Heroes: Shadows over Millenium

[SirNitram]

Gravitas gulped as he saw the shadow-beast rear back. "Blackheart, the situation is growing critical." He said simply. "I can't stop this with gravity. The only other option.. Well, I don't want to use it on a half-demon, or with your tumor around. Please tell me we have a specialist on speeddial."

[Cynical Cat]

"Fuck the tumour," Blackheart said. "Odds are its going to kill me eventually and it doesn't die easy in any case. No one is going to get here fast enough. Drop the hammer. Now."

[Charon]

Legacies realized that Carver had spread through the little sense he had focused on the outside world. Putting his full force into it The dual minds of Legacies pushed back Carver with the sudden assault.

Using the moment of control Legacies jumped to his feet, the head looked at the others for a moment. "Do not follow." then the silver figure luanched itself into the air and quickly put as much distance between itself and the others before Carver could recover from the assault.

[SirNitram]

"Trust me, it wouldn't accelerate the tumor..." Gravitas said, and was cut off as Legacies began to run. "I hate flying when I've wet myself." He muttered, wrapping himself in gravity and surging after Legacies. It was a possession. Lei and her demonic half should be fine. Yea. Sure.

The Would-Be God surged after Legacies, a light wrapping around his right arm. "This is gonna huuurrrrttttt..." He murmured. The fear washing off Lei was screwing up his concentration as he tried to close ranks to grab Legacies.

The white fire that streamered didn't wait for contact. Instead of burning, though, it surged through Symbiot and Human, healing, purifying, mending. If it had been a demonic infestation, the demon would incinerate. Against a viral infection, it purged the invader like a surgical laser.

Unfortunately, that was what it did to Legacies only. Gravitas' arm, streamering with more power than a human could hope to contain, began to break up, falling away in blackened, burnt chunks. Like flesh in a flamethrowers path, it was being burnt away.

As he overtook Legacies, Gravitas lost what little altitude he had, and collided with the street. His concentration had been rendered impossible by the combination of waves of fear surging through him and the incredible pain of channeling holy energy.

What was perhaps morbidly amusing was how he bounced several times as he slowed to a halt.

[LadyTevar]

The Fear that had burst from her when she felt the Laughing Man leap into her had been the fear of a beast under attack by something unknown. The light from Gravitus' hand, however distant, was something known and it brought forth something greater than fear: Antipathy.

In magnets, opposites attact. In mythology, Gods and Demons repell. Perhaps that said a little more about the nature of anthromorphic entities than most religious folk care to think about, but the reaction was still the same. Argent, daughter of a demon who'd fathered many generations in her bloodline, fled to the safest place her demonic side knew...

... the world Between.

[frigidmagi]

Blast winced seeing Gravitas bounce like that and then his eyes went wide when Agrent disappeared.

He looked around and shook his head.

"That could have went a bit better..." He said.

[Cynical Cat]

Inside Blackheart's chest something awoke. The agent staggered as his strength suddenly ebbed and then he straightened. Within him parasite drew on more power to fuel its growth. Tendrils slimmer than a human hair threaded their way through his neck and connected to his brain stem. His endocrine system, already compromised by the parasite, blasted forth a surge of adrenaline into his body as well as stoking his hunger. Blackheart shook his head and then ran over to where Gravitas fell.

"Damn, I didn't mean to start a trend with this," he said while waving his stump. He wasn't at his strongest, but he was keyed up to fight and to destroy. He was going to have a bad case of the shakes after this. "Yo, self declared god. You still with us?"

[SirNitram]

"Damn, I didn't mean to start a trend with this," he said while waving his stump. He was at his strongest, but he waskeyed up to fight and and destroy. He was going to have a bad case of the shakes after this. "Yo, self declared god. You still with us?"

"....That was the third most painful experience of my life." Gravitas wheezed. His legs were bent the wrong way. Blood was everywhere. And his right arm was a charred stump. "Medical team would be good.... Lei.. Okay?"

[B4UTRUST]

Carver felt the fear rush through....well...her, him, it. It was getting hard to differentiate between the entities that he was joined with. The childlike demeanor was gone. The cheerful friendly playfulness left and went away. He/She/It screamed as the terror flowed through.

It fought back to regain dominance in the bodies it occupied.

As Legacies came under attack from Gravitas' Holy attack Carver fled deeper in Legacies until he could not run any longer. The invading light burned through the body, scouring Carver. It took the one path left open to it. Right into the light and out.

Out into a new host. The light burned, a cleansing fire that killed Carver as fast as it could move to the new host. It mounted a final attempt, pulling everything it could from the host that was Legacies. Most of it burned away in the purge. A few small bits that were Carver made it through. Thoes few pieces latched on to the fresh material and began its work. It spread again, burrowing deep into the new host. Beneath his suit Gravitas bore a new mark, a mark of Carver's relief and joy. A smiley face scar appeared over his heart.

Inside of Argent the entity latched on, resisting the attempts to remove it. When she fled he fled with her into the Beyond. Carver screamed into her head, carrying the pain from its other part into her mind. As she merged into the next realm there was no life. Carver thrashed and fought, trying to find something to latch onto. There was nothing. Carver existed, the tiny fragment of himself, in the nothingness. And he floated there, empty, hungry and searching for something... anything....

[LadyTevar]

Inside of Argent the entity latched on, resisting the attempts to remove it. When she fled he fled with her into the Beyond. Carver screamed into her head, carrying the pain from its other part into her mind. As she merged into the next realm there was no life. Carver thrashed and fought, trying to find something to latch onto. There was nothing. Carver existed, the tiny fragment of himself, in the nothingness. And he floated there, empty, hungry and searching for something... anything....

Light, silvery and shining, picked out the form of a great dragon in the darkness, like St Elmo's Fire wreathing a ship's mast. It flew towards the speck, moving with effortless grace through the emptiness.

Yet it was not Life. It was sentient, it was aware of Carver, but it was not Life as he could touch, infect, destroy. It was Lei's self ... her soul, if you would, the purest essence or energy of all that she was and might become.

And Lei was very angry at Carver for harming her, and for harming one of the few in the universe that she ever trusted. In this place of Shadows, there was nothing that she could not do... and nothing Carver could do to stop her.

[Dark Silver]

Garth had just touched the box, preparing to open it and inspect the ring, when the sudden jolt of fear struck him.

It echoed through his very being for a few moments, before his ordered mind and his own will forced itself to the light, and he gauged it's source. The Link.

The fear was primal, instinctual. He focused himself, holding onto the relic, the tap into the wellspring of pure, unadultered power, reaching out for Lei in his mind, trying to let her know he was there, to draw on his strength.

When her fear changed to Antipathy, and then she was gone. The gentle glow from the Box had brightened significantly, he felt the power flowing through him with the contact, but no where to channel.

Something happpened, he opened the box, grabbed his ring, and slipped it on. Seconds later, the blue flame encircled his form, and he was dressed in his uniform again.

His sword in hand, a burst of speed to the roof, and seconds later, he was flying over the city, towards the last location.

It took all of thirty seconds to reach the team, and he touched down, seeing Gravitas' state.

"Back off for a second," he spoke, moving next to the fallen God-man. The life support field glowed around him, and as he knelt next to Gravitas, the field began to spread out over the Abberent Man.

"This will keep him alive....heal the wounds...you still with us Gravitas?"

[SirNitram]

"Barely." Gravitas grunted softly. "Don't tell anyone about the fire.. Would get my ass thrown out of here, and grounded when I get home.." It was hard to tell if he was coherent, or even sane. Then again, he had landed on his head once.

"Chest.. Hurts. Did we get 'em?"

[Dark Silver]

"Whose him?"

Saibot was concentrating on the life support field for the moment, focusing his attention for a few precious moments upon the more severe wounds. When Gravitas spoke about his chest hurting, he switched his attention to it.

"Sorry about this, I'll buy you a new hawaiian shirt later."

With that, the shirt and coat of the business suit was ripped apart, revealing Gravitas' not so naked chest. A low whistle came from Saibot's helmet, as he looked over the various runes, and almost lost in the designs, the smilely face. "Cute...never thought you'd be the kind to be humorous with your body art."

Saibot's ring scanned the Abberent's body, focusing itself on the most damaged, easing the pain, rerouting functions through the magick, to keep the man alive. It was telling him something...something wasnt right. Somethin in Gravitas wasn't meant to be there...

"This ain't right.." he said, reaching to feel the ribs. Saibot always double checked the ring, though he knew better at times. Never hurt to be safe. "Your lucky to be alive." Saibot frowned, he felt the broken ribs, and he couldn't spend his entire concentration on keeping up the life support field.

"Return me to later.." he said under his breath, as he slipped the ring from his finger, and onto Gravitas'. The surge of energy through the godman's body was immense, the tapped resevoir into the primal essence of the universe that the ring represented. The glow faded for a moment from Gravitas, then brightened again as the ring's energy field took over all the vital functions of the injured man's body.

"Blackheart, wha's the ETA on that med team?"

[Cynical Cat]

"There isn't one," Blackheart said. "Haven't had time to call. The possession shit took priority. Fuck, both teleporters down." He switched channels. "Need a bus and a meta capable paddywagon ASAP."

[SirNitram]

The reaction to the Ring on Gravitas' body was immediate; he jerked, spasmed, and then relaxed. Slowly, the numerous wounds were healing. Gravitas, himself, passed from consciousness.

Given he had landed on his head at least once during the 'bounce' phase, this wasn't unexpected.

[B4UTRUST]

Carver lacked the energy to make the last jump to Saibot. Still weakened from surviving the cleansing flames, he instead migrated towards the life centers of the body to regain his strength. Soon he would be back, strong enough to jump, to grow, to take over.

So he rested and regenerated, cell by cell, taking over. The unconcious, injured Gravitas offered less resistance to his cellular attack. He would eventually succumb to the control of Carver.

[LadyTevar]

The shadows nearby all seemed to darken, in a way unexplainable. The largest shadow bulged, like the sea heaving up a wave, before the shadowdragon burst back into reality.

It was clear something was different. The dragon was much more defined in head and body, with a slight glint of scales on the inky body as she moved. The silvery eyes glowed below the set of curving ribbed horns. "How many of you touched Legacies...."

[Charon]

Legacies had fallen from the sky the same the same as the self-professed demi-god had, just as broken and battered, more exhausted, but not as bloody. Many parts of the symbiote had been torn away and burnt to less than ash by the light, leaving many portions of Legacies scarred and bruised body open and uncovered. The symbiote had nearly died in that final assault.

Legacies staggered some as he stumbled towards Gravitas. "It jumped again. Don't know... where." Legacies looked at Saibot and Blackheart. The one human eye that was visible blinking once and then examining them carefully. Legacies swayed for a few moments and then fell to one knee, breathing deeply, he looked at Gravitas and saw the smiley face. "Oh hell. Blackheart, it's in Gravitas."

Legacies fell back and laid on the ground, breathing slowly and wincing as he realized he'd managed to re-fracture one of his ribs. With that out of the way, the exhausted symbiote once again turned inward, intent on clearing out the last of the infection while it was still weak.

[Dark Silver]

The Ring, sitting upon the now unconcious body of Gravitas, had taken over. It's powers connected it to the Abberent, told it of the vast wellspring of power residing in the would be godling, coursing through the very heart of him, and inturn, now it.

The beating of the heart, the oxygenation of the lungs, the flow of the blood, the elimination of waste, it took care of it all, while slowly quickening Gravitas' natural healing processes.

It was then, that the Ring found amoungst the inherent Pattern of the human form, the Woven Tapestry of Life, the knot. The marring in the portrait that was normally intricate perfection.

The arcane energies trapped within the Ring, it's own vast storehouse of power, granted to it by the Box, surged into Gravitas' form. It sought out the knot that was the weakened Carver, and assaulted it. Battering it from all sides, closing in, and threatening to expunge the Life Pattern from the meta's body, and hurl it into the dark Abyss which awaited all which should not exsist.

-----

Legacies staggered towards them, and Saibot, depowered for a moment without his ring, moved to check on his friend.

"What the hell are all of you talking about? Who are you talking about?"

The Aura around Gravitas' body flared up brillantly, after Legacies spoke the words which told the others what the Ring already knew. The normally gentle glow began to burn and flare, turning into a raging blue fire, though it gave off no heat, no true light. The cold flame was only itself, visible, burning, consuming, though to those who could sense it, who were sensitive to the power which forged it, it glared brighter than the noon-day sun.

"What the..." was the only words Saibot spoke..watching the sight before him.

[frigidmagi]

Blast had jogged up and confused had slipped into energy *sight* hoping it would provide extra information. Then ring and Gravitas flared up. Blast clapped his hands to his eyes and fell over as the energy seemed to seared his eyes.

"Aaaarrrrrggghhhh!" He snarled.

[SirNitram]

Gravitas remained unconscious, but the power surge brought his mind to the forefront within, confronting Carver as the energies of the Ring intermingled with his own. Foolish. The word floated. You surrendered everything to the power, and missed the point. Life is not a plague. You abandoned everything to become a sentient disease, more virulent than any in nature, and thus severed your link with true Life.

The fire burned intensely as it ripped through the mortal shell, purging out the mutated cells that Carver had overwritten with his own infectious DNA. In the wake of the cold fire, healthy cells grew into place. You poor fool. You never had an idea of what you were even being used for. But you cannot be allowed to overrun Humanity. I dub thee... Guilty.

******

The body of Carver was still in the tight twist of space and time designed to hold him in place, trapped in time. The twist collapsed inwards, the concentration holding it so precisely dropped. It sucked inwards, becoming a singularity smaller than an atom.. And as Carver's last potential vector transformed into a brief flash of X-rays, Gravitas let his mind descend into sleep again, as the massive tissue damage continued to repair.

[LadyTevar]

Blast had jogged up and confused had slipped into energy *sight* hoping it would provide extra information. Then ring and Gravitas flared up. Blast clapped his hands to his eyes and fell over as the energy seemed to seared his eyes.

"Aaaarrrrrggghhhh!" He snarled.

Blast's snarl was echoed by Argent's deeper growl, as one pinion was thrown up in an attempt to protect her eyes from the sight. Oddly, the wing seemed to lose some of the definition it had shown when Argent first appeared as the light from the Ring washed over it.

"What the hell are all of you talking about? Who are you talking about?"

"Legacies is talking about a meta," Argent hissed, her draconic head turning away from the brilliant aura around Gravitus. "Like a virus, attacking us from the inside." Her silver eyes were half-shut, and the brighter the aura flared, the more she backed away. "If you had not given Gravitus the ring, I could have taken him between. It killed what was inside me."

[Cynical Cat]

"Let's hurry up and dope those assholes up to the eyeballs so we can ship them to Cavanaugh and she can tell us which assholes grew them," said Blackheart testily. "And then lets go kick some Freak Legion ass into next week."

[LadyTevar]

"Let's hurry up and dope those assholes up to the eyeballs so we can ship them to Cavanaugh and she can tell us which assholes grew them," said Blackheart testily. "And then lets go kick some Freak Legion ass into next week."

Argent turns to look at Blackheart, and the draconic head recoils. "It has grown........ and you are in serious need of food."

[Charon]

Legacies finished examining himself, discovering that the infection of Carver was in fact completely wiped out. Without a word the symbiote-man collapsed to the ground, the symbiote slowly, very slowly, beginning to recover the exposed portions of his body.