XII. The Last Moments

Two hours later, Darrus and Odin stood in the viewing room of Ocular Exam Station 404E. Szziszzigji waited outside, being too big to fit inside.

The ocular exam technician was a chain smoker named Garren. The place stank of cigarette smoke, although none of the three inside were particularly bothered, not possessing lungs.

"So, here we have it." said Garren. He sat before a board of buttons and knobs with half a dozen screens before him. "Upper left screen is left eye, upper right is right eye, upper center is the composite, what he would have actually seen. This is everything we got out of him, but there was some head trauma, so it's a bit blurry at points."

Garren pressed a button, and the screens began to play. Since only the eyes could be analyzed, there was no sound.

The view began with Revis' hand pushing over the door to men's room. Inside was a man in vibrant crimson clothes; an extravagant long coat and a wide-brimmed hat. Jewelry hung from his neck and fingers. He looked extremely well-to-do and more than a little flamboyant. Revis' clenched fist became visible, shaking at the man. Garren paused the playback.

"As these things go, he was probably yelling something at Red at this point. The shaking fist is a common mannerism." He started the playback once more.

The man turned to face Revis. He was wearing sunglasses, despite the gloom of the subway station's weak lighting. There was an arrogant smile on his face. Darrus estimated the man was about eight feet from Revis. Revis' hand disappeared for a moment, coming back with a gun. The man's grin widened, and his arms stretched across the room, grabbing Revis at the elbows. Revis was thrown across the room, slamming into the stall. The view blurred.

"This is the trauma I mentioned." said Garren, lighting up a new cigarette.

Though the view was blurred, two red blotches with a skin-colored space between them became visible. It appeared that Red--whatever he was, he was certainly not a man--was standing over Revis. As far as Darrus could tell, Red reached up and removed his glasses. Behind them were two points of glowing light. The blurry face moved rhythmically, suggesting that Red was saying something. It replaced the glasses. Then the hand became distorted, its fingers several inches too long, and plunged into Revis' body. Revis looked down at where the fingers had entered his abdomen, then the screens went black.

"They weren't stab wounds, after all." said Darrus.

"Damn, no artifacts is right. That bastard killed 'em both with his bare hands."

Garren turned in his seat to face Darrus and Odin. "The question now is, what the Hell is Red? I've been working this station for almost 200 years, and I haven't seen anything like this before."

"I don't know." said Darrus. "But I'm going to go talk to the Archdevil and see if he knows what this thing is. Odin, you check the Nexus. I'll meet you in an hour."

Darrus stepped into the hall. "Szziszzigji, come along! It's time for a visit with the boss. And this time, we'll see who does the yelling."

Darrus overwalked to Cankerworm's office and rapped loudly on the door. It swung open on the third knock.

"Darrus." said Cankerworm, back in his humanoid form. "You'd better have some progress to report."

"Do I ever." said Darrus. "Call up a screen, and I'll show you what the optical exam from Revis found."

Cankerworm gestured at the wall and it distorted into a screen. Darrus used the Nexus to call up the clip of Revis' last moments. Cankerworm watched intently, shaking his head once or twice.

"Now," said Darrus. "The question is, what is the thing attacking Revis? The ocular exam technician hadn't seen anything like it in his 200 years down here, and neither had Odin or I. The Nexus also turned up empty. However, I find it highly unlikely that such a powerful lifeform exists and we don't know about it. Which makes me ask if you know what we're dealing with."

Cankerworm sighed and the door slammed shut. "It's not something we like to speak of."

Cankerworm stood up and paced behind his desk. "Back during the Long, Long Ago, before Hell, or even Earth, in a proper sense, existed, all of existence was united. We were Angels, the Big Man's only creation and favorite sons. Then he made the Earth. And humans." Cankerworm sneered. "When we saw how we'd been relegated to servitude, while He showered them with love and affection. We refused to be used like that!

"Lucifer became our leader. The thing is, there was more than one kind of rebel in that war. The ones you hear about were the ones that wanted to get rid of humanity and start over. But there was another sub-faction. They didn't care about the Big Man in the slightest. They thought there was no one more qualified to run their lives than they themselves. They fought beside us with the hope of dethroning the Big Man.

"Well, Michael and his ilk outnumbered us two-to-one. After the battle was over, we were sorely defeated. The Big Man cast Lucifer and his loyalists into the Pit as punishment. But the others, they had no more loyalty to Lucifer than to the Big Man Himself. So He sent them to the moon; it would be their prison, just as Hell is ours.

"We were bound here after engineering the fall of man, but we've found ways out. Likewise, one of them seems to have found his way to Earth."

"'The one who did this doesn't call Heaven, Hell, or the Earth his home.'" mumbled Darrus. "The prophet was right."

"Yes, he was. We call these things Furies. Your mission has just grown considerably less complicated, Darrus. Find the Fury, and get rid of it. Do we understand each other?"

"Nearly. Will my weapons work against it?"

"It's of the same substance that you and I are. They'll work."

"Right. Any idea where I'll find it?"

"That's up to you."

"Understood." said Darrus. He walked out of the office. "Szziszzigji! We've got something very nasty to take care of back on Earth. Come with me, I'll tell you all about on the way there."