Come Out and Play [OPEN]

[Lucrum]

Lucrum had no plans for returning to the mortal realm for another month or so. After the crazy shit he saw go down outside the abandoned strip, the incubus wasn't exactly wanting his name to be spread around very much. Certain benefits to laying low and whatnot.

His plans were cut short, however, as he felt another voice calling for him. Not by his actual name, no, but a chant he'd taught very few in the past to use if they need call upon him. He hadn't heard that old tome in several decades now though, who was this guy kidding?

Billie Rotten, Billie Rotten,
London's little fiend,
Blood of the betrayer, curse upon your prayers,
Find your way to me.

A portal began to seep open, the incantation being finished with the spilling of blood, and the demon yawned as he stood up. Barkeep continued to wipe the glasses from behind his barrier, seemingly uninterested in the whole affair. Lucrum, however, threw his jacket over his bar stool and walked out to the calling. Someone ballsy enough to actually pull him over to the other side was worth his time.

---

3:45 AM
February 3rd, 2012
Near Jubilee Park, London

Ricky Stone tossed the girl he'd slept with the night before to the ground and smiled as he felt a familiar presence enter his body. The demon from a month before was a tough one to find, but with a little poking around and some hints he'd left before he ditched Ricky, the punk rocker was able to find the being that had assisted him. Through a fucking nursery rhyme, no less!

"So it was you, eh? What y'want wit' ol' Billie Rotten today?" Ricky heard the demon inside his head, a bit of disappointment pooling up inside since he couldn't really 'talk' to the incubus. With a shrug the blonde dropped to his bottom and leaned back against the wall of the rickety shack he'd taken up lodging in.

"First of all, thanks, mate. Y'really got me out of a bind last month." The late-teen chuckled and licked the last of the girl's blood from his hand. What had her name been? Lucile? Whatever. "Second, y'can drop the Billie Rotten shit, I know your name's Lucrum."

"Who'd y'kill for that info?" Snickering flooded into Ricky's skull, and he was forced to stand back up not to pass out from the sheer force behind it. "Fair's fair, though, what y'need from me?"

Ricky stepped outside, tucking his hands into his jacket pocket before turning around. With a nudge of his boot, the door closed itself and revealed the demon's name written in blood on the outside of the shack. Under it was a symbol of some sort, similar to a pig's head, but with blood splatter lining the base of the scalp.  Lucrum recognized it right off the bat.

"Dammit, who'd y'fuckin' tell about me?!" The accent and drunkenness shined through Ricky's voice as Lucrum took control and punched through the door. The young man gave no response, remaining silent in his thoughts. "Y've got me in some shit now, mate. We're in this for the long run if this guy's after me."

"Who?"

"Vic the Butcher." The demon let his new eyes droop as he stared into the bloody pig skull. If Domino's brother knew about how he died, nobody with connection to Lucrum would be safe. When you worked in the black market and someone pissed you off, there wasn't any diplomatic action. You found the guy and you killed him before he could think to do the same to you. The incubus was going to leave it be, but now it didn't seem like he had much choice. He needed help, and he needed it quick.

[Analee]

Nancy-  that was her name, right?  Something like that.  A primp woman with her curly brown hair pulled back, had been sent back home after a freak squirrel accident had been shipped to her uncle's house in London for a while.  However, while there, she couldn't resist the 'freedom' that a little red-haired demon offered.  It wasn't really freedom, though.  There was nothing that Ana did, that the girl couldn't do on her own.  It really didn't bother the demon much, since HEY she got to see the world; which was far beyond exciting.

Her heels clicked upon the ground, while she sought out something to do.  It had been a day to pick flowers! So of course, in her hands she held a bouquet of simple wild flowers, but they were dead after an hour of walking.  Sad.  

Nancy was a boring host.  She never talked back, she just sort of went to sleep.  It was as if she had just wanted Ana as a body-sitter.. which really seemed like the least smart idea somebody could ever have.  Well, it was definitely too late now.  With her game over, she was bored completely and in the distance, she saw a person.  Wait a person in the woods in the middle of nowhere?!  There was absolutely nothing suspicious about that!

Ana was immediately at the person's side.  There was blood... EVERYWHERE.  Well that was unexpected, but of course didn't affect the demon in a woman's body.  "Hello.  Did your game get out of hand?"  She paused and realized this person was probably a human and likely would think- right.  "I mean-  OH GOD THE BLOOD." Her emotion was very inaccurate as she smiled like an idiot.  Indeed, Ana was probably very dim most of the time, but at the same time- something felt off.  

There was a feeling of familiarity.  most humans didn't paint names in blood on shacks with pig's heads.  "Actually.  This looks familiar.  Are you a ritualist?"

[Lucrum]

The sound of footsteps behind them would have sent Ricky bolting. Lucrum, however, remained calm and held the new team in place, despite mental objections. The feet seemed to trod lightly upon the leaves below them, possibly a female. This was confirmed as the girl stepped next to them. She could only see one being though, and that was the blonde-haired punk in a leather jacket.

"Yeah, y'got a problem wit' it?" Lucrum responded to her question quickly, but stopped himself from seeming too rude once he looked at her. Definitely a strange human. Not only based upon the fact that she knew what Ritualists were, but also because she was terrible at faking her surprise toward blood. "I'm gonna guess you're a demon, eh? Well, up inside the disguise anyway."

Lucrum paced around the female and looked her over. Definitely held herself in a familiar way, the tone of voice hinted him off to something too. Who was this girl? The demon he'd met on New Years? Nah, not this upbeat and cheerful. No other names came to mind, but it ate at him. He knew he'd met this one somewhere before.

"Stop eye-fuckin' 'er and get on with it."

"Anyway, y'know why this bloke's been marked? Any news 'round Inferis?" He shrugged and folded his arms before he nodded towards the blood-soaked door. "Callin' card of Vic, know that much." Obviously he wasn't ready to admit Lucrum was his name just yet, but it would be obvious to most considering the circumstances.

[Analee]

"Demon in disguise? Yes. Obviously not very good if you could tell so easily." She was oddly chipper about that. It seemed like something that could have gone a lot worse, after all, the man wasn't trying to kill her- that was always a plus. He did seem familiar though. Ana did know and meet a lot o people, so remembering who was going to be a long shot.

AND THUS the explanation began. Analee just kept her new-found oblivious smile on her face as he probed her for information (Not a bright move, but then again he obviously didn't know her). Any news around Inferis? Ana just gave a huge smile and responded rather proudly, "I have no idea."

He had paced around her, but now was the time to answer his other questions. There was nothing wrong with reverse order... right? Then again the name Vic sounded familiar. "Vic... Vic.." She tapped her chin and mulled it over. Now how come she recognized the name..? A brief flashback later and she could almost instantly recall everything in her Ana-vision memory.

"OH! VIC. Billie wanted me to kill him for a sandwich." Her right fist hit her left palm as if it were some way of enforcing her memory. "Or something like that I think." She shook her head and looked at the name on the shack. Ana was not smart, so the fact that it was actually 'Billie's name flew completely over her head. "Wait Vic's name is actually Lucrum? Are you Vic?" She suddenly looked incredibly confused and angry. "Do I need to kill you?!"

[Lucrum]

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no, HELL NO."

"What's gotten up your dick now?"

"Ana, y'dumb broad, I AM BILLIE ROTTEN." He sat down and rubbed his temples with his fingers. Another drink, that's all he could think about when she popped up. How the hell did Ana constantly just happen to run into him? And with that thought he was back up. "Y'hoity doity master got y'followin' me or somet'in'? Gold on my head or what?"

"Lucrum, calm down, mate. I'm sure she has her reasons for bein' 'ere."

He was so tempted to pull the knife out that Ricky had in his pocket, but instead he inhaled deep, exhaled, and tried to straighten everything out. It was weird, but it could still just be that. A coincidence. A fucking terrible, repeating, and horse beaten after-death, coincidence.

"My colleague says I need t'calm down, so I'ma do that." Another deep breath. "And I'ma try t'explain this slowly for ya. My name is actually Lucrum. Billie is Lucrum. Y'savvy?" He paused and scratched at his nose, response not really important. "Vic the Butcher, bloke who runs the meat trade in the Necropolis, 'e found out my little plan. Billie needs 'elp or nobody gonna be seein' 'is mug 'round much longer."

Lucrum sank back into Ricky's subconscious, giving him quite the jerk when he came back in control of his body. He shook his hair from his face and looked over to the girl. She seemed fine enough to the eighteen year old, even if she was a little off.

"Lucrum's not the easiest t'get along with, I know that more than anybody." He patted himself off and sighed. "Whole mess is my fault, I guess. Name's Ricky."

[Analee]

Oh no.. Billie was mad at her.  Ana's smile faded quickly and she looked much similarly like a beat puppy.  She'd- been very wrong.  Billie had lied about his name, which really kind of hurt, but she supposed she'd get over it one day.  Ana always did.  Still, for now, she was shirked back, with shoulders slumped.  She felt.. terrible which was un-Ana like.  She had whimpered an apology, but it wasn't like he would have heard.

In a moment, he seemed to shift and his talking was different.  Ricky apologized and Ana simply gave a sheepish smile.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean anything by it."  Her body shifted and she tucked her hands in front of her lap.  Basically, as usual, Ana was pretty harmless for a demon.  "I know Billie-Lucrum, isn't really fond of me, but that's okay." She smiled and shook it all off.   Her chipperness returned.  "I'm Ana.  Nice to meet you, Ricky."  

Suddenly she shook her head. "I wan't following him, I promise.  It's just one of those coincidence things.  Nancy-" She pointed to herself. "Was made to live with her uncle in London and as soon as she got here she summoned me." Ana shrugged her shoulders then looked away. "I didn't mean to make anyone mad.  I'm sorry."[/color]

[Lucrum]

Definitely wasn't of the dangerous persuasion, which was odd for Ricky. He'd assumed most demons to be at least somewhat like Lucrum, if even more deadly. Still, Ana seemed nice, what was Lucrum so on edge about? Was demon society really that much different than on Earth?

"I'm sure Lucrum doesn't dislike ya," he gave her a quick pat on the shoulder and continued, "He's a bit rough, he 'as a 'ard time showin' what he's all about." The boy wasn't exactly sure if he was getting his point across as well as he could, and Lucrum shouting at him wasn't exactly helping. Still, Billie Rotten wasn't assuming control again, so he must not have had too much of an objection to put out.

"So, this was going t'come out eventually... The guy I got my info from on 'ow to get Lucrum back must not've been the honest type." He opened up his knife and pulled it out, away from the girl as not to cause her to flinch or flee. "I know how th'boss likes things done by now, he rubbed off on me a bit the night we met. I'm sure you're familiar with the killin' game, and we'll definitely need some 'elp. The ol' roadie we'll be after has ties t'some thugs. Ritualists. Won't like us just jumpin' in there if ya catch my drift."

[Analee]

Ana was completely clueless.  She had not really much of an idea of what he was talking about.  Apparently it had something to do with someone trying to kill them?  Was it that fellow they were supposed to kill?  They DID mention the killing game.  Ana was pretty good at that game!  Usually!  Her eyes tared warily at him with full intrigue; like a child being read a story.  She wasn't the brightest, but Ana was one of the most loyal demons a person could meet.  If someone needed her help, she was there.

Ana crossed her arms and looked at the man with a bbit of a lost expression.  So they needed to make a plan?  She could probably do that- maybe.  NOT the plan part, though- HELL no.  Ana couldn't plan herself out of a cardboard box.  "Well.." Her voice paused while she chewed on her thumb thoughtfully.  It was a habit started by her ritualist, but Ana had accidentally picked it up.  "What did you need me to do?"

[Agent Fordsworth]

Due to some random reason, this place in the middle of nowhere had gotten yet another odd visitor. Indeed, a super awesome and rather handsome member of the MI-6 decided to drop by and hang out with the duo that was already there. Cromwell wasn't the type to actually visit places like this, in the middle of nowhere, with no civilization. The reason for that was something related to his little metal instability, but that does not matter now so lets not get into it. Either way, even though it seemed that the appearance of the blond haired agent was purely random, he did have an actual reason to be here. MI-6 was aware of the existence of the supernatural and in some cases they would get themselves involved with it for the sake of protecting Britain from such creatures. This of course included ritualists, which was odd as Cromwell himself was one. Well, nobody actually knew he was one of those things. In fact, the man himself didn't really want to get lumped with such a group of people, he considered himself to be far too superior to them. Not to mention he hunted them down and locked them in rather dark places where they would be treated as if they were filthy animals. Well, that's one way to put it. This man certainly didn't give a damn about his own kin, that much was certain. 

So, what was the reason of his visit to this God forsaken place?

Well, MI-6 got a report about people vanishing, mainly young girls. Perhaps it was a person vanishing, 007 couldn't quite remember the details. Either way, last time the young female, or whoever vanished, was seen venturing into these woods. Some of the details were unclear and this forest was a rather suspicious place, suspicious enough to be used for certain rituals. The report and the investigation was actually something MI-6 stole from the local police, those people were far too incapable to handle such a investigation. 

Since a young girl was involved, the person who took the assignment was non other than the legendary agent 007, famed womanizer. However, in this occasion the case was actually forced upon him. He didn't really want to do it as he just returned to London after visiting Washington and some other place which he did not want to remember as that trip was just awful. Now that he was back, he wanted to take a break, but the higher echelon of the fine establishment which he was a part of had other plans for him. Due to that he was now wondering a forest in search of clues. 

How unlucky. Being famous had quite a few drawbacks.

However, even though back then luck was not on his side, today it was as he managed to find something. The blond haired agent would, as silently as possible, venture into the inside of the forest. There he would find a cottage and two rather suspicious people standing there with blood here and there. At that moment, when his eyes noticed those people and the cottage he was around fifteen meters to the right of the man. Once he noticed them he would quickly hind behind a tree, luckily at that moment neither of their gazes were facing his direction. The female looked like your typical hooker, while the man had an odd vibe. Since the people controlling the characters didn't give out a more detailed description of their looks, the fact that those two looked suspicious was the only thing Cromwell could conclude. The blood pretty much made them guilty. However, the blond haired agent did want to know what happened to the girl, there was a possibility that she was alive and thus he would approach the cottage. At the same time, with a rather calm tone he would say: "Hello there. I hate to do this, but it seems I will have to take you two with me and lock you up in a rather dark place where you will meet lots of fun people. Care to come with me peacefully or will I have to spank you?" Upon finishing his speech, the blond haired male would stop, at that moment being ten meters away from the two. They could clearly see him as there were no trees between them. There was one right next to him, but never mind that.

[Lucrum]

"We're gonna need some backup. Like I said, the other blokes there won't be so keen on us just bustin' in th-" Just as Ricky was about to finish, his body froze in place. Lucrum didn't say anything to him, not even a sound to confirm it was him that caused it, but this was confirmed as the young man turned around without control. Someone else had decided to make their presence known. A blonde haired man, just like him, only shorter and cleaner cut.

"Oi, this is a private party-" The demon began, vocalizing himself through Ricky. However, another interruption came as the mystery man gave some sort of warning of a dark room which the two of them would be locked in or some garbage. He hadn't paid much attention, honestly. Whatever this guy's problem was, it could wait. There were bigger fish to fry.

The demon grabbed a smoke from Ricky's jacket pocket and lit it up with a hum. Another coincidence that this guy was showing up too? Not as likely. He stepped forward and flicked his ashes on the wannabe-secret agent man's shoes before he exhaled a large cloud of smoke in his face. Lucrum pulled Ricky's teeth back into a painful-looking smile and laughed.

"Only one gettin' spanked 'round 'ere'll be you, mate, if y'don't back off." A growl escaped from Ricky's throat before he continued. "Ain't no reason t'get y'blood on that nice suit, Mr. Bond. Run along now."

[Analee]

They needed some extra help?  Did this mean she was going to fight- in this body?  Well she supposed she could do SOMETHING.  Her arms crossed tightly under her chest as she nodded in response.  It seemed like something she could help out with.    

Suddenly a voice came from the side and Ana turned to look at him.  He- wasn't anyone she knew, so for him to threaten to lock her up and/or spank her- well that was normally a threat she heard after knowing someone a week.  Well minus the spanking part- She wasn't often threatened with such a thin, so naturally this left her a bit confused.  "Do- I know you?"  She stammered in general confusion.  Maybe she had met him before, as unlikely as it seemed.  

The demon Billie- or Lucrum was soon taking defense and arguing(?) with the newcomer.  Ana just stood there and fidgeted at her long-sleeved blouse, then straightened her jean skirt.  Let the boys argue, she supposed.  For some reason, Ana felt a bit confused on how to act.  She had already been old that she was very poor at acting human (Such as the squirrels fiasco).   It wasn't like she was armed, however she DID look like a shy and uncomfortable individual.  

From the corner of her eyes she watched the man: ready to move if she needed.  Sure 'Billie' couldn't stand her and thought she was dumb (really she was), but that wouldn't stop her from helping him against a man she didn't know.  After all, in HER mind she was Lucrum's friend.. kind of.  This whole situation just made her a bit- uncertain.  She'd just wait to see if it escalated.

[Agent Fordsworth]

There was one thing which nobody should ever do when around Cromwell, an absolute sin that would cause the blond haired male to take a step over the line with no way to go back. Sadly, this other male just did what should not have done. Trying to insult him or provoke him was not something that would affect this man in such a way, but smoking in his presence was a grave sin. Cromwell disliked smoking and people who smoke in his presence. You see, he cared about his health and he was fully aware of the fact that second-handed smoke contained a large amount of harmful substances, in fact the person smoking the cigar first-handed inhales less harmful substances than the person who inhales the smoke second-handed. Due to that, the handsome agent would always stay away from smokers and all kinds of tobacco smoke. However, this man decided to take out a cigar in his presence, approach him and exhale smoke into his face. Just by taking out a cigar in his presence gave the blond haired detective enough reason to do some rather nasty things to this man. But when he dared to approach him with a cigar, it was something that made the secret agent a tad annoyed. We all know what happens to bad guys who anger 007, right? Lets just say that most of them, or perhaps all of them, do not get to act in any of the sequels after they get introduced in one of the movies. This man does have a licence to kill after all. 

Lets just go through this in a timely fashion. Cromwell showed up saying something that apparently the duo didn't like, which in return made the male make a few steps and stopped when he was in front of the secret agent, a meter or so away. In his hand he had a cigar and once he reached the blond haired male, he attempted to dirty the agent's shoes and exhale smoke to his face. However, things there did not go as planned. After doing so the other male would have said something, but due to certain events that happened, it did not seem as if he was going to be given a chance to utter those words. So, what happened? Well, once the other male flicked his ash and exhaled smoke that was going towards the face of the agent, an rather sharp ice pillar would be formed and it would attempt to impale the tobacco damaged right lung of the smoker. Pardon, I meant to write ice pillars and not ice pillar, as there were more of them and not just one. The one aimed at the mans lung would appear from behind him and quickly strike as he wasn't looking. Another one would seemingly emerge from Cromwell's stomach and it would go for his left tobacco damaged lung. Smokers were such a nasty kind, poisoning themselves with silly cigars that through time dealt considerable damage to their lungs. Although, perhaps this man still had healthy lungs. That didn't really matter now, he was going to lose them anyways, as they were going to potentially get impaled, among other things, as his lungs weren't the only targets and he would be mistaken if he thought that only these two pillars were only ones. 

Funny thing this ice making ability of Cromwell's was. You see, although he was only limited to freezing stuff, by using his imagination and freezing water molecules in sort of an order, he would be able to freeze them in a way that they would form ice spikes. Not only that, you would think that he was helpless with no water around. However, since his target was less than five meters away from him, he was in the range where Cromwell could apply his cryokinesis on water vapor which was basically all around them. Oh and he used his ability rather quickly.

Anyways, back to the situation at hand. So, the other male would exhale smoke into Cromwell's face and in return two ice spears or ice pillars, whatever you wanted to call them, were now going towards him at quite the rate. In fact, the other male had a single second to do something in order to get away without getting hurt. Well, one second for the first pillar which would sprout from the ground. Since the second one would seemingly emerge from the agent's stomach, the distance between it and the targeted lung was somewhat smaller so it would take less than a second to impale its target. Now, since the one coming from behind would start to form a moment earlier, the two pillars would land at the same time. Not only that, if the other male thought that he could just jump back or move back at the moment he just noticed the thing forming, thinking how that could save him, he was mistaken. By then the one coming from behind would actually already grow somewhat and he was just move right into it. It wouldn't hit his lung in that case, but it would go through his lower torso, just about his behind. Of course in such occasions some would consider jumping or moving to the left or the right in order to dodge the attack coming at them. That wouldn't help. If he were to attempt moving left or right, an ice pillar would come at him from the side, so if he moved to his left, a spike would come at him from his left and he would move right into it, causing it to go through his lung from the side. The same would happen if he tried to move to the right. So basically, running away was meaningless as before he could get out of the blond haired male's range, he would get impaled. All of these things were being formed quickly so he would get a chance to take one step at a designated location before getting impaled. 

Perhaps, just perhaps, these pillars or spikes were small enough for him to actually hit them so that they would break. Well, sadly no. Each would be formed to be half a meter thick and it would grow up to two meters. Not only that, while moving, if he tried to hit a spear from the side in order to try breaking it or something silly like that, Cromwell was there to stop it. 

This kinda made the blond haired male not do anything about the female who at that moment would be several meters away from the two of them and would not reach her friend in time to do anything, she was at that moment completely helpless.

[Lucrum]

"Fucker t'inks 'e's smart, eh?" Lucrum had only a split second to react and calculate the danger approaching. Considering his distance, however, the only thing he witnessed forming was the ice on the man's stomach. Another ritualist. That was all Lucrum needed to know, and it was obvious. No one else could do these things on Earth that he had knowledge. Millenniums of living as a demon, however, brought some heavy knowledge though, especially in battle.

While unknown to him he could move not left, right, or back, nor forward considering the blonde was in his way, he did have enough instinct to duck and sweep the threat's legs out from under him, the ice pillar from behind grazing upwards against his back and ripping apart the leather jacket he had started to take a liking to. The rest of the attack would likely be cancelled as his concentration was broken, but he remained in place just in case.

"Ana, get the 'ell outta 'ere!" His increased speed and strength wouldn't be enough to match cryomancy, but it would at least get him somewhere and a chance to flee would be certain. He wasn't about to let Ricky die either. Their deal still stood considering the fact that Lucrum was back inside the young man. "There's a complex not too far from 'ere. Get there and we'll 'ead t'the flat later, got it?"

Lucrum allowed partial control to Ricky, and they... actually made quite the team. The ice pillars around them, already formed and beginning to become more fragile, were simple to get around now that they had stopped expanding. They flipped back and scaled the shack to its roof almost effortlessly. This guy was only succeeding at one thing: Pissing the both of them off.

"So, what's ya name, fridge? Y'workin' f'Vic?" The pair tossed the ripped jacket's halves off of their body and snarled. A piercing red glare burrowed deep into him from their eyes, and at that moment there was only one mental note that remained.

Kill.

[Analee]

ANNNDDD so- it escalated.  Apparently the whole cigar thing was enough to try and kill Lucrum?  Ana wasn't exactly sure what was going on.  There was ice from nowhere and the body of Ricky-Lucrum was surrounded by ice.  She couldn't make it in time- in fact Ana couldn't even move when it happened.  Though it all looked slow motion, it was at the same time faster than she could move- in this body at least.  Her eyes were wide in her head as the men was kicked at and Ana was simply at a loss.

"Ana, get the 'ell outta 'ere!"  She couldn't believe her ears.  That was the exact OPPOSITE of something she ever expected Lucrum to say- unless it was Ricky.  It sounded like Lucrum, though, so she was kind of just in complete and utter shock.  Her brow furrowed and she shook her head.  She wasn't leaving, she'd just- she didn't really know- do SOMETHING other than stand around for once.  Hopefully she wouldn't get impaled either- that shit hurt.  "I'm not just leaving."

He was kind of stuck, but Ana knew better to go OVER there, because y'know, ICE SPEARS, but that didn't stop her from shifting her position to span out, she used her strength to pick up a boulder (about 1 foot high and .75 feet across) and simply chuck it at the man.  Her new area of standing naturally put Lucrum-Rickie out of the way.  "Go away!" She would shout in as stern a way as Ana could.  Right after, she would kick her shoes off and brace herself for any sort of motion needed to dodge.  If this were Inferis, at least she'd have her sword.  Meanwhile Nancy continued to slumber pleasantly.

[Agent Fordsworth]

[Rushed, I don't have much time.]

As it was expected, the person in front of the blond haired agent really was some sort of a ritualist. It seemed that coming here was not a waste after all. Like mentioned before, the reason why Cromwell was here is due to a case of disappearances. 007 expected to find a ritualist or something to be behind this case so he decided to take it and he was right about it. However, at this point it was unclear if these two really were behind any of the disappearances. Numerous young ladies vanished and even after extensive searches they were not found. There was a chance that these two were just passing by ritualists which were not involved with this case. Sadly, this man had a first shoot and then ask questions kind of a thing and he was provoked so it did not seem as if he was going to be getting any answers from this duo. Duo because Cromwell did not consider demons as actual creatures, they were more like objects to him. So, he didn't consider them to have any rights.

Anyways, with enhanced speed dodging such attack was trivial. Noticing how his opponent was going to counterattack instead of blocking, he would stop focusing on his own attacks and change his objective to defending. The ability to form ice was a handy one, it was not limited to just attacking, there were plenty of ways for it to be used. The spike which was forming on his body suddenly would stop moving, the same with the one coming from the ground behind his target. However, it seemed that the one that came from behind did something. Not that it mattered. Cromwell still wanted to teach this person a lesson, but at the same time he didn't want to get hit. Due to the fact that his opponent did not move left or right, he didn't even start forming pillars that would come at him from those sides. That made it easier for him to focus on his next trick. Using his ability he would create a layer of ice on his own leg, the one which was going to get hit first by the sweeping attack of his foe. 

Unlike other ritualists who had enhanced speed and strength, Cromwell was just gifted with this ability to make ice so he had no way of matching his opponents speed. Due to that using his ice making ability to block was the only way for him to deal with such an attack. Compared to regular humans he was really fast, but not when it came to physically enhanced ritualists. The layer of ice that he would form around his left would make it easier to endure that kick, which would shatter the ice but not damage his leg. Not only that, the blond haired agent would also freeze the portion of ground on top of which his leg was so that upon being hit the attempted sweep would be unsuccessful. The ice would shatter, but Cromwell himself would be unharmed and would still remain on the same spot. His opponent would use the opportunity to move away and gain some distance. 

At that moment, Cromwell would actually try to say something, but he would notice the rock being tossed at him so instead he would take a step to the right, thus ending up behind a tree that was next to him all this time. But that wasn't the only thing he would do. By placing his hand onto the tree and using his ability, the tree itself would be completely frozen. Indeed, the water inside of the tree would get affected by his power and instantly freeze. On top of that he would also add a bit of a ice layer around the tree itself. Due to that the tree would not budge upon getting hit by the rock. Cromwell would feel the tremor from the impact, but once again there would be no harm to him done. Well, except some water on his sleeves and partially frozen pants. "Are you sure about this? If you want to give up, now would be the time for that?"

[Lucrum]

"Give up?" Lucrum growled and spat in his direction, putting the cigarette he had still yet to drop between his teeth and taking a long drag. It stung the lungs, but the rush afterward was well worth it in his eyes. "You're the one who waltzed in 'ere wit' no good reason."

The demon flicked the cigarette to the ground and allowed a massive haze of smoke to pass through Ricky's still open mouth. He knew people could be dense, but there was no way this guy was even listening to what he had to say now. The idiocy of this even managed to break him out of his rage and put him into a simply annoyed state.

"Listen, we don't need a fight right now, we got bigger fish t'fry, savvy?" Ricky scratched his head and popped the joints of his opposite wrist. "Vic. 'e's a demon trackin' us down, got it? That girl in there wasn't killed by me, if that's what this is about. Was plannin' on doin' it m'self, but someone beat me to it while I was sleepin'." A chuckle escaped, but it soon transformed into another growl as Lucrum regained control.

"Vic the Butcher's huntin' me down, so we don't 'ave time for this shit! You wantin' t'put the freeze on somebody, I've got a whole band of Ritualists workin' for 'im just waitin' t'get pummeled."

Ricky couldn't understand the language coming out of his mouth, but in a way... he could. Lucrum's knowledge seemed to be crossing with his own, a proper translation making its way to him soon enough. Still, if the demon was hoping to end this fight he was going about it the wrong way in the boy's opinion.

"An' if y'kill me? That brute'll just be on your tail next, mate. Vic don't like his prey bein' stole."

[Analee]

Well her rock trick didn't help at all. Great. A pang of uselessness helped Ana. She should be used to that, right? At least she seemed to have shaken him- she guessed. Her hands crossed under her chest while the boys talked. Lucrum to Ricky- to Lucrum again. They were switching minds like it was nothing. MAN! Why couldn't Nancy be fun like that?! She snored rather obnoxiously in Ana's- well in her own body she supposed. Man possessing was some complicated stuff. It made the red-haired demon wonder if her host was actually sleeping or if she just snored like that to annoy Ana. It could have been a bit of both to be honest.

Anyways, the boys had their chat about Vic once again. MAN! He was certainly a popular demon! She stood there and frowned- for once- not smiled. FROWNED. She was not okay with this man trying to beat up Lucrum, but it seemed he had things pretty much under control without her. Well- she still wanted to beat the man with her stiletto, but maybe he wasn't TOO bad- other than the fact that he had attacked them for no real reason. If this had happened in Inferis-- then there'd be a worse hell to pay- literally.

Simply put- she stood on the sidelines and scowled.

(Sorry kinda just on the sidelines here)

[Agent Fordsworth]

From behind the tree the handsome secret agent would observe the duo that he was now up against. He was expecting them to continue with their attack and attempt getting rid of him. But, that was not happening. The male one was a rather talkative individual and the fact that two different voices could be heard made it clear that this person was a human with a demon possessing it. What a weak human this was, allowing the demon to take control. But, if it weren't for those sorts of people, Cromwell wouldn't have much to do. It was quite fun capturing such individuals and making them spit their guts after hours and hours of torturing. Though, he was just in charge of bringing people to interrogate and the actual interrogation was lead by other members of MI-6, watching them passionately do their job was quite a sight. Right now bothering with chit-chat was not something the blond haired male wanted, he came here to capture these people and take them into custody. Who they are, what they did, none of it was his problem. They were humans with demons inside of them, the so called ritualists and that made them his target. 

However, that is, until the male mentioned a dead girl and how he was not to be blamed. This made the blond haired agent remember that he was searching for a female that went missing. So, she was here after all. This whole situation made him somewhat forget about it. Oh well, luckily the ritualist who he was now facing mentioned it in an attempt to get out of trouble. Mentioning how he was going to do it certainly didn't made him seem less guilty. Not only that, there was the fact that he was found here with a dead female, who on Earth would actually believe his story? The speech of the other male certainly made Cromwell want to capture him even more. Why was that? Well, the demon which was talking there certainly had quite a few things to say, so he could become quite a valuable source. The fact that he was being hunted down by some Vic person or something didn't really bother Cromwell. Why would it? He was a member of MI-6, individuals and smaller fractions couldn't actually do much to him as his organization had quite a few scary folks to take care of small fry. Powerful demons were rarely a threat in the human world as well, since they couldn't use their powers in the human world. All in all, the mans plan wasn't quite working out for him.

"You certainly like to talk. However, what you say doesn't really bother me much. You are being hunted down? I don't see how that's my problem. In fact, that only means I could use you to draw these other folks closer so that I could catch them as well. I would advise you to give up, while you are under my custody, nobody will be able to touch you. My identity is not something I'd share with you, or anyone who I intend on capturing." With quite a charming voice the blond haired male would say those words, while at the same time keeping a grin on his face. The two individuals which were now not so close to him could still clearly see it. This wasn't a good thing, they were more than 5 meters away so he couldn't spawn ice spikes to attack them. Since he could only make ice and not manipulate it or move it, getting closer to them was something he would need to do. However, they would probably notice his attempts and do their best to stay away. There was a way to make them actually come closer on their own. Indeed, this blond haired agent was full of surprises. It was showtime. 

After finishing his speech Cromwell would actually some out. Then, he would pull a pistol out with each of his hands. At that moment his grin would get even wider. "So, again, you can either give up or get hurt and dragged to the facility against your will. You can backtalk as much as you want, but the fact is, you don't stand a chance here. I am well armed and my ability is quite powerful. Compared to you, who only have more speed and power. There is nothing you can do, except run away and hope I don't catch you."

[Lucrum]

Lucrum? Yeah, he was even more pissed. Unintelligibly so, in fact, so even trying to convey what he was attempting to shout within Ricky's head would be pointless. Ricky though? He was a bit more calm in regards to this situation. He'd dealt with cops this past month solo, so it wasn't like he wasn't used to firearms being pulled on him. One thing that did take him off guard was the man's blatant disregard for another's life, as well as only seeing them as a means to bring in larger prey.

"Yeah?! Catch this, asshole!" Ricky yelled, his arm pushing itself forward as if without his will nor Lucrum's. A spark lit itself within the boy's palm, and in a split second burst into an orb of flame. His eyes widened, and a sinister grin worked it's way across his face. "MICO IGNIS!"

The wisp left his palm quite quickly, scorching the ground in front of the other Ritualist, and spreading into a growing wall of flame. Without a word, Ricky jumped down from the shack's roof and grabbed Ana by her wrist. They had to get out of here, and they didn't have any clue who else they would have on their tail if they actually managed to kill that guy. To tell the truth, neither the Demon nor his Ritualist partner had any clue they could cast such a spell, but it came in handy so they weren't arguing against the discovery.

"Grr... You best trust me by now, eh love?" Lucrum said, looking the other demon in eyes that were no more hers than Ricky's were his. Without another word, he flipped the girl onto his back and took off down the sidewalk. It would be faster to go through the forest, but Lucrum and plants didn't get along too well. Grass was fine, but trees? Nah, they'd leave a nasty rash.

"If he takes the fight t'the streets, this guy's a bigger damn fool than I thought." Lucrum spoke idly, looking behind the two of them only momentarily. Today was only getting worse, so he wouldn't be surprised if the blonde asshole did follow. Still, he had to take care of business and fast. Cutting down Vic's men would give the demon an edge if the two of them did have to have an encounter.

[Analee]

FIRE EVERYWHERE.  Ana had blinked and saw fire everywhere.  Though to be truthful, she had heard something about ignis which did mean fire in Latin.  Or flame- or.. well the jist of a blaze was really all she needed to know, because there it was and she couldn't help but stare.  It was an odd thing with how it danced, which gave her a soft pang for home.  However, these flames were not idle dancing flames for entertainment- they longed to consume.  

Before she realized it, there was flesh against her flesh.  She turned to catch Ricky/Lucrum staring at her.  Eye contact was made and he asked if she trusted him.  Well- she was Ana.  She really had no need to NOT trust him.  It was just- strange that Lucrum was suddenly trying to help her- not that she really cared too much, because it made her feel a bit better from her earlier idiocy.

She didn't have time to reply, he sort of swung her on his back and took off.  This was a strange day and likely Nancy would be pissed later that she'd lost a pair of shoes, but she could always afford more- or annoy her  uncle for some.  

"You know..."  Ana started, wondering if she should bother talking.  "I could walk if that's easier."  She looked back as well- wondering if this man was going to pursue- she really hoped not.  It was being a pain and they had more important things to deal with.  Even Ana knew that- which was saying something, since Ana rarely knew anything.  It was a curse in her eyes, because she was often ignorant to those things around her.

[Agent Fordsworth]

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Cromwell was on a mission, he had to capture these two people no matter what. But, they didn't want to get captured and in fact his presence only made things worse. You can't blame him, he really isn't the kind of person who can stand demons and such. they and everything supernatural just doesn't go well. So, right now, if we went by what he wants, those two had to be captured and there was no stopping it. However, from the players perspective continuing this on wasn't such a great idea as the other party doesn't seem to be enjoying it. What to do? Follow the desires of the character and stay true to him, or go against his will. Well, sadly, following the characters design is what must be done. Otherwise, the player couldn't call himself a good role player. So, now that we got that out of the way, back to the story. The man got really mad and he shot a fireball at the agent who was trying to capture him. Well, not really at him, more like at his general vicinity. It was strange, as if he wasn't even aiming to hit Cromwell. That might have been true, never to judge a book by its cover was something the blond haired male learned a long time ago. However, the other man seemed somewhat surprised, it was as if this as new to him. However, at the same time, he looked as if he was enjoying it. Learning that you can shot fireballs, who wouldn't be happy about it?

"Think twice before you consider this to be sufficient enough against someone like me." Yep, that was what Cromwell replied when the man yelled out to him and shot that fireball. As he said those words he also rose his arms and aimed his guns at their targets. Oddly, it did not seem as if he cared that much about the ball of flames coming his way. That would be false, in the sky a few meters in front of him, something happened. Using his freezing skill he would transform water vapor into something. Something? What exactly? Well, he would apply a quite low scaled freezing to the area and instead of making a chunk of ice there, he would instead make something that is more like water and less like ice. It was snow. Pile of snow, right above where the ball of flame was passing. It wouldn't stay there, instead it would fall onto the ball of flames and perhaps take care of it. The lump of snow was bigger than the ball of fire and it formed while the ball was still traveling, after all there was more than 10 meters between Cromwell and the other ritualist. Either way, following that, Cromwell would tap the grass beneath him with his right leg and suddenly, from that point on the ground would start to freeze. 5 meters of ground all around Cromwell would become covered by ice. It wasn't the ground that was freezing however. Nope, the grass was. Like many people know, plants contain large amounts of water and on the ground grass is in contact with each-other and their roots are so as well, so from one onto the other the freezing effect would pass on. 

The fire wouldn't hit anything that it could burn and even if it melted the ice that was covering the grass, it would be in for a surprise. When ice melts it turns into water, which Cromwell can freeze again and thus a possibly endless circle starts. Just a fireball can't really do much against his ice as it would get extinguished quite soon. If he had a flamethrower, then things would end up differently. Both sides would just keep up their power going until they would eventually run out of stamina and pass out. But, that wasn't the case here. The water that would be formed from the ice being melted, it would extinguish the flames as it would turn into water vapor which would then turn into ice again, due to Cromwell. 

Cromwell didn't want anyone seeing the fire and coming to the scene. So, even though he wasn't the target, he decided to do something about that ball of fire. 

However, that wasn't all that he did. Due to this fireball he had to use his powers in order to prevent a potential disaster, so his options were limited concerning the duo in front of him. The male would jump down and grab the female and then they would attempt to escape. However, the moment he grabbed the female was when the blond haired agent would take a step to the right, thus the ball of flame would not be in his way and he could use his pistols. From one of them a bullet would be fired to land in front of the male as a warning shot and then if he did not stop, another one would be aimed at his right leg. To be more precise, Cromwell would aim at the knee, but with him being an average marksman, the bulled would hit in between his ankle and his knee if it hit. This would prevent them from stepping into the streets. In fact, they wouldn't be able to reach the streets. "You'll need a better distraction if you want to escape."

[Lucrum]

Gun shots. Two of them. Quickly, Lucrum tugged Ana closer and jumped. He could feel the bullet meant for his leg graze against the bottom of Ricky's shoe. Didn't matter now, he was going to make this get away clean. That was only fact. With a snarl, he landed and continued to run, and, once out of range of the ice trickery, let go of Ana with one hand and cast the entire ground ablaze.

"Get the fuck outta 'ere before I find y'mum and give'r a taste, eh?" The demon and boy he was possessing chuckled simultaneously and ran off, Ana still on their back. They had somewhere else to be, as stated before, and now that the fire behind them was spreading the other ritualist probably had more than his fair share to deal with. Fire drew attention, and attention wasn't really a good thing when your biggest asset was a demon living inside of you.

Once they reached the streets, Lucrum sharply inhaled and put the girl down. Felt good to be away from all those plants. Stretching, he looked over at her momentarily. Lowering his body back into a slouch he rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Look, don't get t'inkin' not'in' about that back there, right? I only saved y'cause you can 'elp me." He blew a few stray hairs out of his face and sneered. "Speakin' of which, I'm too tired to take on those other blokes. We'll meet up later, okay? At my club?" And with that he left Ricky's body.

"Heheh... He says not to forget this time." The boy turned and shoved one hand into his jean pocket and tossed another in the air. "Maybe I'll see ya later." Then he walked off. Having that asshole in him again only made his urge for a drink worse, so that was the first place he'd be going. The pub.

[EXIT THREAD]

[Analee]

The chase was surprising.  She had never expected this when she woke up this morning.  Then again, she really didn't expect much of anything.  Her eyes were watching their enemy like those of a hawk.  She knew he wasn't going to just let them go and she would do what she could to help- even if there wasn't anything at this time.  She was sort of just hugging herself to Lucrum to make sure she didn't fall off of his back and cause more troubles.  

Gunshots were fired at the demon man and Ana panicked a moment.  Had he been shot? Eyes dropped to his moving legs. No blood- that was a good sign.  As well, he hadn't dropped his weight at all.  Relief washed over to know he was okay.  She felt so useless, but at least he wasn't getting hurt.  

They stopped after a he threw some flames.  "Look, don't get t'inkin' not'in' about that back there, right? I only saved y'cause you can 'elp me."  Ana gave a big clueless look. What was she supposed to think?  Actually- she didn't KNOW what to think.  It was completely strange that anyone would try and save her.  At the same time, it was unusual for Ana to be in danger in the first place. However, for whatever reason, she couldn't help but smile (not that it was anything new).  

"Heheh... He says not to forget this time."

Why not?  It wasn't like Ana COULD forget someone being nice to her.  It wasn't in her nature, but she simply nodded and giggled in response.  "Alright.  Take care!"  Her mind poked around a bit to test if Nancy was awake- to no avail.  Well- that was pointless.  It was time to kill some time.  She felt oddly happy after the craziness that had just happened. The best solution?  Scaring pigeons until Nancy woke up.  Without a further word, she scrambled off to do so.

[exit thread]

[Agent Fordsworth]

He jumped? Well, perhaps using modern weapons that were meant to be used on regular criminals was not something one should try using on supernatural phenomenon. The famed agent was going to have to learn this the hard way. However, he was quite surprised to why it didn't work, usually it did. However, his usual targets were probably on a whole new level than this person. It seems he underestimated this man and his demon friend. Usually Cromwell would just shoot them and then ask them questions about their identity and why were they doing what they were doing. However, being this close to the city, he didn't wish to disturb the civilians so using different methods of approach was something that had to be done. Well, this time he failed. However at least he had the scene of the crime, right? NOPE. WRONG. This demon and his human friend did not want to be followed so they set the whole thing on fire. Cromwell did not like that at all, not only that he lost them, he was also going to lose his crime scene. However, there was nothing he could do about it as this was not the correct place to be using large scale abilities, people could notice that with ease. The blond haired agent did not want people knowing how he, the great 007 was bonded to a demon who game him powers beyond imagination. 

"Well, it looks like I'll have to go back now. What a pity." With that he was on his way. Quickly the blond haired male would pull back his hands and he would place those two pistols back where he found them. Running around with a pair of guns was not a good thing to do, so it was best if he hid them for now. With that done he would proceed to flee the scene by simply running away and not doing anything fancy. Luckily for him the fires of the demon would melt his ice and nobody would knew that anybody used any form of power here. If anybody asked, someone used a match to set the trees on fire. That is at least what he was going to say to his superiors. The body of the dead female that would get burned by this fire was something the local police would probably consider an accident. If they were to try investigating into it any further, the MI-6 would pull their strings and cover it up. This was London after all, they had everything under control here. Even so Cromwell felt somewhat bad because of this, but he was going to go home and get a good bath while completely forgetting about this incident. 

[Exit]

[End of Thread]

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