Scarlet placed the bar mace stained with black blood on the bed before removing the chain from her shoulder. Lifting Lisette off the bed, her jaw broken from the impact, Scarlet chained the unconscious ghoul to her back, grunting as she struggled to support the extra weight. Hissing through her teeth, Scarlet snatched the bar mace off the bed and walked towards the busted door and into the kitchen, only to see that the party had seemingly moved downstair and all the partygoers were seemingly armed.
“That doesn’t belong to you.” A man dressed in a black robe with a scream mask over his face and a stun baton in his hand stated, as he and the other people began to fan out to form a rough semi-circle around Scarlet.
“She is a living, breathing creature.” Scarlet replied as one of the figures, a woman dressed like a Japanese ghost armed with a katana, began to move out of her field of vision. “You would be the Giovani Morte. What do you want? Money, dominion, power, freaky sex... I swear, I deal with groups like you every semester.”
“We don’t owe you an answer!” A taller man dressed in leather trousers and a striped shirt with elongated talons tapped over his hand snarled, lunging forward. Swinging the bar mace in a lazy arc, the weighted end hitting the attacker in the side, causing him to crash to the floor, wheezing and spluttering.
“Freddy!” The woman screamed behind her, swinging the katana at Scarlet, the blade slashing into her target’s shoulder and the folded steel embedding itself in the dermal armour. Struggling to spin round, Scarlet delivered a headbutt to the woman, just as two additional attackers, one dressed in overalls, his face covered in a hocky mask, and the other dressed like a clown, albeit one with monstrous figures, tackled her from beside.
“We don’t owe you an answer.” The man dressed like a clown cackled as he began to lever the katana deeper into Scarlet’s shoulder.
“You think you know what this is all about.” The man in the overalls grunted as he began to try and pull the bar mace out of Scarlet’s hand. “We know all about zombies like her and how they’ve beaten death.”
“Immortality cult?” Scarlet asked as she swung the bar mace as hard as she could into the man in overalls knee, the bone shattering and causing him to collapse into a pile on the kitchen floor. “Are you really that dense? She’s a ghoul, not a zombie; she can’t grant you immortality, only a lingering decay.” She sighed as the clown ripped the katana out of Scarlet’s shoulder.
“You are lying!” The clown shrieked as he swung his policed katana, just as Scarlet met the slash with her bar mace, the later snapping the sword’s blade off. Looking at the hilt in his hand, the clown gulped before seeing the head of the bar mace slam into his chest, sending him staggering backwards.
“No, this is your chance to disband your little Giovani Morte while it’s just bruises and shallow cuts. There is a world beyond your understanding, and you have broken its laws. I can protect you if you prom…ugh.” A shot sounded as the man in the scream mask held out a pistol, the barrel smoking in the humidity, the bullet embedded in the neck brace of Scarlet’s armour. Looking over to the clown and the Japanese ghost, the man in the scream mask darted for the exit to the house, the conscious and mobile members of the cult following him. Coughing and choking, Scarlet placed a finger on the bullet, a green flame causing the copper round of the bullet to melt out of the damaged armour, the polymer underlayer having taken the brunt of the impact.
“Those idiots, the underworld will rip them apart.” Scarlet coughed as she sheathed her bar mace.
“Rip us apart.” The man with the talons gulped. “Is it too late to take that protection?” He asked as the man in overalls removed his mask and held his knee.
“Not for you two.” Scarlet stated as she strode after the fleeing cultists, the weight of Lisette chained to her back was slowing her down. Stepping out of the house, Scarlet put her foot down into a shin-deep puddle. The cultists stopped looking up at something in the darkness. Following their gaze upward, Scarlet saw a pair of scarlet eyes glowing in the gloom. Just as two additional pairs of eyes opened, followed by all three mouths opening, the flesh and muscle syphoned off the bones before the skeletons collapsed to dust.
“Lotan.” Scarlet whispered as she illuminated her fist with a green flame and edged over to kick the stun baton towards her.
“Some may call me Lotan.” The three-headed serpent boomed, the words radiating through the ground more than they were heard. “Some may call me Jörmungandr.” It continued as a tumour began to bubble up from the neck of Lotan, a flash of lightning illuminating the skull erupting from the tumour. “Others whisper the name Tiamat.” It stated as the intensity of the rain began to increase to the point where the ferocity of it hitting the armour was painful.
“But I am Leviathan reborn!” The fourth head roared as the neck twisted out of the tumour before lunging towards Scarlet. Rising her hand, Scarlet released a lance of flame, the rain sapping the heat out of the attack, causing the blast to barely even stall the attack, let alone stop the head slamming into her, sending her crashing into the steps of the house. "Witch, your magic is wicked; it only feeds me.” Leviathan roared as the second and third heads opened their mouths, the lining of their jaws glowing an infernal orange. “You are but nutrients for the cosmic ocean!” It snarled as a rancid wave of heat rolled over Scarlet, causing her to scream as the liquid polymer of her armour began to boil her alive. The wave of heat caused Lisette to snap her eyes open, causing her to begin to crawl back into the house.
“You are not all powerful yet!” Scarlet screamed as she raised her hand, taking a deep breath before unleashing another jet of green flame, the heat vaporising the rain briefly and rolling over Leviathan.
“This death of humanity will birth a new generation of gods. Chaos will take control of the universe, free from the shackles of order.” Leviathan roared as it emerged from the flames, the newly grown head slamming down, jaws open to swallow her. Weakly raising the stun baton, Scarlet threw the weapon into the serpent’s mouth, electricity arching up and down the neck, causing Leviathan to thrash and spasm before collapsing to the floor.
“Power of the gods, AKA electricity, apparently.” Scarlet gulped just as the shackles, weakened from the heat, snapped, allowing Lisette to slither free, getting to her feet before leaping onto Scarlet, her jaws snapping. her one remaining hand, ripping chunks of armour off the damaged breastplate, looking to reveal flesh that she could sink her teeth into. "Lisette, not the time!” Scarlet snapped as she kicked the ghoul off of her, causing her to land on all fours. Cackling and shrieking, Lisette’s body spasmed as her hand regrew and brown fur speckled with black spots sprouted from her body, her head becoming the skull of a hyena.
“No, I’m sorry.” Scarlet whispered as Lisette bolted off into the darkness, her missing hand regrowing as she darted into the campus.
“Weakness.” A voice rumbled as Leviathan’s heads began to rise off the ground again. “Drown in chaos, witch.” As the ground shook and gouts of water smashed through the asphalt, the water pooled past her knees and up her hips. “Your gods have returned, and this America will be our Sea of Suffering!” It boomed as Leviathan retreated, heading towards the CBD of El Paso, a growing tidal wave forming in its wake.
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