Chapter 33

The day of Damien and Dana's fight, the battle for the Earth, had finally come.

God had instructed him and two allies of his choosing – Kitty and Claire – to travel to the stadium underneath the Imperial Palace. He, Satan, Dana and an ally of her choosing – Julien – were waiting for them.

This is where Damien now found himself, in his own dingy little dressing room, getting ready for the fight. They gave him an outfit upon arriving, a leather jacket with a pentagram on the back, leather trousers, and boots with too many straps. He looked like a fucking biker. He begrudgingly put this bizarre costume on. Why did he have to wear it at all? Was he the star of some kind of sick, deadly concert? The boots were cool, at least.

After he'd dressed himself, he stared into the mirror and put on a fake smile. He was confident and strong. He was going to win.

Then he huffed. Who was he kidding? He was absolutely petrified. There was no way he'd come out of this alive. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He wished he had been born human. Then he wouldn't have to deal with this.

As he was wallowing in his own misery, there was a soft knock on the door. He turned to face it and told them to come in. The door opened, and Kitty popped his head in with a smile.

Damien grinned. He was glad to see him. It might have been the last time he ever would. It upset him that he would never see Kitty's beautiful face or be able to talk to him ever again. He cherished all those nights they spent awake, so immersed in their conversation that they forgot to sleep.

He wished he had more time with him. He used to pray for death, but now all he wanted was to live. He wanted to be with Kitty until the day they both died and went to the Afterlife together, in bliss for all eternity. But that wouldn't happen if Dana killed him.

Kitty noticed his low mood. He stepped into the room and closed the door. "It would be silly of me to ask if you're OK, wouldn't it?" He looked Damien in the eye. "But are you OK?"

Damien nodded. "I knew this was coming. I always knew. We were literally born for this." He gave a bitter chuckle. "This event is the sole reason we exist. Two kids, created to fight to the death over who gets to own the world. Only one can survive."

He gulped. He was starting to feel a little nauseous. He leaned on the dresser in front of him, staring into the mirror. He pushed his worries to the back of his mind and took a deep breath.

"I have to do this." He said. "I have to win, not for me, but for you and everyone who put their trust in me."

He saw Kitty in the mirror's reflection step over to him, and felt his arms wrap around him. He felt a sense of safety and love, but also of sorrow and fear. Damien stood up straight and intertwined his fingers with Kitty's that were resting on his stomach. Kitty kissed his neck and lay his head on his shoulder. He had tears in his eyes.

"Don't die." He whispered.

Damien smiled sadly. "I won't. I'll come back to you. I promise."

He knew he might not have been able to keep that promise.

☽☾

Damien and Kitty met up with Satan and Claire, and made their way to the main hall. Dana, God and Julien were already there. She was wearing a similar outfit to his, except hers was white and had a crucifix on the back.

"Took you long enough. I've been waiting for half a fucking hour." Her eyes narrowed. Then she gave him a calm smile. "But thank you for agreeing to fight me. I've been looking forward to it for so long."

"You didn't really give me much of a choice, though, did you?"

All Dana did in response was grin like an excited child. Damien wanted to knock that stupid look off her face.

Their allies stood on the sidelines, unable to interfere regardless of what happened. Damien and Dana's fight for Earth – and for their lives – began.

Each summoned a sword, Damien's from shadow and Dana's from light. Dana rushed at Damien and brought her sword down. Their swords clashed as Damien held his in front of him to avoid getting slashed.

She pulled back her sword and whacked his with it many times, sparks flying from the impact of the bright weapon. Damien held the hilt with both hands, fending off Dana's brutal barrage of attacks. Kitty watched on, growing nervous for him. He couldn't hold her off much longer. The sword wouldn't last long.

As Dana pulled her sword back once more and swung it at his head, Damien ducked down and swerved out of the way. The sword narrowly missed him, swooping over him as he moved. Kitty breathed a sigh of relief. But he knew they weren't out of the woods yet.

The shadows of Damien's sword materialised into his usual war fans. He gripped them tight and slashed at Dana, fast on his feet, with everything he had. The fans sliced her up from different angles as he spun like a whirlwind around her, cutting deep into her flesh with every slice.

Dana was becoming frustrated, but she had no opening to launch a counterattack. She let out a animalistic growl, and Damien was blown away by an unseen force.

Telekinesis. That's what it had to be. Kitty knew Damien could move things with his mind, so maybe Dana could, too. She wiped the blood from her face, proving his suspicion correct. Her powers mirrored Damien's, but with slight differences. They were compatible yet opposite, in ability and personality. They were both strong-minded and determined, but they had different ways of reaching their goals. Dana would use violence and threat. Damien worked hard to gain respect, killing only those who acted with cruelty and malice.

Damien landed on the concrete floor, but he jumped back up onto his feet. As he rose to stand, Dana whooshed behind him. She must have summoned her kusarigama as she sped over to him. It was in her hands, and she wrapped the chain around Damien's neck and pulled tight.

She could have stabbed him in the head with the sickle, but she chose to strangle him instead. It was unbelievably cruel. She wanted to prolong his suffering as much as possible instead of killing him quickly. He started going blue and choked while scraping at the chain with his fingertips, trying to pry it off. But it was too tight, so much that it was cutting into his neck.

Like Hell Kitty was just going to stand there.

"Dimmy!"

He rushed forward to help him, but Satan held him back. Kitty's head snapped around to glare at Satan.

"Get off me!" He yelled, struggling. "I have to help him!"

"You can't. It's against the rules." Satan told him in a solemn tone.

"Screw the rules! He's gonna die!"

"We have to do something!" Claire said. "We can't just abandon him!"

Satan gave them a sad look, but shook his head and sighed. "There's nothing we can do. We just have to leave them to it."

Kitty couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't let Damien die. He fought with Satan as much as he could, but even he wasn't strong enough to escape Satan's grip.

He couldn't move, but Claire could. She was about to march over and stop the fight when Damien turned, twisting his back, and slashed Dana's knees.

Dana finally let him go. Blood gushed from the wounds on her legs, joining the rest from the slashes earlier. Kitty glanced over at Dana's ally, Julien.

Terror filled the poor man's face. Damien had told Kitty that Julien adopted Dana after she left their family home, after Karuki's massacre. He saw her as a daughter, even though she was twisted beyond belief. Kitty felt a great sympathy for him. Julien gulped, looked over at God with fear in his eyes, then turned back to Dana. He must have wanted to save her, but knew God would kill him if he tried to help.

Damien crawled away, gulping for air, and sprung to his feet. Kitty breathed a sigh of relief. He looked weak and worn out, but at least he was alive. He rubbed his neck and breathed heavily. The red marks left by the chain stood out even among his scars.

He shoved his fingers down his throat and regurgitated a red spider. He held the spider to his neck and let it bite him. It started sucking his blood. Then he put it on the ground. The insect began to mutate, and a thousand more burst forth from it. It had multiplied, and all were heading for Dana.

The spiders swarmed Dana. She tried to tear them off, squish them, did everything to get rid of them. But they clung onto her with their fangs. They were even burrowing inside her wounds. The sight of this turned Kitty's stomach.

As the spiders devoured her, Damien charged at her and slashed her stomach with his fan. Her white, squishy bean-like organs poured from the gash. She growled in pain and rage, and clutched her belly. She tried to put the organs back in, but to no avail.

The war fans turned into a sword once more, and Damien pulled it back to stab Dana in the chest. Kitty thought this would end it. She may not have died from the injury, though it could have been possible, but she would have been incapacitated. As the sword reached her heart, Julien yelled for him to stop and ran into the battle area.

Before anyone could even blink, the sword pierced through poor Julien like a knife in a pumpkin.

Blood poured out of his mouth, yet he was smiling. He turned to Dana with this peaceful expression. She stared at him, eyes wide with shock, as did Damien. Then he fell to the floor. The sword was still in him.

Damien shuddered, staring at Julien in horror. Kitty knew he never meant to do that. Julien worked for Dana, but he wasn't on his kill list. He looked more appalled by what he'd done that she had.

As he died, Dana knelt by Julien and watched him. This was the first time Kitty ever saw her show any emotion other than anger or mania. She looked like a lost child who didn't know what to do. She gave Damien a horrific glare, teeth bared and eyes full of fury.

"You killed my Julien!"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" Damien exhaled, as if the air had been knocked out of him. "It was an accident, I swear."

Dana stood up and advanced on Damien. Then her eyes turned to Kitty. The insane grin returned to her face.

"You took something of mine, so it's only fair that I take something of yours."

Before any of them could react, Dana summoned a light sword and raced towards Kitty. He closed his eyes, waiting to be stabbed. But the pain never came. He opened his eyes. What he saw horrified him.

Damien had jumped in front of him. The sword had pierced through his chest, so deep it stuck out of his back. He held the sword with bloody hands. He was preventing it from stabbing Kitty, even though the sharp blade sliced his hands as he gripped it.

"Dimmy." Kitty whispered in complete shock.

With a vicious laugh, Dana ripped the sword out of Damien's chest and sliced his head clean off. Kitty let out a shriek of horror. She stabbed his already wounded heart a few times.

All Kitty felt was rage. As if he was seeing it all through a steamed-up window, he roared and tackled Dana. His mind was blind to anything other than the urge to destroy her.

☽☾

Kitty knocked Dana to the ground. She looked up at him with a frown, then gasped in horror.

The once weak-looking hybrid was now feral. His eyes glowed green, his teeth – more like fangs – clenched in rage, his nails were sharp and pointed, and his hair was wild and bristled, as was his tail.

Before Dana could fight him off, he started slashing at her throat and face with his razor claws. Her neck was in tatters, torn open by the ferocity of the scratches. She was choking on her own blood.

Too stunned to attack him, she had to wait until Satan tore him off of her. He was holding him at a distance and he thrashed around, raging like a wild animal. That's what he had become in his anguish.

He was the same as every other hybrid out there, a slave to their primitive urges. They were created as killing machines, and that was all they would ever be.

The loss of blood and organs became too much. Dana passed out with a smile.

She had won.

☽☾

"Kitty! Kitty, calm down!"

The muffled voice was pleading with him. Did he have water in his ears? That's what it sounded like. His head hurt and he was struggling to breath.

Had he drowned or something? Who was growling?

"Kitty!"

Kitty jolted back to his senses as Satan yelled and shook him. Confusion filled his head, and his mouth was as dry as a desert.

He sat up, holding his head. Then he saw the devastation around him, and he remembered everything.

Tears poured out of his eyes. He didn't even bother stopping them. Satan held him as he sobbed. Then Kitty pushed him away.

"Why did you stop me from killing her?" Kitty yelled at him.

"We don't know how to yet! She'd just wake up and kill you!"

Overcome with grief and frustration, Kitty screamed and tore at his hair. It was all over. Damien was dead.

He searched the room for him, eyes blurry from the tears. He spotted Damien's lifeless body being held by Claire, who was crying her eyes out.

Kitty crawled over to them and cradled him with her. His head was completely detached from his body. Kitty held it onto his neck, willing it to reattach and for Damien to wake up. But nothing happened. He watched his face for any sign of life. His eyes had closed and his skin was pure white.

Kitty swore his heart crumbled. He wailed and hugged Damien's body. He didn't care about the blood. The only man he had ever loved was gone and it was all his fault.

At some point, Satan had approached them. He placed his hand on Kitty's shoulder.

"We need to bury his body." Satan said in a gentle voice.

"No!" Kitty shouted, tears flooding his eyes. "I'm not leaving him! He's scared of being alone!"

Satan inhaled sharply, face full of pain. Then he pulled Damien out of Kitty's arms and said, "I'm sorry."

"No! Give him back! I can't leave him!" Kitty screamed.

He launched himself at Satan in an effort to retrieve his body. Damien's worst fear was being alone. Kitty couldn't let that happen to him. He couldn't allow him to suffer in a cramped, dark coffin, on his own with no one to comfort him. If he had to, Kitty would be the sacrifice and be buried alongside him.

He promised he would never be alone again.

The last thing Kitty remembered was Satan touching him on the forehead. Then he was back home.