#firelightfables

After the constant bickering that had been in his head moments earlier, the utter quiet was jarring. More so than usual. Either Khonshu finally had nothing to say or he'd decided he no longer wanted to contribute to the conversation. Either way, he knew they'd wasted far too much time and they'd be lucky to get their hands on the stone and the creature that had taken it. A part of him knew he shouldn't have allowed things to drag on as long as they had. Even though he'd almost had that creature, Marc had stopped in the hopes that this man might've had more intel for him. Instead, it had allowed that damn creature to escape.

Sighing, there was definitely too much for him to focus on. Khonshu's silence was deafening and it made it more difficult for him to focus on the other things. They needed to find that stone. He knew that Khonshu wouldn't have spoken up unless it benefited him in some way, but even this seemed different to most of their conversations. It was as if he knew more and knew just how dangerous it was. One of the many reasons he hated dealing with Khonshu. While the god kept him alive, Marc was constantly having to deal with his taunts. All because he owed his life to him. Shoving it aside, he knew they'd have to work together to find this damn stone. Even though he hated working with someone who wasn't Frenchie, he knew it was the only way they'd find it. And maybe they could even sort out their other issues along the way.

It was strange finding someone else who dealt with a god. Not that he needed pointers, but maybe talking with someone might give him some insight into dealing with Khonshu. At least his own thoughts were quiet; it was a rare thing when Khonshu wasn't constantly poking around inside of his head. "You wasted time. I almost had it before you interrupted everything," he snapped, earning a reaction from Khonshu. A part of him had been tempted to point out he'd been part of the problem. Instead, Marc just wanted to keep moving forward and ignore the internal argument the two of them had.

Are you planning on going after the stone or are you going to engage in idle chat?

You're just as much to blame for the wasted time. Don't forget that.

He should've known the silence would've lasted only so long. At least it was nothing more than a reminder that they needed to move. Each moment they spent standing there was a moment that trouble could breakout in a different part of the city. Khonshu hadn't told him how dangerous it was, just that they needed to get it back. That meant it was most likely far more dangerous than anything he'd dealt with and that they needed to get their hands on it sooner rather than later. Add someone else to the mix and Marc knew that this was going to be one he didn't forget anytime soon. Hopefully, together the two of them could track down the creature and the stone, and stop things from getting worse.

If such a thing was possible…

"I'm not sure why here. I managed to stumble upon it during my nightly work," he explained, relieved that they were finally trying to sort things out. Something told him he might be after the fighting rings he'd been working on taking down. They tended to be full of the creatures of the night. Or it could be looking for something else entirely. Either way, they needed to get moving before the thing got too far ahead of them. The last thing he wanted to do was call the chase off for the night. "There are numerous fight clubs throughout the city so it could be after them."

Unfortunately, he couldn't say what was ahead of them; just that they needed to get moving sooner rather than later if they wanted to catch him. "Khonshu is more of a pain in the ass than help, but lucky for you this is my area of expertise."

It meant that for once he would actually be the one in charge. Not something that happened when he was forced to work with someone or with another group.

Raising an eyebrow, he knew that Khonshu wouldn't allow anyone to take that stone. At least not without a fight and between them he didn't think he'd win that particular fight. "I'm sure Khonshu will have some words to say about that," was all he'd say, rolling his eyes. For once he was grateful the god hadn't said anything. Though, he knew Khonshu would do whatever he had to to get that damn stone back. A supernatural type fight was the last thing this city needed. He just had to hope it wouldn't come down to that.

Marc looked out onto the city in the hopes that something would stand out to him. There were so many places it could've gone to that it was hard to pick just one. And yet he needed to do just that. They needed to get moving and now. Pleasantries aside, he knew they were putting the city at risk. "Marc," came his reply, looking over at the other. This wasn't how he'd expecting this evening to go, but at least he had information on the thing they'd been chasing that night. It had him wondering just how much more from Khonshu's life would crop up to haunt them.

"No, he won't go back to his master. I've seen a lot of monsters in my day and none of them are that stupid," he pointed out, agreeing with the other. It might be looking for another host or somewhere to dump the stone off. Or it could be looking for a place to lick its wounds. Either way it didn't matter to him. They just needed to get their hands on it. "Given how much time we've wasted standing here it could be halfway to being done healing," he added, hoping that Khonshu heard him. Marc had dealt with a lot of things having a god in his life, but none of it put the city in danger like this. Or at least most of it hadn't put the city in danger.

Cocking his head slightly, he agreed that underground was probably the most likely place to look. He would've thought it would run across the rooftops. But the sewers were a place a lot of creatures like to run and hide. And Jim was probably right; this creature had probably done the same thing. "We need to get down there and find any sort of signs. Something like that wouldn't roam the city without leaving traces behind," he pointed out, knowing just how dangerous that creature was. The warehouses, the underground fight clubs — all of them were temptations for this creature. And March knew it was going to be difficult for them to scour them all.

"Damn it," he muttered, his eyes searching for the source of the howl. They were already too far behind, but he knew approximately what was in the general direction where they were heading. "It likes the creatures of the night. It won't go after the parties in that warehouse," he pointed out, knowing they needed to head towards the sound. "There are a couple fight clubs between here and where that sound came from. I say we jump into the sewers and see if that's how he's travelling through the city." And if not? Marc would find a way of hunting the thing down one way or another.

"After you since the sewers were your idea."

@firelightfables moved for beta editor

                         OH, STEVE CAN PICTURE IT: a blurry mobile phone photo (although they're getting better and better each year, so probably not blurry at all) showing him on his ass in some undignified pose, bold letters proclaiming Drunk Cap Makes A Fool Of America or something. That's definitely a downside of being 'famous': You had to watch your every step. Or you simply don't care; Steve decidedly chooses the latter because he refuses to feel guilty about getting tipsy on a fantastic foreign cocktail during his fucking vacation, thanks a lot. 

@firelightfables​​

Fighting gods and their followers was getting to be old hat, at this point. Jake was about ready to consider the fight with Apep’s just another, regular Tuesday, despite the calamity that surrounded him. Chaos filled the streets. What mayhem had been started by the god’s followers was only exacerbated by frightened civilians. Given that Apep was apparently the embodiment of chaos, that didn’t surprise Jake, all that much. Frustrate and annoy him, sure, but not surprise.

Problem was, he was rapidly losing control over the fight.

He’d been fighting for some pointy pole thing—an obelisk, Steven so helpfully supplied while Jake shoved a crescent dart into some guy’s neck—for god only knew how long, the suit healing any and all injuries he’d gotten, as per usual. Everything had been going fine, until the leader of Apep’s followers got in a lucky hit and whacked him over the head with the obelisk thing. It’d not only hurt like hell, but it’d also let off a flash of green light that had left him seeing stars, his mind reeling. That was the moment when things began spiraling out of control.

He could no longer feel Khonshu’s presence.

The suit disappeared, taking the crescent darts with it, and he couldn’t summon it back.

He was in the middle of a fight, easily still seven against one, by his last estimate, and he had no Khonshu, no healing suit, and no weapons.

Oh, and he couldn’t hear or feel Marc and Steven anymore, either. 

Not good. 

To the best of his ability, he finished the fight, as he was wont to do, but he could only protect himself so much. He was distracted by the silence in his own mind, left scrambling to grab the closest weapon (a dropped Bowie knife), while the others had knives and guns of their own. Thankfully, they were pretty terrible shots, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still hurt like hell when a bullet caught him in the shoulder, or another lodged itself in his thigh.

By the end of it, Jake was badly hurt and severely out of breath. He gasped for air, struggling desperately to fill his lungs, despite some fractured, if not broken, ribs. It was only once he was the final man standing—technically he was barely managing to stay up on his hands and knees, but semantics—that he allowed himself to acknowledge the panic that’d steadily been building since the suit disappeared. He had no headmates, no Khonshu, no healing. He’d been shot and stabbed and beaten...he could die. Bleed out right there in the street, and for what? For some stupid pointy pole thing?

@firelightfables​ is very dramatic...          ‘  today’s schedule: suffer  ’ jim to bruce!

@firelightfables​ should be used to this by now...           ‘  what, from the bottom of my heart, the fuck.  ’ (finn to poe!)

@firelightfables​ could try not picking every fight for once...           ‘  you can order These Hands™ for one easy payment of $Try.Me  ’ (billy to steve - occult verse maybe?)

@firelightfables​​ coming in with the weird questions, as expected...           ‘  how do i un-know people  ’ (atsu to axel!)

when the hulk calls mary's name pretty, she ducks her head a little more, her cheeks dusted pink. "thank you," she says, because it's the polite thing to do when someone gives you a compliment, even if they're a little scary.

but she glances up again when he tells her that he gets scared— and although meteors and robots and tanks are all things that definitely can be scary, it's hard to imagine that someone as big and strong as him could be afraid by those things. but if that's true, then it means that she has all the more reason to be more afraid of what's out there than before...

sniffing a bit, she brings her arms around herself at the mention of home and looks down at her lap. it's a hard question; she can't stop thinking about the fact that no one knows where she is, and how she doesn't know how to find anyone she does know.

"i don't have a home," mary says, shaking her head, "i'm from – from where other kids like me live. but... but we came outside today for a trip..." and she'd somehow seperated too far, swept up in her own daydreams to notice she wasn't holding her buddy's hand and— she hiccups, her tears starting up again.