Mission Impossible

[Temperance Ayers]

"No Charlie! If they catch you--and Robbie--they'll kill you!" She almost had to tack on Charlie's brother, because he was just so... easy to forget. He was an afterthought most of the time, except when he thrust himself into their lives. Usually to glare at Tempie, or to be a creep peeking through keyholes.

"I can't let that happen again! I can't..." She broke off and her voice broke a little too. Tempie blinked hard, willing herself not to get too emotional. That was her problem, they said--she was too sensitive. It didn't do for a witch of her bearing and blood and caliber to be sensitive, so they forced her to bottle everything up and to keep her nose in the air, the way that a Hazleton ought to.

She clung to Charlie's hand for a second longer, then threw her arms around him. What a stupid man. Stupid, stupid Charlie with his hopeful eyes and his eagerness to please, even when his own life--and the life of his brother--was at stake. "Just leave! Please!"

[Charlie Ayers]

And what would they do to her if they caught her? That was what Charlie was worried about. Of course he was worried about Robbie, too, but he didn't actually think they were in danger--if they stuck together. The thought of walking out now on Tempie didn't sit well with him and his over inflated sense of justice. How could he even live with himself, knowing that he left Tempie to her fate? Whatever it was, he could face it with her. He would.

"Uh...ah." He didn't expect the embrace. Tempie had to be serious if she was going to hug him. Ever since they met, she had kept her distance from him, exuding a cold confidence that left little room for Charlie. Still, he tried his best to be whatever she needed in the moment. Even if that meant sleeping on the floor or a hard lounge settee.

"Tempie..." Her display of uncharacteristic emotion was getting to him now. He hugged her back, tightly, as if letting her go meant he was agreeing with her plan. He didn't like it. He didn't like the idea of leaving her on her own. Couldn't she see that?

"Listen, between us, we can get him free and get out of here," he said urgently as he took her shoulders in his hands, expression and tone earnest. "You need us. You need--"

"If you goons don't hurry it up," said a familiar demonic voice, finally making itself known to Tempie, "you're all going to be caught and little bro's going to bite the ax."

[Temperance Ayers]

"I—"

Tempie couldn't exactly refute the fact that three people—or two people and one staring brother—were better than one. Charlie and Patches had helped her a great deal up to now, but that was also why she didn't want them to get hurt!

"I—" She tried to articulate her fears and concerns, but Patches cut across all of them. Tempie stared at the familiar form of the cat slinking their way. "Patches!" She broke free of Charlie to scoop him up, giving him a great big hug. "Oh Patches! Thank you!"

Before Tempie could go any further, she heard something clunk open. A door. Swiftly she turned, ready to attack—a hex on her lips already—and then she gaped. A man stood in the door way, staring at them.

"Who are you?!" She asked, almost at the same time as the stranger.

"I'm Yang!" He replied crossly, but now his eyes were on Patches. Something like horror crossed his face. "You!" And then he kicked out at Patches. "You have SOME NERVE showing your face around here again!"

[Patches]

Patches, as he was now known, had a particular fondness for Temperance Ayers. She wasn't just a pretty face. She was highly powerful and she was a little rebel. Patches had an affection for rebels, something he could safely say that his Master Charles was not. Charles played by the book. He played by the rules. He placidly did exactly what he was told to do and it was lip curlingly disgusting to watch. A guy like that didn't deserve a girl like Temperance. But. Oh well. Here they were.

Still, despite liking Temperance, now wasn't the time for hugs. He looked up at her, let out a plaintive meow and then tried to wriggle out of her grasp because--

Of that.

That guy.

Patches narrowed his eyes.

"You have some nerve showing your face!" Patches declared with his chin in the air. He swiped at the air with his cat form, even though I'm Yang! was not within the vicinity of his deadly cat claws. "I told you goons to move it. Now we have to deal with this guy."

[Temperance Ayers]

"You--you two know each other?" Tempie asked in disbelief as she stepped back, and closer to Charlie. Definitely away from the stranger looming up on them. The man's power was immense. Even without doing anything, Tempie could feel his magic in the air--ancient magic, of such a high order that her mind could barely comprehend it.

"You--you wretch! You no-good lousy irresponsible--" Yang sputtered off, he was so indignant. He kicked at Patches again, and Tempie let out a cry. But the man's foot stopped just short and it looked like he almost didn't really want to kick him. Like he just wanted to vent his frustrations out on poor, innocent, sweet, helpful Patches.

"Don't kick him!" Tempie glared, finding some of her bravery back. "Stop attacking Patches, he hasn't done anything to you!"

"Oh PATCHES, is it? Is that the name he's going by now?" Yang's breast rose and fell visibly in his great--and baffling--anger. "Hiding here all this time, shirking his responsibilities? Eh? Patches?!"

Tempie's brain hurt. She wasn't following any of this, really, and when she looked over at Charlie and Robbie, she thought stupidly that they might know. But they probably didn't. "Who... are you?" she asked again, and Yang's stare in her direction made her squeeze Charlie's hand tightly.

"I," Yang said as he drew himself to his full height, "am Patches'... What do you damn humans call it..." He seemed to struggle to find the word. "Betrothed!"

[Patches]

Shaking his head, Patches let out a sigh. This was not the place or time for this! Dumb idiot betrothed. The thing about rebels? That was Kor. When he was a younger demon, he was the rebellious one who said HELL NO to getting married. Getting summoned by losers was better than getting betrothed!

"That was ages ago. How can you still be on that?" Patches asked, exasperated even in cat form. He swished his cat tail, refusing to switch to a human form or his demonic human form. Either way, he didn't want to be anything but a small little cat--because he could definitely get away faster. Or just, you know, flash out and leave these losers to it.

If he did that, however, he would pay for it because Charles might be a weiner of a master but he was still a master and he couldn't refuse his needs. Pah.

But you know, if time was the thing here--and it was, they were on a major time crunch--maybe it would be better to, ah, speed things along. So he stepped forward and wound his way around Yang's legs.

"Just let the witches do their thing. What do you have to lose, anyway? A silly job?"

[Yang]

With distaste, Yang pushed 'Patches' away with his foot. He had been against their wedding too, and he hated the thought of being wed to his frivolous cousin, but this was their duty. And Yang, he was duty-bound. Maybe it was an odd characteristic for a demon, but it served him well so far. The humans, however, had a much more appreciative point of view towards his dedication than his own family. If anything, they often spoke of 'Patches' and his great escape with grudging admiration.

Hmph.

"What are the witches doing here?" he asked loftily, keeping one eye on Patches and another on the young humans crowded in the hallway.

"We're here to rescue my brother!" The girl said defiantly, and in the blink of an eye she had thrown a hex at him.

Too bad it bounced harmlessly off of Yang, rebounding in a flash of green off the nearest wall. Yang looked at her as though she were a speck of dirt. Which, to be fair, she was--in the face of a being like him. "Are you Patches' mistress?" She didn't reply. She looked stunned, and also baffled. Yang scoffed. "Your tricks are useless here, just answer the question, girl. Which one of you owns this pathetic cat?"

[Charlie Ayers]

"Um."

Patches... had a betrothed? How...? It was a strange vision, imagining the demon he'd summoned being betrothed to somebody, especially this human looking guy. But no matter how human he looked, he was... very, very not human. There was power rolling off him in waves and the angrier he sounded, the more power seemed to swell through him. Charlie was, needless to say, intimidated.

But he didn't regret his decision. He firmly stood beside his wife, holding her hand and standing at her side. Her magic didn't seem to have even the slightest effect on the Yang guy and worse still, Patches' attempts to placate him weren't working, either. Charlie didn't know what else to do except step forward.

"It's me. I own the... cat. Although... he's not really a cat. He's a demon." Which was dumb of him to say. If the guy was betrothed to him, he must know he wasn't a cat. ...He hoped, because otherwise, things were way weirder than he could handle.

[Yang]

Oh he saw the revulsion in their faces and he heard their simple thoughts. A man and a cat? A man and a demon cat? Obviously, Yang was not a man--though he took the form of one for obvious reasons. Or maybe not. Hidden down here, the only one he interacted with was Zohod and Zohod was no human either. Well, that was unimportant.

These simpletons couldn't comprehend the world of demons. Yang and Patches were destined to be wed from the start--even before they came into being. It was their fate and Patches could only avoid it for so long! Yang appraised the young man who spoke up. He decided that he didn't like him.

"Give his contract to me." His tone brooked no argument.

[Charlie Ayers]

"What?" The word slipped out unbidden. Give his contract away? Did this guy know how hard it was to commit this contract? There were nights and nights of sweating it out, with no demons taking the bait. And then, along came Kor'ulach. When he first arrived, he was nothing but a plume of smoke. And then a strange man-thing arrived, with sharp teeth and sharp claws and eyes that he definitely never saw on any human he knew.

After that, though, he spent his time in the cat form that everybody grew to know and love. He was a lazy cat, too. He spent hours sunning like any cat. He seemed content enough to live life that way, just watching Tempie and making sure she was safe.

"I..." He started but Patches immediately latched onto his leg and looked up at him with dangerous eyes.

"Don't. You. Dare."

"I don't think I can..."

[Temperance Ayers]

"Oh, you can, and you will."

Tempie bristled at his tone. Rude! It was rude to command Charlie, to demand Patches' contract, even if they were... betrothed. Because Tempie knew exactly how that felt, she sympathized with Patches even more. Patches should be free to marry whomever he wanted! If it wasn't this man, then Yang just had to accept that Patches didn't love him!

"You leave Patches alone!" She slid to stand in front of both Patches and Charlie protectively. "And give me my brother! I know you have him locked up here!"

"...oh? He's your brother? You've come to rescue him."

Tempie swallowed. Then nodded. "Yes. And I'm taking him with or without your help, so... so stand aside!"

But to her dismay, a large figure appeared in the doorway, stooping almost bent double to get out. She gasped. Another guardian? On top of this strange man who wanted to marry a cat? The second guardian was frowning, and when he spoke, his voice was a low, booming rumble.

"Ey! Ye kids don't belong 'ere! Get out!" He swiped at them, pushing them back and away from the room where Tempie's brother was being held hostage.

[Charlie Ayers]

"No?"

He wasn't going to hand over the contract, especially not with Patches latched onto his leg and staring him down. Also, Tempie jumping to Patches' defense also sealed the deal. He couldn't do it if she disapproved. This Yang guy would just have to... marry somebody else!

Yang, however, was not alone. There was that other guardian. Charlie shivered under all the power. There was so much of it in one single place and he didn't know what to do about it. He was determined to help but Tempie's magic barely touched them and and and...

"Ahhhh!"

They were shoved aside by the sheer power of the second guardian and Charlie was knocked clear off his feet. In the attack, Patches let go of his leg and rolled away, then stood on all fours, back arched.

"All right, this is getting ridiculous!"

A puff of grey smoke appeared and as it cleared, the somewhat humanlike demon form appeared and threw out a hand, striking back with power of his own at the other two.

"Just give us her brother and stop playing your stupid little games."

[Yang]

Things were going well until Zohod decided to join in the fray, and then they seemed to go rapidly out of hand. Yang had no intentions of relinquishing the prisoner. This tiny little town wasn't ready for his power. These foolish humans didn't understand; they were young and hot-headed and full of themselves, thinking that their puny abilities could overpower that of the guardians.

Yang didn't blink when they all went flying back, but when Kor'ulach appeared in his true form (somewhat), annoyingly his pulse began to race. Not... because he felt for him. Ridiculous. It had simply been a long time since Yang had seen him, that was all. He was startled.

And Yang himself, in his human form, felt ugly. He put it on to fit in but these humans were so... naked. So bare. No protection from anything, their skin was paper-thin and their bodies horrifyingly easy to crush and maim. His own demon form was much more pleasing; everyone said it. They praised his beauty back home, but here... These plebeians had no obvious appreciation for it.

"You don't know what you're doing, idiot," he snorted as he took the brunt of Kor'ulach's retaliation and neutralized it with his own magic. Zohod could deflect magic, too, but this was personal. "We can't let the young Hazleton heir go. He'd destroy everything! Don't involve yourself in things you don't understand!"

[Patches]

"Really? You think some mortal child is stronger than I am?" Kor'ulach scoffed. The very idea was simply insulting. Even if they were speaking of an old mortal, they were still nothing but mortals. Their power was nothing compared to a demon's! And yet, here Yang was, acting as if letting the mortal go was going to cause the destruction of everything!

"If you and this meathead can keep him subdued, why in Lucifer's sweet hell do you think I couldn't handle him?"

He stepped forward, exerting more power toward Yang. Ooh, he would knock him off his feet if it was the last thing he did. Or not really. But he'd play at it.

[Yang]

"Because... he has the blood of Baël in his veins!" Yang pushed back with every ounce of strength that he had, in order to prevent foolish Kor'ulach from committing a grievous error. The humans thought that the young human was simply too powerful, but they didn't know what Yang knew.

Baël would arise, greater in power than ever. In order to do that, the fragments of his being that were imparted to humans must be collected and Yang, well, he was here to make sure that this particular fragment went nowhere fast. He worked for the lesser beings but his duty was to a higher order. One did not simply refuse one of the seven Princes of Hell.

Even now, Yang knew that Baël was roaming the earth, disguised as one of the humans. He was biding his time, collecting souls to strengthen himself. When he arose, Yang wanted to be by his side. The right side. His master would conquer the Earth and the time of demons would return.

And stupid Kor'ulach wanted to ruin all of that, because he was fond of a few humans!