"Iris are you ready?" I whispered into my EarPods

I was dressed like a civilian this was a covert op involving a powerful new anomaly. I usually go in with a whole squad but this one requires a little more finesse so I pulled out all the stops. One Sweatshirt 2 sizes too big, t shirt, and some jeans. Bullet-proof vest. And one nine millimeter beretta hidden under the folds of the oversized sweater.

"Whenever you are Adrien, but you know how fucked up thi-"

"SCP-105 are you ready?" I said with an added chill to my voice. She knew what I meant by the change in my tone. She took a halting breath.

"Yes Sir, photos have been taken and countermeasures are in place"

"Golden."

He sat at the bar as I walked in. We were the only two preppie there. What a coincidence

The Chaos insurgency has been looking for this guy for months. I don't know how they missed him though. He was the only kid I ever sa nuw with such a look to him. Like he had nowhere to be and nothing to worry about

No one looks like that anymore. Not in this world.

He was 5'10, on a bit of the thinner side. with black hair and dark skin. He looked like he couldn't be older than 18.

And he was dressed like it was the middle of the winter while it was mid- July with a big thick winter jacket . That's kinda the bigger tell.

I took a step forward and somehow the kid knew I was there. He tilted his head to the side. Like someone whispered it in his ear, and he suddenly sat a little straighter. For a second I wondered just how far his abilities went. But it didn't matter. The element of surprise just jumped off a cliff.

"You look a bit scared buddy" I said In a calming voice

Now he turned around. And then I saw my mistake. His eyes; one white iris and the other black were both hard. And cold. The chaos insurgency knew where he was. They were just too scared to go after him.

I put my hands up in a peaceful gesture as He took off his coat and I saw the thing that made him anomalous.

Two tattoos. A devil and an angel one curled over each shoulder. Now usually this would be totally normal except for the fact that they moved.

Ok the tats moved honestly I've seen worse. Hell this thing seemed almost normal compared to some of the nightmares kept in containment back at site 17. But the way they looked at you, It made me uneasy. Like they saw everything about you at a glance. Maybe the cause of the fear was memetic. I would be checked before debrief as was standard procedure but I was almost certain it wasn't. Those things were worth watching.

The tattoos held my attention for half a second before I refocused on the kid. On his eyes. After the tattoos the eyes were a bit more around my base comfort level.

I took a step towards him "Look man I'm just here to talk with you." I said

"Adrian..." Iris muttered nervously through the earpiece. I kept my cool.

Unfortunately, The to-be anomaly was going on a different tack.

"Dude, I'm going to tell you this once. Back. Off. I'm not in the mood right now."

"I'm not gonna do that man. We need to talk." I took another step towards him. He got up immediately in response.

"Last chance." He snarled. "Or your boss will have to bury you in a bag."

"Don't worry man. I'm not with the insurgency." only a half lie. "We're the good guys here."

"Well then make the good guy move and back off. I won't tell you again!" He wasn't moving out of his aggressive stance. I needed to distract him.

"What's your name bud.

"Well, you can't cry over spilled milk." The codeword given. I reached for my gun as the anomaly's tattoos flowed down his arms, and over his knuckles coating them in black and white.

I used to hate fighting you know. At least I think hated it. Stuff from before are always pretty hazy. Of course things change. Instead of not being able to withstand the sight of blood I now lusted for it.

YES KILL HIM! The demon screamed straight into my skull.

My tattoos dripped and flowed in my skin to completely cover my hands and forearms with ink. In that moment I was ready and eager for the fight to come.

Apparently, the agent at the entrance of the bar was ready too. pulling a gun from the folds of his sweater he took aim.

My host! The white ink on my left arm suddenly darted up and down to my stomach halting right over my thigh just a second before...

Bang!

A bullet deflected off the part of my thigh turned white with ink, as the whiteness pulled back a blotchy bruise became visible where the bullet hit. Far better than an actual hit, and it wasn't like Rafi couldn't heal it.

Advance on the prey, you swine don't give him room to breathe! Azriel screamed in my head, pitting himself against my will in an effort to gain control of my body. He failed terribly but did manage to fill me with a red hot rage in the process. I screamed in fury and lunged for the agent, but he was ready for it.

"Now!" he shouted in his firing Stance. and then Suddenly...bullets. A lot of bullet...from two little nozzles sticking out of nowhere. I would've been screwed if not for the beings inhabiting my flesh.

Get down you pig! Azriel suddenly screamed b

Rafi!

Yes my host!

A shot to the shoulder. Another to my foot( blocked by a flash of white ink)1 to the arm, 1 to the right end of my rib cage and 2 to the knee(blocked as well) an abrupt end came to the shooting. I looked up to see the gun barrels withdraw back to nothing. The room filled with an eerie silence.

I fell onto the remains of my shattered knee with hardly a grunt. If I hadn't asked Rafael to blunt the pain receptors in my nerve endings than I'd have been pretty fucked a very long time ago. As it was though the angel did a pretty good job, I hardly felt a thing above a weird twingy feeling as my accelerated healing began to take effect. As I felt my wounds to heal I sprang into a booth about a few feet from the bar area I was crouched in front of.

"I'll ask you again kid. What's your name?" The man sounded smug as hell...and a tad closer to the booth I was in.

"Go fuck your mother!" I snarled. I needed to buy Rafi more time. My knee was almost done healing. I was going to need it if I was going to get out of here.

"Look kid. You're probably bleeding out right now. If you let us take you in we can treat and make you better. I know you don't want to die buddy." He was nearly right in front of me now. He smelled like too much axe and fresh sweat.

I wondered if I would make it out then. I wondered if I could escape. Of course Azriel took that moment to chime in.

You can't escape from us little human. We are with you till the end. Azriel, the demon in the black tattoo whispered into my mind. He "sounded" like me, but with inhuman hatred and malice in his voice.

Azriel just be ready to attack. I thought back at him. And save your bullshit backtalk for after we make it out of this, I'll force you if I have to.

I heard the agents gun now. Cocked and ready to fire. I was counting on them wanting to take me alive but I was suddenly not so sure. Either way, it was too late to back out now.

Take what my counterpart said as you will my host, but he's right. For better or worse we're with you.

The second voice also sounded like me, but kinder. So supple and beautiful it could drive a man to tears, I say that because it has. If you ever thought of the words "kill em with kindness" this is the voice that said it. The voice was that of an angel I'd taken to calling Rafael.

SHUT UP!" I shouted as the agent rounded the corner gun raised. "BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!"

Two blades, One black the other white were drawn from the ink coating both of my hands and forearms. My knee freshly healed I pounced on him, slashing forward in twin arcs with both arms.

To the agents credit he managed a shot right into my thigh before I got him, But when I made my cut it was for keeps. cleaving him clean in two, Both pieces fell with a wet plop.

A ringing sound fell over the bar. Over the body and over me. It took a moment for me to realize how heavily I was breathing once Rafael cut the adrenaline from my veins. And on top of the exhaustion sat a harrowing pain stemming from my bullet wounds.

"Rafi can you stop-."

No my host. You need to feel this.

"I REALLY disagree with you there. can you at least tell me why-?"

And suddenly...pain. Enough blinding pain to make me stumble backwards into the same booth I leapt from. my white blade withdrew into my hand and moved from wound to wound pushing out gleaming bits of metal and letting them roll onto the stained red leather couch.

I could've been screaming. I wasn't really sure. Looking back afterwards I realized It was probable, but

I couldn't just lie there I had to get up, I had to get up on my own. While I had a pair of guiding hands neither of them can really be called benevolent. The demon is evil and typically he messes with my psyche to traumatic degrees. The angel in turn is kind, in the sense that it invented the saying "tough love" but thought"cruel love" was the way to go. And somehow it worked. I mean I got up didn't I?

Fuck you Rafael. I thought with gritted teeth. But I didn't couldn't bear to focus on the angels cruelty. Azriel, are you there? Are we clear?

Nothing. For the first time in years my inner demon remained silent.

Rafi where's Azriel?

He remained silent too, focused on his work, But I had to move, not doing so would guarantee me passing out from the pain, and I needed to be conscious to get out of that bar before Mr. Slice 'N Dice Ems friends come to get him. step by step I worked on getting to the exit I mayyyy have broken into the restaurant itself to get at the food inside. So there was no one else there. Just me, my meal and...wait…

…

...

SHIT!

I fell forward as fast as I could, but it was far too late. In my pain I forgot about something very important. A pair of disembodied hands holding not a gun but a syringe filled with something, stuck me. And almost immediately I felt a dizziness creeping over me, like the walls were closing in until I couldn't breathe.

Azriel…

But my only answer was a cackling coming right from my head.

Rafael…

But his response was far, far worse. Prompting a fear that I hadn't felt in a long time.

This was the only way, My Host.

And at the end of it all it wasn't the drug, or the pain, or even the horribly familiar fear that did me in.

It was the chair that my head cracked against as the hands let me fall. That chair knocked me out like a light. I think that chair was the true villain of this little story.