Pious

"We're not sure Moril" said Mike, holding the front doors open for the others to enter. "But you need to get your wooden but in here while we think'o something."

"Daniel its me. I need your help" called Altair, talking remotely over her private radio frequencies. "There's a situation here at Moth Cathedral and we're struggling to contain it. It looks like we're gonna need the big guns. Please, I know the United States Air Force still has Battle Tank Ten but if you can convince General Mathews to let us use it? Oh come on Daniel, it's your machine, you built it! Well at least talk to him for me, I'm ex-military and I'm authorised to pilot it. No it's Astoria, there won't be any civilian casualties. Yeah? Great, thank you so much bro, I promise you I'll return it in one piece this time."

"You're getting the mecha?" asked Sabrina, sounding a little jealous.

Altair logged off and turned to the rest of the hunters, a wide smile lighting up her freckled face. "It pays to have family in high places. Codename BT-X here I come. Those demons outside are gonna burn. Be right back while I change into the piloting suit."

"Alright then new plan" said Mike. "When the mecha gets here, Altair takes point. I'll stay and fight with the prayer-man. Morilanthi, you and Sabrina should push through the fog and demons and find a way onto the bell tower. I've got a bad feeling about old Elli up there."

"So have you seen the Immam?" Pious asked as Suraya's mate let April in. "Him and I should probably go over the recitals one more time. Never done a cross-culture ceremony before so, quite understandably, I'm a little excited."

The smell of cotton-lined Kevlar suddenly filled the room after a shadowy blur of black fabric zipped up the staircase and onto the bell tower. The thunderous blam of a powder-based gunshot resonated through tower, followed by another, then the clicking of metal as the shooter reloaded. "Vinco everto, vernula abyssus, tergum ut vorago, procul sanus campana!" The ornate flintlock was piosed once again, and aimed at the skull of its target, "Master of demons, servant of hell, back to the abyss at the sound of this bell" recited the shooter, swiftly unloading her rounds onto the iron cast bell.

"No! You tricked me!" Memphis cried, as his body ignited and burnt to ash, swept away in a strong gust of wind.

With a suspicious wink to the caged angel, the shooter reached into her Nighthunter's armour and pulled out a flashy cellphone. "Elizabeth darling, it's me Pistol. Listen, I pulled some strings and erm, well, long story short... I've gotten you Pious Hunter. Yeah, he's immobilised right here in front of me, I'll send you a video feed. In fact, I may even leek it onto the web. Now about five minutes ago I saw Lilith set fire to Moth Cathedral so I assume you too know how to get here. Come in person! It’s about time we ended this thing. Te-te-wy-el."

"Alicia? What the heck are you doing?" asked Pious, utterly unsure of what was going on around him.

True to her word, Alicia linked her phone to the Internet and began filming the captured priest. "Rescuing you, duh-brain. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"From where I'm standing it looks like you're showing the dogs of war, exactly where I am!" Pious yelled, "Pistol! Quit filming and toss me the holy water!"

"You know you got to hand it that guy" said Pistol, still streaming. "Poisoned silver, holy fire, he really knew how to screw you over, didn't he?" Pistol lowered her phone and ended the feed. She walked over to the blessed water and stared long and hard at it. "You know Pious, despite what this looks like; I did actually come here to save you. But now that I'm here, going through the motions, I gotta say, I'm conflicted."

"Conflicted?"

"I'm not exactly fond of this probation agreement and you know that! This, this is my ticket to freedom" Pistol snapped.

"What selling me out?" asked Pious. "Some sister you are. This is worse than dying to Memphis."

"You know that wizard really hated your guts, and I don't blame him. The relationship between him and your mother, yeah he told me. Typical really, a loving family and the guy still couldn't keep his wiener in check. I actually got him to write me into his will. Now I finally got him. I suppose technically, you're looking at the new CEO of all things Memco" she announced, unable to contain a victorious grin. "Hard to get him out in the open, so I made him think that the 'Dark Lord' wanted him here, with you. From there on, everything just sort of, fell into place."

"You're mad" said Pious. "I thought you'd changed? I had Mechano cure you, had MAGI help you get your son back, what more do you want now?"

"I don't know Pious" Pistol admitted. "I guess this is just who I am; a regular Judas, thorn in your side and always chasing the gold."

"It's not too late you know. All you have to do is pass me the water" begged Pious, fearing the worst.

Ignoring the plea, Pistol flipped open her cellphone and turned it to face the helpless holy man. "Check it out Priest, you're a YouTube hit!"

Back down on the Church Grounds

Sabrina's handgun was red hot from the heat of continuous fire. Her barrels ignited again and again as bullets shot out through it, spun through the dense fog and impaled the advancing possessed. One by one they fell, a spark of bright red electrical fire combusting inside the human shells as each demon is killed. Shots to the head and another through the heart, the lifeless bodies of over fifty possessed scientists were beginning to mount up into an obstructing heap.

"Sabrina," whispered Altair, struggling to maintain the back-to-back rotating formation. "I'm starting to get a little dizzy from all this pivoting."

"Yeah I don't think we can keep this up for much longer" Sabrina agreed. "I'm running low on ammo"

"Not to mention the rising hill of bodies," Altair moaned. "If we're not careful we'll be trapped in here like ducks in a well."

"Alright, let’s get the hell out of here," Sabrina decided. "Start carving a path back towards the church."

"Oh you just gonna leave me down here, huh?" came the raspy voice of Mike Grayson, climbing up and out of the sea of dead bodies.

"Mike! You're alive!" screamed Altair, both relieved and excited.

"Took a hard hit to the head but I'm alright now" said Mike, going back to check his body. "When old Elli said this armour heals, he weren't shi*ing was he?"

"Sorry to interrupt this tear-jerking reunion guys but err... rising wall of demons? Impending doom? Does that ring a bell?" called Sabrina, still emptying rounds.

"Step back girls, I got this" called Mike, rising to his feet and assuming an offensive stance. "Payback time you rock-throwing demon-possessed meat sacks!"

Mike's arm shot out, the golden ring glowed and suddenly, a jet of intensely hot bright-white light the size of a fast-moving train streaked across the church ground, burning through a dozen possessed and adding to the rising corpses. Mike turned and aimed his ring towards the Cathedral, firing on the river of enemies and parting a way forward like the biblical Red Sea. At the end of the path, near the church doors stood a man of the cloth, slicing away at the possessed and cursing with prayers. As the three approached him, retreating from the eye of the fight, Altair noticed the dying flames of what would have been a bonfire around the giant ghotic building. The heat brought her attention skywards to the writing in the clouds.

And so it begins... and it will end with all of you dead! B.

"Guys, look up" she called. "That's the crest of Bathory. Its official; she's our culprit."

"But the more pressing question is," said Sabrina, face to face with the sword-dancing priest. "Who the heck are you?"

Meanwhile, up in the Bell Tower

The long grey hair, the aged and wrinkled face, the long fangs and blood-red lips, the empowering talisman necklace; it was unmistakable who this man was.

"Memphis" Pious whispered. "You finally found the courage to come kill me yourself."

"Kill you?" Memphis laughed, clearly enjoying the status quo. "My dear boy, this aint nothing personal, I don't want you dead. The fight with Kahn, the hospital assassination, it was all just a test. No hard feelings. See we knew you wouldn't be left to rest. In the grand scale of things, you're just too valuable."

"Oh yeah?" asked Pious, the suggestions of subtle movement in his hands. "Valuable to you and Bathory? You working for her now? Cash in on the bounty?"

"No son, this has nothing to do with the witch-vamp's bounty. Okay kiddo? This, this is bigger than you think. You see I, Memphis Alexander," Memphis begun, gloating as he flicked his hair aside, "chief executive of Memco Corporation, one of the world's most successful businessman and among the richest on this whole planet, work for a man of ALMIGHTY cosmic f**king power, you understand? Alright? So you better forget your petty little vampire feuds and realize the gravity of this situation! Alright?!" Memphis snapped, before stepping back to calm down. Without another word, he moves over to the tower's balcony and leans onto the balustrade. "Anyway... he's on his way here to meet you. You see Pious, with you trapped up here in your own little bell tower, cooking in that fire, and with no one free to come save you, you're... how do the Americans say, kinda screwed. Catch my drift?"

"Yeah..." trailed Pious, adrenaline coursing through his veins. "There's just one problem with that. I'm an escape artist and erm, Rollister, Countess Crey, err who else, oh Kahn, you know they would all agree that if you wanted to set a successful trap, you do not, under any circumstances, put me in it!" A drop of holy water from the cannons on his belt and a patch of fire was doused, creating a gap in the cage just wide enough for the priest to escape.

Memphis spun quickly on his heels and attacked the escaping priest with a ball of hellfire. Pious side-stepped and managed to dodge it but another ball of fire came at him too fast. He deflected it with his two katanas and raced forward to retaliate, but his advance was intercepted with a sudden blow to the face, knocking the priest backwards in recoil. Memphis proceeded forth and with ungodly speed, executed a series of complicated martial arts techniques that stunned the priest and sent him flying across the space, just narrowly missing the great big cast-iron bell before crashing into a stone wall on the north face of the tower. Enjoying the irony, Memphis reached for the unhanded katanas and turned them on the priest, holding them up to his exposed neck in an ex.

"All right, calm down son, I got you. I got you" said Memphis, in a pretentious caring tone. Using one of the poised katanas, he begins to slice off the priest's gear and equipment, one by one. "Okay what is all this? Holy water, you don't need that. Utility belt, let's get rid of that. Magic sword, psychic amulet, guns, guns, more guns, Jesus Christ Pious, thought you were a pacifist," he teased.

"Kick a puppy enough times and he'll bark" Pious groaned, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Yeah but guns kill, hmm?" mocked Memphis, landing a dirty slap across Pious's swollen face. "Hmm?"

"Wrong" Pious choked, blood trickling inside his throat. "It's not the gun that kills, it's the cowards like you pulling the trigger. Were it a rock you'd still strike."

A flash of movement and Memphis landed another humiliating slap before hurling the defeated preacher back into the revitalised ring of holy fire. "Better watch that mouth of yours punk. You disrespect me, you play with fire. And play with fire, boy, you get burned! Now, where were we? Oh yes, the Dark Lord."

Does anyone want to play this guy? I purposely left the description vague to allow for this. It would need to be a PC or NPC character that is disposable, so to speak, and preferable have a connection with the Circle of Thorns. Which would explain the minion army of demon-possessed scientists.

So yeah, server admin has been notified and are working to address the issue. But no ETA yet.

Moth Cathedral. Paragon City, Primal Earth. Late Morning.

"Morning reverend" Altair greeted, welcoming the priest as he emerged through a wooden door hiding a portal. "We recieved an interesting commercial email this morning, would you like me to read it out to you?"

"Good to see you too Sister Altair" replied Pious, not stopping his march across the chapel. "Lets walk and talk, I need to get downstairs and suit up."

"Recall if you will, young Hazel's vision of the NWA meeting, there was a small girl called Tomb who mentioned she had an expanse of resources, The Store?"

"Yes, I remember" said Pious, forcing open the doors to an underground cellar beneath the Cathedral. "What about them?"

"They email the church offering us security installments."

"Did they really?"

"Yes. I quote, 'we will modify your current place of residence, into a deadly undeath trap', for a generous price of course, $3000 dollars. What's your take?"

Pious paused a moment to consider the information then carried on suiting up. With a graceful swirl he donned on his war variant cassock, a leathery trenchcoat-type cloak with an arsenal of weapons fixed to the insides. "I'll keep it in mind. Is your ninja friend up and awake?"

"Yes, Sabrina's ready" replied Altair. "Her and Hellskiller are patrolling the grounds. I didn't know we had a destination, should I suit up too?"

"I had another one of those dreams" said Pious, sheathing two katanas in a criss-cross on his back before jamming a large broadsword straight down the middle sheath. Hurriedly, he strapped an assault rifle over the three swords and crammed a shotgun into his inside cloak. He then proceeded to load his utility belt with silver ammunition, salt grenades, holy water cannons, knives, daggers and wooden stakes. Finally, he swings two Colts by his index fingers and slides them cooly into two holsters at his waist. "Sister Altair Mary Stevens, aka Codename, my trusty technopathic sidekick. It's open season on us hunters and today is going to be one bloody aweful day, quite literally. So on that note, yes, suit up and gear up... we're going to war."

The sudden attack of affection took Pious by such surprise that he forgot to register the humour.

"Sage, you literally have five seconds to get off me" he threatened, "I suggest you go to Hell, now!"

Priest exchanged a look with the MAGI government liason and both agreed. As Azuria signaled for the restrains on the demon to be removed, Pious moved close into its personal space. "I'm going to keep my eyes on you, Sage" he whispered, in his usual authoritative matter-of-fact but none-threatening tone. "Your job is to get us in, get us across and if possible, get us back out. No soul-trading, no funny business. Are we clear?"

"We'll need to steal a portal from the Circle of Thorns" said Azuria, in response to Damsel's question. "I have a spell to translocate you into Oranbenga, but you don't need to bring the portal up here, just use it down there. Once you're in the Lost City, you'll need to sneak down into their seventh pit, I'll give you a map. At the very bottom of this pit, you'll find a wide portal known to the Thorns as the Gates of Hell. It's really quite hard to miss, built into the floor like a great big hole. Stone circumference with arcane markings all over it, and a deep dark foreboding void tunnelling downward. Jump into it and you'll instantly be teleported into the Netherworlds. If the Thorns guarding the gate discover your presence, they'll probably throw you in there anyway, so either way, we win."

Azuria turned to face the well-skilled but irritable lizard-rat Sage. "You're right" she said matter-of-factly. "Like the Heavens, there are several realms of the Netherworld. We don't know which one the Thorns' gate will send you, but plotting a way across the multiple realms to find the three captives is your job on this mission. We have the Priest with us; he's angelic of a sort and hopefully that can count as something."

Pious shifted nervously at the mention of his call-name and tried his best to look less serious as the attention shifted to him. He quickly thought of something useful to say and began by clearing his throat. "Unlike some of you, I have never actually been to Hell. But I have been to the Heavens and from what I've learnt, immortals like Antonio Gar are descendants of the Egyptian goddess Bastet. There is a special place down there reserved for the children of Bastet, known to the demon guardians as 'Cat Heaven'. Note the irony. You know, because its not heaven, its, Hell. Yeah? Okay. According to my sources, Cat Heaven sits in the Fifth Hell. I hope for all our sakes..." Pious glances at the character files in his hands "...Sage, that you know the safest way there?"