Knight's Honor: A Skullgirls Prequel

Lorenzo Strike Back/A Momentary Pause...

"Hello, your majesty," He said, smirking as he cracked his neck. Looking at his right, Parasoul looked utterly aghast. "What? No words, from the daughter of Renoir family?"

I had noticed that his appearance was far different than before. The news often had him be a relatively young man thanks in part due to that life gem that now resides in Nadia. A blonde man as well. But this doesn't look normal by any means.

Dust settling down allowed for anyone with a line of sight to see he was remarkably inhuman. His skin was extremely pale, and somewhat scaly like a snake. There was few markings around his left eye and lower cheek that indicated surgical scarring. He also seemed to have horns, although the right horn was significantly smaller and...fleshy. His hair was lightly messy with a chin goatee, but no longer carried that signature Medici blonde from his prior TV appearances. Instead it was pitch black.

"Lorenzo...how..." Parasoul spoke.

Valentine and Peacock stopped as well, each wary of Lorenzo's presence.

"I had a little open heart surgery. Amongst...other things," He clenched his fist looking towards the new crater where Marie was kicked. "You may want to duck,"

In a flash, the Skullgirl appeared before him. Carol quickly grasped both Filia and I to dodge the blue flames that appeared from her. The rubble provided decent cover, however my armor would no longer be of use. Percival was too tired to keep the suit intact.

"Mon du...what kind of twisted thing is he?" I uttered, still fresh in my injuries.

Filia herself was watching in a mixture of confusion and fear. I could tell she was having thoughts about her 'grandfather' swooping in to supposedly save the day.

"That asshole modified himself..." Carol growled. "Great. Another one to add to the pile,"

Marie stares down Lorenzo with anger that wasn't as present with Filia. The head of the mafia just got involved. I could guess that she was eager to break him into pieces.

Yet that attack from earlier barely did anything. While the others did indeed remove themselves from the line of literal fire, this don didn't flinch. Part of his suit jacket was on fire though.

"Lorenzo Medici..? I thought you were a decrepit old man by now,"

"Hah! My disappearance from the media was greatly exaggerated. Luckily I can remove loose ends pretty easily...the name was Marie right? Pretty sure my family kept an eye on a few rebellious servants..." His eyes wandered towards Peacock when he said that. That cartoon madam was perched on what was left of a building.

She clearly was involved in whatever feud this Medici was in.

"Tch. Don't think I won't have a chance. This is exactly what I want; having the Medici's erased,"

"Sure. A lotta' mooks have told me this exact spiel many times. But you can't break the family. Medici IS the Canopy Kingdom. And right now...you're in the damn way of both," Lorenzo ripped the damaged shirt, now effectively topless.

"What even..?" Carol was appalled. Including myself; his chest had a strange orb imbedded in his torso.

Parts of that same scaled flesh was protruding from his back, six in total. Assembled to be nearly the wings of mischievous pixie. Or to be more precise...a Devil.

"That's not normal...is it?" Filia trembled at this reveal.

"No kid...it's not," Sampson grimaced.

The clash began immediately as Marie fires off projectiles of flaming skulls. Bashing it aside with his left arm, he dashed inwards to grab the Skullgirl. Flashing from his body was crimson energy, Z-Rays if I'm correct. Those strange protrusions grew into longer tendrils forming hands at the end.