[center][h2] Waking the Wicked[/h2] [b]Character:[/b] Darius [b]Location:[/b] Kenan, District 12 on Garroter Drive [b]Time:[/b]Early Evening[/center] [hr] Darius, once more changed and crisp, straight up his tie as he walked from Masha’s home and down the steps. His shoes clipped the pavement and skirted toward the car within a few paces, ducking inside the driver's side smoothly. He had one more stop to make before addressing the meeting to come: the local police station. He wanted to see in person the efforts done to retain order within his territory. Even more, the fact some creature, a demon no doubt, had cause such hell in his area made the kitsune rather furious. Starting up the engine with a click of his claw, his fingers tightened hard on the steering wheel at the thought as Darius guided the car easily through the oncoming traffic. His golden eyes flickered from one direction to another, being a defensive driver, while zipping into the nearest parking spot. Just outside the station was a his contact stood with a smug look. The half angel's wings were curled up and folded behind him, his blue eyes studying the fox's exiting from his brand new car. Slamming the door down quietly, Darius made his way up the stairway toward the ex-guardian angel's position. Mr. Patrick wasn't fazed or intimidated by Darius' presence but instead peeled himself off his nearby perch and started his way downwards. His shoulder brushed Darius' as his hand snapped against the suit's side, subtly slipping a small thumb drive into the fox's pocket and briskly twisted about to apologize, his steps still taking him away. "Pardon, Mr. Cain." He called out as he flashed Darius a cheeky smile. Darius' contact barely stopped his pace while his figure shortly ducked into the nearest cop car. Darius' look only hardened for a moment before he inhaled sharply, his body continued into the station. It only took a few hours to chatter with the chief, an old friend, then he was heading back out once more. He still had one last problem to deal with, more pressing than the slaughter of several gang members in a single district. Sadly fox hadn’t expected his little problem to be so bold. His paw had just turned the car into a one way lane, pulling a far distance from the police station, when something smacked into the side window. Crack! Glass immediately spider wedded and busted inward. Shards shattered and broke, flying over his side and into his face. Pain thumped into his face side as he jerked it to the side followed by another deadening sound. Another shot ripped through the car's armored plating and into his side. He could feel heat, followed by bones cracking as something small embedded itself snapped through his ribs into his heart. Terror filled him to realized was still. Completely dead. Impulsive and survival driven, his hand jerked to the side. sending the car to grind against the guard railing. Bright sparks flew and paint smeared, the grinding sensations sending flaring movements through his body. Darius’ teeth had been driven hard into his bottom lip but his mind was on getting the hell out of there. His paw reached out and jerked on the gear shift, hauling it backwards and foot floored the gas. The Bentley made a loud roar like a wounded lion then bolted for escape. Several more pops whipped along the rear end and left numerous bullet holes as they nearly missed him. Part of him was grateful Olivia wasn't in the back seat during this, his teeth flashed his anger while his hand jerked the car off the railing. Shortly two sedans, their windows tilted and drivers hot on his tail materialized from nowhere. A chimera, from Darius' first glance, pulled his top half out of the rolled down window. In his hand was a modified gun pointed at Darius' head. Not willing to let the bastard get a shot off, one hand realized from the steering wheel. It jerked up extracting a gun hidden between the seats. The weapon floated there then flicker its nuzzle behind and opened fire. Using the side and rear mirror, Darius estimated the shots perfectly. Pop..pop! The rear window exploded. Immediately the chimera crumbled, hanging , dead, from the window while the driver raced onwards. Darius wasn't done yet. He spotted the sharp turn off into a dangerous side road called "Hellion's Spine". Aptly named, it was a neck break and wounding road filled with sharp corners and deadly conditions. Darius whipped the shaft into neutral as he whipped the steering to the right hard. The Bentley geared her gears in protest but obeyed just the same. Her wheels drifted smoothly and turned into the crooked road from hell. The two sedans screeched in surprise, missing the turn off. Their wheels turning to stop, reverse and follow much to Darius' amusement. He pushed further on his gas to gain what speed he could from the top of the line vehicle. On entrance he nearly collided with the first right corner, barely missing when he jerked it left. Up the misshapen spine, he drove recklessly with his two tails behind him. His car skills showed his old skills returning when he managed to switch his front to face his attackers during a drifting corner then right it again. Gun muzzles as bullets were exchanged causing one car to veer off the unprotected side and down the several feet cliff. The sedan went up in blazes. Darius was becoming confident he might actually get away. A mistake on his part when his car finally erupted out the exit and was slammed into by a eighteen wheeler. It caught Darius' car on the side, flipping it off the cliff's top. Darius felt his world shift abruptly. His eyes widened in surprise as his body was slammed against the door, his body toss viciously within the driver's seat. Any windows remaining intact were now broke, their shards spilling to the right with the impact. Metal grind and squealed at being remolded in the violence. When things finally stopped spinning, darkness rapidly filled Darius' vision. [center]...unknown time later...[/center] [hr] Pins and needles tingled all through his fur and flesh, their tips pressing deeper until the areas were numbed soon after. It was the first thing Darius noticed on his awakening. His mind still groggy and hazy, eyes edging open to see nothing more than a blurry and mangled interior of the car. Colors and shapes mingled together, making it difficult to identify anything right away. However, minutes passing started to make things clear again. The next thing he was aware of was the fact the seat belt pinned him to his seat. It was suspending his figure above the glass covered roof as his arms hung down, the knuckles treated to the slicing shards below. Mentally his mind was gradually taking stock of his own condition. His inner awareness trailed down his ears, through his torso, and down to his legs where it came to rest within his feet. He noted the sensation of matted blood, various wounds and numbness all through his form. At the moment, the worse spot was around his chest area. His head, still saddled with vertigo, tilted upward to expect to see a small bullet hole in square of his chest. That wasn't the case. Where the hole was, part of the metal framing the window had found its way into his sternum. Blood spread throughout the once clean suit, his fangs drawn into a snarl at his state and declining day. Darius stirred. His hands lifted weakly upward and clawed at his seat belt, though he knew the likelihood of escaping was impossible. The metal rod pinned his body against the seat preventing a clean fall onto the roof. When his mind slowly realizing this, his paws took hold of the iron bar and started to remove it. His jaws clamped hard while his fingers wrapped about the smooth object. He gave it a sharp tug making himself flinch. The red stained pipe edged itself out only an inch after several straining moments struggling with it. That small effort was exhausting and excruciating but he couldn't leave it in. It prevented him from healing fully and so, he began to wiggle, jerk and work the end from within him. The process was made more painful as he had to peel away the closed wounds and open it once more. While he worked, Darius mused over the odd fact by all natural physics, he should've been dead. No air, blood or more pumped through his veins during the chase's whole scene yet he was still alive. A perk of being a demon it seemed was he could survive what would've killed most. Blood leaked from his muzzle and drizzled across his black stained lips, finally feeling the framing rip away from his body. The end gave away and it clattered to the ground. For several moments, Darius just hung there. Blood still leaked down and stained the roof with crimson freely. It would seem like he would never move until something caught his eyes. On the hill side, surveying the carnage below and swaying its tail in apprehension. It seemed his little problem, an upstart chimera between a dragon and human, Seth Ripper, had gotten wind of Darius' visit. It seemed he decided to set a trap. Watching eagerly for the hunt as the creature's tail flickered forward. Suddenly several young, arrogant chimeras appeared at the leader's side. Mostly werewolves, draconian, and other numerous chimeras tired of his iron grip. Noting Darius' movement, Seth jerked his tail forward. "Git 'im." The words echoed through the hill as twenty chimeras flooded down the hazardous trail, their claws, wings and more tearing up the terrain on their way. Darius felt a rush of adrenaline purge through his being at the sight. Immediately his claws jerked up and the shadows stirred, several formed into foxes that lounged at the first wave of chimeras. Jaws snapped and claws sliced down on dark fur and flesh alike, drawing blood. Darius' paws found the belt, severing the cloth causing him to plop free from his seat. His eyes closed to protect themselves while glass sliced his eyelids and face. He moaned, ignoring the clashes of his fixes and the threat baring down on him, and started to crawl outside the driver side window. The shards crinkled with each push forward to the exit. In the background, his foxes one by one started dying bit by bit, their numbers dwindling while thinning out the chimeras. Darius could smell the blood filled the air and saturated it with its thick rustic, coppery scent. On the outside he was wounded and edging his way out, freeing himself from the metal trap that was once his car. However on the inside of his mind, Darius felt a familiar sensation edge to the surface. His fear hissed and bit, recoiling from the thing rising up from his subconscious. Screams, his own and Aeris followed by countless others, followed by vivid images from his past flooding into his head. Darius gripped the ground harder and tugged up the gravel as he wobbled upright. The more he rose, the harder his legs threatened to give out underneath him. All his limbs shivered at the disturbing melody crying out inside his mind, echoing endlessly in a loop, making his hands twitch and jerk erratically. Wild, yellow eyes peered at the remaining chimeras were stampeding at him. The sounds in his ears went dead silent. His muzzle curled back into a sincere smirk, wild and thirsty for blood, before the closest one lunged at him. Darius' paw sliced forward in front of him. A loud screech came when the metal rocketed from the twisted frame, snapping free with surprising ease. A gray streak was all the first chimera saw before he crumbled. The sharpen edge was sticking from his eye, embedded only an inch deep and bleeding profusely. It howled out in pain as it stumbled back, struggling to tear the metal free, lips snarling at Darius through the miserable cries. Wasting little time, Darius closed the gap and focused on manipulating the metal. His hand furled and unfurled his fingers, bring the metal cutting deeper into flesh. It inched slowly through the beast's eye, drawing new blood and making it howl anew. The sounds echoed through the scene but seemed to have little effect on Darius’ enjoyment. He moved past as he jerked the metal more with his telepathy. Each subtle movement and slight flicker was intending for tormenting the wolfish beast. Its painful sounds were left in Darius's wake while he moved onto the next victim, this one a more minotaur like beast. His form’s height almost double that of Darius’ as the fox’s eyes brushed from the digitigrade legs ending in sharp, split hooves up to the bulky arms and several foot long horns protruding from its skull. In one hand, it held an axe, rusted by blood and gore from its last victim. The beast bellowed a dull roar revealing razor teeth as it charged forward. Darius merely deepened his grin when his mind focused on the next victim before him. A brief flash in his golden eyes and the bull came to a complete halt. Its muzzle briefly flatten against some invisible force. It shook its head, stunned for a moment, and failed to notice Darius’ hand reach for his own ribs. His voice hummed a familiar melody as he sank into it, his clawed hand already reached for his side and suddenly buried itself into his side. Blood poured from the fresh wound while his fingers pushed past the muscle, ripping the fibers apart until he hit something hard. A rib. Still stepping forward, he gripped the bone tightly making himself flinch at the heated pain flaring in his mind. He pushed it away easily, driving by the song in his mind, when he snapped the fragile thing easily. His eyes watched the stunned beast shake free from the shock just as he sank his splintered rib into the bull’s neck.With the bone still lodged, Darius' knee came up into the shocked being's abdomen, knocking the breath from it. Darius grinned at warmth from the blood seeping into the skin beyond his fur. Tugging the bone free, he stabbed the head back where the spine connected with the skull. Once...twice... Each time his grin became wider. It infected his muzzle and slight foam collected at the edges, adding to his rabid actions. The target collapsed but he wasn't done. Darius let the body drop. His foot lifted to curb stomp into the fractured skull and cracking it further, the skull almost giving away under the new pressure at where he grinded a bit. Bit by bit the bone crackled while blood, skull fragments and gray matter stained his shoe. Standing ankle deep, still bleeding, his sights moved to the last ones. Their hunched raised at the remains of their companions’ and ceased their pace until they came to a full stop just feet from him. No longer acting like wild animals set on the hunt. Darius felt the song play louder, though he couldn't’ place the words to them. Those would come in time. The longer it played, the sooner a voice would creep into his consciousness and drive him closer to the edge. A small, meek voice trying to chase the demons of his childhood away without any success. Ignoring his inner war, Darius’ eyes flickered dangerously between each target. His mind summoned the broken rib, the new one already replacing the old, back to his hand currently now stained with blood. Closing his eyes, his shadow shimmered and shifted like a living thing. Impatience finally got the better of one of them causing a single one to break his position. The last one whipped her head in the attacking one’s direction, her expression wild with confusion at the stupidity. Darius paid it no mind. His mind sharpened by the song, his foot taking a step back while his hand pushed out, seeming to defend himself against the teeth. The chimera never reached him. Instead it was met by Darius’ shadow stopping the idiotic animal in his tracks. Two foxes leapt halfway out, their jaws snagged on the wolf beast’s hind legs and tore him back into the ground with extreme force. Sadly, unlike the foxes who materialized back in the shadows flawlessly, the beast was solid mass. Bones cracked, tendons shattered, and muscle was easily ripped crippling the chimera in a smooth move. The shadow created by Darius’ hand shivered. It all happened so fast. One moment there was imaginable pain and next, there was a numb, deadness within the beast’s senses. Slowly beast’s eyes lowered his blood spotted muzzle to his chest. His eyes widened in horror at the chest hole, starting off small and growing wider out the back. Weakly twisting his head about, he spotted the crimson shadow fox smirking back at him from behind. It shook his blood off as the chimera realized he couldn’t sense his back attached to himself anymore and toppled over. Shaking and trembling, Darius casually stepped over the quivering mass towards the last one. She bolted creating a reason for Darius to smile at her retreating tail. His eyes rose to the figure still standing upon the slope’s top, Seth glaring down in full hatred for several minutes until he too, took off. At the chimera’s departure, his foxes no longer sensing his essence, Darius’ figure finally gave out. He crumbled into a ball. His claws holding his head and digging in deeper to purge his mind of it, withering in the echoes shaking his sanity like the cub he once had been. This continued for a few more hours, ending when he finally fell into the peaceful darkness of unconsciousness.