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xp_logs2018-11-18 09:22 pm
xp_changeling) wrote in xp_logs2018-11-18 09:22 pm
Morningstar - Ritual Features
The mismatched team checks their plan outside of Satanna's manse.
"Does everyone remember the plan? We have to get Worthington clear before she tries to use his connection to you all to end this fight." Kevin had changed into a fresh suit at the mansion and it was already splotched with blood. Whatever errand he needed to finish had involved some level of violence.
"Invisible... blonde. You know when to move in?" He said, looking at Sue.
Invisible blonde? The things she put up with for Warren Worthington, he would owe her big time if...no when they managed to get him out of this mess. "You guys distract the woman and once she's not looking I can sneak Warren out of there."
Miles pressed his fist against his palm and nodded. "I do what I do best and punch the evil thing. Should I have brought my Limbo demon sword, though? Would that give me and edge over the bad guy?"
"Anything that gives us an edge would be welcome, but we'll do the best we can with what we have," Bobbi replied. They were getting into position, so no time for Miles to leave and come back. They'd be alright with their current plan, she convinced herself. She turned to Sue and nodded. "Can do."
"You know," Gabriel pointed out, "I've been thinking about it a lot, and my role in these plans always seems to be the same." He looked at Kevin, an eyebrow cocked. "I just don't want to be pigeonholed. I have plenty of other skills." He crossed his arms. "And you have blood or something on your chin."
"I thought you played great arm candy, for example," Felicia agreed, both completely serious and entirely unhelpful, with a nod.
"The key here is that she thinks she's completed the ritual after we get Warren out. Remember, this demonic bitch can use his connections to get to all of you. Well, you guys. Gabe and I are protected by the power of hate and loathing, it seems. I 'consulted' with Sefton and apparently, when this kind of ritual blows up, it should take her with it." Kevin re-iterated, wiping away the blood from his chin. "Questions? No? Good. Get into position and wait for my and... Invisible Blonde's signal."
The team hit the front in a fury, blasting through the doors and two lines of Satanna's henchmen in seconds, before stepping in to confront her in her inner sanctum.
Even with her men down and her home compromised, Satanna was not about to be disrespected in her private sanctum. The annoying shapeshifter her men had failed to kill had brought friends in a ridiculous attempt to disrupt the ritual and her acquisition of a new plaything. That simply wouldn't do. With a wave, Kevin's handgun fire turned to butterflies and she smashed a wave of power into him as he tossed away the weapon. The spy went down hard in the corner and was forgotten as she turned on the rest.
Lifting off the ground past the glittering chandelier in the center of the room, Satanna stared down at her would be opponents, then slashed at the chandelier's base, sending it toward them as pops of electricity sparked everywhere and sent the room into darkness.
"You're in over your head."
This may not have been his brightest idea (so to speak), but facing a demon sex queen, Miles let instinct take over and let logic take a short nap. Clint's modifications to his costume proved a boon, as he could still see in the dark enough to get around. He somersaulted across the room to directly underneath the chandelier and caught it, letting out a little grunt, and then flung it overhead back at her.
Stumbling, Felicia let her mutation take over and barely made it out of the way of a rain of shattering glass. She could barely see, but luck always seemed to work better with confidence, so without pausing to think she continued the momentum and kept moving, shooting past Satanna and disappearing into the darker shadows of the corners.
Moving wordlessly in the opposite direction of Felicia, Bobbi attempted to flank Satanna as best as she could, staying low to the ground as she ran. Whipping her staff around, Bobbi spun and lashed out, striking at Satanna and then continuing on without seeing whether her blow actually caused any damage or not. Being mobile made her less of a target, and Bobbi was pretty sure she didn't want to find out just how hard Satanna could throw down.
Gabriel had not been prepared for darkness, and it turned out that at low visibility, his powers were a little useless.
So it was a good thing that his long-nurtured nicotine dependency meant he almost always carried around his own light source.
He reached into his pocket and flicked his lighter open, waving it around a bit just long enough to spot Satanna and to grab her attention. Then he slid it back in his pocket, powered up and ran behind her so he could strike her in the back.
Satanna managed to dodge the chandelier by batting it away with a mystical blast. While Bobbi landed a hit, it barely made the other woman flinch, and she aimed to back hand her across the room. Gabriel's attack was signaled too soon by his lighter, and Satanna was able to see it coming with a side step. She aimed another mystical blast, this time at Gabriel's stomach.
"I didn't know the buffoon had this kind of devotion. It's amusing, really. Did he sleep with you all?"
"Ay, is that all you can think of?" Miles asked as he stepped in on the offense. The blast that took Gabriel illuminated the scene enough that he could target her, and his fingers sparked as he tried to lay a hand on her and deliver a debilitating venom blast. She was quite limber, though, and he could not so much as poke her. "Stop moving! I thought you liked it when men touch you. Sorry, that was gross."
"You're a little too young for my type, darling," Satanna said, her voice shifting around the room. "I know who your heart belongs to. Someone....cold. Would he mourn you if I ripped you from your web?"
The chandelier glass started to quiver as it suddenly rose up and shot toward all of them.
Whirling her staff around like a giant propeller, Bobbi deflected any of the shards swimming through the air toward her while moving out of the way at the same time. Out of the side of one eye she saw Felicia rounding towards Satanna, so Bobbi kept moving in the opposite direction, lashing out with her staff as a feint to allow Fi more time to do whatever it was she was planning to do.
The great part about places with giant chandeliers? They usually had ornate ceiling fixtures to accent with all that glittery lighting, perfect for climbing, hanging on, and in this case, waiting patiently until Satanna was both close enough and with her back to Felicia to make an impossible leap, arms and legs wrapping around her target as she hit her, hard. Breath knocked out of her, Felicia tightened her hold with her thighs, crossing over her clawed hands and, aiming for her throat, raking them across Satanna in opposite directions.
Satanna was surprised by the tenacity of the surefooted platinum blonde and it distracted her long enough for her to find herself with a pair of (lovely) thighs wrapped around her. Had this not been a battle she would have been turned on. Hell, she still was a little. But back to the matter at hand. Letting out a cry of pain, her eyes suddenly flashed red and her skin began to sizzle, burning hot as hell as tendrils of smoke wafted off of her.
"Hello kitty," she said as two massive horns shimmered into being from her forehead and she attempted to gore Felicia in the chest with them as she tried to push her off of her.
Before either she or Satanna would have been able to process it, Felicia was a few feet to the left of her would-be aggressor. Gabriel, who'd use his powers to pry Felicia from Satanna before the demoness impaled her, grunted as he set the other woman down. "You know, I know it's not the time," he said, a little distracted as he looked to Satanna, "but you are more muscular than you look."
“I’ve decided what you meant was your thighs and I assume biceps are amazing and not fuck, you’re heavy so thank you and it’s super the t- oh shit!” Felicia rushed, diving in the opposite direction as Gabriel.
A small figure clad in black and red crashed just an inch from where Felicia had stood a second before. Miles had tried to get in on the opening Felicia and Gabriel left on Satanna, but an eldritch blast to the gut stole the opportunity away from him. Wispy tendrils of smoke rose from his smoldering uniform. He dreaded having to ask Clint to make him another. Assuming they made it out of here alive. And the sense of impending doom was only getting more impending and more doomy. Time was running out.
Bound in chains, hanging naked suspended from chains three feet off the ground over an alter, Warren Worthington was facing something he wasn't used to: consequences.
Oddly enough, this exact scenario had been in his 'top 10 ways to be murdered' he'd drafted once. He looked like an angel (and had the wings to prove it), was gorgeous and rich: of course ritual homicide was up there.
It gave him an a few moments to think about what led to this exact space of time....and it made him think 'yup, I deserve this'.
Death laughed inside. It was getting stronger and stronger, and to be honest, Warren was too tired to fight it. So for the next while, he'd rather sway in the air, and think how happy everyone would be with him gone.
Stealth was one of those things that you had to work at constantly, every step, every breath, invisibility was just a start, the smallest part of it. Sue had to be careful about where she stood, the slightest noise possibly giving her away, this was nothing like her previous jaunts, this time a life was in danger. The blonde compressed her lips into a tight line as she let the forcefield fade away, leaving her staring up at Warren, "Isn't that just typical, everyone's working and you're just hanging around."
Warren blinked a few times before lifting his head sideways to try to see Sue better. "Sue? What --- is that really you?" At this point, Warren barely trusted his eyes, knowing that he was really just a pod person at this point. "And for your information, now's not the time for quips and shit. Are you here to save me? Because I'd buy you so many ponies if you were..." Had he pissed Sue off too? He couldn't remember. He just naturally assumed that all women hated him right now.
"Dear sweet innocent Warren," The blonde shot the chained man a grin, "you should know the answer to that already, it's always time for quips, you're the one who taught me that." Pursing her lips the young woman glanced over at the others before looking back at the suspended man, taking a step closer to him. "Seriously, when was the last time you had a shower Warren? I mean, if for nothign else you owe me for getting you out of this so you can dunk yourself in a bath."
"Why are you always here when I haven't bathed," he mumbled to himself. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sue. For everything. I can't even begin to understand why you're here to help me, but ...I'm.......grateful..." Now that was a hard sentence to say. Swallowing thickly, he opened his eyes again. "Help please?"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe Warren Worthington has finally had a moment. The young woman stepped closer to the man, punching him lightly on the shoulder, "You're family, we never leave family behind no matter what they do." Her arms wrapped around the man's waist, pulling him into a hug, "You are going to make this up to everyone you've hurt, deal?"
"No need to put me on that list." Gabriel appeared out of nowhere, a neutral look on his face. He eyed Warren and Sue for a split-second. "You better hurry up," he said a bit more gently. "Next part of the plan and all." He gave them both a nod, then he disappeared.
The winged man didn't trust himself to speak so he nodded. Enveloping his torso with his wings (fuck it was cold), he just kept on nodding. Oh yeah. He had a lot of reparations to make.
For a moment the two of them vanished, a slight hazy circle in the air replacing them as the chains, suddenly without the weight of a large bewinged man to hold them in place swung loose with an ominous clank as they knocked into one another. Then, as suddenly as they'd vanished the two appeared again, Sue's face screwed up into a grimace. "Ok, so that hurt a little more than I thought it would. Come on you, lets get you somewhere safe." As her arms wrapped around Warren, pulling him away the blond nodded at Kevin, "You're up...good luck."
"Yeah. Yeah..." Kevin said nothing, waiting for the realization. "Thanks Gabe." He whispered cryptically.
It was time. Satanna could feel the magical energy swell and her thrall convulse in his chains. The connection had been established and nothing these insects could do would stop the portal from opening.
The air seemed ionized and a sense of foreboding erupted in waves. A rumbling was heard and felt as parts of the floor seemed to fall away from within the circle where she had carefully constructed her doorway and dark energy poured out.
Then, came the sound of the flapping of wings.
Death landed with a satisfying thud on the ground. Yes, this body would do nicely. It had taken a surprisingly long time to access it, considering he'd been playing this man's mind for a few months. It was, of course, just a copy -- the real body wasn't his quite yet, but he had every confidence in Satanna. "We must hurry," the booming voice declared, laced with the sounds of despair. To listen to Death speak would cause the average person to want to give up, lay down and die. "What are you waiting for, woman?"
"This body comes with....complications we must tend to," Satanna said impatiently. "It will be done. Patience. But first, we must obliterate them all."
The demon slowly lifted a hand, partially see through but growing stronger every moment. "This is easier said than done. Until the ritual is complete, this new body will not withstand much, and that idiot still has some sentience." He let out a growl. "I thought you said you would numb him."
"As I said, complications," Satanna said, her attention falling on the group. As she did, the doors crashed open and about 12 men wearing rather fetching servants outfits walked inside.
"Gentlemen...your services are needed," she said. The moment the words left her lips the men, who once looked perfectly normal, started to change. The faces shifted to something more demonic, eyes glowing red and claws growing from their fingers. A couple of them ran toward the wall and started to climb up the ceiling, their bodies painfully contorted. One gave a screech.
Miles struggled to his feet. Hard to do with a twisted ankle and what he assumed was light internal bleeding. His vision was blurred, and it took him a moment to realize it was because his eye lenses were damaged, so he pulled off his mask and tossed it aside. To hell with secret identities when battling a demon sex witch. "Really should have brought my Limbo sword and gone all Knights of the Round on you cabrones," he said to the thralls. "Can still take you all just fine myself, though." He followed one who had gotten to the ceiling, rapidly climbing the wall himself until he reached the beast and grabbed its ankle. With a powerful pull, he leaped down and wrenched it from the ceiling, and it crashed to the floor next to him.
"Things you never thought you'd hear when you woke up, Limbo Sword." Sue wasn't the strongest physical fighter in the group, a fact she was very aware off. However her speciality ran in a different direction, in this case it was more of a frustration factor. The young woman kept appearing and then vanishing, only to reappear somewhere else, leaving the visibly agitated beast to chase after her till she chose to remain in the same place, compressing a forcefield into a staff-like cylinder she used to trip it before laying about it's head.
Battle staves connected, Bobbi twirled her weapon in one hand as two of the beasts bore down upon her. She thrust the staff into the first one's chest, dropping him like a bag of bricks, then planted the far end of the pole into his midsection and using it to vault through the air, kicking the second beast with both of her outstretched feet. Landing into a roll, she disassembled the staves and twirled out, connecting a satisfying smack on both her opponent's skulls in turn as she spun around and got back to her feet, looking for her next target.
"Go fast, Gabriel." The speedster materialized, appearing behind a — well, a whatever these were, and attacking it from behind. "Run around a bunch, Gabriel." He flitted around to the other side of the thing as it spun around to swing at him. "Honestly, it's like"—he punched the thing—"you all only value me for my powers." The... well, man, he guessed, staggered back. "You all must know what that's like." He landed a flurry of high-speed attacks to bring the thing down. Then he looked around. "This was the part of the plan where we go fast, right?"
"Oh fuck. This," Felicia grit out, helping shove the demon beside her that had tripped throat first into the sharp remains of the chandelier while trying to advance on her, until bloody glass and metal glittered on the other side, straight through. "Demon Chippendale dancers are apparently now part of the plan, I think we're officially in the freestyle part of the program."
With a motion, Satanna detached herself from the fight. The fools were too late and Death was hers. She flew over to Worthington where he hung from the chains over the alter.
Reaching up her hand, the magical tethers that were connecting Warren's life essence to Death's seemed to shimmer into being as she began connecting the remaining ones. They were so close she could taste it.
"And here I thought you'd be more of a challenge."
Warren simply gasped, the lines of energy starting to grow in power and intensity. "...sorry."
Satanna tilted her head, perplexed by the apology. Was he sorry for his pitiful life? Something was amiss.
"What?"
"My time... my time is running out." He coughed out weakly. And then, a twisted smile made its way on to his face. "Just a few seconds left. And I lied to you, my queen."
It normally didn't take this long for someone to die. He talked way too much.
"What about?" she said impatiently, twirling a finger to get him to continue quickly. Perhaps he'd just pass mid sentence and she wouldn't have to hear the rest of it.
"I missed out." A small blue crystal tumbled from his chest, the luster disappearing as it bounced off the ground. "I wasn't a thrall." He pulled back the flesh of his thumb and pressed it hard.
A charge behind her alter went up, cracking the base. Death screamed as the portal reversed itself, sucking him back to Limbo. As Satanna looked in horror from the portal back to Warren, it was Kevin hanging in the chains instead. Or at least had been, pulling the last of them off and dropping to the ground. She screamed in frustration and launched herself at him. But the pull from the portal was like a whip, hauling her back towards it.
"They told me this kind of ritual takes life energy and without Worthington's, the only replacement is you. So enjoy Limbo, you hellbitch." Kevin said as the portal flared and with a last defiant scream, Satanna was pulled in and the portal disappeared with a hiss.
Outside, they regrouped, making arrangements to get Warren back to the mansion for treatment. Kevin, on the other hand, took a deep breath and savoured the victory.
"So, who thinks Warren owes us a lot of expensive drinks for this. Because, oddly, he'll be paying for them tonight."
"Does everyone remember the plan? We have to get Worthington clear before she tries to use his connection to you all to end this fight." Kevin had changed into a fresh suit at the mansion and it was already splotched with blood. Whatever errand he needed to finish had involved some level of violence.
"Invisible... blonde. You know when to move in?" He said, looking at Sue.
Invisible blonde? The things she put up with for Warren Worthington, he would owe her big time if...no when they managed to get him out of this mess. "You guys distract the woman and once she's not looking I can sneak Warren out of there."
Miles pressed his fist against his palm and nodded. "I do what I do best and punch the evil thing. Should I have brought my Limbo demon sword, though? Would that give me and edge over the bad guy?"
"Anything that gives us an edge would be welcome, but we'll do the best we can with what we have," Bobbi replied. They were getting into position, so no time for Miles to leave and come back. They'd be alright with their current plan, she convinced herself. She turned to Sue and nodded. "Can do."
"You know," Gabriel pointed out, "I've been thinking about it a lot, and my role in these plans always seems to be the same." He looked at Kevin, an eyebrow cocked. "I just don't want to be pigeonholed. I have plenty of other skills." He crossed his arms. "And you have blood or something on your chin."
"I thought you played great arm candy, for example," Felicia agreed, both completely serious and entirely unhelpful, with a nod.
"The key here is that she thinks she's completed the ritual after we get Warren out. Remember, this demonic bitch can use his connections to get to all of you. Well, you guys. Gabe and I are protected by the power of hate and loathing, it seems. I 'consulted' with Sefton and apparently, when this kind of ritual blows up, it should take her with it." Kevin re-iterated, wiping away the blood from his chin. "Questions? No? Good. Get into position and wait for my and... Invisible Blonde's signal."
The team hit the front in a fury, blasting through the doors and two lines of Satanna's henchmen in seconds, before stepping in to confront her in her inner sanctum.
Even with her men down and her home compromised, Satanna was not about to be disrespected in her private sanctum. The annoying shapeshifter her men had failed to kill had brought friends in a ridiculous attempt to disrupt the ritual and her acquisition of a new plaything. That simply wouldn't do. With a wave, Kevin's handgun fire turned to butterflies and she smashed a wave of power into him as he tossed away the weapon. The spy went down hard in the corner and was forgotten as she turned on the rest.
Lifting off the ground past the glittering chandelier in the center of the room, Satanna stared down at her would be opponents, then slashed at the chandelier's base, sending it toward them as pops of electricity sparked everywhere and sent the room into darkness.
"You're in over your head."
This may not have been his brightest idea (so to speak), but facing a demon sex queen, Miles let instinct take over and let logic take a short nap. Clint's modifications to his costume proved a boon, as he could still see in the dark enough to get around. He somersaulted across the room to directly underneath the chandelier and caught it, letting out a little grunt, and then flung it overhead back at her.
Stumbling, Felicia let her mutation take over and barely made it out of the way of a rain of shattering glass. She could barely see, but luck always seemed to work better with confidence, so without pausing to think she continued the momentum and kept moving, shooting past Satanna and disappearing into the darker shadows of the corners.
Moving wordlessly in the opposite direction of Felicia, Bobbi attempted to flank Satanna as best as she could, staying low to the ground as she ran. Whipping her staff around, Bobbi spun and lashed out, striking at Satanna and then continuing on without seeing whether her blow actually caused any damage or not. Being mobile made her less of a target, and Bobbi was pretty sure she didn't want to find out just how hard Satanna could throw down.
Gabriel had not been prepared for darkness, and it turned out that at low visibility, his powers were a little useless.
So it was a good thing that his long-nurtured nicotine dependency meant he almost always carried around his own light source.
He reached into his pocket and flicked his lighter open, waving it around a bit just long enough to spot Satanna and to grab her attention. Then he slid it back in his pocket, powered up and ran behind her so he could strike her in the back.
Satanna managed to dodge the chandelier by batting it away with a mystical blast. While Bobbi landed a hit, it barely made the other woman flinch, and she aimed to back hand her across the room. Gabriel's attack was signaled too soon by his lighter, and Satanna was able to see it coming with a side step. She aimed another mystical blast, this time at Gabriel's stomach.
"I didn't know the buffoon had this kind of devotion. It's amusing, really. Did he sleep with you all?"
"Ay, is that all you can think of?" Miles asked as he stepped in on the offense. The blast that took Gabriel illuminated the scene enough that he could target her, and his fingers sparked as he tried to lay a hand on her and deliver a debilitating venom blast. She was quite limber, though, and he could not so much as poke her. "Stop moving! I thought you liked it when men touch you. Sorry, that was gross."
"You're a little too young for my type, darling," Satanna said, her voice shifting around the room. "I know who your heart belongs to. Someone....cold. Would he mourn you if I ripped you from your web?"
The chandelier glass started to quiver as it suddenly rose up and shot toward all of them.
Whirling her staff around like a giant propeller, Bobbi deflected any of the shards swimming through the air toward her while moving out of the way at the same time. Out of the side of one eye she saw Felicia rounding towards Satanna, so Bobbi kept moving in the opposite direction, lashing out with her staff as a feint to allow Fi more time to do whatever it was she was planning to do.
The great part about places with giant chandeliers? They usually had ornate ceiling fixtures to accent with all that glittery lighting, perfect for climbing, hanging on, and in this case, waiting patiently until Satanna was both close enough and with her back to Felicia to make an impossible leap, arms and legs wrapping around her target as she hit her, hard. Breath knocked out of her, Felicia tightened her hold with her thighs, crossing over her clawed hands and, aiming for her throat, raking them across Satanna in opposite directions.
Satanna was surprised by the tenacity of the surefooted platinum blonde and it distracted her long enough for her to find herself with a pair of (lovely) thighs wrapped around her. Had this not been a battle she would have been turned on. Hell, she still was a little. But back to the matter at hand. Letting out a cry of pain, her eyes suddenly flashed red and her skin began to sizzle, burning hot as hell as tendrils of smoke wafted off of her.
"Hello kitty," she said as two massive horns shimmered into being from her forehead and she attempted to gore Felicia in the chest with them as she tried to push her off of her.
Before either she or Satanna would have been able to process it, Felicia was a few feet to the left of her would-be aggressor. Gabriel, who'd use his powers to pry Felicia from Satanna before the demoness impaled her, grunted as he set the other woman down. "You know, I know it's not the time," he said, a little distracted as he looked to Satanna, "but you are more muscular than you look."
“I’ve decided what you meant was your thighs and I assume biceps are amazing and not fuck, you’re heavy so thank you and it’s super the t- oh shit!” Felicia rushed, diving in the opposite direction as Gabriel.
A small figure clad in black and red crashed just an inch from where Felicia had stood a second before. Miles had tried to get in on the opening Felicia and Gabriel left on Satanna, but an eldritch blast to the gut stole the opportunity away from him. Wispy tendrils of smoke rose from his smoldering uniform. He dreaded having to ask Clint to make him another. Assuming they made it out of here alive. And the sense of impending doom was only getting more impending and more doomy. Time was running out.
Bound in chains, hanging naked suspended from chains three feet off the ground over an alter, Warren Worthington was facing something he wasn't used to: consequences.
Oddly enough, this exact scenario had been in his 'top 10 ways to be murdered' he'd drafted once. He looked like an angel (and had the wings to prove it), was gorgeous and rich: of course ritual homicide was up there.
It gave him an a few moments to think about what led to this exact space of time....and it made him think 'yup, I deserve this'.
Death laughed inside. It was getting stronger and stronger, and to be honest, Warren was too tired to fight it. So for the next while, he'd rather sway in the air, and think how happy everyone would be with him gone.
Stealth was one of those things that you had to work at constantly, every step, every breath, invisibility was just a start, the smallest part of it. Sue had to be careful about where she stood, the slightest noise possibly giving her away, this was nothing like her previous jaunts, this time a life was in danger. The blonde compressed her lips into a tight line as she let the forcefield fade away, leaving her staring up at Warren, "Isn't that just typical, everyone's working and you're just hanging around."
Warren blinked a few times before lifting his head sideways to try to see Sue better. "Sue? What --- is that really you?" At this point, Warren barely trusted his eyes, knowing that he was really just a pod person at this point. "And for your information, now's not the time for quips and shit. Are you here to save me? Because I'd buy you so many ponies if you were..." Had he pissed Sue off too? He couldn't remember. He just naturally assumed that all women hated him right now.
"Dear sweet innocent Warren," The blonde shot the chained man a grin, "you should know the answer to that already, it's always time for quips, you're the one who taught me that." Pursing her lips the young woman glanced over at the others before looking back at the suspended man, taking a step closer to him. "Seriously, when was the last time you had a shower Warren? I mean, if for nothign else you owe me for getting you out of this so you can dunk yourself in a bath."
"Why are you always here when I haven't bathed," he mumbled to himself. With a sigh, he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sue. For everything. I can't even begin to understand why you're here to help me, but ...I'm.......grateful..." Now that was a hard sentence to say. Swallowing thickly, he opened his eyes again. "Help please?"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe Warren Worthington has finally had a moment. The young woman stepped closer to the man, punching him lightly on the shoulder, "You're family, we never leave family behind no matter what they do." Her arms wrapped around the man's waist, pulling him into a hug, "You are going to make this up to everyone you've hurt, deal?"
"No need to put me on that list." Gabriel appeared out of nowhere, a neutral look on his face. He eyed Warren and Sue for a split-second. "You better hurry up," he said a bit more gently. "Next part of the plan and all." He gave them both a nod, then he disappeared.
The winged man didn't trust himself to speak so he nodded. Enveloping his torso with his wings (fuck it was cold), he just kept on nodding. Oh yeah. He had a lot of reparations to make.
For a moment the two of them vanished, a slight hazy circle in the air replacing them as the chains, suddenly without the weight of a large bewinged man to hold them in place swung loose with an ominous clank as they knocked into one another. Then, as suddenly as they'd vanished the two appeared again, Sue's face screwed up into a grimace. "Ok, so that hurt a little more than I thought it would. Come on you, lets get you somewhere safe." As her arms wrapped around Warren, pulling him away the blond nodded at Kevin, "You're up...good luck."
"Yeah. Yeah..." Kevin said nothing, waiting for the realization. "Thanks Gabe." He whispered cryptically.
It was time. Satanna could feel the magical energy swell and her thrall convulse in his chains. The connection had been established and nothing these insects could do would stop the portal from opening.
The air seemed ionized and a sense of foreboding erupted in waves. A rumbling was heard and felt as parts of the floor seemed to fall away from within the circle where she had carefully constructed her doorway and dark energy poured out.
Then, came the sound of the flapping of wings.
Death landed with a satisfying thud on the ground. Yes, this body would do nicely. It had taken a surprisingly long time to access it, considering he'd been playing this man's mind for a few months. It was, of course, just a copy -- the real body wasn't his quite yet, but he had every confidence in Satanna. "We must hurry," the booming voice declared, laced with the sounds of despair. To listen to Death speak would cause the average person to want to give up, lay down and die. "What are you waiting for, woman?"
"This body comes with....complications we must tend to," Satanna said impatiently. "It will be done. Patience. But first, we must obliterate them all."
The demon slowly lifted a hand, partially see through but growing stronger every moment. "This is easier said than done. Until the ritual is complete, this new body will not withstand much, and that idiot still has some sentience." He let out a growl. "I thought you said you would numb him."
"As I said, complications," Satanna said, her attention falling on the group. As she did, the doors crashed open and about 12 men wearing rather fetching servants outfits walked inside.
"Gentlemen...your services are needed," she said. The moment the words left her lips the men, who once looked perfectly normal, started to change. The faces shifted to something more demonic, eyes glowing red and claws growing from their fingers. A couple of them ran toward the wall and started to climb up the ceiling, their bodies painfully contorted. One gave a screech.
Miles struggled to his feet. Hard to do with a twisted ankle and what he assumed was light internal bleeding. His vision was blurred, and it took him a moment to realize it was because his eye lenses were damaged, so he pulled off his mask and tossed it aside. To hell with secret identities when battling a demon sex witch. "Really should have brought my Limbo sword and gone all Knights of the Round on you cabrones," he said to the thralls. "Can still take you all just fine myself, though." He followed one who had gotten to the ceiling, rapidly climbing the wall himself until he reached the beast and grabbed its ankle. With a powerful pull, he leaped down and wrenched it from the ceiling, and it crashed to the floor next to him.
"Things you never thought you'd hear when you woke up, Limbo Sword." Sue wasn't the strongest physical fighter in the group, a fact she was very aware off. However her speciality ran in a different direction, in this case it was more of a frustration factor. The young woman kept appearing and then vanishing, only to reappear somewhere else, leaving the visibly agitated beast to chase after her till she chose to remain in the same place, compressing a forcefield into a staff-like cylinder she used to trip it before laying about it's head.
Battle staves connected, Bobbi twirled her weapon in one hand as two of the beasts bore down upon her. She thrust the staff into the first one's chest, dropping him like a bag of bricks, then planted the far end of the pole into his midsection and using it to vault through the air, kicking the second beast with both of her outstretched feet. Landing into a roll, she disassembled the staves and twirled out, connecting a satisfying smack on both her opponent's skulls in turn as she spun around and got back to her feet, looking for her next target.
"Go fast, Gabriel." The speedster materialized, appearing behind a — well, a whatever these were, and attacking it from behind. "Run around a bunch, Gabriel." He flitted around to the other side of the thing as it spun around to swing at him. "Honestly, it's like"—he punched the thing—"you all only value me for my powers." The... well, man, he guessed, staggered back. "You all must know what that's like." He landed a flurry of high-speed attacks to bring the thing down. Then he looked around. "This was the part of the plan where we go fast, right?"
"Oh fuck. This," Felicia grit out, helping shove the demon beside her that had tripped throat first into the sharp remains of the chandelier while trying to advance on her, until bloody glass and metal glittered on the other side, straight through. "Demon Chippendale dancers are apparently now part of the plan, I think we're officially in the freestyle part of the program."
With a motion, Satanna detached herself from the fight. The fools were too late and Death was hers. She flew over to Worthington where he hung from the chains over the alter.
Reaching up her hand, the magical tethers that were connecting Warren's life essence to Death's seemed to shimmer into being as she began connecting the remaining ones. They were so close she could taste it.
"And here I thought you'd be more of a challenge."
Warren simply gasped, the lines of energy starting to grow in power and intensity. "...sorry."
Satanna tilted her head, perplexed by the apology. Was he sorry for his pitiful life? Something was amiss.
"What?"
"My time... my time is running out." He coughed out weakly. And then, a twisted smile made its way on to his face. "Just a few seconds left. And I lied to you, my queen."
It normally didn't take this long for someone to die. He talked way too much.
"What about?" she said impatiently, twirling a finger to get him to continue quickly. Perhaps he'd just pass mid sentence and she wouldn't have to hear the rest of it.
"I missed out." A small blue crystal tumbled from his chest, the luster disappearing as it bounced off the ground. "I wasn't a thrall." He pulled back the flesh of his thumb and pressed it hard.
A charge behind her alter went up, cracking the base. Death screamed as the portal reversed itself, sucking him back to Limbo. As Satanna looked in horror from the portal back to Warren, it was Kevin hanging in the chains instead. Or at least had been, pulling the last of them off and dropping to the ground. She screamed in frustration and launched herself at him. But the pull from the portal was like a whip, hauling her back towards it.
"They told me this kind of ritual takes life energy and without Worthington's, the only replacement is you. So enjoy Limbo, you hellbitch." Kevin said as the portal flared and with a last defiant scream, Satanna was pulled in and the portal disappeared with a hiss.
Outside, they regrouped, making arrangements to get Warren back to the mansion for treatment. Kevin, on the other hand, took a deep breath and savoured the victory.
"So, who thinks Warren owes us a lot of expensive drinks for this. Because, oddly, he'll be paying for them tonight."