Nazi Spider Witch Attacks Chicago Street

Brandon was following the steam punk electrokinetic, his mind running over how they would deal with the powerful spider witch that had so generously attacked him earlier. There were many ways really, and considering his rather durable nature, many of them included simply running through any attack that she would throw at him. The only problems with that was the fact that Brandon hated taking damage, so he tried to avoid that when art all possible. The further that he ran into the darkness of the alleyway, the more that Brandon was realizing that this was more of a one way street really, they were treading upon dangerous territory. This was first relied upon Brandon meeting with the…spider that had erupted from a small den within the concrete street, its slavering maw hungry to bear down upon their flesh. Brandon cursed lightly under his breath as he took a step back, but he was too slow.

His eyes shot to the woman awkwardly, as if wondering if she needed him to assist her but it was him he needed to worry about now, she seemed like she was rather powerful. So it was the two against this large arachnid, one that seemed powerful enough to tunnel through concrete as well as catch him off guard and pull him in. Some of the webbing lining the hole cliung to Brandon as he found himself falling in, fingers grasping for some kind of hold and yet finding nothing, other than the powerful legs of the spider slapping against his superhuman body. Brandon grumbled lightly as he swatted at the lags, forcing them back far enough that he could get a bearing upon his own surroundings, which were rather dark. Pressing upwards one of the legs slammed into his gut and Brandon slid further into the trap.

Air for the most part gone. ”Dammit.” Brandon grunted running a finger over his slightly pained stomach, glaring at the stomach of the spider as he once again grabbed onto the wall, and fingers dug deeply into it. A battle was raging above him between the female and the spider, but that was about all Brandon knew at the moment and he planned to join in that fight right now. Crawling from the pit in which he was caught in, something caught him off guard and threw Brandon against the wall, brick shattering under the force his body was thrown. He was for the most part unharmed, save for the small scorch marks that ran along his pants, small smoking black marks that over all would have gone unnoticed. The spider dazed fell into the hole that it had attempted to drag them in, into its own den of death.

Pulling himself from his stupefied state, Brandon dashed over to where the thing had fallen in, looking down, only to have one of the legs hook around his body and pull the blond in. Teeth fell ineffectually against his skin, much like a child trying to gnaw through concrete, only really scraping the surface and not enough to let the poisons take effect. One hand wrapped around an oversized fang, and with a jerk it was ripped form the things mouth, a burst of ichor following this as the thing roared loudly in pain. With back pressed against the wall, Brandon thrust the fang outwards towards thew spider, aiming to damage it anyway possible, its outer shell seeming to puncture, followed by another screech of rage.

With that opening, Brandon used all of his strength and forced it against one end of its den, and slammed a fist into its abdomen, sinking deeper into it, as the warm ichor soaked his fist. Another fist, and another until it would cease even the spasms that were racking its body, and with that Brandon crawled from the trap door like pit, soaked in both ichor and small clumps of webbing.

It was becoming apparent that the witch didn’t seem to have any greater plan aside from menacing the city and her populace. The battle went on, and the city’s wrath against metahumans, especially evil ones, slowly encircled the Nazi Witch and her dwindling swarm. More heavily armed police and SWAT were arriving in nearby blocks, engaging the Spiders with line combat and volume of fire.

Electrical surges discouraged Imena from becoming trapdoor spider chow, her electrical attacks proving enough to scare the creature, while her actions enabling her to lose the attention of both the trapdoor creature and the unhinged, cackling witch. Even as she evaded and stepped into a breathing zone in the store, Hunting Spiders hounded her, the ground floor spaces serving as hatcheries for abnormally quick growing monstrosities. At Imena’s presence, more egg sacks burst open, and hundreds of tiny spiders and handfuls of larger ones began to attack her once more.

The subterranean dwelling creature simply settled for Brandon, dragging him beneath the rubble, to engage him in mortal combat- he would be no easy prey. The trapdoor spider’s carapace was tough, and took a few hits before succumbing to Brandon’s might; snapping off its fangs caused it terrible pain, and it writhed violently in its cramped lair before going into its death spasms, then a lifeless corpse. Overall it served mostly to divide the would-be heroes, giving its unstable mistress time, though ultimately wasted.

While the other heroes’ struggles transpired, the witch’s attention fell upon the erstwhile Erika. She slowly pulls back her hood with one hand, her other hand never letting go of the writhing and organic arachnid staff. She reveals neither some place human face nor a single arachnid creature, but a being that was an amalgalm of thousands of tiny spiders, with two vicious eyes that were as pinpricks of light. The spiders writhed around what served as her mouth as she spoke.

“Woman, you know me... but Who are you?” Ursula asked, tilting her head at Erika in complete ignorance of her significance to the telekinetic. “No matter. You are but another fly caught in the spider’s web...” The Witch finally deems Erika the most vulnerable target now, given the others were divided. Her staff glowed once more with eldritch energies, emerald light that radiated blasphemous power, wailing pure malice with its arachnid nature. She opened her maw, and from it leapt dozens of the tiny things, spinning web laced with a dark putrescence that would entangle and weaken Erika swiftly; she’d be devoured first.

After a little more struggle and with the aid of the cold weather, Xia eventually tears the webbing away, getting one, then two, then four people free, lying on the adjacent roof. She gets over her squeamishness and begins striking the spiders that tried to fight her off. Once the hostages were in no further danger, Xia freefalls, dropping hard onto the alley floor and rushed the deranged Witch which was attacking a lone Erika.

“...Stay away from her!” Xia takes the Witch into a bear hug, not knowing she was composed of thousands of little spiders; still, it worked, as the spiders were instinctively moving to defend the staff itself, not Ursual.

“Get off me, you muscle bound amazon!” The Witch hissed. She tried to lash out with her staff, but to no avail; she did not attempt any other kind of action.

“The staff! Take it quick!” Xia said, realizing over the past few minutes how everything was tied to the staff. She held on firmly onto the robed Witch, immobilizing her.

Ursula, the Nazi hybrid arachnid-human unveiled her hood, revealing her "Face", which along with her body was made up of thousands of smaller spiders. Whatever had happened to Ursula in the time since Erica had last seen her, had transformed her from a Meta with control over and traits of an Arachnid, quite literally into an Arachnid. Clearly from Ursula's display of power today, she was much more powerful then Erica remembered, and as such much more dangerous then in her more human form. Ursula was now a monstrosity, a glimpse into what ghastly future Hitler might have created had he succeeded in taking control of the world. A relic from the past, Ursula was fighting a war that had been over for decades. Which begged the question.... How had she come to be here? As Erica was starting to wonder if Ursula had somehow traveled through space and time.

Addressing Erica, Ursula said “Woman, you know me... but Who are you?", it was quickly clear to Erica that she had been mistaken.... Ursula had not come to Chicago as part of some great plan for revenge, some great reckoning for Erica's betrayal of Nazi Germany, and for the most part seemed as confused as Erica was at her being here. Answering Ursula's question, Erica stepped forward and pulled up the left sleeve of her leather jacket, revealing her heavily tattooed arm. Rolling her arm over, Erica revealed an unmistakable Iron Cross tattooed on her forearm as she said [color=#ff3333]"[Jemand, der weiß, dass sie aus den Tagen des Dritten Reiches ... Jemand, der wie sie war SS Führungshauptamt. Aber sie sah ..... Anders als ..."./color] (Someone who knows you from the days of the Third Reich.... Someone who like you was SS Führungshauptamt. Though of course you looked..... Different then...).

Shaking off Erica's response, Ursula said “No matter. You are but another fly caught in the spider’s web...”, and with that she attacked Erica. Her Arachnid staff glowing, then with a few quick motions spewed forth dozens of little spiders, which crept and crawled straight for Erica. "Ughgh disgusting!!!" Erica cried out as the first of the tiny spiders crawled all over her body. Erica brushed several off of her, but quickly three times as many found their way onto her, spraying webbing all over her. As quick as she'd knock one off another was on her, suddenly she found it difficult to move, as her body became stuck in the webbing.

Erica's body had unnatural durability, the secrets of which she didn't understand, and which the Nazi's had tried to unlock. She could withstand bullets, knives, and was practically unkillable.... But these spiders weren't trying to shoot her, they weren't trying to stab her, no they were simply trying to wrap her up and save her for later. Despite her immense durability, Erica was totally vulnerable to the sticky, trapping effects of the webbing. The more Erica struggled, the harder it became for her to move, as she realized she was about to become part of the web.

Just as Erica was ready to give in and accept her own demise, she heard a familiar voice cry out and say “...Stay away from her!” . Her eyes nearly covered in webbing, Erica could hardly see Ursula and Xia struggling, but she could hear it all. Ursula yelled “Get off me, you muscle bound amazon!” as she tried to strike Xia with the staff. Xia kept tight hold of Ursula and said “The staff! Take it quick!” . Erica was nearly covered by the tiny spiders web, but she summoned what strength she could, slightly moving her right and using her telekinetic powers to rip the staff from Ursula and send it into the flames of a nearby building, just as the spider began to web up her face. The last thing Erica seeing before they covered her eyes being the Arachnids staff beginning to burn on the tinder.

Displacement from her previous location brought Imena to a new place of peril and opportunity. Between bouts of electric pulsing through the staff and into the egg sacks infesting the tenement, Imena overheard the raised voices of confrontation and heard them lower to hush. Nothing within the corridor bid her a warm welcome without the harshness of venom, so Imena took her leave by overloading the circuit breaker within the room to ignite the circuitry. Sparks flew, but the fire remained calm, the lack of free running wires keeping the fire isolated from spreading into an inferno.

Imena raced from the corridor and into the chamber holding the brawl between Xia and Ursula. A staff burned in cinders at the floor while the large girl sought to grapple the deadly foe. Just as Imena prepared a bolt of electricity to incapacitate Ursula, the tenacious intruders from the burning hallway leaped towards Imena. Her off target blast shot straight towards Xia as her staff slid across the floor. Pressing her fingers to the ground, Imena grabbed a metal barring sticking out from the fractured wall. Animosity hissed a sinister resolve, forcing Imena to move her head to avoid the impact of the spider's leg splintering the ground next to her.

Fighting from her back became increasingly more difficult as her legs became immobilized by the host of thousands crawling about her. Imena let forth one strong gesture to impale the metal barring through the spider, but her lack of mobility doomed her approach. Sent back to the hard floor, Imena could feel the spiders growing closer to her torso as the large spider leering over her began to wrap her shoulders and upper arms in webbing for its master.

Any resistance only served as a means of delaying the inevitable charge of the swarm. Her electricity burned away the peripheral horde, but the swarm grew closer to taking her hands away from her. Looking to her staff just at the feet of the spider witch, and the fate of the telekinetic in no better shape than her own, Imena squirmed to position herself in a more awkward position to allow the natural flow of her body to eventually break through the webs, but the tightness of the bonds kept her in check. The larger spider turned his attention to Xia now as she embattled herself with the spider queen.

Content with the practice, but not the placement, the swarm began to pull Imena away from the danger of the brawl. Knowing the wide open never made for good placement of victims, the spiders sought out a closed off location to begin to relocate Imena until their master could make accordance with the victim's fate.

”Blech, this is just….gross.” Brandon grumbled flicking a large amount of the ichor from his right hand, watching it splash across the ground loudly. It seemed that even with all the damage that was being done, he would still end up with the guts all over him, and dam did it sting when applied to the burn that was prevalent upon his arm. Shaking his head side to side much like a dog, Brandon let the slime fly from his hair much like that from his hands, until he was sure that his hair and hands were for the most part ichor free. The shirtless blonde buffoon let a drawn out sigh escape from between his lips as his eyes followed where he had seen the other heroes run off to, or more precisely the steam punk girl in question. If the spider had given her that much trouble, how much more would the mastermind?

No, the witch was not fighting one assailant but seemingly everyone that had fallen in the resistance beforehand. Raising his right foot, Brandon slammed it down with a great amount of force as the ground contorted beneath the great blow and caused the nest trap to collapse in upon itself, a proper burial for the now dead arachnid. ”Now the Nazi Spider Bitch with the staff.” Brandon grumbled rolling his shoulder as the joint popped loudly, partially considering simply releasing his wings but thinking against it for now. If the acid hit them, he would find himself perhaps more screwed than intended, and with his means of air transportation ruined for the most part. So for now it was the usual physical approach, which would maybe go just as well if done right.

”Wait….more little spiders?” Brandon mumbled irritated as he took note of the increase of little spiders in the area. While it was likely that they did not pose any threat to someone like him, Brandon still did not like the idea that something would crawl all over his body, with its nasty poison dripping fangs. He already had one person that liked to bite and that was just enough for Brandon, the spiders would have needed to find them someone else to do that with. One thing that he did notice was one of the heroes being wrapped within the webbing, using her perhaps last true attempt to destroy the staff of the spider woman. She was in trouble and whether or not she was on his side, Brandon could not rightly allow someone to be turned into bug chow. The spiders would try to swarm Brandon but he was in no mood to play around.

Arms stretched out to his side and with all of his strength he slammed them together, a loud booming seeming to echo out from the point. Glass would shatter with a strange sound, and then any spiders that found themselves too close to Brandon were instantaneously spattered, reduced to nothingness. This spread out as the concrete tore from underneath the shockwave that traveled a short distance and threw these arachnids upwards. Without wasting any time, Brandon tore the ring form his finger as the pitch black wings sprouted from his back and with a triumphant flap lifted him into the air. There were two people being bound within the webbing and that meant two that he would have to save.

One of them found themselves being assaulted by a larger spider that soon turned upon the battle between the Chinese girl and the witch. Aiming his descent downwards his feet slammed into that spider, releasing a spray of hairs and ichor. Thrusting one hand towards the cocoon that held Imena, the fingers would tears apart the spider webbing as it stuck to his skin. Not wanting to waste any time he would tear it it until she could release herself and then he moved to the telekinetic, fingers ripping through that fabric just as easily. ”Hey are you okay?” Brandon would ask pushing himself back with a single powerful bat of his wings, then turning to Xiao, who would likely need the most help within this catastrophe.

Erica would find the Witch's grasp on her staff not only to be firm, but almost as if fused to it- and removing it caused her as much agony as having a limb ripped out. The Witch cried out a great "NOOOO!" as the staff was flung into the building flames. As the staff itself went out of sight, the miasma of arcane energy in the area seemed the shudder, causing all of the spiders to sieze up and revert to natural behavior. The staff quickly makes itself scarce in the confusion, transforming in a centipede-like creature, fleeing from Danger.

Small spiders simply stopped what they were doing and fled from the metahumans, fleeing into the underground or simply freezing in the cold, their supernatural protection gone. The larger mutant spiders had seizures, their abominable flesh boiling and bubbling from the insides, then simply dissolved into puddles of harmless and inert black goo, their unnatural existence ceasing. The webs seemed to loose their strength, the remaining hostages safely falling through the now brittle nest.

and in Xia's arms, the robed figure's voice changed to that of a regular human, the red robes reverting to a museum researcher's labcoat. The spider swarm that composed the Witch morphed back into a bespectacled, thin and unassuming blonde woman, who gasped and breathed, her left palm left with a terrible scorch mark where the staff was once held. Her body shuddered and convulsed until at last every single spider thing became human flesh once more.

"...No... no! Don't hurt me! Please! let me go...!"  The woman tapped as hard as she could on Xia, her supernatural strength quickly crushing the fragile human in her arms, squeezing breath and eyes out of her. Instinctively, Xia loosened her grip, and took a step back.

"...Who are you?! what happened to the witch?" She asked.

"My name is Dr. Valeria Van Mordenheim... I'm a curator... at an Eastern European Museum in the city... thank you for freeing me..." With that the German-american woman fainted onto the streets. With the commotion nearly over, the police were now approaching with caution, and firearms pointed down the alley. Then came the proverbial warning. "Chicago PD. Metahumans, Put your hands in the air and back away from the hostages! Make no sudden moves or we will shoot!"

Another of the officers present called for an ambulance on his walkie-talkie. They meant to bring all the hostages- and the witch's unconscious host- to a hospital.

One problem was solved, a new one arrived.

Erica's world had been shrinking around her for over a decade, the passing of time making everything seem just a little darker then the day before, until she was consumed in darkness. So it was fitting that she would die in the dark. The life sucked out of her by hundreds.... Maybe even thousands of tiny spiders. She had pain... She had regret.... She'd done terrible things... And had terrible things done to her... Enough so that it felt like all that existed in her body was anger bubbling into poison. Making her wonder if the spiders lining up to feed on her would curl up and die the minute they sunk their fangs into her flesh. Now all there was left to do was wait for the inevitable... "Waiting to die.... Story of my fucking life..." Erica thought to herself.

Only she didn't die... What she initially thought was a fang reaching through the webbing was in fact the hand of one of her new found compatriots. As light began to creep back into Erica's world, her eyes adjusted to the light, as she used her own force to help pull her out of the cocoon she'd been trapped in. As Erica pulled herself out, she noticed it was the male Meta who'd saved her from a likely slow and painful death. As Erica dusted herself off, removing the larger pieces of web which were attached to nearly every part of her athletic body, Brandon said ”Hey are you okay?. Erica nodded, saying "Slightly disgusted.... But alive... And back in the fight!".

Fixing her gaze on Ursula, Erica readied herself to join in with Xia in combating the witch. However.... It seemed with the destruction of the staff, the "Nazi Witch" was reverting to a different form.... A truly human form. All around the Meta's, the transforming witch, and the hostages, the spiders were running wild, dying, or writhing in pain. The webbing which spanned across an entire city block seemed to simply lose its strength and hold, as the hostages were able to free themselves, and the web fell to the street below. As the spiders died, they turned into a viscous, smelly, black substance, which was now all over the street. Looking at the puddles of the sticky liquid Erica recoiled and said "Now that's disgusting...", as her gaze returned to the "Witch" who was now a confused and frightened looking civilian in lab wear.

As Dr. Valeria Van Mordenheim Curator of the Eastern European Museum explained herself as best she could, Erica listened intently, wondering what if any of the Doctors story explained her own. It was quickly clear to Erica that Dr. Van Mordenheim was no monster.... She was simply under the thrall of some sort of spell, some sort of infection, leaving Erica to wonder what that left her? The last remaining monstrosity of the Third Reich perhaps? A last remaining testament to a cruelty in time? All she was certain of was that she was alone... Something she had to remind herself that she preferred.

As the Meta's began to make sense of what happened, a voice came over a megaphone and said " "Chicago PD. Metahumans, Put your hands in the air and back away from the hostages! Make no sudden moves or we will shoot!". Erica shook her head and scoffed. saying to herself "Leave it to the Chicago PD to do nothing while the city burns... Then arrest the people who've come to put out the flames!". As she spoke, Erica turned and oversaw the Chicago PD barricade, which was teeming with uniformed officers, SWAT members, and even a few federal agents from the looks of them.

Erica stepped away from the other Meta's and towards the gathering police, saying "So this is the thanks us Meta's get for saving these people.... This neighborhood.... Perhaps even this city!!!". Erica then turned to the three Meta's whom she fought against the "Nazi Witch" and said "You see.... This is how humanity views us... Convenient when needed, disposable once we've cleaned up the mess... It's going to be us or them in the end... They won't have it any other way... And I say let us start it here... Now...". Erica turned to her Meta compatriots, saying "Are you with me?", as several of the Chicago PD cars began to gently levitate a few feet in the air.

Whether the tear in the webbing or the destruction of the staff broke through the stickiness encasing her, Imena broke through and counted herself fortunate to not be in the grasp of doom anymore. While she lost her staff, she could still find a collection of her gadgets within the pouch hanging from her lower back. She pulled forth a precision laser to begin to cut the remaining webbing from her goggles. The smell of the toxin and webbing came as a surprise, and a surprise Imena wanted to purge from her wardrobe.  

The smoke from the flames continued even after the reprieve of the spiders died down. Not lost to the noise surrounding the cavalcade of fatigued heroes, the government response came to call order to the chaos. "Discretion is the better part of valor." Imena snapped a pair of handcuffs on the attitude adjusted woman offering a more cooperative tone. "Police lines fell through at some points along the perimeter; if we can keep to some of the places that were highly contested during the scuffle, we may be able to find a better place to gain clarity." Even with the destruction of the webs behind them, the drain of the toxin still remained real for Imena and to some extent the rest of the heroes. Continuing the fight would only put them in a worse position for information gathering.

"No." Imena's only response to the brash aggression of Erica ended as quickly as it started. She reached down to grab her staff and turned to find a way out. "The hostage rescue will take priority for the rescue workers. We need to escape with the doctor if we are to find out what is behind this task." With how the spiders acted, a large tunnel complex would probably sit beneath the city in this area. "These spiders attacked, and from the look of it, they have turned docile in nature. That would not repair the structural damage to the cities sewage system and it would give us a way to escape, but we need to find a location to descend to beneath that avoids the attention of the police."

Brandon folded the large black wings against his back, landing softly on the ground as he looked over everything that had happened. Within a few moments the entire thing had ended, the staff burnt to a crisp and woman for the most part reverting to her natural state; a normal woman. It seemed that the Nazi witch was nothing more than a poor victim, of some kind of dark curse that had thrust the dark powers upon her and perhaps induced some kind of psychosis. With the heat of battle dying down, the pain within the burns was even more evident, Brandon wincing slightly as he felt over the agitated flesh that was silently screaming in agony. It hurt to the touch and air just seemed to hurt even more, and yet his brother was not here to treat his injuries, and maybe even offer him a shirt to replace what he had.

’Well…that was a twist.” Brandon muttered looking down upon the now mortal woman, who was within the grasp of the dragon woman, trying to get out as if her strength was more than the perhaps fragile person could bear. Not that he knew how tough the spider version of her was anyway, so it was all speculation upon his part anyway. ”Wait a minute…who did this to you?” Brandon would try to ask her, perhaps hoping to get some information out of her, but of course nothing ever goes as planned. She fainted before the question could really be finished, and Brandon was left with nothing, save for the police coming at the wrong time. Instinctively raising his hands he turned towards them, flashing a bright smirk as if unable to think of anything else to do.

They pointed guns at him and yet that would do nothing against his impenetrable hide. Well, for peashooters like that it would do almost nothing at any rate, maybe prove to be annoying but that’s it. Of course he could have stopped things from progressing, but then again that required calling in favors that could have been used for later. However the stranger with the telekinesis spoke up, and her speech while convincing would have gotten them nowhere. It was the steampunk woman that spoke more sense within the situation, and perhaps would have offered them a way out of here. All they needed to do was a fine a way to run, but his face was kind of known now, which would not make things easy.

”Need a location to descend? Look no farther.” Quickly unfurling his wings Brandon looked to the others, picking up the fallen curator and then tossed her at the men that were pointing their guns at them. It was just enough to knock them over, not enough to do any damage. ’Alright we’re going down!”” Raising one leg he slammed it against the ground beneath them, concrete cracking under the pure force and spreading outwards as the very street beneath them would begin to give away. Within an instant they would plunge into the dark place below, any shots fired within that instant would impact against the large wings that had formed a barrier,  quickly folding against his back, Brandon oriented himself and then reached out for those nearest to him as they fell.

As far as he knew the Chinese one was tough, so with little time to react he caught hold of Imena and Erika, slowly flapping as he landed within the dirty waters of the sewer, cringing as they touched it. Releasing them Brandon once again folded his wings against his back, looking upwards to the hole created. ”Well I think we should go before they decide to follow. We can like crash at my place or whatever.” He suggested pointing into the gloom that loomed before them and then running into it.

The police were getting more and tenser with every minute standing off against the metahumans, afraid of what they did not understand. No shots were fired yet, but it came to a boiling point when Erika openly defied and challenged the police, directing all guns at her. Just as things were about to get ugly, the police were blocked off by some locals, and some of the hostage-survivors. A kind old lady stepped forward to scold the police.

“You should be ashamed. These young people saved our lives, and this neighbourhood! Are you so prejudiced you can’t tell apart good people just trying to help?” She asked, and more locals came to the heroes’ defense.

“Dominus says all metahumans are dangerous! They’ll all be detained anyway.” The police replied, rather harshly. But, at least they lowered their guns.

“Can’t you stop and think for yourself for one second, boy? They risked as much as you boys in uniform have. They stopped that evil... witch. How many more people have to suffer in the name of protecting us?” The police looked at each other. Unfortunately, one of their sergeants, a transfer from Dominus, barked orders to arrest everyone for obstruction of justice.

The police, now divided between duty and conscience, were unable to do anything as Brandon ensured the group eventually finds itself below street level, and separated from the witch’s victim. Xia lands on her bum in the cold, smelly water, letting out a small yelp before helping herself up. She looked around and up, weighing her actions.

“There are too many people above looking for us. I think Brandon’s offer is sound. I will take him up on it. I just hope that woman possessed... will be alright. The police do not know she was the witch. Lead on then.” Xia readily follows behind Brandon; though, she did not compel either of the girls present to accompany them. A safe place to hide was a necessity right now, as the city proper was now embroiled in a metahuman hunt.

Hale Villa

After an indeterminate amount of time, wandering, and travelling through magical pathways, the unlikely group of heroes and not-so-heroic folk eventually emerges at the base of a thinking statue... behind them, Hale Manor, actually a Villa inspired by ancient Roman Architecture, and an aging English butler who helps the heroes out of the tunnel with a good, swift tug.



“Well... this is completely unacceptable, young master. Come on then, let me have a look at you four... my, my, all over the local news for heroics fighting an evil Jerry straight out of the history books. Miss Ai!” The Butler sized up each of the ladies that followed Brandon, making remarks on their dress sense and their improper posture. He clapped his hands twice, and from the shadow of a nearby brush emerged a smaller Vietnamese in a french maid uniform.

“Miss Ai, please tend to the ladies while I bring master Hale to the infirmary for treatment. Come now, young master. Walk this way.” Butler Gerard Michaelis led Brandon to inside the Villa to be treated for injuries.

“Y-yes, mister Michaelis! Come now ladies, we must get you fixed up...” Miss Ai somehow... split... into three copies of herself, each with distinctive hair. Ai led the girls to private quarters where they could rest and recuperate, as well as have a change of clothes. The Hale guest wardrobe was nothing if not generous, having many sizes, types and styles of clothes ranging from horribly outdated, outlandishly colourful and flamboyant Victorian dress to modern clothes that suited even the gloomiest of teenagers.

A few days would pass before the city police tire in their zealous hunt of the Spider slayers.

(End of Part 1. Hale Manor R&R Intermission. Post that you're going to watch the news at the end of your next post to begin Part 2. )

Erica continued to levitate the Chicago PD patrol cars in the air, leaving the SWAT members, patrol men, and federal agents on edge as they faced off with the group of Meta's. Erica stood in front of the other three Meta's, making herself the largest target for the "Authorities", who were trying to arrest the four Meta's en'mass, as they secured the neighborhood which was recently overrun with enchanted killer spiders only moments ago. However Erica was disappointed that her calls to arms against the prejudice, aggressive, and repressive policemen were dashed by the other three Meta's. Imena saying "No. The hostage rescue will take priority for the rescue workers. We need to escape with the doctor if we are to find out what is behind this task.", Brandon Hale seconding this point, and Xia also agreeing to it.

Erica sighed... Lowering the Police vehicles with a slight wave of both hands, she turned to her three fellow Meta's and said "There will come a day when you regret your inaction.... And fighting intolerance with tolerance... As those who seek to imprison us have no such morale compass. Trust me I know....", eluding to the fact she'd worked for the government. However it was certainly impossible to gauge from the passing comment, the level of involvement she'd had in the United States's Black Op's for five decades.

However something happened that Erica did not expect... The tolerance and compassion of the hostages they'd just rescued. An older woman shouting “You should be ashamed. These young people saved our lives, and this neighbourhood! Are you so prejudiced you can’t tell apart good people just trying to help?”, a middle aged man remarking "Ya.... They shouldn't get arrested for this... They should get a medal!", and a teenage girl agreeing and saying "I'd totally be spider food if it wasn't for these four!". The people the Meta's had saved were now forming a sort of barrier between the police and the Meta's, which allowed the Meta's the chance to escape into the sewers if that was what they wanted to do.

Reluctantly Erica nodded and said "I suppose..... You're right in light of what's happening here. Best to fight another day..".. Erica motioned for the others to lead the way into the sewers, and as she jumped down into the filth Erica had something she hadn't had in years.... A glimmer of hope for the most certainly intertwined futures of Meta-Human's and humanity. Something she'd most certainly lost until she'd take her plunge into Chicago's sewer system.

Hale Villa

After what seemed like an incredibly exhausting journey through the filthy expanse of Chicago's underground sewer network, the four Meta's emerged into what seemed like an Eden compared to the underground sewers. Leaving the filth and the waste for the Villa's gardens, the group was instantly greeted by an overly formal Butler who said to Brandon Hale “Well... this is completely unacceptable, young master. Come on then, let me have a look at you four... my, my, all over the local news for heroics fighting an evil Jerry straight out of the history books. Miss Ai!”. The butler then made remarks on their dress sense and their improper posture as each of the girls passed. When the butler got to Erica she held up her hand and said "Careful.... If you want a back capable of proper posture...".

The group was then met by the most certainly Meta Miss Ai, who greeted the group by saying “Y-yes, mister Michaelis! Come now ladies, we must get you fixed up...” as she split herself into three distinct copies. Erica smiled and said "Well isn't this just getting good...", as Miss Ai led the way into Hale Manor.

When Miss Ai showed Erica her spacious room, which looked as if it was out of a glimpse into the Victorian Era, the Meta-human said "Well.... Certainly beats the hell out of my Northside studio apartment.." in a joking tone. As Miss Ai left Erica began to investigate the closet, pushing aside the clothes that didn't interest her. Then she stumbled upon it.... A vintage dress from the 30's, one which she could have seen herself wearing to school before..... Before she was taken. A smile crept across Erica Von Manstein's face, something which hadn't happened in some time, as she whispered "Incredible....".

Erica took in her lavish surroundings and smiled. Everything seemed perfect except for that creeping feeling she was all to familiar with. Erica fumbled around in her belongings and found what she was looking for, loaded and ready to go. She winced from the pain as she "Dosed" herself, the world becoming a little more numb to Erica Von Manstein, as she crashed back to bed in a dream or a nightmare....

(Some time later)

Erica awoke from a long daze that seemed to last a day, after a warm shower had left her relaxed from a hard day of fighting. She rose from bed and headed for the closet, putting on the vintage dress she'd eyed before. The conservative 30's dress covered her tattoo's, giving her the appearance of the typical woman of the period, albeit a beautiful one. She hardly recognized herself, as she had this fleeting glimpse into her past, and what could have been. After sizing herself up, Erica headed for the door to see what was happening around the Villa, as she supposed not everyone was still in their rooms. The sound of a TV came from a common area down the hall, and that was where Erica headed, wondering if the others were gathered there.

Time passed as easily as the shadows once the end of the tunnels came into view. Brandon did a solid job of knocking out any obstacles, but the creaking of thousands of tons of concrete above them made Imena weary of the choice they made. Still, his powerful blows knew just where they wanted to go, even if the smell of the inner workings of a spider den never fell to the forceful blows. The light at the end of the tunnel broke before a manor outside of Chicago- or at least a nicer part of the city Imena knew.

A hand reached down to assist Imena with bringing herself up into the courtyard. No longer did the harsh air of death linger around her, but the air she now took in felt different. Swirling just below her jaw, Imena let the numbness sink in just under tongue while she closed her eyes. Something outside of the ordinary stuck to her, but before she could inquire any further into the realm of outside knowledge, an odd man greeted her in a collateral greeting. The butler stressed the situation as unacceptable, but ushered them in. They did not stumble upon this place through coincidence, and by the confidence of the man who guided them into the garden and the demeanor of the man greeting them, it looked like Brandon found his way home.

"I did leave my coat behind, so that could be used as something of an excuse for my appearance." Imena kept her satchel tucked into the small of her back. Her staff collapsed into a much more manageable proportion for her to hide the fact anything about her came from out of the ordinary. Whether summoned from mid air or merely coming from the corner of her unexpecting eye, Imena gasped a quick breath of surprise as the young woman appeared before her- and then another gasp as the same woman appeared before the other members in a separate form. "That is an interesting trick you have devised. How do you perform such a spectacular feat?"

Imena found the quarters familiar, but in the way the reflection of a mirror seems so familiar. Everything inhabiting the room only mirrored the times she stepped from, but could never truly replace what she left behind. For now she could use the quarters bestowed to her, but she wondered if the rooms all looked in this manner, or if some enchantments tried to make the rooms more adequate for her visitation period. No matter, Imena sent her clothes away to be washed and slipped into the blue dress left for her. She laced the corset from the front and secured the snaps along her collar to keep the dress from coming open. She would keep to this for the mean time, but held no notions of keeping the attire from a time behind her in the present.

For the next few days, Imena stayed confined to the libraries of the manor to try and shed some light on just what kind of place she found herself. The vast knowledge kept her flowing from one tome to the next, but what she actually sought still eluded her. The book closed with a echoing thud to announce her departure from scouring the library. The hardwood of the flooring made her steps ring out with every step she took until she reached the quarters assigned to her. It would make sense for her to try and take some of these books with her, but keeping stolen items on her person would probably not suffice. She would make plans to return, but for now she needed to slip out of the uncomfortable corset and back into the majesty of the new age- jeans. Sadly, the damage done from the savage fighting compromised the material, causing their untimely death during the wash process. She needed to dress the part given to her.

The Victorian vest snapped up easy enough over the sleeveless shirt underneath.  Her dress sat around the middle of her thighs, with the hang off of the dress draping to her right side. Each step caused the hang off to bounce after her step in an ineffective way, but the style would need to do- for now. For the past few days she barely heard a word from any of the companions, and with the boisterous nature of their few encounters, she deduced an oddity from the silence. Turning the corner of the hallway in a more comfortable pair of boots with rubber souls minding the noise they gave off with each step.

The chatter of voices pulled Imena further down the hall. Her short time with the others left her unaccustomed to the voices of each member after days of isolation. The room opened up to empty couches and unchecked air. The television remained on in the empty room, but before Imena could locate the remote to turn off the television, a newscast caught her attention. Just to the peripheral of her attention, she turned her head to give her attention to Erica. With the attitude the woman projected, Imena felt surprised she stayed put within the manor and did not take off to settle some issues with the city of Chicago herself. "It's been quiet. I didn't know if anyone else stayed around, but it looks like the city hasn't been as complacent as us."

Brandon was one of the first to rise from the opening near the Hale manor, and…well it seemed that the servants were waiting for them there. Of course at first it was the rather stuffy looking butler that his mother had to hire for some strange reason, though Brandon found him a little too stuffy for his taste. Not that the Hale matriarch would really listen anyway, she tended to do everything her way and no one else seemed to matter within that equation. The blonde brute smiled lightly, the white teeth flashing from between his lips as his wounds were made light of, which made him cringe a little. It was strange to actually have been hurt, but he kind of got over it, and a little medical stuff would make it all better…so he hoped. Fingertips would dance over the damaged flesh for a moment, before Brandon simply chose to ignore it completely.

If anything his mom was likely to have some kind of enchanted thing that would seal the flesh up good as new. His berating the girls based upon their dress sense amused him considering that Brandon was not known for being sharp dressed; that was his twin. ”Alright Jeeves I getcha.” Brandon would not raising his hands in surrender, as if know nothing else could be said upon the matter. He was of course not forcefully lead into their manor, but something about how he was lead suggested that the male did not have too much choice within the matter anyway. Not that he minded, something about having a staff again reminded him of earlier days, when he and Sean were constantly playing pranks on Aaron and the other apprentices; two magic-less guys against the magical world.

While the others were lead to their rooms, Brandon was brought to what could be considered the infirmary. Bandages would be wrapped around the burned area on his arm and chest, instead of it being healed completely, which meant that his mother was not quite home yet. Likely she was off doing whatever it was that Arianna did, but whatevs. ”So no healing mojo?” He asked quizzically, smirking at the butler with a certain joking expression. When he shook his head, Brandon would frown for a moment before accepting it, and letting the balm be applied. While he was no mage, the guy was an expert when it came to herbal remedies, so this was a piece of cake for him. Sure it kind of stung when the stuff was added, but something about infection or whatever.

When all was said and done, Brandon looked over the bandages for a few moments before standing to his feet and walking out. Next came to checking on Niall, after the whole soul issue, which left him for the most part rather…sluggish. While he could feed himself, Brandon took it upon himself to feed his weakened boyfriend, and so that was what he was going to be doing. Walking through the large kitchen, Brandon dug through the refrigerator and pulled out a few food items, mixing them together and heating them up before laying them on a plate, then bringing them to the room. There the blonde was somewhat reclining on the small couch that was placed in the room, looking as drowsy as ever, though the sight of Brandon seemed to cause him to perk up.

”Well hello.” Brandon said with a pleasant hum drifting over to Niall and pressing a light kiss to his lips, and placing the plate on a small table, he plopped down on the couch and wrapped an arm around the male. There was talking, he ate what was brought to him and eventually kind of fell asleep. With that done, Brandon kind of lifted him from the couch, laying him on the bed and tucking him on, kissing his forehead before taking the plate and walking out. With that done, Brandon tossed the plate into the sink and then decided that he should take a shower, before deciding against it. Checking the bandages on his arm and chest, Brandon joined the people in the living room, who were watching the television.

”If you guy’s want you can kinda stay here till the heat blows over.”

One of the Miss Ai clones, assigned to Imena, entertained her inquiry as they made their way to her quarters. She meekly answered in English with a French accent. “It... It is my ability, milady. I am capable of generating duplicates of myself... and the enchantments of the manor allow me to teleport...”

At the infirmary, Butler Michaelis seemed to multitask with inhuman skill, simultaneously healing Brandon then sewing up his shirt in a breeze, while doing other butlery things. “Really young master. Magic should only be reserved for emergencies. Doing things the natural way is best when time and resources are in abundance.” As befits an English butler, he would entertain the young master’s questions with snappy and snarky responses.

Xia gladly follows miss Ai, finding the quirky, teleporting, duplicating Vietnamese-french maid quite interesting and fun. She spoke fluent mandarin ontop of her home language, French, and English. Miss Ai brought Xia to a room and offered her a change of clothes... which became quickly difficult as the girl was one of the biggest guests they’ve had so far. Xia settled with a simple old fashioned night dress which looked more like a long blouse on her. She hits the hay and rests.

Once she woke up breakfast was brought to each guest’s rooms each day, a mini-buffet for Brandon’s new friends. Miss Ai looked in amazement at Xia’s appetite during her recovery period, gorging on food meant for all of them- eggs, hams, bacon, corned beef, sausages, croissants, muffins, hash browns and juice. Miss Ai took note to serve Xia a separate breakfast cart.

During her stay, Xia spoke with Brandon the most among her companions, thanking him profusely for his hospitality, while using the secure line to call Ellie that she was alright. Xia decided to take a walk about, and found the house pet... attempting to but failing to bond with the spirit creature, though it showed deep reverence for the dragonborn.

After her day of rest, Xia goes around to interact with the others. She started with Erica, but upon reaching the door threshold and smelled the substance she injected herself with, Xia hesitated and walked away. She looked around for Imena as well, but libraries were not part of her vocabulary, and in this big house they simply did not cross paths.

In the end, she’d find everyone at the common room, being polite and friendly to all, even to Erica, though her heightened sense of smell made it difficult to be around the woman. Local news was on, and Xia plopped down into the sofa heavily beside Imena, probably sending the girl flying a couple of inches. Xia was dressed in a big sweater and short shorts, her long legs stretched out in front of her.
The newscaster made her report.

“...The past few days of unrest due to metahuman activity in the city continues. Despite the good intentions of some like the four unidentified metahumans who defeated the Nazi Spider Witch, and other vigilante metahumans, it seems there is just no rest to be had-”

The news feed is suddenly cut, and on the screen the scene was set upon a large stage and area in one of the run down districts in Chicago. On the stage were a number of white robed figures. The background of the stage had a sunburst decoration, and curtains.

One of the robed men stepped forward, his bearded face and powerful presence marking him as someone of importance. He spoke to the gathered crowd in a strong orator’s voice. “Brothers and sisters of Chicago... do not be alarmed. We are the Radiant Fellowship. We have seen firsthand the devastation wrought by metahuman kind... we have seen how our vulnerable human lives are affected by beings possessed of unholy powers.”

The crowd applauded and vocalized agreement. It was apparent these people were whipped up into some sort of angry mood. The speaker gestured to the curtains. “Behold... a mere three of the many wretched souls that live in this city, feeding upon mankind, growing fat with their predations.”

The first curtain was unveiled, revealing a large reptilian creature in a cage, his enormous torso supporting a massive dinosaur-like head, the claws on his humanoid arms and his teeth stained with blood. The crowd immediately jeered and boo’d, pelting him with rotten vegetables and eggs. The monster roared and struggled against his chains. The Reverend introduced the creature. “Ivan Drax, The Carnivore. A wretched demon from hell made flesh, which has devoured men, women and children whole.”

The second curtain was lifted, and there in a glass tube stood a tall, dark handsome man in the tattered remains of a tuxedo, his face battered and bruised. The crowd also expressed immense disapproval, though not as much as for Carnivore. The Reverend also introduces him. “John Prospero Cortez, a warlock and seducer of women, using his black arts to control their minds, stealing their riches and raping them before their spouses’ eyes.”

The final veil was lifted and there in the cage, still dressed in her patient gown, was the Spider Witch from days ago, now weaker and paler than ever. She drew the least amount of ire from the crowd... but the Reverend’s words would change that, swaying their opinions against not only metas but against authority. “Dr. Valeria Van Mordenheim, the Nazi Witch who terrorized our very streets, threatened our city not four days ago, with tyranny, and death- offered up to her blasphemous spider god- set free by the incompetence of our police. She claims to be innocent, to be found by a jury of her peers as not guilty of her crimes. Can you believe this, my brothers and sisters?! CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE LIES?!”

Once the three metas were introduced, a young African-american teenager from the crowd got on the stairs. His gaze was focused on Carnivore. Tears were already flowing down his face, tears of fear and hate.

“What’s your name, son?” He asked, speaking in a tone of compassion towards the distraught boy.

“Jake Johnson sir.” He said, sniffing. The boy couldn’t have been older than 15. The Reverend pauses to embrace him, to console his pain.

“And tell me my son. What has this... monster... done to you?” The Reverend asked.

“That thing...He... he killed my dad... and robbed our store...took all our money... he ate him, there wasn’t even a body to bury! if we went to the police he'd come back!” Jake answered, his hate growing along with the crowd’s.

“Weak boy, I have your scent. You’ll be reunited with your father in my belly. Hahahah! BUT I WILL DEVOUR YOU FIRST, JUDAS PRIEST!” The Carnivore simply taunted him and laughed, provoking Jake to anger. The Reverend restrained him with a gentle hand.

“What do you want me to do? What do you believe SHOULD be done?” Cassius asked Jake, as well as the crowds. The answer came rushing like a mighty crescendo, first from Jake, then from the crowd.

“Kill him... Kill him, Reverend!” Jake said, taken up by his emotions. As if on cue, Carnivore’s bonds were released, and he broke free of his cage. The metahuman attacks the Reverend, but the reptilian monster barely took three steps when the robed warriors onstage cut him down with accurate volleys of their laser rifles, slicing into his hide and boiling away much of his flesh. Carnivore falls and chokes on his own blood, his one good eye meeting the gaze of the boy.

“Here my son. This Carnivore is not my enemy. His fate is yours to decide.” The Reverend takes one of the rifles from his cultists, and hands it to the boy.

“Go to hell, monster.” Ivan snarled at him. “I’ll... be waiting for you... boy...” The teenage boy aims the rifle at Carnivore’s open maw and opens fire, the laser weapon searing through his eye and into his skull, liquefying his brain, killing the monster. Jake breathed heavily, angrily, and looked up at the Reverend.

The Reverend raised the boy’s arm and armament. “These are our tools- Science, steel, skill and the will of the divine. Mankind will triumph over the hell spawn. No more shall we be plagued by their kind! We will seek them out, and put them ALL to the sword!” He proclaimed, and all cheered.

“I am Reverend Cassius. The time of judgement is upon us, brothers and sisters.” He said in a sinister tone, but garnering a blood curdling howl from the crowd. “KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!”

Then, the Reverend approached Cortez, the warlock. The Mexican sorcerer sneered as Cassius spoke to him. “Any last words, hellspawn?”

“I go to my dark lord this day, Cassius. Death will not be the end for me, mark my words! Your little cult can’t hide its secrets forever.” The warlock cackled as the tube he was in was sealed all around by metal cladding, and the machinery beneath him came to life. The vents below his feet opened, and in an instant the tube was filled with jet fire. John cursed for a moment, before he was incinerated in the macabre furnace. The cladding was lowered, to reveal John’s charred skeletal remains, which readily crumbled to ash.

The sight of it drew a cheer from this bloodthirsty crowd.

“Suffer not the witch to live! We will cleanse them with fire!” Cassius said which whipped up the mob.

Finally it was the doctor’s turn. She continued to struggle against her bonds, though the cruelly modern witch pyre began its preparations for the execution. “...Please... don’t do this...I want to live... Pleaaase...Have mercy...” She pleaded, weakly, tears streaming down her face.

“There is no salvation for one such as you, whore-witch. You damned yourself when you offered up yourself to become the bride of your blasphemous god!” Cassius responded, speaking in a mighty finale, having the crowd howl, “BUUURN, WITCH, BUUUURN!”

“NOOOO!” The furnace fired up, the crowd’s cheer and the blast furnace’s roar drowning out Dr. Van Mordenheim’s brief cry of pain.

= = =

At this point, the Butler turned off the television set with the remote. He only sharply commented, “Well... that escalated quickly. It seems life for metahumans... has become much more difficult.”
Xia looked on, horrified and speechless, then breaking out in tears and leaving the room, one of the maid Ai’s following after her.

(I end the thread here, though if any of ye wish to have a closing remark you could.)