A Tale of Pity

Protector

A few days later, at 3am in the morning...

Zankou inhaled deeply as he felt himself pulled into the realm of mortals, exhaling a searing breath. He heard Alice yelp in surprise as the heatwave washed over her. He looked around and saw they were standing outside a small, rundown house.

"I'm glad to see you again San-ko! My daddy is hurting mommy again, and this time it's been going on all night... can you please take care of him? I miss being able to sleep, and not being in pain..." she whimpered, staring up at him with fear in her eyes.

"Of course, child. Take me to them." he replied, his voice like the rumble of thunder.

Alice nodded, taking his hand and leading him into the house. He had to duck to get in, but could stretch to full height after due to the high ceilings. The place reeked of cigarettes and beer.

He heard a man's yelling, then a loud thud like a body falling to the floor. These sounds intensified as he and Alice neared its source, then suddenly they stopped when the Hell-Spawn entered the room. Alice's father, a balding, portly, pot bellied man in his mid-fifties with graying hair, was standing over a limp woman, getting ready to strike her again. Her mother, a middle aged, attractive woman with wavy blonde hair, shivered in fear of what was to come. Alice ran in between the two of them, trying to protect her mom but instead got a punch in the face. She stumbled back and fell to the floor near her mother.

Bright red flames appeared where Zankou's eyes should be and he made his way over to the father. He grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the wall. Zankou then bent down and grabbed Alice's chin, turning her head to make sure the damage to her face wasn't too bad. "I'm ok San-ko, just please protect my mommy." she pleaded. Zankou simply nodded and straightened back up and started to menacingly walk over to the girls father. Her father started to sit up, using the wall for support and squinted his eyes at the creature. "What the fuck are you! Get out of my house now before I kill you!" he threatened. The demon simply smirked and then grabbed the man by the back of his shirt, dragging him away from the girls worried eyes and into the backyard.

Zankou kept dragging the fat man deeper and deeper into the woods until he suddenly he stopped, letting go of the shirt. As soon as he let go, the man tried to stand up and run away. In no longer that a second Zankou caught him.

The demon spun the girl's father around and punched him in the face multiple times until he crumpled to the floor. Zankou then proceeded to kick him over and over until the man started to cough up blood. "How do you like to be beaten by someone bigger than you, you piece of shit?!" Zankou's voice boomed against the trees, causing their leaves to shake wildly.

Once the man was nearing unconsciousness, Zankou grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up so he was hovering five feet in the air and they were face to face. "You have one hour to be miles away from this house. If I ever catch you near these two girls I will personally rip your heart out, eat it and then send you to hell to be tortured eternally." Zankou threatened in a deep, quiet voice.

He let go, causing the man to drop hardly to the floor. He quickly stood up and started to run away in the direction opposite of the house. Zankou wiped the blood off his hands and calmly walked back to the house.

When he opened the door he found Alice's mom cuddling and rocking her as she whispered in her ear that everything would be on. Zankou stepped inside and looking at the broken family. "You will never have to deal with that bastard again." he said. The mom started to cry softly as she held into her daughter tightly, stroking her hair. Alice looked up to thank him but he was already gone.