by Greg Ballan
Erik charged, crashing into the demon and forcing him backward. The titanic force carried both combatants deeper into the large, open gym area. Patrons shrieked with fear and panic as the two warring beings collided with a large universal weight machine. The demon's hand sprung hideous claws and he raked them across Erik's chest, shredding his t-shirt, cleaving deep gouges into his flesh.
Erik grabbed the clawed hand in a forearm lock and forced the top of the demon's hand back with his own powerful fingers, driving the four-inch claws through Bartholomew's chest impaling the enraged demon. Erik quickly followed with an elbow strike. The blow crackled like thunder. The blow's force sent the stunned demon fifteen feet across the gym where he toppled end over end until he smashed into a weight tree.
The demon cursed in pain as he pried his own claws from his body. Four rivers of greenish yellow ichor hemorrhaged from the puncture wounds. Enraged, he picked up the 600-pound weight tree and hurled the massive object toward his opponent like a speeding missile.
Erik knew he could avoid the object but the people behind him weren't as fast or as strong. He stepped into object's path and deflected it with a Shotokan Karate shuto block. The heavy mass smashed through several display mirrors but the terrified patrons were safe. The stacked steel plates clanged as they spilled onto the hard floor. The metal framework had embedded itself in the wood, sheetrock, and plaster wall.
That nearly broke my freaking arm! Erik absently rubbed his bruised forearm, his eyes burning onto the demon that was once again preparing for battle.
The demon's voice hissed angrily. Erik's stomach churned as the demonic tenor vibrated off every surface in the gym. "I will kill you for this. Your wretched flesh will burn in the hottest pit of Hell. Give me the child and you have a chance to live or else burn for eternity in a sea of Hellfire."
Bartholomew grabbed a 45-pound plate and flung the disc toward Erik. The detective snatched the speeding object from the air and, with a burst of anger-fueled superhuman strength, bent the plate in half and tossed it on the ground. "You'll need more than words or metal Frisbees!"
The demon moved quickly, gathering up lighter plates that had had fallen on the floor and hurled them toward his nemesis with lethal precision. The hybrid grabbed an Olympic weight bar as a makeshift staff deflecting the speeding discs. Crashing metal resonated as Bartholomew hurled several more plates.
Erik spun the bar rapidly, the air whistling as the heavy bar deflected each speeding projectile. The sound of deflected plates smashing into equipment was deafening. We're going to destroy this place and kill someone in the process if we keep this up. Erik took two steps forward and hurled the bar like a javelin towards the demon. Bartholomew wasn't prepared for the attack and the speeding missile struck him square in his face, driving the demon back several yards. The impact made a sickening dull thud as the metal bar shattered bone and sinew. The demon dropped to the floor in a pool of shattered teeth and drool. Erik approached the creature cautiously. He could hear gym members talking behind him as curiosity overcame their fear.
"Get back! There's still danger…"
The demon's foot slammed into Erik's face careening him backwards several feet. His back slammed into a large universal machine. The machine's metal frame buckled. Erik felt a rib crack and tasted blood as the red fluid filled his mouth and nose. The demon was up and upon him before he could react. Blow after blow pummeled Erik's face and body. He had no time to erect any type of defensive posture. All he could do was endure the endless sea of concussive force. Bartholomew mocked him as each blow landed. From within, his alter ego arose. The Esper Warrior was taking hold. His body strengthened and he allowed the chemical reaction to course through his bloodstream and tissues. Erik reached up and caught the demon's fist, mildly aware that it was colored red with his blood.
Bartholomew swung his other claw in a roundhouse motion in an attempt to slit Erik's throat. The hybrid raised his other hand and deflected the strike with superhuman force. The snapping of demonic bone echoed throughout the gym. Neural impulses fired and his body began to heal. The gaping tears in his flesh throbbed as they knitted together on their own and the cartilage in his nose burned as it refused. The combatants were frozen, staring at each other with looks of undisguised contempt. Erik increased his grip on the demon's captured fist, crushing the encapsulated fingers as he willed his body even stronger, something he hadn't done in years.
The demon flinched in agony as the bones in his hand were crushed to powder.
"You'll never get my son! NEVER!" The hybrid launched a solid right cross knocking the stunned demon backward. Erik grabbed the long bar he'd used earlier and hefted it like a club. Enraged, he swung the bar like a baseball bat slamming the end against the demon's shoulder. Bartholomew's arm and shoulder shattered under the impact and the demon went sprawling across the gym floor. Erik tossed the bar aside and closed the distance. He kicked the demon, hard, in the torso, propelling him like a living football across the gym. The demon landed, bounced several times, then finally stopped in a sprawling heap by the large picture window at the front of the gym. Patrons scattered in abject fear as Erik approached his fallen adversary.
The demon struggled to stand, his jaw shattered. Bartholomew's left arm dangled, hanging at an awful angle indicating the limb had separated from the shoulder. Its right arm began to glow a hideous orange/red. Erik could see the radiant heat waves. The demon was going to launch another volley of fire! He couldn't use his own energy. Too many people had gathered in terror behind the demon. The detective charged as the demon fired. He dove and rolled to his right side, feeling the blistering heat graze his arm. Erik came out of his roll and leapt into the air executing a flying kick into the demon's midsection. The force carried the demon back, smashing it through the plate glass window out into the parking lot. Erik leapt through the window, battle-ready. Bartholomew was already gone, leaving behind a puddle of chartreuse ichor and the eerie stink of brimstone.
Chapter 2: Blood of the Innocent
Erik was in a post-combat haze. Two ambulances departed for Milford Whitinsville Hospital, each one carrying a wounded instructor. The detective's shirt was covered in his own blood and the blood of the young woman mercilessly beaten by Bartholomew. His large friend, Jeff, had a broken nose, a fractured cheek, and three fractured ribs. His other instructor, Robin, didn't fare as well; the demon had crushed her ribcage on the right side, puncturing her lung. She coughed up fountains of blood as Erik did his best to tend to her wounds. The detective wished he had the power to heal others as easily as his enhanced body could heal itself. All he could do was keep the terrified girl calm and prevent her from going into shock. Both Robin and Jeff described their attacker as having beyond-human strength and speed.
Erik studied the open gym area. The brief battle had decimated the facility. A dozen weight plates and a large stacking tree were half-embedded in the back and side wall. The wall separating the dojo from the fitness area had a hole large enough to drive a car through and two expensive universal weight machines were damaged. The gym's twenty-foot picture window had shattered into tiny fragments. The bar Erik had used to deflect the speeding projectiles was not only bent and deformed, but covered in dried green demon blood as well.
The stares of those who witnessed the battle weighed on Erik as they gaped at him in awe and fear. He wondered what the witnesses had told the police and what kind of interrogation he'd be in for when the cops finally came around to question him.
"Does the booboo hurt?" EJ's tiny fingers traced the outline of a large bruise on his father's right cheek.
Erik gently patted his son's head. "Nah, it's not so bad."
EJ smiled. "You didn't duck, Daddy."
Erik still studied the wreckage. He looked down at his son and blinked as the child's innocent remark finally registered. He laughed. "You're right. Daddy forgot to duck."
"But the scary man is gone?" EJ whispered.
Erik gently held the child close in
a protective embrace. "Yes, he's gone. Daddy made sure he won't come back."
Martin cleared his throat. "Erik, I hate to disturb you, but the police need a statement. I've given them as much information as I can and I've already reached out to the firm. They'll have a crew here in an hour to start the repair work."
Erik looked up from his son's loving gaze. Martin stood next to a portly police officer. Alissa surveyed the wreckage, jaw hanging open and eyes widening.
Her jaw snapped shut and she swallowed. "I can take EJ into the back office while you deal with this…" she glanced over her shoulder "…situation."
The embattled father turned his back, partially shielding his son from view. Erik closed his eyes and held out this hand. A sound like a sharp whistle broke the eerie silence as the sentient staff settled into his grip seemingly appearing from nowhere. Erik looked at the staff, his eyes burning. "Protect my son!"
The weapon flowed like a living liquid metal wrapping around EJ's forearm. It purred a type of alien lullaby and EJ began humming along with the mysterious melody.
Alissa approached and Erik handed the child to her. She gently placed the child on the ground. Tears formed in Erik's eyes.
She touched his shoulder. "I won't let him out of my sight Erik, I promise. Deal with this and I'll take care of EJ and the other students out back."
Erik nodded. "He came for my son, Alissa, my baby boy. I was hoping, praying Charlie and his odd friend were wrong, but they weren't. The so-called demonic powers-that-be painted a bull's-eye on my child." Erik's eyes began to burn and his body began to radiate energy. "I really want to smash something right now." Rage leant an edge to his otherwise soft voice.
Alissa poked him. "Keep that rage in check, getting angry and losing your temper won't help us right now. You have every right to be scared and pissed off but bury it. There's too many prying eyes that have seen enough already." She pointed down toward EJ. The boy stared off at the walls, oblivious to their conversation. "Your son, included."
Erik closed his eyes for a brief moment and when he opened them, the burning blue fire was gone "Thanks, Alissa." He touched her shoulder. "You were willing to throw down with that monstrosity to save my son. Thank you seems pathetically pale for such action."
"We're family. You fight to protect family no matter what." Alyssa half smiled. "I'll let you and Mr. Denton deal with this mess. I'll deal with the mess in the dojo. A few students are in shock and I'll call Robin's husband and try to explain how his wife got hurt."
"Thanks again." Erik looked at his son. "Why don't you go with Auntie Alissa and see how the other students are doing? I bet they're all worried about you." EJ smiled and followed her, gently reaching up and taking her hand. Erik gestured toward the front counter where the three men could have some degree of privacy.
"We checked the entire parking lot, nearby dumpsters, and we have two officers checking parked cars, Mr. Knight. We haven't found anybody. Did you see anything to indicate what direction our suspect fled?"
Erik shook his head. "No, when I stepped through the window, he was already gone."
The officer held up a plastic evidence bag full of shattered teeth and a section of jawbone. "I don't know how far he's going to get. You certainly got a good piece of him. You literally broke his jaw off, Mr. Knight."
Erik rubbed the large bruise on his cheek and his ribcage twinged along with the four lacerations across his chest. He pointed toward the lacerations and the tears in his shirt. "I didn't exactly walk away unscathed either."
The cop frowned. "Well there's more than enough corroborating witnesses but I still would like to get some kind of rational explanation for that." He pointed toward the large weight tree sticking out of the gym wall and pointed toward the greenish yellow ichor staining the gym floor. "And perhaps that 45-pound plate that's bent in half." The officer gestured toward the gym patrons gaping awestruck at Erik. "They claim you bent the plate with your bare hands and you used a heavy metal bar like a Wiffle bat to knock our suspect around like a Nerf ball." The cop looked at Erik. "Something batshit crazy occurred here, and after the magic show you just put on with that silver stick—yeah I saw it despite you turning your back—it gives the wild tales I just heard even more credibility. All the cops have heard the stories about the Hopedale Mountain Incident and we know all the crazy stories about your part in the whole sordid affair ... despite all the efforts to hush up what happened. All the local cops know the story and the body count. What's going on Mr. Knight? Are we facing another ugly situation?"
Martin interceded. "There are some things, officer, which will have to remain a mystery at this point."
The cop frowned. "Are you his lawyer? I'm not trying to arrest him. I just have to file a report and Mr. Knight did, technically, get assaulted as did two of his staff." The officer surveyed the damage. "There's shattered mirrors, holes in walls and banged up heavy steel plates sticking out of walls, not to mention broken teeth, green slime plus blood and bone fragments." The officer looked back at Erik. "I have to do my job, Mr. Knight, and part of my job is getting the facts so we can investigate this assault. Also if there's something nasty going on, I'd like to keep the damage and the body count down to a minimum or, even better, have zero innocent causalities."
Erik sighed. "I know. I wish I had more to tell you. This guy came into my dojo looking for trouble. He injured two of my staff and tried to do the same to me. He was very skilled and very strong. I'm sure you already have a good enough physical description but I can write down his height, physical features and what he was wearing. In fact, his jacket should still be in the dojo. He took it off before the fight."
"I went through the jacket. There's no wallet, no ID, no cash or even a trace of lint in the damn pockets," Denton mumbled, growing annoyed at having to deal with a local cop.
The officer nodded, ignoring the counselor's glare. "Write out as much as you can and we'll see what we can drag up." The two other officers walked in, looked over at the portly cop, and shook their heads. "Looks like our violent friend made a clean break. We'll check the local ER." The cop held up the bag containing teeth and a partial jawbone. "It's the best place to start looking for a lead, unless you have more insight to offer."
Erik shook his head as he busily wrote on a piece of scrap paper. He handed the paper to the officer. "Here's the best I can do for you. I wish we had more but like I said, he came in here looking for trouble."
The cop frowned. "Well it looks like he found it in spades. I'll let you know if we find anything. Though I don't know how in the hell anyone walks away from the kind of beating you dished out." The cop leaned in and whispered, "I know something way beyond normal happened here, and I honestly don't know what we can do about it. If you can please try and keep these people safe and out of harm's way, I'll do what I can to find some kind of lead on this mystery man for you."
Erik shrugged. "That's always my objective. I don't want anybody getting hurt here and I'd greatly appreciate the follow up."
Erik and Martin watched the police leave. "He knows we're full of shit."
Denton grimaced. "Oh hell yeah, we were pitiful. Especially since several patrons painted you as some glorified superhuman juggernaut and we neglected to mention the being's name or why he came. Both things we know and facts I'm sure some of the witnesses inside your dojo told him."
Erik held out his hands. "What good would telling him the truth do? They'll never find Bartholomew. I can only assume he just disappeared into thin air and they certainly can't put EJ into protective custody. It's best they just stay out of this."
Denton nodded. "I agree, but what are you going to do? What's your battle plan?"
Erik sighed, pondering how to answer before looking over at his friend. "Martin, I wish the hell I had one right now."
Martin shook his head. "This wasn't Molec. It was Lucifer. The other force of darkness just played its first hand in this poker game. Evil must be in a panic at this point. I'd guess Molec currentl
y has the upper hand in the role as the number one evil entity. It's certainly shaken things up more than Lucifer has. The Devil's reign could be coming to an end if either Molec or the forces of Light are victorious." Denton frowned, exhaling heavily. He absently scratched the back of his head and looked over at his friend. "How does one fight a three-way war with beings that can disappear in a puff of smoke?"
The embattled detective tried to shake off the numbness threatening to overwhelm him. "I don't know, Martin. I have to find a way to protect my son not only from Molec, but from Lucifer's army as well."
Erik's cell phone chimed, breaking the somber mood. He glanced down. "Oh God, what do I tell Shanda? She must have sensed the trouble through our link."
Martin placed a gentle hand on Erik's shoulder. "You tell your wife the truth; she needs to know what's going on. Besides, you don't think EJ won't spill the beans tonight?"
Erik nodded. "I think my head's gonna explode." He turned away bringing the phone up to his ear.
◆◆◆
The Demonic Netherworld
The thin, pale demon slowly traced the outline of its reformed jaw with slender bone-white fingertips. Bartholomew looked at his new jaw bone and teeth in a small mirror as his body continued to bathe in a boiling pool of purple liquid.
"Erik Knight is much stronger than I was led to believe! No one told me he could increase his strength at will or throw plasmatic fireballs! That accursed half-ape, half-alien could have killed me!"
YOU'RE WHINING AGAIN! A disembodied voice echoed throughout the dark chamber. NO ONE TOLD YOU TO PICK A FIGHT WITH THE HYBRID. THAT WAS YOUR OWN ARROGANCE. THE IMMORTALITY POOL HAS RESTORED YOU AND HEALED YOUR WOUNDS. YOU ARE NO WORSE FROM YOUR ENCOUNTER. The voice dropped an octave. YOU WERE MERELY TO STUDY AND OBSERVE NOT ENGAGE IN COMBAT.