Lazo

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

The dog bristled at the human’s nonchalance. He cared not for wounds inflicted by enemies, but what had resulted in cracked scales and shallow wounds would have resulted in pierced flesh and pulverized innards for the fragile human, had he borne the consequences of his meddling.

Yet, the dog let his aggression bleed out of him with a slow, long-suffering breath, black smoke puffing out from his nostrils like smoker’s exhalation. As long as his interests were those of another, he could not retaliate to every minor barb thrown his way.

“Truly, such disrespect could only come from a race as coddled as humanity, or as hopeless as the Watchers,” he groused, leaning forward to peer at the tiny object held in the human’s hand. He huffed irritably. It looked like little more than a shiny bauble to the demon’s eyes. “You are too eager a scavenger. Trophy hunting should wait for dead prey.”

With that, the hound moved away from the human, making his way towards his charge. The Imp had a humongous bow in her hand, the monstrous instrument lowered as she peered into the distance with a dissatisfied glower.

“I missed,” Lily said, almost growling. Her tail whipped about, slamming into the ground hard enough to leave a shallow crater where dust and stone and rock her been torn free. She turned to face Fenn as he drew closer, her mask of annoyance being replaced by an arrogant smile. “I killed mine first,” she announced.

“Lucky blow, I imagine.”

“Sore loser,” she tsked with a sly grin. “More to the point—” she nodded towards where her arrow had gouged out large amounts of rock and earth, and her quarry yet ran “—I would have expected your fantastic ears and nose to be able to pick up some little stowaway.”

“A different realm brings with it different scents and sounds.” The dog rolled his shoulders. “I could only be sure of the threat before me.”

The banter stilled as the lead Watcher drew their attention, prompting their would-be guide to share his information with the group.

Fenn cocked an eyebrow as a grating voice poured out of the armor. “It speaks,” he said dryly.

“You’re a giant, talking Pug on fire. Out of all of us you should be the least surprised.”

“Why?” he asked with a frown, giving her a puzzled look. All Hellhounds had the capacity for speech, after all.

There was a groan, and the sound of Lily’s face meeting the palm of her hand. “Nevermind. Let’s just get this on with.” She walked over to where the others were gathering, looking down at the rest of them once there. “Terrors, as our glorified slav—I mean, our glorious Leader called them. Even if the townsfolk are weak, they are numerous and could prove troublesome. In the interest of time, it would be wiser to take the route with the more powerful, but far less numerous, challenges.” She looked meaningfully between Fenn, Wrath, and herself for a moment, ignoring the others. “I believe that, between us, whatever this world has in store should prove to be of little difficulty.”

Low laughter rumbled forth from Fenn’s throat.

Lily turned slightly, giving him an amused glance. “Excited by the prospect of strong enemies?”

The Hellhound blinked, for a moment confused as to the her point. He quickly realized what she meant, but the slight hesitation was enough to elicit a small frown from the demoness. “Aye. Worthy foes is what you promised me, Imp. It would be disappointing if you failed to deliver.”

“But it’s not what you find funny,” she observed.

“It was an idle thought.” The dog bared his fangs slightly. A sardonic smile. “It amused me to think there is a representative and interpreter for these tribes among us, yet diplomacy was never considered an option. For a moment I feared I may be keeping agreeable company.”

“Be it humans or angels, or any other species. Anything that is different is immediately considered a threat upon detection. You are a nightmarish version of their tamed tin cans, I am an ever-changing war machine. And then there are the rest of us. We are all unique in our own way, and different. Diplomacy ceased to be an option the instant we stepped on foreign soil. They would rather attack us in full force when they saw us, than try to make peace.” She smiled then, a small, wicked smile. “Exactly like the humans we know so well.”

Fenn’s toothy grin widened, never losing its mocking edge, but the demon kept his thoughts to himself. Why should he expect warnings to be heeded? What was there to correct? If he was seeking bloodshed, staying with one with such views was bound to please.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

A bit later than I thought, but here's a post.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Fenn felt his fist sink into the metal plates driving the beast back a step before his frame crashed against the creature’s abdomen. For all that, the monster continued to thrash in his grip, and the glow coming from the openings in the creature’s body only grew in intensity. Either he had mistakenly assumed the source of the glow to be a weakness, he had incorrectly guessed at the location on the monster’s body, or his fist had failed to pierce deep enough into the creature’s defenses.

Fenn only had a pulse of blue light as a warning before a sound like a raging waterfall came from above him and a lance of pain wedged itself into his back.

The hound’s actions were reflexive. With a pained roar, one long arm whipped upwards and caught the monster’s throat, forcing its maw upwards. The drilling sensation left him, a strong pressure trailing a path up and away from his unprotected back. The demon’s other arm wrapped around one of the beast’s retreating legs, forcing it to stay in place as he gave the monster a final shove with his shoulder. Tipped off balance, with one leg fixed in place, the creature toppled backwards, the large demon falling over it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fenn caught the human jumping off the metal monster with a surprised expletive, but his attention quickly returned to the writhing monster under him. The beast’s claws wrapped around his long arm, trying to find purchase in the hardened scales, while its rear legs curled back and forth in attempts to push its attacker away.

Tightening his grip on its throat, the Hellhound lifted the monster’s head, then slammed it to the ground. Cracks formed on the rock under them as he repeated the motion. In a desperate attempt to free itself, one of the mechanical beast’s arms reached towards the dog’s face, razor claws flashing towards his eyes. A meaty hand wrapped around the limb, stopping it in its tracks, then twisted back with a savage wrench. Grinding sounds filled the dog’s ears as metal popped, bent, and tore into the creature’s rubbery flesh under its armor.

Tossing the mangled limb aside, the arm drew back, then fell on the monster’s head. The chain-wrapped fist sunk into the metallic skull with a heavy clang, and the beast grew limp. Once more, the arm drew back, then crashed down on the creature’s head. A broken horn clattered onto the ground, followed by droplets of a viscous liquid.

Fenn glared down at the downed opponent, waiting for signs of life with bated breath and bared fangs. When none came, he gave the corpse a shake by the scruff of its neck, then clambered off. It had been a long time since something had managed to compete with him in a contest of strength, and the experience had left him both frustrated and invigorated. Invigorated from the novelty of the challenge. Frustrated by the knowledge that the enjoyment must come second from their objective, and that now that he had taken the monster’s measure, he had no proper excuse to prolong a battle.

The other monsters seemed to have been kept at bay easily enough, and as he surveyed the remains of the battles, his gaze naturally fell on the human that had interrupted his bout. He felt his lips curling back in distaste. Something instinctively told him the sharp pain pulsing below his shoulder blades would be absent had the man not involved himself.

Fenn let out an irritated grunt. “Leave the slaying of monsters to monsters, human, lest you hobble us.”

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Small heads-up. I'm taking a flight tomorrow, so I may be a bit harder to reach for a few days.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

As the metallic beasts spread out in response to the Imp’s ball of fire, Fenn found himself confronted by a single charging monster, its head lowered, horns facing forward like those of a charging bull.

Rather than try to veer from his own charge, the large demon’s extended arm fell on the monster’s skull, forcing the spears away from his frame. Unimpeded, the colossal beasts crashed onto each other, the momentum from their impact forcing them onto their hind legs as they fought to overpower the other.

Fenn’s right claws remained firmly attached to the metallic monster’s skull, forcing the thing’s horns and jaws away from him. His left arm wrapped around his foe in a crushing embrace, pinning one of the beast’s arms as his claws found purchase on a ridge of the hardened shell protecting the monster’s back. The hound’s fangs closed on the monster’s shoulder, a viscous liquid dripping on his tongue where the teeth slipped past the cracks between the metal plates.

He was dimly aware through the fire in his mind of the monster’s free limbs scrabbling against his back, claws sliding over his scales and leaving thin gouges where they found softer hide.

The hound growled into the beast’s shoulder, giving it a powerful wrench to one side, then pulling towards the other. It had quickly become apparent that Fenn was physically stronger than his foe, but the thing’s metal body was much heavier than the demon’s own. His pulls and wrenches would pitch the creature slightly to one side or the other, but never enough that it could not gather its legs under it and prolong their embrace. He knew that if he managed to pin the creature, he would be able to maul and tear into its shell to his heart’s content, but the monster did not seem eager to please him.

Frustrated, Fenn bit down harder and pushed back against the thing’s head with his arm. The monster let out a pained cry, flesh and metal groaning under the stress.

Suddenly, there was a tearing noise, and Fenn’s fangs slid over retreating metal. The monster slinked back and away from him, letting out a hissing noise as the hound glared at it. The demon had never loosened his grip on the monster’s back, but the thing had somehow managed to break away from him. Glancing at his left arm, he saw the chunk of metal still gripped between his claws. It must have broken off from the strain.

Without a second thought, Fenn discarded the piece of shell and prepared to charge again.

That was when an irritating bug buzzed into scene. Preoccupied as it was by the Hellhound, the mechanical beast did not immediately react to the human approaching from the side. Truthfully, he had forgotten the man was even there. Fenn stopped himself, watching as the interruption clambered onto the creature’s back with a pair of hooks.

Outraged by the intrusion, the creature reared onto its hind legs, trying to shake off the insect that stubbornly stuck to it. Its horns twisted backwards in an odd motion, and Fenn’s eyes narrowed as a change overcame the creature. His head cooled. He understood that something was happening, but his eyes were fixed on the source of the light exiting from the numerous holes in the beast’s shell.

It looked important.

Fenn lunged forward, drawing his right arm back. The chain looping around it loosened and sidled downwards, wrapping around his knuckles like an improvised cestus. He balled his claws into a fist and drove it into the creature’s center with enough strength to crush rock. The punch was followed by his entire body, intent on tackling the enemy onto the ground.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Fenn listened quietly to the conversation, bored eyes surveying the smaller beings arrayed before him. He himself had no questions he wished to voice. Those relating to the mission itself would become evident in due time. An honest answer could not be expected to come from the lead Watcher for the rest.

Aye, he was convinced the many-eyed specter heading the expedition would deny any sort of vulnerability regardless of its existence. What fool would willingly entrust this motley group with any information that could be used to harm its kind?

The answer it gave to the Imp did not disappoint in this regard. It still managed to irk him. He and the Imp had been sent to face an army of angels and cut off its head. He could not speak for the rest of those gathered here, but if that first mission was not a test meant to gauge their usefulness, he knew not what to make of it.

There was a reason for their presence that seemed more reasonable Fenn’s mind. It was no secret that those tasked with finding the location of another Seal of the Apocalypse had run into the snake that had destroyed the first one. The Watcher could not protect what had already been removed. If the enemy had come across the same information they had, preventing this Seal from sharing in the fate of the first one fell to them. The spindly thing had failed to acknowledge the possibility, choosing to make light of them instead.

It irritated him enough to make him entertain the idea of turning on Panoptos the moment they took their first step out of the Citadel.

Regrettably, fantasizing was as far as that went. Small acts of rebellion were tolerated as long as they failed to bear fruit, but the moment he succeeded in wounding a central agent of the Council, as long as the Imp’s aims aligned with theirs, he would be going against their agreement.

Instead, he focused on the task at hand, following the group into the World Tree. A brief spell of nausea struck the demon as it passed through the realms. His nose and ears twitched at the smells and sounds of a new world. His eyes blinked, looking out into the distance, to the large stalactites that lined the ceiling of the enormous cavern they were in and the dizzying shape of what he could only identify as the horizon illuminated by the light coming from the numerous cliffs and ravines running through the floor, but did not think terribly about the implications. As long as he could exist in a realm, the specifics mattered little to the warrior, and he quickly regained his bearings.

A sound like cracking rock drew Fenn’s attention, and he craned his neck upwards just as the lead Watcher revealed the presence of enemies. The dog tensed as he caught sight of the beasts on the ceiling. True to their lead’s predictions, metallic ridges and carapaces lined the beasts’ figures as though they were machines. The sounds they made as they detached from the roof were loud and obnoxious.

Fenn began drawing forward, a bass growl reverberating in his chest. The portal must have dropped them into these things’ territory, as he could not imagine hungry predators attacking so many unknown prey so readily, or belting out roars to warn—

His musings were interrupted by the sudden sight of the imp setting herself a flame and, without a shred of hesitation, sent a plume of fire into the midst of the creatures.

A bark of harsh laughter escaped him, and the hound propelled itself forward with eager eyes even as Lily’s lips formed his name. Good. There was no need to think for such a thing. If the way was blocked, the obstacle need only be removed. If a presence offended, nothing more was needed to let the blood flow.

Fenn ploughed through the explosion’s shockwave as though it was merely a light breeze and lunged towards the nearest beast with an outstretched claw. He had a mind to pin one of them and see what kinds of entrails would spill from a mechanical beast.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

@Lazo

sandy!

Hi-Res

@NarayanK

Hah, pretty. Thank you for drawing her.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

Midori is in the Ifrit mission. Still, it would be funny if she threw a tantrum and ended up assigned to Souta and Mary's mission.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

It had been some time since Fenn and Lily had returned to the Citadel and reported the results of their outing to the Charred Council. Once they had explained themselves to the Council’s satisfaction, the two had been given leave to rest until the next mission, and Lily had given him permission to leave her side.

Eventually, Fenn had found his way to the Citadel’s core, the heart of glass that spread heat and light throughout the entire structure. The dog had settled against one of the room’s walls, his eyes closed and his ponderous breaths matching the beating of the giant heart. The blood and gore he had collected in the battle against the angels was absent, the only hints of their previous presence a multitude of scabbing cuts, the taste of blood in his mouth, and the scent of burnt meat that clung to him. Still, the small, swaying motions of his tail and the perked ear twitching in rhythm with the core’s pulsing betrayed the beast’s wakefulness.

Lacking foes to combat, and left to his own devices by his current Warleader, there was little more for Fenn to do than to rest and think. Indeed, ever since the Imp had thrown her – and by extension his – lot in with the Council, he had found himself something to puzzle over. There was a kind of uneasiness that climbed up his spine whenever his thoughts turned to the faces on the stone.

The role they professed to play, the idea of preserving a balance, mystified him. Just what did ‘balance’ mean? Why bother preserving it? What did the Charred Council get out of it?

A thought that flitted through his mind the moment he learned of the Council’s involvement was that the breaking of the Seals might come as an opportunity to them. Certainly, their attitudes to the Seals of the Apocalypse felt strange to Fenn. Up until he learned that one of the objectives given to their group was to locate the Seals, the dog had been certain the Council itself had been responsible for their creation. The fact that their location was unknown to them casted doubt on the idea. Moreover, the fact that their location had not been recorded by them prior to the breaking of the first Seal indicated a certain… indifference. As though the Endwar was not quite as inimical to their balance as he had believed, or as though the Council had purposefully turned a blind eye to those seeking their destruction. The alternatives were that the council was arrogant to the point of stupidity, or humble enough to believe their knowledge of the Seal’s locations could be abused by another party.

A rumbling chuckle escaped him. Both thoughts were absurd.

He paused to consider the mission he had just returned from. While he welcomed the chance to exert himself, he had to wonder what was the point of disrupting the operations of angels or demons. By eliminating angel leaders, they had merely succeeded in throwing Heaven’s operation in Vigrid into disarray. Angel foot soldiers remained in the city with minimal direction, left to weather the hordes of demons that came for the city. Both sides were bound to suffer greatly. Perhaps that was the point. Yet the continued fighting was bound to take its toll on the settlers of such cities. It seemed a stalemate between the realms was of larger importance to the Council’s balance than the survival of the Third Realm’s inhabitants.

Or perhaps he was reading too much into things, and this had merely been a test of his and the Imp’s ability.

He already suspected that the Council held ulterior motives aiming beyond the quelling of the Apocalypse for recruiting them. It had already been mentioned before, that the greatest warriors the Council could field would not take to Earth unless they aimed to raze it. The recruitment of independent parties was convenient and justified in that it enabled them to act at a time of crisis by bypassing any laws they had wrought to limit outsider’s interaction with the human realm. That said, even beyond the prevention of the Apocalypse, it would ensure the Council counted with agents that could act with impunity on their behalf on each of the three realms. The Halfling pup brought before the Council seemed like the most obvious candidate for such a role. She had not been among the group inside the cavern – he would have recognized her scent had that been the case – meaning she must have been sought out independently. She held enough potential to catch the Council’s eyes, held the parentage to exist in two realms, and was young enough to be molded to another’s needs. An excellent tool, if handled correctly.

A familiar scent brought him out of his musings. “Who let the dog inside?” asked a snide, reedy voice. “You’ll track dirt all over the carpets. Shoo, mutt!”

From his prone position, Fenn lashed out with one of his arms, swinging it towards the source of the irksome chatter, but the limb found no resistance. He opened his eyes and began to rise, glaring at the Watcher that had first brought him to this Citadel. The skeletal creature floated up as Fenn stood on four legs, keeping itself hovering in such a way that Fenn needed to crane his neck upwards to regard it.

“You think to harm me? A loyal servant of the Charred Council?” The thing let out one of its high pitched giggles. “You should be punished! Hanged, drawn and quartered, then have what remains sent to the cooks!” it proclaimed, spindly fingers clutching and loosening in a spider’s dance, before it glanced away, brow furrowing. “Is Hellhound meat edible for humans? Bah, such trifling concerns should not stand in the way of culinary experimentation.”

The dog grunted at the babbling specter. “I suspect the day I can crush the life from your bones I will be doing your masters a service.”

“Ah, the pup is eager to please,” it crooned, “but where was this zeal in your outing? News spread quickly among servants. An Archangel and a ranking demon, both utterly ignored, left to their own devices! What good are you, if you won’t throw your life away to bleed the enemies of the Council?”

Fenn let out a low growl. How he ached for a chance to grind the goading specter into dust, but he knew well enough, that his blows would only pass through it. ‘Protected’ they claimed to be. “Your masters are fortunate,” he spat acidly, “to have a servant who knows their will better than them.”

The thing’s eyes narrowed, and Fenn had the distinct impression that the glowing orbs were glancing left to right as though to confirm there were no prying ears. “I would never make such a bold claim,” it retorted quickly, in a louder voice than strictly necessary. “I am a but a humble servant, ever ready to serve my Master,” it hissed venomously, beginning to lower itself to the ground. “Something an oversized pet must understand well.”

With that final insult, the Watcher sank into the ground, leaving the scowling Hellhound to glare at an empty room. After a moment, Fenn turned and began to walk towards the closest door, intent on leaving the barest hint of the vile creature’s scent behind.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

"How to manipulate relationships like a professional." Heheheheheheh.