Location: Southern Illinois Dead Zone
Two individuals walked towards a ramshackle but still populated piece of ruin, one was an old man, the other a teenager who looked no younger than 16. The streets were in disrepair, but still bustling with activity, store fronts made out of broken down store fronts patched up with scrap. The people looked as run down as the city, but the atmosphere was surprisingly positive. There were signs propped up on sides of buildings saying 'no Terran fed dogs allowed in this AMERICAN town'.
The old man started telling the teenager a story.
"What originally was known as the city of Springfield in southern Illinois had seen far, far better days. It's been like this for close to seventy years- desolate, empty, and half of it leveled by nuclear bombardment. The city was unfortunately not given the same protection given to the major American cities, in this case the Chicago metro area, as smaller population cities were just seen as less valuable. What is left in the former state capital is a shell of its former self, a window into the past of Earth, if you would."
"So wait, they just never go here? Don't they think they would pay attention to a city that's right next to their third largest city in America?"
"Nah, wasteland towns like this aren't even technically supposed to be here. Living in a place like this means you wanna be away from the government, cause easy living this ain't. Still, people here aren't considered a threat, and the government usually only has to send big scary men with guns around every now and then to remind people whos at least nominally in charge."
"I don't know gramps, After what those stupid imps did to that Afghan governor, I'm not sure Terra is going to let us run wild."
"Hogwash, we ain't no assassins Res, so some written off wasteland town gets a new drug addiction, Washington probably thinks it was bound to happen anyway."
"I don't know Ferrari, those Imps really pissed them off this time, it's been all over the news. I've been reading online that they've hit the base of a big-time demon who was funding terrorists outside of his base near some Afghan city." Res said, unsure.
"We ain't exactly funding the Taliban here, human drug dealers operate here with impunity all the time, can't imagine they're gonna send a hit squad just because they think it's a demon who might be doing it."
"Yeah I know, I know." The younger demon said with a sigh. "Just nervous, that's all."
"Hey, it's your first drug run, being nervous is natural, just act normal and keep on your human disguise, and no one will expect a thing."
The disguised imps went into an empty store building, and began setting up their stand. They pulled out signs and various drugs from tote bags. A sign saying 'Ferrari's Pharma' was placed in front of a window, with another sign saying 'dispensary area' with various symbols of pills and capsules crudely drawn to get the attention of any illiterates. The younger Imp had to beat off some junkies with a broom, until the stand was ready- another part of the job he had to suck up like venom from someone's leg.
A cracked mirror hung on the wall crooked on one of the walls. Res walked up to it and started checking himself out. "Damn these are some ugly ass human disguises" Res said with a chuckle. "An ugly ass disguise for an ugly ass disguise for an ugly ass town" Ferrari said jokingly.
The older Imp, going by the Human name Ferrari, rang a bell he brought with him. "Drugs here, get your drugs, guaranteed to make you high enough to forget your woes". It wasn't long before a rather long line started forming. The younger Imp was tasked with looking after the drugs in the back as the older Imp worked the stand. Today was a pretty good business day, drugs were flying off the shelves and these squatters had some good stuff on them to trade. He got at least three catalytic converters for some crack. Another one sold him an old Terran military assault rifle, maybe some vet who fell on hard times or just decided to join this crap pot of a town out of some idealism.
The line began to thin out as he announced he was out of certain kinds of drugs. He had served the last customer in line, giving some oxycontin in exchange for some gasoline. Ferrari waited for a bit before calling to the younger Imp "alright, I think that's a wrap, help me start packing up". The sun was starting to go down anyways, so all in all, good day's business. Ferrari headed to the back to start putting the drugs away. Ferrari suddenly face palmed "Crap, I think I forgot some stuff up front, can you go get it before some druggie steals it".
The young imp nodded and hurried towards the front with his bag, and to his surprise, he saw a man with some dirt covering his face standing at the window. The young Imp shrugged, one more customer couldn't hurt. The young Imp hurried up to the window and addressed the man waiting.
"We're almost all closed up here, if you want your fix, your gonna need to make it quick"
"Just some weed." the man at the window said.
The young imp foraged through his bag for a moment before pulling out a plastic bottle full of joints.
"How do you wanna pay for it?"
The man silently slid the young imp a hundred hell bucks, to which the young imp nodded and put the joints over the counter for the man to take, pocketing the hundred hell dollar bill.
"Pleasure doing business." the young imp said.
"Pleasure was all mine." The young man said with a weirdly sinister smile.
Res shrugged, "These people are freaking weird".
The young Imp went back to where Ferrari was packing things up. "Check what I got in exchange for a bottle of joints" Ferrari looked up to see the younger imp holding a hundred hell dollar bill, and a look of shock and fear covered the older imp's face.
"You idiot! Who gave that to you!?" Ferrari demanded.
"Just a customer buying some weed, chill out." Res reassured him.
"Res you moron, these are hell bucks, no normal over-worlder has access to these."
Res felt a crater form in his stomach "So…. Does this mean…. Does this mean the feds…"
Ferrari sighed exacerbated. "Ok, ok, just… just start getting everything packed up, as fast as possible, it was hopefully just some stoner that found some hell bucks some other bozo left behind. And maybe that buyer of yours just mistook it for Terran Dollars in his high as fuck state."
Res and Ferrari began speedily packing their bags, in their haste, some product fell to the floor, but they couldn't afford to worry about spilled product now.
Suddenly they heard a crashing noise by the building's door, the startle caused Res to drop his bags, with some cracking noises being heard within. Ferrari smacked him over the back of the head, muttering 'stupid' under his breath.
Res rubbed the back of his right hand, and reached for his bag with his left hand.
Without any time to spare, they made a rush down the aisles, only for it to be blocked by two figures in the unmistakable gear of government enforcement troopers. Res and Ferrari skidded to a halt, and changed direction. A rubber bullet hit Res in the heel, causing him to fall over. Ferrari wasted no time on his partner, and continued running, only to be blocked again by federal troopers turning the corner.
Then, the same young man Res had given the weed too appeared, along with another similar looking man. However, they were both carrying modern assault rifles. The one on the right suddenly pulled under his face, which some now peeled off right off of his face! It was soon apparent to Res that he took off a mask! The other man did the same, revealing a middle eastern looking man and a light skinned man.
"Get the fuck on the ground, you fucking son of a bitch!" The Afghan man said to Ferrari.
"Fuck off!" shouted Ferrari. The afghan man snapped his fingers, which prompted the government trooper on his right to physically force the imp to the ground.
The light skinned man waved a device over Res and Ferrari, with it clicking like a geiger counter. The clicking got faster and more frequent the closer it was to the two. "Looks like we've found our 'sheds'".
The middle eastern man nodded, "Alright, cuff em, and load em up". The government troops placed cuffs around Ferrari and Res' wrists.
"I have rights!" Ferrari demanded,
"The best part of all this is that you actually don't!" The light skinned man taunted. "Now load em up."
The government troops shoved the disguised imps forward, and out of the building. Once out, they could see various vans with people being shoved in by more federal troops. Most people in the town stayed a safe distance away from the feds as they did their work. Those that had more bravery than brains would sometimes try to fight the feds, but that would get you either killed or arrested, which was made evident by a few gunshots that went off, and dead townsfolk on the ground.
"Fuckin 'ell Dawar. Looks like the hunch from the Internal Intel kicked up one helluva ring. There's more sheds here than at a Hollywood meetup." Lawrence said to his associate.
"Eh, these out of bounds towns are probably all full of some sort of shed activity, you look hard enough you'll probably find them"
"Why do we call the red guys sheds again?" Lawrence asked.
"Not sure, I hear it's a reference to some hebrew word or something"
Lawrence and Dawar made their way to their armored government transport, with federal troops flanking them.
"So, you think they'll talk?" Lawerence asked.
"Oh they'll talk alright, they all talk in the end." Dawar said.
Paddy wagon doors could be heard slamming, with said government vans driving off not too long after. Around a quarter of the town had been arrested for unknown charges, most of them were involved in some kinda trade.
When the last government vehicle skidded off in the direction back to 'civilized society', a ghostly silence descended on the legally non existent settlement. A government raid of this scale had never happened before, leaving only rumors, gossip, dread, resentment, and a ruined local economy in its wake.
Location:
Los Angeles
State Bureau of Investigation Western American Headquarters
Western American Province
SAC Meihui stood in front of the assembled agents, files, slides, pictures, and other mission vital documents were displayed for the agents' informational needs. "In accordance with Washington's anti-demonic campaign, we have all been provided with devices that can detect them." Meihui said. "Think of them as geiger counters, you will be alerted when you are near any demonic entity."
"Anti-demonic? Are we still sure that's what we're dealing with here?" Agent Lange said to his partner next to him.
"I don't know. Something's telling me it's just a way for them to test something out of Area 51?" Agent Barre said.
"I assure you our current mission is very real, as we speak. there are raids into the unorganized territories, a place outside our direct authority that they like to fester in. Our mission now is to begin setting up a comprehensive network across the West Coast to track and expunge demonic presence in this province. And let it be known, that despite their demonic disposition, they'll most likely be more scared of you then you ever will be of them."
"About time I say, we've been spending years cleaning up after the messes they make so people don't freak out. Being able to effectively police their activity will help bring some justice I hope." One of the agents said.
"Remember, we have to keep this off the radar of the public. The incident with the dead kid was difficult enough to cover up, having a shoot out with a wealth of witnesses would make a cover up almost impossible. We'd probably have to come clean, and the public panic would be problematic to deal with. We already have enough issues with the Catholic Church and the like as is, evidence of there being actual demons could give them undue influence."
The agents nodded, the Catholic Church, along with various other religious institutions and organizations have been a bit of a headache for the Terran Government. Often demanding policy changes based on religious belief, and with Terra's lack of democracy, the only way the more radical groups saw as a pathway to wanted change was terrorism. Of course the terrorists weren't directly connected to the churches or mosques. Churches and mosques who were connected had brought the wrath of Terran security down on them long ago. The current fear was that if demons were confirmed to the wider public, it would inspire more radicals, and possibly make new ones, compromising the stability of the republic.
"If anyone sets off your sensors, report it immediately, try to apprehend them if you can." The director stated. "You have your mission, carry it out."
The Agents nodded and began filing out of the room, they were going to have many busy days ahead of them.
Location: Jerusalem, Jewish Autonomous Province
Kennedy and his bodyguards descended further into the earth as the elevator took them ever downwards. His guards were vigilant while the chancellor under the visage of strong willed determination was nervous. He had heard stories about this… this… thing. His predecessor had told him about what he called the 'Wanderer' and in some cases, 'The Jew'. His predecessor was no anti-semite, and he spoke the title with fear in his voice. Whatever it was, it could make the most powerful man on Earth scared to even speak its name aloud. The former chancellor told him that if hell ever became an active threat, then "The Jew will be your hope to match what dark powers they wield against the state of man". He thought he was being dramatic, but with demon princes being a factor now, he understood the phrasing.
"How much further?" Kennedy asked his guards.
"We're nearing the location." One of the guards responded. The elevator came to a halt, the doors opening to a hallway with a wooden door at the end. The door has a sign written in English and Hebrew saying 'please knock and we'll be with you shortly'. The chancellor walked to the door with steady methodical steps, a pit forming in his stomach as he got closer to the door. He wondered if he'd regret meeting whoever this 'Wanderer' was.
Kennedy stopped in front of the door, took a deep breath, and raised a clenched hand. He knocked on the door three times. The sound of the knocking reverberated across the hallway. The seconds immediately after were tense, and felt like an eternity. But it only took about ten seconds to hear the lock mechanism in the door turn, and for the door to open a little inwards.
A glowing white eye appeared in the space between the door and the frame. A feminine voice was heard through the crack "Who would seek an audience with…. Oh! Chancellor!" The figure on the other side of the door opened it the rest of the way.
The figure was a tall humanoid with large white wings, glowing white eyes, a halo, and a face that just wasn't quite human. It looked simultaneously majestic, yet uncanny. "I apologize, it is so rare to get a visitor down here, I assume you seek an audience with our charge, yes?"
"I… uh, I suppose?" Kennedy said confused, and a bit frightened, that was an angel, no mistake about it. If the reports are to be believed, the power even the lower ranking ones could wield is immense. By the most conservative estimates, they could probably wipe off an area the size of a small town.
The angel clapped her hands together cheerfully "Wonderful!... However your guards will have to stay outside, the only ones allowed in here are me, my sister, our charge, and the Chancellor of Terra."
Kennedy nodded, it wasn't like his guards would amount to much to an angel in the first place.
"Do you want anything while you wait, we have many refreshments we can offer, snacks too." The angel said, turning to the guards who flinched at her gaze.
The guards all backed away from the seemingly friendly angel.
"No? Huh, strange. No one ever takes us up on the offer. Very well." The Angel turned her gaze back toward Kennedy, whom she towered over. "Come along, I'm sure whatever made you want to come down here will be interesting."
Kennedy stepped through the door, and the Angel closed it behind her.
The angel guided Kennedy through what was turning out to be a rather massive complex. The floor was of fine wood with ornate carpets covering parts of it. passing various pedestals with mundane and somewhat strange items. Like a hammer, a golden wooden chest, a piece of metal shaped like a thunderbolt, shoes with wings on them. Although what really gave him pause was when he saw large glass windows that revealed a massive terrarium with a tree of epic proportions within it.
The angel leaned towards him "Oh? Do you like it? My charge took great pains to replant Yggdrasil here after his journeys in the land of the norse."
"How… How did you get- never mind."
The angel guided him for a bit longer, passing yet more pedestals full of strange items before coming to a door. The angel took out a key that had the Star of David at one end of it, with the key teeth on the other. She inserted the key, the door clicked, and creaked open.
"You will find our charge in here, I am sure he can help you with whatever you are in need of." The angel said before disappearing in a brief flash of light. Kennedy blinked and rubbed his eyes, a warning would have been nice.
The chancellor took a deep breath, and entered the room, closing the door behind him. The room looked like a study, with bookshelves covering the walls, and a desk in the corner. What got his attention though was the large old man sitting in a chair in the center of the room with a stand next to it. The man wore a black overcoat, black gloves and pants, with there being a black hat on the stand. He had a long gray beard that was tucked under his shirt, with payos hanging from the sides of his head. He dressed like a lot of the Jews he saw in New York. The man was large, with broad shoulders, with a book in his hands, 'Dante's Inferno'. The man shifted, causing Kennedy to flinch. The mysterious man put a bookmark in his book, placed it on his stand, and put on his hat.
"You know, it is rare for anyone to come to me, and when they do, it's always in desperation." The man's voice exuded the sense of being impossibly ancient, yet also a man in his prime.
The mysterious man got out of his chair and walked to the Chancellor, who felt smaller the closer the man got. "So I ask you, Chancellor, what hell do you need frozen over?"