Juntto

by Michael Todd

  He reached across the desk for a pen and piece of paper, his eyes still closed. He began scribbling notes on the paper. His mind replayed the game, and he commented on his own play. Everyone on Earth called his abilities “magic,” but the truth was, he was just a more advanced being. He had three times more brainpower than the average humans. Because of that, he could totally control his body, both physically and mentally. He could force memories to surface and study those memories from afar.

  The strength he had was fairly normal for his people. The rest of his talents were just the way they were. He couldn’t really explain it. After ten minutes of constant writing, he opened his eyes and glanced over the sheet. He smiled and nodded his head, knowing exactly what he was going to need to do.

  Juntto began typing swiftly on his computer. He opened a control screen and set up several additional hotkeys. “I have to get to these actions far quicker. If I had them as an option before, then I could have beaten the child no matter how much stronger that fool was.”

  He hit the last key and saved the changes. Juntto sat up in his chair and cracked his fingers, moving the mouse to start a new game. He smiled as he picked his characters, weapons, and armor. This time he was determined not to be undermined by a twelve-year-old kid with lots of time on his hands.

  Juntto picked up the pen and scribbled the kid’s screen name down for later. He was definitely going to give the kid a rematch, and he wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again. “I will get my loot back, you shit goblin, and much more.”

  “The attacks left only devastation in several locations, but fortunately due to demon shelters that had just been put into place, the death toll was not nearly as high as in former incursions.” The newscaster was sitting at a desk, photos from the incursions playing on the screen beside her.

  The general stared at the carnage and destruction, shaking his head. He still couldn’t believe that the US had fallen victim to the same kind of hit-and-run tactics Moloch had used on other places. Not just that, but the reports made it sound like Moloch himself had made an appearance. The general couldn’t figure out what in the world would have prompted him or angered him to the point where he would have done something that drastic. Then again, Brushwood knew there was no real rhyme or reason to the demon’s path.

  “In other news, former governor and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger was found in the driveway of his home, along with an overturned vehicle.”

  The general shook his head. “That’s a damn shame. Liked that man.”

  He turned the volume down and picked up the phone, dialing Katie. “Katie, it’s the general. You have a minute?”

  “For you, General, I have more than that. What’s up? Did you see that Arnold died? I wonder if—”

  The general cut her off. “It’s a shame, it really is, but that’s not why I’m calling. Three different locations were hit. More hit-and-run tactics like before, only this time I’m pretty sure Moloch made an appearance.”

  “Really? That son of a bitch is taunting me,” Katie fumed.

  The general nodded. “Possibly, or he is getting too brazen for his own damn good. I’m assuming this had something to do with the battle in hell. He really had no strategy for any of this, and the hits seemed random. Either that or he has figured out our tracking system.”

  Pandora’s voice came through the phone. “Not likely. Fucker is a complete moron. It sounds like a hissy fit on his part.”

  Katie cleared her throat, taking back over. “Yeah, he doesn’t seem to be too interested in our technology. He is focused on the weapons and the takeover. But as far as the timing, I would say he was probably throwing a hissy fit. He has no idea why we were there, and until they start snatching drones, I’m going to assume that they are still oblivious as to our purpose there.”

  The general stroked his chin. “I agree. The only problem is, we cannot just sit here and let him attack our lands and our people without some sort of retaliation measures. We have to show him and the people of this country that we are doing something to combat this. We have stood up during every other war, and I don’t want us to look weak to the demons or to the rest of the world.”

  Katie understood. “I agree with you. We can’t let the country or the world feel that we are weak. It would help if they understood just how hard it was to fight these battles. I want to show them we are watching without killing too many of our own. That’s difficult walking into these situations because the demons are strong, even more so on their territory.”

  The general tapped his pen against the desk. “Right, but we know that now. What we need to do is regroup. We need to look through our ammo, our weapons, and use the best strategists that we have to come up with a plan. We can’t leave this one to chance, and we can’t just send you and big boy in there and hope for the best. I want these fuckwads to know that we are all on the same side over here, and that side wants to kick their fucking asses.”

  Katie chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve heard you this upset before, General. You okay?”

  The general snorted. “I am sick and tired of this shit. I’m tired of losing good innocent American souls to these cowardly attacks. Collateral damage is one thing, and it always has been a tough one to swallow. But this isn’t that. This is just cold-blooded murder, with this Moloch fellow going after anything weaker than him or his demons. He wastes human life to laugh in our faces.”

  Pandora coughed her way to the surface again. “Remember one thing, General. No life means anything to Moloch, except his own. Power and winning are the only things that mean a damn to him. He may get angry when demons die, but he doesn’t really give a fuck. He cares when he is deemed the loser. Katie and I make him a loser, but we can’t just stop trying to fuck their world up because they might attack. We have to stay the course.”

  The general knew that was true. “I understand. We will see many more casualties before this war is over. Let’s just attempt to minimize them as much as we can. Focus on what we can control.”

  Katie came back to the phone. “True, and I have some ideas. What if we set a trap for Moloch and we get the whole thing on video?”

  The general shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. That could go very badly very quickly.”

  Katie smirked. “Or very, very right. Look, let me talk to some people, get a plan together, and then I’ll put it up for your approval. Just keep your mind open on this one and keep the troops and the cops steady. We are going to get this guy. We’re going to end this whole damn war, but we have to be patient with each other.”

  The general nodded. “I trust you, Katie. Get back with me when you have the details.”

  The general hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. Things never seemed to end, but he knew one of these days, one side would fight their last battle. He just hoped that it ended well for the humans, and not for the demons.

  13

  Katie stretched out on her bed and closed her eyes briefly.

  I don’t understand why Brock and the boys couldn’t stay with us.

  They’re adults, and they’re military. They have to be debriefed.

  But I want to debrief Brock.

  If you’re not going to let me rest, then I have shit to do.

  She groaned and grabbed her phone. No matter how tired she was, if she didn’t make the call now, she never would. After a few rings, he answered. “How is my favorite mercenary doing on the other side of the country?” Katie asked.

  Korbin chuckled. “We are holding tight and putting in work. How’s New York?”

  Katie sighed, leaning against her headboard. “Oh, you know, complicated as always. Trying to take care of fifteen different things at once. You know how that is, though.”

  Korbin snorted. “No, I can’t even imagine. I remember being the leader of this territory, sometimes venturing off to other parts to help when needed. I was never leading a task force of four or five, covering places all over the globe. You’re handling things on Earth and
in other realms, from what we are hearing.”

  Katie winced. “Yeah, sorry for not keeping you up to date. Things happened at the last second. One minute I’m on my way home, the next we’re rerouting to hell. It’s definitely been challenging for us.”

  “I can imagine,” he replied.

  “How is Joshua doing? Is the armory up and running?”

  “It is. We just got the last of the machinery hooked up, and from what I’ve been told, they are blowing full steam ahead. Of course, they pretty much had to start over, but they knew what they were doing this time, so things are a tad easier. We have orders backed up. They’re coming from all over the world. We are filling the government orders first and then moving to civilian. From what it looks like, people are starting to take matters of protection into their own hands.”

  Katie smiled. “Normally, in historical reference, that would be a bad thing. When it comes to demons, though, I think it’s good. We can use all the help we can get, and if it means the citizens are arming themselves, that might mean one less casualty.”

  Korbin wasn’t sure. “Yeah, but that could also mean more brave people standing in the streets instead of finding shelter. We don’t necessarily want militias. That has never turned out well. The last thing you want is people gunning each other down in the street because they thought they saw red eyes.”

  Katie grimaced. “Yeah, I suppose not, but at this point, we don’t have the people to police that sort of thing. It was bound to happen. Humans’ number one instinct is survival, and that is how it has always been. Either it will hurt us or help us; only time will tell. What about Timothy? Is he keeping his shit together over there?”

  Korbin laughed. “As much as he can. I’ve been keeping him busy with extra things to accomplish. Stephanie is thinking about grabbing him for a movie night soon. She thinks he might pop a blood vessel if she doesn’t.”

  “We wouldn’t want that. It would be a lot of glitter and rainbows to clean up,” Katie pointed out, laughing.

  Korbin choked, then burst out in laughter. “Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve laughed like that.”

  Katie was glad to hear it. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard you laugh like that. We all need to remember that even with distance, we are still family.”

  “Very true. So, what can I do for you?”

  Katie wished she was just calling to shoot the shit, but that never seemed to be the case. “I need to talk with you about things, but not over the phone. I’ll need to come out there. You have time for that?”

  Korbin glanced around at the base. It looked like an actual military installation, and they were getting close to being done. “Sure, anything for you. Come on out. You can see what we’ve done with the place. That extra push from the general lit a fire under these boys’ asses, and they are getting shit done.”

  Katie grinned. “Good. I was hoping it would happen that way. Okay, I’ll be down there later today. I’ll be flying into the airport on the jet and then over on my wings, I suppose.”

  “We’ll keep an eye out. Be careful.”

  “Always.”

  Katie hung up the phone and walked to the dresser, grabbing her guns and putting them in her holsters. She looked at her tired face in the mirror and sighed. Pandora could feel her pain. Girl, I promise when all of this is said and done, we’re going to have a KatieDora demon spa day. A little demon nip and tuck here, some demon botox there. By the time I’m done with you, you are going to be rolling around like a twenty-year-old porn star.

  Katie laughed as she pulled her hair back. How about just a woman who doesn’t feel like she got hit by a truck? I’ll take that. Though, I would say, I like this body. If you ever leave me, you better put your voodoo on my metabolism so I stay like this.

  Oh, hell yeah. And to think you fought me on it from the beginning. I’m telling you, Slut Girl is not a bad name for you.

  Katie wrinkled her nose. Or you could call me “Hot Girl” and leave it at that.

  Pandora grimaced. That’s terrible. I fucking hope your major in college wasn’t marketing.

  Katie shook her head and headed through the apartment and out the front door. As she shut it behind her, she jumped slightly when she heard Juntto yelling from across the hall. She slowly walked toward the door, one hand on her gun.

  She could hear Juntto pound on the table. “Fucking little weasel. You stole the Jewel of Amaranth right out from under me. I’ll fucking find you, punk.”

  Pandora scoffed. You turned the world’s most dangerous merc into a game junkie.

  Katie reached up and knocked hard on the door, but there was no answer; Juntto just went on screaming at his computer. She brought her fist up to knock harder when the elevator dinged and Angie came walking out carrying two bags of groceries. She didn’t say a word, just walked past Katie, hipping her to the side, and used a key to get into the room.

  She just booty-shoved you.

  She did.

  We’re not going to take that, are we?

  Katie decided she was not going to take that. She followed Angie into the condo.

  Angie put both bags of food in the fridge without unpacking them. “I got you food.”

  “Thank you,” Juntto replied without looking up from his game. Then he let loose a string of curses directed at his computer.

  Angie sighed. “Stop threatening the challengers. It’s just showing how bad you suck.”

  Katie was perplexed. I’m not sure whether to be amused or do something about this.

  Pandora was just as confused. Uh, I mean, we wanted him to love the Western world, but I’m not sure if this is harmful or helpful. Are those cheese poofs around his chair?

  Angie walked over to the frost giant. “You want to fade right, build a small army really fast—ones that take two minutes—and then strike. They will all die, but it’ll lessen his hit status. He will be weaker, and then you can strike with your strong weapons.”

  Katie tilted her head to the side. He looks badass as Morpheus, though. I can’t deny that.

  I know. I just wish I could come to terms with that, Pandora replied with a shiver.

  “Yes! I beat that little bastard,” Juntto bragged, throwing his arms in the air.

  Angie narrowed her eyes. “You won the battle, but the match is still going on. You need to teleport to the other section of the map and help your teammates.”

  Juntto nodded and went back to typing feverishly. Over the speakers came the sound of several kids cussing at their screens. “Where the fuck are you? We are getting murdered.”

  Juntto sighed. “I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying. Don’t get your training pants in a wad.”

  Pandora chuckled. That’s an interesting thing to say. He is quite the conversationalist.

  Yeah, except all his conversations are with elementary school kids, Katie replied.

  “Right there, right there. Put your cannon there,” Angie urged, pointing at the screen.

  Juntto typed faster. “I’m trying. It’s not up to level yet, damn it. No, no, noooooo!”

  The computer made a strange beeping sound followed by a trumpeting tune that made Katie guess he had lost. Juntto pushed back from the computer and shook his head. “Lost again.”

  Angie patted him on the shoulder. “You got major points for winning your battle. Good job.”

  Katie cleared her throat. “Guys?”

  They both turned. Angie crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s up?”

  Katie lifted an eyebrow. “Pandora and I have some instructions. I have to jet to the base for a bit to talk to Korbin about the next attack. You guys are going to stay here. I need you guys to be the main protectors of the city while I am gone. Angie has constant contact with Timothy, and I’ll put her in touch with Schultz and Travers too.”

  Pandora butted in. “And look, Juntto the magnificent. You better fucking keep your shit together, or I’ll come back here and wrap your entrails around the whole city.”

  Juntto wave
d his hands at her. “I am assuming that was Pandora.”

  “It was, but I’ll help her,” Katie replied.

  Angie pulled out her phone. “Okay, we got this. We have the special equipment stored up here, and we will keep our ears open to everything. If we need help, we’ll call you, but there shouldn’t be anything too dire. How long will you be gone?”

  Katie shrugged. “Hopefully not too long.”

  Juntto grumped. “I don’t like this. No offense to Angie, but she isn’t a fighter, so basically you leave the heavy work to me.”

  Angie nodded. “No offense taken. Though I can hold my own when needed.”

  Katie smiled at Angie but turned on Juntto. “I know you’re doing the hard work, but that’s part of why you joined this team. Or, rather, were forced to join this team. You are a heavy—you can take demons out almost better than me.”

  Pandora chimed in. “Almost—she said almost, Juntto. Deflate your head, it makes your dick look small. Oh wait, it is small.”

  Juntto faked a laugh. “Funny coming from the Grand Canyon of vag—”

  Katie put her hands up. “Enough, you two. Think of it this way, Juntto. The more demons you slay, the bigger your bank account grows. We agreed on a salary plus part of every kill, and I will keep my word on that.”

  Juntto nodded. “I plan to hire Angie part-time if it doesn’t affect her work with you. She will help me, and I will teach her a few things. I will turn her into a warrior.”

  Angie gave him a look. “We’ll see about that.”

  Katie laughed. “Sure, why not?” Katie nodded her head at the door, signaling Angie to follow her.

  Angie did, then stopped at the door and turned back to Juntto. “You should buy an Xbox, and we can get down with some Halo.”

  Katie went back to her room and finished gearing up as Angie stood in the doorway watching. Katie clipped some extra magazines to her belt and glanced at the woman. “Are you cool with this arrangement? I didn’t mean to make you a full-time babysitter, but I gotta handle some shit, and I trust you to keep an eye on him.”