FORBIDDEN: Necessary

 FORBIDDEN

The Necessary

by Onyxe Blade

Somewhere in a grotesque alley within the fifth level of the Underworld, after an intense battle, Hellin Strongs just finished killing a female demon named Ahrai. The reason this battle took place was because Ahrai, an assassin hired by a yet unknown benefactor, attempted to assassinate Mihoshi Strongs-Rojas, the elder sister of Hellin, while on a business trip in South Snowlia, one of the seventy-five states of Mayland. Ahrai was way over her head when confronting Mihoshi, whose bitchy attitude and lightning manipulation powers proved too much for the assassin and forced her to retreat. Unfortunately, like a yellow jacket, Mihoshi remembered the face of those she despised. Ahrai was no exception despite wearing a concealing black outfit for assassinations. Upon learning the news, Othello, the Queen of Babylon and the biological mother of Mihoshi and Hellin as well as the adoptive mother of Orsela Geno, immediately decided that such actions could not go unpunished and that they would hunt down this Ahrai person and make her pay. Using their resources, with Orsela being the greatest of them all, she managed to learn one of Ahrai’s hideouts in the Underworld. Hellin was then tasked to find and eliminate her sister's would-be killer. 

While both Hellin and Mihoshi held great animosity towards each other, even to the point of wanting to kill the other, as the daughters and potential heirs of Othello's queendom, Babylon, an attack on either of them was an attack on Babylon, and must be dealt with both swiftly and harshly. Having eliminated Ahrai and her injuries during the battle having already healed themselves, Hellin received a text from Ozzy, one of her mother's servants, to hurry back home. Once upon a time, such a thing would have been nearly a day’s journey for Hellin. After so many years of being unable to create her own portals, Hellin was now able to get home in seconds as she opened a portal before her. Normally, she would have needed to dispose of what remained of Ahrai. Considering how dangerous the fifth level of the Underworld was, as it crawled with many scavenger-like demons, Hellin knew one of those demons would surely encounter the assassin's corpse and make it their meal.

Seconds later, a portal opened in Babylon with Hellin stepping out wearing what has become her signature red catsuit with dark blue accessories, which she received from her ally, Lea Stallard, back in Plutonia almost a year ago during the events known as Red Ambitions. Standing in front of her was her mother, Othello, dressed in sultry purple attire. Also standing there was Orsela wearing her usual black and turquoise straitjacket-like apparel. And then there was Ozzy with his usual Jheri curls and colorful shades dressed like a pimp meet circus clown. Hellin knew instinctively that something was up and that something was taking place in the Mortal Realm. Hellin awaited as her mother began to speak. 

Othello: Welcome back, daughter. I'm assured of your success in ridding us of that bitch, Ahrai. Anyway, Orsela and you are needed in Mayland. Onyx just hit me up a few minutes ago about two cyclopses running rampant on Delancey Street near the Avarice Market Place. Needless to say, your help is required and whoever else Onyx is sending to that location. So, without further explanation, get your gorgeous asses to the Mortal Realm immediately and save a bunch of lowly mortals or whatever.

Hellin immediately grabbed hold of Orsela's hand and opened a portal leading them to their needed location. Arriving to Delancey Street seconds later, the two demon women step out of the portal. Hellin and Orsela immediately spotted their comrades: Trevyn Aliyu, August Starfinder, Lea Stallard, and Scylla Baros. Along with them was the trio known as Team Passionfruit, which consisted of the half-human and half-beasterian Nevin Silvers who was a light peach skinned chap with spiky blonde hair with a patch of purple perfectly placed above his forehead. He had a great physique and was dressed in black attire akin to that of a male stripper. The next was Addison Reed, a bald black man wearing blue shades and yellow overalls with the crouch of his outfit being risque along with his yellow and blue colored gloves. He wore shoes that matched his outfit. Lastly, the leader of the trio was simply named Mona. She was a native woman who had beautiful ebony hair with traces of violet mixed in, especially visible on her signature bangs. She wore a sky blue long sleeved crop jacket that exposed the lower part of her breast, but also wore a fishnet shirt underneath to make the upper part of her outfit slightly less revealing, along with a denim skirt, white pantyhose, and a pair of sky blue platform boots with multiple straps to complete her ensemble. 

The heroes were already engaged in battle with the two cyclopses who were almost as tall as the twin towers located in lower Manhattan. One of the cyclopses was tangerine skinned with various black stripes and the other was a grayish-blue color. The two cyclopses suddenly began wreaking havoc, and, fortunately, only caused injuries to nearby civilians and destruction to several buildings before the heroes arrived. Mona and Trevyn combined their healing abilities to aid the injured civilians. Lea teleported civilians away from the wreckage while Scylla, August, Addison, and Nevin used their combined powers to fight against the cyclopses with Scylla doing most of the heavy lifting within the battle. Orsela immediately summoned Nox Asrai and commanded the watery monster to use her powers to aid Scylla and the others against the cyclopses. Meanwhile, Hellin sensed another presence not too far from where the battle was taking place.

Orsela: Sis, is everything okay?

Hellin: I might be tripping, but I'm quite certain that I sense someone else within our vicinity.

Orsela: Do you think this potential individual is responsible for the two cyclopses going wild in New York?

Hellin: Only one way to find out. SCYLLA!

Scylla: WHAT, STRONGS?! My hands are kinda full dealing with these two behemoths. Speaking of which, why haven't you knocked these fuckers out already? Isn't that what you do best?

Hellin: FUCK OFF, OCTOPUS! Anyway, I need Orsela, you, and the others to keep the cyclopses busy, but do not strike to kill. I think there's someone else responsible for this sudden attack on Delancey Street.

August: So, ya telling me someone intentionally sent these tall bastards to cause all of this havoc?

Hellin: Exactly what I'm saying, cowboy. Now enough small talk, I got a hunch I need to go confirm before shit gets worse.

Hellin blitzed off and went to find the strange presence within the perimeter to confirm if what she sensed was correct. She watched from a distance as the heroes continued battling against the cyclopses. She spotted a pale-skinned man with a short yellow mohawk wearing a dark purple cloak with an open-button gray shirt and black pants and sneakers. The man had a shitting grin as he watched the two young men who he used his magic on to transform them into cyclopses. These weren't just any men, either. The two men were young black sage siblings named Bruce and Denzel. The two brothers recently out-performed this envious sage at a magic showcase event in Blue Jay City, and he’s been plotting revenge on them. He located the two brothers near their home of 103 Orchard Street and followed them on their way to Delancey Street. Once the brothers were in range, the envious witch used his magic to trigger the brothers’ magical abilities to go haywire and thus transformed them. The mysterious mohawk man's plan was for the brothers to be deemed witches and to be slain by whatever sage(s) forced to stop them. Unfortunately for him, his plans were about to come to ruin as Hellin Strongs appeared behind him without him even noticing she was there.

Hellin: Found you, faggot!

(Author's note - The word "faggot" simply means "punk" in Earth 135 and doesn't have any negative connotation towards homosexual men).

Swiftly, before the man had a moment to react, Hellin grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the nearest wall within his little hideout, controlling herself not to choke the life out of him or simply rip his head clean off. Instead, Hellin decided to take a "nicer" approach in dealing with the troublemaker.

Mysterious Man: (gasping) Who the fuck are you?

Hellin: A bitch you don't want to piss off any more than you already have. So now, tell me why you caused this havoc to take place in New York. Or, I can just read your fucking peanut brain for the answer.

Terry: My name is Terry Glimewood and I wanted payback on those two bastards for upstaging me in Blue Jay City and taking the prize money that should’ve been mine! Besides, how in the fuck did you find me, demon! I used a damn concealing spell to mask my presence... but leave it to a demon to scope me out!

Hellin: It's my job to be able to find those who want to be hidden. Now I'm going to go against my better judgment and remove my hand from around your neck. Upon me doing so, you release whatever spell you have on those two siblings before they get killed or kill someone. If either of those two things end up happening, I will make sure you regret your existence!

Terry: Just kill me now, you fucking demon! That's what your kind does best, isn't it?

Hellin knew she was being taunted by this lowly mortal, but relished in her thoughts on the many brutal ways she could kill him. However, recently, Hellin was dealing with a personal turmoil within herself. One she hasn't even shared with either Orsela or Onyx. Ever since Hellin was able to conjure up her first fireball as a child, she was taught how to kill. While she is a princess by birth right, she was raised by her mother in the ways of an assassin. Many years prior to her first meeting with Onyx and becoming a dependable ally of his to combat various forms of evil in his world, Hellin thought nothing of killing and took extreme pleasure in such cruel acts. After all, it's what demons do best, but as she gained friends and learned more about morality, Hellin became conflicted about her role in life. Is she a hero or an assassin? It was a question that had been nagging at her for quite some time. Nevertheless, she had zero intention of giving in to Terry's taunting; at least not until he undid his spell on the two brothers.

Hellin: You don't give me orders, you fucking asswipe! Now undo your spell on the brothers, unless you wish to experience the worst headache known to man.

Terry stared venomously at Hellin, but knew the demon was capable of following through with her threat. Accepting that his nefarious schemes had been thwarted, Terry undid his spell. Immediately, the chaos on Delancey Street ceased as Bruce and Denzel morphed back into their human selves.

August: Looks like our gal found the real culprit.

Orsela: My sister was right! There was someone responsible for this sudden attack. Now we have to make sure those two innocent sages aren't harmed or punished for acting out against their will

Scylla: Well, whoever is responsible for all this, I want them dead! I swear Hellin better not have killed whoever was responsible for this shit already or I might have to take my frustrations out on her.

A portal opened and it was none other than Hellin with Terry in her hand being dragged like a bag of garbage. She tossed Terry onto the floor in front of the rest of her allies. Meanwhile, both Bruce and Denzel reverted back to their normal selves and were naked because their clothes were destroyed during their transformation. Lea then teleported in with Mona and Trevyn, who all finished doing their part in aiding the situation. Hellin, not wanting to waste precious time, telepathically shared her confrontation with Terry, which allows everyone, including Bruce and Denzel, to know how all the events transpired and informed them of Terry's petty revenge. Denzel immediately made a gesture to attack Terry, but Bruce placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder and signaled for him to calm himself. Lea then walked over to the naked siblings and teleported them away. Hellin and the others knew that Lea would take good care of them before bringing them back to New York. All that was left was for the heroes to decide what to do with Terry.

Nevin: So, you're the little shithead that caused all this mess.

Addison: All of this cause you lost a fucking contest? You asshole! If I didn't have better self-restraint, I would use my green flames to fry your ass, you sorry excuse of a man.

Mona: Terry is a terrible human being, but none of us here should stoop to his level.

Scylla: Then speak for yourselves. I'm just glad Hellin didn't kill him... so that I can.

With a snap of her finger, Scylla enveloped Terry's head in a ball of water and he began to suffocate. The others watch in shock and horror as they never expected Scylla to actually be serious with her threat. Hellin, who quickly regained her composure, used her telepathy on Scylla to deactivate the ball of water used to suffocate Terry. Released from his potential watery death, Terry began gasping heavily for oxygen. Angered, Scylla walked over to Hellin and began berating her.

Scylla: How fucking dare you, Strongs! Did you really fucking use your powers on me to save that asshole?! I could fucking slap you!

Hellin: Slap me, Scylla, and I'll break every bone in your body! We didn't come here to kill anyone, just to resolve a situation. The brothers have been saved from wrecking New York and the culprit has been found and captured. Now all that's left is to bring him to the authorities and go about our fucking lives.

Scylla: Since when did you become a woman of such morality? Just last week you killed several troublesome goblins without a second thought!

Hellin: You and I both killed them and those goblins were far too corrupted by the demon who cursed them to do their bidding. I couldn't save them if I tried, and I made sure to kill the demon responsible for such actions.

Scylla: You're a killer, Hellin, and that's all you'll ever be.

Orsela: Scylla! You're going too damn far now. That's my sister and while she's far from perfect, she's a hero and shouldn't be viewed as anything else.

Hellin: Both of you are wrong. I'm neither a killer nor a hero. I have been searching for an answer to my own dilemma for a minute now, and today I finally found the answer. What I am is neither good nor evil. I'm simply the necessary! I'm not ashamed to admit I have done things that many would deem evil, but I have also done more than my share of good; whether it be for Onyx, others, or myself. I don't want to be perfect and I will forever be a monster in the eyes of my enemies and even some allies. Nonetheless, I'm what the situation requires of me and I will always do what is deemed necessary! Now unless you all would rather waste time standing around here like a bunch of mannequins, let's bring this fucker in to custody already so we can go about our day.

Trevyn: Sounds good to me. Besides, I want to get back to Nigeria asap! My chef is making Jollof Rice and Egusi Soup tonight and it's so much better eaten freshly cooked.

August: Mind if I tag along, Prince?

Trevyn: I would love your company, August. Hell, you're all invited if you want.

Mona: Oh, thank you, Prince Aliyu, but my comrades and I need to get to the Royal Lands to assist a client of ours on a minor mission.

Orsela: I would love to, Trevyn, but I promised to help out Madame Xi after this situation was handled. So, I need to get back to Babylon asap.

Hellin: And I'm guessing you just want to get back to your folks in Greece, right, Scylla?

Scylla: Did you need to use your telepathy to figure that one out?

Hellin: Okay, I'll gladly get you all to your desired destinations before taking Scylla back to Greece.

Mona: Thank you so much, Hellin. I'm really happy you're able to create portals now like your mother and Onyxe.

Hellin: Thank you, Mona.

Terry: Okay, enough with this sappy, friendly shit! Can I just go to jail already?

THE END