^^ Banri the Traitor's human form ^^

--- Maximus ---

"Who is this guy?" Sands asked me.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself to your friends! How rude of me! I am known as Hellion, the Ravager, the Banished Prince, and many other Colorful little titles, but my Name is Banri Sjill, Son of Bærd Sjill, the 352nd Chief of the Shadow Clan." He introduced himself, bowing in the air as his smoking wings worked overtime, and his Draconic claws clicked gently.

"Well, now we know who wanted to live in a smoky penthouse." I muttered.

Talbot hummed, and nodded. "So to sum it up, you're a gigantic douchebag, and we shouldn't take you seriously, because you talk like a 70's cartoon villain? Message received." He smirked.

I caught the shadow dagger directly in front of his widened eyes with a blurred dart of my left hand. "He may talk like that... but he is very ready to kill us." I said quietly.

"Message updated: Psychopathic Lollipop Killer Cartoon Villain, not 70's, thanks for the specification." Talbot shrugged.

I looked directly at Banri. "You really overestimate your powers, Banri... even a Class-SS like you can't kill ME, a Royal Drakon of one of the most powerful lines there is or ever has been." I threatened him.

He shrugged. "I can surely try? For old time's sake?"

I smirked. "Oh? Well, If it's for old time's sake, why don't you bend over first, and show me if your ass has gone back to normal, without my cock to widen it every night?!" I tossed out a card, watching his stone-like reaction.

His followers seems to be a bit shaken by the revelation that their 'chief' was once my lover. I pressed my advantage. "We were lovers and friends once, Banri, but then you fucked up... you got, dare I say it... Cocky." I chuckled.

His gaze tightened as he recalled the six long years that we were friends, and the three we were much more. "Why would you dare speak such nonsense? Trying to be funny? Hmm? You're hilarious, now just roll over and die!" He growled, trying to psyche himself up.

He hadn't been prepared to have me fight back with psychological warfare, not just physical warfare.

"Remember how passionate I was with you? How we cuddled every night, keeping each other warm in those cold winter nights?" I continued, smiling.

The sex had meant little to nothing to me, as I'd been a 15y/old Drakon with a high libido, and he had been the one to quench it, but he had once been my friend, and I did value that. "Maybe not best to provoke him..." Sands whispered.

"I know him personally. The only way we all get out of this alive is if I hurt his feelings, or make him very angry." I snapped back.

"Shit... alright, I'm a fan of no one dying." Talbot nodded.

"History... is not the Present." Banri began speaking again. "History... is gone. We were friends, yes. Perhaps we still would be, if you weren't a Dog of Humanity." He seethed.

I laughed loudly. "Me? A DOG? Oh god that's rich! Remember when I made you wear that Puppy Tail for a week, when I beat you in that Duel, the one your father finally attended? Oh that was great, the shame I dealt you that day... so sweet..." I snickered.

His rage spread across the street slowly, maliciously. Black shadows seeping out and devouring the light.

"But, you see, my friend... You can call me what you like, if it helps you sleep without me there beside you, But I FOLLOWED MY KING'S ORDERS, LIKE YOU SHOULD HAVE, INSTEAD OF ABANDONING YOUR CLAN, AND YOUR HONOR, FOR NOTHING BUT EMPTY PROMISES, BANRI THE TRAITOR!" I took the Rage route, as the other emotions weren't working right.

The entire collection of people around us froze where they stood, staring at their leader with shock written clearly across their faces.

He growled, finally showing emotion, so I knew I was close to winning. "Me? A Traitor?!? Your father and mine signed those stupid Accords, ENSLAVING us to the Humans! THEY'RE THE TRAITORS!" He roared.

"My father saved our races from extinction. We could have destroyed the humans, sure. We still can. But then what? Who will work in their factories? Who will make their art? Who would give us Sacrifices of Goats and Cows and Sheep? WHO, BANRI?!?! Genocide is not a viable option, so we chose PEACE! Is that so bad? Hmm? To live amongst humans without war or death? How did you manage to twist the term Equality into Enslavement?" I snarled.

He scoffed. "Equality? We must register like dogs, watched every minute we're off their leash-"

"EXACTLY THE SAME AS HUMANS!" I roared. He paused, confused, and I continued. "HUMANS ARE REGISTERED, THE VERY DAY THEY ARE BORN! THEY ARE BOUND BY THE LAWS OF THE LAND! WHY SHOULD WE NOT BE, WHEN WE LIVE AMONGST THEM?"

He narrowed his eyes. "As if it's the same-"

"IT IS THE SAME YOU FUCKING MORON! THIS IS WHY OUR TUTORS ALWAYS HATED YOU! YOUR HEAD IS SO MUCH HARDER TO PENETRATE THAN YOUR ASS!!!" I snapped.

He flinched, and one of his Demonborn allies snickered, quickly silencing himself. He glared, then snarled at me. "I will not be insulted, you incongruous baboon!"

I clapped sarcastically. "Four syllables?!? GEE WHIZ, MISTER, HE CAN BE TAUGHT!!! Does wittle miss pwincess of darkness want a gold star for effort?!?"

More of his allies laughed openly this time, and he blushed with rage, his power fluctuating rampantly.

I sighed. "Now. We can do this two ways, lover boy. One: I beat your ass soundly, and then right here and now, in front of all your buddies, I spank you until you remember not to talk back to me, or Two: you run home with your figurative tail between your legs, and never show your treacherous face in front of me ever again." I cracked my neck slowly.

His power stopped altogether as he lost control of his emotions, and he was about to land on his feet when my tail whipped out lightning quick, pulling his feet back so he landed on his knees.

"Ah, Surrender! Even better..." I nodded, and advanced.

He snarled and leapt to his feet, but this was, unlike before, a Personal Fight, and everyone now knew it. They melted into the shadows, disappearing, and I tackled him, beginning the Brawl.

My fists mercilessly pounded him into the pavement, completely and utterly defeating him while his power wasn't working, so he couldn't use his own Brand of magic, which was dependent on his emotional stability.

Once he was fully defeated, incapable of fighting back, I grabbed his neck and lifted him to his feet, shaking him until he woke up, and then looked him in the eyes.

"I'll give you one chance, Banri. Only one. Submit to Our Laws, and face your punishment; abdicate your position as Chieftain of this little ragtag clan that you gathered from the dregs of your father's honorable people's, and I will make sure you do not receive the Death Penalty. Resist, and I kill you, here and now, and, by war-rights, take the Chieftain's position of your little gang, and make it a Real Clan." I said simply, my voice like Silk over a sword, soft, yet very obviously deadly.

He spat blood at me as his wounds started to heal, and I nodded. "I accept your choice, Banri the Traitor, son of Bærd the Bard." I said, then dug my dagger through his neck, cutting off his head in a simple, smooth move.

His body dissolved slowly, his soul leaving the ashes, and heading down into the earth.

Then I slowly looked at the shadows. "Is there anyone who would challenge me as Chieftain?"

Several Demonborn appeared, drawing weapons, and I nodded. "Sands, Talbot, go back to Duval, tell her I'm going to be late for dinner... and I like my Steak's Rare." I smiled.

They nodded and darted off into the crowds that had gathered a bit away from the ring of shadows.

I noticed the fires around the city were still blazing, powered by something I couldn't discern, and hummed, then looked at my challengers. "Well, let's begin, eh?" I smiled.

---

I sat down heavily, and cracked my neck. "Is that the last ones?" I asked curiously.

There were two SS-Class demons amongst them, which had been a bit of a challenge, fighting them and a few S-Class at the same time, but I stood on their throats eventually, never even shifting.

My power was bottled up, barely used, and they knew that. My power wasn't on any charts, no Class-Maximus existed, and the fact that my weak and pathetic human form could destroy their strongest members was both humiliating and terrifying for them.

At the end of it, I stood up, stretching, and nodded, kicking the two SS-Class Demonborn awake. "Now you're going to answer my questions, or I'm going to start cutting off your fingers. Kay?" I said simply.

They sat up, groaning as their bones realigned. "What's that, chief?" They asked simply.

"Is the Shadow Clan sending Demonborn on their Rites of Passage in the Human Cities?" I asked.

They blinked stupidly. "Our Rites are taken in the Dimensions we came from, you know that."

"Yes, yes, but someone is sending Demonborn into the Cities on Hunt's, and I was making sure it wasn't us." I sighed.

They shook their heads. "Nope. Not us, chief. The Metal and Earth Clans haven't been taking their normal Rites, though, from what we've seen."

I nodded. "Alright. Well, do you know who the Chiefs are?"

They shrugged slowly. "They don't really have one, from what we've seen." They answered.

I sighed. "Alright. Thanks for the Information. Now get your brothers and sisters up and healed, and get back to patrolling the city."

They nodded and began waking up the others as I walked away. The circle of shadows dissipated as the last of the hostility vanished, and I grinned as it gave me a fun entrance.

The humans gasped when they saw me exit the shadows, as if dispelling them, covered in speckles of blood. I simply gazed at the crowd as I walked through it, and made it back to the camp swiftly.

Duval stared at me as I entered the barrier. "What... the hell... did... you... do?" She asked slowly.

"I gained a Clan of Demonborn as my Kith." I shrugged and shook myself, making boiling water fall over me with magic, cleaning my body.

She sat down slowly, and looked at one of the Giants, who was cooking on a small grill. "And you guys?"

"We got drunk at a few different Giant bars, and then fought at all of them. We gained a reputation for being strong, brutal, and very skilled, as ordered." He shrugged and flipped a steak, then tossed it at me.

I swallowed it in one bite, and then shifted my jaws back, and cleaned my face. "Anyway, My Shadow Clan says that the Metal and Earth Clans haven't been taking their Rites of Passage in the city, or anywhere they can be observed, and we don't know who their leader is, if they have one. That makes sense." I nodded.

"How does that make sense?" One of the Giants asked.

"Finally someone who isn't me doesn't understand." Duval sighed.

"Well, if their Chief was murdered, they don't have any leadership, and that means the Radicals are free to poison the young one's minds... and send them out into the outer cities for fake 'rites of passage', where there's no chief to tell them otherwise." I explained.

Duval nodded slowly. "Okay, so their government is no longer educating them, and it's secret, so only the older ones would know it."

"Correct." I nodded.

"And now they're building a massive Demon Circle, with this as the epicenter, by hunting and killing powerful beings in specific locations?" She finished.

"Correct again. Or, that's my theory. These could be random acts of hatred-"

"This is the circle, right?" Jacobson slowly traced the photo.

"Yes." I hummed curiously.

"It's a Maze Circle... hmph." He tsk'ed.

"A... what?" I asked slowly.

"It's... hard to explain." He sighed.

"Try." I nodded.

"Normal circles, they are meant for summoning, and containment. That way the demon is brought into this plane, and then sent back." He hummed.

"Right, simple. What's different about this one? That it's incomplete?" I asked.

"No... well yes, it's incomplete, but no, it's more than that. This circle has no Containment spells. This is a Pure Summoning, and it has no Coordinates, so it's just going to open a hole, not summon someone." He sighed

"So... in total, this is simply an open door, not an invitation?" Duval asked slowly.

He grinned tiredly. "Precisely."

"Okay... this just got much worse... we need more time. Much more." She sighed.

"No we don't. A week is enough. Jacobson, how's that trap coming?" I asked.

He snorted. "It would go faster if I had ten hands. I'm halfway done, but it's going to need some serious Mojo to hold anything beyond a Class-S." he shrugged.

I chuckled. "What about an entire Clan of Shadow Demonborn?"

"That... would be a nice help, yes."

---

I sat on the truck, examining the completed circle, while Jacobson sat next to me. "So... this is the Epicenter of that Circle, yes? This is where they'd exit?" I asked him.

"Yes. This exactly is where they'd exit. It's why no one was living here, not the Asbestos." He nodded.

"So... is there any way to combine my Barrier and your Circle? Make my barrier the entrance? So they exit from there, see the outside world, and then when they pass through, they enter the pocket dimension?" I asked.

He sighed and cracked his neck. "Yes... it's possible. I'll get to work." He leapt off the truck, and started barking orders in his Demon Language, which I wasn't fluent in, surprisingly.

I hummed and went looking for Duval, following her scent.

I found her haggling for a pair of shorts, and failing at it, so I laughed and walked up behind her. "You suck at haggling, Duval. Allow me." I patted her head and promptly bought the shorts for half price, without haggling at all. I just handed the woman the money, and she nodded, tucking it in her blouse, then ignoring us.

I handed the shorts to Duval, and nodded. "Come on, shorty." I teased, patting her head again.

She snarled and scratched at my forearm, only managing to file her nails on my titanium skin. She huffed. "Jerk."

"Mm. Anyway, Jacobson figured out our power issue, and we should also have the door working without any squeaking shortly." I said covertly.

She hummed. "And the Windows?"

"All locked, and tinted." I nodded.

She nodded. "So we wait for the buyers?"

"And so we wait. But while we wait!" I pulled her to the side suddenly, and we entered a Gay Club.

She blinked, then chuckled. "I know I'm Butch, but I'm not a lesbian, Maximus."

"I know? Why'd you think I thought that?" I asked, confused, and got us a table near the stage, where two women were dancing on the same pole, quite skillfully.

She sat down. "Well... okay? I thought you took me here for Gay women."

"Were not here for sex or dancing. We're here because it's a nice atmosphere, and they have tasty roast pork, which happens to be one of my favorite meals of all time." I raised an eyebrow.

She chuckled. "Okay, okay. Food, then. And alcohol."

"Correct." I nodded, and a waiter appeared swiftly.

I ordered two of the Roast Pork burgers, with extra fries, and two tap beers, which Duval changed to a whiskey-soda mixture I wasn't familiar with, and the waiter nodded and walked off.

---

As our food came out, we were debating the correct method for skinning a rabbit. She had what felt like an unorthodox method, which she claimed was superior to my own careful method, done with my claws.

The food was placed down, and I thanked the waiter, smiling.

He blinked slowly, then smiled back, and rushed off, blushing.

"You're just a flirt, aren't you?" Duval sighed.

"I am. It's not a bad thing, I don't think." I hummed, and then picked up the burger slowly.

I bit into it, and moaned softly. "This... is the perfect meal." I commented, and then scarfed down the rest of the burger in six human-sized bites. I flagged the waiter over, and spoke softly. "Is there any way I can get like six of these? I'm good for the bill, and a Dragon. I'm very hungry."

He nodded. "We get dragon clients often, I'll bring you out a platter." He swiftly entered the kitchen while Duval sighed, and ate her own huge burger at a much slower rate.

She finished about half of it, and then leaned back, holding her stomach. "Wo~ow... that really is a great burger..." she pushed her plate over simply, and I hesitantly touched the plate. "Don't be so skittish, I'm not a dragon, I'm not territorial about my food. Eat." She shrugged.

I nodded and swiftly ate it, then both orders of fries, in a matter of seconds.

The waiter came back on cue, and moved our plates out of the way, setting a platter of 14 giant burgers in front of me.

I grinned at the obvious challenge, and he chuckled. "You manage to eat all of these, and the chef says he'll let you pay half off on it."

I nodded and chuckled. "Very nice... I accept his challenge." I started eating.

---

I set the giant bag full of the second platter of 14 burgers I'd ordered after finishing the first on the table we'd made out of one of the crates, inside the truck, and the others swarmed it as soon as I let go.

The Giants and Dragonborn were pleased by my offering, but Jacobson shivered and stuck with the steak he'd grilled up.

He noticed my curiosity, and shook his head. "I can't eat Pork. Allergies from my mother." He shrugged.

I smiled. "Sorry... steak fries?" I held up the tub of fries.

He grinned. "Now that I'll never say no to." He took a large handful, and placed them next to his steak, while I handed the tub to the Giants.

We ate around the table, arguing amicably about the proper weapon to kill a dragon with, among other topics, until long after all the food was gone, and the full moon barely shone through the ashen ceiling of the world.