New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Alex laughed in his mind, as the gunshots flew out of the shadow dome, doing no damage to him, and crashing through the windows that led outside and into the walls.

He manipulated the shadows around the man into small, sharp blades, and started giving ever so small cuts across his body. The cuts were minuscule and were not enough to threaten his life.

But as they piled up, and the blood began pooling around the man, he felt his sanity slowly seep out of his mind, following his blood out of his body.

"SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!" the man shouted, emptying his magazine.

As he reloaded, he heard a voice in his ear whisper, "As you wish."

And then a sharp pain pierced his back, going through him and coming out of his stomach. As he looked down, all he saw was a black blade, made of shadows, that slid back out of him.

He fell to his knees, feeling his life slip away.

"What the fuck are y—"

But before he could finish his phrase, another sharp pain assaulted him, this time in his throat, and then, nothing.

His eyes looked forward, as the scene changed from the wall to the ceiling to the floor, in quick succession, and stopped in a roll, looking at his own body, headless, crashing to the ground.

The two remaining men were shivering in terror, still hidden from Alex. Or so they thought.

Alex went for the man still behind the shattered fish tank and watched him mumble to himself, eyes closed, caressing a crucifix dangling from his neck.

He popped out from the wall behind him, using the man's shadow, and silently picked up a grenade from the ground next to him. He pulled the pin slowly, trying to make the least noise he could.

But the man heard the slick *Tink* of the pin popping, and his eyes opened in panic.

Alexander used his arms to hug the man from behind, holding the grenade against his chest, as he whispered into his ear.

"Your god doesn't care about you. But the demons in hell will greet you with open arms."

He turned to semi-solid shadows, right before the grenade blew up, splashing the man's body from the floor to the ceiling, bits and pieces flying everywhere.

Only a smoking, mangled body remained on the floor under the fish tank.

The only one left was the one behind the bar. And Alex chose a much worse fate for him.

Retracting the shadows from the room, he reappeared in the middle, where he had been previously, and started walking toward the bar. He could hear the man sobbing in fear behind it.

His appearance differed slightly from usual, with a thin black tail flicking behind him and two baby horns on his forehead.

But as he walked toward the bar, Katherine watched him change again through the cameras.

She was wondering how many forms Alexander could change into, as he morphed again.

This time, adorning his back, were two small bat wings, comically small for his size. They were not wings with which he could fly, that much was certain.

The horns he had grown slightly bigger, as one of them suddenly looked like it had broken off. His eyes also went from their black sclera to a completely white eye.

It almost looked like he had cataracts over his eyes.

As he leaned over the counter, his eyes flashed light pink under the white facade.

"Look at me, Paulo," he said, his voice sounding slightly more feminine than usual.

The man, hearing the voice, suddenly felt a calming wave wash over his mind. Almost as if his mother was coddling him, as a kid, during a severe thunderstorm.

He looked up, seeing Alexander's face, and his eyes glazed over.

"Yes, mistress Ose."

Alex had swapped to another demon Count, since they were the easier ones to access, with his current power level. This one was called Ose, and she was a demoness specialized in charming enemies, and controlling their minds.

She had charmed her way up to count, making her opponents off themselves until she was the only one in line for the rank.

And he intended to use the same tactic, here.

"Look at you, Paulo. Poor you. You look so cold. Look, you're shivering."

As he said this, the man started unconsciously shivering, as if the temperature had dropped.

"I think you should warm yourself. How about a pleasant fire? It looks like you are all ready to light one up, too. How about it?"

The man looked down at his hands, in which there was a lighter and a Molotov cocktail.

"You're right. It's so cold in here. Let me light a warm fire, so mistress Ose doesn't grow cold."

Paulo started flicking the lighter in his right hand until a flame lit up. Then he ignited the cloth that dangled from the bottle in his left hand.

Once the cloth was well ignited, he smiled warmly at Alex, before smashing the cocktail on his own forehead, immediately catching fire.

Through the flames, he kept smiling, while his face melted in flames, until his body dropped to the ground, dead.

Alexander undid the meld before walking away, his gaze ice cold.

The remaining men in the mansion were five goons, three of them being the boss' immediate aids, and two others who worked directly under his right-hand man, as well as the boss himself, Francesco Bianchi.

He knew they were all gathered close to the bunker, so all he had to do was make his way there. Katherine warned him of a few more traps on the way there, which he made quick work of until he stood in front of a staircase that descended into the house's basement.

Katherine was now almost giddy at the prospect of seeing her revenge passing. She didn't know what kind of twisted, sick thoughts crossed Alexander's mind right now, but she knew he was doing swift work of the men.

A passing thought crossed her mind, wondering if it was safe to let him in contact with her daughter. But she also felt like this was not his usual self, either.

She doubted he would ever be a danger to her. If something, she could see him acting this way to protect her, given what had previously happened.

'He's the dangerous type only when his friends and loved ones are in danger, or were put in danger. Good thing we are on his good side,' she thought to herself, as Alex reached the basement stairs.