Nightly walk of the Phantom (Open~<3)

Location: Small town in California

Time: 11:46 pm

It was the dead of night when Pierce was walking down the sidewalk, the path dimly lit by flickering street lamps. It was chilly outside, but the blue eyed young man barely noticed, for he could barely tell the difference between the coldness in the air and the coldness inside of himself. As he was going along, he stopped to watch a luna moth flutter in the darkness, It's teal wings illuminated by the street light. Pierce watched it flutter and loop in the air, almost like a dancer. It flew out into the street, aiming to get to the light on the other side, but before it could reach the other side, a car rushed by and hit it, the moth splattering against the windshield. Pierce felt a twinge of disappointment, the poor thing almost made it across the road, however, a voice inside him whispered, It was going to die anyway..It's death was inevitable..As with all creatures....it doesn't matter how or when it happens...It just does.....Besides, It's better off fluttering somewhere in the afterlife than trying to struggle for survival...., Pierce sighed, his breath hung in the frosty air, Indeed...All Things... beautiful or benign...Will fall victim to some sort of tragedy in their life..., he thought to himself before continuing on. He couldn't delay this hunt any longer...

The woman Pierce caught, screamed to be let go, but Pierce knew he couldn't go another night without feeding. He looked the woman in the eyes, feeling her fear coursing through him, "I'm sorry ma'am..." He murmured "But this is something I have to do.....Please do forgive me..." With that, the halfdemon proceeded to take the woman's soul while she continued to struggle. This woman reminded him of the moth; searching for a light in the darkness, clinging to life in vain, only to die in the end. It sadden Pierce, but at least after he had fed, he could liberate her from the pain of struggling through life...

Pierce walked out of the alleyway he had fed in, leaving behind the slumped over corpse of the woman. Pierce had made sure to kill her quickly, he didn't want to prolong the suffering....But even though the pain in his chest and stomach was settled, he had a pain in his heart...He hated having to do this...But he didn't just want to waste away....The young man started to have a moral debate in his mind as he walked along the dark sidewalk, with a few blood stains on his shoes, alone as usual...

During the Russian War a lot of attention had been drawn to the siege of Jump City. The seat of the government, the home of the Titans, and the biggest metropolis in the new country of California. What had been overlooked was the myriad of smaller (and in some cases bloodier) battles fought throughout the land. Places like Los Angeles and San Francisco didn't have Titans fighting for them. They had hastily formed militias.

Oh sure the (former) Head of State had equipped them well, and he was no doubt capable of training them to an elite standard (being the head of a global assassin organisation), but there had been no time to train the recruits here. The Russians had struck too fast. Each militia had to rely on a backbone of men previously a part of the American armed forces. And since, as a rule, those people tended to be nationalists, many of them had left the State once it seceded from the USA.

They had fought. And they had suffered. As testament to their leader's popularity, conscription hadn't been necessary. Young men and women signed up in droves to combat the Russian aggression. They had experienced a baptism of blood and (just barely) survived. In lee of such patriotism, Pix decided they would be a difficult body to disband.

The history lesson came directly from Hugh's mind. He was sat upon a platform of pixels, floating above the small town's local barracks. He had taken a journey from Jump City tonight to see what he could learn about this aspect of California's defences. If for nothing else than to have something concrete to send back to his American spymasters. Long story.

But as ever the walking, talking computer sprite was ready to turn his mind to more personal advantages.

"Stop! You there!" Two militia-men, walking home late, had heard the scream of the woman. Being of a chivalrous build they gravitated towards the noise instead of away. Upon encountering Pierce they thought it within their right to accost him. He being of unsavoury character at this dark hour, "What are you up to?"

Deciding this was worth his scrutiny, Pix descended lower to watch. Although he stood out in a crowd, Hugh blended into the night sky perfectly. He could change the colour and brightness of his pixels. Looking at his platform from below would be as if looking at another patch of sky.

Pierce looked at the men, his eyes a bit dull, What is it now?..., the teen thought with a sigh. The young halfdemon didn't want any confrontation tonight, but it seems as if there wouldn't be any way of avoiding this, especially with the bit blood on his shoes. The blue eyed being responded to them in a voice  that was the equivalent of icey silk "I'm merely out to get some dinner.." he said, hopefully these men didn't have any desire to fight, he didn't want to have to hurt anyone he didn't have to, and he definitely didn't want to be killed either.

One man brought out a pocket torch and shined it at Pierce, checking him over while the other spoke.

"And you didn't hear that cry? Just a while ago?" The soldiers were perhaps being a little heavy handed with their authority. California was no longer under any type of martial law. These matters were police procedure, not theirs. But Pix could well imagine a culture of neighbourhood watch had built up around these parts. Alone against the Russians, the little townies had only themselves to look after each other. Give it a few months to die down and they would be as indifferent to these matters as your average citizen.

"Sorry." The soldier apologised after nothing sinister materialised, "It must have been nothing. Some girls playing. Go about your business."

"Jeff!" The second flicked his torch at the stranger's feet, "Look at his shoes. You cut yourself? That's blood if I haven't lived a day." This renewed their interest.

When asked if he had heard the cry of the women, he shrugged "No" Pierce lied "You might have heard an owl screeching, or perhaps a party goer who had gotten a bit too passionate?". When Jeff said to go about his business, Pierce relaxed a bit eternally, and was about to turn to walk away, but froze when the other solider brought up the blood, darn it. Pierce looked back and murmured "When walking out at night, one can't truly see what gets on his shoes, it's most likely not what you're thinking it is" the air around the young man got a bit colder, he was starting to get even more nervous.

The second militia man considered this answer and shrugged, "The kid's right. Look. Let's get moving. I'm not giving him a hard time for not watching where he's walking." Everything he said was plausible. They had no great reason to suspect foul play.

"Jeff..."

"Be an a-hole on your own time. I want to get home."

Suddenly from down the alley Pierce had emerged from there rung a phone. The sound made both men flinch. They looked at each other and then back at Pierce. In silent acknowledgement one of the men rushed into the alleyway and the other would hold a hand out to the kid. The first would suddenly cry out in alarm at what he found, "Tell that son of a b- not to move! There's a body!" He'd found the slumped over corpse of the woman.

The militiaman next to Pierce drew his gun.

Pierce was glad Jeff was still trying to end this confrontation, and the blue eyed teen was about to start heading off again. Then the ring of a cellphone made him freeze, in place once more, Again?, he thought angrily, before looking at the direction of the second guard went, suddenly feeling the icey claws of dread grip him again as the guards cried out, alerting Jeff. Pierce looked Jeff in the eyes as he pulled out his gun, small spikes forming under the weapon wielding man, "I'm sorry...I have to do this..." With that, the small shadow like spikes shot upwards from under the guard to impale him, like meat on a skewer. Pierce prepared for the other guard to come out, though he did know that the guard had a gun like his partner Jeff, so he'd have to be extra careful.

As the second came out the alley, gagging slightly, he had not thought to draw his gun. He saw his friend on the ground and gasped. Doubtless he would have been just as slow to draw his firearm. But a thin wall of pixels suddenly went up between the two individuals. It wasn't much of an obstacle, you could walk straight through it. But it gave the militiaman pause.

"What a senseless waste of life."

Pix's camouflage suddenly broke and his entire floating platform dropped onto the head of the soldier, knocking them out cold. As the platform shattered over the man's head he hopped off onto the ground. The pixel wall separated before him so that he was left facing Pierce. What the soul-sucker would see with this face (o-o). Pix was undeniably human in shape, but his entire body consisted of pixels.

"So. Do we murder me too? I'm honestly unsure what you'll do next." The voice was at once inquisitive and mocking. There were a lot of strange things in Jump City. Hugh knew to be wary but not impressed.