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Summary: Responding to sigils in the park, heroes take the field.
Date: February 02, 2010. Simultaneously with Bobbidy and Boo... or something
Bibbidy
Rating: R
NYC - Central Park
Central Park is a large public park in upper Manhattan, largest areas of green with people reading, having a picnic, or playing Frisbee. Walking paths can be found all around the park. In-between the large area's of grass, the park is shadier with many trees. A large road circles the park where joggers, bicyclists, and inline skaters are commonly found.
Over Central Park, three sigils have appeared. One over the center of the park itself. One over the lake. One over the zoo. Demons are swarming to them from all over. Small demons. Powerful demons. A little bit of everything. The heat is rising. There's a smell of magic, fire, and blood in the air. Something big is happening tonight. Some heroes know what's going on. Some do not. However, messages have been passed through channels that can connect some.
With the sigils in the air, Amanda Sefton knows time is almost over. She's brought with her the young Illyana from another universe. Hovering over the park, she's scanning. "We must find the other soul-weapon user." She says, pushing with everything she's got.
Illyana rests silently beside her. "I think it's one from your world. The sword here is my Darkchilde Wiccan's sword." She says softly.
Coming down the mountain… is Billy, enrobed in black. In his hands, he carries both a sword and a staff, each one glowing with eldritch energies. Behind him, a horde of demons. "Come, children. Chaos is necessary. It brings power to the summoning." He laughs, darkly. His skin is chalk white. His hair is midnight black. His eyes… match his hair.
Behind Billy is quite the large dragon hovering a bit in the air. Shimmering black scales, tail wagging menacingly and smoke coming out of his breath in tufts. The dragon is D'nte and he looks like an animal, his human form can't be seen at all. The Dragon eventually lands on the ground, not making a sounding as it's heavy form hits the ground. Only to Billy the voice can be heard. « Tell me what to burn and it shall burn gloriously. »
Hulkling has been rather…well in a bad place lately. Fighting off demons and coming home to an empty warehouse has not had him in a good mood. He's worred about his friends…and mostly Billy. He knew that damn sword would be trouble from the moment he saw it and he's pretty sure something is wrong. And when things start happening over the park, the alien hybrid takes off. Green wings carry him towards the park, fists clenched tightly. Seeing too women up ahead, he heads their way. They don't look that demon and the girl looks a little familiar.
Najji has had enough of hanging around his unit's borrowed apartment. With a restlessness born of the chaos of this primitive time, he's decided to do what he was designed to do. Fight things. Cutting a swath across the neighborhood wasn't that hard but when the sigils go up over central park, he recognizes them as what they are. Calls to battle. And /that/ he can understand. GEM training and powers get him to the scene quickly and when he sees the strange forms, his eyes widen slightly and hips lips curl up in a ever so faint smile. An aura of violet light, translucent and clear surrounds him. He assesses the obvious threats. Sword. Staff. Giant lizard. Giant lizard wins. He gives the women a glance and then starts towards the demonic types. Some things just don't /need/ an explanation. A straight and narrow blade of force forms from the light around him and he swings the sword through the air a few times, getting the heft and announcing his challenge in in unmistakable terms.
"There! Him!" Amanda shouts. She looks around for anyone that looks human. "Separate him from the others. Let me free him of his curse, so that we can end this all tonight!" She calls, making her voice amplify with her powers.
Illyana gasps. "Uncanny." She whispers, noticing how he looks like someone she knows.
Billy reaches a hand out to stroke Dante's illusory neck. "All of it. Burn it all." He looks out, seeing Hulkling and the others coming. He begins to laugh. "Start THERE!" He says, letting loose a maniacal howl as he flows into the air.
« Of Course. » Dante replies and the Dragon looks to inhale deeply then a large breath of fire comes from it's mouth and unlike with the illusions of Dante, this is real and things begin to burn. He moves his head in side to side pattern, getting everything in his area to blaze up. Trees, grass, bushes, park benches, anything flammable is turned into an inferno in the park.
Hulkling looks where pointed Amanda points, eyes wide. "Billy?" he murmurs. He starts to fly towards him but there'ss a firebreathing dragon that causes him to pull back. He mutters a skrull curse the Super Skrull accidentaly taught him and flies up higher to escape the flames.
Najji watches Billy take to the air and considers his options there. In short: none good. And the giant lizard is breathing fire. Even if he could remember his past, The GEMs were generally not raised with fantasy and fairy tales. From somewhere in his subconscious mind a thought surfaces and he voices it in a quiet, calm tone. "You are one big, ugly rogue mutant." He doesn't know why he thinks that but it seems true enough to him. The aura of light around him shifts from violet to blue as his heart starts beating faster and he ducks behind a concrete pedestal for a bronze statue. His armor doesn't protect him from heat damage. As the flames spread to either side of his makeshift barrier, Najji notes to himself that the past really does suck.
Billy looks out. "Oh, look. The poor little Alien thinks he's got something to find here. Come, Theodore." He calls out, sending a bolt of lightning towards the green alien. "The Sefton!" He calls out, waving a hand towards her. "Contain them!" He calls to a swarm of demons that go to harass the other soulweaponeers.
The dragon looks at Najji inside his head, telepathically, a booming voice speaks to him. « Bow down before The Dragon or else perish in the flames, and I will make it slow and painful. Then once you are roasted to my liking, I shall devour you. For humans are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup. » He flies over to where Najji is and lands in front of him. « What is your choice human? Submission? Or Death? »
Hulkling curses in english this time, pretty much falling several feet to avoid the lightning. His hair ends up singed though. "Billy! Stop this! Fight it! This isn't you!" he yell, just managing to recover even if it does hurt to do so.
Najji grunts at that telepathic shouting. And also, what is 'ketchup?' He'll ask Shiro later. If there is a later. Standing slowly, Najji considers the matter for a moment. The telepath will be able to see that even with fight or flight biochemicals flowing through his system, the young soldier is fairly calm and centered. It's what he was trained for. And that field spikes from blue to green. "Third option: Subdue target. Local phrase: Kick your scaly ass back to Brooklyn." He heard that defiant phrase on the subway and rather liked the sound of it. And scaly was his own touch. Who says he's not that bright? With that a flat platform of light appears in front of him and Najji leaps onto it, using the elastic resistance to spring up and over the dragon. He takes a slash at it's head while inverted above Dante. Not a killing stroke. More an invitation to play.
Suddenly, after Teddy's call, Billy pauses. "Teddy?" He asks, coloration flowing back into his skin, a bit of red to his hair, and red into his clothing. His mother's red. "I'm fighting." He says, lowering himself to the ground, slowly. "It's… It's ok. I'm… I'm me. I'm good again." He says, putting the staff down and vanishing the sword in his hands. The demons continue to harass Amanda and Illyana.
Hulkling lands a bit hard, watching Billy carefully. "Billy?" he asks again, approaching slowly. "C'mon, Billy," he smiles and offers a hand. "Let's go do some heroing then. You call it this time," he means the battle cry, glancing up at the demon horde.
Something odd will happen when Najji goes to strike the Dragon's head, he goes through it. It's not there, the Dragon isn't real. Once that happens the illusion fades, leaving a teen with black wings and black scaly skin in it's wake. « You broke the spell, it's okay because you've just awakened the /real/ dragon. » Dante says telepathically to Najji as he starts to attack his mind with a rough mental assault. He's not usually one to do this, but he's putting everything he has into the attack to hurt Najji's brain, make it feel like his mind is being scrambled.
Najji blinks as the dragon vanishes like a burst soap bubble and then he's over and past and on his way to landing. Smooth motions, long practiced, should see him safely to the ground in a tuck and roll. Or they would have, before that brain blast hits. A mind already scoured by time travel is fairly shredded by that mental attack. He falls heavily, slamming into the ground on his side as his senses seem to flare and dim randomly and his thoughts melt like frost before a blow torch. "Ufff!" His force sheath and sword shimmer over to a deep blood red before fading away entirely as Najji tries to get his bearings and get his feet under him. It suddenly doesn't feel that much like a game anymore.
"Really? Ok." He grins, "Young Avengers… PAINPAINPAINPAINPAIN!" Billy shouts, shifting fully back to his dark side. He laughs, rising maniacally as he looks skywards. "Oh, mother, is THIS what it felt like to let loose? Why couldn't you tell me?"
Amanda lets another shout out. "Quickly! Hold him still." She seems to be free for the moment as she holds a sword up and aims it towards Billy.
Hulkling smiles when he grabs Billy's hand. He's all set to rush into battle back with his lover at his side but that warm feeling doesn't last long. He yells out in pain, falling to a knee but unable to let go of Billy's hand. "Bi-…Billy…"he grunts. Slowly, he starts shifting his nerves about. It's not enough to block the pain entirely but it's enough. Teeth grit, he rises. With a roar worthy of the Hulk himself, he lunges and tries to grab Billy in a bear hug. It's not clear if he actually heard Amanda or not though.
A mental laugh, kind of sounding something like Alan Rickman's voice, rings through Najji's head. « You could have made this easy on yourself, you chose death. » He says in that same Alan Rickman voice before taking a deep breath and going to breath fire all over Najji in his mentally 'injured' state.
Najji is just getting his feet under him. He assesses the angles and tries to focus. Focus. Tactical options flash through his mind. Retreat. Attempting to armor up again. Frontal assault. The option he finally settles on makes him scowl. But it's optimal. He concentrates all of his will in the aftermath of that attack and forms a discus of crimson light. With a shout of effort that turns into a howl as the flames wash over his body, he hurls it and it sails, at speed, right past Dante's shoulder. A clean miss. If he'd been aiming too hit from the front. With properties much like high impact rubber and years of training behind it, the disk hits the bronze leg of the statue behind Dante and then rebounds, force almost as great as it's initial toss and aimed for the nape of his neck. It probably won't kill if it hits, but it may very well stun the demon. Meanwhile, Najji burns and runs, trying to find a pool of water or a fountain to extinguish the demonic fire.
With a mighty hurl, Amanda flings the sword in her hands straight at the joined teenagers. The sword will not hurt Teddy at all. But Billy, will begin shifting. Teleporting over in a stepping disc, Amanda looks down at the transforming teenager. She looks to Teddy. "Go help him." She points at Najji. "Please. I must show him what we have to do. Then, we can end this fiasco and cleanse his sword."
Billy screams in pain as the influences begin to scrub away from his body, transforming him back into the Wiccan everyone knows. "What have I done?" He asks softly.
Illyana shakes her head. "No time for that right now." She appears, already knowing the plan. "Sink your sword. Act as a channel for her. She's going to work through us and our weapons."
Teddy squeezes his eyes shut when he sees the sword. Sure, he knows it's not going to hurt him but it's still not nice to see a blade flying his way. He keeps hold on Wiccan the whole time. When he's back to normal, Hulkling smiles. "Nothing, babe," he whispers back, trying to capture the teen's lips for a quick kiss. "Go…save the world," he says, reluctantly letting go. He glances at the weapon wielding women and nods. "Good luck," he says, jogging towards Najji. "Hey! Small fountain to your left!" he calls.
There's a mental roar that can be heard by anyone in the area from Dante as he's frustrated that one of his own, another demon, was taken out. It's not supposed to be like this. The disc flies into the back of Dante's neck, causing him to stumble forward. His eyes flash red and he looks at Amanda. « YOU! » He thinks to her and starts to fly at her in a wild frenzy, hoping to rip her head off.
Najji dives for the fountain and though the water is brackish melt from the snows before the Inferno began, it's still enough to put out the flames. Of course, it's not the most healthy thing in the world to dip fresh and serious burns into. The pain is amazing and wide swaths of skin crackle and slide a bit as he rises from the still waters. But Najji summons his force sheath, the armor glowing so deep a red that it's almost out of the visible spectrum. A matching boar spear, broad-bladed, heavy and barbed appears in his hands and then he charges at Dante's back, putting all his weight behind the strike and moving at inhuman speeds. Still, even in pain and rage and desperation, that tiny seed of 'weakness' his mentor installed in him won't let him kill. At the last instant, the spear becomes a studded, body-length club of vaguely Asian design. And he swings it for Dante's back with all his might. If the demon can take a discus hit and keep on going, the GEM doesn't have to hold back.
Unfortunately for Dante, Amanda was in mid-teleport as he came after her. She vanishes for another part of the park, as does Illyana.
Billy nods in response to the instruction. "I'll channel your spell." He says, sinking his now clean Sword into the earth at his feet and erecting a barrier around his body. 5….
There's a laugh that sounds in the heads around him. « You're saviours teleported away, The Dragon was too much for them! » He 'says' with delusional power. A Telepathic attack starts to hit Teddy's mind when 'WAHBAM!' Dante is hit with that club of Najji's and falls forward to his knees. Ow, that hurt him. He looks to see who attacked him and grins at Najji. « I didn't burn you enough last time? »
Hulkling gasps in surprise when he sees Najji charging for Dante with a lethal weapon. "No!" he yells, bounding after the GEM. When the spear shifts he lets out a relieved breath. A new plan starts to form but he ends up letting out a yell of pain at the telepathic attack. Hands clutch his head and he looks at Dante. Gritting his teeth, he charges, trying to tackle and pin Dante before he can start up that telepathic assault again.
Najji shakes his head at Dante. "No. Still breathing." At least having his armor up lets him keep the wind from hitting outraged nerves and raw skin. He swings that massive club around again in place, trading control for raw power as he spins, pivoting on one foot and making that crimson construct leave a trail like illuminated blood in the air behind it as it traces a circle, arcing up to try to smack Dante upside the head. Mutants also suck, he reflects to himself. Probably loud enough for the demonic telepath to hear it.
"Oh you can't be serious." Billy says to the air. "Fine, but I know where you got this, and I know it's not a real spell." He says with a sigh before chanting. "Eleka nahmen nahmen Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen. Eleka nahmen nahmen Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen" 4…
« I'm not a mutant, not anymore, I'm The Dragon. » Dante says in response to Najji's thought, right before he gets tackled to the ground and winces as being hit by Hulkling. « Ah Hulking, putting your lover before your friends and teammates, like always. » He says grinning up at the half-Kree/half-Skrull. He goes into Teddy's mind puts images in there, images of Billy dead, Billy gone full out demon, Billy doing many kinds of unimaginable things.
Teddy grits his teeth. "Like always? You don't know know enough about me to say anything like that," he growls. He pulls back a fist and prepares to strike Dante only for the images to hit him. He stumbles back, eyes closed and hands once ore clutching his head. "No…no…no! STOP IT! Get out of my head! It's not real!" he yells, body shifting and taking on a more monstrous form almost as if it intends to try swiping at the mental images.
Najji blinks as his green ally (how many of these not-mutants are green? And why?) becomes more monstrous. Great. On the other hand, that's for a moment or two. He might not want to kill but he is a trained, pragmatic and somewhat ruthless soldier. While Dante is semi-pinned, that club transforms into something resembling an oversized croquet mallet. A croquet mallet with size of a garbage can lid in terms of impact surface. He grins suddenly, "Tess would like this. She likes your 'cartoons'." And with that, he swings down and around in a roundhouse swipe at the demon on the ground's head. Not lethal, probably, given his resistance to damage. But perhaps enough to finally get a leg up on this creature before he /must/ resort to lethal means.
"Ok, this is just silly, lady." Billy says before sighing deeply. "Alright, alright. Hocus Pocus." 3…
The possessed Dante seems to be enjoying torturing Teddy, laughing in his head as the images keep coming, but they stop quite abruptly as he's smacked upside the head with a giant Mallet. Dante blinks a few times before falling back, the possessed teen is in a daze, not able to do anything at the moment.
Teddy draws back a clawed hand and seems prepared to lash out in Dante's direction when the images stop. He looks up, breathing heavily and blinking a few times. "Nice shot…"]
Najji can't help but let out a satisfied 'Hah!' as Dante is rattled a bit by being smacked by the giant hammer. It's petty, sure. But Najji is also in a great deal of pain. And misery loves company. Teddy's words get a nod and a small grin. "When in doubt, hit things." His motto. Najji obviously considers hitting the demon again before shaking his head and holding out both hands. Flexible cables of translucent force lash out towards the demonic teenager as Najji attempts to wrap him a good thirty feet of the material in looping bonds that would go from ankle to neck. If successful, he'll keep one end of the cables in hand, to they don't vanish and keep a careful eye on Dante.
Billy is obviously getting annoyed by some of this, because he doesn't believe a word of it. But, he can FEEL the energy, and that's what matters. "Alakazam." 2…
Dante snaps out of his daze to realize he can't move from the neck down. He thrashes his head about. « You'll all pay for this! » He yells to them telepathically as he just breaths fire where ever he can, desperate attacks for the teen. He doesn't care who or what he hits, just that he hits something.
Hulkling looks over at Wiccan to check on him and then moves to serve as a shield for Najji. He'll let the fire hit him as he can take more damage and has that healing factor.
Najji lets Hulkling take the hit, crouching slightly and wincing as the burns he already has ache in sympathy with the sudden heat in the air. His expression is grim as he sidesteps and uses his enhanced strength to crack the cables like whips, attempting to lift Dante off the ground and slam him back down. "Bad mutant! Cease resistance or I'll bounce you off things until something breaks." And as a quieter aside to Hulkling. "I have about a minute or two before shock releases and the burns render me non-functional. You may want to subdue or remove the threat by then."
1… Billy looks up. "Ok, I understand the need to time it together, but this is just plain stupid." He laughs before raising his sword skyward. "Bibbidy. Bobbidy. Boo."A portal forms over the castle, pulling at all of the remaining demons. The castle in the park and the mountain rise into it.. The demons also leave the minds of the remaining posessed.
The fire dies from Dante's mouths as the scales just melt of his body and the wings turn to dust and float away in the wind. Standing there is the blond haired Young Avenger known as Silent Image, a look of complete agony on his face as the transformation back isn't pleasant. Everything he's done is present in his mind, everything that wasn't him. Tears start to fall down his cheeks as he feels guilty for everything thing he's done. « I'm Sorry.» Is faintly heard in the minds of Billy, Teddy and Najji.
Hulkling growls. "No trying to kill him. He's a friend in trouble," he insists even as his back burns. He turns as Dante turns back and grabs onto him. He gives his teammate a hug and then reaches out to offer a hand to Najji. "C'mon. We'll get you medical attention," he says.
Najji gives Dante a wary, dubious look. It's probably a trick. But then again, it's not like he can hold him much longer anyway. The cables vanish, but he keeps his force sheath up as a de facto shield against the air. The growling doesn't appear to particularly impress him and he looks out the outstretched hand with some confusion. Does he want something? Is it the start of a takedown maneuver? Is he pointing out an injury? Also, why /is/ this guy green? And when did he become so acutely aware of the rotation of the earth. And did he leave something in the box in the microwave again? That's bad. Also, why is the ground coming up eye-level? He's unaware of keeling over until after he's already unconscious.
Billy sighs softly, hefting the sword. "It's clean now. That influence is gone… whatever it was." He says with a nod, vanishing it as he goes over to Najji and holds a hand over the mutant's body. "IwantyouhealedIwantyouhealedIwantyouhealed."
