Post by Bene Elohim on Feb 8, 2024 13:52:14 GMT -8
~[Reader discretion]~
~[This entry in the Civil War story contains mature content, extreme violence, dark situations and other content which may make some feel uncomfortable, even triggering.]~
~[Please read at your own discretion.]~
~[This entry in the Civil War story contains mature content, extreme violence, dark situations and other content which may make some feel uncomfortable, even triggering.]~
~[Please read at your own discretion.]~
The soft ding of the two elevators was enough to bring the man’s eyes up from the desk at the far end of the hallway. He watched as the tall, muscular frame of his second (in-command?) walked from one on one side of the room and two middle aged men exited across from him.
The younger of the men had a wiggling body over his shoulder and he passed it to the two men. They took it and returned to their elevator without a word, but the younger man turned and approached the desk in equal silence. When he reached the desk, he tossed the small plastic card upon its smooth top.
The card had a number and a face on it. There was a slight bloodstain on the bottom right hand corner.
The well-dressed man with greying blonde hair picked up the card with one hand and lifted his gaze to the man across from him as he eased himself into a chair.
Lord Apollyon: “Difficulties?”
Anthony: “No more than usual.”
Valdemar Johanson reached down and pulled out one of the drawers of the desk. He fingered through it until he found the corresponding number and then slipped the card into the file. Once he was done and the drawer was shut, he lifted his gaze again to the man across from him.
Lord Apollyon: “I wanted to have a word with you, Sathanas.”
Anthony: “Can it wait? I was gonna tour the cells today.”
Lord Apollyon: “I don’t think so.”
Valdemar pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair to regard Anthony. Lucifer would never have tolerated anyone arguing with him. His word was law. Yet somehow he felt no disrespect from the man across from him. And he would accept a certain level of insubordination from him. He was simply too good at his job.
Lord Apollyon: “These... distractions… They are beginning to irritate me, Sathanas. Your mission takes priority. You do realize that, yes?”
Anthony: “And I’ve done it to the best of my knowledge.”
Anthony waved a hand at the mention of the distractions with a snorting laugh.
Anthony: “An outlet is needed. You’ve seen what happens without one.”
Lord Apollyon: “And that’s everything this… Maya is? An outlet?”
Anthony: “What else would she be?”
Valdemar sighed softly. He’s been keeping tabs on the young woman. Maya Kennedy was a student pursuing a better education. She seemed to have connections to the Kingdom and captured the attention of one Jasmine Matthews. He did notice that she has been attempting to go to Anthony’s home… more than once. It was a little odd.
Lord Apollyon: “So long as you don’t invite her in… fine. What of the other one? The clown?”
A dark look crossed the Fallen Angel’s face as he leaned forward in his chair, his eyes locked on his Lord across the desk from him.
Anthony: “Her name…is Melissa.”
There was something about the tone and the glowering on Anthony’s face that sent a chill down Valdemar’s spine. He knew the line he was standing on and raised his hands in defeat.
Lord Apollyon: “Very well. Melissa, then. What is the situation? Is she going to be a problem, Sathanas?”
Anthony: “For you...?”
Anthony leaned back in his chair again and ran his hand over his face as he let out a deep, frustrated breath.
Anthony: “No, sir. She won’t be a problem for you. She and I have a history, you know that.”
Lord Apollyon: “And exactly what type of history are we talking?”
Unable to restrain the aggravation in his voice, Valdemar tightened his right hand into a fist. He wasn’t pleased with how secretive Sathanas was about this woman and their past. Anthony let out another sigh and shook his head.
Anthony: “Not that type. She wasn’t connected to Lucifer or Hell. I met her shortly after I was exiled. I wandered a bit until the money Lucifer gave me ran out and that’s when I met her. We did what young people tend to do. We ended up moving in together. I thought it was serious... ”
Valdemar sat in silence, listening, even waiting after the man paused. After a moment, it was clear Anthony wasn’t going to continue, and he snarled.
Lord Apollyon: “AND?!”
Anthony: “And...nothing. I went out to get us dinner one night, and when I came back she, was gone. All her clothes were gone. It’s been nearly ten years before I saw her a few months ago on that god awful social application.”
Valdemar didn’t like where this was going. He hated distractions. He found Anthony’s temptations disgusting. A college student and a jester… low class. Gritting his teeth, he hissed softly before he leaned back in his chair.
Lord Apollyon: “...Make certain they don’t cause any more distractions, Sathanas. We are fighting a war, and even though we are three steps ahead, a wrong action will lead to negative consequences.”
Anthony gave a faint little incline of his head and rose from his chair, mentally growling the entire time. ‘No, I am fighting a war.’ But he would never say it aloud. A final half bow and the young man turned, heading back for the elevators.
This time, he was going down.
When the elevator doors opened, it was like stepping into another dimension. The entire building the public saw was flawless, scrubbed and polished until it shined, but this? This was different. The lights of the basement floors were a pale red that gave the environment an eerie fire-like color. This entire floor reeked of copper and was filled with the sobs and screams of agony.
Men and women dressed in the zipped up hoodies with the hoods up moves back and forth. Many of them carried mops that dripped with bloody water as they mopped the blood and other foulness from the floor.
As he passed, it was like he was God himself. Every man and woman in the hallways dropped to a knee and bowed their heads as he walked by. Their only words a muttered, almost reverent or fearful “Lord Sathanas”.
The fiberglass cells lined the hallways on both sides. Inside many of them, a man or a woman lay unconscious on the floor, covered in filthy rags. Inside other cells, men or women in the same filthy rags were huddled into a corner, hugging themselves and sobbing in agony.
At the far end of the hallway, a figure in the zipped up hoodie stood facing one of the glass walls with a clipboard in their hand. When Anthony reached them, the figure’s head turned quickly, ready to snap at whoever dared interrupt their holy work… that was until they saw him. Quickly, their head inclined and a male voice whispered.
Demon: “Lord Sathanas…”
Before Anthony could respond, a body slammed into the glass beside them and his head snapped around. A woman was pressed against the glass, still wearing the same clothing she donned when she was brought into Hell. Her face was bleeding from the lip and eyebrow, her eyes were wide with horror.
Woman: “HELP ME! PLEASE, HELP ME!”
Behind her were three other women, all dressed in the same outfit as the Demon standing beside him, minus the hoodie. They grabbed the woman by the hair and yanked her back into the center of the cell where Anthony watched, impassively, as they threw her to the ground and began to kick the defenseless woman.
Anthony: “What was her Sin?”
The demon clipped the pages on the form as the woman inside screamed for Anthony to help her. However, Sathanas just stood staring at her without so much as a hint of emotion on his face.
Demon: “Her and her boyfriend ran out of money while on vacation in South America. They sold her step sister to a cartel to keep partying.”
The woman crawled toward the glass wall, but her screams for help fell on deaf years as one of the Demons grabbed her by the ankle and ripped her back to the center of the cell. Her painful beating continued. The woman pleaded for the other women to stop, but the blows just continued, sending her head down into the ground with sickening crunches.
Anthony: “. . .”
Sathanas watched as one of the women grabbed her by her bloody hair and drove her face mercilessly into the concrete. This was done over and over until she stopped moving.
The three women ceased their attack only after the woman had stopped moving completely. They rose, panting hard, and each took an arm, dragging the unconscious figure to the bed in the cell and tossed her onto it.
She was still breathing but completely bloody as the three women left the room through the door built into the glass. After they passed, the door slammed shut and locked with an audible click. The three female Demons all bowed their heads to their God’s Right Hand and moved around the corner to the next Sinner on the list.
Anthony took a single glance at the clipboard and watched the Demon taking notes on the newest Demon’s first introduction to her new life. The notes stated that the woman had been confrontational and would require additional sessions to understand there was no help here. That she was paying for her sins.
With a pat on the shoulder to continue the Lord’s work, Anthony continued on.
Through the tour, he discovered this scenario was repetitious. A demon standing with a clipboard and watching while a Sinner was ripped apart by other Demons inside the glass cell. Some were tied to the ceiling while the Demons used knives and other sharp implements to cut into the sinner while the men and women screamed in pain. Others were tied to chairs while hot irons, pokers, and other heated materials were pressed into calves, biceps, and stomachs while the sinner writhed in the throes of agony. Others yet brutalized with fists and other blunt instruments.
Some begged for Anthony to help them.
Others tried to fight back to no avail.
Others, those near the end of their indoctrination, apologized with each blow.
Any normal person would have seen this and reacted with some kind of revulsion. But by the time Anthony returned to the elevator and stepped inside, all he could think about was one single, simple fact.
Every single one of them deserved what was happening to them…and before he was done? He’d see each and every one of Lucifer’s Fallen Angels inside of one of these cells.
Either that… or a slow and excruciatingly painful death.
~{Las Vegas, NV}~
~{That evening}~
~{That evening}~
Sitting in a parked in a grey early two thousands Toyota Sienna, the members of Mayhem, Ashley Kenyon and Aerynn Maguire stare at their destination and both shake their heads. This was a different kind of assignment, the kind that reminded Ashley of her pre-wrestling dayjob.
Ashley Kenyon: “ I can’t believe he actually sent us to the PD…”
Aerynn half-snickers as she stares straight ahead at the building.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Aye, an’ I kinna believe we actually came haer…”
“The PD” was properly known as the Pleasure Dome. It was started by two wrestlers Ashley and Aerynn had met back in their UWA days, a tag team known collectively as the Sin City Knights, The Silver Baron and Fraser Freeman. Baron was a half-Canadian, half-Mexican gentleman born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada named Vega Knight. Fraser Freeman was nearly a full decade older and a former military man from Newcastle, England. The two had come together in Las Vegas to set up the perfect sin palace for them to indulge all of their vices in. Baron was the pimp, Freeman had been head of security and both were good at their jobs. Not long after coming to UWA, the Sin City Knights had expanded as a stable to include a drug-addicted stripper and prostitute named Skylar Hansen. Originally from Sandvika, Norway, Skylar’s family had immigrated to New York City and she had run away from home at fourteen to escape her abusive father. Her boyfriend, also a teenage runaway that become his own private investigator and tracker to try and find her, Warrick Craven, had arrived soon after and been brought in as Freeman’s protégé in security. Skylar and Craven had each brought someone that amounted to an adopted child/younger sibling in Cynthia “Sin” Conway and Merlyn “Rocket” Harper that they had found as orphans wandering the streets. Skylar, Sin, Rocket and Craven were soon working at the Pleasure Dome, Craven and Rocket in security, Skylar and Sin on the stripper stage.
Ashley shrugs.
Ashley Kenyon: “ I’ve been here before. Last time, I ended up getting drunk and doing coke in the bar. I was fucked up for three fucking days, got lucky I didn’t end up ins ome carzed orgy or something.”
Aerynn nods slowly.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Bae tha a problem I should bae worried about?”
Ashley shakes her head.
Ashley Kenyon: “ I’m not in the mood, besides, the place has changed slightly since we were in UWA. Baron ain’t the head playa in management position anymore…”
Aerynn’s jaw drops.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Who is?”
Ashley chuckles.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Craven…”
Aerynn stares at the building in shock.
Aerynn Maguire: “ But he’s nay a pimp…”
Ashley nods knowingly.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Baron left him in charge. Took the girls who used to run the office and Freeman and went down to Mexico to make what amounts to his very own Titty Twister down there somewhere. Supposedly, that PD is doing awesome too while Craven still has this place running pretty good despite all the drugs. By all accounts, the place didn’t miss a beat and actually was a bit less volatile without Baron’s crazy whims in charge anymore.”
Smirking, Aerynn nods, visibly impressed.
Aerynn Maguire: “ So, Baron’s a fuckin’ mogul…”
Ashley nods.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Yep…”
Aerynn shrugs.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Who fuckin’ knew…”
Both share a laugh and then Ashley nods to the building.
Ashley Kenyon: “ So now it comes to… why in the fuck would Rivers send us to a sin palace in the middle of the fuckin’ desert?”
Aerynn sighs.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Ye dinna bae thinkin’ we’re haer fer Sky again, do ye?”
Ashley stares at the building and dread starts to creep into her mind at this thought being given breath. Skylar Hansen was a woman who bore a striking resemblance to two people they were familiar with. One was their former stablemate, now former Hybrid Grand Champion Stacy Jones. The other was Michael Rivers’ late wife, and the real reason for the Children of Nephilim’s existence, Dahlia. This resemblance had once resulted in the Children’s taking Skylar and holding her for the last few months of UWA’s existence as a functioning, active promotion. She was also the only person to have been taken by the Children in their original incarnation to have been released in some form without any retribution given.
Ashley Kenyon: “ I can’t imagine he’d send us here for that, she’s been out of his clutches for… what?”
She pauses and ponders the question herself.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Three-and-a-half years now? No way he’d send us for her now besides, maybe they came to an understanding. I don’t think it’s ever been stated publicly what actually happened there…”
Aerynn nods slowly.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Aye, tha bae true. I always wondered meself…”
Ashley snickers.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Yeah, me too, how did she get back here?”
Aerynn nods her agreement.
Aerynn Maguire: “ But if it’s nay her, then...whot?”
Ashley mulls the question over in her own mind. What would the Dark Lord of the Children send them here for this blind?
Ashley Kenyon: “ Something tells me we’ll know what we’re looking for when we see it…”
Aerynn nods slowly, tentatively.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Aye… let’s get this over wit…”
The two step from their vehicle, making sure it’s locked securely behind them as they head into the building. As they step inside, they notice with their ripped jeans, black Megadeth “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good” t-shirts and Aerynn’s Shieldmaidens MC kutte, they blend in rather well even with Ashley’s numerous arm and neck tattoos exposed for everyone to see. They look around and see a good hundred people sitting in front of the first stripper stage watching an act with three pink-haired girls performing with props and water sprays, the spectators all cheering wildly. To their left, the bar also seems to have a nice crowd going. A second stripper stage has another show going on with an equally boisterous crowd watching. They continue on and make their way upstairs, slipping passed the hallway with the full service rooms and heading to the security office. Finding the door marked, “Craven,” Ashley nods and then knocks. The door opens and they find Warrick Craven sitting as his desk, a younger, more brunette version of him holding the door for them.
Warrick Craven: " Ladies… to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Ashley and Aerynn walk in and nod to him as the other man closes the door, exiting as he does so. Craven just shakes his head and laughs.
Warrick Craven: " You’ll have to excuse Slade, you intimidate the shit out of him…”
Ashley and Aerynn glance back at the door and nod happily.
Ashley Kenyon: “ I can dig that…”
Aerynn Maguire: “ Aye, me as well…”
They snickers to themselves and then turn back to face Craven.
Warrick Craven: " So, what can I do for you?”
As the two just look at him, he puts a hand up to slow them down.
Warrick Craven: " You on a mission from God?”
Ashley shrugs, looking pained and annoyed to hear that phrasing.
Ashley Kenyon: “ In a manner of speaking, I guess. Michael Rivers sent us…”
Craven’s eyes go wide.
Warrick Craven: " For?”
Aerynn shrugs.
Aerynn Maguire: “ He dinna say, jess tha there was someone haer he wanted us tae talk wit…”
Craven starts to nod slowly, the wheels visibly turning in his head painting a picture he wasn’t at all happy about. He picks up a radio walkie talkie and presses the button.
Warrick Craven: " Rocket, you got your ears on? Come back…”
A second later, the voice of Merlyn “Rocket” Harper comes through the speaker.
Merlyn “Rocket” Harper: " I’m here, what’s up?”
Craven nods.
Warrick Craven: " Who’s on duty in the big room tonight? “
Merlyn “Rocket” Harper: " The special show room or the studio?”
Warrick Craven: " Studio…”
Keystrokes can be heard over the speaker and then Rocket’s voice comes back through.
Merlyn “Rocket” Harper: " Big and the Bull…”
Craven sighs, he was here.
Warrick Craven: " Are they still filming or have they broken for lunch?”
More keystrokes.
Merlyn “Rocket” Harper: " They appear to be just getting ready for a break now…”
Craven nods.
Warrick Craven: " Ten-four, thanks Rocket.”
Merlyn “Rocket” Harper: " No problem, Rick!”
Craven nods to the two women.
Warrick Craven: " Take the back elevator, you might just catch him before goes off to get protein fix, assuming the girls haven’t smacked him yet. It’s almost a sport thing with them at this point…”
Ashley and Aerynn nod and turn to leave.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Thanks, Ricky, how are y’all doing?”
Craven shrugs.
Warrick Craven: "Same as always, I’ll tell Skadi and Sin you said ‘hi.’”
The two women nod and following his directions to the back elevator.
Aerynn Maguire: “ I’ve nay got a good faelin’ about this, Ash... “
Ashley exhales heavily.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Yeah, me either.”
The elevator comes to the ground floor and opens to show a large set designed for adult entertainment to be filmed on the premises. As the two look around, visibly disgusted, ashley spots a man on the other side of the room.
He was as big as a house and covered in tattoos now with a bald head and a body so thick it was like an oak tree wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Mary mother of fucking… tell me that’s not…”
Aerynn looks around and then into the direction Ashley was staring.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Tell ye tha’s nay...whot? “
Aerynn squints but Ashley is already crossing her arms in anger.
Ashley Kenyon: “ You gotta be fucking kidding me…”
As Aerynn goes to ask her what she’s talking about, the man across the room turns and spots them. A sick, almost sinister and somewhat hungry grin comes across his face.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Fucking hell...I’m gonna kill him!”
Aerynn Maguire: “ Kill who, Lass?”
Anger radiates from Ashley’s eyes.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Rivers… if we don’t get arrested here first…”
Aerynn looks around bewildered.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Why would…”
She stops short as she spots the man walking towards them. A man she knew intimately. A man she had trusted with her children. Her husband. The safety of her family.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Oh…”
The man walks over, casting an ever growing shadow from the harsh lights the closer he gets. Finally, after what feels like a decade, he arrives within earshot towering over the women at over seven feet tall and five hundred pounds.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Cronos…”
The big man, Christoph “Cronos” Christen, nods knowingly.
Cronos: "Fancy seeing you here…”
He pauses and glances over at Aerynn.
Cronos: "And you brought a friend…”
Aerynn’s hand balls into a fist and Ashley quickly grabs her by the arms.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Rynn, no…”
Aerynn Maguire: “ I’ll fuckin’ kill him meself!!!”
Aerynn tries to pull away but Ashley keeps her arms pinned back.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Dammit, Rynn… no… we have a job to do…”
Cronos’s grin grows and intensifies as he leers at the two women, imagining what ‘job’ they were here to do.
Cronos: "Well…”
Ashley glares back, still restraining Aerynn.
Ashley Kenyon: “ You shut the fuck up before I just let her do it!”
The smile fades off Cronos’s face and he raises his hands, taking a step back.
Cronos: "Ok, ok… I’m sorry…”
Seeing the strange sincerity on his face and in his eyes, Aerynn stops struggling and both members of Mayhem stare at him skeptically.
Aerynn Maguire: “ I… dinna tink he’s lyin’...”
Ashley nods slightly.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Me either…”
Cronos nods to them both.
Cronos: "He sent you, didn’t he?”
Ashley nods while Aerynn just stares at the big man.
Cronos: "What does he want?”
Ashley Kenyon: “ We don’t know, he just said to come here because there was somebody he wanted us to talk to.”
Cronos nods, he knew why they were here. It was his time to pay the piper. To whip some red out of his ledger.
Cronos: "So…”
Ashley releases her grip on Aerynn and marches up to Cronos, staring up into his face without an ounce of fear.
Ashley Kenyon: “ How long?”
Cronos stares back unflinchingly.
Cronos: "The whole time Ash… he offered me six figures…”
Ashley stares back, her jaw clenching and her teeth grinding in rage. She swallows it down, squeezing her hands into fists as she tries to restrain herself.
Ashley Kenyon: “ And the other?”
Cronos does not flinch at the question. He knew what she meant. Cronos had often attempted to sneak his way into her pants.
Cronos: "Trying to fuck you was not an order, no. I don’t think he would have minded, but it wasn’t a tenet of the job.”
Ashley nods slowly, her eyes never moving from his.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Did you ever have doubts?”
Cronos sighs.
Cronos: "Look, it was a job, it was fun, it was an excuse to smack people around without getting arrested for it and you were hot. I never saw a downside to the job. The only part that sucked to me was that you shot me down but even then, ok, fine, I’m not here for that anyway. What is going on?”
Ashley swallows hard, still shaking with rage.
Ashley Kenyon: “ The Children have a problem. Members went rogue…”
Cronos stares at her, stunned.
Cronos: "That’s… not… possible…”
Aerynn nods.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Aye, it is…”
Ashley crosses her arms, trying to let go of her anger.
Ashley Kenyon: “ They brought back the first Fallen Angel. He’s a fighter type guy trained by Him and he’s serving as their enforcer. He beat the Stormbringer one on one…”
Cronos’s eyes go wide in absolute shock.
Cronos: "That’s… no….”
He shakes his head, his gaze never leaving the two women before him.
Cronos: "Nobody beats her…Nobody.”
Ashley and Aerynn nod simultaneously.
Ashley Kenyon: “ This one did.”
The gravity in her voice visibly shakes Cronos to the core.
Cronos: "So, what does he want from me? I was banished…”
Ashley pulls her phone from her pocket and nods.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Let’s find out.”
She dials the number and within seconds, the voice of the Dark Lord is heard.
Lucifer: “Yes?”
Ashley glares ahead of her at Cronos.
Ashley Kenyon: “ I believe we’ve found what we were looking for, what should we do with it?”
Silence falls over them all before the voice on the other end of the phone finally crackles back to life.
Lucifer: “If he be amenable, extend an invitation…”
Cronos nods without being asked and Ashley closes her eyes.
Ashley Kenyon: “ We’ll be back in three and a half hours. The invitation was accepted.”
Lucifer: “Good, I will see you upon your return.”
Ashley nods and ends the call.
Ashley Kenyon: “ If you so much as breathe wrong, I’m putting one in your eye socket.”
Cronos nods stiffly, his hands till up almost apologetically.
Cronos: "Understood.”
Ashley nods in agreement.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Let’s go, now comes the hard part.”
Cronos frowns but it’s Aerynn who asks the question.
Aerynn Maguire: “ Whot bae th’ hard part?”
Ashley just starts walking.
Ashley Kenyon: “ Keeping Twoey from killing him when we get there…”
Aerynn nods and follows after her friend and tag team partner, Cronos trailing behind them looking like he’s wondering what he’s done to deserve this. The three make their way to the van and pile in, Ashley at the wheel. She fires up the engine and they start their journey back to California.
