Act One: Atlanta

It was supposed to have been an interesting week, an easy job with some time left over to relax and recuperate. The original plan was to investigate a small, abandoned apartment building that was meant to be torn and replaced with something new. The rumor was that some terrible monster had taken up residency in it and was scaring away the demolition crew, injuring a few of them. As it had turned out, it was just a homeless man who dressed up as a monster and was using a strange hedge clipping glove thing to scratched and tear at anyone who had come close to the building. All in all, it was an easy job for Sam.

However...this...this situation was not what Sam had expected. Sam was on the streets, just wandering around and enjoying the sights, when the ground had started to shake. He instantly wanted to investigate it, but no one seemed too bothered by it, so he followed suit and eased up a bit. His guard was still a bit raised just in case, but...but not nearly enough for what would ensue. He was standing near the window of a clock shop when the glass had shattered, though luckily none had pierced him, though he had dropped to the ground to defend himself from any danger that would emerge from the clock stop. While he didn't see any monster or beast emerge he did notice all of the clocks had stopped which sent a strange feeling surging through his gut.

He went to stand up, but quickly dropped to a knee as he felt the ground shake more. In the distance he could hear people screaming as well as the sounds of horns honking and somewhere a car crashing into something. Something terrible was going down and it was then that Sam saw the first of the beasts. It was like something out a horror movie. A strange beast emerged from a large crevice which had formed in the ground. It looked to be something red and fleshy. It was larger than the average man, maybe about ten feet? Eleven? Instead of arms it had long tendrils that stretched down and touched the ground. From its shoulders even more seemed to be sprouting out until there were six in total. The head looked to be relatively humanoid, though it lacked a mouth. It took Sam a moment to realize where it was. On its chest there was a strange scar-like line across it which twisted into a horrid smile and opened up to reveal long thin teeth.

People closer to it ran in all direction, trying to escape it. For the most part they were able to for the beast had its attention on a car only a few feet from it. Inside Sam could make out the outline of two smaller shapes. There people trapped inside of it. They were treats inside steel packaging, just awaiting for the beast to open up and devour. In most cases Sam would've sprinted over to them, doing everything he could to save them, but for the first time in years...he couldn't move his legs. His was frozen with fear as he looked upon this terrible beast. All around him he could hear the sounds of more cracks and screams and crashes and breaking...it wasn't just this one beast...there were more. What could he do against them? He could make portals, had a wooden staff, and he had a cool sword, but if he used his sword he'd only be good for an hour...then...then he'd be dead in the water, barely able to run away from anything.

He bit his lip, trying to think of what to do. Every muscle in his body told him to run, but his mind was too terrified to act. He could feel his body start to tremble. This was a literal hell and there was nothing he could do. He helpless against the monsters that were emerging. He stared off ahead and into the car where the beast was reaching down to grab and from inside he could see a young boy, maybe ten? Nine? It was hard to tell from here, but the boy was screaming and banging on the glass. He was trying to get out, but couldn't. He needed help.

Not even realizing it, Sam was now running towards the car, his staff tightly grasped in his hands. He could hear a voice inside his head scream at him, "Stop..." He continued running towards the car, picking up speed. "Stop." He was getting closer now, he could make out the two in car much clearer now. A boy and his older brother, they looked both he locked in the car. "Stop!" He was just about there, he could feel the heat coming off the beast and the horrid smell it was making. It now was looking at him, those two deep black eyes, that grin on its chest turned upward into a smile. Now Sam was yelling out loudly. "STOP!" He threw his arm forward and opened up a portal under a nearby, empty truck, the connecting point over the beasts head. The truck fell from the portal and onto the beast, knocking it over.

Sam wasn't sure if the beast was dead, but he didn't have time to think. He opened a second set of portals, one into the car and the other to his side. He poked his head in and smiled at the two. "Don't worry! I'm a hero and I'm here to help. Let's get you the hell out of here."

The story about how Nathan ended up in Atlanta is a funny one. It started with him waking up in an alley way and realizing that someone was trying to steal his wallet. Imagine that would you. A little punk, who was probably in his late twenties so not that little but still, walking down an alley way and seeing a guy dressed in what looks like dark leather armor with giant wings protruding from his back; and the first thing he decides to do is try to rob said winged individual. Like honestly who in their right mind sees a guy with giant black bird-like wings and think’s it’s a good idea to see if they have a wallet or cash to rob? To be fair, if the guy was walking down an alley and wasn’t surprised at seeing someone with wings there might not have been a lot going on in his head in the first place.

The hopeful thief was able to somehow find a wallet in all of the pouches and did so without waking up the winged man. Of course, as soon as he turned to walk away he tripped over an empty bottle of beer and fell over, awakening the winged man known as Nathaniel King. This would result in a nice little chase between the slightly hungover Flying man and the thief. Little because it honestly didn’t take Nathan all that long to catch up to and overpower the thief, taking back his wallet and knocking out the man who took it from him. However, it seemed just as he did so the world around them exploded. Figuratively. Mostly. It wasn’t so much that the world actually exploded it was more than it all went to Hell, or more accurately Hell came to Earth.

All around the Demons exploded out of the ground, ripping their way up onto the world of mortal men. The destruction they caused was immediate and the chaos was sudden. Buildings were torn asunder, cars were flipped and caught on fire, metas and others with powers met them in the field of battle. Attempting to hold back the tide, looking like they were succeeding at some points and utterly failing at others. In the middle of it all were the innocent. The civilians who couldn’t fight back, who were stomped under foot, burned alive, fell to their deaths, and/or got caught in the crossfire. To say things were crazy would have been an understatement; no, the understatement of the century. It was like this where ever Archangel went to help.

Flying through the air as fast as he could, catching people before they fell to their deaths, punching the lights out of demons as he went, scooping people out of burning cars and buildings. Doing whatever it was he could to help. Which was not nearly as much as he hoped. It seemed no matter what he did there was always something else to do, some other demon causing havoc, a person in danger, there was no end. Like for instance that kid with a stick running towards a burning car with a Lovecraftian demon standing over it. Flying forwards, he watched as the demon stood back up, after a truck dropped on it from somewhere. Wasn’t too important right now, what was important was the demon standing back up and looking ready to eat the guy trying to help the other two out of the car. Putting on a burst of speed he flew up and sent a fist flying towards its face, knocking it back a good ten or so feet before landing on his feet. “You’ve probably got like two minutes to do whatever it is you’re doing. I suggest you hurry.” Did he notice the symbolism of an angelic figure saving someone from a demon? No. No he did not.

Lucas never expected this…

They had extra large hotdogs with everything for only 4 bucks each! He walks up boldly to a portly man with a stained apron standing at the cart of which he heard of the outrageous deals. Excuse me sir, can I get 4 Ultra sizers?
The short man stares down at a small paper, and then looks back up, grinning.
Uh, sorry. Yes! Yes you can! Would you like anything else?
Oh yes, can I also get 2 bottles of water?
The short fellow looked back down at the paper. And then begins typing on a small calculator. Looking up he says
Mhmm… That adds up to be $21.35
The man puts his hand out expectantly, and Lucas digs out a the money from his wallet, which was now nearly empty again. He could only keep this up for so long before he would stop at someplace and do odd jobs, whatever was needed, short of being a hitman. He finally digs the proper change up and hands it to the guys chubby hands, who takes the money as quick as a thief, it was long gone now. The short fellow got right to work preparing the large order, after a minute of silence, the man pipes up.
You here with some friends?
Lucas snaps from his trace of staring at the food getting prepared.
Uh, no sir. Actually eating by myself here.
The man stops what he’s doing, and looks up.
You… Are really going to eat this all yourself? Right now?
Um, yes. Yes I am.
The man wipes his brow, and looks around, not believing his words.
Kid, if you can eat all 4 of those, within 20 minutes, I will give you back $15, no joke.
Uh, alright then.
The man whips up all 4 of the Ultra sizers, and the 2 water bottles. Clicks a few things on his watch.
Alright, once you're seated, give me a thumbs up, and I will start the timer.
Luke walks over to an empty table, Lucas gave him a thumbs up, and lunch began.
He felt kind of bad taking this guy's money, he hardly saw this a challenge, but he needed all the extra money he could get.
One down…
People started to watch from the other tables,  and a few people came to watch him eat, which he thought was weird, but he just kept eating.
Two down…
He remembered the last time this happened, it maybe was in Washington or somewhere near there, he was ordering from KFC, and some guy sitting on a table behind him offered to pay him back every dime if he eats all that food in 15 minutes. That was easy.
Three down…
And definitely that one time where he was kicked from a buffet. He was there for about 2 hours before some terrified employees begged him to stop.
Alright! Your done!
Lucas looks up in surprise. He only should have taken 5 minutes!
Excuse me, I believe your mistaken.
What! You think I would lie about that! Get out of my sight!
Lucas, stunned by the mans confrontation, just simply gets up and leaves.
That, was surprising, never had that happen. Probably was desperate.
He thinks to himself.

After walking for a couple minutes, he feels a low rumbling, he thinks nothing of it until the rumbling escalates to a roaring thunder, windows shatter, and the earth shakes. then it stops. Lucas was getting his footing back when he noticed some screaming. He looked up at a short building, and leapt to the top with a powerful kick off. He lands with an audible thud, and searches the area for chaos, minus broken windows. He hears more screaming coming east from his general direction, he vaults over the buildings, from roof to roof, as he nears his destination he determined the chaos was strongest. Once there he makes it to the top of a clock shop and watches the weird… There was some giant monster lying a ways back, some winged person, and then a vehicle with three people inside it, and one seemed… familiar…
But now isn't the time for memories, he jumps towards the large monster, standing about 15 feet away, and gets his axe ready. He begins trying to get its attention by shouting at it and making himself a big target, and if the others look, he will try and give them a nod before resuming his attention grabbing display. He holds himself defensively, so if it does hit, he won't go flying.

Hope this works...

Nyx felt it before it even began.

A ripple across the tattered fabric of reality, undulating outwards and spreading rapidly. Anyone with their fingers on the pulse could sense such an obvious event taking place. Someone tugging at the frayed strings long enough to create holes, ripples within the world itself. The goddess tapped her foot against the island floating through the great nothing. Blackened, charred grass settled atop equally dead earth that held no reason being within this nothingness. ”I wonder what this means for this world.” Nyx mused, gloved fingers intertwined as he sat upon her onyx throne. Pinpricks of light visible in the distance. Endless worlds that all one needed to do was know the route to reach them. ”Has its end come before we even begun?” She pondered, feeling the undulating darkness surround her sanctuary like a mist.

”Something we cannot allow to happen, can we?” The suave voice pierced darkness. A masked woman with crimson red hair flowing from the mask stood, arms cross casually over her chest.

”No, we cannot. I’ll have to deal with these creatures personally.” Standing from her seat, Nyx let the shadows coalesce into the shape of a cane. Letting it rap a couple times against the ground as a rip within nothingness appeared, and she stepped through. Demon ravaged Atlanta was where she ended up, the sounds of people crying for mercy and help even echoing through the air. What miserable creatures that they couldn’t even defend themselves from wretched infernals. Hands grasped for her, tips with daggerlike claws but they slipped through her form like a mirage. ”Leave it to creatures of sin to think they have the right to touch the divine.” This foot raised, and came down as solid as anything else.

A demonic skull crushed under the boot. Squelching as the ichor splashed across the concrete. ”Hear my words oh legions of hell! I The Lady Night demand you reveal your leader to me! Fail to do so and you shall be destroyed like this one!” She called out, voice amplified beyond the means of her frame as the twitching mass that was once a demon crumbled away as if ash. Removed from the very threads of reality that it had once clung to. A few shied away from the black goddess, yet she had to wonder what they would do with this new arrival. Would they fight pointlessly or give unto her the audience she desired.

Powers didn’t have domains. Not in the way lesser gods did, and not in the way mortals assumed. Yes each had a preferred sphere of influence that they were more skilled in, but They weren’t constrained into say: only influencing water. At this moment though, Leon certainly wished things were that simple. He floated above the surface of the second star of Pougantu, the matrix of the sunstone stretched out in front of him. Even as he worked, the tangle of magic representing the star got more and more volatile, the devastating solar flare he was trying to prevent drawing closer as the seconds ticked by. It was a race against time to find not just the source of the problem, but how to best redirect the building energy in a way that wouldn’t cause harm to the millions of Life below.

In the back of his mind, Leon could hear his cellphone ringing, strange considering it had been set to only accept urgent calls. What could be more urgent than the death of half a planet though? Shutting off the part of their brain that heard the call, they focused in on the problem at hand. Sifting through the essence of the star, they suddenly noticed something… off. A hint of a foreign signature, peaking through a particularly knarly section. A signature that was all too familiar. With a growl, he reached in, grasping the intrusion that was causing this star’s nigh implosion before its time. It came out with surprising ease, cementing his rising suspicion that this whole situation was a distraction… but for what…

When the phone rang again, he picked it up this time, mind elsewhere as he tried to figure out the last piece of the puzzle. Of course, there was no such things as coincidences though. As the frantic words filtered through, Leon felt his blood run cold. He had known this was coming. It would have been an insult to imply otherwise. Still, he had gotten… arrogant, believing that the forces of a Hell wouldn’t attempt so big of a move so soon. That’s why he was five galaxies away when they learned that ‘Armageddon’ was beginning.

Taking a deep breath, Leon pushed down the anger rising up within him. Anger at his own Pride and folly. That was for later. Now, he needed to help fix his own mistake. With a quick “I’m on my way.”, he sent a quick message to his clients that the problem was fixed before teleporting out of the star’s orbit. From there, he rushed through world gate after world gate until reaching the Crossings. There, he took the first gate back to Earth which happened to deposit him in Atlanta. He could work with that. With a quick spell, he teleported to the top of The Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Seems these demons preferred not to tread on holy ground either. Good. Hopefully others had realized this as well. In the distance, he could see a flying figure that seemed to be fighting off the demons. A few moments later, the prickle of… something ripping its way into this reality was felt. Hopefully an ally. With his current luck though, probably not. Still one thing at a time. First being: create a bastion.

Leon took out a drawstring bag and opened it. From within flew thousands of what looked to be paper cranes. They surrounded the church, flying in seemingly random patterns until suddenly forming a massive spell circle. With that, he began to chant, the world around him falling away as the Universe leaned closer to listen. At the final Word, the cranes burned away in a bright flash that lit up the city, activating the massive shield that formed completely around the church. Nothing would be entering without His permission now, and currently, only humans without taint were allowed in.
Word Count: 648 [2x EXP]

Carnage painted the streets in a macabre reminder that the worst is yet to come. Demons fell under the onslaught of villains, heroes, and whatever Leon fancied himself to be in this universe.

The sky bleed a satin wound under the emergence of a spiraling, black obelisk. Two hundred meters long and twenty meters in diameter, casting a hazy air around its base, the obelisk set forth on a direct collision course with SunTrust Park, home of the Atlanta Braves.

Seemingly materializing twenty meters from the obelisk, shadowy whales forty feet long began to hover over the city, descending towards the demon occupied streets, seeking to devour as many demons and humans as possible. Their descent need not reach the street though, as gravity within fifty meters of the whales begins to shift towards their massive maws.