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Post by MERCURY NEACEL PENTAMETER on Nov 12, 2012 19:43:35 GMT -5
Gray smoke rose into the darkness of the Amsterdam night sky, disappearing into wisps of air when it reached its peak. These swirls of smoke left the mouth of the young man standing in a dark corner of the alleyway, leaning against a nearby wall, the only light being the burning embers at the end of his cigarette, growing brighter each time he inhaled the sweet nicotine. He could feel the smoke swirling in his lungs. Had he been human, he would have claimed he could feel the cancer growing as he puffed.
The hand that was not holding his cylindrical cancer stick was sitting in his coat pocket, twirling around a small bag filled with powdered heroine. Was it good quality? Of course not. Mercury was selling it. He had of course cut it down considerably and was charging too much for it. How else was he supposed to turn a profit? Naturally, his main customers were hopeless drug addicts that were so desperate for a fix they couldn't even tell the difference between pure and cut. These were the ones that had sold everything to pay for their addiction and would sell anything to get money to pay Mercury for their horrible quality fix.
Taking a deep puff, Mercury laughed. Humans were so pathetic. He removed his hand from his pocket to wipe his face and neck. Exhaling, he watched the smoke rise to meet the stars, joining them in all their glory. Humans were pathetic and unappreciative. They had no idea how lovely their world was. So full of beauty. It was wasted on creatures so easily persuaded to sin.
Taking a final puff, his cigarette came to an end. He then removed another from behind his ear and lit the new one off of the old. Mercury was a chain smoker and thus enjoyed his little pleasure quite a lot. Usually, he was a high as well. However, when he was selling, he couldn't afford to be foggy, and so, he smoked his cigarettes faster to avoid shooting up.
Breathing deeply, Mercury threw the first cigarette to the ground, stomping it out with an impatient foot. Business was too slow to handle tonight. |
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Post by MICHAEL TRUDE on Nov 16, 2012 19:05:36 GMT -5
Michael hadn’t even been on Earth for a full twenty four hours yet and something gave him the feeling that this was the way he should be headed. It wasn’t surprising to find the Angel somewhere like the red-light district. This was the sort of place that unfortunate innocents would be found pitted up against very real dangers and evil in many forms. It was just the sort of place too where he might hunt those wicked things that harmed them and tempted them into sin.
It was the smell of cigarette smoke that he noticed first… only a moment later he picked up the smell of something even fowler than the scent of urine and rubbish in the streets. There was a demon about. Michael frowned, but continued walking when he saw the blasphemy twirling around the bag of drugs in his hand. He picked up on the demon’s annoyance, frustration… his want, his need for the heroin… his addiction.
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Post by MERCURY NEACEL PENTAMETER on Nov 16, 2012 19:26:38 GMT -5
Mercury sighed audibly, letting smoke escape his lips as he did so. He was burning through cigarettes faster than his customers went through their precious drugs. It was sad, the pathetic nature of humans. Their sunken eyes and dried out skin disgusted him. He wanted to kick them out of his way when he walked down the streets. Even the "healthy" ones looked pitiful to him. Maybe that's just because he saw everyone as a potential sinner, weak at the core.
As he began to light up another cigarette, the wind blew against him. He was already quite chilly and the strong wind did nothing to help him or the flame which was lighting his cigarette. Suddenly, as he took a deep drag on his new cigarette he smelt it. A smell too pure, too perfect. A smell even more disgusting than that of the humans. His head turned in the direction of the approaching Angel. How had he allowed him to sneak up on him like this? He blamed his young age. He was still such a neophyte Demon, his senses had hundreds of years to develop.
Mercury moved away from the wall, standing tall. He wondered whether he should leave or not. He was sure this Angel was much stronger and older than he. He could not return to the fiery depths below without a soul and WITH a defeat by an Angel. Perhaps the Angel had not caught wind of him yet. The wind was, afterall, blowing towards Mercury and away from the Angel. In an attempt to conceal his aura, Mercury concentrated on changing the density of the darkness around him, making it as thick as possible. |
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Post by MICHAEL TRUDE on Nov 16, 2012 22:38:08 GMT -5
Irritation. Frustration. Disgust.
The demon was relatively weak too… Michael could tell by the feel of his aura. He must have been young… or just not very good at his job; still… there might have been a flashing neon sight demon over here over his head for as much as his aura stuck out to him. He supposed as the angel that had fought Satin and cast him out of Heaven that not much shy of that would look like an impressive threat to him. Michael was sure too that his own aura shown out bright as the sun on this dark night… he was not just an angel, but an archangel. There wasn’t much with an aura stronger than that. He knew the moment that the demon looked at him that he knew.
Nice try.
Michael had spotted Mercury and picked him out for what he was long before he had tried to mask his presence. “Is that all you have then?” his tone was curt and even rude, but he had no patience at all for this sort… and he was here to make Amsterdam safe for humans again. This one might have been a small fry… but sending him back to the depths of hell would make his point clear to others as well. The distance between them was closing fast now, he was only several feet away.
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Post by MERCURY NEACEL PENTAMETER on Nov 16, 2012 23:07:01 GMT -5
Mercury felt the Angel getting closer and couldn't help but gag. His aura, his pure horrid aura was so thick. He had to be some special Angel. Mercury didn't know of the hierarchy of "upstairs" but he had heard of the original Arch Angels. Was this aura indicative of an original Angel? One of God's most trust-worthy? He shivered, losing all control of the darkness he had. He was sure whatever cover it gave him wasn't even close to enough to shield him from such a powerful being.
Thoughts of curiosity and worry crossed Mercury's mind. He found himself wondering what KIND of Angel this man was, for now he could see the Angel was a man, but also worried that a fight was about to erupt. In fact, he was almost sure a fight were about to erupt, here in Amsterdam's filthy alleyways. However, maybe Mercury could attempt to play to the Angel's mercy. He was so young after all and so weak compared to this aura. He planned to attempt to sweet-talk himself out of this, or at least keep the Angel talking long enough to distract him so that he could "disapparate" (as he discovered Harry Potter fans referred to it) back to safety.
Backing up a few steps, Mercury listened to the deep voice the Angel had. It was intimidating. Of course, Mercury was a coward at his core.
Mercury crossed his arms over his chest, letting his current cigarette dangle on his lips. Releasing one hand, he tugged on his earlobe, stretched too large to ever look normal again. "Am I supposed to be a magician with tricks up my sleeves? Give me a moment, I'll go home and return with my trunk full of smoke and mirrors." Cowardly, yes. However, he was also too much of a smartass for his own good. The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. This was not the right way to talk to an Angel so much stronger than he. |
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Post by MICHAEL TRUDE on Nov 16, 2012 23:41:05 GMT -5
Michael smirked when the demon shivered (that he saw) and felt his nervousness… the way he reacted to his presence almost with physical illness and lost control of his attempt to hide himself.
Worry. Curiosity.
That was kind of strange – for a demon to be curious about him. Usually they were so afraid they’d turn tail and run or so outraged they’d attack him in a rage – stupidly – and either reaction usually lead to defeat.
The demon was thinking… misleading… deception…
Michael watched the demon back off, even if he hadn’t been able to feel that he was afraid, intimidated, a coward… he would have been able to read it in his body language. Still. There was pride. He crossed his arms and replied with sarcasm. Michael didn’t slow his advance. They were now only inches apart. The smell of the cigarette was almost as bad as the demon. It wasn’t the smoke though – it was the addiction he loathed addiction and what it could do to a person who would have been a good and kind soul.
The Angel flicked the cigarette out of the demon’s lips and let it fall to the side before reaching out a hand to grab the demon’s wrist. “The only place you’re going is back to Hell where you belong.” He knew his touch was painful to demons... because his touch tried to heal the human body, but it had a painful, if not dangerous affect of demons; he however didn't care what affect his touch had to the demon.
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Post by MERCURY NEACEL PENTAMETER on Nov 16, 2012 23:58:06 GMT -5
Mercury felt as though the two beings, enemies by design, were children in a school yard. Guess who was the big strong bully and who was the weak fat kid? Only Mercury wasn't fat, he was entirely too thin, a side effect of not consuming enough human souls tainted by sin and of course his high intake of narcotics.
He flinched when the Angel flicked his cigarette out of his mouth. He was highly uncomfortable with the current proximity. His breathing speed up a bit as he began to highly regret his rash words and infernal pride.
In the blink of an eye, the Angel had grabbed Mercury's wrist. Flesh touched flesh and Mercury hissed. He felt his skin begin to singe under the Angel's touch. It was excruciating and unbearable. He flickered for a moment in what seemed to be a trick of the light before he could stabilize himself long enough to disapparate in a wall of flame back a few feet. The Angel's brief touch damaged his energy level more than he would admit back home.
Mercury's glamour had dissolved. He now stood as he truly was, a red-fleshed, leather-winged, yellow-eyed Demon. He hissed at the Angel, holding onto his burnt flesh, revealing long canines and impossibly white teeth. Mercury was a menacing sight in his true form, to anyone but an Angel of course.
Standing slightly upright, Mercury licked the wound, much like an animal as he glared at the Angel. He honestly did not have the strength to leave of his own will at this point. "Does it really make you feel strong to pick on such a weak Demon? I can barely stand your touch for mere seconds. God must be proud of his brigade of bullies." Again, the words were out before he could stop them. Curse his mouth and cowardice. He was already backing up slowly, hopefully he could make it to a populated area. |
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Post by MICHAEL TRUDE on Nov 17, 2012 0:12:48 GMT -5
The demon flickered, destabilized and then restabilized a few feet away. Michael gave no reaction to the image of the demon in its true form. He had seen more dangerous creatures than this shadow of a demon in his many centuries. He licked his wound, but it wasn’t until the demon spoke again – and instantly regretted it, that he reacted. This one was a prideful idiot.
“Bully?” Michael almost scowled, as it was the cold hard look he gave the demon was probably scarier, “You feed on the weak and misguided – spread depravity and sin!” Michael’s temper was rising, in his anger the Holy light, blinding and severe, that usually emanated from his true form flashed into existence and then faded away again in an instant. He moved quickly, closing the distance between them and aiming a powerful punch at the center of his chest. “I am Michael – the defender of God’s children.”
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Post by MERCURY NEACEL PENTAMETER on Nov 17, 2012 0:28:36 GMT -5
Profanities streamed through Mercury's thoughts, fast as lightning. They couldn't come fast enough. Everything was jumbled. Curse his mouth. Curse it to hell. He had not expected to be in such a fight tonight. What bad luck. In this moment, this exact moment when he could see and sense the anger and strength building in the Angel so close to him that he wished he had focused more on his goal in life and less on the Earthly pleasures he had become so addicted to. Perhaps then he would be stronger. Nay, he would indeed be stronger.
It was then, as these thoughts became a cohesive sentence in his mind that the wind was knocked out of him as he was sent flying backwards by an incredibly powerful punch to the chest.
He fell flat on his back, crushing his bat-like wings beneath his body. Gasping for air, Mercury lay there, wondering if he should feign death, get up and fight, or simply flee. He laid there for what seemed like days, his head throbbing. He wanted to throw up.
Finally, he was able to sit up. It seemed useless for the anger in the Angels eyes said he would soon be victim to more pain. Placing a red hand on his bare red chest, Mercury snarled at the Demon. Not a wise decision, though it was more reaction than decision. "God's children, ay? Did it ever cross you mind, Angel, that some humans are not God's children, that they are Lucifer's and that is the reason they are so easily swayed to a life of sin and misery? Humans choose our path, choosing to stray from yours. Ours is a life of pleasure." He smiled menacingly. At this point, he knew he was in for a rough beating. Why not speak as though he were older and wiser? At the very least, he could irk the Angel. |
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Post by MICHAEL TRUDE on Nov 17, 2012 0:48:44 GMT -5
Anger. Aimed at Michael, aimed at himself.
Michael didn’t care if he was angry. Let him be. Michael was pissed. The demon snarled at him and Michael kicked him in the face. It was as reactionary to the sound as the sound had been for the demon to make.
Free will. That thing that more than anything else separated humans from Angels. He had never even considered whether or not the demon had such free will… Lucifer – Satin, he was a fallen Angel after all. The fallen though they had exercised free will though… breaking away from God.
“All humans are born pure and innocent,” it was true whether or not they strayed from their path, strayed from God… they were born His children and it was Michael's place, his duty, his purpose to protect them and lead those that did stray back to God if he could. “There is no real pleasure in sin… just falsehoods and illusions... lies and empty promises.”
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