| Dark Eternity Blossoms | |||||
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| What: For their own various reasons a band of heroes investigates the continuing presence of Dark Eternity in Hell's Kitchen and the areas of the city surrounding it. | |||||
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Dark Eternity. The drug has been circulating around the streets of Hell's Kitchen and the nearby boroughs for a few months now. Although the drug has resisted the analysis of every expert the police have brought in its victims, however, are easily identifiable. The reports of homeless people, runaway teens, and a few other random victims showing up dead in alleys with black fluid draining from empty eye sockets, nostrils, ears, and mouth have been increasing steadily, along with reports of missing people. Police stings have failed at every turn and detectives seem to lose track of all facts as soon as they start an investigation.
Volstagg is not a detective really, it is just not his skill set but there are times he tries if there is good reason, and well now there is good reason. The large Asgardian has a way of making friends of people and he is protective of his friends, so when some of the homeless he has become fond off start to turn up dead he gets involved. He is in his mortal suit trying not to draw attention to himself but well he is still ginormous and wearing a pinstripe suit instead of his Asgardian gear will not hide that fact. Also the sword belt tends to draw attention as well.
Lunair has a couple of reasons. First, her Amoebuddy- Gabriel. She was horrified to see what happened to him and the others. She was witness to some of the users flipping out. Second, there's good money in picking off whomever is doing this. She's mostly worried about Gabriel and some of the oddness going on. An upset in the usual order of things tends to be bad for most involved.
Immortality is such a relative term. But don't worry! Lunair's on the case. She totally watched some Investigation Discovery and she does have mercenary training.
The twisted and demonic howl of the hellcycle as it revs its spiritual engine pierces Hell's Kitchens dull noise. The Rider tears down the street in a slow cruise of determination and purpose, his direction fed by the presence of evil. With leather clad knuckles, Blaze applies the breaks and stops at the mouth of an alley, hollow eyes of vengeance staring into the dark. A long ghastly exhale that stretches down the alley to inspire fear to those are his target. "Hungry..."
Human detectives might have trouble following the dealers and users of Dark Eternity but Gabriel has his means, many of them much more subtle than anything the cops can do. Like becoming a rat in an area infested with the little critters. Skittering up behind Lunair, a small brown rat melts into a blog of golden ectoplasm, grows, and reforms into Gabriel. Leaning close to Lunair he says, "Thanks for meeting with me and sorry for the lack of contact of the last few months. I've tracked down one of their labs... I think. I haven't made it inside yet. You ready for action?"
While he's talking he points at an abandoned looking building right across from the alley he's sharing with Lunair. Then he looks around the street, spots a cat and then focuses on it. A second or two later he's a perfect copy of the feline, which is trotting over to pick up a small picture album in his jaws from where its hidden inside a beat up cardboard box nearby. Only to come back just in time to stare at Ghost Rider as he pulls up in front of the target building.
Volstagg looks around the area starting to feel a bit out of place then he notices a familiar face, that of Lunair, she did fight along side him against the golden robots and the demons. Maybe she can help. He starts to head over towards her, "Greetings.' he says to her, "I was wondering if I could asks a favor..."
IT'S HIM! IT'S REALLY HIM! Lunair's eyes widen when she sees Gabriel. "You're ALIVE!" She looks so happy. It's hard not to hug him tightly and squish him and just - yeah. She falls quiet, and listens, looking over to where he points. "Yeah," She nods. She gets a little more serious once he points and turns into a kitty. ".. that is so cute." Lunair loves kitties, as many teenage girls do (or most of humanity, anyway - ask the internet). She smiles, waving to Volstagg. "Um," Pause. "I'm a little bit busy, but what is up?"
She is, oddly enough, watching the cat and his photo album.
The Rider stares a few moments longer before he dismounts from the hellcycle, it slowly idles but never kills his soul-engine. The stalking approach as he reaches for his chain and pulls it from his chest and shoulder, dragging it behind him. Spotting the other three in the alley, he pauses for a moment, assessing them, before giving a low nod to Volstagg, perhaps a deep respect for the Asgardian, maybe more than his hunger.
The cat with the photo album looks back and forth between Volstagg and Lunair before going back to pointedly looking at the Ghost Rider. After a few moments, and after the Rider notices them, it bumps its head against Lunair's leg then starts trotting towards the abandoned building Ghost Rider has stopped in front of.
Inside, the building is as abandoned as it looks. But the cat seems to have been here before because he moves confidently along the dark, moldy hallways. Upon reaching the stairwell it crawls through the gap left under the stairwell door, which is askew where it hangs off of only its top hinge. At the bottom of the stairs is a basement that actually has a manhole inset in the floor. A manhole the cat just stares pointedly at.
Volstagg smiles wide trying to charm Lunair, 'Well it is about some vile poultice, what you mortals call a drug..." He then catches the view of flames out of the corner of his eye and turns hand going to his sword, once the Lion of Asgard realizes it is not one of Surtur's demons he lets go of the weapon and nods to the man, "Sorry I mistook you for a demon." He does not realize he only mistook the type of demon.
And a hellcycle? Okay. Lunair's eyes widen at a guy with a chain. She's standing near Volstagg, talking to him. Her eyebrows furrow and she looks to the kitty. KITTY! It is so hard for Luna not to kneel and scritch. Okay, at the headbump, she does give a light rub if he likes. She looks to Volstagg, and smiles back. Though, it fades fast as she explains, "Do you mean the one that's making people leak black stuff...? We should follow the kitty then."
Lunair is a mercenary, but you figure out who is sincere and not evil and that's Volstagg. Ghost Rider is confusing the heck out of her, but she will follow the kitty.
"No, you were right" Blaze corrects when the hissing and demonic tone escapes his teeth. "Lets Send These Bastards Back To Hell!" his whisper is full of malice and hunger, Johnny may be having trouble containing the full force of the Rider's needs. With a flick of his wrist the chain wraps around the warehouse door and pulls it open, no need for a subtle entrance, he'll gladly take the front. No action.. but Blaze notices the cat looking at the sewer, and he starts to sway side to side.
The cat looks around at any and all people that might have followed him through the building and into the basement after having stared at the manhole cover for a few moments and not getting a reaction. With a very human sounding huff he looks back down at the cover and starts scratching at it with a paw...
And the scratch produces no sounds. And nothing else does either. The crackle of Ghost Rider's ever present fire is gone, as are the sounds of steps hitting the ground, vermin moving around the building, and all of the other little noises an old, badly maintained building usually makes...
Lunair explains, "It's been going on for awhile, but it seriously seems to have ramped up lately. Last time I dealt with it, I remember a couple of - demony? Looking people," She offers. Lunair looks to the kitty for his feline wisdom. She pauses. No sounds? That's really weird. Her face twists a bit as she strains to listen. "Um. Did it just go kinda dead to anyone else? And I think he wants us to go into the sewer. Wanna shoulder ride?" Lunair offers to the feline.
She will pick up the Feline-Gabriel if he likes. Lunair glances around. "Guess we'd better pry it up," Although her eyes widen at Johnny. "Um. Wow."
Scratch that. Volstagg already did because he's that great at prying stuff!
The cat allows himself to be picked up then drapes itself around Lunair's neck like a fur stole if allowed. With one paw it points down into the dark tunnel opening the manhole has left. In the glare of Ghost Rider's flames the tunnel is clearly not a normal access to the sewer system. For one, it is much wider. Second, it seems to be lined with a black metal, laced with silver lines that sometimes look like circuitry and sometimes look like veins and arteries. The only thing the deep tunnel has in common with an average sewer entrance are the iron rungs embedded into its side.
The vertical tunnel comes out into a horizontal tunnel that branches off to the left and the right. Suddenly Ghost Rider's light disappears as he himself disappears from the tunnel when he steps off to the right. Slowly, as the group's eyes adjust the silver lines in the wall replace the orange-red light that had been coming from the Rider with a much dimmer silver light.
Volstagg has to cut away a bit more of the area around where the manhole cover was to fit down but thankfully once he is in the sewers he can move more freely. He then realizes something, "Oh no my tailor is going to have words with me." He then starts to head towards the light.
Lunair watches Volstagg and winces. "My sympathies. You're really tall," She's nothing if polite. And she has a Gabrielstole! She nods as he points, following it. Although, she seems concerned as lights dim out. "That's not good." She frowns. She can't pick up magic, and peers around.
Kilroy trots up behind the three of them, easily tracing the currency Lunair has on her. He can sense the dark magic and has his coin armor up. He whispers somewhat loudly,"Hey, approaching from behind." Surprising them would be stupid. A giant invisible Rai stone hovers over his head, ready.
Other than the eerie silence and the unwavering silver light no other nasty surprises come up. After walking along the gently downward sloping tunnel for almost ten minutes the party come up to the end of the tunnel which opens into a huge room, shaped like a dome, with multiple openings at various levels along the curving walls.
The floor of the dome is a hive of activity that looks like a scene out of a silent horror film. Incredibly attractive demons, both male and female, are moving from one station to another working on equipment that looks like it belongs in a witches lair. Except for the slim computers that show a constantly scrolling line of numbers and letter under a grid that moves like an equalizer's graphic, with bars jumping up and down as a black oily liquid that flows from one alembic to another along long lines of glass tubes.
In the middle of the room there is a platform raised about 20 feet above the activity taking place on the floor with two figures sitting behind a large, semi-circular array of monitors. One figure looks like the demons working on the main floor, except that he's at least 9 feet tall, muscled like a professional body builder, and sporting bright red skin. The other figure looks like a normal human being dressed in a severe black suit with a few exceptions. His skin is whitish-grey, he's perfectly bald, and an unnerving grin that never seems to leave his lips show off teeth metallic that shine silver.
Corpses lay on gurneys, lined along the walls of the dome, between the opening at floor level. Every corpse shows the marks of having died from using Dark Eternity, lines of black gore crusted under empty eye sockets, nostrils, ears, and at the corners of their lips. Many of the corpses have been dissected, their chest cavities held open by hooks lining the gurneys. In some cases the chest cavities are filled with black goo and in others with shriveled, black tainted remnants of human organs.
This must be the villain, at least that is what Volstagg thinks. he gives out a mighty battle roar but well of course it is silent and charges toward the nine foot tall red man with his sword drawn.
Everything is silent. That's not good. She gently pets Gabekitty and looks around. Reflexively, she looks over her shoulder. Kilroy gets a smile. But the sights around them dim that smile quickly. She puts a hand over her mouth. Without being able to talk, it'll be difficult to plan an attack. Still, she looks over at it all. Gotta know what's where.
Kilroy has no idea what is going on but instead of immediately attacking sets up a second rai stone invisibly over the demons attached to the ceiling with quipu. They might only look hostile and be trying to save the corpses after all. Granted, this is unlikely but he doesn't judge by appearance. Only actions.
As Volstagg starts to charge into the room the demons start to look up from their work. Considering the size of the room there is plenty of time for them to see and react to the big man in the pin stripe suit. Including the two men up on the raised platform. Both the red demon and the gentleman in black stand up and suddenly seems to freeze in place when the 'man' with the silver grin focuses on him.
The red demon spreads his bat-like wings wide and uses them to glide down from the platform to land halfway to the heroes. As soon as he lands, raises a hand and pulls a flaming sword down from the empty air above his head then smiles at the heroes, showing a set of teeth that would be more at home in the mouth of a wolf, all the more striking for the uncomfortable contrast they make with his model handsome features. He falls into a classic on guard stance and waits for Volstagg to come closer.
The cat hops off Lunair's neck when she freezes, album still in his mouth. As soon as he hits the floor he starts flipping through the album and stops on a picture of a were-bear. After a second or two of focusing he is no longer a cat but a were-bear that is at least as tall and muscular as the red demon.
Asgardina steel clashes with demonic flame as Volstagg's sword lashes out against the demon that meets him. From the way his mouth is moving Volstagg is giving the demon a good talking to but it still makes no sound as the Lion of Asgard probes the demons guard searching for an opening ot strike at the creatures body.
Kilroy is still stupidly concerned this might be a misunderstanding but the flaming sword is hard to miss. He tries one more time and writes,"Who are you and what are you doing in pennies under the dim light in front of the scientist 'demon'. If the things still continue to attack, Kilroy drops the Rai stone on top of the scientist and sends another at worker demons.
A blazing orange inferno shaped like a human being is making its way toward the demon horror dome at a relatively slow pace, the bright glow radiating out of the tunnel it was traveling down and into the main area. Yeah, subtlety had never really been the Torch's strong point. Nor did he find much use in it, anyway.
What's Johnny doing down in the sewers below Hell's Kitchen? He usually prefers the skies. Well, his best friend Reed had caught wind of some sort of analysis-defying drug that had been wreaking havoc on the less fortunate. So, one, the Fantastic Four would never stand for that, and two--nothing defies scientific analysis in the face of Dr. Richards. Nothing. Okay, so why is Johnny here instead of Reed? That's because Reed is off in the Negative Zone. Or somewhere. And Johnny could -totally- snag a sample of the stuff for him, without destroying it. Right...? Riiiiight.
Actually, it's because Johnny happened to be the only member of the team who wasn't off-planet or off-dimension or off doing something else important at the moment when there happened to be a lead on one of the junkies, whom he had followed down here.
Upon seeing the grievous amounts of gore and other disgusting sights, he cringes but doesn't appear -too- disconcerted, and decides to focus on the incredibly attractive lady demons instead of the dead bodies. "Yeesh, always with the gross stuff. Well at least the ladies look nice."
Alright, so uh...now, to get a sample of this stuff. He supposes it's the black disgusting thing. Well, looks like he's not alone in his heroics! Good, they'll keep the bad guys distracted while he picks up a the favor for his teammate, right?
And Johnny simply waltzes in as if he owns the place. He has a habit of looking like that, yeah.
Sparks fly as the magic sword clashes against the flaming sword, creating a silent fireworks show in the middle of the domed laboratory. Demons scatter, moving equipment out of the way as best as possible to avoid breakage, many of them forming a circle of naked and barely clothed bodies around the two fighters. At least for the moment the demon and its sword seem to be an equal match for the Asgardian.
Lunair slowly slumps down into a sitting position, a stupid, silly kind of smile slowly blossoming on her lips. Meanwhile were-Gabriel goes into a pose that makes it clear he's roaring, although the oppressive silence still fills the room. After his silent roar the big were-bear starts stalking towards the raised platform in the middle of the room.
On said platform the 'human' with the silver smile just holds up a finger to his lips in reaction to Kilroy's penny writing, clearly shushing him. A few seconds later Kilroy's Rai stone appears out of thin air, lands on the scientist and bounces off in a flare of silver light. Another Rai stone smashes down a couple of the succubae and incubae as well as breaking some of their equipment. Their co-workers rush in, more interested in saving as much of the dark liquid spilling out of the broken tubes than in helping their fallen comrades.
One of the naked succubae in the room starts sashaying towards Kilroy, waves of raw sexual attraction preceding her, their intensity magnifying as she smiles at him.
At the opening of his tunnel Torch is received the same way Kilroy is. The main difference being that the succubus approaching Torch is a blond as opposed to the redhead Kilroy is being approached by. But both of them are incredibly attractive, even supernaturally so.
Volstagg settling into the rhythm of battle as the demon matches him at swordplay at least for the moment so rather then finesse the large Asgardian tries to use brute strength as there blade come together again this time. Rather then pull it back for another attack he presses forward trying to overbear the demon and use his greater girth to his advantage.
Kilroy is a miasma of rage. If they had but spared Lunair he might have been kinder but as it is he creates a thousand pounds of holy water coins over the succubus and destroys all of the coin but the holy water and glass shards and lets all 2000 pounds dump on the girl and the scientist if he can. Kilroy points at Johnny and then at the tubes of black liquid.
Seduction? Uh-oh. As powerful as the Torch is, that is the one thing he's often most vulnerable to. There are some things that would easily overwhelm such an attack, such as one of his teammates in immediate danger, or other innocent, but this time no such danger is apparent. So even though the psychic assault isn't a particularly strong one, it doesn't really need to be. He drops out of the air, his flames going out, and simply gazes at succubus as she approaches, entranced by her amazingly attractive form. As such, he doesn't notice Kilroy pointing at stuff.
Volstagg proves to be the stronger of the two combatants, to the surprise of the red demon, who bares his wolven teeth, reaches out behind himself and pulls out a flaming main-gauche. The large dagger leaves a trail of sparks and flames behind it in the air as it flashes towards Volstagg's ribs on his right side, starting to scorch his pinstripe suit even from a few inches out.
Kilroy's attack has the expected effect. The holy water seems to cause an incredible amount of pain, the succubus' face contorts in pain, mouth opening in a silent scream. Although there is no visible damage a second after the holy water bath a flaming hole opens in thin air and the voluptuous female demon disappears into it. The drawback to this attack is that now Kilroy is the focus of five or six of the demons, both male and female. And now they are directly attacking the man.
As the blond succubus reaches Torch she uses one hand to slowly caress his chest while cupping the other behind his neck, slowly pulling him down, obviously intending on kissing him. As soon as contact is made the attraction increases tenfold.
For his part were-Gabriel is doing what Kilroy obviously intended Torch to do. He's rampaging through the lab equipment. But there is something strange in the way he's doing it. He's flipping tables, throwing any succubus or incubus unlucky enough to approach him through the equipment but through all of it he's doing everything in his power to keep the black liquid from touching him, going as far as moving to a different area of the room when too much of it has been spilled near him. He seems honestly afraid of the stuff.
The scientist up on his perch ignores the holy water that splashes over him, causing another flash of silver light. His attention is fully focused on Lunair, who is still smiling her silly smile, alive but catatonic.
Volstagg takes a page from old Greek stories instead of Norse ones, using a tactic called taking the spear. He grits his teeth and shifts so the blade will hopefully embed itself in his girth rather then his rib cage but he lunges forward letting the blade sink it but also hopefully also knocking the demons off guard as he then swings his own sword at the opposite side of the demon using all his strength trying to cleave clean through. The Lion of Asgard bellows out a mighty roar of rage and pain mixed together.
Kilroy puts a Rai stone between them and himself, dumping more holy water on the demons.
The succubus doesn't have to pull Johnny in--as soon as she touches him, he grabs her and presses his lips against hers. Good thing there aren't any paparazzi down here....are there? There aren't any, right? Eheh...
If someone or something doesn't get him to snap out of it, the Torch may gotten himself into a serious predicament, here. Sisters! Never around when you need 'em!
Everyone's sense of hearing is completely gone so Volstagg's roar is nothing but a facial expression. However, people's sense of smell is working fine. Everyone can tell something has happened in the fighting between the Asgardian and the big, red demon as the smell of roasting pork or something very like it fills the air when the blazing dagger sinks into the folds of fat around Volstagg's midsection. But the sacrifice has the desired effect. The demon is caught off balance and Volstagg's sword sneaks under his own flaming one, cutting deep into the demon's rib cage then rebounding off a supernaturally strong rib. Stumbling back the demon disappears into another flaming hole that has appeared behind him. The hole shuts itself in a flash of fire after giving Volstagg a glimpse into a scene reminiscent of the traditional Roman Catholic perception of Hell.
Kilory's ploy works as Rai stones drop around him out of thin air, creating a wall of stone around him. Every time one of the demons is bathed in holy water they disappear into another one of the flaming portals. Between Kilroy's tactics and Volstagg's defeat of the larger demon many of the other succubae and incubae start grabbing vials and other containers full of Dark Eternity and start disappearing into the portals.
Torch's distress catches Gabriel's attention. Running by the couple he lashes out with one huge paw ripping the succubus off the Torch and almost ripping her in half in the process. She becomes the first demon that doesn't disappear through the portals as she hits the ground dead, very human looking internal organs spilling onto the floor from the gaping hole in her gut, in a pool of deep purple blood.
The scientist, seeing his allies being routed, floats off the platform and disappears down one of the tunnels while the heroes are distracted, disappearing in a flash of silver light similar to the one that made Ghost Rider disappear.
Kilroy picks up Lunair,"I need to get her to a healer. What the hell were those things besides something I am going to hurt very badly?
Kilroy says, "Name is Kilroy by the way. Great work Volstag," He smiles "Nice to meet you Mr. Torch." He nods to Gabriel,"Nice to meet you too.""
Volstag falls to one knee for a moment while his opponent flees. He has seen Hells before though this once does cause him to shudder just a bit. He ten manages to stand, the good thing about being stabbed with flaming blades is that the self cauterize the bad thing is well the burns. He moves a hand to the area to check for damage, "Demons of a sort." Volstagg answers, "I believe they were behind the odd concoction killing people." His wound has him weakened but he is trying not to show it. He moves towards the others, 'Well met.' he greets those he does not know.
Suddenly, the succubus is ripped away from Johnny. And literally ripped into pieces. His eyes widen as he realizes he'd been seduced. "Crap." As he finally comes to himself, he notices the fleeing demons and scientist. Searching the floor, he picks up a vial and hopes it has enough of the strange substance in it to satisfy Reed's scientific curiosities.
He glances around at the others. "Any idea what those guys were up to? I mean, beyond cutting people open and pumping them full of poison. Looks like they're trying to save some of it...for something."
Gabriel's voice is extremely deep and growly in the were-bear shape he is currently using but he can speak, barely. The big were-bear glares for a moment when Kilroy pick up Lunair but after a few second his snarl relaxes and he responds to both Kilroy and Johnny's questions with a little more information than Volstagg, "Gabriel. And those are the ones making Dark Eternity. I thought it was only the succubae and the incubae but it seems there's another group with them too. First time I've seen the silver teethed guys... Here. Last I saw them they had a bunch of homeless kids catatonic in the sewers under Harlem." As he speaks he moves over to proper Volstagg up is he needs it, having enough strength in this shape to hold up even the girthy Asgardian. Looking at the Torch he asks, "You OK over there man?"
Around them the dome shaped room is in shambles and now that the heroes hearing is back sounds echo, making the room seem even larger than simple sight did at first. Most of the Dark Eternity has been evacuated by the demons but there has been enough spilled on the ground that a sample or two could be taken to people that want to examine it, although it would probably be contaminated since the ground in the huge room hasn't been kept clean or sterile.
You say, "but the drug, that's new to the silver teeth guys. There was no drugs last I dealt with them..."
Kilroy says, "I will research as I can. Do you have a method of contact?" He says this to Gabriel but nods to Volstaag and smiles at Johnny. "The fan 4 likely have a website or something, right?"
Johnny gives Gabriel a slightly sheepish look at the question. He hadn't been any help at all, had he? "Er...yeah, I'm--I'm fine. Psh. Aaaanyway..." He says, eager to change the subject. "Yeah, I'll have Reed look at the stuff, see what he can come up with. And uh," he turns to Kilroy. "Yeah, of course we have a website, but if you go through that you'll probably just get Roberta and a bunch of recordings." The Torch says with a smirk. "Here," He hands him a card. "This'll get you a direct line to the lab."
Volstagg accepts the aid in standing from the were-bear, "Many thanks Gabriel." He then asks, "You seemed to be a friend of the young one." he gestures towards Lunair, "IF so you are definitely good company."
Kilroy returns the favor with his own card for Gabriel and Johnny.
Were-Gabriel motions at his picture album, which is stained along the edges with Dark Eternity. "There's a card in there but if you want it you can get it yourself, I'm not going to even risk letting that stuff touch me again." If someone searches the picture album they'll find a few business cards that have only two things printed on them: Gabriel and a phone number.
Without showing any interest in retrieving the picture album he starts helping Volstagg towards the nearest exit, "I would like to consider myself Lunair's friend, yes. And I hope she would agree. Mr. Torch, I would recommend being really careful with that stuff. It reacts strangely on people with metahuman powers..."
Kilroy doesn't touch a thing and provides Gabriel and Volstagg with a floating invisible rai stone as a med bed to the surface at which time he vanishes.
Johnny takes Kilroy's card and pockets it. "Thanks. We'll let you know once he comes up with something interesting enough to report." He opens the vial he picked up earlier and peers into it, finding only a few drops. Pff, Reed would pout. But there's plenty of it on the floor.
Aaand, just as Gabriel is giving his warning, Johnny is squatting down in the stuff, trying to scoop more of it into the mostly-empty vial. "Oh...uh. Well." He stands back up. "I guess it's a little late for that now." Ooops.
Kilroy says, "Want a holy water dousing just to be sure?"
Once there is a different way to help Volstagg back to the surface Gabriel melts into a big blob of golden ectoplasm, that looks a little bit like a giant amoeba. But before there's even time to realize what he's become he's already shrunk and returned to his normal form, looking now like nothing more than an eighteen year old half-Hispanic, half-Asian young man, "Lunair and I have been working on trying to find out where this stuff is coming from for months. This is the closest we've been able to get."
"Um, well I feel fine at the moment, so I think we should be good." Johnny says after a brief pause. He nods to Kilroy. "Thanks for the concern, though." Yeah, his ego has already taken enough blows for one day.
Volstagg shakes his head, "Would that i could be more help for while I am a fine warrior I am not the best detective it seems." He remembers to sheathe his sword once he arrives at the surface, "I think I shall depart to visit the healers as well." he grins, "And tell the tale of this glorious battle." He then heads off in the direction of Midtown.
Gabriel chuckles at the big Asgardian's acceptance of his limitations and then waves at him when he heads off, "Well met. And definitely visit your healers. Never know what a demon's flaming blade might have on it." Once Volstagg has started walking away Gabriel turns to Johnny, "If you think I could help with the research let me know. I'll be happy to stop by and answer any questions I can."
Johnny nods. "Yeah, Reed'll probably want to get some history from you. I'll warn you though, he can get pretty excited over uh...new things." he chuckles. "Maybe once Lunair gets back to herself you two can stop by when you have some time."
Gabriel nods but, aware of the fact that Johnny still has some of the black liquid on his clothing and hands doesn't offer a hand to shake, "Will do. Nice to meet you but I think I'll get Lunair off to her apartment now." Lunair herself is coming out of her catatonia but still seems to be very confused as to where she is and what is happening around her.
"Right...what was your name again?" Johnny inquires. "I didn't catch it if you said."
Gabriel chuckles as he starts shuffling Lunair off, "Gabriel. and I hope you have a good memory because I'm not going back down there to get my cards." He follows this with a recital of his phone number which is says twice just in case.