ic Beyond the Pale

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Candlekeeper!" roared Tazel to the quivering wreck that was Juan. "Perform this task or I will roast you alive and dance on your ashes! Take us to the British Museum!"

 

"Wha..." gabbled Juan. "...I can't...I mean, I just make candles!"

 

"The pale smoke you make with your candles can take any form. Create an illusion of the museum!"

 

"I've never been... I mean... I have no idea what it looks like!"

 

"I was born millenia ago from steel and fire. Even I know of a thing called the internet! Use a search engine of your choice! You see, we demons do so like free will. Delicious!"

 

"You aren't giving me much free will right now...." whispered Juan. 

 

"Of course I am! You may create an image of the British Museum, or you may delight in the way your skin crisps and your fat pops when you are burning!"

 

"Gaaahh!!!" managed Juan, trying to force out a sound from a bone dry throat. His shaking hands pulled out his mobile and after several fumbles, he brought out an image of the British Museum. From there, with a wave of his hand, the pale smoke crystalized once more into a perfect replica of the British Museum. 

 

"Behold! All fires and all irons are linked in the Infernal forge!" roared Tazel, as the smoke illusion started burning, sucking in the air, sucking in Juan and La Puma...

 

...and then they were in London, outside the British Museum, the pale smoke puffing off their bodies.

 

"And I am right here" hissed Tazel, invisible once more. 

Juan leaned over to La Puma and whispered "we have to get rid of him... you're a hero, right?"

Edited June 18, 2023 by Supercape

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

La Puma Negra was tapping her foot now, waiting for the two to stop bickering at each other. They seemed like they had known each other at the least for a bit, Tazel used to the weird and eccentric nature of Juan who seemed to be nothing more than an extremely shy person that didn't seem well adjusted to the world, even likely worse than Carmen was at least, all things considered. Tazel seemed full of himself, a demon monstrosity that wanted to be free. 

 

"Would you guys just get us their already, sheesh!" Puma protested as the bickering continued. The British museum, a place that she had never been to before but no doubt one that she was likely to be standing in front of or in soon, a fact that she would be correct about as finally the spell was woven and all of them were before that very museum without a second thought.

 

Puma sniffed the air, different, unlike Freedom City or Puerto Rico, as was expected of it. It was rather obviously around midnight as she looked to Juan, "In training so to speak. You dug yourself in this mess, I'm trying to fix it. You ain't gonna get rid of him easy, and between you and me, you deserve the punishment," she turns to him, poking his chest with her a finger, "Now, I'm gonna start the Supervillana part of it thanks to you. You got stuff to deal with the cameras by the way?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Camera's! Of course!" gasped Juan, blabbering as though both lips were a pair of jellied eels. "We can't possibly go in! Camera's! We have to abandon ship... Demon, take us back to Freedom City, this venture is doomed... we can then part ways and never see each other again. Thats the best course of action and the best course of action is that. Its the course of action that is the best, I am sure..."

 

From another mouth this might well have sounded santastic, but the white faced Juan was gabbering and convorting like a delirious chimpanzee. Not even he knew what was coming out of his mouth, which seemed to have taken a life of its own. 

 

"Fool!" hissed Tazel. "I am invisible but you are not... I could burn the camera's if you wish, but that would surely alert them. No! You have your candles, conjure for us a cloud of obscurement!"

 

"Please, can't we just..."

 

"NO!"

 

Sighing, Juan took out a white wax candle from his jacket and zippo lighter from his pants. WIth a click, he set the candle alight. A small, flame, a belch of pale smoke, and suddenly their was mist all around. The Museum, the buildings, the pedestrians and cars, even the stars - they all looked weak, partially translucent. 

 

"There we are, we are beyond mortal eyes!" said Juan, his face fighting a chaotic battle between pride and panic. 

 

 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

"Duh!"  spoke in a sarcastic tone, eyes wide with her arms out in an expression that showed her displeasure. Juan was very willing to just jump ship it appeared, something that the wilder personality of Puma didn't want as Tazel's voice came back again, frightening back the candled sorcerer to go about the action of obscuring their presence. Puma closed her eyes as smoke surrounded them, taking a deep breath as she narrowed in on what she wanted to do. It went against everything that she had been taught in school, but she wasn't in school at the moment, and with no one able to see her, she could at least bend the rules a bit. Especially so if the cause was to save kids.

 

Puma would open them, using her sharp senses and wit to see in the dark, looking for routes inside that were obvious at the least to her, "Stay behind me as best as you can. Just keep up the spell and try to not to bump into any guard, got it, good," she says looking to Juan with a serious face. It was time to put things into motion, moving on all fours with speed and precision and attempting to find an entrance. An open back door for security, an open window, whatever she could find to get what she needs and wanted, this wand of power that bound the demon to this mortal plain.

[Supercape]

GM

 

In London, the time was past midnight. The square outside the British Museum had its share of pedestrians, of sightseers, and people coming home from a night of eating, drinking, music and art. 

 

But it was still late, even for a busy city. 

 

Too late for the Museum to be open. 

 

They were invisible to camera and man, but the doors remained locked. 

 

"What do you want me to do know?" sneered Juan, spying a get out. "Make a skeleton key out of a candle?"

 

"I can burn it off" said invisible Tazel. "I have no physical form, for I just fire and flame. I can slip through the cracks, but I can't open it from the other side."

 

La Puma could hear a curious sound. Like a fiery tongue licking fiery lips. 

 

"Of course I could just burn down the whole thing. Fire is lovely!"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

Puma nodded, letting the devil do whatever it was that needed to happen, "If they have your rod, I'd hate to think who else they have in their, unhappy that we just woke em up," she spoke, attempting to dissuade the demon from burning the place down. The young heroine could think of a few people that would be happy to see the whole place burn, but there was a lot of stuff in there she was sure people did care about, and a lot more folk wanted back. It wasn't her job, smarter minds than her were involved in that. It was her job to fix the problem currently at hand.

 

"Take that lock out."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Tazel burned into sight, living flame shaped like a skeleton. The pale smoke of candlelight kept them invisible to those pedestrians strolling past. 

 

The lock burned, melted. Puma could see that Tazel's fires were strong, but they still lacked a ferocity, a substance. It took a minute to melt the lock. 

 

And Tazel was not so precise as one would have liked. A hand of living flame was in the lock, melting it from the inside. 

 

But the door was wood. 

 

By the time the lock melted off, and the door swung open, the door was smoking. It was on fire. 

 

Inside, the alarm systems were quiet - for now. They were set to detect break ins. 

 

And there were smoke alarms...

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

La Puma's eyes widened from not the ability of the demon to melt the locks off the service door entrance, but the fact that now light wisps of smoke were now coursing through the wooden door. It was no doubt on fire, and if there was a fire, that meant alarms, and alarms meant guards, security and all that. The demon looked to inadvertently blow this little operation they were having completely apart from the start and Puma was damned sure that such wasn't going to happen.

 

"Juan, quick, snuff the smoke out," she spoke as tried to think of else that she could. Her strength was more than enough to tear the door right off it's hinges, but anything like that would alert everyone in the area that something was up, "Snuff it out, I'm moving ahead, just be quick," she commands before rushing into the museum, going in proper now on all fours, keeping a rather stealthy and quick approach. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Snuff the smoke out?" Gibbered Juan. "You think I have anti-smoke candles in my jacket? You may not have frikin' noticed, by candles tend to make smoke, not snuff it out?"

 

He hopped from one foot to another, wringing his hands. 

 

"We are fricked, right? We are frickin fricked! Still I bet a British jail is better than Hell. Probably. Maybe probably."

 

He tore off his jacket, tore off his tank top, revealing pale, almost emaciated white skin and bony flesh. Juan was not going to win any body building contests, not if he waited till the heat death of the universe. 

 

Wrapping his black clothes around his fists he started patting down the fire, yepling with every pat. 

 

"Yoikes!" he whimpered. "Who would have guessed fire was hot?"

 

"You havent seen nothing yet. mortal!" cackled Tazel, buzzing around Puma, silent but fiery...

 

The Museum had alarms, and a security guard asleep at the main desk. But nothing was alerted. 

 

Not yet, anyway....

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

Puma was going as fast she could while retaining her very stealthy and agile movements, knowing that she really didn't have much time. Someone was going to find out about this regardless of what they did to hide it all, making the amount of time they had smaller and smaller with each passing second. It was all a nerve-wracking experience for the young heroine, used to just having to smash or slash some baddie who attempted to steal from on the local corner stores or an old lady's purse. This was saving children from machinations of a demonic entity, the powers of the devil, and crazy that sure loved his candles. And to make it all worse, she still felt gross with all of the grime and dirty over her ripped and torn clothes that she wore. No doubt Neko would be laughing at her if she was here, and maybe a few others. Maybe she could ask Patriot to give her custom material that can withstand simple scratches to avoid future unfortunate occurrences.

 

She could hear someone sleeping up ahead, snoozing on the job likely. While no doubt they could not be seen, she was still physically there and likely could be heard if she wasn't careful. Puma's movements were of acrobatic flare, making use of her vision to look for any sort of lasers of a variety. No doubt that would trigger some sort of silent alarm as she looked for the rod.

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Tazel was invisible, silent.

 

La Puma was as quiet as a mouse wearing sound dampening slippers. 

 

Juan was as nervous as a mouse wearing a necklace of dynamite. 

 

Fortunately La Puma could drag him through the museum and guide him so that he didn't make any spectacular blunders, although once he nearly collided with an Egytian mummy casket. 

 

There were lasers, but easily avoided if you had amazing Puma senses that could detect such devices. The dozing security guard was easily bypassed, his eyes closed, his fingers interlocked and resting on his midriff, the tepid coffee on his desk no longer steaming. 

 

Tazel seemed to know where he was going, fortunately because there was little to indicate to La Puma in which direction they should be headed. The answer was down some stairs, through some corridors, and into a small dusty segment of the Museum where "Modern Antiquities" were stored. Quite the paradox - but it seemed these were occult artifacts collected in the twentieth century that had their origin in ancient mythologies. 

 

In a dirty glass cage stood the Cantos Devil stick, two feet of blackened wood, with an Ram's head carved into the handle. Collected, apparently, Ms. Cassandra Crow, honorary curator of the British Museum. 

 

Tazel sparked a few flames in delight and desire. 

 

The glass was, unfortunately, laden with alarms....

 

 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

"So that's it, your stick, not much honestly. A bit tacky," Puma says, unhappy that it wasn't something a bit more spectacular. Her sight could pick up on some of the arrays of invisible lasers that guarded it, knowing that she could easily snake an arm through any sort of detection being used and avoid the alarm all together. However, the hard wouldn't be that. The hard put would be figuring out if her claws could get through the glass without shattering it somehow and triggering every single alarm that there was in this place.

 

Looking to Juan, she'd sigh, bringing her claws out and bringing her hand in as circular a shape as she possibly could, "Juan, if this doesn't work, I want you to run two blocks, I will find you, got that!?" she growled at him. If things didn't work out, she was willing to just smash the glass and run without a second thought. Though, even if she thought of stealing against everything she had been taught at Claremont, Puma was willing to be the best cat burglar she could in this situation, reaching out her hands to try and slowly and patiently care an arm sized hole for herself to reach in through.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Do not judge by appearances" murmured Tazel, still invisible. "The Cantos Devil Stick, has bound and banished stronger demons than I, and I can still feels its chains around my neck!"

 

His last words were spat with a fiery spite. 

 

Juan gibbered and flapped his hands. "Wait... can't I just run now, in case it doesn't work? Brazil is nice this time of year, I hear..."

 

"Silence!" spat Tazel. "You shall stay here, Candlemaker!"

 

Juan wilted. 

 

The hands / claws of La Puma crept to the stick - it was a delicate business, a surgical business, where one slip could spell disaster. But time was on La Puma's side. No need to rush...

 

...slowly...

 

...carefully....

 

...delicately....

 

And then her hands were outside the glass cage, with the Cantos Devil stick in her hand!

 

It felt like wood, depsite its black hue. She could imagine smelling ash and sulfur. Or was it her imagination? Did it actually smell of ash and sulfur? There was a tingling in her hands. The stick was nauseating, a crawling in her skin and up her skin, whispering questions in her ears - that this was real, that that wasn't, that the shadows of the Museum contained creeping horrors. 

 

"At last!" sang Tazel. "Now break it! Or use it... but I must be set free!!!!"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

Puma breathed a sigh of relief as she managed to care a hole right through the glass. Any better at this and she could potentially change career paths, although theft like this wasn't really much in her nature. Pulling it was now the easiest part, holding it in her hand and immediately feeling a chill crawl up her spine, something morbidly creepy about such an item. Ash, sulfur, all smells that she could sense there or was it imagination. From the corners of her vision, the shadows moved, making her twist to see them only to find nothing. Such an item was no doubt magical properties that she could not understand.

 

With her strength, she attempted to try and break the rod in half, and yet, nothing could be done. No matter how much of her inhuman strength that she applied, it wouldn't crack. No matter what she did, even smashing it against her knee, it would still break regardless of what she tried to do, "What the heck, it won't break," she spoke. Puma didn't actually know how to actually break the darn thing.

 

"Looks like it ain't breaking for the time being. In the mean time, get us home Tazel, I want you to cure those kids, then I'll see if I can find someone that can free you."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"It will not break? Curses!" spat Tazel, flames flickering in the darkness. "The Cantos clan are vile, cunning, hateful! Mmmm....mmmm....."

 

Two fiery eyes appeared in the air above La Puma, whilst the rest of the body remained invisible. 

 

"Curing those boys... that is for the candlemaker. If they wished to be cured. Perhaps you should ask them?"

 

"They are my defence against you, foul demon!" yelled Juan. 

 

The yell echoed down the hall of the British Museum. Loud enough to wake the dead. Or dozing security officers. 

 

"Oooops...." whispered Juan. 

 

"Let us see then, Cat woman, let us see if you have a word worth keeping. I shall take you backl to the church. You shall free me. What you do with the dog boys, well that is between you and the candlemaker. Although I confess I would enjoy  making the coward do what he would not. I confess, I would do it out of spite!"

 

The eyes flickered once more, scrutinising La Puma. 

 

"Do you swear?"

 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

"Shut up!" Puma looked at Juan with a harsh eye, gritting her teeth in a growl as she held the strange rod in her hand. Time was now up, regardless of what they were going to do now as she didn't even need to hear that a guard was likely alerted. To make matters worse, she couldn't even use the damn thing to cure the children, restricted apparently by the powers of the rod as Tazel stated to her.

 

Now, she had to make a deal with a literal demon that she'd keep her word, and as much as she wished to not do such, she knew that saving those children was paramount. Even if she was to reside in Hell for all eternity, biting lower lip, she'd do it in a heartbeat, "You have my word Tazel, as much as I dislike consorting with you. I will not lie to you, but even I see the suffering of a creature such as yourself and shall do as I can to send you back to your domain."

 

Puma then turns to Juan, "One Tazel brings us back, you will bring those children back or you'll be facing more than my claw. ¡Maldito mentiroso!" she says, awaiting the magic to return them home.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Excellent!" hissed Tazel, his fiery mouth appearing in the air for a moment. "You know, my delicious huntress, you are not so bad after all. You know what the value of freedom is!"

 

With a fiery puff of smoke, another portal appeared....

 

...and with another puff of smoke, all three were back in the Church from whence they came. Silent, ghostly, glinting with moonlight through the stained glass. 

 

Tazel sounded tired. His fire was diminished, like a thin candle when previously it had been fatter, stronger. The exertion of such magic was a drain...

 

"Well, here we are.... I am... diminished... " he said, even his voice feeble now. 

 

Juan shuffled up to La Puma like a crab and whispered in her ear...

 

"Now's our chance.. he is weak, and we have the devil stick! Lets destroy him once and for all!"

 

The candles still burned, and the pale smoke still plumed, wafting in resonance with every melodic note of Juan's whisper...

 

Outside, the howl of dogs pierced the silence. 

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

"No," was all La Puma responded back with. A single solitary no as Juan prompted her to try and destroy Tazel. She didn't forget the demon's words, a demon only interested in its freedom back to the netherworld and Juan's own admittance. It was no curse of this foul demon but of the humankind, one committed by such for his own cowardly defense for the creature he had brought forth to do his own unholy bidding. No sob story was going to make her change her mind about that.

 

Claws came out again and with a hiss she'd threaten him. Puma wasn't some goody two shoes style hero, "Fix them, now!" slitted eyes stared into his, "I'm not going to ask this again. Either do it, or I'll force you to do it, understand?!

 

"Tazel and the rod are mine for the time being until he is freed proper. You will fix those children, bring them back to how they should be."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Jaun recoiled in fear, his arms reaching over to cover his pale face. "Ah..Ah-Ah...Ah..." he gibbered, lost for words, only able to croak out some gibberish, his throat like sand from fear. 

 

"What is this?"

 

It was a deep, melodic voice, one that La Puma Recognised. 

 

The priest who had greeted her in the church at the start of this infernal, canine, candlestine tale!

 

He held in his hands a bible, clutching like a shield and a saviour. His eyebrows were raised, his eyes wide, his black clothes and white neckpiece quite in place. 

 

"This is a house of God! What is going on here? Devil-worship? Satanism? Do not mistake my modern outlook - such practice deserves old school action!"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

"What you've done to these children is unforgivable. God shall judge you one day. Hombre Vil,"  Puma responded to him, making sure she looked absolutely threatening the best she could. She was somewhat small in height but having a werecat had its perks, especially with fangs and claws. Made it hard not to be stared at or stand out in a crowd but you took what God gives you at times and Puma wasn't complaining here as vile for Juan grew inside her.

 

The voice would make her temporarily turn her head to look back towards, "¡Sacerdote, retroceda!"  she'd order him to stand back, wishing him no harm. This place was dangerous and now there was someone more than just the kids that she had to worry about now.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Juan needed little encouragement to wince in fear. La Puma could, at the moment, have threatened him with a feather duster and made him pass out. Teeth, claws - they were more than up to the job. 

 

The priest stopped, clutching his bible tighter, holding his eyes slightly wider. 

 

Tazel was in the ether, invisible, although he still whispered in La Puma's ear. 

 

"Have care! I cannot enter a holy place... if he sanctifies this building I will be ejected... I do not know why I can enter this place at all - someone has defiled it, I think..."

 

"I halt" said the priest, voice trembling but laced with boldness - was it faith? was it desperation? something propelled him, something made his brow swim in sweat. 

 

"But you must tell me, what transpires here? This is a holy place, and I will not see it maligned by intent or by action. Tell me! What is going on here? It does not smell good, it leaves a taste of... sulfur in the mouth!"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

Puma had to get this priest out of here. She didn't know honestly how he got in considering all the Hell she had to go through, ruining one of her good school heroine costumes to boot as she kept Juan cornered, keeping him intimidated. If he would just use his magic to fix all this, she could walk away easy and relieved tonight. Instead, she had to worry about this young preacher that was all the bit uninformed as he seemed enthusiastic. This night kept on getting worse and worse by the minute and honestly, she was just there for the ride as it seemed now, wanting to get off it as soon as she could.

 

"Gas leak, this place isn't safe, get out of here!" Puma calls out to him, turning her head. It was a lie, but one Hell of a lie as she tried to get him out of there with a little bit more prodding. She wasn't a very good one, knowing better how to scare people than sweet them up a bit, but this was all she had.

 

 

 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Gas leak? Are you yanking my chain?" laughed the priest. It was not a particularly nice laugh either. The priest was vexed, his fingers tapping an agitated beat on his bible, his frown deepening, his jaw tight. But he did not advance.

 

A half step back. Only a half. 

 

"There is no gas leak. We both know that. There is skullduggerry afoot! Devil-worship! Why, I can smell the sulfur, I can smell the brimstone!"

 

As invisible as Tazel was, there was no doubt - a touch of sulfur and brimstone was in the air, even cutting through the pale candlesmoke. Was it Tazel? Was it the candles? Was it from somewhere else, from something else?

 

"God is my shephard and all that" continued the Priest, swallowing at his words. "Thy rod and thy staff and etc. I am invincible..ah...in the eyes of God and so on. Now, young child, I suggest you leave this place and I shall perform an exorcism! Yes, an exorcism! there is a fiery devil to be rid of, and our souls are imperished... yes, imperished!"

[MoonSimply]

Carmen "La Puma Negra"

 

Puma was still stuck on how he was still even here in the first place with the amount of junk she had to go through to even get here and was already fed up with everything altogether. If Tazel was expelled from this place, she had no back up against this wizardry type, and if he did turn those kids into the little monsters they were now, she wondered what else he could do unrestrained by Tazel's absence of presence.

 

"Father, now is not the time," she shouted towards him once more, respectfully to his title. Brimstone again, that smell, that terrible smell. Why had it come back? Unless, maybe something wasn't right, this pastor was more than it seemed as she let go of Juan and strode towards him quickly, smelling the air, trying to concentrate the source with her senses, trying to find something that was wrong of him. There was no other way.

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Priest took a step back, another one... raising his hands and his bible in front of him, turning his head away so to avoid eye contact. 

 

"No! No! Stay back.. fould...er... foul spawn of Beelzebub! Or is it Mammon? One of them, anyway, or maybe both! Yes! Both, that sounds good, doesn't it! Both of them! And their chums, and their hordes of little servants, jumping around with forked spears ... is it forked? those spiky things with two... wait... three prongs. That's a trident, isn't it? Yes! With their tridents! Fear the devil, child of Satan, for eternity awaits... eternity in a pit of lava being poked by demons with tridents!!!"

 

"You better listen to him!" shouted Juan. "It sounds pretty scary to me!"

 

Tazel was invisible, and only spoke a whisper. But the acute senses of La Puma could pick up the groan of despair. 

 

"Idiot!" 

 

"We had... ah... best leave this place immediately, so that your soul is saved, child!" continued the priest. "And before those dog-children attack and gnaw your bones! Yes, before they do that. That's pretty scaring and intimidating, right? You best listen, mark my words!"