Justice, Like Lightning... [IC]

[trollthumper]

Nick Cimitiere wasn't really expecting the undead to come to him that night. Well, sure, Avenger had shown up in his apartment that one time, but that was different. He wasn't exactly expecting to sense death passing by his bedroom window while he put the makeup on.

He'd just finished dinner, gotten out of his street clothes, and slipped the costume on. His plans for the evening were to check out rumors of a black dog the size of a baby rhino wandering around Ashton. It may have just been a black lab with a thyroid condition, but given the fact that Cerberus had apparently been running through this part of town a few months back, Nick thought it a good idea to check out any wandering portents of death.

At least until one had apparently gone rushing past. He went to the window and looked out in the alley. Whatever had gone rushing past was already gone. He held his hand to the glass and tried to trace the resonance. It was a deep, bone-soaked quality, so it was an undead and not a necromancer... there was something to it beyond that, so it wasn't just a really fast zombie... not the hunger of one of the vampire bloodlines, but more of a fire...

Ah.

Nick finished applying the skull make-up, then went out on the street to find the new revenant.

[Moira Morley]

Justice had only been out a few nights, but this was a really weird one. The other nights were plain and uneventful. She chocked that up to a good few nights. Any night that you're not needed is a night that others could rest in peace. But now? Now there was talk of a large black dog terrorizing West Freedom! She couldn't let this go unjustified. Using her new speed she began her race to find the predatory pooch in the West End. Right now she was in an... interesting place. It was one of those areas that she couldn't really define. It looked old, but the area itself had pretty nice merchandise showing. Upper middle class? She had no time to think about property values, there was an evil beast on the loose. She would find it. Though something caught her eye. Was that a skeleton? She slowed down, no it was something else. More human. There was something about him. And it looked like he was their to greet her? Oh wow. This is not suspicious at all, she thought snarkily, Gotta find out who that is. She stopped to greet him warily. Not bad looking. Kinda cute. "Excuse me," she smiled, "You wouldn't happened to have seen something yay high," indicating the size of the beast by stretching her arm over her head, "causing any problems around these parts, have you?"

[trollthumper]

Nick looked over the girl. Yeah, she was a revenant. She was a bit more well-preserved than Dead Head -- to say the very least. The one-piece seemed like standard superhero gear, though the skirt and the cowboy boots kind of stood out.

"Was it black and canine?" he said. "If so, then yes, I believe I have seen it. Last I heard, it was up in Ashton, but it's been wandering a bit." He extended his hand. "Name's Nick Cimitiere, by the way. Don't think I got yours..."

[Moira Morley]

Justice took his hand and curtsied properly, "My name is Justice." She straightened herself, "Well, not really," she chuckled, "though doesn't every costumed hero have a name?" She looked around, "I'm sorta new to the city actually. I know the west part of Freedom, but specific areas? This is the West End, right?" She sighed exasperatedly, "You live here right? And you obviously know what i'm talking about." She smirked, "And unless you're waiting for Halloween, I think you're on the same side as I am." She looked around and then back to Nick, "Would you mind if I asked for your guidance around these parts?"

[trollthumper]

"Sure," Nick said, trying to keep up with the stream of questions. "Let's see... St. Sebastian and Temple Ben David have their own small graveyards. They occasionally draw ghosts, but they're pretty quiet compared to Lantern Hill. Trinity... now that gets its share of the restless dead. Usually they just need closure, but some of 'em... well, let's just say some of the terminal cases never really get used to the idea of dying. It kinda twists them."

[Moira Morley]

Justice looked confused at the talk of ghosts. Was this thing a ghost dog? Did this guy only know of the city through cemeteries. Could he see right through her facade? She didn't know, she just nodded as he spoke.

She chuckled nervously to herself about the twisting comment. The whole death thing was on her mind. It reminded her everyday. She wasn't living anymore. Had she gotten use to it? Well, she still breathed and blinked and ate. Those were habits you don't give up unless you're committed to weirdness. Somehow the food was digested the air was still taken in and her eyes and tongue still functioned. Was she used to being dead? Probably not right at this moment. She hoped it wouldn't become a problem though.

"Alright," she said happily after he stopped giving directions, "That sounds like a start. Do you have a mode of transportation? I'm a pretty fast runner myself, but I can't outrun a car." She smiled slyly and tugged at her gloves a bit, "Or we can do the whole walking thing. Whatever's good for you."

[trollthumper]

"Well, we'd probably cover more ground in the car," Nick said. "Hold on a second." He extended his senses as he opened his mouth, and a strange rolling mess of clanking hammers came forth. A good thirty seconds later, the sound of an approaching car could be heard. A black '68 Chevy Impala pulled into the alley, stopping right before Nick and Justice. The paint job wasn't perfect, as it was covered in multiple white sigils,

"Behold, a pale horse," he said. "So, where do you want to start the search?"

[Moira Morley]

Justice nodded, cars were good. And then... wow, was that weird. It sounded like the car was in his mouth! But it did not. After that... nothing. She looked around. "That's a pretty cool trick." There was silence for a few seconds She didn't mind, the guy was nice enough to guide her along on a quest. She broke the silence with somewhat of a conversation. "So, that's some nice duds you got there. Did you do them yourself or what? I bought mine. It was a bit of a quick throw together actually. One of those costume stores." She was lying just a bit. There was a little more preparation in the costume than she let on. Though people usually didn't take the whole latex thing seriously. She never really got a comment on it before. She wanted someone with more experience to critique it.

[trollthumper]

"Yeah, I bought them and put the sigils in myself," Nick said, looking down at the jacket. And kinda bathed it in the waters of the River Styx, but... trade secret for now. He took a second look at Justice. "Now, the one piece... it can work, but the skirt may pose a problem. And latex isn't a bad choice, but it does risk tearing. I hear that stuff the Atoms make has the same texture and sheen but a whole lot more resilience."

[Moira Morley]

Justice smiled She was glad someone liked it. She would have to check into the Atom's stuff. Tearing would be a problem. And maybe it would be easier to put on than this. "Thanks for the tip. Maybe you can show me where that is later? I hope I'm not being asking too much. This hero stuff doesn't come with a manual other than 'Go out there and help people'. Having a hero mentor would be great. Though you can tell my to stand down if I'm being too pushy." She was about to say something else, but that car had arrived. Wow, that was creepy and awesome at the same time. "Bravo," she looked impressed, giving one of those slow golfclaps. Looking around the machine, it was pretty nice. He asked where they should start, didn't he? "I guess Ashton would be the perfect place, since that was the last place it was seen." She looked to him as to ask if it was OK to get in.

[trollthumper]

"Yeah," Nick said, opening the door and stepping into the Pale Horse. He then slid over and popped open the passenger side door for Justice. "But it has been roaming the area, so just keep an ear open for spectral howls and shaggy black canines."

The car pulled smoothly out of the alley and sped down the streets of the West End. Nick kept his eyes open and his senses alert for ambulatory doggy death omens. "So," he asked Justice, "you say you're new to this, huh? How long's it been?"

[Moira Morley]

Justice nodded with a chuckle after Nick gave his instructions. And then came the questions. She wondered how much she could reveal to him. Sure she could go on about how long she'd been working or what she did, but what if he started getting really personal? Would he understand? Would he freak out and try to destroy her? She hoped it wouldn't get that far. As the thoughts swam around in her head a mile a minute, she answered him assuredly. "Oh, it's been about a week," she said in a voice that sounded like fondness, "It's been a very slow week. But then again, I guess that's a good things, right? You don't run into any loonies holding up a gas station at midnight and there's a little more hope in the world that said loony didn't do anything that night." She sighed, "Or you could have missed him and the damage is already done." She smiled softly at him, "I'm sorta optimistic, so I choose the former instead of the latter."

[trollthumper]

"I know the feeling," Nick said. "You do what you can. When I started off heroing, I didn't have much in the way of powers -- just the death sight. Most of the time, I got there way too late." He shook his head. "So I did what I could -- tried to bring the dead some peace. It was usually detective work, the occasional B and E, and trying to talk the ghost into doing the dirty work. But that's how it goes. Even if you're not Centurion -- and few of us are -- you can at least try."

[Moira Morley]

Justice's mind raced when she heard those two wards, Death sight? He sees dead people? Well, don't that take the cake. Did he use it on me? Did he have any reason to use it in me? Play it cool and maybe he won't go all Ghost Whisperer, or if worse comes to worse, Ghostbusters. She smiled and listened to him speak also. "See, you got something useful, I guess. Me? I just run fast. Not fast like Johnny Rocket, or even a car. But faster than normal. Oh, and I got Lucille here." She patted the large sword with a chuckle. "I'm a pretty good swordsman, if I do say so myself. Other than that, I got nothing. But like I said, one night you don't have to do anything is a good night." She leaned the side of her head against the window, still looking and listening for the beast. A quiet minute later she sat up and looked back over to him. "So, you said you have death sight. What does that do?"

[trollthumper]

"It helps me pick up on what's alive, and what's not," Nick said. "It mainly allows me to see ghosts -- the ones that lurk behind the scenery, that is. But it also helps me pick up on general disturbances in the vital spectrum -- deaths in the area, the walking dead, and so on."

Nick perked his head up and looked to the east; a second later, there was a faint howl in the distance. "Like that one," he said. "I think we found Rover."

[Moira Morley]

Of course, Justice thought glumly though keeping a straight look with a smile, The first person with superpowers you run into is someone who can see through your charade. Then again, he hasn't said anything. So, shut up and don't call attention to yourself. "So that thing is dead," she asked rhetorically when he informed her that it was near. "Makes sense," she shrugged. He did say it was a ghost, right? She readied herself, "How close do you think it is?" Maybe that death sight has a homing feature or something.

[trollthumper]

"Just a few blocks over," Nick said. "Hold on tight." Nick shifted gears and accelerated, weaving through the light traffic of the West End. He parked the Pale Horse between two cars in a way he didn't really want to replicate any time soon, and rushed out of the car.

Connelly Park was one of the smaller parks in West Freedom -- more of a lot given over to greenery than an actual municipal sprawl. But it was well-cared for and well-tended, if somewhat poorly lit. Even under those conditions, Nick could see the big, shaggy thing the size of a Shetland pony sniffing around in the distance. It didn't seem to notice him yet, but every so often, he caught a glint of eyes like emeralds hit by the sun. Even if it wasn't looking at him, odds were it would find him in time.

"Okay, boy," Nick muttered. "What are you here for?"

[Moira Morley]

Justice did as she was told, comically bracing the dashboard for ludicrous speed. Though when he did take off, she did hold her sword so it didn't fly around and hit anything. When he threw the car into park, she wondered how it didn't break right then and there. He's a stunt driver too? Man, this guy was awesome! Quickly exiting the vehicle, she followed the man who knew where he was going. When they saw the massive dog she looked at it like she had seen, well, a ghost! It was fascinating and almost beautiful in a sense. She wished she had a camera right now. She looked to Nick again. "So," she said quietly enough for him to hear, trying not to call the mutt's attention to them, "What's the plan?"

[trollthumper]

"Depends on identity," Nick said. "The black dog's a common piece of folk lore -- the dog that shows up heralding death -- but there are a lot of variants on it. You've got the barghest, the shapeshifter that likely causes said death... then you've got more passive messengers who herald death, like Black Shuck..."

That was when Nick heard something very faint in the distance. He almost couldn't hear it over the rush of traffic, but it was there. Hunting horns. Then he looked at the dog, and realized just what kind of beast it was.

"Justice," he said, "maybe we should get back in the car."

[Moira Morley]

Justice listened attentively as Nick spoke. You never know when the strange tidbits of information would come up. And then he stopped. "What," she asked flatly. Then she heard the horns. "Well, that can't be good." And then her host was... a bit wary. "Wait, what's wrong," she was confused as she followed him to the car, "We came all this way to be Ghostbusters and we're turning tail now? What gives?"

[trollthumper]

"We're not running; we're acting as a diversion." Nick could hear the horns again, getting louder. He moved to the car. "Like I said, there are several black dogs in folklore. I know what the one in the park is -- it's a cu sidhe. A fairy hound. It was pinging my death senses because the cu sidhe tend to make it their deal to ferry souls across to the hereafter." Another klaxon of horns, this time louder and more sustained. "One problem -- they usually act alone. As in, without fanfare. And fairy hound plus war party usually means one thing -- the Wild Hunt."

[Moira Morley]

No wonder the dog looked so beautiful. A fairy hound? Though she expected anything related to fairies, especially with the name "cooshie", to look like something that jumped out of a chaotic five year old's sugared fever dream. How little she knew. Ferry souls to the afterlife, Justice, no, Samantha's head went swimming again, Sure, why not, this is just my lucky freakin night. "So you're saying that they're tracking something it would take more than one dog to handle?" She stopped at the car, "and we're going to jump in it's way? Do you know who... or what it's hunting exactly?"

[trollthumper]

"It may not be tracking so much as sniffing out prospects," Nick said, "in which case, it's a lot worse. In some tellings, the Wild Hunt just mows down whatever gets in the way. A stag'll be nice, but they'll take Bambi and his mom if they run into 'em." The horns bleated once more, and Nick could swear he saw movement at the edge of the park. "Which is why we're going to give them a stag. So they don't have any other choice."

[Moira Morley]

This just kept getting weirder and weirder. So they were going to hunt the hunter. A hunter who's designated prey was people like her. This was quite the first adventure. Justice jumped in th car again, minding the sword. She didn't want to tear up the cool looking car. "Whenever you're ready, Captain," she said with a mock salute, "Let us ride off into the face of danger."

[trollthumper]

As Nick got into the car, he heard the splintering of wood behind him. Once he was safely inside and the car was started, he looked over his shoulder. There, standing over a felled tree, were three riders on horseback. They were armor of ebony over boiled leather, and horns stood out on their foreheads -- in this light, Nick couldn't tell if they were part of their helmets or just part of their foreheads. The horses they rode practically blended into the night around them -- save for their eyes, which were the color of fire.

And locked right on the car.

"Hold on tight," Nick said as he hit the gas, "this is where it gets tricky."