The scions were gathered at a location of their parents and pantheon representatives’ choosing. The massive theatre hall stood in the downtown area, with a looming arcing chamber overhead for the acoustics. The stage was laid out before them as rows and rows and columns and arrangements of benches and seats were laid out for the spectators of the performance. There was a quiet bustle of people there intentionally to see the theatrics, and the murmur of those who were dragged along with friends, family, or significant others.
Off to one side, they could see that some people had gathered along one of the walls in order to smoke some cigarettes against the rules of the establishment, and security came to apprehend them and douse the flames. Had they no respect for the lungs of others, some asked in quiet to their sides, as the gathering went outside for their last smoke before the first act were to start.
Eventually thing were all in accordance, the hushing of voices came with the dimming of the lights, and the majestic rise and swell of the orchestra’s play as their song paved the way for eyes to befall the stage. Tonight’s performance was Panegyris, a tragedy in three parts. The actors took the stage and began their work, speaking their parts as the masses were quiet and attentive.
Oddly appropriate, the play was, steeped in mythology for the newly awakened demigods. The performance followed a Greek hero, and his attempts to overcome the looming spectre of death, but at every turn his quest to save his family and himself he would lose those around him. He would make great and drastic choices for the greater good, for his goals to save more than he lost, and every time more and more of those he sought to save would be sacrificed for the good, until there were none left but himself.
The intermissions and smoke and bathroom breaks were an enjoyable burst of time between the acts. During the first intermission, however, an argument would be overheard by Liam. A girl smacks her boyfriend’s shoulder when she sees him smoking. It’s not a cigarette, the smell is wrong. The guy had brought pot to the theatre, and she was clearly upset. All he would do is cough and shrug, saying that it made the performance more enjoyable. Poor decision on his part, but they seemed to make up within a couple of minutes as they were soon making out before the break was coming to an end and they would go back in. But there was something wrong at the second intermission. The guy, Liam had noticed him again and this time Nova did too, and he was seeming like he was feeling fairly ill, paler than he had been before.
During the final act, the protagonist was sat at a table with Thanatos, death itself. They were having a chat about everything that had happened, over a game similar to chess. They would take their time back and forth making moves, not from any wager, but symbolic of their match through the play. The hero was losing pieces and making small gains through the entire match, until he was down to only his king, and yet, he still played on, making moves against his disadvantage. Ultimately, it arrived at a stalemate.
The theatre goes dark suddenly, and silent. The play is over, suddenly and jarringly, without a proper conclusion. There was no clapping, the audience had been informed to withhold their applause, and so they had.
It seemed that the purpose of the play was clear, the scions were sent here to be warned about the troubles of fighting death, and making poor choices. They could have just been told this, but this was a far more extravagant way of doing it. Gods loved their theatrics it would seem. In the foyer, it was now apparent to all of the group that the one Nova and Liam had spotted was not doing well. He was looking near passing out. The girlfriend was on the phone, trying to call an ambulance, when the man fell to his knees and began to scream in pain. All eyes were on the two of them, as people were unsure of how to respond, how to react.
How could they know how to react? His body began to seem to bulge, and his skin seemed to begin to rip and he began to bleed. Panic ensued, and people began to quickly try to get away, while others got to a ‘safe distance’ and began to record the events on their phones. Pictures, video, blogging, as the poor man screamed and his body seemingly began to burst. There was a shimmer of light reflecting off his form for a moment, and he fell over quiet. He was obviously sick, but this... this wasn’t a normal sickness.
Well, this was a new experience Nova could add to her list of “things to never do again”. The play had been purposeful, but not half as entertaining as she would’ve hoped. Of course, what was occurring outside of the play was at least unique. The list received a new entry as she witnessed the man writhing in agony. She was like the rest of the crowd for a moment, simply observing the grotesque, until she snapped herself out of it and began to shout for cloth, an ambulance, for people to get off their phones and do something. Nova was pushing her way through the crowd when the man fell silent and began to… shimmer. Clearly the gods weren’t satisfied with one event for the night. Looking around at her surroundings, Nova only began to approach the man when it was clear that most of the crowd was looking to her to act.
“Sir? Sir, can you hear me? Can you speak?” The words “are you alright” almost tripped off her tongue, but luckily she was able to catch the ridiculous question before it diminished her appearance. of having some semblance of what to do.
Liam stood back and watched the theatrics. These were less elucidating than the play had been, but they had the benefit of being more engaging. It was clear to him that something rather unnatural was happening to the man, probably due to the drugs he had taken. Liam had read a story somewhere about tainted drugs causing a person to turn into a worm. Or was it a fly? Some kind of insect. Whatever the case was, it looked like this poor bastard was going to experience it firsthand. Knowing he could do absolutely nothing to help, he simply watched and waited to see what would happen.
People murmured in response to the demands for them to ‘do something’. The girlfriend was already calling an ambulance, and it wasn’t like they could do anything or were hurting anything, right? Regardless, security began to draw the people away, shepherding them outside, “Nothing to see here,” they lied.
Nova upon inspecting the man found him unresponsive, and perhaps most oddly was how his skin was stretched over his form, ill fitting. Beneath it was muscle, but...
No, it wasn’t muscle. The shimmer was moving, fast, a fluid racing across his form. Silver and quick it coated him and hardened. Metal. His skin was pushed aside for metal. It was cold to the touch, and soaked with his blood. Everywhere she would look, just more metal instead of skin.
Jostled by the crowd, Kaya strove to make herself to the front to get a good look at the emergency victim. When the people around her were unresponsive to her nudges, she merely opted to barge her way through by means of brute force, knocking several people to the ground in the process, including the security that was desperately trying to handle the situation.
She quickly took hold of the situation: a woman on the phone, calling for help; another woman, interrogating; and a man, seemingly injured, lying on the floor.
Except that this was by no means an ordinary man. As soon as she saw the metal coating begin to spread across his form, she knew that this was a legendary being, at least in part. The question she would have to ponder was whether or not the man was salvageable amidst the bloody metal carnage.
She moved closer to the scene, and with a controlled, authoritative voice, spoke to the two women around the body. “This is a dangerous situation, I’m going to need to ask you two to move away.” She stretched her arms to either side. “Things may be about to get rough.”
Her words fell on deaf ears as the form began to stir with the groaning of grinding metal. Before the woman on the phone could make a remark, there was a sudden surge of force, a push of force as a thick metal fist swung upwards. Reacting quickly, Nova got in the way of the blow with her guard up. Her feet quickly found themselves lifted from the ground as she rose up into the foyer’s open ceiling chamber.
The assault was met with audible gasps, as people began to flee in a panic from the scene. This was a lot more dangerous for them to be around than a man in trouble. This was them being in trouble. People pushed and shoved each other to make way for their own escape, as the security began to pull out their tasers, a rather ineffectual weapon for the upcoming conflict.
A bit slower on the draw, but definitely prepared for it after the opening uppercut, when the swinging haymaker came, Kaya was able to duck below it, her stance diving safely below the otherwise intimidating fist. Above her, Nova began to plummet after just missing the chandelier.
Taking in the sights still, Liam found himself sensing that more than the demigods he knew were here, were here. There was another divine presence, but it was fleeting. It wasn’t in the theatre, it was outside somewhere. Someone involved in this metal man or was it...
Just then, his mind opened up as his consciousness slipped away. There was in his dreams, a vision. A man, held in a noose but not yet dead, in his sides were spears and at his feet were buckets. Surrounding the buckets, were cups, grails, bowls, filled with water. Surrounding the vessels of water, were candles, arranged evenly about the circle. Almost as sudden as the vision had hit him, Liam was awake again, still yet standing.
Just as she felt herself get in the way of the punch, Nova forced her body to harden and ready for the rapidly incoming hit. Sure, her skin wasn't metal, but it was a lot better than just being a layer of squish. The fact that the man had hit Nova sky high was shocking enough without being near able to touch the vaulted ceiling. Her arms and legs started to wheel as she was now rapidly approaching the ground again. Her eyes were wide and heart slammed against her ribs. What felt like seconds had hardly been half of one, and she reached up to grab at the chandelier, hoping that she could get a purchase on it, and she did.
Liam took a moment to get his mind back to the present. The few visions he’d had so far were all disorienting like that, coming at the strangest of times and leaving him bewildered. He turned his focus to the metal… thing that was assaulting his fellow demigods, and he knew almost instantly that it was a tough beast that could easily demolish mortals. Its metal hide was tough enough to withstand things like bullets from pistols, though a heavy rifle might do the job, and so far as he could sense it was still made of vulnerable flesh and bone underneath the shell. Shelving the vision and the sense of another divine entity waiting outside for the moment, he called out to those fighting the creature. “You’ll need something strong to get through the metal, high calibre rifle or something equivalent, but if you get through it’s soft enough to feel the pain.”
Well, she thought to herself, that was a lot rougher and a lot faster than I was expecting. She was lucky to have dodged that hit, but her ally didn’t seem to have been as fortunate.
This brute, as she had been so kindly informed by the guy who decided to just casually watch them fight, looked like it was going to need a substantial amount of force to break into. Lacking any weapons on her person—having left her gear back home with the RCMP—she opted for a more simple, stalling technique. Hopefully afterwards she’d have some time to go looking for impromptu weapons.
Spinning herself on the ground with her arms, she positioned herself beneath the man with her back on the floor and her legs poised atop her. With a savage push, she planted both feet firmly between the man’s legs and put as much force into them as she could to launch him into the ceiling.
And launch him she did. Higher still than Nova was sent flying with the uppercut. Unfortunately for the foyer, this meant that there was a crash into the ceiling as the metal man bounced off the rafters as they buckled and dust and debris began to fall along with the rather surprised looking guy. Her eyes quickly looking about the room, Kaya would find that there were signs on metal poles, and posts holding velvet ropes for the lines earlier at the most immediate disposal.
The girlfriend had now begun to run, her cellphone dropped and forgotten. There was a look of complete disbelief upon the faces of the security as they mutely and dumbly looked upon just the tip of the iceberg of spectacle. Few people remained within the foyer that weren’t semi-divine themselves, and those that did were not in any way prepared for this, and outside a gathering of people remained at a now extended “yeah, this is probably a safe distance” as people again tried to get a shot at what was going on, on their phones.
One of the guards, a slightly chubby older man, his name tag reading ‘Larry’ looked down at Kaya. He didn’t know who was who or what in this, but as far as his feeble mind could piece together, she just kicked a thrashing scared sick man into the ceiling, and so obviously she was the bad guy here. Larry aimed his taser to fire at Kaya.
In the corner of her eye, Kaya saw movement from one of the security guards. Movement that was notably akin to pointing a weapon to shoot at her. Oh, come on. I am a police officer, and they’re trying to shoot me? With as much speed and force as she could muster, she pushed herself across the floor, and hopefully out of the path of the taser’s aim.
Back by the door from the foyer to theatre, Cora finally recovered from her disbelief and moved into action. She picked up one of the loose velvet carpets; a fancy affair of golds and reds and blacks. Holding it loosely between her two hands, she willed fire to be born from her hands and began moving towards the metallic man.
The carpet began to burn quite readily, the fire spreading across it and the heat licking and scorching Cora’s own hands. The pain was searing and then cool as her skin began to blister from the heat. Such was the major trouble that would befall one who could make fire from their skin, and yet not resist its burn. Of course, there were more problems with making sudden fires inside of a theatre. The security, Larry aside, now have flames and fighting. Arson, as far as they were concerned, right in front of them. One of the security officers began to run to something along the walls, although Cora couldn’t tell what was there exactly. Liam, however, could see it was for a fire alarm. Another security, a black woman, began to pull out her cell phone, no doubt to call for official police support.
Nova pulled herself up along the chandelier, she repositioned herself as her eyes tracked the metallic man. If he was going to launch her, she was going to give him the equal and opposite reaction: drive him into the ground. She timed it as best she could, given that she had never swung on a chandelier towards a very shiny person.. As she swung, whether her attempt was as successful as she would’ve hoped or not, she would pull out a pocket knife and saw at anything non-metallic holding up the light fixture with one hand, and kick at anything she couldn’t cut, always keeping one arm wrapped around the chain to support herself once the fixture fell.
Liam felt a headache coming on as he watched the pandemonium unfold. It was bad enough that there was some metal beast to deal with, but the way his nominal comrades were dealing with it… He sighed and moved to intercept the security officer running for the fire alarm, but figured it would be best to hedge his bets. He sent a message directly into the mind of the officer, in as stern a tone as he could manage: “Halt, do not touch the alarm. The hand of God is at work here, do not interfere.”
The security officer stopped for a moment and turned wildly to see where the voice was coming from. His train of thought was cut short as Larry tried to chase down Kaya only for a tragic series of events to befall him. As the metal man plummeted to the ground, the chandelier that Nova was swinging on was cut loose and fell. The black woman dropped her phone and tried to reach and get Larry out of danger, but she was far out of reach.
“Larry!”
The man turned to look back and his eyes suddenly found themselves wide and in shock as he fell to his knees. There was now a large gash in the back of his head as the wedge of metal man’s foot cracked against his head. Larry didn’t have much time to feel anything next, as his slip to the ground was interrupted with the crashing force of the chandelier, metal and glass crushing him and the metallic being.
The shattered glass struck out, just short of the others in the room, leaving them untouched, but making it rather dangerous for Nova to drop down at this moment. Specially as the other two security officers now look up at her, tears and horror and anger all present on their faces.
By the time Cora noticed the incoming security guard, she had already begun to toss the carpet. Her mind shouted to stop, to take it back, but her burnt hands refused to obey, and the fiery cloth sailed on.
As the guard’s cry faded away, and the last glass shards skittered to a halt, the burning carpet settled almost serenely over the wreckage.
Nova felt her stomach rise into her throat as she heard the chandelier crash just as the security guard rushed beneath her. She knew there wasn’t a single chance that he had survived, and his partners obviously knew as well. That wasn’t supposed to happen. It was just supposed to hit the man that had been trying to harm everyone else… What had she done? Her eyes glazed over with tears as she saw the burning carpet be thrown over the wreckage, her own guilt near crushing her. On top of those awful, awful feelings, Nova was beginning to realize that she was stuck here, as immediately below her was a far from safe landing.
Liam could only watch in bemused horror as the guard died, metal man and chandelier both crashing on his head, and then the flaming carpet to top it off. There was no saving the poor guy, but hopefully the monstrosity had also been killed so his life had not been taken in vain. Rather than trying to bother with physically restraining the remaining guards, Liam sent another message into the mind of the same guard as before, in the same stern and overbearing tone: “Be at ease, Larry is in heaven now. Leave this place now and you will live.” He left the alternative unspoken, though it should be rather obvious even to the emotionally impaired guard.
The guard was wide eyed and grabbed the shoulder of the woman guard, “We need to go. I’ll… I… we’ll talk later. We need to go now.” There was a sense of urgency in his voice and slowly but surely, the two of them just left. Outside there were few people, the exodus having stopped most people from getting near the theatre. Alone now in the foyer, the demigods stood over, or in one case hung over, their victory against the metal man. In the far distance, an ambulance siren blares and will be arriving in a few minutes.
Upon seeing the guards flee, Liam looked to his fellow demigods and motioned toward the doors. “We should probably leave before police arrive. Oh, and I felt another with divine power out there, and I’ve a feeling they’re here for us. It would be rude to not go out and meet them.” However, as Liam said this, he realized that the divine power was now long gone. Strange.
“The front doors?” Cora remarked, the impromptu funeral pyre already justified to herself. “I think we’d be better off heading back through the theatre to find another way out.”
Kaya approached the edge of the rubble, eyeing it anxiously. Holding out her arms to Nova, she motioned for her to swing over. “Quickly, please… We don’t have much time.”
Eager to get off of the ceiling, Nova began to swing herself on the chain until she felt she could fall into the other woman’s arms. Nova had little clue who she was, only that she had enough force to send a man made at least partially out of metal tens of feet into the air. She tried to control her fall, resisting flailing too much.
Catching Nova in her arms, Kaya bent her legs a little to lessen the impact, and gently set her on her feet, patting her on the shoulder amicably. Rushing across the room, she grabbed the nearest pair of metal posts joined together by velvet rope. Slinging one post over her back and holding the other ready in her right hand, she approached the wreckage again. “You guys had better stand back. We can’t know for certain he’s done.”
Gingerly, and ready to leap back at any sign of movement, she used the post aside the debris that covered the metal man. He’d better be dead, she thought to herself.
It was difficult to discern whether or not the metal man was dead, as a being coated in metal it’s not like there would be the most obvious signs of death, as with poor Larry. However, there was definitely a lack of motion, not even breathing but Kaya didn’t know if that meant anything. Did the metal man even need to breathe?
In either case, it wasn’t moving at all.
“Well,” she muttered, “he looks dead to me.”
Taking the two posts, she pulled him off the ground and slipped one beneath him, pulling it up around her and then tying the two of them together. Tugging with as much strength as she could without busting the cord, restrained his arms to his sides. “Anyone got a car?” She paused, thinking. “Or a wheelbarrow?”
Nova nodded, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. “Parked in back. We should all fit nicely. I figure we really need to get going now as the sirens are only getting closer. Do you want help carrying him?” She took a step forward, ready to receive half of the metal man should her help be accepted.
Kaya smiled. “That’d be great.” Hefting up the man between them, Kaya took the head and allowed Nova to take his feet. With a glance back at the dead security guard, she whispered “God bless you” at a level barely perceptible. “Let’s go. Lead the way.”
Liam rolled his eyes at the two carrying the body. “Alright, have it your way. Let’s just get the hell out of here.”
Adjusting her grip on metal-man, Nova turned to start walking towards the back of the concert hall. It was easier to not look at Kaya as she reflected on what she had just heard, directly because of what she had just done. That man’s life would always haunt her. In any case, she was soon on her way to her car, making sure she wasn’t moving too fast for Kaya, as dropping the man between them would probably be a very bad idea. “Unless you have a better idea…” She grumbled after a minute, coming out of her own thoughts and realizing the only conscious male had made a comment.
“Well yes, my better idea included not carrying the metallic monstrosity out with us, but it’s a touch late for that.” Liam moved forward to help with getting the thing into the car, grumbling under his breath.
“We can’t just leave him here. We don’t know anything about him,” Kaya pointed out.
“And we don’t need to know anything about him,” Cora argued. “If he wakes up again, we wont have a large glass structure to drop on him.”
Kaya flexed her fists. “We have me. I’ll restrain him.”
“I’m sure punching through metal is one of your many talents,” Cora said as she sat next to the prone man, beginning to tear strips off of his shirt.
Nova merely rolled her eyes then climbed into the driver’s seat, promptly turning the car on then heading out of the parking lot once everyone was mostly seated. She didn’t really have an idea of where to go, but as long as it was away from here it was better than nothing. “Does anyone have any idea of where to go without putting in a snappy retort?”
“Oh, yes, because we’re expected to know where to go after being attacked by a metal man, where exactly one should transport his body. Sure, just head on down to the Metal Monster Melter Emporium down on the highway.” Liam sighed and gestured vaguely east. “Just drive. Who cares where we go? I’m sure some other divine bit of guidance will lead us to wherever we’re actually supposed to be going.”
Nova stepped on the brakes a bit too hard at the next light following Liam’s initial answer. Glancing back at him, she did manage to catch his hand gesture. If nothing else, it was a way to go. Something niggled at the back of her mind about criminals always going west; east did seem to be a better option. At least it was quiet for the moment.