Under Cloak of Darkness: Chapter 3
#3 of Under Cloak of Darkness
(Song: The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson)
(Scene: Dameon Opens the Door)
He spun the wooden bow staff with all the grace and majesty of a retarded penguin with Tourettes Syndrome.
"Ouch!" he shouted as the staff hit the inside of his thigh. He fell to the ground and grabbed his thigh, which was already starting to turn bright red.
Kimona sighed and scratched her ears with her paws. She helped him to his feet, brushing dirt off of him. He was on his feet and ready to continue training until an Omaki he hadn't really met before ran into the training dojo.
"Kimona, Eve! Arronix calls for the both of you to meet him in his room right now," the Omaki gasped breathlessly. Eve and Kimona quickly exchanged glances and ran out the door.
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Arronix sat on the pedestal with his eyes closed and his mouth open slightly in prayer and meditation. He opened his eyes when Eve, Kimona, and the nameless Omaki entered.
"Step up here, my boy," he said softly to the dragon. Haze looked at Kimona, who nodded towards the sitting man.
"Do you know why you're here?" he asked when the dragon made his way through the other Omaki warriors and up in front of the pedestal.
"Something about having superpowers, I guess," Eve said. Arronix laughed.
"Not exactly superpowers, so to speak, but power nonetheless," he said, getting over his chuckles.
"Have you ever felt like you have brightness in you? A sort of glow coming from inside, lighting up the darkest of times?" Arronix asked. Eve shook his head.
"Not really," he said uncertainly.
"Well, that's normal. You haven't had the proper time to feel it in its truth. We will have to teach you how to lo�" he stopped before he could finish and rubbed his temples, grimacing in pain.
"Sir! What is it?" Kimona asked, running up to him.
"A huge surge of energy, like someone far away screaming in agony. So much power, so much," he gasped. He stopped rubbing his temples and looked up, eyes wide.
"Swade! He's on the move! Fast!" he shouted. The Omaki scattered and rushed to their rooms to retrieve their weapons. Kimona started to leave, but was stopped by Arronix.
"Bring the boy with you," he said.
"But sir! He hasn't properly been trained yet!" she protested.
"Don't argue with me, Kimona! Bring him with you," he said slowly.
She nodded reluctantly. She grabbed Eve's arm and pulled him back down the halls to her room.
"Listen up and listen well!" she said sternly. "We are going to this location,"
She held up a map. She pointed to the old Mallakoza Steel plant.
"That's where Swade's headed. We have to beat him there and get whatever he wants to get first. Got it?" she asked.
"Yea, I got it," he said. She nodded and threw him a longsword from at the foot of her bed.
"Oh, what the hell is this?! How'd you think I could fight with a sword?! In case you haven't noticed, I need all four of my legs to move!" he shouted.
"I don't care! We have work to do," she muttered angrily as they walked out of her room and to the loft, where all the others were ready for flight. Eveser stood at the end of the wooden beam that served as a launch pad. It was in a tower at least 120 feet tall!
"Just follow me," she said. He nodded and unfolded his wings. After she took off, he ran out the square hole in the wall and off the board.
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"Well," Swade muttered when he landed on the roof of the steel plant. "Isn't this a cozy little place?"
He jumped down and slammed into the cement. He stood up slowly and looked around. When he found the two huge metal panels that made up the doors, he walked up to them and pressed his hands on the door. He strained to push them open, but couldn't. After a couple minutes of this, he got bored and annoyed.
"Ah, fuck this!" he shouted and punched the door as hard as he could. It went flying, as did something else behind it. He heard a female grunt of anger and then a fluttering of wings, dragon wings.
"Well, it appears that I have a new playmate," he mocked. "Come out, I wont hurt you."
When no one answered his invite, he got angry.
"Alright," he whispered angrily. He pulled a small, glowing, yellow ball out of his cloak and slammed it into the ground. It made a huge blinding light and caused yet another female noise, a scream of pain this time, and the sound of someone falling to the ground. He walked over to a young dragoness, clutching her face in agony.
"Awwwww, poor little girl. Do you want some help?" Dameon asked politely. She swatted his hand away when he reached out. He cocked his head.
"She doesn't look that bad actually, maybe when I'm done with Holi...hey, my voice echoes in my head. Hehehe...echo...echo...echo, ahahaha," he chuckled.
"Well, aren't you the smart one," she said. In any ordinary case, he wouldn't have cared, but this was different because she spoke in HIS head!
"AH!" he shouted and stepped back. She got up and stumbled over to a railing.
"How are you in my head?" Dameon asked, clearly confused.
"I'm just as confused as you are, asshole," she said telepathically.
"Ouch, baby! That stung!" he joked. He cocked his head; she fell to her side in pain. He was, again, confused.
"Interesting! Wait, stay there for a minute!" he told her. He walked back a few feet. He cocked his head again; she screamed and grabbed at her forehead.
"Ooooooh! I like this game! I like it a lot!" he said happily, jumping up and down and clapping in joy.
"Please, stop," she managed to whisper. He just laughed.
"After what you put me through in my own fortress?! You're crazy! But hey, at least I'll give you something to laugh at!" he shouted from across the room. He started to dance, all of the ones he knew that involved head movement. He started with the robot. He pushed his head to one side, tearing a scream from her throat. Then he did the same, but to the other side, bringing another pain-racked scream from her. He did many more, until she was curled up in a ball on the floor, crying in pain. He walked over to her and picked her head off the floor.
"Why did you bring this upon yourself? Why did you send me all those messages through telepathic-shit or whatever?!" he asked forcefully. "Why isn't Holi �just another'?"
"Because...she's my...sister," the abused little dragoness whispered.
"Oh...well, that's something I hadn't counted on," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. She took advantage of this moment and let out a long breath of grayish mist into Dameon's face. He stuttered and tried to wipe it out, but couldn't move at all!
"What the hell is this!?" he screamed in his head.
"That's probably the reason why I can hear you in my head and vice versa. I can control metal, make it do whatever I want," she said, standing up. She walked around him a couple of times, staring at his frozen form.
"My breath makes metal only moveable to my touch, no one else's," she said confidently. "Now, I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to everyone you hurt, all the people you've killed, all you were going to do to my sister, it's time to die Dameon!" she shouted and pulled him to his feet. He could do nothing when she delivered a hell of a punch straight to the face, giving the cheek a huge fist indent!
Dameon flew to the ground spinning and landed on his stomach. She walked over to him and picked him up by the shoulders, as if he weighed nothing, and looked into his pupils. They spun rapidly with anger, turning red. He shook violently as she held him; she heard gears stripping and steam escaped from his joints. He continued to shake until his eyes turned blue and he smiled at her.
"Hey babe!" he said happily and quickly opened his mouth and slammed the steel pikes down onto her neck!
"AHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as blood began to pour from her wound and into his mouth and down her body. He wrenched his teeth out and kicked her to the opposite wall.
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They all drew their swords when they heard a huge thump from inside. Kimona jumped up to the roof and cut a hole with her sword. She jumped down into the building, thinking she would cut a hole in the wall for the others to jump through. After a few seconds, loud screams could be heard from inside and another second later Kimona came smashing through the wall. When the smoke cleared, Swade walked out into the setting sunlight.
"Well, isn't this a joy! More friends to play with!" he laughed. One of the Omaki, a wolf, ran up to him and slashed at his face. It made nothing if not an annoying screeching noise. He spun around and tried again. Dameon caught the sword in his hand and tripped the Omaki to the ground, yanking the sword out of his hand on his way down. He picked up his foot and dropped it letting the iron cleats bleed the poor canine dry. When he stopped moving, Dameon threw the sword at another and laughed as it impaled him in the head.
"Attack!" shouted another feline Omaki and they all charged. Swade drew his sword, an 11 foot Katana with a long handle covered with human flesh and fur. He swung at the nearest Omaki, slicing through his defenses and cutting a diagonal line across his chest. He fell down dead.
"Come on! You can't suck this badly!" Swade shouted to the Omaki, who were slowly backing off. Then he caught scent and turned his head to the inside of the plant, where a solid steel gray dragoness limped out. She had a bite mark on the left side of her neck. His eyes turned blood red and he pointed at her.
"You," he said quietly. His voice became a deep, monstrous tone. It was almost as if he saw the wounded dragoness as his bane, his weakness. He stepped up to her and punched her in the face. She fell backwards and hit her back on a rock. He picked her up and threw her into the air. He pulled up his sleeve and slashed a dark grey vein, which spilled mercury onto his blade. He made a sign out of the burning liquid on his sword and whispered something.
"Behaku Dark, Lightning Spear!" he jumped up as the dragoness fell back towards earth and his blade lit up like a bolt of lightning. He flew fast and stabbed upwards, hitting her in the right shoulder. She screamed as electricity flew through her tattered, devastated body and fell back to earth with a sickening crunch. Eveser didn't know why, but it took this sound to bring him back to the real world and he called out just as Dameon was about to stab her on the ground.
"Hey iron lung! Leave her alone!" he shouted. Dameon just looked at him.
"Hmhmhmehehehehehehahahahaha!" he broke out in laughter. "That's a new one! Haven't heard it before...iron lung, pretty good!"
"You know what I think? I think you were never loved in your childhood, and that's why you're so damn mean and angry all the time. I think you need a hug," he shouted, holding out his arms. Dameon looked surprised.
"You're serious?" he asked. The dragon's solid stare answered him. Then he started walking towards Eve, dropping his sword along the way.
"It's true, I never had anybody there for me when I needed them, and that's why I hate everything," he said sadly. Eve was amazed that he actually had a chance to get this close to Dameon, now he could get him with his back turned...so to speak. When Dameon reached him, he held out his arms and moved into a hug with Eve. Dameon stood a good foot or two off of him, but even so, it was an interesting moment. After a few seconds of this hug, Dameon leaned in to whisper something in Eve's ear right as he was about to raise his knee into Dameon's chest.
"Hey, you know something? You're really gay," he whispered.
"Wha�" was the only sound he managed to get out before Dameon's knee met him in the balls. He stepped back in agony and unintentionally set himself up for a devastating palm strike in the solarplex. He went flying back into the arms of the Omaki, and could barely see Dameon fly off into the moonlight. He barely saw the steel colored dragoness lying on the ground. He barely saw Kimona stay down in the rubble.