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Posts: 1673
Join Date: Jan 2008
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“How dare that man interrupt my revenge” Ignis Fatuus shouts into the darkened cavern from which he has sought refuge “I will make him pay just as I will make the Great Ones pay!”
He began drawing strange symbols into the dirt with a stick, ancient magical runes that would allow him to focus his power. Swinedego had failed him, Ignis could feel it deep down within his soul as his magical power replenished as the demon perished. He needed better preparation to summon more powerful servants. He removed his cloak and placed it on the ground just outside the summoning circle he had created.
Kneeling down upon the cloak Ignis Fatuus begins chanting the name of the demon he wishes to summon “Belphegor, Lord of Trolls, here my plea. I summon thee demon in the name of all that is unholy to wreck my vengeance upon this world!”
As he finished the summons a gust of wind began to build inside the cave. Then, came hideous laughter, as a figure began to form. Two large horns emerged upon a trollish head as the demon took shape. Belphegor stared at Ignis Fatuus with bemusement upon his face as he considered his options.
At this crucial moment Ignis discovered his mistake. The reason the troll demon laughed was not out of joy for being summoned, but for the error that Fatuus made with his runes. The triangular shaped rune of binding /\ was slightly smudged and broken /\. This left the troll demon to its own devices and not bound to his master’s will.
“Stay back demon;” Ignis ordered as the troll demon stepped forward “keep back I command you!”
“Your commands mean nothing to me” Belphegor bellowed!
“Hideous beast, I summoned you to do my bidding and that is what you will do!” Ignis Fatuus shouted trying to regain control of the situation.
“You dare insult me?” Belphegor asked as he summoned a spell and sent it out towards the sorcerer.
Ignis Fatuus wrapped his cloak around him hoping its magical wards would protect him. The spell rebounded off the cloak and ricocheted around the cave, Belphegor laughed again as Ignis’ face caught the brunt of the spell at last. The sorcerer fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands.
His hair began to fall out as his head altered its shape. Ignis screamed out in pain as his face became more ridged and gourd like. Then it burst into flames! This continued for several minutes and his skin became a charred orange color. Belphegor laughed again and stormed out of the cave and into the world beyond.
Meanwhile…
“Shadow Hawk is currently out of the country hunting his father’s killer Captain” Sebastian King replied in answer to the request for aid from Captain Midnight.
“Unfortunate” Lolita said with concern “what do we do now?”
Captain Midnight thought on this a moment before speaking again “can you at least track the sorcerer’s whereabouts? I lost him after our scuffle in Midway City. Then I will need you to make contact with some of the other heroes for I have a feeling this may take more than just my powers.”
“We also need arcane help” Lolita added “it may be easier to fight magic with magic.”
“I know just the person then” Sebastian replied as he brought the Sentinel computer online with a couple of keystrokes.
Soon several images appeared on the screen. One tracked the sorcerer from Midway to a cave on the coastline. The others each tracked a different hero who could be contacted at a moment’s notice. Some of them Captain Midnight recognized others he did not. But he saw potential there and it gave him an idea.
Pointing at a few different images on the screen he spoke “I want all of them to meet me at the cave.”
Outside the cave Captain Midnight landed as Lolita materialized beside him. The entrance to the cave had fallen in as if something huge squeezed its way through it. Then the two of them heard a painful scream coming from the depths of the cave.
“Keep your eyes peeled” Cole told Lolita “I’m going to dig my way in and find out what’s happened.”
Just as he began pulling away the rubble a blast of green and orange energy erupted from inside the cave! The impact force Captain Midnight off his feet as Ignis Fatuus emerged. His head was aflame in greenish fire. His face was orange and had taken on the appearance of a Jack O’ Lantern.
“It is too late for you hero. Belphegor has already been unleashed upon the world.”
Lolita brought her sidearm to bear and squeezed the trigger. A miniscule blast of golden energy shot forth. Ignis Fatuus pulled his cloak up like a shield and absorbed the blast. Then he let forth his own energy blast knocking her off her feet. Before her or Cole could get back to their feet a loud crackling noise could be heard.
Lightning struck all around as the electrical hero Voltage teleported on the scene. He struck out with a thunderbolt which caught the sorcerer by surprise and gave the others time to recover. Then the paranormal investigator, Seamus Flannigan arrived hellfire revolver in hand.
“Fools I am Ignis Fatuus, Hell’s Lantern! You are no match for me now. The stupid troll thought he was being funny but he has inadvertently increased my powers a hundred fold!”
Seamus cast some protective wards around the other heroes and opened fire with his revolver. The gun barked loudly and spit forth a stream of brimstone that would burn through anything. That is except for Ignis’ cloak. And that alone intrigued him more than anything else.
Captain Midnight slammed his fist into the sorcerer’s stomach doubling him over. Then Voltage hit him with a punch packed with the power of thunder which seemed to shatter the enchantments surrounding Ignis Fatuus’ sorcerer’s cloak.
The Hell’s Lantern grabbed his own head with both hands and detached it from his body. Then he flung it into the center of the heroes. The pumpkin exploded like a bomb sending all of them flying backwards in different directions. Then the sorcerer and his deformed head vanished.
“At least we are all still in one piece” Voltage said grimly dusting himself off.
“Thanks to Seamus I’d bet” Cole replied.
“Just doing my job” the investigator said “but he’s vanished so if everyone will please give me a moment I’ll try and find out where…”
Seamus quieted his mind and summoned the magic inside him. He cast a tracking spell on the spot where Ignis Fatuus had just stood. He waited for a moment and a small purplish light beamed skyward and then turned west. The others stared after the light while Seamus remained still as if entranced. Then he chanted some ancient words bringing forth a white light that encircled the four of them.
The white light lifted them off their feet and started floating them in the direction of the purple light. The heroes followed the exact same path and finally set them in a garden that was overlooked by temple. The temple did not resemble any religious building that any of them recognized. That is until Seamus took a better look at the marble statues outside the main entrance.
“The Great Ones” he mouthed barely audible to the others, when he saw the look of confusion upon their faces he elaborated “an ancient order of sorcerers whose sole purpose is to pave the way for the return of the Grigori.”
“Grigori?” Lolita asked.
“An order of demons bent on enslaving the world.”
The temple exploded showering brick, mortar, and glass all around them. Ignis Fatuus rose up on the wind as his cloak billowed behind him as if they were wings. Then he glided down to them laughing manically.
“The Great Ones have been punished for their lack of faith in me! Now it will be I who is rewarded by the Grigori upon their return.”
Seamus ran forward firing off several rounds of brimstone to use as a distraction while his cybernetic arm molded itself into its blade form and he plunged it into the flaming fire of the jack o’ lantern head! The fire died out and Ignis Fatuus fell to the ground. His pumpkin head exploded flinging Seamus backwards into Lolita causing them both to crash against the ground.
Then the body of the sorcerer evaporated just as the pig demon had. But this time an eerie greenish-orange light erupted in the sky and a jack o’ lantern face could just be made out. It appeared to be laughing at them mockingly.
Seamus looked up at the sky and turned toward the others “this Hell’s Lantern will return and when he does he’ll be stronger.”
“It’s still not over” Captain Midnight reminds them “there’s still another demon out there somewhere.”
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