BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Fifth Feather: Let's Stress Them Out, Yeah?

After that disappointing fight, Levia headed to his next destination in order to visit a few old friends. Along the way, he stopped at a vending machine to quell his thirst with a mint-flavoured soda. He stared at the empty can after drinking its contents and thought: "Damn it, this doesn't even taste like anything anymore." before throwing it away.

A few minutes of walking later, he found himself at his destination. Palooza plaza, an open-space marketplace in the town, full of all kinds of stores, restaurants, and entertainment centres to fill whatever urges that could trouble you. However, Levia wasn't interested in any of that. Instead, he walked straight toward the Casino located at the centre of it all, which itself was on top of a giant tree for reasons that remain unknown. He walked up the long flight of stairs, which he had grown familiar with a long time ago.

He stepped inside the building, and the sights were almost identical to when he used to work there a year ago, so nothing had significantly changed. He used the elevator and ascended to the floor where the owner's office was. Upon arriving there, he found that the door of said office was closed, but he could still hear the Handler's familiar guitar riffs echoing down the hall.

Levi positioned himself at a perfect ninety degree angle, parallel to the door, pulled a black knife out of his mouth, and spent the next two minutes assessing the best throwing angle in order to decapitate the boss in a single throw. He threw the small blade and cut through the wooden entrance like butter before colliding with something. Levia turned the knob and opened the door, revealing the Handler and guitarist, Tony Bianchi, and his superior, the commander, Alex Lewis, who was asleep, meaning that the blade he threw only cut a few strands of hair off of his head and ended up stuck to the wall. Levia muttered: "Damn it, I forgot he sleeps twenty three hours a day."

He stepped inside and was immediately in front of the business end of Tony's green guitar axe. With the edge lightly cutting his throat, Levia asked: "Come on, is that any way to greet an employee?"

Tony: "You had just attempted to assassinate the commander. What did you expect?"

Levia: "You're not wrong about that, music man."

Tony: "Got anything else to say before you lose your head?"

Levia: "You won't be able to do that."

Tony: "Excuse me?"

Levia: "You may decapitate me, yes, but you can't kill me. No one can. I mean, your boss should know since he tried to do just that a year ago."

Tony: "That's... not narrowing it down in the slightest. Any names I can go off of?"

Levia: "Hehehehe...HAHAHAHA! Names?! Music man, I have so many names. More names that hair strands on that sleepy bastard's head."

Tony: "...?"

Levia: "Ugh. It happened exactly a year ago in Greenland."

Tony: "...So, you're a survivor."

Levia: "Ding ding ding! We have a winner."

Tony: "And you're assuming the Commander was behind it?"

Levia: "Assuming? Pfft, Ahaha! Music man, you crack me up too much! I'm not assuming, jackass, I know he was behind that. But funnily enough, that's not why I'm here. I just came to talk."

Tony: "The knife."

Levia: "That was a vengeful impulse. Anyway, how about you wake him up for me, yeah?"

Tony: "...Before that, though; Who are you?"

Levia: "You're a terrible guy, y'know that? forgetting the face of your most iconic agent isn't a very good public image. Let me give you a hint..."

Levi then grabbed his horns and broke them off right before obscuring his eye sockets, which bled black blood, with his forearm. He interrogated: "Does this remind you of anything?"

Tony: "...Damien Lopez!"

Levia: "Oh! You're way too smart, music man! I wouldn't be surprised if you were working for the CIA! "

Tony: "I should've guessed that it wasn't enough to get rid of you."

Levia: "Damn straight! After all, I'm known for being a damage-sponge. Also, I love how you didn't recognise me at first glance. How do you like my new appearance? I ate a few hundred corpses, countless souls, and spent the past several months in a cocoon. Such is the way of the Hylic Beyonder, Leviathan!"

Tony: "..."

Tony took a few steps back and punched his boss' head, waking him up urgently and painfully. Alex exclaimed: "Augh! I was already awake! You didn't have to hit me!"

Tony: "Hey, chief, we have a bit of an issue."

Alex: "Hold on, let me put on my glasses..."

Levia: "Damn, there goes the tension of this scene."

Alex: "...Who is this guy?"

Levia: "That's a very good question, chief."

Alex: "...Damien Lopez, I presume? I never expected you to come back again, considering you've gone off the radar for a whole year."

Levia: "Yeah, it's funny how things go, wouldn't you say? I should also mention something. Y'know that name I knocked off a wine bottle or whatever? Yeah, I laid that name to rest a while ago, along with all the people you took away from me. From now on, just call me Levia. short for Leviathan Lopez. Now, can you take a good guess as to why I'm here?"

Alex: "As a matter of fact, I don't. Feel free to enlighten us."

Levia: "Oh, let's just say that I'm looking for a... service from you, goodfellas. And before you tell me that I can't do that because I work here; take this, it's my resignation letter.

Alex: "...It's just a note that says 'Fick dich'."

Levia: "That means 'Fuck you' in German. Now, about that service..."

Alex: "From your behaviour, I'm guessing you turned over to the Syndicate's side, huh?"

Levia: "Goddamn, this building is full of comedians! I'm not on your side anymore, but I'm not on their side either. I'm on my side."

Alex: "And what does that mean for us? You clearly didn't come here just to flaunt your independence."

Levia: "A very good observation, coffee man. The service I'm looking for is an exciting death game!"

Alex: "I don't like the sound of that."

Levia: "Trust me, you'll love it. Here's the big idea, recently, I've figured out some things about my nature as a Beyonder, including some common abilities shared among them, such as the ability to create places that don't exist in this plane of existence, a liminal space, I guess we could call it for a lack of better term. Y'see, It turned out that my house, remember that and how I needed money to rebuild it? Yeah, it turned out that it was a thing called a liminal space. Guess what that means? The house repaired itself literally as soon as I left its immediate vicinity! Hilarious, I know! Having thought about all the horrific shit that transpired to me and everyone I've ever cared about because of that house, I had an existential crisis and decided to kill myself. Imagine my surprise when I found out that my recent metamorphosis made me even more immortal than ever. That is where you guys come into play! Yaaaay! Here's the plan; I'm going to cause as much premeditated disturbances upon every cog and wheel that runs this country. I'm talking the works, the military, the government offices, the president, and even small businesses and mom and pop landlords. I'll keep fucking things up for the rest of my days, with the explicit intention of causing more socioeconomic damage than Archimedes could ever dream of, until one of you figures out a way to put me out of my misery! It's a win-win! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Tony: "Jesus christ, you're out of your fucking mind."

Fifth Feather:

Plucked