The Snake-Charmers (IC)

[Ari]

Marceau watched the exchange with care, noting the approach of the old man towards the place the monster had come from, and briefly considered what to do.

Silhouette has this under control he thought but so far this looks like it's going to turn into a confrontation with that messenger snake. Maybe.. "High priest!" he broke in, stepping forward as he spoke "That is indeed the case. Surrender, release your prisoners and give them back to their families of your own free will! They will remember this, and instead of being merely 'our captor' you shall be 'our captor, who saw reason and freed us of his own will!'" he looked imploringly at Andrews, a hand stretched out in supplication "Don't try to escape, you'll just bring misery to yourself and these others. After all, if by some miracle you manage to get away, do you think your followers won't be charged as accomplices all the same? Come with us, we'll escort you to the station and put an end to this before it gets out of hand."

[Ari]

GM

Andrews stopped shuffling towards the altar, blinking in surprise when the King of Suits called out to him. Looking more than a little perturbed at how ANOTHER intruder had managed to infiltrate the room without his knowing it, he still payed attention to the costumed vigilante's words. "Your logic is suspect, to say the least" he said at last, sounding much more 'grumpy old man' than 'crowd-pleasing ranter', but with a note of resignation in his voice "but I see your point. I will give myself up" he looked to the other cultists "as I would suggest any of my followers to do. No use us getting in worse trouble with the law by resisting arrest now" he added with a dry jocularity.

"But..Fangspeaker!" cried one of the cloaked Apophians "we still have the advantage of numbers, and our mast-" "our master is en route and will not spare us because we listened to reason now" interjected Andrews bitterly, looking at Silhouette for a moment before saying "I will remove the seal on the doors", squaring his shoulders, raising a hand above the altar and intoning ~"By the power of the endless river of the night, I tear back the veils. By the crushing coils, I open the path!"~

At these words, the blackened floor suddenly lost its sheen, and looked for all the world like regular concrete. Jane walked up to Silhouette and said "Good going, I'll lead you two to the where those people were being held, it's just down the hall" she began to walk towards the arching doorway, beckoning for the two to follow her.

[Aoiroo]

Just like that?

Sil had to stop from saying it aloud. Her expession showed the shock, but then again some people can be reasonable sometimes, even if it was not the norm. Though there was something nagging abotu the way he said that.

"What do you mean en route?"

She looked at Andrews,

"And sparing, don't tell me this snake things gonna be here to claim you guys as what, sacrifices, possession hosts, something like that? If some big bad god's planning to cause you guys pain, you think you might want to tell us the details. We can't exactly leave you to something liek that."

[Ari]

GM

Andrews looked shiftily at that two heroes for a moment and opened his mouth to say something. "Well, it..." was as far as he got in that vein, however, as he quickly doffed his long cloak(revealing austere business attire underneath) and tossed it over a bench, walking quickly over to a previously hidden cabinet mounted on the wall and opening it to reveal a ring of keys. Tossing them to Silhouette he said hurriedly "Well, when the messenger learns we have disobeyed Apep's command and let the prisoners go free, we will, er...we will all be devoured as punishment, unless we can escape this place in time..." he looked around, eyes widening as something struck him "...and any route out besides the main doors is unknown to me. That way is watched constantly, there is no hope of escape that way, except maybe for you" he added to the flattening heroine "You sir," he addressed the King of Suits with a slight return of his former stuffiness "are as far as I could tell a mere mortal like us, it would tear you to pieces in moments" he spread his hands and shrugged "Our lives, it seems, are in your hands. How do you propose we escape?" he asked with a challenging air.

Jane rolled her eyes, but most of the other snake cultists looked a lot more uncertain about their chances, even as most of them reluctantly shed their cloaks.

A faint trembling was in the air. The distant sound of freight trucks could be heard overhead.

[Ari]

"You sir," he addressed the King of Suits with a slight return of his former stuffiness "are as far as I could tell a mere mortal like us, it would tear you to pieces in moments"

Marceau raised an eyebrow at this comment and holding his hand over his mouth coughed once before saying "Excuse me sir, but that isn't necessarily bound to happen. Not saying I could beat..whatever it is in a stand-up fight, but I have some light devices that might be helpful. I can make more of them too, quite easily" he added, sounding almost as hurt as he looked.

Reaching down to his belt, he whipped out the grapple gun with a clink and a whirl as he flourished it, grinning "As for your escape problems, I found a way up to the surface through this very tunnel!" he pointed at the ceiling with a red- gloved hand "Just follow me, and we can get you and this sorry band-" blinking in mock surprise hew added to the other cultists "Present company excepted, I beg your pardon"

"Anyway! Follow me, I will go up, drop down the grapple gun, and help up each of you in turn" turning to Silhouette he said "Could you help me boost them up? I doubt I have the upper-body strength to lift all of them" he explained vaguely apologetically.

[Aoiroo]

Sil looked at the crowd then at Suits,

"What makes you think I can lift them up, there's way too many,"

A thought occured to her, somewhat stupid, no very stupid, but it was something to go on for now. Later she was definitely going to track some of the local mystics down and look for the distinct weakness of every possible god that can show up in this world, until then though,

"Hand 'em over, the light things, um, what are they called, flash grenades. I'll keep long dark and ugly busy while you evacuate."

Turning her head she yelled out at the crowd,

"What the hell are you guys waiting for, someone grab the prisoners and get as far away as you can!"

[Ari]

Well, she seemed like a pretty tough lady, I guess both of us are pretty limited! the King of Suits thought idly with a shrug.

"Hand 'em over, the light things, um, what are they called, flash grenades. I'll keep long dark and ugly busy while you evacuate."

Marceau blinked in surprise.

"I.." he frowned visibly behind his cowl, but nodded sharply "I do not like that plan, Silhouette, seeing as I just met you and have precious little first-hand evidence of your competence. That said," he concluded with a cheery grin "you so far seem to abound with fighting ability, and made short work of those lesser children. Here you go" he said, removing the slender tubes with rings set in the caps and handing them to her. "If you can, find a way to shield your ears before they blow. I take it you already know how to use them, so I won't belabor that point"

"Good luck Silhouette! I will shepherd these.." he looked at Andrews, the cultist he was just then pushing up "...fellows as best I can. See you on the other side!" he added with a grin, "Do you want me to get the prisoners too? Or will you take care of them?"

[Aoiroo]

"Well, seeing as I'll likely be fighting a giant snake and you've kind of got a couple more people on hand I'd appreciate you go free them, by the way,"

She turned towards the priest,

"Where is the Snake God gonna spout, the little hole in the center, any idea how big he's gonna be? I wanna know how high I have to climb if I want to get a hit onto his head."

Turning her head she looked at the the surrounding area trying to find the best location. She could get up pretty high, but staying up there was the problem given her general finger strengh.

[Ari]

The King of Suits nodded shortly "I will go free them then, and get them into the vent to join the others at the exit" waving a cheery goodbye to Carrie after getting the ring of keys, he helped push a few of the benches up to build a makeshift platform for the last of the cultist to get up on, and vanished into the still eerily dark passageway. Walking silently through the halls, he followed the directions Janice gave him to the letter, finding to his delight a large and imposing door from which muffled, angry cries came from. After a few tries he found the right key and opened the door, shoving it open to reveal a narrow rectangular room filled with iron cages hanging from the ceiling. In three of the cages were the prisoners, loudly yelling for all to hear.

"You can't hold us forever!"

"The longer you wait, the closer the city heroes will get to you!"

"Get us the ********** out of here!"

The shouts stopped abruptly when the dark figure of Marceau slid into view, and they became much more hesitant and unsure. "Hey," one of them, a young African-Asian woman said "you're not with those snake people, are you?" The King of Suits grinned merrily, twirling the key ring "I am not, madame! I have come to rescue you from the coils of this cult, whom I and an associate have convinced to come quietly." Beginning the niggling task of unlocking the heavy cages, he went on "However, it seems we might soon run into super-humanly dire trouble soon. A messenger of their snake god will be here soon, and it is likely he will be...angry" with a heavy clank the cage door were finally shoved out, letting the prisoners out. Whipping out an explosive card he flung it at the roof in the passageway, shutting the door before the dull explosion that sent shudders through the floor and walls. Once they had stopped, he opened the door once more, saying to the prisoners "Go on, get ready to follow me into the vent!"

[Ari]

GM

Andrews stopped mid-scramble up the bench, turning to answer Silhouette with a slight return of his earlier speaking style "Our Low Messenger will need to fully manifest on the physical plane to actually attack. I have made some.." he suddenly looked very shifty "...measurements, of his vastness. He stands from head to tip at around 40ft. once confined to a Light-touched world like ours." Gingerly dropping back to the ground the erstwhile Fangspeaker went on "As far as I know, he can only travel through the Fissure in our main worship room once the spells I have laid are cancelled" he shrugged, glancing at the altar nervously.

"Of course, I have no real idea about the limits of the Messenger's power..." he admitted. Turning back to her he added "Er, but yes, at least the worship room would give you an edge, as he will have to contend with the lights above(which he cannot touch), as well as giving you more room to maneuver, I suppose" he shrugged again, a little more awkwardly. "If that helps, I will go and be out of your hair!"

With that, he began to sidle back towards the bench, and the path to Freedom.

[Ari]

GM

The cultist leader had gotten five feet before the altar erupted into a pillar of oily darkness that sent flailing limbs smashing around the room, sending rains of splintered wood through the air as the benches were obliterated. After a few seconds the whirling inchoate mass solidified into the form of a massive snake's head, the same one that Silhouette had just seen descend impossibly into the depths of the altar. The flattened black slab of granite fell to pieces as the ambassador of Apep slid majestically out of it, sleek tongue flickering in and out of its invisible mouth while vague reflective circles on its head swiveled back and forth, taking in the sight before it. From a depth like the chasms of the ocean it spoke, words falling from its mouth and echoing like slabs of lead, forming themselves into shapes comprehensible to the minds of the nearby humans:

"No mortal escapes the coils of Apep. As surely as He shall embrace the Barque of the Sun in the infinite night, so shall all who are in this snake-hewn temple shall die"

It turned towards Andrews, who was frozen with terror and shaking in his magnificent leather shoes, and began to advance across the floor towards the priest, its length finally exiting the shadow portal with a soft rustle of unnatural scales. Gradually rising to its full height, it opened its jaws to reveal a flat emptiness, the voice saying cooly "Behold, Apostate, the door to your Judgement stands open"

Its massive obsidian bulk was less than ten feet from the man. From the vent above, shouts of panic and thuds sounded out as the other cultists began to desperately flee the Messenger of Apep.

[Aoiroo]

Sil dropped the flash grenades around the bleachers and sprung out the darkness, silent as the snake spent it's time terrifying the others. She may of been at some point in her life intimidated by a giant snake made out of shadows, but once you've gone through as many horrors, both movie grade and twilight zone grade, these things are almost expected. She ran forwad and tried to axe kick his tail but found her foot tried to dig in flat the snakes long tail, though it didn't seem to notice,

This is why I hate magic monsters,

"Hey Jaffar, you want to test that theory on some mortals a little more in your nich. You aren't the first god claiming thing I've smacked down, and you'll definitely won't be the last."

[Ari]

GM

The jaws closed noiselessly, and the head turned with incredible speed towards Silhouette. The voice said "A god? I? Maddening! Ignorance and compounded folly! It goes on forever, they shall never be freed!" it exclaimed, suddenly swooping around behind the heroine as its massive coils lashed out and wrapped around her with a grip like steel, slowly tightening as it ranted on "Oh, degenerate age! When the cattle and serfs of this world look upon one of the lesser vassals of the mighty Apep, and see the All-Consuming One himself!" its head swung directly above her, its jaws opened once more as it began a slow descent "I am among the least of the children of Apophis the great, minion!" it cried "Be still and pass through the Gates, and you shall understand what a god is truly like: not in the feeble forms they and theirs must assume to keep from obliterating this world, but the power and grandeur that has been your vision of beauty and strength since time immemorial!"

Andrews, now that he was no longer in peril, galvanized into action! he turned and raced up the bench, calling out as he scampered into the vent "Good luck!"

Meanwhile, the King of Suits and the prisoners had heard the beginning of the battle, and the coming stampede of cultists seeking to escape the fate their former master planned for them...

[Aoiroo]

"You know,"

Sil changed form in the snakes coil as she looked up, she sliped out of it's grasp easily and dropped to the floor,

"There is no unit of measurement small enough,"

She ducked out edging around the snake before flattening her hand,

"To measure how little I care."

She struck it quickly digging her hand like a knife into the coiling shadow like flesh. She couldn't get it in that deep before she hand to step back, but it looked like she had caused it pain, that was enough for now. Though she wanted to get around to grabbing some of the flash grenades she dropped.

[Ari]

GM

With a very unserpentine snarl of pain, the gigantic snake recoiled, observing the strange new form its now-flattened opponent reflected in its inky skin. "Faugh, why would I expect you to care?" it asked scornfully "We care nothing for you, expect as food or bearers. Worship from humans does not increase, or even sustain our power. Wrestling with you seems fruitless, I will go eat the Apostates, and return to the Night" it said, apparently thinking aloud. Turning its huge head towards SIlhouette it said coldly, and with a sneer "I wish you well, worm in the mud" before turning to the door and sliding through, pushing its massive bulk through the narrow(for its size) circular doorway, its tail gleaming black and beginning to wreathe with fluid shadow.

It halted briefly once half of its length had slithered out of the room. "On second thought..." its tail lashed out at her, a rain of black lances hurled from the tip towards her!

[Ari]

Seeing the packed mass of bodies belonging to the cultists charging towards him and the prisoners, Marceau blinked in surprise. To the prisoners he said quietly "Keep going, take that turn on the left" he gestured down the tunnel, leaning against the wall to let the three hurry past. That done, he stepped back into the middle of the vent(as best as he could bent forward) and called out sharply to the all-but heedless cultists "All of you, stop! Nothing is chasing you!" At the sudden words, the would-be stampede stopped in its tracks, the cultists glancing behind themselves nervously, some of the rear-guard slamming heavily into those who had heard the King of Suits' clearly and already stopped. After the chaos had been mostly sorted out, Marceau repeated himself "Don't run! Nothing is chasing you here"

Or so it seems he reminded himself dourly, peering into the blackness behind them as he went on "Follow me, we will be out of here in just a few minutes, but you can't panic or you will bring that snake's attention to us, which is just what we don't want to happen" he turned at scuttled rapidly in the direction of the vertical exit "Follow me..."

[Aoiroo]

Silhouette ran through the rain of shadow spikes with not a single even glancing blow. She ran towards the shadow scooping up one of the flash grenades she had dropped earlier in her attempts to keep the monsters attention.

"You aim as bad as you look,"

Okay, that was lame, but she wasn't usually the the whole situational quipper. Whatever, kept the monsters attention on her and not the people it was previously trying to swallow. Which got her to the next part where she threw the flash grenade at the monster and backed up. She'd really never used one before, but she'd hope the effect was devastating.

[Ari]

GM

With a tremendous *BOOM* and flare of light, the flash-bang grenade exploded, briefly hiding the wailing monster with its brightness.

When it at last cleared, however, it revealed that instead of a gaping wound or blinded, there was just an incredibly angry shadow-monster with an ugly gash on its tail, already healing with curling vapors of shadow spiraling up from it. What it had done, however, was make it focus back on Silhouette.

"You use a trick of light against me?! I will not stand for this, I will send my essence into the Fissure, and emerge with the power to destroy you and everyone here in one fell blow!" So ranting, it raced into the dark, circular tunnel, sliding around a bend that hit it from view as the Messenger coiled and smashed its head against the wall between it and the worship hall, too furious to bother trying to use the doors.

[Aoiroo]

"Like hell you will,"

She sprinted down that hallway like she was being chased by endermen. Which was ironic since the snake almost fit the bill. She was glad she practiced running, cause like six months ago she would of been breathing hard. It came in handy for sure, the next part she was especially glad she practiced. Running up the cave wall she got about halfway up before she pushed off and grabbed onto the escaping snakes back for dear life. She flattened her hands and toes and dug in her grip so that she had at least a few inches of penetration with each limb she had in contact.

[Ari]

GM

With a shuddering roar that rattled the caverns and stopped the fleeing cultists in their tracks, the Messenger of Apep lashed furiously back in forth, back arched in agony as the impossibly-sharp limbs dug through its shadowy body and struck the core of its being underneath, Silhouette's claws feeling something wet and squishy ooze around her fingers and go spraying across the floor.

For all its thrashing, though it made dents in the walls with its efforts, the heroine proved impossible for it to dislodge! At last, it was forced to relent, the air shimmering with its rage as it yet strained, though half-heartedly, to escape the knife-like limbs that pinned it and prevented its moving a coil.

[Aoiroo]

Sil kept the snake in a death grip as it thrashed, her eyes closed waiting for the eventual fail of her finger tip strengh. When it didn't come and in fact it started to slow and she opened her eyes to see the snake start to move down she waited a beat, trying to think whether or not this had actually worked. Didn't take long for her to take advantage. Pulling one of her arms out and dig it into the snakes side even deeper. Trying to get at it as best she can. Hopefully it would do the trick, if not, well she was going to hold on as best she could.

[Ari]

GM

Surprisingly, the strange core of the beast resisted Silhouette's attack! Folds of the loathsome stuff swelled up as she stabbed her arm into the monster, slowing the attack into harmlessness with astounding speed before it condensed into what felt like fleshy wall of granite, the snake managing a gritted laugh.

"Gruchhruchhruch! It seems you...are not..quite victorious yet" it spat, its spectral muscles suddenly erupting beneath and around Silhouette's arms and legs as it began another furious attempt to get its scaled body away from its tormentor!

[Aoiroo]

She half expected the resistance, but honestly she wished this was over with already. Then again, that's how most fights were, though with magic, she wished there was some sort of magic artifact that could help out,

Where's the sword of Gryffindor when you need it?

Letting out a sigh, she held onto the coin ride from hell, and kept her hands on both sides before pulling her feet back. This time she dug both feet into the creatures back trying to kick it into it's core and see how much of that black stuff it could spill.

"Shut the hell up Nagini!"

[Ari]

GM

The lancing stabs cut deep, deep into the writhing core, just past the site of knotted resistance that had stymied her last blow. The snake shuddered once, a choked cry coming from its black jaws before it slowly sank its head into the ground, pressing against the cold, entrail-spattered floor. It was still alive, but it was currently too socked by the pain of the stabs to move under its own power, and it tensed its shadowy muscles in a reflexive attempt to get the offending spears out of itself.

[Aoiroo]

Holy #*@* it's working.

She slid down the snake and found the wound she did. Maybe she would feel bad about inflicting pain and suffering on another creature, but this snake thing was asking for it. Plus the stuff was black it wouldn't stain her gloves. Digging her legs to the side she took her hand and dug it in the deep already leeking wound trying to writh in as far as she could go. She was no magic anatomy expert but digging into an open wound on any creature should hurt like hell, and hopefully it would stop this thing in it's tracks, or at least slow it down some more so she can finally finish this.