The Gates of Hell was a fancy bar that opened up sometime last month while I was in a coma. It's in the downtown area, but it's very close to the Boardwalk so I wouldn't have to worry about getting jumped by thugs on the way there. Not that I did have to worry; if anything, I worried that I might accidentally kill somebody or out myself.
I reached the bar with no problems. Since it was still close to noon, the bar wasn't open yet. I paid the "Closed" banner on the door no mind and stepped inside.
At first glance, you would think you stepped inside some ritzy-fancy night club owned by someone with too much money. The walls were decorated in violet padding, the tables and chairs made from black wood and decorated in engravings, and hanging on the walls were various portraits of scandalous-clad men and women in poses, some on poles (thankfully clothed). The counter itself was mundane in comparison, with the bar stools entirely metal with velvet cushions to make anybody sitting on them comfortable. The counter wasn't made of anything special, just regular wood.
Behind the counter, however, was an assortment of bottles of wine, alcohol and even soft drinks for the bartender to serve in case somebody was underage.
This was another reason why the Gates of Hell was popular in the short amount of time it was open. It catered to the underage as well. It probably helped the fact that anybody who lied about their age was found out almost immediately or tried to pick a fight and got their ass handed to them on a silver platter.
I will never forget the day I first came here and saw Boss manhandle Hookwolf.
Boss was sitting behind the counter, smoking a cigar that probably cost more than it should.
"Hey, sister. How you livin'?"
I shrugged as I took a seat on one of the stools. "Fine, I guess."
"Does daddy dearest know you're here?"
"Probably not. You gonna tell?"
Boss smirked. "I won't say nothin' if you won't." I smiled back. He tossed his cigar into the ashtray on the far end of the room as if he was shooting a basketball from the far side of the court. "How'd you like your new toy? Work like a dream?"
"I've only had it for one night, Boss."
I held out my hand, willing the "toy" into my hand. It appeared in a flash of red light, filling out in my hand and solidifying into a sword. More accurately, it was a Japanese sword called a
shirasaya. It bore no hilt or guard, only a handle and grip to hold the blade. Both the grip and the sheathe were jet-black with red streaks running along the edge and bottom, intertwining with a blue lightning-bolt of swords that ran straight across the sheathe before wrapping around the red streaks over the grip. The bottom of the hilt had a purple tassel. Clipped on to the tassel was a snowflake and a ball of flame.
"But, it's the best early birthday present I could have ever asked for."
Boss chuckled. "I would certainly hope so. I can't say it's my finest work, but if you manage to bag yourself a real nasty piece of work, I can make you some even better toys."
I shuddered, remembering how close I had been to death on my first night out as a cape. Oh, sure, the PHO was talking about what I did last night, but that was my worldwide debut to the world of capes. It wasn't the first time I tried out my powers.
I took a deep breath, trying my best not to remember the feeling of my skin being scorched or the sensation of my body being chilled all the day down to the bone marrow. I dismissed my sword, letting it fade from sight. I wasn't quite sure how it could return to my side just by "calling out" for it, but to be fair, I wasn't entirely sure what
I was anymore.
"So, what brings you to the Gates of Hell?" Boss asked. "Let me guess, you thinking of hunting down that psycho that's on the news?"
"Is it a demon?"
"Odds are pretty high unless Jack Slash is in town."
The fact that Boss confirmed what the Bloody Cape was didn't ease my concerns. I've been learning how to use my powers for ten days, and so far, all I knew I could do was that I could hit hard, move fast (especially when I
really wanted to) and create magic swords out of thin air. And if my first night out was any indication, I had a healing factor. In cape terms, I was a Blaster, Brute, Mover, and maybe a Striker. But what if this was just the tip of the ice berg and I was capable of so much more?
I still didn't buy Boss' claims that I wasn't entirely human anymore, but at the same time, I can't deny what was happening.
Living in a world filled with people who had superpowers was one thing, but learning that demons and angels existed was something else entirely.
"You thinking of hunting it down?"
I shook my head. "Not right away. I want to get stronger first, and see what else I can do. And get used to my sword."
"Probably a good idea, though I wouldn't suggest waiting for too long, sister. Whatever kind of demon this sick fuck is, it ain't killing cuz it's hungry. It's killing for shits and giggles."
I frowned. "The Bloody Cape is killing
for fun?"
I tried very hard not to imagine what would happen if the Bloody Cape ever caught the attention of the Slaughterhouse Nine, or heaven forbid, if they joined.
Seeing that I still had plenty of time before Dad might start to worry, I made my way towards one of the more eye-catching decorations of the Gates of Hell. For some reason, Boss' patrons never saw it or acknowledged its existence, or they did and just didn't think much of it. It was a statue twice my height and nearly touching the ceiling; a woman kneeling down and struggling to carry an hourglass larger than her while bearing the mask of a lion over her face.
I placed my hand against the woman's left hand and felt my vision distort. Everything around me faded away, dispersing as if the world was nothing but smoke. My surroundings reshaped into an endless void of white. Lights twisted and bended in the sky above, if it could even be called that. The ground was nothing more than an endless sea of white, both solid and at the same time watery. Each step I took seemed to ripple and feet start to sink, but never quite falling too deep.
Once more, I called my sword into my hand. As I did, a shape rose out from the ground. A shadowy figure, bearing a humanoid physique but otherwise inhuman with no other discernable features. In other words, a living human shadow, albeit one wearing a comedy mask with a sad expression, crying tears of blood and wielding twin swords.
Slowly, I pulled the sword out from its sheathe. A silver blade, easily the length of my arm if not longer, gently slid out from its prison. The blade was covered in veins; orange-red on one side and icy-blue on the other.
The moment my sword was fully withdrawn from the sheathe, embers and flakes of ice began to fall from it in spite of the fact that it was neither covered in ice or encroached in flame.
The mockery twitched and tilted its head, twisting its arms as if falling into a stance. I closed my eyes for a moment to take a deep breath, pushing away all those unnecessary thoughts in the back of my head.
Right now, I wasn't Taylor Hebert. I wasn't the weak, pitiful girl who was trapped inside that locker, unable to do anything. Right now, I was someone else. I was someone who did have strength.
I have
power. Power I have no idea what to do with.
…but I was going to find out.
I opened my eyes. I threw my sheathe aside, not caring that it vanished into red light when it touched the ground. The mockery gave a shrill cry and lunged towards me.
My sword and its own clashed and intertwined. And as sparks began to fly, I heard it. Ever so faintly in the back of my head. A tiny whisper.
The joyful laughter of my inner
devil.
X X X X X X X X X X
I returned home to find my Dad nowhere in the house. I found a note on the fridge telling me he had gone to work. The first time since I started getting back into the swing of things. He had pretty much taken all his sickdays in a single month just to look after me while suing the school in the process.
The thought of school, of Winslow, reminded me that I was going to be starting a new school life at Arcadia. The thought of me going there, to a school that the
Wards attended, was enough to make me giddy, but at the same time worried that it was just going to be the same routine. Every school had its bullies, the apathetic teachers, the queen bees; how was Arcadia going to be different? Hell, knowing my luck, one of the queen bees was probably a Ward.
I wanted to think that Arcadia was going to be a fresh start, but I guess Winslow made me jaded. In the end, I'd know whether or not I would end up falling into the same old role when I got there.
Wanting to think about something else, I pushed the thought of school aside and leaped unto the couch and decided to take over the TV since the King Geek had vacated his throne. Maybe I'd catch something interesting.
Let's see here… Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, 4Kids, no thank you. Reality TV Shows? Law and Order? Not my cup of tea. Soap opera? Ugh, no thanks!
Okay, nothing interesting on that front. What about news?
Click.
BBN filled out the television screen. As usual, news anchor Dylan Andrews was present and in that god-awful pink suit.
"-om the cold weather, Brockton Bay is once again the center of a brutal ongoing conflict between the Empire Eighty-Eight and Azn Bad Boys. The PRT hasn't provided any details about the battle that erupted near downtown, but eye witness reports say that Hookwolf and Oni Lee had engaged in a skirmish that spilled out into the open streets, which eventually led to a full-scale battle between the Empire and ABB. Thankfully, Lung was not present, but the battle led to over a hundred innocent bystanders being wounded in the crossfire. No deaths were reported, but the property damage ensued in the battle is estimated to be in the upper 500. That's thousands, mind you!"
I winced, realizing that my training session in The Void saved me from that bout of chaos. At least now I knew why there were so many police cars racing around downtown Brockton. The news went on to say that it was a miracle that the fighting was only between the typical street thugs and the capes, but Hookwolf ended being caught by BBPD after being knocked unconscious by one of Oni Lee's bombs. I wasn't ecstatic to hear that to be honest, and I was pretty sure nobody else was either. This was hardly the first time Hookwolf had been caught, and it was only a matter of time before he was sprung free from either his prison cell or the Rig.
The amount of times villainous capes escaped from custody boggled the mind. You would think that Piggot would ask the PRT for reinforcements or more capes just to prevent crap like that from happening.
Then again, Brockton Bay was a shithole of epic proportions. Not as bad as quarantine zones, but still not someplace someone would want to live.
I wondered whether or not I could help the PRT in dealing with all of this once I knew what I could do. I wasn't under the illusion that I could just deal with all the gangs in one night. I was one person, and some of the capes the gangs had were dangerous. Lung was the first that came to mind. How was one person supposed to wipe out all the gangs? What help could I possibly provide?
I sighed, sinking into the couch and staring up at the ceiling. I could sort all this out later. For now, I would just focus on training and school.
…still. Maybe I should go out for another night on the town? See if I couldn't do some good? Sure, odds were I might run into a villain were pretty high, and the idea of being shot at scared the shit out of me, but compared to nearly being demon doggy chow?
Taking down a couple of gun-toting thugs should be fine!
…right?
Spoiler alert. It won't be that easy. Poor Taylor, man.
Welp, on the plus side, she'll be making a new friend soon! One that will join her on her demon hunting escapades, and show off what you guys can probably expect. Hopefully its good?
Regarding a question somebody asked earlier about exactly how Taylor would rate, I think I've already answered that, but to be on the safe side, Taylor has a half-demon physiology like the Sparda twins, so she has increased strength, speed, plus a healing factor, and given that she's Triggered with Vergil's skillset, she can also conjur Summoned Swords. That being said, she will actually have to train in order to reach Vergil's level of fighting power.
So, yeah, no Judgment Cuts right off the bat.
For any questions about Taylor's weapon, those will be revealed in time. For now, think of it like Agni and Rudra in the shape of a katana, but focusing primarily on ice and fire.
I will work on the next chapter when I have the time, but don't expect an update anytime soon. Still gotta finish migrating my FF.net content over here. Only at a snail's pace.
Let me know what you guys think. Is it as good as the first chapter? Is it worse?
