Soldiers of the Wasteland: Part 2: Rigor Mortis

January 20th Some random time of day. Light out still... Necropolis streets.
Invite only, or Cael/Alex.


Having escaped into the alleyway, Alex had simply vanished. It was how he got here, after all. He felt for the tear, and stepped through. That was the best he could explain it. As soon as he was through, however, he felt so much better! His mind expanded, filling him with information he knew he could simply forget upon leaving. Gravity, physics... It was his to understand. His clothes vanished, leaving him covered by the weird black stuff on his lower body. Belly button down, it covered, and he could feel his leg muscles compacting, building and solidifying. He was fast, this he knew. He looked at his ring, feeling the need to float away, but held back, his new friend the American would be here soon.

So here Alex was, bare-chested and grinning widely. He loved entering this place- it was his home. He could do impossible things here, things he wished he could do back home... Every kid wished for super powers, and when Alex came here, he found them. Ever since, this place had never lost it's appeal. He looked up, stretching his muscles as he did, letting loose a long, silent yawn. He began to look around expectantly. Would the strange man actually show up?


Finally, after a minute or so, the man did! He ran through the tear, a bloodthirsty grin on his face. Alex was a bit put off by it, but that was okay. Smiling brightly, he waved, "Good to see you here, Gov!" He clasps his right hand on the man's shoulder in greeting. In a way, dating back over a thousand years, they were probably related, if these powers were genetic. It made Alex wonder if his cousins or anyone else had the power, or if his parents were... Well regardless, this is here and now. Alex knew not to look in the past. So, he just smiled, removing his hand.

Cael straightened his posture and looked over to the owner of the hand now on his shoulder. At first he mistook him for someone else entirely, not expecting the changes Alex had underwent, but the swordsman soon calmed and his expression went back to its usual, serious front. Pointing out and around them, Cael said not a word, stepping out into the streets of the Necropolis.

"This place, Alex, is where all damned souls go to spend their eternity of suffering. It is not quite what they tell you it is in the church, but that much you could figure for yourself at this point." He kept a sharp eye on the lookout for signs of movement as he finally spoke. "Inferis gives our kind great power and the means to control it, but at the cost of needing to pass through a tear and into the dark spheres in order to use them." Stopping, as he was sure the area was free of any demons at least within twenty feet of them, he turned slightly and held out his hand.

"This is the form my evocation takes." A tuft of flame poured from the warrior's wrist, taking shape within his palm. Igniting further, seemingly into a spear of flames, the fires flew outwards and away from them, leaving only a katana in its place. "Honō no hajimari," he spoke the blade's name as he always did when he summoned it. "The First Flame."

Eyes wide, Alex took in all the information. Everything... Everything made sense now. The astonished grin on his face grew even wider as he watched the man's power. So... It seemed not everyone had the same power. Alex was unique then, most likely. He stood back a bit, nodding at Cael, his American friend.

"Well now, that was interesting. Let me show you what I can do!" Suddenly, Alex was so light, or maybe gravity was so thin, that with a leap he just kept going higher and higher up. Then, just as suddenly, he plummeted back down to the ground, causing a small crater to form where he had landed.

Standing up straight, he looked over at Cael and said, "I can manipulate gravity around myself to change how it effects me. I can make it so minor that I float away like a balloon, or so harsh that I crash into the ground with the force of 100 tons. It's helpful when something is trying to eat me." He scratched the back of his blonde-coated head, his blue eyes twinkling merrily and his smile ready on his face. It always felt so GOOD to exercise his abilities like that. To lift high in the sky, and feel the wind rush past him as he fell back down, unharmed.

While impressive, this man had much to learn about subtlety. Cael's gaze hardened as the noise echoed out along the streets, sending signs to creatures from all over that there was something or someone here. He could almost hear their cries of fury and terror now. He wasn't angry, however. Quite the opposite, because now he could show this rookie the ropes.

"While useful, that was... rather loud, Alex." Cael smirked as he heard a screech from around a corner. The demons would be on them in a matter of seconds. "I hope you're ready to use such a skill in battle." The samurai flipped the katana in his hand, holding it backwards. There would be no time for honor, only for blood. Such was what the form he took represented. That taught to him by a Spaniard years prior to this day. A style that took the name Cael whispered under his breath as his stance shifted. "Garra del Halcón."

"Prepare yourself, Demon Hunter." His grip tightened around his weapon and his left leg bent back, footsteps approaching, roars from all directions. Cael was ready to strike without a moment's notice. It was now he remembered the call of the demon who was in this trial of preparation along with him. "It is a good day to die."

A sad smile played across the face of one Alexander Stone. He had showed off his powers, yes, but he didn't mean for this to happen. Being around someone else like himself had messed with his head. He wasn't usually this stupid... Shaking his head, he continued to smile sadly, "My apologies Gov, I didn't intend for this to happen." Taking a quick look around him, there was no escape. Either Alex would have to fight, or he would die.

Taking a steely breath, he shifted gravity around him, the ring he was wearing glowing brightly. He kicked off of the floor, his body shooting high in the sky. Just as suddenly, he plummeted down, feet first, right into a snarling, drooling demon head. Blood splattered and flew everywhere as the head collapsed into the ground, the sickening crunch and thud sounding out, the shockwave from the impact thrusting the other demons about to lunge at him ff their feet.

Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat...

Alex repeated to himself like a mantra, ducking under the slashing claw of one of these monsters, before grabbing it, swinging onto it's back where he upped the gravity on his left foot as he sunk it into the neck of the demon. It howled in pain as it was crushed clean through by his foot. He mourned the loss of life, but it was necessary for his survival.

Alex refused to die.

Cael merely stood there, watching, waiting for the opportune moment to strike as five demons positioned themselves around him. Dangerous beasts the Nosferatu were, but, while vicious, they lacked any true semblance of knowledge. These must have been the runts of the litter where brains were concerned, hissing and stalking about, allowing themselves to fall from the rooftops and roll in towards their prey. The swordsman could only give another smirk as five of the hideous demons circled about him, their sunken eyes glowing with hunger.

He gave little mind to the other hunter, hearing him do quite well on his own. At least, he assumed so, he heard no screams of pain come from the man. Shifting his front-positioned leg a bit more to the left, he locked eyes with one of the monstrosities, and, with the speed he lacked in the mortal realm, sprung himself forward. The blade turned within his palm fluidly, almost as if he had to put no effort in the task, before it neatly cleaved his target in two. His eyes were closed now, wanting to give no pride to his victim in such a way as being seen during their death, and he made a sheathing motion with his katana.

"Zanmato." The samurai stated the name of his attack after finishing it, blood spewing forth from the demon as it slid into two halves. Rarely did he ever utilize techniques of both his masters at once, but the one sweep kill of the Zanmato coupled with the stance taught to him by Matiz was quite the deadly combination. As their brother fell, doomed, the other four shrieked in anger. They wanted revenge, but none would be had on this day.

Flipping backwards, Cael impaled his blade through the head of another of the Nosferatu that attempted to rush him, sliding the blade through bone and flesh in order to make another clean cut, severing the arm of his companion who followed. The streets were finding themselves paved in blood, a fact which any Demon Hunter would be proud of. Cael was no exception.

"Three downed by myself," He turned to look at Alex and continued ", two by your own hand. That leaves fifteen unless I've miscounted their original number." He spun, holding Honō no hajimari in front of his own face, eyes reflecting off of the blade's steel. His vision quickly darted between each of the demons left in their presence as they continued to approach. He was right, fifteen more, and they were not just hungry now.

They were pissed.

Flinching slightly as the demonic blood splattered around them, his smile never left his face. Alex never stopped smiling, no matter what. Smiling was so ingrained into him, he was pretty sure he did it in his sleep. Still, that was neither here nor there. Let it be said that even as demons died, Alex still smiled. It was a sad smile, despondent at the loss of life, but a smile nonetheless. Alex closed his eyes, centering himself as he and Cael stood close by. The swordsman was quite good. Still there were fifteen enemies left. Fifteen more lives to be lost this day, all so Alex would live.

His eyes hardened, and his smile became more firm. Alex would live, there was no doubt. Manipulating gravity just right at just the right moments, he sent his body catapulting forward at astonishing speeds, faster than most cars go on regular roads. His body was angled feet first as he impacted into the skull on the closest demon, before jumping on to the next's head. He didn't know what they were called specifically, but they were killable by blunt force, it seemed. When he jumped on the head of the next, gravity forced him down hard enough to cave it into the floor, crushing its skull. Blood spurted everywhere from under him, spraying another demon's face, which licked it and grinned.

The demon roared at him, spittle flying from it's gaping mouth, and Alex wiped his face in disgust. At least it wasn't acidic... Still, it was pretty gross. In return, Alex zoomed forward, sliding in a baseball dive feet first, knocking the demon to the floor, where he kicked the ground, his powerful legs lifting him into the air and flipping him, the foot crashing into the demon's skull in some bizarre axe kick that murdered it. Three down, twelve to go.

Cael watched as the other man leaped about the battlefield. Gravity bended itself to his whim, this much Cael was definitely certain of now. Alex had a good grasp on his evocation and he utilized it quite capably in battle. The swordsman was impressed, very much so, a skill used so effectively was much different than his blade he summoned. Still, he knew there was more to an evocation than just flashy appearances and putting on a show. Training, putting yourself at death's doorstep, pushing your body to the limit, that brought power all its own.

Just as one of the vampires began to move toward the blonde, Cael sprinted forward and slashed. A spray of blood cleaved its way through the demon's chest as it toppled over, and the samurai looked over to his new comrade. A large grin was present on his face, excitement shone in his eyes more than it had since the first time he had entered Inferis.

"Mr. Stone, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." His face hardened once more as his eyes locked onto yet another of the brutes. Interrupting a conversation? Rude, to be sure. These plebeians knew nothing of aristocracy and higher manners. He continued to speak after throwing his blade, the steel piercing through the forehead of the demon that ran towards them, "Or a friendly rivalry? Either way, our paths were meant to cross." Cael smirked and went to retrieve his sword. Wrenching it out of the head of the fresh corpse, he shook it clean of the crimson splattered across its blade, and finished with, "It is the blood within us that ties our fates."

((I'm sorry man. I lost the link to the site when I cleared my browser up for space, and I've been horribly busy lately. You won't be waiting like this again.))


A bright smile was sent Cael's way after he killed the... vampire? Alex was unaware what these all were, but was just fighting them. Still, he was going to do his best! This was a matter of survival, after all. The guy was kind of poetic, and it was a bit off, but Alex didn't mind. He accepted Cael for who he was, after all. Even if Alex wasn't sure if the man was gay or not still...

Regardless, back to the fight! It was time to end this once and for all. He hated killing and all, but sometimes... Sometimes you just had to do it to survive. Idly, the blonde man wondered if these demons had friends and families of their own. Would anyone miss them? The thought cast a sad smile on the countenance of Alexander Stone.

It didn't stop him from nearly flying forward, his body angled low and hard as his foot skimmed the floor towards the next target. It was more humanoid and a bit faster than the others too. It leaped to the left, dodging Alex's foot. Alex kept going, though, his foot hitting a wall of a nearby Necropolis building, which then allowed him to push off, leaping into their air, flipping and bring his foot down at 35 degree angle into the skull of the surprised and now dead demon.

After stepping out of a puddle of it's remains, he quickly took stalk, flashing a thumbs up at Cael. He was too busy fighting to talk right now. He had to focus on the task at hand. So he crouched down, leaping into the air, landing on another demon's head with a satisfying crunch. His now ridiculous weight crushed it's body, flattening the monster into the ground, where it's body would vanish into them spirit particles or whatever. He repeated this action twice, killing a total of 4 demons in this time-span. He believed there were 6 more.

The last six of the Nosferatu circled around the two men. Their jaws opened and snapped shut ferociously, and saliva fell from their fangs. Cael looked to his right and left, but there was simply no way out of their circle, other than the option to cleave his way through. So, of course, he did just that. The swordsman let out a slow breath before he crouched low. His attire fluttered over his form, and, just as the air seemed to calm, he sprung forward, blade held out to his side.

At the same moment, two of the demons rushed at him, their lust for blood painted clearly over their eyes. It was a doomed cause, as they soon realized. The samurai's sword cleaved through them in two strikes, and only he was left standing on the outside of the circle.

"Forget the others, we need to be moving." Cael looked up to one of the sturdier buildings before he jumped back and kicked off of the wall behind him. In a flurry of jumps, he eventually reached the top and looked down upon the blood and gore the two of them had thrown about this place. It would surely bring rise the attention of other demons, some nastier than the vampires. "If they choose to follow, that is there fate in play."

He didn't wait for a response as he turned and sprinted off across the rooftops. With Alex's control over gravity, it wouldn't be too much trouble for him to follow behind. At least, the swordsman hoped as much was true. Still, there were just some monsters that stalked Inferis that he'd rather not encounter. Not yet anyway.

And then there were four. Well, four and an opening. Alex would gladly escape and live for another day. So it was with this in mind that he quickly lowered the effect of gravity on himself. Now, he weighed effectively less than a balloon. And you know how fast balloons float away... So up went Alex, looking as if he was flying up into the sky, evading the remaining demon monster things. Whatever they were.

So he flew up, and at the appropriate time, he effected gravity again to land on the roof next to Cael. Alex hated killing, and hoped they wouldn't follow. Luckily for him, they didn't. Sighing in relief as they left, he wiped the sweat from his head. "I think I need to go to the loo..." He muttered. He had never had to take on that many enemies before in his life! His legs were starting to shake from post adrenaline, and he was tired. He also needed to pee. It had been some time since they had eaten at that caff.

Blinking, he began to stretch himself, his arms over his head as a soft smile graced his lips. "We did good, eh?" He hoped Cael was done for the day as he wanted to go home. It was time to rest and all. Alex decided to speak up in about this. "While this was exciting and all, mush, I think I should be headed home."

The swordsman stopped himself and turned to look at the other man. With a nod he gave a quick smile before he looked back to where the demons had been. It appeared they'd given up on chasing the two of them. No more blood would be shed from their ilk today.

"Yes, it was an excellent hunt." Cael stepped forward and patted the blonde on the shoulder. "Hopefully we can do this again some other time. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you here in Inferis, my friend." A chuckle bellowed out from the man's mouth, now in a wide grin as he brought the two of them back through the tear and on top of a building in London.

"For now, I have other places to be." He walked away slowly, to the edge of the building, before he stopped seemingly abruptly. He added, "Until we meet again, Mr. Stone," and then jumped to the next rooftop and continued on. He could feel he'd meet that man again in the future. Maybe not for a long while, but... companions seemed to find their way back to one another eventually.