by Eric Vall
This fight could have gone on forever if I wasn’t careful, so option B it was.
Another emerald portal opened above the assassin’s head, and the chakram came careening through. I quickly summoned violet Hellfire into my hands and motioned upward. Then, I charged at the assassin.
Four barriers of purple blasted up around the Rakshasi, momentarily trapping her in a flaming prison. More importantly, the newly-formed tunnel caused the chakram to ricochet off the walls with downward momentum.
Aruna’s hands glowed with black ectoplasm, and she tried to punch her way through the violet Hellfire. Although she was making some headway, her blows weren’t quick enough. She quickly held up her bhuj horizontally to block the incoming blade, and the chakram bounced up into the air.
My little distraction had given me all the time I needed to close the gap. I released the purple spell, conjured white light into my left hand, and then blasted Aruna in the stomach at point-blank range.
The assassin dropped her bhuj as she was launched upward. Out of nowhere, Cupi’s slender frame flew up and tackled the Rakshasi in midair.
The two women were now tumbling around on the floor, lashing out at each other. Cupi managed to get the upper hand for a moment as she straddled the Raksashi, but before the fallen angel could punch the assassin’s face in, Aruna managed to get her feet up and kicked Cupi hard in the gut. The force of the kick launched Cupi into the air, and then the assassin tossed her chakram at the succubus.
I caught the flying disk of death seconds before it would have severed the blonde’s spine and held it in place.
At the same time, Ira charged with her morning star held high.
Aruna quickly summoned ectoplasm over her body. Her figure morphed right as the succubi reached her, and a blow from Cupi’s enchanted fist sent her stumbling backward. Still disoriented, she barely managed to catch Ira’s morning star by the shaft and kneed the Sister of Wrath in the stomach.
Ira doubled over in pain, and then Aruna’s form was finally changed.
Before me stood two Cupis.
“Ah, fuck.” I sighed. “Not this whole song and dance.”
The two versions of the blonde succubus dove right back into hand-to-hand combat, but in the commotion, I couldn’t tell which one was which. Cupi was the agile fighter of our group, and the one who matched Aruna’s style the closest. This was actually quite a brilliant play by the Rakshasi assassin.
“Which one do we go after?” Ira growled.
“I--I dunno,” I admitted. “Just give me a--”
I looked back and forth between the two versions of Cupi and tried to look for anything that could reveal their true identity.
One of the Cupis punched the other in the gut and then kneed her in the face. Without missing a beat, the injured Cupi swung her fist up and uppercutted the other directly underneath her chin. The blonde stumbled back, wiped a drop of blood from her mouth, and then tackled her clone to the ground.
“Son of a bitch,” I growled. “This is gonna be impossible. Unless-- Cupi! Stand down! That’s an order!”
Instantly, both of the succubi stopped fighting and jumped back to their feet. They both stared at each other intensely, their bodies heaving from what I assumed was exhaustion, but neither of them attacked.
“Jacob, it’s me!” one of the blondes pleaded.
“Fucking liar!” the other one said with a pointed finger. “Aruna’s trying to trick you. Don’t fall for it.”
“You know.” I shook my head and summoned red Hellfire into my hands. “I always fucking hated this trope.”
“How big is Jacob’s dick?” Ira asked out of the blue.
I shot her a raised eyebrow, and the succubus shrugged.
“What?” she shrugged. “The real Cupi would know, wouldn’t she?”
“Oh, it’s fucking huuuge,” the blonde on the left mused.
The other one looked me right in the eye and slowly began to pull down the waistband of her pants. “Yes, it’s much, much bigger than Azazel’s,” she continued, “and Earl’s.”
“Earl was an asshole,” the other Cupi continued. “He wasn’t as kind or as loving as you are, Jacob. Can’t you see it’s me?”
The succubus on the right lowered her waistband down just far enough that her left thigh was exposed. There, right below her tiny waist, sat the scar from one of Earl’s torture sessions.
It was her.
“Honey,” the real Cupi hissed, “you don’t even know the half of it. Earl left his mark on me, in more ways than one.”
“I know,” the “other Cupi” mused. “He tortured us so badly that--”
Before the imposter could finish her sentence, I blasted her with a huge ball of red Hellfire. Her body careened through the air, struck the wall, and then fell to the ground. As she groggily stirred, the blonde turned back into Aruna.
I quickly cast a spell of emerald fire around the Rakshasi and lifted her into the air upside down. I made sure to keep the deadly woman at a distance, but I brought her in close enough so she could be interrogated.
The air of the nightclub was suddenly filled with Aruna’s amused laughter. “You are just as impressive as I’ve heard, mortal,” she sighed. “It’s almost a shame the fight has to end here. I yield.”
“What the fuck are you talking about,” I hissed. “This fight ends when I say it does.”
“Of course,” Aruna cackled, “but I have a sneaking suspicion you’re going to end it here and now once you hear what I have to say.”
“Oh?” I asked. “You’d better start talking then. Before I lose my paper-thin patience.”
Aruna rolled her eyes. “Here.” She nodded behind me. “A sign of good faith.”
The assassin’s eyes glowed black, and I prepared myself to go another round.
“Holy fuck,” Todd’s voice called out from behind. “I’m free! The Toddster gets to fight another day!”
“What about the succubi?” I demanded. “I’m not going to forgive you for nearly killing them.”
“The Sister of Wrath has already healed herself,” Aruna pointed out, “and the other two are just shaken up. Look, they’re already back to being good as new.”
I forced myself to turn my head around and check on my friends.
Todd was celebrating his survival with a series of cartwheels. Meanwhile, the succubi were back on their feet, and seemed to be doing fine. I also saw Gula and Tris fleeing across the empty nightclub.
“Mother fucker,” I hissed. “Liby, Todd, you think you can catch them? I’ve got some business to attend to with the Rakshasi.”
Todd raised an invisible walkie talkie to his mouth and made a staticky noise. “Attention all units,” he joked, “we’ve got a runner. Let’s go, Lib!”
The curvy succubus nodded, and then the two of them took off toward the other fleeing succubi.
“This seems all too convenient.” I returned my attention to Aruna. “What do you get out of all of this?”
“Less wear and tear on my body, for starters,” Aruna explained. “My job is done. Why put myself into harm’s way any more when I don’t need to?”
“Alright, so you don’t want to kill us anymore,” I pondered aloud. “That doesn’t mean we’re just going to let you walk out of here.”
“Why not?” the assassin asked coyly. “I have no quarrel with you and your friends. In fact, I would love to fight on your side one of these days. If the price is right, of course.”
“You were literally trying to kill us a few seconds ago!” I shook my head.
“What can I say?” Aruna said nonchalantly. “You pushed me to my limits and beyond even that. I literally threw every single trick I know at you, and yet you still outmatched me. Had I continued to fight, you would have beat me, and nobody’s ever done that before. Now, I yield to you, Jacob Ralston.”
“So what?” I continued. “You’re just going to switch sides because you respect me or some shit like that?”
“It has not
hing to do with ‘switching sides,’” the assassin admitted. “It’s part of the Rakshasa Code. When it looks like we are about to be defeated in battle, we are allowed to yield to our opponent. We may be a race of deadly assassins, but we’re not stupid. All of us would much rather live to fight another day.”
“Who says I’m going to let you live?” I sneered.
Aruna grinned. “Because you said it yourself,” she said as she shrugged. “You aren’t a heartless killer. Also, when we were struggling … damn. You’re pretty good with that dagger of yours, but I got a feel for the real weapon you’re packing. That alone gets you respect in my eyes.”
“Let her go, Jacob,” Ira suggested. “The Rakshasa might be a sly race, but they are true to their word.”
“She stabbed you and sliced open your shin--” I protested.
“And it felt marvelous,” the succubus cooed. “As you can see, I got better.”
“Fine,” I sighed, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
I flipped Aruna so she was standing upright, and then I released my spell on the Rakshasi.
“Thank you.” Aruna nodded and brushed dust off her shoulders. “Now, if you’ll excuse me--”
“Hold on,” I interrupted. “We’re not done yet.”
“Jakey?” Todd’s voice crackled into the communicator. “We’ve got bogeys all over the place over here. We’re trying to fight them off, but there’s way too many!”
“Bogeys?” I asked.
“Yeah, bro,” Todd said in a panic. “All these dudes in robes came out of nowhere, and they’re trying to light us up like a Christmas tree!”
I turned back to Aruna. “You didn’t come alone, did you?” I growled.
The assassin gave me a coy shrug.
“Bro, get over here now!” Todd demanded in the communicator.
“Just hold out for another minute or two, we’re on our way,” I confirmed and motioned for my friends to follow me.
The three of us dashed across the nightclub, through the flashing lights and music that had been continuously stuck on loop since the DJ bailed. The club was now completely empty.
Todd and Liby must have taken their battle outside.
“Shit, nooooo!” Todd screamed as we made our way toward the nearest exit. “They’ve got Tris and Gula, bro!”
“What?” I said as I felt dread fill my core. “Who has them?”
“Those fuckers that attacked us,” Todd explained. “They had those portable demon traps with them, and they caught ‘em both while Lib and I were fighting them off.”
As we came to the door, I blasted it off its hinges with a wave of red Hellfire. We ran out into the street and saw Todd and Libidine engaged with a handful of assailants.
Rage boiled up in the pit of my stomach. I was gonna kill all these assholes.
“Todd, Liby!” I called out. “Get clear, now!”
Libidine snatched up Todd and shot up into the sky as high as she could.
My entire body began to glow with a white light, and I floated up into the air. Right as the fuckers turned around to attack, I clapped my hands together and unleashed a massive blast of white light. There were howls of pain as the Divine powers engulfed the evil minions and their bodies were reduced to piles of ash.
Still in the air, I surveyed our surroundings for any sign of Tris and Gula. When I saw nothing, I let up on my spell and fell to the ground. I was exhausted, and now I was pissed off.
Liby landed next to me with Todd in her arms.
“What happened?” I demanded. “Where the fuck did they go?”
“I don’t know, Jacob,” Libidine sighed. “There were so many of them and only two of us.”
“I know, I know,” I said and held out a comforting hand. “It’s not your fault. We didn’t know we were going to have company, especially not so many of them.”
“Do you think they were cultists?” Liby asked her sisters.
“I’m sure of it.” Ira nodded. “They travel in packs, know how to cast powerful Hellfire magic, and they knew who we all were. They’re definitely part of some demon worshiping cult. The only question is, whose?”
I stood back to my feet and tightened my fist. “I know exactly who can tell us,” I growled and stomped back toward the door.
The five of us ran back through the remnants of the club, back to where Aruna was still waiting patiently.
“Alright, Aruna, who were those people helping you?” I asked. “They were mortals. Are they part of some demon’s cult?”
Aruna chuckled. “You thought the Cult of Azazel was bad?” she mused. “Wait until you meet the ones who follow the Lord of the Flies.”
“Lord of the Flies?” I asked. “What does that--”
“Uh, Jakey?” Todd spoke up. “We really need to move this conversation to somewhere more discrete. The Popo are on their way.”
The wail of sirens off in the distance confirmed Todd’s statement. We needed to move.
“Let’s take this up to the rooftops,” I suggested and closed my eyes.
I summoned up a massive spell of emerald fire around the six of us. I thought about the rooftop where we had originally been stationed, and then my body felt weightless. There was a sudden breeze on my face, and I could hear the sounds of the city in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw all of us, Aruna included, were now on top of the building across the street.
“A group teleport,” Aruna purred. “You continue to impress me, mortal. Now, as I was saying, I must be going. Every second I waste here is a second I could be spending on another paying job.”
“Wait,” I demanded, “can you at least tell us where they took Tris and Gula?”
“Why would I compromise my own boss?” Aruna chuckled. “He’s a very powerful demon lord, and this isn’t the first time I’ve worked with him. In fact--”
“Jakey’s got money,” Todd blurted out. “Like, millions of dollars.”
Aruna’s eyes lit up at the imp’s words. “Really?” she asked. “That changes everything. What do you want to know?”
“Where are Gula and Tris, and what are the cultists planning on doing to them?” I retorted.
“Simple enough.” Aruna shrugged. “I don’t know the exact location, but they told me they were headed to a local headquarters. As far as what they plan to do with your friends? They’re meeting up with a powerful general from the Lord of the Flies’ army, one who apparently has the ability to drain energy from a succubus.”
“A power transfer,” Cupi mused as she finally pulled herself to her feet. “Those are forbidden by Lucifer himself.”
“Hey, I was just hired to do the kidnapping.” Aruna shrugged again. “I don’t know anything about the logistics behind it. Now, is that all you need? I’d like to go get my weapons back before those other mortals get their grubby hands all over them.”
I nodded to the assassin. “Sure thing, Aruna,” I confirmed. “You’re free to go.”
“Excellent,” she said with a wink. “I’ll be by to pick up my check later.”
The Rakshasi turned around, spread out her hands, and summoned black ectoplasm into her palms. The substance spread across her body, and the assassin began to transform. Before the metamorphosis was completed, Aruna leapt forward and plummeted down into the Phoenix night sky.
“Such a badass,” Todd sighed, “even if she did take out a piece of my beautiful horn.”
Cupi and Libidine were now back on their feet, but Ira still attended to them.
“What was that Aruna said about the ‘Lord of the Flies?’” I asked. “What’s a book got to do with anything?”
“Not a book,” Todd corrected. “A superpowered demon. He ain’t nothing to fuck with.”
“Why?” I continued. “Who the hell is--”
“Beelzebub,” Ira muttered grimly. “She was talking about Beelzebub. The game just got much more complicated.”
Chapter 20
“Beelzebub?” I asked with my mouth agape. “Like, the Beelzeb
ub? The most famous demon next to Lucifer himself?”
“Well,” Todd protested, “you could argue Baphomet, Leviathan, or Asag are just as famous, but that’s not important right now. Yes, that Beelzebub.”
“Lord of the Flies, or Flyers, depending on who you ask,” Libidine mused, her voice distant. “Lord of the High Place. King of the Third Circle.”
Cupi put her hand on Liby’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sister,” she promised. “He won’t take us again.”
“Again?” I couldn’t help but ask aloud.
Cupi turned and nodded grimly. “Beelzebub was Liby’s and my first master,” the blonde revealed. “He’s the one who taught her all of her powerful mind control abilities. He wasn’t as physically violent as Azazel, but he was just as cruel.”
“My first master was a manipulator, through and through,” Libidine spoke up. “What he lacked in strength, he made up for with his cunning.”
“So he’s really good at dining at the Y,” Todd interrupted. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
All four of us looked at the imp, confused.
Todd sighed, held up his hand, and made a “Y” shape with his pointer and middle fingers. He pushed them against his lips and began to lash his tongue in and out between the two digits with an over-the-top gobbling sound.
“Cunning, Todd!” I corrected and threw up my hands. “Cunning. You know? Clever, like a fox.”
“He does that to foxes?” Todd exclaimed. “I knew demons were into some kinky shit, but yeesh.”
“No, I’m saying he’s smart and sly,” I sighed. “Now can you please stop doing that motion?”
“Ah, come on.” Todd raised an eyebrow and continued to whip his tongue. “You know you like it.”
I ignored the imp’s words and turned back to the succubi. “Not to pick away at old wounds,” I disclaimed, “but how did you guys end up with Azazel, then?”
“It’s my fault,” Cupi frowned. “It’s all my fault. Beelzebub was still evil, but he was never as much of a heartless bastard as Azazel and his cronies.”
“It wasn’t your fault--” Ira began.
“Yes it was!” the blonde succubus shot back. “I’m the one he kept trying to sabotage. I’m the one he kept referring to as ‘Divine Dog.’ If I wasn’t part of the group, he never would have demanded Lucifer trade us to Azazel.”