Houndsong (Marcus, Open)

[Morgana]

The black haired woman strolled through the park, silver-blue eyes glinting in the dim light. There were two hounds beside her. One was male; big, like a Rottweiler, but with a longer, thinner snout and pointed ears. He was coal-black with two blood red, circle markings over his eyes and brighter red "socks" on his paws. The other was a female, built like a Doberman Pinsher but slightly smaller then one, with two ram-like horns curling out of the top of her head and under her ears. She was jet black with a glossy coat, red markings situated on her ears and stripes on her back. Both had eyes that shone with fire, teeth much larger then a normal dog's. Hellhounds.

The woman reached down and placed a hand on both of their heads as she walked. Morgana was hungry, restless. She wanted to fight. The demoness padded barefoot down the sidewalk, begging for some action.

[Marcus Williams]

Marcus was sitting on a bench when he saw the woman walking. Normally, he didn't give anyone a second thought. On the contrary, the only people he ever truly thought about were his victims. But there was something that caught his eye: the two dogs she had with her. They definitely weren't normal, and Marcus instantly knew they were some type of demon.

Marcus had dealt with demons before. He'd killed three already on various different missions and met many more. Marcus hated people, but he liked demons even less and if there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was demon dogs. After he'd seen som bizzare dog-like creatures kill a homeless man and tear him to shreads, he knew they were a menace that had to be wiped off the face of the earth. And while these looked substancially different, Marcus wasn't taking any chances.

Marcus stood up and walked in front of the woman and her dogs, a couple of feet away. He didn't say anything, he just gave her that look that conveyed fear; the one he gave all his targets. He waited for her response.

[Morgana]

It seemed Morgana had gotten her wish.

When the man stepped in front of her, the first thing that came to her mind was annoyance. She was annoyed he had blocked her path. The demoness came to a stop, eyeing him with a look of contempt. Stupid humans... she thought to herself. Then, a small smirk began to form on her lips. This could be... fun. Very fun.

"May I help you?" she asked, eyes flashing for a brief moment with her hunger. Maxine and Horace, the hellhounds, caught her emotion in the air. Their ears perked, and they glanced up at their master before turning their gazes to Marcus. They both shifted slowly into a protective stance, stepping in front of Morgana.

[Marcus Williams]

"May I help you?" the woman asked. Her eyes seemed to convey a message, a mixture of anger and . . . something else. <Let me guess, she's one of them too,> he thought. He noticed the dogs as they moved closer towards her to protect the woman.

Marcus kept one of his hands behind his back. In it, he held a cross. He found that they always came in handy when dealing with demons. But he made sure to keep it consealed from the woman. Rather han answer her question, he instead stared pointedly at the dogs. He then looked at her, and said this, "And WHAT would those be?"

[Morgana]

"And WHAT would those be?"

Morgana couldn't help but chuckle. Either he was an idiot, or... well, he was probably just an idiot. She looked him up and down. He didn't seem to be a threat, but he was holding something behind his back. She frowned.

"Well, what do you think they are?" she said, finally, smirking again. She moved one of her hands and placed it in Horace's head, scratching behind the male hellhound's ear for a moment. "They're my pets, and they haven't caused any trouble." Yet.

[Marcus Williams]

"Well, what do you think they are? They're my pets, and they haven't caused any trouble," the woman responded, smirking at him and petting one of her dogs. Marcus just looked at her with distain. <Sometimes I wonder why they even bother to pretend,> he thought. <Just you wait; I'll wipe that smirk off your face soon enough, demon.>

He looked at her again, and casually pulled his hand out from behind his back. "Oh, this is just a cross," he said, holding it out for her to see. "Would you like to touch it? I got it in Jerusalem. They say crosses from Jerusalem are VERY holy indeed."

[Morgana]

Morgana immediately frowned, taking a step back. She had to remind herself to remain calm; as long as it didn't touch her skin, she was safe. The demon glared at Marcus, clenching her right hand into a fist. Horace and Maxine began to growl, lips raising to reveal their sharp, pointed teeth.

"You don't know what sort of fight you're stepping in to, human," Morgana hissed. "Whatever lower leveled demons you may have hurt or killed before are nothing compared to us." She indicated herself and the two hellhounds.

[Marcus Williams]

"You don't know what sort of fight you're stepping in to, human. Whatever lower leveled demons you may have hurt or killed before are nothing compared to us," she hissed at him. Marcus laughed inwardly to himself. <If only she knew,> he thought.

"Oh, so we're dropping pretenses now, are we? No innocent doggies? Awww, and I was just going to ask you if I could pet them," Marcus pouted. "So, afraid of Jesus or something? Because I was never one for religion anyways. Hah, there's nothing up in the sky except for the Sun." Marcus casually took a hold of the gun in his pocket, making sure to keep it concealed. "So, up for some fun and games demon? I've always liked Risk, you know, very fascinating game," he dryly commented.

[Morgana]

Morgana began to murmur to herself as he spoke, not even paying attention to the human's words. She didn't care what he was; demon hunter, whatever. He was going to die, and she and her pets were going to dance on his grave.

As she murmured, a small flame began to form on her concealed right hand. The more she said, the larger the flame grew, until she finally finished the spell. Luckily for her, she finished just before he stopped speaking.

"So, up for some fun and games demon? I've always liked Risk, you know, very fascinating game."

"Shut up and burn."

The demoness lashed her flaming hand out at him, sending a wave of fire in the direction of his face.

[Marcus Williams]

<DAMNIT!> he cursed. He tried to get out of the way, but the wave of fire grazed the side of his face, leaving a burn there. He quickly pulled out the gun. "Now I'm angry; not a smart thing to do," he said. He quickly fired a volley of shots in the direction of the woman and her dogs. He then dived behind a tree.

Rifling through the contents of his pocket, he quickly pulled out a canteen of holy water. <The devil doesn't like holy water, she won't either,> Marcus thought. He quickly flashed a look around to analyze his surroundings. All the people in the area had scattered, screaming. "Not good, not good," he muttered. "The police is all I need."

[Morgana]

The dogs took all the shots for her. The bullets simply bounced off of the hounds' thick hides, making the creatures angrier. Snarls began to form in their throats. Morgana glanced at them, giving her babies a grin. She bent down and lay a hand on Maxine's head, another on Horace's.

Let's show this man a good time, shall we? she communicated to them through their mind-link. Maxine gave a throaty bark in agreement.

The demoness snapped her fingers and disappeared, reappearing in front of Marcus. She gave a sick grin, but frowned when she smelled the holy water.

"Awww, that's cheating," Morgana said, a fake pout on her lips and in her voice. "It's not fun if you don't play fair."

[Marcus Williams]

Marcus was startled when the woman appeared, but not off guard. As she spoke, he quickly screwed off the cap and when she finished, he threw the contents of the canteen at her. "That's for burning my face, demon," Marcus laughed. He quickly dashed over to another tree and scaled it to the top.

He quickly surveyed the scene. He could see where the woman and her dogs were. He could also hear the sound of sirens in the distance. As he turned his head, he was startled to see a teenager, headphones in his ears, walking casually across the park, seemingly oblivious to what was occuring. <Shit,> he thought. Marcus didn't have a particular affinity for teens; he found them quite annoying. But he still felt responsible for the oblivious kid. "Damn conscience. Thought I got rid of you a long time ago," he muttered.

He jumped down from the tree and began to sprint across the open space. <Don't look, don't look,> he silently willed the demon.

[Morgana]

Morgana let out an ear-shattering screech as the Holy Water made contact with her skin. She dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands. The liquid felt like claws raking against her flesh. It burned. Oh, he would pay for this.

"MAXINE. HORACE."

The two dogs let out ghostly hunting calls, both pairs of glowing, firey eyes locking on Marcus. They launched themselves in his direction, Maxine's swift body alongside Horace's lumbering one.

[Marcus Williams]

Marcus turned to see the two dog running after him. <This is NOT turning out good,> he cursed. Luckily, he was far enough along that he made it to the teen before the dogs did . . . for now.

Marcus, running at top speed, performed a semi-football tackle, grabbing the teen by the waist and throwing him over his back. The teen, startled, would probably have protested if he hadn't seen the furious dogs running after Marcus. "Let's . . . ditch this . . . place . . . ok?" Marcus panted as he ran. The teen gave a quick nod.

Marcus sped out of Central Park just as the police were beginning to arrive. He ran down one of the streets and turned into an alleyway. He put the teenager down and said, "Well, at least I'm not certainly going to hell now. Think of this as a lesson to not putting your headphones so loud." Marcus then took off, leaving the teenager to just wonder what happened.

[Morgana]

Maxine and Horace growled as he left, returning to their master. Maxine gave Morgana a nudge with he muzzle, and the demoness stood. Her face was slightly scarred, but the wounds would heal. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"We will find him and we will crush him," she growled, moving a lock of black hair to rest behind her ear. "That man will die." And with that, she placed her hands on her dogs' heads and disappeared.