This is a recreation of the dogs playing poker art, but with my characters Grace and her summon spirits the Poker Gang, from my webcomic Yokoka’s Quest!
His demons these days were looking pretty rough around the edges, but not in the good way. In the way that they were not furthering their genetic mission to destroy the earth and engulf the human race in chaos. Honestly, what was all his work for if they simply didn't follow his orders? Clara was the worst offender of this alongside Evie, and while he had given Evie her first warning, Clara was on her tenth. He'd beaten her, isolated her, assaulted her, slowly tortured her, showed her horrible memories, every conceivable type of pain possible to get her to understand and yet, she had withstood. Some were simply lost causes, but, she hadn't gotten away scotch free. However, after the event, Carreau knew she wouldn't be using those Mystery Inc. names for their actual purpose. Breezing into her home by having her door slam open, his wings flapping inside and destroying everything in his path, he finally appeared in front of her. "Clara, we meet again." he let the wings retract, "You know what a godawful piece of shit you are, but we have to talk about that demon meeting."
CLARA:
Clara had been sitting cross legged on her couch, working on some medical paperwork when she heard the door slam open and watched the Prince walk in, destroying her new vase in the meantime and knocking decor off her shelves. She frowned, and narrowed her eyes. “I have a doorbell you know,” she said quietly. Although Clara had learned to harden herself against Carreau , the memory of his tortures still made her skin crawl. But she remained steady and brave as she looked up at him.
CARREAU:
"You know I don't do doorbells, especially for you," Carreau responded back instantly, grabbing a nearby apple out of a basket of fruit on her coffee table and taking a bite. Muching on the apple, he took a stance in front of her in faux thought, as if contemplating what he was going to be doing with her. After a moment of chewing, he finally opened his mouth. "Babe, as much as I enjoyed that presentation and giving those disgusting kid's names away, I have a feeling you're not going to use them like they're suppose to be used. Would I be right on that?" He cocked an eyebrow to her, taking another bite to let her answer
CLARA:
Clara put her papers down on the couch beside her and stood up, brows furrowing and expression growing more and more unwelcoming. “They’re just children, Carreau, they don’t deserve to get hurt just because they were trying to get the message out about people they consider dangerous. They don’t know any better.”
CARREAU:
Carreau rolled his eyes at her response, feeling the fire spark into his hands and burn the apple to ashes, leaving it to fall through his fingers into the floor. "You see, Clara-- that's where you're wrong." he spat at her with a point of his finger, "You fucking saw all the information they had on us. You think if people knew what you really were they'd still let you put your fingers in their pussies or even hold their babies?" Carreau scoffed, pausing for a moment to let her consider it, before adding afterwards, "We are evil incarnate, and that's always what we're going to be until we die. Either you get with the program and start using what I gave you to destroy those brats or we're going to have an issue."
CLARA:
Clara stood up, eyes narrowed. "No," she said firmly, with voice raised barely an octave higher. "You've tried to get me to be like you for years, Carreau, but it's not going to happen. You are not my Prince. Whatever hold you're trying to get, is never going to happen and rest assured I will fight against our evil nature as long as I live."
CARREAU:
Carreau let out a roar of a laugh -- Clara always had a special stubbornness to her. He shook his head, his wrist flicking to throw her against the nearest wall once she was done talking, not caring about the furniture she hit on her way. "Clara, Clara, Clara...what are we going to do with you?" he taunted, as if a father scolding his child. He paid no mind to any pain she was in, just beginning to pace around the space, arms locked behind his back as he thought. "There is no fighting against this, against us. We're demons for a reason, Palacios. It's cause something inside of us was evil enough to overcome our souls, and when you die, you will be nothing but ashes to ashes and dust to dust as it were." he explained, finally stopping in front of her to look down at the demon. "I may not be able to make you torture those kids, but I sure as hell can stop you from helping them."
CLARA:
Clara grunted as she crashed against her bookcase, volumes falling over her as she got her bearings. Carreau paced in front of her and the fallen angel's hands tingled with power. She battled against her impulses, resisting the urge to explode in rage. Despite her best efforts, a nearby vase with flowers and water began to vibrate. "If you want to kill me go ahead," she said gruffly, getting back up. Clara wasn't afraid of death - in fact, she'd wanted to die for centuries now though she was sure the Prince already knew that. "But if you don't, I will do what I have to do. And you won't be able to stop me."
CARREAU:
Carreau noticed the vase, eyes glittering towards it with a devilish grin streaking across his features. "You may still have some fire left in you after all, Clara." he said, admiring her work -- small, yet effective. He chuckled at her suggestion next, his head shaking. "Death would be too good for you, princess." He said, emphasizing the words to go along with his own title, the sickly predatory tone dripping onto her like acid. "No--no, I plan to make sure that you don't get near them instead. I will have every demon watching you. They bow to me, and despite what you think, you do too. That vase is proof enough." Then, instantly, he threw his arm towards it, letting it burn into nothing but ash.
CLARA:
Clara took a step forward. “I will never bow to you,” she said, voice calmer but her eyes were steely and fierce. “I belong to no one, except to my maker Himself. I know I’ve made my mistakes and I’ve betrayed God, but I am still who I was before, and I will do what I believe is right despite everything - to make up for what I became and what I’ve done. This is my purpose, and not even the Prince himself can take that away from me.”
CARREAU:
When she came closer, Carreau simply stopped and watched with his usual smug smirk, listened and nodding his head along with her. "Mm, right." he said, words clearly sarcastic and passive. After a moment, the demon prince stood back, head tilting back in casual confidence. "I can take much more away from you than you think, dear Clara. Don't you ever wonder what happened to those sons of yours? I'd hate to find them before you." he threatened with a deep laugh. He breathed in through his nose, savoring the moment as he began for the door. "I think my work here is done, but-- the work of others to hold you back isn't. It's too bad demons don't have eyes in the back of their heads, or else maybe you'd be able to see them coming."
CLARA:
At the mention of her boys and Carreau’s threat towards them, Clara visibly tensed and practically seethed, only the barest and almost unnoticeable amount of flameless and smokeless heat escaping from her fingertips. She didn’t trust herself to speak, nor did she want to give him the satisfaction of another retort. Clara glared at the Prince as he left, and already began thinking of all the ways she could disobey him.
