(Commission Grey and Cedric art by Discord (Comms open 1/2) #BLM on Twitter)
(Grey Encounter Theme: Lifelight Instrumental Metal Remix)
(Asmodeus Encounter Theme: Schizophrenia from Saya No Uta)
Grey silently gasped as the opposition turned, and his eyes widened. In front of him and Cedric, there was a strange, floating, dark creature that had an empty smile and empty-looking eyes that were full of veins. It also had no legs, and it had round, gray things attached to its wrists that had weird-looking squarish things attached to them. But that wasn't what frightened Grey. What scared Grey was the person who stood next to the creature. That person appeared mostly human except for the fact that he had pure red eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
No, it can't be him, it just can't be! Grey thought, his SOUL gripped by fear.
"Oh, will you look at that!" the false human said, "We meet again, my patchwork vessel! =D"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Cedric asked indignantly.
"Oh, you don't know?" the fake human said while chuckling, "Your little friend here provided me w/ a body, and I gave him that body he has now. =]"
Cedric's face tried to match his emotions, but it could NOT express the utter confusion and shock he felt at that moment.
"Whabjsjhujkhg, Grey, tell me this fucker isn't serious!"
I'm sorry, but he's telling the truth, and I fear that my life will be cut short by this encounter, Grey wrote regretfully and fearfully.
Cedric looked at the duo in front of them in horror and anger.
"How could you?!" he shouted.
"I suggest you calm yourself, my dear demon," the floating creature said threateningly, "Don't make me do something I won't regret. OUO"
Grey jumped at that voice. It sounded like the dark creature had come from the depths of heck itself. Cedric, ignoring the tone, readied his guitar. Grey, despite his shuddering fear, followed suit and brought out his gray cleaver.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing, you floating, eyeless piece of shite," Cedric w/ a toxic edge to his voice.
"My, aren't we touchy," the dark creature said w/ a big, condescending smile as he turned to his partner, "Azrael, let's teach these two heathens a lesson."
"Oh, yes, let's!" the fake human who was known as Azrael replied.
The dark, floating creature began to warp and distort before Grey and Cedric's eyes. He slipped himself into Azrael's hands and reformed into a long staff w/ a wicked-looking blade at the top.
"Let's see how you fare," the enemy duo said simultaneously.
(ACTUAL) FIGHT START!
(Song: Napstablook Undertale Last Breath theme)
Azrael dashed so quickly at Grey and Cedric that they barely had time to dodge as he sliced at them. He then rushed at Cedric and got knocked back into an aerial float.
"What the-?" Cedric started before Azrael fired off a volley of thin blasts.
His weapon broke apart and covered Cedric. The different pieces of the creature exploded, and Cedric got blown back. His health bar was down to 90%.
"CEDRIC!" Grey shouted.
He then immediately slapped his free hand over his mouth.
Why did I speak, why did I voice my thought, why did I make a sound. Why did I talk, and why did I let myself make a shout?!
Even worse was the fact that Grey's voice sounded incredibly wrong! It was very rough, kind of lower than it should be, and it sounded like he had something in his throat. Everyone, Cedric, especially, stood in shock at this moment.
"Did you... just speak?" Cedric asked as he got up.
"Yep, and what a voice it was!" Azrael said gleefully.
He then dashed over to Grey. Grey, incensed at what Azrael had done earlier, was ready for the dash this time, and he managed to raise his cleaver and blocked the blade.
"Ooo, so you do have some fight in you!"
Grey attempted to strike at a different spot, but Azrael anticipated this and blocked Grey's strike.
"Uh uh uh, it's not going to that easy, dickhead," Azrael's weapon said.
Grey and Azrael kept trying to strike at each other quickly, but neither could get a hit in.
We are getting nowhere w/ this battle. Grey thought worriedly. Wait, can I summon a second weapon to help?
Grey summoned a second cleaver behind his back. When he and Azrael clashed again, Grey quickly brought his other blade out and struck at Azrael w/ it. Azrael was stunned at this. His health was down at 92%.
"Heh, not too bad, patchwork. But let's see how you deal w/ this!" Azrael said.
He quickly appeared behind Grey. He then slashed at Grey. The slash would've connected and dealt a nice amount of damage had it not been for Cedric suddenly appearing behind Grey and blocking the strike w/ his guitar.
"Grey, switch to me!" Cedric shouted.
They switched positions. Cedric dashed over to Azrael and swung his guitar at the fake human. Azrael, of course, blocked the blow. Cedric, instead of continuously trying to strike, chose to strum the guitar hard. Azrael got blown back a bit by this, and in his moment of shock, Grey quickly dashed over to him and made an x-shaped slash w/ both of his cleavers. Azrael fell onto his back as a result, and his health was down to 77%.
"NO! We will not get done in like this! Get up. I have an idea!" Azrael's weapon said.
Azrael got back up. His scythe reformed into his dark partner.
"I will provide the main firepower. I want you to provide me w/ backup," the creature said.
He then floated up above everyone, muttered something quickly, and began to fire off dark magic blasts. Grey and Cedric scattered and had to be on their toes to avoid the magic.
(Because your partner is gone, use the attack button to use a short-range blade and the EX button to use a long-range one).
As the dark creature fired off his dark magic, Azrael rushed at Grey and Cedric w/ two mismatched purple blades covering his arms. He mainly used his longer weapon to make overhead slashes at the duo, and when he got in close, he used the short one to slash at them.
Why does their strategy feel so much like Ash's combined w/ Cherry's? Grey thought.
At any rate, everyone, except for the floating creature, kept taking continuous damage. Grey and Cedric had a hard time dodging both the blasts and Azrael's blades while Azrael, even though the magic couldn't hurt him as they kept veering away from him, had a hard time keeping up w/ both Grey and Cedric at the same time. Eventually, none of them could keep going. Grey and Cedric dropped down on one knee, and Azrael breathed heavily for a bit before falling on his back. The dark creature ceased his firing once he noticed Azrael wasn't moving.
"Oh, fuck! Ok, everybody stop! This battle is OVER!" he shouted.
DRAW!
The creature then wrapped himself around Azrael and teleported out of the facility, just as Grey and Cedric were getting back up.
"Dammit!" Cedric exclaimed while snapping his fingers.
The dark creature then teleported back to them w/o his partner.
"What do you want?" Cedric asked acidly.
"Silence, because what I'm about to say will only be said this once. My name is Asmodeus, and I'm here to give you a warning. If you brutally harm my partner or, heavens forbid, you kill him," the creature said.
He then began to chuckle maniacally.
"HELL WILL FEEL LIKE A FUCKING PARADISE COMPARED TO WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU!"
Asmodeus then laughed spasmodically as he disappeared a second time.
(Grey Side)
Grey and Cedric could only look at the spot that he had been in horror (Grey) and fury (Cedric). Cedric then turned to Grey w/ more soft expression.
"Ignore him. I will make sure that his threat will NEVER come to pass," Cedric told him.
Grey looked into his eyes. While he was still afraid, Cedric's words and expression made him feel so good and safe that he nodded.
"Good, now hold my hand, and I'll get us out of here."
Grey did that. Cedric's tail twitched, and Grey went through the tight tunnel again. When they were through, they were back out in front of the client from before.
"Whoa!" he said, surprised, "Did you take care of the intruders."
Cedric sighed.
"No. While we did weaken the intruders, they sadly escaped from us."
The client got a pained expression and sighed.
"Fuck. Well, how bad is the damage in the facility?" he asked.
"All of the bots are scrap metal. A few of the forbidden items are no longer usable. The bot that I assume held the intruders up is now shrapnel. Finally, the intruders stole a spellbook," Cedric explained.
The client sighed.
"Are most of the items still intact, and does the interior at least look presentable?"
"Thankfully, yes," Cedric said.
The client sighed again.
"Well, you didn't get the intruders, and there is considerable damage, but you did your best, and the facility is still mostly intact, so I'll give you your compensation," he said.
He then pulled green rectangles from his pockets.
"How much?" asked Cedric.
"$2,000."
Cedric held his hand out, and the client put the rectangles in his hand. He then counted them.
"Ok, thank you," Cedric said w/ a smile.
The client waved at Grey and Cedric as they walked off. After the client was out of sight, Cedric stopped and turned to Grey.
"So. I finally got to hear you say something earlier," Cedric said slowly.
Grey jumped at that, and his eyes widened.
Dear Lord, I almost forgot about that horrible incident! Grey thought.
Grey stood stiff w/ nerves and fear.
"Could you please do it again?" Cedric asked, "I would much prefer to hear you speak to reading your words."
But, I'm not supposed to make sounds! Grey wrote frightenedly.
"As one of your new guardians, I permit you to speak whenever you'd like," Cedric said.
Grey was about to write something down before Cedric snatched the notebook and pencil. Grey looked at him in shock.
"No more writing. I want to hear you speak w/ your voice, NOT w/ a pencil."
Grey, unsure of what to do, shook a bit.
"Please, I want to hear you speak. I listened to a bit of your voice earlier, and I would love to hear more of it," Cedric said calmly.
Grey, not having spoken in years, struggled to get his words out. After a moment, Grey took a deep breath.
"D...d...do y-y-you honestly want me to speak?" Grey finally asked uncertainly.
Cedric's eyes widened, and he gave Grey a big, warm smile.
"Yes, yes! Finally, you said a sentence instead of writing it!" he exclaimed.
He then scooped Grey into a big, tight hug. Grey blushed hard at this. After a few seconds, Cedric put him down and handed back the notebook and pencil.
"I'm so glad that you finally spoke! I hope that you can do it all the time!" Cedric said breezily.
"You want me to do this all the time?" Grey asked quietly.
"Of fucking course! Your voice sounds a little weird, but it's pleasing to me at the same time," Cedric replied w/ a smile.
"A-are you sure?" Grey asked while pushing his index fingers together.
"Yes, definitely, absolutely."
"O-ok," Grey replied.
"Great, now let's head back home," Cedric said while holding out his hand.
Grey took it, and they disappeared.






...


(Az. and As. Side)
When Azrael awoke, he was in an alleyway. He looked up and saw Asmodeus "looking" down on him in relief.
"Oh, thank the stars you're alright!" he said w/ his brand of manic happiness.
"What happened? I remember being too weak to stand and nothing else after that," Azrael said as he stood up.
"Oh, I got you out of the facility and left our little friends w/ a "friendly" warning," Asmodeus replied.
"What exactly do you mean by "friendly"?"
"Oh, you know, I gave them a death threat!" Asmodeus replied w/ an empty smile.
Azrael frowned and sighed at that.
"Anyway, what's our next move?" Azrael asked.
"Our next move will be to find our first reverse SOUL. I can sense one in a different state."
"Wait, we're not going now, are we?"
"Oh, HELL, no! I'm pretty sure you still need time to recover, and I would like to wait and see if my teleportation can get better by tomorrow," Asmodeus said.
"Well, at least you're not overdoing it yet, so, ok, I can work w/ that," Azrael replied.
"Excellent. Now, let's survive through the rest of this day, and hopefully, tomorrow can bring us great fortune."