Anthony was laid up in a hospital bed. His body was much more of a wreck than he had assumed. Several of his ribs were broken, he had hairline fractures in his right tibia, his left arm was broken, and he had several shattered phalanges in both feet. The doctor who’d wrapped him up in a kolto cast had only shaken his head and muttered something about the recklessness of men.
Only a day or so had passed, and Anthony was feeling much better, but the doctor refused to give him a clean bill of health and wanted him to stay for an extra day. He wondered how much these hospital fees were costing. He’d bet anything this hospital was making a killing from his stay.
The girls were with him.
“I know you like to think you’re hot stuff, but I’ve known Anthony quite a bit longer than you. I know how he likes it. You don’t. That’s why I should be the one taking care of him.”
“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve known him. I’ve been by Anthony’s side through thick and thick, and I’ve helped him far more than you. I am also much more experienced with injuries than you are. I can help him better.”
“Just because you get hurt more than me doesn’t mean you are better at healing than me. I could create a device that would heal him in a split second.”
“Then why haven’t you?”
“Because this is my chance to play nurse.”
Marianne gave him a shy smile as she fluffed his pillow for him. Meanwhile, Trinity watched Brianna and Secilia argue in amusement as she used a knife to cut an apple into shapes. It looked like a rabbit.
“Those two are always like this, huh,” she said.
“They only get along when it’s necessary and spend the rest of their time arguing,” Anthony said.
“Does it bother you?” asked Marianne.
Anthony shook his head. “It would if they became truly mean to each other, but I don’t mind when it’s mild bickering like this. Let them argue all they want.”
Anthony was also way too tired to be bothered to stop them. The fight had taken much more out of him than he thought it would.
“You really did it this time,” Trinity said with a soft chuckle. “Your body was so damaged that you forced your regeneration to work over time, and now you’ve got no mana left. I’ve never seen a fight quite like that. You may consider me impressed.”
“Well… I did go against the strongest man in the world,” Anthony said as he leaned back. “I’d say I did pretty good all things considered. I won at any rate. That’s what really matters.”
“That you did,” Sasha said as she barged into the room. “Good morning, comrades! I come bearing gifts!”
“Gifts?” Anthony perked up.
Sasha had several baskets in her hands, which she held up to show him. It looked like there was an assortment of treats, flowers, and other goodies. Each one also came with a card.
“There is entire pile of these outside. I brought the ones that looked safe,” she said as she sat down beside him.
“Safe?” Marianne tilted her head curiously.
Sasha shook her head and grimaced. “Let us just say that Anthony has gained some rather unique fans who have weird taste and leave it at that.”
Secilia and Brianna had stopped arguing and come over when Sasha entered the room. Secilia quickly snatched one of the gift baskets and sat down beside Trinity as she began rifling through it.
“What do we have here? Fruits, flowers, a card…” Secilia stopped rifling through the basket when something caught her eye. It looked like it was buried deep in the shredded paper. She dug in deep and pulled it up, holding it for all the see. “Holy shit! Someone sent Anthony her panties! And they’re so raunchy! Are these used? Did someone wear these before including them in this gift basket?!”
Sasha snatched the panties from Secilia, which was indeed a super lewd string thong with a slit in the center, and tossed them out the window. She spent a moment over there. Then she spun around and stomped back over to the bed, where she began digging through the other gift baskets she had brought. She found three more sets of women’s underwear, which she tossed out as well.
“Sneaky bitches,” Sasha said with a growl. “I thought I had caught all the naughty stuff they tried to sneak in.”
“So when you said Anthony gained some weird fans, you meant kinky women.” Secilia nodded. “Got it. Yeah, that jives.”
“It’s tough being an incubus,” Anthony said with a chuckle.
“Oh, don’t look so smug. It’s just your pheromones they like, not you,” Secilia countered.
“My pheromones are a part of me. Therefore, they like me.”
“Yeah, like one percent of you.”
“They’d like more if I stood before them naked.”
“Your dick does make up at least 90% of your personality.”
“You know what they say. Big dick. Big personality.”
“I believe it’s big feet, big dick. Your fight with Ivan must have scrambled your brain.”
“Why are you two talking about big dicks,” Sasha grumbled as she sat beside Marianne. “Are they always like this?”
Marianne smiled brightly. “You get used to it.”
“I’m not sure I want to get used to it…”
Anthony felt good after defeating Ivan. Yeah, he was laid up in bed and that kinda sucked, but he was also being doted on by his women and that was awesome. If he thought he could get away with it, Anthony would happily hurt himself more for this kind of treatment, but he knew getting himself injured on purpose would only backfire on him.
***
In a far away fortress, away from all prying eyes, a man sat on a throne. He was surrounded by his thralls. Those whom he had enslaved were standing before him. He smiled as he looked at the people he had made into his slaves. Each one was powerful in their own right, and now that he had perfected his powers, they all retained their intelligence. Nobody would know these particular individuals had become his slaves.
He glanced at one of them and his smile widened even further.
“It is time, My Lord,” said one of them, a man who many would have found familiar.
“Very well.” He leaned back into his chair and smiled viciously. “Let us give this world a rude wake up call.”
***
At some point during their conversation, Secilia had hooked up her consoles to the holographic TV and had the entire group play video games. Most of them only allowed up to four players, so they rotated. The loser switched out with whoever was next in line. She had brought quite a few types of games, from fighting games to FPS games. They spent several hours playing.
And then something happened.
“Hey--what the fuck happened to my game?!” Secilia cried out when the holographic screen went on the fritz. It sputtered, and soon, the game was replaced with something else entirely.
Anthony’s eyes became pinpricks as he sat up straighter.
The holographic screen was now displaying a well-lit room with a throne in the center. A man sat on the throne. He was almost as familiar to Anthony as his own reflection, but he had changed so much since the last time he had seen him. His hair was swept back in a gentleman’s cut and he wore dark robes that concealed much of his body. While the shape of his face hadn’t changed, his palor had become much paler. Now he looked almost translucent. But the biggest change were his vivid crimson eyes like two pools of blood and the vicious fangs hanging from his mouth.
“Calvin…?” he muttered in a whisper.
“I greet everyone from all over the world,” Calvin said with a smile that seemed almost gentlemanly but held an undercurrent of danger. That sophisticated grin made Anthony shuddered. Only one person he knew used to grin like that, and it wasn’t Calvin. “My name is Kane, and I come delivering ill-tidings to humanity.”
“Did he just say Kane?!” Secilia shot to her feet. “As in THE Kane?!”
She spun to look at Anthony, but h’is eyes were locked onto the screen. His lips trembled but no words came out as he paid careful attention to everything this man said. He needed to burnish every word into his mind.
“Bri--”
“Shhh.” Brianna didn’t even look at Secilia as she shushed the woman. “Be quiet and listen.”
Calvin--no, Kane held up a hand. It was clawed. The sharp nails that resembled claws looked deadly.
“This world has become too complacent, too peaceful. It has become a mockery of what it should be. The world is supposed to be ruled by the strong. All species evolve over time and adapt traits to better survive the environment, and those superior traits are then passed onto their offspring. That is natural selection. That is how it should be. However…”
Kane lowered his hand and placed it on the armrest. He looked at the camera with a serious scowl on his face.
“Secilia, can you track this?” asked Trinity, glancing from the screen to Anthony, who remained frozen as he stared at the person who was once his younger brother.
“I’m trying,” Secilia muttered. She already had several devices out and was tapping away at her keyboard. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like this signal is being sent from one place. They have hacked into several satellites and are using it to push their feed onto every station and holographic projector in the world. I can’t track this since the signal is so diluted. Maybe if I had more power, but…”
Kane continued talking as Secilia continued trying to track where this feed was originating from. “Humanity has become a parasite. The advancement of magical technology means that many humans who should have died due to their weakness have survived, and they are overpopulating the world. Humanity has already greatly exceeded the Earth’s carrying capacity. Our world can, at most, bear the burden of 2 billion people, but we have almost ten times that number, and we are gaining more each year.”
Anthony closed his eyes as though to block out the sight of his younger brother spouting the same rhetoric that Kane had used on Lilith in an attempt to call her to his side. It was almost word for word the same speech he had given her during that last battle. Anthony had been there, and he had burned that moment into his memories.
His gut churned.
“To the humans of the world, your civilization continues to survive only by consuming the future. Your species multiplies without constraint while the ecosystem collapses around you. Worse, you don’t even realize it because your technological advancements makes it seem as though you have limitless resources. You do not. You preserve every weakness in your species and demand the planet bear the costs of your hubris.”
“This man certainly likes to talk,” Sasha said with a frown. “Is he really Kane…? I thought he died…”
“He should be dead,” Anthony muttered.
“Anthony…” Brianna started, but he held out a hand.
She stopped and they all turned back to the holographic screen. Anthony kept his eyes open. He wanted to close them, to blot out what came next, but he was not so irresponsible that he’d ignore the problem now being presented to him.
Kane continued smiling as he made the next announcement, and with it, brought about great conflict that would engulf the world.
“To the humans of the world, I am about to embark on a journey to cleanse the world. Many of you will die. In fact, I expect at least ninety percent of you all to perish. Those who remain shall become chattel to feed the strong… just as it should have always been.”