[ DEMON HUNTER DRIFT AU: PART II (SFW) ]

[auramatic]

DEMON HUNTER DRIFT AU: PART II
Part I (extremely NSFW) (it's very gross) (I'm sorry about everything)
Part II (NSFW post)

IT'S BACK, BABY

Imagine, if you will, that Drift is not a robot, but a gratuitously tropey half-demon hunter roaming around Boston killing demons in order to atone for his as a, well, killer for the demons. For all intents and purposes you can just assume this takes place in the same universe as Buffy (or something like it) for the sake of using a conveniently existing lore that I already really like. Maybe with an extra side of Kabbalah. whatever

HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT DEMON HUNTER AU DRIFT:

• Drift is half-demon on his father's side. He never really knew his dad, idk he like fucked off or got slayed at some point when Drift was young and he was mostly raised by his mother, who died of cancer when he was a teenager. It was real sad and Drift had no money and got pretty promptly kicked out of his mom's apartment shortly after her death. This made Drift a TRAGIC TEEN ORPHAN who was homeless on the streets for a while, and given his ~UNIQUE HALF-DEMON AURA~ it wasn't really very long before he fell in with a bad crowd. A demon crowd
  
• Tragic teen orphan Drift got into drugs, specifically orihalcon, a potent substance derived from the refined blood of certain types of demons, because regular human drugs don't quite cut it for him. He was pretty knee-deep in the local demon community, partly because he didn't fit in anywhere else, partly because some of them knew his dad.
  
• Drift spent a while as a homeless addict, barely scraping by, until he was recruited by Megatron, a powerful demon lord who saw much more potential in Drift and his untamed demon powers. He offered Drift a place in his ranks even though he was half-human, and helped him hone his terrifyingly natural talent for violence. For a while Drift mostly did it to feed his habit, but he began to enjoy the rush of violence and of releasing his DEMON SIDE way more than the drugs and eventually got clean.
  
• He also inherited this sweet demon sword from his dad that Megatron apparently had handy. It is powered by his DEMON SIDE
  
• Eventually though Drift's taste for violence got a little out of control and after pissing off some of his superiors for wildly disobeying orders in favor of MORE VIOLENCE, he fucked off and went into hiding. It was at this time that he met a witch named Wing from a smug hippie witch cult based in San Francisco. Wing offered him sanctuary and to teach him to better control his demon side by being ~~more in tune with the spirits~~. Drift took the sanctuary because he had nowhere else to hide, but wound up begrudgingly coming around to Wing's way of seeing things, at least enough to grow to care about him. Unfortunately for the both of them Drift's UNIQUE HALF-DEMON AURA led Megatron's forces right to the Wing's door and he got horribly murdered. Drift managed to get away but he was so tragically torn by the untimely death of his spiritual sensei that he swore off working for Megatron and decided to USE HIS POWERS FOR GOOD
  
• Since then he's discarded the name Megatron gave him and returned to Boston as the newly-reformed demon hunter Drift. He lives in a tiny, shitty apartment in Southie and fights demons by moonlight in order to help people out and atone for his murder-filled past. He has fully embraced his former mentor's spirituality with a level of enthusiasm that, tbh, should probably be worrying. He believes (or hopes, at least) that what Wing taught him will not only help him keep his demon side in check (he is pretty much always concerned he will LOSE CONTROL), but also lead to his eventual redemption. Unfortunately Drift is still learning how exactly to have real faith in something because he is the world's biggest faker
  
• He is Jewish because I know what I like and oh boy does he ever dabble in Kabbalah and a lot of other magical spirituality bullshit that mostly drives other people up the wall
  
• Being half-demon has a lot of perks, SUCH AS: super strength/reflexes/stamina, accelerated healing, and being able to jump way higher than any human. He's obviously not as powerful as a full-blooded demon, but plenty powerful enough to be able to take them head on. He's also really good at fighting shit. Drift's swordsmanship is pretty solid, having been trained in Megatron's demon army, but also he has studied very seriously from a lot of kung fu and action films
  
• He literally owns fourteen swords

PREVIOUSLY ON DEMON HUNTER DRIFT AU:

• Rodimus is this AU's equivalent of the Slayer, and Ultra Magnus is her Watcher. She and Drift are best buds who also make out a lot. Ultra Magnus STRONGLY DISAPPROVES of Rodimus spending time with someone with Drift's substantial murder past but Rodimus believes wholeheartedly in Drift's turning a new leaf.
  
• Perceptor (Percy) is a talented witch and physicist who also serves as Drift's go-to for information about demon lore and magic. They go back a long, long ways, and is one of a handful of people Drift trusts implicitly.
  
• Dealer was, predictably, Drift's orihalcon dealer when he was living on the streets. There were some bad (good) (bad) times that Drift would really love to never talk about, and Dealer loves to hold over his head.
  
• Ratchet is a trauma surgeon whose family was killed by demons around the time Deadlock was active. After patching up Drift a couple of times, they fell into an undefined sort-of relationship that nearly came to an end when Ratchet found out just who Drift used to be. After taking some time and talking to just about everyone else Drift knows, Ratchet decided he still wanted to know Drift as he is now, though things between them are still uncertain.

Comments

[auramatic]

This is so cool. This is so amazingly cool. It's so cool that Drift doesn't even mind putting on the dweeby safety helmet. He holds on as instructed -- he's sure this will be a hell of a ride.

It's even more than he was expecting. He clutches Dredd tight around the middle, only semi-self-conscious as they tear through the city. The roar of the motorcycle is loud enough that he has to shout to let Dredd to know that they're coming up on it, and by the time they come to a halt, Drift's platinum-bleached hair is a blown-out mess.

"We're here," he says a little breathlessly, and grins, gesturing at a fairly humble but prim-looking storefront for a small bookshop. It looks very tidy -- much tidier than you'd normally associate with Drift.

[isthelaw]

Dredd unstraddles his motorcycle, flexing his hands. His boots land heavily on the street, and he looks up at the storefront, frowning. He leaves Drift to - get off the bike, put the helmet back, or follow Dredd's example and keep it on permanently if he likes - whatever.

"Not bad," he says begrudgingly after a very long moment of intense staring and stone-faced silence. "An unassuming cover can be useful."

[auramatic]

Oh my gosh. Praise from Dredd? Kind of? Drift will take it. He tries not to grin too much as he digs around in his pockets for the keys that he definitely left at home oh no. Did he leave them at home? Did he lose them? It would be so bad if he OH NO he's totally found them, extracting them from his pocket with a triumphant look. There is a wrinkled gum wrapper stuck to one of the keys.

"It's not just a cover," he says with a touch of pride in his voice as he unlocks the door; the sign is flipped to say CLOSED. The hours are printed on the sign in a neat, steady-lettered hand. "It's a resource, too. And I don't just mean the books -- the owner's a witch and she's basically got a PhD in the supernatural. I do odd jobs for her sometimes, and she helps me out with research. She's got Rico's arm in the back room."

[isthelaw]

Wow, that's disgusting. The gum wrapper, not the arm. One should always know what's on their person at all times, and keep everything neatly organized in separate compartments. That's why Dredd wears a utility belt. Duh.

"She's got Rico's arm in the back room. She fit a class four laboratory in there?" Dredd repeats his words back at him, but it's definitely hard to tell what kind of tone he's adopting. He enters through the door, glancing around. Alert, as always. "Not bad, if you managed that. Where's the rest of him? We'll be claiming that back."

He's clearly not expecting pickle jar or however else Drift has brought it in.

at some point im ACTUALLY GOING TO GET SOME ICONS FOR THIS GUY

[auramatic]

"She's got a lab," Drift says. He has absolutely no idea what its classification is. "It's the real thing. The shop looks small, but the back's not just a stock closet. Percy really knows her stuff."

He coughs, hesitating halfway to the back room. "Oh, uh. I don't...have the rest of him. After I killed him he kind of -- imploded, I guess? His arm was the only thing that was left behind." An awkward beat. "Probably because I cut it off first."

don't talk to me about icons, I've been using like the same 2

[isthelaw]

Dredd just grunts in response, running a gloved finger over a shelf. It's evidently clear that he has no patience, or even really an interest in conversationally dallying about this Percy when she isn't even here.

"Not surprising. He always had a flair for the dramatics. At least that never changed."

He sounds disgruntled, yet not even slightly surprised. The kind of long-suffering tone that anyone even vaguely acquainted with Rico would recognise in their own. And maybe even the barest suggestion of... fondness? But it's a suggestion that disappears just as quick as it came.

"But good. Surprised he didn't take off yours." He turns his head to Drift, but it's hard to tell where he's looking under the visor. "He's proud. Never stops to think. Completely irrational. Is that how you won the fight?"

[auramatic]

Drift remembers the absolute rager of a fight, in which he most definitely did not have the psychological advantage, and how he'd ultimately just pushed Rico out of a tenth story window and beaten him to death barehanded.

"Oh, yeah. Something like that." Absolutely something like that. Something dignified and intelligent that Dredd would think was cool. "We've run into each other a few times over the years. I know his style by now."

"Drift?" Another voice, this one a woman's and decidedly more posh than Drift's, filters in from the back as the creak of a door sounds. Drift flashes Dredd a grin and waves him toward the back.

"Hey, Percy! I brought a friend."

'Friend' is a stretch but Drift's just gonna go with it anyway. Standing in the back doorway is a tall, slender woman looking at the both of them over a pair of rather severe-looking glasses. She raises an eyebrow at the two of them.

"He knew Rico," Drift says by way of explanation. "Percy, this is Dredd. Dredd -- Percy. She's got Rico's arm in the back."

[isthelaw]

Run into each other a few times over the years. Dredd seems to frown severely at that, opens his mouth to say something, but is promptly interrupted by the other voice.

"Judge Dredd," Dredd corrects immediately. He assesses her back, but at least he nods once at her, as greeting. "And no. Not your friend. Take us to the arm."

Ouch, harsh. But uh, at least it's a business-like rejection, and not an 'oh ew' one? He doesn't exactly exude an aura of having many friends in the first place, which is the way he seems to like it.

[auramatic]

Drift winces. Two counts. Ouch.

Percy, if anything, looks faintly amused, but for the most part her expression doesn't change, nodding in return.

"Of course," she says, apparently not bothered by Dredd's curtness, and turns to lead them into the back room. "You'll have to excuse the mess. It's been a busy week, and I haven't had a chance to tidy yet today."

Whatever Percy means by 'mess', it is entirely below Drift's radar. The only things out of place in Percy's otherwise pristine lab-cum-office are a few scattered post-it notes and an empty mug resting politely on a coaster. That, and Rico's arm -- propped up on an end table with the sigils of a containment spell around it, until such time as she figures out what to do with it.