Twisted Decisions

Description: The start of Darren's darkness and the origin of Marianne. For further understanding, read their pages here and here.

Section heading
The dirty blonde walked along the dirt road, his boredom and frustration increasing with each step he took. Ignore me? Turn me away? After all we've been through…and to think that bastard was once my friend! How quickly our tongues can turn to snakes of treachery…

The pathetic being known simply as Darren continued to lament and curse the name of his closest friend. Or rather, former friend would be most appropriate. All because of that damned brother of his too! I told him to just ditch the kid. He’d only slow us down anyway….

A drop of water evaporated his thoughts, and the blonde looked upward. It had begun to rain. Perfect. Freaking perfect. He scanned the area around him. He had been walking for so long…he had failed to notice exactly where he was. From the looks of it…I’d say the outskirts of Vale. Or some abandoned hill billy land.

And that’s when he saw it. A small little shack at the end of the dirt road. It was old to say the least, and it looked as if it would collapse on itself at any given moment. But hey, it was shelter. And a coyote always takes shelter wherever he can. Darren mentally smirked.

Like I said. Freaking perfect.

The MB (talk) Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the shack was in fact a store. Rather odd for a weapons shop being in the middle of nowhere. Let’s see here….creepy wooden shack, no clue of what I’m facing…and its raining. Sounds poetic to me.

The blonde pushed the door open, as the wood made a loud creaking sound. A small bell on top the door rang, and the lights immediately flickered on.

“Welcome!” greeted a booming voice. Out of the corner of his eye Darren saw a tall, husky man approach him. Actually, portly was the term. The man was wide enough for the both of him, and he had a bush of black hair which rested crazily on his forehead. His smile was huge, and his purple eyes twinkled in excitement.

“Come in! Come in, and see the marvelous products I have to offer you good sir! You’re name would be….?”

“Er, Darren.” He blinked awkwardly. Jeez, what’s got this guy so happy?

Shaking his head as if Darren were a long lost friend, the man led him down around, giving him a tour of the shop. He showed him a wide assortment of wondrous and incredible weaponry: an ax that laced its blade in poison, a gun that fired syringes, a sword built into a cannon, and other things of great interest.

Boring. Where’s all the good crap?

The man immediately stopped and turned to face him. “Pardon my manners! I forgot to introduce myself….the name’s Mr. Marbury. A pleasure to meet you! Now then, what tool are you talking for on this fine night?”

Darren rolled his eyes. Fine night? Yeah, right.

“….some herbs that’ll even knock out a Beowolf. Imagine that!” Mr. Marbury was showing off some black tinted leaves as Darren pretended to pay attention. “Oh, and this here….these herbs can be applied to the skin directly to ward off Grimm! Isn't it marvelous-

“Listen,” Darren interrupted. “I need a weapon that’s less….obvious. And more to my liking.”

“Oh I see now!” Mr. Marbury gave him a knowing wink. “You wait right here…” Turning away, the large man waddled to the back of the shack.

Finally…

Looking around, Darren finally took in all the details of the little shelter. Through closer inspection, he saw that it was more like a house than an actual shop. There was a staircase that led upwards, and he could see a small kitchen to his right.

Looks like he lives alone. That’s fine by me. This way, no one will miss him….

It wasn't long before Mr. Marbury returned with his prized possession.

“Its not often I get customers you know, so I rarely show this one in public. She’s still a work in progress.”

Mr. Marbury held out a pair of bracelets each with a yellow sphere in the middle. Darren grimaced.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

“Oh no, no, no. This is no joke my friend! Watch….”

Slowly pushing down on the sphere, the bracelets began to conform on themselves, expanding fully until they became exo-skeleton gauntlets that attached themselves to Mr. Marbury’s hands. Darren raised an eyebrow in obvious interest.

“You see, these are MDSGs,” the shop taker explained. “Multi Directional Shock Gauntlets. Appearing as a nice fashion statement, they also serve as an effective weapon!” He pointed to the yellow sphere. “In here are electric type Dust crystals that allow the user harness the power of electricity. Pretty cool isn't it?”

Darren simply nodded, his eyes trained on the weapon. Mr. Marbury gently pushed the sphere again, turning the gauntlet back into its original form. “Of course, the more power you use, the more your Dust crystals will run out, so it’s very consuming on power.”

He placed the weapon in Darren now outstretched hands. “Here, try them out!”

Carefully, Darren placed each bracelet around his wrist and pressed the sphere, triggering the offensive function once more. Mr. Marbury clapped in approval.

“Now you've got it! So, will that be all sir? If so, that’s a total of say…700 Lien, since its still a prototype.”

Darren gave the man a smirk. “Just one question before I make my purchase.”

“Ask away my friend!”

“What would happen if I suddenly decided to use all the energy at once?”

Mr. Marbury blinked at that. “Well for one thing, it’d drain your energy supply automatically. With that much voltage…why, that’d be enough to kill someone! Usually, the MDSGs are only used for at least 10% power, enough to temporarily stun the opponent. Why, if you were to-Ahh!”

With no hesitation, Darren plunged the claws into the man’s stomach and activated the full capacity, sending huge surges of electricity to flow freely into the man’s body. Mr. Marbury gasped, and a low gurgling sound was emitted from his mouth.

When all the energy was used, Darren ripped the gauntlets out of the man’s abdomen, letting him slump to the floor. Dead.

Darren grinned at the lifeless body before him. “Sorry…but with the economy as it is, I’m afraid that I’m in no position to be paying for these.”

That was worth the waste of Dust….hehehe….

Grabbing Mr. Marbury’s ankles, Darren dragged the man across the wooden floor and stuffed him in a nearby closet. Locking it, Darren couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Eh, no one would miss him. Living all alone by himself….and with weapons like these? I wonder why the old man was so desperate for business-

“Excuse me, who are you?”

Darren froze, turning towards the direction of the small voice. His eyes failed to process the image before him. A tiny girl who appeared to be at least 15 or 16 looked up at him, her head titled. She was still I in her pajamas, and the lights were dim…but even in this lighting, Darren could still make out the obvious black hair and purple eyes.

Son of a bitch….that fat bastard had a kid!

The girl before him let out a loud yawn. Rubbing her eyes, she blinked at the red liquid that dripped off of Darren’s gauntlets.

“Hey, is that ketchup?”

This kid’s not bright….

“Er, yeah. Its ketchup from the burgers me and your dad had earlier.”

The girl blinked. “You’re a friend of my dad?”

“Sure! He never told you about me before?”

The girl shook her head. “Nope. My name’s Marianne by the way. Hey mister, do you want to stick around for a while and help me find my dad? I heard this noise…and I woke up from this bad dream I was having….”

She looked down now, her eyes glazed with worry. “It…it was horrible! A bunch of Beowolves climbed into my window…and then they ate me!”

Darren couldn't help grinning to himself. Its just a girl….I don’t need any weapon to deal with her…

Taking a step forward he gently led Marianne to the kitchen like a long lost uncle. “There, there now. Bad dreams are just that. Dreams! Trust me, there are far worse things in reality…” Cautiously, he quickly snatched something from the row of weapons.

The MB (talk)

Once in the kitchen, Marianne plopped down in a chair and waited patiently. “Hey mister? Where do you think my dad is?”

Darren proceeded to wash his hands and the gauntlets thoroughly at the sink to remove the blood. “Oh, probably just out there, buying some…some…what is it you like?”

Marianne smiled widely. “Apples! I like apples a lot! They’re so juicy! And crunchy too!”

“Yeah, yeah, apples. He went to get you some apples….” Without her seeing, Darren made a cup of tea and gently placed his secret ingredient in the mixture: two black leaves. The very same ones her father was describing to him before.

Looking around, he saw an apple that looked ripe and healthy. Grasping it, he cut the fruit into slices and poured that into the mixture as well.

Might as well let the kid have fun in her final moments….

Smiling, he turned and offered the cup of tea to Marianne. “For you my dear!” he said dramatically.

Marianne giggled as she took a sip of the cup. “You’re funny mister!”

“I am? Well, that’s nice to know.” Some people would like to disagree with that statement…”

Marianne barely heard his words. “What was that…..mister?”

Darren repeated himself for her. But she couldn't hear anyway, as her vision began to darken as well. Soon she found that her eyes felt heavy, and she wanted to drift off into….

Blinking slowly, Marianne rested her head on the wooden table and her breathing slowly lowered. Grinning, Darren waved at her playfully as her consciousness began to drift away.

“Sweet dreams, Marianne….” And with that, her eyes closed shut and he entered a dark void.

Darren sighed. Now all he had to do was finish the job. Not a problem. I could always dump her in those Dust ruins and let her rot to death…yeah, that sound fine.

Indeed, it was a good night to be a coyote. A new weapon, no witnesses, and one step closer to obtaining her precious rose.

In this world of gain and lose, the coyote must always be the winner to survive. Hehehe…. freaking perfect….

Author's Musings
Sorry its so long.