Beat stick at the ready Ranger didn’t have to try and find where the scarab woman had gone. A compulsion wormed its way into Ranger’s mind driving him toward where the woman had gone. Had Ranger not already picked up the stanchion, he wouldn’t have had the presence of mind to prepare himself at all.

Which worked out well when the need to approach ended as he entered an area with glyphs carved into the floor. As Ranger stepped on one light erupted and a man with the head of a jackal climbed forth. Ranger shook off the last whisper of whatever had forced him forward and forced the metal beat-a-majig down on the jackal man’s head.

A loud gong filled the room as the hollow brass base of the stanchion vibrated off of its impact with the canid skull. Then a loud thwack followed as Ranger brought the top end of the stanchion up and broke the jaw of the jackal as it went down.

”Okay. Glyph’s summon Anubis. Good t’ know.” Ranger said before he slammed the stanchion into the ground with as much force as he could muster. It was not the peak of his physical power, but his power had rapidly responded to his need to obliterate the floor.

The stanchion’s bottom end impacted the marble floor and sent cracks out in all directions, passing through many of the glyphs but only destroying the nearest ones completely.

”Same as before. Y’ get scarab-lady. I’ll get the dogs.” Ranger said as a few of the glyphs that had been cracked flared off and jackal men climbed forth. Their visage more horrific as the damage to the glyph had negatively impacted whatever had brought the jackal men forth.

This...this went beyond anything Rex had encountered before. He'd thought he'd seen evil before, in the eyes of crimelords and mad scientists, but this was truly horrific. The sight of what those inhuman jaws could do...

The crunching of jackal skulls and the brutal appearance of Hunter snapped Rex out of his dread. He was right. Focus on what was at hand. Rex hefted his greatsword, which was almost weightless despite having a blade nearly as long as he was tall. This sort of thing is what the sword was for. He'd designed it to kill a friend if needed, and Hercules was far more powerful than these demons.

Rex roared in righteous fury and he started running again, this time the tip of his sword trailing along the floor and slashing the magic in several markings on the floor. Burgeoning lights winked out as he disconnected the magic empowering them, but he feared it wasn't permanent. He tried scuffing them as well as he ran toward the sorceress. If he could just get close enough, he could stop her magic and take her out.

Yet once again, it looked like she knew this. An eldritch gleam sparked in her eyes and her fingernails on one hand glowed a bright cyan. Then she flung another small glass vial in Rex's direction. He tried dodging, but he was moving too fast and he was too close, and besides, it seemed like the vial was thrown right to where he was dodging into. It struck him and exploded in a whuff and a flash of blue light.

The next thing he knew, he was back in the lobby, in the middle of a crowd of people rushing toward the Egypt display.

The gonging of the stanchion rang out a few more times before the base was bent and then broken off. Ranger was having success putting down the jackals while Rex… Disappeared. Ranger stopped, and looked where Rex had been before he had been hit with something the woman had thrown.

Ranger’s breathing was already being enhanced, swinging the blunt metal pole around with enhanced strength was beginning to wear on him. However, he could see people walking into the area, compelled by what had drawn Ranger to the room. As they approached the glyphs, the would project an azure light and sumon a jackal man.

Ranger gave one look to the woman before heading back to the edge of the area where he broke off the bottom of his improvised weapon. Devolving his improvised hammer to mankind’s oldest and greatest weapon system before the invention of gunpowder. The stick.

The metal stick began to bend as Ranger continued to pummel jackal’s with the improvised beating device. Each person rescued was another person who was now lucid. Yet, it seemed only one in five could act in a way that might save their life after that. Screaming, crying, falling on the floor in terror. Not so helpful. Helping pull people away from jackal’s to buy Ranger time to get there to help. Helpful.

Not everyone survived. Ranger was relying on his strength to one hit KO the jackals, but the area was too great for him to traverse quickly. When the stick was too riddled with metal fatigue to be of much use on the jackals, Ranger threw it.

Muscles rippled and grew as Ranger wound up and swung his arms, he let the metal pipe fly with an incredible force, directed right at scarab lady.

Rex fought his way back to the room. With every swing of his oversized blade, he cut the compulsion out of another handful of people. His efforts weren't enough. He still saw too many people that he couldn't get to in time reach the room and enter a bloodbath. He knew he should be focusing his energy for confrontign the sorceress again, but Rex couldn't bring himself to let anyone reach that room if he could handle it.

There was started to be a burning in Rex's mind as he pushed more power into the spell, so its energies could disrupt the magic in yet another half dozen people. When he got to the main doors of the display, Rex swiped once more. "You five!" he roared. "Hold them back for five seconds!" He shoved the bewildered people at the still rushing crowd and in the momentary blockade, Rex managed to shut the large double doors. He snagged a standing sign and jabbed it through the door handles. It wouldn't hold people off for too long. The crowd would either barge through or find another entrance to the room, but it gave Rex time.

Speaking of time....

The sorceress was already spinning her jeweled rope in a glowing circle as Ranger targeted her, as if she knew what was about to happen. Or was just a really good guesser. She spoke again and the circle flashed and as the metal stick was hurled, space started to stretch again.

By the time the projectile struck her, it had expended most of its force, merely striking her hip hard enough to make her stumble and bruise.

She staggered further back and jabbed a finger at Ranger. She said something, even as blood started dripping from her ears, and the remaining dozen or so Anubian harvesters pivoted and charged at Ranger.

Then she crouched and with the blood from her ears, began tracing more hieroglyphics on the floor.

Ranger had failed successfully. The metal pipe had struck the woman with minimal force to do to space deciding to abandon all the rules Ranger had thought existed. So she had sent all the jackal heads attacking Ranger.

Leaving the civilians alone.

It wasn’t something Ranger missed, the change in behavior was obvious. They wanted to make him the bottom of an extremely violent dog pile. Ranger welcomed the challenge as it meant they weren’t about to try and murder people who couldn’t fight back. And as a bonus the fireman had returned.

Ranger waited for the first jackal to lunge at him and then he took hold of one of its arms and redirected it into another jackal. A third jumped toward him, and Ranger ducked under it and then took hold of its neck and groin to redirect it into the ground as he stood back up, before leaning to the side and slamming a kick into a fourth jackal’s face.

The explosion of controlled violence had the next group of jackals at a distance where they seemed to be coordinating so they could move in as a group. This gave Ranger a moment to breathe before he drove an open palm into a jackal’s chest, sending it hurtling backwards. Two others took the opportunity to try and bite down on Ranger’s other arm. The skin resisted the punctures but the bite was powerful and only Ranger’s muscles having grown to an extreme size and density kept the bone from breaking from the force.

Ranger palm struck both of the jackals in the head, forcing them to release their bite and collapse on the floor. Ranger wiped sweat from his brow and kept his head turning, watching for where the next jackal would strike from.

Two jackalmen that were trying to sneak up on Hunter died. They simply ceased to exist as the sword of the Spirit separated the animating magic from their constructed bodies.

Rex staggered at the backlash. It wasn't that it was incredibly hard to destroy them - it was extremely easy, actually - but the strain increased with every one. With the amount of spells he'd already been casting, and the amount of spells he'd been shredding, Rex knew he wasn't going to be able to stay upright much longer.

A third jackalman vanished as Rex whipped the sword through its torso. The blade was made of light and had no weight, but suddenly it just seemed so amazingly heavy. His swings were slowed. Rex was sweating all over. He was certain he was developing a fever, and he was so thirsty. He was well into the beginning stages of heat exhaustion, as all the magic channeling through him slowly cooked him alive.

But the work wasn't over yet. He slashed at another monster, but he mistimed it and only struck air. He swiped again and the creature dodged it. It was a sudden thrust that nicked an elbow that finally got it.

It was only then that he got a good look at Hunter.

The government agent had bulked up to an impossible degree and was shaking the jackals off like a bear shook off terriers. Numbly, Rex filed away the man's likely mutant designation. Right now it was a godsend. Both of them would've been dead by now if they didn't have powers. Rex thanked God that the man had been there.

As Rex ambled forth to try to slash at another jackal, he remembered the sorceress and he remembered something else he could do. He didn't think he had another pillar of fire or sunshield in him, but he still had his voice.

Now it was time to take hers.

He pointed at the woman scrawling with her own blood and spake, "Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth."

Magic formed invisibly around her mouth and flooded it, ready to nullify any sound that emerged.

As Ranger grew more tired his movements became ever so slightly sloppier. A little more delayed. The power in each strike was still staggering as overkill was underrated, but that would only last so long. So it surprised Ranger when the next wave of jackals was met with a flurry of movement from himself that was so precise in its use, there was no wasted effort.

A strike right in front of one jackal to hit another, then slamming the elbow on the first as he brought the arm back. That was followed with a kick to a jackal Rnager had only vaguely heard behind him, the kick landing squarely in the chest and sending the jackal headed man backwards into another.

And the movement continued for several more seconds, a grace and finesse to Ranger’s fighting he had only ever dreamed of achieving. Then Ranger did something he was certain he didn’t do consciously.

When it was all said and done, Ranger was stunned at what he had just done but shook it off. He had cleared the remaining jackals and moved to support the fireman as he closed on the woman.

The woman seemed to be bleeding and was writing with her blood. Mystics, what was wrong with them? Her mouth was moving, but there didn’t seem to be any sound. This seemed to irritate the woman. Ranger had seen the firefighter pointing at her while saying something. Had he done it? Fire and silencing people… was he a mystic or was Ranger just not seeing the connection between the powers?

As Rex's strength was flagging, it seemed as though Hunter's was blossoming. The fireman was almost mesmerized with the sudden fluidity of actions. The remainder of the jackalmen were dismantled like dolls, flung and beaten and pounded with the elegance of a heron and the power of a gorilla. It almost seemed unfair. If you hadn't seen all the bodies of humans lying around them.

Rex sobered and focused, forcing himself to swallow and moisten his parched throat. Dear God, let this soon be over, he prayed. And give us the strength to see this through to the end.

He strode straight at the woman. "I need to get my hands on her," he said to Hunter. "I can stop her from doing anything else." It was ironic, Rex thought, the way he wielded magic to prevent other people from using magic. It was about as ironic as a firefighter using fire to fight.

As if understanding his words, or just a keen observer and predicter, the woman chose that moment to glare straight at Rex. She slapped her bloody hands on the ground and he reflexively held his sword up, ready to shatter any curse sent his way, even as he walked closer. "Watch my back," Rex said, suddenly aware he was walking through a potential minefield of spells.

He was almost in range to impale her on the sword and keep her from casting anything else when she just smiled. A pained, tragic smile. Once again, she pulled a glass vial from her clothes and before Rex could register what was happening, she crushed it in her hand and vanished in another flash of light and a whumpf of air.

This time, when she left, all of the jackalmen started dissipating into nothingness. The last scarabs and jackals ceased movement, their animas not longer empowered.

The feeling of powerful magicks had also vanished, as all that was left was Rex's sword and the compulsion in minds that was slowly wearing off, even as ranks of noncombatants started making their way into the room through other entrances.

The firefighter led the way and Ranger brought up the rear. The firefighter claimed he could stop the woman from doing anything. Ranger was certain that a fiery sword of that size would stop most anyone from doing anything so he let the man lead.

”Roger.” Ranger said before hammer fisting the side of a jackal’s head. He was the screen protecting the firefighter’s flank.

Ranger had cleared out most of the jackals but more had formed. They had lost their ability to advance in large groups so it was easy for Ranger to dispatch them and keep pace with the firefighter.

When they were close to the woman, she vanished. Crushed a vial and was gone in a flash. Following the disappearing act the nasties she had created began to vanish or freeze in place, returning to the lifeless marble they had been before.

”Where’d she go?” Ranger asked, his arms still up, waiting for the next threat to present itself. Yet, only confused and frightened civilians entered the room.

The impossible physique that likely would have torn Ranger’s shirt to pieces had he not ripped it off shrank back to his normal size. His breathing becoming heavier, his body taking the chance to recover from the strain of using so many facets of his power. Especially using so much strength for so long.  "Y' take fire fighter a little more literally than I would've thought, friend."

Rex stared down at the blood and writing in the sand. He stared at the bodies, sandstone and flesh alike. He stared at the marble beetles and jackals. He stared at the growing crowd of confused people. Just...what now?

Hunter's words refocused Rex. "I have no idea where she went," he said. He didn't feel like trying to find her either. He was in no shape for a confrontation. He frowned and he tried to feel for magic, but he didn't think he detected any. "I don't think she's anywhere nearby though," he said, kicking a beetle across the floor.

Rex gave a very tired smile at Hunter. "The irony is not lost on me," he said as he wiped his face. The sword of light was still in his hand, just in case he was wrong and the sorceress attacked again.

Then Rex turned to the crowd. "Alright people! Once you get in, I need you to move away from the doors," he shouted. "We don't need a stampede! Once the compulsion is over, move aside so you don't get trampled!" He continued shouting instructions, trying to cycle as many people through the compulsion as possible.

Rex didn’t know where the lady had gone but he didn’t think she was nearby. Ranger lowered his hands and let himself relax his posture some. He kept himself keyed into the situation incase Rex was wrong, but the scene seemed to agree with him.

”I stuffed one in a reliquary. Maybe I can find out why they were here, an’ where she went. Once the civilians are cleared out.” Ranger said, he let Rex handle directing the civilians. While Ranger could manage a crowd if needed, it wasn’t his specialty. He was used to darkside work not public safety.

Ranger produced his phone and called in to BlacTac to update them on what had transpired. From there the museum owners could be notified of the destruction that had unfolded. ”...Ready the guest room f’r one. Make it airtight. I’ll advise when en route.” Ranger before ending the call. Then as he stashed the phone he asked, ”Mutant ‘r magic?” Magic made more sense, the man seemed to have had a more varied ability set than most mutants could muster. He also seemed to be able to counter the scarab lady so exactly and Ranger was 90% sure she was using magic.

Befuddled people were easily moved to the sides and the pressure in the back was starting to vanish. What few police officers that hadn't been in the forefront of the compulsion and had therefore survived the slaughter, they started taking over.

This was a crime scene. Not a fire scene. Rex was relieved to have the authorities take over.

His frown intensified rapidly though. "You did WHAT?" Rex said as he pivoted toward Michael. "A reliquary?" The horror was unusually evident in Rex's voice. The sacrilege! The desecration! "Please tell me it was empty at least!" Reliquaries were where the bones and body parts of saints were buried! To simply stuff someone into one to lock them away was...was...it was almost enough to make Rex want to call upon more fire.

After another minute or so, as Hunter made a call, Rex finally let the sword vanish. No use keeping it around. He could always call it forth later. Right now he needed to sit.

He meandered over to a nearby bench and settled down. He grimaced at the effort, an expression that remained as Hunter ended the call.

"Magic," he said, looked back at the once-bulked out man. He nodded in his direction. "Mutant?" Rex hadn't seen any flashy lights, weird gestures, or random words, so mutations made the most sense.

You would have thought Ranger had just told Rex he had mooned the pope, or murdered him… With said mooning. Ranger had Texas’ ass and it wasn’t for the faint of heart.

”I didn’ check. Just opened the box an’ dumped Sandy inside.” Range said with a shrug, then added as he saw the fire in Rex’s eyes, ”It was a repro. I don’ think the Vatican would let this place have a real one.”

Rex took a seat on a bench after he let his sword burn out and confirmed he was a mystic. Range nodded in the affirmative to him and said, ”Mutant.” Then after a moment added, ”Y’ use y’r magic on me at that apartment t’ end that spell on me?” The one Sam had cast that had warped Ranger’s body and had caused his power to be acting strangely ever since. Like it was more responsive for some things, but something was holding back his other powers.

Rex narrowed his eyes in scrutiny over Hunter's words. He seemed truthful enough. It was rather too late to whip out a truth-detecting flame though.

"Good point," he said, dropping the matter and easing back into his customary frown. The firelight faded away. He didn't relax though. He never relaxed. Especially since the adrenaline was still pumping and he was surrounded by horrors.

"Yes," Rex admitted. The thought of lying never crossed his mind. Even though he didn't bandy his magic around or bring it up to others, like his coworkers, he wouldn't hide it if they asked or found out. Besides, why bother hiding things from Hunter now? After all the spells he'd already cast.

"Not sure what good it did though," Rex said. Thinking back, the weird warp spasms he'd seen made sense, if Sam had indeed tried to nullify Hunter's mutation. Since Hunter looked like he became a world class bodybuilder on demand, writhing musculature made sense. "Seems to me your power was on the fritz," he continued. "That's not something I can touch."

Then Rex had a thought. "You find the guy you were looking for yet?"

Rex confirmed that he had ended the spell Sam had cat on him. Ranger nodded and looked out at the crowd of people making their way out of the museum and the flash of red and blue in the distance. NYPD would likely be making their way to the pair soon.

”I wouldn't be so sure. It was on the Fritz then but… it's odd now. I think whatever he did left a change… It's hard t’ describe. Some things are easier, others seem like they're held just out of reach.” and his body had moved in it's own in a masterwork of motion.

Ranger leaned against a wall, the coolness of the marble felt nice on his bare skin. ”haven' caught him yet. The man can change who he is, like he can rewrite genetics ‘r somethin’. Completely become someone else. After he escaped from me he went t’ ground. I think takin’ his tools an’ documents set him back.”