by Michael Todd
“The building has been remodeled, sir.
“Oh. Well, shit.”
They went back inside. The doctor shook his head. “We need something big; something that can pierce that monster’s hide. Soldier, I need you to take two men into that rubble and get as much ammo as you can. Rockets, artillery—all the big stuff, if possible. On your way back, grab any kind of twisted metal from those choppers. If you have tools, get those too. I need this done as quickly as possible. We have got to help Katie. She’s fighting this demon on her own, and it doesn’t look good for her.”
The soldier saluted Dr. Ozu and whistled to two other men. The doctor went back inside the room, glancing at the numbers for Juntto and then moving to his desk. He put his computer on the floor and shoved a stack of paperwork off, grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper, and pulled his chair up. They badly needed weapons. If he was going to be part of this war, he was going to use his know-how to help however he could.
He started to sketch different weapons, labeling the various parts and listing what he would require to build them. He needed something powerful but easily put together. He sketched for several minutes, looking nervously at the door and waiting for the guys to return. Bodies and debris continued to hit the building, rattling the entire place. After fifteen minutes or so, the outer door flew open, and two of the three guys came rushing in with their arms full.
The doctor ran to them. “Where’s the other guy?”
The soldier wiped his forehead, catching his breath. “That last body you heard? That was him.”
The doctor grimaced, then nodded. “Okay, what did you get?”
They started going through the gear. There were several large ammo shells and a bunch of mid-sized ones. There were also long shards of metal, and they had been able to grab a couple of damaged weapons. The doctor held the guns up, narrowing his eyes. “Definitely won’t be able to use these, but we can use the parts or modify the other stuff. Good job, guys. Thank you. I need one of you to go monitor those screens and make sure Juntto doesn’t redline.” He gestured to the other soldier. “I’m going to need you here. Let’s get Katie the help she deserves.”
Chapter Fifteen
Brock pointed his rifle at the charging demon and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through the air and struck the demon in the forehead. A little bit of blood splashed from the front of his head, but the back of his head exploded black gore. The bullet had gone straight through and hit the demon behind him in the chest. Brock looked at both of them, shocked, as they fell over and turned to dust.
He laughed and looked at Turner. “Did you see that?”
Turner slashed his daggers through the air. “Sorry, hero. Too busy saving my own ass.”
Brock snickered. “Jealous much?”
He raced toward the screams coming from inside one of the houses. He kicked open the front door to find a woman and her dog trapped in a corner, both of them slashed and bleeding. The demon attacking her growled at Brock, then leaped over the dining room table and lunged at him. He held up his rifle and pulled the trigger, but the magazine was empty. “Motherfuck.”
The demon landed on him and they rolled across the floor, slamming into the television. Brock grabbed the demon’s wrists, keeping the claws from slicing him. The demon snapped its sharp, jagged teeth at Brock, who slammed his knee into the demon’s balls. The demon whined and fell to the side, choking on his own spit.
Brock stood up, breathing heavily as he reloaded. “Sorry, dude, I know that wasn’t fair play. Seriously, your fucking teeth are a dentist’s nightmare.”
He pointed the freshly loaded rifle at the demon and pulled the trigger, putting it out of its misery.
Outside in the street, Turner flipped backward, avoiding the sharp ends of a demon’s claws. As he landed, he threw one of his daggers and it hit the demon between the eyes. The demon wobbled, then burst into dust. Turner ran, then dropped to his knees and slid through the dust. He snatched his dagger before it could hit the ground, then jumped back to his feet, crossed his arms, and sliced in a wide arc, taking the head off another charging beast.
The gooey black blood splashed his face and he groaned, wiping it with his arm. “Fucking disgusting. I’m so tired of that. Why the fuck does demon blood smell like fucking fried chicken?”
Brock laughed as he ran up next to him. “Who knows? Maybe we’ve been missing out all along. Crazy demon shish kebobs.”
Turner nodded and imitated a sophisticated voice. “Why, yes. I’ll have the demon flambé with a side of zombies’ fingers, please. Make it crispy.”
Brock faked a gag and slammed his foot into an oncoming demon. The two guys pressed their backs against each other and faced the snarling demon hordes. Turner pulled out his pistols and screamed as he fired. They cleared a wide area around them before running out of bullets. As they reloaded, more demons charged from the shuddering portals.
Turner took a deep breath. “This shit is monkey-nuts crazy, dude.”
Brock smirked. “Yeah, but when is our life not?”
“Good point.”
Brock stopped and tilted his head to the side as something new wriggled from the portal. “Uh, dude? Looks like they’re letting all the freaks out of hell.”
Turner spun his guns toward the nearest portal. An impossibly tall long-necked demon lumbered toward them. His skinny arms dragged on the ground, and a gray tuft of hair blew around the top of his head as he walked. His bottom jaw stuck out, and his eyes were huge and round. “When the fuck did they start with demon trolls?”
Brock furrowed his brow. “He looks like he’s made of spaghetti.”
Turner shook his head. “Guess it’s meatballs for dinner, then.”
“Holy fuck, this is going to hurt,” Katie yelled as she flew toward the hangar bay.
Three soldiers jumped to catch her, not realizing how fast she was going. Katie slammed into the group, and the four of them crashed onto the ground. Katie groaned and rose on shaking legs. “You guys okay?”
The three soldiers shook it off, rubbing their heads. Katie nodded and looked back at Moloch. “Good catch, that’s for damn sure. I could have taken down that entire building, which would not have been great for Juntto.” She grimaced and straightened her armor. “I need something a little more substantial to protect me.”
Just then, a loud crack sounded, and light flashed overhead. Katie narrowed her eyes as a golden shield fell from the sky. She leaped into the air and caught it. “That’s definitely what I call super-fast service.”
Pandora scoffed. Some of us have to do it the old-fashioned way with brawn and strength.
Katie grinned as she took off across the field, heading straight for Moloch. He pulled his fist back and swung at her. Katie gritted her teeth and held the shield up in front of her. “Let’s see what this baby can do.”
Moloch’s fist met the shield with a huge clang and stopped dead. Katie put her foot back and her head forward, pushing hard against his fist. Sparks flew from the surface of the shield as it scraped his knuckles. Moloch looked at her with wide eyes. “Fucking angels.”
Katie grinned maniacally. “That’s right, asswipe. Fucking angels coming in hot every damn time.”
Pandora giggled in excitement. Holy fuck, that’s awesome. You’re just like Wonder Woman. No, even better than that. You’re Wonder Whore. Fighting crime and deep dickin’ on the side.
Katie couldn’t help but laugh. Wonder Whore is losing steam here, honey.
Oh, shit. Sorry.
Pandora used her strength to push back, and Moloch withdrew his fist. Katie stumbled forward but caught herself before falling into a baking pile of metal. She straightened and rolled her shoulders, impressed by the shield.
Moloch let out a deep nefarious laugh. “You stupid bitches. Do you really think a tiny shield and a pointy little golden sword can stop me? I have Lucifer at my back.”
Pandora took over Katie’s voice and yelled, “Are you fucking kidding? This bitc
h has the Almighty at her back. And if I’m not mistaken, he’s the one who threw Lucifer’s ass out of heaven. You might want to rethink your choice of sovereign there, buddy.”
Moloch snarled and charged them. Katie patiently waited, yawning. The soldiers lowered their weapons and watched as he got closer and closer and she still did nothing. When he was only feet away, Katie shoved her shield in front of her and smashed it into his nose, stopping him cold. She leaped into the air and out of harm’s way. Moloch tumbled forward, his nose bleeding and his forehead gashed. He slid through the dirt and came to a stop, then laid there motionless.
Katie dusted her hands and slung the shield on her back. “Well, that was easy.”
Then Moloch put his hands down and angrily pushed his body up. He was not done with the fight. Not in the least.
Angie held tightly to Juntto, squeezing her eyes shut. For several moments she heard nothing but the sound of Juntto’s beating heart in his cold chest. Slowly, she picked up her head and looked around, wondering if the battle was over. A loud crack sounded, and beams of light shot through the edges of the doorway.
The doctor looked up at the same time, unsure what was going on. Angie shook her head. “She must be summoning her angel powers. At least, I think that’s how it works.”
The doctor lifted his eyebrows. “Hopefully, she can hold him off a little longer. We’re coming up with weapons.”
A loud blast sounded and daggers of light streaked across the doorway from the outside. Angie whimpered and buried her head in Juntto’s neck. Her hands were trembling, so she wrapped them around his blanket.
She needed him to come back and be the man—or alien—he had been before. “Juntto, please! You always made me feel so damn safe. You always stood tall, fearless in the face of danger. You may never have wrapped your arms around me or held me close, but that was what it felt like every time I saw you. I knew you watched out for me during fights. You protected me when you thought I wasn’t looking. You’re something like a thousand years old, but your life was just getting started. You’d turned into a Leviathan that anyone, well, almost anyone, could love and care for. We had such a hilarious time shopping, eating, and even doing your stupid laundry. You fell in love with fashion and gaming, a hard combination to find in a man.”
Angie took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure he could hear her, but she didn’t care. A war was raging outside the building, and this might be her last chance to tell him how she felt. “I loved being able to kick your ass at those games. You might have pretended it never happened, but I know you liked it too. In fact, sometimes it felt like you were trying to let me win, even though I am the master. God, just come back and let me make you steak and shrimp. Nothing spicy, because we know where that leads. Fuck, I’ll even do your damned laundry.”
Angie laughed through her tears, squeezing her arms tighter around him. “The truth is, when you first came, I wanted to hate you. You were the personification of everything I loathed in a man. You were angry, drunk, and violent, and had no respect for anyone. You may have been with us only a short time, but I could see you changing. I believed you were changing. I saw you save those people. I saw you protect me and Katie and Calvin. I saw you risk your life for perfect strangers, soldiers who would have never made it home if it weren’t for you.”
Another loud crash swayed the hangar on its frame. “I don’t know anything about your people, but if we all come from the same place, the same stars, the same God, even, then I know that what I saw was possible. The truth is, I miss you, Juntto. I miss everything there is to miss about someone.”
Angie couldn’t believe she was pouring her heart out to this cold blue monster, but she didn’t know what else to do. At that point, Doctor Ozu had one hand on the guns and the other on the failsafe. Neither of them knew if they would get out of there alive.
Angie sniffed loudly and sat up, looking around the hangar. Gunfire rang out in the distance and screams from the soldiers dying outside cut the air like a knife. It was only one demon, but it sounded like an all-out war. It was worse than the battles she’d helped with in the past. People were being killed, and she didn’t even know where Katie was or if she was still fighting.
Something heavy hit the building, and it creaked and tilted crazily to the right. “Juntto, come on. You have to be in there. You have to fight through whatever this is. You have to come out of there and help us. There’s a reason you are still alive.”
A thud shook the ground outside, and the sound of a building collapsing struck fear into the pit of Angie’s stomach. She held her chest as tears flooded down her cheeks. She turned back to Juntto and held his head. A tear trickled down her cheek and fell from her chin, splashing onto his blue cheek.
The ground shook again. Angie buried her head in his chest and moaned, “Juntto!”
Angie closed her eyes and held onto him. Slowly, the coldness began to dissipate from beneath her. A warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time radiated from Juntto’s chest. She turned her head, eagerly searching his face. She brought her hand to his cheek.
His eyes popped open, and he gulped air in huge gasps. Angie bolted up and looked at the doctor, who jumped from his chair and ran back into the main area.
The soldier was on his feet, shaking his head. “Everything just went wild.”
Doctor Ozu approached Juntto. The frost giant was gaping at the ceiling, eyes wide, his chest moving heavily up and down.
Angie tilted her head to the side. “Juntto?”
He blinked once and groaned softly. “You guys keep it fucking cold in here.”
Angie, tears still streaming down her cheeks, burst into laughter. She laid her body across his chest and hugged him tightly. His giant arm came up and over her back, giving her a light squeeze. He began to move and she jumped off the platform, helping him sit up. He swiveled his legs around and rubbed his face.
The doctor reached out to take his pulse, but Juntto shook his head. “I have taken my own readings, and everything’s fine. Thank you, doctor.”
Doctor Ozu looked slightly thrown off. “You’re…you’re welcome.”
Angie looked into Juntto’s eyes and shook her head. “How did you come back from this? I mean, we’ve been trying to figure out what the hell we had to do to get you back. Katie flew all the way to Rome.”
Juntto lifted an eyebrow. “Wow. That’s definitely impressive, although you didn’t find an answer, did you?”
Angie shook her head. “Not in any scroll or book. One of the priests suggested the energy of emotion, but we had no idea what that meant.”
Juntto nodded, impressed. “Smart, for a priest.”
Angie looked at him strangely. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not human.” Juntto reached out and held her tiny hand in his large one. “You see, when emotions change in our bodies, we shut down. We aren’t dead or sleeping. We’re hibernating. Our body has to change to efficiently produce the chemicals that create those emotions. Basically, I was growing a heart while I laid there. My body has changed. It’s been morphing to use positive emotions—friendship, love, and compassion. Before, it was all anger, violence, hatred, and despair. Those were the first emotions I learned here on Earth.”
Angie shook her head. “That’s terrible. That was what we projected? Makes me think we have a lot to do to change this world beyond just killing demons.”
Juntto gave her a kind smile. “You are part of, if not all of, the reason I am awake.”
Angie narrowed her brow. “How? I didn’t do anything.”
Juntto chuckled. “Sure, you did. You holding me, crying, and caring for me? That was the energy I needed to restart. I was lost in this in-between place, but when you touched me, I started to come out of it. I could hear you, but you sounded like you were in a tunnel. When your tear hit my skin, it brought me back to the surface.”
Angie was amazed. “So…love brought you back.”
Juntto nodded. “I suppose it did. But more impo
rtantly, you brought me back. And Katie too. Her caring and desire to help me out of friendship brought me back. You all cared for me like I was your family.”
Angie winced as the ground shook again. “How are you feeling?”
Juntto shrugged. “Like brand new, actually. I don’t need to eat like you humans do, and my body manifests what I need when I’m unable to care for myself. Except for tequila—my body doesn’t manifest that.”
“And your body needs tequila, does it?”
The ghost of a smile touched Juntto’s blue lips. “Okay, maybe need isn’t the right word. Putting me in this icy area was a smart move, by the way. If you had kept me warm, I might have been out for centuries.” Something crashed outside, and Juntto turned toward the door. “What’s going on out there?”
Angie sighed and shook her head. “We came to see you, and then a portal opened. They say it’s Moloch out there. I assume he came for Katie, but he’s been killing soldiers right and left. She’s out there fighting him by herself. None of the small arms are working.”
Juntto furrowed his brow. “I need clothes.”
Doctor Ozu pointed to a rack of military camouflage. “There are those. We, uh, we don’t have anything for giants. And, uh, we’re low on boots.”
“I’ll make do.” Juntto grinned and shrunk to human size. He was a large, blue-scaled human, but he could now wear the clothes. “Thanks, buddy.”
Angie turned as he got dressed, mostly to hide the bright red of her cheeks. Juntto just chuckled, knowing she had seen him naked. When he had finished dressing, he rolled his shoulders and stretched his back. His body flickered and changed from one form to the next, Van Damme and Morpheus appeared briefly, but ultimately he went back to his frost giant form. His beard was long and scraggly and his long hair was silvery-white, but there was something about it that Angie thought was hot.
As he worked out his stiff muscles, his eyes shifted to Angie. “And by the way. I definitely let you win those video games. I didn’t want you to be upset. I know how feisty you get.”
