18960/The Open Door: It Never Left
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The Open Door: It Never Left | |
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Date of Scene: | 01 September 2024 |
Location: | Bryant Park |
Synopsis: | Demons draw marked people into a library near Bryant Park to be consumed. Heroes arrive to stop the lunch rush. |
Cast of Characters: | Lucifer, Monet St. Croix, John Constantine, Atrice Duckstein, Eve Horror, Camille Russo, Rien D'Arqueness, Caleb Dykstra |
Tinyplot: | The Open Door |
- Lucifer has posed:
It's mid-afternoon on a Saturday. But there is a strange tension around. The hyperloop in particular is suddenly hit very hard, as is the traffic headed towards Midtown. Slow-moving traffic, in large amounts, is headed that way. The hyperloop from Gotham is slowed -- only due to the slow moving groups of people clogging it. Travelers get frustrated with the slower moving people: walking as if in a trance inside the train cars, or driving their cars slowly, not minding traffic signals...
It is as if hundreds of sleepwalkers, spread throughout other locations, are now in the traffic system. It feels similar to the holidays, when all the slower drivers and patrons come out to idly window-shop.
--
Those with magical senses will feel something beyond just the frustration of slow-moving people. They all have something negative on them: something posseessive, gripping, riding them. A demonic touch on something they possess: objects, maybe. Small ones, in pockets, or gripped inside closed hands. It's a call, though.
Or perhaps more of a special ticket, to whatever is pulling them to come to Bryant Park.
- Monet St. Croix has posed:
While not able to pickup something like mystical influence, while on a patrol Monet can pickup the general drugged, sluggish, and disoriented sense of ennui that seems to be drawing out the crowds towards this central area. She frowns, and goes to head along in that direction, moving to put up a call along the shared hero communications network <<There's an unusual influence, possibly psychic, that is dragging in hundreds of individuals towards Bryant Park.>> They seem to be under a collective sense as if going to the DMV.
- John Constantine has posed:
John has early warning systems a plenty for supernatural events in the city - one of which is a map left behind by the daughter of a friend. But it's none of those things that have him in this particular area at this particular time. He's had a lot on his plate of late, so a walk with a pack of Silks and a flask filled with scotch was long overdue. An urge to turn left there, another to turn right there, another left, a few more rights. He's so lost in his thoughts and caught up in his own demons that he doesn't even feel the wave he's riding.
If his house doesn't park him where he needs to be, synchronicity will get him there regardless.
It's about the third left that he really starts to notice things. He comes out of his self induced pity party to his mystical senses causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. Bollocks, he should have been paying more attention. Now that the fog of internal dialogue and wallowing is over, he just knows he needs to be in Bryant Park. He knows because that wave's become tidal, speeding him forward at a pace that's almost dizzying.
Running is not John's thing - by the time he's pushed himself through throngs of people to the park proper, he has to take a second - bent over, hands on his knees - and catch his breath.
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky's demonic senses are tingling something fierce today! That either meant that the gluttony slugs were back up to shenanigans...or something else was happening. She did something that was rather silly, she decided to follow one of the people that had the tainted object and see where they were going. Because that would lead to fun and adventure, right?
Right?
- Eve Horror has posed:
Evening is not used to daylight. Even while sitting on the hyerloop, in the dimmest corner the girl can find, it's too bright for her. The little gothling makes up for it with a pair of 80's style black Raybans, like something the Lost Boys would wear. She stares around at the jostling crowd on the train in a bit of wonder. So many people, so pressed together. She's been in cities and the like, of course, but it's rare for her to be out and about at a busy time like this. Rare for now, at least.
Striped black and orange thigh-highs, black boots with orange laces, a wispy black skirt that reaches her knees, and an off-the-shoulder black sweater with a Jack-o-Lantern drawing that looks like it's from some old, kitchy art design stitched to the center with black, orange and purple stiteches. She cuts quite the image. Of course, there's the decent-sized Jack-o-Lantern handbag in her lap, filled with the spookiest, weirdest looking dolls and salvaged toys, too. She draws looks just from her style, but the alabaster skin and long, pointed ears and sharp canine teeth on the top and bottom help to!
She feels that call and can't quite explain it. Still, Eve is nothing if not way, way, way too curious. She hops to her feet and nudges through the crowd, climbing off at the stop. It happens to be one quite close to the park she's being pulled to. The teen hurries along, holding the Jack-o-Lantern by black ribbons serving as the handles. She begins to grin to herself, sharp teeth catching the afternoon light.
- Camille Russo has posed:
The hair on the back of Cam's neck stands up as a small cluster of slow-moving people walk past where she's sitting. The remnants of a mid-afternoon ice cream are licked off her fingers as she stands up to follow, clocking the negative mojo and the other slow-moving, almost drugged looking individuals and clusters of people. She follows cautiously, slipping into the same slow walk as the group she's tailing, though her eyes are alert. Her hands get shoved into her pockets, one fiddling with her ever-present marker and the other curled around her phone.
As the little group she's following nears Bryant Park, it becomes obvious that there are a lot of people being pulled here for something that feels ominous. Her shoulders stiffen as she slips to the side, only relaxing fractionally when she spots John. She doesn't quite hurry to his side, but she walks a little more briskly than the throngs around them, bumping his shoulder gently with her own once she's at his side. "What in the hells is goin on?" It's whispered, Cam shifting from foot to foot with a touch of anxiety as she watches the crowds.
- Lucifer has posed:
"EXCUSE me. Damn, some /people/," one of the patrons of the library is saying loudly. A woman of maybe forty is trying to steer two children out of the library. She has their hands held so high that they are somewhat lifted off their feet. "Mum, mummmm," wails the little boy. The trio can't get out of the library, though. There's just too many people in the way.
They all are just slowly moving towards the library, relaxed about the whole situation, in a dreamy way. The silence is weird, but not complete: other patrons are complaining and trying to instigate, but the 'sleepwalkers' aren't interested in conversation. They're not mindless, though, one does answer.
"This is the place to be today," to a confused man on the street asking where everyone is off to. Others asked give similar answers. This is an interesting place. Nobody puts into words about anything deeper than that: though it is deeper, and perhaps they DO know.
The library is not made to take crowds like this, and it's just jammed with people. Someone didn't organize this very well, or they would have had boarding groups, like in an airline. For now, there's patience, but that feels like it may be wearing out, among the people.
Inside is weirder: they appear to just be milling around inside in the book stacks.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
It's not easy to keep up a constant scan for demonic activity, there's a LOT that goes on on a daily basis. Most will (blessedly) never know just how much Hellish influence occurs around the world at any given time. However, this is Rien's bread and butter, literally what she was born for. And the easiest way to keep up with the sort of events that she would find it necessary to step in for? Is to bind a spell to a locator object that will alert her to spikes in demonic activity. Sort of a Hellish GPS.
She's enjoying a truly divine dish of Tagliatelle Ai Funghi E Tartufo at a lovely little cafe in Florence when the object activates, starting to vibrate wildly inside the inner pocket of her leather jacket. Sighing ruefully, Rien pays for the meal and stands, moving into a side alley, pulling the antique compass from within her jacket and waving a hand over it. A magical little globe pops up with a bright red showing in the American east coast. "Always the US.. why don't demons ever attack abroad?" The lament comes with another sigh as she tucks the compass away and snaps her fingers, teleporting herself to New York City so she can try to get a better idea of what's going on.
The crowded streets aren't unusual, but the slow flow of traffic is... slower than normal for the Big Apple, anyways, especially the foot traffic. "..what the Hell are they up to..."
- Eve Horror has posed:
The pale, pointy-eared gothling spots the slow crowds moving towards the library. She hms and mutters something softly. Her words are picked up by the ghost in one of her toys, which can reach out to scan surface thoughts and pick up supernatural signatures she can't. "Onion Boy, you getting anything?" He'll report back to her with a whisper anything he picks up.
Meanwhile, Eve moves towards the library, glancing about behind her sunglasses as she tries to take it all in. She doesn't look or feel alarmed in the slightest. Is this weird as heck? Yup. But it's exciting! Girl doesn't have proper priorities by a longshot.
- John Constantine has posed:
Is it a bad thing that John's attention is grabbed first by a young girl all decked out in Jack-O-Lanterns? Is it a sign that he's become so de-sensitized to the crazy that it's that one thing rather than all that's really wrong here warrants his time, if only briefly. He drags his attention away from Eve when Camille is at his side and talking. "Is it October, luv? Did I somehow skip an entire month?" he asks, pretty seriously too. It wouldn't be the first time something of the supernatural variety has caused him to lose time.
Right then, October or not, there's clearly a whole lot out of sorts here. "Not sure yet, poppet," he finally replies. "One moment." And then John's looking, not with his eyes but with his senses, the ones that caused that hair to rise on the back of his neck to begin with. His eyes are mostly closed, revealing just a tiny bit of whites near the bottom. The first thing he picks up on is Rien, a familiar mystical signature if there ever was one - but he moves past it, over the crowd, through the library proper, down into the basements, up into the rafters. What exactly /is/ going on here?
- Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would approach over then and go to frown, reaching out her senses telepathically. Then going to send out telepathically to anyone she was familiar with <<The victims all seem to be guided here. Whatever.. Things they have on them seem to be directing them. Saying that they'll find something that they like here. It's working under a sort of positive influence upon their consciousness.>> That's sent while she goes to be slowly working her way on in.
And while people seme to be sleepwalking, Monet goes to try and close her eyes while searching for something slightly extraneous for just a moment to make sure that it's not present.
Namely smoething that's different.
A Sleepwalker.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Two siblings are enjoying a lazy afternoon of lazy window-shopping, and a few books fall on Sheila's attention at a bookshop. Caleb turns to pay more attention to this, and when he turns to look at his sister, she's moving away from him. He frowns, and in turn, he picks up the pace to follow her.
"Hey, Sheila...", he puts a hand on her shoulder. "What gives?"
And he's met with a shove of his hand by her sister! Now, this would be the part where he, as several years her senior, would play the surrogate parent and have a stern talk with her, but he's shoved aside by one of the sleepwalkers.
"We have to go there, Caleb. Come!", she says.
He looks around, shaking his head to keep himself 'awake', mastering all will that he can to look around and see this is a group effect.
Trouble's brewing... And his sister's caught in the wake.
He follows, reminding himself there's danger, and that he needs to get to the bottom of this.
"Sure, sis... Let's go."
He tries to reach out over the JLD 'comms' in the meantime...
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky follows the crowd towards the library. Maybe there was a book sale going on and people just wanted to expand their libraries? Or maybe those slugs were trying to steal something? Either way, it is super crowded.
And crowded means that trying to get into said library is not at all easy. The red-headed woman has to elbow a few people in the side to make it up the steps and try to get in through the doors.
But when her feet hit the threshold there is an overwhelming feeling, her eyes blazing white for a few seconds before they fade back to their mismatched colors. "Maybe I should should text him." she mutters as she wends her way through the doors.
- Camille Russo has posed:
"Nah, but some people just make spooky season a way of life," Cam replies quietly as the young woman catches her eye too. This - whatever this is - didn't plan well for the crowd, but her musing is broken by a stray thought that isn't her own. << Yeah, caught that too, but more... something hinky. You think they'll behave for a line so unaffected folk can get out? >> It's not the first time she's been part of a light telepathic link, even if she's not sure she recognizes the mental voice of the speaker.
- Lucifer has posed:
The interior of the library is really a problem, there's no moving there really: the people are thick. And elbowing anybody, outside or in, at first, doesn't do anything... until suddenly it does.
"You're not invited," three men accuse Atrice, really suddenly. The crowd bubbles a little, as if getting a new order. One along the line of... something jealous, something strange. Something dark, in emotion. Get rid of the Others.
"It's ours. Get the hell out," says one of the men. Most of the people gathered pick up on this vibe, and start to turn to look at those that don't belong here.
The woman who had been aggressive about trying to leave the library screams as she's ripped away from her children and pushed out off the front steps. She falls on her hip. "Skyler! Kimmie!" she yells for her kids, who are crying, mushed up in some of the planters near the door.
- Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix walking into the library to rendezous with the others, Monet goes to maintain the mental link with the ones that she recognizes. Her eyes sweep the place, and she does not pickup anything psionic as far as influence goes beyond the reactions in the minds. That means she can't try and disrupt whatever is broadcasting either. She takes a breath and looks irritated.
Then as the men go towards Atrice, Monet goes to walk forwards and attempts to intersperce herself between them and the DUckmaster
- John Constantine has posed:
It's another day ending in Y - another demon. Another denizen of Hell that just wants to wreak having and destruction and maybe eat a few people along the way. "It's a demon, luv," John informs Camille before he starts heading his way toward the library - via the 'around the back' option. No way he's getting himself caught up in the bottle neck that's the front doors. He'll find a service entrance or sommat like that to magic his way through. As he's starting the trotting job to the back, he calls out to Camille. "Need to do whatever you can to get these sods out of here. All them being here is doing is makin' it stronger!"
Unfortunately he's not thinking that just pulling the fire alarm is going to work in this instance.
"It's on the main floor! Right about dead center!"
Bollocks. Just as crowded in the back too.
He's really left with no choice, is he? John typically doesn't toss about elemental type power - energy throwing like that isn't his favored method. Desperate times though. He calls upon the power of wind, using just enough energy to blow the wall of people apart and to the side so he at least get to the bloody door. Might be some broken bones as a result - to the crowd not him, but it's better than what awaits them inside?
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Moving to join a familiar pair, Rien pops in on the other side of John, giving Camille a smile and nod of greeting before looking back to Constantine. "It's demons, John. These people... they're.. not possessed. Influenced? And it's.. a lot. Not just here. Gotham as well. Maybe Metropolis, too. The hyperloop seems to be part of it. But this is definitely demons." She looks tensed, instinctive fight or flight responses kicking in.. and she doesn't run. Working to hold back the urge to start laying into people until she can find out how they've been influence.
"Camille, a pleasure, chere. You know this style of magic, oui? There's history of vodoun and zombies.. influencing others into a singular goal..." She motions to the sluggish crowds, "Welcome to the mass Hell version... or at least, the start of it." Rien glances around again, trying to get a sense of where the influence is originating from.. a person? A place? An object? Wouldn't be the first time a statue triggered a mass event.
Noting the general flow of traffic towards the library, she lifts a brow. "If four men in tan jumpsuits pull up in a modified hearse, I'm making popcorn." The scream decides things, however. "Merde." She moves quickly, one moment next to John and Camille, the next inside the library and hovering above the crush of people. The children are heard more than seen, the flood of 'zombies' all but covering them. Lofting them up telekinetically, she teleports them over to their mother, trusting her to hurry them away from the crowds.
- Eve Horror has posed:
"Bad news, Evie. Demons. Like, big bad eat-the-world demons. Not a friendly imp or somethin'," grumbles the weird little doll with the onion head. Most of the people are too distracted to hear the toy talk to her, but anybody nearby might catch it. "They feel like they're bein' drawn by...objects? I dunno. Watch out."
"Oh, whoa. Demons? We had that Malefactor bake my cake for my fourteenth birthday, remember? So cinnamony! ...Too cinnamony." "Yeah, Evie...not like that. These are bad. Watch ou--..."
But Eve is already picking up the pace, a wide grin on her face. Now she's excited! She clutches the Jack-o-Lantern to her chest so none of these spooky, weird toys inside fall out as she hustles along, trying to get into the library. She furrows her brow when she sees the woman split from her kids, though. "Oh, hell no." She balls a fist and storms over, trying to push her way in, now.
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
"It's not the first time I've not been invited somewhere, the problem for you all is I don't care to crash a party anymore." Ducky tells the men with a laugh to them. She knows that the people are about to get rowdy.
That's when she has the bright idea to reach out and grab one of the men by their tie and yank them back out the door with her, "You're not going either." she states.
"If you aren't under the demonic influence I suggest you get ready to dance because this crowd is about to open up!" she calls out across the crowd.
- Camille Russo has posed:
"Ouais," Camille replies to both Rien and John before the two are gone. She blinks, then nods firmly to herself, pulling on her most authoritative voice, infusing it with a bit of her magic, and stepping between the 'zombies' and the door they're trying to enter. "All right you lot! We've a lot of people trying to access this event and we don't want the fire marshal on our asses, so form up in a nice line for me! I'll mark your hands and let you in, just a few at a time so we don't go over capacity. Nobody wants to pay the fines for that, especially not the good taxpayers of our wonderful city!" Will it work? She has no idea, but her marker is in her hand and symbols are already appearing in her mind to promote clarity and limit the influence of foreign entities.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb quietly follows his sister, to a library where so many others are converging. And apparently, some are being filtered out by 'bouncers', like when you get into a party, but you're not invited - and it seems like one helluva party in there.
In the middle of onlookers and people approaching, he spots Constantine, to whom he waves, and he directs, "What the hell's going on here, man??" He points at his sister, who's slowly waiting to get in, in that trance.
Getting closer...
Distraught as he is, he barely recognizes Rien, "Anyone know anything about this?"
And closer...
To Camille, "Any thoughts?"
And closer...
- Lucifer has posed:
The crowd turns mood. It's not a wave, like a more 'ordinary' mob. Because it isn't natural, it's entirely controlled. All of the people seem to decide, all together, to get violent. That doesn't mean they are superpowered, or stronger, though... they are still humans.
That means that they are harming themselves against those who are stronger, unfortunately. And they aren't so far gone to not feel their injuries. So those shoved by Monet or John? There's screaming, pain, confusion... hatred. From afar, it might look like the heroes are the instigators, just based on who is now injured.
The inside of the building is starting to shift in tone; they stop milling around and all converge towards the center, towards a single point. The energy in the air turns, as a burning, blackish charred gateway stretched, yawns, and then opens. And those with 'tickets'? They get to walk through. The doorway is just under the 'youth fiction' banner in the middle back of the library, approximately 6' in height. It's small, many people need to duck as they pass into it. There's another presence, something not easily visible, near the gateway, for those that can sense such things.
Outside, the people who are not part of this scatter, including the woman with the kids. She grabs them and moves to escape, as do other onlookers. Camille's voice works on those, but not the formed library mob.
- Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix goes to pick up Rien, and moves to try and send her a telepathic pulse of the 'what is going on' variety as people start to mob up. She grunts, recognizing that she's made a mistake here. Just one more thing to pile up on blaming the mutants over. Monet goes to quickly look about, and sees stacks of those long rope things used to setup lines for people going to exhibits. She moves to retreat and tries to grab up several. Testing the weak strength of them..
Then she tries to in turn use it to try and separate the gropu of ticketeers and those without tickets to try and minimize the amount of damage such a brawl might inflict.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Giving a nod to Monet as she comes in closer, looking towards her fellow mutant and calling back, "Demonic influence! They're being drawn through that doorway to..." She pauses, staring at the doorway. Now THAT is unusual. She can usually pick out a dimension or plane pretty easily. "Hold that thought!" Moving in closer, she moves towards the doorway, staying well out of reach of the humans below. Staring into that dar psace. The figure within it. Sending her senses forth to probe at the doorway.
Moving to perch on the top of this doorway, she mutters, "Where IS this going to..." Laying her hands on it, trying to get a feel of the magic involved, and hopefully, a casting signature of WHO has opened it.
- Eve Horror has posed:
"WHOA! THAT'S AMAZING!," shouts the gothling, stumbling back as she catches a glimpse of the portal. But everything is chaos around her now, and she doesn't have the power to help anyone. She frowns and jostles against the violent crowd, the girl stuck amidst it all. She can't fly or anything like that.
He arms raise above the crowd, Jack-o-Lantern in hand, as she tries to catch the attention of one of the fliers.
"Hey! You! Help! I'm not all weird like them and I'm gonna get smooooooooooooshed!"
- John Constantine has posed:
Right then, again - few broken bones over what's inside? Means to an end, options weight. John quickly changes directions and turns the wind from a spitting force to push things apart to a more focused funnel that's aimed right at the side door. Once the thing's been blown of its hinges, he strides right on through it.
But he's no fool. Before he goes any further, he turns once more. A little chanting under his breath in some obscure - no really it's just Latin for this one - in an attempt to put up a magical barrier to keep people on the outside.
The center of the library is his objective once the building's been breached. <<On the inside - where are the rest of you lot?>> Not that he knows there's a 'rest of you lot' there outside of Rien and Camille but maybe some have shown by now? <<Guess no luck on dispersing this lot peacefully and quickly?>>
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
They chose violence. This was not going to be an easy thing. The tie bar comes off the man that Ducky had grabbed and he blinks at her before he is shuffled out of the crowd.
She ducks down and has her phone out, trying to get a message out to someone, ~Hi.It's Ducky. We're about to have a big slug mosh pit at the library.~ she texts. But someone jostles her. "SEND!" she shouts as her phone gets knocked out of her hand and it skitters across the ground.
She tries to calm herself as she unholsters the ICER and aims at those who are needing to go down fast. "They have tainted objects on them. Try to find what they have and force them to part with it!" she calls out.
- Lucifer has posed:
OUTSIDE:
The people aren't strong: the bigger problem is that it's hard to work with such a crowd without harming THEM. Injuries are going to abound when superheroes use their powers on ordinary people that are packed together. They'll slam into each other if pushed, fall on the concrete, step on each other. Crowds like this are dangerous. Their motive just seems to be to keep people out of the library while whatever happens, happens. But they can be moved or flown over: they don't have ranged weapons, they're just protecting their right to be next into the library, is what it feels like.
--
INSIDE:
"Oh, hellooooo, pet," says a deep, velvet female voice from above Rien. The demon guarding (and probably responsible for?) the portal was on the ceiling, claws hooked into it like a strange, softly manifested shadow. It is human in shape, but the head is on backwards, body made of black, foggy 'mass'. Eyes are flat reflective circles, like round anime glasses glinting light. Tongue long, curling, longer than any limb on the demon. Her hips are skeletal but wide, abdomen distended but high against rib cage. It's a horror.
"You seek to come with me? Let us chat first, lovely, or you'll hurt yourself," the demon offers to Rien. Other than looking like a TOTAL NIGHTMARE, the voice is reasonable, chatty even, as if a cup of tea would be on the table. "Let's not be rude, and push on things you know not of."
Touching the portal feels like it will decay all of Rien's flesh if she presses: it already will numb and deaden, like the portal is just eating life force. It may feel like it will happily just... take her hand, if she presses. Somebody didn't want the wrong things going into the portal, maybe. Two people enter it during this time, disappearing into blackness. Spirited somewhere? It does feel like it goes somewhere.
Maybe.
Except that the location is still right... here.
- Camille Russo has posed:
Well. That didn't work nearly as well as she'd wanted it too, but thankfully she keeps some of her vials on hand. Stunned, sleeping... they'll probably have some massive headaches, but that can be explained with a gas leak or something. Camille holds her breath and tosses a vial into the crowd in front of her, then lobs another into the crowd ahead of them.
'Work, work,' she chants to herself as she makes her way into the tight, crowded space. Separating them from the objects would be better, but with the violent turn of the crowd... Caleb's question gets her attention, and she pulls him close. "They've got enchanted objects on them. We don't know what, so right now I'm working on knocking them out." She rummages in her purse, checking the lids on a handful of vials before pressing them into his hands. "Toss those into crowds. Spread them out if you can, it should knock them out. If you know any non-lethal holds to knock someone out, use them. They're hostile, but they're not hostiles, get it?"
- Eve Horror has posed:
Trapped in the crowd as she is, Eve feels the presence of death in the library. She frowns and glances into the Jack-o-Lantern. "Sarah! Get in there. People are dieing and any ghosts that get pulled through are gonna end up wraiths. Spectres. Bring them out here so I can keep them safe."
Anyone who can see ghosts see the transclucent spirit of a girl around Eve's age, minus a couple years, pours out of a disfigured Barbie Doll. She shoots into the library and begins swiftly gathering any manifesting ghosts, pulling them back out to Eve.
Meanwhile, Eve is calling out to them as they come closer. "Get back! Move to the grass over there to get out of range! I'll explain everything after! You're safe with me, okay!" As scary as everything is right now, Eve projects a supernaturally calming aura for the undead. No matter how traumatic and confusing a death, the ghosts would immediatly calm and understand, moving to follow orders.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien blinks at the sight of the demon. "Huh." Not the usual demon. Or gate. This is... interesting, in a horrifying sort of way. Her head tilts as she starts to put things together. This is not good. Any demon looking to get this much life force, this many souls... this is not good at all. She smiles towards the demon, "I'd be delighted to talk, chere, just one moment..."
She returns to hovering near the gate, the damage done to her hands as she gripped it regenerating even as she whispers into them. "Monet. Connect us, all the... ugh, heroes, fuck I hate that word. We need to be connected." She gives a small chant in a long-dead language and blows gently on her cupped hands to Send the message over to Monet. Trusting her to to set up the teleparthic connection.
THen she's looking back to the demon with that smile still in place. "Now... lets talk. I'm *very* curious about what you've got going on here. This portal.. it goes into you? Feeds you? That's certainly one way to get a good meal." She motions towards the demon, "Oh I'm not pushing, not yet. Just getting a *feel* for things. I have some experience with magic that... eats. Consumes. Tell me.. what do I call you? I can't very well just say 'you', it would be terribly rude."
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Enchanted objects...?", Caleb repeats.
And the mental gears that take him to a trip down memory lane go into work.
Flashback about two hour prior: the two siblings are having their stroll with their dad around the New York avenues, when they find a street seller, and Sheila's eyes fall upon a piece of jewelry, like transparent obsidian with streaks of gold, hanging like a pendant by a string. She asked their dad if she could get it before he had to go back home, and it was rapidly agreed she could have it...
The pendant!
Reaching out for the pendant, he grabs it and yanks it out of her neck, and throws it away. Dad'll get her another, for sure. Or maybe he himself will, to make up for it.
Though in a corner of his mind lingers the thought that maybe a refund should be in order...
He looks at John, "Can you reverse engineer that enchantment, and nullify it?"
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky doesn't know where her phone went and that's a sad fact given that is where Kaine's number is stored. Ah well, she'd throw up a Blood Spider light or something if she didn't retrieve it. The woman manages to wend her way through the momentarily violent crowd and starts to help with getting the trinkets found that have been tainted. One of them she clenches in her hand, seeing if the death magic can decay it into a pile of dust. If they could be broken that would be best.
- Lucifer has posed:
Ceiling Demon watches Rien with a sort of patient amusement. Watches while she chants and blows the message. After all, she does it right in front of the demon. "You realize I can see you casting, right," The demon teases her kindly. The flat glossy eyes are bright white. Whether the demon heard the whisper or not is unclear, but it obviously was staring right at Rien for the rest!
"We smart ones don't give names out. I will be Sima, to you. What is your name, then?" Reeks of an alias. Smart demon here. "Goes to a safe place, yes. But you are not ready to go. You would be harmed," says the demon kindly. It's not entirely lying, but clearly not a truth. The thing is hard to read, it could just be full of lies. "It eats if you are not protected. You have no item with you."
"Feeds me? No!" That sounds true, as the demon found it funny, or ridiculous.
During this, other people are going into the black gateway, as if it were their turn to get on board a pleasure cruise. There's perhaps a dozen crowded around it, and the gateway is fully active while Sima the Ceiling Demon talks to Rien.
As for ghosts? Eve will be aware of some. They blossom near the gateway, only to disappear, fold back into the gateway, not long afterward. Like flowers that unfurl and suddenly close again. The portal is deadly.
--
OUTSIDE:
Those with their items removed collapse, confused, drained, and breathing heavily. They can be moved, or carried, but they are exhausted, as if they had not slept in a week. They feel emptied, drained, and will say as much. They can't run anywhere. The objects don't seem dangerous at first, though they do feel tainted. A subtle magic, one that would work over a month, maybe.
--
Atrice gets a response to her text, along the line of, ~I have no open gateways. And what library?~
- Eve Horror has posed:
Specifically, the ghost returns with one ghost trailing behind her. "The portal was trying to eat me!," Sarah exclaims to Eve, who furrows her brow. She glances at the second ghost. "You died as soon as you entered it, didn't you?" The second ghost nods quickly. "Sarah, get her to the lawn over there. I can ask questions when this is done and then find a toy for her so she isn't stranded..."
She manages to push out of the crowd, still outside the library. She wouldn't be a ton of use inside, anyways. The two ghosts drift over towards the nearby lawn, out of danger. Once again, normal folks don't see anything but Eve talking to herself.
The gothling turns around, adjusting her sunglasses as she stares at the insanity happening inside, trying to take it all in.
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky watches as the ghosts head out of the doors and to Eve. That was curious, but sadly she doesn't have time to stop and share things right now. She was trying to make sure that others were not going to go through the gate. She also needed to get her phone. And she hears the reply chime in via Ghost's cover of 'Sympathy for the Devil' as she is trying to get people out of harms way.
She comes across the area where her phone has been kicked to and she makes a dive for it. Getting kicked in the process. Pale finger grip the phone and she gets speech to text going, ~Figured it wasn't you. New York Public Library. Off of Bryant Park.~ she breathes out and then sends as she scrabbles to get up and is punched in the face as she does which causes her nose to start bleeding. "Stay calm...." she whispers as she feels her magic start to gather. "Don't do it..." she adds.
- John Constantine has posed:
There's no way to destroy all those items in time to save enough people. That's a lot of cursed items, enough that John doesn't even think he can hit all of them at one time. But, he can at least make a dent. First thing though, he needs to find a place where he won't be an immediate target after doing such a dastardly dead.
When he has little in his arsenal to pull from, there's always the one thing he can fall back upon.
The power of his own cursed blood.
<<Get ready to for crowd control, hopefully there will be a lot of panicked and confused in the next few.>>
Trusty knife pulled from a pocket, another slice down an already scarred palm and John's holding his hands out to allow his blood to drip to the floor. It's just a drop or four that hits and it immediately seems to start spreading out in a pattern not unlike the pattern of his own veins. With any luck, any area they touch will be cleansed - that is to say the cursed items people are carrying with no longer be cursed.
"Maledictum caelestis, frange vincula tua. Ira divina te expellit, confringe haec obiecta maledicta. Libera animas captivas, ne transire possint. In nomine lucis et abyssus, discede in perpetuum." Each word is spoken louder, louder, louder until the last ends on a note that can be heard throughout the library. The lights in the back of the main room flicker, crack and explode as all the items in his immediate vicinity just go dark - they're still present, but no longer cursed.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
"I wasn't trying to hide it from you. I just needed to get a message to someone, and shouting is such a pain," Rien lifts a shrug towards Sima as she settles in, making herself comfortable in mid-air. "And really, the posturing is unnecessary. Have I lifted a hand against you, Sima?" Yet. It hangs in the air between them. "I'm well acquainted with your kind. Hell, most recognize me on sight at this point. I'm actually a little disappointed that you have to ask."
She lifts a shrug, "I am Reine du Rien. But for these purposes, you can simply call me Rien." She's been fighting, and banishing, demons in this world since the mid-1940s.. causing all sorts of upset in the Hell realms... and occasionally popping in to visit so she can stand in front of a magical cage holding two different versions of a rather nasty demon called The Truth. Or rather, visiting the statues that hold the cage locked. "So. Care to tell me your whole plan and what you're doing with these people? You claim it goes to a safe place. Safe for whom? Surely the people that are being forcibly influenced would not CHOOSE to go if they weren't being pushed to it. So... what are you hoping to gain from this?"
- Camille Russo has posed:
Camille starts feeling around the dropped bodies, trying to find the items that carry the subtle taint of wrong that fills the area. Earrings seem to mostly be safe, but rings and bracelets and pendants get piled up on a plain black scarf, along with small coins and the other sorts of small, tiny trinkets that one might pick up and mindlessly stick in a pocket or bag before forgetting they're there.
She's got symbols scribbled over the back of her own hands to prevent that wrongness from latching on to her, and once she's got a good pile of trinkets she moves towards the open gate, eyes flicking up to Rien. "So, I'm about to do som-" Before she can finish her statement, there's a tang of blood in the air and she can feel a chant rising in the air. John. She drops the cursed trinkets with a swear as the lights burst, fighting her way through the crowd to the man's side.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra breaks his sister's fall as she seems to regain awareness, but is visibly weak. "Are you okay, kiddo?"
"Y-Yeah... What happened...?", she's got a hard time keeping her eyues open.
Taking her to the nearest available seat (and what he thinks is a safe spot), he readies his weapons. "Well, some evil forces decided to see if they could take you with that pendant dad got for you, you see. Looks like it was enchanted."
She barely listens, "Okay... I'm gonna go sleep now..."
"You do that, Sheila." He walks further inside the library, gun on one hand, and a sword on another, "Constantine, where's the fucker that pulled this shit off?" He searches, determined to hack through the culprit.
- Lucifer has posed:
"I'm just here to make sure all goes well. What do I get? I get to be here talking with you, of course," Sima says, all smiles. It doesn't feel like lies, it feels honest at this point. If Sima knows who Rien is, though, there's no real reaction either way. "I couldn't tell you the whole plan even if I wanted." The demon is still on the ceiling, but it seems comfortable there, since the head is on backwards. It can just crouch there and converse downwards casually.
While people go into the portal.
"But I do like to share, so, let me see." The demon thinks about it a little, as if excited to converse with Rien. "These people were unhappy. Lacking. They called to //us//. They seek us. They want. We provide----"
But then, the lights burst, and the trinkets inside the library burn. All of them glow as the hellish magic that MAKES them is dissolved. And so are the trinkets themselves, for they were not made of anything of this earth. They twist and melt and scream with hissing demonic essence!
Sima, ceiling demon, reacts to this as if struck, and twists her backwards head to call into the black mouthlike portal. It's a demonic tongue. To those that know it, it is 'FINISH UP'.
But worse, there is a response, a gutteral flatulance of a belch, that answers Sima in the same language: 'Not enough yet'.
Sima looks agitated, scared, even, and scans around. Suddenly her tongue lashes out, and she grabs the nearest person, and physically throws them in. While they scream in horror, since they no longer have a trinket. Sima is a flurry of motion, and quite strong, using the tongue and long, distended arms to toss anyone in range into the black hole.
Most all of the people in the library were hit by John's spell, and collapsed to sit down or fall over, so weakened are they without the demon trinket forcing them to walk.
Sima mistakes Camille for one of the victims, and attempts to grab her in foggy, ghastly claws.
--
OUTSIDE:
Atrice gets a reply, with a few heart emojis. ~I meant there are no HELL portals, from any source. Obviously it wasn't me! Slugs at the library, though? .... Gross.~ It's unclear if Atrice will get assistance or not.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
<<Guys. They're collecting people. We have to close the gateway and banish the demon both. But for now... FUCK! Fight the demon, keep anyone else from entering! Without an active trinket, anyone that touches the gateway gets eaten!>>
Monet's telepathy is a powerful thing, and the request to link them all goes through after a few moments of the telepath seeking out the active 'hero' minds in and outside the library. Rien's voice is unmistakable even in telepathy, calling out across the link.
For her, she narrows her eyes as Sima starts tossing people through the portal. "Oh fuck this." Summoning up a decent portion of power, Rien puts up a telekinetic bubble AROUND the gateway. Sealing it off from the patrons in the library. Holding it in place with sheer force of will and reinforcing it with no small amount of magical energy. "Too late. You're not winning this one, Sima." She flashes a quick, sneering smile towards the demon. "No more victims, not today. Now tell me where it goes before I get really mad and decide to UNMAKE YOU." Those last words are backed by another voice, this one is... wrong. So wrong. Ancient, beyond demonic... Old One. There's a purr to it, something that almost calls out and seduces to the demon, as if being unmade might be a delicious, delightful experience after all.
- John Constantine has posed:
He cracks his neck, shakes it off and quickly aims a ball of Hellfire in the direction the demon that dares interfere with his body guard. Well, it's a start, many of the objects are handled. But it's not quite enough and he's not quite done yet. Camille by his side bolsters John's confidence in the fact that maybe he won't be mauled by the angry masses after that first go. He strides forward, trusting her to mostly keep the crazy ones off him and the panicked ones moving in the proper direction - that is not his direction. <<Little busy now, mate!>> He has no idea what the source is just yet - he's trying to handle the more readily dispatched danger to the library goers. Back in his day, he'd just force them all to look for a book using a card catalogue, that'd keep them busy for a few hours.
Squeezing more blood from the wound on his hand by clenching a fist tightly, he waits until he's hit the area where his spell fell apart and could go no further, to start letting more drip to the floor.
The incantation is different this time, rather than focusing on the items - it's focused on the doors into the building - same magic, just static and connected to the entrances. Doorways to which is blood is drawn to now. Here's to hoping that anything that tries to pass through them will either be held at bay if they're carrying an item, or the item will turn to dust.
"I really just wanted to take a bloody walk," he grouses to no one in particular.
Then he turns his attention to the hag on the ceiling. "You wanker! You mucked up my bloody day off! You'll pay for that, in spades!" He always talks a big game, doesn't he?
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky is working her way into the library now. Because outside wasn't getting her anywhere. She looks to the response, ~I'll come by Lux if I live. Looks like it's some...weird gate. Whoever goes through is dying. We'll see if we can handle it first.~ she texts as she drips blood through the entrance. It causes her eyes to glow again. Then she speaks in a language that resonates. While some know lower Enochian, she's speaking the true stuff. And she's gathering enegy as she hurls a ghostly green ball of magic at the gate directly.
- Camille Russo has posed:
"Oh hell naw, only thing eatin me is my man!" Camille barks it out as she's gripped with those claws, hooking one foot around the nearest solid surface and scrabbling in her pocket for her knife. "Sima, is it? You let me the fuck go and get the hell outta here or I'm gonna skin you alive and use the remains as a catch-all for the shit on my work boots." Generally mud, but more often than she'd like a far too literal statement. Her hands close around her knife, letting the blade flick open and slice across her palm with a grimace until it's coated enough for her satisfaction, and she stabs it into the 'meat' attached to the claws with a low, angry growl of French, both to charge the electric hex in the blade and to invoke Marinette to protect her. Her soul is not for whatever is behind that gate.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The young Gothamite assesses the situation, and he sees the portal, and how people are just shambling inside. And he formulates a tactic.
Pulling two modules from his coat, he combines them into a mini-frifle, which he loads with a cartridge. "Steer clear, everyone!!", he shouts as he runs through, or jumps over the crowd of shamblers, all to find a good aim to shoot a few sticky pellets. North... East... South... West...
Each of these pellets has a glowing light with a small beep. And he presses a button...
*BOOOOOOM!!!*
The sound of concussion grenades going off echo through the hallways, of the library (shhhhhhhhhh...!), knocking and disorienting all the people that were in risk of getting too close to the portal. They're not dead, but they will be quite rattled when all this is over.
But it beats the alternative, right?
- Lucifer has posed:
When the strange bubble appears... that's when the demons really seem to react. They were taking things in stride, but that bubble....
The first thing that happens is the room explodes with a reek, a smell that tears noses, makes eyes water, induces illness. A blast of this horrible hellish gas floods the library. If people were arriving with their trinkets in the front... they can't handle this, and they're ALL on the ground, now.
The telekinetic bubble can be seen to twist, spasm, and break. Because it was cast halfway into the face of the giant demon that nobody realized was there. It IS the 'portal'. Half-incorporeal, the massive fat slug had been invisible. Only the gassy, fog spot of mouth, that black 'portal' had been seen. But now, that telekinetic bubble thing cut off it's outer lamprey 'lips'.
And the slug vomits.
Pieces of people it was eating, and has been eating for hours, tumble into a pile under that 'Youth Fiction' section. Ropes of intestine, limbs. It flows into the rows of books.
And Caleb's blasts go off, blindingly. Incredible timing, maybe. Everything's a mess. When Caleb's concussive blasts allow vision again, from the smoke and impact, the concussion sends all of that mess everywhere.
It's horrific. It's everywhere. A messy 'screen' for the slug to move, bodily pulls backwards, slamming the wall, and then oozing partially out a back window. Glass shatters backwards.
Sima screams at the slug, something along the line of ~mother~ in a cry of worry. Camille has a full opening to attack Sima freely, because Sima is very distracted. The slug is massive, half-incorporeal, and escaping in the slippery horror, as gore drips off every surface.
- John Constantine has posed:
John knows that voice. Bollocks. He knows it's probably going to be Bad. Double Bollocks. He's just turning to drop to his knees and duck when that blast hits him from four different directions. One minute, he trying to duck, the next he's flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling through double visioned eyes only to have it made even worse by a face full of - gross.
John's used to gross, it doesn't much faze him truth be told, even gross at these horrific levels only get a nose wrinkle from the Laughing Magician. Oh - is that some in his /mouth/. He rolls to a seated position, then to his knees and spits out a glob of something to the floor. Was that intestines? No, didn't taste enough like beef. Must have been brain matter? Maybe - tasted like chicken.
As he struggles to his feet, swaying a little from the ringing in his ears and the vertigo caused by it, John's ire is momentarily aimed somewhere other than the demon.
"Caleb! You wanker! You're paying to have my bloody coat cleaned!"
But... there's still a demon isn't there? It'll take his rattled brain to come up with anything useful. So he just puts his fingers to his lips, lets out a loud wolf whistle and yells, "Go, Poppet, kick that twat's arse!"
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
This is... so not the first time Rien has been covered in gore. It's not even the first time she's been caught in the blast radius of an ally's attack. She can tank it. The mutant genese that run through her are STRONG, and from a notoriously stubborn line. Her ears bleed as her eardrums burst. Her eyes glaze over, blinded from the initial blast. But by the time the waves of gore have splattered every surface in a fifty foot radius, that healing factor has restored both.
She flings her arms out to the side, the bits of people and liquid remains of the same flying off her and going to splatter on other people or demons (or possibly allies, sorry!). "Alright. I am done fucking around with these penny-ante demons." Rising up, Rien claps her hands together. The sound is much louder than it should be. Not concussive, but reverberating. The normal light blue glow of magic that she bears is slowly taken over, 'eaten' by a roiling blackness that feels wrong, and oily, just to look at. Her clothing melts away into a gown of writhing darkness, at once feeling slimy to look at and giving the sense that staring too long at it will have SOMETHING staring BACK. The energy that surrounds her is WRONG. So wrong. But there's something almost.. seductive about the madness of it all, something that calls to the darkest, most horrid parts of the soul and tempts a body to look closer, get closer..
She throws both hands out towards the escaping slug demon, sending that horrible, oily, *wrong* energy to wrap around it. It's own 'portal' was like being eaten. This is like having one's entire being UNRAVEL, strand upon strand of the demon's very essence being fed into a nothingness that still manages to feel ALIVE. That vitality that normally infuses Rien dims as the power draws on her as well, albeit at a lesser level than it does the demon. It's being actively consumed, she's merely catching the backlash of it, the pain etched across her features even as she snarls and doubles down on the slug. "Welcome to the bottom of the food chain!"
- Camille Russo has posed:
Camille doesn't vomit at the first wave of stench and body parts, but she does funnel her magic into her blade, sending electricity shooting into the being that has its claws around her. The side effect is that she's a little electrocuted too - not nearly as badly, enough enough for her to taste.
And then. AND THEN.
The world seemingly explodes around them as Caleb's concussive blasts go off, a flash of blinding light and sharp, ringing pain shooting across her face and into her head, the limbs and manageable gore turning into a disgusting blender incident that splatters across her hair and back.
That? That makes Camille vomit, bile and the sharp tang of bitter dairy spraying across the thing holding her without an ounce of remorse. This isn't a clean-up job anymore, it's a house full of spiders level "burn it down and salt the earth" sort of job.
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky was about to say something...but her vision fades and her ears ring like the dickens! Who ran over her with a grenade?! She doesn't know...but she hopes that they aren't here when she regains the use of her eyes. "FUCK!" she slurs out as she scrambles again. It's taking a minute to get her senses back, but the smell....the smell was HORRIBLE. "I'm definitely going to vomit." she whispers as the nose bleed keeps going. There are scrapes and wounds on her hands as she tries to find purchase on a shelf to get up. This was going to lead to a hospital visit.
She sways as she gets to her feet and there is a moment taken to draw her hands in as she speaks in her fathers tongue. She blasts a bolt of energy at the slug, adding to the damage that Rien is doing.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Apologies", Caleb says. "But I did say steer clear."
And, for all the blood and guts and... other crap that flew up and about, Caleb just happened to luckily find a spot that shielded him from it all. Remember Venkman when after defeating Gozer, he was the only one that was basically clean? You get the idea, here.
He looks at Rien's metamorphosis, and how she eats the worm creature, wide-eyed. "Uhm..."
He looks at the mess that's about and how all the others could almost just blend in with the environment.
And says nothing.
He's that smart, at least.
- Lucifer has posed:
The slug is moving, 'retreating', but not out of being weak. How many has it consumed? How much power does it currently hold? How many months has it done this, until today, when it got greedy, it got GLUTTONOUS beyond reason, and called in so many people...
As it leaves the building, this becomes evident. There was a dampening quality to the library for the demons, helping them to hide. Holding their power to a certain level. Escaping outside let it out of that zone. This is no minor demon: this a hell lord, currently occupying a sluglike physical form. But it has a massive amount of power.
And Rien's mocking, of this boss of demonic might, makes it chuckle a little bit, and... ignore her? The unraveling magic pulls pieces of corpses, pulls all sorts of matter off of the back of the slug. In fact, it even attacks the physical form of the slug, the magic shredding pounds of weird sluggy 'flesh off'. It plasters itself to the ground outside of the library, and allows the fleshy form to dissolve into a horrific puddle, while the incorporeal side of the demon goes downward, enters the soil, soaks into it. Without a containment, the demon has twisted downwards.
Inside the building, Sima the demon is zapped with electrical current, and skitters this way, that way, on the ceiling of the library, trying to decide what to do. The other demon abandoned her, and Sima is very unsure how to resolve this. "@*##&&@!" She spits, though, a profanity strong enough to cook some of the gore, and rushes to the front door, clawing her way that way, in a panic. She's coming right at the front, towards Caleb.
- John Constantine has posed:
"Or, vomit all over," John grumbles. His ire is in no way aimed at Camille though, not in the least is it aimed at Poppet. "Just get through this, Johnny and then turn the lad into earwig, or maybe one of those little roly poly bug things or a cockroach." Yes, his ire is still focused on Caleb. But he shakes it off, turning his attention to Sima. Did she just call that thing 'mother'?
Cockroach, that's the ticket.
Demon John, focus.
He doesn't know its true name, so that ties his hands just a little bit. But he does still have a trick or two up his sleeve. When all else fails, fall back on the basics.
Once again, he 'shakes it off' with a crack of his neck and a little shake of his arms. Then he holds his hands down at his sides, palms out and begins to chant - again. If the man had a pound for every chant? Well, he'd have a lot of pounds.
"Filum tenebrosum, exaudi me. Vincula infernalia, circumvolvite daemonium. Potestas mea te ligat, ne effugias. In nomine tenebrarum et damnationis, teneas in perpetuum!" This time the force, the loudness, the conviction - it's all there from the very beginning. In fact, his voice is booming to levels beyond anything a normal human. It's the power behind the words, the magic he's drawing in that makes it possible. Gossamer threads begin to weave their way from his palms toward the demon.
Should the spell work, Sima will find herself not banished, but caught in a glowing threads that starts at her feet and quickly wraps around and around and around her body until she's - for all intents and purposes - wrapped like a mummy.
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky is not doing good. But she keeps that all inside. The smell of the guts and gore is unbearable and she's going to have to burn these clothes she's wearing. "This is going to take a major cleanup." she mutters as she tries to stay standing.
Seeing Sima get trapped makes her give a little nod of her head, "I have a friend that might be interested in asking her what she's been doing." she states. "But if you guys want to talk to her first go for it." she adds.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
With the demon shedding it's disguise and slithering away, Rien finishes the 'consumption' of the sheel and lets out a heavy breath as she forces the darkness back once more, lowering to the foor and staggering lightly. For once, the mutant actually looks... winded. Tired. Lessened, somehow. Oh, she'll be fine, of course. But for the moment, Rien is tapped out.
Forcing herself upright with no little effort, she moves to join the others, wincing and stretching as she goes. She doesn't normally need to stretch, but she also down't normally let her reserves get this low. Eating a demon is hard work! She looks to the trapped Sima, then to Atrice and lifts a shrug, "If you've no objections, we can interrogate together. Saves overlap on the questions. Besides, after the questioning, it still needs to be banished." Turning to John, she lifts a brow, "Sound about right to you?"
Caleb gets a bit of side eye before she claps him on the shoulder, "Next time, cher, assess the situation before you go blastin', oui? Camille, she wasn't in any position to move, and neither was I. Good, quick thinking, but the execution was painful. If I weren't who I am, that could have done some serious damage." She finishes with a smile though, because it WAS a good idea!
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"I was thinking crowd control, and that you guys could make it", Caleb says, sighing. "Tell you what... Rounds're on me this time, and the next time around, I get the short end of the stick."
He looks at the others.
- Lucifer has posed:
Sima the ceiling demon had been about to try to rip Caleb apart, but John's spell jerks her to ground. Grabbed by strands and pulled downwards, Sima is horrific, like a broken spider, on the floor. Her belly has two small, malformed extra limbs she'd kept tight to her, but now they wriggle awfully and try to sever the strands of John's magic. She's not a weak demon; if left too long in this state she will break the cords. She'll have to be moved to a more solid containment, probably within just an hour, or she'll be loose.
Sima's head is still backwards, and thrashing on the floor, her tongue is an appendage and grabs at the nearest corpse, hauling it towards her, in a sort of eerie despiration. "No banish. No no no!" Sima REALLY doesn't want that, for some reason. Thrashing begins anew.
- John Constantine has posed:
Demon wrapped up in a nice package, John returns his ire to Caleb. "Two point two seconds in advance does not bloody count as a warning." It doesn't sound like just 'ire' now, he sounds a little bit enraged. "Where were we to go, you little prat? It's not like we could have made it to the doors." He gestures broadly about the large space around them and all the people still in the way. There's a vein throbbing in his forehead, one in his clenched jaw as well. A tiny bit of Hellfire dances from the fingertips of his right hand, a subtle reminder of who he is and the tainted blood rushing through his veins - even the ones throbbing right now. He clenches the hand into a fist to snuff them out.
John's an ass, he's a bastard, he's a cocky son of a bitch, but outright anger to the point of it being nearly uncontrolled? That's not something many see from him. He likes to be in control.
It would be wise, so very wise, to just steer clear of /him/ for a moment. He would walk away, but he can't - bound or not there's still a demon in the room with innocent people. John can't leave but he can turn to face Caleb with that same Hellfire dancing in his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something else and snaps it shut again.
Deep breaths. This is why John likes to be in control, there's threat of harm to others if he loses his temper.
Deep breaths.
"Rien, can you deal with that please, luv?" He flicks a hand in the demon mummy's direction.
He digs through his gore covered coat and pulls out a pack of Silk Cuts. It's a good thing they're not covered in gross, that might have been bad for everyone. Veins still throbbing, he follows cigarette to his lips with lighter, drags long and hard on it before he grows out, "Babysitting - I feel like I'm bloody well /babysitting/."
Once he has an affirmative from Rien, he turns to make his way out. "I'm finishin' up my bloody day off. Any more demons come out of the woodwork, consider me off duty - I'll be on my throne." By which he means, his stool at the end of the bar, the one facing the door, that no one ever seems to sit in when he's not at The Laughing Magician.
He's not so forgiving as Rien. They all could have been /killed/ due to that one wrong move.
- Camille Russo has posed:
Cam groans from her place on the floor. On the bright side, demon is no longer giving her claw hugs. On the less bright side, everything hurts and stinks and she definitely doesn't have any intention to move until she absolutely has to do so. "Just hose me down and roll me out," she mutters tiredly, body still thrumming from the electricity that'd shunted through the demon and back into her. Her head is still ringing, and she's pretty sure if she stands up she might puke again. "This isn't a clean-up, Ducks, it's a burn and salt."
A few more minutes pass, and she slowly, gingerly starts getting to her feet. "Oh gods, that was so bad. Soooooo bad."
- Atrice Duckstein has posed:
Ducky gives a look around, her ears still ringing with the sound from the grenade. She lets others talk to Caleb. "Everyone okay other than having to burn their clothes later?" she asks. "I'll get this called in...so someone can send a clean up team. This is..." she closes her eyes, "So gross..." she whispers. With that...she starts to call in the calvary.
To Rien there is a thumbsup, "I think we can interrogate together. I'll see if he wants to talk to her, but I'm guessing he doesn't." she states. "We've got a cleaning crew coming. I...don't think this is going to be a one day job." she frowns.
- Rien D'Arqueness has posed:
Rien watches John's temper flare, letting out a slow breath and taking just a single subtle step that half hides Caleb from John as the Hellfire sparks from his fingertips. He gets it under control and she gives a small nod, smiling at him. "Oui, cher. Join you for drinks shortly. Soon as I get our... guest.. into some better accomodations." She turns a smile towards Sima, "Oh yes, I have a nice cage for you... overlooks the Void. Hope you like the vast infinite nothingness that hides the things so horrible that even Hell doesn't go there. It's an interesting view."
The magic might be waning, but the mutant regeneration has already kicked in, and she hefts up Sima, putting her over one shoulder. "Parting gift for the crew..." She snaps her fingers, the spell is so small it barely requires thought. But it cleans everyone up so they aren't covered in noxious demon bile and people juice. Even John's. A blue-limned portal opens to the astral plane, right where it abuts to the Void, an ivory tower right on the edge. "Excuse me while I get our guest settled." To Ducky, she nods, "You let me know and we can set it up." Then she's moving through the portal and it winks closed behind her.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb Dykstra pulls out a round from his pocket, and shows it to the demon from a small distance.
"Now, you..." He directs to Sima, "You messed with mine. You deserve a little special treatment. From his pocket, he pulls out a brass knuckle. And with his teeth, he opens the round, which contains... Water, which he spills on the brass knuckle.
And he socks the demon with it.
Repeatedly.
Once for every word.
"YOU! MOTHER! FUCKING! PIECE! OF! SHIT! YOU TRIED! TO! EAT! MY! KID! SISTER! NOW! YOU! ARE! GOING! TO! BE! A! GOOD! LITTLE! DOGGY! AND! COME! QUIETLY! AND! BARK! WHENEVER! WE! TELL! YOU! TO! AND! SATAY! IN! YOUR! DOG! HOUSE! OR! I! SWEAR! BEFORE! THE! GOD! YOU! FEAR! HATE! WHATEVER! THAT! I! WILL! HUNT! YOU! DOWN! AND! UNLOAD! A! FUCKING! CLIP! OF! THESE! ON! YOU! BEFORE! I! SKIN! YOU! ALIVE!" A slight pause...
Followed by the mother of all punches yet. "YOU GOT THAT??"
- Lucifer has posed:
"You.... YOU are torturers, I see," Sima answers Rien. "You are worse than I, then. Interesting." Sima seems to be pleased that it has the moral high ground, here. "Maybe we eat. YOU make people suffer."
And then Caleb dumps holy water on his knuckles and proceeds to beat on Sima over and over. Sima's screaming, of course, due to the holy water, and trying to get loose of the bonds to make the pain stop.
- John Constantine has posed:
"Bloody /babysitting/", John growls. He pauses midway to the door just to make sure Caleb doesn't mess his binding spell.
BobBiffBrianBill - whatever the bloody kid's name is that tends his bar - he might be in for a rough night.
- Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The young Gothamite gets up, looks at the others, taking deep guffs of air. "Nobody fucks with my family and gets away with it."
- Lucifer has posed:
"She would have been delicious, I think," Sima answers Caleb. Perhaps the demon isn't above some kinds of torture after all.