Log: Complete

[unknownandi.livejournal.com]

When; October 8th, around 4am
Rating; PG-13 for the nature of X's somewhat gruesome murder
Characters; X unknownandi, Envy theenviousone
Summary; X drops off his first "red box" in public. Envy is bored and follows him (NPC death with mod approval)
Log;

X hadn't been impressed. The man had said he'd known magic. But his insides looked the same as any other human, even after X had taken the time to inspect him so carefully.

It was early in the morning, early enough that the nighttime residents of the city were not far from heading home and the daytime residents had not yet woken, when X made his drop-off. Disguised as an older delivery man, he kept his baseball cap low over his forehead as he carried the cardboard box up towards the steps. It was heavy, and a little bulky, but X carried it easily. The owner of the shop had disappeared yesterday when X snuck up behind him as one of his own employees and killed him. Now... the owner was being brought back to his store in a different form this morning.

X rang the buzzer, despite the fact that there was quite obviously nobody there, staying in character. He shrugged, and set the cardboard box down gently, then flipped open the flaps and, shielding view of it from anyone who might pass on the sidewalk, lifted out the first of his boxes in this new city. Wiped clean of blood, the glass was a dark, murky red from the contents, filled to the top with the former owner after X's complete examination. A tiny scrap of paper was taped to the top.

Setting it down on the step, careful to not crack the glass of his work, X picked up the cardboard box, and simply started walking away. He'd change personas once he was somewhere private, like the alley down half a block from here.

--

Envy had been perched on the roof of a building, his chin resting on the palm of his hand while he tried to think of something, anything to do to break up the boredom. In spite of the little killing spree he and Rhode had gone on a couple of days ago, he was already feeling restless again. Even more so since he’d been lying low. Till now there hadn’t been much of an outcry over the murders, so he’d decided to wander around the City while it was dark enough that there was little chance of being seen.

As he was thinking, he heard a faint noise from a couple of streets away. Someone ringing a doorbell at this time of night? Slightly curious, he ran quietly over the roof, jumped lightly to the next one, and continued that way till he landed on the roof closest to where he’d heard the noise. Keeping to the shadows, he looked downwards into the street.

To his disappointment it seemed to be just a delivery man, leaving some type of box on the doorstep of a shop. Something seemed a little off though, besides it being an unusual time to be making deliveries. Then Envy caught the scent, faint but unmistakably there. Blood.

Now this was interesting. It could always turn out to be nothing but you never knew…

Envy was intrigued. This might turn out to be worth investigating. Pulling farther back into the shadows to remain unseen, he prepared to follow his quarry by rooftop.

--

It was quick walk to the alley, even with X taking his time so as not to appear overly suspicious. He wandered in, dropped the hat and cardboard box in a dumpster, and stripped off the deliveryman's shirt, leaving just the white shirt underneath.

It was then that the change happened, fast enough to miss if one was looking away for even a second, but undeniable. His face twisted grotesquely, reforming itself, as did the rest of his body. In a moment, X was changed into a man with a beakier nose, darker, longer hair, less muscular stature. He ran a hand through the dark, curly hair that was once short-cropped, and grinned. Time to head out to do some more investigating of this city. There were still things he needed to make his life that much easier. And things he wanted, to help understand himself.

--

Envy stared at the scene that had just taken place. One thing he hadn’t expected was to find out there was another shape shifter…and one that seemed to be involved in suspicious activities as well. Envy’s face split into an evil grin.

Noticing that the other shape shifter was on the move again, he decided he couldn’t afford not to keep tabs on someone who had a similar power to his. He leapt gracefully to the next roof, falling into a crouch to avoid detection. He didn’t know the extent of the other’s powers and didn’t want to be spotted just yet.

--

He'd had it, back in the alley. An uneasy feeling of being watched. And now a small flicker at the edge of his vision, hidden among the shadows of the rooftops. Someone was had been there, and was following him.

X considered just changing again, finding an open bar and getting lost on the crowd. But the other alternative was more appealing today: take the person out. Nobody seemed to know of the criminal "Monster Robber XI" here, and X had no problems with keeping it that way for now. Less publicity gave him more space to work.

Taking a side-street, he stopped at the steps of the back entrance to another building, keeping his eye on the last spot he'd seen something move. "You can come out now," he smiled. "I can see you."

--

Envy was surprised he’d been spotted so soon. So, whatever else the other shape shifter might be, he was quick at noticing things. This would be interesting. Envy decided to play a little game with him. He shifted his body, changing into the delivery man he’d first seen

Then he jumped down from the roof, landing on his feet with an agility that looked ridiculous with the form he had assumed. “Oh dear,” he said, “And I was being so careful too.”

--

Now this, this was a surprise. X just stared for a second in shocked surprise. He didn't remember where he'd seen the man he'd been imitating, but it was, he had thought, somewhere some years ago, in a city very different from this one. There was no way that it could be him.

"...Who are you?" he asked, a tiny surge of excitement rising within him. If the man replied with his own answer for such a question, there was no doubt. He would have to try to kill him, no matter what. It would be what he'd been looking for all along.

--

Envy merely raised an eyebrow at him. “That depends.” he told him. His body quickly reformed into an identical copy of the way the other man was looking now. “Who are you?” he asked in an imitation of the other’s voice.

"And while I’m asking questions, what the hell was in that box?” Envy continued asking, a smirk forming on his face. He wondered what reaction it would provoke once the other shape shifter realized his secret was out.

--

"I'm everybody, but nobody," X said, voice rising as he took his time changing his face, one half remaining as an older man, while the other half tightened and shifted into the smooth, fine-boned features of an adolescent boy, eyes and short, shaggy hair pale and tinted with shades of purple and blue. "Everywhere, but nowhere. But you don't know who I am, do you? Even my nickname, I mean."

The transformation continues until X's favorite shape is complete. "If you did, after all, you would know what's inside the box. Even if you didn't know the meaning of it."

Pale eyes scanned the copy of his earlier shape, waiting to see what happened next, eager to know.

--

Envy watched, taking in the slow, calculated way in which the other changed his shape. The answer he gave to Envy’s question was interesting, at the very least.

"Why should I know who you are?” he asked him. “This is the City, there are people here from hundreds of other worlds. And I think I can make an educated guess at what’s inside the box. Not that I usually bother stuffing humans into boxes after I kill them.”

Envy let out a short, cold laugh as he changed back into himself, almost human-looking but not quite, his purple, slitted eyes gleaming malevolently. He crossed his arms and tilted his head questioningly, wondering what would happen next.

--

X was fascinated. Maybe this person would be better. Maybe their insides would finally give him a clue.

"So I hear. But a man I talked to the other day, his brother was here too. It can't be too uncommon to find people from the same world. But I haven't met anyone yet who's from my home," he smiled. "Nobody's scared of the 'Monster Robber X.I.'"

He didn't move, but there was the sense that he was going to, soon, some subtle shift in his stance as, still smiling his cheerful boyish smile, he said, "It looks like your cells can change, too. Will you let me take a closer look, inside you?"

--

“Yeah, I know, several of my siblings are here as well.” Envy told him. “ ‘Monster Robber X.I.’? That’s a fancy name.”

He snickered, “People here are idiots, they wouldn’t know how to keep away from danger if it stared them in the face. A dose of being scared would do them good.” Then he noticed the change in the other’s posture, easily recognizable because Envy did it so often himself. He was getting ready to strike

Drawing back slightly and getting ready to defend himself, he was taken aback at ‘Monster Robber X.I.’s words. “What the hell, no! Why the fuck would you want to do that?”

--

"It's not my real name, of course. The newspapers made it up. I don't know what my real name is. But as for the one they gave me... 'Sai' is much shorter than 'Monster Robber Ecks-Ai', don't you think?"

"But if you won't let me look inside you..." X's expression turned dark, still smiling, but with wide, pinpoint pupilled eyes. "I'll have to kill you. I know you'll be different inside than all the humans were."

--

Envy didn’t let his guard down, in spite of X’s attempt at small talk. “It’s definitely less of a mouthful.” He agreed, eyeing the other warily. It would be a pity if he had to kill someone so interesting

At the mention of killing, Envy’s grin stretched impossibly wider as he laughed. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to kill me. I’m not human at all.” His hands curled into loose fists, ready for a fight.

--

X used to think he was human. But he hasn't found anything inside humans that told him what he was looking for, what he was really like inside. The answer, was, to him, perfectly logical.

"It's a good thing that you're not," X smiled. "You have no idea how happy I am to meet someone like me."

He wanted to take this person apart, search through them down to their very cells. The desire was strong. But the one other creature he'd fought with, that was really a monster... he'd lost, even after luring him into a trap. For this one, too, he'd need to plan. Make preparations. Find out about his friends and allies. And then set the bait.

"Can I ask what your name is, then?" he asked cheerily, settling into a more relaxed stance again. "I'm a little busy, but I'd really like to meet you again sometime."

--

Envy didn’t like this development. “I doubt you’re anything like me.” He spat out. “Not unless you were constructed by alchemy as well"

So the other was backing away from this? Hell no, not after Envy’d shown him what he really looked like. He changed his stance from a defensive one to one ready to attack.

"You know, I’d rather keep my name to myself for now. Unless you think you’re good enough to get it out of me.” With that, Envy darted towards X, making use of his enhanced reflexes to draw alongside him, sweep his legs from under him with a lightning fast kick and aim a hard punch at his face.

--

Movement. X wasn't prepared, at least not with a shotgun, or long swordlike blades. But he'd been working on something new for Neuro, before he came to this city.

He darted, strangely fast, out of the way of the punch, but even though Envy didn't feel his kick connect, X stumbled. His body jerked, like someone really had punched him, and in a thin spatter of blood, the long bones of his forearms forced their way out through his skin, points sharp as needles. Fingerbones did the same, turning into skeletal claws that left the fleshy mess of fingers hanging from his arms.

He panted, grinning, and lunged forward, striking with the bony prongs now pointing from his arm.

--

Damn, but X was fast. Envy hadn’t been expecting such quick reflexes in his opponent, shape shifter or not. When X reshaped his hands into claws, Envy was just a fraction of a second too slow, caught up in watching the transformation, to dodge successfully.

He felt the claws piercing his chest, running him through, fuck, even though he hardly felt pain that hurt! Snarling, he darted backwards, away from X. The deeps wounds through his chest healed themselves in a flurry of sparks and at the same time he reshaped his arm into a stone spear. He lunged at X, determined to pay him back a hundred times over.

--

They might both be able to change their form, but a stone spear was beyond X's expectations. It slammed clean through his shoulder and X gasped in shock and pain. He gave Envy a parting slash with bony limbs before jerking himself back, spattering more blood across the pavement.

He was sure he'd run his bony claws through Envy, the feeling of tendons and muscle and blood practically on his fingertips, but there had been a crackle of sparks and.. nothing. Inside him, arteries and veins clenched tight, white blood cells and platelets started to gather at his shoulder and the blood quickly slowed, though his shirt was now a mess, covered in the red of fresh blood.

"You... don't look hurt at all," he observed aloud, crouching, poised to leap. His shoulder hurt, but he could ignore it for now. "How am I supposed to look inside you if you heal yourself before I can grind you into pieces?"

--

Envy was ready for him this time and quickly dodged the final hit X aimed at him. The smile on his face was cruel as he admired the damage he’d managed to inflict on the other shape shifter, but it was short lived as the wound seemed to become less severe, even though it didn’t heal completely.

"That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, idiot! You can’t kill me, you can’t hurt me, I heal instantly from anything.” He told the other, not letting his guard down. “Do you mind telling me why the fuck you want to look inside me anyway?” He knew he could take X down if he needed to, but there were other ways this could work out. Ways that would be more to his advantage.

--

"That's too bad," X licked a little of the blood - his own - from where it has splattered on the back of his hand, keeping his intense stare focused entirely on Envy. "I thought that, maybe, you would understand."

"I told you that I don't know my name. And this isn't what I really look like, either. But even though I try to remember, I don't know how old I am. What I look like. What I used to enjoy doing. I don't even remember what sex I am. My brain keeps changing, and I lose those memories of long ago."

"So you see, now. If I don't know anything about myself, I try to find out from others. It's just like the finest works of art; the artist puts himself into the work so that other people can see inside him. My goal is the same: by creating the boxes, I can see inside other people. Observe them for a clue as to who I am."

X wondered if this guy really would understand. He doubted it

--

Envy felt like banging his head against a wall. That was why X had attacked him? Great. Envy moved slightly, making his stance less threatening but still ready to fight if needed.

"You’re just trying to find out how you’re made? I can understand that. If I didn’t know alchemy was used to create me, I’d be curious as well, I’d want to know what makes me the way I am.” Envy told him, trying to keep calm. “But just because I’m a damn shape shifter doesn’t mean we’re the same. Do they even use alchemy in your world?” he asked X.

Envy stared at the boy for a moment, his eyes narrowed, before continuing, “This isn’t what I really look like either. I don’t like my original form, I never use it.” He kept his eyes on X, wondering what his reaction would be.

--

"But, you at least know who you are," X reasoned, eyes bright. "I don't know anything about myself. It's so hard to feel comfortable, not knowing anything about yourself. It's like I'm drifting around with nothing to hang on to. But when I finally do understand who I am, I'll go back to that form. I'm looking forward to that day... it seems like I've been lost for so many years now."

"Perhaps we're not entirely the same. I've never heard of alchemy being real. But to find even a hint of myself in someone.. that would be worth the effort."

He gave Envy an angelic smile, completely unsuited to someone with blood across their front and bones jutting from their arms.

--

Seeing X’s smile, Envy simply kept the smirk he had on his face but shook his head in exasperation. How the hell did he manage to get himself in these situations?

"I’ll give you that.” Envy shrugged at him. “I can understand why you’re doing it. But you won’t be able to see inside me anyway, I heal too fast for that. So…where does that leave us?” he asked X.

--

"I don't know. I guess I'll just have to think about it some more," X replied cheerily. This was an interesting challenge. And there were a lot of other creatures in this city, supposedly. He could figure out how to kill Envy later.

--

Envy gave him a look. “Which means you’re just going to try again later, aren’t you? That’s exactly what I’d have said in your place.” He rolled his eyes. “Fine, if it makes you happy. If you try going after some of the others here they’re not going to be as nice about it as me, you know"

"Of course…I could always help you take them down. Once you realize you can’t learn anything from cutting me up.” It was a chance to rile things up here in the City and Envy was damned if he wasn’t trying it.

--

It was true that he would have to take Envy apart, eventually. There was always the chance of learning something new. But it was strange to be by himself again, in a great huge city that was very very different from home.

"Hmm," X appeared to consider this. "Well... what's your name, again?"

--

Envy sighed, doubting he’d convinced X. Great, now he’d have someone trying to kill him every other day. Well, it wasn’t like the other shape shifter would succeed.

“It’s Envy.” He told him, giving X an impatient look. “Keep in mind my offer, will you? Us trying to kill each other won’t get us anywhere. But if you piss me off I will kill you and it won’t be pleasant.”

--

"Of course, of course," X waved a hand vaguely. "Envy, then. I'll keep it in mind." The bones of his arms and fingers sank back into into his flesh as he spoke, skin closing up slowly behind them and leaving a fine lines of drying blood behind, his face reshaping... into a her - though, quite frankly, it didn't seem like that much of a shift, other than the hair. "And I'll be sure to keep in touch," the little girl chirped, playing with one of her new blonde ringlets and echoing what she'd said in a different voice earlier. "I'd really like to meet you again soon."

--

“I’m sure we’ll run into each other sooner or later.” Envy told X, amused at the cute little form he’d taken. He snickered. “And I can’t wait to see people’s reaction to your little ‘boxes’. It’s going to be interesting having you here in the City.”

--

X didn't really care about interesting, other than people's insides. And possibly interesting artwork. But all the same, she nodded pleasantly and raised her arm to wave goodbye, ignoring he sharp jab of pain that returned to remind her of her shoulder wound. "I'll see you later, then," she beamed, and whirled around, skipping along down the alley, a little girl in an bloodstained, oversized men's undershirt and baggy, baggy pants.

First priority: to be sure Envy wasn't still following her. And then... some new clothes.