Chapter Text
A spherical object with a pentagram carved into its body floated in a crimson-colored sky. It remained in a single position directly above a blackened city, casting a white glow onto the metropolis beneath. This illumination reached other places within the larger location, but none received as much of it as here.
It was up to the city's residents to create visual variety. Blindingly bright neon signs adorned nearly every building in view. The structures, regardless of the type, were also stylized by their owners. That made it obvious to everyone whose territory they were in. Whether or not that was a good thing depended on the individual.
However, there was a single unclaimed district. Slums. Ghetto. Skid row. You've likely heard of or seen such an environment. Those who did not wish to live by the whims and dictations of someone else resided here. The only exceptions were those who managed to gain a solitary foothold in this ecosystem of subjugation and dominance.
Although personal freedom was a big motivation for most, truthfully, the reason for so many souls finding home here was that they were nothing. Sure, there was an argument to be made that being worthless was better than subservience or becoming property. But there were many days when even the most apathetic or steadfast found themselves looking at the more civilized areas with longing. The most common period to experience these thoughts and emotions was when the annual Extermination drew near.
A massive clock stood above all else at the center of the city. Even from the lowest point, there was no challenge to see it. Then again, it might be more accurate to say that there was no escape. The clock was a harbinger of death for the citizens.
Slowly, the hands moved across the face. This clock did not show time, for it did not flow here in the same manner as it did on Earth. Once more, a correction should be considered. Despite resembling a clock tower, the function of this landmark was a timer. Its limbs tracked the days remaining until the aforementioned event.
The Extermination. A yearly purge of the souls that had been judged and sent to this city as punishment. No one but the punishers knew what it meant to be exterminated. A total erasure of one's existence, perhaps? Maybe those who were slain were then made prisoners in the land of the Divine and treated like something to be viewed for entertainment.
Admittedly, the explanation meant nothing. All that mattered was avoiding the outcome. Sadly, only the most powerful and privileged were intentionally spared. Everyone else was fair game.
With the days remaining having reached the single digits, the streets had become vacant. Those with no homes made truces and agreements with their fellow scurrier to share any havens they could find. Alas, the most recent arrivals to this city had little to their names. Yet, even at their lowest, some could not bring themselves to the point of offering their bodies for barter. Of course, that was only relevant if consent was valued.
A woman found herself forced against the wettened ground beneath her backside. Above her was a group of men who were responsible for the restrainment. The woman had been sitting with her knees curled toward her chest in the small space between a dumpster and the end of an alleyway. Up until now, it had been the only microscopic amount of safety she had these past few weeks. Now, it would be where she was defiled.
The woman tried her best to fight back. She swung her head this way and that, hoping to gouge her assailants with the horns on her head. In reaction, one of the men who were upright stomped on her skull with his boot. The action was repeated until the woman's nose was broken, her eyes were effectively bruised, and her consciousness started fading. She didn't need to be awake for them to get their pleasure.
With weakened gasps and leaking tears, the woman's mind compared this dire situation to the one that had sent her to this accursed realm. She had been damned for unleashing her wrath upon an unfaithful husband and the shameless slut who had sex with him in their bed. Now, beaten and pinned, the woman would be the victim of another type of distasteful intercourse. All she could do was hope for darkness to claim her before she felt anything.
The woman's clothes were ripped without care. Her abdomen was exposed in its entirety. She could hear the sounds of excitement and celebration as these bastards saw her chest. To the woman's disgust, she wouldn't be granted peace before contact was made.
A clawed, scale-covered hand grabbed one of her breasts. It squeezed and fondled the flesh. Another hand, identical to the first, grabbed hold of the bra. One more tug would show these lechers what they-
DUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUTDUT
Thunder and lightning. That's what the woman heard and saw. The alleyway was overtaken by a series of rapid flashes and filled with a loud repeating noise. But amidst it all, she also witnessed the men be thrown above her, having been moved by an unknown powerful force.
After ten, maybe fifteen seconds, the alley was quiet. The woman, needing to see what became of those cretins, turned herself around as she worked to stand. However, she was only a fourth through the process before she stopped. The sight that awaited the woman's gaze was baffling.
The men were dead. Yet, it wasn't proper to refer to them as such anymore. Carcasses whose meat barely remained attached and whose bones were little more than fragments were piled. Something had dealt damage so severe that they were nearly unrecognizable.
thud...thud...thud...thud...
Something heavy was heard from behind. Swiftly, the woman twisted herself to look toward the alley's entrance. Approaching her and the corpses was...was...was...
"...A...human?..." The woman whispered, eyes widening as much as they could.
Standing there, well above six feet, was a man clad in dark green armor. The suit concealed every inch of his body, including his head. A visor hid most of the man's face. Only his nose and mouth could be discerned.
In the man's hands, there was a gun. It bore a resemblance to an assault rifle or machine gun. However, there were many notable differences. The easiest way to summarize them is that they looked fairly advanced, technologically speaking. The same can be said about the man's armor. It wasn't normal protective gear you'd see law enforcement or military personnel wear. Honestly, it looked like a space suit.
The man stopped moving when he reached the woman, causing silence to return as his heavy footsteps became still. Where the woman saw a supposedly human man dressed in futuristic attire, the man saw a woman who seemed to be a Demon.
Unnatural bright pink skin. Glowing red eyes. Long horns that grew away from each other and backward along the sides of a gray-haired head. Hooves in the place of normal human feet. Fingers that were sharpened so that they may act as claws as well. A long tail that sprouted at the base of the back just above the posterior.
There was no denying that this thing before the man wasn't human. But it was also obvious that it was a woman. What stared in awe at the man wasn't a mindless monster that craved violence. The longer he studied her, the more he saw a person.
Although there was so much uncertainty in the air, the man decided that he had learned enough. Through means that were mysterious to the woman, he made his weapon disappear. With his hands emptied, the man extended one of them to her. If there was one thing that he was sure of, she needed help. He did not regret his intervention.
In reaction, the woman moved her unblinking eyes to the gloved hand she'd been offered. A few seconds went by as her mind processed what was happening. Just like the man, there was so much that left her puzzled and desperate for clarity. But if she felt confident about anything, it was that he was no threat to her. If anything, this man was the woman's savior.
Unexpectedly, the woman lunged at the man. Neither of them was ready for it. Her emotions had taken control of her body and made it move by itself. She was desperate to hug the only kind soul she'd met since coming to this city. She wanted to find comfort in his arms if he'd be willing to accept her.
Thankfully, the woman got what she wanted. As she began to cry, she felt the man slowly wrap his limbs around her torso. It was a bit awkward, but that was understandable. Anyone would be overwhelmed by a sobbing woman clinging to them, even if they had just saved her from a terrible ordeal.
For almost a minute, these two remained like this. Then, another surprise occurred. An electronic noise came from the man's helmet. Specifically, it was a notification that appeared on the inside of his visor.
FWOOM
A third surprise. Behind the man, a light blue portal manifested instantaneously. When he and the woman looked at the rift, they saw a room that resembled an office. It was very clean and well put together.
Quickly, the man returned his focus to the woman and gained her attention. He hoped a simple thumbs up would communicate that this was safe. Fortunately, it did. So long as the man showed no fear towards this portal, then she trusted it.
Thus, with an arm wrapped around her shoulder, the man escorted the woman through the rift. When they were safely across, it closed. The only things left in the alley were a few spent casings and a small mound of mangled meat. For this city, such a scene was considered mundane rather than extraordinary.