Kayden grew tired of the conversations and invited Kearney to explore the city a bit while the ladies talked like “mature grownups”. There were details he didn’t want to repeat or listen to all over again.

“So are you going to smother me with some Royal Cross propaganda?” Kayden joked as he opened the door for the Exorcist.

“I feel Amy is doing a better job at it than I am.” Kearney returned the witticism, “I do want to know about Catherine.”

“An Exorcist interested in the opposite sex?” Kayden playfully gasped.

“You know what I meant.”

“She and I have a wonderful partnership going on, but in this job,” Kayden’s mood shifted, “Anything more can kill you. Do you have doubts about your partner?”

“She’s actually a lot more than I hoped for,” Kearney sighed, “But I feel I’m way under-qualified to be helping her.”

“Trust me,” Kayden said, “She’s going to need you more than you think.”

They stopped by a market where Kayden skipped toward the fountain drinks. He grabbed the biggest cup and filled it with Sir Fizzle with a hint of vanilla.

“What’s all this stuff?” Kearney picked up a bag of Cheetos.

“That my good Exorcist,” Kayden popped the plastic lid, “Is the fall of mankind.”

“You’re joking.”

“Want to test me?”

“I’d rather not.” Kearney tossed back the bag of chips and continued following Kayden, “I always thought that the Hell Walker would be on top of a building destroying souls and not buying soft drinks at a store.”

“That’s pretty gruesome,” Kayden walked up to the cashier, “What made you guys think that I wouldn’t enjoy a cold drink?”

Kearney wasn’t as tactical and cold as his partner, but even he expected a little bit of antagonism from the man that they claimed walked through the fires of Hell and was consumed by the evils inside. Instead, he’s walking with a class clown who enjoyed vanilla-hinted drinks and possibly has a picture of a cat in his pocket.

This made Kearney comfortable to an extent, but not enough to put his guard down. This was a change of pace from being with someone who refused to refuge inside a furnished apartment for the sake of the mission. He understood the pressures of being the top student since he technically is one, but he knew when it consumed him and when he slacked off.

“Hey,” Kayden snapped his fingers, “Are you still here?”

“Yeah.” Kearney thought extremely hard about the situation, but he didn’t think he actually spaced out. That was a rookie move and thankfully he wasn’t in a battlefield.

“I bet you’re wondering how I ended up here.”

“I’m pretty sure I heard your story from three different mouths.” Kearney kicked a pebble in front of him.

“I wonder which one’s the truth.” Kayden scoffed. A tap caught his attention causing him to look straight ahead. A man stood in front of them holding the rock Kearney kicked.

“Are you the one?” The man asked in a deep monotone.

“It was this guy,” Kayden pointed at Kearney without a hint of consideration, “He has a thing for rocks.”

“What are you trying to do?” Kearney pushed Kayden.

“Obviously, you hit him with the rock,” Kayden jabbed his finger at Kearney’s shoulder, “Just say that you’re sorry.”

“Are you the Hell Walker?” The man’s voice grew more aggressive.

“I’m sorry?” Kayden squinted his eyes in confusion.

The man’s arms developed in muscle with claws growing out from his fingertips. His teeth morphed into a sharper version along—this person was not human and he had a bone to pick with Kayden. The stranger dashed toward the pair with relentless speed and power.

“Shit!” Kearney tried to reach for his gun, but only to be swatted away from the man’s brute force. He crashed into the wall next to him leaving a crater. Kearney struggled to get his breathing back.

Kayden was punched straight to the face which sent him flying a few feet until he crashed into a parked car. His drink crashed back onto the floor with ice splattering all over the sidewalk. The force made his body leave enough damage to the car that it could be confused for a hit-and-run. The stranger dashed again to continue a flurry of punches toward the fallen Hell Walker.

“I expected a challenge!” The man’s voice grew into a sinister growl.

Two gunshots rang out with only one bullet hitting the stranger in the neck. He let out an inhuman howl, a shrieking, moaning sound.

“And I expected to finish my drink,” Kayden punched the stranger with enough force to launch him backwards, “Now we’re both disappointed!”

Kearney continued to shoot at the disturbing beast while Kayden drew out his panda lanyard. He flicked his wrist transforming it into the sword from before. The medic managed to get more hits onto the man, but he was still standing—angry with Kearney in his crosshairs.

Before he was able to leave a mark on him—Kayden interfered with a sword attack managing to cut off his arm.

This angered the creature more who let out his shrieking howl and growing more in size. The hulking beast was now quicker and exponentially stronger than before.

“Uh…let’s go back.” Kayden holstered his blade.

“I totally agree--” Kearney didn’t finish his sentence as he already made a run for it.

Kayden didn’t waste time arguing. His feet quickly met the ground and he sprinted away from the titan. Whenever the beast got close, he slammed onto the ground, but Kayden and Kearney jumped over the shockwaves to prevent getting tangled in a nasty death.

“Let’s take the roofs!” Kearney suggested. He jumped onto a car and skillfully made it to a fire escape. Kayden followed suit, but using a shockwave to propel him to skip the climbing.

“Do you know any seals? Kayden breathlessly asked.

“No,” Kearney kept his sprint, “We never learned them. The Royal Cross felt it brought evil to the academy.”

“Fine,” Kayden charged his arm with a blue energy and converted it into an orb, “I hope this works.”

The pair jumped to the next roof which gave Kayden the opportunity to throw the sphere at the monster. The blue energy zoomed to the creature, leaving a massive explosion.

The pair smiled in victory, and their sprint began to slowly halt.

“Is he dead?” Kearney gasped.

“I don’t know,” Kayden tried to breathe, “Let’s just get out of here.”

Kearney skidded down the side of the building to the street below. He took a peek at the aftermath and noticed a silhouette standing still with red eyes glowing through the smoke.

“Kayden he’s not--”

The warning was slow since the hulking beast managed to jump up to the building before Kayden even prepared to jump down.

“Are you--” Kayden’s remark was cut short as the demon’s fist slammed him down to the roof causing a cave in.

“Kayden!” Kearney loaded up another clip and began firing into the rubble. He knew it wasn’t enough, but he needed to buy him time. The dust of the debris cleared with the brute standing and holding Kayden by the throat.

“I told you I was sorry.” Kayden struggled to break free of his grasp.

“Valac doesn’t have time for your petty jokes,” The creature growled, “He just wants you dead!”

“For what,” Kayden gasped, “Zare?! That little shit started it!”

The stranger slammed Kayden back onto the ground with merciless force.

“You will not talk ill of the new prince!” The monster threw down more punches with power that shook the ground. Kearney couldn’t figure out how Kayden managed to survive the abuse.

Does he really have the power of the Devil? Kearney thought to himself. The abilities he possesses as well as his fighting prowess can be all marks of him being consumed by the evil, but maybe he just doesn’t know it yet. Before he could complete his thinking, he noticed a blue energy glowing through the rubble. The blue light exploded in an extravagant fashion successfully pushing the demon back and even clearing some of the rubble.

“Run!” A worn-out Kayden fired more barrages of blue energy. He didn’t wait to see the results and followed Kearney out of the area. He formed a line with his magic and created a wall to hopefully buy them some more time. The visceral strength of the demon still managed to get through the barrier and with the young men in his sights—he was confident in finishing the job.

“He’s like a wolverine!” Kayden was amazed at his pigheadedness.

“Yeah,” Kearney agreed, “A one-armed wolverine!”

The pair managed to locate the record store, but the stranger was still behind them. Now with the whereabouts of their hideout, if they didn’t stop him who knows if he’ll bring back-up. The demon let out another punch onto the street causing a massive shockwave sending the duo into the record store.

“Let’s go get the girls.” Kearney winced in pain.

Kayden simply nodded in agreement.