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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jan 28, 2018 20:34:46 GMT -5
"... Nrgh..."
After that unpleasant experience, Percy found himself in an alleyway, his flesh-wings slowly melting back to form his torso. He shivered; his light pants and lack of anything on top did not provide much protection from the cold night. His vision was blurry as he took in his own hands, covered in dirt and... some other substances he could not begin to identify. "I can't make it back... I can't even maintain my wings..."
His pace was uneven, each step seemingly taking more energy than the last. His bare feet, although accustomed to rough surfaces, stung when they went down. "Fuck... It never hurts this much... I haven't felt this kind of pain since I stopped wearing shoes..." A growling sound was heard next. "... Ugh... And I need food... so... hungry..."
Percy fell down after taking another step, being forced to crawl, as that was clearly his only method of locomotion now. "Gah... hah... Is this... how it ends...?"
"Take it easy, kid. Get some rest. I'll take it from here," came Imago from Percy's head. A groaning sound was heard.
"And just what... do you plan on doing?"
"Ssh... No more talking. Only rest now..."
Percy felt himself being forced down as another consciousness rose to the top. The teenager's purple eyes turned red, and red markings appeared all over his body, glowing in the faint light...
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 10, 2018 17:04:10 GMT -5
"Hey..."
The glow from a flashlight cut through the darkness, steadily growing brighter as the one wielding the light stepped closer to the young man on the ground. He stopped a few yards away, inspecting the boy from a safe distance, his own tall, muscular frame only barely illuminated by the subtle backlight. It wasn't readily apparent, but he seemed to be wearing a uniform of some kind.
"Sir?" His tone was firm yet warm. Confident yet concerned. The voice of someone who wanted to help. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 11, 2018 16:37:32 GMT -5
Oh, joy. Light.
Imago slowly got to his feet and turned around, eyes narrowing at the source of the light. "Turn down that damn thing, child." He took in the irony of his words contrasting with his host's youthful appearance. "I'm not interested in idle chit-chat. This body needs rest, and we just had to crash in this forsaken alleyway."
The red-eyed man frowned. "I said turn that damn thing down. Do it, or I will dim the lights myself. You don't want to join my collection, child."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 15, 2018 19:03:53 GMT -5
Excuse me...?
Scott held his tongue for the sake of not agitating this young man any further, narrowing his eyes and lowering his flashlight just enough to keep it out of Imago's direct line of sight but allow himself to still see at least somewhat clearly. The cogs in his mind were already turning at a rapid rate. Between the red eyes, glowing markings, and repeated use of the word "child" directed at what was clearly a grown man, it was almost immediately obvious that the teen on the ground in front of him wasn't exactly human.
"If you need rest so badly, I don't think this is the ideal location for it, crash or no crash. Need someone to point you in the right direction?"
Honestly, Scott was fairly certain what the demon's answer would be. If anything, he was the one who needed direction. But he couldn't deny his curiosity, especially considering the situation he had just come out of...
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 15, 2018 20:38:25 GMT -5
Imago let his sowl soften as the human listened, lowering the light. Not as low as he would have liked it, but it was enough. "Good listening, child. I guess I don't have to add you to my collection... for now."
He hid a wince as he walked over to and past the man. "I do not require the assistance of your kind." He turned to look at the one with the light stick. "In fact, it seems as though more often, you require the assistance of my kind. But, if you will excuse me, I have somewhere to b-"
The brunette froze, perking his pointed ears slightly to hear a voice, although it sounded out of breath. "Hey, Perce! That you?"
"Oh, joy. It's the blonde buffoon." Clearly, the not-a-youth was not fond of the owner of that voice. "I would suggest moving out of the way, child, unless you wish to be-"
CRASH. Imago didn't hide the wince this time. "Plowed down."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Feb 27, 2018 0:08:57 GMT -5
Scott's frown narrowed slightly. He wasn't keen on the idea of this "collection" the demon was referring to. Even more than that, this freak was insinuating that Scott needed his help? That any human needed some filthy demonic parasite's help? Excuse me??
"Listen, sir..." The irritation in that second word was hard to miss. "I'm not sure where you think you're off to in such a hurry, but I would appreciate it if you showed a little cooperatiACK-!!!"
Right when the newcomer smacked into Scott from behind, Scoot quickly took initiative. Remaining firmly on his feet, the officer whipped around, grabbed the young man, spun them both forward again and slammed him against the wall, tightly folding his arms behind his back. Barely even panting from the hasty maneuver, Scott looked between the blond and the demon, insuring that the former had no intent to hurt him and the latter wouldn't run off on him.
"Alright, start talking. You know this GAUGH...?!!"
This time, Scott was effectively blindsided as a shadow suddenly wrapped around his waist, yanked him off of William and threw him against the opposite wall, an impact he only barely managed to brace himself for. Once the shadow released him, Scott quickly scrambled to his feet and pulled his gun out of his belt, aiming it where he saw someone else approaching from the darkness.
Rather than confront the armed officer, Kelsey ran over to the blond for a quick, anxious inspection. "Will! You okay, man?"
Someone else trailed closely behind her, slowing to a halt a few feet in between Kelsey and the officer. Though his silhouette was hard to distinguish in the dark, Scott could clearly make out a pair of bright yellow eyes against the darkness. Hastily, Scott picked his flashlight back up and pointed it at this newcomer, finding a tall, blue-skinned humanoid being with distinctly dragon-like features.
And the moment the two made eye contact in the light, their jaws simultaneously dropped.
"Paul??"
"SCOTT??"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Feb 27, 2018 15:13:07 GMT -5
"Ouch! Sorry I crashed into you, I'm looking for my-"
Before William could complete that thought, he found himself being grabbed, arms pinned behind his back, against the wall. "What the hell is going on, Perce?! Is this one of those crazy Aicarmean cops?!"
Imago rolled his eyes at this, quickly regaining his composure while cursing his body's lack of strength and size. "If you think they're brutal in Aicarme, you should have seen the ones back in a certain country on Old Earth." His attention returned to the older man. "Listen here, human. I would suggest releasing the blonde buffoon. I don't particularly care about him, but the vessel does. So, I'm going to give you until five to do so. One... Two... Four..."
Before Imago could say the final number, that was when a shadow wrapped around the officer's waist, tossing him to the side and releasing the blonde buffoon in the process. William rubbed his wrists, shaking slightly. "Hah... I'll be fine... Just so long as he's not one of those Aicarmean nutcases..."
Imago blinked. "Impressive. Why can't you be more like that, William?" He seemed sincere in both his complement to Kelsey, and his insult towards William.
"Ugh.. Hi, Imago... I see you're as pleasant as ever..." Not giving the demon any sort of satisfaction, the blonde refused to answer the red-eyed man's question. "Uh... Paul? Do you know this dude?"
"Has he always been a prick?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 7, 2018 22:10:38 GMT -5
"Uh... Thanks?" Kelsey awkwardly murmured, shooting William a somewhat apologetic look upon recognizing the jab Percy had directed at him. Except... William didn't address him as Percy. Not only that, but something about him just... felt different. Thoroughly confused, she turned to Tri in the hopes that he could provide some sort of explanation.
In response, the astral archdemon simply muttered, "He's got a demon in his head."
"Ah." Kelsey nodded, accepting that brief response like it was the most logical concept in the world. With that out of the way, she cast a wary glance at the man she had thrown off of William, only now noticing the police uniform he was wearing. The sight quickly tied a knot in her stomach at the thought of retribution for assaulting him... but the fact that he and Paul seemed to recognize each other at least offered a little bit of comfort. A little.
Paul, meanwhile, could only stare dumbfounded at the officer, stuttering for a moment before finally managing to conjure up a coherent sentence. "Sc- How- What- You- W-What're you doing here??"
"I'm still trying to figure out where here is," Scott responded somewhat plainly but still clearly taken aback at the sight of the dragon man. "What're you doing here?"
"Uh... Long story. But, uh... don't freak out, but the basic gist of our situation is that we're in another dimension."
Scott huffed. "Yeah, I guess I should've seen that coming... given what I've seen, where I just came from..."
Paul blinked in utter stupefaction, baffled at how calmly Scott was taking this mind-blowing revelation. After shaking that off, he finally acknowledged the questions directed at him and turned to the others. "Guys... this is... Well, this is my brother, Scott."
Kelsey screwed up her face a little. "Your brother...?"
"Yeah, I know, family resemblance is striking, ain't it?" Scott grunted.
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Post by ColArana on Mar 18, 2018 21:04:23 GMT -5
(ooc: Sorry for the late entry)
Ranuen had been running ragged around the alleys near the Plaza following the battle and the cryptic warning the group had received, regarding Percy's current condition. Dying in an alleyway... great. He'd lost the others, which was not a great thing to have done, after an intense, pitched battle. Ranuen didn't have all the time in the world to search, and he'd already been forced to use up almost all his energy to maintain his normal height once today. That made it a little tricky to determine how long he really had. But there were some pros to his searching. Ranuen was pretty fast, and was able to search wide areas very quickly. He parkour'd his way through the alleys, even scrambling or outright doing standing leaps to the top of buildings, depending on the height of the building in question to check the alleys. Still nothing. Damnit! He thought in irritation, as he searched. Finally, however, Ranuen overheard some voices. Could someone have found Percy afterall?
Ranuen ran across rooftops, leaping from building to building like some kind of superhero, to approach the voices he could hear. "Paul, Kelsey you found him!" Ranuen called from the top of the alley. Promptly before dropping down from the roof and landing amongst the assorted company. "Percy man, you okay? Who's this?" He asked, glancing at the uniformed gentleman that he did not recognize. Not the most elegant or refined of drop ins but it was functional and probably the quickest way to get Ranuen up to speed. He appeared to have missed Percy's slight.... possession-related issues. "I overheard something about a brother on the way down?"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Mar 19, 2018 20:34:38 GMT -5
"I've seen more outlandish cases of no family resemblance," Imago said with a shrug. "I mean, chucklefuck, Jordan, and Leanne all barely look alike. And don't get me started on their father. I wonder if-"
At that, William elbowed Imago in the side, causing his possessed buddy to wince and rib the jabbed area. "That's enough, Imago. Can you at least pretend to be nice even though I'm certain you can't?"
The red-eyed man smirked. "We'll se about that, chucklefuck." He turned to Raunen next. "Apparently, Paul and this Aicarmean douche are siblings. I'm sure it's hard for a human like you to believe, Antsy, but if you saw my brothers, you'd be even more in shock. Oh, yeah. I'm going to call you Antsy until you give me an actual name. You can call me Imago, and Percy's just taking a wee nap, so don't bother waking him up."
His last sentence seemed to be directed at everyone present, not just Raunen.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Mar 19, 2018 21:04:39 GMT -5
"Well, you seem to have surrounded yourself with a very normal group of friends," Scott muttered, arms folded as he took in the assorted company with a look of scrutiny.
Paul shot his brother a hard frown in return. "Can we not do this right now, Scott? I know it's been a while since we've seen each other and these are weird circumstances for a reunion, but we're kinda in the middle of something important."
"A nap, huh?" Kelsey stepped closer to the red-eyed boy. Probably closer than what would've been advisable. "Of his own consent? Does he know what's going on?"
"Uh, miss, you might wanna take a few steps away from the demon," Scott intoned, less as a suggestion and more as an order.
"Dude, trust me, she knows how to handle demons," Paul flatly retorted.
Kelsey brushed a lock of hair on her face and stared unwaveringly into those red eyes. "Tell me about yourself, Imago. How long have you been inside Percy's head? And perhaps more importantly, how long do you intend to stay there?"
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Post by ColArana on Mar 22, 2018 16:16:41 GMT -5
Ohhh, so this was Paul's sibling? That was new! "Well, welcome to the group!" Ranuen answered cheerfully to Scott, seeming to miss the dynamics at present. And then at Imago's continuation, Ranuen's eye twitched slightly. Antsy!? Oh no. No he did not. That was a topic Ranuen was a teensy bit sensitive about. "Imago, huh? Who are you calling Antsy you--" Ranuen started.
poof
Aaaand then Ranuen found himself looking at Imago/Percy's feet instead of his face, as his time at his human height expired, causing the swordsman to shrink back down to insect size. Ah godamnit! He thought in irritation.
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Mar 22, 2018 18:34:30 GMT -5
"Aw, look, Antsy is now the size of an actual ant, how cute." Imago let out a dark chuckle, sounding wrong as the voice he was borrowing clearly wasn't the demon's original voice.
"You have a very twisted sense as to what's funny, dude." William bent down and picked up Raunen, rolling his eyes at the demonic boy. "I'd say he's more like... what was that old moving picture again? The... Fantastic... Size-Reducing Man? Hopefully it doesn't get that bad..."
"Okay, chucklefuck." Imago yanked William's shirt collar, pulling the glasses-wearing man towards him and looking more menacing than his host body should have been, before pulling the taller man down to his eye level. "That's enough of the peanut gallery, hm? Any more commentary, and I'm going to chop it off. Got it?"
A gulping sound. "Y-Yeah... Shutting up now, Imago..." And with that, he was released, allowing Imago to direct all attention towards Kelsey.
"Approaching me, much less looking me in the eye like that... That takes guts." He grinned, revealing that the teeth hadn't changed, although the red glowing markings made them stick out more. "I like you... I guess I can tell you some things." With a snap of his fingers, a stream of shadows covered the beam from Scott's flashlight. and any other nearby lights. "I prefer a dark environment, if you don't mind." The red markings and eyes stuck out more in the darkness, at least.
"Imago. Former soldier. Current disgrace on a mission from Queen Malebolge herself. What mission? Oh, that's none of your business, dear. How long have I been possessing this boy? Now now, possession is such a dirty word. I prefer to call it making sure he doesn't get himself killed. But, if you must know, I've been inside since this child was mere days old." The eyes showed... Amusement? Annoyance? "If you ask Percy, he'll say he just thought he had multiple personalities until he was thirteen." Eye roll. "And how long do I intend to stay, you ask? ... Until my mission is complete, or we are somehow separated, I guess. Perhaps not until he finally dies." Shrug.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Apr 12, 2018 19:54:39 GMT -5
"I see." Kelsey slowly nodded, absorbing this information with narrow eyes and pursed lips. "I don't recall ever specifically using the word 'possession.' Can't say I'm fond of the word either."
"To be fair, it's not beyond my capabilities," Tri chuckled lowly, earning only a slight eye roll in return.
"But a mission, you say?" Kelsey folded her arms. "I suppose it's not my place to try prying the exact details out of you, but I don't suppose you could fill me in on why you need to involve Percy in it? And whether or not you can, I'd at least like to know this... Does he know what you're doing? Both now and in the long run?"
In the meantime, Scott muttered a few profanities as he yanked his flashlight away from Imago, clicked it off and stuck it in his belt, if only because he was sick of hearing the demon gripe about it. Then he turned and faced the owner of the glowing yellow eyes standing next to him. "Okay, so another dimension. How long have you been here?"
"Honestly, I've kinda lost track of time," Paul answered honestly. "Blame it on a freak accident in the lab involving a transporter. I'm... guessing you just got here?"
"Basically. Chased a demon into a cemetery, pursuit led me to some kind of tunnel, next thing I know I'm in a completely different cemetery while some unholy abomination is tearing up the nearest city."
"Wow. That was like five minutes ago, man..."
"Yeah. So who's the girl?"
"Kelsey? She, uh... We met a few days ago. Tried going out for drinks tonight and wound up in this mess."
"And what exactly did you mean when you said she knows how to handle demons?"
"Uh..."
"She your girlfriend or something?"
"Scott, geez, can we slow down? W-What's going on with you? Since when were you a police officer?"
"I'm asking the questions here, Paul."
"Good to see you too, bro."
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Post by ColArana on Apr 13, 2018 1:06:03 GMT -5
To be perfectly honest, William's move to retrieve Ranuen from the ground had probably just saved the miniature swordsman from making a very poor life decision, and prevented him from lashing out at Imago. Not... not that he could probably have done much damage at this size, but it may have risked irking the demon, and that was not the wisest course of action. What can one say, but that Ranuen's emotions tended to run hot, and he tended to react on instinct more than planning.
That didn't, however, mean that Ranuen enjoyed being snatched up without his consent. Along with the talking of some film about a shrinking man. Ranuen's eye twitched slightly. "I am not like-- I mean... I'm not THAT small!" He frustratingly protested-- possibly to the amusement of any who caught that at his denial of his particular condition that yes, he was indeed, that small.
Imago yanking William over, however, just about caused Ranuen to tumble right back down to the ground if William wasn't careful. Even if he did end up back down on the floor, Ranuen likely wouldn't suffer much damage. Not much weight, coupled with his heightened strength and toughness. And he'd at least be able to catch what Kelsey and Imago were discussing. It seemed that this "Imago" had been part of Percy for quite some time. Ugh... that probably means we'll be seeing more of him then, doesn't it....? Ranuen thought disappointedly, missing Paul's catchup session with his brother, as he tried to focus on the conversation he was caught in the middle of.
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