2013.07.22 - The Circle: Preparation

To me a book is a message from the gods to mankind; or, if not, should never be published at all. ~ Aleister Crowley

For the police of New York City tonight has been a long night already, and for the ones that were dispatched to the Homeless Shelter in the Bowery it is looking like it is going to be a much longer night. Called out because of a disturbance at the Shelter they found 2 dead bodies, one seriously injured priest, and an unconscious man in robes along with two teenaged superheroes, and about 3 dozen versions of what happened told by people with various degrees of reliability.

The police and the EMT have categorically refused to let the heroes interrogate the one surviving normal cult member that was caught, possibly because of their age and partially because they are not registered or licensed while the police are and want to make sure that any charges that come from tonight will stick if they can get anything form him in an interrogation.

The heroes though have had some luck. One of the patrol men, or woman in this case, Officer MacDonald has decided to share a little information with them. For some reasons she is the only one that is buying the claims of possible kidnapped children and people messing with minds and since she can't go against orders and check out the information on her own she passes on one thing to the heroes knowing they can follow up on it faster than the Police will. The Priest that was injured as part of the attack was new in town, and had an address for an old deconsecrated Catholic Church in one of the worst parts of the Gotham area on him. Once the heroes are on their way the slightly overweight blond woman fishes a cross out from under her uniform shirt to kiss it and say a quick prayer for them, and any children they might find whose parents and guardians has been made to forget that they exist.

The events at the shelter have only just hit the news, but it has been a couple of hours and the word on the street is already buzzing about the attack. Just what happened is unclear, but three common things can be known from it. People died, someone has apparently been taking teenagers, and people did overhear the Officer give the Superheroes on scene the address of the old Church in Gotham.

By the time the heroes involved in the attack on the Shelter have gathered back up and made their way to the location of the deconsecrated church night has already started to fall. The air around the church is thick with fog candle light flickers in the windows and a low soft chanting can be heard from inside.

Standing atop a rooftop overlooking the church, Axiom's still in his costume and armor. He's looking down at the church with a concerned frown and waiting for the teammates he called in to arrive. He told them exactly where he was waiting and that he'd fill them in once they arrived. "Are you still d-doing okay, Ulrik?" he asks the other hero with him, eyes not leaving the churge. The fog and chanting have him worried.

Hulkling narrows his eyes as he hears the chanting from inside the church. In the guise of a rather indistinct beggar, the teenage shapeshifter looks around anxiously. Nothing ever turned out well when there was chanting inside a church. Like in Mother Superior Dearest- that cheesy horror flick he still couldn't believe he got bamboozled into watching. That had been Madonna's last attempt at a movie career, of course.

A few minutes later he's climbing up a fire escape across the street and joining Axiom and Ulrik, his shape returning to the towering green brick that he is, "... Creepy level of at least ten down there, Axiom."

Well, Heather wasn't at the fight, but she had planned to come do some volunteer work for the late night crowds. See, she doesn't sleep... really... like ever. Well, now and then she'll doze lightly, as she'd lose it mentally without some rest. But she doesn't feel fatigue like everyone. She showed up in her little Priuss, yes... the powder blue one. And saw the mess of police tape and all that. So she reached into her pocket and pulled out her 'Titans' ID card before walking up and flashing that to get some answers to a few questions.

After that, she started doing some investigating on her own... which amounted to bothering folks on the streets and asking them about stuff until she ended up near the church. Eyes narrowing, she wonders. . o o O O (Why so much activity at an -abandoned- church?) And so... she has decided to try to sneakylike... approach. But she's not really the most sneaky individual.

"I'm fine. This isn't nearly as scary as when we were in your uncle's dimension." Ulrik points out having changed into a pair of jeans that fit right and a white t-shirt. "Something tells me that they're going to be prepared for us though." Since he was dueling a guy and that guy got away. Oh and he's exchanged the light sword for his 'practice' blade from Brynn and the dagger from the wedding. He's not taking any chances of being defenseless here and Brynn's practice blade's better than his own light ones. It has a real edge.

The problem with being obvious.. flashing your superhero ID and making a scene out of a scene.. is people tend to notice. People that you may not even see. Make no mistake though. They definately see you.

In this case.. Heather is being stalked from the shadows of the sewers by a pair of purple eyes, which happen to be in Marrow's head. Even with Heather driving from the scene, it wasn't hard to track her. Heather had to stop for traffic, and it took only a tiny bit of forethought to discern WHICH church they were talking about. Unseen by all more than likely.. the purple mutant watches from a sewer grate across the street from the Church, a pair of small and undeniably sharp bone knives twirling between the fingers of her left hand.

For an instant the fog near Axiom is still and then it parts with the appearance of Wiccan member of the Young Allies and teen aged mutant mystic. Tonight he is dressed in his full gear, tattered red cape over dark shirt with armor bits made to resemble those of Thor with a stripe of black filled with star patterns along both side with a silver circlet on his head and a staff covered in glowing runes in hand. "Sorry I took so long, had to wait for Dad to show. Couldn't leave the little brothers alone and all." He says with a small apologetic smile. "What...oh...wow that...that is not right." He says looking out from the roof top at the Church. "I don't know what is going on but...I can feel it from here that something bad is happening in there."

While the people behind the attack on the Shelter may be ready for a group of heroes, it appears as if no one decided to set guards or even try to watch for them. Heather may be as sneaky as an elephant but she does not seem to be setting off any alarms inside the Church.

Once close enough Heather should be able to see inside the Church, and what she sees is not good at all. The traditional Christian iconography has all been removed and replaced with darker things best left undescribed, and in front of the alter is set up a table where it appears a teenage boy has been strapped down. The building is filled with men in dark robes with hoods covering their faces. At the altar stands a tall pale man with glowing green eyes an long white hair. He is wearing a long blood red tunic and a dark green cloak with a hood pulled up so that his face is mostly hidden in shadow. He appears to be reading from something set in front of him as one of the robed figures walks up the center isle from the min door holding something on a dark blood red pillow that is hard to make out in the light provided by candles that are spread all over the main room inside.

Axiom nods to Ulrik. "Alright," he says. Hulkling's appearance makes Axiom tense but he relaxes when he sees who it is. "It's only g-g-going to get worse, Hulkling," he warns. Wiccan's appearance makes him tense again and he nods. "Something d-d-definitely bad. Some crazy magic cult g-g-guys have been kidnapping teenagers. We tracked them down to here and they're in the church. I've...kind of got a plan. Wiccan stick close to Hulkling. Ulrik...can you make you three invisible? Surprise them when we get in there? Let them think it's j-just me?"

Hulkling nods slowly, taking this in. "So you'll be the decoy, we are the surprise, and I'll be the tank?" He asks, standing close to Wiccan, preparing for the invisibiligty.

"I cannot really make us invisible but I can do something." Ulrik says before closing his eyes for a moment and makes it so all three of them look exactly like men down there. Sometimes the best form of invisibility isn't about being unable to be seen but to appear like something already there. They don't even look like teens. "We should hurry though."

Ever seen Conan? Or any one of a number of movies where the heroes or heroines try something like this? Heather peeked in a window and saw the scene there. Her eyes widened and her mouth tightened before she sought about for a way to slip inside. She heads around back and aims for the rear door. Let's hope her luck holds. She doesn't know there are others here investigating. Doesn't know she's being followed. But she does try to make her way inside, and find a lone robed individual to yoink, knock out, and steal a robe from so that she can stroll into the main sanctuary like she belongs there.

Marrow frowns watching Heather sneak around to the side of the church, out of her line of sight. Her sewer great gets lifted from beneath, a paltry task for the scrappy mutant woman. She slides out of the depths and onto the street, nudging the grate closed after her. No sense in leaving doors open. But turning to see where Heather went.. that's when she see's the robed figures.. and once her line of sight clears.. she see's the boy strapped to the table.

Her eyes narrow, and burn from within with lavender flame, her rage obvious to see. Screw robes.. She's not that subtle. They took a child. They will pay in blood.

She takes off running, suprisingly quick for a woman even partially armored as she is. As she runs, her fists close and the bones in the back of her hands growth out through her knuckles pushing tendons aside, like a certain hairy canadian, sans adamantium. By the time they reach just a few inches long, she's at the window, airborne via a short hop, arms up body block style and knees up as well, presenting a wall of bone to meet the glass and any unfortunate soul on the other side.

Wiccan nods and would grin normally but after his nightmares last night and the feeling of wrongness from this Church he can't seem to manage it. "We're not thinking of going in through the big stain glass window up top are we? Cause last time that did not go as well as it could have." As they are covered in the illusion he nods and takes a second to look at the others and himself before he heads to the ground. "I could try and port us in, but with magic users they might notice..." His magic is after all about as hard to miss as a blue whale in a kiddy swimming pool when it comes to mystic senses.

The back door into the Church is unlocked, and leads right into the area that the local priest was given to live in before they closed the place down. There are not any roving cultists, it seems everyone has congregated in the main area for the big show, but there are a few discarded robes laying about one that is positively drenched in blood and another that has a portion of the hem line burnt pretty badly.

Inside the main rectory the gathered cultists are chanting in an odd tongue that sounds like something the human mouth was never meant to be able to pronounce. The man in the green robe in charge gestures at the person with the pillow. "Bring the sacred shard. Drenched in the blood of innocent and sinner alike, with its power we shall piece the walls and free our master and his servants to night."

Just as the white haired mystic starts preparing the spells needed for the next sacrifice Marrow comes crashing through the windows. There are curses and many of the cult members start reaching for weapons as soon as they realize what is happening and one with the sacred shard, whatever that is, goes scrambling to keep it safe while the fight starts.

"Damn the interruptions, kill that thing. Kill it and anything else that follows it!" The man in green yells before starting to chant.

"No, I'm just g-going to go kick the door down," Axiom replies simply. "Tank, armor...just...watch out for Wiccan," Axiom says to Hulkling. He gives the alien a quick worried look before heading for the fire escape. "Take them on as soon as they come for me," he says.

Heading down to the street, the sound of breaking glass gets Axiom's attention and he winces. Speeding up, he takes off at a run the moment his feet hit the ground. Tapping into his self-boosting power using faith from his teammates, he tries to kick the doors in for what he hopes is a surprising entrance.

As if he had to say it. Hulkling stays close to Billy. "Stay behind me, okay? I'll make sure I make for a good target." He gives Billy a little encouraging smile, and moves according to plan.

"Let's go. Do we really need the disguises now?" Ulrik asks lighting up off the ground and floating down to the ground. It is only the hologram that stops the light from being seen. The Swedish young man looks at the entrance and fingers the sword in its sheath right now. He takes a nice slow deep breath in.

Oh look. Robes. Heather is just reaching to inspect them when... CRASH! Curse, yell, KILL THEM... she rolls her eyes and doesn't end up touching the bloody stuff. She just sighs and wonders to herself. . o o O O (Really? Someone is about as subtle as a dump truck in an Indy race...) as she simply starts stalking towards the sanctuary. She kicks the side doors open and steps in. Mind, one of the doors breaks off one of its hinges and hangs loose now. "What in the..." she starts to yell, as one of the overreacting sword armed guards turns and freaks out, stabbing into her torso with the tip of his blade. She stops speaking as she feels that pain and turns to look at the blade, then tracks her eyes up towards the robed individual. "Oh goody." she mutters. I think I have a new special friend..." And she reaches out to grip the guard of the sword, pulling the guy's hands and the blade back away from her. Also, with a squeeze, the breaks the guy's wrist... one of them at least.

Giving orders to kill Marrow, while standing in the same room as her is like poking a mother badger with a sharp stick and saying it's pups are ugly. Just not smart.

Having heard the bit about drenched in blood draws a feirce smile from the vicious little mutant. "You like blood? Good.. Lemme show you some of your own." She retorts, going for the man in green. But when a pair of men intercept her, she's only too happy to mow them down first. The first man lashes out with a wicked looking knife, and Marrow headbutts forward, catching the tip in the center of her armored forehead.

The look on the man's face is absolutely priceless when the slender blade snaps off, leaving only a small divot in the dense bone. Something akin to shock, mixed with terror, which then melts into agony.

Marrow steps inside his reach and punches him five or six times rapidfire in the chest and stomach, 3,6,9.. 36 deep puncture wounds.. just the first one was lethal. Only.. her fists are sporting four inch long wickedly tipped bones, shredding his insides. Finally, she plants boths fists and twists her wrists, snapping off the bones inside him. When he slumps against her, she lets him drop, eyeing the second man who brandishes a sword at her trying very hard not to pee himself.

It only takes a few seconds for Axiom to make it across the street and the door sonly make the slightest of protest as he kicks them open. Large and made of solid oak the doors are aged to the point that they are almost as strong as stone, and nearly as heavy, but they fly open with ease as the foot makes contact with them.

Wiccan nods at Hulkling and tries not to make a dramatic sigh at his friends. Sure they are worried about him, but it is not as if he is fragile. He has faced down Demons, Gods, Dragons, and even the Rulers of a couple of Hells by this point in his life. He does stay just behind Hulkling though, he can let the shape shifter be a nice big target right before he starts to rain lightning and thunder down on the bad guys. "Yeah, I think that plan is out the window." He says in response to Ulrik.

As Axiom bursts in the doors several cultists turn and point wands at him. Three of them fire off bolts of lightning at the power boosting teen.

Heather's new Special Friend makes a sound that he, if he makes it out alive, will swear to his dying day was not a little girly scream as she breaks his wrist.

The swords men that choose to go after Marrow, for the most part, decide that they want other targets as they watch her take down the first one to step in close. Which is why they quickly move to take on the incoming Young Allies. Their backup though, they just grin as they brandish wands from across the room and start flicking gouts of flame at the pointy mutants direction.

The green cloaked man ignores most of the fighting, really he could care less if his men are slaughtered or of the puny heroes think that they could take him on. He has more important things to worry about.

Axiom's planning to explain the extra worry to Wiccan in a bit but right now there are more pressing matters to attend to. Namely the cultists and how they're firing lightning his way. Axiom dodges the first two bolts but the third catches him and knocks him flat on his back. Thankfully his boosted state is tough enough to take the damage. He'll just need a moment to recover from that blast.

Well, Heather has a focus. She's not worried about the minions. "Remind me to give you an autograph later." she mutters as she takes the sword and tosses it aside. Her shirt is bloody, but the cut is already healed as she starts stalking towards the man in green. With a roll of her neck, she mentally prepares for what she knows is going to be an interesting (in the ancient chinese curse sense) encounter. She sees out of the corner of her baby blues, that bony mutant flailing away and raises a single brow. All of her focus then returns to the green guy.

The interesting thing about Krav Maga, is that it's not much for flash and glitz. It just does what it does, and she starts making her way forward, twisting arms, wrists, breaking knees and such of anyone in her way. But she is relentless, moving towards the guy tied down. Even as the Allies draw fire, she uses that to surge forward...

Hulkling charges in at full blast, the better to deflect fire away from Billy. He notices the pews stuck close to the wall and, with a grin and both arms he grabs one of them efffortlessly as if one were picking up a basteball bat--- and uses it precisely to that effect, swinging its massive bulk in an arc to impact the incoming swordsmen. Once he has finished his arc, he describes it again-- but this time he lets go of the pew in mid-air, to send it sailing at the lightning throwers. He knows Axiom can take the heat, but rule #3 of AD&D: Never let a mage standing.

Following Axiom, Ulrik's not sure what to do right now other than to try and break the glowing eyed guy's concentration by shining a really bright light in his eyes as he forms a barrier around the would be sacrifice. If they cannot directly stop the guy, maybe he can prevent anything bad from happening to the poor kid. He knows he wouldn't want to be sacrificed by a guy with less fashion sense than Loki!

Marrow largely ignores the other people joining 'her' fight. She's more concerned with the jets of flame warming her backside. After dropping the first man, she turns away from the flame. Burns are a bitch to heal.. Unfortunately for the men with the magic flamethrowers, she's only slightly less dangerous at range than up close and personal.

Her fists ball up and twin bones slide out from just above her wrists. The Ulna and Radial if anyone is paying attention. These two slightly curved blades come out, ready and ably serving as weapons, both taking flight moments later, both aimed for the soft throats of both men. Both thrown simultaniously. Only then does she stop, if only to see if she hit her marks.

Wiccan comes in behind his friends flying because it is just easier some days than walking. As he watches Axiom go down he winces just a little, he knows in his current state his friend is tough but that had to hurt. He drops in front of Axiom waving hands and chanting to himself, "Barrier, Barrier, Barrier!" As he chants a small wall of bluish light flows from his hands to surround him and Axiom long enough for the other teen to shake off the shock.

Hulkling makes short work of a good portion of the cultists sending them flying as he sweeps the room with a pew. One of the cultists does manage to avoid the pew, ducking under it with a surprisingly good limbo skill. As sson as the Pew is sent flying to take out the lightning throwing cultists the lone swordsman charges at the big green demon hoping to skewer it before it takes his head off.

The cultists with the magic flame throwers go down easy, bones sticking out of their chests and leaving them with little more than surprised looks before they fall to the ground. Despite the rewards promised for doing the dark magics, and the threats given for failure, the last of the cult members are seriously rethinking selling their souls for power. The more forward thinking of the members are already doing their best to escape. It is fine to kill kids for ultimate power, but once you start running the risk of getting impaled by a cranky mutant it just is not worth it any more.

The bright flash of light from Ulrik gets the man in green's attention as he breaks off his spell with a curse just in time to watch Wiccan cast his spell. "So the damned Monk was not a total failure. We may not have the power yet we need to end the world...but there is enough for what we intend to do." He reaches out with a hand and the shard that one of the cultists had been carrying earlier suddenly floats into the air in front of him. The artifact is about the size of a large dagger and looks like a piece of rainbow made solid. At least a couple of people should recognize it as the shard floats in air as a part of the Bifrost, but it is glowing with a strange black and red light that gives off a feeling of pure malevolent evil.

The crowd that was near the kid strapped to the table mostly take off leaving Heather a free path to reach the kid. The boy appears to be around 14 or 15 years of age and with short spiked hair that was bleached blond to the point of being white long enough ago he has black roots starting to show. "Thank you, thank you ma'am." He says, "We have to get my brother, and the others. They have them tied up in a basement with a bunch of barrels of what smelt like petrol..." He tells her while straining against his bonds.

It did indeed hurt. About as much as one of Thor's 'training' bolts. Pushing himself to his feet, Axiom offers a smile Wiccan's way. "Thanks," he syas when he notes the barrier. Shaking off the shock as much as he can and ignoring how his hair is standing on end, Axiom does a quick survey of the battlefield. He scowls when he sees Marrow and mutters something about too much death and too many killers. When when his eyes settle on that shard, Axiom draws in a breath. "Hey," he steps forward, boosting and mimicking Wiccan. Seconds after that cloak appears around him, he's moving forward. "I believe you have s-something that belongs to my uncle!" he calls, firing off a blast of lightning at the man with the shard.

Hulkling gets a pretty good boost from having dispatched of the sword and lightning brigade- but he got careless. The swordsman manages to sink his sword a little into Hulkling's flesh, making the teen let out a surprised sound-- his skin is thick enough in his hulkling form that it is not a serious wound... but it still stings and the teen gives a swat with his powerful fists at the swordsman, hitting him as hard as he can within the non-lethal spectrum of his strength "You could poke an eye out with that thing," he smirks, sending the swordless mook flying a little ways across the church, already in Morpheus' arms. As Wiccan moves to protect Axiom, the green teen looks at Marrow with the same distaste, and then plucks the sword out of him, letting the wound close slowly while he grabs another pew and sends it flying... this time hoping to throw it towards the man with the shard and the terrible sense in color coordination, hoping to provide a distraction so Axiom can do his thing.

Nodding to the kid, Heather rips bindings off and nods. "Basement, right." she offers. Then she shouts out. "Basement is a priority!" as she grabs a sword from one of the fallen folks and figures.. well... nothing ventured. She turns and dashes off the way she noticed Greeny run. Sure, she could try to break through the floor, but sometimes, stairs are just easier and faster.

Even so, Heather fought her way through a crowd of folks, and didn't really avoid harm the whole way. She has cuts on her shirt and jeans, and blood in her hair. But -she- appears none the worse for wear!

Forming a barrier in front of him, Ulrik decides to try the same trick that he used earlier, this time he is going to go his top speed straight into the guy. He doesn't want the creepy dude to do any more of the magic. Sides he might survive. Nothing says that being hit by a guy going really fast with a hard barrier in front of will kill, just break a few things. Evil bastard's going down.

Marrow turns when she see's both targets drop clutching bone spines embedded in thier chests. Not her best throw, but it'll suffice. Turning on the man in green, both hands go up and grip the long protrusions jutting from her back, ripping them out with a sick sucking sound and a slight wince from the woman herself. No matter how many times she pulls those out.. still hurts. The wounds seal themselves a few seconds after and the bones are already regrowing, tiny nubs between her shoulder blades. But the twin bones in her hands.. wicked sharp at both ends, are more than enough to off one old man in a dress. "Comere Irish.. let's dance you an I." He tells him, moving in to kill him too.

Wiccan nods at Axiom as he gets up and lets the shield drop preparing as he does to join the fight. The boost of energy sends a shiver through his spine as he turns to face what few of the cultists are left.

Wind picks up around the white haired man in the green cloak as he chants quickly in the strange alien language. "Child born not of woman, dark spirit with no soul, vessel for my lord be whole!" He yells out while gesturing at Wiccan just as he is hit by the lightning bolt. As he is hit the goes flying backwards into the wall where the crucifix used to hang.

The shard of the Bifrost tainted by dark magics spins in air three times before speeding through the air flying right for Wiccan. For an instant the pew that Hulkling threw looks like it is going to hit the flying shard, till it pops out of existence and reappears on the other side of the pew. The shard of Bifrost strikes Wiccan in the chest sinking deep before the teen can try and dodge it. Wiccan clutches at where he was hit, no blood appearing yet, as he drops to his knees. Something odd happens the instant that Wiccan is hit by the shard, the powers that Axiom borrowed from him vanish as if Axiom's powers suddenly have no effect on Wiccan.

Heather makes it to the basement easily, but what she finds there is not about to make her day much better. The basement area smells of blood and urine and fear. It is filled with young people, mostly male, and with only a few exceptions all appear to be sets of identical twins. The teens are all tied together by thick ropes around wrists and waists. Spaced all over the basement are also barrels of diesel gasoline. It seems that someone planned to end this party with a bonfire.

The pew that Hulkling threw crashes into a barrier of light as the man in green stands cursing in, surprisingly enough, Gaelic. He is stalking forwards when he gets a face full of Ulrik, or not as he suddenly vanishes jsut before the glowing teen can reach him. "That trick may have worked on Aelfric but it will not work on me. Mother warned me the damned Ghost would cause heroes to oppose us. Looks like you failed anyway." He says reappearing near the doors to the church behind everyone. He stops to point at Marrow with a grin, "You mah violent friend, if ya survive the coming end of days should look meh up. I could do with a lass willing so soak her hands in blood at my side. As it is I would run if I were you lot." He says before vanishing again.

In the basement a red light suddenly comes on at the end of one of the walls and starts to beep. All of the teens start to panic and yell at Heather to hurry up pointing to a glowing clock that is starting to count down from 30.

Axiom's winding up for a second blast when he sees the shard flying. The way it blinks past the pew makes him rethink trying to grab it. Instead he focuses on starting to chant. Before he can finish the first word, the shard strikes his friend and Axiom's eyes go wide. "Wi-" again he's interrupted, this time by the shock of his powers cutting up like that. He stumbles back a step, feeling like he just got the air knocked out of him. Fighting past the feeling, he tries to head for his friend. "Hulkling!" he manages to get out when his voice starts working.

Hulkling 's eyes go wide, tracing the trajectory of the shard with his head. When the shard sinks into Wiccan's chest, he's already in motion before Axiom calls out his name. He hurries to support Wiccan with his arms, looking at the injury and knowing they 'have' to get him to a doctor, immediately. "Billy---" he says very quietly, trying to get his attention and looking up, barking out loud "Axiom, we need to get h---"

And then the accursed wizard gloats. End of days? What the hell was he talking about. "--him some help, now!" he finishes after the man has disappeared. For one moment, for one brief instant he considered racing over to pound the wizard's head into the ground, to close an oversized fist over his frail skull and squeeze, 'squeeze' until all he heard was 'crunch', for hurting Billy. But he took that rage and channeled it into focus, attention, taking Billy's life-signs and picking him up, ready to play ambulance at the drop of a hat.

Eyes quickly summing up the sitution... using 2 critical seconds to figure it out... Heather does a mental count. Looks like their were six sets of twins, one brother is upstairs. That makes sense... so eleven left to free. One blade, and 28 seconds left. This... is not one of Heather's fondest days. First things first. She yells at the top of her lungs, angling her voice up the stairs. "OPERATION SPOILSPORT! GET OUT!!" She didn't have time for length explanations. Then, she bursts into motion, wishing that she'd been blessed with speed powers now. But she whips the blade through the bonds of the first pair of brothers. 2 down, 26 seconds to go. Two steps, another swing, 2 more prisoners freed, and 3 more seconds used up.... this is going to be close.

She crosses over to the other side of the room. "Hurry! Get out!" she says to the other prisoners before cutting a third pair and then a fourth pair free. She glances at the clock once more, the display bright red and reading 14. She winces and charges towards the last two....as she gets to them... 11 ... 10...

"We should leave no." Ulrik says floating over to the teen and uses his sword to cut the bindings on him. It's not an act of super strength so much as the act of a really really good blade. Once friend he offers to give the kid a lift out of here. Being able to fly does have its advantages and wants to help the kid get out of here,"Axiom, can I get a boost? I think we'll need some protection." He can still fly and lift a barrier so that they'd all be protected.

With most of her opposition dead or unconsious.. But hearing Heather screaming from the basement, the spikey haired woman races down the stairs instead, the first of the teenagers meeting her. Several give shouts of alarm, her appearance more than a little offputting in the terrifying way.. spikes jutting from her flesh and blood dripping from her hands. None of it hers. "Get out. Now.. out the Window. Move." She snarls. Heather however is on her own.. as are the last two kids. Can't save'em all. Marrow turns and follows the teens, helping them out the window.. by way of throwing them out. As the window is several feet off the ground. Each one hurled out headfirst if they can't make the jump on thier own.

Wiccan's head whips up as the evil mage makes his escape, his eyes glow red and his face has a dark grin of triumph. "Yes...at last free." He says in a dark and slithering voice. As Hulklings hands go to him he stands suddenly a blast of pure force radiating from him to blow the green teen back. "Do not touch your betters child." He holds up a hand towards the main alter of the church. As he holds up his hand a sheaf of slightly yellows old vellum papers flutter from it towards Wiccan.

The papers nearly make it to Wiccan when he appears to be struck by pain in the middle of his chest. "No, no, I will not accept this..." He growls out obviously fighting against something before his whole body is surrounded in rainbow. For an instant there is a strange visual effect, as if he is staying still while at the same time moving at a very fast rate of speed and then he is gone. As the rainbow light fade there is a brief glimpse behind where he was of a dark snow covered forest filled with massive black trees and then that too is gone before anyone can try to follow.

While everyone is busy worried about Wiccan suddenly a large number of badly treated and barely able to stand teens come running out of the basement in pairs shouting. Exactly what they are saying is hard to understand but one word stands out. "Bomb!"

The Kid that was partially freed by Heather before he urged her to go to the basement is quickly freed by Ulrik nodding at him in thanks for the lift. "Hey, you're one of the guys from the shelter..." He says realizing he has been saved now twice in one night by the same heroes. Then he hears the others. "Shit, Andre!" He yells out looking to see if his brother is amongst those in the midst of escape.

Marrow is nearly trampled by the teens, some of them are brought up sort by her looks but most just want out and would run through an army of mutants like her to do it. Several head for the wide open front doors trusting their own ability to run while a number do go to the closer window that Marrow had broken through helping each other out till she shows up to start tossing them out onto the lawn of the church.

Axiom raises his arm to shield himself reflexively as he sees Hulkling blasted. Of course once the blasting stops, he's heading for Wiccan as well. The flying paper gets a glance and Axiom tries to move to intercept it. He doesn't get far enough before he sees what's happening to Wiccan. The glimpse of a familiar place he'd been kidnapped to before gets a gasp but then there's a lot more happening. "Hulkling, grab that and as many kids as you c-can and get out of here!" Axiom calls, pointing towards the paper even as he starts moving himself. He boosts and mimics Ulrik, trying to help as many of the kids out as he can. "Let's go!"

Thrown back by the power blast, Hulkling gets to his feet, dazed, as Wiccan begins to flicker away. He holds out a hand and runs forward- but by then it is too late. Only the fluttering vellum remains as it makes its way to the ground.

"...Billy!..." Hulkling says, almost inaudible in the chaos. There is a second when he doesn't know how to react, and then it is as if auto-pilot kicks in. He snatches the vellum off the ground and clenches it, while at the same time he runs, arms spread to push the running kids out and through the door as fast as he can. Something terrible had happened to Billy, something horrible... and they had to get him back. And he had to get these kids out first.


 * THUNK!* Heather swipes the sword through another pair of twins's bonds. "Go!" She yells .. 9 .. as she steps over to the last one, the one all on his own, and the one who looks just like the kid upstairs. Oh god, she didn't get that kid off the altar.. 8 ... She slams the sword blade through that kid's bonds, leaving the blade where it's at before grabbing the kid and turning to run for it.. 7 .. Burdoned by the kid she's carrying.. not so much the weight as the off-center balance now, Heather hits the stairs and trips a bit. She tosses the kid as she topples, tossing him up the stairs as she says, "GO!"6 ... 5.. She doesn't want to look back but.. the human part in her brain does. She looks back over her shoulder just as the timer clicks to 4.

Eyes widen and she surges to her feet, racing up the stairs, pushing herself.. 3 "Forget the door!" she calls out to the kid as she just aims at the nearest wall and drops a shoulder.. 2.. and going into a top speed sprint even as she scoops that last kid up once more.. 1.. and then she turns at the last moment, slamming her back and shoulder into the wall and blasting her way through to the outside, trying to shield the kid from damage with her own body........0...

"As many of you can get together and step inside." Ulrik calls out loadly, as he supports the kid and creates a pretty big bubble of blue light. It's going to be able to withstand the force of a bomb as long as it isn't too powerful. He's going to try and help as many as he can. He looks to Axiom and only will close it off entirely once the kids are safely inside and then it will be moving as fast as he can move it to get them out and hopefully if they catch any of the blast it will be behind them to blast them off. He'll worry about Billy later. That was bad but he was /not/ going to let these innocent children get injured because he took time to worry.

Marrow is done with this place. She gave a few of those creepy cultists what they had coming.. apparently impressed thier leader.. and saved.. or helped to save.. more than a few kids. And it's best she not be interrogated by what passes for authority up here. So once she's clear of the building, the Morlock runs for that same sewer grate. Ninja turtle style, she grips the heavy steel rungs and rips the grate from it's resting place and slides down in the vacant space, pulling it shut after her, just as the building blows. Hopefully distraction enough.

As everyone is out onto the lawn of the church running for their lives the countdown clock eventually reaches zero and there is a pause. The pause is just long enough to make one wonder if it is a trick or joke of the type that the Clown Prince of Crime might pick before the explosion happens. The boom is not heard as much as it is felt.

There is a wall of force followed quickly by a wave of heat and then the actual flames themselves. The teens that had made it out side already are mostly knocked over but other than what they received int heir captivity and the bruises from the escape they are uninjured.

Andre, the kid that Heather managed to save for last when it came down to it, clings to the front of the Super model as she goes crashing through the wall a bush and out into the lawn. He is probably going to tell this story for the rest of his life, how often does a teenage boy get a chance to get up close and personal to an honest to Gods Super Model? When he finds out that Axiom is the son of Thor he may decide that is a sign form above and convert to worshiping the God of Thunder.

Ulrik's shield holds, at least against the first blasts. The problem is that the inside of the church has become an inferno and even if the force field stays up it is going to cook everyone inside it if they do not leave fast.

Marrow, for the person with the highest body count of the night next to the cultists gets away scot free with the least damage of all. She is under the streets by the time the boom comes and totally untouched by more than the sound of the blaze.

What was once a grand an popular place of worship was abandoned by the Church months ago. Now, the old building burns. The fires reach up into the sky like a funeral pyre. Thankfully for those near by the fires burn so hot that the smell normally found when human flesh burns is totally absent. The teenagers are all safe, and alive, but the same could not be said for many of the cult members that had only been injured or knocked out in the fight.

Axiom adds a shield of his own to Ulrik's to help shield from the blast. "Keep going people! Get out of the building!" he calls, already sweating from the flames. "Ulrik, go!" he says, wanting his friend safe before he follows. Once the photokinetic is out, Eddie will head out after him and immediately look for Hulkling. "We n-need to go. Ulrik, you and Heather from the Titans handle the police and emts? Let them know these kids are c-c-connected to the attack on the shelter and the kidnappings. Hulkling and I are headed back to...the Hall of Thor," code for the apartment. "We need to find out what all that was and Wiccan's b-b-books might help."

Kaboom! Heather tumbles to the ground and once she's sure Andre is okay, she gets up and sets him on his feet. "You're going to be okay. Go find your brother." she says, hoping that the brother got out. Meanwhile, after Andre heads off, she stands up, grimacing a bit as she turns and looks back towards the burning building. Her back is a mess, the shirt mostly burned off there, but barely holding on. She reaches a hand up and rips a hunk of shrapnel out of her lower back, tossing it to the ground before turning and starting to head towards the others.

Even before the explosion Ulrik was already moving. It was a lot more people in the bubble than he's ever done but thankfully he's being boosted by Axiom and he manages to get everyone out of the burning building before anyone gets too cooked. There's not a dry person in the group as the heat was causing everyone to sweat. He's more worried about smoke inhalation. He does set th bubble down a safe distance from the church and then releases it.

Hulkling holds up his hand, with a very serious look on his face. He hands the vellum to Axiom, saying quietly to him, "I'll meet you at the hall. I need to let them know what's happened. And that we're going to get him back," he says. The Kaplans. They would know something was wrong if Billy didn't come home tonight. He felt responsible, he should have protected him better. Whatever emotions were welling underneath, his face was pure focus. "... in the meantime, see what you can find about this. I won't be gone longer than twenty." No longer if he intended to flap halfway across town as fast as he could. He had an expression that wouldn't admit any argument. Not on this, not when it came to Billy.