by Michael Todd
He pulled a sword from his back one-handed and sliced the demon in half, and it snarled and spat even as it fell in two pieces to the ground and turned to dust. He chuckled and turned to continue the fight, but he felt the all-too-familiar sting of demon’s claws across his back. The sword sheaths on his back were torn loose and his Kevlar was shredded, then came the hot-poker sear as talons ripped his flesh.
Calvin somersaulted forward and spun, slashing his sword down. The demon howled and retreated. Calvin had taken the thing’s nose off. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger without thinking, blasting the demon four times in the chest. He shook his head and realized that it needed to be a headshot. He raised his weapon and pressed the trigger again, putting a bullet through the bleeding hole that used to be the demon’s nose. His next shot took the demon’s head off its shoulders. Calvin winced and looked over his shoulder at the blood running down his back. His black shirt was in tatters.
Calvin was definitely being tested. He had not faced this many demons at once in a very long time, and even then, he’d had Katie by his side. Korbin and Stephanie were making a dent, but the fighting was taking a toll on their human bodies. Stephanie had found that using her guns was the best she could do. Getting close to the demons was almost impossible without a demon of her own. She didn’t remember what it was like to fight demons, but she had definitely overestimated her strength.
Korbin was having the same problem. He made his way to Stephanie, and together they backed out of the center of the fight and pulled back to the edges. “There’s no use in getting yourself killed the first time out. It’s obvious that without demons we aren’t as strong, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t help. We’ll lay down cover. Aim for the head.”
Stephanie nodded. “That’s one thing I’ve got over the demons. Sharpshooting is my specialty.”
She took aim at a group of demons headed their way, let out a deep breath, and pressed the triggers over and over, slowly and surely. Each bullet found a demon, and each demon turned to dust. When Stephanie finally lowered her gun, Korbin was impressed. “Nice. I didn’t know you could shoot like that.”
Stephanie shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t either. It was just a gut feeling.”
Korbin sighed. “Let’s hope all your gut feelings turn out like this.”
Stephanie giggled and continued firing at the horde. Korbin juked to the right as a group of demons tried to sneak up on them. He took two of them out before they attacked, then pulled his knife and used hand-to-hand combat techniques to avoid their claws. Stephanie shot three more demons and then raced over to help her husband. “You need to back off my man or you’re gonna see my wrath.”
Stephanie dodged a slashing claw and countered it with a roundhouse kick to the demon’s face. Using her acrobatic skills, she crouched and then flipped over the stunned demon. She grabbed him by the head and twisted hard, breaking his neck. She smiled broadly and looked at Korbin. “See? Not that bad.”
Korbin’s eyes went big, and he pointed behind her. “Watch out!”
Stephanie turned to lash her foot out in another kick, but huge claws were already moving toward her. Hellish talons dug through her Kevlar, piercing her back and digging deep furrows in her skin all the way around her side. Stephanie threw a knife at the hulking demon, not seeing where it landed, then grabbed her open wounds and fell to the ground. Blood trickled into the sand. Korbin ran over to her and fired wildly, scattering demons. He helped her to her feet and saw the blood pooling beneath her. “Shit. It’s bad.”
“Just a scratch.” Stephanie tilted her head up and grinned at him. “Hey, I gave it my best shot.”
Korbin kissed her. “And you did a fucking fantastic job, but take your ass inside and get those tended to. You can’t fight like that. Remember, you’re only human. Use that aim, baby.”
Stephanie held her bleeding side with one hand and fired with the other. Together they ran for the emergency hatch, shooting several demons in the process.
Korbin kissed her again and shut the lid behind her.
Korbin’s face went grim, and he stalked back out to find whoever had done that to his wife. He found the hulking demon standing in the sand, trying to pull Stephanie’s knife from his stomach. Her blood still coated his claws.
Korbin narrowed his eyes and pulled the sword from his back. “No one touches my wife.”
The demon grinned, displaying rows of jagged teeth. He let go of the knife in his stomach and flicked out his boil-covered tongue to lick Stephanie’s blood from his claws.
Korbin screamed and launched himself at the demon. He swung his sword two-handed and felt the brutal crunch as it bit into the demon’s neck, but then he slammed to the ground and looked up. He had taken the demon’s head right off. He wiped the demon’s blood from his face but kept his eyes on the putrid head rolling across the sand until it turned to ash. Several of the other guards jogged up, patting him on the shoulder.
One of the guards was breathing heavily as he set the butt of his gun in the sand. “I think this wave is about over. The guys up top, they got the rest of them. I lost one man, so we’re down to seven.”
Korbin shook his head. “Six. My wife took a wound across the back, so I sent her down into the bunker.”
Timothy’s voice came over their earpieces. “Guys, I hate to say this, but there is one big motherfucking demon coming out of that gate right now.”
Korbin and the rest of the team looked at the portal. What was coming through it was as big as a house. His horned feet touched the ground, and the earth shook. Korbin growled, “Fuck me.”
The thunderous landing of the emerging demon was drowned out by the whine of a squadron of fighter jets on the horizon.
Korbin put his hands on his knees, pushed out a deep puff of air, and let himself smile. “I thought they’d never get here. Damn military hasn’t changed. Hurry up and wait.”
12
The abomination stood up, and the guards gaped. He cracked his large neck and scanned the killing field. At once he was peppered with bullets. He snarled and looked toward the top of the production building, where the shots had come from. The guards quickly realized he didn’t even have to tilt his head. He was so tall that he was eye-level with the top of the building.
The grizzled head guard swallowed hard. “All right, boys, he’s just one big asshole. If we can kick a whole bunch of little assholes, we can kick one big one. We’ve only got one Damned merc down there and the rest are human, so we’ve got to give them as much backup as we possibly can. Take your places, and be ready for anything.”
As the hulking mound of scale and claw lumbered toward the building, the squadron of jets soared over him and fired. The demon paused to watch as they made another pass.
Inside the gate, Moloch and Baal leaned forward excitedly. They laughed as the planes took runs at the massive demon.
Moloch pointed at the demon’s confused face. “Did you see the look on the big one’s face? That plane hit him with everything it had, and it was like somebody pinched him.”
Baal laughed and slammed his scaled hand on the table. “We should do this more often! I love watching incursions. It’s amazing how useless the humans are without the meatsack and Lilith. They are absolutely clueless. They have no idea how to take down one of these bastards.”
Moloch shrugged his shoulders. “They used to be indestructible. Of course, technology has enhanced the humans, and the demons haven’t changed. Things are a little different now. Still, it’s absolutely hilarious to watch them shit their pants. They don’t even know where to begin. I fucking love the big one.”
Baal pointed at another plane diving at the demon. “Here comes another jet!”
The demon raised his arms in front of his face as though he were protecting itself and his twisted claws began to glow. Giant chunks of lava pulled directly from hell appeared on those huge claws, and he hurled them at the plane, laughing.
“Oh, shit!” the pilot yelled.
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One of the boulders of molten lava soared through the air, but the pilot quickly rolled the plane away from it. He got lucky. The second pilot didn’t. The other ball of lava hit the second jet’s engine and sent the plane spinning out of control. The pilot panicked and pulled his seat ejection lever. He was launched from the plane as the rear end burst into flames.
The pilot’s parachute opened and caught air, and wind took him away from the battle, drifting off somewhere in the mountains.
Calvin grimaced as the plane hit the ground and exploded into a giant ball of fire. The large demon was pelted with debris but didn’t even seem to notice. He lurched forward, setting his sights on the prize. It was obvious that the demons were no longer testing them, but now sending out their big guns to get to the weapons.
Calvin grabbed Korbin with panic. “We’ve got to stop them!”
Korbin looked at his sword, wondering what use it would be against something the size of a building.
Another sound broke over the battle. Not the whine of a jet engine, but a deep, steady thunder of another, larger plane.
Baal and Moloch immediately stood up, recognizing that the sound was not that of another military plane. They stepped to the edge of the gate and peered off into the distance.
Baal slapped Moloch in the chest, as the plane got closer. “Do you think?”
Moloch shook his head. “She wouldn’t be stupid enough to fly in on a private jet in the middle of a war zone. Probably some stupid government drone that was supposed to visit the base on a routine inspection and didn’t realize they were in the middle of an incursion.”
Baal screwed up his face and took a step back. “I don’t know, Moloch. Lilith has some crazy ideas. When you put her together with Katie, they seem to do the impossible.”
Moloch kept his eyes on the plane. “Impossible yes. Stupid? No. They seem to be pretty smart when they’re going into a battle situation. I wish it weren’t so. I would love it if the bitch made that sort of deadly mistake. I’m not getting my hopes up, though. Besides, I want to keep her away as long as possible. We both know she can take down the big one, especially with whatever angelic power she’s got.”
The plane swerved and then began to slow as it dipped toward the runway. However, as soon as the wheels barely scraped the road it sped up again, lifting its nose into the air and taking back off. Moloch and Baal began to laugh.
Moloch slapped Baal in the stomach, forcing him to let out a huge puff of air. “That pilot just freaked the fuck out! He saw the big one and was like, ‘Fuck this shit!’”
Baal straightened up and rubbed his stomach feeling the pain from Moloch’s fist. “I know, right? He thought he was going to make a nice landing, and then all of a sudden, bam! There were demons everywhere. I don’t think he was paying very good attention when he was coming in to land. It’s not like you can miss a ten-story demon.”
They continued to chuckle as they sat back down. Moloch shook his head with a smile on his face. “The fucking big one. Great stuff.” He glanced out of the gate, and something caught his eye. He tilted his head to the right, and the smile began to fade. “What the hell?”
Baal stopped chuckling and looked out at the airstrip. “It couldn’t be! She actually fucking did it!”
Strolling toward the base from the other side of the landing pad was a lone body, strapped to the gills with weapons. She shook her hair out as the demons gawked at her from the portal.
Her wings popped open and Katie leaped into the air, flapping furiously as she climbed higher and began to do laps around the base.
Pandora chuckled. I can almost feel the shock coming from inside that portal. Those two idiots Moloch and Baal must be watching the whole thing.
Well, maybe they should’ve thought about this before they sent their demons to my house.
Pandora smirked. I like it when you talk like that. I hope I get to see the shock on their faces when they lose this battle and we shove their demons right up their asses.
Katie laughed wildly. All there is to do now is show them exactly what we’re made of. You don’t come to my house uninvited, and you definitely don’t bring all your idiot friends with you. I think it’s time we taught them some manners.
I couldn’t agree more.
Calvin put his hands up and let out a whistle as Katie glided through the air. “I’m damn glad to see her.”
Katie smiled at Calvin and nodded, continuing to fly around the base to scope out the entire battle. She hovered for a moment when the emergency hatch opened and Stephanie climbed out. She had white bandages around her back and side. Blood was spotting the white, but she cradled a weapon in her arms. She hobbled over next to Korbin, who gave her an arm to lean on.
Katie and Pandora raged. Pandora could not believe Stephanie was that gravely injured and still on the field. Oh, hell, no! Somebody went after my baby girl!
Katie scanned the rest of the base. Not to mention all the damage they’ve done to my house. It’s gonna take a lot of money and time to repair this shit. These motherfuckers came to the wrong place.
Katie’s eyes glowed red as she swooped closer to the production building to make sure the shield was still in place and everything was secure. The grizzled guard on the roof gave her a sloppy salute as she passed. It seemed as though the guards up top had done a pretty damn good job of keeping the demons out. She flew around the building, satisfied.
She stopped when she saw a fresh group of demons pour out of the portal. They were small demons; lesser ones that she would love to pick up and snap in half. Not the time. She had vengeance in her heart.
Down on the ground, Calvin could see the next wave of demons emerging. “All right, guys, here they come again. We can’t leave it all up to Katie, so let’s give her the best backup we can.”
Stephanie was ready to go and checked her gun. Korbin pushed the barrel down. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Stephanie shrugged. “I never let a few scratches get to me before.”
Korbin lifted an eyebrow at her. “By a few scratches, you mean from the rose bushes back at home? Not from demon claws. Trust me, there’ll be more fights. Go down and get healed for now. And stay there.”
Stephanie studied him intently and snarled, “Are you telling me what to do?”
Korbin spoke softly but put his foot down. “I am. This time, I am.”
Slowly a smile moved over Stephanie’s lips, and she leaned up and kissed him. “Don’t make it a habit, but I have to say…it’s kind of sexy.”
Calvin walked up to the two of them. They were battered and bloody and still looked like a couple of dogs in heat. He cleared his throat. “Uh, we ready?”
Stephanie nodded and slapped Korbin’s shoulder. “I’m going to sit this one out, but good luck.”
Katie pumped her wings hard and flew up high, then hovered over the battlefield. The sun streamed over her shoulders and trickled over the desert. From below, all they could see was the shadow of Katie’s giant wings spread wide. Katie took a deep breath, and her body emitted a blinding stream of light. She tipped forward and folded her wings back, diving as fast as she could toward the battlefield, and right at the gigantic demon who was lumbering toward the production building.
She pulled out her angelic sword and held it high over her head as she slammed into the demon. In a fluid motion, she drove her angelic sword into the back of his head and through his skull. She held on tightly as the creature flailed, growling loudly and whimpering. He was layer upon layer of infernal muscle, and he couldn’t get his huge arms around his bulk. He waved his claws behind him, but couldn’t reach high enough to knock her off. His claws began to glow, pulling great boulders of molten rock from hell.
Katie levered her angelic sword back and forth and the demon began to waver.
“That’s right, buddy, just give in to it. You can go right back down to hell and have yourself a nice little cocktail on me,” Katie whispered to the demon.
The de
mon’s eyes rolled back in its head, and it fell. Katie held on tightly and pulled the sword from the beast’s skull and rode it all the way down, and the earth shook as it landed. One moment Katie stood on its head, a conquering hero, and the next, the demon burst into a cloud of ash that hid Katie from sight. The wind picked up, and the ash swirled and began to blow toward the mountains. From a distance, the guards saw Katie walking through the dissipating ash, fully armored and holding her sword tightly. Two cooling mounds of lava were all that remained of the big one.
Korbin sliced the top of a demon’s head off as he watched Katie emerge from the ash. He yelled at Calvin, “The girl sure knows how to make an entrance.”
Calvin chuckled, then stabbed a demon in the throat with a dagger and finished it with a gunshot to the head. “You have no idea, buddy. I blame that on Pandora. She’s the one with the flair for dramatics.”
One of the guards on top of the production building whistled. “Too bad the movie cameras aren’t here, because this girl would blow Wonder Woman out of the water.”
The grizzled guard shrugged. “I mean, get her a whip, and I’m sold.”
As Katie strutted across the sand, Pandora gave her a play-by-play of the reactions of the people in the area. Maybe this angelic armor isn’t as bad as I thought. I do need to see this Wonder Woman, though. She’s come up several times.
Katie laughed and pulled a gun from her holster. That’s definitely one I can get down with.
I’m just interested in the whip part.
All across the base the guards were locking and loading, getting ready to rush in to support Katie. Joshua raised the shield on the front doors and holstered his guns on his chest. In his hands he now held two large axes, the special metal shimmering in the sunlight. He was no longer the meek kid Katie had met so long ago. He was a grown man, and he was going to stand up for his home and back up his demonic boss.