Witch Hunt [IC]

[trollthumper]

The lightning arched down into the parking lot and the broken motel. It ran through Vigourie like fire, sending him flopping up and down on the blacktop. Leraje, on the other hand, managed to dodge the deadly bolt with inhuman grace.

"I never shall," the demon marquis said. "I will not relent until your bones are broken and your skin is pestilence incarnate. I wlll not rest until His creation is bent and warped. After all He has done to us, it is only fair that we strike in turn. INFERUS VULT!" He drew an arrow and notched it. "Anointed one," he proclaimed, "I owe you deeply for what you have done to me." The arrow let loose, but missed Gabriel by a few inches. "And I promise you... I pay all my debts."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel went stiff as Vigourie cried out that unholy name. His face went blank, before such a visage of fury crossed it that it made his previous anger looks small in comparison.

When the Fallen Angel spoke its twisted words and fired its arrow, the layman in white slowly turned to face the beast, leaning his body slightly to one side to let the arrow pass. The energy around his fists returned, crackling with new intensity.

Then, he spoke as if with the tongues of men and angels, but his words were not words of love. Not for this being.

"Depart, transgressor! Depart, seducer, full of lies and cunning! Foe of virtue, persecutor of the innocent! Give place, abominable creature, give way, you monster, give way to Christ, in whom you found none of your works! For He has already stripped you of your powers and laid waste your kingdom! Bound you prisoner and plundered your weapons! He has cast you forth into the outer darkness, where everlasting ruin awaits you and your abettors! To what purpose do you insolently resist? To what purpose do you brazenly refuse? For you are guilty before almighty God, whose laws you have transgressed! You are guilty before His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you presumed to tempt, whom you dared to nail to the cross! You are guilty before the whole human race, to whom you prof erred by your enticements the poisoned cup of death!"

Raw sonic power lashed out, striking the beast head on, once more seeking to turn its armored hide into something softer than the weakest of cloth.

"Therefore, I adjure you, profligate dragon, in the name of the spotless Lamb, who has trodden down the asp and the basilisk, and overcome the lion and the dragon, to depart from this city! To depart from the Church of God ! Tremble and flee, as we call on the name of the Lord, before whom the denizens of hell cower, to whom the heavenly Virtues and Powers and Dominations are subject, whom the Cherubim and Seraphim praise with unending cries as they sing: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth! The Word made flesh commands you; the Virgin's Son commands you; Jesus of Nazareth commands you, who once, when you despised His disciples, forced you to flee in shameful defeat from a man! And when He had cast you out you did not even dare, except by His leave, to enter into a herd of swine! And now as I adjure you in His name, begone from this place! It is futile to resist His will! It is hard for you to kick against the goad! The longer you delay, the heavier your punishment shall be! For it is not men you are condemning, but rather Him who rules the living and the dead, who is coming to judge both the living and the dead and the world by fire!"

With those roaring words, yet another bolt of sound lanced against the unholy flesh of Gabriel's enemy. He then called out to his fellow heroes.

"Strike now! Strike now! Strike it, while the iron is hot! Cast this beast from our presence and memory!"

[trollthumper]

"On it," Nick said. He closed the distance with Leraje, raking at the demon's flesh with his claws... but was unable to find purchase as the nimble huntsman dove out of the way.

"Does the nigromancer tarry?" Leraje hissed. "I know what pride drives the anointed one, but why do you fight? You have touched darkness, and dabble in unclean arts."

"Unclean?" The air darkened around Nick. "Unclean? That's rich, coming from someone soaked through with rot and brimstone. You know what I do? I give rest to the restless. I fight for the living. I've visited realms soaked in ice, shadow, desolation, and death. I have dabbled in things I shouldn't. But you know what? I would gladly bathe in Lethe, jump into Ammut's maw, and take a wiz in Baron Kriminel's Cheerios before I ever threw in with your diseased, incestuous lot."

"You dare--?"

"Oh, yes. I do. So in the name of Azrael, he of the infinite eyes, he who records the names of the dead and the living, he whose visage counts to the end of all things, I bid thee --" Nick drove his claws right into Leraje's chest. "Begone, you blight upon the earth!"

The claws raked through the demon's half-corporeal flesh like a chainsaw through papier mache. With a pitiful shriek, it collapsed into a pile of rotted flesh, the smell of brimstone and gangrene becoming overwhelming. Nick looked to Vigourie.

"You got any other tricks up your sleeve, you pathetic old fraud?"

[Quinn]

Quinn watched from the sidelines as the demon's ruin was smote upon the tarmac, smiling with grim satisfaction as he looked down at Vigourie trussed up and smoking like Christmas turkey. He could even smell a vague scent of bacon in the air after the lightning bolt passed through Viggy to reach the fell beast. Looking at Nick, he tapped his temple in a silent salute before looking down at Vigourie. Push placed one fist in his palm, cracking his knuckles ominously...then he smiled.

"Fraud, Eric? Now that's just unfair. That's an insult to frauds all over the world. How about cringing, cowardly, pompous, prideful, oily, snake-in-the-grass, charlatan, demon-summoning, epic failing scum?"

He laughed, tilting his head while giving an insolent look at the supine villain, and held up the same warp-covered fist that had crushed the man's jaw and sent him flying earlier.

"How's your teeth?"

Chuckling, he turned and gave a look at both Nick and Equinox, then pointed to the paralyzed Arcturus who still had his strange poker face plastered on his features.

"Kid jumped me from behind after I put Viggy here through the ceiling. Something wasn't right about it, so I locked him down and kept him undercover while you gave this SOB a world-class hotfoot. (He prodded the nigh-on unconscious sorcerer rather ungently with his foot, almost absently) Don't know what happened to him, though...think either of you could take a look upstairs?"

Push tapped the side of his head, his words tempered with a tone of actual...concern. He seemed genuinely worried about Marcus, looking down now and then at the shapeshifter as he spoke.

[trollthumper]

"My teeth are fine," Vigourie said with detached disinterest. "And you've not bested me yet."

"Yeah, right." Durand was out of the car, gun trained on Vigourie. "Stand down now. Or I won't hesitate to put one in your head for everything you've done to this town."

"What would that be, Sheriff?" he asked. "Is there anything you can prove in a court of law? Traffic with extradimensional entities?"

"You pointed that... thing like a gun," Durand said. "They got laws like that for dogs, then they got laws like that for demons."

"Yes... funny thing about that," Vigourie said. "Much of my power was bound up in that contract. But Leraje proved... insufficient. And now that he is released..."

A wave of psychic force tore across the parking lot, striking the assembled heroes. As it tore at their minds, Vigourie stood up, freed from his bonds.

"...well... let's say new avenues have opened up."

[GranspearZX]

Marcus stood there, well aware of everything that was happening around him. No one noticed, but he was actively fighting the mind control while everything around him seemed to happen in slow motion. He could hear Nick and the Sheriff, and even Gabriel--though Gabriel was really hard to miss. He wondered how Stone had managed to stop him from moving and haul him out of the building without actually touching him, but that was a question for much, much later. It was difficult to make anything out with the Beast Rune buzzing at the back of his mind, and it was getting more restless by the second

Marcus might've been panicking, but his magic refused to let him give in. The wave of psychic energy made Marcus recoil a bit as the Beast Rune surged back... and suddenly, he was himself again.

There was still something not quite right about the young wizard, though. His jacket slipped from his shoulders, exposing the gaping burn hole the Beast Rune had seared through his shirt. He glared at Vigourie and, without even having to think about it as he normally did, magic engulfed his entire form, spilling outward from the rune on his back in a significantly more chaotic fashion than it had in the woods hours earlier. His eyes glowed with a menacing crimson hue as the bear Arcturus showed up, his quarterstaff growing just enough in size that he could still use it without it looking like a twig.

There wasn't any banter or reply, no declaration of vengeance, or any sort of warning as Arc catapulted forward, faster than any bear should probably move. He quickly closed the distance between them, staff gripped in both paws as he tried to crack Vigourie right over the skull with the weapon. It probably wouldn't kill him... but the enraged look in his eyes suggested that the Beast Rune might not mind.

[Quinn]

A wave of psychic energy blasted into Quinn's mind, sending him reeling backwards as he dropped his hammer and clutched at his skull. Tendrils of force lashed at his mind, seeking to overwhelm his senses. He snarled, screwing his eyes shut...then he called up the nightmares.

A flooded basement in New Orleans, fighting a demon akin to a snake, being dragged underwater...

An attic shrine in Ohio, the very shadows reaching from the walls to fight him...

Sewers underneath Miami, where bloated ghouls leapt from every corner...

Memory after memory hammered through his head, drowning out Vigourie's attempts to scramble his brain. Push's eyes flashed open, warps behind his irises.

"No more! No more bodies! No more desecration! NO MORE!"

And, roaring those words, Push broke into an all-out charge. He left his hammer where it lay, forcing more and more kinetic energy that he'd stolen from Arcturus into his right hand. It clenched into a fist as he flowed under Arcturus's blow, which bounced off Vigourie to no effect. His vision focused on one thing. The traitor's smug face. His smug mouth, smirking at the heroes who fought against his infernal magic. His smug eyes, widening...as he noticed Push coming in exactly the same as he had before. And his smug jaw. Which was crushed under a blow nearly double the strength of the first. Push could hear the bones crack underneath the punch, Vigourie's feet and body leaving the ground as he flew straight upwards from the uppercut.

"NO! MORE!"

[trollthumper]

The blast rocketed Vigourie upwards, knocking out teeth as the warlock ended up almost floating in mid-air. Gravity kicked in as he fell back to earth, landing with a thud on the pavement.

"It is merely desecration," he said through blood and a broken smile, "because you put such meaning in it. It is the will that gives man power, not gods small or large. The Shining Stars shall --"

"Shut up." Durand had her gun trained on Vigourie, and fury danced behind her eyes. "Now."

He smiled. "Ah, Sheriff Durand," he said. "I see you've come to play..."

[Ecalsneerg]

"And I see that thou art a fool," snarled Equinox, casually throwing off the mental blast, her mind solid against the attack. "For if you seek to teach us that will gives us power... what loathsome wretch would seek to have us bend that will to breaking him?" She let herself hover up off the ground slightly, drawing energy from all around her into her wand.

"For it matters not how valid thy argument is. For what it boils down to is you killing, lying and ultimately... being broken, beaten in a parking lot, spouting words trying desperately to postpone thy doom. It didn't work. You refused to come quietly. And thus... PYROFUEGO!"

Fire blossomed not just from her wand, but from every pore of her body, Equinox briefly resembling a miniature sun as she expelled all the fiery power she could. Ozone burned, smoke spiraled out every direction and the air shimmered from the sheer heat.

[trollthumper]

Vigourie spun out of the way as the fire turned a small section of the parking lot into a tar pit. "And I see you dare not look at the greater cause, woman," he spat back at Equinox. "Those pretty names you invoke are nothing more than gaolers and bondsmen! Man has such potential, if he would break with the gods -- "

A gunshot rang out, as a bullet missed Vigourie's left ear by an inch. "Would you just be quiet?" Durand yelled.

Vigourie smiled. "See?" he said. "See what can be unlocked in the human heart with just a nudge. No need for gods or demons. Just will."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel grit his teeth as Vigourie suddenly loosed himself from his bonds. Then, his mind was assaulted by the mad warlock's power. His faith, his righteous anger, and his sheer Irish stubbornness all worked together to help him keep a clear head.

So it was that the same energies that had stripped Leraje of his infernal defenses now lashed out at Vigourie's less powerful defenses.

"I say thee nay! No more shall you harm this day!"

He floated a bit higher into the air, his voice rising to a new crescendo as he lashed Vigourie with his words, seeking to shake his resolve.

"You are corrupt! Evil, through and through! You speak of human will, as if you were some blessed saviour for mankind! But you MURDER CHILDREN! You accuse the innocent! You confound the well-meaning! You pervert all that is good and right in this world! You traffic with demons and unholy powers!"

He flung his arms wide, and there was a sound like a mighty trumpet.

"NO MORE! This day, you face justice! This day, your sins are punished! This day, your feeble powers face the might of Heaven itself! Repent now, or face the Wrath of God! The Trumpet That Signals The End!"

[trollthumper]

Vigourie blanched before Gabriel's onslaught, but kept his ground. "I will not deny what I've done," he said, "but what I do I do in the name of freedom -- "

"Please," Nick said. Ghostly hands reached out of the parking lot, latching around Vigourie as he squirmed across the pavement and rooting him in place. "You're a fanatic, plain and simple. You're not chained t a god, but to an idea. And for all your talk about freedom, you've got so many walls up around you it's a wonder you can see. You're a jailer. Plain and simple."

"So you say," Vigourie said. He stared at Gabriel, and a riot of screams and laughter erupted in the man's head. "But one must climb the ranks before they can open the gates. Liberation shall come, and when it does, we shall be thanked."

[GranspearZX]

Arc missed his first attack, but he didn't slow down. One might've actually thought his brain was on complete autopilot, but he retained enough awareness of his surroundings to know that there were others around him; thankfully, he was well in the clear as Equinox's fire spell lanced across the parking lot. If anything, though, Marcus felt like he was trying to rein in a wild animal--if the Beast Rune had its way, it would leave Vigourie a stain on the pavement. Certainly not for lack of trying of course.

"Liberation? You smug son of a... I'm gonna liberate your HEAD from your SHOULDERS." Arcturus lunged right back at Vigourie with an athletic, menacing leap, snarling as he drew his arm back. He eschewed the staff entirely, aiming a particularly unforgiving backpawed strike at the psychic's face.

[Quinn]

He was on the ground after Arcturus's savage blow, still conscious, still cursing. Push stepped up above him, a cold look on his face, and he held his hammer in one hand. It would be so easy now. Simply crush his skull into pulp. He looked down at Vigourie. A half-broken man, still spitting defiance. Let his power off the chain. Push unleashed. Use those kinetics to blast him into his own grave. He had the ability. Vigourie was lying there, helpless. He could see Scratch's face superimposed over his. The same smug expression. The same foul powers. A murderer. A liar. Trafficking in powers that could only corrupt and destroy. Push stared at him.

"Vigourie. You speak long and loud about breaking with the gods. About opening the gates. About liberation. You're a sorcerer, Vigourie. You traffick with powers that corrupt and destroy. I don't worship. I don't cast spells. My powers came from an accident. One wrought by science. I couldn't give a damn about gods, demons, whatever. But you're a killer, Vigourie. You slit that boy's wrists, and left him to die. I could end you right here, right now. No liberation. No magic. Just you, and whatever powers you've cut deals with. And I must admit...it's a tempting prospect."

He lifted the hammer overhead, sheer power slamming into his hammer, ready to bring it crashing down on the man's head. Push ignored the others, staring at Vigourie lying beneath him. So easy...but he shook his head, letting the hammer drop behind him. And he kneeled down beside the sorcerer.

"But that's not how I work. I don't let powers beyond my ken dictate what I do, or how I act. Every day I live with that choice. So yeah, maybe you're right about will and the gods. But you want to know one thing, Vigourie?"

Push slapped a hand on the sorcerer's chest, and an aura of sheer energy erupted around the two of them, forcing the others back. A vortex of power swirled around them, focused on Push's palm and Vigourie's body. Warps of all shapes and sizes appeared, static bolts cracking and popping the air.

"At the end of the day, you've still killed an innocent child. And I'm still a hero. And gods and magic be damned, I'm bringing this fight back down to earth!"

The energy lit up, blinding in intensity...then it dimmed...and then it receded, abruptly being sucked into that one point where Push's hand met Vigourie's body. Dust was kicked up, a cloud obscuring the vision. As it died down, it revealed two prone figures, side by side.

[trollthumper]

"You have the foundation," Vigourie said. "But you're still bound. There will come a time, when you see, and --" Vigourie's diatribe cut off right there as Push's hand withdrew; he didn't say a word, but the expression on his face said he had certainly been caught off guard, and that he was no longer entirely sure of his position.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Oh, to hell with you," sighed Equinox, strolling over to where Vigourie was pinned. "I'm tired of us wasting magic and words on you." In an instant, she pivoted on her heels, and swing a fist down towards the madman before her, with the practiced precision of having a father in the military showing you how to punch straight.

The blow hit Vigourie in the side of the heat with a might THUMP. "That? I could do all day.

[trollthumper]

The blow took Vigourie right across the face, causing him to reel. "You," he slurred, "you don't even know -- "

"Oh, for God's sake. Save it for the trial." Durand flipped her gun, gripping it by the barrel and bringing the stock down on Vigourie's head. He convulsed once, then fell unconscious. "You're under arrest."

She turned to Equinox, the madness in her eyes receding. You're right," she said. "That did feel good."

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus didn't change back right away. It was unclear whether he could actually do so or not; he was still extremely agitated, and he loomed over Vigourie, standing behind Durand and Equinox. His expression was nothing short of hateful, and he seemed seconds away from ripping into the unconscious psychic right then and there. Still visible on his back in a patch of slightly lighter colored fur, the twin crescents of the Beast Rune shimmered, distorting the air around it like a mirage.

He was so angry, he could hardly contain it, but he didn't act on it. Instead, he turned away from them all, his magic still rather unstable looking as he reclaimed his regular form. He was still breathing pretty heavily, and the transformation hadn't quite left him normal... His nails were longer and thicker than they should've been, and his incisors and canines hadn't shrunk as much as they should have either. He sat down on the ground, rubbing at his temples with both thumbs...

...definitely should've stayed home...

[trollthumper]

Nick brought his eyes up from the downed sorcerer over to Marcus. At first, he was relieved to see the young hero appeared free from Vigourie's compulsion. Then he saw that Marcus still had some traits of his bear form, and looked rather disconcerted. He went over, and sat down next to the young bear shifter. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

[GranspearZX]

For what seemed like a long time, Marcus didn't say anything, pulling his jacket over the slowly fading rune marking his shoulder. He looked visibly shaken; trying to hold it in was stunting his magic and preventing him from transforming fully.

"...I guess this is what I get for running off without a plan, huh?" He looked back at the building, his eyes rather bloodshot from... dust. There was a lot of dust. He'd certainly never admit to anything else. "I could tell what I was doing, but... I couldn't stop. And I knew... I knew something was wrong, but I... dammit..." He paused again, rubbing at his eyes. The dust was unbearable.

"...I hope I didn't hurt Agent Stone too badly."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel crouches next to Marcus.

"None of us were perfect tonight. We all got bamboozled on some level. We all went off half-cocked at one point or another. We could have done things better. But. That's the past. We've beaten him, no more deaths have happened, and this scumbag's getting locked away for a long time. Stone's doing fine from what we all saw out here. And think about it like this, Marcus. He may have made you attack him...but you didn't turn into a bear. To me, that means you still had enough control to fight back, even if just a bit. Every bit counts. You've still got time to build up knowledge and experience. I've had bad days too, been taken out of the fight, or things like that. If you need to talk more, let me know. Anytime."

He then stayed there, silent, in case the teen wanted to speak more on the subject.

[trollthumper]

"You managed to hold on, Marcus," Nick said. "You managed to establish a foothold, even when under the sway of dark powers. You've got a bulwark in there. Just needs to be made an able defense." Nick looked out towards Stone's prone form. "Mind you, Agent Stone could use a little help..."

He crossed the parking lot to Stone, kneeled down, and put a hand to the man's chest. "Come on," he said, manipulating the vigors of life and death that flowed through Stone's body. "Time to get up."

[Quinn]

Push's eyes fluttered open, and he blinked. Pain. Lots of pain. Nerves were fried. And he had a splitting headache. That one was new. He looked up into Nick's face, and let out a weak chuckle.

"Well, now I know I'm not dead. No way you're an angel."

He sat up, letting out a breath with a whoosh, then eyed Vigourie's out-cold body and the now changed Arcturus. He nodded at him, saying nothing, but his look expressed his relief. Quinn pushed himself off the ground, wincing as he felt the ever-familiar sting of the kinetic overload.

"Yeah. Not just one hot choc for this one. Two. Three. I'll pay. Ow."

[GranspearZX]

He grunted; he knew they were trying to make him feel better... he wasn't so sure he deserved to feel like he'd actually accomplished something. It was the Beast Rune that kept him from losing himself completely. He supposed there was something to be said for that in the end... Despite his pacifism, it did feel good to slug Vigourie at least once. Damn mind controlling...

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty when Stone looked at him. He stood back up, shaking his head. He refused to feel sorry for himself. He was far too tired for that, and it didn't seem very heroic at all to sit there and mope about everything he'd done wrong. He actually managed a genuine, albeit weak, smile at Gabriel, a silent thank-you before joining Nick and Agent Stone.

"Um... I'm glad that little lovetap didn't hurt you too much. And... thanks." Marcus definitely wasn't used to being the one needing rescuing... He only hoped he'd never have to get used to the idea.

[trollthumper]

"Glad to see you're up and at it," Durand said to Stone. "We've just got one more problem to deal with. I intend to see Vigourie stand trial for what he's done, but... well, given what he did to me and the kid, I don't exactly think a county jail's gonna hold him. Any advice?"

"A glyph of warding might work," Nick said. "Then again, if he's powerful enough, he might just chip away at it over time. AEGIS might have something that'd cut off a person's access to the art..."