Conversion of the Great White North [Territorial Battle] [OPEN]

Observing the demon closely, Zin noted that the Satanic Priest seemed more than happy to see him. Then again, from his encounters with demons, nay, freaks in general, it could just simply be battle lust. After all, it isn't even uncommon in their own family to fall prey to such a thing. So, with this knowledge in mind, The Vizard King would keep a close eye on the movements of Sunshine in order to make sure he didn't go ballistic on them.

"Problematic? Hm. Sure. It could be. Anyone attempting to start a fight would face more than just a minor issue, I can assure."

Chuckling with a sense of subtle taunting, the words which flowed out of Zin's mouth were self-assured and easy-going despite their bold claims. The reason for this is that if the male truly was here just to talk -- then he should not have been worried about upsetting the balance. This arrangement could only turn negative for him if he wished to otherwise penetrate and invade their lands. Something, that if he was here to do, would be one hellishly hard feat to achieve. Even if it was just him, the wall which The Yuudeshi posed to the mall would be a great hardship to overcome and he would not go down easily if it came to blows. However, since Zin possessed a cool head about the situation, he'd simply keep allowing the demon to ramble on about his cult or whatever.

In the meantime, the fire-lit eyes of The King of Vizards dashed back and forth to the environment around them. Even as his influence flooded the area, there was still a bit of kick-back from Sunshine's aura as it seemed to refuse to go down without a struggle. It is for this reason why shades of gold, white, black and red started overlapping in the skies above. While, in the air itself, most could even feel a sense of overwhelming hope and astounding despair. It was if they were trapped in between worlds, and the place in which these two pillars of light and darkness stood was the middle point between bordering on absolute insanity, and absolute willpower.

At any rate, the focus came back on Sunshine after he was finished uttering his first line of rancid gloom and discouragement. While it was true that people needed to understand to pain to appreciate pleasure, the way this freak went about it was all but wrong. Even if guided by the empowering light of will and hope, there will be times where their soul's inner shine is tested by even the most mundane of things. No matter how good a persons life is, there is always something to vent and be challenged against. Hence, the reason why Zin decided to step in himself is because Sunshine was doing exactly what Zin was, but for the opposite team. Which is a fact The Vizard King would not be shy about addressing.

"Those sentimental words sound nice and all, demon. But, to me, it looks like you are't even listening to what you are saying. If all a soul knows is cold despair and depression, how will they be able to know what the light and warmth is? You are doing exactly what you are accusing me of, but in reverse."

Inhale, exhale. That is all Zin did after he uttered those word of self-perceived truth. The inhalation of smoke from his cigarette relaxed his nerves to greater heights than before; which then caused a soft smile to emerge from his lips as he started rambling on himself.

"The only thing I did was act like an emergency repair switch and fixed the problem of an over dosage of despair. If you truly wanted to test the weight of your words, you'd let them go of your powers influence."

And that's where Zin stabbed a hole in Sunshine's defense. The only reason his will even responded in the first place is because the artificial sense of melancholy, dread and despair promoted its response. It would be one thing if they were persuaded simply by Sunshine's words, but it was obvious that was not the case. If they wanted to find light, hope, darkness and despair in the world -- they could do it of their own exploration. Not through either of their powers influence.

Nevertheless, The King moved forward with the conversation and laughed lightly once more at the comment "smoking kills". Really? In a world where cancer can be absolved, that's his little joke? Come on.

"You know what else kills, my demon friend? Feigning ignorance."

And that's all he truly had to say on that matter. Once the last bit of his smoke had been wasted on Sunshine, Zin promptly disintegrated it into nothingness with the sheer heat radiating from his body. In that moment, even The Demon would have felt the solar intensity of his soul's fire used in such a casual manner. In fact, if he wasn't too careful, he might just burnt by the wisp of this Vizard's embers.

"Cute."

In reference to the puff of pink smoke being emitted from Sunshine's body, that was Zin's playfully sarcastic reply. Still, it would be monitored in case the creep was attempting some sort of attack or another. After all, they were still enemies, but there was no reason to start an unnecessary conflict just yet. So, instead, he would zone in on The Priest's words and counter them once more with the same fact he used earlier.

"I'll drop mine when you drop yours. Until then, I'm comfortable putting my hand on the trigger of their influence."

Resting his arms at his sides, Zin did not consider himself to be a fool and understood the male was just playing coy with him at this point. It was honestly a bit tiring, but he possessed great amounts of patience to deal with the situation. Which is why he would continue to engage with the slithering cult-head.

"Like I said, my slimy Demon Friend, if you wanted to prove the strength of that hand, you'd do it without the influence your powers on these "lost" people."

There was yet another smile and stern tone of voice and body given to Sunshine as he asked yet again to save those souls whom he deemed "adrift". It was complete bullshit to Zin, but he'd humor him. With a glance upwards, The King dully noted the male was pushing his powers further out. Given that there was some sort of creature forming from a haze behind him, The Yuudeshi could feel that the male was definitely on edge at this point. To which -- he could only chuckle harder at. It seemed he had him on the ropes if he was that uncomfortable with his position.

It is the reason why Zin reduced the amount of heat coming from his as opposed to dwelling deeper into his power. He was assured of his stance and saw no reason to turn aggressive. Someone uncertain of their would be more on edge, paranoid and ready to snap at a moments notice -- just like Sunshine appeared to be doing. Hence why it was amusing to see him crack.

"As for what I'd do if I lost my inner fire? Simple: I'd die. There is no two ways about it and I do not deny it."

Those words were spoken in a complete and matter-of-fact way. There was no denying he had a greater amount of influence and power than most, but it was also for that reason why he had an obligation to those who didn't to protect their way of life and shield it with his burning spirit.

"Which is why I have a duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I understand what you are trying to do, but I disagree. The only one here lashing out is you. The more you prove your own words wrong, the more assured and relaxed my body becomes."

And that wasn't a lie. Compared to when they first came, the body language of Zin was loose and free like a summers breeze. Even his smile seemed to be more genuine than before.

"It's up to you what you portray my will as, but you should consider letting something else other than despair fill that cluttered head of yours. You'll kill yourself with that kind of craziness, Demon."

Having addressed most of his points at this time, Zin than gave one question of his own back at Sunshine:

"Given how much you've interrogated myself over my powers, can you tell me that your own stances would hold much weight without the cloud of embodied despair guiding you? We are two sides of the same coin, demon. I represent the yin, you represent the yang. So answer your own questions truthfully and tell me how you would even "enlighten" my "lost" people to this king."

After posing that question out in the air, The Yuudeshi turned his sights to the background. Was it him or was the plants in the area becoming more -- vibrant than before? Chucking to himself for the up-tenth time, it became clear to him that those Vanguard operatives were up to something tricky. At least they were proving to be useful in the way they managed to move most of the citizens out of the line of fire if these talks went south. To which, Zin gave a thumbs up for before turning his sight back to Sunshine.

"I expect an answer."

And with that, he'd conclude his stance and await to see what would come.

It appeared that the amount of change that Sunshine had caused had been altered. The other two who had appeared had removed the town from the general vicinity, and it appeared that the setting was now primarily between the white haired male and the red haired one. "Start a fight…? Oh no, not me…!" Sunshine assured the male before him, holding his hands up to show his lack of a weapon. "I am only a missionary, you see…! And we do not believe in forcing people to do anything that you would consider 'bad'… unless of course… you have a problem with telling people the truth…?"

Sunshine was no envoy of Shadowfall or Demonkind in general. It may be true that he is an Infanta, but he was here on religious grounds, as a missionary to spread the word of his Goddess. "That is simple… That is what the light of our Goddess is for…! A… haha…… haaa…!" Sunshine's broken laughter was let out, his arms wrapping around his body as he slowly leaned forwards, feeling the despair from Zin's argument falling back on his mind. "But in reverese…? That is true… but your path lacks the final end…! It's empty!!" Sunshine explained, still laughing as his spine continued to warp forwards, his constantly spiraling eyes looking up at Zin as he beheld the smoking man.

"No…! All you did was take away their clarity…! You're treating them like animals, to warp and bend as you please… Don't you see that…? Ah… ahha… ahahaha….!" That broken laughter left him once again, his arms squeezing tighter on his torso. "My 'powers'…? All I can do… is make a person feel what is already there… You try meeting a preacher… who doesn't do the same thing…! If a person had no reason to feel any hope at all, what good would your flame do…? It would feel like a lie, just as my words feel like lies to you…! Ahaha…"

With his laughter slowly coming to an end, the Evil Angel slowly straightened his back, simply having a small smile, a bit of drool running down his cheek. "Are you calling me a politician?" The male joked, his hair beginning to spread out on his head as he felt the heat of the flames. The control over his hair was using itself to spread the concentration, keeping himself cool through the gentle fanning of the hairs covering his body.

"Fine." Sunshine told Zin, as he dropped the aura that was around his body, before smiling as he tilted his head back, as Zin would feel the aura that he was letting out… become sucked into Sunshine's body, like a vacuum cleaner being pressed up against a pool of water. If Zin didn't stop the flow outwards, Sunshine would continue to absorb the hopeful energy, as his body was designed to do, his cheeks growing red as he began to pant slightly from the amount of hope that his body was absorbing, the air beginning to turn gray as only the pure fact of the influence remained, with its purpose abandoned. "I could have… brought… so many… with me… you know that…? I could have brought my followers… but I chose not to…! So… how about this…" Sunshine stated, slowly turning his face upwards as the smile left his lips, becoming deadly serious.

"Then I shall stop lashing out." Sunshine told him in response, before shaking his head. "Craziness? I disapprove of insanity more than anything." Sunshine told him directly, with a complete point of honesty behind his words. "I can say that they would. And that is exactly what I wanted to propose…!" Sunshine said, his hands falling to his side as he looked Zin directly in the eyes.

"You allow me to send an envoy other than myself, and inspect them for the ability to make influences with 'powers' the way I can. A much weaker member of my religion, to come here. In addition, I swear to you through a demon contract that Shadowfall shall never invade or assault Canada as a whole, or the Vanguard base that lives here. If my envoy is correct and the influence of my Goddes spreads to your people simply from the belief of one individual, then I shall have what I desire. After all… all I have to do is be wrong, do I not…?" The Spawn of the Poet asked, before slowly tilting his head back, his marshmallow hair falling back a bit as he held in his laughter this time, not wanting to detract from the seriousness of his response to Zin's demand.

"So… How much do you truly believe in the people who live here…?" Sunshine wondered to himself, and settled in to await Zin's reply...

With everyone asleep the scene was ready for a fight, but the situation was very hard to gauge. It seemed like the man was going to leave and not bother them again, but that didn’t feel right. “That mans words are honest, but something definitely feels off” Dashel said as he looked at Pierre. He continued “But he is sucking up the hope directly from Zin’s flames. He is leaving nothing behind but the remnants of the flame. IF this keeps up then who knows what he will be capable of.”

Pierre looked pensive for a few moments before looking at Dashel “Well if he is sucking the hope out of the fire, I say we suck the hope out of him. That way he can starve. Like drinking from a cup that only makes you thirstier.” He said at the younger Nature Iramasha.

“If I think you are going to use that ability aren’t there dangers? You could go insane and kill people, or even worse you could damage this whole village for a very long time.” Dashel said with concern in his voice and body. He was talking about Pierre’s “Bloom and Doom Garden.” In his first corrupted state his strike form created a mile wide area where plants would wither and die, releasing pure chaos energy, but after purification he could cause the plants to create the energy itself. Pierre and Dashel were on the same wavelength now. Dashel could identify the precise vibration that the hope energy that was being absorbed had. Combined with something that symbolized hope, such as Irises, Forsythias, and Snowdrops, they could quite possibly create a vacuum that would pull hope towards them and out of the area near the devourer of hope.

Pierre smiled at Dashel “Don’t worry about it. The demon inside of me has been cleansed. And with my gem I can handle this without going.” Pierre spoke and Dashel nodded, both in agreement that they fully understood what needed to happen.

They stood in front of the other and clasped hands as their eyes closed, complete focus was needed.

Pierre uttered the words “Floral Revolution’s Strike: Bloody Bloom” As he said those word black, thrown vine tattoos formed across his body and ripped out of his flesh. They dripped pure emerald green blood on the ground, Perseus own life and essence dripping on the ground. It didn’t seem to bother him, something that was indeed very painful couldn’t shake his resolve when his mind was made up.

Dashel didn’t have any sort of higher form, he was still too young for it, but what he could do he did very well. He tuned into the frequency that that created the energy and mixed it with Pierre’s plants ability to suck out nature energy to cause them to suck out hope energy.

Much like before plants started to grow around the town. This time black branches grew out the ground, slitting at 90 degree angles, creating a very geometrical lattice. On those branches grew small white flowers, creating a bush that looked like a golden wall around the building the two opposing men occupied.



Around that wall small droopy white flowers grew out of the snow and ice, creating small patches wound the town.




A carpet of purple and green bloomed through the streets as flowers grew.



If everything went according to plan then then not only the flames of hope would be attracted to these plants, but the energy the man had absorbed would be pulled out of his body, and stored in the plants. Once in those plants it would be locked within them, meaning that only one that could control the energy of plants could cause it to be released.

Yeah, yeah. Zin had heard that kind of talk from religious-nuts all the time. They say one thing, yet mean another. It was ridiculous, but he'd humor it. Therefore, The Vizard King gave a nod of the head towards Sunshine in order to confirm he had indeed hear the silly non-sense he muttered about not starting a fight and only wanting to be a missionary of whatever batshit cult he was apart of.

"Uh-huh. A peace loving missionary are you? Then, please don't skewer the world to suit your view, Demon Priest. After all, I wouldn't call that nice."

There was a slight chuckle given at the end of his sentence as the tone of voice coming forth from his mouth was everything but catty and sarcastic. You could almost taste, sense and feel the derision oozing out of the Yuudeshi. In his mind? There wasn't the slightest chance in hell that his so called "truth" didn't come with any strings attached. That's just how demons, nay, any slippery-snake were. As, there were humans just as vile as the ways this man preached. So, they were inherently stuck in a world of sinners, shark-toothed liars and wacko's.

...and boy, did he have the wacko part down to a science. The man had a laugh only The Joker himself could truly appreciate.

What. A. Weirdo.

At any rate, he'd indulge further in the ravings of a mad man and listen in to the words he hollered out. Apparently he had a problem with the fact his path had no "end". This conflict arose further insanity from within the demon as he started cackling like a drunk hyena. Eventually, though, he sobered up and started speaking as if he were enslaving those under his kingdom. That, in it of itself, should have arose laughter from the male. As, more than anything else, it was a joke and befitting enough to make The Flaming Haired Yuudeshi chuckle.

"Existence has no end, so it is only befitting this path does not either. Don't you agree, Wacko?"

When finished with his breezy, snarky comments; The King would then form up another cigarette in his right hand and ignite it through the might of his spiritual flare's heat. Man, he may need a whole carton of things if this guy keeps talking any further gibberish and hogwash. In fact, forget the smokes, he may need a drink to drown out that drivel. So, it is with another exhaling of white toxic fumes from his mouth that he would continue to address most of the flaws in his logic.

"Clearly, you aren't in the right state of mind to talk about clarity. If you believe drowning people in despair is going to make the truth of the world come out, you are delusional beyond all hope. For to have an objective view of the world, you need both the light and the dark to make proper judgement, Wacko. It's elementary philosophy at best, but it's a remedial concept your jacked brain failed to grasp."

Inhale.

Exhale.

He finished off the last of his tobacco and flung the fuming stick down at Sunshine's feet to otherwise symbolize the burning of his ridiculous ideology going up in lames.

"You aren't a preacher, Wacko. You are a brain deluder."

Another chuckle was given in response to his claims of being some sort of magnificent preacher of his religion. All Zin was a man so far gone from rational thought that he couldn't wake up, smell the roses and see the reality around him. The world didn't function off of despair or hope, but a gray neutral of both elements. Not even The Vizard King's flaming will could change that fact. So to fall under the absurd claim that despair could -- was -- quite frankly -- retarded to Zin.

"My warmth is just as much a lie as your frigid despair. The difference is, however, I acknowledge that and use them with responsibility to help others. At any time, they can reject my hand and go back to their wordy views. But, if someone is in pain, and needs determination, I have no problem giving them that push. That's all there is to it, Wacko."

There was a soft smile that eased on to the face of The Yuudeshi as he observed his manic conversational partner begin to drool like a blithering idiot. It showed just how much weight and influence his claims heard when it seemed as if the demon's brain could barely function. It was utterly stupid to believe that his way was any better if he seemed one bird over the coocoos nest.

"Politicians are nutjobs, but in their own special light, friend. So maybe."

That was the only reply he would give Sunshine in response to his joking tone. It was up to him what to make of it as he was curious if he was going to pursue that route further. So, out of his own amusement, The Vizard King would let out another small laugh and continue to observe The Lunatic Priest as he seemed to be relaxing in his atmospheric aura of despair.

...

"No."

That was the simple phrase needed in order to cancel out and negate the consumption of hope taking place in the area. The air was restored, the light and the shade returned and everything seemed to reach a middle point once more. Going back to the stance of neutrality in the world, it was improbable for Sunshine to outright remove Zin's presence as much as it was impossible for Zin to remove Sunshine's. They were both constructs of the world that kept the balance of all things to keep an objective view. Therefore, he would have his despair returned to him, but the aura of will, hope and determination still flowed in the area; if only generating from The Yuudeshi's body and influencing no one other than himself.

"The feeling is mutual. You aren't the only one with back-up, friend."

After dispensing with the devouring, The Yuudeshi treaded back on topic and replied to the demon's comments about bringing so many. True, both could have done so much, but it would be a waste of energy and effort to escalate things further if they could be dissolved through words. Following the aftermath of Australia, Zin truly had no desire to accelerate things to a level of destruction such as that event went to.

Digressing, at least the male seemed to lose the psychotic stick and started taking himself with a bit more earnest. Although, the words were still coming off as absurd given his actions, he seemed to be finally reaching a point to all this. Apparently he had a proposal and Zin would entertain in what he had to say by honing in on his words once more.

...

"Sure. Try us. Go ahead, send whom you want. I won't stop them."

There wasn't a break or pause in his words because Zin had the utmost of fate that the gray of the world would enforce his stance. Why was there a need to worry if you did not believe the words you said? That was how Zin felt, anyway. It's why he was still so calm, cool and relaxed because his confidence in what worked was unwavering. So, bring whatever creep on and they'll soon find their delusions shattered.

"Just know, I'll still hold you to your word, my nutjob of a demon friend."

Then, as rows of flowers started to blossom and bloom around Zin, The Yuudeshi would soak in the moment and -- soften up. The aroma was quite nice and he could tell those Iramasha were up to something to retain the hope in the world within these budding plants. Therefore, he would pick one up smell it and then toss it to the side with a soft chuckle.

"So make this beautiful day flourish and bloom for me, Wacko. Show me a good time before those delusions are sent to hell."