9756/Dracul Rising: To the Marrow

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Dracul Rising: To the Marrow
Date of Scene: 03 January 2022
Location: Underneath Ravencroft Institute
Synopsis: Morrigan manages to escape the clutches of Raul Bushman (with an assist from Moon Knight) and is returned safely to her home at Happy Harbor.
Cast of Characters: Marc Spector, Morrigan MacIntyre




Marc Spector has posed:
    When Morrigan wakes, she's in darkness. After a moment to adjust her vision to accomodate the state, it becomes clear. She is in a room, it might have been padded at one point, square cord lines and fragments of textile foam still litter the walls. Now instead of the panels, there is bare stone and a multitude of markings of binding, confinement, and obfuscation. The markings smell like old blood and ink. A hidden room in a hidden place. A perfectly encapsulated cell.

    For three days she's kept in there, the only sign that she isn't left to rot is the single tray of bread and a paper cup of water that she receives at what must be the perfect time. Her captor isn't seen or heard when he delivers her food and drink and he offers no conversation despite any taunts the woman may give.

    On the third day, that changes. When she's given her tray an extra cup is present. It's filled with a sweet smelling wine. "How is our little half-blooded morsel?" says a voice from the other side of her door, dripping with malice and hate. It's the man who abducted her. The one Marc had called "Bushamn."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan had dreams, dreams of a pissed off Moon Knight getting onto her about calling him Marc. Weird thing to dream about when you're probably going to be murdered horribly, we know. She didn't feel any bindings, but the locked room wouldn't be something she guessed she'd be leaving without a lot of magic or overpowering one of the captors.

She doesn't accept any of the food nor the water. She also doesn't bother talking to anyone that may stay around. Not having much to say to them.

"I'm fine. If you're going to kill me could you hurry up and do it?" she asks the man on the other side of the door. "That would be a blessing at this point. Otherwise just leave your disgusting smelling wine and things in another place." she states simply.

Marc Spector has posed:
    The man on the other side of the door laughs. "Kill you?" he asks. "Why would we go about killing you. You being alive is so much more useful after all" he says. There is the sound of the door unlocking and opening. In the way is the hulking figure of Raul Bushman. His dark skin marred with scars made before he was given the gift of vampiric immortality. His face is still painted in that disturbing immitation of a skull.

    He stands and seems unpeturbed by any thought of her escaping or attacking him. "What sort of bait would you be to dear ol' Marc if you were dead?" he asks. "No. I want something more than your death, sweet thing..." he says steeping into the cell. Two other Uraean's fill the door behind him. "I want you -hungry-." The insinuation in his tone at the last word is a tangible thing. He's not talking about food as most humans see it.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan rolls her eyes at the man on the other side of the door, maybe she'd just off herself at this point. She steps to the side when the door unlocks and he steps in. "You've got the intimidation thing down." she tells him as she watches him.

"Yeah, maybe if you keep me down her for six or so months I'll be nearing wanting a drink of blood. It is not something I need to survive or to function." she points out to him. "The only thing you're going to get right now is a pissed off Irish woman who wants to get home to feed her fucking cat." she tells him in a short tone. Then she looks behind him, "Did you need back up for little ol' me?" she asks him.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Bushman arches a brow and looks behind him. "Them? Oh no. They're not for you" he says passively. "They're here for me... just in case I lose myself. You see..." He blurs then. A burst of speed and something hard and solid strikes Morrigan in the stomach, sending her to one of the walls.

    "I like to play. And sometimes I play a bit too rough..." He stalks toward her. "They're to make sure I don't accidentally kill you in our little game. You follow, sweet thing?"

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Well, that explains that then." Morrigan murmurs to herself as she tries to guage what exactly he's going to do. The hit to the stomach catches her off guard and when she hits there's the grit of teeth as she tries to steady herself.

"You're playing with the wrong person, sweet thing." she spits out. "Because where Marc and I differ is that he did a piss poor job of making sure you were dead. I will make sure that you and whoever else you share blood with will never know peace, here on this earth or in your deaths." she hisses at him.

"So make your mistake a good one." she warns him.

Marc Spector has posed:
    "There's the fire in you" Bushman says with a deranged smile. "I knew Marc wouldn't go for some waif of a woman. Not with his personality. He'd need someone with fire. Someone with backbone. Someone who can handle just how insane he is..." He kicks her this time. The force lifting her off the ground. One thing Bushman was, he was strong. Incredibly so.

    "What are you going to do?" he asks. "Shoot your little spells at me?" he asks, making a pantomime of casting a magic spell. He steps back and spreads his arms. "Come at me darling? Give it your best shot" he says spreading that vicious and disaster-filled grin at her.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Yeah, it's called I'm too old for this shit." Morrigan points out as she tries to right herself. Her eyes water from the pain that's seeping in from the punch. But her father had broken so many bones when he put her in the hospital. What would this guy do? "Have you not found the right woman to handle your brand of insanity? Is that your problem? We have a lot of woman that go for fucked in the head these days." she points out.

Then the kick connects.

It makes her teeth click together as she tastes blood. She tries to breathe in, but there's a hitch in it. She's not super powered like Marc and this deranged guy. She reaches for the wall, dragging herself up it as he steps back. "No, you've hobbled my magic use in here. Which means you're just beating up a chick at the end of the day." she chuckles as she spits out more blood.

His invitation though is taken and she rushes him, aiming to kick him square in the nuts as he spreads his arms.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Her own kick connects and while it doesn't drop Raul it does make him stagger back a bit. "Stupid bitch" he says through gritted teeth. "All of you are worthless as anything but tools..." he growls and moves to rush her. She may have made the right decision in this. Driving him into a rage. People who are enraged make mistakes.

    The door is blocked, but the two vampires on the other side have given it a space of maybe 8 inches between door and hall. The room is the only part that's warded, just beyond the door is the tingle of magical ability. All she has to do it get past the frame and she'll be in business.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan spits out another mouthful of blood after her kick connects, "Sadly one of us brought you into this world." she hisses at him. Her composure starting to crack. She'd been through a lot in her life, so being beaten by some thug was not on her list of things she liked. Raging behemoths made mistakes, this was good. All she needed was a little space to get a spell or a message out.

Morrigan doesn't stay in front of Raul, she darts for the door quickly, already thinking of what she's going to do. Being able to be quick was going to keep her alive, or she was going to get tased at the door by the guards, who knew?

Marc Spector has posed:
    Bushman flies past her at breakneck speed and smashes into one of the walls with an audible sound of cracking concrete. At the door the two Uraean's don't have tasers, what they -do- have is claws. They ready themselves to fight her back, but their placement was off.

    Just as Morrigan passes the frame of the cell her magic floods back over her in a wash of power. Now she just needed to figure out how to get past an entire subgroup of vampires, figure out where she was, and figure out how to escape this hell. Piece of cake, right?

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan does not gloat. If she'd learned one thing from training it was never to delight in the suffering of another, not even if they were imprisoning you. Her magic swells and the Master of the Mystic arts lets out a mystical attack that slams both of the Uraens into the wall that's across from her.

She doesn't sit and stare, she keeps moving, not wanting to get caught by Raul again because he'd probably crack her skull open like a walnut!

She reaches out with her magic, seeing if she can open a portal out of the place, she might not be able to do it, but she tries as she rushes down a pathway.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Something interferes as it tries to pinpoint her location. Perhaps the place is warded against intrusion via that particular means. Bushman was a heavy weight but he also had a mind and a number of the Uraean's had mystical capabilities. The shield against magic he displayed at the Mission was evidence enough of that.

    As Morrigan rushes through the corridors what this place is becomes pretty evident. A mental institution and old and abandoned one from the look of it. As she passes a door marked "Observation," a roar of terrible rage echoes through the chambers. It seems Bushman isn't happy.

    Her flight takes her to a T intersection, before her a door marked Operation Hall 01. To her left, more of the same dimly lit corridor curiving off out of sight. To the right a set of double doors with a sign above them reading "Ravencroft Institute: High Security Ward Sublevel 4" over them.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a sigh when she can't take the easy way out and that's something she turns her mind away from. She was a mystical power house, but she didn't want to try to hammer through wards while she was fleeing. She looks up, trying to see if there is ceiling or other things that she can hide in. That's when she makes the decision to go invisible. Because it's better than being visible and it might give her some more time.

When she comes to the T-Section she stops and looks over the three places she could go. Which were not the best options. She focuses on the Ravencroft Institute: High Security Ward Sublevel 4 sign and she tries to will that vision to be seen somewhere else. In Moon Knights mind. If anything else goes with it then it's just noise to go along with it.

She takes the dark corridor, following it to see if there is anything that looks like freedom down it.

Marc Spector has posed:
    A number of Uraeans run past her, clearly they're on the hunt. But the don't notice her in their passing her invisibility works well enough for now. Bushman isn't with them, thankfully, but the abandoned asylum is on alert to her escape. There was a sense of her message at least leaving, hopefully it would reach its target in time.

    After a number of closed doors, the inside look like standard hospital rooms, she comes to a single door with the image of a stair on a board near it. Perhaps freedom was just a few flights up.

    The stairwell is old a run down, the railing is rusted iron and the stairs themselves worn down to smooth concrete. She has two options, up or down.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan should be offing people, but she's trying to conserve things. If she could find a fucking way out of here she could maybe come back with others. Or a lot of explosives. She was sure her chemistry could make some dope explosives!

She holds her breath a few times as she runs, trying to keep herself calm. She wasn't wanting to puke on top of all of this. She looks to the sign that has a stair sign on it.

She heads into the stairwell, looking down and up. They looked sketchy. That means that she employees some magic to lighten the weight she's putting down. Because she wasn't wanting to have one of those awkward moments where the stairs fell out from under her.

But she was prepared for if they did.

Marc Spector has posed:
    The darkness of the stair grows quiet after a few floors up, soon the only sound is her beating heart. Going up seven mirrored flights shows no signs of pursuit. It might be possible that's she's freed herself.

    She reaches the highest landing and the climb stops. There is a single metal door here with a placard with a single letter on it: F. Maybe the ground floor? Only one way to find out.

    Stepping out reveals she's at the end of a hall. At the far end stands a number of vampires with black eyes and dark energy surrounding their hands. Behind them stands Bushamn. "A valiant effort, kitten. But futile in the end" he says to her, the paint over his face lending his manic grin into something terrifying and vicious.

    There is the sound of something impacting the wall behind her, like a spike sticking into brickwork. It didn't get past Bushman either as his eyes widen sudden surprise and panic turnign his features even more inhuman. "Kill her! Now!" he screams at his lackies and they release their dark magic towards her.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan's not sure if she should be getting her hopes up. Because she's seen movies where you think you're on the verge of escape and then 'bang' you're dead. The red head is a bit manic as she gets to the door, her energy starting to wane as she feels herself try to keep her composure.

The door opens to reveal Bushman and his cronies down the way and she takes a deep breath. She was bleeding from crashing into things, so she was less than thrilled by tasting freedom and then being blocked. "I'm taking at least one of you with me." she growls out at him, her fangs baring as she starts /towards/ them.

The impact behind her startles her, thinking that she was about to get swatted from behind. She looks back to Bushman and the others as she hears the panic, aha! It wasn't one of them. She sees the release of magic and she brings her hands up, trying to will what energy that she can muster into a shield that will block the brunt of the incoming blast.

She might have gone off the deep end.

Marc Spector has posed:
    The dark magic smashes into the shield and it -bends- against the force. It's a terrible cold that washes through the magic, threatening to freeze and obliterate the constructed shield. Another impact sound comes from behind her. And another. Just as the shield starts to falter the wall is torn away revealing the chilly night air and a man in white atop a glider. "Get on!" Moon Knight calls to Morrigan. "Quick!"

    He taps a button on his bracer and a few grenades shoot from a compartment on the glider, they hammer into the roof above the Uraean casters and the explode bringing the level above them down in a rain of rubble. "We've got no chance against them right now. I'm just here to get you out safely!" he says offering his hand to the woman to join him on the glider (it does fit two after all).

    Bushman's scream of rage is muffled against the otherside of the wall of rubble, and the mass starts to shift as he attempts to dig himself and any others who survive out with him.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan strains under the barrage of magical energy that's being hurled at her and even if she is a Master, the energy is being sapped. Soon it would give out. When the wall is torn away and Morrigan dares to look over her shoulder there is a moment that she falters, letting some of the energy smack into her frame before she growls and sends the energy back towards them in one finally bloody and violent push from her psyche.

She looks like she might stay and try to fight them, but Moon Knight has a point, they couldn't take them. She turns, limping her way towards the outstretched hand as she reaches up to grasp it with her own bloody one, "I'll pay your dry cleaning bill." she tells him as she scrambles up with him.

"Yeah fuck you too!" she shouts back at the scream of rage from Bushman. "Got anymore grenades? Can we just level the place?" she asks him.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight tosses a small silver ball onto the ground that immediately starts spilling out smoke. "No time, besides" he says as the glider starts to peel away from the structure. "They'd just find a new lair. At least here, we know where they are."

    He looks at the blood on his white suit and a smile creeps into his tone. "You know I have an entire hedge fund dedicated to that, right?" he says as he holds her close, wrapping his cloat around her for at least a bit of warmth against the cold night air they fly south back towards New York City.

    "So, your place or mine?" There is no innuendo in his tone. He's more concerned for her safety than anything else at the moment. "I have medical supplies at my place, but you're the doctor and the one who knows your particular physiology better than most. I'd understand if you need to get to yours."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a nod to that, "Well...that makes sense." the Irish woman states to that. "Hopefully they'll find a way out about the time the sun comes up and all burn to ash." she growls at that. Oh she was in a mood. But the mood was draining as she was realizing she wasn't in some fucked up nightmare anymore.

She goes quiet though until he speaks. "I imagine all that white really does cost a fortune." she whispers to him. "Would you be terribly offended if I said mine? I probably need to feed the cat...and then I can clean myself up. Occam has probably already moved a new human in." she breathes out.

"I'm sorry." she adds after a moment of silence.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight holds her close and adjusts course for Happy Harbor. "No problem at all" he says as the glider shifts its course. "It helps that most of the polymers are fluid resistant and the older models aren't porous at all. Usually a good hose down does the trick." He looks at her, concern in his voice if not visible on his face.

    "What are you apologizing for? Bushman kidnapped you, not like you could've fended him off and I was..." he scowls. "Not exactly in the best frame of mind or mobile with that many macheties in me." His brow furrows a bit at her and reaches up to smooth back some of her smoke and blood matted hair.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a look to him as she snuggles into him. He was warm and he smelled...delicious. She squeezes her eyes shut as she tries to get her mind off warmth and blood. "A good hose down does everything good." she muses to that. She's shaking, but trying to keep her courage up so that she's not looking weak. What the hell people?

"I called you Marc...my brain overrode me when I saw you get hurt. I didn't mean to do it." she tells him. "That's why I was apologizing." she whispers. "And I apologize if my vision gifting was a hack job. I got out of the no magic field and I just started trying everything I could." she admits to him.

Marc Spector has posed:
@
    Moon Knight shakes his head. "Doesn't matter with those" he says. "Bushman, and probably all his brood, know who I am under this and I've been thinking that letting the rest of the Heliopolitans know who I am under it might be a good idea in the long run."

    He pauses. "Besides telling them what I look like and that my name is Marc is just the tip of the iceburg of everything that I have in my closet." He shifts in place and the glider picks up speed as the lights of Happy Harbor come into view. "Your vision was fine. I was in route too. I figured that Bushman would've set up shop at my old stomping grounds as a practical joke."

    The institute was his old stomping grounds? What did that mean? "We're almost at your hom. Just hold on a little longer, love. You'll be fine. I promise."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan looks to him and there's a soft nod, "That would make sense on that." she tells him. "And I know there's a very big iceberg, you don't have to reveal more until you feel like it." she comments. Yes, relationship talk was taking her mind off the pounding in her head. "You could probably land on the beach and we could walk up to the house, either way...I'm not going through the front door. Occam is going to go for my knees and I don't have the energy for that." she muses.

"You're a former patient?" she asks him. There's no judgement there. Just a question.

"I promise I won't pass out until I've got a carpet to fall on." she gives a laugh to that. "I am very much not fine...but it isn't your fault." she assures him.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight does as she instructs and pulls in low at the beach and hops off, making little show of scooping the woman into a cradling carry as he starts for her house. "I am just happy that the heavy weave of my suit is immune to cat scratches."

    He nods. "Long time ago" he says in response to her question about his residency in the institute. "Before I accepted what I was and what goes on in my head." His tone is grim. "I have DID. It's pretty contained. Four... maybe five alters tops, but it is what it is."

    His steps on the sand are all but silent, not surprising given the source of his power being from the land of sand.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan is in pain, but his heroics make her chuckle, "Thank you for taking the hit for me. I think Duncan has probably realized I was missing though and fed him." she whispers to him as she lets her head lull against his shoulder. She then reaches up to pat the side of his masked face, "I know you have DID and I am fine with this. If I wasn't I would have called things off already." she admits.

Her hand then moves, that violet magic unlocking the door, because screw keys.

"You move way too easily on sand. I'm jealous." she teases him gently.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight nods. "I forget who knows about it and who doesn't sometimes. Even with the short list" he steps in and starts through her home via the backdoor, making sure his steps are careful and planted because you never know when 30 pounds of cat might come take out your legs.

    "One of the benefits of being coached by an Egyptian god" he replies with a smile in his tone. "Bedroom, yeah?" he says. "You want me to stick around?" he asks as he starts toward the location. How he knows it so well might raise an eyebrow if it's noticed.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
The back door leads into the kitchen from the patio. And there is a light on. So Marc and Morrigan can see the shadow that passes over them as Occam jumps down from the top of the fridge and lets out a meow of disdain. Then the cat smells the blood and sees Morrigan being held. It shuts up.

"We talked about it briefly when we first met when you were in your Mister Knight suit." she tells him. "My memory is very good." she adds. There's a soft chuckle, "You should be great with cats at that point as well." she tells him with a teasing tone. "Yes, bedroom. Since everything I need is there." she smiles. "If you would stick around, pretty please." she asks him.

"Have you been in here without me?" she asks him.

Marc Spector has posed:
    Moon Knight nods with a calm expression. "I have a way with them from time to time, yes" he replies. As he makes his way through the halls. "I have, yes." He says. "I thought that your place might hold a clue as to where to find Bushman since they had a watch on the place."

    He shrugs. "I took care of the watch and after some... aggressive negotiations, they told me where I should go to find you." He adds. "Don't worry. The watch is disposed of. Permenantly." He moves into the bedroom and gently sets the woman on the bed. "I'll stay, don't worry."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Occam likes you...I caught him sleeping snuggled up to you a few times here after Thanksgiving." Morrigan admits. "It was one of the only nights I've seen you sleep peacefully." she tells him. "I don't mind you being here. I should give you a key." she comments.

Aggressive negotiations makes her look to him, "You're good at aggressive negotiations, Marc." she nods to this. When he settles her down on the bed though all of the adrenaline wears off and the woman reaches out to grip his shoulder a bit weakly before her eyes roll back in her head, "Just need to close my eyes for just a second..." she slurs...

And then she faints.

Occam makes quick work of jumping up onto the bed and checking to see if she's still breathing. He looks to mark and gives a 'mew' at him before he bonks his big head against Morrigan's.