My Spirit Sleeping Somewhere Cold (Duorzum/OPEN!)

[Duorzum]

He had every right to be suspicious indeed. Duo was suspicious of everyone. He had been told lie after lie and he was sick of it. Instead of beating the truth out of people, he waited. Duorzum was a patient demon. Unfortunately, his patience was wearing thin now that the secret war he and his team had been waging was dragging on a lot longer than they had liked. Now new threats had been popping up left and right. This was wearing his metaphorical hair thin.

He answered Yazoo, "Duorzum. Duo for short."

His guns were still overheated, the metal hissing as snow pelted the barrels.

[Deleted]

Focusing harder on Duorzum's face, Yazoo could sense carefully guarded emotions behind the mask of calm. This man had many a story to tell, though he would most not likely not say them out loud. There was something inside the depths of those purple eyes that reflected a certain pain that led to his mistrust. Something, or many somethings, had led to his mistrust. Yazoo quickly dissmissed these thoughts, for if he ended up staring blankly into this man's face in attempt to read his emotions like a book, he'd no doubt find himself with a bullet in his stomach.

"Well met, Duorzum. If you don't mind the asking, why was that thing chasing you? Or, rather, why were you chasing it?" The silver haired Remnant asked, gaze flicking to where the last dying blue flames lingered on the snowy ground, soon to be extinguished by the wind and cold.

[Duorzum]

Yazoo was lucky his gun barrels had overheated. Both of them. Had they not been, the silver-haired man would have been nailed with twelve bullets, a cluster from each gun. Still.... His thoughts were broken when he was asked why the beast was here. Well, this guy helped him out against it. It was only fair that he knew about it.

"I lured it away. I would rather have it chase me, than anybody else."

Truth be told, he wanted the thing dead. Until then, he'd have to settle for luring it away until a plan was forged.

[Deleted]

Yazoo's smirk turned somewhat feral as he could sense Duorzum's longing to plunge a pullet into him. He could tell that the other man did not trust him as far as he could throw him, which, now that he thought about it, could be further than he thought. So, not a good analogy for the current situation, but the point is clear enough: Yazoo was not trusted here. Not that he cared. He was used to it, for his relations to Sephiroth earned him only fear and mistrust.

"Ah. An attempt at being heroic." He replied to Duorzum's explanation. "Commendable, yes, but why stick your neck out for people you hardly know, much less have a connection with? Personally, I don't see a reason why one would do such a thing." A small chuckle escaped him. "However, I am unlike most. A big, bad villan, by reputation."

[Duorzum]

Duorzum thought that this man had completely ignored what had transpired earlier. If he really wanted to tangle with him, after seeing him get bashed on the side of the head by that beast's tail and survive it, then the demon could take a few bullets. He did not answer to Yazoo's questions, as he did not have the right to know just yet. Besides, didn't he just say that he was a "big bad villain" by reputation? Heh, he never heard of him.

"Your reputation is lost on me. Besides, you don't look like one of his experiments."

What was he talking about?

[Deleted]

"Experiment?" It took a fair ammount of effort on Yazoo's part to keep his voice level. Rage flared in the pit of his stomach at the term. He hated to think that he had been created in such a way, and by Shin-Ra at that. Even though he was merely a combonation of S and Jenova cells, he refused to be referred to as such.

"No, I am not an experiment. I may not have been created... naturally, but I am not an experiment." Okay, so that was a lie. No matter how much he opposed it, he was just another one of Shin-Ra's creations. However, this creation was about to seriously throw the decision of making him back at them.

"Do you think that the thing will be back for us?" He stated after a long pause, trying to keep the subject from straying too close to his past.

[Duorzum]

He had heard this denial several times. Duo even denied it himself a few times before. He had eventually come to terms with himself that he was not born, and he was not natural. After all... he had someone else's face. Well, if Yazoo thought that way, Duorzum might as well give him the rundown.

"That creature is also a product of science. It is a guarentee he will be back, and with friends. Possibly drag the head scientist along himself."

If he did that, then both were screwed unless they left the area to hide somewhere. Duo was not in the mood for this, nor was he in shape for it. He could not deal with both a creature of raw strength, and a creature of pure speed. The two concepts did not sit well with him. He would be completely ravaged between the two.

Duorzum was fond of living.

[Deleted]

"Lovely." Yazoo grumbled, folding his arms across his chest. He had no intention of looking like a coward in front of Duorzum, but how could he help it? Charging headfirst into a battle that couldn't be won would be suicidal. "I believe that sticking around here and waiting for the thing to come back would be idiotic. As much as I'd like to kill the thing, having to fight it and its "freinds" would be suicidal. So, I guess I will bid you a farewell." He turned, casting a two fingered wave to Duorzum before walking off, with silver hair swirling behind him.

His motorcycle still lie on the icy ground, covered with a thin layer of snow. With an exasperated sigh, the Remnant promptly lifted it up and attempted to start it again. To his surprise, the engine hummed to life. A satisfied look spread on his face as he mounted the vehicle and drove off.

The wind and snow once again bit at his pale-skinned face as he drove down the desolate, ice covered roads. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long ride out of here. In the middle of his ill-tempered grumbling, a blazing streak of fire flashed through the air, seeming to near him. That thing was back! He slammed on the breaks, skidding a good ten or twenty feet before stopping completely. The snow whited out most of the sky, yet he could just barely make out the shape of it. The beast threw its head back and shot a stream of fire directly at him. Yazoo was just able to leap off his motorcycle before the flames crashed to earth.

Yet, the most disturbing thing was not the fire. A thick cracking sound came from under his feet as cracks spiderwebbed over the ice he was standing on. Too late, he realized that it was not an icy road he'd been driving down, but a frozen body of water. The ice gave way under his feet, plunging him into an icy darkness.

[Duorzum]

He watched him go. Yazoo was right. Standing here waiting for them to return with more troops was suicide. Duorzum was about to take off in flight when a blue streak caught his attention. Ah shit! Too late! He took wing, stopping where he witnessed Yazoo plunging into the water. Duo's wings folded back, about to take a dive into the water to get him out, when a strong claw had a grip on his tail. Another claw had a powerful grip all over him, keeping his arms and wings pinned to his sides. No matter how hard he struggled, that grip would not waver.

"Me have purple bug now! Dad, me catch purple fly! Tiny boy on zoom-zoom fall in water, too!"

A voice from behind the draconic monster spoke up, sounding both pleased and malicious, "Well, go fishing, Teivel."

"Me get fish! Fish for Dad!"

Teivel snuffed out the blue fire, taking a plunge into the body of water to retrieve Yazoo. Duorzum squirmed and wiggled, but the huge fist he was trapped in squeezed harder, forcing him to stop.

[Deleted]

Yazoo, completely caught off guard, floundered helplessly in the frigid waters for a few brief moments. The cold seemed to fill every cell in his body, threatening to enclose him forever in it's icy grip. Just as darkness began to fade the corners of his vision, a great pressure closed around his numb body. Panicking, Yazoo frantically tried to force his way out, to no avail. His struggles died down to weak squirming as his partially limp form was hauled out of the water.

As his head broke the surface, the Remnant took a frantic yet deep breath, actually thankful for the cold air that seared his lungs. "What..?" He rasped weakly, green eyes flicking to the beast that held him. His stunning silver hair was plastered to the side of his face, only making him look smaller. His eyes widened slowly as his brain registered the fact that the beast had him.White hot adrenaline shot into his blood, burning away the fatigue. His arm moved instinctively to his side to draw Velvet Nightmare, but the dragoniod's strong grip had his arms pinned to his sides."Insolent..!" He snarled, eyes flaming with rage.

[Duorzum]

Teivel exploded out of the water, having Yazoo and Duo in his grip. The Violet Demon thrashed a bit, but froze up when he saw who was flying in front of him. Hair of black and white, patches of scales and skin all over his face and neck, white lab coat, long clawed feet, a tail with a stinger, and flying via giant dragonfly-like wings. The heavy buzzing drowned out the howl of the next blizzard.

"Well, nice to see you again, creation."

Duorzum roared at him, thrashing harder now. He wanted to rip the man in front of him to pieces! Fleshy confetti! Meat ribbons! His violet eyes took on a more intense glow as he snapped and squirmed. The hovering male in front of him grabbed his face, and forced his head to the side.

"I can't have you tossing about on the table, now can I? You're incomplete, and I must finish you."

A syringe was pulled out of the lab coat pocket, full of transparent fluid. After the quick injection into the angry experiment's neck, the fluid began it's magic. The thrashing slowly ceased. The mutated scientist pulled the syringe out to stare at Yazoo with mismatched eyes, "And you. I've read about you. We are going to have some fun."

Teivel made a happy-sounding noise.

[Deleted]

Yazoo's face remained impassive as he gazed levally back at the scientist, but he couldn't supress mingled fear and dread from flaring in his stomach. He winced as the syringe was plunged into Duorzum's neck, for he knew he was next. "Humph. Good luck. I've fought people much more impressive than you. And, as improbable as it sounds, much more grotesque." He allowed that insane Sephiroth grin to stretch across his face.

However, he had a horrid feeling that this man had some plans for him, plans that he couldn't fight against. He did not allow this to show on his face, but it was hard not keeping it from sparkling in his eyes.

(Writers block)

[Duorzum]

The scientist listened to what Yazoo had to say... then after, started laughing. The laughter was a mixture of a malevolent laugh and a beast's growling. He started to applaud the silver-haired captive, having a shark-like grin plastered to his scaled face.

After, he pulled out another needle, this one full of the same liquid, "I have heard that many times from many would-be heroes, but how have they all failed. They wound up as they very beasts they were fighting against. Hm... perhaps I could mutate you! Let's see how well you fare against hyper-mutations!"

The needle went in... and so did the liquid. Teivel immediately followed his "dad", the scientist flying slow so the big beast could keep up. Well, they were headed to what Duo was flying away from. They were headed to a hidden lab outpost in Icicle Area.

When Duo woke up, he was back in a tank. He was sure that Yazoo was in a tank too. There wasn't anybody around him, but he wasn't fooled. He had learned that in every lab, there were other experiments watching. Duorzum felt sluggish, weak, and tired. No wonder he didn't want to attempt to bash the tank open.

The glass was mixed with other things, so he couldn't break out that easy anyway. Instead, he waited.

(It's ok. Plus I decided to skip ahead ever-so-slightly just to get to the action.)

[Deleted]

Yazoo sucked in a pained breath through his teeth as the needle was plunged into his neck. It was not the needle itself causing the pain, rather than whatever was in it. But, regardless, agony exploded in the spot in which he'd been injected. That same insane grin stayed on his face, for he was determined to not let this man see his pain. "Well, I'm not a hero. Far from it." And he fell into dizzying blackness.

He awoke to a sound of water roaring in his ears, along with a sluggish hutring all over. Yazoo forced his eyes to open, having to ignore his brain's shriek of protest. Staring through a green liquid, he had to bite the inside of his mouth to keep a shocked, horrified scream from coming from his lungs. He was in a tank. Again.

[Duorzum]

The scientist walked through the doorway, punching a button on his way in. An examination table popped up from the floor, along with robotic arms from the ceiling. He immediately walked up to the tray and grabbed a syringe full of a dark blue liquid, as casually as possible. He turned to his two captives in their respective tanks with a malicious grin, "Who wants to go first?"

Duorzum tried to roar at him, but it only came out as a muffled gurgle thanks to both the water, and thick glass-like compound. He wanted to shred that mutant scientist apart so badly, and the only thing that stood between that was a strange combination of glass and other elements. The scientist shook his head, and pointed at Duorzum with the syringe, "You never learn, do you? This little war of yours has gone on long enough, and you know it. Save yourself the trouble of all this nonsense and surrender. Look at you. You're killing families, burning towns, and getting others involved. Hah! And you want to be human?! Ridiculous. You will always be a monster."

That pissed Duorzum off. His punches against the tank walls had gotten more frantic, even adding in a few ear-screeching slashes. The walls would not budge. While the violet demon was being sent into a bloodthirsty frenzy, the bug-winged scientist turned to Yazoo, "Well well, I've snared another in my web. I've read your files and notes about you... after hacking into the Shin-Ra archives... and I am not quite as impressed as I was with Sephiroth. This does not mean I can't make you better!"

He approached the tank "glass" and tapped on it with the end of the syringe, wanting to provoke a response from Yazoo.