Our Devils, page 31
“It’s not like an animal,” said the agent. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Try me.”
The agent described a larger devil, standing nearly ten feet at the shoulder. It had an all-black body with six spindly legs like a spider, but tucked in like a mammal. On its head was a large, gaping jaw filled with several rows of tiny teeth and absolutely zero eyes. Its only bit of color was a glowing blue bauble that hung from the top of its head, almost like an angler fish.
“Christ,” said Aaron. “I really need to get some body armor.”
“Yeah, you do,” agreed Pulsar, eying his own thick arms. “Or some fur.”
“Body armor it is,” droned Aaron.
They drove past the park where the carnival lights and cartoon castle glowed bright against the early evening sky. They exited the highway immediately after, and then it was just a couple more intersections until they hit the parking lot. The JTF vehicles arrived only moments before they did, and Zapata stopped briefly to greet them. Aster stood tall and ready in his new black bandolier.
Shots rang out from the park, followed by a series of screams. They sounded like children. Two small ones ran out of the main gate, their parents nowhere to be seen. The agents put down the jackal that followed. It had a long, wicked jaw with a pearly white underbite, and long yellow ears that ended in furry tips. Movement flashed overhead—some kind of flier dropped a human from mid-air. From that angle it was hard to judge just how far they fell.
Aaron had seen all he needed to get in the fight. An agent handed him his big axe, and then the gang rushed in.
It was a pretty typical mini golf course with a vague pirate theme: there was half of a pirate ship signaling hole nine, tiny foot bridges over tinier streams, and the remains of an out-of-place windmill. Three jackals were tearing into a father while his child cried from a not-so-safe distance. Pulsar beaned a jackal’s head with a rock to draw its attention, and Aaron followed up with a perfectly-timed axe to the face. Another jackal juked past him to pounce Pulsar. The hare feinted and bit into its neck, tearing it out with swift precision.
Marcus rushed deeper into the golf course to save a young woman. She was hitting a flier with her golf club, which snapped on the second or third hit. The flier was leathery and bat-like, with huge ears and no visible eyes. Hot pink drool streamed from its mouth and smoke sizzled up from where it landed on her shoulder. Marcus ran up the side of a fake pirate’s cove to gain the high ground, slashing masterfully across the flier’s neck. Another flier picked Aster up off the ground as they fought, and the frog used his tongue to strangle the attacker in one fluid movement. The flier went down and Aster brought his weight down on top of him, leaving a puddle of pink blood and flesh. He briefly whined as the pink saliva burned him. Rolling on the ground seemed to help dislodge it.
Aaron watched for a moment, judging whether to stick with the others or fan out. As he did, a woman flew airborne from around the corner, colliding into an ice cream cart. The impact was brutal. Chances of survival were slim at best.
The main event came slinking around the corner, tearing into a fresh victim. It stood on four of its six legs, holding a body with its other two. Its limbs were impossibly thin and long, almost like a spider crab’s, complete with spindly claws. Its jaws sunk deep into his latest victim’s torso—the head was long gone.
Marcus stood on the cove to survey the battlefield. “Aster! Grenades!” He rushed off to help another young girl fend off a couple of fliers as Aster took the lead. The frog whipped his tongue over his shoulder to grab a grenade, hurling it directly at the monster. The main event dropped its victim and rolled away sideways, leveling a concessions cart like it was cardboard. The grenade went off at a safe distance, only briefly startling it. Aster quickly tossed four more grenades, exhausting his supply. Despite being ten feet tall, the main event was surprisingly dextrous, and rolled away without much injury. One grenade seemed to blow it back a bit, and another got a piece of its leg, but overall the grenades did more damage to the cement.
Pulsar, meanwhile, tore through the jackals at a furious rate. He leapt from back to back, biting the napes of their necks in sequence. One tried to pounce him while he was working on another, but he caught it with his huge hand and sent it flying directly into Aaron. The human blocked the impact with his axe, slid back a few feet, and dispatched it with a savage upward slice. It managed to scratch his arms up a bit in the struggle, but overall it wasn’t much of a threat.
Another jackal caught Aaron unaware, tearing into the back of his thigh. Aster was there to counter it, quickly strangling the jackal with his tongue. He pried it away from Aaron and rolled into the tickets counter. Aaron pedaled backwards and stomped it in the head, popping its yellow eyes with several sickening squishes.
Marcus kept the main event distracted while other families ran for the exit. By then, several agents had taken high vantage points on the big fake castle that served as the center’s main building, dropping fliers and jackals alike with well-placed shots. A couple of them fired on the main event as well, trying to cripple its legs. Bright blue wounds bloomed where the shots landed, leaking small trickles of bright blue blood. The creature seemed to be more annoyed than hurt, and it turned its attention to root out a small child who hid behind a trash can. Marcus advanced and a shot landed near him—he shot a sharp glance at the big ginger agent on the roof. Marcus shook the blood off his katana and pulled his goggles down before returning to the fray.
Pulsar dashed past the main event, clawing its limb to divide its attention. The beast turned with him and Marcus signaled to the little girl to run. But she was frozen in fear, sobbing madly into her knees. Two more agents approached to offer cover fire as a third scooped her up, running her to the parking lot.
When Marcus looked back, the main event had caught one of Pulsar’s legs in his mouth, chomping green blood out of the devil. Pulsar kicked furiously with his free leg, but each kick only twisted its many tiny teeth deeper into his shin.
Aster bounded up high into the air and landed on the main event’s head. The impact wasn’t enough to phase it, but the choke attack got its attention. The main event rolled with Pulsar in its mouth, crushing the frog below it. Aaron dashed past Marcus, landing several throwing hatchets on the main event’s dark and gaunt underbelly. Marcus took the cue, sending several more kunai after them. The beast continued rolling and Aster hopped away, looking a little battered but still in the fight.
Aaron tried to get in close, but the main event’s thrashing limbs kept him at bay. Together, Aaron and Marcus hacked at the limbs, trying to open up a weak point. Pulsar weakly punched it in the neck, working with the bad angle he had as the beast ravaged his leg. Seeing Pulsar’s mounting blood loss, Marcus pushed through the limbs, letting his armor take the worst of it. He held up one arm to protect his face while feebly stabbing with his free hand, landing several shallow gashes in the main event’s underside. Meanwhile, Aster ran around its flank to its back and rained down hit after hit from his tongue, bashing vertically like a cudgel.
Another flier tried to pick Aaron off the ground, but the man dropped his axe to get the monster in a headlock. He fell with his weight on top of the beast, stunning it. He slit its throat with his small hatchet and a plume of bright yellow blood sprayed his face. The burning set in quickly. Aaron dunked his face in a shallow, bromine-heavy stream to wash it off.
By then, Pulsar was crumpled on the ground, bleeding profusely. The bite marks trailed up his torso, ending just below his chest fluff. Aaron resisted the urge to rush to him, instead focusing on the threat. He channeled his anger into his remaining hatchet, landing several blows on one of the beast’s many shoulders. The limb began to come off—the blue meat and sinew showed through. Marcus grabbed the limb and planted a foot on the beast’s chest, and together they ripped it clear off the beast’s body. The main event roared, a horrific choking sound, and whipped its head around to chomp Marcus’s face. Aaron threw an uppercut with his hatchet, catching the beast square on the throat. The chomp still landed on Marcus’s goggles, ripping them off his face. Marcus fell back, sending more kunai just above the mouth where its eyes should have been. The monster’s anglerfish bauble illuminated its own fresh wounds.
While it was distracted, Aster pogoed high into the air, narrowly missing another flier and the bullet that dispatched it. He came down with his full might on the main event’s ribs, earning another gargle of pain from the main event. His tongue hands held on tight and he rocketed off it again, wailing on the beast like a paddle ball. Each successive hit staggered the beast more until it couldn’t get back on its feet. Then, Marcus finally skewered its neck with his katana. He ripped it out with a wide plume of blue blood. The beast went still.
Chapter 70
Machado and Zapata’s teams were able to clean up the rest of the beasts without much trouble. Zapata joined Reyes to survey the body of the main event.
“That was impressive,” said Reyes, holstering her handgun. Zapata clapped Marcus on the shoulder, earning a flinch of pain. She grimaced and regretted it immediately.
Aaron was afraid to even pick up his devil. Pulsar’s wounds were extensive, and the pool of sticky green blood was still growing. He called to the others for help and a pair of medics jumped in, quickly wrapping the wounds. Pulsar was barely conscious and his breath was ragged. Aaron petted his head gently, careful to avoid any injuries. “You’re a fucking monster,” cried the man.
“So are you,” whimpered Pulsar. He flinched as the medics lifted him to wrap his torso, but was happy to suck down a Burn Ward. They soon followed with a gurney, wheeling the devil off for treatment. Aaron went with him, hobbling along on his damaged leg.
Despite a large gash on his cheek, Marcus was spared the worst of it. He dabbed it with a bit of gauze and the medics took the cloth to dispose of it. He was sore all over, but the body armor did its job.
Aster, meanwhile, fought with his medics. Despite taking some nasty impact damage from the main event, he was still mostly fine. The frog wasn’t going to let a cracked rib or two slow him down, though the blood loss seemed to shrink him a few inches.
When they returned to the parking lot, the little girl that Marcus saved ran up and hugged him, hard. He laughed and put her down, ruffling her hair. “You were smart to hide, kid.”
The girl tried to stammer a response but ran away, embarrassed. He smiled as she ran back to a woman who looked like her mom. Several more survivors cheered while the JTF team celebrated amongst themselves. The big ginger agent, Declan, stopped to give Marcus a high five, once again hitting a wound in his shoulder. Marcus wondered whether he needed to go through a medical check, or if he would heal up fine on his own. He moved his arm around to test it, realizing that his range was limited. Declan offered to help him relocate his shoulder, which he did with a nauseating pop. Marcus grunted through the momentary pain and shook his arm out as the range of motion returned.
Declan was stunned at the sight. “Most people scream at that part,” he laughed. “Do the scars help block pain too?”
Marcus scoffed. “Nah, I think I’m just getting used to it.”
Marcus and Aster returned to the trailer park alone, bloodied and bruised but otherwise still in one piece. Miss Sakura and her devil had apparently left for their trailer, but Jerry stayed up with Nat. Tiger was curled up and snoozing in his lap. Jerry’s eyes went wide as the two approached, and Marcus realized the wound on his temple had opened up again.
“What happened to you, kid?” Jerry was wide eyed and more than a little worried.
“He’ll be fine,” assured Nat. “We’ve been through worse.” Marcus flashed a tired smile and plopped down on a bench.
Jerry looked back and forth between them, alarmed at how casually they dismissed his injuries. He fished around for a spare napkin, handing it to Marcus so he could dab his wound.
“Anything packed?” asked Marcus. Nat set to work packing a bowl for him. Marcus and Aster took a few hits each and let their pain slip away.
Then, Marcus and Aster filled them in on the fight, sparing none of the gory details. If anything, they seemed proud with just how much damage they did. Aster in particular took down a lot of fliers, and he was surprised that his new choking technique did much more damage than his grenades.
At some point, Tiger roused, stretching out his little tail. He clawed his way up Marcus’s chest, greedily licking the blood off his temple. Marcus, unphased, treated him like an excited little puppy. He pet his back with an armored hand, and the little devil arched his back as he lapped. Orion sat next to Nat, casually sipping her horchata through a straw.
After maybe a half hour, another SUV arrived with Pulsar and Aaron. Pulsar was still pretty banged up, but if anything he just seemed discouraged with how much damage he took. He slumped down on a bench as Aaron gathered some food to reheat. Together they ate the better part of two chickens, a pound or two of carnitas, and plenty of beef as well. Aaron and Pulsar ate with total abandon—they weren’t afraid to leave a mess.
Satisfied, Aaron packed a fresh bong and turned on the projector, putting on an episode of South Park. Pulsar curled up with him, and soon they were both snoozing.
Marcus spotted Jerry’s new bottle of vodka and poured himself a drink, wishing he thought to ask for some beer. He would fix that the next day. Meanwhile, Jerry seemed at a loss. He looked at his thin hands, trying to imagine them in the fight he just missed. From the way his skin hung, Nat suspected he lost a lot of weight from the chemo. At last he said, “How do you do this?”
“Training,” said Marcus, mixing his vodka with a little leftover horchata. “Have you ever been in a fight before?”
“Not like that,” said Jerry, wishing he had asked for better vodka. “A couple of shouting matches with my ex, but nothing like that.”
Nat smirked. “Just picture your ex’s face on every bad devil you meet. I know I do.”
The night wound down quickly enough, and everyone returned to their trailers by midnight. Aaron and Pulsar were busy sawing logs on the bench, and Aster threw a blanket over them before heading off.
The next day, Marcus and Aster went back to training. Nat and Orion joined them along with Jerry and Tiger. Miss Sakura and Isaac were conspicuously absent, while Aaron and Pulsar were busy at the lab.
“Where’s Sakura?” Marcus asked Zapata. She shrugged. It turned out that none of the JTF had even met Sakura yet. Declan stepped up to congratulate Marcus and Aster again on the fight, and the large man stooped to pet Aster aggressively. Aster rolled into it, turning the head pats into belly rubs.
Agent Reyes stepped up to make introductions. “This is Jerry Stoinis and his partner, Tiger. They have zero fighting experience, so we’ll be starting out slow today.” Tiger already looked a little larger than the night before: his thin tail was a few inches longer and his thin arms were already developing a little more muscle. His mouth was developing too, and the little guy could show a little more expression than before. But he still wasn’t much of a talker.
While the others fell into their usual routine, Jerry and his devil went through the fundamentals. Jerry was surprised to see just how much he could keep up, after many long months of chemo left him drained and discouraged. The devil followed along as best as he could, but his attention span was all over the place.
Meanwhile, Marcus was exclusively training with his body armor on. A few pieces were swapped out with undamaged counterparts, leaving his armor shiny and new. He also got a new matching pair of goggles, to replace his last pair. Nat joked that she should get her own set, and an agent quickly stepped up to ask for measurements.
“Orion could use a ranged attack,” said Zapata, watching the owl spar with the frog.
“What do you have in mind?” asked Nat.
“How about something she can drop or throw, like Aster’s new setup?”
“Yeah, maybe,” agreed Nat. She pictured the owl dropping bombs during her lighting-fast runs, and the image quickly grew on her. After their spar, another agent stepped in to take the devil’s measurements. Orion seemed a little hesitant to throw her weight off with equipment, but Nat assured her it was worth trying it out. She could always fight without it if it didn’t feel right. The devil relented.
After a fast, high-protein lunch with plenty of Burn Wards, it was time to strategize around Jerry and his devil. While the devil was still too small and unpredictable for combat, they could at least find a weapon for the human.
“So what do you do for fun?” asked Nat.
“The usual,” said Jerry. “Golfing, sailing, skiing.”
Nat smiled, teasing him. “Hunting endangered species? You rich or something?”
The man beamed back. “Eighteen years at Gloucester and Stilton,” he said, whatever that meant.
The JTF had a wagon full of weapons which they browsed together. Marcus stepped up to lay out their current build: Aaron was the heavy hitter, Marcus was the speed demon, and Nat focused on critical hits. He argued that more reach, range, or defense would be a welcome addition.
Jerry found a broadsword and immediately claimed it, swinging it about madly. He could barely manage the heft of it, but he would get stronger soon enough. The others led him to a training dummy. Nat showed off a few moves with her kamas before it was Jerry’s turn. He stepped up and hit it with a single, solid thwack, knocking the dummy over. They picked it up again, he knocked it down again, and the cycle continued.
Back at the lab, Pulsar was trying to find his own ways to help. Aaron showed him how to input data from the samples, and his little claws tapped away on the keyboard. It was a miracle that those big hands could type at all, and he seemed pretty proud about it. Once the data was in, they tried to check on Miss Sakura and her devil, but the doctors kept them out. Aaron thought he heard a little sob from inside the building, and he thought it was best to keep his distance. They broke for lunch in the time capsule. Hugh briefly joined them.
