17352/Calignostic: Check In

Calignostic: Check In
Date of Scene:	05 March 2024
Location:	Abandoned Amusement Park - Amusement Mile
Synopsis:	Phoebe once got Witchblade drunk. For that favor he's gonna fight EVERYONE. Josh more understandingly empathizes with Phoebe's entire life change and is the most mature one in the scene.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Joshua Foley, Sara Pezzini
Tinyplot:	Caliginosity

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    After the incident in the Wayne Botanical Gardens, Phoebe had chosen a less public place to meet up with Josh, for a review, in case he brought someone along. So she was in the abandoned amusement park, having gotten through a piece of fencing that was cut (and sports a scratch ont he back of her hand for her trouble).

    The air coming off the ocean was cool and salty -- matched her feelings. Her motorcycle was parked a couple blocks down to make it not obvious that she'd broken into the place, and she sits on an overturned Tunnel of Love boat as she looks out over the park.

    She smells like gummy bears and cheap cigarettes. Mostly because she was smoking a cigarette. Her hair was chopped short and disorganized. She had a head wrap over her shoulders, and was wearing a GOTHAM CITY sweatshirt and a pair of black leggings. She's looking towards the East, where darkness was growing.

Joshua Foley has posed:
After the incident in Bushwick last night, the chances of Joshua getting out of Sara's sight for a few minutes were slim to none. That became none when he mentioned he was going to an abandoned theme park in Gotham. It became even less than that when he mentioned who he was going to check on and why.

So, there will be a pair of motorcycles showing up at the park. As they do pull up, he makes his way into the park, holding a case of first aid material - for when he's not around, and probably with company.

Noticing Phoebe where she's sitting, concern crosses his features - he's gotten better at reading biosigns from afar and Phoebe's are still disturbing. "Those things are going to kill you." he states flatly. "And I sure as hell didn't try to give you an immune system for that." Maybe his girlfriend is finally rubbing off on him. Making his way over to her, his gaze immediately goes to the injury on her hand, wanting to see if her own body attempts to fix it before he goes after it himself. Either way, it'll get a nudge.

"How have you been feeling? Any nausea? Dizziness? Disorientation?"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
For Sara it was a double wammy to hear about Phoebe's 'accident'. The knowledge that Phoebe had been hurt, bad enough that Joshua was involved, and that for reasons unknown she wasn't healing herself. The second was Witchblade, and his reaction to the knowledge that one of the very, very, VERY few people the entity actually liked was hurt. Even if Sara had wanted to to let Josh go alone, which she most certainly did not, there was no way it would happened.

Arriving in Gotham on her motorcycle, she parked beside Joshua's, removed her helmet and set it on the seat. The turmoil in her head, the constant whispers from Witchblade, she was used to it at this point, but when her own soul matched the concern, it was more difficult to ignore.

As they approached, Sara actually comes to a dead stop and just stares at Phoebe with a slightly slacked jaw. In that exact moment, the silver bracelet on her right wrist grows and expands into the Gauntlet, the red stone swirling as the 'eye' opens. "Holy shit," she breaths out, shaking off the effects of Witchblade before finally moving forward again.

"This was no accident," she states bluntly, actually having to use her left hand to hold her right hand back. "He needs to know what happened..." she manages to get out, then has to take a step back. It is rare for her to have to fight Witchblade in a physical manner, but it was obvious that was what was occurring.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Hey, good to see you, how are things? How's Pezzini?" Phoebe replies to the flat expression from Josh, and maybe just to spite it she takes another drag off her cigarette, giving an upnod to Sara when the good detective approaches, and gives a momentary disturbed look when Witchblade reacts.

    "I died. I was separated from the Spark. I was promoted to civillian. Well. Self-promoted." Phoebe explains, and she exhales as she pulls her hand away from Josh's nudge.

    "It's fine. It's just a scrape. I'll put neosporin on it when I get ho--... to where I've been staying." she corrects.

    To Witchblade, Phoebe is magically 'dead'. She has zero magic, where once he was able to sense the Shard of Creation that had been bound to her soul... there was nothing. It was a hole.

    "I got stabbed through the chest and drowned. Then one of the Bats managed to ressurect me." she shrugs.

    "Josh helped kickstart my immune system and platelet manufacturing. Hence the scab." she holds up her injured hand again.

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Hold still." The normally cheerful mutant seems to be in a mood tonight. Joshua sighs after a moment. "Not you, I promise. I just... you're... I have no idea what caused you to come back, but touching you is like finding myself holding a bucket of a million Lego pieces and I know what the final product is supposed to look like, but there's no instruction manual for how to get you there."

There's a glance towards Sara and the Witchblade. "And I swear, if you interrupt me..." That is a narrowed glare at the bracelet. "You can probably run me through, but I'll come back and probably be pissed. I've had enough trouble for this month, don't test me." A wan smile towards Sara, before his attention returns to Phoebe.

"If you don't want me to help you, that's going to be your choice. But as your friend and possibly your best bet to keep you intact while... whatever all this is gets sorted, as mom would say..." a pause. "I don't know what mom would say, honestly, about you, but it'd be along the lines of sit down, shut up and let me take care of you."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Taking a few more steps back, Sara closes her eyes and the inner battle begins. Witchblade wants blood, to reach out and destroy everything that caused Phoebe to lose the Spark. And once they are destroyed, crushed beneath the feet of his Weidler, he will search out where the Spark is and bring it back. He commands death, he commands life... and Sara, she will do what he wants...

Or so the battle inside her rages. There is no target, there are only questions without answers, and Phoebe appeared to be in no state to actually give answers. It was obvious she was depressed, defeated, trying to give up and give in to what happened...

And still Atum rages.

"The Spark," she breathes out, but her voice is not entirely her own. She sounds as if there are two voices speaking in unison. "It was taken, not lost... who took it?"

Opening her eyes there is a slight red glow to them that matches that of the stone on the Gauntlet. "Clearly I'm having troubles keeping him in check, he wants to try and heal you Phoebe, to give you back what you gave him... he wants to return the Spark that was taken.... threats not helping," she adds as those eyes turn toward Joshua.

Closing her eyes again she grimaces, still holding her right arm with her left even as the tendrils from the Gauntlet begin to crawl up her arm slowly. "Gonna need some help here," she manages to say, her own voice, no other with it. "Give him something to work with..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah, that's probably what your mom would say." Phoebe mutters. "It's what he would have said too." she trails off, and drags her arm over her stomach.

    "What's got you all in a snicket, Josh? I don't think I've seen you in a bad mood like this. Can't possibly be worrying about me. I'm just a nothing now." she states, and she looks to the bracelet as it begins to stretch into a gauntlet, and her tone turns colder.

    "It's *gone*. Tell Witchblade it's gone. I had no daughters. The chain was broken. The Spark fucked off to wherever it came from, Heka or Heaven or Duat or wherever. I *lost* it. It is *gone*. And I am cut off from all magic. I can't even sling fire to light a candle. I haven't even been able to tell anyone except very close friends about it. My family. Everything I worked for -- everything I *sacrificed* is just..." she lifts her cigarette-baring up up to tap off the ash, and goes to take another drag.

    "I. Died."

Joshua Foley has posed:
"Yes. I'm worried about you. And as Sara's brother would put it, my panties are in a bunch." That said flatly as Joshua continues his exam. "I don't have to touch you to see the problems. And yeah. I get it. I've been dead."

"Welcome to the club. I'll send you a membership packet in the mail."

But just as quickly, he realizes how calloused that sounded. "Not that I had the same issues you are when I came back." There's a sigh, and he considers. "Sara?" he asks, his gaze shifting to her, grey eyes focusing on her, and that bracelet that's taking over. "Use me as a conduit. If he can borrow my ability, he can see what I can see and maybe, in this case, calm his ass down so... well, there's not much I can do. This is more the Sara and Phoebe show, but I'm worried."

A glance to Phoebe. "My friend is hurt and I can't fix her and it scares me. My girlfriend is concerned about her and I can't give her an answer. So please - Atum, do what you need to do to fix this."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
The something offered was accepted without pause.

Taking a few steps toward the two, Sara reaches out her right hand and lays the Gauntlet on Joshua's shoulder. Atum can see the damage, see the hole, see every part of Phoebe at a level humans couldn't... cellular, atoms, the very energy that forms life.

The surge of energy that passes through the Gauntlet to Joshua is blunt, hard, like being slapped by in invisible hand but with it comes the ability to /see/ the very energy that forms Phoebe's body, organs, skin, muscle, bone, even her soul. With the surge of energy that passes from Atum to Joshua comes a bolstering of the young man's power, a gift for him to use.

"Phoebe," Sara breaths out as she opens her eyes, herself, the struggle seeming to have reached an end when an option was given. "You are loved, not for what you could do, but for who you are. You are giving in to depression, seeing yourself as nothing because of what you have lost, but you are so much more..."

Even as Atum gives to Joshua the vision he needs, he is whispering in Sara's head. He is a part of her, a part of her soul, and once they were ripped apart by the powers of an Angel. He understood, he knew what Phoebe was feeling, as did Sara.

"He has sworn to find the Spark Phoebe, no matter where it takes us," she says after a brief pause. "It is not lost, it is taken, and he will find it."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Don't be smart about Death. I *didn't* choose to come back." Phoebe gives a perfect wet cat expression at Josh, and then she straightens up.

    "Hey -- HEY No! No gods! No angels, no Gaia, I have the right to want out--" she starts out, and Josh is given Vision.

    Aether. Phoebe normally is surrounded by strings of aura, her power. It's gone. There's a hole where her heart is, and it's slowly... dripping... out... blood. Maybe even damaged beyond all repair... and it's Phoebe... but it's not Phoebe... it's like a shadow that doesn't quite match.

    Phoebe bodily tries to pull away, to push both away.

    "/Leave It Alone/." Phoebe states, warningly.

    "I gave up my mom. I've lost three dads. My friends. My /life/. How much more? How much *more* do I have to give until I'm *allowed* to say No More?!" Phoebe cries out, drawing backwards from them, before sinking down to her knees.

    "I was supposed to be in Hell. I was supposed to be Punished. You were *all* supposed to forget I existed so I could destroy myself. But I wasn't allowed to do THAT. I wasn't allowed to be *selfish*. Chas threatened me with death. Robbie threatened me with retrieval. Now I have /nothing/. Idu's gone. Potato doesn't recognize me. My house won't let me in. I have slept on the floor of my brother's bedroom for weeks from the nightmares." she begins to sink down, the fight rapidly leaving her easily exhausted body.

    "I am... so... so..." she trails off, and sinks down to her knees.

    "... tired."

Joshua Foley has posed:
Joshua can see it. He can see it all. My god, the stars.. ahem.

But as Phoebe begins he breakdown, the young mutant can hear it. Every bit of it. He doesn't need to see the physical to understand the psychological.

All of it. The hate, the self-loathing, the fear, the disappointment. She's not the first to be like this, in this exact situation.

Yes, the magical part of it makes it different. She pushes him away. Joshua accepts that, and then pulls away from the Witchblade.

God, he understands it all. To have everything turn away, abandon, or otherwise just... be out of reach. The life he had before he met Nettie. And Sara. And Phoebe. And all the other friends he has now.

Yeah. There's issues. Yeah, there's pain. But he suddenly gets it.

And as she sinks to her knees, Joshua Foley steps forward and offers the only healing he can.

Dropping to his knees, his arms move to embrace Phoebe, pulling her tight to him. No forced healing. No checking her over. He forces his powers into check. He'll probably get gut-punched. Stabbed. He'll pay for it later.

But right now, he's going to hug Phoebe Beacon.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
There are times in life when the weakness of the mortal body and soul broke through and brought darkness to everything around it. Witchblade was both life and death, chaos and control, he was balance. To see and feel Phoebe's pain, to know what was taken from her, Atum could not bare it.

The energy and power that formed the entity that we was. His mother, the live giving goddess Gaea. His father, Endless Destruction the manifestation of the mortal desire to create and to destroy, Endless Destruction... it was building inside of Sara like fuel being added to a fire.

Taking a step back from the two, watching as Joshua kneels to comfort Phoebe, there is a single moment that Sara can say, "We will be back." before the tendrils of metal spring to life from the Gauntlet and encase her in armor.

The 'eye' glows bright, the light from it moving like mist to surround Sara as the wings spring into existence. Leaping into the air, the red mist rips a hole in existence, a portal between the human reality and something beyond. Even as the Witchblade rises above the earth and passes through the portal, the surge of power ripples through the air, across the skin, moving against the old buildings and carnival rides.

The Witchblade and his wielder are gone.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The witchblade and his wielder are gone.

    Phoebe is being comforted by Joshua. And the wind rolls in off the sea, carrying the ashes of Phoebe's last cigarette away.