Beast Chap 7B

The pronouncement was met by wide-eyed, jaw-dropping silence. The heroes of Top Ten looked at each other in disconcerted puzzlement until, at last, Johnny Cognito asked what they were all thinking. "Satan?," he grimaced at Tropic. "The devil, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Old Scratch. That Satan?"

Tropic nodded in agreement. "Yes, but he really doesn’t like to be called ‘Old Scratch.’"

"Oh, ok, I won’t…wait a second!", Johnny frowned, "you know Satan?"

"It’s a long story," sighed Tropic.

Willow sat next to Val and was slowly shaking her head. "That Knife woman, three thousand years old and now you know the devil." She squinted at the red-skinned man. "We are so going to talk when this is all over."

Scrap had his eyes closed and was pinching the bridge of his nose. "All right. Does the Tablet say how to stop this…thing?"

"Yes and no," Buttercup exhaled.

"You know, I’m really starting to get sick and tired of these riddles," Temptations angrily muttered.

"I know," Tropic agreed, "but riddles are all we have." He rubbed his chin and looked out the large glass door. "When these ancient mystics write these guides or explanations or what-have-you, they give you all the answers you need. But they are always couched within some riddle or clue or deeper meaning."

Kunai regarded Tropic, his eyes narrow. "Did it say anything at all that would help us?"

Buttercup sighed and nodded. "Yes. There is one passage about that but…"

"It doesn’t make any sense," Tropic finished.

"Well, what does it say?", Cadecus whispered.

"Incite the fire, old and gather. Released shall it be and the Beast shall be slain, scattered to the Four Winds and an Age of Gold shall reign thereafter," Tropic quoted the Table of Traume quietly.

"What the hell does that mean?," Cognito asked, his face twisted with puzzlement.

Tropic and Buttercup looked at each other. The heroine said softly shaking her head, "We don’t know."

Silence settled over them as though the thickest fog in Dark Astoria had manifested itself in Willow’s apartment. The heroes were all deep in thought. What could it mean? "Incite the fire." Valya sipped her coffee slowly. General Scrap stood at the glass doors and stared out over the city. Cognito, Elendil and Miyaka sat on the sofa, their minds spinning through every explanation they could think up. Ryuu sat on the floor, Cadecus in his chair and Temptations stood near Willow, who sat with Val.

"Maybe," Kunai said abruptly, and his voice caused some of the heroes to jump, startled. "Maybe fire is a metaphor. It might not actually mean ‘fire’."

Scrap nodded slowly. "That’s possible." He stroked his chin, considering what the stealthy warrior had proposed. He began to have the start of an idea. "It could be fire is fervor? Ardor?" He thought for a moment more then snapped his fingers. "Zeal. Emotion."

"Yes, yes," Cadecus agreed. He rose from his seat and started to pace about the room. "Incite the fire, old and gather, released shall it be…," he repeated. "Maybe it means we need to incite the Beast?"

Ryuuhoshi pointed his finger at the healer. "Yeah. Maybe fire is…anger? Do we need to…?"

"That could be it," Elendil said. "The madder we make this thing the more of it’s energy will be released." He nodded his head, looking around the room. "We incite it, it gathers it’s energy to fight us and then, if we can fight it long enough, all its energy will be released and we’ll be able to kill it, defeat it, whatever."

The heroes of Top Ten nodded in agreement relieved to have the bare bones of a plan of action. What Elendil proposed made sense. It meshed perfectly with the Tablet’s clue and the room was filled now with talk of implementing their strategy. All were involved with the coming battle’s blueprint except Tropic and Buttercup. They looked at each other, concern and worry evident on their faces.

"I’m not sure if this is what we’re supposed to be doing," Tropic announced loudly enough to get their attention.

General Scrap smiled and walked over to the fiery hero. "I don’t know, Tropic," he said shaking his head. "It seems to answer whatever questions we have. And you said that these magicians who write this stuff write in riddles." He rested his hand on Tropic’s shoulder. "If you have a better idea, please…," he finished, waiting expectantly for his friends response.

Tropic frowned and chewed his lip for a moment. He knew that this was a reasonable course of action but something gnawed at him. A feeling that things weren’t right. But he had nothing else to offer and he chalked the feeling in his gut up to worry and fear. He shook his head and grinned crookedly at Scrap. "No…no…it’s all right. It’s a good plan," Tropic said in his rough voice.

"Great," Ryuuhoshi smiled. "Now all we have to do is find this thing."

"I know where it’s going," Tropic whispered.

"What? How?," Buttercup asked in surprise.

"I’ve had an idea since it was in Faultline but I wasn’t sure then," Tropic gazed around the room until his eyes fell on WillowWind. "Now, I’m sure."

The teammates looked warily at each other then to Tropic. "Go on," Temptations said softly.

Tropic nodded. "Willow, do you have a map of the city?"

Her eyebrow raised in confusion. "Yes…yeah…yeah I do." She went to the kitchen and her friends could hear her slide open one drawer then another, rummaging around in each. A few moments later she returned and handed the map to the blaster.

"There are lines, tendrils, of mystical energy that circle the globe," he explained as he opened the map. It was a simple street map of the city, one Willow had probably bought when she had first moved here. "They intersect everywhere," Tropic continued, placing the map on the coffee table. The heroes gathered around, their complete attention on their friend and the map.

"These intersections, nexus, tend to focus the magic force. And in a few places across the world, these nexus contain power." He looked up at the team. "There was one in a city in California that got swallowed up by the Earth about a year ago. There’s one in Cleveland, of all places." He paused for a moment and grinned wearily. "Haven’t you ever wondered why there are so many magical groups, good and bad, in Paragon City? Why so many mystic artifacts turn up here? Paragon sits right on top of one of these intersections."

Tropic tapped the map in front of him. "This Beast…it came through here at Oranbega." His finger touched a spot on the map. "It went here to Perez," he traced with his finger to the park. "Then to Faultline," again his finger moved, "and then to Talos," and his finger rested on the map. "Where else in Paragon City is there a large concentration of Circle of Thorn mages?"

The members of Top Ten glanced at each other and then at the map again. At last, WillowWind turned to the glass door of her living room, her eyes staring out over William’s Square. "Here," she whispered. "Founders Falls. Louis Forest."

Tropic nodded and his finger traced it’s way to Louis Forest on the map. He looked up at his friends and traced the Beast’s route again. Buttercup gasped when she realized what Tropic depicted.

Oranbega, Perez Park, Faultline, Talos Island, Louis Forest. Five points.

A Pentagram. An occult symbol so ancient it was etched within the natural memory of every living thing.

"What’s it going to do?," Valya whispered.

There was total silence in sunlit room, the heroes’ minds spinning at the possibilities. Finally, Miyaka broke the oppressive quiet. "It’s going to try to open the gate it came through. That’s why it needed all that power from the Thorns."

"Why?," Temptations asked. "To go home?"

"To bring home here," Tropic said, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Hell on Earth," Cognito said softly.

"Yes," Tropic said simply.

"We’re gonna need more people," Johnny whispered to no one in particular.

The silence dragged on, all of them digesting these new revelations. General Scrap strode purposefully to the sliding glass door and pushed it open. "All right," he said with his communicator in his hand. "Let’s get over to Louis Forest. Maybe we can get there before it does. Maybe we can be ready for it."

Top Ten moved as one to the window and began to make their way to the forest. As Elendil was about to leave he noticed the communication device in Scrap’s hand. "Hey, who you calling?"

Scrap regarded his friend with a raised eyebrow and said one word:

"Everybody."