A friendly chat (Shadow)

Shadow, or so he called himself. An interesting person in his own right. The boy had a rather complicated relationship with Lucius, one day they were fighting together the next they were fighting each other. Despite seeming to be quite stupid he was incredibly defiant and rebellious. He seemed to know right from wrong yet didn't mind crossing into the wrong part to much. Lucius had first met him while trying to recruit meta humans into his following. He pretty much gave Lucius the middle finger, for reasons unknown.

The kid was homeless and didn't seem to be doing anything with his life, why did he decline? It wasn't like he was a goodie to shoes, the boy had taken lives. These questions Lucius asked himself, he was far to curious to leave them unanswered. He took a trip to the windy city of Chicago, again. This time he would just try to talk to the boy, maybe bring to light some of his more mysterious aspects.

He had placed a tracker on shadow during their last encounter, in his hair of all places. It would lead him to a fried rice place downtown......quite odd. It was nicer then he expected though, very cultural. He walked inside before being seated by a waitress, who left shortly after receiving Lucius' order of some random soup he pointed at. After she left he looked around until he spotted shadows table.

Lucius wasn't wearing his gear, but shadow did know what he looked like. Not to mention Lucius was wearing the same clothes as he was when they first met. A black shirt, dark pants, and a brown leather jacket. Lucius would get up from his chair after receiving his soup and approach shadow. He likely surprised the male when he pulled out a chair and sat across from him.

"Not a place i would expect to see you hanging out at..."

Marcus has had a somewhat good day so far. It started with an old woman shooing him from her attic to five bad guys all with serious physical problems now. Nothing too life threatening but enough to hope they would stop, it was new to Marcus, using his power to not kill but to subdue. Almost hero like... Almost, if it wasn't for the urge to kill while they were down. Just a little more force and they would have popped like all the others. Blood splattering everywhere just like the demon liked. Now said demon was bugging him like hell, something Marcus was use to for the past six years but never really liked.

Finally he was resting, a bowl of fried rice on the table in front of him. The quiet sounds of cars and and just general peacefulness. Something the demon and it's host never really had. Then the unexpected happened, a familiar man appeared in front of Marcus, sat across from him. The man Marcus knew well as Red due to the red energy he used. They had fought, argued and worked together before so what the hell was he doing here. "How the hell did you find me?" The question was straight forward and simple yet already the mist he held back was slightly leaking out from Marcus's back. Ready to be manipulated incase Red tried anything.

Lucius chuckled at the males jumpiness, he hadn't hurt him that bad had he?

"Put your powers back in your pants, i just want to talk." He said settling in his chair. He took a few bites of his soup, eating rather passive aggressively.

"How i found you is not your concern. Why i found you though, that i will answer." Lucius said leaning back from his food, getting into a relaxed position.

"I wanna know something. What are you doing? A straight forward question, but i have a feeling you'll have trouble answering. What is it you do? One day you murder someone the next your saving them. Whats your cause kid? My offer from a few months back still stands, yet for some reason i just know you'll reject it. Why? You don't have that big of a sense of morality obviously. The only difference between our stance on what is right and what is wrong is that i kill for a reason, you seem to do it for kicks."  Lucius said making sure no one was close enough to hear. How the kid would react to what he was saying was unpredictable, but knowing shadow it would be sprinkled with rebelliousness.

Marcus stared at Red for a small bit before the shadows returned to their place and the mist returned to rest inside his pants pockets. But soon Marcus would have a face of amusement yet confusion. He had questions of his own such as why the hell Red was interested in him so bloody much. But for now, Marcus would intrigue the man. "For one thing. I'm doing what the next guy does. I walk around, do a little hero stuff and go to sleep. And the reason I kill. Marcus laughed a little. He never really got to talk about his reasons for doing the things he did. Not that the first couple of answer were exactly true but this one was going to be brutal honesty.

"Why I kill, is a urge to kill like an urge to eat. It sits their, rumbling inside until you start to hurt. And then he gets annoyed. No blood on our hands, he starts to get like he did about six years ago. Thats the reason I kill, not for kicks. To feel better. But now. Now I'm going cold turkey on him." Marcus almost felt like weight shifted off him. Maybe he was just glad he had said that to someone. Even if said someone was a man who had tried to kill him earlier. "Now please say how you found me before I do something stupid."

Lucius smugly listened to the boy, a sly smirk forming on his face. Lucius didn't believe the boy had a 'demon' just as he didn't believe in magic. It was possible there was someone else in there, just not in a supernatural way. But that didn't matter, it wasn't the current topic.

"I truly don't think anything you do could fall under the category of hero...well, besides attacking me." Lucius said with a low formal chuckle. Taking a few bites of his soup, he grabbed the menu again.

"I wonder if they have anything harder then chicken broth to drink here." Lucius said flipping through it. He had found beer, that was it unfortunately. He waved down the waitress and ordered his beer, waiting for her to leave before continuing his conversation.

"Maybe i can help you. I doubt you have ever actually talked to someone about your condition. I may be able to do something. As for how i found you, why does that matter to you so much? Its not like I'm here to kill you.....this time." Lucius said just as the waitress returned, handing him his large dark beer. He then took a gulp before setting it on the table.

"Never liked beer......unfortunately this place doesn't have aged bourbon."

Marcus gave off a small chuckle. So much for wanting to learn, didn't do much for his reason to walk but was somewhat interested in his 'condition.' "Andy might have some of that in the back but back to the main thing. Have you ever died Red. Not alot of people remember death, it's just a blackness until they either get woken up or gods know what else. I remember dying. I remember making a deal and then I remember waking up on top of my dead body. It really isn't just an condition, it's a nightmare. Fighting for control." Marcus finished their as he held up one finger to Red and lit it on fire.

"Funny thing is I'm not meant to be alive as Dark says. Usually a host doesn't fight back and now, I can control hellfire. Something The demon could never do. It's like I'm an abomination of a demon." Marcus said again as the fire melted away and what was left was a burnt to the bone finger before being covered in darkness to regenerate. "How do you think. You can help that." Marcus could hear faint wisps of laughter inside his head. Seemed Dark felt that Red was thinking a little too much like a god. If he didn't like demons how could he cure one. Marcus looked around and could see a few sneers reach their table. "Tell you this, an angel popped up a while ago. All Angelic fire and white wings with Armour that could sense evil. Saw Dark in me and tried purging me of evil while also getting people to hate me. Only when I saved her from being captured by a shadow like thing that they stopped but still they give looks of hate. Disgust. They all know I'm a monster just fear does a hell a thing at making them not do shit about it." Marcus said while remembering the event himself, how ones conviction to do something could be a scary thing.

"So. Hows the meta army coming up?" Marcus asked in remark for joining his cult or just group. Something shadow denied a long time ago but thought about for a while. Would be nice to have allies for once just Red wasn't a popular person in shadows regard. "Also has ugly woman called about you joining that group of hers. Didn't catch much while I was avoiding an annoying attack. Honestly the attack that I had, the carpet bomb of darkness. Was just a small distraction, man I never really fight." Marcus finished that and went back to his rice. How would the seemingly technologist take in what Marcus had to say.

Lucius chugged on his drink as he listened to what shadow was saying, a lot of things he didn't believe in were brought up as true. He was becoming more acceptive of magical concepts yes, but angels and demons? If they did exist, they were completely scientific creatures from another dimension. Lucius never knew why people always had to throw a supernatural spin on everything, seemed people just liked coming up with myths.

"There are many things i have done i thought i would never be able to do. The only way to find out if i can help you is to look into it. Besides, if you really are all supernatural, i want to know the details." Lucius said placing his now empty cup back on the table.

"Its not an army, shadow, its a movement. We are trying to improve everyone and everything, in are own way. Anyway, i suppose its going well." Lucius said in response, not wanting to get into that in a public place.

"So what do you say? You come with me, i run a few tests, maybe you find out more about yourself. Your also welcome to stay at one of my safe houses, they really are quite nice." Lucius said before finishing up his soup, pushing the bowl away.

Marcus gave a sly smile with a small laugh at Red before standing up and pushing the chair he had sat on under the table. "You come to talk. Ask me what am I doing with my life and I try sharing only for you to go right back to where we started. Test and joining, isn't that how this love hate relationship started? For a leader of a group your peoples skills are lacking, for I was actually thinking of joining you. But this ticking time bomb has decided not for now, so if your pardon me, I am going to meld my skin off to double check theirs nothing on me." As Marcus said this he grabbed the bowl of rice he had been eating from and turned to the door to leave. A tendril of shadows would whip at Reds legs, not enough force to do damage but enough to sting him. Sometimes Marcus pondered why they had met each other more times then anyone else Marcus had ever met.

Oh bother, the stubbornness of this kid. What did he want from him? He was homeless and didn't have anything going for him. It must have been pride, that was the only answer Lucius could think of. Regardless, if the kid didn't want to join him then he was just another obstacle. Any person in his situation would of course accepted, most always did, yet he wouldn't budge. Lucius had came to help the boy in more ways then one, but it was all for naught. After listing to the boy Lucius felt something on his leg, an attempt to sting him or something but it did pretty much nothing with his durability.

"You go do that. Just remember, when things start to get crazy on this planet your going to wish you had accepted my offer. What was the old phrase....If your not with me, your against me." Lucius said sitting up from the table. After that he left without another word. This wasn't the most fruitful meeting, but that was mostly shadows fault. He didn't want to listen and he cut it short. This would be the last time he would seek the boy out, but whether they would meet again or not wasn't known.

Marcus allowed Red to pass him, not a word came out before returning to his table. That wasn't like you at all. What were you doing? The demon had to ask, it was something that made this human odd. The 'Red one' appeared before the human yet Dark felt the human was using it to his advantage.

"I was testing him. After wanting to know of my life, I thought he had changed a little. Not the man I met last year that just wanted me to join him for test and an extra solider. But then he did ignore a few answers I gave and treated them with words that already hit our ears still with no reason to trust him or need him." Marcus sighed before going for some rice form his bowl of rice. Placing his fork down Marcus sat up once again and went for the door. "But his last words do bring something of interest. Almost like he plans a war or something close and in so we may meet again." Marcus made his way to an isolated alleyway, it was quiet enough he could do his thing and begone.

And what do you plan on doing if your right? Dark had to ask once again. Seemed the human was getting into a mood of being a word Dark could not find to describe.

"Then I will become the solider he wanted. Only I won't be fighting for him." Marcus answered before finally melding away into the building he had sat against.

(End of thread I would presume.)