Adventure of Rekka Ch. 09

Moving with purpose, Bill kept the body in motion, flipping it around and holding it to his chest to shield him from the rushing valkyrie. He reached around the man's neck, flipping the sword on his back forward as he smoothly unsheathed half the blade and pressed the razor sharp edge to the man's neck.

"Stop!" Bill roared at the furious valkyrie screeching her fury, diving at him sword first. At the same time he slid the sword lightly along the man's neck, drawing a bead of blood. "I'll give your boyfriend here another smile," he promised, all too ready to make it his last act in this world.

"No! Please! Marcus!" she cried, flapping her wings furiously to halt her diving thrust towards Bill's heart.

"Lose the fucking sword, the armor, too. I thought killing someone would be hard, but keeping him alive is taking every ounce of willpower I've got, so hurry the fuck up!" Bill ordered.

"Get your vile hand off me, oaf! By the steel, your hands are soft as a child's!" the sword screeched, vibrating with indignation.

"Shut the fuck up, butterknife. I'll stick you in a rock and leave you there," Bill hissed with dark promise.

"No!" the sword wailed, "Not again!"

That seemed to shut it up.

The woman was hesitating, Bill jerked the sword menacingly. WIth a cry she dropped her sword and shield, fading into a cloud of light before they hit the ground. Similarly her armor faded away, leaving her in a simple white toga. Long tresses of golden hair fell free no longer constrained by her helmet. Bill didn't trust than one bit, she could likely dress herself quicker than it took her to perform that neat trick.

"Promise me you'll do as I say, in return I promise I will not harm him," Bill shouted at her.

"I promise! Please!" Teresa cried, tears welling in her eyes.

"Give me your word!" Bill demanded.

"You have my word, just please don't hurt Marcus!"

"Swear to me!" he snarled.

"I swear it, I swear to you I will follow your commands!"

"Swear to God." Bill ordered, knowing an angel when he saw one.

"What? I.. I cannot, please, you have my oath!" She pleaded, clutching at her hair as tears began to fall.

"Do it, or I'll toss you your boyfriend's head and take my chances. I swear to fucking God."

The color drained from her face, a terrible certainty the man was speaking absolute truth. She looked into the heavens, a ray of sunlight piercing through the soft clouds and falling on her upturned face, her tears golden jewels in its radiance. She clasped her hands in supplication.

"Forgive me, Lord, for I am not strong enough.." she called with forlorn apology.

Turning to look into his eyes with dread filled clarity she spoke, her words conveying a far deeper surrender than even the one he had expected, "I swear, I swear upon my God that I will do as you say if you do not harm Marcus."

Bill felt a strange heat between his shoulder blades as she finished her oath, his heart skipping a beat.

As she uttered the last word the magic that allowed her to levitate without the use of her wings seemed to cut out and she fell from the air, landing on her knees with a thump. She knelt there unmoving, hands and wings lying forlornly in the dirt, the edges of her pure white feathers now stained with the dust disturbed by her landing.

"Good choice. Stand up," he ordered, pulling the sword in its sheath from the hero's back. The woman jerked to her feet like he'd pulled her puppet strings.

"Yes," She replied with hollow despair, her eyes locked to the face of the unconscious Marcus. He was looking a little less pretty with that broken nose of his. Or maybe not, gave him a rakish rogue kind of look. Fucking heroes.

Shaking his head, Bill was almost disappointed he had pulled this off with minimal bloodshed. He felt no animosity towards the soldiers he'd defeated, they fought for good and honest reasons. Money, lack of any other trade, defense of family, xenophobia, love of country, and perhaps a morbid curiosity of what it would be like to kill. He could forgive any of that once he had his boot firmly on their necks to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Anyone who self applied the title of hero needed to be put down for the good of society. These two didn't care about the world. If peace broke out tomorrow they'd drink poison. You can't build a legend of heroic daring-do without any enemies to murder and prove how amazing you are. Meeting them was probably the most disgusting thing he'd found in this world.

Heroes weren't born. They weren't made, not with a purpose. Sometimes you would recognize them after everything was said and done, posthumously more often than not. It had been hard not to cut the young fool's throat, harder than he would ever admit.

If this stupid fucking "hero" hadn't revealed he'd chosen Asylum for his debut of murder-for-fame Bill would have found out real quick whether or not Larry's rifles could pierce an angel's hide. The thought of one of these monsters killing children for a little prestige made him feel almost insane, the disgust and anger so great it was too alien to express with words.

He'd made light on the wall, but a fury had been building as he understood their little game they played at. If this punk was really a hero he'd be hip deep in the front lines pushing for wherever the equally stupid Demon Lord was hiding. Somewhere between saying goodbye to Rekka and greeting the hero Bill had decided he really was capable of murder. Hell, he might even have a hidden talent for it.

Bill breathed out slowly, reining in his anger. He didn't enjoy it, or the way it made him feel. Turning towards the wall to call the all clear he had a moment to take in the rushing wave of mamono resilient enough to leap from the walls safely, the gate rising and packed with impatient reinforcements. Then he was off his feet, tackled by an ebony and fire streaked blur that took his breath away.

They rolled through the grass for several yards until he landed on his back, staring up into a face he barely recognized, but loved all the same. Rekka's teeth were bared, stretching her sweet kissable mouth into a bestial rictus. Her eyes were wide, red pupils dilated, the black sclera nearly hidden. She crouched over him protectively, her posture threatening anyone that might come near. Her eyes were darting in every direction while her hitching and over excited growls shook her body.

Bill's head was still ringing from the state champion linebacker's tackle his love had packed into her petite form. He wasn't quite sure if he was seeing things clearly, but Rekka's hellfire blazing from her eyes like the wings of a particularly pyromaniacal phoenix also seemed to be flaring from between her fangs as she heaved out each breath. He was certain he'd hit his head on a rock when the light waned and malevolent fires danced in his peripheral vision, wailing screams echoing all around.

Coming to his senses he whipped his head towards where Rekka was glaring, seeing his friends staring at him with shock. The angel was recovering from her own shock already, stepping hesitantly towards the unconscious hero.

"Sit!" Bill ordered the angel. She sat.

"Back the fuck up, the rest of you! Don't touch either of them! I'll handle this!" Bill shouted at the rest, forgetting them and turning towards what really mattered to him.

"Rekka, love. It's ok. I'm ok, it's all over. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I worried you," Bill whispered soothingly, placing his hands on either side of her face, gently pulling her to look at him. She didn't fight him, her angry growls split by distressed whimpers. Her eyes flashed between his and those that could be a threat to him. As he continued to whisper his love for her she began to shake, pressing her body to his, covering him defensively to keep him safe, shaking with her fury. Her body heat was worryingly intense.

"I love you, Rekka. Shh, now. I'm safe. We're safe. No one can hurt me. No one can hurt us. We won. They're beaten, we're the baddest motherfuckers this world has ever seen, and we're going to prove it to them if we've got to kick every ass from here to heaven and hell. Now calm down and kiss me, damn it!" Bill shouted out the last, pulling her face to his.

She kissed him with the same feral need that had driven her to defend him with every ounce of fury she could bring to bear. Her snarls and whimpers quieted as they comforted each other, the fire in her eyes beginning to dampen. Finally she dropped onto him completely, her paw hands holding onto the sides of his face desperately as their kiss went on. Bill felt hot tears landing on his face. He wished he had killed the pair now, but he could only hold her tight, kissing her back until she was satisfied. Heaven help any future "heroes" he ran into, because Hell was on his side and far better company.

Finally Rekka pulled away, looking into his eyes with a more controlled anger.

"I'm so stupid! I love you so much! I've never been more angry! I shoulda just grabbed you an' run. I'm so happy you're ok! I can't believe I let you go out here! If you ever do anythin' like this again I'm gonna hurt you! I'm so sorry I didn't stop you.. I'ma hurt myself if I let you do somethin' so stupid again.. Oh Bill, I can't believe you're ok. I know you're doin all this for me, for us.. For everyone. I don't care about the world. I just care about you. I'm not letting you do anything like this again. Not without me there to keep you safe. You don't get a say anymore. Oh, I love you so much, husband.. I can't believe you beat a hero, an his stupid feathered bitch, not by yourself. It ain't ever been done, an' you done somethin' to my head, I shouldn'ta let you do this," Rekka raved and ranted, her words quieting into relieved disbelief. She pushed her head under his chin and breathed in his scent, hardly able to believe he was still with her.

"I love you, Rekka. I'm so sorry I made you worry. You're right. Next time I do something stupid, I'm going to have you at my side," Bill promised, trying to figure out how he'd do anything stupid again when his priority was to keep Rekka completely safe. Maybe he'd have to start playing it smart, if only for the sheer novelty of it.

He knew Rekka felt the same way, she only wanted to keep him safe. She'd fight all comers with her fearless, beautiful ferocity. That kind of honest and straightforward violence just didn't always get the job done.

Sometimes a shameless cheat had to slither in and do the dirty jobs nobody knew about, and sure as hell never saw coming.

"I'm sorry I put you through this, babe. I know I seem pretty crazy sometimes, but I do almost know what I'm doing. It wasn't anything special beating those idiots. Almost everything we managed before this took more effort. Only difference is I got the satisfaction of beating him with words and a sweet sucker punch. You don't send a hero after a morally flexible opportunist defending his love and friends. Quickest way to run out of heroes," Bill explained, only half joking.

"He fucked himself just running into someone like me. He had so much honor shoved up his ass he couldn't touch me unless I let him. I damn well wasn't going to allow that. He may as well have marched up to the walls and surrendered. After he was out I had everything I needed to take down that oversized seagull. I'm no hero, you know I wouldn't do anything brave. Walking out here was one of the easiest things I've ever had to do," Bill told her, rubbing her back and hoping his honest words were comforting her. He'd read those decent, honorable, morally superior fools like an open book, and their story fucking sucked.

"Lot'sa heroes have killed whole armies a us before they got killed. A few of em get together an' they can cut their way to Demon Lords an win. Even the shitty new ones like him are so tough it woulda taken all a us to rip him apart. That flying fuck woulda been almost as bad. Lotta our friends woulda died. You ain't normal, husband, but I'm glad you ain't. I'm so glad," Rekka told him, nuzzling into his neck. He patted her soothingly for a few moments until he felt her relax.

"Ok, beautiful. Let's go live up to their expectations. Let's go be bad guys," Bill said, struggling to his feet while holding her. She was reluctant to release her hold on him, but finally let go so she could turn her ire onto the fallen angel and equally fallen hero.

"Ok, everyone. Thanks for your concern, but as you can see I had everything in hand. Go ahead and head back now. Not you, Scipio, Sarah, Larry. I'll need you in a sec. No matter what they do, stand back. I can handle it," Bill said, rubbing Rekka's back and making sure everyone understood him. He nodded respectfully at Tabitha, who had of course chosen to stay by Larry's side.

The antagonist stalked towards the hero and the angel, ready to bring more suffering their way. Stopping next to the hero he saw the man was beginning to come to, hardly surprising if he was as tough as Rekka explained. He was glad, he needed him awake to explain his situation fully. Bill knelt down, gently prodding the man in the cheek until he slapped his fingers away. He hit his own broken nose at the same time, the pain waking him nicely. Bill rose and backed up well out of range of an angry hero.

"What?" he asked again.

"Explain it to him, angelface," Bill commanded.

"He knocked you unconscious, I was forced to surrender to him so he would not kill you," she said quietly.

"What? No!" he leapt to his feet, easily shaking off what should have been a career ending concussion.

"Come, with or without a sword we can take them! There is no surrender before evil!" he shouted, raising his fists like an old-timey boxer.

"I can't, I swore. I swore to my God I would do as he says if he did not harm you," she responded miserably. Then her eyes grew wide, the idea coming to her as Bill hoped it would.

"If he harms you, I would no longer follow his command," she said, meeting the eyes of the hero, knowing this was the moment evil was undone by its own hand.

"Of course! Then fight me if you dare, devil!" he crowed, moving in for the kill.

Holding Rekka back gently, Bill smiled at the angel.

"Defend me."

With a cry of horror she moved, flinging herself forward to surprise Marcus. He lowered his hands, unsure what to do without her guidance. With a cry of warning she twirled, a beautifully executed spinning roundhouse kick landed with jarring force on the man's chin. She was far stronger than she looked, the man's neck nearly broke as he spun away to land moaning in the dirt.

"Marcus! I'm sorry! Please be alright!" she cried, horrified. Turning to Bill she screeched, "If that wasn't harming him I don't know what is, taste my righteous wrath, villain!"

As she flew towards him with glorious retribution giving her strength, Bill never lost his smile as he patted Rekka comfortingly on the shoulder.

Leaning forward as she closed, he turned and exposed his chin to her. Her eyes lit with zealous ecstasy as she performed the same kick, an eye for an eye.

She squeaked as she jerked to halt, her perfect form keeping her standing on one leg with her foot inches away from Bill's exposed chin.

"What?"

"Man, being evil feels really good," Bill chuckled, standing straight while he scratched at Rekka's ears and leered at the perplexed angel. Rekka was giggling now, filled with pride for her angel tormenting husband. He reached forward and gave the foot a slight push, watching her fall onto her wings, her eyes wide with shock.

"You can explain it to yourself. Repeat back to me your oath, and really think about it," Bill commanded.

"I swear upon my God that I will do as you say if you do not harm Marcus," she dutifully repeated. Realization hit her like a punch to the gut, her eyes narrowing with hatred. "If you do not.. No!"

"Yes. I'd make a hell of genie, right? Anyone here could stomp a mudhole in his ass while you defended them to the death. Except me. That's no problem, though. It's good to have friends. And lady, you're fresh out of those."

"Let's set some ground rules. Follow these orders: If Marcus attacks anyone I don't order him to, you will defend that person with excessive force. You will not allow Marcus to leave this town unless I order it, you will enforce this order with excessive force. If anyone here, except Marcus of course, gives you an order you will follow it as though it came from me and if any require violence you will use excessive force. You will defend this town and those who reside here with all the power you possess, of course with excessive force. If any of these orders conflict, you will inform me of the problem and await further instructions. If I, or anyone else I have authorized to do so gives you an order you could use to harm me, my wife, my friends, or my allies you will explain the issue and await further instruction. Harm would include anything that I would find objectionable or upset me in any way." With every command the angel's expression grew less focused as she saw the cage forming around her life.

Bill seemed to be thinking, nodding to himself for a moment before looking back at the angel.

"That ought to do it, if I think of any other fucked up genie loopholes I'll be sure to let you know. Now stand up," Bill ordered.

"Holy fuck, you should be a lawyer," Larry said, impressed.

"Nah, I've just spent a lot of time hoping I'd find a magic lamp," Bill explained.

"Ok, now go strip Marcus out of that armor and anything else he's wearing except what would expose his dick to us, don't wanna see that. It's probably fucking heroic, too," Bill ordered.

The angel hopped to it, gently removing the man's armor as he dazedly attempted to help her, his concussion confusing him as to what was happening but very used to following her orders. He wobbled after she removed his chestplate, flopping to the dirt and losing consciousness. Bill had been impressed he'd lasted so long. He might have to let Helena take a look at him, but only if he didn't wake up later. Hopefully he was brain damaged, that would be almost helpful.

Bill smirked when she seemed almost eager to remove his padded shirt and leggings under the armor, exposing his action hero pecs and washboard stomach. Now only in his medieval tighty-whitey's she stopped and waited, gazing at his body with something akin to lust.

Bill had been counting on that, always appreciative of Sarah's help in just this sort of situation.

"Now pick him up, carry him to within twenty feet of the gates, where you will keep him there through any violence you can bring to bear until you receive further orders," Bill commanded, waving her off. She jumped to comply, almost eager to follow this command as she held him to her. He and Rekka must have looked a bit like that when she carried him. Teresa was barely taller than her, though her waifish body made her look even smaller. Looked like a seagull running off with some tourist's lunch from the back.

"Well alright. Let's all take a moment to relax, you guys are way too stressed out. We're not really the bad guys, you know. We stand in that morally grey area where you can do pretty much whatever you want. Good and Evil are going to have to be on their toes to even stand a chance. People like them? Once we're done with all this they'll be the ones shaking in their boots when we come knocking," Bill said, desperate to lighten the mood.

Sarah was the first to break the silence, rushing over to him to shake his hand in both of hers.

"Bill! Hells! That was amazing! You're like some sort of.. Double villain! No one's ever done that.. no one! My mommy once fought one before I was born. She regretted the whole thing, she lost so many friends before they managed to tear him apart. She told me I should just run and run if I ever saw a hero," Sarah gushed like a groupie.