8623/The Ashes of a Lion

The Ashes of a Lion
Date of Scene:	09 November 2021
Location:	Somewhere Vaguely in Europe
Synopsis:	While retrieving a pope's ashes, spirits possess animals and attack! Thankfully, Hellboy brought along good help.
Cast of Characters:	Hellboy, Roland Livingston, Cole Cash

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Hellboy has posed:
    The plane was civilian transport, specifically a privately hired jet. Because of that, there hadn't so many questions about luggage. Given all the weaponry, that was likely a good thing. Hellboy also seemed to appreciate not being stared at as much, if only for the volume of people being less. The demon had shared the details of the expedition with those who had come along.
    It was quite a sordid tale, really. In brief: Pope Leo V's body was, at one point, thrown in a river. The official story is that it was recovered and now lies in a proper resting place. Unofficially, from somewhere in the depths of rumor, Hellboy believed the truth to be that the real body was burned. Further, rather than scattered, as one might expect, the entire expedition hinged on there being an urn of the ashes of a pope somewhere, something the Catholic church would vehemently deny, especially considering their stance on cremation.
    From plane to helicopter to a truck, the expedition was taking those who were coming along deep into a remote area in the mountains of Europe. Where the borders were wasn't entirely clear to even the driver. An expert in Geology (or someone with good GPS) would know. Hellboy didn't seem to care.
    The demon currently sits in the front passenger seat with the window down. His Right Hand of Doom was out the window, fingers resting atop the truck as the heat blasted on full to try to keep up with the cold air rushing in around the red-skinned devil.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Riding behind the driver, Roland Livingston has his eyes peeled as he watches the landscape through the window. He's dressed for action in tactical gloves, cargo pants, hiking boots, knit cap and field jacket. His luggage, which is in the back of the vehicle, seems to contain both a sword and a rifle. "It's not every day one gets to see a pope. Hopefully we'll be able to find the relic without too much hassle." His accent is crisp, upper class English. "If you fellows are as well armed and tough as you look I would almost feel sorry for anyone, or anything, that might be between us and our objective."

Cole Cash has posed:
It has been several years since the Cole has worked freelance for the BPRD. To be honest, he kinda hoped they had lost the contact information. They are always into weird stuff that sometimes is bad enough to give him nightmares. No easy feat.

But he always needs cash. His name is ironic, really.

And since they sent Big Red and no other backup, he assumes that it is because they don't want to risk anyone that is not indestructible. Which makes him suspect he is cannon fodder. Which made him bring his energy guns and an extra in explosives. "Just a few ash, uh?"

He has been strangely quiet so far (and sleeping in the plane). But that peace is over, he wants to know how bad it will be now it is too late to back down.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy narrows his eyes as a small town's buildings begin to come into view. "Almost there," he growls out. He then rumbles out a deep, "Hmmm." There's something clearly bothering the demon, and he doesn't exactly hide his feelings well...then again, he doesn't show his feelings well, either. After a few moments of observing the village, he tells the driver, "Stop the truck."
    The truck comes to a stop. Hellboy looks back over his shoulder and says, "Gear up. Something's wrong, here." His left hand crosses over his body to grip the door handle and open it. He closes it surprisingly gently for such a big, strong man. Sticking his head back into the truck, he says, "And keep it quiet." As he pushes off from the truck door, he draws his weapon. The driver uses his control to roll up the passenger's window after him, then looks back nervously at the others.

Roland Livingston has posed:
When it comes time to move Roland slips out of the truck and gently shuts the door as he studies his surroundings. The Englishman shrugs out of his jacket to reveal a sweater, a handgun and some spare magazines, stows the jacket in the back of the truck and opens up his duffel bag. He quickly dons a camouflage plate carrier with pouches containing rifle magazines, slings a suppressed rifle across his body and produces a sheathed longsword that gets belted around his waist, between his body and the pistol holster. After getting himself prepared he scans the other two men briefly, then returns to surveying the village.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole grunts in annoyance, pulling out a mask and covering his face. "Should have asked fifteen minutes ago," he mutters. He slides out the vehicle last, his hands empty, but his coat falls heavy with weaponry of all kinds.

Oh look, picturesque small European town. But where are the natives?

Hellboy has posed:
    Samaritan is a very large firearm. It essentially qualifies as a hand cannon. It's massive, heavy, and designed specifically for Hellboy. Very few other people could even hold it up and aim it, let alone fire the massive thing. Despite all that, it was not technically his. It belonged to the BPRD and was currently locked in an ordiance locker at SHIELD.
    Because of this, what the demon hoisted looked almost proportional in his hand, despite being as large a caliber handgun as one can legally buy in the United States. Hellboy shows fantastic trigger discipline as he hunkers down and moves like he's stealthy. He's not stealthy. He's barely able to be stealthy when the BPRD are running interference. Currently, he's a huge, red man in a flowing, dark coat in the mountains where there's snow on the ground. He's had a lot of practice, but he's still not great at it.

Roland Livingston has posed:
As the group moves with as much stealth as they can, Roland holds the grip of his rifle with one hand, finger resting above the trigger guard, and with the other hand holds the hilt of his sword to keep it from rattling. He's had to be quiet before and with his natural dexterity almost makes it look easy. As he covers ground the young man keeps his eyes peeled for danger, taking note of the lack of movement from the village before them with a frown on his face. He's careful not to outpace either of the other two men he's with, not wanting to get too far from where the rest of the firepower is located.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole, on the other hand, moves through the forest like a shadow. Hands on his pockets, just a few yards behind the big guy; the one that will be attacked first for sure. He has a good deal of experience in military recon mission and genuine (space) ninja training.

The most difficult thing is keeping his mouth shut, seriously. He hates going blind in a situation.

Hellboy has posed:
    For a ways, there's nothing special. However, as they approach the buildings, Hellboy stands and holds his weapon out. He's ready. He approaches the back of one of the houses and peeks inside. He crouches and gestures to...okay, to Roland. Cole will have to reveal himself to the demon.

Roland Livingston has posed:
When the big red dude gestures to him Roland heads his way to see what's going on. The young fellow is pretty quiet as he covers the ground, keeping his head on a swivel as he moves closer to the big demon guy. When he gets there he stops and moves to see what Hellboy wanted to show him.

Cole Cash has posed:
Cole has been there all the time, man. He even lit a smoke. Don't ask if he has been actually smoking with his mask on, some things are better left unknown.

He glances throw the window and flips the cigarette away. It is difficult to convey eyerolling when the lenses of the mast are white, but he manages. "You could have told us in back on the road," he notes.

Hellboy has posed:
    "Maybe I'm missing something," Hellboy says, "but that looks like a dead guy on a bed." Inside, there is what looks like a freshly dead man laid out with flowers and his hands crossed over his chest. Very much so the way of death. He does not look particularly old. "We check the other houses. Stop and regroup if you find anyone who is alive."
    Hellboy ducks and spins at nothing. He aims his gun around, as if looking for something or having been startled by birds, but there's nothing. "You guys hear that?" he asked. He looks at the other two's faces and realizes quickly that they haven't heard anything. "Nevermind," he says. "Check the houses." He begins to move, aimed at checking another house.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Understood," Roland says to Hellboy before turning to check out one of the next houses over, frowning deeply. His rifle is held at the ready, finger still off of the trigger, as the young man smoothly moves towards the building ahead of him. As he nears it he moves to a window, slowly bringing his body up to peer through it, looking for signs of life. Or whatever. Because you never know what kind of monsters lurk in the rural provinces.

Cole Cash has posed:
Instead of moving to another house Cole picks the lock and enters the current one, to check the corpse, and then to see if there are signs of struggle in any of the rooms. Afterwards, he goes for the church. There is always one at the town center in these old European places.

He will take a detour if he sees a police station or something alike, but chances are the neighbour villages share on and it is on a more central location.

Hellboy has posed:
    While Hellboy and Roland look for signs of life, Cole, in a stroke of brilliance, reaches the church. Like everything else, the church looks like it was just used that Sunday, but hasn't aged a day since. Almost everything is made out of wood and stone and iron where necessary, but there is one object made of silver. It is in a box at the front of the church. A box with a singular piece of glass to reveal what looks like a silver goblet with a top that makes it look like an egg. There's some attempt at filligree, there. The object has been shut with wax between the two halves. It's nice looking, as far as boxes go. It would make a nice decoration.
    Elsewhere, however, there is the sound of a gunshot. Just one, but it definitely came from inside the village limits.

Roland Livingston has posed:
When the gunshot goes off Roland turns to face it and stepping into the cover of one of the small houses. He begins moving towards the sound, rifle at the ready. As he moves he does his best to maintain stealth, though haste may be more important at this time than it was before.

As he gets close he slows down, trying to keep cover, or at least concealment, between himself and whoever or whatever discharged the firearm.

Cole Cash has posed:
Just as expected, things are going weird. There are no motor vehicles, everything looks, well, old, yet it is not rusty and barely dusty. Everyone seems to have died when rather old, and no signs of violence.

That should be relaxing, but it is making a cynical like Cole more and more paranoid. It is almost a relief when there is a gunshot. A totally normal gunshot. Something which he can investigate without hearing non-existent spooky noises.

Hellboy has posed:
    The two humans (or closer than the demon with them) find Hellboy power walking at them. "Fellas," he says. He continues walking toward the church. Meanwhile, a bear freshly missing an eye with its other milky and pale comes around the corner and growls at the men. "I got limited ammo," Hellboy says. "One of you want to take that thing down? I got the feeling there's going to be--" He stops as he sees a goat with the same milky pale eyes standing atop the church. That wsn't there before, for sure. "Aw, hell," he says.

Roland Livingston has posed:
Bear missing an eye after Hellboy's gun went off? Its other eye cloudy and white? This does not look to be good. Roland aims his weapon at the ursine attacker and lets the red dot sight cover the animal at center torso before snapping the safety off and rapidly cycling the trigger. The weapon, thanks to it's suppressor, isn't making any ears ring but it's still not particularly quiet, "Last time I took a bear it was with a bow. Hopefully a gun will make it even easier." The 7.62 NATO rounds the rifle fires should be enough to do the trick, especially in the volume Livingston is sending them out. Or at least the Englishman hopes they'll do.

Cole Cash has posed:
"Why the hell are you on limited ammo?" Snaps Cole. That is like rule number one. And he is going to let Roland empty the clip on the bear to see what happens. The goat is not a threat for now, but he has a .50 AE round for its head if it does something like sprouting wings and charging.

"This place is one of those Places. It feels someone ripped a town from the Eighteen Century and dumped it here, with everyone dead," he complains. "And if it is time travel, I am charging triple. I hate time travel." Beat. "By the way, I am pretty sure the relic is in the church."

Hellboy has posed:
    "Good," Hellboy says. "I'm on it. He starts jogging toward the church as Roland unloads into the bear. The bear doesn't show any signs of pain or reaction. It begins charging him. The goat has sights on Hellboy as he approaches the church, and it bleats out a horrible sound, like a possessed human would make in a movie. As the lead pierces its skull, it has to recoil from the weight of it. Its inertia from attempting to jump at the demon before it carries it to the ground with a sickening thud as bones break.
    Thankfully, all those rounds Roland is pouring into the bear also break load-bearing bones. The charging thing tumbles, eating dirt as its humeruses shatter under gunfire. The bear's remaining eye returns to normal. It looks at Roland with confusion and pain before it dies.
    Hellboy ducks into the church.

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I don't think these things are dying normally," Roland calls out as he flips his rifle to the side while hitting the magazine release to send his spent magazine flying before slapping in a fresh one. "Best to shoot to cripple, probably. Take out knees and pelvises and the like so they can't move to get close." He turns to see if there are any more threats approaching the group, eyeing the goat on the ground for a few seconds. "My best guess is that they're possessed or enchanted somehow. Seeing as how we're rescuing a Christian holy man's ashes I'd lean towards some manner of demonic involvement."

Cole Cash has posed:
"Just shot to the head, it works for zombies and it even slows down vampires," comments Cole, seeing how the goat slides down the roof of the church to splatter over the graveyard. Splat.

At least they are not possessed humans.

"Holy man? You mean at one point there has been one Pope that was actually a decent human being? Color me shocked." Still cynical.

Hellboy has posed:
    There's a smash from inside the church as goats rain down from above it. The goats from the mountains are coming down onto the church rooftop, somehow. Other rooftops also sport goats. A dozen or so drop down and bleat hellishly at the living men in their midst. There's a couple growls from a bear in the distance. Hellboy comes out holding up the silver urn. "I got it," he says. It is at this moment when all the goats begin to charge him. His left hand filled with a dead pope, the demon uses his Right Hand of Doom to grab a goat's head and pick it up as others smash their faces into his body. Hellboy squeezes, popping the goat's head like a zit. "You guys making friends out here?"

Roland Livingston has posed:
"It seems that we are!" replies Roland loudly as he turns his weapon towards the nearest goat and puts his weapon's red dot on one of the critters' heads. "Hopefully this does better for goats than for bears." He presses the trigger, using good body mechanics (and a bit of super strength) to absorb the recoil as he watches to see if the creature goes down.

Roland's body turns with his weapon as he moves to line up his next shot and fire, moving with incredible grace and speed and saying quietly to himself, "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast."

Cole Cash has posed:
"Well, we invited them for a drink, and look what happened," replies Cole, drawing a second handgun and joining the goat-cide. Goat brains everywhere! "Was this Pope and enemy of wild animals or something or it is this all your fault, Big Red?"

Despite his words, Cole is very careful to shoot any goat that comes close to the silver urn. He has to reload a couple times, but only switches weapons to the VAD energy handguns when the bears show up.

Hellboy has posed:
    Hellboy smashes a goat skull with his fist, pulverizing it into a bloody pulp as the other two men make short work of many of them. "Nevermind that," Hellboy says. "We need to get back to the truck and get out of here, or we'll be walking the whole way, and I don't like our odds at that." He lifts his foot and brings it down on another charging goat, splattering brain into the snow around it. He begins to run. "Keep doing what you're doing, guys, but maybe do it on the run!"

Roland Livingston has posed:
"Moving!" calls out Roland in his upper class English accent as he transitions from one target's head to the next, smoothly pressing the trigger each time until his rifle runs dry. Slinging it, he draws his sword and charges ahead to try to clear a path. His impressive strength and mastery of the hand and a half sword are on display as he begins dispatching goats left and right. Half a head flies one direction, some legs in another. Soon the young man is covered in blood, but doesn't seem to be slowing down at all, "This way! I made a bit of an opening!"

Transferring his sword to his left hand, Livingston draws his pistol with his right and starts going for more headshots on the attacking animals.

Cole Cash has posed:
"No kidding," replies Cole to Hellboy's comment. How many goat are in a mountain or two? Too many. Also bears. For the bears he uses the plasma gun, which hits like a grenade launcher and should keep the bigger animals out of the way. And maybe also start a fire.

The goats are easier to take down with bullets, but they are still faster than they are running.

Hellboy has posed:
    While Hellboy plays quarterback, his team proves their worth by painting the road to the truck with possessed animals' bodies. Cole in particular dispatches three bears, their corpses sliding down the mountain with gaping holes where their rib cages once were. The goat population will certainly never be the same. The truck's headlights stare the three down as they rush it. The tires then spin as the possessed driver attempts to run them down. Hellboy jumps up onto the hood and punches the glass. Gripping the driver's head, he spurts out some latin, and the driver slams on the brakes, screaming in a panic as he is himself again, though with a demon's giant, stone hand wrapped around his face.
    "Sorry about the windshield," Hellboy says. He stands on the hood and says to the guys, "Get in. Windows down. Try to conserve ammo and wildlife on the way back while--" He stops as he notices the driver muttering out a prayer and staring at him in fear. "Maybe I should drive," he says. Hopping down, he opens the driver's door and pushes the man to the passenger seat. "You guys still good? Not possessed or freaking out?"

Roland Livingston has posed:
"I don't believe I'm possessed and I imagine after some of the things I've seen a few possessed goats aren't likely to do much more than discourage me from visiting a petting zoo," Roland says with a sort of chuckle as he sheathes his blade and takes off his sword belt and tosses it into the back of the truck before easing his rifle around to the front of his body so he can sit with it in one of the back seats. "Can't say I enjoy dealing with the possessed. I generally prefer exorcising them to shooting them to bits, but they don't always give you much of an option, do they?"

Cole Cash has posed:
"No, but a damn goat bit me," which didn't got through the armored coat, but still makes Cole extra-grumpy. "They are just goats, Red, just drive away," he adds with an exasperated tone. Also, he tosses a hand grenade to a charging half a dozen of them.

"You know what? They come in numbers, but never more than thirty or so," he offers. "I think we have killed over a hundred now, if they had come all together we would have been overrun."

Hellboy has posed:
    Once everybody's in, Hellboy starts driving. The road back is cold for the broken windshield, and the ashes don't leave Hellboy's lap. Thankfully, the trip back is uneventful, save for people fearing the men covered in blood traveling with a demon. Hellboy tosses the truck driver a wad of local currency before the next leg of their journey...and probably showers. Hot, holy-water showers with antibacterial soap.