Dinner Turnabout [Alex/Open]

Like many nights before a scheduled day off, Adelaide preferred to wind down the long, grueling work week by stopping in at one of her favorite restaurants in London. The Moti Mahal, widely famous for its authentic Indian cuisine, was one such place, as she happened to be partial to the delectable flavor that was the chicken tikka masala. Their wine selection wasn't half bad as well, and thankfully they had a bottle of Château Pontet-Canet for her to sample; normally, they never had any in stock. Overall, her dining experience had been an exceptionally pleasurable one. Not that it hadn't been before, but it was slightly better than her typical evenings.

As usual, Adelaide dined by herself, eating her expensive food and sipping at her fancy wine without so much as paying attention to the small crowd of well-dressed people dispersed about the dimly lit, well-furnished establishment. This happened every time she came to eat here, or anywhere else for that matter. Aside from the occasional exchange of brief dialogue with her servers, the young solicitor never bothered to interact with anyone else, choosing to reflect on the day's events or making a list of things to accomplish in the near future.

That was five minutes ago.

She had just finished paying for her two-course meal and bottle of wine before she silently paced her way toward the restaurant door, pushing it open while she adjusted the lapels of her black suit coat with her free hand. As she sharpened up her appearance, Adelaide fished a hand into her pocket and summoned a cellular phone, flipping the device open and thumbing in several numbers. Putting the phone to her ear, she waited for the ringing to subside before a male voice answered. "Yes, Miss Kingsford?" the figure asked flatly.

"I'm finished dining, Cornell," Adelaide said, making glances around the street. "Can you come pick me up, please? I'll be waiting outside the Moti Mahal." The man named Cornell hummed in confirmation on the opposite end of the line. "Of course, Miss Kingsford. I'll see to it that I arrive posthaste." And just like that, Adelaide hung up her phone and proceeded to wait alongside the building's wall, leaning herself against it to avoid standing in anyone else's way.

Of course, the well placed plans of mice and (wo)men often go awry. In this case, it was true for both Alex and the Lady Kingsford. Today, Alex had just gotten off work at the Supermarket that had been working at since he was 13, Smiles'R'Us. He had changed at work, and was wearing a nice white t-shirt with a black jacket over it since it was a tad chilly out. His pants were regular blue jeans, with no designer logos are anything. The only thing expensive about him was the ring on his left hand.

Still, his plan was to ride his bike home and just enjoy a nice nap as tomorrow was his day off. He'd likely go to Inferis and let loose a bit. However, when he got on his bike and had began peddling home, he noticed something scary, right as he went down a big hill- His brakes weren't working.

This happened to be noticed as he was closing in the a nice fancy restaurant by the corner of this district. So, as his bike went mad, he yelled out to the lady just standing there ignoring the entire world, "Wotcher Dove! My bike's out of control!"

Alas, before he could fatally maim the woman in front of him, the man managed to lurch the bike aside. This made it topple over, stopping it from hitting anyone, but send poor Alex flying out of the bicycle towards the woman. This would have the unfortunate effect of his face landing right into her bosom, before they both fell to the floor. Alex, ever aware even in situations like this, would twist their bodies so she would land on top of him, cushioning her from the fall.

She'd be a bit winded, but unhurt. Alex, though, was pretty beat up. His back ached, his legs and arms and shoulder too. His face, having been nestled in her chest for a few moments was fine, though. He groaned pitifully from under her.

Adelaide shuddered as a brief but sharp chill slid down her spine as if it were liquid being poured onto her. Lamenting over how she failed to wear an extra layer of clothing underneath her suit, or at least bring along another jacket, she rubbed her arms and hands against one another to promote the generation of bodily heat as she waited patiently for her chauffeur to arrive. Cornell was one of those types that enjoyed collecting and restoring classic automobiles in his free time, and harbored a distinctive appreciation for Aston Martins. There was a high probability that he'd be commandeering one of those tonight.

But before she was allowed to speculate on which particular model he was going to be showing off on this wonderful, chilly evening, Adelaide was involuntarily pulled back into reality by the frantic screams of a male voice in the distance. "Wotcher, Dove! My bike's out of control!" In her surprise, she snapped her gaze slightly to the right, but was unable to catch a proper glimpse of whoever was screaming at her before a large mass of color plowed straight into her body.

Adelaide felt a dramatic bolt of pain shoot throughout her back as she felt the hard surface of the wall she leaned against being forced upon her petite frame, no thanks to the person that soared directly into her. Feeling herself momentarily robbed of all control over her body, she found herself toppling over the maladroit individual so she now laid directly on top of the man's figure, her aching breasts firmly planted in their face. Left reeling from the whole ordeal, she struggled to gather her bearings before hearing the other person's moans of agony beneath her, accompanied by the embarrassing vibrations the man's voice emanated between her concealed cleavage.

Remembering that she had been unwittingly attacked out of the blue, Adelaide scrambled her way off of the young man on the ground, quickly brushing her suit free of dirt before reaching into her pocket to grab her cell phone in an effort to call Cornell again and urge him to drive faster. "Oh, my God! Are you alright?" she asked, her voice wrought with worry, although the question was redundant in its nature, as he appeared to be in obvious agony from that little accident. "Try not to move too much, alright? I'm going to phone for assistance."

"Oh, my God! Are you alright?"

He had heard the woman she nearly killed ask. Chuckling weakly, he strained a smile for her. He felt like crap, and probably looked like it too, but he knew he would live. "I... I should be asking you that, Love." He responded, using typical British lingo. Struggling, he tries to sit up, but groans in pain and lays back. In a minute or two, he'll be okay. "Did I manage to get you out of the way? I never wanted to hurt a beautiful woman."

The world was spinning for him. His head hurt. Hell, EVERYTHING hurt. But he knew he'd be alright. It wasn't that bad, after all. He just needed a little rest. She said she was going to call someone. "Are you sure you're okay. Don't worry about me... I'm more worried about you." Injured, and he still was more concerned for the woman.

A twinge of confusion bled through Adelaide's panicked expression as she watched the young man that had unceremoniously bowled into her figure smile weakly at her, asking questions as if he were some knight in shining armor that had saved a damsel from distress. If one were to look at the situation from a different point of view, they could clearly see that the well-dressed woman had recovered much faster than the man sprawled all over the sidewalk and writhing in pain. "Are you sure you're okay? Don't worry about me... I'm more worried about you." he persisted, still continuing with the gentlemanly antics.

"I've broken several bones riding horses. This isn't the worst I've suffered," Adelaide said as she continued assessing the damage. Aside from some obvious welts and mildly bloody scrapes, there didn't appear to be any misplaced limbs or fracture wounds, nor any signs of internal bleeding. Still, she didn't want to take any chances. Pulling her phone to her ear, the lady Kingsford speed-dialed Cornell, waiting rather impatiently until she heard a click on the other line. "Cornell, I was involved in a minor accident with a young man, she explained eloquently, continuing with her dialogue before he could interject. "We're both a little winded, but we'll survive. May I request your arrival be earlier than originally intended?" "Very well, Miss Kingsford. I'll see to it that I take a shortcut." The call ended.

Pocketing her phone, she returned her attentions to the injured young man below her. "Can you stand or sit up?" she asked him, shifting herself into a kneeling position to better lift him off the ground if he was able to follow through with the feat. Remembering that he rode a bicycle, she followed her question up with another one, "What exactly happened to your bike that made it steer out of control?"

So she had been through worse before. That's fine and all, but in the past. Alex was worried about the now. This was shown as he slowly, painfully made his way to his feet. He still looked really out of sorts, and his shirt was pretty torn up. He exhales sharply, and luckily there is no sharp pain or anything. He'll be alright.

After standing, he was forced to lean against a wall or else he would fall. Once there, he took survey of the damage to his bike. It... was a wreck. He'd not be able to ride it again. Sighing, he smiled sadly, determined to remain happy in times like these. After all, it wasn't raining, even though it was January, it wasn't TOO cold, and he was alive.

"The brakes gave out on my bike, it seems. I couldn't slow down at all, and it went out of control. Now? Now I'll have to buy a new bike. I'm happy you're fine..." Then his eyes widen, "NOW I remember you! You were the lawyer for Miss Thompson, the rape victim at the trial i was on Jury Duty at. There wasn't a lot of evidence, mainly circumstantial, but you did a wonderful job closing the case." Then, his smile grows very strained as he grabs his left side, uttering an urk sound. His rib might be cracked.

Adelaide did her best to be as gentle as she could while she helped the injured man to his feet, choosing to remain close by for further assistance as he propped himself against the wall that she had previously leaned on. While she acted the part of vanguard until her chauffeur arrived, the woman brushed her suit free of more dirt particles as he explained the situation with his bike. Supposedly, his brakes gave out as he was riding down the hill, and the accident that followed left the vehicle in irreparable condition, but the fact that she escaped relatively unscathed appeared to put his mind at ease.

She glanced over to check on the bike, and immediately grimaced in regret. The vehicle was mangled and truly beyond repair; as the man with blond hair stated earlier, he would likely have to purchase a replacement. And while the incident wasn't anyone's fault, Adelaide still felt partially responsible for what had happened, and felt obligated to correct the damage in some way. "Try not to worry about it, okay? I'm more than willing to pay for a new bike," she politely insisted, smiling weakly. "Consider it an apology."

A brief moment passed before the wounded man exclaimed something about remembering her, which caught the lady Kingsford completely by surprise. As soon as he mentioned being part of the jury box for the case of one Miss Thompson, Adelaide's eyebrows furrowed in further confusion, but were quickly raised as soon as he delivered a compliment regarding her skill in the courtroom. "Uhm, thank you," she replied, slightly perplexed by his unusually carefree attitude in regards to his injuries, but mostly because she was unable to recall the full chain of events of the trial being brought to her attention. "I don't remember a whole lot about that day, unfortunately. Have we met before?"

A new bike? Oh no, no no no. Alex could NOT let her buy him something like that. It wasn't like he was poor. No, he had a lot of money saved up, and continued to save even now. So it was with a pained smile that he shook his head, "No, you don't have to do that. This was all my fault. In fact, I should be paying you! I must have ruined your entire evening!"

Then she mentioned about the courtroom. Of course she wouldn't remember him. he didn't say even two words to her. In fact, he only said a few words the entire time and those were "We the Jury find him Guilty" or something like that. He kept smiling, even though he was in a lot of pain. "I don't think we met, but you still did a good job on that case. I was just in the jury." Then, he winced again, his small smile never dropping. Yea, he had definitely hurt a rib.

"No, you don't have to do that. This was all my fault. In fact, I should be paying you! I must have ruined your entire evening!" Baffled and at a loss for words, Adelaide blinked as the young man rebuffed her generous offer to replace his destroyed bicycle with several, self-deprecating remarks. As if instinct took her over, she shook her head furiously, her half-true smile refusing to let up. "You're being silly," she deflected his negative statements like a swatter would to a couple of bugs. "How would you have been able to predict your brakes were out?" Having thought on that logic helped turn her grin more genuine. "Besides, I was headed home anyway. As far as anyone's concerned, my evening's all wrapped up."

As if right on cue, the low purr of an automobile engine approached within earshot of the pair, its vehicular source parked barely a yard away from their location. Painted in a sophisticated black and polished to mirror-like perfection was a sleek, 2005 Aston Martin DB9, and fortunately, Cornell was driving the one with four seats. The window rolled down far enough so that the driver himself, whose face was partially wrinkled but not so much that one would mistake him as being elderly, could check on the two persons' respective conditions. "Is everything alright, Miss Kingsford? I arrived as swiftly as I could." he asked his employer with a cultured and professional tone.

Adelaide nodded happily. "I'm glad you made it, Cornell," she said, turning to the blond man that leaned against the wall. "I'll take your word and not worry about the bike, alright? At least allow Cornell to drive you home safely." She noticed him wince in pain, clutching at his ribs as if one had been broken. Had one been broken? Fretting for his health but mindful of his own affairs nevertheless, she kept her opinions to herself and waited for his decision.

Well now, after her words about his bike, Alex could help but beam at her. Someone else in the world about as nice as him. How curious. Just as he was about to respond to her, a car rolled up. It was fancy too! Alex was impressed. He didn't expect to see such a fancy car, but she WAS a lawyer after all. It should have been expected.

It was in this same vein that as he stepped forward, mouth open as he was prepared to say something, that the pain overwhelmed his body and he collapsed. Previously, he was in some serious pain. However, he was able to keep his mind off of it. Now, though, when he stepped forward, the pain crippled him, and his vision went white.

On the floor, he yelled out in pain, though his smile never dropped. Even now, it was only a twisted, pained smile, but it was still there. It was fortunate that Alex wasn't conscious when his head hit the floor, as it likely didn't help anything at all. Indeed, for Alex was out of it as soon as he yelled after stepping forward. One of his ribs were busted inwards. Luckily, it was a clean break, and could be treated easier, but that didn't help matter now.

As Adelaide waited for the man to respond to her proposal to have her chauffeur escort him back where he lived, she only received a compassionate smile from him. Her ability to return that expression diminished greatly as her green eyes glazed over with even more anxiety than before. Even after sustaining so much damage to his body, he was still willing to hold a grin and pretend like nothing ever happened? So much was wrong with the way this fellow viewed the world, especially when he was involved on a personal level. His overly optimistic attitude toward this whole debacle made her want to shudder in revulsion. But she wouldn't do it.

How could she?

In a way, it reminded the solicitor of herself, especially when she was littler. Ever the adventurous youngster, Adelaide always tried to find new and interesting places on the estate grounds to hide and play, but there was always a moment when she would injure herself as a result of her rampant curiosity. But she would always try to pretend like nothing happened, as if whatever had harmed her didn't have any serious effect. Her butlers and maids would always be so cross with her for trying to behave like anything less than a lady, but it was who she was. After all, she mostly did what she did to gain their approval.

Their approval.

Under more mild circumstances, the surfacing memories that were coming to a boil would have caused the lady Kingsford to well up with tears, but a sudden shift in position from the young man against the wall snapped her out of her reverie. Her daze lasted for a split second before it contorted its way into an expression of terror as she watched the man, who still had yet to identify himself, collapse onto the sidewalk below as he was unable to manage the pain that wracked his figure any longer. One thing was certain: this man wasn't going home in this condition.

"Cornell!" Adelaide yelled hysterically to her driver, who watched the events unfold from the Aston Martin. As fast as lightning, he opened the car door and slipped his way outside, then swung around to the left in order to fold over the passenger seat to reveal the ones in the back. In stark contrast to his gentlemanly attire and his externally detached character, the slightly gray-haired chauffeur quickly complied with his employer's demand and made his way over to the two in short strides, stooping over to help Adelaide carefully lift the wounded man over and inside the car. "Where's the closest hospital?" the solicitor hissed as she flipped the passenger seat upright, then climbed inside and closed the door shut.

"Great Ormond Street Hospital is less than a minute away, Miss Kingsford," Cornell informed the woman with unflappable calmness, entering the driver's seat once more in order to pull his car out of parked position and back onto the road, taking occasional glances into the mirrors on both sides of the vehicle as wel as the rear view. "You need not say another word."

And just like that, Alex was in the car. He wasn't really all that aware, the pain having driven most sense from him. As the doors were shut, and the car driven away, most people, who weren't ignoring the event and going on with their lives as humans are want to do, were puzzled by the seeming kidnapping.

Alex's bike was left behind.

Meanwhile, in the car, Alex was moaning softly. Everything was hurting, more now than earlier. Every bump, every jolt... It was making him hurt more and more. After the car hit a particularly nasty row on the road, Alex grunted, his smile becoming highly pained. His rib was driving inside him.

Suddenly, though, his eyes opened. The blue orbs, clouded in pain, saw Adelaide, and wondered at her beauty to him. She was rather cute afterall, but in his messed up pain-riddled mind, she was more than cute. "Are you an Angel? But... only demons exist in Inferis... And demon hunters like me are sure to go there." And then, he was out of it again. He didn't even realise he had let slip such a guarded secret. Later, he wouldn't even remember saying it.

With precision timing and the determination of a taxi driver that treated punctuality like its own religion, Cornell shifted the gears of his beloved Aston Martin with each block he turned or passed at, allowing his employer to maintain steady observation over their injured passenger without hindrance, trying to shoot for as close to greased lightning as he could get while still maintaining the posted speed limits. Unfortunately for the mild-mannered driver, the roads needed considerable maintenance done on them after being neglected for so many years, forcing him to endure the occasional bumps and potholes that blemished his path to his chagrin.

"Terribly sorry about the turbulence, sir, Miss Kingsford, I truly am." Cornell lamented vocally, trying to think of an alternative path he could take. The car lurched upward, Adelaide yelping in her surprise as the blond young man now groaned aloud, clearly floored by the pain his ribs were inflicting on his innards. "Do be more careful, then, Cornell!" she barked, her eyes drawn to the spot his hands were clutched around in his agony. "He looks as though he may have suffered a fracture. I can't be sure." Nodding in confirmation, the slightly wrinkled operator clutched the wheel tightly. "Don't be quick to fret, though. We should be arriving very shortly." he informed with a hint of a smile.

As the woman in the suit focused on the possible site of injury, she failed to notice that the man opened his eyes, which had glazed over in his current state of delirium. "Are you an Angel? But... Only demons exist inside Inferis..." Adelaide kept silent, unsure if he was being sincere with the words he spoke, or if he just spewed incoherent babble as a consequence of having been semi-aware of his surroundings for that moment; even Cornell, ever the kind to turn a negative situation over into a positive one with dry humor, chose to be mindful of his manners. "And Demon Hunters like me are sure to go there."

"What?" Adelaide asked rhetorically beneath her breath, blinking in a double take as she tried to process what he had just muttered, skin turning clammy like chowder. "Demon Hunters". The two words echoed repeatedly within her mind as she remembered the only, other voice to have said the same, exact words to her: the voice of her late father, who died well over a year ago. Just now, the young man had, in his delirium, announced that he, too, was one of these so-called "Demon Hunters".

After all this time she went without knowing a single thing about this mysterious people, and this was the moment she'd run into another one? A person just like her father?

Well now, with the driving skills of the butler with a black man's name, they had arrived at the hospital in no time at all. That was good, because anymore driving on London's roads would have killed Alex. So, when they got there, the medics came out, wondering what the fuss was about. Seeing Alex all hurt and all, they gently put him on a stretcher. Checking his ID, they proclaimed him as "Alexander Stone, age 28, legal resident of London and all, and has good health insurance."

They also allowed for Adelaide to enter his room. No one was sure why, other than his injuries were easily treated. His rib WAS broken, but it was going to be okay. He just needed to be off his feet and in comfortable surroundings. One of the doctors knew Alex and had been to his house before. His apartment was not suited for such an injury at all, and either Alex would have to stay at the hospital and run up his bill even higher, or stay somewhere else where it'd be nice and cozy.

Alex, awake now and in the hospital bed, smiled sadly. He figured that he would just have to pay an outrageous sum of money. It had been several hours since he had been in the hospital. He'd had to take sick leave from his job too, sadly. This was all around bad. If only he hadn't fractured his rib. The doctors even said that the reason it was as bad as it was is because after falling off the bike, he had rescued Adelaide. If he hadn't, it'd just be bruised.

Then, just as things couldn't get any worse, a loud feminine scream reverberated through the area. Alex was on the first floor, and was immediately concerned. That sounded a lot like his helper, the Lady Kingsford. With that in mind, Alex surged to his feet, pulling out the IV drip and everything else. Gingerly holding his injured area, he made his way into the hall, where a giant evil demon towered. Gulping, Alex staggered back. Here in Earthrealm, he could do nothing against that. What the hell was it doing here. His smile never dropped, though it was highly strained.

It took Cornell merely forty more seconds, give or shave a few, for him to finally arrive at the hospital campus, as he had repeatedly insisted he would do. As paramedics rushed to the scene to take control of the situation and get the injured man inside for treatment, Adelaide sluggishly opened the door and shifted her body so that her legs dangled outside of the parked vehicle, slumping over as if catching her breath. Cornell turned the keys and let the engine die completely before pulling them out of the ignition so that he could exit the vehicle without fear of having it stolen by some ragamuffin. Unless they could hot-wire cars. Then, that would be a problem.

Adelaide nervously gulped, her green eyes trembling as she heard the young man's words whispering into her ears without end, prodding and burning at her mind like a hot pitchfork wielded by the Devil himself. Demon Hunters. The woman's vision clouded up as memories of the incident—as she always called it—peeked over her emotional barriers against her will. The smell of flesh scorched by gunpowder, the sight of blood all over her father's, her library, the sound of him taking his final breaths as he revealed the life he tried so desperately to keep a secret... That night was the night she had witnessed two people she held close to her heart be stripped away before her very eyes. People that could never be replaced.

Adelaide shuddered uncontrollably as grief consumed her body, unable to hold back her tears as they now rolled liberally down her face. Closing her eyes to let herself go, the young woman sobbed and wept in sorrow as she heard Cornell's footsteps move themselves around the car. The more she cried, the more each step resonated within her range of hearing like the perfectly timed clicks of a composer's metronome. Click. Click. Click. Click. The steps were mesmeric to her, as if focusing solely on the objects that made these sounds gave her some kind of solace in the mental nightmare realm she was cursed to burden for the rest of her life. The river of tears in her eyes were quick to dry up, but her eyes remained shut as she tuned in on the sound of Cornell's shoes tapping against the asphalt. Click. Click. Click. Click.

Crack.

In that fraction of a section, an incomprehensible bolt of pain shot through her skull like thousands of tiny daggers being punctured into her brain at once. Adelaide grunted from this feeling and gasped for air, opening her eyes only to see nothing but a horribly blurred image in front of her, distorted shapes and colors which she was unable to process fast enough before her vision went solid black once more. All of her strength left her body at that instant, causing her to lurch forward without her knowing until she hit the ground, consumed by the darkness of unconsciousness.

–––––––

Approximately three hours had passed until the blonde woman slowly, but surely came to her senses. A groan escaped from her vocal chords as she raised a hand to clasp the back of her head, noticing the presence of a huge welt that ached tenderly the more she touched it, indicating that someone had the audacity to knock her unconscious. Remembering the tapping sounds of Cornell's distinctive Oxford shoes before she blacked out, Adelaide winced her eyes closed, both because the sore spot on her head throbbed like fire, and because she had drawn the conclusion that her butler had viciously attacked her in her moment of weakness. The nerve of him! Pushing herself so that she leaned against her elbow, she promised herself to have that man arrested faster than he can start the car to get away.

She groaned again while shifting her body again into a stooped posture, using her fingers to rub at her eyes and ward off the blurriness that overwhelmed them. "Ngh..." Taking her time, she allowed herself to patiently gain her bearings before assessing the situation at hand, hoping all the while that Cornell, that bastard, hadn't made his daring escape yet. Though, even if that were the case—she pondered briefly—she had access to his employee information. He wouldn't get very far, even if he wanted to.

Feeling coherent enough to stand on her own, Adelaide lifted herself until she stood erect, wobbling around to maintain her balance and succeeding at the task. Not even two seconds into peering at her surroundings, she immediately deduced a change of location. Instead of the parking lot, she found herself standing inside a spacious white room, although the dingy lighting made it appear more sepia-toned than white. Contemporary furniture hugged the large pillars that stretched from floor to ceiling, and the desks had computers that flickered sadly in their desperate attempts to stay online.

She was inside the hospital. More specifically, the main reception room. Upon closer inspection, however, Adelaide quickly noticed the brightly colored decorations and the rather childish overtones the place projected. In that time frame, she cocked her head to see the logo for the complex and read closely: "Great Ormond Street Hospital..." She paused as two more words popped up, but her reaction was one for the record books. "For Children!?" Not only did Cornell bean her on the back of the head with a blunt object, but he deliberately drove the both of them to a children's hospital!? Was this some kind of sick joke to him?

She'd have clasped her hands over her face in utter shame at this turn of events, but another jolt of pain prevented her from thinking too hard on it. Oh well. No sense in worrying about it now. Thinking about the blond man that just got "admitted" here, Adelaide couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of it all, running her fingers through her oddly styled bangs as she did so. Wonder what he thought of this whole fracas?

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The sound of bare feet pressing down against the linoleum floor in slow, lumbering steps rang out from behind the young woman, who immediately picked up on the encroaching figure behind her. This entity was also breathing, and quite loudly, which only made the stealth attempt much less convincing and more desperate. Thinking it to be her renegade chauffeur trying to sneak in for another attack, Adelaide folded her arms in recalcitrance, unwilling to budge an inch. "Very funny Cornell, but this joke's run its course," she quipped in the best, sarcastic tone she could muster, but if another were to have observed that little display of bravado—and she was positive nobody did—chances are she wouldn't have come off as very convincing of herself. She pivoted on the heels of her shoes in a perfect spin, a brash smile on her face as thoughts of watching the perpetrator be pulled away by the boys in blue ran gleefully through her mind. "Did you forget exactly who you're—"

If she was expressing any semblance of courage at this point, it was immediately exterminated right here, right now.

As silence wrenched her throat shut, her emerald eyes locked on to a lumbering presence before her, one she immediately determined, without the slightest bit of hesitation in that moment, wasn't Cornell. Instead of a human, Adelaide saw something else entirely. Something monstrous, completely horrifying in aspects she couldn't even process, her mind was so full of fear at what she was gazing upon. Skin as red as blood, which pulsed a sickly yellow color as if it were made of crystallized magma. Horns that could gore a creature smaller than itself with the utmost ease, maybe even split it in half. Teeth as sharp as daggers, accompanied by a purple tongue that drooled some kind of green substance, dripping to the floor in nasty little puddles. But above all of what she could point out on this creature—from the rippling muscles, to the razor sharp spikes, and even the tremendous atmosphere of murderous intent it was projecting toward the minuscule insect before it—it carried a massive, glowing sword that burned like fire, marked with indecipherable runes and symbols.

This was a real monster. A real, living, breathing, flesh-and-bones, sword-wielding monster.

And, to put it short and simple, it was looking to kill.

Eyes fixated on the hulking monster before her, Adelaide took a shaky step backwards, watching fearfully as it followed in suit with a step of its own. Another one, but it mimicked her movement again. Her breathing jagged and unsteady, the woman in black desperately continued pacing herself in the opposite direction, not even humoring the possibility of daring to take her eyes off of this hideous thing to make a run for it without provoking it to give chase. She whimpered very much like a lost and scared puppy, the tears returning to her eyes once more as the evil, two-legged beast took one final step forward and raised its sword on high with the intent to end her life.

And, at that moment, Adelaide did what any, rational human being would do in her situation.

She curled up, body close to the ground, and screamed.

"HEEEELLLLP!! SOMEONE, HELP MEEEEEE!!"

There was a cold chill in the children's hospital that Alex had been taken too- for indeed, it surely was the Great Ormond Children's Hospital. Alex remembered being here long, long ago. It was back in the early days of his life, as he in fact been born here. Then, his parents would take him here as a baby. After that... His Aunt. This hospital held memories that flickered through Alex's head. Memories he tried to forget and had left behind long ago. He closed his eyes, silently banishing those long forgotten memories of his family. There was no time at all for that foolishness.

So, donning a sad smile, Alex slipped into action. Every instinct in him SCREAMED to flee. He stood no chance here in Earthrealm against a demon, none at all. And yet... Miss Kingsford had saved his life. Sure, he had saved hers, but that was because he had put hers in danger to begin with. They hadn't known each other long, but it was long enough for Alexander Stone to know this- he wasn't leaving this hospital without his friend.

His eyes scanned the big room, looking for something, anything that he could use to save her life. Alex knew he wasn't very tough. Sure, he was tall, but strong? There was a reason he was a cashier. Still, there had to be something he could do. There just had to!

His jaw set, a small determined smile plastered on his countenance, his eyes narrowed, Alex stormed ahead. The demon's back was to him, the breeze pushing towards him and Alex smelled sulfur in the air. Perhaps it was brimstone... Regardless, Alex smelled it. Quickly, he ran forward, rushing as fast as he could. He glanced down at a tray on a cart that a doctor had left behind, almost running into it. He put his hand on it, clenching down to make sure it got out of the way, before moving on.

So he ran. He ran harder than he had ever ran in his life. And as the demon swiped down with it's burning sword onto the poor hapless girl, Alex rammed into it with all his strength, carried forward by his momentum. Though Alex may have been weak, the demon was caught off balance, and was knocked through the air away from the woman.

Alex stood there, the determined glint in his eyes set in the stone the woman would soon draw her sword from. He stood tall and proud, his hands clenched... clenched, it seems, around a vial in his left hand. "I will not let you harm a hair on the head of my friend? Alex began confidently. He had a dangerous smirk on his face and he continued with a lofty air, "How, you ask? Elementary, my dear. With SCIENCE!" With that final word spoken, Alex flung the vial from his own grasp and into the demon.

Now, there is a very interesting reaction that occurs with oxygen. You see, this takes some time to explain. The breeze felt? That was from another room, where an oxygen tank was leaking. It was sprouting pure oxygen out and into the area. Luckily, it was being slowly burned off by the flaming demon, which also gave Alex a few burns. When oxygen burns, it creates a sulfur smell. CO2 becomes CO3. THEN, when oxygen, which was still around the demon, comes into contact with... say, hydrogen, it explodes. It just so happens that Alex paid attention in school. He remembered his chemistry well. So when he threw that vial of hydrogen that hit the demon, it yielded a massive explosion, of which Alex had turned around, covering Adel to protect her from. They were sent flying forward, but Alex still protected her.

With a massive roar, the demon vanished into Inferis. Alex, smiling down on the huddled form of the woman he had protected, spoke up again, "I'll be taking care of this, don't worry." When he shifted into the Other World, he hadn't expected to take her with him, but he had. He decided he'd take care of her once the demon was finished. He stood up, aching and in pain, but still willing to fight. He faced the demon, and smiled sadly. He would win this.

Either by a stroke of sheer luck or through divine intervention, the timing for what happened next couldn't have been far more perfect than it already was. Right as the hulking thing was about to bring its humongous weapon downward onto the defenseless woman did it suddenly experience an unknown force ram into its body and throw it completely off balance, causing it to stagger over until it toppled to the floor with a surprised and frustrated, almost animalistic growl. From all the noise that was being made as it struggled to get up, Adelaide instinctively knew that someone, or something, had just saved her life.

"I will not let you harm a hair on the head of my friend." Her tearful eyes flew wide open. A voice the young woman was far too familiar with resonated from the space in front of her, but it carried an air of levelheadedness that this man, whose identity she was certain of, had never displayed in the open. Looking up to confirm her suspicions, a weak smirk of relief forced itself onto her pale face as soon as she achieved a better look at the features of her rescuer. Blond hair, fair skin, and that permanent smile on his face. "How, you ask? Elementary, my dear. With SCIENCE!"

She hadn't noticed the small phial of hydrogen that the blond man was carrying, but he threw it without the slightest hint of hesitation at the recovering creature, who let out a snarl that rattled Adelaide to the bones shortly before the flying object shattered against its sinewy muscles. Not even a split second later, her impromptu knight in shining armor, thinking on his feet, threw himself between her and the sword-wielding devil from the pits before they were sent rocketing a few feet away by a massive explosion created by the mingling between hydrogen and oxygen—a prophecy that had the smiling bloke actually promised he would fulfill.

The well-muscled thing howled within the flames that swathed over its body, swiping both its free hand and its humongous blade recklessly through the air before it pulled itself inside some form of spacial rend that it had willed into existence, vanishing from the battle-damaged reception area entirely. Though a little jarred by the fact that she had been thrown about a second time, Adelaide trembled ferociously within the man's arms at what she had just been subject to. That thing, a monstrosity that looked as though it had clawed its way up from the depths of Hell itself, shouldn't have been here to begin with. It shouldn't even exist, and despite her feeble attempts to rationalize such an encounter, no amount of it would do her rattled mind any good. What had been seen, cannot be unseen.

"I'll be taking care of this, don't worry." The man's voice had changed from threatening to reassuring, like a father would comfort his child after witnessing a tragic event, proclaiming that everything would be okay. Such a vocal tone was foreign to her, though; rarely, if ever, were there any chances she obtained as a child to see the softer side of Winston Kingsford, a man that made virtually few attempts, if any at all, to ease up on his demanding personality and authoritarian standards. But this wasn't an appropriate moment to compare the people in her life. All the woman, whose suit was now soiled more than before and bore several cuts and scores, had to do was one, simple thing.

Survive.

She resigned herself to the protection of the man over her form as she watched on with utmost stupefaction as the hospital around her seemed to crumble and peel away at its very foundations. The ceiling burned away like it was exposed to fire; tiles below her cracked and split apart, then oozed with a viscous, red liquid like the ground itself was bleeding; walls fell away to reveal a ruined, dystopian cityscape overshadowed by crimson clouds that rolled over the scorched skies like pillowy waves of lava pouring from a volcano. Adelaide felt the chilled hand of paranoia grip her very soul as she gawked around her from underneath the man's arms, unable to recognize anything she could remotely call "normal". All of reality had been warped to become...this.

"Oh, my God..." she squeaked pathetically, almost as if she expected the Lord on high to save her from the world of nightmare she now found herself in. Nothing made sense anymore, and simply being here continued to torment and haunt her rational mind. A heavy sensation of nausea rose up within her throat as she let out a dry wretch, and in that moment, she desperately scrambled out of the man's clutches and away from him so that she could put space between them. Falling to her hands and knees behind a nearby pillar, she threw her bolts and vomited all over the tiles below her, coughing and heaving pathetically.

Nearly a minute passed before she finished puking practically everywhere, Adelaide wearily leaned to the right, avoiding the puddle of her own sick and reduced to tears once more, bawling like a newborn babe. Maintaining her cultured dignity longer mattered to her, but one couldn't help but feel sorry for the solicitor who had no idea what was going on. In spite of the fact that she was still alive after that horrifying encounter, why her? Why was she forced to go through all of this? What was the purpose behind it?

Unaware of the situation at hand, far too engrossed in her own despair, the lady Kingsford failed to realize that a hideous snarl emerged from near her blond-haired savior's presence. Were he paying attention, and it was likely he would be at this point, a quick scope of the scene revealed that the great horned creature, still clutching its sword as if it were choking the life out of it, had returned to exact its vengeance on the human that defended its meal. Its bloody red flesh now featured ghastly burn marks, all due to the explosion it had received the full brunt of, and its face was now locked in an expression of clenched fangs and pure, unbridled hatred.

With a snarl befitting its demonic image and nature, the sword-wielding beast did the only thing its brain was allowing it to: completely go postal and kill the thing that tried to kill it first. With impressive dexterity, the burned demon flourished its blade, then bolted into a dangerous sprint towards the man that smiled all the time, aiming to gore his puny figure before he had the privilege to get out of the way.

He'd better act fast, or else that fractured rib won't be the only thing he has to worry about.

Smiling sadly for the girl who scrambled away from him, Alex could understand it, really. She was overwhelmed by all this. Inferis, if you weren't used to it, could be REALLY scary. Alex liked it here, though. It was nice and warm, and rarely rained. He knew how to get to his house and out without fear, and could do so many things here. The wind still blew, and running at top speed was amazing.

Still, that was neither here nor there. Alex had business to attend to. Standing up, he turned around, his smile set into a determined grin. However, when he turned, he wasn't expecting the demon to nearly be on him. It was too late for Alex to jump up and away, so he did his best to throw his arms up, making himself light enough that he could jump back as far as possible.

Sadly, it didn't work completely. Sure, he jumped back and away, but not quick enough. Alex's arm got cut up bad. Blood was flowing out of them and he cried out in anguish and pain. Falling to the floor beside Adelaide, lex groaned, before shakily trying to get to his feet. His mind was numb with agony and pain, but he would be okay. Alex always was okay. Even without use of his arms, he could still fight. Even when mostly incapacitated, Alex could still kill.

So, after struggling to his feet, Alex attempted to call on his powers of Gravity. What really happened was much different. Pain spiked through his mind, his ring glowing with a terrible light. He screamed, falling uselessly to the ground as words and things assaulted his mind. He didn't know it, but his body was changing, inside. His mind was growing, adapting, and he was gaining access to skills he never knew existed.

Alex was evolving, but at such a horrible time. If something didn't happen soon, he'd die in pain, never knowing of his new powers.

The creature snarled viciously as it brought its beefy, orange-veined arms forward in a powerful thrust, but it hardly expected the walking sack of meat and bones, twiggy in frame for how tall he was, to be so spry. However, the golden-haired human made the terrible mistake of throwing up his arms defensively. Like he could stop the might of its mighty blade? Though the man avoided certain death by impalement, the sharpened slab of glowing metal was able to carve a deep laceration into one of his arms, and possibly nicked the other one. Nasty squelches erupted into the air as flesh was carved like gelatin as if it were exposed to a running chainsaw, splattering blood onto the floor in due course. In its anger, it had managed to stab the end of its blade into a dilapidated pillar, where it spent its moments trying to pull it out.

In a very human response to the blistering hot pain that now throbbed in his arms, the man screamed loud enough to instantly snap Adelaide out of her miserable state as he stumbled backwards and toward the floor, landing several feet away from her. Mortified, she raised her hands over her mouth and shrieked as blood literally oozed from his injuries, forming a pool beneath him. The pain was obviously too much for him to shoulder, and his injured state of being painted a vivid picture of this reality, but adrenaline fueled his every, waking thought right now. In spite of all he was suffering, he still tried to stand back up and protect a woman he knew practically nothing about.

Limp as a ragdoll, Adelaide could no longer bring her puny mind to understand why things were happening the way they were. The man that saved her life, not once, but twice, was on the verge of dying before her very eyes at the hands of a sword-swinging beast, a terrible creature, a literal monster whose very existence rebelled against all forms of common sense. Aside from his creative application of science, it did nothing but make the creature far angrier than it had been before, and it was certain that its vengeance would be slaked with the wounded man's death. And the worst part about all of it? The painstaking reality she was now forced to deal with at that very moment, faced with the ultimate decision to accept or deny it, at the cost of both of their lives, regardless of what she chose?

She was powerless to stop it.

A grand revelation consumed the lady Kingsford's conscious thoughts. She had seen this—everything that was happening right here and now—play out in the past. For as soon as she was forced to see how fragile and weak she really was, memories of her father's death at the hands of the grotesque abomination that used and sullied the face of his wife, her mother, like a cheap restaurant napkin. Both men, Winston and the blond fellow, had saved her life from two of these inhuman monstrosities, and in the latter's case, this was something that had happened twice in one night. Would this be a repeat performance, then? A cruel retelling of a tragedy she longed to leave in her past forever?

No...

Adelaide's tearful green eyes clouded over and became listless, her subconscious thoughts creating a mental haze that seemed to project itself into her vision, her body now overcome with a numb kind of sensation. She no longer saw the wounded young man in front of her, nor was the beast that struggled to withdraw its sword in her view. Instead, her conscious mind was pulled into some kind of trance-like state, where all that existed around her was a thick blanket of silvered fog, illuminated by brilliant rays of white light that emanated from an unknown source, causing the clouds in her mind to shimmer like mercury. She could hear herself breathing, but never felt any air physically enter or leave her lungs.

No. This felt wrong. She shouldn't be here. Someone was bleeding, and she was here. He was going to die, and she was here. That monster was going to kill him, and she was HERE. I can't let him die. Adelaide's thoughts failed to reverberate off of anything in the milky void and simply trailed off into the nothingness around her. I don't want him to die. Upon clasping a hand to her breast as if in prayer, a pulse of golden light emerged from her hand, then vanished. I don't want to see him die. Memories of her father's final smile, warm and genuine and beautiful even as he drew his terminal breath, now flashed before her very eyes as the light that shined close her heart grew brighter and stronger with her rising emotions until she could no longer contain them within herself.

If this was her chance to make a miracle happen, she was going to do it.

I won't let him die like my father did!

Instinct seized control over the reigns of her soul as she reached out and grabbed at the space before her as if something were there, fingers curled around an invisible object of some sort. The fog within her mind vanished within an instant upon doing this, returning her back to the collapsed and ruined world she actually existed within, and suddenly discovering that she had stood up during her moment of unawareness. Beams of dazzling, golden light filled the room like the brightest of lanterns from where her fingers were wrapped around, purging every nook and cranny of the shadows that lurked there.

It was after a lengthy struggle with the stubborn pillar that the large, red monster had finally wrenched its blade free. But its victory was short lived upon being forced to recognize the extemporaneous emergence of the blinding source of light. Naturally enough, its reaction to the new presence was one of loathing, but closer examination revealed a different breed of "emotion" altogether. It was exhibiting agitation now, but not of the angry kind. Rather, it was a fearful kind of agitation, like this light was doing some kind of physical harm to its body. It was angry, but it was also scared.

And for good reason.

"My name is Adelaide Lucia Kingsford," she boldly declared as the supernatural incandescence faded all but entirely, now restricted to a shape that could easily be identified as that of a longsword, her hand gripped furiously around the hilt. She advanced towards the demonic presence in slow strides, coldly watching as the being swiped its sword uselessly through the air as it receded backwards in a fit of ironic role reversal. "Daughter of Winston Thaddeus Kingsford the Sixth, respected solicitor of the City of London," she continued, now gripping the sword with both of her hands before tensing the muscles in her arms. "And former Demon Hunter."

Light wrapped around the young woman's body like a blanket before exploding out into a shower of ephemeral sparkles, revealing that she had undergone a total wardrobe transformation. No longer did she wear a black suit that had been tattered and ripped from a bicycle accident and an explosion from earlier. Instead, in its place was an elegant hybrid of armor and dress, striking azure blue in its majority and matched by gold accents and a white underskirt, while her arms, legs, waist and chest were protected by a set of armor that perfectly complimented the large gown. The sword within her hands could be viewed with more detail than before, now having lost much of the radiance it first projected. Graceful and deadly. That's what she looked like now.

A lady of battle.

With utmost precision and dexterity, Adelaide coolly twirled the sword around her wrist and maneuvered it in a stylish display of balance and skill, as if she had done it all her life. It was clearly real, but it felt as light as a feather. All the armor she was wearing didn't seem to slow her down as well. But that wasn't important right now. Defeating this cretin was. Clutching the striking blue hilt of the glittering blade, the newly resolved woman sliced the air before her, blade whizzing by as if it could actually cut the oxygen, until she pointed it at the distressed creature, staring right into its lifeless eyes with the intent to strike it down.

"I solemnly swear on my family name and honor," Adelaide promised, her words now coated with an uncharacteristic venom she had never been forced to crack out until this point. "That I will not let you harm the man that saved my life!"

"I solemnly swear on my family name and honor that I will not net you harm the man that saved my life!"

That was the first thing Alex heard upon coming back to reality. He was still in so much pain, but for some reason, it was all sort of behind him. He could feel it, but it wasn't really registering with him. The man's body was angeled feet first towards them, and Alex could see both Adelaide and the demon from where he was laying by lifting his head.

Adelaide had... changed. It seems she came into her birthright. It seems to was a demon hunter too. Smiling happily for her, Alex turned to the monster. It wasn't paying attention to him right now. He saw an opening, one he could exploit with his new powers. It would never see him coming.

He felt bad for this, though. But it was not time for the Lady to sully her hands with demonic blood. He wouldn't let her suffer. So it was with this in mind that he croaked out a battle cry as he changed the very direction of gravity itself while making gravity harder on himself. This led to the effect of him falling through the air, his feet braced for impact as they slammed in to the demon's skull at extreme speeds.

Perhaps it would have dodged him if it was looking, but alas, it was focused on it's adversary Adelaide. The now dead demon sailed through the air as Alex use his powers to gently set himself down by slowly increasing gravity until it was normal. He could change it in any way he wanted on himself only now. Once more he was laying on the floor. Injured, yes, but victorious. He had defended his friend and all was right in the world.

"So... You're a demon hunter too. I'm glad... You're alright. I'm glad... you didn't dirty your beautiful hands with that monster's blood." And then, Darkness. Alex passed out, succumbing to his injuries for now. He wasn't dead, but he was getting there. Adel needed to bring them out of this and get him help soon.

In a theatrical movement, Adelaide slowly craned her sword-wielding arm to the right side of her body and lowered it so that it rested at waist level, pointing the weapon toward the broken tiles and curling the fingers of her free hand around its stunning blue hilt. She stared intensely in the monster's direction, examining its behavior, studying for any hints of an opening in its supposedly newfound cowardice. For all she knew, it could have been playing mind games, hoping she would lower her guard so that it could get the jump on her. She tensed her wrist muscles, causing the beautiful blade to glitter as if it were made of sparkling diamonds. The creature reacted scornfully, as if the light that reflected off of its metal was anathema to it.

Using what little evidence she acquired from its reaction, Adelaide hypothesized that the sword she was now holding could harm the beast to such a degree that merely looking at it was enough to spark a negative response. Sound as her theory may have been, recklessly putting it into motion was suicide, and though she had been trained in several schools of swordsmanship over the course of her youth, her alleged skills were not suitable grounds to courageously charge in without a plan of action. To lower her guard, even for a split second, would spell instant death for her—and for the man she now resolved to defend.

With a fleeting glance back to the wounded person behind her, Adelaide knew firsthand that getting him to safety took priority over exacting righteous vengeance over the frightened monster with the sword. Naturally, this meant she had to lead it away from him—but only far enough so that she could return, pick the injured fellow up, and then make a break for it before it caught wind of her strategy. The stereotype of "all brawn and no brains" would never apply here. Not when a hulking, red monster was the one exhibiting all the brawn, as well as a humongous weapon to reinforce that fact.

Little did the lady know, she would never get the chance to see her plan through. Before she could twitch a muscle, her ears rang with a furious battle cry that resonated from behind her back, and as soon as she twisted her body to see what had happened—a move that would have surely been fatal in the face of imminent danger—all she glimpsed was a flash of white and gold before another cry echoed from behind her yet again. Only this time, it was an anguished bellow that rapidly faded from hearing range, made in response to something heavy crashing into it. What exactly just happened, especially in such a short time frame?

Adelaide swiveled her torso (yet again) to inspect the damage, and found the wounded man lying in front of her instead of the polar opposite direction. But what really caught her attention was the complete absence of a certain red monstrosity. Piecing two and two together, she could only ascertain that this man—whatever he did—finished the job he had started back before the world around her had crumbled into absolute ruin. But how? How was he able to accomplish a feat that should have been impossible for him to perform in such a grievous condition?

Whatever the case, it hardly mattered now. The two of them were safe, and there was nothing to threaten their lives. With a sigh of relief, Adelaide jogged her way over to the young man, her sabotons clanking rhythmically against the tile floor, until she closed the gap between them before sinking into a kneeling posture. "So... You're a Demon Hunter too. I'm glad... You're alright. I'm glad... you didn't dirty your beautiful hands with that monster's blood." Well, of course she didn't—she never had a chance to. The sheer irony behind the second half of his comment almost made Adelaide scoff sarcastically, although her mind was focused on more important matters. Without saying a word, she watched the man pass out, noticing that his wounds, nasty as they were, had stopped bleeding for the most part.

Still, it was no excuse to abstain from seeking out proper medical attention. But would there be any for him to obtain? Especially in such a hellish world as this? Pressed for time, Adelaide carefully positioned her armored hands beneath his large frame, using her knees to pick him up off the ground and carry him as if she were at a wedding that suffered a huge case of after-ceremony role reversal. Shockingly enough, he didn't seem to weigh that much, even though he was much bigger than her. Her newly acquired sword was placed on top of him, as she had no idea where to store it since it had manifested without a sheath of some kind.

A tidal wave of surfacing questions consumed her thoughts as Adelaide boldly stormed out of the destroyed hospital and into the land of nightmare that awaited her.