In the Shadows

[madimpossibledreamer]

Pretty sure half the reason I love Ethan as a villain is that he’s a villain straight out of Hellblazer really.  (And yes, Giles is completely Constantine.)
...here ethan gets vaguely Nishitani.  this stuff happens
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Buffy/Yakuza AU
Chapter Summary: Ethan has issues.  So does Xander.  They're different ones.
Word Count: 654
Rating: Teen (Xander's threatening and actually using a little torture, ethan's enjoying the thought)

 

            “Bein’ as yer a chaos sorcerer, ya probably know a magic knife on sight, yah?”  Ethan shivers pleasantly at the knife pressed to his throat.  He’s crouching easily, like he could do this for hours.  Ripper and he used to play like this in the old days.  His son doesn’t appear interested, but he’s a fine specimen, too.
            “I can’t see you as the son of the boring tweed Watcher, but the son of the Ripper?  You inherited the looks, brains, and touch,” he purrs, and the cold look in that eye is only more like Ripper.
            “Seein’ as I only want ta hurt ya and not have ya enjoy it…how ‘bout we see what happens when yer boner lasts too long, huh?”  Oh, yes, he’d noticed, and that plan, well.
            That’s a plan fit for Ripper.  Ethan almost feels a kind of pride at that.  “I look forward to finding out.”
            Except that gag appears to be enchanted, and the boy knows entirely how to tie it correctly.  “Lettin’ a sorcerer speak when I leave him all by his lonesome?  I ain’t stupid.”
            Ethan gasps against the gag, straining against it, and the resulting smile is more the baring of fangs than it is an expression that belongs on a human.  There’s a feral green light in the remaining eye.
            “Yer half right.  See, Otousan ain’t Ripper, not anymore.  But he ain’t yer average Watcher, either, soft an’ pliant.”
            Ethan shifts uncomfortably, as much as he can with the chains tying him down.
            “We’re willin’ ta get our hands dirty, work in the dark ta serve th’ light.”  The boy pauses, looking briefly like a normal teenager again.  He even appears to forget about the knife in his hand and the fact that it’s held to Ethan’s throat.  The kid…doesn’t seem all the most stable.  “That sounds like a reference, but I can’t remember what…”  He trails off, then shrugs.  “ ‘Course, it don’t matter all too much right now.”  And a changing accent.
            “Where were we?”  That feral look is back.  And oh, that power.  That ain’t a human’s.  That power’s demonic, one of the ancients, if he doesn’t miss his guess.  Why would Pure White Rupert let his son be demon-possessed, especially if they aren’t shagging—
            No, not even Ripper would go for his own progeny.
            And this isn’t like Eghyon.  It’s not the illusion of control.  All that power and insanity but it’s controlled, wielded like that knife in the boy’s hand.  He might seem lost in his own madness but he’s fully aware of every seeming failing and virtue in his arsenal and how to use them all to his advantage.  The boy’s not being controlled by the demonic influence.  On the contrary, he’s using it.
            He closes his eyes and probes—a spell, desperate, digging deep inside to stimulate the natural healing, to save from torture, a life lost—pain.
            “Enough.  I ain’t yer plaything, an’ a tour ‘round m’head might be a taste ‘a the Inferno.”  There’s a vicious twist and Ethan howls as his hand makes a sound it’s clearly not meant to.  He howls into the gag.  The boy had knowledge of the classics?  That’s more the new Rupert for sure.  “I learned a trick or two from my time at the hands of Angelus an’ I ain’t above usin’ ‘em on ya.”
            Indulging his curiousity and giving him an exact context to fear.  Now that’s masterful.  “But Otousan’s in danger.  Yer nothin’.”  The boy stands, pats him on the cheek, and leaves Ethan alone with the impotence and pain.

            Later it’s Rupert who releases him from the chains.
            “I may be in love with your son,” he slurs, and it turns out that the boy might have had a point.  Ripper didn’t disappear.  He just learned a little control like his son.  Rather than following chaos, he’s wielding his danger in a controlled fashion.