2013.05.13 - Shadow Stealer

Forest Hills, in Queens, has trees. Who'd have imagined, right? There are even, as strange as it may seem, hills and a forest. The forest is not quite 'in' Forest Hills, but it's close enough. And according to the sources of Zatanna Zatara, that is where strange activity has been going on that is linked to the presence of that demon-empowered table-lamp at an amusement park. Someone may have disguised it as nothing more than a table-lamp, at least, complete with light bulb, but the base -- the actual structure that held that bulb aloft -- was the preserved, disembodied hand of a demon. Every wish it granted caused that hand to regain more of its liveliness.

Three out of five wishes used, lots of demonic contamination to clean up, a very nasty elitist sorcerer, and lots of unanswered questions. That's what it had been like at Renaissance Land back at the end of April. But that lamp, as bad as it was, does not appear to be the only unpleasant magical item popping up in unlikely places. Zatanna can't deal with them all herself, and has only heard about most of them after the fact thus far. So she has recruited help from one of those who was involved in the first incident, and invited her to bring along anyone else she trusts. Thus, Zatanna is expecting at LEAST Daytripper as she stands on the edge of the forest. The sun has almost finished its descent, meaning it's getting pretty dark. It would have been nice to do this in the sunlight, but something tells the sorceress that she's unlikely to catch any illegal magic trafficking going on at high noon in a place like this.

Given how torn up part of Renaissance Land was, and how much demon energy tends to stand out to various beings of other worlds, it would not be surprising if certain 'others' were to do some investigating of their own. And given just WHO Zatanna is going after... Well, at least one other hero may have personal reasons for being here all his own, given a potential shared history. All showing up at the same place isn't necessary. But they are likely to run into each other on this dark night. At least the moon is nearly full, so that should provide SOME degree of illumination or anyone without night vision or something.

Adjusting her magician's top-hat, Zatanna twirls her wand around deftly between her fingers and mentally checks the various spying-wards she prepared to let her know if anyone -- or anything -- is sneaking into the suspect area.

And so it is that Daytripper arrives -- a friend in tow. Because, seriously, if there's demonic activity afoot, she's not above bringing her own personal demon along for added protection (and offensive capabilities, of course). A portal opens at the edge of the woods. Stepping through from Daytripper's inner sanctum, the sorceress arrives with her fuzzy blue friend.

"Evening," she greets Zatanna upon arrival, strolling toward her with what appears to be unconcern -- though it's anything but. The seriousness in her eyes makes that clear. "I don't know if you've met my friend," she tells the magicienne. "This is Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler, meet Zatanna, the magician I was telling you about." She gives the top-hatted woman a smile. "What's the plan?"

Visions. When one saw almost more than anyone else around them, she tended to see entirely TOO much. And lately it had all been doom and gloom and despair and death. ...But really, when was it anything else? Considering how many people thought the precognitive girl was already insane, it was really a miracle that she was able to hold as much together as she did!

So when she just up and vanished from the Xavier Institute for a few hours, no one really noticed anything. The 'weird girl' was always going off and doing something, well, weird. It was probably at the twelve-hour mark, when she didn't show back up at her room for the night that people began to worry and, by the time morning came, to search. They asked her one friend at the school, and called her aunt. Nothing. They were getting very close to calling the police and filing a missing persons report, or at least the students were. The 'professors' at the Institute were likely beginning to suspect a much more sinister happening, considering the girl's powerful cognitive abilities.

So it might come as a surprise to some when she bursts into the clearing created by the empty, moonlit area. Ruth Aldine was running hard, or at least LOOKED like she'd been running hard for a long time. Now she was more stumbling forward of her own inertia, seemingly just managing to get her legs under her each time. Despite having her eyeless sockets covered with a band of cloth, the young girl stumble-runs unerringly towards the Mistress of Magic and Daytripper, panting as ragged breaths tear in and out of her lungs.

Her clothes are filthy and torn, what was once likely a nice sweaty was now soaked with condesentation or maybe sweat, patches of it torn off, the same can be said of her jeans, smudges of dirt and debris on her face.

"He- He- He's c-coming!"

Queens is a nice place. It's not far from Brynn's shop and forge. She has been exploring New York since she arrived. It's a very populus city... especially for someone who is used to a place like Polaria, where there are maybe... three to four hindred residents.... total. Anyhow, so many people have her out every day when she's not working in the forge... and she usually carries a duffel bag with a couple of her most commonly used items in it. After all, this town has crazy stuff happen all the time.

Forests are awesome. They feel far less crowded. This is why Brynn spends a good deal of time in the few wooded areas she can find. She finds herself walking among the trees and undergrowth aimlessly, bag slung casually. And of course, the sounds of a girl running and yelling reaching her ears. So she perks up and turns to investigate.

Did someone ask for a personal demon? Well, Kurt is more than happy to oblige. If it was anyone but a select few, well.. he'd probably take offense. But.. as it IS Amanda, he is there in 'demon' capacity. After a fashion.

Teleporting with Daytripper is a little different, though it could be likened to travel with Illyana.. and as they land, he lands, it's as if he hadn't taken any distance other than a step forward. He's about to greet Zatanna.. really.. but when Ruthie comes barreling like she had, well.. all hell breaking loose behind her?

*bamf*

Kurt moves from Amanda's side to right in front of Blindfold, ready to catch her. "There you are.." though, no.. no police will EVER be called for a student.

EVER. Should it ever come down to it? CEREBRO.

Turning around to look at Zatanna again, Kurt's tail is coming about to grab hold of the girl. "Guten Abend.."

The ripple of dimensional energy as a portal begins to open alerts Zatanna's senses very readily, and so she's already facing Daytripper and Nightcrawler when they arrive. She tips her hat and says, "Nice to meet you, Nightcrawler, and glad you both could make it, Daytripper. The plan, such as it is, is to--" but Zatanna is interrupted by: 1. Some girl coming running up and calling out a warning despite being out of breath, and 2. Someone unrecognized coming close enough to the wards to make them focus on her and let Zatanna know. "One moment, ladies and gentlemen. This isn't the only unexpected arrival, and since you seem to know this one..." Without further ado, Zatanna places a hand to her forehead and tries to project her mind's eye to what the wards are seeing.

And what they are seeing is... Probably not who she is looking for. Still, what are the odds of a random stranger showing up here at this exact time on this exact night? ...Okay, pretty high for those who know about magic. Probability tends to get a bit screwy when magic is involved. Still! "I don't know who this person is. A tall, red-haired lady with a duffel bag. I think she's headed this way or at least is aware of us. Better to make first contact, right?" Zatanna opens her eyes and sweeps her hat from her head. A vividly white dove that seems to be luminant from within without actually shedding any light anywhere beyond itself emerges from the hat and flaps off in Brynn's direction. It will fly around her in circles when it reaches her, simultaneously acting to gauge her hostility level (cause if she tries to roast it, she's probably not friendly) and as a guide in the event she moves to follow the dove back to where it is trying to lead her.

"Now, while we wait to see what happens next, I guess I should ask..." The raven-haired magician turns towards the blindfolded girl and asks, "'He' who? How did you know we would be here? Do you know about the guy we're after?" She doesn't want to do the job of the teachers or anything, but clearly this new-comer knows SOMETHING, and the less beating around the bush, the better if it's really as distressing a situation as it seems to be.

Truthfully, if anyone's going to recognize Blindfold, it will certainly be Daytripper and Nightcrawler -- given they're both X-Men and instructors at the Xavier Institute. And, yes, the chances are slim the institute would file a missing person's report because, yes: Cerebro. So, while both Daytripper and Nightcrawler no doubt heard the girl had gone missing (again), they would both know that mutants more qualified than they were looking for the girl... who then, of course, comes running right into their arms. "Blindfold!" Yes. Daytripper uses the girl's code name. Because, really: Strangers, here. No sense giving away more than is strictly necessary. They're in the field, at the site of imminent demonic activity. Code names are de rigueur for such situations. Not to mention the surprising dishevelment the girl presents. "Are you okay? Where have you been?" She doesn't know the girl as well as Nightcrawler, but that doesn't mean she isn't at least passingly familiar with her.

'He's coming?' Daytripper glances to Zatanna and then back to Blindfold, as she echoes the other magic user's questions. "What did you see, hon? Who's coming? What can you tell us?" Because forewarned is forearmed... even if, clairvoyant visions being what they are, the forewarning may only be partially accurate.

Ruth collapses to her knees as the tail wraps about her, keeping her from pitching completely on her face. Sweat is pouring off the girl, she's shaking, she's breathing so hard she shouldn't be able to talk. But she does anyway.

"Not so... good... He's... coming... The night... All darkness... is him... just a matter... of size... Her bones hollow... sharp with venom," She has to pant between words, looking near to passing out. "Must be stopped... must be stopped."

The girl gulps down great heaping globs of oxygen, though her erraticly-fast hearbeat continues to pulse through her ears like a drumbeat and her limbs refuse to stop shaking. "R-Ran... Ran here all the way. Had to warn, they would not listen." A small, tremulous partial-smile touches Ruth's lips as she 'looks' at the two instructors. "They never listen."

Hostility? Well, when the dove comes into view, curiosity is formost on Brynn's mind. She raises a brow as she spies the mildly luminescant bird. "This ist not normal.." she remarks, her voice seemingly combining accents between Scandanavian, German, and Russian all melded into one for those linguistically talented. At first, she simply stops and watches the bird, but then she shakes her head and keeps moving in the direction of the voices she heard. Or at least the one voice (Blindfold that is). However, she does reach a hand up, offering a crooked finger as if giving a perch to the bird should it so desire. After all, it is a lovely bird.

Kurt grabbing Blindfold is as much a protective instinct to keep her from someone he doesn't know (Zatanna) as it is a chance to try and get the girl's attention. To get her to focus. Whilst doing that, yellow eyes are looking to the skies now, the dove rising into the air to greet another visitor who has truly yet to arrive.

Nightcrawler doesn't echo Daytripper's questions, but he does look to the young girl for the same answers. If he gives it too much thought, he'll only work his way around.. and around.. the fact she may have known that Kurt and Amanda were here, in this place, in this time.. or..

Ouch.

And there it is. Sort of.

Kurt's dealt with Blindfold's words, her manner of speech a few times now, in person, and it's like.. learning to discern words in a difficult accent. It's all by 'feel' as opposed to 'listening' to each and every word.

As Kurt's tail holds the girl fast, keeping her from falling, he studies the girl's face and nods. "We're here.. und we're listening."

Her bones hollow?

Zatanna purses her ruby-red lips as she listens to more of what this 'Blindfold' has to say. Some parts of it sound far too close to some bits and pieces she gathered from her investigations prior... But the rest is new and interpreting it is, much like with most prophetic powers, not even remotely easy -- sometimes not even for those who have such abilities. As Brynn comes closer, the dove keeps pace with her, just a few feet ahead, seemingly ignoring how fast it SHOULD be moving based on its wingbeats in favor of whatever magic is keeping it aloft. Once she is spotted by the red-head, Zatanna wiggles her fingers in greeting as the magic dove flies back into the magician's hat -- which is then seated back upon her head. "Good evening," Zatanna greets Brynn. "Sorry to intrude upon your evening walk through a dark, mostly-empty forest, but given that this area isn't exactly safe at the moment, I thought it best to guide you away from certain parts of the woods. Also, finding out whether you're part of the danger we're investigating would be nice, but I'd settle for just not having any trouble."

Zatanna turns her blue eyes back on Blindfold and says, in general, "The danger we're looking into here is the trafficking of very dark magical items by very unsavory individuals in a manner that is placing innocent bystanders in jeapordy. From what I've been able to tell, the culprit for at least one of sale of these items is conducting a deal in this forest, tonight, a short while from now. He also has some very peculiar protection against direct magical observation and tracking. Kind of 'shadowy' and indistinct."

Shrugging, the sorceress says, "I think that what Blindfold has just said is too similar to discount. If she's warning us, I'm inclined to heed the warning... But if we just leave, a deal is going to go down here and who knows how many people will get hurt as a result? So, I'll put it to a vote. Do we stick around and observe, and if it's viable, try to stop the bad guy? Or do we get out and let my spell wards record everything and hope we can do something with it before it's too late?"

Daytripper doesn't have Nightcrawler's experience with the clairvoyant, but she has experience with other clairvoyants. So, she remains patient and focussed as Blindfold gasps out her incoherent message. Her brows draw faintly together and her lips thin perceptibly with concern and a increasing expectation of the approach of Very Bad Things (TM).

But Nightcrawler has the girl firmly in hand...erm... tail. So, Daytripper straightens and turns to scan the forest, noting the flight of the dove through the shadows and the newcomer that follows it.

The forest isn't her favourite milieu. But, given it's in the middle of a city that is among her favoured milieus, her strength should hold without great difficulty. Further, given that, for once, the energies of the Winding Way are waxing rather than waning, her range and sensitivity is good, today. In fact, it's a good day for her to get into a rumble with Darkness. "It's not in my nature to let the Bad Guys complete deals when there are enough of us around to stop it," she tells the other magic user simply. A sharp smile touches her lips. "I say we take them out, if we can."

A trembling hand reaches up slowly... and begins poking Nightcrawler in the shoulder. Poke, poke, poke, poke. "Her bones are hollow, filled with venom. Jellyfish. There are more, but they do not matter. The drink that must not be drunk. It will be here. It will be given by the darkness. The creeping darkness that must be stopped. Cannot leave."

Ruth reaches out a hand, the same one that had previously been poking Kurt, towards Zatanna, attempting to grab one of her fishnet-clad legs. "Cannot leave, must be stopped." The blind girl is seeming increasingly frustrated, judging by the set of her mouth. The vision, what was to come, was SO CLEAR she was seeing it with crystalline clarity. She wanted to shout what she knew, to tell them in excruciating detail what was coming and what to expect. But she couldn't.

Her mind had been shattered and only partially reassembled when her brother had stolen half her power literally on his way out of this life. And now she was left unable to tell people clearly what they needed to know and instead had people she only wanted to help treat her like she was creepy and dumb! ARGH! It was enough to drive a girl insane. Perhaps that's what finally had.

She starts to struggle to get her shaking knees under her and stand up. Her sweater, or what was left of it, was sticking to her in sweaty patches as she points off into the forest, south-southwest. "There."

Kurt begins to unwind his tail from her slowly, making sure Blindfold's got her footing. He's not of the mind that she's creepy, no.. she's got his protective streak up, and he's more than willing and able to fight any comers in order to be sure that she's safe. One of 'his' mutants, as it were. A student. A girl whose powers aren't necessarily offensive.

As Zatanna is talking to the girl, filling her in as it were, Kurt's expression is turning more and more.. grumpy. As far as he's concerned, Blindfold is still more child than adult, and the girl has too much nightmare fodder as it is.

Amanda's declaration as to their intent is given a nod in agreement, assent, acquiescence.. all the above. After all, he's here to act as 'demon', and one always knows another. There's no fear, but there's a tentative understanding that if it is of nefarious origin, well.. he's got his cross. "I can't see us doing anything but.."

Zatanna looks at the rather weathered teenager, as her leg is grabbed at, and... Actually seems to grasp what's being said. To a degree. "I get you. Let's head in that direction then." Zatanna smiles and salutes the magic-using mutant with her wand. "Daytripper, once we get close enough, if you can cloak us or anything while we lay in wait for the bad guys to arrive, that'd be great. I'll focus on patching up your friend." She makes sure Brynn knows the quickest, safest route out of the area, and offers her any minor magic she can spare as a guide if she has to, and then just trusts the fiery-haired woman will be able to manage on her own. Then she focuses on tending to Blindfold's injuries, clothing, and so on. "Esrever siht egamad!" she chants as she uses some time magic to 'undo' the damage.

"Thank you for coming all this way to warn us. I'm still not one-hundred percent sure of the exact nature of this 'drink', but if it's something that WILL be drunk without our intervention... There really is no choice but to stop this. But we should wait until all the actors are in place before making our move. Nightcrawler, you seem to be able to teleport. How fast can you do it? Enough to snatch something up and then vamoose before others can react?"

As all this goes on, Zatanna is working her magic to fix Blindfold up, and walking alongside whomever is supporting her -- if anyone -- as the group heads south-southwest. Somewhat distressingly, it turns out the meeting location is outside of the circle of spying wards she'd set up. Without Ruth, they'd have been stuck waiting here for who-knows-how-long while the deal was already over and done with. This other meeting place is a tangled collection of weeds, mud, and a fallen log. There's no clearing here, no obvious sign that anyone would want to meet in such a place... It's not even all that special. Just unpleasant terrain to be stumbling over in the dark.

However, there is adequate cover that -- with the assistance of magic -- camouflaging the entire group shouldn't much of a problem for Amanda. "We can always do something," she reassures Nightcrawler, albeit quietly. The time is fast approaching.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the noise of footfalls, of branches cracking under foot, and the sound of voices cursing as their owners trip over things reaches the ears of those who remain hidden. Eventually, a quartet of individuals enter the foliage-cluttered area, one male voice saying, "Here it is, Boss. The fallen log! This is it for sure!" Another man says, "That is what you said the last two times. Check it to be certain!" A woman's voice speaks then. "Yes, sir." In the darkness, only silhouettes are visible to those with normal night vision. The branches overhead are thick with leaves and criss-cross each other like a web of wood. But one form moves towards the log, bending down and seemingly inspecting it.

A few short moments later, the moon comes out from behind some clouds, and a dim luminance filters down through the branches, revealing a fifth outline standing off to the side. A rasping, male voice says, "So glad to see you could make it." Unlike the others, who all gain indications of human features, clothing, and so on in the meager light, this fifth individual remains dark and indistinct except as a humanoid outline. The others seem to be somewhat startled, though the woman who straightens up looks collected enough. Some blonde-haired man in a designer long coat or something, adjusts a pair of small gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and says, "Mister Shadow Thief, I presume?"

Zatanna kind of wants to smack herself in the head at that. It seems so obvious now that it was this guy! She's heard of him already even!

There are very few X-Men that aren't willing to die to protect another of their kind -- the mutant sorceress included. Protecting Blindfold will be a priority, to be sure, but it's a rumble with the Darkness that she most expects. Between the two of them, she and Nightcrawler will do their damnedest to ensure the younger mutant comes out of this encounter unscathed -- at least, no more scathed than she is going in. Thus, she looks rather sharply to Zatanna when the woman starts casting her spell. Understanding it quickly, however, she relaxes and lets the other woman do her thing.

Her gaze follows Blindfold's gesture to the SSW. She's of a mind to send out a little radar pulse of magic, to see what pings back out in the distance, but the likelihood of alerting their quarry with such a technique is too great for her to try it. It's doubtful, though, that she'd have stood all night in the circle of wards without pinging beyond them. She's never been one to trust someone else's magic entirely, without adding her own.

Whispering a soft spell, Daytripper rises a few inches off the ground in a silent hover, nodding to Zatanna. "Yeah. I can cloak us." Illusions'R'Us. Or, rather, Her. She's good at it. Hovering as she is, her forward movement is absolutely silent. When they find a suitable place to conceal themselves, she sets up a magical blind around them, watching the small gathering with glittering blue eyes.

Shadow Thief? Her magical lore is extensive and varied. Demons are something of a specialty for her. Thus, her eyes narrow as she searches her memory for information on the rasping darkness that commands the humans' attention.

As the damage to her clothing is reversed, Blindfold starts to look a little less unkempt, even if she does have a few twigs and leaves in her hair from where she'd obviously fallen a few times. As the damage is reveresed to her torn and exerted muscles, and the scrapes and bruises she'd received for stumble-running for nearly sixteen hours heal themselves, she's able to stand more readily and not look so much like she's going to collapse. Though she's still incredibly fatigued. Magic can do a lot, but human bodies still needed the occasional, good ol' eight-hour nap.

As they approach the area, Blindfold remains silent, hugging her arms around her torso, occasionally stumbling as her foot catches in a hole or an uneven bit of terrain. However she 'sees', it's still tricky terrain to get around in for someone who's had only minimal Danger Room training and no extraordinary physical skills. She wasn't even greatly athletic! She occasionally corrects their course to bring them on a collision trajectory towards the impending meeting. And when they're close enough to hear voices, she ducks down and places her back to a tree.

Best to leave this part to the people who do it best. If it comes down to it, she can stay hidden and use her telekinesis to try and assist. But really, she just doesn't want to get in the way of those who actually KNOW how to fight.

Kurt keeps his eye on Blindfold, but those glowing yellow eyes are pitched forward in the dim light, all displayed before him as if it were day. Should anyone truly look his way, all they would see would be, yes.. very much like the Shadow Thief, vague outlines of the demonic-looking Nightcrawler. And should he pass into a shadow? He would disappear completely to all sights and sounds.. and scents.. molding in with his own particular 'dimension'.

Kurt is not afraid.

Concerned, yes. Infernals are to be treated carefully. Afraid, no.

"Ja," Kurt answers Zatanna. "I can." How, and to what degree, however? A mutant never tells. He does, however, smile in the darkness, "Und make it look good."

The woman is wearing some sunglasses (at night? wtf?) and a coat of her own, and seems to have some slightly rigid hair. Maybe she uses lots of gel? Either way, she seems to be the one standing closest to the richy-rich boss, whomever he is, and is thus probably his main protector. Meaning she probably is at least semi-competent. The other two are just kind of goon-looking putzes and even though they look like they might pull guns if Shadow Thief tries anything funny, they really don't look that dangerous next to all the powered people around here. Like, despite being bulky and strong, Blindfold could probably deal with either or both of them if she were inclined. Muscles do not make up for incompetence. Shadow Thief rasps out, "Indeed, Mister Fairweather. I have the ITEM you were looking for. And once you have the money to pay for it, I will gladly turn it over." Mister Fairweather hmphs a bit, squinting and peering in the darkness, and clearly lacking any sort of night vision like Nightcrawler has.

Zatanna isn't exactly adapted for working in deep darkness herself, but she at least has sharp normal vision and can make out enough of what's going on in the pale glow of the moon to start putting together a plan.

Something is scratching at her senses. It's kind of like something creepy and crawly clawing at the walls of her mind. Not violent enough or powerful enough to warrant alarm, and it doesn't seem to be focused on her so much as a pervasive aura of unpleasantness. But the fact that it's like this without even MEANING to indicates that whatever is being sold here is Bad News Bears. She raises her wand a bit in preparation to act, grateful for the illusion that Daytripper has provided, but not sure if speaking is safe or not. Casting a spell to speak silently isn't an option since that would require speaking first. There's some lesser spells she could try, but they'd be even more likely to draw attention.

One of the goons lifts a pair of very heavy-looking satchels and brings them forward, setting them at Shadow Thief's feet. He opens the lids to show that each is full of gold ingots. Geez, no wonder the hired goon is breathing hard! Those things must be heavy! Shadow Thief's unclear facial features split into a broad smile and he chuckles a bit under his breath. Then, from within his torso, a bottle emerges on a tendril of shadow. A bottle that seems to glow a muted silver from the liquid that fills it. It's... Somehow sickening to look at, even without knowing what it is exactly. It just feels... BAD.

"Your immortality elixir, as requested," the fiend says gleefully as he takes it in hand and stretches his arm out across the clearing towards Fairweather. The woman steps in the way, however, and says, "I will bring it to Mister Fairweather." She looks Chinese. Not very tall, not very physically imposing. But Shadow Thief only hesitates for a moment before rasping out, "Your choice. But if you suspect me of treachery, there's no need. This is a very profitable business. Eliminating customers would be... counter-productive."

"Enihs thgirb thgil!" Zatanna suddenly calls out as she points her wand at the group and stands up from concealment. A blinding spotlight shines from the tip of the wand, bathing the entire area in front of her in blazing white. Shadow Thief screams and clutches at his face as he backs away. The goons stagger and fall over the log or their own feet. Fairweather turns away and curses. Only the woman with the sunglasses seems to keep her head, and even she is holding an arm up to shield her face slightly. "Now!" Zatanna calls to Nightcrawler. The bottle is held in the woman's free-hand. It should be easy to grab it!

Daytripper fixes a tight illusion around Blindfold, once the girl sinks against the tree, ensuring that, should the group move away from her, the girl can remain there and be concealed. She'd rather the clairvoyant didn't find herself on the front lines, too.

She's comfortable, however, with Nightcrawler at her back. No one can fight in the shadows like he can. They're as natural an environment to him as water is to a fish.

The name Shadow Thief, however, keeps coming up blank in her memory. There are numerous shadow demons she can think of... but that's not one of them. She glances to her fellow X-Man, her expression telegraphing a hint of perplexity. She has no idea what she's dealing with. And that makes her about as grumpy as he is. The two of them are a matched set.

Drifting forward on a silent spell, remaining within her illusion, she focuses her mage sight on the gathering, frowning. It's only then that she realizes the only magical thing in that whole glen is in the arcane bottle the Thief holds.

"Mein Gott!" she murmurs harshly in German, so softly she'll hardly be heard by anyone other than her demonic 'anyfriend' (handily answering the question as to whether or not it's safe to speak while cloaked). There's an irritated growl to her tone. "Die Bastarde sind alle Menschen. Es gibt nicht ein Damon unter ihnen." Then, in English. Softly. Irritatedly. Only just loud enough for all three of the other heroes to hear, but not so loud as to catch the ears of their enemies. "They're human. Every last one of them. But the bottle? That's magic."

And then Zatanna steps forward and casts the crazy light spell -- destroying the shadows and killing whatever night vision anyone (including the heroes) might have had. Daytripper throws her hand in front of her face and closes her eyes as the light explodes like a camera flash. She swears in German, blinking rapidly to try to reaclimate her eyes to the new light level. Reaching out with her hands, even half blinded, she starts chanting a spell to use the forest to bind the bad guys... hoping to high heaven none of them have moved too far out of where they had been before the blinding light -- because the spell is localized to minimize interfering with the heroes.

Ruth is safely placed, and as they watch the tableau unfold before them, Kurt is watching.. the night as day to those glowing yellow, pupil-less eyes. The shadows are truly his home, and illusion isn't truly needed for him to pass mostly unseen in the woods, so filled with shadow. He moves soundlessly, away from normal sight.

The transfer begins, and there is the distinct desire to facepalm. Another getting in the middle of a buy.. this one with potentially the same sort of repercussions, even if there's nothing to do with mutants therein. Item. Gold. Bad guys.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt catches Amanda's words, and he looks at his friend for a long, lingering moment. "Keine Damonen?" Another long moment passes before a look crosses Nightcrawler's face, and he smiles.. and it's not one of the pretty, look at the camera sort either. It's one that could very well send chills up a spine.

Time to meet a real demon, boys and girls.

The blinding light, however, puts a completely new spin on the matter, and as much as the bad guys react, well.. Kurt has to throw his arm up to keep a good part of the light from catching him. No warning.. warning would have been nice!

Still, however, now without much advantage as he's half blind, there comes a soft *bamf*, followed by that lingering presence of sulfur.. the flames of Hell, he'd have one believing in mere moments.

*bamf*

Kurt lands in the middle of the group, his fangs out and his thick German accented voice sounding, "I will take this, danke.." before he disappears again.. only to reappear within the span of a single beat of a heart atop the Shadow Thief. "You wish to be a demon, mein Herr.. MEET ONE.." and Kurt grabs him around the neck with his spade-tipped tail.. and begins the teleportation dance, infusing the air with the smell of infernal brimstone.. over.. and over.. and over.. and over..

Well, the light is directed AWAY from the group, but yes, it may be a bit bright. It's also temporary. Enough to stun the Shadow Thief's shadow control for a moment, and drive him back. And thankfully, Nightcrawler has the bottle! Now all he needs to do is get out of there with it as Daytripper causes foliage to snare the others, and they can deal with the bad guys without worrying about someone getting immortality!--Oh, oops. Looks like Nightcrawler decided to try to take out the guy strongest in darkness first before making his departure. And... Sadly that turns out to be a bad idea. Nightcrawler attempts to land upon the thief, and instead passes right through him. Shadow Thief hisses, "Fools, I'm only solid when I want to be! I don't know who you are... But this was your last mistake!" Stretching himself upwards, Shadow Thief causes a dozen tendrils of shadow to lash out from the forest all around, trying to spear the Mutant as he teleports. Thankfully, Nightcrawler is pretty fast with that bamfing. But in this much darkness, any given place he teleports to in immediate range can become a nest of shadowy blades. A prolonged battle is not in the group's favor.

The hired goons are wrapped up in forest growth or muddy arms or whatever Daytripper chooses to use. Mister Fairweather protests loudly. The little asian woman with the rigid hair is likewise snared... But then spikes suddenly extend out of her skin and shoot in a hail in the general direction of Zatanna, Daytripper, and Blindfold. The latter for certain has some cover, but those spines seem to do more than just stab things. The plants wrapping the woman up shrivel and blacken in record time, tree trunks sizzle and MELT with some virulent toxin, and anyone who gets hit is likely to be in a lot of pain and probably be impaired at least somewhat. The spines are hollow... And full of venom.

Zatanna casts a defensive spell to try to shield the trio, unable to do much to help Nightcrawler at the moment. A force field that seems to hold up under the barrage of needles. But when the venom even starts to melt magical energy, Zatanna has to admit that this is a very unhealthy place to be. She had heard that Shadow Thief was weak against light-based attacks, but they'd do more harm than good in an environment like this, with allies like this.

Escape with the elixir seems to be the best idea. "We need to move! We don't need to fight them now!" the sorceress calls out.

Daytripper is happy to let Zatanna play shield-maiden in this scenario. Her illusion on all but Blindfold is broken in favour of the writhing forest. That doesn't stop her, however, from flinching back at the flying spines that bounce off the shield, and swearing a little at the withering plantlife. "What the hell is she?" A mutant, is her best guess. And not a friendly one.

She frowns. Yes. It's obvious a prolonged fight here isn't in the heroes' best interests. Chanting quickly, now, as different idea occurs to her, she etches runes in the air. The marks are doubtlessly visible to Zatanna, and likely Kurt as well, but not to those who have no mystic or magic-sense ability. With a sharp flick of her fingers, the glowing mark shoots through the air to plant on the Shadow Thief's back as he spins in an attempt to nail Nightcrawler. The mark is harmless -- insofar as it won't cause the man any injury and isn't likely to be sensed at all -- but it's about the most useful spell she can think of at the moment. It's a tracker rune. They'll be able to follow the bastard right back to his lair and find out just what the hell he's doing dabbling in the dark arts like this. With any luck Zatanna will recognize it for what it is.

"Pull back!" Daytripper calls out, now that the mark's in place. "We need to retreat! Now!" Before venomlady gets up close and personal.

There's a slight tugging on the bottle in Nightcrawler's grip, a tugging that gets stronger as the moments pass. There's no apparent cause to this tugging, which begins every minute he appears and stops whenever he teleports again. But eventually Ruth gets ahold of the elixir with her telekinesis enough to wrench it away, or the blue demon lets go of it, enough to send it hurtling away into the darkness, almost as though he'd thrown it away! Except for the fact that it makes a left-hand turn in mid air and ducks behind a tree.

And right into Blindfold's open hands.

Bone-hair spines rain in her direction, but she hasn't moved from behind her tree, leaving her with total cover from the barrage. But that protection is rapidly dwindling away as the tree begins to melt. The dark-haired girl's head turns and, if she had eyes, surely they'd be wide, as the sizzling sound registers in her ears and to her 'sight'. She had to move now, to find more cover, she stands and begins to run.

And the tree, now minus most of the middle part of its trunk, begins to fall. Right on a course to crush the fleeing young mutant.

Nightcrawler is extremely fast in his bamfing, as well as cloaking in shadows. He lives and breathes the darkness, his indigo fur only lending strength to his ability to simply disappear into the darkness. He can almost outrun bullets, or rather, outbamf them.. so as far as the teleporter is concerned, there's no real need to worry for him.

Amanda has the ability to teleport, but Blindfold.. little Ruthie..

Landing beside the blind girl, Kurt takes a hold and then.. they're gone. Disappeared.

*bamf*