by Michael Todd
Juntto shook him hard. “You will give the money back to her now.”
The guy put his hands up. “It’s… It’s…gone. It’s gone.”
Juntto gritted his teeth and brought his huge fist up to the guy’s face. “Then you will pay her back with your own money.”
The guy nodded nervously. “Yes. My wallet is upstairs. It’s in my desk drawer.”
Juntto set him down. “Let’s go get it.”
They walked back up to the eighth floor behind the guy, who shook all the way up the stairs. When they reached his office, they followed him to his desk. The guy took out his checkbook and wrote them a check, his hand shaking the whole time. Juntto pointed to his computer. “Is this the one you use?”
The guy flinched. “Yes.”
Juntto nodded and smiled as he smashed his hand into the tower over and over. He kept his eyes locked on the guy’s as pieces flew everywhere,. When it was completely destroyed, Juntto grabbed the cord and unplugged it. He walked over to one of the windows that was open at the top and pushed it through, giving it a heave and watching as it plummeted past the window and down into the alley.
He dusted off his hands and went back to the desk, patting the guy on the shoulder as he left. “Now, be nice.”
You could have heard a pin drop in the hall where the dungeon was located. The door was shut and the lights were dim as Timothy worked his magic. He sat at the front with multiple computer screens going. His head turned right, then left, then right as his fingers moved at a rapid pace on the keyboard. Suddenly he stopped and slid his chair back, nodding his head.
He looked over his shoulder. “Okay, Sean. Come see how Momma works her magic. First, we look at Sonora, Texas and San Antonio, Texas. I mean, come on. Just look at all these living and breathing things.”
Sean wheeled over to Timothy and squinted at the screens. Timothy pressed two buttons, and the view switched to the large main screen overhead. Sean leaned back and shifted his eyes to Timothy. “And what am I looking at?”
Timothy put out his hand. “Life itself. All of those glowing blue dots are living, breathing Earth creatures. Now, let’s just adjust the readings. Take away anything that looks human.”
He typed quickly on the keyboard and looked up. A bunch of the blue dots had disappeared. Timothy smiled and turned back to the keyboard, typing again as he spoke. “This is freaking genius, although I can’t take all the credit. That Sofia is a bright one. Now we take away your common animals. Dogs, cats, cows…”
More blue dots disappeared off the screen over their heads, only leaving the small animals and plants he couldn’t take away from the view. Amidst the array, it soon became obvious that there was one red dot in Sonora and one in San Antonio.
Timothy finished typing and backed up next to Sean, crossing his arms. When the screen beeped, he grinned. “Well, looky here. Which one of these is not like the other? That little red dot is our alien. That’s our cute little Nightmare from hell, Kabbus.”
Sean smiled and then wrinkled his brow. “How did he end up in two places at one time?”
Timothy shook his head, wiping his brow. “Seriously, you would think this was your first day in the dungeon. Follow along here, Sean, follow along. These dots are at different times, and if you look at the times, you can see it is not unreasonable to think he made it to San Antonio from Sonora.”
Sean clapped his hands, nodding. “That is fucking impressive right there. I thought the demonic incursion system was good, but this? This is finding something when you can’t even begin to know what type of energy it puts out. That is some fantastic work.”
Timothy bowed. “Thank you.”
Sean looked at the screen again. “What now?”
Timothy grinned evilly. “Now we isolate the fucker and see if the same energy signature is floating around anywhere else. Then we send Katie in to kick its ass back to whatever cold, dead dimension it came from.”
18
“Come on, pussy, one more rep. Just one more,” Pandora said, her hands under the bar as Katie pushed up, grunting.
Katie chuckled as she brought it back down. “Just one more? I thought you were a tough bitch.”
Pandora snickered. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Katie strained hard, pushing the bar up and resting it on the rack. Her head fell back and she breathed deeply, shaking her head and laughing. “Okay, maybe I should have stopped at the last one.”
The door to the gym burst open with a bang and Katie and Pandora glanced over to see Timothy running in. He put his hands on his knees and breathed heavily. Katie lifted her eyebrows. “Uh, you okay?”
Timothy nodded, putting up one finger. Katie and Pandora waited until finally he stood up and put his hands on his back. “I found it.”
Pandora smirked. “The male g-spot?”
Timothy gave her a “Yeah, right” look. “No, honey, I found that years ago. I found Kabbus. He’s in Utah, of all places.”
Katie stood up quickly and looked at Pandora, both of them getting very serious very quickly. Pandora gave her a nod. Katie smiled. “Okay, let’s go get the boys.”
Eddie walked behind the line of soldiers, watching as they lay in the sand, their eyes to their scopes. “You want to connect yourself with the target. You want to anticipate its movement, feel the wind, and think of how that bullet will fly when it leaves your gun. Then, and only then, you take a deep breath through your nose and release it out of your mouth. As you release, pull the trigger.”
One of the soldiers laughed, shouting, “And pray.”
Eddie smiled. “You won’t need prayer if you are a professional.”
Brock and Turner walked over to him, their faces serious. Eddie glanced at Brock and Turner. “What’s going on?”
Brock smiled and patted Eddie on the chest. “We’ve got a mission.”
Eddie leaned back and whistled loudly. “Let’s do this thing.”
The guys behind him all fired at the same time, which didn’t faze the team. Eddie turned around to find that every one of them had hit their mark. He clapped and licked his lips, wagging his eyebrows at the guys. “Told you I was good.”
Brock and Turner chuckled. “Time to load up and move out, dude. We’re gonna get our hands really dirty on this one.”
Eddie turned to the guys. “Uh, you guys are dismissed for now. Clean your weapons and return them to the armory in the barracks. Schwartz, you’re in charge. Wish me luck, boys. We are going to kick some ass.”
The same soldier as before yelled, “You shouldn’t need luck. You’re a professional.”
Eddie laughed, pointing at him. “Damn straight.”
Eddie took off at a jog, trying to catch up with Turner and Brock. He headed inside and down to the armory, where they were pulling out the weapons they wanted to take. Brock looked at him. “Only what you can carry today, boss. We are moving through a portal on this one. No time for the plane.”
Eddie took a deep breath and grabbed two pistols. “You know I like it when we run things last minute like this.”
Katie and Pandora came through the doors with Dr. Ozu trailing behind them. Katie put up her hands. “Dr. Ozu wanted to talk to us about this really fast. He is the most knowledgeable scientist we have when it comes to the Leviathans.”
The doctor smiled and stepped forward. “Gentlemen, ladies, you are walking in on a beast that none of us know very much about. We don’t know what weapons will be useful against him. Bring different ones. Even though the special metal always works on demons, it doesn’t have any effect on the Leviathan.”
Pandora scoffed, flicking her thumb over the blade of her sword. “Angelic swords can cut through anything. If we can’t shoot it, we’ll slice it up.”
The guys cheered. “That’s right, whack that bitch down to bits.”
Eddie looked up as he pushed two daggers into his shoulder sheaths. “I heard the thing has tentacles. I always did like fried calamari. We could be eating seafood
tonight, folks.”
Pandora sneered. “I promise you, this is one motherfucker you do not want to ingest. In fact, I suggest you steer clear of the tentacles altogether. They have a tendency to snap necks.”
The team finished loading up in the barracks armory and headed outside. They all gathered in the courtyard, where Katie would open a portal. She slid her angelic sword onto her back and snapped it in place before turning to the group. Brock shifted his stance, never having seen that level of seriousness on her face. Everyone noticed—all the guys, Pandora, even the doctor, who had walked out to see them off.
She took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. “Pandora and I have faced this thing before, and I’m going to tell you right here and right now that it is no joke. It is one thing to mess with your body, but this thing—it can twist your mind. There is a reason they call it the Nightmare.”
The guys glanced at each other and pulled out their guns, pointing them at the ground. Katie shook her head. “This thing, it…it preys on your fears. Out there, when you are fighting it, you might experience things. Visions almost, but they are dreams. They’re going to seem very real, and they’re going to fuck with you beyond belief.”
The guys instantly started to get nervous. Katie could see it in all of their faces. They had seen her when she had returned from her first encounter. They knew if it could take her down, it could do the same to them. Katie pursed her lips. “Look, the most important thing for you to do when you face it is to keep your mind focused on what you are there to do. If you think the situation you are in is completely unreasonable, look to me. If you’re not dreaming, I’ll be there to reassure you. It’s important that we all stay together. If I move, you move, and the same goes for Pandora. Stay close to one of us, so if we see you fall to his tricks, we can pull you out. We are one another’s strength, okay?”
Katie looked around at everyone, anxiety growing in her chest. “Okay?”
The guys all pumped their fists, nodding. Katie stared at Brock for several moments, talking to him through her gaze. Finally, she broke eye contact with him and clapped her hands. “One last weapons check. Make sure you are loaded and secure. You have to be ready to go as soon as we get through the portal. We don’t know what we are walking into.”
The guys checked their weapons again one at a time, making sure they had the proper ammo for each. Brock walked over to Katie and put his hand on her shoulder. “Who’s gonna look out for you if you’re looking out for everyone else?”
Katie turned and looked at him seriously. “That bastard took me down once. I won’t let him do it again. If he does, then we are dealing with something far worse than I imagine.”
Pandora walked up to them, shaking her head. “Don’t think you are immune, Katie. Question everything. Question everyone. And most importantly, fuck that bastard up.”
Katie bumped fists with Pandora and turned to the rest of the team. “Are you ready?”
The guys cheered. Katie shook her head, putting her hand to her ear. “NO, I ASKED, ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKING READY?”
The guys gritted their teeth and pumped their fists in the air, cheering loudly. The trainees and other soldiers on the base had lined up in the distance and were standing in ranks, watching them as they prepared to leave. Stephanie and Korbin walked out, each of them giving Katie a nod. Timothy came out too, waving wildly at them. Sean was behind him, rolling across the sandy ground up to them. “Keep your shit together out there, you hear me?”
The guys all smiled at Sean. “I know you’re real broke up that I won’t be there with you, but just know I’ll be here thinking about fucking your moms while you’re out there fighting this bitch.”
They all laughed, and each one fist-bumped Sean as they lined up behind Katie. She glanced over her shoulder, and Pandora stepped up beside her. They pulled open the portal together and took a step through.
The team stepped through the portal one by one, and it snapped shut behind Turner. They paused, looking around them. Eddie frowned. “Uh, where the fuck are we? Since when does Utah have three moons and a pink sky?”
Katie smirked. “We have to go through another dimension to get to Utah. I haven’t perfected the jump straight to the location thing yet.”
Eddie stared at her in shock. “What?”
Katie patted him on the chest. “It’s quicker. Just trust me.”
Turner chuckled, shaking his head. “Shit, I knew Utah was another fucking dimension.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Katie and Pandora stepped through, waiting for everyone to exit the portal behind them. They held their swords down and out, unsure of what they were walking into. Pandora looked at Katie. “This shit looks a lot like the last fucking time, and you know what kind of fond memories I have of that.”
Katie bit the inside of her cheek. “Just keep your eyes open and look for me if you question it.”
Pandora nodded. “You do the same. I’ll slap you back to reality.”
Katie smirked. “Welcome to Provo, Utah where the Leviathans reign, the angels slap the fuck out of each other, and everyone is lost in their own damn minds.”
Eddie looked around. “It was much cooler in the last dimension.”
Pandora excitedly turned to him. “Wait till you go to the naked one.”
Katie shook her hand in the air. “Enough. Pandora, don’t tell him that. And didn’t you have some pullback after the nightmare you had?”
Pandora scoffed. “Please. A little nightmare won’t keep this girl from finding sexy naked men.”
Brock turned in a circle and stopped, his mouth dropping open. “Wow. Who knew Utah was this nice?”
They were at the edge of a large, shimmering lake that backed up to tall, jagged mountains with snow-capped peaks. To the left was a small city. The tallest building was no higher than five stories, but the place was clean and glistening.
Pandora shook her head. “I know everyone is else is all fucking caught up in the beauty, but does anyone else see a problem with a nightmare-inducing Leviathan this close to a fucking city? Lots of people live and congregate in fucking cities. In fact, I am pretty sure there is smoke coming up from the streets in that pretty little city. Apparently, even Armageddon looks nice from a distance when you’re in Utah.”
Brock shook his head. “Don’t jump to conclusions. The city seems quiet. There is a possibility that this Leviathan isn’t as tough as we think he is. Otherwise, we would be staring at a whole lot of really scared people right now.”
Eddie had turned back around. He tapped Brock on the shoulder and pointed behind them. “You mean those people?”
Brock frowned and looked behind them. Dozens of people were screaming and running all over the place. There were men, women, children and every age in between freaking out. They were grabbing their heads and pulling their hair while screeching and fighting invisible forces. The group seemed to move like a flock of birds, staying together despite changes in direction.
Pandora sighed. “Well, that’s very unfortunate. Looks like Kabbus doesn’t like the idea of getting the fuck off our people.”
Brock narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. “It looks like our people are heading straight the fuck for us right now. All their eyes are shut, so how can they even see us here? This is nuts.”
Katie backed the group up. “Nuts or not, it is what it is. I suggest you buckle up because you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
The crowd of people ran straight for them. The team put up their arms as they attacked, punching and hitting the team every way they could. Brock got down on one knee and put his arms out, catching fists as they flew toward him. Turner pulled people off him and turned them around, facing them back toward the city. Some fell for it, wandering off like zombies, while others spun back, throwing punches at his face.
Eddie groaned, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. Coco perked up. Uh oh. Let me take care of that really fast. Wait, these aren’t demons. Oh, no. Oh, shit. He’
s here. I can feel him.
Eddie ducked, letting a punch fly over his head. Coco, take a deep breath. I need you to stay in this with me.
Coco was terrified. I’ll do what I can, but if he mesmerizes you, it works on me too. Just know we will be completely without defenses.
Eddie didn’t like the sound of that. Have you faced Kabbus before?
Coco laughed. No one faces Kabbus and lives to tell about it. And no, it’s always been this scary story that we were told. An enigma. We never thought that Kabbus was real. Not until now. I will tell you, though, if you don’t get these humans off your ass, you better believe you are going to fall victim. You won’t even hear it coming.
Eddie groaned, looking at Katie. “Dude. What are we supposed to do with all these motherfuckers rolling in on us like this? We cannot get stuck in the crowd with these fools. This Leviathan could be anywhere, and I would like to find him before he finds us. Apparently, according to my demon, it could mean life or death. So, are we shooting these motherfuckers or what?”
Katie shook her head as she pushed a woman to the ground. “We are not using lethal force on these people. They aren’t even Damned. We have no cause to kill them. We are here trying to save their asses.”
Eddie stopped and glared at one who was lunging for Turner. “They are fucking fighting us. They are trying to rip us apart.”
Katie shook her head. “No. You don’t understand. It’s not really them fighting you. They’re having waking nightmares. Remember, Kabbus draws on your worst fears, so they are stuck inside the thing that scares them more than anything in the world. We are here, so Kabbus is incorporating us somehow, but they have no idea who we are. They don’t even know they are fighting. We have to be gentle with them.”
Eddie sighed, pushing another back. “I would have brought rope if I had thought this would be the case. Tie them up, and they can’t hurt us or anyone else until we figure this shit out.”