Twist of Fates(Invite Only)

(Thread PL: 22,013. Heavy weights on. Weighted PL: 5,503)

Baalbatos's journey brought him to the deserts of Earth. He flew high above the land, the mass of his weights ever so slightly dragging towards the Earth. The deserts were of great interest to him. His scrolls had been found there. And while he was making slow, but steady, progress, he had decided that he needed a break, lest his eyes go blind from staring at the faded lettering of the scrolls. And while he could have walked along the beaches of the islands, it occurred to him that there might be something of interest in the desert. Earth was interesting, that much was true. And full of interesting people as well.

Baalbatos was warm. Hellishly so. His red cloak did him no favors in regards to keeping himself cool. Quite the opposite, in fact. Perhaps he should have abandoned the cloak back at the ship, but he was loath to go without. And, with his luck, Lord Qrowen would throw it out to spite him. He'd rather deal with the heat of it then risk losing it.

And that spoke to the nature of their relationship. Baalbatos was quickly advancing in power, thanks in part to these weights of his. Before long, he might even be more powerful than Lord Qrowen. And then the tables would be turned. And then... what? The entire reason Baalbatos was following Lord Qrowen is so that Qrowen could shoulder the pressures of running an empire, and Baalbatos could relax. But it seemed that Baalbatos was doing most of the heavy lifting. He might as well be the one in charge, he thought. Perhaps...

A presence pinged against his mind. Baalbatos's lips curled. Interesting, he thought. A higher than human power level here on Earth. He just had to investigate. He changed course for the energy signature, and it was not long before he found the source of it: a strange looking cat-like creature. What, he thought, the Hell was that thing? He'd not seen anything quite like it. Was it a person? Only one way to find out, he told himself.

"Hello," he called out, "What brings you out here?"

Whatever it was, thought Baalbatos, it was certainly cordial. Quite the refreshing encounter so far. It seemd that not all of the monsters on this planet were insane like the strange, pink bubble gum beast. Perhaps the cat creature was not so bad after all. He, she, or it said that its name was 'Weiser'. Interesting name, thought Baalbatos, not one whose origins he knew. An offworlder, perhaps? One just like himself? And he was training, no less. Was he a fighter? Baalbatos's curiostiy was now piqued. And he knew what they said about curiosity: that it killed the cat.

"Well, Weiser, it's plesant to meet you," said Baalbatos, an amiable tone in his voice, "I did not expect you to be half so friendly. My name is Baalbatos, and I'm simply out here exploring."

Baalbatos flew closer and held his hands palm out, the universal sign for peace as he'd learned it. "Earth is so vast, you know. Fly in one direction and you'll hit a desert like this. Fly in another direction and you'll hit tundra. It's quite amazing. Not like at all where I make my home these days."

Baalbatos pictured the rainy planet that he and Lord Qrowen called their base of operations. It was a humble and dreary place, not like Earth at all. Briefly, he wondered what Gouta might be doing right now. He'd left the Brenchian in charge of the planet, or at least his duties. He did not expect the Brenchian to burn the place down, but he was worried. He trusted few people to do his job right, and he trusted fewer people at all. He thought he could trust the young Brench woman. She was almost like putty in his hands, so easy to meld and twist. But there was little he could do about that here.

Instead, he was talking to some strange cat being. But at least it was a polite cat being.

"The pleasure, friend" said Baalbatos, "Is all mine. And I can speak to that. The foods of this world have a certain... richness, that I quite enjoy. If I weren't here on business, I'd be spending my time getting fat!" Baalbatos laughed at himself, a deep laugh. It was true. The foodstuffs of this world held a certain appeal to him. Perhaps it was simply the fact that their rainy world of a distant star lacked any of the luxuries that Earth had, but Baalbatos found himself savoring each and every meal he had on the big blue marble. He figured that he might as well enjoy it while he can.

Baalbatos listened with interest as the being went on about the beauty of Earth from its moon. Baalbatos's eyebrows raised as the man made mention of the fact that he did not need air in the cold vacuum of space. Interesting, thought Baalbatos, perhaps his new acquaintance was made of a different stock than the people of Earth. "You do not need to breathe in the cold of space?" Asked Baalbatos, the interest plain in his voice, "That's quite the impressive claim, mister Weiser. Not that I doubt you of course, but I consider myself a learned man, and the only biological beings I know of who can make that claim are the Kold Demons. And last I checked, Kold Demons do not look as you do."

Now, he thought, this was a curiosity. Perhaps this man would be the key to making the trip interesting after all. As Baalbatos looked across the wastes, he certainly saw nothing more interesting than the cat man in front of him. If the creature were telling the truth, the universe was a lot more vast than Baalbatos had initially thought. Or, he tempered, these creatures were simply very good at hiding. But the Kold Demons had once used their powers to rain over space as kings. What made this race any different? Baalbatos looked closely at the man, trying to avoid gazing too long, lest his acquaintance think his staring rude. Weiser certainly seemed... normal.

Pudding, thought Baalbatos, how delightful. The cat man clearly had something of a sweet tooth. And Baalbatos could respect that. He enjoyed the sweeter things in life as well. In a different time, Baalbatos could imagine himself, lounging around and enjoying sweets by the spoonful. But, alas, that was not the world that he was meant for. Instead, he was going to have to work for that world, inch by inch. But, in the meantime, he could enjoy himself here on Earth at least.

"Well," began Baalbatos, "That is actually an incredibly hard question, friend. You see, I enjoy a great many things. And I enjoy them a lot. But if I had to choose a single foodstuff as my favorite, I would have to go with some thing just as sweet as you suggest: cake. So light, so fluffy, it crumbles and melts in your mouth and makes for something delicious!"

Baalbatos found himself enjoying the conversation. It was so nice, he thought, to be able to discuss matters aside from the need to conquer planets, or how they were going to kill their enemies. This, on the other hand, was downright pleasant. The cat man might prove to be his favorite Earth acquaintance yet if this kept up.

But Weiser quickly cleared up that he was not from Earth. Well, thought Baalbatos, that should not come as a surprise. Though the man looked like one of Earth's zoanthrope people, there was something other worldly about him. And he claimed that his was a rare race from a rare world. Interesting indeed, he thought. But was was more, he claimed that his race held power similar to the Kold Demons and that Baalbatos was only sensing one percent of his acquaintance's power. Was he suppressing his form, just as Lord Qrowen did? What monstrous power might this man take on were he to let loose and cast off his chains and weights.

"I see, Weiser," said Baalbatos, "That's quite the bold claim. I work with a Kold Demon, so I am more than familiar with their power. Hidden layers upon hidden layers of power. It's quite the shock to see one transform in front of you. Less than one percent, though... Now you have me curios about just what kind of warrior you are, friend."

Baalbatos eyed the man warily. Baalbatos seemed like a leader? For a moment, he considered that the man might just be trying to stroke his ego, get him to drop his guard. Though, after some thought, he let it slip from his mind. He could not find a reason why the cat man might be trying to butter him up. Perhaps he was just being friendly. "Why thank you, friend. I appreciate the compliment," said the lilac-skinned demon. He shot Weiser a small grin, as charming as he could be. Quite the interesting encounter indeed, he thought, by now most people would have tried to punch him. It seemed that not all those who roamed the planet Earth were the kind who would jump into combat a moment's notice.

But, he found Weiser's commentary of Kold Demons quite interesting. And he was not neccesarily off base with his thoughts. The Kold Demons were a proud race, and they often preferred to be in charge. They respected strength, and even then it was a grudging respect. Could Baalbatos say he worked with Lord Qrowen? Probably not. These days it seemed that he did all the work. If he really got to it, he could probably over take... No, he thought, he needed to stop thinking like that. The now was not important, but the tomorrow was.

"Hmm, yes. You might be right about that, I'll concede. The Kold Demons are certainly... cutthroat," admitted Baalbatos. But he listened in interest as the man admitted that he was suffering from a case of amnesia. Ah, thought Baalbatos, how unfortunate. It seemed nobody had any luck of late, but to lose one's memories? It seemed a fate almost worse than death.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Weiser," said Baalbatos, his voice full on with empathy, "If I could mend minds as I can mend flesh, I'd help you. But I will wish you luck with that, recovering your memories and your power."

Baalbatos's mouth twitched. He wanted to say more. Despite just meeting, he felt a certain kinship with the man. Perhaps it was because Baalbatos knew what it was like to have something precious torn from oneself. Or what it was like to be far from home. It was stupid of him, yes, but he felt the urge. The man could offer him little, Baalbatos was sure of that. But he could scarcely control the words that came out of his mouth, "However, should you ever need help in this matter, feel free to ask me. I'll provide what assistance I can."

Or perhaps it was curiosity. Less than one percent of his power... Baalbatos had to admit to himself, that was quite the prospect.

"I see," said Baalbatos, "Well, Weiser, you do what you need to do, friend. I do indeed hope that we get to meet once again. I look forward to seeing just what you can offer me indeed, friend."

Baalbatos watched as the strange cat man flew off into the blue sky of Earth, leaving the demon behind. Baalbatos grinned. A very interesting acquaintance indeed. Baalbatos hoped that they would indeed meet again. And he was curios to exactly what the man meant. The lilac demon hoped that perhaps the cat man could be convinced to join them one day, but if it was not to be, Baalbatos would settle for calling the man an acquaintance. It was never a bad thing to have contacts simply for the pleasure of converse.

Baalbatos simply shook his head and turned his back on the cat man. He flew off in the opposite direction, making for the ship. Lord Qrowen might be around, and they still had plenty of things to get done.

(Good thread! I'm exiting and asking for PL with heavy weights and LMB! Thanks!)