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Golgotha Tenement Blues IC


angrydurf

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Judex almost immediately stepped up. His face held an almost manic grin as he raised his hand.

 

"How is it the little sheep say it...oh yes! I volunteer as tribute!"

 

He calmed down a bit.

 

"I trust you my friend to carry me, and the roof is our best beachfront. I'm good at distracting and fighting, so let's get me over there. Now....do I need to lift my arms or something?"

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Mister Strix

 

The man in white turned his back to Judex and knelt down onto the ground, inviting him to climb piggy-back. He clasped his hands around the backs of the large man's knees, stood up with the ease of someone wearing a light shawl upon his shoulders instead of a couple hundred pounds of preacher, ran to the edge of the rooftop, and jumped through the air, landing without a sound on top of the warehouse. He knelt down again, allowing Judex to climb off of his back, turned around, put a finger to his lips, and jumped back to the other building to repeat the process with Doctor Thorne.

 

Once all three vigilantes were assembled on the warehouse roof, he searched for an entrance, quickly finding the skylight and flinching away from it when he caught sight of the silver charms hanging from it. He whispered to the others. "I don't know how much they figured out about me. Silver is useful against a lot of things that go bump in the night. But I can't touch that without getting burned, and I can't go through while it's there."

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Doctor Thorne

Doctor Thorne wasn’t a fan of the flying or at least a controlled falling. She was determined that she wasn’t going to be doing that at any time soon.

 

“Next time I think we should take the stairs, or Liam can at least take the strain,” she speaks as she carefully examines the runes around the skylight

 

“Ah yes a rookie mistake whoever set up these runes didn’t bother to thread the spell through the frame itself, all I need to do is break the circuit like so...”

 

Covering her hand she tore off one of the runes to a flash of blue electricity.

 

“There it should be perfectly safe now!”

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Judex smiled after Doctor Thorne did her work.

 

"You're in luck, my friend! Silver doesn't harm me at all!"

 

With a flourish, Judex reached over and began picking the silver charms off the skylight, one by one. They made their way to his myriad pockets; when the others looked at him curiously, he shrugged.

 

"The wolf below has no need of them, and mayhaps they can serve as gifts to sooth souls, or a means to raise a few pennies for those more in need than this one."

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The warding was easily enough defeated by Dr. Thorne breaking hte spell with none below any the wiser.  With Judex pulling away the assorted charms of myriad faiths and myths the way was made clear for Mr. Strix as well.  Peering through the skylight it was clear to see most of the warehouse was packed with large crates stacked high against the walls.  There might have been an office off a catwalk overlooking the loading area but the angle made it difficult to tell if it was in use at all and it certainly was darkened now.

 

The central portion of the warehouse itself was empty of both personnel and cargo.  But in the flickering fluorescent pool of light below a lone figure could be seen seated in a simple wooden chair, head downcast as if deep in thought with the slightly curved blade of a sword resting across his knees.  A blazer hung on the back of the chair the match to his slacks, all well tailored, the sleeves of his sky blue shirt were folded neatly to the elbow leaving visible intricate tattoos running up his forearms in the Irezumi style.

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Mister Strix

 

The man in white crouched over the skylight. His black eyes widened when he spotted the tattoos peeking out from the man's sleeves. "Yakuza," he whispered. "They're finally making a play for Bedlam. If you profit from human misery, this city is a gold mine. He knows we're coming, and he thinks he can take us." He let his gaze fall to his feet for a few moments. "He wants his people to see him take us. A blitz attack from stealth, taking him down before he can react, that's the smart move. But it isn't enough for them just to leave my city. They need to leave and never return. He needs to see it coming. He needs to know who beat him. His people need to know."

 

Too high for either of them to jump down without assistance. They're trapped up here without me. They're safe up here.

 

"And I've put you two in too much danger for one night already."

 

Mister Strix let himself fall head-first down through the skylight, evaporating into a cloud of mist in the fraction of a second after he cleared it. He solidified back into a man near the end of his fall, about ten feet above the ground, his massive cape spread above and behind him. His feet touched down without a sound in front of the wooden chair and the man sitting in it.

 

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As Mr.  Strix solidified behind the waiting Yakuza the man didn't even twitch.  No sign he had the slightest idea that his foe had arrived.  The undead monstrosity approached the unprepared swordsman and it seemed almost too easy.  Because of course, it was.  Only a step away and about to pounce Strix could almost taste the vile mafioso's blood, hear it pounding in his veins, smell it on his skin.  But he couldn't, with that realization and not a moment too soon Strix pierced the tightly woven illusion.  The man in the chair was a fiction and this was a trap.

 

Across the room an older man in a longshoremen's coat but with shoes that belonged at a gala even stood leveling a crossbow at the vampires chest.  As Strix looked up and met his grey eyes he let out a muted curse and tucked the fiberglass frame of the crossbow to his shoulder as he took aim.  He let fly the bolt as the illusion crumbled for those above as well his concentration abandoned to focus on the shot.  He let fly and the bolt sliced through the air with deadly aim, the steel tipped woden bolt striking with impact that would have killed outright a weaker foe.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mister Strix

 

The man in white twisted his body around at the last possible fraction of a second, so the wooden bolt shattered against his rib instead of slicing through his heart.

 

"You came prepared," he hissed. "It won't be enough to save you."

 

Mister Strix let slip a tiger's roar which filled the warehouse as he ran toward the crossbow-wielding Yakuza thug. His flailing fists left white streaks in the air behind them as he swung at the man.

 

"This city...my city...already has enough scum peddling filth on its streets and taking what doesn't belong to them!"

 

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The well dressed man threw the now empty and useless crossbow at Strix as the vampire approached, a minor distraction, but it gave him enough space to move that he was able to ensure he took the bulk of the undead monsters attacks on the armored plates concealed in his coat.  He was not as fast as Strix but he started dodging the rapid fire blows almost before they began, almost like an actor taking his lumps in a choreographed scene.

 

"I don't know who you think you are, but this is above your pay grade leech."  he growled firmly on the defensive as he shifted and rolled out of the way of Strix attacks, "Go back to beating up junkies for lunch money you're out of your depth."

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For several moments,  the fight was the strange "boss" and the white-clad vampire, all melodrama and snarled threats. Then, out of nowhere, a man-shaped missile of muscle and beard all but tackled the crime boss out of nowhere.

 

"Hoho! The wolf speaks! And my friend here, he is no leech!"

 

Judex's smiling face was far, far too cheerful for a man in a life-or-death struggle. The smile turned a bit sinister as Judex's hands locked onto the man like steel traps.

 

"He's an owl, and me?"
 

He leaned in, so the man could feel Judex's breath on his cheek. So he could feel that 1000-watt smile that was in no way comforting for the others to behold.

 

"I'm a wolfhound. Today, the city hunts you back, little wolf."

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The well dressed man went down hard under Judex full body tackle.  The priest could hear ribs crack as the man hit the cement floor and he was quickly locked in unable to move even if he had the strength remaining to struggle it clearly would be for naught.  He glared at his visible captors, "Fine you got me call in the cops like a good doggie, so they can arrest you for trespass ."  he taunted wincing against the pain in his side as the big man held him to the floor.

 

"You don't get it, this place is lost your crusade is pointless."  he coughed and went silent waiting for what might come next.  He was putting on a brave front but Strix could see something in his eyes he was scared now as he hadn't been before, even with his guards still outside he didn't think he was getting out of this alive.

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Doctor Rosa Thorne

Rosa leant at the edge of the skylight and looked down into the warehouse, watching the vampire and whatever Judex was show off there abilities. She had to admit that they did show some impressive abilities, though she’d never admit as much beyond academic interest. Even whilst she was thinking this the fight was already over. With the problem over she didn’t have to worry much about how she was going to get down.

 

I’ll just go find a way down that doesn’t cause me any broken bones, I’m sure you’ll be fine without me for a few minutes.”

 

She then looked around to a stairway or fire escape down to the ground, or at least a little closer than right now.

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Judex's grip tightened, and he put his mouth even closer to the man's ears.

 

"The police may be mangy curs, but a pack of curs will still take down a lone, injured wolf. Tell me, how likely would you be to walk, with all your trappings gone, your crimes strapped to your chest? Hm? Even these dogs couldn't ignore that."

 

He began to twist the man's body. Painful, but not injuring, not yet.

 

"Hm. Risky risky risky. Judgement dodged, perhaps? Perhaps the wolfhounds take care of the wolf?"

 

His eyes drifted to Strix, and then toward the gangers again, the message clear. Strix himself might feel...something...in the air, even as the strange man's voice...shifted

 

"Kill you? Oh nonono, no, that's not our way my friend. Our fine feathered friend, he might drink a few drops. Our curious friend making their way down might have some deep, deep questions for you. Me, little old me me me? Why, I'd just be making sure the wolf can't ever, ever, even think about being in charge of people who try to harm children."

 

Even as something came over the man, he felt one of Judex's hands at his throat. And the man heard....music, and the voices of children.

 

"I do not take kindly to you sinners going after the little children, nonono. It makes me so angry, you see. So! Will you be a good little wolf, who knows when he's been beaten? When triumph has turned to loss? Or will you struggle against the trap you've found yourself in. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mister Strix

 

"Strix," the man in white hissed as he leaned in close to the gangster's face. "Mister Strix. You'll remember the name. That's all I'll let you remember." The vampire pushed into the man's eyes with his mind. "Your thugs will leave their money and their weapons and your poisons here, taking nothing with them but their lives, which they still have only because we allowed it. We'll burn it all. Every bullet, every speck of powder, every last cent, you'll sit here and watch while it goes up in smoke. And when you limp away to crawl back under whatever rock you slithered out from, and the other vermin ask you how you lost everything, when they ask why you stay out of Bedlam, you'll tell them about the white owl you see in your nightmares. You'll tell anyone who will listen those two words: 'Mister Strix'."
 

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Liam Conner

Being more physically capable Liam got to do the sneaking about dropping to the bottom of the fire escape and looking around and quickly spotting the guards having a crafty cigarette. Still it was no problem, he’d had plenty of experience sneaking out of the mansion to go on date with his boyfriend, so he quickly made his way unseen to the warehouse to find the other.

 

Still this was still Rosa investigation so as he approached the other heroes they shifted back to her.

 

Doctor Rosa Thorne

Better be careful not to make to much noise still a few thugs hanging around outside. So what have we found out now?”

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  • 1 month later...

The man behind the nights chaos new he was beaten, his enterprise over.   The, Things, that had bested him were doing no favors letting him live, there was blood in the water and the other sharks were circling.  He only nodded however looking between Strix and Judex trying to steel himself against the weight of the supernatural terror they invoked.  He slowly reached for the button on his radio and thumbed the switch to activate it before speaking, "We're made, drop your weapons and get out."   he shakily intoned causing a slew of curses and confused arguments between the soldiers outside.  Few if any would obey the fallen leaders command but they would take their leave, perhaps to regroup and find new employment.

 

He reached up to clutch at the burly man holding him down, "Can you feel it?  There is a doom on this place."  he dropped limp in Judex grip laughing slightly to himself, "It will swallow us all why not cut loose on the way down..."  

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It took only a drop of blood from the shaken mobster to plunge Strix into visions of the man's past.  Most of them were gaudy opulence preferred by the newly powerful, strippers steaks and more deviant pleasures, punctuated by scenes of violence and cruelty typical of such endeavors.  The working of magics to shield this place and more were blurred and discordant broken by the mind bending powers at work. 

 

Snapping to clarity was a heavy door, as if to a commercial refrigerator, and the code entered on a keypad next to it. 

 

The name and face of a police officer delivering the name and address of tonight's original target, the money changing hands for the betrayal. 

 

There was the rolling deck of a tug in the bay with the moon high overhead as women manacled and clearly drugged were off loaded from a container on a ship in the bay into the small hull of the tug,  a familiar ringing of the ships bell and the nearby buoys as the tide shifted. 

 

An officious man with no face, or a face lost from memory delivering guns and money and instructions on where to meet the ship.

 

More scenes of violence as he carves a small kingdom in the depths of Bedlams forgotten districts, selling drugs, women and guns to anyone at bargain basement prices.

 

The stench of offal and the squealing of pigs as he stands looking over a pit full of the creatures as an unusually attractive woman tosses feed to the ravenous beasts and meets his eyes, amusement touching her features.  She was saying something but her lips didn't match the sound, "We can always get another my little owl but I like this game you may have a hint of what is to come."  then she was gone

 

A much younger version of the man in the suit stood before a mirror, sigils around the rim like some cheap TV set as he chanted and the image shifted to show the city in ruins a dark tower dominating the skyline and the streets filled with howling masses of barely human madmen in roving packs given to every baser instinct of man.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Doctor Rosa Thorne

Rosa examined the scene with both her regular and preternatural senses, it was difficult to explain with a similar frame of reference – she’d written several papers (unpublished) on the proper nomenclature for describing metaphysical sense. But she was an expert and something felt wrong about the magic's used, it felt off as if it was…

 

Borrowed power, however is doing this is dealing with outsider entities of some type. A very risky procedure that very often backfires on those involved. Not just the sorcerer in many circumstances, so if we’re missing anything important it may be prudent to fill us in.”

 

She left out the detail that her powers came from a similar sources, but right now it wasn’t very important.

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  • 1 month later...

Judex frowned at the mention of "outsider entities". He didn't like the sound of that. 

 

"Outsiders? Borrowed power? Hn. The wolves of this city, always scrabbling for just a few extra moments of strength. Is this patron such that we should worry about immediate reprisal? Or are we on the long hunt now, my friend?"

 

He looked toward Strix.

 

"Dear owl, are you well? You seem a bit...distracted."

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