Daniel and Para-Dan

Hello, everybody. My name is Seraph. Daniel doesn't wanna update right now about what's happened, so I'm doing it. Before I get to that though, maybe I should tell you all a bit about myself, and how Daniel and I met.
It started in high school. I was one of the not-so-hot girls. I'm not saying I was ugly, but I wasn't winning any pageants any time soon either. So, I built up some self esteem issues. Perfectly normal for a girl my age. So, she eventually came for me. The Mother Of Snakes. She promised me beauty. It was a tempting offer. So tempting, that after a bit of internal debate, I ended up accepting. I became her servant, a Lilim. My looks improved, somewhat, but I also ended up with scales. Not that they were a problem. They were in pretty subtle places, so I just had to wear the right clothes to keep them hidden.
So, for a few years, I did her bidding, and learned a lot about the Fears. A couple years ago, I was on assignment dealing with a government organization involved with the Game Master. Stirem Inc. I had figured out where one of their bases was located, but I wasn't dumb enough to attempt infiltration alone. So, just as I was about to start seeing about getting help, my cellphone buzzed. A text from an unfamiliar number, telling me to meet them at the bathroom mirror of a specific house. You see, Lilim can travel through the Garden Of Desolation, a world we access through mirrors. So, I found the mirror the text mentioned, and it was there that I met Daniel. Or, rather, HELLFIRE, controlling Daniel. I had met Dying Men shards before, but never any who were willing to share the body with their host. Anyway, HELLFIRE offered his and Daniel's assistance, and we made plans to break into the base.
Me, Daniel, and some of his friends went there. It was the first time I had spoken with him while he was in control. He seemed okay. He spoke calmly, for the most part, and though he was a bit skeptical about trusting me, he went along with it.
We got into the base, and we found a glowing orb. HELLFIRE said that we had to destroy it, but before we could, Dr. Welric, who I thought had been killed by his son before, interrupted us. There was some violence, and the orb ended up getting knocked to the ground. That was where I made my mistake. I jumped to grab it, but by the time I heard HELLFIRE's warnings, I had already caught it. Something inside the orb started taking over. Silvermist. A Dying Man shard. Also, HELLFIRE's daughter. Or son. Or... sibling... I guess? Dying Men are fucking confusing...
She took over my body. My consciousness was shoved to the back of my mind. All there was was coldness. I could barely tell what was going on outside. It was like that for a while. Benjamin Malkator was the one who ended it.
I was gradually starting to regain my senses. I think Silvermist was starting to release her hold on me.
“You're right,” she said, using my lips. “You are a much more adequate choice.” I could make out Malkator's body as I was forced to rush over to him, and she slipped away from me, possessing him instead. And just like that, all the coldness was gone. The warmth of the room rushed into me, and I lost consciousness.
I started coming to when I heard voices above me. I recognized them. Malkator, Daniel, and the Mother Of Snakes. I began to move.
“Ah,” The Mother Of Snakes hissed. “So you're awake.”
My eyes shot open, and I looked up at her. She was right above me. Staring down at my body hungrily. I had seen that expression on her before, but I had always mistaken it for something else. Something less sinister. But after what I had suffered through at Silvermist's hands, I could now see the truth. Silvermist had used me, like a cheap toy. And the Mother Of Snakes was no different. She just wanted my to be her puppet. Her toy. And I felt like shit for taking so long to realize that.
“Come,” she said. “It is time for us to go.”
I sat up and looked at her, terrified.
“No,” I said. I think my voice might have quivered. “I don't want to.”
“Oh?” She asked, looking both amused and malicious all at once.
After what Silvermist had done, I was sick of it. Sick of it all. I was done. I just wanted to go. Lead a normal life, away from all the Fears. I just wanted to be free. I told her as much, or at least a summation of it. I was too scared to put everything I was feeling into the right words. She just let out a hissing laugh and leered at me.
“It is not your choice,” she said.
She slithered a few inches toward me, and I tried crawling back. I was scared shitless.
“You are my servant,” she said. “You've had enough when I say you have.”
She was almost upon me, and I had the sinking realization that this was it. I was going to die in service to this monster. But my thoughts were broken by the piercing sound of a gunshot, and a bullet went whizzing by her head, almost hitting her, and a voice rang out through the air.
“She said she doesn't want any more of this! Leave her alone!”
At first, I didn't realize who it was. Then I remembered Daniel was there. I turned to look at him.
He was different from when I first met him before the Stirem base. Back then, he had been calm. Collected. He spoke softly, and was pretty reasonable. This was my fist time seeing him angry.
His voice was harsh, and I could practically feel the seething hatred in it. He held himself differently too. His body was tense, his gaze focused, rage burning behind his eyes. He had a gun drawn and was prepared to shoot at her again. The sheer balls this guy had was incredible. This wasn't the power of a Devil Killer I was seeing. This was the power of pure, unadulterated stubbornness.
Apparently, the Mother Of Snakes was impressed too, because after staring into his eyes for a few moments, she said “Very well, Devil Killer. Our time to fight has not come yet. Until then, I shall leave you alone. But from now on, sleep with one eye open.”
And then she left. Daniel and I started dating a little bit after that. Even though he's lost his Devil Killer powers, he still possesses that same stubbornness he displayed that night. He's usually a nice, fun guy to be around. But when he gets into a serious fight, he can become downright terrifying. Put a flaming sword in his hand, and you'd have to be really really brave or really really stupid to cross him.
Anyway, back to today.
Daniel, Abdalin and I have been on the move. We'll drive for a bit, then spend a couple days in a random small town, then get back on the road and move to a new location. Daniel hasn't enjoyed it. He doesn't like running. He'd rather go looking for trouble, but I told him that he needs to take some time off after his last night, and even he's not stubborn enough to defy his girlfriend.
So, we've been staying in this town in Nevada for the past few days, and Daniel's crazy future self found us. He looked like he had had the tar beaten out of him recently. Walked like it to. He was staggering quite a bit. He approached Daniel immediately.
“You okay?” he asked.
Daniel glared at Para-Dan for a while before answering.
“I'm fine,” he said. “A bit out of the loop, though. Why haven't you been telling me anything?”
“Well, um...,” Para-Dan said, a bit awkwardly.
“Cat got your tongue?” Daniel growled. “Come on, spit it out. Why am I in the dark all the time?”
“Because I've had my own business to take care of,” Para-Dan replied. “Stuff that doesn't concern you.”
“What do you mean 'doesn't concern me'?” Daniel demanded. “I thought you came here to help. To give this universe a better future.”
“That is why I'm here,” Para-Dan said. “But I'm doing it MY way.”
“Well, I have my own way that I'm trying to do things,” Daniel said. “And you're not helping any.”
“You want my help?” Para-Dan asked. “Fine. What do you want.”
“Well, we can start with some answers,” Daniel said. “The fuck have you been up to?”
Para-Dan sighed.
“Marshall's been having me track some items down,” he replied.
“What items?” Daniel asked.
“No clue,” Para-Dan said. “I'm in the dark too, but apparently they're significant.”
“Whatever,” Daniel said. “So what about the Apostles? What can you tell me about them?”
“Next to nothing,” Para-Dan said. “I never encountered them in my timeline.”
“Why not?” Daniel asked.
“Because, in my timeline, I didn't kill the Archangel,” Para-Dan said. “They never had a reason to come after me.”
“Just perfect,” Daniel said. “Then what about the Vessel War? How does it end?”
“In my timeline...,” Para-Dan hesitated, as if something in his memories was eating away at him. “It's complicated...”
“What do you mean, 'it's complicated'?” Daniel demanded.
“I mean, it's fucking complicated,” Para-Dan answered. “It doesn't matter anyway. The Vessel War started after I killed Red Daniel, and as I've explained to you, that happened a lot later for me then it did for you. Because of that, the Vessel War in this timeline could play out completely differently.”
“Oh yeah, that's right,” Daniel said, angrily. “Because YOU decided to start up all that dimensional-bleeding bullshit early for me, because you thought it's make me stronger. But look at me now!”
Daniel spread out his arms, exposing his chest.
“I'm fucking powerless now!” he growled.
Para-Dan seemed speechless, and I think I saw a flash of guilt in his eyes. Daniel kicked the dirt in frustration.
“I know you said you want to help make this timeline a better place,” Daniel said. “But did you ever stop to think that you might be making it WORSE!?”
Para-Dan closed his eyes and clenched his fists.
“I didn't know that would happen to you,” he said. “I'm trying to make things right, but even I don't have all the answers, and things are playing out a lot differently this time around.”
“And whose fault is that?” Daniel asked.
Para-Dan opened his eyes, and glared straight into Daniel's eyes. I know I said that Daniel can be terrifying, but Para-Dan can be even more so, especially with all those mutations adding to his intimidation factor.
“Would you stop acting like a petulant child!?” he snapped. “I know I've screwed some things up, but I'm trying my damnedest to set things right again.”
“And what a great job you're doing,” Daniel said. “You don't tell anyone what's going on, you kill people without giving them a chance to change their ways, you keep showing up with new injuries without explanation, and then you run off again before we can get any fucking answers out of you.”
Daniel turned around and started walking off.
“Forget it,” he said. “Just go do your thing with Marshall. I don't give a shit anymore.”
Para-Dan scowled, and then spoke the one word which must never be uttered.
“Retard!” he snapped.
“Oh shit,” I said quietly, taking a few steps back.
Daniel stopped in his tracks and turned his head slightly.
“The fuck did you just say?” he growled.
“You heard me,” Para-Dan said. “Retard.”
Daniel's sheathed wakizashi appeared in his left hand. He turned around and started approaching Para-Dan.
“Daniel, please don't,” I begged.
Daniel stood face-to-face with Para-Dan, and said “you wanna say that again? To my face this time?”
ParaDan reached down with his left hand and clutched the scabbard of his rapier.
“You,” he said, “Are a goddamn, ungrateful, stubborn, immature retard.”
And then the fight broke out. Daniel drew his sword, which caught fir, and Para-Dan drew his own sword, and they started attacking each other.
“Stop it!” I shouted, but they weren't listening.
Para-Dan had started making use of the Godsway, teleporting in and out of it, keeping Daniel on his toes. But Daniel was attentive enough to catch Para-Dan every time he reappeared and continued fighting him.
“Seriously, you two!” I said.
Para-Dan started tapping into the Cold Boy's power, chilling the air around them. In response, the flames of Daniel's sword glowed brighter, protecting him from the coldness. Realizing this, Para-Dan stopped the coldness, and tapped into the Nightlander's power, instead, animating his shadow to join him in the fight. It was two-on-one now, but Daniel fought on anyway.
I waited a few seconds for an opportunity to present itself, then I ran in. I delivered a couple quick side kicks to both of their knees, disrupting their balance. Then I roundhouse kicked Para-Dan in the face and followed up with a hook kick to Daniel's sternum. Then I dropped my weight and broom kicked Para-Dan's feet out from under him, then delivered a full-force punch to his chest as he fell down, forcing him away. Then I shot back up and hit Daniel with a right hook to the temple, stunning him, then I knocked him back with a palm strike to the chest. My boyfriend can kick all kinds of ass. So can I.
“I said, STOP!” I snapped at them.
They both just lied there, staring angrily at each other for a while. Para-Dan was the first to get up.
“You want me to stay out of your life?” he asked. “Fine. Let's see you beat the Apostles without my help.”
Then he vanished.
I turned to Daniel.
“Well,” I said. “Our most powerful ally pretty much just said 'screw this, I'm out', and it's all thanks to you. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“He's a dick?” Daniel said quietly, averting my gaze.
I sighed.
“Well, what now?”
“I dunno,” Daniel said. “ParaDan doesn't know any more about the Apostles then I do anyway, so he wouldn't be able to help much either way.”
“Well, let's start with what we do know,” I said.
“Well, there's ten of them,” Daniel said. “At least. Their leader is some kind of immortal, or at least borderline immortal, with a magic sword. Then there's a guy who can make people do things just by telling them to. He almost got me to kill myself. Then there's the guy who drips his blood into wounded people's throats. I don't know what his deal is, but I'd bet his blood has some kind of healing powers or anesthetic properties. That's about all I got.”
“And Abdalin doesn't know a lot more, or at least he won't tell us,” I said. “So who would?”
Daniel remained quiet for a minute, thinking, before uttering a soft “Shit...”
“What is it?” I asked.
“I totally forgot Collector Tsu's phone number,” he said.
I sighed.
“I'll see what I can do about that,” I told him.
So yeah, that's what happened. Daniel and Para-Dan had a two-man temper tantrum, and have yet to kiss and make up. As I mentioned, I'm typing this up because Daniel didn't want to. Also, I'm gonna try talking to Tony soon, see if I can get Martyr Beta's number off of him. If I talk to Beta, I can probably get Tsu's number. If not, I may have to talk to some of my old servant contacts. Hopefully I can avoid that...