An Offer you Really, REALLY Shouldn't Refuse

[lordnidhogg]

The Stranger appeared in the Hells and looked around.

"How drab," He said in a flagrantly gay voice. "Let's fix this place up a bit!" The Stranger then started to skip and prance around like a lunatic waving his arms like he was throwing something on the ground. And he was, sort of. Everywhere the 'seeds' would have landed, bright flowers and other happy green plants sprung up. Fuzzy, happy creatures also started to appear. Then the Stranger started to hum a happy little tune. It was sickening, really.

"If you don't stop, I will personally wipe you from this plane," A terrifying, horrible, sin-filled voice ripped from the very plane around him. "Now leave at once."

"Oh hush, you meanie." The Stranger replied. "I'm looking for someone. Besides, I could beat you even in your own realm and you know it."

He was met with an angry growl, but no answer for some time.

"Fine. But cease desecrating my unholy realm with this...cuddly filth. And for the hate of God, stop humming."

The Stranger sighed. "Fine." Then he cupped his hands over his mouth and began shouting in many directions. "Oh Arma-geddon! Arma-geddon! Come out to pla-ay! I have a deal for you!"

[Azure_Ghidorah]

"This better be good enough, I'm still recuperating." said demon growled as a portal opened up, and Armageddon trudged through it, in his normal form again. He looked like he had been put through a demonic (or angelic, depending on how you veiw it) cheese grater. He glanced around, noticing that bright flowers and little woodland creatures had suddenly sprung up from no where. The demon placed a claw against his head and sighed.

"Well, that is embarrassing. Hell's being turned into a haven for disgusting little woodland creatures. Ok, what is this deal, you are so eager to share with me. And please, make it fast, I need to get back to my regeneration chamber before these wounds send me into a coma."

[lordnidhogg]

"Well, if you don't want to hear it..." He said with an impish smile, acting innocent. "But, I'll forgive you this once and tell you anyways. Things are rather dull up there, and I want to change that. I'm willing to return you to full power, plus 25% for being a good sport, AND as a one time good deal, I'll give you unlimited regeneration as well. But the main part of the deal is that I will give you full, total control of Darkdrium OR Xeno-Myrr. But the catch is that you have to choose one or the other, you can't have both."

"There has to be more," Armageddon answered, "there's always more with your type."

"Well, you're right." The Stranger admitted, the smile dropping from his face. "The one that you don't choose, you have to kill, or have your servant kill. And you have to do something else: you have to find Martyr, and do something...kind for her. A small price, for such power."

[Azure_Ghidorah]

"...Kind? ...damn, that extra power may be just what I need... plus the regeneration will catch them off guard... In addition, I could turn one of those two against them before they even know it. Decisions, decisions... Well, they're all gonna die anyways. But... I just can't stomach having to be kind to some one, even once." Armageddon growled at himself. He had a reputation to uphold as one of the most evil creatures in existence, but all that power and control practically being handed to him on a silver platter... He had to admit, it was tempting...

And even if he accepted, there was another choice in the matter, who would be better? Darkdrium had the power to go toe-to-toe with Thanatos who will at one point become a problem because ending all life meant killing his wife, and that's not something the cyborg is too happy about. Xeno-Myrr had the speed to keep them all on their toes, but unable to attack.

"More power and complete control of one or normal power and possible control of two; doing something nice or not doing something nice; fast regeneration or slow regeneration..." Armageddon mused over the differences, but something else came to his mind...

'The presence of the power to defeat the Angel or the lack of the power to defeat the Angel...'

"Stranger, you bring a tempting bargain to my attention. However, in due time I will already have that and more. An old human metaphor about a race between a tortoise and a rabbit comes to mind. In the end, the reckless rabbit burned out all of his energy while the patient tortoise was conservative, pacing himself to gain victory over the more capable opponent. The same can apply here in a different manner. I can take the boost now with the price, but I would get too comfortable in my new found strength and allow my enemies to pool there own strength. This will in turn lead to my demise like many before me. The other option is to refuse your offer and build up my strength by my own means, surpassing the limits I would of had had I accepted your offer. To truly be proud to carry the name of the end of the world, I must constantly grow in strength and not let myself get over confident." Armageddon explained, though he got the feeling the Stranger already knew.

"So, in light of that, and the fact that I can barely stand even the thought of being nice, I decline your offer." The demon concluded. "Besides, I'm... dare I say it, curious as to what life Xeno-Myrr would want to lead now that she can take her own body from Myrr's shadow. And now, like the patient tortoise, I leave to pace my gaining of power. If you happen to make a new offer that doesn't include being nice to someone, I'll lend an ear... But, I will cause a bit of chaos in the city indirectly at some point. I've been meaning to whip out that spell for the Great Skull Wyrm for some time now. Maybe a few more tweaks to make it stronger." Armageddon turned to leave, ready to reopen the portal back to his 'base' in the human dimension.

[lordnidhogg]

"Heh" Came a slight chuckle behind Armageddon. "Heh heh heh. Heh Heh Heh. HEH HEH HEH. HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" The Stranger began cackling madly.

"And they saY I'm mad!" Do you honestly think that you can just turn me down, saying that what I'm giving isn't good enough, and leave at your whim?" Then the happy, gay voice disappeared as he went from impishly evil to just plain frightening. Then in a deep, powerful voice continued. "I don't think so."

He threw his right arm out, and a massive tentacle ripped out of it and replaced it, revealing part of the chaotic God hiding in the human shell. The tendril hit Armageddon dead in the chest, and and stuck there. With a heave, The Stranger, Chaos Dementor, threw him over his shoulder and smashed him into the burning ground. Then he whipped him around, yanking and dragging him along the ground.

"You see, my completely idiotic friend, when I make a house call to make you an offer, I expect you to accept it, though of course you have the choice not to." He continued thrashing the demon around as though it were nothing. "But when you don't, I get upset. You see, I wasted my precious time trying to get through to morons like you and Xeno-Myrr. But you mortals just don't get it. Accepting gifts from Gods is a good idea. But you won't take them. So, to make up for my wasted time, I get to have...fun!"

And with that he released Armageddon by throwing him hundreds of yards, where he skidded along the ground. He then re-formed his human arm. Then he opened a portal and turned to leave, but stopped.

"Oh, you did catch that I mentioned you were mortal, right?" The impish grin returned to his face as he held his arm up close to his head and energy crackled over it. The he thrust his hand towards Armageddon. "I hope you like dying. Oh, and you might not want to stay in Hell for very long-it's not very good for mortals."

With that he turned and left, whistling a happy little tune.

[Azure_Ghidorah]

"How did I not see that coming?" Armageddon growled at himself. "And damnit I already know that I am mortal, I've been killed before!" The demon sighed. His wounds were starting to affect him, so he reopened the portal and left. Of course, he took the time to shield himself from part of the blast, though about two-thirds of what was left of his body was vaporized.

"Shimatta." Armageddon cursed as he left, dragging himself with his remaining feet.