Summary:Magik puts Ghost Rider to the test. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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Demons are, in many ways, like vermin. They get into everything, they're a nuisance, and, oh yeah, there never seems to be an end to them.
With Limbo's naturally occurring stepping disks, it's kind of impossible to keep Limbo's demons from slipping out. Most of the time, it's not a big deal. But sometimes, it's enough so that Illyana feels the need to step in.
Detroit. And the scene is in fact, like something out of Robocop, all industrial and not just run down but run into the ground.
Limbo's queen stands on top of one of the decaying husks of a former manufacturing plant, arms crossed as she looks down. A stepping disk flares off to her side, summoning Robbie.
A little warning might have been nice.
Seriously, doesn't this woman do things like -text-?!
Christ.
But, Robbie had just finished impaling a man inevitably corrupted by demons on a metal pole as punishment for his attempted murders of multiple children. Vengeance had been delivered, now its time to let God sort 'em out. Or whoever the hell decided which souls go where.
Its then that Robbie is suddenly on top of a manufacturing plant, across from him being the beautiful russian demon queen herself. An exhale of hellfire leaves Ghost Rider's skull, before the skull itself seems to extinguish from the hellfire, flesh and muscle growing atop it to reveal the face of Robbie Reyes, like he had never transformed at all.
"Can't you call first?" He asks her, but he turns towards her. "I mean, good to see ya, but…"
The rooftop doesn't seem especially stable, but careful steps should keep Robbie from going through the floor. Well, roof.
Illyana turns her gaze from the maze of buildings below over to Robbie and gives one of those soft huffs of amusement. Not quite a chuckle. "'Can'? Sure." Will? Not likely. The downsides of dealing with someone with the ego that comes from ruling their own pocket dimension.
Watching the hellfire gutter out and flesh crawl over bone gets a curious look from Illyana, along with a curious inquiry. "How 'you' are you when the flames are burning? And do you ever have trouble swapping back?"
Robbie does watch his step as he carefully manages to navigate until he's closer to Illyana, looking her in the eyes as the wind howls between them. He knows she won't call, though in a way, this was better than staring at cell phones in the middle of the night waiting for the other person to respond.
"Sometimes, it gets a little hazy. Sometimes Eli tries to toss me in the back seat so he can run wild with the vengeance. Sometimes I have to wrestle back control of myself in a mental tug of war. I usually win." Usually.
He shakes his head though. "I'm me. Most of the time."
"Huh." So eloquent, the queen of Limbo.
Illyana does find that interesting. A very different situation than her own of course. She hasn't shown Robbie her own demonic form, but then she tends to keep that rather repressed. It's harder to keep her impulses under control when the demon marks flesh as well as soul.
Gesturing down below, the ground a good six stories below them, she lets him know why she pulled him here. "I tracked down a demon that's decided humans are absolutely the *best* take-out. It's been mostly homeless so far, but I think it's picked the area clean of them and is about to make a step up."
Robbie doesn't mind her rather…blunt nature. Yeah, 'huh' was right. But Robbie keeps his hands at his sides as he looks down below at the area. A demon took up residence, huh? "I'm sure I can handle it. Just so I don't have a bunch of deaths on my conscience."
Robbie's just trying to be a badass. He has a big heart and Illyana knows it. "So, are you helping me with this one or are you just pointing me at the target?" Becuase…it'd be an interesting day when Robbie and Illyana teamed up.
"I figure your ego alone is big enough to take him on." Illyana says dryly. "I wouldn't be surprised if other demons have started to gather to him." The blonde steps over to the edge of the roof and levers herself down to sit, feet dangling over that long drop. There's no sense that it worries her, but then she is a teleporter.
The wind kicks up, pulling her long, blonde hair into a golden banner. The color is a bit at odds with the dark leather he usually sees her wearing. "Any deaths it causes shouldn't be on your conscience." She says, turning enough to look back at him where he stands. "You aren't responsible for all the evils of the world just because you can stop them. And no. No helping." She flashes him a brief grin. "I want to see how you handle it."
"-my- ego?" The queen of limbo is talking to him about ego? Heh, that's rich. But he's not going to make a fuss about it. Her confidence is one of her more attractive qualities, after all.
"By myself it is." Robbie Agreed with Illyana as he looks down, tilting his head "Just straight down?" He points below at the demon's den. Was he gonna jump? Is he crazy?
Quickest way down.
Illyana Rasputina's pale blue eyes glitter as she looks up at Robbie from her sitting position. "Mmmmhmmm." That's all she says of his ego. And says nothing of her own. But her smug look kind of says it all.
When Robbie points down, asking, she shrugs. "Somewhere in here." She says, gesturing with a hand. The slight smirk might clue him in that she's being vague on purpose. The blonde does lean forward a bit, looking down. "I take it the Rider can take the fall?" She looks up at him again. "What happens if you're the one that takes it? Does it heal you?" The questions are curious, but also a bit off-hand. Conversation like others might talk about the weather.
Robbie looks at Illyana as she seems to sparkle those eyes at him. Apparently she was entirely amused by his statement. Robbie just kinda rolls his eyes before he smirks at her, shrugging a tad. "Ah huh."
Then she's trying to apparently figure out some of the benefits of the Ghost Rider.
"The fall? Won't hurt me in a meaningful way. But it'll suck." Robbie tells her. If I transform, It won't hurt a bit. Mystic blessing at its finest." Robbie then looks down, eyes dancing with hellfire. "See you in a hot second."
He jumps.
He looks like a burning comet on the way down, transforming during the fall until the flames calm down enough to reveal the Ghost Rider, chain in hand. the landing is perfect, ground breaking beneath him as he landed in a crouched pose. He stands up tall then like he's the terminator….and he waits, sensing out evil energies…or waiting for the demons to find him.
The transformation sends a ripple through the world's weak magic. Especially here, in the heart of man's industrial age, magic is little more than a trickle to feed on for those that would turn it to their own ends. Real magicians of note need to carry their own battery if they want to affect any sort of meaningful effects.
Illyana leans forward, watching him fall. Watching that transformation. An amused smile curves her lips before she starts to whistle. It's likely a familiar tune, though it might take a moment for Robbie to put a finger on it, because it's old. If he even notices through the Rider's focus on carnage.
The sound bounces from wall to wall, an echo playing back and something, woken by the emergence of the Rider or Illyana's whistling, stirs.
Mn'mh was already a fairly powerful demon. Slightly larger than a human with the strength to hurl boulders. Being on Earth, feeding on humans, has only made it more powerful.
A battered garage door bangs loudly, claws punching through and then it is ripped inwards as the hulking form of the now twelve foot demon emerges. Green skinned with wings and spikes, it roars its challenge while smaller demons scurry around it's feet and flood into the alleyway.
Robbie will finally recognize that whistling intro. 'Patience' by Guns n' Roses. A message? Or just Illyana entertaining herself?
Ghost Rider heard the whistling, and though Robbie couldn't place it at first, he smirks lightly to himself (something thats impossible since his face is gone, instead just a flaming skull. Patience by Guns and Roses. If its a message, Robbie just interprets it as she knows one of his more preferred songs. Why does fate keep shoving them together again?
He didn't understand it, but he hears the sound bounce off the walls like this place was made for echoes and ominous noises, like something out of that weird Supernatural show or something. But then it begins. The rhythmic banging, the sound of intense force being brought to bear against that garage wall on the across from him.
Ghost Rider exhales a stream of steam, but it turns and draws the Hellfire chain from around it, entering a fighting stance as it hold sthe daggers that happen to be at the end of the chain itself. Yes, Ghost Rider was someone you could call hyper-lethal along with the clear brutality. Its a creature made specifically for killing, after all.
When it arrives, Ghost Rider growls…then roars at it. They both know what needs to be done, so there's no point in waiting. Ghost Rider leaps into the air, the chain swinging at the demon. It catches the chain, but the hellfire that enshrouds it burns Mn'mh. So it yanks the chain and throws the wielder in a circular ragdolled motion, smashing the Ghost Rider through a column, into the ground, then through a wall, which causes another column that helped support it to fall over, but not on the Rider. The light gets Brighter and the Ghost Rider emerges again, though it leaps on the demon's back, fingers digging into the eyes as Hellfire streams through, the demon's howls is enough to give the average person nightmares for a life time. But it throws the Rider off again, slamming him into the ground and proceeding to pound on him like an angry Silverback gorilla.
But the killshot came when the Rider punched upwards with its strength, punching the beast so hard in the chest it actually caved it in. The creatures flies backwards and lands on its back, it wheezes..its suffocating. The Rider stands up like it wasn't even damaged, but he approaches Mn'nh, puts its boot on his throat, and twists sharply, removing the head with assistance of superhuman strength.
It was a tough fight, but it was over.
As the Rider and the demon tussle, the smaller demons watch from the shadows. Perch on the ledges. They scream encouragement and hiss in displeasure and when there is that sudden image of the Ghost Rider's fist emerging from the demon's chest they go quiet. The end is obvious and as the flaming one kills the demon the others go scattering, skittering into shadows and up walls like roaches escaping the light.
Does that make the Ghost Rider the Light, in this scenario?
"Messy." Comes Illyana's observation, leaning against one of the graffitied brick walls off to the side. "I see you're a 'wade right in and beat the stuffin' out of something' type." Perhaps irritatingly, she doesn't look impressed. Just blandly amused with that damnable smirk.
Ghost Rider stands tall over his defeated enemy and it watches as the demons quite literally flee for their lives. If Ghost Rider was the light…it might be better to stay in the dark. But, his transformation ends, and Robbie Reyes goes back to being Robbie Reyes after a light growl. But it was…hesitated. Maybe some insight into the dynamic between Robbie and Eli that Illyana would've been able to notice. Like he had to fight for control for a second there.
But he turns to look at her when its clear that he's himself. "They usually are. I don't usually need an elaborate plan, if thats what you were expecting." He smirks at her. "Enjoy the show?"
Illyana Rasputina's pale blue eyes watch the Rider, and his eventual transformation to Robbie with far too much interest. Too much knowledge. Was this about dealing with a demon? Or learning about a demon hunter? The blonde chuckles. "Did it want to come after me?" There's a mocking sort of edge to the question.
Pushing off of the wall, she waves off his question as she walks towards him. "It served its purpose." Which was…? "Oh, I definitely wasn't *expecting*." Why does it still sound like she's mocking him? "But it was definitely… informative." The tip of her tongue touches the top of her upper lip thoughtfully before she gives him a predatory sort of grin.
She has that look in her eyes, and her face again. The kind that makes her look like she's going to resort to cannabalism at literally any second. But Robbie wasn't afraid. He walked right up to her with no fear in his eyes, almost daring her to try something. But Perhaps his daring nature was foolhardy and stupid?
Who knows.
"And what was the purpose? Take a name off of your list of things to destroy?" Might as well be up front iwht it, because he's really feeling like Illyana just made Robbie her demon hitman or something.
Illyana Rasputina wrinkles her nose and waves a hand. "Nah. Nice extra, but not my purpose, no." She waves a hand idly and a stepping disk opens that she heads for. There's the brief glimpse of Limbo that comes with traveling through them and then they're back next to Robbie's car.
"Do you really care what my purpose is, as long as you get something to beat on?" Is Illyana calling Robbie a blunt instrument? Oh definitely.
"You don't deal much with demons, right? And definitely not with demon lords. It's something of a different ball of wax than your approach." Illyana turns to lean back against the Hellcharger's hood, crossing one leg before the other as all her black leather blends with the car's paintjob.
Robbie looks at her when she tells him that the demon death was just a nice little bit of payment before she opens a stepping disk back home and Robbie walks through with her. It was like they were never even there. Minus the scorching footprints and the rapidly decomposing demon corpse.
But then Illyana might be mocking him a little bit and he puts his hands in his pockets as he moves over towards her, leaning against the hood of his car beside her as he takes a breath. "Got any smokes?' Yes, he asks the demon queen if she has any cigarettes. If not, either way. "I do care what your purpose is. If we're going to be involved, or working together, whatever, gotta know whats going through that head of yours sometimes."
"My approach usually works. But its not like I'm asking for favors."
Illyana Rasputina wrinkles her nose at the question. "Eww, no." Briefly, she sounds almost childish, her laughter licking after that expression of disgust. "I try to keep my vices less smelly."
She can't help but chuckle as he says 'involved', even if he does qualify it after. "What, you're not just gonna trust me?" Her tone is mocking, but the cold flicker in her eyes tells him that he really, really shouldn't. "And 'together' might be a bit… generous."
Pushing off the hood of the car, she turns back towards him and reaches into her jacket pocket. Rooting around for a moment she comes up with… a lollipop. And then offers it over to him. "Good job pet. Thanks for the show." She gives him a wink and then a portal opens behind her. Guess she's done with him tonight.
So, Illyana doesn't smoke. At least not nicotine. Good to know. Robbie laughs just a little bit. "I only smoke every now and then. Not an addiction, but sometimes it helps you relax." It also helps with intimidation. Guy's not gonna lie to you when he knows damn well that you can literally snuff him out with a cig.
When she chuckles at the word of involved, Robbie looks at her then with a grin. "Should I?" Because a demon usually tells the truth, so if he's asking her that, maybe she'l be a little more introspective, at least for the moment. "Just because you're easy on the eyes don't mean I'm gonna hold your word supreme." he gives her a playful nudge with his shoulder.
But then she calls him a pet and offers him a lollipop. "What, no kiss for the entertainer?" Robbie says with a roll of his eyes, but he accepts the lollipop. "Do I look like a dog to you?" He knows what she'll say. "Don't answer that." But he does accept the lollipop. It was blueberry, his favorite flavor. Did she know that or did she guess?
Doesn't matter, before he watches her apparently start to walk off towards the portal. No doubt they would meet again sooner than later.