Post by Connor Reilly on Feb 2, 2010 3:11:01 GMT -5
Note: The following was played out by Glory and myself using Chatzy.
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May, 2004
Los Angeles, California.
Connor
It was raining hard and Connor was shivering. His teeth were chattering as he ran through the streets of L.A. He didn't even know where he was. He'd run several blocks without even thinking about where he was going. It didn't matter. What mattered was that his father was far behind him, battling something bigger than all of them. Connor was breathing hard, his lungs burning as the cold air invaded them. He slowed to a stop, bending down and resting his hands on his knees to hold himself up. He coughed as he tried to catch his breath and realized suddenly that he was crying. How long had he been crying? A few seconds? Since he left the law firm? He didn't know - didn't care. Somewhere, Angel and the others – whoever was left – were fighting a battle there was no way they could win. And he was running away. Angel had told him to, said that the best thing he could do to help was to keep himself safe. But that didn’t change the fact that right now the world was ending, and he was running. Nothing about that felt right. He fell to his knees, feeling cold water soak through his jeans to his shins. He stayed there for a long moment, waiting for his breath to return to normal and trying to figure out his next move.
Glory
Glory had been waiting for this. The time had come finally. She had a plan. Already she had created her 'new world', now all she needed to do was to start bringing in key people, the rest would take care of itself. Glory had been keeping watch on several candidates to be her first aquisition. Connor Rielly was one of them. The events unfolding in Los Angeles were playing right into her hands. Connor was unique, he also had been known to waver in his morality. In his current state he was vulnerable. A perfect time to strike."Jinx! Murk! I need you!"
Glory shouted out to two of her longtime minions."And bring an umbrella."
She added as an afterthought. When the two robed groveling demons appeared she smiled."We're going on a little trip. My first arrival is in need of a greeting party. I trust you are prepared?"
The demons nodded and bowed their heads. Glory smirked as she snapped her fingers and a glowing orb of light appeared in front of her. It started to expand immediately almost resembling a doorway of some kind, which it was in a way. More properly it was a portal or a tear in space between dimensions. Glory gave her minions a look, indicating that they follow her and then she stepped through the shimmering rift.
Emerging on the other side she was met by a torrent of rain. One of the minions that followed her through the gateway opened an umbrella and sheltered her as best they could from the rain. They had arrived in a shadowy area in an alley behind a dumpster and Glory frowned at the smell. Quickly she scanned the area and spotted the young man she had come for. Without a word she walked toward him, she was wearing a short green sheath dress and her heels clicked and splashed on the asphalt as she moved. Finding the boy out of breath and doubled over she stood in front of him."Well... Hello Connor. I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
Connor
Connor heard the clacking of high heels on the wet pavement, but it was as if the sounds were far off in the distance. He was too focused on his thoughts, too distracted from the physical world around him. He ignored the rhythmic click, clack, splash, keeping his eyes shut as he weighed what was quite possibly the most important decision he’d ever make.
The voice startled him. His eyes opened and his head snapped up as he stood, stumbling back reflexively. A tall woman with curly blond hair stood in front of him holding an umbrella. For a moment he couldn’t do anything but stare at her with his mouth hanging open. She didn’t look like she belonged wandering the streets of L.A. in the rain. She might as well have just walked out of magazine or something. She was the kind of beautiful that just didn’t exist in real life. After a few seconds, Connor’s brain kicked into gear and he realized this woman seemed to know him, or at least know of him. He also tore his gaze away from her long enough to realize she wasn’t alone.
There were creatures with her that resembled humans, but they were uglier. They had long, scraggly hair and pointed ears. Their skin wasn’t the same shade as human skin, and seemed to be covered in sores. Connor took in their appearance with one quick sweep of his gaze before looking back at the woman."Yeah. I get that a lot lately," he replied.
He was suspicious of the woman for several reasons, the most obvious being that L.A. was caught in the middle of a war between good and evil that had just come to a pivotal climax. Then there was the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous. Why would a woman like that be talking to him? Plus, it was pouring and she wasn’t even wet. Where had she come from? He glanced around at her scabby entourage, becoming increasingly nervous. What were those guys?
Glory
Glory waited for a few moments. Giving Connor a few minutes to get his bearings, watching as his eyes took her in. She always liked when she had that affect on a man. It was one of the reasons she had made her new home so earth like. Humans were so easily impressed by physical beauty and Glory basked in the attention that was lavished on her. After he seemed to gather himself a bit, she gave him a dazzling smile. She could see the uncertainty on his face, he was on guard. This was to be expected. Her appearance certainly was odd under the circumstances, at least from his perspective."I know you must be wondering about me. Who I am, why I'm here, how I know who you are. Let me try to answer a few of those. Set your mind at ease."
Glory paused for a moment. She let her gaze travel over his form. It was strange, his appearance was so ordinary, but she knew he was anything but ordinary. This brought out a little chuckle. Looks could be deceiving she knew, Glory didn't exactly look like that Hell God that she was. Giving a little sigh she brought her attention back to Connor and continued."My name is Glory. I'm here to make you an offer of sorts, to take you away from all this."
She wondered if her name meant anything to him. Had he heard of her? She knew about him, his father Angel had close ties to Buffy, it was likely that Angel had heard about her after what had happened to the Slayer. Still, it would be interesting to see his reaction either way."I think you know that the fight here is lost. The world here will be changed forever.. and not for the better, but I think you know that as well. I can take you away from here. Give you anything your want. You would hold a position of power, be able to embrace your true nature. "
Smiling again she watched him carefully. Whether he knew it or not he was coming with her. She was hoping it would be voluntarily, but she was prepared to take him by force if needed.
Connor
Glory… Glory. The name rang a bell somewhere in his mind, but he couldn’t place it. He listened to her as she spoke. Even though his gaze wandered to her scabby friends, his attention was fully on her. He anticipated an attack even though he didn’t know if there would be one. Better prepared than unprepared. His instincts were telling him not to trust this woman, or the calm and reassuring tone of her voice. Glory. The name was important. He knew that somehow. But damn it, he couldn’t place it. His eyes narrowed when she said she wanted to make him an offer, to take him away. What the hell did that mean? His suspicion deepened as she said the fight here was lost and he felt a pang of anger at that. She couldn’t know that… or maybe she could. What did she mean the world would be changed? What did she know and how did she know it? He fought the urge to lunge at her. He was already injured and tired, he had no weapons, and he had no idea who or what this woman was. Picking a fight would be stupid. He knew this instinctively without having to think through it, and though his muscles tensed and his hands balled themselves into fists at his sides, he made no move to threaten her. Instead, he listened. She wanted to take him somewhere, give him power. He frowned when she said he’d be able to embrace his true nature. What was that, even? He didn’t even know what his true nature was. No one did. He was the first of his kind. The only human child ever to be born of two vampires. What was this chick’s angle, and what was she trying to use him for?"Um… Okay…" he said slowly, drawing out the words as he took one step backward.
He ran a hand through his dripping hair to push it behind his ear."So… You want to take me somewhere and give me stuff so I can do what, exactly?"
Glory
Glory let out another sigh. Her patience wearing thin. Negotiating wasn't exactly her strong suit, she was used to getting her way with just a look or the snap of her fingers. As much as she didn't want to alienate Connor, she just wanted to get on with it and get the hell out of there. Get him back to her new realm."I know, I know... you have questions. Let's just say this is a place where you can start fresh. You won't have anyone trying to run your life, telling you what to do... The only person you would have to answer to is me, and if you're even half of what I think you're capable of I think we'll get along fabulously."
Taking a deep breath she looked down at her feet. Her shoes were soaked. She shook one foot and frowned before she returned her gaze to Connor. Shaking her head she snapped her fingers and another umbrella appeared in her empty hand. She held it out to Connor."Umbrella? Please, take it. You're absolutely drenched."
Glory held the umbrella out to him. Whether he took it or not didn't really matter. Mostly it was a way she could show him that she was someone with power."As far as what you would do for me. I think your potential is unlimited. But, I think we would start with you doing a few little errands for me. There are some more people like you that will be coming to join us and I'd like you to help me welcome them. That doesn't sound too difficult to start with now does it?"
She raised her eyebrows at him. This was taking entirely too long. Why couldn't the kid just say yes and get on with it? Glory took a moment to calm the rising impatience inside her. Clearing her throat before she began to speak again."I'd really like to get going now if you don't mind. My shoes are already ruined. At the very least, wouldn't you like to get out of this rain? Come on, I know you want to. I know you can take care of yourself. You're not afraid are you? Of me?"
Connor
Glory sighed, seeming to get annoyed. Her entourage was even starting to look nervous. That wasn’t a good sign. Connor listened as she explained that he’d be able to start fresh, that no one would be trying to run his life. Except her, of course. The idea of having no one to answer to was appealing to Connor, of all people, but if there was anything he knew already about this Glory chick, it was that he didn’t want to be under her thumb. At all. He followed her gaze to her shoes. She made a pointless effort to shake the water off one of them and frowned. Connor was a bit surprised at that. This woman was trying to kidnap him in the middle of an apocalypse and she was worried about her shoes? She snapped her fingers and an umbrella just materialized in her hand. It didn’t even materialize. It literally just appeared in her hand, like she’d snatched it out of the air. Connor’s eyes widened and he backed away slightly."Woah."
She held the umbrella out to him, asking him to take it, but he just stared at her and didn’t move. No way in hell was he taking anything from this chick. Especially when he didn’t know where it had come from. As a rule, anyone who could make things appear out of nowhere wasn’t a person to be messed with. And this one had come here specifically and deliberately for him. Great.
She didn’t seem to even notice that he didn’t take her umbrella as she told him he had unlimited potential. Basically, it sounded like she wanted him to be her errand boy “to start with.” He really didn’t like where this was going. He probably would’ve been better off fighting the Senior Partners with Angel than running into Glory. She looked visibly annoyed and her scabby friends seemed to be closing in on him a little, looking nervously from her to him. What would happen if she got too annoyed? What else could she poof in and out of reality? She cleared her throat loudly and said she wanted to get going if he didn’t mind, prodding him. Wouldn’t he like to get out of the rain? He wasn’t afraid, was he? Connor blinked at her."No offense, but I’m not scared of stilettos and an umbrella."
Sure, the situation made him really uneasy, but he wasn’t afraid. Not yet. Of course, had he known he was speaking to a Hell-god, he probably would’ve been a little less flippant."And as crappy as L.A. is at the moment, I think I’ll stick around. See how the fight ends for myself."
As he spoke, Connor started taking rapid steps backward, ready to turn around and start sprinting back toward the Hyperion, but hesitant to turn his back.
Glory
Glory started to tap her foot as she waited for Connor to respond. He hadn't taken the umbrella and she kept it held aloft while she watched him. She could see his mind working, this was NOT going as planned. A laugh escaped her as he made a comment about not being afraid of 'stilettos and an umbrella'. Then a grin spread across her face, you might even have called it an evil grin. The game was on now. She knew it even before he spoke again and started to back away. Glory made a little growling noise, it was low and came from deep in her throat. Then she opened her hands and both umbrella's vanished into thin air. Now she was getting frustrated and angry, the rain now soaking her didn't help her disposition. Glaring at Connor as he moved away from her she narrowed her eyes."GAH!! Why can't this ever go easy! I make you a perfectly decent offer, you say yes. We go on our merry way and everyone is happy!"
She took a deep breath and looked quickly at Jinx and Murk. Shaking her head and flourishing her hands at them, frustrated at why they weren't already moving. Giving them a look that told them she was not happy."You two! What are you doing? Go get him! Bring him back!"
Glory was livid now. She had tried to be so nice. Why couldn't he see that. Gritting her teeth she glared and stomped her foot making the ground shake around her. She should have known better, damn shoes... the heel now broken infuriated her more."Why does this always happen to me!!"
Glory was still grumbling to herself as she watched the two demons take off after Connor.
Connor
Connor heard a low growl come from the woman and saw both umbrellas disappear. The rain began to drench her immediately, still coming down in sheets. He continued backing away as she spoke until he was pretty much running backwards. As she turned to her companions, he took the opportunity to turn around and run. Normally, he wasn’t one to run away from a fight, but he also wasn’t one to go on a suicide mission either. He needed to patch himself up and get some kind of weapon and maybe round up Angel and the others if he could make it to them. She called after him as he ran, but her voice was getting further away as he quickened his pace. He may not have been strong enough to fight, but he was still inhumanly fast and agile. He could outrun her. He knew he could. Especially if she didn’t kick off those damn heels. A tremor in the ground beneath him threw him off and he stumbled as a crack worked its way up the asphalt. He stumbled, falling against a parked car, giving the scabbed assistants time to catch up. Gritting his teeth, he kept running, trying to figure out how far he was from the hotel where he knew he could get supplies. His ribs ached, and he was pretty sure a few of them were bruised if not broken. He could steal a car, but it would take too long to hot-wire one."Sir, it isn’t advisable to anger the most splendiferous Glorificus!" one of the minions called after him.
Glorificus! Shit, that was who she was? The Hell-God who almost ended the world trying to get back to her own dimension. Angel had explained what happened briefly after Buffy died. That was before she came back, of course. Oh, this really wasn’t good. What did a Hell-God want with him?"Ah!"
Pain shot through Connor’s leg and he crumpled to the ground. He looked down to see the handle of a dagger sticking out of his thigh. One of the scabby guys was standing right in front of him and Connor tried to scamper away from him using just his arms and one leg."I’m terribly sorry, Long-Awaited Miraculous One, but we must bring you back to the Splendid and Naughtily Arousing One."
Connor blinked up at the thing, unable to tell if it was male or female as its partner approached. What the hell did it just say? He cried out as he ripped the dagger out of his leg. He collapsed on the ground again, trying to recover as the second scabby thing ran over to him. He gripped the dagger and swung his arm around to lash out at it, but it jumped out of the way just as its partner grabbed the ankle of his bad leg and pulled."Ahh!"
Pain shot through his leg as the thing started to drag him down the road. He kicked at it with his other foot, but the thing kept a good hold on him and continued moving right along. The other one ran around him and moved to grab his other let. He kicked and struggled, but that proved to hurt him more than it hurt them."Ahh, shit!"
He cried out as the dagger slid from his hand. He heard it clamor to the ground and he groped around for it, but he only tore up his fingers a bit clawing at the pavement.
Glory
Glory limped along with her broken heeled shoe to meet up with Jinx and Murk as they caught up with Connor and started to drag him back in her direction. She watched as Connor struggled and kept trying to grab the knife that had been dropped to the ground. Snarling she snatched up the knife herself, held up her hand for her two companions to stop for a moment. Bending down she brandished the knife in front of Connor's face and then looked him in the eyes. Practically nose to nose with the kid she grinned."You know... I don't think it would have been right if you hadn't tried to run. You had to try. Don't worry... I won't hold it against you."
Standing up straight again Glory looked at the two minions still grasping Connor's legs. Tossing the knife to one of them she smirked feeling a bit victorious."Get him settled in the Mansion."
She barked just before she snapped her fingers and the shimmery light of the portal appeared again. Glory followed along walking lopsided with her still broken shoe as Jinx and Murk continued to drag Connor through the doorway. Well... it wasn't pretty, but Connor on his way. Now, after this mess, if she could just convince him that working for her would be a good thing. There had to be something he wanted, something she could give him to sway him. When he got settled, they'd have to have a little chat.
Connor
Connor saw the blade of the knife slide past his face. A hand with manicured fingernails gripped the handle and Connor looked up at Glory. She leaned in close, just a few centimeters away from his face, and his eyes went to the blade of the knife she held in front of him. She assured him in that too-calm voice that she understood he had to try to run and she wouldn’t hold it against him."Oh. Good," he muttered as she stood.
She told her entourage to get him settled in the mansion. Mansion? What mansion? She snapped her fingers and bright light erupted in front of them. Connor blinked and turned his head away slightly. If he wasn’t mistaken, that looked like a portal."Woah, woah, wait, wait – GAHHH!"
His protests were cut off by a scream as the minions resumed dragging him, pain shooting through his injured leg. He clawed and groped at the ground, twisting and turning despite the pain. He didn’t know where they were taking him, but he was willing to bet it wouldn’t be anywhere good. His palms and fingers were beginning to sting and bleed from being scraped against the asphalt, but he kept struggling. It didn’t matter if it was pointless. He wasn’t one to back down. If she was going to rip him out of this world, he’d fight her all the way. A strange feeling overcame him as they pulled him through the portal. It was similar to being on a roller coaster and making a sudden drop from a high place, then being thrown through a few loops. It happened very fast, it was very disorienting, and followed by a slight feeling of nausea. One word escaped his mouth as he screamed, terrified."DAAAADDD!"
He wasn’t even aware he’d made a sound.