After Niffty's ever-delicious dinner, and Husk's reluctant promise, I made it a point to excuse myself earlier than usual to ensure I got a good night's rest. I kissed Niffty on the cheek as I left, which made her giggle. Angel tried to pull a similar move on Husk, with much less success.
As I closed the door to my suite behind me, Id spoke up for the first time since we had returned to the hotel.
"For fuck's sake, Ego, you're not actually thinking about flying up there to Heaven, are you?!"
I sighed and walked over to the full-length mirror as I answered.
"Id, I have to keep the hotel safe. In 190 days, the angels will come down to cleanse every-"
Id spoke up again, louder this time and with more anger.
"Oh, don't give me that heroic shit! What I wanna know is if this has something to do with the gap in your memory!"
I raised my eyebrows and looked down at my malignant shadow.
"Wait… what gap?"
Id scoffed.
"The one from earlier today. I'm usually able to read all the thoughts inside our squishy little head, but for some reason there's a gap from around when we were dragging fish dick back. Plus, ever since then you've been acting even weirder than usual."
I froze up and quickly turned from Id, looking at my wings in the mirror. I tried my best to reply in a way that seemed natural.
"Uh, maybe we both just forgot something? It was a stressful day after all…"
I tried my damndest to think about anything but the truth. The 'gap' in my memory was obviously my impromptu conversation with Vox; somehow him pausing everything erased everyone's memory but mine. I struggled to think about anything else without seeming too obvious that I was trying to avoid that thought. Id glared up at me from the corner of my eye. Flexing my wings, I watched as the rainbows from the chandelier above turned to deep purple sparkles on my plumage. Sighing once more, I returned to the original topic.
"I'm going to learn to fly to protect the hotel, Id. That's all."
A few tense moments passed before Id grumbled a response.
"Fuck it. Whatever hair-brained idea you have planned, it just better not get me airsick."
Keeping to my word, I awoke the next morning at the crack of dawn. Getting myself ready, I found that, even with the looming threat a few months away, I was genuinely excited to take to the skies. From what I understood, most flying demons entered Hell already knowing how to fly. It was apparently second nature to them, like running or swimming. I suppose I felt a similar sort of way: my wings moved how I wanted them to, spreading and folding as easily as I moved my fingers. Still, I needed Husk to tell me how to turn moving my wings into actually lifting my body up.
The lobby was empty once again, which was typical for the early mornings. As usual, I heard Husk snoring from behind the counter. I knew better than to wake him up, so instead I busied myself with my busboy duties: organizing the luggage carts, checking to make sure none of the tenants were leaving today, that sort of thing. After an hour or so I was out of immediate things to do, so I considered my plan. Glancing down at my feet, I saw that Id was half-asleep still, so I took the moment to organize my thoughts.
Id was right. Going straight to Heaven was suicidal at best, and likely to get the hotel destroyed ahead of schedule at worst. Even with my boiling blood and durability, the citizens of Heaven could still probably rip me to shreds. Plus they scared the shit out of me on a personal level. If I was going to keep the people I care about safe, I was going to need weapons and armor. Luckily for me, the best inventor I knew lived right below me. Making sure Husk wasn't about to wake up, I quietly walked over to the service elevator and pressed the button for the basement.
The moving shadows coming from under Baxter's laboratory door hinted that either he was awake, or one of his experiments had gotten loose. I raised my hand and knocked on the door three times.
"Hey, Bax! It's me, Ego. Can I come in?"
The shadow stopped and hobbled towards the door. With much less unusual vigor than was typical, Baxter opened the door. I nearly recoiled from the sight of him: he looked positively hungover, with baggy eyes and an ice pack held against his temple. He looked at me wearily.
"Yes, yes. Come in, my compatriot…"
He slowly turned around and shuffled back to his workbench, mumbling to me as I entered.
"I'm afraid you'll have to excuse the catastrophic mess. The intense societal interaction yesterday has ravaged my psyche to the point of near-madness."
Glancing around the room I couldn't tell if the lab was actually any more or less of a jumbled collection of gadgets than usual. Turning back to Baxter I saw that he was pouring some brown liquid into a mug from what looked like a test tube. He picked it up and gestured in my direction.
"Care for some coffee? My own special blend of netheroot, ligaments and nutmeg. Tastes far better than it sounds, I assure you."
I smirked. He was still Baxter.
"No thanks, Baxter, I'm plenty awake already."
Baxter shrugged and sipped his mug. A moment or two passed in silence before I opened my mouth to speak again. However, befound I could, Baxter gently placed down his mug on the workbench and spoke in a somber tone.
"I assume you're here to discuss something related to the temporal anomaly that occured yesterday?"
I quickly shut my mouth and stared at him. As usual Baxter was three steps ahead of me. I simply stood there as he continued, his usual enthusiasm slowly returning, this time mixed with a bit of odd seriousness.
"Approximately 24 minutes after I lapsed into a trauma-induced pseudo-coma, my scanners indicate that the time-space continuum had a temporal abnormality in which a section of the universal timeline was effectively removed from causality. This so-called 'gap' in the universe lasted for approximately 16 minutes and 36 seconds before reality resumed its natural pace."
I stared at him flabbergasted.
"How… how can you tell all that if you… if we're all in the timeline or whatever?"
Baxter smirked slightly and swiveled in his chair, looking at me with that usual gleam in his eye.
"Why, because I analyzed you of course, my woefully ignorant ally!"
I froze up, making him giggle-snort in response. Once he calmed down I tried to laugh with him, but it was clearly forced. From the sounds of it Baxter definitely knew that something happened, but I doubt he knew how serious things were. I jutted into the laughter.
"Heh, so, uh, what about me tipped you off?"
Baxter took a more hearty swig of his vile coffee before replying.
"Oh, I make it a point to run various scans on all of the hotel's denizens during the night. Heat signatures, vapor emissions, neurological activity, that sort of thing. In this case my readings were indicating that the quarks in your body happened to be approximately 16 minutes older than those in every other demon's body."
I had known Baxter long enough to not be phased by the reveal that he was scanning everyone with weird machines. Instead I was simply dreading the obvious question to follow. Baxter took a long drink before turning to look at me, as serious as I had ever seen him.
"Ego. Judging by your pre-existing knowledge of this gap, I'm sure you were conscious of the events that occurred during the temporal freeze. So, then… what happened?"
I tried to look him in the eye, but could only manage staring at his tacky shoes as I stumbled for a response.
"I… Baxter, I can't… tell you…"
Suddenly a beeping on a monitor to Baxter's left made me look up. Baxter glanced at it then snorted once again.
"Ah. Just as I suspected. Your increased body temperature, cardiovascular activity and respiratory fluctuations all indicate that, for one reason or another, revealing the event or events that unfolded in that time would go beyond simple embarrassment to the realm of endangering us."
My best friend raised his hand to his chin, pondering the situation as I stared at him in awe.
"If I had to surmise, this temporal event was most likely a targeted attack at you specifically from some powerful paranormal force; a fearsome demon, perhaps, or an angelic presence. Regardless of the source, you, Ego, were likely targeted due to your powerful abilities and, as such, you are now being blackmailed into an oath of secrecy, lest you bring down the wrath of whatever force is controlling you."
He took another sip from his mug before looking back at me with that same gleam.
"Of course, you should not, or perhaps physically cannot, reveal any specific details, so simply shake or nod your head in response: am I correct, Ego?"
I felt tears of relief starting to well in my eyes. In so many convoluted words, Baxter had relieved me of the crushing loneliness of my situation. Even if he didn't know the exact details, he didn't need to; he had figured out everything without me telling him. I frantically nodded in agreement. Baxter smirked and got to his feet once more, notably more at-ease than a few minutes ago.
"In that case, old chum, if you are to face off against some sort of horrendous spectral force, you're going to need some of the armaments I've been concocting just for an event such as this! This way!"
I excitedly followed Baxter over to a rather large padlocked cabinet, the sort of thing you might expect to see in a highschool chemistry lab. I watched as Baxter reached into his own mouth and, without missing a beat, unscrewed one of his teeth. Pulling out his tooth I saw that the bottom was shaped like some sort of spiral key, which he then inserted into the padlock. At this point I couldn't help but speak up.
"Sweet Satan, Baxter, how many of your teeth are keys?!"
Baxter finished unlocking the cabinet and shrugged before returning his tooth.
"Oh, only a couple of them. Most of them serve other functions."
I decided to drop it as he slowly opened the bland-looking cabinet. My eyes widened at the contents, which were anything but boring. The first thing to catch my eye was a large serrated blade, roughly the size of a machete, which extended diagonally across the back wall of the cabinet. It seemed to catch the eerie light from the lab at odd angles, almost as if it were moving on its own. Each individual tooth on the edge was like a small prism, twisting the light into brilliant patterns. Eventually my eyes wandered to the rest of the cabinet. A sort of ammo belt was positioned at roughly waist height. It was made out of some sort of reddish-brown, leather-like material, and had five small pouches along the outside. However, instead of bullets or grenades, each pocket had a small palm-sized flask of white goo. I realized in shock that each of those flasks contained Baxter's mixture of my blood and the pure angelic energy. I gulped when I realized that they were, in fact, grenades. Finally I looked at the bottom of the cabinet which, somewhat anticlimactically, was just housing what looked like a simple rag.
After a few minutes of gawking I looked back at Baxter.
"Wow… so, you just made these on the off chance I would be contacted by some evil force?"
Baxter shrugged once again.
"Yes. That, and I do enjoy crafting implements of destruction. Now, allow me to run you through your arsenal. As tradition would have it, I shall save the best for last…"
Kneeling down, Baxter picked up the rag from the bottom of the case. It was navy blue in color, and as he held it up to the light I saw that it shimmered with a sort of wave-like glow.
"This innocuous rag is a specially designed hyper-absorbent nano-particle cloth."
He handed it to me gently, and I picked it up expecting it to explode or something. Instead it felt like a normal dish rag. I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Wait, so… you made a Shamwow?"
Baxter sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Always the juvenile, Ego. This is no mere sponge! The fine crystalline structure is only designed to soak up blood of any sort, be it demon, angel or mortal. It is intended to stop the bleeding you induce on yourself when using the B.L.A.D.E. faster than normal cloth. Additionally, it can be used to neutralize our next weapon."
I looked down at the cloth and Baxter took out the belt. To be fair to the fishy genius, he didn't say it was the most exciting, and it was probably going to be useful. I looked back up as Baxter delicately held the belt. He nodded down at the material itself.
"The base of this belt is made from the hide of the rare Daemonicus Pinkarus, or Pinky in layman's terms. Their hide is extremely durable, able to withstand thousands of tons of pressure before showing any wear, while still being remarkably light. That isn't the key feature, though…"
Baxter took out one of the flasks of goo. He grinned cheekily as he held it up to me, much to my dismay.
"Um, Baxter, is that the angel goop?"
My friend cackled and snorted worryingly.
"Precisely! Consider each of these flasks a miniature nuclear bomb! Simply chuck it at any source of demonic energy and watch as it gets annihilated…"
Baxter looked off into space thoughtfully.
"Although, truth be told you may not want to look directly at the target as they are struck. Even though you are largely immune to this substance in your new hybrid state, you may go blind from the flash…"
I carefully took the flask from him, put it back in the belt, and put the whole things off to the side.
"Riiiight… well, if I need to destroy an entire city I'll know what to use… So, what about…"
I looked back at the sword. I felt almost entranced by it, as if it were calling out to me. I heard Baxter cackle from my peripheral vision.
"Ohoho, you do have an eye for the finer things after all!"
As he reached out to take the machete, he made sure not to touch the edge even slightly. This time he handed the item to me before explaining. I gripped the handle, which was made of that same red-brown hide of some poor demon, and tested the weight. Somewhat to my surprise, it felt perfectly balanced, as if it had been made perfectly for me; although, knowing the data Baxter likely had on everyone, he probably checked my bone structure when making it. Still, it felt exceptional to hold, and moving it around was a treat. From up close the actual blade was even more beautiful: the base metal was some sort of white steel, like polished marble, which each tooth of the blade was like quartz. Upon closer inspection I saw that the teeth weren't actually affixed directly to the blade; in fact, it seemed more like a chainsaw, with individual spikes strapped to a chain that looped around the outer edge before entering a hole at the tip and exiting a hole near the handle. I glanced over at Baxter in sheer awe.
"Baxter… holy shit… what even is this?"
Baxter snorted triumphantly.
"That, my friend, is perhaps one of the most fantastic inventions I have ever made… in the last month."
He pointed to the white metal.
"This alloy is of my own design: a combination of Alabaster Angelite and fumes infused using Sorrowful Sulfur. The combination of fallen angelic metal and pure hellish gases lends itself to a metal that is as strong as it is stunning. I figured that a half-breed metal would be perfectly suited for a demiangel such as yourself."
He gave me a knowing wink before continuing, this time pointing at the blades themselves.
"Now for the 'business end', as it were. Each of these small blades has been individually crafted from Prismatic Obsidian, a rare and incredibly sharp material created from the cooling of primordial magma. It is one of only three materials able to truly kill an angel and/or a demon, the others being the yet-unknown metal that encompases Exterminator tools, and a scathing insult about one's mother!"
Baxter snorted loudly, enjoying his own joke while I stared on in amazement. Once he cooled down again I sputtered out a question.
"Bax… where in Hell did you get any of this stuff?!"
Baxter shrugged once again, as if my question were idiotic.
"Oh, once you start to learn the ins and outs of the scientific community, nothing is too difficult to acquire. In fact, I was able to get quite a nice deal on that obsidian in exchange for a few bags of my coffee. The offer still stands to try some, it is quite good."
I blinked slowly, trying to wrap my head around someone selling a material that can kill angels for coffee. Nevertheless, Baxter grinned once more and continued.
"You have yet to see the true beauty, Ego! Press the button on the grip!"
I snapped out of it and looked down. Sure enough, below where I had instinctively put my thumb was a small button. I depressed my thumb slightly, and suddenly the blade whirred to life. The glimmering teeth began to rapidly move along the length of the blade before vanishing into the blade itself and re-emerging at the base. The machete was suddenly a single-handed chainsaw, but more than that, it was a sight to behold. The glimmering obsidian caught the light perfectly, which then reflected to the next blade, and so one and so on. The entire blade was soon basked in a stunning, shifting rainbow of colors. Baxter and I stood there and watched in awe as my weapon purred away, an almost inaudible whirring accompanying the spectacle.
Eventually I pulled myself together and pressed the button once again, which slowed the teeth to a halt. Moments passed in stunned silence as Baxter and I took in his work. Eventually I broke the silence in a whisper.
"...Wow…"
Baxter giggle-snorted.
"Told you it was my best work yet. However, it is missing something…"
I looked at him.
"What could it be missing? It's perfect."
Baxter smirked back at me.
"It's missing a name, Ego. If you are going to defend this place from some unfathomable force, you'll need a weapon that is worthy of legends. All legendary weapons need a name. I left that part up to you."
I looked down at my new blade, musing aloud to myself as I pondered.
"It's going to be with me in battle… ripping and tearing through anything and everything… ripping and tearing… rip 'n' tear…"
I smiled at my reflection in the white metal. A half-breed reflecting a half-breed.
"...Repenter. It's the Repenter."
Baxter chuckled softly.
"So it is."
Suddenly the clock on the wall chimed with a small mechanical bird. I looked up in shock.
"Wait, how long have I been here?! What about Husk?!"
Baxter waved his hand flippantly at my concern.
"Oh, please. The drunkard feline doesn't wake until at least 2 in the afternoon. You still have…"
Baxter glanced at his writchwatch.
"...7 minutes… oh dear."
I froze for a moment before panic set in. I slid Repenter into its sheath, slung it over my back, then picked up the duffel bag Baxter had made to hold the belt and cloth. I shouted back at Baxter as I dashed to the elevator.
"Thanks for everything, Baxter! I owe you one!"
Baxter shouted back from the doorway.
"Oh please, the data you provided on the temporal anomaly is more than enough repayment! I'll have that time machine up and working in no time!"
I decided not to wonder if he was kidding or not as I mashed the 'up' button on the service elevator.
