Chapter 56: Upgrades

Serenity watched him drive up, losing track of what she was saying even as he parked this bike just outside the crowd’s radius.

“…which is awesome ‘cause by that point I was totally shooting out the barrel, and my new Benediction… hold on. Excuse me folks.” She set the Ma Deuce down, slipped between the members of Crimson Griffin, and took James by the arm. “Come on.”

“What?” He pulled back. “We’ve got shit to do. Where we going?”

“Come on.” And she pulled on his arm hard enough that he stumbled and came after her.

“Damn,” he said. “What’s your strength stat at?”

“What’s gotten into you?” She led him back up 6th Ave a ways, leaving the fortified area behind.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re looking like a half-drowned dog that’s feeling all sorry for itself. We just fought off the Fourth Wave. The Fourth Wave. Why do you look like you just heard your mother’s got cancer?”

James sighed and turned away. “Look, it’s nothing.”

Serenity moved back in front of him, ducking her head so as to catch his gaze. “It’s not nothing. What is it? The people dying? The lost teams?”

“What if it is?”

“I dunno, I mean, that sucks?” She shrugged. “But what do you think this is, James? A fucking tea party? People gonna die. That’s all there is to it.”

James snorted. “Just like that.”

Serenity snapped her fingers. “Just like that. Hell, we’re all probably gonna die, sooner than later. Nemesis 17 or whatever, shows up looking like Godzilla, goodbye Manhattan. Tell me you’ve seen that movie.”

“It’s just that…” He struggled to put his pain into words.

“Just that what?” Again she moved her head to catch his gaze. “You feel responsible?”

“Esme, the leader of Ivory Hydra. I pulled her back onto her feet, got her head back in the game. I made her fight. And now’s she’s dead.” His throat started to close up. “That’s fucking with me.”

Serenity put her fists on her hips and considered him. “You’re an arrogant softy. It’s the worst combination.”

He blinked. “Arrogant?”

“Yeah, thinking you can keep everyone alive. I mean, fuck - James. You were dropping lightning bolts. You saved our asses back there, right till I got my everlasting ammo and became a queen of the battlefield. And you tore over here like a bat out of hell and probably saved these people too, right?”

He hesitated.

“You did, they just told me all about it. You rode up, dropped a divine deuce, then regrouped Ivory, then rode back through the demons, throwing Sacred Strikes, and eased on out. James, they’re in awe of you over there.”

“Well…” He wanted to protest some more, but it sounded petulant even to himself. “Fuck, Serenity. I used to be an EMT. I wanted to save people. I still do. It’s… it’s not something I know how to handle.”

“OK, so quit.”

He stared at her. “What?”

She shrugged pointedly, made a face. “Just quit. Bjørn is fucking itching to take over. Hand him the reins, tell Hackworth you’re out, and find a nice apartment to watch TV in till the world ends. I’ll make sure to send you some Manna bread every few days.”

His expression soured.

“No? Not appealing? Then fucking toughen up.” She punched him in the shoulder, hard. “Yeah this is hard. Do I feel bad for Esme? Sure. She seemed like a nice kid. But she died doing a good thing, i.e., killing demons. And last I recall, she wanted to be here. So sure, it’s sad that’s she dead, but there’s a fucking apocalypse going on. We don’t get to mope.”

Again James went to protest, but instead he scowled and stared at the ground.

“We don’t get to mope, James. Especially not you. Other people can panic, get scared, freak out. You? You need to be strong for them. So that when shit goes sideways, they can say to themselves, ‘James is still here, he’s still going strong, we got this.’”

“Fine.”

“Get your shit together. There’s a lot more coming, and a lot more people are going to die. You’re going to send people to do stuff and they’ll die. Ask these military guys, the captains or whatever. That’s the price of being in charge.”

“Yeah.” He inhaled deeply and looked around the avenue, not really seeing anything in particular but getting his shit together. “You’re right. I got it. Thanks.”

“You got it?”

“I got it.”

“You sure?” He stared at her until she gave a curt nod. “Good. So let’s head back and show people that Blue Light is still doing its shit. If the Fourth Wave is over, we need to regroup, re-assess casualties, and figure out next steps.”

“Like crushing the hives,” said James, nodding. “Right.” Serenity turned to go. “Serenity?”

She looked back.

“Thanks.”

She grinned. “No problem. You big arrogant softy.”

He laughed under his breath and followed her back.

The next few hours were a blur. Transportation was arranged to get back to the Marriott, bodies were bagged, equipment salvaged, people hydrated, ate Manna bread, and there was constant chopper traffic overhead and trucks rumbling around. Once it was determined that the Fourth Wave had truly ended, the mood lightened, and people congratulated each other.

Bulldozers came up the streets to clear them of demon corpses which were stacked so high that if they’d not started decomposing immediately would have made the avenues impassable. They were shoved to the sides, the mounds reaching the third story windows in some places and turning the streets into hellscapes of ichor and chitin.

James made a point of just being visible, talking to folks, and listening to them. He congratulated those who had done a good job, asked what ranks they’d reached, and just gave them his time.

And slowly it got easier. Not that hearing about deaths or seeing bodies ever became easy, but after his talk with Serenity it stopped being about him. He showed up for his people, and with that outlook he realized he could take it. He could hug people who broke down, smile when others made dark jokes, or simply give commands, deciding who’d ship out first in the transport trucks when they rolled up.

Someone pressed a bottle of water into his hand, and he only realized then that he was parched; he drained it, then ate another Manna bread.

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Only later did he gather Crimson Hydra. They were the last Blue Light team on site. Most of them had camped out in their intersection, waiting as the hours rolled by, and only when he returned did they rise to their feet.

Olaf gave James a grave nod. “You are very inspiring, James. You have good presence. I am honored to stand with you.”

“Yeah,” said Denzel. “Kudos all round, you guys. Hell of a show.”

“Thanks,” said James. “Though I want to find Yadriel before I feel ready to leave. How’s everyone doing?”

“Good,” said Joanna. She’d salvaged a large pair of aviators that fit her face well. “All things considered. I picked my Benediction, by the way. Soul Bastion. It allows me to protect us all while we sleep. Apparently, it turns out that the demons have the ability to corrupt us while we dream.”

“Delightful,” said Becca. “It just keeps getting better.”

“What about you, Becca?” James studied the woman. “You pick something?”

Becca was rebraiding her black hair, her fingers dexterous, her brow furrowed. “I did. Dark Vision seems to have opened shadow powers. I had a choice between Shadow Step, Black Apotheosis, and Living Darkness. Went with Black Apotheosis. I don’t know, it just called to me.”

“What does that do?” asked Denzel.

Becca paused her braiding, licked her lower lip, and then shook out her shoulders and stepped back. “I have a feeling this might be… kind of alarming.” Her grin was all anticipation, though. “So don’t shit your pants.”

She inhaled deeply, her chest rising, and with a flick her eyes turned jet black, sclera, irises, and all.

James was about to comment, but she wasn’t done.

Shadows streamed toward her, flowing from under the tank, from the cracks between the sandbags, from all around. They hid her figure, making her larger. She swelled in height, growing to some nine, ten feet, and became…

“Oh shit,” said Denzel, stepping back. “You’re a fucking shadow demon.”

“It feels good,” said Becca, her voice distorted, made menacing and hollow. It looked as if she was wreathed in living black flames that endlessly coursed about her. Her arms had elongated, her hands grown, and each finger was now tipped with a six-inch curved blade of pure night. Her face was almost completely hidden, but it looked vaguely like a bull’s skull if one had been dipped in oil, with backswept horns.

Rangers and other support personnel cried out in alarm. James turned, extended his arms, saw dozens of men hurriedly grabbing their M4’s.

“Hey! Calm down! It’s OK.” It sounded really weird to be saying that. “It’s just a new power! New Benediction. Lower your weapons!”

The Rangers hesitated, but finally did so, their eyes wide as they stared at the creature of living night that loomed up behind James.

“My stats receive a +15 blessing in this form,” Becca said, her voice throaty with satisfaction. “And that only gets better the darker it gets.”

James didn’t know what to say. Could hardly credit what he was looking at. The fact that Becca was… this thing… that she could just… morph up into a… it didn’t feel real. Possible. His mind buckled as it tried to encompass her new power.

“Shit girl,” said Serenity. “That’s not half bad.”

Becca chuckled and hunched her shoulders, shadowed muscles of black flame rippling across her demonic figure. “Enjoy your bullets, Serenity. I’m going to be getting up close and personal from now on.”

“That’s…” began James.

“Fucking amazing,” said Bjørn, his tone rich with wonder. “You look fantastic, Becca.”

“Glad you like it,” she said wryly, but James could tell she was pleased. A moment later the shadows diminished, and she sank back down to the street, her human form revealed in its core. She was covered in sweat, her chest rising and falling as if she’d just run a race, but her grin was genuine and her eyes shone. “Damn that felt good.”

“Wild,” said Denzel, rubbing the back of his head. “But I guess if James can call down lightning, why the fuck not?”

James looked over to where Jason stood, the young army man at ease, his expression quietly satisfied. “What you got for us?”

“Couple of options. I’m not sure which to go for. The first’s called Nova. I’m guessing it’ll cause my aura to go off like a tactical nuke? Which sounds great, but then we all saw what you can do with your lightning bolts. So maybe it’s redundant?”

“If killing more demons ever becomes redundant,” said Serenity.

“Then I got a power called Righteous Obelisk, and the third is Seraphic Web. Not 100% sure what those do. None of them are particularly calling me just yet.” He paused and considered. “Maybe Web. I don’t know. Given what we just went through here, it could have been useful.”

“Those all sound good,” said James. “And if you don’t have a strong feeling yet, then just hang in there. Denzel, why don’t you share with the group what you picked.”

Denzel did so, his tone almost shy, but when he saw everybody’s approval he perked up. “I’m hoping y’all don’t make me use it too often. If you wouldn’t mind.”

Joanna threw her arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. “We’ll see what we can do.”

“Now we just need to find Yadriel,” said James. “But overall, this was a major power-up, everyone.” He looked each person in the eyes and smiled. “With Olaf’s Circle of Protection and Denzel’s Martyr’s Cry we’re now double insulated from harm, while Joanna’s Soul Bastion sounds like something we’re gonna need real bad when the time comes. We’ve got some serious options between Bjørn and Jason’s new Benedictions, and Yadriel and Becca look like they’ll be able to deliver the hurt up close and personal. Finally, Serenity and I got the ranged attacks, and her unlimited ammo is probably gonna be a game changer once we eventually start running out of actual ammo. Like Hackworth would say: outstanding.”

“I’m keeping this Ma Deuce,” said Serenity. “It doesn’t heat up when I use my Eternal Fire on it. With a little more Strength I’ll be able to swing it around like nobody’s business.”

Olaf chuckled. “I would like to see the man who would take it from you.”

“Let’s do a circuit of the blocks around this position,” said James. “I want to try and find Yadriel before we head out. Maybe he’ll sense our ka-tet bond and show up.”

“Fucking Dark Siphon,” said Becca. “That Benediction’s just a huge liability. You should drop a video warning the world about it.”

“Should have already done so, actually,” said Bjørn calmly. “A bit late, now.”

“Yeah, well, it’s too late to close the barn doors now.” James let their words roll off his shoulders. “Grab your shit. I’ll let the captain here now we’re doing a loop, and then we’ll catch a ride back to the Marriott.”

“Or,” said Bjørn, “we could visit my apartment. It’s only a dozen blocks from here. It might prove a nice change of pace for us all.”

James glanced around. Clearly everyone was up for visiting a millionaire’s pad over a return to the Marriott.

“Sure,” said James. “Mighty kind of you to host us.”

Bjørn’s smile was predatory. “Oh, it’s my pleasure. No need to thank me at all.”

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