A few hours passed as Joy sat tapping her foot endlessly staring out the aircraft window. Simon sat across from her, still covered in his armor yet seemingly motionless. Having passed over nothing but developed cityscapes and suburbs, and stretches of city wreckage, Joy found it a refreshing and new sight to finally pass over grasslands and scattered forests. As the jet began to slow down, she caught sight of a massive fortress, but more importantly, a massive flesh-colored ravine cut into the earth beyond it. The citadel with its massive steel walls, hangars and barracks fully loaded with machines of war, and imposing turrets would be scary to any human army, but it was a single spec minutes away from the terror embedded in the land. She tore her eyes from the window.

“What the hell is that?”

“The Flesh Abyss? Didn’t you read your field guide?”

From behind his helmet, she felt like Simon was judging her.

“I was too busy filling out all that paperwork you gave me!”

He sighed. “This isn’t some kind of job you can just half-ass your way through, unique powers or not. Training is going to break you.”

She scoffed, slinking back into her seat. “Maybe I have to break something of yours first…”

The aircraft came to a stop, beginning its descent onto one of the numerous airfields inside the citadel’s walls. As the craft’s door came open, her ears were assaulted with the noise of aircraft engines and helicopter rotors. Walking outside, she noticed in another airfield, a squadron of jets loaded with missiles and bombs was preparing to take off. She turned, noticing the same type of jet lacking any armaments moving back to one of the hangars. Explosions echoed in the far distance as a few large transport helicopters flew overhead. Feelings something tap her back, she whirled around to the sight of Simon.

“Since you’re too dense to understand, but you’re standing in the most well-fortified military bases in history. May not be public knowledge, but it’s thanks to the brave men and women working here that stops another crisis akin to the Harvest War, you know?”

She stared at him. “What the hell is that? And don’t call me dense, it’s not my fault school couldn’t make me give a damn about history!”

“It’s important to know, but it isn’t necessary. You can look it up once you’ve finished reading through your field guide. Now stay by me and with what little time you have, read. We’re going to get you registered and immediately begin basic training.”

She chuckled. “Not even gonna give me a second to stretch out now?”

“The operations you’ve signed yourself up for are barely going to give you enough leeway to breathe.”

Several hours passed by of walking from facility to facility as Simon chatted with a plethora of clerks and receptionists. Joy always stood near, constantly tapping her foot with her arms crossed. Every time they did pass by other soldiers around the base, she couldn’t help but smirk at them, at how lucky she was to have the position she achieved. After finishing waiting, Simon handed her an ID card.

“With this, you’ll have full access to almost anywhere in this base, and some sense of authority with others despite… how you look. Speaking of which, there’s one last thing we need to attend to.”

He walked through numerous more halls with her, entering a large room with a diverse amount of firearms hanging on the walls. Scattered around the room were several labeled crates and containers, and a long table where a few soldiers sat, maintaining weapons and armor. Joy walked and stared up at the wall.

“As nice as this offer is, I think I’m far more effective without any guns when I got these.” She smiled and flexed her arm.

Simon sighed. “I had a hunch, but I’m more referring to any form of armor. As long as it isn’t too unrealistic, I’m sure we can accomodate. Scratch that, knowing your strength, we can probably get something unrealistic on you and make you tank proof.” He chuckled. She turned towards him, staring at the ground for a few moments.

“A few things: One, what’s the strongest fabric-like material you have here? And make sure it’s flexible. Second, I need a knife.”

“As for your first question, we can get a good carbon-fiber mesh, maybe some kevlar if you’re looking for a light yet sturdy body suit.” He pulled a knife from a sheath on his leg and handed it to her. She took it and plunged it into her abdomen. Simon’s hand jolted forward, but then halted. She held the weapon up with a grin on her face as the thing had completely bent inwards.

“This was mostly based on a hunch, but I was feeling a bit more sturdy ever since I pledged. Now as for that carbon fiber stuff, I don’t need a full outfit. Just make some shorts and a proper top out of it. Color it too, and make sure to keep my insignia exposed. I at least wanna have some clothing that’ll last through combat. Oh, and some good sturdy boots and gloves as well.”

Simon continued to stare. “You may be durable, but it’s no excuse to skip out on an extra layer of armor. Plasma, chemical weapons, demonic weapons, AP rounds, explosives could-”

“Hey, isn’t the point of this special division or whatever for oddjobs and whatnot? We’re armed with whatever suits us best? This outfit will suit me best, trust me.”

He simply nodded and pressed a switch on the side of his helmet, going silent. Seconds later, he pressed it again.

“Your order has been placed, just give it ten minutes. In the meantime, we can find some boots that’ll fit you. But don’t come crying if you can’t tank every blow.”

As Simon said, only ten minutes later was Joy geared up. Fingerless gloves and tall sturdy combat boots, the shorts she requested, a white piece of upper-body armor with a purple stripe down the center: An outfit just as revealing as her sportswear, but durable enough to survive whatever battles may come. She smiled at a mirror as Simon tapped her on the shoulders.

“Now that you’re all ready, we can begin training. This is all you’re going to get for the duration of it, so be cautious.”

She enthusiastically nodded. “So what am I gonna expect?”

“Simply follow me.”

The duo left the armory, now entering a small room overlooking a large steel arena. He motioned to a small one-man elevator shaft for her to enter, and she excitedly bounded in. Heavy steel panels slid in front of her as she felt the mechanism descend lower, lower, and lower still until with a clunk, the doors slid open once more. The arena was massive, somewhat smaller than a city block. The room was completely layered by several plates of steel with only several powerful lights overhead illuminating the room. On the opposite side sat three massive intimidating sliding doors. Speakers by the observation room crackled as Simon began to speak through them.

“All right Joy, normally this is where we train squads of recruits to deal with demons. We capture them from the Flesh Abyss, and release them here. Unfortunately for you, you’ll be alone with zero support.”

The speakers fizzled out as the sound of heavy machinery came from the other side. It clanked and cracked until a dull thud resounded through the room. A hiss came from the other side of the room as one of the doors slowly rolled open, revealing a massive demon. It stood three times as tall as Joy was, with powerful legs and spiked feet. Massive arms with long-clawed hands connected to a hairy body, and a horned head that resembled that of a dinosaur’s sat atop it. It walked out into the arena, shrieking as it slammed its fists on the walls. Joy sneered, bolting into a sprint. She leapt straight at the thing, rearing back her fist. The beast noticed, and quickly spun around, smacking her out of the way as if she were a fly. She crashed onto the ground rolling for a few moments before she regained her footing. Watching from the observation chamber, Simon sighed, shaking his head.

“You may have the strength of a god on your side, but you’re still the size and weight of a human. Think before you act!”

“So you’re not as dumb as I thought, eh?” Joy muttered. She sprinted towards the thing again, skidding to a halt right behind it as it continued to bash the wall. It turned around once more, rearing back one of its fists. She leapt to the side as it swung it down onto the ground. Tensing her legs, she bounded up on top of its shoulders, quickly wrapping her legs around the thing’s neck. It tried in vain to let out another cry as air could barely escape whatever organs were inside of it. It grabbed onto her ponytail and attempted to yank her off. She winced, but in her mind thanked that her hair was reinforced by the blessing as well.

Art by https://supersketchycollider.tumblr.com/

“You wanna play dirty by grabbing my hair, huh?” She wrapped her arms around one of its horns, squeezing as tightly as possible until it snapped off, resulting in another attempted screech from the beast. Finally, between her legs she felt something crack as the beast began to tumble. She leapt off, landing safely as the beast smashed into the ground face-first. She sprinted over to the thing, digging her hands beneath its skull and pulled with all her might. With a loud ripping noise echoing through the arena and the demon’s juices spraying everywhere, she yanked the head brutally off. Still smiling, she turned to the observation room.

“That good enough for you Simon?”

The speakers crackled to life. “Not at all.”

Suddenly the demon’s head began to move back to the body. Joy heard the sloshing of flesh mending, and leapt back as she saw the sight of the demon re-attaching its head and regenerating its mortal wounds. It let out another frightening roar, wiping the smirk off of Joy’s face as a more frustrated expression took its place. “Nobody told me these things could just come back to life like that!”

The speakers powered up once more. “It was in your field guide Joy!”