New In Town [Chapter XII]

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

A lone man entered the town from the south east most entrance of town. His black dress cloths appeared too clean for the trip he had just endevoured from Hallowton. The thieves who had broken the seals to his coffin and released him after his slumber had come from here. Two of them were from the Army, the others had been pick ups from around town.

What he was doing there now was simply to thank them for waking him in the best way he knew. By devouring the men he knew the layout of the city very well. His first stop would be an outpost for the 'law men' of sorts. It was a building that was similar to a police station just a bit more tragic. As he approached and entered the gated area a spot light hit him head on, "Stay where you are!"

A rooftop of one of the buildings around them played host to the spotlight and a sniper directing his sights on the left hand side of the mans body. There were three men in front of him raising their weapons to him another two on his left moving closer, one other flanking from his back right side. "You are in a restricted area. You saw the signs, now answer me, what are you doing here?"

The man shrugged. The two on his right were close to him, one circled to his back raising his weapon between his shoulders. "Are you deaf? Answer his question," said the man behind him.

All the while this was happening, on the roof top the sniper and spotter watched intensely. The sniper was ready to put him out of his misery dare he make the wrong move. The rifle he was equipped with had the ammunition to down just about anything. What they weren't ready for was the wave of darkness that spread across the roof top devouring them. It sounded like dogs ripping at their flesh at first but then the feint laughter of children.

Their screams made it to the ground around the same time the spot light went dead, he finally answered them, his eyes glowed intensely in the dark, a very crimson color. The same evil on the roof top rose behind him instantly blowing the man up into billions of giblets and showering them all with blood, "I'm here to repay you for freeing me."

The three in front of him had opened fire in the middle of him saying that but their bullets met a wall of pure black fog that just swallowed it. The one soldier that was to his right met his end by this point his torso was thrown from the darkness hitting all three of them throwing them to the ground. The other one who was flanking from the right hand corner was thrown so hard into the wall of the building that the snipers were on that he left nothing more than a massive splatter of blood.

The black suited man stepped through the pure black fog and pulled from under both of his arms from their gun holsters his pistols. As all three of them were standing he fired on the two as the familiars rose behind him and slammed into the third. The third mans torso was missing but his arms and legs flew in different directions spewing blood everywhere.

Inside

The commotion and gunfire could be heard. They were ready though all staring at the front door waiting for someone to enter. The windows shattered and the entire front wall collapsed as this massive darkness pushed its way into the building. They all opened fire into the fog but the tendrils of the familiars, the hounds, the very souls that were trapped in it ripped and tore at the men. And then he manifested at the front of the fog as the remaining men were all reloading their pistols.

"As entertaining as this was. It now ends." He began firing at them not missing a single shot. His bullets blew giant chunks of flesh from their bodies then the familiars took over washing over the crowded room cutting them down and devouring the dying.

He turned his back and was exiting when he took notice to the man in the corner of the room holding his radio. He slightly smiled in the corner of his mouth and walked toward him, piss stained the ground under the cowering soldier. "Let them know." He stopped and kneeled down, "Let them know, I am coming."

His hand reach out and patted the top of the soldiers head as he stood and exited through the same destruction that he had used to enter.

----------------

A cigarette was between his lips, not lit. He stopped walking toward the amassing army of men, the street behind him was blotted out even more than usual. A fire lit between his fingers from the single match and ignited his cigarette. He tossed the match aside and inhaled one good time.

He removed the cigarette from between his lips with his fingers and exhaled as he spoke, "All they sent was you? I'm fucking insulted."

[Linx]

Shadows roiled around the man to his right and solidified into the form of a tall and regal man. With hair of midnight black and eyes that flashed crimson, Nicodemus entered Isafaro. Admittedly his wasn't as flashy as the new comers, but he cared little for that. His chest was covered by a breastplate of metal that was blacker than night. His cloak seemed woven of shadows, and similar metal encased his forearms and legs, and a golden circlet inlaid with rubies held his hair back from his face. In his right hand he clenched his blade with twisting and archaic runes that flowed like liquid over the black blade. In his right, he clenched a blackened staff with similar makings, glowing with a carmine light. He smiles wolfishly at the marshalled army before them, glancing sidelong at the other man.

"Would you object terribly to me standing with you? I wouldn't mind having a bit of sport with these soldiers of the Vulture. I wish to test their mettle." he says, arching a brow in question at the man. "Oh, do excuse my manners. I am Nicodemus Archleon, Lord of Outland and the Necromancer King." he says, inclining his head respectfully to the other man. "I'm sure my titles mean nothing to you, but suffice it to say, I shan't be a hindrance." he says, turning his attention back to the soldiers before them. He drew in power, readying himself to unleash a physical and magical onslaught on the soldiers of the Vulture, ready to take their measure and see what the men of this world were made of.

Black fire danced along his skin as his hands tightened their grips, smiling almost ferally at the men before them. Memories played through his mind, and angrily he brushed them aside. A battle was no place for the past, least of all his. However, it followed him wherever he went, and it weighed constantly on his mind. Once more the emotions of his past flooded his being. Anger and hatred warred for dominance within him, and a fell, unholy light seemed to radiate from his body. He would kill and kill and kill, until nothing remained to oppose him. He would demonstrate his will, his power. He would prove that he would not be trifled with, that he wasn't insignificant. He would prove to everyone that he was a force to be reckoned with, and damn them all to the deepest hells.

[Ayen]

The edge of the cigarette would be shot off and fall to the floor as the fire burnt at the remains. Steam from the barrel of a custom silver .44 Magnum with tiger stripes on the design flowed up into the air. Belonging to a thin, athletic woman who stood at 5'7 and scanned the man up and down from behind her visor as she now aimed the barrel of the semi-automatic at his head.

“This is a non-smoking area.”

"All they sent was you? I'm fucking insulted."

“Take a good long look behind me.”

The moment his eyes glanced he would see another squad behind her, their rifles aimed forward and ready to fire on her mark.

"Would you object terribly to me standing with you? I wouldn't mind having a bit of sport with these soldiers of the Vulture. I wish to test their mettle."

An annoyed expression crossed Ayanna's facial features when she looked up to the new arrival.

“You brought backup?” she asked the man facing the end of her gun.

"Oh, do excuse my manners. I am Nicodemus Archleon, Lord of Outland and the Necromancer King. I'm sure my titles mean nothing to you, but suffice it to say, I shan't be a hindrance."

“Good lord...”

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

His gaze came around to the person to his right he listened and chuckled slightly, "Test what ever you want just don't end up on the wrong side of a bullet. I'd feel slightly bad for a casualty."

As he raised his cigarette a bullet lanced across it blasting the tip from it. He casually placed the cigarette between his teeth still and his tongue rolled out dragging it into his mouth. He chewed on it as if it was normal to do so then spit the remains to the ground.

"I'm not here to make friend, I'm here to devour every last one of you. And then perhaps we can make pleasant once your soul is in my hands, however, I'm just here because two of your people woke me up in the middle of a rather nice dream," he casually began walking forward stepping on the chewed up cigarette.

He finally would introduce himself, finding it rather rude in him for not doing so as he's been in the city for close to an hour and cause a population decline ever so slightly without a name. Even the black death had a name when it took the lives of many. "I am Gabriel Lachney, the Spokesman of Insanity."

[Linx]

Nicodemus smiles at the woman. "Oh yes, they have guns." he drawls lazily, "Whatever shall we do with guns pointed at us? Perhaps we shall flee in terror?" he pauses for a moment before continuing. "I think not." he finishes flatly, crimson light flaring briefly as his staff flared, launching forth a spell into their ranks. A Chaos Blast as it was known in his world. A ball of raw chaos energies that destroyed anything it came into contact with. It tore through the ranks of soldiers opposite him, reducing their numbers by half as some fell severed to the ground, screaming in agony. He grins demonically as the shadows writhe over the fallen, silencing their voices forever more, leaving nothing behind of the man that had once stood there.

He kept his power held at the ready, raising an invisible barrier before him in case they opened fire on him, forcing more of his power into it to make it stronger, hardening it with his will to prevent anything getting through. "Soldiers of General Vulture! You are outclassed! All you can do now is beg for mercy, but you shall find none here." he calls out, issuing a soul chilling laugh. He takes a step forward, starting a slow march to their ranks, raising his blade to cleave through those still standing before him. "Run if you will, give me the pleasure of hunting you down." he laughs again, his march relentless as he stalked towards them, eyes ablaze with a feral light as the shadows roiled around him, flames dancing along his form as he grinned, the specter of death on his own world. Even here, he would make himself feared.

[Ayen]

"Oh yes, they have guns. Whatever shall we do with guns pointed at us? Perhaps we shall flee in terror? I think not."

Ayanna's fingers snapped, a clear energy field filled the entire room in a matter of seconds before the man in armor could even finish his monologue. While it inflicted no physical harm to the two it would in fact do something else entirely. Nullify their abilities until only the most basic of physical attributes remained available to them. The same as Bane did to the supernatural forces in Hallowton, but a perfected version instead. Leveling the playing field.

"I am Gabriel Lachney, the Spokesman of Insanity."

“Ayanna Kaktas, Isafaro Military – Crimson Vulture.”

The second introduction was finished both men would find themselves faced with a hailstorm of bullets.

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

"Cute." He would say as he felt something wash over him. He continued to casually walk forward as the hailstorm was fired. Fun fact the beings behind him weren't a power but an entity of himself, it was a manifestation of himself a part of himself that couldn't be ripped from him unless he was rendered dead.

This would of been a nifty trick to pull on him when he was an entirely different being, the red clad vampire who relied on his black magic. He who walked forward was human the darkness that crashed in front of both Nicodemus and himself blocking the bullets was physically a part of himself. When they had to reload he stepped through the fog drawing both of his pistols but let them hang at his sides.

"I'll give it to you. I've been brought down to size a bit by such a cheap trick, but I brought friends as well." The beings within the fog all roared out in their own special way some hallow some feral. The darkness itself shot forward around him the hell hounds and snake like tendrils going for everyone on the opposite side of the battle field, except they didn't go for Ayanna. Instead Gabe stood straight across from her very relaxed.

[Linx]

Nicodemus barely batted an eye, dropping back and raising his blade in front of his eyes. The bullets bounced off his armour and blade, and when he lowered it, his eyes flashed with a fell hatred. The great black battle blade pulsed with it's unholy radiance, unmarred by the bullets. A dead magic zone was bad, but these were powerful artifacts of his world, and wouldn't be undone by such cheap gimmicks. True their enchantments were suppressed, but not gone entirely. If they were, the weave holding the energy within them would vanish, and the power freed. They'd have the explosive force of two nuclear warheads right on top of them. None of them would've enjoyed that, and thankfully it wasn't the case.

As the shadow hounds bayed and descended upon the soldiers, Nicodemus nods appreciatively, turning his attention to the one remaining Isafaro woman. "Very impressive Master Lachney, very impressive indeed. It is refreshing to see that not all of the arts of war are craven." he says, smiling softly as he stares at the woman, lowering his arms, holding his weapons at his sides. He could react faster than she, and he knew it. He believed it to be the truth, and he wouldn't fall to someone so young and uncultured as her. "I know not how Master Lachney feels, but I feel compelled to offer you one chance to leave, Miss Kaktas, and one chance only. Were I you, I would take it." he says quietly, focusing all his attention on her, ready to lash out and attack her at the slightest provocation. He wouldn't not be felled by some paltry upstart. If she insisted on fighting, he would ensure her death.

[Ayen]

"Cute."

Ayanna's eyes behind the visor widened in shock as Gabe didn't so much as bat an eyelash at the nullification that washed over them both, nor did the bullets even touch their mark as he walked forward as if nothing was happening around him. Seeing that all they were doing was wasting ammo Ayanna held out her arm for the other soldiers behind her.

“Hold your fire!”

The soldiers ceased firing and held their ground as Gabrielle's lips parted once more.

"I'll give it to you. I've been brought down to size a bit by such a cheap trick, but I brought friends as well."

Ayanna looked up in horror as the darkness came, her soldiers splitting up in two groups of fives as they raised their weapons and open fired on the hell hounds and snake shapes as they kept moving. Cover wasn't an option so all they had was their mobility as they kept their weapons close, timing their shots and aiming with precise precision as Ayanna herself exchanged the .44 Magnum for a pair of daggers, her eyes now on the source of the darkness, Gabrielle.

"I know not how Master Lachney feels, but I feel compelled to offer you one chance to leave, Miss Kaktas, and one chance only. Were I you, I would take it."

Her answer would come in the form of a charge, cutting the gap of empty space between herself and the Spokesman as she aimed the dagger in her right hand for his throat.

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

Every bullet that hit a creature of the black fog blew it to shreds, it's flesh fell to the ground as each of the things hit they released hundreds of insects that scattered in every direction. The hounds the souls that manifested in the fog began to circle the area from all sides unrelentingly assaulting the troop.

Gabe instead continued to stand there staring at her, "nothing to say?" then she lurched forward quickly. He didn't move her blade came within inches of his neck before it halted, black tendrils wrapped around her arm and her left leg holding her back.

"Humbling as it is, I cannot allow you to halt my constant movement forward." The tendrils pulled in opposite directions, the one around her arm went up while the one on her leg pulled down forcing her arm up toward the sky, but then they both let go only after Gabriel readied both of his guns.

[Linx]

Nicodemus let her charge at Gabriel, turning his attention instead to the soldiers. His sword clove through their ranks with ease. He kept his attention on the woman, classifying her as a greater threat than the standard rank and file. As soon as he'd occupied her attention, he pivoted around towards the woman, charging forth with speed greater than most would believe possible for a normal human. He quick stepped to the side, clearing away from Gabriel's line of fire as he thrust his blade in at her side just above her hip, his staff swinging in behind her for the back of her head.

He was effectively cutting off her retreats. If she wanted to escape, she'd either have to drop down at their feet, leap to her left and risk his blade continuing into her in a shallow but detrimental wound that would slow her down, or leap straight up and risk being immobile in mid air. Either way, his mind already flowed ahead to his possible continuing attack routines, and he made certain to moderate the strength of his attack, ensuring that he could halt the blow of his staff immediately if he had to, in order to prevent hitting Gabriel. He was certain she was outmatched, and was determined to beat her down. He wouldn't allow himself to be beaten. He couldn't let himself be beaten. Not now, not ever.

[Ayen]

A well timed grenade would change all of that as it exploded right in Nicodemus' face no thanks to one of the soldiers in the squad keeping a watchful eye on the armored man by Gabrielle's side. The insects borne from the destruction of the previous shapes jumped on a soldier and quickly consumed his body and he fell to the ground where the insects ate off his flesh. Another soldier threw a device against the ground and it cast flames throughout the steel floors of the building burning the insects that scattered about and quickly burnt out itself after it was finished. The soldiers now aiming their ankle pieces at the armored man and aiming for the cracks in the armor, their bullets now heading to slip through the chainmail worn underneath as they were designed to defend against blades, not bullets.

"Humbling as it is, I cannot allow you to halt my constant movement forward."

Ayanna found herself unable to move forward as she was stared down by the enemy. And when her mobility were given back to her, two 9mm bullets hit her in the chest, her body being pulled backward by gravity as it collided into the steel floor. The visor falling from her face and cracking against the ground as Ayanna's seemingly lifeless body stared up at the ceiling but as Gabrielle observed his enemy on the ground, he would see his bullets pushed out of the wound by the woman's body. A hint of abnormality about her as well as they fell to her side and the wounds closed within seconds like that of a vampire or a demon but Ayanna was neither. Getting up to a sit, Ayanna aimed a modified version of her .44 Magnum loaded with blessed silver and fired several shots not at Gabrielle...

But the darkness coursing through his body.

[Der-Sprecher-des-Wahnsinns]

He lowered his pistol.

"You're less than inhuman."

He didn't have time to finish what he was going to say. The back of his jacket blew outward and the black tendrils smashed into the ground launching him high into the sky moments before she fired. He steadied both weapons down on her and began firing as rapidly as he possibly could, but given that his powers were nullified his bullets wouldn't have that crippling impact they normally did.

The black fog pushed him backward onto the ledge of one of the lower buildings only a single story over the ground. He walked the edge continuing to fire at her.

On the opposite end of the playing field the soldiers would find themselves in a haze. The burnt 'insects' released a heavy and thick fog that spread through the area all the while the hounds pushed in closer and closer. Nicodemus himself would find trouble but only slightly even as the bullets assaulted his frame the darkness wrapped itself around him aiding him in blocking the bullets that his armor would fail to stop.

[Linx]

The grenade detonating in his face was rather irksome, as he felt himself blown back from the concussive burst. As his body moved, his mind had time to ponder. A technologically superior enemy, nullified abilities, and a rather competent and tenacious commander. It certainly livened things up for him, and gods knew he could do with a reprieve from boredom. He hit the ground in a roll, springing back to his feet and using the momentum to cleave through the unfortunate soldier to be standing before him, and grinned briefly their commander ordered them to open fire. The soldiers were very well trained, and responded immediately, and he was only willing to oblige them with a target.

However, it would be to their own detriment. Folding his arms around his head, he dropped to a crouch in the midst of all the soldiers, letting their own crossfire tear them apart. He held no concern for his own injuries, as they would heal quickly enough once they had finished here, and his vital areas were encased in his impenetrable armour. He lamented briefly he'd never commissioned a set of full plate as rounds hammered into him, glancing wildly off his armour and the encasing darkness provided by Gabriel. He escaped with barely a scratch, a few wounds on his legs and hips. While unpleasant, he pushed the pain from his mind. They would not hinder him.

With his pain mastered, his mind sped along its course, his body launching itself into a prodigious leap, displaying more than human aptitude. It was clear no distinct advantage would be won for them at this rate, the soldiers technology unhindered by negation field the woman had enacted, and so he resolved to change that. Turning his attention to the area around him, he sought the location of the device, intending to destroy the annoying item. Something like that certainly would've been expensive to develop, and more than likely didn't affect the entire nation, for that would be far to costly. Miniaturized then would be the explanation, to fill a local area. Assuming he could find the generator to destroy, they would make short work of these soldiers. He scowled as he thrust his blade through another soldier, seeking his new quarry with unrelenting vigilance. It irked him to be considered insignificant, and he was newly resolved to put an end to this back water nation, living in it's own decrepit squalor. When he found that device, he new already what hell he would rain down upon them.

[Ayen]

Ayanna rolled out of the path of the bullets and once on her feet performed a backflip behind some cover while Gabe shot towards her from above, pulling out a radio and speaking into it to the other.

“This is Ayanna, switch to blessed silver. I repeat, switch to blessed silver now!”

Meanwhile over Gabe's head several spotlights would shine over him and a single black helicopter with the crimson red Vulture insignia on the side aimed its guns towards the man and started to open fire on Gabe.

---

As Nicodemus looked for the source of the energy field the roar of the undead would be heard from behind his position, back to where the first couple of soldiers were killed. Their cells having been reanimated and began to mutate as they rose back up to their feet and started tracking the man down. The first one to find him would come out of nowhere from behind, grabbing him and biting down the side of his face as the second came towards the front and vomited on his armor. Ayanna heard the roar and growls and naturally assumed that it was a creation from the enemy. Oblivious to the fact that Isafaro has been experimenting on their own soldiers in such a way.

The surviving men of the previous skirmish pulled back and quickly loaded up the bless silver, their weapons having been designed to take both regular and silver blessed ammunition. Using the lights on their guns they saw through the fog and open fired on any of the hellhounds and serpents that came their way as they began to make their way out of the building, having the place memorized for exactly a situation like this.

Well, not exactly for a situation like this.