Wedding Disaster

Laughter rippled through the room, the groom glancing over his shoulder with a smirk at the gathered guests. Most had been invited by the bride. Artemis was only responsible for the presence of the Cult of Blood, Daisy and his youngest brother. A smile drifted across his face. The plus one system had brought each member's significant other, if they had one. Scrounger was just chained to a wall, chewing an old bit of an old fancy tunic Artemis used to wear when he was about twelve. Cailyin wasn't present. Probably for the best.
"I can think of no just impediment why I, Artemis Greogair Everild Ashburn may not be joined in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Foster..." He half-mumbled, embarrassed, repeating after the woman marrying them together.
Mary did the same, gently taking Artee's hands. He pulled away slightly from the cold touch, an involuntary reaction. "I can think of no just ime-impi-" Another ripple of laughter. Getting tongue-tied. Adorable. "Impediment why I, Mary Elizabeth Foster, may not be joined in marriage to Artemis Greogair Everild Ashburn."

Artee had to admit the cold touch was unpleasant, but he had been becoming more accustomed to it as time went on. The exchange of rings thing was awkward. The consummating kiss reluctant. Mostly he put on a brave face and claimed staying with the Cult of Blood so long had made him accustomed to the cold. The truth was he would probably never be properly used to it, being a prince of a kingdom of fire. People like him needed very warm climates to remain healthy. At least he was never too hot.

Kathy nudged Dennis, pointing. "How many has Adam had?" She asked in French. Dennis snickered and shrugged.
"Too many."
Adam had hold of a very annoyed Ryan's wrist with one hand, a glass in the other that was desperately trying to hold on to the champagne within as the magician waved it so wildly. Whatever he was saying, it was definitely worth a slap, possibly a kick where it hurts.

As of late, Pim Van Dael had been looking increasingly ill. He had been seen talking to himself lately as well. That was what drew Scrounger to him. Scents of mental illness. Scrounger loved that stuff. It was clear he unnerved Pim, who kept trying to shoo him away half-desperately. Well, at least they weren't drunk. Morticia was drunk, and her boyfriend was trying to avoid her. Actually, the only old Cult members who weren't drunk were Scrounger and Mystica, and Mystica wasn't exactly enjoying herself, sat in a corner with only Persephone, Lunetta and Yang to talk to...

Outside, across the road, in a park, sat some very bored villains. Ruby cuddled up close to Beau, her boyfriend, hand resting gently on her swollen stomach. Kold yawned, leaning back on the grass. It was dark, the way people like them liked it, especially when they saw the drunk girl stagger out to throw up outside the bar. Amethyst Got to her feet, fists clenching. The drunk girl was a member of the Cult of Blood. The cult only went somewhere as a group, the girl would not be alone. Amethyst had a bit of a thing against Ashburn. Officially, you could have thought of her as a crazy ex. Pink electricity danced around her fists. She had never been a villain beforehand, but she had made friends with a girl she hadn't known was a villain. She sent her charge at the horned blonde before the bar, who saw and twirled out of the way, shrieking. Kold and Ice grinned, getting up to join the bombardment. Beau and Ruby just watched, admiring the wild vectors slashing out, cutting through ice and crystal, occasionally reaching far enough to slash skin and steel. By now she was bleeding herself, caught countless times by projectiles, her screams masked by the booming music and sounds of fun, but the more it happened, the more people inside became aware, and finally five people came to investigate, long before Shame was too badly damaged. When they came out, Kold and Amethyst faltered, stopped shooting, but Ice kept on with her onslaught, cackling. Beau stepped forward this time, bowing his head and splaying his hands before him, ripping up the ground in front of the building, along with electrical wires and piping, blocking off the door and causing general chaos.

The music shut off, the lights went out and the laughter died down. A couple of beams of light flickered on in the palms of people present and Katherine Devlin tried the door. It wouldn't budge. Lunetta, Shame, Tazor, Karma, Kitzu and Mystica were all out there and by the looks of it, couldn't get back in. With a scream of frustration, she kicked the door. It didn't even rattle in its frame. Instead, she just hurt her foot. That was when the claws pierced through the opposite wall, dragging and rotating, forming a hole large enough for the Dagger to step through. "Having a party?" She asked politely, hands behind her back. "Mind if we crash?"
Artemis swore. This was what happened when over half the heroes in Circle and companions didn't wear masks. His eye met Adam's, but the next thing they knew, Scrounger had charged the Dagger, and suddenly the pipes forming the heating system were broken, jutting out, sharp, hazardous, spraying hot steam all over. There were a few screams. Ashburn had lost sight of all his friends, and his wife. Something collided with him.  He was on the floor, unable to breathe, someone making some kind of pink light stood above him and whoever had fallen on him. Scrounger. Amethyst. Damn it. He sent twin jets of fire at her, but she was gone in an instant and he focussed on getting the thing that was Scrounger off him. He was unconscious. Bleeding badly. "Sedge!" He yelled over the noise in the background, trying to ignore the flashes of light, explosions, ice shots, fireblasts..."Sedge, wake up, please!" He had to admit, he was close to all of the members of the Cult. Was Sedge even breathing? He was quickly distracted from checking by something else. Adam. Adam was fighting the Dagger. He still sucked big time at magic. He had summoned a cricket bat into his hand, but that was already in pieces. He had clearly tried a wide variety of things on her, but it appeared he knew no spell that could be of help, and now he was just backing off, trying to think. The Dagger retracted her claws, managing to confuse him, and gave him a little shove back, swiping his feet out from under him with one of her boots.

She must have seen the pipe behind him. At first, Adam didn't register it had stabbed him, but he certainly registered the pain. His breath was coming in irregular gasps and half-sobs, eyes wide. It had gone right through his belly. He looked down and could see the blood-coated lead right there. Lead piping. Of all the things to be stabbed by, it would have to be something toxic. His hands gripped the protruding edge of the pipe, tears forming in his eyes. Being his first time, if he survived this he would most likely be put off drinking for a lifetime. Next he knew, Ashburn was on his feet, hurling his twin jets, setting the Dagger alight.
"I can't have one day!" He screamed, kicking her to the floor and looking for the next one, which wasn't hard. He turned and he was face-to-face with Ice. "It's my wedding day. I just wanted to have a good day, and just like every single other day of my life, it's been ruined by who I am and how others see me!"
Ice grinned. The next thing he knew, he felt the cold from behind him, frozen solid before he had time to react.

His eyes fluttered open. Someone was crouched above him. Archibald. His little brother. God, he was so cold...
"Artee, you're alive!" He sounded so relieved. The block of ice...god, his mind was jumbled. He sat up, joints stiff, and looked around. Living room. Cult of Blood. Lying on the floor. Scrounger was curled up on the sofa, Cailyin sat cross-legged beside him. Healed. Cailyin knew magic. Lunetta could heal. One of those two. He was fine, anyway. Mystica and Kitzu were in the corner, looking pretty damn miserable. "Adam and Morticia...?"
Cailyin shook his head. "Adam's in hospital. Tish...sorry."
"Ryan and Adam's family are waiting at the hospital to see if he'll be okay..." Mystica told him quietly.
Cailyin nodded and stopped the next question before Artee so much as opened his mouth. "Mary's fine. She beat the hell out of Amethyst from what I've heard. Most she's got is a little scratch on her face. Nattalie was grabbed and brought far away from the fight as soon as it broke out. Persephone."