Snippet #2648649

Pierce

Walking through the small groups of people and bountiful shelves filled with a variety of genres, Pierce opened the door to the men’s bathroom. His original intention was to exit the store and deal with the demons like he always did, but a thought crossed his mind on his trek out: why was he going? Up until a few days ago, he actually had a reason to get up and fight the demons for the greater good. This reason was Annabel. She was the one that made him take action; it wasn’t of his free will. If what really happened in the world was what he was thinking, Annabel was not here. During his evaluation of his surroundings, he didn’t sense any familiar human auras at all. It only seemed that demons were pulled in with him as he did sense some familiar demonic auras.

After handling his business, he walked over to the sink to wash his hands. He briefly looked up at himself in the mirror to notice that his right eye wasn’t red anymore, but yellow. “Nexus?” Pierce called. There was silence.
“…Hmm?” He yawned.
“What happened?” Manifesting himself, Nexus gave Pierce a confused look.
“What do you mean ‘what happened?’ We-“ he looked around. “Why are we in a bathroom? Weren’t we…”
“You don’t remember either?” A paused. “The only thing I know is that we were teleported to some new dimension by that blue-haired freak. We’re in some place called the United States of America.”
“Teleported? You mean… Ah…We were running from Zane when he created some type of black hole. We got sucked in…”
“Zane? Who’s that?” Nexus gave him an almost disappointed look. He remembered seeing that name in his journal, but he didn’t know who it was.
“You referred to him as the ‘blue-haired freak’.” Pierce stared at him blankly. That name didn’t ring any bells to the actions of the guy he was talking about. In fact, thinking about it more, he couldn’t even remember any significant details of this ‘Zane’ aside from his hair. This never happened before. “Anyway,” Nexus sighed, “would you be so kind as to answer my second question?”
Thinking back, Pierce retorted “Why do you think? There are only so many things you can do in a bathroom.” He was slightly irritated at the fact that he lost a part of his memory again. Who knows what else he lost.

There was silence for a few moments. All that could be heard was the pecking of Pierce’s thumbs on his phone as he took it out again to continue documenting his day’s events and thoughts. As he did this, Nexus started to sense fluctuations in demonic energy. He gave Pierce an annoyed look. “It seems like you forgot to mention something to me…”
Without looking up, Pierce nonchalantly said, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you something. Demons seemed to have been teleported with us.”
“Okay smartass how about telling me why you didn’t mention it.”
Clicking off his phone and putting it in his pocket reluctantly, Pierce looked Nexus in the eyes. “Because I don’t care.” Nexus seemed very caught off guard by this. To top it off, Pierce exited the bathroom, showing his partner in crime that he didn’t intend to continue this particular conversation.
“Pierce wait! How can you not care?” Nexus followed him out of the door and caught up to him as he made his way to the exit.
“Look, I’m not obligated to do anything for these civilians. No one’s here to tell me otherwise either.” Some kids stared at Pierce like he was crazy as he walked by. Even though he didn’t care, he decided to direct his thoughts to Nexus. Because Nexus was invisible to everyone else aside from Habiki, he spoke aloud.
“You’re joking right?”
“Do I sound like I’m joking? What’s the point in me saving people, if I can even call them that? The end goal here is to find a way home. That’s it. Why waste my energy?” Pierce thrusted the door to the bookstore open, making it screech. He then turned the way he came. As they walked, both fueled with irritation, they passed by people with animal ears and tails. Some even seemed completely covered in fur. Pierce didn’t see this when he was speeding his way to the bookstore.
“Then why are you going this way huh? If you don’t care to get involved, why are you headed toward the commotion?” Nexus stared at Pierce, waiting for his answer.
“Because,” an eerie smile crept across his face, “I want to know what it feels like to kill of my own free will.”
Pierce’s speed walk turned into a stride as he strutted down the sidewalk, fantasizing about the feeling. With the short time he actually had to think earlier, he decided that if he wasn’t able to get home, he wouldn’t have a problem living in this world. He’d do everything in his power to get back, but wouldn’t be bent out of shape if the means to get back were non-existent. He’d miss everyone, but if it couldn’t be helped, it couldn’t be helped.

Nexus stopped walking to stare at him. Pierce seemed mildly different from his normal self. It seemed that this newfound liberation was showing his true colors. He was going to have to keep an unusually close eye on him until they got back home or they found Habiki.
“What if the people here see you partake in the killing? If I know anything about you, you have an ulterior motive. They’ll drive you out.”
“This place is gigantic. If I can’t stay here, I can go to another place. There’re even islands and other land masses around this one.” It didn’t seem like Nexus could change his mind easily. As much as he didn’t like it, he’d have to let him do as he pleased. He didn’t have the power to stop Pierce yet. Looking at Nexus with that same sinister smile, Pierce reassured “I know what you’re thinking. Indiscriminate killing isn’t my preferred style.” Despite his tone, Nexus didn’t believe him at this point. “Besides, I’m not looking for a fight if that’s what it seems like. I’ll mind my own business. I’m just curious is all. As long as I’m not spotted I-“
“Pierce!” A rough voice roared. “That lap dog’s here too!”
“Shit” Pierce and Nexus snapped their heads toward the annoyance. A group of demons were standing at the mouth of an alley way, staring with hatred. Some took on human forms while one was in his true form.
“It looks like that bitch Annabel ain’t with ‘em either!”
“You lost pup? Huuuh??”
“Can’t function without that whore can you?” The pestering and sneer remarks continued as the two stood there in silence. Nexus shifted his eyes toward his host. To his dismay, his ominous smile turned into an expression of frustration and severe irritation. His eyes stared down at his prey as Selena and Syen started to materialize in both hands. Pierce could take the rude banter toward him, however aiming it toward Annabel was a completely different story.
“Struck a nerve? Huh kid? Whatcha gonna d-“ A bullet struck the demon’s forehead, silencing him. Chucks of flesh burst through the back of his head along with the shattered bullet fragments, landing on the demons behind him as the victim fell to the ground. The monsters collectively stared at the culprit in shock. Amusement emanated through Pierce’s teeth.
“You low lives think you are above me huh? Let me aid you in your reassessment of the situation.”