Chapter Text
Carmilla, like every damn night, was locked in her office busy filling out paperwork. Being the CEO of the largest weapons manufacturing company in Hell (or rather, the only company given that all potential competitors had suffered unfortunate... accidents along the way) unfortunately also required carrying out unpleasant tasks, such as spending the nights blank to read all the bills, checks and contracts that she was forced to sign to keep the whole thing running. Which made her mood, already perpetually austere and irritable, even worse.
It was for this reason that when the window crashed open, her reaction was to jump up from her chair and scream furiously: "Who the fuck is the idiot who fell on my balcony!?"
In Hell, having your window or wall suddenly smashed in by a demon who had been thrown away with inhuman force by an enemy, or who was simply a complete idiot who had started messing around with explosives, was considered almost normal. However, that didn't mean it wasn't something beyond hateful. And the dark mood in which Carmilla was already in didn't help to reduce her urge to kill the imbecile who had just caused structural damage to her office. Her long fingers clicked her nails menacingly.
However, the one who entered immediately sent a shiver down her spine. It wasn't because of his appearance, obviously: in Hell you could see so many freaks of nature that someone like that strange intruder would have gone almost unnoticed. They were a rather tall and large guy, but she couldn't see anything about their appearance because they werr covered in some sort of armor similar to that of a knight; it was armor that was quite close to their skin, not bulky, which certainly allowed them to move with all the flexibility they wanted. Their face was hidden by a helmet that closed their entire head, complete with a darkened visor that prevented her from seeing their eyes, and the only distinguishing feature was a strange curved metal structure that started from their head and curved downwards, as if there was an oddly shaped head underneath or maybe a horn or two. On the back they had two very strange wings: they looked like the classic ones of a bat, but there were small pores on them, as if they had first been covered by hair or perhaps feathers then torn away. They were the only part of the body that the strange individual was showing that was not covered by the armor, except for a long tail ending in a hook with a strange curved shape, which vaguely resembled an... apple?
Carmilla didn't find that look strange, nor very threatening; yet, she still felt every hair on her body stand on end and felt a shiver all over her limbs. Her heart rate accelerated and so did her breathing. It was as if her body knew she was in danger. "Who are you...?"
Before she could finish her sentence, the strange individual moved; a split second before they were in front of her, a split second later they were behind her. Carmilla felt a sharp pain in her left cheek and realized that a cut had opened on it and was bleeding. She whirled around and saw her attacker using her own blood to write a strange symbol on the wall: a sort of inverted triangle that contained the letters ADS. Carmilla's eyes widened at the sight. "You... you're him!? You're Army of One!?"
"You can call me that if you like" the guy replied; from the tone of voice it actually seemed to be a man. "I don't care much about the nicknames the fucking media in this shitty place give me. Just use the name they called me"
Carmilla gritted her teeth; the absolute disinterest of the attacker, combined with the reputation he had gained in less than two weeks, made her heart leap into her throat. She got into a position ready to react to a possible attack, while he finished writing the number 6 next to the symbol he had just drawn. "Why are you here?"
The guy named Army of One didn't answer her until he was done writing, and then he walked over to her desk and took one of the chairs that were normally reserved for guests. "I'm here... on a courtesy visit" he replied, sitting down, and then he pointed to the CEO's chair: "Shall we talk about business?"
Carmilla didn't move from where she stood; on the contrary, she narrowed her eyes and lowered her posture slightly, ready to spring like a spring. Army of One let out a sigh. “Whatever. Stay standing if you prefer” he said. "I know it's customary to bring a gift when you show up at someone else's house, but... just the thought of giving you something makes me vomit"
Carmilla did not react to the provocation, and remained firm in her position. Army of One remained silent, as if expecting her response; because of his helmet, it was impossible to tell whether he was disappointed or not. When he understood she wouldn't have said anything, he moved his hand towards the desk and touched its surface. "You... seem like a calm and common-sense person. Are you?"
"If it's time to stay calm" Carmilla replied with a lot of acidity in her voice.
"I say the moment calls for calm, yes" Army of One replied to her. "Word on the street is that you're the best at making weapons. I need your help to build one"
"Why?" Carmilla asked him.
"What a silly question. Are you sure you're a weapons manufacturer?" Army of One replied. "What good is a weapon if not to kill someone?"
"If you want to kill someone, you could have bought any of our weapons" Carmilla pointed out. "You don't need to barge in here..."
"Those? Tsk. I'm not going to settle for something so pathetic" Army of One replied to her. "No, the weapon I want you to make me is something much more powerful. Something... divine"
Carmilla clenched her fists. "The weapons that are already in circulation are also the most powerful in our arsenal. We have tried to smelt angelic steel in other ways but..."
"No, no. What I have in mind isn't built with angelic steel" Army of One retorted. "You don't have to worry about the materials, I'll get those for you... soon. What I want from you is your knowledge to create tools that will allow me to shape the aforementioned materials and forge a weapon from them. Oh, and of course I need... discretion"
Carmilla's eyes widened slightly. "What are you saying? It's impossible to create a more powerful weapon than an angelic one. It can't be..."
"Yes, it can. You can" Army of One interrupted her. "You are a woman with a rather brilliant mind, even though your soul tastes so foul. And you will have at your disposal literally the best team in all of Hell. I will give you everything you need to create your greatest masterpiece. I can assure you that you will realize something that no one in this universe ever were able to create"
Carmilla trembled slightly. For some reason, she felt like the temperature in the room was dropping. "If you only want this, we can agree..."
"There's no need. Your new lab is already waiting for you" Army of One said standing up and scrunching his shoulders. "You will come with me"
Carmilla took a step back. "Don't even think about it!"
"Oh, don't worry. I don't mean to beat you, torture you, or do anything with your body" Army of One told her. "Not that I mind a beautiful woman, but... I'll feel really bad at the thought of fucking someone like you. I have a standard, I don't sleep with a beast"
Carmilla's eyes flashed and she moved; her angelic shoes cut the air, passing a few centimeters from Army of One, who however dodged all the blows with great ease. With one hand he took her arm and slammed her against the wall with such violence that it cracked. "You have to do better if you want to stop me" he warned her. "What are you waiting for? Release your demon form. I'm curious to see what a horrible monster you really are behind that fake adorable face"
“Urgh… you don’t want to see me unleash my power!” Carmilla replied.
Army of One laughed. "Oh, instead I really want it"
He grabbed the woman's desk and threw it towards her as if it were a twig; Carmilla zigzagged and dodged it, and then he threw all the other furniture at her. She gritted her teeth: her opponent possessed inhuman strength, to say the least. Even for an overlord, lifting an entire wardrobe and throwing it into the air with such force that it swirled like a feather was no mean feat; she herself would have needed to free her demon form to do this, but Army of One, despite not having transformed in the slightest, was able to throw any piece of furniture in the room as if it were made of paper. "Come on, what are you waiting for? I'm not having fun like this, fight seriously!"
Army of One hit the wall, and his fingers penetrated several inches into it; a brief movement of the arm, and the wall cracked as if it were made of plaster. Carmilla narrowed her eyes as she saw a mass of reinforced concrete reinforced with steel bars coming towards her, and her pupils flashed and took on a more silvery color; suddenly her movements became much faster and she moved her shoes as if they were scissors. The wall that was coming at her shattered into pieces, but Army of One came out from behind it and jumped on her before she could react. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the wall. Carmilla felt as if a hydraulic press had hit her, and deep cracks formed in the wall. A gush of blood exploded from her mouth. "Pathetic" Army of One commented. "How much longer are you going to waste my time...?"
"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!"
"Mh?" Army of One muttered, and he moved just in time to avoid four more angelic steel slippers that passed within inches of his head; he jumped back several times, and when he stopped he could see two girls, one dark-skinned and one pale-skinned, grabbing Carmilla and helping her up. "Mother, are you okay?"
"Cuff... yes, Odette, Clara, I'm fine" Carmilla murmured, wiping the blood away from her mouth. "Be careful. He is very dangerous"
"What a beautiful family picture" Army of One muttered with no small amount of disgust in his voice. "If it weren't made up of such horrible beings, I might even be moved"
The three women didn't accept his provocation and instead attacked him all together; Army of One responded by defending himself admirably, repelling their attacks with ever greater precision and speed. Strangely, it seemed to Carmilla that the more they fought, the more fluid and free his movements became. Odette and Clara in turn narrowed their eyes and their pupils turned silver, and their movements became so fast as to be almost imperceptible to the human eye; the simple movement of air would have been enough to make anyone fall to the ground, yet Army of One didn't bat an eyelid. Finally, he grabbed them both by the leg and threw them away.
"Damn!" Odette screamed, and she pulled an angelic gun from her pocket, emptying the entire magazine onto him. But Army of One made several leaps and somersaults in the air, moving in a strangely similar way to them, and as soon as he realized that she had no more bullets he reached her and kicked the gun, just in the same way they would have done with their shoes, with the difference which instead of cutting it in two he shattered it completely.
Carmilla, Odette and Clara backed into a corner of the room, gasping with effort. "Mother, this guy is absolutely not normal!" Clara exclaimed. "You must fight at your best!"
"Let us give you back your powers!" Odette told her. “You can transform with those!”
Carmilla gritted her teeth. "There's no time. And I can't leave you defenseless..."
Army of One's laughter shook them out of their thoughts. "As I imagined. You have shared your power with your offspring, altruistic indeed. You can no longer turn into a full overlord, but you are sure that your daughters have a better chance of defending themselves. I am impressed, I admit it" he said. "Go ahead, take your powers back. I will wait, and I will not attack them"
Carmilla narrowed her eyes. “Should I trust your word?”
"My word doesn't mean shit. My interest does" Army of One replied. "I came here to fight the real you, not the happy little family. Take your powers back calmly. I won't interfere"
Carmilla's shoulders shook slightly. Army of One had spoken with a decidedly too confident tone: either he was a really good actor, or he considered himself so superior that he didn't have to fear defeat in any context. She looked at her daughters, who were holding out their hands to her; with a sigh, she took them and felt the demonic energy flow through her again. Army of One, as he promised, did nothing to stop them; he waited patiently, until Odette and Clara let go of their mother's hands and walked quickly away; as soon as this happened, Carmilla let out a creaking sound and her body changed, becoming at least twice or maybe even three times as tall. Her skin hardened and seemed to become made of steel, with joints that looked like those of a machine gun in place of joints. Her dress, her shoes, and even her bodice changed, becoming composed of what looked like knives, blades, and daggers tied together; her shoulder pads turned into the ends of cannons, and her nails lengthened and became similar to scythes. Her hair completely melted and seemed to become a whip.
"Interesting" Army of One commented. "Bring it on!"
Carmilla didn't have to be told again and attacked; her movement was so rapid and instantaneous that Army of One failed to react and was flung away like a bug, and the armor he was wearing cracked in numerous places. He, however, did not appear to suffer serious damage, because he immediately got up. Carmilla struck him again, but this time he moved out of the way in time to avoid her attack. The woman gritted her teeth and attacked again and again, and each time Army of One seemed to get a better grasp of her style. Furious, Carmilla jumped and spun through the air so fast that no one could even see her, and she kicked with all her might straight at Army of One's head.
The kick came within inches of his neck. A little more and she would have cut off his head...
But suddenly Army of One raised his arm and blocked the attack. Carmilla's leg hit the solid armor, breaking it a little, but the man's arm on the contrary was not damaged at all and in fact it was she who let out a groan of pain, but before she could react he grabbed her by the hair and made her fly across the room. "That's... interesting" he said. "Thanks for the dance lesson"
Moving with a grace and ease he hadn't shown until then, he spun around, holding Carmilla by the shoulders, and then he slammed her to the floor. The woman immediately stood up and twirled in the air again like a magnificent swan, but this time Army of One had no problem parrying her every blow and responding in kind, quickly putting her in trouble. Odette and Clara were shocked. "T-That's not possible... how did he adapt so quickly?" the latter murmured.
Carmilla let out a growl, and she tried to strike her enemy again; while doing so she performed every possible trick she knew, but each time Army of One parried her attack with extreme precision. Too much precision. And suddenly, he began to return the blows, and with much more force than she was throwing. "Thats enough!" Carmilla roared. "Let's see if you can block this!"
Her eyes lit up so much that it seemed as if an atomic bomb had exploded inside them: the light emerged from them like a river and even seemed to generate a movement of air like a shock wave. And soon after, a gush of demonic energy exploded from them, traveling straight towards Army of One, emitting an unhealthy amount of radiation around it. That was Carmilla's most powerful attack: the force of the most powerful weapon ever created, concentrated in two beams the diameter of a pupil. Enough to vaporize anything in front of them with the force of a million suns.
But then the unexpected happened: Army of One touched his helmet and his visor seemed to open for an instant, and from it emerged a jet of demonic energy identical to Carmilla's; the two beams collided, emitting powerful sparks. Carmilla made a sound of surprise and intensified her attack with all her strength, but her enemy's attack quickly overwhelmed her and the beam hit her, throwing her backwards.
Odette and Clara were left speechless. "M-Mom! Stop fighting!" Odette screamed. "He's copying your skills!"
"Urgh... yeah, I figured it out" Carmilla muttered, rubbing her sore eyes.
"That was your strongest attack?" Army of One asked her.
Carmilla didn't respond, just gritted her teeth and looked for any weak spot in her opponent's defense. But Army of One left her no time to do so: "If you can't teach me anything else, then I have no reason to continue this fight!"
Carmilla just perceived a shift of air in front of her, and then she felt as if a mountain had hit her in the stomach; it took her a moment to realize that Army of One had moved so quickly that she hadn't been able to see him and had punched her in the gut. She felt her bones shatter even with her powerful overlord healing factor, and she was thrown away with such force that she broke through the walls several times until she came to rest in a corridor at least five rooms away. Her body returned to normal and she spat out streams of blood from her mouth, feeling as if her internal organs had just been reduced into dust.
"MOM!" both Odette and Clara screamed in unison, rushing to help her up.
"Now I can also tell you: you never had a chance" Army of One told her as he walked towards them. "But thanks anyway. I'll put everything you've taught me to good use. Now it's time to come with me"
Carmilla gritted her teeth. "Go" she whispered. "From here on I'll take care of this alone"
Odette and Clara opened their eyes wide. "Mother...!"
"GO!" Carmilla screamed. "Run and don't look back!"
"We won't leave you alone with him!" Odette replied by pointing to their attacker, who remained motionless as if wanting to give the family time to decide what to do.
Carmilla glared at her. "I am your mother, and you will obey me!" she said in an extremely authoritative voice. "Just go! Stop protesting, now's not the time!"
The two girls felt the ground slipping beneath their feet. "But... mom..."
"If you stay here, all three of us will die!" Carmilla told them. "Don't think about me, think about yourselves! Odette, you have your sister to defend! Clara, you too! Think about this! Each of you must defend the other! So run!"
Odette and Clara remained motionless for a long moment; mother and daughters reflected each other's eyes. And then, with a sob, the two girls closed theirs and ran away through the hallway.
Carmilla looked at Army of One again. “Staying behind to hold me back and give your daughters more time to run?” he commented. "Predictable... but it still does you credit. I admit to being impressed... I have rarely met demons capable of performing selfless actions such as sacrifice"
Carmilla stood up slightly, not even able to stand up straight, but still she moved her ballerina shoes and prepared to strike. "I know I can't defeat you" she admitted. "If you want to kill me, fine. But please, let them go. Whatever enmity you have with me, they have nothing to do with it"
"Your concern is unfounded" was her enemy's simple reply. "I have no interest in killing your two daughters. I would have let them go even if they had stayed, although I probably would have ripped off one of their arm to make them understand when it is time to run"
Carmilla swallowed slightly, but still she breathed a sigh of relief. Her enemy had a flat and uninterested tone: he was telling the truth, he wouldn't have gone after Odette and Clara. "Thank you"
"Pff! Don't thank me" Army of One said with a chuckle. "I am certainly not seeking your gratitude, you filthy creature. I am letting them go because they must carry a message for me to a certain person. Don't confuse my actions with pity; I could never feel pity for deplorable people like them... or you"
Carmilla's eyes narrowed. Even in the precarious situation she was in, she was not willing to tolerate such words. "Don't you dare call my daughters that...!"
"Odette Carmine, dead at the age of just twenty-seven. In life, a prodigy with extraordinary intelligence with chemicals, inventor of various acidic substances suitable for torture, war and extermination. Producer and seller of such substances without the slightest scruple, even with lots of experimentation on human beings. The total number of victims she personally intoxicated with her poisons amounted to three hundred and sixty-two, of which fifty-eight were children. Her death was due to the hands of the father of a seven-year-old girl whose face she had mistakenly burned for an experiment". Army of One paused for a second, and then he continued: "Clara Carmine, dead at twenty-nine. Leading seller of armaments. Often went there to see their effectiveness herself. Some of them were tested on living people. The number of victims that she has on her conscience amounts to one hundred and ninety-six. She died following an ambush by a warlord, in an arid land in Iran"
Carmilla had completely frozen. Her eyes had widened and the air had completely left her lungs. "But... how... how do you know...?"
"And finally..." he raised his hand and pointed at her. "Carmilla Carmine, the mother of the two, as well as the owner of one of the largest arms manufacturing companies of the twentieth century. Initially a simple dancer in an ordinary theater in Valencia, you seduced the one who would later become your husband and killed him with a poison after he got you pregnant ensuring your position in the family. You appropriated his fortune and took advantage of the tense climate of your time to make money by selling weapons to everyone, to any faction, whether it was the Allies or the Axis powers. You have never had any qualms about using your body and your dancing skills to seduce and kill any of your opponents. The body count on your conscience is so high that it would take me too long to say it all. You died at fifty-four, and not from assassination or revenge, but from a simple military mistake... a bomb that fell two blocks ahead of its target. It was a bomb that your company had produced. Ironic, isn't it?". He groaned in disgust. "Tell me, in light of all this... why shouldn't I call you deplorables? It's certainly not an insult. It's simple objectivity"
Carmilla instinctively took a step back, but Army of One suddenly moved. She reacted instinctively and jumped, moving her angelic shoes at him, but he moved with extraordinary fluidity and grabbed her leg, and then with extreme violence he slammed her against the wall. Carmilla felt her bones crack like breadsticks, and the wall behind her collapsed; the strength of that guy was truly overwhelming. She felt him grabbing her legs, and when she opened her eyes again she could see that he had just taken off her shoes. "You don't need these anymore"
"Cuff... give them back to me, asshole... they're mine...!" Carmilla whispered trying to get up.
But he jumped on her and pinned her to the ground. Carmilla felt his fingers tighten around her neck, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't free herself. For the first time in her existence, she felt absolutely helpless in front of someone else. Not even that time she had foolishly tried to face Zestial had she felt so inferior. She was like an insect trying to fight a dragon.
But suddenly, Army of One raised his free hand and clicked a small button on his helmet; the visor opened again, revealing two eyes. They were yellow eyes without pupils... or at least, they were initially, because after a couple of seconds they changed and took on a new shape. The right one had a golden pupil but broken in half, while the left one was instead red and seemed to resemble the smooth surface of a ripe fruit. “Tell me… what does it feel like to have so much sin in your heart?” he hissed in a voice similar to that of a snake.
Carmilla met his gaze for a split second, and suddenly the world around her changed.
She was sitting in an armchair, next to a fireplace, reading a book. Someone handed her a cup, which she gladly accepted. She drank from it.
Suddenly, her body stiffened.
She felt every muscle grow cold.
She could no longer move.
She wanted to move, but her fingers wouldn't respond either.
The air left her lungs.
She couldn't breathe.
Her diaphragm was paralyzed.
She was afraid.
She wanted... she wanted to breathe so bad...!
Her vision was blurring.
She couldn't hear anymore.
She could almost feel the life slipping away.
No!
She did not want to...!
The heart... was slowing down...!
Carmilla opened her eyes wide and took a deep breath. The world around her was back to normal, and above her there was still that mysterious attacker with strange eyes staring at her. Her whole body was covered in sweat and she was shaking like a leaf. “What… what did you do to me…!?”
"Tsk. Disgusting" Army of One hissed with a lot of venom in his voice. "So many sins on your conscience, and you can't even handle one? Pathetic. Don't think it's over, you have many things you have to pay for"
The shaking on Carmilla's body intensified. She thought she'd forgotten what it was like to feel real fear, but now she was seriously starting to remember it. "Who... who are you...?"
Army of One grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. "Let's say I'm the Frankenstein's monster" he answered her. "And I'm looking for my creator"
Carmilla instinctively grabbed the man's fingers, trying to remove them from her neck. He wasn't choking her, but just letting him touch her scared her. "Why...?"
"To punish him, it seems obvious to me. Exactly how I intend to punish you, and everyone else in this crap world" he told her. "Your daughters will go and call the person I wish to meet. Soon, they will bring her to me. The game has already begun, and it will be a lot of fun... for me". His eyes lit up with a merciless light. "But now... let's think just about you. We have a lot to talk about, the two of us"
Carmilla was sweating so much her skin could almost reflect the light. "P-Please..."
"Let's go somewhere more secluded" he said, ignoring her, and his wings opened to their full size. "You don't have to worry, I won't lay a finger on you, and I won't kill you. I'll let your own evil heart torture you. And believe me... by tomorrow morning, you'll be begging me to take your life"
And having said that he took flight, dragging her into the air with him. The roof above them split as if it were made of chalk, and the two of them flew into the red sky of Hell.
Meanwhile Odette and Clara had left the factory, and they could thus easily see them disappear into the sky. Clara couldn't hold back a few tears. “What… what do we do now?” she whispered.
Odette sniffed, but her gaze remained determined. "Let's call someone who has a lot of power... and who owes us a big debt"