The Demon Killer

     She quietly grumbled to herself, beginning to tap her foot against the ground. She felt impatient, and hoped this jerk wouldn’t keep her waiting long.

As soon as she walked in, he closed the door, tossing the bags he was carrying in one hand onto the counter and turning around to lean against said counter. “So, what’d you need, Red? Were you missing me? I bet you were. Not a call or text in weeks, must’ve left you wanting.”

He sheathes his blade, steel scraping against the material as he pushes it down. Though the tension in his shoulders makes it clear he is ready to unsheathe it at a moment’s notice. “ I’m not here to fight. ” His words are ever-calm, almost arrogantly so. Yet there is a degree of truth to what he says – partially due to the uneasy knowledge that he has been rendered painfully vulnerable by these damnable scientists, and partially due to the fact that this man before him is apparently not as human as he’d initially suspected. “ Nor am I here to talk down to anyone. I’m only here to speak the truth. ”

“You’re not looking for a fight? Fine.” He takes a few steps back, hands out in front of him. Though he reaches up, gripping the hilt of Rebellion and spinning the massive sword about within his grasp, allowing the tip to hit the ground with a Clang and a small shower of sparks. “I’ve been lookin’ for a good fight since I got here. And I haven’t had any demons to take my anger out on. Let your sword do the talking unless you’re a little bitch who’s all talk.”

          “Why ain’t I surprised that’s prob’ly th’ line’a thinkin’? Disgraceful.”            Fingers tighten on his shoulder, brief and tense (she doesn’t just mean the fire or the reasons that might lie behind it), but then lets go, arms immediately moving around herself, shoulders hunching.            “I’m in th’ next sector over, so here’s hopin’ that ain’t on fire too.”

He gave her upper arm a soft, reassuring pat. It wasn’t often that he expressed such kindness and, honestly, he doubted she’d see him in the same light when this was all over and he was acting like himself instead. But it was a time of crisis that, honestly, reminded him of when demons attacked. So naturally, he was going to adopt a more serious attitude. “If it is on fire, we’ll figure somethin’ out.”

The ginger watches the other with an air of indifference. With the sheath of his blade clutched firmly in one hand, Adam stares down the stranger as he coolly replies, “ Would you really waste your time? ” Unmoving, unflinching, the faunus continues, “ This city is in ruins, yet here you are… threatening a man whose only crime is saying something you don’t agree with. Yet I can’t say I’m surprised. ”

“And nothin’ pisses me off more than some jackass just sitting on a soapbox, talking down to everyone around them.”

          “…why is it always fuckin’ fire with this place!?” Mostly rhetorical, an indignant exclamation as she wriggles in his grip, still tense at the proximity to flame. “…thanks though. ‘Preciate it.”

“Your guess is as good as mine. I guess people just assume there are trees here so it’s easy to start a big fire. Wouldn’t be my first pick but, then again, I live here.”

          –okay, so that was definitely the sound of the art history section collapsing, never mind.            “…fuck it, head’s up!”           And out she goes.

“Aaaand, gotcha!”

      “…I knew workin’ at a bookstore inside a big-ass tree was gonna come back an’ bite me.”           Worse than that, there is fire everywhere and she’s too terrified to do anything about it.

“Holy shit. There’s actually someone up there.” He places his hands on his hips, tilting his head as though to try and get a better view. She looked... familiar, almost. “Huh...Hey, you!” He held out his arms, “Jump and I’ll catch you!”

“ Do you really think your thoughts matter to me in the slightest? ” He turns on his heel to face the other. “ You’ll be the one crawling to me for aid when the White Fang rises above the ashes left behind by this scathing fire. ”

“Huh. Interesting. ‘cause I don’t crawl to anyone. Least of all an unimportant little shit stain like you. In fact, how about I make it so you’re the one that has to do the crawling?” Suddenly, his guns were in his hands, coat flapping backward as he yanked the firearms from his holsters. “I’ve got one for each knee. What a fuckin’ coincidence.”

A black silhouette, framed by fire, watches the city burn with utmost calm. “ Are you afraid now? ”  he says, surprisingly unafraid in spite of the destruction. The smallest of smiles plays across his lips, and he turns to the person unfortunate enough to have been caught in this mess at the same time as Adam. “ This is punishment for all of humanity’s crimes. ”

“Yeah. ‘cause natural disasters aren’t a thing. Humanity’s absolutely a piece of shit, but people who go around spouting shit like that aren’t any better. So, I’m gonna go ahead and lump you in with the rest of the assholes.” Some assholes, holy shit.

“Wha…what?! Don’t do that! That’s awful – and…barbaric!”

“I wasn’t serious. But now I’m kinda considering it.”

“So you can take your bad attitude and shove it!”

“Go ahead. Try to stop me.” He wasn’t going to hurt anyone. Just aim for the windows. If she could actually make him stop, it might save some money for these poor souls. His finger pulled the trigger, letting a bullet fly with an eardrum rendering bang, the sound of shattering glass following quickly after. “Catch me if you can, bunny rabbit.” And he twisted his form around and started to bolt away from the woman, occasionally swinging his wooden sword into windows to break them out.