xp_logs | Darkness Within: Final Fight

The magic users and SWORD agents head to the top of the Empire State Building to close the portal and free Tandy from Dweller.

Topaz stumbled a bit as her feet hit the ground. Teleporting was a decidedly unpleasant experience.

Of course, their location might've had something to do with it. If the ground below had been dark and unpleasant, the air around the top of the Empire State Building was practically black, oppressive. It almost looked like something out of a horror movie, fitting enough.

The demon controlling Tandy turned to look back at the unwanted guest, "D'spayre. Spite. Take care of our guests." The voice was Tandy's but it wasn't her speaking. Dweller smirked and increased the fear in the surrounding area, pushing the radius of his powers further. Just a little more and it would all be his.

D'spayre bowed to her master before lifting her hands releasing her imps to attack the newcomers as well. The Shades also took this as a sign to attack as well.

Focusing her powers on the blonde girl, Spite knew once she was turned against her teammates then the others would start to fall in line. It always just took one. Malicious, hateful energy was a powerful thing, especially when combined with a physical attack as well. Her attention would be drawn in too many directions to keep up with.

Amanda jerked as Spite's focus hit her, jaw clenching. "For fuck's sake, you idiots, stop wasting time!" She snarled at her students. "Can't you do anything right?" She pulled away from the group, New York's energies crackling around her hands. "maybe I should just get rid of the lot of you and do the job myself!" She raised her hands, apparently intent on blasting her students off the roof...

That was basically Nico's cue to step up and place herself in front of the students. "Yeah, no. Maybe you just need to count to ten and not force me to put the both of us through a lot of pain." She lifted a hand, mostly preemptively getting ready for whatever Amanda would probably throw at her. "You are better than some second hand magic trick, right?"

Amanda's attention tracked to Nico instead, and for a moment, anger twisted her face. "Now you fucking show up..." she began, before abruptly she sank into the rooftop and vanished. Apparently New York had decided to intervene. A moment later she reappeared. "Oh, bollocks, I can't believe I fell for that. Whatever I said, I totally owe you all dinner, right? Once this is done."

"That's what you think, witch." Spite readied herself for another wave of hate.

"Still leaving yourself wide open," a voice piped up from Spite as another blonde appeared behind the demoness shoulder levelled as she charged into her back as she knocked her down. "No more of that," she warned the demon before spinning around letting a forcefield envelope her as she vanished. She'd recognized Spite's attack as the same thing she'd use at the airport, only now it wasn't directed at her the blonde had determined to stop the demon.

Pixie had frozen the moment Amanda had turned on them, confused and indecisive. This was no time to freeze up, though. Her gut twisted with fear - fear that her teacher really thought she was worthless - she now leaped back into action. "C'mon, we have to free Tandy! If we channel our powers together to her, it just might give her strength to break free. When I was taken over by the Other, Billy's magic not only fought the demon power directly but also helped me remember my true self." Her ball of light suddenly grew in her hands as if fueled by her burning emotions.

The blue glow quickly faded, and with it much of the energy Billy had needed for teleport spell. He slumped with fatigue, the void a sharp contrast to the massive chaos swirling around, pressing in on him. Pixie's voice cut through, though, and helped him focus back on the task at hand. Lightning wasn't going to be much help here, unless he wanted to electrocute Tandy. "I want my werelight," he began to chant, summoning the blue glowing ball in front of him.

Just then, another portal materialized behind Spite. The four hazy figures, briefly silhouetted in a pale glow like an afterimage, that emerged went to work quickly: one caster, one gunslinger, one woman with blazing green hands, and one man with a lampost. The last shot straight up into the air only to come hurdling down violently on top of the scattered imps with a sickening crunch. He used his momentum to propel off the ground with the post like a pole-vaulter straight toward Spite.

Emotions were flying all over the place. Fear and anger spiking higher and higher, and everyone was yelling, tearing Topaz's attention in every single direction, and she honestly couldn't remember the last time she had been this overwhelmed.

But she needed to stay focused on Tandy - or it was Tandy's body, at least. Certainly not her mind. Not completely, at least. There was still a faint glimmer, barely noticeable but there - fear and confusion and anger and feelings of violation. Tandy.

"She's there," she reported to the others, trying desperately to zero in on Tandy's emotions and grab her, trying to hold on. "I can feel her in there but I can't..." She could find Tandy, but there was nothing she could about it on her own. Her empathy wasn't anywhere near strong enough to drag Tandy forward. One of the mansion telepaths probably could have, but they weren't there.

A hand dropped onto her shoulder. "Easy, kiddo." Amanda was breathing hard but her grip was firm and reassuring. "This is where we work as a team."

Raising her voice, she beckoned Billy and Megan over. "All right, class, time for a practical lesson. Possession reversal 101. Sue, Nico, you get to keep these bastards off our arses in the meantime."

The younger blonde nodded nodded, turning her back on the group of magicians she glared at the 3 figures across the way from her as she braced herself holding her forcefields on the cusp of activation. She wanted her friend back, and that meant letting the magic people do their thing without interruption. So the only way she was letting any demons get close to Amanda or her students was if they walked over her cold dead body.

With her students gathered close, Amanda shrugged out of her jacket. "This'll be a bit odd, but bear with me here," she explained, before pulling her t-shirt over her head. With just a black sports bra on, she turned around to show them her back. "'S a channelling spell. I'll explain where it came from later, but for now, we're gunna use me as a conduit. Your magic through me and into Topaz. That should give her enough juice to bring Tandy out."

Pixie was surprised by the runes on her teacher's back but didn't hesitate. She practically had tunnel vision, focusing her power with every fiber of her being, her wings humming in concentration. Her Will O' Wisp flew to the spell and illuminated the runes, the ball of light compacting in size but growing in intensity.

Billy looked at the runes, at his werelight, then back up to Amanda, for a moment helpless at how to even go about this. "Conduit, connect, channel, flow," he muttered, until an image began to form in his mind. I want my magic to flow to Amanda," he began, not quite sure what to say, but the picture becoming clearer in his mind. The werelight came to rest in his palm, and he stretched it out toward the runes. I want my magic to flow to Amanda." The glow began to brighten, then suddenly shot out like a beam, connecting the two.

Topaz sucked in a sharp breath as the magic flowed into her, swirling around. She forced out everything else that was going on, focusing on channeling it through to Tandy. Come on Tandy, she begged, even knowing the blonde couldn't actually here her. Come on, come on...

The portal Dweller was holding open, stopped growing bigger. "SPITE! D'SPAYRE! STOP THEM!" Dweller turned to face the new magical threat. They were trying to pull the girl out and in that little spark, Tandy's light started to grow.

Sue's eye's widened then narrowed as a wave of imps and shades came rushing towards their position. Throwing her hands out the blonde brought up her forcefields as the first of the shades leaped at her only to disappear in a puff of smoke as it impaled itself on the wall of invisible spikes the teenager had thrown up.

But it wasn't just one wave, a second and a third wave leaped at forcefield like sea waves breaking against a rock. The successive impacts battered an already exhausted Sue driving her backwards onto her knees with a hiss. "Come back Tan," she muttered under her breath casting a worried glance at a 4th wave which was surging forwards towards her shaky forcefield.

Staff sprouting out, Nico took a step towards Sue. "Drop it," she said as she swung the Staff of One slowly around her, gathering her focus on the exact moment the fourth wave came crashing down. "No Trespassing." Just a moment before they got swarmed, the imps seemed to stop in midair and then shoot out like bullets, crashing into everything as they disintegrated. Nico sighed. "That will hold for a while."

The spark was getting stronger. Tandy was getting stronger. "Brilliant," Topaz breathed, gritting her teeth as she forced more energy into Tandy. She wanted to say more, to report it was working, but she didn't want to break her focus. Amanda was close enough to hear her, hopefully she'd understand.

Topaz didn't need to speak - with the link forged by the channelling spell, Amanda was more than aware of her thoughts. Her grip on the younger girl's shoulder tightened slightly as she focused on her own mutation, drawing in as much energy from New York as she - and more importantly, her student - could handle. The city was crying out to her to fix the blight on it and it was more than happy to provide the power to do so - the blackened runes on Amanda's back grew hot, a reddish glow emanating from them as she drew on everything everyone had to pass on to Topaz.

Pixie felt all her magic energy feed into Tandy via Amanda's runes and began to feel very heavy and tired. It felt like her aura was being siphoned off to feed the spell. She wobbled slightly but refused to stop, even forgetting to blink.

Billy gasped as the energy continued to stream from him. For a moment, he felt weak, but the chaos caused by the fighting around him wasn't just constant but growing by the minute, pressing down on him. It was exhilarating, funneling it, almost overpowering, like pressing a finger over the end of a hose, where he might burst any moment. He lifted his other hand, a second beam of light joining the first, as he continued to channel the growing energy toward Amanda.

The spark within Dweller broke through as Tandy's signature crescent moon started to shine around her right eye. The Dweller started to take shape as a black sludge started to separate from her body as the portal started to be reversed pulling Dweller and Tandy in. Grabbing onto the nearest thing Tandy held on tight as the Dweller was finally separated from her body.

"Drive it to the portal!" The instruction came, not from Amanda, but from Agent Brand, followed by a double blast of green energy from her hands, striking the black goo squarely. The SWORD agent came forward, unleashing blast after blast - at the Dweller, that the imps, at Spite and D'Spayre, clearing a path for her agents and Namor to follow towards the portal.

"Now we are talking." Paulletz raised both of his weapons, letting out a steady stream of hot lead. He could not shoot at the girl, nor at the two demons, but he sure as hell could make sure those Shades could not touch them.

"No!" Spite protested, her voice a shrill scream as she simultaneously tried to duck, run away and defend her Master and failing at all. This was not how things were supposed to happen! Their Master was supposed to be all powerful! Everything was falling apart!

Yet however she tried to evade, Namor was there with a swing or push. He danced through the air — simultaneously using his hits against shades and imps to gain power as he leapt from target to target — and the determined smile that spread across his face sang of both bloodlust and the young man's relief at not being helpless. Swing, strike, break, and then: an opening. Spite had run out of ground in which to retreat, and the giant improvised weapon struck true.

"Finish her!" Namor commanded, pinning the demoness hard to the ground.

"I give the orders here, boy!" Brand unleashed a double blast at Spite, catching the demon squarely in the chest. "Agents! Everything you've got!"

"Luckily I still have this one left..." Paulletz slammed his last magazine in his weapon and let of a shot, aimed straight between the eyes.

For the first time since this ordeal began, Ortiz smirked. With the moon being as unhelpful as she was, Ortiz had needed to focus, but by now, the glowing ball taking shape between her hands was ready to be released. "Sir yes, sir," she said a little too flippantly, winking at the downed demon before adding her magic to the mix.

With a howl of protest, Spite struggled for a moment as if somehow something could save her. This wasn't how it was supposed to end! A moment later, she went limp, any fight she had in her gone along with everything else.

Dweller reached out to grab his host body as Tandy pulled away but keeping an eye on the demon. Forming one dagger from her hand, she unleashed it towards Dweller. When the dagger hit Dweller, he fell back into the portal before it closed up. The Shades and imps that were fighting disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

With a small grunt, Amanda wrenched her hands from Topaz's shoulders, cutting the connection. "We're done!" she managed, staggering slightly. "Where's D'Spayre?"

Topaz didn't even bother with trying to stay upright - as soon Amanda let her go she dropped, sitting down rather hard on the ground, her legs curling beneath her as she cradled her head in her hands, just barely managing to stay above the mess of emotions swimming around in her mind. "Think...think I saw her go with that thing," she gasped, waving her hand at where the portal had been.

"D'Spayre's gone," Pixie breathed in relief, her wings dropping to her sides. Her chest ached and she felt utterly, mentally spent. Her skin was glistening with dust. "Nobody touch me."

"Time to be away, then." Amanda glanced over at the SWORD agents. "Before we start getting awkward questions. New York will cover us - get back to the office as soon as you can. Namor, grab Tandy? She's going to be a bit unsteady. Nico, you and Billy help Sue and Megan, just be careful of the Pixie dust." She bent and started helping Topaz up. "You all did brilliant, now let's get the fuck out of here."