9744/Path of Glory: What We Hope For

Path of Glory: What We Hope For
Date of Scene:	21 January 2022
Location:	Thomas Jefferson Park, East Harlem
Synopsis:	The Resistance forces strike a decisive victory at Thomas Jefferson Park and the Tree of Hope. Preparations for Michael's almost assured counterstrike can now being in earnest for the casting of the seal over this, the Second of the Gaea's Wellsprings.
Cast of Characters:	Michael Demiurgos, Johnny Blaze, Peggy Carter, Kaida Connolly, Sarah Rainmaker, Jonathan Sims, Daniel Sousa, Meggan Puceanu
Tinyplot:	Path of Glory

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Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    East Harlem's silence is rather deafening with the evacuation. Any who decided to stay behind with the government mandated order (and for this community--that was a majority of them) quickly changed their mind when they saw what they were up against. Those who didn't met rather violent ends. Defense of ones home is all well and good, until the creature you're defending against is a cosmic superpower. Even now, signs of that struggle still remain. The charred spots and pock-marked streets indicate signs of struggle here; scraps of cloth or charred bone fragments give testament to the victors of such struggles.

    The convoy of resistance forces makes their way toward the eastern edge of the neighborhood. They have spootted a few pockets of angelic forces but have so far avoided notice (or at least avoided engagement.) As they make their way down a slightly sloping street that leads to the Harlem River, the expanse of skeletal trees and open snow covered fields that is Thomas Jefferson Park in winter blossoms into view. At the same time a massive contingency of angels also blossoms into view. They seem to be congregating around something in the northern sector of the park. Two of their number (larger and more independently ornamented) hover nearby the object of their infatuation. The open field and large number of angels will not make this an easy approach for the a reconissance mission.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Since this is a stealth mission, Johnny Blaze has appropriately left his motorcycle back at home base. Preferring to do this on foot. Besides, if everything goes to shit, he can just whistle sharply and it'll show up anyway. He's dressed in his sharp black leathers, and he's on the move. He has the resistance forces at his back, and his eyes are ever forward. They have somehow managed to avoid getting spotted, which is - ironically - likely an act of god.

"Okay, let's keep our steps quiet, and avoid anything massive. No magic or loud abilities, they can track that." He's managed to shut Zarathos out for the moment, so the angels can't track the demonic presence. Emphasis on -trying-. Though as they move across East Harlem, Johnny's yees are ever forward. Though the massive contingencies of angels makes JOhny move into cover.

Once they pass and converge on a location in the park, Johnny's eyes narrow.

"Okay. We can take a shortcut along the southwest path. Try not to attack any angels, or they'll try and swarm on our position."

Peggy Carter has posed:
While Peggy promised not to get into any of the front line fights, after weeks of doing nothing but coordinating evacuation operations and staying very far off the front lines, she couldn't take it. She's got an updated stealth tac suit from SHIELD with some nano-mesh technology built into it. It means that while she can't go invisible, the suit automatically adapts to the environment behind it like a chameleon, build to literally, inch by inch, blend into the shadows. Her hair is pinned tightly back and the suit has it's own mask so, when things get going tough, she can even conceal the pallor of her face.

She's not in charge tonight. She's just here to give another set of experienced eyes and hands. It means she's staying towards the middle of the group, crouched low, near to her husband behind her. Dark eyes keep tightly focused on the young man -- Johnny, not agent -- in front of them. She's listening. "Aye, sir." Peggy responds in her quiet, clipped British accent. Her eyes stretch along the longer north east path for a heartbeat or two. "If we want to flank them, that's a longer way, but if anyone is fast and quiet, coming both angles might help, with all respect." That suggestion given, Peggy is slower and so she'll head along the shortcut, keeping low and hidden. She moves well for a supposedly 100 year old woman.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Zipping along, Kaida appears in a small blur near to Johnny and nods her head at him. She gives him a big thumbs up and grins.

"Silent as a mouse." She winks before casually walking along with them and looking around at the situation ahead of them. She glances over to Peggy and then looks to Johnny with a questioning look.

"Fast and quiet are basically my entire winning combo."

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker has done a few reconaissance missions. Very few, however. This however is at least within her normal experiences. She's wearing a poncho over her body that's lined with some aesbestos and thicker leather underneath. It's a bit heavier but it doesn't slow her down, it helps her blend in with the area thanks to the coloration that generally matches th edullness of the city, and it's at least offering a little more attention. She's going to duck low to things, trying to keep debris between her and anything else, and stay several meters away from the nearest person to give them a wide-spread of observation. Also it means that if they're attacked or ambushed that hopefully only one person wil lbe in the immediate line of fire, and giving the others a chance to scatter and dodge.. Or based upon positioning to move to quickly flank the enemy.
    Listening to the instructions, and going to stay along and then go quietly, "I can give us some fog or light rain if that would help conceal us. That won't stand out very much to anyone watching due to the weather." She would simply inform the others of her abilities if they needed. Giving a nod at the instructions

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon has given command over to Johnny, largely to see how he does coordinating a team but also partly so that Jon himself can focus on what he does best--gather information. He wears SHIELD tac gear and carries his ankh-topped staff, and scans the street as he follows Johnny. He frowns at each of the charred spots and pock marks, knowing what they mean, and ignores the Archivist's incresingly desperate proddings to go gather the statements of the dead. Not now. Maybe not ever. That's not what he's /doing/, just now.

    When they reach the park, he glances ahead and eyes their destination. "Right," he says to Johnny's order. If they can somehow get into and secure the wellspring without fighting the angels that would be ideal, but he shifts his grip on his staff. He figures they'll have to deal with the angels eventually, one way or another. He murmurs a word and draws a hand up from the ground, pulling misty cold air about himself into a veil that should hide him from notice. A trick he learned from watching his husband.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Like many other times Daniel and Peggy have gone into the city, they've dressed to match, though tonight it's not suits, dresses and dancing shoes but high tech stealth tech. Daniel's suit ripples with the changing backgrounds as he moves in step behind Peggy, each footfall measured and quiet, he's done this sort of thing before, just with Nazis and not angels as the enemy.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Bravo to the bystanders able to pick out all the motley crew congregating beneath the cloud-choked skies. A point if they can spot the indignant mystics and spies as darkness drops. Meggan is not among those who slouch through Babylon on slow feet, instead turning and turning in eddying gyres at the ambient temperature.

Johnny's warning rings true enough. The elemental form that she adopts, however, is as natural as the blonde-haired English environmental activist. She can certainly be heard when needed in the wispy rush of the air, just as breezes laugh and gales howl. That stands for something as she lingers close by, following the input of her passive empathy across the sweep of the street. "Isn't that lovely?" she whispers.

A pause, then, and she adds, "Signal if you want me to go ahead." It may be hard to see her. Until directed, she lingers near the SHIELD spooks. They be squishiest.

Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    There is a better vantage point as they make their way amid the buildings and alleys that border the park. What the angels seem to be focusing on is a large piece of artwork. A tall pillar like structure serves as a base for a crystaline sphere. The pillar (or perhaps trunk is a better term) is hammered metal--likely steel--and beyond the hammering is unornamented, leaving the sphere atop it as the true vista of the piece. Inside the glass sphere are a number of arcing branches. Within the branches are a myriad of shapes. Birds, fish, reptiles, and what might be toys serve as the leaves for this tree of glass and metal. Those familiar with New York would recognize the object: El Arbol de Esperanza. The Tree of Hope.

    At this point, the two angels hovering nearby seem to be in conversation, staring intently at one another. After a moment on nods and gestures. The angels below move in perfect coordination. The least among the Tiers move to take up patrol routes along the southern border of the park--not far from where the convoy made their original approach (good thing they moved). The middle Tier creatures (only 7 in number: 3 Powers, 4 Virtues) move into a circle about the Tree. Four of the multieyed Thrones move into a quadrant position about the Tree and one of the multi-winged Seraphs stand by overseeing the process. The energy in the air is palpable as the mystical powerhouses of the angels start to draw down raw mystical power from the heavens, preparations for the site are about to begin.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny's eyes stay forward. "Oh good, suggestions are welcome. I hate doing all the thinking." Johnny says largely as an icebreaker. "Trust me, longer way will work better. Quicker often means more dangerous, and we can't risk it this time." Johnny mentions. "Buf great idea." He tells Peggy. Is he aware he's speaking to a high-ranking SHIELD officer? probably not. They will have to deal with these damn angels at some point, but preferably when they have to.

"Good, means you'll be harder to find." Johnny tells Kaida, but he keeps moving forward on the aforementioned southwestern path. Once a better vantage point is discovered, Johnny's eyes narrow.

"El Arbil de Esperanza. Obvious as hell."

Johnny frowns. "Looks like they're about to start the ritual, we need to move fast." He looks over at Rainmaker. "Would you mind making the weather problematic? That fog you mentioned could come in handy." Johnny looks at Sims then. "We keep moving. Now that they've split into patrols, there will be holes in their guard." He looks to the others, namely Meggan, Peggy, and Kaida. "Try and make distractions if you can, situationally, to draw eyes away from where we move."

Peggy Carter has posed:
As they get closer to the Angels, Peggy makes certain her noise cancelling earpieces are in. She really hopes other people are using the comms because that's what she's turning on, the sub vocal communicators hooked up to the ear buds that should be able to block most, if not all, of the Angel's sound. She's just only heard about these being needed in the field, she hasn't had a chance to test it yet. She taps on the channel for the current group as she creeps closer into place near the object.

<<"El Arbol de Espernza...">> She echoes Johnny, then translates, <<"It's the... Tree of life monument. They clearly have designs on it already. Setting up some sort of... Ritual?">> Peggy subvocalizes across her communicator, a deep frown furrowing at her brow as she tries to get a slightly better view of what they are doing at the monument. Then he's giving proper orders. Split up and make distractions. Peggy gives a sharp nod, stepping beyond where she settled. She pulls out her smallest gun. Not an icer, something completely silenced. It shouldn't make a sound until the bullet hits something. Cradling into the side of her body to even soften any sound of a kickback on the hair, Peggy snaps off an expert marksman shot to shatter a window in a building well across and down the street. Far from their positions. But its loud.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Listening is something Kaida also does surprisingly well. Even as they speak, she is casually eating a cookie that she got from who knows where. She finishes it and gives a salute once given orders. She then looks around quickly and zips off. As Peggy makes glass shatter in that direction, she zips off in a tiny blur.

<<"One distraction coming right up.">> She is over near where Peggy broke a window and she rushes from car to car and each car she zips up and stabs the her blade into the door lock one after the other until...

Then honking and whirring sound of a car alarm going off.

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
At the instruction from Johnny Blaze, Sarah Rainmaker would nod her head, "Understood." She would focus and her eyes would flash.. Then the area would have fog start to thick. She's slowly pulling the air currents down and using a thick haze of.. Well, smog. She hates having ot pull this from the weather, particularly in the city. But the excess of pollution in the area and the on and off again fires make it easier. She would give a warning while pulling up to her face a small filtering mask. <<I will be bringing down smoke to help cover us>>
    A click of her tongue given to her comm as the altering weather pressure makes the roughness of the air switch up. Then there's a small rain of sludge as the air freezes just enough to have things coming in that perfect mix between snow and rain and muck to start to make the area darker and harder to see through. She's making sure to give the others plenty of warning. She also pulls her coat more against her to help her blend over to the surroundings more and duck down as best she can.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon hesitates, just a moment, staring over at the Tree of Hope. His stomach clenches as he suddenly realizes what he's seeing. He murmurs into the comm, <<That's Jegudiel and Jerahmeel. Archangels.>> His voice is tense, clipped. <<I don't know either of these as well as the others... they're not venerated in the Anglican tradition. From what I've read this past week, Jerahmeel is set to watch over the dead, as a gatekeeper of Heaven. He holds balance scales and a book of records, which... makes me think maybe we'd have common ground if not for this whole... business. Jegudiel oversees reward and punishment, and is patron of all those in positions of leadership as well as bearer of God's love.>>

    He looks to Johnny. <<They're preparing to claim the wellspring. If they finish this, we lose the site. Do /not/ let them, or that Seraph, die in range of the wellspring. Last time, a Seraph tried to die in the fountain--the ritual requires the sacrifice of a Seraph or Archangel. If I can get in there and get a barrier up, I can keep the blood and holy energy out of the wellspring.>> It's meant as information and suggestion, not orders.

    He looks back over toward the Tree of Hope, and murmurs, more to himself, <<Gold and silver. Light and life. The Tree of Hope is decorated with wishes from local children... makes sense.>> He double-checks his veil and then prepares to move in once the angels are distracted.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
"Good shot," Daniel whispers to Peggy through comms before his attention turns back to the Tree of Hope and the angels. "Understood," he tells Sims when warned about what not to kill. "I'll follow your lead, nukes I can disarm, whatever all that is, not my area of expertise."

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
With sludgy muck pelting the area, Meggan breaks into a grin at Sarah's creation. "Oh, lovely! An excellent veil," she murmurs, and then coalesces a little more into tangible shape, such that the sound-suppressing comms units will be any good cradled into the conch of her ears. Nodding along to instructions, her opalescent eyes flick to the sculpture last visited a few days hence.

The look at the angels is long and calculating, too focused. A slight frown mars the usually sunny expression as their activity continues.

Staying near the group, she rests her ghostly hand against the flattened patchwork snow smothering the park. <<The children of the city call to you, Manahahtaan.>> The soft cadence of her voice brushes over hidden grass, sinking deep into roots, infused by the Tuath de Danaan's goodwill. <<Will you awaken the ground near the pool to draw them away?>> While her fellow elementalist acts the maestra to an atmokinetic orchestra, she speaks to earth and fire as the countermelody. A light gesture, the calm before the storm.

Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    At the shattering of glass and the blaring of car alarms the Archangels take note. Their eyes narrow and they gestures. Without missing a beat one of the Thrones hovers over to the shattered glass. As it approaches peals of bell tones that might be language emit from it. It's declaring what it sees. Kaida isn't noticed, after all the small rarely are. The sleet and snow from Sarah is noticed, the angels all over the park looking up, but it doesn't disrupt them too much, the circle of 7 continue to channel energy into the base and around Tree of Hope.

    "They have begun their attempt" one of the Archangels, Jegudiel, says with a note of disappointment in his words.

    The other, Jarahmeel, smiles and shakes his head. "Don't sound so disappointed, my brother, our General had said as much would happen. If I am not mistaken, not a millenia ago you were upset at the stagnation of our forces and our use. Is this not precisely what you asked for?"

    Jegudiel shakes his head sternly. "I did not ask to slaughter humans and those they have taken alliance with and you kno--"

    He is cut off as a mass of the patrolling groups, a contingent of Lesser and Cherubs rise on a mass of ground near the pool only to fall into the earth as a sinkhole swells and crumbles beneath their feet. Another of the Thrones moves over in its slow, careful wake to investigate the sudden sinkhole. It would seem that distractions are a go.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Note to self, angels sacrificing themselves is bad. Okay, good to know. When we get close, establish the seal on the ritual site. THey cannot claim it." JOhnny tells Sims with a solid nod. "Okay, we'll cover you, because something tells me we're about to get spotted. We'll cover you." He tells him, though through coms, he gets on and looks at the Archangels. "I can stall them. Or try to. Rainmaker, Meggan, I'm gonna need some help if things go to shit. Otherwise, all teams move as normal."

Especially when the distractions prove to be successful and plenty of Lesser and Cherubim angelic beings start to rise on a mass of ground near the pool and start to swell in the earth as it swallows them. JOhnny seems to raise a brow. <"Holy crap, remind me never to doubt your guys's distractions. There's are opening, let's go.">

and Johnny immediately starts to move, leading more and more towards the ritual site, as close as he can get, moving between cover of fallen stone, building pieces, and cars. Though as he moves. He's trying to mind the archangels.

Hell, they probably already know they're there. "Mind the Archangels. Their senses are ridiculously potent."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy isn't in charge, but Johnny also probably doesn't know the extent of the SHIELD supplies that she and Daniel have strapped to their bodies. Distractions was the order, and distractions it will be. She looks back to her husband, locking eyes for just a moment before she points to his belt and the grenades she had him pack before coming. <<"If you think you can get those thrown without giving yourself away, put them right in the middle of the Thrones...">> Peggy motions to the one moving in the wake of the sinkhole that happened. <<"One in the sink hole too. At least.">>

And then she's moving slightly away, holstering her little pistol and shifting the heavier flame thrower off her back. Just in case she has to fight. But, in the main, she's trying to get all the Angel's conversations on record, her comm unit recording outside sounds to feed back to her but also for future study. She's sneaking closer, trying to make certain she gets every word spoken between the Angels, following Johnny's lead as they all get closer to the middle there. She follows his cover recommendations, between stone, building and cars. She might only be human, but she moves like night and silence. She's been doing this a very long time.

Kaida Connolly has posed:
With that done, it is time for Kaida to continue to do what she does best. Sure, she's got her sword. She can sneak about. She can even fight fairly well when given the opportunity. Hell, she does it right and she can really ruin someone's day with a high speed tackle. None of that is what she does best. What she does best is be an absolutely fearless, confusing and sometimes annoying little thing. So, after all the lesser angels fall, the thrones float here and there, she literaly appears in a blur of hyper motion, using her most potent bursst of speed and nearly breaking the sound barrier to land on a park bench not super far from the two archangels.

"Hey! Angel guys...gals...peoples? What are you two? WaitWaitWaitWait! DoAngelsHaveGenders?!" She says super fast and begins to pace back and forth on the back of the bench and considers that, "Whoa! INeverThoughtOfThat!" She taps her chin, "Wait!" She puts her hands out, "NotThePoint!NotThePoint!" She points at each, "You two need to stop it." She nods her head and pats the shield she pulls free and nods, "You obviously don't even wanna be here!"

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Sarah Rainmaker is going on the ground and crawling. On her hands and knees, going to rapidly dart along. Her poncho is pulled up and over her head as she does so. The falling gunk from the air helps to cover her and block her out more. She's also reached otu with her hands to smear some mud over her face. Then she would scramble after the others, monitorin gthe position of the angels and the basin and trying to get as many things between her and them as she could. Aware that her stealth skills were not the best, but hopefully she could be quiet enough with enough cover to not be spotted as she would dart along and be as close to the ground as she could and still move at a good pace.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    <<Barrier, not seal, it's... oh, never mind.>> This is no time to be pedantic, Jon. He's not half so good at being stealthy as most of the others, so thank the gods for veils and Sarah's fog. He blinks over at Kaida as she jumps out and literally starts distracting the angels, and suppresses a grin. If /that/ doesn't keep the archangels busy, he's not certain what will.

    As they get closer to the Tree of Hope he starts to mentally prepare shields and healing spells. He cannot attack the angels, but he can protect those who will be doing so. He's also eyeing the Tree of Hope, trying to gauge just how far out the wellspring technically spreads. <<Meggan,>> he murmurs, <<is it /just/ the Tree that has your mother's energy?>>

Daniel Sousa has posed:
Meeting Peggy's eyes for a moment nods when she points to his grenades. "I can get it done," he tells her before leaning in for a brief kiss. "Good hunting," he tells her before slipping off with the grenades. One he throws short letting it roll under a truck into the middle of the thrones, before detonating. Using the explosion as cover he sprints down an alley to make a hail mary of a throw for the sinkhole, one grenade, then two... Before they land he's ducking into the alley pulling up his camoflage cloak to get at his own flamethrower.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
<<Thank you, Manahahtaan. Cheers for the assist, dearest friend!>> The whisper conveys gratitude to the earth when a considerable patch of the park drops several meters. Meggan cannot afford to stay nearby, not with the ritual underway and attendant angels scattered throughout the park turning to the various distraction. <Mum's is contained within a four and a half meter circle around the sculpture. Running out of time. Mate, go!> The patter-bursts of Kaida's great speed and the deliberate crawl Sarah uses are two effect means of movement. She floats, gliding over the ground to avoid loose stones or brittle ice that would give them away, drifting behind trees or broken blocks for cover with a ragged, unpredictable zigzag closing on the Tree of Hope. A pattern would require her to have a plan instead of acting on impulse.

Hope. That emotion is sister to one of the other great virtuous feelings that she concentrations on. Sources to feed it can be found everywhere; the way Jon worries about healing and Peggy worries after Sousa, how Sousa serenades her with a soft farewell, and El Barrio's residents who stayed with the vulnerable who couldn't leave. Focusing //humanitas// into herself on each breath fills her up like an empty chalice. It becomes everything, acts of kindness and compassion borne of the human condition. The empath loses herself as much as she can until she brims with it.

Three. Two...

Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    The truck that blows up near the Throne does enough damage that it tears apart one of the being's rings, which starts a catastrophic spin out and subsequent explosion with devastating force into the Harlem River. There is a moment of silence and then an eruption of water sprays into the sky. The grenades tossed into the hole explode, sending an eruption of earth and a cry of dissonant bells cascading over the frozen water of the pool some 20 meters from the Tree of Hope. The blast was enough to send specks of dirt raining down over the angelic mystics gathered there. Still it doesn't disrupt their channeling power.

    The Mouse draws attention to herself. "What is that?" Jerahmeel asks his companion, his tone curious more than confused.

    "Allow me to help your eyes, my brother" Jegudiel says and waves a hand toward Kaida.

    Suddenly the mouse sized-and-shaped girl changes. Instead of being 15 centimeters tall, she's 150 centimeters. Everything about her grows with her. Her weapons. Her clothes. Her attributes. All of it. "A fascinating creature..." Jegudiel says tilting his head at her. "And to answer your question. We do not. Such constructs are based off of things we do not possess. Were we to wish it, we could appear as any and all genders at once."

    His companion speaks up. "Hence Jophiel and Suriel's prefered forms, yes?"

    "Precisely" Jegudiel replies.

    They seem completely unaware of the forces sneaking up behind them on the wellspring; go Kaida.

    The other Throne moves and hones in on Daniel. There is a high pitched whine and a beam and white energy tears apart the ground just as he ducks into the alley. The buildings on either side of the alley shudder as their foundation stones are damaged by the force of the Throne's blast. The being floats closer, closing in on the eye, the single eye in the center of its mass searches, peering through to See the truth of all things.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Johnny was about to talk to Sims about barriers and seals, though he's right, this isn't the time to be arguing minutia. Johnny watches the blast that almost vaporizes Sousa. <<That was a close one Sousa, you still hanging in there?>> Johnny questions him. <<Sousa, you've got a Throne on his tail. Keep moving. It'll move on when it finds nothing or if you present yourself as non-hostile.>>

but Kaida's distraction is working great! Even if she goes from a tiny mouse to a fairly large mouse that could make people scream, eyes are off the group. <<Teams, move in! We won't have this chance for long!>> Johnny starts to move then, keeping low to the ground. <<Sims, all you!>> He points at the ritual location. <<Rainmaker, can you give us some Lightning? Peggy, help me on guard duty.>>

Peggy Carter has posed:
As Peggy sees and hears the sudden beam of energy going in Daniel's direction, her entire world screeches to a halt for just a moment. She knows he's an excellent agent. He would have been going for cover already. But there are buildings trembling at their very foundations and he's one man. <<"Daniel. Report.">> Peggy's voice echoes Johnny's over the comms, desperate just to hear his voice still alive on the other end. She still has a job to do herself. She's still moving closer to the wellspring. But she needs to know he's alive. <<"If you can hear me, the grenade hurt it. Get the other one with anything you have left.">> If he's still conscious.

And then they are moving in. Peggy draws up right beside Johnny, her back stiff and straight, the flame thrown in her hands now levelled in front of her, dark determination in your eyes. <<I'm on your 9.>> She calls firmly to him, their backs mostly protected now unless there are outside Angels on patrol they didn't catch. The moment the fight starts and any Angels start in their directions, Peggy will open up with the flame thrower, hoping that Jon's information about fire was accurate. She's using it to suppress and protect those trying to seal the ritual, not to murder or attack outright. She is doing what her orders are -- being a guard.

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
At the order to bring the lightning, Sarah Rainmaker goes to lift her hands up and over into the air. She would raise her fingers up and her eyes would turn white. SHe would go to take a breath, calling from the local weather. Calling from the nearby storms that had peppered the region. Calling from the thick clouds and snow that had been in teh realm. Calling from high up unto the heavens where the winds churned and the sky blazed and feuded iwth darkness. Called from the storms up along the Atlantic, those fed along the mountains, compressed by the skyscrapers that thrust up to the stars, blanketed and blocked by the darkness and the city.
    She would call upon them all, taking the energy coming together and with all of the rage and loss of purpose she had had. Pulling it with the sensation of failure, of lost friends, of an inability to do anything.. She would take it all together and moving to start to funnel it on down.
    Thunder! THUNDER! THUNDER!

Kaida Connolly has posed:
Well, that was unexpected. The big world shrinks around Kaida. So to speak anyway. She doesn't really fully understand what has happened at first but the first thing she does is flail back and forth before falling off the bench and on to the ground. She shakes her head slowly from her spot on the ground and slowly sits up to look around and then look at the two angels.

"Whoa! Hey! Warn a girl before ya do somet'in' like dat!" And her father's Irish accent bursts through given how out of sorts she is. She pushes up to her feet and as she does, her right foot cracks the Earth beneath her. She then looks at her hands and then up at the angel. And then she is about tos ay something to them when she's suddenly on the other side of the park. She flails to a stop as a small sonic boom goes off and then she turns to come back, looking frustrated and then...

BOOM!

There's a massive sonic boom and Kaida is just gone. So are a bunch of trees and a fence and a few cars and a corner of a building as Kaida comes to a stop a ways a way, spinning slowly in place and doing her best to figure out her new found strength and speed and being a little wary about running again for the moment.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Admittedly, 'Sims, all you' is normally /not/ what Jon wants to hear. But he offered to make sure the angels don't corrupt the wellspring, so--there goes. He breaks cover and runs to flank the angels around the Tree of Hope. He keeps the veil up, putting himself behind a nearby tree and peering around it at the Tree.

    He has to get the angels' barrier down before he can put up his own, or else they'll just use it to funnel power anyway. He hesitates a moment, waiting for the angels to turn toward the others, then whips around the tree to fire on the funnel down which the angels were directing power. He can't directly attack /them/, but he can pour a barrage of Gaea's energy at the barrier. The movement drops his veil, but he's hoping that the angels will be too distracted to notice the Archivist firing on their work.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
The Throne's blast shakes him to the bone and pelts his cover by a dumpster with debris from the building, a half dozen cuts open on him as bits of brick and glass find him opening up his flesh. Gritting his teeth, he replies back over comms. "Still here, it was close but I've had closer."

Hearing Peggy's advice "Understood, Peggy. Blaze, better get here quick, don't think he's going to think I'm non-hostile for long." He slides the flamethrower off of his back and steps back from it grenade in hand walking slowly backwards. He glances back spotting a door left ajar by the shaking of the buildings. No clue where it leads but it was better than being out here. Backing closer to the door, he slips out the pin and pushes down the handle on the grenade before giving it an underhand toss towards the flamethrower.

As the grenade bounces on the concrete coming to a rest against the flamethrower Daniel dives headlong for the door trying to get clear of the alley before the explosion and more importantly before the Throne can retaliate.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Explosions detonating from Sousa's charmed fling rush over the floating Tuath de Danaan. Heat and force diverts the stinging sleet to spray across her and she turns her face away, conceding any dim awareness for the risk of a falling Throne or alarmed cherubim for the payload contained within her wispy embrace.

El Barrio is Meggan is El Barrio. A feeling sifted from any residents and the SHIELD and mystic crack team slip under her skin, blurring distinctions of self and their shared experiences. Living vicariously on the emotional currents drawn to her, the force of lives lived and deeds done pushes her under the brimming green psychic weight.

Green, the bright shade of the heart chakra and the principle of harmony, the lifeblood of kindness and sympathy. She opens her eyes, only the wider to the love protecting the unborn child and the generous outpouring to shield the city and the kind heart of a mouse-girl. Goodness takes a thousand forms, focused through a single facet by a smiling, ever-optimistic English girl.

Both arms spread in a gesture of benediction, open palms extended in the characteristic gesture of sincerity in the heart. Her lips form a word. That word carries the force of a tsunami reaching shore, a mother's lips touching a child's brow. Humanitas, the gift to drive the angels away from the Tree of Hope.

Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    The wave of Meggan's word reach them first. All at once, the mystics turn to regard the emotional outpour from the fae princess. Their work only half-complete, they regard her in stunned awe. A silence settles over the park, serenity and peace, and love all encapsulated in a moment in time.

    And then Daniel's grenade goes off.

    The explosion of force, shrapnel, and fire washes over the eyes of the Throne and it sends out a discordant sound (not unlike a tritone) over the surround neighborhood. It screams in agony and pain as fire lances and washes around the central structure of its eye like form. Beams of white hot energy lance out in random directions. One flies into the heavens themself, lost for all time.

    Sarah's rain of thunder is a thing of absolute terror. Arcs of lightning clash down over the angelic mystics sending them scaterring from the furrow she drivrs into the concrete surrounding their own mystical barrier. A perfect circle fourteen feet across in all ways. A funnel of divine golden light that allows the creatures above the structure. The seraphim to ready itself for its ultimate sacrifice for the cause.

    Another beam from the Throne fires out and lances across a building on the other side of the park, the structure collapses under its own weight in a shower of dust and debris.

    Johnny Blaze's leading charge is met with a sound of beauty. One of the Powers, not scattered by Sarah's lightning raises a hand and a blast of white-blue energy cascades over the Ghost Rider.

    Another tears through a patrol of lesser angels sending up a cascade of St. Elmos fire in their death. And another heads straight for Commander Peggy Carter.

    There is a flash and suddenly a figure is standing before Peggy. Tall, inhumanly beautiful, and wearing no armor at all. His long tunic is teal and gold in color, stylized suns at the shoulders. He carries a coiled whip in one hand. A braided cord of dark leather holds back his dark brown hair, almost merging with it. His wings are spread out, a stance of defense. The throne's blast catches him full on and his feathers, gold and pink in color start to peel and burn from the blast. It doesn't seem to hurt him though, in fact he pays it no mind at all. "'Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.' You will not suffer harm here this day, for what is in you is a gift that not even we can take."

    The other Archangel Jerahmeel suddenly appears beside Jon. He carries the massive tome he weilds in one hand and gestures to the funnel-like barrier. "You come to test your strength against the work of he who carries the Demiurgic force within himself?" He smiles beatifically and steps back as the Seraphim drops to the ground before Jon. "I wish to see what you are truly capable of were you given the Will to do so." He places a hand on Jon's shoulder and light engulfs the man briefly. "What you do in this contest is done with my blessing. You will not be held accountable for your actions. Go forth, show us what Gaea's Champion can do."

Johnny Blaze has posed:
"Hang tight Sousa, I'm sending something your way."

Johnny Blaze proceeds to transform into the Ghost Rider, his immediate location bursting in a pillar of slame that touches the sky, what remains is the skeleton wreathed in hellfire, wearing black leather that seems far more charred and burnt. The Rider draws the chain from it's torso and starts to spin it like a chainsaw against the ground, growling with ember flame escaping his lips.

Yet, before the Rider can commit to an attack, one of the Powers sends a blast of white-blue energy over the Rider, causing the Rider to kneel down and use the whirling chain as a makeshift shield, trying to survive the powerful attack. When the flame clears, the Rider roars back at the Power who struck him.

The Hellcycle appears with the smallest gesture, and it's struck by Sarah's lightning, the hellfire absorbing the electrical energy and forming a hypercharged hellcycle, ready to tear through the enemy. However, the Archangels seem to call and put an end to the fighting, even as the Ghost Rider seems to cease his power, standing up straight on his bike as the Archangels instead draw attention to Jon, a strangeness here. He has their blessing to do as he wishes in this contest of wills with the barrier.

The Rider attacks none.

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
Then Sarah Rainmaker is seeing the Rider and the motorcycle. Then Sarah Rainmaker is going to remember some things. The first.. That her powers still require a level of grounding over for electricity. The next.. That the thing of magic does not obey the laws of physics. The third.. The third is that she already has all this energy and link with the storms built up.
    <<I am bringing the lightning.>> That is sent over the comms as all that power is brought up and storms through the air. Throughout New York, Sarah goes to concentrate power. Tearing through the clouds.. From the Atlantic storms. From the windswept Adirondack mountains. She calls forth the power from everything. Lightning would surge through the air, concentrating oevr on her. SHe's not trying to control the power. Not to guide it. To merely be a conduit. She can't remotely control or generate this level of power. But all she has to do.. is direct it.
    There's a flash as she gives a warning over the comms, and then she gives all the energy down to somethin gwhich thanks to it's mystical nature.. CAN.
    And then the Ghost Rider's hell cycle is aflame over with the thunder from the entire city as she would pour it on!

Peggy Carter has posed:
As the Throne's beam tears through in her direction, Peggy tosses herself to the side desperately quick. She's used to having to dodge attacks in the field of battle and she had no wish to test her SHIELD armor against those beams that have destroyed buildings. By the time she's picking herself up off the floor, a little breathless, the Angel is there in front of her. She blinks slowly, not able to entirely hide her shock at both the protection of the creature and the fact that it just revealed to the whole battlefield she's pregnant. Well, that's one way to tell people. "...Thank you." She mutters quietly, dusting herself off.

"But we are still at war." Peggy states flatly. Ever practical. And then she's opening up with the flame thrower again, shooting around the one that protected her, but she's got two near by Virtues within the reach of her literal fire power and no patience to risk anyone else getting hurt or buildings destroyed. <<"Daniel, if you have ANY more fire power, get back here and LIGHT THEM UP. If you can get to my side, I'll protect you.">> She subvocalizes, not wanting to scream advertisement that she's using her now untouchable status as a shield, but she'd rather her husband at her side to finish the last of this guard.

Peg winces just slightly at the lightning. appreciating the warning, she tries to stay out of the way of the flaming motorcycle's path. Maybe it will help clear a path for Daniel to come up to her side.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    For a moment, Jon is entirely distracted from trying to pour energy at the barrier by the fact that there's a beam of energy flying /right/ toward Peggy. It gets his attention; he can't help it. But then Jegudiel is there, saving her, and he relaxes, shoulders slumping.

    Which is why the archangel putting a hand on his shoulder scares him almost out of his skin.

    He jumps, then blinks up at Jerahmeel for a moment. "I--what? What did you...?" But then he realizes that a tightness he didn't even know was there is gone, a restriction removed, a weight off his shoulders.

    "You changed the terms of my surrender?" He quirks a brow at the archangel, then grins brightly. "One Watcher to another, hmm? Give our fellow my regards, would you?" He quite obviously means Uriel.

    Then he steps aside, away from the archangel, and flings out a hand. A long whip made of tangled vines springs forth, wraps around the Seraph, and yanks it away from the Tree of Hope. He turns as he does so and points at another spot several yards away from the Tree. A wall of earth erupts from the ground, and the idea here is the slam the Seraph into that wall of earth, hopefully stunning it before he begins to lay into the six-winged angel with bolts of energy from his staff.

    Peggy's right, after all. This /is/ war, whether or not he likes the fact.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
The sound of the Throne's death will stay with Daniel forever, burned into his mind despite the earpieces' protection. Despite being a lapsed Catholic since the War, he finds himself kneeling and crossing himself now. Killing an angel, even an elleged one will do that.

The ritual saves his life as a beam of white hot fire passes through where he had been standing only moments before. He slumps back against the wall of the basement he finds himself in and says over comms. "Still good here," his tone dazed and distant.

Peggy's words reach him then, jarring him to his feet as he does a quick inventory. Three grenades and his 45, it wasn't much but it'll have to do. "On my way," he says over comms and heads back into the alley and rush towards Peggy's position, leaving his pistol holstered as he takes hold of a grenade.

Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    The Power facing Johnny is obliterated by the hellbike's passage. A discordant bell acoompanies the small scale detonation of it's demise in a pillar of fire. The dying Throne continues to fire into the air a few times before it too falls. A burning husk of flame its final state before it goes still, turning to stone where it lays before crumbling away to dust.

    The Archangel Jegudiel stands silent and unmoving a Peggy moves around it to pour flame on those it calls its compartriots. The Virtures, moving in a confused and almost unaware state arch in agony as fire from a SHIELD issue flame thrower pours over them. What remains in the fire's wake is a sparkling sphere of glitter that disappears shortly after. Two more Virtues converge of the woman laying waste to the field with Thunder. Flame, blue-white and hotter than the Earth's sun shoots past her, cutting off two avenues of escape. "It is time for your spark to be grounded..." one of the Virtue's says, opening a fissue beneath the three of them, they hover in place, defying the gravity that surely exerts its force on them.

    Jon's fight with the Seraph is a central figure of the field. The tanlging grapple of vines rocks the Seraph as it slams into the wall of earth. It stumbles forward and is immediately forced into a cowering position as blast after blast of concentrated energy hammers into it, its wings those not covering its eyes move into a defensive formation.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
The Hellcycle bursts through the Power in all of it's rage and glory. The Rider mounts his bike and it roars at the angels still causing damage and trouble in the area. The Archangels appear to be non-combatants in this situation, so Ghost Rider is going to help out the team. It goes for the Virtues, Riding towards a slanted chunk of rock, as if to ramp off of it. A ball of hellfire forms in the Ghost Rider's hands as it throws the balls of netherflame into the two virtues!

Hopefully it hits.

Meantime, upon landing, the Rider will drift and attempt to wrap the Seraph dealing with Jon with the Hellfire Chain, hoping to restrain it and leave Jon to his work. If that Seraphim gets into the Ritual site to sacrifice its life to fuel it, it's game over. Prioritize!

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's a cold feeling, despite the fire, killing such beings without a blink or hesitation. Peggy has to cut her heart off in situations like this, not think too hard about it. Thinking on the field of war gets you killed. She simply keeps backing up, slowly, towards where her husband is fighting through to the crowd. She'll finally join back to back with him, each armed with what fire they have left, taking down any bit of Angels that dare come their way while Johnny shows off some terrifying, firey tricks on his bike. She's letting the others finish it, but she won't let any more of those Virtues or beyond touch her family or her people.

At the end, when it's all settled as it will, one way or another, she just shakes her head slowly, "War is... hell. No place for any of us, and yet, here we are. Again. Let's get the injured back and get home..." She'll lean against her husband, retiring from the battlefield arm in arm. Unscratched, for her part, but weary to the depths of her soul.

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
There is a look of tiredness in Sarah Rainmaker's eyes, even as she would float upon the winds. "The only things being grounded here are you." Her hands would go up, even as the Virtues would go towards her, her hands going to flash out and over as her hands would go to call forth. "You bring forth rage and fury. Then let me cool you down."

The winds would let her hover over as she would struggle to exert herself through the gravity. Fortunately..

She would go to focus. Then she would go to call upon the temperature. Going to take in the freezing of the air, the frosted tundra and smudge of the battlefield. Then she is going to call forth and try to freeze the Virtues over in a ball of ice each! Trying to leave them if she could flash frozen over in the air and both surorunded in heavy blocks of ice! Then a thundering burst of lightning would go to strike upon each, hopefully leaving them fully vulnerable upon it, the water about them and frozen prison if anchored turning them into very effective conduits! A blast of wind would then fling them towards the ground and some of the other hostiles if her aim is good.
    But for Sarah Rainmaker..
    Here come gravity.
    She's once again pushed herslf past her limits.. And with a cry of pain she's falling.. Falling.. And tumbling towards the ground, winds no longer at her command. And she's goign to hit the ground rather messily if not caught.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    <<They're not really dead,>> Jon informs them all through the comm. <<They'll just go back to Heaven. Only Void power can truly kill them, so far as I'm aware.>>

    For whatever reassurance /that/ is.

    "I'm sorry about this," he says to the Seraph, "but I can't let you sacrifice yourself to take the wellspring. Time to send you back to the Silver City."

    The barrage of power is unrelenting, and Jon just... keeps on walking right up to the Seraph, expression grave, almost stern. The chain Johnny wraps around the thing makes what he's doing easier, and he draws power from the earth as well. He's about seven feet away when he stops, twists his staff and slams it into the ground. The wall the Seraph was attached to abruptly folds over, crushing the thing.

    "Queen takes Bishop," he says grimly.

Daniel Sousa has posed:
The surreal nature of the battlefield helps makes the fighting easier, it doesn't feel real, more like a nightmare where Daniel's trapped in an impossible painting done by Salvidor Dali and Hieronymus Bosch. The fear and the anquish will come later when the adrenaline fades and his mind has time to process the details of the battle but right now all it can manage while taking in the sights around them is directing him to shoot this, throw a grenade at that.

Reaching Peggy, he grasps her hand quickly to confirm to himself she's real then he's back to the battle, shooting throwing until it comes to an end his grenades gone and his last clip spent when the battle comes to an end.

Taking Peggy's arm he nods, "It is, but like last time what choice did we really have? We weren't going to be able to sit this out and still be us."

There would be more to say but for now that will do. From there all there is left to do is coordinate getting the wounded out and go home. They'd deal wit the rest when it caught up to them.

Michael Demiurgos has posed:
    The Virtues are encapsulated in the ice with relative ease one bursts into a cascade of sparks as the netherflame reacts with Mother Nature's ice. The other falls into it's own fissue the earth crushing and taking it in rending it no more.

    The Archangels watch for a moment, before looking at each other and nodding. Then they simply vanish upon a gust of sleet laden wind. The other angelic forces, sensing their commanders' departing also flee the field.

    The Seraph lets out a warbling cry as its own physical shell expires and the rocks containing it burst outward into small pebbles it's explosive demise comes to fruition.

    It would appear that the day has been won. And preparations for the counterstroke can be made, for most assuredly Michael will engage one of his own very soon.

Sarah Rainmaker has posed:
There's a flat fall from the air as Sarah Rainmaker passes out, loses the wind, and is tumbling down towards the ground at high speed, unconscious and falling forwards like a rock. The fight is seemingly over. The conflict.. The conflict nowhere near it. What is but one more skirmish, if not one more battle along the road of the rising war?
    Becasue in the end there is one constant in all things.
    We all must die sometime.

Johnny Blaze has posed:
Ghost Rider, in the chaos, leaps off of the bike in order to catch Sarah before she hits the ground, taking the fall for her as it recovered and rose to its feet. The flames from the Power burnt much of the leather jacket, but the Rider itself seems largely unmarred post-conflict.

With the angels seemingly defeated this time around, the Ghost Rider reverts to Johnny Blaze as he carries Sarah to Jon, the flames disappearing as Johnny's flesh is restored.

He exhales slowly as the unconscious Rainmaker is unmarred by flames. "We won." Johnny smiles at Sims, at Peggy and Sousa, even Meggan. "Good work team. Now we have to prepare for the counterattack. You all kicked ass."

Yes, Johnny was none too good at the post-battle speech, but it got the point across.

Jonathan Sims has posed:
    Jon turns away as the archangels disappear, leaving the Seraph to his death. It's nothing he wants or needs to watch. He stops at the edge of the brick path around the Tree of Hope, next to the living tree that he'd hidden behind, and crouches down to dig up some dirt and place it into a vial that he pulls from one of the pockets of his vest.

    As Johnny approaches, he straightens and nods, capping the vial. He looks over toward the Tree of Hope, the barrier now gone, and twirls his staff in the air. There's an explosion of energy around him, a wave of green light that ruffles the grass and smooths out the earth he caused to erupt. It heals the wounded, and should hopefully ensure that Sarah Rainmaker does not die from whatever damage she took up there.

    "Good work," he says, and this is for Johnny. "Let's call base and get some portals opened. I'm going to need to take this vial back to Grand Central, and then set up our forces. Better to cast the seal soon, I think."