2236/The Hand Scene 2

The Hand Scene 2
Date of Scene:	31 August 2017
Location:	Madripoor
Synopsis:	City under siege
Cast of Characters:	Wolverine, 1316, Molly Millions, Jubilee, 1357, Sam Axe, Black Knight

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Wolverine has posed:
    It was a cold night. Cold for Madripoor. The moon was still full, and covered in a red mist. A blood moon two nights in a row was a bad sign. A bad sign indeed. After the situation at the docks last night, the city has been under a state of siege. Martial Law has been declared as villains and organized crime have caused chaos in the streets! Every where you turn, someone was getting robbed, stabbed, run over, or kidnapped. It was like the City has gone crazy!

    At the epicenter of it all was Patch and his team of misfits. After the poison had been banished from their bodies, or had settled into their systems, some of the combatants and heroes from the previous night could not make it this time around. Some were fighting through the pain and the poison because they wanted another shot at the Hand and at Gorgon and his disappearing princess. Others wanted to ensure that Order was restored to Madripoor. A select few wanted one thing...to ensure that Gorgon did not use the Iron Fist's "chi charged" blood to open a portal to K'un L'un and the other Seven Cities of Heaven. Rumours were spread throughout the city that a battle was coming...tonight. All those who wanted to fight for the "good guys", this was their chance.

    On a side note, the amulet was still not found. However, Gorgon has found another way to open the "Gates of Heaven". The Blood. Why must it always be blood?

    If the portal was opened, and the minions of the Hand laid siege to those cities, the entire Universe may fall into death, destruction, and chaos. The Seven Cities of Heaven were the last guardians of Peace. Order. Tranquility. Serenity. Love. Honor. Discipline. Without those traits, life would never be the same again.

    "Lissen up." Patch frowns as he regards all of the "heroes" that were present from last night. There may even be more allies waiting in the shadows...and they were all standing out front of Wolfram and Hart's SE Asian Headquarters. As evil and high tech as it comes.

    Shaking his head Patch grumbles under his breath. "Misfits...man. This is tha' army a' life?" Sighing, Patch says, "Okay. We are outnumbered. Outgunned. Intel says they gotta supernatural hocus pocus magician-type from Wolfram and Hart ta' help them. So...not good. This means we go all in. Charge through the doors, and overwhealm them wit' our charm!" Patch chuckles. "Any questions b'fer we charge inta' tha' lion's den?" Patch glowers at everyone, trying to use his glare ta' prevent questions. His eyes find each of them. Now would be the time.

Hana Yoshida (1316) has posed:
    Hana stands near Patch, her arms crossed over her chest. She's pulled a mempo, a face mask over the bottom half of her pale viage and tied her hair back into a tight bun. "No questions, Katame-kun." Such disrespect for the 'One-eye'. "Will you be angry if the building is burned down? Would that not be easier?" she wonders.

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly's unopened bar in Low Town's still open for triage, and though she didn't have many weapons to offer out, there was at least a few to hand out to those who needed a little bit of fire power boost. Still, rather than hole up in her bar... she's here, in High Town, with a bunch of people she doesn't know. She's mostly watching the street from behind her silver lenses, keeping an eye on their collective backs with her carbine held loose but ready.

    "Magicians die just like regular people, right?" experience with the magical, minimal,"Breaking up and entering via different points would probably be more efficient if we're not just going to burn the place down..." she's on board with that idea,"Other than that... what's the goal here? You're resilient, but if you die and none of the rest of us know what the deal is... we're all kind of screwed."

Jubilee has posed:
In the back of the group, a figure stands solemnly. She watches the others. She watches Patch. The petite Asian closes her eyes. Her body is strong again. The slit across her throat a mending scar. Her eyes are a stormy and tumultuous grey-blue, for now. Black tanktop and fatigues. Strawberry bubble gum that hasn't tasted like anything to her since before she was turned. Still, the cell-memory helps her focus. Her eyes are now focused on Patch, unyielding. When she closes them, she still hears the fiery pulse. Sees its sanguine glow with each beat. This is what she clings to, now. The only thing worth fighting for. She opens her eyes again and avoids all other eye contact. They know what she must have done. She does not need their judgment. If someone had to die, that she could protect him, then so be it. She has no regrets. She's quite simply...ready.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
"Listen, all of you," says a woman who has joined the group, holding what looks like a colorful cosplay prop. "I don't know who any of you are and I don't particularly care. - Don't call me a misfit. - But I came to this settlement for two reasons. One was to pursue a line of credit for my business ventures, and the other one was to have fun."

Xingmay Xitua has a white pressure bandage over one eyebrow, which has soaked up slightly too red blood. Her lips are pulled back.

"Well I had my application denied and there is some kind of PSYCHOTIC ACTING-OUT PARTY in your PRIMITIVE STREETS which is even touching ME, an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT PERSON. If you're telling me," this to Patch, "that this is the epicenter of this truth-forsaken hell-scape that is COMPLETELY INTERRUPTING MY ATTEMPT AT RELAXATION, then I am going to make everyone in this building wet themselves with sheer terror. AND -"

Xingmay shouts up at the building, "AND YOU KNOW I'M A MONEY MILL, YOU MISERABLE GONADLESS PENCIL-PUSHING CREDIT LORDS OF A FORSAKEN GLOBE!"

The woman with the mirror eyes is talking sense. "Burn the place down?" Xingmay says, adjusting SOMETHING on her cosplay gun. She then aims it at the door. It starts to produce a low throbbing hum that cosplay guns usually don't. "HM WHAT AN EXCITING IDEA! Since I'm cooperating with all of you, and you've got the advantage of native knowledge, I'll be glad to take your instructions and guidance under advisement. Say the word whenever you've got your pants fully buckled and your shoes washed, girls and boys!"

Is she on coke? (maybe)

Wolverine has posed:
    "Good." Patch adjusts his eye patch, and lights a cigar. Puffing absently, he exhales, allowing a nimbus of smoke to waft around him like a fall mist. Nodding to Hana, Patch snorts, and shakes his head. "As long as we get Gorgon, and he doesn't complete this insane ritual, than I'm good." Logan turns, and looks at Molly with a grin. "Magicians die just like regular people...stab 'em, shoot 'em, trample 'em...stab 'em again. They die."

     Patch pauses as he heads towards the building, the sounds of mayhem and chaos in the streets ringing all around them. His ears and eyes are on full alert, as he continues with Molly's question, "Stop the ritual. Destroy Iron Fist's blood. Get out alive. Think ya' kin handle alla that kid?" Patch smiles and regards Jubilee just for a moment, and nods, almost imperceptibly. The signal that he is glad she is alright.

    As Patch regards Jack for a moment, he sniffs, nods and knows the "man" can handle himself. Moving towards the building, Patch says, "Now be prepared fer ninjas. They took us by surprise last night, but not tonight."

    Patch blinks, as Xingmay joins the group, makes her comments, and aims her gun at the doors. Patch can't help but grin at her, and nod. "Well. Welcome aboard than. AH'm guessing stealth is na' yer strong suit?" Patch chuckles and turns his attention to the building as the doors blow open from Xigmay's artillery!

    Strangely enough, the building seems...dead. Dark It was 9 o'clock, but everything was locked up tight. Not a creature stirs, not a light was on. "Funny..." Patch says as they arrive at the entrances, the rubble from the front now covering the floors inside the building. "AH'd at least thought there'd be alarms...everyone be careful! Sumethin's wrong!"

    That was when knives, arrows, bolts, darts, and other ancient weapons found their way from the darkness...zipping towards the team through the air! Shadows mill around in the darkness...shadows that congeal into the ninja soldiers of the Hand! Another ambush!

Jubilee has posed:
"MotherFU**ER!" Jubilation reaches this way and that trying to reach the knife embedded to the hilt in her back between her shoulderblades. She spins on her heel and fires off what...looks to be a red bottle rocket? From her hand, attacking the darkness. "I cast MAGIC MISSILE!" And sure enough, somewhere in the darkness, the missile finds its target and explodes, sending body parts everywhere. "That's what you GET," she utters in the assailant's general direction. Then, reaching and writhing in burning pain, she is trying to get at the knife buried in her back.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Kid?" Molly finds that amusing,"Kill everything that moves, burn the rest." her eyes are still on the street as Xingmay starts shouting and there's the whoomp boom to get the proverbial party started. The woman with the silver lenses has nightvision, but the flash and sound nearby blots her vision for those critical pico-seconds when the ninja let loose. Twitch reflexes are good, though, given the lack of hesitation in the way the carbine comes up. Ancient weapons and guys in pajamas... meet bullets. She doesn't choose to call out, she figures others can head to cover before she'll follow.

Hana Yoshida (1316) has posed:
    Hana shakes her head. "You have too many..." then the ninja weapons start flying. She dodges a couple and melts a few more as they reach the gree flame that engulfs her hands suddenly. "I'll be your reserve. Signal me somehow and I'll bur... I wull cover your escape."

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
"I want one of those," Xingmay tells Patch, pointing at his cigar.

ZZZZZZZKRAK! goes the tri-plas people. "collapse" goes the door.

"K," Xingmay says as Hana bows out, and then a throwing star whips towards her. "Guh!" she says, ducking low and adjusting the dials on her weapon in some kind of arcane way. This may come off as nothing in particular until a shrieking, glowing fan of energy arcs out into the room, aimed sort of generally speaking at ninjas. It's not so much a 'stun' weapon as a 'I'm not trying to blow up the building or blow holes in walls so maybe you can survive being hit with this?' level of weapon.

"I hate when they fight back!" she shouts over Molly's firepower.

Sam Axe has posed:
Like a good solider Sam was silent throug the briefing making sure he and his gear were ready for action. When Ninja-mania commences Sam's vest keeps him collecting a pension but a brace of throwing stars bite into his left arm. He returns fire into the shadow managing to give better than he got. He exject the emptied clip and slams a new magazine into his gun and says to Patch, "Just so you know, this squares us for Guatamala." He goes one to kvetch to himself, "What I wouldn't give for a nice normal quasi-governmental conspiracy."

Wolverine has posed:
    As combat commences between the soldiers of light, and the minions of darkness, a deep thrumming can be felt coming from down the main coridor towards the main conference centre. It was dark and sends shivers up the spines of all who hear it. The thrum was joined by the sounds of something. It was a gutteral language that was as ancient as it was black and dark. Those who understood ancient languages and the languages of sorcery would understand it was bad news.

    A splash of light could also be seen between the two security doors of the conference centre. On either side of those doors appears to be two statues of polished obsidian, statues that appear to be samurai, with obsidian armor and obsidian swords. They peer towards you from the end of the hallway, but don't move at all.

    The team starts in on the bad guys, with Jubilee's colorful remarks and explosive abilities making short work of several Hand. Molly fires off her modern equivalant of projectiles, the metal meeting flesh with satisfying sounds. Hana backs off to be their backup. As Patch grabs a sword from a fallen Hand, he protects the others as they get organized from the surprise action. "Sure. Here.

    Patch takes his cigar out of his mouth, and tosses it to Xingmay. "Promise I don't got cooties 'er nuthin'!" Patch nods to Sam, and grins. "Sure. Tha' makes what, only 5 ya' owe me now? Heh." Looking over his shoulder, Patch waves to the now armored man. Pointing at the end of the Hallway where the sounds are coming from, Patch says, "We need ta' get in there, Knight. Think we kin' handle it?"

    

Jubilee has posed:
Leaning back against the corner of a stub wall, Jubilation catches the pommel of the knife in her back, and rakes it out, sideways, as it cuts its way out of her flesh. She gives a guttural cry as it clatters to the ground at her feet. Fresh blood running down her back from the wound and soaking her clothes, Jubilation joins by Patch's side and watches in the direction of the thrumming, and listens to orders. "This is gonna hurt a lot, innit?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    Cover? Cover,"Sooner we get off the street, less likely we are to die." Molly notes. It's hard to tell that she spares a look for Jubilee thanks to the lenses covering her eyes, but with Xingmay endeavoring to blast a path ahead she's apparently content to try and keep the ninja as suppressed as she can for now to let the others get inside the dubious protection of the office's main entrance.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
Xingmay snatches the cigar tossed out of Patch's mouth, out of the air. She gives it a brief dubious glance, before she makes another shot with that weird fan of plasmic light. Which is apparently strong against ninjas.

She takes an extremely tentative pull, then seems to decide it is worth holding in her teeth. The world begins to vibrate in a way that is exactly and perfectly /not/ sexy, and so Xingmay hnfs as she walks forwards, scenically rainbow-prismatic mist rising from the still hot barrel of her gun.

Then in she goes. She then looks over her shoulder, accepting the presence of the man on horseback. But she does say, "Won't you get snarled up?" but he's on his way already.

Sam Axe has posed:
Sam nods at Molly's words, "Not dying is always high on my list of priorities." Once the hole is make he starts to move forward pausing perodically to provide cover fire to let the others advance, a fairly standrad tactic. He comments back to Patch, "I thought it was four, you forgetting the bar in Arizona, "That waitress was crazy..."

Wolverine has posed:
    "Yep. A lot." Patch's eyes find Jubilee, and he grins. "Nuthin' ya' can't handle." Twang. Shhhhkkktttt. Patch blocks a sword from one of the few remaining Hand ninja's, and buries the sword in the ninja's chest. "Too easy..." Patch grumbles to himself. "We can't a' killed off alla them last night..."

    Patch nods. "Exactly Molly. Inside. We need ta' go down that Hallway. Move." His eyes narrow as he looks down the gloomy hallway. "Those two statues...hmmm." Patch then looks at Sam, and his eyes squint at him. "Maybe...I thought tha' one was more "a draw". She got both of us..."

    That was when the Black Knight solves the problem for them. "Ha! Everyone, follow the Knight and Rainbow Girl!" Patch points at the hole in the wall leading to the conference centre with his stolen sword.

    As they all enter into the conference centre, having avoided trap #2, their eyes adjust to the ambient light from several braziers littered around the huge room. On the main stage is an ancient alter, carved with runes and symbols from the dawn of time, when Ancient Gods and Demons roamed the Earth.

    There are seven shadowy figures in robes the color of crimson or blood red with their hoods up, covering their faces. Near the alter of the right hand side is a man, with two horns coming out of his forehead and wearing a rich, pinstrip suit who appears very bored. He looks down at the fingernails of one hand and...sighs?

    Laying on the alter, not restrained at all, is an asian woman, pale and beautiful with raven dark hair. Her face is one of ecstacy as the ritual continues. On the other side of the alter is Gorgon. His face looks at you, and twists in rage!

    "You are two late! The ritual is almost done! Soon, I will march upon the gates of the 7 Cities, and conquer them! Then, the Hand will rule this miserable world!"

    The voices do not stop, chanting and chanting. You can all feel the power building within them, within you as the voices begin to climb upwards towards a crescendo. Suddenly, you can see that the asian woman's wrists have been slit as her blood catches fire, arching towards an ancient symbol at the front of the altar. She does not appear in pain, however, as the fire begins to consume her. That was when you notice Gorgon pull something out of his jacket pocket. Something small, but hard to make out.

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly's the last to follow, just to be on the safe side, but backing in to the room she whistles to Sam and underhands him the carbine, confident that he knows how to handle it and that it frees up her own hands,"Kill everything that moves... burn the rest?" it's not really a question, she hasn't forgotten. She's wired for speed, and though she elects to go around the side rather than straight up the middle to keep the firelines clear for those still armed with projectiles, her split-second decision is to aim towards Gorgon in the general theory that if projectiles don't work someone needs to be close enough to stop the magic guy from doing his thing or it's going to go very badly for the rest of them.

Jubilee has posed:
There was power in this place. Jubilation felt it the way she felt it when, in the night, Lord Dracula came to her bed to wake her from her living nightmares. She felt it as surely as she felt it that night, and she knew that he was right. Limitless power, waiting to be used. She would be the one to take it, not these asshats. Taking one step forward, she lifted her hands into the air, allowing thin lines of light like spiderweb to form in the air around her, and her group. They gathered energy, gathered power. Crackled with intensity. She raised her hands to pull down her brass goggles over her eyes, and spoke softly to those around her. "Avert yer eyes...It's Showtime." And as she raised her hands again, swiftly as a composer, the web disintigrated, as each of the hooded figures went up in flames like magnesium, blindingly, incendiary, and hot enough to steal her breath. The expression on her face...is euphoric.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
"Who's Rainbow Girl?" Xingmay says as she troops on forwards, before giving Molly a glance. Another glance. She considers matters for a moment, but there is something much worse going on here.

"Excuse me! - EXCUSE ME!" Xingmay shouts as Gorgon announces things. She snaps her fingers shortly thereafter during the part about the miserable world being ruled. "If you don't like it so much, you can get lost! The Kree could always use more slave-flesh and you can probably act like a big shot to sell yourself to them!"

Then blood fire starts happening. Xingmay hesitates visibly. "Uh?" she says to Jubilee.

Then, "GYAHHH!!!" as she sets off her bursts of pyrotechnics.

Sam Axe has posed:
Sam Axe catches the carbine and smiles at Molly, "Thanks, I'll put it to good use." He closes his eyes but us still seeing spots from Jubilee's fireworks when he opens them. "Big guy is likely bullet proof, they always are." As his vision clears he opens up on any of the chanting cultists that are left standing.

Wolverine has posed:
    Patch sighs."Ah know Knight, ah know. Ah' hear ya'. Dammit. Take all the fun outta killin'..." Patch growls, and yells at Gorgon, "Stop this now Gorgon, and we might spare ya!" Patch knows that his words were falling on deaf ears, though, he was just trying to buy time. But time was something they did not have. As the team leaps into action, Patch follows suit...heading right for the stage and the altar.

    Combat. When things slow down for true warriors, and each of the souls in here fighting for the good guys could feel it. Molly fires at Gorgon, and as the projectiles streak towards the target, Jubilee enters the fray and draws on her powers...she can feel the darkness calling to her.

    "That's it...use the power...use it..." It wasn't just euphoria she felt...it was something else, something she felt that was a part of the ritual...something in this building. TRUE darkness and evil. And it was reaching for her.

    The shrieks of agony and pain from the seven cloaked figures fills the air in combination with all the sounds of combat, firearms, and...was the Earth shaking? Xingmay's pyrotechnics and Sam's shots finish the "dark clerics" off, easily, after Jubilee's amazing display.

    The Black Knight strives to rescue the woman on the altar, and successfully he puts out the flames, but she was all but gone. The spark of life lowly fading as her life blood burned bright, and then starts to fade.

    It was through all of it that Molly notes that the projectiles did strike Gorgon, and he drops to the floor with a grunt, out of sight behind the huge altar. Was it over?

    Through all of it, one thing remains. The richly dressed "man" that was standing just out of reach of the power display that had just happened. The "man" looks at Patch and the team, then the other side of the altar, and frowns.

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly probably didn't hear Dane's words... or she's ignoring them, because she's super good with the whole killing thing to judge from the face that the silver lensed woman doesn't break stride with gunfire and fire. The Black Knight might be trying to save the girl but well, to the cyborg she's already a lost cause and she's trying to get a line on Gorgon to plant a few more fletchette's in him and keep him down with the intent of jumping him and make sure he goes down permanent-like in the only way she knows how. Guns and blades.

Jubilee has posed:
It -was- more than euphoria. Something in this place sang to her bones and sang to her blood. The heartbeat - his heartbeat - has at once faded from her mind. Lost to the group, Jubilation lifted her goggles and removed them, eyes shining bright and icy blue. The fire that pulsed within her until now, a heartbeat usurped to help her remember who she was...it was gone. Patch was there. But the connection was broken as she dropped the goggles with a clatter at her feet and walked into the fray, arms out at her sides, filling her cup from this well.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
Xingmay knows what to do with an unarmed man in the middle of a crisis situation:

Point your gun at him. Taking the cigar from her lips with the other hand, since it went out in all that blasting, she shouts at him, "Reach for the clouds or I'll drink your blood!"

Of course Molly may be going for him, so perhaps this is a set up so the cyborg can rip his guts? (Xingmay is internally screaming.)

Sam Axe has posed:
Sam is normally right there with Dane when it comes to avoiding killing but he is also a soldier and that training is likely the only thing keeping him sane at the moment since magic and ninjas aren't his normal bag, though in deference to the knight he does stop firing for the moment and he advances though honestly in hand to hand against a he will likely be out classed.

Wolverine has posed:
    As the sounds of fire die out, and the moans and screams are nothing more than the occasional whimper, the tall Asian man with the two horns dressed in the suit turns to face the team. His voice is almost melodic but it is also cold and dispassionate. His eyes find Patch, and he says, "You must be this...person they call "Patch"." The "man's" eyes look at each of the heroes in turn. Lingering on Xingmay for a second or two longer, his hands twitch, but do not rise. He continues, "And his rag tag team of do gooders. Hurumph."

    Looking back at Patch he says, "You are trespassing. You have destroyed our little ritual with your bumbling and pyrotechnics. Not before the door was opened just a crack, of course. Only one thing remains, of course." That was...something.

    "Normally this, "The "man" waves his hands around the room, "...would be a sentence of death, but the Senior Partners have taken a liking to one of your team, Mr. Patch." The "man's" eyes look right at Jubilee. "Seems she is a kindred spirit. She is ours. If you don't believe us, ask her yourself." The "man" smiles and it is not a nice smile. "Or, we can take him. Or his blade." The "man" points at Dane.

    As Molly and Sam come around the side, and they look where Gorgon was kneeling, they can tell he is still alive. And that he is barely controlling his anger and rage. Molly notices that her shots were excellent. Gorgon was currently holding his throat together with his right hand as his healing factor repairs the neck and upper chest shots that cut his carotid.

    Molly, Dane and Sam all see it at the same time...in Gorgon's left hand was the bag with the knife. The knife that contains...Iron Fist's blood!

Molly Millions has posed:
    The guy with the horns, he's clearly the power, but Molly recalls well enough the glee they had about obtaining Iron Fist's blood. It's the flick of a thumb to dial up the fletchette to fully automatic, and with her own kind of electric whine the whhhiirr *FWOOMF* accompanying the flight of twenty darts is aimed at Gorgon even as she moves in with the intent of grabbing the bag with the knife. Patch has the command of the greater issues so she keeps her focus lazer sharp on her particular target in the potentially mistaken thought that without the bloodied knife whatever mystical door stuff they're talking about will hopefully stay closed. Her strategy for Gorgon is all about giving him too much to heal for him to stop her short term at least.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilation tilts her head, listening to the call. A voice singing, the words indiscernible. The voice is soft, and beautiful, and it calls to every fibre of her being. Circling the room slowly, she reaches out to touch artifacts, symbols of a forgotten god perhaps. Or one who is not so forgotten. The song is all that she can hear. There is no more pain, and no more anger. There is no fear, and no discord. There is only the song, and the voice that bears it up. The words have no more meaning to her ears than nightsong, when all the earth mourns the death of day, or the mockingbird's midnight warble, crying for the dawn. Perhaps there is worse than darkness. Perhaps the morning is nothing more than the death of night. The song finishes, softly fading, as Jubilation peers into a pitcher, and sees, to her astonishment, the breath and vibration of sound upon the water that bears no reflection. She takes her place by the horned man's side. The song was hers, all along.

Sam Axe has posed:
Sam Axe waits until Molly fires at Gorgon and then advances with her, he lets her handle the bag as he attempt to whack the guy with the horns right between the horns with the butt of the carbine.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
Xingmay makes a face when she's put in a rag-tag team of do-gooders. She isn't rag tag at all, although when Jubilee is indicated, she gives the other woman a sharp, startled look.

Her strange weapon is warily raised, loosely towards the ceiling. "What in the cosmos--"

Wolverine has posed:
    Out of the corner of his eye, Patch sees what Molly has planned and approves. As the darts fire towards Gorgon, Patch starts to move. Vaulting the stage with a quick leap, Patch lands on all fores in front of the "man" with the horns, and then stands up straight. Xingmay notices the same things everyone else does. Something is wrong with Jubilee.

    Looking at Jubilee, Patch knows something is wrong. His eyes then return to the "man". Then, it happens. This was no time to keep his "identity" secret, not when Jubilee's soul was at stake. "SNIKT!"

    The three blades appear as they come out of his right forearm, and Patch holds them up to the throat of the "man". The "man's" eyes flash in rage and then regards the Black Knight as he moves forward and the "man's" expression changes to one of...fear? He was afraid of the sword. "Wait...perhaps we can talk about this..."

    In the meantime, Molly keeps pumping darts into Gorgon, so much so that even his incredible healing is having issues. Gorgon struggles to dodge, but there is very little he can do as Sam's carbine "klunk's" him in the forehead, dazing him. As Sam and Molly tag team Gorgon, Molly dives for the knife while a dazed Gorgon struggles to keep it away from her. Then, suddenly they slip on all the blood! Gorgon twists, loses his balance and...plunges it into his chest with a dull "thunk"

    Gorgon's eyes go wide with shock, as he feels the energy of the ritual begin to consume him. Fire and white light surround him like a nimbus of energy, and with a flash, Gorgon is gone, his screams echoing in the huge conference room!

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilation only watches with a detached and impassive expression as claws are put to the throat of the horned man. She lifts her hand slowly and places it upon Logan's arm. Her resolve is quiet and patient, but stronger than it has ever been. She gazes into his blue eyes and imparts one thought to him. <Let them take me. I would die for you. It has always been this way.> The rest of the chaos in the room is beyond her reach. The touch, however, ignites the extinguished flame within her. The fiery pulse, so far from her senses that she can scarcely hear it, is vanquished again before she can take hold. A conscious choice. One cannot mourn the loss of that which she cannot remember.

Molly Millions has posed:
    On one hand, Molly definitely came out the better on that. Being... y'know, not stabbed in the chest. Though arguably Gorgon's probably not the softest landing spot she could have picked if it hadn't been a case of flail-grabbing for the first thing she could snag with her free hand. But that noise. It's almost not a noise, and yet for her it's the loudest sound in the room right now... especially punctuated as it is by his screaming.

    There isn't really time to even think 'oops' as she endeavors to scrabble back out of scorch range of the fire, back up to the altar and slapping at her clothes. Even her clueless-about-magic ass knows /that/ cannot be good. So not good. Fire and light and screaming... so not a good thing. She's not even stressing about being singed or looking like an extra from Carrie right now. There's just that moment of 'oh shit... something bad is about to go down'.

Sam Axe has posed:
Once gorgon disappears he offers the carbine back to Molly and smiles, "That wasnt so bad, heck i didn't even have to use the ninja fighting techniques I learned from Masters Howard, Howard, and Fine." He looks around for a mometn to see who else is old enough for that joke then back down to his bleeding arm. "I think it is time for a mojito." He seems to be willfully ignoringthe magical wierdness around him.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
"Ah!" Xingmay says when the SNIKTery occurs - but for her, at least, it has no deeper meaning. The bloody demise(?) of Gorgon makes her lip curl, her face blanching in an odd way, as the tension in the room fades - at least for her.

"Is that normal?" she asks Molly. "I've never seen anyone die like that before. If that was actually death at all."

Black Knight has posed:
    Metal gives a sighing rasp as it is sheathed. The shield vanishes. He deadpans, "That is not good. I cannot see how anyone getting stabbed with the blood of the Iron Fist then vanishing in a flare of light and fire can end well at the conclusion of a hellish ritual that took the life of this lady over here." His voice is grim.
    He looks about. "I do not mean to be smug or overly moralistic. I... " The Crusades. His eyes are distant for a moment. "There are ways to stop people without killing. Just... consider it. Even in Madripoor." He regards 'Patch' for a moment, then gives the older man a respectful nod. The knight moves over to respectfully situate the sacrificed girl's corpse with a certain grim dignity.

Wolverine has posed:
    Patch looks down at Jubilee's touch on his arm, and says, simply, "No." His eyes look back at the "man", his barely contained rage and fury threatening to boil over. A slight red ooze drips out of his neck where the three tips of his claws start to penetrate the "man's" neck. "Release her or a' give ya' ta' tha' Black Knight." Patch's eyes find Dane's, and he nods.

    The "man's" eyes close for a moment, and the voices release Jubilee, although the longing is still there. It probably always will. The "man" opens his eyes, and smiles, without warmth. Cold...and deadly.

    "This isn't over "Patch". You have pissed off some very powerful entities with your little adventure here. They wanted that portal to K'un L'un and the other Celestial Cities for their own, not for some "lacky" to use it. The hard way."

    Patch lowers his claws and growls while the "man" adjusts his tie as the blood dripping slightly from his neck stains his dress shirt at the collar.

    Ignoring the "man", Patch starts to leaves out towards the big hole Dane made, and then looks to each of his teammates as they chat about what just happened. Patch's claws find their way back into his forearm with a "SNIKT!"

    "Nice work. Alla ya'. Never thought we'd make it alive." Patch clasps Dane on the left shoulder with his right hand while nodding to Sam. "Thanks fer havin' my back. Mojito's on me."

    Patch regards Dane thoughtfully for a moment, and says, "Ah'll try and kill less next time." Patch chuckles and shakes his head. "You are right though, Knight. Alla ya' are right." Patch looks at Xingming and nods. "Somethin' happened there. It ain't over. Yet. That was...wrong. Ah don't think Gorgon's dead." Patch releases Dane, and turns to face Molly and Xingmay. "Ya' both were amazin'. Thank you. We wouldna won this battle without ya'." Last, Patch regards Jubilee, concern etched on his face, "You okay kid? Ah'm worried about ya'."

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly is admittedly braced for something a little more... kaboomy... but when it doesn't happen she reaches up to take the carbine back, lurching to her feet with a huff,"Yeh. Mojito's." she responds distractedly, electing to reach down and snag the knife that did Gorgon in uneasily as she nods at Dane. Only to scowl slightly,"Really. I mean... I know you lot with your 'no killing' thing think that's the best idea and whatever... but the only good enemy is a dead one." she can't help but scowl,"Y'get to make your own though, Sam. I bought some mint leaves for the bar though." she stows the carbine, apparently content, for now, to stomp away and try to drown out the memories with some vodka, in the least.

Xingmay Xitua (1357) has posed:
Xingmay looks at Patch. "Oh, you're so correct," she tells him in tones that should be saying 'oh, you're too kind.' She tosses her hair as she does, and then asks him - "Is it over?"

Her eyes trail after the departing Molly again. Perhaps she's tempted. By Mojitos.

Jubilee has posed:
In that instant, the voices that call to Jubilation are gone. The solace and comfort they offered her fall away like ashes, consumed and dispersed by the wind. Once again, the hunger and chaos burn inside her. The world spins sideways, as the Jubilation reaches out for anything to steady her. That one steady thing is Logan. It always has been. Catching him and wrapping her arms around him, she hides her face against his shoulder, her sobs muffled against his clothing. The fire inside is alight again. The pulse, and pulse, and pulse throngs softly into her mind and resonates through her body. She should never have expected anything less. Logan is Logan. And Jubilee is once again Jubilee.

Sam Axe has posed:
Sam removes the stars in his arm and uses his shirt sleves as makshift bandages. When Patch says the Mojitos are on him, he grins, "I will hold you too taht, and maybe some nachos too." After all he is never one to miss the chance to cage free drinks or free food. He walks out with the others starting off with a story, "Did I ever tell any of you about the time...."

Black Knight has posed:
    "We share an association with a certain foundation." The Black Knight assures Patch. "If you need me, you can get in contact with me. I... might be knocking on that door here in the next few days myself." His sigh is soft. "Please, if you need me at all, Thor knows where I live, He drinks my beer."
    After getting the body composed, Black Knight quietly says, "If they are still outside, there are captives there. I doubt they know much. I will be In New York... in a matter of hours. Many hours, but hours nonetheless." He stands. "So long as they do not have the key." he looks about the room. So much blood. His head shakes. "I am at your disposal."

Black Knight has posed:
    "You'll know it's me if there is a horse in the lawn?" He asks, his voice softly deadpan and deprecating as the knight stands.