InsaneJournal

Crusher Destroyer
Who: Sean & Samuel.
What: Halloween event prompt! More Scorpion Men. Those bastards.
Where: Outside CASKET.
When: 31 October, 12:42 a.m.
Warnings: Language & violence, of course.
Notes: Completed log!

The party was still in full swing when Samuel first felt the pull. Ares had been with him all night, present in one way or another - here a rumbling laugh, there a flash of burnished eyes, interspersed with memories of things Samuel himself could not have known - but this was something else entirely. This was an overt demand from a strong soul whose body he shared. Even as he tried to maintain a sense of normalcy, Ares’ voice was ever at the back of his thoughts, moving Samuel as he wished to move, sending him where he wished to go. Truth be told, Ares’ steps did not carry Samuel anywhere he did not want to go; his voice spoke nothing Samuel would not have wanted said. And so with surprising certainty Samuel decided that if Ares sent him, he would go: It was not his to deny such a call.

He left Lia (‘Areia,’ the thing within him chastised, so loudly Samuel’s own thoughts at once conformed to this renaming) at her work, casting a single glance back at her as she mingled with the crowd. There were gathered here so many souls - if not faces - that she must recognize, Ares could see on her face the wealth of emotions their renewed, overt presence had on her. This was her purview, not his. His realm lay outside.

Outside a fight was spoiling, the lines of battle already being drawn. The moment he stepped outside Ares could feel it. A kind of electricity hung heavy in the air, the sort of tension to which he was well and truly attuned. He saw a shape walking before him, pacing nervously; he reached down to his vessel’s broad belt, feeling for the pistol hidden beneath the wide leather strap of his costume. It was merely by the grace of Samuel’s muscled frame that the Kimber .45, holstered, was by any stretch a concealed weapon. It was massive, heavy, and strangely warm, as if radiating its own living heat. It was the perfect choice for what they were about to undergo. Ares drew the pistol, his grip moving swiftly and surely in place. As he strode closer to the human, Samuel’s own eyes recognized him, and whispered to his passenger the other man’s name.

“Sean,” Ares said. With narrowed eyes he searched out the other spirit within this man, knowing already that he was far more than he seemed. “You. Come with me.”

When Karin had disappeared, Sean had waited a decent amount of time before panicking, because after all, she could have run into an old friend, needed to talk to Fiona, she could have been called into work on an emergency, anything could have happened. The truth was that Sean was extremely confused by how this night was going. Strange things were happening to pretty much everyone in the club, and Sean was no exception, even though it was minor and less obvious than most of the club patrons. Sean found himself overcome with a feeling of sudden dread and sadness, as if the thing he had loved most had suddenly been taken from him, never to be seen again. He felt a sense of longing, a desperation to try and find a way to overcome this sadness no matter how. It’s possible that Geb’s sadness over the loss of his wife Nut was coming through with the partial transformation, but it was also possible that it was over the knowledge that Karin was obviously in serious danger, the god inside aware but being unable to get through to his host.

When it had been hours and Sean still hadn’t heard from Karin, he began to text and call her. Even though they had only known each other for a short period of time, the one thing he knew for certain was that it definitely wasn’t like her to simply disappear without a word. After a half hour with no phone responses, Sean went outside the club to look for her, expecting to find her body in a nearby alley. What would Fiona say? He was pretty certain that she’d blame him somehow, and after all, he should’ve been with her to protect her from whatever had occurred. Sean’s mind immediately went to the darkest of places, picturing her choking on her own blood in a nearby alley, trying to contact him somehow.

When Ares spoke to Sean, he looked up suddenly from his thoughts. As Sean looked up, something in him changed, quickly transforming into someone else entirely. His skin quickly turned a shade of kelly green, very close to the color of summer grass, something which made Sean crack up with laughter somewhere in the back of his mind. He looked like Kermit the frog, wait, Kermit the Frog in a skirt? Geb wouldn’t have minded Sean’s normal clothes very much, even though he would have still found the pants to be far too constricting, however a suit and tie was entirely too uncomfortable for him. Therefore when Geb transformed he changed Sean’s costume into traditional Egyptian attire, a white linen wrap around skirt, tied with a navy blue belt. “He is looking for his girlfriend,” was all Geb said to the man in front of him.

“And you?” Ares asked, brow quirked. “Who are you, and what is your interest in the girl?”

Ares canted his head, burnished eyes staring into this formerly hidden soul. He did not recognize the creature, even his strange garb being something novel to him. He felt he had seen his kin, or at least those known to the pantheon he called home. (‘Idris,’ Samuel said, subverted now beneath Ares’ oppressive psyche.) A moment’s further study of the creature gave him no more insight than he’d had before, and quickly his patience for his self inflicted guessing game waned. “Come,” he said again. His arm swept in a wide arc, pistol waving, the safety thumbed off as he headed toward the alley. “Something waits. And perhaps with it, your human’s girl.”

“My name is Geb.” To explain exactly who he was and what he did was rather complicated, because he was so much more than a simple earth god, but he supposed it was a start. “I’m an Egyptian earth god and the woman is not my wife, but Sean is in love with her, which makes her my concern as well.” After how he and his own wife had been separated, Geb wasn’t one to simply abandon his host’s girlfriend in a time of need, even if she clearly wasn’t his own wife. “Who are you?”

As Geb asked and hoped to find out more about Ares, he nodded, understanding that whoever this man was, he definitely wasn’t the type to be questioning, he also was clearly the type of person you took seriously, followed into battle, and asked questions about what was going on later. He eyed the strange gun in Ares’s hand, not recognizing what it was or its purpose so he searched for an answer from Sean. Oh, clearly something extremely dangerous awaited them. This should be interesting, especially since it was the first time he had transformed fully. Tonight was the first night he had even come out partially.

“Ares,” he boomed. “I am War, and I don’t wait patiently.”

Patient or not, Ares’ mind was already at work. What use an earth god might be was unknown to him, but he had no intention of not trying to learn. He knew little of Egyptians, having felt no discernible interest in learning about much not directly related to himself. But he, War himself, was everywhere, known to every nation in its turn. This temporary unfamiliarity seemed to him no true obstacle. This Geb would learn, as millions of others had before him.

“If what I feel is true - and it is, be assured - if Sean loves her and she is gone, we would do well to put whatever lies there down.” The gun shifted, angling back toward the alley to punctuate his urgency. “Then he will return to her as a hero, and not merely a panicking mortal.”

There was more than that at stake, and Ares and Samuel alike knew it. But there was no time when they felt the enemy advancing upon them, something both of them knew they had not faced before. The hair at the nape of Ares’ neck raised, his blood thundering through his transfigured mortal’s veins. “What can you do?” Ares called, turning his back to the man, picking up his step once more, trusting Geb to follow him into the alley beyond. “If you fight with me you must be of some use.”

Normally Geb would have been curious about Ares and whatever culture he came from. War gods were in every culture, but they were slightly different in each, and this Ares had a presence, a force that was clearly dominating and impressive. However, instead of prying and trying to discover more about him, despite curiosity, Geb simply nodded. He was not often the hero and neither was Sean. Instead it had been Sean’s calming force that he had been drawn to, his natural ability to be in tune with the earth, it was quite impressive for a mortal. Sean was also a hopeless romantic at heart, something else he had been drawn to. Of course that didn’t mean that Geb was entirely useless, sure he had the ability to produce food and drink, something he often wished he could do for Sean who often went without meals to pay rent, but the ability he was able to produce was something much more useful for a situation like this. “I can create earthquakes, so yes, I’m of some use to you.”

Ares nodded, but said nothing; the time for words had passed, the need for action taking its place. Together they entered the alley. High walls of steel, brick, and glass towered above them, closing them in, shepherding them toward the inevitable trap. It was a cowardly move by their would-be attackers, of that Ares was certain, but there appeared to be no other way around it; if the creatures in question would not face them, Ares would instead bring the fight to them.

“If you’re attuned to the earth, feel their footsteps,” he said. His voice had lowered, miraculously, his pride giving way to understanding of the nature of the fight. If this was to be a sort of guerrilla warfare, he would not be the first to give away their steady progress. “Tell me how many there are.”

It didn’t take Geb long to assess the situation and feel for how many attackers they were working with. Luckily the creatures they were facing were clearly earthbound and not capable of flight, making Geb even more in tune with their presence. “There are two, perhaps a third one a little further back than the other two.” He assumed that the third was holding back, waiting and calculating what happened before jumping in to any sort of fray.

As the two of them headed down the alley moving towards the potential danger, Geb suddenly saw two of the scorpions as clear as day. Geb slowly looked up at the giant towering scorpion men in front of him, and was clearly impressed by their stature. If they hadn’t been clearly hostile, he would have wanted to discover more about them, who created them, why they were here. However judging by the look in their eyes, it was obvious that there was no time for curiosity, there was only time for action. Geb tried to get a feel for the earth, wishing he had the ability to suck them up into it and call this battle over, and as Geb, fully in control of his powers, he probably would’ve been able to do that. “Give me the cue, and I’ll see how much damage I can do. I don’t know how powerful I can make earthquakes in this vessel.”

“Trap one,” Ares said, circling at the front of their makeshift battleground. “Both if you can. The more time you buy for us, the better.”

The creatures were larger than Ares had guessed; far larger indeed. Atop their hard carapaces were the bodies of men, their mortal faces contorted with anger and pain. Ares felt Samuel’s fear, human and weak, and roughly shoved it back. He had manipulated this feeling within his host many times before, stoking or dampening it as necessity demanded, keeping his vessel alive by whatever means he could. Now would be no different than before. With no armor to speak of, and merely a mortal’s hand-sewn costume to keep him safe from these creatures’ attacks, Ares exhibited a caution he in his true form would never have displayed. He kept to the walls, strafing close against them as he had seen his host’s battalion do many a time. It made of him a smaller target, ever moving and difficult to track. His weapon hummed as he drew it close to his bare chest, his arms ready to stretch out with perfect form at a moment’s notice. Once they were in range, the creatures’ battle would be lost.

Geb focused, also having to push Sean aside, his fear was far too distracting, but not as distracting as the concern for Karin that Sean kept on vocalizing. Now was not the time to worry about a woman, now was the time to worry about getting out of this alley way alive, leaving three dead scorpion men behind them. He silently assured Sean that he would try to find Karin when all was said and done. This promise appeased Sean for now and Sean slipped back with no argument as Geb pushed him aside.

Focused on the task at hand, connecting himself to the earth with surprising difficulty. In his true form, he wouldn’t have had to even think about it, he WAS the earth, there was no need to bridge the connection because the earth was an extension of himself. Soon the earth began to rumble, and Geb pushed the moving earth toward the scorpion men in a wave of shaking, crackling cement. The ground slammed one scorpion against a wall, crushing him against the brick, but it had only sent the second scorpion to the ground, confused, dazed, and as it awoke, clearly angry.

The effect had been greater than Ares dared hope. As he watched their enemies brought down he felt an answering rush of elation, a kind of joy he only ever found in blood. The crushed creature’s leg bent at an unnatural angle, clearly shattered beyond repair: Shards of chitin radiated outward from the wound, splintered like driftwood where it had fetched up against the wall. As the upturned earth and pavement fell from its head, its screaming face came into view, runnels of blood obscuring its features. Ares took aim, and fired. The bullet passed through the creature’s forehead at an angle, neatly severing its brain stem. It slumped to the ground, dead before its motions ceased.

The second creature had taken full advantage of their distraction; when the pair looked up, it was nearly atop them. Ares reached out, grabbing a handful of Geb’s strange garment, suddenly heedless as to how well it stayed on. His only thought was pulling them both out of the way of the creature’s charge, and this, at least, he accomplished. In its fury at being thwarted, the scorpion man reached for his bow, nocking two arrows clearly meant for the pair. Ares’ jaw clenched: He knew the creature would not miss.

“A wall!” he cried, an upward sweep of his hand indicating the ground. Already the arrows were loosed, and Ares knew that even were Geb to understand, they would both of them suffer for having given the creature their flank.

Thankfully the belt Geb wore was not only for decoration, but it secured the already well secured wrap around garment he wore. Nodding to Ares, Geb understood what Ares was instructing him to do, and with focus, the alley shook once more. With ease, the worn pavement rose up and acted as a shield between the gods and the creature, it stood jagged and strong in front of them. Unfortunately no matter how quickly Geb was able to raise the cement wall, the scorpion men never missed their target once their arrows were fired. The arrows soared over the wall just in time, and headed towards the pair of gods. Despite Geb’s attempt to move out of the path of the arrow, his cheek was grazed, thankfully it was only a graze.

Ares moved as Geb did, twisting aside as the arrow sang through the air. It came far, far too close for comfort; he had never been so grateful for his connection with his host as he was in that terrible moment. The arrowhead slipped past his flesh, unzipping it in a painful but remarkably clean cut. But Ares’ human flesh was harder now, strengthened by that bond they two souls shared, and this alone would not stop him.

He looked back to Geb, assuring himself his backup was unharmed. The god was bleeding slightly, thin lines of deep red marring the dark plane of his cheek, but he was none the worse for wear. Samuel quietly laughed, even so subsumed unable to resist a single, unsurprising thought: ‘Chicks dig scars.’

But Ares wasted no time giving voice to the joke, his attention instead wholly turned to the task at hand. His arm raised, leveling the Kimber at the scorpion man’s hard, broad torso. The sights aligned, perfectly framing the creature’s heart. Ares fired, once in the creature’s massive chest, and once farther up, sending a second slug through its head. With these kinds of beasts it never hurt to be sure. Confident now that they could easily hold their own, Ares’ thoughts now turned to variety, to his desire to plunge them both headlong into the brutal creativity of battle.

“Trap and crush the last,” he said, turning on his heel. He led them down the alley, where the last of the creatures waited, almost certainly hoping for an ambush. They would not grant it that. “A slow death, though. I want to see them better, particularly in death.” The grin he flashed back to Geb was sharp-edged and deadly. “Should it make any real headway toward escaping, I’ll shoot to kill.” Instead of to wound and torment, was the unspoken caveat.

As the scorpion men died, Geb began to feel their slow but inevitable decay, their return to the earth. It was an aspect of being an earth god that many did not think about, but one that Geb was very much aware of. When the body died, it slowly began to join the earth through its decay, enriching the soil, and therefore becoming one with him. His wife Nut was said to take the souls of those that passed the various tests of the afterlife into her caring and loving arms, where as he trapped those that had been devoured in their Kha (their physical form) in the earth for eternity.

Geb nodded to Ares and looked at the scorpion man for a moment, calculating how to best do this. Any pain or annoyance he might have felt from his grazed cheek was momentarily pushed aside as he made the ground shake once more. Running out of ground to work with, Geb was glad that there had only been three scorpion men. As the ground shook, Geb pushed it towards the last of them, using his arms to try and move the ground in a more precise manner. The cement surrounded him, circling around him, slowly getting smaller, tightening around the enemy. “I have never seen such a creature before,” Geb stated as he looked closer at their enemy.

“Nor have I,” Ares said. “Not precisely.”

His eyes narrowed as they moved closer, the fire lighting his eyes banking somewhat as his concentration waxed. The pistol he kept level with the creature’s human face, his finger tensed to squeeze the trigger at the first sign of real trouble. It proved - at lest for the time being - an unnecessary precaution. One hard, spindly leg stuck out from the pavement, flexing in a futile effort to free itself from the earth. Ares’ aim shifted, the barrel of the gun pointed solidly at one shifting joint. A soft slide of his finger on the trigger sent the slug flying home, its passage marked by a ghastly explosion of thick blood and crisp chitin, the severed limb falling to the pavement with a heavy thunk.

“This is not of our mortals’ world,” Ares mused, his head canting curiously as he regarded the impromptu amputation. “If it is not of ours, either, where did it come from?”

“Well it is clearly a desert creature, or at least one that comes from a warm climate, probably a world similar to my own.” It looked like something that could definitely be Egyptian, except it most definitely wasn’t; he would recognize it if it was. He really didn’t know of a culture similar to his own in a similar climate. “I’m assuming that there are others like us from worlds we are not familiar with. Unfortunately I think this is going to remain a mystery.”

“Then we kill it.”

Ares’ answer was as immediate as it was predictable. He wasted no time in preparing to carry out his threat, drawing a bead on the creature now writhing in pain. Later they might go to others of their ilk, carrying tales of the things they had slain. Later the humans themselves might discover the bodies, repairing them to some facility or other for years of thorough study. Later answers would be found. For now there was only this: only death, and carnage in the service of war. Ares fired; the creature collapsed, slumping into the embrace of the earth. Its legs shifted, death throes reaching its limbs with some delay.

“You did better than I thought, Geb,” Ares said, pronouncing the word with distinct syllables that belied his discomfort. Whatever else this god had been, he was not of Ares’ stock, and his voice spoke to the distance that yet remained between them. “Your kin should be proud. And perhaps one day we will shed blood together again.” A feral grin split his face. “But now I must find my consort. I have kept her waiting long enough.”

“Thank you Ares, I realize what a great honor it must be to receive your praise from battle, and it makes the words even more important. It was an honor to fight under your guidance, and you are right, one day we must shed blood together again.” Geb grinned and nodded, suddenly remembering Karin’s disappearance. “Have a good evening.”

Ares looked up from where his eyes had lingered on their kills, drinking in the pride and satisfaction that came with every one. He was as pleased with Geb’s response as he had been with his fight; here was someone he could work with, someone who understood the necessity of a job well done, then set aside. He moved from one goal to another without lingering, without whinging, merely doing what must be done. It endeared the god all the more to him, and Ares marked him as if not a friend, then at least a more trusted acquaintance than before.

“Happy hunting,” Ares called, his well wishes sincere, and raised an arm in farewell.