| A Little Fall Of Rain | |||||
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| What: Someone decides to play with Black Magic... and they pay the price. | |||||
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For thirty long, long years, he worked and slaved at his desk. He never asked for much - never asked for much at all. Just... a little bit of peace and quiet, and the comfort of a retirement, and numbers to push together to make into pretty little columns that matched up perfect, making certain that the mutual funds that he oversaw made mild profit for those who trusted the bank with their money.
Then the recession hit. It was robbery really - utter robbery.
The mutual funds tanked, the very same ones that he had put his life's work into, whilst the directors and such of the very same bank lived large off of the proceeds.
Little did anyone know that Bill from accounting had a hobby of sort.
Bill knew dark magic. And while he cause might have been just at one point - well, what he did to the CEO he caught was tremendously grisly, and had already alerted most superheroic sorts to his presence. But there was a flaming pile of stone on the ground floor of this cushy bank, said pile of stone standing nearly ten feet tall, and having a vaguely humanoid shape. It flips a table, as a score of imps kinda flutter around his feet, cackling as they were loosed to destroy /everything/, a bleeding portal in the center of the bank floor.
"--holycrapwhat." Virgil Onid Hawkins -- aka, NOT Black Lightning -- is on the side of the bank, lurking in an alleyway, when all Hell breaks loose. Well, okay -- not /all/ of it. Just a little bit.
Virgil's a long stretch of teenager; dark-skinned, with fuzzy, wool-like hair that explodes out in every direction -- with a dark blue hoodie, denims, a backpack, and sneakers. As things start cackling inside the bank, he frowns, glancing from left to right. And... oh, there's a dumpster. He slips behind it, reaching into his backpack -- there's a crackle of light, a flash of color, and... a nearby manhole rattles. Right before a bolt of lightning /lances/ out, strikes the manhole with a resounding BZZZZT, and proceeds to /yoink/ it straight out of its spot and toward the back of the dumpster.
An instant later, and 'Static' -- clad in the same hoodie, but now up (to disguise his hair) and with ridiculous ski-goggles on (to hide his eyes) -- has his hands out, as he tentatively begins to 'surf' atop of the manhole, hovering over the dumpster -- swooping out (slowly!) toward the front of the bank. "C'mon, you got this, you got this," he starts telling himself, his voice soft and steady. The manhole wobbles a bit under him; he's hovering a good two yards off the ground as he approaches. "C'mon..." Whoop!
Vorpal sensed the magic going off not to soon as it was performed. Being a creature of Chaos magic meant that he tended to be somewhat sensitive to things of this sort.
Invisible as he was, he approaches the area where he feels the surge of dark magic... and what he finds in the area disturbs him. Mostly because the closer he gets, the weaker he feels, until he has to stop before jeopardizing his powers and his position.
Someone in that bank had a dimensional portal open. That meant he couldn't step in there. Not without some serious problems. The cat ducks by the alleyway and taps his earpiece.
"This is Vorpal, to BSA: I need backup, lock on my position. I need someone who can deal with a dimensional rift."
The BSA, having his information on file, would know that his weakness was proximity to dimensional tears. Quickly they try to scramble and find someone in the area to hail.
Skip-skip-skipping through the city comes Princess Powerful, better known as Molly Hayes. Once again she's evaded her Beyond Corporation entourage to hit the mean streets of New York in search of fun. And what could be more fun than the forces of evil bursting through the walls of reality? Well, cake. But as of yet no-one has had the ingenuity to summon a really big gateau that can only be defeated by the powers of ohm noming!
Who was dealing with those Beyond Corp handlers? One Ms. Karolina Dean. She knew that Molly wanted to go ~out and about~, so... it was child's play to strike up a conversation with them as Molly 'went to the bathroom', and escaped out a window or something. And somewhere out there, Karolina Dean smiles to herself.
Of course, if she knew that Molly were going to deal with hell dimensions - she might have insisted on coming along.
But maybe it was better if she didn't know.
As it turns out, a cacophony of screams and cackles from inside the bank might alert those outside to the mischief therein, the front door of the bank bursting open as people start to flood out. Bill from accounting had no doubt paid the price for messing with these sorts of powers. There were windows that kinda overlooked this alleyway that many of the heroes were in. Said heroes might be alerted to such a thing as the glass shatters outwards, little green things with long, stretched out limbs - about five of them, breaking into the alleyway nearish Static and Vorpal both.
One was wearing a hat that said 'Security' on it, complete with aviator glasses and a tazer that it looks to have misappropriated from someone. In fact, most of them had things that they had grabbed from people or from the bank proper. And it is with those makeshift weapons that they raise as they shriek and lunge at anything in reach.
...possibly including the heroes. Molly more had to deal with the flood of people out the front door.
"I got this, I got this," Virgil -- aka, 'Static' -- continues the mantra as he floats toward the alley's exit, arms out, struggling to keep his balance. And then... there are screams, and the windows explode. Enter green monsters with pilfered goods. "Oh /SH--"
Static falls back, the manhole cover slipping out from beneath him. He hits the ground with an unf, the manhole cover clattering to the ground -- just in time for one of the green long-limbed monsters to lunge down on top of him, flailing at him with the taser. There's a yelp of shock -- and then -- ZZZZT. ZZZZT. ZZZZT.
A moment of silence as the security-hat-clad monster continues poking Static with the taser, confused. Static, on the ground beneath the monster, looks at the taser, then looks back up at the monster.
Whatever Molly and Vorpal are up to, they probably notice the sudden booming *BZZRROOOM!* as a long-limbed monster is /hurled/ out of the alleyway, wreathed in swirls of smoke, taser in hand, security hat on its head. They probably smell the burnt ozone, at least. Static -- surrounded in a halo of lightning -- plucks up the manhole and /charges/ for the remaining monsters, using the manhole as a makeshift shield/battering ram -- pushing it forward with a shot of electromagnetic force: "PIK-ACHU, MOTHER-$#$-ers!"
Vorpal frowns as creatures explode out of the windows. In his invisible state, he remains undetected-- though he considers coming out of it to deal with the monsters, but Static's timely intervention indicates that someone is already on that path. Kicking off the ground, he levitates upwards to the second storey to sneak into the building through a window. It should put enough distance between himself and the portal on the ground floor, but it will also allow him to come down through the elevators and see if he can pinpoint the source of the magic.
A regular girl would be swept away by the tide of people fleeing the chaos inside the bank but not a superhero as mighty as Princess Powerful! Eyes glowing violet the Runaway begins carefully pushing through the crowd, occasionally pausing to haul anyone unfortunate enough to have tripped in the crush back to their feet. "Reveal yourselves evil do-ers and face my wrath! Or uhm... Or I'll punch that expensive stone thing until it smashes."
The little demonic thing had been so tremendously proud of his spoils of war. In fact, he was a bit of a boss monster there. The rest of the imps kinda back away from Static, red eyes wide, gaggling and cackling amongst themselves with a decidedly worried tone to their evil little noises.
Only to throw their arms wide and start to shriek and scream as they try to flee Static's charge, the ram hitting them admist the center of their little gathering, the monsters falling silent. But there were more noises from inside. More cackling - and that stomping sound of the golem as it paces the halls, battering desks, punching holes in things.
At least, until it was challenged. When ~Princess Powerful~ strides into the lobby, helping a few of the fallen stragglers to their feet, the imps that stayed inside turn and cackle at her, pointing knobby fingers as if mocking her.
The golem turns, eyes of fire levelling themselves on the little girl. Lowering its head, it begins a steady charge, lifting a hand of burning stone up before it would try to bring it down, to try to pound Molly straight into the floor, the portal burning nearby, bizarre images occasionally seen through it.
But Vorpal himself... the source of the magic he might sense, or trace to the CEO's office, which was at the top storey of this ten storey bank. But he also may be able to sense that the portal? It wasn't quite done. It was expanding - sucking ambient magic from the environs to power its growth.
"Nnghf--" Static stumbles out of the alleyway, manhole cover locked to his forearm like some sort of low-tech hobo buckler. The green demons are either fleeing or stumbling back in response; the hooded hero-wannabe scans the crowds of screaming people as they run from the scene -- and then, briefly, catch sight of... is that a little girl? Going /into/ the bank? The sound of crashes within the interior -- and of more cackles -- prompts him to stagger after her, waving the cover as she vanishes inside. "H--hey! Hey! Don't--aw, /crap/," and now he's nearly tripping over himself to follow her, forced to stop for just a moment and help an older man up to his feet as he trips and falls. "C'mon, c'mon, you okay? Just keep moving, try to get--"
Static glances over his shoulder, to make sure none of the green demons are rushing toward the crowd. When -- and if -- he's reasonably sure they're not about to launch themselves at the retreating bank patrons, he starts to move for the bank entrance, to follow 'Power Princess' inside.
Vorpal narrows his eyes. He could help the others downstairs, and by the sound of it reinforcements might be a good idea...
But that portal was expanding. He could feel it creeping like an overeager fanboy at a hero convention. If that got any bigger...
Decision is made. The cat runs to the stairwell and levitates upwards. He had to get to the CEO's office as soon as possible.
As the giant stone fist comes sweeping down Molly does the unexpected. Puts her hands on her hips and yells "Neener neener! You big stupid pile of rocks." The stone fist lands squarely on the top of her head with an almighty smashing sound. And when it's over? Princess Powerful remains, still grinning, although the floor beneath her will never be the same again. "My turn!" She grabs hold of the stone wrist and, with a heave, swings the golem round and round before flinging it across the bank as if it was a softball.
No, the green demons were... well... they were mostly enjoying watching the golem batter people. The fact that the people in question was a little girl? Well, that just made them all the more excited. Bringing up their hands, they were hooting and shrieking at the interplay between the guardian golem and Molly, a handful of cackles and cheers coming when the stone fist descends atop Molly...
And stops cold.
The golem pauses for a moment, looking (as much as a pile of rocks could) absolutely surprised. Speaking of surprised... when the golem is flung across the room (presumeably into a pack of spectator imps), they scatter and shriek, some of those nearby Molly and Static kinda leaping up at them, hoping to batter them with bank objects, or slash them with claws.
And out of the portal... something - a giant clawed finger about the size of the side of the building pokes through up to the first knuckle, finger curling forward along the ground, leaving a long, jagged scrape.
But that leaves Vorpal. The halls themselves would be startingly empty - devoid of people or patron. The office itself, though? The CEO was in a ghastly state of affairs that really need not be described, but of note was the man - Bill from accounting. Almost as pale as a sheet of paper. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, and he seemed... exhausted. Jagged. There was a knife that was stabbed through his belly and into the ground below - mystical sigils dancing around the knife. He was the first to have his force drained into the gate. And in essence - he was the battery for the gate.
Bill looks up a bit, his eyes going blearily to Vorpal. "...I messed up," he says, as if every word was taking every bit of energy he had to say.
"Hey, hey kid, hey what are you --" Static is /charging/ into the building, now, just as -- WHUMP. The stone fist slams into Molly, causing the floor beneath her to buckle and crumple. Static's face promptly goes from 'D:' to 'o:'. He stares, for a moment, not exactly sure what to say as a fourteen year old girl proceeds to spin the stone monolith around as if he was some sort of shot put -- Static doesn't even seem to notice that he's surrounded by demons as he just stares, manhole cover sagging. "--doing. Oh," he adds, as the golem slams through what is no doubt numerous pieces of bank furniture, causing a great deal of property to explode and rupture into a swell of dust and splinters.
And then... there are /demons/ ohshitwhat? Static yelps as they begin battering him -- at least one gets a good /SMACK/ across the side of his flank with what appears to be a table leg, freshly torn off. He swings the manhole cover up to protect him as he's swarmed -- not catching the sight of that jagged claw emerging from the portal...
"--awright, you know what, /screw/ you guys--" Electricity swells up through Static's body -- he /flings/ his arms outward, and suddenly he erupts in a brilliant corona of hot blue light, winding paths of electricity lashing out like a dozen tongues to strike at the demons in his immediate vicinity -- enough painful voltage to incapacitate your average human -- and /then/ some.
Vorpal narrows his eyes. His training didn't exactly cover this sort of thing- that was the Defenders' territory.
He does have a basic idea of what is going on, however.
"You knew better than to deal in black magic," the cat says harshly. At some point in the past, he might have felt for Bill. But not after seeing what happens when people toy with this sort of power. Gods, black magicians.
They should know better.
He looks down at the floor, at the dagger, and narrows his eyes.
Black Magic. The worst kind of magic. It preyed upon the life energy of individuals- that much he knew. Normal individuals.
Humans and sorcerers tended to be predictable. Like a pierogi- you always knew what was in the ingredients.
"... but 'it' will not have your soul. I release you from the contract." The cat reaches over and grabs the dagger, giving it one big F--- you look before stabbing his leg with it in one swift move.
See, humans and most souls tend to be full of predictable energy.
Cheshire Cats? They're pure chaos magic. And nothing screws up magic leeches than getting a pierogi full of chaos.
But enough of the gastronomic references, before someone gets hungry
"Saving the day silly!" Molly answers with glee. "Uhm. You deal with the little ones, I'll stop whatever owns that really fudging huge finger!" Thankfully when the chaos began someone was in the process of making a pot of coffee and although the imps have spilled some there is still a good swig of cold coffee. As Princess Powerful dashes towards the demon finger she snatches up the coffee pot and gulps it down. "Ouchies, hot hot hot..." And then the true clash of titans can begin. "You want thumb war? Well you've got one!" With all her might she begins pushing the thing back from whence it came... it's just a shame it's immense and very very strong.
These demons - well, they were just lesser things so far. The big things would need a larger portal to get through, as the finger in question would demonstrate. What that meant was that they shocked extremely well. There were a /large/ number of them, don't get me wrong, but...
Both imp and Static alike kinda just stare dumbfounded at the way Molly manhandles the golem, their little mouths full of tiny evil fangs opening. Of course once they recovered, and processed the presence of Static, they did pummel him - or do their very best to.
Until he explodes in light and electric fire. The little guys shriek, the ones too close toasting pretty much instantly, and chaos reigns amongst the survivors. Some were trying to leap back into the portal. Others still were going for the stairs or the windows. And a gaggle were kinda running in a circle over there.
The finger itself? It was ~incredibly~ powerful, and as Princess Powerful pushes against it, the infernal strength borne in just that single finger pushes back - matching, or even exceeding her own. For a handful of moments, the finger might appear to be winning - and then it loses some ground, and then gains some ground, and in the midst of that shoving match...? Molly might notice that it becomes incredibly easy to push back against the finger suddenly.
That would be because the portal was closed, and the finger was suddenly disembodied.
What had happened up above:
Bill doesn't smile in return. Nor does he say anything, a dim light that was dying even now in his eyes as he looks up at Vorpal - certainly the last hallucination of a fading mind. A brief motion of his lips that could have been a 'thank you', and Bill from Accounting slumps his head back, moving on to a place happier than he was destined to just moments before.
The dagger stabbed into Vorpal's leg reacts violent, the dagger almost pushing as if trying to get /out/ of his leg before it absorbed too much magic. But the item starts to vibrate, flowers starting to grow on the furniture, a rainbow appearing in the window - maggots erupting out of the steel of the chair.
And then the dagger stops pushing, and seems to go dead, any sort of power fleeing it. The portal closed down below.
The imps, upon seeing the portal close? Well, the survivors start to panick even /more/, the room becoming a cacophony of demon screams. Some had escaped, sure. Others, well, were hiding. Or fighting. But at the moment? They would be all too easy to put down.
"--oh jeez," Static says, as he watches some of the demons -- /fry/. "Oh jeez, are these things -- alive? Or--do they not... count? Or--" The brilliant, flashing corona starts to dwindle; he watches, eyebrows lifting, as 'Power Princess' struggles with that finger -- and manages to shove it backward, just as the portal snaps shut. And then the room is filled with demonic hoots and screams, and -- Static drops the manhole cover to the ground with a *CLANG*, hopping atop of it. It thrums, hefting him into the air, his fingers extended -- sending quick, jagged bolts of lightning out like white hot lances, trying to corral some of the demons toward the back of the room -- the ones he can see and find, at least. "Get -- over there. I'm missing track-and-field for /this/," he mumbles under his breath. ZZZAP! ZZZAP! "--hey, uh, miss, are you okay?" he hollers over to Molly, continuing to hover -- ZZZAP! ZZZAP!
"I guess I'm not tasty enough," Vorpal quips, finally letting go of the dagger. He had struggled to keep it in while it was trying to push. Do you know how much willpower it takes to keep a dagger -in- you as opposed to out?
Vorpal knows now.
He falls on his side, wincing and tearing the right arm off his bodysuit to create a makeshift bandage to staunch the blood until he could get to the nearest ER or Star Tower. Once that is done, he tries to levitate... but he is very drained from the ordeal.
"Well... with that thing closed, the people downstairs should be able to take care of the monsters..." they seemed pretty capable. He reaches over and dials for the police and the BSA.
And then he reaches over and closes Bill's eyes.
With all the force Molly was putting into shoving the Big Finger it's perhaps not a shock that when it vanishes she goes flying forwards. Right through the wall of the bank. "I'm... I'm okay," she shouts back. "Bit sleepy and I burnt my tongue on the coffee. But I'm fine. How're you Zappy Man?" She hauls herself to her feet and begins punching, kicking and otherwise splatting the imps who are trying to escape through the banks new exit.
As it turns out, the imps - at least the ones kinda remaining in the bank proper, were easy enough to corral. Screaming their little heads off, they clutched and clung to each other, until there was a giant ball o' imp in one corner of the place, under the watchful eye of Static. At least, until Magical Animal Control came in.
The police would actually be rushing in soon enough, with clubs and nets, catching most - if not all - of the little buggers.
Of course one or two did escape into the daylight, or the sewers, but certainly - just one or two of those guys couldn't cause trouble on their own... right?
"I'm, uh, good--" Static isn't going to hang around for very long. Once he's managed to get these things shuffled off into a big Pile o' Imp -- he'll just spend his time hovering over them, giving quick little jolts to any stragglers who try to escape. Up until the fellows with the nice big clubs and nets arrive. At which time -- he'll make his exit, quietly, quickly, with a quick glance thrown toward Molly to make sure she is alright! "--um, that was pretty awesome -- with the geodude -- I should probably -- I'm not, like, /registered/ or anything --" Once police sirens start going off, Static tenses up -- and then he's swooping on toward one of the shattered windows that lead into the alley. "--bye uh maybe I'll see you later--"
Vorpal would wait for them to get to the top floor. He has nothing to fear as an actual registered superhero.
Plus, he kind of needs a stretcher right now.
"Registered? Awh crud! I better dash or I'll be in /so much trouble/," Molly yells, poking her head through and waving goodbye. "Princess Powerful, away!" Of course she can't actually fly or vanish in a puff of smoke. Instead she has to make do with the rather mundane running away (and hoping no-one follows her) plan.
- NEWS FLASH
JOHN: "Earlier today the city was spared from a mystical disaster due to the aid of several heroes working in tandem. Gale Winters reports."
GALE: "Thank you, John. The disturbance in Wells-Bonds Bank was apparently caused by an employee of the bank identified as accountant Bill Seymour. Apparently Mr. Seymour, through the use of black magic, opened a gateway through which demonic creatures sought to enter our dimension."
Security footage is shown, where a portal is shown through which an enormous finger- colossal- pokes through. The size of the creature to whom it would belong boggles the imagination. The security footage shows two young heroes- a young man with a hoodie and a young woman (Static and Molly respectively) fighting it and monsters inside the building.
GALE: "Mr. Seymour's body was found in the CEO's office along with the body of Edmund Wells-Bonds. The portal was stopped by registered vigilante Vorpal who, according to reports, stabbed himself with a ceremonial dagger in order to close the dimensional rift."
JOHN: "That doesn't sound like a very bright idea, Gale,"
GALE: "It sure does not, John. Fortunately for us that it worked. Once the portal was closed, the young vigilantes on the ground floor were able to control the situation, albeit a small number of monsters were reported to have escaped capture. Citizens are adviced caution and to report any unusual activity.
The vigilantes on the ground floor have only been partially identified- there is no positive match for the young man, but the young woman has been identified as Princess Powerful. Vorpal either did not know the identity of the other vigilante, or refused to disclose it on his way to obtain medical assistance."
JOHN: "Thank you for that report, Gale. Now, on-"
GALE: "As it happens, John, I have miss Zatanna Zatara on video satellite link, and she has agreed to give us her expert opinion. Miss Zatara, thank you for joining us on such short notice. Can you comment on the nature of this incident?"
ZATANNA: "Sorcery is an extremely dangerous thing, and should never be used for anything other than life-affirming purposes."
GALE: "Thank you, Miss Zatara. Can you tell us what might have happened to the city if the creature had come through?"
ZATANNA: "The ~Justice League~ would have stopped it before it could harm any more people. *wink, big grin*
GALE: "Well, yes," *Gale Winters looks slightly annoyed, trying to push her point through* "But in the hypothetical event that the League had been unable to stop it...?"
ZATANNA: *laughs brightly* "We woulda been able to stop it. Really - an event like this? It's quite uncommon, but it's no trouble at all to seal up a tiny little rift in reality."
GALE: Back to you, John.