Chapter III: A Nonstandard Spring Break by: ArchonLegacy
The distant sound of music woke him up. Gojo yawned as he lifted his head up from the comfort of his arm on the wooden cafe table. How long was I out for? He was still a little disoriented from his nap. After he had unveiled his eyes to Apple, Gojo failed to predict the nonhuman's sudden descent into unconsciousness. Apple's friends had immediately rushed to her side with Gojo having placed his blindfold back on by the time they had reached his table. They were clearly concerned for the state of their friend with one of them, the poofy haired female, giving him an accusatory glare. He had held his hands up innocently. Honestly, I didn't expect Apple to pass out. It was just me having some fun given the circumstances.
His actions had been no different from that time he had pretended to be "Megumi-chan's" violin teacher-lover to embarrass Megumi in front of, what they all had thought at the time was, his new girlfriend. There was no harm done to Apple, and he genuinely was not sure exactly what had happened. Regardless, her friends had taken Apple's unconscious form out of the cafe, leaving him once again alone with that demoness' debt. I guess at some point I just fell asleep here. Who could blame him? It was technically only a few hours ago that he had been fighting against the King of Curses and was at death's door. A little nap was justified. If only this music hadn't woken me up. Though the sounds were slightly insulated because of the cafe's walls, the song was still somewhat audible. Must be some kind of concert going on at the beach.
Anyways, what am I going to do with this bill… As Gojo tried to figure out a way to deal with his current monetary problem, a loud moan sounded from behind him. Huh? Gojo made the mistake of turning his head to look toward the register. What the-?! The cashier was clearly not busy with her work, instead opting to engage in a heavy makeout session with one of her female coworkers. Are they seriously doing this here in public? Then, he noticed the two begin to strip off each other's employee uniforms. By instinct, Gojo quickly turned his head away, covering his eyes. My innocence! I can't be watching something like that like a creep! Oh, right. I'm wearing my blindfold, so technically, I'm seeing nothing. Should he look back? Hold on. If they're too busy with their little romance, then couldn't I just… Gojo eyed the cafe door. Immediately, the sorcerer got out of his seat, crouching down on the floor. He waited for any kind of reaction, but there was nothing aside from the moans behind him getting louder. Like a ninja, Gojo stealthily crawled toward freedom. Within a minute he was out of the cafe, the door closing behind him with only the sounds of bell chimes signaling his escape. Whew. Gojo breathed a sigh of relief as "Operation Dine-and-Dash" was successful. How can I ever face my students again when their beloved sensei left without paying a bill?! Was his brief melodramatic thought. Though, it was never my bill. It was hers! Therefore, Satoru Gojo was innocent of any misdeeds! But it feels like a loss. I still haven't eaten anything! At least he had sixteen dollars at hand, though that was a small consolation for the day he had so far.
There was a shrill feminine scream followed by a cacophony of more screams and shouts. The sorcerer looked up to see a stampede of people running away from the beach. What's going on? Then, he noticed the giant monster standing in the shallows. Now that's a big fish. As the creature roared menacingly, Gojo could sense no presence of cursed energy within such a monstrosity. So where in the world did this thing come from? Radiation? Mutation? Some lab experiment gone wrong? Gojo watched as the creature's tongue wrapped around a strange-looking, small, and horned red being in an attempt to devour the hapless individual. Hunger drove this monster to feed on anything present on the beach, briefly reminding the sorcerer of his own hunger. While the hordes of terrified spring breakers rushed past him in a desperate bid for their lives, the sorcerer had but one thought.
I wonder if it's edible? Sushi would be nice.
Where the fuck in the nine circles had that thing come from?! She watched as the imp Millie, having just rescued her intoxicated husband Moxxie, jumped straight into the catfish monster's mouth to kill it from the inside. To put it bluntly, the Hellhound known as Loona was not having a particularly great time. Of course most days were on the spectrum of either depressingly boring or fucking irritating in her miserable existance, but she had thought her first venture into the human world would have been more enjoyable. Instead, Loona had to act as bait for moronic human targets so her dumb da-... Blitzo (the "o" was silent) could win a stupid bet for a stupid parking space. To make matters worse, somehow, she embarrassingly blundered every single social interaction with the male Hellhound called Vortex, whom Loona clearly had the hots for. And oh right, she and Blitzo had an intense argument, making her feel like shit. I just can't wait for this fucking day to be over.
Thankfully, the afternoon seemed to be drawing to a proper close as the Immediate Murder Professional's (I.M.P.) highly capable melee expert Millie completed her task. There was a massive spray of blood as the imp assassin had sliced the monster fish's abdomen from within. With the creature toppled and dead, Loona watched as an exhausted Millie swam back to shore. As the imp reached the sandy beach with her trusted combat knife, Loona noticed a strange silver flask in Millie's other hand. It looked a little familiar, but the Hellhound did not think of it any further. Maybe we can finally go home and call it a night. Standing far off to the side, Loona looked on in disinterest as Blitzo, the still drunk as fuck Moxxie, and Millie engaged in some stupid conversation with the succubus popstar Verosika Mayday and her crew. She briefly overheard the word "parking spot," from a smug Blitzo, and in irritation Loona tuned out the rest. This whole shitshow was all for a fucking parking spot. Despite her initial excitement to travel to the human world, Loona had enough of it for a long time.
"Hey, girl. You doing alright?" The rumbling voice of Vortex, "Tex" as he preferred to be called, took Loona straight out of her thoughts as he moved across the sand to stand next to her.
He's just so hot. Loona's face flushed red with excitement and desire. Oh yeah, I'm fucking crushing hard. At least, she would have one final chance to speak with the male Hellhound and hopefully make an awesome and lasting impression after all her verbal fumbles. "H-Hey, Vor-... uh- I mean Tex. Fine! I'm, uh, doing fine. Yeah." Loona gave her crush an awkward thumbs up.
"Good to hear. Man, today's been a crazy day, huh?" Vortex pointed out with a laugh.
I love his laugh. "Yeah. Real crazy." In Loona's nervous state, she did not even realize that she was basically just repeating what the male Hellhound was saying.
"You know. I think it'd be great for you to meet some of the other hounds. I'll give you a call and invite you to one of the parties." He explained with a wide grin, holding up his hand in a mock shape of a phone.
Loona's eyes widened with excitement. I've never been to a party. "Really?! Me and you?!" Realizing she might be getting too excited in front of her crush, Loona cleared her throat to give herself a chance to calm her nerves. She gave him an attempt at a cool smile that still looked forced and awkward. "I mean, yeah. Sounds fun. I'm so down."
"Good to hear. Yeah, my girlfriend throws some of the best parties in all of the nine circles! You'll have an awesome time, I guarantee it."
Her smile disappeared. The whole world seemed to shatter around Loona because of that single word. Girlfriend. He has a girlfriend. Any hopes for getting to know Vortex and hopefully have him see her as a potential romantic interest were ruthlessly crushed in a moment. This whole fucking day sucks. Despite her broken heart, Loona did her best to keep up a fake smile. "S-Sounds cool. Really looking forward to it."
Vortex just grinned back, not noticing the depressed clouds hanging over Loona.
"Vortex! We're leaving!" The frustrated voice of Verosika Mayday loudly called out to the Hellhound.
"Ooh. That's my cue. See you later, girl. I'll let you know about the next party." With that said, Vortex waved his goodbyes with Loona only giving an awkward thumbs up in response.
She watched as he rejoined Hell's number one popstar and her crew of fellow succubi. Loona stared at sand beneath her feet. She gave a little kick, spraying a bunch of grains outwards. There was an excited call from Blitzo telling her to come over so they could use the grimoire to return home and to that stupidass parking spot. I just want this day to be over. The human world fucking sucks. As the depressed Hellhound made her way over to the rest of I.M.P., her ears picked up an irritated complaint from Verosika.
"Are you fucking serious?! The one time I really need a drink, and it's freaking empty?!"
Empty? Is she talking about that flask Millie brought over? That was hers? So that's where I recognized it from. Verosika was drinking from that earlier back in the parking lot. Must be Beelzejuice, if I had to guess. Loona suddenly stopped in her tracks as everything began to make sense. Wait, a second. If the Beelzejuice was what caused that fish to mutate into a monster, and that flask is now empty…
After all, there was not just one fish in the ocean.
The horrible sounds of a multitude of ear piercing roars and screeches echoed throughout the entire area as over a dozen giant sea monsters erupted from beneath the waves. Oh, we're so fucked! Loona's eyes widened in fright as the horde of creatures made their way over to the beachhead. She heard her fath- Blitzo curse and yell in the direction of Verosika, pointing an accusatory finger.
"Look at what you fucking did, you whore!" The rage toward the succubus was evident in his tone of voice, but Loona could tell there was also fear. Blitzo then turned to Millie who was still holding up the drunk form of her husband, looking for her to save the day again. "Millie!"
"I only have one knife! And there's a whole lot of them!"
We're totally screwed. They had no way of fighting off all those giant monsters. The assassins of I.M.P. had also used up almost their entire stock of ammunition and brought no heavy weapons for this demon duel, not believing it to be necessary. And the group of succubi were completely useless from a combat perspective. Unless, they could somehow seduce these creatures to not eat everyone standing on the beach. Running away was the best option, and looking to Blitzo, Loona saw that he had the same idea, desperately flipping through the pages of the grimoire. We've gotta get out of here now!
"Well then. Aren't there a lot of you?" A male voice calmly observed from right next to her.
Loona's head swiveled to see a tall young man with snow white hair standing just a few feet away from her on the beach. What the fuck? When did this human get here?
"Hm." The Hellhound saw the guy place a hand on his chin as if to contemplate what he was seeing. "I'm not really impressed. Our kaijus are way better."
"What the Hell! Are you blind, you stupid human?! Get the fuck out of here!" Loona growled. An ordinary human was just mincemeat for these giant creatures. She noticed the black blindfold across his eyes. Maybe he's actually blind? Then why does it feel like he's somehow viewing them?
To her shock, the human seemingly ignored her words of warning, instead opting to walk closer toward the approaching monstrosities. "Are you fucking deaf too?!" Loona yelled in total disbelief at the man's suicidal endeavor. She took a few steps forward as if to attempt to drag his ass away from the peril, before stopping. Why the fuck should she risk her own life for an idiot trying to throw his life away so blatantly?!
He stopped just near the shoreline, before turning slightly to look straight at her. Despite the man's blindfold, Loona felt as though his gaze was piercing straight through to her very soul. And though they were a fair bit of distance away from each other, Loona's natural Hellhound hearing could pick up his exact words from all the chaos.
"I wouldn't take another step if I were you. Wouldn't want a pretty girl like you to be harmed."
As the monsters' roars increased in intensity, now only a mile away from the beach, it was difficult hearing anything else. And yet, for some strange reason, Loona's attention was solely focused on this strange human, completely ignoring the shouts from Blitzo and the others.
He turned back to face the incoming monsters. "You know, today's been rough for me." His tranquil words resonated with Loona's own feelings about recent events. "And apparently it's spring break here." She watched as the young human pulled down the blindfold covering his eyes and then clasped his hands together. "So, I guess I can get a little loose, then."
The eyes of all the sea mutations seemed to focus on the lone human standing right at the edge of the beach. They roared in excitement at the potential to satiate their hunger and began rushing forward.
"Cursed Technique Amplification: Blue."
Every single hair spiked up. Loona felt the sudden change in the air. As a Hellhound, Loona possessed extraordinary senses even in comparison to the other denizens of Hell. It was hard to describe, but she could feel a powerful surge in energy around the human. But that did not make any sense. Humans were supposed to be powerless. What the Hell is he?
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
Loona could now barely breathe. There was an overwhelming pressure within the air that seemed to bear down on everything on the beach. She saw even the approaching monsters appear to slow down as though struggling against an invisible force. The fuck is going on?! Loona could not comprehend anything that was happening around her. All she knew was the cause: that white haired human.
The lead monster was just feet away and its barbed tongue lashed out toward its intended victim. Loona's eyes widened in complete surprise as the creature's tongue suddenly and violently recoiled backwards without making contact with the human as though the muscle had hit an invisible barrier. She watched as he calmly outstretched his right arm forward, aiming straight in the direction of the sea monsters. Time just seemed to slow down. The wind whipped forth as if trapped within a hurricane. Bright arcs of purple lightning erupted all around his body.
"Hollow Purple!"
Loona heard the snap from the human's fingers, and out of nowhere, a massive sphere of purple energy formed in front of his right hand, quickly growing in magnitude as the imaginary force ripped itself into existence and distorted the space around it. Without hesitation, the unstoppable torrent of energy moved forward in an immense wave, completely engulfing the forms of all the mutated monstrosities. Loona was forced to shield her face with her arms to protect it from the intense whiplash of force.
Everything was silent.
She hesitatingly dropped her arms, and Loona opened her eyes. What she saw was an unimaginable scene of devastation all at the hands of a single human. Any remnants of the monsters had been utterly vaporized with no trace. There was a colossal, miles-wide trench of absolute desolation as far as the horizon she could see that had been carved through the waves and ocean floor. After a few moments, Loona watched in amazement as the seawater began to rush forth into the deep gash in the earth to fill the void created by this lone individual. She could hear in the background her dad curse in amazement at the sight. But that was all just noise to her. Loona stared incredulously as the young man turned toward her.
The most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen locked with her crimson ones. Loona could feel her heartbeat quicken its pace as she saw his full appearance. Whatever thoughts she once had of Vortex were totally forgotten, as the human gave her a breathtaking grin and an excited thumbs up. "Yay! That should take care of everything."
A massive blush formed on Loona's cheeks as her entire body heated up.
Maybe… today just isn't so bad after all.
This trip had not been a mistake.
Standing atop the roof of "Dagon's Juice Store," a certain demon had watched the events on the beach unfold. In her right hand was a phone that had recorded every single second of what had happened. Velvette stared with fascination at the faroff figure on the beach. What had seemed like an annoying pest just hours earlier was now the target of the Overlord's latest obsession. Unlike angels or demons, humans were utterly impotent. Mere fleshy pawns and toys for the superior beings of the supernatural world. But what Velvette had witnessed just now; the sheer strength this particular human controlled was like nothing she had ever seen before. The magical firepower he somehow wielded was incredible. He was something entirely new. And Velvette just had to possess a soul this powerful.
He changes everything.
A sinister grin stretched across Velvette's face as she was filled with a sense of exhilaration and boundless avarice. The Overlord coveted this unique human. And what Velvette wanted for herself, she always took.
"Your soul belongs to me, human. I saw you first. Now, the only question is… how should I make you mine?"