(Un)Steady

A gentle breeze slipped past, dancing around and curling down his arm like water before sliding off, parting ways with the young man as he stood at the edge of the flat roof top. The world around him moved, the wind brisked past him, as if trying to usher him forwards. But he was still there. Trapped by nothing but his own desire, firmly keeping him there, his convictions like the roots of a tree, making him immobile to the forces of the world around him.

  If only that were so...

   There were plenty of things in this world that could force him to move, with or without his permission. Thankfully his only adversary right now had been the wind, dancing and toying with him as if it had a mind of it's own. He always imagined the wind to be a tricky and nonchalant thing, but it always seemed to be rushing too. Right now he almost could have sworn the wind was trying to pull him back out there. The real world. Trying to get him to go play, like being a kid again. But he was still here.

   The clock was at five minutes until one. The light turned on in the house off in the distance. It was the second room to the right as you looked on the second story. Humanity looked to his left, the wind brushing against his cheek as he started to look around in a panoramic manner.  The binoculars were pressed to his eyes as he simply stood there. Feet still planted. Finally his panoramic view settled on the house in the distance.

  It was a private residence, four bedrooms, two full baths with one master bath, a finished basement filled and lined with hardwood that eventually became the softest carpet you'd ever set foot on. A chandelier hung in the living room, their hardwood floors there matching the same hand-crafted end tables and coffee table. A genuine fireplace and a large kitchen of paneling and a refrigerator with magnets covering every inch of it. Small little metallic pieced with "Live, Laugh, Love" written on them, other magnets with the name "Amy", "Alexis" and "Cody" with hearts, baseballs and all kinds of photos. The light in one room was on, and then suddenly another before movement was able to be seen in the old, Tudor styled house. Even so early, they moved on.

  But he was trapped...

    His heart may not have physically been there, but thanks to that Eldritch's strange manner of effect, the noise could still be heard as if the heart were still trapped within his breast. Quickening, and quickening as he looked through the binoculars. Trapped. Anchored, and unmoving. He knew why he couldn't move on, and he knew all too well why he was so reluctant to become himself once again. To be human, one had to have something worth fighting for. To be Humanity....one must have something worth dying for. Pulling the binoculars away he closed his eyes and brought his hand up, wiping away any proof of sorry that made itself manifest.

 The sky was dark, the only lights available being late-night shops, the church and the occasional street lamp. But out in the distance there was only that house. Stepping back a small bit he placed the binoculars into his pea-coat and withdrew his glasses, placing them on his nose and pushing them up into place. He could hear everything form up here. Cars driving by, the sliding of automated doors. He could hear comments off in the distance, but nothing too eager to make him get back into the game. But that's when it hit him. To get back into the game, Humanity would have to take it back. To do that, he would have to kill the one enemy he could never beat.

    With a sigh he actually managed to deafen himself to the semi-loud transition of wind from the areal transition of fast to slow. The silent touch-down however was very easy to miss, even for a trained young man like him.

Gorgeous night, isn't it?"

  The words sent a shiver up his spine as he turned, almost jumping out of his skin, and more literally almost off the side of a building. The first thing he saw was one of those Masquerade-Domino masque styled things and the first thing that came to his mind was to rip this thing apart. Sadly the sudden movement alone caused a small pulling and opening of his healing wounds. He jerked back down as he winced and began to regulate his breathing as he calmly looked over the woman that was closing the distance.

   The masque was plain, but it only accentuated auburn eyes, captivating and demanding attention. Her stare was intimidating, even to him, though he'd likely never truly admit it. She stood not all that much taller than him, probably around six foot or so. Her attire wasn't exactly normal either though. Black leather pants and knee-high heels with a silver-grey zipper on the side leading to her belt and tying up into a dark leather corset, the leather seeming to unnaturally absorb the light bounding towards it, allowing the elegant and beautiful blood colored silken lacing to steal the show. Her shoulders remained exposed, though her skin seemed to provide a sense of equilibrium to the overall scheme of the costume. Gloves over her hands and a lustrous and silky hair left in an almost half-wild wave to get the attitude across. But of all the things on this strange woman were the most beautiful shade of black and red wings that you could have possibly imagined. Black and red were favorites for him though, his own costume bearing resemblance of the wings a bit fondly.

   Angel wings; and a mask like his? Did he start recruiting people or something? He wondered to himself. He forced himself to calm down as he gave a nervous laugh and shook his head, grabbing at his heart a bit dramatically.

  "Yeah I- uh.  Gorgeous...that's uh, that's definitely one way to put it." He said before clearing his throat. "The night's okay too. Sorry, it was there." He said with a little chuckle, clarifying at the end. Let's face it. People don't get all dressed up for no reason; of course it's not like he was expecting some mysterious stranger to visit him. He didn't exactly dress for the occasion either. ?But what was the occasion even? Well that depended on who this femme fatale was. His initial ideas and theories on who she was were far from good. Well, for him that is.

    "I-I was just getting some fresh air. I'll vacate. Sorry to bother." He said with a bit f nervous laughter as he tried to excuse himself. He tried to objectively excuse himself...the problem being he had to walk past her. That didn't ever go as easily as you'd think. He looked to see if she was going to stop him, or if she was going to permit him. Let's face it, he was in no condition to get in trouble right now.

Every once in a while you always experienced something different, or something quite unusual. Even in his line of "work" Humanity had claimed several lives, all of them with their own rationale for their execution. He'd killed humans, metahumans, The supernatural from demons and even his fair share of angelic beings. Of course in all of those encounters he'd had his close call, his brushes with death. He'd been a terrorist in London, he'd been an occult collector, he'd gone toe to toe with the best of them. But never would he ever had thought this would be happening right now.

Dancing with the Devil in the pale moonlight...and he didn't even know it.

What in the hell was going on here?

 "I-uh-Not so good with my feet-" He began to protest just a little before she seemed to literally drag him into motion. The waltz was a traditional dance, counter clockwise, going backwards taking him back in time a small bit as he struggled to try and keep up. His shoes tapped on the roof, the rhythmic tap of the box steps. The woman moved in, her masque pressing up on his nose. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Her heels barely made a noise.

Left forward her foot right, step to the side with his right, close the left foot to the right,  step back on the right, to the side with the left and close right to left. The down beat on one.  Down up, up, down, up, up. The woman's large wings seemed to encircle him a bit, trapping him like a blending prison of black and red.

  "Do you like chess?" She would ask, the voice of inquisition being very fleeting, but interested. His eyes shifted from behind his glasses, his brow furrowing as he was taken by his own confusion. He continued his traditional waltz. Honestly he never thought this had been useful before in his life... but that might have been the only thing saving him now.

   "Huh? Uuhh..s-No one just lurks on roof tops because they're out for a midnight stroll, by the way." His mouth shut as they continued to dance. He could feel his body's natural compulsion to react, but he fought it. Humanity had confronted his fair share of heroes and villains, each and every one he remembered well. Mostly because in some way they've had an impact on his life. Father Kahn. Nihilus. The Puppeteer. Avarice. The Wardens. Elena Vexus. Heartbreak. Sin. All of those names left a mark. All of those eyes, he'd seen. There was only one pair that even compared to this woman's.

And that worried him...

  "Nah...but it's a good place to find company I guess." He nervously rambled, well aware that this was not a meeting he intended to have. In fact it was quite the annoyance in it's own way. He had to admit, he was almost helpless right now, especially when anything he could do was limited in the span of motion. She asked about chess, but she never heard his answer. It was time to see if she could figure that one out for herself though.

  "...Pretty strong grip there." He said as he continued his waltz with the woman.

This was one of the worst feelings in the world. He had heard the phrasing before. Bring powerless. It was a feeling he had before, several times in his life. In fact it was the only thing he had ever known throughout his entire life. Powerless to make people notice him, powerless to change who he was. Powerless to save those he loved. The woman's breath was cold. Which was awkward for Matthew, his condition made it rather impossible. But the chills on the back of his neck.  The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention, anticipation. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it. He. Was. Scared. Powerless to help himself.

  Lifeless. Empty and hollow. The wind blew gently with the woman's voice. The wind, her breath reaching the depths of his soul.

  "Y-yeah." He said. His words were nothing, hollow, little more than the sound of a wooden wind chime bouncing in the breeze of the elegant evil whispering to his ear. He had given up his hopes on heaven long ago, but he could swear to God that he was trembling in his skin. For the first time in his life he had felt true fear. The black cage around his lungs kept him from getting a bull breath, his heartbeat increasing ever so slightly as his stomach was tied up in it's twisted chain. He slowly began to turn around. He was his own Fear-Toxin's test subject. Yet he had never been so afraid in his life. Taking one deep breath and pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose he turned to look to the demon that now stood behind him, taking in the entire rooftop as he slowly turned in what seemed to be fright. A traditional AC and vent system, a small rectangular pimple of a structure sticking up with a stairwell behind the door, leading right back into the building beneath them.

  His eyes glistened slightly, was it fear to the degree that he was almost crying, holding it back as best he could? Why was he so scared? What did he really fear? Was it being powerless? His thoughts were interrupted by a slight scream and a man's voice trying to explain everyone should just be calm. But another voice rang out, slice through the silence of the darkness.

 "Don't make a fuckin' sound! I hear a noise outta any of ya and I'll waste all of ya! Hear me? Yeah...real quiet like." These words stuck with him. It was funny, a man was there trying to reason with a crook to protect his wife, son and daughter....but it was the evil man he had cared to listen to. But here he was...powerless to help them... meeting his likely demise to a demoness.

  No. That was the point of Humanity. To prove that you didn't need powers to step up. That you would do whatever it took, even if that meant you had to be the villain. He let his deep breath in out as his heart quickly returned to it's normal pace, a slight smile on his face.

  "A-ac-actually-yeah. I love chess. But honestly, I'm not gonna lie. I always start with the same move." He said as he brought a hand back to scratch his neck. His hand came back down as he stepped forward towards the Demoness. As his hand came down a small grappling line shot out and fired at the door, within one fluid motion and a flash of a look of pure anger and untamed brutality he placed the attachment onto the Queen. The grapple had the power to pull a large amount of weight, and given how lovely a young woman like her was not likely to weigh a lot, he hoped the sudden transition would have been enough to take her off her feet. In the air superhuman strength didn't mean much when you had no leverage to refute it. Hopefully she would be sent through the door from the sheer momentum when the grapple had her there. It was a good enough distance, something for Matthew to work with.

Unfortunately for him, this woman was quite possible immortal, or invincible.

  "Queen to Rooftop Exit 5." He said as his other hand went into his jacket. The blade he placed his hand on burned hot, immediately searing and melting his leather glove. Quickly pulling it off and tossing it he walked towards the alley way. He fully intended to descent the large building. Good thing there was a flag pole poking off the side.

    He didn't know the abilities of this woman, but if the Dragon King's dagger burned that hot it certainly meant that this woman was not going to be taken out by his cheap-ass cop-out weapon. Jumping and grabbing at the flag pole, he shifted his weight a bit and jumped from it to a second windowsill and then dropped a small flight to the ground, clearing his throat as he withdrew his mask from the interior of his pea coat and placed it over his face.

  Of course, leave it to my plot device to fail me when I really need it. He though to himself in a rather exasperated tone, a tinge of a British accent to the thought. The logic being that bad news almost always sounded better when it was done by a brit. Quickly making his was towards where he heard the voice coming from he shed his pea coat before tossing it into a dumpster, the two stick-like and curved frames of metal on his bicep were quickly pulled off. Twisting the handle the frames fired out, a long metallic fiber-like string made a "twang" noise as the metal formed a bow. From down under his turtle neck he pulled out one of the three arrows he had taped to his back as a safety measure and quickly nocked it, drawing it back.

   "Normally I'd offer mercy first, but seeing as I'm in a rush." He said, the dark and almost demonic reverb of his voice modifier bellowing. The infrasound design already likely catching their attention. While looking he noticed the guy's aim shift towards him. The first thing Humanity realized was that there were the two children standing there, no much younger than his brother. He just couldn't seem to catch a break...

The woman appeared now, between the family and the would-be mugger. Humanity's eyes shifted and focused. The woman was after him...or perhaps she was just so "heroically" inclined to stand in and help the innocent. Of course her natural demonic appearance scared the family a small bit. Humanity was sure that her appearance unnerved them; that was not their fault, however. Tonight was proving to be quite an emotional rollercoaster for them.

He felt light headed for a moment, still through his eyes, but everything felt like a movie. Like he was...out of control. It was a familiar feeling, letting his reflexes and natural instincts and reactions take control of a situation. He often times began to think of himself as a clock maker; he would take the time to construct the clock, setting all the gears and cogs into place. Then he wound himself up and now, in times like these it was simple. He just had to sit back and watch his creation unwind.

The moonlight shimmered off of the gun, the blood red eyes hauntingly remaining behind the man, a constant reminder to Matthew of who the primary focus was. His eyes narrowed from behind the mask, his shot lined up. Was he truly good enough to hit multiple targets? Definitely. But was he able to guarantee that this target wouldn't just puff herself out of the trajectory faster than a kid with sharpies? Not so much. If she DID move out of the way, or somehow managed to vanish....

There was a child lined up right in the line of the shot then.

Damn it, he couldn't risk that. He didn't hesitate when the man went to raise his gun though. He swallowed as he did so, he noticed ever so slightly the rise and fall of his throat. With a small twist and a release of his fingers the arrow flew through the air, slicing it with a whistling noise before hitting the man's gun right on the chamber, the force knocking it from the frightened man's hand while the arrow bounced off and buried itself right into the wall of brick to one side of the ally.

"What are you doing? RUN!!!" He yelled, hoping that the man had enough sense to run at his point. He had a ton of blood on his hands, and right now the blood of a family was not on his wish-list. The mugger. He could die in the cross-fire for all he cared; but he wouldn't give this thing, this woman the satisfaction of her temptations.

"So you're fast..." He said as he started to back away a little bit. How was she tracking him? If the blade burned hot then that would mean she was protected as Yamm is a patron. Vampire. Superhuman sensory wasn't uncommon, smell being a big factor. Was she smelling Oh well damn. I'm bleeding. No wonder. He thought to himself, realizing just how damned of a situation this was. He was isolated from the majority of his resources, he was completely out classed physically. Then again, when wasn't he?

"But are you quick?" He asked, the tone of his voice implying something as he seemed to take a slightly reserved stance, heavily defensive as he cleared his mind. He began slowly stepping forward as he flourished his bow with a twirl.

    The wind whispered, the family took off after gasps and murmurers , the vampiric dominatrix spoke, and the mugger ran cowering. All of these things had something in common. It wasn't a matter of race, origin, no it was a matter of fundamentals. From the babbling, to the whimpers of cowering to whispers.

Breathe.

  For a moment it was almost as if he were deaf. All he could hear was the uncomfortable sound of the air slipping through his nose; akin to if one plugged their ears. In all the motions, in all of the chaos he remained focused. He could see them all breathing. Even "Her". His fear was a little curbed by now. He needed a change of venue one last time. One last thing to distract the doubts in his mind. If he were to fight here, like this, it would be the end of him. He might very well impress...but papa don't play to impress.

 Papa plays to win.

   He hadn't liked the way that the creature had been eyeing up the daughter in the family. It was curious to be honest, but there was information to be had there. Unfortunately in itself it was nothing more than an observation. But it made him question to himself. Why her? There were several options ad alternatives. One thing in particular had to set the girl apart. Perhaps it was gender? The mother was just as equally a target then. Was it innocence? There was a son that wasn't much older, he would surely be just as much at risk.  Blood? No that doesn't make sense. As a family all of them should have the same or similar blood types. Unless they weren't really a nuclear unit. He had simply assumed they were. Goes to show you the old saying is true.

  At the bottom of the barrel it was just them now. The vampiric mistress of the night and the symbol of humanity in all of it's imperfections. The issued challenge was responded to, the vampire seemingly willing to humor him for a small while as she spoke.

   "Let's find out, shall we?"

  The hair stood up on the back of his neck the way she spoke. Prolonged in an alluring sophistication with an undertone of sadism beneath the covers. Anticipation building and almost dripping off of her tongue with ever word. This wasn't going to be fun, multi-tasking injury and a lack of preparation with one of the most powerful influences in the world. His eyes narrowed and he began to make note of his assets. Two arrows left, one a chemical compound, the other an explosive. Neither of which he wanted to use. The key to this would be avoiding close range confrontation. The moment things were close range, this was over. Of course there were always ways....

       Humanity would open combat for the duo as they both seemed to be passive, proving that both were creatures of reaction. That was a problem, because in a battle of two similar individuals; it was quite often outside factors that became the determinant. He started by taking a wary step forward, pulling out an arrow from his back; his stance set and the arrow remaining un-nocked. In his back pocket he reached in for his cellphone and began touching the push-pattern making soft little clicks with his fingers pressing. It likely sounded as if he were trying to call someone, or doing something involving the phone.

The whispers of the wind grew stronger, more forceful. The breath of the world disturbed, shifting and changing as it blew. Soon the whispers were drowned out, lightning flashing before Thunder brutally bashed it's way through the skies. The rumbling skies were soon matched with the small downpour. The hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of tap, raps and slaps of raindrops rattling off everything around. The air had already chilled, the shift in temperature around him had happened just before, perhaps sooner and he simply hadn't noticed.

   The rain....

  "Don't you just love rain?" She asked. Quite unfortunately Humanity was taken a bit off guard by the sudden conversation that was started. He needed to remain focused on the task at hand. "I love the way it smells. It carries a sort of sweetness, don't you think?"  Truthfully he would argue that the rain smelled a little heavy, musky almost, or somehow with it's own subtle scent. But he could see where one might get a "sweet" smell. Grass, trees, wet dirt. But those things were so subtle.  Lightning flashed...

  The woman vanished, he had seen this too many times. From her and from absolutely everyone else and their ugly ass uncle who had teleporting powers. He instantly turned while gripping the arrow he pulled from his back yanking at it up to knock it; successfully drawing back so that as he faced the woman he was ready to fire. She seemed to ignore him as the thunder still rumbled in the sky, his clothing starting to feel wet from the rain. She let out a soft whistle as he stared her down. Evil was always known to be a tempting kind of ugly; and this woman was a perfect representation in his mind. Sleek leather and a physique that could kill, all along with her own demonic horns and fangs. If this wasn't a type of evil; he didn't know what was.

  "Do I scare you?" She asked him, her tone was genuine...but HOW exactly it was genuine was a conundrum, even for the likes of Humanity. He had several years of reading people, even before this vigilante crap he was excellent at being able to gauge people. But right now this woman was doing nothing more than toying with him. She was both genuinely questioning and yet also taunting him. She had that high class and sophisticated kind of sultry voice, which only made the insult even more annoying. She was playing with him.

  "No." He replied simply. "I've killed scarier..." He said, his eyes not betraying him in the slightest. He realized the truth in those words. If they were stronger, he had no idea. But there were some scary things he had killed. It brought him back to that same old question. He wasn't afraid of her. So why was he afraid?

     "I'm on a limited budget right now, and I've got a lot on my mind. I'll make this quick." He said as he released the arrow, letting it fly towards the woman, his eyes narrowing just a little to see if he would hit the woman in the chest as he intended. It was on the right trajectory, the problem being if the woman had any way to combat the arrow or not, or if she would do what he anticipated her to do and teleport away.

What would this woman know about his family? what did she know? There was nothing to know, to be entirely honest. There were two things of knowledge that this woman could have that would make his life incredibly difficult. He didn't much care for the probability that she knew something. Especially if this was one of his father's enemies. But somehow she knew she was alive now... and the only people who knew he was alive were Samhain, the other vigilantes (thought they were utterly oblivious to his guise as Humanity) and the women that Samhain brought to the hospital.

   To think either of those women were this demoness before him was probably a little crazy, though in his mind it seemed like a rational venture. Eclipse wasn't one to have a demonic form, however he was certain that the only other woman alive that would know him would be none other than the queen of Thrones. She had asked him if he would finish her off... it was an interesting question. And honestly he would have loved to indulge it....however he wasn't in his right mind. Something in him hesitated, and he lowered the bow.

   "Toss the arrow over there.... it's about to explode in five seconds." Humanity offered before turning hiss back and rushing off a small bit. He figured between the explosion and the smoke created from it he'd have a decent head start. He just needed to get a little farther away. There he could rally with Sacrimony and get some more of his precious gear.

   If he managed to rally with his beloved Angel of Afterlife, he'd open the seat and stick his hand into the compartment, the glove fitting snugly before he pulled out his trench-coat and the small ballistic padding. Unfortunately, this was only his field gear, and nothing close to his best; however he would have to make due. At least some of his chemical weaponry was available still, a cryosphere, a screecher-sphere and a hellfire grenade. There were a few more arrows too, and of course there was the gun; the myth; the legend.

The King's Scepter...

   Every time he held this weapon in his hands he could feel safer, stronger, better. It was truly the symbol of humanity; the high tech yet somehow strangely designed sniper-rifle with rudimentary function. The Secret behind the naming was still closely kept; however it was indeed a well known name to anyone whom knew the "terrorist" and self-proclaimed vigilante.

  It took him less than two minutes to be in his field gear, but it was enough to put him at ease; especially as he would encounter the demoness again. Turning the light on; Humanity turned to find and face his fate.

   "So you've come, a beautiful young woman searching far and wide. Like a child checking under her bed for the monster. Well...you've found the monster, Miss Takeiro. But now that you've found me; what exactly is it you intend on doing?" He asked as he stepped towards her, but leaving ample room.