XIII. Unleashed Fury

Darrus' best hope was that, now that he had figured out what he was fighting, Ross Gibson would volunteer more information. Now that he fully understood what was going on, there was no time for bribing the nurse. He needed a direct audience with Gibson.

Darrus came in through the closed door. Szziszzigji remained invisible, coming out the opposite direction into the hallway.

"Metatron said you'd be coming back." said Gibson. "Did you bring the Nightmare, as well?"

"It's in the hall. Do you know what I'm hear to ask you?" said Darrus.

"Yes, but I get migraines if you don't go ahead and ask it anyway." Gibson replied. He was reclining on the bed.

"I've figured out that the killer is a Fury. What I need to know is who and when it's going to attack next."

"You want to catch it occupied, perhaps?" said Gibson.

"You could it put it that way." said Darrus. "Now, who's the target?"

"I'll have to ask." Gibson leaned back, then sat bolt upright. "Oh, my."

"What? Who is--"

Darrus was cut off as the door behind him was ripped from its hinges. A sinister chuckle met Darrus as he turned, gun drawn, to the doorway. Red stood in it.

"Well, another demon." said Red. "I suppose this will be a two-for-one!" A wicked smile spread across his face.

"I don't think so." said Darrus, firing a round straight between Red's eyes. The skin rippled like water and the bullet passed through the other side of Red's head. He laughed.

"Oh, but I do!" said Red, taking a few confident steps toward Darrus.

Though Darrus took the appearance of a gaunt fortysomething, he had superhuman strength and speed. Darrus jumped backward, landing behind the bed. He leapt forward, catching Gibson in his free hand, then jumped around the Fury and out through the door. They came out of a door to a 27th story apartment across town. Darrus dropped Gibson to the floor.

Gibson vomited and shook his head; his clothing and hair were slightly scorched. "What happened?" he whispered.

"Humans weren't meant for demonic means of travel. Don't think this is a freebee, Gibson. I just saved your life and broke you out of that asylum."

Gibson rolled over. "I'm not exactly in a position to help you...plus that thing is still after me."

"I'll take care of the Fury. As for reimbursement of my effort, you're a prophet; you'll know how to repay me. Now excuse me, I have a job to do." With that, Darrus went back through the door and came out into the same building's hallway.

"Damn it!" he yelled in frustration. "That thing must have destroyed the door!"

Darrus tried again, this time trying for a shopfront across the street from the NLHMI. The western wing had been levelled and a large dust cloud was rising.

"Odin!" Darrus yelled, running across the street. "Get a full team of Guardians up here ASAP! Our friend has a bit of a temper!"

Darrus came to the fence and simply jumped it--ten feet, straight up and over. He reached into his coat, coming out with a coiled net.

"On it!" said Odin. "18 Guardian Devils on their way, estimated time of arrival is 90 seconds. Keep it busy 'til then."

"Will do!" said Darrus, following the source of the dust cloud.

"WHERE IS HE!?" rumbled an inhuman voice as he got closer. "YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME, HUMAN!"

Darrus didn't like where this was going. The coverup alone was going to be a monumental task, not to mention actually removing the Fury itself. By Cankerworm's description, the thing was at least as powerful as an Archdevil--considering that it had already killed an angel, probably more so. There was no sign of Szziszzigji anywhere.

Finally, Darrus saw the Fury. It was fifteen feet tall and swung its arms like wrecking balls, yet still had the same approximate shape. It looked almost as though a gigantic socialite was systematically demolishing the New Liberty Hospital for the Mentally Ill. It's back was to Darrus.

"Darrus!" said Odin. "Cankerworm says he wants you to take it alive!"

Darrus sighed and threw the net at the fury. The net spread over the entire form and bound it to the ground. Infernal nets don't miss or break.

The Fury roared. It became indistinct and flowed out through the holes in the net, reforming in its humanoid form on top of the now useless trap.

"Tell Cankerworm he can up and get it himself." said Darrus.

"What have you done with the Prophet?" demanded the Fury.

Darrus had at least another 45 seconds until the Guardians arrived. He knew that even with their help, this was going to be difficult; it was suicide alone. The key was to keep the Fury occupied long enough for the Guardians to get into position.

"Away from here! What business have you with him?" Darrus yelled back.

"I've come to prove to Yahweh once and for all who rules existence!" the Fury returned.

"That's generally a bad idea." said Odin.

Darrus made a mental note that the Fury called the Big Man by his ancient name. That meant it probably hadn't been on Earth for long.

"And who are you to challenge the Allmighty?" Darrus returned.

"I am Karobim, Patron of the Moon, champion of the Furies!" He puffed out his chest.

"The Furies live on the Moon. How did you get here?"

Karobim smiled. "Humans now live on the Moon, demon. It was a simple trick to ride their own craft down to Earth. I have lived amongst these swine for 240 phases, and now have decided to fulfill my potential as ruler of all!"

"240 phases..." said Odin. "If he's talking about phases of the Moon, that'd be about two years."

Darrus remembered what Cankerworm had told him about Furies. They were too proud to live under the Big Man, too proud to fall with Lucifer, too proud to take orders from anyone. Their chief attribute seemed to be arrogance, and this one was far from humble. If he could somehow use its overconfidence to his advantage--

"Guardians have arrived, Darrus. They're fanning out now. Just keep him still for a little bit longer and they'll have him." said Odin.

"What right have you to rule over a creation you did not forge?" demanded Darrus, stalling for time.

"My birthright as the perfect creation!"

"And how do you know you are perfect?"

"I bear the mark of perfection!" With that, the Fury removed his sunglasses. Behind them pulsed a pair of eyes that glowed like suns.

"DARRUS, THIS IS CANKERWORM." throbbed the words in Darrus' head. "THE EYES. AIM FOR THE EYES!"

Darrus let off two rounds, one for each eye, before Karobim realized what was happening. The Fury tried to get out of the way, but the bullet meant for its right eye hit the left in passing. A wave of energy shot out of it, hitting Darrus in the chest. He was propelled backward by the sheer force of impact, throwing him across the street, through the fence, and then through the window of the shop he'd come out of. Demons were extremely resilient, and the impacts hadn't hurt him, but the energy blast was of a different nature--his entire chest felt as though it had been set aflame.

He lay slumped agains the counter, panting. It was just before six AM, so the shop wasn't yet open. The rational side of Darrus said this was a good thing; the damage could be explained as simple vandalism. The cautionary side of Darrus said that he should be careful; he had just injured the Fury, which had probably enraged it very greatly. The rest of him knew that no matter how angry and injured the Fury was, he was more so.

"That bastard..." he heaved, "is going to...regret that." Darrus hauled himself upright. He reached into his coat and pulled out a roll of tape. "Fixes anything...they say." he said to the roll. "Let's see...about that."

Darrus laid strips of the tape across his chest. Everywhere it touched, the pain ceased. In a matter of moments, he'd torn off the tape and leapt from the storefront, back to where Karobim was continuing to erase the NLHMI from existence.

"Odin!" he said, running back for the area of fence his passage had uprooted. "Are the Guardians in?"

"Aye, and they're havin' trouble. Find that Nightmare and get him involved!"

Darrus stepped onto the asylum's lawn. "Szziszzigji! Get him!"

Darrus felt a sense of satisfaction mixed with bloodlust. Szziszzigji was still here, somewhere, and had heard the order.

The Guardian Devils looked like chots, but were far more durable than their human counterparts. A hail of bullets fell constantly on the Fury, but had no effect. It swung wildly with one hand, covering its damaged eye with the other. It had to be at least thirty feet tall at this point. The few people on the street at this time had stopped to stare. Cars slowed as they passed.

"Get the eye, Szziszzigji!" Darrus yelled.

He felt the satisfaction increase.

Darrus saw pieces of the asylum wall crumble upward. Szziszzigji must have been scaling the walls, getting close enough to the Fury. Darrus saw the Fury turn its back to Szziszzigji and utterly crush a Guardian.

"How many Guardians are left?" Darrus asked.

"Twelve. The bastard's killed five and trapped one under a good twenty tons of rubble." said Odin.

Suddenly, a combination of a hiss and a scream filled the air. It was deafening. The Fury's unoccupied arm swivelled back, as if trying to pull something off its back. Szziszzigji materialized, straddling the Fury's shoulder. Its third, longest leg swept around and kicked the fury in its remaining eye.

This time, its entire form exploded into light. Darrus leapt backwards, but it wasn't far enough. Everything in half-mile radius was consumed in the light. When the dust settled, only rubble remained.