by Michael Todd
She put her arms out and pushed the energy through her, growing to twelve feet tall as she flew. She soared around the statue, spiraling down until she landed on the platform. Behemoth tilted his head to the side with a questioning grunt. Pandora pulled her sword from her back and smiled at him condescendingly. “Hi, there.”
The demon growled, his lip flapping, showing the saliva dripping from his teeth. Pandora raised her eyebrows. “All right. Way to be rude.”
She swung her sword wide, aiming for Behemoth’s side. He reached out and batted the sword out of her hand. Pandora narrowed her eyes and hopped down, picking it back up and putting her hand on her hip. “That’s rude. I should…”
His arm whizzed through the air, hitting her hard in the stomach. She doubled over, flying back and catching herself with her wings. Her eyes sparkled blue as she jetted back toward him. He swung at her, missing her body but hitting the arm of the Redeemer and knocking the right one off at the elbow. Pandora laughed and began doing loops around the statue, watching as he ran in circles, jumping high and trying to hit her.
Behemoth leapt again, hitting the other arm and knocking it off as well. Pandora wrinkled her nose. “Oh, so now Jesus is the man with no hands. Great.”
Throwing a fit, Behemoth began to pound his fists on the base. Pandora folded her wings and tucked her arms, gliding smoothly downward until she landed in front of him. He stood up, perplexed for a moment as if he had forgotten who he was fighting. Pandora giggled as she kicked hard, hitting him in the chest. He stumbled to the edge and flailed his hands, trying not to fall. Pandora walked up and poked him in the shoulder, peering over as he tumbled head over feet down the side of the hill.
He bounced to the ground with a thud, landing in the woods at the base of the mountain. Pandora tapped her finger to her thumb and held her hand up with an excited look on her face. “Lightbulb!”
She jumped into the air and dove down, keeping her wings steady in the wind. “Hey, fuckface! You down there? I know you might be trying to pull a tree out of your ass, but really, just leave it. Where you’re going, the tree won’t go with you.”
She swooped over him, reaching down and grabbing him by the arm. Grunting, she began pulling him into the air. He grumbled, trying to reach down, but he was already too far away. Flapping her wings with all her might, Pandora climbed high into the air. She passed the statue and the mountains and crept up near the clouds. The demon began to freak out, trying to lift up his other arm to climb her.
She shook, trying to hold on to him. “Keep still, you’re slipping. I don’t want to….oops.”
His huge arm slipped out of her hands. She put her fingers to her lips and snickered, watching as he tumbled toward the Earth below. He fell like a huge rocket, stern and straight, picking up speed as every second passed. She could hear his bellow growing fainter and fainter as he fell.
Pandora grimaced when the Behemoth hit the ground like a meteor. He pushed a crater into the Earth’s surface and waves burst out from his body, knocking down the trees all around him in a circle. The mountain shook slightly, but the Christ statue held on strong. She watched the dust clear, the demon coming into view. He actually wasn’t dead yet.
“For fuck’s sake,” she grumbled, pulling her sword back out.
She tilted forward and began to drop, picking as much speed as she could. As she reached the ground, she flipped out her wings, slowing her momentum. She raised her sword over her head and hovered two feet above him before releasing her wings and dropping down. The sword stabbed him in the head, the force pushing it in one side and out the other.
Pandora pulled the blade back out and looked at the tiny ball of meat on the end of it. “Is that your brain? Everything makes so much sense now.”
The Behemoth burst into ashes, and Pandora spat, trying to get it out of her mouth. “Oh, man. Gross, dude.”
Katie’s eyes glowed a fiery blue, lighting up everything around her. She slashed her sword right, then left, then right again. With every swing, she took down three or four demons. Most of them lost their heads. They would fall and roll off into the lava, while the bodies turned to dust almost immediately. She grunted as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and sheathed her sword. She grabbed Tom from her holster and put in more bullets.
Holding the gun up with a shaky hand, she slumped slightly. “You guys are killing me here. Straight killing me. Can’t you tell this bitch is fucking exhausted? But nooo, I’m out here taking care of your asses.”
She fired until the bullets were gone and groaned since she didn’t have any more. She rolled her shoulders and pulled her sword back out, starting again with the slashing. The demons were so stupid that they didn’t even realize they were walking into a meat factory. They just kept charging toward her, losing their heads in the process. Blood squirted everywhere, but at that point, Katie didn’t think she could collect more of it. The stuff on her was starting to dry, cracking like a mud mask as she fought.
Katie slammed her foot into the chest of a demon and then thrust her sword forward, stabbing it through the heart. When she yanked her sword back out, the cold black heart was still on the tip. Sneering, she whipped her sword toward the ground, trying to get the damn thing to come off. “Bro, you can’t be leaving shit just lying around like this.”
The demon turned to dust, and so did the heart.
Katie hadn’t felt anything like the toll it was taking on her body in a really long time. She was no longer using guns, but instead wielding a heavy-ass sword. Her arms were burning, but she continued to cut through the horde until she struggled to keep it up. By that point, there were very few demons left around her.
Katie leaned against a pole, putting her sword on her back. Glancing over, she saw a glimpse of the frost giant, jumping high into the air and then dropping behind the building. “Looks like Juntto SMASH!”
She jogged toward him. A demon lunged from one of the buildings to the right and she grabbed his face, throwing him down. Katie didn’t even look back, just kept running until she was able to get to him. He was full Juntto size, killing demons right and left with his huge spear. He lunged forward, stabbing through five demons with the spear. They all groaned and gurgled as he pulled it back out, then they turned to dust.
Juntto flung a piece of demon flesh off his spear and turned around, sensing Katie standing there. “You look like me when Angie makes me run around for exercise.”
Katie snorted, her hand on her hip, her back curved forward. “I feel like you dropped a house on me.”
Juntto shrugged. “I have done that before. I just don’t understand how they have so many of these bastards. They just keep coming and coming.”
Katie looked around as another group raced toward Juntto. “I know. They look like shitty ants all over an uncovered picnic, only instead of wine and cheese, we are on the menu.”
Juntto growled and impaled more demons, watching them turn to ash. “I am tired of this. They need to stop coming. There are people out there still. I need a break, and maybe a spring water.”
Katie stared at him, blinking her eyes. “Mmhmm. Spring water. Since when did you go from a ruthless killer to a snobby spring-water drinker?”
Juntto gasped. “Nothing wrong with being healthy. I always drink filtered water. Angie buys lots of it, and has this magic pitcher where you put water in and it takes bad things out.”
Katie scratched her ear. “Oh, you mean a Brita Filter.”
Juntto snapped his fingers. “That sounds about right. I am constantly emptying it, and she yells at me for not refilling it.”
Katie patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, buddy. That’s the life of a no-longer-single man. Gotta refill it when you’re the last to use it. Okay, I think this wave is simmering down enough for me to go find Pandora. We need to get both of those portals closed, then we can focus on destroying the last of the demons stuck here on Earth.”
Juntto slapped his spear on his back and brought his gun around. �
�Yes. We can’t keep going like this, and if I learned anything, it’s that hell seems to have an infinite amount of demon soldiers on call. I don’t want to have to sleep here. It is not my idea of comfort.”
Katie unfolded her wings and stretched them wide. “I’m gonna snag the hooker. Where will you be?”
Juntto bit his lip and glanced around. “I’m going to go find more civilians to save. I’ll take them to a safe location in the rich district. The military is there, so there isn’t much action on that side. They let the last group in, so I want to make sure I get as many as I can out of here.”
Katie leaped up, hovering for just a moment. “That sounds perfect. Meet us back up here somewhere when you’re done. If we find anyone, we’ll fly them over to you.”
Juntto gave a huge blue thumbs-up to Katie, along with a really forced and cheesy grin.
Brock knelt on the side of the building, pulling a pair of binoculars out of a case on his belt. He opened them and scanned the area, trying to get through without fighting too many demons. He watched as several lesser demons scurried across the street. One carried an arm, the hand dangling with a huge diamond ring on it.
Pulling back, Brock looked at his troops, who were pressing their backs against the window. “There are quite a few smaller demons on the road in front of us. Are you all ready for this?”
Each one of them gave an enthusiastic nod. Brock nodded back and turned, mumbling to himself, “Shit, I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”
Regardless, he moved around the corner, staying low with his M-16 out in front of him as he walked. The soldiers followed him, making as little noise as possible. Eddie and Turner brought up the rear, keeping an eye out to make sure no demons were following. They moved methodically through the streets of Rio. Down dark alleys, across boulevards, and even at some points through one side of a building and out the other.
They had to work as a team to get it done, or they would make a serious wrong turn and end up in deep shit. Unfortunately, that meant in the center of a street covered in boiling lava. Brock reached another corner and signaled to the team to press against the walls. He slowly looked around the corner, seeing two demons halfway down the block fighting over a body part of some sort.
Brock gazed down the line of Damned, waving to Eddie to come forward. He hurried up, stopping next to him. Brock whispered, “There are two down the middle. They are fighting over some sort of human part. Take them out with your sniper skills.”
Eddie nodded hard, and they switched places. He pulled his rifle around and got down on one knee. Steadying himself, he homed in on them, adjusting his scope. Eddie went through his normal breathing routine, quickly shooting one and then the other. When they had turned to ash, Eddie got back up and followed the group out of there.
As they walked past the spot where the ashes were piled, the guys and girls all groaned, covering their mouths. Turner tilted his head, standing over the body part. Brock and Eddie both came up too, forming a circle around it. Turner cleared his throat. “Uh, is that what I think it is?”
Eddie narrowed his eyes, leaning closer. “Oh, yeah. These bastards were literally fighting over a dick. A dick not attached to a person.”
Brock shivered, rubbing his junk. “These assholes keep getting worse and worse. Removing his fucking junk? That’s terrible.”
Turner shook his head. “I doubt they removed it. They probably just ate the rest of the body.”
The sour smell of sulfur began to grow stronger and Brock looked around, feeling a wall of heat slam into them. Instantly everyone began to sweat. Turner wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. “What the fuck? Did summer just hit in Rio?”
Eddie’s eyes went huge and he gripped Turner’s arm, pointing. “Nope. That’s definitely not summer. More like burning to death in a sea of fiery hell.”
Brock threw his gun on his back and waved to the team. “We got incoming lava. It’s moving fucking fast, guys. Fast like water would move. Pick up your gear and haul ass. Follow Turner and Eddie. I’ll be in the middle.”
Everyone picked up their guns and strapped them around themselves and took off, following Turner and Eddie. At first, they stayed together, but between the heat and the melting soles of their boots on the asphalt, the team began to slow, breaking apart. It went from a team escape to survival of the fittest in two seconds.
Brock jogged around, urging people to move faster. The team was heading straight for an uphill area, knowing they would be safe up there. He waved his arm, standing at the bottom of the hill pushing the Damned soldiers to move their asses. The last guy was from the French team, and one of his boots had completely fallen apart.
Brock cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling to the guy, “Hurry! Move faster, it’s almost on you!”
The guy glanced back, seeing the lava just a few feet away. His eyes grew big and he whimpered, looking ahead of him again and pumping his arms. His other boot began to melt to the ground, tripping him up. He fell, sliding across the asphalt. Brock stepped forward in shock as the guy looked up at him, the lava beginning to swallow him from the legs up.
Brock couldn’t even look. The French soldier screamed, the lava flowing over his legs to his waist. When it hit his upper torso, his voice stopped. He hadn’t been quick enough. He should have been, but he just wasn’t. Brock gritted his teeth, breathing heavily. Giving up was not an option. He turned away, starting up the hill at a run. Everyone else was yelling for him, so his legs moved even faster. If he went down, he didn’t know what the hell would happen to the rest of them.
He reached the top of the hill, and the soldiers patted him on the back. Huffing and puffing, they watched as the lava slammed into the incline, splashing about. It attempted to climb but slid back down before heading around the bend and out into the city. With sadness, Brock walked over to the rest of the French team and paid his homage. It was the first guy down, but Brock had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last.
21
Katie soared through the air, letting the wind cool her body as she stared down at the rivers of lava taking everything over inch by inch. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for people caught in the fires; they would have suffered so badly. Katie tried to shake the thought as she flew toward the favelas and the original portal for the lava.
Pandora had the same idea, meeting up with her and hovering above the shantytown. The whole place was just bubbling lava at that point. If there had been any survivors needing help, they would be long gone at that point. The poorest place in Rio had met its total destruction.
Pandora glanced at one and then the other portal. “Okay. We got two portals open here. One has demons racing out of it, and the other is pouring lava like a fucking faucet.”
Katie shook her head. “Both are bad, but I think we can agree the lava is worse. We need to shut that portal in order to help the rest of this community. Otherwise, we aren’t going to be able to get to them.”
Pandora agreed. “We are going to need strength for this. You ready?”
Katie shrugged. “Ready or not, this shit needs to happen right away.”
They both rubbed their hands together, Katie staring at the blisters she already had from getting too close to the lava. She could only assume that was going to get worse. Both of them moved slowly, close to the ground where the lava had not touched. They watched the flow of molten liquid for any anomalies, but it seemed to be pretty straightforward. To their right, something sparked and several demons came running straight at them.
Both Katie and Pandora pulled their swords at the same time and began to swing. The demons were wily, jumping around and screeching and hollering. Pandora growled, letting out a burst of energy that knocked them to the ground.
Katie looked at her, surprised. “Wow, where did that come from?”
Pandora shrugged as she ran around stabbing all the demons lying on the ground. “Don’t know, but I fucking like it. Mess with me, I’ll give you the blaster.”
Katie raised her eyebrow. “’The blaster?’ Really?”
Pandora snickered. “Would you rather I said ‘The squirter?’”
Katie shook her head wildly and wrinkled her nose. She let out a deep sigh as they moved closer to the lava falling from the portal in the sky. “When I was fighting the other demon, he did some pretty good damage to me. These street kids came and saved me. They were really sweet, telling me how they were on my side, how they thought I was beautiful. Then one of them kissed the cut on my arm. I swear it was like all of a sudden I was back to full strength. I felt powerful, strong, and ready to fight.”
Pandora slowed her pace, her eyes down shifting around. She stopped and turned toward Katie. Suddenly she slapped herself in the forehead, leaning back and rolling her eyes. “Ugh, of course. I’m a fuckin’ useless idiot of an angel!”
Katie put her hands in the air. “Your words, not mine.”
Pandora slapped her hand. “No. I mean, the demonic stuff in me wants to resort to anger and hate to keep my strength, my wits, and my ability to fight demons, but I need to remember that’s not the way I work anymore. It’s not only not the way I work, but it’s not the way I ever want to work again. That demonic shit is trying to fucking trick me. Sneaky bitch.”
Katie scratched the side of her nose, flakes of blood falling down. “I don’t get what that has to do with those kids and what happened.”
Pandora laid it out. “It’s all about compassion. Compassion is something literally anyone can charge from, but for us, it’s like inserting a new battery. You have to feed on that compassion, tap into it. You felt more power because you fed off their selflessness. So, whenever you are losing strength or down for the count, that is what you have to think about. There is a ton of compassion in this world, even if it’s not noticeable in everyday life. That is our Krispy Kreme donut.”
Katie slowly began to smile. “I like that, and I can definitely do that. Nice comparison, although the donuts usually make us hyper and then crash. That would be bad, but still, good analogy.”