ic The Desert Calls Its Own (IC)

[Supercape]

Even as she spoke, Pitch felt the power surge through her body. With her left hand on the handlebars of the bike, keeping in slow and steady, she clenched the Cantos Can in her right. 

 

The smouldering became more vital around her body, leaving a plume of smoke behind her as she cruised down the highway, keeping pace with the hellhounds. 

 

She had plenty of anger to draw on from her life. It was true, she had had one with many positive and exciting experiences, but there was a well of resentment there. She felt Tazel lapping up her emotions, and power surge through her body, a red mist in her eyes (in more way than one).

 

Her right hand and forearm wrapped itself in a smoky black metal chain, like a fist, before she flung it out like a coiled snake striking, the chain an endless stream of infernally forged metal, that struck one of the hellhounds with a hiss of smoke and fire...

[Tiffany Korta]

The chain flew unerring accuracy the chain wrapped around the unsuspecting hellhound bringing it crashing to the ground bumping along the desert floor. In an instant the creature was a dead weight all of it’s 800 lbs or so being held by Carmen and her trusty hog. Physic’s may not normally have must say in the world of demons and devil, but here it was in full effect.

The bikes engine still complained at the sudden increase of weight that the bike now had to carry and as they begun to fall behind the rest of the group she could feel the bike begin to slip from under her control.

[Supercape]

Pitch caught the tension, the chain snapping taught as she held it in her hand, wrapped around her fist. 

 

Damn..heavy...

 

She felt the power of Tazel bubbling up inside her, and her own fury powering her body. Not for the first time, she was damn thankful that Tazel was completely enslaved to her. If he had chosen to withdraw his strength...

 

Her bike screeched and wobbled, burning rubber to add to the plume of smoke her body and chains belched. Without mercy for such creatures, she held on, revving her engine as hard as it would go, and dragging the infernal creature along the road, scratching it's corpreal form all over the tarmac. 

 

"Another one bites the dust!" she roared above the engine and clanking of chains, the Queen song playing in her head. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Whilst Carmen and her hellhound were rapidly being left behind the second Hellhounds was still keeping pace with the Jeep. Whilst keeping her eyes on the rad Nikki began to move the vehicle closer to the massive creature getting as close as she could the the creature. Then ignoring the flaming aura around the creature she struck out with her hand drawing ichor, it seemed that those pretty pink nails disguised some pretty deadly talons.

Rachael Ironside for her part seemed to keep her cool, despite suddenly being surrounded by demons dogs. Coolly and calmly she drew Axel spare Shotgun and began to take aim at the beast. Axel for his part smiled at his protege calm demeanor, whispering “Good girl†to himself.

He then stood up in the jeep and fired off a blast from his lucky shotgun, the blast going just wide of the mark.

[Supercape]

With the hellhounds shot up, Pitch slammed on the breaks, determined to finish the two beasts off rather than speed off ahead. Who knew what power they possessed - give them a chance to recover and they could track them down later. 

 

Burnt rubber and the faint smell of oil hit the air, as she pushed the bike into a standstill.

 

Too fast...Too fast....she cursed herself, as, caught with the adrenaline, she swerved too sharply, and stopped too suddenly. Before she knew it she was tumbling off the bike and rolling down the motorway. 

 

Damned if that's going to stop me...she thought to herself. The infernal power she breathed was enough to protect her flesh, bar a few scrapes that went livid and red. On her knees, she summoned up the mighty power of the infernal forge, and hurled a wickedly barbed spear of blackened metal at the unbound hellhound...

[Tiffany Korta]

Nikki looking back noticed that Carmen had dropped her bike so suddenly soun the Jeep round in a tight bootleg turn. Unfortunately for her the hellhound reacted just as just spinning round and catching the jeep with it’s massive claws.

“Well that’s going to be difficult to explain on the insurance claim.†her ow blast of hellfire going wide.

Axel for his part was as cool as always just standing up in the Jeep, despite it sudden change in direction, and pumped a shotgun round into the beast. It gave a little whelp, the silver slugs must have been as effective as he claimed.

“I’m beginning to like you kid, despite the whole demon thing.â€

[Supercape]

Pitch took a few steps forward, as unsteady from the battering crash she had just had, as much as her disability. She felt the click of the calipers on her right leg, and only grew more angry. 

 

She saws the Cantos Cane several feet away from her, the black wood unmarked by the crash. It seemed the thing was unbreakable. 

 

Holding the chain to the bound beast in one hand, giving it a tug to indicate to its slave that she was still very much in control, she summoned forth her emotions and encased her right fist in fire. 

 

"Axel, I have to hand it to you and that pea-shooter" she laughed in a friendly way at her friend, before breathing in, exhaling, and throwing the fireball in her hand at the other hellhound. 

[Tiffany Korta]

The fireball engulfed the already wounded demon dog and when the smoked cleared the creature was no longer there, all that remained was a faint whiff of sulphur. The other creature seeing it was outnumber stopped struggling and gave a rather pathetic whimper.

“Always gotta show boat haven’t you Missy? Just like your Dad in that matter.â€

The vehicle’s drew to a halt throwing up a cloud of thick desert dust. Rachael took out her cell and held it up to take a picture of the beast, though wisely she kept the shotgun trained on it.

“Don’t worry just for personal use. Though I might Blog this all laterâ€

Nikki for her part stood up and leant on the Jeep’s window, looking down at the bound Hellhound.

“What do you plan to do with this one?â€

Edited May 7, 2013 by TiffanyKorta

[Supercape]

"Id keep yourself under the Radar, Rach" suggested Pitch, without stopping her. She walked over a little to pick up the black cantos cane, hefting it in her hand.

 

She continued to take a tight rein on the hellhound, limping up to it and keeping the chain taught. The hellhound was bound tight and defenceless, but she wasn't going to get caught out by it. 

 

She took a sorry look at her motorbike, wondering if it could be salvaged. She had to rely on it, as it was adapted for her paralysed foot. It didn't look too bad. Perhaps she could even fix it herself, but she suspected Axel might need to work his oily charms on it. Although it would cost. 

 

She dragged herself up to the Hellhound, still smoking herself, and gripped the chains tightly. 

 

"So, demon. Who sent you, and why?" she asked in a threatening tone...

[Tiffany Korta]

The creature made a series of strange sounds in the infernal tongue even to Carmen’s ear it made no sense, Nikki however seemed to recognize the sound’s. She didn’t look particularly happy about this.

“Ah that’s could make things interesting. It was my old boss when I got assigned to Earth, and probably a demotion when I went rogue.â€

The Hellhound made a little surprised looks, they weren't exactly used for their brains.

“So it didn’t tell you that. Do you know how many other demon’s she has on staff?â€

The hellhound said that it didn’t deal with anyone else.

“Great so one or more shapeshiting demons. It’s a Succubus so it’s probably got human followers. This could get complicated.â€

[Supercape]

"It always is with demons" said Pitch, as the smoking of her body stopped and she reverted to her normal costume - not vastly different but a little more subdued. 

 

"You can take offence at that if you wish, Nikki. I can't trust you yet, perhaps I never can. As you say, you lot are complicated. But consider yourself a couple of rungs up the ladder from the Abyss" she conceded. 

 

She fingered the Cantos cane, peering at the Hellhound. 

 

"Well, this sounds rough. And if its in holy ground, I will have to pull Tazel out of my belly. Bad as he is, he does help me look smoking hot" she said, with a curl of her lip, as the last of the smoke she had belched drifted lazily skyward. 

 

"So we may need reinforcements. Like this dog.." she said more firmly, reaching out to put the Cane firmly against the Hellhounds forehead with a hiss and a horrible shrieking from the goats head at its tip...

[Tiffany Korta]

The massive wolf like creature bowed t head and it’s strange barking like version of Infernal pledge it’s loyalty to Carmila. Though she was very aware that it was temporary.

Nikki lifted up Carmen’s bike without any effort and placed it down beside her.

“I’d tell you her true name if I knew it and guarantee it’s services but hellhound don’t tend to last long enough to find out and these two are quite new. I could tell you a few sweet nothing’s that Tazel use to whisper.†she crouched down a waggled a finger at Carmen’s stomach “It’s that right <snookums>.â€

It didn’t quite so endearing in the infernal tongue.

Are you sure we can’t kill this creature now? It would do us all of a favor, especially me.

Axel joined in the two of them his shotgun over his shoulder.

“how long is that thing going to be on our side, cause if it’s not long.†he pointed his shotgun at the Hellhound’s head

“Rachel okay, lot better than my first demon encounter, but she’s got the jitter’s from all the adrenaline. Best if we don’t travel for a bit until she settles down.†he took another puff on the cigar he always seemed to be smoking

 

 

“Maybe you girls could come up with something resembling a plan?â€

Edited May 27, 2013 by TiffanyKorta

[Supercape]

"Not forever" replied Carmen to Axel. "It depends how strong it is..." she said, concentrating on keeping the Hound to heel. It was true, to. The only demon she had permanently bound to her was Tazel. Who was a mixed blessing. 

 

She examined her bike, and decided that even it was ridable she wouldn't want to risk it. 

 

With a curling of sulphuric smoke around her body, she changed back to regular Carmen Cantos, Tazel's power ebbing back to her bellly. 

 

And I'm not killing anybody if I can help it, Tazel. Not today, leastways...

 

"I think my bike's had it for now, Axel. Leave it here and we can salvage it another day. And I would rather keep my head focussed on our canine friend here. He should serve for the day. And I think he and his bro' were just the appetiser. 

 

She walked up to Rachel, looking decidedly more normal. 

 

"Rachel, I'm sorry if this is all a bit...new..." she explained. "I never met anyone like Nikki before. It's pretty new to me too. I can understand if you are a bit shaken up. But I don't think its safe to stay here. If these beasts found us, then more can...."

 

She turned to Nikki

 

"Can you drive off road in that thing?" she asked of her vehicle. "I think we need to stay undercover, get to this church..."

[Tiffany Korta]

Rachael rapidly recovered from her first combat quite rapidly Axel it seemed still had a habit of picking good allies, one of the reason Carmen’s father kept him around. And as Nikki explained the Jeep was more than capable than operating off-road.

“This is an original 80’s Jeep, so underneath it all the chassis of the original 40’s Jeep. Or at least mine does. How is Spot doing?â€

Spot was the name that Nikki had given the hellhound that was currently bounding alongside the Jeep, for now it seemed friendly enough but it would eventually turn on it’ current mistress.

“There’s a outcrop not far from here that provides good view of the old church, it should give us a good overview of things.â€

[Supercape]

Carmen risked a peek under the Jeep. She was no engineer, but she knew a thing or two about the smell of diesel and the chime of motors. It looked solid enough to her. 

 

"Sounds good to me. Nice motor you have. Even if I do prefer two wheels to four" she said, climbing in with a heft of her arms. She made sure the Cantos cane was out of reach of Nikki. The woman - if woman she was - was clearly something out of the usual, and so was her cane. Who knew what would happen if they met? they might explode. 

 

She chuckled slightly at the thought. 

 

"Lets take a look at this Church then" she said. Rachel and Axel could follow well enough in their own vehicle she judged - the off terrain round here was not so harsh that a sturdy vehicle couldn't make it. 

 

"As for...Spot" she smiled, liking the name. "He will behave himself for now. I can't promise how long for. I'm not the sorcerer my father was. The chains may slip...but for now, he will be a good doggy..."

 

"So lets not hang around. I want a look at that church!"

[Tiffany Korta]

Axel insisted in riding in the Jeep, insisting that the Bike wouldn’t be touched in the desert.

“Besides someone seems to have broken it, and probably expects me to fix it as well. Probably should start charging you what with being a big city girl...â€

The ride to the outcrop was relatively quick and Spot seemed to behave himself. No one else seemed to challenge the group during their journey to the fairly innocuous lump of rock. Nikki had obviously planned this in advanced and bought a pair of binoculars.

[Tiffany Korta]

The church was in an area of large fenced off from the rest of the desert, with sign declaring it still part of Hawthorn Inc, one end of the enclosure was some form of command module surrounded by tent’s and a couple of military looking vehicles. The place was a hive of activity suggesting that the camp wasn’t more than a few hour old. The church itself was more lightly defended but at least four outside and possibly more inside all human of some stripe. She passed the binoculars along so the other's could take a look.

 

 

“They’ll need a mage to unlock the portal someone lock the thing, but they won't know if it’s there until midnight then it’ll glow a faint pink. Until then it can’t be unlock, except by it’s owner, so we’ve got a good couple of hours.â€

Edited June 3, 2013 by TiffanyKorta

[Supercape]

Pitch lay on the dust and rock, peering through the binoculars, feeling for all the world like a marine commando. 

 

"Well we got some time anyway. And the sun is setting, so we shall have bit of cover in the night, not to mention respite from the desert heat. I'm sweating like a pig and gonna be sunburnt tomorrow..." she complained, taking off her jacket and mopping her brow. Her t shirt was showing the signs of excessive pespiration and her leather trousers were beyond uncomfortable. She could certainly have thought of better attire than this for a desert excursion in this season. 

 

She took a large glug of water from a flask by her side, and regretted the indulgence. Tazel could, in his belly, supply all the sustenance she needed, including water. But the others would need it - Nikki, she was not so sure about. 

 

Still, cool water felt good. 

 

"Well we didn't pack for desert camping or survival. We need to do this tonight, or we will end up dying of thirst and heat" she explained, thinking of Axel and Rachel rather than herself. 

 

"So, we need to sneak in to find out what they are up to, and then stop it. Whose with me?" she asked. 

[Tiffany Korta]

Without a word Axel took the binoculars and took a look at the layout of the camp.

“That look’s like a whole camp full of trouble, real people and professionals. We could call in the bikers, even the Chugger’s owe me a favor or two, but people are going to get hurt.â€

He handed the binoculars back to Carmen pointed ignoring Ironhorse who rolled her eye but said nothing.

“And it all come down to sneaking into the church, and that going to be a problem for some of us.â€

“I’m not sure why but they’ve never really bothered me in at all... oh.†she looked toward Pitch as the penny dropped “You said you could do something about that? That’s right isn’t it?â€

[Supercape]

"Its damn sure going to be a problem for me" muttered Carmen. 

 

"Or more precisely, my little friend..." she said, patting her midriff. 

 

"Tazel isn't going into a church, no matter how much I command him. I could as well ask him to paint the moon pink" she explained to Nikki. 

 

"Although what he does do, pretty well, is make a distraction. 

 

Out you come, little devil!

 

With a sharp intake of breath, she breathed out a plume of smoke and fire. The feeling was unpleasant, but bearable, and always left her short of breath and with glazed vision until she shook her head of the cobwebs. 

 

"Tazel, you are just the horrible little toad we need as a distraction!" she said, smiling at the flame that hovered in the air in front of them. In the dimming sunlight, he would be easily visible. 

 

And no bullet or knife would harm him. Quite the opposite. 

 

"Go on, shoo! create a distration! and no killing. OK, even if they are scumbags!" she ordered sternly. 

 

She turned to her three companions. 

 

"That means its time for us to go!" she said. "Tazel can create a distraction, we go in. But, I'll be honest, without Tazel firing up my belly, I'm not as strong as I am as Pitch. So try not to let me get shot, heh?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Whilst the imp Tazel went off to cause mischief, something he excelled at, Nikki spent a few more second’s studying the guard’s on the church.

“I have a good idea how we can get into the church. Hold still this may tickle a little.â€

She stood, revealing scratching in the dirt around her, and closing her eye’s began to chant in her infernal tongue. Mystical energies began to shift and flow around everyone filling the air with colours and giving the air a strange smell of tin.

Axel raised and cocked his shotgun and began to say something, though it was lost to her voice filling the air. Then something implausibly changed, everyone feature’s subtly shifted they looked similar but then again slightly different. And everyone clothes seemed to alter and change become much more formal, more military type.

They looked just like the troops below.

“Sorry to spring that on you bit once I have the formula in mind I had to rattle it off quick.â€

Nikki featured blurred and altered until she was similarly attired to the rest of them.

“Right now we can walk right through the front door, though I suggest we take the back entrance.â€

[Supercape]

"The Military look was so last decade" said Carmen, examining her gear. 

 

The gear covered her spine which was, she reflected, a good idea for her disguise, but she dearly hoped she wouldn't be facing any more demons, especially with Tazel out of her. Ironically, she felt naked. 

 

"All I need know is an AK-47. Which, now I think about it, might not be a bad idea..." she reflected. 

 

"IN any case, lets get going. Before Tazel causes more havoc than he strictly needs to. I don't trust him further than I can throw him. And its rather hard to throw a wisp of flame..." she explained. 

 

Waving her hand over to her motley crew, she pulled them down to the walk to the church. She did her best to walk stiffly to conceal her limp, but it was going to be obvious to anything more than a casual glance. She decided she would say she twisted her ankle or something if asked...

[Tiffany Korta]

There was a little distance between the outcrop and the fence that surrounded the land and the church. They fell into a natural patrol line, with a little encouragement from Rachel who had obviously seen her share of War movies. The Hellhound who still seemed loyal to Carmen trotted behind the group looking for all the world like a giant loyal dog.

 

As they got near the fence close enough they could she the spanish style church that was their goal, still in incredibly good shape, when the alarm was raised from whatever mischief Tazel was doing.

[Supercape]

Tazel doing what he does best. Wreckage. 

 

Hopefully he has not found a way to include me in that painting. 

 

Carmen waved her motley crew of four - or five, if you included the Hellhound she had bound to her, forward. She deally hoped that the binding would last. The last thing she needed was a moment of creaking in the bonds of will and pact that enslaved the beast. 

 

With a pointed finger, she ordered the Hound to rip open the fence - not a difficult task for a beast of its size or power, she reasoned. 

 

"We don't have much time..." she hissed at the others, keen to keep up the pace. She wasn't entirely sure herself if it was concern about Tazel's ability to keep the soldiers distracted, her own hold on the hellhound, or the clock that was ticking according to Nikki's story...

[Tiffany Korta]

Nikki pointed to a gate in the fence not far from where it had just been rendered and shook some key’s in her hand.

“I own this remember, I might have to charge you for the fence.†her broad grin suggested that she wasn’t entirely serious.

By now there was the sound of gunfire shouting and the night sky was lit up by tracer round, Carmen could taste magic on the air and probably demonic in nature. If magic was being used Tazel wouldn’t be a distraction for much longer.

 

As they made their way into the enclosure they could see that the guard who were protecting the church running to face the threat Tazel had created, for now there luck seemed to be holding.