Aftershocks
Morgan Le Fey barely had time to shield herself from the shock wave of demonic energy that accompanied her daughter's transformation. She then stared in horror at the blue abomination her daughter had become. The modern peasant garb barely containing the creature as it began to examine the area like an animal looking for danger in a strange environment. Clearly Maeve's time among the fools in this abysmal eyesore of a building had caused the seal within her to break. But maybe there was still time to reseal it before the demoness contaminated Maeve's spirit.
Maeve's shield had shattered when the transformation overtook her. The demoness was too disoriented by the transformation to fight. Now was the perfect time to strike.
The demoness that Maeve had become was still too feral to understand what was going on in words. All she had were instincts that screamed danger, and now she was trying to find the source of that danger in this alien world. Before she could act on her instincts she was struck by a spell that bound her in place. She knew this magic. It had held her almost motionless in darkness her entire life. A scream of rage died in her unresponsive throat.
"Struggle all you want beast," a woman in a gold mask said. The sneer evident in her voice as she walked over like a predator that was sure of her kill The demoness didn't yet know the strange woman, but didn't need to in order recognize a threat. "Your power will soon be used to restore my son, and my daughter will be free of you in the process. But first…" The woman turned towards the prone figure known to the demoness only as her mate. She could smell death magic forming and knew her mate was about to die unless she did something. Though her body was still weak from the transformation, a lifetime of fighting against the magic of her confinement had made her strong, and the thought of losing her newly gained freedom along with her mate before she could truly know either gave that strength a direction. She forced the scream from her throat as the spell holding her snapped under the force and desperation of her power. The caster turned in time to be struck by a molten wrecking ball of raw demonic energy.
Lois couldn't believe her eyes as she watched Morgan Le Fey go flying into the food court's Burger Fool. "Man, I'm not sure Perry is going to believe this," she said aloud. That strange shockwave that accompanied Maeve's transformation was still tingling through every nerve in the reporter's body like an espresso's worth of caffeine. Unfortunately, it had rendered Mercy, and probably her security team, unconscious.
"Says the reporter who once wrote about a giant monkey," stated the demon from behind her. Causing her to jump. The wave didn't seem to have affected him though he was now free of the tentacle thing he had been wrestling with.
"I wasn't talking to you," she snapped, "and he was a chimpanzee."
"Then why were you talking at all?" he said with no interest in her answer as he chewed on what looked like some sort of jerky and cautiously watched the demoness that, a few moments ago, had been Jimmy's new girlfriend.
"OK Mr. grumpy. Care to clue me in on what's going on?" Lois was beginning to see why this member of the League never attended any of the PR events.
"No."
"Tough. I've got questions. You've got answers. So talk."
"If you were a normal human I wouldn't have to."
"Oh come on," she scoffed. Snatching the jerky that was sticking out of his mouth. "I've interviewed demons before."
He turned to glare at her. "First, the Blue Devil is naught but a pup and was once human. Second, after that wave of demon energy you should be as talkative as this woman is now," he nodded his head towards the unconscious form of Mercy Graves. "Instead you're annoyingly awake." His attention shifted from the demon girl to Lois. "Why are you awake?" he inquired. His tone shifting from annoyed to curious as he studied and sniffed her closely. Too closely. Like a scientist bloodhound dissecting a scent.
"Back off brimstone breath!" she said as she pushed him away. He grabbed her left hand and licked it before letting her reclaim the appendage. "OK, that, you have to explain!"
Etrigan contemplated the taste of Lois like it was a fine wine before he answered, "There is a taint of demonic possession about you. I had to taste you to be sure what kind."
"You could have asked. Besides, shouldn't we be more concerned about Maeve?"
"Mortals don't always know about their demon encounters. Fortunately, you were possessed by a mindless minion of Karkul, and that was a few years back, so the residue only protected you from the wave. As for the child, her demon self is still new to freedom so she's going to be feral until the two minds connect with each other. And having been confined for her entire life she has an energy buildup to work off. If we approach her too soon she'll react like any other threatened animal."
"What about Jimmy?"
"Who?" Etrigan looked over at the demoness, who was now bent over Jimmy's body. Almost like a mother lioness checking over her cub. "Ah, the boy who threw the tray at the witch," he said as if both impressed and amused by the action. "My daughter seems to be fond of him even in her present form. If he's not already dead he should be fine in her care while she calms down. Unless some hero does something stupid." He cast a quick glance at Superman.
Superman extracted himself from the fried remains of the thing Morgan Le Fey had attacked him with. The after effects of its embrace reminding him of the many times he'd recovered from kryptonite exposure. "And here I was hoping for an ordinary convention," he muttered as he detached a fried tentacle from an embarrassing area. Once again thankful that his mother had made his outfit so durable. The shockwave of energy had reduced the creature to a mass of calamari jerky.
He had recovered from the creature's draining grasp with only a fuzzy recollection of seeing Maeve transform from a lovely young girl into a blue Cro-Magnon supermodel. If this was a further manifestation of the magic she had shown earlier or something Morgan Le Fey had caused he couldn't be sure. Whatever the case, she was now doing something to his pal and he had to look into it. He flew over to talk with the creature.
The demoness noticed him just as he landed and took up a possessive posture over Jimmy. A low feline growl of warning coming from her throat.
"Easy girl. I just want to check on my friend," Superman said in his most soothing voice as he slowly approached her with his hands out like he had done with animals on the farm. The growl turned into a hiss as she swiped at him with black claws that seemed to extend as she swiped. Only his super speed saved him from some nasty cuts. "OK, so you remember Jimmy, but not me," he observed aloud. "This could be difficult."
Before he could decide on an alternative strategy the demoness grabbed Jimmy and roared. Somehow opening a portal between herself and the man of steel. The stunning effect of her roar combined with the lethargy he was still feeling from the tentacle thing gave her enough time to jump through the portal with Jimmy. It snapped shut behind her. Leaving behind the smell of ozone and burnt rubber. Superman hoped his pal's shoes were the only part that hadn't made it through completely.
Jimmy was brought slowly to consciousness by a strange cat like tongue licking his ear. "Grimalkin. Knock it off," he scolded sleepily. Then his brain booted up further and he realized several things. He wasn't at his parents' house where that gray cat claimed dominance. Grimalkin licked noses. And even though he was a large mass of feline muscle he wasn't the size of a mountain lion!
He woke the rest of the way and slowly turned his head. A sleeping blue demon licked his nose. Years of working with Lois Lane had taught him when to stifle his screams. Moving as little as possible he looked around and assessed the situation. Somehow he was in his own bed with a blue demon lightly cuddling him like a teddy bear. Slowly he moved himself out from its slender yet muscular arm, being very careful not to wake it as he moved. He had made it out of the bed and had just reached the foot, giving him a straight shot to the door, when the demon woke up and yawned. Revealing canines that were a bit too long and pointy for his comfort. It then began to stretch in ways that revealed both gender and flexibility. He was dealing with a very female demon who was a natural contortionist. Blue skin aside there was a primal beauty about her.
As she stretched into a standing position her red eyes opened and locked onto Jimmy's as if she knew exactly where he was. She smiled in that joyful, innocent way that only children seem to have. A smile that was made disturbing by the teeth he had noticed earlier.
The demoness woke up feeling better than she had her entire life. Her instinctive teleportation had knocked her out, but all she needed was a brief nap to recover. She still didn't know who she was or what had happened, nor did that matter to her yet. All that mattered was that she and her mate were safe here. So she took the time to enjoy her stretch. After being confined, immobile and incomplete for longer than see could remember, the pure pleasure of unrestrained movement was almost overwhelming. She was still missing part of herself, the part that had been free while she was confined and was now asleep within her, but she knew on a subconscious level that she and her other self would soon be one self. She could sense her mate's presence and made sure he was the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes.
He was not the most powerful of mates, but he was hers and seeing him restored and awake filled her with such joy that she couldn't contain herself. She crouched and bounded off the bed. Turning in midair so she could land facing him. Unfortunately she landed badly and tumbled into the sliding closet door. Knocking it off its track so that it fell on top of her. She snarled in annoyance at her own clumsiness, in front of her mate no less, she smashed the offending thing before standing and facing her mate. As she did so she became aware of his emotions. He was afraid. Turning she saw the source of his fear and lunged.
"Didn't any of your life on the farm teach you how to approach a wild animal?" Etrigan snapped at Superman when he and the Lane woman got close enough to talk to him without shouting. In his mind shouting was for combat and this was not the time to bash the hero, though he could vent his anger at the man's stupidity.
"I was worried about Jimmy and I approached the way I would a strange dog or cat," Superman said in his defense. "How was I supposed to know she could teleport?"
"He has a point Etrigan," Jason said in the demon's head.
"Hey lay off Hellboy," Lois said at the same time Jason was speaking. "A few minutes ago that blue ogre was a teen girl that our friend has a crush on. How were any of us supposed to know Morgan Le Fey would cause her to Hulk like that, much less that she could pull a disappearing act?"
Etrigan turned on her. "First, my name is Etrigan, not Anung Un Rama so don't call me Hellboy. Second, if Maeve's demon form had been triggered by rage, the way Banner's rage triggers his transformation, then this city would already be a new Pompeii. From what I remember, her change was triggered by a far more unpredictable emotion."
"And what emotion would that be?" Superman asked, partially to direct the demon's attention away from Lois.
"Love," he stated. " She was fighting to protect your friend in both forms. Clearly Maeve's feelings for that boy have grown strong enough to both release and influence her demon."
"So because Maeve had a crush on Jimmy…Smufettezilla has a crush on him?" Lois was clearly skeptical.
"And given the depth of that 'crush'," Etrigan continued, if he rejects her in her demon form there is no telling what she will do to this city in her rage."
