Tales of Magik: Imus ad Infernum circle 4
May. 5th, 2018 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsRoll for initiative! A random encounter against gargoyles frees Amadeus from whatever altered state he'd been in.
From up above, the landscape of Limbo did not seem quite so scary or alien. Sure, it was not quite Earth-like, but it could almost be pleasant.
Provided the aerial view was not because the surveyor was being dragged through the air by a wicked, flying monster. Miles had shot a web line to this gargoyle to lasso it . . . but underestimated its strength. Now he held on for dear life as it tried to shake him off.
"Bloody, fucking..."
Topaz, meanwhile, was fighting off tiny, winged imps that seemed intent on crawling up her legs. She was kicking them mostly, not wanting to waste perfectly good magic on something so-
Wait. She kicked another imp, and it wailed as it spun through the air. They were demons - probably not the smartest demons. But everything had emotions. Even Slendermen did, basic though they were. Topaz reached out as she kept kicking, trying to lock onto anything near her that wasn't one of the humans who were currently fighting off their own demons (literally). And... there! Basic, but they would do in a pinch. Topaz drained every last one of them, ignoring the weird buzz that filled her head as she snapped her fingers and lit the lot on fire. She smirked, satisfied, and stepped back to find her next target.
Black blood sprayed the air, as Otherdeus went for arteries in soft corners, the imps all moved like humanoids, it stood to reason that they all carried vital organs in the same places. He dispatched them with the same cold, methodical and detached way he'd done since arriving in this strange hellworld. No sign of his normal, happy-go-luckiness anywhere.
Gabriel wasn't so sure about the axe anymore. It was heavy and a pain to carry, and it wasn't inherently suited for the kind of agile, high-speed combat that his powers made so easy. If he'd had super strength, it might have been a different story. Then, maybe, his weapon wouldn't be stuck in the thick, scaly skin of the hulking demon he'd attempted to sneak attack.
At least he'd managed to slow the large monster down. Distracted, it had contorted its head over its shoulder to try and remove the weapon from its body. The entire time, the beast's eyes seemed focused on Gabriel. Or maybe he was projecting.
Illyana stumbled as her Soulsword cut through a swathe of smaller demons; the give as the sword went through them was inconsistent, unpredictable. But it meant that as she righted herself, she saw the huge demon struggling with the axe, its attention on Gabriel. Attempting to at least distract it, she swung at it with her sword, not managing to hit anything vital - the sword glanced against its size, reeking of burnt blood and ozone.
There really wasn't that much of a battle advantage to howling but since it seemed to scare some of the smaller to middle sized demons, Rahne had to kind of admit it felt good to just - let go. She bounded past Illyana and barreled into a small group of the bloody things, sending them scattering like real life bowling pins. Real life, ugly bowling pins. Snarling, she snatched one up in a large and threw it as far as she could.
Which, apparently, was pretty far.
She was reaching for another one when Miles passed overhead and it was clear that it wasn't under his own power.
"Screwwwwwwww thiiiiiis!" Miles reached forward to start pulling himself up the line. Being dragged through the air at incredible speeds made this much harder than climbing the rope in gym class, and Miles's muscles strained from the effort. He did not have to get all the way to the monster, though, just close enough to poke it, channeling his mutant bioelectricity through his finger. "Three, two, one . . . this was probably a very bad ideaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The venom blast discharged, paralyzing the demon mid-flight, and it plunged like a rock.
It was good fortune that Warren was standing directly under Miles when Miles came tumbling out of the sky. Well. Good fortune for Miles. Warren was getting really sick of being manhandled, and if this was Hell, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure he didn't end up here for the rest of eternity. Getting knocked in the head by a falling teenager was the last thing he'd expected today ...but to be fair, it did seem to fit into the theme of 'what horrible thing can happen to Warren now.' From his now position on the ground, he looked up to see Miles sitting on his back, and some thing attached to his leg, snarling away. Seriously. How a teenager and a demon just FALL down out of nowhere and land on him, Warren, the most undeserving of more injuries... the injustices were huge. Massive. He was going to write a very serious letter when this was all said and done.
"Jesus!" Scrambling up, with only a slight dislodgement to Miles, Warren reached out and hit the demon with the marble rolling pin, leaving it to twitch violently as it died. "What the fuck. Seriously. I am so fucking over this place."
"I think I'm going to take a little nap, if that's okay," Miles said weakly from his bed of dirt, strewn feathers, and demon body parts. "Just a little bit . . ."
"Not okay!" Gabriel shouted, darting from his position behind the massive creature that was attempting to charge at him and ending up closer to Illyana. Being weapon-free meant he could move a little faster. It also meant he was functionally useless. "I don't suppose anyone could get that axe back?"
Almost on cue, the demon snarled. With a loud yell, it wrenched the axe out of its skin and hurled it in Gabriel and Illyana's direction with astonishing force. Using his powers, Gabriel grabbed Illyana and flitted out of the weapon's path just seconds before it landed with a thud where they'd been standing. "Asked and answered?"
Parry, thrust, more blood, more ichor. The boy nominally called Amadeus's face was twisted in rage as he tore his way through the crowd. His head ached fiercely, and the edges of his vision were going grey, but he fought his way through the pain.
He was going to survive, whatever it took.
The smaller creatures were no longer the main threat, that was obvious. Ignoring them even as they bit and scratched at her, Rahne took off running in leaps and bounds for the larger creature. She dodged around Amadeus, running like the werewolves you saw on the TV all the time - on all fours, using hands and feet to propel herself along the ground. It was surprisingly effective.
With a cry, she slammed her shoulder into the back of the demon, using her forward momentum to hit him hard. It twisted in her grip and a large elbow slammed into her head. Rahne saw stars but she held on, claws dug in for purchase as she snarled in return.
A blast of dark, electric energy wrapped around the demon, carefully avoiding Rahne, and it shrieked, driven to its knees by the force of both attacks. Topaz didn’t hesitate to reach into this thing’s head and drain everything. The buzzing got louder, and the demon became still, looking confused that its need to fight, to eat, to kill had been taken away.
A couple seconds later, the beast collapsed, felled by a blow from Miles's fist. The world still spun for him — did he have a concussion? Oh God he really wanted to sleep again — but pure grit and determination not to be the first to punk out kept him on his feet. Even if he was wobbling. That did not stop him from shooting a web line at another demon going for Amadeus.
"Get over here!" Because this wasn't enough of a video game already. Miles giggled when he pulled the demon to him and delivered an uppercut with enough force that he could hear its jaw bone shatter. Hmm, maybe he did have a concussion after all.
The pain in Amadeus's head grew worse as he finished off yet another demon, all of it radiating out of a spot at the top of his skull, like a red-hot fissure had been opened at the top of his head.
Or re-opened.
Topaz turned her attention to another couple of demons ambling her way. There was a darkness in her eyes as she whipped out her hand, and a thick line of rope-like black and red laced energy whipped out, cutting the approaching demons in half as it sliced through each one of them. Something akin to pride welled up in her chest. She wasn't useless here. She couldn't say she hated that.
Warren had been protecting Miles. That gave him a far better purpose than killing demons for the sake of it. The younger boy had seemed dazed, and Warren still felt bad for his lack of manners back in the cave. He should said something nicer, something reassuring and he didn't. The guilt was high.
The horde kept coming, and Warren kept attacking. Ideally, he wanted to carry Miles but that used his hands, and if he threw him on his back, Miles would be vulnerable. So stand his ground he would.
Gabriel's axe, assisted in some weird physics-related way by his powers, sliced cleanly through what appeared to be a small devil that had been running toward him. It was a power boost he probably should have saved, given how Limbo seemed to be affecting his stamina. But when faced with a threat on all sides, he couldn't help but resort to old tricks. And judging by the ichor now spraying on the ground, old tricks were effective.
The onslaught (or series of onslaughts, he wasn't really sure) seemed to be slowing, and he took a second to catch his breath, just in time to see a winged being of some kind —a gargoyle, maybe? — swooping down and approaching him. He ran toward it, speeding up until the creature's descent appeared glacial. Then he jumped up in the air and swung his axe at the thing's wings. It landed with a thud.
Rahne leapt over the fallen body of the creature that Gabriel had killed as she lead one that looked rather like a smaller bear on a chase through the crowded battlefield. She was faster and more agile than it was which she used to her advantage. Several times she swerved or jumped over some nasty things and the one chasing her simply trampled over them. It was a great way of clearing out the bad guys, though she had to eventually figure out how she was going to deal with it directly.
Seeing Topaz and Illyana, Rahne altered course and headed towards them, with the creature right on her tail. Almost literally.
Topaz saw Rahne coming toward them, and the thing right behind her. She threw her hand out, and a ring of dark energy encircled the beast, almost lassoing it. It screamed as it was lifted into the air.
The horde seemed unending until it just ...stopped. Brushing a mixture of sweat and blood off of his forehead, Warren looked around and frowned. The mound of the ground was disgusting. His hands were disgusting. His clothes were disgusting. He felt like he would never be clean again. "Please tell me that's it. Please."
The look Illyana gave him did not imply patience; she was scrubbing at her own face with the now-filthy sleeve of her sweatshirt, the Soulsword already back in where it came from, wherever that was. "It's a hell dimension," she said irritably. "Consider yourself lucky that we haven't run into any fire demons yet."
The pain in Amadeus's head finally took full control, blotting out everything and anything. All he could feel was pain. A single, sharp shock jolted through him, going from the top of his head and radiating outward. He heard the beep of machines, the hiss of oxygen, the drone of a soft voice.
"Whatever it takes," and then, nothing.
The boy dropped suddenly like a sack of potatoes, knife flying from his grip.
Gabriel's axe hit the ground, the clearest sign that he'd sprung into action. His reflexes had kicked in, and so he at least managed to catch the knife before it landed pointy-end-first inside Amadeus. He could not act fast enough, unfortunately, to catch the kid before he hit the ground. So he appeared just next to Amadeus's body, kneeling over him and shaking him with one hand while holding a knife in the other.
"Jesus fucking Christ, kid," he muttered, trying to hide his fear and the fact that his heart was pounding a bit. "Tell me you're okay and that you're gonna wake the fuck up."
All it was was pain, pain and a persistent beeping. And a red, red haze. The sound of breathing, wet and rattling, in and out, and counting, 132, 133. Then, with one, long terrible rattle, the breathing stopped, and the beeping went silent.
And Amadeus opened his eyes.
"Jesus fuck!" the boy yelled, and then turned his head and vomited.
Still a little dodgy on his feet, Miles wobbled over to Amadeus and knelt down next to him with Gabriel, placing a supportive hand on his shoulders. The sudden expletive came as a surprise, considering how composed and unflappable he had been since they got here. "Yo, you okay, Deus? You hurt. Lemme see . . ."
"Miles?" Amadeus said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. The cold, calculating look was gone from his eyes. Now he looked like a confused and sick teenaged boy. "What in the name of fuck is going on?"
Miles shared a look with Gabriel. "You remember anything?"
"You passed the fuck out." Gabriel scooted back a bit, away from the puddle of sick that Amadeus had just left. "After what seems like some kind of episode."
"Episode?" Amadeus repeated. He looked up, surveying the damage in front of him, the demonic corpses, the blood crusting his clothes. His brain stuttered, not unlike a hard drive clicking and refusing to cycle the new data in front of it. His senses were screaming at him that everything in front of him was NOT a hallucination, but that just didn't make any goddamn sense. The last thing he remembered he was in the kitchen getting snacks. "Are you sure I'm not still having one?" he said after a long pause.
"Guys," Illyana interrupted. "Can we at least be moving targets?" She gestured to the dry, dead expanse ahead of them. "Or we could wait here for the next wave of these, I guess."
From up above, the landscape of Limbo did not seem quite so scary or alien. Sure, it was not quite Earth-like, but it could almost be pleasant.
Provided the aerial view was not because the surveyor was being dragged through the air by a wicked, flying monster. Miles had shot a web line to this gargoyle to lasso it . . . but underestimated its strength. Now he held on for dear life as it tried to shake him off.
"Bloody, fucking..."
Topaz, meanwhile, was fighting off tiny, winged imps that seemed intent on crawling up her legs. She was kicking them mostly, not wanting to waste perfectly good magic on something so-
Wait. She kicked another imp, and it wailed as it spun through the air. They were demons - probably not the smartest demons. But everything had emotions. Even Slendermen did, basic though they were. Topaz reached out as she kept kicking, trying to lock onto anything near her that wasn't one of the humans who were currently fighting off their own demons (literally). And... there! Basic, but they would do in a pinch. Topaz drained every last one of them, ignoring the weird buzz that filled her head as she snapped her fingers and lit the lot on fire. She smirked, satisfied, and stepped back to find her next target.
Black blood sprayed the air, as Otherdeus went for arteries in soft corners, the imps all moved like humanoids, it stood to reason that they all carried vital organs in the same places. He dispatched them with the same cold, methodical and detached way he'd done since arriving in this strange hellworld. No sign of his normal, happy-go-luckiness anywhere.
Gabriel wasn't so sure about the axe anymore. It was heavy and a pain to carry, and it wasn't inherently suited for the kind of agile, high-speed combat that his powers made so easy. If he'd had super strength, it might have been a different story. Then, maybe, his weapon wouldn't be stuck in the thick, scaly skin of the hulking demon he'd attempted to sneak attack.
At least he'd managed to slow the large monster down. Distracted, it had contorted its head over its shoulder to try and remove the weapon from its body. The entire time, the beast's eyes seemed focused on Gabriel. Or maybe he was projecting.
Illyana stumbled as her Soulsword cut through a swathe of smaller demons; the give as the sword went through them was inconsistent, unpredictable. But it meant that as she righted herself, she saw the huge demon struggling with the axe, its attention on Gabriel. Attempting to at least distract it, she swung at it with her sword, not managing to hit anything vital - the sword glanced against its size, reeking of burnt blood and ozone.
There really wasn't that much of a battle advantage to howling but since it seemed to scare some of the smaller to middle sized demons, Rahne had to kind of admit it felt good to just - let go. She bounded past Illyana and barreled into a small group of the bloody things, sending them scattering like real life bowling pins. Real life, ugly bowling pins. Snarling, she snatched one up in a large and threw it as far as she could.
Which, apparently, was pretty far.
She was reaching for another one when Miles passed overhead and it was clear that it wasn't under his own power.
"Screwwwwwwww thiiiiiis!" Miles reached forward to start pulling himself up the line. Being dragged through the air at incredible speeds made this much harder than climbing the rope in gym class, and Miles's muscles strained from the effort. He did not have to get all the way to the monster, though, just close enough to poke it, channeling his mutant bioelectricity through his finger. "Three, two, one . . . this was probably a very bad ideaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The venom blast discharged, paralyzing the demon mid-flight, and it plunged like a rock.
It was good fortune that Warren was standing directly under Miles when Miles came tumbling out of the sky. Well. Good fortune for Miles. Warren was getting really sick of being manhandled, and if this was Hell, he was going to do everything in his power to make sure he didn't end up here for the rest of eternity. Getting knocked in the head by a falling teenager was the last thing he'd expected today ...but to be fair, it did seem to fit into the theme of 'what horrible thing can happen to Warren now.' From his now position on the ground, he looked up to see Miles sitting on his back, and some thing attached to his leg, snarling away. Seriously. How a teenager and a demon just FALL down out of nowhere and land on him, Warren, the most undeserving of more injuries... the injustices were huge. Massive. He was going to write a very serious letter when this was all said and done.
"Jesus!" Scrambling up, with only a slight dislodgement to Miles, Warren reached out and hit the demon with the marble rolling pin, leaving it to twitch violently as it died. "What the fuck. Seriously. I am so fucking over this place."
"I think I'm going to take a little nap, if that's okay," Miles said weakly from his bed of dirt, strewn feathers, and demon body parts. "Just a little bit . . ."
"Not okay!" Gabriel shouted, darting from his position behind the massive creature that was attempting to charge at him and ending up closer to Illyana. Being weapon-free meant he could move a little faster. It also meant he was functionally useless. "I don't suppose anyone could get that axe back?"
Almost on cue, the demon snarled. With a loud yell, it wrenched the axe out of its skin and hurled it in Gabriel and Illyana's direction with astonishing force. Using his powers, Gabriel grabbed Illyana and flitted out of the weapon's path just seconds before it landed with a thud where they'd been standing. "Asked and answered?"
Parry, thrust, more blood, more ichor. The boy nominally called Amadeus's face was twisted in rage as he tore his way through the crowd. His head ached fiercely, and the edges of his vision were going grey, but he fought his way through the pain.
He was going to survive, whatever it took.
The smaller creatures were no longer the main threat, that was obvious. Ignoring them even as they bit and scratched at her, Rahne took off running in leaps and bounds for the larger creature. She dodged around Amadeus, running like the werewolves you saw on the TV all the time - on all fours, using hands and feet to propel herself along the ground. It was surprisingly effective.
With a cry, she slammed her shoulder into the back of the demon, using her forward momentum to hit him hard. It twisted in her grip and a large elbow slammed into her head. Rahne saw stars but she held on, claws dug in for purchase as she snarled in return.
A blast of dark, electric energy wrapped around the demon, carefully avoiding Rahne, and it shrieked, driven to its knees by the force of both attacks. Topaz didn’t hesitate to reach into this thing’s head and drain everything. The buzzing got louder, and the demon became still, looking confused that its need to fight, to eat, to kill had been taken away.
A couple seconds later, the beast collapsed, felled by a blow from Miles's fist. The world still spun for him — did he have a concussion? Oh God he really wanted to sleep again — but pure grit and determination not to be the first to punk out kept him on his feet. Even if he was wobbling. That did not stop him from shooting a web line at another demon going for Amadeus.
"Get over here!" Because this wasn't enough of a video game already. Miles giggled when he pulled the demon to him and delivered an uppercut with enough force that he could hear its jaw bone shatter. Hmm, maybe he did have a concussion after all.
The pain in Amadeus's head grew worse as he finished off yet another demon, all of it radiating out of a spot at the top of his skull, like a red-hot fissure had been opened at the top of his head.
Or re-opened.
Topaz turned her attention to another couple of demons ambling her way. There was a darkness in her eyes as she whipped out her hand, and a thick line of rope-like black and red laced energy whipped out, cutting the approaching demons in half as it sliced through each one of them. Something akin to pride welled up in her chest. She wasn't useless here. She couldn't say she hated that.
Warren had been protecting Miles. That gave him a far better purpose than killing demons for the sake of it. The younger boy had seemed dazed, and Warren still felt bad for his lack of manners back in the cave. He should said something nicer, something reassuring and he didn't. The guilt was high.
The horde kept coming, and Warren kept attacking. Ideally, he wanted to carry Miles but that used his hands, and if he threw him on his back, Miles would be vulnerable. So stand his ground he would.
Gabriel's axe, assisted in some weird physics-related way by his powers, sliced cleanly through what appeared to be a small devil that had been running toward him. It was a power boost he probably should have saved, given how Limbo seemed to be affecting his stamina. But when faced with a threat on all sides, he couldn't help but resort to old tricks. And judging by the ichor now spraying on the ground, old tricks were effective.
The onslaught (or series of onslaughts, he wasn't really sure) seemed to be slowing, and he took a second to catch his breath, just in time to see a winged being of some kind —a gargoyle, maybe? — swooping down and approaching him. He ran toward it, speeding up until the creature's descent appeared glacial. Then he jumped up in the air and swung his axe at the thing's wings. It landed with a thud.
Rahne leapt over the fallen body of the creature that Gabriel had killed as she lead one that looked rather like a smaller bear on a chase through the crowded battlefield. She was faster and more agile than it was which she used to her advantage. Several times she swerved or jumped over some nasty things and the one chasing her simply trampled over them. It was a great way of clearing out the bad guys, though she had to eventually figure out how she was going to deal with it directly.
Seeing Topaz and Illyana, Rahne altered course and headed towards them, with the creature right on her tail. Almost literally.
Topaz saw Rahne coming toward them, and the thing right behind her. She threw her hand out, and a ring of dark energy encircled the beast, almost lassoing it. It screamed as it was lifted into the air.
The horde seemed unending until it just ...stopped. Brushing a mixture of sweat and blood off of his forehead, Warren looked around and frowned. The mound of the ground was disgusting. His hands were disgusting. His clothes were disgusting. He felt like he would never be clean again. "Please tell me that's it. Please."
The look Illyana gave him did not imply patience; she was scrubbing at her own face with the now-filthy sleeve of her sweatshirt, the Soulsword already back in where it came from, wherever that was. "It's a hell dimension," she said irritably. "Consider yourself lucky that we haven't run into any fire demons yet."
The pain in Amadeus's head finally took full control, blotting out everything and anything. All he could feel was pain. A single, sharp shock jolted through him, going from the top of his head and radiating outward. He heard the beep of machines, the hiss of oxygen, the drone of a soft voice.
"Whatever it takes," and then, nothing.
The boy dropped suddenly like a sack of potatoes, knife flying from his grip.
Gabriel's axe hit the ground, the clearest sign that he'd sprung into action. His reflexes had kicked in, and so he at least managed to catch the knife before it landed pointy-end-first inside Amadeus. He could not act fast enough, unfortunately, to catch the kid before he hit the ground. So he appeared just next to Amadeus's body, kneeling over him and shaking him with one hand while holding a knife in the other.
"Jesus fucking Christ, kid," he muttered, trying to hide his fear and the fact that his heart was pounding a bit. "Tell me you're okay and that you're gonna wake the fuck up."
All it was was pain, pain and a persistent beeping. And a red, red haze. The sound of breathing, wet and rattling, in and out, and counting, 132, 133. Then, with one, long terrible rattle, the breathing stopped, and the beeping went silent.
And Amadeus opened his eyes.
"Jesus fuck!" the boy yelled, and then turned his head and vomited.
Still a little dodgy on his feet, Miles wobbled over to Amadeus and knelt down next to him with Gabriel, placing a supportive hand on his shoulders. The sudden expletive came as a surprise, considering how composed and unflappable he had been since they got here. "Yo, you okay, Deus? You hurt. Lemme see . . ."
"Miles?" Amadeus said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. The cold, calculating look was gone from his eyes. Now he looked like a confused and sick teenaged boy. "What in the name of fuck is going on?"
Miles shared a look with Gabriel. "You remember anything?"
"You passed the fuck out." Gabriel scooted back a bit, away from the puddle of sick that Amadeus had just left. "After what seems like some kind of episode."
"Episode?" Amadeus repeated. He looked up, surveying the damage in front of him, the demonic corpses, the blood crusting his clothes. His brain stuttered, not unlike a hard drive clicking and refusing to cycle the new data in front of it. His senses were screaming at him that everything in front of him was NOT a hallucination, but that just didn't make any goddamn sense. The last thing he remembered he was in the kitchen getting snacks. "Are you sure I'm not still having one?" he said after a long pause.
"Guys," Illyana interrupted. "Can we at least be moving targets?" She gestured to the dry, dead expanse ahead of them. "Or we could wait here for the next wave of these, I guess."
