Gabriel silently aided you to adjust your jumpsuit so it would sit comfortably around your wings while you were busy coiling bandages around both your wrists. Mostly just to add classiness for the extermination, but also because there was a scarlet marking that had appeared there decades ago. Gabriel was the only one who knew of it, and he had agreed to keep quiet, which you were more than thankful for. You didn't know why, but something about it seemed off. As if it didn't belong up here. That if someone were to find out, that would be the end of your time here.
You had been redeemed and polished of your foul ways, never having slept with someone since you stepped foot into the gates. No, sex was not a sin, but abusing it and having intercourse with any man that offered a high enough price was. Besides, you didn't want to be reminded of your past life, so you simply threw the idea away and worked on reconstructing yourself into a better, cleaner person.
"(Y/n)," Gabriel spoke, his numerous eyes glancing at you as you were about to reach for the mask that hid your face during the exterminations. "How about some training beforehand?" he suggested in that strange voice of his, setting his hand over yours and pulling it away from the mask. You nodded. "It could be good for me. What do you wanna work on?" There was soft hum while he thought, his eyes soon landing on your roll of gauze. "Blind fighting. It will heighten your senses for when you cannot see a demon from behind." You listened in confusion, watching as he swiped the bandages from the vanity stand and began wrapping it over your eyes.
He led you to the center of the mostly empty room and released your hand, leaving you feeling a little confused. "Take off your shoes. Listen to my voice. Feel the vibrations through the ground," he explained, closing his numerous eyes. "Angels have delicate receptors for just about everything. This gives us a great advantage in combat." Hesitantly, you slipped your boots off and placed your bare feet on the wooden floors. "Turn to where I am," Gabriel told you. Then you felt the wood shiver, only slightly, when he stepped to the right, your body shifting to face him.
"Very good. Again." He repeated the process, though this time it was more difficult. He had very lightly slid across the floor to the left and backwards, but you still sensed the tingling in the bottom of your feet. "I'm sorry, Gabe, but how will this help me if I'm wearing shoes down in Hell?" you tried to reason, not removing the blindfold. "Feeling vibrations through the air. Though this comes with long hours of training, perhaps now would be a good time to start. For now, I wish for you to attack me. I'll move, you go on offense." Sighing, you pulled your spear from your back and placed one foot in front of the other, waiting for your instructor to move.
The smallest creak of a floorboard alerted you and you launched your weapon in the direction of the vibration, the pointed spear planting itself into the wall opposed to you. "Damn it," you hissed, the weapon manifesting in your hand once more. "Again," Gabriel instructed, his steps moving to the left this time. You charged in his direction but rammed into the wall, stumbling onto the floor. "Okay, ouch." Gabriel lifted you back onto your feet. "Again."
Your arms were heavy and tired by the time you had finally managed to aim correctly, Gabriel's lesson having seemed to drag on for hours. The extermination may have passed by then. "I'm impressed, (Y/n). Keep working and perhaps you'll be like the warriors up here." You nodded and stretched, hearing the echoing, yet satisfying, pops of your spine as you pushed your stomach forwards. "Now let us leave. The sirens will begin their cries in ten minutes," he said and left the room. You removed the blindfold and slipped your combat boots back on, snatching the LED mask from the vanity stand and adjusting it over your features.
"(Y/n)," Gabriel set his hand on your shoulder as you joined the other angels crowding at the portals' entrances, a timer set above it to count down the minutes until they would be opened. "Yes, Gabriel?"
"Be safe. I know I always say that, but it's dangerous down there," he whispered, knowing an Archangel had no business joining an extermination. "Ah, you worry too much. This isn't my first extermination! I'll be back unscathed, just you see!" you laughed and gave him a hug, your friend easily returning it and wrapping his wings around you. "Okay, but if you need help, call for me," he nodded just as the sirens began blaring and the portals tore open, angels already diving down into the pits below.
You filed down with them, snapping your wings open and plummeting to the depths of the underworld. Just as it had every single extermination before, your wrist began to ache slightly, but you could easily ignore it. You had always just assumed that it was a normal thing to happen, but when you had mentioned it to Gabriel after your thirteenth extermination, he gave you a funny look and asked to see your wrist. He had been just as clueless as you on the subject, but the both of you had agreed silence would be the best option at that moment. So, nobody else knew about it.
This year you were assigned to the Pride ring. Out of the ninety exterminations you've participated in, you had never had the honor to rid the souls of Lucifer's circle, so you were feeling rather energetic about the whole situation. Only experienced exterminators were allowed to dwell on the said circle, and you had finally made it to that title. Gabriel had trained you hard since you first arrived and often offered comfort to you when you spoke of him from your past life. He was like the kindest friend you've ever had. He was kind too, you had to remind yourself as you soared over the buildings, searching for a clearing to land in and start your cleanse.
You had tried so damn hard to get that god forsaken man out of your mind, but for ninety years, he plagued your thoughts and dreams, often holding you close to his chest while whispering hushed nothings into your ear or pinning you up against the wall with a shiv in his hand, grinning psychotically while he kissed you and dragged the blade along your stomach at the same time. You hated it. You hated every damn part of it. No matter how hard you tried though, he always came lurching back into your dreams with that horrifically wide smile and insane look in his honey amber eyes.
You hated him.
And yet, you still wished you could have made something out of your life with him when you were alive. You often found yourself yearning for his touch, hoping that one day you would have the chance of stumbling upon him down here. Yet you always shoved those thoughts far, far into the back of your mind and focused on the extermination. It was highly unlikely that you would encounter him — hell, it was possible that he had already been martyred down here for his voodooism. Or simply taken out by an exterminator. Either way, the odds were practically none. You just needed to stop thinking and get your head into the damn game.
-
Bells tolled. Demons shrieked. Blood splattered against the walls of every disheveled and torn up building. Corpses fell from the sky. The excitement in the air was almost too much to handle. The body of a sinner slowly slid off the end of your spear after being impaled through its disgusting little gut. The LED mask showed no emotion on it, only a horribly wide smile and you portrayed that exact same psychotic grin behind the black face covering. The curled horns beneath your thorned halo almost made you seem like one of the measly demons that resided here! You weren't. Of course, you weren't; and you hoped to Christ that you would never become one.
Exterminations always made you feel all tingly. Like you had all the freedom in the world. It was the one time of year when you could actually sin. Though killing the sinful most likely didn't qualify, it still felt incredible. Wings spread out, the light of the pentagram tainted your pure feathers scarlet like the blood of a foul one. Wind blew past your body as you dove into the pool of fleeing demons; the sound of bones crunching echoed within your ears when you landed on one. Smile growing wider, your wings flared out as you brought the spear down on a rather skimpy looking imp.
It never stood a chance. Even if the exterminations weren't a thing, it would have become a road pancake in just a couple more weeks. Smearing the blood away from your mask, you set your foot on the right side of its chest and yanked the weapon free from its ribs, the body lifting with the spear before dropping back onto the filthy street. You paused for a moment, unable to help the feeling of guilt in your chest. I'm becoming just like him.
Another bloodcurdling screech came from behind you, your negative thoughts vanishing as fast as they had come as a laugh began rising in your throat. There were only another twenty minutes until the extermination ended, and you were determined to kill what no angel had in centuries.
An overlord.
Launching yourself into the air like water shooting from a whale's blowhole, you barrel rolled through the sky in search of your prey. As far as you knew, only four overlords resided in the current ring. The three Vs, consisting of Velvette, the doll demon, Valentino, the headman of the whole porn studios — and a powerful pimp, and Vox, the TV demon. The most powerful overlord of the Pride ring. Hell! Maybe of all the damn rings! Not including Princes of course, such as Asmodeus or Stolas. Not a single angel was permitted to kill royalty, for it would be punishable by an excruciating death at the hands of Lucifer himself.
And then there was the frightful Radio Demon. No angel (or demon, for that matter) dared to speak his name, so you hadn't gotten that far, but that just made you all the more curious. That's why you wanted his head as a trophy and not the others. He must be pretty big and scary if demons trembled at the first vowel of his title, so why not give it a shot? What did you have to lose? Gabriel. You shook your head. He would be fine on his own.
From what you heard, Vox's power outmatched his, but the TV demon was far less aggressive and more out in the open about himself. The Radio Demon's wit was also far more cunning than Vox's, which was also a reason why you were aiming for him and not Vox. You wanted to prove that you could outsmart one of the most intelligent beings to have been thrown down here. Well — intelligent in terms of how-to-not-get-caught-red-handed, apparently, and in terms of battle strategy. Neither of those qualities mattered however, because you were going to kill him.
Shifting your wings, your gaze scored the grimy Earth below, searching for any sign of the sinner you were in search of. From what you heard he was pretty red. Literally. Apparently it's his favorite color and he totally embraced that, meaning he blended in far too well with the red landscape of the Pride ring, making it much more difficult to rule him out. Eyes flicking to the clock tower, you snarled. Seven minutes left. Your wings tilted downwards, sending you gliding towards the bloodied roads before you landed smoothly on the tarmac.
Normally angels weren't allowed to have targets, but you had been preparing yourself for this day for quite some time, and you weren't exactly sure if you would be able to last another year.
The spear in your hands glowed with angelic energy, your eyes raking along the deserted avenues of Hell. Then you heard it. A crackle of static echoed off the buildings, making your smile stretch wide as you whipped around to face him. Your wrist ached like Mary's pussy when she gave birth to a saint. "An angel? Here? Oh, what a surprise! I would have thought all of you had left when you realized you had cleared the area from the sinners!" His flamboyant voice was laced with a haze, making it seem as if he were speaking through some shitty walkie-talkie.
The demon had crimson red hair that reached about his chin and swooped to the left side of his face, two deer-esque ears of the same color with black tips standing erect upon his head while a set of tiny, black antlers crowned his skull like some sort of king. The ends of his hair were a deep black, eyes blazing a fiery red behind the monocle resting on the right side of his grayish face. He sported a tailored red overcoat — excluding the tail of it — that had paler stripes running down from the shoulders to the tail.
The center, where his chest was, was the same red as the stripes, black straps crossing over each other and disappearing inside his coat. The lapels were a deeper red, rimmed in white while a neat, black bowtie rested around his neck, a shiny red gemstone in the middle. Black slacks were worn along with shiny black dress shoes and black gloves, the fingertips red. In his right hand was a microphone-staff-thingy. You really didn't care. You did, however, care about that abnormally large smile on his face.
Yellow rows of teeth, sharper than daggers, glinted in the soft red light of Hell. They looked as if they could bite through anything without a problem. Like they could sink into your soul and tear it in two. It was terrifying. Yet, you had to admit, the man had style. Looked like something straight out of your era if you were being totally honest. He looks so familiar.
"Cleared the area from all the sinners except you," you spat, voice unidentifiable due to the mask on your face while you lifted your spear, slamming the blunt end of it onto the road. The aching only grew stronger. The Radio Demon laughed, "Ohhh, my little angel! You don't seem to quite understand. I am indomitable." You couldn't force back the words that slipped out, "Hm, that's a little kinky. You sure I can't dominate you?" The man clad in red raised a black brow, keeping that wide smile, "Oh, absolutely! I'd love to see you try! First, you'll have to catch me!" The man laughed joyously and took off down the streets, your wings unfurling as you launched after him. He kept a quick pace, but you were faster, your shaky hand reaching out and just barely grazing the back of his tailcoat before he vanished.
You could see the shadow slip into an alleyway, you following with a grin. Cornered. Unfortunately, when you turned into the same alley, he was nowhere to be found, a frown settling onto your face. That's when a weight hit your back and you were shoved up against the wall, a yell of surprise and pain shooting from your lips as you harshly swung him around and changed positions, the demon being pressed up against the bricks in front of you.
His lips were drawn back in a smiley snarl, your eyes finally managing to get a good look at him, scanning over his features. You stepped back, holding your spear to his throat. By now, the ache had spread until it felt as if your whole arm was broken, shaking uncontrollably as you kept the weapon pressed to his neck. Your brow raised behind the mask and then you made the worst of mistakes; you hesitated.
"Zandor?"
The Radio Demon's grin doubled in size and his head cocked to the left. "Not sure where you got that from, but no," he whispered, raising his hands and harshly squeezing both of your wrists, throwing you away from him. A white hot pain shot through your arm and caused you to drop the spear, a shriek of agony seizing your throat and echoing in the alleyway as you stumbled away from the overlord. His flaming red eyes grew in joy as he towered over your crumpled body, taking the weapon into his own hands and twirling it like he would his staff.
He knew damn well that just a single drop of angel's blood could give a demon an immense surge of power, but imagine a whole vial full, maybe even a bottle, or a canister! He would be able to challenge Lucifer himself and win with as little as a scratch on his chin! This was his chance! But he stopped, the bells singing lowly in the distance as you pushed yourself away from the stranger, the LED lights on your mask beginning to flicker out as you watched the other angels beginning to leave Hell.
Your wings spread, and just as you were about to take off, he dug his claws into the flesh of your shoulder and slammed you back down against the tarmac, holding you in place while he wrapped his hands around the base of your wings. "Let's make this quick, eh? I've always wanted a pair of these beauties on my wall," he cooed, slowly beginning to pull at the extensions as you struggled. "Gabriel!" you cried out just as the last few thousand angels were starting to return to paradise. You kicked the man away from you and snatched your spear into the hand that was free of pain, scrambling away and straightening your posture.
A white flash in front of your eyes and the Archangel shot out of a small gateway, tackling the overlord into the alley and allowing you a chance to get away, but the sounds of awfully vicious snarling and shrieks of static caused you to freeze, your hands curling into fists. Slowly you turned around to see Gabriel with the stag pinned up against the wall, the demon's smile wide despite how much he thrashed below the angel's grasp. Gabriel had a sharpened glaive held to his victim's throat, every single one of his eyes glowing brightly.
"Flee," he hissed in that strange, distorted voice he had spoken in when you first met him. The Radio Demon took a final glance at you before vanishing into the shadows, leaving Gabriel to return to you and engulf you in a hug. "Never frighten me like that again," his words were practically the breath of a whisper, lightly tickling your ear as you returned the embrace.
You didn't feel like crying, but you definitely felt awful for getting yourself into that situation. "I'm sorry," you mumbled into his white jumpsuit, but he said nothing more, simply hugging you for a short moment longer before leading you through his own portal.
{3256 words}