Austin Caine/Vengeance (from_hell) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2011-09-02 10:13:00

Entry tags:

One Hell of a night (Nick)
This post takes place after the events of "Spirits of Vengeance".

The pain of the transformation still hasn't worn off by the time Austin Caine regains consciousness. He sits up and looks at his surroundings as the sunlight streams through the window across the room.

First thing he notices is that this is a motel room, so he at least had the good sense to not crash out on the road somewhere. The next thing he notices is that the coffee table a few feet away has a bottle of vodka and a bottle of tequila on it. Both are about half full. Just a few inches from that is his handgun. Again, he'd had the good sense to at least keep the shotgun under the bed.

"That explains why I want to puke so badly..." Austin says to no one in particular, trying to pull himself off the floor. As it does, it hits him all at once.

The screams, the hellfire, the burning...fighting the man with the black coat and staff...nearly killing him...the sons of bitches that murdered Sarah...

It all combines to send Austin scrambling for the bathroom, where he gets sick for a time.

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vicious_cycle
2011-09-02 02:57 pm UTC (link)

Its been a long road.

"Ghost Rider Rampage in Chicago" the headline read. Not good. He knew there was another out there - but rampages both mean bad, out of control things, and give him a worse name than he already has. Not that he gives a damn about his reputation, but legal trouble he doesn't need.

Tracking the guy down took time. Quite a bit of it. For once, thank... well, some higher or lower power for hangovers. Thanks to the paper and reports, he was able to get it down to a neighborhood with detective work. Then down to a couple cheap motels by experience and guesswork. He's certainly been there. The rest was a bit of mystical tracking and intuition. He's not the Devil's Bounty Hunter without cause... whether he wants to be or not.

Nick learned to pick locks early in life. Useful skill sometimes. Went along with hotwiring a car and finding the security cameras without appearing to be searching for them.

By the time Austin comes out from being sick, someone is in a chair by the little alcohol table, feet up on the table, drinking his vodka.

"You're off to a good start, but you might consider whiskey instead of tequila. That shit'll fuck you up."

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from_hell
2011-09-02 03:16 pm UTC (link)

Austin stops at the door, nothing the presence of the new arrival. Immediately, something inside of screams that this guy Isn't Quite Right. He's dressed like a biker, but not flying colors.

Austin isn't sure if he's with the Angels or some other group. He /is/ sure that this guy is drinking his vodka and that his gun is near him.

"Only if you ain't used to it. I ain't been feelin' well lately, though." he says, with Southern drawl that's clearly Texan if Nick is familiar with such things.

"Ain't met too many hitmen willin' to talk it over before they get to the good part. I'm not about to offer you money or try to appeal to whatever conscience you might or might not have." Austin says.

"But I ain't gonna make it easy on you."

	from_hell 2011-09-02 10:46 pm UTC (link)
	Austin takes the bottle and goes for long pull himself, absorbing what Nicholas is saying. Curiosity starts to gnaw at him and he has to ask his next question. "Do you change at nightfall?" he asks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-02 10:49 pm UTC (link)
	"No. I did when I first started. Now, the demon and I have sorta come to terms. I can change when I need to... but it'll come out whether I want it to or not near strong enough supernatural evil. Really, long as it gets to hunt here and there, it lets me have some life. Sort of." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-02 10:59 pm UTC (link)
	"So it really is a demon." he says quietly. How could he have been so /stupid/? This just couldn't be happening. "It wants to hunt. All the time. Ever since I climbed out of the harbor, all it wants is...vengeance. I only recall bits and pieces of what it does, but when it wants out there's nothing I can do about it." he says. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-02 11:54 pm UTC (link)
	Nick nods, saying some simple words of binding. They won't do much if it got really out of control, but might slow it down for him to transform. Then the pentagrams light up brighter, as he works on calling the demon forth - not a full transformation or manifestation, just enough to let it speak through its host. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-03 12:24 am UTC (link)
	"Five." Nick grins. "You might think that. But humans will do strange things when pressed. He will, unless you show willingness to make a deal. Search his soul... you know he will." He calmly takes a drink. "Four." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-03 01:17 am UTC (link)
	Nick nods, and lets the hellfire fade, and the ritual end. As Austin comes back to himself, Nick gestures to the bottle. "There you go. Bottle's yours, man. You're going to need it." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-03 02:34 am UTC (link)
	No humor in the comment. "Yes I did. It was either help you out now, or kill you. This way is easier." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-03 02:38 am UTC (link)
	"You ever met anyone else this happened to?" he asks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-03 02:48 am UTC (link)
	"People with a demon where their soul should be? Yes. Most of them, I killed. Another Rider, no. That's why we're not trying to kill each other right now. We'll see how this goes." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-03 03:13 am UTC (link)
	"Not that you need me to say it but...if I /do/ lose control of this, Nick, then do what you gotta do to end it." he says, taking another sip of whiskey. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-03 03:16 am UTC (link)
	Nick lights his own cigarette. "That part about killing when its necessary? Yeah, me and Zarathos made that deal. Don't worry. You lose it, I'll send you both to hell, promise." Sucks how easy these kind of promises are to make. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-03 04:05 am UTC (link)
	"You ever avoid sleepin' to try to outrun the nightmares?" he asks, trying to figure out how long he might be able to stay away before he /must/ sleep. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-03 04:37 am UTC (link)
	"See there, now you're talking." Nick has long since become comfortable with his drinking. It lets him sleep, and keeps him more sane than he'd be otherwise. Food is good too though. "Starving. And you just finished my last bottle. Let's go. I'll even buy this time. I'm the one with an honest job." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-03 04:43 am UTC (link)
	"I wanna refute your statement, but I was actor, so I can't really say my job was honest." Austin chuckles. "You get breakfast, I'll cover the booze. I got enough money for that and the rest of the week at this place. Once we're done trainin', I'm headed to New York. How bad does /that/ place set off the Rider Rage?" he asks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-03 04:32 pm UTC (link)
	"You ever seen anythin' from someone that makes you think they still deserve to die, rather than just livin' with what they've done?" he asks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-04 01:03 am UTC (link)
	"Yep. But eventually, they'll get hell eventually. Living after the penance stare ain't living. Basically in a coma, living with their sins over and over, til they die. Sort of like the nightmares, but no waking up. Always seemed like a good warm up for what comes next." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-05 12:54 am UTC (link)
	That gave Austin pause. This Penance Stare seemed worse than death, so it might be the best measure in the arsenal to keep Vengeance sated. "You ever known any times it doesn't work?" he asks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	vicious_cycle 2011-09-05 01:17 am UTC (link)
	"Yeah. It won't work on anyone without a soul. Some types of deep-rooted insanity can also be protection from it, as can doing all your crimes under the influence of some drugs - essentially, there needs to be a soul and a conscience, however perverted." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	from_hell 2011-09-05 06:03 am UTC (link)
	"Roger that. I'll have to keep an eye out for that sort of thing when I'm on the hunt." Austin says. "In a way, I see that Vengeance is looking to protect people, but...did your demon ever want to go completely crazy on everything it ever came across, like it does?" he asks. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)