Fic: The Adamant Blade (Chapter Nine)
Steve watched Danny settle and close his eyes, sensing a shift in the energy he felt from his partner when the circle closed. It was as though Danny was somehow muffled and the bright glow Steve hadn't realized was there, diminished slightly. He didn't have much time to think about it before Danny reached out towards him, through him, and he felt the city answer. Steve nearly staggered at the surge of power that washed over him, before it settled into a steady background hum.
He looked around the roof, checking again on the area where he was going to have to fight. Retson, or rather his corpse, was still chanting at the edge of the roof, the air in front of him crackling and swirling with power. When they'd talked last night about Choronzon and what it was, Nana had said there were reports of it manifesting in two forms, a voice or a legion of demons. Last night he'd hoped they got the voice. But now, watching a man he'd shot through the head carry on talking, the voice was way more unpleasant than he'd ever imagined.
He didn't feel guilty about shooting Retson, the man had been trying to summon a demon, even if he'd lost control of the situation by the time Steve put a bullet in him. He just wished it had stopped the portal opening, because then he wouldn't be worrying about protecting Danny from whatever might come through.
A noise behind him made him turn, his gun coming up as the sound of footsteps drifted over the ridge of the roof from the direction of the door. He really, really didn't want to have to face off against cops, or anyone else who might be up here to tell him he should leave.
A head appeared over the ridge-line of the copper roof, and Steve lowered his gun. Uncle Mack waved at him and Steve couldn't help the relieved grin that he knew was on his face. “Mack. Good to see you.”
“I brought reinforcements,” the man said, gesturing behind him as more people appeared over the ridge.
Steve watched them walked towards him, trying to decide whether he was glad they were there or not. There were a couple of sword carrying boys, one Hispanic, one Asian. They were probably barely out of high school, both looking more like they should be carrying skateboards and not katanas. Steve wanted to send them home, purely on the basis of their age, but he knew he had no real standing now Mack had arrived. If ever there was a de facto field commander, it was the big man who was pulling a Beretta 92FS out of the backpack he carried.
There was a woman with a pink Mohawk peaking out from under a patterned headscarf which was tied up in a bow. Her dress cut to look like a 1940s movie star and she was covered in tattoos. They were all along her arms, up her neck and onto her face. As she got closer Steve was shocked to realize she wasn't the young woman he'd taken her to be, but was in fact way older, her face lined and full of character. She grinned at Steve, cracked her neck to one side, and the tattoos on her arms writhed and swirled. The stars on her face flared and Steve could feel the power rolling off her.
“Steve, this is Della,” Mack said, introducing the woman. “She'll be taking point so try to stay out of her way. That's Luis and Gavin,” he pointed at the kids, who both dipped their heads in a formal bow. “Don't try to keep them back just because they're young. We're going to have enough to worry about without second guessing one another.”
“Okay,” Steve agreed, although he wasn't sure he was really going to be able to help himself if they got in trouble.
“This here's Jansson LeBron,” Mack said, pointing to a tall, thin black guy with a shaved head, leaning on a thick, heavy staff. “And finally that's Fiona.”
The person he indicted was a tiny, smartly dressed Asian woman, barely five feet tall and oozing a quiet confidence that allayed all his fears about her ability.
“Good to meet you all,” Steve said, catching each of their eyes. “Not sure how much you know about what's going on, but Retson's trying to summon a demon called Choronzon. When we got here he already had the circle set up and was getting a portal open. We asked him to stop, and I think he might have, but then something shot out of the portal and took control of him. I put a bullet through his head, but, well, you can see how well that went.”
“Huh!” Mack said and walked closer to Retson to get a look. Raising his gun, he shot the man again. The corpse carried on chanting.
“I didn't miss, sir,” Steve said, annoyed the man hadn't trusted his word.
“I know, son,” Mack said, moving back towards them, picking up his backpack. “But I've got a different kind of round.”
He pulled a box of ammo out and offered it to Steve. “Custom load. Hard wood core, iron jacket, silver band, all soaked in holy water. Should drop most supernatural creatures, but clearly not so effective on corpses already possessed by a demon.”
“Wood core?” Steve asked, taking the box and flipping open the lid.
“Lignum vitae,” Mack said, pulling out three spare magazines. “Called Ironwood it's so strong.”
Steve popped the magazine out of his Sig, emptied it, stowing the rounds in his pocket, and replacing them with Mack's. He did the same with his spare magazines while he carried on with telling the group what was happening. “Danny's trying to shut the portal, and I guess our job is to make sure he has time to do it.”
“Then that's what we'll do,” Della said, her accent pure Brooklyn.
“Indeed,” Fiona said, taking off the jacket of her business suit. “I suggest we prepare, because this shǎbī is just about done.”
Steve blinked at the woman. Realizing he was the only one who spoke Mandarin, so only he understood just how offensive the word she used was. She grinned at him when she noticed his expression. “Don't tell me a sailor's offended by some strong words?”
“No ma'am,” he said, returning her smile even though he was a little unnerved that she knew he was in the Navy. “And you're right, we should be prepared. You guys all know each other, and know what you can do, so I'm not going to try to tell you how we run this thing. My job is to protect Danny, and that's what I'll focus on, but if you need my help, you yell and I'll do what I can.”
“Della, you've got point,” Mack said, turning to face the opening portal. “Gavin, Luis, Jansson, you're close quarters with anything that gets past her. Steve and I'll try not to shoot you, and Fiona, you're on our six, stopping anything getting off this roof.”
“Got it, boss,” Dalla said, stepping up behind Retson, the tattoo of an angel on her back swelling and unfurling its inky wings until they spread out beyond her shoulders. Steve felt his jaw drop, half in surprise and half in lust. Not lust for Della, although he really wanted to get to know her better, but for her tattoos.
“You're going to see a lot stranger things than that,” Mack said, taking up his position near Steve. “I know this is all new to you, but you need to focus on the mission.”
“Yes, sir,” Steve said, snapping his focus back to the rooftop and whatever it was they were about to face.
“You'll do fine, son,” Mack said, giving him a reassuring smile. “You don't get to be a SEAL without a certain amount of mental fortitude.”
“What branch were you, sir?” Steve asked, glancing over to where Fiona was painting a line of Chinese symbols behind them using, a large paint brush and what he hoped was red ink.
“Army Rangers,” Mack replied, his eyes snapping away from Steve as Retson's corpse shouted 'Io Choronzon' triumphantly before turning to face them.
The air above the station building boiled, energy crackling and spitting towards the animated dead body that was looking at them with empty eyes. The sun hit the horizon, aligning perfectly so its light streamed down 43rd Street and refracting off the portal, breaking into rainbows. It would have been beautiful if there hadn't been a corpse standing in front of it.
“I always wanted to see Manhattanhenge,” Steve said wistfully, feeling a little cheated his chance had finally come under these circumstances.
Mack opened his mouth to reply but shut it with a snap when Choronzon's harsh voice bust out of Retson's mouth. “I am I. From me come leprosy and pox and plague and cancer and cholera and the falling sickness. I will reach up to the knees of the Most High, and tear his phallus with my teeth, and I will crush his testicles in a mortar, and make poison thereof, to slay the sons of men.”
“Nice,” Mack muttered, leveling his gun at Retson again.
Nana had told them the Choronzon could manifest as a voice or as a legion of demons, and Steve hoped this was it. He didn't want to spend his evening making sure a chatty corpse didn't get off the roof until Danny could push it back and close the portal. But he'd happily take that over a fight with demons.
“And, because I am myself, therefore of no self; the terror of darkness, and the blindness of night, and the deafness of the adder, and the tastelessness of stale and stagnant water, and the black fire of hatred, and the udders of the Cat of slime; not one thing, but many things.”
“Why do they always love the sound of their own voices?” Della asked, the tattoos on her arms swirling under her skin.
“Cat of slime?” Steve said, trying not to think too hard about the udders.
“Yeah,” Mack said, a look of faint disgust on his face. “No idea.”
“The sun will burn you all as you writhe naked upon the sands of hell,” Retson said, his hands raising up as his dead eyes stared at them. “And the wind will cut you to the bone, flay the skin from your body, bite on every nerve, eat the heart from your chest.”
“Shut up,” Della said, bringing her hands together and shaping what looked like a tattoo of a star in the air between them. She pulled her hands apart, the floating blue-black star nestled in her right palm, before she hurled it at Retson. The spell, at least that's what Steve guessed it was, burst on the dead man's face, taking his mouth, nose, and a whole chunk of his head along with it, when it exploded.
“I am many things,” said the bloody space where Retson's face should have been.
“Well, fuck me,” Della said calmly, and Steve felt a grin creeping on to his face only to have it freeze, half formed, as a thing with too many legs seemed to crawl out of both the portal and Retson simultaneously.
It leapt at Della, resolving itself into a dog sized ball of spider legs and sharp claws, with no discernible body. Della spun away, flinging an exploding star at it as she twisted sideways, ducking under the force of the spell as it blew off limbs which seemed to dissolve into gray ash. Steve didn't even think, he simply pulled the trigger and shot at the center of the churning mass of legs. The creature screeched as it hit the roof, rolling before it disintegrated into dust.
Steve knew better than to underestimate an enemy, but he felt himself relax just a little that they had killed it. He trusted them because Danny did, even though he'd only met them a few minutes before, but getting through the first enemy contact unscathed was always a milestone.
“I am many,” Choronzon said through Retson's body, and another shape crawled out of thin air.
And another.
And another.
“Fuck,” Steve muttered. He didn't even have time to work out what the things were, before he started firing at them, aiming where he hoped he would do the most damage.
A shadow, that was becoming something with wings, lurched to the side and exploded into ash. A thing with teeth and eyes and not much else dissolved as a bullet ripped into it. Della held her ground in front of the portal, the curling, barbed tattoos on her arms rolling down and extending out from her hands like whips. She swirled and sliced, cutting through the demons like they were butter as they crawled out of a hole in the world.
Steve was starting to get suspicious at the ease with which they were killing the things. It didn't seem right that something that was as feared as Choronzon, and as powerful as he and Danny had felt, could be overcome by a bunch of humans. Even if some of them were pretty good at what they did.
“I don't like this,” he shouted to Mack, shooting another partially formed shape as it leapt at them.
“Me either,” Mack shouted back, dropping two cat sized house flies with well placed shots.
“Is it trying to wear us out?” Steve asked, shooting the shape jumping at Jansson, as the other man rammed his quarterstaff through the chest of what looked like a feathered gorilla. Luis and Gavin were scything through anything that came their way, swords glinting in the pink light of the setting sun.
Steve risked a look behind them and saw Fiona calm but alert at her line of red calligraphy. She inclined her head a fraction of an inch when he caught her eye, acknowledging she was ready to fight when she was needed, but was focused on her task of holding their defensive line, regardless of what happened to her teammates. He felt a surge of pride for his new team.
Glancing down at Danny in his magic circle, he wished he could thank the man for trusting him with this. The bond they'd shared since last night was there, shimmering just below everything, but it was muted by the power Danny had invested in the circle. His eyes were closed, focused entirely on forming the spell he needed to close the portal and push Choronzon back to wherever he was supposed to be.
Della shouted and Steve's eyes snapped back to the battle, only to see the woman knocked aside by a giant snake that shot out of Retson's corpse, bursting the man open, leaving just his legs and one arm hanging in the air. The snake shimmered, its skin transparent, its organs glistening and shifting as it thrashed around and reared up to face Della. She threw a star at it but the explosion did nothing to the creature, other than make it hiss.
Steve shot two rounds into its heart, the organ jolting wetly with the impacts, but the snake didn't even react to them, intent on Della. Steve looked at Mack for guidance but caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Gavin ran up Luis's body, launching off his shoulder and landing sword first on the head of the snake. The blade drove into the thing's skull and sliced straight down into its brain. It thrashed to the side, and met Luis's blade driving into its eye. The thing let out an enraged hiss but Steve could tell it was dying.
The portal darkened and three shapes darted out. Steve was shooting before he even processed the movement and something that looked a lot like a dog made of black, squirming maggots exploded in front of him. Bile rose up in his throat as the maggots writhed towards him, tumbling over each other, half forming shapes, as the mass moved inexorably forward. He put a round into the thing, without much hope of doing it any damage, standing his ground even between the thing and Danny.
“Steve, down” Fiona yelled, her voice commanding and he dropped without even thinking.
Feeling heat pass over his back, he saw a burning Chinese character for fire slam into the pile of maggots. It burst, spilling searing white yellow flames over the roiling mass, consuming the things from the inside out. The flames died away and the outline of the bodies held for a few brief moments before they collapsed into dust.
Steve rolled to his feet, unable to even thank Fiona before a human shape, its skin deathly gray and hanging in lose folds from its body ran right through Jansson's staff, knocking the man clear across the roof. It leapt towards Danny and Steve was moving before he'd even processed what was happening.
He slammed into its side, knocking the thing out of the air and twisted to land on top of it. It glared up at him with yellow pupiless eyes in an otherwise featureless face and Steve looked back, frozen in a moment's indecision. The thing's face changed, managing to give the impression of a predatory grin despite its lack of mouth. Then its skin was spreading and flowing over his hands and up his arms like sentient slime.
Adrenalin spiked through him and he reared back trying to free his arms. The gray ooze of the demon's skin just stretched and then tightened, pulling him back down. Its chest spasmed and cracked, and a giant, teeth filled mouth opened, the fetid stench of rotting flesh pouring out and making Steve retch. He tried to pull back again but the thing's skin was banded across his back, and it pushed him down towards the teeth.
The thing's tongue shot out, covering his face, and wrapping around his head. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't do anything, except try to fight against the inexorable movement towards the sharp rows of teeth. Panic washed over him, and in desperation he squeezed the trigger of his gun, hoping the barrel was pointing towards some part of the creature and away from anyone else.
The stinking gray flesh tightened briefly over his head and he pulled the trigger again, because he wasn't going to die without doing something. With a howl of pain and indignation, the creature released his head and he reared back, his hands pulling free of the flesh as it dissolved and fell away from its bones. He rolled off the dissolving demon and put another couple of shots into it before turning to check on the rest of the team.
Danny was still motionless in the circle, but Steve knew from the simmering bond that he was aware of the demons attacking them on the roof, and was working as fast as he could. Della was on her feet, but her left arm was hanging at an odd angle even as she flicked her barbed whip through the body of a towering green bear that held Gavin above its head.
As the bear dissolved into ash, the kid fell, and landed on the roof, not moving. Luis roared and slashed his blade ineffectively through a cloud of blue haze that was swirling around him as he tried to reach his friend. Steve shot into the cloud, not expecting any more success than the kid's blade, but the bullets seemed to thud into something solid and the smoke began to change from blue to white. It dissipated into a swirl of white dust, caught in the breeze that kicked up now the sun was mostly below the horizon.
Luis got to Gavin and lifted his head as Della whipped her spell through something that seemed to be all impossible angles and distorted perspectives, which was bearing down on the pair. The spell had no effect, and neither did Luis' sword.
“Fiona,” Mack yelled, and then threw himself to the ground as the Chinese symbol for harmony slammed into the thing, transforming it into a jade sphere, that rolled down the roof and settled against the parapet.
“Look out,” Jansson yelled, running at the zombie horse that was heading for Mack. He rammed his staff into the gaping rib cage, pivoting it away from the man on the floor, and allowing Mack to unload a hail of bullets into its head.
It dissolved into ash and then the roof became quiet. Steve looked towards the portal, waiting for the next wave of creatures to come through, but nothing happened. After a few moments the team began to drift together, converging on Gavin and Luis, all silently checking on each other.
Jansson had a cut over his eye which was oozing blood down his face, and Della's left arm was obviously broken. Mack was favoring his right leg and Fiona's face was pulled tight with exhaustion. Luis seemed to be unharmed but Gavin was still not moving. Steve looked down at Danny, not yet ready to step away from his post protecting his partner.
He felt, rather than heard a concussive thump, a detonation happening somewhere outside the laws of physics, and the next thing he knew he was on the floor. His ears were ringing even though there'd been no sound and he wasn't sure he could see. Everything hurt.
Feeling Danny reaching for him, he turned his mind towards him, offering reassurance that he was alive. 'Get up, get up, get up,' Danny shouted at him mentally, jabbing his instructions right into Steve's brain, and Steve's body reacted.
Rolling over, he staggered to his feet, his legs shaking. All the windows in the surrounding buildings had shattered and the copper cladding on the roof of the station had buckled outwards from the portal. He felt a strange kind of victory to be still alive, let alone standing in the midst of the devastation. He looked around trying to find the rest of the team. Danny was still safe in his circle but the others had been knocked down by the blast.
Before Steve could check on them, the portal heaved and something enormous began to force its way through the opening. Standing frozen, he watched as the thing pushed itself out into the world. He couldn't see much, just a gaping hole in reality that made his eyes hurt and his brain want to skitter away.
He was looking into the abyss, the sum of all his fears and failings staring back at him. He saw his parents fighting, he saw Pearl Harbor burning, he heard the shot that killed his father, he smelled mud and death and shit, felt himself crawling over bodies of his fallen comrades. Mary screamed for him and Grace fell away from him, crying his name as the black hopelessness swallowed her. He saw the earth scorched and burned, the dried bones of men and animals scattered in a desert, the world fractured and broken.
“Run,” Danny shouted at him, directly into his head without moving from the circle.
Danny's voice snapped him out of his stupor and he forced his terror away. His body wanted to obey Danny's command but he knew there was really no point in trying to get away. His legs were shaking still, and even if he did manage to out run the thing now, there would be no escape no matter how far he got, just a few more days at most, days where he'd know Danny was gone. This was where he had to make his stand, next to Danny, trying his best to give the other man the time to save the world from Choronzon.
Looking at his hands and seeing blood running down his arm, he realized his gun was gone. He couldn't feel an injury, but then his whole body felt like a giant bruise. His head was still spinning, but he reached for the knife he hoped was as powerful as Nana said it was.
“Don't,” Danny begged. “Don't you dare.”
“I love you,” Steve said, gripping the knife hard, and forcing himself to face his terror. “But I need you to focus on closing the portal.”
With that he ran forward, pushing his body to do what he wanted, even though his lizard brain was telling him to run far, far away. He sprang, ramming the knife into where he thought the body of the creature was, pouring all the power he could pull from his bond with Danny into it. The knife plunged in, and Choronzon screamed. Steve felt empty horror wash over him, pulling him down into the abyss, and he fell, and fell, and fell.
Shǎbī - idiot, literally stupid cunt
Chapter Ten