Katie’s War

by Michael Todd

  Wilson’s face lit up with a smile. “Looks like Mommy and Daddy are saying no more playtime for you.”

  19

  Katie put her sword on her back and laughed. “Fuck, no!”

  Before anyone could move, she and Pandora were in the air, racing over everyone’s heads. They pointed their weapons but didn’t shoot. The two were moving much too fast. Juntto kept his eyes trained on Wilson and the DDF as Angie ran up beside him. She was out of bullets, but no one but Juntto knew that, so she pointed her gun at the team.

  As the soldiers moved forward, Wilson nodded to his team. They put their weapons away and stepped to the side, letting the Army through. A sergeant came forward with his gun out. “Put down your weapons. You are to come with us for further questioning in your role in the recent incursions.”

  Angie put up her finger. “I don’t think so, asshole.”

  She grabbed her phone from her belt and dialed the number. “General, this is Angie. We’re having a bit of a problem. We were at this incursion in Nashville, and now the Army is trying to arrest us.”

  The general sighed. “Is Katie there?”

  Angie looked up at the sergeant. “No, she flew off with Pandora. It’s just Juntto and me.”

  “Put me on the phone with the one in charge.”

  Angie smiled and held out her phone to the sergeant. “It’s for you, sweetie.”

  The sergeant narrowed his eyes and put the phone to his ear. “This is Sergeant Brewer.”

  The general cleared his throat. “Listen to me, and listen very carefully. This is General Brushwood. You may have orders to apprehend Katie, but that does not include anyone else. Both Angie and the big guy—is he big?”

  The sergeant looked up at Juntto. “Yes, sir.”

  The general chuckled. “Good. Angie and Juntto both work for the government. They are not to be touched by you or the DDF. Do you understand?”

  The sergeant lowered his weapon. “Yes, sir.”

  The sergeant handed the phone back to Angie and nodded, turning to Wilson. “Lieutenant Colonel Wilson, we have been asked to bring you in as well. This is not under the same pretenses as Katie, but nonetheless, the Council would like to speak to you.”

  Wilson put his gun in his holster. “Gladly. We have nothing to hide. We’re under the command of the World Council and have been doing exactly what we were asked to do from the beginning, unlike the traitor, Katie.”

  Wilson walked forward with the sergeant, stopping and looking back at Angie. “I hope your little friend and her demon know that she is now a wanted woman. Everyone in the world will be looking for her, hunting her, and they will know exactly what kind of demon she really is.”

  Angie angrily took a step forward, but Juntto put his hand on her shoulder. He shook his head as everyone walked off, leaving the two of them standing in the street. Angie didn’t know where Katie had gone, but she hoped she knew how serious it all was.

  Back at the base near Las Vegas, it was business as usual. The base was running full steam ahead. Training was going on down in the courtyard, Stephanie was in the office handling paperwork, and Sean and Timothy were in the tech room watching the maps and doing damage control from the battle in Taipei.

  Sean was at one of the computers doing an intel search when he stopped and wheeled back. “Timothy, you might want to have a look at this.”

  Timothy walked over, and the two stood there in silence, watching a wanted message flash across the screen. It was for Katie.

  The walls in Taipei were already on their way back up, and Calvin had just finished ordering more guns to replace the ones that had been demolished. Korbin and Calvin were in the tent, going over the plans for the next day. They had to be ready to get this fort up and to its maximum effectiveness. As they sat there, Korbin’s phone dinged, followed by Calvin’s. They pulled up their messages and read, slowly looking at each other.

  Calvin swallowed hard. “Katie is a wanted woman.”

  “More vodka,” Romanian President Dragos shouted to his servant.

  He mumbled to himself grumpily as he went through the papers on his desk. More intel for the demon incursions, as well as information on the DDF. He pushed the different papers aside, throwing some on the floor for his aides to pick up.

  One of the servants brought a tray over and set the glass of vodka on his desk. “This also came for you, sir.”

  Dragos reached up without looking and snatched the envelope from her hand. He tore open the top and slid the piece of paper out, flipping it over. It was the government’s wanted list. Right at the top were Katie’s name and picture. He stopped and grabbed his glass of vodka, taking a big gulp. A chuckle began deep in his throat and expanded until he was bellowing loudly.

  He finished his drink and pinned the poster to his wall. “Looks like Katie is in for it. Finally.”

  General Brushwood typed a reply to one of the urgent emails in his inbox. He had been on edge ever since he received the call from Angie. It had been quiet—too quiet—and he knew something was brewing. A knock on the door sent shivers down his spine.

  The general leaned back in his chair. “Come in.”

  Colonel Jehovivich stepped through the door, ignoring her normal formality. She walked toward the desk with a folder in her hand. “This was just sent through.”

  The general took the folder and opened it. On the front of the poster was a picture of Katie with large printed letters below it: WANTED. He sighed and slammed the file shut.

  The colonel took a seat. “We knew it was coming.”

  The general nodded. “It looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us now.”

  Baal swung the front door open and put his arms out, looking at Beelzebub in disguise at his door. He was wearing a strange black wig and sunglasses. “You know that won’t fool a blind person, right?”

  Beelzebub hurried in, shrugging. “Fooled the idiot demons on the way here. And why are you answering your own door? I thought you had servants for that?”

  Baal led him into the study. “They’re all preparing a celebratory feast for us.”

  Beelzebub took off the glasses and wig, hanging them on the coat rack. “Well, that’s what I like to hear.”

  Suddenly, a portal cracked and fizzed, splitting open. Belphegor stepped through, having left his human skin at home. He put his demon arms in the air and pumped his fists. “That fucking bitch is done for now, my friends. The whole world has turned against her.”

  He smoothed his hand over his black hair, which had silver streaks through it. Baal chuckled and grabbed a bottle of blood. “I brought out the good stuff for this one. A 1952, the whiskey-infused blood of a virgin. Thought it would be perfect for the celebration.”

  Belphegor took the bottle and nodded, holding it up to the light. “Impressive. Where did you get this?”

  Baal grinned. “Stole it from Moloch’s place after he bit the dust.”

  All three demons laughed loudly. Baal pulled down three red wine glasses and filled each halfway with the thick liquid. He handed them out, and they closed their eyes, inhaling the blood’s metallic bouquet. Belphegor raised his glass in the air. “I think we should toast to a flawlessly-executed plan.”

  Baal nodded. “To all the poor assholes who tried and tried to get the world to despise Katie but were met with her boot in their balls.”

  Belphegor chuckled. “Or her sword up their assholes.”

  All three laughed. Beelzebub lifted his glass and took a deep breath. “To centuries of chasing the humans down. Of trying to get a leg up on those lazy bags of shit and finally succeeding. To taking down the bitch that thinks she’s too good to be caught.”

  All three took a sip of the blood and groaned in ecstasy. They walked over to the large leather chairs surrounding the fireplace. Beelzebub smiled at the fire of souls. “That’s been passed down from evil Overlord to evil Overlord all through the existence of hell. It’s good that slob, Moloch, no longer controls it. I was hoping to have it
one day, but the cave wouldn’t do it justice.”

  Belphegor shrugged. “Perhaps when she finally is in custody, Katie’s takedown will move you out of the cave.”

  Beelzebub slouched down and crossed his leg. “Perhaps. I suppose it depends on how Lucifer takes the news. It may be just a shrug for him, but for me, it is the culmination of my life’s work. I’m just glad we finally won.”

  Baal leaned forward. “Hold on, now. We haven’t won yet, at least not the war. Katie was just a small battle. In the time it took us to finally get the public to turn on her, the humans have advanced technologically. Demons have become well known on Earth, and the secret is no longer hidden. They’re more than capable of fighting back incursions, given the right circumstances. As much as I would like to retire from this business, I would say that it’s not quite over yet.”

  Beelzebub sat up, rolling his shoulders. “I assumed you would say that. Okay, so what do we do next? Do we take a break and then go back in there?”

  Baal shook his head. “On the contrary. Now is the time we need to hit the hardest. We need to really do some damage.”

  Belphegor put down his glass. “So where do we attack now?”

  Baal took another sip and wiped the blood from his lips. “I think that we need to have incursions wherever Katie is. Or even, wherever the people important to her are. She may be a badass and have a demon rolling around with her—”

  Belphegor put up his finger. “You mean an angel now.”

  Baal chuckled. “Yes, I forgot that nonsense happened. I still can’t imagine that bitch, Pandora, as anything other than a slave to Lucifer. She belongs in chains, not wings, but that will come soon enough. No, I mean she may be all of these things, but her biggest weaknesses are the people she loves first and then the rest of the human race. She can’t stop herself from protecting them. Right now, she is in Tennessee, so I say we send a whole bunch more small incursions around Nashville. That way, she doesn’t leave quite yet. She’s on the run, and she knows she has to stay out of the public eye.”

  Beelzebub nodded. “Yes, yes. That’s good. Throw out these battles and pull her in. Make people recognize her. The military is already close by. Eventually, she will either have to choose her own freedom or saving the human race and the people that she loves. It will bring her right out from whatever barn she is hiding in.”

  Belphegor cackled evilly. “I have also learned that she has some very close ties in New York City. In fact, she is rumored to live there some of the time. She has friends all over the city. It would be a smart move to infect a bunch of people there. The police won’t be able to handle it on their own, and she will be forced to go back or see the city she loves burn.”

  Baal sat back in his chair. “I love being evil. I just fucking love it to my damn core.”

  Pandora made it about three feet from the ground and collapsed. She fell and put her hands down to push herself out of the snow. She grumbled as Katie gracefully floated down from the canopy above and landed gently on her feet. “Of course, you catch on that fast. It was just days ago you were struggling with your landings.”

  Katie shrugged. “Guess I’m a quick learner. Plus, it looked painful to fall on the ground. See? You’re still teaching me, even when you’re out of my body.”

  Pandora sat up, brushing the snow from her hands. “I’ll fucking teach you something. For fuck’s sake, this sucks. I’m fucking cold, I can’t fly worth a shit, and everything sucks. We are fucking wanted, which means I can’t sleep in my comfy bed or get donuts until this is all cleared up. This is bullshit.”

  Katie walked over next to her and folded her wings behind her. “I’m sorry. I know it sucks. You don’t think I’m not all those things? Well, except flying. I got that one down pretty good. We had to run, right?”

  Pandora stood up and wiped the snow from her ass, folding her wings. “Or we could have just done your fire thing and killed them all.”

  Katie rolled her eyes, picking a twig from Pandora’s hair. “Right, and then we would be wanted for mass murder instead of whatever the bullshit they have is. Besides, those soldiers were innocent, just following orders. We can’t go around murdering innocents.”

  Pandora wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “But what now?”

  Katie put her hand to her chin and paced. “Well, we can’t be subject to the World Council anymore, that’s for damn sure. Obviously there is someone on the inside pulling the fucking strings. And then there’s Wilson.”

  Pandora growled. “I’d like to get my hands on him and rip his entrails out his pee hole.”

  Katie ignored the comment. “I just know if he’s there, something shady is happening at the Council. They were fine with everything until—”

  Pandora scoffed. “Until they weren’t. Who knows who whispered bullshit into their ears? It could have been anyone.”

  Katie nodded. “It could have been.”

  Pandora looked at the trees, swaying gently back and forth. “Well, either way, we’ve got to keep moving. I’ve never been one for the whole camping thing, especially not in the snow. My feathers might be down, but they’re not that warm.”

  Katie smiled. “Yeah, you’re right. We need to keep going, or they might just catch up with us.”

  Pandora rubbed her hands together and leapt into the air, spreading her wings. She wobbled from side to side and then caught her wing on a tree limb. It swung her up and then back down on the ground hard. She growled, picking herself back up. “This flying bullshit is for the birds...literally. And I am not a fucking bird.”

  Katie raised an eyebrow. “You need to know how to fly if you’re going to fight as an angel. Half of the fighting I do, I use my wings, and to be honest, I don’t even think about it. When you get it, they’ll be like any other part of your body. Your brain may tell your hand to move, but you don’t consciously think about it. It’s the same way with your wings. They just kind of become part of you. I mean, you should know this already. It’s not the first time for you.”

  Pandora growled, reaching back and pulling a branch from her feathers. “Yeah, but that was millennia ago. Imagine you learned how to knit five hundred years ago and then never did it again. Would you be able to pick it up just like that?”

  Katie shrugged. “I honestly don’t know since I haven’t been alive that long. What I do know is that I’ve been doing everything I can to learn about my angel powers. It has really helped me develop better fighting skills. I think you should do the same and push your angel side to completely take over.”

  Pandora sneered. “Maybe not completely over. I’m not willing to be one of those chaste weirdos like Gabriel. I swear, if you pull up his gown, you will find no dick. It’ll be like a Ken doll with formed-plastic underwear underneath.”

  Katie chuckled. “I think they know better than to make you plastic. You would figure things out, and it might be not pretty in the end.”

  Pandora let out an exhausted wail. “I just want to be warm. The angel shit is hard.”

  Katie bit the inside of her cheek and looked around. She smiled and took off straight up into the air. She perched on a tree limb high above Pandora’s head. Pandora looked up and rolled her eyes. “Showing off will not make me want to do this any more than I already don’t. Besides, you were never one to brag. I think the angel thing has done something to your psyche.”

  Katie giggled and pulled her shield to her. She took a dive off the branch and hovered over Pandora’s head, smiled, and smacked Pandora on the head with her shield. Pandora gasped and put her hand up, rubbing her skull.

  She looked angrily at Katie. “What the fuck, hooker?”

  Katie smirked. “Maybe that will help you remember. You know, like when people in movies have amnesia and then bump their head and they magically remember everything?”

  Pandora shook her head with a laugh. “Oh, bitch, you done fucked up now.”

  Katie giggled and flew back, hovering to her left and high in the air. “Brin
g it, you crazy whore.”

  “Oh, ho, ho. This bitch lost her fucking mind.” Pandora cackled as she pulled out her sword and shield.

  She spread her wings and faced off with Katie, ready to have a world-class fight.

  20

  Katie and Pandora rose above the canopy of the forest, smiling and laughing, and swirled around each other. Katie knew that when Pandora had something else to focus on, her flying was much smoother. Pandora twirled her sword in the air like a baton and hovered for a moment.

  Katie rolled her neck and smirked. “Okay, O mighty former queen of hell, show me what you got.”

  Pandora chuckled. “Oh, sweetie, you made a huge mistake.”

  Pandora charged toward Katie, her sword in the air. Katie tilted her head and waited until she was closer. At the last second, she put up her shield and twirled to the right, letting Pandora zoom past her. Pandora swiped her sword down, cutting off the limb of a tree. She gritted her teeth and turned back to Katie, who was chuckling. “You sure showed that tree.”

  Pandora roared and went after Katie. She sliced her sword toward her, hitting her shield. White sparks exploded off it and fluttered to the trees below. Katie brought her shield down and nodded. “Nice.”

  Katie thrust her shield out, catching Pandora’s sword. They both laughed and pushed off, putting some space between them. Pandora didn’t wait long though, flying back toward her, turning, and kicking at her with her boot. Katie put up her shield and grunted as she flew back. She spread her wings wide to slow her flight down, stopping just inches from a tree.

  Cocking her foot back, Katie pushed off, soaring toward Pandora and striking with her sword. Pandora put up her shield at the last second and caught the brunt of the blow, but Katie didn’t pause. She struck again, this time catching her sword. The two fought back and forth, blow for blow, with Katie swooping and dodging around her. Her maneuvers gave her the upper hand. Pandora tried to do the same, but her wings were wobbly, so she stayed put, taking Katie’s swipes as they came.