Chapter 1: The Beast

As the blood-red Sun rose over Imp City, two demons made their way down one of the many decrepit streets that were more akin to a warzone than any residential area on Earth. Broken glass, trash, and splatters of blood and various other bodily fluids covered most of the street, and the buildings were all pockmarked with bullet holes and the charred aftermath of countless explosions.

"Look at this fuckin' mess. This is the third time this month that cocksucka' Pentious has blown the fuck outta our territory."

"Fighting with that bitch Cherri, right?"

"Yep. Hot piece of ass. But not even close to hot enough to make this mess worth it. I've been thinkin' a hefty bounty on their heads would solve our problem well enough."

"Well sure but the problem is finding mothafuckas' dealing in Heaven-forged weaponry or Hellfire rounds these days. Does that local group do it? I know they got a portal to Earth, figured they'd..."

"Blitzo's group? No way those fuckin' assclowns have anything capable of whackin' a demon. It's run by imps for Satan's sake."

"While that is true, Tommy. I still think we should run it by em. Just to get the word out, you know?" There was a brief pause as the demon seemed to be pondering something "Actually, now that I think about it, I heard about some fellas down in the Ninth Circle that salvaged some weaponry from the Exterminators after the last purge."

"Glad you finally decided to start thinking, Henry. Go ahead and hit those Ninth guys up about that. Blitzo can wait till after we hear back from them."

As he finished that sentence, the two demons finally reached their destination at the end of the street: the building where they ran the bulk of their coke operation out of. Massive chunks were blown out of the sides, and the uppermost floor looked like it would drop into the street any minute.

"Fuck look at the state of this place. Those cogliones are gonna p..."

Tommy froze at the sight of a large figure moving across the street out of the corner of his eye. Henry realized what had drawn his friend's attention, and the two quickly wheeled around with sawed-off shotguns already out and aiming at the figure which stood only about a hundred feet from the two. Both Tommy and Henry wondered how such a huge demon was able to move in such complete silence. It appeared to be casually observing the damage like they were, but it was also moving at a fast enough pace and steady direction that it was clear it had a destination in mind.

"Ay who the fuck are you? One of Pentious' boys?" yelled Tommy.

The figure froze at the sound of his voice.

"Pretty sure his boys are those egg things, Tommy."

"Shut the fuck up will ya. Now ain't the time for fact-checking," snapped Tommy before turning his attention back to the trespasser. "As for you, tough guy. You better turn around and give me a glowing explanation for you dickin' around my turf. Unless you want some buckshot to rearrange your ugly fuckin' mug."

The demon snapped its head towards the two like the crack of a whip. And even though they lived in Hell and were well accustomed to its hideous denizens, this thing's appearance filled the two with more than a little apprehension.

It towered over them, easily nine feet tall at the top of its head. Long and matted black fur covered its lanky, naked body. Its long legs ended in hooves instead of feet, and its disproportionately large hands were tipped in razor-sharp claws the size of kitchen knives. However, by far the most disconcerting feature was the face, which consisted of the top part of a cervine skull stripped completely bare of flesh, and eyes that were nothing more than vacant black voids. Atop its head, massive obsidian antlers branched out several feet in a twisted visual cacophony that resembled no animal that had ever walked the Earth. The two almost mistook it for a mask until they noticed that its skin below was attached to the skull. Below said skull was the lower portion of a humanoid face with large, jagged teeth filling an oversized, lipless maw that was more akin to a Megalodon than a deer.

The beast simply stared at them, not making a sound, with its body still facing the direction it was going. Its intentions were completely indecipherable. They both shared a quick look of fear upon seeing the full visage of the creature. Deciding that just lighting this thing up was a much safer bet than attempting anymore conversation, both demon mobsters went to squeeze their triggers.

However, before either of them could get a single shot off, the beast closed the distance near-instantaneously and tore the guns out of their hands. Their heads were still spinning from the speed that this occurred when ice-cold claws stabbed into their abdomens with enough force to slice completely through their spines and emerge out their backs. Impaled on its arms like shrimp on a skewer, the demons made no sound except for quiet, confused gasps. The shock had taken hold so fast they felt no pain. Paralyzed from the waist down, the two weakly squirmed and slapped at its unflinching arms. The beast stared down at them for a moment, before raising both of them to eye level. Upon staring into those blank voids, they were instantly brought out of their shock-induced stupor and began screaming in absolute terror. Never in their life, even when the first cast into the fires of hell itself, had they felt such abject terror than what they saw moving deep in those eyes. This was no demon, it was something else entirely. Something that was wandering reality long before Hell itself was even a thought.

Then in a voice that sounded like soft flesh contacting under the hot metal of a brand, it spoke.

"Everything is my domain."

After it was finished speaking, its jaw continued to open until it unhinged with an audible pop and distended like that of a snake. Both demons, still screaming, found themselves being brought towards the maw. The smell of long rotted meat flooded their senses as they stared down the cavernous mouth. Once their faces were past the teeth, a flurry of tentacle-like tongues shot out of the black void of its throat and wrapped around their faces, silencing their screams. Thorny appendages that covered the tongues biting into their skin was the last thing they felt before the jaws slammed shut, and their souls were cast into the unfeeling void to be lost forever.