Issue #7 by John Cheese
March 2018
March 2018
The courtroom was, much like the atrium attached to it, a grandiose marble room complete with a stand and benches made of black crystal. At first Flintlock couldn't see the judges the Bailiff had named as attending, but then she looked up to see five massive figures looking down at the courtroom. Besides the serpentine Damballah, the other four judges were humanoid, although Anubis did have a dark-skinned jackal like head, which made him somewhat stand out, even in this odd company.
"State your names for the record." One of the judges dressed in purple robes with a long grey beard ordered sternly.
"I am Sarah Hannigan, Avatar of Damballah." Sarah stated confidently as Damballah shifted slightly, his serpentine tongue flickering in and out as if scenting whether the woman standing below him was really his servant.
"I'm Rachel Grey, nothing special." Flintlock added quietly, before watching as the judges streaked down to the stand, with the purple robed figure motioning for them to sit.
"We came to access the records on the sentencing of Barbara Robb many moons ago, we have evidence that she has escaped her banishment." Sarah announced as she watched the judges for any sign of their compliance. "The Bailiff has informed me that the five of you were involved in the sentencing."
"Damballah tell your pet to hold her tongue!" A balding man dressed in grey snapped as he glowered at the mortals.
"I find her forwardness most refreshing Peter." Damballah hissed as he reared up to look the other judges in the eye, an unseen communication between the five of them. "You are correct, we five did judge Barbara Robb but we didn't sentence her, not as we would have liked that is."
"Why not?" Sarah asked as she saw the woman dressed in mail stretch slightly, as if she was just waking up after years of sleep.
"Because the Dreamweaver had a patron of her own." Anubis stated as he cracked his knuckles. "Make no mistake had she been just another sorcerer she would have felt the weight of her crimes in triplicate."
"Who did she serve?" Sarah asked, an annoyed tone creeping into her voice. "Who would scare you enough to prevent justice from being carried out."
"She called him the Dweller in Darkness." Peter announced as he crossed his arms. "I would expect even as a lay witchling that you would have heard of him."
"I have, and if it had been down to me I still would have acted." Sarah retorted. "Did any of you even think to defy him in the name of the justice you claim to uphold."
"King Minos requested that our decision by unanimous." The woman replied. "In the secret ballot one of our number abstained."
"And if she was to be sent down today, would any of you abstain?" Sarah asked as she got to her feet angrily, her eyes boring into the judges.
"We would punish today, for what she does today is far worse than before." Minos stated as he went to rest his hand on his gable. "The Dreamweaver has changed her MO, now she makes dreams come true for the price of a loved one. While normally these souls would be sent to her patron, the closing of the gates to hell make this impossible, so instead the Dreamweaver is pressing them into service, slowly turning them into demons."
"Would situation tip the balance here on Earth." Sarah asked.
"It will, should her army swell and become strong enough to walk in day, Earth would become a hell dimension." Peter croaked. "As such she is a danger to the balance the Court tries to uphold, I believe no such restrictions on sentencing her would exist this time."
"Good." Sarah grunted only for Damballah to meet her gaze with his own.
"There is a matter of reparations for this service, one that must be paid for in full." Damballah hissed as he stared at Flintlock. "You must leave the Dreamweaver for your secondary, there is another urgent method that needs your attendance."
# # # # #
Silver Shadow Ranch, Colorado
"The lines of travel intersect here." Stone stated as she ran her hand over the holographic map of the world she was working with. "Tracing the paths of 'Cuda, Laserworks and Ghost Maker we can see that besides Sydney this area is the only place that they had all travelled to." She added as the map zoomed in to reveal a schematic of a complex of buildings.
"It's a theme park." Ana stated as she read along the lines of data attached to the schematic. "Yellow Cat Land draws in over ten thousand people a day, plus the staff who work there. It's a perfect place for the Dreamweaver to set up business."
"It's a large complex, and we don't know whether there will be security positioned close to Ms Robb." Zawadi announced as she studied the details in front of her. "I will not commit us to a blind offensive like last time, Scorpion can you set out a plan for a recon of the site before large scale entry."
"Belay that order!" Ana snapped. "We need to hit her hard and fast, as soon as Hannigan and Flintlock return we strike." She ordered, as Silver Scorpion shot a look at Zawadi her fingers touching their tips as she began to panic slightly.
"I don't think you're qualified to give orders anymore." Zawadi snarled as she rested her hand on her knife. "You knew enough to make an informed guess about the Dreamweaver first time you met her, and yet you let your greed and insecurity control you and made that wish. Later still you purposefully hid the presence of the fourth assassin until too late, you wanted someone to die, you needed them to, why?"
"You're deluded." Ana hissed as she drew her pistol. "Now stand down, or better yet Stone, Scorpion make her stand down."
"No." Scorpion mumbled.
"What did you say?" Ana asked.
"N...no." Scorpion stammered, as Stone looked from Zawadi to Sable and then to Silver Scorpion before levelling a chunky blaster at Zawadi. Shrugging Sable fired three quick shots before being tackled to the floor by Silver Scorpion. Tensing up Zawadi watched as the rounds vaporising as they reached her, the copper exploding in sprays of green dust.
"Rapid oxidiser." Stone stated as she holstered her blaster, before walking over to where Silver Scorpion and Ana were locked in combat, the later held tight in a strong chokehold from the former, her eyes drooping as she began to slip in and out of consciousness.
"Release her Jennifer, she has some explaining to do." Zawadi ordered, as Stone grabbed Ana by the neck and bound her hands with a pair of energy binders. "Stone can you hack into the frequency used by the real Silver Sable's Wild Pack? I'm sure she'd be quite interested in her cousin's latest escapades."
# # # # #
Yellow Cat Land, Outside Richmond, West Virginia
Flintlock sat in the driver's seat of the van, as she watched Silver Scorpion, dressed in dungarees walk through the entry gate and into the theme park. She'd missed the interrogation of Ana, but had arrived back just in time to see the Wild Pack drag her away kicking and screaming. There had been questions but Zawadi and Stone had managed to sidestep any further investigation, had grabbed their gear and gone. Both of them had been concerned about the information she'd brought back, especially since Sarah hadn't returned with them.
"Tell us again what she said?" Zawadi asked as she watched Silver Scorpion stop at an overpriced churro stand and buy herself a snack.
"Sarah said she had souls to save, and that she was confident that we could handle this." Flintlock replied as she saw Stone eye a bag they'd brought with them from Colorado with suspicion. "Apparently this holy oil and salt will deal with the little demons, she said nothing about stopping the Dreamweaver."
"Heads up, looks like Jennifer has something." Stone murmured as Jennifer's camera stopped on a board outside a restroom, the face of the Dreamweaver plastered over the wooden display. "Looks like she's in a tent somewhere in the centre of the park."
"No signs of demons?" Flintlock asked as she slipped two rock salt rounds into her shotgun.
"None, now all we need to do is wait until Jennifer gets close." Zawadi ordered as they watched Jennifer skip down the path to the green where a massive carnival tent was set up. As she entered the tent, Jennifer removed a pen from her pocket and dropped it on the floor, the device clicking as it hit the ground. "Okay let’s go." Zawadi sighed as Stone brought out her own pen, depressed the top and dropped it, a blue light engulfing the three of them. As the light faded, Flintlock looked around, they were in the tent, the line breaking up as parents and children ran for safety, leaving only Silver Scorpion and the hooded figure of the Dreamweaver.
"Who are you people?" The Dreamweaver hissed as she threw back her hood to reveal a face once beautiful before her left cheek had been burnt open.
"We're friends of Sarah Hannigan, and we're here to finish the job we started!" Zawadi snapped, just as the wall of the tent set alight and four demons pounced in. While one supported the classic devil look, one of the others was short and rotund with rows if shark like teeth, while another was tall and lanky with horned ridges running down its arms. The last was akin to a centaur, only with the horse parts replaced by a scorpion's features.
"Kill them." The Dreamweaver ordered in a bored tone. Rushing in the demons hit with enough force to knock the Agents of Argent out of the tent, their travel leaving thick tracks on the lawn.
“Spill their blood!” The tall demon hissed as the Agents untangled themselves from their demonic foes. Swinging its horned arms at Zawadi the tall demon found that its target had already rolled away and was swinging at his knees with her knife. Aiming a kick at Zawadi the demon knocked her back, even as a stabbing sensation bit through the thick skin of his ankle. Screaming in more anger then pain, the demon ripped the blade out and threw it at his opponent, his dark strength causing the blade to soar past Zawadi and bite into a notice board.
“You are not the first demon I’ve fought.” Zawadi grunted as she reclaimed her knife, just as the demon charged towards her as she charged back, the pair meeting with a clash of bone and blades, blood dripping from the weapons of the combatants. With a scream Zawadi stabbed the blade through the demon’s weakened ankle, the blow sending him collapsing to the floor. Struggling to get to his feet, the demon managed to get up onto his knees before he felt the metal of his opponent’s dagger slash through his neck.
“You and your kind are doomed.” The tall demon snickered as it collapsed at Zawadi’s feet just as Silver Scorpion vaulted over a turnstile and up towards a roller coaster.
“You mock the Queen with your name!” The scorpion like demon hissed as it smashed through the turnstile and scuttled onto the platform. Swinging its stinger down, the barbed tip impacted on something metal, as Silver Scorpion’s clothes melted away to reveal her trademark silver armour.
“There’s a Scorpion Queen?” Silver Scorpion asked as she grabbed the tail just behind the stinger and squeezed, thick green blood oozing round her fist.
“She is mother to our horde, you will be the meal that consummates the act of bringing forth the next generation!” The scorpion demon snarled as he swung his tail, propelling Silver Scorpion through a sign and a ticket booth and onto the hood of an inactivated train sitting on the tracks. “Cease your struggle, you do something glorious for my people.” The demon added as it mounted the train and slammed a large pincer round Silver Scorpion’s neck, thick black fluid leaking out of the plates of her armour.
“And yet I mock the Scorpion Queen by existing?” Silver Scorpion groaned as the palms of her armour lit up and ignited the oil squeezed from the plates. “Demons are really confusing.” She added as the flames burnt at the scorpion demon, its flesh consumed by the burning fluid as it shuddered onto the platform.
“No, they aren’t Scorpion.” Flintlock called as she vaulted over the rotund, almost medicine ball like demon, her opponent crashing through a wooden pole. “For example, a little holy oil kept between the plates of your armour dealt with that one, and this,” She announced as she shot at the rotund demon, her outer skin cracking to reveal soft exposed flesh underneath, “this rock salt bullet takes care of this one.”
“You may want to look again human!” The rotund demon squeaked as its skin hardened to form a protective outer shell. “We are legion, you are finite.”
“Let’s test that then!” Flintlock snarled as she shot the demon again, his skin once again cracking, but this time she followed it up by removing the arquebus from her shoulder and firing a shot through the demon, a hole cored through its flesh.
“We are legion…” The demon hissed before melting into a pool of sludge.
“There will be more, I’m going to end this by taking out the Dream Weaver.” Flintlock ordered as Silver Scorpion pulled her up onto the platform. “Help Stone and Zawadi, and whatever you do don’t enter that tent.”
“Uh why?” Silver Scorpion asked as she felt Flintlock push her head into the wall with enough force to stun her.
“Because its time I got what I’ve always wanted.” Flintlock purred as she threw Silver Scorpion to the floor, before stalking away back towards the tent she had come from. Slipping into the tent she felt something heavy hit the green and looked back to see the classically devil like figure writing on the floor her wings burnt to the stumps and thick lesions erupting over its arms and torso. Even as it died though, more demons crawled out of the woodwork of the theme park, some armed with weapons and all of them baying for blood.
“You can’t stand against my hordes.” The Dreamweaver snorted as she crossed her legs seductively. “Still that’s not your plan is it, you plan to sell the others out for your survival.”
“There survival as well, I have no quarrel against them except Hannigan.” Flintlock stated as she holstered her shotgun. “I want a wish or a dream or whatever you call it, and once you grant it I will kill the person who ruined my life.”
“Then speak your wish and we can walk hand in hand on the road to revenge.” The Dreamweaver stated, as she offered her hand to Flintlock. Smiling sinisterly Flintlock took it before opening her mouth to state her demand.
"State your names for the record." One of the judges dressed in purple robes with a long grey beard ordered sternly.
"I am Sarah Hannigan, Avatar of Damballah." Sarah stated confidently as Damballah shifted slightly, his serpentine tongue flickering in and out as if scenting whether the woman standing below him was really his servant.
"I'm Rachel Grey, nothing special." Flintlock added quietly, before watching as the judges streaked down to the stand, with the purple robed figure motioning for them to sit.
"We came to access the records on the sentencing of Barbara Robb many moons ago, we have evidence that she has escaped her banishment." Sarah announced as she watched the judges for any sign of their compliance. "The Bailiff has informed me that the five of you were involved in the sentencing."
"Damballah tell your pet to hold her tongue!" A balding man dressed in grey snapped as he glowered at the mortals.
"I find her forwardness most refreshing Peter." Damballah hissed as he reared up to look the other judges in the eye, an unseen communication between the five of them. "You are correct, we five did judge Barbara Robb but we didn't sentence her, not as we would have liked that is."
"Why not?" Sarah asked as she saw the woman dressed in mail stretch slightly, as if she was just waking up after years of sleep.
"Because the Dreamweaver had a patron of her own." Anubis stated as he cracked his knuckles. "Make no mistake had she been just another sorcerer she would have felt the weight of her crimes in triplicate."
"Who did she serve?" Sarah asked, an annoyed tone creeping into her voice. "Who would scare you enough to prevent justice from being carried out."
"She called him the Dweller in Darkness." Peter announced as he crossed his arms. "I would expect even as a lay witchling that you would have heard of him."
"I have, and if it had been down to me I still would have acted." Sarah retorted. "Did any of you even think to defy him in the name of the justice you claim to uphold."
"King Minos requested that our decision by unanimous." The woman replied. "In the secret ballot one of our number abstained."
"And if she was to be sent down today, would any of you abstain?" Sarah asked as she got to her feet angrily, her eyes boring into the judges.
"We would punish today, for what she does today is far worse than before." Minos stated as he went to rest his hand on his gable. "The Dreamweaver has changed her MO, now she makes dreams come true for the price of a loved one. While normally these souls would be sent to her patron, the closing of the gates to hell make this impossible, so instead the Dreamweaver is pressing them into service, slowly turning them into demons."
"Would situation tip the balance here on Earth." Sarah asked.
"It will, should her army swell and become strong enough to walk in day, Earth would become a hell dimension." Peter croaked. "As such she is a danger to the balance the Court tries to uphold, I believe no such restrictions on sentencing her would exist this time."
"Good." Sarah grunted only for Damballah to meet her gaze with his own.
"There is a matter of reparations for this service, one that must be paid for in full." Damballah hissed as he stared at Flintlock. "You must leave the Dreamweaver for your secondary, there is another urgent method that needs your attendance."
# # # # #
Silver Shadow Ranch, Colorado
"The lines of travel intersect here." Stone stated as she ran her hand over the holographic map of the world she was working with. "Tracing the paths of 'Cuda, Laserworks and Ghost Maker we can see that besides Sydney this area is the only place that they had all travelled to." She added as the map zoomed in to reveal a schematic of a complex of buildings.
"It's a theme park." Ana stated as she read along the lines of data attached to the schematic. "Yellow Cat Land draws in over ten thousand people a day, plus the staff who work there. It's a perfect place for the Dreamweaver to set up business."
"It's a large complex, and we don't know whether there will be security positioned close to Ms Robb." Zawadi announced as she studied the details in front of her. "I will not commit us to a blind offensive like last time, Scorpion can you set out a plan for a recon of the site before large scale entry."
"Belay that order!" Ana snapped. "We need to hit her hard and fast, as soon as Hannigan and Flintlock return we strike." She ordered, as Silver Scorpion shot a look at Zawadi her fingers touching their tips as she began to panic slightly.
"I don't think you're qualified to give orders anymore." Zawadi snarled as she rested her hand on her knife. "You knew enough to make an informed guess about the Dreamweaver first time you met her, and yet you let your greed and insecurity control you and made that wish. Later still you purposefully hid the presence of the fourth assassin until too late, you wanted someone to die, you needed them to, why?"
"You're deluded." Ana hissed as she drew her pistol. "Now stand down, or better yet Stone, Scorpion make her stand down."
"No." Scorpion mumbled.
"What did you say?" Ana asked.
"N...no." Scorpion stammered, as Stone looked from Zawadi to Sable and then to Silver Scorpion before levelling a chunky blaster at Zawadi. Shrugging Sable fired three quick shots before being tackled to the floor by Silver Scorpion. Tensing up Zawadi watched as the rounds vaporising as they reached her, the copper exploding in sprays of green dust.
"Rapid oxidiser." Stone stated as she holstered her blaster, before walking over to where Silver Scorpion and Ana were locked in combat, the later held tight in a strong chokehold from the former, her eyes drooping as she began to slip in and out of consciousness.
"Release her Jennifer, she has some explaining to do." Zawadi ordered, as Stone grabbed Ana by the neck and bound her hands with a pair of energy binders. "Stone can you hack into the frequency used by the real Silver Sable's Wild Pack? I'm sure she'd be quite interested in her cousin's latest escapades."
# # # # #
Yellow Cat Land, Outside Richmond, West Virginia
Flintlock sat in the driver's seat of the van, as she watched Silver Scorpion, dressed in dungarees walk through the entry gate and into the theme park. She'd missed the interrogation of Ana, but had arrived back just in time to see the Wild Pack drag her away kicking and screaming. There had been questions but Zawadi and Stone had managed to sidestep any further investigation, had grabbed their gear and gone. Both of them had been concerned about the information she'd brought back, especially since Sarah hadn't returned with them.
"Tell us again what she said?" Zawadi asked as she watched Silver Scorpion stop at an overpriced churro stand and buy herself a snack.
"Sarah said she had souls to save, and that she was confident that we could handle this." Flintlock replied as she saw Stone eye a bag they'd brought with them from Colorado with suspicion. "Apparently this holy oil and salt will deal with the little demons, she said nothing about stopping the Dreamweaver."
"Heads up, looks like Jennifer has something." Stone murmured as Jennifer's camera stopped on a board outside a restroom, the face of the Dreamweaver plastered over the wooden display. "Looks like she's in a tent somewhere in the centre of the park."
"No signs of demons?" Flintlock asked as she slipped two rock salt rounds into her shotgun.
"None, now all we need to do is wait until Jennifer gets close." Zawadi ordered as they watched Jennifer skip down the path to the green where a massive carnival tent was set up. As she entered the tent, Jennifer removed a pen from her pocket and dropped it on the floor, the device clicking as it hit the ground. "Okay let’s go." Zawadi sighed as Stone brought out her own pen, depressed the top and dropped it, a blue light engulfing the three of them. As the light faded, Flintlock looked around, they were in the tent, the line breaking up as parents and children ran for safety, leaving only Silver Scorpion and the hooded figure of the Dreamweaver.
"Who are you people?" The Dreamweaver hissed as she threw back her hood to reveal a face once beautiful before her left cheek had been burnt open.
"We're friends of Sarah Hannigan, and we're here to finish the job we started!" Zawadi snapped, just as the wall of the tent set alight and four demons pounced in. While one supported the classic devil look, one of the others was short and rotund with rows if shark like teeth, while another was tall and lanky with horned ridges running down its arms. The last was akin to a centaur, only with the horse parts replaced by a scorpion's features.
"Kill them." The Dreamweaver ordered in a bored tone. Rushing in the demons hit with enough force to knock the Agents of Argent out of the tent, their travel leaving thick tracks on the lawn.
“Spill their blood!” The tall demon hissed as the Agents untangled themselves from their demonic foes. Swinging its horned arms at Zawadi the tall demon found that its target had already rolled away and was swinging at his knees with her knife. Aiming a kick at Zawadi the demon knocked her back, even as a stabbing sensation bit through the thick skin of his ankle. Screaming in more anger then pain, the demon ripped the blade out and threw it at his opponent, his dark strength causing the blade to soar past Zawadi and bite into a notice board.
“You are not the first demon I’ve fought.” Zawadi grunted as she reclaimed her knife, just as the demon charged towards her as she charged back, the pair meeting with a clash of bone and blades, blood dripping from the weapons of the combatants. With a scream Zawadi stabbed the blade through the demon’s weakened ankle, the blow sending him collapsing to the floor. Struggling to get to his feet, the demon managed to get up onto his knees before he felt the metal of his opponent’s dagger slash through his neck.
“You and your kind are doomed.” The tall demon snickered as it collapsed at Zawadi’s feet just as Silver Scorpion vaulted over a turnstile and up towards a roller coaster.
“You mock the Queen with your name!” The scorpion like demon hissed as it smashed through the turnstile and scuttled onto the platform. Swinging its stinger down, the barbed tip impacted on something metal, as Silver Scorpion’s clothes melted away to reveal her trademark silver armour.
“There’s a Scorpion Queen?” Silver Scorpion asked as she grabbed the tail just behind the stinger and squeezed, thick green blood oozing round her fist.
“She is mother to our horde, you will be the meal that consummates the act of bringing forth the next generation!” The scorpion demon snarled as he swung his tail, propelling Silver Scorpion through a sign and a ticket booth and onto the hood of an inactivated train sitting on the tracks. “Cease your struggle, you do something glorious for my people.” The demon added as it mounted the train and slammed a large pincer round Silver Scorpion’s neck, thick black fluid leaking out of the plates of her armour.
“And yet I mock the Scorpion Queen by existing?” Silver Scorpion groaned as the palms of her armour lit up and ignited the oil squeezed from the plates. “Demons are really confusing.” She added as the flames burnt at the scorpion demon, its flesh consumed by the burning fluid as it shuddered onto the platform.
“No, they aren’t Scorpion.” Flintlock called as she vaulted over the rotund, almost medicine ball like demon, her opponent crashing through a wooden pole. “For example, a little holy oil kept between the plates of your armour dealt with that one, and this,” She announced as she shot at the rotund demon, her outer skin cracking to reveal soft exposed flesh underneath, “this rock salt bullet takes care of this one.”
“You may want to look again human!” The rotund demon squeaked as its skin hardened to form a protective outer shell. “We are legion, you are finite.”
“Let’s test that then!” Flintlock snarled as she shot the demon again, his skin once again cracking, but this time she followed it up by removing the arquebus from her shoulder and firing a shot through the demon, a hole cored through its flesh.
“We are legion…” The demon hissed before melting into a pool of sludge.
“There will be more, I’m going to end this by taking out the Dream Weaver.” Flintlock ordered as Silver Scorpion pulled her up onto the platform. “Help Stone and Zawadi, and whatever you do don’t enter that tent.”
“Uh why?” Silver Scorpion asked as she felt Flintlock push her head into the wall with enough force to stun her.
“Because its time I got what I’ve always wanted.” Flintlock purred as she threw Silver Scorpion to the floor, before stalking away back towards the tent she had come from. Slipping into the tent she felt something heavy hit the green and looked back to see the classically devil like figure writing on the floor her wings burnt to the stumps and thick lesions erupting over its arms and torso. Even as it died though, more demons crawled out of the woodwork of the theme park, some armed with weapons and all of them baying for blood.
“You can’t stand against my hordes.” The Dreamweaver snorted as she crossed her legs seductively. “Still that’s not your plan is it, you plan to sell the others out for your survival.”
“There survival as well, I have no quarrel against them except Hannigan.” Flintlock stated as she holstered her shotgun. “I want a wish or a dream or whatever you call it, and once you grant it I will kill the person who ruined my life.”
“Then speak your wish and we can walk hand in hand on the road to revenge.” The Dreamweaver stated, as she offered her hand to Flintlock. Smiling sinisterly Flintlock took it before opening her mouth to state her demand.