A/N: On with the next chapter, if you want an OC to be in this story, please PM me, include
Name
Age
Species
Fur Colour
Eye Colour
Backstory (In relation to this story)
Description
Weapons
Powers
Views of Theo (Friend or Foe? & why)
In a small backstreet in the centre of the communist state of Soleanna stood a small terrace building, it wasn't very wide but it made up for its width with its height, clawing upwards into the clear blue sky. At first glance, with its cryptic cyphers and flickering neon sign, one could have easily mistaken it for a tattoo parlour or some form of gothic nightclub. But the ambiguous symbols weren't advertising tattoo designs, like an untrained individual might expect, but if one could read them; they would see that the symbols were for protection from the supernatural. This was because this was no ordinary building; this was 'Demons Bane', an infamous place, known throughout Soleanna, as the go-to place if you had a problem of the supernatural kind.
On this particular, summers morning, the consultancy was closed, its curtains drawn, the lights inside, dim and diffused by the mask that the curtains created between them and the outside world. However inside, the owner, Theodore Arcreus had just woken and was now sat at his tatty, mahogany desk, boot on the tarnished wood, idly rocking backwards and forwards on his bog-standard chair, listening to Lyla by Oasis blaring from the jukebox in the corner of the room, though his gaze was fixed on the door. In the years that had passed since his resurrection, Theo had changed; he had grown about an inch and thanks to his new occupation was also near the peak of his fitness and strength. Warm water from his resent shower dripped from his six-inch quills and slid down his shoulders and his bare chest, he shook his head, like a dog, sending water drops splaying across the room, he then grabbed a black towel that lay crumbled on his desk and began to dry his quills, humming the rowdy song as he did so.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door, causing the curtains covering it to jump away from the wood and then fall yet again. Theo jumped slightly at the sound, and then fell back to his normal, cool self.
"We're closed!" Theo shouted over the music, eyes closed, hands behind his head, there was another loud bang on the door, he opened one eye in irritation then closed it again, sighing to himself. Then there was a loud crack, as the door was smashed open, sending splinters flipping from the cracked frame, Theo jerked from his relaxation and whipped his feet from the desk, glaring at the undefined shadows that flooded into the room,
"I hope you guys have enough money to pay for that door" Theo grunted, one hand beneath his desk, which was firmly nestled around a 44. Magnum. As the figures approached him, the grip around the gun increased, his eyes narrowed, trying to pick out individual features that would help him identify the figures. Then as his eyes adjusted to the sudden sunlight and he managed to recognise the figures. Out of the dim atmosphere, King Elias loomed out of it, dressed in his royal robes underneath a great blue cloak, with the hood covering his head, around him were his personal guard, also dressed in long cobalt cloaks, hoods raised, parts of their faces masked by shadow.
Theo smiled, his grip still tight around the gun, he leaned forward, placing his forearm on the desk to support himself,
"You here to use the bathroom? It's just round the back" Theo smirked, gesturing with his thumb to a door at the rear of the room. Elias' expression didn't falter what-so-ever, his guards became restless, shifting on their feet and fiddling with something in their back pockets, which Theo automatically assumed were personal firearms.
"Always the joker, huh?" Elias said, folding his arms "Even after all this time"
Theo shrugged "Fine then" he said, picking the pistol up from underneath his desk "I'll cut out the jokes and get straight to the point". In one movement, Theo kicked the chair back, so it hit the wall with a loud bang, and causing him to stand, in a fighting stance, with the Magnum pointing at Elias, cocked and ready to fire.
At this movement, the guards reacted like they had been trained to; they pulled their personal firearms from the holsters and aimed them at Theo, their expressions blank, one of a marksman ready to kill the target. Elias stepped back slightly into his protection; Theo adjusted his aim accordingly,
"Why the fuck are you here?" Theo said, eyes locked with Elias' "I tried to distance myself as far as I could from you for the past five years, and now you break into my home to see… me?"
"I'll explain" Elias said, through gritted teeth "Just put your gun down, you're outnumbered"
"What? So you can shoot me?" Theo said, his grip increasing
"Just put it down" Elias said, Theo glared at him, then slowly lowered the revolver and placed it on the wooden table , as soon as he did this, a guard rushed forward and snatched it away and tucked it into his waistband.
"Ok then Elias" Theo said, grabbing his chair from the wall and pulled it towards the desk before plonking himself onto it, he opened a draw and pulled out a lighter and a packet of cigarettes, tearing off its plastic wrapper, Theo opened the cardboard box and pulled out one of the cigarettes, before placing it in his mouth and igniting the end with his lighter, which he swiftly clicked shut before placing it back on his desk. Tobacco smoke, curled and danced its way to the ceiling and Elias grimaced at the smell, Theo took the cigarette out of his mouth and tapped it on the glass ashtray, dislodging some of the burnt ash,
"You still haven't answered my question" Theo said, not looking up from the ashtray.
"Since when did you smoke?" Elias asked, eyebrow raised, Theo looked up in surprise,
"Pardon me?"
"You never smoked before" Elias commented "Why now?"
Theo placed the smoking drug back in his mouth and inhaled once more, sending the ashes at the tip of it, red; he took it out of his mouth and spoke once more, smoke lacing his breath as he exhaled.
"Its helps me relax"
"Relax?"
"Yep"
"A life threatening drug helps you to chill?" Elias commented, arms folded
"Please" Theo smirked "My life expectancy is low anyway, why make it longer?"
Elias frowned, then shook his head, apparently unable to understand such a concept, he signalled to his guards, one by one, they moved to the back of the room, guarding the front door, their concentration still fixed on Elias and Theo, Elias pulled up a stained, wooden chair, and sat opposite Theo, the desk between them,
"I'm here because I need your erm…..talents"
Theo took his feet off the desk and suddenly became intensely focused, he placed the cigarette in the glass ash tray, and entwined his fingers, resting his chin on the platform, attempting to look professional, despite him being half naked.
"I'm listening"
Elias clicked his fingers, a guard walked forward and gave him a highly reinforced, steel briefcase, clasped shut with several coded locks on the lid, as the guard retreated, Elias ran his thumbs over the dials of the locks, turning them to the correct combination, after a few seconds, the lid sprung open and Elias reached in. Theo lent forward even more trying to see its contents, due to the cases size, he thought that it would contain something large and bulky, however it didn't, Elias pulled out a thin file and tossed it onto the desk, causing it to spin towards Theo. Theo stopped it with his palm and opened its beige cover, with PRIVATE stamped across it; inside lay four A4 photos, he flicked through them as Elias explained,
"Over the past two weeks, there have been numerous cyphers appearing around the Kingdom, all of them appeared overnight and in places where they could easily be seen. I have been reliably informed that you are an expert on supernatural and demonic script and since hardly anyone else can…"
"You want me to check it out." Theo finished, he had spread the photos across the wooden surface, he examined each one individually, noticing that each symbol was the same design, 12 circles of miniscule text, each with unique spacing and gaps between the symbols, each circle getting gradually smaller as they got closer to the centre, at which was emblazoned a design which appeared to represent a clock, but with three hands and what appeared to be six numbers, written in demonic script circling it rather than the conventional twelve.
"So what can you make of it?" Elias asked his eyes bright with intrigue. Theo looked at them, his eyes narrowed, trying to read the symbols, after about ten seconds Theo sighed and placed the photographs back down on the table and glared at Elias,
"How much for the job?"
Elias turned the briefcase round, revealing the remainder of the brief-cases contents. Inside lay bundles and bundles of dollar bills, neatly stacked on top of each other like the bricks of a house, this was more than any other payment he had ever being given for any job before, he now understood why the case was so well protected and reinforced.
"$120,000" Elias said "It's all there. If you want it"
Theo thought, eyes closed, trying to way up the pros and cons of his decision, ever since Dimitri had informed him of his revelation when he was locked in a dream-like state, Theo had thought about every decision he made, even if it was only for a split-second; Dimitri's idea had remained in him, planted in his subconscious, just like the mechanical implant that the echidna scientist had placed in his brain, the idea was the most incurable thing imaginable, everyday life was tainted with the idea, with every decision he made, with every path he walked, there was no relief or escape, his life had been changed.
His decision had been made; Theo sighed and picked up the still smoking cigarette from the ashtray and smoked it, then took it out of his mouth and looked at Elias,
"Ok. I'll do the job" he stood up and tucked his chair under the desk "But not for you, it my job, you've given me an interesting suggestion, and a good amount of money and I have accepted." Theo turned his back to them and moved towards the door that stood at the back of the room,
"Where are you going?" Elias asked, standing up suddenly, sending his chair scooting backwards.
"I need to get some stuff before I pack up and leave" Theo grunted, he moved towards the staircase, Elias gestured towards two of the guards to follow him, the demon ascended the staircase, quietly followed by two of Elias' burliest guards, their eyes searching The like X-Ray machines trying to pick out any form of a weapon. When he reached the top of the stairs, Theo opened another door, its discoloured white paint peeling in strips, downwards. As the door swung open, Theo stepped into the room, inside was a small bed, which lay tucked up in the corner, its covers lay in a heap on top of the yellowing mattress, a wardrobe stood opposite, its wooden peak touching the ceiling. However the room was dominated by a sheet of vast steel mesh that covered the back wall, upon which was attached a multitude of weapons, from shotguns to numbchuks, from demonic daggers to rocket launchers, all of which he had used at least one previously, but on a giant stand in the centre of the plethora of murderous weapons, stood his most used and most trusted weapon of all, a scythe, its long metallic handle encrusted with demonic runes and script, that spiralled all the way up the handle, its shining blade was ornately decorated with baroque swirls and patterns that added to its overall sense of devastating beauty.
However, Theo ignored this and walked briskly over to the wardrobe, and threw open its wooden doors, in a flash he grabbed a black vest and scrambled into it, once that was on, he pulled his signature black leather trench coat off a coat hanger and slipped it on. The coat had white swirls lasing the dark material, however they, like almost all of the coat, was slightly warn, the black and white leather, slowly ebbing away into its more natural grey state in places, however, despite this Theo still wore it everywhere he went. With its tail billowing behind him, Theo rushed over to the wall of weapon and picked of two sets of numbchuks which he slotted into his belt, however as he lay his hands on the handle of the scythe, and the runes began to glow a bright blue, he heard one of the guards grunt as if in pain.
"If you're going to be sick" Theo said loudly, strapping the scythe to his back. He turned to see what the matter was "Don't bother doing it on the carp-…O….K". Both of the guards had transformed, their skin had peeled away, revealing a hard exoskeleton underneath, similar to the armour of a cockroach fused with the gallant armour of a medieval knight. Their muscles had expanded greatly and looked as if they were going to bust underneath the thick exoskeleton, their jaws had become longer and more elongated, causing their chins to extend outwards like the butt of some insane mask, the gums had cracked due to the rapid expansion of their teeth, causing, a thick black blood to seep out of their mouths and to dribble onto their cracked lips and chins. Their fingers had grown into huge claws, at least 30cm long, as they advanced; one of them scrapped its claws across the wallpaper, causing a noise similar to nails being dragged down a chalkboard. Theo cringed at the sound, and reached for the handle of the scythe on his back, but before he could get a firm hold, one of the demons grabbed him around the throat and lifted him off the floor, Theo scrabbled at the claws that closed slowly on his wind pipe, his hands trying to pull the fingers off, however before he claimed a firm hold, the demon tossed his backwards, sending him crashing through a grimy window, he fell two storeys, yelling from the shock, and hit the ground with a loud 'thunk' , cracking the cobblestones beneath him. Groaning, Theo slowly picked himself up, rubbing his arm where he had hit the ground,
"That's going to hurt in the morning" Theo muttered to himself, there came a loud crash from above him, glancing up he saw the two demons dash through the brickwork as if it were paper, sending motor and masonry raining down upon the road, Theo grinned and pulled the scythe off his back, spinning it in one hand as he did so, not just as an attempt to scare the demons but also as an attempt to look cool,
"Come on then, come on" Theo muttered as the demons landed on the road. They advanced on him, moving deceptively quickly, as soon as it was within range, one of the demons lashed out with its claws, Theo quickly raised the scythe and blocked the swipe, swiftly before smashing the butt of the scythes handle into the demons face, causing it to shriek in shock and pain. While it's companion recovered, the other moved in, attempting to grab Theo, but yet again Theo had an advantage, speed. He rolled underneath the grab, and back up into a standing position before the demon had time to react, Theo made a powerful swipe with the scythe, slicing apart the back of the demons knees, smashing apart the exoskeleton to reveal the pink blubbery flesh underneath. The demon collapsed to its knees and quick as a flash, Theo raised the scythe and brought it soring down, the blade smashing through the thick shell of its back and out of its chest in a vicious spray of black blood. The demon screamed in agony,
"OH SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Theo yelled over the din, he pulled the scythes blade out of the creature, however before the creature could thick it was out of its torment, Theo swung the scythe from right to left, slicing the creatures head clean off, which slammed into a nearby wall and shattered against it.
Then out of nowhere, the other demon grabbed him, causing Theo to drop the scythe, he struggled against its grip, the demon chuckled, however Theo grinned,
"Bad luck pal" Theo clicked his fingers, demonic tendrils burst from his back, throwing the demon off him, the hedgehog turned and grabbed the demon with the demonic arms, lifting it up. After watching it struggle, Theo chuckled and clenched his fist; the arms tightened and tore the larger demon apart, throwing pitch black blood all over the street. With another click of his fingers, the tendrils defused into smoke and blew away on the breeze. Theo breathed deeply, forcing his heart rate down from his battle. The door to 'Demons Bane' flew open and Elias and the guards bolted out, they looked at the remains of the battle with wide eyes, then at Theo.
"What?-What was that?" Elias asked, one hand on the handle of his sword, which Theo had just noticed he wore. Theo frowned then moved towards the remains of one of the demons, he stooped down then grabbed its wrist, on one side of it, a small cypher was emblazed there, burnt into the skin, he recognised it as one of the symbols that Elias had shown him in the photographs.
"Don't know" Theo said, he straightened up and picked up his scythe that lay nearby, pooled in demon blood, he turned to look at Elias "But I do know that I'm definitely doing this job now"…
A/N: That chapter two done, remember, if you want your OC to be in the story, review or PM me with the details. Please review before you go with your thoughts and queries.