Brimstone & Whetstone [IC]

[Gizmo]

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for a passionate woman with fire in her eyes," Jack replied as he accepted the glass of water with a crooked grin. "I'm guessing you're just as beautiful in a better mood, but I'd have to make a more thorough examination to be sure." From his airy tone, he might as well have been discussing the weather, but his expression slid back into seriousness as Equinox elaborated on her antagonistic relationship with Keter. "I doubt he could take you, but I know he can't beat me." Oddly, the statement carried less of the exaggerated ego he projected in his more jovial mood, sounding like a dispassionate observation.

[Ecalsneerg]

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for a passionate woman with fire in her eyes," Jack replied as he accepted the glass of water with a crooked grin. "I'm guessing you're just as beautiful in a better mood, but I'd have to make a more thorough examination to be sure." From his airy tone, he might as well have been discussing the weather, but his expression slid back into seriousness as Equinox elaborated on her antagonistic relationship with Keter.

"Maybe later," winked Equinox, straightening up and centering her crystal ball on the stool. "But I'm working, and we've got things to do." Nonetheless, she couldn't conceal a small blush.

"I doubt he could take you, but I know he can't beat me." Oddly, the statement carried less of the exaggerated ego he projected in his more jovial mood, sounding like a dispassionate observation.

"Then we're going to have to count on that. Because if he knows we're coming," began the witch, beginning to swirl her wand around the crystal surface, white fog within whipping round and glowing like someone dumped fluroescents in a candy floss machine. "He's going to have more than hellhounds. There'll be full scale demon warriors, and you're going to have to take him out so I can focus on them."

[Gizmo]

"Pfft, demon warriors aren't so tough," Jack snorted, waving his free hand dismissively as he held the glass of water in the other. "I've only been killed by demon warriors like one time, tops. ...well I got better, obviously," he clarified after a brief pause, taking a nonchalant sip. Rubbing the light stubble on his chin with his thumb, he considered. "Hn. I don't know if this matters, but I was sort of... infected with hellfire for a while last year. Went through a big exorcism deal to get rid of it, but I definitely still recognized the taste of in on Blondie."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Sulphur and brimstone? Yeah, not the most pleasant of spells," murmured Equinox, dropping her wand as the crystal ball hit an apex of swirling glowiness. Her eyes began to flare an even brighter white, spotlighting the room enough for Jack to know it was happening in spite of it being behind her back.

"Ladies of the day and lords of the night,

A monster walks among us, hear our plight,

He runs and hides, but he will be found,

Whether he be in sky, sea or ground."

The chalk markings on the floor had began projecting a semi-translucent glow forth from them, encasing the witch in a wall of pure magic energy. When she finally emerged from the spell, she sank to the sofa beside Jack.

"He's," she said, struggling for breath and sweating profusely. "He's in the woods. But we're going to need to find a new means of transport, because another teleport and I'll be struggling to fight properly. You haven't got anything better than my car, have you?"

[Gizmo]

Jack was halfway out of his seat before Equinox managed to get herself to the couch, concern etched across the half of his face visible under his royal blue bandana mask. "Woah, easy. You going to make it?" he asked the practitioner quietly as she caught her breath. The fencer had only a limited understanding of what the divination had actually entailed, but he knew the look of someone pushing themselves to the limit of their endurance well enough. "Ah, not really. I pretty much just run everywhere," he admitted.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Oh, I can make it. I just won't be able to if I do anything too drastic," said Equinox, her breathing recovering a somewhat normal rhythm. "I've been doing a lot of heavy duty location and teleportation spells in the past hour." She pushed herself up from the sofa, and grabbed a set of keys from the arm of her sofa.

"But if you're used to running, we're not going to be able to get there quite so fast. Follow me." She managed a small smile. "We're going to the Noxmobile."

---

The car was pale blue, old, and so dented and battered looking exactly which model it was... wasn't forthcoming. The trunk was tied down in one place with string, and it was one of those makes where one had to climb in the front to get into the back seats. The back left hub cap was missing, and the back right rear window was just a cheap bit of thick plastic.

"It'll get us there," reassured Equinox. "I have great faith in this pile of rust."

[Gizmo]

"Hey, it's got, ah, character!" Jack observed encouragingly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand as he tilted his head slightly to observe the unusual automobile. Trusting it to get them where they needed to go seemed a little optimistic, but he was trusting Equinox to know where they were going in the first place anyway. "I've never even been able to afford a car, so I'm in no position to judge," he assured her stepping over the passenger side door.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Hey, if it isn't broken, why fix it?" asked Equinox, thumping the driver door hard at a certain point while she tried to pulled it open. After some struggling, it finally swung out wide. The witch climbed in, carefully pulling in her trenchcoat so it wouldn't get caught in the door.

"Now," she said, pulling shut the door. "Don't touch the radio, it's very temperamental, don't lean too far back, or the seat will fall to pieces, and please, please, please don't look at what's in the dashboard. It's not broken, just... slightly disgusting." She revved up the engine, a coughing, spluttering noise bursting forth as she drove off. "See? It works!"

[Gizmo]

Settling into the passenger seat with some trepidation, not entirely sure where to put his arms or hands in the ramshackle vehicle. "...yay?" he managed, giving Equinox a bemused smile that wasn't entirely convincing. Wrapping one hand around the other and resting his chin atop them, the fencer grew serious. "What can you tell me about this guy? I'm getting that he's a screw up who tried for a short cut to power, yeah?" He wanted to know as much about their opponent as he could learn on the trip there; once they tracked him down, Jack intended to end the fight quickly.

[Ecalsneerg]

"OK," sighed Equinox, fiddling with the gear stick. "But this can't get out, I'm not proud of it. As a kid, I was a... screw-up. I ran away from home, and fell in with a bad crowd of wannabe mystics and cultists. They weren't bad kids, except for Simon Kerr. For all his faults, he was this charismatic leader, who made everyone feel like they were powerful."

She sighed. "We believed him. But, really, he just wanted to use us for our powers. I... eventually figured out what was going on, and told him to stop, and left. I went to stop him afterwards, but I'd arrived too late. He'd called up a demon and lost control of it. He escaped while I tried to bind it, and at that point in my life I wasn't that powerful. It beat me, and nearly killed me. If it hadn't been for Adrian Eldrich, I'd have died."

"Simon's obviously lost a little of his sanity by now, but even so, he's still very talented in one thing: talking. To humans, he comes across as a loony, to demons, he's still a skilled bargainer. He'll have probably called up some awful things from the depths of Hell. He's got his hellfire abilities, as you've seen. And, since you likely angered him, he's not going to hold back."

She looked away from the road momentarily. "If you try to take him on again, I'll go after the demons. Even now, I don't think I'd be able to take him on in a straight fight."

[Gizmo]

A deeply ingrained part of Jack flashed with anger at the idea of the kids being taken advantage of, particularly Equinox. Having seen her in action, he objectively knew she could more than take care of herself, but his subconscious counselled finding the biggest club he could lay hands on and smashing the smug blond's head in. "Man, freaking demons, huh?" he said aloud with a commiserating exhalation.

Pausing for a moment, he regarded the woman sitting beside him, gauging her expression. "Hey, Noxie, c'mon. You're not exactly the only person to ever think somebody was cool as a kid and be embarrassed about it later. There are boy band posters in my family's attic that did not belong to mi hermanita, okay?" Wry as his tone was, there was a heavy undercurrent of reassurance. "People who just pick up power are never going to beat the people who work and trained for it. This jerk can get as angry as he likes; we're taking him down."

[Ecalsneerg]

The engine roared as Equinox forced the car out of the city limits, heading up a narrow road towards the forest on the city outskirts. "In the attic?" asked the witch, forcing a small smile. "I think I burned my Backstreet Boys posters long ago."

"But it's not quite the same thing." She took in a long, deep breath. "He's beat me once, and I know he can do it again. He's lead me astray before, and I'm just terrified of something happening again." A haunted look entered her eyes. "I only ever found three quarters of those other mixed up kids. I don't know if the others are even alive. I panicked, ran away, and by the time I came back, it was too late."

She pulled into a parking space and killed the engine. "He's basically my boogieman."

[Gizmo]

Jack was uncharacteristically silent for a moment once the car stopped, looking vaguely contemplative behind his bandana mask and a small frown. "Alright, look," he said finally, folding his arms over his chest, "first thing is to lose that 'know he can beat me' garbage. Honestly, a realistic concept of your own capabilities is way overrated." The fencer attempted a comical expression of exaggerated dismissal, but a more sober look of concern edged through the routine. "So you made some arguably lousy choices, got taken advantage of and some people paid for it. Okay. Use that. Guilt is a lot less helpful than cheesed off right now."

Opening the ramshackle door, he stepped outside and looked around, still talking. "Listen, if you want to just stay in the car, that's okay. Really. I figure everybody gets one thing they just shouldn't have to deal with. I can probably handle this myself." Even Jack's impressive bravado didn't sound completely convinced of that, but it was clear he was more than willing to find out if it was true. Turning back around, he leaned down to look back into the car. "But for what it's worth, I think you can do this."

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox rubbed at her eyes, looking down at the steering wheel. She sucked in a long, slow breath. Then extended a hand with a vague 'pushing' gesture, and said with some purpose, "Kinisi."

With a shriek of tortured metal, the door flew open, and Equinox stood up out of the car, mystic wards blazing white around her; and her wand in her hand, carved runes on it blazing with red-hot flames. "You're right," she said. "It's no use dwelling on the past. He's a threat now. And I'm not leaving you to go it alone."

She whirled and faced the woods. "He'll know we're here. Let's make sure he knows why." Her expression became one of incandescent fury, her wand raised to the sky.

"Simon! You've had enough chances to hand thyself in, but I grant thee one more chance... Stop. Just STOP! Or I will see that you rot in prison before the day is over." She looked down at the ground for a second, then raised her head high once more, casting her hair back over her shoulder. "We're coming for you now. Pyrokagius!"

A lance of flame shot up into the air, blazing brilliantly hot before extinguishing. Equinox, not even looking back, began striding forwards into the forest.

[Gizmo]

Reaching up into the air to borrow enough of the column of flame to form a rapier of hungrily licking in his hand, Jack bounded after Equinox with a grin broad enough that it seemed to dominate his masked face. The light of the flickering blade reflected off of his teeth and cast shadows behind him that flowed as his greatcoat flapped behind him. "Now that's what I've been talking about!" he practically cheered, his smile remaining wide but taking on a humourless, predatory quality even as his body language became reflexively smoother.

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox strode off into the forest, the smell and stench of black magic, hellfire and brimstone suffusing the air around them with black smog, their noses with an acrid smoking smell and the two heroes' magical senses with an unspeakable sense of wrong.

Crows and pigeons lay dead on the ground, their corpses already beginning to fester and rupture. Somewhere quite close came a scream, human enough to curdle the blood, but just inhuman enough to convey that all was not well here.

Lighting a cigarette and walking on in defiance of it all, Equinox began speaking quickly and in a low tone of voice. "We get in there, hit him hard and hit him fast. I offered him a chance because it's the right thing to do, but I don't for a second expect him to come quietly." She without warning turned to look Jack straight in the eyes. "You hit him, I'll deal with anything else out there. Got that?"

But before Jack could answer, he saw a tree just explode behind Equinox and a huge red figure, wreathed in acidic goo and with eyes as black and terrifying as the maw of a crocodile. The demon barreled towards them at inhuman speeds, carried on leathery wings.

[Ecalsneerg]

In hot pursuit of the acid demon came a dragon like monstrosity, massive with four clawed feet, the talons like machetes, the creatures head a fanged and eyed mess spitting gouts of flame from every orifice. Snapping through branches effortlessly and igniting trees in its wake, it flew towards the pair of superheroes, spitting a gout of hellfire from one hold on its bizarre head.

The blast took Equinox from behind, lifting her up and tumbling head over feet, with a smell of scorched flesh and burning fabric. Upside down in mid-air, gritting her teeth to hold her defensive spells in place, the witch slammed into the tree, barely denting the thick aged bark but bouncing off it with a sickening thud, and crashing to the floor in a heap. Her protective spells flickered, but somehow held, the white light flickering on and off as Equinox tried to push herself to her feet with dizzy, weak knees and trembling hands.

[Gizmo]

Metamagi awareness barking a shrill warning split instants before the first demon appeared, Jack spun on his foot and slid backward, fragments of bark bouncing off of his greatcoat as he raised his left arm in a shielding motion. Even as he recovered, the second demon was upon them, sending Equinox flying backward with brutal force. "Dammit," the swashbuckler swore, feeling the weak flickering of the witch's protective magics even without taking his eyes from the advancing monsters. Immediately throwing their previous strategy out the window, he squared his shoulders and slipped one booted foot backward into a ready stance.

Springing forward, he drew as much fire from the clawed abomination as he dared, causing it to rear back as his delicate rapier flared into a roaring, two-handed falchion. With a roar, Jack launched himself into the air and brought the blazing blade over his head then down a first brutal slash. "That... wasn't... nice," he intoned, punctuating each word with another lightning fast slice, igniting through leathery wings and tearing across red hide and empty black eyes, patches of dripping acid hissing at they caught fire. "Take a timeout!" As he swung his weapon in a final, diagonal blow, he willed the flame to be more solid, anger fueling his swordarm as he caught the demon in its center of mass and sent it tumbling backward into it's dragon like comrade. The two collided in a screeching heap, fire and acid splashing against each other angrily.

A considerable amount of energy expended, Jack let his sword reform at its regular size, cracking his neck as he eyed the approach of further horrors. "Hope you're getting your second wind back there, Noxie," he called, setting his jaw.

[Ecalsneerg]

As Equinox struggled to push herself up off the ground, visibly wincing in pain from the impact with the tree and taxed by the task of actually spurring herself to move and not leave herself defenceless, the acid demon did the same, its dripping membrane burning a trail in the forest floor.

The fiery demon, knowing it was going to get beaten up, took wing, and began soaring off backwards into the woods... past two more new arrivals, one a spiny horror looking like the offspring of a Rottweiler, a porcupine and a bat. The other was nothing more than a somehow levitating mass of chains, two long spools of metal chain flapping as if they were wings.

And the ground beneath Jack's feet erupted, first with six foot long spines of razor sharpness, hissing as they sliced the air, then with even longer lengths of lashing, orange-rust chains, barbed, spiked and coated in mud and blood.

[Gizmo]

Jack was somersaulting through the air before the spines had a chance to touch him, tucking himself into a ball so the his greatcoat took the brunt of the punishment from the lashing chains. Straightening just in time to land in a low crouch next to the addled acid demon, he finished the first monster off with a flurry of punishing hits, fiery blade sending streams of acid splashing against leaves and trees while he waited for the others to move within range. Lifting his free hand to his mouth he shouted after the fleeing beast, "Hey buddy! Where's the fire?"

[Ecalsneerg]

Equinox forced herself to stand up, face set in an expression of utmost fury. Raising her wand high as she came all the way to her feet, she forced out her incantation as a low growl. "Fuego-pyrokagius!" she snarled, levelling the wand at the chained demon, a gout of white hot flame bursting forth from her wand, the heat rippling through the air and the backwash from the sheer power casting her hair backwards as if in a hurricane.

The demon dropped to the floor, its armour of metal chains glowing slightly from the residual heat still left on it. "Hah!" crowed the witch triumphantly, staggering a little as if drunk.

[Ecalsneerg]

As his flaming comrade fled, and his chain-clad friend lay moaning in a pained sounding screech, the spined demon roared, a sound of pure, undiluted rage. And once more, a veritable sea of spines erupted upwards beneath Jack, and this time underneath Equinox too. Turf, dust and pine needles flew up into the air, propelled by the sheer force of the jagged sea of death bursting from the forest floor.

Equinox barely even tried to dodge. She just pointed her wand at the floor, and said with a certain amount of satifaction, "Óchi." The spines beneath her feet had just shattered beneath the power of her wards, shielding her from beneath with raw magical force and will.

[Gizmo]

"Not that this hasn't been fun..." Jack began, pausing to leap into the air and deliver a spiraling kick into the chin of the demon covered in metal chains where it lay of the forest floor, putting an end to it's screeching. "But it's about time we moved on to the main event." The spiny creature roared at him, spike adorned arms flung back in a terrifying show of strength. The fencer responded by raising both arms above his head and making a ridiculous face, tongue sticking out as he shouted back, "Oogity boogity!" The infernal monster was momentarily at a loss, which was all Jack needed to make short work of it. Planting one booted foot atop the heap of defeated demon, he looked about the woods. "Tick tock, Blondie, I've got places to be!"