Halloween Town

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

Zeke paused for a second, with a bemused eyebrow raised at the pouting... bat? General? What should he call her? Wife might not be a bad start. "Come, don't look at me like that. After something this brutal... I can't imagine morale can get much higher."

And it wasn't exactly wrong. Death, violence, all of these things were ugly truths that sounded even uglier when you saw that up close. "But I really am sorry. I had no idea things were this dire. If I knew, I'd have liberated your people sooner. These fools..." He grimaced for a moment, and yet - his smile was genuine. "I respect you. Even when this city has rejected you, you managed to make a place to call home. You have your own drives, your own histories, and your unique culture that resists assimilation to this day. I admire you people. Compared to a hungry dog like me who can only devour, you've managed to create a nice place. That takes guts, right?"

[yinsukin]

Lola

The batgirl's batlike eyes shifted, as if something caught her attention.  Even still, she stayed silent.  The ears on the back of her head twitched and now she was clearly giving him her full attention.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

He sighed.

"You know, if you keep giving me the silent treatment, I'll have to rub those cute ears of yours."

[yinsukin]

Lola

The girl covered her ears and raised her winged arms, ready to take flight.  The twitching stopped.  Nay, her whole body froze aside from the parts that needed to move.  It was as if her body was only moving what was needed to escape if needed.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

"Dude, I can see you. I am literally looking right at you." He crunched on a pumpkin seed casually. "I did save your butt from getting roasted like that butternut squash, am I that detestable to you?"

[yinsukin]

Lola

The batgirl shook her head, keeping her hands on her ears.  She returned to her attentive stare.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Ezekiel

Zeke sighed and shook his head. If she wasn't gonna play coy, he had no reason to. They - the collective - weren't above this kind of game. "Relax. You need food, don't you? The injured need tending, I've made sure they're getting their share as well. But I can't unmake the past. The food that's making you healthy and strong's standing on a table of bodies. Don't make it all in vain." He ate, a bit more calmly.

Comrades... this body could remember having them too. No, it was still their memory. His memory.

"Well, I'm assuming that you care. Really, we have no interest in the struggles between the old queen and you guys. But you made a foolish request, One that tugged at our heartstrings..." He smiled relaxedly, enjoying the simple taste of food, company, and being alive. Because the food that Zeke was enjoying was also resting on a pile of corpses. Friends, enemies, and even his own selves.

And there it was. The omega.

"If you're not going to talk, then listen: I want to protect your people. It's not a charity though, I'm sure you already knew that. But I want our relationship to be a fair one. I want to have this opportunity to listen to whatever concerns or feelings you might have. If you don't speak your feelings honestly, I won't be able to properly work with you all as equals. It'll be no better than tyranny. Is that your wish?"

[yinsukin]

Lola

"If you let someone talk for long enough, they will eventually start speaking from the heart."

The batgirl stared at him, her frowning as she squinted.  The truth was she had poor eyesight, but at this moment she wished she could see him properly.  "I don't think freedom is quite the right word for what we want.  Recognition, status, acceptance: a place in this cruel city."

She scratched the back of her bat ears.  "Just because you want to protect our people doesn't mean you don't want subjugation.  You say you want a fair relationship, but you approach this like a business man.  Those of us in this organization would rather die than deal with another hallow queen but even more would kill to prevent living under the hell of so called normal humans. "

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

He blinked in surprise. So she could talk after all, huh. But her words only got a blush out of him, even as he turned away like some coy brat. Zeke's coat was removed casually, exposing his sculpted body... and the same bar-code that peeked out earlier.

"I wasn't born with a place to belong in this cruel city either. I get it, it's painful to live like a tool. I was made for some organization's crazed plans, possessed by another phantom created just to be a slave... and the moment I had found my happiness and acceptance, It was ripped from me because I lacked the strength to protect them. Here I am." That's right. History had a funny way of repeating itself. He might be playing a role, but the thought of it made Zeke frown.

"You want status? Recognition? A place in the world? Sure, sounds great. But without the power to protect it, it'll be ripped from your claws in the cruelest way imaginable. That's the simple unchanging law of this Nexus."

He took a sip of pumpkin beer, letting the taste travel down his throat.

[yinsukin]

Lola

Lola looked up at the sky, her ears twitching.  "I don't think that power matters.  You can have all the power in the world and lose everything all the same.  After all, if you can obtain that power, so can someone else.  I can't speak for everyone, but if I could live that life for even a year, I think I could die happy."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

Their eyes changed... almost melancholically for a moment.

...no. That's just half hearted. If your power was so easily attainable by others, then it means you must have stopped halfway. You need more power.

"Craven fool!" Zeke's roar was unlike before. Fangs showed from is jaw, its eyes shot a glare that could burn one whole. Without pity, he rose up and loomed over the bat girl like a shadow, threatening to swallow her whole.

"A life isn't so worthless it can be traded for a mere year. You have a beautiful dream, so uphold it with your head raised high! There is no reason to devalue or tarnish it. Everyone in this district deserves happiness, even if you're a cursed existence, it isn't wrong to desire for more!"

Our wish... my desire... if I'd simply given up for a mere year of happiness, all of the lives would be for nothing!So smile and laugh monsters and demons. Tonight forth, the prayers of the dark will be answered in kind! It was declaring this absolute will that he extended his hand at the woman. A fake who inherited a fake will, a copy of a copy of something that should never have been born.

But its shine was as brilliant as the stars. And it refused to deny these monsters the chance... to have their dreams shine on them.

"So don't you dare sell it short. We're a family from now forth, whatever worries you'll worry me, and whatever points a sword at you points it at all of us. We will reach our promised land, together, and we'll prosper until the end of times. I will show you myself... the miracle of the discarded and unloved."

[yinsukin]

Lola

"You are way too forward," Lola said with a grimace.  "You are just as responsible for the death of my men as I am, yet you claim to have us as family?  You are only acting in self interest, same as the queen."

Lola at last picked up the sandwich seasoned with a pumpkin spice mix.  The taste of turmeric and cumin dominating the sandwich.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Ezekiel

Zeke raised an eyebrow. "Obviously. I've never heard of anyone who did anything if it didn't suit them. If you're the main character of your story, I'm the main character of mine." As he shook his head, he picked up a similar sandwich to Lola's, nibbling on it this time with a bit more reservedness.

"Now listen kid. Harley failed because she followed her ambition blindly, without bothering to inspire the hearts of those behind her. Of course she'd end up with a knife stitched on her back, you were both going in two completely opposite directions! It's not like someone who fights alongside their comrades for their own everyone's sake. But let me make one thing clear, talk's cheap. I'm going to show you that I mean everything I just said with results."

And that's when he gave her an earnest smile, filled with admiration. "Have you ever seen a real miracle?"

[yinsukin]

Lola

"I don't believe in miracles."  The batgirl glared at him, but said only this much, waiting for him to make his next move. 

[Kotomine_Rin]

Zeke

Zeke paused and crossed his arms at Lola, nodding at her with a placid calmness. "That was a good answer. Miracles are illusions caused by insufficient observation and understanding. They're just glorious misunderstandings."

That's why he couldn't bring himself to hate them, the gods that cursed Zeke's existence, nor the father who gave birth to it. It took them a long time to understand, but truth be told... Zeke was happy just being alive. Absorbing the <Star's Mud Draken> able to cross worlds, and finding themselves in this miraculous plane with a second life. They wouldn't have this any other way.

"But you still need to do everything in your power. For the sake of our - my wish, I'm fine with fighting to create my own illusion. My miracle." Suddenly, the dark star swiftly darted and picked up the batgirl like a bride - hoisting her up to shoulder level. "Let me show you."

And stretching four inhuman black wings, Ezekiel soared the skies, like a beautiful messenger from God.


The two loomed over a stretched out designated area, filled with some intact buildings and tents. It's where the wounded, the sickly, and the dead rounded up. Each was tallied to make sure the counts were precise so that they wouldn't be left wanting for anything. Those in need were given the utmost care and respect, with fresh food and water given by blackened creatures. These twisted, alien organisms took the guise of beautiful women with rabbit features, and nursed the wounded to keep them conscious.

"It's a pity. The pain of losing what you hold dear. The humiliation of having your dignity stripped away. I've suffered such indignities myself." He closed his eyes and pointed his palm to the area, focusing his dark sorceries. Black magics that couldn't belong to a mortal plane.

The monster. Was Zeke planning to annihilate the whole section off the map!? To cull the chaff and the weak to give room to the strong? Was he so cruel he'd make Lola watch!?