A Hero's Duty: A Zero and Maero Production

[MasterZero]

Savior sighed in defeat, and programmed the computer to alert him immediately for any signs of the two magical beings, before walking off, wishing to relax and be with Hope. If nothing else, maybe he could help her inch closer to sanity.

[Maero]

When Savior entered Hope's cell, he would find she was not alone. Hope was unbound, her bindings neither ripped nor damaged, it looked more like she had been freed, and she stood at her full height, her wings spread as she hissed at the occupant of the room. Although it may have been hard to realize it at first, it was indeed Dess who stood before her, tall and mightier than before. His skin was now a darker shade, his eyes glowing with a malevolent red. His wings were spread as well, and shadows waved and flickered about his obsidian feathers like slow moving flames. His every movement left an almost physical echo, and even his breathing made the atmosphere heavy. He was not naked, nor was he dressed in the chains he wore before, instead wearing some torn jeans and a black shirt he had probably stolen. Both emanated mist as though they were being frozen, and indeed that was not so far from the truth.

There was no hole in the wall or sign of forced entry, he had likely teleported here somehow, though how he had located this place was a mystery. Demon Flower growled and snarled, clearly possessed by her other nature, her eyes filled with mindless blood lust, and yet even in her insanity she seemed hard pressed to stand directly before the creature. Neither of them seemed to notice Savior's entrance into the room, both staring each other down, Demon Flower snarling like a wild beast, while Dess stood silently, uncaring or undaunted by her display.

[MasterZero]

Savior walked into the room and froze in a mix of horror and shock, seeing not only Hope freed,but Dess in the room with her. He quickly reached for his stun gun and aimed it at the two, though he doubted it would do any good considering who Dess was. "Dess. Why are you here? Why did you release Hope?"

[Maero]

Demon Flower turned to see Savior as he talked and hissed at him, but turned back to Dess a second later. "I came here," Dess said in a voice that seemed to be both heard and felt within the mind. "To repay you for freeing me. Many mortals would have deemed it necessary to bury me along with Dark Spell's wretched cave." Demon Flower then lunged at him, her teeth bared as fangs and her clawed hands outstretched. Dess took a step forward instead of avoiding her and grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her mind flight. He then turned and slammed her into the wall behind him and forced her to keep looking into his eyes. "But then I found this creature. She is...a phony." He growled. She struggled in his arms, causing him to slam her into the wall three more times before she stopped. "This woman...who is she? Why does she bear both my mark and the mark of my brother?" He asked.

[MasterZero]

"Be careful, you'll hurt her!" Savior yelled, seeing Demon Flower being slammed into the wall. When he asked who she was, he began to explain. "Her name is Hope. She used to be known as Demon Flower, a superpowerful criminal. I've taken her in and have been trying to help rehabilitate her and return her sanity." He then went on to explain her past, how she was changed and turned insane by the experiments conducted to her.

[Maero]

Dess nodded tossed her into the opposite wall, where she landed hard, but was up on her feet in seconds as though she had not felt it. "Her insanity is drawn from my brother's seal, the seal of hatred...it is strange, but only her mind bears his mark, while her body bears mine." Demon Flower then leaped at him, claws bared, teeth showing. But he stopped her mid flight, doing something almost terrifying. He had never taken his eyes off her even once, but now something new happened, it was as though the eyes Savior had seen, and the eyes that he had been staring at Demon Flower were actually just...second lids. Transparent yes, but as these nearly undetectable second pair of eye lids opened, they revealed Dess's true eyes, two freezing pits of malice and evil. Instantly, Demon Flower was captured, encased up to her head in obsidian glass, completely unable to move. Dess then turned towards Savior, quickly closing her second lids as he did so. Demon Flower growled futilely, but was caught, though at least she seemed fine. "I can offer you two things. I can remove my mark from this woman, and free her from the seal of malice's grasp. Her body should return to normal, though her mind will remain in madness. Or I can deliver Dark Spell onto you. Choose."

[MasterZero]

"What?" Savior asked as he was suddenly given the options. "Why do I have to choose? Why can't you help me with both?" he inquired. Once he answered, he would between the two to think. On one hand, if he had Dark Spell, he could help Shad'Ja. On the other, this would help him stop Demon Flower, and give him better chances to help Hope heal her mind. While he wanted to help both out, he felt a slightly stronger love towards Hope, the poor innocent girl. So, if he had absolutely no choice and was forced to help one, he would pick... "Remove the mark."

[Maero]

"You must choose because I am not hero, and I am not a terribly charitable person. If I remove this mark from her, then I will be free to exact vengeance on Dark Spell. I will unsure that no mortal will ever suffer as much as she is about to. But if you stick to your code, I will not impede it and hand Dark Spell over...but at the cost of my vengeance, so it will be at the cost of that mark."

Once Savior chose Dess would nod and walk up to where Demon Flower was being held. "Just so you understand, she will still be insane and still attempt to attack everything around her. But she will be a normal human doing this, not what she is now, so it will make her easy to overpower. do you wish for me to proceed?"

[MasterZero]

((Slow posting. I'm busy right now. Sorry, pal))

When Savior heard what Dess was planning, and he heard the word 'code,' he remembered his duty to all sentient life. "I change my mind! Bring Dark Spell to me. I...I cannot allow you to do what you want to. Even knowing what you had to go through. I'm sorry, Dess. Please, just put Hope back in her bounds and bring Dark Spell here."

[Maero]

Dess growled and turned to face Savior. "You realize how many people she has killed right? How many daughters have been ripped to shreds by the undead form of their own parents? How many traumatized orphans she has left in her wake for nothing more than money, or even simple amusement? I will do as you ask...but would your little demon friend here not be a more suitable cause than that wretched creature?" Dess clearly wanted his revenge, but if Savior insisted, he would nod and shatter the glass that held hope before grabbing her by the face pressing her into the wall. As she flailed and screamed and roared, her reached out towards savior, making a gas grenade shoot out of the hero's belt and into his hand. He would puncture it with his claw and focus the pressurized contents into Demon Flower's face, knocking her out eventually. He would then drop her, and in a shimmering cloud of shadows, disappear.