Into the Inferno

Priya stood rooted at the spot where she first turned up the television's volume. Ella wondered if the woman would change her tune now. Regardless, a troubling unease began to simmer in the recesses of her mind. A nagging feeling that was confirmed by the alien woman amongst them.

"From all that has been disclosed," Kylara remarked, "it appears the demon is assembling an army reliant on human corpses. Haven't these people, in their congregating into such a large and alluring assembly, already accomplished the most difficult part?"

"So Hayley," Jenny said. "Take me through the events of that day that led to the video."

Hayley, exuding fear mixed with fury, barely waited for the microphone to bend her way before speaking. "Like any other off day, I went to the gym to burn some calories. As soon as I entered, things felt off…"

"How off?"

"The receptionist. She was weird. Never answered my questions about the state of the changing room. Always repeated the same phrases. So I was like, fuck it… oh sorry."

"No, continue, Hayley," Jenny said, her tone cracked from her constant shouting. "I'd say our current circumstances warrant a little leniency with language. Please, continue."

"Okay. So I just thought about getting on with my workout and filing a complaint about the facility's cleanliness later. The entire place was quiet. When I got to the gym floor, I saw streaks of blood leading into the yoga room. That's when I saw them, the spawn. Within seconds, they descended on me. I fought for my life, but I could do nothing as they bound me and dumped me in the yoga room with other people."

"So, how did you escape?"

"It was a young man that saved us. I truly thought I was going to die. I heard screams and loud sounds in the next room. Soon the constant growling went quiet and a scary giant floated into our room. Then he changed into a man and told us the truth. Everything I revealed in that video I learned from him."

"Was he a superhero?"

"No. He denied being a superhe—"

A frenzied wave of terrified screams shook the crowd of protesters behind them, putting a halt to their interview. Then the mass of protesters vaulted over the barricade like a stampeding herd of buffalo. The riot police looked poised to launch canisters of tear gas at the approaching protesters, but a mist of blood on the horizon arrested their attention and planted seeds of fear in their hearts.

Ella and Bohdan sprang from their seats, casting worried glances at each other.

The television screen changed once more, now showing a helicopter view capturing the chaos below. The camera zoomed in on a cloud of blood as the protesters desperately ran away from a group of humanoid figures with lethal melee weapons, their leathery skin varying shades of dark gray and brown. Ella recognized them for what they were. How could she not after they had terrorized the city six years ago?

"Shit!" Sasha cursed.

"You asked what we were to do earlier, Sasha?" Bohdan glanced at his worried friend. "I think we have our answer now."

Further emphasizing that point, their phones rang in unison. After Sasha accepted her call first, putting it on speaker, an automated voice sounded.

"The Superhero Assessment Test has been postponed indefinitely. Your mission is to rendezvous at Regency Avenue, Midtown, at the mayor's manor, and aid in evacuating the populace who partook in a protest. We are under a demonic attack. Your goal is to help evacuate the populace. Leave the handling of the demons and their spawn to the superheroes and the Knights of Arixxer."

Ella approached Priya, who kept making the sign of the cross, tears streaming down her face as she watched the incredibly violent scene unfold on the television.

"We have to leave," Ella said. "Sorry for not trying your food. Here." Then she offered some money which should have covered the cost of the food.

However, Priya refused, patting her hand with the money away. "No. No need. What use will the money be if the city burns down tonight? Thank you for opening my eyes, Ella."

She nodded, casting one last glance at the chaos on the television.

Afterward, they exited the restaurant while hashing out their next steps to take. Kylara's idea garnered the most agreement. The rust-skinned woman would fly into the night towards Midtown while carrying them with her levitation, save Ella, who could also fly. 

Eyes glowing red, Kylara floated into the air, her iridescent blue hair whipping in the wind as everyone else lifted beside her. Ella adorned the familiar form of a white-throated needletail and ascended into the vanguard of the airborne group. Slightly back to her right, Kylara flew with a seasoned posture, her eerie calmness alluding to wells of experience the alien never showed during the Superhero Assessment Test. That cool exterior contrasted with Ella's nervousness about what the future of Hermosville held.

Below them stretched a white-capped landscape, sprawling with man-made elements that gave the sense of a vibrant city slightly hampered by winter's embrace. However, that lively image was shattered by the patches of red in the distance and plumes of glowing smoke that rose into the heavens. Instinctively, they increased their flight speed, her wings beating like an overtaxed heart.

Soon they reached one such point of trouble. A massive eighteen-wheeler, engulfed in a fiery blaze, lay at the mouth of a small bridge leading out of Midtown. Lines of cars, blockaded by the truck, stretched down the road. As her eyes snaked down the honking hold-up, her ears picked up the pained screams of a woman. Then a man. Then a wave of such bone-chilling cries hit her. Further down, where the held-up cars met a wide crossroad, an army of the spawn in the hundreds were breaking into the vehicles, pulling out the passengers, and slaughtering them.

At that moment, she disregarded any orders not to engage with the spawn and dove with her wings tucked. Her keen sight narrowed on a group of spawn who overwhelmed the lone police officer protecting the civilians. As they bit into him like hungry piranhas scavenging a dead fish, eliciting horrifying cries from the man, she spread her wings to slow her rapid descent and transformed into a ferocious tiger with a furious roar that rattled bones.

The spawn paused their assault to just barely catch a glimpse of her as she tore into them. Gone were any vestiges of indecision she showed at the Radiant Tower where she had to fight to save her life and the lives of many. As she hunted down every spawn in her presence, her heart burned with red fiery rage. They wanted to kill the weak and defenseless? She would return the favor tenfold.

Every swipe of her powerful claws split limbs and inflicted devastating wounds. Every spawn caught in her deadly jaws ceased to exist. Even her rumbling growls unsettled the animated corpses. A spawn further down successfully broke through a car window and pulled on a screaming woman. Ella shot forward, slapping away any spawn within her reach, then leaped onto the car's hood. So fast was her charge that the spawn failed to register as its head was snatched by her jaws, leaving a headless body that toppled over.

"Cannonball!" Sasha screamed, her arms locked around her folded legs with pink energy constructs wrapping around her to form an uneven ball.

The impromptu cannonball fell and smashed into a tight group of spawn. Many died on impact. But before the dazed ones could recover, Sasha unfolded herself, arms stretching with her energy whips sweeping in wide arches. The whips tore through the spawn effortlessly with their tips sharp enough to impale the demonic foes.

Bohdan dropped last in the heart of the approaching spawn. With his arm reared back, he crashed on the unsuspecting spawn, eliciting an eruption of dust and debris as the tarmac cracked under immense pressure. As a shockwave enveloped Ella from Bohdan's crash, Kylara's ethereal voice spoke in her mind.

'I will remove the blockage, then join you shortly in dispatching these spawn.'

Thankful for the alien's help, she joined Sasha and Bohdan. Together, they pushed back the spawn, always covering for each other. Bohdan and herself served as the vanguard, content to receive the full brunt of their mindless opponents while Sasha stayed further back, using her long-range whips to free any civilian caught by the spawn, as well as dispatching any spawn that slipped past them. When Kylara returned with the burning truck that was being ripped into thousands of pieces, the ensuing rain of smoldering metal shredded the spawn down to nothingness.

Then they stood guard as the cars began to move, fleeing from Midtown. How far they intended to run, Ella did not know. She could only hope that they would contain the spawn in this cursed district or else the death toll would be enormous. After the last vehicle, carrying a family who thanked them with tears in their eyes, disappeared down the bridge, they exchanged glances with each other, not wanting to look at the carnage of bloody body parts surrounding them. Although it was necessary to eliminate the spawn, she couldn't help but sympathize. They were once humans with wants and needs and aspirations. Only for a demon to come along and rip everything away from them and use their corpses to further its evil goals.

"It makes little sense," Sasha said. "What use is there in killing everyone? I can't see what they hope to accomplish."

"That is because you are not thinking like a demon," Bohdan said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What he means is that their goal is plain to see considering the facts that we know now." Kylara floated toward them, having retrieved a police radio from the officer who sadly succumbed to his injuries sometime during their battle. "We know that the demons need humans, preferably dead, to change into spawn. This could very well be their ultimate ploy to amass the numbers they seek."

"Then what?" Sasha threw up her hands in frustration. "They intend to take over the city? The world? Where does this senseless killing stop?"

"To answer that question, we require more relevant information to discern the demons' motives. Perhaps this equipment can provide a glimpse of what's happening in the city."

As Kylara fiddled with the radio, Bohdan scooted closer to Ella and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No," she muttered. "But I'll deal with it after we get a hang of this mess."

Her thoughts harkened back to her first conversation with Jalen when he came back with the burnt rosary he showed her. The demon that had outmaneuvered her brother and caused him grave concern for her safety had to be the same one causing this chaos. She just knew it. What had been a fleeting comment by her brother she barely registered at the recesses of her mind had turned into this catastrophe. Could she have done something earlier? She shook her head. There was no point stressing over the past about an entity she had never come across. All she could do was save as many lives as possible and hope Jalen would deal with the demon.

The radio came alive, emitting a muffled conversation.

"… calling in a 10-33! I repeat, 10-33! We need immediate assistance at St. Mary's Hospital, 5th Avenue!"

"Unit 27, this is Dispatch. Copy that, 10-33. What is your situation?"

"Dispatch, we have an active 10-96! It's... it's not spawn! But a demon! It's killing everyone! We need all available units, SWAT, and superheroes. ASAP! Even the military goddammit! Where the fuck are they?"

"Copy, Unit 27. Confirming 10-96, hostile supernatural entity at St. Mary's Hospital. SWAT and additional units en route. ETA 35 minutes. Hold your position if possible. Over."

The roar of gunfire bled into the officer's microphone. "35 fucking minutes? We'd be dead! Negative, Dispatch! We can't hold our position! The demon is tearing through everything! Multiple officers down, civilians in critical danger! We need backup now!"

"I'll go," Ella said, fixing her gaze on Kylara. "While the rest of you move on to the mayor's manor. There is no time to waste."

Kylara nodded, understanding her determination.

However, Bohdan was not having it. "Are you suggesting that we split and leave you alone? No! That is stupid. I will not allow it."

She placed her hand on his biceps, which felt as hard as cement. "I'll be fine, big guy. I can fend for myself."

"Do you understand what happens if you make a mistake? No one will be there to back you up."

"I do. So I'll play it cautiously. The more time we spend arguing here means more people dying."

"I concur with her assessment," Kylara added. "The medical facility is in dire need of reinforcement, and she possesses both the durability and considerable firepower required. Among us, she is the most capable and best suited for this mission."

Bohdan swallowed his disagreement and offered her a fist bump. "Don't go dying on me, Ella. I still have to eclipse you at the hydraulic press."

"You might do that soon," she forced a nervous laugh, accepting the fist bump. "In your wildest dreams."

Then she morphed into the needletail and took flight, heading away from the massacre at the protest site.