Magmatic Moon

"Out!"

The crowd roars, some with approval, some with denial. Beneath his mask, he eyes the eclipse. It's light casts a reflection on his eyes, and they glow red.

But he holds strong in his faith. He was chosen by the Gods to hold this post. The lumbering creature of wood and chitin moves past him to the dugout, and he can swear he hears a song in it's wake. He shakes his head. These players from a heathen god were tolerated for reasons that escaped him, but that didn't change the fact that they were allowed.

His hand raises to the icon under his chest protector, and he squeezes it. Peace and calm. Another game. Do not pay attention to the weather. You need not worry. Eyes are upon you.

A Feeling approaches. He witnesses her as she takes position at bat. She who was once possessed of peace and calm. So much had happened to her in the years since. The Umpires watched as much as any other, though some for different reasons. She was a Threat, no matter what team she was on. But especially here, surrounded by the first of the teams to call for the murder of gods.

The ball winds up. The sky swirls. He feels his skin stand on edge as a Domain is established. Abandoned Deity-Form 8 opens a connection between Herself and the pitcher, and he can see Her influence begin corrupting immediately.

Veins streaking black, teeth cracking from the force of the grin. The ball becomes pitted and scarred, a reflection of the moon above, promising much more than Jaylen's deathmarks.

He inhales, and the stadium warnings are already blaring out. There was no known cure. With so many in attendance, the only way to limit the damage was to enact elimination protocols. He grips the icon beneath his protector harder, and establishes connection with the Gods.

Sanction granted.

Sentence, Death.

The energy wells up from inside of him, and for a brief moment he feels as of he will burst with the stored power. An inhalation of faith. And he exhales Destruction.

Except: the beam is intercepted. The unshelled one reaches out a palm, and a beam of coherant deity granted light that should eradicate all who touch it is caught. She looks back at him, and despite the outrage in his heart, the look in her eyes makes sweat bead on his brow.

Nagomi McDaniel brings the gathered energy to her mouth and swallows it, the bale flame disappearing into bone and meat and chitin. She doubles over, and her elytra flare. There is so much beneath them. Her scream overwhelms the stadium sirens. When the pitch is thrown, full of a dark promise that mortals cannot know, she meets it with bat and the ball disappears.

No, that isn't right. He can see it with the eyes granted to him by the Gods. The ball flickers and then leaves this plane. It soars into the sky, and shatters the lynchpin holding Abandoned Deity-Form 8's Domain intact. Fire and anger and rage visiting a place vold and barren of life and emotion. Silence overtakes everything, except for the wet sound of the claws receeding into her back.

"Home run."

Cheers. A shuffling of players. The pitcher,  incurable and mad, looks around confused before he is tended to by his managers. Play continues. Play must continue. But even still. He cannot trust them.

If he cannot incinerate them, then what is he to do if the Moon calls to them next?