#judgenexecutioner

After far too long a period of waiting, the necessity of which nestled securely on John’s shoulders, they were finally setting out to execute the idea he had inadvertently planted into his brother’s head. He knows Jake never would have come up with it on his own, but once it had been said, he latched on, and there was no going back. There was also no way he would be allowed to do it alone, hence the wait. John didn’t have divinely bestowed powers with which to even touch the souls, but he did have the magic he had coincidentally just started learning near the time of the incident that incited both of their wraths.

Now they both finally had their shit together, Jake his gear and his holiness or whatever it was, and John his hoodlum hunting getup and enough control over his shadows for them to be of use without being dangerous. He can’t help but vaguely wonder what the weapons being packed will do, but since his brother is wielding them, John assumes they’ll be of some use. Or if all they are is a comfort, he certainly can’t begrudge that either, what with where they’re going after all.

Given John’s sad lack of wings to allow him to travel between the realms, he latches onto Jake, who works the magic with his tiny butter colored wings that are probably far more adored by others than by their actual owner. They land in the realm belonging to Lust, which is where Jake’s soul-dar has pointed them. Granted, it’s still a decent sized realm, but at least they don’t have to attempt to randomly comb through the whole of Perdition to find the hunters they’re seeking.

John is a bit ill at ease being down there at all, given the future judgment pronounced on him only months ago, but it’s nothing like what it does to his brother. It’s the antithesis of Jake’s God given abilities, and he’s a truly living soul. Apparently, being a vampire falls into neither of those categories, lucky John.

This makes it his job to keep a close watch on Jake as they travel through the realm. Bleak and depressing and neglected by its Prince, the landscape is dim and dotted with buildings in disrepair. There’s a sense maybe they were once brothels, but they’re crumbling now. Souls wander the streets, weighed down and dimmed from the natural brightness by the weight of their sins. Some are so far gone that they’re nearly snuffed out. Although that picture of the souls is reserved only for the judge himself, John merely seeing them as if they were washed out through an irremovable filter.

Unfortunately, the soul-dar doesn’t pinpoint them all that close to where the former hunters currently are. That would have made things far too easy, of course. So they head in the direction of the strongest pull. It’s not easy to tell how long they’ve been there, but it feels like hours of twisting circles and nonsense directions that yield very little in the way of progress. What they do is sap Jake of his strength to the point where his breath is labored and his shoulders are shaking with the exertion of merely walking, which would normally a simple matter for him.

And then there are the pesky shades. Neither of them really know what they are. Lucifer’s creations? Former souls? Something else? But that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that they’re all over Jake like ants to honey. He can’t outright control or transform them, but they do seem to possess a high enough percentage of actual shadow that John can give them the very strong idea that they ought to leave his brother alone. There would be consequences to the contrary if they didn’t. Whether it’s his words, the mental push of the Power he uses to wield the magic or a little of both is irrelevant to him. All he cares about is that they keep their distance. If they want to be stalker lookie loos, he won’t stop them, but the moment they try to touch, it’s bye bye shade.

There comes a point where Jake knows he should probably sit and rest, but he doesn’t. In Perdition, any delay is counterproductive to recovering his well-being. “This… this way.” He motions to John, turning left to what looks to be an opium den, which draws a nose wrinkle from the vampire, who is plenty familiar with those kinds of establishments  and never cared for them all that much.

“Figures,” he comments as he glares past his brother to mentally shove at the encroaching shadows again. There really does seem to be a neverending wave of them, and they’re all out to get Jake. “You sure you’re okay enough to do this?”

Jake glances back at John. “Does it?” He doesn’t know much about the drug, except that it is capable of killing, and in a place like this, it’s a trap. A place where people could feel they’re escaping their problems without making any headway in actually absolving their sins. “I… I’m fine.” The stutter gives him away, and he mentally growls at himself. “The longer we’re here, the worse it will get.”

John shrugs. “It’s where people go to forget about their problems, and what would be worse for demon hunters than being stuck in Perdition?” He studies his brother. Jake is definitely not okay, but he also makes a solid point. The thought of leaving and returning later is dismissed, since it’s likely they will end up with the same problem. He give a small nod and starts into the opium den. “All right then. Let’s do it.”

Jake snorts softly. “I don’t know. They could see it as a veritable smorgasbord, but I do see what you mean.” Taking a deep breath to steady himself, forcing his limbs to stop shaking. He looks at his brother, nods, and goes in.

Upon entering the opium den, John fixes a neutrally pleasant expression to his face, hands tucked into the hoodie’s pocket. Just a guy, out for a stroll, with a very stoic companion, if Jake’s serious, closed off expression is anything to go by, in the middle of a hellish drug haven. There’s still something about the vampire that warns people away as they make their way through the place to their targets. It’s also obvious that some people remember Jake, and they’re none too happy about seeing the guy who sent them here. Or rather, who they blame for being sent here, since the condemned are so through their own actions, but the judge makes an easy target to shift it off themselves.

Ever vigilant, John is still following the lead of his brother, heading in the direction indicated. Even the foggy din and god awful smells can’t hide the hunters from them. Deciding to try a ruse to lure the targets out into the open and away from the other souls, the vampire waves at them as if they’re old friends. “Hey guys!”

But they recognize the two of you immediately from being judged, this being one of the times John had been present for the occasion, and they’re not stupid. Or at least they’re not stupid enough to think Jake and John are just popping by for a friendly chat. And so the chase is on. Other people are getting in the way of the pursuit. They may not be interested in a fight with either of the brothers, but they have no qualms about slowing them down.

John only actively fights back enough to keep people out of the way. This is an unnecessary distraction and a waste of precious time and energy. Jake’s time and energy mostly, since his own was perfectly fine. He also has the Mark, so he lets the divine protection do its job in getting rid of people from his way while he worries more about the ones going after his brother. That’s the last thing he needs on top of everything else about Perdition.

Even with the help, Jake’s breathing is still labored, muscles aching when they finally manage to break through. Or so they think, as he is met with a broken pipe just grazing his side. His blood is slow to well up, staining his shirt. He curses and throws a knife in the direction the pipe came from, hearing a curse of pain.

A growl erupts when John scents the blood, and if not for the curse following the knife throw, he would have gone after the pipe bearer himself. As it is, he does the one thing he was taught by the witches never to do: use the magic when he’s angry and unfocused. But he’s had enough of this and is past caring. Even their own weak, natural shadows, dim as they are in the bleak landscape, feel unpredictable, but John pulls them up around them like walls and shoves outward anyway to move the souls crowding them back. It’s rather effective, maybe a little too much, as it seems to consume a few souls in the process, which is not something he would have meant to do under normal circumstances.

“John!” Jake hadn’t expected him to do that. He curses aloud, and it’s not in a language anyone but John would recognize. He keeps clear of the shadows that had sprung up around them. He hadn’t even realized his brother had grown so powerful. All he had ever really seen was small displays, controlled efforts. And it had not escaped Jake’s notice that some of the bystanding souls had been consumed, which is one of the last things he wanted. “Brother, stop!”

Logically, this shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. John has been alive a very long time and possesses quite a reserve of mostly untapped raw Power. He just rarely uses it. Despite it having the intended effect of grabbing his attention and making him drop the assault, he still gives Jake a look like he’s questioning what the problem is, eyes aglow with the use of his Power.

This look is short-lived, attention going back to the targets. A quick count reveals one to be missing, but he can be chased down later. They don’t have to go all together, after all, as long as they’re all gone in the end.

Jake’s brows pucker in worry. He knows what happened to the last hunter. It’s one of the ones absorbed into the shadow barrier, but he doesn’t think his brother realizes this fact. He also wonders whether John is aware at all that any souls were consumed. Licking his lips, he decides to move forward. “Do you want me to take care of them, or do you want the honor?”

“I figured we could split them. After all, Jade was family and Bel friends to both of us. It’s only fair.”

Jake nods, staring at the trapped and trembling hunters. They are at a distinct disadvantage. Cornered, weaponless, and worse, they had managed to hurt him and piss John off. His brother might not know one of them had been absorbed by his shadows, but the rest of them knew it and had a newfound fear for the vampire.

Taking a deep breath, Jake glances at his brother. “Bring your shadows down. I can’t work as well in here.”

Given how much he’s used to people cowering and begging and bargaining on vengeance missions, John doesn’t much care what they’re doing. Jake’s response takes him by surprise though, since he thought the nod meant an agreement to the splitting them arrangement. He looks over, blinking. “You want me to take all of them?”

Jake quirks a brow. “Where did you get that from what I said?”

John snorts. “The same place you pulled that request from, apparently.”

Understanding now that, Jake just wants him to start, he looks back at the hunters. “An eye for an eye. You tore apart the lives of two people we love, so now we’re going to do the same to you. Buh bye!” He smiles and waves at them. The shadows don’t come down so much as they appear in swirls and clumps around the hunters he’s focusing on, enveloping them in tendrils.

Jake mentally cringes. An eye for an eye. He realizes now what this little vengeance seeking is going to cost him, but he’s in too deep now. He watches his brother start before concentrating on starting himself. It takes a while to summon up the amount of hope and light he needs and for it to fill him up before he unleashes it on the ones John’s shadows don’t reach.

John has no idea what this will cost Jake. It’s not even on his radar of consideration. Vengeance only costs him in conscience, and his conscience is perfectly fine with it. He trusts his brother not to hit him with the light, but he still keeps an eye on it anyway as his shadows absorb into the souls before they’re essentially shredded by an outward pull of all the tendrils at once. The bits leftover absorb themselves into the darkness once that’s done.

Avoiding the vampire is all too easy for Jake. He’s paying very close attention to what he’s doing. The light fills the hunters, and their screams fill the bleak sky. They’re burned out, slow enough to be agonizing. And once it’s done, not even their ashes remain.

A part of John is vaguely horrified by this, in large part because he knows what it feels like to be burnt inside that light. What Jake did is probably more horrible than what he did, but he waits simply waits for it to be over, tucking his hands back into the hoodie pocket.

By the time he’s finished, Jake feels weakened. Maybe that’s why his lights look dimmer. He leans against his brother, breathing hard and shaking. John’s arms go around him, letting him rest on him. “You want me to get the slippery one by myself?”

Jake’s brows furrow a bit. What is John talking about? “The slippery one?”

“There were only eight people here, which means one is missing,” he explains patiently. “And I don’t think that one should get off just because they can run faster.”

Shaking his head tiredly, Jake takes a slow, deep breath. “They didn’t escape. You absorbed them into your shadows when you first used them.”

“Oh… whoops.” John smiles sheepishly. “Guess we can go whenever you’re ready then.” He’s already holding onto Jake, and resting here is probably more draining than refreshing for him.

“You didn’t even feel it?” Jake wonders if he should tell John that’s not the only soul he absorbed then. He nods to signal his readiness to depart and closes his eyes. At his back, the wings flutter, and with a small flash of light, they’re home. He brought them into the ballroom just in case. It’s now that his knees finally give out on him, and he slumps onto the floor.

“I know I hit some people, but I can’t tell one soul from another like you can. I’ll feel bad about the others later.” He knows he’ll actually just shove it aside with the all the rest of his guilts, but he says that for Jake’s benefit anyway. John tries to catch his brother before gathering him up and carrying him up the stairs to bed, because boy does Jake need it.

Fortunately for John, Jake is currently too tired to think too deeply about anything. His eyelids flutter heavily when he feels the world spin around him, and he knows he’s been picked up. “I haven’t felt this tired since I tried to pick a fight with Lucifer…”

Despite knowing he should probably just let him rest, but also knowing they have to go up three flights of stairs, John decides to indulge his curiosity. “...What on Earth were you picking a fight with Lucifer for?”

Jake blushes. Or maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he’s just too damn tired to blush. “He insulted my honor publicly, and I wanted to teach him a lesson. It was a fool’s errand from start to finish.”

John laughs heartily. “That sounds like something I’d do if I thought I had any honor left. Now you get some sleep. No more fool’s errands until you’re good and rested.” He admonishes, while laying his brother in bed.