7990/Evil Resonance

Evil Resonance
Date of Scene:	22 June 2019
Location:	Harlem - New York Public Library
Synopsis:	Hapless Professor summmons Demon. Innocent bystander transformed. Books burned. Chaos. Magic is a pain in the ass.
Cast of Characters:	Ghost Spider, Mon-El, Daniel Osborn, Doctor Strange

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Ghost Spider has posed:
This is not a great part of town. Not really.

Very high crime rate. Lots of homeless. Drugs. Gangs.

Sure there are some heroes who police Harlem and of course the NYPD but a lot of the threats aren't really quite the nature that one can just punch.

Really civic action and reform with government assistance and community organizing would be more effective than a punch to the head of a drug dealer long term.

One thing though on the plus side for this part of town is it is home to the New York Public Library. Which means it sees foot traffic between it and the subways or other modes of transit that are not all local to the neighborhood.

Honestly one can find a crazy variety of books in that library.

Unfortunately on Friday the 21st of June an occult researcher in the rare book section of the library has cracked open a book that shouldn't be in this library and started to read.

Really unfortunate is Dr. Parson's habit of reading under his breath when sounding out very difficult words in ancient languages.

Meanwhile the early evening sky around the Library for several blocks, seems to darken faster than elsewhere in the city.

Shadows loom and grow long.

The walls between our world and another terrible dimension creak and even splinter a bit.

Suddenly from the gutter near the library lurches a creature whose substance seems to be the stuff of shadows, though it has needles for fingertips and teeth look like broken pipes. A fire burning where it's eyes should be.

Cue the screaming people in front of the library backing away.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar had been at the library himself, paging through books about various Terran cultures. Even though he had spent a significant amount of time on this planet, there was still so much to learn. So much he didn't actually know. Unlike Kal and Kara, he didn't grow up here. And he still ends up in other parts of the galaxy quite often as well. Of course, the internet helped in that matter too, but sometimes it was hard to weed through what was truth and what was rumor or just...someone trolling naive people.

    However, when things suddenly seems to get be getting darker at an unnatural rate, he definitely gets the feeling that something is off. Then people are screaming, and a monster climbs out of the gutter outside. In a flash, the Daxamite is out the door and flying straight at the thing, with the full intent of punching it...extremely far. Because punching shadows totally makes sense.

Daniel Osborn has posed:
Oz was driving through this part of town, headed for the library, in fact. He stops and parks a block away when he notices the sky getting dark, and starts heading down the sidewalk in the direction of the library. When he spots the monster thing and hears the screams, he takes off at a sprint. He's not going to try and stop it, not yet, but he's trying to get closer to get a better look at this thing, and hopefully think of what to do. He slips around all the other people, running as fast as he possibly can right for the library. it won't take him long to get there.

Ghost Spider has posed:
That doesn't really work out brilliantly for the Daxamite. A+ for Effort though. Heroic. Definitely. Still when one tries to punch a shadow or even body slam into them... it is not very effective. Mon-El finds the monster to be less substantial than he had hoped. Passing through the creature and out the other side moving very fast.

It burns and even scratches through, must be the fire inside it and the 'teeth'. Not something Mon-El is really use to being effective but ... magic.

The creature doesn't seem to slow down much as it lurches along and then reaches out much faster than a lurch and strikes at one of the library patrons who was turning and then stumbling down onto the steps. The young man .. isn't sliced up though, the talons .. those syringes... just stick into him. Which is the point at which the young man who was stabbed starts to spasm and jerk sliding down the steps. Shadows hissing from the wounds as he starts to slowly turn into something similar to the creature on the steps now.

Gwen is not entirely happy with the darkening. Which is fair. Still she hears screams and swings towards the Library as well and ends up on a street light, which is not putting out as much light as it should there. "What the heck is that thing!?" and she raises a hand and thwiiiips a web shot that explodes in webbing all over the thing. Which starts to ooze through it pretty quickly, though maybe it did help a smidge, advancing slowly up the steps. "Slime?" Magic? What is this thing??" says Gwen out of her depths.

Mon-El has posed:
    Ugh, it's another one of those stupid magic things that can't be punched! Lar really -hates- those! He ends up going right through it and smashing into a fence, which buckles under the impact of his unearthly tough body. Plus, whatever was inside of it kind of burned. Yep, definitely magic because if not he wouldn't have even felt that.

    "Clearly something magic." He replies to Gwen as she arrives on the scene. Well at least her webs seemed to be a little bit more effective than him trying to punch a shadow. Then he notices one of the library patrons apparently getting turned. Oh, -perfect-. He tries something different this time, flying up into the air and blasting the creature with his laser vision.

Daniel Osborn has posed:
Oz watches everything go on, and his eyes widen as he sees what this thing is capable of, turns, and flees as fast as he can back toward his van. He's not getting involved with this, whatever it is, except to try and kill it with a van when he drives past. Other than that, he's out.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    A voice becons from near by, a psychic wave of energy is washed across the library, calming those within and around the public building, and yet there's the urge pushed to those within to disperse in a timely manner. Though it seems late for a few unfortunate patrons as the Shadow has already begun consuming and converting them into something much more sinister.

    The source of the wave, A man wearing a blue gi with a yellow belt tied at his waist above a pair of slacks and pair of dockers that have definitely seen better days. He glances his grey eyes around and spies a few people stepping up to help, heroes, and smiles to himself. "You three who would delve into hells lesser people would flee from, this is not a fight for any of you." Stephen says his voice booming loudly but not overbearingly.

    Strange lowers himself to stand before the two foes and a sircle around his fist as he creates a spell to defend himself physically should the beast attack. "I am this realms sorcerer supreme and I stand not alone this day. I recommend you return to whence you came demon."

Ghost Spider has posed:
That is a bit more effective actually. The laser vision that is. Not that it really works that well on the shadowy substance that seems to be congealing more like tar than shadow the longer they spend here but it does damage some of tne needles as the laser vision slices a hand, disarming it really. Where it hits the tarlike substance it seems to ignite it, causing it to smoke darkly. Maybe that is good. Hard to say. The victim is almost turned on the steps but it isn't a lightning fast process. Just a very unfortunate one for Henry Simmons there. The one moving up the steps continues, needles missing from a hand, but seeming resolute despite being on fire to reach those front doors for some reason.

Why the library?

Oz's fleeing goes unnoticed by perhaps anyone but Doctor Strange who had noted the presence before he done noped out of whatever sort of demon this is.

Gwen blinks how those white spots for eyes on her mask does that is anyone's guess. "Oh .. sorcerers and demons.. you know if I hadn't had gang members throwing fireballs with magic medallions a couple of weeks ago... I would probably be freaking out more." not that she isn't freaking out a bit. As it is though she fiddles with her wrist and then fires another web shot at the creature who was a library patron trying to get up now. It staggers and is partialy human so it sticks to the steps... though for how long it is hard to say.

The main demon slows and stares smoldering at Strange, and then hucks a flaming black tar herion glob at his shows, maybe under the spell shield.

Mon-El has posed:
    Oh, well that wasn't so bad. Lar notes that the thermal vision seemed to be a lot more effective. Well then! Laser eyes it is! He pursues the thing up the steps and fires the lasers again, upping the intensity now that he knows it at least does some damage.

    Then Doctor Strange appears, and thankfully seems to be on their side. He arches a brow at the Sorcerer Supreme. "Oh, who is it for then? You? I mean, sorry if I'm stealing your thunder or anything, but you seem to be late for your own thing. Anyway I can back off if you need me to."

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen hikes an eyebrow at the white and black adorned spider-person and he doesn't refute her assistance in any way. He does however spin his foor back and away from the spittake by the glob-monster and looks at it before he counters with a lift of his hand above his head. Strange opens his palm and a searing bright light errupts from his hand, like a thermite reaction in its intensity without the heat and sound. Stephen attempts to over power the shadows with magelight.

    Thankfully for the heroes and bystanders, the light is a controlled burst spell, preventing those as intended targets to not be blinded.

    "I'm not asking you to back off, I'm just asking you to understand and know your own limits." Strange says as he closes his hand while looking towrds Lars, while he waits to see how effective his spell might have been on the shadow demons.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Laser eyes are pretty effective at making it an entirely flaming figure with intoxicating smoke billowing out of it's form now. Also. Well. It doesn't seem very inclined to listen to Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme or not.

That burst of light does wonders for disappating the shadows in the several block radius. The thing is they seem to retreat slithering to concentrate in the library. Where Doctor Parson is continuing to mumble along, slowly translating the odd book he found.

Despite Strange's entreaty about knowing ones own limits the demon continues relentlessly (and now on fire) towards him looking like it plans to just try to swipe him out of its way now. Like it can't stop trying to get into the library as the spell tugs at it.

The second one sort of oozes through the webbing finally ..staggering to it's feet. If you can call those feet. It looks like a more shaky clone of the first one.

"Ugn.. well um... that .. hmm... Do you have magic missile perhaps?" suggests Gwen as she hits the flaming one with a web shot, trying to wrap and smother the flames to some impact.

Mon-El has posed:
    Yeah, Lar knows his own limits! He just...doesn't always give them much regard. He frowns as the demon is set on fire, but still doesn't seem fazed by it at all. Ugh, won't the thing just die or disappear or whatever they do already?

    He frowns, watching the monsters as they seem to be laser-focused on something inside the library, but didn't seem to be attacking any more innocent people. What were they after? "Hey Sorcerer Supreme guy, you know anything about these things?"

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Do I have Magic Missile?" Stephen repeats casually before getting batted aside like a rag doll, which, in most cases he is. The wizard's hubris might have caused him to end up tumbling down onto the hard stairs of the library with several grunts of pain and bruises that will likely turn purple and other shades of ick.

    The wizard slowly rises to his feet, his body screaming how injured it is as he watches the demon a bit more closely than he had been and then towards Gwen and Lars he points out. "Inside, second floor, on the south west side there should be a book that's calling to them. Find and stop the reader. I'll keep these things outside, here. Beyond what I've seen here, I don't know a thing about these, but whoever is still reading inside, should."

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen looks very alarmed at the whole .. Sorcerer Supreme.. Wizard.. being batted aside like that. "Uh.... I think you're on fire...." to Stephen.. and okay maybe they are really in trouble guys. "Right.. um.. on it!" She thwips a webline up to a building sort of above and behind the library and then leaps and yanks pulling herself up at an angle to go right through one of the second floor windows of the library. Already running ... huh the library seems like everyone is clearing out. Smart people. Not knowing about the spell that was cast to encourage them to do this.

Meanwhile one webbing, slightly on fire still, demon made of drugs and human misfortune continues on to the library doors. Reaching to touch them and they start to burn and warp.

The second demonic figure who use to be a poor library patron staggers along, walking towards Stephen. A tool of it's creator now.

Mon-El has posed:
    As soon as Doctor Strange gives a specific location, Lar is using his X-ray vision to peer through the walls in search of a person reading a book that is apparently causing all of this. Since the rest of the patrons seem to have cleared out, it's not too hard to pick out the perpetrator. Immediately he takes off like a speeding bullet toward the second floor, and smashes through a southwest window because who needs doors? Doors are slow.

    Upon finding the man, he tries to just snatch the book away from him. Rude, okay, but there are like thousands of other books in here to read. He doesn't -have- to pick the one that summons monsters does he??

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen's been smacked around a time or two, but being on fire afterwards in a new experience and so Stephen quickly sets to putting himself out. And then he sighs towards the demon approaching him. Wincing at the burns and the bruises, Stephen looks up to the creature and plants his feet, "You and your friend aren't going anywhere I'm afraid." He says with gritted teeth and he snaps both hands out to send thick heavy metal-like spells out to bind around the creatures feet and ankles, "By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak." He finishes his incantation and tries to hold the beasts at bay while the actual heroes go out and stop the true danger.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen pulls up short when the Superman-ish sort of character snatches the book out of the man's hands. "Wow.. you are really faster than a speeding bullet aren't you all..."

The guy whom formerly had a book is still muttering and seems unable to stop, caught up by the book itself.

Gwen squints and then webs him rght in the mouth putting a stop to that, and then webs him right to his chair for good measure. "Look. Reading is important but this is too much.

Outside the demon's formerly human minion that was advancing on Strange fnds itself wrapped up in the Crumson Bands of Cyttorak and stops held fast. Not even really ale to struggle to mcuh now as it wraps up from the binding on it's ankles upwards.

The real demon stops and stares at the library in confusion and then slowly turns around towards Strange.

The shadows around the building are already fading, and bits of the demon seem to be starting to disingrate off it now... the spell summoning it is stopped.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar goggles at the man when he seems to keep chanting even after the book is gone. Okay, seriously? He somehow knows the thing by heart now? But then Gwen webs him up and finally puts a stop to it. He stares at the mysterious book for a few seconds, then shakes his head before those trademark red laser beams come out once more, burning the thing up if that's even possible because who knows with this crazy magical stuff.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    "Easy enough." Strange says as he watches the true demon start to fade away back into the ether. "I gave you a chance." Stephen says with a shrug and a wince of pain as his body did not like moving like that. Strange looks back to the captured minion held fast in his spell and waits to see if the human will be rescued by the incantation being halted or not, of if Strange is about to have a new pet project... He is totally unaware of the destruction of a spellbook within the walls.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen cocks her head as the laser eyes incinerates the book in question. "Gosh I hope the Wizard outside didn't need that for any reason..." pause "Stay right there." to the Doctor who is all webbed up. Hah. With that Gwen goes racing back the way she came out the window and firing a webline to bring her swinging back around to the front where the action was "The superguy got it and destroyed the book." she reports.

"Is that one the demon or the victim?" Gwen asks of the clone of the original demon, poor guy, held in the bands not seeming to change back or fade back to hell. Just ooze captured.

Mon-El has posed:
    "Oh well, too late." Lar shrugs. Right. Maybe it would have been useful for investigational purposes. He watches the book burn up and fall to the floor in a heap of ash. "Ugh, I hate magic." he mutters to himself, before heading back outside after Gwen to see how Strange has fared with the monsters.

Doctor Strange has posed:
    With the true demon disolved by the time Gwen makes it back outside, Stephen is sitting on a step with the bands of magic metal held tightly in his hand as he looks at the human now demon snared in the spell. He looks up towards Gwen and asks hopefully, "Did you get the book? It's likely the only way to figure out how to change this person back into human." The Sorcerer says with a look back towards the window as Lars returns. "Any chance you brought the book out? I'd rather not go searching the shevles for it while holding onto our friend here."

Ghost Spider has posed:
Stephen must not have heard her the first time. "Um." Gwen looks around then up at Mon-El. "He used his laser eyes and done disinigrated the book... wooosh... lasers...." she sounds very glum now.

She walks over to look the Sorcerer over. "Are you sure there isn't any other chance to save this guy .. I mean there has to be other books right?"

"I webbed up the guy reading it.. he was still mumbling words even with the book taken away.. maybe he knows something?"

Mon-El has posed:
    When Lar comes outside, Strange is asking about the book. Whoops. "Uh..." he glances at Gwen. "What she said. Sorry, I guess I just assumed ummm...we needed to prevent this from happening again." Also he really hates magic. "But yeah, the guy who was reading is still webbed up in there, so maybe he can help you get it figured out."

    Then he frowns, examining the wizard's injuries. He probably needs medical attention...

Doctor Strange has posed:
    Stephen's free hand moves up to press at the bridge of his nose. "Well that sucks." He says before lowering his hand away from his face and pulling out a card out of no where and extending it towards Gwen. "I need you to bring the man you left in the library to this address, as soon as you are able. I'm going to go ahead and get to work on saving this poor soul." The wizard says and without a word, the two shrink before Gwen's and Lars' eye and disappear into thin air.

    On the card is simply 177a Bleeker Street in a soft gold script.

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen stares at the spot that Doctor Strange and the demonized human were for a very long moment. "Huh."

Then she pulls out a phone and makes a note to herself even as she asides to Mon-El. "So, I'm Ghost Spider... who are you?" yeah she really isn't sure just by sight. I mean there are a lot of flying punching laser eye folks around. Kind of like spiders.

Mon-El has posed:
    Lar blinks as Doctor Strange and the unfortunate man just shrink and then disappear into thin air, it seems. Right. Magic. Ugh.

    He turns to Gwen when she introduces herself and sticks out a hand for her to shake. "Lar Gand." he replies. "Nice to meet you, Ghost. Let me know if you need help getting him to that address."

Ghost Spider has posed:
Gwen considers the flying guy and then shrugs. "I think I can take one webbed up guy unless you wanted to tag along to the wizard.. I mean Sorcerer Supreme's house." she looks at where they vanished. "Magic. Man this has been a lot of magic lately." well two incidents, but in her book that is a lot of magic. "Nice to meet you though Lar"

Mon-El has posed:
    "Really?" Lar raises a brow at her. "You notice anything else similar happening around here?" It brings to mind the whole situation with Superman and Apokolips, which he is stil not quite sure is fully over yet even though Kal at least seems to be mostly back to normal.

Ghost Spider has posed:
"Um.. no the other magic involves fire amulets that let criminals hurl fireballs and a bunch of ninjas." pause "Also ninja mutant animals." pause again. "I am pretty darn certain it has nothing to do with this..." and Gwen gestures around at the webbing and library.

"I should probably go get that webbed up guy and take him to the Wizards house though."

Mon-El has posed:
    Right, fire amulets and ninja animals. Sounds typical for magic shenanigans. Then he nods. "I uh, hope he can get that guy back to normal. I wish I could help but..." he shrugs. "Maybe that guy will know if there's another copy of that book somewhere."

    Then he takes off, shooting up into the sky. All around, not too bad. At least he didn't make anything worse like that whole situation at the Salem Center some time ago.