18772/HUNGER: Let's talk Galactus

HUNGER: Let's talk Galactus
Date of Scene:	16 August 2024
Location:	House of Mystery
Synopsis:	A gathering of the JLD and some friends reveals just a little more information regarding Galactus. John only had to barter his soul to get some of it. It wouldn't be Tuesday if John's soul wasn't on the table, now would it.
Cast of Characters:	John Constantine, Monet St. Croix, Michael Hannigan, Sara Pezzini, Billy Kaplan, Caleb Dykstra, Mary Seward, Richard Stadler, Camille Russo, Lucifer, Norrin Radd
Tinyplot:	Hunger

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John Constantine has posed:
As people begin arriving, if they're the /right/ people the door to John's home opens before they even knock. If they're the /right/ people that have no clue where the house is parked, they'll find it suddenly in front of them wherever they may be. There's a reason it's called The House of Mystery - it holds many of them.

The air inside is thick with the scent of burning sage and the faint metallic tang of blood. It seems John has already set the stage for part of what's to come this even. Shadows dance along the walls, cast by the flickering flames of black candles that have been arranged in a precise circle, only around four feet in diameter on the wooden floor. At the center of the circle lies an obsidian mirror, piece of yellow parchment paper, it's edges curled with age and a bag of books books from Barnes and Noble - if the bag reflects the contents. It's on that paper that John's drawn an intricate symbol in blood. From the makeshift bandage of a rag wrapped around his hand, the blood is probably his.

The meeting area is set up in a room just beyond the kitchen - which is surprising modern with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The room is a large, circular affair that would fit well into the likes of an hold castle. It is /large/. Between it, the kitchen, the formal living room, the foyer and whatever lies beyond the numerous doors in all of those spaces, the inside of the home couldn't possibly all fit on the inside - yet it does. Chairs line the walls along the perimeter of the room, all of them Victorian in style and upholstered in dark, blood red, fabric. Either the house has a sense of humor or maybe blood is just easier to hide behind the color of a velvet cushion than to clean.

The host of the night's events is kicked back in one of those chairs, the largest of course. A glass of scotch sets on the table beside him along with an ashtray and his pack of Silk Cuts.

Side note - the path through the kitchen also reveals a decent little spread of finger foods, along with paper plates and bottles of soda kept on ice. The House being a good host or John, take a guess.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
What exactly was she doing here? How exactly did she get here? She wasn't even sure. She had just been flying, trying to clear her head and think of /anything/ useful she could do after the events of such a short time ago and the proclaimed fate of the planet. Then she had seen something, gone forwards, and she was.. Somewhere else. A house? A meeting room? Wait.
    Monet would snap her head back over and look confused while automatically making her way towards one of the set out chairs, a bit too stunned to resist. "Why is there a door?" And where had it been?

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike is no stranger to the House of Mystery having been there before. So he's not all that surprised when he finds himself at the house. Door opened invitingly and himself moving inside.

It's not surprising which perch he picks. Likely one of the comfier ones. Or at least it was comfy enough to manage to sleep in for a night.

Mike is quiet as people make their way in. A nod to their host for the evening is more than enough communication while they wait.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Unlike the others who may have had the house just arrive, Sara used the portal she knew the location of, and was there early... very early. She had with her a container of cannoli because when your Aunt tells you, "Take some of these for those magic people." and hoists the container at you, you take some of them with you.

The other thing that she brought with her was a carton of Silks, which were tossed to John as she set the container on a table and popped the lid off. "Please eat these, if I have to take any back my Aunt will never let me hear the end of it."

Host given his gift, treats offered, Sara takes a seat and offers a nod to people as they start to arrive.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan arrives at the House dressed for Serious Magic Business. He squints around at the interior, wrinkling his nose like something is making him want to sneeze. The sight of blood and the stink of sage are probably not helping. But some people like it retro, apparently.
    Billy heads in further and collects a handful of the offered snacks. Next he finds a chair off to the side to settle on as his cape helpfully swings itself to one side.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra has come to the meeting wearing a pensive look. He quietly greets those who're present. The shadows in his eyes are a clear indication he hasn't had much sleep lately.

He sits comfortably on one of the maples, and for a brief moment, he shuts his eyes. And takes a deep breath. God, he could use the sleep...

But he can't. Too much is at stake. He forces his eyes open, and clears his throat.

Mary Seward has posed:
"Ah, the House of Mystery! It's been a while since I've stepped in these hall-" As if to draw attention to herself, Mary makes her loud declaration, as she strolls into the meeting hall as if she owns the place.

"Oh, hello there, everybody. Nice to meet you all. I'm the Queen of Blood and-"

Her eyes catch a glimpse of Caleb and her train of thought crashes.. "...Oh...Right. Would've been nice if I got to see the Guest List, Johnny." She pats her hands, in lieu of the awkward situation. It seems now would be a good time to point out her choice of outfit for the night. As she was aware that she'd be no doubt be discussing with a few members of the Hero Community and word travels fast, she chose her wardrobe in acknowledgment of this.

That's why underneath the black undercoat she came in was a plain white t-shirt with the words 'MARY SEWARD IS SORRY ABOUT GOTHAM' on it. Noticeably the first two words seem to have been written on with black marker, along with two more words stating "IS RIGHT" having been crossed with red marker. The same color as "SORRY ABOUT GOTHAM".

Richard Stadler has posed:
     This wasn't... correct. Richard knew that he was just about a block away from the row of restaurants for dinner tonight, and it should have given way to a few streetside businesses and shops past the various townhouses and walkups. But here was another house, with another door. And none of the other houses in sight.

It took Rick a moment of freezing before he sighed. Right. He had assumed he had time to get a quick bite before walking to the area, but... well. Hocus Pocus. He'd really have to have a talk with /someone/ about this.

At least there was food, and Stadler wasn't one who was going to miss the possibility of a working lunch if one was available. A quick munch on a shrimp, before he's moving to remove the cap from a bottle of pop with a satisfying hiss.

And then he's in the main room, with the rest of them, sitting down and helplessly wrinkling his nose at the smell of cigarettes' smoke among the sage and... something else.

"You know, my place has a street address, if you need a place to get mail delivered." A very subtle dig. "Though this place is sufficiently mysterious. The briefing was... a bit incomplete, on my end.

Camille Russo has posed:
Camille is new to the House, but she's... some level of prepared, based on the prior day's chat with Constantine and Sara. When she opens the door to leave her place there's another door waiting patiently across the hall. Weird, because that wall's normally blank. She twists the knob and steps into what is obviously the House of Mystery, capitals absolutely necessary for emphasis. She grins, giving the house a quiet thanks for the shortest commute ever and a fond pat of the frame with her free hand. There's a tupperware in her other hand, some of her shrimp and cod etouffee with reheating instructions and ingredients scrawled in neat cursive. It gets slipped into the fridge as she enters the kitchen, and with her hands free she grabs a plate, snacks, and a drink.

She weaves around people and plops down next to Rick. "Y'know, for someone who says they ain't magic,..." she trails off, giving him a teasing wink.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The young Gothamite looks up slowly when Mary's voice is made heard. He just... Looks at her. And he takes a deep breath, looking briefly at John.

"I'm too tired to argue, and smarter than letting myself be baited", he just says.

Looking between the leaders, he's waiting for them to start.

John Constantine has posed:
John offers an upnod here, a brief wave there, a wink to Mary in particular he says nothing but, "This house is neutral ground, anyone gotta problem with anyone else here, it bloody well waits for another night," until everyone's settled. He's staring right at Caleb when the words are spoken and that attention shifts to Mary after. The most movement he makes while waiting is to snatch that tossed pack of Silkies from the air with such care one might think he was catching a wee babe or something.

"I have a PO Box, mate," John finally speaks once everyone's settled. The dry delivery of the statement toward Rick makes it difficult to tell if he's joking or not. It's just as likely that he gets all his mail delivered via bat - owls are for second rate wizards like Potter.

"How about we start the night with a game of show and tell like back in primaries. Only just tell." He stands up then, picks a skull up from the same table that holds his scotch and coffin nails, and tosses it in Monet's direction first. Surely it's not a real skull, right? "When you have the skull, you have the floor. Tell what you know of this planet destroying wanker and then pass it on. If what you know has already been said, just pass it on. If you know nothing - well, that's probably a reason to be here - but pass it on." It's not that he's deliberately keeping what he knows to himself so much as it is wanting to see if what he knows matches with what they know - and to know if there might be blanks he can fill in.

"Once we're finished with the round, I'll be inviting another guest to the party."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to catch the skull and almost fumble with it over and then go to let out a sigh before collecting herself. "The entity is called Galactus. The Oans banned knowledge of it though I've only heard that through the fights and I don't know what the Oans are. Galactus has.. Heralds? I'm not sure if that's the right term. We've seen at least three of them. Terrax and Morg were two. The one that appeared on Earth was the third. Terrax and Morg were essentially petty tyrants and despots. Both were extremely powerful. Terrax was able to casually throw around Captain Marvel without issue and engage Lanterns. He was among the most powerful cosmic entities I have ever sensed." She's implying she's met multiple cosmic entities.
    She would take another breath. "When Galactus came to Tamaran, I.. Sensed him when he was outside the solar system. When he came for the planet I saw a hand the size of a moon. When I looked at him I.. Could not comprehend what he was. My mind visualized him as human. My.. Understanding is that he appears to each individual as something recognizable to them. He consumes planets for life force."
    The skull is then given to Michael Hannigan or whomever is the next to gesture.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike gives an idle glance over to the container of cannoli. Perhaps forming a side quest in his mind for after the meeting. But currently he's guarding his chosen spot.

Another nod is given to the other JLD leader.

Despite the likelihood of the conversation topic of the heavy variety. Mike seems, oddly calm about matters. He even seems...well rested. There's really no specific purpose to the clothes the musician wears. They're definitely not magicking attire. They're just...comfortable.

A couple fingers lift up, acknowledging other JLD members and acquaintances as they filtered in. He cracks a slight smile to Monet, thinking back to a certain laundromat incident.

As Mary comes in, pale eyes look over to the vampiress. As she looks right at Caleb, the smile fades. Turning his head, he looks over to Caleb and then tilts his head to an open seat near him.

The instructions John lays out seems reasonably simple enough and once the skull sails his way, Mike brings a hand up to catch it, "Mainly teasers in the notebook. Apocalypse - Hangry style. And an Ultimate Nullifier that will be the Snickers to the cause." And on that note, he hooks the skull over toowards Billy.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan munches calmly on his snacks, chewing something thoughtfully while he looks at the other half of it to ponder what it might be. "Ohhh, dolmas. Very nice."
    His chewing slows down while he studies the evident tension between Caleb and Mary. But it's not his house, so, he'll let the host with the most (cigarettes) handle any potential outbursts.
    He listens closely to what the others are saying about the situation, a brow lifting up in growing concern.
    When a skull comes his way he holds a hand up, halting the bone in the air and making it bop side to side. "I guess I've been a bit busy to hear about all this before. That's what my overflowing inbox suggests, anyway. So whatever anybody knows, if there's something I can help with, let me know." He stuffs the other half of the appetizer into his mouth and chomps on it. "I've got a couple of new spells I've been itching to try out."
    He flicks the skull to make it drift lazily in Caleb's direction.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb is upset, and it isn't about Mary being in the same room with him - it's about what he learned.

Taking the skull, he says, "Well, I dunno how much people know, as I only came to learn about Galactus because a shoe dropped. But, through a few fortunate contacts I've made, I was able to speak directly to this... Silver surfer, for lack of better word. And I've learned a few things", he starts.

"One, that of Galactus' Heralds, he's the youngest." Slight pause, "Two, that his Heralds, as the name would suggest, means to warn or announce the 'big bad' is coming."

"Three, that they are likely to also assess the level of technology of a world to see if it poses a threat to their master. And, if it does, proceed to erradicate it."

He adds, "Fourth, that each Herald, in spite of servitude to their master, have their own personalities. This 'silver surfer' seems to be one of the more amenable."

He adds still, "Fifth, the guy looked for a moment in the direction of the Four Freedoms Plaza, the base of operations of one of the - if not /the/ - leading minds in scientific knowledge, which leads me to believe there's either something or someone there who could help solve this matter."

"Seventh, that historically, the Heralds were once ordinary beings that were empowered by Galactus to serve them, in exchange for sparing their world." He goes silent for a long moment, "I'm... Considering it, if all else fails."

"Eighth, that current technology is a laugh to stop him. He made missiles into birds, which goes /beyond/ matter manipulation. That's /reality/ manipulation."

He stares blankly afterwards, holding out the skull for the next in line - Sara.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Remaining quiet while sipping the coffee she brought herself, Sara listens as people report what they know and even focuses her attention on them while they are speaking. She has already been through a long conversation with Witchblade regarding this unknown thing, and despite his age, the ancient god could only offer that the destruction of planets was similar to ones so long ago that humans weren't even a blip on the map yet.

Taking the skull when offered, she lifts a brow... yep, that's real, but she doesn't say anything about that. She looks up and around the room as she speak, "I've spent the past couple of days in meetings with Witchblade, yes in my own head," she snorts a chuckle at that for some reason. "He knows nothing of this entity, and I personally haven't heard anything more than what has been shared so far. I've been bogged down with the NYPD and the riots, panic, and chaos."

Holding up the skull again, she says, "Heads up Richard," then tosses it to him.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     The pained expression on Rick's face as John's words pays to the class of Rick he's in- that this is the first here's hearing of a planet destroying threat. And the way the other's describe him turn that pained expression into one of disbelief, until the skull is tossed over, caught with a free hand. Honestly, that's the least creepy part about this discussion; certainly there was a story to it (it was a human skull- it was kind of a requirement), but it paled to the fact that some cosmic horror was sending powerful people /ahead/ of him... it.

"I know little about the threat. It puts some pieces together from some data I've come across; Some air policing mission against a UFO that missiles were 'ineffective' against, if the AAR I skimmed through had anything. Some folks at Peterson getting a bit alarmed about some space object tracking... but I'm beginning to think you might have confused me with a truck driver from Hoboken, for all the good I can do in a situation like this. Hell... if someone's coming to devour the life force of a planet... what, do you need me to put you in touch with STRATCOM? Though if someone can turn thermonuclear warheads into... flower pots..." He notes, idly handing the skull to Russo, before looking over to John and pointing to the pack of cigarettes' next to him. "And I'm afraid I'm going to need a few of those."

Camille Russo has posed:
Cam takes the skull gently from Rick and gives it a friendly pat on the head. "This is all news to me, so uh. Hoo boy, I am way outta my depth here." She tosses the skull to Mary with a grin.

Mary Seward has posed:
"Thank you, sweetheart." Mary accepts the skull and has the audacity to spin it around her finger. "....All that I really know about this whole deal is that some big monster or whatever is coming to devour this planet that me and the rest of my kind occupy and have the right to inherit...and I also know that Constantine over there seems to be convinced that finding the Man-Thing will give us some sort of answer on how to keep that from happening. That being said, it's in my best interests to pursue both of these with my immortal knowledge, my resources and my can-do attitude...oh, and my power." She snorts.

She stops the skull in it's place. "So, I'm willing to put any grievances I have with you mortal folk for...being you..." She almost makes a point of staring right at Caleb as she says this. "...just as long as you all can find it in your still beating hearts to do so for me...and for all matters regarding that, well..." She shows off the shirt in full once more before tossing the skull over to John.

John Constantine has posed:
During the passing of the skull, John's kicked one leg of the arm of the chair and sprawled himself out a little sideways. He's been blowing smoke rings and watching them drift toward the ceiling in between taking sips from that glass of scotch. It probably seems as if he's not even paying attention, but to assume so would be a folly. John Constantine rarely misses a thing - he just likes to look disinterested.

He does bother to right himself properly when everyone's had their go and the skull is tossed to him. "All that seems to track with what I know. Even learned a few things. The one thing I have to add... I've been sticking my nose in books and poking around the right 'people'," he uses that term lightly because they probably weren't all human, "and all of it points to this Ultimate Nullifier being just as much of wank as Glactus. Just as destructive. Probably the lesser of two evils, but it's something to consider, innit? We'll talk the venture to Man-Thing later, but yes, it's a plan in the works."

It isn't until he's added his bit of crap to the toilet that he opens the carton of Silkies that Sara brought and actually tosses Rick an /entire pack/. Everyone can faint later - there's too much to do right now.

He pushes himself up from his chair and approaches the circle of candles. Somehow they've not burned down even an inch since this all started. He can't bite back the little groan he makes when he picks up a silver bladed knife from the floor near the circle. Before he begins the process of inviting their next guess he says, "Keep voices to a whisper and raise hands before speaking." Odd that.

First he makes a broad circle with the blade, indicating each candle. His focus is entirely on the obsidian mirror and the parchment atop it.

"Azarotharax, keeper of secrets, I call upon thee. By blood and nightshade, by flame and shadow, reveal thyself to me." It gets repeated again, and again, each time John's voice grows louder. With each passage of the blade around in that circle, a drop of blood hits the parchment. By the third repeat of the incantation, nightshade plants bloom from the candles, somehow remaining unscathed - somehow the flames are unaffected as they grow taller and taller, their shadows flickering and dancing as if alive. A gust of wind that picks up to a near gale force extinguishes the candles along with any other light in the house. Complete darkness follows until a pinpoint glow appears in the center of the mirror as the sounds of the rustling pages of the book break the silence. That pinpoint grows brighter and brighter and /brighter/ to near blinding. When it fades away, the candles are all relit, the nightshade plants are gone and, in the center of the circle, atop the mirror stands a three foot tall figure that could very well be the bastard child of Dobby and Smeagol. Reading glasses perch precariously on its long nose - a nose it attempts to look down at everyone over despite its short stature.

"John Constantine," Azarotharax greets, not without a hint of disdain. "I do hope you've acquired the appropriate..." But then his eyes fall on the bag marked 'Barnes and Noble' and he claps his hands together. "Well, right then, what questions do you have for me /this/ time?"

In a hushed whisper of a voice, John says, "Let's talk Galactus."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Magic. This is why she hates magic. Monet just goes to cross her arms over and look at the horrifyingly disgusting being, watching with complete wariness in her face. She doesn't bother to speak her opinion of him and she atually manages to keep a neutral expression at the thing that looks like his face is in a continuous state of rotting and repairing itself as if it had bubbles boiling and popping over it like a rotten cauldron being bubbled.

Now it's time to hear what sorts of useful things they can get. The words 'wank' and 'ULtimate Nullifier' do get a small state of confusion on her face. While she had heard it mentioned a few times, she still hadn't the faintest idea of what the thing was.

Lucifer has posed:
That grand summoning had unfurled to show the demon, in the center mirrored 'stage', to pull everyone's attention. But is he the only thing coming through?

No, there's another presence making an appearance. The inky blackness beyond where the demon appeared shivers, like illusory lines in black curtains at the rear of a stage. And from those shifts in reality, the summoning magic distends, forced with hell's willpower to separate, and another entity arrives. Anyone with a mystic sense will pick up right away that there's some kind of burning force being exerted on the essence of the area. But then it's relaxed.

The human-looking man arriving like some sort of ritual-portal backstage-manager is dressed neatly, in a dark wine trimmed black suit. The purples lean into red, an old tone that used to be red, perhaps. He is unassuming otherwise, but with an uncomfortable quality to those with a second sight. His smile is bright, as he pans around those in the circle, as if he were fashionably on-time to a party: shamelessly so.

"MMm, info-sharing today, John?" It's a semi disembodied whisper only in the most forgiving of definitions, very easy to hear, but technically a 'whisper'. The question is 'quietly' floated. There's no annoyance or mockery at all: more a fun, open-ended smiley quality here to Lucifer. He simply steps out of the summon area, minding the candles, spotting the spread of finger foods, as if that were more interesting. As if he hadn't just followed the arrival of demon out of hell.

But there's a sense of question of reality: did he do that, or was he already just here before, back there? That would be more reasonable. Trick of light. Lucifer's truth can be either answer. That Lucifer is acting more like a quiet extra guest instead of something 'more' muddies a lot of perception--deliberately. Just a guy. Now sitting by Camille. "Hi," he brightly mouths at her with a cheerfully intense smile, as if suddenly seeing her.

Norrin Radd has posed:
The smol demon collects his bag of treats, sets them aside with a sulfurous POOF, and then pushes his spectacles up his nose with one finger. "Galactus? Galactus, Galactus, Galactus. What an odd name. More like a title, maybe? Or-" He looks around the assembly. "A little like one of yours. Like a nom de guerre, but for... well, whatever all of you get up to. The punching and capes, brooding and chanting, and whatnot." This clarification seems to hold some meaning, but he does not linger on it.

"What do you wish to know, that isn't obvious, or you haven't figured out already? It is a way of calling a great destruction. A deliverer of many souls to our warm and tender care. Almost a force of the elements, more than anything else. A reality of the cosmos. Maybe not natural-made, but... in effect much the same. But our work below is more sins and sinners than the floating rocks on which they inhabit. And for some things..."

"...a name would be better."

Again, it pauses to adjust the glasses. "Some of these things, unfortunately, are... of a kind of knowledge not readily accessed, even by myself. It could be possible, however... you might need to take it up the- OH!"

And just like that, Lucifer is there. The bookwork demon falls on his face, nearly, bowing and scraping. "Ah, your great eminence, as I was just telling these trifling sorcerers, the thing they ask is... well, it is a greater matter. The Hellblazer pays well, but he drastically underestimates the scope, I think. And the... costs."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As the round of 'what do you know' ends and John summons up the demonic equivalent of a cheatsheet, Mike leans back in his seat to just watch.

Honestly what else is there to do til they get more of a grasp of the situation and the reason for his being even considered for here becomes clear?

Hell. Maybe it's just to make the chair look pretty.

...Speaking of pretty-

Mike blinks as another comes out with the less than stellar looking demon.

There's a slight twitch to his lips before he moves it back to a neutral expression.

Well this just got more interesting.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
With the share over, Sara sets her coffee cup down and leans forward more in the chair, resting her elbows on her knees. She had no idea what the circle was for, but Witchblade did and the ancient god was curious to see who John was calling, which made Sara a little curious as well.

The first one he knew, the second arrival however has Sara sitting up straighter as the bracelet on her right wrist erupts into tendrils and forms the Gauntlet. "Alright then, you are not liked much," she mutters in regards to Lucifer appearing. She personally had no idea who he was until that moment. Witchblade may have issues with him, but she did not, at least none that would counter the neutrality rule, so she kept her partner in check and returned her attention to the other demon as it spoke.

"And I thought my life was messed up before," she adds with a roll to her eyes. "It would seem we have a two for one deal going on John, let me know if either needs to meet Witchblade personally."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan listens to Caleb's very specific litany of information, ticking items off on his fingertips while he takes note of each. But it's that eighth one that really grabs his attention. "Reality manipulation? Oh, hey, I've heard of that kind of thing," he says airily. "So if you want things like *weapons* to work on him, you need someone who can counter that. Or we could do a big spell to erase him, I guess? That would omit a lot of hoops to jump through, wouldn't it. If he's tugging on reality that hard, it might leave him especially exposed to a counterattack along the same channel..."
    He hmms on that, looking off into the distance and crunching on a nacho.
    But it's just a possibility, filed away while he looks back to observe Constantine's spellcasting technique. Messy. But, evidently, effective.
    Uhhh, maybe *too* effective. Wiccan squints at the new guy arriving, and the smaller 'demon' or whatever it is doing a lot of bowing and scraping. He looks around to see if anyone seems to recognize either of these entities.
    Maybe Hell should invest in some nametags.

Camille Russo has posed:
Camille very nearly ends up in Rick's lap as she sits up straight and leans far, far to the side, crossing herself and studiously avoiding looking the man-demon-possibly-fallen-angel-oh-shit-nope-big-magic in the eye. She does nudge her plate in his direction though, her ability to be polite extending exactly that far and no farther. "Oh Lord, nope, where the fuck is Johnny when I want him around? Not here, obviously." This is all muttered in a furious whisper mostly to herself, although a few seconds later she sits up straight, very carefully Not Looking to the side.

Mary Seward has posed:
Once she stopped talking, Mary became passively bored, but still paying attention to the matter. Then, the stench of fire and brimstone, followed by the emergence of some fresh new faces immediately gets her fixated, as can be told by the laugh she let out.

"Oh, now this is my kind of partying...though, usually the demon summoning doesn't happen till a little later. Not that I'm complaining."

She's a vampire. Some would consider her a bit sub-demonic herself. So, she's a bit familiar with the consortments of the underworld and those who dwell in it. After all, where else would a damned soul gravitate? Would you really expect her to turn to Church?

But, Azarotharax is the least of her concerns. Rather, she is suspiciously quick to gravitate towards the man hanging around Camille, as in a blink she's already right between them.

"I was wondering when this little shindig was going to get some more interesting faces..."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick did not like the feeling that he was gripping onto the side of a roller coaster after having fallen out; At least you were still around and kicking, but you were at the mercy of both the cart and the track. Once again, he thought to grouse and grumble at John for the minor transgressions he could control (like giving him a full pack of cigerettes; there was a reason he only asked for a few), and once again, discarded it. It was a big threat, and he had to make peace with that...

As well as a demon summoning.

He's stopping halfway between unwrapping the cellophane from the pack, simply staring at John in disbelief on what they were about to do. They had just /kept/ demons from invading a place, and now he intended to summon one... and he successed, as the world grew suddenly dark, and then relit with candles around them... and there comes, not one imp, but two. If the second could be called an imp.

Camille's leaning over and trying to move to the side is noticed. "The Lord seems to be a bit absent today, airman." He tries to keep his tone even, like he was expecting this to happen, riding a fine line between understandable fear and a detached disbelief that would only feel good in the short term. His hands shake a bit, as he carefully withdraws three cigarettes' from the pack, placing them next to him, and... after a look at the pack, sighing and tossing them over his shoulder. John could be a good host and clean up later.

"Though I think He's always had worst customer service." He says, reaching into his pocket to procure a simple Zippo, placing a cigarettes' into his mouth, lighting the lighter with a 'clink' and taking a puff. A drag. Sometimes nicotine was /sorely/ needed.

"But I would hope for the price you're paying, we're going to get more information than that. Or at least a fee schedule on what might work to stop him."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb stops his blank stare to look at Mary as she comes with her speech about 'right to inherit' and what he sees like her bullshit.

And he takes a deep breath, "Too tired to argue..."

When the ritual commences, he observes with a hint of intrigue, if not a solid matter of 'respect' - he never seen a summoning ritual, after all.

And when the creature appears, we widens his eyes in surprise. Which, by comparison, is nothing when the demon goes to its knees, and he looks at the 'man' that's showed up.

"What the holy hell...?", comes as a whisper from his lips. (It may be appropriate.)

John Constantine has posed:
John Constantine might be the only man alive with the balls to actually roll his eyes and mutter, "Ah, /bollocks/", when Lucifer shows up at a party. Balls, or maybe his level of self preservation is really that low. "Luci," he greets without much enthusiasm. He rolls his eyes heavenward - not that he has any better opinions of the things that hail from and reside there - and takes one long breath only to let it out slowly. Even Lucifer, yes even him, if he wasn't meant to be here - if he had any ill intent - well, he wouldn't be here. It's one of the reasons that many entities would destroy entire worlds to get their hands on The House of Mystery. The house cannot be found, cannot be invaded by force and cannot be destroyed - it's also very loyal to John, so its taste might be questionable.

To Sara he asides, "He's a friend..." It's a bit of a stretch. It should be he's kind of sorta sometimes a friend when their mutual means to an end align.

Raising his hand along with another roll of his eyes, John keeps his voice to a hush, but not an actual whisper, "I'll bite then, what's the cost? Ten Penthouses and five Busty Asian Beauties? Are we branching out into straight on porn now, Az? Or is it just the entire Harlequin series, first editions?" Do those even have second editions? Likely not.


"Down Mary," he adds when it seems the Queen of Vampires might just be putting the moves on the King of Hell? Rick gets a /glare/... GLARE. A man doesn't just toss Silk Cuts on the floor, they are not the easiest things to come by in the States.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing Sara's comment, the rock star snerks.

"With the exception of that one demon that kept fucking with my tour awhile back Iiii'm still- somewhat neutral." Mike comments. It's probably a good thing his magic sense is pretty lacking. Normally it takes quite a lot of power to register something. And- yes there's something there. But- probably not as much as Sara's picking up on.

Sometimes it is good not to be aware of things.

As Billy lists off potential solutions, Mike feels prompted to consider what he could offer to the mix.

As far as Saints who erase the existence of others- eh maybe not but-

...One of his namesakes.

"...Or maybe a spell that just ends their hunger?" He wonders aloud.

"...or at least makes it to where he only takes a nibble."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would turn her attention to Lucifer. She wasn't going to even -try- to read his mind even as she was extremely tempted to. But someone who could just appear in here that clearly wasn't the one that Constantine had intended to and yet that Constantine was being reasonably.. Polite to? That either meant he was someone that was on good terms /or/ that John was terrified enough of to put an effort into behaving. So now was not the time for a confrontation. And Monet had a very broad idea of what Constantine could do and the types of things high level magic and summoning could perform, so if that entity could come in so casually.. Well, either he was so powerful to be able to enter smoothly and bypass the House.. Or the House permitted him in without telling John.

No sense peppering the being with comments and questions. Finally looking over to the Demon of Secrets and taking a breath. "The Heralds. They seemed to range in being from petty tyrants to the.. Surfer. THe Surfer seems almost lobotomized. How can we engage them if need be?" Galactus would consume the planet, but the Heralds could destroy it as far as she could grasp on a level from how she had seen them throw down.

Lucifer has posed:
Richard's very consistent use of 'He' and 'The Lord' has generated a bit of idle side-eye from the recent not-demon human arrival, but it doesn't upset the apparent warm and pleasant mood tha the man is wearing. Just like 'yeah, I'm aware' but no problem voiced. Mary's sudden arrival invites the smile to transfer from Camille to her, as well as an obnoxiously playful two-fingered, jaunty blow of a kiss at Mary. It's relaxed, cheeky maybe. He's receptive, but not taking over anything... at the moment. In terms of the whole of the situation.

Still, the demon did grovel a bit. And Lucifer doesn't ignore him. "It does sound like underestimated scope, Azarotharax," Lucifer does, sadly, assess to agree with the squat demon. "Escalate price or lore source as needed. Just not at /me/. We're 'friends.' It can uspset a friendship to owe each other, sometimes." Lucifer likes deals, he's mostly teasing. But it's also a real WARNING: don't turn this into a deal if you don't want to play with Lucifer.

Lucifer used the exact tone that John used about friends, well aware of the 'strained' voice in it. Lucifer's more cheerful overall, extending his good mood like a soothing balm. Those that allow the feeling to wash over them may feel quite relaxed and chill and willing to share. Since everyone's great pals here.

--Or they might sense Lucifer's being a cloying 'friendship' battery and resist. That's fine too: free will and all. Nobody's getting forced....

"This noble 'Surfer' sounds like a key ally, though. You can have that for free." Peace offerings. And a demonstration that not everything has to be a deal. Still, it can be like a drug: first taste for free.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
The Gauntlet does not return to a bracelet, in face Sara has to turn her hand around to allow the large swirling red stone a moment to 'look' at John and Lucifer, as well as the other demon in the room. What sort of conversation of debate might be happening in the woman's head remains there, but eventually she nods.

"Friend for now," is commented as she looks at Lucifer. "I personally hold no grudges, don't know the situation well enough but he," and she wiggles the hand with the Gauntlet on it. "Doesn't like you."

That said, to appease the gods attached to her soul, she looks to John, "Seems we have an unforseen ally in this, but we're no close to the information needed... that's assuming this... Az, even knows." He probably knew, and she was aware of that, but sometimes baiting a demon into a frustrated rant would get information shared as well.

Norrin Radd has posed:
"It is... not for me to say. This is beyond your Earthly literature, no matter how busty..." Azarotharax is tempted, sure. Who wouldn't be, at least down in that pit of entirely sinners he calls home. After he has finished all his elaborate obeisance toward Lucifer, the little demon reclaims his footing, dusts himself off, and fixes his eyewear for the third time. Though perhaps not knowledgable, or not empowered, to deliver all of these things himself, he does seem capable of speaking on the matter. Perhaps, when you are the Devil himself, it is nice to have assistants to handle some of these small and trifling matters.

The little devil-ling glances back and forth, exchanges that are nervous on his part, and no doubt disinterested on the Dark Prince's.

"For all that cold metal exterior, his heart is so very very pure. It's disgusting, really," the smaller critter notes with a sudden shiver, as the topic turns toward the Surfer. "Otherwise a typical sort of tale. Sacrificing himself for love. Pining forever, for what he has given up. The sort of thing of grandiose operas and cheesy rock ballads."

The smaller figure taps his chin. "They won't succeed without him, so we can't take him first, and still make any kind of deal. But what about _her_, my lord? Would that do? Just imagine! Her soul, for you to keep. Then after all this is done, surely, you could have him, too?"

He glance slyly over, toward Constantine and his company. "Are you too good to barter souls, John? How much is a whole planet worth? And for that, I imagine, we could tell you... so very much."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan points to Michael and nods swiftly. "There's an idea! An everlasting gob-planet. Feed it an artificial... magical... construct... thing," he says as he gestures in the air in a kind of ambiguous timey-wimey gesture.
    Suddenly an illusion pops into view between his hands, a luminous facsimile of a planet, complete with atmosphere and continents, rings of orbiting satellites, a fake moon. And a giant paper tag hanging off the side reading, 'EAT ME'.
    "But it's indigestible, and it swells to fill up all the interior space. So there's no room for an inhabited world. Now it might not be a /permanent/ fix but it could buy some time, at least. Or it'll give it gas and then the thing will be farting gamma ray bursts across the cosmos, which would also not be ideal. Not like anywhere behind it is a safe spot anyway."
    Billy shrugs and banishes the illusion into a puff of violet sparks.
    Any 'feelings' being washed his way will be rejected immediately. Got plenty of his own feelings to deal with, thank you.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb is not /that/ tired that he can't put two and two together. Let's see...

Summoned demon, plus mysterious figure showing up unannounced, plus Constantine saying 'bollocks' at the sight of him, plus Constantine calling him Luci...

Ah yes, plus Constantine calling him a friend.

He looks between Luci, and John, and Luci, and John. And shrugs, "Yeah, sure... Why not?"

He raises a hand, "First off... What is the Ultimate Nullifier?"

John Constantine has posed:
John has mostly tuned out the rest of the party, his attention is focused on Lucifer and the annoying little prat of an Infernal Librarian. Ugh, he hates dealing with that lot.

"Her?" John asks. Just one simple question. Insofar as Lucifer's bantering, he just offers, "I'm never one to make a deal with the devil, Luci, you know that." It's tossed out with a wink and in a voice so dripping with sarcasm that he /has/ to be joking - the dude in a suit in his house can't be /The Devil/, right. And John would never, ever make a /deal/ with such an entity.

"All it aside though, as much as a world full of souls sounds good to your ilk," he's focused on the Librarian but he's addressing the bigger hellion in the room. "Some of your lot seem to have grown quite fond of this little rock, innit so? Might just have a stake to claim in keeping it a rock a little longer. Where's the devil to play when you take away the playground?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would look back and forth at the banter with some irritation over and cross her arms. "So, do you know anything about him and his ilk or little beyond flippant words and phrases because your remit is merely to Earth? We might be just as well served going to the Oracles of Delphi and puzzling over their predictions and riddles if this is all that you'r egoing to bring."

To a demon of secrets, that might be a /major/ diss.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike looks over to Billy, "Or something that more eliminates the hunger from within the hungry." He comments, giving a shrug, "I could probably write something like that. Although, the person or persons casting it would have to have a lot of combined power in reserve to offset the cost of a target capable of eating planets."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick gives a level look at the man who, of course, should have weighed the risks of handing off a pack. What, was he someone who was expecting to get them back if Rick /did/ go through them all? Really. Or maybe it was just the irritation of, among everything /else/ happening in this room, having the temptation of a full pack of admittedly good tobacco staring him in the face.

As to the big boss, Rick avoids engaging with... or at least looking at. He was an unknown in a swirl of unknowns, and given that he just came through a hell portal and had other demons bowing before him. Clearly not one to anger... but he could only give so much. Didn't he indirectly praise his customer service? ...Perhaps not the best thing to do. Well, nothing a private conversation with the Almighty couldn't fix, surely.

"About all I can suggest myself is a virus; but as to how to go about producing and deploying it, even if it were ethical, would be... mind boggling. Out of my scope and a cure barely better than the disease barely down at us from space. Granted, to get more, I don't think anyone here's going to be shoveling souls at you; I'm sure given the present company, there's more than a few that might already be claimed."

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary, of course, can't help but play along. She mimes catching Lucifer's blown kiss and responds with a flirty growl. When John interjects, that fanged grin of hers is hidden behind a pout, as she quickly turns her head to him. "Come on, John. I'm hardly even doing anything...Don't go looking jealous now." She smirks, before looking back over at the fallen angel himself. "...Such a spoilsport."

Now, she can't just forget why she's here. As the demon continues, she has her own interest to raise.

"If it's souls you're after, I can get you plenty. I'm a frequent practitioner of separating as many prickly little humans from their souls as possible."

"Thing is I've been a very good girl in serving the forces of darkness on this lovely little planet we call Earth, and waging war against the holy and righteous and the ordained...I've been very busy with killing people of that description very recently even. So, I wanna know, what's my compensation as a loyal little employee of evil in the face of this existential nightmare. Surely, you're not gonna just hang me out to dry after centuries of hard work."

Camille Russo has posed:
"Oh no he definitely ain't here," Cam whispers back to Rick. "Some habits die real hard when you end up at the table with an actualfacts demon summonin though, y'know? Not really how I was expectin to spend my Friday night." She moves to sit a little more central in her chair, trying to keep things polite. Doesn't do to actually piss off a demon. Her hands shake a little, but she manages a polite smile right up until bartering souls starts being bandied about. "Now really, that's just rude. If we're gonna be talkin about barterin souls, you at least gotta be askin folk direct-like."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan moves from his seat, collecting another handful of snacks and striding over to sit down next to Michael to explore this potential (non-souls-related) plan further. "Well, not to brag," he starts, "but I *might* know a guy. And he knows a lot of people, and together I bet they'd have the juice." That he could probably do this job himself hasn't occurred to him.
    He nibbles experimentally at another of the snacks until he figures out what it is.
    "Oh, that's nice. Anyway-- I really like your idea! We should start building it out, yeah? Then it'll be ready to go if we can find the right people to implement it..."
    

Lucifer has posed:
Azarotharax's comments and questions about 'her' and checking in with Lucifer have given Lucifer a more sort of ... patient look. More like a CEO and the concerned little intern, maybe is what this relationship is like. Well, if the CEO could set the intern on fire at whim.

"I hear your angle, that we --I-- have skin in this situation, too. I'm in the room because I chose to be here, you don't need to sell me on that the world is more interesting with denizens in it. Do you not observe me giving you assistance here?" It's all said in a friendly tone. Much friends.

"Did you want to talk about 'Her'?" Lucifer asks of John's question. John focused on the 'her', and Lucifer heard it. "I mentioned that the surfer is a key. Understanding that purity of /sacrifice/, but also seeing him as not perfect. Sacrifice is to save something. In this case, a 'her'. A passion that is very... human? Yes. Humanity's 'love'. One of my most favorite parts of humans." Lucifer speaks with a love, or fondness. But it has a distance in it.

"If I were to meet his passion, his 'her', I'm sure there'd be lots I could add to help." He looks to the lore demon. "You can make a deal with them about her details, I think, if you like." The tone is supportive to the little ugly Smeagol, but somewhat ...thin.

Norrin Radd has posed:
"You can't threaten us with a good time, John Constantine. Whether this world is doomed or not, what will come next will be... oh such marvels as you've never imagined, let alone seen." Azarotharax lifts a finger, as if to brush a tear from his eye, although his glasses are still in the way. "Imagine the world, in its final hours. You'll be able to see the orgy of violence and... well, of actual orgy from _space_ it will be so spectacular. You'll all tear yourselves apart, in the final hours, and that big purple space buffoon will show up and look down upon you bathing in your own sin. And besides, if you think you're the only ones, that you're all that special..."

The demon may be taking a DIFFERENT tack here, although in the end, there is clearly an element of a bluff to it. Which his boss admits to. No, they don't really want to lose Earth either. FIIIIINE. The little demon looks briefly deflated.

Then he turns back, focusing on the matter at hand. "Regardless. While we are willing to help, the HOW, the WHO, to WHAT end... that is still all very much in flux, hmm? You're not the only game in town. You don't get any say in how things turn out, if you won't put some skin in the game."

At this point, the demon twirls, hopping a bit, toward Mary, siddling up toward her. "We don't want plenty of souls. We want the one! But if you're keen to deliver, then we are keen to make arrangements. Whether or not the Brit is keen to the idea." Then he considers her request, glancing over toward his boss. "I'm sure some kind of upgrade could be arranged, to sweeten things. You could be Queen of this or that, maybe. I'm sure there's something that isn't taken."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara stands straight up, not entirely of her own doing as she growls out in a voice that are two in one, eyes turning red, "His soul is not on the table, nor will you hold it as a bargaining chip! You are here because he wills it, other wise you would be dead already!"

Those looking at her can see her physically fight the entity inside her down, back into the cage before she looks up, her own green eyes back. "What he said," she breaths out, then sits back down. "John's soul is not available, try again."

John Constantine has posed:
"Yeah, maybe you need to define the terms of the 'meeting', huh Luci?" Because he's pretty sure the way to the Surfer's heart is not by way of sending his love to Hell. The background noise of the other party goers is there, it's registering to be considered at a later date, but John knows a gift horse when he sees one and he's not returning this gift.

Lucifer is here for a reason, the very same reason everyone else is here. To save the Earth.

"What soul do you want?" John asks, there's not much enthusiasm in his tone. It's not his fault that he immediately leaps to an answer in his head. It's not his ego causing him to think of his own soul. It's just the facts, it's not as if he hasn't danced this dance before. It's not as if it's not thrice wanted already - his soul that is.

But it would be worse if the answer is 'hers'.

For all the lines he straddles between light and dark, between 'good' and 'evil'. For all the questionable 'friendships' he maintains, for as damned as his soul may be. John Constantine is, beneath all his flawed glory, a decent man. He just makes questionable choices when trying to do the decent thing.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As Billy sits down next to him, Mike turns his head to listen to the comments offered. Being no one else seems interested in what he has to say it seems maybe the reason he was brought here was more to speak with Billy.



As Billy mentions knowing a guy, he cracks a slight smile to that. "...I have a sense that that some of the people I know and some of the people he knows overlaps."

"I could probably get started on writing something out, see if it works on the small scale level. If it does, then maybe we can try it at the larger scale level."

Supposing they don't get vetoed right out of the gate.

Mary Seward has posed:
The demon's offer earns a spell of ponderment from Ms. Seward. Being the Queen of Blood is one thing, but being the Queen of something else too?

"My old home England would be nice....I was waiting so long for that cow Elizabeth to finally bite it, so...."

Though, that's not necessarily her concretely agreeing to anything yet. "However, I've already shown results on my end. You haven't. Setting conditions doesn't do you favors."

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick narrows his eyes at the devil talking up a good game to inflate prices. Cure worse than the disease, but Detective Pezzini seems to have things rather in hand. "Never good to make a deal with someone who has everything to offer and only one prices. Though, what do I know about economics?" He notes to the demon there, before giving a bit of a nod to Camille. "I don't expect any of us planned this Friday night, of course. You'd think I'd be used to the... concept of these sorts of things, by now. God, so much of it seems to rely on blood." He says, moving to the second cigerrette, before eyeing John wordlessly in search of an ashtray. It at least masked the coppery scent that only seemed to become more prevelant.

To Billy, He simply nods. "Fair enough. U/U, myself. It is of.. strictly limited utility at the moment."

Camille Russo has posed:
Camille doesn't consider herself the sharpest crayon in the box, but she does string a series together with a little bit of time to think. "You aren't wrong, humanity's real ugly like that," she says to the smaller demon. "World ending? Unstoppable? Gonna see the absolute worst of it, worse than the riots after the announcement. But I ain't in the habit of pissin off Maman and The Baron neither, so that means I can't barter nobody's soul except my own, and my boyfriend's gonna use the veto on that one if I try. Pretty sure he will, at least. Alright, so. This Surfer guy. You're interested, and his lady love is a way to learn more and draw him in. Why do y'all want his soul? Is it extra-tasty? He piss Daddy off worse than you, Mr. King of Hell?"

Norrin Radd has posed:
"The soul of the woman the Silver Surfer loves the most." This is how Azarotharax phrases it, suddenly turning toward the -specific- in his tone, peering down his nose. As if now, as John asks, they are to the MEAT of it, defining real terms. And that one is certainly an interesting way of phrasing it. Some things are ommitted, very obviously. Some things left... with a degree of malleability of circumstance. Clearly, at this point, the little demon is speaking for himself, or at least, whatever course of action he is advocating. He'd not dare deal for the Devil, even if he does occasionally glance over, as if in fear of being SMOTE at any given instant.

"It seems fitting, does it not? He has brought you all this trouble, after all. Should he not pay a little, too?" The demon continues. "If you PLEDGE it, we will answer you today. But if you do not supply what has been asked... then your own will be forfeit. The usual terms, I'm sure you agree."

He glances over at Mary. "If Constantine doesn't collect, perhaps you could do so FOR him. But I tire of being treated as though YOU are the ones doing a favor. If you do not wish my assistance, I can be elsewhere. Reading to catch up on, busty- nevermind."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
It's at the point where he notices that Luci and Mary are kinda going hand to hand that Caleb looks at John with a frown. And he makes a movement with his hands like he's clapping - and nodding repeatedly.

He snap-looks at Sara, not expecting her to go demon-mode. And he's quiet until the end, frowning.

A frown that continues till John asks what sould does Luci want. For a moment, he thinks about his sister and his father. You ask him if those souls would be up for bargain, and you'll find his answer. You go behind his back and sell one of those souls for information, and see the result.

"I have a hard time believing this", Caleb says. "You know, if the world goes, demons'll be out of a job." He shrugs idly, "All good ones go to Heaven, bad ones go to Hell... And then what? No more influx of souls, right? What does Hell stand to gain by bargaining?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan hastily crams down the rest of his snacks and conjures up a very basic notebook and pen. Excited with the rush of possibility he starts scrawling across a page while spitballing with Michael and Richard. "It's a classic 'Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius' kind of project, right? You need scale, and you need it believable, but you also can't get bogged down in every tiny *detail*."
    As he scribbles out a diagram the drawing recedes into the page and splits apart into various zoom levels. "It's the... the map-territory relation, like this. We don't need to define the whole thing; we just need people to be thinking about some different part of it. So this-- this is where everyone else would come in. Even, you know, regular people. Everyone on Earth. Tell them to just think of some part of another world. Doesn't even matter what. They only barely have to fit together. Then we..."
    Here Billy gestures around the room, and beyond it, to encompass the irregular people. "...we're like a lens for those thoughts, and we focus the whole *idea* of a delicious, edible planet out there, and it becomes real. Or real enough to feed a giant space monster. Real enough for him to choke on it."

John Constantine has posed:
John takes a moment to pull a pack of Silkies from his pocket and light it with that battered gold lighter he's so fond of. He's drawing out the moment, looking considerably bored from the external of it. Internally one part of him is wrestling with the other, the two screaming at one another.

In the end, as it always is, it's the side that argues 'do it John and fix it later, we need this' that wins.

"A'ight, consider it pledged. I don't deliver and you get my soul."

Of course there's the matter of all the others that want it, but that's not his problem tonight is it?

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Closing her eyes, Sara takes several long, deep breaths to keep the control she had gained back. There were a million ways to out smart a demon, even in an agreement made in good faith, she knew it, Witchblade knew it. The question of if this woman was human or not mattered little to the god when it came to souls, they were not meant as demon play things no matter where they came from.

Listening to John as he speaks, as he agrees, she finally opens her eyes to study him more intently. Body language, facial expression, tone of the voice, all key elements for a detective to pick up on, and she does. "He'll accept that agreement," she finally states with a slight growl to her tone. He'll accept only because Sara is making him accept, she'll pay for it later most likely, but clearly John had a plan. Knowing what she knew about John, the line was just getting longer.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike blinks to the display popping up. "...Honestly I just write lyrics describing what needs to be done. If it's in a rhyming scheme, if there's enough will behind the performance of it, something tends to happen."

He tilts his head to the side, "...granted it's more effective when I perform it than say... a random scientist. But if you put it in the hands more like me and stronger and you can sync it up?"

He smiles, "...Be interesting to see what happens."

Hearing John plege a soul with his as collateral. The Smile goes away as he looks over to John.

Oh you stupid mo-

Norrin Radd has posed:
Azarotharax heaves a sigh, as if relieved to be finished. "I'm glad we're being reasonable. So now, the questions. What were they. Mm. I did tell you one, already. That certain things cannot be known by a title, but only by a name. You should know this well enough, illustrious gathering of magicfolk that you are. Names matter. Names are true."

He lectures on this, but then continues.

"You gave me one. The Ultimate Nullifier. Well, it is a weapon. It turn out, that for all you simian savages are skilled in creating weapons with which to annihilate yourselves, you are yet dwarfed in this capacity by others. Pitiful, really. Some aliens made it, to fight a long-ago war. I do believe they're dead now. In part because someone used it. The universe, you see, is LESS now, than it ought to be. Really, you're all lucky they didn't try a higher setting."

He glances around. "Is that really all?"

Lucifer has posed:
"That is the deal Azarotharax is capable and willing to make." Lucifer is laying that out. It's a little hard, firm, some of the friendliness has just fallen away. Lucifer can switch in and out of friendliness very quickly. "Though I'd say making the agreement in front of me does add some..." Lucifer thinks about what favorite word to use. "Weight."

The demon can count on having a judge if needed to arbitrate! "You called //him// for a deal. Seems strange to be annoyed by a deal being involved." This is a reaction to Caleb mentioning that Hell is bargaining. Of course the small demon is! "That's like setting up an orgy and getting surprised by the level of nudity."

"At any rate -- Another reason I have consistently said I'm not here to make deals. Mine are /severe/. I'm a kind person, anyway: I have volunteered more information than you started with. And.... I didn't even get to hold the skull." Lucifer flips back to friendliness, here.

"But I did enjoy some munchies. So there /is/ that." And he'd like a few more. Lucifer heads to the foods. A few snacks for learning about surfer's squeeze? But he's signalling, at least in social cues, that he's going to leave: likely very soon. The room is starting to heat, because Lucifer is going to open his return 'home'. Likely right on top of where the demon is now.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Well, they have something about him. Monet St. Croix muses, "A sacrifice of the greatest sort for the grandest of things. With the most meaning behind it." She is thoughtful over. "So the way is to convince him that said sacrifice was meaningless in the greater scheme or try to appeal to him on a similar emotional level." If they cannot engage with Norrin in a fully formal transaction, then as a backup they can try and rely on something out of a purely emotional level of manipulation, if it comes to it.

While the others ponder on magic and souls and contracts.. Monet simply goes over for something blunter over all else.

Her thoughts immediately went to Mantis and what the woman's powers were. What she knew and felt. Because knowing someone's feelings and what strongly triggered them was an opening to manipulate them.

And love was one of the grandest things to psychologically exploit.

John Constantine has posed:
"Where is it?" The rest of it, the cure being worse than the disease, John knew that already. "Where can we find this Ultimate Nullifer?" All the talk about names has his wheels spinning as well, it's important. And he still thinks it all sounds like a WWF cage match: Galactus vs. The Ultimate Nullifier.

Norrin Radd has posed:
Azarotharax requires no lengthy wordplay for the answer, and so he does not belabor the point: "Why, inside Galactus' ship, of course."

Camille Russo has posed:
Camille's head swivels at the bit about performing. "So if we could link your song up with like... Dazzler, that new singer at the jazz lounge in the Hellfire Club, maybe... big groups, some sort of charitable livestreams? Would it goin viral on something like that tickytok and youtube help? Like doin a big group ritual versus solo or small group work, that sorta thing?" She directs the questions rapid-fire at the man writing lyrics, coming to stand at the edge of the small group. Demons make her head hurt.

Richard Stadler has posed:
     Rick peered over at John. Well... the man was certainly someone who either had a plan, or was desperate enough to do it. Perhaps there was some way to reneg on the deal... or he simply knew where things were heading over at the end of the line and wanted to get something out of it. Points for efficiency, he might have said... and then there was the good information that the soul had bought.

"Seems like a rather... bad piece of information. It's in an enemy's strong hold." A pause. "Which... I suppose means we have to go and get it."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra can't help but glare at John. If looks could kill...

"And it has come to this", Caleb sighs. Why does he feel like, if he somehow follows through with these questions, he'll be bound for Hell?

Taking into account the information about the Nullifier, Caleb raises his hand for another question. "At the same time the surfer has arrived, there were news of three impacsts scattered throughout the globe. What are they?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan keeps making notes, and the letters start to swirl together on the page into another image of a planet. It gets more detailed with every scribble, until Billy has to stop and flex his hand for a moment. "I think it's doable," he concludes to Mike. "It's worth trying, at least. We can run a test with... I don't know... a stadium full of people? And one or two of us there to channel it. Proof of concept. If that works, it should scale indefinitely."
    He wags his pen at Camille and grins brightly. "Yes! Oh, that's brilliant. A livestream. Perfect."
    "And there'd be no need for souls or--"
    Oh, too late for that. Billy looks to the others then, before turning a quizzical look on Mike. "It has a ship? What would it even need a ship for? If we can figure out where that is I can make a portal to it..."

Mary Seward has posed:
"Ooh! Ooh! I've got a question!" Mary. exclaims like an impatient kid in class time.

"...Tell us some secrets about the Man-Thing..."

Norrin Radd has posed:
Again, the answer for a simpler question is a quick one: "Other Heralds. One you've met already, the others not. Earth, Wind and Fire. Isn't that funny? Apparently, the whole affair has called for a lot more teamwork, this time around."

Mary gets waved off. "Out of scope. I'm answering about Galactus, not all the information in the universe."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Even if John didn't have a plan, if he was doing all this unscripted and unprepared, Witchblade has plans, ideas, and the ability to enact them. Sara didn't take much comfort in that knowledge, but what's done is done.

"On his ship..." she sighs and shakes her head, muttering something in Italian. "Of course it has a ship, and of course that's where the only thing that could hurt him is.... so now we have to plan how to /get/ to his ship and get the weapon."

She knew a few who could make the trip via space, but they'd be seen coming and likely blown out existence. "Is he with his ship at all times?" She finally asks the demon.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike pauses at Camille's suggestion, "You know, that's a good idea, I should call up Alison to see if she wants to do another teamup." He replies back, "She could help with leading it for the less musically inclined but more magically inclined members of the chorus."

The rock star pauses, "... Do you think trying to prevent the apocalypse would be enough of an excuse to get ahold of Madison Square on such short notice? Normally that's a months in advance thing.... Although they are using some of my concert footage for one of their VR Tour features...so maybe-"

He shakes his head, "Ok first. Lyrics. Then music to back it up. Then testing. Then we can figure out the distribution and focal points. that best help with its use."

He pauses. "... Uh My stage name is Nick Drago if that helps with the confusion a little."

Norrin Radd has posed:
Azarotharax glances briefly toward Sara. "Usually? It's a very BIG ship, so I don't think he gets bored. Well, he does leave when it's time to eat. But I think that isn't terribly helpful to you at this point, hmm? Maybe if you were... very very quick." He smirks, seemingly amused by the notion.

Lucifer has posed:
Oh, music? WELL.

"I //enjoy// concerts. We can make music happen, even last minute. I have the strings to pull for such good ideas," Lucifer says to Michael Hannigan, entirely pleasant again. He has a little paper plate with some food on it, too. For the moment, zero brimstone, zero /anything/ showing.

"My card," Lucifer offers to Mike. It has some entertainment manager information on it. Somebody named Larry.

This clearly won't make anything weirder.

John Constantine has posed:
John snorts back a laugh. "Earth, Wind and Fire, didn't they kind of fall off the radar in the early eighties? Or was that late seventies?" He still has that previous lit cigarette just bobbing up and down between his lips.

Does he have a plan beyond the pledged agreement? Absolutely not. Will he have one when the final countdown arrives? Probably. See, John Constantine is all about flying by the seat of his pants and it's served him well thus far.

"Can The House of Mystery reach this ship?" Because not even he's entirely certain of just what his sentient, sometimes fickle, lots of time a pain in the ass, house of his can do.

...and that's his last question. He seems pretty much ready for everyone to be gone from his house so he can drown what he just did in a bottle of scotch and look at it fresh in the morning.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan draws more lines across his diagram while he nods to Mike's ideas. "Then for phase two we'd need to spread out to align with the population density. Some folks might benefit from a focusing... totem... or something like that."
    As he ponders this his scribbling slows. "And somebody will need to be at the base of the lens to keep it all together. For a stadium show, that's one thing, but a whole planet of minds..."
    Billy lightly taps his pen on the page and gets lost in thought.

Norrin Radd has posed:
Azarotharax gives John the most 'are you kidding me' of looks. "I... haven't the faintest fucking clue, John. It's not called that because its secrets are well published. I will say... that his ship exists out of your normal definitions of time and space. I'm bad with the physics nonsense, as I'm sure most of you are too, being as you chose magic over profitable STEM degrees, but it's existence is a facet of its strange origin. Which, now that I've teased, I'll stop you early: I can't answer THAT one. Don't have the clearance. More of a big guy question," he thumbs over at Lucifer. "And you decided against making any proper deals with him. So, that one stays with the angels, fallen and otherwise."

Now, more irriated: "We about done? I'd really like to get back to my reading."

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Sara has asked the one and only question she was capable of thinking of. Fighting with Witchblade's temperament all night was far more exhausting than many could realize. Keeping him from merely taking over and going on a demon killing spree was normally far easier, but when the demons just pop in for brunch, it was more difficult.

"We'll need a second meeting to plan anything further," she finally states bluntly, though the strain on her energy is obvious in her tone. "If there is actually anything we /can/ plan to get to that ship, that is."

Another glance is thrown toward Az, another moment that the Witchblade considered ending the problem right then and there, and one more time that Sara has to shove him down. "I have to go."

Standing herself up, she grabs her travel mug of coffee and heads for the door. John's house, John's rules, John's a moron... self words of encouragement and reminders to Witchblade with each step is the only way she makes it to the portal and back to the location her motorcycle is parked.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra raises a hand again to Az, "Do you know their names, and how can we defeat them?"

He looks at Mike, "Music brings people together, but... At this point, what would we be celebrating...?"

Then, he remembers, "What is in the Four Freedoms Plaza that caugth the surfer's attention?"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hearing another voice come up, Mike turns his head to see Lucifer approach. As Lucifer uses the pleasant tone. Mike gives him a smile without any hint of hostility behind it. Apparently he really meant it about being mostly neutral.

Also he has no intention of selling his soul. He's already locked into one contract with a really string deity level type already. He doesn't need another.

A hand reaches over to take the offered card. "Thanks." He replies, taking a look to the card again.

Huh.

It really does just say Larry on it.

As Billy brings up a global thought. "Well. Ever heard of global concerts? You get a big name in different locations to gather people around, And you just have like a satellite link to connect the venues.

He nods to Camille, "Like a large scale version of the livestream idea."

Caleb's question gets a glance as the student proves he wasn't listening to the why, just the method of exposure. "Survival." He answers plainly. "Sing for your life. Also Reed Richards lives in Four Freedoms Plaza. He's probably who he was looking for."

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary playfully tsks. "Shame, Mr. Morningstar. Giving him your number but not me. I'm so scandalized."

Still, she seems at least somewhat still invested in all of this.

"So on the subject of that Surfer's girlfriend and her soul....hypothetically, where would one find her?"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy Kaplan nods slowly to Mike. "Yeah, that'll get the individual sites sorted out. I'm just thinking about who's going to be at the center, holding the focus steady. I don't know if even Strange could do that..."
    He finally shrugs, and smiles. "Well! Let's see how a small-scale test goes and work up from there. I'm going to go get to work on some of these details. Keep in touch!"

Norrin Radd has posed:
"Zenn-La. That's a planet. It's... well, over there, a long ways." The little demon actually goes so far as to POINT, in a direction. If his answers seem to be getting lazier, it may indicate a certain pattern or clear shift in his behavior. To Caleb, supprisingly, he answers: "I don't know. It was a personal interest of his, and despite my powers, I am not privy to the secrets of every heart and mind, only more apparent knowledge. John really tried to cheap out, getting you ME, after all."

He yawns. "Now I really am done. I'm sure you can figure the rest out, with due diligence. You're such a capable and attractive lot." A beat. "I'm kidding, but still, you'll probably manage." He turns, and makes an elaborate bow toward his master. "With your leave, my lord."

Lucifer has posed:
"Scandal is a delicious foreplay," Lucifer teases Mary immediately in response. He doesn't expect Michael to use the card--though everything is very tactful, and the group do now possess a contact for Lucifer that doesn't involve sacrificing a goat or the like. ...if they're patient enough to wait for him to get to his voicemail messages, anyway.

"Staying here, or prefer something more interesting with your night?" Lucifer asks of Mary, with an invitation that's suggestive of indeed going somewhere else, if she'd like. "Or another time."

That gateway has warmed up 'pleasantly', and a portal is peeling open on the mirror. Lucifer gives the demon the smallest of cues: he may use it, he may go.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Just one last question", Caleb raises a hand. "How long until he gets here, and can we delay him in any fashion?"

Camille Russo has posed:
"Yeah, I was thinkin scope of somethin like LiveAid, but also the Eric Whitacre virtual choirs and when the Wellerman went viral a few years ago, everyone addin in parts and changin it up in their styles? And then the Santa radar that NORAD does, just kinda... gettin people to start in their timezone and keep goin, til the whole planet's thinkin about it. It's like real big ritual work, I bet my auntie would have some ideas. She's a priestess down in New Orleans, the big rituals she does used to sometimes have seventy, hundred people or so. Course that's pretty small scale stuff, but if you get the priests and priestesses and covens in on it, you could maybe... tier channels, use'em as foci for the focalpoint."

Norrin Radd has posed:
Once he has permission, the little demon goes skipping ahead toward the open portal, looking back over his shoulder at the question asked in parting. "Don't know, and I do hope so! For your sake!"

And with that, Azarotharax is gone, leaping through the mirror surface.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Mike nods. "Very well. I'll give you a DM once I get the song worked out."

After he brushes up on some of the imagery associated with the chosen saint.

The triad member at least has the decency not to say that part out loud considering the present company in the area.

Mary Seward has posed:
Mary giggles like a schoolgirl at Lucifer's saucy offer. "Oh, Luci. I'm nowhere near depressed enough to be the kind of girl who finds herself staying overnight at Constantine's place." She darts over to him, and wraps her arms around his shoulders.

"I'm down for a hell of a night..."

John Constantine has posed:
When the demon is gone and Luci takes his exit as well, John plucks the mostly spent cigarette from his lips and ashes it right there on the floor - he'll apologize to the House later. "Bollocks," he mutters under his breath. It's time for his first 'plan' to be put into action. He doesn't even have to go looking, a bottle of fine scotch is just sitting on his table near the chair he was lazing about in before.

That bottle and likely another will be gone by morning.

A little hair of the dog when he wakes and he'll be back at it again.

His guests can show themselves out or the House will show them out for him.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer's got something else to do now. A fun new distraction. "That'll be the start of it," Lucifer answers Mary, before moving with a quick, sleek motion through the portal he'd made. His hands flare after him as he passes through it, an offhanded simple gesture to shut the personal hellmouth behind him.

Hopefully this night went as well as the others could have... expected...

Camille Russo has posed:
Camille stops next to John on her way out. "There's a bowl of etouffee for you in the fridge, got reheat instructions on it." She gives his shoulder a light squeeze before she steps out of the room. The door of the House opens at the base of the tower, and she thanks it again. Yeah, this is the right place to be tonight.