The Cat Springs A Trap

September 29, 2015:

Zee catches up with Pepper and Nyx … and they get a surprise visitor.

New York

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: None.


Fade In…

Jericho has been kept busy elsewhere, but that doesn't mean that elsewhere doesn't occasionally intrude on matters here.

Take Nyx. It's been on the hacker's mind for some time that Samantha needed to talk to Pepper. If only to make sure everything was alright after that disasterous attack on Stark Tower a few months ago. The damage is… repaired of course. And Pepper doesn't usually hold grudges but he had asked Zee to maybe get the two together for lunch. Or coffee. Or what have you.


Zee's unaware that Pepper and Nyx have already spoken in M-Town about what happened at Stark Tower. Zee herself is only vaguely aware of the details of what Nyx did - but Jericho asked for her help and she likes Nyx and Pepper, and there's not much better than having coffee (or tea) with friends.

Making a booking at a local restaurant - not too classy but a cut above the average - Zee's invited the two women to join her there. Arriving early, she's already at the table, a glass of water in front of her, as well as a papernotebook, which she's currently writing in.


Samantha sort of knows Zee thanks to adventures in Limbo and some other incidents. Still she won't turn down a nice meal and all and shows up for the engagement pretty promptly. Helps really that she doesn't have to worry about getting stopped in traffic. She slings a nicer coat on over her tanktop. She really hopes it doesn't get ruined.


Pepper Potts arrives precisely when she promised to because Pepper. She's shown to Zee's table and she offers the waiter a smile thanks (and will be leaving him a more than generous tip) before she greets Zee. "Zatanna, hello. Thank you for the invitation. How did you know I was about to tear my hair out and lose my cool at the junior manager of Accounting?" She says this a bit jokingly, but mostly seriously. That man is THIS close to seeing exactly how bitchy she can get. She offers Nyx a similarly friendly smile hello. "Nyx. Good to see you as well. I hope things have been going well for you?" She settles into her chair and accepts a glass of water.


Jericho is not present at this gathering. Jericho had not, at least, planned to be present. After all it was for Nyx and Pepper and Zee. Which means that the demon figures watching the little diner aren't his. Or at least most probably aren't his. Someone kneels near them. Someone Zee might find familair and at the same time… not. Someone… rather feline, really. "Yes… there they are. Two problems for the price of one, I see. This is good. Quite good…"


As Pepper and Nyx join her, the teen mage closes the book and murmurs something - of course, it will sound like nonesense - and the book winks out of existence. "Miss Potts! Nyx!" she greets the two women "Thank you for joining me. What's your junior manager of Accounting done, Miss Potts?" Zee picks up the frustration. "Jericho asked me to get you two together - something about what happened at Stark Industries." Of course, Zee's thought nothing strange of that request, maybe she should have!

Zee's not exactly failed to miss the demonic presences, but she's not really looking for them and … to be fair… there always seem to be demons around Zee - Jericho's, Illyana's or something more malign.


Nyx shifts a little bit, she isn't as attuned to the demonic presences as some may be. But still she has sucked up enough limbo juice to be dangerous around it. She frowns a little bit picking up a menu. "Hello Ms. Potts.. and yeah I've been good.. no incidents recently … I … still need to come by and see Mr. Stark though…" she looks to Zee and blinks "Oh… I .. guess I didn't tell him we sort of talked some…"


Pepper Potts glances from Zee to Nyx and back, then smiles amusedly. "Yes. We've already talked, no hard feelings on either side. Promise." She is, as most Muggle humans are, completely oblivious to the presence of anything or anyone untoward. Though if one of those demony types gets close enough without her noticing, she might possibly get (and promptly dismiss) that little creepy shiver up her spine.

Looking at her menu also briefly, she mentally picks out what she's going to order. "You know, I never did get to take you clothes shopping, Nyx. Zatanna, we should plan to do that one of these weekends soon. I'm pretty sure that most summer offerings are going to be on sale." Not that she really cares about that sort of thing, but it might make Nyx feel a bit less self-conscious about it.


Those who know the mutant Kitty Pryde are familair with her ability to phase through matter. A lesser known application of that ability is her capacity to take things with her. The catch is that if she lets go of them, they become real once more.

Though sometimes that can be done on purpose. From outside the little cafe someone begins to slide planks of wood into the supporting members of the wall. Nice soft pine. As each one is let go it effectively replaces a section of the metal wall support with soft wood. And it's only a matter of time before…

Snap! The building rumbles a bit as the wall and roof - right where Pepper, Zee and Nyx are sitting - start to crumble under their own now unsupported weight.


Zee is familiar with Kitty's abilities. Kitty explained them very well to the teen mage, she just never would have expected to see them used in such a way.

"You have?" Zee sounds a bit bemused as the two women explain "I guess Jericho's been busy … elsewhere." she knows where and she knows why. Glancing at Nyx as Pepper talks about clothes shopping, Zee's smile broadens "I would love to Miss Potts! It's been ages since I did something s…."

Snap! The noise gets Zee's attention first and she looks over in time to see the wall crumble and get hit on the head by a falling piece of plaster "What on earth?" She's still not detected that other presence… "Miss Potts, Nyx, perhaps we should move."

She's already up and moving, waiting for Pepper so she can move them to safety…


Pepper Potts smiles as Zee shows clear excitement at the invitation, but then blinks and looks up and around at the snap as well. "Agreed." She is already moving to stand and get clear by the time Zee mentions it, and she reaches for Nyx to accompany them. She's aiming for an archway further into the building, a structure that is clearly designed to support the weight of the structure above it.


Samantha looks around and then looks up "Well.. I could go shopping sure… I mean… I would kill for a costume that doesn't blow up…." she then jerks at the snap noise "Wait what…" she blinks and slips up to her feet. She doesn't go with the others, instead she ruins her new jacket flaring her wings into existance and then she folds them up and uses it almost like a shield as she follows the more.. fragile ones.. ready to take it all to help shield them.


That plasma shield saves Samantha and indeed Pepper from having a very heavy section of iron girder fall on them. There isn't a whole lot of time to breathe easy though. People are still shouting in fright and confusion as four demons the size of mountain lions (only a lot uglier) leap through the now large hole in the wall amid the settling dust as a woman in a rather revealing outfit with a katana… looking slightly ghostly… smirks from behind them. "At 'em!" She yells as the demons lunge at Zee and Pepper and… try to get behind Nyx. Smarter than they look.


"Cat!" Zee hisses as she shakes the dust from hair and wipes her face. "Nyx get Miss Potts out of here." Zee might have a score to settle the phasing Limbo dupe. Eyes blazing blue, Zee looks at the demons… they are the first threat.

~~ doolB fO esohT owT snomeD lioB, yortseD morF ehT edisnI ~~

It might be a little messy - but far safer than a fire ball or a lightning strike.


Pepper Potts flinches as the iron girder falls toward them and … Nyx's wings save their bacon. Literally. There was bacon on the salad that Pepper had planned to order. And then a woman and two .. things that look like they belong in a Ghostbusters movie come after them. Oh HELL no. She may have almost zero fighting ability, but she's got nerd cred to her name and a COACH bag of Holding +12.

Even as Nyx is likely moving to get her to safety, Pepper hastily pulls a black metal hairstick from her bag with one hand and a saltshaker off of an adjacent table with the other, then throws both at the sword-wielding woman. Please let one or the other work.


Nyx straightens up there and then shakes off the girder dust from her clothes. "Son of a…." she looks over at the demons and then starts to move to play defense for Pepper, to get her to at least the door. That said she does turn her hand back and take a shot at one of the demons with a lance of energy "Come on Ms. Potts."


Points to Pepper for recognizing the traditional counters to a ghost. Sadly, Cat isn't a ghost. Or a demon. Well she's kind of demonic, but in reality she's something much, much more dangerous. Zee managies to fry one of the demons but the other shrugs her spell off and leaps at her as two more demon lion things drop from above and begin prowling forward. They're trying to surround Nyx and Pepper. Surely the cyborg can't defend from all angles at once.

Something else drops from the sky too. Something with amber wings and a rapidly unfolding sword. Jericho doesn't ask what's going on. That's evident. Why not so much but… he doesn't bother at the moment. He just puts his blade up as Cat turns on him.


Zee could teleport Pepper and Nyx out… oh wait, no she can't there's a demon leaping at her - one that shrugged off her spell - damn! She'll assume the limboforsaken thing is immune to magic somehow and resort to more means. Where's that iron girder…. ah there it is…

~~ porD ehT norI redriG nO ehT nomeD dnA hsauqS tI ~~

The teen mage dances back a few steps as she casts… trying to avoid the other demons and debris… one foot slips as it falls wrong, but her spell stills fires true - she's just off balance for a fraction of a moment.


Pepper Potts lets Nyx shuffle her out of the building, but the moment they're clear she looks at Nyx with a serious expression. "Go help Zatanna. I'll be fine." She's already pulling her phone from her bag to call for further assistance. Her first thought? Dana Maddox Hunt. She just hopes the photographer / half-Fae half-mage all-awesome-woman is back from visiting with her father. She's not heard from her for kind of a long time.


Nyx shuffles Pepper further out and then spins around and eyes the demons. "Mmmm two more.. Pepper.. hide over there under that table or something…" she totally cheats with the next move, she brings both hands around and instead of a pulse fires off two lances of energy which will bisect with a demon hopefully. It makes dodging hard though it is hard on the building behind the demon. She isn't blasting full strength though..


The first of the demons coming at Nyx gets cut in two. They're tough but not that tough. Well, not all of them. Some of them can take hits like that. Not that one, thogh, apparently. That still leaves Nyx and Pepper three to deal with and one of them lunges past Nyx to try and grab Pepper by the leg and drag her out where it can… yeah.

The girder drops and strikes the beast square across the back. A normal animal that would kill. This is a demon though and it starts to yowl and thrash and squirm trying to shake the girder off or get out from under it. Another leaps at Zee, keeping her busy, getting closer this time.

Something many don't know about Kitty/Cat's mutant power is that it disrupts electronics. Cat swipes through Jericho's guard before his fields go up, smirking. In an instant all of Jericho's network connections go dead as the ability to transmit is disrupted. His cybernetics though? Those don't and so it's a nasty surprise for the mutant when his wolf armor springs into being. "You can't make it easy can you. Fine!" The mutant swordswoman picks up a particularly sharp section of rebar and swings, letting it go to hurl the sharp part right at Nyx head, the improvised spear materializing as it leaves her grip… right before Jericho pounces on her.


Pepper Potts doesn't crawl under a table, that leaves her no room to keep getting clear. Instead, she hastily moves around behind that table, and sees something in the waiter's station that might be useful. She snatches up the spray can (some kind of aerosol, she's not going to be picky), and when one of the demons lunges toward her, she scoops up the candle off of the table and sprays the aerosol past it at the creature. Buffy and keen fashion sense, don't fail me now.


These demons are really starting to annoy Zee. Why are they trying to keep her busy … they're distracting her … but from what? She knows she's missing something - Cat's clever and Cat's here… Demon-Zee's clever too and she knows Zee.

Eyes glowing brightly, Zee see's the rebar flying for Nyx - she can use that, thank you very much.

~~ rabeR rewekS ehT nomeD ~~

At the same time, she pulls the Sgian Dubh from her boot - the one she's coated in holy oil - and sprints to the trapped, yowling, demon, approaching from the side. When she gets near enough, she drives the point of the blade into the creatures neck… seeking to sever the artery there…


The aerosol flame throw does work. Limbo demons don't really like fire more than anyone else does. They're tougher yes but no one is going to stand in the fire. The cat backs off, yowling and spitting and angry. Very angry. Similarly, Zee manages to dispatch the downed demon. There's a pair of clangs behind her as Cat tries to engage Jericho, first by phasing through his fields (that works not quite so well) and then by attacking him directly. Which means she has to unphase. The demonic assassin version of Kitty is already running the numbers though. This was supposed to be an ambush in which the demons distracted Zee and Nyx while she gutted them. And Pepper too because she was here. With a new arrival and her victims competance though that isn't happening, so the next moment she gets she dives through a wall. Jericho turns to chase her and then thinks better of it, striding into the cafe instead to finish off the rest of the demons. He starts with the one that Pepper just burned. Chop.

"Nice improvised flame thrower there." He smirks a bit from inside his wolf-field.


Pepper sets the aerosol can and now extinguished candle aside the moment Jericho puts an end to the thing harrassing her. "I … thank you, Jericho." She's not ever seen that wolf-thing before — at least not that she can remember — and she's openly staring.


Now covered in demon blood - ewwww - Zee shudders a little, and wipes her hand across her face, leaving a smear of blood across her cheek. Eyes still blazing blue, she looks around the room, seeing that Jericho has despatched the rest, she slowly lets her power drop. "Where's Cat, Jericho."

Finally realising what Pepper had done, Zee offers the redhead a little salute. "Nicely done, Miss Potts." and now where's ….. Nyx….


Jericho reaches a hand down. And by hand we mean enormous clawed paw. He's not sure the danger's passed yet. "She disappeared through a wall. Probably bolted but it'd be good to keep a look out…" At least for the next few minutes. "And I didn't see where Nyx went. Grabbed a demon and flew off. I don't have any camera access right now. You two okay?" He finally catches Pepper staring…

"It's just me… won't hurt you."


Pepper Potts stares for a moment longer as a smile spreads across her face. "It's a good look." And then she's stepping gingerly around the mess and chaos toward the wofl-shielded Jericho. "So… what now?"


"Fine, thanks." Zee answers a little dryly "Just in need of a good shower…" Retrieving her Sgian Dubh from the neck of the demon, she keeps glancing around. "That's twice, Jericho." Meaning Cat attacking her. What will Zee do when Jericho isn't around - Cat is definitely stepping up the ante.

"I'm not sensing her anywhere, btw." Cat seems to have fled.


Jericho chuckles at Pepper. "Thanks." It's a demonic look, with the long thick lizard tail and the spikes down the field's back but… no, not a bad look for him.

The hacker looks around for a moment more, then drops the armor and drops lightly onto the floor from where he'd been hovering while encased in the power fields. "If you're not sensing her then she's gone." That's all he'll say for now. "I think we should probably get you two out of sight. She was almost certainly here to kill at least one of you. Pepper do you still have your place at Stark Tower warded?" That had been a project of hers… he'd felt the itchy-blanket feeling when he flew by last.


Pepper Potts nods. "Yes, though the person that set and maintained them is… out of town. The wards might need to be shored up a bit if they're prone to decaying." She pulls a pristine handkershief out of her bag and offers it to Zee. Yeah, blood? Pfft. Who cares. "Do you want to go there to clean up, Zatanna?"


Zee nods at Jericho and takes the handkerchief from Pepper, scrubbing at her face. "Yes please, Miss Potts." She could teleport home, but she wants to check the wards on the Tower. Cat … well wards might not stop Cat … which is something that worries Zee about her own home.


"I'll go with you just to make sure you make it there." The wards may or may not stop Cat but Jericho's thinking they may deter her. "Once you're safe I'll follow up on this with K'nert. If Cat's here, her… Master wants something." Could be its just Zee and Nyx and Pepper dead but… could be more. He'll find out though.

He's good at that.

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