Upbeat Hyena 10 (Patreon)

Upbeat Hyena
Chapter 10

-VB-

Nov 13th, 1995

“So this is Seattle, the hometown of the world’s biggest cult,” he muttered. Standing on a hill on Mercer Island, he looked out at the city across Lake Washington.

“Friendly cult, I’ll have you know, Gasconade. You don’t want to make that mistake in public. They will make sure to let you know that they are friendly with you,” his guide and soon-to-be-superior PRT 20 (Seattle) Director Josephine Namichyan advised him.

As a native of Seattle, she knew more about the city than he did, so he deferred to her judgment. At the same time, he was a little bit wary about the cult in question.

After all, how many cults openly professed to worshipping the very demons that roamed and devoured people?

Oh, not a lot of people gave a shit, because those demons never ever ate an “innocent” person. The one time that one of the open cultists came out on national television, she had been very insistent on that fact. Something about how innocent people didn’t taste right for the demons or something.

Gasconade personally thought that she was crazy and that there was some kind of a master effect in Seattle, but no one, not Thinkers, thinkers, investigators, psychologists, or psychiatrists could prove that hypothesis right. However, it made sense that there was some sort of mastering going on if not a lot of people gave a shit about monstrous things going around and eating people, right?

Right?

Unfortunately for him, he was best suited to head the new Protectorate program in this new PRT branch because of two reasons.

One, he was one of the older Protectorate capes with experience in dealing with not just Strangers and Masters but also one of the very demons that roamed the streets at night.

Second, his power allowed him to “reset” himself back to an unaltered state, which made him the only Protectorate hero capable of such a feat. This made him someone incapable of being mastered, which had been tested extensively for his and the PRT’s sake. This same ability also removed his need for food and sleep, which meant that he could work more!

Yay, him, right? At least he would always get overtime pay.

At the very least, the PRT deigned to give him a briefing on the situation, but he wanted the perspectives of someone who was on the ground, which was Director Namichyan.

“So, can you tell me the situation of the city?”

“Yeah. So, you know when the cultists popped up, right?”

“A few years ago. Wasn’t it the North Park Parade or whatever it was that the locals call it?”

“They call it the March of the Demons.”

“... Sounds ominous.”

“Because it is ominous. The monstrous cape, monsters, demons or whatever their true identities are, are the true rulers of Seattle.”

“And our job…”

“Is to root them out, yes. Because it is unacceptable to have warlords ruling an American city.”

‘That’s not in quarantine or walled off, you mean,’ Gasconade thought within the safety of his mind. Outwardly, he only hummed. Such “quarantine cities” were a new concept for the American public. They saw failures in their heroes and the government, and couldn’t be more horrified by that prospect than what those quarantine walls contained.

How else did the government come to an agreement with the likes of Heartbreaker? He, Gasconade, had been the one to act as liaison because no one else could.

The ultimate anti-Master cape.

But that’s not what people feared in this city.

In this city, the horrors under the bed had come to life, and walking out in the night posed danger unlike any other.

To be fair, the city remained perfectly safe for anyone who could be called innocent, or so Gasconade had heard.

“How bad is it?” he asked the director.

“Of the original eight cape organizations, there are only two left, not counting us.”

“... That’s a lot.”

“It is, because the remaining three, including the Protectorate branch you will head, are all heroes and rogue.”

He paused and slowly turned towards her.

“All of the villains are dead?”

“Without a doubt. Hiding doesn’t help. These monsters can ‘smell’ your sins.”

He grimaced at the tidbit. “Why am I even here then?”

“Because it has gotten out of control. People are openly worshipping demons, Gasconade. The mandate of the Parahuman Response Team is to manage and control parahuman activities, and doesn’t that mean that it is our job to stop this from spreading any further?”

He knew that she was right. Though these monster capes might not be doing anything harmful to the public right now, who knows when that would change?

“Oh, that’s not nice.”

That … wasn’t the director.

Gasconade slowly turned his head and stared just as the director did.

Standing in a yellow one-piece dress and a wide brim white hat, a blonde teenager frowned at them.

“Excuse me, who are you?” the director asked irritably.

“I just couldn’t help but overhear the things you two were saying,” she hummed while staring momentarily out into Seattle from where the three of them stood next to the cafe. “After all, we’re pretty friendly, are we not?”

Gasconade blinked while staring at the girl.

“Who might you be, miss?” he asked politely even as dread rose up inside him.

She curtsied - who did that these days outside of big government or high-end corporate parties? - and smiled at him.

“My name is Angelina. And you are, mister hero?”

“I am Gasconade,” he replied with a nod. “I am going to be the new Protectorate Seattle’s leader.”

She smiled and clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s wonderful to hear! There’s only so many people we can protect, you understand!”

The dread only grew stronger.

“And … who might you work for?”

She giggled. “Silly, hero. I don’t work for daddy. I am the [Prince of Demon]’s second daughter.”

He flinched when he heard the “title” of the head honcho. This was something he had been warned about before. [Prince of Demons] was some sort of memetic emphasis given to the title itself. It caused individuals who heard it to acknowledge the existence and authority of a being who bore the title, even if they did not know of it before.

She bowed. “Welcome to Brockton Bay, Hero Gasconade,” she smiled as she straightened herself. “However, I suspect that you are not here to help us rid the city of the hostile and criminal. You are…” she grinned. “Here to fight my siblings and father.”

“... I am.”

He didn’t have any of his usual equipment on him. None of the tools of non-lethal capture or even a handgun. While he could fight her, he also didn’t know of her capabilities.

She brought her hands up and clapped rapidly and briefly. “It’s going to be like Tom and Jerry, right? You chase us, we run, and we entertain the people!”

He frowned underneath his mask. “That’s not -”

“Oh oh oh! We might even set up traps and heroes will get out of it and -!”

“Miss, I don’t think you understand the situation.”

She paused before sighing.

“I guess it is too much to hope for someone who does. I mean, you certainly don’t. Not yet.”

Was she mocking him?

“The Protectorate will soon reinforce this city, Miss Angelina. Soon, your father and his cult will be arrested for their crimes.”

She shrugged. “I don’t think you’ll succeed,” she said it casually.

He scoffed. “At the end of the day, your father has a small cult-”

“Ten thousand.”

Gasconade paused. “Excuse me?”

“Ten thousand demons. Father wanted to make an even number of demons so that he could call himself ‘the [Prince of Demons], who leads ten thousand demons,’” she sighed dramatically. “I mean, I’m the teenager but my father is far more dramatic than I am!”

Gasconade glanced at the director to gauge her response and saw a very pale face.

“They do not lie,” Director Josephine muttered. “No demon can lie, because -”

“It is the decree of the [Prince of Demons], and I am one such demon,” she grinned. “Tell me, sir hero, does the United States of America have ten thousand of you?”

This was also part of the briefing he received. The [Prince of Demons] does not lie and his followers do not as well.

He swallowed.

“No.”

She clapped with that same smile that looked innocent. Actually, it now looked far more sinister than innocent.

“Then by math alone, it seems we have an advantage, yes? But we aren’t using it to, I don’t know, conquer, pillage, rape, loot, and murder?”

“... Yes,” the director spoke up.

“Good, good. Are we going to have to get serious? Does father have to get serious?”

“No.”

“Good,” she giggled. “Toodooloo, then~!” she waved before a portal opened up behind her.

Gasconade and Josephine stared at a literal army of demons lined up on either side of a wide red carpet.

And at the far end of it…

Gasconade threw up in his mouth and swallowed the bile.

“Angelina” stepped through and then the portal closed.

The two, sworn to do their duty to the United States of America and its people, stood there in silence under a nice barely cloudy sky and high noon.

“I think Tom and Jerry is nice.”

“Yes.”