The street glows. Neon signs flicker, arguing with each other. I walk. Carmine walks beside me, posture perfect, coat immaculate despite the blood that hasn't quite finished drying on my knuckles.
Y/N: You're quiet.
Carmine: I'm always quiet.
Y/N: No. This is extra quiet. The kind that means you're thinking.
She glances at me sideways. One eyebrow lifts a fraction.
Carmine: You annihilated the Overlords in days. I'm allowed a moment.
Y/N: They were sloppy.
Carmine: They ruled Hell.
Y/N: That explains it.
She exhales. Not a laugh. But close.
Carmine: You really don't see it, do you?
Y/N: See what?
Carmine: What you did.
Y/N: I removed obstacles.
We pass a storefront with shattered glass. A demon scurries away when it notices us. Carmine watches it go.
Carmine: You reshaped the hierarchy of Hell. Permanently.
Y/N: I'm kind of an expert at this point.
This time she actually smiles.
Carmine: You're impossible.
Y/N: Yet alive.
She hums, amused despite herself.
Carmine: I suppose loyalty does come with occupational hazards.
Y/N: You could've left. I wouldn't have followed you.
Carmine: I chose not to.
Y/N: That was your first mistake.
Carmine: I've made worse.
Y/N: Hold it. Why are the signs off?
Carmine: That's irregular. They're never off.
We stop. Something is wrong. The neon signs of the hotel are off and I can hear a group of people waiting inside.
Y/N: I smell foul play.
Carmine: You're right. Something is wrong.
Y/N: Not for long.
I don't slow down. I accelerate. Shoulder into the front doors like I'm breaching a bunker.
Wood explodes inward. Splinters scatter. I step through smoke and dust, weapon up—
Y/N: And nobody shoots me.
Lights snap on. Streamers fall. Confetti drifts like it's mocking gravity.
Charlie: Surprise!
Charlie stands frozen, cheeks red. Cherri Bomb's perched on the railing, grinning too wide. Angel Dust lounges on a couch like he paid rent. Rosie smiles with that polite knife-behind-the-back warmth. Mayday stands near the stairs. Carmine steps in beside me, blinks once.
Carmine: ...Surprise.
Y/N: This better not be a musical.
Angel: Relax, tiger. No jazz hands. Promise.
Cherri: Hey, Harbinger. Nice entrance. Ten outta ten. Real "apex predator" vibes.
Y/N: I was expecting gunfire, not confetti.
YOU ARE READING
Madness: DxD
FanfictionEvery time I close my eyes, I see a flash of the past. Sometimes, I see the battlefield with bodies at every step, and smoke from artillery fire everywhere you looked. Sometimes I see friends, Odin, Michael, and even Azazel. But most of the time, I...
