Act One: Minsk, Belarus

"Prime Minister Alba, I advise against this. The Peacekeepers can take care of it, and even if they can't, military support is on route. You're far too important to risk your life on the front line," Captain Victus said, walking in tandem with Lucius through the halls of the Republic Palace. Lucius sneered, continuing to move forward with the same determination.

"I didn't come to this country to hand it over to Hell, Victus. Do your job, command the army, and stay out of my business," Lucius said, causing The Captain to stop in his tracks. Lucius just kept going. He would not be convinced to sit around like a coward while Minsk was torn to pieces. The city was a beacon of accomplishment for the metahuman community. It was the future of society. Advanced technology flowed freely, the people were powerful and productive, and the rate of progress seen here had never been observed anywhere else. To allow what were apparently demons to desecrate this place would fly in the face of everything Lucius believed in. Everything he had built was on the line.

"No airstrikes until I give the command. There are too many citizens and Peacekeepers in the streets to risk it unless absolutely necessary. Understood?" Lucius said over his communicator. There were plenty of trigger happy officials in his Defense Department, and he wanted to make sure they were kept in line. He needed information, and he needed to control the damages as much as possible. Only if that couldn't be done would he resort to such scorched earth tactics.

Lucius walked through his office. As he moved, armatures came down from the ceiling, fulling equipping him with his gear in mere moments; he didn't even have to break his stride. Once at his desk, he pressed a button underneath it, which was clearly intentionally hidden, and a secret door behind the bookcase opened.

The dictator stepped through the opening. Under his mask, his expression showed no emotion. His eyes were coldly determined, and his brows were furrowed. The unthinkable had happened: A threat came from within Belarus' shields. Despite all the precautions, all the technology, and all the security, catastrophe was afoot. This would not stand. This could not stand.

Lucius was lowered into the garage underneath the Palace. From there, he made his way to his personal vehicle. He was going to get to the bottom of this, and he didn't care if he had to go all the way to Hell and back to do it. He got in, the engine roared to life, and the doors to the underground garage were opened. The car worth millions didn't take long to storm into the streets.

What Lucius saw was worse then he had imagined—they were everywhere. In the time it took him to respond, the amount of these things had doubled. No doubt the resistance here was tougher than in other cities, but the streets were nonetheless a battleground. The metahuman population could be seen throwing various powers at the demons, trading blows, and the Peacekeepers were trying to maintain as many perimeters as possible. People were fighting for their lives.

"I won't let this happen, my dear. It won't end up like our last home," Lucius said to himself as his brilliant red vehicle stormed the streets. He hit demons with no regard, and he only narrowly avoided those he identified as his people. He didn't even know where he was going, but he was angry, and that meant the center of this was wherever he damn well said it was.

The car screeched to a halt after about two miles. Lucius had found a significant gathering of these creatures, and he intended to question them. The battle for Minsk raged, but it was it's Prime Minister who would find out what exactly was going on. If he couldn't, he always had plenty of last resorts. He slammed the door as he got out, visibly enraged.

"So this is what that tainted scab meant by 'her own county?' Is this some sort of last laugh before she kicks the bucket, or are you fools invading simply to keep with the demonic archetype? Either way, you'll spill your guts," Lucius said, unsheathing Cora Zen. He walked toward the group at a steady pace. One hand held his blade, and the other surged with crimson energy.

Red smiled underneath his mask. He wondered if killing these things qualified as murder to Silus, or to anyone else for that matter. Was it moral to put an end to a demon? He didn't know the answer to that, but he also didn't really care.

It wasn’t long before help had arrived. Gravitas had arrived, all of his generals at his disposal, he sent Poltergeist off to face the demons. It was unfortunate that Belarus had become such a safe-haven for metahumans as it had. In times like these, the possessions would be incredibly horrific. Their power would unfortunately bleed in as aid for the demonic forces. Of course, the primary point of discussion between Gray and Gravitas was how to better detain the demonic forces, rather than mercilessly slaughter their citizens.

”Overdose. Deliver them as I assign. Ink, take the western end. ” In that moment Overdose grabbed the woman and vanished before reappearing just as Gravitas assigned the next. And then the same would be true with the following. ”Inferno is East. Poltergeist already reigns in the South. Overdose, report to Proarden immediately. He is in charge. Trust in him.” He said as he and Gray stepped aside. Gravitas then turned to see Lucius arriving at the frontlines. Gravitas walked forward, pulling himself with his powers to stand slightly offset of Lucius. He made the comment that either way, the enemies would spill their guts.

”Lucius.” Gravitas said as he nodded, floating beside him. Lucius continued walking, though Gravitas stayed behind. He watched, and trusted in his generals. He trusted in those that were his allies, not here...but afar. This world has been plunged into chaos. This was exactly the time that was described to him. The time when they would rise. He slowly began to play upon his sensory of gravity and started to manipulate the world around him. Any creature that came to Lucius would feel their weight increase over a thousand fold in their arms. If they didn’t come right off, Lucius would annihilate them.

”Gravitas, Proarden is with you.” a voice filled his head. ”Subject Overdose is being primed for detainment protocol Lux.” The creature informed him, causing a small smile over his face. Gravitas’ plan was already under way. If the world and it’s destruction would reign here this day...it’d best happen soon. For this plan was something that even Lucius Alba might find formidable, especially for one not so “enlightened” as himself.

Poltergeist found itself challenged, but not overwhelmed. Not even the demons could strike the creature, as it had not chosen them. Poltergeist had already been through Hell, suffered and returned as a beast beyond fathom, the result of a sick man’s experimentation made real. It selected demonic subjects one at a time, and unleashed a whole new Hell upon them. By the time they realized they had been marked by the beast, it was a struggle, a fight, but ultimately it always ended the same. The beast fed upon the demon hosts, and moved onto the next. Unfortunately it had no discern for demonic being or demonic host, and it was only taking one foe at a time...stalking and hunting. Poltergeist alone would not even scathe the forces and their numbers.

Inferno’s powers were not overly effective against demonic forces, though it was useful for generating a crowd-control and manipulating the environment, protecting the peacekeepers and manipulating the fires for their safe-passage or preservation. Ink, was having fun. She didn’t care the consequences of her fearless and reckless actions. One tattoo alive, a poison dart frog with a machine gun firing poison darts was a fun thing to have, especially as she held her fully automatic assault rifle.

Grey watched from far behind Gravitas, a worried look on his face as he looked around, looking at the chaos, the bullet-hell and rampage that was war. He’d been part of a gang war before, and he trusted in Zak, and Jared. They made it out, together… but this time… something was different. Something was wrong...

Death wafted through the air like an acrid smoke. A thick stench that spoke to him on the deepest and most primordial level. People screamed, only to be ripped apart and to have their blood splattered across the pavement. Even for a country that touted the highest amount of metahumans couldn’t hope to stop death entirely from a sudden demonic hoard. This breech within dimensional bounderies however had just made breaking through via The Abyss much easier. The people were powerful, but death cared not for how powerful one was.  ”When I first heard of the changes to this country, I expected a little more than this.” Sheiara noted, pressing a foot down on the corpse of one of the invading demons. Shrieks echoed outwards into the sky, as Hyperion’s dire black blade ripped through a few that had made the mistake of trying to turn him into their flesh suit. ”What do you think?”

Clumps of now useless flesh hit the ground. ”I expected a little more from the legions of hell.” His eyes had taken on a dark purple gleam, blood streaking an intense face that looked down upon the corpses. ”I have the feeling these demons aren’t seen as worth their lesser defenses.” Black mists rose from the corpses, swirling and coalescing around the two tit’aen’s.  Strength like a river began to imbibe his muscle, increasing his heart rate and overall feeling more like a high than anything else.

”That is a possibility.” The Abyss’ goddess of war mused, still brandishing two onyx colored blades as more of the demons seemed to rise from their infernal homes. Feeding into the chaos, and likely just being mowed down by anyone that had the power to do so, or mowing those down that lacked the power. ”I am curious why we’re here in particular.”

”Felt like killing a few demons and Lucius is here, so I guess it would be nice to make him owe me one.” He smirked, slamming the heel of a foot down to shatter the skull of one of the deceased demons. Removing communicator from his pocket, he tried to latch onto a certain frequency. ”Hey Alba, saw your country was being fucked so decided to come on over. Hope that’s not an issue.” Sure, he was death dressed as an Ambercrombie model but death nonetheless.

On the fateful day, when Belarus- and the whole wider world would be under siege by the forces of hell, Dabbler was plopping herself down on a big sofa with a large bowl of popcorn and the Netflix remote. For a single button that makes one lose days of their lives, Dabbler was more than eager to relocate to Belarus after that media building fiasco. And by a good stroke of luck, she'd found a low cost apartment with a Taco Bell on the ground floor in the residential zone.

She scrolled through the options and hit the Happy series. "Rated R for extreme violence!" She said to no one in particular, and began munching on her chili popcorn.

A few minutes in, her phone vibrated in silent mode beside her on the couch but she paid it no heed. She slathers her popcorn with many dashes of hot sauce.

A few minutes later, a tremor rocked the apartment building but again, she ignored it completely.

Gunfire began erupting in the hallway, with commands being shouted. Dabbler cracked open a can of soda and gulped it down.

Finally, a knock came at the door, causing the witch to pause her show. "Just a minute!" She said in a sing-song voice, getting up and answering the visitor. It was a blonde european woman in a Taco Bell uniform, yet armed with a pistol. She was accompanied by three extremely jumpy soldiers in heavier gear and carrying assault rifles.

"Dabbler! The city is being attacked by demonic entities! You have to help!" The Taco Bell agent said.  

"Who aree you? ... heeeey aren't you the cashier down at the Taco Bell? Gwen? Gwen!" Dabbler said with pleasant surprise.

"I was assigned to be your handler during your stay here. Now please, can you take a look outside? This is serious!"

"Oooooh but it can't be that bad." Dabbler looked out the window of her apartment, witnessing the city become something of a mixture of a slaughter house and battleground. Armed and metahuman forces were slugging it out with demonic hordes, while the defenseless were mercilessly preyed upon. Biblical apocalypse, except there was no rapture to save the righteous.

"Yup. It could be worse." Dabbler carried herself back to the couch to sit down. Once she pressed play however, Netflix's streaming service had been severed.

Only then did the gravity of the situation spur Dabbler to action. "My Netflix is out!" Dabbler screeched as she hopped to her feet, just as the door to the apartment was kicked down by a bunch of hungry demons.

"I shall feast on your souls, mortals!" On reflex, the first demon caught the remote in his large demonic hand and looked at it in confusion. Then he sees Dabbler teleport on top of him, sinking her own clawed hands into the demon's face.

"...I will HAVE MY NETFLIX!" Dabbler screeched, as she invoked her baleful chaos beams, causing the demon to burn from the inside out, reducing the monster to a pile of ash.

"The Hell Beast?! HERE?! -AAAA!!!" These lesser fiends, mere cannon fodder foot soldiers, fled at the sight of the hell slayer. Once word reached the higher tiers, Dabbler would probably become a target.

"We should probably go talk to some important people about fixing this mess! " Dabbler opened a portal to street level, not especially keen on what to do next.

"This is agent Gwendolyn of the Witch Watcher unit. Asset Dabbler is in motion- if anyone is still alive, please respond for rendezvous..."

It was the end of the world. Or at least it felt like it was, and for once, Coraline wasn’t being figurative about her inner proclamations of doom. What else was one supposed to think when the world around them began to crumple, the very ground splitting under them and spitting out demons? A part of her had known something was coming, before the destruction even began. It was a sharp and sudden presence that sliced through her awareness like a knife, setting her on edge. Looking back, she would realize it felt all too similar to well. That. Which would explain the fact that she didn’t even need to see the demons before an all too familiar panic began to overtake her, accompanied by the desperate need to Get Out. So, as a demon bared down on her, casting a long, dark shadow. She simply… fell through. And with that, she was once again in the Dark.

It pressed around her, an all-consuming void that was as vast as existence. Even larger than existence. The beginning, the end. It all happened, and will happen here. It was alpha, it was omega… It scared her. Not for the usual reasons, one would think. That would have been preferable to the truth of why she never came back to this place after the first time, and why she hated her own powers after years of dreaming about becoming a superhero. It was because, under the overwhelming presence pressing down onto her very psyche, it felt like home. No. Home wasn’t the right word. It felt… Whole. Even that wasn’t the right word, but then, this was something that existed before Words. In short, she needed to get out of here. Before the draw became too strong.

It was easy of course. Like before, she simply fell through again, tumbling back into this universe through a shadow. Not the same one she came in with of course. This one came from a building in a city she didn’t recognize. Though like before, demons were present, now actively tearing through the population. Or they were trying to. Seems there were more metahumans here than usual, and they were providing a good fight, along with what looked to be the law enforcement. A part of her wanted to keep running, but also, it wasn’t in her nature to ignore those that needed help. As good of a fight as the population was putting up, many were still dying and will die. And hey, how much more dead can a corpse get? That was Coraline’s justification when she jumped into the fray, creating a barrier around a child trying to reach his mother right as a demon reached to grab him. The mother, quickly picked up him up, running off with a nod in thanks.

From there, she threaded through the fight, guiding the more helpless citizens away from the worst of the battle. Granted, she didn’t know if where they were running to was any safer, but she trusted that they had an inkling of where to find sanctuary. She had to. At the very least, where they were headed seemed to have less activity than where she was going. The further in she moved, sliding along slick rivers of darkness, the harder it became to avoid the attacks being directed at her due to the increase in frequency. In an effort to escape and survey for more in need, she headed up, forming the shadows under her feet into personal steps.

Gazing down at the chunk of city she could see, she felt a pang go through her. Dead bodies lay in the streets in between the various battles, the splatters of red illuminated by streetlights stark even to her dull vision. She didn’t have time to dwell on this though, as she suddenly felt a large figure cutting through the darkness towards her. It moved so fast, she was barely able to put up a shield before it slammed into her. The impact shot her from her perch in the sky, and she rocketed through the air at mach speed.

She hit the ground with a sickening crack as her bones shattered, tearing her flesh from the inside. More importantly, the demon was still heading for her, only “visible” due to the shadow it cast in this much brighter area. Before it reached her though, it suddenly slammed into the ground as well, as if weighed down by something. That’s when Coraline realized it as more than just her broken bones keeping her grounded. It was also the gravity. It pressed unnaturally down on her arms, keeping her in place. She squinted, blinded by the lights without her shades as they had fallen off in her path to the ground. Coraline stretched her senses as far as they would go in the light. Four things immediately jumped out: two figures, one floating in the air, a VERY large group of demons other than the one that attacked her, and her shades. They lay only a foot away as if taunting her.

Taking a deep breath, she decided to deal with the nearest problem first, hoping the weird standoff between the two figures and the demons would continue until she could actually see again. Coraline forced her arm to move through the pressure, displacing the shadows within the limb despite the protesting grind of shattered bone. With a triumphant little cry, she gripped the surprisingly only cracked shades. Through the same process, she slid them on, blinking in relief as the world once again became viewable.

“Fuck.”

The word slipped through the mouth before she could stop it, as what she saw made her wish she had stayed blind. She had guessed that the figures nearby were metahumans. The weird gravity field had to come from somewhere after all. What she didn’t expect to see was fucking Lucius Alba and one of his fucking lackeys about ten feet away. So she was in Belarus then. Of course she was. She should have realized as soon as she saw the level of resistance the civilians were managing to provide to the infernal invasion. Out of the frying pan and into the fire... and then another fire. The idiom didn't quite work when this happened twice.

So now there were couple of possible outcomes. At the most lucky, he wouldn’t recognize her (or even better, notice her), passing her as a rather unfortunate citizen. The other good option was that the presence of the apocalypse would create a temporary truce. She would really rather not go back into the Dark.
Word Count: 1105 [2x EXP]

He had been crying under the stairs for what seemed like hours, and perhaps it was. In such a state, time was difficult to measure. The constant flow of tears had rendered his grey eyes bloodshot and his pale face damp. Never had the boy been so out of sorts. He rocked back and forth, sobbing into his elegant, posh cloths. He had been driven here, to his hiding place. It was dark, confined, silent, away from the prying eyes of the people he despised. He wasn't supposed to show weakness out there, but in here, alone, he was allowed to feel.

There was a creek in the old house's floor—a single, subtle creek. Lucius knew his home too well to brush the sound off as a product of its antiquity. Someone had stepped into the hall, just outside his sanctuary. Though he had no concrete way to conclude who it was, the boy had reason to believe it was her. She was the only one that cared, after all.

"Go away, mother." Lucius said, just loud enough to be heard outside the door. Instead of hearing the sound of her leaving, though, her high heeled footsteps approached. It wasn't like Lucius expected much else. She rarely listened to his demands to be left alone.

The closet, previously black as pitch, was lightened by the slow opening of it's door. Lucius looked up, his eyes connecting with those of his mother. She looked upset, but after only a moment of looking at her son, a smile appeared on her face. She knelt down, her gentle hand wiping the tears away from the boy's face.

"Don't cry, Lucius. Never has there been a life lived without heartache," she said, bringing Lucius in for a hug. He had heard a variation of that line a million times before. This was just another talk—just another encouraging speech to keep him in check, even now. How was he supposed to be strong in the face of such suffering? More importantly, why was it necessary? The boy's brows furrowed in anger. How could he be dealt this hand and still persevere? He pushed his mother away bitterly.

"Why? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't it all just be good?!" Lucius yelled, his voice cracking. The questions were naive and full of resentment, but the boy was only speaking out of young idealism. His mother had a sad look on her face now, with perhaps a glimmer of disappointment. Regardless, she answered as kindly as she could after contemplating the question for much more than a moment.

"....I don't know everything, Lucius, but I know that hope in the good of the world will always lead to disappointment. You have to instead have faith in your ability to keep going," She said, bringing the boy close again.

"You're going to lose, Lucius. We all are. But we have to keep fighting anyway," she said, running her hand through the boy's hair. He didn't want to believe it. Stubborn as he was, he wanted to be right about how the world was supposed to work, but he couldn't win—not with all the rage and bitterness in the world.

There was no other option but to agree, because life would not change to his whim. He didn't fully understand why the world was so unfair, and he wouldn't for many years, but he had to take his mother's words at face value in order to get out of this closet, and by extension despair.

"That's it. Now stand up straight. Dreams don't come true on their own."

______________________


The group didn't seem too keen on telling him anything. The demons instead opted to charge Lucius, who stopped his own steady advance. It was alright with Lucius if these things wanted to come to him. After all, he was running out of patience. Minsk was burning. Yeah, maybe the invasion could eventually be stopped—maybe Rise had enough resources to achieve victory, but it would be Pyrrhic at best at this rate. The source had to be found at all costs. Trying to use brute force would only lead to ruin.

The first demon to reach Lucius swung some kind of bladed weapon at him. Lucius simply stuck out his hand, catching it before it hit his mask. After his hands were on the weapon, the Dictator poured Red Energy into it. It offered a bit more resistance than your typical human made sword, but it disintegrated in seconds nonetheless, leaving the demon with nothing to defend itself with.

Wide open, the demon had Cora Zen jammed through it's mouth only an instant after it's blade was destroyed. The body slid off Lucius' sword just as the second demon approached. The next engagement had a bit more sport to it. Lucius and the demon exchanged a few parries, but once Cora Zen's blade started to vibrate, very much like a high tech chain saw, the demon's weapon stood no chance. With the next clash, his opponent's blade was cut straight through, followed by it's head.

It was at this point, after seeing two of their comrades so easily dispatched, that the rest of the group hesitated, keeping their distance. Not skipping a beat, Lucius raised his hand, sending a wave of energy at it's most potent toward the demons. Those on the outskirts of the blast were seared with corrosive burns or outright dismembered, but those at the center of the blast were all but pulverized. Lucius' energy, at full strength, could only be meaningfully withstood by the strongest of materials in existence, and the flesh of these demon thugs didn't seem to be made of Atterium. That said, he couldn't just incinerate everyone he saw. He needed a level head if he was going to get to the bottom of this.

Gaining a moment of spare time, having scattered the group of creatures before him, Lucius turned to Gravitas and......Michael. Somehow the kid had found his way into Belarus. As much as that irritated the Prime Minster, he was happy with whatever help he could get.

"No, it's not an issue at all—right now, at least. We'll talk later. As for the matter at hand, I'll need you two for whatever is in charge. I'm guessing it won't be as easy to overcome as this fodder was. Our combined forces can mitigate the invasion while we get to the bottom of this. It's the only way we're going stop it. They'll just keep coming no matter how many we kill," Lucius said, not even pausing a moment before taking charge. He hoped the crisis level of this situation would prevent any insubordination.

Lucius pivoted on his heel, approaching one of the half dead creatures on the ground. Once he reached it, he knelt down, his hand engulfed in energy as he put it up to the demon's face. Flesh disappeared as the crimson light got closer to the creature, atoms literally disintegrating. The demon hollered in pain, but Lucius did not stop.

"Tell me where I can find your leader. I'll consider killing you quickly if you do," The Rise Head said, voice monotone and masked face unflinching. The agonized demon resisted, but finally, with half a face, it's hand rose. He pointed down the street, in the direction Lucius had came from. A white haired demon stood in the center of a group of massive brutes. He seemed to be headed toward to palace.

Lucius smiled under his mask, then stood up. The creature beneath him finally sighed in relief, but it was short lived. Lucius jammed his rapier into it's chest, twisting the saw-like blade as the creature drew it's final breath. Lucius sheathed his sword, turned around, then rejoined Gravitas and Mike.

"Over there. He seems like as good a start as any, don't you think?"