the giant ordered, his voice a menacing rumble. of course he was searching for something on earth, as did galactus himself. but if other sentient beings had no use for him, then they fell into one of two categories: F O O D or nuisance, which generally shared the same outcome: annihilation. this demon behaved in an unnecessarily reckless manner, almost as if he willingly I N V I T E D trouble in his life. and if that is what he wished for, then the cosmic entity would provide.
“how specific?”
the question was asked out of amusement rather than true clarification. the demon could have answered easily; stating the quite obvious with-out even a second’s hesitation. he just didn’t truly feel the need to – not now at least. maybe later when he chose the option to be less difficult.
“do you want exact details or a generalization?”
“–AND APPARENTLY, YOUR LIFE MATTERS TO YOU EVEN LESS SO THAN YOUR FREEDOM DOES.”
why did this D E M O N keep antagonising him was a mystery. his enormous fingertips began to glow subtly, scorchingly hot with the power cosmic that entrapped the hellspawn on the vast hollow of his palm. he was right, galactus did what he willed; but even as a limitless cosmic entity, sometimes he found that he was bound to listen.
“WHY DO YOU COME HERE, BEFORE THE MIGHTY GALACTUS? ARE YOU SIMPLY BORED WITH YOUR HIDEOUS PURSUITS, OR NO LONGER WELCOME IN THE FOUL REALM WHENCE YOU CAME?”
“i’m always welcome back home.” a truth that disgusted him most of the time, but the demon would never let that be known. no matter what he was or who he chose to be… he always knew that he could go back there. sometimes… he wished he stayed, but that was rare.
no, ky didn’t want to go back; it may have felt nice, but he enjoyed earth far too much than where his family was. something… that he’d have to work on eventually. “however, that doesn’t mean i’m bored or that i wish to go back.”
he attempted to find the right word for why he was here. amusement was one, but it wasn’t entirely accurate. nor was boredom – all the same… he thought it didn’t matter. not entirely at least. “I’m… searching for something.”
so now he did not have just one demon on his herald’s tail, but two, working independently of each other. how troublesome. galactus did not hide his displeasure: strong jaw clenching, moon-sized eyes narrowing to brilliant slits.
“I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR ACTIONS. AND BY THESE, I SEE NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOURSELF AND YOUR GRANDFATHER.”
his otherworldly voice boomed, and his gaze flared dangerously with the power cosmic that burnt within him.
“YOU WILL SEEK YOUR ‘FUN’ ELSEWHERE. AND I WILL SPARE YOU ON THE CONDITION THAT YOU SERVE ME, AND THWART MEPHISTO’S ATTEMPTS TO GAIN MASTERY OVER MY HERALD.”
he should have known that by his own actions he was no different. ky may have attempted to change, but deep down he didn’t wish to. no, all the half-breed wanted was to have his place at the top, and know the extent of his abilities. a throne would have been nice as well, but it wasn’t exactly needed.
however, to actually hear confirmation that he was exactly the same – it was something that should have been shocking. yet, for the moment, it wasn’t. all ky could do was narrow his eyes and hope that he’d be able to prove he wasn’t – just not today that was.
“mephisto will get what he wants,” he said, knowing that his words were more than likely not going to earn him any favors. “if i interfere with what he wants… i’ll be dragged back.” he was about to say home, but instead, ky clipped his words at the last second. “that’s the way it is – family or otherwise… it won’t matter.” even though he wished deep down that it would.
“the moment he finds out or even suspects that i’m involved…” he shook his head as he trailed off speaking knowing that it would be useless to attempt to explain anymore of his situation.
if there is something that has been true for many ages, that is that the world-eater is weak for B A R G A I N I N G. he could, of course, easily annihilate and wreak destruction; but there is an order to all things, and he was not one to upset it by squashing defenceless bugs simply because they displeased him. as a true force of nature, galactus killed simply to nourish; unless, of course, something posed a real threat to himself, his heralds or the universe itself.
“I WANT YOU TO CEASE PESTERING MY HERALD. YOU UPSET HIM – AND THAT DISTRACTS HIM FROM HIS PURPOSE, WHICH IS TO FIND NOURISHMENT FOR THE MIGHTY GALACTUS.”
the colossal being relaxed his hold on the squirming demon, but did not loosen it enough to allow an escape out of the cage of his gigantic fingers.
“I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU PURSUE HIM SO. ARE YOU WORKING ON MEPHISTO’S BEHALF? FOR I KNOW HE LUSTS AFTER HIS SOUL.”
“— i don’t,” he sucked in a deep breath as he attempted to calm himself down just a bit to focus. while ky had been in a few of these situations before… it wasn’t like this. nor did he have the feeling that he wasn’t going to get out of this alive.
he had overstepped his boundaries this time and now? well, he knew that he’d have to pay the price sooner or later. ky just thought he had more time. “i don’t,” he repeated again, this time, his voice was a bit smoother. even if he was shaking. “serve him.”
“i don’t know what he wants,” that much was a lie, ky knew some, but not enough to say he knew anything. he wasn’t interested in trying to guess what was on mephisto’s mind and he wasn’t going to put too much effort into it either.
“if you want me to stop? i’ll stop – i just was having some fun.” he wanted to say amusement, but fun was easier to translate from the real feeling. “— don’t judge me on what my grandfather does. i don’t know anything about what he’s after. i haven’t spoken to him in weeks.”
No, it wasn’t what he wanted – not at all, but he had already taunted the other before. Now, he was doing it again, but this time… he knew he was going to ge bit. Ky just hoped he’d be able to come out of it this time alive.
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” he said lowly, trying to conceal his perpetual fear of not just the situation, but of Galactus themselves. “You’re going to do what you will – no matter what I say.”
that seemed to anger the cosmic being more, a terrible brilliance shining from his moon-sized eyes, narrowed in a cutting glare. the grip of his colossal hand tightened around the demon’s squirming form, to T H R E A T E N and harm, but not yet suffocate.
“WHATEVER MANNER OF FOUL ENTERTAINMENT YOU PURSUE, IT HAD BETTER NOT INVOLVE MY HERALD, OR YOU SHALL EXPERIENCE THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY GALACTUS. AND THEN I WILL COME FOR MEPHISTO!”
he didn’t think of it as lying, but rather not exactly admitting the complete truth. it was what he did often out of pure survival and usually it managed to keep him in one piece. this time… that didn’t seem likely.
“i’m not,” ky managed to get out shortly after the tightening hand started to become quite uncomfortable. “- look,” he honestly didn’t know what else to say at this point. trying to bargain was going to be his last chance to get out of this. even if he knew it would cost him in the long run. “i’m sorry, but – i’m sure there is a way we can both come out of this decently.”
he tried to gulp down that fear of his, but either way? it was still there – right in his tone besides desperation. “i’ll do whatever you want!” a bold statement – even for him, but he never was one to go back on deals… no matter how bad they were. “i swear it!”
“Let. Me. Go.” This time, his words were just a bit more forceful as he squirmed a bit in Galactus‘s grasp. He knew this wasn’t something he could just talk his way out of, but all the same, he was going to try. At least until he started issuing threats, but even Ky knew they wouldn’t help him in this situation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he whined as he tried to kick the other ( even though he knew it wouldn’t have much affect – if any at all against the other. ). “can’t I have a bit of fun?”
Hellfirebound 