Who Will Defend Us?

[ngm_villains]

Manhattan
Central Park
April
1:26 pm

The portal from Limbo opened easily and without triggering the wards that warned those mystically sensitive of what was happening in the city.  S'ym's erstwhile ally had seen to that.  Not that S'ym trusted him further than he could throw him, but he had been truthful enough in what he could provide. 

Other demons, made temporarily invisible, followed him out of the portal.

"You all know S'ym's plan," he said.  "Raise hell out there.  Make the humans panic.  The more chaos we sow, the weaker our ally makes the barrier between dimensions.  And when that happens, he says this world will belong to S'ym!  And what's good for S'ym is good for all of you!"

The demons began to cheer.

S'ym puffed on his cigar.  "But it's gonna take all of you doin' what we do best.  Killin' folks, corruptin' this world, just like we done before.  Only there ain't no X-Men here to stop us this time!  No little Darkchylde to ruin things!  This time... this world... will... be... OURS!"

The demons flew off, ready to raise hell. 

Comments

Re: Central Park

[sorceress_supreme]

"Pull out the barbecue, get some blackberry lemonade, and throw an old-fashioned family reunion," Sofia said dryly. "What do you think I'm going to - - do you even have a name?" She needed a plan, fast, beyond witty banter.

Re: Central Park

[ngm_villains]

"It's, ah, it's Pe'tay," the demond said.

Re: Central Park

[sorceress_supreme]

"...Yeah, I'm just gonna call you Petey," Sofia replied. "Or Tay-tay. Lemme know if you have a pref." She concentrated then, on the area in front of her, trying to see past the magic that was clearly shielding her from actually being able to tell what was going on.

As far as Sofia knew, Dormammu didn't even know that Sofia was in New York.

Did he?

"I'm going to need backup."

Re: Central Park

[ngm_villains]

"But S'ym planned this when all the heroes were out of the city..."

Re: Central Park

[sorceress_supreme]

"Oh, sweetie. This is New York," Sofia said, pulling a well-worn map of New York City out of the back pocket of her jeans. "There's always a hero or two around somewhere. Let's see," she added as she unfolded the map. She whispered a spell and the map floated in the air, turning until it faced the same direction that Sofia did.

Then she concentrated, willing the map to show her where the various heroes of the city still were. Because there had to be some, right?

As a few bright lights blazed into being on the surface of the map, Sofia smiled.

"See? The Avengers might be out. The Imaginauts might be up to some Imaginaughtiness, but there's always someone here to help." She held her hands over the map and started murmuring an incantation. "Let's start calling them."

Re: Central Park

[ngm_villains]

Petey just watched. This was going to be... interesting.

Re: Central Park

[sorceress_supreme]

Clea had told Sofia many stories about her father as Sofia had grown up. Stories about what a great doctor he'd been before he'd become Master of the Mystic Arts, stories about how there wasn't much that he couldn't do, stories about how he'd loosely allied himself with a group of heroes who called themselves the Defenders.

Suddenly, Sofia felt as though she'd slipped on her father's ridiculous blue tunic and mind-numbingly tragic red cape as the bright lights on the map started giving her information.

Ghost Rider. Valkyrie. Beast's daughter. Namor's daughter. Hellcat and Hellstrom's child.

So much of it a Defenders legacy.

New faces too, such as Vesper and Marion.

She reached out to them.

Most of you guys don't know me. (Hi, Marion!) That's not important right now, though. Doubtlessly, you guys are fighting back some sort of mystic mayhem. New York's under attack, and it needs all of us who are out there fighting to band together and save the city. Probably not for the last time. My name is Sofia Strange, I'm at Central Park, and you all are my only hope or something. So hurry!

Possibly not as eloquent as something her dad could have cooked up, it's true, but time was of the essence.

[im_a_librarian]

Dawn looked over at her costumed friend. "You... you heard that too, right? Please tell me you heard that too."

Because she had enough voices in her head already.

[fear_the_rider]

Tommy did, in fact, hear voices in his head. The fact that this one was female, rather than demon. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

Tommy grabbed Kassi's hand.

"We need to go to Central Park. Don't worry about my bike. It'll be along shortly." he said.

[vesper_verde]

Vesper made a face like someone jabbed a peeled lemon up his nose. He put the heel of his palm to his temple. He did not enjoy the sensation of someone else putting words into his mind.

"I didn't so much as hear it as have it ring in my skull." His hearing being far superior than a regular man's, he would have preferred to have it be heard on the outside of his body.

He let out a slow breath. He maybe shouldn't have gone out as a hero today. Vesper spread his wings and offered a hand to the hyperventilating swordswoman. "Need a lift?"

[didnotwant]

She looks over at the girl she had been fighting with.

"Did you hear that?" The red haired woman is planning on going there anyways. Sofia knows her stuff. They had saved a man's life before. She gets how big this has to be if they are being called together.

[hellkitten]

Liza recognized that voice.

I hope Fertility Fish isn't there waiting.

She pressed her lips together, dug her heels into the possessed bull's sides, and steered it towards Central Park,

"Hiiii-ya!"

[catlikereflexes]

"I did," Frankie said. "We should get to Central Park. Fast."

[atlanteanhellion]

"I'm guessing you heard that, too. You know you kind of smell like a bonfire," Kassi said offhandedly to Tommy as he took her hand and she worked on spiriting them to Central Park. Flight was awesome. "It's kind of hot. Pun mostly not intended."

[fear_the_rider]

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"I don't think you'd feel that way if you knew the reason." he muttered, letting Kassi get them where they needed to go.

[im_a_librarian]

Dawn and her erstwhile super-hero ally were among the first to arrive.

"You," she said, when she saw Sophia. "You were the voice in my head, weren't you?"

[vesper_verde]

Vesper folded in his metallic wings once they both had their feet on the ground. He eyed the brunette warily. He was not too in favor of having anyone in his head.

"I hope there's more than four of us," he muttered to himself. There was this brunette with the head-speaking, the weirded out blonde, and whoever that Marion was alongside himself.

[atlanteanhellion]

"An attractive smell's an attractive smell." Kassi carefully dropped Tommy to the ground just before his feet hit so he'd have a soft landing. She touched down right beside him.

"'sup?" She nodded at Sophia.

[hellkitten]

There was a clattering of bronze hooves, some demonic bovine grunts, and a little brimstone and fire from the possessed bull's nostrils as Liza rode into the scene. She yanked back hard on the line around the bull's neck, making it rear back and stop its gallop.

"You know, you totally suck as a demon." She addressed the bull. "Dad would have fired you. Or served you up to the other demons on a bun with ketchup, whatever."

She looked over the group assembling, and was very pleased to see no male Atlanteans.

"Hi Sofia. Next time, just use the phone, ok?"

[didnotwant]

Marion will offer Frankie a ride in her car. Thankfully Marion can drive like a bat out of hell when she has to get somewhere fast.

"I keep gear for fighting monsters in the trunk of my car. Salt rock shot gun rounds, holy water, different kinds of blades.... The usual stuff. I hunt monsters in my spare time," Marion explains. "Anything ya think we'll need?"

[catlikereflexes]

"Um...all of it?" Frankie said. "I've never actually fought demons before. So I'll trust your judgement."

[sorceress_supreme]

Sofia grinned at Liza. "The telepathy was easier to bring the rest of the Defenders together." Yep. That was that. She called it. "But I'll take that under advisement." She looked at the group assembled. Only two men? Good. It was about time that the girls got to get their game on.

"So, as I'm sure you guys are aware, there're wacky hijinks going on, of the demonic, less-than-fun variety. We, ah, need to put a stop to it."

[im_a_librarian]

Dawn sucked in a sharp breath. "So... actual, hell on Earth demons? Demon demons? End of the world stuff? Oh God..."

[vesper_verde]

Vesper blinked and then rubbed his eyes. Of all the times to go active during the daytime. Also, having worked the streets for a couple years, he had no clue who most of these people were in terms of superheroics.

"Você desgraçou minha vida," which sounded weird with his voice modulator making it come out in a bad French accent.

[hellkitten]

"A Hell on Earth kind of demons. There's more than one. And these guys smell like Limbo."

Liza hopped off the back of the bronze bull, keeping a grip on the line around its neck.

"Down Bossy. Stay. Good demon."

The bull snorted and jerked on the line.

"I mean Bad Demon, bad! Who's a bad little demon? Yes, you are!"

She glared at it, letting it get a tiny glimpse of the far bigger, badder demon that she was bonded to, and that she would never have acknowledged if things weren't going to Hell around them. Maybe the invasion was affecting her own demonic heritage a little bit. The possessed bull immediately quieted, and made a sound that almost sounded like a moo.

She turned to Sofia. "So, what do we do to send them back?"