Forged Legacy

Chapter 147 - Instincts

“Thank god!” Tyler celebrated as he moved down the line of half-empty fridges lining the back wall. The glass door swept away fallen snacks as rows and rows of cans disappeared into his slipsack.

“I’m watching you! Don’t even think about grabbing any alcohol,” Steve warned.

Tyler waved him off. Once the sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks were all gone, he switched to looting any intact bags of chips and candy. Harvey couldn’t decide if he looked more like an excited toddler or a starving dog.

“Chill out, dude,” Harvey laughed. “You know they sell all this stuff at John’s shop, right? The branded stuff from Earth can get expensive, but it’s not that bad.”

Tyler’s eyes went wide as Steve gave Harvey a crestfallen look. Half a candy bar that had been dangling out of his mouth fell to the floor.

“WHAT?!” he shouted, chocolate staining his lips.

“We have a very limited budget,” Steve warned. “The angels only give us merit for the essentials.”

“We include a small amount for tastes of home,” Cash interjected. “It helps some people with the transition.”

Tyler picked up the fallen candy and pointed it at his father like a dagger. “You tell me right now if you’ve had a diet coke since we got here!”

Steve hesitated before giving up and pulling a can out of his slipsack.

“I knew it!” Tyler shouted, trying to rip the can out of his hand.

“What! I told you we only had enough for the essentials! Diet Coke is essential!” Steve chuckled, spinning to keep the can just out of reach.

“So is Monster! You know how bad my caffeine withdrawal headaches were?” Tyler complained.

“I know. Why do you think Mom and I made sure we had ours!” Steve laughed.

Cash glanced at Harvey, clearly confused by the sudden outburst. Harvey just laughed, pulling one of his own cans from his spatial ring and tossing it to the angel.

“You ever had one?” he asked.

“No. A few of the others tried Earth food, but it didn’t go well for them,” Cash replied.

“Take a sip, I’ll drink the rest if you don’t like it,” Harvey chuckled.

[Oh! To experience an energy drink for the first time!] Julius added wistfully. [I’d cut off my own hand to have that again.]

Sorry buddy. I’ll make sure to drink enough for the both of us.

Cash fumbled with the tab, eventually figuring it out and popping the can open with a familiar, satisfying hiss. He recoiled when it began to bubble out, tentatively put his lips to the rim, and drank. Harvey laughed when his eyes went wide. Cash pulled the can away, wincing like he’d eaten something sour.

“Ugh! It’s like acid!” Cash reeled.

“Good acid,” Harvey replied.

“No. I’m worried it’s going to burn my insides!”

“You’re a healer! You can take it!”

“That’s so strange!” Cash continued, taking another sip despite his complaints.

“I’ll drink it if you don’t want it!” Tyler interrupted, reaching for the can.

“No!” Cash recoiled, pulling it close to his body. The Thorne’s all burst out laughing, knowing another addict had fallen under caffeine’s spell. The sound of a gunshot far in the distance pulled them from their reverie, reminding them where they were.

“Angels?” Tyler asked.

“No clue. There may be other squads hunting out here, but I can’t be sure which side that came from.”

“The demons wouldn’t kill their own creatures,” Harvey said.

Cash shrugged, “The sinners need levels too.”

The four walked back out into the night, huddling under Cash’s wings as they resumed their trek deeper into hell. Cash said it would be a while before they ran into any active settlements since Hell’s human population was so much lower, so they wouldn’t need to worry about stumbling onto a demon lieutenant too strong for them to handle.

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It only took 10 minutes before they found another creature, but this time, it saw them first.

“Agh!” Cash complained as a fireball singed his feathers. It managed to ignite a handful, but the fire snuffed out when his wings turned to gold. “Get inside!”

They rushed under the awning of what had once been a bank, tugging on heavy doors that were chained up from the inside.

“It won’t open!” Tyler fretted.

“Pull them both as far as you can,” Harvey instructed. A narrow gap just wide enough for Harvey to swing the Sentinel’s arcblade let him cut the chain in half. The four rushed inside, using Cash’s wings as mobile cover until they could close the door behind them. Looking back through the glass, Harvey saw two brimfiends sitting atop a covered bus stop. They took turns throwing fireballs that didn’t manage to melt the glass.

“Are they… laughing?” Steve asked.

“They’re not strong, but they’re not stupid,” Cash said. “They’ll call for backup if we wait too long.”

“Let’s just shoot them,” Tyler said.

“No, you need to learn how to handle all kinds of enemies. Not everything you have to fight is going to be on the ground,” Harvey said.

“Ok, and? Problem, flying. Answer, gun.”

“Remember when I said your path needs to be cohesive? Guns might seem like the best solution now, but unless you’ve got a skillset like Harvey’s, they start to fall off at the higher grades.”

Harvey started to get offended, but backed down when Cash finished. The little alcove between the banks outer doors leading to the ATM and inner doors was getting hotter by the minute, and Harvey could see the thick glass beginning to warp.

“Why don’t you throw something? See if all those years of paying for your pitching coach were worth it,” Steve suggested.

“Like what? The only thing here's a pen!” Tyler asked, tugging on the metal pen attached to the checkstand by a string of metal beads. His new Strength made the string snap, sending the balls clattering all over the floor.

“Try these,” Harvey replied, conjuring three of his baseball sized Inkbound Ordnance balls and filling them with judgement ink. It wasn’t as strong as his Heaven’s Wrath orbs, but he didn’t want to accidentally set the building on fire. Tyler took them, cradling two in his left hand while tossing the third with his right.

“After the next blast, I’ll push out with my shield. You two follow, and then Cash can cover our backs. Got it?” Steve instructed.

The next fireball sent a spiderweb of cracks through the glass. Steve shouldered it open and rushed into the street. Abyssal laughs filled the air, strangely deep for the pair of child-sized demons who were now rolling on their backs with their clawed feet scrabbling at the air.

What the hell is so funny?

Harvey wouldn’t complain as it made them an easy target. Tyler took a broad stance, winding up and hurling the inky orb. Only its bottom half was exposed from this angle, but the burst of holy essence burned holes right through its flesh. The fiend he’d hit directly proceeded to roll off the bus stop, hitting the concrete sidewalk hard. The other took to the air, its flight even more stilted as its left wing had a new smoldering hole.

Stuck between finishing the one on the ground or attacking the one in the air, Tyler hesitated long enough for both to gain some cover. The first crawled behind the bus stop, leaving a trail of black blood and flesh behind as it strained to take cover. The second landed on a small balcony.

“Finish the first one!” Cash instructed.

Tyler rushed around the corner, easily outspeeding the rest of their group. Just as he was about to round the corner, a fireball shot out, aimed right for his head. His armor would protect him from the brunt of the damage, but some would sneak in through the visor.

“Slide!” Harvey shouted, hoping the baseball instincts would kick in. Instead, he was surprised to see the golden mace slash right through the flames, causing it to erupt early and dispersing most of the force. Doing so consumed the momentum he’d built with his charge, but he didn’t need it to finish the dying fiend. Harvey took cover from a second fireball hurled from above just in time to see blood dripping from silver spikes. Tyler looked almost as stunned as him, blankly staring at the mace in his hand.

[Instincts kicked in alright. Just the wrong ones,] Julius laughed.

The second imp leapt off the balcony, flapping desperately in an attempt to get up and over the 4 story concrete wall. Tyler hurled the second orb, and it passed just under the fiend’s leg. Another pained screech came when it detonated against the wall, but it wasn’t enough to knock the creature out of the sky. The third also missed, this time sailing over the building completely and landing the next street over.

Landing on the roof’s edge, it turned and threw three more fireballs in quick succession. Tyler swatted the first away but couldn’t get his arm back around in time to intercept the second. It exploded against his chest, bathing his upper half in flames. He cried out in pain before getting bowled over by his father, who tackled him out of the way just before a third exploded in their midst.

Wisps of flame licked Harvey’s armor, but he barely registered them. He wasn’t the main target, and his stomach lurched when he saw the pain his brother was in. He raised his gun to shoot the fiend, but it skittered away before he could line up the shot. Instead, he conjured another orb and filled it with healing ink, covering them all in a thick red mist.

“Give me another one!” Tyler urged while he fought back to his feet.

“It’s too late,” Harvey replied.

“Come on, just give me one! I can hit it!” Tyler complained.

“It’s gone! We don’t want to make a scene blowing up the whole neighborhood. I doubt those things can talk, so it’s probably going to come back with more brimfiends. If we start launching holy grenades everywhere, the next thing to come looking for us will be a demon,” Harvey continued, placing a calming hand on Tyler’s shoulder.

“Harvey’s right. Let’s try and get on top of one of these buildings so we’re not boxed in. I have to say, I’m impressed you two. You need some crazy reflexes to bat a fireball out of the air,” Cash said.

“Could be a good start to your next skill!” Steve encouraged.

“I guess. Man I can’t believe I missed,” Tyler swore. “First I’m tripping all over myself and then I can’t make an easy throw.”

“It’s the nerves,” Harvey replied. “You’ll settle in.”

“The next one's not getting away,” Tyler vowed.