by Michael Todd
One of the cops stepped forward. “Aren’t you Katie, from Katie’s Killers?”
Pandora smirked. “Same tits, different eyes. Look up here, sweet meat. And just so you know, I’ll be around sometimes helping you guys get rid of the scum of the earth. When Katie’s not fighting the hell out of demons, that is. You boys keep up the good work.”
“Thanks, I guess?”
Pandora let her eyes sweep down the cop’s body. “Give me a call sometime, boo. I’ll give you a chance to blow my back out.”
Katie groaned, so Pandora waved and took off. Katie was just along for the ride, listening to Pandora ramble and just letting her go with it.
I don’t like dealing with the cops. I think from now on I’m just gonna beat the shit out of these guys.
Katie didn’t even know what to say. Fine, but no killing.
Deal. You can do a lot to a human without actually killing them.
Pandora swooped down and skimmed the top of the shorter apartment complexes, listening closely. There was a park adjacent to one of the buildings, and she could see three men and one girl in the shadows. The guys were pulling on the girl’s arm. She was obviously trying to fight them off, but she wasn’t quite strong enough.
Pandora’s eyes narrowed. She swooped down and came to a skipping stop on the ground, wings folding up behind her. She didn’t even miss a beat, just walked straight over to one of the guys and tapped him on the shoulder. That got everyone’s attention. The guys spun around, surprised to see Pandora standing there.
A big guy with a chin-strap chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “Lookee what we have here, boys.” He blew a kiss to Pandora. “I like what you’ve done with that spandex.”
Pandora growled at him. “Why don’t you boys pick on somebody your own size?” She wiggled her pinky finger at them. “Or are you afraid of a real woman, you micro-penis motherfuckers?”
Chin-Strap snorted and shook his head. He stepped to Pandora and snarled, “You got a big mouth for a bitch.”
Pandora kept an eye on the other two, but she inched closer to Chin-Strap. In a blur, she snapped her hand out and grabbed the guy by the throat. She pulled him in so close she could smell his fear, and her eyes flashed red. “I’m going to show you just how much of a bitch I can really be.”
She slashed her claws across his face. He screamed, but Pandora was already picking him up. She body-slammed him onto the ground and spun to face the other two. One of the other guys pulled out a knife and lunged at her. Without looking, she swung her fist and connected with his temple. He stumbled backward and tumbled to the ground, unconscious. The last guy backed up and tried to run away, but Pandora wasn’t having that.
She jumped into the air, and her wings snapped out behind her. She chased him across the park. As she got close to him, she tucked her wings and dove forward. Her claws snatched his ankles out from under him and they tumbled over one another until Pandora snapped her wings out, stopping them. She was straddling him, her claws at his throat.
He was frozen in place. She leaned down and put her lips just inches from his earlobe. “If I ever see you again, it won’t be jail for you. I’m going to take you home to hell. I will do things to you that you can’t even imagine.”
Pandora grabbed his hair and slammed his head on the ground, knocking him out. She jumped up and waved at the terrified girl, still standing there. “You’re welcome, sweetie. Have a good night!”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Katie sat at the breakfast table eating a plateful of eggs and bacon. She laughed as she recounted the events of the night before to Angie. “You should’ve seen the dude’s face, not to mention the fact that he pissed himself right then and there. I would be mad that I had to clean my boots except it was so fucking hilarious.”
Angie choked on her coffee, laughing. “So, it turns out that Pandora isn’t too bad as a superhero after all?”
Katie shrugged her shoulders. “If we can figure out something better than ‘Slut Girl.’ Seriously, I can’t deal with Slut Girl.”
Pandora grumbled. I tried Fuck Girl, but you said we couldn’t yell that out in public.
Katie ignored her, not even attempting to relay it to Angie. The night generally had been a success. She had saved about a dozen people from either thieves or rapists. She couldn’t help but admit to herself that it felt good to do something for humankind other than killing demons.
Angie loved to hear the stories. “I still can’t get over the guy who thought he could sweet-talk his way out of it with Pandora.”
Katie laughed and was about to tell her how that had ended up when her phone rang. It was the general. She picked up the phone and walked over to the window. “Please tell me you killed the Leviathan.”
The general scoffed. “I wish I had that kind of news for you. This bitch is turning out to be a bigger pain in the balls that I thought. I have good news and bad news. We found Tiamat swimming in the depths of the ocean. The bad news is, she seems to be heading in the general direction of the eastern US seaboard. I don’t think I need to tell you why that’s a bad thing.”
Katie wasn’t surprised. “Any idea where she’s heading?”
The general chuckled. “I have a feeling you already know.”
She’s coming to New York. Our Big beautiful Apple, Pandora growled. I’m pretty sure it’s those cockholsters Moloch and Baal.
Katie relayed that message as best she could. “Pandora thinks it’s the two main demons, the fuckwits causing all the other problems.”
The general pulled up the last email he’d gotten from the men working on Katie and Pandora’s plan. “That doesn’t surprise me at all. I received the clip of the smack talk we’re going to use on the Leviathan to get her to come to the island. Here, I’ll play it for you.”
The general pressed play. “Tiamat, get your fish-fucking face over here. We’re waiting for you. You think you’re so big and bad? You’re fucking nothing. Come out and face us! You’re not even scary. You look like a mountain of pubes floating in the ocean.”
Pandora cackled loudly and took over Katie’s voice. “That shit is fucking hilarious! You don’t tell a Leviathan thousands of years old she looks like a bush mountain. Here.”
Pandora screeched out one sentence that neither the general nor Katie fully understood, then another. She made some very strange sounds come out of Katie’s throat. Her words were a jumbled mess, a combination of English and demon.
Katie cupped her hand over her mouth, trying to stop Pandora from doing whatever it was that she was doing. “Oh, my God, Pandora. You sound like a fucking dying seal.”
The general tried to hold back a chuckle. “We can’t understand anything you’re saying. It’s not making any sense.”
Pandora growled, “Fine, fuck you both in the ear holes. You guys just cannot hear nuance. Can you record something over the phone?”
The general typed on his computer for a moment and then responded, “Yes, if you can make it so at least the demon can understand it.”
Pandora smirked. “Perfect. Press Record. Tiamat esaeu xik ozz fucking lizard. Kaq esaeun fucking scaled ozz aewabbi sabbia oth moya ya juaar aem ya Damned. Gaer'q zota za fucking ztir esaeu ohiwa.”
When Pandora stopped talking, the general pressed the stop button. “Okay, got it.”
Pandora had lots more to say, but she figured that was a good start. “Tell her that. Toss the speakers into the water and see if she takes the bait.”
The general got nervous. “Aren’t you going to be there?”
Pandora scoffed and shoved a bunch of bacon into Katie’s mouth. “Why would we want to fight her? I’m a vigilante now. She’s not even a demon. She’s something else. She’s probably killable. Well, that is a hypothesis at the moment. No one has ever killed a Leviathan. Fuck, she may be unkillable. Yeah, you’re fucked, and no amount of donuts is going to change that.”
Katie just sat inside of Pandora, not jumping forward. The truth was, she really didn
’t want to do this. Katie knew that she could take care of the Leviathan if she really wanted to, at least she hoped that she could. On the other hand, if the beast could be killed by the military, she would rather leave it to them. It was a huge task to take on, and something she wasn’t looking forward to it all.
Pandora could sense that the general wasn’t exactly pleased. “No offense, but I’ve got enough going on trying to kill normal demons. I’m not too fond of being on an island when you guys start throwing around those big-dick A-bombs or whatever.”
The general grunted. “Good point, maybe we let you sit this one out. We’ll blow the bitch up the old-fashioned way.”
Without giving Pandora a chance to say anything else, the general hung up the phone. Katie hoped beyond hope that Pandora had given him good information. You think they will get her, Pandora?
Pandora mused. Maybe. I mean, perhaps she hasn’t aged well, and she’s ready to die? I’m sure her centuries of sleeping were just horrible.
You don’t think they can do it, do you?
Pandora let out a cackle. Hell, no. We need to enjoy our bacon right now. Mark my words, they are going to come back and ask us for help.
Are you sure?
Pandora let out a deep sigh, realizing that she had to tell Katie the truth. I’m sure. It was a heavenly host of angels that put her down the last time. You want to galaxy-size a can of whoop-ass, get a bunch of angry angels and let them really cut loose. The only reason she isn’t dead is they didn’t want to kill her. Bleeding heart liberals, every one of them. If I had been there, I would’ve cut her head off and sent her straight to hell. For some reason, angels have no problem killing each other—or killing humans, for that matter—but you put a giant lizard in front of them, they get all weepy-eyed. You would’ve thought that the angels created PETA.
Katie didn’t understand that, but then again, she wasn’t a full angel. She just had angel powers. She had put down a lot of demons in her time and never had it crossed her mind to leave one alive. She couldn’t even imagine standing in front of Tiamat and letting the beast go free. After all, you could see how well that worked the last time. Now there were hundreds of dead humans, and no angels to answer for it.
Katie punched at the bag hard. Sweat poured down her forehead. It had been a long time since she had been at the gym. She wanted to get some time in to get her body back in shape and improve her endurance. The more Pandora joined the fight, the less she was able to keep Katie’s energy up, and that was really important during a battle.
She exhaled out of her mouth and breathed in through her nose. Her fists flew at the bag, one after the other. She followed the striking sequence her trainer had explained. He gave her tips on training as if she were a boxer, knowing full well she had no intention of getting in the ring. She had other battles to fight.
An hour after she got there, a couple of guys walked in. They weren’t in training gear. They wore shirts decorated with both angel wings and devil horns. She recognized them immediately. They had been following her for weeks.
Katie ignored them and headed back to the changing room to shower. Several of the regulars gathered at the edge of the boxing ring. A bald boxer whispered, “You ever seen those guys before? They look like they’re trying to sniff Katie out.”
A boxer missing all but three teeth nodded. “I’ve seen them outside. They’re fucking groupies.”
The bald guy approached the groupies, flexing his arms to emphasize his point. “You don’t belong here. This gym is by invitation only. We don’t allow outsiders.”
One of the groupies was taller than the other, and he looked down at the bald man. “Maybe we want to join. Get us one of those invitations. Unless the owner wants to tell us to leave, we’re not going anywhere.”
The bald guy brightened and clapped the tall groupie on the shoulder. “Oh, yeah? Okay. You want to be part of this gym, we gotta see your stuff. You gotta get in the ring to become one of us, the trusted twelve.”
The members of the gym snickered as the two newbies got pumped up to become one of Katie’s twelve. They thought they were tough boys from the Bronx, but it was obvious before they even stepped into the ring that they’d had zero training. It became even more obvious when they got inside and had their asses kicked six ways to Sunday.
The nearly toothless boxer beat each groupie to a bloody pulp. They ended the rounds hanging off the ropes, their face protection twisted all the way around.
The bald boxer rang the bell, then gestured to the battered groupies, letting the members know to get them out of there. The toothless boxer pulled the groupies to their feet. “Sorry, guys. I guess you need to work harder.”
The two guys grumbled and stumbled toward the door. The twelve men stood around laughing until Katie came out, showered and ready. They all went back to working out, acting as if nothing ever happened. They were the twelve for a reason, and they didn’t want to worry her with small stuff. They wanted her to feel comfortable and safe in the gym. It was one of the few places Katie could be herself.
Several sailors walked across the small island that they would be using to lure in the Leviathan. They were nearly through setting everything up. The only thing they had left to do was run an equipment check. They had to make sure the new system was properly functioning. There could be no problems and no distractions when it was time.
One of the sailors chuckled as he connected the cords. “We’re going to catch the biggest fish of them all. The Navy’s going for the Guinness World Record.”
The sailors laughed. They knew this was a serious situation, but they were trying to keep the mood light. Another sailor shook his head. “I don’t get it. Why don’t we just nuke the bastard?”
“Where we gonna nuke her? We can’t find her when she’s out in the middle of the ocean because she’s so deep. And when we do track her, she’s too close to shore to stop. The whole point is to save the human race, not blow them up. Besides, with our luck, the bitch would catch it and throw it right back at us.”
The sailors laughed, but it was forced. In some ways it was funny, but at the same time, none of them put anything past this new threat.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Tiamat swished her scale-covered tail, roiling the sea and scaring any fish in the area as far away as possible. She had been feeding out in the depths of the oceans, scooping up sharks and squid everywhere she went. The wounds on her sides were starting to heal, but she still wasn’t at full strength.
The beast had followed the warmer current, enjoying that water and the prey she found there far more than the Arctic. She was on her way to New York, following an order sent by Moloch and Baal. As she swam, she began to slow down. She heard vibrations ripple through the water. The energy was familiar. It was something she had heard and sensed before, but not for a long time.
She changed directions and began to swim toward the surface, curious as to who or what was making that sound. As she breached the tumultuous surface, she could hear Pandora’s voice coming from a small island across the water.
“Tiamat esaeu xik ozz fucking lizard. Kaq esaeun fucking scaled ozz aewabbi sabbia oth moya ya juaar aem ya Damned.”
At first, Tiamat began to swim away. She was not interested in Lilith or her taunts.
“Gaer'q zota za fucking ztir esaeu ohiwa.”
That last part stopped her. She looked back at the island, annoyed. The beast snarled and snorted air out of her nose, blowing bubbles in the waves. She was arguing with herself. Should she continue in the direction she was supposed to be traveling, or go after Lilith?
The voice came again. “Tiamat esaeu xik ozz fucking lizard.”
That did it. She could no longer ignore Lilith. The Leviathan began swimming in the direction of the island.
Miles away, an aircraft carrier tracked the beast on its sonar. The captain of the ship watched as the beast appeared on screen. “Holy fuck! That bitch is huge.”
Air support roared overhead, keep
ing their distance in case she was capable of taking them down. One of the pilots made a loop around and watched Tiamat move quickly through the water toward the island. “We have visual. It’s like the Loch Ness Monster on fucking steroids.”
Off to the side of the main island was another smaller island. Several sailors were at the ready, waiting to give the signal to fire. The sailors looked through their binoculars at the beast as it swam along, their mouths hanging open. They didn’t say a word. They had been told the thing was huge and horrifying, but in real life, it was much, much worse.
One of the sailors stood up and dropped his binoculars to his side. He could see the Leviathan fine without them. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
They watched as Tiamat slowly rose from the water. Scaly legs crept onto the shores of the island, and the Leviathan looked for her prey: Lilith.
The explosions could be heard for miles, and the roar of the fighter jets echoed across the water. Missiles shot from the planes, whined through the air, and slammed into the Leviathan’s back. When they hit her hard-scaled body they exploded, cascading fire down her back and over her tail.
Still, she moved forward. She barely even noticed the planes attacking her. She lashed out with a claw and caught the wing of a plane flying too low. It swirled out of control, spiraling down into the ocean. The pilot ejected, and the wind caught his parachute. He never saw the strong green tail rushing at him. He was swatted out of the air like a fly.
One of the battleships fired a missile from their Aegis system and the missile struck the Leviathan in the back of the neck, enveloping her head in smoke and flames. She roared angrily and stopped dead in her tracks to look for the culprit. The fire from the planes might not have affected her, but the missiles coming from the ships were starting to piss her off.