16920/JLD Book Club I: Codex Sanguinus

JLD Book Club I: Codex Sanguinus
Date of Scene:	19 January 2024
Location:	Musee des bizarreries, Outside Paris
Synopsis:	The first Book Club meeting takes the Codex Sanguinus from a dance club/auction house. Patience and Daniel Ketch's Spirit of Vengence discuss the qualities of apologies
Cast of Characters:	Nettie Crowe, Talia al Ghul, Frank Noble, Daniel Ketch, Zachary Zatara, Joshua Foley, Patience Alperen

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Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK has been summoned to an Occult Auction, outside of Paris, France, that purports to have one of a rare book on hand. Nettie, back in New York, had expressed that the book was of importance to her - and important to remove from circulation, due to the powerful, dangerous and deadly spellwork within the book.

    To those with magical senses: This Gothic Revival building feels... rough. It feels like the sound of an orchestra tuning, but with knives to the ears and the slip of blood down a spine.

    To those who have no such senses, it looks like a gothic Church, with a concrete fascade and large doors in the middle of two small man-sized doors.

    There are large bouncers who appear to be checking ID's at the door.

    The message would be to assemble under the street light with the large, black crow sitting on it, and indeed Corvax is keeping watch -- but there's no sign of the leader witch of the JLD.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia isn't particularly fond of these sorts of things. Auctions for those that are not part of the bidding never goes well. They don't take well to intruders or those that would disrupt the proceedings. Magical ones even moreso. SHe's not here to put in an offer.. But she's here to help if only for favors owed and given. She helps the Justice League Dark not out of the kindness of her heart (if she even has one) but for the transactional nature of those exchanges. Favors for favors, materials or other. She is not a good woman. She is not on their side. But she'll cooperate most of the time so long as there's something in it for her to get.
    She would glance over at the bouncers from their vantage point, checking for signs of enhancements or if they were magical creatures at all.

Frank Noble has posed:
Frank has needed a break from the flood of data Vermillion had given him, and booked a trip to Paris. When he got there at a nice air bnb, and then he had spotted one of the strange symbols in a sewer enteance while taking the tour. He had investigated it and then seen one symbol, then another mapping them as he went shaking his head at the bizarre coincidemce until he spotted one on a manhoke cover and climber up. As the manhole cover opened, up went Frank and out came a fully dressed Grenademan, complete with mylarish cape and pletjora of multicolored grenades and vintage WWI german helmet (though some saw a shaving basin on his head or a Carmen Miranda Fruit basket) as he looked around at a cathedral, a lamp post and a crow.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Paris? Well, Danny can manage to find a couple off work days for Paris. Also, it is probably important stuff, since Nettie asked for volunteers and all. He hopes to have a few hours to visit the city, maybe ask Patience for directions or something.

Things start badly, though, because Daniel does have those weird senses that tell him the church is not quite right. Not exactly creepy, but definitely unwholesome. Unfortunately, he has no idea why. "Uh, where is Nettie?" He asks in general to the gathering group.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
A trip to Paris. There are certainly worse ways to kick off his formal involvement with the Justice League Dark.

Zachary Zatara isn't really what you'd call a veteran hero. But he has fame and some degree of fortune. Not to mention a family name that can open doors in Arcane circles. So he's had Bunny book them flights. First class naturally. In the name of discretion he's taken a cab from the airport to the local area, rather than booking a fancy hired car, and hasn't come in the full tuxedo. No he's merely in a tailored suit with a top hat. The tails are clearly the bit which makes him stand out....

His ability to sense magic is always on. And the aura given off by the Church make him scowl. "Can you feel that Bunny?" He wonders to his assistant. "The building feels..." Bunny scowls back at him, "Delightful yes. Or perhaps it's the contents? Either way it doesn't speak highly of the hosts."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Nettie had brought Joshua with her to Paris because well, he had admitted that he never been to Paris before. He had planned to be all touristy, he heard that France was more open with mutants than Americans and the young man had plans to test that. After all, it's hard to hide his particular mutation. The golden mutant was pulling on a large puffy coat and had his map of all the touristy spots that he wanted to visit when his phone chimed.

'COME HELP'

So much for that idea. Glancing out the window, towards the Eiffel Tower, Joshua sighs. He turns, takes a selfie of him in front of it and sends it to Sara with the 'Wish you were here' emoji. And off he goes, catching a taxi to the location he was directed to, slipping out, his hands in his pockets. A black knit cap and gloves match his puffy coat, leaving only his golden hued face exposed as he looks around in confusion. There's no Nettie. But he does give a whistle. "Corvax?" he asks, to see if the crow may just be in hiding and waiting to join them.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen does love Paris. Yet, for all of its reputation as the City of Light, there are many darker aspects that few know about or choose to recall. It's easier to pretend the monsters under the bed aren't really there.

Arriving neither early nor late, the Agent of The Church arrives wearing her Working Clothes - form fitting black armor with crimson accents under a long black cloak also lined with crimson. The cloak's hood is up, casting much of her face in shadow and helps obscure the selection of weapons, holy icons and so-called 'monster hunting' supplies.

Her own aura shines brightly and golden to those who can see or sense it; But it is the aura of the staff-sized object slung across her shoulders that outshines her. Wrapped in burlap covering, the aura of the object's tip may be sensed to glow bright-white through the fabric's rough weave.

Slowing as she nears the gathering group, Corvax is given a silent smile and nod and Danny gets larger smile as she moves to stand nearer to him than the others.

Her gaze is pulled from the group to thoughtfully appraise the church.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Oi, not so loud, Lad, they'll all hear!" Corvax croaks from his place on the lamp post, and then with a flap he comes down, and definitely staying away from Danny's supernatural malevolence (no offense, Danny, but Corvax is *definitely* far from being the Innocent type), and alights on the shoulder of Josh's poofy jacket.

    "So. Here's the deeaaal--" he pauses, and looks to Grenademan a moment. His head cocks to the side, and then he motions with a wing "Is... anyone else seeing him there? Crawled out a sewer? In PARIS? That's a brave man." he points out, and then the crow continues with a cough.

    "As you can see, Nettie's not present. Neither is the little one, Torny. Which means, obviously, spoiling it for you lot, she went in first and probably got herself in a lick of trouble."

    Corvax sighs.

    "So. I see two routes -- go in, partake in the sale and see if Nettie's among the sale items, or guns-a-blazing and blast 'em." he pauses

    "Which may bring down every dark supernatural being in the area, and given that this is *Paris* and it is *pretentious as all fuck* that means they're probably vampires and demons. An' not that I don't doubt the heavy-hitters in the room --" nod to Patience and Danny "But I don't like the rest of yours survival chances, which means Nettie would probably also be against it."

    The pirate crow's claws adjust on Joshua's shoulder.

    "So, what's it going to be? File in like good duckies or are we stormin' the church?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would let out a sigh, "The Paris sewer system is labyrinthine and endless. There are a number of access points through it. However, likely many of the individuals going to the sale are taking them as well. However, that will also let us slip in as part of the crowd a bit more easily. I'd rather not try to out-muscle our way through half of the mystical beings in Paris. And the locale will be heavily warded. And France has it's own signifcant population of mystical defenders that will respond to our intrusion and add to the chaos."
    Put her in the 'sneak in' squad as oppoed to 'breka in' squad. Even with enough heavy hitters to theoretically make a partial go of it. But a very, very hard slog if they go that way.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan starts to introduce himself and then, stops, confused. Wait, Paris? Church? Even for his warped mind, there is a sense of continuity and he is trying to discern exactly how he got here, looking at the notebook briefly, then puts away. He listens to Corvax and then poses, cape flowing in a wind that seems to rise from nowhere, and just as he is about to say something one of the pins on his belt comes undone as he holds up a finger moving to fix it. He is about to reply when he hears Talia speaking, and then looks around. For once, Grenademan is silent, and listens.

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua frowns in apology as Corvax alights on his shoulder. "Sorry, sorry." he murmurs as he's filled in on the situation. And he looks around at the others. JUST THE OTHER DAY there was a suggestion that Joshua learn to train to treat people while under combat conditions with the X-Men. Was Kitty like... reading tea leaves or something?

"I can go behind whoever if we're taking the rip and tear route." he comments. "And should be able to keep up with healing those that need it if possible." He's not exactly built for sneaking, after all. He reaches up to give the crow a light scritch.

Which is his way of saying he's deferring to probably Patience.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"I am sure it is all a misunderstanding and we can just go in, get Nettie and..." Daniel can't keep his face straight while saying that. So he shuts up and glances at the church. "I guess lets go in, and delay the burning and smashing as much as possible. For the shake of survival and the welfare of pretentious monsters."

He couldn't take the shotgun in the plane flight, but the shotgun hasn't been enough since he joined the happy troupe that is the Justice League Dark. So, he figures it doesn't matter. He will burn first, and afterwards some other people will, too.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
Zachary Zatara gives the strange figure from the sewer a raised eyebrow. "riA renehserf," he murmurs with a shake of his head. "Well I didn't bring a gun so unless anyone is about to do something foolish I'll be taking the front door..." And no-one is going to let someone in a fancy auction if they smell like sewage.

He glances around the group. Then shrugs. "Bunny go wait with the car," his assistant isn't here to fight after all. It's clearly spelled out in her contract. "I'll see you in a short while. Oh do be a dear and let the accountant know I'll need access to as much liquid capital as can be spared."

There's no waiting to see if people agree with the diplomacy approach. He just sort of sets off like it's taken for granted everyone will agree it's the best idea. (And hey worst case if people do start a fight he's moving in the right direction for it.)

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen listens to the update from Corvax and the thoughts of the group while she continues to study the Church.

Looking back to the group, she considers everyone's input as she offers her own thoughts. "I think that the moment I darken the doorway, every ward or sensitive being inside will know why I am here." The voice of experience probably. "It may be best for me to stay out here and keep watch for the time being. Until others can confirm Nettie's location or that the book we're after is actually here."

A sideways glance is given to the man emerging from the sewers. Ah. Paris.

Joshua Foley has posed:
As the plan seems to be forming, Joshua meekly raises his hand. "A suggetsion? If we're doing the stealth route? Noone knows me. I have no magic. I have no real threat as an ability. If someone could distract them..." he gestures towards the bouncers.

"I can walk in, see if mom's in there, and if she is, send a message to Patience to let her know, and maybe take a picture of the situation or something?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Deferring to Patience is probably a wise idea -- other than the old crow, she's probably the most experienced here.

    Though Corvax does give a withering look to Daniel Ketch at the joke, and he gives a tongue click.

    Zachary begins to walk towards the church, and that's about when one of the bigger bouncers at the event with crimson eyes begins to make his way over to the grouping, because someone coming out of the sewer is probably bad news. He reaches for Zachary's shoulder with a steely hand.

    He asks in French where the hell he thinks *he's* going.

    His crimson eyes fall on the Magdalena, and the huge bartender, built like a refridgerator, begins to pick up his pace, teeth baring.

    All his teeth.

    WAY too many teeth. And very, very sharp. An angry sounding siren errupts.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
This is lovely. Ever so lovely. "We're here as invited guests." Talia Al Ghul goes to walk over towards the bouncer, and goes to flick her hand around and moves to take out a small card that looks like a cheap Vegas plastic playing card, admittedly that has a rather non-standard looking Queen on it that seems like more something from the side paneling of a truck than something to a playing card. The card is handed over and (if taken) then goes to flash in the form of an alluring, vaguely female shaped cloud of smoke that blows a kiss and then goes to vanish over into ethereality.
    Followed over by her then taking out a small pad of what seems like a mix of pocket lint, some paperclips, a couple of marbles, and a piece of the Berlin wall as she attempts to bribe with a small fortune.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan is about to say something about having the perfect distraction, taking out a Cesium explosive grenade that would light up (literal light not blow up) a 5-6 block tadius with a 30 foot fireball (that would remarkably not kill anyone) but failing for three things. First, he actually reached for a paint grenade, pulsing a glowing green not red in the night, the second, is that the body guard starts to approach the group, and finally, Talia is attempting to Salvage the Situation. Grenademan, easily confused on the best of days since not everyone from the Forces of Good (Well...to be fair he doesnt really know Talia....) are not attacking the Forces of Evil (yeah no doubt there) he waits but if the body guard does not seem to buy Talia's story ..or anyone really, Greandeman will toss a Paint Grenade with uncanny accuracy right at the guys eyes (which...may coincidentally cover almost everything in ten feet with bright glowing paint) but for now, Frank holds his action.

Joshua Foley has posed:
With the bartender with the teeth (ALL THE TEETH) advancing on Patience, Joshua is backpedaling. This is a two-fold effort, because not only is he wanting to get away from the big bad tooth and his upcoming dance with the warrior priestess, but he's realizing that with that siren, there is going to be others.

And as for Joshua? While the front is drawing all the attention, he glances to Corvax and swallows. "Let's go." And he pulls away from the group, heading around the side of the church. There has to be a service entrance. There has to be one right? And if they have pulled the guards to deal with the distraction - he's hoping that he can slip through the side door to seek out Nettie.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Daniel has no problem letting Zachary go first. He doesn't even speak French, anyway. But the 'stealth' approach doesn't last even a minute, as one of the bouncers decides he wants to go pick a fight with Patience. Is someone sounding an alarm too?

He hesitates, something angry and immortal stirs in his soul, but there is no pressure yet. Instead he glances at the bouncer passing by him, eyes on Patience.

And he casually extends a foot and trips the bouncer. Too many teeth, some might end up on the pavement.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Sigh.

"It seems that our choice has been made for us" she murmurs as the toothy bouncer zeroes in on her and begins to approach. Well till Danny attempts to trip him. The bigger they are.. the more simpish the demon possessing them. Over compensation is also a thing in the world of greater and lesser demons.

For the moment the wrapped staff remains slung across her shoulders as she watches the scene unfold.

"Josh - see if you can't accomplish your idea in the meantime? Just.. " the look she offers him hopefully says it all: Don't get killed. Nettie would kill us if you do.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
"My good fellow," Zachary says with a winning grin. "You wouldn't keep a paying customer out now would you?" He doesn't speak a word of French but the hand reaching for his shoulder is a pretty simple to understand question. "Now do make yourself useful and fetch someone with the authority to let me in."

And then he lets go and charges off. The young stage magician simply shrugs, brushes his shoulder off, then continues towards the door. "Or yes bother someone else." Rather than let anyone ruffle his suit any further he pulls out his wallet. A roll of Euros. "Now then I'd really like to avoid any further unpleasantness."

Just in case anyone at the door does get a little uncouth he murmurs a brief enhancement spell. "gnivomnU ekil a niatnuom."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    Several things happen at once.

    The bouncer, who seemed to be growing larger the further he got away from the church is momentarily distracted by Talia, beguiling him. He breaks his stride at the deadly woman before the young man whose shoulder he grabbed that he SHOULD have been able to pick up and launch at that Big Obvious Golden Glow of Holier Than Everything Around Her suddenly is immovable. Not immobile, no, but absolutely cannot be moved. He gives a grunt of distraction, turning with the sudden force of inertia before he trips on Danny's boot.

    Now ordinarily, none of this should have happened if this was a regular group. Luckily, Toothy McDentistNightmare's frown goes comically large, falling further down his face until he topples... slowly... over, and with a cry lands on his back, in front of Danny and Patience. There's a snarl of some abyssal command, and fire begins to form in his mouth like he's about to ignite the whole gathering on fire!

    Meanwhile, Joshua comes around the side of the church. There's a couple of people there who are smoking. He definitely has access and the trio outside the kitchen don't appear like they really care what anyone does. Place is weird enough anyway. Josh may be able to hear a gavel fall.

    Meanwhile, two more of those bouncer demons make their appearance at the front of the church to block Talia's entrance in.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would glance over at the demons for a few moments, glancing over her shoulder. "My invitation." She goes to take out a small envelope over and moves to press it up. There is, in fact, no particular invitation in there as she goes to let it be taken up and inspected. For once there's no particular traps within it. No poisons. It rather contains yet another bribe.
    Ground up unicorn hooves, crushed nails of Celestial, bones of Frost Giants and Svartelves ground to a fine powder.. It's a horrifically expensive bribe even when it's mostly just leftover magical consumables from.. Actually, probably best not to know what kind of ritual it was that these were teh leftovers from after-all.
    "So good gentlemen, I hope that suffices for an invitation?" She's overpaying them exorbidantly, but she'd rather not get stuck ehre when Excalibur shows up.

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan did not, throw the grenade, because, technically, the attack did not happen. So, STEALTH mode it is. This is, perhaps not a type of stealth he is used to but cearly, CLEARLY if this is stealth then someone needs to Cover Joshua. No problem! Taking out his grapple gun, he points it to the roof of the Cathedral and lets lose, flying off into the night to fined the largest stained glass window to ready himself to crash through possible.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"Crap," murmurs Daniel. "He is a demon, isn't he?" Because of course the bouncer is a demon. Or possessed, whatever. "The funny thing is my partner usually takes its time when I am, you know, being intrusive instead of a passive victim."

He sounds almost apologetic when addressing the bouncer. "I rarely push him out," he adds, clenching his jaw, "and he doesn't like Ms. Crowe much, either," his hair is starting to visibly smoke. "Tough luck..." he concludes, crouching and bursting in flames.

Then he stands, and he is six inches taller, far larger, and burning. A black gloved hand grabs the bouncer by the neck, pulling him up as if he was a straw doll, "...FOR THE SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE HAS BEEN SUMMONED!" Then he throws the bouncer through the wall. Through the church's stone wall. Hopefully the demon is as sturdy as he looks, or there is going to be splattered demon everywhere.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
"I'm beginning to wonder if this actually qualifies as 'a plan'," Zachary says with a sigh. Still marching up to the front door. "But it does rather seem to be distracting so... C est la vie I suppose?" It's not the only French he knows. But it's close. His studies focused far more on Spanish and Italian. Plus the dead languages. Which honestly might be more suitable for whatever the possibly demonic creatures might be.

"I am the Great Zatara," he proclaims to the figures at the door. Omitting the cousin of part. Poetic license. "And you will let me in for the auction." He gives a beats pause, inspecting his hat, before placing it back on his head. "I suppose you need to hear the or else too? Very well. Or else I'll freeze you in time itself and leave you for those two."

He gestures over at Daniel and Patience with the money he's still holding. "Carrot? Or stick? Which will it be?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
Ducking his head to hide his face, Joshua lifts a gloved hand in greetings to the trio, but it's just a passing thing. Instead, he's ducking inside. As he does so, he finds himself in the kitchen. There's the clatter of dishes, the hiss of steam, the sizzle of food.

Off comes the puffy coat, gloves and hat as he grabs a serving apron and throws it over his shoulders, tieing it off in the back as he hears the banging of the gavel. Snagging a tray of drinks to use, he makes his way to be on the periphery of the setting, eyes not only scanning the crowd -- but his biokenesis is being used. He's been around Nettie long enough to know her unique biometric signature, and now he is actively pinging for her.

As he does so, he's handing out drinks to get closer to the front. "Champagne? Champagne? Champagne? All out." he offers quickly tucking the tray up to carry it as he continues to make his way towards the stage.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen watches as the felled bouncer is being pinned by Danny who suddenly brings his Friend out.

Looking at the bouncer she shrugs, "He's great at parties, you should see him." Then to Not-Danny, "You're doing the after-action report this time."

It wasn't the plan. Was there really a plan? No, everything was in the discussions and ideas stage when this all began to go sideways. Now it was squarely in the Make It Up As We Go camp.

Reaching back she takes hold of the staff and unwraps it to reveal. Well it's a spear. It has a rather intricate tip. That's the part that probably matters to the majority of the ill-mannered creatures trying to prevent this group from getting inside. Or not. Since some of them succeeded. At least this distraction is working. Probably?

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    The two demons at the door won't be bribed. There's a low snarl, and one comes in fast and low at Talia, looking to knock her off her feet with a sturdy punch.

    The other looks at Zachary. He doesn't look impressed.

    "Ou sont les resilles?" he asks, looking at Zachary, and then he snarls, showing his normal amount but very large teeth as he reaches for Zachary to throw him out --

    But then he's getting some splattered goo on him, rained from above by the demon that Ketch's Spirit has thrown! There's fire in the hole, and the demon's tough luck continued when he was thrown against the stained glass of the church, which instead of shattering (as it should have), the glass retains blessed properties, and the demon vaporizes into a fine rain of viscera and guts.

    Right over Zachary and Talia and their two demons.

    Joshua's hasty disguise earns him a way into the still continuing auction where luckily he doesn't recognize anyone (though that lady over there definitely looks like she belongs in a Classical Revival painting), and they have finished wrapping up the bidding on something that just *looks* cursed. Some sort of beer stein made with hardened bat livers. Gross.

    "Next on the block -- the Codex Sanguinus." A very pale, and severe man speaks up.

    "Penned in the fourteenth century by Friar Gustav Bene, having gone mad from a disease that fevered his mind. A perfect blending of necromancy and sanguimancy -- or blood magic. Bidding is strting at fifteen million euros."

    There's whispering from the audience.

    "I assure you, our interloper *is* also on the table, after this main affair." he gives a grin, "And if you want, she can be split among the people here as... a special dinner guest."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    As the grenades go off around the stained glass windows at the top of the church, the glass shatters in a prismatic rain of pain, causing screaming from the inside of the main sanctuary -- people begin running out, the fire doors burst open. There are plenty of people who have sections of glass shards in her heads running in a panic!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would let out a sigh over and grumble at thier improvised plans turning up to bits over from the attacking demon charging in. She would move to the side while Ghost Rider would trample through everything in it's way and just rub her fingers over her shoulder. "Fine." She goes to pick up her rejected bribe. A quick check to make sure it's not contaminated, then it's pushed back into a pocket as she goes to just start jogging forwards over while entering in to the auction house.
    "I'm here to place a bid." She says calmly, speaking in formal Arabic. "All of your lives in payment for it. All of them will be /spared/." She would flash her teeth in a sadistic smile. "So that should be a bargain now."

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan lands on top of the church and sneaks, rather badly looking like a giant piece of tinfoil flaating in the wind. There it is! The PERFACT stain glassed window to crash through...he cracks his knuckles, listening to the auctioneer and waiting for the PERFECT dramatic moment to make a dramatic entra....WHAT THE?

A giant hurled demon goes through the stained glass window, as Grenademan almost swears (almost) and sereniptously drops the paint grenade he had been holding in reserve for the bouncer, as the grenade finally finds its home as Grenademan slips, and rather than finding the second, smaller stain glass window to charge through, three explosive grenades (Fortunatelly dialed down to their lowest setting) shatter the remaining glass causing pain, annoyance and mayhem to those below whilst Grenademan slips a second time, dramatically NOT entering through the stain glass window but landing on his feet as if somehow he had actually planned to cause the rain of pain and mayhem on the FORCES OF EVIL.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
Raining viscera. Lovely. "naelC sa a .eltsihw," Zach mutters once the rain has stopped. Cleaning himself off with a casual wave of his hand. The money, seemingly of no interest, vanishes up his sleeve in a simple conjurors trick. "If I spoke French I would have said all that in French now wouldn't I?"

The daemon seems equally inclined at making unwanted physical contact as the other, now deceased, guard. And quite frankly it's /rude/. "deppotS ni .emit" The words are so very simple. But the working? Well to stop time even in a very limited capacity requires a fair degree of power and skill. He doesn't need to maintain it forever though. Just long enough for the more physically minded members of the group to close the distance.

There seems to be all sorts of explosions going off above him. So the young magician looks back at Danny and Patience. "Do they always tend go around blowing things up and threatening to kill rooms full of people?" He shakes his head in dismay. "Or is this a new development?"

It is now definitely a distraction. Any chance of talking their way in has gone out the window. Along with the glass, lead and stone of the actual windows.

Joshua Foley has posed:
All of the lifesigns in this place are new. Confusing. There's creatures and demons and things that Joshua has never had the chance to be exposed to. But he realizes one thing - being golden is /not/ a help. He switches, reversing his power. No longer to giving life, but taking it as he his skin goes from gold to vantyblack, only his eyes exposed as pure white, no iris or pupil. The touch of death.

He glances towards the item at the table. It sounds extremely dangerous -- not that he has to think about that as the glass shatters above him. Bringing the tray up to cover his head, the glass rains down on it while he remains protected and he uses his phone to send a message to Patience.

> I have eyes on the book! It's on auction now! Hurry!

But he's still on the search for Nettie. That book is giving him a bad beat with his biokenesis and he doesn't want anything to do with that, at the moment.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The Ghost Rider looks up at the glass, maybe surprised the church is not fully desecrated. And then the shinning glass is falling on all those wicked people's heads. There is something very satisfying in the situation. Well, if you are a vengeance-drive hellfire-breathing person.

"What is an after-action report?" Asks the Rider in his usual too-grave tone. And for some reason, this time he lets Patience to take the lead and do the demon spearing first, and then he follows with the burning metal chain, in the case one of the bouncer-demons manages to survive.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen watches as Danny-Except-Not Throws the demon they were.. conversing with. Seeing that the demon turns into a fine red mist on hitting the window, she purses her lips and comments almost clinically to 'Danny' - "That wasn't what I anticipated happening." Whether she means the exploding demon, or that Danny decided to toss the demon like a big, ugly caber.

Looking to Ghost Rider she shakes her head, "That was meant more for your Friend. It involves a lot of writing and apologizing. Usually for all the carnage that you cause." She offers the flaming angel of vengance a smile. "But please. Do carry on. Only -- there is a book in there. Being auctioned. Please. Leave that alone okay? Otherwise go do your thing." He already was. Just now with the Blessing Of The Church (tm). Wouldn't Cardinal Innocent (as if) be surprised to know that!

Gripping the Spear of Destiny firmly in hand, she looks to Zachary and shrugs helplessly.

"Usually? MMmm, yeah. Pretty much just like this.. We're working on it."

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    All of the lifesigns are new, confusing, and OH HEY that one is definitely Nettie and Torny, partially because Nettie feels weird, and Torny is flapping about with an attendant trying to get it.

    An right about then is when Talia al Ghul decides to make her appearance. The attendees of the auction all turn int heir seats, there's some murmuring, partially because some of them don't speak antiquitated arabic, and others because no one knew what Talia al Ghul looked like, and thus have no idea why this person has interrupted their auction for the book.

    "I'm afraid that the bidding starts at Fifteen Million Euros, ma'am. Would you like to register?" the pale man says, giving a broken toothed smile before he tilts his head.

    "... we have a problem. Send addditional guards to the front of the house." he snarls, and then grasps his gavel, and points at Talia.

    "Get Out."

    Additional big guards are coming towards the front, where the Ghost Rider questions about after-action reports, and Patience is keeping up with her namesake.

    The book is unveiled.

    It is bound in wht looks like stretched, layered, human faces. The lether is dyed red. The pages are pale and it reeks of the smell of fresh blood, and the taste of old blood, iron rich and tang.

    "Truly, the next item is the priceless one. Would you care to register to bid on the Leader of a failed cabal of witches?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Oh well, she had tried to negotiate over it. A hand slides over towards the katana she has over on her back, moving to flip it out by the sheathe, which she goes to hold on one hand. She had given them thier warning.
    "The lovely lady with me is called Danzan." she would speak calmly, giving the blade's identity even before her own. As the murmuring nd chatter begins, she would keep it hoisted in front of her.
    "In English, it is deemed Separator." A rather horrid translation to be sure, but close enough to work.
    She goes to walk towards the nearest demon, going to try to rapidly slash the katana through the portion where neck met torso, hopefully with the head from the demon falling to the ground with a satisfying 'THUMP'.
    "It separates heads from bodies."

Frank Noble has posed:
Grenademan is surprised to find that the smaller stain glass window he has fallen into contains several smaller items up for auction. This would not normally bother Grenadmean, except that one is a very small miniature harp, clearly marked with several of the symbols he was originally tracking. The memories come flooding back, and Frank, standing there alone in the room with the chaos outside, considers what to do. The Helm has never done this before, but Frank himself is not able to aid such fights. He can, however leave at least a surprise and takes a Sleep Gas Grenade, using on of the built in feature each grenade has and sets an adheisive to the wall with a duct tape trigger. If he puts the suit on now, he suspects the harp...whatever it may be, will be lost...but if the bad guys try to run from the Justice League....as it is, he sighs, grabs the harp and walks back down into the catacombs.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
The glass from the windows does seem to hold a residual 'anti demon' effect. And it rather seems a waste to just let it all get trampled underfoot when it could be put to a more dramatic use. Ever the showman Zachary strikes a pose in the doorway, gesturing down at the coloured glass, and then shouting "mrotS fo ,sdrahs" and flicking his arms up dramatically. Pointing at big guards coming to check out the front of house.

And, more importantly, sending those glass shards scything through the air like a potentially still holy storm. Or maybe it's just glass, which is probably still pretty unpleasant!

He looks at Patience and then glances at Talia. "Some more than others it seems. Anyway I suppose we just keep going until we have the book or they run out of guards?"

Joshua Foley has posed:
With Team Distraction being a really big distraction, Joshua makes his way backstage and into the staging area for the auction. As he weaves through the various items that have already been sold, his eyes are focused forward as he looks for someone in paticular.

And now that he can focus, she's a lot easier to find. Making his way to where Nettie has been secured. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a kitchen knife he had snagged from the kitchen. "Mom, it's me." he offers quietly as he comes up behind Nettie and keeps himself down. Shifting from black back to gold, he draws in a breath as he uses the knife to cut the tie at her mouth first. "Have you out in a jiff." he promises.

Sawing through the cord, it snaps free, and he moves to cut the restraints next. "They need help out there. The book is on the auction block. You need to act quickly." Why is he saying all of this?

Because he takes both of his hands and cups Nettie's face and works to quickly heal her, knowing that he is about to get hit with one hell of a feedback of his death, her death, all types of death and it's probably going to knock him on his ass and out of the fight - but it frees up Nettie to go on the attack.

He hangs in there until he's sure that Nettie's good and he drops like a rock. But he did his part. Go get 'em, mom.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"There is no reason to apologize," the Ghost Rider seems somewhat offender by the idea. He would snort, if he was able. And that is the longest conversation he had in most of a year. He stops now to fight those 'bouncers'.

He is the distraction? He would be amused by the idea. The Spirit of Vengeance is right where he wants to be: punching demons back to hell, properly beaten up and scorched.

Patience Alperen has posed:
Patience Alperen begins walking toward the Church but casts a glance toward Ghost Rider with a patient smile. "There are always reasons to apologize. You can avenge, revenge and be generally vengeful while still being well mannered." That'll be an interesting conversation to have another night won't it?

She nods to Zachary, "Well... most of us are usually independent operatives of sorts. This team thing is sometimes difficult. But when it works? It's magical.." she says with a grin. Word play!

"Shall we go in and put an end to this infernal gathering?"

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "HEY! MY HEAD?!" the head states rom the ground, rolling along a moment. A couple patrons look horrified. Others look annoyed. The demon flails headlessly and wanders into a wall with a Thump that is not nearly as satisfying.

    The Auctioneer seems less than impressed, but there's a couple of key things he's missing in the Auction Room.

    Outside, there is a thunderous sound of shards of glass lifting from the ground, tinkling almost cutely against one another, some clinging to the lead that bound them together -- and it begins to storm. The glass shards whip around, eviscerating those who came too close, who tarried too long -- and hopefully not Patience and the Spirit of Vengeance. That'd be a problem.

    The demons who were out there are ripped to shreds. Remaining guards are punched back to hell, properly beaten up and scorched by the fires of a Ghost Rider.

    The path of destruction is wrecked to the auction hall, where most curiously the air has turned a bit... cold. Like a tomb.

    A moment ago, Nettie had blinked up at Joshua in confusion. She'd been hurt, pretty badly. Blood caked her hair and the left side of her face. She had fang marks on one arm that had been robbed of its sleeve. She was down to a wifebeater undershirt and a pair of trackie pants that didn't actually belong to her.

    "Joshua - I told Torny to tell you to stay away --" she breaths out, and then Joshua lays-on-hands.

    And a moment later as the others trickle in from outide, Nettie was holding onto Josh's prone body. Her eyes were crackling violet and black.

    She is Most Defenitly in Pissed Mode.

    "My fiery friend--" she states, not looking to the Rider "If you would be so kind as to help Ms. Alperen and Ms. al Ghul kill everything in this room while we grab the book, I would be *most* obliged." she states, her two crows circling over head as she begins to cackle.

    "I shall take the codex and my son."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
THe head goes down. THe curtains do not call. Talia goes to take a few steps back, katana in front of her. As she looks at the array of slaughtering that will happen tot he demons. Ah well, she has enough warrants out for her on this continent that a few more won't bring about the end days. She glances down over at the fallen head.. Goes to take a few steps back..
    And then goes to slam her foot into it hard, like a decent midfielder as it goes flying over to hopefully collide with the auctioneer. It won't hurt at all but it will be extremely undignified.
    Sure, a demon can obliterate your soul and send you bcak to hell, but doing so after you've been headfaced..

Zachary Zatara has posed:
Oh indeed. The storm of shards is /directed/ towards the demons. Just like a knife throwing routine it's important not to hit the assistant. Or in this case assistants plural. It wouldn't do to join a team and then 'help' by throwing lots of sharp objects at everyone.

One could even say it was a faux pas. Which is the other bit of French he knows. Well that, the word baguette, how to order a bottle of the house red, and how to ask for someone's phone number. Just in case.

"Anyway it rather seems you all have this in hand," he decides. Wincing at the violence he's just unleashed. "I'll go check on Bunny. Make sure she's still got the cab. Shout up if you need me. I dabble in a little healing magic."

He moves to teleport himself across the lake of gore then stops. "Oh yes and I'll use a little illusion magic to prevent any of the authorities for taking an interest. Wouldn't want to have to explain this to the French police now would we?" Certainly not with his French coming from a guide book that Bunny insisted he read on the plane. "A delight working with you all I'm sure."

He snaps his fingers "kcaB ot eht .bac" and in a puff of smoke he vanishes.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The Ghost Rider is happily beating up demons and penance-staring some people (hand picked as being seriously guilty of something - you can gauge it for the way they scream) when Nettie makes her request. "NO. I will not kill, I shall deliver punishment. No more."

After a minute of burning souls and bodies, he feels compelling to add, this time for Patience. "I will not apology unless I discover I have erred. To do otherwise would be insincere. Thus, I won't abide."

Patience Alperen has posed:
There is something to be said for taking things by faith as the saying goes. Whomever coined that phrase likely didn't mean to use Faith to take the heads or existences of infernal beings or those given over to the pursuit of evil. But it works.

There is an almost serene expression on Patience's face as she concentrates on enacting Nettie's request in the most effective way possible.

The Spear becomes an extension of herself, affording a far greater reach and establishing a movable barrier that prevents attackers from closing in on her without losing appendages. The Divine tip of the spear becomes a streak of golden bronze as she swings the staff around her in an arc. Those demons that are stricken are quickly dispatched. A particularly aggressive possessed figure manages to close within the arc of the Spear, slamming into her.

Keeping hold of the Spear Patience tumbles across the floor of this place that was once a place of holy worship, now of the unholy.

Kicking at the large man, she rolls away and rises up quickly to drive the tip of the Spear through the possessed attacker's chest with a twist and upward jerk. With a howling screech of pain and anger, the demon is banished. No red mist this time; just acrid black smoke.

Nettie Crowe has posed:
    "Coming from *YOU* that may /actually/ be worse!" Nettie comments.

    The Auctioneer gets football-headed. He howls at the indignity, and vanishes in a puff of blue flame.

    So do some of the attendees, escaping what surely is going to be the death of them (or the punishment of them, no one really wants to deal with the Ghost Rider!). There is carnage. There are creatures sent back to the bowels of the abyss.

    There is punishment for the Wicked.

    And there is Nettie, cradling JOsh softly (best she can anyway, he's a good shake taller than her), and retrieving the book as Corvax lands on her head since both shoulders are taken.

    "And in a matter of minutes, all that remains of the crowd are the dead bodies of those who were possessed and killed in the process, a couple of very confused teenagers, and ash, blowing on the wind.

    And Nettie, no longer crackling with energy, turns to Patience, and to Not-Danny.

    "You know, if you wanted to head to a church, I know a fantastic Irish priest back in New York." she states, giving a wry grin.