Broken

by Ryan Attard

  It shuffled towards me and roared.

  “Shit.”

  I barely managed to leap out of the way as the thing reached me, stabbing at the ground I had occupied mere seconds ago. I thrust Djinn forwards and willed a spell to life. Djinn’s blade elongated and shot out like a spear. The blade dug into the creature’s flesh and held fast.

  But the thing kept on flailing.

  Another roar behind me. Two more creatures appeared, emerging from the bodies of the Black Ring Society members.

  Must be new, I thought. Greede must have modified their tattoos to turn them into mindless (and literally headless) monsters as a countermeasure. Even if they ended up dead, he’d still have an army.

  What kind of psychopath thinks of that?

  Asked and answered, Erik.

  I released the spell on Djinn, retracting the blade. The first creature wobbled back to life. More roaring. (Seriously, where did the roaring come from? These guys had no mouths.)

  I slashed the air in front of me, releasing a crescent-shaped beam of energy that threw all three of them back. The attack was meant to kill them, but it only managed to faze them slightly.

  I swapped weapons, and channeled magic through my gun.

  “Fire it is, then.”

  The first blast caught one of them in the chest. I was staring at the hole in its torso just as his flesh caught fire. My guess had been right—fire was their weakness.

  Now that I knew their Achilles heel, I blasted off two more rounds, destroying both remaining creatures.

  I noticed that the sigil beneath each creature was still glowing. My senses told me that magic was coursing through the symbols, looping around the now-dead creatures.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  The first creature I had killed reared back to life, repaired and healed.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” I said, firing my gun. Only this time I didn’t aim for the creature, but rather the sigil itself.

  The creature wailed and flailed its half-formed spiky arms around as the magic in the sigil dispersed. It melted into a pile of goop, and I quickly shot the other sigils too.

  “Son of a bitch,” I said again.

  He had copied me. Goddamn Greede had copied the mechanics behind my curse, looping magic around a body to keep regenerating it. He had managed to find a way to create a zombie monster army, and I was the inspiration behind it all.

  The gate that was sealing off the entrance withdrew. I ran out, eager to find Luke and get the hell off of this damned ship.

  As I turned a corridor I heard a scream, followed by a fwoosh of roaring flames. Luke was battling two of the headless creatures, incinerating them one limb at a time. Blood bubbled from a wound in his shoulder.

  “The sigils,” I yelled. “Take down the sigils, then flame them up.”

  Luke looked at me, which cost him a knock in the head by one of the creatures. He sprawled on the ground, but not before shooting jets of flame at his assailant. I fired at the sigil, making sure the creature stayed dead.

  Before I could turn my gun around, the second creature swiped at me. My gun went skittering. The cabin door behind me burst forward, and three more monsters joined in. Two of them leapt onto me. I struggled and kicked, unsheathing Djinn and throwing energy point-blank at them. The blowback sent me flying.

  Hey, at least I got some distance between us.

  Heat stung my face. I looked at Luke.

  Steam hissed from his body. His skin glowed amber, then yellow. Fire burst from his flesh.

  “Hit the deck, Ashendale,” he said.

  “Ah, crap.” I rolled my coat over me, hoping whatever was left of the protective charms would be enough to keep me from getting roasted alive.

  Luke snarled a single word. “Agni!”

  He went supernova, sending flames everywhere.

  The flare died as quickly as it had been summoned, and when I finally dared to peek from behind the coat, I saw Luke back to normal, smoke hissing from his body.

  All around him was ash. The metal that had once made the walls, ceiling and floor was warped into goop.

  The creatures were nowhere to be seen.

  “Huh,” I remarked. “Guess that’s one way to do it.”

  Several roars echoed through the Cassiopeia, bouncing along the walls so that it sounded as if the monsters were coming from all directions.

  Which they likely were.

  “We have to get topside,” I said, retrieving my gun. “Otherwise, they’ll box us in here.”

  “Agreed,” Luke said, looking up. “We go the direct way.”

  I cocked my head. Before I could utter another syllable, Luke was back in Human Torch mode, blasting fire into the ceiling. I yelped and ducked into a cabin, just as molten steel began raining down.

  “A little warning next time, asshole,” I yelled.

  I poked my head around, only to find the corridor vacant. A massive hole, still dripping molten steel, was gaping in the ceiling.

  I grimaced and willed my wings back through my coat. The ethereal wings flapped, phasing through the walls of the constrained corridor of the aircraft carrier.

  I hopped and willed myself to fly upwards. The wings beat once and carried me all the way up through the hole. I shot up and landed next to Luke on wobbly legs. Stomping for purchase I retracted the wings and swore undertone.

  I really hated those fucking wings.

  Several roars echoed again, only this time the walls exploded. Sheets of metal were torn open and headless creatures spilled out. One by one they filled the deck, closing in on the two magic users who had stepped into their territory.

  “Good news, bad news,” I said.

  “We’re surrounded by regenerating monsters,” Luke said, lighting his hands on fire. “And have no way out, unless you want to swim.” He grimaced at me. “I really don’t want to swim.”

  “You just surmised the bad news,” I said.

  “What’s the good news?”

  I grinned.

  The explosion rocked the boat. Several of the monsters fell overboard as the Cassiopeia listed to the side.

  A pair of giant metal arms sprouted from the deck, warping sheet metal on the ground. They swept monsters aside, like one does cookie crumbs off the table.

  Amaymon shot up from beneath us, holding a creature in each arm. He slammed them down with enough force to turn them into jelly.

  “S’up guys?”

  I winked at Luke. “Good news is, we have an Amaymon.”

  “Damn straight,” Amaymon said. “Now let’s get the fuck out of h- Watch out!”

  He stomped on something long and serpentine, and the size of a house cat. The creature had several tails and an equal number of heads, each looking slightly draconic. Venom hissed from beneath Amaymon’s boot.

  “Ah, shit,” Luke muttered.

  He must have felt it too. Anima particles, little pockets of wasted energy that occur after a massive summoning.

  Sure enough, more of the little multi-headed monsters appeared.

  “Hydras,” Amaymon said.

  “I thought those were huge,” I said.

  “Nah. The real ones are small,” he said. “Highly venomous. Vicious little bastards too.”

  Luke swept flames at the hydras. They hissed and backed away, but it was only a matter of time before they overran us.

  A second breed of creature appeared—these ones I easily recognized. Their main bodies were leonine, with massive scorpion tails arching over their heads. Some had chiropteran wings folded behind them. Males bore the shaggy mane that all lions had.

  “Manticores,” I said. “Which means…”

  “Erik Ashendale. Why am I not surprised?”

  Two creatures fell from the sky.

  One was Alan Greede, CEO of Ryleh Corp, and the current Sin of Greed.

  Also, my nemesis.

  Greede was being carried by a bizarre creature that had once been the angel Ezekiel, before Greede ripped his heart out and
killed him. Now all that was left was a mangled body, one that Greede had outfitted with a laser cannon arm, along with several sigils branded into the ashen grey skin. The mutated angel’s mouth had been sewn shut and his eyes were lifeless, beyond dead.

  Greede spread his arms.

  “You found my base, I see,” he said. “Took you long enough.” He grinned. “Do you like my new pets?”

  “Yeah,” I shot back. “Then again, you’ve always been good at jacking others’ shit.”

  “I am merely improving upon nature, Mr. Ashendale,” he said. “Then again, you of all people should know.”

  “The fuck does that mean?”

  Greede chuckled.

  “My, my. You still haven’t figured it out? Ah well. I don’t blame you. Coming back to life is such a delicate process after all. Why, you miss one tiny detail and it alters your entire perception of reality.”

  I took a step forward, not giving a shit about the hydras and manticores, or even his bizarre angel mutant.

  “What do you know about me?” I roared in his direction. “Tell me!”

  “All in good time,” Greede said. “But for now, you have a battle to survive, Mr. Ashendale. And no, I will not hold back.”

  “Neither will I.”

  A flash of black, gold, and red glinted under the sun. Abi emerged from seemingly nowhere, dressed in her vigilante outfit, spinning her golden staff, Sun Wo Kung.

  Before anyone could react, she sent the angel mutant stumbling across the deck into the cluster of monsters.

  Abi pointed the end of her weapon at Greede's throat.

  “And I brought my own army,” she said.

  Portals appeared before us. The chug-chug-chug of helicopter blades cut through the air. Several military choppers hovered over the Cassiopeia, weapons trained on us.

  I saw Gil inside the closest one. The hunger in her eyes was unmistakable.

  She glared at Greede, who simply stared back.

  “Fire!”

  Chapter 14

  It rained bullets.

  That was the only way I could describe the firepower that emerged from Gil’s military helicopters. Every bullet trailed yellow and red through the air, before exploding inside a monster.

  Within seconds the Cassiopeia’s deck was splattered with gore.

  The gunfire separated the enemy ranks, with half ending up boxed in and torn up by gunfire.

  The other half fell towards us.

  “Go, go, go!” I yelled.

  I was first in the fray, Djinn blazing and slashing through whichever monster came in front of me. Amaymon grabbed a manticore and tore it in half. He began stomping on hydras as they reared up to bite him.

  Fire roared from Luke as he burned anything that came close to him.

  A hydra leapt for my face. I caught it with the sword and swept, chucking the snarling creature at a manticore. A second manticore swept at me. I rolled under it, barely avoiding the stinger at the end of its tail. The end jabbed itself into the deck and was momentarily stuck there, giving me a chance to slice it off with my sword. As the manticore reared up in pain, Luke threw a fireball at it.

  A few feet away I saw Abi twirling her staff, simultaneously taking on both Greede and the mutant angel. Greede was falling back, keeping her at bay with beams of energy, but there was something off about him.

  Almost as if he was bored.

  No, not bored—half-hearted.

  The mutated angel released a laser beam that sheared through the sheet metal inches from Abi’s legs. She leapt and spun in the air, running adjacent as the angel kept firing.

  “Amaymon,” I roared. “Cover.”

  The demon gave me a thumbs-up. He raised his hands, pulling along with him two giant balls of compressed metal.

  Which he then threw at the monsters.

  Each metal boulder slammed into the deck with enough force to rend the ground, resulting in two massive craters.

  I shook my head. “Careful what you wish for, Erik.”

  The angel flared its wings, firing off several darts of pure black. I threw an energy beam, intercepting the attack, and closed the distance.

  Abi came in from the other end.

  Staff and sword crashed into the angel and sent it flying.

  Energy crackled and Abi screamed. She fell on her hands and knees, the armor on her back smoking. She hastily stripped it off, and I saw the back of her shirt torn open, her flesh slightly redder.

  Greede charged up another attack.

  I threw Djinn at him, casting a spell to make it spin like a buzzsaw and controlled it with a thread of energy. The blade sliced along Greede’s thigh. I heard him cry in agony. Smoke billowed uncontrollably from his hands as the magic he was charging up dispelled.

  I willed my sword back in my hand as Greede’s form began to swell. He stood hunched over like a grotesque version of the Hulk, with flabby skin, a massive belly, and arms that were disproportionately larger than the rest of his body, while another pair of regular arms dangled from beneath those.

  Mammon, the Sin of Greed, the demon Alan Greede had absorbed into himself, opened its hinged jaws and bellowed.

  I shot at it, clipping a molar.

  “Shut up,” I said, lowering the gun and raising my sword. “You don’t scare me.”

  Black ichor dripped from the demon’s face.

  “Oh, but I should, Mr. Ashendale.”

  Mammon swept at me. I dodged, rather easily. One of the helicopters opened fire on him. More black ichor rained down.

  Mammon roared and thrust his hand towards the chopper. A kinetic blast the size of a Prius exploded into it, and the chopper spiraled down.

  I slashed at the demon’s legs, causing it to stumble. At the same time, Abi swooped in and broke one of his normal-sized arms with her staff.

  From behind, the mutated angel grabbed her in a chokehold with its non-cannon arm. Abi broke the hold, only to be slammed down to the deck. The angel grabbed her by the neck once again and began squeezing.

  I stabbed my shortsword into the angel’s gut and sliced up. He released Abi but remained unfazed. He grabbed my hand and held me steady, while his wings flared. Two large claws emerged from each tip, slowly reaching for my face and neck.

  I snatched my gun but it was going to be too late.

  A rope of purple energy wrapped around both me and the angel, immobilizing us in place.

  Mammon was back on his feet, his monstrous figure shrunk down to merely overgrown.

  “Remember this one?” he taunted.

  I did. It was the exact same spell Greede had used to bind me and a Grigori member named Greg. I struggled but just like before, I could not get out of the bind.

  And the mutated angel’s spikes were inching closer.

  White light rained down from a floating figure, cutting through the binding spell. Gil had her arms spread and looked like a literal angel, flying over the aircraft carrier.

  Free of Greede’s spell I threw myself back, just as Abi appeared again and inserted her staff in between my head and the angel’s spikes. She heaved and toppled the angel backwards.

  “Stay the fuck down,” she snarled, raising Sun Wo Kung high.

  One end spiraled on itself, forming a wide spear tip that looked like a drill. Abi thrust it down on the mutated angel’s head, and the creature lay still.

  And hopefully fully dead.

  Gil landed on the deck. Being next to her in that form, draped in white light and energy, stirred my own curse power. Shadows began billowing from my body of their own accord.

  Anger bubbled from beneath the surface. I wanted to kill, to destroy, to break Greede into tiny little pieces, and then break those pieces into even smaller ones.

  I wanted to destroy everything and everyone, and with my power I knew I could bring an end to this war, right here, right now.

  Mammon’s form shrunk, and Greede stumbled onto the deck, weak and heaving.

  “What’s wrong?” Gil asked. “You seem w
eaker than usual.” I saw her eyes narrow despite the light emanating from her. “Where is the Necronomicon you’re so fond of?”

  Greede hissed. “Oh, never you mind that,” he said.

  “We can take him,” Abi said.

  “I’m sure you can,” Greede said. “But if you do, I’ll never tell you what Erik has become-”

  I never realized I moved.

  One second I was watching him from a distance, waiting for the inevitable surprise attack, the next, I was draped in living shadows and on him, holding him by the collar and thrusting Djinn inches from his trachea.

  “What did you do to me?” I snarled.

  “Me? What makes you think I did anything?” Greede wheezed. “I merely facilitated the transition, but you’ll remember that I wasn’t the one who pushed you out of that helicopter.”

  “Then who?”

  Greede lowered his head. Djinn’s tip nicked his neck but he didn’t seem to mind.

  “Something far more powerful and sinister than I, Mr. Ashendale,” he replied. “Something that has made a common enemy out of-”

  Shak!

  “Erik!”

  Gil’s cry was distant.

  Pain flared from my stomach.

  I looked down.

  A spear emerged from Greede’s stomach and pierced into mine. A figure dressed in golden armor retracted the weapon.

  Greede fell on his knees, while I stood there.

  An angel—a real one this time—flared her wings, bathing the Cassiopeia in light. I shielded my eyes against the sudden flare and when I looked again, she had disappeared.

  I spun around, my head light from blood loss, even as my magic started healing the wound.

  “What the fuck was that?”

  From next to my knees, Greede cackled.

  “That, Mr. Ashendale, was the beginning of the end.” He raised one hand, while the other held his stomach. Blood and gore oozed out, but Greede showed no signs of dying.

  Rather, he was still grinning when he looked my sister directly in the eyes.

  “I surrender to you, Ms. Ashendale.”