[Nov 2010 Vignette] The Power of Words (CobTemp & Gabe)

[Dr Archeville]

The Power of Words

November 27, 2010, 8:30pm, EST

United States, New Jersey, Freedom City, South Freedom, Bayview

Cobalt Templar was flying on one of his first school-approved solo patrols. For this little exercise, he wasn't to go beyond the Bayview neighborhood unless explicitly approved, and anything above “petty thugs” was also to be called in if at all possible. He'd been provided with a basic earpiece communicator for his little mission, and was giving hourly updates to Changeling. That said updates took about 10 minutes apiece because of Changeling's bubbly, high-energy personality was of little concern. After all, it had been a really boring patrol. Then again, half the stuff she talked about barely made sense. He shrugged; it was another 30 minutes before he had to report in.

“Hm. Erin didn't tell me how much of this hero work was mindless patrol with nothing-”

Suddenly, he heard strange, unnatural sounds coming from an area closer to the state road bordering Bayview and Southside. He'd mostly kept clear of that area, as there weren't really any homes or businesses; it was a rare stretch of empty land. Apparently, that was about to change. Squinting his eyes a bit, his monochromatic night vision slowly helping him pick out what looked like a man in bright clothing fighting several small...creatures...that were swarming him. A bit beyond that little furball, there were two average-sized shapes, and one that made even CT look small in comparison. The guy in...that might actually be all-white, and not just a light color...was just barely holding his own.

“Looks like it's time to do that hero thing. I'll radio in as soon as this guy gets some relief.”

And with that, he sped off, pushing all his speed into arriving. Should take him about 60 seconds more...

Meanwhile, Gabriel was having what he would later classify as a “bloody awful day, thank you kindly”. He'd started off with a routine patrol around Southside. It was yet another quiet night; he was starting to like them. Oh, they were boring, sure, but they also meant people weren't getting hurt one way or the other. He'd been on the east end of the area when he'd barely had time to dodge a bolt of fire searing past his head!

The hero in white turned to look, and saw three thugs. Wait, not thugs. Demons. Real, honest to goodness demons. But these demons weren't as sophisticated or smart-looking as the last one he'd faced. “Thugs” seemed like a good name for them; they were big, brawny, and stupid looking. There may be three, but Gabriel figured he could outsmart and outmaneuver them. Wasn't like he hadn't faced worse odds before.

“So long as I can avoid Stesha having to patch me up again, I think I'll be fine...”

He quickly dropped altitude, avoiding another couple of blasts, before he leveled out. Taking a moment to glance at their surroundings, he fired off a pulse of sonic energy that exploded in the midst of the demons. Instead of physically harming them, it merely assaulted their ears, giving Gabriel precious moments to continue planning. He couldn't afford to get close, which limited his options a bit. Still, he was far from helpless.

“Demons? In my city, in my Southside? I don't think so! Begone, servants of Hell!”

First, he barraged their minds with several bursts of sound. The two smaller beasts seemed to become confused, befuddled, and generally lose sense of what was going on for several critical seconds. The larger demon, on the other hand, just shook its head and sneered.

“Puny mortal. Calling upon powers that likely don't even hear you! We are far beyond what you could ever-”

A bolt of hyper-concentrated sound waves in his face shut him up. Gabriel hovered there, grinning...until the large demon slowly turned his face around to glare at Gabriel.

“Big mistake, mortal.”

By this time, the other two had shaken off their confusion, and were also glaring at Gabriel. The large one made a gesture, and the Twins took to firing alternating blasts of fire at the hero in white. Meanwhile, the Big Guy started working on some sort of ritual. After only a minute, it revealed itself to be a summoning spell. Specifically, one to bring forth a dozen Imps, which quickly took flight after Gabriel.

“Oh bother. Bloody pests!”

And so, we come to the present, where Gabriel has been fighting a running battle with the assorted demons, dodging fire blasts form the Big Guy and the Twins, while the imps kept darting in to try giving him the “death of a thousand cuts”. So far, he'd only taken a few minor scratches, but every time he blasted one of the little demons away, he had to slow down and redirect some of his power. It meant that the larger, slower demons were nearly keeping pace.

Just as three of the imps were flying right at his face, mouths open and claws extended, ethereal blue fire washed over their bodies. The foul creatures, not used to fire harming them, writhed and cried out as they were burned to ashes. Gabriel wasted no time, turning and firing a full-strength blast point-blank at a nearby imp, the creature hitting some nearby rocks and sizzling out of existence. More fire poured in, quickly reducing the number of imps to merely four. At this point, Gabriel turned to face the source of the flame.

“I go by Cobalt Templar. Come on, we've already figured out that napalm sticks to little demons, let's wrap the small fry up pronto.”

“Call me Gabriel. Thank you for the help.”

With that, CT formed what looked like a steam-punk inspired crossbow, before he started to send bolts of blue fire downrange. Gabriel, meanwhile, kept plugging away with blasts of sonic energy. As they did so, each took stock of the other. Gabriel noted the sheer physical size of his impromptu fighting partner, as well as the slightly otherworldly-looking armor that he wore; the transparent red cape was certainly something unique. Meanwhile, CT took in the bright white that the sound-wielder was clad in; the mask-hood combination did a good job at disguising his features, and the designs on the coat were a nice touch. Their moments of observation over, it was back to the fight.

It wasn't long before the last imp was battered away, sent back to Hell where it belonged. Only the Twins and the Big Guy remained. Both groups cautiously eyed each other for several long moments...before suddenly Gabriel sent a pulse of energy at the Big Guy that, by the grace of the Almighty it seemed, left him retching black bile as the Twins launched themselves at their foes. Gabriel merely played “keep away” as he hammered the demon with blow after blow. Cobalt Templar, on the other hand, took a more direct approach. With a wordless battle cry, a glowing warhammer manifested from the blue flames he weilded so easily, and he began to trade blows with the beast. For a moment, they seemed evenly matched, only one or two blows from either landing in a telling manner.

Suddenly, Cobalt Templar reared back and slammed his weapon into the ribcage of the demon he was fighting. The creature coughed and staggered back, trying to regain its breath. CT, wanting to end things, dismissed the hammer and instead manifested an over-sized shotgun. A single blast was enough to banish the creature from Earth.

Meanwhile, Gabriel was having trouble with his opponent. The demon was fast, and surprisingly canny as a fighter. It closed the distance between them, rearing back to likely try ripping his head off...and froze in place, Gabriel's hand on its chest still humming with the paralyzing sonic waves he'd pumped into its body. Without even a word, he raised both hands, pointed right at the demon's head, and fired. Thus, he too vanquished his opponent. Flying over to Cobalt Templar, he glanced around.

“Where did the other one go?”

“I don't kn--Get down!”

The armored youth dove and just barely managed to push the two of them out of the way of the large blast of hellfire the final demon had been cooking up. They looked at the Big Guy, standing on a ridge above them, a cruel smile on “his” face. A brief glance at each other, a nod, and they took off. Gabriel flew high into the air, slamming blast after blast into the creature. Only some of them seemed to truly affect it. Clearly, it was tougher than its brethren. Meanwhile, Cobalt Templar manifested what looked like a large anti-material sniper rifle. He carefully looked down the “scope”, slowly drawing a bead on the creature, devoting all his effort to hitting it, and hitting it hard. For two minutes, he stood there while Gabriel engaged in a deadly dance with the creature from mankind's nightmares.

Finally, opportunity arose. Gabriel reared back and let forth a particularly powerful blast that left the creature dazed, unable to focus on its surroundings. In that moment, Cobalt Templar struck; his construct rifle sent out a powerful, concentrated burst of energy that lanced through what passed for the demon's heart. As its body faded to foul ash, it cursed the heroes, before pointing at Gabriel.

“My mistress knows your scent, mortal! She will find you one day, and you will break before her will! You cannot escape her!”

Then, it was silent as the creature's ashes scattered in the wind. For almost a minute, both heroes just stayed where they were, catching their breath and taking it all in. Finally, Gabriel floated down to Cobalt Templar's position, extending his hand with a smile.

“Thanks for your help. It was tough, but we managed to take care of them. I shudder to think how I would have fared alone.”

“No problem. I think my help worked mostly because of surprise. That, and my ring seemed oddly effective.”

“You weren't expecting it to work so well on demons?”

“Not specifically, no. Then again, I don't know a whole lot about this thing yet, so it's hard to say what it can and can't do, exactly. I mean, don't get me wrong, I have quite solid control of it. But I still don't know what, if any, upper limits it has, what potential vulnerabilities it carries, or even the full nature of what energies it wields. I'm still getting used to the whole hero thing anyways, but all that makes it feel like a double load, you know?”

“I can somewhat understand. I may have a pretty good idea on how my powers work, but there are plenty of times I surprise myself. I'm always discovering new tricks here and there. I think that, ultimately, it's just as important to tell your ability what you want it to do, as it is to ask it what it can do.”

“I get that, it's just...It's frustrating, because I have record of where I found it, and I have this feeling if I can figure out the “key” word, I can figure some of this stuff out. Stuff that might make the difference between life and death one day. I want to figure it out before I make a mistake.”

“If there's one thing I've learned, it's that even heroes make mistakes. Our job is to minimize them, and put as much of the risk as possible on ourselves, rather than the civlians. We stand in the gap. Hold onto that, and I think you'll do great. As for figuring out the key. Might I suggest taking a week and explicitly not addressing the issue? Then, after that week is up, try to approach it with some fresh insight. Try new angles. And never be afraid to ask for help.”

“That makes sense, I guess. Yeah. I'll do that. And, if you ever need help with demons or something, just...uh, I guess just contact Next-Gen or Young Freedom. They'll know how to get in contact with me.”

“I'll keep that in mind, Cobalt Templar. Now, have a good evening. God bless, and stay safe.”

“Um, thanks. You have a good one too, Gabriel. Hope the rest of your evening goes nice and quietly.”

With that, the two heroes parted ways, returning to their respective patrols. CT, of course, had to endure making his report to Changeling, and enduring her well-meaning barrage of questions. Still, he couldn't help but smile. It was nice to have someone give him outside perspective and advice like that. Made things look a little more clearly.

Gabriel, meanwhile, simply reflected on how nice it was to see that there would always be heroes willing to take up the call, no matter the age of those before, and even after, them.