I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot)

Subject: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Thu Sep 24, 2009 10:49 pm

Where was Grunty? Where was Yon? Hell, Shou would have even be happy to see Lance about the streets on this time of day. With sales declining, the amount of activity that he spent per day was at a steady decline and he often found himself with nothing productive to do. There was the option of training himself, becoming more in tune with his magixal energies and his fire, but lately he'd grown lazy of such things. Such procrastination could probably be creditted due to the joint that was currently in his hand, the cherry burnt about mid-way through its length, lighting up brightly as he inhaled the smoke from the thing.
Lowering it back down to his side, Shou allowed a brief moment to pause and truly appreciate the taste of this particular strain that he had recently acquired. Exhaling out the clouds of smoke, he was allowed the opportunity to take in the sweet scent of it. Fortunately for him, smoking in public wasn't much of a problem. Indeed, he stood even now with his back against the wall of a shop, an intersection of the Lower Commons only some feet away from him. Being a spirit, however, there was a very select few of the mortals that were even capable of seeing him. Besides, those who could might have just thought he was smoking one of those tobacco sticks.. cigarettes, Shou recalled them being named.
Well, while the day might have been boring, at least the demon was getting his high.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:15 am

Making his way along the street, the man's gait carried a slight bounce in the odd step as he looked at the world around him, rather enjoying himself. It was a nice enough day outside, and frankly he enjoyed watching the mortals go about their business, the petty cares of their lives so enrapturing to them. He watched with almost fatherly affection as they went through their days, the occasional couple wandering along with twined hands or the squabbling children with their harried but loving mother. He couldn't restrain himself, ruffling the hair of one of the little boys who passed, a roguish lad who immediately sneezed and was forced to rub his nose, his cheeks rosying slightly already. John Talbot smiled, watching his little gift take hold before he continued on his way just before he blinked slightly.

A demon, smoking... it wasn't tobacco, he was well versed in that. No, the scent was rather different, something entirely...

"Sorry to bother you, old boy, but I find myself rather curious as to what that-" he accentuated with a wave of the walking stick he carried with him to the join, "-might be." Talbot was not a particularly handsome man, looking to be in his older forties, stout of build and wide of waist with grey-white hair and a slight balding spot atop. He carried himself well, however, with almost boundless energy from within his hunt-green suit, complete with a bowler hat popped atop his head. A pair of spectacles sat on his nose, chained to his pocket, and his upper lip was adorned with a curving mustache; all in all, the perfect refined gentleman, which was probably his intent.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:27 am

He would have noticed the figure of the other even if he hadn't stopped by to address him. Everything about him seemed to stand out from the humans that accompanied him on that same sidewalk, and being under the influence that he was, his crimson eyes watched as he approached ever closer. What he hadn't expected was for the man to actually speak to him, rarely being bothered around this time of the day unless it was a customer looking for some supply.
"This?" Shou asked, lifting the joint as an indication. The oni found himself chuckling at the other's manner of speech.. had he just been called 'old boy'? Tilting his head back as he found himself leaning a little more comfortably against the building, Shou answered what he usually did when one presented such interest in these types of things.
"You wanna try it?" The oni would ask, extending the offer and his hand out that held the joint, figuring the best method to learn about something was trying it firsthand. Besides, if he could get this man to like it he might have established himself another client.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:44 am

Reaching out with a pudgy hand, he cocked his eyebrow animatedly and grasped the burning joint, looking at it smoldering between his fingers before nodding to the man. "Kind of you, my boy, quite kind..." He admitted before taking a trio of short puffs, as one might a cigar or a cigarette, eyes widening slightly as he held the smoke in his lungs for a moment only to turn to the side and cough it out, breathing sharply as he looked to the boy with a slightly coughing laugh. "By Jov, this must be that Mary Jane I hear the young people meander on about! Quite the kick, wouldn't you say?" He noted, offering it back to the dealer as he put a hand to his mouth and let out a final mighty 'hrumph'.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:53 am

Shou laughed aloud at the comment, taking the joint back into his handling and nodding his agreement while taking another hit of it. Removing it from his lips, he wisped in some air into his mouth before speaking, "It's definitely got that kick." When the last word left, the faint cloud of smoke followed it. Coming to be not too much more than a roach, the oni would ash out that joint against the brick wall he leant against.
Pushing away from it to come and stand straight, Shou turned his attention fully to the man now. "Boruha Takashou." He stated, while lifting his hand out towards the man, a common gesture that he had picked up from those he had met so far.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:14 am

Watching the boy extend his hand, he delightedly grasped it and shook it without hesitation, a smile nestled between the slight jowls beneath the curve of his 'stache. "A pleasure to meet you, my boy, James William Talbot, at your service, though I haven't nearly anything so interesting as your dope." He pointed out, looking with a slightly raised eyebrow to the ashes on the wall before looking back to Shou and straightening slightly. "Now, forgive me for intruding but I find myself wondering why a strapping young spirit like yourself is sitting here on this street corner 'rocking the ganj', as I believe it is so vaguely called by the hip young crowd these days?" He asked, a hint of steel in his voice, as though a father were reprimanding a possibly misbehaving child, though he couldn't keep himself from being amused by the situation.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:32 am

The other's attempt at a more modern phrase would have been a little humorous to Shou, but he wasn't familiar with the term himself, only having been recently introduced to this drug from the demoness, Grunty. Why he was out here doing nothing but smoking on a joint was a good question indeed.. his mind searched for an answer, but a smile simply spread across his lips, giving up on that. The stuff he had smoked had been much too potent for him to be forming thoughts right now. "You know.. I don't know." Shou could only offer with a simple shrug of his shoulders.
His crimson eyes tore away from the sky that they had steadily drifted towards in the high that he was currently experiencing, looking towards the other. "There's not much to be doing in the city when half the.. well, almost all the people can't even see you, right?" His own question suddenly dawned some light on him, narrowing his eyes a little more suspisciously. "You're a spirit too?"

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:41 am

Looking to the firey youth in front of him, he allowed himself a rolling chuckle. "That would be the point, my boy, otherwise I would have a hard time seeing you. Though there are more youngsters with the ability to see the likes of us these days... almost a pity, though I do rather enjoy the company." he noted with a slightly wistful smile, twirling his cane around his hand swiftly before plunking it back down properly into the ground. "Something wrong, old bean? You look a tad wary." He noted, citing the squinting of his eyes and the slight shift in stance as evidence against him on the matter.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:53 am

A spirit, just like himself, then. His change of composure seemed evident in the other, and Shou recognized that the man could pay a good amount of attention to detail. This one was far different than any other he had encountered before. Demons were supposed to be chaotic, destructive, and evil.. this man didn't seem to give off any of those characteristics. In fact, he was actually a little comical.. and so far, he definitely made for a good conversationalist!
The fact remained that he was a spirit though, and moreso a fact was that Shou took a great deal of pleasure in fighting any worthy opponent that he could come across. A spirit that could assume a human shape meant that he was of a higher order class, and therefore a fun fight. A grin spread at the promise of such a thing. "Wary? Nah.. I'm just getting a little excited is all. You should have told me you were a spirit sooner."

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 2:08 am

Raising an eyebrow as he looked to the young man, Talbot reached a hand to his nose and grasped the spectacles that resided there, bringing them down on the chain he wore only to rub them into his jacket slightly, cleaning them off and replacing them as he spoke. "I had assumed you noticed; I certainly surmised as much from watching you, though you do seem rather young, so perhaps it's understandable." He offered by way of explanation before shrugging his portly shoulders and placing his hands on his cane. "My dear boy, you look about ready to pounce! Something set you on edge, or are you just of the ruffian sort that enjoys a bit of a tussle now and then?" He offered, a grin spreading over his own lips before he laughed. "Careful not to bite off more than you can chew, lad!"

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 2:23 am

Shou had to admit that the man was pretty wise if he could discern that much from the grin that had come to place. Then again, he hadn't noticed that his right hand had clenched into his fist and his body literally quiverred from the thought of a fight with another spirit. The oni turned to face the other now, tilting his head back some to look at this man before him a little differently. "It's good to see you being such a good sport about it. You're right, though. I just like to fight!"
The oni moved suddenly, his left foot not bothering to leave the ground as it slid forward against the pavement. His clenched fist rose from his side, swinging through the air as his knuckles were on course straight to the man's nose.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 2:32 am

Watching the boy, he could see the punch before it happened, time seeming to fracture as he watched the ghostly, translucent image of the boy's arm snap out in front of him, passing through his head even as he watched his foot shift. The blow was strong, certainly, but he telegraphed; the shift in his leg was all Talbot needed to decide that a glimpse through time might be useful. True, certainly, he wasn't as agile as he could be in a form like this, and he decided to downplay a bit in the fight with the young spirit; no need to devastate the poor boy. He shifted to the side instead of doing something more drastic, whirling his cane around in his hand to bring it against the bone of the boy's wrist, not particularly hard, but pressing against it. "Tut tut, dear boy." He noted, now standing to the side as he looked to him, a slight flash in his eyes as he watched him, the corner of his mouth twitching up slightly. "You almost broke my poor glasses."

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 2:40 am

The man before him seemed to have all ready been in motion before Shou could even decide where he wanted to punch the guy. When his fist went through the air, the cane of the odd spirit came to press against his wrist. Shou noted the opening that this opponent could have taken but he came out of that, surprisingly, unharmed. The oni's crimson eyes glared in the direction of the man, his teeth gritting together, never one to enjoy being toyed with. "Don't mess with me!" He kicked off the ground suddenly and towards the man, aiming to ram his left shoulder against the other spirit and have them crash against that same wall he had leant on earlier.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:03 am

Watching the boy push foreword, he noted that he had relatively good technique; if nothing else, he didn't seem to be limited to attack with his fists and feet, the way many martial artists did. The shoulder rush was not entirely unexpected, as he had an aggressive personality and didn't seem to be the type to reestablish distance, and Talbot wasn't quite ready to reveal his whole hand. The shoudler caught him in the side, pivoting around the foot that he held his weight on only to send both of them to the wall behind him; though he took the brunt of the blow, he seemed to practically absorb it, the shoulder impacting his chest as hard as Shou planned, but the flabby skin seemed to barely show the mark, even as he hit the wall. Though he let out a slight wheeze, it was more for good show than anything else. "A good enough blow," He coughed as he was slammed into the brick, raising an eyebrow as his glasses skewed slightly, "But you'll have to do more than challenge me to a game of fisticuffs if you're looking to do anything but scuff my jacket!" He chortled good naturedly, and as he did he shifted one of his hands from the wall up towards the boy's stomach with a swift thrust. Boiling through the skin of his hand like a cloud of sickly steam, the jet of foul contagion propelling in a burst towards the other demon's stomach. The close distance should have a square shot lined up, and unless he dodged it the thick burst of disease would scour a nice hole through his shirt, practically melting the material intro dripping strands of black filth to scald the flesh beneath it into a sickly and painfully infected weal.
(Darkorb, Medium Damage)

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:16 am

Shou could have easily guessed that an attack would follow after having struck the man from this close of range. He wouldn't have allowed himself this close without retaining an appropriate level of guard. The oni couldn't manage holding back a smirk at the fact that this demon didn't lose face just yet but as soon as he noted the movement of the other's arm, his right arm followed in suit. The palm of his hand slapped against the other's elbow, redirecting the strike though to his surprise it hadn't been the melee attack he had expected. Though he may have redirected the course of what looked to be a projectile, the orb the man had conjured was large enough that it nicked against his side. The thing would continue across the street before coming into contact with a parked vehicle.
Shou used the moment as swiftly as he could to distant himself, kicking away and landing atop dual discs of flames that would flare out and carry him across the street as well to the opposite sidewalk. He glanced downwards to observe the piece of fabric that had been effected by the orb as it dripped away from his body. Those crimson eyes then darted towards the car, noting a good sized hole that went cleanly through the vehicle now.
"Heheh.. great." His gaze returned to the opponent. "We'll be going all out then?" Holding his arms out before him with his palms facing skyward, two red orbs came to appear hovering just above them. "Infernal flames.. gather and ignite!" Each of the orbs flared outwards, growing in size as they conjured into fyreballs. At the sight of his flames, an inner fire seemed to burn behind those crimson orbs, his excitement raising to new heights as control was beginning to steadily slip away from him.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:45 am

He was a bit surprised that the boy managed to anticipate as much; he'd thought him a bit more of a bruiser than that, but as he watched him fly backwards, he cocked his head and grinned slightly, a bit impressed. He hadn't thought the boy would have such fire in him, literally and metaphorically. "Jolly good, old boy, I hadn't thought you had the gumption! Still, you must understand that that this is hardly going all out." He pointed out as he watched him shift across the street and create a set of fireballs. He wondered idly if he was a mage of the same type he was, but he revised his thought; it was seemed rather unlikely, considering his previously brash assault. "Besides, I don't know that you'd enjoy it much if I went all out; you young people are so delightfully concerned with appearances, and all that." He noted before he extended his hand to the side, letting it seeming hang loosely. Very quickly, however, there was a roiling motion up his arm, the length of it seeming to jump and dance as what looked to be four long, black insects climbed to the jerking hand, flowing out from the cuff of his clothing only to drop, bulbous and fat as they unfurled in a diaphanous cloak of wings, stingers and pincers, only to begin to swell as he spoke, their chitinous hide cracking and beginning to ooze thick gobbets of viscera and pus, their amour blistering and hardening as they began to grow a bulge before his eyes, soon the size of small dogs and growing more hideous by the moment. "Rot from within, rot from without, as they say." He chanted before smiling pleasantly and looking to the scuttling, oozing monstrosities, now half insectile chitin, half sloughing, rotten flesh, the stooped forms of men making sickly wet clicking noises from mouths that were halfway between jaws and mandibles. "Gorgeous little creatures, aren't they?" He said with a smile, patting one affectionately on it's scabberous back before motioning to the young lad. "Have at him, then."

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 3:58 am

His crimson eyes widened slightly, though the grin on his face didn't seem phased by the appearance of this man's summons. Shou snickered, "Oh yeah.. you're strong." Shou's left foot moved forward, another disc of flame coming into being just before he would have been allowed to fall through the air, allowing him that flight. Rearing his right arm back, he suddenly thrusted it forward, releasing the first fyreball from his magixal hold and had it head straight to the familiar that the man had patted on the head. With his right hand outward, he directed his palm in the other oni's direction. "Infernal flames, swirl and contain!" Fires would suddenly come to dance at the man's feet briefly before bursting upwards, beginning to spin and vortex violently around him, creating its own sort of entrapment while the temperature occupied in the area began to rapidly increase. With a satisfied smirk, he threw the second fyreball towards the vortex of flame. Once allowed that contact, a blast would occur in that area of the two techniques coming to combine in strength.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:14 am

Watching the lad play off his fire techniques, he raised an eyebrow, especially as the flames burst from beneath his feet. It was an interesting trick, but his pets weren't complacent as he identified his predicament; they were bit more resilient than they appeared. The beast he'd pet was already scuttling foreword as it was struck by the fireball, the burst cracking one of it's chitinous plates only to have the thick black material shore itself up with cancerous growths that seemed to spring from within, weeping sickly fluids even as the first two approached the lion demon, moving faster than most men could run as the first leapt through the air to scythe a mal-formed claw from his head, the second rolling across the ground only to burst open with a lashing tail, a chitinous spur on the end dripping an acidic green poison that dotted the cement.

Talbot, for his part, watched the raging fire around him seem to heat up, the fire almost setting parts of him alight before he saw the fireball speeding towards it. "Burst and swell, flower of plague." He said clearly as the bead hit the powder keg and setting both of them alight, the street corner roaring with the flames before they died down to reveal a veritable wall of pustulent flesh, it's pocked, sored and weeping surface bursting and charring like over-ripe melon from the heat before it sloughed away into the asphalt beneath him, a circle of baked and rotted flesh putrefying against the ground. "Versatile, yes, but you haven't the raw firepower, old bean! You've the ignition without the fuel, I'm afraid!"

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:37 am

A measure of concern allowed itself a brief presence on his expression, his initial fyreball having landed cleanly on his target but showing little effect. In fact, the creature seemed healed only instants after the damage had been placed while it continued to charge, alongside the others that this man had conjured into being, Shou noting especially the leading duo that came at him.
"Infernal flames!," When in need of protection, the oni resorted to what he usually did, taking a step back just as the familiars had splitted in paths; one rising into the air, the other rolling along the ground. "Burst and rise!" A wall of fire ignited into being just before him from the ground up, seeking to intercept and protect the demon from the oncoming attacks of the grotesque familiars that had come his way. To be forced on the defensive so suddenly, Shou knew the summons would continue to pose a problem as the numbers were holding a clear advantage. As much as he desired to attack the spirit who controlled these beings, they were agile and quick enough that demanded they not be ignored.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:04 pm

As Talbot watched the creatures work on the assault, he smiled fondly as he watched the beasts assault the young man, a third one now coming to bear on him as the other two continued foreword, mutating with each passing second. Foul lengths of entrails burst and split the ripe carapace and skin, trailing slick juices down to the manifold, shuffling feet as yawning mouths dripping green, corrosive slime began to sprout lolling lengths of twisting tongue, often multiple ones, flailing and running slick with acidic pus. Monstrous and disgusting to be hold, so too their stench began to coat the air, thick and powerful... had he been watching, he would notice that the concrete beneath their wet feet began to rot and pit, and that nearby cars would start to rust just with their presence. The wall of fire springing into existence seemed to make many matters worse, the scent of charred, rotten flesh filling the street as the putified animals began to combust, but not stop. Before they could be brought down full, however, there was a sudden dampening of the air, as though a thick black mist rolled through, soaking everything in the area with an oily film that, surprisingly, didn't catch fire. From where he stood, one of the beast's still holding back by him to defend him, Talbot had a look of slight concentration upon his face, though still he smiled. "Take solace in the garden of sickness, hounds of plague." He intoned, chanting, and the beasts seemed to redouble their assault, far faster and stronger even than before, wading through the flames with near impunity as Talbot called out. "You may want to give up, my boy, your goose, as they say, is cooked!" The beasts snapping claws, scything tails and dribbling mouths would not stop until he'd called it quits, and the fog was still thickening.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:27 pm

Shou hadn't been ready for the possibility of his firewall failing him, the creatures only emitting some sort of mist into the air as they came into contact with the flame. Would he have known those effects coming about he figured he wouldn't have tried such a weak technique of his flame to barricade the beasts away from him. He kicked off the ground, discs of flame coming beneath his feet and moving back away from the monsters though they accelerated in speed suddenly and outclassed him in his evasive manuevers. A tail looped about and caught him at the collarbone, gritting his teeth before forcing himself to take matters suddenly very seriously as he faced no novice opponent. To resort to these matters so quickly surprised him but it seemed as if his life depended on it now, his pride unwilling to allow him to give up just yet. He still had some tricks, after all.
"Infernal flames, spread.." The oni began, his brow furrowing as his enjoyment in this battle shifted to rage. A dark glow outlined his figure before splitting away from him and beginning to decorate the ground with rings of the same color as his aura now. A set of claws clamped down onto his shoulder, causing him to yelp and buckle down onto his knees. Still, the rings spread, coming to form under even the controlling demon of these minions.
The mist in the air would hardly matter to him. It seemed impervious to the current fires in the air, though he often doubted anything could match up to Hell's Echoes. His hands clamped down onto both tail that had pierced into him and claws dug into his flesh, ensuring that these beasts would not escape as his resolve came into full fruition. "And burn it all!" From the rings, hellfire would suddenly roar from the grounds, erupting upwards in dark crimson flames that licked and danced upwards towards the skies, taking in the whole of the area. It was unfortunate that he would use this ability in broad daylight, though, however this other oni surely made no secret of his presence, rotting away at all that was around them. The time of plague was over, though, and now all would burn under Shou's unrelenting chaos.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:59 pm

Talbot watched the massive flare of energy from the other beast, even amidst the claws and fangs of his pustulent creations. He could perhaps have healed them, could have tried to sustain them further, but in truth he was more interested in defending himself, another sloughing shield of flesh blocking him from the boy's roasting blast, though he could feel the heat even through it. He wondered idly the effect such a thing would have on the environment around them... but wondered more quite what would happen if the young demon were able to summon it at will, to harness it and use it fully. "Shall we call this a draw, then, my boy?!" He called from behind the shield, unharmed himself but knowing that the young man would be unlikely to agree to a defeat, and quite likely to burn himself out with the energy required to summon such tremendous flares of fire.

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:05 pm

Shou dropped down to his hands, all ready on his knees, panting as his gaze came to face the street beneath him. Amongst the block little flames still burned, vehicles having blown up where they had stood or had been driving, the road would have been forever darkened and charred. The oni glanced up to the man at his mention of a draw and weakly offered a laugh, "Yeah, right.. you haven't even broke a sweat this whole time, have you..?" Shou asked, though he couldn't have confirmed such a thing as the other was blocked away from looked to be literally a meatshield, as horrifying a sight it held. Forcing himself up to his feet, he grimaced at the wounds of his body, pain he hadn't felt in some time. "But.. all right. I'm pretty much done in, heh."

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:17 am

Shou: 2,404
Talbot: 2,429
Total: 4,833

Subject: Re: I Will Not Bow (Sir Talbot) Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:46 am

Updated.