The demon sped across the street, each stomp of hisfoot like thunder. Talons to the side, he tried for a killing swipe. I ducked, smashing a baton against his inverted knee. He kicked, and I caught him by the ankle. He sent me flying through the window of an electronics store. I braced my head as I crashed into a rack of computer monitors.
My partner jumped onto the trunk of a car and cracked her staff over his head. I skipped checking for broken bones, shaking my head and staggering to my feet. Sheared metal screamed as the demon’s nails dug into the trunk. Thankfully, the girl flipped out of the way. Speed kept her alive, but it’d only take one mistake, and she’d be eviscerated.
“Hey!” I shouted.
The demon continued swiping at her, missing by fractions of an inch. I ran across the store, somersaulting over the window. I rolled to my feet and chucked a baton. It smacked against the back of the demon’s head. I used the momentum to jump onto the trunk of a car.
She flipped into the back of a truck, and her luck ran out as she slipped. I leapt onto the car, crushing the roof before launching into the air. I slammed into the back of the demon, sending both of us rolling along the sidewalk. Not graceful, but it kept her alive.
“Youarea thorn,” he growled.
Scurrying to my feet, the demon took his time, as if neither of us were any threat. The denizens of hell were awfully cocky when it came to the mortal realm. With aflick of the wrist, I reached for the fallen baton. The magnets kicked in, and I snatched it out of the air. He all but leaned against a building, unamused.
“I’ll follow your lead,” she said.
I glanced at my newest ally. She had taken down three men and didn’t flinch when a demon stepped out of the shadows. Green or not, she had stepped up to the plate and protected Vanguard. When we needed heroes the most, she had proven that heroes emerge in the unlikeliest of places. I could have beaten the hellspawn on my own. Battered and bruised, I’d walk away victorious.
Maybe it didn’t need to be that way.
“Kick his ass,” I said.
The demon laughed, as if I had cracked a joke. I charged. He swiped. I ducked and rolled. Her staff smacked against skin. I braced a foot against the building, pushing myself into the air. She flipped out of his reach. He turned just in time for me to crush his skull with the base of my baton.
“You—” She landed and lunged, cracking her staff against his jaw.
I grabbed onto an exposed collarbone. Wrapping an arm around his throat, I squeezed. Thrashing, he tried to shake me, but I refused to relent. I grabbed my wrist, tightening my grip. When he couldn’t bat me away, he shoved backward, slamming me against the wall. He tried again, hands trying to claw at my face.
“Just. Die.”
The third thrust knocked the wind from my lungs. My grip loosened, and I plotted my retreat.
He froze. His muscles went slack as I spotted something silver protruding from the top of his skull. The spike vanished, and my demon friend fell to his knees. I let go of his neck to see the girl covered in blood and wielding a staff with a spike at the end. Without a word, she retracted the weapon and shoved it in a pouch on her waist.
“Did I?—”
“Kill it?” I returned the batons to their holsters and walked around the demon. It only took a second before the body turned to ash and crumbled. “Yeah. I think you did.”
We stood and watched as the corpse vanished in the wind. I stared at the black outline left by the demon. With that one gone, we still had to wrangle the three crooks, get them cuffed, and phone the police.
She continued staring at the empty spot.
“You did good kid.” She needed encouragement, something to keep her from spiraling into that dark place. “Have a name yet?”
Shaking her head, she pulled the mask off her face. Reflexes kicked in, and I surrounded us in an oversized black box. Her eyes went wide. “Hellion can’t do that.”
She knew me? I had been joking about the signature red. Did I have myself a copycat? Storming through thestreets, causing havoc for justice, I never thought somebody would go out of their way to be like me.
“First rule of heroing.” I took the mask from her hand. “Never reveal your identity. It puts your friends and family in jeopardy.”
While dancing around the bad guys like a trained acrobat, she hadn’t flinched. With the adrenaline running on empty, I recognized the retreat. It was fun and games while the blood pumped, but when the silence settled in, we only had our inner demons to deal with.
“You did good.” My words weren’t breaking through.
I removed my mask.
“Nice to meet you.”
“First rule of heroing…” Her eyes widened as she saw my face, probably covered in blood and ash. “You’re normal.”
