The Sins We All Share (IC)

[Raveled]

Starlight straightened sharply as Marlow answered the phone. His pain and agony were clear even through the cell connection, and she broke the link quickly. The phone was folded up and went back in her pocket, and she said to Lucy, "I have to get back to Marlow. Someone attacked him -- he sounds seriously injured. I must tend to him" She turned her back on the beady red eyes, fidgeting with her coat as she continued speaking. "There is someone watching us. It seems likely that it is whoever is impersonating the Penitent, and whoever attacked Marlow. If I leave, can you handle them until I return?"

[Ari]

The King of Suits had mapped the Fens quite well by now, and knew exactly what the widow was talking about. The Polanski building was a miserable place, as most were in the Fens, but it had a deserved reputation as one of the best places to be if you absolutely had to live in the district for whatever reason. Scribbling this new development down he said "Thank you, madame, you have been of invaluable help. I hope you will rest a little easier" he bowed to her slightly and fired the grapple gun at the nearby roof ledge, soaring up and over it with practiced ease, vanishing in a swirl of his black cape.

Appearing next to where he had left Bram, the costumed vigilante relayed what the widow McFeery had told him "The unfortunate woman said that her husband anticipated an attack, and that several of his men had been slain by your imposter before his own murder. One of them, a 'Vic the Shark', was killed and had his heart removed. He lived in the Fens, in fact, a place called Polanski Apartments, a place I have..some familiarity with. So, if you have no objections, I say we check this lead at the apartments, according to the widow McFeery he lived around the third floor."

He kept a sharp lookout for any impending attacks from above, if the imposter could fly and the reports of brutality were true they would have to be on their guard at all times now.

[Tiffany Korta]

“In that case what you still doing here? Don’t worry I can look after myself.â€

She waited until Starlight was out of sight before she leant on a nearby wall and crossed her arms. She wanted to look around for who was stalking them but it wouldn’t help, and it was more likely to react if it thought she knew where it was.

“I don’t know about you but I can wait here all night if needs be, and if you going to try and hurt anybody then you’re going to have to go through me. So what are you waiting for? Let’s just get this over with.â€

[Raveled]

Starlight nodded curtly. She wasn't about to discount Lucy's claims of being able to handle this faux-Penitent; she would know her own limits better than Starlight would. Instead the alien spread her arms wide and disapperated into a cloud of motes of light, which went zipping away into the air.

Across town, the fog slammed back together in Marlow's living room and the heroine reformed, changed into her white-and-gold 'costume.' It took no time at all to find Marlow and then the tall woman kneeled next to him. "Quiet," she said softly, laying her hands on the man's abused back. "Let the power of the Light tend to you." Her hands glowed briefly and then the power flowed into Marlow, reversing his injuries and stitching his body back together.

[Shofet]

Marlow had been next to the phone when he had been found, just barely clinging to life. The healing worked well on him, bringing him back to life, and his stupor faded as well.

Marlow smiled weakly "Dang, you're a life-saver... I suppose I owe you one."

He got himself off of the floor, and nodded to Starlight. "Well, I'd stay here and rest but we have to warn Bram, and the big lug doesn't keep a cell."

He stripped off his bloody dress shirt, tossing it in the garbage as he replaced it with a new stirling white one, buttoning it up then quickly fixing up a tie in a military knot. He then hurried over the debris, to a fallen cabinet, and pulled open a drawer, searching through it. At first, he pulled out a rather cheap looking handgun, eyeing it for a moment, before shaking his head and muttering something like "not this time", before pulling out a massive looking revolver, and loading ammunition into it from a box labeled "hollow point". Finally, he pulled out a shoulder holster, and rapidly affixed it to himself, before yanking a fedora onto his head and hopping over the debris.

Quickly, he peaked outside through a hole in his apartment wall. "...F***, car is totaled."

"Alright, do you think the other guy... Uh... Suits or whatever, you think he has a phone on him?"

~~~~

The Penitent followed King of Suits to the Polanski building, a massive tower of grey concrete and smoke-stained glass, still a mark better than most buildings in the Fens. The main entrance was obviously a no-go, with a few officers hanging around the front doors, sipping water from bottles and watching the streets carefully, but there was an alley leading to the back, a fire-escape hanging on the wall.

Bram looked at the King of Suits. "I think I could lift you and fly to the third floor. You'd be alright with that?"

~~~~

The creature's eyes suddenly locked with Revenant's, narrowing, but then they widened, and the creature turned from Revenant, taking off into the air. For whatever reason, it was not going to fight Revenant right then and there. Not unless it was forced into it.

[Ari]

It had been tiring work, keeping up a comfortable pace for the Penitent to follow, and as the King of Suits landed next to the towering soul-bearer he held up a hand, mutely requesting a rest as he panted for breath, arms braced against his legs. Once he had recovered, he looked up at the imposing grey building, surveying the floors as best he could from outside. He nodded slowly at the Penitent's suggestion, saying "Yes, that could work. I dare say they won't have gotten a new tenant so quic-" his face fell and he glanced at the other man for a moment "my apologies. Yes, that sounds like a good plan to me" he turned to Bram, and without hesitation raised his arms like a child asking to be picked up.

I wonder how the others are doing? Bah! This is why I need to save up and buy a phone he thought frustratedly to himself.

[Raveled]

"I would not know if he does or not," Starlight said. "The balance of probability is that he does; everyone seems to, these days. There is a bigger issue at stake here, though." The heroine reached out and slowly pushed the oversized revolver down until it was pointing at the floor. "You are not going anywhere. If you can tell me where they went, I can deliver the message before returning to Revenant. But you are going to stay in this apartment."

[Tiffany Korta]

Revenant for her part was patiently sat at the kerbside waiting for her companions return. When the creature took off at high speed she knew she could never catch it. Better to wait where she could be found that tear off and loose both the creature and her allies.

Beside at least by being here she dissuaded the creature from returning to potentially harm the people they had just been visiting. And it at least proved they were on the right track, this and Marlow unfortunate attack meant someone must be worried that they could find something out.

She just hoped that the other group was having as much luck as they were…

[Shofet]

The Penitent nodded, and got a tight grip around King of Suits, and rapidly lifted him into the air. It wasn't hard to spot which of them was the specific room in question -- the windows had been cleaned, but blood was still quite visible on the frames. The Penitent dropped the King of Suits down on the balcony, and then landed himself. He tried to open the door, but it was locked, as it he should have expected.

"I don't suppose you have lockpicking kit?"

~~~~

Marlow looked at Starlight, and then at the gun, then sputtered

"But... I... She got me by surp-" He sighed, and looked at the ground.

"Fine. She seems to have powers similar to Bram... 'Cept, she seems a lot stronger. Lot stronger. Like, A-Class. I'd watch out and not take her on your own, okay?"

[Ari]

Landing with a sharp thud on his booted feet, Marceau inspected the door closely. Smiling at the Penitent when he asked about lockpicking. Producing a bulky multitool from one of the hidden recesses of his belt, he twirled it between his fingers, the flashing metal distracting from his deft unfolding of the appropriate bundle of thin rods. "This shouldn't take much time at all" he assured Bram, kneeling beside the door and carefully testing the lock with the rods, searching out which ones best fit and would have the most success in bypassing the venerable security device.

Finding two that suited it most admirably, the King of Suits said quietly "Now, let us see if..." the remainder of the sentence lost as he bent close to his work, minutely arranging the picks to try and hit that tumbler-pushing sweet spot, a far-away look in his eyes.

[Raveled]

Starlight gave Marlow one final, withering stare. "Stay here," she ordered. "The creature will not return if it thinks you are deceased." And then she was gone in a flurry of lights, swirling up into the air and away.

Miles away, the cosmic heroine of liberty reappareted next to Lucy Harker. She blinked, getting her bearings, before turning to the woman in the sensible suit. "I see that you appear to be unharmed," she said. "Did you do successful battle with the imposter?"

[Tiffany Korta]

Lucy stood back up and carefully brushed herself down giving Liz a reassuring smile.

“The creature didn’t seem to want to stay and fight. When I tried to challenge the creature it took off at quite a speed. I knew I couldn’t catch them so I decided to wait.†This was delivered in a matter of fact manner “At least it looks like we’re onto something we’ve obvious made somebody nervous.†She gave a little smile “Now all we have to do is somehow find our colleagues, next time we’ll have to remember to get everyone’s telephone number.â€

[Shofet]

The lock on the door popped open, and the door slid back. The crime scene had been largely cleaned up now, having been investigated, but some fragments of table were still in the carpet, some small flecks of blood missed. Holes were in the drywall, the depressions suggesting a very powerful throw. The marble countertops had a highly disturbing feature: something had managed to claw about two inches deep into the stonework and drag across the entire width of the thing, and the spacing suggested a human hand.

"Well, dang..." Bram took a look around.

"I don't suppose the police missed anything..." He turned, and then gave a smile grin. "But it wouldn't hurt to check, huh?"

[Ari]

Marceau stared at the horrible sight, quickly blinking back tears as images rose unbidden to his mind about what Vic's last few painful minutes must have been like. Whatever he did was evil, yes, but he can't have deserved this Quickly wiping his eyes clear he said crisply to the Penitent "It wouldn't hurt, no. I will scour this place, see what I can find that the police weren't able to discover" he blue-eyed gaze swept the apartment as he wandered in a few steps before turning to the Penitent with a weaker smile "I promise i will do my best." He then set to scouring the crime scene, teasing out what had happened...

At last, he returned to the Penitent with a small bundle of evidence in a small zip-lock plastic bag. He was frowning deeply, disconcerted by what he had found. "Whoever did this was incredibly strong. Victor seems to have been a very large and strongly-built man, and whoever did this tossed him around the room. Some burn marks on the carpet tell me our murderer can breathe fire with a considerable radius of flame, and those..marks on the counter" he gestured to the tabletop, quelling visions of tearing flesh, pleas for mercy, and blood-soaked chuckles "have traces of what must be fingernails. This looks like a demon to me. There was only one shot fired, which is surprising enough, but I can't find any marks on the walls or floor where it hit. It must have been absorbed by the creature, is my guess" he hemmed and glanced up at Bram "Your professional opinion, sir?"

[Raveled]

Starlight nodded slowly. "I think the best idea right now," she said, "would be to return to the Marlow's dwelling. King of Suits and Penitent will doubtless return there once they have finished their stint of the investigation. We cannot know where they are just at this moment, what tangent their investigation is taking, so rather than search the city for them we should simply return to the apartment and wait for them to return."

[Shofet]

Bram blinked.

"Huh." was all he could manage in response to that.

He looked around, and then conjured a ball of Hellfire, eyeing the burns. Then he took into consideration the throw, and looked at the claw marks. He turned to King of Suits, rubbing the back of his head.

"That... Really does fit my powers. But the claws, that's different. I just punch things."

He eyed the counter again.

"But who would have the same powers as me?"

[Ari]

The King of Suits shrugged broadly, palms upward. "I have not the faintest idea, Penitent" he told Bram apologetically "I am an investigator and a crime-fighter, my studies of the occult and the higher spheres of reality are minute at best. I can tell you what this creature did here, but not why or who they were. That would require a magician's expertise, like the Witch Equinox" he suggested, recalling a brief interview with her about an extradimensional wizard. He glanced around the apartment, a slight note of gloom in his voice "But we do not seem to have the time necessary to contact such an expert. For now, let us assume it is a demon who has transformed itself to look like you" still speaking, he took a cursory tour around the apartment, checking for any clues he had missed "A priest told me once that demons could make themselves look like angels of light in order to lead people from the path of God. It is quite probable one is doing the much less difficult task of looking like you, and seeking to undo the good you have done here" he explained, checking under a carpet with great care on his hands and knees.

Looking up at Bram he added "But that is, of course, a guess and nothing more. If I had some way of detecting magical..or whatever it is that magicians use to track demons and other occult monsters, I would have more to offer" he got to his feet, flicking off the dirt from the floor.

"Whatever they are, we have some information and not a few clues. What do you say we meet back up with Mz. Revenant and Starlight?"