fools errand

[Anonymous]

Rook's thick gray pelt was more of a burden to him here than he had previously thought to take into account. On his home world the ice caps had swelled like bulbous pieces of moon and flooded the world with icy water, making the temperature nearly unbearably cold, it was as if this world, Earth that he had fled to was lashing out at him for being unwelcome and unfamiliar on the terrain, which was so barren it reminded him of a skeleton left too long, picked clean by whatever else happened by.

The sun and the cold both rejected life and welcomed instead the harsh mirrored presence that loomed on the horizon, beating down at him endlessly. The furre had been confident in his survival ability, no predator would take on a Walking Beast, the combination of man and predator was much too strange even for the weird stuff that lurked out here.

He curled his lip, revealing his large white fangs in an ironic, humorless grin, how wrong he had been! At least he hadn't made the mistake of over dressing, the simple clothes he had purchased served their purpose well, but his pelt...

That thick fur of his...

Sweat gathered beneath his brow and he wiped it away persistently, though he had noticed his own slowed pace, it was only a matter of time. He wasn't young any-more.

Looking up once, and then all around as his view shifted and those gray eyes rolled he collapsed in the sand.

[Anonymous]

Ah, but only if the strange furre knew what strange beings lurked in these wastes!

Off in the distance, three hunched figures made their way towards the body. They were not human, more like half-serpent/humanoid, half machine. They shared the same basic appearance; black skin, mechanical parts, and steel masks with yellow eyes peering out of them. One had white markings, four mechanical spider-like legs, a bladed tail, a spear, a kinetic gatling gun, white hair, and a spire-like horn on its head. Another had green markings, poison-soaked scorpion-like claws, wrist-mounted kinetic gatling pistols, green hair, and a large, circular mouth with may rows of serrated teeth. And the last had red markings, a fiery spear, a kinetic rifle for a hand, red hair, and seemed to be glowing with heat.

The three abominations were Kyoubou, Gaidoku, and Yuuku. Their bodies had flecks of blood on them, a sign that they recently sacrificed a few unfortunate victims as part of their grotesque rituals. And they were looking for more.

"How many more should we sacrifice before we arrive back to our shrine?" Kyoubou asked, his voice deep and metallic.

"As many as we can," Yuuku replied, a metallic growl sounding. "We'll sacrifice cities if we have to."

"We haven't ssssssseen any cccccitiessss, Yuuku," Gaidoku hissed. "All we've been coming acrossssss are thessssse wayward humanssssssss traveling through the wasssstes."

Yuuku growled in annoyance. He then spotted something ahead. "Up ahead, comrades."

The three approached the...whatever it was...and circled it. It was apparently unconscious.

"What do you think it is?" Kyoubou wondered. "A werewolf?"

"I don't think sssssso," Gaidoku hissed. "It doesssn't look like any werewolf I've ever sssssseen."

"This is no werewolf," Yuuku growled. "In fact, I don't even know what it is. Apparently not of this world." He poked whatever it was with the blunt end of his staff, and he poked it rather hard.

[Anonymous]

The blackness that had flipped before Rook's almond shaped gray eyes flickered with spots of red, showing themselves once, glazed over with white, then dissolved again, his blurred vision catching different snatches of confusing webs of color, greens blues and reds, exploding like fireworks and then fading again, it was really only a few seconds in the real frame of things, but to Rook it seemed this went on for hours, like someone had taped his eyes shut and shot off a pistol near his ears.

He was almost glad at the jab of pain that seemed to come out of nowhere breaking through his tough hide and sending a burst of energy back into his muscles, it seemed strong, but being an enormous creature it only allowed him the momentary stamina to pick up his head, shivering with the effort, and opening his eyes fully this time, seeing the feet of the creature's alone made his bear-like muzzle freeze and coil into a snarl, his fangs flashing, a weak, raspy growl emitting from somewhere deep in his throat, so deep he'd never thought it would've existed.

He'd never seen creatures, Horrors, like these, perhaps in bad science fiction movies, the closest things he'd seen had been in an 80's game called Pac Man and the cellar of the ramshackle house he's lived in as a kid.

The spiders in that house had been deformed, some with several too many eyes, legs and even heads, he'd informed his father and the old man had killed them all, for abominations.

He almost wished he hadn't woken up, and not just because of the Horrors he was staring at.

 His chest and ribs ached mysteriously, his feet and hands had gone numb, pain that felt a lot like a migraine beaming into his skull from the sun, and worst of all, his throat which was so dry that when he tried to speak it came to nothing but an inaudible whisper of a sound, formed in an unspoken, angry question.

He was angry, almost immediately, not for the jab, but at these creatures, daring to be alive and daring to interrupt which would have been a lingering death, but at least he wouldn't have had to put forth any effort.

He still diddn't have the energy to speak or get up, but the thick hair on his pelt was bristling, and his enormous white fangs flashed in the sun, his glazed eyes narrowed.

[Anonymous]

The three abominations watched as the...thing...barel y woke up and bared its teeth at them, in a seemingly futile effort to scare them off. Apparently, it didn't know what it was dealing with. Gaidoku bared his teeth as well, many rows of large, white, serrated teeth, thirsting to take what energy it had.

Before he could, though, Kyoubou said, "What do you think we should do with this creature, comrades?"

"I ssssssssay we devour it," Gaidoku said hungrily, his teeth clanking together.

"No," Yuuku snapped. "This could be a very potential...asset for us. We shall take it with us."

Understanding fully, the three creatures pointed their weapons at the downed being. "Get up."

[Anonymous]

Rook felt fury boil in his chest, but even that strong feeling seemed blurred, he could barely make out their speech, especially that of the hissing one, though he'd caught the word devour sure enough he supposed his extensive training should have come in handy, but he couldn't remember ever training for a situation where you could not talk very well or move your limbs or extremities, and were being discussed as potential dinner for a bunch of ...whatever they were. Horrors seemed like a good word, so he'd stick with it until corrected at further notice. Anyway, no, in Angels 101 they hadn't covered any of that, what good was it being exceptionally dangerous if you were just going to be eaten by something more dangerous than you?

Well, maybe not eaten, according to the drift of the conversation he was picking out between their hateful speech.

He wanted to say

I can't move, obviously, or I would have by now. Go to hell, you ugly bastards.

But his throat was so dry, he could only force himself to croak in response to their order

"can't...f' off."

As soon as the words emitted from his throat, a horrible choking feeling came over him, the raw flesh there irritated, swollen and strangled, a coughing fit came over him, his chest and lungs screaming in pain, until he finally stilled again, his energy sapped.

A worry that was more frightening than any of the deadly creature's came into his hazy mind.
I must have caught something, this can't be regular dehydration, ...it must have been from one of the desert creature's I hunted. Even if he did get away from these Horrors, ...could any of the medication on this planet Earth, assuming he was able to obtain it, heal him?

As he lay on his side, their stun rods precariously near his flesh, he panted.

If my throat gets much worse, I will die like a surfaced fish.

Despite all this, he remained calm, he was a former Angel, a warrior and officer of Law in the old world. He did not rattle so easily.

[Anonymous]

Yuuku gave a low, angry, metallic growl when the being refused to get up. He put his staff aside and grasped it by the neck, effortlessly lifting it up in the air. "I said get up," he snarled dangerously, looking into the creature's eyes with his own piercing yellow eyes that peered out of the holes in his mask.

"Easy, comrade," Kyoubou protested. "We still need to determine its fate."

Yuuku growled again and let the creature fall to the ground. "Very well. We shall communicate with Kuma about this matter. He shall tell us what to do, and He will be satisfied." Seeing that the creature didn't have the energy to fight back, he considered leaving it as it was and drag him along. Still, one could never be too careful when dealing with a creature no one has ever seen before. Thus, Yuuku stripped one of his metal components from his black flesh, his intense heat cauterizing the wound instantly. Then, using his heat magic, he superheated the metal piece until it was malleable, then proceeded to mold it into a long length of metal cable, the alloy of which was unknown. After absorbing the heat back into his body, he proceeded to wrap the cable tightly around the creature's body, effectively binding it.

"Come, comrades. We must find a suitable place to speak with our god," Yuuku said. He then grasped part of the cable and started to drag the creature with him. The other two followed behind him.

[Anonymous]

The last thing Rook saw clearly was the creature's hateful yellow eyes.

Rook felt his body spasm uncontrollably as he hit the ground, lights, sounds and colors, the fall did not hurt so much as the cry that emitted from his throat then did, it wasn't a whisper of a yell or a scream, more like a soft, animalistic moan, but it hurt...Rook tried to remember anything ever hurting as his throat did now. Surely there had been instances, in his rough life, but right now all he knew was pain, anything the creatures did or said had ceased to matter.

His consciousness flipped in and out of darkness feverishly, and moments later he caught a glimpse of their backs, they looked so like demons on the stained glass windows of St. Ethel's church perhaps even moreso than they'd looked like the spiders. Spiders did not always have negative symbolism in his life, ironically, they'd once been his calling card.

As he was dragged through the dust and sand, the filth collecting in his thick coarse pelt and turning the silver dusky and large bruises and burn marks beginning to show, in a starting tinge of red, then flaming on his tough hide, white marks beginning to form as the bonds cut off his circulation.

He was a Warrior bound like a slave, being taken to a market, but he couldn't gather his thoughts enough to be angry anymore, he couldn't hold one thought and let it string with another, it seemed impossible, instead different memories, some completely irrelevant flickered through his head as he lapsed in and out of a feverish state of unconsciousness.

His claws, his signature weapon, robotic, but they did not look it, were his only chance, if he could get his body to produce enough energy to power them...he concentrated on that thought, but soon even that slipped away, he could only hope he remembered it later.

[Anonymous]

The three demons continued dragging the creature along the wastes for the better part of an hour until they came to a skeletal forest withered by the toxic fumes. When they came to a clearing in these woods, Yuuku signaled for Kyoubou and Gaidoku to stop. "We shall summon Kuma here," he spoke. He then chained the creature to the ground to make sure it didn't escape. It seemed unconscious now, but there was no harm in being too careful.

Then the three prepared for their ritual. Yuuku began by using his staff to burn a circular insignia into the ground. It was then marked with crude yet intricate runes spanning the circumference. Gaidoku then used the poison dripping from his claws to mar the insignia with its powerful mutagen. Kyoubou finished by sending an electric current through the insignia and poison. The three horrors then knelt down on the outer rim of the insignia and began to pray, uttering in an unintelligible language comprised of growls, hisses, and gut-wrenching noises.

Soon, a pale purple mist began to form in the surrounding area. An aura of cold hung about this mist, yet this coldness wasn't natural. As the three continued to pray, the divine circle began to glow and spark. A cold, purple light soon emanated from the circle and began to tremble the ground beneath it. After about a minute of this trembling, an unholy power surged through the area, and above the circle appeared a dark purple head. It seemed crocodilian in appearance, yet it had no distinguishing features except for the eye; a pitch black, bottomless, empty eye was crowned on what would be the forehead. This was the incorporeal form of Kuma, god of sacrifice.

Kuma spoke, in the same language: <Greetings, my children> His voice sounded like a legion. <You may speak in my presence>

<O mighty Kuma,> Yuuku spoke. We have crossed paths with a humanoid creature of unknown origin. We are uncertain of how we should deal with this creature. We seek your insight.>

<You seek my assistance? You cannot decide what to do with an unknown creature? After having been resurrected merely weeks ago, your confusion is neither understandable nor unacceptable.> The head then turned to see the creature, then back to His disciples. Yes...I do not recognize the race...but I do know of its origin. He is of another world that was once parallel to the one you exist in now. He is a hybrid of many other creatures that once existed. However, due to events that transcended not too long ago, the world was destroyed. He is one of the last of his kind. I smell an aura of Law about him. Powerful...yet slowly waning.>

Gaidoku looked at the creature, then at his God. <So how shall we deal with him?>

<I cannot accept this as a sacrifice to my power,> Kuma boomed. <Then again...he is worthy of another purpose. His body is to be kept in good condition, then consumed by my flames and reforged in my image as another elite for our Horde. Three shall become four.>

<Permission to speak freely, O Mighty Kuma?> Kyoubou asked. Then, after a nod from Kuma, Kyoubou said, <What if he resists? Surely he will not take kindly to this revelation.>

<That is exactly how I predict it will be, child,> Kuma replied with an inhuman laugh. <If he proves to be too reluctant and attempts to destroy you, use whatever means necessary to destroy him. There will always be others. The Horde is expanding even as we speak. Now go, my children!> Kuma's head then disappeared, along with the mist, the aura, and the insignia.

Understanding their god's orders, the three horrors rose and faced the creature. Yuuku approached and kept poking at him with his staff until he woke.

[Anonymous]

Rook felt like a child now, an oversmall small disseased one that tourists were afraid to look at too long, lest his lepracy find it's way into their skin, in the simple exchange of a dollar bill.

 In his world he had been a War Hero, a widower and a respected member of society, respected and alienated, but revered nonetheless, and he made no business lying about it, he liked it. The fact that he could make others afraid was his only comfort, in his constant longing, longing which now, even when it should have been overshadowed by thousands of other deaths still lingered in his heart like a cancer, refusing to dull or fade with the rest of his memories with age, but only getting worse with every passing year.

Cleo. A Fox. His wife of only four years, the only four years of his 48 year old life, that he'd felt had really done any one any good, despite only saving infants from fires long after Cleo'd been dead and buried. Laughing at bad poetry, and arguing about ridiculous baby names with his best friend, had seemed so much more significant than anything he'd ever done for the whole of St. Lucent.

Cities couldn't love you back, they could give you medals, but they could never fill what another person had left.

As Rook had been dragged across the desert, he saw snatches of battles, he saw the explosion and death of some idiot's bullet in muzzle of some squashed gun, he saw his old partners, he saw his old bosses, and he saw the serial killers, drug lords and rapists he had gutted like fish in the street.

But he saw Cleo the most.

He was soon aware however that his eyes were open.

His eyes were open and yet he still dreamed, but maybe at this point it could've been called hallucination, the mingled screams, laughter and the ever present colors mingled with the wretched faces of the Horrors and the clinking of the chains they bound him with was unrecongizable from the tinkling of his wife's wine glass colliding with his own.

As he was prodded awake, the first clear thought in hours came to him

I must stop this, they are all ghosts, everyone I knew, and everything I believed in is dead, crumbled and ruined or rotting and stinking.

 I have thousands of other worlds to think of now.

It was when Rook saw the Devil, the Devil with the name Kuma, that the fear finally returned to him. The Horrors had not frightened him, but fear he could only equate with two other instances in his life overtook him, he began to whimper, unable to let the pleas of mercy form in his ruined throat.

Help me, save me..please no..please not him, he's so cold..I'm so cold....all over..

So Cold....

Rook felt like ice had formed on his coat in thick layers, covering his entire body beneath his clothes, every nook and cranny of himself was freezing in the desert.

But the pain began to fade, a dull numb replacing it instead and then nothing but the freezing hell.

He opened his mouth, his jaws baring at the red sky and roared, it rang through the limp branches of the dead trees, and perhaps far into the wasteland, it was something that inspired fear, even in those that hunted others.

His roar was not like any single Earthen Lion, Wolf, Bear or Dragon, but a symphony of mother's cubs protecting their young, an old wolf going in for the kill, for the last time and of an enraged predator, refusing to die without facing the hunter directly and confronting it with it's own wild eyes,with's own talons and fangs.

His claws were filled with energy, illuminating briefly and beginning to spin, then they stretched from his hand, getting longer and sharper rapidly until they were simply swords peppering his hands. He slashed artfully and the chains fell to the ground like dead garter snakes.

[Anonymous]

Kyoubou, Gaidoku, and Yuuku were all inwardly shocked at the sheer speed that the creature recovered at. The roar that emanated from his maw was unlike any they have ever heard; it would have indeed shaken them if they weren't horrific cybernetic warriors who knew no fear. They also did not expect him to be powerful enough to break through Yuuku's bindings; sword-like claws had sprouted from his fingers and he sheared through the cable with ease. It appeared that he was not going to succumb to them easily. This made it all the more fun for them.

"Good, you're awake," Yuuku growled, heat radiating from him, causing the air about him to ripple and distort.

"Our god hassss ssssspoken," Gaidoku hissed, snapping his poison-soaked claws. "You are to be reforged in Hisssss image and made into an elite for the Horde."

"Should you resist, we shall destroy you without hesitation," Kyoubou uttered, electricity crackling about his horn and his spear vibrating from the rage the creature was emanating.

"So ask yourself this," Yuuku growled, pointing his flame-tipped spear at the creature. "Life...or death?"

[Anonymous]

Their words meant little to nothing to Rook. He had risen.
Risen

He could hear the powerful wings beating in his ears, the hovercrafts had been hard and metallic as they'd glided over the city, but the citizens had still named them Angels.

Workers for charity, patrons of science, Rook had seen with his own eyes a list of all the different classifications for Angels, it was so trained assassins and young girls could eat together at the same table, with the same level of respect. Rook had had the least important of the jobs, in his own opinion. He could not kiss babies and find cures for cancer. He gave nothing, he just kept taking away, and yet they praised him above all others.

He'd been a killer, or as the papers had named them, ArcAngels.

He felt like that again, at least a fraction of his old self returning now as he stared at the demons, finally on his feet, drawn to his full heights. He could feel the strength in his limbs as the icy cold fell slowly from his body and he came alive.

For the first time he spoke in his normal voice, a sharp growl, his hard eyes glaring back at them.

"I have my own Gods, I need not answer to any others. Especially ones as ugly as yours"

None of the doubt he felt in his heart touched his features, and his claws glowed and buzzed, his murderous intent ignighting them

But my Gods are dead. Do Gods have ghosts? If so, Gates, help me now. I need your strength

The Devil had healed him, he could not guess why. Hadn't he, being an immortal known that Rook would defy him?
Was this a trick?

[Anonymous]

Kyoubou, Gaidoku, and Yuuku now knew that this creature was going to defend himself to the death, even after being offered a position as an elite in the Horde. But it mattered little to them. Destroying this creature was also Kuma's other wish should he resist. All the more fun for them. They were seeking a challenge such as this. Something told them that they will not be disappointed.

"So you choose to die, then," Yuuku growled. [/color=red]"Fine by us."[/color]

"We do not know what your world is like," Kyoubou uttered. "But this world is a very different place."

"We shall desssssstroy you," Gaidoku hissed. "You have ssssssealed your fate."

The three of them then circled him and slowly closed in on him. There would be no escape for him.

[Anonymous]

Rook's heard the humming of his claws beneath their voices, the familiar song in the warrior's ears, almost drowning out their hateful noise.
Your disgusting. And you worship a disgusting being. For that alone you should die,
He thought as they began to close in on him, hissing like a tangle of rattle snakes, ready to bite him--or be stomped beneath his foot, depending on how events played out.

Rook had no idea if he could fight these things--whatever they were, what kind of hoodoo--as his father had called it-- they possessed or whether or not the healing he had experienced was only temporary as would be snatched away whenever the Devil realized he hadn't gained a new minion.

He diddn't know any of these things, he was a stranger and a fool here, the only fact he was sure of that any method these creature's could think up for his own death would be preferable to looking or Gates forbid--thinking like them, he did not reject their offer out of some kind of noble vanity--only gut feeling that if he did he'd lose something even more valuable than his life.

He pinned his ears back and snarled

His claws had stretched now, so large they resembled rapiers, Rook did not hesitate. For such a large, hulking thing he moved, swift as a sparrow into the middle of them, his jaws and claws flashing as one as he struck them with all the force in his limbs, his claws occasionally snapping back and forth of their own accord and had grown so bright that they were white hot.

He had aimed at their mid section his other arm slashing out at the sides and his tail lashing like a banner.

[Anonymous]

In both times of existence, the three mutant cyborgs had never crossed paths with a creature this voracious to attempt to destroy them. Well, natural animals with primal instinct were always this eager, but this creature was different. He was calculated, cunning, and graceful. He had jolted first at Kyoubou, who used all four of his powerful legs to jump back and barely avoided being sliced to ribbons. Kyoubou's horn crackled with electricity as he landed twenty feet away from where he was earlier.

Kyoubou's staff continued vibrating in his hand, a sign that it was gathering energy from the anger and rage the creature was emanating. That's it...let your anger flow, he thought.

"More cunning than we expected," he uttered. "Yet all the more foolish." His horn then fired multiple jolts of electricity at the creature.

[Anonymous]

[Jeez I'm so sorry x.x]

A flash of white and gold blared in Rook's eyes as the electricity stood his fur on end. Like a tiger to a fire he reared back, showing his teeth as he bared them in a soundless scream of pain. It had shocked him from the tip of his muzzle all the way down to his balls.

 He was trembling in pain, but somehow he managed to stay on his feet, his eyes blinking back water and his tail spasming wildly.

But this only made him madder. Sucking in breathe, he made a half circle, his grimace dissapearing into a small thoughtful frown.

He charged head on into them, at least it appeared so on the surface, but at the last minute he stopped short, instead bringing his deadly claws roundabout to slash at the the head of one, his other fist slamming at a chest, his teeth flashing as he sought for purchase to bite, whatever it made contact with would surely be crushed neath his powerful jaws.

His fighting style, was an odd mix of warrior and beast, occasionally adding an artful feint or a menacing growl, the look in his eyes however, was purely animalistic.

[Anonymous]

Kyoubou was not expecting the creature to recover from the electricity so quickly; the creature was more resilient than he thought. The lightning only served to anger the creature more, which was probably a good advantage for Kyoubou; his staff began to glow white as the creature's rage began to build within it.

When the creature made to lunge, Kyoubou jumped out of the way and Gaidoku took his place. He was thrown off-guard by the creature's feint attack as swordlike claws grazed against his metal mask, leaving scratch marks in it. Then a fist slammed against one of the metal components in his chest, effectively absorbing the full impact. As for the lunging head and jaws of the creature, Gaidoku retaliated with lunging claws dripping with extremely potent poison, favoring the neck.

[Anonymous]

Rook only grew madder and madder, and though is strength and endurance increased as he did so, he had no idea that he was preparing a potentially fatal blow to himself. This time however, he was quick, smelling the poison and rolling out of the way before the claws could graze his neck.

He looked at Gaidoku incredulously, for a moment.

And then, there was perhaps, a flash of amusement in his eye?

He lunged at Gaidoku like a jungle cat, raising his claws and striking the poison ones like a sword against a sword, his leg coming round to aim for a vicious kick.

[Anonymous]

Gaidoku felt the clash of metal against his claws, throwing them out of the way. He then saw that the creature was aiming a kick to his head. He ducked as the leg swung over him by inches, then jumped far back, putting a good six meters between the two of them. He then dug both of his claws into the ground. The poison from them contaminated the soil and made it glow a sickly green color. The ground began to steam as the poison spread outward at a rapid pace.

Yuuku took this opportunity to circle around and close in on the beast. His form began to radiate with intense heat as the air about him became rippled and distorted. He lunged with his fiery spear outward, intent on either incinerating the beast or knocking it into the spreading pool of poison. Either way was fine by him.