7746/Devil seeks Imp for BAMFing

Devil seeks Imp for BAMFing
Date of Scene:	08 September 2021
Location:	Salem Center
Synopsis:	Imp found. Bamfing happened. Imp in great agony.
Cast of Characters:	Kurt Wagner, Satana Hellstrom

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Kurt Wagner has posed:
Night in the quiet town, with Kurt making his way through parts of it in his own way. That means a *BAMF* here, a *BAMF* there, but not too many because even that can wear him out if he overexerts himself. Coming out of his latest teleport, it puts him in an alley where he pauses for a moment. Tonight, he's in uniform as Nightcrawler.

Poking his head out of the end of the alley, its lack of much light helps him blend in well with the shadows. Still, the eyes glow yellow.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Quiet, small town America. Home of the salt of the Earth (don't forget that salting the Earth is punishment in the Bible!), and of morals and virtues as all-American as apple pie (the pie invented in the Netherlands and imported by English and Dutch settlers).

Satana adores life in the city. It has the highest concentration of despair and desperation imaginable. You can't heave a brick without hitting three sinners on the head, prime for feasting. But the countryside has its fair share of corruption, vice, and sin itself, and, like the wholesome, home-cooked food, the souls of small town dwellers have a uniquely satisfying taste of their own. This is why Satana finds herself out in Salem (also basking in the irony of the place).

Finds herself, in fact, in a small alley facing the main street at night, dressed in what looks like a Penthouse version of a Chippendale dancer, in her faux tuxedo outfit, waving away the sulfur-and-cinnamon scent of her teleportation spell. (True she usually prefers teleporting to graveyards, but the graveyard in Salem is a good five kilometres out of town and she was NOT going to be walking country roads in THESE heels!

Smoke clearing, she steps out into the street and ...

... well, gathers instant attention. Because nobody looks like her out here in the sticks. Nobody dresses like her. Nobody knows who she might be. Nobody knows where she came from (since nobody saw her come into town). And nothing makes small townsfolk stare more than not just a stranger, but a stranger attached to mystery.

Smiling to herself she takes a deep breath and savours the scent of Lust, suspicion (always easy to convert to Wrath!), and Jealousy ( half-step away from Envy). The smile is then externalized and she strides down the sidewalk amid the stares, enjoying the attention and readying her selection of prey.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
There is one other watching her all of a sudden: Nightcrawler. "Was ist..mein Gott, where is she going looking like that?" he asks himself, intending to do so under his breath. Red hair, long hair at that, an outfit that screams out to be paid attention to along with the one wearing it, and his tail flicks once behind him. He's fallen for a pretty face before, but..ahem.

That's not what he's here for. Not here to ogle. Just take a moment to gather himself before a few more 'jumps.' As it happens, his own teleportation carries similar brimstone scents, but not the other one. He didn't see her coming out of one, just another alley. No reason to suspect, right? Crossing his arms, he rests a shoulder against the alley wall and watches, still mostly blended in to those with normal abilities.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
The woman takes a phone out of her purse and does some vary complicated operation of it while she walks. (Probably playing a game, though ... she doesn't look like part of the generation that spends their days face-glued to a screen...) Suddenly, right next to Kurt's head, the sound of an old-timey telephone ringing gets heard.

The woman puts her phone up to her ear and mouth.

The ringing stops and is replaced by, "She's going for dinner, then maybe for a few drinks, and after that a visit to the toy store. Not the children's one." The sound of the voice, sounding like it was coming from a phone, cuts off and the stranger woman puts away her own phone.

Despite having nowhere she could put a phone.

Then, the red-tressed woman turns her head to look straight at where Kurt is, smiling with mischief ... before returning in her route to the diner.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
The observation continues, though Kurt takes a few moments in order to pick out what others are doing. Many of them are staring as well.

Then the phone rings.

What phone? He wasn't carrying one. He truly doesn't have a place to keep it, and no way to fake that without raising questions that are best left unanswered.

"Was?" he asks aloud, turning at the ring, then the voice. Whose? Hers? Dinner, drinks, and..uh. He'll just pretend he didn't catch that last part. The larger question is how this just happened. Magic? Something technological? Depending on what the method is, his ability to comprehend and figure it out will vary.

What he ends up doing is a quick climb up the wall to the roof above, in order to trail after her from a higher point of view.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Satana smiles to herself as she finds her toy. Stepping into the diner--and absolutely enjoying the sudden silence as the din of conversation and order taking and such stops when she enters (there's even the sound of a dropped glass!)--she picks a booth at the back and pauses in her journey there only to speak to a man sitting alone at a small table, whispering in his ear after staring into his eyes.

While she pulls herself into the booth, signalling the waitress over, who shows up with a frankly curious (and mildly repulsed) expression, the man she spoke to pushes away from his table and walks out...

...to walk over to where Kurt is on the building, standing in the middle of the road and signalling at Kurt frantically. Almost in a driven sort of way.

"Steak. Bloody. Coffee. Sinfully sweet and creamy. Pie. Any kind."

That's Satana's order as she ignores the suspicious, querulous look.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
She disappears into the place. He remains atop the nearest building he's made it to. What is going on inside? Should he enter? He isn't dressed for it, in costume and all. What if someone caused a scene? Specific doubts he's had in the past begin to resurface, casting the next step into question. Why did he even follow? She was nobody..right?

The next thing Kurt is aware of is the man in the center of the street, trying to get his attention. He rises so he can be seen, frowning as he calls down, "What? What do you want?"

The moment after that, a horn sounds. A car going too fast, not expecting a pedestrian to just be right there. Hard to see him, in dark clothing, until it's too late to swerve or slow down.

*BAMF*

Nightcrawler acts, a rapid dual teleport that takes him from the rooftop to the man below, then both of them to the sidewalk just as the car passes through a small cloud of smoke from the teleportation. "What are you doing, man?!" he asks, incredulously.

The only response is for the guy to turn and throw up on the sidewalk, a direct effect of the 'ride.'

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
The guy's puking is ... very ... detached. Like he's riding his body, not controlling it. Or something. His face is dispassionate as he lays out the contents of his stomach. Then, wiping his mouth with his hand, he stands up and faces Nightcrawler.

"Far booth. At the back. She waits."

As soon as he says it, the odd lifelessness leaves his face and he blinks, looking around him with surprise. Seeing Kurt his eyes widen and he backs away. "P-p-p-p-please don't hurt me...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

The extended final word courtesy of stepping into his own vomit and slipping backward, hard against the ground. Snivelling in fear he tries to crawl away from Kurt.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt Wagner stands over the man, mainly because he is doubled over. His hands, clad in white gloves that attach to the rest of his suit, settle at his hips, the two thicker fingers on each a sharp contrast to normal ones.

Before he can even react to the message given, the guy seems to snap out of a trance, as if reawakening from a dream. His reaction to what he sees is not unlike what Kurt has faced during other times in his life, some more frequent than others. As he runs off, only to slip and stumble, Nightcrawler calls after him, "You're welcome!"

Only then does the man turn for the diner, deciding to enter it after all and head to the booth in the back. His spaded tail trails after him as he stops before the woman, silent, looking her over.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Of course Kurt's arrival is greeted not only by silence, but more than a few intakes of breath. His progress is tracked by a dozen pairs of eyes, many fearful.

And one amused.

"Ah, you've come. Please do sit down. Claire, could you bring my friend a menu? That's a good girl."

Satana is unfazed by Kurt's silent stare, and returns her attention to the glass of water before her, whose ice cubes she played with.

"Please don't be a bore. Have a seat."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt Wagner can feel all the eyes on him. His back is to them, and will remain so, the better to ignore them. He's heard the breaths, though. Salem Center is a place he's been around, but that does not mean everyone accepts what they see. To them? A demon first, maybe an elf second, but a distant second. A freak. An abomination.

But they don't know what he is really like.

"That man you sent out nearly got run down by a car, you know," he states, and only then does he slowly begin to take that seat. His tail settles safely in place so there is no risk of it being pinched. "Me, a bore? You may not believe it, but I am the life of the party," he insists, and the smile he gives her, that shows fangs, is a bit forced right now.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"Yes. I'm sure you're the life of every party, what with your staring, your moralizing."

Satana looks (unflinching) at Kurt. "Here's a mortal life lesson for you, little imp. If you have to tell people you're the life of the party, you're not. The same applies to cool, or smart."

Then her smile, entirely unforced, though perhaps more than just a tad malicious.

"You'll note I've not made any claims in regards to popularity, coolness, nor intellect."

The wink, too, is unforced. But both teasing and yet somehow coquettish.

"Now order up and we can talk about how you escaped Hell, why you're living here among the mortals, and how things progress from here now that you've been caught."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Nightcrawler, on one hand, can't help some of the staring. She is what they would call a 'looker,' but there may be more to it than that.

"Oh, but some would say I am very cool. Do you think I am trying to imp--"

It's fitting he stops at the first syllable to 'impress,' given what she called him. He's just figuring it out by the time she's talking about Hell, mortals, and catching him.

He laughs.

Not a small one, not a chuckle or a giggle, but an actual guffaw. "Oh! You think I am a..haha..because I look the way I do? Meine Dame, I have heard people whisper that behind mein back for years, und I have had some even say it to mein face like you here und now, but..imp? Demon from Hell? That could not be any further from the truth!"

To the waitress, Claire, he says, "Ich hatte gerne einen Cheeseburger, bitte." He holds up one finger to emphasize it. "Mit Pommes Frites und Cola." What imp speaks perfect German?

"Und what are you, a demon hunter?"

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Satana watches the performance with undisguised amusement. When he finally finishes and asks, she applauds. There's a sense this may be ironic.

"Good guess. Half-right, however," she says.

Beat.

"The first half," she clarifies. "I'm Satana Hellstrom. Daughter of Satan."

Odd. She doesn't LOOK like she's joking. Nor stark raving delusional. The 'devil horns' her hair forms are obviously an affectation, but ... not joking, and not obviously insane. Well, aside from calling herself the Daughter of Satan.

"Now to be perfectly honest," she continues, "I don't care that you escaped. As you can see, I'm not there either. I'm here. But ... knowing that you're an escapee, you knowing that I know, and knowing that I'm far more powerful than any imp that can't even control its appearance, it leads me to this notion: you can remain free ... after you've given me your True Name."

She smiles.

"I promise. I won't abuse it too terribly much. But a free imp? One that's slipped his bonds? That's a powerful servant. Much better than the ones I have with me."

She flexes her neck as if preparing for action.

"The alternative, however, is you get sent back and likely torn into a pile of wisps and you spend the next fifty years pulling yourself back together among the torments until you can try for elevation again."

Kurt Wagner has posed:
"Daughter of Satan?" Nightcrawler repeats it as a question, his solid-yellow eyes squinting across the table at her.

Then comes a shake of the head. "I think I understand, now. You are here to test me und mein faith. Very clever."

What does he mean by that? Now that she's mentioned who she is, or who she claims she is, the style of the hair does strike him as horn-like. But not.

"You call me an imp, suggest I am a demon who somehow found his way out of Hell, und claim I still look this way because I cannot change it." Odd, and ironic, that an image inducer could do just that. Though he often carries one, it is rarely used. Now? He touches something around the wrist, beneath the glove of his suit, and before her eyes the blue, demonic visage is replaced by that of a normal-looking human with dark hair.

Then it's gone again. "That is no magic trick, but an image inducer. I used to use it to blend in, but I am not ashamed of what I am, which is still not what you think I am. Mein name ist Kurt Wagner, I am also known as Nightcrawler, und the only one I serve is God in Heaven. There are no bonds on me in Hell." Of this, he sounds certain.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"I know there's no bonds on you," Satana says, slightly exasperated. "That's what it means to 'slip' them." The rest of his display, however, brings up momentary confusion until he explains that it's technology. It is then dismissed.

"You know that fellating the Angelic host and bending over for the Whoreson Upstairs will not get you entrance to Paradise, right?" she says with strained patience. "Loads of us have tried it. We're pre-damned. We have no path to redemption. We're' flawed in the Whoreson's sight and will be put out for all eternity."

This time her smile has fangs.

Lots of them.

Double-rowed, ultra-sharp ones.

Oh, and her eyes, black before, are now glowing red where the black irises used to be.

"Please don't try my patience. I have no reason to send you back to Hell where you belong, but if you keep disrespecting me, I will punish you."

The hair starts getting pushed back by actual horns pushing out of her skin. Claire's return with the pair's order is heralded by a hissing intake of breath, a short, strangled scream, and then pandemonium starting up as people start seeing the red-skinned woman with horns, glowing eyes, and inhuman teeth in their midst.

Satana seems untroubled.

"You've impressed me. Positively thus far. Don't make it negative."

Says the voice now a full octave lower. Paired with her human voice.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt Wagner's glowing eyes narrow ever so slightly. "There were never any bonds to slip in the first place," he states with certainty. This is more or less as far as he gets before things begin to happen that leaves him questioning his presence here all of a sudden.

It begins with the talk of sexual acts that undoubtedly leave his body temperature rising at the imagery Satana creates for him to picture. And, the naming of Christ as /that/ besides.

"I suggest you stop talking about--" Here is where he cuts himself off, given the display of fangs, then the display of glowing red eyes, then the display of horns that protrude and grow, then finally the display of the red skin and the dual voice.

"Is this a test of mein faith?" Kurt asks, putting focus into maintaining a calm outward demeanor in the face of...this. Other patrons begin to seek the exit, and his eyes flick toward them before returning. "What, exactly, are you impressed by?" His tail has grown tense, along with the rest of him.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
"Intelligence enough to know when you've been caught out," Satana says in her double-octave voice, ignoring the chaos around the pair. "Paired with humility enough to know when you need to grovel to continue surviving as you are."

The eyes glow more brightly.

"I have no desire to turn you back into a wisp in Hell. But I will if you keep up with this nonsense."

From the crowd, a loud voice calls out, "Get thee behind me Satan!" The voice is paired with a portly man, balding, wearing wire frame glasses and holding up a cross.

That last item gets Satana's attention. The eyes turn on the man, burning a hole, practically, in his visage.

"You're a hypocrite," she announces. "I can smell your state on you. What's her name?..."

The man struggles a moment before his mouth opens and he blurts out, "Susan." The woman next to and behind the man starts and stares up. "You told me you'd stopped! You told me you weren't never gonna see her again!"

Satana chuckles lightly, and darkly, in two separate voices.

"The cross won't do shit to me," she says to the man. "Not when the man holding it is in such a dire state of sin. Here, let me expunge that for you!"

And a roiling wall of flame starts from her mouth making a beeline to the man. A truly readied hero MIGHT be able to bamf in and out with the man. Or might just wind up enveloped by the flame himself. It's hard to tell.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt Wagner says evenly, "I do not grovel before demons, so do not get your hopes up. It does not matter how many times you tell me what you think I am, when I am not that."

Then comes the shout, and there is an immediate, reactive flinch as he looks in the man's direction, displaying his cross. Perhaps he has heard such a thing in the past?

Before he can form a response, she does. She does, and she reads something in him that changes his tune prior to the woman with him reacting in a way he could not exactly fault her for. "Mein Gott," he utters under his breath, ready to place a palm to his forehead.

When Satana acts, so does Nightcrawler. He needs only a moment, and for the second time he teleports to the rescue of someone else. This one might not be innocent, but the burst of flame suggests it's something that would be bad to be touched by.

He's about to find that out, as he puts himself in proximity to the other man, only for it to come into contact with him before he can get a hand on the guy to teleport him away.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
The sensation is flames. Burning. But not physical. It does not cause burning of the limbs or of the fingers or of the skin or of the hair ... the agony, the burning, is that of the very soul itself. This is the kind of pain that goes beyond what even the most impressionable child listening to an old-school fire-and-brimstone could imagine.

This is literally the tortures of Hell made manifest. A taste of what is to come for sinners.

And since all living creatures with a soul are sinners, all feel it. Even the holy like Kurt. A flawed creation desperately seeking through faith to cleanse himself.

And that is Kurt's saving grace as well in this case. Not only is he not the target, thus only getting the periphery of the pain, he is also much purer than the actual target and, while the pain is in no way lesser, he is in a better space to cope with it. Less guilt. More resistance.

Still hurts like a fathermucker, to coin a word.

His instincts can get him out. But the pain will follow, even without the flame.

Kurt Wagner has posed:
Kurt Wagner's body goes rigid as the soulfire strikes and is felt from head to toe, tip to tail. Every part of him goes stiff, and his mouth parts into a silent cry at first, like the sound has been put on mute. Only after a moment does it grow audible.

He is a sinner, yes. Man sins, up and down, big and small, and part of the belief structure is that God forgives sin when one confesses, when one repents.

The sensations right now make even him dangerously willing to confess to most anything, even if it's not something he's done.

All he can do is think of being somewhere else and, dangerous as it is, he teleports blind. It's something he is reluctant to do under most circumstances, but feeling as if your soul is aflame tends to clear out most rational thought. It's instinct that sends him away, closer to where he first saw her when he came out of the alley. "Aaaahh..!" he groans.

Satana Hellstrom has posed:
Well, that was that. This is one imp going straight to Hell.

Satana, ignoring the screams of people fleeing the diner, starts walking to the door, still in demonic aspect, now including leathery wings. As she passes by the cowering target of her flames she pauses.

"You should be thankful I have more important things to deal with. You should repent." Her smile is cruel and many-fanged. "But you won't. You're not that kind. Which means I'll taste your soul later anyway."

Outside, ignoring the sounds of sirens approaching in the distance, she takes to the air, even as her form becomes more and more human, leaving behind only the harlot look with the leathery wings, on the lookout for Kurt...