2014.01.03 - Descent into Darkness

Greenwich Village, late afternoon. The sky is clear, the wind is bitterly cold, but life goes on! Including the less pleasant aspects of it. Only five minutes ago a ragtag group of metahumans invaded Greenwich Jeweler's, combining the powers of a geomancer, a pyrokinetic, a metalmorph, and a telepath. Subtlety is nowhere on their agenda today, having broken in and taken over by force. Display cases have been stripped clean, stolen goods have been stuffed into bags. Employees, minimal security details, customers, and a small number of bystanders have already been injured as the small group hit their mark.

Fire still dances across the countertops and ruined displays, having scorched and bubbled the paint away from generously large patches on the walls. The floor itself has been split in three, cracks visibly flowing through the red brick of the buildings outside and spanning out across the street. The back room has been completely trashed, including the remains of a metal safe which now lay in ruin.

Here's where they try to exit the store and make their escape.

Geomancer, hufflepuff, Gryffindor, whatever. Details. There's always the details, and truth be told, Peter Parker was a sort of kind of detail guy. But after the kind of week he's having and after the hugabaloo of that time where he got yelled at by Thor for trying to save people with his homeboy Daredevil, well-He's all out of patience for baddies and is looking to take out some of his frustration.

Oh yeah, and then his neighbor got his brain blown out right in front of Peter. Worse, Spider-Man was fingered (stop) for the crime, and now the police are all up in Peter's grill about leaving the scene to search for the assassin. Some lady assassin. That he was too damn slow to catch up with.

Politics. If he'd wanted them, he'd run for congress. Okay, you have to be 25 to run for congress. And you need money. And you need contacts. Okay, he wouldn't run for congress, but maybe if he wanted politics he'd run for Student Body something or other.

Right now he just wants to punchapuncha like the good ole days.

So when he gets the call on his makeshift (probably illegal) police scanner, Peter Parker is positively looking to pounce. Mask over head. Double check the shooters. We're a go. He dips out over a rooftop and starts heading to the spot in question. Because eff you bad guys. Eff you.

Well. It's a case that doesn't involve hexing someone's ex, curing a hangover or finding a lost remote or wallet. Rain has likely heard the news in passing, as she is fairly mobile and doing her best not to spend too much time bothering Asgardians or playing video games. At least the video games are kinda safe. Rain continues to be forever a source and center of misfortune. At least there's no tentacles or masochistic soul devourers this time. A little shiver at that memory. Still, her broomstick is a good way to beat traffic.

And mortals being terrorized by magic gets more attention on magic users. Rain does not want that. She so doesn't want that. The mortal suffering OR the more attention. Seriously, how awful is it to get assaulted by a guy and his band of Quaker Oatmeal Man cosplayers convinced the best way to party is tie you to a stick and set you on fire then have sandwiches? Awful, that's how. But she is on her way over and soon to land.

The city is finally beginning to find its way back to normalcy, as much as it can. Tourists are packing up, going home so that their kids can start school once again, leaving now before the next great City holiday, St. Patrick's Day. (Groundhog Day is usually given a miss.)

It's cold. Bitterly cold. The snow is finished for the time being, and now it's just... cold. Dressed warmly, in woolen coat, hat and gloves (with scarf), Kurt Wagner has hands deep in his pockets while he walks the sidewalk of the Village towards a cafe where he knows a jazz band will be playing! "Why don't you play something--"

The breaking of a jewelry shop 'round the corner isn't truly heard- it's the reactions of those around it. The running in sheer fear, panic (and the occasional snap of a cellphone to mark the occasion). Immediately, Kurt's gone, only to reappear on the side of one of the old-style city buildings, running hand over foot as if he's simply running on the ground, leaping up from ledge to ledge to check on the goings on. (Bet you can't do THAT, Spider-Man!)

Amanda strolls alongside Kurt and TJ, hands in her own pockets. It's been a while since they've been able to hang out, and, frankly, a cafe jazz band sounds like a great way to unwind. She laughs as Kurt makes the suggestion that TJ and her garage band play something to compete with the jazz -- at least, that's how she finishes his thought. He, of course, doesn't quite get to, bamfing off as he does.

"Kurt, where--?" There's no point finishing that sentence in the clearing sulfur smoke.

She glances to TJ, a dry expression on her face. "Y'know... sometimes, I hate it when he does that..."

But, then she's off and running, too, trying to see just where he went. Towards the screaming people is a good bet.

"Because I don't think you'd want your ears to bleed, Dad," Talia replies the unfinished question with a grin. It's followed by a blink. Not all is right here, is it? "Gees, and I didn't start to jam yet," she mutters as people go running and screaming. "Usually that only happens-"-Bamf!-"-after..we..get the amps cranked," she finishes with a slight hanging of her shoulders as she turns to look back at Amanda with a hopeless glint. "And he didn't take either of us."

And we're running!

There had been sirens, at one point. They went silent some time ago, not wanting to alert the baddies that reinforcements were on the way. Already the narrow streets are getting blocked off by armored vehicles.

Already one of them explodes into fire as the pyromancer lights it up. "WOO, come one come all, I'll lighten up yer lives!"

The Metalmorph stands on the cracked steps in front of the store, skin gleaming like chrome as he 'reaches out' to the surrounding metal structures. Fire escapes and road signs all start to pop and groan as they take on a life of their own, beginning to form into a tangled mess meant to keep everyone else at bay.

Little Miss Geomancer, meanwhile, is causing the ground to rumble as a visible faultline starts to open up down the length of the street, rapidly approaching the first of the armored vehicles. "New Yahk potholes, baybee! Watch yoah step!"

The telepath is busy trying to connect with the minds of those in the area for crowd suppression. What he's not counting on is the faint spark of someone else with some degree of psychic ability, coming out of nowhere on a collision course.

"Yoink!"

Talia's there then -gone,- possessing the telepath with a subtle flash of magenta. What she didn't realize is that he was about to take a tranquilizer dart to the back in that same moment.

~Ah-ha!~ thinks Peter as he carries over the top of a building and goes wooshing down between the two tall buildings where the baddies are bolting around, actin' like fools. Spidey's body bends impossibly as he fires shot after shot, aiming himself at one target in particular.

For whatever reason, it's the Geomancer he's looking to drill with a two footed shot right to the ch..uh, right to the stomach. Perhaps it's the accent. Perhaps it's his players desire to play Geo-Force and forgot all about it until this scene and is now precariously close to doing so in another window, or perhaps she seems like the most important target to get out of the way first.

I dunno, that's just where he's goin, okay?

Rain is okay with bamfs. Wait. Is a plant based teleporter a bananmfer? Philosophy later. Trouble now. She seems concerned. There's a couple of people who seem to be teleporting. And now there's no sirens. That usually means someone is coming to help and folks are laying low, or whomever got stuck going in first got ownt. And it's hard not to spot them now. There's - a thing. In flames.

Rain has an uneasiness around fire, but witches are highly flammable. That's why. Maybe because she's tired of people trying to build bridges out of her. But the pyromancer has her attention for now. Thinking carefully, if she can see him from her airborne perch, it's time to create a bathload of water over him. At least so he's not cooking hapless folks without power. Why did she do this? She has to concentrate to work her magic, and it takes a long moment, but yes - she just dumped a bathtubload of water on him. No Mr. Bubble though. 2/10 would not bathe.

Amanda always knows- she's lived with him for -how- many years of those 26.. 27? Bamf first and ask questions later. Of course, Kurt is more than aware that Amanda's no slouch at keeping up. Never has been.

Kurt's first run, then, is for the metalmorph. He's more than capable of swinging around the steel concoctions, leaping over and around, and in some cases, bamfing through in order to make that connection- that personal landing upon the meta's shoulders to simply flip him over and against that wall over there...

The fuzzy blue bamfer, however, catches Talia's disappearing out of the corner of his eye- target acquired and now he knows who not to touch--

Yep. Amanda's had years of experience keeping up with the fuzzy blue bamfer. And, she's not too shabby at keeping up with the fuzzy blue foomper, either. She, too, spots Talia's disappearing act, but her main concentration is on keeping up with Kurt. They work well as a team, thanks to all those years.

Somewhere along the line, she's shifted from civilian wear to her rune-covered leathers and concealing hood. No slouch as an acrobat, herself, she springs off and around the metal structures being thrown up -- though there's no question the Bamfoompers and Web Slinger put her efforts to shame. What's a gypsy circus-trained witch really to do in the face of such mutant/mutate grace?

Throw up a mystical shield and start casting magic bolts, of course.

She's not, actually, a frontline fighter. Never really has been, except when necessity demands. Her bolts are well placed, however, not so much to hit the mutants causing the damage as to control it. Fire can't spread quite so easily when firebreak ditches are available -- though, okay, yes, mutant guided fire is a little different. And metal structures don't stand well when the ground beneath them is disrupted -- though, again, yes, mutant manipulated metal has a certain resiliancy to it normal metal wouldn't. She really ought to know, given, in the city, her magic can cause both.

Gods bless New York City.

Geomancers, not so great when put up against that webbing stuff that Spider-Man's flinging about. "Gack?!" Unfortunately, his webbing stuff isn't that great at preventing her from making the ground around everyone tremble.

When the unlikely team of all-around good-oriented folks come together to put an end to this, something misfires. Massive metal slabs suddenly drop from the heavens, falling with such force that they slice through the buildings and roadways like giant guillotines. Four separate planes of high tech-infused steel land all around the area until it's effectively sealed away within a box, surrounding the gathering of heroic sorts. Scorchmarks appear almost immediately from where Amanda's bolts strike them.

There's also a -clang!- as the metalmorph gets thrown up against one of these suddenly appearing walls, echoing like a note struck from a colossal bell.

With dust hanging thick in the air the sounds of the city beyond simply vanish, fading out with the ringing of that deafening chime then disappearing as though they never existed. What exists is a disembodied hissing from a bathtubload of water falling upon something on fire, and thousands of colored lights blinking and flickering. Then fading away.

The silence continues to hang heavy as the gleaming steel gradually fades away into rust and corrosion, formerly harsh white lighting dying away until the interior of the box is lit by a pale, sickly yellow glow that can barely push the heavy shadows away.

Then there's the faint sound of dripping. From one location. Then another. Then more.

Trying to track down its source would reveal giant veins and unidentifiable biological material pressing through where the rust had decayed, the masses of tissue slicing itself open upon the tattered edges. Blood is starting to trickle down the walls and form puddles upon the cracked street.

When we next see Spidey, he's holding his face in his hands and shaking his head, trying to make it all go away. . o O (Seriously, I just wanted a nice ole little bank robbery. This is what happens when you date a demon, dude)

"Yo. Blondie and the Smurfs. You guys got any idea where we're at? Because this just got weird."

What the? Giant guillotines? And now they're - in an immense metal box. Rain does not like this. She winces at the loud clang and everything. She clings to her broomstick, considering her options for bothering the pyromancer. Dirt. Dirt and lots of it. Although, she forgets it for a moment as lights, shadows, dripping and blood meld an unholy overload on her senses. She puts a hand over her mouth. What is - who is ... biological material...? Seems positively Cthonic, is it paradox - punishment for breaking reality's rules or? So many possibilities spin through.

The water has landed on the man, but. "Hey, does anyone sense anything odd?" She might as well ask and try to concentrate.

If this was to be a prolonged fight, then Kurt and Amanda would have worked, literally, hand in hand.. along with the ever so lovely TJ if she had remained in her own fuzzy skin. Literally. But, it appears that things really never turn out the way they 'should', or even the way they 'aught'. The fact that mutants rarely lead a 'normal' life is brought forth in sickening clarity once again.

Operative term: sickening.

Because what comes next is something simply not reckoned on.. and with the metal walls coming down, Kurt feels suddenly claustrophobic. As the scene changes, he can feel the decay.. the falling away from the robust to the ruined. The rusted.

Blinking with glowing yellow eyes, Nightcrawler looks around, dropping all pretense at fighting. The first person he does search for is Amanda; the blond in all this. His go-to magic user (no offense Rain!)

"Liebling-- wo sind wir..?" before calling out, "Talia!!" only to have the dripping noise sound just a little louder in his head.

Looking over at Rain, Kurt reaches a hand, "Come to me.. together.." that way he can keep an eye.

"Spiderman.. no idea. Keep close until.."

As the metal walls clang down, Daytripper automatically throws a shield up to protect those she can -- even the baddies, 'cause, well, she's a hero, damn it. And that's what heroes do.

Thus, as the shadows compress and the metal decays to reveal the biomatter, blood falls onto the glowing violet sphere and oozes down over its circumference. However, it's only when Amanda throws up a magelight in an attempt to counter the gathering dark that she can actually see it sliming over her shield. "Eugh!"

Remarkably, however, she seems unlikely to lose her lunch over this latest bit of disgusting weirdness. Because, really? She's seen worse. She led the clean-up of The Majestic Theatre, after all. THAT was worse. (You have no idea what that slimey mould crap was on the walls there... but it was very likely sentient.)

"We're still in New York," Amanda says clearly, answering both Kurt and Spider-Man in one breath as she drifts toward the bamfer. "I can still feel the city all around me."

Kurt and Talia, at least, would know that it is from New York that Amanda draws much of her strength. So, if she says she can still feel the city, then they're still in the city.

"I think this is an illusion..." Illusion being one of her strongest areas of expertise, "But... It's not magical." A beat. "Could be psychic."

But, that's just a wild guess. There are only so many ways to create illusions of this nature, after all.

As the blood begins to run together into pools, thin wisps of smoke begin to rise around them as it turns acidic, eating away at the ground beneath everyone. While it doesn't seem to dissolve anyone's shoes or feet, the pavement doesn't hold up for long. The remaining light disappears until all that's likely to remain are the points of light coming from Kurt's eyes.

In its place is the buildup of a windy roar despite the air inside remaining completely still, the audial rush abruptly ending with a thunderous boom as though Thor's hammer just struck a gargantuan metal drum, immediately bringing with it a blood red illumination which reveals dark rust-red dust underfoot. What remains of the giant box flakes away like dried leaves upon an Autumn wind, pushing back the biological -stuff- behind it until the living walls expand outward to infinity. The dust underfoot sweeps away into the aether, exposing a smaller ragged rock platform which everyone is left to stand on. The heavy curtain of shadows opens outward into an endlessly churning red sky, seemingly mashed together from rock and living flesh.

Anyone that has spent time in Hell should feel right at home with this change of scenery.

There's a faint sizzling sound immediately below, not as intense as Rain's trick of dumping water onto the pyro's head. Accompanying this effect is a dark, noxious smoke, not all that different from Kurt's teleportation cloud, which drifts away from intricate lines as they become scorched into the rock by an unseen force.

Now it's Rain that might feel more at home. It's a large pentagram, complete with runic symbols and all manner of crazy unholy stuff. And there's just four people now standing in the center of it all. Guess which four! Curiously, Talia does not seem to be here anymore. Nor the baddies. Nor the civilians, nor the special ops team sent in to contain the situation.

As the pattern begins to emerge, the vast, empty space surrounding everyone begins to reveal orange embers flying about, appearing from nowhere. Skeletal, bat-like wings and long, whip-thin tails surround these glowing creatures, some of them letting out a piercing wail in the distance.

Some others decide to go ahead and dive-bomb the four souls now stuck here.

"Oh man," Spidey says quickly and leaps down to join Kurt, Amanda, and Rain in their little trio there. "Yeah, I'll stay close, but I'm standing next to that one," he points at Rain. But as Amanda starts doing her magic thing, Spider-Man also sticks close to her. He reaches up to his neck and touches the ring that Illyana gave him. She was supposed to bless it or curse it or whatever with protection from demons. He's not sure if those are only her demons, demons in general, non-union demons, or if maybe these demons are a different sort.

"Well this is lovely."

Home is sort of a sad place. Unworthy and all. But hey, pentagrams. It's like mom's old friends visiting and re-enacting. Theirs is an ancient legacy, older than rock and Satan stuff. But they're pretty okay with pentagrams and demons. Part of the magical ecosystem and they do help keep the local DMV running. Mortals get their licenses, demons get their souls and feeding. Everyone goes home okay. Kinda. Rain's only been to Hell about ... 3 times. And secretly, she's glad there's no MechaHitler. Is there a MechaHitler? She stays in the air just to check.

But she does carefully slip into the offered shield and get a bit closer. "Thanks!" She seems oddly unfazed by the group. And the roaring and everything. That fazes her, but she blinks owlishly. And a glance to Spider-Man. "Um. Did we just get dropped into Hell? I hope not the part with all the dead Nazis and fighters locked in eternal combat." Sadface. No MechaHitlers, please. She is grateful for the company, at least, and stays low near the others. She is lost, and fighting that sinking feeling with questions. Hope.

Kurt is dumbstruck at the changing of all around him, and as the shadows fall, or rather, as the darkness descends, that bit of yellow gleaming light that are his eyes narrows as he murmurs, "Zum Teufel..." and there's a touch of his crucifix. Never before has he felt so far, yet wanted to be so close!

That little light of Amanda's? It more than allows Kurt to see in the light, even if most others can't. And so he can see that which is beyond even as the floor begins to sizzle and threaten to fall from beneath them. Immediately, he's making sure some rock is under those feet of his. "Hell," Kurt begins softly. "This is Hell..." and he doesn't sound as if he's making one of those 'generalization' things, either! It's... geographical location all the way.

In that next moment, Kurt is looking up, wide-eyed. "Incoming!" comes as he points up to the skeletal creatures, and he's ready to grab at one of the divebombing things, ready to pull it out of the sky.. air... whatever it is! "They're from..." What? "They look like they're from Hell, but they don't feel like it."

Kurt looks to Rain, and in the darkness, it's actually rather difficult to discern his actual features, other than the inky blue, and those glowing yellow, featureless eyes. "This isn't hell, fraulein.. I promise you that. But it is very much like it."

"I've got another word for it," Amanda replies to Spidey.

The light from her magelight diminishes in the encroaching darkness, though it never entirely goes out. In the end, however, it is barely enough to provide a candle's worth of light in the center of the circle where the four stand. Enough to see faces, but that's it.

She hasn't missed the fact, however, that TJ isn't among them. This isn't such a surprise, given the girl was inhabiting the telepath's body and none of the badguys are with them. But, while she's concerned for Kurt's elsewhen daughter, the Foomper isn't her main focus.

The fact those demon things are passing right through her shield, with nary shimmer or any other indication that the magic barrier is even there, is.

"I can still feel New York," she tells Kurt again, even as he reports the lack of demonic energy. She drops the shield, however, since it appears to be nothing more than a waste of energy. And as one of the demon things flies straight at her, she lets off a magic bolt, instead, to see if that will impact it. Because, hell, something must.

Unless, of course, this really is just one big illusion.

"Cover me," she says, then. "I'm going to try something." Something, apparently, that requires a bit of preparation.

The Blue Bamfer does manage to 'catch' one of those Winged Embers, and it definitely feels real once he's got his hands upon it! Though after taking one snap at his face with a gnarled beak that light within its body fades, taking its life away with it. Before the glow dissipates he can see something beyond, a darkness within that's filled with thousands of tiny yellow specks...

Spidey's peculiar trinket might be working. Nothing's actually lashed out at him yet. So, there's that! Still safe and unattacked, and all that good stuff! Maybe they forgot he's standing there, wearing so much red and all?

No MechaHitler. That's already been done, anyway. Though, trying to discern the real from the imaginary may prove to be quite difficult. Amanda's bolt strikes true, if the 'Splork!' from impact is any indication. That Ember never knew what hit it.

From that organic 'sky' a single, immeasurably large green eye opens and turns upon the group, followed with a positively deafening foghorn-like rumble, actually shaking the rocky ledge while easily drowning out all other forms of noise. As it turns out the ledge isn't prepared for such an assault. Cracks form. Bits and pieces start to fall away. Then the ground gives way completely, casting everyone upon it into a deep black ravine.

That just might complicate Amanda's prepwork slightly.

More and more of these orange specks of light appear, now appearing more like distant stars in an evening sky rather than nightmarish creatures from the abyss. Cold blasts of air are thrown toward the four, accompanied by mournful howls whenever they pass near then warping and becoming more distorted as though the Doppler effect is working in overtime.

One of these Winged Embers passes nearby without lunging at anyone. Much like the one Kurt had caught, there's an image of another world tucked away within its shell. If anyone manages to catch sight of it they would see the streets of Greenwich Village hiding within.

A single flash of lightning cuts through the void, allowing for a momentary glimpse of the space surrounding everyone. Much like from the platform above, everything seems as though it's many miles away, the inside of this realm constructed of decaying bone and pitted metal. While it could be a trick of the mind it might seem as though there's something moving within the distant structure, as though millions of living beings were absorbed into it. For that matter, a keen ear might be able to -hear- them all crying out...

There may be more immediate concerns, however. Just like Kurt had seen within the one Ember, below everyone are thousands of glowing yellow eyes, unblinking as they peer at the four individuals now rushing toward them.

Spidey.

Sense.

tinglin

As the earth crumbles away from his feet, Spider-Man begins firing his webs out in different directions, desperate to catch a break and prevent himself from goin' splat.

"Hey, y'all! Lil help lil help lilhelplilhelP!!!! GAAAH!"

Right. This isn't - this isn't quite the same Hell. "I get that some religions have up to a thousand hells but ..." She pauses as Kurt speaks. She nods, believing him She trusts his judgment. Something just - seems odd, but ... Splork and - her brain is desperately trying to compute. Logic, circuits, meanings, will. And then the ground gives way. Humanity's OH SH*T instinct normally lets them kinda flail and panic out of the way. But not today. At least Rain is sitting on her broomstick. But the wind, the embers, they're making it all a bit strange and difficult. And the mournful noises pull at her heart. Empathy is one of her greatest strengths, or at least she /really really really/ tries.

Then Spider-Man is firing webs like he's in Bullet Hell and Rain pauses, blinking before going to swoop in and catch Spider-Man. And doubleplus fortunately for Spider-Man, she's been flying long enough not to let him land crotch first onto the broomstick. She /catches/ him and lets him sidle on more easily. Although, he might know why there's not a whole lotta male witches. Or they use saucers and vacuums. At least she's a thoughtful pilot. "Oh crap." And the friendly German fellow!

"Got youuuuuu..." Kurt reaches with three-fingered hand after leaving Amanda's safety shield. He hears her 'going to try something', but he's in motion too. They each have slightly different abilities, after all...

"It's gone," is breathed soon after. One shot only? Little kamikazies? It's those yellow flares of light, the beads of illumination that has Kurt stumped.

"It's gooooone!" That works for the fact that footing is now gone, and Kurt feels like there is a serious bit of free-fall happening. His own yellow orbs look out to find wall, but it's dark. There's nothing he can home on for teleporting. Whipping out a tail, he's searching for Amanda, perhaps to give it a yank. He doesn't like falling! (Well, it's the landing that's the harder part...)

"Amanda--"

Though now, the sounds that rise as he falls.. and Kurt finally finds it within himself... and he makes the sign of the cross, whispering as he does, "In the name of the Father.."

As the ground crumbles out from beneath them, and those winged embers flit by, tantalizing with hints of the Village, Amanda finds her concentration entirely disrupted. Because, yes. Humans do have this funny self-preservation instinct that comes into play when the ground crumbles away beneath their feet.

Her cry of surprise amounts to nothing any more articulate than, "Whaugh!" Her body, however, is used to a certain amoung of freefalling, thanks to its extensive trapeze experience. So, it's only a couple of seconds before she twists herself in mid-air to approximate a trapeze soar, calling out to Kurt, "Here!"

It's the last English word she says, however, since the next words out of her mouth are the levitation spell she uses for flight. But her hands are outstretched, and she angles herself to catch whatever part of Kurt she can manage, even if it's only his tail. After all, he only needs to know where she is in the darkness to be able to reorient himself or bamf into a better position for each of them.

They won't let each other go *splat*.

Flying or falling, the sensation of falling is still there. Things continue to shift. Glowy eyes continue to approach.

Impact never happens.

Before ground can be struck, before any of those eyes reach the others, the glow of so many eyes begins to streak upward into blurred lines as everyone simply 'falls' right through them. Everything stretches and distorts like a fluid mass, splitting apart in a dizzying flash of heat, color, and audial feedback.

When the world rights itself it's left the four stuck within a dark iron cage, suspended by a single heavy chain. Surrounding them is nothing but fire. All sides, and directly below. Thick smoke accompanies the inferno, heavy with sulfur and other scents which are most unpleasant. While it fails to cook anyone alive the heat can still be felt. The rattle and sway of the cage? All seems very, very real. Even if, perhaps, it -isn't- really Hell.

An unholy blast furnace, maybe.

Wherever it is, it's somewhere where these four aren't left alone. Something starts raining down atop of the cage. Lots of somethings. They're red. About a foot tall. Black hair atop their heads. Spade-tipped tails. Glowing yellow eyes. They immediately adhere themselves to the oxidized bars, hissing and chittering as they flash claws and fangs alike at those held within.

Some start to climb beneath the cage, attempting to lash out and feet and legs, and a particularly attention-grabbing -blue- tail.

Flying around over the top of that cage is one lingering Winged Ember. At the moment its wings have caught on fire, yet it's still desperately flying while shrieking in pain, perhaps fearing those creatures enough to keep it airborne as long as it can hold out.

Then the creature falls upon the top of the cage, its wings nothing but charred remains. The addition of its weight seems to be too much for the chain, however. There's a loud -Snap!- from overhead. Then..yeah. Falling. Toward the fire. Hero Flambe.

THWIP. THWIP.

THWIPTWHIPTWHIPTHWIP.

Spider-Man fires multiple shots up and through the crevices between the bars, desperately firing as quick as he possibly can. His goal is to adhere the cage both to the chain it was originally moored to, and whatever the heck that part of the chain is also adhered to, hoping the diffusion of force can help spread the weight.

(#science.)

But even as he sticks a ton of webbing to the cage, those little critters start peckin' at his toesies. "Ouch! Gosh dangit! Get away!" He aims a kick at one of their little fingers as it holds onto the bottom of the cage.

"Minidemons. For when you want the taste of the paranormal experience, without the filling nature of a full sized demon."

Well, at least he's not gone splat and Rain's careful not to get in the way of thwipping. Getting thwipped in the face would make life painful. Rain clings to her broomstick for dear life, and tries not to let her brain overwhelm her with its ugly, ugly input. She blinks, looking around. She pulls a bandana from her pocket and pulls it over her face to help deal with the stank. Sulfur stank, ew. She blinks up and eeps softly.

She desperately tries to keep out of the way of grabbing and poking. "Hey, ack, no." And she might almost feel sorry for the Winged Ember if she weren't about to become flambe. She stifles a giggle at Spider-Man's comment. Although, she pauses. She thinks a moment. "Wonder what they're saying..." She is quiet, trying to concentrate and remember that these aren't going to wedgie her or eat her toes or something equally horrible and humiliating and ironic all at once. Time to beat Rosetta Stone and see if she can hear anything said in Demonese. She's going to be sad if it's all commercials or Beiber lyrics. Though terribly, terribly apt.

It's true. It's all a matter of orientation in space. In the end, as for acrobats, it's always easier with a partner. One may be turned one way, and the other, the other.. and both end up, somehow, exactly how they should be. "I've got you too..." is called, and their moving in space seems to be less thrashy and a great deal more controlled.

The landing? Could have been better, but it is dark, and Kurt's the only one with particularly good vision in the group. And what he sees, he really, really doesn't like. The landing in a cage, once the sulfur is gone through brings his eyes wide again, and he glances back at the others. This doesn't -feel- like Hell, but.. but..

"Unglaublich!" Those damnable... red.. bamfs? Little versions of himself, and he has to pull his tail away from the edges, lest the creatures grab hold. Unless.. and Kurt leans over to a un-THWIPPED side to see if he can't grab one of the little tykes before--

the chain breaks thanks to the added weight of a dying ember creature. Now, if there was a safe spot to bamf to, that'd be nice round about now as they fall!

"Oh, for crying out loud," Amanda says as the cage finally forms up around them. Then, however, she's entirely preoccupied by the fire and the snapping cage chain and the red... imps?

But, she can still feel New York all around her, damn it!

So, she closes her eyes, her armour sparking with each strike against it, as the runes do their protective work. Curling in on herself as they fall, she starts pulling on the energy of the city, seeking to ground herself in that energy, to experience it fully enough to allow it to draw her back into the city she knows is there, still, all around them.

Because, by now, she's certain this is an illusion. She has no clue who or what is causing it, but... "This... isn't... real, verdammt!"

Those little red critters move quick, but they sure do web really nicely! The one which Spider-Man kicks gets sent flying into the inferno with an almost completely out of place sounding "Aieee!"

Hey, even Hell can have a sense of humor. Twisted as it may be. Extra-Crispy Minidemon.

What Rain manages to translate might seem ..a little odd. Like everything else has been so normal. Those little creatures don't have a lot to say, their faculties seemingly fairly limited. Things like "Get you!", "Die now!", and, of all the words they could have latched onto, "Bamf!"

Unruly children, the lot of them.

Whether falling or back on 'solid ground,' Amanda will know that the city is nearby. In fact, it's never gone anywhere! Never nearer nor further away. It's almost as if the ground is right..there...

The cage -slams- down upon a rough rock floor, splitting open around the group before the decayed bars slowly dissolve into powdered rust. Any remaining iron bars are set underfoot, openly revealing the orangeish glow of exposed magma. Patches of fire are scattered about the closed in cavern, playing across more of these unholy markings which have been cast upon the rocks in smeared blood.

Dominating the center of the cavern is a black stone and onyx altar, carved with symbols, runes, and what sure looks like blood channels. Pitted iron brackets have been bolted to the surface with the intent of keeping someone pinned down upon it, though currently all that occupies this space is a red stained onyx blade, resting where a victim's chest would have been.

Suspended directly overhead is another one of those little red Minidemons, its chest cut into and its heart removed. Simply looking at its remains seems to disrupt it from a peculiar state of preservation, silently decaying and rotting away now that it's been disturbed.

This also seems to trigger a deep, alien voice which speaks from nowhere, reciting some ancient passage. Before it has a chance to reach any obvious conclusion the cooked corpse of the Ember lands upon the altar, still smouldering but now very, very dead.

The orange ember starts to fade out, the image of Greenwich Village disappearing with it...

Spidey falls to the ground in a heap, covered in his webbing and starting to lose it.

With a weary motion to his hand, he brings it to his face as if he is holding an imaginary or invisible tape recorder. "Note to self: When the guy on the other end of the phone at the pizzeria asks if you want mushrooms with that.../Say no./"

Spidey grimaces as he sits up, hands around the knees. "You know, my girlfriend gets involved in this kind of thing. She's all about it. With the demons and the hallucinations and all of this and all of that. And she told me, she told me before we started dating: Are you sure you want to do this? Because all this weird stuff is going to happen and you won't be able to go back and your very life and the very lives of those you love could be at peril.

And me, being an 18 year old boy at the time, and being the kind of 'aw shucks' I'm invincible sort, never in a million years would have thought that that conversation would have ended with this: A spider, two witches, and a Tolkein character walk into a realm where nothing makes sense. There will be little red mini demons. And they will be read. And have tails."

Spider-Man seems incredulous, "If someone knows what this all is, I'd really love you to explain it. Because me? I'm a science guy. I like stuff that makes sense. Feet on the ground, sort, you get me?"

"I'm cursed."

"... get you? Die now? And they really like bamf. I guess you're popular, sir," She offers to Kurt, a little confused. Rain seems baffled. Why didn't it read as magic more? But then, she saw the runes and it makes sense it would be an illusion but still. She's mostly been focused on not being nibbled into the oblivion (imagine THAT on your tombstone), making sure Spider-Man didn't go splat, and all that jazz. Poor Spider-Man. She'll carefully pat him on the shoulder if he likes. "I'm sorry. I am sure you'll be okay, you'll get to see her again. I don't know what you've gone through or your suffering, but..." She's trying to help. She furrows her brows. "If it helps, I was totally not supposed to become a witch. Funny story, actually. Phil, the prince of dimly lit rooms and torturer of spoilers and people who misuse their cell phones is actually a pretty decent guy." Hey, always look on the bright side?

"Also, I'm pretty sure I may need a therapist at this rate." Between getting Silent Hill'd a few months back, this and everything, well. She takes a deep breath. "And hey, I'm an engineer. It's fine. We'll get this." She tries to reassure poor Spider-Dude. But for her part, she pauses. She winces as their cave has slammed down. And there's blood. Blood everywhere.

She squints, trying to read the symbols and runes. "... so wish I'd kept that Runes and Aramaic for Dummies book on me." But then, that voice... and the Ember. Rain is at a loss, so she'll try to read at least.

The landing is always the hardest part. Dropping is easy!

It's Spider-Man's lament that rises, however, that gains the hooded figure his attention. "If it helps, it's not always this way for her.. us..? Just.. it seems to be Fridays. Never Sundays."

It's the voice that rises, however, that Kurt catches next, and he looks around with a groan. He's ready to meet it head on, his crucifix out now, and worn as if it's some sort of badge. Some sort of armour. "Bamf?" He's curious now, but not so much as to ignore the tableau before him. "Our Father, who art in Heaven," Kurt reaches forward to take hold of the knife. What he wouldn't give for that holy water that he USED to have.. in what seems years ago, but it's only been months.

Amanda lands with a thump, automatically rolling with the impact. Years, and years, of training demonstrated there. How to fall, one the first things a trapeze artist is taught. She does it without thinking. Good thing, really, since, eyes closed, hands flat on the ground in a crouch that's a much trimmer imitation of Spider-Man's typical landing, she can hear the demonic voice rolling. She even speaks enough archaic, demonic, and arcane languages to pick out some of what it's saying.

Possession?

Like Hell.

(Wait.)

Spreading her hands on the ground, she begins to chant, heedless of the pentagram and the runes on the dark earth. Her chant is a protective one, meant to shield the mind. She's determined this is illusion, or something very much akin to it. Unless she's both in New York and in Hell at the same time -- and the fact Kurt doesn't sense any demonic energy would seem to belie that hypothesis -- this is all happening in their heads. And she, for one, gets really, really pissed when people try tampering with her mind.

Too, unlike her mother, Amanda has a remarkably level head and strong will. She is not so easily led astray or pushed into insanity.

Slowly, a circle of energy pushes out from her fingertips on the ground, creating arcane traceries of her own runes and wards. It spreads far enough to encompass all four of them, and if there happen to be Bamfs or others in the way, well... it encompasses them, too. Once it has surrounded them all, however, it begins to swell upwards, slowly coalescing into a violet dome with emerald flashes of lightning sparking through it... all meant to free them from this vision.

Poor Spidey. It's all fun and games until someone gets sent to Hell. They're probably not too used to seeing human spiders out that way, so at least he's got that market cornered! Or webbed. Something of the sort.

Reading the symbols is probably easier than translating Bamfgibberish. In that brief passing of time through the cavern Rain can come up with a rough idea of what sort of wickedness had been taking place down there. It's ..sort of like possession. Except..not. Something-something-taking this into them-something. That little red dude may have donated more than just his body to Infernal Science. Also, those symbols aren't one hundred percent perfect. Some of them don't seem to mean anything at all, as if drawn from an incorrect memory.

The Village is back..! Amanda's probably a good part of why, too. There's no more disembodied voices to try and fend off! It appears to be the correct village, given the damage wrought upon it by those other metas in trying to rob the jewelry store. The place is a mess, though..notably worse off than when everyone was forced to leave it behind...

Fire has been scattered about the street, clinging to trees, cars, and buildings. Etched within the pavement is a giant black pentagram, entirely out of place in the middle of the city. Blood has been painted across countless surfaces, identical to the markings within the illusionary reality.

Talia is lying beside the telepathic meta, the latter of which now has a tranquilizer in the back of her neck and a dagger plunged into her heart.

The other three metas aren't faring any better, caught up along with a random assortment of armed responders and bystanders alike, impaled within a chaotic web of mangled pieces of metal which have been crudely meshed together like a mockery of a crown of thorns.

What had remained of their stolen goods is now nothing more than a melted pool of precious metals and broken gemstones. Except for one. It's a cut but unset stone about the size of a quarter, dark vermilion in hue. Left completely alone, for some unexplainable reason.

Aside from distant sirens and the crackle of a radio beside an overturned response vehicle, things here are eerily quiet.

Attempting to possess a powerful yet widely untrained telepath right before getting tranqed is never going to end well. It's going to end a whole lot worse when she who is possessing them happens to be part Neyaphim and plagued by nightmares.

This is what happens when a demon dreams.

Spider-Man begins crawling on the ground of his beloved city, placing his mask down on the cold pavement. "Oh yes, I love you. I love you so entirely and so feverishly, you, the Biggest of Apples."

For a moment he crawls along there like Bilbo in a cave, until almost running his hand on the stone that's left behind. He's about to reach out and grab it, because curiosity is a funny thing. But at the last second he pulls his hand back, and turning to the others he shakes his head a few times in a lolli-way.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaah"

Rain - seems kinda surprised he didn't notice a word she said. And then she kinda boggles at his reaction. "Um." Hopefully he doesn't catch anything. Oh well. She will peek at the jewel and quietly wander away, if no one needs a spare witch. Those runes. Hmmm.

Withe the return of the City, Kurt is left perched on the ground, crouching, tail out, his amber eyes searching through the dark... and then like a veil dropping from his eyes? The city. He blinks once, twice before he is bestirred to action once again, and he's running towards the blue, fuzzy figure lying prone on the ground. "Talia.. TJ.. wake up, Herzchen.." but before he goes too much further in, he looks back at Amanda with meaning in those eyes of his. Meet you home...

And taking up the unconscious form of his dimensionally challenged daughter, he's gone in the next second. *BAMF!*

Amanda's shield evaporates away as she senses the return of the city. She opens her eyes and looks around at the damage, looks at the similiarities between the street and what she saw in the illusion.

In the dream?

She meets Kurt's eyes as he gathers up his daughter. Her expression mirrors his and she nods simply. As he bamfs away, however, the vermilion stone on the ground garners her attention, as much because it has been abandoned as anything else.

She smiles wryly at Spider-Man's reaction, but moves over to crouch near it. Her smile is replaced with a frown as, closer to it, now, her sense of magic starts tingling like Spidey's danger sense. She twists, pulling her runic satchel forward. Rummaging through it for a moment, she pulls out a glass vial with a wide mouth and a cork stopper. She also pulls out a sizeable set of tweezers. Verrrrrry carefully, she reaches out with the tool and picks up the stone, gingerly dropping it into the sample vial before she corks it and, just for good measure, whispers a shielding spell around it to keep the stone safely inside.

"Whatever this is," she says with a glance to the web-slinger, "it demonically radioactive. You might want to warn your girlfriend."

That said, she puts everything away, rises to her feet and, with one last look at the destruction and a grim expression on her face, whispers a teleportation spell to take her back to the theatre...

And her family.