An image of countless souls wandering aimlessly along the river of death, lost without the baron’s guidance, flashed in Angela’s mind. I have to do something, she thought as the pain finally subsided.
Dusk was by her side, standing vigilant for when the zombies decided to continue their assault against them.
The baron managed to get back on his feet and block a slashing strike from the rock demon’s blade. The sound of metal clanging echoed in the air, and the force of the two weapons colliding caused the baron to lose his balance and stumble backward, his strength obviously no match for the hell spawn’s. Without a chance to secure his footing, he was forced to deflect another strike, this one taking him off his feet.
The dead swarmed around the demon, jumping on top of its broad shoulders and back. Their teeth gnawed against the rock, too stupid to realize it had no effect, but it bought Angela the necessary time she needed to take flight. With the flap of her wings, she was airborne and flying straight toward the demon.
“Keep your head down, Baron,” Angela said, her right hand extended outward, her claws long and ready to decapitate anything in her way.
With her fingers on her right hand pressed tightly together, the four claws merged and tapered to a point. Spurts of blackish goo splashed upon her face as several zombies lost their heads as they shambled into her path. As she flew over the fallen baron, she prayed he didn’t strike, impaling her on his sword as she tried to save his life.
“Ungrateful brat!” the demon roared.
As she came within striking distance, the demon arced its elbow, bringing its rock sword around for an attack. The shadow claws met the blade and sliced through it, separating it at its base. The creature stood straight, shock etched on its face. With her momentum uninterrupted, Angela flapped her wings to lift higher off the ground to compensate.
The shadow claws passed through the demon’s rock neck. She spun around and spread her wings out and tilted them slightly so as to stop in midair.
It’s done, she thought as she glided down.
When her feet touched the ground, the demon dropped to its knees and its head slid off to the side. A geyser of molten lava erupted and splashed onto the crowd of undead. Their decayed flesh and worn clothing ignited in hellfire, and spread across the rooftop.
The baron took several steps away from the growing puddle of hot liquid. “Am I supposed to thank you now?”
The supernatural lava was already cooling; the brief standstill would soon be over. “A little gratitude would be nice,” she said, eyeing the crowd of zombies. Those not set ablaze and writhing on the rooftop circled around her, their hungry gaze fixated on her.
“Though I am grateful, I still must take you out of this world.”
“If you do, then there will be no one capable of standing up to my father.” Angela stood ready, right elbow cocked outward, her shadow claws still pressed tightly together. She was ready to decapitate the first zombie brave or stupid enough to get close to her.
“Your father is in chains,” the baron argued.
“But his reach is far.”
A withered husk of a female stepped up, her frail arms reaching for Angela, its hands limp at the wrist. Without taking her eyes off the baron, Angela swung her claws around. Long strands of white hair fluttered into the air, cut in half as the shadow claws sliced through the leathery skin at the creature’s neckline. The head tilted to the right before falling from its perch.
“I’ve made my choice,” Angela said, slicing the head off another zombie brazen enough to step toward her. “I will not be my father’s instrument of death.”
“You act as if you have a choice in the matter.”
“There’s always a choice!”
Baron Samedi took a fighting stance. “The war is never-ending. Over time, you will grow weary and give in to the darkness. You will be the downfall of mankind, the bringer of Armageddon.”
“Never.” This is getting us nowhere. She scanned the rooftop. Surrounded on all sides by mindless, rotting corpses, the only path left available was up.
Dusk decapitated three more zombies, but four more walking dead willing to take their place quickly filled the temporary void created by her attack. They simply stepped over their fallen brethren, their bodies swaying as they tried to decipher their next move.
There’s too many, she thought, then flapped her wings and lifted her feet off the rooftop.
“Stop her!” the baron ordered.
Her movements weren’t fast enough and there were too many for Dusk to keep at bay. With one consciousness, the dead rushed in, their dirt-ridden fingernails clawing at her ankles and calves. No matter how hard Angela flapped her wings, the added weight forced her down.
Pinned, the dead clawed, bit, and tore into her flesh. As they chewed the morsels of flesh, her regenerating powers kicked in and healed her wounds in time for another hungry zombie to take its share.
One raked its fingers across her abdomen, tearing into the infernal symbols in search of her more delectable parts. Almost instantly, the undead man’s hand ignited in flame. He mumbled incoherently as he lifted his hand and gawked at it, dumbfounded by what was happening. The fire traveled quickly, starting at the cuff of its brown suit and up along the dead man’s arm. He flapped his arm and stood, groaning, but the fire continued to consume his rotten flesh. He stumbled off through the crowd, setting others ablaze upon impact with them. They danced together in a drunken stupor as the fires ravaged their decaying flesh.
Enough! Angela let loose a scream as her shadow claws extended and arced across her chest. They sliced through festering flesh and bone. Tar-like sludge and slivers of grayed flesh rained down.
Baron Samedi rushed toward her as she still lay on her back. As the flame-engulfed blade was raised over his head, she flipped her legs upward, and somersaulted to her feet. The sword came down as he was within striking distance and she met the attack with both hands, her shadow claws catching the blade. The heat of the purple flame radiated her face as she overcame the shock of the blade not breaking.
“How is it my claws did not slice your sword in half?” she asked as they pushed against one another, neither giving their opponent an inch.
He smiled. “The spell I cast upon the blade makes it indestructible.”
“No matter,” she replied as she swung her left arm back, then drove it straight toward the base of the baron’s neck.
Baron Samedi broke their standoff by jumping back, the shadow claws just grazing the right side of his face.
What the . . . Angela was surprised to see black smoke escape from the slits in the baron’s cheeks rather than blood. He may not be a demon, but he sure as hell isn’t human. If I have to kill him, it’ll be easier on my conscience.
“You will find this body difficult to destroy,” Baron Samedi said as his wounds closed.
“Cutting off the head of my enemies has worked for me thus far. Guess I’ll just have to start there.”
“You’re welcome to try.”
The baron lunged with his sword. Angela deflected the blow with her right claw, then slashed with her left. The baron leaned his head to the side and the claws passed harmlessly past his face. He kicked outward and the air around Angela’s abdomen rippled, the ancient symbols providing an impenetrable shield. The baron loudly groaned as the rippled air deflected his blow back at him, sending him hurling into the air. His body crashed into his undead servants, knocking them all to the ground.
Angela joined Dusk’s side; her shadow had done its best to keep the zombies at bay while she brought the fight to the baron. Though they had to either step on or over countless body parts, Angela could finally see a break in their numbers. No more zombies came out of the rooftop stairwell.
After separating another dead head from its body, she stole a glance at the baron who stood, dusting himself off. He bent forward and picked up his top hat. Brushing it gently, he smiled at her, catching her glare. Once the black hat was returned to its resting place, th
e baron charged, his flaming sword held at the ready.
Foolish, Angela thought as she flapped her wings and glided toward her enemy.
The sword came around with a battle cry.
Angela intercepted the attack by grabbing the baron’s wrist. With her free hand, she grabbed hold of his neck and lifted him off his feet. He gasped. The air in his lungs escaped as she drove him down onto the rooftop.
“Drop it!” she demanded as she forced his wrist back, bending it past its limit.
“Aargh.” Baron Samedi fought as long as he could, the pain evident by his twisted facial muscles. The sword fell away and lost its fiery glow.
Angela pulled her hand from his throat, extended her shadow claws, and plunged them into his neck. A gurgle escaped his lips as that same black smoke wafted into the air from the puncture wounds.
She lowered her head toward his, the bridge of their noses almost touching. “With one little flick of my wrist, your head will roll away.”
He stared at her, eyes wide and bloodshot, fear engraved on his painted face.
“But that is not the path I’ve chosen for myself.” She withdrew her claws and stood. Dusk stepped alongside her. Angela took a quick glance at the wake of trembling body parts littering the roof. It’s done, she thought.
Baron Samedi rubbed his throat, his gaze still fixated on Angela. When he finally pulled his hand away, the lacerations were healed. He stood and gazed upon the mass of quivering flesh sprawled out at their feet. “You think you’ve won?”
“You tell me. You’re the one standing all alone.”
“My army is easily replaced.”
“Then why don’t you use it for good instead of—”
“Your destruction is for the betterment of mankind. The world will be a safer place without the devil’s daughter in it.”
“And what will you do when my father sends a replacement? He’s already done it once with my brother. And I was the one who sent him back.”
“I saw what happened to you when that demon crossed over. You were immobilized.”
“I know!” Her body flew toward him in a blind rage, the image of her mother, slaughtered by the first demon to use her body, flashing in her mind’s eye.
While one hand grabbed the baron by the throat and lifted him off his feet, the other hovered dangerously close to his blackened eyes, claws ready to plunge into the soft tissue and penetrate his stubborn mind.
“In that brief moment, I lost the one thing that meant the most to me,” she said. “And instead of criticizing, or passing judgment on me, you could help see to it that no demon ever wreaks havoc during that time again.”
Baron Samedi looked deep into her eyes and Angela could have sworn she saw understanding in his penetrating stare. She released her hold and stepped back.
“You’ll be happy to know I escorted your mother to Heaven’s door,” he said.
For the first time, she took her eyes off her opponent as her head lowered. She didn’t want him to see the pooling tears. She hoped he wasn’t lying.
“Your conviction is strong. Perhaps there is a better way.”
She lifted her head and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand.
“You go ahead and play superhero, but if your resolve ever falters . . . I will bring forth an army ten times the size of this one, and I will cleave that pretty head of yours off those shoulders.”
“I—”
In an eruption of black smoke, Baron Samedi vanished.
Angela slapped her sides with her hands. That arrogant . . . . I can’t believe he left us. She turned and faced Dusk. “I suppose we have to clean this mess up, then.”
Dusk looked around at the mess at their feet and simply shrugged.
“That’s just great!” she said. “It’ll probably just be easier to torch the place. What do you think?”
Dusk shook her head.
Angela sighed through her nose and then stooped over to pick up a torso. We’re going to need a really big dumpster for all this.
Night(cat) of the Living Dead
by
J.L. MacDonald
I wish physical violence was rare in my line of work, but sadly, that’s not the case. Thankfully, this time there wasn’t an overabundance of it.
I was out on one of my nightly romps when I came across something that could potentially be trouble. A well-dressed man was being approached by a shabby, gangly-looking individual. His body language told me he was planning something, likely figuring out a way to rob the man, with or without a fight.
I swung into action just as he lunged and unexpectedly sank his teeth into the side of the other man’s neck. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I didn’t have time to analyze the situation. My cat-like feet made contact, sending him flying to the other end of the alleyway. I expected him to either lay there unconscious or scramble to his feet and flee. Instead he glared at me intently, then slowly stood up and casually walked away as if nothing happened.
I normally would have gone after him but the other man needed my help. I couldn’t judge how deep the wound was because of the blood, but I knew he needed more medical attention than I could offer.
“Do you have a cell phone?” I asked.
He nodded and tried to grab it off his belt.
“Don’t worry, the ambulance will be on its way,” I attempted to reassure him as I tried to further assess the damages. I ripped off a piece of his coat and used that for a bandage as my skimpy costume would have been inadequate for the job.
I phoned 9-1-1 and gave them all the details I could. Thankfully, the ambulance arrived quickly. The medics put him on a stretcher, wheeled it into the ambulance and drove away, leaving the police behind to get a statement.
As I was talking to them, an unmarked police car rolled up and I knew it was David, my police contact and one of the few on the force that didn’t treat me like stray alley cat. Ever since the day I stopped a couple of drug dealers from taking his life, our relationship increased exponentially.
“It was really weird,” I told him. “He didn’t go after the victim’s wallet and he didn’t appear to be armed or anything. It was like there wasn’t even a motive.”
“Well, sometimes the motive is being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” David replied as he jotted down what I said.
“I know, but it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Not all crimes do.”
I looked at him quizzically.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened,” he said. “Over the past few months there have been similar reports of a person getting bitten by a tall, lanky individual. And more often than not, we end up finding a corpse not too far away from the incident.”
“How come you never told me about this before?”
David smiled as he placed a hand on my shoulder. “Because I didn’t want you to panic.”
“The whole idea of me having you as my police contact is so I can help you guys out,” I said half-jokingly, knowing it wasn’t the only reason why David and I got along so well. “Did you need me for anything else?”
“We’ve got a few more things to do around here, but you’re good to go,” he said. “See you later tonight, then?” This last bit he whispered so only I could hear. No one knew we were dating or, more accurately, that David was dating my alter ego, Dana.
“Actually, Rach is coming over for a girl’s night,” I said.
“Right, I forgot you mentioned that the other day. Well then, I won’t intrude on your ‘chick flicks.’”
There was hardly any chance of that happening. Granted, I wasn’t sure what movies Rachel would bring over, but I was quite certain they wouldn’t be anything remotely akin to a romantic comedy.
Saying goodbye as Nightcat was always a challenge. We stood there awkwardly for a moment when normally we would have kissed, but simply saying goodbye would have to do.
Once I got home, I changed into my human form and took a quick shower, not having sufficient ti
me for my usual hour-long soak in the tub.
Rachel came by shortly after I was finished.
“I’m actually impressed you’re here,” she said with a hint of sarcasm as she tossed several DVDs onto the coffee table.
“Hey, I’ve been good lately,” I said. Rachel was one of the few people who knew about my other identity and how it was increasingly hard for me to keep appointments because of it. Even though having to juggle such a hectic schedule bothered me to no end, she never seemed to mind.
“So what shows did you bring over?” I asked as I thumbed through the video line up.
“Before you say anything, I’ve watched them before and they’re good movies,” she said in mock defence.
I read the titles. 1001 Ways to Kill a Zombie, The Monster Trials and Inside Frankenstein’s Briefcase.
I let out a groan when Rachel sat down on the couch beside me.
“If I can watch them, you can watch them,” she said, referring to the gore level.
Horror movies never made me queasy; they just weren’t my kind of movie. But tonight I’d humour her, or at least try to.
It was pretty close to 1 a.m. by the time we were finished the first two movies. Rachel fell asleep halfway through the last one so I shut it off and let her crash on the couch.
Even though I wasn’t overly tired, I still got ready for bed. My body had long gotten used to staying up late thanks to my feline half. As I sat in bed, trying to wind down, I couldn’t help but think how similar the movies were to what I encountered earlier in regards to the sheer randomness and surrealness of it all. I briefly mulled it over in my head before drifting off to sleep.
The next few days were fairly normal, but when David phoned me at the office asking for Nightcat’s help, I knew things weren’t too normal for him.
“I’m really sorry to bother you at work, Dana. I wouldn’t have called if I didn’t need you.” He sounded as if he thought he was inconveniencing me.
“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “What’s up?”
“You remember that incident a few days ago?”
“Yeah.”
Metahumans vs the Undead: A Superhero vs Zombie Anthology Page 14
