Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 23, 2012 9:50:20 GMT -5
Beeping machines and whirring fans were drowned out by the beating of his own heart. Craig carefully lifted out an old brown rat from it's cage on the southern wall. "Maybe you'll get lucky." Craig mused aloud as he pushed the cage back into proper alignment with the walls of the array of cages. He held the rat carefully, doing his best not to frighten it. "Yes, I think you might be the lucky one," he cooed at the large rodent. It's whiskers flicked about in reply and the rat promptly sniffed at Craig's hand. Craig chuckled at the slight tickling as he typed a code into a keypad nestled in the wall by the glass barrier on the northern edge of the room. A positive tone spread the room followed by a female's "Welcome, Doctor Jamerson" as he walked through an opening glass door. The door shut behind him and sealed.
Craig stopped, hands sweating from his nervousness, forehead beaded with moisture, eyes worn by another night with no sleep. His shaking hands placed the lazy rodent onto a cold tray and waited briefly to see if it was going to try and make a break for it. It was not. This rat had evidently been through enough experiments by now that it knew the drill. "Good rat. Stay put." Craig warned before whisking to a metal cylinder bulging noticeably in the glass. It was essentially the same thing as those vacuum tubes at banks. Craig typed in a series of numbers and a whirring ocurred. The door opened and Craig extracted the syringe that the computer had automatically filled with a serum he had just finished designing. If this worked, the rat was going to be a new breed of creature. He approached the animal, syringe readied in hand. "Now, cooperate and you might have a happy ending after all."
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 23, 2012 10:11:39 GMT -5
“Hey, that guy looks like the Fyarl demon!” A teenager yelled to his friends as Dex walked past.
“What? Oh, cool! Like what Giles turned into?” One of the guys answered.
“Hey, Fyarl demons don’t have wings, stupid!” Another guy taunted.
Dex’ eyes visibly twitched in irritation. Every damn time. Why did it have to be every damn time!? Ever since that episode of the mortal Television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer where one character ended up getting turned into a demon almost exactly identical to Dex he had suffered accusations the world over. There had been a time when his very personage would induce fear and chaos but now he impressed teenagers and bemused adults. The only demographic with the sense to cower were little children and frankly any two-bit supernatural could do that.
Dex turned and took a very deep breath closing his eyes. Then he bent forward and let out a loud, ear-shattering roar.
“Holy –!” The first one said.
“Run, mofos!” The third guy beckoned as he took off. The rest of the group followed him as fast as their legs could carry them.
Dex allowed himself a smile and continued along the street. Reno wasn’t so bad after all…
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 23, 2012 10:32:20 GMT -5
There was a small nudge as the syringe's hollow needle-tip pierced the skin of the ever-calm rat. Craig hated that part. Something weird about the actual shoving of the needle into the layer below the flesh. No matter. If that was the only thing he could say against his job, he was probably doing just fine where he was.
Craig's thumb pushed down on the tube and the yellowish elixir slid down out of the syringe and into the rodent's body. Craig finished and removed the syringe from the animal's body. The rodent remained unmoving under the man's gaze, seemingly unaffected. "That should do the trick," Craig mused. Ever since that diner, Craig had felt himself more capable, taking more of the world's details into notice than ever before. It was how he'd come up with this particular concoction and Craig was convinced it would work.
"Maybe not right away..." the geneticist considered as he stood from the bench. The rat sat there, clearly breathing, but a rat nonetheless. Craig walked to the panel and entered his keycode to open the door. "Maybe I'll come back and check on you later." Craig suggested, about to walk back into the technical area of the lab. Maybe it would work in a couple of hours or so. He'd come back then.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 23, 2012 10:44:35 GMT -5
The worst part about entering Macdonalds was his wings. His height was annoying and certainly didn’t help nor did his bulk but his wings were such a damn problem. At least, he reasoned, that people weren’t a problem. Mortals were so ignorant these days they wouldn’t believe you were a demon until you started actively throwing magic, and most probably tables, around.
He bent down and entered the restaurant sideways trying to keep his cool. He remembered the last time he had went to Macdonalds. He’d entered through the wall and managed to scoff down around thirty Big Macs before the police showed up. Of course they’d found an Inferno and no ‘man dressed up like a character from a TV show, incorrectly they would add, with fake wings and a flamethrower’. He’d already been gone. With all their Anti-Air technology in First World countries Dex never had a problem escaping by air. He had once contended with a fighter plane but those things were simply not flexible enough to take down a demon.
He tapped his large feet loudly against the floor as he waited in line. There was a time when you just threw humans about like second class citizens but nowadays they were something to be suffered. The Human Armies made sure you didn’t go about just openly spreading chaos. Dex unconsciously growled at the though which gained him a place forward in the cue as a man backed out simply to get away from the terrifying costumed man.
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 23, 2012 11:45:03 GMT -5
Craig shut the glass panel behind him and went to his workstation at the largest desk on the floor, which was closed off from the other stations. Being in charge of the research department had it's perks, he would admit. Besides having his own room, the best view, and biggest desk, Craig also got unequalled access to everything in his department, allowing him to come and work at night, long after the last janitor had gone home. He looked over the code of the serum he'd just injected the rat with, looking for any mistakes in the string of algorithms streaking across his screen. The humming computer was the only thing to be heard in that place for the next hour as Craig's eyes flitted from side to side and back again looking for anything that could be wrong with his calculations. As the clock's arms rotated slowly, steadily, Craig's eyes began to droop as he faded into sleep. From what he'd read, everything should work. Everything should work....
Craig stirred from his slumber to the sound of a high-pitched siren. He rubbed his eyes clean and looked about. The siren was for his floor. He looked at an indicator on his desk. The test room. Something had happened. Craig jumped from his seat, slammed the laptop lid closed, and ran to the door of his office, throwing his body against it. As he burst into the main area of that experimental place, Craig's head looked to the right at the glass of the testing area. Before him was something that Craig would never forget.
Not only had his serum worked, it had worked well. The creature on the other side of the glass was no regular rat, that much was clear from it's size. It's maw was now large enough to fit Craig's head into and it's hands comparable in size to a Human's. It's fur had changed to a jet black (though Craig had no reason for this transformation of color) and it's presently-thrashing tail looked strong as it knocked over the bench it had been on only a few hours before. The rat was as large as Craig. It's eyes, somehow still beady despite it's new size, flickered from here to there as it took in a new, not-as-large world. It's body stopped moving suddenly as it noticed Craig. It remained still and stiff, watching the Human watch him. They stood, each examining the other for a moment.
Craig broke the trance as he stepped towards the rat cautiously. No response from the rat. It kept it's gaze on the Human, clearly uncertain. Craig walked the rest of the way over, ignoring the rat's actions as it darted under a bench in the far corner of the room. He stopped at the door and, perhaps foolishly, keyed in his code to open the test room. The door slid open smoothly and the rat pushed itself closer to the wall defensively. Craig considered the creature, wondering if he should come back with food or something. Yes, that would likely be the wisest course of action. Backing slowly, Craig closed the door to the test room before taking off across the floor, out the door, and down the stairwell.
After he reached the outside world, Craig didn't slow down. He sprinted as quickly as he could down the road, going to the nearest McDonalds to buy some burgers, calculating how many he would need along the way. Maybe four? five? Who knew how hungry the animal was. That sort of transformation had to be exhausting and the creature might be hungry enough to eat a grocery bag full of burgers for all he knew. Six. Craig should get one for himself and five for his creation. Six would do nicely. The golden arches in sight, Craig sprinted across their parking lot (coming dangerously close to being run over) and rammed himself into the door excitedly before rushing to the line before him and joining it.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 23, 2012 12:21:20 GMT -5
By the look in his eyes the man at the counter had not questioned him when he ordered thirty large Big Mac meals. It took the server a while to arrange the many bags of food. In that time the whole queue had dispersed to the other cashiers.
As he waited suddenly a man burst into the Macdonalds. He looked like he’d just played a game of riddles with the Sphinx. That being confused, scared, awed and somewhat wonderful. The man ran in and stood somewhat behind him.
A female cashier next to the male cashier hurriedly packing Big Macs waved the man over. “This till is open, Sir.” She told him.
Dex grunted passively. He’d probably just proposed to his mate or something. Mortals… It was then as well that his cashier finished and rang it up on the till. “That’ll be one hundred and seventy-one dollars and eighty-one pence.” The Cashier was starting to look pleased with himself. This was probably the biggest sale he’d ever made here.
Dex’ face dropped. Money, shit! He reached into his trouser’s pocket and grabbed a fistful of coins. He brought the giant fist up to his eyes and opened it quickly counting. Twenty, forty, ninety, ninety-five, one fifteen, one twenty, one twenty-one, one seventy-one, one eighty-one… He was one hundred and seventy dollars short.
The male cashier is looking at him expectantly. He turns to the new guy. “You got a hundred and seventy dollars?” He huskily demands of the guy. He can’t help just how malevolent and threatening he sounds. He’s rather pre-occupied with the food he fears losing.
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 23, 2012 18:40:46 GMT -5
Craig hurriedly adjusted to the other line and disposed of pleasantries. "I need 6 quarter pounders and I need them yesterday," Craig ordered from the menu, hoping the woman would make haste. Just then the large costumed bloke beside him turned and addressed Craig, asking, "You got a hundred and seventy dollars?" Craig looked over at him, somewhat bewildered. He certainly looked like some old demon, but the last Daemon he'd met back at that lonely diner had looked nothing like the Demons of lore. This fellow looked exactly like them. If he didn't know as much as he did, he'd immediately shake it off as a costume. If he knew more, he'd probably shake it off as a costume. As it was, he was unsure as to the authenticity of the large being's appearances. Perhaps he really was a supernatural creature. If so, why would he show his face so publicly? Maybe because he knew no one would buy it? No, there are Hunters. He would draw too great a stir. He had to be wearing a costume.
The thoughts ran through his mind as he looked befuddled before the creature. Having finished his line of thought, he shook his head and put a smile on his face. "No, I don't carry around that kind of money." He turned to the girl at the cash register before him and asked what the total was. She told him on cue and he promptly handed over two twenties. "There should be an ATM at the bank down the road," Craig said to the bigger man as the cashier counted out change. "Maybe you could try to withdraw some money from there?" He offered helpfully. "$13.46 is your change, sir." Craig smiled and accepted the money from the girl. Craig frowned as he realized the creature may be thirsty, too. "May I have a couple of waters, please?" he implored of the girl. She obliged and began helping the other employees working on his food. Craig turned to get his waters filled at the soda fountain.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 23, 2012 19:21:39 GMT -5
Dex couldn’t help but growl at his misfortune. Why couldn’t they just give him food because he was bigger and stronger than them? That’s how an ideal world would work. The strongest at the top and the weak at the bottom. It made sense; at least to him anyway.
“There should be an ATM at the bank down the road”
ATM? He’d heard of such a thing but you needed a bank account for something like that and no sensible Bank would give someone looking like him a bank account. He’d robbed banks every now and then but money didn’t really faze him. It wasn’t as invigorating as death, destruction or even sex. It was just pieces of trees that got you stuff without violence.
“Don’t do banks.” He growled back in reply his irritation rising.
“Sir?” The cashier said expectantly. He had the nerve to be irritated. It was Dex who was about to miss out on Big Macs if he didn’t do something soon. What happened next was not Dex’s greatest moment. In all honesty though Dex didn’y have many great moments. Dex’s fist flew out smacking the cashier in the nose and consequently sending him flying backwards into a deep fat fryer. The result was not particularly pleasant.
Dex grabbed a bag of big macs for each hand and high-tailed it out of there in the commotion that followed…
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 24, 2012 10:37:55 GMT -5
Craig had just reached the soda fountain and was filling his cups with water when he heard a crunching smack behind him and a collective gasp. He turned to see the cashier that had been helping the guy who had asked him to help front his bill finish landing inside of a fryer. The hot grease quickly tore at the cashier's flesh and he panicked, flailing to get out but, ironically (though Craig wouldn't realize the irony at that particular second), only causing him to get more burned. The other crew members of the establishment were all staring, mouths gaping, at their poor coworker while the large man with the Big Macs got away. Craig's teeth clenched at what that asshole had just done to someone... and for what? Some shitty McDonald's hamburgers.
But what could Craig do? He surely couldn't go after him; there was no way he would be able to change someone like that's mind. He had also been physically superior and therefore Craig couldn't physically delay him for the police to show up. Craig could follow him, he supposed, but he was trying to hurry up and get back to the lab again; it was the biggest night of his life. Groaning at himself, Craig rushed to the counter, shoving past others who had been drawn by all the action. When he arrived, the poor bastard had finally managed to get himself out, but a couple of his coworkers were trying to wipe the grease off of him. "Don't wipe the grease off, you can cause further damage. Call 911, get a description of the jackass who did this from him while you wait to make sure it doesn't get mixed up." Craig charged the golden arches' employees before grabbing his own food and shoving his way out of the store and jogging towards the lab.
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 25, 2012 11:44:22 GMT -5
Escaping with his Big Macs Dex launched into an alleyway and scaled a building. It was less scaling and more flying but it worked for Dex’s bulk and lack of dexterity. All the time he wondered if he should have set that Macdonalds on fire. Too many witnesses. Then again more witnesses meant more Hunters after him and that way it was more fun.
He opened up one of the bags and took a deep whiff of the contents. Meat. Not much of it but it was the grease he was after. Dex was salivating now. He ripped open a burger wrapper and launched it into his mouth. These things was snack-sized too him. Luckily he had quite a few. He launched another and another into his mouth copious amounts of saliva dripping from his chin.
Suffice to say; they didn’t last long. Soon Dex lay spread out amongst burger wrappers on a roof ready for quite a nap…
(Sorry had issues with writer’s block)
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 25, 2012 17:21:10 GMT -5
There is a certain feeling one gets when they realize that they are in royally deep excrement. It is a deep, sinking feeling in the gut; a wrenching of the intestines. It is a fear and a hope that one is not, perhaps, in quite as much excrement as they think they may be in. This is the same sensation that overcame Craig as he entered the floor of the lab room from the stairwell and observed that the rat was not inside of the containment area where it had been left. Instead, the door to the area was wide open, indicating that someone had let the creature out or stolen it... unless, of course, it was intelligent enough to have been paying attention when Craig was typing in the security code.
However, Craig wasn't concerned about the how so much as the where. If his creation had escaped, it could be causing mayhem in the streets right now. If it had been stolen, someone had been watching his work and knew the value of his creature and Craig was unlikely to regain it. This wouldn't be a problem except it was his only proof of success to a demanding board of supervisors... and the fact that all his work was compromised. Craig examined the room carefully to ensure that his rat wasn't hiding somewhere nearby. He then checked the floor above him with similar results. In fact, after a half an hour of searching, Craig discovered that the creature was definitely not within the building. Frustrated, food still in hand in case he should find it, Craig left the building and began searching the property, hoping against all odds that he might find it.
There is a certain feeling one gets when they realize that they are in royally deep excrement. It is a deep, sinking feeling in the gut; a wrenching of the intestines. It is a fear and a hope that one is not, perhaps, in quite as much excrement as they think they may be in. Then there is a feeling of understanding that one is, in fact, drowning in excrement after their worst fears have been realized. This is the exact sentiment Craig felt as he walked out of the parking lot to find his lost, potentially lethal creation.
Last Edit: Nov 25, 2012 17:34:31 GMT -5 by Craig Jamerson
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 25, 2012 19:11:02 GMT -5
There is a feeling you get when you have just shovelled about twenty Big Macs down your throat in a few minutes. It is a deep, pushing feeling in the oesophagus; a wrenching of the stomach. It is a fear and a hope that one is not, perhaps, about to burp as much as they think they may be. This is the same sensation that overcame Dex as he lay on the roof top.
Dex jumped up from where he lay ad reared back to let forth his mighty burp. The very sound shook the heavens… or so he liked to believe. It was loud but not much louder than a human one.
Satisfied Dex took a deep breath and prepared to move on. However, just then a very interesting scent fluttered past on a breeze. It was the barest of scents. Only an exceptionally fine nose could have spotted it; only the nose of a Daemon who had a particular dislike of rats which Dex did happen to have.
Dex growled and turned running to the edge of the rooftop in the general direction he had smelt it from. It was mostly gone now so he had to hope it was nearby. For a smell to reach him here there was either lots or some big ass wererat of some kind. He didn’t have to look very far at all; just down.
He spotted the beast and it’s very sight put his body in overdrive. He hopped off the building fanning his wings out to slow his descent. He landed by a human; a very familiar human. He reeled back.
“You?” He said half accusingly and half stunned. Here was the guy from the MacDonalds. Here was the guy who refused to foot his bill. He scowled at the memory but the rat’s presence was more pressing. “What is that?!” He demanded having a feeling that this human knew what was going on.
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 26, 2012 0:15:19 GMT -5
Craig didn't have to look far. In fact, he only had to look next door to find his giant rat-plethodontid salamander hybrid digging through a dumpster. "Psst." Craig looked about to make sure no one was around. Satisfied, he turned his attention back to the creature. "Hey!" he softly called to the creature. It lifted it's head from it's rummaging and zeroed it's gaze on Craig, who answered it's attention by throwing a quarter pounder a bit more than half of the way to it. "Food." Craig stated simply.
The rat was clearly interested and quickly dropped from the dumpster, looking curiously at the burger. It approached cautiously, one eye on the McDonald's-wrapped morsel and one on the man he had seen before. Craig watched patiently, unmoving other than a small nod to assure the creature no harm was to befall it. The rat slinked the rest of the way to the food quickly and devoured it after a brief sniff in two chomps. It looked at Craig curiously, taking a hesitant step closer.
Craig's eyes had to be glowing. He didn't have to make it too much farther. If this thing cooperated, everything would be okay. He smiled at the gargantuan rodent and said, "Good." Craig reached his arm into the bag and extracted another cheeseburger. "Want more?" he inquired soothingly before tossing it half way between them. "Food," he stated again.
Just then something thudded softly behind him, causing the rat to recoil from the advance it had started to make again and Craig to turn. "Me? Why is a costumed guy following me around? I'm busy." He turned back to the rodent, cooing. "It's okay, go ahead and eat. Food." The stranger asked what the creature was a bit less softly than Craig would have liked. Voice still dripping with warmth, Craig responded, "Be careful with the way you speak, I need that. It's a rodent that just made me and it history. I spliced it. Good, food." Craig finished speaking to the rat who was beginning to creep closer to the food again. He had four more quarter pounders and he needed to make them count.
Craig eyed the area. It was likely 200 yards to the front door of his workplace, making for 50 yards per burger. Counting the bag, which Craig planned on using to lure it in the doorway, that reduced the yardage to 40 yards per burger. Manageable, but barely. Making sure to keep his voice silky, Craig spoke to the newcomer. "We need to get him to my lab over there," he jerked his head as an indicator. "Let's move back casually and drop a few burgers for him on the way, if you don't mind."
Post by Dex Al'Kordon on Nov 27, 2012 18:23:11 GMT -5
“Me? Why is a costumed guy following me around? I'm busy.”
Dex growled at the less than satisfactory reply. Next time he walked around a city he was going to extend his Aura of Fear as far around him as he could and cause mass chaos and discord. That would teach those pains in the ass, humans, to mess with him. A lesson they’d already learned in several countries to which this was not one of them.
“Be careful with the way you speak, I need that. It's a rodent that just made me and it history. I spliced it. Good, food.”
Spliced? What did that word mean? It sounded somewhat familiar but he couldn’t quite place it. He was sure though that the guy meant he had made it. How’d he make something like that? Was he magical? An Elemental? The thought caused Dex to growl rather loudly.
“We need to get him to my lab over there. Let's move back casually and drop a few burgers for him on the way, if you don't mind.”
He wasn’t an Elemental. He’d have used magic to reel it in. This was a pathetic human plan. Now that he knew he wasn’t an enemy he decided to size up this rat creature instead. It was several feet smaller than he and a good foot smaller than the human. It was still rather large for a rat however.
“What’s in it for me?” He grunted finally the only thing he had said since ‘What’s that?’.
“I am Dexicolomew Hartygrayhound; Red Horn Daemon; but you may call me Dex.”
Post by Craig Jamerson on Nov 27, 2012 18:42:02 GMT -5
The costumed fellow grunted greedily, "What's in it for me?" in reply to Craig's inquiry. Craig raised an eyebrow as he backed away from the rat towards the edge of it's parking lot, the rat seemingly focused on Craig's actions. "You showed up out of nowhere and now you're going to interfere with my work? What's in it for you to mess me up? What is it you wanted, anyway?" Craig asked of the man. It seemed like a fair question to ask as the man had appeared suddenly from behind Craig in a rather creeper-esque style.
Craig dipped a hand in the bag as he continued to move backwards and the rat hopped forward, it's interest clearly peaked. Craig had reached the edge of the parking lot for the business they were at when he dropped the burger at his feet. "Come get some," He called invitingly as he moved back.
Surprisingly, the rat did exactly as commanded. Without hesitation, it half-bounced towards Craig, scooping up the burger and chewing on it merrily. Craig's spirits rose in relief and looked at the newcomer. "This must look pretty weird, huh?" Craig guessed after the silence of the guy he'd seen at McDonald's. He eyed the man carefully, gauging his reaction. Craig needed to be somewhat careful as this man was clearly a man of little scruples considering what Craig had bore witness to earlier. He kept a short distance from the man, walking backwards as he reached for another quarter pounder.
