4 Battle

Marsha/ Masaru's eyes snapped open.

She looked up and saw a plain white office ceiling.

"Ah, you're awake!" A gentle older woman's voice was heard.

She turned to the sound of the voice and realised that her right arm had a needle and a tube of fluid attached. But it didn't feel too uncomfortable, and it seemed that the fluid flowing into her body strengthened her, so she just took it as an alternative form of treatment.

If not mistaken, despite the shape being different from that in her previous world, it should be an IV drip...?

She examined her body with a quick once-over and found that she had been cleaned, washed up and clothed in a white one-piece robe. She could feel undergarments in the two important places. That was surprising, did they have such clothing ready and available here...?

Then she looked over to the side. A motherly woman with grey hair stood beside her. The woman was dressed in clothes that Marsha realised were normal for those in this world, jeans and a long sleeved button-up shirt.

"I was quite surprised when the station called me in the middle of the night. Since it's quite late, I rushed over without changing into my doctor's uniform. I hope you don't mind, my dear."

Marsha began to sit up as she felt much better, just slightly weak from hunger.

"Where am I...?" She asked the lady doctor who was surprised the girl could get up so quickly.

"Ah, that's true. They told me you fainted in the streets and wondered if you were a... One of the lost children from a... The institutes for troubled girls. Oh, and don't worry - I was the one who cleaned you up, not those two bumbling men! And they asked me to bring some clothes for girls, so what you're wearing is from my daughter."

She stopped speaking for awhile as she held the slim girl's wrist and measured her blood pressure and pulse manually. Then she smiled in surprise, her mouth forming an "O" shape.

"Oh! Your vital signs are very good, blood pressure 220 by 170 and pulse of 32! You're a very healthy little demoness! Ok, let me get this off you so we can get you something to eat.

Marsha nodded as the kindly doctor helped her remove the IV drip, then hopped off the bed to walk barefooted.

"Come on, I'm sure you must be famished!" The woman beckoned to her and walked ahead, opening the door of the small police clinic.

Marsha smiled and followed, feeling curious, slightly touched in her heart but conflicted.

'I didn't know the demon race were so... Caring...'

* * * * *

After eating a bento meal warmed up from the microwave, Marsha felt her strength return. Based on her own estimates, she should be just about as strong as a normal human adult.

Which was probably less than half of a normal adult demon's strength and still pretty good for such a short and slim body!

She was curious about the various forms of the equipment here, but the functions were mostly the same. It seemed that this world was low on magic use, just like what was seen in the demon race's fighting style - hot weapons such as guns and rockets and physical combat.

She was also intrigued by the odd-looking food - rice wrapped in an egg with a smiley face painted on top with ketchup.

Whatever it was, the food tasted incredibly good on her empty stomach!

The kind older woman - she introduced herself as Linda - had asked her to wait here while she went to fetch either of the constables.

So she sat and finished her food then got up to look around.

Apart from the differences in technology and the medium of usage, things were pretty much the same in this demon world.

People were people. Some were kind while others were fierce or even nasty.

From the sound of the sound and image box called the TV, it seemed they bad similar social problems and crime just like his own world, Yiluo.

There was tasty food.

People had families.

They had normal lives.

Marsha sighed. She couldn't help but wonder - for what reason had they fought against the demons for so long? Why had the war started in the first place...?

...And why did it seem like both she, the former Hero King and Glados, the Demon God, were just victims in the plots of the different planes?

As she looked out the window on the second floor of the police station, she sighed.

The more she saw, the more her hate and revulsion towards the demons faded, and the more it was replaced by the desire to find the scheming masterminds and exact her revenge!

And as she looked out the window and admired the scenery of Osaka's night view, she squinted and tried to look closer at the far off lights she saw.

'Fire...? And... No, lots of fires...? And it seems like many civilians are panicking and fleeing...?'

She had a bad feeling and quickly headed towards the door and twisted the knob - only to find it was locked from the outside.

She looked around for any other way out, but apart from the windows to the outside, there was only that one door.

They had locked her in like a criminal?

Before she could get angry though, she felt a tremor and heard a loud crash from below her.

She heard frantic shouts from the few people who were on night shift, then she felt a sense of weightlessness.

The ground of the 2nd floor collapsed under her, sending her plummeting down.

* * * * *

Constable Ben was snoring on his desk, as when he was not out on alert calls, he had nothing to do in the station office.

Meanwhile, his senior colleague Kirishima was speaking to Dr Linda Yoshinaga in hushed voices.

"Any news from the mental health institutes...?"

Constable Kirishima was sitting at his desk on his swivel chair while the Dr leaned against the empty desk beside him as she asked him the question.

He shook his head, "No... They said that they've never heard of her. And they don't have any missing persons either."

"So what's next...? From my interactions with her, she doesn't seem to have any psychological problems. Nothing at all to indicate that she would behave as you described - screaming uncontrollably, vomiting on herself and eating a live rat! Are you sure that was what happened...?"

Kirishima did not look at her as he slowly nodded. Even he himself was no longer that sure if what he saw had been real. The girl seemed lively, lucid and sincere, though she also seemed to be too ignorant to be for real. She didn't even know what cars, phones or TVs were!

He sighed as he spoke, "Maybe the poor kid lost her memory or something... Whatever the case, at the very least it's a case of a missing person without any identification."

He pushed his chair back slightly so he could stand up, then said, "If we don't get any clues soon, we'll need to hand her over to the Special Action Enforcers. They... They'll not treat her kindly, someone who has no identity and no background. Hell, we can't even deport her back to her own country if we don't know where she's from!" He grumbled in irritation, drawing a frown from the doctor.

Then as they stood thinking for awhile and waiting for some good news, he suddenly heard noise from upstairs on the first floor - the sound of a window breaking and heavy footsteps.

"You did make sure you locked the door, right?"

Linda nodded, "Yes, I--"

But she had no chance to finish her sentence as a huge shadow crashed through the ceiling about 20 metres away above the entrance to the police station.

Shocked, Kirishima grabbed his gun as Ben woke up in a daze.

"Kid, get up! We've got trouble!"

Ben scrambled to his feet and grabbed his gun in one swift motion, looking like he and practised the actions countless times before.

Then the three of them froze in terror as the gigantic creature turned to face them.

It looked like a devil from someone's worst nightmares, like a creature straight out of a horror anime.

It was brown and green in colour and looked like a reptile walking on two legs. Its teeth were long and it had a face that looked like a cross between a short snouted crocodile and a bat.

But worst of all was its skin.

Instead of scales, every inch of its body was covered in faces.

Demon faces of children, the elderly, the young. Businessmen, women, mothers.

All moaning and crying out in pain.

"W-what... What is that monster!? Get it away, no! I must escape! I have a daughter to raise, I can't die here!!" Dr Linda couldn't stand the fear anymore and began to flee on shaky legs.

But as the ceiling above the monster continued to crumble, they suddenly heard a voice that filled them with horror.

"Ahhh!" A young girl's voice was heard as she fell through the destroyed floor of the 2nd and 1st floor above the entrance.

And landed just 5 metres away from the horned monster.

"Shit!!! Over here you oversized lizard!" Ben was the first to react calling out to the devil and firing at it with his standard issue Nambu M60 revolver.

But to his shock, the bullets merely bounced sank into the creatures skin about an inch or so, only drawing some green blood.

And enraging the monster.

It charged straight for the young but brave man.

"Shit!!! Ahhh!!!" He turned and ran as the monster charged at him on all fours. Its head almost touched the ceiling as it crashed through the desks, chairs and cabinets.

"Dammit! Ben, take cover!" Kirishima dodged aside and looked around quickly to find something to slow the creatures advance, but couldn't think of anything. The creature ignored him and Marsha, setting its sights only on the boy who had dared cause it pain!

And as it chased after the boy, all the faces on its skin had crazy, ravenous expressions, shouting nonstop, "EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT!..." The sight filled Kirishima's heart with a terror that almost paralysed him, but he bit his lip and forced himself to move.

The older policeman's heart beat like crazy even as Dr Linda turned hysterical as she grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed one of the windows, before she madly climbed out and ran for her life.

Then he had an idea. Kirishima cursed as he quickly ran over and grabbed the fire extinguisher and released the safety pin.

Before running off, he glanced over at Marsha and saw that she was ok. He shouted to her, "Girl! Find somewhere safe and hide! I'll be back as soon as possible!" Then he chased after the lumbering but fast monster.

He could only hope that he would be in time, that his plan worked...

And that he and Ben could make it out alive.

'Heh, I don't know if I'll be keeping that promise I just made to you, girlie...' He laughed, mocking himself as he prepared to face death in the jaws.

And even as the man ran after the devil to save his friend, Marsha had already gotten to her feet and grabbed a nearby knife, fallen from who knows where.

She smiled sinisterly and unsheathed the 6 inch long military knife.

'Looks like I'll be monster-slaying in this world, too...'