goddamn blowjob!!" He leaned over, elbows on his knees, panting from exertion before spitting on the unconscious man's robes. He grinned weakly and addressed the passed out cultist. "Dude, Loki himself was like 'not sending you back, ha ha', and I showed him where he could shove it. Compared to him, you're just a wannabe. Enjoy jail, kortr."
--
"Stop sticking your head in things it doesn't belong!" Wanda yelled back as the red light from her hands enveloped the rune. When it faded, it didn't crumble in her hands like she was half-expecting. The glowing sigil lost the light for a moment, fading to stony gray and Wanda glanced up in concern at the portal right as the rune exploded into color between her fingers. Yelping, she tossed it to the ground and backed away, watching as the next rune did the same thing and then the one after that - a chain reaction of blinding color that was glowed brighter with each passing second. Some of the smarter cultists tossed down their runes and ran. Those who didn't...Wanda was scrambling back as they started to explode, covering her face as shards of stone rained down.
"Let go of it!" she screamed, watching as the lines of chaos pulsed and condensed around the portal edges.
Cain didn't need to be told twice, letting himself fall backwards away from the glowing portal.
After a moment, Wanda staggered to her feet and stepped over one of the cultist - who had passed out after losing both of his hands when the runes exploded - and staggered over to Cain. Hands on her knees, she peered into her face for a moment. "You smell like dog breath," she told him with a straight face.
Cain just groaned, refusing to look around. "Is it done?" he asked with a moan. "I feel like a chew toy."
She glanced around. "Portal's closed and these jokers won't be using the runes any time soon," she informed him, "so I would say probably. I would give you a hands up but, uh, you're covered in dog spit. Ew."
"Good," Cain said with a sigh, spreading his arms out to the sides. "Everyone seem like they got shit under control?" At Wanda's nod, he smiled.
"I'm just gonna lay here for a while. Least until Jubilee finds out what I did with her chicken."
Doug staggered across the clearing to where Cain and Wanda stood, attempting futilely to brush his chest and arms clean of the muck and blood. "Thanks for the save, guys," he told them gratefully. "I owe you one."
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