Cain 2015
By Nute. Originally posted on x_project.
"Yeeeeep, that's a rune."
"How can you tell?"
"Because it's funny looking, it glows, and it's carved into this concrete pillar. It's a rune." Cain Marko shook his head, despite the motion remaining unseen beneath his domelike helmet. "See these?" He held up one fist, the dull red knuckledusters right under the state worker's nose. "Those little carved things are runes. Ain't nothing special. It's like heiroglyphics for the hippie crowd."
"So... what's it say?" The state building inspector was less than happy to be ankle-deep in watery mud in a parking garage. "It's got some mystical significance, right?"
"Gimme a moment." Cain looked at the heads-up display inside his helmet, giving the subvocal command that switched his communications from external to the X-Net. "Cypher? Need a translation on some rune over here. Shooting you the video now."
Doug Ramsey's voice came back over the link. "It's proto-Sumerian. It's a glyph, not a rune, by the way. If it's Urian, it's the symbol for a destination point, or a door opening. If it's Midianite, it's, uh, it means the men's bathroom."
Rolling his eyes, Cain switched over to the embedded cellular phone in the helmet, dialing a preprogrammed number. He waited impatiently for three rings, ignoring the building inspector's complaints.
"Wanda here. Hello, Cain. I assume since you're using the helmet phone that this isn't a social call?"
"Hey Wanda. Ask Steve if there's any... hold on." He switched the communicator back on. "Proto-what?"
"Proto-Sumerian."
"Thanks." Switch. "Any proto-Sumerian rituals using the Urian glyph for a destination point, and if they're bad."
Wanda simply giggled in response. "Hold on, Cain." He could hear her set the phone down and raise her voice. "Honey? Cain wants to know if proto-Sumerian rituals using the Urian glyph for destinations are bad... I'll ask. Cain, are you sure it's not the Midianite glyph for the men's bathroom?"
"Is that bad too?"
"Honey, is the men's bathroom bad? No, it's Cain, he's in New York. Oh, okay." Another giggle. "If it's the Midianite glyph, New York's going to be buried in god crap. If it's the Urian glyph, New York's going to be invaded by demons."
"So in other words, it's bad."
"Honey, is it- yes, yes it's bad."
"Thanks, Wanda. Tell Steve thanks, and I'll be over for tonight's poker game. If New York isn't buried in crap or demons."
He turned back to the building inspector, smiling through the opaque dome. "Gotta smash it. City Ordinance 3012.2," Cain read off the notes on his heads-up display. "Prevention of Illegal Extradimensional Incursion. You're gonna want to get outside behind the yellow tape." Of course, the moment Cain had been called on site when the glyph was discovered, the city had cordoned off a three-block radius around the garage and had all the cars removed.
"Wh... what's going to happen?" the building inspector stammered, backing towards the stairs. Flexing his arms, Cain brushed his knuckles together, sparks flying from the red metal.
"I'm gonna hit it. Real hard. You got one minute." The seconds began ticking down on the inside of Cain's helmet as he switched back to comms. "Someone let me know when Schmendrick the geek gets to a safe distance? He is? Great. Juggernaut out."
Glaring through his helmet at the glowing symbol, Cain reared one fist back. "Only one god allowed to stir up shit in my town," he growled, "And that's me."
Fist met concrete, and magic met magic. The shock wave was felt all the way through the five boroughs. And the Juggernaut earned yet another paycheck.
