by Michael Todd
Pandora groaned. God, love is so disgusting these days. You got Leviathans and humans and you—you who kill people with your vagina.
Katie’s face went blank. First of all, if that were the case, he would have kicked it a long time ago. Secondly, don’t shit on their happiness. They just want to chill and play whatever game it is they play together. It’s been a while, remember? He was a giantsicle.
Pandora blew a raspberry. Oh, please. That’s not what they’re dying to do together. Did you see what Angie was wearing? Where did she get a pair of short silk shorts and a flowy tank top out here?
Katie hadn’t even noticed. Probably from Stephanie or Timothy. It’s not like we brought a ton of clothes with us.
Pandora giggled. Yeah, well, I bet he doesn’t play three games before Angie is boinking his brains out. The tension between the two of them is thick enough to trip over. They are like two rhinos in heat. I wonder if he can change his dick when he changes characters?
Katie frowned. Just stop. Please, for the love of God, stop.
20
A crowd was gathering outside the soundproof room in the armory. The girls had taken a break for lunch, but instead of dispersing like usual, they wanted to see what was going on. Joshua was focused completely on the large bomb he was assembling.
Two of the girls stood close, their hands clenched as they watched him. Keira breathed, “I call this his science mode.”
The other girl flinched when he moved another wire. “I call this a dangerous thing to be doing in a building full of explosives.”
Keira sighed and pursed her lips. “I think that thing right there is huge enough that if it went off a mile from us, we’d be fucked. It might be a quicker death if we’re right next to it.”
Her friend let go of Keira’s hand and stared at her with a straight face. “You are the worst at comforting someone.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. We fight demons and make weapons. How soft can you possibly be?”
The girl clicked her tongue and nodded rapidly. “Okay, you’re right. I was being a drama queen. Probably better if we’re right up close.”
Korbin pushed open the front door, looking down at his phone as he entered. He took several steps before realizing there was no noise from the machinery. He stopped. He raised his head slightly, the fear nipping at the back of his neck overtaken by curiosity. He spotted the group of women gathered around the soundproof booth, whispering to each other. He could make out the top of Joshua’s head inside the room, but he couldn’t see what he was doing.
Katie’s hands ran over the edge of the chair she was sitting in to watch Joshua work. She had been doing that since she’d gotten there, and she hadn’t wanted to disturb him. The door opening brought her attention to Korbin as he came into the room. His eyes landed on Katie as if he’d been looking for her. “How’s everything going?”
Joshua lifted one finger to silence them. He was staring down at a small screen. He carefully set the screen inside the bomb and closed the metal door over it. His fingers pressed against the glass and a green light began to flash. “I think I got it.”
Katie stood up so fast the room spun a bit, but she wasn’t about to stop for that. “Okay, so what do we have here?”
Joshua rubbed his hands together proudly. “We have a specialty weapon that will only be harmful to those in an atmosphere like hell’s or Damned standing nearby. You launch this sucker straight into hell and walk away. Preferably, you aim it and know where it’s going, but firing blindly would probably work too. It would just be less dramatic.”
Katie examined the thing. “And it does what?”
Joshua smiled evilly. “Well, the bomb has a liquid H2O core with an emulsified powdery substance mixed in, none other than my special metal. When the bomb hits, the core will break, spilling its contents into the streams of lava. Special metal mixed with simple water will create a steam cloud.”
Katie let her head fall slightly back, and her shoulders went slack. “We’re going to kill demons with steam?”
Joshua laughed. “Not just any steam, my friend. This is going to be a steam cloud of death. The combination of chemicals in the lava will interact with the special metal particles, and the cloud will spread through hell. Anything that breathes it will ultimately suffer a terrible and very painful death. It’s probably the most amazing thing this armory has ever created.”
Korbin looked at it nervously. “And probably extremely fucking dangerous in the wrong hands.”
Joshua nodded reluctantly. “Which is why I only made one. We’ll make sure this baby goes off when it hits the lava. Once it’s broken open and airborne, there’s no way they’ll be able to replicate it. The sheer heat of hell will evaporate the water almost immediately.”
Katie smiled and slapped Joshua’s back. “Well done, Einstein. Well done.”
Korbin leaned across a dining table toward Katie, Stephanie, and Calvin and waved his hands as he told a story from when Calvin was new to the team. “I swear, he looked like his whole body was going to explode right then and there. It was amazing.”
Calvin’s cheeks were red and hot, and he shook his head. “Hey, I was new to all of it. That fucking demon had three heads. Three not-so-attractive heads, I might add.”
Katie laughed and patted Calvin on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ve all had at least one piss-your-pants moment, like Juntto with the ice cream man demon.”
Angie and Juntto were whispering in the corner, not realizing they were being discussed. Everyone stared at them until they looked over in confusion, and a roar of laughter filled the room. Katie looked at her friends, remembering what it was like to be together with a team so close that they were family. Except for Brock and this team, of course. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she couldn’t shake the sick feeling in her chest.
When the laughter died down, everyone went sullen, remembering reality. Stephanie took a deep breath and grabbed an empty tray that had once held a dozen donuts. “Well, we’ve still got an hour of light outside. We could all go out there and enjoy the fall breeze. I think I have a couple of bottles of wine in the fridge.”
Korbin scoffed. “Try like ten, but okay. I need to build this woman a wine cellar.”
Stephanie spun, almost losing the tray. It flipped in the air and she clapped her hands together, sandwiching it in between her palms. “Finally, you catch on.”
The door to the dining hall flew open, and Timothy raced in with his tablet. “A portal. There’s a portal.”
Everyone stood up quickly, Calvin’s chair falling over and hitting the floor. Korbin held up a hand. “Okay, calm down. Tell me where.”
Timothy put one hand on his hip and breathed in and out repeatedly. He could barely get his lungs to take in air, much less speak. After a moment of everyone staring at him with confused looks on their faces, he pointed straight up. “The sky. Above us.”
Korbin ran to the door, hitting a red button on the wall. Emergency lights started to flash, and sirens howled overhead. “Everyone, grab your weapons and gear up. We want to be on top of this one.”
Timothy stepped quickly over to Korbin. He tapped him on the shoulder and held up his tablet. “Everyone obviously should be in place regardless, but why don’t we try out our new anti-aircraft guns first? Let’s see if we can send them back before they hit the ground.”
Korbin bit the inside of his lip and stared at the screen. “They can be aimed where the portal is being detected?”
Timothy nodded. “Yep.”
Korbin ran his eyes over the room and everyone paused, looking at him. “Okay. Gear up and meet me outside, but no one fires until I give the word. We spent a shit-ton of money and time on these guns, so let’s see exactly what they can do.”
The whole team hurried to grab their weapons from the training room, then ran out the side door. They swerved around the corner and came to a stop next to Korbin. Their defenses included six anti-aircraft guns, all remotely controll
ed from Timothy’s tablet. Katie stood shoulder to shoulder with Calvin and Juntto, holding her pistols in her hands. A huge flash of light tore across the sky, and a portal appeared above them.
Timothy pressed his tongue between his lips as he adjusted the position of the guns. “Ready and in position. Tell me when to fire.”
Korbin narrowed his eyes, watching the dark hot abyss swirling above the main building. As soon as the first demons began to drop, he pointed at Timothy. “Fire!”
Timothy said a prayer and pushed a button on his tablet, and the guns instantly started firing round after round. They rotated slightly, sprayed bullets from one end of the portal to the other. As the demons fell, they turned to dust, disintegrating before they could hit the roof of the building. The guns continued to fire for another three minutes.
Korbin waved his hand at Timothy. “Okay, hold off.
Timothy turned the guns off, and they watched the portal with bated breath. The flow of demons had stopped.
“Let’s see what’s next.”
The portal wavered and flickered for a moment before slamming shut. Everyone jumped into the air, cheering loudly. The soldiers behind them cheered as well, holding their guns up over their heads. Korbin hugged Stephanie tightly and kissed her on the cheek. “Nice work, Timothy. Nice fucking work.”
Pandora sniffed the air. Don’t start celebrating just yet.
Katie’s head snapped toward Timothy. “Check your radar.”
Timothy’s smile fell as he switched screens. His eyes went wide, and he spun around, looking across the field. “Another one. There’s another one coming just on the other side of the base. These guns can rotate, but they can’t do a one-eighty.”
Korbin hefted his assault rifle and nodded at the others. “This one we blast from here. Men, when that portal opens, shoot it with everything you’ve got.”
The soldiers got into formation. A line of men got down on one knee and steadied their rifles. Katie gripped the thick handles of her pistols. Her eyes found Juntto, who was already looking to Katie for orders. The same deafening crack echoed across the marsh, and a hot wind blew across the base. The portal split wide open and was met with a shower of gunfire from everyone on the base.
Juntto fired at the portal with a borrowed rifle, but he scooted closer to Katie. “We should be out there. We can take those bastards.”
Katie fired one more bullet. “You read my fucking mind.”
She holstered her guns and found Korbin. “Keep firing. Juntto and I are going to flank them. You guys hold the line in case any of the demons get past us.”
Calvin ceased firing. “I’m coming too.”
Katie squeezed his shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
The three of them took off to the right, going around the gunfire to avoid being shot. The last thing Katie wanted was to end up with a bullet in her back. She had way too much to do to worry about that. Juntto roared loudly as he raced forward, ready to take down demons.
The beasts poured out of the portal, angrier than Katie had ever seen them.
They were small but ferocious, jumping in groups and piling on top of one another to get at the three of them. Katie fired with deadly accuracy, shooting as many as she could as Juntto ripped through the horde throwing heads all over the place. Calvin was a bit taken aback by their anger and danced in and out of the demons, slashing his short sword through their skulls.
Korbin put up his hands. “Hold your fire. Let Katie, Calvin, and Juntto do their thing for a minute. We don’t want to accidentally hit any of them.”
Angie wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Please. We’ve had enough of that lately.”
Stephanie frowned and slid her hand into Korbin’s. They stood watching the demons rage, slashing their claws violently. Whenever one would break the line and head toward the base, a soldier would light it up, blasting it into dust.
Stephanie’s face was contorted in horror. Timothy stood there with his tablet pressed to his chest, his mouth slightly open. “I’ve never seen those baby demons move like that. It’s like someone filled them with caffeine, shook em’ up, and let em’ loose. Damn.”
“They’re getting stronger and fiercer,” Stephanie agreed. “I haven’t seen a battle rage like this one in a very long time.”
Korbin’s breath caught as he took it in. “I know. Everything about these demons has been drastically evolving.”
He relaxed his brow and squeezed Stephanie’s hand tighter. His eyes shifted down to hers, and he brushed his other hand across her cheek. “We knew one day the war would really kick into high gear. I’m not worried, though. We have a good leader and everything we could need to fight them. Let’s just hope those three can handle themselves out there. They’ve moved in front of the target, so unless we want to shoot them, we can’t fire as a group.”
Stephanie gulped and glanced at the long scar that went up her arm, a relic from her first fight after Katie had brought her back. She would never sacrifice her friends to fight off the demons, but she sure as hell wasn’t looking forward to hand-to-hand combat.
Timothy scooted closer to Stephanie and took her other hand. She tried to give him a reassuring smile.
He stared at Katie, Juntto, and Calvin, who were fighting the wave of snarling beasts. Behind them, the sky was growing darker by the second. “Maybe we should go out there and help them. You know, give them backup?”
Stephanie tightened her grip on his hand. “Our leader gave us orders, and we’re going to follow them. We’ll be okay. They’re just a bunch of ferocious little bastards this time around. But then again, when are they not?”
Timothy smacked his lips. “I think all they need is a week-long spa retreat and some really nice shoes. That will make anyone happier.”
Stephanie’s lips curled into a smile. “You’re so good in these situations. You could make me laugh if I was holding a head in my hand.”
Timothy shook his head, his eyes closed. “No, ma’am. You are not ruining that manicure.”
A loud bang sounded, and everyone turned their attention to Katie. She was whaling on a medium-sized demon. They watched as the three bodies fought valiantly in the night, stomping out as many demons as they could. Timothy pulled his tablet back and started pressing buttons. “I should turn on the lights out there. That might help.”
As soon as he pressed the button the great spotlights flashed on, blinding the soldiers for a split second. Stephanie’s hand flew out and grabbed Timothy’s arm. “What the fuck just happened? A moment ago we had three people fighting those demons out there. Then you flipped the lights on.”
“So?”
“Look. Now there are only two.”
21
Located in the southern part of Kangding in Sichuan China, Minya Konka towered above the clouds. Better known as Mount Gongga, the Chinese mountain was white from bottom to top, and the weather was always cold and rainy. The air was thin and quiet on the seven-thousand-meter peak of the mountain. Very few ventured to these parts, and only twenty-four humans had ever reached the top.
On that rainy October day, the clouds sat below the peaks, and the horizon was a zigzag arena of mountainous terrain. On the tallest peak of the range, a loud snap echoed, sending a heat wave down the ice-covered slope. A large demon stepped out onto the icy ground, the snow and slush immediately melting beneath him. Steam rolled off his shoulders and back as he looked out over the horizon.
The muscles in his back began to twitch as he turned, revealing Baal’s furrowed brow and snarling lips. He shivered, patting both sides of his arms. “Fucking nonsense. It’s cold as fuck up here.”
His hands went to his hips as he scanned the top of the mountain. Slowly, he pulled a rolled-up map from the fanny pack around his waist, then zipped the pouch again and unrolled the map. He ran his finger down the parchment but glanced up from time to time, trying to figure out where the hell he was. A strong burst of wind swirled around the mountaintop, and he lost cont
rol of one side of the map. He grumbled as he caught it and turned his back to the wind.
He looked up again, seeing two slightly shorter peaks across from him. “All these damned mountaintops look alike. Why can’t the assholes who make maps smarten them up a bit?”
Grumbling as his feet sloshed through the mud and stone beneath him, his eyes narrowed as he squinted into the distance. His eyes moved from one fixed point down to the map, back up to a mountaintop, then to the map one last time. He snorted loudly, the air rippling the map. He lifted the paper and turned it from side to side, finally nodding and flipping it over. “Ahh.”
He pointed to one place on the map and glared to his right. Sighing, he shook his head and rubbed his nose on his arm. “Well, that might be the right one.”
He rolled the map back up and shoved it into his fanny pack. Zipping it again, he shivered, all the scales on his body vibrating against his flesh. He swiped his hand down diagonally, and a gate opened with a loud crack where he stood. “Well, here’s hoping.”
Baal disappeared into the gate, and it slammed shut behind him.
Calvin was buried in a swarm of snarling demons. He slashed and cut, and still they came.
His short sword bit into a demon’s skull, and it burst into dust. More demons pushed against him, and he leaned back as a demon’s claw flew at his face. He snarled and narrowed his eyes. “You fucking ass, you almost cut this beautiful face.”
The demon roared loudly, spattering spit all over Calvin’s visage. He closed his eyes and wiped his hand across it. When he opened them, the demon was charging again. “Oh, that’s the last straw, motherfucker.”
He struck out hard with his right leg, planting his foot right under the demon’s chin. Its whole body flew back and Calvin pounced, swirling his sword in a circle and slicing the demon’s head off its shoulders. Katie was a few feet away and looked down as the head bounced to her and turned to dust. “Nice one.”