Hard to Define

Necromundus - City Center


 * ''The quirky architecture of the mist-laden city of Necromundus is distinguished primarily by the absence of many right angles. Wooden-slats climb walls that are rectangular cubes, but the lines from ground to gable form rather oblong angles, giving everything from the dominant clock tower to the grand gold-domed opera house a rather unstable appearance.

Ghostly entities of many shapes and sizes can often be seen traveling the narrow, fog-shrouded streets, on their way to the Place of Choosing or preparing to resurrect after some sort of misadventure or accident beyond the great portals that lead to strange and distant realms.

A cobblestone street snakes northeast toward low hills surrounded by wrought-iron fences and tombstones, while a rutted grass path heads south toward the stinking mire known as the Rotting Bog.''

Zariel's shifting things around in the bags of his motorcycle. He's got blood all over him, old-ish by the looks of it, and has a bunch of holes in his wings.

Ax slips in from the residential section, padding towards the inn.

The demon looks up from his shuffling, catching sight of the felinoid. "Hey," he calls, "You know that fairy-boy angel, right? Seen him since last night?" A little blunter than usual in tone, perhaps a bit irritable, but nothing too noteworthy.

Ax just blinks at Zariel. "You mean Ravus, my lover?" he asks, sounding vaguely amused. "We've been called worse, and yes, I woke up next to him, why?"

"Oh, so /you're/ Ax," the demon smirks, "Cute boyfriend you've got there - I'm almost jealous." Zariel turns away from his bike and regards the felinoid for a long while, "Never figured him the type to like pussy, but I guess I was wrong. How's he healing?"

"Oh, tremendously funny," Ax drawls dryly. "I've heard it all before. Healing just fine, much as I'm sure you don't care."

"You don't know anything about me," Zariel points out, eyes narrowing, "Don't dare to act like you do. I was just wondering how much damage the stupid fuck took when he was saving my ass." He smirks, then, "Besides, I'd hate to see a beautiful ass like that get too banged up unless it was done by me."

"Yeaaah, won't ever happen," Ax shrugs lightly, waving it off and turning towards the inn.

The demon growls at that. "Cheeky little bastard, aren't you?" Zariel detaches himself from the bike and pulls a 9-tailed whip from his belt, "You'll regret taking the Demon of Wrath so lightly." He makes towards the felinoid to get him in range of the weapon.

Vroom vroom! The distant sound of a cheerful motorcycle can be heard from the portal plaza.

Ax hisses, spinning and trying to jump backwards and out of the way. "Neutral ground, you -really- don't want to start a fight here."

"Oh, but I do," Zariel assures with a grin, eyes turning their solid reflective black as he continues after the felinoid. Once he thinks he's got a good shot, the demon swings that whip around a bit before striking at Ax with it. The vrooming? Noticed, but ignored.

And Ravus rides out of the portal plaza atop his shining motorcycle, bandages carefully wrapped about his wings. He seems cheerfully calm despite them for the most part... until he sees the fighting begin. Wordlessly, the angel revs up his bike and speeds towards the two of them.

Ax yowls loudly, his legs taken out from under him as he's just that tiny bit too slow. "...Aaargh, -fucker-," he spits, reaching into a pocket to grab... a Teleportater. Which doesn't seem to quite have the effect he thought it would have, disappearing from near the inn and reappearing some distance away, but still in the same area. "...Bugger."

The demon would laugh at Ax's stupidity if it wasn't for the fact that there's a really strong angel on a really shiny motorcycle speeding at him. Zariel curses to himself, something about 'never getting that ass', and swings his whip around some more in preparation for a much bigger fight.

The giant sword's still been switched out for clawed gauntlets and metallic bracers, making it easy for Ravus to vault off his motorcycle's handlebars with empty but armed hands and land near Zariel solidly. "You don't -touch- him," he says softly, voice icy. "Do you understand me?"

Ax looks down at the bloody gashes that have been cut across his legs and winces, pressing a paw to each to stop the bleeding as he blinks up. "...Ravus?"

"A little late," Zariel remarks with a supremely sadistic chuckle, jerking his head in a small motion towards the injured felinoid. "What're you going to do if I hurt him again, hm? Scratch me with your claws?" More whip-swinging, before the demon brings a sharp backhanded swing of the weapon at Ravus, growling, "Try it."

"I'm here," Ravus says softly over his shoulder to Ax, even as a clawed gauntlet flashes up and deflects the whip's sharp tails in the nick of time. "Zariel. You don't want to do this." He tries to twist his hand and tangle the whip's tails in his claws, so he can yank it free from the demon's hand.

"I think he does," grumbles Ax, still trying to staunch the bleeding and at the same time try and stagger to his feet. He doesn't manage to stand.. no.

That yank doesn't pull the whip from the demon's vice-like grip. Instead, it gets a return yank as Zariel attempts to either pull back his whip or pull off Ravus's clawed gauntlet. "I really do," he remarks in agreement with Ax, letting out another chuckle.

Ravus growls softly as the whip's yanked away from him, but he pulls back enough to keep his gauntlets. "Ax, get out of here! Get on Chopper, he'll take you back home." He steps back, then falls into a ready stance. "...I didn't want to do this, Zariel, but you leave me no choice." It has the sound of a formal declaration, followed up by a charge inward and a powerful swipe of claws for the demon's whip-wielding arm.

Ax shakes his head, beginning to crawl towards Chopper. "Walking's going to be an issue... so I'll -try-."

Zariel twists his torso away from that swipe, his illusion of clothes dropping into the steel plate the demon wears at the close call. A faint scratch can be seen on his pauldrons where that strike swiped, and the demon replies by bringing his shoulder forward and his arm in an upward arc to slash that whip vertically along the angel's side. No words are uttered by Wrath, his face set in the insane grin he displays in every fight.

"Just hurry," Ravus calls anxiously to Ax, throwing himself into a wild sideways flip that sends the whip's tips dragging harmlessly along his own steel plate. "Chopper!" He whistles loudly, and the bike begins to obediently vroom closer. "Take him!" The angel lunges in once more, trying to stab those claws upward into Zariel's face- not exactly a pulled blow.

Ax nods quickly, wincing as he tries to pull himself up onto the bike.

Another close call, the demon bending back away from that slash as claws ring lightly and harmlessly across his helmet. Zariel cackles, "Someone's fighting /dirty/!" and brings the whip around again, a simple horizontal slashing motion aimed across Ravus's face in retaliation.

Ravus spins around on an armored heel, the whip scratching safely but loudly across the back of his helmet. "I need to stop you however I can since you won't listen to reason!" He pivots back around, putting his strength behind a wide diagonal swipe from shoulder to hip. "This is so pointless and unnecessary!

The demon jumps back from that swipe and charges back in. Zariel's simple reply of, "Oh, but it's /fun/!" bellows out as an infernal growl as he aims to sweep his whip down the angel's front.

Ravus cries out as the whip's sharp tips find purchase in the joints of his armor, ripping downward and carving great furrows in the steel. The weapon comes away bloody, the angel's chest somewhat ribboned underneath. "You can be better than this!" he declares, voice sharp with pain as he strikes inward to claw at Zariel's face once more. "You have it in you!"

Again, claws sweep across the demon's helmet with no effect other than a metallic ringing sound. Zariel roars in sadistic pleasure at causing the angel to bleed, before striking at him again, a diagonal swipe aimed back across Ravus's torso. "I /enjoy/ this! There is nothing 'better'!"

Ravus staggers with another rough cry as steel whip-ends take advantage of the holes already ripped in his armor, rending and tearing both flesh and steel wider open. "There's so much better," he insists raggedly. "I've been there! I've BEEN you! You don't know... you don't know what you're missing!" With a glance over his shoulder to see if Ax's safely away, he strikes out again with a deep driving blow right for the center of Zariel's chest- but visibly unsteadily.

Zariel merely sidesteps that attack. Rather than replying with the whip, the demon makes to grab the arm that has just flown past him and pull the angel off-balance. "I. Am. A. DEMON!" he roars at the angel during these movements, "I can't be saved! I don't /want/ to be saved! Get it through your thick head - I AM NOT YOU! I AM NOT SORRY!"

Already weak with blood loss and overextended from his attack, Ravus is easily pulled off-balance- enough so that he begins to crash to the ground, only held up at all by Zariel's hand on his arm. "You haven't forgotten kindness," he tells Zariel softly, voice sounding woozy. "You haven't. There's good in you. You -can- be saved. If you want it... you -can-..."

The demon lets Ravus fall to the ground, but keeps a grip on the angel's arm. Zariel is breathing heavily, partly from the exertion of the fight and partly from his rage. "I," he starts firmly, twisting his grip on that arm, "don't," he brings his booted foot up to set it on the angel's injured chest, "want," his other hand, whip shifted in his palm, makes to grip the arm as well, "saved," the Demon of Wrath jerks, then, trying to twist the arm sharply and break it.

Ravus screams aloud as his arm's broken with an audible 'crack', the angel's position of vulnerability leaving him unable to resist. Drawing a sobbing breath of pain, he tries to focus on Zariel through tear-dampened eyes. "I... don't... -care-," he pants. "I've stood... where you stand... and it *hurts*. And I found... something better. Something... much more worthwhile. And I still want... to show it to you. No matter what you do to me."

Vhroom. Is that noise getting closer?

Zariel lets the broken arm fall, shaking his head as he reaches down to pull off the angel's helmet. "I'm not you, Ravus," he states, quietly but without pity or remorse, "It doesn't hurt me in the least to be what I am." And with that, he swings the whip a bit and swipes it at the angel's face, in hopes of discorporealizing him.

A pained green gaze watches Zariel calmly as the helmet's removed, Ravus's soft and pale face streaked with red. The angel says nothing more- his eyes only close when the whip descends, streaking his features to a bloody ruin. Unfortunately, a whip isn't a great weapon for a coup de grace, and judging by his sobbing, keening breathing he's still alive despite the rearrangement of his features.

The demon actually chuckles a bit at that, "Oh, that's lovely. Note to self: whips are bad for quick kills but /really good/ for causing fugly pain." That said, Zariel merely bends down and makes to break the angel's neck instead.

Well, that works. In strong hands, without any resistance- as Ravus seems to have given up on fighting- there's just a solid crack, and the angel lies still.

With a nod, Zariel's image shimmers with a heat haze and his armor returns to the illusion of clothing. The whip is returned to his belt, and he pulls out his wallet. The demon leans against the nearest solid something and waits for Ravus to recorporealize as his eyes return to their blood red hue.

After a few moments, Ravus's body dissolves into twinkling motes of silver light, and shortly after that the angel reappears in the very center of the city- in his true form this time, hefty and traced with silvery spirals, armor not so loose on his frame.

The Demon of Wrath, now thoroughly calmed, walks casually over to Ravus and offers an arm to him. "Come on, Hercules, I'll buy you some food," Zariel remarks, waving his wallet in his other hand and gesturing it towards the tavern.

Vhrooom. Here's Ax, back on Chopper, leaving blood in his wake from his bandaged legs.

Ravus looks back at the sound of Chopper, and informs Zariel quietly, "Wait a moment." He moves toward Ax, running to meet the motorcycle halfway. "Hey, are you okay," he calls to the felinoid with audible concern.

"Whatever," Zariel shrugs, turning to watch the other two with arms folded.

A bleeding Ax is sat on chopper, watching Ravus. "..No, I'm not fucking okay," he says, gesturing at his legs. "Get on the bike, this fucking hurts and I want to go home."

Ravus is fairly covered in blood as well, his armor dinged with deep rents as if someone's taken a giant weedwhacker to it. But he seems okay, jogging over towards Ax and his motorcycle. "Later," he calls over his shoulder to Zariel, not looking back as he slides onto the bike. "Why didn't you just go home? See, I'm fine..."

The demon smirks and nods, offering the pair a flick of his wallet as a wave and starting for the tavern alone. Zariel sighs and shakes his head. "A real shame," he muses to himself, "To think, I almost had a chance to tap that. Oh well."

Ax snorts at Ravus. "...Yeah, so he takes out my legs, does whatever he does to you and suddenly he's your best friend?" he growls. "He's a fucking asshole."

There is a flicker of energy in the city center, and through a slip of dimensions, Linnael appears, holding a potato. The mage shakes his head before looking around, then goes wide-eyed before he starts to Ravus and Ax. "What happened to you?"

"Listen, I'll explain it when we get home," Ravus says softly, half-closing his eyes. "Let's just g-" He stops at the sight of Linnael, slumping back further. "Fight," he says briefly. "We're going home."

"I prefer the term 'psycho', actually," Zariel remarks to Ax brightly as he steps through the door to the Purgatory Tavern.

Ax shrugs, looking down at his still bleeding legs. "...Well, can we get back before I bleed out? ...Hi Linn."

Linnael grumbles under his breath. "Well, let's hope there was a good reason for it at least," he says. "Need help?"

"I'm ready to go. Can you drive, Ax? If not I'll get it," Ravus offers, tracking Ax with a visibly worried gaze.

Ax shakes his head, leaning forwards, beginning to slump a little. "...Used up most of my energy getting us here."

"Nah, this'll do-" Ravus leans forward, strong arms reaching around Ax to seize Chopper's handlebars. "Let's go. You can come, Linn, if you like." Revving the bike up, he drives back towards the residential area.