nextgenerationmarvel | Calling Local Sorcerer.... Oh wait

The expert, unfortunately, was currently vacationing with the mother of his child.

The very child who, for the first time ever, had dominion over the Sanctum Sanctorum - with careful supervision by Wong, of course. God forbid that Stephen Strange leave his daughter alone for a week.

Besides, he'd practically commanded her to take a vacation from ruling over Limbo, telling her that sometimes it was nice to get away and be relatively normal...which Sofia was when she was in this dimension. Did she still have magic? Sure. But she was severely limited - more magical warrior than full on wonder witch.

Which always made things fun, she had to sometimes admit. Sofia liked the thrill of working for it, since doing things at the flick of a wrist wasn't always all that much fun.

Sofia threw open the door, dressed somewhat casually in tight blue jeans, slouchy, fringed suede boots, and a flowy tunic. The smell of brimstone filled the air, and somewhere off in the distance, one could hear Wong uncharacteristically cursing as he put out Sofia's latest fire.

"Hi!" she beamed, "I'm usually supposed to tell you that we've been expecting you, but let's be honest. We weren't expecting you. Just supernatural trouble of some sort. How can I help?"

"Hi yourself," Marion actually smiles in a friendly if strained manner. She is dressed in comfortable looking clothing that has a bit of a Country Western feel to it. A electric blue and black checkered flannel shirt that looks very fetching on her. Her jeans are more of a boot cut style and almost black and the knees look naturally worn thin. The boots she has on are sturdy and look very much like ass-kicking boots too just by the look of them.

Normally Marion is pretty friendly but this isn't the clinic nor is this a visit for pleasure.

"I need one of two things.... Most of it is just help? I have a demon that needs to be told to leave someone alone. Hopefully politely so the person it high-jacked comes out of this safely." She explains in a short tone trying to remain professional acting.

"I'm better hunting vampires and putting down restless spirits, personally. This is... out of my area of expertise."

Yeah, the stress came off the woman in waves. "You better come inside," Sofia said, opening the door a little wider. "I'm Sofia, by the way. Strange. Daughter of the Doctor. Kind of like his intern?" Except for when she was in Limbo, when she was the hotcakes hexmistress of it all. "So we're talking an exorcism here, right? Since dudebro has been human-jacked and all that?"

Normally Marion is stressed because she thinks she's a monster. She thinks she is unworthy of doing anything except stopping the same horror happening to another person.

"Marion Scotts," she tries to smile but it's not exactly a real smile. "Yup. Gotta find a way to dislodge him from the... human. He's dangerous. Like really dangerous."

"Marion. That's pretty," Sofia said, nodding. "Any idea where the demon's from, or how he got, you know, friendly with the victim?" She led Marion to a sitting room near the front of the Sanctum, where they usually brought in visitors to discuss problems. "Or if it's even a he?" There were some female demons known for spewing out fire, too. "How long has this been going on?"

"Cursed item I think. Mirror. Recent purchase from an antique shop," Marion supplies. "I did some back ground research."

She smiles thinly looking a little less tense. "I think it's make. His.. wife mentioned his um.... bed room habits. The details I gleaned point towards either a very dominate female or more typical male demon. It seems to have taken over slowly over the course of the past few weeks. Like, just after Valentines."

"I hate antique shops," Sofia admitted. "They either aren't aware of what they're selling, or the shop owner is some evil arse and is selling the bad juju with some dark purpose in mind." Sofia brushed back a lock of her short bob and pressed her lips together. "And now the man is tossing out fire like Iceman does ice." Sofia stood up again. "Okay. We'll need to go into the library and the lab to collect some supplies, but I think we can exorcise the hell - literally, ha - out of this person. Give his wife their regularly scheduled unkinky sex back."

"Don't people watch enough bad horror films? Antiques are not only creepy but frequently have stuff done to them or around them," Marion gripes.

"I think she's more concerned about his day job? I mean the guy is a touchy-feelly high school principal by day. We don't want him setting someone on fire for running in the halls." Marion though is ready to follow Sofia. She just wants to handle this thing so no one gets hurt too badly.

Sofia paused at the phrase touchy-feely. Setting someone on fire might not be the man's only concern, bad enough as it was. Mouth set into a line, she marched into the library - a large, circular room with stained glass skylights and rows and rows of books circling around them. She stopped midway and pursed her lips, thinking, before flicking her wrist. An entire row of books shot out at them and Sofia yelped, dropping to the ground, and taking Marion with her.

It wouldn't do to brain her latest client.

"Sorry about that," she said, standing up, and helping Marion up as well. "Where I usually am, my magic tends to be more precise." She'd really only wanted one book - Exorcisms, Hexorcisms, and Sexorcisms: Cism-ing your External Evil Elements." It was a ridiculous title, she knew, but she implicitly trusted the writer of the not at all ancient tome.

"Where can we find him?" she asked as she flipped through the book. "We're going to need a big space, in case whatever's taken him over is a giant in its original demonic form."

Marion has quick reflexes but Sofia still has to help her get out of the way of the books. She winces visibly at the books that had tried to brain them to death.

"That's all right. My... reflexes are better than most." She doesn't usually disclose what she is to anyone. It's not something she likes to talk about.

"Right now at his wife's grandmother's house. It's some kind of big old Victorian looking place. I managed to trick him into a warded circle. I'm told me have until next week when the old woman comes back from a vacation in Hawaii. I don't know if moving him is a good idea since I like not being set on fire. I mean... Just throwing that out there. Fire bad."

"Beer good, though," Sofia said off-handedly, though a geeky smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. "And a Victorian? Classic," Sofia nodded. She stalked over to a large, intricately carved wooden cabinet and pulled at it. "But the warded circle thing...who exactly are you, Miss Marion Scotts?"

After a moment or two of pulling, the cabinet wouldn't open.

Sofia took a step back and pulled at it again, using all of her strength.

It still wouldn't open.

Looking really competent there, aren't you?

Finally, she lashed out with a blast of magic...which did nothing. Because she wasn't all that powerful here.

With a sigh, she walked over to a desk, pulled open a drawer, and rummaged through it, finally coming out with a key ring filled with keys.

Three minutes later, the cabinet was open, and Sofia had a worn grey leather bag in her hands with the word "Exorcism" stamped across it in supposedly mystical looking letters. Yeah, that was very much her own doing.

"Okay," she nodded. "Let's do this shiz."

"I said I've dealt with spirits and vampires before. Isn't that enough to tell you something, Ms Strange?" Her eyebrow goes up and she tries to keep her face blank.

"I just know when I can't do something so I went to the experts. I'm not going to risk someone's body and soul over my pride. I know that I can do stuff that doesn't require magic given enough time and research but.... This seems a bit past what I can pull off."

Funny thing is that as much as she is trying to not let her pride get in the way she doesn't want to admit how useful being a werewolf might be in a situation like this. Two hundred and seventy-something pounds of a pretty big wolf might be useful if there is a physical fight.

Edited 2012-11-18 21:00 (UTC)

"Something, yes. What that something is, less so, Ms. Scotts," Sofia said. "But I'm not going to pry. Everyone has their secrets, and I've been told that secrets are worth more kept than told." She smiled at the other woman. "You'd be surprised how many people actually tend to let bad things happen over pride - all the more so when it comes to all things magical, mystical, mythical or anything m-ical." She wrote a quick note to Wong and left it on the desk before turning towards a corner of the room. There was a thick, black pane of glass there, and it seemed as though there was something cloudy and inky behind it.

Further inspection would show Marion that there were little sparkly specks of colour - gold, green, purple, silver, blue.

"We could drive, but this would probably be faster," she said. "You know where this place is, so if you think of it, it should bolt us there, lickety split," she added. Sofia placed her hand on the pane of glass and then stopped, giving Marion a look. "Magical transportation kosher-halal with you?"

"A wise saying," Marion smiles faintly. "I don't talk about my secret unless I'm feeling comfortable."

She moved after Sofia taking in the glass pane as if it was a work of art. It's a little troubling to see the silver as silver is no longer a color she trusts.

"If it gets us there faster I'm all for it," she agrees with a nod. There is no reason to argue against it as she is sure that magic doesn't mess with her other self.

"Gotcha," Sofia said. "I wasn't raised here, and I tend to feel a little too comfortable sometimes, though I'm sure that's all kinds of obvious," she said, turning the pane of glass so that one side of it dipped into the dark murkiness of the inky-cloudy stuff.

There was a magically technical name for that, but Sofia had no idea what it was called.

"Here," she said, holding out her hand to Marion. "We'll need to stick together."

So long as there is no silver involved Marion should be fine. She slips her hand into Sofia's.

"Lead the way, Miss Sorceress." Marion's mouth twists into a vaguely entertained smirk. She isn't too concerned with the close contact they just need to get to that house.

Just pretty silver sparkles. Nothing that can hurt a werewolf, thankfully.

"It's Intern Strange to you, lady," Sofia said, before they disappeared into the darkness.

At first, Marion would feel something pulling at her mind, and then, something grabbing her by the gut and wrenching her forward, Sofia following right behind. The clouds would turn blindingly bright and the sparkles would sizzle as they rushed past the two women before a vortex spat them out inside the Victorian Era styled mansion that housed the demon du jour.

"Well, if this isn't out of a Munsters set," Sofia said, quirking up an eyebrow.

The traveling hadn't made her sick the way it did some people, which was nice.

Marion though has no such luck. Her head spins and she quickly lets go of Sofia's hand and propels herself forward so she can do her best to not vomit all over. Thankfully the fence around the property is sturdy. Once Marion feels better she glances back up at the house.

"It could use some fresh paint, yeah." It would look nicer if it did. Everything about this place screams slightly creepy. The snow on the ground still is the only thing that makes this pace come off as still normal.

"I have keys. I just need to give them back to the wife once we're done here."

"Let's hope we're done sooner rather than later," Sofia said. "And man, I hope you like pea soup, because there's a good chance we're going to get a good load of it projectile vomited at us."

"Well we could have brought smocks with us," Marion reasoned then shrugged.

"Not a big deal. These are machine wash so a little vomit won't ruin my clothes. One thing ya learn with my usual crowd is sturdy clothes are a good thing."

"Oh, honey, I didn't mean your clothes. There's a spell for that." Actually, the fact that there would be pea soup at all, instead of copious amounts of vomit, indicated that there would already be a spell at play. It was difficult for Sofia to figure out what any one person's vomit was made out of, but the one assured thing about it was that it always had the consistency of pea soup.

A simple spell helped change the stuff into actual pea soup, and then another spell would help remove the substance from clothes.

Yes, it was silly and complicated, but that was the sort of limited power that Sofia was working with here.

"Alright, Possesso-Boy," Sofia said, throwing the doors to the house wide open. "I'm coming in."

With those words they both hear a loud scream from up stairs. It is loud enough to shake a fine crystal hanging light fixture. Marion's jaw squares itself and for a moment he looks almost like a hunter.

"We better hurry on up there. Sounds like he's trying to get out of that circle." She glances at Sofia deciding after a moment that she should let the expert take the league.

"I hope what I did holds until we make some real progress."

Sofia nodded and started up the stairs, not waiting for Marion. She reached into her bag and pulled out a bag of enchanted salts, yanking the drawstring open and following the sounds of the screams.

She threw open the door and came upon the possessed man, ready to break the circle that Marion had enchanted him in. Narrowing her eyes, she threw a handful of salt at him, the tiny crystals shimmering as they flew threw the air and knocked the possessed man back into the middle of the circle.

"Sit," she commanded him, tossing a bit more salt his way. "Stay."

"I'd say good dog but..." She thinks she is the only one who can count as a dog in this room. She pulls a chair over and takes a seat out of the way.

The man ended up on his ass. He looks angry and filled with the hell fire that Marion knows wouldn't burn them on a physical level. They would feel their souls burn should that man use it on them. It would just look like fire.

"He's dangerous still."

"Oh believe me," Sofia said, "I'm aware." Hellfire flickered at the tips of the man's fingers and the cornea of his eyes were a deep, violent magenta.

Sofia reached into her bag and pulled out another drawstring sack, this one filled with salt of a different kind.

Yep, she was very much old-schooling this.

Swiftly, she reclosed the circle around the man, using a mixture of salts and herbs - some of which were from the dark dimension. A subdued glow filled the room once the circle was closed, and a near-invisible wall of energy popped up over the base of the circle.

Nodding once, Sofia took a deep breath, forced a slit into the energy wall, and stepped in through it, closing the wall behind her. Whatever spirit came out, it would need to be trapped in here.

Then she smiled brightly at the possessed man.

"Hello, hottie."

He is going to try throwing fire at Sofia.

Marion actually rolls out of her seat and hits the floor. But the ward keeps the fire from leaving the circle. The room glows hot from the heat of the fire though.

"Two little bitches came here to fight me?" The demonically invaded man laughs. "Well there's only one real bitch in this room but she doesn't want to dance."

Marion snorts in an unlady-like manner but says nothing.

"I don't know who you're talking about, Pazuzu, but frankly, I'm ready to dance." She reached into the bag and pulled out a coil of thin, thorny rope and unfurled it. She lashed out with it, ensnaring the man in its coils, and whispered something beneath her breath. A spark of magic made the coils grow a sickly green colour as power pulsed to life in the rope. She yanked the man close. "Let's tango, handsome."

"You mean you don't know?" The demon laughs right up until he becomes entangled in the magical rope. Marion becomes deeply interested in what is going on. The man struggles in the ropes when Sofia bring him in close but he can do nothing to fight her.

"Know what?" Sofia asked, sending another surge of magic through the ropes. "That my friend there has some tie to the supernatural? Newsflash, spanky, a lot of New Yorkers do. We're all either touched by the supernatural or the scientific." She shrugged. "Big deal." And then, in a low guttural language, she shouted something that sent electric charges buzzing in the little spikes in the rope. "How's that feel, by the way?"

"It tickles baby," the demon taunts even though it hurt like the place he comes from. He leers at her in the standard demon manner. Sadly to say he just isn't that original. "Wanna kiss me instead? Might scare me outta this old body."

"Seriously? That's your big plan," Marion asks looking weirded out by the demon. "...That's kind of creepy."

"Doesn't sound like it tickles," Sofia snapped back. The point of the rope with the thorns was to sedate the demon into sleep, so she could more easily remove him from the man. The puncture wounds from the thorns would be completely healed once the demon was out.

"Let's try a higher voltage?" Once again, she said something in that low, guttural language, and the sickly green pulsed to a brighter, warmer shade of jade.

The demon screams this time. It is a good thing that this room has decent sound proofing. Marion though winces at the unholy pitch the demon happens to hit.

"Seriously we could get this guy to sing opera," she gripes rubbing her head from discomfort.

The screaming dies down as the demon falls silent as if drifts into a kind of magical sleep. Sofia is on the right track.

Another spell spoken, the rope that Sofia's holding disappears into dust, leaving bits of electric sparkle in its wake before fading away as well.

"He really does hit those high pitches well," Sofia confirmed, nudging him gently with the toe of her boot. Satisfied that he was out, she dragged him to the center of her casting circle and splayed him out, face down. She reached into her bag and this time produced a vial filled with crystal powder, which she proceeded to pour into the puncture wounds, still casting. Marion would notice that sweat was beading on Sofia's forehead, if she looked closely enough.

Unlike Limbo, where things were done with the flick of a wrist, here, she was really being put to work, and it showed.

Sparks of ashy blue energy floated up from the puncture wounds and Sofia stepped back, waiting for a minute.

Then she reached back into her bag and pulled out what seemed to be a stained glass jar, with lots of long, thin, tubes extending from its mouth. The jar and the tubes seemed to be well-worn, which they were.

They had helped exorcise many a demon.

"Here comes the fun part," she said, before starting to stick the open ends tubes into the puncture wounds.

When she was done with that, she would cast the spell that would suck the demon from the man and trap it in the jar.

"...Ether jar," Marion asked curiously. She had read about different ways to contain a demon. One like this was a bit easier to contain than most as it naturally needed to go somewhere as far as she could tell.

She just hadn't been keen on it going into her.

Calling Local Sorcerer.... Oh wait

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