"Do I have the gloves? Y-Yeah, I have them, but-"
"Get them." The girl said. She didn't sound feared, nor panicked. She just sounded agitated; the same tone of voice used when you're told that your fast food order had to be redone. But she had her own gloves, and she was able to fire goddamn ice out of them, so it was probably worth it to follow her directions.
"Sure, I'll get them. On one condition." He pointed to his moms store. "That building over there, with the metal dog on the roof. I need you to go and protect it until I get back."
"Sure, sure, I will." The girl replied, sounding more and more done with him. "Now get going."
And with that he started running back to his house, quicker than he felt himself running before, barely ducking under a demon's claw. There were demons everywhere, but most of them were preoccupied with other massacres. A couple noticed him, but he just ran straight past them, watching as Mina White, his 5th grade crush, got brutally stabbed, with her screaming out his name, but he still couldn't help her, or afford to look. He just had to keep moving.
Once he got back to his house, he immediately burst into his room, grabbing the gloves and rapidly putting them on. They still felt chilling, but not as much as the first time. He turned around, about to head back to the girl…
…and there just so happened to be a demon approaching him.
Looking past the demon, he noticed that he left the door open in a panic. And this thing was right in front of him, so he silently backed off, trying to go by T-Rex rules of slowly moving so it doesn't see you. It just kind of stared at him, so it could be working. But he tripped over one of his packed bags, and if the demon didn't notice him before, it did now.
Ulrich scrambled back in a fit of stupidity, only to realize what he got himself into, against the corner of the wall, but he remembered he had the gloves. And if he did, then he could probably shoot ice as well. Nothing to lose, he shut his eyes, and he shoot a hand out…
After about ten seconds, he opened his eyes. He stood up, his legs shaking. There was a purple smear on the wall, so that was something. And alongside that, his room was on fire. He glanced at his hand, and noticed the stripe on his glove was a dark red, going back to black.
But…he had powers. He could do…magic? Like the girl. But he didn't have time to wonder what happened. He just ran, hoping to find either the girl, his mom, or maybe Gene? Were these gloves meant for him? No time to think, just run.
He stepped outside, and the portal was still there. It looked somewhat smaller, and the black circles were still falling, but not as much. He noticed a crowd of demons, and ran towards it, hoping to find something, someone, he could help. He ran into the crowd, and there was the girl, freezing the demons in front of her, holding a water bottle. And Gene was there, plain white shirt and short blonde hair, same as normal. Minus the glowing sword, that was new. Ulrich put a hand out, and focused extremely hard, causing a small stream of fire to come out, and about five of the demons were taken out. They melted back into the small black orbs, which went back into the portal. The girl looked at him in a state of shock, but quickly seemed to regain herself.
"You can use the gloves?" Was all she asked, looking at him with an air of surprise.
"Uh, yeah?"
She looked away from him, at Gene, then back towards him.
"I see. Would you be fine with protecting this place?"
"Wait, what?" Ulrich yelled. He looked at Gene, who was just hitting demons with his big sword, and if could hear it, he was clearly ignoring it. "N-no. I just got these. How am I meant to defend an entire town?"
"Don't defend them. Defend yourself, you're the only one that matters here. We'll find you, just survive until then." The girl replied, being covered in a bright light, which spread to Gene.
"Wait, what about my mom?!" He screamed out, but the light was gone by the time he finished that sentence.
Ulrich looked around, at the panicked demons, and his own hands. At the people being slaughtered right in front of him. He felt like throwing up. He was ditched, left to fight for himself. And even the other glove lady said that saving everyone was impossible.
So, he moved to someone else.
His moms' shop was a small while away, and he bolted towards it. More and more demons were chasing after him, with the pool of victims growing smaller by the minute. Ulrich tried to ignore them, just get to his mom. But the number of approaching demons kept growing, so Ulrich tried to light more fire, stop them taking him or his mom out. He tried snapping his fingers, and nothing happened. Both gloves, and still nothing. Not having anything else to do, he quickly turned around, with enough force for his black sneakers to make a noise against the asphalt , and just like when that girl was there, he thrust his left hand out, and a blast of fire shot out of the stripe on one of his gloves. He couldn't stop it, but it stopped itself after a while.
The demons were gone, and Ulrich rushed back around to the store, and immediately fell on his face. He tried to get himself up but noticed his left hand couldn't move. But thanks to some kind of adrenaline rush, he could get up using just his right arm. He ran, but at a slower pace due to the messed-up arm. But he was finally there. The Green Metal Motor Shop. But the door was open, and the windows were smashed. He crept in, and there was his mother. Shotgun in hand, face down, blood dripping down the counter.
"M-Mom? You, you're…alive, right?"
She didn't answer. She couldn't. Ulrich waited for the joke to be over, but it wasn't a joke. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he let out a scream of pure rage and anguish out.
Two demons, almost looking like they were mockingly checking in on him. Ulrich slowly turned around, and the chill numbness slowly began to go away. His hands once again flared up, and he thrust his right hand out, incinerating the demons. He stepped out, looking for any demons.
Around thirty.
"Alright, you bastards think you can just kill me? Do you? I swear, if it's the last thing I do, I'm slaughtering all of your goddamn army! You hear me?"
He felt both his hands simultaneously flare up. He lunged at three in front of him, setting them alight, moving through them at rapid pace. The numbness was coming back, and there were only seven left, so he crunched his hands into fists, and began punching them, taking the head off one with a single punch. He punched one in the body, but its body was sticky, and his hand got stuck. He unclenched his hand, and a small explosion seemed to come out, melting it. Ulrich took out the remaining five, and suddenly, the heat faded, and he looked on to the sunset. as the orbs flew back into a shrinking portal, He remembered the girl, Gene, and everything that happened. As he fell to the ground, he remembered what she said.
"We'll find you, just survive until then."
She'd be back for him, right?