Coda

[exuviiated]

Warnings: Violence. Swearing. Shadows.
Location: The farm.
Characters: Aaron Barnett, The Batman, Princess Celestia, Agent Washington
When: A month after the carnival.
Summary: It's time to face the music.



The days after meeting with Greg-- with that other guy-- with Peridot-- passed slowly, almost painfully. Aaron spent most of his time at the farm, where people didn't go. Either because it was fairly rural and people didn't like that, or. Well. Him. The gunk gathering on his skin became more copious as time dragged on, and it nearly dripped off of him; glistening, oily beads that didn't slow or stop no matter how many time he wiped them off. It was kind of disgusting.

On the farm, it was highly reminiscient of a ghost town. There was farm equipment laying abandoned in the fields and it wouldn't take a highly observational person to notice the way the barn was a darker color now. While it was devoid of Nox, Aaron was in there. And he'd come a long way from making cats, birds, and people out of the shadows.

Comments

[unrecovered]

Wash could not be happier to be off bed rest. He'd armored up for the first time in a while - because it was reassuring and comfortable, even if it didn't help his magic and was useless against the Nox - and headed out in search of a place to train. Casey knew he went to the vacant lot quite a bit, and he didn't want to be tracked down there; the park was too public; but there was a farm near the edges of the dome that didn't seem to have a lot going on. Perfect.

Or it would be, if he didn't feel like he was walking into a horror movie. The fields were silent; he was fairly certain the buildings were darker than they should have been; even the wind was still (and of course he'd notice that now). It made his skin crawl, but not enough to turn around. Now he was curious.

His motion trackers picked up a single blip: something in the barn. Provided he went quietly, he could probably start with that.

[letteropener]

A second blip, this one from above. Luckily, Princess Celestia could not be confused for an enemy, or anything but herself. Even in the darkness, her coat and mane and tail all seemed to hold their own light.

Spotting a figure on the ground, the pony descended, a slight frown on her features.

[batdweeb]

The Batman occasionally checked in on the farm area whenever he went on patrol, usually when places like the apartment towers and warehouse district were too quiet to keep him busy. The empty farm was eerie on the best of nights; but tonight, it felt distinctly off in a way that made the Batman examine the area more carefully.

The barn to the southwest was the first thing he noticed. The whole structure was darker than it usually was, in a way that seemed to absorb what little light was in the area. It put the Batman distinctly in mind of the carnival after the Nox took it over.

The Batman's eyes flicked to the sky to gauge the level of moonlight being provided, and his attention was caught by Princess Celestia, apparently out for a late flight. She seemed to almost glow in the darkness- not a good thing if it made her a target for any shadowy monsters lurking in the area, though he knew by now she could handle herself.

The Batman debated calling out to her, before the alicorn started to descend. Hoping to meet her when she landed, the Batman moved towards the patch of ground where Celestia was headed. But as he moved around the rows of wheat, he spotted a humanoid figure several feet away, standing and facing the barn. The Batman came to a halt and tensed, trying to make out the features of the stranger.

[exuviiated]

Aaron wasn't wholly ignorant to their intrusion, of course, but they weren't infringing on anything too close-- it didn't look like anything he should be worried about. Kind of. He was still worried, and so sent a sentry from between the gaps in the barn's wood.

Someone looking carefully would notice that stalks were flattening of their own accord, and those looking even more carefully would notice the culprit in the form of a farm cat. The black cat was actually a carefully constructed shadow. The tells, once seen, were actually quite obvious. It was pitch-black and with blank, white eyes, and it didn't walk so much as skulk. It should be impossible to spot in the darkness, or so Aaron expected.

The cat was on the opposite site of them, to lead them away from the barn in case it was spotted.

The shadows around the barn became thicker, darker, in anticipation.

[unrecovered]

His motion trackers were getting crowded. Celestia's appearance explained the blip nearly on top of him; while he wasn't entirely certain about the one approaching from the side, it had at least come into his tracker's range in a normal fashion. While it looked human, Wash wasn't letting his guard down - he couldn't be sure in the shadows, and dying again was the last thing on his agenda.

The fourth blip came from right the fuck out of nowhere. It wasn't Luna, or York, or anyone else who could teleport, as far as he could see, and it was too small to be seen over the stalks.

He'd write it off as an animal, but magical pony princesses aside, animals didn't suddenly appear from out of nowhere. That left one other option.

Wash glanced at Celestia, then nodded towards the motion in the stalks. "Got a light?"

[letteropener]

"Of course, although I warn you, it is practically a declaration of hostilities."

With a thought and a fraction of effort, Celestia lit her horn -- just enough to illuminate their surroundings. Igniting a solar blaze truly was confrontational, and they were not quite to that level.

[batdweeb]

The stranger appeared to be wearing an armored suit of some sort, which put the Batman in mind of Rumor. However, Celestia seemed comfortable enough around them and while he didn't know her well, all evidence so far had pointed to her being trustworthy.

He only had time to observe the two for a few moments, before Celestia's horn lit up with a gentle light. The Batman blinked a few times in order to adjust, and glanced in the direction of the barn.

[exuviiated]

At the unpleasant light, the housecat launched into the air-- and, as it traveled, increased in size to something vaguely panther-esqe. It went past Celestia and back down to the ground, and Aaron peered out to better watch and control it. He hadn't sent one out this far before; he doubted it could hold for long unless he brought it closer to the barn. But he didn't want to expose himself and he didn't want to go up against a creature with light magic, so he'd have to be ginger about it.

The kitschy weather vane on top of the barn whirled frantically, even though the field's produce only waved gently.

[unrecovered]

Wash's HUD adjusted quickly to the new light source, in time to see the shadow cat grow and leap through the air and holy shit that was not good. His pistol was in his hands the next moment - old hands died hard, evidently - but he waited. It hadn't attacked them yet, and he knew bullets wouldn't do much to it if it did, but...no reason to escalate just yet. The giant cat wasn't acting like any other Nox he'd seen - it would be worth watching for now.

"What the hell was that?!"

Though maybe a little more quietly.

"Look," he said to Celestia, "there's something to your right about ten yards away and something in the barn. Do you know either of them?"

[letteropener]

"Unless I miss my guess," the pony said, in the quiet voice of one who knew very well she was right and didn't wish to be, "that was darkness given form by a person who has gained its power."

Her battle with Riddler had showed her exactly how people could wield that power, with a control and imagination beyond the Nox themselves.

"Which means their controller is doubtless one of the beings you have detected."

[batdweeb]

The Batman heard a man shouting, saw black movement out of the corner of his eye, and whirled towards his left, catching sight of a large, shadowy feline leaping past Celestia and her companion.

He hurried closer during the brief commotion, keeping his eyes in the direction of the shadow feline and catching snippets of the conversation. Princess Celestia and her companion were speaking quietly, but Batman's attention was caught by the mention of a person with the darkness's power.

She had mentioned the subject previously when speaking with Bruce Wayne, but the Batman still didn't have a solid plan of action for this situation.

But he did have two potential allies if the situation turned ugly.

Batman swiftly moved closer, waiting until he was only partly hidden by the crops before responding to Celestia: "It won't be to your right."

[exuviiated]

Aaron stole back from his lookout, deeper into the barn-- the panther became more transparent the further he went, harder to keep tangible-- and instead came around to the busted-open door so he could watch more clearly, confident that he was both covered with gunk and concealed enough to avoid detection; whether he was going to appear to any technological (or otherwise) detection... things, remained to be seen.

Currently, the people and glowy-horned pony were between him and the panther, which was shifting from paw to massive paw as he tried to quite literally keep it together. He couldn't let them look around, had to keep them occupied with something, so his big cat feinted at Celestia again; reacting to the light like a bee sting, though coming in contact with it would most likely not end well for the shadow construct.

The situation was turning ugly, and fast-- the next attacks would be just that, not feints or posturing.

[unrecovered]

"Shadow deals! Great! Perfect." Wash knew about them - his conversation with Aaron a while back had been both enlightening and creepy - and he wasn't terribly happy to be dealing with man-made Nox. There were enough wild ones already; why make more?

He kept an eye on his motion trackers. The one in the barn was moving; the cat was circling back around; the one on the right-

Was Batman.

He blinked, adjusting the brightness of his HUD, and - yep, if the silhouette and the voice were anything to judge by, that sure was Batman.

What the fuck.

He didn't have time to dwell on it - the panther moved, and he turned, bringing his pistol to bear and firing two shots at the cat's head. "If you think you two can handle it, take the one in the barn. I'll handle things here." It left him alone, but he was fairly certain he could take a single shadow construct.

Maybe. Situation being what it was, he was about to find out.

[letteropener]

"We both possess light magic," Celestia said, offering a polite smile and a nod of her head to the Batman as if this were perfectly normal. Which around here, let's face it, it was. "You should remain with one of us instead."

[batdweeb]

The Nox was turning aggressive, there wouldn't be much time for chatting. Batman returned Celestia's nod, and thought quickly. He knew Celestia's capabilities well enough, not so much her companion.

"Agreed. I can stay here with you-" he gestured towards the armored man (He'd have to get the man's name at some point), "and you, Princess, can go after whoever's controlling the Nox. But call if you need help."

As if that settled the matter, Batman moved to stand behind the armored man and raised his arms in a defensive gesture.

[exuviiated]

Wash's idea to shoot at the panther was possibly ill-advised, because it rocked back onto its hind legs and jumped at him, gaping holes closing up in its forehead; faint wisps of shadow dissolving in the air as more converged to take their place, as if the shots from his gun had never happened.
It would, perhaps, be less uncanny if the panther was making noises beyond the soft crunching of trampled crops. Aaron moved further back into the barn just as quietly, eyes darting to the hayloft-- he hadn't been up there, yet, but maybe he'd take it as a hiding place if someone came in.
Hiding would be hard, what with the gunk he left in his tracks with every step.

[unrecovered]

They were fast running out of time to discuss this. On one hand, Wash had serious misgivings about Celestia going on her own, in the dark, to face off against someone with this much control of the shadows; on the other hand, Wash had seen her in action before. Even with her magic hobbled, she was powerful and savvy enough to handle this.

"Got it- shit!" He threw himself out of the panther's path. "If you can kill this thing, now would be the time!"

[letteropener]

Good! With everything agreed, Celestia took off as if she hadn't just been standing there in diplomatic calm. A powerful sweep of her wings and a kick of her legs brought her to the barn in one quick bound, and she nudged her way into it as she folded her wings back up tight once again.

As soon as her head passed through the doors, she let out a brilliant blaze of light from her horn.

[batdweeb]

Make that definitely out of time. Celestia was gone for the moment and the Batman was standing close enough to Wash that when the panther jumped forwards, Batman also had to lunge away.

He recovered quickly, twisting around to face the monster. Wash shouted and Batman hastily formed a small ball of light with his fingertips, which was shoved towards the panther like a basketball being passed to another player.

[exuviiated]

When Celestia burst into the barn was when Aaron's luck started going seriously downhill. Temporarily blinded by the burst of light, he made a run for it to the corner where the ladder to the hayloft was. Sparks danced in his vision and splintered his concentration to nothing-- as a result, the Batman would have no problem blasting the panther into wisps of shadow.

Shadowy tendrils erupted from the ground and went straight towards Celestia's legs, ensnaring her and attempting to drag her down into the shadowy pit the center of the barn floor had become.