by Danny, T5 and The Eurostar
Animal parts, huh? thought Danny Hearn as he watched the hordes of animal-themed demons approach. I got these freaks' number. "Cobra venom," he said to Hal.
"Done," Hal replied.
A foul taste filled his mouth, and something lumpy grew under his tongue. "I won't poison myself?"
"Your body adapts to any new parts. Your immune system will deal with the venom."
"Awesome," Danny said, and ran headlong toward a being that looked like something between a rhino and a giant chicken.
"Now what the fuck are you supposed to be, really? A chicken isn't even threatening," Danny said, dodging an oncoming rhino horn. As the beast's head passed near to his, he spat.
A stream of venom shot out from Danny's mouth, striking the demon directly in the eye. It screamed and fell to the floor.
"Rhino horn, Hal."
The demon tried to stand, wobbling and standing as it clawed desperately at its own eye. Danny bent and leaned forward, then rammed it.
The demon fell again, landing in a heap on the floor. Danny put his head down and threw all his weight behind a final thrust.
Moments later, the demon's skull was nothing but a pile of crushed matter on the floor.
"Now that's how you use a rhino horn, bitch!" Danny yelled to the corpse.
"Danny, look out!" came a voice from behind him.
Danny turned and saw Pete Glover standing right behind him, pointing upward. A winged demon was bearing down on them, shrieking with a malevolent delight.
It looked like hell on bat wings, claws right out of Jurassic Park, the head of some sort of deranged baboon. And it was seconds away from Danny and Pete.
At that moment, another winged demon leaped at them. The two collided and landed in on the ground with a thud.
"I'm so glad I was standing next to you just then," Danny said to Pete with a grin.
Naecken screamed and thrashed on the floor. Somebody had taken control of him again, using his other locked-away energies, trying to open a gate. He needed to divert it.
He managed with a grunt to divert the energies to home, instead of the dark cellar he glimpsed, a fraction before the gate opened fully.
Bashing his head against the wall, he screamed again. The wall started to collapse.
But with a gesture of the flaming sword, the just-arrived angel stopped the falling rocks in mid-air. Then, it blew softly toward them, and they went back to their proper places on the ceiling of the tunnel.
The angel stood in the middle of the cavern, right in front of Naecken. "Demon, your days among the mortals end today!"
Naecken stared at him... her... it... for a microsecond, then slowly a growl built up in his deep chest. The angel prepared its sword and took a few steps back. Naecken jumped through the air and struck the sword aside with a sound similar to a wild lion.
They rolled in the mud and wrestled each other. Then suddenly the angel used his true sight and gazed at Naecken, who recoils in its brightness. His fragmented mind reminded him that he once wielded a similar power.
Distracted, Naecken paused, allowing enough time for the angel to retrieve its sword and attack again. This time, the angel fought with newfound strength, while Naecken was dazed and confused.
What was he doing here? Who was he? And why did everything feel so alien yet familiar at the same time?
The angel struck. The sword cleaved off the right arm of Naecken, who howled in pain, a howl so loud that everyone in the tunnels took pause.