|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 20, 2015 19:57:05 GMT -5
Patrick chuckled once, awkwardly at first but then turning genuine as he listened to Madison play her violin. He cheerfully elbowed Ace, hoping the upbeat tune would do its part to lift her spirits.
Evan, meanwhile, was prowling about nearby, sniffing and scrutinizing the shadows that seemed to writhe along the ground around them like fog. Something was off. He just knew it. By force of habit, he growled at the shadows, only to be shushed by Patrick so as not to interrupt Madison's song.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 20, 2015 20:02:10 GMT -5
Ace hardly responded to Madison's sudden break into song, not even with so much as a smile. She simply shrugged and stared at... nothing in particular; it was hard to tell from her solid black eyes. Eventually, though, she did lightly bob her head to the beat, if only to humor Patrick.
Maybe it was just the sour mood she was in, but... something seemed wrong. Ace swore she could sense a presence darker than her own.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 20, 2015 20:18:45 GMT -5
The little mummy continued to fiddle around, interrupted only by "PREPARE TO FORFEIT YOUR SOULS" and "I SHALL RULE FOREVER" twice. Both times however, she continued as if nothing had happened, as if she was not randomly spouting words of impending doom.
Madison was totally unaware of anything beyond her fiddling and the group.
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 20, 2015 20:41:11 GMT -5
"Meheheheh..."
All of a sudden, a giant, black, clawed hand rose from the shadows and grabbed Madison's arm, bringing her bow to a halt. It was soon followed by the arm's owner, a massive black creature with piercing white eyes and whose body seemed to be one with the shadows it commanded.
"I should think not, little one. These souls are ours for the taking."
Patrick squeaked with horror. "S-Sanguine...!"
As soon as he shouted the Præt'nos general's name, the shadows erupted into a massive army of demons, surrounding the foursome like a malevolent swarm of oversized insects. Those closest to Evan tackled the feral man to the ground, prompting him to writhe about and howl in fury. But to Patrick's shock, not all of the Præt'nos that made up the intruding horde bore the white eyes of their general; rather, there was clearly an even mix of white, red, yellow and blue.
"Oh, mama. Ohhhhhh mama..."
Sure enough, three more Præt'nos hovered up to them. Choleric, Melancholic and Phlegmatic, there to stand by Sanguine. The four generals together... a sure sign that Patrick and his companions were thoroughly screwed.
"It's about damn time!" Choleric snarled. "It's bad enough we've been secluded here with virtually no progress!"
"But to think the Keymaster would just come to us..." Melancholic mused as he watched Evan's fruitless attempts to squirm free of the advancing shadows.
"And just what do we have here?" Phlegmatic crooned as he gently took Ace by the chin. "A new demon in the making?"
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER, YOU CREEP!" Patrick hollered, standing up and charging his hands with green evocation energy.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 20, 2015 20:49:52 GMT -5
Ace growled at the sight of the demonic army. She was SO not in the mood to put up with these guys, and she was absolutely LIVID when Phlegmatic's disgusting shadow tendrils brushed across her face. Her fury already near boiling point, she swatted the general's arm away and leaped to her feet, taking a stance next to Patrick and drawing her staffs.
"I'm... I'm not..." She couldn't bring herself to finish. For all she knew, Ace might as well have been a demon, not that she was happy about it. "You freaks better slither back to whatever hellhole you came from, or else you might see something that nobody wants to see."
...Especially herself.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 20, 2015 21:11:54 GMT -5
"Um, I may not know what's going on half the time but- YOU SHALL ALL PAY FOR THIS- I dunno, these guys wouldn't hurt us, would you giant snakeys~?" Madison chirped, her violin and bow out of reach. She put her free hand to her mouth in embarassment upon seeing the looks she was getting.
"Oh. I'll take that as -YOUR DEATHS SHALL BE MY BEGINNING- they would hurt us. Oh, this is the second worst situation I've ever ended up in!" A random slimy toad jumped on Madison's shoulder, its wet body feeling weird agaimst her dry, death-like skin. "Second- WORST- worst."
She began to struggle against Sanguine, flailing her arms and legs as much as she could.
"C'mon, I already dunno what's- DEFY ME AND SUFFER MY DISPLEASURE- goin' on, there's no need to hold me like this! SUFFER MY DISPLEASURE!"
Without realizing she did it, the bandages on Madison's arms suddenly extended and slapped Sanguine in the face.
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 20, 2015 21:31:33 GMT -5
Suffice to say, even if a mere slap was completely ineffective against the shadow demon, Sanguine was still taken aback slightly by the strike. "Rgh... Insolent wench!" He promptly released his grip on Madison's arm and formed the shadows he summoned into a sword.
Phlegmatic chuckled at Ace's threat. "You're an interesting one... for a fallen. The demon within you seems anxious to come out. I do believe I'd like to see it."
Meanwhile, Melancholic glided over to Evan, who was still struggling as the Præt'nos minions pinned him down. "Such a shame. All this newfound bestial aggression seems to be nothing but a detriment, doesn't it, Mr. Anders?"
Evan could only screech at the demon, his rage increasing as his chances of escape decreased.
"Evan...!" Patrick's evocation energy brightened as he charged up a light spell. "You stay away from him, you monst- HRK!!!"
His spell dissipated when a shadow suddenly wrapped around his neck, lifting him up and bringing him face-to-face with Choleric. "Hmph. How is it you're even weaker now than you were in your precious valley? At this rate, once we have the key, conquering this pathetic island will be ALL TOO EASY!"
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 21, 2015 9:34:38 GMT -5
"PATRICK!" Ace had no time to react to Phlegmatic's remark before Patrick was whisked away by Choleric. She immediately charged at the red-eyed demon, swinging a staff at his head and building up a mighty force of gravitons too quickly to dodge and too powerfully to shake off.
Once Patrick was out of Choleric's grip, Ace touched back down, pushed off the ground and flew like a flash at Melancholic, aiming the spade end of her staff at his neck in the hopes of getting him away from Evan.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 21, 2015 15:10:01 GMT -5
I've gotta get outta here! Gotta get some help! Madison turned to leave...
No, you will bring me their souls! But was then stopped in place by a mysterious force...
I'm a very non-linear thinker Mr Ghosty, now go away! Shrugging it off, the blonde-haired mummy made a break for it, only stopping to spout off vaguely-worded statements of impending doom and threats to devour souls.
The violinist wasn't the brightest bulb on the chandelier, but even she knew when the situation was getting rough. She had to get some help for them! They seemed like nice people after all, and she would have hated to see anything bad happen to any of them~!
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 21, 2015 15:29:43 GMT -5
"KYA-!!" Upon taking the powerful blow from Ace's staff, Choleric promptly dropped Patrick and set his sights on the fallen angel. "So that's how it's going to be, is it? Fine by me!"
At the fire general's command, a swarm of shadows and Præt'nos lashed out at Ace as she charged at Melancholic, along with a wall of flames that separated the angel from his fellow general.
Patrick coughed and gasped for air, rubbing his sore throat. When he looked up, the first thing he saw was Sanguine unleashing his own barrage of shadows at Madison. Without thinking, Patrick threw a light spell at these shadows, causing them to dissipate and open a path for the mummy girl. "GO! HURRY!" Then, having done his part to help her, he scrambled to his feet and ran after Ace.
With the shadows effectively restraining Evan, Melancholic reached down and raked his claws along Evan's shirt. "Not sure why, but I was expecting more of a cha-"
His yellow eyes widened when he discovered that a certain key was distinctly absent from Evan's neck. He thoroughly checked the rest of Evan's person, ignoring the snarls and snaps from the Keymaster, but still Melancholic found no trace of the Paramount Key.
"Hmph. Well, I suppose I should've seen this coming." He turned and cast a piercing gaze at Patrick as the teen mage approached. "Perhaps your companions will yield more favorable results."
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 21, 2015 22:10:51 GMT -5
"AAH!" Ace was flying too quickly to stop or dodge Choleric's fire, bolting straight through the wall of flames and toppling to the ground after coming out on the other side. She tumbled in the grass, effectively extinguishing any of the flames that clung to her, but the damage it had done to her was evident, as more of her clothes had been singed and the loose flaps of her old skin that still clung to her had been charred and dried like paper.
Immediately after getting up, she was swarmed by shadows and the demons that commanded them. Berserker rage quickly overpowered her as she swung her staffs at any and every shadow that veered too close, slicing them in half, pounding them into the ground with tremendous force, and stabbing them in the soft spot at the base of the neck whenever she had a clear enough shot.
"You creeps... You freaking monsters...! I can't have ONE moment of peace, CAN I?!" Ace screeched as she unleashed a mighty blast of electricity at the demons, effectively knocking them back.
"For all I care... all you demons... can go straight to hell!"
That dark aura that Ace had once commanded had returned, and it felt more blindingly powerful than ever.
|
|
|
|
Post by DanteMGalileo on Oct 22, 2015 16:28:18 GMT -5
The young mummy ran as fast as she could, only pausing to fire off more statements of impending doom.
"DON'T THINK THIS IS OVER"
"I SHALL RETURN!"
Okay Madison, gotta keep runnin' there's gotta be someone that'll help you...~
THONK!
"Ow," was all Madison could say as she collided into a willow tree, tiny unicorns and snakes circling her head comically.
|
|
|
|
Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Oct 23, 2015 13:23:30 GMT -5
That thunk really caught his attention. Would've been hard not to notice that atop the strange yelling.
A rather unusually dressed man with no head on his shoulders (instead holding it under his left arm) ran over. "What... what's going on here?"
As if this place wasn't strange enough already. Still, Bruno supposed, it was better than being dead.
|
|
|
|
Post by ParamountKeymaster on Oct 23, 2015 13:41:17 GMT -5
"Oh no... not again..." Patrick screeched to a halt by Ace's side, firing light spell after light spell at the shadows. "Ace, babe, I know we're in a tight spot, but you gotta keep it together! We don't want a repeat of- YIPE!"
He was cut short when he was suddenly hoisted into the air by Melancholic. The demon had a tight grip on his shirt, and Patrick could feel the tug of the Paramount Key's string against his neck.
"Ah-haaaaa..."
In hindsight, wearing the key despite being unable to use it probably wasn't a good idea.
Phlegmatic drifted dangerously close to Ace. He didn't attack. He simply observed her with a curious glint in his bright blue eyes. "Go on. I wanna see what you're capable of, little demon."
As if he had taken note of Ace's method of extermination, Evan slashed at the shadows until he had enough leeway to fully lunge at them, raking his claws and sinking his fangs into the necks of any Præt'nos he could. And surprisingly, his brutal method was proving effective.
It certainly caught the attention of a certain green-eyed Præt'nos.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Oct 23, 2015 22:32:50 GMT -5
"Patrick!" Ace was already on edge as it was, but Phlegmatic's snide remark certainly pushed her way off of it. "I am not a DEMON!!"
Screaming at the top of her lungs, Ace charged at Melancholic and delivered unto him an almighty uppercut, quickly following it up by slicing through his shadowy form with her staff. She then just as quickly turned back around and brought her staffs down on Phlegmatic. Every which way she turned, as the shadows and the Præt'nos that commanded them swarmed around her, Ace served them devastating blow after devastating blow. Staffs swinging, gravity crushing, lightning cracking... no holding back, no mercy. These monsters had to die.
Ace was not a demon. She would hear no word to the contrary.
These freaks had no idea what a true demon was like...
|
|
