KNOCK KNOCK
Ugh, what time was it? Too early, she knew that much for sure. Although she hadn't worked herself to a bloody, sweaty mess yesterday like her companions, which she couldn't even if she wanted to, Katie still felt exhausted to the point of death. But the reason behind this fatigue was one she couldn't share with anyone unless she wanted to start another war on top of the one they were preparing themselves to fight in.
During the night, as she slept, her mind was consumed by that moment. When she couldn't hold back anymore and decided that no matter what consequences may come from it, she was going to show the Slayer how much she appreciated him for all he'd done for her. Though, that wasn't to imply having that brief intimate exchange between them playing on repeat in her head was wrong; if anything, it helped her to have the best sleep of her entire life so far.
KNOCK KNOCK
But then you had THIS. FUCKING. PRICK. Katie didn't know WHO they were or WHY they were here, and frankly, she couldn't give a piss about either. She was trying her hardest to ignore it, to continue living in that memory where she sat on top of the Slayer before leaning forward and passionately-
KNOCK KNOCK
"ALRIGHT!" She shouted in a full-blown RAGE, sitting upright in her bed as she did, "I AM COMING! IF YOU KNOCK ON THAT DOOR ONE MORE GODDAMN TIME, I WILL FORCE-FEED YOU THAT ARM!" She threatened.
Springing up from her bed in such a way it'd scare dogs and make children cry, she stomped over to the door only to fling it open with a look of pure murder on her face. Standing there was a Sentinel, clad in the standard armor, but what was amazing is that they seemed to be wary of her. Which, if we're honest, is a perfectly natural reaction to waking up a woman so early in the morning.
"M-Miss Killjoy, is that correct?" They asked, wanting to make sure they found the right room.
"..." Katie remained silent, staring at them in the same way a tiger would before pouncing on its prey.
"I-I'll take that as a yes..." They said before clearing their throat, "I was sent here by the Slayer. He asked me to deliver something to you." They informed.
Bam, in the blink of an eye, Katie's attitude changed. She went from a ticking time bomb ready to explode to an embarrassed yet charming woman in less than a second.
"Oh...Will...sent me something..." She said, "I'm sorry for trying to bite your head off just now. I thought you were an asshole." She apologized.
"No, please, don't be sorry, Miss Killjoy. I can understand how frustrating it must be to wake up so early from someone knocking on your door." They replied before summoning a package from their suit's inventory, "Believe me; I wouldn't dare to disturb anyone at this hour if it wasn't a request from his majesty." They told her.
"Right...his majesty..." She muttered, momentarily forgetting the Slayer was royalty here, "So, what'd he send me? Is it something for my suit?" She asked while taking the decent-sized parcel from them.
"No, mam. Honestly, no one in the forge or myself knows what's in that. From what the forgers say, the king came into the forge last night, took to a workbench and requested privacy, and only a few minutes ago did he finish what he was working on." They explained.
"It took him all night to make this?..." She thought with widened eyes, "Well, thank you. I'll be sure to show my appreciation when I see him later." She promised.
With their task completed and nothing more to be spoken, the Sentinel gave a salute across their chest then took their leave. Waiting until they were out of sight before closing the door and going back inside, Katie stared at the box she held in her hands as her mind rapidly filled with ideas of what it could be.
"Okay...breathe, Katie, breathe..." She told herself in her head as she let out a slow and heavy sigh, "Don't act like that airhead, Verosika...whatever's in this box isn't going to be something stupid like a dress or jewelry...Will's a practical guy...but...he also has great taste..." She remembered, thinking of that stunning dagger he gave her last night, which she had on the table next to her bed, "Alright, enough pussy-footing around...just open the damn box and stop acting like you're in middle school!" She commanded.
Opening the box with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, what Katie found inside left in the same state her previous gift did. A sheath, a CUSTOM-MADE sheath, that was clearly meant to go with the curved dagger the Slayer had gotten her. The make of it was a fine smooth red leather, meant to match the color of her clothes, with a solid gold buckle strap that snapped together to help keep the weapon secured inside. Yet the crowning detail of the sheath was the engraving; yes, he fucking ENGRAVED it with a laser of some kind.
It had her name written on both sides, which she'd learn later, and on both sides of the name were blades that resembled those on her extra arms. And while this was enough to bring her to tears, to her surprise, there was something else inside of the box besides the sheath, and it was a note. Which she carefully picked up and read.
Katie, sorry for the sudden surprise. It donned on me after we parted ways for the night you didn't have a way to carry the dagger comfortably while also concealing it so the others won't freak out. So, I decided to make something that'd blend well with your clothes, would be comfortable to wear, and wouldn't appear as a strange bulge through your attire. I hope this isn't weird and that you like what I ended up making.
Ps, Don't expect anything else. This still counts as your reward for doing so well with your training. If you want more, then don't die when we fight the demons. I plan to get something for everyone if they manage that as well. See you at breakfast.
Letting out a few chuckles at how the note ended didn't take away from the few tears that left Katie's eyes by the time she was done.
"No, Will...it's not weird..." She said quietly as she set the piece of paper down, taking the sheath from the box afterward and hugging it due to how happy this made her, "Not weird at all..." She added while closing her eyes, wanting to savor this like what happened last night.
...
...A Few Hours Later...
...
"Rise and shine, everyone!" Charlie called out as she twirled through the hallway their rooms were in.
You'd think the princess of pep would be met with the same animosity Katie had shown the Sentinel earlier, but the key difference between them was the time. No longer was it earlier morning, somewhere akin to four or five AM, instead it was an appropriate start of the day, sitting at around eight to nine. This was a significant difference, as it meant that Charlie wouldn't have to start running for her life from an angry mob of her friends trying to kill her. As for where Vagatha was during this, since they shared a room, surprise, surprise, she was the one who took longer in the mornings rather than the literal princess.
"Man, I tell ya, Cherri. I'm still not sure how I should sleep with these things." Angel Dust admitted as he and his gal pal came out of their room, "Laying on my back, on my side, both seem to work. But FUCK me if I try sleeping face down with these honkers." He said while holding up his "baggage."
"I know. It must be tough for you since you're so used to sleeping that way." She replied, for ONCE not making some innuendo but was being serious. Angel had always preferred to sleep face down in his pillow, and now that was hard for him.
"Good morning~" Stolas greeted in a sing-song way as he exited his room, "Blitzy will be out in a moment. He likes to take his time making sure he's presentable." He explained.
"HA! HIM? PRESENTABLE?" Verosika questioned, having heard him as she, Octavia, and Stella all came out of their shared room at the same time.
"I'm surprised you didn't say that." He admitted, referring to his ex.
"She beat me to it," Stella replied.
"Although to be fair, she IS getting better at not jumping at every opportunity," Octavia said in her mother's defense.
"Fucking...shit...how are all of you so goddamn cheery in the morning...like ALL the fucking time?..." Husk asked as he begrudgingly was gently shuffled out of his room by Azrael.
"Don't mind him. He was having a good dream and didn't want to wake up." Azrael told them.
"Aww, is someone a sourpuss?" Cherri teased in her usual manner.
"I am not above hitting a woman." He warned, NOT in the mood for this.
"Ah, Cherri's a cunt, so she's feeling fine." Sir Pentious said as he, Vox, and a well-rested Velvet walked out of their room.
"How're you feeling, Velvet?" Charlie asked the moment she saw her.
"Great! I've got my energy back, and I'm ready for more magic!" She zestfully answered.
"Considering you took an express tour through all of Hell yesterday, I think you've had enough magic for a while," Vox told her.
"Aw, come on, Vox! I've got my head on my shoulders, my toes on my feet, and my eyeballs firmly in their sockets!" She pointed out.
"...Your argument against my statement is...that everything which should be where it is...IS where it is?" He questioned, dumbfounded by her logic.
"Hey, personally, I'll take my Velvet in one serving rather than several." Sir Pentious said.
"See? Pentious agrees with me!" She exclaimed triumphantly.
"...You two worry me SO much..." He sighed.
"Hey, how come radio boy hasn't come out yet?" Angel Dust asked.
"He left at the same time Nifty did. Wanting to spend some quality time with her or something." Husk answered.
"How do you know that?" He inquired.
"Because that fucking psychopath tried waking me up before princess dimples over here." Husk explained as he pointed to Charlie with his thumb.
"I...actually like that nickname," Charlie said in astonishment; something about it just resonated with her.
"Oh no, what did I miss?" Vagatha asked as she finally came out of their room, ready to start the day.
"Nothing much; we've just been talking about who's not here." Angel Dust answered.
"Yeah, Blitzo's still getting ready because he needs the extra work. But Gabriel, the Hellhound, the other two Imps, Daisy, and that one chick are no shows." Verosika mentioned.
"You remembered Daisy's name, but not Loona's?" Octavia questioned.
"One is the beloved pet of MY beloved boyfriend; the other is a scarier version of a wolf." She explained.
"Where is Gabriel, by the way?" Stella wondered, "He was the one who woke us up yesterday." She recalled.
"He left to go talk with Will, his grandpa, and the Wretch," Charlie informed, "Which, I still don't feel right calling him by that name." She admitted.
"Hey, to each their own. I'm named after a narcotic, and I fucking OWN it." Angel Dust flaunted.
"Right, but that wasn't your name on earth." Vagatha pointed out.
"I also didn't have these sweet tits back on earth, but look at me now~" He countered.
"Alright, alright, settle down, everyone. I'm here." Blitzo said as he FINALLY came out of his bedroom.
"Whelp, I'm leaving," Verosika responded as she walked away.
"Don't leave me here with him!" Stella exclaimed, following right behind her.
"I'll go with them, make sure nothing happens," Octavia said before doing the same.
"Oh! Via!" Stolas called out to stop her, "Do you know where Loona is? Did she leave early as well?" He asked.
"Yeah, she said she wanted to go talk to Will about the stuff those two are making for her and Daisy." She answered while pointing at Vox and Sir Pentious, "And before you ask, I don't I know what's keeping Millie and Moxxie. I think they may have left early too." She said before hurrying off to catch up to her mom and Verosika.
"Why would she go speak to Will about MY inventions?! If she wants to know about them, I'll tell her myself!" Sir Pentious exclaimed before rushing out of the barracks to find her.
"OUR inventions! How many times are you going to ignore my participation?" Vox asked as he ran after him.
"LET ME HAVE THE GLORY FOR ONCE!" They heard Sir Pentious shout back.
"Today looks like it's going to be LOTS more fun than yesterday!" Velvet said with a laugh before following them.
"Well, unless I've lost track in the mayhem, the only one that's left we need to check on is Katie," Vagatha noted.
"No. I'm here! No need to send the calvary." She quickly replied as she came out of her room.
"What took you so long this morning? It's not like you need to piss or shit like the rest of us." Cherri asked.
"My, what a wonderful insight into your morning routines." She told her, "As for what took me so long, I was waiting for the circus to leave town." She explained.
"I feel that on so many different levels..." Husk sighed, earning him a playful tussling of the fur on his head from Azrael.
"Okay, everyone! Now that we're mostly accounted for let's get breakfast!" Charlie directed before leading the way.
"Careful, Charlie. Your manager is showing." Angel Dust joked as they each followed behind her.
Continuing to chat with each other about various things as they headed for the dining hall, Katie, who was in the back of the group, felt a small amount of relief as no one noticed anything different about her appearance. Which is exactly what the Slayer hoped for.
Elsewhere, At The Forge...
"You know something, Slayer? Back in the earliest days of my investigation into both you and the Maykr race, I believed you to be a lunatic. An unhinged madman with the power of a god going around doing as you saw fit with a firearm in one hand and a power tool in the other. But now that you've shown me the strategy you've come up with for our offense against the Dark One, I can safely say that you are not a lunatic. You're suicidal." Gabriel told him with his arms crossed.
Everyone inside the forge, and I do mean EVERYONE, was gathered around the Slayer, Gabriel, the forge master, BJ, and the Wretch. Earlier that morning, Samur had arrived to start adding the Argent filters to the gateways. Currently, he was still doing so by himself, allowing them to go over a plan. And while Gabriel saw the Slayer's idea to be a reckless endeavor that threw all caution to the wind, the forgers and forge master all saw it as a brilliant tactic, but not because he was their king and they were blindly following him.
"Forgive me, archangel. But I have to disagree." She spoke up to take her king's side, "No one in all of creation knows our enemies better than our king. He understands their minds, what they'll be expecting, and although as stated, my knowledge isn't anywhere close to his, I of my own will and opinion believe this approach is sound." She said.
"He wants us to use the gateways to infiltrate the Gore Nests immediately. So we won't be walking onto a battlefield and work our way towards them; we'll be in the thick of it from the start behind enemy lines!" He argued, "And we don't know if that is even possible! Don't we have to have some form of an idea of the location we wish to be sent to? Otherwise, the Argent could deliver us to any place on the planet!" He pointed out.
"But we do have that, Gabriel." The Wretch interjected, "Although our attempts to sabotage the nests failed. The data the drones sent back to the Khans and Samur was kept. So we have all the details we need to make precise insertions and begin our attack." He informed.
"That still doesn't change the fact we are going to be in the middle of our enemy's army! We'll have everything from Barons and Mancubi to Hell Knights and Arachnotrons crashing down on top of us!" He countered.
"You're acting as if we'd be sending anyone within our group without proper leadership..." Finally, the Slayer spoke, causing EVERYONE to be as quiet as possible, "There are five Gore Nests...with the sixth housing what's left of the Dark One's soul...this means that I, my grandfather, the Wretch, you, and Samur will lead a team..." He explained.
"Wait, he's coming with us?" Gabriel asked.
"Yes...but for more details...could you handle it, Wretch?..." He responded, turning it over to the demon.
"Of course." The Wretch accepted, "Samur's body is modifiable. So he can alter it however he sees fit for combat purposes. However, he can also wield any weapons given to him with flawless proficiency. The strength and durability of his current body are on par with that of a mech made by the Sentinels. And, above all else, his intellect and insight as to what our foes may be planning with the addition of these brains in the Gore Nests are invaluable." He told him.
"Still, the idea of being deployed in this manner doesn't sit well with me. We'll have no element of surprise, the fighting will start the moment we step through those portals, and we'll have nowhere to fall back to until the nests are destroyed. So I will agree that your plan isn't bad, Slayer. And now that I know more details, my mind isn't as perturbed. But it's still perilous, and while I have faith in our allies and their training, I can't ignore the pit in my soul." Gabriel said.
"I have the same feeling...believe me..." The Slayer assured, "But...we have to hit them where it hurts the most from the get-go...I am intent on ending this for the last time..." He told him.
"Excuse me." BJ interrupted, "There's something we haven't talked about, the hostages. Do we know where they're keeping them?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, none of the drones deployed detected any signs of human life. Speaking from my personal insight of how the Dark One thinks, those innocent people are most likely being kept in the sixth nest. This way, the Sentinel ships and fortresses surrounding the planet wouldn't immediately bombard it in the event we learn where he's being kept." The Wretch suggested.
"That sounds about right..." The Slayer agreed.
"So, what's the plan for getting them out of there?" BJ inquired.
"We deal with the nests first...destroy every means they have to produce more demons...the Dark One will hold onto those hostages until the very last chance they have to be useful...at that point, we will have to change our approach to try and extract them..." He said.
"If I may." The voice of Samur spoke up from behind them, causing everyone to look and see the robotic Seraph standing there, having finished his work on the gateways allowing him to join them, "I might be the solution to this problem." He began as he walked over.
"How so, Samur?" The Wretch asked.
"After we finished work on the filters yesterday, a thought occurred to me to create a method of pulling a single person through realities using the gateways." He continued, now standing at the table they have gathered around, "A tether system if you will. It allows the gateways to focus on a specific entity regardless of size, shape, weight, etc. And the most convenient aspect is that no extra equipment must be given to the intended target. All that is required is someone who is tethered to the gateway themselves to interact with the individual. So, if I were to enter the sixth Gore Nest discretely, I could start sending the humans out in mass." He explained.
"But there's a billion of them, right? Won't that be next to impossible? Or take too long?" BJ questioned.
"Unfortunately, that number is no longer accurate." He revealed, "When they took control of the earth, the Dark One and his Marauders made a show of how many people were still alive. But as time has passed, we saw less of the hostages than we did initially. Combine this with the data obtained by the drones in the nests they were deployed, and the only conclusion we can reach is that most of them are dead in some form. Whether that be as corpses, possessed, or added to the flesh of the Super Gore Nest. I do believe that there are still SOME hostages, but nowhere near a billion anymore." He said, "Also, regarding the quantity, whatever it may be now. The tether system works both ways, meaning that once I locate the remaining hostages, the forge master can send Sentinel forces to my location to help with the extraction process." He added.
"It makes me sick to my stomach at how many people are gone. But if there are still some alive, then we need to prioritize them first." BJ replied.
"Samur, you said the nests that the drones were deployed in. Were you not able to access all five of them?" Gabriel asked.
"Quite perceptive of you." He confirmed, "However, because of Velvet's remarkable discovery for how the Argent may be used to travel. And that the Gore Nests are the same in their structure, anatomy, and power. I give you my word that we can deploy in all five without any issues or complications. I've run several simulations to ensure our safety." He promised.
"I don't doubt that, Samur. I'm simply trying to ease my troubled mind." Gabriel said.
"Alright, I think that covers everything we need to talk about..." The Slayer spoke again, "We have some finer details to work out...such as who will be sent with what team...but if it's acceptable to everyone, I'd like to handle that myself...since the bulk of those getting deployed with us I've seen their performance first hand...excluding those trained by the Wraiths, that is..." He requested.
"No objections here," BJ said.
"I trust your judgment." The Wretch said.
"As do I," Samur said.
"That makes four," Gabriel said.
"Good...then we're done..." The Slayer told everyone, "I'd prefer if we hold off deployment until tomorrow morning...but it's clear that as we're making plans, so too are our enemies...so if anything happens before then we'll move it up to tonight...until either time get everything ready..." He concluded with one last order.
All of the Sentinels there, including the forge master, saluted him and shouted "YES, SIR!" to show they understood. And with that, they all went their separate ways to handle different things, with the Slayer heading out of the forge to go check in with his friends. But to his surprise, the first step out of the forge had him run into two of them.
"Loona?..." He greeted, both the Hellhound and Daisy were sitting outside of the building a few feet from the twin doors.
"Hey, Will." She responded as she got up from the ground, Daisy in her usual spot in one of her arms, "I wanted to talk to you about the stuff you're having made for me and the fluff ball here. But I saw you were having a meeting about ya know, the war, so I waited for ya." She explained.
"Ah..." He sounded before walking over to her, "Did you happen to hear anything?..." He asked.
"...Can I be honest?" She asked herself, to which he nodded, "I've got the hearing of a Hellhound. And since it was as quiet as a graveyard in there, I pretty much heard it all." She confessed.
"Well...that's probably for the best...saves me the time of explaining it to you two..." He said, which made her chuckle.
"Yeah, that's going to be fun trying to explain this shit to the others." She replied.
"As for your gear, I'm afraid I can't say anything about...only Pentious and Vox..." He stopped halfway.
"Will? Did something happen?" She asked.
Raising his arm and pointing behind her, Loona's eyes shot wide open as she saw Sir Pentious slithering up a storm, Vox running behind him, and Velvet running behind both of them while laughing, as they all were headed in their direction.
"THERE YOU ARE!" Sir Pentious shouted at her specifically while pointing, "HE KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT MY GENIUS!" He exclaimed, referring to the Slayer.
"OUR GENIUS!" Vox corrected yet again, starting to worry that this was going to become a bad habit.
"HI WILL! HI LOONA! HI DAISY!" Velvet greeted with a grin as she waved like a maniac, not a care in the world for why they were running.
"Good to see that those three are their usual selves..." The Slayer said, a few seconds before the trio reached them.
"WHY would you come to HIM when I-" Sir Pentious stopped, for even he in his stubborn ways could share the spotlight, "Ahem, WE are making your gear?" He asked, which brought a smile to Vox's face.
"Thank you," Vox said.
"I woke up early and knew that Will was at the forge." She answered with a shrug.
"How come?" Velvet asked since Loona usually was one of the heavier sleepers.
"I heard someone shouting a few hours ago...sounded like a woman, but I was too out of it to know who it was in our group..." She answered, doing her best to try and remember how the voice sounded.
"...Huh...must've been...Verosika...sounds like something she'd do..." The Slayer suggested, hoping to throw her off.
"Hmm...yeah. You're right." She agreed, "Octavia says she talks in her sleep about you, so she probably got WAY too excited during a dream." She reasoned.
"Yeah, sounds like her..." He said, "But keeping things on track...how is their gear coming along?..." He asked Sir Pentious.
"Excellent! We got most of the work done before coming back yesterday, we just need to do some final touches, and it'll be ready for the fight!" The snake demon answered.
"That's good...we may have to ship out sooner than expected..." He admitted.
"Oh? Has something happened?" Vox inquired.
"Not yet...but when doesn't it with us?..." He responded with another question.
"Hm, true. It seems all of us combine are a magnet for trouble." Vox agreed, "Should we discuss it more on our way to breakfast?" He suggested.
"Sounds good..." The Slayer said as they then headed to the dining hall together.