13133/Hellish Start to the Day

Hellish Start to the Day
Date of Scene:	21 October 2022
Location:	Brooklyn
Synopsis:	An interesting group of fighters dispatch a demon back to the Hell from which it came!
Cast of Characters:	Monet St. Croix, Hellboy, Vintridr, Illyana Rasputina

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Monet St. Croix has posed:
It's a very, very muggy morning. Despite it being in the fall it's thick and heavy with an almost omnipresent sense of humidity and a weight in the air. For those that can sense it, there's a heavy building up of magic within the area. Building. Something dark coming. The air thickening, a stench of brimstone upon it.

Hellboy has posed:
    Agent Hellboy has been dispatched to the area just on the off chance that the readings the BPRD had found were something to check out. The demon walks through the streets of Brooklyn doing his best to blend in. He's even doing a half-way okay job, as aside from some people taking selfies pointing at him as seeing a celebrity on the streets and a few people just taking pictures of a big ol' demon walking around, he's not being too pestered. He sniffs at the air. A lot of people would despise the stink, but Hellboy takes the brimstone in stride. He follows his nose as much as he does the instructions that were given him on where to go from his bosses.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
He goes to follow his nose and it leads him right to what was expected. Namely a portal from one of the nigh seemingly infinite paths that went down to the abyss or whatever infernal realm came within it. Crawling out of it was what could best be described as a demonic samurai. Orange and purple plated armor, a flaming skull for a head, and a large, twisted looking katana glowing with hellfire. "I.. AM.. FREE!" He would roar over with power.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy chews on an unlit cigar, head tilting to the side as he grimaces slightly. As much as he loves his job, he kind of hates when the nerds are right and he as to punch things. "Hey, ugly!" he says. "How about you step back where you came from and I don't break your face." It almost never works, but Hellboy at least has the face-breaking Right Hand of Doom to back up his threat.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The demonic samurai grins, "I've not had some fun in eons. I appreciate getting to match blades with your fist." As Hellboy goes to chew his cigar, the demon grins, "Let me." THen with unholy speed goes to slash at him, attempting to cleave the front of his face off with the hellfire blade!

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy's reflexes are better than that. He dodges back like Neo in The Matrix dodging bullets, though not to that extent. His cigar is cleaved; his face is not. He takes what's left with his left hand and looks at it. "Okay," he says. "Now I'm mad." Tossing the unused butt toward the ground, Hellboy balls up the Right Fist of Doom and swings toward the demon, aiming for a Right Face-Punch of Doom!

Vintridr has posed:
    Even milligenerian former Valkyrior need groceries, from time to time, and Vintridr finds she normally enjoys the exercise. There can be something soothing about a simple ritual such as this; the implied certainty that food is available today, and will be available again tomorrow and the day after, for days without end.

    It sounds simple, especially to people who've rarely known otherwise, but in its own quiet way it's a greater triumph than the most glorious battle.

    Her musings are disrupted when the shouting and screaming starts, and she leaves a crack in the pavement as she turns on her heel faster than a human should be able to and sprints toward the source.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The demonic samurai moves to the side as Hellboy punches over with the Right Fist of Doom, bringing up his other arm to snap a tit at the wrist with intent to deflect it to the side to let it graze by him while trying to snap his foot up and over to try and strike Hellboy behind the knee, then intent on following it up over with an elbow to the back of his neck. Cackling, "FOOL!" Attempting to if possible send Hellboy flying while snapping his blade around in his other hand to pirouette.
    Presuming Hellboy goes flying, he would grin morbidly - as much as a flaming skull could. "It's time for FUN!"

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
After a rather long evening in Metropolis, Illyana has exactly one focus. Coffee. Cappuccino, black, something with a stupid picture of a dinosaur in the foam. Any of the above works for the tired blonde Russian who isn't even watching much where she goes through Brooklyn.

The autopilot path that took her to a bodega means the caffeine need is settled, her precious drink clutched in her hands. No mittens or gloves here despite it being cold. She's made of sterner stuff, and greedily swallows up the steam. Like Vintridr, she is lost in her own musings until loud noises forcibly wrench her from the caffeine coma.

Something hammers through the fugue. Fatigue crumbles as she throws back a sip. This is NYC. Something's gonna interrupt that coffee. Two blinks; a big tall demon, and then a flaming samurai resolve. Torn clearly between cheering and grumbling, she settles on pushing off the wall to go see what the fuss is about.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy is struck at the back of his knee and winces. He's up against a Samurai, and not a crappy wannabe, but an actual fast Samurai...who is also a demon. It's when the elbow strikes the back of his neck sending Hellboy into the ground that that is driven home. Nothing like the taste of pavement to prove one's point. Hellboy does a pushup before pulling his feet under him and turning. He pops his neck with a tilt of his head to the side. Reaching into his nebulous coat under his right arm with his left hand, he draws a rather oversized revolver. Pointing it at the demon, he growls out, "Dodge this, asshole." The trigger is pulled, and the barrel goes off like a cannon, sending the blessed, anti-demon round through the air slower than sound, but still faster than the human eye can track.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Magik goes to poke her head in to see one demon with massive horns fighting another demon with a large helmet. The demonic samurai goes to do a pirouette around, going to then bring it's sword up and brace as the shots from Hellboy goes to splatter along it. The -BOOM- hits him to drive him back, cackling. "Such a pathetic thing, bringing a gun to a sword fight!" The demon lets out a bellow of glee and goes to charge in at Hellboy, using unholy speed to lash out at his adversary, clearly enjoying the first actual fight it had had in eons!

Vintridr has posed:
    The strike fails to land, however, as Vintridr reaches Hellboy's side just in time to block the demon's blade with her own, Asgardian alloy ringing against Infernal steel.

    "If it's a blade you want, I shall oblige." she snarls at the demon before bracing herself and pushing hard to create space to move, then shifting into a ready stance as her shield and armour materialize around her.

    Her grocery bag, in the meantime, has fallen on the ground about fifty meters back, forgotten in the rush.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The dramatic eyeroll from the youngest member of the posse against demon samurai is practically audible. "You got it wrong," Illyana mutters over her coffee. She takes another slug of too-hot brew, dealing with the burning sensation down her throat. "It's 'never bring a knife to a gunfight.'" She peeks into the lid of her recyclable cup just as Vintridr levels the right accusation by blade. The grocery bag lying there accusingly propels the blonde to walk over and pick it up, moving it to safely to the side. Like good residents would.

"More like it, da?" A gesture at the armoured woman shows approval, though she isn't closing with Hellboy and his target. They need space, and slim as she is, she still gets in the way. "Hey, Skull-face. You know what you bring to sword fights? /Lemons/."

The Wombats probably don't approve of her referencing their song, but she starts humming the chorus. "You're not getting out of here this time." Lyrically disposed, she reaches out through a teensy portal to hit the kitchen of a school in another county. Feeling around in a fruit basket, until she comes up with the erstwhile lemon.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy's weapon lowers during the speech. His shoulders slouch just a little as the demon shrugs off an anti-demon round from his hand cannon. This fight is beyond him. This is going to need bigger guns, or at least backup. However impotent the earthbound demon is, there's the impending attack headed his way. "Aw crap," he just manages to get out before Vintridr steps in the way. He takes a step back in surprise as SUDDEN ASGARDIAN! Not only sudden Asgardian, but apparently magic user, too? Weird, but he's out-classed, so he isn't going to turn down the help.
    Tanking a shot from his gun would be one thing. To make him look as harmless as an elderly butterfly by ignoring it completely? This is not a fight he should have been sent to. Then again, the guys on the computers trying to make sense of the readings they were getting couldn't possible have known. Still, no sense risking collateral damage with a useless weapon. Hellboy holsters Samaritan and takes several steps backward, letting the bigger guns handle this. He looks around, making sure all the mortals are getting away to safely well enough.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The blast fired by Hellboy of the sizzling anti-demon round had impacted the armor with the bullet being lodged there but not -quite- fully gone off. As the melee goes on and the demon goes to attack, the blast cap detonates! The demon lets ou ta shriek over as it sizzles and burns through hell-forged armor and not in a nice way. It needles into his form and melts through, leaving jus ta flashing skeleton of bones beneath the right side! It can be hurt by such things.
    With the Asgardian oer now and Magik as well, the demon faces the asgardian in thea rmor, the unknown factor of Magik that is playing about.. Lemons popping off of him that are unnoticed. He goes to whip out a small shuriken which was launched through the air over at Vin, it ricocheting around at a seriesof impossible angles, bouncing around to try and hit her in a position beneath plate and flesh if it could find an opening! Hellboy meanwhile has hte demon go to launch his large katana in a wild arc like a boomerang, it sliding through thea ir like a scythe, arcing around to try and target him in the torso!

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy can at least see the attack coming. Throwing one's blade at the demon prince was probably a bad move. He may not be lightning fast, but Hellboy has the Right Hand of Doom. Reaching out, he grabs the katana's blade, stopping it. He quickly grips the handle in his left hand and swings the sword away from his hand until it's extended away from his body parallel to the ground.
    He narrows his gaze at the Samurai demon. He says nothing, bringing the sword in front of himself, holding it with proper form as he can, given his Right Hand situation. He plants his feet, tail swishing like a cat's under his coat. The infernal steel internally bows to his unseen crown of hellfire. It's his sword, now, even if the BPRD will make him put it with all the other infernal items he's snatched up over his career when this fight is over. He smirks, unable to resist the cockiness that comes from noping back at the demon just as hard as it had been noping him most of this fight.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The samurai doesn't care about getting hit with a lemon. He probably doesn't care about three grapefruits, a bag of oranges being hurled at him one after the other either. Illyana throws hard, enough to make fruit pulp or bruise. She is no Supergirl though! The point is largely to foul the Demon Samurai's defenses, since a distraction doesn't help him avoid swords or guns as well. Like everyone's kid sister all grown up, she aims to press the annoy-big-monster button repeatedly. She stays behind Vintridr, letting the Asgardian warrior informally threaten the skeleton by her mere presence. Hellboy is up in his toothy grin, and stealing swords.

For the most part, that's an underhanded deal but something to let slide as he's not on Team Infernal Bones. Now who's the one at a swordfight without a sword? She mentally scouts out the nearest water cooler known to her from Columbia University. It vanishes, only to reappear over the samurai's back. Gallons of water are heavy, and hopefully can be used to crunch him.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Ther'es a hiss over from the demon, "Useful trick." Almost respectful over in it's reply. Also somewhat strange, perhpas in it's own way. Since when did demons do respect over a fight and didn't seem to bother with threatening souls over and death randomly? Fruit bounces over along the demon's body, instantly sizzling over as the demon lets out a weary sigh. Then he's covered over in water and a massive font of steam, smoke, and brimstone goes up in the air as he's splashed down, smothered..
    THen faster than the unholy eye can see, as if doing a teleport, he appears right behind Illyana, a smaller sword in his off-hand that he uses to try and skewer her!
    The blade in Hellboy's hand for now seems to obey him. Covered in fire. Burning. Thirsting for blood. Any blood.
    Including that of it's former wielder!

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy watches produce and water attack the demon. Water should have been blessed. Holy water might actually do something. Hellboy is hesitant to just rush at the demon, given what's going on. He's got a nodachi in scale, flaming and thirsting for blood, but Hellboy has seen that he's not fast enough to hit this guy. He takes the stance of Obi Wan, sword centered. He moves toward the demon, but mostly shifts to a defensive posture. He'll attack if he can, but right now, he just wants to provide flanking bonuses...or he would if this was a tabletop RPG. Just another threat for the demon to keep track of, basically.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
A wakizashi is long enough to disembowel a full-grown man. One in the hands of a supernaturally quick opponent could do terrible things like split someone's coat and slide through flesh. The Demon Queen hisses involuntarily at the jabbing slash through her back. <<Bad choice,>> Illyana cracks out in one of the High Infernal languages. The demon probably deeply enjoys the fact that he's just struck down a mortal.

Except she's not just that. Her blood carries the infernal alongside a trace of unstable mana tethered to Limbo. Blackened metal manifests to physically protect her, too slow to stop the attack but most definitely enough to lock the blade in or out. A black crown splashes through her pale blonde hair, barbs swept back. While Hellboy harries the samurai, he is still the greater physical threat.

As the armour fully appears, she turns. Her bare palm reaches out to grab the demon's shoulder, even if it won't connect. They're locked like dancers in a turn as the dreaded relic feared by demons and mystics presents itself -- several feet of soul forged into a blade run diagonally through skeletal ribcage and associated bits. "Look what *I* brought."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Hellboy goes to focus, waiting for the attack and looking for an opening. He has the time to advance forwards, analyse the situation, and figure out a way to go at his opponent. He might almost be enjoying himself, perhpas, if he was that kind of fellow. Wha the also sees along the ground is one of those dropped, discarded throwing stars as well. The demon was lsoppy with his toys..
    The demon is caught by surprise over as Illyana goes to strike at him, Soulsword lashing out in what would be an easily terminating move, dismembering him and the magic of it slaughtering him instantly. But instead of taking the blow head on or trying to brace for it, or just being caught over by surprise.. He goes to flip over and along behind Illyana, landing firmly even as her Soulsword causes his own blade to shatter. He goes to try a snap kick aimed at her back, grinning. "Excellent! I have not faced warriors of your caliber in eons! I live for the challenge!" Well, as much as a wretched abomination that was already condemned could.

Vintridr has posed:
    Vintridr is momentarily distracted by the shuriken, whirling and dancing to keep it from finding a weak spot in her armor before she has room to bring her sword around and swat it out of the sky.

    Once it clatters to the ground she stomps down on it with a heavy boot before turning her attention back to the fight, just in time to see Illyana pull out her trump card. Well, trump sword. She moves to flank the demon across from the girl and points her own blade at it as well.

    "There is still time for you to yield," she suggests, tilting her head warningly.

Hellboy has posed:
    "Yeah, don't think he's into that, lady," Hellboy says. He watches the demon's wakizashi shatter, the inert, infernal steel extinguishing itself as it clatters to the ground. That's going to be something the BPRD has to clean up. Don't want that getting into the hands of ordinary citizens. He does, however, take a step back. Illyana's weapon is something that he also doesn't want to get anywhere close to.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The Soulsword is a terribly fluid thing in Illyana's hands, and what it can inflict when she's in the mood is pain on the living, the dead, and all in between. She drops through a portal of her own when the demon moves, dissipating and reforming at a duet of a distance past the monstrosity that would have eagerly punched her. Blood runs under her armour, but standing gin the hallowed grounds of Limbo--hallowed only for her, largely--has the advantage of staunching the worst of it. She merely re-emerges with the Soulsword in both hands, a smoking glimmer running off the fiery edges. Her eyes glow, and the laugh on her lips is mirthless.

"Your turn, da?" she asks of Vintridr, inviting the assault from the rear, side or anything in between. Her own movements prove not the least bit super-speedy. Not for the moment.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The demonic samurai grins twistedly, showing a maw of savaged, chipped off teeth, "And where would be the fun in /that/, Asgardian? Would you back down from a brawl?" Challenge to taunt replied with. But he has three opponents to deal with. Hellboy at range that's already shown his gun can be very nasty. Magik and Vintridr up close. Even if he had not clashed blades yet with the Asgardian, he no longer had one of his own, both women were armed.. "Then let me have a worthy dismemberment if I am to lose!" Cackling with glee, he would launch himself over at the Asgardian! Launching himself at her in a high jump kick! Intent on getting himself out of range of Magik to try and deal with the Asgardian quickly!

Vintridr has posed:
    "As you wish," Vin replies even as she pivots into the attack, bringing her shield up to deflect the incoming kick and guide it past her as she completes her spin, her blade coming up in a vertical slice that intersects the demon's leg just below the kneecap, aiming to slice clean through the limb.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy watches the fight transpire, still holding the flaming sword. Not a lot for him to do, just now, without shooting into the fray and possibly hitting Illyana. Anti-demon rounds would likely get him some shade from her if he hits her. So, he circles around to the shards of demonic steel and squats down, keeping an eye on the demon as he gathers up the shattered wakizashi. The pieces of steel seem just as friendly as the oversized katana does, so he slips them into one of his nebulous coat pockets. Hooray, less cleanup to do, later.
    "You ladies got this," he says. "Either of you able to close that portal once you push him through, or should I call someone for that?"

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Beautiful." For that work of an angry Asgardian really is inspiring to see up close. Vintridr's technical form is something that Illyana can appreciate up close. Vintridr works up front and she circles from the side to lash out with the Soulsword, sharp and swift bursts of energy that call to iaido. The blade is thin and long, ideally suited for rapid movements. However, the demon's armour or weird alacrity might be enough to deflect her. She'll enlarge the blade if need be to offer more of a chopping surface. Launching in to strike at the demon's spine or side, and dancing back opens opportunities if Hellboy needs to get in there. She doesn't press that close.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The demon launching over on the attack at Vintrider has the blade go clean through his leg. He has no room to dodge, redirect, or evade as his limb was cut cleanly off. As it does so, he tumbles over, so much now as just a torso. With one limb gone, Illyana has all the room she needs to skewer him from behind, even as he's left dangling over on the Soul Blade. Instea d of threats, pain, screaming, damnation..
    All that emanates from him is laughing. Of glee, of joy.

Hellboy has posed:
    "Ladies, I'd take a step back," Hellboy warns, standing with a large wakizashi handle in his grip. He takes his own advice, standing away from the demon. "No chance him laughing like that's a good thing." He slides the handle into his belt, grabbing the intact Katana with both hands. He holds it infront of himself defensively again, readying himself for...whatever's coming.

Vintridr has posed:
    Vin scowls as she keeps her blade at the ready, holding her distance from the demon but well within range to lunge forward for a finishing strike should one be needed.

    She spares a moment for a quick glance and querying eyebrow in Illyana's direction -- an acknowledgement that this foe is more in her field than it is the Valkyrior's; how to deal with it will be her call to make.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
He hangs, defeated over on the Soulsword. He continues to cackle over in glee. No threats, no glowering, no massive buildup of magic that might indicate some sort of detonation or final spell.. Instead he brings his hands up together to start to clap. "Magnificent.. A worthy final fight.."

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy looks at the demon. He grows impatient. Drawing the Samaritan once again, he walks right up to the demon and points the weapon at his head at point blank range. "Go to hell," he says, pulling the trigger. BOOM!
    Hellboy slides his weapon back into his coat and looks around. "Either of you want to close that portal so I don't have to fill out the paperwork to call it in?" he asks.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
The Soulsword flashes out of existence, drawn away where some demon who won't die doesn't get to mess with sacred things. The annihilating touch will deserve better, more despicable foes. Or Illyana has a plan in hand, one that links up with Vintridr's aims. The sorceress raises her hands, now bare, as she slides back. The words off her lips aren't especially easy to understand, warping the weft of reality. Creation comes to life in the details around her hands, beautifully articulated glyphs enclosed in copper rings. The emblems burn a hotter blue, settling back into a deeper copper after their initial make. She grits her teeth; blood and pain of pulling out this particular spell aren't something she can ignore.

"I'll contain him from harming anyone. Magnificent? For us, I suppose. You, you're just a bastard."

Vintridr has posed:
    Little else remains to be said. Vintridr steps forward, her blade lashing out in a near perfect horizontal arc, Asgardian forgework backed by Asgardian strength slicing through the demon's throat and spine without so much as slowing down.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The blade skewers cleanly through as the demon's final laugh and words are cut off as his head slides off, cleaved fully through! His body goes to disintegrate, returning to the ashes and the abyss from whence it came!