Summoning Gone Wrong

December 28, 2016:

Four college students mess around with a summoning spell, only to find out they summoned a Lordling, versus an imp.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Plot:

Mood Music: [*\# None.]


Fade In…

The sun has set, dusk is no more, now, only the night reigns upon New York City. The darkness enveloping the area is both natural and not. Where the unnatural night can be felt is within a small bit of greenery within this busy city. Flushing Meadows Park, to be exact. It's here where the first trickles of magic might be felt; dark magic.

Or rather demonic magic.

A group of young twenty-somethings decided to try a summoning spell, they found within a book. It was really just a lark, a bit of fun, and while they all thought it was a game, in reality, that summoning did call something forth. And it wasn't one of the nice ethereal spirits. Instead, it brought a demon. A very powerful demon.

Within the secluded spot they chose, the group of four soon found themselves screaming. They had not set up any sort of wards, or sacred circle, nothing and as such, the demon was able to simply move freely about. That freedom allowed the demon to reach out and slaughter his first victim. One of the young men. HIs scream cuts off with a gurgle, but the rest, thankfully, pick up where he left off, as their screams now echo through the park.

Not many are within this small park, but one is, a young mutant by the name of Laura. Upon hearing those sounds of terror, X-23 will pause in her midnight stroll, turning unerringly towards the echoing voices.


"…not tonight… nope. There. How'dya like tha — damn it!"

The exclamations and mutters come from a blue van parked on the side of the road not far from Flushing Meadows Park. Within it sits a young man, hunched over his laptop — and some rather expensive equipment — trying to hack into a corporate database.

'Trying' being the operative word.

"Didn't ask for your opinion!" he snaps at something over his shoulder — and then he hears the screams. "Oh, God…" the young man whispers, and immediately slides open the side door. A metallic, triangular shape also peers over his shoulder, and his eyes flash.

"Demons," says he, leaping out of the van and breaking into a run — on all fours, his long coat flapping behind him in the wind.


It seems, that yes, it'll be tonight, no matter what Kenth Chasinghawk wishes.

The screams continue, this time from a young woman, as claws slice neatly into her side. Again, there's the faintest of gurgles, as she too dies, at her friend's side.

The last two college-aged students finally shake themselves free from their frozen terror-filled stupor. "OH MY GOD!" Screams the guy and then, as the girl besides him grabs his hand and pulls, the two break into a run.

The demon just smiles; he-or rather it, so does love a chase.

When the two break from a small line of bushes, into the park proper, they'll already find X-23 running towards them. Upon seeing the scared students coming towards her, the slim assassin will deploy both sets of claws held within her hands and forearms -

*SNIKT*

"How many?" Barks the dark-haired woman, as she darts past the two and when the man finds his voice, he'll shout, "Just one!"

Kenth and X-23 (ironically) arrive at almost the same time. Once within the small grove they'll find a scene fit for a horror movie. Two bloodied bodies litter the ground and near them a being stands. He stands upright like a man and has two arms, two legs, eyes, nose and mouth, but beyond that, everything else is different. For its eyes, there are actually four, and there's no visible pupil, the eyes are simply green. Curved horns curl up and away the demon's forehead and both hands and feet hold claws, versus actual fingers. Idly, the demon-man, is rubbing the blood from the fallen victims upon his arms. When the blood touches its skin, archaic runes suddenly flare to light.

And while it may have seemed that it was unaware of Kenth and Laura, that notion is easily dispelled, as the rumbling voice of the demon says, "What is this? Fresh sacrifices?"

And then, the demon will turn its face towards Kenth, specifically. "And a brethren?", comes that eerily echo-y voice. This isn't some paltry demon they called, it's something with power behind it.


As Kenth gets closer, the metallic tail normally hidden by his cloak whips outward, as thin metal spines rip through the fabric down his back, across his shoulders and over his limbs.

These 'fingers' of metal even cover part of his face.

He looks quite the demon-cyborg.

"Someone's brother," he replies in an eerie, augmented voice as his fingers sprout claws. The pincer-like tip of his tail seems to… stare at the demon, out of curiosity. Kenth glares. "Just not yours." He glances aside at Laura — blinks in surprise — and leaps straight for the demon. The slashing attack he makes with his hands at the creature is a feint — for his tail to try and coil around the demon's neck while Chasinghawk travels past…

In theory.

"Who the hell're you?!" he demands of Laura.


"Oh but we could be brothers, little friend." States the demon in a voice that has an oddly cloying aspect to it, even as he takes a step forward, "You could stand by my side, as I conquer this mortal world."

The feint and jab is allowed and Kenth, or more specifically, his tail will find itself sliding off an invisible wall. A ward, if you will, and one that's been anchored to the demon itself.

When Kenth drops near Laura, X-23 will meet his gaze, her own eyes taking in the metallic portions that can be seen covering face, jutting along the back, and that tail. "I am here to help." She states in quite the monotone voice and with that said, the slim assassin will launch herself towards the demon. Unlike what Kenth encountered, X-23 finds no ward to block her advance, in fact, as soon as she's close enough the demon will reach out like a snake striking, and grab one of her arms. "Ha. Silly mortal." Muses the demon, but then, his head will cock to the side, "But what's this? You are different than the others." And as the demon speaks, X is far from idle, as she brings her feet upward and slams them upon its chest; and while this might have worked on others, it doesn't with the demon. He-it just stands there, four-eyed gaze mocking.


"It's the blood," Chasinghawk tells X-23, crouching on the ground, his tail in the air like a serpent ready to strike. "It draws strength from the power of sacrifice."

At that, the cy-demon leaps to the side, landing some feet away from the corpses of the larger demon's first two victims. While keeping his eye on the beast, Kenth's tail… dips itself in the blood covering those bodies, as though it were taking a pleasant bath.

Kenth isn't sure it will get him past the wards, but it certainly does make him look thrice as macabre. The tail snakes back, raking blood over Kenth's claws (this will not look good if the authorities see him like this), while he chants — and then the demonic cyborg attacks.

He goes in low, striking simultaneously with his hands at the demon-lords legs, while his tail *spears* upward at the creature's lower abdomen.


It's pretty apparent to X-23 that she won't be able to break the things grip. Again, that doesn't stop her from lashing out, as she brings up her free hand and plunges the claws into the demon's forearm. The one that holds her.

Her claws sink deep and while the demon turns his green-eyed gaze towards the girl, he only chuckles, a rolling dark sound. "Foolish." And around X-23's claws, she'll see blood begin to well up and drip. The blood, however, doesn't look quite normal. It's black and very viscous and as it oozes onto the young woman's skin, it begins to sting and sear. It's enough to cause the slim assassin to hiss in pain, her lips pulling back off her teeth as she grimaces at the thing that holds her.

As for Kenth …

His hand strikes land and while they carve deep furrows into the demons legs, the demon itself doesn't seem to mind. Instead, the demon will switch his attention from Laura to Kenth now, or more specifically Kenth's tail. When it nears, the demon will lash out, hand blurring with the speed it moves. Kenth's tail will be snagged from the air, moments, before it gouges the demon's abdomen. Then that tail will be brought up to the demon's face, and the demon will give the tail a look. "I see you." The demon almost sing-song chants, to the demonic consciousness held within. "Would you like me to set you free? Allow you to be the one in control? I could do that for you, you know." And once more, the voice of the demon turns peculiar, as it tries to influence the being within.


Hanging upside down from his tail.

This is not how Kenth pictured his evening going.

"They summoned a lordling??" he asks of Laura incredulously. "Why is it always a lordling? Why can't they just settle for… an imp? Hells." He ceases his muttering as he listens to the 'lordling' talk to the young man's tail. Few would realise that the 'cyber-demon' elements in Kenth's body have… something of a life of their own. Naturally, a being as powerful as this would know.

And try to exploit it.

What the creature does *not* know is just how… polymorphic the Demonspine really is. While it croons and tempts, Kenth gives himself over to the creature living inside him…"Take your moment…" he murmurs to Laura.

The tail suddenly doubles in length, dropping Kenth to the ground — but not before slicing as much as he can into the demon-lord's arm, weakening it.

The arm holding onto Kenth's tail.


The demon's blood, or venom we'll just say, continues to eat through Laura's hand. And while it hurts, boy does it really hurt, Laura's healing factor kicks in. The skin that split and burned is suddenly whole again, the ligaments and bone that's devoured are reborn - up until more blood splatters upon the woman's hand.

It's enough that X-23 will ferociously yank her claws out of the demon's forearms.

The demon, for his part, does feel Laura's rather mean-spirited pull, but that doesn't stop him from crooning to the thing within the demonspines and tail. As for Laura, all she gets is a hard shake, hard enough to scramble her brains for the barest of seconds which causes her to not necessarily hear those murmured words of Kenth's.

And back to Kenth, when the demon-tail lengthens, then sharpens and cuts deeply within the hand and arm that holds it. While the demon's green eyes widen, it doesn't quite shout in pain, but it will release the tail. "So be it." The Lordling says, his voice rising in volume much as his ire rises. "You have made your choice apparent; not surprisingly. Only weaklings bond with mortals." And with a casual flick of his arm, Laura goes flying and slams harshly into a tree. The trunk actually emits the faintest of cracks thanks to the force that the slim assassin was thrown with.

The demon's injured arm begins to heal and as he looks at Kenth, he'll rumble, "No matter. I will find underlings elsewhere. For now, you may play with these toys of mine." And with that said, the demon snaps his fingers, and the two fallen bodies suddenly animate. Unlike the zombie movies of the past, these things aren't shambling thing, they're quick. In fact, they're faster then when they were alive, and their fingers, toes and teeth have all sharpened themselves to blade-like points. Both converge towards Kenth, intending to slice and stab the man.


As soon as Chasinghawk finds himself free, the young man spins around, his tail slicing through the air like a scythe — whether or it hits anything is another matter. At the last moment, the triangular 'head' of the tail turns to look in the direction of the retreating demon-lord — in defiance of Kenth's command.

Kenth glances over at Laura, and instead of attacking the zombie-like corpse-monsters, he leaps over to Laura's side. The tail snakes around a nearby bench, yanks it free, and throws it at the zombies.

"Does this happen often to you?" he asks the girl, likely in an attempt to add some levity to their situation.


The Lordling just laughs, as he saunters away, "You will regret not joining me." He says, those particular words aimed at the tail that watches him leave. "Truly."

As the demon continues out of the small copse of trees, his figure shimmers and changes. No longer a thing from the ether, the demon now looks like a man. A very beautiful man, but a man nonetheless. With one last look at the duo, the man turns and walks away.

For X-23, she has heard Kenth's words, but she's currently immobile, waiting for her spine to heal itself, which leaves the young man to fend for himself. Thankfully, he seems a resourceful sort, as he yanks that tree she hit so soundly from the earth. When he throws it at the zombies, one is hit, the mail zombie, and with a splat, the man goes down. Now only the woman is left and with a leap, she aims sickle shaped hands at Kenth's midsection, as she moves to try and eviscerate him.

It's at this time, that X-23 finally lurches to her feet, her spine healed just enough to make her mobile. Seeing those outstretched claws aimed at Kenth, X-23 will reach out to Kenth, intending to yank him aside, even as a foot-claw suddenly pops out. The SNIKT is lost within the general sound of the melee, as the assassin suddenly lashes out with that claw-tipped foot at the would-be zombie.


And thusly is the Demonspine yanked.

Kenth finds himself jerked sideways — surprised in one half-second, thankful in the next — as the zombie nearly succeeds in filleting him.

The tail gives Laura a 'look' (if one could call it a 'look'): something as though to say: *hey, that is MY human you are yanking.*

A horrible noise, like a mass of raw sausages, fills the air as Laura's foot-claw disembowels the second zombie. It continues thrashing with its claws, even as its legs give out from under it — and it sinks to its knees, jerking and twitching and vainly trying to kill, or maim something. Anything.

Kenth's tail-pincers take care of that: they clamp down on the zombie's neck, severing it neatly, leaving it spasming on the bloodied ground. Kenth slumps backwards, only to be quickly supported by his tail. No, this was not how he imagined his evening would be. Not even close.


The 'look' the tail gives her is lost upon X-23. She's too focused upon the task at hand and honestly, it's hard to say whether she'd see the inherit intelligence within that movement.

Not when things are moving too swiftly and danger is still afoot.

And while X-23 was just about to follow-up that kick of hers with a hand-slash, the tail neatly finishes the job for her. Only after the thing's death-throws have stopped, does Laura finally turn towards Kenth. Her gaze is flat, much like her voice, as she finally speaks. "A demon." She states, or actually questions, as there's the vaguest up-tick to her voice denoting that question of hers. Her hand, which is still battling with the demonic blood, is brought upward and looked at. A few ligaments and bright white bone can be seen within the burned wound.


Kenth nods.

Demonspine (the tail) nods also.

"Don't do that," Kenth tells the tail.

The tail just… 'looks' at him. The man grunts. Slowly, the metallic 'fingers' and tendrils retract back into his body — well most of them do; he retains some of the macabre armour over his chest — and Kenth lets out a breath. "Yeah, a demon — more like a demon-lord, but… still a demon. Did the other kids get away? Hells. This is a mess. Do you think we were caught on camera? Jesus, what a mess…"

He drops into a crouch — seemingly a comfortable position for him — and rakes his fingers through his hair. The young man's body and clothing is covered in blood. "Gotta name?" he inquires after a while.


Laura continues to watch Kenth and now the tail, when it nods, not to mention when Kenth speaks to it. It's enough to cause the dark-haired woman to cant her head slightly to the side, as she considers the oddity before her. Which is saying quite a bit, since she's not exactly normal.

"Two survived." Says the young woman in that flat way of hers, as her gaze flicks away from Kenth and towards the broader expanse of the park, where the others escaped to.

And while she could have easily fell silent at this point, she doesn't, thanks to those two last questions of his. "There are no cameras around us for half a mile." She says matter-of-factly with a surety that most don't typically have; at least when it comes to knowing where the cameras are. "And I am .. Laura."


"Kenth," replies the young man, giving Laura a rueful half-smile. When the tail sort of leans back, and motions with its head toward the girl, Kenth adds: "This is Demonspine — at least, that's what I call it. Myself. Us. Ah, it's confusing. I gotta get out of these clothes… Hells, look at this mess…"

He trails off.

The man is right though. The longer they stay in this place, covered in blood, the more suspect they will become when the police turn up — or some passer-by. "That lordling will be back," says Kenth as he stands up. "Sounds like it's holding a grudge too. Do you… have friends that can help with stuff like this? Demons, that is?"


Kenth. His name and face will be remembered. As will the tail's name be remembered, as Laura's bright green eyes flick towards the appendage. While others might scoff at the tail, Laura doesn't, instead, she'll try to take its measure with that look of hers.

"Agreed. We should move." She states in that almost toneless voice of hers and to show she means what she says, she'll glance around the clearing and then move towards the shadows. Her footfalls are silent and soft and as she moves and she'll only pause to make sure that Kenth follows. That pause allows her to catch that last question of his and with the faintest crimp of her lips and eyebrows, the young woman will frown.

"I do." She'll finally admit, "I will ask them for help." Her head will tilt slightly to the side, as she looks at the man. "Do you?" Have help, that is.


The tail spirals in the air at Laura's question, ending with another nod in her direction — while Kenth merely shrugs. "I've — we've — been fightin' demons for a while," says he with a glance over his shoulder. "But not demon-lords. I, uh…I'm a bit out of my depth with this one — yeah, you did great." That last part he says to the tail.

"You too," he tells Laura as he follows after her. His van should be far enough away as to not arouse suspicion. It's probably best to leave it for now, and come back again later. As he catches up with Laura he asks:

"Who are these friends of yours?"


"They are friends." She states, as she flicks a look between the tail and Kenth. Finally, however, X-23 will slowly extract a small cellphone. The burner phone will be offered to the man. "Keep this on you. When I speak with them I will call you."

And with that said, the dark-haired woman will fade into the shadows, intent on finding those people that can help.

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