Sam

Small shuffling is heard around the two of them, outside of the light. Possibly whatever film crew he has. It’s difficult to tell for sure.

In all of his nervousness, he doesn't reach out to shake the man's hand, and when he realizes that, it feels far too late to fix that mistake. Which in turn only exacerbates his nervous train of thought.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

Then he's moving again, quickly circling Dark, still at a distance. Not trying to attack this time, clearly with a different plan in mind.

Dark doesn't bother to turn, doesn't bother to move, the axe resting across his shoulders. His chin droops towards his chest, eyes half closing. He almost looks relaxed. Through the shadows themselves, though, he's tracking Sam. Tracking the circling, tracing each step where it falls. He knows where his enemy is. The shadows condense like liquid, lapping around their legs in little waves of icy ink, making it a challenge to run at speed. The cold was all-encompassing, sinking into flesh, dulling senses and slowing reactions. The demon's eyes flicker. As Sam makes a pass behind him, he strikes - falling back into the shadows and reappearing in a split second. But it isn't the axe that falls: instead he snatches at Sam's arm with a clawed hand, and aims to bodyslam him into the cracked earth beneath their feet.

He's hoping that it overwhelms the demon, at least for a brief moment, just enough for him to get that little bit of an advantage.

They are the only thing he can't use his fake confidence to fight against. Because fighting back never ended well for him. It only caused him more pain, and so he gave up very quickly.

Even despite that, he's not any more vulnerable to physical attacks. He would fight just as ferociously if he had to. Being weak is something he'll avoid at any cost.

Then, just like that, he's back to attacking Dark, slashing at him, clawing at him, doing anything to hurt him. He's not holding back anymore, the attack more ferocious than any of his previous ones.

He's on the verge of breaking down, more so than usual. It makes him all the more dangerous and unpredictable. It's not like Dark would know that though.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

Then he's moving again, quickly circling Dark, still at a distance. Not trying to attack this time, clearly with a different plan in mind.

Dark doesn't bother to turn, doesn't bother to move, the axe resting across his shoulders. His chin droops towards his chest, eyes half closing. He almost looks relaxed. Through the shadows themselves, though, he's tracking Sam. Tracking the circling, tracing each step where it falls. He knows where his enemy is. The shadows condense like liquid, lapping around their legs in little waves of icy ink, making it a challenge to run at speed. The cold was all-encompassing, sinking into flesh, dulling senses and slowing reactions. The demon's eyes flicker. As Sam makes a pass behind him, he strikes - falling back into the shadows and reappearing in a split second. But it isn't the axe that falls: instead he snatches at Sam's arm with a clawed hand, and aims to bodyslam him into the cracked earth beneath their feet.

He's hoping that it overwhelms the demon, at least for a brief moment, just enough for him to get that little bit of an advantage.

They are the only thing he can't use his fake confidence to fight against. Because fighting back never ended well for him. It only caused him more pain, and so he gave up very quickly.

Even despite that, he's not any more vulnerable to physical attacks. He would fight just as ferociously if he had to. Being weak is something he'll avoid at any cost.

Then, just like that, he's back to attacking Dark, slashing at him, clawing at him, doing anything to hurt him. He's not holding back anymore, the attack more ferocious than any of his previous ones.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

Then he's moving again, quickly circling Dark, still at a distance. Not trying to attack this time, clearly with a different plan in mind.

Dark doesn't bother to turn, doesn't bother to move, the axe resting across his shoulders. His chin droops towards his chest, eyes half closing. He almost looks relaxed. Through the shadows themselves, though, he's tracking Sam. Tracking the circling, tracing each step where it falls. He knows where his enemy is. The shadows condense like liquid, lapping around their legs in little waves of icy ink, making it a challenge to run at speed. The cold was all-encompassing, sinking into flesh, dulling senses and slowing reactions. The demon's eyes flicker. As Sam makes a pass behind him, he strikes - falling back into the shadows and reappearing in a split second. But it isn't the axe that falls: instead he snatches at Sam's arm with a clawed hand, and aims to bodyslam him into the cracked earth beneath their feet.

He's hoping that it overwhelms the demon, at least for a brief moment, just enough for him to get that little bit of an advantage.

They are the only thing he can't use his fake confidence to fight against. Because fighting back never ended well for him. It only caused him more pain, and so he gave up very quickly.

Even despite that, he's not any more vulnerable to physical attacks. He would fight just as ferociously if he had to. Being weak is something he'll avoid at any cost.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

Then he's moving again, quickly circling Dark, still at a distance. Not trying to attack this time, clearly with a different plan in mind.

Dark doesn't bother to turn, doesn't bother to move, the axe resting across his shoulders. His chin droops towards his chest, eyes half closing. He almost looks relaxed. Through the shadows themselves, though, he's tracking Sam. Tracking the circling, tracing each step where it falls. He knows where his enemy is. The shadows condense like liquid, lapping around their legs in little waves of icy ink, making it a challenge to run at speed. The cold was all-encompassing, sinking into flesh, dulling senses and slowing reactions. The demon's eyes flicker. As Sam makes a pass behind him, he strikes - falling back into the shadows and reappearing in a split second. But it isn't the axe that falls: instead he snatches at Sam's arm with a clawed hand, and aims to bodyslam him into the cracked earth beneath their feet.

He's hoping that it overwhelms the demon, at least for a brief moment, just enough for him to get that little bit of an advantage.

They are the only thing he can't use his fake confidence to fight against. Because fighting back never ended well for him. It only caused him more pain, and so he gave up very quickly.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

Then he's moving again, quickly circling Dark, still at a distance. Not trying to attack this time, clearly with a different plan in mind.

Dark doesn't bother to turn, doesn't bother to move, the axe resting across his shoulders. His chin droops towards his chest, eyes half closing. He almost looks relaxed. Through the shadows themselves, though, he's tracking Sam. Tracking the circling, tracing each step where it falls. He knows where his enemy is. The shadows condense like liquid, lapping around their legs in little waves of icy ink, making it a challenge to run at speed. The cold was all-encompassing, sinking into flesh, dulling senses and slowing reactions. The demon's eyes flicker. As Sam makes a pass behind him, he strikes - falling back into the shadows and reappearing in a split second. But it isn't the axe that falls: instead he snatches at Sam's arm with a clawed hand, and aims to bodyslam him into the cracked earth beneath their feet.

He's hoping that it overwhelms the demon, at least for a brief moment, just enough for him to get that little bit of an advantage.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

Then he's moving again, quickly circling Dark, still at a distance. Not trying to attack this time, clearly with a different plan in mind.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

(( OOC: what if neither of them could do anything to the other, but something else makes them stop))

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

His spine buckled, body twisting as the skeleton within bent and broke, reshaping into something new, rapidly growing. His head dropped to a sickeningly wrong, broken angle, the skin splitting and tearing. Horns grew rapidly, breaking through his skull - four straight points upwards, and two thicker, curving out and upwards, finishing in sharp points. He stretched his hands, claws bursting through fingertips in spatterings of blood that bubbled where it hit the ground, changing from red to black. The demon hunched forward, wings of black feather bursting out through his back in showers of blood and viscera. Dark straightened up, fully demonic. His eyes were the only thing unchanged, the absence of any light - purest darkness condensed into two evil little pools. His face was changed - hollower, paler, with tiny spines along his cheekbones. His hair was longer, swept back into a neat bun to keep it tidy. The shadows wrapped around him, wreathed him in ink, and faded away again, repairing his suit in a moment from where his transformation had shredded the seams. "You truly want to fight? Then so be it."

Almost without any prior movement to indicate what he's planning, he takes off. Moving fast in a blur of glitches, but not attacking just yet. He just wants to test the waters. He feigns slashing at Dark, but not actually getting close enough.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It was far too late for that. Dark lifted a foot, and stomped it down, hard. The ground lurched, shattered like the surface of the mirror, ripped out from under his feet, and Sam was falling, head-over-heels, into a world of nothing but shadows, a world with no colour at all. -=-=- [ OOC: Checking in because he's getting scary. You still okay with this? ]

(( OOC: I'm awful at writing genuinely evil characters myself, and that kind of Dark is what I've been yearning for lol. So dw.))

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

He pauses, a little too close for comfort, and then begins to circle like a wolf around its prey, trailing ghostly echoes of himself in red and blue.

"And I don't really care how you'd use me. Won't be the first, won't be the last." He adds with a shrug. He means it in pretty much every way he could.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

He stays where he stopped, the distance between them less than it was before, but still leaving ample personal space. Despite a slight height difference, he still confidently looks the entity in the eyes.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

Something almost seems to have intrigued him about the creature he's faced with, the set of his brows suggesting curiosity, even though the black eyes don't change in the slightest. "You're... bold, Sam. To get this close to me."

He goes silent, seeming like he wants to add something else, but he changes his mind. He's already saying enough as is, no need to make it worse. He should probably try to figure Dark out first, anyway.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

He's keeping his distance, although only staying out of physical reach. Not even because of Dark, it's just a habit.

It started softly. The faint, echoing ringing. Then it was louder, and louder, and louder, rising into a terrible crescendo of noise so overwhelming it drowned out everything else around it. Inescapable. Clamping desperate hands over crying ears only made it worse - it was already inside, reverberating off the wrong side of his skull. The voice than spoke was a low, resonant growl, echoing just like the ringing - coming not from the vocal chords of the demon, but from somewhere inside his mind, words spoken directly into his head. "Show yourself... I see you..." The shadows bucked around the observing creature, twitching and roiling as if they were alive, a vicious shove between the shoulderblades that sent him sprawling out into Darkiplier's field of vision. Balance upset, tumbling head-over-heels through a whirl of darkness, and then brought to a harsh, jolting halt. It was not a comfortable position to have landed in. Arched a little awkwardly, the shadows pressing up against his back, but both arms pulled behind him. It was as if he'd had his hands and forearms submerged in freezing water, the shadows completely enclosing them, tendrils of darkness reaching higher, curling around his upper arms, and his legs similarly ensnared, sunk to the knees in icy shadows. Dark tilted his head, his outline shuddering for a moment, blue and red afterimages blurring in the wake of the motion. "State your purpose here."

His eyes are fixed on Dark, but he's avoiding eye contact. He doesn't have a death wish. At least not at the hands of someone else.

‘...look so much like me?’

"It's probably-... His doing." Whoever he's talking about, he clearly doesn't like them.