7997/Sideways in NYC

Sideways in NYC
Date of Scene:	26 September 2021
Location:	Battery Park City
Synopsis:	When people start disappearing around a display of artifacts from the Tomb of the Priest of Khonsu, several interested and affected parties investigate. John Constantine brings the affected apprentice Phoebe Beacon, Zatanna brings Red Robin, the Turtles come out, along with Kaida the Mouse. When Asenath, the Necromancer after Phoebe, begins to syphon off the lifeforce of the missing and present, John sends her a two-word message that rhymes with Duck Moo, Zatanna and Lydia contain and strike security, Leonardo and Donatello keep up a peremeter for the safety of the population. Tim and Phoebe realize the 'Priest' has the entirely wrong skeletal make-up -- what would prompt an Oxford team to incorrectly identify the remains?
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, John Constantine, Lydia Dietrich, Leonardo, Tim Drake, Zatanna Zatara, Kaida Connolly

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    BATTERY PARK, MANHATTAN

    An art display has been set up here by extension of the Museum of History in NYC, in partnership with the British Museum in London, the Cairo Museum, and the Museum of Antiquities in Gotham is showing a variety of frescos and plates that have been removed from a Pre-Dynastic tomb, packed, and carefully placed in special, glass-covered cases with weather-proof and sun-proof glass, illuminated from within by LED lights that show Nekhen life of Upper Egypt. They are numbered as thus:
    *1: Simplified image of a person with lions, leashed.
    *2: Simplified image of a very large, important looking figure holding a mace and a lash, surrounded by smaller figures.
    *3: Long-necked panther-like creatures, their necks entwining like serpents, apparently biting at the feet of other figures
    *4:A white-and-red hound and a figure, surrounded by lotuses in blue and green
    *5:A winged figure, shown in profile, with a white disk in one hand and a black disk in the other, standing on a barque boat with two other figures
    *6: Crocodiles in water, with ibex-like antelope in repose
    *7: A hut with a black door, and four figures coming out of water towards the door.
    *8: A hut on stilts with a white door, and four figures coming out of water and going to the door
    *9: A figure holding a crescent aloft, with 'beams' coming off the moon and striking several nude figures below. The figure is flanked by a white and red hound with long ears.

    Ther ehave been, oddly, a number of disappearances in this park in the last few days. After what happened in Gotham, there's been whispers of this Tomb of the Priest of Khonsu being cursed.

    Otherwise, it's a rather nice evening at a whole seventy three degrees, lightly cloudy, with the breeze coming off the Hudson meandering through the park.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Each display is approximately fifteen feet from the next, to give pleanty of space for others to come up and view them.

John Constantine has posed:
    People missing, more museum stuff related to Egypt. It definitely didn't escape John's radar. He appears on the scene as he always does, being dumped out of a portal from the House of Mystery, likely somewhere relatively unobtrusive, but if someone sees him appear out of nowhere and screams or faints? Well, that's life innit?

    As per the normal, he enters the scene with eyes wide open and sight tuned to the, the there and everything in between. "This is why I hate museums," he mutters under his breath. "The shite is either boring or *cursed*, sometimes both."

    He pauses just long enough to light a Silk Cut, get his bearings and see what might need attention first before heading in the direction of whatever it is that seems to need that immediate attention, if there's anything.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia has heard about this art display, and after that night in Gotham, it's piqued her curiosity. She's decided to ride The Toaster up into the city today, the cool air making it a pleasant ride. She's wearing reasonably comfortable clothes today, jeans and a button down blouse over which she's wearing a light jacket.

Hopefully the sight of her glowing green ectoplasm won't cause a panic like it did in Gotham. She walks in and takes a look around to gauge the general mood of the room. She gets a few turned heads but nothing like the reaction she had last time. Good ole Manhattan, where they're used to this kind of thing.

Leonardo has posed:
The conversation in the lair went something like this:

Donnie: We have to check out the display, its history!

Leo: It sounds interesting and we can expand our patrols around Battery Park to get that in.

Raph: Nerd alert!

In the end, Leonardo pulled rank and convinced his less enthusastic brother that it'd be a good way for them all to get back into the grove of patrols. The breaking point: the fact that people have been vanishing, none of the brothers are willing to let that go. New York is their city after all.

Treking though the sewers, the quartet get to an active subway line and hitch a ride on the train into Manhattan until they are at the southern end of the island. Then its up to the rooftops where they find a vantage point near the park from where they can see the objects... from a distance.

Squinting at the art until he's passed a pair of goggles to get a closer view, Mikey says, "Thanks Donnie," and then after looking though the lenses he proclaims, "Dude! Ancient Egyptian X-Mas Stockings," as he hands the goggles to Leo.

On looking though the lenses himself, Leonardo says, "I think those are depicting thrones on boats, Mikey," before handing the goggles to Raph so he can take a gander.

Tim Drake has posed:
    There's not a whole lot Tim can do when it comes to the mystical realm. His research can only take him so far, and no amount of Google scholar articles or illegally obtained surveillance pictures dumped into a shared drive on the Roost's servers can match up with actual experience.

    Enter the Bat clan's go-to contact for all things magical. He's done his best to brief Zatanna on what he knows, but even that is limited. Both by information Phoebe could share, and by Tim's own understanding.

    Still, here they are. Welcome to the exciting world of stakeouts, Aunt Z. They've claimed a different rooftop than the turtles, though in much the same vein Red Robin is crouched, partially hidden in the shadows, and with a pair of binoculars to his face.

    "I have to admit, it's a convenient way to travel," he's saying to Zatanna of their recent portalling entrance, as he peers down at the exhibits. Well, the people mingling among them, less than the priceless artifacts. "Any chance of teaching me that?"

    Tim's kidding. He has absolutely no magical talent whatsoever.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
They look like family though the Drakes and the Zataras have no genetic ties, just natural good looks, dark hair, and a definite leaning toward being nerds.Straight from a well-known magic theatre performance, she went to Gotham to pick up her "nephew" and whisk him to the museum. Because through the veil of reality into the magic world, there are whispers of disturbances that warrant investigation, and she wants him by her side. They arrive inside the latest Egyption exhibit with a faint whiffle of displaced air. Zatanna till in her stage clothing of fishnet stocking, heels, and a form-fitting suit with a tuxedo shirt front and tie. With a smile she notes that others in the magic world have proceeded her.

"Only the best for the bats," she quips as they walk in.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
It's not exactly an abnormal spot for a mouse to be found. One of her early triumphs was within the halls of a museum. She enjoys them and all they have to offer. So, when there was a display here, Kaida had to make her way that way and see what she could see. Walking between legs and feet, Kaida moves about as if she were a normal sized person enjoying the various displays. The only difference being that she gets them from an angle that so few do. She does occasionally leap up to a ledge or a seat back or whatever vantage point she can to get a more normal view but she has learned to appreciate the view of things from below.

"Oh, that one looks like a mouse!" She points at a particular picture and grins. It might not be meant to be a mouse but it kinda does look like a big mouse and she's fine with that. She eats a piece of pepperoni casually as she walks, holding it like it were a whole pizza.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    No one happens to see John pop out of the portal. Lucky him in this case.

    Phoebe had been waiting at the entrance to the exhibit, keeping a wary eye on the assembly, perched on a picnic table and seated rudely on the table part with her feet on the seat.

    She spots John's arrival, and gives a slight smile, hiking her backpack up and slipping in step slightly behind him.

    "So far, seven have disappeared, three men, three women, one kid with one of the women, over a period of three days. The only thing that's connecting all of them is that they stopped by this exhibit in the park." she states. She's just in a T-shirt and jeans, and looks like Every Other Kid that might be wandering around. "Took a walk around the peremeter and didn't find anything electrical or emotion-driven like at the park, no cold sensations like at Liverpool and nothing that gave me the heebie-jeebies like at the museum, but understandably didn't want to get too close to the plasters until you got here." she says to John, and then she pauses, and gives a smile and a slight wave to Lydia. "Lydia! Hey! Nice day to be out enjoying the air, huh?" she calls out.

    A couple of people look at Kaida with surprise and move out of her way. Others look tempted to stomp on her, due to mouse -- but since it *talks* they're a little less inclined to do so.

    People are milling all about. Hard to keep an accurate count, but there are descrepancies to those who can See properly.

    There are a few figures standing about that don't have bodies there to make up for them. They're not moving much, seemingly stuck between pictures. One was captured mid-walk, holding a briefcase. Another is holding the hands of a smaller figure.

    Infrared vision would also pick the figures up, but very, very faintly.

John Constantine has posed:
    "Weird," John mumbles quietly. For a moment it might seem as if he's commenting on Phoebe's running commentary, but no... he turns his attention more fully toward her and his brain catches up to her speaking and what's been said. "I think they're still here," he says with a bit of hesitance. "...at least partially."

    A quick scan of the exhibits to take note of which ones have frozen spirit-ish figures near them and to also look for more of them before he adds, "I need to go full on other side." He looks around for a bench or something, someplace where he can actually sit down in order to do so.

    Good, Lydia. He waves her over after Phoebe calls out to her and adds his own voice with, "Can you keep her safe, luv?"

    He means Phoebe, of course.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia perks at the sound of her name, turning to find Phoebe waving at her. She walks over to where she and John are, grinning. "Hey you two. Thought I'd check out more cursed Egyptian artifacts. Plus I was getting underfoot back home, so I needed the excuse to get out."

She leans back against the picnic table and watches the crowd mill about. Her eyes narrow at the sight of Kaida. "Is that... a six inches tall bipedal mouse? You're seeing that too, right?" The frozen figures are lost to her, being distracted by such a sight.

John, at least, gets a nod. "Always."

Leonardo has posed:
While Raphael is looking at the art though his goggles, Donatello says, "I'd like to get closer to the display Leo," with a slightlly pleading tone.

Before Leo can acknowldge Raphael says, "There's a mouse-sized mouse person down there!" having caught a glimpse of Kaida while scanning the park.

"Lets go!" Michelangelo exclaims as he jumps over the rooftop to begin to slide down a ladder to the fireescape below.

"I wasn't intending to argue against it but that forces it, lets keep up with Mikey guys," Leonardo says as he follows his most impulsive brother down towards the alley below.

The quartet hug the shadows as much as possible before reaching the mouth of the alley way. Having gotten into the lead position Leo stops at the alley entrance and, holding his right hand up in a fist, directs his brothers to do the same. "While Master Splinter has said we can be seen, we also are not to do so unnecessarially," he says before suggesting, "Lets wait to see how things go for the mouse girl. We may have to pull a rescue job here after all."

The silence from his brothers seems more supportive as they wait with their blue bandananed leader.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Careful walking through the grass in heels, Zatanna stops before each panel examining them for with a connoisseur's eye for the artistry of Nekhen funeral art. Coming up behind Constantine, she murmurs smugly, "It's hardly surprising to see you and your apprentice here. Though what intuition or news brings you?" With a nod at the lit cigarette, "You'll get a hanging mob on for smoking, don't you know?"

Turning to Phoebe, she says kindly, "It looks like he survived that tackle. Did you say six people have died?"

A bright glimmer of green makes Zatanna's head turn, and she lifts a hand in its direction. To Tim, "We have quite the crowd here. Did you note the talking Mouse? I hope no one tramples her." She lifts an eyebrow at the turtle that others in the area seem to be steadfastly ignoring.

Tim Drake has posed:
    After careful observation from afar--well, too far for any of the faint thermal impressions to be picked up--Red Robin and Zatanna continue their reconnoitering on foot. "These are all from the tomb of the Priest of Konsu, same as the artifacts we encountered at the Gotham Museum of Antiquities," he reports, because at least fact-finding is something he's useful for, here.

    Closer, as they are now, he can start scanning the works on display. The optic sensor in his mask can take some stunningly high definition photos, and he gets to work on that, with the end goal to probably reconstruct some sort of 3D model.

    After he's done, he switches over to infrared vision with a tap to the side of his domino mask, and...

    "Oh. This is just like the ghost dog," he says, quietly. Then adds, "Long story. Uh, can you see... 'ghosts'?" He points to indicate the positions of the frozen figures he's just barely able to pick up via thermals.

    The gathering of John, Phoebe, and Lydia are approached with more hesitation than Zatanna; Red Robin lingers behind, using the excuse of continuing his surveillance. "I just figured it was a normal thing for NYC," he says, of Kaida's appearance. He's seen the pizza rat memes!

    Actually, he probably has a few saved. That little guy had gumption.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
The pepperoni is finished rather quickly as she finishes staring down a particular piece of art before she suddenly twitches an ear and blinks. She looks over at Zatanna and then at Tim before finally she walks over and casually crosses her arms as she approaches. With one tap of one foot she leaps easily to eye level and eyes Tim.

"First, I'm certainly not normal!" And then she falls back down and kicks off again rather easily and spins to face Zatanna before pointing at her as she reaches the apex.

"Second, I don't get stepped on, I do the steppin'!" And then she is landing again only to step up back into the air with rather ease as she spins to face John and Phoebe and she waves at them.

"Third, HI!" She then is landing again.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's explaination is cut short a moment as John announces he's going to do a walk about, and she exhales, nad then her shoulders actually slack when he asks Lydia to babysit. "Really..." she trails off, but she knows better than to question John on that one. She rubs at her left wrist and looks up to Lydia, and was about to say something when she hears a familiar voice. She stands up just a hair straighter. "Ah... pretty sure he would have -- she stammers a moment, and then swallows down. "Not died. Disappeared. The people they were with got distracted by something and when they turned back around -- gone." she explains. "No bodies, no sign of them leaving, just one minute here, the next? Gone."

    Phoebe sort of just sits down at the picnic table at the edge, giving John some space respectfully as she shrugs her shoulder.

    "One of the artifacts at the Gotham museum had my blood on it. There's also just something about the remains in the picture that's bothering me, but I can't put my finger on it." she says.

    She has not seen the turtles, but she is keeping a wary eye on Kaida... and gives a little wave towards the mouse. She hasn't seen Kaida when not in her Balm get-up, so the mystic healer and mage-in-training just watches... FOR NOW.

    The wind's picking up a little bit.

John Constantine has posed:
    "Little Minnie," is the greeting Kaida gets, along with a wink.

    "Aye, well, wouldn't be the first time I felt the noose tightenin' around my neck," John mutters in reply to Zatanna. Picnic table, perfect. He settles down at the thing and when he leaves his body behind, it might just look like the poor guy fell asleep there, sitting up, elbows on the table, chin in his hands and that damned Silk Cut dangling from his lips... still lit.

    Truth be told, John rather enjoys 'Walk Abouts' when the 'other' world isn't screwed six ways to Sunday. It's typically kind of quiet there, almost peaceful. The few spirits a person runs into are often too caught up in their own stuff to even notice a new face. This time he's not expecting it to be so easy as that.

    So what's different now that he's fully crossed over? He'll make his way in and out of the displays, around them, around the figures... and hopefully nothing tries to eat his Astral face off.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia gasps at Zatanna's approach. "You're Zatanna!" she says excitedly. Well, now she knows what it's like to be on the other end of the fan spectrum. She keeps herself from gushing when the conversation turns back to the disappearances.

"Maybe you've seen it before?" She asks Phoebe. "If the artifact in Gotham had your blood on it, maybe you had come into contact with them when you were younger and you just don't remember it?"

Kaida's bounciness gives her a start though, and her wave garners a tentative wave back. "Do you know this mouse?"

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The leaping mouse's gymnastics brings a grin to Zatanna's face. With a quiet laugh, she replies to the bouncing bundle of energy, "I can see that and a mighty stomper you would be." Following Phoebe to the picnic table, "Disappeared did they? Like they walked through a portal of some kind, maybe? A magician's blood is a powerful thing to get hold of. I hope you have protections in place, Phoebe."

She watches Tim 's careful examination of each fresco, and leaves Phoebe's side to walk over to him, "What kind of things are you seeing? Ghost dogs?"

The wind blows a leaf that glues itself to her fishnet stockings. She tries to brush the tenacious thing off as she rolls her eyes at John's attitude about lynching.

Leonardo has posed:
"Leo, since there's no heads to crack right now I'm going to get back to /actually/ patrolling," Raphael anounces angrily but still relatively quietly.

Leonardo glances over his shoulder, beginning to nod, and sees Michelangelo pantomiming a yawn. He then says "That's a good idea Raph, take Mikey with you," which gets an excited grin from his 'little brother' and a glare before an acknowledging nod from Raph.

As the four become two pairs, Donatello asks, "Can we move in and get a closer look at the antiquity, Leo?"

"That was my thought, Donnie," Leo says as he stands and heads towards the display with his techie brother in close second behind him.

Tim Drake has posed:
    The small mouse in his face is borne with the kind of stoic gravitas that only a Bat knows how to muster... because they know their eyes are hidden behind the lenses of their masks. So behind them, Tim's blinking several times, but the rest of his expression doesn't change. "My mistake," is all he offers to Kaida, before his head sloooooowly rotates so that he can look towards Zatanna.

    At the moment, best to act as if he has no idea who Phoebe is or, more significantly in this case, who Lydia is. The intricacies of maintaining a secret identity. Really, the hard part is just keeping track of who you talked to in-costume versus out of costume.

    When Phoebe mentions the remains, Tim pulls up the pictures he'd managed to take during the night of the exhibit preview in Gotham. "Well," he says thoughtfully as he examines it, one hand on his chin. "It looks like a fairly standard specimen to me."

    Then he shakes his head. He's caught sight of the approaching turtles, and this time he outright addresses Poebe: "Maybe NYC isn't so bad." It sounds like he's aggrieved, having to admit that. But most metahumans or anthropomorphic animals that show up in Gotham are there to hurt people. At least in New York, it seems like they're just regular folks. It's kind of nice.

    Back to the topic at hand, though.

    "I'll admit that I'm maybe lacking in relevant knowledge here. I never had an Egyptology phase as a kid." Tim pauses to tip his head. "I was into dinosaurs." His hand drops, and he folds his arms over the armored chestplate of his suit. "So, let's start with the Priest of Khonsu. What do we know about her?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    There's nothing hanging out in the astral realm to eat faces at just this moment. John does see the extra seven people. They're stuck, like bigs in a spider's web or like a stuck bit of film. Everything about them 'jiggles' a few frames backwards and forwards. The swing of the briefcase. The pull on a child's hand. The movement of a lady on roller blades, one foot sliding forward, then jerking back quickly. Each one (or the pair) is caught between one of the pictures.

    Phoebe's shoulders draw up at Lydia's ask, and she shakes her head. "No. They were supposedly uncovered from a sealed tomb. Pretty sure I'm still under the age of eighteen and not from Pre-dynastic Egypt, but man if I was, I look good for my age." she states, and looking to Zatanna, she motions to John. "I'm not sure. He's doing the investigating at the moment, I'm just waiting to be babysat." she states, and she then holds up her left hand to Zatanna and shows John's handiwork, a white ink tattoo. "He is my protection." she explains quietly to the older magi, and then gives a soft exhale. "Probably the same woman who set up the bottle that drew the dogs." she adds quietly, before Zatanna goes, and she herself looks to Tim, rubbing the back of her neck.

    "Ah... we've met once. Or twice. But I'm... are... those... turtles? ... or kappa? -- does anyone have a cucumber?" she asks, looking as Donatello and Leonardo come into her vision, and she takes a deep breath and whispers: "... ohmigod. That might be the coolest thing I've seen all /day/..." to herself, and somewat to Tim. "Hey, I had both. Just Egypt was way more fascinating with subject maaa..." she pauses as she looks up to Red Robin, and then her eyebrows draw up. It dawns on her, and she snap-points!

    "YES! That's what I was missing! The hips and the rib placement was all wrong -- but how the heck would something--"

    "Melissa? *MELISSA!* Where are you?" someone calls out.

    In the Astral realm, there's now an eighth capture, a teenager looking at her phone. Her thumb keeps pressing the same buttons.

    The wind picks up more on the outside, and begins to turn very cold.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
A nod is given to each as her points are acknowledged and then she blinks at the talk that is happening. She looks from one person to the other and her ears flick here and there before she simply leaps over to where John is and points at him, "Hey, what's going on? You're always at the center of all these types of things. I'm not sure what you are all talking about but if it is helping people, I'm in!"

John Constantine has posed:
    It's not like anyone can actually see what John's doing, but it's also not like anyone would ever think the's not doing *anything*. Thing about magic, it may be messy but it works there as much as it does 'here'. In fact, he works better sometimes. ...too well sometimes.

    ...particularly when the goal is a simple one, to drain the dark magic right on out of a spell building in momentum, channel that magic away from the spell and into himself. Because he's not 'black' enough as it is?

    Trace it, pull the thread, steal it, stop it before it can get to its end, that's his goal. Eyes closed in the here and in the other, but his lips move only in the other, his hands raise, palms up, only in the other, any attacks, any threats to him directly exist... only in the other.

    Where the damned fool is completely alone.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks over to where Leo and Donny are and shakes her head. "I'm pretty sure they're just regular turtles. I mean. Regular giant mutant turtles. I've seen one of them before chase after a bad guy to stop them, so they're on our side."

Then something weird starts happening. As the wind picks up her ectoplasmic mists start flowing along with the wind as if it was being blown by it. "That's strange," she says, raising her hand and watching in fascination as her mists gets pulled along. As the wind increases she can see little flares of amber as her own power starts getting pulled out as well.

"That's bad," she concludes. "Something starting to siphon off power around here." She points to where her ectoplasm is being drawn off to. "In that direction."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Tim, I'm surprised at you. I was learning hieroglyphics at eleven, certain I would be the next Howard Carter, and only had a passing fancy for dinosaurs. She adds with a quick, bright grin, "You have to come to New York more often to get it in its full glory." The grin disappears as Phoebe shows her the protection John placed on her and gives the young apprentice a serious nod. Then, the magician glances over Tim's shoulders at the turtle-men, who seem to be miffed about something. Just in time to see John slip out of his body on one of his 'walks'.

Quietly to herself she says,"!neddih eht laever" (Reveal the hidden) in time to see a young woman using a phone snap onto the same plane as other figures caught like flies in magical amber, stuttering in place stuck between the frescoes. Her mouth opens in a silent 'Oh' of comprehension, then aloud, "Who would want them there?" Cold air moves up her backbone, making Zee shiver as she feels darkness move over the area like a cloud over the sun, draining color and energy from the people there.

Out loud, "Something here is using people like mystic batteries. John? Can you hear me?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    "In my other utility belt," is Red Robin's response to the mention of a cucumber, his voice humorously flat. "It's for when we have to fight Catwoman." Because cats are scared of cucumbers! That's the joke. Hahahaha.

    They don't really fight Catwoman any more, though. She's cool now.

    Though only he can see it, Tim still has the images from the other night up on his HUD. A few micro-twitches in the direction of his gaze continues to progress the album. "What can I say. I watched Jurassic Park a *lot* as a kid."

    His head cocks slightly to the side when Phoebe has her realization. "What, are you telling me they misidentified the sex of the corpse? That's fairly basic forensic pathology; it's right there in the subpubic angle on visual inspection. Plus, they should have access to x-ray and CT scans of the body which would only provide more evidence." His posture shifts, hand moving to tap at the control screen set into his left gauntlet. "Hm. That brings up some extensive questions about the dig and the work done verifying the artifacts," he says, thoughtfully, almost to himself as he continues typing something out.

    Both his and Phoebe's musings are cut off by someone yelling, and Tim's head lifts immediately. His mind changes tracks.

    A quick facial recognition scan is run on the cry's source. No one needs to know how the Batclan have access to governmental databases. In moments, Tim has identified them and acquired a list of known associations, i.e., family members, and there is indeed a Melissa on the list. A quick trawl through social media...

    "Melissa Vaughan. White, I'd guess around 14 or 15, light brown hair, hazel eyes. Let me see if I can track her phone--." He's quiet, focused, but only for a second or two. "She sent a text while she was standing right about," and then his hand lifts from the screen to point between exhibits eight and nine. "There."

Leonardo has posed:
The two terrapin teens wave to those gathered but Donatello, remaining at a distance from the actual artifact, focuses his attention on it.

Hearing the comment about people being used as mystic batteries however, Leo pulls his brother back and says, "Hello everyone, it sounds like most people need to be kept back," to Donnie he says as an aside, "You don't want to be Matrixed do you?" and the brother with the purple bandana pauses a moment and then shakes his head.

"We're going to pull back and keep the people of New York from interfering with you guys," Leo says before again waving and leading his brother back toward the alley. On the way he pulls a shell-themed phone/radio out of his belt and calls his brothers, "Set up a perimiter and keep people from heading into the park... this is more important than secrecy."

Kaida Connolly has posed:
A look over at Zatanna and then at Pheobe and then she blinks at the things that Zatanna reveals. Kaida takes a step backward on the table she has found herself on and looks over at John and then at the others. She looks confused for a lon gmoment and then she shakes her head, "Umm." THen she looks toward the turtles that are retreating before she puts her hands on her hips and stands up straight, sucking in a breath.

"Well, this really has gotten weird."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe hops to her feet as the chill settles in, and she looks at Lydia and whispers: "Don't. Even. Think about it," she states sternly, her brows knitting a moment, concerned somewhat that she would be bubbled and then roll away like an errant beachball. That's no way to go down.

    And she brings her hands down, breathing out, and a circle forms on her left palm as she grabs her extending staff out of her bag, looping the bag around the bench as she sets up defense about John's body.

    "Stay close to me Kaida. If that wind picks up you might end up in Little Italy." she states with a slight smile, and she gives a spin of her staff as she looks up. "Zatanna -- if it's connected to the plasters, what if Red hits it with a whole lot of electricity? Think it can help disrupt things?"

    The dark clouds are getting thicker.

    The turtles begin to form a peremiter around the group; people are pretty nervous, and they begin to leave the area without much work on the behalf of the kind terrapin teenagers.

    John, in the Astral, might catch flashes of red.

    <<YOU again?!>> comes a surprised, screeching, nails-on-a-chalkboard-with-the-screech of metal voice.

    The threads are being cut on the other side almostquick as the Laughing Magician can trace them. Asenath is aware of his presence, but doesn't seem inclined to fight. That means there's an awful lot of black magic being absorbed by him, along with the lives of those eight souls caught in the web as she begins to cut the framework loose -- it might come crashing all down on John!

    Outside, the syphining continues. The temperature has dropped ten degrees now. Zatanna, with her command, forces the Astral to be seen. Strings being cut like webs discarded falling about. The cracking of dark energy, and yes -- all eight of the poor people, caught in the Astral and frozen, moving a few animation frames at a time and then reversing, held in stark contrast to the living world around them as the winds shift, and begin to drag gathered energy towards the river.

John Constantine has posed:
    That's right *bitch*, it's him again, but John doesn't say anything. He doesn't answer Zatanna either. He's caught in that spell, caught in leaping from one strand to the next. One's cut, he finds another, then another, then another.

    He lets it build and build and fucking build until it feels as if he might just implode from it. In the Astral his eyes burn with it, the black magic flickering inky flames where normally Hellfire would blaze. When he feels he can't take in any more, he lets loose the other spell he'd been weaving.

    ...and turns every bit of that blackness, that power drained from human beings via nefarious means back at the source in an attack. See, there's power in a name and John knows hers now. Her *real* name. ...and he speaks it when he lets that power go again, he speaks the true name of his intended target. "Leksandra! I'm coming for you! *BITCH*!"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks down at Kaida and gives her a wry grin. "For New York City, this is just a regular Monday afternoon." Phoebe gets a quizzical look at her whisper. "I'm not going to do anything."

Then Zatanna reveals the astral to them all. She stands up straight as she sees the eight people trapped between the displays. "Oh no!" She cries out. "They're the ones being siphoned!"

She spreads out her hands to the people. Eight of them. This is going to push her limits. She closes her eyes until she can sense their presence and then eight glowing green bubbles pop over each of them. She, then, starts pouring her power into each, trying to shield them from the darkness that's trying to consume them.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
That is so like Red Robin to know about subpubic angles for identifying sexual characteristics, "Fantastic catch. She's right here," Zatanna lifts a manicured hand to a spot between two frescoes.

In an aside to the mouse, "Hang around Constantine, and you do weird."

The Homo Magis watches Lydia's ectoplasm pulled like a magnet toward the frescoes as the air grows colder around them.

The astal ties snap like brittle threads. Two wide strides take Zee toward the frescoes with the doors and the white and black figures. Then, intending to stop others from being taken, "dloH!" she commands just as the name Leksandra rolls across the park sward like thunder on the horizon. The wind picks up as the mystic storm gathers force, ready to consume others in its wake. Nodding appreciatively at the green bubbles protecting the victims, Zatanna laughs aloud, "Well done!"

With a twist of her wrist, the woman magician conjures a glowing bag in her hand that she opens wide. .ssenkcalb eht emusnoC (Consume the darkness)

An eddy of dark magic is sucked toward the mouth of the bag's maw breaking more threads.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Aside for That One Time With The Ghost Dog (a long story), this is the first Tim's really glimpsed the astral plane. Well, he thinks it's the astral plane. And it's really not a good time for him to go asking for clarification, is it?

    "I'm not sure if anything I have can pack the necessary punch," Red Robin says, uncertainly. He steps closer to where the group is gathered, even though several of them have turned their attention, or their astral form, to the ongoing magical energy thieving.

    He looks over at Phoebe. "I'll stand guard, and it looks like the turtles are keeping the area clear."

    As he speaks, he pulls out his staff and it telescopes out to its full length in his hand. Then he stares down at it. What's he going to do, hit the ghosts with a stick?

    Tim sighs, and nods, squaring his shoulders. Sure, if he's gotta hit some ghosts with a stick, he'll do it.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Lydia's quick thinking encapsulates the eight figures -- seven bubbles, since one was holding onto another's hand.

    The figures finally are capable of moving beyond their few frames of motion. The one holding the hand of the smaller figure draws them close, protectively, bodily shielding them. The figure of the roller-blading woman ducks down, hands over her head. The man with the briefcase raises it up. Another male figure grasps his cane in a threatening motion. Melissa's phone drops from her hands, and she appears to wordlessly cry out in fear as she brings her arms over her face.

    And everyone who is not in the Astral might feel a pull on them, it's uncomfortable, like someone pulling on your navel from the inside and trying to pull it through your spine as the necromancer on the other side of the syphon tries her best to try and cause John pain, putting it all on him to take in, to try and destroy him by filling him too full.

     Leksandria, from whatever hole she's hiding in, might have had enough time to shield herself from the brunt of the attack. Dark lightning crackles between the plaster, sucked up by Zatanna's bag of consumption. The figures collapse, suddenly falling out of the Astral and back into the real world. A woman hugs on a child, who is hiccupping and crying in fear. The man with the briefcase looks owlishly from behind it.

    <<You are running out of tricks and time John Constantine. The little mouse only has to fall into a single trap.>> the voice whispers hoarsely, rattling of spit and blood, and then the clouds begin to clear.

    Phoebe is still defensive, giving a nod to Tim, and she breathes out in nervousness as she looks up at the sky.

John Constantine has posed:
    Run out of tricks? John actually laughs. The day he runs out of tricks will be the day a war breaks out in Hell over his soul - it'll be the day death finally sticks.

    The rattling of spit and blood is music to his ears. He's still laughing, for a moment, when snaps back into his body.

    His Silk Cut, all but gone to the butt by now, but still lit, falls from his lips when that laugh turns into a brief fit of coughing. Finally he makes a sound in the back of his throat that sounds like a cat hacking a hairball right before he spits a big glob of black goop on the ground, the residual result of sucking in all that grimy, disgusting dark power.

    Magic's messy most of the time and sometimes it's *gross*.

    That black magic loogie sizzles and burns on the ground before turning to smoke and dissipating into nothing.

    "Bloody *Hell*, I hate that *bitch*."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"All things holy, Phoebe, does she have it in for you and John! Jealous is she?" Zatanna holds the bag at arm's length, the darkness it consumes as lethal as a high dose of radiation. The bag's mouth glows radioactively. She shuts it like a slew of vipers is about to jump out of it.

"!fooP" she mutters. The bag pops out of existence.

"Christ, John! Your aim!"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
When the people snap back to reality, Lydia lets go of the bubbles with an exhausted breath. Doing so many bubbles at once, while pouring her energy into it was really taxing on her. "They're back," she breathes. "Good. They're safe."

John's black spittle gets a side eye. "Welcome back to the living, John. You have /got/ to start finding ways to deal with these things that doesn't involve filling your lungs with evil goo." She reaches out and plucks the still smoldering butt of the Silk Cut from the picnic table. "That includes these things. I swear, John, it's a miracle you're still alive."

She walks over to where there's a receptacle for smokers and disdainfully deposits it here.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim has yet to hit a ghost with a stick, so far so good. Though he's had to grapple with feeling like his insides are about to become outsides (which he's somehow managed to avoid through his vigilante career thus far) which has him shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

    He's not visibly uncomfortable, but he looks vaguely confused. And, honestly? A little bit grossed out.

    "That was unpleasant," Red Robin announces in regards to... many things that have just occurred. His grip tightens on his staff, and then he looks wordlessly over at Phoebe.

    There's something about his expression that suggests he was about to ask "Is it over?" but he's not actually that stupid.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe takes a deep breath. And then she begins to just... laugh. And cry. And she grinds the heal of one palm against her eye as she shrinks down her non-electric extending staff, and then tucks it back in her bag, and she sits on the edge of the table, and looks to John. She physically winces when Lydia goes to take the smouldering butt, and when it's stated it's a Miracle that John is alive, she gives a small smile. "Just a little miracle." she states.

    She looks over to Red Robin, and takes a deep breath, as she stretches her fingers. The black magic loogie doesn't gross her out anymore than any of the other bodily functions she's had to contend with in the last month. Instead, she takes a deep breath, wraps her arms around herself, and gives a shrug.

    "You kinda get used to it." she states back to Red, and then looks to John.

    "... going to be okay?"

John Constantine has posed:
    Lydia's comment regarding the 'miracle-i-ness' of him still being alive sets John to laughing again, hard... full on from the gut. Of course that just makes him cough again, hack another black magic loogie and, gross... is that shit dripping from his nose a little too?

    "You have no idea, luv." And she doesn't, how could Lydia know that it's more the exact opposite of a miracle that he's still this side of six feet under?

    To Zatanna he retorts, "What? I'm pretty sure I hit her."

    He fishes a flask from his pocket, empties the thing in one tip back and mental notes that he still needs to spell himself one like he did for Thor... only with a different activation phrase. When his next pocket stop is his pack of Silks and that beloved zippo, he shoots a wink in Lydia's direction before lighting up.

    "No, not until I rip that bitch's head off and take a shite down her neck," he spits back in Phoebe's direction. He's not had a hate hardon for someone this bad since Nick Nolan turned on him. ... and, well, we all know where Nolan is now and who's sporting his Trench Coat while he burns.

    ...maybe he'll get a red coat for Phoebe as a trophy from this one?

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
There is little that John does that phases Zatanna, "Don't be dense," she snaps over the wails of the frightened child.

"What about them?" she asks the group at large, nodding meaningfully to the people recovered. "They may need Balm for the Soul to not have nightmares for the next year or so."

Tim Drake has posed:
    The faint noise Tim makes as he turns away to look at the people amidst the outdoor exhibit suggests he doesn't quite believe Phoebe on the whole 'getting used to it' thing. Like Phoebe, his staff is also collapsed and stored away, though his goes on a hook below his utility belt, against his back.

    "I don't think there's anything short of full amnesia that will do that," Red Robin says to Zatanna, with a small shake of his head. "I don't know how they do it in New York," he continues. "If the police are inbound, we might want to make ourselves scarce. Not a good idea for a Bat to be spotted outside of Gotham, anyway."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe takes a breath, and then she reaches down, and covers the white tattoo at her wrist. She hadn't missed the emphasis on Balm.

    "Thank you for helping." Phoebe states to Red, and she gives him a quick nod. "Get home safe, yeah?" she smiles to him, and she gives a nod to Zatanna and to Lydia as well, stepping up and over the table to grab her backpack, expecting either a portal or a subway ride.

John Constantine has posed:
    "Bad shite happens, Zee. It generally doesn't just get erased, nightmares are real and people either figure out how to deal with them or they go batshit." Cynical bastard isn't he? Well, he's done both options, so... he's allowed on that subject.

     John pushes himself up from the picnic table and gestures off toward a place that's not quite so 'in the open', indicating that Phoebe should follow him.

    Portal's what'll be, quick step through the House of Mystery to the loft above the bar.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Sure thing," Tim states, and then he taps a few times at the control screen set in his left gauntlet. Then he nods, and follows his magical auntie out stage left for a portal-ride home.