LITD: XMen, Tandy and Dana : The Battle
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xp_logsAdrienne, Haller and Kurt find Tandy and someone else.
This plot has some potentially distressing content
They'd made it to the centre of the compound, a building in considerable disrepair with a gaping hole in the roof and battle damage written all over the walls. Adrienne hung back to let the menfolk enter first, but slapped a hand on the doorway as she entered, just to make sure Tandy was really in here. She blinked in the darkness as her eyes adjusted, then did some blinking in confusion. The room looked empty. "What the hell? She's in here, I saw her being brought in, and not being brought out. There's no other way out, either," she told Haller and Kurt worriedly.
Jim shut his eyes as he tried again, trying to minimize external stimuli as he scanned. Tandy's psi-signature had been eluding him for some time; in such close proximity even he could sense something, but what he felt was nebulous, muted somehow. At least Adrienne could confirm the path she'd taken.
"Still nothing clear," the telepath admitted as he opened his eyes. "She's alive, and she's got to be close, but I can't get a fix."
"She must be here but concealed somehow." Kurt's eyes narrowed, looking over at Haller. "And if you cannot pin her down, perhaps that is our clue as to how."
"This sucks," Adrienne muttered under her breath. "This is why I don't do this X-Men rescue shit. Impending death and I can't even fucking see who's gonna kill me." She reached a hand down and took a Reading off the floor. "Room's too big, I can't tell where they are."
Red eyes appeared from the darkness followed by a woman's voice, "Show me your fears..."
Jim stumbled as the psychic fog lifted with the suddenness of someone throwing back the curtains to reveal a thesun. What had been only a vague feeling of apprehension was suddenly a bucket of ice water down the spine, completely out of proportion to what his eyes were showing him.
The darkness peeled away. Now light spilled through a hole in the ceiling to illuminate the room that was still decrepit, but no longer empty. In the middle lay Tandy, motionless as a doll in a loose ring of candles, and above her stood a woman. Just a woman, with dark hair and a simple black shirt over a simple black skirt. She could have been anyone.
Around her, the astral plane distorted with cold dread.
Dana smirked as she looked at each one slowly, "I sense dread and fear in each of you. Do not hold it back, it will be so much more exhilarating if you just let it go." The woman was slowly working her way into each of their heads to instill the fear inside of them. Tandy's skin began to glow as Dana fed on her light empowering her.
Adrienne was usually pretty good about shoving her fear into tiny, out-of-the-way places in her mind and then dealing with them from the comfort of her own liquor bottle at more convenient times, so she tried her best to keep her mind clear using mental exercises and hold the fear back, though she had no idea how this chick could sense it or why she wanted Adrienne to let it go. She noticed the glow of Tandy's skin and cursed. "Sweetie, we're here to get you, okay? Don't be scared. She glows when she's upset," she said aloud, though she wasn't really sure who she was saying it to.
Dana raised an eyebrow and looked down at Tandy, bending over for a moment and touched the girl's forehead. At the touch, Tandy opened her eyes a bit and looked up at the demon who spoke, "I need more..." Dana looked up at the others, as she pressed further trying to break barriers.
"You cannot have it", Kurt said in a snarl, teleporting forward now he could see where to go. Lashing out sharply, he kicked Dana away from Tandy and grabbed the girl.
"No." Dana yelled as she took a step backwards, her link broken from Tandy. "She is mine!" Lifting her hands up as tiny imps emerged from the shadows. "Get her back!" The sounds of screeching echoed in the compound as the imps started their advancement on the small group.
"Kurt!" Jim jammed a fist to his forehead, trying to physically beat back the pressure. He had to focus. He could see twisted creatures swarming over the X-Man as he labored to pull Tandy back, imps clinging to his arms, his legs, his tail. "Kurt, that woman, she's -- it's like Chthon or Cytorrak, she's not human--"
He broke off as the remainder of the imps reached himself and Adrienne, reflexively slamming them back with a blast of telekinesis.
Kurt tried to teleport closer to the girl, fighting the imps all the way with kicks and in one case grabbing one and simply squeezing it to death... and then a cry of pure horror rang out as D'Spayre put an image in his head. His eyes jammed closed and he froze to the spot, trying to hide from what he saw. His foot, buried to the ankle in Tandy's chest.
Tandy opened her eyes to see Kurt, the blue fuzzy man. "Away..." She whispered faintly.
"I will not lose to some mortals!" Pushing hard on their barriers to enter their minds, to find their fears to make it real. Seeing that the girl had awakened, Dana gritted her teeth, "Get her back!"
The stupid little imp things were all over and Adrienne was trying not to severely freak out about them as she lashed out with feet and fists while they bit and grabbed at her. She was also getting incredibly uncomfortable with images of Steven taking form in her mind, but kept trying to move around the room taking Readings of the walls to try and get a picture of the space they were in.
The imps' grasping seemed to cut below the physical and right to his brain, whispering that he was just seconds away from being again blind and trapped in his own mind. But while Jack lashed out, Jim had begun to process. Kurt's scream, missing Tandy even at such a short range -- if something was in their heads --
"Frost!" The tone changed in mid-syllable as Jim forced his way to the surface. He reached out and grabbed Adrienne by the arm, narrowly ignoring a reflexive flail that almost hit his jaw. His control was so tenuous he had no choice, he needed the physical contact. "Adrienne, Read the room!"
"Don't use my real name, idiot!" Adrienne screeched to Haller as she desperately lashed out at the imps and dove forward, flailing blindly at the wall across the room from where they'd entered. "Ha!" she called out triumphantly as her hand connected with the wall.
It wasn't real. It wasn't real. With Jim's help, the image of the real room via Adrienne firmly held in his mind, Kurt reached Tandy and pulled her into his arms.
Her illusions broke and the imps disappeared. Raising her hands to her red eyes as the sunlight poured in from the roof, "Fucking...mutants...can't leave well enough alone!" Throwing her arms in front of her to unleash blast of her fire energy, "Teach you from dealing with me."
Tandy held on tightly to Kurt as she whispered, "The nightmares...I can see them...make it stop!"
Haller grit his teeth as energy splashed against a hastily-erected telekinetic screen; Jack was out again. But the protection came at the expense of his telepathy. There could be no repeat of the trick with Adrienne as long as he maintained the shield, nothing to help them distinguish illusion from reality.
And the dark was closing in.
Scott and Kane enter the chaotic scene and the tables are turned.
This plot has some potentially distressing content
Dana smirked at shield that the man threw up, protecting them from the energy blast she was creating - she pressed harder onto the shield. What was real and what wasn't was starting to blend together as Dana used Tandy's fears to become stronger. "Give it up mutants....do you know how many I have overwhelmed and sucked dry? You are no better than they were."
Jack strained under the blast and the scrabbling imps, and not just from the physical pressure. He could feel the weight against his shields but sensed a buckling, as if his powers were failing. He could see the imps as they clawed at the barrier, could see that it wasn't so, but as the feeling persisted it began to reflect itself in reality. The shield began to flicker.
"It's in our heads, get the girl out!" the telekinetic snarled as he was forced to relinquish the full sphere for a more controllable half-shield. The imps quickly discovered the breach and again began to swarm towards Tandy.
"If we could fucking do that don't you think we would have by now?!" Adrienne screeched, fighting off the imps and the crippling fear of Steven manifesting in front of her to grab at her just like the creatures were doing as she struggled to get around the room and take Readings of the layout. "She's sucking people dry, for Chrissakes, yeah I think getting the girl out is a fucking good idea!"
Kurt was refusing to relinquish his hold on Tandy, to the point of physically ripping imps off her and throwing them across the room, but there were more and more of them and he was in danger of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
The sight greeting Scott as he and Garrison rounded the corner was not one he had expected to see. The rest of the team were being attacked by..."imps?" He asked in disbelief as he shook his head and blinked trying to clear his eye as his gaze landed on the woman who was apparently coordinating the attack. As the new arrivals rushed towards the fight Scott gathered up some energy and snapped off a shot towards Dana hoping to take her out of the fight with a surprise attack.
"Imps. Why not?" Kane said dryly. His chip was feeding his brain tactical information at an enhanced rate, and the Canadian broke forward, his exceptional speed turning him from man to human projectile as he hit the mass of imps dead on.
The sound was best described as 'SCHLURP'. He disappeared into the mass, and like an explosion, the mass erupted in a thousand directions as he broke through. The impact had distracted and disoriented the mob, and left smears of many on the ground. But for a moment, the pressure of the attack faltered. Garrison tried to clear his head, body covered in a thousand tiny gashes before his omniskin caught up with the claws.
"'s Christmas?' he muttered groggly, hands to his temples.
Dana was hit by the blast and was sent back and hit the wall behind her. The remaining imps that Garrison didn't take out vanished as a low growl escaped from the woman's lips as she stood up. Cracking her neck before opened her red eyes and narrowed them towards the group of mutants. "Your fears...they are mine." Drawing energy from Tandy as Dana allowed the radius of her power to instill fear grew, hoping to take them all out in one blow.
Without the imps to distract them, Adrienne could now focus more of her attention on forcing her fear of Steven out of her mind. She went in low at the demon woman, trying to take a leg out from under her to set her off balance. But the closer she got to the crazy bitch, the more sharply the fear bit at her, until there didn't seem to be any thought left in her head except the fear, and wanting to get away from it. She forgot what she was trying to do, dropping to the ground in a ball with her hands on her own temples as Garrison had done.
A gout of flame sprang up between Dana and Adrienne. With Jack compromised Haller's mind had switched its secondary line of defense, Cyndi. Already the younger alter's face was showing strain, but as the imps began squeal to burn triumph danced with fire in her eyes -- until Dana took a casual step through the fire, not even scorched.
"Bitch doesn't burn--?" Cyndi blurted, her concentration faltering. The fire, burning more through force of will than fuel, sputtered and died. That little sliver of doubt exploded into full-grown terror that sent Cyndi swinging at nothing, fighting off imaginary hands hauling her back to the "safety" of solitary.
Tandy's head looked over at Dana as her glowing skin started to fade, as if her light was leaving her. As Dana's power increased, Tandy breathing started to decrease and at an alarming pace. The teenager's living light wasn't storing fast enough from what Dana was taking, "Away..." She whispered, holding on to the light so she wouldn't fade into the darkness of her fears.
"Away", Kurt agreed grimly, and took the opportunity of a moment clear of any imps to teleport them both outside.
Dana yelled when her major feeding source disappeared. Gritting her teeth, as her imps disappeared into a cloud of smoke. "You still haven't won...your fears will overcome you." With Tandy gone, D'Spayre felt her powers weakening. She needed to get another major source and fast.
"Sucking the life force from people. You know my dad said all women have that power." Kane's head had cleared, long enough that he was able to grab a nearby table and launch it directly at the creature.
Dana fell to the ground as the table landed on her. The demon pushed it off and stood up once more, this time she was bleeding from the head. "Fuck you." She raised her hands and blasted fire energy towards the group of mutants.
Garrison's attack had broken Dana's mental focus for long enough for Scott to clear his head and he stepped forward, his eye glowing as he unleashed an optic blast to counter Dana's fireball. "After kidnapping one of our students you're gonna have to do much better than that," he told the woman coldly before another optical blast knocked her backwards.
Adrienne felt her fear dissipating and managed to stagger to her feet, finding the unmoving Haller and shaking him. "Wake up, Sunshine. Demon battle going on? Wanna maybe help us out, here?"
It took him a few seconds to realize he was being shaken, and a few more to figure out which one of him was wondering about it. Things began to register -- Scott's expression of grim determination periodically illuminated by flashes of his optic blasts as he countered the woman's own blasts, Garrison mercilessly hammering her blindside with whatever makeshift projectiles he found at hand to disrupt her concentration. Oh, right. In a fight. The imps seemed to be gone, as did Tandy; a moment later he noticed the telltale sulfur of Kurt's teleportation. The psi pulled himself to his feet, head swimming. Okay. Who the fuck am I right now?
Jim didn't dare come out in this state. Too disoriented, too many switches -- whatever this woman was, his brain felt scalded just by being around her. If she was anything like what he suspected his telepathy would have been useless anyway. But while she hadn't burned before, it seemed she had her limits. In the sickly light that filtered through the partially collapsed ceiling he could see the blood Garrison had drawn. Somehow she had become vulnerable.
And this was an old building.
As Dana hissed at a narrowly missed optic blast Jack drove his mind down against nearly a third of the roof. It struck her, appropriately, like a ton of bricks.
And then, because he was taking no chances and Cyndi in particular had not appreciated the psychic assault, every particle of leaf mold and debris the fallen rooftop had accumulated since the building's abandonment burst into flame.
Shit. Dana thought as she ducked, covering her head allowing the ceiling to fall on top of her. The dust settled and the silence was broken as the rubble started to move as the woman dug her way out.
Breathing hard as she stood up slowly, as a portal behind her open. Black long arms reached out grabbing a hold of Dana and started to pull her back into the black abyss. "You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over. D'Spayre will return!" The portal closed - a pair of glowing red eyes remained until they faded from the sun peering into the room above.
"Did she really just say that she 'will return'? People actually do that?" Kane waved his hand through the space that she had been. "We'll need to ask the magic types about this D'Spayre character."
Scott nodded, "Definitely gonna have to talk to them when we get home," he agreed, "let's just find Kurt and Tandy so we can get out of here." He turned and started for the door, "It had to be magic," he complained to no-one in particular, "I hate magic."
Haller gave no reply. Jim was back in control, but he had no energy left for analysis. That thing, sucking at their fears . . . Mission report. Whatever otherworldly implications could be draw from this could go in a mission report. Instead he turned to Adrienne and asked the only question his throbbing head could formulate. "Do you have any aspirin?"
Adrienne shook her head. "I keep it in my Zombie Apocalypse Vegas Slut Bag, which I left at home, unfortunately." But she pulled a flask out of her back pocket and inspected it. It had held up pretty well during the fight, all things considered. "Would scotch work?" she asked, giving Scott a pointed smirk as she held it out to Haller.
Kurt takes Tandy outside where they have a last run in with Nathan. Tandy fights back.
This plot has some potentially distressing content
Still holding onto the girl for dear life - mostly hers - Kurt had teleported himself and Tandy outside of the compound, where he hoped the demon wouldn't be able to draw from her. He didn't much like abandoning the others, but he couldn't either leave her behind or take her back in with him, so he had little choice.
Feeling her power building up inside her slowly, Tandy knew she was no longer in reach of that woman. Opening her eyes slightly to look up at the blue man. "Where...?" She wanted to ask where they where but looking at the blue sky above him, she knew. "Thanks."
"Outside", he said simply, shifting her into a more comfortable
position in his arms. "And she will not hurt you any more. Your father is her follower?"
Tandy nodded, "Yes. She isn't human, she is something else." Lifting her head slightly, the warmth of her living light was warming her skin. "She would drain me until I almost had nothing left and waited until my light restored before going after it again. It is like she knew what I was."
"Probably she did", he said with a slight shrug. "She may have senses we can only imagine, if it is not as simple as your father having told her."
"Thanks...." Tandy smiled up at the blue man, "...blue fuzzy man." Hearing a twig snap, Tandy turned her head to see a man standing there. "Him."
"Kurt", he told her, vaguely amused, but it vanished instantly at the sight of the man. He set Tandy down with care and stood protectively over her. "You stay back."
"Me?" The look of concern over Tandy that had flickered briefly in Nathan's eyes was quickly replaced with one of anger, now directed at Kurt. "She's my daughter, you stay back from her this instant." He clenched his fists at his side, raising them slightly as he dared to take another step further towards the pair.
Tandy sat up holding herself up with her hand in front of her, "Stay away!" The crescent around her right eye started to glow - reacting to the fear she had of her own father. "Please..."
"You do not deserve to call yourself her father", Kurt snapped at him. "Do you see how she fears you, after what you did? I will take her home, away from you and your demon."
Flames danced in his eyes at the admonition. "My demon? My demon? What do you think I am trying to save her from right now? Let her go this instant!" Raising his hands up higher and aiming at Kurt, he fired a blast with his powers.
Kurt dodged the blast with ease, since the man's powers were so obvious, but didn't move from his placement between Nathan and Tandy. "I think you brought her here to give her to it, and the one she needs saving from is you. You cannot have her."
Tandy struggled to her feet as her father unleashed his own powers, "Careful Kurt, his powers...they are like mine." The teenager looked over at Nathan, all her anger all her fears were directed at him. The man that killed her mother and the only person that she truly considered father. "You are the monster..."Tandy threw her hands out in front of her to send ten light daggers, five from each hand, towards him. "...and I won't let you hurt anyone else."
Taken by surprise by his daughter's actions, Nathan wasn't able to avoid her attack and grunted at the impact, falling over onto his back. His own hands, which had been readying another attack against Kurt, fell limply and the light they'd been gathering fizzled out. While he was still breathing, there was no other movement from the man other than the slight rising and falling of his chest.
The teenager fell to her hands and knees before passing out from overuse of her powers.
This plot has some potentially distressing content
They'd made it to the centre of the compound, a building in considerable disrepair with a gaping hole in the roof and battle damage written all over the walls. Adrienne hung back to let the menfolk enter first, but slapped a hand on the doorway as she entered, just to make sure Tandy was really in here. She blinked in the darkness as her eyes adjusted, then did some blinking in confusion. The room looked empty. "What the hell? She's in here, I saw her being brought in, and not being brought out. There's no other way out, either," she told Haller and Kurt worriedly.
Jim shut his eyes as he tried again, trying to minimize external stimuli as he scanned. Tandy's psi-signature had been eluding him for some time; in such close proximity even he could sense something, but what he felt was nebulous, muted somehow. At least Adrienne could confirm the path she'd taken.
"Still nothing clear," the telepath admitted as he opened his eyes. "She's alive, and she's got to be close, but I can't get a fix."
"She must be here but concealed somehow." Kurt's eyes narrowed, looking over at Haller. "And if you cannot pin her down, perhaps that is our clue as to how."
"This sucks," Adrienne muttered under her breath. "This is why I don't do this X-Men rescue shit. Impending death and I can't even fucking see who's gonna kill me." She reached a hand down and took a Reading off the floor. "Room's too big, I can't tell where they are."
Red eyes appeared from the darkness followed by a woman's voice, "Show me your fears..."
Jim stumbled as the psychic fog lifted with the suddenness of someone throwing back the curtains to reveal a thesun. What had been only a vague feeling of apprehension was suddenly a bucket of ice water down the spine, completely out of proportion to what his eyes were showing him.
The darkness peeled away. Now light spilled through a hole in the ceiling to illuminate the room that was still decrepit, but no longer empty. In the middle lay Tandy, motionless as a doll in a loose ring of candles, and above her stood a woman. Just a woman, with dark hair and a simple black shirt over a simple black skirt. She could have been anyone.
Around her, the astral plane distorted with cold dread.
Dana smirked as she looked at each one slowly, "I sense dread and fear in each of you. Do not hold it back, it will be so much more exhilarating if you just let it go." The woman was slowly working her way into each of their heads to instill the fear inside of them. Tandy's skin began to glow as Dana fed on her light empowering her.
Adrienne was usually pretty good about shoving her fear into tiny, out-of-the-way places in her mind and then dealing with them from the comfort of her own liquor bottle at more convenient times, so she tried her best to keep her mind clear using mental exercises and hold the fear back, though she had no idea how this chick could sense it or why she wanted Adrienne to let it go. She noticed the glow of Tandy's skin and cursed. "Sweetie, we're here to get you, okay? Don't be scared. She glows when she's upset," she said aloud, though she wasn't really sure who she was saying it to.
Dana raised an eyebrow and looked down at Tandy, bending over for a moment and touched the girl's forehead. At the touch, Tandy opened her eyes a bit and looked up at the demon who spoke, "I need more..." Dana looked up at the others, as she pressed further trying to break barriers.
"You cannot have it", Kurt said in a snarl, teleporting forward now he could see where to go. Lashing out sharply, he kicked Dana away from Tandy and grabbed the girl.
"No." Dana yelled as she took a step backwards, her link broken from Tandy. "She is mine!" Lifting her hands up as tiny imps emerged from the shadows. "Get her back!" The sounds of screeching echoed in the compound as the imps started their advancement on the small group.
"Kurt!" Jim jammed a fist to his forehead, trying to physically beat back the pressure. He had to focus. He could see twisted creatures swarming over the X-Man as he labored to pull Tandy back, imps clinging to his arms, his legs, his tail. "Kurt, that woman, she's -- it's like Chthon or Cytorrak, she's not human--"
He broke off as the remainder of the imps reached himself and Adrienne, reflexively slamming them back with a blast of telekinesis.
Kurt tried to teleport closer to the girl, fighting the imps all the way with kicks and in one case grabbing one and simply squeezing it to death... and then a cry of pure horror rang out as D'Spayre put an image in his head. His eyes jammed closed and he froze to the spot, trying to hide from what he saw. His foot, buried to the ankle in Tandy's chest.
Tandy opened her eyes to see Kurt, the blue fuzzy man. "Away..." She whispered faintly.
"I will not lose to some mortals!" Pushing hard on their barriers to enter their minds, to find their fears to make it real. Seeing that the girl had awakened, Dana gritted her teeth, "Get her back!"
The stupid little imp things were all over and Adrienne was trying not to severely freak out about them as she lashed out with feet and fists while they bit and grabbed at her. She was also getting incredibly uncomfortable with images of Steven taking form in her mind, but kept trying to move around the room taking Readings of the walls to try and get a picture of the space they were in.
The imps' grasping seemed to cut below the physical and right to his brain, whispering that he was just seconds away from being again blind and trapped in his own mind. But while Jack lashed out, Jim had begun to process. Kurt's scream, missing Tandy even at such a short range -- if something was in their heads --
"Frost!" The tone changed in mid-syllable as Jim forced his way to the surface. He reached out and grabbed Adrienne by the arm, narrowly ignoring a reflexive flail that almost hit his jaw. His control was so tenuous he had no choice, he needed the physical contact. "Adrienne, Read the room!"
"Don't use my real name, idiot!" Adrienne screeched to Haller as she desperately lashed out at the imps and dove forward, flailing blindly at the wall across the room from where they'd entered. "Ha!" she called out triumphantly as her hand connected with the wall.
It wasn't real. It wasn't real. With Jim's help, the image of the real room via Adrienne firmly held in his mind, Kurt reached Tandy and pulled her into his arms.
Her illusions broke and the imps disappeared. Raising her hands to her red eyes as the sunlight poured in from the roof, "Fucking...mutants...can't leave well enough alone!" Throwing her arms in front of her to unleash blast of her fire energy, "Teach you from dealing with me."
Tandy held on tightly to Kurt as she whispered, "The nightmares...I can see them...make it stop!"
Haller grit his teeth as energy splashed against a hastily-erected telekinetic screen; Jack was out again. But the protection came at the expense of his telepathy. There could be no repeat of the trick with Adrienne as long as he maintained the shield, nothing to help them distinguish illusion from reality.
And the dark was closing in.
Scott and Kane enter the chaotic scene and the tables are turned.
This plot has some potentially distressing content
Dana smirked at shield that the man threw up, protecting them from the energy blast she was creating - she pressed harder onto the shield. What was real and what wasn't was starting to blend together as Dana used Tandy's fears to become stronger. "Give it up mutants....do you know how many I have overwhelmed and sucked dry? You are no better than they were."
Jack strained under the blast and the scrabbling imps, and not just from the physical pressure. He could feel the weight against his shields but sensed a buckling, as if his powers were failing. He could see the imps as they clawed at the barrier, could see that it wasn't so, but as the feeling persisted it began to reflect itself in reality. The shield began to flicker.
"It's in our heads, get the girl out!" the telekinetic snarled as he was forced to relinquish the full sphere for a more controllable half-shield. The imps quickly discovered the breach and again began to swarm towards Tandy.
"If we could fucking do that don't you think we would have by now?!" Adrienne screeched, fighting off the imps and the crippling fear of Steven manifesting in front of her to grab at her just like the creatures were doing as she struggled to get around the room and take Readings of the layout. "She's sucking people dry, for Chrissakes, yeah I think getting the girl out is a fucking good idea!"
Kurt was refusing to relinquish his hold on Tandy, to the point of physically ripping imps off her and throwing them across the room, but there were more and more of them and he was in danger of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
The sight greeting Scott as he and Garrison rounded the corner was not one he had expected to see. The rest of the team were being attacked by..."imps?" He asked in disbelief as he shook his head and blinked trying to clear his eye as his gaze landed on the woman who was apparently coordinating the attack. As the new arrivals rushed towards the fight Scott gathered up some energy and snapped off a shot towards Dana hoping to take her out of the fight with a surprise attack.
"Imps. Why not?" Kane said dryly. His chip was feeding his brain tactical information at an enhanced rate, and the Canadian broke forward, his exceptional speed turning him from man to human projectile as he hit the mass of imps dead on.
The sound was best described as 'SCHLURP'. He disappeared into the mass, and like an explosion, the mass erupted in a thousand directions as he broke through. The impact had distracted and disoriented the mob, and left smears of many on the ground. But for a moment, the pressure of the attack faltered. Garrison tried to clear his head, body covered in a thousand tiny gashes before his omniskin caught up with the claws.
"'s Christmas?' he muttered groggly, hands to his temples.
Dana was hit by the blast and was sent back and hit the wall behind her. The remaining imps that Garrison didn't take out vanished as a low growl escaped from the woman's lips as she stood up. Cracking her neck before opened her red eyes and narrowed them towards the group of mutants. "Your fears...they are mine." Drawing energy from Tandy as Dana allowed the radius of her power to instill fear grew, hoping to take them all out in one blow.
Without the imps to distract them, Adrienne could now focus more of her attention on forcing her fear of Steven out of her mind. She went in low at the demon woman, trying to take a leg out from under her to set her off balance. But the closer she got to the crazy bitch, the more sharply the fear bit at her, until there didn't seem to be any thought left in her head except the fear, and wanting to get away from it. She forgot what she was trying to do, dropping to the ground in a ball with her hands on her own temples as Garrison had done.
A gout of flame sprang up between Dana and Adrienne. With Jack compromised Haller's mind had switched its secondary line of defense, Cyndi. Already the younger alter's face was showing strain, but as the imps began squeal to burn triumph danced with fire in her eyes -- until Dana took a casual step through the fire, not even scorched.
"Bitch doesn't burn--?" Cyndi blurted, her concentration faltering. The fire, burning more through force of will than fuel, sputtered and died. That little sliver of doubt exploded into full-grown terror that sent Cyndi swinging at nothing, fighting off imaginary hands hauling her back to the "safety" of solitary.
Tandy's head looked over at Dana as her glowing skin started to fade, as if her light was leaving her. As Dana's power increased, Tandy breathing started to decrease and at an alarming pace. The teenager's living light wasn't storing fast enough from what Dana was taking, "Away..." She whispered, holding on to the light so she wouldn't fade into the darkness of her fears.
"Away", Kurt agreed grimly, and took the opportunity of a moment clear of any imps to teleport them both outside.
Dana yelled when her major feeding source disappeared. Gritting her teeth, as her imps disappeared into a cloud of smoke. "You still haven't won...your fears will overcome you." With Tandy gone, D'Spayre felt her powers weakening. She needed to get another major source and fast.
"Sucking the life force from people. You know my dad said all women have that power." Kane's head had cleared, long enough that he was able to grab a nearby table and launch it directly at the creature.
Dana fell to the ground as the table landed on her. The demon pushed it off and stood up once more, this time she was bleeding from the head. "Fuck you." She raised her hands and blasted fire energy towards the group of mutants.
Garrison's attack had broken Dana's mental focus for long enough for Scott to clear his head and he stepped forward, his eye glowing as he unleashed an optic blast to counter Dana's fireball. "After kidnapping one of our students you're gonna have to do much better than that," he told the woman coldly before another optical blast knocked her backwards.
Adrienne felt her fear dissipating and managed to stagger to her feet, finding the unmoving Haller and shaking him. "Wake up, Sunshine. Demon battle going on? Wanna maybe help us out, here?"
It took him a few seconds to realize he was being shaken, and a few more to figure out which one of him was wondering about it. Things began to register -- Scott's expression of grim determination periodically illuminated by flashes of his optic blasts as he countered the woman's own blasts, Garrison mercilessly hammering her blindside with whatever makeshift projectiles he found at hand to disrupt her concentration. Oh, right. In a fight. The imps seemed to be gone, as did Tandy; a moment later he noticed the telltale sulfur of Kurt's teleportation. The psi pulled himself to his feet, head swimming. Okay. Who the fuck am I right now?
Jim didn't dare come out in this state. Too disoriented, too many switches -- whatever this woman was, his brain felt scalded just by being around her. If she was anything like what he suspected his telepathy would have been useless anyway. But while she hadn't burned before, it seemed she had her limits. In the sickly light that filtered through the partially collapsed ceiling he could see the blood Garrison had drawn. Somehow she had become vulnerable.
And this was an old building.
As Dana hissed at a narrowly missed optic blast Jack drove his mind down against nearly a third of the roof. It struck her, appropriately, like a ton of bricks.
And then, because he was taking no chances and Cyndi in particular had not appreciated the psychic assault, every particle of leaf mold and debris the fallen rooftop had accumulated since the building's abandonment burst into flame.
Shit. Dana thought as she ducked, covering her head allowing the ceiling to fall on top of her. The dust settled and the silence was broken as the rubble started to move as the woman dug her way out.
Breathing hard as she stood up slowly, as a portal behind her open. Black long arms reached out grabbing a hold of Dana and started to pull her back into the black abyss. "You may have won this battle, but the war is far from over. D'Spayre will return!" The portal closed - a pair of glowing red eyes remained until they faded from the sun peering into the room above.
"Did she really just say that she 'will return'? People actually do that?" Kane waved his hand through the space that she had been. "We'll need to ask the magic types about this D'Spayre character."
Scott nodded, "Definitely gonna have to talk to them when we get home," he agreed, "let's just find Kurt and Tandy so we can get out of here." He turned and started for the door, "It had to be magic," he complained to no-one in particular, "I hate magic."
Haller gave no reply. Jim was back in control, but he had no energy left for analysis. That thing, sucking at their fears . . . Mission report. Whatever otherworldly implications could be draw from this could go in a mission report. Instead he turned to Adrienne and asked the only question his throbbing head could formulate. "Do you have any aspirin?"
Adrienne shook her head. "I keep it in my Zombie Apocalypse Vegas Slut Bag, which I left at home, unfortunately." But she pulled a flask out of her back pocket and inspected it. It had held up pretty well during the fight, all things considered. "Would scotch work?" she asked, giving Scott a pointed smirk as she held it out to Haller.
Kurt takes Tandy outside where they have a last run in with Nathan. Tandy fights back.
This plot has some potentially distressing content
Still holding onto the girl for dear life - mostly hers - Kurt had teleported himself and Tandy outside of the compound, where he hoped the demon wouldn't be able to draw from her. He didn't much like abandoning the others, but he couldn't either leave her behind or take her back in with him, so he had little choice.
Feeling her power building up inside her slowly, Tandy knew she was no longer in reach of that woman. Opening her eyes slightly to look up at the blue man. "Where...?" She wanted to ask where they where but looking at the blue sky above him, she knew. "Thanks."
"Outside", he said simply, shifting her into a more comfortable
position in his arms. "And she will not hurt you any more. Your father is her follower?"
Tandy nodded, "Yes. She isn't human, she is something else." Lifting her head slightly, the warmth of her living light was warming her skin. "She would drain me until I almost had nothing left and waited until my light restored before going after it again. It is like she knew what I was."
"Probably she did", he said with a slight shrug. "She may have senses we can only imagine, if it is not as simple as your father having told her."
"Thanks...." Tandy smiled up at the blue man, "...blue fuzzy man." Hearing a twig snap, Tandy turned her head to see a man standing there. "Him."
"Kurt", he told her, vaguely amused, but it vanished instantly at the sight of the man. He set Tandy down with care and stood protectively over her. "You stay back."
"Me?" The look of concern over Tandy that had flickered briefly in Nathan's eyes was quickly replaced with one of anger, now directed at Kurt. "She's my daughter, you stay back from her this instant." He clenched his fists at his side, raising them slightly as he dared to take another step further towards the pair.
Tandy sat up holding herself up with her hand in front of her, "Stay away!" The crescent around her right eye started to glow - reacting to the fear she had of her own father. "Please..."
"You do not deserve to call yourself her father", Kurt snapped at him. "Do you see how she fears you, after what you did? I will take her home, away from you and your demon."
Flames danced in his eyes at the admonition. "My demon? My demon? What do you think I am trying to save her from right now? Let her go this instant!" Raising his hands up higher and aiming at Kurt, he fired a blast with his powers.
Kurt dodged the blast with ease, since the man's powers were so obvious, but didn't move from his placement between Nathan and Tandy. "I think you brought her here to give her to it, and the one she needs saving from is you. You cannot have her."
Tandy struggled to her feet as her father unleashed his own powers, "Careful Kurt, his powers...they are like mine." The teenager looked over at Nathan, all her anger all her fears were directed at him. The man that killed her mother and the only person that she truly considered father. "You are the monster..."Tandy threw her hands out in front of her to send ten light daggers, five from each hand, towards him. "...and I won't let you hurt anyone else."
Taken by surprise by his daughter's actions, Nathan wasn't able to avoid her attack and grunted at the impact, falling over onto his back. His own hands, which had been readying another attack against Kurt, fell limply and the light they'd been gathering fizzled out. While he was still breathing, there was no other movement from the man other than the slight rising and falling of his chest.
The teenager fell to her hands and knees before passing out from overuse of her powers.
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