It had only three sensations left: rage, hunger, and pain. The warehouse it found to hide in was dark and isolated. Rats scurried across the concrete, and it lunged in hunger, its beak quickly tearing apart a rodent into smaller more easily consumed bits. Unfortunately, much of the rat was inedible for it, but that didn’t mean the rest would go to waste. It slinked away, observing the leftovers lying in an open space. It could see through the dark with little to no effort now, so when a stray black cat approached the remains, the bird jumped.


    Its hunger was sated, but not for long. It turned, looking right at a second cat, its fur bright orange, slinking away. A green glow emanated through its body as its body convulsed in burning pain. Its anger burned, its bones cracking and shifting, growing. The pain stopped, but with its end, came hunger. It leaped, grabbing the cat with its talons, an easy feat, as the former chicken was now the size of a mastiff. It screeched as it began tearing into its prey. As it finished, it convulsed again, but by then the pain was so great that its brain couldn’t even process it.


    It now had only two sensations left: rage, and hunger.


    ———


    William Ether had come to a rather simple realization: he was fucked.


    It started calm, he had a relatively normal day at work, the only oddity being the new intern. After a couple grueling hours of underpaid labor, Will was ready for the only good part of his workday: the lunch break. As he left, he saw that weird girl run off somewhere frantically, and at first, he trailed behind out of concern. Dave’s behavior from earlier was still on his mind, and although Dave had yet to cross any boundaries, he didn’t know if that would stay the case. The concern left his mind the moment she began leaping across the rooftops at incredible speeds.


    He walked in the opposite direction, deciding that whatever that was, it wasn’t going to become his problem. Deciding to go grab some fast food for a quick meal, he reluctantly stopped by Poultry Pals and grabbed some fried chicken. He almost laughed, thinking about how he was buying from a subsidiary of Poultry Corp using his Poultry Corp paycheck.


    As he exited, carrying a bag with his food, he noticed an alert on his phone. It was a Ruby Alert, some “Alex Flynn” guy around his age was wanted for the murder of his uncle. He read through the details provided and paused. He had a hotline, was marked “Armed and dangerous,” but it just didn’t add up. Normally hotlines were only set up for criminals the police couldn’t catch for a long time, and if he had truly evaded capture repeatedly, there would be talk of it in the news. Either they hid this case from the press, or something was going on here.


    The vibe he felt from the alert was one he had not felt in a long while. It seemed not much had changed among the police of the nation since then. All it took to define justice was enough money and power, after all. He tried to dismiss the thought, regardless of the truth, he couldn’t dwell in the past. He had managed to scrape out a life for himself. He was fed, clothed, and had shelter. For better or worse he was alive. If he wanted to stay that way, he knew he’d have to feign ignorance and continue onward.


    He walked through the bustling city but found the path he usually took back to the office was blocked. Sighing, he plotted a new route and continued. He came to a bend in the road, finding it to be sparsely populated, and suddenly he saw people rushing away. He stood stunned for a moment, as he heard gunshots ringing out from an alley. He ducked for cover outside the alleyway. A loud slash followed by splattering, and a fleshy clattering of small objects falling to the ground echoed out of the alley. He heard a familiar voice- the voice of the new recruit from earlier that day.


    He peeked into the alleyway, spotting the corpses of many police officers, all of them familiar to him. He almost laughed, it seemed karma was a real force in the world after all. He had no sympathy for that squad. The girl from earlier stood, her clothes speckled with bloodstains, standing next to her was the guy pictured in the alert, frozen in fear, trembling slightly.


    He heard enough of the ensuing conversation to understand that he had to run, and fast if he wanted to keep his body in one piece. He was far from stealthy and had chosen a rather bad hiding spot, so he was left just questioning how to go about it. Finally, he decided to just move. Slowly, he took a step. Then another, and another. He was home free at this rate!


    “And where do you think you’re going?”


    Life wasn’t that easy. It seemed this was how the curtains would close for him: outside an alleyway, holding a bag of cheap fried chicken. He stepped out in front of the alleyway, holding his hands up in surrender, releasing the plastic bag from his grip and onto the ground.


    “Well, preferably home? Otherwise, probably heaven.”


    He paused, deep in thought, before continuing:


    “I’d settle for hell.”


    “Not the police station to report a crime?”


    “I don’t see how that’s relevant to me.”


    She seemed taken aback for a moment, then spouted out the first words that came to mind, while swinging her sword around wildly.


    “I don’t see how letting you live is relevant to me!”


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    “Well, if I’m going to die, can I at least have my lunch?” he said without missing a beat. “I didn’t even get to open it.”


    He slowly reached for the plastic bag, not even waiting for an answer, when a knife cloaked in a shadowy aura flew forward, causing him to instinctively withdraw his hand.


    “For all I know you have some weapons in that bag. Y’know what? Leave the bag behind, and I’ll let you run off. I don’t want to dull my sword anymore, it’s a pain to sharpen.”


    Will wondered if the offer was genuine, or a way to slice him down when he was distracted. The thought was interrupted by yelling and the noise of police sirens.


    “Shit. Well, looks like they called in some backup. I’ve said too much, unfortunately, you are now a part of this.“ She grabbed Will by his shirt in one hand and Alex in the other, and leaped onto the rooftops, and began speeding through the city.


    Will felt the wind blasting his face, and his legs limp in the air, as he was slingshotted across the skyline. He began thinking about everything that had just happened, and a couple of questions came to mind. Why didn''t she just kill him if he had information she didn’t want getting out? Hell, why didn’t she just kill the police after them now? She could probably fight them and win. It was like she was avoiding killing, which was interesting considering her earlier behavior.


    His thoughts drifted to the whole action sequence playing out around him, that guy from the alert was a part of this. The feeling from that day came back to him. Whatever this conflict was, it might be related to the one he had tried so hard to let go of. In the end, it had become his problem all over again, and he was almost happy about it. His risk free, watered down, and safe life was over.


    To put it simply, he was fucked.


    ———


    The TRC was run by a board of directors, and government officials who gave approval for certain projects. It had started as a research organization, but management shifted its research to some rather deadly subjects, and soon, they struck a deal with the government, becoming a government contractor.


    Of course, such status gave it some sway over the law, a sway it often needed to get results. Using this power, it was able to do research that was far from legal within the country, and even internationally. The kind of business the TRC had a natural tendency to have leaks of confidential info, and whistleblowers. But a ruined reputation would damage the stock price, and interfere with business.


    That was where he came in. It was his job to clog the leaks, and exterminate the rats. And using the power of the TRC, he could do so easily, police, federal agents, to a slight extent even the military, he could use them all. There was a reason the TRC had remained completely innocuous for his 24 years of service.


    He fixed up his suit, as he stared at the security footage the police had presented him. It seemed that this wouldn’t be an open and shut case. A skilled magic user had become mixed up in this, likely from the Evil Shadow Organization considering their speed, shadow magic, and lethality.


    Some bystander also appeared to have been taken hostage. There were going to be a lot of loose threads to tie off by the end of this. He began plotting, he would have to find a way to get rid of the hostage, and decided to kill him off in a police encounter, an “unfortunate casualty” to the media. Dealing with the ESO was a different challenge. One on hand, he could publicize it to potentially force them to back off, however that could backfire, especially if the Scientific Order stepped in. The TRC had power within Tisone, not internationally, and the TRC did not want attention drawn to it.


    This was a tricky situation, he didn’t know what the ESO wanted. He decided to set traps, he would have to deal with their agent with his own strategy. He had to prevent them from leaving the capital, so he would have to mobilize some heavy duty task forces. He needed to overwhelm them and force them to stay on the move. Then, at their lowest, he would give them false calm, draw them out, and crush them in one blow.


    He was a hunter, and he knew the only way to hunt was ruthlessly.


    ———


    Evan Von Il sat on a throne of twisted blackened steel in the center of the Evil Shadow Organization. He had an upcoming meeting, and the room was prepped. He was waiting on his assistant Krone for updates on Sarah’s latest mission. He sighed; knowing her, she had likely gone off track somehow. Still, she was the person he trusted the most, and was reliable when it truly mattered.


    “Sir, I have an update on Ms. Knarr’s mission,” the voice was snivelly and arrogant.


    “Krone. What happened? Did you bring my tea?”


    “It seems she ended up making a public spectacle, we managed to get some footage, and the intelligence team gathered a file on relevant characters.” He set down a saucer with a cup of tea, a slice of lemon, and some sugar cubes onto the table, along with a CD and a folder.


    Evan mixed in some sugar, and sipped down on his tea.


    “It’s a different blend than usual. Tastes a little odd. Well, let me have a look at this footage then.”


    Krone wheeled out a projector, and set the CD into it, before hooking the projector up to a strange assembly of wires leading into a bright blue crystal. The Western half of Contras relied on Arcanotech and magic over electrical technology, so strange workarounds had to be made.


    After a bit of silent observation, the CD had nothing left on it, and the projection stopped.


    “As you saw, she was reckless as always, causing unnecessary noise and going far off track from her mission.”


    Evan turned coldly, darkness seemed to gather around him.


    “Krone. Let me tell you something. I care little for your personal thoughts on matters. There is only one person I trust the opinion of, and it is not you. Now leave, before you utter anything else unnecessary.”


    Krone bowed, and then walked out calmly, appearing to have no reaction. Evan was lost in thought. He decided to look through the folder, and was met with a pleasant surprise. As always, Sarah had contributed something great, and once more it was likely unintentional.


    It seemed she had gotten distracted from her mission after seeing some cops who were on his personal list of targets. This led her to save a boy who was wanted for the murder of a family member who worked for the TRC. This was a perfect coincidence, as Evan had wanted an in for information about the TRC for a long while, or some gauge of their influence and power.


    He had heard rumors of Poultry Corp and some external force working together to take over the TRC, which was suspicious. Was a research company really that important? The rumors of government involvement spurred his suspicions. More importantly, what kind of external force would Poultry Corp work with? He could only think of a few, and all of them led back to a Devil. The TRC could open the way for the defeat of a Devil, and that would truly change things.


    He was asking much of Sarah, and that he regretted. But if he could rid the world of the Devils, and achieve his end goal, then he would finally be able to pay her back in full for all the suffering he had wrought upon her because of his selfishness.


    Soon, he would be the greatest evil in history.