by Greg Ballan
Molec launched a savage blast of demonic fire. Erik avoided the blast but it struck Michael dead on. The archangel stumbled back, screaming in anger more than agony. Erik tensed his arm and launched a bio electric blast toward the attacking demon. The burning blue orb exploded against dark onyx flesh, charring and incinerating the demon's freshly healed, rock hard skin. Molec was forced to retreat. Erik unleashed a second burning salvo that caught the demon square in the chest. Molec shouted in rage and pain. Fire shot from his mouth and nostrils as his chest smoked from the burning plasma.
Erik hefted his Esper weapon as all around him, demonic and ethereal forces collided. The sounds weren't human, more like an orchestra of stringed instruments playing badly out of tune. He had to block out the eerie noise of ethereal combat. Molec stood in the center of the battle directing his army, unchallenged. Erik looked up to the sky. ANARAH KONNAR ANKOLAH!!!
A jagged arc of power rained down from the sky, striking the archdemon dead on. Molec shrieked as millions of volts of energy charred and seared his flesh. The hybrid charged, swinging his Esper weapon in rapid arcs. He leapt twenty feet and slammed the edged blade down upon the stunned, smoking nine-foot demon. Edged metal bit through onyx flesh, slicing a deep nine inch wound. A river of chartreuse ichor hemorrhaged from the open gash.
Molec turned and made a feeble thrust with his straight blade. Erik easily avoided the blow and kicked the demon hard in the ribcage. Chrome-armored flesh crushed the weaker stone, fracturing several bones beneath. Erik was wary of the demon sword and reacted when it attacked of its own volition. He slammed the blade into the ground and kicked it forcefully from Molec's grip. The archdemon cried out for help and three twenty-foot monstrosities fired their own beam weapons. Erik was hard-pressed to avoid all the incoming fire and winced as one beam seared his upper back and shoulder. He executed several one-armed cartwheels, avoiding the follow up blasts, then returned fire with a volley of burning plasma from the staff's organic power reserves. Two of the attacking demons fell while the third turned to flee. As the demon spun, it was eviscerated by a slender ivory weapon. An ethereal soldier covered in greenish and yellow ichor pulled the weapon free and with a precise slice, decapitated the wounded giant. "Take down the leader again and the rest will fall. Molec is your responsibility, Esper." The soldier held up its bloodied weapon and flew off to engage more demonic forces.
Erik felt a searing burst of pain. Something struck his back, pushing him forward. He stumbled, falling face first into the ground. A burning agony tore through his body as something pierced his shoulder and erupted through his chest. His eyelids fluttered, limbs went numb as his very life force flowed toward the blade and away from his body.
"Die!" Molec shrieked as he slammed his large foot down, driving Erik's head deep into the ground. Molec stomped down with massive, hoofed cloven feet again and again, smashing Erik's back and partially exposed skull. The archdemon drove his sword deeper into the wound, twisting the demonic blade, opening up a larger hole. He rained blow upon blow against his stunned opponent.
The intense pain kept Erik from totally blacking out! YOU MUST ATTACK! Jakor's voice rang in his head over the pain and agony. Take out his shins and kneecaps, do it now! Jakor urged. While you still retain some strength. The sword is sapping your life force. You are not immortal. You will die if this continues!
Erik gathered his remaining strength, ignoring the agony of his wound. He forced himself to turn his head, and look up. Molec was ready to pierce his heart with the next blow. The hybrid brought his leg back and extended it with all of his remaining strength. His foot slammed into the demon's knee, crushing it and shattering the surrounding bones. The large leg folded in half. Heavy flesh tore as severed, fractured bone pierced the softer inner tissue. Molec toppled over, flailing in abject agony. The green battle blade dropped to the bloody pavement. The hybrid stood, blood spilling from the gaping hole in his chest and shoulder. He extended his hand and once again, his staff was in his possession. The hybrid's eyes burned. Blue fire radiated an aura around chrome flesh. Club! The staff took the shape of a massive, spiked club. With his good arm, he swung down upon the demon's head, fracturing the skull and breaking off the other massive horn. This is for my son who you wanted to kill! The club smashed down again with a sickening crunch. And my wife because you sent that ghoul to rape and slaughter her! Another blow impacted, breaking the archdemon's arm and crushing a shoulder socket. The sword tried to counterattack, but he stomped the weapon into the ground, pinning it immobile with his foot. This is for Martin's son! The club smashed Molec's face, popping an eyeball and crushing the socket. Erik paused, looked up to the sky. And this, this is from me! ANKOLAH!!!!! Thunder shook the landscape and a bolt of power slammed into the archdemon. Erik was in an angered frenzy as he unleashed another titanic blast that shook the Earth. The sky blackened overhead as bolt after bolt rained down upon the helpless demon. Molec's flesh glow red, nearly melting from the intense bombardment. The ground around the combatants morphed to an inferno of yellow flame and liquefied asphalt. The angered Esper warrior picked up his near-dead adversary, gripping the helpless giant in his wounded arm. The fingers on his good arm tensed. Three-inch razor sharp claws extended. I was told you're immortal and can't die. Let's see how close to death I can get you. He slashed four deep lacerations down the demon's entire torso. The superheated armor was soft and pliable, easily cut by the sharp claws. Miraculously, Molec still lived. The demon's one good eye opened wide as his burning flesh was filleted. He flailed wildly in a desperate attempt to escape. The battle-raged warrior slammed his adversary face-first into the molten muck. Before he could unleash another blow, the crippled demon vanished.
It's over. There is no more need for vengeance of further bloodshed. Molec is vanquished. His army defeated and Rome is safe.
Michael's soothing voice echoed inside his head.
Erik turned. Three fearsome looking warriors, each twelve feet tall, lifted Molec from the ground. Erik allowed himself to relax momentarily. The demon army fell back. Three ethereal soldiers lay broken on the battlefield. Dozens of demonic corpses lay in a soup of dirt, dust, and greenish yellow blood. Erik sensed danger. He spun. There was no time to react. Molec's discarded demonic sword flew through the air under its own mystical force. The weapon cut clean through his chest and right lung, exploding out his back. Muffled hisses escaped his throat. Unbearable waves of agony tore through his body as the blade drank his essence. He desperately grasped the blade with both hands, pulling at the embedded weapon lodged in his torso. The razor sharp edge bit into his fingers as the blade sucked away his life.
Erik pulled with all his remaining strength, forcing the blade out of his body. Hungrily the sword continued to drink his power, growing stronger while he grew weaker. The hybrid stumbled, dizzy and weak. The world seemed to spin and go dark. The demonic sword struggled in his grip, a writhing angry serpent. The blade was enveloped in white. It shrieked in agony, vaporized into a harmless mist. Erik coughed. A fountain of blood vomited from his mouth, covering his chest, as he struggled to breathe.
Two strong hands held him. "Easy hybrid. The blade is gone, focus your remaining energy. Heal your wound as best you can."
Erik focused on healing. He closed his eyes, willing the last fragments of energy to seal the damaged blood vessels in his lungs. He felt his body change, shrinking back to human form as the last of his reserves failed. He fell to his knees, coughing up great chunks of dried blood and mucus. He took a large breath through the pain of multiple battle wounds. He stood, wearing only a black spandex undergarment. His body was littered with deep purple scars and open wounds. Blood still flowed from his back and shoulder, and continued to leak from his nose, but he was alive.
"How bad?" Michael reached out an arm for support.
Erik shivered. The cold was unbearable. "I'll live, I think, but I'm done. It'll take time to heal now. I'm freezing, I can't stop shivering. This cold is unlike anything I've ever felt
before."
Michael held out his hand. A white blanket materialized. He gently draped it over Erik's battered body. "This will help. The chill you feel will subside. It's the side effect of a demonic attack. You will recover in time." His angelic face grew solemn. "Wraith blades are nasty weapons. How Molec could acquire such things will need to be investigated."
Erik pulled the blanket around himself to ward off the chill. The cold, however, wasn't elemental. It was spiritual, internal in nature. Erik heard a soft whimper. He held out his hand and his staff settled into his grip. The weapon morphed into a heavy walking cane, sensing its master's immediate need.
Michael pointed. "You have visitors."
"Daddy!"
Erik's heart leapt. "EJ!" His son approached with Shanda one step behind. EJ ran into his father's arms and Erik held his son, weeping tears of joy. "Oh my son, thank God you're okay." Ignoring the pain, he hefted the child up and held him close. Shanda stopped mid stride, she gaped at her husband's bloodied and battered body.
She broke into tears. "Oh my God. What happened to you baby?"
Erik reached for her. She ran into his outstretched arm crying. "It's okay, angel. I'll be fine. The ugliness is almost over now." Erik held his family in silence for several seconds, not wanting the moment to end. "I've missed you both so much."
"Erik?"
He looked up. Michael approached. The archangel nodded toward Shanda and EJ. "Molec's army has surrendered and I will personally pry the location of the Crucifix from his mind." The powerful angel looked over at EJ. "Your father is a great warrior and you, child, are brave beyond words, as are you, mother." He reached over and gently stroked Shanda's tear-stained cheek. "I am hoping further bloodshed can be avoided but I sense this isn't over yet."
Erik nodded. "Let me talk to Molec. Maybe I can wring it out of him. He tends to bluster a great deal. Maybe I can give you something you can use." He looked down at Shanda and EJ. "You guys wait here…"
"No!" Shanda's voice cracked. "I want to see that sonovabitch. I want to see the thing that wanted to hurt my son and give him a piece of my mind."
"Oh angel, no you don't."
Shanda shook her head. "Yes, Erik. I do."
"Molec is in shackles. The beatings you gave him broke his spirit. She will be in no danger. Our forces are in clear control here." Confronting the source of her fear and anger may give her some closure and peace. Michael softly projected. I believe she will go whether you accompany her or not. Michael grinned. She is more fierce than Molec.
"Don't brain banter behind my back! I know you two are chatting!"
The archangel laughed aloud and raised his hands in surrender. "This way, mother."
◆◆◆
EJ's arms tightened around Erik's neck as they studied the imprisoned archdemon. Molec was bound in heavy white chains and manacles. The three burly guards never took their eyes off the prisoner. Whatever power had healed his wounds, faded. Broken bones protruded from his leg and shoulder again. The deep cuts he received during his combat with the hybrid covered his ruined body. The creature's one good eye studied them with little interest.
"Have you come to gloat, hybrid?"
Shanda jumped back, startled.
Erik took a painful step forward, placing EJ in his mother's arms. "I'm not here to gloat. I'm actually here to help you. The archangel is going to tear through your head to get the location of the relic. He'll turn your brain into a bowl of lime jello to get what he wants. You lost. Do the right thing and help set events back to normal and give him the location of the artifact. It's here on Earth burning through its ectoplasmic prison. We'll be able to track it soon without your help." He took another painful step forward. "Maybe God will have mercy on you if you show some contrition and actually help."
Molec laughed. He moved his arm straining against the shackles. "I see my blade got a good piece of you. They can all rot as far as I'm concerned. I have nothing to say."
Erik shook his head, then turned, leaning heavily on his staff. He looked toward Shanda, her eyes were riveted on the battered demon. She took two steps forward, looking up at the creature.
"I hope you burn in the deepest, foulest pit of Hell for what you've done. You'll never hurt my son, ever!" She spat on the ground by the demon's feet and turned away. "Let's get out of here. I want to go home and forget this ugly ordeal. She put her arm around Erik, holding him tight."
The sensation hit Erik as they walked back toward the ethereal force. His staff buzzed with alarm. Erik placed his family behind him and willed the staff to change back into the Ahn-so-lak. The ethereal soldiers sensed the presence and prepared for a confrontation.
The space several hundred yards from them opened. A large blood red portal deposited a tall lean man in a tuxedo amidst the bloodied battlefield. A large glowing orb hovered above his outstretched hand. He wore a wicked, self-satisfied smile, visible even at the distance separating him from Michael's forces.
"Molec can't give you the location of the relic, hybrid, because he no longer has it. I do." The silky dark voice echoed everywhere. Erik felt his stomach churn. It was the same voice he'd heard earlier in the parking lot after his battle against several demonic forces. That was the first time he'd encountered Michael. The staff cracked with raw energy, feeding a portion of the power into its master. Erik's body was still weak. He tried to transform but knew he needed more time to heal and regenerate. He'd have to rely solely on the staff and Michael to protect his family.
"Erik, my flesh is crawling. Who is that?"
Erik turned toward her. "Lucifer."
Shanda's face went pale and her jaw dropped. EJ clung to his mother tighter, trembling.
"Have you come for battle, brother. If so I stand ready to beat you again." Michael's voice trumpeted.
Lucifer laughed, casually strolling across the ruined roads and collapsed buildings that were once Rome. "Oh no, brother. Ethereal swords, fisticuffs, particle beams and the like I leave to the harsh, unsophisticated brutes. I choose to get what I want through wits, intellect, and cunning." He stopped several yards distant. "As I plan to demonstrate this very moment."
Molec shrieked in anger and outrage, struggling against the divine chains keeping him prisoner. "How? How did you get the relic?"
A puff of black smoke materialized by Molec's shoulder. Bartholomew appeared, perched upon the helpless prisoner. "I told him!" He gushed, mocking the captive. "I told him we were meeting and I acquired a human tracer to plant on you. It was easy enough to play you along, then get close enough to pat you on the back and stick the tracer in your thick ugly hide. The slender demon disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared perched on his other broad shoulder. Molec winced as the slender, pale demon ground his foot into the open shoulder wound. The sound of grinding bone permeated the air as did Molec's shrieks of pain. "I played upon your massive ego and you were so eager and stupid to make this move that you didn't think it through all the way. Now you pay the ultimate price."
One of the guards swatted the gloating demon and he sailed through the air, slamming into the ground several yards away. The pale demon disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing directly behind his employer. Molec hung his head, totally defeated.
Michael sighed, frustrated. "Give me one reason not to send you both back to Hell right now!"
Lucifer waved his other hand over the flaming orb. Inside was the Ruby Crucifix. "Congratulate me, brother, for I alone have created a trinary ectoplasmic sphere. Oh I know your little trinket will burn it away in a week or two, but for now your little Esper dog can't sense it and none of you can either. It is totally isolated." Lucifer's eyes fell upon the wounded hybrid. "You're not much of a threat to anyone right now are you? But you did beat Molec, I will give you that credit." The Prince of Darkness looked back toward the archangel. "Unlike your prisoner, I actually have the power to send this orb anywhere in the Multiverse. Perhaps I'll send it a trillion light years away to another dimension totally dominated by
evil. You would need to wage war against an entire universe of horrors to recover your little trinket." Lucifer's eyes burned red and his tone became cold. "Or give me what I want."
Michael's grip on his ivory blade tightened and he walked toward the dark prince. "Why don't I just kill you now and take the orb. I can shatter it easily with one blow of my sword!" Michael raised the powerful weapon. The blade burned with white hot fire.
"I'll unleash my troops! We'll have the Ethereal War you so much wish to avoid!" Lucifer was visibly nervous. Blood red eyes never left the edge of the Michael's flaming ivory blade. "Remember the other planet that orbited this star, we fought there and the planet fell apart. God favors this blue rock among the other chunks of life in this universe. I don't think He wants it destroyed." Lucifer retreated a step. "My demands are few and most reasonable. Hear me out, brother."
Michael looked up to the sky, responding to some unseen voice. Erik's senses picked up on the mind-numbingly powerful sensation. His knees buckled.
"What's going on?" Shanda trembled.
"Michael is talking to the Father of all of us, Mommy." EJ looked at his father. "Can you hear him?"
"No son. I can sense His presence. Can you hear him?"
EJ nodded. "Yes, he wants Michael to listen to the terms. Michael will do as is told but he is upset."
Shanda shook her head. "I think I'm going to pass out. This is too unreal!"
Erik placed his arm around her. "We'll get through it. All the players have checked in now. Let's hope we can avoid an all-out war."