[center][h1][color=0054a6][b]B L U E    D E V I L[/b][/color][/h1][hr][/center]
	[sup][color=black]6:00 p.m. PST | July 13[/color][sup][color=black]th[/color][/sup] [color=black]| Los Angeles, California[/color][/sup]


It had amazed Daniel how incredibly boring a police scanner could be. Calls ranging from drunk and disorderlies, domestic disputes, and vandalism to fender benders, overdoses, and difficulty breathing. He had had no idea the sheer amount of people that apparently fell down and couldn't get up in this city. It was hours of impatiently lying in bed before he finally had heard a report worth responding to. 

Now, he stood outside a back alley in a commercial district of West L.A.. The alley was flanked by a dive bar on one end and an ethnic grocery store on the other. Through the narrow passageway itself, he could see the overflowing dumpsters and wet, discarded bits of newspaper and other pieces of litter scattered across the ground. The various signs of tagging across the conflicting grey concrete and red brick walls demonstrated how little this section of the city was cared for. At the far end where the entrance to both businesses opened onto the main street, Daniel could see the flashing, multi-colored lights of Los Angeles' finest. Their police vehicles cordoned off the front and several officers positioned themselves behind the metal barriers, their various firearms pointed towards the entrance of the dive bar. 

Daniel knew from the radio chatter he had heard on the way over that inside the bar were several armed individuals. Gunfire had been exchanged prior to the police arrival and now there was a tense stand-off as officers attempted to negotiate those inside to surrender peacefully. 

He glanced around him, making sure the police reinforcements hadn't yet arrived to block off the back entrance. Thankfully, Dan thought, the LAPD were spread thin these days otherwise there wouldn't have been a chance of him getting this close. 

Several pops rang out from the street and officers ducked behind their cars for cover. Daniel, too, pulled his head away from the alley and flattened his back against the wall. He closed his eyes to steel himself and took a deep, long breath. Living in L.A., Dan was familiar with the sounds of gunfire, but he had never been this close to any sort of violence in his life. 

"C'mon, Dan. You can do this." He said out loud, psyching himself up. "You have the powers of a freaking demon, just go in there and get shit done. You have the element of surprise. You can end this before anyone gets hurt. Go. Go. Go." 

His legs twitched and feet tapped furiously at the ground as his anxiousness grew. The staccato of exchanged gunfire increased, almost seeming to match pace to his tapping. Then, a louder bang resounded in the alley followed by hurried footsteps. 

Dan peaked back around the corner just in time to see two individuals knock the emergency exit door open, slamming it against the concrete. The continued peppering of gunfire from their colleagues inside masking the sound of their escape. The black steel gripped by each of the men drew Daniel's attention, and he felt his heart tighten in a brief moment of fear. 

"[b]Now is the time, Daniel Cassidy.[/b]" Astaroth's voice showed no sign of sympathy. "[b]Move.[/b]"

The demon's words spurred the teenager forward as the now familiar dull glow enveloped his mortal form and from it emerged the powerful, intimidating visage of the hybrid. Daniel quickly rounded the corner, intent to move fast, utilizing the techniques Astaroth had instructed him on to knock out the criminals before they had time to react. He barely had taken a step into the alley, however, when he came face-to-face with the barrel of a gun.

One of the gunmen, a short Hispanic man in a tank-top, his entire torso covered in tattoos that crawled up his neck, let out a startled swear at the sight of the hulking blue figure. Unfortunately for Dan, the man wasn't surprised enough to lower the handgun still aimed at the center of his chest. 

The thug's partner, a slightly taller but much wider man holding a tire iron in one hand and another pistol in the other, called out: "what the fuck is that?"

Daniel froze, pupilless eyes comedically wide. The sight of the deadly weapons pointed directly at him momentarily shutting down all thoughts other than fear and regret. 

"Yo, freak, Hollywood Boulevard is that way. Take you and your ugly ass costume out of here and forget you saw anything." Said the first man.

Daniel didn't react. He thought he heard Astaroth's voice somewhere in his mind urging him to strike, but the furious beating of his heart was deafening.

"Are you fucking stupid?" The tattooed one waved his handgun to stress his words. "Move outta our way, now!"

The exchanged gunfire from the front of the building lessened in intensity, and several of the officers could be heard giving orders to move in. 

"We don't have time for this, cops will be on us any minute. We need to go." The second thug chimed in, glancing back at the flashing lights before turning back to Daniel and raising his own pistol. "Just waste him!"

Daniel flung his arms up in front of his face in what he knew to be a pointless gesture of protection. He clenched his eyes shut firmly, and for the briefest of moments, he saw the faces of his family. The distinct sound of the guns firing into his body resounded throughout the alley. He felt nothing, but as the faces of his family faded from his mind he could hear voices calling his name. Beckoning to him, urging him to the afterlife, he was sure. 

[i]Daniel Cassidy...[/i]

[i]Daniel Cassidy.[/i]

[i]Daniel Cassidy![/i]

"[b]Daniel Cassidy,[/b]" the familiar voice echoed in his mind.

Dan's mind began to clear of the fog of fear that had overtaken him. Astaroth's words calling through to him like a beacon. 

"[b]What are you doing, Daniel Cassidy?[/b]" The demon said. "[b]Open your eyes and fight before your enemies flee.[/b]"

The young man snapped his eyes open and lowered his bulky arms back to his side. Not sure if he should be more surprised or relieved, Dan glanced down at his chest. Small bullet holes had torn through the fabric of his shirt, but there was no blood. He couldn't even feel any pain. Dan's eyes caught the glint of metal on the pavement below him, the small slugs lay there, compressed from impacting his skin. 

The shorter of the gunmen swore again. "The fuck..." 

Daniel looked back up towards the two criminals who stood unbelieving at what they just witnessed. The bulkier of the two still pulling the trigger of his now spent firearm, too stunned to fully register what had just occurred. 

A muscular blue arm shot forward as Daniel finally acted, his confidence and mental faculties now returned to himself at the discovery of his apparent invulnerability. His open palm caught the first of the would-be-murderers in the left shoulder, the force of the strike launching him off his feet and colliding with the dumpster halfway down the alley where he slumped unconscious. Daniel winced at the audible crack of what he hoped to be just a dislocated or broken shoulder. 

At this point, the second of the men dropped his weapons and turned to run the opposite way, back towards the cops who were now storming the front of the dive bar. 

Daniel pushed forward, moving with considerable speed for his large size, and reached out to grab the back of the thug's collar. The shirt tore slightly in his grasp as Dan yanked the stocky man backward. This time, however, with less strength as he now realized how dangerous he himself could be to regular humans. The criminal fell onto his back, and Dan was sure he now caught a stronger sense of piss in the alley than before. A slowly darkening spot across the front of the man's ill-fitting pants only served to confirm this. But Daniel gave it little thought as he heard the LAPD hastily secure the inside of the bar. With the sounds of gunfire in the alley less than a minute before, he knew they'd be moving to check out here soon enough. 

Reaching down he snagged the discarded tire iron, the flat edged tip stained in blood from God-knows-what activities. Moving quickly, Daniel took the piece of metal and brought it towards the thug's legs. With little pressure, Dan contorted the bar into a loop around the ankles, forming a makeshift but effective cuff to prevent the man from running off. 

The nearing sound of footsteps urged Daniel forward as he took off down the back of the alley, rounding the corner just as several officers converged into it.

A soft glow later, and the now human form of Daniel Cassidy booked it back towards his car parked several blocks away. Two thoughts repeating in his mind over and over: 

[i]That was insane![/i]
And [i]how do I explain the holes in my shirt to mom?[/i]