Nicodemus

Back in Kro's office just before it erupted in flames.

An older-looking man sporting some wrinkles could be seen leisurely leaning back, watching the many monitors as he conjured some fire to play with on his right hand.

At 6'1" tall with white hair swished up and back in a winged pattern and all-white eyes without any pupils or Iris to speak of that sent shivers down anyone's spine that saw them. Wearing a light red robe that had a light purple edge pattern that formed an elongated omega symbol, and a light purple waist tie.

It was then he felt her arrive through the portal as he shot to his feet shocked by how close she was, popping up seemingly out of nowhere. Cursing his lack of forethought about not thinking where she was currently in the world in conjunction with the device. Foolishly pleased with the situation, believing she was no longer a concern due to distance.

A feeling of pure dread welled up inside him before he turned that fear into anger. Flames flaring out in response to his emotional state, setting everything in the room ablaze with some minor tech explosions.

Zooming out of the office he ran for the nearest exit while simultaneously trying to calm himself, his face going slack as his white eyes caught her approach behind him.

Selene stepping through the portal wasted no time in tracking him down, he was her singular focus and nothing was going to get in her way.

Bypassing all Deviants with her super-speed, she caught up to his retreating figure.

Grinning, she called out, mocking him- "Nicodemus! Who would have thought you would be the first to make a mistake out of everyone, oh how I wonder how your merry ban of Externatls will make out without you, or should I call you high lords now?"

Nicodemus's face turned ugly as he sent a wave of fire down the ramp upon exiting.

"You're ruining everything! Do you know how long I planned, how close I am to taking it all, I can't believe I let you get one over on me with that damn portal, but if you think I don't have contingencies in place, then you don't know me! I will not fall here!" He roared filling the entire underground hall in bright hot flames.

He recalled Burke's warning as he was setting off alone, warning them that his vision was blocked for the upcoming events and that he didn't know what it meant but he didn't think it was anything good, telling everyone to be on guard, especially those who were going off alone.

Many of them took it as a good sign, the fall of the gods would be a major change in the world's dynamic and could be a possible reason for his precognition lapse, many not really worrying about it, believing his power to be ambiguous at best.

Unable to trust any of the others to avoid Selene and deal with the Olympians appropriately, except maybe Garbha-Hsien, that is if he wasn't so damn slow and meticulous in his approach. No, that man's endless patience would only hinder such operations, so here he is taking care of it himself.

In his hubris, he thought he would be the last one to make such a mistake and end up meeting her again, not the first out of all the others. He who plans and thinks ahead, brought down by the very same thing. His oversight was almost unfathomable to him, if not for being distracted by the carefully orchestrated events that he's been waiting a long time for finally unfolding.

Realizing his fire would only do so much to hold her back, he rapidly retreated backward while maintaining his flame wave for as long as he could. Far enough away, he spun it into a fire tornado right at the opening to hold her off for just a bit longer.

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Theoric and company came through the portal minutes after the Aqueos vampire squad Selene brought with her.

Giving the ladies momentary pause when they saw the devastation they caused in the tight corridor where bodies were thrown about and torn apart while others just a smear on the wall.

He wasn't sure if he should be happy that it was only a momentary pause for Sigyn or not. It did feel a bit sad seeing her already numb to such sights, but this is what she wanted. This is what it would take to stay by his side in battle, for it was always a nasty bloody affair. Rarely could one be called glorious, unlike what the Asgardians preach, it was a hard line to find honor in such brutal acts.

Taking Sigyn's hand, who appreciated the gesture, he led them further on, past many more bodies. Some of them Aqueos having lost the element of surprise that allowed them to create such a horrific scene when they first came through.

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Using a bit of Sorcery, Selene extinguished the fire tornado, exiting out into the desolated streets of Athens a bit irritated she had to use magic since it always drained her the most outside of using extreme speed.

Sensing his location, a grin appeared on her face as she thought of the perfect cure for her exertion, one that would be well worth it. Thinking of that she decided to activate a few minor boosting spells to increase her physical capabilities, all but guaranteeing he wouldn't be able to get away.

Red eyes glowing, she slipped into the shadows so as not to draw any other unwanted attention, fully aware that Olympians were in play now, not wishing to deal with the extra headache and possibly giving her prey time to flee.

This thought soon spurred her on as she increased her speed a bit more, hoping he wasn't going to resort to such tactics. Even if he wouldn't want to deal with them any more than she, desperate times could change a man, and he did say he had contingencies.

Catching sight of him, she increased her speed further eager to strike, conscious of the dancing flames around him that was ready to counterattack at a moment's notice.

Looking back at her, he smirked when he felt the rapidly increasing speed suddenly slow as he added more fire protection around him. He may have a healthy amount of fear against her, but he was fully aware that he had the one power that could trip her up if she wasn't careful. It was one of the main reasons he was willing to come, not counting the plan never to meet.

Seeing that look ticked her off, quickly chanting a counterspell as she closed the distance.

Not waiting for her to finish, he threw his hands down-firing, shooting into the air like a rocket.

Keeping pace, she jumped up as dark wings shot out from her back, propelling her forward and up with one strong flap.

Dragona, who was flying back to meet up at the acropolis, spotted this strange sight, veering off to investigate.

Forming a dark javelin, Selene drew moisture from the air giving it a layer of ice protection to allow the shadow bolt to find its target through the flames.

Ignoring his confusing decision to descend into the city again, thinking at first he was going for the outer walls to escape, she threw her attack.

Spotting his destination, he didn't even see or hear it coming as he dove down to his goal.

An excruciating piercing pain hit him from behind as it slipped through his defense, straight into his back, and out the other side.

"Argh, damn you, Selene!" Nicodemus spat as he lost control, falling headfirst into the floor below with a heavy thump.

Landing not far away, she zoomed over ready to end things while being mindful that he could erupt at any time, which is exactly what he did as he laid there waiting for his bones to realign, sending another wave of flames out as she approached.

Prepared, she jumped over most of it as her hands came out front forming a spell shield, blocking the rest as she inched ever closer against his raging flames trying to keep her at bay.

Enjoying the building fear in her prey as she dragged out his inevitable demise.

"Vampiro! I need you!" Nicodemus desperately yelled, gritting his teeth as he tried to hold on. The dark energy having slowed his healing process.

"Never fear, Vampiro is here!" Came a reply as a dark masked form rushed out from the side, tackling a surprised Selene.

Throwing him off her into an adjacent house, she squinted her eyes from him back to the grinning Nicodemus who slowly got back to his feet.

"Is that?" She asked unsurely.

Nicodemus chuckled,- "Yes, yes it is, impressive isn't it, immune to the sun no less, I changed him myself, and this is just the tip of the iceberg, my plans stretch far beyond what you can imagine. We can be just as powerful here without going back, even more so. You should think of this as a gift and join us not fight us, we can do so much more together like this."

Selene snorted as she watched the batman styled man in tights without the cape, step back out of the rubble,- "I may not know how you got your hands on an Eternal without causing a huge commotion, but if you think you can talk me out of collecting what's rightfully mine, you've got another thing coming, it's not like you'll all die anyway."

Nicodemus frowned as he swept his eyes over to his new pet,- "It's not the same and you know it! Vampiro, kill her!" He shouted.

Casually dodging the Eternal man, she clicked her tongue,- "Tch, Vampiro? Really? What's with that name? I think you may have lost it, especially if you think this changes anything," She said ducking under a strike while doing a spinning roundhouse kick, sending him flying through another wall.

"We'll see about that," said Nicodemus.

Taking a step towards him, she had to steady her footing as the ground beneath began to shake again. Seeing the brightening of the earth, she flashed away as a flame spire shot up from where she was just moments earlier.

"I see you've improved, but it's still not enough," she said turning to face him.

He responded with more flame spires, cutting off her path to him as he led her back to Vampiro who reengaged her. He had to win this, running was no longer an option now that she was this close. Fleeing now would only turn it back into a chase which he would surely lose, this was his only chance.

Selene smirked as she traded blows with the supposed Eternal,- "No wonder you were able to catch him and no one cared, is he even an Eternal? This is pathetic, is this really your contingency?" she mocked, fully aware that if it wasn't for her magical boosts beforehand things could have been different.

Dragona, gliding over unnoticed on her bat wings heard talks of Eternals as her eyes darted over to the costumed man below. Not knowing anything else, she assumed his allied fire wielder which she took special note of was one as well, leaving only the unknown woman who was fighting them.

"Die Eternal Scum!" Dragona yelled alerting Toro who was following below with their forces, along with everyone else as she swooped down. Doing a fly-by breath of fire at the two combatants, unconcerned about who the nondeviant woman was.

All three looked up with various degrees of irritation as Vampiro and Selene dodged.

Nicodemus cursed, he may have been working with the Deviant leader Kro behind the scenes, but that was the problem, no other Deviant was actually aware of who he was. Luckily it wasn't long before night fell, and then his true army would rise if he could just hold on long enough. Thankfully with this new distraction, though he may end up having to deal with some of them, it shouldn't be difficult to accomplish.

Hearing his companions warning, Toro led the charge,- "This way men, time to kill us an Eternal!" he shouted, wasting no time as he smashed through several walls.