The Closing of the Year [IC]

[trollthumper]

The blast of force reeled towards the sorcerer, and then seemed to pulse off of him, absorbed into some invisible gulf. "Try," he said. "Try and do it. A hunger fills me, drawing to my bones. Warmth, pain, desire -- these are things I may have felt once. Now they feed the beast, a prelude to his art of destruction."

The hound bore down on Push as its master spoke, trying to gnaw at his arm but failing to get through the heavy shielding.

[Dr Archeville]

I'm really glad... that worked...

Dead Head had held on to the necrotic energies he had torn from the Nazi-Ghoul, not knowing how long it would take Freedom City's finest to come lock the cultist up. It was just a temporary solution, he knew he would have to release it soon -- he could feel it struggling, trying to fly back to the former host -- it was just a question of when.

Soon, I hope. This stuff jes' feel all wrong!

He had intended to volunteer to test the door when Cannonade barged ahead; he could tell the young man had a score to settle, that it was almost personal for him, but now was not the time to delve into the young powerhouse's brain. Speaking of power, it appeared Push was still learning to control his.

"Push, man, yer never gonna get work on an AEGIS black ops team with that kind'a subtlety!"

Great. More demon-dogs.

And then most of them were gone.

"Push, take a lesson from this guy!"

Right, I'm feelin' hollower'n usual, pullin' that guy's mojo did a number on me. Best I can do it interception, draw the bad guy's attacks away an' give th'others room t'attack!

[Raveled]

Ironclad watched Cannonade assault the pack, almost clearing the warehouse out. "Nice job," she told him, floating up slightly so that she could get a clear line of fire at the person directing the ritual itself. As she aimed carefully, she flashed back to her last encounter with a sorcerer near the Waterfront. She hoped that there weren't umpteen invisible bodyguards around this one, waiting to intercept her attacks.

[trollthumper]

The sorcerer reeled under Ironclad's blast, trying to keep his footing. "You don't understand," he said. "Every blow feeds him. Every strike draws him. Every --"

"Every word out of your mouth is pissing me off," Cannonade said, bringing his fists down on the sorcerer's head. The fists bounced off, however, seemingly deflected by a barrier of invisible ice. "Damnit, does everyone get rock hard after getting involved in the woogy?"

[Quinn]

"Just do what I do, Cannonade! Hit 'em harder back!"

And on that note, Push swung his hammer behind his back and up, bringing the head down to smash the hound into the same pool of shadow. He leaned on the hammer haft for a moment, looking at Dead Head, then back at the villain...

"Try and do it. A hunger fills me, drawing to my bones. Warmth, pain, desire -- these are things I may have felt once. Now they feed the beast, a prelude to his art of destruction."

"But I'm bettin' that if'n this lil' dark seed were taken outta ya," he said, the balefire in his eyes flaring, "well, ya jes' may start singin' a diff'rent tune."

Yank the seed out...yank the seed out! This guy's got the same power-up the neo-Nazi did, but up to eleven! Dead Head's too exhausted though...damnit! But...what if someone else held the energy?

Push kept his eyes on the sorcerer, the pain from his fried nerves slowly receding to a dull throb, and he spoke out of the corner of his mouth to the Revoltin' Revenant.

"Oi, DH...any chance...any chance you can repeat that trick from earlier...but shove that nasty mojo into someone else?"

[Raveled]

While the other heroes coordinated a major strike, Ironclad rushed into the warehouse. She drew a bead on the stunned sorcerer, intending to take him out before he could summon any more minions. Her targeting system locked on easily and she charged up a powerful blast, but at the last moment her sensors caught the final shadow-hound circling around her. She broke off the attack and moved up to hover near the ceiling. She didn't want to risk tangling with one of the beast's in close combat.

[trollthumper]

"Their protection is on me!" yelled the sorcerer. "Your arms, your arts, your blows, are all nothing! The giants shall walk, and the gods shall rise again, purified in the fires of cataclysm!"

"Yeah, and what makes you think you're getting out of the barbecue alive?" Cannonade said. He pulled back to Push. "His shell's a bit hard to crack. But I bet if we apply a blow at the same time, it's got a better chance of cracking it than if we all line up and take turns."

[Dr Archeville]

"I'll try..." Dead Head moaned.

The zombie glared at the Sorcerer, focusing on the weird necromantic power within himself, and within their foe. As with the cultist from earlier, the revenant reached out, his own power seeking out the more varied wellspring before it. An aura of green balefire appeared around Dead Head's whole body, and a similar aura of sickly purple sprang up around the head cultist, then began to flicker and flow into the heroic zombie.

Hooo-wee, an' I thought the lil' feller's mojo was somethin!

"Cain't... hold... it..." he gasped, his voice strained from exertion and muffled by the streams of black ichor flowing down his nose and up his throat.

Mutt continued to fly around overhead.

[trollthumper]

The darkness lifted around the necromancer, as something of the mad fire died in his eyes. "No," he whispered. "NO!" He held the combat knife outward and charged swinging at Push, but could not find purchase. "I will not fail them! Not after so long! Fenrisulf must howl! The damned must make war! The giants must make ruin of the earth!"

"Yeah, and the Yankees must win the Series," Cannonade said. "Push! You ready?"

[Quinn]

A wolvish smile crossed Push's features, and the familiar warps surrounded his body and fists. He hefted the hammer once again, which positively glowed from the power being pushed into it.

"Hell yeah, let's give this bum a Freedom City sendoff! CHARGE!"

And the two barreled forward, hammer and fist descending with mighty force...

[trollthumper]

The two blows met the sorcerer head on, and sent him flying across the room. He struggled from his prone position, and raised his head to pronounce a curse.

"Garg... argggll..."

All that would come out, however, was slurred epithets and invocations cut off by blood and spittle.

[Raveled]

Ironclad hovered in the air and watched as the combined attack from the other three heroes strip the sorcerer's defenses and blow him away. He was still making vague noises though, so she lined up another attack and hammered them in, one from each wrist blaster. It was probably overkill, but she didn't want to give him any chance to escalate.

The heroine did a victory lap around the roof of the warehouse, and only stopped when she noticed the bad shape Dead Head was in. She came to a stop in front of the hero and grabbed his bony shoulders, holding him upright. "Whoa, man! We need to get you to a hospital or something."

[trollthumper]

The blast took the stunned sorcerer right in the chest. He raised his arms futilely, but to no avail, as he was knocked to the ground. As he collapsed, the atmosphere in the warehouse changed. The darkness lifted, and with it, the chill; they could now feel the heat flickering off of the bonfire, and the strange vibe of something horrific lurking was now gone.

While Ironclad went to check on Dead Head, Cannonade checked the sorcerer's pulse. "He's still breathing," he said, giving the downed warlock a prod in the ribs with his boot -- partially to see if he woke, and partially because it felt good to give a good steel-toed prod to a Nazi. "Guess we'd better call one for him, too. Though... don't know if an ambulance is what Mutt's owner needs." God, I never did get his name, did I? "I ran into this necromancer a few months back, he could probably patch 'im up."

[Quinn]

Push looked at the hole in the warehouse and winced, then turned and raised an eyebrow at Cannonade. He opened his mouth to speak...then thought better of it. The kineticist stretched his arms and shoulders, feeling the fatigue from earlier finally wear off. Granted, he still felt completely fried, but at least he could walk without using his hammer as a crutch. Finally, he actually spoke.

"And a hospital'd have a lot of reeeeally funny questions about this guy, trust me. Run with him a couple of times before though, give him time and he'll patch himself back up. Got no idea how it works, but I've seen him bounce back from way worse."

He walked to the door, poking his head out, while tapping his commlink and sending an anonymous message to the police that the ringleader of the park Nazis and attack at the mall was in custody awaiting arrest. Finally, he turned back and clapped his hands together, grinning a mile wide.

"Alright! Bad guy's down, heroes stand tall! So, who's up for hitting this one diner I know downtown once DH gets back up, grab some burgers and celebrate?"

[Raveled]

Ironclad didn't think much of Push's assessment, but she had to acknowledge that she didn't know much about matters arcane or mystical. She helped the strained and exhausted hero to take a seat outside the warehouse, then unfolded her helmet with a curt gesture. Jessica Parker's blonde hair was matted to her head, and her face was flushed. Her suit was climate-controlled, but that didn't mean she didn't sweat in the middle of combat. She scratched at a fearsome itch that had been building on her crown, then turned to the hammer-wielding mutant. "I'm up for food," she announced, "but one two conditions. First, he gets the first order," she began, pointing at the reclining Dead Head, "and second, that I pay."

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head began to stir, and moan. "grrraaaaaiiiiinnnnnsss.... grrrrraaaaaiiiiinnnnnsssss...."

He sat bolt upright, eyes wide, "ya should go ta someplace with whole-grain bread, not the plain white stuff!"

He ungracefully got to his feet, and took in the scene; Mutt flew down to his side. "Man, I'm glad that worked! Y'all would've been up a creek without a paddle if'n it didn't!" His words were slightly garbled by the spirit-dog furiously licking his face.

"Any mystic stuff in there what needs confiscatin'? I know a gal who can take care'a it."

[trollthumper]

Cannonade looked at the shadow stuff still on the floor of the warehouse from where the hounds had explored; the ash tree covered in runic markings in the middle of the bonfire; and the sorcerer's combat knife, which seemed to have something strange coating the blade. "I don't even know where to start," he said. "I guess... anything that looks like the Vikings put graffiti on it." He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. "Give me a second."

He went over into one of the darker corners of the warehouse, far away from the others, and gave Andy a call. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Andy said. "I got the computer. You can pay me back later. What were those things?"

"I'm... not really sure myself," he said. "But I think I stopped the end of the world."

"What?"

"Either that, or just some psycho with an army of magic boneheads and more of those dogs. So it was a win either way."

"Yeah, I bet. Look, the mall's all closed up and Mom and Dad are gonna freak if I'm not home soon. See you at dinner tomorrow?"

"You bet." He hung up, and went back to join the other heroes.

[Quinn]

Push opened his mouth to argue with Ironclad vis-a-vis paying for the burgers, then his hand brushed his wallet pocket. And he remembered the distinct lack of weight to the thing. That is to say, emptiness.

"Meh, sure, why not. Of course you realize that means I'm going to order the largest burger on the menu, right?"

He pulled his scarf down, flashing a cheery grin, and offered a high-five to Dead Head as he went by to help Cannonade.

"Damn, when they built you they really broke the mold, didn't they? Can't keep a good revenant down."