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Jon Talbain and Felicia stepped back hastily as James panicked slightly, the magical bonds resembling that of a harness as his limbs were kept both extended and restrained. He almost resembled some sort of anatomical chart the way his arms and legs were splayed out, as Firebrand made sure everything was intact. "Wh-what the hell!?" "A mere precaution, this is after all a most terrible demon we are dealing with. That I knew from our first encounter." "I...no funny stuff alright?" "I'm not into comedy. Now..." Firebrand walked slowly up towards the raptor, smiling with wicked teeth. James wriggled uncomfortably, trusting that his friends' inaction was a good sign as the demon rubbed his cheek smoothly. "There is an old saying among my kind you may enjoy hearing." "What's that?" "He walks as my shadow, silent as my reflection, and with his many jagged teeth, so shall he consume me." "...what does THAT mean?" "It means...well, it is far more poetic in its original tongue but it means that, if one does not pay attention to it, then it shall consume you all the more easily." "So...basically don't ignore it, right?" "Precisely. Ignorance is your greatest foe, along with your fear. If you walk with neither in your step, then you shall stand stronger against him." "O...kay, why you telling me that?" "Because I'm going to invite him to come out with those exact same words. Do not fear...I will bring you back soon." Standing firmly before the raptor, Firebrand began an incantation, speaking the phrase within a strange demonic language that both echoed all around them and yet also deep within their hearts. An ancient undefinable tongue that both thrilled and terrified all who heard it with a great euphoria from the subconscious. James felt his life slip away, his own consciousness rather, shivering as the cold icy claws of darkness began to crawl out of his mind. His eyes flickered, before he slumped within the restraints. A minute later, the raptor's body came alive once more, but now temporarily bereft of life.

Black piercing eyes, longer wicked claws, a slightly stronger body in both height and muscle mass by a few inches. Blood seemed to reappear on the raptor's body, a spiritual coagulation that marked the sins and depravity of this monster. Firebrand decided to keep the conversation private, speaking within demon tongue with the certainty of FG's demon understanding him. The true demon tongue is almost indifferent from that of the language of angels. Evasive to the mortal senses, a seemingly incomprehensible reverberation of sounds both beastly and instinctive. "Can you understand me?" "...yes." _ Said the possessed raptor in the language of demonkind. **"I have not heard such a familiar tongue in centuries."** _"The mortals will not understand us, do not fear. But I will gladly transcribe whatever you wish." "Their death shall come, that is all they need to know. Why have you dragged me out from my sanctum?" "Sanctum?" "The creature whom I now inhabit...do you not sense my presence? My power? My...immortality?" "Hmmmm...you are a demon I have rarely encountered." Firebrand stepped closer with curiosity, not in the least bit frightened of the restrained demonic raptor. "One I can barely recognise...let me just..." "Do not step TOO close, we are merely brothers in name-DON'T. Touch me." _ The red winged demon eyes roved all over the sight before him, fondling every inch of the static body. He opened the blackened eyes and mouth, feeling the chest as if giving a medical examination, even cutting a sliver of a wound open to see if any blood ran out. _"Eyes soulless. Fangs extended, as well as claws. Blood...still as death. Muscular increase in...all the right places...hmhmhm..." "What is your interest in me?" "I love to meet new demons. It makes me remember who I can kill easier. A soul-eater too, that means a cursed object to sustain your energies, easily that pair of scissors. This mortal isn't even alive right now is he? For all intents and purposes, you're controlling a corpse while you edge nearer to his soul." "And you are an expert in such?" "Conser me well-travelled." He sniffed near the raptor's cheek deeply. "Hmmmm...definitely dwelling within the human realm, judging from the stench of dirt and...ravens? Aaaah, Scandinavian, to become such an affront to nature as to even mutilate the corpses of Thor's beloved children."

The raptor's dead eyes widened in surprise, moreso when the Red Arremer pulled him close to force his tongue inside his mouth. The raptor grunted and snarled with an infernal guttural groan, as the Red Arremer slowly tasted the inside of the cheeks to savour the still saliva. "Mmmmm...heh heh heh...I thought as much. The taste of Nordic hunger within you. So weak you are, but a body like this will surely give you wondrous power." "Nnngh! My intentions are not of your concern. I merely wish to feed and to survive." "Don't we all!?! HAH! You can't fool me, your thirst for power is so easy to see! You're not even powerful enough to be a Darkstalker! How can you possibly be able to achieve your ambition, let alone this mongrel's soul?" "My host may look worthless, but the potential he wields is invaluable to me." "Hmph...perhaps. You are a scrounger of souls, nothing more." "What you call a scrounger is nothing more than one eager to survive, beyond all else. Surely you of all creatures would understand me." "Hah, I think not. I am of flesh and blood, YOU are a spectral parasite." "Insolent bastard hellspawn!" "Flattery will get you nowhere, your power has not even grown enough to be anywhere near as dangerous as you wish to be." "Give me time. Time...is all I need." "...aaaaaaah." Firebrand's eyes widened with understanding while Jon and Felicia watched on with hesitation. _"I see now what you are...I thought I smelt the stench of agelessness. So sickeningly stale." "Better to be stale and long-lived than to die young and fresh like my victims." "Hmhmhmhm, true, but what is life without its short-lived adventure? What is your name?" "My name?" "We have been discussing long enough that I believe introductions are in order. You know me as Firebrand...and you?" "Hhha ha ha...I have no name. At least, not one given to me in creation. I have been given plenty over the years, but...there is one I favour." "And what is that?" "Scissorman. ...I shall have to think a new name now in this...raptor's body." "...so you ARE who I think you are. That old Germanic wives' tale? Do you give naughty children lumps of coal too? Had a taste of a few rotten little ones nestling within the Alps?" "Do not mock me, whore of gargoyles! You shall respect me for my legacy!" "Hah, legacy?! I am the legendary hero of demonkind, YOU are simply a bedtime story." "A bedtime story from whom many children never wake up!" "Hmph, pathetic. Children? What sort of clumsy imp only kills harmless children, where's the challenge?!" "SILENCE!" _

The demonic raptor struggled to shake himself free, failing to do so but causing another effect in turn. The tower began to shake and fluctuate in its existence. Strange pockets of blackening holes began to swirl in and out of existence all around the Scissorman. An apple fell through one such portal from the table's remains, suspended in mid-air, trapped in time. Soon it fell fully to the floor, withering into a frail rotting ash within seconds. Firebrand was not amused. "I have seen humans pull better tricks than that." "If you wish to see my TRUE potential, then perhaps you should unshackle me, coward." "I think not. You've been a worse guest than your host, so back you go." "Make me." _ Firebrand started to clench one of his fists firmly, summoning a deep strange power within the palm of his hand. His claws curled as an aura shone from within, an aura that he had never shown in the battle against FG and his allies. And for good reason too. It made the demon inside FG incredibly nervous, shaking with a natural instinctive fear that started to turn obvious despite its arrogant display. _ "L-light is merely an illusion, you will NOT fool me!" "Ohhh please." With one single thrust, he slammed the shining fist straight into the raptor's head, making him roar with the agony that only hellspawn could comprehend. A deep burning energy surged through the possessed body, twisting and convulsed in its bindings to try and handle the pain bursting through its deadened veins. But despite the furious unseen power of the Red Arremer, the creature was still undaunted in its supremacy. _ "You DARE touch me with your filthy claws?! I AM YOUR MASTER! Your soul's executioner! I kill when I wish! I am strong! STRONG! My mortality is beyond ten fold armies! My teeth are like swords, my claws spears! The shock in my tail shall strike thunder into your being! My speed outmatches a hurricane! And my breath...is pure DEATH! Well? WELL?! Where are your riddles NOW, you worthless purgatorial demonspawn!" "I would rather not waste my riddles on such a childish demon." "CHILDISH!?" _ The Scissorman roared once more, desperately tearing at its own bindings before finally resorting to a most desperate tactic. It finally decided to just tear out its very limbs, James' arms soon dislocating in a most horrid crack-locking sound as he twisted his host's body out of the restraints. Chaos reigned forth throughout the tower, pockets of time twisting itself throughout their reverberations. With both arms broken off, one of which barely hung on by the very threads of its sinew, he limped forwards to stand firm before the Red Arremer, grinning smugly as he brought his severed arms back to him. "Hm...I did not expect that." Scissorman grinned with saurian teeth, the limbs snaking back to his body with a coiling purple mist attached to them, slowly reattaching them firmly into their sockets with a reverse-snapping motion. _ "Would you call THAT a trick? You cannot kill me, you cannot even behead me and expect me to die. But you...you're merely flesh and blood." "True. But I can do this."_

The raptor received a sudden gutpunch deep into the stomach, hard enough to have burst it were he his normal self. To the possessed form however, it was furiously painful due to the extra burst of magic resonating within Firebrand's claws, certainly enough to subdue the possessed raptor from fighting back anymore. _ "You...gutless..." "Says the one who just lost his stomach by my fist. You can't even call yourself a human, let alone a ScissorMAN in such a body." "Maybe...not. ...but I am not human now...not even as a disguise. I...I can become something far more dangerous." _ He knew that Firebrand was too strong for him now. All he could do now was somehow make him scared enough to back down. It was a show of aggression between demons, almost as if they were defending each other's territory. The territory in this case being James' body who began walking slowly around the Red Arremer, circling like a vulture. "You walk in a clearing, you see me, this nearly 6-foot tall lizard before you. You think not to move because maybe I only see you when you move, but oh no...it's all about smell too. Your filthy scent. And the attack comes not from the front...but from the side...fwip! From the scissors you never even knew were there. And then I slash at you with this." He wielded his claws in a menacingly playful manner, before showing his scissors off to wield them in a similar fashion as he breathed hard upon Firebrand's face. "Or these even. Then maybe I start cutting here," a single slash at neck level, "or here," another at the arms, _ "or maybe...along here, letting your guts spill out. But the point is...you will be alive...when I start to eat you. So...try to show a little respect." "And what is this...creature's name, pray tell?" "Well...no longer the Scissorman as you said. Now...I am the Scissoraptor." "...are you...ughhh..."_ Firebrand literally facepalmed at such a word, chuckling to himself which made the creature turn with insult. _"How can I even fear you when even your titles sound like that of childish whimsy?!" "Titles mean nothing, this is for the sake of my victims, should they ever need last words upon their lips!" "Let us hope their last words are not that of laughter." "RRRAAAARGH!" _ It was exactly what the Red Arremer wanted. Goading the newly-christened Scissoraptor into a furious urge to make him charge, knowing the demon was not yet prepared to face a stronger demon. Despite the impressive manipulation of teleportation tricks, as well as utilising dark portals to make the scissors appear from another direction in order to confuse his foe, the demonised raptor was in for a nasty shock.

The blinding, almost holy light from Firebrand's fist surged forwards to plow straight into the creature's chest, making the raptor's body twitch and convulse with forcefully restrained screams of agonising fury. It tried to summon its scissors, quickly grabbing them to soon become more coherent in its motions, no longer the crippled awkward gait it had used. Firebrand however merely radiated a wide arc of beaming light around himself to subdue the Scissoraptor once more. "Are you truly going to be this boy's nemesis? His allies fought better than you." "NNGH...you are fortunate that I have not yet regained my full power. But one day I will." "Until then, you are barely able to face the power of my crest. Now...return to your sanctum." "I will devour you one day worthless hellspawn! WHEN THIS BODY IS UNDER MY FULL CONTROL, I WILL NOT SPARE A SINGLE SOUL!" "I know, but that's not my problem now." With a single shattering of light, the pain was too much for the possessed creature to take, slipping back inside of FG's subconscious to recede into his mind. A few minutes later, James woke up from the tower floor, groaning with a weakening pain in his arms. Firebrand crossed his arms as James slowly sat up. "A-ah....owwww...what happened?" "Me and your friend had a little chat." "Y-you did?" "Yes...he resides within your scissors and desires to devour your soul, slowly." "Wh-...wh-what? My...oh god. Oh god no, no no no it can't be him!" "Him?" "D-did he say his name?! What was his name?!" "It was either Scissorman or...ugh, Scissoraptor." "....NO! No no no no no NO NO NO!" He slammed his scissors into the floor, desperate to break them at least, furious with fear and rage both dwelling up inside of him. "Why did I pick these fucking things up!? WHY THIS?! WHY WAS I SO FUCKING STUPID?!" "FG, calm down!" said Felicia hastily. "She is right," said Jon, "your fury will not help you, in fact it will even hinder you more than you can imagine." "Wh-wh...what?" "They are right," said Firebrand, "even if they are not too aware of it. Your demon feeds upon your fear. The more frightened you become, the weaker your soul's resistance to him." "S-so...w-wait..." The raptor gently got back onto his feet. "If I'm...scared...he's just gonna possess me again?" "Think back to the times you woke up after a scene of carnage...what was the last thing you felt before passing out?" "...I was...I was afraid. Those vampires on my first night and...those guys who broke into my room...oh god..." "There lies your answer. So long as you remain strong without fear, you can succeed in staving off his control." "But what about like, an exorcism or something?! There's gotta be someone able to do that in this world!" "I would not recommend it...unless you can find an exorcist friendly enough to extricate the demon from you WITHOUT killing you. Especially one so fused to you." "Fused to me?" "He is like a leech upon your soul, a parasite feasting deep inside of you. He has rendered himself immortal through the ages, making him impossible to truly destroy, as far as I can tell. Magic is the only thing that can truly harm him, especially holy remnants of course. The only way I can think of removing him from your body...is disintegration. Without a body, he cannot have a host." "...god...dammit. What do I do? Wh...what the fuck do I do?" "Do not be afraid. Literally. Do not let him control you through fear, and keep searching in your journey. You will find someone capable of exorcising him, but not here." "...okay." "Hmm?"

Long ago, James would have ranted about how impossible a task it would be to stand firm without fear. But now, he was tiring out with his excuses. A part of him wanted to blow hard with rage, but he was too tired. All he wanted now was to keep going. He remembered the lesson that Silent Hill gave him. Suddenly it was all starting to make sense. It now felt less like a curse and more like a penance unto him. "I...I'll try." "Do not try. Do." "Yeah, sure, whatever. ...why didn't you tell me all this when we met?" "Because you weren't worth my time. Now that I see you're strong enough to have a fighting chance against this thing I feel that this wasn't a waste of my time." "...fuck you." Firebrand laughed, not making FG feel any better as Jon and Felicia approached him. She asked cautiously: "So...now that ya know what's inside of ya...what now?" "I dunno...I got nowhere to go, I dunno anyone who can help...I don't know." They all stood silently, trying to ponder on where else to go now that FG had his answers. He couldn't think of another place to go, or another world even. He hadn't thought that far ahead. His mind was racked with both the struggle against his fear and the throbbing pain of his past. The weight of it all made his shoulders heavy with burden. Firebrand however lit up with an idea. "I have a suggestion." "Huh?" "You are a traveller of dimensions, correct?" "Ahhh huh?" "Let me give you a place to go. Somewhere that might help strengthen your...weaknesses." "What, like some kind of demon gym?" "Hah, no, something not as entertaining unfortunately." The demon walked over towards his throne, picking up a pencil and some paper he had on a side table. He scribbled out a word before handing the paper to FG. He scanned it carefully with a confused look. "...what's this?" "Your next destination...think about it." The moment he pondered it seriously, a light sparked up in his mind. He could see a faint image of a large place, somewhere deep within a misty forest. It was faint but most certainly there, like a dream he kept returning to. His eyes lightened with the possibility of a new place to search. "But...why this place?" "I have my ways...and centuries of knowledge. It will be a good start for you to...explore your potential." "Uh...kay I uh...should I go now?" "Whenever you wish, if you feel you are ready to do so." "I guess...I got nowhere else right?"

He turned towards Jon and Felicia, searching for a second opinion. Neither of them seemed to mind, having fulfilled their part of the bargain despite Felicia feeling a little dejected. "Yer...yer leavin' so soon?" "I have to keep going. I got nothing else left in this world now." "Okay...maybe...you come back soon? Just to drop in an' say hi, wouldn' wantcha to be a stranger!" "Haha, maybe...when I fix this thing inside me." "Alrighty! You leavin' now?!" "I...guess?" She responded with a tight hug, furry white arms around his neck to pull him close against her body. James let her warmth take him away briefly, desperately resisting the urge to nuzzle her breasts which were only covered by her natural fur. She smooched him on the nose before waving him goodbye. Jon Talbain stepped forwards slightly with a resolute nod. "I am glad that I could assist you James." "I really appreciate it guys...you two really helped me a lot here in...understanding all this." "Call it sympathy or altruism, it matters not. I only hope that you continue your journey with a strong heart." "You too man." James offered his hand for the werewolf to shake. The beast nodded and shook his hand in turn with a firm grasp. Felicia was a mite tearful at the sudden departure, but she seemed rather experienced with this sort of situation. The raptor turned lastly towards the Red Arremer, and nodded. "Thanks." "The pleasure is mine...kha ha ha." The raptor rolled his eyes and stood back away from them, ready to teleport himself away. He took a moment to gaze around him at the damage from the battle, as well as some very bizarre warpings and alterations that had occurred. Wizened ash beside stone-cold corners, rotting fruit that had reached an absurd level of decomposition. He shook his thoughts clear and focused on that one word given to him. Felicia and Jon stepped back from the raptor's teleportation, witnessing deep blue of the boundary between dimensions before he disappeared with a windstruck flash. Ash and smoke settled down all around where FG had once stood. Jon stroked his furred chin. "Amazing...teleportation." "I always wondered how he got here!" piped up Felicia. "Sooooo...what now?!" "Well, we are together in France, and we have nothing else to do." "Yyyyeaaaaaaaah...OOH, what about that thing ya got in Germany?!" "As I said before...it can wait." A small grin creeped up along Jon Talbain's snout, making Felicia grin with exuberance as she hugged him tight, much to his stiff composure's discontent before he patted her warmly. They looked towards Firebrand, who kept staring at where FG had been. "By your leave good sir," said Jon. "Hmm? Ah, yes...thank you for the good fight. Nothing like a good battle to unwind the nerves." "Hmph, indeed. We shall leave you be. It was an honour to meet you." Firebrand merely nodded and allowed the two Darkstalkers to depart, shaking his head at their gentle touching of clawed hands on each other. But now another thought came to his mind. One that had been bothering him for sometime which he spoke aloud within his current home as he stared up towards the ceiling, as if questioning an invisible deity. "...what plans DO you have for him stranger?" He awaited a response, which somehow came to him directly within his mind. Nobody but him would hear this other voice. "Was all this really necessary without involving me to tell him, to test him rather? ...hmph. No matter, my part in your little game is over, and our bargain has been honoured. It's his problem now." He could do nothing but shrug and move on, returning to his throne to rest. The slip of paper he had given FG had been left behind by the raptor. The single word remained facing upwards.

Himuro