The Smallest of Cracks
Title: The Smallest of Cracks
Fandom: Ghostbusters
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore
Summary: All four Ghostbusters were in the room, examining the painting. Vigo could feel the trap closing in on him - but he was Vigo. He had escaped the enraged mobs of Carpathia. They would break, as soon as he found the smallest of cracks…
Note: Written in early 2010. Archived from FFN. A conceptual crossover with Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters universe. Set in the same Loose Ends universe. The order, in case it is not perfectly obvious, is Egon, Winston, Peter, then Ray.
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i. the fire mage
There was no crack in this mind - that in itself was strange. The man's nature seemed far more likely to be air, with the abstracted way he referred to his books, and with the air of certainty that hung about him as he took readings on his various instruments.
He was bookish, lanky, with a wire-rimmed pair of large glasses. He should have been of air; the kinship between their natures should have left him a pathway to planting a seed of power, a mild geas in the man's mind.
But there was no room for him to penetrate. There was nothing there at all. Vigo slammed into a set of shields as solid as steel, and then howled in pain and fury as they set him aflame. This man was an accursed fire mage! How was this possible? There was so little passion in this man - he had the character of a piece of cardboard. Where was the passion, the burning temper unrestrained?
And then Vigo stared, almost hungrily. The power of a fire mage was great, and this man wasn't just a mage, but a master. But a master would have defenses against mental influence, and the theft of body…no. He could not use the man.
Vigo spun a set of shields to conceal his presence, swirling air, almost effervescent. There is nothing here, the shields whispered, but he laughed when the Fire Master made no response. He knew nothing! This was a man occupied with obscure learnings, and his esoteric instruments. He didn't even realise his shields had come under attack!
One of his foes was a Fire Master. But power without the will to use it, nor the knowledge to use it well was of little use. Vigo would not be outmatched, he decided. And the most stinging answer he could give was to slay the Fire Master - by fire.
ii. the soldier
This mind was tight, and disciplined, but Vigo knew he could slip through it.
Or so he thought.
He moved in - and found himself touching a great deal of loyalty, and a great deal of willpower. This man might not have had any mage gift that Vigo could tell, but his nature would have been of the earth, stark, solid, loyal, and unshakeable.
The earth, which was inimical, and greatly so, to Vigo's wielded power of air.
For the second time that day, he howled in anger and denied rage, falling back before that mind, which resisted all his attempts to lay a geas on it. He hesitated, before deciding that his current course was futile.
The way this man held himself, it was there in his bearing. He was a soldier, and a proper warrior. Vigo had seen this bearing several times - in the manner of some of his great generals, and the same implacability on the expression of the leader of the rebel army that had desposed him.
But that man had been a Warrior of the Light - this man was nothing compared to the formidable Ivan. Will without power to back it was dangerous, and the will in someone whose nature was of Earth was dangerous, but he was not a Warrior of the Light, and wielded no mental powers beyond his will.
That, at least, was a relief to Vigo. He breathed an incorporeal sigh of relief. The blazing golden broadsword that Ivan had wielded was almost carved into every inch of his being.
With more effort, with more power, Vigo could have placed the geas. Once, he could have. But he was too weak now, especially with his attempts to influence the powerful river of power that ran in channels below the city - and with his attempts to steal the Air Mage child and with his subversion of the man…Janosz Poha.
Instead, he trembled with rage at how weak he had become (he would be stronger, once he was re-embodied within the child!)
iii. the sensitive
That one should have been easy. He was weak, and Vigo knew he could crush him like an eggshell with all the power he had. He saw the man's lust for the woman with the child, and scoffed at his weakness, and his foolishness.
"Hey Vigo! Look over here - "
He was a fool. A very great fool, Vigo decided, icily reining in his anger. He wanted to unleash his power and destroy this man. But he did not want to alert the Fire Mage. And the four fools had somehow managed to banish Gozer the Gozerian, a Sumerian god! He had not gotten this far by being foolish and petty.
But if a disciplined mind was hard to penetrate, so was this. Thoughts were everywhere - it was a wild chaos of laziness, lust, and a certain vacuous foolishness which Vigo simply detested. He did not suffer fools. Had he been re-embodied, he would have slain the man, here and now.
And then he realised that although this man was of air… he was the wild and chaotic side of air, forever in motion without any sense of stillness. The same nature, but Vigo could not find a place to plant his geas -
That was when Vigo learned it would have been a mistake. He stepped back, his mental self grimacing as he realised how close towards disaster he had stepped. This man was a Sensitive! A latent one, and yet his power would have noticed and broken the compulsion the moment it was placed on him!
He hated this man. He could be cajoled, persuaded, but no geas, no compulsion would work on him. And yet, this was a man to be muleheaded just because be could. Vigo hated this man, hated the stupid quips which never failed to annoy him utterly, and knew that on the day he destroyed them, this man would be the first to go down - and the last to die.
iv. the innocent
This one was of water, Vigo decided. Perfectly content to flow around obstacles, unruffled by whatever that was thrown at him, and…disgusting excitable, like a puppy. And yet his mind was wide open - it was so open that Vigo encountered none of the shields that his comrades had.
There was little hatred, little jealousy, little disgust - in some ways, Vigo decided, he was even more disgustingly vacuous than the previous man. There was too much room to plant the geas, to slowly build the connection between them, to pave the way for possession if need be.
And why not? This man probably knew more about the rituals and practices than the Fire Master did, and that was an unexpected bonus. Another minion, another crack to break the team of four apart. How could this happen if one couldn't trust one's ally?
None of them would expect the attack when the attack came.
Vigo caught the man's eyes - and watched him fall endlessly, spiralling into the empty air of the connection that bound them, and smiled.
Fandom: Ghostbusters
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore
Summary: All four Ghostbusters were in the room, examining the painting. Vigo could feel the trap closing in on him - but he was Vigo. He had escaped the enraged mobs of Carpathia. They would break, as soon as he found the smallest of cracks…
Note: Written in early 2010. Archived from FFN. A conceptual crossover with Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters universe. Set in the same Loose Ends universe. The order, in case it is not perfectly obvious, is Egon, Winston, Peter, then Ray.
-
i. the fire mage
There was no crack in this mind - that in itself was strange. The man's nature seemed far more likely to be air, with the abstracted way he referred to his books, and with the air of certainty that hung about him as he took readings on his various instruments.
He was bookish, lanky, with a wire-rimmed pair of large glasses. He should have been of air; the kinship between their natures should have left him a pathway to planting a seed of power, a mild geas in the man's mind.
But there was no room for him to penetrate. There was nothing there at all. Vigo slammed into a set of shields as solid as steel, and then howled in pain and fury as they set him aflame. This man was an accursed fire mage! How was this possible? There was so little passion in this man - he had the character of a piece of cardboard. Where was the passion, the burning temper unrestrained?
And then Vigo stared, almost hungrily. The power of a fire mage was great, and this man wasn't just a mage, but a master. But a master would have defenses against mental influence, and the theft of body…no. He could not use the man.
Vigo spun a set of shields to conceal his presence, swirling air, almost effervescent. There is nothing here, the shields whispered, but he laughed when the Fire Master made no response. He knew nothing! This was a man occupied with obscure learnings, and his esoteric instruments. He didn't even realise his shields had come under attack!
One of his foes was a Fire Master. But power without the will to use it, nor the knowledge to use it well was of little use. Vigo would not be outmatched, he decided. And the most stinging answer he could give was to slay the Fire Master - by fire.
ii. the soldier
This mind was tight, and disciplined, but Vigo knew he could slip through it.
Or so he thought.
He moved in - and found himself touching a great deal of loyalty, and a great deal of willpower. This man might not have had any mage gift that Vigo could tell, but his nature would have been of the earth, stark, solid, loyal, and unshakeable.
The earth, which was inimical, and greatly so, to Vigo's wielded power of air.
For the second time that day, he howled in anger and denied rage, falling back before that mind, which resisted all his attempts to lay a geas on it. He hesitated, before deciding that his current course was futile.
The way this man held himself, it was there in his bearing. He was a soldier, and a proper warrior. Vigo had seen this bearing several times - in the manner of some of his great generals, and the same implacability on the expression of the leader of the rebel army that had desposed him.
But that man had been a Warrior of the Light - this man was nothing compared to the formidable Ivan. Will without power to back it was dangerous, and the will in someone whose nature was of Earth was dangerous, but he was not a Warrior of the Light, and wielded no mental powers beyond his will.
That, at least, was a relief to Vigo. He breathed an incorporeal sigh of relief. The blazing golden broadsword that Ivan had wielded was almost carved into every inch of his being.
With more effort, with more power, Vigo could have placed the geas. Once, he could have. But he was too weak now, especially with his attempts to influence the powerful river of power that ran in channels below the city - and with his attempts to steal the Air Mage child and with his subversion of the man…Janosz Poha.
Instead, he trembled with rage at how weak he had become (he would be stronger, once he was re-embodied within the child!)
iii. the sensitive
That one should have been easy. He was weak, and Vigo knew he could crush him like an eggshell with all the power he had. He saw the man's lust for the woman with the child, and scoffed at his weakness, and his foolishness.
"Hey Vigo! Look over here - "
He was a fool. A very great fool, Vigo decided, icily reining in his anger. He wanted to unleash his power and destroy this man. But he did not want to alert the Fire Mage. And the four fools had somehow managed to banish Gozer the Gozerian, a Sumerian god! He had not gotten this far by being foolish and petty.
But if a disciplined mind was hard to penetrate, so was this. Thoughts were everywhere - it was a wild chaos of laziness, lust, and a certain vacuous foolishness which Vigo simply detested. He did not suffer fools. Had he been re-embodied, he would have slain the man, here and now.
And then he realised that although this man was of air… he was the wild and chaotic side of air, forever in motion without any sense of stillness. The same nature, but Vigo could not find a place to plant his geas -
That was when Vigo learned it would have been a mistake. He stepped back, his mental self grimacing as he realised how close towards disaster he had stepped. This man was a Sensitive! A latent one, and yet his power would have noticed and broken the compulsion the moment it was placed on him!
He hated this man. He could be cajoled, persuaded, but no geas, no compulsion would work on him. And yet, this was a man to be muleheaded just because be could. Vigo hated this man, hated the stupid quips which never failed to annoy him utterly, and knew that on the day he destroyed them, this man would be the first to go down - and the last to die.
iv. the innocent
This one was of water, Vigo decided. Perfectly content to flow around obstacles, unruffled by whatever that was thrown at him, and…disgusting excitable, like a puppy. And yet his mind was wide open - it was so open that Vigo encountered none of the shields that his comrades had.
There was little hatred, little jealousy, little disgust - in some ways, Vigo decided, he was even more disgustingly vacuous than the previous man. There was too much room to plant the geas, to slowly build the connection between them, to pave the way for possession if need be.
And why not? This man probably knew more about the rituals and practices than the Fire Master did, and that was an unexpected bonus. Another minion, another crack to break the team of four apart. How could this happen if one couldn't trust one's ally?
None of them would expect the attack when the attack came.
Vigo caught the man's eyes - and watched him fall endlessly, spiralling into the empty air of the connection that bound them, and smiled.