Upbeat Hyena 6 (Patreon)

Upbeat Hyena
Chapter 6

-VB-

Alexandria.

An up and coming superhero, a “cape,” who swept across not just America but the world. She’s already arrested many criminals and supervillains.

There were very few who could stand up against her.

‘So why?’ she thought to herself while staring down at a peaceful city. ‘Does Seattle make me feel so uneasy?’

A week ago, Senator Evans pleaded with her to come and have a look at Seattle’s own supervillain crisis. It was only now that she got the chance to come and check, but something about the air - the mood, if she wanted to be unscientific - made her wary.

What was it?

Where was it?

… She needed information first.

With that in mind, she flew towards the known office of the US Senator of Washington. When she landed by the front door, the few people who were around looked and gasped. She ignored them and walked into the building, wove her way through the offices, and then stopped in front of the secretary’s desk in front of the office.

Said secretary took one look before nodding and knocking on the senator’s office door.

“Come in.”

She did.

The senator looked up and then the frown that had been on his face turned into a relieved smile.

“You came!” he said loudly as he got up from his desk, walked around, and extended his hands in habitual greeting.

She smiled and shook the hands of the senator. She glanced at the piles of letters on his desk, and knew enough from a glance that he had been trying his best to look at the situation as a whole.

“I did, senator. You needed my help, so I did,” she replied. “Can you tell me the broad strokes of the situation in the city and the state?”

“Of course, of course,” he said quickly. “Please have a seat. If you want, then I can even call up the governor if you need his views. He’s a good friend of mine, and he’ll surely take time off to see you.”

Taking a seat, Alexandria thought about how, of course, the governor would be a good friend of the senator and would come to met her. She was the hero of America, right now, along with her co-conspirators and friends: Eidolon, Hero, and Legend.

“I am fine. I simply need to know the broad strokes.”

He nodded.

And then became wary.

“Do you… believe in the afterlife, Alexandria?”

“... Excuse me?”

“... I have found myself even more convinced than before of the afterlife, and it’s because of a demon that resides in Seattle now.”

“A demon… Is that the cape’s name?”

“No. He is a true demon,” he shuddered. “He sees all of the sins of his victims and punishes them accordingly.”

‘A Thinker?’ “The name?”

“Ah. He calls himself the [Prince of Demons],” the senator spoke up before flinching. Alexandria nearly flinched, too, but her power allowed iron control over her own reactions.

However, what the senator had just said had caused a deeply revolting reaction within her.

“His name is part of his power and identity. Whenever someone speaks it, they call upon his attention, however briefly. Everyone without exception feels him whenever his name is said!” the senator babbled fearfully. “You don’t understand what it’s like in Seattle right now! The people are terrified of being the next victim of that demon!”

“Why…?”

“Because what he doesn’t kill and eat are turned into more of those like him!”

-VB-

I cooed at the newest member of my brood.

Once the matron of a brothel who used forced labor as her prostitutes, Angelina crawled out of her egg as a little child with no memories of her past. Gone was the white hair and the wrinkles of the crone. In their place was a tiny girl physically no older than five.

That girl fell from the edge of her egg onto the ground five feet below with a thwack.

She giggled as he tried to climb the pedestal that had her now broken egg.

“Angelina.”

The girl paused in her climbing, and the scales of and claws her hands and feet momentarily transformed into returned back to regular human child’s hands and feet.

“PAPA!” she squealed and ran up to me.

In my [Prince of Demons] form, I towered over her like a colossus. It didn’t stop me from gently picking up and lifting her to my chest level to rock her to sleep.

[Demonic Rebirth], as evidenced by Angelina, proved itself a remarkable success once again. It was a way for me to do some good while not straying from my roots as the [Prince of Demons].

Unlike the other transformations that I have forced sinners to partake, [Demonic Rebirth] helped to reset the karma and sins of the individual that partook in its rituals.

And it had to be a willing ritual, willing to suffer pains unimaginable for days within the egg of their new life, so that they may “cleanse” themselves of their sins: to suffer as they have made others to suffer.

It was a dark ritual, but it was one that gave a peaceful end to souls that wanted peace, though all debts had to be paid.

Angelina Malcolm, an orphan born in Britain during World War I, wanted that peace when I offered it to her. She’s done what she had to do to survive, and though the act of survival itself could never be a sin, the methods were.

When it was all done, her soul and mind left together, leaving a new person - a new soul - in their absence.

This method also had a higher successful rate for demonification.

“Angelina, who’s daddy’s girl?”

“Me!”

How wonderful!