8633/Sorcerer's World - Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold

Sorcerer's World - Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold
Date of Scene:	10 November 2021
Location:	Hall of Justice - New Troy
Synopsis:	After months of laying low, Felix Faust and his allies emerge seeking to pre-emptively eliminate the Justice League as a threat to his plans. While he brings a few pretty big -- literally! -- surprises to the table the League and their allies prove up to the task. But Faust is closer then ever to bringing his dream of a Sorcerer's World to fruition.
Cast of Characters:	Hal Jordan, Arthur Curry, Diana Prince, Karen Starr, J'onn J'onzz, Hope Svelgate

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Hal Jordan has posed:
The Hall of Justice.

While it might not quite reflect the preference for steel and glass spires that seems to reign supreme in Metropolis, the more classic lines, the rounded edges and pillars still somehow fit the city. Or perhaps it is more that the ideals that the Hall and it's champions stand for do a good job of blending in to the City of Tomorrow.

It is a cool evening, the promise of winter already in the breeze that washes over the city though the chill is more refreshing then anything else and only scattered clouds hang overhead to offer any impediment to the view of the starry tapestry beyond. At least at first. That breeze begins to pick up, sweeping in off the Atlantic Ocean and bringing a greater chill with it until the air is positively biting. Above in the skies clouds increasingly roll in, starting to move and swirl as the air currents begin to churn. Almost as if in anticipation.

While Hal Jordan loves being a Green Lantern, loves the opportunity to travel through space, to see all the wonders that it brings, there is the occasional drawback when he gets back to Earth. He tends to owe a surplus of monitor duty. All Leaguers have to pull their share. It's only fair afterall, so when he spends a prolonged period off planet, well, that does leave him with a fair bit of time to make up. The monitors about the room flash a wide variety of displays, scans projected down from satelittes above, a variety of news sources from around the world to keep track of. The very best that money can by. Including a variety of feeds from around the Hall itself, rarely of particular note. But they certainly come in handy tonight.

The weather would certainly be a clue of the forthcoming trouble, for anyone out and about. Even the worst of storms rarely come on that quickly, and certainly not without some warning. People would certainly have good cause to be annoyed with their local meteorologist... if the sudden shift was at all natural. But of course it is not. Not here. Not now.

A line of darkness, blacker then the evening sky, suddenly appears at the far end of the reflecting pool that stretches out in front of the Hall, a streak of midnight that simply seems to absorb all the light around it, drawing it in like an endless abyss. Then that line starts to spin, slowly at first but with greater speed an intensity until it stretches out like a vortex, seeming to reach forth like the voracious mouth of a tornado or whirlpool, seeking to devour everything in it's path. But something finally lights that black pool, like a tiny flame that grows. And grows. And grows until it is plain that it is far more then a singular flame. It is hundreds.

Months. MOnths he has been gone. Months preparing for this moment, carefully hoarding his strenght, honing his expertise with his new, purloined magic and artifacts. Months repairing the shattered Jar, Bell and Wheel so he can once more call upon his most loyal and trustworth of allies who were brought low by the League. Months, plotting his revenge.

Hal Jordan has posed:
Felix Faust steps out of that vortex, his gaze fixed on the majestic building that rises up before him. He is flanked by a host, by Abnegazar, Rath and Ghast. By Amos Fortune and Blackbriar Thorn. The sadistic grin of Eclipose follows after, a black diamond rolled about his fingers. And a host of burning demons creep in their wake, dark monstrocities marked by cracks of the brightest, flaming red to light the way.

"Burn it," comes the words of the mad sorcerer. "Burn it to the ground and we shall salt what remains."

Hal Jordan has posed:
In the monitor room Hal's boredom vanishes in an instant, eyes widening before that green mask forms over his face. Even with his gaze fixed on the monitors he reaches out, reaches out and triggers the general alarm, the alert that goes out over the global communication grid to any available Justice League member. "We have company. And not the good kind."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    It is within the confines of the Grand Library that the man known as Arthur Curry finds himself. At a casual glance most would likely imagine that he does not fit too well with the modern aesthetic of the Hall of Justice. For even at this time, having been on site for the last day and some, Arthur carries the aesthetic of a... civilian to be generous, a roadie for a rock band if one was not.
    One might also not imagine that the library would be a place he'd spend too much time in, yet here he is in the large room with its grand sweep of information available and books at hand. Though the room is subdued in lighting, a monitor glows in front of the large man as he peers intently into its depths while occasionally hitting a few keys.
    Email scrolls down the monitor, new messages heralded by the tick-tick-tick of the return key. At some point he grimaces and murmurs, "You people write too many emails."
    Which is when he hits another series of keys and out to the team mailing list, even without finishing reading all the mail, he sends a simple one line message of...
    <<< You people write too many emails. >>>
    Then it's more mails he scrolls past. Lifting his head he raises his voice and shouts into the depths of the hall. "Diana?! Diana are you here?! What happened with that sea thing?" Which has him scowling at the monitor again as he starts composing another mail. To the entire list of course because... reasons.
    Yet that is the moment the pall seems to drift across the city in part, the hall in particular. Carrying with it those small tell-tale feelings upon the wind, as well as something more for the half-Atlantean can almost taste that shift in power and the roil of distant flames that steal the cool and moisture from the air. Disconcerting enough that it pushes the tall man to his feet.
    Heavy footfalls carry him across the way and when Hal's voice comes across on the comms he /slams/ a fist into the activation button for the wall terminal so that Arthur's voice is heard moments later.
    "I'm on it."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana finds herself out in the city when the alarm comes through.

Being that it is the start of the Holiday Season, Wonder Woman is at a busy park not far from where the Hall resides. She's amongst citizens of Metropolis who have come for the park festivities. Diana is thusly forced to separate herself from the crowds and make her way to a more quiet location.

When she hears the voices over the JLA comms, Diana speaks back in her accented English.

"This is Wonder Woman. I am inbound from the park." She says to those listening. A second later and the park-goers are all just looking in to the sky, some of the younger ones waving toward what can be seen unfolding in their city today...

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl has been chasing conspiracies with a combination of the Black Cat, Captain America, and of course, Scott Lang, for far, far too much of the past few days. It's left her annoyed, and exhausted- mentally, and physically- and has not more than a few moments ago returned to her apartment in Metropolis.

    Drifting into the living room, Karen doesn't make it to the bedroom before she's slackened over a piece of furniture. One leg is hooked over the back of her couch, and she sinks into the padding of her far too expensive cushions. The comfort of it greets her immediately. The cat, of course, is present at that exact moment, climbing to the highest point on her body and nestling in despite its precariousness.

    For a single moment, there is an absolute nirvana of comfort. All is right with the world. She recalls, in that moment, that there is one more step- she is allowed to go off duty. Others will pick up the slack. A hand shakes free of its glove, and reaches up to her ear, mere moments from plucking the League communicator from her ear. It lights to activity immediately, delivering her Hal's message.

    The resulting string of expletives are both intriguing in that they are bilingual, both English and Kryptonian, and impossibly creative.

    Gingerly, Stinky perks up, and delivers his orange self onto the back of her couch, as Karen bolts from her apartment, slinging her glove and boots back on before breaking the sound barrier. The windows of Metropolis rattle slightly, as Power Girl takes a position alongside Diana, pulling out of super speed to match pace.

    "Do we pay a guy to mop up what's left of the people dumb enough to do shit like this? Because whoever that is is getting overtime, and is probably going to need a scaffold."


    Stomp, Stomp, Stomp goes the blonde, towards the entrance to the Hall, waiting impatiently for Diana to pick up the pace, so she can too.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
    J'onn is on another of his trips to nowhere in particular when the alert comes in over his comm. "I'm on my way." He launches into the air, breaking out of the rain forest and heading into space to take advantage of his speed in a ballistic trajectory. Only a few moments pass before he is headed back down into the atmosphere above Metropolis.

    Slowing to avoid buildings, he swoops down to the Hall entrance, already scanning with both eyes and mind to try and see what may be the cause of the alarm. Looking to Diana and Karen, he asks "Do we know what the threat is?"

Hope Svelgate has posed:
Far away in Hell's Kitchen, New York, within a crumbling church forgotten by local people and the faith that built it alike, stands Lady Death. Within her sanctuary, she watches as the great stained glass windows shift and change, no longer showing the biblical scenes and images of the holy mother that they usually depict, but the events unfolding outside of the Hall of Justice as they happen. The windows often show great magical disturbances, events that might require the intervention of Death, and this time is no different as the undead looking valkyrie by way of Hell's eyes lock on the face of Felix Faust.

"Apocalypse! Scynister!" She summons her blades by name and they fly to her hands moments later, "Vassago, we ride to war!" From the depths of the church, a massive horned albino Nightmare emerges, so many horns and spines, hooves glowing with arcane fire. Mounting the beast, Lady Death points her blade at the stained glass and through the power of the Energy Arcane for an instant it is no longer a window but a doorway as she rides her flying steed through to claim Faust's soul.

Hal Jordan has posed:
It's not the ideal sort of start to the holiday season is it? Though in truth it is probably more common then not. One would imagine that the residents of Metropolis are downright used to this sort of thing by now. There always seems to be an alien invasion or a metor about to crash into the city. Maybe it's a plane falling out of the sky or an unlikely tsunami about to hit the city. Either way, an invading demon army might barely register on the strange scale. At least not yet.

Fire seems to burn in the mad sorcerer's gaze. The fire of conviction and confidence. Confident enough, apparently, to try to strike at the League directly, to put a stop to their interference in his plans pre-emptively. Not, of course, that he hasn't had similiar confidence shattered before. He gestures imperiously and demonic creatures of all shapes and sizes leap to do his bidding, rushing towards the front of the Hall. Some simply through themselves bodily at the doors leading into the interior and the Hall, being open to the public -- at least the upper levels -- and being no fortress gives way, entrances blown inward as the demonic host starts to spread out across the inner promenade, darting amongst columns, smashing displays where the can and setting fire to the gift shop.

"You know what to do," he snaps at the trio of giant demons, far different then the host with their pink-purple flesh. Far older. Far more powerful. And Abnegazar, Rath ahd Ghast -- reunited at last -- hasten to obey, taking to skies as casually as another landlocked being might take a step, racing towards the rooftop of the Hall. As ridivulous as it might seem, at least at first, the demonic trio almost look like they intend to wrestle the building itself into submission. Ridiculous before the first audible crack sounds, echoing across the plaza that surrounds the Hall of Justice.

There are no instructions for his other allies, just a nod and they go forth. Amos fortune, taking up a spot just behind Faust as that corpulet face cranes this way and that, keeping a wary eye for the counterstrike that clearly will come. The roughly hewn, wooden features of Blackbriar Thorn as he lumbers towards the Hall behind the horde of demons. He stops short however, raising wood boughs towards the heavens. The trees that line the plaza actually seem to groan, to lean his way and an instant later thick roots burst forth from the earth, shattering concrete walks as they reach towards the columns that front the Hall. Twisted limbs of wood that twine around the supports of the building, curling upward, higher and higher while drawing tighter until marble cracks and little pebbles and fine dust begins to fall over the entrance way like a misty rain.

And there, in the center, just outside the door stands Eclipso in that less then fear-inspiring custome. But the expression his shaded face helps make up for it as he continues to smile that mad, twisted smile, raising the black diamond to his face before a bolt of dark energy leaps from it, smashing through the front facing of the League's base here on Earth. "Come, Justice League. Come and unleash your anger and hatred on me!" he bellows.

Hal Jordan has posed:
"Copy that Arthur. I'm on my way to join you too. I've sent out the alert so we'll hopefully have backup soon," Hal replies over the comm, a green glow enveloping him as he rises from the ground. And then like a streak, he sweeps out of the monitoring room, racing up the stairs, up past the promenade, up towards the roof. There would be advantages to holding back, to continue to take advantage of the monitoring room and the view of the battlefield that it provides. But then he wouldn't be in the thick of things, would he? So as he races towards that ceiling overhead he simply goes insubstantial, phasing right through it as the green glow around him intensifies and emerging in the sky above the Hall, amongst the trio of Demons that are trying to bring the roof down. "You boys have made such a baaaaaad mistake. If I were you I'd start running now..."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Passing by the room he had been using as quarters for the last few days, Arthur reaches in and there's a scrape of metal on metal as he grasps the haft of the golden Trident of Poseidon. The weapon gleams as he carries it in one hand, its sheen glowing brighter as it seems to flare to life with a swirl of magical energy that casts long shadows down the hall. And when the flare ends it leaves Arthur striding forth in that golden plate armor and emerald scale with elaborate armored gauntlets twisting over his arms like a spiral of metal.
    It doesn't take long for him to emerge. Just seconds after the bolt of power crashes into the exterior of the Hall of Justice. He catches sight of the other Leaguers who have rushed to the aid of the city, though now his attention is perhaps more drawn to the flaming creatures and the beings who stand with them in some prominence. Across the comms his voice rises as he looks from burning demon to burning demon and frowns, "Buy me some time? I'll try and dampen the flames."
    As he says that his eyes haze golden as he lifts the trident into the air, the triple tines of the weapon dance with a flicker of electricity, swirling around it and lashing over the tall man's form before it twists further, building and building, then lancing up toward the sky as if upon its blazing light it carried a message for the heavens.
    And that message was a call for the storm.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Trudging along through the park, Karen comes to a half-pause, looking over towards the roof of the Hall. Of course, her eyesight is more than good enough to see that Hal is squaring off against three demons- and her hearing is good enough that she can catch the call from Eclipso. She's fought these demons before, and recognizes that this may be Faust.

    For a moment, she's really tempted to just leave Hal to the demons, pondering to herself what his chances would be- but, sadly, animosity or not: She's not here to let somebody get maybe-killed.

    "Diana, you're uh- calm." she states, tapping the other woman on the shoulder. "I'll leave Faust and Eclipso to you and J'onn for now, that's a can of magical worms I don't want to deal with today. I'll just... Ugh, go save Hal."

    She curls down for a moment, and then launches- there is a loud thunderous boom from the direction of the park, as Karen accelerates to nothing but a frightening blur, crossing the distance between herself and the three demons in the space of a blink. All of that speed comes to a crashing halt as she swoops in on whichever demon happens to be closest- frankly, she's not picky- and she tries to transfer all of that horribly potent momentum in combination with the truly incalculable strength of a Kryptonian, into a shoulder check.

    "Lantern's wrong more often than not, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. If I were you I'd just fall over so we can send you back where you belong without having to outright humiliate you."

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
    As he rises back into the air, J'onn calls on his powers of telekinesis to take hold of the attacking trees and pull them away from the Hall. Knowing better than to try and hit Blackbriar with anything made of wood, he instead launches them at Eclipso in an attempt to either knock him out or at least keep him busy for a while.

    He does not, however, look like he's planning on getting any closer to those flaming demons at this time.

    After the trees are launched at Eclipso, he takes a deep, deep breath and then blows cold hurricane force winds towards the attackers, trying to either blow out the flames or as least send the attackers rolling and bouncing across the plaza so they're off their feet when his melee based teammates jump into the fray.

Hope Svelgate has posed:
From out of the clouds, seemingly from thin air, rides the Pale Rider on her deathly steed leaving a trail of flames across the sky. Lady Death is at this point here for one individual who has managed somehow to elude her time and again, Felix Faust.

The Hall of Justice is normally the last place Lady Death would desire to go, too many mortal governments with too many questions would like a word with her and the League tends to be in alignment with those organizations more often than not. But Faust is here and his continued transgressions continue to enrage her such that caution is thrown to the wind for now.

Holding out her shorter rune-forged Asgardian blade in one hand, the Energy Arcane begins to flow through it as it lengthens and shifts until it has become a vicious looking scytheb. In her other hand is Apocalypse, the Chaos-forged hellblade.

"FAUST!" Bellows Lady Death from high above. "DIE!"

And with that the scythe is hurled spinning through the air towards the demonic sorceror. It bursts into a fiery blue glow as if flies, guided not by strength but the telekinetic powers of the Energy Arcane. Following in the scythe's wake, with Apocalypse held high, swirling with fiery blue and orangey-red mystical power, is Lady Death in full on Nightmare-ish cavalry charge from the sky.

Hal Jordan has posed:
Probably more than one foe has quaked just a little when Arthur has brought that intimidating golden trident into play. As well they should. It is not called the Trident of Poseidon just because it is a cool name afterall. There is power there, power that was once the sole providence of the gods. But no longer. Nor does fear shine in those gleaming eyes. No, it is almost eagerness. And certainly covetousness. "I was hoping you would come to defending this shining edifice Scion of the Sea. More, I was hoping you would bring that," Felix Faust says, gesturing towards the trident in his hand. "You are unworthy of it's power. Bring it to me. Lay it at my feet. And I will leave your people be, in honor of the fact that they once followed the true way. The way of magic."

Chances are that's going to be a hard no. But Faust might be a little drunk on his own power.

In truth, the storm is already here of course. But it is one summoned up by the perversion of nature that are Faust and his allies. The dark, the cold, biting wind that grows and grows as if it will rip down the Hall itself -- and any other buildings nearby as collateral damage. The call of the Trident of Poseidon might be just as unnatural in it's own way, but where the power on dispaly by Faust and his merry friends is a twisting, that of the trident seems more of a summons. One that Nature, it would appear, is more then happy to answer. Hopefully everyone brought their umbrellas and rain coats.

He did warn them. He warned them that they were going to regret this. And Hal Jordan is a pretty daunting individual -- if only because of that little green ring on his finger. Arguably the single most powerful weapon in the Universe -- though it's wielder's... most of them... would argue that it is first and foremost a tool, not a weapon. Still, he might have had some problems against all of the Demon's Three on his own. But then he's not on his own, is he? He's part pf the Justice League.

As Karen barrels into one of the Demons Three -- Ghast as it turns out -- and soars on past, carrying him out of the fight while she pounds on him Hal calls out, "Told you that you'd regret it!" Of course he can't just leave it at that and a giant emerald clock forms in the night sky, the numbered hourse replaced by 'Hal's Right' with twelve separate hands pointing in their direction. But despite the oh so sublte taunts offered up to the powerhouse -- and angry -- Kryptonian, two other emerald constructs lash out as well, a pair of giant wrenches seizing the two remaining Demons to hold them in place. "Nah nah nah. You stay here while my angry blonde friend teaches your brother some manners."

Of course Ghast has no intention of taking things sitting down -- or barrelling through the sky as the case may be -- and he flails at Karen, oversized fists pounding at her, trying to make her slacken her grasp. Together, the Demons Three might be more then a match, even for a Kryptonian. But Karen has proven on more then one occasion that individually they are not up to the task of taking her on by themselves.

Hal Jordan has posed:
There is no cry from the wooden figure of Blackbriar Thorn as the Martian Manhunter shatters the roots of the trees he has commendeared and sends the remains of those roots flying about the battlefield to try and make others scatter. But those roughly hewn features do seem to look slightly pained, almost as if the attack was launched at him, himself. Either way the ancient druid seems to gather himself, bracing himself against the windstorm of J'onn's superbreath -- almost like he has put down roots himself -- and an instant later pillars of earth begin to launch themselves upward, angling towards the soaring Martian. First one. Then another and another as the druid calls upon the elements and if he can't hit J'onn, well, he adds his own distraction.

The Martian's gambit does succeed in another respect though as that splintered wood pelts the Lord of Darkness, forcing his to whirl away, that debris pelting Eclipso. And hitting home it seems. When the one-time Spirit of Vengeance straightens rivulets of blood pour down one side of his body and his back, jagged splinters of wood still embedded in that shadowed flesh. But if he is hurt it does not seem to have dimmed his dark humor, that unnatural grin still firmly fixed in place. "Ahhh, the Martian. The Freak," he bites out cheerfully. "What makes you rage? Perhaps the memory of your people being wiped out by their ancestral enemies? Perhaps the tought of all the innocents I am going to claim when you fail to stop me? What will make you give me your rage?" he calls out, snarling as he raises that black diamond to his eye, another burst of darkness lashing out towards J'onn.

And there she is. Each time Faust has brought the fight to the Justice League she has been there. Apart from them, but every bit as vexxing. Lady Death's arrival is timely indeed for it does an excellent job of diverting the Sorcerer's attention from Arthur. But even she can't bring a flicker from terror to his features -- which my give evidence more then anything else that he is not entirely sane. Instead, he almost looks... bored? He turns when she screams at him, turns his gaze up towards her as she hurls that scythe his way. It flies true and no force field appears this time to turn it away. Until the last second when it is as if a sword simply appears out of nowhere in front of him, deflecting her fearesome weapon away. A very familiar sword.

"I am disappointed in you. I thought, of all my enemies you might understand my grand design. Appreciate what I am trying to do in bringing magic back to the forefront of this universe. But you are just as blind," he says, almost sounding regretful. But that amused smile quickly slides into place on Faust's features. "Fortunately you are not my only option, not anymore. It was not easy to make her see the truth. I've spent several months in the endeavor. Certainly Eclipso helped as well. But Lady Death, may I introduce you to... Lady Death.

And as if a curtain of invisibility has dropped there stands a familiar figure, holding that familiar sword. Like a photo negative of the woman in the sky above, black of skin and hair another figure stands, sword and sycthe in hand.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    The trident spins in Arthur's hands as the electricity seems to join from the weapon to the cloud, surging forth and causing an abrupt roar of clouds to gather and darken and form, almost as if in perfect counterpoint to the wicked storm-front brought forth by Faust and the demons of inferno. The weapon twists, while lightning cracks down, dancing across the lines toward the demonic forces as the winds pick up and /veer/ then... as if finally finding a place to vent its rage, the storm lets loose with a torrential rainfall that blasts across the city. Heavy rain carried by hurricane winds pelt and slash toward the evils that menace the heroes...
    Now set free, the trident /slams/ into the ground and releases another blast of power that lances out toward the nearest creatures that menace the hall at ground level. With the stage set, the environment more on their side, Arthur scowls and says on the comms,
    "If we need to do some finger wiggling before we beat the tar out of these guys someone let me know. Otherwise I'm just gonna hit them a lot." Because Arthur apparently hadn't gotten to that memo yet.
    Louder he calls back to Faust, "I'm sorry, do I fuckin' know you?" And as he says that he breaks into a run, exploding with a burst of inhuman speed as he darts forth seeking to leap into the horde as the rain falls around him, trying to smash the weapon down into as many as possible.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Admittedly, Karen is pretty much in favor of this result: Hal is left to deal with the other two demons for the moment, while Power Girl peels Ghast off of him to deal with. Against all three, she might have been only able to do so much as hold them off. One at a time, there's a genuine shot that not only are the tables turned, but that they're drastically in Karen's favor. She likes that.

    She also likes that against two demons, Hal may not have a great time. It brightens her day a bit. "Don't get your happy ass beat too hard out there, Hal. I'll be right back." she utters, using Ghast's swinging on her to lurch a change in direction- and sending them both hurtling into the air.

    The demon pummels her with blows, and there is plenty of pain to accompany- the truth of it is that with all that toughness, no matter how impossible it is to put a Kryptonian down under a yellow sun, that doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt. It always hurts. It's just that for the past two decades, Karen has learned to fight through the worst pain imaginable. All of that stubbornness has to benefit somehow.

    She breaks the grapple with Ghast at the moment that he flings one of his mighty blows, and seeks to turn that against him. If she can catch his fist, she'll turn that into a wicked spin, fast and rough enough to turn a normal person to jelly and likely disorient even the toughest of opponents, before flinging him straight up into the sky. This alone isn't that bad, but Karen means to follow up on that disorientation, chasing Ghast higher up in hopes of delivering a series of stunningly powerful blows, each increasing in power as the pair increase in height, and the dangers inherent to her cutting loose become less and less significant.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
    As Thorn's pillars raise towards him, J'onn simply goes insubstantial and lets the earthen attacks pass right through him. Shaking his head, he simply moves through the attack and starts stealing Thorn's rocks now that they are in the air and redirects them towards Eclipso, trying to keep him focused on avoiding further missiles. When the grinning villain fires his blast, several of the floating rock bunch up in front of the Manhunter to take the blow.

    He raises his voice only slightly to respond, "You are hardly enough to draw out my rage, Eclipso. But you will not harm anyone today."

Hoping that dodging large rocks is dividing Eclipso's attention, J'onn suddenly throws the rocks he was holding and then lashes out with telekinesis, trying to see if in a moment of distraction he can rip the black diamond out of Eclipso's hands. If successful, he doesn't actually touch it, just keeps it floating behind him out of the way.

Hope Svelgate has posed:
The Scythe clangs against 'Apocalypse' in a shower of sparks as enchanted metal meets enchanted metal before spinning back to the hand of the Hellspawned Valkyrie. Though her charge towards Faust and now this NegaDeath doesn't slow in the slightest.

"You think /I/ would ever bow to /you/?" Lady Death throws her head back laughing as her hair whips about in the winds of the storm and her charge. "I bow to no one you fucking imbecile and this little bitch? Will never know true power. You broke her? Then she is already dust."

Apocalypse is held aloft, burning with the power of the Energy Arcane as it begins to draw the fiery orange power of Chaos Magic around it from the Ends of Infinity, intensifying to a brilliant red as the power surges around the blade.

"No more games!" Vassago surges forth with blinding speed and the wicked glowing blade is brought down upon the one who would dare to use her face as she shouts, "Blixtnedslag!!!" Calling forth a powerful bolt of lightning from the storm above into her blade as it strikes!

Hal Jordan has posed:
And the heavens open up.

In some ways the skies above Metropolis turn into a battleground that mirrors that going on below, with strike versus counterstrike given. A cold, hard rain begins to pour down -- not exactly pleasant for anyone but it does have the helpful effect of first dampening and then completely putting out the fires started by the demon host. Steam rises up in little coils as the cold, wet droplets his the burning demons and if they flinch slightly that does not seem to keep them from rushing the source of their pain. Little imps throw balls of fire towards Arthur, the rain making them weak, fizzing things to be sure but dozens dart across the entrance way. Larger, heavier demons, perhaps a foot or two taller then the Atlantean with corded muscles bulging from their dark forms might be more of a threat as they rush him, each in turn meeting that flailing trident and each in turn driven back. But the numbers, the sheer numbers are many and they keep throwing themselves at him.

Hurray for personal force fields. The green glow that envelopes the Green Lantern also keeps that cold rain from reaching him, keeps that biting wind that sweeps across the sky in cruel ocunterpoint from touching him either, no matter how much it drives against the glowing barrier of light. Which is good. Hal doesn't really need the distraction right now. The force of his Will is honed to a razor sharp edgem but he is still attempting to hold back two ancient powers of the universe. There are not many beings that have existed as long as the Guardians, but the Demons Three come close. "Your concern warms me Power Girl. I'm almost tempted to show your itty bitty heart growing three sizes this day," Hal chirps right back, though there is a note of strain in his voice -- just barely discernable -- as he tries to tighten those hard-light wrenches around Abnegazar and Rath.

It is easy to forget just how formidable the Demons Three can be, at least when they are no in service to Faust. If they were not bound to those artifacts that orbit the mad sorcerer, dancing through the air like a carousel. They are ancient and powerful and even intelligent in their own way. But they come from a time of magic, of raw, uncontrolled energy. They know those forces. Phsyics? They're a little less up to date on. So Ghast's blow is caught easily by the Kryptonian, that force of the blow readily turned against him as he is hurled upward, tumbling end over end and though the demon can fly before he can right himself Karen is on him once more, striking him again and again as he is driven ever upward, away from the frey.

Powerful does not necessarily mean wise. The last thing the Martian Manhunter needs is more ammunition to be flung here and there by his telekinesis but Blackbriar Thorn indulges him nonetheless, fruitlessly sending those pillars of earth chasing after J'onn even as he phases through them and makes use of them in his own attack. Looking on and rolling his eyes in disgust, the corpulent confidence man, Amos Fortune steps out from behind Faust's shadow and instead turns his attention towards the flying alient, a look of concentration marking his features as that driving rain pounds against his features and soaks the robes he wears. But subtlely, the local fields of probility begin to shift, to churn. A hundred dice thrown in that moment might all turn up snake-eyes. A flashy power? No. But it is always good to have luck on one's side. Or turn it against an enemy.

Hal Jordan has posed:
As the rocks are hurled at him, Eclipso dances away, in among the missiles directed his way. And when he can't dodge one he raises an arm and smashes it aside, a reminder that he is not without superhuman strength either. Perhaps he is distracted -- or perhaps he is only too eager to have the Martian take up that shard of his power -- but the black diamond in his hand almost leaps with eagerness to be snapped up by J'onn's telekinetic grip and if the vengeful spirit below is bitter that his foe is to clever to seize the dark gemstone, he gives no signs of it. "If you wish my diamonds Martian, by all means, take them all," he says, throwing his arms akimbo. And a storm of black demstones seem to manifest out of nowhere, hundreds upon hundreds launched in the Manhunter's direction.

It does seem... unlikely that this twisted, mirror image of Lady Death can stand up to her opposite here. Perhaps it is a trick or perhaps Faust really has found a means of claiming soldiers from elsewhere. Either way, the 'negative' duplicate meets her opposite, wordless though gaze just as stormy. Again she steps forth to intercept the assault, to block it from striking her 'master' but the onslaught of lightning drives her back a step and then another. In a way that one suspects the real Lady Death would never allow.

"Defeat her or not. It matters not. All of reality is my playground now. I will find your worthy successor to stand with me. In one dimension or another," he says, actually turning away from the fearsome valkyrie as she battles her doppleganger and towards the approaching Atlantean, the smile returning to his face.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Landing amongst the horde, Arthur lays about with the weapon in hand, bringing it around to crack against the side of one beast's head and using that shift of momentum to slam into another. It becomes a steady rhythm of strike, turn, impale, move, all with flashes of gold and green and electrical power that slashes forth. Though at moments that rhythm breaks when a flash of fire impacts into his armored suit, shifting his balance and even once allowing one of the taller monstrosities to /crack/ a fist across his jaw. Enough to send him back for a moment. Long enough for him to wipe his jaw and scowl before he leaps back into the fray.
    Voices continue to be raised in the din of the storm and words hurled between sides like their own form of weapons. Lady Death's blades draw the eye, then the woman herself as well as she screams that word of power to the clouds and draws forth the storm's power. Enough to engender a smirk on the tall man's features as he says on the comms,
    "Who is the albino gal? New rookie?" Yet it's clear she is no such thing with how she handles the battle. Yet her struggle with Faust and the doppelganger serves as a rally point, a place for Arthur to work toward as he lashes out at the demonic, moving closer toward Faust.
    Hopefully his attention remains focused as he moves in from another angle, even as the roars and screams from the demons as they're impaled might grow louder as he draws near.

Karen Starr has posed:
    There is a clear and present danger in engaging a Kryptonian: You have to take control of the fight quickly. Keep your footing, and keep the battle at your pace, or the combination of speed, strength, and sheer overwhelming versatility will spell your downfall. This is a lesson Karen is teaching Ghast- because she has no intention of letting him regain his bearings enough to mount a defense, let alone turn that into an offense.

    The sound of each blow gets louder and louder as they further launch into the sky above Metropolis, each titanic blow audible below by the booming crack of the shockwave. Eventually, this tactic is going to wear thin: Karen is not about to get stale. After delivering a further blow to send Ghast into the sky, the lurches into super-speed, the world around her seeming as if the simulation had stalled. The rain, frozen in time, provides no barrier to her planning her next gambit.

    J'onn has engaged both Briar and Eclipso, and that much, Karen will not abide; Though she trusts the Manhunter is more than clever enough, more than capable enough to hold his own, she wants to both end her fight swiftly, and provide assistance- something she has an immediate idea in how to do.

    Moving through the air like a fish through water, Power Girl comes in around Ghast and offers one line to him: "Say hello for me when you get there." Then, with all the freedom she has to bring her immeasurable strength to bear, she swings one last bunker-busting right straight at Ghast.

    If it connects, as if she's playing a game of 5D Billiards, Ghast may find himself knocked back so violently that he cannot stop himself from slamming right into his two-tone compatriot.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
    Eclipso may be willing to send those diamonds J'onn's way, but the Manhunter wants no part of them. He kicks up his speed and dodges the diamond attack, trying to grab them with his telekinesis. However, at the same time he dodges, Fortune robs him of complete success in the move. He dodges right into the path of another of Thorn's attacks, and doesn't manage to catch them all. Several of the black diamonds streak out of sight and into the city, leaving J'onn holding most of them and the one Eclipso started with. Hopefully those were just an attack and not the kind that lets Eclipso possess people, or the League will have some problems for the next several months.

    He grabs the rock that hit him and returns it to it's sender, trying to at least keep Thorn busy for a minute.

    "I have no time for further games." is all the Martian says before he simply attempts to rip the diamond apart on the sub-atomic level, finding it's stress points.

Hope Svelgate has posed:
Lady Death snears at her photonegative counterpart, laughing gleefully as her opponent loses ground, and the lust for battle consumes her. This is it, one of the few things that can still make her feel alive.

Even as Apocalypse remains locked with Nega-Apocalypse, colorful mystic sparks flying in every direction, she brings up her other hand that grips Scynister in its scythe form. The rune-forged weapon again begins to glow an intense fiery blue as the Energy Arcane is channeled into it once again, assuming it's final form, something inbetween a scythe and a chain whip that seems to be as long or as short as she wills it. With a snap of her wrist the blade and its chain are sent lashing out, not to cut NegaDeath but to try and wrap her up and bind her arms to her sides as Lady Death utters another Scandinavian sounding incantation.

"Helvete elektrisk stot!!!"

This time the excess electric energy previously absorbed through her sword and into herself, is sent surging back out, along the chain towards her foe!

If Faust's words reach her, there is no immediate outward sign, too lost has she become in the pleasure of battle. For now the opponent in front of her has all of her attention, and then the one behind them, and the one behind them. Though Faust remains pretty high in that order.

Hal Jordan has posed:
While the demon horde might be intimidating enough, their numbers making them a threat that they otherwise are not to the Leaguers the sheer pack of them begins to diminish as Arthur cuts and stabs and pummels his way through them, even their boundless numbers not making up for the ones that he puts down. But now and then one breaches those defenses, one of them gets a shot in. Death by a thousand cuts? Maybe. But it seems that they're going to have to breach the Atlantean's defenses a few more hundred times if they're going to get that trident from him.

Ghast struggles to cope with Power Girl's onslaught. Perhaps he could match her strength, but the combination of speed and strength is just too much for him as he is pummelled again and again, higher into the sky above Metropolis, actually seeming to hang there for just a moment. That moment until Karen's blow hits home once more sending the towering demon plummetting back down towards the earth below, back down towards where Eclipso, Blackbriar Thorn and Amos Fortune attempt to overwhelm the Martian Manhunter...

For his part Hal has no issues with stealing a good idea from someone else. Keeping those glowing green wrenches might prevent Abnegazar and Rath from getting into the frey or from continuing to tear the Hall apart. But retraining them is keeping him from the frey too. So as he watches Ghast plummet downward like a comet he begins to whirl his duo as well, sending them tumbling down towards their foes. "Say hi to Faust for me," he says cheerily before offering up a retort to Arthur over the comms. "Haven't met her myself, but the reports I've read from the previous encounters with Faust say she's shown up every time to oppose him," the Green Lantern offers up. "Pretty nasty disposition though and we might have to intervene and stop her from tearing him apart if she gets her hands on him. LIke literally, tearing him apart."

As Abnegazar and Ghast come crashing down amongst them Blackbriar Thorn is rocked back though he keeps his feet -- rooted and all -- though it does mean that the rocks that pound down on him also start tearing chunks out the tree druid, temporarily taking him out of the fight. Amos Fortune is also force to throw himself aside with not a whole lot of grace, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the bulk of one of the demons as he tumbles across the plaza, the local probability fields snapping back into place once more. Mission accomplished there.

Eclipso laughs as several of those diamonds fly out and scatter throughout the city, the smirk on his features certainly suggesting that they might have problems to come thanks to that. But the smile is wiped from his face as J'onn turns his attention to the most minute, most fine telekinetic work, looking to decostruct some of the black diamonds at the sub-atomic level. Suddenly eyes narrow and most of those gemstones leap back, flying back towards Eclipso, striking home and simply... absorbed into his body. "Do you think you can destroy that Heart of Darkness so easily Martian?" he bites out. But his reaction suggests that perhaps J'onn has indeed had some measure of success. At least for now.

Hal Jordan has posed:
Perhaps she is right. Perhaps there is something fundamental to her nature, something that insures that surrender drains away that power that drives her. Either way, the alternate Lady Death does not seem to be able to match up to her counterpart. Oh, blows are exchanged and she fights back. Apocalypse parries and lashes out, that scythe rains down on her opposite, but each attack is turned away. And each counterstroke comes closer and closer to breaching her defenses. Until that chain lashes out, until it wraps around her, binding her arms to her side, limiting her ability to bring her own sword to bear. As energy courses along that chain the reverse-valkyrie suddenly screams, a sound that breaks over even the rest of the din going on in the plaza. For seconds that seem impossibly long -- at least for her -- that agonized cry fills Metropolis' evening air. And then Nega-Lady Death falls.

Faust watches as Arthur approaches, watches as his broken version of Lady Death falls. Watches as Ghast's plummetting form bears down on him and his allies, falling impossibly fast thanks to Power Girl's strength. "Bending other realities to my will is not the only way that I've spent these past few months," he says with surprising calm, words possibly lost under the growing clamor of battle filling the plaza. "You might be too blind to see the glory of my cause. That fool in Latveria may have refused to join my crusade. But others have greater foresight."

Above, the plummeting form of Ghast suddenly comes to an abrupt stop, almost like he has been caught in midair. And indeed he has. A giant hand starts to shimmer into existence and there, standing nearly fifty feet tall is something that looks almost like a parody. The long white beard, the green and purple flowing robes and the hat perched atop his head with wings of all things jutting out the side. "Behold, Mordru. Lord of Chaos," Faust proclaims grandly before laughing.

And the falling rain suddenly turns, from cold droplets of rain to burning embers of fire.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Roger that," Is Arthur's rough response as he grunts and /shoves/ one of the larger demons out of the way, then wheels the trident over one shoulder to catch it at its end and slash through the middle of that one monstrosity, sending it hurtling back from the impact.
    It grants a moment of a breather as Arthur grimaces and rounds to start to close once again with Faust. The horde is mostly scattered, he has a line toward the spell-user. With a rush of movement he darts forward only to see Ghast collide heavily with that... shield? Forcefield? No, the giant's hand as Mordru rises majestically before the leaguers. Enough of a monstrosity to give the prince of Atlantis pause...
    And then suddenly the heat /washes/ over him as the sky becomes bright with flame and rock and murder. The bravado is stolen from him, the bluster as he's locked in place and grimaces, bringing his arms up and the trident as well, creating some... sphere of shelter that seems to clash and fight against the flames that pelt that small area of safety. Roughly Arthur roars and shouts out loud but also onto the comms.
    "I'll... I'll try to fight this. But if you got a rabbit up your sleeve I suggest you guys use it now!" Then the impacts of the fire forces him to one knee heavily, trident still raises as Poseidon's power struggles against the force of Chaos.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen, honestly, is taking a moment to be ecstatic that her aim was good on hitting the others with Ghast... At least until things go sideways in an instant. A building sized man emerges, and for a moment Karen ponders exactly what to do. This is, clearly, Faust's trump card. Another one of his allies- one that Karen doesn't know a whole lot about, but one that certainly is, if his emergence is timed properly, a major threat. Worse still, all of these threats are magical in some way: The demons are physical threats, so Power Girl feels comfortable dealing with them, but the others are more esoteric. Magic is not her forte.

    "Uh... Shit." she remakrs to herself, trying to ponder exactly what to do. For a moment, she's just kinda... There in the sky. The thing is, though: She's spent two decades doing this, fighting these fights, and the one thing she's ever seen is that these alliances are always tenuous at best. There's one strategy here that she can enact, and she's not one hundred percent confident in it- because she's hardly the diplomatic type, and it's definitely going to hurt- but it's all she has.

    Swooping in from the sky in a blur, she holds herself in the air above the combat going on below. "Did I hear that right?" she calls, "Faust has Mordru working for him now? I thought it was bad that he'd managed to get Eclipso as a lackey, but Mordru might be a little more than enough, guys."

    The bluff here is more than a little that she doesn't exactly know much about Mordru- and is just assuming that he's the all powerful wizard sort. "I just gotta know though, what caused all of you guys to join up with Faust's little group? This just seems real odd, you know- he's never had this many people working for him before."

    With any luck, the wording here- Working For Faust, etc.- that might be what she needs to drive a wedge in this Magical Anus Dream Team.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
    As the rain turns to fire, a little switch in J'onn's brain flips, and suddenly he needs to be _Somewhere Else_! Heading for the nearest protection from the rain of fire, he swoops at top speed towards the door of the Hall. Sorry for the windows, but he's at top speed. Most of his brain is filled with fire, but he manages to do one thing. If it connects, Faust may in fact die right here and now.

    Because the supersonic Martian is clotheslining him as he passes the sorcerer on his way into the hall.

    Or, more likely, J'onn will have a badly broken arm as it slams into whatever shield Faust may have up. But sometimes panic makes you do something before thinking it through, and J'onn is just happy he thought to try and help the team as he flees from the rain of fire.

    Once he's actually inside, if there are more fire demons in the Hall, he'll shake himself off and try the freezing breath trick again in this more confined area and see how they like it.

Hope Svelgate has posed:
The chain wraps and flesh sizzles as electricity courses through the body of Lady Death's 'dark' counterpart NegaDeath. Lady Death savors that scream lost in her battlelust. She throws back her head cackling as her enemy spasms and smokes within the coils of the electrified chain.

With another snap of her wrist the chain is recalled to a much shorter length allowing the body to fall. Dismounting, Lady Death sends her Nightmare steed Vassago onward to harry the demon hoards. Stepping up to the fallen body of NegaDeath, she reaches down and seizing a fistfull of those raven tresses hoists her back up again by her hair, lifts her until they are face to face. Fiery blue light begins to burn in Lady Death's eyes and even her mouth as well as she starts to inhale and energy begins to stream forth from NegaDeath's own eyes and mouth into Lady Death's own as the fallen's power is drained down to her very soul. And in turn the Pale Warrior Maiden's own fiery blue glow intensifies with the stolen power, the spoils of victory. The withered husk is then casually flung aside as she turns her gaze to her next foe.

Consumed as she is in her battlelust, Lady Death finds herself now torn, the way to Faust is open again, but a Chaos Lord? The /sheer/ /thrill/ of it tugs at her desires. If she were rational right now she would lunge straight for Faust, for the one who has eluded her so many times, but she's not and while she may regret it later the Chaos Lord is just too much to pass up. She's /enjoying/ this.

"Vassago to me!" Screams Lady Death as she rockets into the air leaving a trail of Energy Arcane in her wake, mounting her albino Nightmare steed as she goes, the pale rider charges straight for Mordru!

Hal Jordan has posed:
Of course Arthur has already shown just how useful that hard, driving rain can be, the cold wind of Faust's arrival perhaps even aiding it unintentionally as it drives it down into the fires. But this is no mere demon flame. It is the power of a Lord of Chaos. As the Atlantean redoubled his efforts, turning his focus back to trying to push back the heat and flame the sputterihng rain starts again. But it does not banish that growing rain of fire. Only matches it, at least for now as the giant sorcerer brings his will to bear.

With his demons down -- at least for the moment -- Hal abandons his place atop the Hall of Justice, literally streaking down to the plaza below, taking up his place beside Arthur as he attempts to deal with the rain of fire. He is not oblivious for the difficulties that this could present to J'onn in particular so even as he lands a translucent green film seems to envelope the Martian, covering him in a protective field to keep the fire at bay. Of course such protection might due against the physical threat but offers little relief from the psychological threat that the rain of fire presents. Either way, it is all that he can do in that moment and he turns back towards Faust with a look of grim determination, that ring hand coming up, a glowing emerald half sphere surrounding Arthur and himself. And beginning to expand. "Pull out all the rabbits from your hat you want Faust. You know how this is going to end," he says, green tendrils lashing out from his force field to try and batter the mad sorcerer -- watching as each one is deflected away with a casual flick of Faust's wrist.

It is not very often that the League finds itself outmatched in the sheer power department. Even less so when their ranks boast a Kryptonian, the Martian, the Atlantean and a Green Lantern. And a helping hand from a very angry Valkryie. But it is possible that they are out of their depth on this occasion. So Karen's gambit might indeed be the smart one. The egos involved here are -- in at least one case -- quite literally as big as a skyscrapper. And Power Girl's words seem to have the intended effect. A set of angry retorts almost immediately greet her play --

"Mordru the Unborn, the Eternal serves no one --"

"Allies," Eclipso hisses. "United in cause. If you think you rule me Faust--"

"Don't fall for such an obvious gamit. Not when we are so close. Put aside your pride and--" Faust begins, desperately trying to counter the Leaguer's words. It is not only a well timed 'attack', it is a distraction that almost proves decisive as J'onn careens into Faust. A lesser sorcerer would perhaps indeed see his head detached from his shoulders, sent flying, but the magical shield that protects the wizard holds, if barely. Still, the sorcerer pitches forward, knocked from his feet as he gives a scream of rage. "Enough! Destory them all! We're so close!" Faust rages, sending a bolt of pure mystical energy towards Karen to try and silence her.

Blackbriar Thorn and Eclipso hesitate for a moment, Power Girl's words perhaps teasing at them, making them doubt. But the moment passes as the inky dark blasts of Eclipso begin to pound on Green Lantern's dome of protection. The ground beneath Arthur and Hal literally shifts and then explodes upward as new twisting roots breakthrough the concrete, seeking the two Leaguers who are now under siege both within and without.

Hal Jordan has posed:
For his part Mordru looks half incredulous, half infuriated as Lady Death launches herself into the sky in challenge to him. To a Lord of Chaos. It is enough to slow his reactions, enough to let her get far closer then he might wish. "You would challenge me?" he booms, the sound of his voice shattering glass a block away. One giant hand waves and bright, searing red beams leap from him, cascading down towards the impudent valkyrie in a shower that is a match for the falling embers of flame that continues to fall.

<YOU ARE NOT ALONE> comes a voice in answer and in the middle of the courtyard light suddenly blooms, an ankh-shaped portal opening up as a figure in blue and gold steps through, hovering above the ground. A golden dome begins to manifest, begins to spread, covering the Hall of Justice and the plaza out front, stretching out to prevent the rain of fire from descending on the city beyond. <FATE IS WITH YOU. CHAOS HAS NO PLACE HERE> comes that hollow intonation from the golden helmetted figure. A golden glow pulses from Dr. Fate, washing over each of the defenders before surrounding each of them in turn. <YOU HAVE MY PROTECTION>.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Like climbing the sheer cliff face of a gigantic mountain that stands indomitable before him, like holding onto the edge of the abyss with naught save oblivion there offered before him. Arthur does only what he can even as Hal sets down and lashes out with his ring, providing both protection and aid to J'onn and some respite to Aquaman.
    It is a little at first, the small sphere he creates to resist the flames, even as high above the clouds swirl and twist while the chaos monstrosity steals control. Arthur just has to assail that cliff face one hand hold at a time. Things fade from his awareness. Green Lantern is an emerald presence, illumination at his side. Karen's voice provides another moment, another anchor to grasp that next handhold as he tries to broaden that focus of power. J'onn's recovery in the face of his monumental fear. And Lady Death's wild battle glee. Each serve as a place, a focal point, for the Atlantean to gather and push and move forward while trying to turn the tide as he can.
    So when Dr. Fate makes his appearance, the golden light and dome manifesting in such power. It is like the dawn over the horizon as one finally reaches the crest and Arthur /pushes/ back with such a strong explosion of willpower as he roars and the storm answers.

Karen Starr has posed:
    "You know, if it were me, I'd be seriously considering whether the phrase Put Aside Your Pride is a thing you'd say to someone who is equal to you." she begins, offering a midair shrug. "But what do I know. From the looks of it, all of you are /clearly/ equals, and there's /definitely/ no hierarchy that Faust has established with him on top. Only question is, if there were, would you be happy with where you sit in it?" Around that time, Doctor Fate emerges from his own golden ankh, and Karen begins to reassess. Looking over the battlefield, she pauses with her attention on Lady Death. "Yeah, you can have that guy. No need to waste my time on the guy Faust didn't feel confident in bringing to the fight 'til the end."

    Kryptonian lungs make sure that line is delivered, and it's the last of that gambit. With the protection offered by Fate, Power Girl brings one hand to the other, and peps herself momentarily by pounding the knuckles of one gloved fist into the opposite palm. "Right. Let's do some real damage."

    She surges out of the sky, pushing into super speed and bursting through a number of the fallen embers, which burst and pop on her impervious form. Her target is Eclipso, who she knows is a threat beyond most of those present- and at Mach Why, the haymaker she's out to deliver is one that matches that which she could only put forward in the sky above mere moments before. If it connects, it'll be one hell of a hit.

    Luckily, the presence of their own wizard is a key to Karen that collateral damage is probably not a big deal, and even if it is... The League owns the Hall. They'll just send the bill to Bruce, as per usual.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
After his breath piles the demonic invaders of the hall into a pile against the wall, J'onn uses his fear to heighten his powers. Turning to face the doors, the most powerful telepath on Earth lashes out with his mind, trying to break into Faust's mind. His eyes narrow as the sorcerer puts up a fight, but there is really only one outcome to this.

    J'onn doesn't like doing this at all, it feels too much like an assault on his target's very person and identity, but sometimes it is needed. As he keeps the assault up, Faust's mental defenses crumble, and for at least a moment, J'onn takes possession of Faust.

    Controlled by J'onn's mind, Faust cackles as his gaze sweeps over his allies, and the sorcerer makes a statement he will shortly regret...

    "Yes, look at the servants I have brought with me, puny heros! Even Mordru serves Faust!"

    And that is all the control J'onn manages as the Demons Three add their power to Faust's mental defense, making it strong enough to break free of the Martian's control. Faust blinks, looks up at Mordru and quietly says "Oh no."

Hope Svelgate has posed:
The expression on Lady Death's face is one of madness as she seeks to challenge the Chaos Lord astride her steed. The battle lust has fully consumed her, drunk as she is on even greater power than even she normally commands after draining her otherworldly counterpart.

The rune-forged chain-blade is returned to her side as she grips Apocalypse in both hands. The light of the blade flares like a veritable bonfire, a swirling mass of Energy Arcane and primordial power shot through with sparkling hints of holy light as she summons a tremendous amount of mystic might. The blade itself appears many times its regular size as she swings it into the onslaught of red Chaos energy coming from Mordru! For an eye opening moment it seems like she might actually be holding her ground in a metaphorical mystic blade lock. All around her embers of fire rain down, white hair whipping in the wind, as her eyes burn fiercely with the same light as the blade.

But then slowly she begins to get pushed back, first an inch, then a foot, the speed picking up until she is careening in an arcing descent down towards the ground. Thrown free of Vassago, she lands with a resounding impact, still refusing to give, refusing to surrender, to yield is to perish. Her feet dig deeply into the Earth leaving furrows in the ground as she continues to be pushed back. It is perhaps only the intervention of Dr. Fate that ultimately extricates her from the situation, that glow allowing her to manage one final sweep of her blade deflecting Mordru's blast skyward, even if she couldn't actually stop it.

There she stands, clutching her blade, seething with the exertion, face contorted in mad glee as she looks up at Mordru. Perhaps she is counting not being destroyed as a victory.

Perhaps it is that sweet wave of fear from Faust that draws Lady Death's attention back to him just in time for her to witness what follows.

Hal Jordan has posed:
If anyone could counter Mordru surely it would be Dr. Fate. But he does not lash out at the Lord of Chaos, does not pit the might of Order against his opposite. Instead he spreads out that power, offers a measure of protection to the other Leaguers and their ally in this fight, suffusing them with that golden glow, that radiance that offers a measure of protection against the mystic forces being thrown around. In subtly enhances and reinforces their efforts, straightening resolve, rather then guiding or directing their response. And he floats there, in the center of the plaza letting his energy wash over them all to counter the efforts of Faust, Mordru and their allies.

Moments earlier it may have seemed that the rain of fire would overwhelm Arthur's efforts to hold it back. But sometimes seconds make for very big differences. That golden glow that surrounds the Atlantean also surrounds the Trident of Poseidon, it bolster's Arthur's will and as he roars the skies open up, an absolute torrent bursting from the skies. Lord of Chaos or not, the flaming embers begin to sputter, to weaken and to fail and in moments die entirely, snuffed out by the Atlanteanwhat fires had started to spread in the city are wiped out with minimal damage and overhead the raging, whirling clouds that have been circling finally break, cloud cover clearing as that rich, star-lit tapestry begins to resolve into sight once more.

Oh those little seeds sown of doubt. A wall can be all but impenatrable but seed enough creepers in those tiny cracks and even a weed can bring it down with time, making brick and stone and mortar crumble away beneath the patient onslaught. Faust has proven remarkably resilient -- and maybe a little lucky. So perhaps it will be words, not fists, and the overweening pride of so many megalomaniacal that ultimately brings this plot down. Karen scatters a few more seeds amongst that wall and nurses those creepers to life. For a moment it seems like Faust is intent on helping her, spewing out that joyful gloating. Unfortunately for him, it seems the sort of thing he would indeed say so even as he sputters, tries to deny it the damage might be done. "That wasn't me," he parks out, eyes wide, a hint of panic finally showing there in his expression. "That Martian, the Martian..." he barks out, starting to lose control, not exactly presenting a rational case. There are consequences to underestimating a telepath.

Words are good. Sometimes fists are pretty satisfying too. Eclipso flinches a little at the light radiating from Dr. Fate. It might not be solar radiation, but it is apparently a little too close for comfort and the Spirit of Vengeance recoils -- just a little. Enough that he has no defense as Power Girl steamrolls down on him, hitting him with that wild haymaker that sends him flying. He arches across the plaza, lands hard on the far side of the reflecting pool and skips several dozen more feet. If he was actually a person there might not be a lot of skin left on him. But he is far more then that. Still, he looks dazed, fumbling as if trying to recover his black diamond.

Hal Jordan has posed:
For his part, freed from protective detail Hal takes to the air once more that power ring starting to flare brightly, flickering, sputtering green energy leaping from it almost eagerly. A giant anvil suddenly appears overhead, dropping a dozen or so feet to land squarely on the fallen Demons Three, pinning them beneath. But the Emerald Warrior is not done, splitting that energy beam as a giant, oversized boxing glove appears beginning to lash out and pummel the wooden druid. "Looks like it's not your day afterall."

Perhaps Mordru is so incredulous that he is unable to bring his full might crashing down on Lady Death's head. Perhaps his foe in this instant is more powerful that seems possible. Perhaps consuming her duplicate -- or whatever the truth behind Faust's words might be -- tipped the scales. Either way, she is only driven back. Still, Mordru looks absolutely furious. Whether at the challenge or at Faust's words -- no matter how were behind them. "You weak-willed little man. I should leave you to them. It is the least of what you deserve for your presumption," he booms angrily and even Fate's shield can not keep more windows from shattering. "But you would tilt the universe back towards Chaos. You would unravel Order and put science back in it's place. You would serve my ends, knowingly or not and so I shall see that you serve me still." The Lord of Chaos turns his contemptuous gaze towards Fate and the golden helmet that conceals his features. "This is not over."

There is no light, no sudden flash. No portal opens, no shimmering fade out washes over him. One moment Mordru, Faust and their allies are there. And then next minute they are simply gone. Dr. Fate hangs in the air there in the middle of the plaza for a few heartbeats longer. And then the golden glow that suffuses each of the heroes vanishes as if it was never there and he falls the few feet to land on one knee on the ground, head hanging for a moment as if completely drained of all strength. <Faust is so close to realizing his goal. And whether he is allowed to complete his crusade or Mordru takes it up as his own, Chaos cannot be allowed to rule. We must talk. Soon.>

Arthur Curry has posed:
    The golden gleam remains prominent and powerful all around Arthur and the trident. As the monstrosities and their allies disappear leaving them alone... and then for the light to fade, Arthur slams the trident down and takes a deep breath to shout.
    "Stay the fuck out of our city!"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
    Stepping back out of the Hall now that the rain of fire is gone, J'onn moves over to Doctor Fate to see if he can help. His mental voice answers Fate's message in all of his teammate's heads. <Anything you can tell us that would help is welcome. I would imagine you can find us whenever you wish to speak.>

    In the meantime, he helps Dr. Fate to at least sit up, if not stand. <Thank you for your assistance. I'd say we owe you quite a large favor.> Turning to look over at the others, he shakes his head and speaks out loud, "I apologize for my weakness. I have tried for many centuries to overcome this fear, but nothing seems to work."

Hope Svelgate has posed:
Lady Death was sure Faust was about to be struck down by his own allies, it was enough of a consolation prize that she would have been satisfied with not getting his soul herself. Instead when they all manage to not only remain united but disappear /yet again/ her expression contorts into one of fury and she lets out a scream of rage. The hunt continues. She'll find him eventually, and each time he runs away it only gives her more inspiration for the myriad ways that she will torture his soul when she finally grasps it.

Raising Apocalypse into the air once again, the blade is brought down slicing a glowing rent in space itself. Mounting her fiery white steed, Lady Death rides through the portal, vanishing to wherever it is she goes.