Worms May Cry
Interlude — Chapter 4.2: Devils Never Deal
[Jack Slash]
My Slaughterhouse and I arrived at a simple campground today after traveling for some time. Based on all the news reports I've been keeping track of, these 'demon' attacks have been a wonderfully chaotic boon for me. Cities battered by a random incursion of some biotinker, made perfectly susceptible to my Slaughterhouse's arrival.
It was all that I could ask for, and I really hoped that I could meet the biotinker who has been making these creatures. He'd be an amazing recruit. On top of all the chaos these little monsters have been causing, it's made Crawler all the more excited due to the varied abilities of these 'demons', while Bonesaw has wanted to toy with one of the creatures for a while.
That time would come eventually.
For now, we just had to clear out the fodder in these cabins, and this one was mine.
Entering inside, I was surprised to not find anyone around, especially with the way that the lights of this place were on while the car was parked in front of the cabin. Very odd.
Pulling out my knife and twisting it around in my hand, I smiled and called out, "Knock knock! Who's home?"
No answer, but I did hear a noise come from the kitchen, making me smile. I was going to have some fun.
As I walked into the kitchen of the house, I stopped in my tracks when I saw someone else there with me. They were probably a cape, some type of Case 53 most likely, since they didn't look human. In fact, it looked more like a humanoid rabbit in a dark suit with a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.
It was made even funnier since it was sipping on a cup of tea like something from a children's book. Yet, that comparison was slightly damaged from the small amount of blood splatter on the white collar of the thing's shirt. Yet, as my eyes looked around, I found the origin of that blood splatter which was from a family of four that was piled into the corner.
I had to give him credit for the nice work.
Aside from the evidence of the creature's murderous ability, there was also another thing that made the creature seem like anything but a childish and whimsical being from a fairy tale. Cutting across its head was a large, jagged scar going down the right side of its face that glowed a hellish red. It was matched by half of its right ear having been sheared off with that same hellish red glowing from the scar tissue.
Finally, there was the rabbit's eyes. A hellish orange, on the verge of red, that looked at me with utter amusement. Almost like I was an entertainment to it.
"Hello there, Mister Slash. Marvelous day we're having, isn't it?" The rabbit asked calmly with a posh, male voice while taking another sip of his tea.
"It was, now who are you and why are you here?" I asked while approaching the rabbit. Should I just kill him and be done with it? I don't need to recruit anyone else at the moment, and he was a witness.
Yeah, likely better to end him and not worry about the trouble.
"Well, Mister Slash–" I didn't let the rabbit continue as I extended my knife's range and slashed at the creature. What I didn't expect, and found slightly impossible since it had never happened before, was for the rabbit to casually reach up and grab the invisible, projected slash in the air with one hand while continuing to sip tea with the other.
"–I have been reading up on you and your associates for some time since arriving here. And I must say, I am quite a fan of your work," the rabbit continued as if I hadn't just tried to kill him.
"And who are you?" I cautiously asked, noting that the rabbit continued to appear friendly, yet for some reason, something just felt wrong to me about this creature. I had no true way to explain it, and that bothered me.
"You may call me Nivens McTwisp. I am what you might call an appreciator of unique talents. Additionally, I am what you might know as a demon," Nivens answered with an amused tone.
A demon… "Like the ones that have been appearing in the news recently?" I questioned, earning an amused chuckle and a nod from the rabbit.
"Correct, Mister Slash. Though, your authorities are quite misguided in their beliefs that us demons are simply just creatures that only earned such monikers by chance. We very much are the creatures that you humans have rightfully feared and written about for untold ages, denizens of a hell beyond human understanding," Nivens explained, making me… curious to say the least.
"And you are a fan of our work?" I asked while cautiously approaching the table to take a seat across from the self-proclaimed demon.
"Absolutely, Mister Slash! You and your team's ability to sow such chaos and terror was marvelous to research. And the more I delved into you and your Slaughterhouse, the more I wondered how much more you could do with a bit of… patronage," Nivens said, fully grabbing my attention now.
My team and I had managed to grab the interest of a demon, one who wanted to sponsor us. I attracted the attention of hell, and they wanted more of what I offered.
"You have my attention, Nivens," I replied with a bit of excitement. "How might we be able to work together? From what I've seen on the news, you demons have a variety of fun abilities at your disposal."
A massive grin broke across Nivens' face as he leaned towards me. "Marvelous, Mister Slash. I simply love to hear an answer like that from someone with an open mind like yourself. As for how I can begin my aid for you and your associates," the demon said as he gave a flick of his wrist.
Following this action, a red glow appeared in his hand that soon faded to reveal a shortsword, probably under two feet in length, which replaced it. It didn't look like a construct of any human design. In fact, it seemed more like a living object.
The sword looked like a fleshy, crimson mass where a handle-guard and pommel should be. A one-sided blade of black steel with pulsing, red veins across the metal almost seemed to be growing out of the fleshy hilt like a stinger would from a wasp. I thought that might be all there was to this weapon until I saw a trio of purple eyes blink open on the fleshy mass before focusing on me.
"This is what is known as a devil arm. They are made from the bodies of strong-enough demons after they have been defeated or killed. Counter to the humorous drivel that has been claimed that only Dante is capable of doing so," Nivens said with a visible hatred to that name.
From what I could recall, Dante is the name of the new cape that's appeared on the news slaughtering demons with a constantly growing array of powers. I have actually been slightly tempted to try recruiting him. I could just imagine the utter chaos and slaughter that would occur if he could be convinced. That, and Crawler has been dying to throw himself at the man to see how much stronger he could get.
"Looks to me like you have a history with the new cape, Dante, if I'm guessing correctly," I commented, earning a curt nod from Nivens.
Nivens took a sip of his tea and replied, "Yes, you would be correct, Mister Slash. Many years ago, when Dante was much younger, and I was more arrogant, we had a few encounters with one another. As I didn't take him seriously enough at the time, it ended with me receiving a permanent reminder of my folly."
He then tapped the tip of the shortsword to the remnant of his ear covered in a glowing, red scar. "I've more than learned my lesson, and – in a sense – thank the man for teaching me that I am not as untouchable as I had once believed."
That made me wonder exactly how powerful Dante must be to have scarred the rabbit-like demon?
"But enough about my old history, I'm here to focus on you, the man of the hour," Nivens said, making me smile at the attention. "As I was saying, devil arms are made from demons – such as this one," Nivens waved the shortsword in hand, "who was a former subordinate of mine until he displeased me."
He then gracefully flipped the blade in his hand until he held the weapon by the very tip of the blade before lowering the handle in my direction. "Devil arms are capable of granting immense power to those who wield them, but there does come a slight cost," Nivens warned.
It made me hesitate from taking the offered weapon from the demon. "What cost would that be?" I asked.
"To wield a devil arm, one must have power or will to dominate the demon who makes up the weapon. Otherwise, the wielder will become possessed by the weapon. While most humans would fail such a task, I believe that you, Mister Slash, are one of the special few humans that are more than capable of accomplishing this, but I leave the choice to you," Nivens explained with a smile, followed by another sip of tea.
"And what happens if this fails?" Not that I believed that I could ever fail such a task. I'm intelligent, capable, charismatic, and have been able to keep my Slaughterhouse in check with words alone.
"Then you will be possessed, and while I can try to undo the process to free you, it comes at the risk of potentially killing you, Mister Slash," Nivens said before giving me a confident smirk. "But if you do succeed, I plan to give you even more power than you ever dreamed possible. What do you say?"
I laughed and took the hilt of the sword, "You have got yourself a deal!" Then, I felt a power surge up from the blade, through my hand, and then throughout the rest of my body.
It felt malevolent before turning suffocating. And looking at my hand, I could see the mass of flesh on the blade, now pulsing like a beating heart, was starting to cover my hand before beginning a slow crawl up my hand.
That had almost made me think that I had been wrong, that I wasn't strong enough to mentally overpower this weapon, but that couldn't be right?! I am greater than any mere human!
I am Jack Slash! Leader of the deadliest team of parahumans on the planet!
Then, some presence, both foreign and familiar, filled my mind. This was soon followed by the malevolent energy's choking grip upon me growing weaker by the second. Looking at my hand, I watched the demonic flesh recede back into the blade once more until it finally stilled.
In turn, that mental presence faded away from my mind and disappeared entirely.
And somehow, I felt that I had won! Because of course I would. This was my weapon now!
"Bravo, Mister Slash, bravo!" Nivens praised as he clapped his hands in congratulations, the cup of tea entirely set aside. "I believe that we're going to accomplish some wonderful things together…"