Paris by Moonlight (IC)

[Ari]

Marceau gritted his teeth as the blasts raged around his cover and the man ranted on <"Frederick, I'm not the type to laugh at another's misfortune, it's a terrible cruelty to treat people with scorn like they've done to you, but you have to remember"> he said as the man tripped and collapsed from the weighted lines wrapping about his legs <"As hard as it is to face, there's a reason for it, and it won't be negated with power: you're hard to take seriously"> he swung an arm loaded with another whirling pair of bolas, which he threw with a deft snap of the wrist at the dabbling mage <"Why do you think people have done if for so long, if not because it hits a nerve? They know it wears you down, makes you bitter and vengeful..and that you won't do anything about it!"> he slumped against the carefully-made model, his deep, gruff voicing softening as he concluded <"This is an incredible thing you've found, Frederick, but this is NOT the way it should be used. Showing those people who have mocked you for so long that you can only be pushed so far would be an excellent lesson for them, but this destructive passion of yours makes that weapon dull, and all that you could show them right now is that aren't strong enough to build yourself up, only tear others down. I ask you: why sink to that level?">

[Supercape]

GM

The next set of bolas wound their way in a perfect figure of eight around Fredericks arms and upper body.

"No...NO!" he yelled, as he struggled on the floor like an insect in a web, tossing this way and that, his hands scrabbling for the amulet which was still on his body but beyond his grasp.

"The power" he sobbed "you don't understand...all those years, of torment, turning the cheek to their laughs and mockery. I won't be denied, I wont be denied my revenge, not now! Not when I finally have the power to do so!"

For all his words, he was only succeeding in biting his arms further into the bolo's.

A cool, pale wind blew in from the hole in the Arc's wall.

[Ari]

The King of Suits left his cover, walked up to the fallen dabbler looked gloomily down at him, and bending to get at it took the Amulet, looked at it, visibly considered something, shook his head and put it in a vacant pouch on his thigh. Sitting down next to Frederick he began the process of removing the bolas from him, saying as he did <"I don't blame you for trying to better yourself like this Frederick, but I do for taking such a pointlessly destructive bent to it. The fact that you found this powerful artifact that nobody else saw as anything special signifies you have a gift for such things. I beg of you: encourage that gift! Hone your command and dexterity with magic, and you might rise to be greater than anyone dreams you may">

He looked at him glumly <"But first you'll have to answer for defacing the Arch. I'm sorry for the part I played in setting you off: I was hasty and arrogant to make such assumptions, but I was following the trail of a demon to here, and thought you were its agent, I-"> he stopped as he remembered the words of the old woman

"Arc...de Triumph...by...moonlight...comes...the hands...the eyes...the bull...the wings..."

He stared at the space above Klinefelter's head, a sudden horrible apprehension dawning. Getting to his feet he said sharply <"There will be more trouble soon. I think you might turn out to be one of several, but that's my assuming again"> hoisting Frederick over his shoulders, he raced for the hatch leading to the roof, clambering awkwardly up the ladder.

[Supercape]

GM

"Demon?" blurted Frederick "What Demon?" he looked innocent, then scared.

"There's a demon?" he said, blinking. "Give me back the Invincible Amulet of Invincibility! Give it to me now! I need it!" he started looking around, scared to the core.

The moonlight on the top of the Arc was brighter and more ethereal than the King of Suits remembered. The faint sound of sirens permeated the air - response cars to the blasted hole in the national monument.

"Yes...use it...." came the whispered groan, from nowhere and everywhere at once.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Frederick could, for an instant, see the ghostly visage of a huge bull, painted in pale moonlight. Then it was gone.

A creaking sound came from below - not inside the Arc, but outside it...

[Ari]

The voice that whispered to him, Marceau felt with deep shame, was almost obeyed. It seemed so simple and easy a thing, all he had to do was put the amulet about his neck, and he could fight Gallu with a measure of power that otherwise he could never hope to muster, though he trained for a century unabated. It was only the grim reminder that the Amulet was somehow linked to the bull,else why would the demon encourage him(and Frederick) to use it?

Instead, he put Klinefelter on the ground with all care, scanning the air about him for some forecast of the demon's approach. The creaking sent shivers through his spine, mainly because he had not the faintest idea what could possibly be the meaning of that sound, whether it was the signal of some monster rising up the Arc to strike at him and the power-hungry man, or else if was the sound of something totally foreign to his experience and knowledge.

At any rate, he spoke calmly enough to Fred.

<"I need you to keep watch, Frederick, if you see something obviously evil, or like a bull, rat, or fly, shout out instantly. I will NOT use the Amulet, however Invincible it might be or might make me if I wear it, I suspect it is powered or connected in some way to the demon Gallu who hunts us, and I don't want to find out the hard way">

With that, he drew out one of his razor cards, flipping it between his fingers as he watched with all care.

He regretted not telling the local chapter of the House the day he had arrived or bringing Rene along, it would have been nice to have backup of some kind.

[Supercape]

GM

Over the front and back edged of the Arc, a creaking sound was heard. As the King of Suits looked around, he could hear the stone grinding.

One hand...then another...and another...then whole bodies appeared, dimly lit in the Moonlight. He couldn't quite make them out in the pale illumination. He could see the silhouettes, and then just make out their stony texture.

The statues on the Arc's side had come to life!

"We are the hands of Gallu!" whispered one, with a voice like the movements of the tectonic plates. "If you have no wish for the Amulet of Gallu, then we shall return it to one who does wish it!"

By his feet, Frederick fell to his knees, gibbering in fear.

[Ari]

<"Stay down Fred!"> Marceau hissed as the statue's grinding voice echoed over the roof of the Arc, <"It won't do anyone any good to panic"> stepping a little away from the cowering would-be mage, the cowled man spoke in a loud voice to the statues <"Halt! Stand your ground! You have no right to do this whatever! Return to your posts, watch the Earth beneath your gaze, and rest"> relaxing his left hand to his belt where his grapple gun rested, he added <"Gallu no longer has any claim over this Amulet. It shall go to those who understand his power too well to fall for it"> he tensed as eh watched them <"I say again: REST">

He knew this wouldn't work. If statues could be so dissuaded, what good would they be as servants?

He knew he would have to either fight or flee, and a quick glance at Frederick told him that neither would be that easy with him around.

But, he reminded himself grimly if this was easy there would be no real need to do it. Let's see how this pans out

As an afterthought, he yelled out <"Let Gallu come himself to claim it, if it is so precious he sends you to retrieve it!">

[Supercape]

GM

"Let Gallu come himself to claim it, if it is so precious he sends you to retrieve it!"

"We are the voice of Gallu, foolish Mortal!" came the synchronised voices, with a touch of rage. As they spoke, this time, a pale, spectral red mist came from their mouths. Somehow, it seemed familiar, that crawl up Marceaux's spine he had felt at the edge of his consciousness when the plagues of Rats and Flies Gallu had sent before had spawned.

"Over threethousand years ago, the amulet of bone and smelted metal was burned and forged. A gate to the souls of this world, for us to bind to. Our door. Lost, but now found. And now we wish to OPEN IT!"

Ignoring the King of Suit's threats, the two stone figures, one holding a spear, the other a sword, both huge and granite, advanced towards their quarry. They were large, about 8 or 9 feet, and heavy, and something about them screamed of that blood-curling infusion of Gallu's power.

[Ari]

There was an incredibly awkward silence as Marceau realized that he would never be able to fight the statues(if fight them he must, and that seemed to be the way things were going!) with Frederick lying about, an easy target and in danger of being stepped on if nothing else. Whipping out his trusty grapple gun, he fired it at Fred to get a grip on his corpulent form, gave a mighty heave to push him over the edge of the Arc while shouting out earnestly <"Sorry for any bumps Fred! But I need to get you out of here!">, and proceeded to let out the line as slowly as he dared, wincing a little at the soft *thump* of the fat man hitting the hard stones below.

This required no little concentration on his part, and required moreover that he expend most of his energy keeping the grapple gun from flying out of his hands, making him a terrifyingly easy target...

[Supercape]

GM

"The fool is of no consequence" came the wispy but dreadful voice from both statues, accompanied by the same red mist of breath from each mouth.

"If you won't use the door, then we shall find another who will. Already my will can reach into this world, and soon the crack will becoming a yawning crevasse!"

As if to punctuate this remark, Marceau again saw the fleeting spectral image of a bull, in the corner of his vision, all shadows and flame.

The two statues closed, and with slow but steady limbs, the stone spear and sword swept towards Marceau as he strained to lower Fred and finally deposit him at the bottom of the Arc.

[Ari]

With a cry of pain as the stone sword and spear tore into him, breaking his fifth left rib through his armor, Marceau fell on one knee as the world dimmed, the voice of Gallu rolling into his ears like sand, causing a jolt of anger that subsided slowly as the nightmare sensation of what was happening rolled over him, and he glanced with effort at the two giants beside him. He heard, as if from a distance, the sound of the grapple line sliding back into its coiled state around the gun barrel-like grapple gun. The strange air around him wavering and ephemeral, the statues standing above him, and the terror of wondering how to fight such things(And fight them I must he told himself confusedly) without getting hacked to pieces made the idea of sinking into the pain of his broken rib and the sheer shock of the attack a deeply attractive one.

It was the sudden reminder that he was the only person around at the moment who could do anything, no matter how little, against the abruptly ambulatory statuary that jolted him out of his funk. With a burst of willpower he forced himself jerkily to his feet, and sent a bola whirling around the legs of the statue bearing the spear. With awkward movements, he raced to the side of the Arc least occupied by murderous statues, and threw one of his razor-edged cards into the stone beside Frederick, shouting down to him <"Quick! Free yourself, and call this house"> he gave the number of Marcel's home in shouted gasps, then turned to the statues and tensed himself for the fight...

[Supercape]

GM

Frederick grabbed the card and scrabbled away as fast as his legs could carry him. He was clearly not very fit, but adrenaline gave him wings.

The statues were slow, but precise and strong. The bolos wrapped around one leg, before being torn off by the sword wielding statue.

Whilst the red mist still poured from their mouths, like a panting dog on a cold day, no more words were heard. The eyes, such as they had, seemed fixed on the amulet that the King of Suits held. And their stone weapons seemed fixed on skewering the King of Suits... but strong and powerful as they were, they were also slow, and no match for the costumed hero's speed.

[Ari]

His mind racing over his options, Marceau realized abruptly that he was committing a gigantic tactical blunder: he was limiting the arena to the Arc, when the metropolis stretched for miles around him. Flinging a razor card from his belt at one of the statues almost at random, he leaped off the triumphal arch and fired his trusty(and industrial-strength) grapple line at the ornamented lip of the Arc, dropping lightly to the ground with a rustle of displaced air as his cape swept away a small cloud of dust. Pausing to give a brief yell of defiance at the demon-possessed statues(and to wonder if there was a world where such words would never be strung together), he bolted north, where at the very least he might be able to meet Marcel or Rene(or some of Haberdier). He hoped he wouldn't meet Frederick on the way, the man would probably need a bit of time to absorb the full magnitude of what had almost happened.

As the wind howled past him the King of Suits realized that as the case was still not wholly solved, and he almost stopped in his tracks, slapping his forehead at his forgetfulness. He still needed some kind of proof that Gallu had done this, as otherwise he would look like a looney babbling nonsense. Gritting his teeth, he resumed his speed and focused on closing the distance between himself and someone who could potentially keep the stone terrors at bay until he managed to goad a confession out of Gallu...

[Supercape]

GM

The two statues followed, their form lit by the moon and the dim, pale, red light that seeped from their mouth. The breath of Gallu.

They hardly paused at the rim of the Arc, and both stepped off the edge, falling straight down all fifty metres to the ground. The impact shattered the street, like a meteor. Dust rose, and bits of grit and tarmac flew past Marceaux as he ran off.

And yet, from the debris, the two statues stood, apparently unharmed, and started running towards the caped adventurer at full pace!

[Ari]

Turning on his heel, Marceau bolted off down the street to the north that he had roughly followed to get to the Arc. Racing down the road, he wished he had thought to bring some mystical item that could defend him from the attacks of the physically-powerful enemies that seemed to crop up every time something mystical happened. His legs traveling in a blur to get in position to carry his growing momentum forward, he wondered grimly if it would have even been a good idea to use the Amulet, at the very least the form Gallu would take to attack him might have been softer-skinned than ambulatory statues...

Feh, he snarled in his head even if it was, it would also likely be faster and stronger too. Gallu's a demon, what are inviolate laws to creatures like me are vague guidelines to something that that

Pushing that aside, he leaned forward, held his arms behind his back, and put that much more strength into getting a distance away from the statues so he could make some kind of plan, the(or so it seemed to him) debacle of the night's encounter with Gallu's servants not really giving him any assurance that he could really do much in this situation. But that was for later, all he could do now was keep running...

[Supercape]

GM

By this time, the police had arrived. Some cars, lights flashing, pulled up to protect their beloved monument.

The sight of two animated statues with a wisps of red vapour was one that was not part of regular police training, even if France had its own share of superheroes every now and then. And to their credit, they opened fire. The two statues were not even chipped - the bullets just richocheted away.

"" shouted the policeman, as the officers dutifully backed off.

The statues had no interest in the police, they kept running, straight after Marceau, knocking the cars out of the way as they did, treating them as if they were made of paper mache.

[Ari]

For his part, Marceau ran, and ran as he had never done before, legs eating up the ground as he sailed through the street, his breath growing more labored, his feet slowly numbing from the sustained pounding on the hard ground, and the terror of knowing that the statues could easily just turn aside and start attacking civilians if it suited Gallu's fancy, and which besides would obviously make him turn to at least try to stop them. He wondered again why he hadn't asked Rene to send someone along who could call for aid in case of insurmountable danger. Now he was running for his life, and probably endangering others too!

His bounds grew shorter, his breath came from his lungs in gasps, his feet slowed and ached, his arms drooped as he he found himself losing speed, momentum and hope. He couldn't run for more than a few more feet, and besides, maybe if he stopped for a bit, he could encourage Gallu not to attack anyone else..maybe.

He was almost too tired to care.

[Supercape]

GM

The statued could not match Marceaux's pace, but they were persistent.

They kept up a fast, lumbering pace without tiring, knocking aside cars, pedestrians, and chewing bullets from the odd police officer who tried his luck. Two police vans blocked the road, and were ploughed through with barely and hesitation of pace.

It was true that Marceaux, at full pace, was outrunning them, but they homed in unerringly, locked on to their target - "the invincible amulet of invincibility" - even when out of sight.

And they would not stop - ever.

As Marceaux's lungs gave out and he slowed down, he had made a good lead on them, maybe a half mile or more, but he still had a way to go to get to Marcel's house...

[Ari]

As the cold settled like an iron weight on his bones, he heard the distant tread of the demon-haunted statues, and groaned. Leaning against a streetlamp, he looked ahead..and suddenly stood up, his tiredness forgotten. He was at a bend in the road, on his left was an apartment building that had a roof that permitted him to hide from view until the hypothetical onlooker was directly across the street from him. Firing his grapple gun at the convenient eaves above, he clambered on the sloped black tiles of the roof, slipping neatly into place behind a peak holding the(disused) chimney. The plan raced into being: he would simply strike from hiding at one of the statues, swing over to the other side of the street, swing back, and do it all over again! It was bound to keep them occupied for at least a little while. He began to furiously work out how to best strike at them to take advantage of his superior position, and what ancillary tacks he might need to take to make the admittedly foolhardy plan come to fruition...

In the meanwhile a boomerang appeared in his hand, aimed at the first stone, red smoke-breathing he saw.

[Supercape]

GM

The two statues, followed by a few police cars that took the occassional pot shot (to no effect), lumbered around a corner. At least the streets where free of pedestrians.

It was apparent that they knew the general direction of the amulet, but not its precise location. They sensed they were near, and seemed to be sniffing at the Parisian air with that now-familiar red breath that seemed to be from some awful dimension.

"Raaaaw!" they groaned in unison "I will find it! and crush your head to dust!"

And with that the two granite statues started ambling around, sniffing as they did...

[Ari]

Crouching against the black-tarred tiles, Marceau gave himself a second to look over his plan. Clearly it wouldn't work quite so well as he'd hoped, due to the paranatural power of detection the demon-haunted statues demonstrated, but at least it also wouldn't be totally unfeasible. Dashing out from his hiding place, he gave a tremendous shout <"IF YOU CAN CATCH ME!">, and hurled his boomerang at the statue bearing the spear, noting with displeasure how easily the stone hide of the thing withstood its metal. As he had no way of knowing if he even could beat the things on the physical plane though, he quickly shuffled that out of his mind, and as he fell to earth he fired his grapple line on a lamppost across the street, swinging himself neatly onto the roofs that overshadowed it in an implausible feat of dexterity and speed.

Thus retreating, he hurled himself behind another disused chimney, wondering how much smoke must have filled the air when all the brick towers he saw dotting the skyline must have been in use. He felt in his belt for a razor-edged card, knowing that he'd need a little more bite if he was to present himself as a real threat, and not just a stinging gnat.

He wished he had enough money to pay for a good cell phone plan. Then he could have called Marcel and Rene himself, or even the local House chapter. He sighed and focused his ears on searching for the sounds of stone giants, as that was a much higher priority at that moment.

[Supercape]

GM

The two statues approached the house that the King of Suits crouched on top of, panting that horrible red mist as they did so.

"We tasteit..." came the low hissing voice.

A SAWT van swerved to a halt a couple of dozen yards from the statues, and out sprung a few officers.

One of them held a bazooka, which was duly aimed...and

BOOM

A direct hit! and this time, the spear-wielding statue actually stumbled, livid cracks on its back where the missile had struck.

"" said the young officer who fired.

"" shouted the commander, as the men opened fire, impotently, with their submachine guns. The sound of gunfire and ricocheting bullets filled the air.

Whilst the sword statue continued marching up to the house where the King of Suits was perched, the Spear one turned slowly round, and marched to the SWAT Van, intent on eliminating the heavy weaponry that seemed to present the first plausible threat...

[Ari]

At the sound of the demon's voice, the King of Suits crouched against the roof, testing the edge of his selected razor card. He was about to leap out and start hurling it when the sound of roaring tires filled the quiet street, he peered over the edge of the roof to see what had happened, and was shocked to see a French SWAT team pour out of their van. He was about to shout a warning to them when the man carrying the bazooka jumped out, aimed, and fired. As the explosion rocked through the air, filling the street with smoke and chips of stone, Marceau had flung himself from the edge just in time. After a tense second he looked to see what harm had been done to the statue, and to his amazement saw that it had been halted! Cheered by this, he was about to raise an encouraging shout before joining the fray when it died in his throat, for the Sword-bearing stone host was still up, and moving to assault the French police!

Leaping down onto the road and ignoring the sudden jar of his feet on the hard stone, he took a pair of bolas from his belt, whirled them around, and sent that racing for the statue's legs, putting every ounce of power he could behind it to make sure it would at least hold if it hit.

[Supercape]

GM

The Spear wielding statue, broken with livid scars did not even register as the King of Suits swung into action, and the bolas wrapped themselves neatly around and around its legs.

It stopped, and wobbled, then fell down with a resounding crash.

"There you are!" came the synchronised shout-whispers from both statues "the amulet will be ours!"

The sword-wielding statue actually gave a couple of swipes, each clearly powerful enough to take a man's head off, before turning around and making his way to the prize.

[Ari]

Stepping sharply backwards at the vicious swipes that needed avoiding if he wished to give the Halbediers the Amulet whole, Marceau took stock of the situation: he could by no means let the police of the city bear the brunt of his problem(such as he saw it) and also the man with the rocket launcher was obviously a very effective type who would be very helpful in rendering the demon-haunted statues quite incapable of hurting anyone.

Figuring that it wouldn't hurt to try and immobilize one of them, he drew out another pair of weighted bolas, wincing at the pain from his broken rib, and sent it neatly around the spear-carrier's animated legs.

He wondered how he was going to explain this to the police once this was dealt with...