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Join Date: Jan 2008
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The following takes place just after the events of Night Hawks #2
Boreas City, USA…
Renowned demonologist Gabriel Jones receives a vision as he kneels praying in an old cathedral. A bright light flows down from heaven and penetrates the vaulted ceiling. Then a white robed and winged man glides down a ray of light to stand before him.
“Gabriel, your God has need of you. In less than twenty-four hours a great evil will arrive in this city. An evil that plans on opening the gates of Hell! God needs you to be his Hand on this Earth and help defend the innocent.”
“How am I supposed to defend the innocent from evil? I am just a simple college professor not a warrior.”
“When the time comes you will know how. Remember, all you need is faith.”
And just like that the angel was gone. Gabriel was amazed to see that in the angel’s place was a rusty sword in a mud covered sheath. He reached out and gripped the sword’s handle and pulled it from its sheath. The blade burst into flame almost immediately. Gabriel quickly sheathed it before he accidently burnt down the church.
Then strapping the sword to his back he leaves the church heading down the street towards his quaint one room apartment. Once there he studies the alien symbols that appear on the scabbard and the hilt. As he flips through numerous books he is finally able to translate it. “He who wields the blazing sword will become as the hand of God. He will have the power to smite evil with brimstone. Also he will gain the power to glide upon the wind, strength not unlike that of Samson, and will be able to mend any of his nonlethal wounds.”
Pondering these words Gabriel fell asleep on his couch. The next morning he awoke to the sound of sirens wailing in the distance. As he pushed aside his living room curtains he could see several buildings on fire. The firefighters were working hard to put them out but there was just too many of them.
As he continued to survey the situation he saw dark clouds rolling in as a shadowy figure looked on from a rooftop with arms raised as if reaching for the sky. His robes billowed in the wind and then a crash of thunder resounded followed closely by a lightning bolt.
“This must be the evil I was told about” Gabriel thought as he grabbed the rusty sword.
Drawing it from its sheath, the blade burst into flames. Gabe’s back began to itch and burn as white wings sprouted from his back. He felt power from the sword flow through him increasing his strength tenfold. Amazed by his sudden transformation he was at a loss as to what to do next and then it came to him suddenly. He simply knew how to use his newfound power.
Opening his window he climbed out onto the fire escape and flapped his wings taking flight. He homed in on the dark figure and flew with all his speed. The figure saw him coming however and pulled a book from underneath his robes. Then he began chanting in the language of the druids.
A bolt of lightning came forth from the clouds and struck Gabriel’s wings causing him to lose control of his flight. As he descended, rapidly losing altitude, he panicked for a brief instant and then the knowledge came to him. He held the sword out in front of him and sent a surge of energy through it causing the fire to lance out. As it struck the ground, the backlash of force propelled him back skyward. Along the way his wings healed themselves and he turned his attention back to his newfound foe.
As he watched the winged man flying towards him, Grigori Rasputin laughed to himself as the power of the Grimoire coursed through him. His spell was almost complete now. It was too late for this man to stop him. Soon the portal would be open and he would have an army of demons at his command. Several small ones were already coming through the portal. These minor grunts were the backbone of the demonic hordes, the cannon fodder as it were.
He ordered them to attack Gabriel, giving him the rest of the time he needed to complete his spell. They obeyed immediately and began hurling fire at the winged one. Gabriel Jones gripped his sword tighter and used it to absorb the oncoming fire. Then he swung it in a wide arc spraying its on fire back at the demons. A few of the frontrunners were engulfed in brimstone and incinerated on the spot.
The others managed to dodge the incoming flames. Gabriel then stood toe to toe with them swinging his sword. Their rock like exoskeletons provided them a natural layer of protection as they fought back with their claws. The battle raged on as he swung his sword and dodged their deadly claws.
Soon Gabriel managed to finish them off and so he turned his attention back towards Rasputin and the Grimoire of the Void. As he winged his way at top speed towards the sorcerer he slammed full on into an invisible barrier. Grigori Rasputin laughed at this pathetic attempt by his enemy and recited another line of the book which brought forth a revolver carrying demon.
This demon whose name is Demungon ‘pronounced Demon Gun’ in the mortal tongue, laughed hysterically as he fired off a few shots of brimstone from his revolver. The fire lanced out only to be met by Gabriel’s flaming sword. The sword absorbed the flame as the winged one closed in on the demon.
As he stood a mere foot away from his quarry, Gabriel summoned all of his divine strength to bring the blade down in a killing stroke. Demungon vanished in a fiery blaze as the sword split the ground beneath his feet.
“Where did you go, foul beast?”
“He’ll be back, don’t you worry about it” Rasputin shouted over the rush of air that was released as the portal closed.
“It is your turn to return to the Earth sorcerer” Gabriel shouted back in challenge readying himself for the attack.
“Not today warrior of God. I have other things to attend to” and with those words Grigori Rasputin vanished into the air as if he had been only a mirage.
Sheathing his sword, Gabriel sighed to himself thinking all the while that he would stand ready for when the sorcerer and the demon returned.
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