8552/Faerie Lights

Faerie Lights
Date of Scene:	04 November 2021
Location:	Brighton Beach
Synopsis:	Mysterious faerie lights attract a group of teens into danger. Megan and Daniel come to their rescue!
Cast of Characters:	Megan Gwynn, Daniel Ketch

---

Megan Gwynn has posed:
It's another chilly night on the sea side, and that means there aren't a lot of people down by the beach. But there is a small gang of kids, totally wasted and a bit rowdy as they yell and sing and rough play on the water's edge. Really, the water looks pretty at night, even if it's a little chilly tonight. Winter is on the way, and maybe that mealies the water a bit more dangerous, especially this late at night.

Megan is also here, enjoying the cool night air as she walks along the water's edge. She's not sure why she's back here but something drew her here..

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Earlier in the evening a couple drug-addled thugs mugged a kid on a backyard. Since the kid had little money, they vented frustrations by beating him up. Probably they would have sent him to the hospital, maybe killed him. But luckily for the kid, Daniel was in the area, and the Ghost Rider felt innocents in danger.

Currently the thugs -are- in the hospital. The kid went home with just a broken nose and some bruises. And the Ghost Rider was loosened upon Brooklyn. It was a bad evening to be a criminal in Brooklyn. Not optimal for being a normal human person on the streets, since a flaming skeleton on a huge motorcycle with wheels of fire is enough to give nightmares to most humans. The police are also having a bad evening.

Five street gangs thrashed (41 hospitalized, many just catatonic), three drug dens busted, one biker bar destroyed, eleven minor traffic accidents, a police cruiser that tried to give chase totalled. And that is only the things the police has noticed. A few abusive husbands have been traumatically terrified, a clueless vampire will never bite anyone else again, and a couple cultists of the Cold Flame preying on the homeless will be in the I.C.U. for a while, but will never tell what happened.

The Ghost Rider was restless after the events at Belle Reve, and the lesser predators of Brooklyn paid for it. He is still patrolling, although it is unlikely to find anything of interest at the waterfront. Perhaps he also likes the ocean at night. Most likely his instincts have led him here.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
It's been a rough night for some people but thankfully there are vigilantes out there watching the innocent. Some are more fearsome than others. The small gang of teenagers out here are not criminals, certainly not murderers, but they are still young, and the roots of crime start here, in a time and place like this. They laugh and yell and drink and sing as they stand around the fire. Perhaps there are five in total, and it doesn't take them long to notice the pink haired fairy girl. She's not wearing a costume this time, just jeans, denim jacket, white and pink band tshirt.

It's a bit chilly for spring wear and she shivers as she stares out at the water, while keeping an eye on the approaching gang. "Heey faerie girl, are those wings real?" one jeers, the others laugh, "Hey, it's a bit late for Halloween, kiddie! Hey, what day we rip em off? Might be fun to watch her scream!" Megan grimaces as she sees them..Ooh, they're Soo asking for it! But..As they surround her, getting ready to cause trouble, something bright and flickering suddenly appears on the water.

"Woah, is she doing that? no way, that's badass!" their attention quickly turns to the water, where shimmering orbs of light flicker off the surface, just out of reach. "Woah, that's tripping, what is it?" their current prey is suddenly ignored as they start towards the water, their eyes wide and glazed over as if they're in some sort of trance..Strange, those lights weren't there a second ago..Why, they seem to almost emanate with an eerie magical energy, for those sensitive to such things..

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The wind carries the voices of the young people to the Ghost Rider, but casual threats are rarely enough to draw him into attacking. The sound of the supernatural engine propelling his vehicle merges with the sounds of the ocean and the city, but soon the light of the fire is visible to those looking in the right direction.

Which is no one on the beach, as the lights from the sea seem to enthral the partying youths. Those very lights do draw the Rider attention, however, as they seem unnatural and dangerous to his senses. With a dull roar, the motorcycle leaves the road and jumps over the walkway, landing on the beach.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks slowly as she senses the magic. Sometimes it's hard to tel, if magic is 'good' or 'evil'. Sometimes it's more about how you use it that makes it so. But any sort of pretty lights luring people into the water can't be good..They really are pretty though. Megan feels her body being slowly propelled towards said lights herself..Because they are so beautiful and colorful and mesmerizing..But she is also a faerie, and no stranger to such chicanery.

She blinks, snapping out of it just as her feet touch the water and gasps. "Oh, no..This can't be good..Hey! Hey you guys! Stop! It's not safe!" they do t seem to hear her however as they walk further and further out to sea towards the colorful dancing lights. There are maybe eight in total, they're so bright and glittery and beautiful. And..Is that music? It is so soft and subtle, like white noise, but alluring, drawing you in, seductively..

The teens are knee deep in water as they walk more rapidly towards the circling lights, lights that continue to dance just out of reach, luring them deeper and deeper into water, further from safety. But..They're just lights right?

Aaaand that's when she spots the motorcycle. And the flaming skeletal figure riding it. She screams in fear. "Aaaaah! What are you?" oh great oh great..In one direction eerie faerie lights..In the other, spooky flaming skeleton guy..Talk about a rock and a hard place. She narrows her eyes, backing away from skeleton guy, drawing out her soul dagger, which glows with pure pink energy, holding it between herself and the Ghost Rider.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The Rider's bike slows down as he attempts to gauge the danger of the dancing lights. No harm so far, but swimming in the night is dangerous for normal mortals, he keeps moving. And then he focuses on the winged girl, "are you luring those humans into the ocean, woman? State your intention," he demands, his voice a low bass that seems to be heard down to the bone.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks as Skeleton man talks, and glances over her shoulder at the kids, still heading for the water, now waist deep in sea water and still going. "Wait what, you can talk? Who exactly is the bad guy here? Do I seriously..." she sighs, and shakes her head, lowering her dagger, "No, no of course not. I tried to stop them but they won't listen..There's something in the water, I'm not sure what but it seems that someone or something has cast a magic spell on them..If you're a good guy then help me get them out of there.."

She glances back at the kids. She had pondered porting them out but the magic lights are surrounding them now, and the spell might interfere her teleportation. "Ughhh dammit, I gotta get in close enough to break the spell..If I ca find the source, my dagger should be able to negate it..Can you pull the kids out?" she doesn't wait around long enough to see what he does but turns her back on him as she rushes towards the water, focusing on the lights more than the kids. And oh yes, those wings aren't just for show. She's pretty fast in the air too..

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"I am the Spirit of Vengeance," announces the flaming skeleton. Good, evil, he has Hellfire. He seems to believe Megan's words, because the motorcycle skids aside on the sand, and then races into the water. -Over- the water, instead of sinking. A cloud of steam follows him as he heads towards the lights at alarming speeds. "Identify yourselves, creatures," he bellows.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn blinks in surprise to find the Ghost Rider skimming along beside her in the water, "Wait, you can fly too?" and it's a good thing she's running on adrenaline, focused on the faerie lights if she might freak even more at the flying skeleton man. At any rate, looking down in the water, there appears to be a much larger, dark green pulsating form..And it is from there that the faerie lights circle and seem to originate. "Okaay, here goes nothing!"

With a yell, she hurls the glittering soul dagger into the large dark pulsing form in the water. With a roar, the creature lurking beneath churns up a large tidal wave at all those surrounding it. At the same time,the faerie lights instantly wink out, blanketing everyone in brief darkness, save for Ghost Rider's flaming form.

Awakenned from their reverie, the five teens blinks and gasp and start to scream, struggling in the water. Looks like only two of them can swim, and these tidal waves are pretty crazy..

Daniel Ketch has posed:
Running over water is not the same as flying, but the Ghost Rider doesn't bother answering Megan right now. He rides over the tidal waves on a motorcycle on fire, putting any human surfer to shame. One hand now holds a long chain, which spins fast, first shattering the waves, then reaching for one of the drowning kids just as it was falling towards the submarine creature, and pulling him out of the water kicking and screaming.

He is probably more scared of the flaming skeleton than from the sea monster.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn points her hand to the sky, summoning back her dagger. With the faerie lights now out, she at least has her glowing bright dagger to guide her. "Alright, I think I disrupted the spell, but there's definitely something under there. First thing's first, gotta get these kids to safety!" But they're still too close to the pulsating form beneath the waves.

As Ghost Rider snags one of the screaming kids, who is even more scared of the flaming skeleton on a bike, Megan swoops down into the water, scooping up one under one hand, another under the other. But of course, she lacks any considerable strength to pull them both up into the sky with her, and she's now floundering in the water. "Ugh, dammit! Come on, work with me here..Sihal Novarum Chinoth!" and she teleports the two kids to shore.

"Phew.." coughing and sputtering, she peers around for the last two kids. And it seems they wandered just a little too close to the pulsating form which utters a most terrifying screech..Moments later, a set of eight giant tentacles emerge from the depths, reaching out to snag the two kids, attempting to pull them down into the water!

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The Ghost Rider sees the monster emerging and flicks the boy he caught towards the shore. He lands on swallow water crying in terror, but despite a few bruises he can now reach the beach easily.

Then he roars and dives into the mass of tentacles, breathing fire like a flamethrower. The Hellfire flames don't go out in contact of water, but instead seems to cling to the tentacles like supernatural napalm. The chain is retracted and shift shapes, becoming a short-handled serrated scythe made of chain links and jagged metal, which he uses to attempt to sever one the tentacles about to catch a kid.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
The three kids on shore shiver and gasp, but they seem more or less intact. Still, they cling to one another, watching the spectacle in fear. Their friends are still out there and in danger, although one of them is already fumbling for his phone to call 9-1-1.

Megan narrows her eyes, peering at the flames that ride the length of the tentacles, causing the creature to shriek in pain. It's enough to cause its grip to loosen around at least one teen, and Megan makes a swoop for that one, being mindful of the flames and rushing water and nasty little tentacle things as she does so.

"Ack, almost got you...There!" she grabs the shrieking girl, who is a fair bit bigger than herself, using the buoyancy of the water to pull her away, free of the tentacles, and pulls her to shore.

Right, one more kid to go..If she can avoid those nasty chains and tentacles. The creature is tough though, although the flaming chains hurt it, and quite a lot, it seems to have a lot of constitution, and just a lost of mass. It shrieks again, rising some of its bulky mass out of the water, lashing its tentacles towards Ghostrider, trying to snag them around his bike and whip him into the water if it can. This thing is pretty damn strong and not lettnig go anytime soon.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The Ghost Rider is perfectly happy to let the monster grab him and his bike; he doesn't even need to breathe, so the water is no danger, and physical damage to his skeleton is merely painful and heals almost instantly. Instead he intensifies the intensity of the Hellfire and keeps hacking at the tentacles, trying to reach the body of the monster and draw its full attention.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn watches the ghostly skeleton with renewed awe as he takes just as much punishment as he dishes out. "Woah.." but she's got other problems to deal with, like trying to locate and rescue the last child. And as the creature drags Ghostrider under the rushing waves, down goes the child - who cannot breathe - as well.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" down goes Megan, holding her breath, using her dagger beneath the thrashing waves to slice through the tentacles, easily freeing the boy who gasps and stutters and seems in a bit worse shape than his friends. Megan decides to teleport them both away from danger, checking on him and leaving him to his friends.

Glancing back towards the creature, it seems to be now attempting to wrap its powerful tentacles around Ghostrider in a viselike grip, attempting to crush him if it can.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
So many tentacles force the rider to stop hacking and just struggle to get free. He is also very strong, perhaps not as much as the monster, but he has other tricks.

For instance, it is a mistake to leave his motorcycle alone without having fully crushed it, because it is under his total control and it can move in ways no normal bike can. It was sinking to the bottom of the sea, but now it roars alive and surges forward, ramming the monster underside, half a ton of metal and fire at over a hundred miles per hour.

And the chains keep moving, wrapping around the tentacles and sawing, the links having grown razor-sharp edges.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
This creature is certainly strong and powerful, but it seems it has met its match with the Ghost Rider. Even as it attempts to crush his ribs with those powerful tentacles, the motorbike rams into it, creating a sizable hole in its flank.

It shrieks out in pain and rage as those chains continue to tear through it, ripping many of its tentacles to shreds, even as it wraps its remaining tentacles tightly to Ghostrider, attempting to pull him down with it. If it's gonna die, it plans to take him with it, even as its grip is slowly loosenning, weakenning as it utters a death cry. Even so, its mass alone sinking down on the ghostly man may just make breaking free of this creature a nightmare.

A blazing pink light cuts through the darkness as the faerie girl returns, slashing and slicing at any remaining tentacles, trying to help free Ghostrider of the massive bulk. "Come on, let's get outta here!" she calls, using her light to find her way through the mass of blood and water and darkness.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The Ghost Rider stops struggling when the creature begins sinking. His task is punishing, not slaying. Still, he is not going to let it pull him too deep, he summons the motorcycle again and it was about to reach him when Megan gets to him.

"I don't require your help, girl," he speaks gruffly. Underwater. He still can make himself understood. Maybe because he doesn't really have a vocal chords or a tongue. Magical speech. The motorcycle reaches him and he grabs it with a hang. Then pulls. That monster better let him go because the bike is strong enough to drag it /out/ of the water.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
The monster's strength is rapidly waning strength means those tentacles are slowly sliding off of Ghostrider's body, but its great mass and free flowing tentacles are still a death trap for the average person. Megan swallows too much water and coughs, having trouble talking under water, although the ghostly skeleton seems to have no trouble. Go figure. Creepy much?

With a shudder, she disengages, surfacing, using her wings as flutter boards to more easily keep herself afloat as she watches the creature sink to the bottom of the sea. "Ew..That was sooo not fun.." But what to make of this Ghostrider? She breaks free of the water then, hovering just above it, not bothering to try and help the rather abrupt dark avenger who..Suddenly reminds her of someone else she met out here the other night. And she smirks.

"Soo...Who're you anyway and what's your deal..?"

Daniel Ketch has posed:
The motorcycle and the rider show up a second later, among a cloud of steam and foam. He looks at Megan and somehow manages to appear slightly irritated. "I already told you, woman. I am the Spirit of Vengeance. Some mortals call me the Ghost Rider."

That bike looks a bit like the one ridden by the auburn-haired young man Megan saw on Halloween. Only, it is on fire.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn meeps a bit and shudders. "Okay, okaaaay, no need to have a cow..I mean, you might be all vengeancy and all but..That creature isn't gonna care one way about being punished." she frowns as she peers at the spot where it was. Now that it's dead, it's body doesn't simply lay on the ground beneath the waves. Instead, it's starting to discorporate, as if it were made of pure magic.

"Huh, how strange, some sort of magical construct..? Either that, or someone summoned it here..Which means there must be a portal around here somewhere.." she sighs, "Ugh, I'm waay over my head here, I need to do some more research.." she pouts, so much for having fun.

Her gaze sweeps over that bike..Heeey, that looks familiar...If it weren't on fire. "Heh, nice bike." she comments with a smirk. "Let me guess, not a big fan of Halloween, despite having a killer costume, hmm?" her tone is playful, despite everything that's just happened, as if taking it all in stride. As if this is not her first time.

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"Shamain is the night the Summer court yields power to the Winter court," says the Rider. "You should know what it means, if your blood holds true. It is the beginning of the darkness, the walls between worlds are faint, it is not a day to make merry." Which means he doesn't like Halloween. Although those are not Daniel's reasons.

Megan Gwynn has posed:
Megan Gwynn nods, frowning a bit. Halloween was only a few days away but..Was this the byproduct of that, or something more sinister? She sighs. "Yeah, yeah. I know. It's a big deal in the Nevernever. unfortunately, I'm not exactly...Well, as you can see, I'm not pure fae, heck, I've never even met another faerie before. Sooo, it's not like I know much about that world, never even been there.." she smirks, "Sounds like you are pretty knoweldable though. But y'know, Winter is just as natural as Summer? It doesn't mean a battle between evil and good, so much as a shift from one cycle to another, right?"

Daniel Ketch has posed:
"It is not so simple," states the Rider. "There are good reasons why mortals feared the change of court and sought to appease the incoming darkness." And then they forgot. It is probably not important unless one is very involved in the supernatural.

"The humans are safe, I am not needed anymore," and besides, the police sirens can be heard wailing in the distance. "Farewell, you did good tonight," he adds reluctantly as the bike slides forward on the sandy ground as if it was a paved road.