by Michael Todd
I think I knocked the hell right out of this one.
I’ve never seen eyeballs roll like that before, at least not in something’s head.
Katie reached out with one finger and pushed and the demon fell backward, turning to ash before it hit the ground. She put her fist in front of her face and grinned maliciously. She had a whole new weapon, and this one was attached to her body. She nodded in approval and looked at the large demon walking toward her.
“Oh, good, you take orders well,” Katie taunted the beast as she rubbed her hands together.
Katie dug her heels in and ran straight for the demon. She didn’t really have a plan, figuring she would just go with the flow. As she grew closer to it, she jumped up, skipping across the heads of some of the smaller demons, and leaped on the large one, grabbing the monster near its waist. The beast stopped, confused. It shifted right and left, trying to see Katie over its immense scaly belly.
Pandora yawned. Nothing like a little rock climbing to keep your body fit and firm.
Katie grunted as she climbed the demon, making her way up to its shoulder. She looked at the other mountainous demon stalking toward them, bright red eyes shining. She clapped her hands together and rubbed them furiously. She took a step back, then leaped off the demon’s shoulder. She stretched her arms out as she flew, not even needing her wings to make it over to the other demon. She grabbed the sides of the demon’s head and in a smooth motion, she threw her body around, swung through the air, taking the horrible head with her and breaking the demon’s neck.
The demon let out a strange, childish gurgle and fell. Katie swung onto the back of its neck and stood firm as it hit, shaking the ground. Katie hopped off the dead demon and covered her face as it burst into a cloud of ash.
Three down, one to go, Katie boasted.
I’m just over here imagining you doing that to its balls. You make a running leap, grab onto its nutsack, and swing around. You could bring any demon to its knees. Any angel too, probably.
Katie shrugged as she walked toward the other demon. The big guy must have heard the nutsack discussion because he made a break for the portal. Meh, seems like a lot of work just to climb up and kill it. Besides, I really don’t want to hug a giant demon’s balls.
Good point. It’s pretty damn hot in hell, and I can only imagine the sweat on those things.
Katie grimaced, feeling her stomach turn. God, it would be like a demon fucking Slip-and-Slide. So gross.
Portals usually closed whenever the mercs were winning, but this time it stayed open. Even the dumbest of the small demons couldn’t help but notice, and some ran back through. They could see they had been outdone, especially with Katie there. Making a run for it was the only thing they knew to do.
I don’t know whether to chase them or just let them go, Katie complained. She put her hands on her hips and watched the retreating horde.
I would conserve the energy. Besides, they’ll just end up back in hell, to be turned around and sent right back here. If they’re making a run for it, it’s like a win for you. You don’t have to spend your time ripping their heads off.
Katie chuckled. But I like it. Gets out some of my aggression.
I know something else that would help get your aggression out.
My sex life should not be a topic of conversation right now.
Pandora giggled. Just saying. Just saying.
Katie clapped her hands together and looked at their people standing close to the production building. Okay, I need you to give me two excellent demons to support our humans. No wimpy bitch demons or drama-starting fools, just big bad brawling demons who will listen when we tell them to do something.
Actually, two of them just ran back into hell. I knew them from my days sitting lazily next to Lucifer on the throne.
Katie smirked. I need them to be willing to help us. I don’t need them to be loyal, just willing to take instruction—which means they can’t be Lucifer’s lackeys.
Oh, trust me, their loyalties lie with whoever will keep them safe. One word from me and they will be eating out of your hands, or the hands of whoever you stick them in.
That was exactly what I wanted to hear. Katie beamed, then rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, readying herself.
Katie stepped back, dug her feet into the ground, and made sure her armor was on securely. She stared nervously at the portal, not looking forward to what she was about to do. She couldn’t put this off. She had seen the vulnerabilities in her team, and there was no way she was going to let them perish just because they weren’t Damned. They deserved the right to have a chance to make a difference in this war.
Katie took off running toward the portal and Pandora began to get nervous. Hold up! What the fuck are you doing? Are you a total fucking moron? Shit. I’m stuck in this human who’s now running straight for hell! Well, I guess I don’t have much say, so fuck it! Let’s do this!
“So, in total four large demons came through the portal. Katie took down three of those, and the other ran back into the portal when the fight slowed down,” one of the pilots explained, getting the general up to speed.
“Good. And where are we now?”
The pilot cleared his throat nervously. “Well, the last of the small demons are jumping back through the portal. The building’s guards seem to be cleaning up, picking off any of the smaller demons who got left behind.”
The general lifted an eyebrow, noticing he didn’t say anything about Katie. “And Katie?”
The pilot was silent for a moment. “I’ll be honest; I’m not really sure. With all the ruckus I kind of lost track of her, but just a moment ago she was making a run straight for the gate.”
The general slapped his hand on the desk. “What? Did you just say she was running for the gate to hell?”
The pilot stuttered. “Y-yes Sir. I’m not exactly sure what she was planning.”
The general leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “I don’t think anybody knows what that girl is planning until it comes to fruition.”
The general looked up as his secretary poked her head in the door. “You have a call from one of the higher-ups. You might want to take this.”
The general nodded and turned back to his conversation. “Well, keep me updated on what’s going on there. If you need any more help, let me know and I’ll send some. And for God’s sake, when Katie gets back from doing whatever the hell it is she is doing, please have her give me a call.”
The general hung up and took a deep breath, getting his nerves together before answering the other call. “This is General Brushwood.”
“General, I’m sorry to bother you. I know you’re dealing with an incursion in Nevada, but I think you’re going to want to see this.” The chief of staff was breathless. He continued, “There was a huge issue in a small beach town in the Mediterranean. We are sending the footage to you via ComSat 331.”
That caught the general’s attention. “Of course, Sir. Give me one minute to get the satellite pulled up.”
The general put the chief of staff on hold, clicked the line over, and dialed his IT department. “This is the general. I need you to pull video from ComSat 331 on channel thirty-three, security code given. Push that over to my office screen, please.”
The IT guy agreed, and the general switched back over to the chief of staff as the picture began to appear in front of him. “Okay, sir, the video’s coming up. What exactly am I looking… Holy hell! What is that?”
Both the general and the chief of staff watched in shock as they viewed the last part of the Mediterranean town’s destruction by the Leviathan. It was a satellite view, but they could still see the buildings burning and people running through the streets. It was reminiscent of a war-torn area where bombs had gone off, but from the looks of it, what the creature had done was much worse.
The general was stunned. Onscreen, the beast walked back into the ocean. Neither man spoke a word until the beast was completely submerged and the ocean w
as calm again. The chief of staff cleared his throat. “As you can see, we have a bit of an issue.”
The general shook his head, gathering his wits. “Do we know where it went?”
The chief of Staff was silent for a moment. “Not really. It came up without warning or detection. It ravaged the town, and the military showed up just as it was sinking back into the ocean. The survivors were able to point out where it went down, and some of ours and our allies’ submarines were able to track it for a little while, but then it just disappeared. We don’t know if it went through a portal or if it’s hiding somewhere down there.”
The general clicked on his computer and glanced at the data for that time period. “I don’t see anything on here showing any kind of portal activity in the area. Then again, I’m not sure one would even show up that deep in the ocean.”
“Those were my thoughts, but the subs couldn’t track it. It was like the whole damn thing just disappeared. How does a beast the size of Godzilla just vanish?” The chief of staff was irritated, but not at the general.
The general shook his head. “I don’t know, sir. What I can do is get this footage to some of my experts, and we can figure things out. If we are capable of detecting portals before they even appear, we should be able to figure out where this monster disappeared to. I don’t know what kind of intelligence it has, but from the looks of it, and from the amount of time it spent in the town, it had a specific task.”
“I agree. From some of the testimony coming in from the survivors, everything happened within fifteen minutes. It was a damn hit-and-run, and nobody had a chance to even take cover. All those women and children!” The chief of staff’s voice caught in his throat.
The general couldn’t believe what was going on. There had been two large hits in one day, and neither of them could be fully explained. “Let me get on this. I’ll let you know what I find out as soon as I get the information. We’ll find this monstrosity, sir. That’s what we’re best at.”
15
Knowing that insane ventures should be undertaken quickly, Katie leaped through the portal. She landed on one knee on hot rock and sat there for a second with her head down, feeling the incredible energy raging around her. It pulled at her and pushed at her. She could feel it almost as if her body were absorbing those energies into her bloodstream. It was incredibly intense, and she wasn’t prepared for it.
Slowly she lifted her head and put her hand on her knee, pushing herself to her feet. The angelic sword appeared in her hand again, and she sheathed it at her waist. The energy was so strong she could see it swirling through the portal. The area was dark, only small rays of light in the background leading into the large pits of hell. The heat was exhausting and threatened to melt the clothes right off her body.
Shit, and you lived in this? It’s like one of those scenes in horror movies where the girl gets stuck in the sauna, and it’s turned all the way up. I feel like it could melt the skin right off my face.
Pandora chuckled. You see now why the Nevada heat didn’t really bother me? It’s not that bad once you get down to the bottom. It kind of disperses. But this is a tunnel straight into hell, so you really feel it here. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your skin is still intact when we get out. I would suggest hurrying and doing whatever it is you need to do so your angel wings don’t melt right off.
Katie chuckled. For some reason, I think that the angel wings would be the things that lasted the longest in this heat. I feel like they are probably time-tested and hell-approved.
I don’t think I want to find out, and I’ve never seen an angel in hell before. At least not one who’s not fallen.
Katie rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision and get a better view of what was going on around her. I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’m not full angel, though, so I don’t know if it’ll count.
Do they have a record book for those things?
If they don’t, I’m definitely making one.
Pandora concentrated part of her energy on keeping Katie’s body safe while scanning the area for the demons she wanted to recruit, and for any further sign of Moloch. That was one demon she wouldn’t be even remotely sad to face. She had fantasized about his overly large head rolling across Times Square just like T’Chezz’s had. She’d kick it all the way across that town and into the fields on the outskirts. It was a beautiful thing for Pandora to envision, since she hated those idiots so much.
Pandora took control of Katie’s arm and pointed her finger straight at two demons. There they are! Those are the two idiots I was talking about.
Katie narrowed her eyes and stared at the two demons. They were having some sort of argument, one bitching at the other. The second demon patted the first on the shoulder reassuringly. “It’s fine. Stop being such a pussy. We got through the portal, and she’s not going to bring her flammable meatsack over here into the heat.”
The first demon narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. “She’s not exactly a regular human.”
The other one scoffed. “Come on, even angels don’t venture down here.”
His companion’s eyes got huge, and he followed his line of sight and shrieked. Running as fast as she could through the gates of hell was Katie, adorned in her angel armor and carrying her bright white sword. Before they could move, Katie was on them. She grabbed them both by the neck and lifted them into the air. “You two are coming with me.”
Both demons were too scared to say a word and just hung there, staring at her. She began to make her way back out of the portal, but demons were everywhere. They were starting to notice that there was an angel among them. Several of the smaller demons lurched toward her, ready to attack and save the others. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Can’t anything be easy?”
The two knucklehead demons looked at her and smirked, but she wasn’t giving up that easily. She pulled her arms apart, dangling them above ground, and then smashed them together. Their heads collided with a sharp crack, knocking both out. She nodded, satisfied, and tossed one over each shoulder, then awkwardly drew her sword.
She studied the demons attacking and shrugged. “You had the chance to get away. I wasn’t going to mess with you, but here you are, trying to attack me. I guess I’m gonna have to put this sword through your faces. And I’m pretty sure that if I kill you here, you don’t come back.”
Katie swung her sword, taking off the heads of the demons before they could even move. The demons slung over her shoulders restricted her movement, but she didn’t mind. She grinned and slashed. Instead of turning to ash like they did on Earth, the demons screamed and exploded into black mist that floated into the portal. Katie was surprised for a moment; she was not expecting that. She shrugged, figuring it was a lot cleaner than the dust she always had to clean off her shoes.
Only a few other demons tried to attack her, but Katie was on a roll. She figured if she was there, she might as well take as many as she could. If killing them ended their lives here in hell, she could cut down on Moloch’s army. Even a small reduction in his demonic forces would be positive.
Pandora scoffed. Like there aren’t plenty of human souls to be sent down here at a moment’s notice.
Yeah, well, I didn’t really think about that. Plus, it’s kind of fun to watch them explode. It’s like squeezing a grape. Pop!
Pandora scanned the area around them. Gig’s up! Lots coming! We’ve gotta go!
Katie pouted but sheathed her sword, then flipped the demons off her shoulders and held them by their necks as she took off at a run. The demons were flooding through the gate, trying to get back into hell before it closed. It was like driving down a one-way street in the wrong direction during rush hour in New York City, only she was carrying two bodies.
Katie shook her head and backed up. She couldn’t fight through that kind of crowd, especially not with two demons clutched in her fists. She took off at a run and jumped high, her wings sprouting from her back, and she soared over the horde of demon
s and out of the portal. As soon as she was through, a rush of cool air hit her in the face. She let out a deep breath and drew in air untainted by sulfur and the damned. She sighed as she touched down on the ground. Her wings folded up and disappeared.
Calvin let out a relieved sigh as soon as he saw Katie. “That girl is going to give me a heart attack. Everybody thinks I’m gonna die from a demon incursion, but it’s going to be worrying about Katie and her crazy antics that does me in.”
Korbin tilted his head to the right. “What the hell is she carrying?”
Calvin squinted and took a step forward. “What the fuck? She’s got two unconscious demons in her hands. What the hell is she gonna do with those?”
Everyone, including the human guards, was shocked to see Katie carrying out two comatose demon bodies. Katie had done a lot of weird things in the name of winning a war, but diving into hell and coming back with demons was a new one. She slowly walked toward the guards, just glad she was no longer burning to death in hell.
Pandora cackled at everyone’s shock. I think you surprised them for once. I’m pretty sure they thought they had gotten to the point where nothing you did could surprise them.
Katie gave a crooked smile. I guess I gotta keep them on their toes. By the way, thanks for keeping that portal open. I’m not exactly sure what I would’ve done if it had closed while I was in there.
The air crackled with electricity and thunder boomed overhead. The sky over the base shimmered, and a crackle echoed across the killing field. The portal had snapped shut. Pandora was silent for a second, and then cleared her throat. Uh, as much as I like to take responsibility for the good things, I had nothing to do with keeping the portal open. I actually thought it was you.
Nope. At least, I don’t think so.
Katie walked up to Korbin and Calvin, who grimaced at the demons she was clutching. She looked over her shoulder at the guards, who were kicking at loose hunks of concrete the demons had torn from the base of the production building. It would take a lot of work to repair.