The first jolt of electricity tore through Dario's body like liquid fire. He convulsed on the classroom floor, muscles seizing as voltage coursed through his nervous system. His classmates watched in horror from behind overturned desks.
"Still want to play games?" The man adjusted the taser's setting. "I can do this all day."
Another shock. Dario's vision blurred, darkness creeping in at the edges. He could feel something stirring deep inside his mind—a presence that had been dormant, waiting.
No, Dario thought desperately. Not now. Not like this.
But the third shock shattered his control completely.
When Dario's eyes opened, they were different. Colder. The fear and pain that had contorted his features melted away, replaced by something ancient and amused. He rose slowly, brushing off his clothes with casual indifference to the taser still crackling in the man's hand.
"Well, well," he said, his voice carrying an edge that made several students whimper. "That was unpleasant."
The man with the taser stepped back instinctively. "Cassius?"
"In the flesh. Such as it is." Cassius rolled his shoulders, testing the body's responses. "Though I must say, your methods lack... finesse."
The gunman at the front of the room shifted nervously. This wasn't what they'd expected. The scared teenager they'd been torturing was gone, replaced by someone who radiated an unsettling calm.
"You owe Jonas fifty grand," the smaller man said, trying to regain his composure. "Plus interest. Plus the inconvenience fee for making us track you down."
Cassius tilted his head, studying the man like a predator examining prey. "Jonas. Right. The gentleman with the unfortunate gambling problem and even worse taste in associates." He smiled, and several students pressed themselves further into their hiding spots. "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding."
"No misunderstanding. You took his money. Made promises. Disappeared."
"I," Cassius said, emphasizing the word, "didn't do anything. My... roommate, shall we say, has been living a remarkably mundane existence. School, homework, the occasional pizza with friends. Terribly boring, really."
The man raised the taser again. "Don't try to con us—"
Cassius moved faster than should have been possible. One moment he was standing casually by the desk, the next his hand was wrapped around the man's wrist, the taser clattering to the floor. The sound of small bones breaking was audible even over the gunman's shouts.
"I am Cassius," he said conversationally, ignoring the man's screams. "God of Demons, Keeper of the Seventh Circle, and currently very annoyed at being awakened by such... pedestrian methods." He released the man's shattered wrist. "But I am not your debtor."
The gunman fired twice. The bullets passed harmlessly through Cassius, embedding themselves in the wall behind him.
"Conventional weapons," Cassius sighed. "How disappointing."